* Posts by Mitch Russell

11 publicly visible posts • joined 3 Aug 2007

It's time to mark six decades of computer networking

Mitch Russell

I'm now retired after 40 years

I do remember a relic one of my employers depended on - Bitnet. Because It's Time net. EBCDIC encoding, IBM protocol based store and forward e-mail processing. Our end node was a DEC MicroVax 3500. And all the site-to-site links were 9600 Baud since the e-mails were text only, no binary attachments.

Airport rethinks strip-scanner for kids

Mitch Russell
Thumb Up

Deep in-country on the other side of the pond

Tulsa, Oklahoma is scanning everyone with this equipment. I just passed through Saturday.

Microsoft to kill Windows with 'web-centric' Midori?

Mitch Russell
Alert

How much has BG invested in telcos/cable companies

This sounds like a plot to force folks to increase their bandwidth, and a way for Microsoft to come up with an idea worse than Vista.

I'm a greybeard, and remember net booting *nix workstations. It didn't catch on because it hogged bandwidth, and we only had 10mbit shared media ether. The OS was much smaller than any version of Windows since 3.1. Now scale the OS up to XP size, and download it with a 1.5Mbit/sec shared media net. We are talking Dyson scale sucking power: it doesn't loose it sucking capability with time, either.

Rogue SF sysadmin coughs up passwords

Mitch Russell

Odds are that the password was one of these:

password

cisco

******

foobar

iknowitandyoudont

Microsoft: 'We will save America from foreign domination'

Mitch Russell
Boffin

But what about...

Black space, brown space, yellow space, and red space?

Really, my argument that this technology will not fly. It is a throwback to Aloha Net. Large collision domains. 20% to 30% utilization results in saturation. With RF technology, you don't have the bandwidth for individual links and switched type technology.

DSL provides the best isolation. Cable does have some collisions, but the scope of the domain is more limited.

We need to go on a high-fiber diet for both both DSL and Cable. That is the best cure for the Internet constipation.

HP buys EDS: What are they thinking?

Mitch Russell
Alert

A new market for HP systems

Just replace the systems at all the EDS run data centers and managed desktops. Built-in demand!

BOFH: The secret gentlemen's club

Mitch Russell
Boffin

I've still got a tube at home

It's on a K6-233 that dual boots Ubuntu and DOS 6.2. for an old BOFH, you can't beat the DOS games such as OMF...

US boffins create darkest material ever

Mitch Russell

Terry Pratchett said it best

Darker than the inside of a cat.

Russians offer Terry Pratchett-style droid luggage

Mitch Russell
Coat

Security problems

How many security gnomes would a true Pratchettian style luggage eat before the batteries went down?

Doctor Who to meet self in Children in Need special

Mitch Russell

Paradox?

This is actually a pair of docs.

Oklahoma offers War on Terror numberplates

Mitch Russell

Not yet...

But, the tags are $37 plus the tax rate, which is expensive. $90for a car up to 4 years old, $80 for the next four years, $60 for the next four, $40 for four, then $20 for those over 17 years. See http://www.oksenate.gov/publications/legislative_briefs/Legis_Brief_2000/vehicle_tags.html