This is true in what it is trying to say. I started using FOSS because it was useful, not because I had any intention of contributing. Now, I regularly file bug reports and do what I can to help out and answer the questions of others. However, "freeloaders" who stay freeloaders forever are not actually necessary, except maybe that they will tell others who will end up not being freeloaders. The bottom line is: The expectation value of helpfulness for a "freeloader" is absolutely not negative.
Fix all the drivers for basic stuff like WiFi and graphics cards FIRST. I'd rather have a desktop with little bugs and more basic features than a laptop with only partially-functioning WiFi and reduced battery life due to a poor graphics driver (as I do now).
This has all been true since it came onto the scene, but it has still made no big splash. The title of this article implies that there is something significantly new now. There's not.
Will Linux users get totally screwed over by this over time, or are there plenty of alternative, non-Adobe plugins to display Flash? How big of a deal is this really? I'm a 100% Linux user, but I can't live without Flash in today's world, unfortunately.
XP is lighter and faster than any other Windows release, while still being compatible with almost all of the software I want. I prefer an OS I can run on my crumbling 600 MHz laptop with 256 MB of RAM and on all my modern machines (inside of a VirtualBox, since I'm a Linux user).
The subject sounds offtopic, but seriously, a clear, natural, everyday usage of the scientific method to solve problems would make your average user be capable of sending meaningful bug reports,because they would understand how problems are solved in the most general sense. They would realize that in order to diagnose where a problem is coming from, all of the possible sources of that problem must be independently tested in a controlled way. Doing that by nature makes for naturally good bug reports.
...or you could just permanently change the default search provider back to Google with three clicks. Firefox isn't going to take that ability away; they'd just change the DEFAULT search provider.
I'd say that the hardware for collecting data has substantially improved with time too (imaging sensors, etc.). Not to mention storage capacity, and I'm sure there is plenty of other stuff I can't think of right now, even if launching technology hasn't changed much. There could definitely be huge benefits.
It receives commands from Earth, and it's 34 years old. What's to keep enemies of the United States from sending it bad instructions, or from collecting all data it sends back to us? I realize that Voyager isn't of any military importance, but I guess this is more of a hypothetical question. Does it use some type of encryption? Is that encryption still unbreakable today? The keys haven't been compromised after all this time? Just curious.
Voyager has to be the coolest space probe ever. It's been operating for 34 years straight and is LEAVING OUR GALAXY, still receiving commands from Earth and still transmitting data back. If that's not marvelous, I don't know what is. Anyone interested should read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1
The reason the companies won't sell you an unprotected AVI file isn't that they're afraid you'll put it on TPB (where they know it will be no matter what, as you pointed out). It's that they're afraid that people who have no idea what TPB is (ie most people) will be ble to share and copy those unprotected AVI files, and sales will go down because frankly, the people who don't know what TPB is are the HUGE majority of those people who are willing to pay for movies...Not people like you.
Take it from a professional photographer (http://facebook.com/keysphotography)...Buy a Canon PowerShot. Get the cheapest one you can buy with optical "IS" (image stabilization). I'd shoot for the $130-180 price range. From the sound of your post, you aren't interested in donating a HUGE portion of your time and effort into learning how to make a photograph, and you are concerned about price. That's fine, but because of the former of those two, you will not see ANY improvement in image quality with price past about $150. Photography is ~95% about your abilities and ~5% about your equipment in everyday scenarios. That extra 5% of goodness goes a long way for pros who have already maxed out the 95% that comes from skill, but you are not those people. The extra weight, price, and bulk of a DSLR will only be a bad thing for you, because it will make you do the worst thing you can possibly do: Not bring your camera somewhere (due to laziness, fear of destruction, or lack of space, respectively).
Slashdot Mirror
SCIENCE CAUSES AUTISM. No wonder with all those chemicals in it.
Where did the last sentence in this summary come from? It seems to be completely contradictory to the main content. Elaborate?
This is true in what it is trying to say. I started using FOSS because it was useful, not because I had any intention of contributing. Now, I regularly file bug reports and do what I can to help out and answer the questions of others. However, "freeloaders" who stay freeloaders forever are not actually necessary, except maybe that they will tell others who will end up not being freeloaders. The bottom line is: The expectation value of helpfulness for a "freeloader" is absolutely not negative.
Turn back while you still can.
+1...I loved having an IBM logo on my computer as much as anyone, but my Lenovo ThinkPad X220 is still an excellent machine.
Mod parent up. Absolutely correct.
Fix all the drivers for basic stuff like WiFi and graphics cards FIRST. I'd rather have a desktop with little bugs and more basic features than a laptop with only partially-functioning WiFi and reduced battery life due to a poor graphics driver (as I do now).
This has all been true since it came onto the scene, but it has still made no big splash. The title of this article implies that there is something significantly new now. There's not.
This video is SO 80's/90's. Is this from 20 years ago, or is Europe just a land of America's past?
Will Linux users get totally screwed over by this over time, or are there plenty of alternative, non-Adobe plugins to display Flash? How big of a deal is this really? I'm a 100% Linux user, but I can't live without Flash in today's world, unfortunately.
Um, why do these even exist on the phones in the first place?
XP is lighter and faster than any other Windows release, while still being compatible with almost all of the software I want. I prefer an OS I can run on my crumbling 600 MHz laptop with 256 MB of RAM and on all my modern machines (inside of a VirtualBox, since I'm a Linux user).
Link?
The subject sounds offtopic, but seriously, a clear, natural, everyday usage of the scientific method to solve problems would make your average user be capable of sending meaningful bug reports,because they would understand how problems are solved in the most general sense. They would realize that in order to diagnose where a problem is coming from, all of the possible sources of that problem must be independently tested in a controlled way. Doing that by nature makes for naturally good bug reports.
...or you could just permanently change the default search provider back to Google with three clicks. Firefox isn't going to take that ability away; they'd just change the DEFAULT search provider.
I'd say that the hardware for collecting data has substantially improved with time too (imaging sensors, etc.). Not to mention storage capacity, and I'm sure there is plenty of other stuff I can't think of right now, even if launching technology hasn't changed much. There could definitely be huge benefits.
It receives commands from Earth, and it's 34 years old. What's to keep enemies of the United States from sending it bad instructions, or from collecting all data it sends back to us? I realize that Voyager isn't of any military importance, but I guess this is more of a hypothetical question. Does it use some type of encryption? Is that encryption still unbreakable today? The keys haven't been compromised after all this time? Just curious.
Correction: solar system, not galaxy. D'oh!
Voyager has to be the coolest space probe ever. It's been operating for 34 years straight and is LEAVING OUR GALAXY, still receiving commands from Earth and still transmitting data back. If that's not marvelous, I don't know what is. Anyone interested should read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1
I tried it in a VirtualBox, and it hangs on both live boot and install. FroYo works fine in a VirtualBox for me.
The reason the companies won't sell you an unprotected AVI file isn't that they're afraid you'll put it on TPB (where they know it will be no matter what, as you pointed out). It's that they're afraid that people who have no idea what TPB is (ie most people) will be ble to share and copy those unprotected AVI files, and sales will go down because frankly, the people who don't know what TPB is are the HUGE majority of those people who are willing to pay for movies...Not people like you.
Take it from a professional photographer (http://facebook.com/keysphotography)...Buy a Canon PowerShot. Get the cheapest one you can buy with optical "IS" (image stabilization). I'd shoot for the $130-180 price range. From the sound of your post, you aren't interested in donating a HUGE portion of your time and effort into learning how to make a photograph, and you are concerned about price. That's fine, but because of the former of those two, you will not see ANY improvement in image quality with price past about $150. Photography is ~95% about your abilities and ~5% about your equipment in everyday scenarios. That extra 5% of goodness goes a long way for pros who have already maxed out the 95% that comes from skill, but you are not those people. The extra weight, price, and bulk of a DSLR will only be a bad thing for you, because it will make you do the worst thing you can possibly do: Not bring your camera somewhere (due to laziness, fear of destruction, or lack of space, respectively).
Which kernel version from kernel.org contains the patch? 3.2-rc1? Or none yet? Please don't answer unless you're quite sure.
Doesn't look like this will fix the much larger power issue with the Sandy Bridge processors, which is related to the graphics driver :-/
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/818830
Yeah...Almost the only reason I keep a Windows XP VirtualBox on my Linux machines is for Photoshop.