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The problem is that there is not a clear view of a 747 running into the pentagon. Just a streak and a fireball. Kinda like those UFO pictures and videos.

Live CD linux is the way to go...

I have tried/tested Kanotix and PCLinuxOS, both do multimedia very well. Mostly, I like to listen to internet radio stations on ShoutCast.
Now, when it gets right down to productivity, I had to make my own knoppix remaster. I have older equipment, and some newer, so I stuck with the 2.4.26 kernel in knoppix 3.4.

What do I do with it? Maintain web pages, keep up with the news, do a little graphics work with Gimp. For the news, I packed a bunch of RSS feeds in Opera, 13 in all, and just to keep those who use Mozilla Firefox happy, I put some on that toolbar also.

My favorite applications are EmelFM and SciTE, which I put in the remaster, and enjoy using.
Here is my (long and detailed) Getting Started Guide, so you can see what I have been up to.

Also have a blog, with some screenshots there. I have lots of applications that I put together:
This livecd linux can switch between several built-in mouse cursor themes in seconds, has a dial-up wizard of sorts, can copy itself to any hard drive partition for remastering purposes, and has an automated remastering application that takes a lot of work off whoever is doing that. Leaves just the fun part, adding or removing applications
Just asks one question, which hard drive partition is the "master copy" located in. Answer that, and the system does the rest, your iso is ready soon (depending on speed of box) for burning to CD. You'll have your own customized operating system!
I have a Wallpaper Control Center that can easily handle the saving of downloaded (from skins.be, of course) wallpapers in the configs.tbz, so they can be restored, and zoomed to fit on the desktop to suit the user. Allows you to handle the downloaded image files immediately, so you get desktop wallpaper right now. Built-in wizards to help you with any problems. Once fixed, you have your wallpaper applied.
Lots of other fun features in that application. Many scripts had to be made to go behind the wallpaper interface. Same thing for the mouse cursor theme setup. Nobody else has that, you are stuck with a default cursor, probably too small, and hard to see on laptops. No so with mine.
Also have a front end for XMMS, so internet radio connections can be made in seconds. Click on a station (only the best are preconfigured), and the music starts playing right now.
The system is protected by a preconfigured Guarddog Firewall, (can be changed) so the user does not have to do anything but surf the web, send and receive E-Mail, and do FTP, with the firewall in place as the system boots.
I have the /ramdisk "df" down to 1% on a 256 MB box, as all web apps load their home directory configuration just before they start. Most remove it on the way out, so the /ramdisk use remains low.
I sure have tried to put a lot of things in this livecd linux, to give Windows users something they could use as an alternative OS, especially if Windows gets where it won't boot.
I can't imagine anybody wanting to do "online banking" with Windows. I have Opera set up to completely delete the entire home directory files when it exits, and I crash-proofed Opera, also. I prefer Opera when I work on web pages, and like for it to stay up and running while I get things done. Here's a sample. Opera and SciTE make it easy to create/maintain pages like that. Wonder how they do that in Windows?
At least you have to give us linux folks credit for trying to provide an alternative OS, anyway.

Live CD linux is the way to go...

I have tried/tested Kanotix and PCLinuxOS, both do multimedia very well. Mostly, I like to listen to internet radio stations on ShoutCast.
Now, when it gets right down to productivity, I had to make my own knoppix remaster. I have older equipment, and some newer, so I stuck with the 2.4.26 kernel in knoppix 3.4.

What do I do with it? Maintain web pages, keep up with the news, do a little graphics work with Gimp. For the news, I packed a bunch of RSS feeds in Opera, 13 in all, and just to keep those who use Mozilla Firefox happy, I put some on that toolbar also.

My favorite applications are EmelFM and SciTE, which I put in the remaster, and enjoy using.
Here is my (long and detailed) Getting Started Guide, so you can see what I have been up to.

Also have a blog, with some screenshots there. I have lots of applications that I put together:
This livecd linux can switch between several built-in mouse cursor themes in seconds, has a dial-up wizard of sorts, can copy itself to any hard drive partition for remastering purposes, and has an automated remastering application that takes a lot of work off whoever is doing that. Leaves just the fun part, adding or removing applications
Just asks one question, which hard drive partition is the "master copy" located in. Answer that, and the system does the rest, your iso is ready soon (depending on speed of box) for burning to CD. You'll have your own customized operating system!
I have a Wallpaper Control Center that can easily handle the saving of downloaded (from skins.be, of course) wallpapers in the configs.tbz, so they can be restored, and zoomed to fit on the desktop to suit the user. Allows you to handle the downloaded image files immediately, so you get desktop wallpaper right now. Built-in wizards to help you with any problems. Once fixed, you have your wallpaper applied.
Lots of other fun features in that application. Many scripts had to be made to go behind the wallpaper interface. Same thing for the mouse cursor theme setup. Nobody else has that, you are stuck with a default cursor, probably too small, and hard to see on laptops. No so with mine.
Also have a front end for XMMS, so internet radio connections can be made in seconds. Click on a station (only the best are preconfigured), and the music starts playing right now.
The system is protected by a preconfigured Guarddog Firewall, (can be changed) so the user does not have to do anything but surf the web, send and receive E-Mail, and do FTP, with the firewall in place as the system boots.
I have the /ramdisk "df" down to 1% on a 256 MB box, as all web apps load their home directory configuration just before they start. Most remove it on the way out, so the /ramdisk use remains low.
I sure have tried to put a lot of things in this livecd linux, to give Windows users something they could use as an alternative OS, especially if Windows gets where it won't boot.
I can't imagine anybody wanting to do "online banking" with Windows. I have Opera set up to completely delete the entire home directory files when it exits, and I crash-proofed Opera, also. I prefer Opera when I work on web pages, and like for it to stay up and running while I get things done. Here's a sample. Opera and SciTE make it easy to create/maintain pages like that. Wonder how they do that in Windows?
At least you have to give us linux folks credit for trying to provide an alternative OS, anyway.

no it dosen't http://geocities.com/xanth42/bollix.jpg

Why not provide a couple links to a couple of projects using DDs so we can check them out.

It has never been tried formaly in a commercial product I know of except for FoxPro. However, FoxPro did not document it and their implementation was poor IMO. However, here is a set of links about the concept:

http://www.geocities.com/tablizer/ddsamp.htm

http://www.geocities.com/tablizer/top.htm

In ROR the database IS your DD.

I am not sure what you mean. The DB native schemas usually don't contain sufficient info for GUI interaction by themselves. At best they can serve as a starting point.

Why not provide a couple links to a couple of projects using DDs so we can check them out.

It has never been tried formaly in a commercial product I know of except for FoxPro. However, FoxPro did not document it and their implementation was poor IMO. However, here is a set of links about the concept:

http://www.geocities.com/tablizer/ddsamp.htm

http://www.geocities.com/tablizer/top.htm

In ROR the database IS your DD.

I am not sure what you mean. The DB native schemas usually don't contain sufficient info for GUI interaction by themselves. At best they can serve as a starting point.

Does this mean a full of shit /.'r now has value?

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/9176/jeffrsns.a u

This is actually a long time pattern in the PRC, since the Communists achieved victory on the mainland. Chinese intellectual and cultural life has historically experienced an ebb and flow of government crackdown of free expression alternating with encouragement. They don't spell out what is off limits except by example. It shouldn't be surprising that a company CEO doesn't want an example made of his company or him personally.

Maybe a China expert can fill us in on a timeline of such ebbs and flows. The reason I'm semi-aware of it was that I wrote a college paper many years ago on the anti-spiritual pollution campaign. (That's not my paper; it's a chapter from someone's thesis.) What is important is that we understand the history of free expression and cultural life in China and understand that the Chinese have come a long way in the last 20 years.

SQL is growing long in the tooth. It is time to replace it with something better that learns from lessons of the past. One proposal is Tutorial D, by Chris Date. I have also proposed "TQL" (or SMEQL due to a name comflict with another product) as a draft SQL replacement. Unlike Tutorial D, SMEQL uses a prefix notation for the main relational operaters. This makes it easier to extend by DBA's. If you don't like the out-of-the-box set of relational operators, you can define your own (using the existing ones). I have even created a wannabe book cover for SMEQL.

Nah, just put an ultrasonic whistle inside that goes off when the package is opened, so they have an angry and/or pained dog on their hands.

"As I mentioned in my introduction to Frank's Dark Knight, one of the things that prevents superhero stories from ever attaining the status of true modern myths or legends is that they are open ended. An essential quality of a legend is that the events in it are clearly defined in time; Robin Hood is driven to become an outlaw by the injustices of King John and his minions. That is his origin. He meets Little John, Friar Tuck and all the rest and forms the merry men. He wins the tournament in disguise, he falls in love with Maid Marian and thwarts the Sheriff of Nottingham. That is his career, including love interest, Major Villains and the formation of a superhero group that he is part of. He lives to see the return of Good King Richard and is finally killed by a woman, firing a last arrow to mark the place where he shall be buried. That is his resolution--you can apply the same paradigm to King Arthur, Davy Crockett or Sherlock Holmes with equal success. You cannot apply it to most comic book characters because, in order to meet the commercial demands of a continuing series, they can never have a resolution. Indeed, they find it difficult to embrace any of the changes in life that the passage of time brings about for these very same reasons, making them finally less than fully human as well as falling far short of true myth." -- Alan Moore, in his proposal Twilight of the Superheroes

There's no rule against reusing old technology like the Apollo Guidance Computer? Or building a low-tech Salvage 1 is there? Granted it's not sexy but it should work. :P

Please accept my own comments, for what they are worth. After all, it is a laugh, but a fairly accurate one. Even my own additions do not make it all encompassing, but hopefully closer to the truth. http://www.geocities.com/white_knight_32_ks/discla imer.html

If the Oakley Thump can make regular sunglasses look like a medical device for an unfortunate ear disease with the addition of earbuds and some flash memory, then we're a long ways off before somebody makes video glasses that don't look stupid. I mean, that shit still looks dumb in 2360 (wow I didn't even know geocities was still around. gg yahoo) The video glasses could be very cool for things like integrated HUD overlays while driving, but that won't really be needed until we have flying cars. I'd rock these ugly-ass glasses while I cruised by in a flying car. Have we learned nothing from href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096874/">Back to the Future II? Man, if the government only stop suppressing all the free-energy technology...

{sigh} it was a joke, son. See The Roentgen Standard.

web site http://geocities.com/UxiQinsardWalli/

comfortable-looking light, as it might be a fire or torches twinkling.
When they had looked at it for some while, they fell to arguing. Some
said no and some said yes. Some said they could but go and see, and
anything was better than little supper, less breakfast, and wet clothes
all the night. Others said: These parts are none too well known, and
are too near the mountains. Travellers seldom come this way now. The old
maps are no use: things have changed for the worse and the road is
unguarded. They have seldom even heard of the king round here, and the
less inquisitive you are as you go along, the less trouble you are
likely to find. Some said:
After all there are fourteen of us. Others said: Where has Gandalf
got to? This remark was repeated by everybody. Then the rain began to
pour down worse than ever, and Oin and Gloin began to fight. That
settled it. After all we have got a burglar with us, they said; and so
they made off, leading their ponies (with all due and proper caution) in
the direction of the light. They came to the hill and were soon in the

In short, no!

Turns out what I saw wan't the FASA version. I actually had my hands on a game called "Time Lord" published by Virgin Books in 1991. Here's an about blurb http://www.geocities.com/sege1701/TimeLord/about.h tm that I found after looking it up. Apparently, it was mis-marketed as a resource instead of an RPG which is why I found it amongst the Who novels.

Each alleged terrorist since 9/11 was caught because of people. People who thought something was wrong -- the shoe bomber who had trouble with his bomb, and passengers and flight attendants handled the situation.

Bad example. The case of Richard Reid and his 'shoe bomb' was a classic red flag operation, and the gullible American public swallowed it lock, stock, and barrel.

Educate yourself here.

Actually, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay defeated the Paraguyan army in the War of the Triple Alliance 1864-1870. http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/tango/triple1864.ht m
Brazil also played a small part in the Allied victory of WWII - http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Bunker/3351/camp aigns/brzedit.html

OTOH, writing a page in HTML (using a text editor, I mean) even a page that just says "Hello, world" on a colored background, requires understanding the concept of code. Instead of action-and-response, you have text that makes the computer do something that does not follow immediately from the text at the time you enter it. This may seem trivial to techies, but it's an enormous conceptual leap for most users -- and once they've made that leap, programming as a concept is no longer nearly so mysterious.

I fully agree. Any moron can "Save as HTML" in MSWord (which, by and large, is how schools teach web design, if they're not so brave as to venture into Frontpage) and have a piss-poor code output that wastes bandwidth like no tomorrow. It takes some vague degree of skill to do the same set of paragraphs in notepad and basic HTML.

I think I first did web design in fifth grade, maybe sixth. Yes, it was fugly as hell, but all things considered a purple-on-sand comic sans website with a webcam updating every few minutes wasn't that craptastic for early 2000 (if not earlier). In fact, I still think that totally fubar webcam shot where I look like an alien is pretty cool. Anyways, we've come a long way, but it was all self-taught. My more recent work is definately a bit more advanced, and probably compliant with more than Information Superhighway '97 (though back then it was definately information dirt road, seeing that I was just moving to 56k), but it was all self-taught (through View Source and a couple tutorial sites) and not too horrible for a pair of eleven-year-olds. I taught myself C in seventh grade by coding for my MUD, and while it started largely as copy-paste coding, by the end of it I was competent enough to fix my random code while at summer camp that I'd printed off (sixteen-pager just for generating, probably another six to save the data) and I had created a one-of-a-kind bow code.

Maybe I'm just bragging at this point, dunno. Kids who want to do stuff can do a lot though. Being the only kid on the street with a CD burner, I made my *second* business doing custom mixes off of Napster in sixth grade. Lots of fun... burning at 4x only to find out that half your spindle of $2-each CDs are bad (I love the $13 100-pack that burn in under three minutes each with no coasters). But anyways, the kids that want to code, in any sense of it, are certainly able to - it's just a matter of them applying themselves. I tought myself Qbasic, HTML, C, PHP, basic CSS, MS tech support since DOS, TI-83+ and a few words of German. Admittedly I'm a bit rusty with C, but I could pick it up again pretty quickly if I was working with it. Some of it became profitable, but most of it was just for fun. Who wouldn't love to admin a MUD at fourteen?

Most kids aren't programming in any sense, though. With WYSIWYG editors and widgets for everything, there's not a whole lot of need when you've just gotta update your blog. My blog uses a WYSIWYG editor too, but I actually understand what's going on and occasionally will drop into manual-edit mode. However, it's slightly bothersome how world+dog can have their slice of the internet without having any idea of what's going on. What's really bothersome is when people who rely on WYSIWYG think that their posting stuff is actually coding in any sense. Of course, there's still that natural taboo about being a geek at high school, but computers are the way forward, and everyone but the Amish know it by now.

The kids that are interested find their ways of doing it. The "view source" method works best for me, because after copying and pasting so often, you do start to figure things out. I couldn't imagine someone trying to teach me any coding language and actually coming out with an understanding. My first day of web design was my friend trying to teach me in notepad. I got nothing out of it whatsoever. A then-quick yahoo!ing later (you know, back before Go

Yes your right, however its not exactly difficult to do it: http://geocities.com/spike_424/ It works I've done it many times just for kicks.

A desktop, you say?
Take a look at some of my screenshots, in the signature below:
This linux does not need to be installed!
Runs from the cd, and mine boots up about as fast as XP, even on this dual-200 MMX box!
I use it every day, and my favorite feature is using Opera 8.54 with 12 built-in RSS news feeds, that load up with stories in seconds, nearly 200 of them, ready to review. New stories arrive often, with that many feeds active.
The Getting Started Guide is here. The blog is here.
Enjoy!

Regarding your "Linux Chicks" link: OMG!!! Rebecca Gayheart is channelling Balok!!! OMFG!!! That's horrifying.

Same principle as the boneheads who bitched about outlawing smoking in bars and then discovered that the young people and bar crowd still goes out but now so do the non smokers. Go figure.

The article includes some controversial statements recommending disposal of nuclear waste in tropical forests to keep forest land away from greedy developers and farmers

I'd say less controversial and more hysterical. Of course, were I one of the animals being exposed to that "developer repellent" I'd might feel a bit differently.

Larry Niven had some similar ideas, once upon a time.

Here is a program for Windows that does just that.
Windows License Disagreement Tool

Just run it, then drag the target over the license. Double-click the target, and the license changes to whatever you want. Alternatively, it lets you enable the "Next" button on the install even if you have "I disagree" selected.

DID YOU KNOW: "Venus" is the only song in the history of the Billboard charts to hit number one three times (first time on February 7, 1970 [by Shocking Blue], second time on June 20, 1981 by "Stars On 45"; third time on September 6, 1986 by Bananarama). (courtesy of http://www.geocities.com/ofmang/greg/shockblu.html - I could remember the fact but not the dates, and I have all three 45's)

That way, nothing is installed, and the user can see if linux will meet their needs for web surfing, e-mail, photo editing, music.
I did a demo for a Windows XP user a short while ago, and got a good laugh when the fonts on the web pages looked much better using Opera in my livecd linux than when using Opera in XP.
Same hardware, monitor, just a different OS.
Almost impossible to do a demo for someone with a full install, taking a while, requiring a partition, dual booting, etc.
With a livecd linux, you are up and running in a few minutes. When mine boots up, I don't have it ask the user any questions, it just goes to the desktop, and it's ready to go.
Microsoft makes sure it's OS works on the boxes that it is placed on.
With a Knoppix remaster such as mine, or Kanotix, there is a certain luck factor that the all the hardware will work reasonably well. Kanotix is a good one to demo, as it runs well on newer boxes. Mine will do well on those, and older hardware also, as I am still using a 2.4 kernel.
I run it all the time on Windows 98 boxes, 128 MB ram, and find that it makes a good replacement OS. It can be copied to the hard drive and run from that, if the drive has some room, and is fairly fast. That makes it a little more responsive than if it's run from the CDROM drive.
With Microsoft giving up on updates, support for 98 soon, this makes a good, inexpensive way to get more use out of older hardware. Very secure, that's the main selling point.

You don't need to have an SUV to have a boat, as
this picture shows - you can fit two of those boats onto the roofrack of a car.

Dunno, but I could have 314,159 friends on myspace, but what good would it do me? If I knew 100kpi people, let alone actually spoke with them on a regular basis (as friends do), I'd be a freakin' celebrity. There are only so many people you can have as real friends, and that number usually isn't anywhere near what you get with that four-deep group of mutual friends you get from myspace.

I was talking about it to a few friends (in person!) and I was the only one in the group without a myspace account. And I was also the only one well-versed in anything digital. I'd like to see anyone with a myspace program write out a css file, or even know what it stands for or what its purpose is. I've got a real blog, and while I used wordpress, if I was hardcore and drowning in free time, I could have written a primitive custom thing, even if it lacked a bit in the ajax department.

My first foray into web coding wasn't pretty, but it was mine, and honestly not that bad for an eleven-year-old using notepad. A year later, I tought myself C through adminning a MUD and eventually wrote an entire random item code which was in maybe a dozen of the probably thousands at the time (who had also handcoded one). Any moron can sign up for an account and write into a box that does all the work for them. I may use nl2br(htmlspecialchars($text)) to make my life easier, but I think that anyone publishing content should have an understanding of the medium on which it's being published. I don't mean doing a view source and rendering the page in your head, but people not familiar with <br> really shouln't be putting stuff online and thinking highly of themselves, as the myspacers tend to.

Other programming challenges -- with useful results are sitting around all over the place that just need some more money to get the competition kickstarted.

Please check out the following links
Bart & Google Search
define:dll
BABEL: A Glossary of Computer Oriented Abbreviations and Acronyms

http://www.geocities.com/pronto4u/applemouse.html

Done.

At present I'm not aware of any apps that you can get that will convert Apple+click to a right click.

I remastered DSL before I decided to go with Knoppix 3.4 and remaster that.
Mine runs well on older machines also. One test that all livecd linux must pass 100% is the "testcd" one. Otherwise, you'll have problems booting on many machines. Mine boots on all boxes except the AMD 64 ones. I stay with the 2.4 kernel, and use it all day long on 200 mmx boxes. I moved the minimum ram to 128, if that or less, the "swap file configuration" comes up during bootup, to try and get the user to set up a swap. A lot of the older boxes have 95/98 on them, so that works out well.
To help out the older boxes with limited ram, I have the /ramdisk usage down to 1% as measured by "df" on a 256 MB box. Opera 8.54, for instance, loads a preconfigured ~/.opera into /ramdisk at startup, and then removes it on exit. Opera has 12 RSS feeds built in, which fill with stories in a couple of minutes on dialup. You can disconnect then, and read the summaries in Opera. Firefox has RSS also, and it loads it's ~/.mozilla at browser startup also. Same with Flock, but no feeds there. At last count, I have 40 custom made scripts to work with my remaster.
DSL automatically saves your configuration at shutdown, I don't do that, for security reasons. (yours). One rule with livecd linux is to try and keep as much off the hard drive as possible, just run from the CD. Can do "tohd" however.
I have a blog, and try to tell exactly what is going on with my livecd linux, and not hide anything.
My default WM is IceWM, also KDE, Fluxbox, twm available, and fully configured. I have 8 cursor themes, select one and have it running in 15 seconds. All bigger than the default Knoppix cursor theme.
So, any mention of "older computers/linux" catches my eye, I've been working on that problem for quite a while.
Check out my screenshots, in signature below, and the Getting Started Guide.

Here

- No way to right click with the touchpad/button (need an external mouse)

We're talking of Linux here, not Windows CEMENT.

I hate to say this, but dressing up as The Flash will not make you faster.

I've never heard about it, but I've READ things off and on about CTOS for years. :-)

Here are a couple of nice sites about it for the curious...

And not just the summary (as it was copied & pasted verbatim from the article), but the NYT.

I thought on reading the line " to make robots full members of society" that the article was talking about robot rights. However, the article is just about making plans for standard automation & borderline AI over the next 10 years.

I for one am going to await until this company is taken over by the rightful owners of that name before I bother to get excited by robots.

PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee, Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal PUFF, and brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff.

OH PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee, PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee,

Together they would travel on a boat with billowed sail Jackie kept a lookout perched on PUFF's gigantic tail, Noble kings and princes would bow whenever they came, Pirate ships would lower their flag when PUFF roared out his name

OH, PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee, PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee,

A dragon lives forever but not so little boys Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys. One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more And PUFF that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar.

PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee, PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee,

His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain, PUFF no longer went to play along the cherry lane. Without his life-long friend, PUFF could not be brave, So PUFF that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave.

Oh! PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee, PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee

Well for a serious answer, take a look at model number six over yonder http://www.geocities.com/deathcommando.geo/ls.htm it's my favorite possible lightsabre operational model. To sum up, according to this model, a lightsabre is a rapidly spinning charged superconducting field. Given this model, the cutting is caused not by heat, but by the shearing off of the electrons that bind atoms together, thus, heat is not a problem for the operator.

Why are you reading /. if you can't find enjoyment in obscure jokes? Fucking lighten up, man. Read this and realize that I was agreeing with you.

For Knoppix, I used Knoppix Hacks by Kyle Rankin. Just had to remaster it, however, see my screenshots, link in signature. Knoppix always needs remastering.
Since he fills up the CD, only those able to chroot need try. Mine runs 495 MB now, still can toss out some items.

        I cannot live without books.
        Thomas Jefferson
        3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)

The government should either have forced MS to publish its DOS API in full back in 1983 so others could write competing operating systems to that API, or converted to a net present asset valuation tax base but failing all that the move by MS to open standards is the first real indication that they actually believe their material about having all this power due to having the best software -- as opposed to having a natural monopoly. Good for them.

Microsoft has at least 2 really big problems deriving from the same fundamental reality: Everyone needs their OS to interoperate with the bulk of the information industry.

The first problem is ethical and really goes beyond the scope of my professional opinions to my public opinions about the support of property rights. Suffice to say, I have no trouble with someone who goes after a natural monopoly position and succeeds. I have a problem with someone who then refuses to use that position of success to fix the bug in the society that made them inordinantly rich and their technology inordinantly influential.

The second problem is technical, which is what my argument here is really all about.

Basically Microsoft's code bloat problem derives from its monopoly position. This may seem like a truism since all of the software "profession" suffers from code bloat, but only Microsoft can take this to monopolistic proportions -- proportions that make Ma Bell's monopolistic complexities of yor look Spartan.

So Microsoft has this problem and it has many programmers (contributing to the code-bloat problem). It also has mountains of cash.

So how can Microsoft bust its own monopoly poisition turning its many programmers and mountains of cash into succinct code?

Monetary Incentives for the Programmers, ala the C-Prize:

S = size of uncompressed code-base
P = size of program outputting the uncompressed code-base
R = S/P (the compression ratio).

Award monies in a manner similar to the M-Prize:

Previous record ratio: R0
New record ratio: R1=R0+X

Fund contains: $Z at noon GMT on day of new record
Winner receives: $Z * (X/(R0+X))

What happens very rapidly is the programmers first apply their skills to maximally refactoring the code. What falls out is a series of legacy API layers written atop a tight core.

They'd have to spend more money on code testing to verify the compressed code-bases of the competing teams actually worked to spec but the results should be quite gratifying.

I think you're on your own there kiddo.

...and even though I haven't played the game yet, I still don't agree. There's better games out there, and even better plots if that's what people play FF for.

I also agree pretty much with this article, but it's directed at all of the series, not just XII.

In addition to the applications that I added (some I wrote myself), there is this one note about "testcd" that I have discussed in my blog.

From what I can tell, if "testcd" does not come out right for a livecd linux, there is the _possibility_ that the cd may not boot on all 386/586/686 boxes. I have tried to get my remaster right, so it passes "testcd" with a 100% score, so to speak. One would need a Knoppix cd, and one that boots when you want it to.

Here is the latest recap of some of the features in my remaster.

There are automated scripts to use when remastering the CD. One copies the cd, the other prepares an iso after changes are made to the master-copy.

I left out the fact that I have emelFM in there, I use it all the time.

Enjoy the screenshots: