News and Thoughts
Support One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)
It is just amazing how technology can transform a person's education and life. This statement is especially true when poorer kids in the developing world are given the opportunities to access technology and explore their world using a laptop. Believe it or not, the machine now costs only 160$ (when production increases to 1 million units, the price will reach only 100$) with networking and multimedia support, touch pad, and a 12 hour battery life with human-powered technology.
From many angles, the OLPC project is not only an humanitarian effort, but also a drive to transform our software and hardware technologies. Throughout the last 20 years, we see computer and information technologies become more and more affordable in every aspects: whether it is in Personal Computing or Corporate IT. At the same time, these new technologies are transforming how we do our business, how we entertain, and more importantly, how we educate ourselves. Students in remote and under-developed regions of the world now have an opportunity to access our world using internet and a laptop. In most cases, "Access" means we are giving them the opportunity to improve their own life through education.
The technologies used in the OLPC project: Open Source Software, Low-Power Computing, and Collaborative Networking (mesh), etc. can potentially create new market and business opportunities. These ideas maybe the future technologies used in the mainstream when the world is increasingly seeking for energy-efficiency, open-mindedness and collaboration. The OLPC project has a profound impact on our globalized society and economy.
Email System Migration from OpenVMS/Alpha to Linux/Intel
I have recently finished the migration of arround 40,000 users and 110G of email from a legacy OpenVMS/Alpha cluster running PMDF to Linux Servers running Postfix and Cyrus-IMAP (with Murder Configuration) using Dell Blade Servers (PowerEdge 1855, 64 bit Xeons) attached to our EMC CX SAN.
Below is the new systems infrastructure
Here are some pictures taken during our systems migration window... Notice that I have to monitor 20 to 30 concurrent Migration Processes -- My LCD screens are filled with SSH consoles. Plus you have to really watch out that day -- I had only about 5 hours of sleep. It seems that I had enough fun that weekend "overheating" the Alpha Boxes which we nick-named "Jurassic Park".
HP/Compaq Alpha Cluster: Dell Blades and SAN:
OhioLinux Fest 2006 (Columbus, OH)
This is my first Linuxfest and i had a great time listening to the speakers and talking to people about everything computers in general. Here I put some Pictures taken. I think the 6 hours I spent on Driving back and force is well worth it. I am hoping to go to next year's conference. So, see you there.
[Session on Email Security] [At the Conference]
Stemming from 1981's nuclear explosion of SMTP
A resent post: "Almost ten years later, in November 1981, Jonathan Postel published RFC 788 (http://rfc.sunsite.dk/rfc/rfc788.html) (later deprecated by RFC 821 (http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc0821.txt), also by Postel, and RFC 822 (http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc0822.txt) by David Crocker), thereby inventing the foundations of the Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) - a proposal that would revolutionize email again. Since that time, email has become as important an invention to the world as the telegraph and the telephone, and it has long been synonymous with the internet itself."
"Twenty five years later, we still use essentially the same protocol. And email is a terrible mess. It's dangerous, insecure, unreliable, mostly unwanted, and out-of-control. It's the starting point for a myriad of criminal activity, banking scams, virus outbreaks, identity theft, extortion, stock promotion scams, and of course, the giant iceberg of spam. " Read More...
Why Email Service is offered "Free"?
Windows Live @ edu: Plan is to catch them young
When Google launched GMail for Domains, they picked the San José City College as their testing playground.
Microsoft took a step further and launched a similar college hosting email service called Windows Live@edu.
While Google experimented with just a single college, Microsoft managed to get 72 colleges sign-up for the Windows Live@edu service.
Live@edu provides a familiar interface to many students as it is patterned after Hotmail. However, students do not receive a hotmail.com or msn.com e-mail address, as the accounts it carry the domain of their respective school.
Microsoft move is clearly aimed at creating loyal Windows Live users while they are still in college. Another potential source of revenue is advertising. Microsoft promises most colleges not to display ads while the students are in school, but then will turn on the ads once they graduate, creating a pool of young, educated and potentially wealthy consumers for advertisers to target.
Is Google becoming Microsoft?
Google has become synonymous for the word -- "search". So, my question here is where do you see Google a year from now? Or 3-5 years from now?
First, a number of the Projects Google is undertaking are going to be dropped. Plus, a far clearer set of the projects and objectives of what they are going to do will be released. And, Google is more likely to be positioned as a globe lead in media and content services rather than a software producer like microsoft.
Additional Questions about Google
How does google make money now?
Online Advertising.
Will Google become an ISP?
Google's biggest advantage is its brand. Even the top names in web search arena: AOL and Ask.com cannot compete with it in this category. To leverage its shining brand, besides great use in home, Google has established a google enterpersie professional program to serve for the corperate customers.
"We Are... Marshall" Start Filming
On November 14, 1970, Marshall University experienced the greatest air tragedy in the history of collegiate athletics. 75 members of the Marshall football team, coaches, university staff, community members, and crew members died in the crash. More than 35 years later, Warner Bros. and Thunder Road Pictures will produce a feature film about the crash and Marshall's struggle to field a team in the ensuing years.
Real Men don't Click?
I am thinking about the above line: admins sometimes should stop relying on the support of the mouse for doing system engineering tasks. They should use Perl scripts. Like Real Men. These guys have managed to do a fully automated Windows 2000 setup including ADS deployment, simply by using Perl scripts.
A Look Inside Microsoft's Open Source Software Lab (Part 1)
Microsoft’s Open Source Software Lab is an ambitious research project. Located on the company’s main campus, the lab houses more than 300 servers, which collectively run more than 15 versions of UNIX and 50 Linux distributions. It boasts a team of senior-level programmers and system administrators, some of whom were architects of popular Linux distributions or authors of well-regarded books. In short, the lab is one of a few such facilities in the world dedicated to open source research. Read More...
Microsoft Launches Linux Labs Website
Bill Hilf, general manager of platform technology strategy at Microsoft, is expected to discuss the Web site, called Port 25, at a keynote presentation on Thursday at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in Boston. The site is scheduled to go live at 6 a.m. PDT Thursday.
The software giant--and fierce Linux foe--runs a 300-server Linux installation at its Redmond, Wash., headquarters to do competitive analysis and test how open-source products, including Linux, work with Microsoft software.
Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 Enterprise Edition for Free and with Linux support
Microsoft recently lobbed three massive bombs into the server virtualization market. First off, it will now support - wait for it - Linux, when the OS is running on top of its Virtual Server product. Secondly, Microsoft has made Virtual Server free. And, in a move few thought possible, Microsoft has teamed with the developers of the open source Xen product to gang up on server slicing leader VMware. Read More...
