KCLUG

kclug@kclug.org

10 participants
3256 discussions

Linspire/Freespire
by Earle Beason 11 Jul '07

11 Jul '07

Oren, I think you have a valid point there with the "karma" and programmers. I don't see linspire in the same manner as a liberating software, but rather some businessmen cashing in on others works. Reminds me of a hateful article I read, " http://www.vanwensveen.nl/index.html " I especially love the part about "digging great programs out of the trash" bit. However I really don't expect Linspire to be around in five years, Microsoft has a habit of buying and killing it competition.What they don't buy, they do the wal-mart stomp and run it out of business. I would toss another path in to your thought, free software on the items the majority of consumers have come to expect from their computer, Office software, Internet browser, email program, mp3/dvd player, small "waste 15 minutes" type of games, spyware blocker etc Beyond that scope a small price for specialized applications. Like autocad, graphic art programs for movie making, the phone-switch interfaces, payroll, time sheets I guess what I getting at, the stuff normally used at home for the basics; free. The stuff that requires more attention and more hands on, go on the ala carte for the end user

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RE: Stress Testing Hard Drives
by Jack 11 Jul '07

11 Jul '07

Well, then I must be everybody's buddy! I'm O+. Which means everyone can use my bloodtype, but I can only use O+. It's kinda spooky everytime I donate, though. They take one look at my donor card, and see the O+, and then they start salivating, like they're just going to suck all my blood out. Maybe, I should start putting an O+ after my name? ;') > --- "Kelsay, Brian - Kansas City, MO" <brian.kelsay(a)kcc.usda.gov> wrote: > Hey, mine too. We can be blood buddies!! If we > ever need a > transfusion, we can call each other. My blood is > clean, had it changed > at 30,000 miles and everything. > > _____ > > From: Monty J. Harder > Sent: Friday, July 06, 2007 5:55 PM > > My blood type is A+... Does that count for anything? >

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Speaking of phones...
by Matthew Copple 10 Jul '07

10 Jul '07

I'm about to get a new one. Not an iPhone -- I have better things to do with $600. I am, however, looking to replace my Audiovox XV-6600 and its Windows Mobile with something Linux compatible. I almost went with the Treo two years ago, when I bought this one, but kept hearing of problems with hearing the caller on the other end. Having used a phone for the last two years that requires near-complete silence to be able to use effectively, I am fully paranoid about the matter now. Are there any suggestions for PDAPhones which are compatible with Linux (for syncing contacts, appointments, etc.) and at the very least, provide minimally acceptable call quality (that is, at least comparable to one of the low-end "free" phones)? My wife has one of those freebies, and it rocks compared to the tinny crap I try to listen to when I use my phone. -- Matthew Copple mcopple(a)gmail.com "Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have." -- President Ronald Reagan

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Asterisk dial tone revisited.
by Oren Beck 09 Jul '07

09 Jul '07

http://nerdvittles.com/index.php?p=73 That might offer some possible reason for KCLUG to interact with the KC Asterisk Group. Anyone want to comment on our exchanging invites formally to each other 's meetings or speakers? Oren

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Stress Testing Hard Drives
by Billy Crook 09 Jul '07

09 Jul '07

Can anyone recommend a program or method of stress testing hard drives? I check memory/cpu with memtest86, but I would like some way to stress test a hard drive. Currently I dd urandom over it for a few days or DBAN it, but I'm looking for something more thought out. Preferably, a program that can run on a live system so I'd just attach the drive to be tested, and point the test at /dev/sdd or whatever dev it was on. Preserving data on the drive is (obviously) not a concern.

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Linspire/Freespire
by Earle Beason 07 Jul '07

07 Jul '07

Linspire/Freespire In response to watching videos on NBC Wow, I evaluated this and I am not impressed, don't like the fact I have to "PAY" for Linux programs that are normally free with other distros, and I can't update anything with out becoming a "MEMBER" of the "CNR," I would agree with those who are saying to go to another program. Fedora 7 quite large but google "Perfect Fedora 7 desktop" and voila, everything needed for a good start. Then add caldega for your games, you should be good to go. If your close to grandview you can come over and evaluate my setup on a weekend. Bet Linspire will emulate Microsoft s other ventures.................

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Re: Kclug Digest, Vol 36, Issue 8
by gary hildebrand 07 Jul '07

07 Jul '07

On 7/5/07, kclug-request(a)kclug.org <kclug-request(a)kclug.org> wrote: > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:31:16 -0500 > From: Jonathan Hutchins <hutchins(a)tarcanfel.org> > Subject: Re: Web services "in" the KC area. > To: kclug(a)kclug.org > Message-ID: <200707051231.17057.hutchins(a)tarcanfel.org> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-6 I've had phone service here for 17 years from Bell, now AT&t (again). I've > called them once, to find out when they'd have the lines back up from the > big > ice storm. There may be things I don't like about them, but service > availability ain't one of 'em. I laugh at the cable guys every time they > try > to sell me phone service. There are good and bad things about Ma Bell, and they have always had the supercillious business attitude with their customers. In my case: Charged almost a dollar a minute for a phone call to Vancouver, BC, and charging $0.75 per call to their 800 "customer service" line SEVERAL times. Overcharging a cellphone customer $1500 in one month . . . (girlfriend) Bait and switch practices on cellphone plans. I'm sure there are others. YMMV. I just avoid them whenever and wherever possible. Just expect less and less, and pay more and more for nothing. Gary Hildebrand ST. Joseph, MO ------------------------------ >

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Re: Stress Testing Hard Drives
by James R. Sissel 07 Jul '07

07 Jul '07

Ah, the "click of death". How long has it been since I've heard that wonderful, hope-and-soul-crushing phrase. Those were the good ol' days. "We had the click of death ... and we LIKED it" -- grumpy old man from SNL

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Re: Free Cellphone Service- New York Times
by Luke -Jr 06 Jul '07

06 Jul '07

On Thursday 05 July 2007 22:22, you wrote: > Just call up your asterisk box while at home, using the wifi so the call is > free. Sure, and waste 3x the bandwidth at a major drop in quality (digital to analog to digital, even before final termination!) > Have the asterisk give you a dialtone to dial out with, and just never hang > up. Asterisk doesn't give dialtones on its own except on actual analog lines.

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None
by James Sissel 05 Jul '07

05 Jul '07

And what happens when you are walking by (but not in) the coffee shop with the free WiFi and get arrested just like the poor man checking his email in his car? http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060622-7111.html Jonathan Hutchins <hutchins(a)tarcanfel.org> wrote: July 5, 2007 STATE OF THE ART IPhone-Free Cellphone News By DAVID POGUE Man, oh man. How'd you like to have been a PR person making a cellphone announcement last week, just as the iPhone storm struck? You'd have had all the impact of a gnat in a hurricane. But hard to believe though it may be, T-Mobile did make an announcement last week. And even harder to believe, its new product may be as game-changing as Apple's. It's called T-Mobile HotSpot @Home, and it's absolutely ingenious. It could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars a year, and yet enrich T-Mobile at the same time. In the cellphone world, win-win plays like that are extremely rare. Here's the basic idea. If you're willing to pay $10 a month on top of a regular T-Mobile voice plan, you get a special cellphone. When you're out and about, it works like any other phone; calls eat up your monthly minutes as usual. But when it's in a Wi-Fi wireless Internet hot spot, this phone offers a huge bargain: all your calls are free. You use it and dial it the same as always - you still get call hold, caller ID, three-way calling and all the other features - but now your voice is carried by the Internet rather than the cellular airwaves.

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