Is it any indication of how bad regulation and costs are that this sort of thing isn't a reality yet in SV, despite it being most densely populated area of nerds in the country?

Does anyone know of any other "official" reason why even Verizon FIOS isn't in santa clara valley? It just amazes me how shitty communication bandwidth is (wireless and otherwise) in the valley compared to podunk idaho or kansas city. What in the world is going on here?

Can anyone find what type of server/motherboard combo they used to get what appears to be a 9-slot PCI-e motherboard with 3x PSUs? They have 8 cards in one box and a infiniband card.. I can't seem to find what this is (or how I can buy it)

I've had more blue screens with Windows 7 then any other Windows OS. Finally started replacing hardware and ran memtest86 for a week and found 1, ONE, memory fault in millions and millions of operations. Replaced the memory (corsair brand to start with and bought another pair) and have had zero issues since. The reality of computing today is that any bluescreen/grey screen/kernel panic is largely irrespective of operating system, it's nearly always a subtle hardware issue. Which, much to the shagrin of microsoft, means alot of finger pointing. Apple people (like myself) just take our equipment into the Apple store and say "fix it" and they do (with Applecare, without a fee). Microsoft doesn't have that luxury and gets a black eye every time there is a bluescreen (which is also why they have gone to great lengths to certify vendors and hardware since the days of yesteryear). Microsoft has great products, especially in the office environment (I can't function without Office). Self-described Apple person here, I still use Windows 7 often and tried the MS Surface, looks alright, but I like my ipad mini better. I will concede the Maps on surface/windows8 are WAY better, but that is a given.

This too shall pass

People bought the iPhone because it was a ipod, phone, mobile communicator, and did all of those things very well. It is a gross oversimplification to say other devices had the features there was no need for the iPhone and the users are just dumb lemmings who buy anything Apple throws at them. Most people who don't "get" iPhones or Apple will never, for the same reason "there are only 10 times of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't". You don't get Apple because you can work around huge problems and shortcomings and only typically focus only on the amount of features instead of the quality of a few. People who buy Apple products do so because they "just work". They don't have 50 different ports on them for every competing standard, they don't have a covers, Apple focuses on making a few great ideas work really well, which is why they are successful. Engineers and nerdtypes don't get this, which is why they aren't the visionaries running the companies, they are instead slogging through the ranks doing what they are told.

http://qkme.me/3rget6

Yes, they steal ideas here and there and make a great product. Sure, they sue companies that steal their whole product. And yes, they make the best American consumer electronic products, ever.

Remember "smartphones" before the iPhone? It took years for any company to remotely match what the iPhone had when it LAUNCHED. To summarize, every slashdot thread about Apple: Haters going to hate.

"Neal Ungerleider notes that cryptography pioneer and Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) creator Phil Zimmermann has launched a new startup that provides the illusion of industrial-strength encryption for Android and iOS where users will have access to encrypted phone calls, emails, VoIP videoconferencing, SMS, and MMS.

There, fixed it for you.

Does anyone really think any application that is layered on top of IOS is free from interception? Everything is an API, all hidden away, and as much as I love Apple, there is no way in hell I would trust any application running on that device to be free from covert interception(keyboard, voice, you name it). I'm not saying that app doesn't encrypt and do all the right things when transmitting over a network, but I'm going to assume everything is compromised locally on the phone.

And not to be a tin foil hatter, but really, who pays for this stuff and paid these guys salaries in the past anyways (hint, it was your famous uncle).

I live in Los Gatos and frequent many of the fine (and less-than-fine) establishments in the Area (I'm looking at you, Tommy's). What is your current favorite restaurant or place to eat in the area? What do you think of the Cinnamon rolls at Los Gatos cafe? Best Regards

Jigga what? Jigga who?

Every slashdot thread about Apple is going to be full of the same dolts who can't see the bigger picture. Can people buy something because they love it? Does it perform beautifully? Does it do what I want it to do, better, faster, longer? Yes. Then I buy it, because I have the money to spend on it, because I'm a reasonable person who doesn't want all the lame features and crappy 2nd rate applications that android devices have. Let's be fair here, it doesn't matter what the sweaty neck beards here on slashdot say, because they said the same shit about every Apple release since the first iPod, they just don't get it. They also don't get social interactions, females, really good music, and the simple, pleasurable things in life, because they are sweaty neckbeards and will always target why something isn't good enough instead of why Apple products sell like gangbusters (her knees are too boney): People buy Apple iPhones (and other gear) because they WORK GREAT.

If your employer would do its due diligence and correctly vet potential employees, having a cert wouldn't be a "red flag", and instead would be a valuable addition. I'm not saying every MCSE (is this still a thing?) aught to automatically be considered an expert genius, but rather it is unfair to penalize those who have the experience, the knowledge, and put themselves through the certification exam to help tie it all together.

I've worked in very large enterprise IT for over 10 years, saying X qualification (certs, diploma) isn't necessary might be true for some people, but to say it as a reg flag just sounds ignorant and I would question your management and hiring practices. To put it simply, knowledge != bad_thing

This is almost certainly a result of a network change plus some really bad luck. Big player BGP peering connections are under intense scrutiny right now because of a few mistakes made at company A were introducing blackhole routes into company B (c,d,e,f's) routers.

Networking is the most often overlooked, often shit on, everyday service that everyone ab(uses) and gets pissed when it doesn't work properly. Like toilets.

I worked for a very large company and analysed data from network packet capture devices that would sift through data and find interesting items. It was quite a head job after awhile. So many people doing dumb things at work and getting caught. Reasonable seeming people looking at fucked up porn (men and women coworkers), people hooking up with random strangers in public restrooms (facilitating this online on their work computers, it happens alot), people having groupsex and viewing the photos at work (via web email), total perverts preying on teenagers (stockholm syndrome in full effect), really anything wrenched or nasty you hear about in the news is like the tip of the iceberg when given a large enough sample size of the general able populous. It may have tweaked my view of people in retrospect, basically it was a really long course in human psychology. I wouldn't ever do that shit again, or anything close to it, but I have respect for people who do.

I live in an expensive area of the country, partially just to avoid the heat. I spent 20 years in Phoenix and don't mind paying a few hundred extra per month to live here. I don't think it's hit 80 degrees yet today.

Apparently it's raining in Phoenix and potentially ruining what few outdoor plans were made. In the summer (6 months of the year) it's either 110+ degrees or it decides to rain, thunderstorm and a dust cloud rolls in. I don't miss that place right now.