Microsoft, your officers and directors and your senior managers,
I hate your fucking guts. Something about "cut off Netscape's air supply".
I have not used a Microsoft product since 2000. Nothing, nada.
I have converted more desktops to Linux since 2007 than you sold licenses for Windows ME.
I have converted one school district to Linux. Now there are several more school districts looking at that conversion: lower equipment costs (WinXP to Linux, same equipment), lower (zero) license costs, lower tech support costs, near zero malware remediation costs,...
I hope to live long enough to see you in Chapter 7. Given your track record in recent years, I may get to see it. FOAD!
Just idle, hypervigilant speculation!!... Please! DHS, NSA, CIA, FBI, SS(Treasury), et al. I'm just speculating!
Given Microsoft's propensity to undermine any potential conversion to open source software by big government, such as by: going over the head of proposers; spreading FUD about the proposer; getting proposers fired; paying people with influence (like legislators and regulators) to get the proposal blocked; subverting standards processes; and other monopolistic practices... does anyone but me think that Microsoft might try the same things here?
Given that the dollar amounts at stake are so large and the prestige of an open source win and the damage to Microsoft, does anyone also speculate that Microsoft might go so far as to have Obama, McNealy, and others killed to prevent it from happening?
There are lots and lots of opportunities to "give back" using one's technical skills. There is everything from Linux User Groups (LUGs) Install fest assistance; open-source projects of all kinds doing programming, documentation, testing, and other activities; developing software and/or IT infrastructure for non-profits, NGOs and QGOs.
I have been involved in this kind of thing for a number of years. In that time I've had mostly good experiences. There have been a few occasions where I felt compelled to withdraw my support from some organizations when, after working with them for a while, I came to believe that what they purported to be or do was not the case, that in whole or in part their existence was based on tax-avoidance schemes or to create sinecure(s) for the operators of the non-profit rather than provide a real cost effective service to their claimed constituency.
In one case, I came to believe that I was personally at risk if there was an IRS compliance audit because I could be seen to have sufficient information about the organization and operation to be complicit in its bad faith dealing. I left them as quickly as I discovered what I believed to be bad behavior. They had me fooled for quite a while in some cases because they talked a good game, had public and local press support: in effect very good self promotion for unquestionably good causes, were they on the up and up. In all cases they had never undergone a critical outside examination of their financials and operations.
Since that point, I have been very cautious about what kinds of organizations I've been willing to work with. Though I still work with some small non-profits that I've had relationships with for years, I mostly turn away requests from these types of organizations because my experience suggests that a disproportionate number are something other than what they purport to be or that their expense ratios far outweigh the good they purport to do. I now confine my volunteer work to QGOs, such as state chartered volunteer fire departments. The regulatory oversight is better, the paid professionals are better at what they do and the financial controls are very public.
... Extraordinary Rendition, then professional spammers in foreign countries is it.
Given that law enforcement in Russia is not helpful in getting spammers shut down, at least, and better prosecuted, then the remedy should be to just go in and get 'em and deliver 'em to GitMo.
Note: I do not support unconstitutional means nor violating international treaties in any way. However, since it's on the books, use it where it is necessary.
Degree or not. I'd say it depends on a several factors.
First, and probably the most important, I believe, is how bright (IQ) you are. I'd say that you might fare better over the long term with a degree if you IQ is 120 or less. Less than 110, then consider a different career.
Second, is your personal learning style. If you learn best in a classroom setting, then the degree is probably the way to go. If you can RTFM and figure it out yourself, then you may do fine without.
Third, is your overall career goal. Sysadmin is a good start and pays well enough. If you think you'll do your entire career in sysadmin or operations management, then no degree might be OK. If you see yourself designing and coding software of some significant complexity, or managing software development then the degree is probably a good idea.
Fourth, is the curriculum you plan to study if you pursue the degree. If your aspirations are toward software development and design, then the curriculum should have courses specific to that career direction. I do not mean programming language courses, but theory courses such as analysis of algorithms, discrete math for comp-sci, and the like.
From my own personal experience, a high school dropout with a GED, there were times over a 30-something year career where I faced software development issues where I knew the degree, at least some very specific knowledge during the pursuit of the degree would have helped a lot. There was one assignment where my employer told me to go buy the books, take 3 months to learn the pre-requisite theory (on their nickle), find a mentor among my peers, then do the job. I did exactly that, but that was a good employer and I had a good track record with them.
There were at least two jobs I did not get because I did not have a degree. In retrospect, those two jobs would not have benefited my career anyway, but there were doors closed because I did not have the degree.
Given my career goals, given the advances in compsci over the years, given the kinds of jobs I had, the degree would have been a good thing. Then again, at the time I was of age to have gone to college (1963), there was no compsci, or IT focused degree.
On reflection, at the time I retired (2001) I'd say that there were, and still are, some holes in my software development education. Had I been able to pursue the degree when I was younger, I might have taken a different path through my career. That path not taken may, or may not, have made a difference in job choices, money made, my personal legacy,... whatever. At this point, it's moot. For you, however, your decision now will influence your long term career outcome.
The typical scenario is: Some pressure group presses congress (any legislative entity) to pass some law that even the average non-lawyer can see is unconstitutional on its face.
Some other entity sues to block enforcement and otherwise invalidate the law.
The Supreme Court rules the law unconstitutional and the law is invalidated.
What troubles me is that nobody is sanctioned for the constitutional violation. The legislator that proposed the law does not go to jail. The legislators that voted for it do not go to jail. The pressure group, and all its members, do not go to jail. -- WTF is wrong with this picture! -- You'd think that since virtually all members of congress and the senate are lawyers by training and trade, that they'd know better.
Free speech is one thing. Violating the constitution to get a tyrany of the majority, or at the squeaky wheel, is just plain wrong and amounts to treason.
Am I alone here? I could be wrong, of course. Does anyone else think this way?
OK, I'm old (63). When I was of age to go to grammar school and high school I had the privilege of going to a boys' military boarding school. Yeah, not the best nurturing environment and that experience has left some marks. However, the philosophy was to teach to the top. That philosophy was made clear to all.
The environment was self selecting, at least by parents of the students. There was a high value attached to academic achievement. As a result, there was near zero harassment for having high grades. Even the jocks encouraged the real nerds.
Here's the kicker. In 1968 I went to CCNY. At the time I was an EE major. The curriculum required "Chemistry for Science Majors", not to be confused with the general chemistry course then required of liberal arts majors euphemistically titled "Chemistry for Poets". The required text for the Chemistry for Science Majors was the same text I had in high school. Two semesters of college chemistry was a piece of cake as a result of my high school experience. The same material at the same depth.
I've had a dim view of public education since. It is as if they have a captive audience. The various pressures on schools, such as NCLB, special education for the bottom, focus on sports, parental uninvolvement is a national disgrace.
I do not have an answer that democratic processes will tolerate, however. So, I'll just STFU now and go back to enjoying my retirement.
I bought a new WhiteBox desktop PC in the summer of 2007. I bought it specifically to run desktop Linux with no intent to ever run Windows. So, rather than looking at any of the name-brand vendors, I had exactly what I wanted, built to order by Central Computers in Santa Clara California. The good news is that I did NOT have to pay the Microsoft tax. Better still is that the price was right.
When I lived in Santa Clara (until 2001) I had good experiences with Central Computers. So, I had no reservations about buying a built to order box from them via mail order (really: online). They shipped all the parcels such that a casual observer would not know the contents were high value electronics. [I don't know if that is their policy or just luck of the draw]. Ubuntu installed and ran out of the box. No magic or hand waving required. I'm very happy with the outcome.
I have bought 2 laptops from Dell in the last 2 years for household members. In both cases I had to pay the Microsoft tax. Rumor has it that Dell makes getting the Microsoft tax refund time consuming even if you know the magic incantations. So, I didn't even attempt it. On both laptops I had to research and download drivers for non-standard crappy parts; product differentiation is a bitch. Ugh! In the end I was left with further resentment of Microsoft and Dell and a personal vow that if ever there is a reasonable ($) vendor for laptops that does not charge the Microsoft tax, they get my business.
Once upon a time I was a completely unknown, but reasonably competent, software developer. I worked for a big mainframe maker. The software I worked on was proprietery and completely invisible.
Many suspected mainframes were all but history. I decided to learn to write for a different platform: PC, Unix. So, I bought a PC, taught myself C/C++. Now what? There was a open source project whose software I used. I felt it needed a big feature. The author wasn't interested in doing it, but was very helpful in getting me started on interfacing with it. I ended up writing a big plugin for it.
That piece of work gave me some personal visibility and credibility in the open source community, and a "portfolio". When the layoffs happened, because of my work on the project, I knew some folks at a shrinkwrap software company. My "portfolio", a demonstrated ability, got me a job with the shrinkwrap company. --- My old employer, the mainframe maker, spiraled down the bowl into oblivion.
The point of the story is that the software I wrote in the FOSS model didn't make any money for me, but it gave me, an introvert with little public persona, nor desire to have one, visibility and credibility to those who would hire me.
I could go on for quite a while about TV news, but to what end. I just don't watch much of anything calling itself "news" from the mainstream news media anymore.
My epiphany came about 1995 or so. It seems that a former (1970s vintage) acquaintance committed some dastardly deed. It was the rage in the national news for a while. A short time later I was contacted by a reporter from "BigMedia". They wanted to interview me about my acquaintance. Fool! I agreed.
A reporter came to my house. We talked for 30 minutes or more. What showed up in the newspapers was a single statement, taken out of context, presented in the most unfavorable light, essentially libeling me and my acquaintance.
I called my lawyer. He laughed at my story. He said: "They are in the entertainment industry, not the News industry. Learn your lesson and get over it".
He also suggested that I never talk to the media without a witness and without getting paid in advance for it.
I've learned my lesson.
I'm not a fan of the Head First series
on
Head First SQL
·
· Score: 1
JMHO.
I bought Head First Design Patterns a while ago as my introduction to design patterns. It must be me by I thought the writing a bit condescending. It seemed to presume I had a learning disability of some sort that they had to take extraordinary steps to over come. I found it difficult to get by the verbosity and reiterative style. I've browsed others in the series with the same impression.
After giving up on Head First Design Patterns, I acquired Gamma, et al, "Design Patterns...". This suited me better. Direct, to the point.
Do others perceive the Head First books as I did? Am I over reacting to the authors' intent to address different learning styles?
Home made lap desk
on
Lap Desks
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Once upon a time I used a lap desk regularly, long before there were laptop computers. It was pretty big and rested its edges on the arms of my easy chair. That lap desk is long gone now.
I recently got laptops for my SO and self. We sit on a loveseat in the living room in front of the TV in the evening, with laptops, reading the news and doing correnspondence. We both decided we needed lap desks. Here's what we did:
I found pieces of peg-board in the scrap heap. I cut two pieces 12"x24". My SO got some drapery fabric from her scrap heap and some pillow stuffing material. She used a hot glue gun to make an angled pillow on one side of the peg-board, with the fabric wrapping around, attaching to the opposite side of the peg-board. Using the hot glue gun, she attached mouse pads at the right spots to the peg-board.
The angled pillow keeps the computer at the correct angle for comfortable use. The pillow also keeps the heat from the laptops from heating up our legs. This seems to work well for us.
I have no idea who Evans Data is, but the report referenced by the article reminds me a lot of the studies that Microsoft has paid for. As in: "He who pays the piper calls the tune".
Even if the data are correct, I'd suggest that there simply has not been sufficient time since GPL3 has come into being for new releases, hence new licensing, to have adopted it.
Before we get all gooey over Sony's new kit, let's not forget Sony's rootkit on audio CDs. What's actually worse than the rootkit itself is that Sony did not agree in the settlement they would not do it again. Then they buy legislation exempting themselves from lawsuits when they do do it again.
Sony is on my vendor blacklist for a long, long time because of this.
I bought a Toshiba laptop in April 2007. I had no choice but take Vista. I got the home basic version, the cheapest. Toshiba's terms of sale explicitly say that you cannot return the software for refund; the OS is explicitly mentioned.
When it arrived I booted it to Vista briefly out of curiousity, with the network disabled. I was not impressed. I did not register it.
I then installed Ubuntu 7.04 on it, wiping out Vista completely. So, here's at least one "sale" of Vista that will never run on a machine for which it was sold.
How many others might there be? I can personally count two "windows appliance operators" from my family and limited circle of aquaintances.
They did essentially as I did with their new machines: wipe it clean and install Ubuntu. I gladly helped with the application conversions. Both are very happy with Ubuntu.
A side note: A few years ago, I quit providing "windows tech support" to all but my closest family. I'm convinced that by doing this I caused at least one former Windows user to abandon XP for Linux. I have now given notice to all my family that I will not provide any windows support after September 2007, including conversion support(!). I know with certainty that this will cause one additional Linux switch, the last windows user in my household. -- Coercion has an elegance all its own.
I think you either misunderstand the circumstance or are intentionally trying to mislead the readers.
Although I don't much care for AboveNet's own persistent spammers, the ones no amount of complaining will get killed, I cannot support your whine. Here's my thoughts on the subject.
AboveNet has elected to use an RBL like thingie to block all traffic to listed IP addresses.
Your IP address is among those addresses. For whatever reasons, AboveNet thinks that the owners of those IP addresses are bad-guys, for some definition of bad-guys.
Your ISP, or did you mean hosting provider, is listed among the blocked IP addresses. Careful distinction here: your ISP (or hosting provider) is blocked, not your IP address specifically.
Some DNSbls block whole ranges of IP addresses belonging to an ISP (or really whoever owns the block) because those owners often move a pet spammer to evade blocking. Many network admins simply block the entire range. I block, and never less than a/24.
So, my suggestion to you is to get a new ISP or hosting provider. Quit whining and take action.
Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft, your officers and directors and your senior managers,
I hate your fucking guts. Something about "cut off Netscape's air supply".
I have not used a Microsoft product since 2000. Nothing, nada.
I have converted more desktops to Linux since 2007 than you sold licenses for Windows ME.
I have converted one school district to Linux. Now there are several more school districts looking at that conversion: lower equipment costs (WinXP to Linux, same equipment), lower (zero) license costs, lower tech support costs, near zero malware remediation costs, ...
I hope to live long enough to see you in Chapter 7. Given your track record in recent years, I may get to see it.
FOAD!
That's why.
Just one phrase: "Adria Richards"
Did he or didn't he? I don't know.
Is she telling it like it is? I don't know.
http://www.cotwa.info/
There's just too much other stuff to rely on a single person's allegations as evidence enough to convict.
you have been warned
OK, just speculating. Tin-foil hat firmly in place.
I wonder if Conficker is a government (which government?) black-ops project disguised to look like organized crime?
The technology looks pretty sharp to me. Not to discount the skills and ability of any competent software developers, but ... I smell a rat.
Just idle, hypervigilant speculation!! ... Please! DHS, NSA, CIA, FBI, SS(Treasury), et al. I'm just speculating!
Given Microsoft's propensity to undermine any potential conversion to open source software by big government, such as by: going over the head of proposers; spreading FUD about the proposer; getting proposers fired; paying people with influence (like legislators and regulators) to get the proposal blocked; subverting standards processes; and other monopolistic practices ... does anyone but me think that Microsoft might try the same things here?
Given that the dollar amounts at stake are so large and the prestige of an open source win and the damage to Microsoft, does anyone also speculate that Microsoft might go so far as to have Obama, McNealy, and others killed to prevent it from happening?
Again, I'm just speculating!!
There are lots and lots of opportunities to "give back" using one's technical skills. There is everything from Linux User Groups (LUGs) Install fest assistance; open-source projects of all kinds doing programming, documentation, testing, and other activities; developing software and/or IT infrastructure for non-profits, NGOs and QGOs.
I have been involved in this kind of thing for a number of years. In that time I've had mostly good experiences. There have been a few occasions where I felt compelled to withdraw my support from some organizations when, after working with them for a while, I came to believe that what they purported to be or do was not the case, that in whole or in part their existence was based on tax-avoidance schemes or to create sinecure(s) for the operators of the non-profit rather than provide a real cost effective service to their claimed constituency.
In one case, I came to believe that I was personally at risk if there was an IRS compliance audit because I could be seen to have sufficient information about the organization and operation to be complicit in its bad faith dealing. I left them as quickly as I discovered what I believed to be bad behavior. They had me fooled for quite a while in some cases because they talked a good game, had public and local press support: in effect very good self promotion for unquestionably good causes, were they on the up and up. In all cases they had never undergone a critical outside examination of their financials and operations.
Since that point, I have been very cautious about what kinds of organizations I've been willing to work with. Though I still work with some small non-profits that I've had relationships with for years, I mostly turn away requests from these types of organizations because my experience suggests that a disproportionate number are something other than what they purport to be or that their expense ratios far outweigh the good they purport to do. I now confine my volunteer work to QGOs, such as state chartered volunteer fire departments. The regulatory oversight is better, the paid professionals are better at what they do and the financial controls are very public.
Of course, YMMV. Of course, I could be wrong.
... Extraordinary Rendition, then professional spammers in foreign countries is it.
Given that law enforcement in Russia is not helpful in getting spammers shut down, at least, and better prosecuted, then the remedy should be to just go in and get 'em and deliver 'em to GitMo.
Note: I do not support unconstitutional means nor violating international treaties in any way. However, since it's on the books, use it where it is necessary.
The what?
http://www.no-spec.com/
This tells all.
Degree or not. I'd say it depends on a several factors.
First, and probably the most important, I believe, is how bright (IQ) you are. I'd say that you might fare better over the long term with a degree if you IQ is 120 or less. Less than 110, then consider a different career.
Second, is your personal learning style. If you learn best in a classroom setting, then the degree is probably the way to go. If you can RTFM and figure it out yourself, then you may do fine without.
Third, is your overall career goal. Sysadmin is a good start and pays well enough. If you think you'll do your entire career in sysadmin or operations management, then no degree might be OK. If you see yourself designing and coding software of some significant complexity, or managing software development then the degree is probably a good idea.
Fourth, is the curriculum you plan to study if you pursue the degree. If your aspirations are toward software development and design, then the curriculum should have courses specific to that career direction. I do not mean programming language courses, but theory courses such as analysis of algorithms, discrete math for comp-sci, and the like.
From my own personal experience, a high school dropout with a GED, there were times over a 30-something year career where I faced software development issues where I knew the degree, at least some very specific knowledge during the pursuit of the degree would have helped a lot. There was one assignment where my employer told me to go buy the books, take 3 months to learn the pre-requisite theory (on their nickle), find a mentor among my peers, then do the job. I did exactly that, but that was a good employer and I had a good track record with them.
There were at least two jobs I did not get because I did not have a degree. In retrospect, those two jobs would not have benefited my career anyway, but there were doors closed because I did not have the degree.
Given my career goals, given the advances in compsci over the years, given the kinds of jobs I had, the degree would have been a good thing. Then again, at the time I was of age to have gone to college (1963), there was no compsci, or IT focused degree.
On reflection, at the time I retired (2001) I'd say that there were, and still are, some holes in my software development education. Had I been able to pursue the degree when I was younger, I might have taken a different path through my career. That path not taken may, or may not, have made a difference in job choices, money made, my personal legacy, ... whatever. At this point, it's moot. For you, however, your decision now will influence your long term career outcome.
JMHO, YMMV.
The typical scenario is:
Some pressure group presses congress (any legislative entity) to pass some law that even the average non-lawyer can see is unconstitutional on its face.
Some other entity sues to block enforcement and otherwise invalidate the law.
The Supreme Court rules the law unconstitutional and the law is invalidated.
What troubles me is that nobody is sanctioned for the constitutional violation. The legislator that proposed the law does not go to jail. The legislators that voted for it do not go to jail. The pressure group, and all its members, do not go to jail. -- WTF is wrong with this picture! -- You'd think that since virtually all members of congress and the senate are lawyers by training and trade, that they'd know better.
Free speech is one thing. Violating the constitution to get a tyrany of the majority, or at the squeaky wheel, is just plain wrong and amounts to treason.
Am I alone here? I could be wrong, of course. Does anyone else think this way?
OK, I'm old (63). When I was of age to go to grammar school and high school I had the privilege of going to a boys' military boarding school. Yeah, not the best nurturing environment and that experience has left some marks. However, the philosophy was to teach to the top. That philosophy was made clear to all.
The environment was self selecting, at least by parents of the students. There was a high value attached to academic achievement. As a result, there was near zero harassment for having high grades. Even the jocks encouraged the real nerds.
Here's the kicker. In 1968 I went to CCNY. At the time I was an EE major. The curriculum required "Chemistry for Science Majors", not to be confused with the general chemistry course then required of liberal arts majors euphemistically titled "Chemistry for Poets". The required text for the Chemistry for Science Majors was the same text I had in high school. Two semesters of college chemistry was a piece of cake as a result of my high school experience. The same material at the same depth.
I've had a dim view of public education since. It is as if they have a captive audience. The various pressures on schools, such as NCLB, special education for the bottom, focus on sports, parental uninvolvement is a national disgrace.
I do not have an answer that democratic processes will tolerate, however. So, I'll just STFU now and go back to enjoying my retirement.
I bought a new WhiteBox desktop PC in the summer of 2007. I bought it specifically to run desktop Linux with no intent to ever run Windows. So, rather than looking at any of the name-brand vendors, I had exactly what I wanted, built to order by Central Computers in Santa Clara California. The good news is that I did NOT have to pay the Microsoft tax. Better still is that the price was right.
When I lived in Santa Clara (until 2001) I had good experiences with Central Computers. So, I had no reservations about buying a built to order box from them via mail order (really: online). They shipped all the parcels such that a casual observer would not know the contents were high value electronics. [I don't know if that is their policy or just luck of the draw]. Ubuntu installed and ran out of the box. No magic or hand waving required. I'm very happy with the outcome.
I have bought 2 laptops from Dell in the last 2 years for household members. In both cases I had to pay the Microsoft tax. Rumor has it that Dell makes getting the Microsoft tax refund time consuming even if you know the magic incantations. So, I didn't even attempt it. On both laptops I had to research and download drivers for non-standard crappy parts; product differentiation is a bitch. Ugh! In the end I was left with further resentment of Microsoft and Dell and a personal vow that if ever there is a reasonable ($) vendor for laptops that does not charge the Microsoft tax, they get my business.
Here's how I did it.
Once upon a time I was a completely unknown, but reasonably competent, software developer. I worked for a big mainframe maker. The software I worked on was proprietery and completely invisible.
Many suspected mainframes were all but history. I decided to learn to write for a different platform: PC, Unix. So, I bought a PC, taught myself C/C++. Now what? There was a open source project whose software I used. I felt it needed a big feature. The author wasn't interested in doing it, but was very helpful in getting me started on interfacing with it. I ended up writing a big plugin for it.
That piece of work gave me some personal visibility and credibility in the open source community, and a "portfolio". When the layoffs happened, because of my work on the project, I knew some folks at a shrinkwrap software company. My "portfolio", a demonstrated ability, got me a job with the shrinkwrap company. --- My old employer, the mainframe maker, spiraled down the bowl into oblivion.
The point of the story is that the software I wrote in the FOSS model didn't make any money for me, but it gave me, an introvert with little public persona, nor desire to have one, visibility and credibility to those who would hire me.
That may work for you too.
I could go on for quite a while about TV news, but to what end. I just don't watch much of anything calling itself "news" from the mainstream news media anymore.
My epiphany came about 1995 or so. It seems that a former (1970s vintage) acquaintance committed some dastardly deed. It was the rage in the national news for a while. A short time later I was contacted by a reporter from "BigMedia". They wanted to interview me about my acquaintance. Fool! I agreed.
A reporter came to my house. We talked for 30 minutes or more. What showed up in the newspapers was a single statement, taken out of context, presented in the most unfavorable light, essentially libeling me and my acquaintance.
I called my lawyer. He laughed at my story. He said: "They are in the entertainment industry, not the News industry. Learn your lesson and get over it".
He also suggested that I never talk to the media without a witness and without getting paid in advance for it.
I've learned my lesson.
JMHO.
...". This suited me better. Direct, to the point.
I bought Head First Design Patterns a while ago as my introduction to design patterns. It must be me by I thought the writing a bit condescending. It seemed to presume I had a learning disability of some sort that they had to take extraordinary steps to over come. I found it difficult to get by the verbosity and reiterative style. I've browsed others in the series with the same impression.
After giving up on Head First Design Patterns, I acquired Gamma, et al, "Design Patterns
Do others perceive the Head First books as I did? Am I over reacting to the authors' intent to address different learning styles?
Once upon a time I used a lap desk regularly, long before there were laptop computers. It was pretty big and rested its edges on the arms of my easy chair. That lap desk is long gone now.
I recently got laptops for my SO and self. We sit on a loveseat in the living room in front of the TV in the evening, with laptops, reading the news and doing correnspondence. We both decided we needed lap desks. Here's what we did:
I found pieces of peg-board in the scrap heap. I cut two pieces 12"x24". My SO got some drapery fabric from her scrap heap and some pillow stuffing material. She used a hot glue gun to make an angled pillow on one side of the peg-board, with the fabric wrapping around, attaching to the opposite side of the peg-board. Using the hot glue gun, she attached mouse pads at the right spots to the peg-board.
The angled pillow keeps the computer at the correct angle for comfortable use. The pillow also keeps the heat from the laptops from heating up our legs. This seems to work well for us.
Zend gives aid and comfort to the enemy.
Methinks it's all over but the funeral for FOSS.
I still have a Pickett metal slide rule with the yellow, not white, background color. I got it in 1964 when I went to tech school.
I also have a little gadget called an Addiator, a mechanical thingie that does addition and subtraction. They are both in the memorabilia box.
These days I use electronic calculators.
Yes, I'm that old.
I have no idea who Evans Data is, but the report referenced by the article reminds me a lot of the studies that Microsoft has paid for. As in: "He who pays the piper calls the tune".
Even if the data are correct, I'd suggest that there simply has not been sufficient time since GPL3 has come into being for new releases, hence new licensing, to have adopted it.
Of course, YMMV, ICBW, and all that.
Before we get all gooey over Sony's new kit, let's not forget Sony's rootkit on audio CDs. What's actually worse than the rootkit itself is that Sony did not agree in the settlement they would not do it again. Then they buy legislation exempting themselves from lawsuits when they do do it again.
Sony is on my vendor blacklist for a long, long time because of this.
I bought a Toshiba laptop in April 2007. I had no choice but take Vista. I got the home basic version, the cheapest. Toshiba's terms of sale explicitly say that you cannot return the software for refund; the OS is explicitly mentioned.
When it arrived I booted it to Vista briefly out of curiousity, with the network disabled. I was not impressed. I did not register it.
I then installed Ubuntu 7.04 on it, wiping out Vista completely. So, here's at least one "sale" of Vista that will never run on a machine for which it was sold.
How many others might there be? I can personally count two "windows appliance operators" from my family and limited circle of aquaintances. They did essentially as I did with their new machines: wipe it clean and install Ubuntu. I gladly helped with the application conversions. Both are very happy with Ubuntu.
A side note: A few years ago, I quit providing "windows tech support" to all but my closest family. I'm convinced that by doing this I caused at least one former Windows user to abandon XP for Linux. I have now given notice to all my family that I will not provide any windows support after September 2007, including conversion support(!). I know with certainty that this will cause one additional Linux switch, the last windows user in my household. -- Coercion has an elegance all its own.
... "Do no evil?"
Every doubleclick host that I can identify is permanently blocked here for web bugs and Dartmail. I don't see that changing any time soon, either.
One could hope that Google will change Doubleclick's behavior before putting their own name on the services.
Change your state of record.
Texas is Good.
Alaska is better. Alaska pays you.
United States Constitution trumps Washington State law.
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html
Section 9.
"No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State."
There is court precedence to back it up, too.
http://tinyurl.com/2pyvoh
I think you either misunderstand the circumstance or are intentionally trying to mislead the readers.
/24.
Although I don't much care for AboveNet's own persistent spammers, the ones no amount of complaining will get killed, I cannot support your whine. Here's my thoughts on the subject.
AboveNet has elected to use an RBL like thingie to block all traffic to listed IP addresses.
Your IP address is among those addresses.
For whatever reasons, AboveNet thinks that the owners of those IP addresses are bad-guys, for some definition of bad-guys.
Your ISP, or did you mean hosting provider, is listed among the blocked IP addresses. Careful distinction here: your ISP (or hosting provider) is blocked, not your IP address specifically.
Some DNSbls block whole ranges of IP addresses belonging to an ISP (or really whoever owns the block) because those owners often move a pet spammer to evade blocking. Many network admins simply block the entire range. I block, and never less than a
So, my suggestion to you is to get a new ISP or hosting provider. Quit whining and take action.