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3000 euros - not exactly a bargain. Still, the must-have factor keeps growing
Archive 18.3.2004 - 26.3.2004
I like Debian ...
One takes: the Netinstall XFS Image, a new server (Mini-ITX board with Via Eden chip, if you're interested) and simply enters xfs at the boot prompt. After that, you let the hardware be detected, partition the disk as one huge XFS partition and a spacious swap space, then just enter the basic network configuration and simply wait until the computer is finished. As if Debian were complicated to install. Ridiculous.
Python Package Index Tutorial - Explanation of how to build PyPI entries in setup.py
Daylight Saving Time
I hate daylight saving time. Not because it's a changeover - that doesn't bother me much. But this silly clock adjustment is just annoying. And ultimately the whole thing is highly absurd - pure self-deception. As if reality changes because you adjust the clocks. Absurd.
At Die wunderbare Welt von Isotopp you can find the original article.
On April 22nd ...
... Santa Claus doesn't come, but something almost as good, namely Uma Thurman. And finally kills Bill.
Industry association Bitkom wants to abolish private copying
The Bitcom zombie twitches again ...
I found the original article at netbib weblog.
Index of /~vorlon/d-i/xfs - Debian Sarge Netinst CD with XFS support
Life Out of Control
A documentary series on arte about the century-spanning issue of genetic research. The extent of the lies, corruption, and human stupidity in their belief in current miracle healers is alarming. Iceland sells the medical records of all Iceland's residents to a private corporation by legislative decree—a decree drafted by the company's lawyers. The Human Genome Diversity Project collects genetic samples from isolated, endangered peoples and peddies them to private corporations that profit from them. Like the Swedish corporation that sells a yogurt containing a lactobacillus from a Peruvian woman. Of course, the woman receives nothing for it—she doesn't even know that part of her is being sold as a patented product on the Swedish market.
Schröder satisfied with reform course
I'm sick of this self-aggrandizement. Just as much as the — predictable — idiotic response from the Union leader. This is such silly nonsense — do adults really have nothing better to do than strut around Berlin and pretend they have something important to say? I don't even dare compare this behavior to small children anymore, because they come up with ten times more intelligent things than these politicians. The government is patting itself on the back and praising itself for work done — sure, nobody else would praise the garbage they've spouted. The Union, of course, doesn't engage with substantive questions, but pats itself on the back and takes swipes at the government because it wants to form the next government. Just to then deliver equally meaningless speeches and break a bit more stuff.
And what does reality get out of it? Nothing. Stupid babble, peacocking, and half-baked concepts driven only by party political power interests but having nothing to do with real problems.
At WDR.de you can find the original article.
Static Type Inference (for Python) with Starkiller
A quite interesting document about a static type checker for Python. It would be nice if something like that would make its way into Python - the possibilities for optimizations by the compiler would be significantly better.
I found the original article at Lambda the Ultimate.
Telekom board member Josef Brauner steps down over toll fiasco
Sony 2 pisses off ...
At heise online news there is the original article.
The Guardian hammers RSS
Rogers Cadenhead summarizes what bothers me most about Atom: the silly hype from some proponents who feel compelled to badmouth RSS in an embarrassing way - but ultimately only prove that they simply have no idea what they're talking about. Or if they do have knowledge, they deliberately make false statements, just to promote Atom - a specification that isn't even a draft yet - as the greatest invention since sliced bread.
It's somehow ridiculous how adult people can get so worked up over a stupid file format...
You can find the original article at Workbench.
Warning against total surveillance state
The top data protection officer must by now feel like the proverbial tree falling in the forest that no one hears. And the impact of his warning will probably be as insignificant as the proverbial bag of rice falling in China ...
At tagesschau im Internet you can find the original article.
The Lord of the Grids
Cool. Now I just need more Macs at home
At Industrial Technology & Witchcraft you can find the original article.
Microsoft: EU Commission Decision Not in Consumers' Interest
The audacity of Microsoft is almost admirable (but only almost). You can find the original article at heise online news here.
Nine health insurance companies lower contribution rates
Reduced from 14.9 to 14.7 - that's really something. That brings so much. And where is the reduction below 14 percent that was promised by the federal government? The whole thing is ridiculous. In the end, we all pay for it again.
At tagesschau im Internet you can find the original article.
RealNetworks CEO pushes Apple to open iPod
It's quite fascinating when a company whose main product is a proprietary compression format for audio and video data calls on another company that uses an open, standardized format (AAC is after all just the audio layer from MPEG4) to open their device.
At The Macintosh News Network you can find the original article.
Ron Sommer and Electoral Tactics
Of course Mr. Sony wasn't fired because he was a failure in his position. That can't be right. All the antics during his time at Telekom are certainly just figments of imagination. Just like the catastrophic stock price collapse of a share that was once promoted as a people's stock. A complete loss of touch with reality really does seem to be a job requirement for managers...
At heise online news you can find the original article.
Telekom reduces weekly working hours to 34 hours
The price for reducing working hours is high - for example, civil servants forgo both vacation pay and Christmas bonuses. For employees, at least part of the Christmas bonus is likely affected too. Of course, Tagesschau doesn't mention anything like that in their report, and suddenly the impression is created that people are simply being given a few hours as a gift. So much for professional journalism...
However, I wouldn't object to a 34-hour regulation with my salary. Unfortunately, my employer did it the other way around: changed from 38.5 hours to 40 hours without wage compensation and by eliminating overtime premiums.
At tagesschau im Internet you can find the original article.
Ticket counters soon only in cities?
Great. Combined with the fact that you can no longer purchase tickets on board in regional trains since there are no more conductors walking through the train, in the event of a ticket machine failure, you're left with no choice but to travel without a valid ticket...
At tagesschau im Internet you can find the original article.
Free beer makes mayoral election invalid
Cheers!
At tagesschau im Internet you can find the original article.
loaf - Interesting implementation of a Bloom filter
XMLmind XML Editor: XMLmind XML Editor - Interesting XML WYSIWYG editor, for example for DocBook
Offended Thin Board Drills
Honestly, the behavior of the blogger generation representatives doesn't strike me as particularly clever either. Written a book and botched it. Tough luck, you have to learn from that. But then making others responsible for the flop instead of looking for errors in one's own writing is definitely strange ... But the failure is only due to a conspiracy of publishers with readers anyway. Or the SPD is to blame. That's what Rudi Carell said back then.
At das Netzbuch there's the original article.
September 11th Could Have Been Prevented.
Now even people from his own camp (after all, Clarke was appointed under Reagan) are starting to accuse Dubya of lying. At das Netzbuch you can find the original article.
EU demands record fine from Microsoft
500 million. A record fine perhaps for the EU - but will that bring Microsoft to change its business policy? I don't think so...
At tagesschau im Internet you can find the original article.
Israel kills Hamas leader Yassin
This is supposed to secure peace? Laughable.
The only goal a government can pursue with such an approach is further escalation. The reaction of the Palestinians is deliberately provoked in order to gain further leverage through the attacks that will certainly follow.
At tagesschau im Internet you can find the original article.
Heading Balls Makes You Stupid
That explains a lot ...
At NETZEITUNG.DE Wissenschaft you can find the original article.
MovableType like Windows
... and just like Windows I'm not particularly fond of MoveableType either
At das Netzbuch you can find the original article.
Spamassassin Custom Rule Emporium - Directory of Spamassassin custom rules
SPD plans anti-spam law
As much as I would welcome the law in theory, the reality of the bill will need to be analyzed more closely - I fear that it won't really accomplish that much. Sure, German spammers will be dealt with, but the fact is that a large portion of spam comes from abroad. There's also the question of what happens with fake emails, where someone pretends an email comes from someone else - will courts be able to understand this technical complexity, or will fabricated emails soon be enough to haul someone before the judge?
Still, I really do welcome the fact that legislation here is finally addressing the nuisance of spam, especially since there are already EU-wide directives waiting for national implementation.
At NETZEITUNG.DE Internet you can find the original article.
TP: "Matsushita is a sh...company"
Another so-called spam-fighting bunch without technical competence: Spamcop. I've been upset with them since their existence because they are completely incapable of understanding even the most basic mechanisms behind email systems and accordingly adapting their nonsensical mechanisms ...
Digital Camera Battery - Manufacturers of the most powerfull professional camera battery on the market - Battery systems for digital cameras
DIHK Chief Advises on Production Abroad
I would advise this censored person to have their brain checked. If companies listen to this troll, soon there will be no buyers left for their overpriced cheap productions. And if German industry is sold off abroad, his position as top blowhard will very quickly become utterly superfluous. I keep asking myself when I hear such gross nonsense, what goes on in the minds of such people and who pays them to spout such rubbish.
What kind of trust in the economy is supposed to be built when production is to be relocated abroad and thousands of jobs are put at risk? And the investments of the economy - laughable, the only investments go into the pockets of major shareholders and managers. And if that's actually pointed out, these fat cats treat themselves to arrogant gestures in court.
For every mundane investment that actually goes into production facilities or similar, these people have themselves celebrated as if they had laid the golden egg. And they let themselves be pumped full of money from the federal government each time, or only do it if they're granted far-reaching concessions from state governments and municipalities. Exemption from business tax in exchange for jobs - every small business owner has to pay business tax. Every self-employed person is called to contribute. But large corporations extort their own conditions.
It's all just lies, rip-offs and fraud what's going on in the business associations and executive suites of large corporations and major banks. Trust cannot be imposed from above. And certainly one cannot demand trust-building measures from the government if one is only out to confirm all prejudices oneself.
Sure, the government is a bunch of fools stumbling around and having lost their footing in their own ideas. But still better than the other bunch who only say what the business bosses want to hear and would sell everything for a bit of power - even what still makes our society acceptable.
But one thing is certain: nobody trusts a bunch of talkers who secure their own position with million-mark salaries and networks that ensure at every failure that they can immediately jump into some big business again to mismanage it.
At tagesschau im Internet you can find the original article.
More Surveillance Desired
Does anyone need more proof of humanity's fundamental stupidity?
As if a surveillance state offers more citizen security. Quite the opposite. The terrorists just end up in another place: within the state apparatus. And that's exactly what's being demanded here. Total surveillance of public spaces. A standard presumption of guilt for all citizens - anyone walking around in public, using public transport, or standing in public places is fundamentally suspect from the start. When will the first person be convicted because the guardians of the public accuse them? How many hidden, invisible witnesses will soon exist for our actions in public, whose statements and claims we can no longer refute because they're invisible and uncontrollable to us?
We've already experienced attacks on private space through Schily and associates. I definitely don't feel any safer because of all this nonsense...
Brave new world. We ourselves are building our 1984...
At heise online news you'll find the original article.
Peeron: Robotics Invention System 2.0 (#3804-1) - Parts content list of Lego sets, here Mindstorms 2.0
Schröder: "We're Staying the Course"
Next stop: the ground behind the cliff ...
At WDR.de you can find the original article.
Tuple Space - Description of Tuple Spaces
Petty Criticism - Legal Incompetence - eBay and New EU Law
Clarification of the legal situation regarding warranty and its exclusion in private sales
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | UFO streaks through Martian sky
We're filling up Mars with garbage too
Deutsche Zope User Group - Solution for the Compile Problem with DCOracle2 and Python 2.3
First Open-Source License Made for Germany
A nationally adapted open source license is all well and good - but what can it really achieve? Open source is unlikely to be restricted to national borders. And Germany is only a very small part of the world. In my view, it makes much more sense to analyze the existing licenses and work directly with the license holders (such as the FSF for the GPL) to ensure that these general international licenses have full validity everywhere possible.
At most, it would make sense to develop a license addendum that can be attached to the GPL to clarify national peculiarities. Because this way, the exact opposite of the GPL problem could occur: the license is valid in Germany, but not valid outside or only restricted. And that would certainly be just as fatal...
OK, one could do dual-licensing of projects, but then it must be ensured that the licenses don't contradict each other, and that regional restriction is even possible. DFSG, for example, does not allow discrimination by location - and thus a package that is under GPL for international use but under the Bremen License for national use in Germany would potentially no longer be DFSG-compatible.
The original article can be found at heise online news (here).
Little Snitch - Connection monitor for Mac OS X
placenamehere.com projects pnhtoolbar - Web Tools Toolbar for Firebird and Mozilla
10 out of 1350
Alright, let me fire up the iPod then and do a random selection from it. I'll filter out the audio dramas though.
- Kate Bush, Why Should I Love You?
- Element of Crime, Magic Journey
- Jethro Tull, Wond'ring Aloud
- Clannad, Wilderniss
- Tom Waits, In The Colosseum
- Tori Amos, Little Earthquakes
- Jethro Tull, Alive And Well And Living In
- Schmetterlinge, Wenn Ich Wieder Reich Bin ...
- Madness, The Sun And The Rain
- Tchaikovsky, Waltz Finale and Apotheosis
It fits surprisingly well with my mix, although Pink Floyd is missing - I've got pretty much all their albums on the iPod.
At das Netzbuch you can find the original article.
Being together
Togetherness
One daffodil does not a spring make. But a whole bunch certainly does ...
