poser
Poser - What was this virus author thinking? He (or she?) wrote a virus that poses as a security update. Doesn’t this person know that people never install their security patches? Posing as a security update has got to be the best way to make sure that your code doesn’t get run.
The Reg today is reporting horribly inaccurate “news”. Even the self-serving press release by Hancom does not support the wild claim that The Reg makes about Korean government migrating to Linux. Here is a clue for the fools at The Reg: if someone buys a loaf of bread from you, how much does it cost you to throw in a few licenses of a free operating system? How much incremental cost to throw in a few million more licenses? Just because someone hands you a slip of paper with your loaf of bread that says “I.O.U. 3 Billion Licenses of Linux” does not mean that you, by accepting the loaf of bread, have agreed to convert the nation of China to use Linux. In fact, it is no indication at all that you actually plan to ever install one copy of it. This seems to be a copy of the tactic that Redhat recently used to successfuly dupe the press when they offered to give free licenses of Redhat to all schools in the country, as if it was competitive to any offers to provide Microsoft or Apple software. But it just isn’t the same ballgame — people pay real money for Windows and OS X. People don’t pay money for Linux, that’s why it’s called “free software”. If you “buy” one license of Linux for $0.00, you are buying a trillion licenses. At $0.00 per license, there is no difference between one and a trillion. Heck, since the reporters seem to be so flabbergasted by this, I expect all Linux vendors to start selling like this soon. “You can purchase licenses of Linux from us, but you have to purchase in multiples of one million. Or, if you like, you can buy a support contract and get the licenses free. If you buy a $100,000 support contract, we’ll throw in 10 million licenses for free.” Sigh…
Today I moved into my new office in the new building. It was the first time I’ve seen the building. I was pleased to notice that the landscaping includes some large areas of bamboo, visible out my window. From what I could tell, it is all Phyllostachys Nuda, which will send out runners and form some thick groves in the next couple of years. It is between 7 and 10 feet tall right now, but will get up to 40 feet tall and have a mix of black and green culms. The only other buildings on campus that I am aware have bamboo groves are at RedWest.
It looks like Seattle now has at least four carriers that offer GSM and GPRS. Unfortunately, you are still stuck using a Motorola phone if you want to use the service. So, I could use the WAP micro-browser with GPRS to get directions when I am lost. I could also hook up my iPAQ to the phone and browse with PocketIE, or even use the Laptop’s infrared connector to beam out through the phone’s GPRS service. But then you start wondering — if I want better browsing and a connection to my PharosGPS, I need a PocketPC. So why even put up with the crappy microbrowser in the phone — why can’t I get a phone that has a PocketPC built-in? Or better yet, why not have a tablet device that comes with a hands-free so you can use it as a phone? So now we just wait for the inevitable. Nokia GPRS/GSM phones should be available any day now, so at least 2-way messaging would be bearable. But if that’s the whole benefit, the Mitsubishi phone with CDMA is just fine, in my opinion. No, I want a real Internet-enabled phone. Supposedly, Samsung, Matsushita, and Sendo are all anxious to fulfill my dreams. Too bad that’s a year off, if we’re lucky.
Here is an attractive tablet input device. How hard would it be to manufacture these to use an RDP stream instead of DVI and do I/O via Wireless? Stuff like this is why I think the Mira is inevitable.
I wonder if this is the next big fitness trend? Are colorful exercise balls and medicine balls the new tai bo? Maybe the people who bought all of the tai bo videos have recently had children and were inspired by the lamaze balls.