| Monday
March 18, 2002
Friendly, warm Microsoft.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-861947.html
Roland Dobbins
<mordant@gothik.org>
Frankly, I don't believe in magic.
-- Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons & Dragons
I am not sure that needs a comment...
Nor does this:
Hello Wise One My homework assignment is to find and
download Spinrite 5.0 for free. I would appreciate any tips, hints or
pointers that you could provide.
Thankyou Carly
And from a long time reader
Dear Dr. Pournelle, Since the release candidate copy
of Windows XP I had was about to expire, I bit the bullet and spent
>$300 to get a copy of Windows 2000 Professional as I remembered you
saying that the Home version was to be avoided. So far it has XP beat all
to ell - took far less than a working day to install, even with
downloading and installing Service Pack 2, and to this point has suffered
none of the BSOD that were so frequent with XP. Perhaps I was not being
fair to XP - my eTower 366c with its mere 256MB of RAM, 255MHz Cyrix II
MMX CPU, and 3.0 GB main drive may not have been really enough room for it
to flex its muscles, and I haven't yet installed AOL. Nonetheless,
Win2K/Pro is behaving much more like the unobtrusive OS it is supposed to
be, a lot like the NT 4.0 Workstation software I have on my Compaq PC at
work. One oddity, though - I have had an external 100MB ZIP drive attached
to the eTower since Day 1, and an HP Deskjet hooked up to the ZIP through
the parallel port in the back. When I installed XP, it found the printer
right away but could not detect the ZIP drive until I downloaded software
and drivers from Iomega. The same thing happened when I scrubbed XP off
the master drive and installed Win2K. Any idea why both OS would miss the
drive?
Wishing you many years of continued health, Kevin
Trainor Mpls, MN
Sorry about the formatting. I
haven't time or energy to reformat mail tonight, so it goes up as paste
special puts it... (best is to double space between paragraphs, and don't
count on any fancy fontwork surviving...)
Thanks
The license for Windows XP contains some caveats
about what software you are and are not allowed to run on your XP system.
They are discussing this on Slashdot now. We can only guess what Microsoft
had in mind when they wrote this, but it appears to make it a violation to
run WinVNC on your XP computer. A quote:
"I use VNC extensively to manage several
hundred desktops daily," Brown says. "So for me this is a big
deal, and a good reason to stay away from XP until I see significant value
added compared to Win 2000. So far I haven't."
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/
02/03/18/020318oplivingston.xml
http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/winvnc.html
-- Steve R. Hastings "Vita est" steve@hastings.org
http://www.blarg.net/~steveha
I give up trying to read Microsoft's
collective mind...
My only personal copy of XP-Pro is an OEM
pre-install and activate so I missed some of this - never read the EULA. I
see real and cogent anti-trust issues here as well. What does this say
about Laplink or Carbon Copy or ....
Further for the laptop business traveler in an
enterprise environment I see no current alternative to XP given needs for
remote connectivity and PNP in the field as drivers for W2K fall further
behind.
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/
xml/02/03/18/020318oplivingston.xml
Window Manager Brian Livingston
XP bandwidth brouhaha
THE NEWNESS OF Windows XP -- with its sometimes
addled approach to license restrictions, copy protection, and security --
lends itself to confusion. Reader Tom Gleason sent me an example, quoting
Web sites that claimed XP needlessly consumes 20 percent of your PC's
network bandwidth.
Like a lot of online talk, this is misinformed.
Windows 2000 introduced QoS (quality of service) features using an
Admission Control Service and the Internet Engineering Task Force's RSVP
signaling. XP doesn't support these two protocols but provides its own QoS
components. The QoS Packet Scheduler dialog box in XP Professional shows a
default "bandwidth limit" of 20 percent. This created a buzz on
the Web to the effect that XP artificially withheld one-fifth of your
bandwidth, even if its Packet Scheduler was turned off.
Not to worry. There's no restriction unless your
network specifically supports XP-style QoS and it's requested by an
application, such as a streaming media player. Even then, by default only
20 percent is set aside. (See www.techtv.com/screensavers/windowstips/story/0,24330,3365585,00.html.)
But it is worth looking into QoS, because some
applications can benefit from increasing it or, conversely, terminating
it. For example, high-speed Internet access through the DirecTV satellite
service will not work unless XP's QoS is disabled. (See www.direcpc.com/xpinstall/install.htm.)
Reader Frank Brown sent me a completely different
concern about XP, relating to VNC (Virtual Network Computing), a free
remote-access application I described last week (see "Your virtual
network," InfoWorld, March 11).
Microsoft's XP license agreement says, "Except
as otherwise permitted by the NetMeeting, Remote Assistance, and Remote
Desktop features described below, you may not use the Product to permit
any Device to use, access, display, or run other executable software
residing on the Workstation Computer, nor may you permit any Device to
use, access, display, or run the Product or Product's user interface,
unless the Device has a separate license for the Product."
That means using any software other than Microsoft's
to view an XP desktop from Windows 2000 or any other operating system
would violate the company's license agreement, in case you care.
The mind staggers...
The Sad Parable of OS/2.
http://www.linuxandmain.com/features/os2retro.html
Roland Dobbins <mordant@gothik.org>
"Rather than form a federation with Microsoft
and work with what we had already created, there was this notion that the
world should be offered an alternative."
-- Craig Mundie, Microsoft CTO, speaking at WCTI
2002
And object lesson?
And the following is also without
comment:
Jerry,
I have one of those Athlon systems with the VIA
chipset and it works wonderfully. But check out http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/01q3/010917/index.html
. Tom's Hardware has an article showing what happens to Athlon processors
when the heat sinks fall off or the fan(s) quit. Apparently when Intel
chips overheat their built in throttling works well. The Athlon, according
to Tom's, doesn't and the processors melt down. This may not be true for
all Athlon processors but it applies to the one I use at home. As a safety
net I always have the Asus Probe software running to monitor temperatures
and fan speeds. The software is supposed to alert you with sound and
visuals when a parameter falls out of range although it has never done so.
Because of this article in Tom's I won't run a server with an Athlon nor
will I leave my home computer unattended. I need to sit by my Athlon in
hopes that if it ever does overheat I'm quick enough to throw the power
switch.
With your Athlon references you might find the Tom's
article supportive of your recent writings in Chaos Manor.
Best! Phil Trostel Denver, CO.
An Artilleryman's Reply
I agree that artillery is harder to
move around than mortars. But many of Tony Evan's comments are innacurate.
If a mortar crew can provide its own security, cannot a howitzer crew do
also. They have M-16s, M-240 machine guns and the howitzer itself. I
served in the northern part of South Vietnam and we routinely fired high
angle. A howitzer crew is bigger than a 120 mortar crew but it is not that
bad. A M-119 howitzer only has one truck and is often, especially in the
101st, moved by helicopter. A 105mm round from a howitzer weighs
approximately the same as a 120mm mortar round. Yes a howizter can fire
tons of ammo per gun per day. My infantry comrades consider that good
support. We are seeing a revolution in air power. Aircraft being able to
HIT something with bombs is new. Will the Air Force (and Navy) bewilling
to become "aerial artillery"? That means being there all day,
every day, no matter what the weather. Most sorties in Afghanistan have
been flown by jet fighters that have minutes of loiter time. Will the Air
Force trade F-22's for modified 757's carrying JDAMs? One way to get an
indication of the answer is to compare the number of bomber pilots vs
fighter pilots to the number of general officers from each fleet.
From an active duty cannon cocker.
And from the Air National Guard
Dear Jerry
I am a retired pilot that spent 16 years flying with
the Tennessee Air National Guard. My experiences are nothing like those
described by Col Hackworth or Gordon Runkle. Col. Hackworth's article
reads more like something from a grocery store tabloid rather than a
serious report and I don't believe it. I am sure that there are a few
rotten apples in any group as large and as diversified as the 50 National
Guard organizations but to tar everybody with the same brush is
irresponsible.
Since I am more familiar with the Air Guard, I will
confine my remarks to that branch. We always had to meet the same
requirements as the active duty troops with worn out equipment. The last 7
years before retiring, I was flying the C130 and we did everything the
active duty units did except for specialized missions such as HALO high
altitude drops and the LAPSE missions that our model C130s were not
equipped to fly. Right now, the NY Air National Guard is the only unit
equipped with ski equipped C130,s and handles all Artic Missions while the
Air Force Reserve handles all Hurricane missions. Our ground crews are
much better than those of active duty squadrons. They have to be to fly
the missions we do with the equipment we have to use.
The local Army Guard served in Arabia for a year
during Desert Storm and several members of that unit just returned from a
6 month tour in Bosnia. My old Air Guard unit also supplied ground support
personnel for the current war in Afghanistan. Don't tell me the Guard and
Reserves aren't qualified and trained for their mission. They are doing it
every day.
Chuck Anderson Lt. Col USAF Ret.
From Eric Pobirs:
This article has some more detail and a good
analysis of the trust issues IBM is creating for itself.
http://www.viahardware.com/ibm120gxp.shtm
And then:
ICANN sues ICANN.
http://www.eff.org/Cases/Auerbach_v_ICANN/20020318_petition.html
- Roland Dobbins <mordant@gothik.org>
Frankly, I don't believe in magic.
-- Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons & Dragons
Why not?
ANd for something different:
So where's Eris and the Golden Apple?
The original article is at the link at the bottom.
QUOTED TEXT BEGINS:
"Helen of Troy Palace Found Among
Ruins"
by John Carr
Athens, March 15, 2002 -- An archaeologist
claims to have found the palace from which Helen of Troy was abducted at
the dawn of European history, triggering the Trojan War.
Theodore Spyropoulos, a regional official of
Greece's Central Archaeological Council, said that more than twenty years
of excavation near the small village of Pellana, fifteen miles north of
modern Sparta, brought to light formidable building foundations dated to
around 1200 BC, close to the probable date of the Trojan War.
The scale of the biggest building,
approximately 40 ft. by 95 ft., indicates that it must have been a palace,
he said.
"I am absolutely certain beyond the
slightest doubt that Pellana is the Homeric site of the palace of
Menelaus," Professor Spyropoulos told the newspaper ELEFTHEROS TYPOS.
In Homer's epics, Menelaus, King of Sparta,
was the husband of the famously beautiful Helen. Furious at her abduction
by the Trojan prince Paris, a palace guest, he helped to organise the
Greek military punitive expedition known as the Trojan War -- the first
known East-West conflict.
There are signs of workshops and storerooms,
the foundations of a mile-long fortification, and a road almost as wide as
a modern motorway around the palace remains -- all evidence, Professor
Spyropoulos says, that the complex must have been the most important in
the region.
"There are ten times as many finds here
as there have been at Mycenae," he said. Mycenae, seventy miles to
the northwest, was the centre of a Bronze Age Greek civilisation that
collapsed in the chaos left by the war.
But Professor Spyropoulos's claim goes
against generally held archaeological opinion, which places Menelaus's
palace three miles northeast of Sparta, at the Menelaion, a Bronze Age
mansion where Menelaus and Helen were honoured as demigods for centuries.
David Blackman, director of the British
School of Archaeology in Athens, said: "We're awaiting more evidence
and confirmation." The school has for years been excavating the
Sparta area, including the Menelaion.
But he added: "We have never taken the
line that no other alternative to the Menelaion could be considered."
Paul Cartledge, Professor of Greek History at
Cambridge University, said that the claim was interesting but would
require further and more detailed evidence and documentary substantiation.
"Professor Spyropoulos is a respected
excavator and his claim is very interesting. But as yet there is no firm
proof that this was Menelaus's palace, let alone the place whence Helen
was abducted.
"The ancient Spartans would have been
surprised to discover that Helen was not from Sparta but from Pellana,
farther to the north."
According to Homer's ODYSSEY, Helen repented
of her unfaithfulness and the ten-year bloodletting that it caused. In an
account that sounds too good to be true, she returned to Menelaus and
their palace, remaining thereafter a model wife.
###
Copyright 2002, Times Newspapers Ltd.
QUOTED TEXT ENDS.
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