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Feb 13, 2004
By | Posted at 17:30:15
I'm just curious — what control panel does your web host use? CPanel? Plesk? Ensim? DirectAdmin? Webmin? Something else?
There's a lot out there, but virtually everyone I know uses CPanel. That's the one I've used the most, having enjoyed it at the last two hosts I've been at. Prior to that, my two other hosts I stayed at for anytime used their own proprietary control panels. I also signed up for (and quickly canceled for another reason) an account with an Alabanza reseller, who, of course, was using the rather dated looking Alabanza control panel.
Right now, I still like CPanel the best I think. However, I must say I'm really impressed with the new Plesk 7 interface that SW-Soft just released (I don't know any shared hosts using Plesk 7 yet). It looks like it offers many of the features that CPanel does, but in a much cleaner interface.
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Jan 27, 2004
By | Posted at 18:19:24
Have you ever thought about your computer and freedom in the same thought? Have you ever thought about all of those licenses — contracts — you have to agree to just to get to your information, documents, and so on? If so, you may begin to understand why the Free Software movement works the way it does.
Imagine this scenario: a large corporation that provides software for creating letters, spreadsheets, and other documents might decide to patent its format and prevent you from opening your own documents in any tool other than their own. Sound far fetched?
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Jan 24, 2004
By | Posted at 18:58:37
Open for Business launched a new site today. Here's the announcement:
Today marks the twentieth anniversary of the Apple Macintosh computer.While the original Mac is certainly meager by today's standards, thereare few that would argue against its revolutionary status in the earlyyears of personal computing. In commemoration of that event, today alsomarks the launch of OfB MacFor.Biz, the new section of Open for Businessthat will cover the Mac in much the same way OfB covers GNU/Linux andBSD. In this premier piece, we will examine the latest Mac OS X, 10.3”Panther,” on two separate generations of Macintosh systems. Read more at MacFor.Biz.
Not much there yet, but more will be coming. Traditional OfB content will be moving to LinuxFor.Biz, and OfB.biz will have everything that gets posted to both sites.
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Jan 19, 2004
By | Posted at 16:24:19
I signed up to participate in Darren's “Blogger Idol,” but at first, I wasn't sure what to do with the first topical assignment. I'm not really much of a fan of the 1980's, you see, and that is what the topic is for this week. But, I figured out a very appropriate post, especially considering this is 2004 and the item of interest happened in 1984, just one week from today.
Best. Commercial. Ever.
Yeah, perhaps it takes a somewhat cheesy mind to decide to use this as an opportunity to talk about an advertisement, but
what an advertisement! If you have not already figured out what commercial, let me give you a hint and see if you can guess it - leave in the comments whether you did (don't cheat and look below first).
“Our enemies shall talk themselves to death and we will bury them with their own confusion. We shall prevail!”
Still not sure what it is? Okay, I'll help some more. Here's the ending of the commercial - this should be a dead giveaway to most folks who either watch TV or are into computers:
“On January 24, ____ ____ will introduce the _____. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like '1984.'” Read more...
Jan 17, 2004
By | Posted at 18:52:23
“Imagine the following scenario: 'OK, ad people. We want you to sell this really cool technology that's going to change the world. But it's not really our product. You can't hold it. You can't see it. And, um, there's no way to take a picture of it or even really show what it is. Oh, did we mention that the future of our $80 billion company depends on it? Thanks.'”
That's how an article on IBM and Linux begins. Find out what Thomas Mucha is talking about in this Business 2.0 article.
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Jan 4, 2004
By | Posted at 17:28:49
I've spent a few hours over the last week or so ripping Christmas CD's. I'm not quite done and there are over 40 albums spanning almost a day an a quarter in playtime. But what to do with them? Well, I thought it might be nice to listen to it as I went from computer to computer, so I decided to try Apple's Darwin Streaming Server (DSS). DSS is the Free Software/Open Source sibling to QuickTime Streaming Server. It appears to have most of the same functionality (including QuickTime streaming).
One of its many features is IceCast compatible MP3 streaming. So, in a (nearly) effortless few minutes, I installed DSS, fixed my MP3 directory's permissions, used the great web-based GUI to select the proper folder, and clicked “play.” Now, I can connect from any system on the network and hear the continuous stream as if it was on the radio. Only its 100% good Christmas music and not some of the stuff that makes you wince in agony (the Christina Aguilera Christmas songs where the worst of the year, I think).
DSS's stream works just fine in iTunes (which shows the proper track information), XMMS (which does not show proper track information), Windows Media Player, and probably others. WMP seems to have a larger buffer and thus you don't want to have WMP playing the stream within listening distance of a system using XMMS or iTunes, but other than that, it works well on all three.
Now, I'll just do the same in a few weeks for my non-Christmas music and all will be well.
If you'd like to try DSS, you can do so on Mac OS X, GNU/Linux or Windows. The server is available for a free download under the GNU Project approved Apple Public Source License (ASPL) 2.0, right here.
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Dec 22, 2003
By | Posted at 18:50:28
I finally got part I of my Shuttle XPC review up. You can read all about the SB62G2 at OfB.biz. This is a really amazing system — and it is part of an amazing lineup, including an Athlon64 supporting model that even has a built-in 6-type memory card reader.
OfB has awarded Shuttle our “Best of the Year” award for the SB62G2. It is an amazing little box and I highly recommend it if you're looking for a semi-DIY system that isn't just a plain old system. Very very nice. I figured with the cost of the barebones system included, a P4 2.6 GHz with HT, 512 megs of PC3200 ram, a combo drive and an 80 gig SATA hard disk comes out to less than $700 — that's quite a steal!
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Dec 9, 2003
By | Posted at 18:47:22
Well, earlier this year I replaced my trusty Linksys 2-port ProConnect KVM with a Belkin E-series 4-port KVM switch. It's never worked quite right with GNU/Linux (I have to switch screens to get things back in order), but I lived with it. Unfortunately, even after adding a USB adapter to get the switch hooked up with the G5, things haven't gone well between the two of them.
The G5 works with the switch and PS/2 mouse and keyboard when I first boot it up, but if I switch and then return to that system, the G5 often doesn't see the mouse and almost never sees the keyboard. A few times, it didn't even see the keyboard at boot. sigh So it looks like I'm going to have to retire a 9-month old KVM and get a different one that works better with Macs (hopefully it will work better with GNU/Linux too). In the mean time, just as a word of warning: be aware that E-series KVM's don't seem to get along with Mac or Linux.
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Dec 4, 2003
By | Posted at 18:47:8
Well, as I said in the last post, I have two new computers — one of which I really don't need. Why is that? Well, the one new one is a Shuttle SB62G2 mini-ITX barebones system that Shuttle sent me to review at OfB.biz. I'll be reviewing it in full very soon. It's a good system — it supports up to a 3.2 GHz HT-enabled Pentium 4, up to 2 gigs of ram, RAID, Serial-ATA, and other goodies. In my case, I did have to supply the processor, ram, hard disk and optical drive, so I went with something a bit more affordable — a Pentium 4 2.6 GHz with HT, 512 megs of ram, 1 80 gig Seagate SATA hard disk, and a CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive. It came with what appears to be the OEM version of Mandrake Linux 9.2 Discovery Edition, which went on quite smoothly. Good system, although it is quite similar to my primary system (a Dell from late last year). I spent some time Monday and Tuesday working on this so that I can hopefully publish my results soon on OfB.
The most interesting part of this system was, believe it or not, that this was the first system I've actually built. I've done just about everything one can to a system, but I've never taken a brand new motherboard and added all of the components needed to turn it into a complete system. It went well — it was a simple process and surprisingly easy, considering the small amount of space inside a mini-ITX case.
Now the other system was one I actually planned on buying. Read on if you are curious.
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Nov 25, 2003
By | Posted at 18:45:8
The same fellow who created DeCSS has now created a program that dumps DRM AAC files into non-DRM AAC files.
I have mixed feelings about this. I like the fact that it allows me to take care of legal requirements myself (which I would still obey if I used it) instead of Apple doing it for me — it has always made me uncomfortable that company's are basically saying “yes, we've sold you this song [or something else] but we don't trust you enough to properly use what we've sold you, so we are going to make sure you use it a certain way and sue the pants off of you if you don't use it that way.” At the same time, I wonder if this isn't a big mistake.
If a fairly respectable (is there such a thing?) DRM scheme like that used by iTunes is broken into, the MPAA/RIAA have even more of a case to argue that either (1) tougher legislation is required to stop thosenasty people that clearly want to use this for pirating purposes (indeed, many probably will) or (2) that the Secure Computing Initiativemust be sped up to make it so that hardware prevents people from doingthings like this. While I'd prefer no DRM, I wonder if in the long term this won't lead to worse DRM. No matter what, the law abiding citizens will get hurt while the companies go after the non-law abiding ones that make DRM attractive in the first place.
As I've said before, I think I should be able to do — so long as I follow copyright law — whatever I please with a file I've legally bought or obtained. If I pay $.99 for a song, I should be able to do absolutely anything to it on my computer (since that doesn't in any way cause a loss of value to the copyright holder — I'm still the only person with a copy).
On the flip side however, while I believe that such freedom shouldexist, I realize that iTunes Music Store could possibly serve to cause the inevitable expansion of DRM to at least be a lot more friendly that it might otherwise be. While the idealist in me appreciates someone providing more freedom to me for my legally held music, the practical side of me realizes that such a gain in the short-term will quite likely hurt the promotion of friendly DRM schemes in the future.
So what do you think?
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