As a comment from a person who has actually bought one as a gimmick, I can tell you that it wouldn't fool the blind. It is simply NOT a copy of the real thing. They are typically Android phones, or some pen-based phone OS, with an external design that looks like an iPhone. As soon as you use it however, it's really very clear what it is.
The only good thing I can say about them is that they come with a TV app..;) You can watch TV on them, there's typically an extendible antenna. (Yes, analog free to air TV still exists in Asia).
Sorry to burst bubbles, but there is nothing innovative about them. They're cheap cheap phones with a TV, and a case looking like an iPhone. And this makes journalists think that there is a story.
Same for the allegedly fake Apple store: Newsflash: Apple products are legally sold in non-Apple stores all over the world. This is simply a legal reseller of actual Apple products who went the extra mile of decorating his store in an Apple style. Oh the horror.:rolleyes:
It is you who are missing the fact - we were found to contain some of their genes - this is not the same as being them.
LOL! Having their genes is EXACTLY the same as 'being them', to whatever percentage is in your genes. It may just mean there were more 'moderns' and less Neanderthals.
How different did they really look, and how significant was that difference when counted across thousands of years, and looking at some of the current differences between peoples from various parts of the world, all within the same species.
Could it be a combination of all of the above? Especially to prehistoric man (using the term man loosely) there will have been many different habitats, some of which led to competing for resources, others to 'teaming up' and/or interbreeding.
It turns into one big soup to the point where all that's left is 'modern' man with a small bit of genetic baggage brought into the mix.
I don't think current sense of 'good vs evil' or 'aggressive/conquering' vs 'peaceful and innocent' really applies. Both groups may have included tribes that were one or the other for some amount of time.
This is not an event were talking about, but an incredibly long process.
Questions I have left: I recall that Australian aboriginals (and pacific islanders perhaps) originated from an earlier migration out of Africa. Do these peoples have the Neanderthal genes or not? And if they do, at which point did they acquire them.. Note that you can acquire genes without mating with an actual full blooded Neanderthal.
Yes, so you don't actually use your OS to do work and get things done (apart from maybe web browsing or development).
What exactly do you consider "work"? And no, I don't use the OS to do work. The OS gets out of the way while I do work, which is exactly what it should do.
"work" I would consider 'Things (the desktop (nautilus)) not freezing on me, wifi not shutting down, the laptop not to overheat, and get out of the way so that I can work.
Currently, it really doesn't anymore and I've been using Ubuntu since Hoary (April 2005!) Here we are 6 years later and it really doesn't work anymore.
Agreed; Ubuntu simply doesn't run for me anymore. Not Unity, and also when going back to 'classic' and completely turning off all fancy graphic effects then I'm still experiencing freezes (Nautilus), and overheating to the point that my laptop doesn't even fully charge. (Something is eating up CPU..)
And this is on a bog standard Lenovo Thinkpad biz notebook. (With built in NVidia gfx, which I suspect has a lot to do with it.)
> Simulating the immediate reaction can only work if it's as consistent. > Namely that X + parent == pain, instead of just that X == pain.. If you > implement (X,Y,Z,A,J,K) + parent == pain, but X..K by themselves don't, > then eventually they learn that it's really parent that equals pain.
Well... Possibly. But given that the alternative is letting things like playing with electrical wiring or running on to the road unpunished and without consequence, I think you owe it to yourself and to your kid to do the best you can and make sure there's a punitive response that's as immediate as possible, even when you know you can't do it 100% of the time.
And, having a painful/punitive result 75% out of a 100 times is still MUCH better than allowing it to go on.
Keep in mind that even when they are too young to understand the reasons for punishment, it WILL eventually register that certain actions are very bad. But that's okay, the reasoning why it's bad can slot in later with the much more basic pavlov-like result that they experienced when they were two years old.
You KNOW this is happening when you see them play with friends, and your kid is lecturing her friend on why it's bad to run on to the road! (Mine is 3 years and a couple months).
> I haven't decided which approach I'm going to take just yet.. > I only have another couple months.:(
Trust me, correcting your kid's mistakes is built into you as well. All parents who love and care about their kids WILL take immediate punitive action when their kid does something dangerous. I personally found that it doesn't matter much if this punishment comes in the way of a smack or some yelling/lecturing as they seem equally effective. (Possibly lecturing is more effective only because I don't smack very hard and then still feel guilty for smacking the kid, so for me personally I give a more consistent message overall if I stick to the yelling/lecturing.:) )
The one thing that of course won't work is any kind of punishment that's applied far into the future or otherwise not immediate.
> You explain the same things over and over, but hitting is almost never the
> solution, especially when I'm trying to teach him not to be rough with his
> baby brother.
I would agree there's not much benefit in hitting over a very stern lecture. However I don't think that any smack is child abuse, and it will do the job of getting attention.
> That, and you shouldn't take them to _fancy_ restaurants until they're much older.
Meh, if they're truly fancy restaurants then they will have enough staff left over to entertain kids and clean up after them. Guess not many of those in the USA or Europe.:)
I have a 3.5 year old and I reason with her. Not because I actually expect her to completely follow the reasoning, but if anything the stern lecturing has an obvious punitive effect, plus she may learn some of the words and concepts used.
And I know she understands some of it because the next time she does the exact same #$O(*#$(*&(&#$O@# thing it's obvious she knows she's breaking rules.;)
Similar to dogs really; you could give a dog a stern lecture and it recognizes it as punishment, without anyone really expecting the dog to understand the words or reasoning.
1. A regular human (homo sapiens sapiens) has never been cloned. (At least not in a scientific study) This means that when you clone a Neanderthal, you'll never know if the things you are observing are traits of being a Neanderthal, or traits of your cloning process. You simply HAVE TO also clone a homo sapiens sapiens to get any scientific value out of it, and likely several of both. Then you need to treat the cloned homo sapiens sapiens in the same way as the neanderthal to obtain scientific information. This may be a hurdle.
2. Legal status and human rights have been mentioned a couple times. "Do we allow it to.." type of questions have also been mentioned. However the former can make the latter irrelevant. IF you give the Neanderthal equal rights as humans, then all issues of 'do we allow him to...' go out the window. He/she'll be an equal citizen, you don't get to tell him/her shit on what to do and what not to do!
3. Also the question of 'do we make just one of them or more' goes out the window if he/she has equal rights. If a human scientist had the right to clone a Neanderthal, so will the neanderthal have that right to clone another one, or to get a scientist to clone another one for him/her. (Assuming sufficient intellectual capability)
If he/she's anything like us then he/she will not just want the right to reproduce, he/she will feel it's his/her DUTY to reproduce!!! Consider if humans became extinct and the next intelligent life form on this planet cloned me. I'd feel a strong sense of duty to make sure I reproduce and re-establish humanity. 'Reproduce' ; that's what life forms do anything for to achieve, and not just humans.
Symbian make an excellent smart-phone environment. Loads of free and open source applications exist for it. If it's hard to develop on there's sure a lot of stuff out there!! Heck, Nokia make a complete Python environment available, WITH access to phone and internet functions. Or you could opt for the regular SDK and code in C or C++. Or do it in Java.
What MORE could you POSSIBLY want!
Enough has been said on the cluelessness of Apple, and locking down their phone as if this was the 1980's. Symbian (and Nokia, their main user/customer) are ENCOURAGING smart phone development.
Also Symbian is stable and works really well. I've been using it almost since Nokia came out with their first Symbian phone. Now, for a laugh, compare this with Windows Mobile, which STILL suffers from a lot of the same shit from way back when it was called Windows CE. What a load is that!
Ok, the Symbian suit-dude who blabbered all over the place should be locked back into his corner office pronto, he's making zero sense, and his repeated comments about phones not being the same as search are pure toe-cramp inducing mega-cringe, as if Google doesn't do a metric fuckton of shit that's nothign to do with Search. Lock the guy back up!!!
Then, the Linux brigade starting nipping at this topic in force. Why? Google doesn't give a flying F about Linux. They're about server-based networking, and even in this day and age that still requires 'something' to run that on. Sure it'll be open, which is good. Sure they won't get it right the first time, (see iPhone) but it may lead to a whole lot more interest in smart phone applications, which is GOOD.
Well, you're in Finland, I'm in Thailand. Probably makes a difference come January.:)
Which actually makes me wonder if there's so much proprietary network related stuff that an unlocked phone wouldn't work outside of the markets where it's officially sold?
I'll go with Nokia E61i thankyouverymuch. Plenty of buttons..:)
To me, that is THE tell-tale sign that a phone isn't truly a smart-phone / PDA replacement. You simply MUST be able to copy and past information between applications, if it's just a phone number or email address into an SMS text message.
" * Or would you just go back far enough to make you and your descendants wealthy for all eternity or on that note...make Adam wonder why his son doesn't look anything like him..."
Well it would at least provide a possible answer about where Cain's wife came from. Think about it; time travel is ESSENTIAL or humanity would be doomed from the start.:)
>> "they feel the King is everyone's grandfather" > How can that be? These guys installed themselves in power fairly recently didn't they?
No, they didn't. Keep in mind that Thailand's King is the longest still currently serving monarch in the world. It's the only head of state ('father of the nation') that nearly all Thai people have ever known. (Wikipedia is your friend).
The King has been left as head of state through countless coups in the past. He is simply untouchable; any coup attempting to remove him would fail, it's about the only political issue that Thais WOULD die for. In the past decades the King has worked tirelessly for the benefit of the nation, especially also for the rural poor. He had therefore EARNED that respect, it's NOT based on title.
Note that the Crown Prince has earned anything EXCEPT that respect. If/when he becomes King there will not be the same adoration.
I've been living and working in Thailand for over 10 years now. Basically most of you are right: 10 years in jail for an act of vandalism is ridiculous. Of course he won't actually SERVE that time, he will be pardoned and deported, at the very latest on December 5 this year, the King's birthday. But still this law is antiquated and obsolete, even the King has commented on this. If Thais had any sense whatsoever they'd change/soften the lese majeste laws before it's too late: inevitably the King will be succeeded by his son the Crown Prince, who is as universally disliked as the King is loved. Let me tell you those will be very very dark days.
Then on Youtube, the actual topic at hand: This morning in the Bangkok Post it was reported that the offending video has been removed. Thai government has hinted that the block of Youtube will be lifted when all references to it have been deleted. So this issue will be solved relatively amicably too.
Personal opinion: I find it unfortunate that both the Youtube issue as well as the drunk Swiss guy depicted mindless acts of vandalism instead of raising any specific (or non specific) issue with the monarchy in a civilized way. Then it would truly be a 'freedom of speech' issue. As it is, the Swiss government could relatively easy come down on the side of Thailand now, who after all just punished an act of vandalism, and behind the scenes they can then push for a pardon/extradition. (After that the offender will most likely be declared Persona Non Grata in Thailand, meaning he'd probably move to Cambodia and continue to remain an asset to society there..)
Finally: The Slashdot moderation system works a lot better for topics that the combined readership has a clue about doesn't it?:) Someone posts an utter flaimbait/troll post claiming that child abuse is somehow legal or not acted against or punished less severely than lese majeste, then perfectly smart people with excellent knowledge on Microsoft or Star Trek go "yeah, child sex is evil" and they mod the post +5 and insightful...
Personally I love living in Thailand and I feel a lot more free here than I did in Europe or the USA.. Freedom can mean many things. There's a lot of quite restrictive legislation around in the West (officially sanctioned or informal 'political correctness' that results in me feeling less free in the West.. Do visit Thailand some time for a holiday, it's a nice place.:)
"Unable to enable 3D mode -- Your system does not have the required software to enable 3D mode. Please contact your system administrator [..right.. -Cc] and ask them [sic] to install the OpenGL Python bindings and the GtkGLExt Python bindings."
(Note that I don't have GtkGLExt Python Bindings anywhere in the repositories.. And I'm not going to hunt for it and MOST DEFINITELY not compile them myself)
(Note that 3D works perfectly well elsewhere, such as in the screen savers and the utterly useless Compiz 'Cubed' workspaces. )
> > In Linux, what I think happens is the menus extend BEHIND that
> > graphic so they're invisible / not usable.
> I'm not sure it's Flash's fault. However, a developer who is
> aware of the problem can take steps to fix it.
Probably.. still it means that the linux version doesn't render/interpret the same code EXACTLY the same. This will always lead to problems.
But it still doesn't show certain things the same way as the Windows version.
Like in Windows, if you go to www.peugeot.com then the menus are accessible and display in front of the animated screen. In Linux, what I think happens is the menus extend BEHIND that graphic so they're invisible / not usable.
America has caught up with the rest of the world in mobile (cell) phone technology. Traditionally, it was Asia that always had the best networks, the best new features, the cheapest prices. Fortunately this has changed.
But Asia is still very much ahead of North America in another area: the business model used to sell phones. Years ago, phones were locked to network operators in Asia too. Phones could be bought as part of a 'subscription' to a provider, and providers tried (and failed) to 'lock in' consumers to their services, their pricing.
What an un-free thing to do. It's almost ironic to see the Land of the Free still lingering, allowing, perpetuating such un-free, un-ethical monopolizing business practises in this day and age.
While "there are bad guys out there that unlock phones," Lurie said, Apple and Cingular are taking unspecified steps to make the phone more difficult to unlock and use on other GSM carriers in the US.
"BAD" people UNlock phones?? What a travesty of a statement that is.. It's the exact other way around: BAD people who HATE FREEDOM try to lock people into their (and their partner's) technology and services!
This is nothing short of the final Turn to the Dark Side for Apple. Locking people into everything.. Why are their business practises better than Microsoft again?
Chanchao
(From Thailand, without democracy in government, but WITH freedom in choosing your phones, apps and networks)
Slashdot Mirror
As a comment from a person who has actually bought one as a gimmick, I can tell you that it wouldn't fool the blind. It is simply NOT a copy of the real thing. They are typically Android phones, or some pen-based phone OS, with an external design that looks like an iPhone. As soon as you use it however, it's really very clear what it is.
The only good thing I can say about them is that they come with a TV app.. ;) You can watch TV on them, there's typically an extendible antenna. (Yes, analog free to air TV still exists in Asia).
Sorry to burst bubbles, but there is nothing innovative about them. They're cheap cheap phones with a TV, and a case looking like an iPhone. And this makes journalists think that there is a story.
Same for the allegedly fake Apple store: Newsflash: Apple products are legally sold in non-Apple stores all over the world. This is simply a legal reseller of actual Apple products who went the extra mile of decorating his store in an Apple style. Oh the horror. :rolleyes:
It is you who are missing the fact - we were found to contain some of their genes - this is not the same as being them.
LOL! Having their genes is EXACTLY the same as 'being them', to whatever percentage is in your genes. It may just mean there were more 'moderns' and less Neanderthals.
How different did they really look, and how significant was that difference when counted across thousands of years, and looking at some of the current differences between peoples from various parts of the world, all within the same species.
Could it be a combination of all of the above? Especially to prehistoric man (using the term man loosely) there will have been many different habitats, some of which led to competing for resources, others to 'teaming up' and/or interbreeding.
It turns into one big soup to the point where all that's left is 'modern' man with a small bit of genetic baggage brought into the mix.
I don't think current sense of 'good vs evil' or 'aggressive/conquering' vs 'peaceful and innocent' really applies. Both groups may have included tribes that were one or the other for some amount of time.
This is not an event were talking about, but an incredibly long process.
Questions I have left: I recall that Australian aboriginals (and pacific islanders perhaps) originated from an earlier migration out of Africa. Do these peoples have the Neanderthal genes or not? And if they do, at which point did they acquire them.. Note that you can acquire genes without mating with an actual full blooded Neanderthal.
Yes, so you don't actually use your OS to do work and get things done (apart from maybe web browsing or development).
What exactly do you consider "work"? And no, I don't use the OS to do work. The OS gets out of the way while I do work, which is exactly what it should do.
"work" I would consider 'Things (the desktop (nautilus)) not freezing on me, wifi not shutting down, the laptop not to overheat, and get out of the way so that I can work.
Currently, it really doesn't anymore and I've been using Ubuntu since Hoary (April 2005!) Here we are 6 years later and it really doesn't work anymore.
Agreed; Ubuntu simply doesn't run for me anymore. Not Unity, and also when going back to 'classic' and completely turning off all fancy graphic effects then I'm still experiencing freezes (Nautilus), and overheating to the point that my laptop doesn't even fully charge. (Something is eating up CPU..)
And this is on a bog standard Lenovo Thinkpad biz notebook. (With built in NVidia gfx, which I suspect has a lot to do with it.)
> Simulating the immediate reaction can only work if it's as consistent.
> Namely that X + parent == pain, instead of just that X == pain.. If you
> implement (X,Y,Z,A,J,K) + parent == pain, but X..K by themselves don't,
> then eventually they learn that it's really parent that equals pain.
Well... Possibly. But given that the alternative is letting things like playing with electrical wiring or running on to the road unpunished and without consequence, I think you owe it to yourself and to your kid to do the best you can and make sure there's a punitive response that's as immediate as possible, even when you know you can't do it 100% of the time.
And, having a painful/punitive result 75% out of a 100 times is still MUCH better than allowing it to go on.
Keep in mind that even when they are too young to understand the reasons for punishment, it WILL eventually register that certain actions are very bad. But that's okay, the reasoning why it's bad can slot in later with the much more basic pavlov-like result that they experienced when they were two years old.
You KNOW this is happening when you see them play with friends, and your kid is lecturing her friend on why it's bad to run on to the road! (Mine is 3 years and a couple months).
> I haven't decided which approach I'm going to take just yet.. :(
> I only have another couple months.
Trust me, correcting your kid's mistakes is built into you as well. All parents who love and care about their kids WILL take immediate punitive action when their kid does something dangerous. I personally found that it doesn't matter much if this punishment comes in the way of a smack or some yelling/lecturing as they seem equally effective. (Possibly lecturing is more effective only because I don't smack very hard and then still feel guilty for smacking the kid, so for me personally I give a more consistent message overall if I stick to the yelling/lecturing. :) )
The one thing that of course won't work is any kind of punishment that's applied far into the future or otherwise not immediate.
> They should only do research that would yield unexpected results.
LOL.. (My way of modding your post 'funny')
Perfect oxymoron there. ;)
> You explain the same things over and over, but hitting is almost never the > solution, especially when I'm trying to teach him not to be rough with his > baby brother. I would agree there's not much benefit in hitting over a very stern lecture. However I don't think that any smack is child abuse, and it will do the job of getting attention. > That, and you shouldn't take them to _fancy_ restaurants until they're much older. Meh, if they're truly fancy restaurants then they will have enough staff left over to entertain kids and clean up after them. Guess not many of those in the USA or Europe. :)
I have a 3.5 year old and I reason with her. Not because I actually expect her to completely follow the reasoning, but if anything the stern lecturing has an obvious punitive effect, plus she may learn some of the words and concepts used.
And I know she understands some of it because the next time she does the exact same #$O(*#$(*&(&#$O@# thing it's obvious she knows she's breaking rules. ;)
Similar to dogs really; you could give a dog a stern lecture and it recognizes it as punishment, without anyone really expecting the dog to understand the words or reasoning.
Some considerations:
...' go out the window. He/she'll be an equal citizen, you don't get to tell him/her shit on what to do and what not to do!
1. A regular human (homo sapiens sapiens) has never been cloned. (At least not in a scientific study) This means that when you clone a Neanderthal, you'll never know if the things you are observing are traits of being a Neanderthal, or traits of your cloning process. You simply HAVE TO also clone a homo sapiens sapiens to get any scientific value out of it, and likely several of both. Then you need to treat the cloned homo sapiens sapiens in the same way as the neanderthal to obtain scientific information. This may be a hurdle.
2. Legal status and human rights have been mentioned a couple times. "Do we allow it to.." type of questions have also been mentioned. However the former can make the latter irrelevant. IF you give the Neanderthal equal rights as humans, then all issues of 'do we allow him to
3. Also the question of 'do we make just one of them or more' goes out the window if he/she has equal rights. If a human scientist had the right to clone a Neanderthal, so will the neanderthal have that right to clone another one, or to get a scientist to clone another one for him/her. (Assuming sufficient intellectual capability)
If he/she's anything like us then he/she will not just want the right to reproduce, he/she will feel it's his/her DUTY to reproduce!!! Consider if humans became extinct and the next intelligent life form on this planet cloned me. I'd feel a strong sense of duty to make sure I reproduce and re-establish humanity. 'Reproduce' ; that's what life forms do anything for to achieve, and not just humans.
> The royalty is respected and influential, but has no actual power.
Nobody has more power in Thailand than the King and those close to him, no matter what the constitution says..
But please, *********** NO RIBBONS ***************! !
And whatever you change, make sure the old interface is still available.
Symbian make an excellent smart-phone environment. Loads of free and open source applications exist for it. If it's hard to develop on there's sure a lot of stuff out there!! Heck, Nokia make a complete Python environment available, WITH access to phone and internet functions. Or you could opt for the regular SDK and code in C or C++. Or do it in Java.
What MORE could you POSSIBLY want!
Enough has been said on the cluelessness of Apple, and locking down their phone as if this was the 1980's. Symbian (and Nokia, their main user/customer) are ENCOURAGING smart phone development.
Also Symbian is stable and works really well. I've been using it almost since Nokia came out with their first Symbian phone. Now, for a laugh, compare this with Windows Mobile, which STILL suffers from a lot of the same shit from way back when it was called Windows CE. What a load is that!
Ok, the Symbian suit-dude who blabbered all over the place should be locked back into his corner office pronto, he's making zero sense, and his repeated comments about phones not being the same as search are pure toe-cramp inducing mega-cringe, as if Google doesn't do a metric fuckton of shit that's nothign to do with Search. Lock the guy back up!!!
Then, the Linux brigade starting nipping at this topic in force. Why? Google doesn't give a flying F about Linux. They're about server-based networking, and even in this day and age that still requires 'something' to run that on. Sure it'll be open, which is good. Sure they won't get it right the first time, (see iPhone) but it may lead to a whole lot more interest in smart phone applications, which is GOOD.
Well, you're in Finland, I'm in Thailand. Probably makes a difference come January. :)
:)
Which actually makes me wonder if there's so much proprietary network related stuff that an unlocked phone wouldn't work outside of the markets where it's officially sold?
I'll go with Nokia E61i thankyouverymuch. Plenty of buttons..
> The screen only works with skin contact. How am I
> supposed to use this thing in the winter?
I'm sure everyone will appreciate me remaining proper and above the waistline by limiting the suggested body part to: your tongue.
You'd kiss it to receive pick up a phone call.
> No Voice dialing and No Cut/Paste?
To me, that is THE tell-tale sign that a phone isn't truly a smart-phone / PDA replacement. You simply MUST be able to copy and past information between applications, if it's just a phone number or email address into an SMS text message.
> Maybe iPhone 2.0 will have them...
Sorry, we don't speculate on future products.
Well it would at least provide a possible answer about where Cain's wife came from. Think about it; time travel is ESSENTIAL or humanity would be doomed from the start. :)
The only thing missing is some form of Bootcamp: Linux Edition (UboontuCamp? nah...) so people can play their games.
It's called GRUB.
>> "they feel the King is everyone's grandfather"
> How can that be? These guys installed themselves in power fairly recently didn't they?
No, they didn't. Keep in mind that Thailand's King is the longest still currently serving monarch in the world. It's the only head of state ('father of the nation') that nearly all Thai people have ever known. (Wikipedia is your friend).
The King has been left as head of state through countless coups in the past. He is simply untouchable; any coup attempting to remove him would fail, it's about the only political issue that Thais WOULD die for. In the past decades the King has worked tirelessly for the benefit of the nation, especially also for the rural poor. He had therefore EARNED that respect, it's NOT based on title.
Note that the Crown Prince has earned anything EXCEPT that respect. If/when he becomes King there will not be the same adoration.
I've been living and working in Thailand for over 10 years now. Basically most of you are right: 10 years in jail for an act of vandalism is ridiculous. Of course he won't actually SERVE that time, he will be pardoned and deported, at the very latest on December 5 this year, the King's birthday. But still this law is antiquated and obsolete, even the King has commented on this. If Thais had any sense whatsoever they'd change/soften the lese majeste laws before it's too late: inevitably the King will be succeeded by his son the Crown Prince, who is as universally disliked as the King is loved. Let me tell you those will be very very dark days.
:) Someone posts an utter flaimbait/troll post claiming that child abuse is somehow legal or not acted against or punished less severely than lese majeste, then perfectly smart people with excellent knowledge on Microsoft or Star Trek go "yeah, child sex is evil" and they mod the post +5 and insightful...
:)
Then on Youtube, the actual topic at hand: This morning in the Bangkok Post it was reported that the offending video has been removed. Thai government has hinted that the block of Youtube will be lifted when all references to it have been deleted. So this issue will be solved relatively amicably too.
Personal opinion: I find it unfortunate that both the Youtube issue as well as the drunk Swiss guy depicted mindless acts of vandalism instead of raising any specific (or non specific) issue with the monarchy in a civilized way. Then it would truly be a 'freedom of speech' issue. As it is, the Swiss government could relatively easy come down on the side of Thailand now, who after all just punished an act of vandalism, and behind the scenes they can then push for a pardon/extradition. (After that the offender will most likely be declared Persona Non Grata in Thailand, meaning he'd probably move to Cambodia and continue to remain an asset to society there..)
Finally: The Slashdot moderation system works a lot better for topics that the combined readership has a clue about doesn't it?
Personally I love living in Thailand and I feel a lot more free here than I did in Europe or the USA.. Freedom can mean many things. There's a lot of quite restrictive legislation around in the West (officially sanctioned or informal 'political correctness' that results in me feeling less free in the West.. Do visit Thailand some time for a holiday, it's a nice place.
3D Chess ???
"Unable to enable 3D mode -- Your system does not have the required software to enable 3D mode. Please contact your system administrator [..right.. -Cc] and ask them [sic] to install the OpenGL Python bindings and the GtkGLExt Python bindings."
(Note that I don't have GtkGLExt Python Bindings anywhere in the repositories.. And I'm not going to hunt for it and MOST DEFINITELY not compile them myself)
(Note that 3D works perfectly well elsewhere, such as in the screen savers and the utterly useless Compiz 'Cubed' workspaces. )
> At one airport, they made a policy of having the cutest guards (male and female) near the scanner.
:)
This was in the USA? They employ cute people now?
> > In Linux, what I think happens is the menus extend BEHIND that > > graphic so they're invisible / not usable. > I'm not sure it's Flash's fault. However, a developer who is > aware of the problem can take steps to fix it. Probably.. still it means that the linux version doesn't render/interpret the same code EXACTLY the same. This will always lead to problems.
But it still doesn't show certain things the same way as the Windows version. Like in Windows, if you go to www.peugeot.com then the menus are accessible and display in front of the animated screen. In Linux, what I think happens is the menus extend BEHIND that graphic so they're invisible / not usable.
America has caught up with the rest of the world in mobile (cell) phone technology. Traditionally, it was Asia that always had the best networks, the best new features, the cheapest prices. Fortunately this has changed.
But Asia is still very much ahead of North America in another area: the business model used to sell phones. Years ago, phones were locked to network operators in Asia too. Phones could be bought as part of a 'subscription' to a provider, and providers tried (and failed) to 'lock in' consumers to their services, their pricing.
What an un-free thing to do. It's almost ironic to see the Land of the Free still lingering, allowing, perpetuating such un-free, un-ethical monopolizing business practises in this day and age.
I quote the Cingular President of National Distribution in PCMag.com ( http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2082062,00.as p ) which illustrates this mindset, and the depths to which Apple has fallen.
While "there are bad guys out there that unlock phones," Lurie said, Apple and Cingular are taking unspecified steps to make the phone more difficult to unlock and use on other GSM carriers in the US."BAD" people UNlock phones?? What a travesty of a statement that is.. It's the exact other way around: BAD people who HATE FREEDOM try to lock people into their (and their partner's) technology and services!
This is nothing short of the final Turn to the Dark Side for Apple. Locking people into everything.. Why are their business practises better than Microsoft again?
Chanchao
(From Thailand, without democracy in government, but WITH freedom in choosing your phones, apps and networks)