Re: What?
"Haven't these people heard of Cygwin?"
heh, you made SO much sense your downvote ratio was higher than your upvotes. I +1'd you though. That's because you're ABSOLUTELY! RIGHT!!!
10944 publicly visible posts • joined 1 May 2015
Yeah, Micro-shaft is running out of actual IDEAS. So they'll recycle this one unti it stops working. The only market THEY care about is "the 70%".
I'd like to start a NEW campaign, to replace Windows with desktop Linux:
MAKE! COMPUTING! GREAT! AGAIN!!!
We'll go after the 30%, the "unsatisfied". It _COULD_ turn into a real revolution...
you're welcome.
29% of Windows users probably have non-linear minds, and as such, can't be so easily HERDED like the other 70%. Except for the remaining 1%, who are hackers and IT pros, that threw away the Win-10-nic license for something SANE.
(this is based on the assumption that ~1/3 of the population are non-linear-minded "creative/hunter" types, and the other ~2/3 are linear-minded "farmer" types - the percentages based on centuries of natural selection because farming is a more effective means of getting food than hunting/gathering, though the creative/hunter types are highly ADAPTABLE and as such fill _OTHER_ important roles in society like craftsmanship and ranching and military/police, and thus the relative percentages of these "classifications" of thinking patterns, either linear time-based 'farmer' thinking, or non-linear now-based 'creative/hunter' thinking - yeah, it's an old theory, the 'hunter/farmer' concept, but it works and explains a lot)
"Do Adobe hire their programmers out of Trump University or something?"
<facepalm /> <downvote />
"How do they have such consistently shit code??"
it's probably a combination of:
a) management/policy deficiencies
b) 'original design' flaws
c) arrogant coders
d) closed source [so nobody can see how crappy it really is]
I wonder what the typical "function call depth" is... and how many files you have to look through to find out what XXX does. [and whether classes/objects muck with each others' storage, or if garbage collection is being relied upon instead of proper reference count based object freeup, etc..]
"MS moved localhost resolution into the local DNS client (probably to stop users messing things up by removing those names)."
OR, so Micro-shaft could hijack them later, and ALSO prevent you from using 'hosts' to stop their ADWARE and SPYWARE...
on a related note... do we need to protect ".local" as well? (I use this for my private network since decades ago, "something.local" with bind serving up resolution for it)
"And tonal cannot be captured very well in writing, so for example in written English, one invests more in context to set the tone"
AND, you can use punctuated! text!, *emphasis*, italics, _underscore_, CAPITALIZATION, and other means of "tonal exposition" in your writing style.
Yeah. I do that. You're welcome.
"What chance does an AI bot have if it doesn't know how much of an idiot the writer is?"
that's right, it could be some IDIOT that believes the lame-stream (left-wing biased) media's negative portrayal of Trump . However, being REALISTIC, I'd say Trump isn't THE greatest, but is pretty great nonetheless.
"I have given up using wi-fi in the house due to the number of WAPs that are visible"
here's what you do:
a) pick a channel that nobody else is currently using.
b) stream continuous iperf traffic between two connected wireless devices for at least 2 solid days, witihout letting up. Get the bandwidth up as high as possible. Locate the devices strategically, so popular client locations are "covered"
c) when the neighboring access points all (autmatically?) change channels to avoid YOU, you'll have the entire channel block to yourself, at least for a while. 2.4Ghz needs 1 or 2 clear channels next to you (due to the modulation), so don't use 6. 10 or 2 is often a good choice [at least in the USA]. At 5Ghz, you can have adjacent channels since the 'A' bandwidth is higher than 'G'.
And then, rinse/repeat as often as needed to keep your bandwidth working well.
(it also helps to ask people what channels their on, to avoid obvious conflicts, or just scan the ones with more bars using a utility that tells you the channel and other info)
also turn off "greenfield" and enable B-style preambles (CTS etc.). This helps multiple wifi networks play well with each other. As well as can be expected, anyway...
I messed with mesh networks a while back. I forget the details, but it was overrated (in my viewpoint) for wifi.
You could PROBABLY provide the same _kind_ of thing by enabling 'roaming' on the clients, and setting up wireless "extender bridges" at various (strategic) points. They'd have 2 radios in each one, one that's connected to the base station on one channel, and acting like a router/AP on the other, and maybe have better radios and/or better antennae to keep the bandwidth as high as possible. Client roaming would handle best signal, etc. on the individual computers and devices, and everybody would "get along".
Then you won't have to run something like "BATMAN" on every device on your network...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.A.T.M.A.N.
[as I recall, you needed it on the clients, too]
Anyway I haven't messed with it in quite a while, so maybe those problems were solved? Most of what I did was on the wifi access point itself, and not so much the networking. Got a proof of concept working, then the project was presented for a defense contract by "the boss", and that was the end of it. bummer, yeah.
(I suppose in some ways IPv6 is a lot like BATMAN's mesh network routing stuff, so why not go full-blowin IPv6 and be done with it!!!)
"Didn't I read that there are 350,000 Qualified Engineers unemployed in India?"
probably, and there may be a reason why: If they are out of work, it may be because they're work (quality, quantity, outcome) isn't worth paying them the apparent low wage that a contractor in India might pay their employees as compared to someone working in Redmond.
A lot of this isn't due to a lack of education, or intelligence, or even real qualifications on the part of the 'out of work' engineers in India (or those who are working, for that matter). A lot of this is PROBABLY the 'rules of engagement' and the instructions given to the "body pack" that's ultimately hired to do the work.
Throwing bodies at a problem, i.e. 1000 previously out of work (and poorly paid) engineers are now working on "the problem". But they can't step outside of the box for fear of someone else quickly assuming their role at the company. And so REAL innovation goes out the window, problems are shrugged off and even HIDDEN to avoid conflict, and we get a lot of "yes sir" when there should be objections...
You can't blame them, of course, and I am just pointing out what I think is happening "over there" and why the phone support, engineering efforts, etc. seem to be 'below our standards' over here - and it's because 'boiler plate' is the rule of the day and nobody DARES go around it, against it, etc. - the nail that sticks up GETS THE HAMMER, right? Anyway... that would be the "rules of engagement" for doing the actual work.
So ultimately it has proven that off-shoring everything to India can be a bad idea, regardless of their intelligence or the apparent cost. It's the 'rules of engagement' that cause the fail and bureaucratic "solutions".
In any case, if Micro-shaft wants QUALITY people, they'll have to PAY for them. And you often get what you are willing to pay for, as long as you actually PAY for it. And don't "get cheap". etc..
I think Google needs to hire more political conservatives, more christians, more right-wingers, more Trump supporters, and more Republicans. That way, their "diversity" will more equally represent the entire population of the USA.
same logic as hiring more women, simply based on generic demographics. A downvote storm will be a badge of honor, since it would just be the usual howler monkeys doing it...
I am SO sick of this "diversity" crap. Yeah, let's mix an equal representation of materials found on the makeup of the entire planet next time we build something out of concrete. It's not *FAIR* that diatomacious earth isn't equally represented in the concrete mix... "iron mixed with clay" indeed, and not in a GOOD way [like rebar in re-enforced concrete], more like in an UNSTABLE and BRITTLE way.
And THAT is what "diversity" does. It brings people into the mix that aren't necessarily there because they STRENGTHEN, but because it AVOIDS LAWSUITS [even when discrimination doesn't really exist].
icon: me face-palming at the lameness of it all
just thinking, maybe regular stars also have heavy elements inside the core, due to the compression and continuous neutron flux from the fusion reaction... yeah fusing iron + other things into gold, lead, and uranium would be the nuclear equivalent of 'endothermic' but you got all that pressure, all that temperature, and all those neutrons...
but yeah Iron, cobalt, and nickel have the lowest binding energy per nucleon, so all 'exothermic' fission/fusion reactions head towards them.
limits on free speech have been tested in the Supreme Court many times. Disclosing classified information, for one, is a punishable offense (all those 'leaks' for example). The classic example yelling "fire" in a crowded public space is another offense [typically 'disturbing the peace' or similar charges would be filed]. You can't be openly abusive, harass people, or create a public nuisance. But pretty much everything else, done peaceful-like and in the context of local ordinances, is fair game. I can go to the city park, stand on a soap box, and do political speech (or hate speech, for that matter) all day long. The cops will protect me and people can choose to walk away (or not). If I don't chase them and get in their faces, I'm not "harassing" or "disturbing". So yeah.
"Involuntary manslaughter" is the charge for when you negligently do something that significantly contributes to someone's death. Accidentally running someone over because you were texting on your phone, or disobeyed traffic laws [that sort of thing]. So there has to be some kind of "avoidable" negligent thing that you did, such as manipulating someone's emotions via text messages.
But yeah, the high courts will probably decide THIS one, too.
/me imagines chearleading squads at "jumper" events - "Screw it all, Screw it all, JUMP JUMP JUMP!"
megaphone icon for me standing on my soap box in this forum, heh
blue is like 15% luminosity or something like that, so "brighter blue" would be easier to read, especially if you're old...
I'm glad MS is brightening up the default colors. Now, will this be done with gnome/mate shells, too? default colors on THEM are like the old CMD defaults. I'm always forced to "unalias ls" and "unalias grep" and things like that to get rid of the colorized trext, because I CANNOT READ THAT DAMNED COLORIZED TEXT half the time (dark blue or dark purple on black - what dim-bulb thought THAT was a good idea?).
It's *IRRITATING*.
So a big well-deserved KUDOS to Microsoft <--- spelling their name properly when they do something right
"I don't get how that would yield such a supposed improvement in sign-in success?"
until they put different click-through ads on EACH PAGE that you're forced to re-load...
WAIT until "they" put "that" as the NEW LOGIN for WIN-10-NIC
/me heads for the door, dodging the rotting veggies and other flying objects. yeah, "don't give them any ideas"
"Yeah, this is why you don't let the programmers anywhere near the live servers..."
many thumbs up for that bit of advice!
[I currently find myself in the (somewhat necessary, regrettably) position of web development, server admin, AND system integrator, with a bozillian low-level fixes and necessary changes just WAITING to be implemented on the production side, and I have to CONSTANTLY resist the temptation to just put it into production anyway (since I have a 'development' site running in parallel, migrated from the production system's everything, and without any major problems) while I wait for the slow-moving wheels of but-if's and uncertainty on the "customer" end, until they finally say "go for it"]
So yeah, don't @#$% with the production system until the P.R. and non-IT people get their schtuff in one sock...
I hear it airs this Sunday at 8PM on the sci fi channel. I know someone who's a fan of the sharknado movies, which is why I know about it. The series is campier than Shawn of the Dead, for those who love B movies that are a parody of themselves.
I mean, sharks, tornados, campy dialog, ridiculously fake-looking special effects, ass-pulls, and expect the unexpected. What's not to love, I guess...
I do appreciate the tag line from sharknado 3, though. "Oh, Hell No!" that was classic.
Sorry, not in this forum, it's off topic
I'm glad I waited to comment on the article, though. Sounds like the Feds may have some legit reason for questioning "our hero" (re: new article mentioned at the end in an update to this one)
but if you want more on capitalism, etc. there are smarter people than me who have done an excellent job of making this point. I suggest Prof. Walter Williams from George Mason University as a good start.
"Are you a Trump supporter, by any chance ?"
trolling, indeed. you apparently have no real grasp on who Trump supporters really are.
Ugh. The 'academic arrogance' of the elitist, socialist types. *groan* They see everyone who disagrees with them as uneducated tin-foil-hat conspiracy types, one foot away from being locked in the loony bin, "feel" instead of think, and assume that people in general will NOT do the right thing when given the responsibility of their choices, and so the population must be 'controlled' by 'the elite' 'for their own good'. because 'the elite' knows best. Always. *groan*
yeah, leave it to gummints to totally "get it wrong".
holding web site operators liable for the actions of their advertisers, especially when they use some kind of ad network [and can't necessarily review nor screen the ads] makes you wonder why they even BOTHER, knowing that the lawsuits over wrongful prosecution will keep this tied up in courts for, like, EVAR.
Why not just go after the perpetrators instead? Or is that just not good enough?
old fashioned police work does NOT need blanket surveilance, "unmasking", punishing of ISPs or web site operators, nor the kinds of idiotic "gun-control-like" laws that attempt to hold legitimate businesses responsible for the actions of a few that are inconsequentially involving them.
remember when they *FELT* we wanted THIS?
The 'Australis' makeover. Yes, it has a name.
The millenial elitist academic-arrogant 4"-ers [ref to screen size, i.e. everything on a 4" phone, otherwise would be 1"-ers] "feel" that we ALL want their RAPED-UP user interface, with it's "hamburger" menu and 2D flatness. These are the same *TYPE* of people behind Windows "Ape" and Win-10-nic, Gnome 3, and systemd. Do we REALLY want *THEM* determining what "features" we want for the future?
I say, NO!
Let's make the browser display web pages efficiently, clean up its unused memory properly, NOT crash nor stutter your computer system if it's left running with 43 tabs open on multiple windows for more than a month, and EFFICIENTLY run (and dispose of excess memory use for) javascript.
"The paranoia is just the result of Microsofts track record of ramming any and almost every potentially invasive piece of technology down users throats."
that would be the SANITIZED version of things. My opinion is that it's been shoved into the OTHER END the entire time. That way they can hear you SCREAM...
"we handed over the job to stay-at-home, pro-robot time-wasters after Apollo."
Unfortunately, politics entered the mix, back in the 70's. I could enumerate the details, but it's all there if someone wants to look for it.
Apollo had at least 2 moon launches canceled, an Apollo/Soyuz mission and Skylab re-purposed the remaining hardware [except that which became museum pieces], and for some stupid reason, the USA seemed to lose their passion for manned space exploration. [I never did]
I blame the politicians and the driving forces behind them [which isn't "the people"].
It was kinda like being neutered, in a way...
"in less than 5000 years."
actually, that would be 6000 years, placing creation week at 4004 BC. Dates according to Usher, as I recall.
that's why "the end times" will take place in the year 2000, because 1000 years of 'whatever' following 'the end times" at the 6000 year point Rosh Hashana when "the rapture" happens. you know, because 7 days = 7000 years. etc.
(troll icon for obvious reasons)
"Assets depreciate on a schedule"
this is useful when you want to spread the cost over several years. I see no value in it, though [as I don't spend that much on such things] and just expense things like computer hardware, software, OSs ,whatever (then, they have NO book value and I just use them). Actually it turns out that annual MSDN renewal at $900/year has been the most expensive of all of it... then again the business consists of "just me" and so depreciation is probably not necessary anyway.
I've never sold a computer. They always run until they break, or are so obsolete (like a 486) that I couldn't pay someone to take them.
[I'm also considering ABANDONING the MSDN subscription, even though I've had it since the 90's. Keeping up with what MS is doing is nothing less than frustration and disappointment. Might as well save the $ and flush them completely...]
"Microsoft needs to put their boot down HARD on the OS detection"
I was interested in what you had to say until you said THAT.
Micro-shaft has ALREADY done the "boot down HARD" thing. Remember GWX? Also remember how much it PISSED! EVERYONE! OFF! when they kept JAMMING! IT! UP! OUR! DOWN! OUR! THROATS!!
So putting on their JACK BOOTS and GRINDING THE XP _CUSTOMERS_ INTO THE GROUND is only going to create even MORE anger, hopefully to the point of REBELLION (i.e. "Let's do Linux!" or BSD).
Anyway, icon obvious.
"did you include android in that stat"
probably not, because it would be considered a "mobile" OS and this was about desktop computing [pretty sure]. It's also consistent with what I've seen in the past.
And... the article said "FreeBSD nabbed 0 per cent of that tracked desktop traffic".
I didn't now they were tracking FBSD. But a lot of people like to 'anonymize' their browser self-identification with plugins etc. to limit tracking. So while I don't bother doing that [probably means "they" can track me] I also don't web surf to a lot of things that many people do, and when I do it, I've got NoScript and cookie blockers and things of that nature running.
(and when I need script for something, like maybe a digikey order - their shopping cart hates NoScript for some reason and I doubt they'll fix it - I do it from a VM running Linux, hosted by a FreeBSD box)
So yeah FBSD is getting low numbers, but there might be a very good reason as to why. I also have to wonder if SIMILAR reasons exist for *INFLATING* Win-10-nic's numbers...
And Linux's numbers may be artificially low, too...
[glad to see they're rising, though]
I don't use a cell phone to pay, so HOW could they track ME?
If they're using my financial data, such as purchases online, to track me in stores, then that falls under the FTC's requirements for banking transactions and privacy. I think there's both disclosure AND "opt out" in this one. I've opted out with my banks and so I don't expect they'd be able to do this LEGALLY with me...
However, if their "partners" disclose debit card information to google [for ad reasons], AND you purchase stuff at stores that have 'partnerships' with google, then perhaps they CAN track your purchases.
These 'partnerships' should be disclosed. Then I'll know who NOT to use a debit card with.
I can still use cash. I don't have to identify myself with cash. Maybe it's time to do that.
'Utility Style' regulation isn't the right approach. Google and Facebook aren't required for intarwebs access.
HOWEVER - _SOME_ regulation is warranted. And when I say 'regulation' I'm talking PRIVACY, where the source of the problem is.
There's nothing stopping anyone from asking people directly to advertise something on a web site. So advertisement marketing regulations wouldn't be needed, either. I can ask my friend who owns a web site "hey can you put these ads on your site?" and then pay for them. Nothing stopping this.
Now, with Google and Faceb[ook,itch] dominating the market and providing marketing strategies to make your ads more effective, a lot of people will want those services. For now.
There's nothing stopping anyone from getting into the same business, except maybe a lack of target-market data [which Google and Faceb[ook,itch] have built up for a few years.
So they have a competitive advantage. YET.. the USE of that data might need some regulation, to avoid privacy violations.
Otherwise, let them do what they want. Personally, I see it as Trump doing "Art of the Deal" again. You make a bold statement about what you want to do. The other side fires back. You end up in the middle. And win something.
"The resurgent Right is a greater threat to Western civilization than anything coming out of the Mideast."
WRONG!!!
It's a bloodless war. For our freedom. I want mine *BACK* !!! That's what it is. No more, nor less. Why do you think Trump has made a MARINE CORPS GENERAL his new chief of staff???
IT'S A WAR!
/me plays "This is War" by 30 Seconds to Mars
if you'd lived in California at the time, 'Grey Out" Davis (and the DemoRats in general) was to blame, for gummint intervention, etc. and obstruction of construction of a sufficient number of power plants and other infrastructure. Gov. Swarzenegger campaigned on un-doing that blockade during the recall, and won. And it worked.
Example: the Moss Landing power plant had been in a state of disrepair for YEARS. Once Gov "Terminator" was in office, that thing was back up and fully operational in a few months (as I recall, it's an oil burning plant). Basically, snip the red tape and let the company get things done, and you'll get PLENTY of electricity. It was _OBVIOUS_ to those who were "there", no matter what Wikipedia might say about it.
(part of the Moss Landing story might have been PRICE CONTROLS for power generators, and allowing certain plants to charge MORE during peak hours, i.e. 'market forces', ALSO helped keep the lights on)
So THAT was the problem: gummint was GETTING IN THE WAY.
Also, please remember, Wikipedia articles are often written by activists the left, re-edited by activists on the left (often in 'edit wars'), and then used as "proof" for the left's agenda. It has an obvious bias. On non-political things it can be VERY helpful, like describing math formulae or internet protocols. On political things (and even history), not so much. It's not even REMOTELY balanced. It's not even REMOTELY fair. Because CONSERVATIVES and LIBERTARIANS don't have enough "free time" (read: paid editors working for media matters with a leftist agenda re-edit things, because they don't have to have REAL jobs) to spend re-re-editing Wikipedia and undo the re-editing (assuming they had time to post/edit in the FIRST place, working hard and living their lives).
"Meanwhile Windows has moved backwards and Linux forwards."
"MS has missed the bus"
For that I upvoted, but with a caveat about EFI: EFI just plain *SUCKS*. It's another MICRO-SHAFT SCAM to try and ELIMINATE LINUX and BSD, to "require" that for a windows-capable sticker on the hardware or something. (fortunately, many operating system distros have adapted, but they should NOT have had to do so in the FIRST place)
Let's not forget that the very existence of EFI is due to Micro-shaft's EVIL PLANS to DESTROY COMPETITION. They behave according to their nature, after all...
Yes, 'grep' and 'awk' and redirection. I get that with Cygwin on winders. Why do I need Micro-shaft's LAME ATTEMPT at copying Linux? Or rather, embracing, extending, and EXTINGUISHING Linux?
grep in SFU/SUA didn't work quite the same, nor did awk from what I remember (and there were other irritations and limitations as well). As such, I couldn't get a proper grep search to work the same way with THAT thing. So now round 2.
why not just install LINUX instead, if you need Linux?
/me been living in the FreeBSD desktop, day to day, for YEARS now. Since some time before 2005, in fact.
"I'm wondering just how long Linux has got left as a cohesive, foundational project"
a long time, I'd say.
"RedHat / Pottering are trying to steal it."
let them try. systemd kernel? HA HA HA HA HA! that's a laugh!
"Intel have had staff walk away from the project."
rage-quitters should STAY 'quit'. it's likely they were unproductive anyway. My $.10.