Am I wrong or a normal default Android install that 95% of Android users use does not allow superuser access at all, even to the owner of the phone? One needs to do special things to get SU access. Some phones are trickier than others to root, but they all need some sort of technically astute action (usually action voiding warranty of the phone) on user's part to root the phone. The whole premise of Android is to run in user mode all the time. What am I missing here? Is this just a BS article? I am pretty sure FB would not write an app that asks for what is impossible for >95% of Android users.
Are you fucking kidding?! People taking the repugnant content down are private companies who do not wish to enable such vile, disgusting views. Government is not allowed to arrest people for stating their vile views, but private parties can judge and sensor whomever they want. Just look at Fox news, for gods' sake! What you are seeing is a political push back on wide scale against white supremacy and neo-nazi groups. I for one, am very glad to see that. I am glad the country I live in and a citizen of is not tolerant of that shit. I am glad because it brings the chance of what my Jewish family went through in Europe in the 40's down. I wish nazis were stopped in Germany in the 30's. I am only hoping and praying that that ugly piece of humanity that made itself visible in Charlottesvile is in tiny minority and their voices get squashed every time they get even a little above the noise level. Freedom of speech is great, but if I were the media and internet service provider I would be cutting these bastards down as fast as I possibly could.
I remember the stories of my family being exterminated in Ukraine, I remember my friends' families stories. There was not a family that wasn't effected by nazis in Ukraine. This must not repeat! We must remember and stand up against this shit as soon as it rears its ugly head!
Besides, your freedom of speech is a myth anyway. Just go up to the White House and say something resembling an Islamic call to god. See how long you last. That there is government subduing you. Here is a private sector saying: Hell NO to nazis. Take that as a weather vane of this country's values. If it's against your grain, leave. Please!
Mod this UP! I wholeheartedly agree. Most of the IOT stuff is more cool than useful and it's not even that cool. It's this obsession with the "cool" factor that will get people hacked in the IOT age. I, for one, dread it whenever another connected device comes on the scene. Windows 10 now is a spy machine. What?! Yes, it defaults to all the sensors on the computer to be turned on and listening/watching/recording EVERYTHING. Supposedly so you can just say: "Okay, Cortana, what time is it?" Seriously?! Is this really all that cool? Especially in light of what you give up to have it? All your life continuously recorded and stored at some MS/Google/Apple/Amazon server? Most disturbing part is that people not only want and demand it, but are willing to pay money for it! We are paying for companies to spy on us! Waiting in lines to pay for it, in some cases! Ridiculous. And at some point (probably when it's too late) masses will realize: "Holy shit, Batman, we are completely encased in spy equipment that is insecure and untrustworthy!" Perhaps it will turn around before then and some design practices will change, but I am not seeing it at all. Between trying to get the latest wizbang feature on the market and just bad business ethics we are headed for a disaster.
Enjoy your smart watch! I will stick with "dumb" devices for as long as I can. Heck, my newest car is from 1998 because in 1999 this same car got updated to a fly-by-wire throttle control instead of the good old steel cable. Well, the electronic throttle control goes bad often and costs $400 to repair/replace. My steel cable has not failed and if and when it does will cost $40. The advantage of the electronic throttle was to do traction control and such, but honestly, if you have good driving skills you don't need no stinking traction control. We routinely trade skill requirements for gadgets. The compromise we make is security, privacy, cost, etc. Just because we do not want to answer our (already smart) phone that's in the pocket we need a watch to do it for us. Yep, makes sense, LOL.
No good apps on windows for phones, I hear. As for prices, I just got a brand-new Moto E from Cricket for $50. No contract, pay as you go. Phone is a quad-core machine running Lollipop (latest Android). Works well, especially for the price. Not sure windows can compete.
Very well put. I think there should be an actual "None of the above" choice on the ballot. If the count of that choice reaches a certain high percentage, say 50%, the elections should be considered null and void and new elections with new candidates should be run. This way we may have a chance at actually getting the rascals out of the government.
Oh, and on topic, elections MUST be conducted in public place with privacy booths. Online voting as tempting as it may sound in this day and age of not getting off the couch for ANYTHING is a bad idea because of possible coercion and voter manipulation. Public polling place, with private voting booths and paper ballots. Count the ballots publicly. Also, voting should last 3-5 days covering a weekend and off hours to accommodate people working night shifts, etc.
There are many improvements we can make to the current voting system, but taking it online is not a good one. Why do people think that anything technological is automatically superior to low-tech alternatives? Paper ballot is still the most reliable way to record votes.
How about car manufacturers provide an option for NO computer in the car? My newest vehicle is a 1998 Volvo S70, but if I were to buy a new car I would be attracted to a NO COMPUTER option and a $2000 savings. I really have not used GPS or a smartphone in my car ever and I want to keep it that way. If I really wanted a computer in my car, I would much more appreciate an interface such as OBDII (OBDIII?) that expanded access and control to things like climate control and audio system. I could then choose my device (and OS) and connect to the car using an app written for that device to interface with cars. This, of course would make car dealers very unhappy. How else can they charge $900 for GPS maps update then? We as consumers must clamor for no hardware from auto maker other than the standard interface to have some basic control over the vehicle. Then BYODevice and BYOApp and you're off. That would be truly open, everything else is a lock-in.
Perhaps I am just old fashioned, but in-car infotainment is a recipe for disaster on the roads anyway. But that's a whole other discussion.
As long as they are doing what they need to be doing, how much electricity savings are you going to get and is it worth the PITA to change them. I have a system with a 15+ year old 12 GB drive in it. I have a much lower wattage appliance to replace it, and have for several months now. I just haven't had the time to swap it out.
You could just replace them with a few 8GB memory sticks that take much less resources to run, make less noise, have no moving parts and are cheap to procure. Seriously, anything under 1TB is a joke these days. Wasting resources on running a 4.3GB array is just silly and if it's done for silliness' sake, that's a different matter, but in practical terms it's really a joke.
I am sorry, but by that logic all the lawnmowers, chainsaws, snow-blowers, etc. in the world should have highly sophisticated ignition systems with locked down ECUs. I think not. I think you are highly misguided, though your heart is in the right place. You can most certainly make an open system that is just as efficient as a closed one. This is all about exclusion and not improving emissions. Big business doesn't give a rat's ass about the emissions. All they care about and are legally required to care about is bottom line and shareholders' profits. If I can not repair my older car due to the stupid error codes in the ECU I need to go out and buy a new car and junk this one. I just made an environmental impact that far exceeds keeping the old less efficient car running. Get it?
The virus numbers need to be adjusted for market share. According to the article, Windows has abot 90% of the market share, OSX 10%, so the virus numbers need to be adjusted accordingly. If and when OSX reaches 90% market share I am willing to bet it'll be lauged by as much virus activity as today's Windows. It's just natural, not defending one side or another. Virus author tries to reach as many machines as possible, hence the imbalance of Windows viruses vs. Mac. Trust me, Macs are virus prone.
It may be just me, but I had no idea this existed. I am not on FB, G+ or any other social network. My phone is not "smart" and I still think I want a dumber one (B&W display that I can see in sunlight would be nice. I have no need for video or photo on my phone, but I would love it if I could have a clear conversation on it in somewhat noisy environment). I still treat internet as mostly a search and entertainment vehicle. Is that why? I am just not aware of existence of this text with pictures thing. In my everyday internet use I just do not see the crap that most people see. Then again, I don't watch TV and am really lost when people discuss commercials or TV show characters. I don't put much effort into avoiding the shit, just make a conscious decision to do it and it just gets done. Try it, your life will get a whole lot simpler and you may actually see human being next to you (in your life or on the subway). I recommend it. It's like a toilet flush of your mind.
I think you are confusing Video Cassette Recorder with Video Cassette Player in your argument. Hollywood wanted to kill the recording aspect of VCRs, they'd be perfectly happy to allow another technology to play crap they produce. Just sayin'...
If you want to drastically reduce paper junk mail check out https://www.catalogchoice.org./ I had great success using that service. Stopped pretty much all of the numerous catalogs that just would not listen when I asked to stop sending crap. Now I get almost zero junk mail. Only supermarket circulars and home improvement store circulars. For some reason those can not be stopped even by god.
Other than that, Ad-Block Plus is awesome and as long as it allows to go back to the way it was before by clicking a setting switch, then I am good with that. When I see a web page that is not filtered by Ad-Block (on other people's browsers) my head starts spinning and I am immediately overwhelmed by the BS. I will never buy anything from the obnoxious advertisers on principal. The only way to vote on this matter is with our wallets.
A very simple solution is so obvious as to be overlooked by those blinded by gadgetry. The solution I am talking about, of course, is to go low-tech. Downgrade the handset to a simple phone-only (single purpose device, how quaint!) unit. I would prefer a monochrome display one at that so I can see it in sunlight like my first cell phone, but that's an aside. I have not yet owned a smart phone and the way things are progressing I doubt I ever will. There is no law (yet!) that requires a person to carry one. So why? These things suck at pretty much everything they do, especially making phone calls. They are terrible cameras, terrible computers, terrible TVs, terrible GPS receivers, terrible music players and terrible phones. And on top of it all they provide a single point of failure for your privacy. So, stop the wining and throw away the unnecessary gadgetry that is more cool than useful.
Remember, people are uneasy about using something without a decent level of understanding about it
You mean like cell phones, fax machines, computers, photography, and other things that an average person has no clue about how they work? Seriously, people are very easy about using something without even a rudimentary understanding of the underlying technology. People are uneasy about using new things. Once the practice and culture of using a new thing is established people by and large do not bother about knowing how it works. This is not my opinion, it's a fact. Bitcoin is no different than any other currency that is not backed by anything other than the respective issuer's reputation. US dollar is no longer backed by gold, so its value is completely up to the people who believe in it.
"Buy it Now" is set at $1,000 and the starting bid is $300! Good luck with that. A real nice HP netbook like a dm1z goes for under $500 and can run a real OS. Sometimes I do not understand the gadget market...
From summary:
'The internet makes it much easier than in the past to find information about Satanism. In just a few minutes you can contact Satanist groups and research occultism,' says Carlo Climati, a member of the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome who specializes in the dangers posed to young people by Satanism.
My comment:
I wonder if there is a member of the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome who specializes in the dangers posed to young people by catholic priests molesting altar boys?
Excellent reference, but may be a bit cryptic to ones not familiar with the piece of literature to which you are referring. Then again, the ignorant can DuckDuckGo/gOOgle (DDG/OO) it.
There is no such thing! There is such a things as CANOLA oil, which is made from rapeseed. CANOLA is a word made up of Canada Oil. It is not a particularly good oil for huma consumption to begin with, let alone GMO version. The thing is it's cheap and plenty and it's hard to find food that does not contain it. Do some research on Canola oil and you will not want to eat it in the first place.
Though your rant about MS catching up to real OS tech is valid, you really need to take step sideways and look at this from a perspective of an everyday computer user. For everyday computer user Linux is a non-entity. Just because Linux has superior technology does not mean it is an option for most "normal" computer users. I am an electrical engineer by education, an embedded real time software engineer by profession and really a computer savvy person, but every time I try Linux, I give up after a few months because it just will not get the fuck out of my way to let me do things. I need to keep screwing with it every time I need to do anything useful. If I want to listen to an MP3 I need to screw with it, if I want to watch a movie I need to screw with it. I am not talking software development, I am talking home appliance use. Linux sucks in this respect BIG TIME! I say that with much sadness and wish that were not the case, but it is. So, comparing the Windows 7 (or any other home appliance OS) to Linux is kind of like comparing bicycle to a unicycle. You need a whole other skill set to use the unicycle to travel from point A to point B than you need to do the same on the bicycle. Is the unicycle better than the bicycle, then? Maybe. It is lighter, cheaper to build, more portable, etc. But the fact is, that almost EVERYONE knows or can learn how to ride a bicycle, but very few people know or can learn how to ride a unicycle. So, yes you can use this topic as another opportunity to show how behind times the MS technology is and you will not be incorrect in all the facts, but what you are neglecting is that most people just can not use Linux as of today. It is simply not ready for prime time. I am not a big fan of Windows, but I tell you, I have been much more frustrated with Linux than I have been with Windows. In my view the best OS is the one you can't perceive. The less I need know about the OS and the fewer new skills I need to acquire to be able to use it, the better it is. Underlying technology be damned. If I need to learn to build packages in order to install them, that's a big minus. If I double click on an MP3 file (or other "proprietary", but otherwise ubiquitous format) and the OS can't play it, that's a huge minus. In order to make Linux do what Windows or Mac OS does out of the box (and that is what most people want to do, I am not talking about software developers), you need to spend a few hours minimum with most Linux distros. So, please re-examine your position from a perspective of "most computer users". Again, most of your technical observations are correct, but the fact remains, Linux is not an option for most computer users who want to plug the machine in and play those music files or videos they downloaded. Not knocking Linux, I think it's great that there is a free alternative. I have a dual boot on my windows desktop myself, just a more mature analysis would probably help the Linux people to compete better in home appliance OS space (it may not be possible for legal and logistical reasons, I don't know).
Replace "caffeine" with "heroine" and your post will arouse a lot more interest. Yet, caffeine is no different from heroine, in fact it may be more dangerous because it is legal and even encouraged by culture.
When you completely depend on a drug, be it caffeine, heroine, etc. it's time to stop and think about quitting for good.
I was a caffeine addict and had very similar withdrawal symptoms. Could not stand it and the idea of constant replenishment of the drug gave me the creeps similar to ones that I get when I hear about heroine addicts. I quit over some time and now and again still have a small cup of Turkish coffee or an espresso, but I am talking one of these in a a year or so. I find I don't get hooked unless I do a few doses in a short period of time, so I live without coffee. It is possible and is actually much more pleasant. Try it. Or have another fix. Most people on this discussion sound like junkies that they are.
Best of luck!
My home home computer is 4 years old and can do all I need (office, web/mail server, games, media, java/C development,...). However getting more RAM means either higher price because it has only DDR2 slots or upgrading motherboard - and while upgrading motherboard I'll have to upgrade CPU and graphics card. Suddenly it is not that cheap to throw more RAM on the problem.
If that's the case, why "upgrade" to Vista? XP would run (almost) fine on 512KB.
Replacing heating oil for heating in Northern states is going to be a huge infrastructure change, however. Even if you're OK with the inefficiency of electrical heating (and we could be OK with that, given the right source of power), you *must* have a reliable way to deliver that power. Too many places lose power in blizzards, when the lines come down. Burying all the power lines in a rural area is a gigantic proposition.
Actually, electricity is necessary for ANY type of (conventional) home heating system, be it gas, oil or even fossil burning furnaces. They all need electricity to distribute the heat and in many cases also to maintain combustion and/or fuel delivery. I have oil heat, but no electricity = no heat for me as my oil burner is electrically operated. That is how dependent on the electric grid most of us are.
Slashdot Mirror
A ton of people is about 100 - 200 people.
Am I wrong or a normal default Android install that 95% of Android users use does not allow superuser access at all, even to the owner of the phone? One needs to do special things to get SU access. Some phones are trickier than others to root, but they all need some sort of technically astute action (usually action voiding warranty of the phone) on user's part to root the phone. The whole premise of Android is to run in user mode all the time. What am I missing here? Is this just a BS article? I am pretty sure FB would not write an app that asks for what is impossible for >95% of Android users.
Are you fucking kidding?! People taking the repugnant content down are private companies who do not wish to enable such vile, disgusting views. Government is not allowed to arrest people for stating their vile views, but private parties can judge and sensor whomever they want. Just look at Fox news, for gods' sake! What you are seeing is a political push back on wide scale against white supremacy and neo-nazi groups. I for one, am very glad to see that. I am glad the country I live in and a citizen of is not tolerant of that shit. I am glad because it brings the chance of what my Jewish family went through in Europe in the 40's down. I wish nazis were stopped in Germany in the 30's. I am only hoping and praying that that ugly piece of humanity that made itself visible in Charlottesvile is in tiny minority and their voices get squashed every time they get even a little above the noise level. Freedom of speech is great, but if I were the media and internet service provider I would be cutting these bastards down as fast as I possibly could. I remember the stories of my family being exterminated in Ukraine, I remember my friends' families stories. There was not a family that wasn't effected by nazis in Ukraine. This must not repeat! We must remember and stand up against this shit as soon as it rears its ugly head! Besides, your freedom of speech is a myth anyway. Just go up to the White House and say something resembling an Islamic call to god. See how long you last. That there is government subduing you. Here is a private sector saying: Hell NO to nazis. Take that as a weather vane of this country's values. If it's against your grain, leave. Please!
Mod this UP! I wholeheartedly agree. Most of the IOT stuff is more cool than useful and it's not even that cool. It's this obsession with the "cool" factor that will get people hacked in the IOT age. I, for one, dread it whenever another connected device comes on the scene. Windows 10 now is a spy machine. What?! Yes, it defaults to all the sensors on the computer to be turned on and listening/watching/recording EVERYTHING. Supposedly so you can just say: "Okay, Cortana, what time is it?" Seriously?! Is this really all that cool? Especially in light of what you give up to have it? All your life continuously recorded and stored at some MS/Google/Apple/Amazon server? Most disturbing part is that people not only want and demand it, but are willing to pay money for it! We are paying for companies to spy on us! Waiting in lines to pay for it, in some cases! Ridiculous. And at some point (probably when it's too late) masses will realize: "Holy shit, Batman, we are completely encased in spy equipment that is insecure and untrustworthy!" Perhaps it will turn around before then and some design practices will change, but I am not seeing it at all. Between trying to get the latest wizbang feature on the market and just bad business ethics we are headed for a disaster. Enjoy your smart watch! I will stick with "dumb" devices for as long as I can. Heck, my newest car is from 1998 because in 1999 this same car got updated to a fly-by-wire throttle control instead of the good old steel cable. Well, the electronic throttle control goes bad often and costs $400 to repair/replace. My steel cable has not failed and if and when it does will cost $40. The advantage of the electronic throttle was to do traction control and such, but honestly, if you have good driving skills you don't need no stinking traction control. We routinely trade skill requirements for gadgets. The compromise we make is security, privacy, cost, etc. Just because we do not want to answer our (already smart) phone that's in the pocket we need a watch to do it for us. Yep, makes sense, LOL.
No good apps on windows for phones, I hear. As for prices, I just got a brand-new Moto E from Cricket for $50. No contract, pay as you go. Phone is a quad-core machine running Lollipop (latest Android). Works well, especially for the price. Not sure windows can compete.
Very well put. I think there should be an actual "None of the above" choice on the ballot. If the count of that choice reaches a certain high percentage, say 50%, the elections should be considered null and void and new elections with new candidates should be run. This way we may have a chance at actually getting the rascals out of the government. Oh, and on topic, elections MUST be conducted in public place with privacy booths. Online voting as tempting as it may sound in this day and age of not getting off the couch for ANYTHING is a bad idea because of possible coercion and voter manipulation. Public polling place, with private voting booths and paper ballots. Count the ballots publicly. Also, voting should last 3-5 days covering a weekend and off hours to accommodate people working night shifts, etc. There are many improvements we can make to the current voting system, but taking it online is not a good one. Why do people think that anything technological is automatically superior to low-tech alternatives? Paper ballot is still the most reliable way to record votes.
How about car manufacturers provide an option for NO computer in the car? My newest vehicle is a 1998 Volvo S70, but if I were to buy a new car I would be attracted to a NO COMPUTER option and a $2000 savings. I really have not used GPS or a smartphone in my car ever and I want to keep it that way. If I really wanted a computer in my car, I would much more appreciate an interface such as OBDII (OBDIII?) that expanded access and control to things like climate control and audio system. I could then choose my device (and OS) and connect to the car using an app written for that device to interface with cars. This, of course would make car dealers very unhappy. How else can they charge $900 for GPS maps update then? We as consumers must clamor for no hardware from auto maker other than the standard interface to have some basic control over the vehicle. Then BYODevice and BYOApp and you're off. That would be truly open, everything else is a lock-in. Perhaps I am just old fashioned, but in-car infotainment is a recipe for disaster on the roads anyway. But that's a whole other discussion.
As long as they are doing what they need to be doing, how much electricity savings are you going to get and is it worth the PITA to change them. I have a system with a 15+ year old 12 GB drive in it. I have a much lower wattage appliance to replace it, and have for several months now. I just haven't had the time to swap it out.
You could just replace them with a few 8GB memory sticks that take much less resources to run, make less noise, have no moving parts and are cheap to procure. Seriously, anything under 1TB is a joke these days. Wasting resources on running a 4.3GB array is just silly and if it's done for silliness' sake, that's a different matter, but in practical terms it's really a joke.
Bush the Lesser was an idiot.
You mean he got better?
I am sorry, but by that logic all the lawnmowers, chainsaws, snow-blowers, etc. in the world should have highly sophisticated ignition systems with locked down ECUs. I think not. I think you are highly misguided, though your heart is in the right place. You can most certainly make an open system that is just as efficient as a closed one. This is all about exclusion and not improving emissions. Big business doesn't give a rat's ass about the emissions. All they care about and are legally required to care about is bottom line and shareholders' profits. If I can not repair my older car due to the stupid error codes in the ECU I need to go out and buy a new car and junk this one. I just made an environmental impact that far exceeds keeping the old less efficient car running. Get it?
I think Firefox should only use irrational number for their version numbers. that would be logical :)
The virus numbers need to be adjusted for market share. According to the article, Windows has abot 90% of the market share, OSX 10%, so the virus numbers need to be adjusted accordingly. If and when OSX reaches 90% market share I am willing to bet it'll be lauged by as much virus activity as today's Windows. It's just natural, not defending one side or another. Virus author tries to reach as many machines as possible, hence the imbalance of Windows viruses vs. Mac. Trust me, Macs are virus prone.
It may be just me, but I had no idea this existed. I am not on FB, G+ or any other social network. My phone is not "smart" and I still think I want a dumber one (B&W display that I can see in sunlight would be nice. I have no need for video or photo on my phone, but I would love it if I could have a clear conversation on it in somewhat noisy environment). I still treat internet as mostly a search and entertainment vehicle. Is that why? I am just not aware of existence of this text with pictures thing. In my everyday internet use I just do not see the crap that most people see. Then again, I don't watch TV and am really lost when people discuss commercials or TV show characters. I don't put much effort into avoiding the shit, just make a conscious decision to do it and it just gets done. Try it, your life will get a whole lot simpler and you may actually see human being next to you (in your life or on the subway). I recommend it. It's like a toilet flush of your mind.
I think you are confusing Video Cassette Recorder with Video Cassette Player in your argument. Hollywood wanted to kill the recording aspect of VCRs, they'd be perfectly happy to allow another technology to play crap they produce. Just sayin'...
If you want to drastically reduce paper junk mail check out https://www.catalogchoice.org./ I had great success using that service. Stopped pretty much all of the numerous catalogs that just would not listen when I asked to stop sending crap. Now I get almost zero junk mail. Only supermarket circulars and home improvement store circulars. For some reason those can not be stopped even by god. Other than that, Ad-Block Plus is awesome and as long as it allows to go back to the way it was before by clicking a setting switch, then I am good with that. When I see a web page that is not filtered by Ad-Block (on other people's browsers) my head starts spinning and I am immediately overwhelmed by the BS. I will never buy anything from the obnoxious advertisers on principal. The only way to vote on this matter is with our wallets.
A very simple solution is so obvious as to be overlooked by those blinded by gadgetry. The solution I am talking about, of course, is to go low-tech. Downgrade the handset to a simple phone-only (single purpose device, how quaint!) unit. I would prefer a monochrome display one at that so I can see it in sunlight like my first cell phone, but that's an aside. I have not yet owned a smart phone and the way things are progressing I doubt I ever will. There is no law (yet!) that requires a person to carry one. So why? These things suck at pretty much everything they do, especially making phone calls. They are terrible cameras, terrible computers, terrible TVs, terrible GPS receivers, terrible music players and terrible phones. And on top of it all they provide a single point of failure for your privacy. So, stop the wining and throw away the unnecessary gadgetry that is more cool than useful.
Remember, people are uneasy about using something without a decent level of understanding about it
You mean like cell phones, fax machines, computers, photography, and other things that an average person has no clue about how they work? Seriously, people are very easy about using something without even a rudimentary understanding of the underlying technology. People are uneasy about using new things. Once the practice and culture of using a new thing is established people by and large do not bother about knowing how it works. This is not my opinion, it's a fact. Bitcoin is no different than any other currency that is not backed by anything other than the respective issuer's reputation. US dollar is no longer backed by gold, so its value is completely up to the people who believe in it.
"Buy it Now" is set at $1,000 and the starting bid is $300! Good luck with that. A real nice HP netbook like a dm1z goes for under $500 and can run a real OS. Sometimes I do not understand the gadget market...
From summary:
'The internet makes it much easier than in the past to find information about Satanism. In just a few minutes you can contact Satanist groups and research occultism,' says Carlo Climati, a member of the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome who specializes in the dangers posed to young people by Satanism.
My comment:
I wonder if there is a member of the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome who specializes in the dangers posed to young people by catholic priests molesting altar boys?
Excellent reference, but may be a bit cryptic to ones not familiar with the piece of literature to which you are referring. Then again, the ignorant can DuckDuckGo/gOOgle (DDG/OO) it.
There is no such thing! There is such a things as CANOLA oil, which is made from rapeseed. CANOLA is a word made up of Canada Oil. It is not a particularly good oil for huma consumption to begin with, let alone GMO version. The thing is it's cheap and plenty and it's hard to find food that does not contain it. Do some research on Canola oil and you will not want to eat it in the first place.
Though your rant about MS catching up to real OS tech is valid, you really need to take step sideways and look at this from a perspective of an everyday computer user. For everyday computer user Linux is a non-entity. Just because Linux has superior technology does not mean it is an option for most "normal" computer users. I am an electrical engineer by education, an embedded real time software engineer by profession and really a computer savvy person, but every time I try Linux, I give up after a few months because it just will not get the fuck out of my way to let me do things. I need to keep screwing with it every time I need to do anything useful. If I want to listen to an MP3 I need to screw with it, if I want to watch a movie I need to screw with it. I am not talking software development, I am talking home appliance use. Linux sucks in this respect BIG TIME! I say that with much sadness and wish that were not the case, but it is. So, comparing the Windows 7 (or any other home appliance OS) to Linux is kind of like comparing bicycle to a unicycle. You need a whole other skill set to use the unicycle to travel from point A to point B than you need to do the same on the bicycle. Is the unicycle better than the bicycle, then? Maybe. It is lighter, cheaper to build, more portable, etc. But the fact is, that almost EVERYONE knows or can learn how to ride a bicycle, but very few people know or can learn how to ride a unicycle. So, yes you can use this topic as another opportunity to show how behind times the MS technology is and you will not be incorrect in all the facts, but what you are neglecting is that most people just can not use Linux as of today. It is simply not ready for prime time. I am not a big fan of Windows, but I tell you, I have been much more frustrated with Linux than I have been with Windows. In my view the best OS is the one you can't perceive. The less I need know about the OS and the fewer new skills I need to acquire to be able to use it, the better it is. Underlying technology be damned. If I need to learn to build packages in order to install them, that's a big minus. If I double click on an MP3 file (or other "proprietary", but otherwise ubiquitous format) and the OS can't play it, that's a huge minus. In order to make Linux do what Windows or Mac OS does out of the box (and that is what most people want to do, I am not talking about software developers), you need to spend a few hours minimum with most Linux distros. So, please re-examine your position from a perspective of "most computer users". Again, most of your technical observations are correct, but the fact remains, Linux is not an option for most computer users who want to plug the machine in and play those music files or videos they downloaded. Not knocking Linux, I think it's great that there is a free alternative. I have a dual boot on my windows desktop myself, just a more mature analysis would probably help the Linux people to compete better in home appliance OS space (it may not be possible for legal and logistical reasons, I don't know).
Replace "caffeine" with "heroine" and your post will arouse a lot more interest. Yet, caffeine is no different from heroine, in fact it may be more dangerous because it is legal and even encouraged by culture. When you completely depend on a drug, be it caffeine, heroine, etc. it's time to stop and think about quitting for good. I was a caffeine addict and had very similar withdrawal symptoms. Could not stand it and the idea of constant replenishment of the drug gave me the creeps similar to ones that I get when I hear about heroine addicts. I quit over some time and now and again still have a small cup of Turkish coffee or an espresso, but I am talking one of these in a a year or so. I find I don't get hooked unless I do a few doses in a short period of time, so I live without coffee. It is possible and is actually much more pleasant. Try it. Or have another fix. Most people on this discussion sound like junkies that they are. Best of luck!
My home home computer is 4 years old and can do all I need (office, web/mail server, games, media, java/C development, ...). However getting more RAM means either higher price because it has only DDR2 slots or upgrading motherboard - and while upgrading motherboard I'll have to upgrade CPU and graphics card. Suddenly it is not that cheap to throw more RAM on the problem.
If that's the case, why "upgrade" to Vista? XP would run (almost) fine on 512KB.
Replacing heating oil for heating in Northern states is going to be a huge infrastructure change, however. Even if you're OK with the inefficiency of electrical heating (and we could be OK with that, given the right source of power), you *must* have a reliable way to deliver that power. Too many places lose power in blizzards, when the lines come down. Burying all the power lines in a rural area is a gigantic proposition.
Actually, electricity is necessary for ANY type of (conventional) home heating system, be it gas, oil or even fossil burning furnaces. They all need electricity to distribute the heat and in many cases also to maintain combustion and/or fuel delivery. I have oil heat, but no electricity = no heat for me as my oil burner is electrically operated. That is how dependent on the electric grid most of us are.