In response to http://news.softpedia.com/news/Buyers-Get-Choice-Microsoft-Acts-Threatened-21001.shtml
Dear Microsoft,
There is a reason that more and more comsumers are buying PCs without an operating system. The reason is that consumers are starting to get tired of paying you for bloated, slow software. Also, more and more consumers are getting into the concept of having a "server" on their home network, and to be honest, Linux and BSD are beating the pants off of you in the high speed, high uptime, easy to manipulate server department.
Windows 3.1 took 9 floppies (3 for Dos and 6 for Windows, resulting in aprox 17Mb used) to install, which wasn't so bad. A little large for the time, but reasonable.
Windows 2000 takes at least 1.2Gb and really prefers about 2Gb. When 8Gb hard drives were regular fare, 10% still seemed a bit high a price to pay, and 25% was that much more an insult. Adding to that the space consumed by MS Office, which for some strange reason took 2 cds to install, and a 8Gb hard drive was mostly gone.
Windows XP probably roughly resembles Windows 2000 in space required, and may or may not add stability while adding bells and whistles. I really don't know and honestly could care less. I see nothing in XP that Win2000 does not provide that I NEED.
Hint: If you want more people to willingly pay you for quality software, then MAKE SOME.
2006/04/06
Unfit parents need help
In response to http://news.softpedia.com/news/Anti-Piracy-Software-from-MPAA-could-it-be-a-privacy-issue-039.shtml
The solution is simple.
If you do not trust your children to responsibly use a computer, DISALLOW THEM ACCESS TO ONE.
Further, if you are irresponsible as a parent in regard to teaching your children what is right and wrong, then both you as a parent and your children shouldn't have a computer in the first place because you (and probably your children as well) are not qualified to run a computer or even a vegetable cart, much less a garbage disposal.
I say all that to say this:
Anyone that requires outside assistance in discovering if their children are doing "bad things" online is unfit to have children.
If the internet is where your children are likely to misbehave, then either you learn enough about the internet to properly control what they can get to and what they can't, or you learn enough about the internet to prohibit your children from visiting it without your supervision.
The MPAA announced the availability of a new software tool called Parent File Scan, which allows parents to see if their kids use peer-to-peer software, potentially infringing copies of motion pictures and other
copyrighted material.
According to the licensing agreement for the software, which is made by DtecNet Software, of Copenhagen, Denmark, the application searches a computer for well-known file-sharing programs and files in the most popular music and film formats.
The thing is that even if there are music files on a computer, no software tool can tell whether they're legal or illegal, because there is no way to tell whether the files came from ripping the consumer's own CDs (which is legal) or from infringing P2P downloading (which is illegal). So having parents deleting perfectly legitimate MP3's could start a band new war between the benevolent parents trying not to get sued by the MPAA and their kids. But what if the software finds Windows files and sounds, are those illegal too, should you fear a law suit because you store any type of music file on your computer?
At the end of the scan, if you have any P2P apps, Parent File Scan offers to remove them. Based on the documentation, it appears that the removal is done by invoking the P2P app's own removal program; the documentation warns that there might not be a removal program, and it might not remove everything that came with the P2P application
The solution is simple.
If you do not trust your children to responsibly use a computer, DISALLOW THEM ACCESS TO ONE.
Further, if you are irresponsible as a parent in regard to teaching your children what is right and wrong, then both you as a parent and your children shouldn't have a computer in the first place because you (and probably your children as well) are not qualified to run a computer or even a vegetable cart, much less a garbage disposal.
I say all that to say this:
Anyone that requires outside assistance in discovering if their children are doing "bad things" online is unfit to have children.
If the internet is where your children are likely to misbehave, then either you learn enough about the internet to properly control what they can get to and what they can't, or you learn enough about the internet to prohibit your children from visiting it without your supervision.
2006/03/04
My favorite movies of what's left of the 90's
1996:
Broken Arrow
Eraser
Escape From L.A.
Fargo
Independence Day
Ransom
Space Jam
Star Trek: First Contact
1995:
Hackers
Johnny Mnemonic
Judge Dredd
Mortal Kombat
Outbreak
Twelve Monkies
The Usual Suspects
Waterworld
1994:
The Lion King
True Lies
The Mask
Pulp Fiction
Interview with the Vampire
Stargate
Star Trek: Generations
1993:
Jurassic Park
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time
Super Mario Bros.
1992:
Aladdin
The Lawnmower Man
Reservoir Dogs
1991:
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Sliver
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
1990:
Home Alone
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Hunt for Red October
Total Recall
Back to the Future III
Edward Scissorhands
Pump Up The Volume
For reference, during the years 1991 to 1995, I was in High School, and was much more into reading books than watching movies.
In 1995 and 1996, I was in the Army, so while I wasn't being overworked and underpaid to do mostly janitorial work, I was really bored, which is why those years have a lot more favorites than the High School years.
Broken Arrow
Eraser
Escape From L.A.
Fargo
Independence Day
Ransom
Space Jam
Star Trek: First Contact
1995:
Hackers
Johnny Mnemonic
Judge Dredd
Mortal Kombat
Outbreak
Twelve Monkies
The Usual Suspects
Waterworld
1994:
The Lion King
True Lies
The Mask
Pulp Fiction
Interview with the Vampire
Stargate
Star Trek: Generations
1993:
Jurassic Park
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time
Super Mario Bros.
1992:
Aladdin
The Lawnmower Man
Reservoir Dogs
1991:
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Sliver
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
1990:
Home Alone
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Hunt for Red October
Total Recall
Back to the Future III
Edward Scissorhands
Pump Up The Volume
For reference, during the years 1991 to 1995, I was in High School, and was much more into reading books than watching movies.
In 1995 and 1996, I was in the Army, so while I wasn't being overworked and underpaid to do mostly janitorial work, I was really bored, which is why those years have a lot more favorites than the High School years.
My Top 10 list of 1997
1997
1.) The Fifth Element
2.) The Lost World: Jurassic Park
3.) Air Force One
4.) Men in Black
5.) Gattaca
6*) Star Wars: Episode 5, The Empire Strikes Back
7*) Star Wars: Episode 6, Return of the Jedi
8*) Star Wars: Episode 4, A New Hope
9.) Titanic (loc*)
Again, items marked with loc* are present due to Lack of Competition.
It appears that Wikipedia's 1997 in film entry either isn't comprehensive or it was a year of very few movie releases.
Many will say that the Star Wars re-releases don't count, and I can somewhat agree on that point. Therefore, I placed them below all the "fresh" releases for the year but just above the items that are only there due to lack of competition.
1.) The Fifth Element
2.) The Lost World: Jurassic Park
3.) Air Force One
4.) Men in Black
5.) Gattaca
6*) Star Wars: Episode 5, The Empire Strikes Back
7*) Star Wars: Episode 6, Return of the Jedi
8*) Star Wars: Episode 4, A New Hope
9.) Titanic (loc*)
Again, items marked with loc* are present due to Lack of Competition.
It appears that Wikipedia's 1997 in film entry either isn't comprehensive or it was a year of very few movie releases.
Many will say that the Star Wars re-releases don't count, and I can somewhat agree on that point. Therefore, I placed them below all the "fresh" releases for the year but just above the items that are only there due to lack of competition.
My Top 10 list of 1998
1998
1.) Deep Impact
2.) Dark City
3.) U.S. Marshals
4.) Lost in Space
5.) Saving Private Ryan (loc*)
6.) Pleasantville (loc*)
7.) Star Trek: Insurrection (loc*)
8.) Antz (loc*)
For reference, items tagged with loc* are only marked and enumerated where they are due to Lack of Competition. I would have otherwise dropped them into the Honorable Mention category, but having a top 10 list with only 4 items and 4 honorable mentions would be really sad, which makes me think that overall, 1998 was a really sucky year for movies.
1.) Deep Impact
2.) Dark City
3.) U.S. Marshals
4.) Lost in Space
5.) Saving Private Ryan (loc*)
6.) Pleasantville (loc*)
7.) Star Trek: Insurrection (loc*)
8.) Antz (loc*)
For reference, items tagged with loc* are only marked and enumerated where they are due to Lack of Competition. I would have otherwise dropped them into the Honorable Mention category, but having a top 10 list with only 4 items and 4 honorable mentions would be really sad, which makes me think that overall, 1998 was a really sucky year for movies.
My Top 10 list of 1999
1999
1.) The Thomas Crown Affair
2.) The Matrix
3.) Fight Club
4.) Galaxy Quest
5.) Sleepy Hollow
6.) Office Space
7.) Payback
8.) Three To Tango
9.) She's All That
10.) Blast From The Past
Honorable Mention:
Sixth Sense
Notting Hill
Being John Malkovich
Forces Of Nature
Bowfinger
Dishonorable Mention:
Eyes Wide Shut -- Made no sense whatsoever.
Star Wars: Ep. 1 -- yippie! No!
Random Hearts -- Another one that didn't make much sense, but at least it made more sense than Eyes Wide Shut.
On the list I made just after the turn of the year, The Matrix came in first followed closely by Fight Club and Sleepy Hollow. Upon repeated viewings, the effect of replay value has modified the weight of several items, resulting in their new locations in the list.
1.) The Thomas Crown Affair
2.) The Matrix
3.) Fight Club
4.) Galaxy Quest
5.) Sleepy Hollow
6.) Office Space
7.) Payback
8.) Three To Tango
9.) She's All That
10.) Blast From The Past
Honorable Mention:
Sixth Sense
Notting Hill
Being John Malkovich
Forces Of Nature
Bowfinger
Dishonorable Mention:
Eyes Wide Shut -- Made no sense whatsoever.
Star Wars: Ep. 1 -- yippie! No!
Random Hearts -- Another one that didn't make much sense, but at least it made more sense than Eyes Wide Shut.
On the list I made just after the turn of the year, The Matrix came in first followed closely by Fight Club and Sleepy Hollow. Upon repeated viewings, the effect of replay value has modified the weight of several items, resulting in their new locations in the list.
My Top 10 list of 2002
Not complete for lack of the listing of September - December releases
2002
1.) Big Trouble
2.) The New Guy
3.)
4.)
5.)
6.)
7.)
8.)
9.)
10.)
Honorable Mention:
The Queen of the Damned
Collateral Damage
The Time Machine
Resident Evil
Clockstoppers
Spiderman
Scooby Doo
XXX
Serving Sara
Dishonorable Mention:
This is only the preliminary results. If someone can point me to a listing of the movies released in September to the end of the year, I'd appreciate it.
The items that are in numbered positions are very likely to stay there regardless what else is unearthed because they're just that good. However, if something better does happen to have been released in 2002, then I'm willing to unseat them to make room for the better material.
2002
1.) Big Trouble
2.) The New Guy
3.)
4.)
5.)
6.)
7.)
8.)
9.)
10.)
Honorable Mention:
The Queen of the Damned
Collateral Damage
The Time Machine
Resident Evil
Clockstoppers
Spiderman
Scooby Doo
XXX
Serving Sara
Dishonorable Mention:
This is only the preliminary results. If someone can point me to a listing of the movies released in September to the end of the year, I'd appreciate it.
The items that are in numbered positions are very likely to stay there regardless what else is unearthed because they're just that good. However, if something better does happen to have been released in 2002, then I'm willing to unseat them to make room for the better material.
My Top 10 list of 2001
2001
1.) 3000 Miles To Graceland
2.) Swordfish
3.) Serendipity
4.) Memento
5.) Last Castle
6.) K-PAX
7.) Kiss of the Dragon
8.) The One
9.) Evolution
10.) Josie and the Pussycats
Honorable Mention:
Black Knight
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Jeepers Creepers
Joe Dirt
Dishonorable Mention:
1.) 3000 Miles To Graceland
2.) Swordfish
3.) Serendipity
4.) Memento
5.) Last Castle
6.) K-PAX
7.) Kiss of the Dragon
8.) The One
9.) Evolution
10.) Josie and the Pussycats
Honorable Mention:
Black Knight
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Jeepers Creepers
Joe Dirt
Dishonorable Mention:
My Top 10 list of 2003
2003
1.) Identity
2.) Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
3.) Kill Bill Volume 1
4.) X2: X-Men United
5.) The Matrix Reloaded
6.) Freaky Friday
7.) Underworld
8.) == End of numberworthy entries ==
9.)
10.)
Honorable Mention: (but not worthy of a number)
Daredevil
The Life of David Gale
The Core
Phone Booth
Bruce Almighty
The Italian Job
Wrong Turn
28 Days Later
Big Fish
Dishonorable Mention:
1.) Identity
2.) Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
3.) Kill Bill Volume 1
4.) X2: X-Men United
5.) The Matrix Reloaded
6.) Freaky Friday
7.) Underworld
8.) == End of numberworthy entries ==
9.)
10.)
Honorable Mention: (but not worthy of a number)
Daredevil
The Life of David Gale
The Core
Phone Booth
Bruce Almighty
The Italian Job
Wrong Turn
28 Days Later
Big Fish
Dishonorable Mention:
My Top 10 list of 2004
2004
1.) The Incredibles
2.) Kill Bill Volume 2
3.) Chronicles of Riddick
4.) Man on Fire
5.) Shaun of the Dead
6.) Dawn of the Dead
7.) Resident Evil: Apocalypse
8.) The Terminal
9.) Eurotrip
10.) I, Robot
Honorable Mention:
The Butterfly Effect
Around the World in 80 Days
Dodgeball
The Village
Dishonorable Mention:
Fahrenheit 9/11 -- for outright dishonorable content
1.) The Incredibles
2.) Kill Bill Volume 2
3.) Chronicles of Riddick
4.) Man on Fire
5.) Shaun of the Dead
6.) Dawn of the Dead
7.) Resident Evil: Apocalypse
8.) The Terminal
9.) Eurotrip
10.) I, Robot
Honorable Mention:
The Butterfly Effect
Around the World in 80 Days
Dodgeball
The Village
Dishonorable Mention:
Fahrenheit 9/11 -- for outright dishonorable content
My Top 10 list of 2005
2005
1.) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2.) Serenity
3.) Zathura
4.) The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
5.) Wedding Crashers
6.) Just Like Heaven
7.) Fantastic Four
8.) The Family Stone
9.) Constantine
10.) Doom
Honorable Mention:
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Red Eye
Lord of War
King Kong
Dishonorable Mention:
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith -- Effects, great. Plot, not so well executed. And, it really felt like half way through it was noticed, "We're [here]. We have to be [there] by the end of this. We're really gonna have to rush."
Æon Flux -- Did not at all match up with what I remember of the series. That definitely didn't help it's cause.
1.) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2.) Serenity
3.) Zathura
4.) The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
5.) Wedding Crashers
6.) Just Like Heaven
7.) Fantastic Four
8.) The Family Stone
9.) Constantine
10.) Doom
Honorable Mention:
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Red Eye
Lord of War
King Kong
Dishonorable Mention:
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith -- Effects, great. Plot, not so well executed. And, it really felt like half way through it was noticed, "We're [here]. We have to be [there] by the end of this. We're really gonna have to rush."
Æon Flux -- Did not at all match up with what I remember of the series. That definitely didn't help it's cause.
2006/02/24
Why I use Linux
Recently, this comment was made to my previous post.
I had seen and started using KNOPPIX in doing random repair operations on systems for which Windows had fallen apart, and recent drivers with which to rebuild the system hadn't been backed up. Shortly after that, my machine started to exhibit an annoying reboot/shutdown bug in which the machine would perform all the actions of a reboot/shutdown except for actually triggering the hardware action to reboot or shutdown, so the machine would be stuck on a blank desktop with a frozen cursor until I actually pushed either the power or reset button to get the job done. So that's strike 1.
I had further trouble with necessary components of Windows checking out midweek for a long weekend and then deciding not to check back in. So, the only option was to erase the OS partition and reload the operating system. The big massive downside to that is that each reload is pretty much a full day operation.
So, in order to get back online and web banking (which is important to me), I'm kept facing 5+ hour turn around times, and 9+ hours for a full reinstall. That's a very big waste of time. So, being annoyed by needing to do web banking and having to spend so much effort each time I needed to reload the OS, I started using KNOPPIX as a temporary measure to do the web banking and Paypal stuff I needed to do instead of spending the time to reload Windows. So, I started flipping and flopping back and forth between Windows and KNOPPIX. I started spending more and more time using KNOPPIX because it was much harder to accidentally break things and have to reload the OS. At one point, I noticed that I had spent 3 weeks using KNOPPIX and hadn't felt any need to go back to Windows. So, between the annoying need to do "critical updates" to do web banking and the annoying reload times, that was strike 2 and 3 for Windows. Since then, I've used several versions of Linux, each with different strengths and weaknesses, but all of them reload quickly, are much more stable than Windows, come with banking level encryption onboard, and and don't suffer annoying reboot/shutdown bugs. This makes all of them far superior to Windows in my mind.
Yakiniku said...In response, I'll explain my reasoning for moving away from Windows.
Let me be the first to say that you dress funny and Linux stinks!
7:32 AM
I had seen and started using KNOPPIX in doing random repair operations on systems for which Windows had fallen apart, and recent drivers with which to rebuild the system hadn't been backed up. Shortly after that, my machine started to exhibit an annoying reboot/shutdown bug in which the machine would perform all the actions of a reboot/shutdown except for actually triggering the hardware action to reboot or shutdown, so the machine would be stuck on a blank desktop with a frozen cursor until I actually pushed either the power or reset button to get the job done. So that's strike 1.
I had further trouble with necessary components of Windows checking out midweek for a long weekend and then deciding not to check back in. So, the only option was to erase the OS partition and reload the operating system. The big massive downside to that is that each reload is pretty much a full day operation.
So, in order to get back online and web banking (which is important to me), I'm kept facing 5+ hour turn around times, and 9+ hours for a full reinstall. That's a very big waste of time. So, being annoyed by needing to do web banking and having to spend so much effort each time I needed to reload the OS, I started using KNOPPIX as a temporary measure to do the web banking and Paypal stuff I needed to do instead of spending the time to reload Windows. So, I started flipping and flopping back and forth between Windows and KNOPPIX. I started spending more and more time using KNOPPIX because it was much harder to accidentally break things and have to reload the OS. At one point, I noticed that I had spent 3 weeks using KNOPPIX and hadn't felt any need to go back to Windows. So, between the annoying need to do "critical updates" to do web banking and the annoying reload times, that was strike 2 and 3 for Windows. Since then, I've used several versions of Linux, each with different strengths and weaknesses, but all of them reload quickly, are much more stable than Windows, come with banking level encryption onboard, and and don't suffer annoying reboot/shutdown bugs. This makes all of them far superior to Windows in my mind.
2006/02/22
First Post!
Ya. I know it's a an old, boring thing done by /. newbies, but I hadn't exactly thought out what my first post would be, so this will have to do until I come up with something more substantial to add.
That's not exactly a hard thing to do. Get me pissed off at this, or impressed with that, and it'll be hard to shut me up. But, until someone does either of those, this will have to do.
That's not exactly a hard thing to do. Get me pissed off at this, or impressed with that, and it'll be hard to shut me up. But, until someone does either of those, this will have to do.
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