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Keeping the OS/2 Flame Alive
nanday writes "Ever wondered what happened to OS/2? With IBM officially abandoning the operating system last year, users are relying on a third party version of OS/2 -- and, increasingly, using free and open source software to keep
it alive." From the article: "According to Haverblad, the main reason that users stay with OS/2 is for 'features that Windows and Linux don't have yet.' He singles out the REstructured eXtended eXecutor (REXX), an interpreted programming language known for its ease of use, a 'rock solid kernel,' 'excellent multitasking,' and low system requirements. Haverblad also claims a lack of viruses and spyware and, referencing a report on OS/2 Warp Server by Secunia, fewer security vulnerabilities." Newsforge is also an OSTG site.
Whooohooooooooooo!!!
Chauvinist comes from one Nicolas Chauvin, a rabidly patriotic member of Napoleon's army; it was then later applied to the veterans of the Napoleonic wars who were mocked for their unswerving loyalty to Napoleon long after his fall. Whatever the true origin, what's undisputed is that a Chauvin became a vaudeville character, and so the term chauvinisme came to be applied to blind and belligerent patriotism. By the 1870s, English had borrowed the term in this meaning.
The broadening of the term to include any sort of biased belief in the superiority of a particular race, creed, operating system or cause emerged much later, in the mid-20th century. Both this meaning and the earlier meaning also took on the form chauvinist, and both forms are most often used with an adjective modifier to describe the kind of chauvinism or chauvinist being talked about.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
get a Mac.
This might be interesting, if it's even true, but it's still offtopic.
May the Maths Be with you!
Wikipedia: Abacus
It was in use centuries before the adoption of the written Hindu-Arabic numeral system and is still widely used by merchants and clerks in China and elsewhere.
Abacus schools and competitions are still common in Japan. The better instructors are known for being very strict, not above getting a little physical when disciplining students.
-1 Flamebait.