Posts by Herby 3058 publicly visible posts • joined 14 Dec 2007
For the ancient ones, have you:
Used a machine with real core memory?
Used Punch cards?
Made up a drum card for a keypunch?
EBCDIC?
Assembler on 5 different machines (with different instruction sets)?
Entered a program with the front panel switches?
That did some actual work?
Found a hardware bug?
Fixed the hardware bug you found?
Paper tape?
ASR 33 Teletype?
Acoustic modem?
Bootstrapped the operating system from the console with out using the "boot" function?
Build up a microprocessor system from the raw parts, and wired it yourself?
Replaced a defective core memory stack with a working one (soldering it yourself)?
<<<<<The list abounds, as I'm sure others will add entries!>>>>>
Maybe it is time to just regard IPv6 as broken, and start all over with something that will actually WORK. For the most part the first step is to have all the nice consumer grade routers to at least do IPv6 on the WAN side. Then I can deal with the IPv4 on my own local side. Unfortunately, my routers that I use (4 sites) don't have a clue. I use an "obsolete" router that has ALL sorts of nice features, like being a print server and allowing VPNs between the various routers. Oh, one additional thing, there is code in the router to setup dynamic DNS names so if the address on the WAN side changes (which it does if I restart the router) I can keep accessing my internal NAT stuff from the "outside".
Currently most DSL lines here use PPPoE to get their address and this might continue when my ISP thinks about IPv6.
Of course, we can go back/forward to IPv5, but to do that we'll need to talk to academics down the street (Stanford University) to find out what it actually does.
Summary: Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.
As time goes by, they go faster and faster (being closer together). What has the Redmond people worried is always the first domino, thus their thrust to prevent it. When others wake up and start smelling the coffee, more dominoes will fall. Unfortunately it won't be recognized until it is too late.
Of course, I really like the patterns that the falling dominoes make, but that is just me!
Your children to play in the center divide of a freeway (aka motorway in the UK). I mean that the space is not used normally, so it is nice and available, and we need to accommodate children with play spaces. Look the government already owns the space and it isn't being used, and allowing playgrounds in center divides of freeways would put the space to "good use".
Sounds about as logical as white space networking.
We have 'A' planes: Airbus
We have 'B' planes: Boeing
Now we have 'C' planes: China.
We had 'D' plane: Douglas (now part of Boeing!)
Then there is a saying a friend of mine has (he works for United maintenance): It's Boeing, or I'm not going! (He didn't like Airbus much).
Be VERY sure to include LOTS of memory in your designs. You will need it for the bloatness that is in your operating systems. Be also sure to include good power management in your hardware since it will consume lots of kWh! Make sure that the display has good blue pixels as they will be used often on those "blue screens". Add control, alt, and delete keys for rapid reboot.
Yes, there are some sorts of cards that work as both debit cards (requiring a pin), or as a credit card (needing a signature). While the cost to the consumer is the same in both instances, and the money comes from the same account (a demand deposit account or checking account), the difference to the merchant is quite a bit.
You see cards that are treated as "credit" cards (signature) get a discount fee (around 3%). Cards that are treated as "debit" cards (PINs) are charged a fixed fee (no more than $0.25, after a silly bill passed in congress a while ago). So, if you have a bill over $8.33 (or so) the merchant gets nicked for more. In addition, you can't get cash back from ANY credit card (signature) transaction.
Nicely for consumers, there ARE benefits for having a credit card, like the bank paying you 1% more more on each transaction (they still make $$$ by charging 3% to the merchant).
This "signature" stuff goes back to when the signed chits were returned back to the consumer (back before the 70's).
For the curious, the original slips that were signed were the size of either 51 or 80 column IBM punch cards, and when returned back actually had holes in them.
As for me: Signatures are enough, pins are a pain!
Make the lookup process "expensive" (in relative terms) AND record WHO does the lookup. Then make the data on your own WHOIS record "free".
This eliminates much of the problems. If someone IS looking my records up, I should be able to know who is doing it, even if it is law enforcement.
Of course, I'm dreaming, but there might be a white Christmas here in the bay area (it did snow here about 40 years ago) some day.
I understand that there is a company in chapter 11, kinda "old school" that is in the "picture business" that could be picked up for a "song". Now days they do a lot in the printer business. But I still like the Paul Simon song "Kodachrome" (nice bright colors and all that!).
And by the way, unless you are Bill Gates, you probably can't afford it anyway.
Of course, you CAN build a chopper yourself, kits are available. On one of the satellite channels here in the USA they even had a series on how to do it. While something like the kit will go quickly, it probably won't break any speed limits, and will take a couple of minutes around Top Gear's test track (assuming it follows the road course).
In current systems (ones that have shipped for about 10 years), there are network boot procedures (PXE boot). Will these be "signed" as well. Now there are the floppies (if anyone uses these anymore), CD/DVD's and (as mentioned above) thumb drives. Lots of these will be broken if this goes through.
So, this is generally a "BIG FAIL". What else is new?
Convenience fees in general are the the convenience of the person writing the bill. Often companies (telco, bank, etc.) want you to do things that save THEM money, and then they charge you for the privilege. An example of this is tone dials: It turns out that tone dials encourage faster dialing, which means that you can have cheaper switching equipment. Of course, they charged you for having tone dials. Fortunately, they stopped doing this locally over 10 years ago. My bank also wants to stop issuing mailed statements, for MY convenience (not the banks). They won't even give me a break if I stop the paper.
Then again, what is the difference between fully electronic payments through an ATM card, or the cost of processing a physical check. One wonders these days, why the "cheaper" method is charged for.
You could setup the check password system call to be at the edge of allowable memory. If you got the character correct, you would get a memory fault. If you got password incorrect, the character at the edge was wrong, and you tried again. When you got a character correct, you moved everything over and attacked the next character. It was short work to get the correct password.
Of course this was before hashed/encrypted passwords and all that.
Moral of the story:
1) Absorb the entire password before checking it
2) If you have incorrect passwords, delay the response exponentially for each bad attempt.
Sure a 6 MHz chunk (at least here in the USA) of spectrum is used for broadcasting, but how many multi-megabit streams would be used in its place, each taking up a considerable chunk of bandwidth (a previous commenter mentioned 10,000 as a factor which seems proper).
It just seems silly for the "on demand" streams that will inevitably clog up both wired and wireless point to point transports. And I thought spam was a high bandwidth activity, compared to streaming video, it is but a minor player.
Further reading: The tragedy of the commons.
Besides I want my wireless mics to work without interference.
Back in the 60's I did some work on both IBM1620s (I had access to several) and an IBM1130. Both were programmed with punch cards, and I became VERY familiar with IBM keypunches (both 026's and 029's). Since the IPL sequence was normally reading a specific "cold start" card for both machines, knowing the sequence wasn't commonly done. An exception was if you wanted to control the IBM1620 via its console typewriter (one had a old model b electric typewriter, the later model had a modern Selectric). In that case keying in the IPL sequence was easier than getting out of the chair and going to the card reader to put the card in. I still remember the sequence:
3400032007013600032007044902402111963611300102
The things you remember from high school.
Some countries used it back in WW2 (I'm from the USA, figure it out). Given that it is known that synthetic fuel can be produced, all we need is a nice big energy source. Those were also produced back in WW2, and even supply electricity in some locales.
Mix, match, stir a bit and we have energy for a long time. It even is in a portable form (like gasoline/petrol). Life goes on.
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