From BEOS to Haiku

It seems to me that those of us who remember using the Be OS all remember it fondly. There are probably enough detractors or those disappointed with BEOS around, but I don't know or come into contact with many of them and none lately. It was a good OS for it's time: Probably the best around in terms of stability and number crunching performance. Had the hardware compatibility list been a bit longer, I might have committed to it totally. It was that good.

Anyway; here's a short history of BEOS that will inform and amuse.

Jack

Vista Aiding Linux Desktop, Strategist Says

Vista Aiding Linux Desktop, Strategist Says: "Windows Vista has probably created the single biggest opportunity for the Linux desktop to take market share, Cole Crawford, an IT strategist at Dell, said in an address titled, 'The Linux Desktop—Fact, FUD or Fantasy?' at the annual LinuxWorld Conference & Expo here."
Thanks Koffeebeanz
I have been saying the same thing Vista will help both Mac OSX and Linux.

Remember we will be installing Ubuntu (or the Linux distro of your choice) as a group. I have heard from a lot of Linux users that Ubuntu and Kubuntu are the way to go. Nothing to install and the ease of use is very good.
They both have a Live CD (a CD you can boot to and not mess up your windows) you can try and most things work out of the box.

AlaskaJoe

Windows XP/Vista Downgrade Rights

I stole this link from Robert X. Cringely's Inforworld page. It will take you to a PDF by Microsoft explaining your "rights" and their position on downgrading from Vista to XP.

Jack

Privacy winning search engine war

Are you concerned about search engine privacy? If you are this article and the associated CDT report will be of interest to you.

This is a consumer driven trend and in my opinion it is a good thing. I ought to be able to conduct the searches I please without worrying about that information coming back to haunt me. While I'm not searching for anything that would put me in jail, this principle of "none of your business" is important to me.

HTTP errors. A Photo Set on Flickr

This one is great!

They're cartoon illustrations of HTTP errors and sure would be a lot nicer that the "file not found" text we usually get.

I think you'll enjoy this.

Jack

Make Vista Work for the Whole Family

Need to set up accounts for multiple users? Whether family or a business-place PC, Extreme Tech has a good guide to doing the deal.

Vista's stronger user account control contains just enough different stuff to trip you up once or twice if you're used to Windows 2000 or XP Pro. This guide will get you through.

Jack

Microsoft issues emergency fixes for Vista

Both fixes are rated "important". They are not security fixes. They're aimed toward making Vista machines more reliable and perform better.

Apparently there are problems with screen savers, network printers and some other things. I've not seen these problems in the wild and by all accounts they affect only a minority of Vista machines. Anyway; they are there if you want them.

Jack

LinuxMCE

I think I may have found the version of Linux I will be installing .
LinuxMCE 0704 is now released. It's a huge improvement, and includes a new demo video that is a full walkthrough.
The google video is very cool!

This OS (it's so much more than just an OS.) can do everything:
Media & Entertainment
Smart Home
Communication
How about set up your hone PBX phone system and just plug in your IP phone.

It uses Kubuntu and does a complete set up for you.
You can have a media center in any room you have a cat5 drop in.

AlaskaJoe

Damn Spam

It's the history of spam according to The New Yorker. Worth reading and not too long.

Jack

DRAM latency explained

Lots of you will already know all about this subject. But for the rest of us (and I include myself here) this is a relatively short and coherent explanation of memory latency and how it affects our systems.

I recently got a lesson in memory timing when I had to adjust it to get a system I had upgraded by adding memory to in order to produce a stable and high-performing system. The default timing settings were not stable, whereas overclocking the bus slightly yielded a very fast and stable system.

So, for those of you who are like me and a bit murky on memory issues, I give you this short report/tutorial at The Inquirer.

Jack

Microsoft becoming 'software police,' say users

I have to side with Microsoft on this one. Even so, it sets a precedent that scares the whee out of me. Read it and decide for yourself.

Jack

Survey says: only DRM-free music is worth paying for

Accoding to the synopsis of this survey in Ars Technica, the general public is turning against DRM. If that's true, perhaps there is hope that the will of the American Consumer will be felt again. It seems to have gone silent of late, but the sleeping giant may yet well awake.

Read on. And there is a link here to the entire survey report.

Jack

Consumer Reports on 'State of the Net': It's a jungle out there

It's not like we didn't know this. But it appears to be a case of the reality growing to meet the perception, rather than the other way around.

I get a LOT of questions from folks who want me to set them or their parents up with a computer and Internet access in such a way to allay all their fears. So far, I have demurred in most cases. I don't want to be responsible for whether or not someone sleeps peacefully at night. But I am devising a solution, which involves using a Linux or Mac OS X machine and some fairly restrictive browser settings. Yes, I know that is not a guarantee of security and that nothing really is, but it should help. Especially if combined with some common sense rules of conduct.

More on this later.

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 08-05-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 08-05-07. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

The Gregg Zone!

1) To start things off this week, I thought I would explain why I am not going to be doing the show live for a while. For those who do not know, I live in Las Vegas, I have been here for over ten years now. When I lived in Southern California, I was a big fan of horseracing. Well to make a long story short I have decided to start playing the track again. Some of us will try anything not to have to get a regular job.

When I was up there in Alaska with Joe, I started developing a new method of playing based on an encounter at the Gold Coast race book. I followed it on the internet playing on paper only, having no place to bet. Over a five-week period, at two different tracks, the play showed a decent profit. So, I thought I would give it a shot, but they race on Sunday, usually during show time.

I will be taping the show segment for a while, and occasionally come back live when possible. I will also post as part of my blog here an occasional update to let anyone who might be interested know how I am doing.

2) For my first link, I found what has to be the most extensive site for video on the Airbus A380 must be fifty videos here on the plane for anyone interested in what it is like inside, and out. http://www.ask.com/

3) Well you know I have a thing for green cars, I’m not sure I would fit into this one, but at 330 miles to a gallon of gas, I might be willing to try. http://gizmodo.com/

4) I have been curious about Nicola Tesla for as long as I can remember the other night I was cruising around reading about him when I stumbled on this page, There are enough stories and links here to keep a Tesla fan busy for a year or two, http://www.tfcbooks.com

5) I am fascinated, at all the change’s the internet is making in our society; and how it will change everything we know, and do in the future. A case in point the way we handle our government. I decided in the beginning when I started this blog to avoid religion and politics, I am going to stretch that just a little here. Can you imagine a future election without YouTube or something very much like it? The potential for change in my mind is staggering. I have seen more of the minor candidates for the 2008 election already than I have seen in all the previous elections combine. For my link here if you have not already seen this give it a look, the power of the internet is on display here, http://www.unity08.com/

Eight Financial Reasons Why You Should Use Mac OS

Wow! This is a "rah, rah, gooo Mac" article. I'm not sure how accurate the claims for savings are, but I do know the author is barking up the right tree. Windows has gotten too expensive and that is pushing folks to look for alternatives like never before. Not just the Mac, but all sorts of things from Linux and thin clients to Macs to multi-user machines.

So, this is interesting and the general thrust of the article is clearly right. It's just the numbers that might vary, a lot.

Jack

NEC and Hitachi team to water-cool hard drives

It seems that everyone knows about my on-again, off-again love affair with water cooling. I've played with it a bit and admired what it has done for various systems my friends have built. And I got no less than five emails pointing me to this post at Ars Technica.

Water cooling components other than the CPU, video adapter and motherboard chipset may be a bit far out, as in overkill, but it still is interesting, though I have to wonder where we're going to stuff all the separate, discrete radiators. Especially with the trend to smaller form factors. But that's a problem for another day.

Jack

64-bit PCs: Drivers wanted

Here's a pretty good article at CNet's News.com about 64 bit drivers. It's not just about Vista, either. The Mac OS X comes in for some comment, as well.

It's interesting to note that while they find some deficiencies in video drivers. those I know who are running 64 bit Vista at home or at work are really happy with the performance. The only qualification I have to make on this is that the peripherals and internal equipment they chose was guaranteed to be at least nominally compatible with Vista. Those who try running it without a bit of planning and thought are the ones doing a great majority of the complaining. That does not mean their complaints are without merit, just that they are somewhat out of proportion.

I have to admit I know nothing of 64 bit doings on the Mac. Linux, however, is quite another story.

I've had a little experience with Linux on the IA-64 platform. That's the Intel Itanium, for those of you who have not kept up with it. (Don't worry about that. Itanium is about as close to a niche platform as any of us are likely to encounter.)

I've got an AMD powered 64 bit Linux machine running here, now. I just wiped the 32 bit and put on 64 bit Ubuntu after a hard drive failure deprived me of my 15,000 rpm hard drive that was serving as a swap file. Basically, 64 bit Linux is indistinguishable from 32 bit, except that some apps have not been re-compiled for 64 bit, so the repository of applications is somewhat smaller.

Generally, I would say Linux is best situated in this regard, followed by OS X and then Vista. Still, Vista is not in such bad shape. Were I going to put up a Vista machine, I would be carefully choosing my components and I should think I could get along just fine once the machine is basically equipped. Software compatibilities are going away at a phenomonal rate and as far as I know, every application I would run is already well and truly ported to 64 bit versions of Vista.

Jack

Let's Meet a Romanian eBay Scammer...

...Hello Ghiuri Simionescu

Here's a fascinating look at the scamming and phishing underworld from Broadband Reports. Be warned, there is some foul language, and only some of it has been ****'d out.

Courts Turn Against Abusive Clickwrap Contracts

Ever read a EULA, shrinkwrap or clickthrough license and wondered to yourself or aloud "how can they get away with this?". Well, it is increasingly seeming as if "they" can no longer. A very great number of these licenses have been invalidated or at least reeled in somewhat by recent court decisions. And more will follow soon, should this trend in the courts continue.

It's about damn time, if you ask me. I'm also sure many of you feel the same way. This article in Wired News tells some of what is happening to advance consumer rights against these licenses. There is still a long, long ways to go, so it isn't time to start rejoicing, yet. But the light shines at the end of the tunnel. Let's hope it's not an oncoming train.

Jack