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socialism

n 1: a political theory advocating state ownership of industry 2: an economic system based on state ownership of capital [syn: socialist economy] [ant: capitalism]

Sounds like you have a socialist medical system to me. Maybe they don't call it that in Canada because they don't want you to realize it's Communism? I know Canada isn't communist, but it's just the other side of the coin. Interesting, eh?

Even if the price is zero, then I'm personally likely to be angry enough as it is. This is all about accepting that SCO is in the right...

Actually, it's a bit more than that. Since nothing has yet been proven and all of this is allegation, isn't this just a form of blackmail? Isn't that illegal? Here is a definition of "blackmail", which I find very interesting indeed:

Extortion of money or something else of value from a person by the threat of exposing a criminal act or discreditable information.

It isn't much of a stretch to see how today the threat of "exposing a criminal act or discreditable information" has the same effect as "threatening to sue the pants off of someone for alleged and unproven wrongdoing." Perhaps even more interesting is the relationship of this next definition to SCO's current approach:

Tribute formerly paid to freebooters along the Scottish border for protection from pillage.

(All of these from dictionary.com) That last one is all about what SCO wants: "We're the pirates, pay us and we won't harm you."

I may be wrong (hey, it's happened before), but I find it interesting that the people who shout most loudly about their legal rights are often those quickest to disregard the rights of others.

Can someone please post a good translation for the article header? It doesn't seem like proper English

"..according to pro-linux thanks to the strong signals that the city of Munich switching 14k PCs to Linux sent through Germany.."

Don't troll.

Does this strike anyone else as ironic?

No.

Christ.
Replace manor with manner, furthur more with furthermore and nieve with naif.
Thank you.
Oh and www.dictionary.com is such a useful bastard.

I use dictionary.com a lot. It's not only useful for translating words (I'm not a native English speaker) and looking up synonyms, but also has a decent scope of information about technical terms.

Then there's of course Eric Weisstein's World of Science for everything related to physics, chemistry and mathematics.

Who's talking about 'passing out a program to 10,000 people?' I'm talking about installing it on company computers to be used by company employees on company time. You appear to be talking now about passing out CDs to take home and use. Very different situations.

I'm talking about sending out files to install on government computers to be used by government employees on government time. (There happen to be 10,000 of them, and spread around the world). Entirely similar situations, from a copyright perspective. Making copies of a program cannot be done without the author's permission, which means obeying her license terms.

No, I wasn't. I was explicitly forbidden from distributing it in fact. This was made very clear.

Get a dictionary. Walking around with a CD-Rom and installing a program on 100s of computers is distribution. You seem not to understand what that word means. To make a copy of something and leave it in a different position than the original copy- that's distribution.

This seems to be the key point where one of us isn't understanding. Why the hell would the DoD need to 'pass out' copies of Qt to anyone if they want to use it internally?

Because all of their employees can't sit in the same cubicle at once. If you spread something out to different geographical locations, you "pass it out"- you distribute it!

This doesn't entail 'passing out copies' to everyone and their dog

No, that would be "publication". A special case of "distribution". The GPL covers not only publication, but also distribution in general.

They simply receive the use of the binary while they are at that station.

As a side note, the GPL requires anyone allowed to run a heavily interactive program to take a copy of it with him. This isn't well known, and never seems to be enforced. But if you check the GPL, in section 2c, it states that any program with a splash-screen must state that "users may redistribute the program".

Considering that "uncertainty" is a noun, and "doubt" is both a noun AND a verb...no. In the verb context, doubt clearly has a different meaning than does uncertainty.

I don't see a great degree of differentiation.

Good job with your little addition to FUD.

I would think that asking people to express themselves clearly would decrease uncertainty.

Maybe one thing they can due? is spell. You should look into it here.

I bet you do really well in the text based world.

That Xscape place. Does it really have this sports shop called Sweatshop?

Is that a joke or are they just being honest about where their Nike goods come from?

Actually, I read all definitions, including the two by the jargon file which were obviously the source for grinberg.net's definition of a hacker. However, if you think that much of the world is going to go by the Jargon files, you're sadly mistaken. Do you go in to a resturaunt and ask "soup-p(see section on 'Jargon Construction')?" or do you think any sane waiter/waitress will respond to this, even if they know what it means? The Jargon files, although included in dictionary.com, is not really authoritive. The Jargon files are, in definition, a dictionary of slang, and slang is considered 'informal' English because of lack of popularity vs. authority.

Actually, I read all definitions, including the two by the jargon file which were obviously the source for grinberg.net's definition of a hacker. However, if you think that much of the world is going to go by the Jargon files, you're sadly mistaken. Do you go in to a resturaunt and ask "soup-p(see section on 'Jargon Construction')?" or do you think any sane waiter/waitress will respond to this, even if they know what it means? The Jargon files, although included in dictionary.com, is not really authoritive. The Jargon files are, in definition, a dictionary of slang, and slang is considered 'informal' English because of lack of popularity vs. authority.

How did this get modded insightful? First of all, the true definition of a word goes by the general public, not by a random website quoted under a post. I think dictionary.com is a little more authoritive on the definition of a hacker than Olga Grinberg's public space on the internet.

Sure, hackers are enthusiasts, however this also includes those who are enthusiastic about writing malicious code. Don't be lame and think that just because you don't agree with twelve year old script kiddies using the word you describe yourself with, it means it can't be true. Hacker is a universal term. Not all kernel hackers are evil, and I'm sure there's one or two that do not practice illegal hacking. Not all hackers that use malicious code to enter private systems are bad, either.

For those that don't want to follow the dictionary.com link above, a definition of hacker is as follows:

1. One who is proficient at using or programming a computer; a computer buff.
2. One who uses programming skills to gain illegal access to a computer network or file.
3. One who enthusiastically pursues a game or sport: a weekend tennis hacker.

• Amorpho = amorphous = Lacking definite form or shapeless
• phallus = phallus = male penis or female clitoris, or a representation of the penis illustrating generative power
• Titanum = titan = of prodigious size, strength or achievement

...and where is your scientific evidence that there are ANY intelligent beings in the universe? You think, therefore you're intelligent? What is thinking, but an evolved mechanism for stimulation/reaction? Just because our version operates on a subliminal level, we are the intelligent ones?
For fun, here's a couple of definitions (from dictionary.com):
intelligence ( P ) Pronunciation Key (n-tl-jns)
n.
The capacity to acquire and apply knowledge.
The faculty of thought and reason.
Superior powers of mind. See Synonyms at mind.
reason ( P ) Pronunciation Key (rzn)
n.
The basis or motive for an action, decision, or conviction. See Usage Note at because. See Usage Note at why.
A declaration made to explain or justify action, decision, or conviction: inquired about her reason for leaving.
An underlying fact or cause that provides logical sense for a premise or occurrence: There is reason to believe that the accused did not commit this crime.
The capacity for logical, rational, and analytic thought; intelligence.
Good judgment; sound sense.
A normal mental state; sanity: He has lost his reason.

Given these definitions, it is apparent that the terms intelligence and reason were created with homo sapiens in mind; IOW, it relates to a specific category of being on this planet. If something else were to have this capacity, it could not be classified in any other way than human; therefore, humans are the ONLY form of intelligent life! God help us all.

and we can all start stoping around in Mechs. :D

I didn't know Mechs had an affinity for mining ore. ;)

(I guess they need to to get the platinum they need to build more muscle.)

A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule.

Ah, I see, thank you very much. You see, all along, I've been relying on fringe definitions like the one from a little-known dictionary called "Merriam-Webster": "4 : a person who illegally gains access to and sometimes tampers with information in a computer system", and dictionary.com: "One who uses programming skills to gain illegal access to a computer network or file."

Clearly, what I should have done right from the beginning was consult the authoritative source of etymology, the one you cited, namely Costas Tavernarakis' homepage on some freakin' personal homepage in Greece!

Look, you've lost. "Hacker" is someone who breaks into computer systems illegally. That's the accepted use in English. It will never mean anything else, regardless of how much a handful of computer hobbiests like yourself will it to. So you found someone's homepage that carries about as much weight as your own post on Slashdot, as far as redefining a word goes. Big deal. It's over. Let it go. Find a new word.

www.dictionary.com

Dude, if your crappy-arse GNU/web browser doesn't have a spell check, you could at least use one of the free world wide internet dictionaries. Steve Albini told me that you are correct though.

If they are, all you hackers out there better put down your keyboards, because this is a wakeup call. Practically everything written out there in software-land could be used for nefarious purposes -- whether open source, closed source, or you name it. Remember the Marine training program using Doom?

According to Dictionary.com the definition for nefarious reads:

Wicked in the extreme; abominable; iniquitous; atrociously villainous; execrable; detestably vile.

Can someone explain to me why the Marine's using Doom for training could even be closed to being called "nefarious"? Why are so many of the examples on Slashdot when describing the "evil" ways technology can be used usually include only the U.S. government or the U.S. military? What about terrorists? What about evil dictators? What about cults?

Since when is training the armed forces considered a "nefarious" use of software?

constitutional monarchy (n.) A monarchy in which the powers of the ruler are restricted to those granted under the constitution and laws of the nation.

Were I you, I'd be more worried about the fact that the Australian education system seems to have failed you miserably. The only website you need to worry about reaching is this one.

• General news
• • Drudge Report
  • Google News
  • Jerusalem Post
  • JCPA Daily Alert (a thorough digest of world terrorism-related news, with links)
• News/commentary/multimedia
• • Rush Limbaugh, includes about an hour of free audio clips, updated daily
  • Arutz Sheva (Channel Seven) news - on-demand video
  • Arutz Sheva talk shows - on-demand audio (most popular is "Mid-East at the Crossroads")
  • Foundation for the Defense of Democracy - news and views
• War for Peace
• • the brain terminal
  • the dissident frogman (required reading for the French)
• Tech
• • /.
  • MozillaZine
  • Win Informant
  • MozillaNews' Bonsai Watch (a better alternative to using Bugzilla to see the most recent checkins)
• Search
• • Google
  • Dictionary.com
  • Bible Gateway

From:Dictionary.com
hoover

n
1: 31st President of the United States; in 1929 the stock market crashed and the economy collapsed and Hoover was defeated for re-election by Franklin Roosevelt (1874-1964) [syn: Hoover, Herbert Hoover, Herbert Clark Hoover]
2: (trademark) a kind of vacuum cleaner [syn: Hoover] v : clean with a vacuum cleaner [syn: vacuum, vacuum-clean]

Google would be on sticky ground here then.

I've read through your arguments below, and there's a point that neither party seems to be making.

To answer your original question: this hybrid organism lacks the capability to reproduce with either parent, yet it can reproduce with other plants that share its mutation. By chance its DNA mutated enough to change its reproductive options. No other organism has these specific reproductive options. This mutation is not as glamorous as a firebreathing thistle, but by definition this is all it needs to be something new to taxonomists.

See the definition of species, provided by Dictionary.com. If you disagree, switch disciplines and take up your point with Oxford, Webster, and the general field of evolutionary biology.

At least TLAs can be looked up. Apart from being a prefix meaning "singular", m-w.com thinks "uni" is an abbreviation for "uniform", while dictionary.com thinks it's User Network Interface (an ATM-related acronym). This "common" abbreviation is hopelessly, gratuitously obscure.

Asteroids are mode from rock, or coal or metals like iron and nicle. Some are made from iridium and gold and platin etc. Of course mixtures are happening as well.

The "rock" (as you so blithely put it) usually contains Iron (Fe), Nickel (Ni) and/or Cobalt (Co). More information / spelling help; get cracking!

cliché also cliche Pronunciation Key : (kl-sh) n.

1. A trite or overused expression or idea: "Even while the phrase was degenerating to cliché in ordinary public use... scholars were giving it increasing attention" (Anthony Brandt).

2. A person or character whose behavior is predictable or superficial: "There is a young explorer... who turns out not to be quite the cliche expected" (John Crowley).

I assume that's what they're referring to when they say "watershed".

I went to Dictionary.com , and looked it up: watershed .

It appears the third definition fits best:

A critical point that marks a division or a change of course; a turning point: "a watershed in modern American history, a time that... forever changed American social attitudes" (Robert Reinhold).

So it's a critical turning point in broadcasting maturity levels. The other definitions are about the land mass that separates two bodies of water (or water flows, like rivers).

Yeah, yet another crazy slasdot poster, not understanding the concept of sarcasm. (an English to English dictionary may help you understand this comment)

No, that's the case. Some characters do have their forms changed in simplified characters, but mostly it's the *shapes* (the technical term is a radical, noun sense 4) that have been simplified. An example is the character for 'fish': The four dots have been changed to a horizontal line in the simplified character. Another typical simplification is the removal of a radical.

For some reason this change is more easier going from simplified to traditional - maybe it's intuitive to deal with something being added than something being removed. Maybe a linguist can tell us why.

Pun n. The simplest form of humor.

How is offering a good job at a high wage (relative to the local economy) exploitation?

From Dictionary.com: exploitationn.

1.) The act of employing to the greatest possible advantage: exploitation of copper deposits.

2.) Utilization of another person or group for selfish purposes

Because you and I both know that it's not about stimulating economies. The only reason that the companies are moving the jobs to that particular area is because the relative cost of living IS so low. They simply want to employ the greatest possible advantage by utilizing others for selfish purposes. Simply put, that's the definition of exploitation. I can't see how to make that any more lucid. As soon as say the Laotian workforce is cheap enough and technologically advanced enough, perhaps they'll take over all the Indian jobs and leave that area desolate as well.

Being a bit of a word freak, I took the Google search button

javascript:
q=document.getSelection();
for(i=0;i q=frames[i].document.getSelection();if(q)break;
}
if(!q)void(q=prompt('Keywords:',''));
if(q)location.href='http://www.google.com/search?c lient=googlet&q='+escape(q)

and modified it for use with dictionary.com. The result

javascript:
q=document.getSelection();
if(!q){
void(q=prompt('Enter word to define using dictionary.com. You can also define any word on this web page by highlighting the word and clicking Dictionary.',''))
};
if(q)location.href='http://dictionary.reference.co m/search?q='+escape(q)


is a button on your personal toolbar allowing you to lookup a word which you have highlighted in any webpage.

BTW, I had to insert html breaks in the code to get past slashdots javascript filter.

Courtesy Dictionary.com: Window
1. An opening in the wall of a building for the admission of light and air, usually closed by casements or sashes containing some transparent material, as glass, and capable of being opened and shut at pleasure.

These things are hardly windows... you can't see through them and you can't open them.

wow, you really do learn something everyday.

I was a herpetologist for awhile and I never knew of the term antivenin. All the sources I read used the word antivenom. A quick check of Dictionary.com has a lot of listings for antivenin, but none for antivenom (well, there's a reference to a med. journal, but no definitions).

So, since antivenom is the common knowledge word and I can't think of a single time I've heard antivenin even in herpetological circles, when does a non-word become a word?

From here

Immutable: (adj.) Not mutable; not capable or susceptible of change; unchangeable; unalterable.

Your comment still makes no sense and has no bearing on the article. If an algorithm were immutable, that would mean that you are completely unable to make any changes at all to the algorithm; it would have to be written on a read-only media such as a non-RW CD, a stone tablet, etc.

Perhaps you meant to say originally that information should be freely shared among all who need it; logic being that if someone needs a piece of information, then probably someone else doing a similar thing needs that information too. In which case, I present the following example:

I, as a nuclear research scientist, need to know the exact equation needed to shape high explosives to maximize yield of a thermonuclear weapon to do my work. An Iraqi/Iranian/North Korean/Afghan doing a similar task needs the same information to do his work. Therefore, I should share that information with him.

If that is what you meant, please do not go into any careers that involve national security.

Presumption of guilt does not imply bad code, it implies prejudice(*).

(*) Please don't flame me for calling Linus a racist.

There is a major difference between ability and apathy, intelligence and diligence. I've learned it, and I firmly believe that if one wants to be taking seriously in a public arena, one should learn the magic of spellcheck and dictionary.com.

From the article:

"Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away)" is a digitally-animated movie produced by Studio Ghilbli, and its full-digital frames were designed and produced on computers. The coloration of the master for the DVD and VHS was strictly supervised/approved by Studio Ghibli's color designers and DP/Cinematographer.

and quote two:

Studio Ghbli said that they did not use the data that was used in theatrical releasing prints of the film, but they used the newly mastered DVD/Video digital data in consideration with the fact that the DVD should be played on Liquid Crystal TV or Plasma TV, so should be no problem for its quality.

Now if you have worked with computer monitors, TVs, and broadcast standards at all, you should have heard about RGB, NTSC, and PAL.

RGB is the way that computer signals are sent. It is a pure encoding of the percentage of Red, Green, and Blue to display at some location (based on the current beam position and timing).

NTSC (used in the US) encodes the information in YIQ color space. When color TVs were invented, they decided to keep backwards compatibilty with B/W tv's. Thanks to a bit of math that is beyond the scope of a /. post, the red waveform was distorted and other colors are clipped, so that red becomes more intense, and pure yellow, cyan, red, and blue are all impossible to get. Red becomes more intense than the RGB display, and blue is muted.

PAL (used everywhere else) encodes the information in YUV color space, or YPbPr. In this case, where again, scaling and TV hardware result in different color than the RGB that computer monitors display.

So when the distributors say "the DVD should be played on Liquid Crystal TV or Plasma TV, so should be no problem for its quality" what they mean is We didn't convert RGB to the YUV or YIQ color space either because they forgot (what customers say) or because they meant it to be viewed on an RGB display (what the studio is saying).

Is that a real problem? Most people who have to deal with broadcasts say 'no' because your TV is supposed to have a tint and hue knob that you can frobnicate until you get the desired colors.

frob.

One of my pet peeve phrases outside of Slashdot lately is "high rate of speed" when the speaker means "quickly". Acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes. Velocity is the rate at which position changes. So, what the hell is the rate of speed? From dictionary.com: high 9. a.Greater than usual or expected, as in quantity, magnitude, cost, or degree: "A high price has to be paid for the happy marriage with the four healthy children" (Doris Lessing). rate 1.A quantity measured with respect to another measured quantity: a rate of speed of 60 miles an hour. speed 1.Physics. The rate or a measure of the rate of motion, especially: a.Distance traveled divided by the time of travel. So it looks like when someone says "high rate of speed" it means they are saying "greater than usual or expected quantity measured of distance traveled divided by the time of travel. Makes sense to me.

Are you sure? Perhaps the submitter meant that the only obstacles that could be present would be those along the property line (line of (the) site) of the base to prevent signal escape from a secure location.

Dude,
comprehendable (nope)
comprehandable (nope)
comprehensible (exists!)

Dude,
comprehendable (nope)
comprehandable (nope)
comprehensible (exists!)

Dude,
comprehendable (nope)
comprehandable (nope)
comprehensible (exists!)

Why?

• bot's brains are powered by an open source version of this anemic, vertically and aesthetically challenged but smart bot.
• bot aint got none smarts you like? Then twittle some bits. (holy open source batman!)
• bot doesnt look like a dragon (want that? hire your mother in law - more expensive perhaps but meaner too)
• bot embodies all that is Mac. In fact that's what it is mostly.
• bot's drive train is similar to the Segway, its quite mobile and can run down any lesser charged bad person. (But it would'nt - it's a pacifist, you see - it would release the underfed rot-weiler boogie man visceration system. Bot believes in using the right tool for the job.)
• bot knows how to charge itself [bot could learn us a thing or two]. With object recognition it just finds a jack and plugs itself in.
• Bot doubles as a...
  • Mobile desktop/workstation (eg, 'bot, set up my workstation out there yonder by the olympic pool next to Heather - dont forget the beer this time. Oh and blow Heather up too')
  • Mobile access point
  • Mobile entertainment system
  • Door man.(If the guest is carrying a bible or a gun - other appropriate action is taken ;-))
  • Art
  • A writer. Bot write good, master.

I suggest you read up on what a cult is

dictionary.com's definition
----------
1. a. religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.
b. The followers of such a religion or sect.

2. A system or community of religious worship and ritual.

3. The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony and ritual.

4. A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by its originator to have exclusive or exceptional power in curing a particular disease.

5.a. Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing.
b. The object of such devotion.

6. An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or intellectual interest.
--------

Hmm.. Yup, religions are cults! Thanks for asking me to take the time to confirm what I've always assumed.

But it doesn't necessarily mean it was probable.