Article
The company has agreed to let Nielsen track the behavior of PlayStation gamers to let advertisers better understand gamers’ demographics, how much time they spend on a given game, and how closely they pay attention to the product placement. Sony and Nielsen aren’t being totally clear yet on how they’re going to acquire the information, but it could be a combination of self-reported data and stats gleaned directly from the consoles themselves somehow.
First came one line ads.
Then whole pictures stuck on the sides.
Now we have flash movies. Have you ever gone to CNN.COM and tried to read an article ? Two paragraphs of text squeezed between pictures on the left, flash movies on the top and right. If it goes to three you have to scroll down past a picture at the bottom to see that third paragraph.
This is how it progressed on the internet.
Now I will bet you will see the same thing on games. Ever play matrix online ? toothpaste and bubble gum ads all over the place, and they are SLOW to load, and they slow down your connection which is a pain while you're trying to fight or explore. And of course, there's no way to turn them off. :)
Cable TV is the same. You pay for your television. And you pay a monthly fee for the television as well , 100$ isn't too far out of line for a full spread of channels. But it's the old 22-minute hour thing again , with only 22 minutes of show and 48 minutes of commercials. On a service you pay for. But everyone does this , they complain, thats the way the business works ?
I Hate your business. I don't watch TV anymore. And any game that gets overloaded with advertising I'm not playing either. I'm not PAYING for you to try and sell me toothpaste, you do that on your own hook.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Friday, July 06, 2007
Willing to die for the cause
Red Mosque standoff continues in Pakistan's capital
"We will not surrender. We will be martyred, but we will not surrender," Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the mosque's senior cleric, told local GEO TV.
Really, you're willing to die for your cause ? Impressive.
Umm...what cause was that again ?
Oh yes, everyone should convert to your religion or you will kill them. This is the cause you are willing to die for.
Hmmmm.....I can help you with that.
Someone wanna hand me a gun ? I'm gonna shoot this bugger ! Want's to kill me if I don't join his religion indeed ! Where's the gun ? I'll help him die for his cause !
"We will not surrender. We will be martyred, but we will not surrender," Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the mosque's senior cleric, told local GEO TV.
Really, you're willing to die for your cause ? Impressive.
Umm...what cause was that again ?
Oh yes, everyone should convert to your religion or you will kill them. This is the cause you are willing to die for.
Hmmmm.....I can help you with that.
Someone wanna hand me a gun ? I'm gonna shoot this bugger ! Want's to kill me if I don't join his religion indeed ! Where's the gun ? I'll help him die for his cause !
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Who took that pic ?
Dust storm affecting Mars rovers
This is such a wonderful picture of the mars rover, on mars , in all the sand in everything , it's really a beautiful thing.
Ummm... who took this pic ?
Yes, I know there are two mars rovers, but they're on opposite sides of the planet. So , really , I gotta ask. Who's holding the camera ?
The Face of Islam
I've been looking for something to sum up Islam and all the problems that we face because of it. I think I've found it.
(this guy is one of the failed suicide bombers in Britain..really failed, he's still alive and now called simply Dr. Death)
Blasts at radical Pakistan mosque
There have been two large explosions in the buildings of a rebellious mosque in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, which is being besieged by security forces.
....
Students have kidnapped police officers and people they accuse of involvement in "immoral" acts such as prostitution.
...
The clerics have been campaigning for Islamic Sharia law in Islamabad.
And that pretty much sums it all up. some Iman Cleric teaching students to hate. And they go off and start kidnapping people and demanding everyone follow their religion or they will kill them.
This is the face if Islam , the source buildings being blown up and air planes being crashed, wars being waged to counter it , entire nation states up in arms. A bunch of Imans stating "Join our religion , or die. "
It's not a pretty face.
Don't much care for It I think.
You could try calling me ... I suppose ...
Do not call list won't thwart pesky pollsters
Polling companies among the exemptions for new national registry
Did you know canada is trying to make a national do not call list, but it has a ton of exceptions as to who IS allowed to call you anyways ? And more exceptions being added by the day as businesses line up to bribe the government on this. (No proof of that, but if you're not allowed to do telephone sales most businesses are sunk so ... )
My wife and I , we don't worry about such things. We have this bizarre modern invention , it's called an answering machine. The beauty is that we don't answer the phone , we sit there near the answering machine , wait for the person on the other line to start talking after our pre-recorded message. If it's a sales man , we pick up the phone and hit the power button twice. This picks up and then immediately hangs up. :)
It's a strangely satisfying sensation really. We generally look at each other after thats' happened and laugh our heads off.
Really , I don't understand what all the fuss is about.
Fleece More Sheep !
Quebec to legalize Texas hold 'em
Casinos in Quebec hope the province's plan to legalize Texas hold 'em poker will bring in a full house.
...
Schellenberg said Quebec's ban on Texas hold 'em in casinos is one of the reasons why the Lac Leamy Casino saw its profits plunge $8 million last year.
We're not fleecing enough sheep ! These people are getting bored of the slot machines and just handing their cash over to us and want to actually be entertained while we fleece them !
"The Texas hold 'em poker is usually popular among young adults," said Loto-Quebec spokesman Jean-Pierre Roy, "so we expect it to bring customers that may not otherwise go to casinos."
Hook 'em when they're young ! Thats the ticket ! Bring the little ones in too ! Maybe we can offer free babysitting while the parents are blowing a wad at the tables ?
Gagnon, who works at the Jellinek Centre, said he is concerned that attracting more people to casinos will increase the risk that those people will develop gambling problems.
Not our problem ! We just sheer these sheep , we don't pay for the coats they now need to buy afterwards because they have no wool left on them ! Go annoy someone else about that.
Casinos in Quebec hope the province's plan to legalize Texas hold 'em poker will bring in a full house.
...
Schellenberg said Quebec's ban on Texas hold 'em in casinos is one of the reasons why the Lac Leamy Casino saw its profits plunge $8 million last year.
We're not fleecing enough sheep ! These people are getting bored of the slot machines and just handing their cash over to us and want to actually be entertained while we fleece them !
"The Texas hold 'em poker is usually popular among young adults," said Loto-Quebec spokesman Jean-Pierre Roy, "so we expect it to bring customers that may not otherwise go to casinos."
Hook 'em when they're young ! Thats the ticket ! Bring the little ones in too ! Maybe we can offer free babysitting while the parents are blowing a wad at the tables ?
Gagnon, who works at the Jellinek Centre, said he is concerned that attracting more people to casinos will increase the risk that those people will develop gambling problems.
Not our problem ! We just sheer these sheep , we don't pay for the coats they now need to buy afterwards because they have no wool left on them ! Go annoy someone else about that.
Monday, July 02, 2007
And so Open Air Transport draws to a close
2 Canadian boys with same name land on no-fly list
Two boys named Alistair Butt, one from Saskatchewan and one from Ontario, were stopped while trying to board flights last week because their name matches a name that appears on a no-fly list.
...
Transport Canada won't confirm if the boys are on a United States no-fly list, an airline no-fly list or Canada's new no-fly list, which went into effect on June 18.
...
The list is not available to the public, which means those on it will only find out when they try to travel.
We had a good run. What was it, 80 years from the first plane being invented to now ? But it's over. Airplanes now cover the entire world. And that , unfortunately means , that if anyone in the entire world decides to take a wack at their enemey , putting somone on a plane and sending them over to hijack the plane (with a carpet knife or some other sharp object that would normally pass security ) is just a cheap and efficient means if you don't care about the hijacker surviving.
I just did a search on sax.flightcentre.ca , and they charge 1900$Cnd and report it takes 12 hours to go from Ottawa to Beirut.
No fly lists by other countries deciding who they're going to let in is just the beginning. Soon it will be white lists of only specific people allowed to fly , only couriers for example. The days of getting the family together and getting on the plane are probably over , as this one family found out the hard way.
From the terrorist point of view it's just a wonderful thing. The airplane is a hundred million dollar investment by your enemy, and it probably has upwards of 200 victems on it , even if you miss your primary target you're still guarenteed a good fall out of dead bodies.
The Airlines , of course, are up the creek without a paddle. They're now saddled with a hundred million dollar plane that if they're too free in selling tickets , they lose the plane. Oh they try to shift it all onto others, the government , insurence , etc , and then sell tickets like crazy , but a hundred mil a pop is too heavy a load for anyone , any goverment , to float. Especially over and over again. And thats just the financial aspect , never mind the bodies falling out of the sky.
International flights are now toast, aside from a few privately chartered planes run by companies for internal use only. I suspect a new industry of smaller planes that only fly inside one country and don't cross any borders will rise out of this, but the days of hopping on a plane to the other side of the world are pretty much drawing to a close. One or two more hijackings and that's pretty much going to put the final nail in that coffin.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Memo to Gordon Brown Part II
British police arrest two more in foiled attacks
On Saturday, two men tried to ram their burning Jeep Cherokee into the main terminal building of Scotland's Glasgow Airport.
...
Another witness Richard Grey said police "wrestled him (the man on fire) to the ground -- the fire was burning through his clothes -- and finally put him out with a fire extinguisher."
Dear Gordon,
To continue , we at Al Queda are super incompetant in the matter of british car bombings. Notice I skipped the word Suicide ? That would be because neither of the two dunces , excuse me , I mean martyrs , actually died in the attack. Oh , one tried to kill himself by playing with those molitof cocktails , but his heart just wasn't in the right place and you were able to save him.
Plus the fact that we forgot that the door we were driving the truck through had big metal posts dug into the floor to prevent that very thing, so the truck never got more than a nose inside and didn't actually hurt anyone but our not yet martyred Martyrs .
Do us a favor and kill them will you ? That way we can claim they went to Islamic heaven just for trying it and thus convince more and more idiotic morons to join our side and try again.
Sincerely ,
Al-Queda wanna be's
On Saturday, two men tried to ram their burning Jeep Cherokee into the main terminal building of Scotland's Glasgow Airport.
...
Another witness Richard Grey said police "wrestled him (the man on fire) to the ground -- the fire was burning through his clothes -- and finally put him out with a fire extinguisher."
Dear Gordon,
To continue , we at Al Queda are super incompetant in the matter of british car bombings. Notice I skipped the word Suicide ? That would be because neither of the two dunces , excuse me , I mean martyrs , actually died in the attack. Oh , one tried to kill himself by playing with those molitof cocktails , but his heart just wasn't in the right place and you were able to save him.
Plus the fact that we forgot that the door we were driving the truck through had big metal posts dug into the floor to prevent that very thing, so the truck never got more than a nose inside and didn't actually hurt anyone but our not yet martyred Martyrs .
Do us a favor and kill them will you ? That way we can claim they went to Islamic heaven just for trying it and thus convince more and more idiotic morons to join our side and try again.
Sincerely ,
Al-Queda wanna be's
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Popularity or Fear
More Beards, Less Political Talk in Gaza
Still, many people are apprehensive, their fears stoked by Hamas hard-liners like Mahmoud Zahar, who said this week that he envisions a time when "with God's help, Islam will be in every home."
Not making enemies is a preferred survival tactic two weeks after Hamas militiamen defeated Fatah fighters loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"It's not safe to say anything," said Samir Filfel, 42, a school guard who spent Friday with his wife and 10 children at Gaza City's beach. Reflecting his caution, he erected a tent made of Hamas, Fatah and PLO flags as a sunshade.
Hmmm... if you read this , the barber shop is selling flags , and mugs and stuff in support of the defacto ruling Hamas because these people are afraid of them. Not because they are poplular. What an odd switch from a western democracy.
I remember once a member of parliment , I forgot his name , was going door to door canvasing to get re-elected, and he had a group of guys with him to prevent trouble. (This is canada , no one has guns except the cops) When he came to my door I looked at him and then slambed the door shut on him , as I would any door to door salesman. I was drunk at the time and thought it was pretty funny.
Do that in the Gaza strip, they'll probably kick down the door and shoot everyone in the place.
Next time you see a crowd of people with flags cheering and supporting someone or other in the middle east or a third world banana repoublic, remember. They don't really support him. They're just afraid they'll get shot if they don't cheer loud enough.
Still, many people are apprehensive, their fears stoked by Hamas hard-liners like Mahmoud Zahar, who said this week that he envisions a time when "with God's help, Islam will be in every home."
Not making enemies is a preferred survival tactic two weeks after Hamas militiamen defeated Fatah fighters loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"It's not safe to say anything," said Samir Filfel, 42, a school guard who spent Friday with his wife and 10 children at Gaza City's beach. Reflecting his caution, he erected a tent made of Hamas, Fatah and PLO flags as a sunshade.
Hmmm... if you read this , the barber shop is selling flags , and mugs and stuff in support of the defacto ruling Hamas because these people are afraid of them. Not because they are poplular. What an odd switch from a western democracy.
I remember once a member of parliment , I forgot his name , was going door to door canvasing to get re-elected, and he had a group of guys with him to prevent trouble. (This is canada , no one has guns except the cops) When he came to my door I looked at him and then slambed the door shut on him , as I would any door to door salesman. I was drunk at the time and thought it was pretty funny.
Do that in the Gaza strip, they'll probably kick down the door and shoot everyone in the place.
Next time you see a crowd of people with flags cheering and supporting someone or other in the middle east or a third world banana repoublic, remember. They don't really support him. They're just afraid they'll get shot if they don't cheer loud enough.
Memo to Gordon Brown
London car bombs a memo from al-Qaeda to new PM
A FAILED plot to detonate two car bombs in central London appears to have been inspired by al-Qaeda and intended as a message to the British Government led by Gordon Brown, terrorism analysts believe.
Police defused two bombs left in cars that were found in London's entertainment district late on Friday and yesterday, two days after Mr Brown succeeded Tony Blair as Prime Minister.
Dear Gordon,
We here at Al-Queda would like you to know that we're totally incompetant terrorist wanna-be's that are really lucky those bombs diddn't go off and kill us when we were setting them up. We're also really not that dedicated as our middle eastern brothers since we're just not into the whole suicide thingy. Yes , we want to oppress our fellow human being and make them slaves to our made up and false religion , but we don't want to actually have to die doing it. I mean come on, there's dedication , and then there's stupidity !
Sincerely ,
A pack of not so suicidal bombers
China : You *MUST* take our poisoned goods !
China protests U.S. block on Chinese seafood
"China cannot accept the indiscriminate and automatic detention of four kinds of Chinese seafood by the United States" Li Changjiang, the head of China's top quality watchdog, was quoted as saying.
We have no way to control what you produce , you're a foriegn nation.
Your crud has poison in it , no one wants it no matter how small the amounts are.
"Buy our junk anyways or we'll make a big stink about it" just doesn't cut it. No one cares how big a stink you make , I'm not knowningly putting poison in my mouth.
"China cannot accept the indiscriminate and automatic detention of four kinds of Chinese seafood by the United States" Li Changjiang, the head of China's top quality watchdog, was quoted as saying.
We have no way to control what you produce , you're a foriegn nation.
Your crud has poison in it , no one wants it no matter how small the amounts are.
"Buy our junk anyways or we'll make a big stink about it" just doesn't cut it. No one cares how big a stink you make , I'm not knowningly putting poison in my mouth.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Evil Desktop Search
Read an Article on the google desktop search (they're setting it up for Linux) and I thought I'd comment on the evilness of it ,which no one else is doing.
The Desktop search is a search bar located on your desk top. What does it mean ? It means when you do a search they can identify YOU PERSONALLY because it makes you fill out all these forms and such. Now every time you do a search it's recorded and locked to you , instead of just being a random search in the vast mix of random searches. Now when you visit google or some google owned site (Didi I mention Google just bought doubleclick.com , the largest internet advertiser about and they're on almost every single web page everywhere ? ) you get ads targted specifically to you.
And they track this information for years. So if you use the search to go to every site , and they certainly encourage that , doing everything they can to discourage , even hide, the address bar, then they know every site you've visited for years.
Annoying when used simply for advertising purposes.
Bad , if you get accused of any crime at all , since if they keep records, the FBI can supena them. Having a nasty divorce with your wife ? She's accusing you of all sorts of wild things ? They can get a court order to pull those records. Are you of arabic decent ? some random cop in the US says Hmmm... He's probably a muslim , lets see what he's been looking at on the internet ...
I have a friend , well an aquantence...when I mention this he says "thats what you get for surfing kiddy porn sites". I also have a brother who went through a really nasty divorce. We're talking bad, the wife just invents things off the top of her head , pretended to be deaf in court (she's not) , the whole nine yards. If google had been doing this kind of thing at the time of the divorce , you can bet she'd have had someone go through the records to look for anything incriminating.
I grant you google just wants to make a profit, they're not interested in creating a totalitarian state. But in the persuit of the all mighty buck , they are running us all down that road.
The Desktop search is a search bar located on your desk top. What does it mean ? It means when you do a search they can identify YOU PERSONALLY because it makes you fill out all these forms and such. Now every time you do a search it's recorded and locked to you , instead of just being a random search in the vast mix of random searches. Now when you visit google or some google owned site (Didi I mention Google just bought doubleclick.com , the largest internet advertiser about and they're on almost every single web page everywhere ? ) you get ads targted specifically to you.
And they track this information for years. So if you use the search to go to every site , and they certainly encourage that , doing everything they can to discourage , even hide, the address bar, then they know every site you've visited for years.
Annoying when used simply for advertising purposes.
Bad , if you get accused of any crime at all , since if they keep records, the FBI can supena them. Having a nasty divorce with your wife ? She's accusing you of all sorts of wild things ? They can get a court order to pull those records. Are you of arabic decent ? some random cop in the US says Hmmm... He's probably a muslim , lets see what he's been looking at on the internet ...
I have a friend , well an aquantence...when I mention this he says "thats what you get for surfing kiddy porn sites". I also have a brother who went through a really nasty divorce. We're talking bad, the wife just invents things off the top of her head , pretended to be deaf in court (she's not) , the whole nine yards. If google had been doing this kind of thing at the time of the divorce , you can bet she'd have had someone go through the records to look for anything incriminating.
I grant you google just wants to make a profit, they're not interested in creating a totalitarian state. But in the persuit of the all mighty buck , they are running us all down that road.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Dollar Store Investigation
I visit the dollar store frequently , and buy stuff, of course. How can you not buy stuff ,it's only a buck for something. Or less.
Intersting question. Has technology made our life easier by manufacturing goods cheaply for us ?
Where else would you find such cheap goods, than a dollar store ?
Glasses and dishes : no frills no nonsense , they work good. Any cracked ones you just leave on the shelf.
Plastic containers. : works great !
Spill proof coffee mug : not so spill proof. Leaked coffee onto my shirt the first time I used it. Dropped it into the trash quick.
Delicate screw driver set : Suitable for fixing glasses. Works great !
Towels and Hand Cloths : work great !
Electrical extension cord : Came pre-broken out of the box. Never did see it work. Tossed it.
Ear Bud head phones for my mp3 player : tinny and hard to hear. Tossed them.
Blank Note Books : The pages usually fall out. Toss.
Pens : I'm Batting 4 out of 5 were broken. Current set works, previous four never did write.
Music CD Christmas Tunes : Sounded like someone programmed a computer to play those tunes. The CD technically worked, but it was actually painful to listen to the ... sounds, I hesitate to call it music. And there was no musician listed, apparently the "artist" declined to take the credit / blame for this. Tossed
Watch : Attempted to set the time. Watch promptly broke and never worked again. Tossed.
Wait ! I am seeing a pattern emerge !
If it's simple, a pot , a pan , a plate, a cup , a towel , etc, it works very well from the dollar store.
If it has moving parts (pen , notebook , any electronics, etc) it probably doesn't work.
Interesting pattern. :)
Intersting question. Has technology made our life easier by manufacturing goods cheaply for us ?
Where else would you find such cheap goods, than a dollar store ?
Glasses and dishes : no frills no nonsense , they work good. Any cracked ones you just leave on the shelf.
Plastic containers. : works great !
Spill proof coffee mug : not so spill proof. Leaked coffee onto my shirt the first time I used it. Dropped it into the trash quick.
Delicate screw driver set : Suitable for fixing glasses. Works great !
Towels and Hand Cloths : work great !
Electrical extension cord : Came pre-broken out of the box. Never did see it work. Tossed it.
Ear Bud head phones for my mp3 player : tinny and hard to hear. Tossed them.
Blank Note Books : The pages usually fall out. Toss.
Pens : I'm Batting 4 out of 5 were broken. Current set works, previous four never did write.
Music CD Christmas Tunes : Sounded like someone programmed a computer to play those tunes. The CD technically worked, but it was actually painful to listen to the ... sounds, I hesitate to call it music. And there was no musician listed, apparently the "artist" declined to take the credit / blame for this. Tossed
Watch : Attempted to set the time. Watch promptly broke and never worked again. Tossed.
Wait ! I am seeing a pattern emerge !
If it's simple, a pot , a pan , a plate, a cup , a towel , etc, it works very well from the dollar store.
If it has moving parts (pen , notebook , any electronics, etc) it probably doesn't work.
Interesting pattern. :)
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Ubuntu Reboot: Jun 26
Ubuntu machine got slow and laggy. Hadn't actually crashed, but everything was taking too long.
Cold booted it. (that means turn it off , unplug the power for five seconds, plug it back in turn it on). Works great now.
30 days between reboots. And thats using the machine. Constantly playing music, me and my wife taking turns surfing on it, writing blog entries, working on my novel...you know...getting milage out of it rather than just turning it on , running one program , and walking away.
Beat that , Microsoft !
:)
Cold booted it. (that means turn it off , unplug the power for five seconds, plug it back in turn it on). Works great now.
30 days between reboots. And thats using the machine. Constantly playing music, me and my wife taking turns surfing on it, writing blog entries, working on my novel...you know...getting milage out of it rather than just turning it on , running one program , and walking away.
Beat that , Microsoft !
:)
Thursday, June 21, 2007
"We Want to Know how a Group Reacts en Route to Mars
Article
You know, that is a fascinating question. 520 days in isolation to get to mars. Uh huh.
But what about the trip back ?
Oh we don't care about that , they can all go crazy and kill themselves at that point , we'll have gotten what we want out of them.
lol !!!!!
It makes you wonder , sometimes. :)
You know, that is a fascinating question. 520 days in isolation to get to mars. Uh huh.
But what about the trip back ?
Oh we don't care about that , they can all go crazy and kill themselves at that point , we'll have gotten what we want out of them.
lol !!!!!
It makes you wonder , sometimes. :)
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
£80,000 reward to 'execute' Rushdie as knighthood row escalates
Article
The international row over Salman Rushdie's knighthood escalated after Islamic extremists placed a £80,000 bounty on the writer's head.
"Salman Rushdie has turned into a hated corpse which cannot be resurrected by any action," Mohammad Reza Bahonar, first deputy speaker of Iran's parliament, said in an address to the house.
"This is an occasion for the world's 1.5billion Muslims to look at the seriousness of this decision," said Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq, Pakistan's religious affairs minister.
"The West is accusing Muslims of extremism and terrorism," he told his country's parliament.
"If someone exploded a bomb on his body he would be right to do so, unless the British government apologises and withdraws the 'sir' title."
Ok. Lets Review.
The muslim world, or at least several muslim countries (Iran ,Pakistan) have decided to attempt to interfere in the internal activities of a nation (great britain) , to wit the british government in dealing with a british citizen.
An official of the Pakistan government openly advocates a car bomb be planted by the british parliment. (Inciting terrorism)
This is not the first time the Muslims have gotten angry at the internal affairs of other nations. Remember that dutch cartoonist with his ill thought out cartoon ?
One might pass it over as just another cartoon issue , but it is not. Why ? Relates to critism. Are you aloud to coldly analyze a religious work and come to your own conclusions, as Rushdie did when he wrote his novel (never mind what the conclusion was, thats irrelevent) , or are the priests of that religion the only ones allowed to do that ?
My answer is yes, you should be allowed to read it and come to your own conclusions, even if those conclusions differ from that of the priests.
The Muslim conclusion is No , and since you disagree with me I'm going to kill you now.
Conversion by the sword went out of style a long time ago. Those who attempt it are quite rightly put down , violently if need be. People will beilieve what they choose to believe , and if you pull out a weapon and try to change their mind by force, it will be you on the receiving end of the force.
In the end , this is a sad statement to the strength , or lack of , of the teachings of the Koran. That they are so weak that they must be backed up by force, lest people disreguard it. Perhaps the Imans realize this , and realize that if they ever lose their grip of terror and threats and executions on their population of slaves, I mean worshippers, they'll lose it all, and islam will vanish in a puff of smoke as people abandon it en mass.
Or perhaps they should trust in their prophet , and quit polluting his work with their own narrow short sighted immediate goals that do more damage to their own religion than all the western nations combined. Perhaps if they actually cared for their religion as if it were some kind of holy work , instead of looking at it as if it were a club useful only for beating people with , it wouldn't get villified so often by the people you're hitting with it.
The international row over Salman Rushdie's knighthood escalated after Islamic extremists placed a £80,000 bounty on the writer's head.
"Salman Rushdie has turned into a hated corpse which cannot be resurrected by any action," Mohammad Reza Bahonar, first deputy speaker of Iran's parliament, said in an address to the house.
"This is an occasion for the world's 1.5billion Muslims to look at the seriousness of this decision," said Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq, Pakistan's religious affairs minister.
"The West is accusing Muslims of extremism and terrorism," he told his country's parliament.
"If someone exploded a bomb on his body he would be right to do so, unless the British government apologises and withdraws the 'sir' title."
Ok. Lets Review.
The muslim world, or at least several muslim countries (Iran ,Pakistan) have decided to attempt to interfere in the internal activities of a nation (great britain) , to wit the british government in dealing with a british citizen.
An official of the Pakistan government openly advocates a car bomb be planted by the british parliment. (Inciting terrorism)
This is not the first time the Muslims have gotten angry at the internal affairs of other nations. Remember that dutch cartoonist with his ill thought out cartoon ?
One might pass it over as just another cartoon issue , but it is not. Why ? Relates to critism. Are you aloud to coldly analyze a religious work and come to your own conclusions, as Rushdie did when he wrote his novel (never mind what the conclusion was, thats irrelevent) , or are the priests of that religion the only ones allowed to do that ?
My answer is yes, you should be allowed to read it and come to your own conclusions, even if those conclusions differ from that of the priests.
The Muslim conclusion is No , and since you disagree with me I'm going to kill you now.
Conversion by the sword went out of style a long time ago. Those who attempt it are quite rightly put down , violently if need be. People will beilieve what they choose to believe , and if you pull out a weapon and try to change their mind by force, it will be you on the receiving end of the force.
In the end , this is a sad statement to the strength , or lack of , of the teachings of the Koran. That they are so weak that they must be backed up by force, lest people disreguard it. Perhaps the Imans realize this , and realize that if they ever lose their grip of terror and threats and executions on their population of slaves, I mean worshippers, they'll lose it all, and islam will vanish in a puff of smoke as people abandon it en mass.
Or perhaps they should trust in their prophet , and quit polluting his work with their own narrow short sighted immediate goals that do more damage to their own religion than all the western nations combined. Perhaps if they actually cared for their religion as if it were some kind of holy work , instead of looking at it as if it were a club useful only for beating people with , it wouldn't get villified so often by the people you're hitting with it.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Norton Personal Firewall
Article = None , personal experience
The windows fire wall has a habit of letting through who it wants , and you have no way to stop that. Thus I download "coffee cup FTP" and it gives me annoying ad's and contacts the internet and the fire wall won't stop it. If it accidently blocks something I can enter it in an exception list and it will be allowed through. But if it lets through something I think it shouldn't ...too bad. Microsoft obviously believes it's perfect and gives you no way to alter that.
So I decide , well , my ISP gives me a free version of norton , I'll install just the fire wall part and nothing else and see how it goes.
Install went ok, I was able to select the fire wall. Updating the fire wall sucked. Five minutes of waiting with no progress bar or hint anything was happening. No wonder you get a lot of bad installs of norton , people think their computer has crashed and reboot in the middle !
It insisted you turn on Windows updates.
- Sorry. But Billy Boy Gates abused the windows update feature way too much, forcing too much down your throat as an emergancy patch. What exactly is the "emergancy" for forcing everyone onto internet explorer seven ? Do you know how many calls we had for that when they pulled that stunt ? My Windows Updates stays off permanetly thanks.
It lets an unauthorized user update windows.
- Switched to my wifes account. The icon blinked annoyingly at the bottom right and while the "fix now" button wasn't there (she's not an admin) It did let her go to the update page to do whatever harm she could there.
It updated the google search bar with no warnings
- while logged in as a sub user with limited rights no less. I hate the google search bar and didnt' even want it in the first place, let alone let the google gang now run whatever programs they like by "updating" their unwanted search bar whenever they like.
There's no way to turn off the alerts on that annoying icon at the bottom right.
- I know what I'm doing. But it doesn't beleive me. Do things it's way or else. And the "fix now button" doesn't tell you what it does. If anyones logged onto the computer as administrator they just press the button and the blinking goes away , and anything you did that Norton disagree's with ? Now undone. And no warnings. And in the case of windows updates , no way to fix it once it's let billy boy gates hijack your computer and run it his way instead of yours.
I did a search on google for "Norton Removal Tool" and d/l'd it (normally norton demands you pay 75$ on your credit card to give you the url , there's no link to it on their site) and removed it.
I'll run my computer my way , thanks. You don't permit that ? I don't want you.
The windows fire wall has a habit of letting through who it wants , and you have no way to stop that. Thus I download "coffee cup FTP" and it gives me annoying ad's and contacts the internet and the fire wall won't stop it. If it accidently blocks something I can enter it in an exception list and it will be allowed through. But if it lets through something I think it shouldn't ...too bad. Microsoft obviously believes it's perfect and gives you no way to alter that.
So I decide , well , my ISP gives me a free version of norton , I'll install just the fire wall part and nothing else and see how it goes.
Install went ok, I was able to select the fire wall. Updating the fire wall sucked. Five minutes of waiting with no progress bar or hint anything was happening. No wonder you get a lot of bad installs of norton , people think their computer has crashed and reboot in the middle !
It insisted you turn on Windows updates.
- Sorry. But Billy Boy Gates abused the windows update feature way too much, forcing too much down your throat as an emergancy patch. What exactly is the "emergancy" for forcing everyone onto internet explorer seven ? Do you know how many calls we had for that when they pulled that stunt ? My Windows Updates stays off permanetly thanks.
It lets an unauthorized user update windows.
- Switched to my wifes account. The icon blinked annoyingly at the bottom right and while the "fix now" button wasn't there (she's not an admin) It did let her go to the update page to do whatever harm she could there.
It updated the google search bar with no warnings
- while logged in as a sub user with limited rights no less. I hate the google search bar and didnt' even want it in the first place, let alone let the google gang now run whatever programs they like by "updating" their unwanted search bar whenever they like.
There's no way to turn off the alerts on that annoying icon at the bottom right.
- I know what I'm doing. But it doesn't beleive me. Do things it's way or else. And the "fix now button" doesn't tell you what it does. If anyones logged onto the computer as administrator they just press the button and the blinking goes away , and anything you did that Norton disagree's with ? Now undone. And no warnings. And in the case of windows updates , no way to fix it once it's let billy boy gates hijack your computer and run it his way instead of yours.
I did a search on google for "Norton Removal Tool" and d/l'd it (normally norton demands you pay 75$ on your credit card to give you the url , there's no link to it on their site) and removed it.
I'll run my computer my way , thanks. You don't permit that ? I don't want you.
You can't fool them all the time
Venezuela Launches Sale of "Bolivarian" Computers
Mérida, June 12, 2007 (venezuelanalysis.com)— The Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chavez announced the launch of their "Bolivarian Computers" last week, consisting of four different models produced in Venezuela with Chinese technology. The new computers will run the open-source Linux operating system and will first be used inside the government "missions" and state companies and institutions but eventually are expected to be sold across Venezuela and Latin America.
You can only tell people so many times that yes , Windows is a magnet for virii and other malware , before they decide to stop buying windows computers.
You can only put a copy of norton on a computer , for free , once , and then have it lock the computer for not upgrading to a paid license , call norton and have your credit card ready thats 75$ US for this call , to uninstall their "free free free how can you say no to free !" software that you didn't even want in the first place.
You can only have people pay for a fire wall once, and then have their children bypass it and download malware anyways , and wreck the computer, before they decide a windows machine is too expensive for them.
People will only cart a machine to the computer tech once, take it home , and have their daughter instantly infect it again five minutes after it's been plugged in , before they decide to just let the thing die and not replace it.
You only get to flaunt the rules of standing western governments once (maybe twice) before they decide to find an alternative to your product.
You only get to charge double or triple what that old clunker is worth, once , for an operating system that won't even run on it , and you stopped selling older versions that do run on it , before they start looking around for alternative operating systems.
When you muscle people out of the market , and decide they're not allowed to buy your product except at ruinous prices because you've decided you want to sink their businesses... they will look for an alternative.
You can only load up a computer with crap ware and turn it into your personal aggressive , even down right hostile , salesman , and then sell it to them , once ... before they decide never ever to deal with you again.
Microsoft has spent decades positioning itself to dominate everything , and is now enjoying the payoff. But the payoff does not go on forever, it only goes on until people shift over to something else. It only goes on until they realize they can build something from scratch that does the job they need done for a heck of a lot cheaper than Microsoft is strangling you for.
And then microsoft goes belly up. Because it is no longer trusted. Because no matter what it does from now on , it has made it's bed and now it must lie in it.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
This is a mugging.. Gimme da money !
Sask. will sue over equalization: Calvert
Ok. The Canadian Taxpayer gets about 2500$ more or less from the government , in terms of hospitals, roads, law inforcement , all the infrastructure stuff, if you add it all up and divide by the number of people in a particular province.
Except that it turns out Ontario and Quebec get more than that , because they're fairly affluent , rich provences. And Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia spend considerably less than that , because they're poor and have little source of income.
In order to balance this out , the federal government decided it would take some money from the rich provinces and give it to the poor , and everyone would get about the same level of hospitals and police and roads and schools and other infrastructure stuff.
Ding ! Oil discovered in Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan. Suddenly they're rich and have more money than Ontario and Quebec.
So the federal government decides they dont' need the equalization payments anymore. Because it's not equil , you're now taking money from provinces that have less than you (ontario and quebec) and giving to provinces that have more (Nova Scotia and Saskatchwan)
Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan's response ?
YOU CAN'T DO THAT WE'RE GONNA SUE YOU PROMISED BLAH BLAH BLAH ...
This is amugging. Gimme the money. We don't care that we're now richer than you. Pay up. Or else !
The Saskatchewan government will also argue the constitutional principle that natural resources belong to the people of Saskatchewan and the current equalization program violates that principle.
THAT OIL IS OURS ! YOU CAN'T TOUCH IT ! WE SHOULD COUNT AS BEING POOR BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO INCLUDE IT IN OUR INCOME !
Huh ? If I told the feds I was working under the table for 20k a year I don't think they'd buy the argument that that money is mine and they can't touch it.
There is another interesting point in this debate. And that is the role of bloggers.
If you examine the news articles on this matter, most of them make the federal government out to be bandits who are ripping off Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan some how. Only when some blogger digs deeper into the issue and figures out whats really going on do you realize it is in fact the reverse.
So the "proffessional Journalist" , although he's not technically lying , is leaving you with an impressino that he knows to be false, and the blogger is giving you the real low down on the situation.
And there are lots of proffesionals out there calling us bloggers amatures and we are a bane to the existance of the internet etc etc.
Let me respond to that accusation.
"Proffesional Paid Journalists" are highly slanted, have to be careful of who's toes they step on (or they get fired) and often get political views handed down from high for them to write on , and the old "do as your paid to do or I fire you " now kicks into place.
Bloggers have no such influences over them.
No where is this "proffesionalism" more obvious than in the string of articles about these equalization payments on the cbc.ca news site. I must put it to you that "professional paid journalists" cannot escape a slanted point of view, they must always be mindful of where the money is coming from to pay the rent , lest it be cut off. Yes I know, every editor in the world denies this. But the results speak otherwise. And it is the editors giving these journalists their marching orders.
Ok. The Canadian Taxpayer gets about 2500$ more or less from the government , in terms of hospitals, roads, law inforcement , all the infrastructure stuff, if you add it all up and divide by the number of people in a particular province.
Except that it turns out Ontario and Quebec get more than that , because they're fairly affluent , rich provences. And Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia spend considerably less than that , because they're poor and have little source of income.
In order to balance this out , the federal government decided it would take some money from the rich provinces and give it to the poor , and everyone would get about the same level of hospitals and police and roads and schools and other infrastructure stuff.
Ding ! Oil discovered in Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan. Suddenly they're rich and have more money than Ontario and Quebec.
So the federal government decides they dont' need the equalization payments anymore. Because it's not equil , you're now taking money from provinces that have less than you (ontario and quebec) and giving to provinces that have more (Nova Scotia and Saskatchwan)
Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan's response ?
YOU CAN'T DO THAT WE'RE GONNA SUE YOU PROMISED BLAH BLAH BLAH ...
This is amugging. Gimme the money. We don't care that we're now richer than you. Pay up. Or else !
The Saskatchewan government will also argue the constitutional principle that natural resources belong to the people of Saskatchewan and the current equalization program violates that principle.
THAT OIL IS OURS ! YOU CAN'T TOUCH IT ! WE SHOULD COUNT AS BEING POOR BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO INCLUDE IT IN OUR INCOME !
Huh ? If I told the feds I was working under the table for 20k a year I don't think they'd buy the argument that that money is mine and they can't touch it.
There is another interesting point in this debate. And that is the role of bloggers.
If you examine the news articles on this matter, most of them make the federal government out to be bandits who are ripping off Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan some how. Only when some blogger digs deeper into the issue and figures out whats really going on do you realize it is in fact the reverse.
So the "proffessional Journalist" , although he's not technically lying , is leaving you with an impressino that he knows to be false, and the blogger is giving you the real low down on the situation.
And there are lots of proffesionals out there calling us bloggers amatures and we are a bane to the existance of the internet etc etc.
Let me respond to that accusation.
"Proffesional Paid Journalists" are highly slanted, have to be careful of who's toes they step on (or they get fired) and often get political views handed down from high for them to write on , and the old "do as your paid to do or I fire you " now kicks into place.
Bloggers have no such influences over them.
No where is this "proffesionalism" more obvious than in the string of articles about these equalization payments on the cbc.ca news site. I must put it to you that "professional paid journalists" cannot escape a slanted point of view, they must always be mindful of where the money is coming from to pay the rent , lest it be cut off. Yes I know, every editor in the world denies this. But the results speak otherwise. And it is the editors giving these journalists their marching orders.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Dell's Ubuntu's
Article
Ha ha . Have I got news for you !
The base price for the E520n and E1505n notebook is $599 while the base price for the XPS 410n is $849. When you compare the prices to comparable systems running Windows Vista Home Premium, the difference in price is $50. But dig a little deeper and that $50 doesn’t seem like much at all, considering what you get
$50 + near immunity to malware + no pre-installed crap-ware + no norton anti-v shutting down your internet connection because you didn't buy it's 30 day free trial. A machine that just works, and doesn't catch malware, and saves you 50$. Anyone who's bought a computer in the last few years and been burned by that junk will probably love it.
How many times do I get a call from someone with no internet connection , to find they uninstalled norton and it locked down their connection , basically spitting on them for not buying their "free free free ! It's free ! How can you say no to free ! " 30 day trial version.
How long did I slave over my machine to remove mcaffery instead of pay them for their non-free tech support call to get rid of it from my machine ?
How often do I get calls from AOL users complaining about their AOL software , and all I do is walk them through uninstalling it and suddenly their computer works fine ?
How many times to I have to walk people through downloading and installing fire fox with a clumsy , barely operational bloated and spyware riddled internet explorer , and have them exclaim "wow..this is as fast as the internet was when I first got the service !" before they learn ?
How many times to I have to hear "My windows crashed" and then count the days that my Linux / Ubuntu box has been running with no crashes (16 as of this moment ..still playing the tunes ! Still running !, oh and I'm making this blog entry on it )
How many times do they ask me how do get rid of all those annoying icon's on their desk top , the free this and that that really isn't so free, and I think about my Ubuntu machine that when I first installed it had like zero such icon's on it. And now has only those icon's I chose to add.
How many times do I hear about "STOP ! Your machine has been infected ! Go to this web site to purchase a registry cleaner for safer operatioh, have your credit card ready !" and have to explain a)You're not infected, that's the Windows Messanger Service some spammer hijacked, it's actually part of windows , and b) don't buy that junk. it's actually mal-ware that *WILL* infect your computer , not to mention take your money and run.
And then recall that that can't happen on Ubuntu.
You save a heck of a lot more money than 50$ when you switch to linux. You just don't see it all in one pile , thats all.
Why the Dell/Ubuntu Deal Won't Improve Linux's Market Share
Ha ha . Have I got news for you !
The base price for the E520n and E1505n notebook is $599 while the base price for the XPS 410n is $849. When you compare the prices to comparable systems running Windows Vista Home Premium, the difference in price is $50. But dig a little deeper and that $50 doesn’t seem like much at all, considering what you get
$50 + near immunity to malware + no pre-installed crap-ware + no norton anti-v shutting down your internet connection because you didn't buy it's 30 day free trial. A machine that just works, and doesn't catch malware, and saves you 50$. Anyone who's bought a computer in the last few years and been burned by that junk will probably love it.
How many times do I get a call from someone with no internet connection , to find they uninstalled norton and it locked down their connection , basically spitting on them for not buying their "free free free ! It's free ! How can you say no to free ! " 30 day trial version.
How long did I slave over my machine to remove mcaffery instead of pay them for their non-free tech support call to get rid of it from my machine ?
How often do I get calls from AOL users complaining about their AOL software , and all I do is walk them through uninstalling it and suddenly their computer works fine ?
How many times to I have to walk people through downloading and installing fire fox with a clumsy , barely operational bloated and spyware riddled internet explorer , and have them exclaim "wow..this is as fast as the internet was when I first got the service !" before they learn ?
How many times to I have to hear "My windows crashed" and then count the days that my Linux / Ubuntu box has been running with no crashes (16 as of this moment ..still playing the tunes ! Still running !, oh and I'm making this blog entry on it )
How many times do they ask me how do get rid of all those annoying icon's on their desk top , the free this and that that really isn't so free, and I think about my Ubuntu machine that when I first installed it had like zero such icon's on it. And now has only those icon's I chose to add.
How many times do I hear about "STOP ! Your machine has been infected ! Go to this web site to purchase a registry cleaner for safer operatioh, have your credit card ready !" and have to explain a)You're not infected, that's the Windows Messanger Service some spammer hijacked, it's actually part of windows , and b) don't buy that junk. it's actually mal-ware that *WILL* infect your computer , not to mention take your money and run.
And then recall that that can't happen on Ubuntu.
You save a heck of a lot more money than 50$ when you switch to linux. You just don't see it all in one pile , thats all.
Another Browser
Article
Apple's surprise announcement of a Windows version of Safari has led to inevitable questions about its motives in reigniting the browser war.
Don't care. More competition = better for consumers.
Anyone downloading the free browser can choose to have it bundled with Apple's video software QuickTime or its Bonjour service, which is designed to make home networking simpler.
"Potentially Apple could be using it as a distribution channel for new software," said Mr Fogg.
There is also a potential revenue stream coming to Apple from having a wider Safari user-base.
Safari, in common with other browsers, earns money for Apple every time a user searches Google via the integrated search button on the browser's toolbar.
Google pays a share of ad revenue to Apple. According to one report, Firefox's developer the Mozilla Foundation earned over $50m in search engine ad revenue in 2005, mostly from Google.
Didn't cost me a dime . Don't care again !
"I don't see it as a betrayal of all things Mac. Windows users are desperate for Apple to provide some decent software," he said.
Up until now, Safari has captured just 5% of the browser market, while Microsoft's Internet Explorer accounts for 78%, and rival Firefox 15%.
Obviously some people do or you wouldn't be saying that. But I'm not a big mac fan so I don't much care. I think it's a good thing.
78+15+5=98 ...wonder what the other 2% of the browsers are ?
Oh , there was a different article ( I don't have the link) that basically piddled all over Safari and said it sucked. Well...still don't care. Next version of Safari will be improved to compete , or it will roll over and die. Either way , we the consumer win.
Apple's surprise announcement of a Windows version of Safari has led to inevitable questions about its motives in reigniting the browser war.
Don't care. More competition = better for consumers.
Anyone downloading the free browser can choose to have it bundled with Apple's video software QuickTime or its Bonjour service, which is designed to make home networking simpler.
"Potentially Apple could be using it as a distribution channel for new software," said Mr Fogg.
There is also a potential revenue stream coming to Apple from having a wider Safari user-base.
Safari, in common with other browsers, earns money for Apple every time a user searches Google via the integrated search button on the browser's toolbar.
Google pays a share of ad revenue to Apple. According to one report, Firefox's developer the Mozilla Foundation earned over $50m in search engine ad revenue in 2005, mostly from Google.
Didn't cost me a dime . Don't care again !
"I don't see it as a betrayal of all things Mac. Windows users are desperate for Apple to provide some decent software," he said.
Up until now, Safari has captured just 5% of the browser market, while Microsoft's Internet Explorer accounts for 78%, and rival Firefox 15%.
Obviously some people do or you wouldn't be saying that. But I'm not a big mac fan so I don't much care. I think it's a good thing.
78+15+5=98 ...wonder what the other 2% of the browsers are ?
Oh , there was a different article ( I don't have the link) that basically piddled all over Safari and said it sucked. Well...still don't care. Next version of Safari will be improved to compete , or it will roll over and die. Either way , we the consumer win.
No , you can't read the news article, only the ad
Article
Click on the link above and take at look at the news article. Expspecially if you're on Fire Fox.
What do you see ?
A big honking AT&T ad. It doesn't go away. It doesn't have a close button. It covers half the news article I'm trying to read. You click on it and it nicely pops up a survey. But the ad still doesn't close.
Apparently , we have reached the point where suffering through reading the ad's no longer gets you to the news article in question. Now, you are simply tricked into coming to the page and denied access to the news article completely.
This is a new low for advertising. Soon I will start building a black list of sites never to go to because they pull such stunts, and so it's pointless. I'm not going to get to read the article anyways , am I ?
(edit)
It was the wired news site on my home page. I tried a different article from the same site. Same flipping ad covering most of the next and not going away. Removed the wired site from my home page. I suppose I could whine and threaten , but they never listen to us little guys anyways. I'll live with a simple "it wastes my time and doesn't let me read the articles anyways" .
(edit2)
Switched to my windows xp box and internet explorer 7.
It's even more annoying , it runs a full movie , pops up a window to the survey when you click on it , and STILL won't close ! .
I actually got of light being on fire fox. Windows users really get the shaft on this deal.
Click on the link above and take at look at the news article. Expspecially if you're on Fire Fox.
What do you see ?
A big honking AT&T ad. It doesn't go away. It doesn't have a close button. It covers half the news article I'm trying to read. You click on it and it nicely pops up a survey. But the ad still doesn't close.
Apparently , we have reached the point where suffering through reading the ad's no longer gets you to the news article in question. Now, you are simply tricked into coming to the page and denied access to the news article completely.
This is a new low for advertising. Soon I will start building a black list of sites never to go to because they pull such stunts, and so it's pointless. I'm not going to get to read the article anyways , am I ?
(edit)
It was the wired news site on my home page. I tried a different article from the same site. Same flipping ad covering most of the next and not going away. Removed the wired site from my home page. I suppose I could whine and threaten , but they never listen to us little guys anyways. I'll live with a simple "it wastes my time and doesn't let me read the articles anyways" .
(edit2)
Switched to my windows xp box and internet explorer 7.
It's even more annoying , it runs a full movie , pops up a window to the survey when you click on it , and STILL won't close ! .
I actually got of light being on fire fox. Windows users really get the shaft on this deal.
Monday, June 11, 2007
OpenOffice Worm Hits Mac, Linux and Windows
Article
"Malware targeting OpenOffice documents is spreading through multiple operating systems including Mac OS, Windows and Linux, according to Symantec.
"According to the Symantec Security Response website, the worm is capable of infecting multiple operating system platforms and is spreading..."
Congradulations to the Developers of OpenOffice on their decision to copy Visual Basic (ie: rip it off from microsoft) so as to give people the same look and feel as Microsoft Office, one of the worlds most macro-virus prone office products. I'm sure that decision is looking VERY pretty right now.
*peels of echoing laughter*
Sincerely : An Abiword / Gnumeric user.
:)
"Malware targeting OpenOffice documents is spreading through multiple operating systems including Mac OS, Windows and Linux, according to Symantec.
"According to the Symantec Security Response website, the worm is capable of infecting multiple operating system platforms and is spreading..."
Congradulations to the Developers of OpenOffice on their decision to copy Visual Basic (ie: rip it off from microsoft) so as to give people the same look and feel as Microsoft Office, one of the worlds most macro-virus prone office products. I'm sure that decision is looking VERY pretty right now.
*peels of echoing laughter*
Sincerely : An Abiword / Gnumeric user.
:)
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Amnesty International : A Terrorists Best Friend
Article
The latest revelation could boost a legal challenge by Amnesty International and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which have applied to Federal Court for an injunction to halt the transfers.
They argue that Canada could find itself complicit in torture if it knowingly hands prisoners over to authorities who will abuse them.
Ok ok. So you pick these people up on the battle field , they've been shooting at you , they probably still have the guns in their hands. And theyve been coached to claim "ABUSE ABUSE ! " if they get captured.
And they have been terrorizing the local population (read that "randomly killing civilians and generally going on a murderous rampage").
And what does Amnesty International have to say about this ?
Give them some cookies and milk and send them home.
And what about the people they killed ?
Too bad. Amnesty for the living. The dead are gone.
And the soldiers they attacked ?
Soldiers are evil and deserve it.
But they themselves are soldiers !
Amnesty International makes no sense, unless you really think about it.
Then you realize they're providing material support to every criminal and terrorist in the world. We should be arresting these jokers and throwing them in the slammer, not pandering to them.
The latest revelation could boost a legal challenge by Amnesty International and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which have applied to Federal Court for an injunction to halt the transfers.
They argue that Canada could find itself complicit in torture if it knowingly hands prisoners over to authorities who will abuse them.
Ok ok. So you pick these people up on the battle field , they've been shooting at you , they probably still have the guns in their hands. And theyve been coached to claim "ABUSE ABUSE ! " if they get captured.
And they have been terrorizing the local population (read that "randomly killing civilians and generally going on a murderous rampage").
And what does Amnesty International have to say about this ?
Give them some cookies and milk and send them home.
And what about the people they killed ?
Too bad. Amnesty for the living. The dead are gone.
And the soldiers they attacked ?
Soldiers are evil and deserve it.
But they themselves are soldiers !
Amnesty International makes no sense, unless you really think about it.
Then you realize they're providing material support to every criminal and terrorist in the world. We should be arresting these jokers and throwing them in the slammer, not pandering to them.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Guest Computer
Work had a sale on old computers. Pentium III , 256m ram , 10g hard drive. Only 40$ not a bad deal.
No keyboard monitor or mouse, but have an old computer at home that's junk , I can get them off of it.
Get it home (add 10$ for a taxi ) set it up. Won't boot.
Reformat into Ubuntu. Hangs on partitioning. I hate that.
Reformat into Win2000 , I have an old disk. Reformats, hangs at 14%.
Aha. The hard drive is toast. Figures. Work runs these things 24/7 for years, hard drive is usualy the first thing to go when you do that.
It's now got a wireless nic card I bought and a cd rom I looted from another computer (yeah , it didn't have a cd rom either) but no hard drive. I'm looking around.
I'll get this thing running sooner or later , I swear. And under Ubuntu ,not windows.
I swear I'm not putting a "guest" computer in my living room on windows, where every fool can download junk and get it infected at the drop of a hat. IT's gonna be Ubuntu all the way.
No keyboard monitor or mouse, but have an old computer at home that's junk , I can get them off of it.
Get it home (add 10$ for a taxi ) set it up. Won't boot.
Reformat into Ubuntu. Hangs on partitioning. I hate that.
Reformat into Win2000 , I have an old disk. Reformats, hangs at 14%.
Aha. The hard drive is toast. Figures. Work runs these things 24/7 for years, hard drive is usualy the first thing to go when you do that.
It's now got a wireless nic card I bought and a cd rom I looted from another computer (yeah , it didn't have a cd rom either) but no hard drive. I'm looking around.
I'll get this thing running sooner or later , I swear. And under Ubuntu ,not windows.
I swear I'm not putting a "guest" computer in my living room on windows, where every fool can download junk and get it infected at the drop of a hat. IT's gonna be Ubuntu all the way.
Gitmo Prisoners
So... what do we do about all those prisoners in Guantanamo ?
They were caught on the battle field , shooting at our soldiers. Maybe even successfully killing a few.
The nations they come from , like Australia and Canada , pretty much are on the other side of the battle , not just denying involvement but actually providing troops for the opposite side of the war. They certainly don't approve of these people's actions.
In fact no one agree's with their actions. No nation that is , just a religious organization. So what do we do ?
Well...if the relgion is backing them , perhaps we could declare the religion itself an enemey ?
Not gonna work. Can't declare a religion of two billion people (Islam) public enemy number one, sorry.
So the only possible (legal) conclusion is that they are "strays". Terrorists and private individuals with a grudge or ideological convictions.
And what do you do with such strays ? You turn them over to the authorities of the government they were trying to over throw. Even if you know it means they get executed. Give me a break , they were shooting at you !
But the bleeding hearts club seems to think we can't do that (to murderer's caught in the act , red handed) they might get their feelings hurt or something. The bleeding hearts thing these people should be sent home to bed and given some milk and cookies, and we'll just forget about the soldiers and private citizens they murdered in some foriegn land far away.
Can't do that either.
Bush's problem is he's trying to please too many people. He's trying to set up a world court to try these people, and that world court is going to come back and sting him (or at least sting the USA) one day in the future. Just like the Nuremburg trials for the Nazi war crimes routinely does.
He should give it up as a bad job and just turn these prisoners over to the iraqi's and afghans and let them be executed. The kangaroo court he's trying to set up is gonna be nothing but trouble.
They were caught on the battle field , shooting at our soldiers. Maybe even successfully killing a few.
The nations they come from , like Australia and Canada , pretty much are on the other side of the battle , not just denying involvement but actually providing troops for the opposite side of the war. They certainly don't approve of these people's actions.
In fact no one agree's with their actions. No nation that is , just a religious organization. So what do we do ?
Well...if the relgion is backing them , perhaps we could declare the religion itself an enemey ?
Not gonna work. Can't declare a religion of two billion people (Islam) public enemy number one, sorry.
So the only possible (legal) conclusion is that they are "strays". Terrorists and private individuals with a grudge or ideological convictions.
And what do you do with such strays ? You turn them over to the authorities of the government they were trying to over throw. Even if you know it means they get executed. Give me a break , they were shooting at you !
But the bleeding hearts club seems to think we can't do that (to murderer's caught in the act , red handed) they might get their feelings hurt or something. The bleeding hearts thing these people should be sent home to bed and given some milk and cookies, and we'll just forget about the soldiers and private citizens they murdered in some foriegn land far away.
Can't do that either.
Bush's problem is he's trying to please too many people. He's trying to set up a world court to try these people, and that world court is going to come back and sting him (or at least sting the USA) one day in the future. Just like the Nuremburg trials for the Nazi war crimes routinely does.
He should give it up as a bad job and just turn these prisoners over to the iraqi's and afghans and let them be executed. The kangaroo court he's trying to set up is gonna be nothing but trouble.
A day at the Open Source Business Conference
Article
There was a session, led by Larry Augustin, on "downloads to dollars" - how to start making money once you have people actually downloading your software. Much talk on how to extract information from downloaders which can be used to "open a dialog" with them. When is the proper point to start requiring registration, with a valid email address, to download a software tarball? It was suggested that the source download is really the same thing as the free trial offerings from some proprietary vendors, with the same end: to lead to the "monetization" phase...
Much worry goes into trying to figure out just when it might be permissible to ship proprietary components with free software
Why ?
Why is open source dealing with these people ?
A bunch of private individuals writing code and giving it away for free. Suddenly these companies are stepping in and discussing ways to cash in on work they didn't do. Trying to figure ways around the licensing agreement written up by the legitimate owners. In any other human endeavor that would be considered theft.
Open source is all about giving stuff away to humanity for free.
These guys are all about locking it down , patenting it, and making a buck.
The two do not mix, they have fundimental ideological differences.
I'm having difficulty viewing these "Open Source Companies" as anything except parasites upon the open source community of developers.
There was a session, led by Larry Augustin, on "downloads to dollars" - how to start making money once you have people actually downloading your software. Much talk on how to extract information from downloaders which can be used to "open a dialog" with them. When is the proper point to start requiring registration, with a valid email address, to download a software tarball? It was suggested that the source download is really the same thing as the free trial offerings from some proprietary vendors, with the same end: to lead to the "monetization" phase...
Much worry goes into trying to figure out just when it might be permissible to ship proprietary components with free software
Why ?
Why is open source dealing with these people ?
A bunch of private individuals writing code and giving it away for free. Suddenly these companies are stepping in and discussing ways to cash in on work they didn't do. Trying to figure ways around the licensing agreement written up by the legitimate owners. In any other human endeavor that would be considered theft.
Open source is all about giving stuff away to humanity for free.
These guys are all about locking it down , patenting it, and making a buck.
The two do not mix, they have fundimental ideological differences.
I'm having difficulty viewing these "Open Source Companies" as anything except parasites upon the open source community of developers.
Bush to Seek a Bit of Unity With Putin
On the issue of russia threatening nukes.
Article
If russia is so nuke happy , I think we should cut a deal with them. Since Russia is our ally and Iran is not , the deal should read something along the lines of if Iran lobs even a single missile at europe then russia erases Iran from the map.
Now everyone in the west is happy. Europe has no nukes or anti-nuke ability , and needs none. Anyone throwing a nuke at europe gets stone-aged, and russia can actually get some milage out of their existing nukes against someone who's actually hostile to them.
Every one but Iran is happy , that is. Maybe north korea is a little unhappy as well.
Article
If russia is so nuke happy , I think we should cut a deal with them. Since Russia is our ally and Iran is not , the deal should read something along the lines of if Iran lobs even a single missile at europe then russia erases Iran from the map.
Now everyone in the west is happy. Europe has no nukes or anti-nuke ability , and needs none. Anyone throwing a nuke at europe gets stone-aged, and russia can actually get some milage out of their existing nukes against someone who's actually hostile to them.
Every one but Iran is happy , that is. Maybe north korea is a little unhappy as well.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Jun04 Ubuntu Reboot
Had to do some upgrades and patches to Ubuntu , required a reboot.
May 27 - jun 04 : 9 days ... still beats the tar out of windows :)
May 27 - jun 04 : 9 days ... still beats the tar out of windows :)
Saturday, June 02, 2007
WARNING: Windows Rant Ahead
Article
In spite of all these issues, security experts generally feel that the criminal botnets can be beaten without changing the way we use the internet.
Say it together with me brother.
WINDOWS IS EVIL !
Windows, macs , Linux, who catches virii , who becomes part of the bot net ?
WINDOWS !
Windows , macs , Linux , who gets infected by just openning an email ?
WINDOWS !
Windows , Macs , Linux , who gets infected for just viewing a website , not actually pressing any buttons or knowingly downloading anything ?
WINDOWS !
Windows , Macs , Linux , who gets these annoying pop ups , while you're still installing the system ! Informing you you're registry is corrupt and you should visit this site to fix it have your credit card ready ?
WINDOWS !
I just cleaned my brothers system. Reformat , reinstall , the whole nine yards. First thing he did was get his pretty screen saver from the internet , and suddenly , less than two minutes after cleaning his system, he's infected again. What operating system is he running ?
WINDOWS !
What operating system comes with a FREE !!!! 30 day trial version of an anti-virus program (Norton) and when the 30 days runs out it locks your system out of the internet ,and cannot be uninstalled without phoning Norton , who wants $75 per call have your credit card ready please.
WINDOWS !
What operating system comes pre-loaded with a thousand pieces of 30 day trial software that won't easily uninstall , but some of which will happily trash your system if you don't buy it ?
WINDOWS !
What operating system CANNOT be upgraded, because the upgraded version requires so much more hardware than the current machine that the upgrade will run like the dogs breakfast and make you hate it totally ?
WINDOWS ! (ESPECIALLY THE XP TO VISTA upgrade)
What operating system actually gives you less when you get the latest version , simply because it puts such a heavy load on your system it makes your brand new lightning fast system run slower than your old clunker ?
WINDOWS !
Amen , Brother !
In spite of all these issues, security experts generally feel that the criminal botnets can be beaten without changing the way we use the internet.
Say it together with me brother.
WINDOWS IS EVIL !
Windows, macs , Linux, who catches virii , who becomes part of the bot net ?
WINDOWS !
Windows , macs , Linux , who gets infected by just openning an email ?
WINDOWS !
Windows , Macs , Linux , who gets infected for just viewing a website , not actually pressing any buttons or knowingly downloading anything ?
WINDOWS !
Windows , Macs , Linux , who gets these annoying pop ups , while you're still installing the system ! Informing you you're registry is corrupt and you should visit this site to fix it have your credit card ready ?
WINDOWS !
I just cleaned my brothers system. Reformat , reinstall , the whole nine yards. First thing he did was get his pretty screen saver from the internet , and suddenly , less than two minutes after cleaning his system, he's infected again. What operating system is he running ?
WINDOWS !
What operating system comes with a FREE !!!! 30 day trial version of an anti-virus program (Norton) and when the 30 days runs out it locks your system out of the internet ,and cannot be uninstalled without phoning Norton , who wants $75 per call have your credit card ready please.
WINDOWS !
What operating system comes pre-loaded with a thousand pieces of 30 day trial software that won't easily uninstall , but some of which will happily trash your system if you don't buy it ?
WINDOWS !
What operating system CANNOT be upgraded, because the upgraded version requires so much more hardware than the current machine that the upgrade will run like the dogs breakfast and make you hate it totally ?
WINDOWS ! (ESPECIALLY THE XP TO VISTA upgrade)
What operating system actually gives you less when you get the latest version , simply because it puts such a heavy load on your system it makes your brand new lightning fast system run slower than your old clunker ?
WINDOWS !
Amen , Brother !
My Router
Belkin Router. Model number doesn't really matter the security hole is of my own making, not the routers fault.
I set up my router the way we set up the customers router at work. We use a 64 bit wep key , and the key is the mac address(last 10 digits) of the router, which is written on the back or bottom of the router. Works great , can't lose the key without losing the router, and can't steal the key without physically being in the house. Sounds very secure.
Got a call from a windows vista customer the other day to set up their wireless connection. During the process , it seems that windows vista wireless will tell you the Mac address of what it's trying to connect to. The customer actually read to me the mac and I could see on my screen it was the same as the one for the router I was trying to connect her to.
Oh oh.
Got home, checked the security logs on my router. Yup ! Some bugger (only one so far) was bumming a free ride on my router ! (through the router and into my cable modem and voila ! They have free high speed internet at my expense) They'd figured out to put in the mac id as the security key. I changed it immediately.
My goodness. We have so many customers that use the mac id for their security key ... this is going to be a serious problem when this leaks.
I set up my router the way we set up the customers router at work. We use a 64 bit wep key , and the key is the mac address(last 10 digits) of the router, which is written on the back or bottom of the router. Works great , can't lose the key without losing the router, and can't steal the key without physically being in the house. Sounds very secure.
Got a call from a windows vista customer the other day to set up their wireless connection. During the process , it seems that windows vista wireless will tell you the Mac address of what it's trying to connect to. The customer actually read to me the mac and I could see on my screen it was the same as the one for the router I was trying to connect her to.
Oh oh.
Got home, checked the security logs on my router. Yup ! Some bugger (only one so far) was bumming a free ride on my router ! (through the router and into my cable modem and voila ! They have free high speed internet at my expense) They'd figured out to put in the mac id as the security key. I changed it immediately.
My goodness. We have so many customers that use the mac id for their security key ... this is going to be a serious problem when this leaks.
Online crime
Article
Imagine your home computer and a half-million others being secretly commandeered by criminals who use them remotely to send spam e-mails, spread viruses, steal personal information — even crack the codes at credit card companies and banks.
Sound far-fetched? It's already happening. In the past five years, these so-called "zombie" robot networks — or "botnets" — have become the key to most serious internet crimes.
"It's not uncommon for the bad guys to have 50,000 or 100,000 or even half a million computers under their control,
The internet is one big pool. Thats the problem.
Symantec Internet Security says home users are the target of 86 per cent of internet attacks, largely because they are far less likely than corporate users to have effective security measures
Aha. Can you say "WINDOWS !!!!" ?
Any computer that attaches to the internet should always have up-to-date firewalls and anti-virus software in place, for example.
...says symantec.
Can you say "BUY OUR PRODUCT ! BUY OUR PRODUCT !"
This is the biggest security problem of all, actually. These bot nets are a major issue yes, but no one really is intrested in solving them, they're only intrested in continuing to sell you insecure , over priced operating systems , and third rate fire wall / anti virus suites that do little but take your money , foist all the responsibility onto the customer with these pop ups that read "Do you want to allow this program to run or be downloaded ?" and then when the customer is tricked and ifected anyways "It's all your fault. You said YES to that pop up. Phone a PC tech. Thank you for telling us your woes and thats 75$ US on your credit card for calling Norton/Symantec. Thank you for your business. "
And then we get "writers" who go to the very source of the problem (Windows or Norton or other security companies with a vested interest in NOT solving the problem) and asking them what they think of all of this.
The real online criminals here are Windows / Norton, and ill educated writers who can't be bothered to do their own research. They want to be spoon fed, and the cheif offenders in all of this are happy to do so.
You want REAL advice ? (In no particular order)
Imagine your home computer and a half-million others being secretly commandeered by criminals who use them remotely to send spam e-mails, spread viruses, steal personal information — even crack the codes at credit card companies and banks.
Sound far-fetched? It's already happening. In the past five years, these so-called "zombie" robot networks — or "botnets" — have become the key to most serious internet crimes.
"It's not uncommon for the bad guys to have 50,000 or 100,000 or even half a million computers under their control,
The internet is one big pool. Thats the problem.
Symantec Internet Security says home users are the target of 86 per cent of internet attacks, largely because they are far less likely than corporate users to have effective security measures
Aha. Can you say "WINDOWS !!!!" ?
Any computer that attaches to the internet should always have up-to-date firewalls and anti-virus software in place, for example.
...says symantec.
Can you say "BUY OUR PRODUCT ! BUY OUR PRODUCT !"
This is the biggest security problem of all, actually. These bot nets are a major issue yes, but no one really is intrested in solving them, they're only intrested in continuing to sell you insecure , over priced operating systems , and third rate fire wall / anti virus suites that do little but take your money , foist all the responsibility onto the customer with these pop ups that read "Do you want to allow this program to run or be downloaded ?" and then when the customer is tricked and ifected anyways "It's all your fault. You said YES to that pop up. Phone a PC tech. Thank you for telling us your woes and thats 75$ US on your credit card for calling Norton/Symantec. Thank you for your business. "
And then we get "writers" who go to the very source of the problem (Windows or Norton or other security companies with a vested interest in NOT solving the problem) and asking them what they think of all of this.
The real online criminals here are Windows / Norton, and ill educated writers who can't be bothered to do their own research. They want to be spoon fed, and the cheif offenders in all of this are happy to do so.
You want REAL advice ? (In no particular order)
- Stop using the Internet Explorer. Try getfirefox.com or www.opera.com
- Stop downloading mp3's and movies from illegal sites. Limewire and it's ilk are the cheif source of many infections.
- Those free screen savers advertised on yahoo ? They're not so free. Full of virii. Ditto those free smilie programs and a host of other "free" cuteness.
- Once you get a working version of XP or other windows (WinVista doesn't have a working version yet by the way) turn OFF the windows updates. Let your fire wall and anti-virus operate without any interference from windows, thanks a bunch.
- for real security , get off windows. Linux Ubuntu is free, and the easiest Linux out there. Or there's always a Mac.
- Don't open attachments from friends unless you talked to him and he told you he was sending it. Lots of virii apear to come from your friends, but really , they have no idea such things are being sent in their name.
- Cleaning a computer of a virus is a waste of time. Because cleaning really means "erasing files at random" , *NOT* "remove the virus from the file and then put the newly cleaned file back". Randomly deleting files from your computer causes it do really funky things, and you're probably going to have to reformat afterwards. Skip the cleaning, back up your data , and go straight to the reformat.
- Get a yahoo or gmail account and use that instead. It's free, it's scanned for virii trojens and spam , and those big companies do a heck of a better job of it than your local isp. (unless you do criminal activity , in which case, yes the FBI gets to read your email... )
- *YOU* are responsible for running your computer. The only thing anyone else is responsible for is fleecing you for every dollar they can get from you. Understanding this will make your life amazingly simple.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Don't Do Linux Any More
Article = none, my personal experiance / opinion
I was talking with a co-worker at work the other day , and he explained to me that he didn't have time for Linux. He'd started with Ubuntu , then worked his way through a whole bunch of them and then got up to mandrake, but now he had a wife and kids and didn't have time to fiddle anymore...
???
Ok then.
You're not really supposed to just learn some Linux varient , and then walk away. I agree , that is a waste of time. You're supposed to learn a varient , and then use it for a while, like a year or two , see if it's good for you , things like that. Typical tech attitude. Figured it out , got it working , now I'm abandoning it.
Some people make me laugh.
I'd never abandon ubuntu. That would mean going to WinVista , and I just don't have the cash for that. Maybe in five years, when the hardware prices drop , and WinVista is dying and is dirt cheap, I'll buy a computer just as a game box . But games are the only thing windows does that Linux doesn't. (At least not well) , and thats just not enough, I'm sorry.
Work had a sale yesterday. Old Pentium III's they don't need anymore. $40 bucks. picked one up for myself. It will run ubuntu just fine. Game machine running winvista is 3000$ , mostly due to the minimum hardware requirements thought the price of the operating system doesn't help I'm sure. but 40$ and a few spare parts to put a computer in the living room for guests so they stay out of my rather messy room... how can I pass that up ?
I was talking with a co-worker at work the other day , and he explained to me that he didn't have time for Linux. He'd started with Ubuntu , then worked his way through a whole bunch of them and then got up to mandrake, but now he had a wife and kids and didn't have time to fiddle anymore...
???
Ok then.
You're not really supposed to just learn some Linux varient , and then walk away. I agree , that is a waste of time. You're supposed to learn a varient , and then use it for a while, like a year or two , see if it's good for you , things like that. Typical tech attitude. Figured it out , got it working , now I'm abandoning it.
Some people make me laugh.
I'd never abandon ubuntu. That would mean going to WinVista , and I just don't have the cash for that. Maybe in five years, when the hardware prices drop , and WinVista is dying and is dirt cheap, I'll buy a computer just as a game box . But games are the only thing windows does that Linux doesn't. (At least not well) , and thats just not enough, I'm sorry.
Work had a sale yesterday. Old Pentium III's they don't need anymore. $40 bucks. picked one up for myself. It will run ubuntu just fine. Game machine running winvista is 3000$ , mostly due to the minimum hardware requirements thought the price of the operating system doesn't help I'm sure. but 40$ and a few spare parts to put a computer in the living room for guests so they stay out of my rather messy room... how can I pass that up ?
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Time Warner decides to crash computers
Article
Ignore the actual article. Look at the advertising on the side. It's already playing some kind of Flash animation. And if you "mouse over" it starts playing a rather lengthy movie. Mouse over , as in you accidently moved your mouse over it , and then away ... too late sucker , it's now going to play. and if you have too many things going, or you're on dial up , or somehow playing a full MOVIE when you were just looking to read a text news article is bad for your system.... surprise !!!! down you go.
There's no stop button either.
This is advertising at it's most obnoxious. A simple four paragraph news story about some japanese minister committing suicide, and suddenly your computer is now running a full out movie that you cannot stop.
someone has got to start building in "movie blockers" into browsers, that do not start a movie until you press ok or something. This is just insane.
Ignore the actual article. Look at the advertising on the side. It's already playing some kind of Flash animation. And if you "mouse over" it starts playing a rather lengthy movie. Mouse over , as in you accidently moved your mouse over it , and then away ... too late sucker , it's now going to play. and if you have too many things going, or you're on dial up , or somehow playing a full MOVIE when you were just looking to read a text news article is bad for your system.... surprise !!!! down you go.
There's no stop button either.
This is advertising at it's most obnoxious. A simple four paragraph news story about some japanese minister committing suicide, and suddenly your computer is now running a full out movie that you cannot stop.
someone has got to start building in "movie blockers" into browsers, that do not start a movie until you press ok or something. This is just insane.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
May27 reboot ubuntu
Had to reboot ubuntu today. It had become increadably laggy, though it was still running. Probably something I left open had a memory leak.
It lasted a number of weeks before crashing.
Think I'll make a note in my blog as to when I rebooted it , so I can tell how long before that happens again next time.
It lasted a number of weeks before crashing.
Think I'll make a note in my blog as to when I rebooted it , so I can tell how long before that happens again next time.
Israel vows to continue attacks against Hamas
Article
Temper temper.
JERUSALEM: An Israeli man died after his car was hit by a Qassam rocket launched from Gaza on Sunday, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed to continue Israel's military assault on Hamas as an effort to stop the rocket fire, warning that "no one involved in terror is immune."
Oh come now.
Just because the Hamas has vowed to destroy your nation, just because every time you negotiate a cease fire with them they decided that the cease fire doesn't include rockets and it's ok for them to keep on firing them but you shouldn't fire back , that's no reason to lose your calm , is it ?
But whats wrong with the whole palistinian attitude of "We should get to keep on shooting at you but you should stop shooting back at us" ? You've lived with it for decades , why are you suddenly losing your temper now ?
This is really rude of you, and I think that if you continue , the Hamas may just decide to pack up their bags and go play with some one else. We wouldn't want that would we ?
Would we ?
Temper temper.
JERUSALEM: An Israeli man died after his car was hit by a Qassam rocket launched from Gaza on Sunday, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed to continue Israel's military assault on Hamas as an effort to stop the rocket fire, warning that "no one involved in terror is immune."
Oh come now.
Just because the Hamas has vowed to destroy your nation, just because every time you negotiate a cease fire with them they decided that the cease fire doesn't include rockets and it's ok for them to keep on firing them but you shouldn't fire back , that's no reason to lose your calm , is it ?
But whats wrong with the whole palistinian attitude of "We should get to keep on shooting at you but you should stop shooting back at us" ? You've lived with it for decades , why are you suddenly losing your temper now ?
This is really rude of you, and I think that if you continue , the Hamas may just decide to pack up their bags and go play with some one else. We wouldn't want that would we ?
Would we ?
Ubuntu's Death Rattle
Article
"Having failed to turn a profit year, after year, Canonical/Ubuntu has put all of it's remaining energy into this deal: from the website...
Let me explain the concept of Free Software.
Volunteers write it. They don't get paid. They don't expect to. They do expect the software to be given away for free.
That some company or other riding on their coat tails fails to make a profit is irrelevant. They're not going to stop just because that company goes bankrupt. They were doing quite well with no company at all involved in the mix, and they'll continue to do well when that company goes away.
Put the Death Rattle away. The primary producers of Ubuntu don't care about profit at all.
"Having failed to turn a profit year, after year, Canonical/Ubuntu has put all of it's remaining energy into this deal: from the website...
Let me explain the concept of Free Software.
Volunteers write it. They don't get paid. They don't expect to. They do expect the software to be given away for free.
That some company or other riding on their coat tails fails to make a profit is irrelevant. They're not going to stop just because that company goes bankrupt. They were doing quite well with no company at all involved in the mix, and they'll continue to do well when that company goes away.
Put the Death Rattle away. The primary producers of Ubuntu don't care about profit at all.
Iran says it's uncovered spy rings from U.S., allies
Article
Do I personally believe these allegations ?
Absolutely yes.
The US has openly stated it has made an organization to bring democracy to Iran. It makes no secret of this. Most US Citizens returning to Iran bring with them experiance in a working democracy and are quick to tell the tale.
Is this "misinterperted" as spying and recruitment ?
No. They *ARE* after all , convincing people Democracy is a good thing. Meanwhile the Iranian Government is trying to convince you that Democracy is a bad things.
So yes, in the end , with a little thought , I'm sure you can see that the charges are more or less accurate.
What do I think of this blatent US Imperialism ?
Let me explain.
The Muslim's of Iraq (under Saddam Hussain) and Iran openly believe that the masses are a resource to be exploited and killed. Police officers demand bribes from citizens and if you don't have the money you are dead meat, the Iman's (Muslim Priest) use their congregation as a conscript army to send them off in an attack against people they don't like, we've all seen the stories of the mass graves and so on and so forth.
The Ruling Clique believe that the masses are to be exploited and killed.
Democracy beleives the Masses are to be paid attention to , protected , even occasionally obeyed.
I am one of the little guys on the ground , not part of any ruling Clique and not particurily interested in preserving the "rank and priviledge" of anyone.
What do I think of this blatent US Imperialism ?
Go uncle sam go ! Get them Iman's and other dictators and shut them down !
Thats what I think.
Do I personally believe these allegations ?
Absolutely yes.
The US has openly stated it has made an organization to bring democracy to Iran. It makes no secret of this. Most US Citizens returning to Iran bring with them experiance in a working democracy and are quick to tell the tale.
Is this "misinterperted" as spying and recruitment ?
No. They *ARE* after all , convincing people Democracy is a good thing. Meanwhile the Iranian Government is trying to convince you that Democracy is a bad things.
So yes, in the end , with a little thought , I'm sure you can see that the charges are more or less accurate.
What do I think of this blatent US Imperialism ?
Let me explain.
The Muslim's of Iraq (under Saddam Hussain) and Iran openly believe that the masses are a resource to be exploited and killed. Police officers demand bribes from citizens and if you don't have the money you are dead meat, the Iman's (Muslim Priest) use their congregation as a conscript army to send them off in an attack against people they don't like, we've all seen the stories of the mass graves and so on and so forth.
The Ruling Clique believe that the masses are to be exploited and killed.
Democracy beleives the Masses are to be paid attention to , protected , even occasionally obeyed.
I am one of the little guys on the ground , not part of any ruling Clique and not particurily interested in preserving the "rank and priviledge" of anyone.
What do I think of this blatent US Imperialism ?
Go uncle sam go ! Get them Iman's and other dictators and shut them down !
Thats what I think.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Dell's Ubuntu Lap top
Why Is Dell Hiding Their Ubuntu Boxes?
Article
They are.
My opinion is very simple.
Don't buy a computer from a company that feels ashamed to be selling it. You *WILL* get shafted.
Dell wants to , only with the greatest of reluctance , sell a linux computer , and hides it to try NOT to sell it , and fears microsoft and their big stick... they're going to give you a cruddy deal , cruddy support , cruddy the whole nine yards and then blame *YOU* for while the sales initiative failed.
Forget it. Get a second hand lap top and load ubuntu on it yourself and steer away from this disaster in the making.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Ultra Annoying MS Ad : MS Forefront
I'm reading a news article , or trying to , from Wired Beta. But do I see the news article ? No. I see a totally blank page.
Except at the top. Where it's playing a microsoft ad for their new not-so-secure give-me-money-because-Im-too-stupid-to-make-a-secure-OS security product called Forefront. The whole page actually stops loading and you don't see nothing while this annoying ad plays. And only when it's done do you actually get to see the rest of the page.
Which was mostly ads as well , plus a tiny little part that was the actual article I was reading.
I'm not sure which outrages me more. The annoying extortionist tactic of making you watch the ad before the page finishes loading , or the even more extortionist activities of Microsoft for trying to make you pay for a security nightmare they made in the first place ! Thats like saying "I'm sorry for dumping excrement all over the floor, and if you give me 20 bucks I'll even clean it up."
It's probably the combination of the two put together that ticks me off.
Except at the top. Where it's playing a microsoft ad for their new not-so-secure give-me-money-because-Im-too-stupid-to-make-a-secure-OS security product called Forefront. The whole page actually stops loading and you don't see nothing while this annoying ad plays. And only when it's done do you actually get to see the rest of the page.
Which was mostly ads as well , plus a tiny little part that was the actual article I was reading.
I'm not sure which outrages me more. The annoying extortionist tactic of making you watch the ad before the page finishes loading , or the even more extortionist activities of Microsoft for trying to make you pay for a security nightmare they made in the first place ! Thats like saying "I'm sorry for dumping excrement all over the floor, and if you give me 20 bucks I'll even clean it up."
It's probably the combination of the two put together that ticks me off.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Lap top Epiphany
Article = none : This is my personal opinion.
Dell has been advertising lap tops for 17$ / month (over a number of years of course). They've also been blathering on about how they will soon offer Ubuntu (my favorite variation of Linux) as an option instead of Windows Vista (I checked their website recently , 4 flavors of Vista , none of XP , and no Ubuntu yet).
So I've been waiting and considering. Linux , or windows on this lap top ?
When I consider the lap top a toy , and think I'm really just going to play games on it , I shudder at the price. In order to run Vista you need a 3ghz clock and 3gig of ram on the thing, if you want to run the latest games. And the price of that is out of sight. And Ubuntu won't run the latest games so it's not in the running. A cold shiver runs down my spine at this thought.
When I think of this lap top for "productivity" , I feel much better. Ubuntu runs good on my old clunker , it will certainly run just fine on a brand new lap top of even the most mediocre of statistics. (In my case, I'm trying to write a novel, my actual work is answering phones - tech support , and you can't really take that home with you).
Ubuntu makes me feel good. A cheap second hand lap top will do , no need to go further in hock to dell for another 3 years. It's basically immune to virii except for the few samples written for purposes of FUD, those virii can't make it into the wild without someone deliberately openning their network to it (I wouldn't put it past microsoft to do that ... they bought Red Hat and are now using it as a whipping boy , arn't they ? ) It comes with a wack of free software that's just perfect.
VYM = View Your Mind
It's not a complex piece of software. Little thought bubbles with writing inside it , but it's great for organizing your thoughts and moving things around. Too trivial for people to make a profit in windows (unless you sell it for a ridiculously high price for such a simple thing) such a product probably can only exist in the Linux environment where it's being given away by volunteers. It's my fave for figuring out what's gonna happen in the next chapter or so.
Abi Word Processor.
when it save to HTML format , it does it properly. I press space three times before the beginning of the line, you get three spaces ! Wow... I ran through like five other word processors that didn't understand that concept ,they all ignored the spaces and shoved the first line right up against the left border. That is correct HTML , but I don't care about correct HTML , I care about writing a novel , and it looks real funny when you do that. :)
To buy a windows based "productivity" lap top is a non starter.
You don't save a thing on the hard ware, it still wants high end stuff. And it now wants you to purchase an office suite for your word processing needs , nothing really comes with it. And it's susceptable to virii like all get out. My wife is certain to want to play with the new toy , and she doesn't know that much about computers. She presses one wrong button and that thing is infected to a fair thee well, I will probably lose all my hard work.
And what does all that extra fancy hardware get me ? Nothing , in a productivity machine. The hard ware speeds up , now you must buy fire walls and anti-virii and stuff and run it which slows it right down again. Not to mention that Vista itself is a pig of an operating system and will run like the dogs breakfast on anything less than 3gig ram /3gighz in any case.
I can tell most businesses run on inertia because the business case for Vista , or even most windows , sucks bad. Lot of people just havn't come to realize that yet.
To buy a game playing windows vista lap top ... is out of my price range. Plain and simple. To buy a Linux lap top ... is the price of the hardware and not much else, and cheap hardware like that , nothing like what I would need to run Vista. Even if Dell backs out on selling new hardware with ubuntu, I may yet stop by this place selling refurbished computers that I know and pick me up an old lap top.
Call it an epiphany. Windows priced itself out of my market , and when you add it up, I don't have the cash for that. And the games arn't that important ,they can wait.
PS:
Everquest 2 sucks. The promised "solo" content isn't there, the player population is dropping like a rock so there's fewer and fewer people , waste of time. Who wants to play a multiplayer on line game on an empty server ?
Matrix Online : Even worse... they're down to what ? Three servers ? Everyone is max level and there are darn few beginners coming in to team up with ? Again , might be a nice game but who wants to play on an empty server ?
Back to World of Warcraft for me. I know, I said it was boring ... but there's always new faces and in the end that may be far more important than the game mechanics themselves.
Dell has been advertising lap tops for 17$ / month (over a number of years of course). They've also been blathering on about how they will soon offer Ubuntu (my favorite variation of Linux) as an option instead of Windows Vista (I checked their website recently , 4 flavors of Vista , none of XP , and no Ubuntu yet).
So I've been waiting and considering. Linux , or windows on this lap top ?
When I consider the lap top a toy , and think I'm really just going to play games on it , I shudder at the price. In order to run Vista you need a 3ghz clock and 3gig of ram on the thing, if you want to run the latest games. And the price of that is out of sight. And Ubuntu won't run the latest games so it's not in the running. A cold shiver runs down my spine at this thought.
When I think of this lap top for "productivity" , I feel much better. Ubuntu runs good on my old clunker , it will certainly run just fine on a brand new lap top of even the most mediocre of statistics. (In my case, I'm trying to write a novel, my actual work is answering phones - tech support , and you can't really take that home with you).
Ubuntu makes me feel good. A cheap second hand lap top will do , no need to go further in hock to dell for another 3 years. It's basically immune to virii except for the few samples written for purposes of FUD, those virii can't make it into the wild without someone deliberately openning their network to it (I wouldn't put it past microsoft to do that ... they bought Red Hat and are now using it as a whipping boy , arn't they ? ) It comes with a wack of free software that's just perfect.
VYM = View Your Mind
It's not a complex piece of software. Little thought bubbles with writing inside it , but it's great for organizing your thoughts and moving things around. Too trivial for people to make a profit in windows (unless you sell it for a ridiculously high price for such a simple thing) such a product probably can only exist in the Linux environment where it's being given away by volunteers. It's my fave for figuring out what's gonna happen in the next chapter or so.
Abi Word Processor.
when it save to HTML format , it does it properly. I press space three times before the beginning of the line, you get three spaces ! Wow... I ran through like five other word processors that didn't understand that concept ,they all ignored the spaces and shoved the first line right up against the left border. That is correct HTML , but I don't care about correct HTML , I care about writing a novel , and it looks real funny when you do that. :)
To buy a windows based "productivity" lap top is a non starter.
You don't save a thing on the hard ware, it still wants high end stuff. And it now wants you to purchase an office suite for your word processing needs , nothing really comes with it. And it's susceptable to virii like all get out. My wife is certain to want to play with the new toy , and she doesn't know that much about computers. She presses one wrong button and that thing is infected to a fair thee well, I will probably lose all my hard work.
And what does all that extra fancy hardware get me ? Nothing , in a productivity machine. The hard ware speeds up , now you must buy fire walls and anti-virii and stuff and run it which slows it right down again. Not to mention that Vista itself is a pig of an operating system and will run like the dogs breakfast on anything less than 3gig ram /3gighz in any case.
I can tell most businesses run on inertia because the business case for Vista , or even most windows , sucks bad. Lot of people just havn't come to realize that yet.
To buy a game playing windows vista lap top ... is out of my price range. Plain and simple. To buy a Linux lap top ... is the price of the hardware and not much else, and cheap hardware like that , nothing like what I would need to run Vista. Even if Dell backs out on selling new hardware with ubuntu, I may yet stop by this place selling refurbished computers that I know and pick me up an old lap top.
Call it an epiphany. Windows priced itself out of my market , and when you add it up, I don't have the cash for that. And the games arn't that important ,they can wait.
PS:
Everquest 2 sucks. The promised "solo" content isn't there, the player population is dropping like a rock so there's fewer and fewer people , waste of time. Who wants to play a multiplayer on line game on an empty server ?
Matrix Online : Even worse... they're down to what ? Three servers ? Everyone is max level and there are darn few beginners coming in to team up with ? Again , might be a nice game but who wants to play on an empty server ?
Back to World of Warcraft for me. I know, I said it was boring ... but there's always new faces and in the end that may be far more important than the game mechanics themselves.
Microsoft, Cisco face off over office comms
Article
Speaking at this week's Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit, executives from Cisco and Microsoft touted their own products to deliver "unified communications," which combines Voice over Internet Protocol phone calls, email, instant messages and conferencing technology.
Wow, one sentence ... so many errors.
Ok , lets start at the top. Bundling.
I want to sell you VOIP phone (phone that runs over the internet , not the regular phone system) , email , instant messages , and video conferencing. But what if you don't want it all ? What ifyou just want , say the phones and nothing else ? Too bad, All or nothing, no picking at what you want.
This is called bundling, and it's evil. Why am I paying for stuff I can't use ? Because everyone bundles the same stuff together and I have no choice. Or there's only one provider for what I want and I'm forced to buy all this other extra junk I don't want with it.
Second. VOIP , the unwanted three humped camel of the internet.
Lets say I'm an ISP (Internet Service provider). I sell my services , my customers can surf, check mail , the whole nine yards. But VOIP uses up my bandwidth terribly, far more than regular surfing or game playing or anything. And someone else is collecting on it, not me ! As an ISP I have two choices. One , get into the VOIP market with my own phones and sabatage the opposition somehow. Two , simply sabatage the competition to get them off my network and reduce my bandwidth costs. How do you sabatage the competition ? Well , our internet is great for surfing and game playing because no one cares about the occasional dropped package, but Voip is highly affected by these dropped packettes , and the customers complain bitterly that they keep hearing cackling in their ear piece. Sorry , it's not our Voip , call the distributer. We did they blame you for it. Sorry , we never claimed *THEIR* product would work on *OUR* network. They're making that statement , they have to back it up.
Third. VOIP on the open internet.
Every ISP only owns a certain small piece of the network. Even if VOIP works fine on their little piece, the open internet is another matter. The VOIP signils , which are LARGE amounts of data compared to a web page , still have to cross a bunch of other networks that often feel they are being unfairly put upon by having to put up with this extra bandwidth for a product or service they never agreed to run in the first place. Sabatage time again.
How do you sabatage VOIP ? Simple. You make your network easily handle small packettes so that things like chat programs , games and web pages go great. Larger packets get broken up and get there, eventually , but maybe out of order. And in any real time application packets that arrive out of order are simply dropped, as if they were never received, and your video or audio communications just gets a blank spot or static spike at that point instead. And when people protest you just shrug and say "I only certified it for web pages and email. You're on your own for anything else. "
Rogers Cable of Ottawa is thinking of making it's own specially dedicated network , just for VOIP no regular internet traffic allowed. A rogers to rogers phone call would probably be a very high quality experience.
Unfortunately , when the guy came knocking on my door to sell it to me it was actually more expensive than my regular land line phone. Plus it would use my existing modem , slowing down my online gaming. And my wife is notorious for being on the phone for hours at a time , so the slow down would be near constant. I passed on that offer.
I'm still debating on whether or not cell phones will kill all forms of land lines entirely, including VOIP. I give it 50 50 all phones go cell eventually.
Speaking at this week's Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit, executives from Cisco and Microsoft touted their own products to deliver "unified communications," which combines Voice over Internet Protocol phone calls, email, instant messages and conferencing technology.
Wow, one sentence ... so many errors.
Ok , lets start at the top. Bundling.
I want to sell you VOIP phone (phone that runs over the internet , not the regular phone system) , email , instant messages , and video conferencing. But what if you don't want it all ? What ifyou just want , say the phones and nothing else ? Too bad, All or nothing, no picking at what you want.
This is called bundling, and it's evil. Why am I paying for stuff I can't use ? Because everyone bundles the same stuff together and I have no choice. Or there's only one provider for what I want and I'm forced to buy all this other extra junk I don't want with it.
Second. VOIP , the unwanted three humped camel of the internet.
Lets say I'm an ISP (Internet Service provider). I sell my services , my customers can surf, check mail , the whole nine yards. But VOIP uses up my bandwidth terribly, far more than regular surfing or game playing or anything. And someone else is collecting on it, not me ! As an ISP I have two choices. One , get into the VOIP market with my own phones and sabatage the opposition somehow. Two , simply sabatage the competition to get them off my network and reduce my bandwidth costs. How do you sabatage the competition ? Well , our internet is great for surfing and game playing because no one cares about the occasional dropped package, but Voip is highly affected by these dropped packettes , and the customers complain bitterly that they keep hearing cackling in their ear piece. Sorry , it's not our Voip , call the distributer. We did they blame you for it. Sorry , we never claimed *THEIR* product would work on *OUR* network. They're making that statement , they have to back it up.
Third. VOIP on the open internet.
Every ISP only owns a certain small piece of the network. Even if VOIP works fine on their little piece, the open internet is another matter. The VOIP signils , which are LARGE amounts of data compared to a web page , still have to cross a bunch of other networks that often feel they are being unfairly put upon by having to put up with this extra bandwidth for a product or service they never agreed to run in the first place. Sabatage time again.
How do you sabatage VOIP ? Simple. You make your network easily handle small packettes so that things like chat programs , games and web pages go great. Larger packets get broken up and get there, eventually , but maybe out of order. And in any real time application packets that arrive out of order are simply dropped, as if they were never received, and your video or audio communications just gets a blank spot or static spike at that point instead. And when people protest you just shrug and say "I only certified it for web pages and email. You're on your own for anything else. "
Rogers Cable of Ottawa is thinking of making it's own specially dedicated network , just for VOIP no regular internet traffic allowed. A rogers to rogers phone call would probably be a very high quality experience.
Unfortunately , when the guy came knocking on my door to sell it to me it was actually more expensive than my regular land line phone. Plus it would use my existing modem , slowing down my online gaming. And my wife is notorious for being on the phone for hours at a time , so the slow down would be near constant. I passed on that offer.
I'm still debating on whether or not cell phones will kill all forms of land lines entirely, including VOIP. I give it 50 50 all phones go cell eventually.
CRTC approves more TV ads
Article
Currently, broadcasters can show up to 12 minutes of advertising per hour, including segments promoting programs in their lineups.
As of Sept. 1, this will increase to a maximum of 14 minutes of advertising in prime time — between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m.
A year later, the limit will increase to 15 minutes across all time periods. As of September 2008, all advertising time restrictions will be lifted. The CRTC will review the impact of these increased ad times in spring 2008.
Ok. First off, you're not throwing 12 min of advertising in an hour. You're throwing 38 minutes. Of course this is likely to mean "local" advertising , as opposed to stuff the us channels stick in there. so while the total may be 38 minutes of ads in an hour only 12 min of those ads is local.
So ... where does the xtra three minutes come from when you throw in three extra minutes of local ads ? do you chop 3 minutes of american ads ? ( I seriously doubt it) or do you take three more minutes out of actual show time and replace it with ads. ( Most likely.)
So ...22 minutes per hour of show time suddenly becomes 19 min / hour ? And 41 min of commercials per hour ?
I say go for it.
Why ? Because the biggest gripe people have with tv is that there's too many ads. That you're paying , paying 60$ a month and there's more ads on than actual show ! Now there'll be slightly more than twice as much ad as there is show !
And of course, because I hate television. Nothing but a huge waste of time. Go ahead, turn it into the non-stop shopping channel , save yourself the aggrivation of trying to make these annoying drama's or reality shows or what not...just go straight to pure advertising.
Mean time , did I mention I don't watch tv ? I just surf the net.
Currently, broadcasters can show up to 12 minutes of advertising per hour, including segments promoting programs in their lineups.
As of Sept. 1, this will increase to a maximum of 14 minutes of advertising in prime time — between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m.
A year later, the limit will increase to 15 minutes across all time periods. As of September 2008, all advertising time restrictions will be lifted. The CRTC will review the impact of these increased ad times in spring 2008.
Ok. First off, you're not throwing 12 min of advertising in an hour. You're throwing 38 minutes. Of course this is likely to mean "local" advertising , as opposed to stuff the us channels stick in there. so while the total may be 38 minutes of ads in an hour only 12 min of those ads is local.
So ... where does the xtra three minutes come from when you throw in three extra minutes of local ads ? do you chop 3 minutes of american ads ? ( I seriously doubt it) or do you take three more minutes out of actual show time and replace it with ads. ( Most likely.)
So ...22 minutes per hour of show time suddenly becomes 19 min / hour ? And 41 min of commercials per hour ?
I say go for it.
Why ? Because the biggest gripe people have with tv is that there's too many ads. That you're paying , paying 60$ a month and there's more ads on than actual show ! Now there'll be slightly more than twice as much ad as there is show !
And of course, because I hate television. Nothing but a huge waste of time. Go ahead, turn it into the non-stop shopping channel , save yourself the aggrivation of trying to make these annoying drama's or reality shows or what not...just go straight to pure advertising.
Mean time , did I mention I don't watch tv ? I just surf the net.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Reliability of Windows Server over Linux
(An ad I found while reading the news)
click on the ad....
"Get the Facts" On Windows Server and Linux
Topic of Interest : Reliability
Study: Win Server 2003 Has Fewer Vulnerabilities Over Time Than Two Leading Linux Enterprise Distributions Study: Win Server 2003 Has Fewer Vulnerabilities Over Time Than Two Leading Linux Enterprise Distributions
Microsoft (December 2006): In a comparison of relative security, this study of third party vulnerability data found Windows Server 2003 to have fewer vulnerabilities than Red Hat ES3 and ES 4
Ummm....excuse me , Billy Boy. But you *OWN* Red Hat Linux. You do remember paying 348$ million for it , don't you ? Or is such an amount chump change to you and you forgot that ?
So , what you're saying here is "My Windows is better than My Linux because I hate Red Hat so I never throw any money at it for fixing bugs. In fact I even forgot that I own it sometimes, I'm so busy using it as a whipping boy ... "
Ha ha. The real joke is that this is on the microsoft site and he's really using it to try and sell windows to people over linux.
Sad , just sad.
click on the ad....
"Get the Facts" On Windows Server and Linux
Topic of Interest : Reliability
Study: Win Server 2003 Has Fewer Vulnerabilities Over Time Than Two Leading Linux Enterprise Distributions Study: Win Server 2003 Has Fewer Vulnerabilities Over Time Than Two Leading Linux Enterprise Distributions
Microsoft (December 2006): In a comparison of relative security, this study of third party vulnerability data found Windows Server 2003 to have fewer vulnerabilities than Red Hat ES3 and ES 4
Ummm....excuse me , Billy Boy. But you *OWN* Red Hat Linux. You do remember paying 348$ million for it , don't you ? Or is such an amount chump change to you and you forgot that ?
So , what you're saying here is "My Windows is better than My Linux because I hate Red Hat so I never throw any money at it for fixing bugs. In fact I even forgot that I own it sometimes, I'm so busy using it as a whipping boy ... "
Ha ha. The real joke is that this is on the microsoft site and he's really using it to try and sell windows to people over linux.
Sad , just sad.
Monday, May 14, 2007
iCoke.ca
The iCoke scam.
Bought a bottle of diet coke today. Odd , had an internet address on it, and under the cap was a number.
Go to the web site and what do I see ? Apparently you can enter tonnes and tonnes of these numbers , each counting as some kind of iCoke coin , and win valuable prizes. Oh yes, they want your email address.
You know how allergic I am to giving out my email address , don't you ? Every spammer in the world wants it with the soul intention of sinking it with massive amounts of adverts for their product. Dell is horrible for this , I had to put them into my spam list just so I could read the regular mail.
No email address in the world has a life span of much longer than six months , if you ask me, save a very few that are not actually used.
I'm not giving them my email. and i'm not filling out a form with an endless amount of 10 digit alphanumeric numbers , one for each coin. And then having them tell me "sorry , you didn't win , but hey ! We'll be glad to send you tonnes of spam ! Spam you actually have to open up and read ! Because it might be a message declaring you a winner !"
Bought a bottle of diet coke today. Odd , had an internet address on it, and under the cap was a number.
Go to the web site and what do I see ? Apparently you can enter tonnes and tonnes of these numbers , each counting as some kind of iCoke coin , and win valuable prizes. Oh yes, they want your email address.
You know how allergic I am to giving out my email address , don't you ? Every spammer in the world wants it with the soul intention of sinking it with massive amounts of adverts for their product. Dell is horrible for this , I had to put them into my spam list just so I could read the regular mail.
No email address in the world has a life span of much longer than six months , if you ask me, save a very few that are not actually used.
I'm not giving them my email. and i'm not filling out a form with an endless amount of 10 digit alphanumeric numbers , one for each coin. And then having them tell me "sorry , you didn't win , but hey ! We'll be glad to send you tonnes of spam ! Spam you actually have to open up and read ! Because it might be a message declaring you a winner !"
Microsoft takes on the free world
Article
Microsoft counters that it is a matter of principle. "We live in a world where we honor, and support the honoring of, intellectual property," says Ballmer in an interview. FOSS patrons are going to have to "play by the same rules as the rest of the business," he insists. "What's fair is fair."
Lemme see , you wanna sue some people for writing software and giving it away. It's their software and why can't they give it away ? And you've copywrited a number of things that arn't yours , AFTER somoene else wrote them, and now claim copy write infringement. BUT , here's the kicker. You wont' say which copy writes are being infringed upon.
...when the Supreme Court stated in a unanimous opinion that patents have been issued too readily for the past two decades, and lots are probably invalid. For a variety of technical reasons, many dispassionate observers suspect that software patents are especially vulnerable to court challenge.
Oopsie.... so most of your patents are going bye bye if they get challenged.
At the same time, Smith was having Microsoft's lawyers figure out how many of its patents were being infringed by free and open-source software. Gutierrez refuses to identify specific patents or explain how they're being infringed, lest FOSS advocates start filing challenges to them.
But he does break down the total number allegedly violated - 235 - into categories. He says that the Linux kernel - the deepest layer of the free operating system, which interacts most directly with the computer hardware - violates 42 Microsoft patents. The Linux graphical user interfaces - essentially, the way design elements like menus and toolbars are set up - run afoul of another 65, he claims. The Open Office suite of programs, which is analogous to Microsoft Office, infringes 45 more. E-mail programs infringe 15, while other assorted FOSS programs allegedly transgress 68.
You're breaking our patents ! But we're not going to tell you which ones or how because you might ctually try to defend yourself or challenge our accusations in court. Just stop doing what you're doing , roll over and die , and everything will be hunky dory for us.
Now that Microsoft had identified the infringements, it could try to seek royalties. But from whom? FOSS isn't made by a company but by a loose-knit community of hundreds of individuals and companies.
And how ? Excuse me , I think you should stop writing software and giving it away for free or we'll sue you , thanks. Sue you for what ? Every penny you made selling the stuff ... oh ..you're not selling it are you .... lol ... not a happening thing !
So they came up with a twist: Microsoft and Novell agreed not to sue each other's customers for patent infringement. That would be okay, because it's something that the GPL does not address.
You're going to sue the end user ? For what ? Not buying Windows ? Ohh..the backlash from that one is going to bankrupt you , Bill Gates. People are ornery and short tempered. You can't sue them into buying your product , they'll give you the finger and swear off anything to do with your company forever.
FOSS developers, who do not have the resources to defend themselves against a Microsoft patent suit, felt safe as long as powerful corporate Linux users shared their cause. But now the big boys could just buy their Linux from a royalty-paying vendor like Novell, getting protection from lawsuits and leaving the little guys to fend for themselves. What the shortsighted corporate types didn't grasp was that without the little-guy developers there might not be any high-quality FOSS for them to use five years down the road.
And that is the hole in all of this.
Linux is written by volunteers. What do you think is running through those volunteers mind when Microsoft , the enemey of free software , buys up Red Hat Linux and declares them all unpaid employees, declares that it's going to make a profit off *YOUR* hard work and you arnt' going to get a dime out of the deal ?
I don't know. But I do know they're going to hit the road and find some other free software project to work on, and Red Hat will suddenly stall and die. In fact it's already showing signs of this , the bright star of the Linux world a few years ago is today the laughing stock of it. The bad boy traiter / Bill Gates servant.
You can't buy volunteers, they go where they will. Congradulations Bill Gates, you have now purchased a several year out of date single version of linux and driven out all the volunteers that were working on the next version , so there will be no next version for you.
Mean while, the next version of ubuntu linux truely does rock , I have to admit. It's almost as if all those highly experianced and skilled volunteers suddenly found a new home ....
Whats that ? Going to sue the "employee's" for breech of contract , for taking a hike with the company secrets ? How odd, I don't seem to recall any of them signing any contracts. And any code on their machine would be their personal property , now wouldn't it ? Since they're not actual employee's of anyone, it's hobby code ! Something they're doing for thier own amusement , they are the only possible owner of that code.
You can't buy volunteers , Billy Boy Gates. So I gots to wonder , what did you pay 348$ million for ?
Microsoft counters that it is a matter of principle. "We live in a world where we honor, and support the honoring of, intellectual property," says Ballmer in an interview. FOSS patrons are going to have to "play by the same rules as the rest of the business," he insists. "What's fair is fair."
Lemme see , you wanna sue some people for writing software and giving it away. It's their software and why can't they give it away ? And you've copywrited a number of things that arn't yours , AFTER somoene else wrote them, and now claim copy write infringement. BUT , here's the kicker. You wont' say which copy writes are being infringed upon.
...when the Supreme Court stated in a unanimous opinion that patents have been issued too readily for the past two decades, and lots are probably invalid. For a variety of technical reasons, many dispassionate observers suspect that software patents are especially vulnerable to court challenge.
Oopsie.... so most of your patents are going bye bye if they get challenged.
At the same time, Smith was having Microsoft's lawyers figure out how many of its patents were being infringed by free and open-source software. Gutierrez refuses to identify specific patents or explain how they're being infringed, lest FOSS advocates start filing challenges to them.
But he does break down the total number allegedly violated - 235 - into categories. He says that the Linux kernel - the deepest layer of the free operating system, which interacts most directly with the computer hardware - violates 42 Microsoft patents. The Linux graphical user interfaces - essentially, the way design elements like menus and toolbars are set up - run afoul of another 65, he claims. The Open Office suite of programs, which is analogous to Microsoft Office, infringes 45 more. E-mail programs infringe 15, while other assorted FOSS programs allegedly transgress 68.
You're breaking our patents ! But we're not going to tell you which ones or how because you might ctually try to defend yourself or challenge our accusations in court. Just stop doing what you're doing , roll over and die , and everything will be hunky dory for us.
Now that Microsoft had identified the infringements, it could try to seek royalties. But from whom? FOSS isn't made by a company but by a loose-knit community of hundreds of individuals and companies.
And how ? Excuse me , I think you should stop writing software and giving it away for free or we'll sue you , thanks. Sue you for what ? Every penny you made selling the stuff ... oh ..you're not selling it are you .... lol ... not a happening thing !
So they came up with a twist: Microsoft and Novell agreed not to sue each other's customers for patent infringement. That would be okay, because it's something that the GPL does not address.
You're going to sue the end user ? For what ? Not buying Windows ? Ohh..the backlash from that one is going to bankrupt you , Bill Gates. People are ornery and short tempered. You can't sue them into buying your product , they'll give you the finger and swear off anything to do with your company forever.
FOSS developers, who do not have the resources to defend themselves against a Microsoft patent suit, felt safe as long as powerful corporate Linux users shared their cause. But now the big boys could just buy their Linux from a royalty-paying vendor like Novell, getting protection from lawsuits and leaving the little guys to fend for themselves. What the shortsighted corporate types didn't grasp was that without the little-guy developers there might not be any high-quality FOSS for them to use five years down the road.
And that is the hole in all of this.
Linux is written by volunteers. What do you think is running through those volunteers mind when Microsoft , the enemey of free software , buys up Red Hat Linux and declares them all unpaid employees, declares that it's going to make a profit off *YOUR* hard work and you arnt' going to get a dime out of the deal ?
I don't know. But I do know they're going to hit the road and find some other free software project to work on, and Red Hat will suddenly stall and die. In fact it's already showing signs of this , the bright star of the Linux world a few years ago is today the laughing stock of it. The bad boy traiter / Bill Gates servant.
You can't buy volunteers, they go where they will. Congradulations Bill Gates, you have now purchased a several year out of date single version of linux and driven out all the volunteers that were working on the next version , so there will be no next version for you.
Mean while, the next version of ubuntu linux truely does rock , I have to admit. It's almost as if all those highly experianced and skilled volunteers suddenly found a new home ....
Whats that ? Going to sue the "employee's" for breech of contract , for taking a hike with the company secrets ? How odd, I don't seem to recall any of them signing any contracts. And any code on their machine would be their personal property , now wouldn't it ? Since they're not actual employee's of anyone, it's hobby code ! Something they're doing for thier own amusement , they are the only possible owner of that code.
You can't buy volunteers , Billy Boy Gates. So I gots to wonder , what did you pay 348$ million for ?
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Nutrition labels not accurate, researcher says
Article
Consumers who scan nutrition labels on pre-packaged foods for fat content might be surprised to learn that some of the information may not be accurate, according to a Canadian researcher who has tested hundreds of products.
Oh great. We get a law that makes you tell us whats in the stuff, and you openly lie on the label ?
While federal regulations legally allow for 20 per cent variability on the food labels, Holub said that up to 15 per cent of products surveyed exceeded the legal limit. Holub identified two products, breaded fish sticks and frozen breakfast waffles, as two offenders but he declined to name the companies that produced the products.
They're *ALLOWED* to lie to us by 20% , but even that isn't enough for them ?
And you're not going to tell us who they are ? Thanks for the "feel good but worthless" news article.
In 2006, the CFIA investigated 123 food label complaints. Six companies were taken to court and received fines.
Ah..... the hacker in me rises again. Court cases are public arn't they ? I wonder if I can pull that up ...
... got one....
Article
Certain imported food products have failed to declare milk protein on their labels, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has advised.
BenCafe International Flavors’ instant coffee mix is being voluntarily recalled.
Wow, the cbc archives health and recall advisories is a gold mine !
People with allergies to egg proteins should not eat President's Choice brand pork and ham pâté, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Friday.
The manufacturer, Charcuterie La Tour Eiffel Inc., failed to list egg on its label.
Maybe I'll stop looking up that year old stuff and move on to more modern incidents
Thursday, April 26, 2007 | 12:42 PM ET
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has recalled 16 kinds of sandwiches sold in Alberta and British Columbia because they contain egg, milk and soy that are not declared on the label.
The sandwiches, made by Mrs. Willman’s Baking Ltd. under the brand names Take Away Café and North Country Foods, have "best before" dates up to and including 07 MA 15 (May 15, 2007).
Thursday, March 29, 2007 | 01:04 PM ET
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has warned people with allergies to five different items to avoid nine flavours of Tickleberry’s chocolate-covered dried fruits.
The Tickleberry's products, sold in 100-gram packages all over the country, contain undeclared milk, soy, sulphites, peanuts and wheat.
The products include blueberries, pastel cherries, dark cherries, strawberries, raspberries, apricots, cranberries, white cranberries and cherries with no sugar added.
Tickleberry's, of Okanagan Falls, B.C., has recalled the products.
Friday, March 16, 2007 | 08:05 AM ET
Certain Laura Secord dark chocolate products are being recalled because they contain milk protein that wasn't declared on their labels, Canada's food watchdog says.
The products were distributed nationally, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Thursday. The recall involves:
Thats silly. How can you *NOT* know that ice cream contains milk ?
The CFIA's alert also covers a second product - Jermuk Classic brand Medicinal-Table Natural Mineral Water Sparkling. The label for this product states that the water is from Jermuk Group in Armenia. The water may be available across Canada.
There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products. Arsenic is a toxic substance and is a known cause of cancer in humans.
Medicinal brand bottled water ... good for your health ! May contain arsenic ! Only from Armenia !
Ok ok , thats enough of the copy and paste I think.
My source for all of this is http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/recalls/health_food/ , by the way, if you want to take a gander at the stuff I skipped over , and there's a lot of it !
Consumers who scan nutrition labels on pre-packaged foods for fat content might be surprised to learn that some of the information may not be accurate, according to a Canadian researcher who has tested hundreds of products.
Oh great. We get a law that makes you tell us whats in the stuff, and you openly lie on the label ?
While federal regulations legally allow for 20 per cent variability on the food labels, Holub said that up to 15 per cent of products surveyed exceeded the legal limit. Holub identified two products, breaded fish sticks and frozen breakfast waffles, as two offenders but he declined to name the companies that produced the products.
They're *ALLOWED* to lie to us by 20% , but even that isn't enough for them ?
And you're not going to tell us who they are ? Thanks for the "feel good but worthless" news article.
In 2006, the CFIA investigated 123 food label complaints. Six companies were taken to court and received fines.
Ah..... the hacker in me rises again. Court cases are public arn't they ? I wonder if I can pull that up ...
... got one....
Article
Certain imported food products have failed to declare milk protein on their labels, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has advised.
BenCafe International Flavors’ instant coffee mix is being voluntarily recalled.
Wow, the cbc archives health and recall advisories is a gold mine !
People with allergies to egg proteins should not eat President's Choice brand pork and ham pâté, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Friday.
The manufacturer, Charcuterie La Tour Eiffel Inc., failed to list egg on its label.
Maybe I'll stop looking up that year old stuff and move on to more modern incidents
Thursday, April 26, 2007 | 12:42 PM ET
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has recalled 16 kinds of sandwiches sold in Alberta and British Columbia because they contain egg, milk and soy that are not declared on the label.
The sandwiches, made by Mrs. Willman’s Baking Ltd. under the brand names Take Away Café and North Country Foods, have "best before" dates up to and including 07 MA 15 (May 15, 2007).
Thursday, March 29, 2007 | 01:04 PM ET
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has warned people with allergies to five different items to avoid nine flavours of Tickleberry’s chocolate-covered dried fruits.
The Tickleberry's products, sold in 100-gram packages all over the country, contain undeclared milk, soy, sulphites, peanuts and wheat.
The products include blueberries, pastel cherries, dark cherries, strawberries, raspberries, apricots, cranberries, white cranberries and cherries with no sugar added.
Tickleberry's, of Okanagan Falls, B.C., has recalled the products.
Friday, March 16, 2007 | 08:05 AM ET
Certain Laura Secord dark chocolate products are being recalled because they contain milk protein that wasn't declared on their labels, Canada's food watchdog says.
The products were distributed nationally, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Thursday. The recall involves:
Thats silly. How can you *NOT* know that ice cream contains milk ?
The CFIA's alert also covers a second product - Jermuk Classic brand Medicinal-Table Natural Mineral Water Sparkling. The label for this product states that the water is from Jermuk Group in Armenia. The water may be available across Canada.
There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products. Arsenic is a toxic substance and is a known cause of cancer in humans.
Medicinal brand bottled water ... good for your health ! May contain arsenic ! Only from Armenia !
Ok ok , thats enough of the copy and paste I think.
My source for all of this is http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/recalls/health_food/ , by the way, if you want to take a gander at the stuff I skipped over , and there's a lot of it !
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
THE widow of July 7 suicide bomber Mohammad Sidique Khan was among four people arrested today in connection with the attacks in 2005.
First, before I begin ranting, I'd like to complain about how TWO pop ups apeared over the text of this article, blocking my ability to read it , and because I'm on firefox and I'm blocking pop ups , clicking on them did absolutely nothing.
it apears that the manchester evening news deeply enjoys being annoying. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
Article
THE widow of July 7 suicide bomber Mohammad Sidique Khan was among four people arrested today in connection with the attacks in 2005
Normally I would be highly doubtful that some criminals wife was in on the deal. Unfortunately , the suicide bomber is a different breed of animal. They are fanatics. What is a fanatic ? A fanatic is someone who wont shut up and won't change the subject. The part about blowing themselves up usually comes later.
What does this mean ?
It means the british bobbies are going to put her in a room with camera's and recorders going, and then some nice woman dressed in proper muslim dress , but sorry don't speak arabic I came from some other part of the world could we try english please ? Is going to come into the room , and agree with everything she says , be generally sympathetic and give her a shoulder to cry on.
At which point it's all going to come gushing out. Her secret hatreds , how she was just pretending to be a civilized person for appearances sake , the so called friends she has that really she would like to knife in the back ... it's all going to come out in full technicolor and graphic detail.
Then the cops are going to pick through the mess, use only the parts that will convict her, and ditch the rest in the name of not inciting hatred against a racial group, and all the nastiest of that filth will be forever erased.
Until they get her in court. And she starts shouting "Death to the Infidels ! I'm glad to be a martyr ! "
Because they're fanatics. And they couldn't keep their mouth shut if their lives depended upon it. Which it does. But thats not a possibility.
The cops have spent too much time fighting criminals with actual brains. Now ,fighting these muslims , it's like a runner who's always trained with heavy weights on his legs, and suddenly you take the weights off.
maybe...if they weren't all the same race...
... every cop in the west wouldn't be staring at them....
maybe...if they didn't all attend to their religious duties with fevor thats almost holy ...
... every cop in the west couldn't simply make up a list of who attends
friday prayers religiously and who's fast and loose with it , and only
pay attention to the die hards ...
maybe...if they could keep their mouths shut for once in their lives ...
... every cop in the west is already staring at you. Bad time to run on on at...
the mouth.
maybe...if they actually had a brain between them....
... they'd stop listening to rich oil millionaires that inform them "You go die,
I'll stay here and guard the fort" ... and get just a little suspicious of
that set up.
But no. Not gonna happen.
Bunch of womans groups will swarm to her assistance. Right up to the point where they let her open her trap in court. Then any evidence amassed against her won't really matter as she'll self confess her profound hatred for us all live and in color.
it apears that the manchester evening news deeply enjoys being annoying. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
Article
THE widow of July 7 suicide bomber Mohammad Sidique Khan was among four people arrested today in connection with the attacks in 2005
Normally I would be highly doubtful that some criminals wife was in on the deal. Unfortunately , the suicide bomber is a different breed of animal. They are fanatics. What is a fanatic ? A fanatic is someone who wont shut up and won't change the subject. The part about blowing themselves up usually comes later.
What does this mean ?
It means the british bobbies are going to put her in a room with camera's and recorders going, and then some nice woman dressed in proper muslim dress , but sorry don't speak arabic I came from some other part of the world could we try english please ? Is going to come into the room , and agree with everything she says , be generally sympathetic and give her a shoulder to cry on.
At which point it's all going to come gushing out. Her secret hatreds , how she was just pretending to be a civilized person for appearances sake , the so called friends she has that really she would like to knife in the back ... it's all going to come out in full technicolor and graphic detail.
Then the cops are going to pick through the mess, use only the parts that will convict her, and ditch the rest in the name of not inciting hatred against a racial group, and all the nastiest of that filth will be forever erased.
Until they get her in court. And she starts shouting "Death to the Infidels ! I'm glad to be a martyr ! "
Because they're fanatics. And they couldn't keep their mouth shut if their lives depended upon it. Which it does. But thats not a possibility.
The cops have spent too much time fighting criminals with actual brains. Now ,fighting these muslims , it's like a runner who's always trained with heavy weights on his legs, and suddenly you take the weights off.
maybe...if they weren't all the same race...
... every cop in the west wouldn't be staring at them....
maybe...if they didn't all attend to their religious duties with fevor thats almost holy ...
... every cop in the west couldn't simply make up a list of who attends
friday prayers religiously and who's fast and loose with it , and only
pay attention to the die hards ...
maybe...if they could keep their mouths shut for once in their lives ...
... every cop in the west is already staring at you. Bad time to run on on at...
the mouth.
maybe...if they actually had a brain between them....
... they'd stop listening to rich oil millionaires that inform them "You go die,
I'll stay here and guard the fort" ... and get just a little suspicious of
that set up.
But no. Not gonna happen.
Bunch of womans groups will swarm to her assistance. Right up to the point where they let her open her trap in court. Then any evidence amassed against her won't really matter as she'll self confess her profound hatred for us all live and in color.
New technology promises super-fast cable modems
Article
Comcast Corp. chief executive officer Brian Roberts dazzled a cable industry audience Tuesday with the first public showing of technology that enabled a data download speed of 150 megabits per second, or roughly 25 times faster than today's standard cable modems.
Yawn !
The technology, called DOCSIS 3.0, was developed by ...
DOCSIS isn't a technology. It's a standard.
Thats like ...developing new traffic rules that all drivers must learn and calling those new rules a new "traffic technology".
"It's an exponential step forward and we're very excited. What consumers actually do with all this speed is up to the imagination of the entrepreneurs of tomorrow."
The answer to that question is ... "diddly squat".
Why ?
The cable modems we have today already go up to 10 megabits and what does that get the owner ? Nothing but a larger cable bill. Your modem is your ability to receive data. But the server on the other end isn't going to send data at 10 megabits Uh uh !
Yahoo , you see, makes its money by servicing as many users as possible. And that means that it puts a cap on connection speed. It's only going to give you one megabit of connection (or less) , so that it can spread out it's bandwidth among as many users as it possibly can. And most other sites on the internet do exactly the same (though where they place the cap varies). And that means that if your modem goes faster than , say , about two megs, all the extra is totally wasted. The server won't send at ten megabits and that's just the end of that. You can't complain to them because yahoo (and the rest) are private business's, they run their servers the way they feel like running them and if anyone disagree's they give you the finger and tell you to plick off and mind your own business.
Now you want to tell me you have a new toy that goes 25 x's faster than this ? Wasted !
I suppose , maybe , it makes running a server cheaper, which means more people can do it. But hey , 150 megabits ... some manager's gonna say 1 megabit per connection is fine , the pages still download quite quickly and we can service 150 customers at once with that kind of speed cap.
Your new super fast modems will mean a lot of start up businesses will be able to put up a web site without outsourcing that component. A nice touch ... but the average home user see's no benefit. Beyond a lot more web sites suddenly popping up. Most of which will be fly by night operations.
(edit) how did they get a 25 fold speed increase out of 150 megabits ? The ones in Los Angeles can be run up to 10 megabits and they're just ordinary standard Docsis 2.0 cable modems ? Little bit of the advertising distortion there , I think.
Comcast Corp. chief executive officer Brian Roberts dazzled a cable industry audience Tuesday with the first public showing of technology that enabled a data download speed of 150 megabits per second, or roughly 25 times faster than today's standard cable modems.
Yawn !
The technology, called DOCSIS 3.0, was developed by ...
DOCSIS isn't a technology. It's a standard.
Thats like ...developing new traffic rules that all drivers must learn and calling those new rules a new "traffic technology".
"It's an exponential step forward and we're very excited. What consumers actually do with all this speed is up to the imagination of the entrepreneurs of tomorrow."
The answer to that question is ... "diddly squat".
Why ?
The cable modems we have today already go up to 10 megabits and what does that get the owner ? Nothing but a larger cable bill. Your modem is your ability to receive data. But the server on the other end isn't going to send data at 10 megabits Uh uh !
Yahoo , you see, makes its money by servicing as many users as possible. And that means that it puts a cap on connection speed. It's only going to give you one megabit of connection (or less) , so that it can spread out it's bandwidth among as many users as it possibly can. And most other sites on the internet do exactly the same (though where they place the cap varies). And that means that if your modem goes faster than , say , about two megs, all the extra is totally wasted. The server won't send at ten megabits and that's just the end of that. You can't complain to them because yahoo (and the rest) are private business's, they run their servers the way they feel like running them and if anyone disagree's they give you the finger and tell you to plick off and mind your own business.
Now you want to tell me you have a new toy that goes 25 x's faster than this ? Wasted !
I suppose , maybe , it makes running a server cheaper, which means more people can do it. But hey , 150 megabits ... some manager's gonna say 1 megabit per connection is fine , the pages still download quite quickly and we can service 150 customers at once with that kind of speed cap.
Your new super fast modems will mean a lot of start up businesses will be able to put up a web site without outsourcing that component. A nice touch ... but the average home user see's no benefit. Beyond a lot more web sites suddenly popping up. Most of which will be fly by night operations.
(edit) how did they get a 25 fold speed increase out of 150 megabits ? The ones in Los Angeles can be run up to 10 megabits and they're just ordinary standard Docsis 2.0 cable modems ? Little bit of the advertising distortion there , I think.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Microsoft and the malware market
Article
It’s neither better nor worse than others, but Microsoft Corp.’s security offerings under its Forefront Security brand is worth taking a good look at, according to one Canadian IT security analyst.
Lemme see if I understand this right.
Virii and malware *ONLY* exsit on windows. They do not exist on Mac's, they do not exist on Linux. Oh , occasionally microsoft hires some dope to write a linux virus so they can say "Look ! Even Linux has virii" but due to Linux's restictions it's a do nothing go no where totally helpless virus that can't survive in the wild and must be carefully nurtured to even exist.
Now they want to sell an anti-virus scanner and an anti-spam scanner , in effect make you PAY for their incompetance, for problems that ONLY exist on their operating system.
Why ? Because the others that were doing that (Norton , Symantec, McAfee , etc) were making too much money off of Microsofts incompetance , and now microsoft wants in on the action. (Of making money off their own incompetance).
If I could cry , I would.
Get off the microsoft wagon.
At the very least stop using the Internet explorer and switch to Firefox.
Better yet, switch to either apples or linux.
The only thing windows has going for it is that it runs the latest games. As far as productivity goes, get an apple. Or Linux. Or heck , even a game box consol of some kind and play games all you like !
Only techies like me who need to be able to say "I built my own computer from scratch" really NEED to deal with this junk. Everyone else is well advised to side step it entirely.
It’s neither better nor worse than others, but Microsoft Corp.’s security offerings under its Forefront Security brand is worth taking a good look at, according to one Canadian IT security analyst.
Lemme see if I understand this right.
Virii and malware *ONLY* exsit on windows. They do not exist on Mac's, they do not exist on Linux. Oh , occasionally microsoft hires some dope to write a linux virus so they can say "Look ! Even Linux has virii" but due to Linux's restictions it's a do nothing go no where totally helpless virus that can't survive in the wild and must be carefully nurtured to even exist.
Now they want to sell an anti-virus scanner and an anti-spam scanner , in effect make you PAY for their incompetance, for problems that ONLY exist on their operating system.
Why ? Because the others that were doing that (Norton , Symantec, McAfee , etc) were making too much money off of Microsofts incompetance , and now microsoft wants in on the action. (Of making money off their own incompetance).
If I could cry , I would.
Get off the microsoft wagon.
At the very least stop using the Internet explorer and switch to Firefox.
Better yet, switch to either apples or linux.
The only thing windows has going for it is that it runs the latest games. As far as productivity goes, get an apple. Or Linux. Or heck , even a game box consol of some kind and play games all you like !
Only techies like me who need to be able to say "I built my own computer from scratch" really NEED to deal with this junk. Everyone else is well advised to side step it entirely.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Businesses push for Ottawa casino
Article
"A casino is probably one of the singular most lucrative projects that could produce the revenue streams that would be needed to address or at least mitigate the budgetary gaps that the city is experiencing and will continue to experience," said Lepage.
There's a lot of sheep out there begging to be fleeced ! And we want to fleece them !
He added that the revenues will help fund programs for gambling addicts in Ontario.
We'll throw the social services a bone , even as we feed the very addiction they're fighting.
"I think it's a great idea," he said. "Since 70 per cent of revenues that are generated by the casino over in Hull is coming from residents of Ottawa,
They're fleecing our sheep ! We should be the one's fleecing them , not those darn quebecor's !!!
Baaaaa ! The wolves are fighting over a particularily large and tastey flock of sheep, and trying to get the sheperds (the elected officials elected to protect the average joe) to go along with the fleecing.
The quebec casino should never have been approved in the first place. Adding one in ottawa just makes it worse. What money you make off the casino , you lose on paying out an expanded welfare roll as these gambling addicts gamble away everything, sell off their life possessions to the pawn shops , and eventually wind up out of work because they were in the casino instead of on the job.
I vote no.
But I know no one is listening.
"A casino is probably one of the singular most lucrative projects that could produce the revenue streams that would be needed to address or at least mitigate the budgetary gaps that the city is experiencing and will continue to experience," said Lepage.
There's a lot of sheep out there begging to be fleeced ! And we want to fleece them !
He added that the revenues will help fund programs for gambling addicts in Ontario.
We'll throw the social services a bone , even as we feed the very addiction they're fighting.
"I think it's a great idea," he said. "Since 70 per cent of revenues that are generated by the casino over in Hull is coming from residents of Ottawa,
They're fleecing our sheep ! We should be the one's fleecing them , not those darn quebecor's !!!
Baaaaa ! The wolves are fighting over a particularily large and tastey flock of sheep, and trying to get the sheperds (the elected officials elected to protect the average joe) to go along with the fleecing.
The quebec casino should never have been approved in the first place. Adding one in ottawa just makes it worse. What money you make off the casino , you lose on paying out an expanded welfare roll as these gambling addicts gamble away everything, sell off their life possessions to the pawn shops , and eventually wind up out of work because they were in the casino instead of on the job.
I vote no.
But I know no one is listening.
Me and My Belly
Saw the doctor on April 30th.
I'm able to walk half a mile now , and enjoy it, without break. I've lost several belt sizes but no weight , which Im' told by my favorite "Plumber" means that I lost fat and gained muscle to replace it , which is a good thing keep it up.
He also said "We have an opportunity here to get you in as good a condition as possible ..." and " ... this is major surgury , it's really going to knock you back..." See you in a couple of months, my secretary will call to make the apppointment.
*Sigh*
That we have an opportunity line sounds a lot like he's gonna keep putting it off until I get sick and he has to operate immediately. On the other hand , I didn't really want to get gutted like a pig this week anyways, so thats fine with me.
I'm able to walk half a mile now , and enjoy it, without break. I've lost several belt sizes but no weight , which Im' told by my favorite "Plumber" means that I lost fat and gained muscle to replace it , which is a good thing keep it up.
He also said "We have an opportunity here to get you in as good a condition as possible ..." and " ... this is major surgury , it's really going to knock you back..." See you in a couple of months, my secretary will call to make the apppointment.
*Sigh*
That we have an opportunity line sounds a lot like he's gonna keep putting it off until I get sick and he has to operate immediately. On the other hand , I didn't really want to get gutted like a pig this week anyways, so thats fine with me.
Feisty Fawn : The Nightmare on the Clunker
My linux clunker defaults to 800 x 600 screen resolution , which is pretty tiny now adays. And I didn't see any options to bring it up to the usual 1024 x 768.
Aha ! Proprietory drivers for my Nvidia card ! That will fix it up.
Nope. Didn't work. Uninstall them.
Those two sentences took half an hour by the way.
And when I uninstalled the drivers, Linux crashed. Total reinstall time.
This went around and around in a circle for about four times, which covered a couple of days. Linux, or Ubuntu 7.04 / Feisty Fawn , would install but stubbornly refuse any other video mode no matter what I did.
Then it crashed hard and could't read the the hard drive.
Then it worked ! A reinstall and it came right up on 1024 x 768 mode with the basic linux built in drivers and no need of proprietory or restricted stuff.
I can only conclude that Ubuntu is cheating. I'm telling it to do a clean install and ignore what's on the hard drive , but it's not listening, thus all previous installs were "inheriting" the corruption from before. Only when it couldn't read the hard drive at all, did it do a proper clean install and fix all the problems.
Four days to learn that. Better write it down somewhere ...
Aha ! Proprietory drivers for my Nvidia card ! That will fix it up.
Nope. Didn't work. Uninstall them.
Those two sentences took half an hour by the way.
And when I uninstalled the drivers, Linux crashed. Total reinstall time.
This went around and around in a circle for about four times, which covered a couple of days. Linux, or Ubuntu 7.04 / Feisty Fawn , would install but stubbornly refuse any other video mode no matter what I did.
Then it crashed hard and could't read the the hard drive.
Then it worked ! A reinstall and it came right up on 1024 x 768 mode with the basic linux built in drivers and no need of proprietory or restricted stuff.
I can only conclude that Ubuntu is cheating. I'm telling it to do a clean install and ignore what's on the hard drive , but it's not listening, thus all previous installs were "inheriting" the corruption from before. Only when it couldn't read the hard drive at all, did it do a proper clean install and fix all the problems.
Four days to learn that. Better write it down somewhere ...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
