There's a ton of comments like yours, I just stopped here to respond.
1) Installing programs on it is easier than any Windows install I have ever done.
2-3) The programs are placed in logical menus and sub-menus (not a long list with a random order like Windows.
I won't go into detail on the ease of Linux. I don't think anyone that has used Ubuntu recently could argue. On the flip side, my wife just got a new dell laptop. She spent around three hours updating the computer and downloading apps (firefox, picasa, etc). She has some apps that she can't use because there's some licensing problems at the movement.
I suspect that many of you guys that work in IT are actually unaware of how many problems people have with Windows. Many issues are handled by a co-worker that knows a little more than average about computers. In my office, I'm that guy. You just got an email but can't get the attachment to open... I'm the guy that figures it out for you. As far as ease of use goes, Windows really has nothing on a modern Linux distro.
The average user won't go to Linux just because they're scared of it. If their power user buddy doesn't use Linux, they won't get any help. My brother doesn't know crap about computers and would go to Linux if I told him to but he lives 600 miles away. I know he'll have more trouble with Windows but at least he has some people close by to help him. Almost all average users don't do anything that can't be done on Linux. Surf the web, play with pictures, maybe a word document every once in a while. When they need a new computer, they ask their computer buddy to pick it out and set it up.
The real question is why don't power users switch to Linux? Apps, duh. My wife is a power user. She has seen how easy Ubuntu is. Her jaw dropped when I showed her how I add new programs. She loved the compiz features for productivity and eye candy. She saw how fast her old computer ran running Linux. She asked how well it runs Excel and then she walked out of the room after I gave her the answer. To be fair, I only use it on a spare computer. IMHO, the power users are the roadblock to Linux's acceptance.
not true. I just now noticed the url looks funny. The actual eMusic homepage is obnoxious so I linked the "About eMusic" page. Feel free to type in www.emusic.com and find the link "Abount eMusic" on the bottom of the page.
Built your own cage? That's part of the DRM scheme: the appearance of lock-in. I'm not sure that is what you meant, to it's true for some people. Actually, you've built your own pain in the arse chore for a couple hours if you want to switch to something else. There are programs and methods a plenty to get all your music to DRM freedom. Then you can manage your music with Winamp, Songbird, or something.
Perhaps, they are realizing that DRM is causing them to lose not only revenue (in terms of people buying less) but market share (people buying elsewhere). I used to buy music that I heard on the radio like everyone else. Since the Sony rootkit mess I get my music from eMusic. I've found a lot of great bands/labels. Now, no matter what the major labels do, I'll never go back to them 100%. Another less techie friend of mine just recently got fed up with iTunes DRM and ask me to help find something else... guess where I'm pointing.
I really think that is what's going on here. Most the tactics and toys being used on the war on terror are way overkill or just don't make sense. We all gripe about the money being wasted and how dumb they are... but, put into different context they start to make sense. Lasers to stop shoulder fired grenades? Please. A rail gun to take out insurgent camps? No.
The US knows it won't be the only superpower for long and not everyone that's at our heels will be looking to share the top spot. I for one would like to welcome our would-be crazy dictator overlords with rail guns and laser wielding 747s.
It may be insanely optimistic but I have a theory that much of what is going on is "waving the big stick" so that we can just speak softly if there's a major conflict with a major player later on. Say what you want about the mess right now, but AFAIK Iraq actually had a respectable army that didn't protect it's leaders for long.
I couldn't find a reference to the article, but I remember reading about similar theories. Basically, they stated that average traits for males/females in nature were often similar, but the the variance was much greater for males. Nature uses males as genetic play things, while females are more stable genetically. Females are typically moderate to conservative in behavior, while males are the risk takers. It would make evolutionary sense to have your "stable" version raise the children, and your development model be more expendable/replaceable. One may find it offensive to think about why most "geniuses" in history are male, but please also consider how few females are nominated for Darwin Awards.
Basically, it would be too difficult to hold other companies to the standard of ethics that MS has attained. It just wouldn't be fair. Wait... did I get that backwards?
The articles were pretty vague, but "hooking into Vista" really has more of a Konqueror feel to it. I'm a newb, but I love Konqueror because it integrates into other apps and files that I use on my computer. It's becoming more of a all in one desktop browser/manager. I would expect that as web apps become more popular, this type of integration will be even more important.
yes, google but... I don't know about retro fitting, but the companies working on hybrids are working on that type of stuff for new cars. The technology is here, but as usual the problem is price. A good solar car motor will cost over $10k US. The battery pack will be more than that. Currently, there are a lot better things you could do with that money to save power.
That's not really cheating. Wind is an indirect solar power and is (was) legal in most races. It was even legal to have a windmill setup when stopped (no body did it; explanation offtopic). I was on a solar car team in college and we actually looked into this effect. For us, it turned out that the shape you need to get any affect causes inefficiencies in other areas: weight, array angle, air resistance from any other wind direction. It wasn't worth it for us, but the effect does have potential.
I think the computer will only appeal to a small market in most countries because it won't sync with iPods (I'm serious). A few geeks and some people that want help other kids will buy them. Also, it would take a bit of effort to steal and ship these computers in a mass that would really be profitable. That may be one advantage of working with Ebay early on, they can help police for such activity and have a vested interest in doing so.
There was one I couldn't rip or even read using Kubuntu. I ripped CDs immediately before and after this one in question so it wasn't a system problem (yeah, that doesn't rule out chair/keyboard interface error). I took it to a Windows XP box and was able to rip the songs with WMP.
I'm not a programmer, so here's kind of a view from the outside. From what I've seen, programmers are given some specs/requirements/outputs for a desired program. Maybe they meet with some managers and get a little feedback. From the programmers perspective, they were tasked with having the user input A, B, and C and then reporting the output of A*B+C as "D" and that's what the program does. The manager sees that the program does this and signs off on it. When it goes to rollout, the users get told there's this program to do this calculations and they say "looks good, thanks".
This is usually where it all breaks down. The programmers never knew that the users real problem was not the complex calculation, but that "C" is some weird thing that they can't track. The managers just knew that the "D" report was always off and wanted it fixed, but didn't put any time to it. Eventually, nobody uses the program and it's called a flop. Sure its the manager's fault, but they recover by announcing that they will be saving money next quarter by outsourcing IT.
I would say that democracy absolutely works, but sometimes slowly. Slavery; abolished. Women's suffrage; nobody gave my girlfriend a funny look for voting.
The majority of people are scared and slow to react. The radical minorities have always been the ones to push change. Democracy uses the scared, slow to act majority to moderate the minority beliefs. Remember, there's a right wing and a left wing. Who gets to decide what is right? Democracy at least helps find a middle ground.
last night I had to have a long conversation with my girlfriend who was convinced that her friend's Apple computer was running IE. I was pretty sure that it was not, to which she replied "Well, I know it's got Windows." This time I was really sure she was wrong. Turns out her friend had MS Office which I explained is not Windows. Her response: "Whatever" accompanied by the eye-rolling (oh, how I hate the eye-rolling).
Now, this girl is working on a PhD in psychology so she's smart. Its just that computers are something that she types papers on and that's it. When it comes to education and learning philosophies she's all over it. I don't think that people are all apathetic about this type of issue, they're probably just more focused on a field more relevant to them.
I think it's important that we research potentially dangerous theories like this. The US has a bad rep as war mongers but so has every superpower in history. I'm not arguing how valid that may be, just saying. Part of a good defense is a good offense, but also a good defense is just knowing more about everything than the other guy. That's why the DoD funds some crazy projects. The million bucks sounds like a lot but not so much compared to the huge budget. Also, in true/. form, I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't some other initiatives included in the study that aren't as well documented.
Celebrities take on all kinds of causes that are outside their field of expertise (usually just the field of being hot). They're human, just like a bunch of nerds commenting on the huge political issues of our day. Come on, admit it, on any particular issue most of us are talking out our butts. That's okay, its fun and we learn a bit at the same time.
If you want to actually take a pop-stars advice on what to eat or how to deal with cancer then I don't really feel inclined to blame the star for the consequences.
I was against the idea, but this idea has promise. Wikipedia wouldn't be advertising the books, because they are already referenced in the articles. Wikipedia would be selling links from content already on the site. I don't like the idea of sole source, there's no reason links couldn't be provided to more than one vendor. There could be a "where to get more info (adverts)" section below the unpaid "external links" section.
I do think that the adverts should be clearly labeled as such and that wikipedia's advertising policy and practices should be documented for anyone to review.
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There's a ton of comments like yours, I just stopped here to respond.
1) Installing programs on it is easier than any Windows install I have ever done.
2-3) The programs are placed in logical menus and sub-menus (not a long list with a random order like Windows.
I won't go into detail on the ease of Linux. I don't think anyone that has used Ubuntu recently could argue. On the flip side, my wife just got a new dell laptop. She spent around three hours updating the computer and downloading apps (firefox, picasa, etc). She has some apps that she can't use because there's some licensing problems at the movement.
I suspect that many of you guys that work in IT are actually unaware of how many problems people have with Windows. Many issues are handled by a co-worker that knows a little more than average about computers. In my office, I'm that guy. You just got an email but can't get the attachment to open... I'm the guy that figures it out for you. As far as ease of use goes, Windows really has nothing on a modern Linux distro.
The average user won't go to Linux just because they're scared of it. If their power user buddy doesn't use Linux, they won't get any help. My brother doesn't know crap about computers and would go to Linux if I told him to but he lives 600 miles away. I know he'll have more trouble with Windows but at least he has some people close by to help him. Almost all average users don't do anything that can't be done on Linux. Surf the web, play with pictures, maybe a word document every once in a while. When they need a new computer, they ask their computer buddy to pick it out and set it up.
The real question is why don't power users switch to Linux? Apps, duh. My wife is a power user. She has seen how easy Ubuntu is. Her jaw dropped when I showed her how I add new programs. She loved the compiz features for productivity and eye candy. She saw how fast her old computer ran running Linux. She asked how well it runs Excel and then she walked out of the room after I gave her the answer. To be fair, I only use it on a spare computer. IMHO, the power users are the roadblock to Linux's acceptance.
not true. I just now noticed the url looks funny. The actual eMusic homepage is obnoxious so I linked the "About eMusic" page. Feel free to type in www.emusic.com and find the link "Abount eMusic" on the bottom of the page.
Built your own cage? That's part of the DRM scheme: the appearance of lock-in. I'm not sure that is what you meant, to it's true for some people. Actually, you've built your own pain in the arse chore for a couple hours if you want to switch to something else. There are programs and methods a plenty to get all your music to DRM freedom. Then you can manage your music with Winamp, Songbird, or something.
Perhaps, they are realizing that DRM is causing them to lose not only revenue (in terms of people buying less) but market share (people buying elsewhere). I used to buy music that I heard on the radio like everyone else. Since the Sony rootkit mess I get my music from eMusic. I've found a lot of great bands/labels. Now, no matter what the major labels do, I'll never go back to them 100%. Another less techie friend of mine just recently got fed up with iTunes DRM and ask me to help find something else... guess where I'm pointing.
The US knows it won't be the only superpower for long and not everyone that's at our heels will be looking to share the top spot. I for one would like to welcome our would-be crazy dictator overlords with rail guns and laser wielding 747s.
It may be insanely optimistic but I have a theory that much of what is going on is "waving the big stick" so that we can just speak softly if there's a major conflict with a major player later on. Say what you want about the mess right now, but AFAIK Iraq actually had a respectable army that didn't protect it's leaders for long.
Was "vaginal discharge" really important to your point? I just vomurped a little.
I couldn't find a reference to the article, but I remember reading about similar theories. Basically, they stated that average traits for males/females in nature were often similar, but the the variance was much greater for males. Nature uses males as genetic play things, while females are more stable genetically. Females are typically moderate to conservative in behavior, while males are the risk takers. It would make evolutionary sense to have your "stable" version raise the children, and your development model be more expendable/replaceable. One may find it offensive to think about why most "geniuses" in history are male, but please also consider how few females are nominated for Darwin Awards.
Basically, it would be too difficult to hold other companies to the standard of ethics that MS has attained. It just wouldn't be fair. Wait... did I get that backwards?
The articles were pretty vague, but "hooking into Vista" really has more of a Konqueror feel to it. I'm a newb, but I love Konqueror because it integrates into other apps and files that I use on my computer. It's becoming more of a all in one desktop browser/manager. I would expect that as web apps become more popular, this type of integration will be even more important.
yes, google but... I don't know about retro fitting, but the companies working on hybrids are working on that type of stuff for new cars. The technology is here, but as usual the problem is price. A good solar car motor will cost over $10k US. The battery pack will be more than that. Currently, there are a lot better things you could do with that money to save power.
That's not really cheating. Wind is an indirect solar power and is (was) legal in most races. It was even legal to have a windmill setup when stopped (no body did it; explanation offtopic). I was on a solar car team in college and we actually looked into this effect. For us, it turned out that the shape you need to get any affect causes inefficiencies in other areas: weight, array angle, air resistance from any other wind direction. It wasn't worth it for us, but the effect does have potential.
300 "ft" in a football field. No big deal, happens to the best of us.
I think the computer will only appeal to a small market in most countries because it won't sync with iPods (I'm serious). A few geeks and some people that want help other kids will buy them. Also, it would take a bit of effort to steal and ship these computers in a mass that would really be profitable. That may be one advantage of working with Ebay early on, they can help police for such activity and have a vested interest in doing so.
Please have a look at their services too... looks fantastic.
Knowing you're definitely not viewing illegal content... priceless.
Hollywood and Microsoft together; protecting you from yourself one reasonably priced device at a time :)
Only in this case, the human is handing over money to continue it.
There was one I couldn't rip or even read using Kubuntu. I ripped CDs immediately before and after this one in question so it wasn't a system problem (yeah, that doesn't rule out chair/keyboard interface error). I took it to a Windows XP box and was able to rip the songs with WMP.
This is usually where it all breaks down. The programmers never knew that the users real problem was not the complex calculation, but that "C" is some weird thing that they can't track. The managers just knew that the "D" report was always off and wanted it fixed, but didn't put any time to it. Eventually, nobody uses the program and it's called a flop. Sure its the manager's fault, but they recover by announcing that they will be saving money next quarter by outsourcing IT.
The majority of people are scared and slow to react. The radical minorities have always been the ones to push change. Democracy uses the scared, slow to act majority to moderate the minority beliefs. Remember, there's a right wing and a left wing. Who gets to decide what is right? Democracy at least helps find a middle ground.
A: shut up, nerd
last night I had to have a long conversation with my girlfriend who was convinced that her friend's Apple computer was running IE. I was pretty sure that it was not, to which she replied "Well, I know it's got Windows." This time I was really sure she was wrong. Turns out her friend had MS Office which I explained is not Windows. Her response: "Whatever" accompanied by the eye-rolling (oh, how I hate the eye-rolling).
Now, this girl is working on a PhD in psychology so she's smart. Its just that computers are something that she types papers on and that's it. When it comes to education and learning philosophies she's all over it. I don't think that people are all apathetic about this type of issue, they're probably just more focused on a field more relevant to them.
I think it's important that we research potentially dangerous theories like this. The US has a bad rep as war mongers but so has every superpower in history. I'm not arguing how valid that may be, just saying. Part of a good defense is a good offense, but also a good defense is just knowing more about everything than the other guy. That's why the DoD funds some crazy projects. The million bucks sounds like a lot but not so much compared to the huge budget. Also, in true /. form, I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't some other initiatives included in the study that aren't as well documented.
If you want to actually take a pop-stars advice on what to eat or how to deal with cancer then I don't really feel inclined to blame the star for the consequences.
I do think that the adverts should be clearly labeled as such and that wikipedia's advertising policy and practices should be documented for anyone to review.
very interesting, but stupid.