Why appeal to such an ugly thing? Why not appeal to humanity? Do you really, honestly and sincerely believe that all Americans just run around saying "we're the best!" and have some primitive need to "be the best!"?
I know its "in fashion" to hate America and stereo type Americans as club wielding hate machines that dont do anything except for "profit" or "oil", but a lot of American innovention came from "foreigners" who came to our country to ink out a life that the failed social states of Europe simply couldnt/wouldnt provide.
I know this is going to get modded troll (because I am posting after 6pm, aka: non-Us slashdot time), but the United States will continue to remain the research and technology leader tommorow for the same reason it has been for the past 100 years: The United States is more welcoming to foreigners.
You may think I kid, but Germans hate the Turks and the Poles (and other Eastern immigrants), Switzerland has one of the highest bars to entry for immigrants (save refugees, but thats a different crowd), and the same goes for most Socialist nations. Many European nations have elected political parties into power that are very, very outwardly anti-immigrant / pro-nationalist.
Regardless of what the media portrays, the United States is still the most welcoming country to immigrants who want to make a better life. Regardless if they stay and become American citizens, or go back to their home countries (where they can help to make a better life for their families), this is only possible because of US capitalism, and being a non socialism.
Tag this "supermice". Once again, advances in super mouse research have delivered another break through to further separate man from mouse. As no one was watching, smarter, strong, custom tailored mice one day took over the world...
Non sense. There is plenty of 20+ year old equipment still up and running today. Thats right, stuff that was built in the late 80's is still alive and kicking. Even in some instances, doing actual important stuff. I know for a fact there are still SPARC/ULTRA SPARC's (15+ year old now) still out there and functional. Go to monster.com and type in "Fortran", still plenty of jobs out there... why? Because there are still some Dinosaur systems out there running it.
25 Years is not really that long of a time for hardware. While todays geeks are use to upgrading their computers every 2 years or so, the rest of the hardware devouring world probably looks at things on the 6-8 year schedule. From everything I've seen, I believe the hyper-upgrade push of the past decade (of upgrading infrastructure) is coming to an end and we are going to go back to the old computing days of upgrading major computing equipment much less frequently (10+ years).
Moral of the story. Make sure your equipment is in an air tight, pvc (plastic, non ferious) capsule, that is away from magnetic influence. When you pull it out in 25 years, you will be able to find some kind of equipment to read your media.
I've played D&D for about 20 years and I played WoW for about 8 months. Off and on over those 20 years, I have had more than 20 girlfriends, none of which ever threatened to break up with me because I spent too much time playing D&D (most of them just thought it was incredibly dorky, and some tried to play along). I had to quit WoW when my wife (fiance at the time) moved into my house (my house, not my parents basement) because it was too much of a time sink.
I hear the chorus of "manage your time better" but lets face it, WoW is a horrible addiction.
My brother, a truly bad ass, Airborne Infantryman (18 months in Iraq, 18 months in Afghanistan), who was a level 20 slut slayer, got out of the military and discovered WoW. He now lives in my sisters basement, works and plays WoW. When I talk to him, he always tries to tell me: "I dont really play Warcraft anymore"... even though I havent asked him at all. Of course, should I spend the night at my sisters (she lives 3 hours away), my brother will be up all night playing, raiding, etc..
Even sadder was when my dad played WoW and EQ. Same damn thing. Complete withdrawl. Fortunately he kicked the habit, but thats a different story.
WTF am I getting at? D&D is a "social" activity. We may be a bunch of dorks sitting around a table talking nonsense to anyone who doesnt understand WTF we are talking about, but at the end of the game, we still go out and do other things (ride ATV's, go to the bar, or go to football games / sporting events, shoot guns, etc..). When the WoW box goes black, all your friends are gone. Sad but true.
Is this informative because of its "anti-american" bend or because it has information? If its because of the provided "information" than the Moderators should actually check out these "factiods" before modding the post. For example:
"Valeri Polyakov did a 437 day flight, with a flight distance covering more than 7 thousand times the circumference of the earth.
Of course, his flight being disregarded isn't surprising, him not being an American."
No one was talking about "manned space flight"... because in that case, no shit sherlock, 60 odd days isnt shit.
The Americans didnt "change the rules". The reason the above mentioned individuals werent given credit for the "discovery" of flight is because their inventions simply did not translate into successful reproducible air travel. I mean, those guys dont have anything on... BIRDS... that were flying long before man. Why were BIRDS given credit for the discovery of flight...
"So I guess that the rules for flight now specifically excludes orbital flights in order to disqualify MIR. Eppur si vola."
Yes sparky... RTFA... This is about UNMANNED SUB ORBITAL flight... because if you werent then you would have to talk about VOYAGER I and II... which are have been going for 30+ years and are unmanned and again... American. Oh snap...
Your better off not trying to do anything to secure anything short of your own equipment. Just post a sign at the door that states that there is "no security" and that every individual is completely responsible for their own property.
In all fairness, that $439.3 billion in 2007 went largely to ensure the stability of the entire western world. Lets face it, the European governments, as much as their sheeple love to hate the "evil Americans", rely almost entirely on the United States military to ensure international stability.
If your not convinced how heavily the EU relies on the US, take a look at whats happening in Georgia. Europe is waiting for a country nearly 5,000 miles away to do "something" to make the Russians play nice. Lets not forget the whole "cold war" thing where the US placed nearly a "million" men in Europe to deter soviet aggression. Of course thats forgotten.. silly me.
There is ALOT of national interest tied to what the US military does for the US, as opposed to the advantages provided by NASA. One can speculate all day long what NASA "might" achieve with significant advances in funding, but history has shown time and time again what happens when a nation reduces its military capacity ala funding.
Of course, comparing military spending to space spending is an irrational argument anyway. Of course we should increase our funding for space exploration and the advancement of science and technology. However, the question is how to best get our tax dollars worth out of it. Is NASA really the only way to go?
As opposed to what? Fossil fuels? PV versus Fossil fuels such as coal are not in the same league as far as scalability goes. PV cannot replace fossil fuel plants at this time, regardless of the argument.
If your talking about pollution from Uranium mining, how about the pollution from mining that goes into extracting the metal used to build tools for creating solar panels? How about the chemicals that go into the creation of solar cells? How about the disposal of PV cells at the "end of life"? How long will a "nuclear" power plant last compared to a PV plant?
Compare apples to apples. There will be environmental damage in creating nuclear plants as well as PV or Wind plants. The question really is how much damage occurs "on scale". You cant compare 1 PV plant to 1 nuclear plant. You have to compare as many PV plants as it takes to equal 1 nuclear plant... THEN compare the waste. Why do I get the feeling that a PV equivalent scale to nuclear will end up producing much, much more waste in the end (considering current technology only). Then again, I am just a slashdot poster. YMMV.
Yes, mod parent -1, because talking common sense when talking about environmental and social concerns is practically sacrilege. Why -1? Because he isnt in your environmentalist hippie nuclear power hating cult? Give me a fucking break. If nuclear power produces that much more power, in a more confined area, for less money, and produces negligible amounts of pollution whats the problem?
I would love to see solar and wind to become the only needed power source, but that isnt a reality. While this article shows that solar is an improving technology, it is also showing that we have a long way to go for a real alternative to our current reliance on the only real options available: continued use of fossil fuels or nuclear. Reducing consumption is argument non grata. For example: Your still waisting electricity to post on slashdot.
I'm not sure why the parent is modded down. I've played DDO for about a 1/2 year and I have to agree that the game has quiet a few problems that really dont keep players interested for very long.
The focus on grouping I think is one of the major problems of the game. Its pretty impossible to do anything without a group. Solo adventurers have shitty XP and even shittier loot. While its understandable to make some instances for groups only, by a large amount the content sucks for solo.
My second problem is the setting. I'm just not crazy about the world of "Eberon". I dont know why they cant use Forgotten Realms (like Zhentil Keep, or Shadow Dale, even Water Deep would have been nice). The "Punk Fantasy" look is pretty shitty IMHO and is certainly not the D&D that 80% of us old bastards started with and want to participate in today. Its sad too, because a large segment of DDO population are older people.
The logical layout of the landscape is also problematic. While having a majority of content confined to certain "areas" there is no feeling of connectedness between any part of the game world (exception of the Dockside and the Bazzare). Even the attached "houses" seem pretty out of place. I know people from WoW and EQ tend to complain about the "filler" space that connects "useful" regions, but DDO is a MMO without "filler" space and it just feels absolutely wrong... with no other way to explain it.
These problems are not immediately noticable and you can sink a lot of time into the game before these problems become an annoyance. After the graphics wear off and your left with just the game play, waiting for groups, popping in and out of "safe bubbles" and completing quests without having to really go anywhere becomes really boring.
I highly doubt that adding an NPC is going to really improve anything. Because we all know for every + feature there are two more more - tweaks to accompany it.
As an IT professional this cuts like a double edged sword. On the one side, you can always tell that CIO or whatever that "this is what you bought" when they went over the IT departments head and made "everything" a "web app". On the other hand, it sucks because as an IT professional, you want your shit to just work.
Lets face it, like EVERYTHING ELSE, web apps has its place. Maps, dictionaries (wiki's), and collaborative tools belong on the web. Word processing, spread sheets, presentation software... belong on the desktop and should remain separate from the network infrastructure. The point is easy to make: Applications that are constantly updated and provide collaboration are useless without the network, hence they can stay "web apps"... if there is no web, the web apps are useless. Other tools are "neutral" to the presence of the web, and should remain as such.
Perhaps I'm old school, but some things make alot of sense, others dont. Making everything web apps just doesnt make any sense.
I'm not so sure I agree with where your going with your argument. Sure, if your a programmer, you may not be able to program for more than 4-6 hours, but that doesnt mean you've "stopped working". Doing all that administrative bullshit IS WORKING, and you should be compensated for it. Every worker should be compensated for every second they perform or are forced to sit "on the job".
While I am fervently anti-socialism/communism, I do not agree with the whole "time and a half" and "double time". However, everyone should be paid for every hour they work. In the long run, no business works for free. Your software company doesnt give away its software for free. Your IT services company charges for every second you are on the job. Why shouldnt you get paid the same?
Lets face it, the days of being a "company man" are over. Every individual needs to treat themselves as a "business". Since we are forced to pay for our own training (some people will let their companies pay for their training, and then sign "reimbursement contracts" for x amount of time, but I digress) and are simply a "cost" on a "chart". If you work for free (aka: uncompensated overtime), then you should look at it this way: I just gave my boss and his boss money that I actually earned (because most management types get bonuses for cutting down on "hours paid"). So the next time you want to argue against over time (not directed to the parent), go ahead and give a piece of your earned paycheck back to your company because it is the same thing.
Considering the relationship between Berkley California and the Military, I dont know why UoB keeps making these types of break throughs. If UoB fashioned itself as a "rape victim" and cast the military as "the rapist" (not therapist) this could be called:
I wonder if Georgia made this move without informing the US first. Not that Georgia needs to receive the USA's consent before doing anything, but lets face it, Georgia is heavily relying on the United States influence should the conflict go south (and it is). This is one of those moments where Russia is testing the international community, and flexing its military muscle against an small nation that wants badly to join NATO. Luckily for Russia Georgia has not been given better access to NATO equipment (especially anti-air capabilities and air assets) or this conflict would be like the 08 Patriots vs 08 Giants...:-D (NYG FTW!!!)
Any single defensive measure on its own is irrelevant. This was proven very clearly during the early days of WWII when the Volkesgrenadiers over ran the impressive, but unmanned defensive positions in Belgium. The same principles of security hold true today as they did 50 years ago. Any defensive mechanism that is not reinforced via a secondary defensive measure is easily defeated.
Not education, software. I know of one particular piece of preventative software that has saved nearly 10 million people from contracting HIV, Chlamydia, gonorrhea, Crabs, Herpes, etc..
So what is worth tracking that is 1.1Pb of data? Are there really that many NEO that are to be concerned about? 1.1Pb is a LOT of data to manage, even with a cluster of "50 PC's". Will this data be used for modeling or just for tracking or a combination of both? I'm interested in the technical explanation for needing that large of storage.
Its not irrational, its well programmed. Mega conglomerates have spent A LOT of money making villains out of unions and organized labor. So much focus has been placed on the few down sides of unions that very few people from the under 30 and under generations can fathom the positive effects of unions.
As for those employment contracts with "non-compete" clauses in them it is pretty silly. Everyone in my industry uses them (I'm stuck in one right now). Unless you have some very specific and very highly valued niche skill, 90% of people in the industry cannot find a job without giving into these stupid agreements. Its either sign it, or go to another industry. I doubt that this type of crap would be welcomed in most other industries.
The major problem with the "throw money at it" argument is that ALOT of money is going to be needed to effectively bridge the gap between M$ and Open Source. If we could go back in time (say, 1994) and get Open Source the same level of support as it has today, without a doubt, we would be living a completely different world.
The major problem is as follows: If I spend money to build application X for an Open Source platform, will anyone switch when that same application is also being built on Windows (which still runs more applications).
The major solution would be for a group of major industry players to put some big time money into porting dozens of key applications to run on Open Source platforms (here's looking at you Video Game industry). I think Ubuntu has done a lot to make the Linux desktop very usable right out of the box, but lets face it, Wine just doesnt cut it for your run of the line, regular computer user.
What abusive business practices are you talking about? From what I've read, Apple has always been a kinda "grindhouse". Coming from your mindset, Google should be a grindhouse too, since Apple can get away with it. Or perhaps it should be the other way around. Or, maybe more likely, different companies are going to run different ways, regardless of what other companies do (outside of adopting some semi-standard business practices such as time sheets, etc..).
While I might sound like one of "those people" who think the invisible hand of free market will "solve all problems", you sound like one of those far left leaning quasi-communists that believe the oppressive hand of government will create equality for everyone and spread the wealth around. Highly regulated markets are always better than free markets. Right USSR? I know its somehow appealing that the "magical government people" can somehow make things "equal and better" the dangers of the free market are BY AND FAR less dangerous than imposing government. As for your "concentration of wealth" argument, there is alot more to do with new innovations and technologies that created alot of opportunities for small businesses to become big business over the course of a century. Wealth consolidation always happens. Always (just pick up a history book).
Today is the best day to be alive in the history of human kind (outside a few select places). Globalization has improved the conditions of humanity on a scale NEVER witnessed before in human history. And to top it off, much of that globalization, and massive improvements have happened while your most hated enemy, GW Bush, was president of that most horrible nation, the USA (which gives to charities/poor/sick more than all other nations combined). Need a good example, take a look at the contributions to Africa from the nations that RAPED that continent (here's looking to you Europe) compared to the USA. Shameful isnt it?
I dont know (I didnt RTFA) what their salaries are, but I am pretty sure that these "poor" "slaves" are making more than 75% than the rest of the people living in the USA (which makes them make more than 99% than the rest of the people in the world).
See, thing about *slavery* is that you dont have a "choice". If these "poor" "slaves" don't like how Apple does business, quit, and get another job. Oh, and dont take "perks" which require "repayment" if you leave after a certain amount of time (if this is what they are referring to as indentured servitude).
And yes, I know, they are claiming that Apple "broke-the-law" which Apple should pay(if they indeed did break the law). But calling them *modern day slaves* is just fucking stupid.
- I changed my ethernet card - I was using a friends laptop - I bought a new computer - I bought two new computers - Must have been a room mates friend - etc...
Slashdot Mirror
Why appeal to such an ugly thing? Why not appeal to humanity? Do you really, honestly and sincerely believe that all Americans just run around saying "we're the best!" and have some primitive need to "be the best!"?
I know its "in fashion" to hate America and stereo type Americans as club wielding hate machines that dont do anything except for "profit" or "oil", but a lot of American innovention came from "foreigners" who came to our country to ink out a life that the failed social states of Europe simply couldnt/wouldnt provide.
I know this is going to get modded troll (because I am posting after 6pm, aka: non-Us slashdot time), but the United States will continue to remain the research and technology leader tommorow for the same reason it has been for the past 100 years: The United States is more welcoming to foreigners.
You may think I kid, but Germans hate the Turks and the Poles (and other Eastern immigrants), Switzerland has one of the highest bars to entry for immigrants (save refugees, but thats a different crowd), and the same goes for most Socialist nations. Many European nations have elected political parties into power that are very, very outwardly anti-immigrant / pro-nationalist.
Regardless of what the media portrays, the United States is still the most welcoming country to immigrants who want to make a better life. Regardless if they stay and become American citizens, or go back to their home countries (where they can help to make a better life for their families), this is only possible because of US capitalism, and being a non socialism.
Tag this "supermice". Once again, advances in super mouse research have delivered another break through to further separate man from mouse. As no one was watching, smarter, strong, custom tailored mice one day took over the world...
Non sense. There is plenty of 20+ year old equipment still up and running today. Thats right, stuff that was built in the late 80's is still alive and kicking. Even in some instances, doing actual important stuff. I know for a fact there are still SPARC/ULTRA SPARC's (15+ year old now) still out there and functional. Go to monster.com and type in "Fortran", still plenty of jobs out there... why? Because there are still some Dinosaur systems out there running it.
25 Years is not really that long of a time for hardware. While todays geeks are use to upgrading their computers every 2 years or so, the rest of the hardware devouring world probably looks at things on the 6-8 year schedule. From everything I've seen, I believe the hyper-upgrade push of the past decade (of upgrading infrastructure) is coming to an end and we are going to go back to the old computing days of upgrading major computing equipment much less frequently (10+ years).
Moral of the story. Make sure your equipment is in an air tight, pvc (plastic, non ferious) capsule, that is away from magnetic influence. When you pull it out in 25 years, you will be able to find some kind of equipment to read your media.
I've played D&D for about 20 years and I played WoW for about 8 months. Off and on over those 20 years, I have had more than 20 girlfriends, none of which ever threatened to break up with me because I spent too much time playing D&D (most of them just thought it was incredibly dorky, and some tried to play along). I had to quit WoW when my wife (fiance at the time) moved into my house (my house, not my parents basement) because it was too much of a time sink.
I hear the chorus of "manage your time better" but lets face it, WoW is a horrible addiction.
My brother, a truly bad ass, Airborne Infantryman (18 months in Iraq, 18 months in Afghanistan), who was a level 20 slut slayer, got out of the military and discovered WoW. He now lives in my sisters basement, works and plays WoW. When I talk to him, he always tries to tell me: "I dont really play Warcraft anymore"... even though I havent asked him at all. Of course, should I spend the night at my sisters (she lives 3 hours away), my brother will be up all night playing, raiding, etc..
Even sadder was when my dad played WoW and EQ. Same damn thing. Complete withdrawl. Fortunately he kicked the habit, but thats a different story.
WTF am I getting at? D&D is a "social" activity. We may be a bunch of dorks sitting around a table talking nonsense to anyone who doesnt understand WTF we are talking about, but at the end of the game, we still go out and do other things (ride ATV's, go to the bar, or go to football games / sporting events, shoot guns, etc..). When the WoW box goes black, all your friends are gone. Sad but true.
Its not snobbery. WoW is just really bad for you.
Is this informative because of its "anti-american" bend or because it has information? If its because of the provided "information" than the Moderators should actually check out these "factiods" before modding the post. For example:
"Valeri Polyakov did a 437 day flight, with a flight distance covering more than 7 thousand times the circumference of the earth.
Of course, his flight being disregarded isn't surprising, him not being an American."
Yeah... 437 day SPACE FLIGHT....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valeriy_Polyakov
No one was talking about "manned space flight"... because in that case, no shit sherlock, 60 odd days isnt shit.
The Americans didnt "change the rules". The reason the above mentioned individuals werent given credit for the "discovery" of flight is because their inventions simply did not translate into successful reproducible air travel. I mean, those guys dont have anything on... BIRDS... that were flying long before man. Why were BIRDS given credit for the discovery of flight...
"So I guess that the rules for flight now specifically excludes orbital flights in order to disqualify MIR. Eppur si vola."
Yes sparky... RTFA... This is about UNMANNED SUB ORBITAL flight... because if you werent then you would have to talk about VOYAGER I and II... which are have been going for 30+ years and are unmanned and again... American. Oh snap...
"In other words the poor die young and the rich live longer."
Thats all you really needed to say.
Your better off not trying to do anything to secure anything short of your own equipment. Just post a sign at the door that states that there is "no security" and that every individual is completely responsible for their own property.
I tried to show what Python looks like to a Perl programmer and here's what happened:
Filter error: Please use fewer 'junk' characters.
(thats what python looks like from a perl programmers perspective)
In all fairness, that $439.3 billion in 2007 went largely to ensure the stability of the entire western world. Lets face it, the European governments, as much as their sheeple love to hate the "evil Americans", rely almost entirely on the United States military to ensure international stability.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/22/europe/defense.php
If your not convinced how heavily the EU relies on the US, take a look at whats happening in Georgia. Europe is waiting for a country nearly 5,000 miles away to do "something" to make the Russians play nice. Lets not forget the whole "cold war" thing where the US placed nearly a "million" men in Europe to deter soviet aggression. Of course thats forgotten.. silly me.
There is ALOT of national interest tied to what the US military does for the US, as opposed to the advantages provided by NASA. One can speculate all day long what NASA "might" achieve with significant advances in funding, but history has shown time and time again what happens when a nation reduces its military capacity ala funding.
Of course, comparing military spending to space spending is an irrational argument anyway. Of course we should increase our funding for space exploration and the advancement of science and technology. However, the question is how to best get our tax dollars worth out of it. Is NASA really the only way to go?
As opposed to what? Fossil fuels? PV versus Fossil fuels such as coal are not in the same league as far as scalability goes. PV cannot replace fossil fuel plants at this time, regardless of the argument.
If your talking about pollution from Uranium mining, how about the pollution from mining that goes into extracting the metal used to build tools for creating solar panels? How about the chemicals that go into the creation of solar cells? How about the disposal of PV cells at the "end of life"? How long will a "nuclear" power plant last compared to a PV plant?
Compare apples to apples. There will be environmental damage in creating nuclear plants as well as PV or Wind plants. The question really is how much damage occurs "on scale". You cant compare 1 PV plant to 1 nuclear plant. You have to compare as many PV plants as it takes to equal 1 nuclear plant... THEN compare the waste. Why do I get the feeling that a PV equivalent scale to nuclear will end up producing much, much more waste in the end (considering current technology only). Then again, I am just a slashdot poster. YMMV.
Yes, mod parent -1, because talking common sense when talking about environmental and social concerns is practically sacrilege. Why -1? Because he isnt in your environmentalist hippie nuclear power hating cult? Give me a fucking break. If nuclear power produces that much more power, in a more confined area, for less money, and produces negligible amounts of pollution whats the problem?
I would love to see solar and wind to become the only needed power source, but that isnt a reality. While this article shows that solar is an improving technology, it is also showing that we have a long way to go for a real alternative to our current reliance on the only real options available: continued use of fossil fuels or nuclear. Reducing consumption is argument non grata. For example: Your still waisting electricity to post on slashdot.
I'm not sure why the parent is modded down. I've played DDO for about a 1/2 year and I have to agree that the game has quiet a few problems that really dont keep players interested for very long.
The focus on grouping I think is one of the major problems of the game. Its pretty impossible to do anything without a group. Solo adventurers have shitty XP and even shittier loot. While its understandable to make some instances for groups only, by a large amount the content sucks for solo.
My second problem is the setting. I'm just not crazy about the world of "Eberon". I dont know why they cant use Forgotten Realms (like Zhentil Keep, or Shadow Dale, even Water Deep would have been nice). The "Punk Fantasy" look is pretty shitty IMHO and is certainly not the D&D that 80% of us old bastards started with and want to participate in today. Its sad too, because a large segment of DDO population are older people.
The logical layout of the landscape is also problematic. While having a majority of content confined to certain "areas" there is no feeling of connectedness between any part of the game world (exception of the Dockside and the Bazzare). Even the attached "houses" seem pretty out of place. I know people from WoW and EQ tend to complain about the "filler" space that connects "useful" regions, but DDO is a MMO without "filler" space and it just feels absolutely wrong... with no other way to explain it.
These problems are not immediately noticable and you can sink a lot of time into the game before these problems become an annoyance. After the graphics wear off and your left with just the game play, waiting for groups, popping in and out of "safe bubbles" and completing quests without having to really go anywhere becomes really boring.
I highly doubt that adding an NPC is going to really improve anything. Because we all know for every + feature there are two more more - tweaks to accompany it.
As an IT professional this cuts like a double edged sword. On the one side, you can always tell that CIO or whatever that "this is what you bought" when they went over the IT departments head and made "everything" a "web app". On the other hand, it sucks because as an IT professional, you want your shit to just work.
Lets face it, like EVERYTHING ELSE, web apps has its place. Maps, dictionaries (wiki's), and collaborative tools belong on the web. Word processing, spread sheets, presentation software... belong on the desktop and should remain separate from the network infrastructure. The point is easy to make: Applications that are constantly updated and provide collaboration are useless without the network, hence they can stay "web apps"... if there is no web, the web apps are useless. Other tools are "neutral" to the presence of the web, and should remain as such.
Perhaps I'm old school, but some things make alot of sense, others dont. Making everything web apps just doesnt make any sense.
I'm not so sure I agree with where your going with your argument. Sure, if your a programmer, you may not be able to program for more than 4-6 hours, but that doesnt mean you've "stopped working". Doing all that administrative bullshit IS WORKING, and you should be compensated for it. Every worker should be compensated for every second they perform or are forced to sit "on the job".
While I am fervently anti-socialism/communism, I do not agree with the whole "time and a half" and "double time". However, everyone should be paid for every hour they work. In the long run, no business works for free. Your software company doesnt give away its software for free. Your IT services company charges for every second you are on the job. Why shouldnt you get paid the same?
Lets face it, the days of being a "company man" are over. Every individual needs to treat themselves as a "business". Since we are forced to pay for our own training (some people will let their companies pay for their training, and then sign "reimbursement contracts" for x amount of time, but I digress) and are simply a "cost" on a "chart". If you work for free (aka: uncompensated overtime), then you should look at it this way: I just gave my boss and his boss money that I actually earned (because most management types get bonuses for cutting down on "hours paid"). So the next time you want to argue against over time (not directed to the parent), go ahead and give a piece of your earned paycheck back to your company because it is the same thing.
Considering the relationship between Berkley California and the Military, I dont know why UoB keeps making these types of break throughs. If UoB fashioned itself as a "rape victim" and cast the military as "the rapist" (not therapist) this could be called:
"Rape victim makes a better date rape drug."
If your following along this far, FSM bless you.
I wonder if Georgia made this move without informing the US first. Not that Georgia needs to receive the USA's consent before doing anything, but lets face it, Georgia is heavily relying on the United States influence should the conflict go south (and it is). This is one of those moments where Russia is testing the international community, and flexing its military muscle against an small nation that wants badly to join NATO. Luckily for Russia Georgia has not been given better access to NATO equipment (especially anti-air capabilities and air assets) or this conflict would be like the 08 Patriots vs 08 Giants... :-D (NYG FTW!!!)
Any single defensive measure on its own is irrelevant. This was proven very clearly during the early days of WWII when the Volkesgrenadiers over ran the impressive, but unmanned defensive positions in Belgium. The same principles of security hold true today as they did 50 years ago. Any defensive mechanism that is not reinforced via a secondary defensive measure is easily defeated.
The real story is this is story worth discussing.
Not education, software. I know of one particular piece of preventative software that has saved nearly 10 million people from contracting HIV, Chlamydia, gonorrhea, Crabs, Herpes, etc..
Its called "World of War Craft".
So what is worth tracking that is 1.1Pb of data? Are there really that many NEO that are to be concerned about? 1.1Pb is a LOT of data to manage, even with a cluster of "50 PC's". Will this data be used for modeling or just for tracking or a combination of both? I'm interested in the technical explanation for needing that large of storage.
Its not irrational, its well programmed. Mega conglomerates have spent A LOT of money making villains out of unions and organized labor. So much focus has been placed on the few down sides of unions that very few people from the under 30 and under generations can fathom the positive effects of unions.
As for those employment contracts with "non-compete" clauses in them it is pretty silly. Everyone in my industry uses them (I'm stuck in one right now). Unless you have some very specific and very highly valued niche skill, 90% of people in the industry cannot find a job without giving into these stupid agreements. Its either sign it, or go to another industry. I doubt that this type of crap would be welcomed in most other industries.
The major problem with the "throw money at it" argument is that ALOT of money is going to be needed to effectively bridge the gap between M$ and Open Source. If we could go back in time (say, 1994) and get Open Source the same level of support as it has today, without a doubt, we would be living a completely different world.
The major problem is as follows: If I spend money to build application X for an Open Source platform, will anyone switch when that same application is also being built on Windows (which still runs more applications).
The major solution would be for a group of major industry players to put some big time money into porting dozens of key applications to run on Open Source platforms (here's looking at you Video Game industry). I think Ubuntu has done a lot to make the Linux desktop very usable right out of the box, but lets face it, Wine just doesnt cut it for your run of the line, regular computer user.
What abusive business practices are you talking about? From what I've read, Apple has always been a kinda "grindhouse". Coming from your mindset, Google should be a grindhouse too, since Apple can get away with it. Or perhaps it should be the other way around. Or, maybe more likely, different companies are going to run different ways, regardless of what other companies do (outside of adopting some semi-standard business practices such as time sheets, etc..).
While I might sound like one of "those people" who think the invisible hand of free market will "solve all problems", you sound like one of those far left leaning quasi-communists that believe the oppressive hand of government will create equality for everyone and spread the wealth around. Highly regulated markets are always better than free markets. Right USSR? I know its somehow appealing that the "magical government people" can somehow make things "equal and better" the dangers of the free market are BY AND FAR less dangerous than imposing government. As for your "concentration of wealth" argument, there is alot more to do with new innovations and technologies that created alot of opportunities for small businesses to become big business over the course of a century. Wealth consolidation always happens. Always (just pick up a history book).
Today is the best day to be alive in the history of human kind (outside a few select places). Globalization has improved the conditions of humanity on a scale NEVER witnessed before in human history. And to top it off, much of that globalization, and massive improvements have happened while your most hated enemy, GW Bush, was president of that most horrible nation, the USA (which gives to charities/poor/sick more than all other nations combined). Need a good example, take a look at the contributions to Africa from the nations that RAPED that continent (here's looking to you Europe) compared to the USA. Shameful isnt it?
I dont know (I didnt RTFA) what their salaries are, but I am pretty sure that these "poor" "slaves" are making more than 75% than the rest of the people living in the USA (which makes them make more than 99% than the rest of the people in the world).
See, thing about *slavery* is that you dont have a "choice". If these "poor" "slaves" don't like how Apple does business, quit, and get another job. Oh, and dont take "perks" which require "repayment" if you leave after a certain amount of time (if this is what they are referring to as indentured servitude).
And yes, I know, they are claiming that Apple "broke-the-law" which Apple should pay(if they indeed did break the law). But calling them *modern day slaves* is just fucking stupid.
Not steady pay checks. How do people miss this easy to find fact?
- Mages take almost 3000 xp to make level 2,
- Rogues take only 1250.
Do the math.
- I changed my ethernet card
- I was using a friends laptop
- I bought a new computer
- I bought two new computers
- Must have been a room mates friend
- etc...