[News] Linux Dominates in Xmas Gifts, Volunteers Reach Out
Roy Schestowitz
,----[ Quote ]
| Although it could be argued that your average fanboy has already got the
| present they wanted this xmas in the continuing growth of Linux in terms of
| both actual deployment and media popularity, or maybe the arrival of the
| Linux server for Unreal Tournament 3 or even the fact that the BBC iPlayer is
| now Linux compatible. But no, believe me, when they see the dancing plastic
| penguin that announces the arrival of new email all that will change.
`----
http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1904.html
See entries below. The most popular gifts are Linux-based.
Tech charities to consider this giving season
,----[ Quote ]
| As part of my year-end planning I look at what charities to donate to, since
| charitable contributions are tax-deductible. Here's a list of charities with
| ties to free software, open source, and information technology.
`----
http://www.linux.com/feature/123069
Recent:
Intriguing Holiday Gifts
,----[ Quote ]
| Featured in this Roundup:
|
| FrontOLPC XO-1 ($399 direct to donate one, get one—until December 31, 2007)
| The XO-1 laptop by the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) initiative is a
| game-changer for disadvantaged children in developing countries. For a
| limited time you can benefit as well.
|
| AngleASUS Eee PC 4G ($400 street)
| Despite its minor annoyances, the ASUS Eee PC 4G—a 2-pound ultraportable—is
| sleek, versatile, and well worth the $400.
|
| Amazon Kindle - FrontAmazon Kindle ($400 direct)
| It's pricey, but Amazon's Kindle is the e-book's best hope to make the best
| seller list.
`----
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2236777,00.asp
Seller Beware - Hemorrhage of Customers Ahead
,----[ Quote ]
| Just a side note to humbly remind you that Komputers4Kids is in need of some
| help in order for us to get our influx of Christmas season orders met. We are
| looking at 18 computers to build in the next 7 days...and getting the fuel in
| the vehicles to deliver and set them up. Any help you could provide us will
| be appreciated long after this season is over.
`----
http://blog.lobby4linux.com/index.php?/archives/391-AUTOSAVED-Seller-Beware-Hemorrhage-of-Customers-Ahead.html
http://tinyurl.com/33owlq
Linux Drives Hot Holiday PCs
,----[ Quote ]
| Linux machines are cheaper and often more energy efficient than their Windows
| and Mac counterparts.
`----
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/60564.html
Why I Will Recommend Linux To Family This Year
,----[ Quote ]
| So, my approach to Linux in the family would be to start with the kids!
| Okay, I’ll give you a hint, I already have started with them on Linux, and
| it’s working.
`----
http://www.velocitywebdev.com/2007/12/01/why-i-will-recommend-linux-to-family-this-year/
,----[ Quote ]
| For her birthday, I bought Leslee a Asus Eee (pronounced E). I've had my eye
| out for an ultraportable laptop for her for a while. So far, I'd only found
| very expensive ultraportables. When this came out, and was available in the
| $350-400 range, I jumped at it. For some, the fact that it runs Linux might
| be a deterrent, but definitely not for me.
|
| [...]
|
| Leslee tells me every day how much she loves it. I bought it for her, so
| that's what matters. The fact that it exposes her to Linux and open source
| software is a nice bonus.
`----
http://dmartin.org/weblog/asus-eee
Ten things you can do to help open source
,----[ Quote ]
| Open source is all about the community multiplying individual efforts: at
| whatever level you can, doing something you care about will bring rewards for
| all.
`----
http://resources.zdnet.co.uk/articles/features/0,1000002000,39291123,00.htm
Gift Ideas for Linux Users
,----[ Quote ]
| Do you have a friend who finally got tired of all the crashes and bugs that
| come with Windows? Did they switch to Linux and now swear by it? Then these
| are the perfect gift ideas for your shopping list. The following gift ideas
| are perfect for all penguin loving Linux users.
`----
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/457009/gift_ideas_for_linux_users.html
Nothing Says Holiday Cheer Like Free Software
,----[ Quote ]
| You can also play Santa yourself and show up with your list in hand. Many
| people would appreciate a little help with the installation process, so you
| can just load the software for them -- or even install a Linux distro like
| Ubuntu or Fedora that comes bundled with lots of basic applications most
| people will find helpful. Installing Linux is so easy these days, almost
| anyone can do it -- but you can keep that piece of news totally secret!
`----
http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/60446.html
Kindle, Eee PC top Amazon.com 'most wanted' list
,----[ Quote]
| Ironically, perhaps, it was the N810 that was the only meachine ahead of the
| Eee PC in Amazon.com's list of best-selling notebooks. Even though the N810
| isn't a notebook, in the true, computery sense of the word.
`----
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/11/22/eee_pc_americas_most_wanted/
Top-10 gift ideas for the Linux Gadget Geek
,----[ Quote ]
| Got a Linux Gadget Geek on your shopping list? You can't fail with a gift
| from this guide to the ten hottest Linux-powered devices gleaned from
| LinuxDevices.com's news throughout 2007. There's something for everyone, at
| prices from $150 to $1,000, organized from least to most expensive. Enjoy!
`----
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS5936183381.html
There's No System Like Linux for the Holidays
,----[ Quote ]
| Holiday shopping season is about to hit full swing, and personal computers
| already rank high on many people's wish lists. If you're going to give the
| gift of a new PC, should you consider giving one with Linux? If the receiver
| is a tech-savvy individual, it may be the perfect gift, and the growing
| availability of preloaded machines means setup headaches are easily avoided.
`----
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/Theres-No-System-Like-Linux-for-the-Holidays-60397.html
Mark Kent
> Tux Droid delivers a very Merry Linuxmas
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| Although it could be argued that your average fanboy has already got the
>| present they wanted this xmas in the continuing growth of Linux in terms of
>| both actual deployment and media popularity, or maybe the arrival of the
>| Linux server for Unreal Tournament 3 or even the fact that the BBC iPlayer is
>| now Linux compatible. But no, believe me, when they see the dancing plastic
>| penguin that announces the arrival of new email all that will change.
> `----
>
> http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1904.html
>
The BBC iPlayer is *not* linux compatible and it never will be. It is
the Microsoft Silverlight player, and will only ever run on Windows.
The BBC paid hundreds of millions of our licence-fee cash in order to
put a skin on the Silverlight player.
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
| Cola faq: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/ |
| Cola trolls: http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/ |
| My (new) blog: http://www.thereisnomagic.org |
Roy Schestowitz
> Roy Schestowitz <newsg...@schestowitz.com> espoused:
>> Tux Droid delivers a very Merry Linuxmas
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>| Although it could be argued that your average fanboy has already got the
>>| present they wanted this xmas in the continuing growth of Linux in terms of
>>| both actual deployment and media popularity, or maybe the arrival of the
>>| Linux server for Unreal Tournament 3 or even the fact that the BBC iPlayer
>>| is now Linux compatible. But no, believe me, when they see the dancing
>>| plastic penguin that announces the arrival of new email all that will
>>| change.
>> `----
>>
>> http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1904.html
>>
>
> The BBC iPlayer is *not* linux compatible and it never will be. It is
> the Microsoft Silverlight player, and will only ever run on Windows.
> The BBC paid hundreds of millions of our licence-fee cash in order to
> put a skin on the Silverlight player.
Yet the above shows you how many people they fooled with their PR charade. I
keep insisting that Linux and Mac are not supported (Flash is a second-class
compromise) and a lot of money is dead (inside the belly of a convicted
criminal).
--
~~ Best of wishes
In a perfect world, all high-velocity impacts make fine orange juice
http://Schestowitz.com | GNU/Linux | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
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Kier
> ____/ Mark Kent on Monday 31 December 2007 13:21 : \____
>
>> Roy Schestowitz <newsg...@schestowitz.com> espoused:
>>> Tux Droid delivers a very Merry Linuxmas
>>>
>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>>| Although it could be argued that your average fanboy has already got the
>>>| present they wanted this xmas in the continuing growth of Linux in terms of
>>>| both actual deployment and media popularity, or maybe the arrival of the
>>>| Linux server for Unreal Tournament 3 or even the fact that the BBC iPlayer
>>>| is now Linux compatible. But no, believe me, when they see the dancing
>>>| plastic penguin that announces the arrival of new email all that will
>>>| change.
>>> `----
>>>
>>> http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1904.html
>>>
>>
>> The BBC iPlayer is *not* linux compatible and it never will be. It is
>> the Microsoft Silverlight player, and will only ever run on Windows.
>> The BBC paid hundreds of millions of our licence-fee cash in order to
>> put a skin on the Silverlight player.
>
> Yet the above shows you how many people they fooled with their PR charade. I
> keep insisting that Linux and Mac are not supported (Flash is a second-class
> compromise) and a lot of money is dead (inside the belly of a convicted
> criminal).
A lot of people would rather have the flash streaming than the download
option.
--
Kier
Roy Schestowitz
That's true. Some say they should have never burned so much money on the
download service (streaming is the future). They should have gone with
something like Ogg (or Flash) in the first place.
--
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | $> unzip; ping; mount /usr; grep; umount& sleep
http://Schestowitz.com | Open Prospects | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
Tasks: 134 total, 1 running, 133 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie
http://iuron.com - knowledge engine, not a search engine
Kier
I'd generally agree with that. You do need a fast enough connection, of
course, but that's becoming more the norm nowadays.
--
Kier
Mark Kent
Whilst it might be true, it's not the point. Hundreds of millions of my
and your and Kier's cash have been given to Microsoft for skin for the
Silverlight player. It will *never* run on Linux, on Mac, on portable
devices, on PS3s, on Wiis, on symbian phones, even XP Windows machines.
> Some say they should have never burned so much money on the
> download service (streaming is the future). They should have gone with
> something like Ogg (or Flash) in the first place.
They had their own codec, called Dirac, which they developed in-house
for the specific purpose of avoiding a need to waste licence-fee cash on
royalty payments. I had a long chat with one of the developers three or
four years ago at the Linux expo at Olympia about it.
Roy Schestowitz
Yes, but you can use buffering in case your connection is slow. That isn't much
of an issue. Many modem users come to YouTube and they can handle it fine.
Also, you can rescale videos on the fly and deliver them in all sorts of ways.
--
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | Useless fact: Every polar bear is left-handed
http://Schestowitz.com | Open Prospects | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
Tasks: 143 total, 1 running, 141 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie
Kier
How do you *know* this? You can't.
> devices, on PS3s, on Wiis, on symbian phones, even XP Windows machines.
You really think the BBC is going to be stupid enough to shut out the
millions and millions of people who still run XP? Other devices, maybe.
This service is designed for computers, not phones, and certainly not for
the Wii.
>
>> Some say they should have never burned so much money on the
>> download service (streaming is the future). They should have gone with
>> something like Ogg (or Flash) in the first place.
>
> They had their own codec, called Dirac, which they developed in-house
> for the specific purpose of avoiding a need to waste licence-fee cash on
> royalty payments. I had a long chat with one of the developers three or
> four years ago at the Linux expo at Olympia about it.
Is it a video codec or an audio one? Was it developed only for in-house
use, or for public use?
--
Kier
Mark Kent
Buffering can't make up for a connection which is too slow, though - but
as you say, the flash video format works well under even heavy
congestion.
Roy Schestowitz
> Buffering can't make up for a connection which is too slow, though - but
> as you say, the flash video format works well under even heavy
> congestion.
You can watch it in lumps though (pause instead of jitter). You can't do that
with a complete download.
--
~~ Best of wishes
"We have increased our prices over the last 10 years
[whilhttp://Schestowitz.com | RHAT Linux | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
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Mark Kent
> ____/ Mark Kent on Tuesday 01 January 2008 15:06 : \____
>
>> Buffering can't make up for a connection which is too slow, though - but
>> as you say, the flash video format works well under even heavy
>> congestion.
>
> You can watch it in lumps though (pause instead of jitter). You can't do that
> with a complete download.
>
True, but with normal connectionless packet networks, you have no idea
how long the next "lump" will take to come down, so it's not a
particularly satisfactory way of doing things.
You can see this behaviour quite often on eg., Youtube, when sometimes
videos will play fine, but at other times, they get choppy, and randomly
pause and resume. This is an inevitable consequence of connectionless
packet networks. It can be solved, of course, by setting up
connections, but so long as we have huge swathes of router manufacturers
with products to push, this issue is not going to be "accepted".
Roy Schestowitz
> Roy Schestowitz <newsg...@schestowitz.com> espoused:
>> ____/ Mark Kent on Tuesday 01 January 2008 15:06 : \____
>>
>>> Buffering can't make up for a connection which is too slow, though - but
>>> as you say, the flash video format works well under even heavy
>>> congestion.
>>
>> You can watch it in lumps though (pause instead of jitter). You can't do
>> that with a complete download.
>>
>
> True, but with normal connectionless packet networks, you have no idea
> how long the next "lump" will take to come down, so it's not a
> particularly satisfactory way of doing things.
>
> You can see this behaviour quite often on eg., Youtube, when sometimes
> videos will play fine, but at other times, they get choppy, and randomly
> pause and resume. This is an inevitable consequence of connectionless
> packet networks. It can be solved, of course, by setting up
> connections, but so long as we have huge swathes of router manufacturers
> with products to push, this issue is not going to be "accepted".
I'm not sure how we got this far off topic, but it's worth emphasising here
that streaming is in a sense a superset of a so-called 'download services'.
There are even graphical UIs for tools that download videos from YouTube, so
the BBC shouldn't have gone with its 'alternate' solution _in the first
place_, It's more versatile and it's cross platform.
--
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | "Turn up the jukebox and tell me a lie"
http://Schestowitz.com | RHAT GNU/Linux | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
09:00:02 up 23 days, 21:48, 4 users, load average: 0.37, 0.78, 1.11
http://iuron.com - help build a non-profit search engine
cc
> Roy Schestowitz <newsgro...@schestowitz.com> espoused:
>
>
>
>
>
> > ____/ Kier on Monday 31 December 2007 17:41 : \____
>
> >> On Mon, 31 Dec 2007 17:31:02 +0000, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>
> >>> ____/ Mark Kent on Monday 31 December 2007 13:21 : \____
>
Ha, still pushing the PS3 as a desktop replacement huh? Maybe that
should be the 5th entry in your (new) blog: "Why 2 PS3s with Linux on
them is a Trend."
Tappit Hen
> Roy Schestowitz <newsg...@schestowitz.com> espoused:
>> ____/ Mark Kent on Tuesday 01 January 2008 15:06 : \____
>>
>>> Buffering can't make up for a connection which is too slow, though
>>> - but as you say, the flash video format works well under even
>>> heavy congestion.
>>
>> You can watch it in lumps though (pause instead of jitter). You
>> can't do that with a complete download.
>>
>
> True, but with normal connectionless packet networks, you have no
> idea how long the next "lump" will take to come down, so it's not a
> particularly satisfactory way of doing things.
>
> You can see this behaviour quite often on eg., Youtube, when
> sometimes videos will play fine, but at other times, they get
> choppy, and randomly pause and resume. This is an inevitable
> consequence of connectionless packet networks. It can be solved, of
> course, by setting up connections, but so long as we have huge
> swathes of router manufacturers with products to push, this issue is
> not going to be "accepted".
Ahem, youtube uses tcp. If your player uses buffering then it works
great unless you have a really shitty connection. I never have a
problem with youtube and firefox.
The only problem I can think of is when you want to watch in
realtime. tcp is bad for that and hence udp tends to be used. The odd
packet loss is not normally that noticeable.
Mark Kent
> ____/ Mark Kent on Thursday 03 January 2008 07:59 : \____
>
>> Roy Schestowitz <newsg...@schestowitz.com> espoused:
>>> ____/ Mark Kent on Tuesday 01 January 2008 15:06 : \____
>>>
>>>> Buffering can't make up for a connection which is too slow, though - but
>>>> as you say, the flash video format works well under even heavy
>>>> congestion.
>>>
>>> You can watch it in lumps though (pause instead of jitter). You can't do
>>> that with a complete download.
>>>
>>
>> True, but with normal connectionless packet networks, you have no idea
>> how long the next "lump" will take to come down, so it's not a
>> particularly satisfactory way of doing things.
>>
>> You can see this behaviour quite often on eg., Youtube, when sometimes
>> videos will play fine, but at other times, they get choppy, and randomly
>> pause and resume. This is an inevitable consequence of connectionless
>> packet networks. It can be solved, of course, by setting up
>> connections, but so long as we have huge swathes of router manufacturers
>> with products to push, this issue is not going to be "accepted".
>
> I'm not sure how we got this far off topic, but it's worth emphasising here
> that streaming is in a sense a superset of a so-called 'download services'.
I was driving at a rather different point, which is that 3-mode
networking is essential in order to get the full bouquet of services
properly functional.
> There are even graphical UIs for tools that download videos from YouTube, so
> the BBC shouldn't have gone with its 'alternate' solution _in the first
> place_, It's more versatile and it's cross platform.
>
I agree completely, but I think that the BBC were conned into handing
licence-fee cash, some paid by people of very limited means, over to
Microsoft, one of the world's largest and richest companies, by the
hundreds of millions, in order to buy a skin for the Silverlight player.
Mark Kent
> On Thu, 03 Jan 2008 07:59:00 +0000, Mark Kent wrote:
>
>> Roy Schestowitz <newsg...@schestowitz.com> espoused:
>>> ____/ Mark Kent on Tuesday 01 January 2008 15:06 : \____
>>>
>>>> Buffering can't make up for a connection which is too slow, though
>>>> - but as you say, the flash video format works well under even
>>>> heavy congestion.
>>>
>>> You can watch it in lumps though (pause instead of jitter). You
>>> can't do that with a complete download.
>>>
>>
>> True, but with normal connectionless packet networks, you have no
>> idea how long the next "lump" will take to come down, so it's not a
>> particularly satisfactory way of doing things.
>>
>> You can see this behaviour quite often on eg., Youtube, when
>> sometimes videos will play fine, but at other times, they get
>> choppy, and randomly pause and resume. This is an inevitable
>> consequence of connectionless packet networks. It can be solved, of
>> course, by setting up connections, but so long as we have huge
>> swathes of router manufacturers with products to push, this issue is
>> not going to be "accepted".
>
> Ahem, youtube uses tcp. If your player uses buffering then it works
> great unless you have a really shitty connection.
You cannot have connections on IP, IP is a connectionless protocol. It
doesn't matter what you try to do /on top/ of a connectionless protocol.
Think about it - you *will* lose packets.
tcp tries to get around this by operating and ack/nack approach,
however, this is *not effective* in real-time streaming, since it
causes pauses, which means that you are no longer real-time. The only
workable solution is to have a connection-oriented network at the
transport layer, which IP is not.
> I never have a
> problem with youtube and firefox.
Never ever? Either you don't use it much, or you're confusing "never"
with "sometimes".
>
> The only problem I can think of is when you want to watch in
> realtime.
Exactly... you're catching up.
> tcp is bad for that and hence udp tends to be used. The odd
> packet loss is not normally that noticeable.
Except for when it is. It would appear that you do understand that it
doesn't work, but have fallen into the usual traps.
Consider - television companies have been streaming video around telco
networks for 20 years without jitter and losses; telcos have been
transport voice 2-way digital for 30 years without jitter, packet-loss
and so on. Connection-oriented packet transport has been used in the
international voice networks for at least 15 years - look up DCME for
more information.
Simply put, you cannot do real-time streaming on connectionless
networks, unless the "network" is a trivial instance, ie., point to
point with no other traffic, in which case, it's not a network.