Sunday, October 17, 2004

Opengeek has Gmail Invites

Edit: It seems Google is really starting to open up the Gmail service. From what I see in my account, invites are everywhere. If you want one, e-mail me @ invites@opengeek.org and I'll get one to you.

Thanks to those willing to write me something. It was interesting and well worth your time.




(Remainer of post left for archive reasons --best ignored.)


I have some. Want one of them? Write me something cool in the comment section below and one invite can be yours. You choose the topic, and length, but it needs to be original writing. I want to hear what you have to say simply because it might be interesting.

The first 5 creative entries get the invites. Have at it!

I will update the number of invites left here, so you don't have to worry about writing for nothing.

There are 3 invites to claim.

Edit: Seems I really did not think the invite thing through very well. When you post, go ahead and spam-proof your e-mail address. This will avoid the awkward exchanges I've had so far.


12 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

how can you support kerry when he voted for the DMCA

October 25, 2004 9:38 PM  
Blogger Doug Dingus said...

You have one invite, provided you can tell me how keeping Bush in office is better ;)

October 25, 2004 10:37 PM  
Blogger Doug Dingus said...

Looks like I cannot easily edit comments. I don't have to agree of course, but I am interested in your opinion supporting Bush.

October 25, 2004 10:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sure Bush isn't the greatest, but to me voting for the DMCA is a crime against our basic freedom of speech, which is unforgiveable.

I would never support anyone who violates such a basic freedom as my freedom of speech and my freedom to due process, especially not to satisfy the short sighted/misguided profit motives of large corporations.

Don't vote for Bush if you don't want to, but don't reward someone who sells out your most important rights.

October 25, 2004 10:58 PM  
Blogger Doug Dingus said...

Ok, e-mail me @ invite1@open_remove this_geek.org for your invite.

Having gotten that out of the way, why not follow this a bit farther.

The binary nature of our political system demands choice be prioritized and simplified. So, here is the big question:

Are the wrongs, and there are a lot of them, GW brings to the office worth a vote against Kerry just for the DMCA position he took given all the good he represents for the nation as a whole?

I too have a big problem with this. (The DMCA vote) But, I have far bigger problems with our current administration. The next 4 years *really* matter in that our next president will get to appoint multiple supreme court justices. Who will do a better job of picking sane replacement justices?

Remember those same justices will determine the outcome of an awful lot of DMCA / IP related litigation, along with a lot of other important issues.

Guess I am saying you just can't turn away a good choice on one issue --it's deeper than that.

Peace,

October 25, 2004 11:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can't really see why Bush's justices would be less supportive of the DMCA than Kerry's justices.

Bush has consistently said he would not allow a litmus test on an issue to determine whether or not he would appoint a justice, Kerry has not.

Thanks for your offer of a gmail invite, however I already have gmail and 6 invites of my own. I will keep watch on your blog though and if you run out of invites I'll add my 6 to yours.

Thanks for listening.

October 25, 2004 11:26 PM  
Blogger redshift said...

Nothing to see with previous message but i really want to test this GMail and i think my last hardware idea can interrest other people as well:

Data Storage for end users:

Data storage is always an important point for end users.

Unlike big companies, they rarely have backup devices to perform regular backup of theyr drives.
Since a long the time, the tape is well know for his capacities and performance for this special purpose.
But te price is really expensive for end users so they rarely go for this.

In the last year, the CD burners where becomed cheaper and cheaper,
supply also so, many people used this system a backup media.

As some of you have probably already already been awared, burned CD
are not eternal. If you don't write you CD in 1X speed, you can expext
to have some problems after only 5 years or less.
(Even if you take your cds hidden from light and heat, ....)
The way you write a cd by yourself is not the same as the CD you buy in shops ("pressed")
The same would be also applicable for DVD and even it should be more sensitive since
data is more "dense" on the disk surface.
So sensibility to claws (scratchs), would be even bigger than with CD, that's not good !

As time pass, hardware is becoming cheaper and cheaper, but various taxes
have been implemented on supply as well on hardware.
And new devices produce bigger and bigger files... (camera, scanners, webcams, pvr, ...)
This is to the point that Hard Drive space is now cheaper than CD space.


But there is still some bad points for hard disks as data storage:

- They don't like chocks
- They don't support heat, magnets, ...
- Interfacing

Theses problems can easely been solved by using appropriates mesures:

- Anti-Choc system like for laptops.
- Casing the Hard Drives into a box, air is one of the best magnet insulator.
- Interfacing can bee done using USB2 or firewire that is one of the most universal interface available

And now, with HDD you can access you data instataneously, and it take a lot
less physical space than you previous cd storage.

So for example, what you can do is:

Some external USB2 or firewire HDD rack for 3"1/2 HDD Drives.
An USB2 interrnal hub (generally firewire racks include firewire repeater so, a hub is no more needed)
A recuperated pc case with enough space to put your racks and they alim into. (you have to adapt mechanical fixations)
A multiple power chord.

You can now see where i want to go, something like a storage box made of independant USB disks.
Using software or hardware you can give more security to the system by using raid redundency, mirroring, parity, ...

I suggest you to take a small case or one at least you can move easely so can can take you data cluster with you.
Enjoy you new Hard Drive Data Storage solution.

English is not my first language, so apologies for mistake or errors.

Red

October 30, 2004 7:52 PM  
Blogger Doug Dingus said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

November 04, 2004 1:31 AM  
Blogger Doug Dingus said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

November 04, 2004 1:31 AM  
Blogger Doug Dingus said...

Red, mail me at invite2@opengeek.org

Others, leave a mail address next time, so I can send the invite directly without having to exchange a couple of e-mails to assure the invite goes to the right place.

November 04, 2004 1:55 AM  
Blogger John Mark Engle said...

Hello,

I am not writing this so much for the GMail (although I think it's pretty sweet) as for an honest opinion. I am a third year Computer Science student at a pretty good university, and like most college student, I am wondering right now What Is It All About?

I know what I want to do with my life, in an abstract sort of way: I want to help people. I want to affect change in a positive way as much as possible, whether I change things around me, or in a bigger sense of the word. I don't want to waste my life.

I think I know what I want to do with my life, in a concrete sort of way: I want to work with computers. I like working with computers, and I'm decent at it (but I'm able to recognize that I will probably never be great at it).

The problem is that I don't know exactly how to connect the two. How do I help people through computing? That's the real question.

This is something that I have thought much about. I think that computers are amazing devices, and that they have changed the world, but how can they have a more positive impact on the world where they haven't before.

A possible solution is providing an extremely low cost computer to the masses, complete with internet connection. There is an amazing amount of information available on the internet, and it can provide a means of education where the public education system may be the best.

A good way to achieve this would be through a free operating system and software, such as Linux and the software that generally comes with it, and cheap hardware. Government subsidies could pay for the majority, if not all, of these computers. (didn't France do this in the eighties? can't quite remember)

The problem with this, though, is that I feel like there are already many cheap computers, and I'm being incredibley naive in thinking that people will take it upon themselves to use the internet to educate themsleves. Also, as much as I hate to say it, people in general aren't going to be able to use Linux unless there is a very tailored distrubtion/installation for this purpose.

I know the above idea is a very limited one, but it's a relatively undeveloped one that I thought of. There are many more things that I could talk about, but I don't know how much you want to hear about it. I hope that you would want to discuss some about the topic of how computers can affect the world (the world outside of computers and technology, that is) in a good way, as it is something that I think about a lot, and wouldn't mind discussing more if you are interested.

-JM

November 06, 2004 11:40 PM  
Blogger John Mark Engle said...

Sorry, forgot to post an email addy:

jme*x*@wustl.edu

where *x* = 2+1

Thanks,
JM

November 06, 2004 11:42 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home