Recent Posts

9426

Living Room / Re: Which is better windows mobile or android os or iphone os?

« Last post by 40hz on March 20, 2010, 01:43 PM »

FWIW Microsoft is apparently planning on going down the same road as Apple by only allowing you to install apps through their online store, citing "network security concerns" as the reason why.


Supposedly, some of the other big carriers are also planning on doing the same for all smartphones on their networks - regardless of make or OS. So even if you  have an "open" phone, the carrier can decide if they want to lock it down as a condition of your being their customer.

Sad part is, if they all do it, having an open OS for a smartphone stops being a factor in any buying decision.

Like the ad says - it's not the phone, it's the network it's running on.

Bloody!

9427

Living Room / Re: Return of the Commodore computer name?

« Last post by 40hz on March 20, 2010, 10:52 AM »

sounds a bit defeatist to me...

-higherstate (March 20, 2010, 02:07 AM)

Not at all. Just me speaking from personal experience with several startups. That's where I learned that "innovation and "technical excellence" do not equate to commercial success.

Then there's the issue of "infrastructure."

There are tons of great ideas for doable products. The problem is that most products are no longer standalone devices. They need networks, services, and databases to make them worth owning. Laptop computers are one very good example.

Laptops really started to take off once a reliable wireless infrastructure came into existence. Prior to that they were mostly geek "convenience" toys. And now that affordable and ubiquitous WiFi is becoming a reality, laptops are finally starting to replace desktops as the preferred form factor for personal computers. Why? Not because of innovations in the design or function of a laptop (of which there were many.) The key to widespread adoption was the fact that you could now take them pretty much anywhere and link up, mostly thanks to the big ISPs and Telcos hanging access points and cell towers all over the place.

So it's not so much the technology that made the laptop so popular. It's the infrastructure somebody else made available that put it over the top.

One of the reason sso many of the early dotcomms failed was because critical "background technologies" (i.e. generally available broadband, secure online payment systems, etc.) weren't in place even though the dotcomm's products were often innovative, finished, and ready to roll.

I'm not knocking innovation, breakthrough design, or new ways of doing things. But I think it's
important to remember that just because something is a terrific idea doesn't also automatically mean it's a viable business.

Rocket science has its place. But many successful businesses (and virtually all successful 'new' technologies) became so  by doing simple, useful, and (often) obvious things extraordinarily well.

Want to make a fortune out there? Don't bother with data gloves and augmented reality. Come up with an environmentally friendly laptop battery that will give you 20 hours run time and your future is guaranteed.

Just my

 
----------------------------------------------
Note: As far as TED Talks go...well...I'll confess I love 'em.  
But much of what gets talked about, 'hand waved', or poetically waxed about over at TED never sees the light of day. There is a big difference between a "workable business model" and the "thrilling potential" for something.

9428

General Software Discussion / Re: my server life - setting up a local server

« Last post by 40hz on March 19, 2010, 04:18 PM »

If you off your current WAMP setup, and do Bitmani's , in most cases all you'll need to do is download the module for whichever app you want to install afterwards. Works like a snap-on tool. Could be a time saver down the road..


Having software for both stacks on your drive shouldn't be a problem as long as you don't run any apps from both at the same time.

9429

General Software Discussion / Re: gleeBox - Web browsing just got better.

« Last post by 40hz on March 19, 2010, 12:51 PM »

Wow! Very nice app. I've played with it about 5 minutes and already I'm impressed. Have to give it a real workout when I get a chance to read the manual more carefully.

Almost makes me think of of Launchy for a browser.

9430

General Software Discussion / Re: Dell: No refunds for Linux users who reject Microsoft's OS EULA

« Last post by 40hz on March 19, 2010, 12:37 PM »

I was referring to my wallet in this instance ;-) I've used that pun on her during our money quarrels before

-Josh (March 19, 2010, 12:21 PM)

Ah...I see...

A woman I know (who holds high position in one of the megacorps) shared this observation with me when I asked what motivated her to put in 60+ hours per week - and 200K+ air miles per year(!) - climbing the corporate ladder:

Caution: Adult Content behind spoiler:

Spoiler

"There are only two things that can never be too big: penises & paychecks."

After seeing how she operated at work, I have no trouble believing she wasn't just saying that for effect. This was one scary lady. (Big time scary!)

 

9431

General Software Discussion / Re: Dell: No refunds for Linux users who reject Microsoft's OS EULA

« Last post by 40hz on March 19, 2010, 12:18 PM »

@Josh - Just for the record, I couldn't agree more with you about the whole thing.

Personally, I think the guy is getting into a battle hardly worth fighting for the amount of cash vs effort it's going to involve.

But I also think Dell is being an idiot for crossing swords over such a piddling amount of cash when there's a customer satisfaction issue at stake.

If they said "OK. But just this once." the guy would have been happy, and it would have been over with nobody any the wiser. Now, it's up on the web - and an issue that was largely forgotten has been given a second shot at gaining some traction.

One lesson that I have learned the "hard way" over the years is that it's possible to be "absolutely right for absolutely all the wrong reasons."

I think this is a prime example of that.

------------

And my wife always said size didn't matter....

-Josh (March 19, 2010, 11:59 AM)

Well...I did qualify that comment by restricting it to matters involving money...

9432

General Software Discussion / Re: Dell: No refunds for Linux users who reject Microsoft's OS EULA

« Last post by 40hz on March 19, 2010, 11:53 AM »

I think that Dell was right on the mark with this and fault them in no way.

-Josh (March 19, 2010, 10:43 AM)

Most of the "understanding" for getting your money back if you aren't using Windows comes out of a "gentleman's" agreement between PC manufacturers, Microsoft, and various government regulatory agencies in order to avoid possible anti trust litigation.

Of course, all this needs to be done prior to you booting the machine into Windows. Do that even once and you own it.

A few years ago it wasn't too big a deal to get the "Windows Tax Rebate" on a new machine. Now that some time has passed, people (and regulators!) are starting to forget, so it's back to the "same old same old."

I wish the guy luck. But unless he's willing to invest a ton of time and grief into getting something like $35 back...well... "it just ain't gonna happen!"

Note: In return for their EULA being considered enforceable by US courts, Microsoft was required to insert the following clause into their license:

By using the software, you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, do not use the software. Instead, contact the manufacturer or installer to determine their return policy for a refund or credit.

So basically, Microsoft shifted the burden of handling refunds over to the manufacturers. But at no time did it close the door on the possibility of a refund if you didn't use their product. Nor have they ever publicly shared how this gets handled between Microsoft and the PC makers. But I'd be willing to bet that, at the very least, all the bigger manufacturers receive credits from Microsoft in such cases.

Like in most things involving money -  "size" does makes a big difference.

Note 2: Windows cannot be INCLUDED because it isn't sold. It's licensed. Licenses are legal agreements. And to be binding, they require consent on the part of the party entering into the agreement. They're not automatically binding - and they're definitely NOT products - no matter what Microsoft would like people to believe.

 

9433

General Software Discussion / Re: Dell: No refunds for Linux users who reject Microsoft's OS EULA

« Last post by 40hz on March 19, 2010, 10:22 AM »

I'd also wish you good luck getting them to honor the warranty on your hardware if you switch your OS.

Most (if not all) consumer level companies require you to do a troubleshooting session with their phone support people before they'll authorize a repair or return. 99.999999% of the time, the troubleshooting people will only work with a machine running XP, Vista, or W7.

One of the big selling points for buying vs building is that you get a warranty and support when you buy. If you switch your OS, that part of the deal goes out the window. Literally.

So in addition to your hardware, also be sure to check if your WARRANTY is "compatible" with Linux.   

One more thing to think about if you're a NIX user.    

9434

Living Room / Re: Databases in modern companies

« Last post by 40hz on March 19, 2010, 10:09 AM »

Are you asking if you'll be using databases where you'll be working? The answer to that is : yes.

If you're asking if you'll need to know how to design or program for databases, then it all depends on what career you want to pursue.

9435

Living Room / Re: Return of the Commodore computer name?

« Last post by 40hz on March 19, 2010, 10:00 AM »

How about an augmented reality based computer system. Stick a projector in there or some glasses with screens, a glove or something for input, put it all in a backpack & make it interact with physical objects..

-higherstate (March 18, 2010, 09:48 PM)

Sure thing. All you'd need to do is assemble a team of world class talent, design it, build it, debug it, fight off the patent trolls and knock-off shops, and find some venture capitalist who's willing to give you five years to make all this happen ahead of Sony, Apple, Microsoft, and Google. And then Be prepared to have to retail it for under $500.  

Sounds pretty doable to me!

Let me know when it's ready.  

9436

Living Room / Re: Will you miss newspapers when they're gone?

« Last post by 40hz on March 18, 2010, 07:32 PM »

Interesting item about the announced Peer News site over at TechCrunch that bears on the question.

Link:  http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/18/more-news-about-omidyars-peer-news/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

More News about Omidyar’s Peer News
by Sarah Lacy on Mar 18, 2010


I’m at the NewsMorphosis Conference in Hawaii today locked in a day of debates about the state of news quality and how the hell we find a business model to keep paying for it.

Temple was clear to say “there is no silver bullet” when it comes to fixing the media business, but also sees a great deal of hope in the volatility– this from the guy who was head of the now shuttered Rocky Mountain News, a paper that’s already gone through what so many dailies are dreading.

“We’re not trying to reinvent a local newspaper and put it on the Web,” he said. Indeed, the mission of Peer News doesn’t even contain the words “news” or “media” or “paper.” It’s simply “to create a new civic square.” Core to the development of Peer were three questions:

-What is the role of a free press in a democracy?

-How would you best fulfill that on a local level using all the tools available today?

-How do you do that in a sustainable way?

This was one comment I found very interesting and worthy of its own discussion thread:

But for a site that intends to be very community oriented, there was one big shocker: Peer will not have comments. “(Comments) descend into racism, hate, ugliness and reflect badly on news organizations that have them,” said Temple. Why? Because people do not have to show their faces when they comment so there’s no sense of responsibility, he argued. “We think anonymity is a huge problem when it comes to comments,” he said.

Check it out!

[Edit - URL made clickable]

9437

Living Room / Re: Return of the Commodore computer name?

« Last post by 40hz on March 18, 2010, 12:30 PM »

Actually, the return of an all-in-one keyboard form factor would be a major plus for somebody like me who does support for corporate networks. That's an idea form for internal kiosk use.
   

9438

General Software Discussion / Re: my server life - setting up a local server

« Last post by 40hz on March 17, 2010, 09:32 PM »

+1 with JavaJones on Bitnami. Completely forgot about that excellent alternative. And unlike MoWeS, Bitnami is more geared for deployment in production servers.

Great recommendation J-man.   

9439

Living Room / Re: Return of the Commodore computer name?

« Last post by 40hz on March 17, 2010, 09:21 PM »

...the company's monumental advertising campaign will have had its effect ("something like you've never seen in your life," as Altman described it to us on the phone this afternoon) ...

If it is UNsuccessful, the computer may be dubbed "The Commode"!

-parkint (March 17, 2010, 07:44 PM)

Old joke. C64 owners used to affectionately call it the "commode door" since way back.

9440

Living Room / Re: Return of the Commodore computer name?

« Last post by 40hz on March 17, 2010, 09:09 PM »

I wonder what kind of software it's supposed to run. Is it actually supposed to run old Commodore software, or did they just want rights to the name so they have a keyboard PC that runs Windows 7? Or is there going to be new Commodore software?

-daddydave (March 17, 2010, 05:18 PM)

I'd guess it will ship with Windows 7.

I plan on using some variant of Linux.

There's also enough disk/cartridge images and C64 emulators that running the old software shouldn't be an issue. Too bad they can't bring back the SID chip.

 

9441

Living Room / Return of the Commodore computer name?

« Last post by 40hz on March 17, 2010, 03:44 PM »

]This over at Endgadget.com :



http://www.engadget....ine-of-keyboard-pcs/

The Commodore name licensed again for a line of keyboard PCs
By Joseph L. Flatley posted Mar 16th 2010 6:29PM

We've always had a soft spot for Commodore computers. Compact, economical, and robust for their day, they were ubiquitous throughout the 1980s. Unfortunately, the machine's glory days are long behind it, with little more than some gaming rigs and the tireless work of Ben Heck to keep the flag flying. But all that could change if Barry Altman has his way. As President and CEO of the newly minted Commodore USA, he's spent the better part of a year crawling through the arcane red tape necessary to get the rights to the Commodore name. And now? With any luck, later this year the company's monumental advertising campaign will have had its effect ("something like you've never seen in your life," as Altman described it to us on the phone this afternoon) and you'll be able to have your very own keyboard computer  with the Commodore logo slapped on for good measure. Presumably based on the Cybernet ZPC-GX31, the exact configurations and pricing will all be spelled out soon enough. In the meantime, hit the source link to see for yourself. And please, guys -- make us a beige one, will ya?

Bears as much resemblance to a C64 as, as an BMW G-Power M6 Hurricane CS does to a Dodge Charger - but it's the thought that counts! I'd be tempted  to buy one purely for the sake of nostalgia in order to see this:

 on something again.

And yes...I think I'd want it in beige. And with a rainbow stripe while we're at it too! 

9442

General Software Discussion / Re: my server life - setting up a local server

« Last post by 40hz on March 17, 2010, 03:30 PM »

@StevenAvery - Pretty quiet back there. How's it going?

9443

Living Room / Re: Windows doesn't recognize HDD.

« Last post by 40hz on March 16, 2010, 04:03 PM »

So what do you do with dead hard drives, anyway? Toss them in the dumpster? Take them apart and look at the cool disks inside?

-Deozaan (March 16, 2010, 03:19 PM)

Definitely take one apart if haven't done it before. They're really interesting mechanisms. And the platters make very nice sounding wind chimes or experimental percussion instruments. So be creative. And send us some pictures! (Especially if you make a clock like the one in that link Java-J mentioned.)
 

Also the box would beep after several seconds, making noises as if the box was trying to go through POST, but displaying nothing on screen. So I cut the power to the machine and turned it back on and the HDD didn't show up in the BIOS.

-Deozaan (March 16, 2010, 03:19 PM)

Sounds like the integrated controller finally gave up the ghost.

Oh well...better now than two months later when you have it loaded up with data and programs.

9444

Living Room / Re: Donationcoder: How did you find it + What has your experience been like so far.

« Last post by 40hz on March 15, 2010, 10:41 PM »

This review of Process Tamer over at FreewareGenius.com  

http://www.freewareg...12/11/process-tamer/

For me, Donation Coder is the perfect example of what a web community is supposed to be (and very seldom is): a group of intelligent and civil people who freely share their thoughts and experiences with each other.

One of the very few places on the web that I try to visit on a daily basis.

9445

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by 40hz on March 15, 2010, 04:39 PM »

Stale tea.

Why can you get a great cup of coffee 'to go' in so many places, but not a decent cup of tea. Your average gas station or convenience store can even manage to set you up with perfectly drinkable coffee these days.

I sometimes think these people buy their tea in bulk and then dole it out a cup at a time over the next ten years to be able to sell you a "cuppa" as bad as most do.

9446

General Software Discussion / Re: alternative to filehamster?

« Last post by 40hz on March 15, 2010, 03:06 PM »

@kartal - Looks like Mogware just came through with your solution! 

9447

General Software Discussion / Re: my server life - setting up a local server

« Last post by 40hz on March 15, 2010, 02:54 PM »

Your first very own server? Steven! The Man!

***UPDATE***

Please ignore my earlier recommendation...

I originally suggested (see below) that you might consider MoWeS Portable as an easier way to get your development platform up and running. Although I've never had problems with this product, I've since been informed by a colleague that MoWeS has recently become unstable. Apparently something got broken because problems are being reported with the Wordpress and Elgg packages.

Better off sticking with your original plan of action and use XAMPP.

My apologies.

Murphy Lives!

If your immediate interest in is developing your website, as opposed to mastering all the infrastructure niceties*, you might want to take a look at something called MoWeS put out by CH Software.

Link: http://www.chsoftwar...wesportable/main.htm

MoWeS allows you to mix up a preconfigured WAMP "stack" along with optional applications. It's about as easy as it comes. It's also geared towards development rather than production servers, so the security has been relaxed enough that it doesn't get in the way like it would on something exposed to the Internet. (You can always enable these security features if you want/need to - although it's important to note the authors don't recommend using MoWeS as a "live" server.)

MoWeS Portable II is a free software that enables you to quickly set up a WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySQL and PHP) system on any Windows system.

Additionally, you can download so-called packages. Packages contain application software, such as TYPO3, MediaWiki, Wordpress, Joomla!, etc., and are installed automatically.

Most of the the "biggies" (Joomla, Drupal, Wordpress, MediaWiki, phpBB3, SugarCRM, etc. etc) are available. The basic "portable" version supports about 30 apps. There's an additional 30 packages available for "premium" supporters.

 Luck!

9448

Living Room / Re: Windows doesn't recognize HDD.

« Last post by 40hz on March 15, 2010, 02:11 PM »

Just out of curiosity - do you really want to trust that hard drive - even if it does successfully format?  

9449

Living Room / Re: Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 5

« Last post by 40hz on March 14, 2010, 11:43 PM »

(where he basically said "while we're aware of what we've advocated, please understand we're not willing to go to jail for standing by it")

-40hz (March 14, 2010, 09:16 PM)

Did you really expect him to go to jail for this?

-wraith808 (March 14, 2010, 10:31 PM)

Expect him to? In Sweden? Not for a 'New York Minute' ...

But after listening to all his rhetoric leading up to the "showdown" I would have had a lot more respect for him if he at least expressed a willingness to go.

I still stand by what I've said here, and earlier, here:

https://www.donation....msg170239#msg170239

https://www.donation....msg170294#msg170294

 

----

Personal Note: For the record, I'm not too big on jailing people in general. Many times, that's a "cure" that creates bigger problems than the one it tried to correct. Just my 2¢...

9450

Living Room / Re: Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 5

« Last post by 40hz on March 14, 2010, 09:16 PM »

Re: Peter Sunde's 15 "memorable" quotes.

Am I the only person in the world that is still waiting to hear any comment from Mr. Sunde that would sound relevant to anyone other than a clueless child?

And after Pirate Bay's absolute sellout once the authorities got serious about cracking down (where he basically said "while we're aware of what we've advocated, please understand we're not willing to go to jail for standing by it") I can't understand why he's still being taken seriously in some quarters.

Amazing.  

----------------

@Stephen - thanks again for your hard work to keep a quality Tech News column coming to us regularly!