"// Would somebody please explain this to governments around the world? One day the companies will be TOO BIG to enforce anything upon!//
Not true, governments have guns. I doubt seriously any business is going to be able to fight that."
Skewed reasoning here IMHO!
Governments do indeed have guns but THEY don't manufacture them..they buy them, by contract...from ummm Companies/businesses.
Where do retired Government big shots go when they have run out of political options? Why, to the boards of large businesses/Corp's/companies.
And to believe that their ethics and power lust suddenly change is pretty much wishful thinking.
again IMHO, it's just the same old dogs of war congragated in new backyards.
But then, being an old hippy radical, I have yet to be convinced by any thing I have seen in the last 40 years that a previous poster is wrong in suggesting we remember "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts ABSOLUTEY"
Everything that was done in the name of protest did NOT work in the 60's but SOME protests certainly did!
Maybe saying we stopped a war in the 60's is TOO MUCH to claim but the protests certainly made the country aware of the reality of that war. To say that protest was NOT a huge part of addressing the injustice of segragation is just wrong!
The American People rose up and said "this is wrong"! Protest in the news, the streets and even within their own homes drove them to the voters booth and changed the awareness of an entire nation.
Were the protests of the 60's all clean, neat and tidy? No! They sure worked tho and a Nation began a long overdue change that continues today!
The way an old hippy sees it is all government will do things their own way until such time as a large, highly visable and vocal portion of the governed rear up and demand change!
In the last 40 years we have become more inclined to bow to the current pc (don't make waves) and less inclined to put it all on the line and say " hell no! we won't go "!
Frankly! I'm proud to say....those of us who were there stood up and were counted. As a result....we helped stopped a vicious and useless war.
At least one local T.V station in my area has announced that 'THEY' will no longer cover national school violence. They will not show photos, name people or further the 'hype' as they do not wish to perpetuate the copy cats. After the last 2 California events our local schools had at least four 'threats'. Perhaps if more of the media would quit turning these events into 'Reality TV', the escalation would stop!
"There's a big difference between staging a sit-in and defacing someone's property. I'm bothered by the trend torwards destructive behavior in the name of civil disobedience. It is totally unacceptable"
Well, that has always been THE problem. Back in the 60's and early 70's, many sit-in's and civil disobedience turned into Violence and the defacing of property. For years after the war was finally over, Californian voters refused to raise taxes to build necessary new schools based on "why should we build more when they burn or destroy the ones we have".
It is impossible to control those who prefer violence even when they are suporting the same cause you are.
To seperate the alturistic 'white hat HACKER' from the damage done by the "my way or the Highway Cracker' is NOT likely and the bad guys get ALL THE PRESS.
The protesters of the 60's were all labeled 'UNAMERICAN' and were looked upon by the majority of the population as rabid radicals, due to the 'Burn Baby Burn' crackers of our time.
"All of these new PC Appliances require software to be written for them in order to perform anything useful."
And the people who write for them are the very people who have been the developers of all that we have, see and use 'Today'
I don't believe that these minds will be lulled into the senselessness to shoot themselves in the foot either. I think the 'knowing' would revert to the old 're-route around' plan.
I think big business and the governments FORGET who gave them this explosion of technology. One day the developers of both hardware and software around the world might wake up and say "enough"! There well could come a time to remind the puffed up Executives and Govt. Officials just exactly who conceived it, evolved it and makes it do all the spiffy things that pay their paychecks.
Unlike the old Union issues, the fat cats can't use lesser developers to replace those who are or could be the real movers and shakers. The product would be of lesser quality and the real big boys would be able to provide a much superior product either independently or for a more enlightened Company or Govt.
The E-commies are dropping fast and furious and I for one think the shake out is Hopeful at least and Preferable at best!
Gleaning real information from propaganda has gotten more and more time consuming and has led me further and further away from the big e-com sites.
I use sites like/. in order to allow the links attached to arguments to lead me to other takes on the issue under discussion.
Would I pay a small annual subscription? In a heartbeat!
Micro-payments, on the other hand could sneak up on you and you could find yourself paying for that entities Opinion. IMHO propaganda costs too much when it is free. I avoid those sites now and if I had to pay for the NY Times/CNN/ or their ilk, they would still never see me!
A local start up volunteer organization that I am involved with addresses part of this overall issue by setting up Free Computer Labs in various areas of need. It is staffed by volunteers and designed, not to supplement Education Resources, but to simply provide free training for all interested parties in the "Basic use of Computers". Teaching youngsters from the age of 6-11 and 12-18 the BASICS is our sole goal. We start with keyboarding, using a typing tutor to refine their skills. We go on to basic applications; notepad, word processing and help these people develop the skills to USE computers at school and in employment.
I worked at a local ISP, the oldest and largest in our area and you would be surprised how many employees were hired for general office work (Billing: A/R, A/P,Collections ), (Reception: Cashiering, transferring calls to proper tech positions) who had NO previous experience with computers. "How do I turn it on"? Really! They work for something barely above min. wage and leave one month after they feel they have acquired enough new skills to enable them to get a real job that pays a living wage. Turnover was awful, learning curves drove other employees insane but it was one of the few 'Training Grounds' available.
If you do not have at least some skills with a computer, you will find yourself limited to the fast food industry in manual labor positions only.
The program emphasizes that the labs are not Baby Sitting programs and if games are used they used as a 'time' respite reward for previous progress.
Keyboarding skills are one aspect of gaming that I have not heard any/.'rs recognize.
I think Government programs reek of conditions and interference that frequently just perpetuate the existing problems.
Our first use of volunteers was to 'train' teachers. If it took 40 hours to create a computer literate teacher, they committed 80 hours of teaching to the program.
At the ISP, we offered teachers a 50%discount when they signed up on line and you would be amazed how many were totally DUH! about even the sign up process.
That is precisely why I got involved in a volunteer organization! We teach teachers to teach kids! When our volunteer efforts stop being effective, the program will die a natural death of apathy. This is quite unlike the Educators who can retain their positions even though their students can't read when they graduate from high school or the bureaucrats who can't be replaced until they die.
quote: "If you live in the US, how often are you asked for your social security number? And how often is it requested by a non-government agency? As an example, I recently had an eye exam. They requested my SSN and driver license number. (I gave them neither.) Why do they think its their business to ask for that information? Social security is for retirement (and taxes). The use of social security numbers by government agencies or private companies is not required or forbidden by law. Citizens of the US are not even required to have a SSN. These days, however, it has become a personal identification number. It is now used in public schools and universities as a student number. Banks require it to open accounts or issue credit cards. Ask yourself if any why this is wrong."
OK! This is a perfect example of how our rights are slowly, imperceptibly rendered useless. So, in the 50's and 60's only employers got our social security number and we accepted that as in our best interest so that we could reap the benefits of the social security program in our later years. When medical facilities began to demand the SS number, it was related to Medicare patients and the need to identify those who were entitled to benefits. When did banks, U-haul storage, Car Rental agencies, Insurance companies, home and Apartment rental agencies credit collection agencies prove to the American people that THEY (merchants/Big Business) had a right to our personal information?
Why didn't we 'just say NO'?
Last year, I went to a u-haul storage location to rent a storage unit in the town where I had just moved. They DEMANDED a thumb print! I refused! They refused me use of the facility! I found one that did NOT make such an outlandish demand and rented space there.
Next, I went to a local bank and tried to open a checking account with a certified check from my credit union in another state. I had been in town, 72 hours. THEY demanded: 1. A thumbprint AND #2 a local I.D./Local State Drivers License. I REFUSED! And went elsewhere. My current bank took my measly $3500. opened a checking account, verified my identify with my out of state Drivers License Picture.
The irony of this consistent attitude that their business rights are more valid then my personal rights struck my adult son as "Geesh! Mom, you are SUCH a radical"!
Oh Well! My DNA, is mine! And radical or not...
I am still just saying "NO"! And moving on!
Unfortunately, too many sheep give up one right at a time until one day they wake up and they have NONE left!
re: Umm... A lot of the behavior that makes an animal what it is and enables it to survive is taught to it by it's mother. i.e. a cat not raised by it's mother often doesn't know how to hunt. I'm not sure quite how they'd get around that...
Not quite accurate! Obviously you have not done much animal rescue work. After raising dozens and dozens of feral kittens, I came to realize that covering up their litter boxes with throw rugs,towels, anything they could move was a variation on 'wild survival instincts' (covering their scent). They do the same with food containers. NOT some of them, but the majority of them!
Much more behavior is inherited then you would think. Again, Real Life example: A male German Shepherd, with all the right stuff for working, intelligence and stature drove it's owners nuts with a weird habit of putting his 2 front feet in any reachable source of water and spending insane amounts of energy trying to dig it empty. At their pool he would step down the first step and dig, throwing water endlessly on the deck. My females produced two litters from this male and as luck would have it, I also had a pool. Ironically, puppies from both litters who NEVER even saw their male parent DID the precise same thing. Their mother did not!
Baby skunks raised from birth on eyedroppers and canned cat food, trained to kitty litter boxes, taken outside to play, will turn over rocks and joyfully munch on large ugly black crunchy beetles. You do not have to teach them to hunt. They are natural mousers.
Having said that, I tend to agree that providing a duplicate environment for a species far removed from the condition of the planet at this point in time and space is pretty nearly hopeless. The resulting cloned animal is going to be hard pressed to deal with the toxins of this era.
No signing anything! Picked up four of them the other day and actually had to remind the clerk to give us 'catalogs'! He just handed them over and asked for our addy's like Radio Shack always does.
No mention at all of it's use being ONLY for some specific purpose... The guy actually had to hunt up the 4th catalog, ending up giving us the one off their own counter to satisfy OUR REQUEST one for each Cat.
Linus worship? ummm... I don't think that is even valid.
#1. How about the fact that Paul Allen of previous MS fame and Bluetooth are purported to have invested in Transmeta?
#2. How about IBM and their purported investment in transmeta?
Now I don't know for a fact that either is true, but that information is of more validity to my interest in Transmeta then any 'Linus Mystique'.
Also, I too, am waiting to purchase a labtop until longer battery life and cooler running chips are available but last and not least..
Other then/.'ers, very few people I know can even pronounce Linus Torvalds name and the name 'Linux' properly so it seems improbable to me that Linus is quite the draw you seem to imply.
Just another opinion and we all know opinions are like AH's, everybody has one.;o)
"it's probably IPO Bait.. Weird that Transmeta "are about to announce" a relationship with AMD just before they plan to IPO on Thursday"
Ummm, I believe the article says "The chip makers are expected to soon announce the scope of cooperation, according to AMD chairman and CEO Jerry Sanders. However, Sanders remained mum on the details." (emphasis on 'AMD chairman and CEO Jerry Sanders')
"Has a law been passed that I'm not familiar with which outlaws such an action? If people aren't happy with their DSL service, why can't they just switch providers?"
I don't know where you live but here in my area we have One (1) telco. They are the only source of DSL and altho they have their own isp as well, the telco provides the hard wiring and the hardware. The local ISP's work with what they get.
Some are better and some are worse but none are worse then the local (Yes, the same company in this article) telco's isp.
And this is a civil lawsuit NOT a criminal case so it has nothing to do with any laws,only with the lack of integrity and honesty of the telco in question.
Nice theory but not at all likely to be implamented 'with your consent'. The problem with issues like this is they become the defacto standard. If you do NOT implictly consent...you are denied previous 'rights'.
Example (and yes, this is a US example). We have a large retailer in the US who advertises cheap but Nationaly recognized products (on highly visable T.V. commercials) using senior citizens as smiling, friendly greeters, checkers etc. Their prices are less as a whole and the less affluant do indeed shop there. These people also DO hire senior citizens who need to suppliment their less then livable social security incomes BUT, at what cost? Seniors paid pennies above US Federal minimum wage MUST submit to drug testing to be hired! DUH! So..don't like it, don't apply right? But how many of us, would pee in a cup to join the working poor for less the $6.50 @ hour with no benefits? Don't know about you but sharing my body fluids with an impersonal group of other low paid strangers strikes me as an unacceptable invasion of my privacy. Certainly NOT a protection from some obscure danger.
You go thru airport security with your 'Batman Factor' cool toys hooked to your belt...in the US, plan on having your leatherman confiscated. Yep! It is a weapon, not a tool! Sure if you come back thru that airport, perhaps you can retrieve it but, are you a terrorist? Who is being protected? When is the last time you heard of an airliner being hijacked by a leatherman weilding terrorist? Does anyone listen to your explanation that you are a computer tech and your handy little new Swiss Army knife is specifically designed to deal with small computer case screws? NOT LIKELY!
These issues are always reduced to dealing with the LEAST common denominator and as such, tend to erode your personal rights not uphold your security. Our lives are riddled with these small privacy invasions. Beware, more arriving every day!
Re:Guinness didn't want to be remembered for Obi W
on
Sir Alec Guinness Dies
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· Score: 1
Perhaps it was 'the generational' thing? People of the era were raised to do the work they were trained for and offered. Dollars lost were not considered recoverable. Turning it down would not have been preceived as 'an artistic statement' but more as 'prima donaish'.(wow! is that a real word? made my spell checker sputter!)
This was a man whose pride would insist on being the best he could be while still bringing home the bacon.
When a new toy appears and/. authors comment "Cool Toy" "Gotta have one". We all race to the latest link and check it out.
News Flash! THAT IS OPINION, not NEWS!
This is slashdot NOT ABC, NBC, CBS or FOX.
I get plenty of OPINION from those sources 24/7 and frankly, the reason I read/. is to balance my daily/weekly force feeding of propaganda, and opinion from the above sources I know are totally non reflective of my interests, beliefs, interests or concerns.
The only reason I 'DO' read the standard media is to keep aware of just exactly 'WHAT' those people are thinking and trying to feed the sheep that believe all that pap placed before them. I read Slashdot for the authors/editors and posters opinions of the latest issues because they inevitably include multiple links, insights, sources and prospective. Truth be known, Slashdot posters furnish the depth I utilize to judge an issue for myself.
I don't code, I don't do hardware, and I'm not an industry insider so I count on/. to provide the facts and commentary on issues that matter to me. I was there in the 60's (And YES! I do remember them) I am old enough to feel strongly that the communication tool the net provides is the most valuable contribution to our times and there is no question in my mind that the national media is hardly what I would hold up to Slashdot or many other like sites as an example of 'ethical'.
Really? How many AOL children do you suppose are readers of Slashdot?
Yes, I accept that there may be some (read: a rare few) but it seems readily apparent to me that those who are, no doubt are likely to be fairly advanced users already. They not doubt use AOL only because that is what is provided by their 'NOT' so aware parents. Reading of an AOL exploit here is probably 'old' news... conveyed by their equally astute net associates who turned them on to slashdot in the first place.
Frankly, Slashdot, whose membership consists of LOTS of parents, by publishing this info is doing exacly what I expect of them...making it's readership aware of tech exploits. You appreciate this when it is DECSS or the like.
Seems to me that just because the subject matter does not impress YOU, that is hardly reason to badmouth Slashdot for passing along info that may indeed, interest others regardless of your opinion of their level of expertise.
Perhaps the age group that was surveyed was just slightly too young to be focused and more likely to be into pretty clothes, fun parties and exciting group events. It seems likely to me that they find the idea of pounding a keyboard, writing code or re-assembling hardware just a tad dull....right now!
Most of the females where I work were not formally educated in computer science but happened to be where the action was taking place and took advantage of the opportunities offered.
Most of those have taken web based classes or have gone back to college for specific courses to increase their productivity or their potential for promotion
Like myself, I know lots of females, most of them in their 30's plus, who wouldn't work in any other field.
"For all of us, "property" rights are well understood and universally accepted. You own a home. You own a car. They're yours - they belong to you. They are your property. Well, your ideas belong to you, too. And "intellectual property" is property, period.
But there are those who believe that because technology can access property and appropriate it, then somehow that which is yours is no longer yours -because technology has made it simple and easy for someone else to take it from you.
If intellectual property is not protected - across the board, in every case, with no exceptions and no sophistry about a changing world - what will happen? Intellectual property will suffer the fate of the buffalo."
HUH? Lets see, I hire an architect to design a house for me..or I 'PAY' him for one of his designs and I begin building said house. Excuse me...this plan, (Intellectual Property) IS now mine, is it not?
Now that I have purchased 'this intellectual property', I decide to build another house in another state just like the one I have already built.
So, I use the same plan, I have already purchased and have multiple copies made for the craftsmen and suppliers in the new state. NOW I AM STEALING?
I have purchased 'intellectual property' that I am only allowed to use, one time in one place?
Note, I don't 'DO' music on my computer, but I do not see how selling a product gives someone lifetime rights to how and when that sold commodity can be used.
Am I just dense, or am I missing some weird kind of logic here?
Some of the superficial comments such as why would 'an Internet cafe' help underdeveloped starving populations seem to miss the reality of what technology could really accomplish in situations like this.
At least one person who posts on/. has a WebPage which I have seen as a/. link, which addresses exactly how useful minimal computer equipment with an extensive 'medical' database, can be in an isolated poor area where there are no medical facilities and only local, poorly trained medical practitioners. Her actions made it possible to access data that they would have no way of knowing or utilizing prior to her having done exactly what is being suggested by this group.
One centrally located connected computer in a severely depressed rural area could be utilized for more then ONE specific project. It could access medical, agricultural, educational, political and cultural information and act as effectively as the little red schoolhouse did in the early days of the American West.
Not only could our OLD technology teach a man to fish, but how to prepare the fish properly, how to compost, how to balance a diet and how to work smarter at fishing, farming and family planning.
Good for these guys! Wish I wasn't SOooo old and still so technologically inept! I'd volunteer in a heartbeat!
Well, perhaps reading more then just Michael's post/posts would indeed lead to drawing your own conclusions on this or any other article posted on/.
Seems to me that several different voices have contributed quite a few additional links to info which would encourage the average reader to do just that!
The author of any article speaks in his own voice and we the readers speak in ours, hopefully adding to the mix of facts with which, ultimately, we all gain a larger view of that which/. has offered up on our daily platter.
Personally, I look forward to these types of disagreements in anticipation of getting all the leads from all the voices. Then, I too, can make an 'informed' decision on a subject of major importance.
ahhh yes! The infamous rtfm line and for those who have difficulty with That, (perhaps 'no' nix commands experience), and who are seriously looking for just a couple of clues to the obtuse language of 'tfm' "Read ThisFM ".
What a helpful concept!
Been there! Done that! and was spoken to like I was a low grade Mongoloid Idiot.
Yep! I'm sure to return and try it again.
I need assistance, NOT abuse and after a long time of subjecting myself to one abusive experience after another in linux irc channels, I must say one must have a thick hide and a serious interest to find those generous souls who really want to help.
And yes! Finally I did find one! Slashnet! #linuxhelp 4 Welcome. Topic: Linux! Kernels- (Sta.: 2.2.15 Dev.: 2.3.99-pre6)
To those who Do help...this newbie say 'thanks all'
"Remember that Bill Gates didn't write DOS, he bought it. He didn't invent the interface, he copied it. He didn't invent any applications, he just copied and improved competing applications. If MS never existed, we'd be still have PC's, good apps, good OS's. We will never know what things would be like if MS hadn't been around."
I know! I was there and I remember. Yes, MS needed to have a wake up call. No! MS is not the great evil!
My Apple 11E and 'Applewriter' with Apple's HORRIBLE manuals gathered dust while I used my IBM Selective to do WORK until MS made it possible for the non-tech among you, like myself, to use one set of like procedures to make many apps work on their OS.
By W-95, my technical skills had improved enough to realize I did not need an OS to make all my decisions for me and had discovered that there was more then one way to skin a cat.
Early Netscape, Opera, many exploratory applications written for Windows, taught me different ways to do things and I began to resent MS bloat and control.
I started looking at Unix and Linux three years ago while really annoyed at MS. (Nix's = pretty intimidating) The overbearing MSIE that was next to impossible to rip off of my computer and conflicted with NS which was hugely more useful and flexible. I agreed that MS was being devious.
My next computer was designed with my needs ONLY in mind and I insisted on being able to dual boot W-98 and Linux. I was going to learn Linux and then drop kick MS....Yeah Sure! I did not want MSIE, (It was however, included) I wanted Netscape. I wanted a great printer, scanner, Fax, & a web camera so my adult kids could communicate real time with each other and most of all ADSL. Of course I wanted to network a couple of machines in the house together.
Well, trust me. It is a whole lot harder, less rewarding and very frustrating to accomplish this for we of the 'unwashed masses'!
#1. Netscape Stinks! It is slow/it hangs up and frankly now it is now part of, IMHO, the real Great Evil (TW/AOL)
#2. MSIE for the first time in many years makes other browsers look like dogs.
#3. Hardware problems are such fun (Modems in particular were Excedrin headache #1
#4. Support...Heh!!!! Lots of MS support sites on the web. Lots of the unwashed masses to help, give tips, talk/walk through problems. Linux? Ah yes, the infamous RTFM! duh! Well I have every site imaginable bookmarked (message boards/help site/ man pages etc but help? Sorry guys it ain't happening! Fragmentation of distros, Nix elitism, youthful prejudice (don't put Linux on your grandmas machine) and Yep! You won't like this but it is a fact...Women are either treated like idiots or...oh well, you DO know!
Frankly, while I struggle to glean enough direction and tips to make my Linux machine useful for my Needs, I find MS is my most useful 'Tool'.
Do I want to see them broken up...I don't know now! Am I glad Bill was smart enough to be in the right place at the right time with the right tools (DOS/a plan/and tough legal advisers) YEP!
Slashdot Mirror
"// Would somebody please explain this to governments around the world? One day the companies will be TOO BIG to enforce anything upon! //
Not true, governments have guns. I doubt seriously any business is going to be able to fight that."
Skewed reasoning here IMHO!
Governments do indeed have guns but THEY don't manufacture them..they buy them, by contract...from ummm Companies/businesses.
Where do retired Government big shots go when they have run out of political options? Why, to the boards of large businesses/Corp's/companies.
And to believe that their ethics and power lust suddenly change is pretty much wishful thinking.
again IMHO, it's just the same old dogs of war congragated in new backyards.
But then, being an old hippy radical, I have yet to be convinced by any thing I have seen in the last 40 years that a previous poster is wrong in suggesting we remember "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts ABSOLUTEY"
Oh Please!
Protests didn't work in the 60's?
Everything that was done in the name of protest did NOT work in the 60's but SOME protests certainly did!
Maybe saying we stopped a war in the 60's is TOO MUCH to claim but the protests certainly made the country aware of the reality of that war. To say that protest was NOT a huge part of addressing the injustice of segragation is just wrong!
The American People rose up and said "this is wrong"! Protest in the news, the streets and even within their own homes drove them to the voters booth and changed the awareness of an entire nation.
Were the protests of the 60's all clean, neat and tidy? No! They sure worked tho and a Nation began a long overdue change that continues today!
The way an old hippy sees it is all government will do things their own way until such time as a large, highly visable and vocal portion of the governed rear up and demand change!
In the last 40 years we have become more inclined to bow to the current pc (don't make waves) and less inclined to put it all on the line and say " hell no! we won't go "!
Frankly! I'm proud to say....those of us who were there stood up and were counted. As a result....we helped stopped a vicious and useless war.
At least one local T.V station in my area has announced that 'THEY' will no longer cover national school violence. They will not show photos, name people or further the 'hype' as they do not wish to perpetuate the copy cats. After the last 2 California events our local schools had at least four 'threats'. Perhaps if more of the media would quit turning these events into 'Reality TV', the escalation would stop!
"There's a big difference between staging a sit-in and defacing someone's property. I'm bothered by the trend torwards destructive behavior in the name of civil disobedience. It is totally unacceptable"
Well, that has always been THE problem. Back in the 60's and early 70's, many sit-in's and civil disobedience turned into Violence and the defacing of property. For years after the war was finally over, Californian voters refused to raise taxes to build necessary new schools based on "why should we build more when they burn or destroy the ones we have".
It is impossible to control those who prefer violence even when they are suporting the same cause you are.
To seperate the alturistic 'white hat HACKER' from the damage done by the "my way or the Highway Cracker' is NOT likely and the bad guys get ALL THE PRESS.
The protesters of the 60's were all labeled 'UNAMERICAN' and were looked upon by the majority of the population as rabid radicals, due to the 'Burn Baby Burn' crackers of our time.
"All of these new PC Appliances require software to be written for them in order to perform anything useful."
And the people who write for them are the very people who have been the developers of all that we have, see and use 'Today'
I don't believe that these minds will be lulled into the senselessness to shoot themselves in the foot either. I think the 'knowing' would revert to the old 're-route around' plan.
I think big business and the governments FORGET who gave them this explosion of technology. One day the developers of both hardware and software around the world might wake up and say "enough"! There well could come a time to remind the puffed up Executives and Govt. Officials just exactly who conceived it, evolved it and makes it do all the spiffy things that pay their paychecks.
Unlike the old Union issues, the fat cats can't use lesser developers to replace those who are or could be the real movers and shakers. The product would be of lesser quality and the real big boys would be able to provide a much superior product either independently or for a more enlightened Company or Govt.
The E-commies are dropping fast and furious and I for one think the shake out is Hopeful at least and Preferable at best!
Gleaning real information from propaganda has gotten more and more time consuming and has led me further and further away from the big e-com sites.
I use sites like
Would I pay a small annual subscription? In a heartbeat!
Micro-payments, on the other hand could sneak up on you and you could find yourself paying for that entities Opinion. IMHO propaganda costs too much when it is free. I avoid those sites now and if I had to pay for the NY Times/CNN/ or their ilk, they would still never see me!
A local start up volunteer organization that I am involved with addresses part of this overall issue by setting up Free Computer Labs in various areas of need. It is staffed by volunteers and designed, not to supplement Education Resources, but to simply provide free training for all interested parties in the "Basic use of Computers". Teaching youngsters from the age of 6-11 and 12-18 the BASICS is our sole goal. We start with keyboarding, using a typing tutor to refine their skills. We go on to basic applications; notepad, word processing and help these people develop the skills to USE computers at school and in employment.
/.'rs recognize.
I worked at a local ISP, the oldest and largest in our area and you would be surprised how many employees were hired for general office work (Billing: A/R, A/P,Collections ), (Reception: Cashiering, transferring calls to proper tech positions) who had NO previous experience with computers. "How do I turn it on"? Really! They work for something barely above min. wage and leave one month after they feel they have acquired enough new skills to enable them to get a real job that pays a living wage. Turnover was awful, learning curves drove other employees insane but it was one of the few 'Training Grounds' available.
If you do not have at least some skills with a computer, you will find yourself limited to the fast food industry in manual labor positions only.
The program emphasizes that the labs are not Baby Sitting programs and if games are used they used as a 'time' respite reward for previous progress.
Keyboarding skills are one aspect of gaming that I have not heard any
I think Government programs reek of conditions and interference that frequently just perpetuate the existing problems.
Our first use of volunteers was to 'train' teachers. If it took 40 hours to create a computer literate teacher, they committed 80 hours of teaching to the program.
At the ISP, we offered teachers a 50%discount when they signed up on line and you would be amazed how many were totally DUH! about even the sign up process.
That is precisely why I got involved in a volunteer organization! We teach teachers to teach kids! When our volunteer efforts stop being effective, the program will die a natural death of apathy. This is quite unlike the Educators who can retain their positions even though their students can't read when they graduate from high school or the bureaucrats who can't be replaced until they die.
quote: "If you live in the US, how often are you asked for your social security number? And how often is it requested by a non-government agency? As an example, I recently had an eye exam. They requested my SSN and driver license number. (I gave them neither.) Why do they think its their business to ask for that information? Social security is for retirement (and taxes). The use of social security numbers by government agencies or private companies is not required or forbidden by law. Citizens of the US are not even required to have a SSN. These days, however, it has become a personal identification number. It is now used in public schools and universities as a student number. Banks require it to open accounts or issue credit cards. Ask yourself if any why this is wrong."
OK! This is a perfect example of how our rights are slowly, imperceptibly rendered useless. So, in the 50's and 60's only employers got our social security number and we accepted that as in our best interest so that we could reap the benefits of the social security program in our later years. When medical facilities began to demand the SS number, it was related to Medicare patients and the need to identify those who were entitled to benefits. When did banks, U-haul storage, Car Rental agencies, Insurance companies, home and Apartment rental agencies credit collection agencies prove to the American people that THEY (merchants/Big Business) had a right to our personal information?
Why didn't we 'just say NO'?
Last year, I went to a u-haul storage location to rent a storage unit in the town where I had just moved. They DEMANDED a thumb print! I refused! They refused me use of the facility! I found one that did NOT make such an outlandish demand and rented space there.
Next, I went to a local bank and tried to open a checking account with a certified check from my credit union in another state. I had been in town, 72 hours. THEY demanded: 1. A thumbprint AND #2 a local I.D./Local State Drivers License. I REFUSED! And went elsewhere. My current bank took my measly $3500. opened a checking account, verified my identify with my out of state Drivers License Picture.
The irony of this consistent attitude that their business rights are more valid then my personal rights struck my adult son as "Geesh! Mom, you are SUCH a radical"!
Oh Well! My DNA, is mine! And radical or not...
I am still just saying "NO"! And moving on!
Unfortunately, too many sheep give up one right at a time until one day they wake up and they have NONE left!
re: Umm... A lot of the behavior that makes an animal what it is and enables it to survive is taught to it by it's mother. i.e. a cat not raised by it's mother often doesn't know how to hunt. I'm not sure quite how they'd get around that...
Not quite accurate! Obviously you have not done much animal rescue work. After raising dozens and dozens of feral kittens, I came to realize that covering up their litter boxes with throw rugs,towels, anything they could move was a variation on 'wild survival instincts' (covering their scent). They do the same with food containers. NOT some of them, but the majority of them!
Much more behavior is inherited then you would think. Again, Real Life example: A male German Shepherd, with all the right stuff for working, intelligence and stature drove it's owners nuts with a weird habit of putting his 2 front feet in any reachable source of water and spending insane amounts of energy trying to dig it empty. At their pool he would step down the first step and dig, throwing water endlessly on the deck. My females produced two litters from this male and as luck would have it, I also had a pool. Ironically, puppies from both litters who NEVER even saw their male parent DID the precise same thing. Their mother did not!
Baby skunks raised from birth on eyedroppers and canned cat food, trained to kitty litter boxes, taken outside to play, will turn over rocks and joyfully munch on large ugly black crunchy beetles. You do not have to teach them to hunt. They are natural mousers.
Having said that, I tend to agree that providing a duplicate environment for a species far removed from the condition of the planet at this point in time and space is pretty nearly hopeless. The resulting cloned animal is going to be hard pressed to deal with the toxins of this era.
No signing anything! Picked up four of them the other day and actually had to remind the clerk to give us 'catalogs'! He just handed them over and asked for our addy's like Radio Shack always does.
No mention at all of it's use being ONLY for some specific purpose... The guy actually had to hunt up the 4th catalog, ending up giving us the one off their own counter to satisfy OUR REQUEST one for each Cat.
Linus worship? ummm... I don't think that is even valid.
/.'ers, very few people I know can even pronounce Linus Torvalds name and the name 'Linux' properly so it seems improbable to me that Linus is quite the draw you seem to imply.
;o)
#1. How about the fact that Paul Allen of previous MS fame and Bluetooth are purported to have invested in Transmeta?
#2. How about IBM and their purported investment in transmeta?
Now I don't know for a fact that either is true, but that information is of more validity to my interest in Transmeta then any 'Linus Mystique'.
Also, I too, am waiting to purchase a labtop until longer battery life and cooler running chips are available but last and not least..
Other then
Just another opinion and we all know opinions are like AH's, everybody has one.
"it's probably IPO Bait.. Weird that Transmeta "are about to announce" a relationship with AMD just before they plan to IPO on Thursday"
Ummm, I believe the article says "The chip makers are expected to soon announce the scope of cooperation, according to AMD chairman and CEO Jerry Sanders. However, Sanders remained mum on the details." (emphasis on 'AMD chairman and CEO Jerry Sanders')
"Has a law been passed that I'm not familiar with which outlaws such an action? If people aren't happy with their DSL service, why can't they just switch providers?"
I don't know where you live but here in my area we have One (1) telco. They are the only source of DSL and altho they have their own isp as well, the telco provides the hard wiring and the hardware. The local ISP's work with what they get.
Some are better and some are worse but none are worse then the local (Yes, the same company in this article) telco's isp.
And this is a civil lawsuit NOT a criminal case so it has nothing to do with any laws,only with the lack of integrity and honesty of the telco in question.
Nice theory but not at all likely to be implamented 'with your consent'. The problem with issues like this is they become the defacto standard. If you do NOT implictly consent...you are denied previous 'rights'.
Example (and yes, this is a US example). We have a large retailer in the US who advertises cheap but Nationaly recognized products (on highly visable T.V. commercials) using senior citizens as smiling, friendly greeters, checkers etc. Their prices are less as a whole and the less affluant do indeed shop there. These people also DO hire senior citizens who need to suppliment their less then livable social security incomes BUT, at what cost? Seniors paid pennies above US Federal minimum wage MUST submit to drug testing to be hired! DUH! So..don't like it, don't apply right? But how many of us, would pee in a cup to join the working poor for less the $6.50 @ hour with no benefits? Don't know about you but sharing my body fluids with an impersonal group of other low paid strangers strikes me as an unacceptable invasion of my privacy. Certainly NOT a protection from some obscure danger.
You go thru airport security with your 'Batman Factor' cool toys hooked to your belt...in the US, plan on having your leatherman confiscated. Yep! It is a weapon, not a tool! Sure if you come back thru that airport, perhaps you can retrieve it but, are you a terrorist? Who is being protected? When is the last time you heard of an airliner being hijacked by a leatherman weilding terrorist? Does anyone listen to your explanation that you are a computer tech and your handy little new Swiss Army knife is specifically designed to deal with small computer case screws? NOT LIKELY!
These issues are always reduced to dealing with the LEAST common denominator and as such, tend to erode your personal rights not uphold your security. Our lives are riddled with these small privacy invasions. Beware, more arriving every day!
Perhaps it was 'the generational' thing? People of the era were raised to do the work they were trained for and offered. Dollars lost were not considered recoverable. Turning it down would not have been preceived as 'an artistic statement' but more as 'prima donaish'.(wow! is that a real word? made my spell checker sputter!)
This was a man whose pride would insist on being the best he could be while still bringing home the bacon.
Just a guess
Bravo Dr S.!
/. authors comment "Cool Toy" "Gotta have one". We all race to the latest link and check it out.
/. is to balance my daily/weekly force feeding of propaganda, and opinion from the above sources I know are totally non reflective of my interests, beliefs, interests or concerns.
/. to provide the facts and commentary on issues that matter to me. I was there in the 60's (And YES! I do remember them) I am old enough to feel strongly that the communication tool the net provides is the most valuable contribution to our times and there is no question in my mind that the national media is hardly what I would hold up to Slashdot or many other like sites as an example of 'ethical'.
When a new toy appears and
News Flash! THAT IS OPINION, not NEWS!
This is slashdot NOT ABC, NBC, CBS or FOX.
I get plenty of OPINION from those sources 24/7 and frankly, the reason I read
The only reason I 'DO' read the standard media is to keep aware of just exactly 'WHAT' those people are thinking and trying to feed the sheep that believe all that pap placed before them. I read Slashdot for the authors/editors and posters opinions of the latest issues because they inevitably include multiple links, insights, sources and prospective. Truth be known, Slashdot posters furnish the depth I utilize to judge an issue for myself.
I don't code, I don't do hardware, and I'm not an industry insider so I count on
Just one more opinion, for what it is worth!
Really? How many AOL children do you suppose are readers of Slashdot?
Yes, I accept that there may be some (read: a rare few) but it seems readily apparent to me that those who are, no doubt are likely to be fairly advanced users already. They not doubt use AOL only because that is what is provided by their 'NOT' so aware parents. Reading of an AOL exploit here is probably 'old' news... conveyed by their equally astute net associates who turned them on to slashdot in the first place.
Frankly, Slashdot, whose membership consists of LOTS of parents, by publishing this info is doing exacly what I expect of them...making it's readership aware of tech exploits. You appreciate this when it is DECSS or the like.
Seems to me that just because the subject matter does not impress YOU, that is hardly reason to badmouth Slashdot for passing along info that may indeed, interest others regardless of your opinion of their level of expertise.
Just my opinion on a Sat. morning.....
Perhaps the age group that was surveyed was just slightly too young to be focused and more likely to be into pretty clothes, fun parties and exciting group events. It seems likely to me that they find the idea of pounding a keyboard, writing code or re-assembling hardware just a tad dull....right now!
Most of the females where I work were not formally educated in computer science but happened to be where the action was taking place and took advantage of the opportunities offered.
Most of those have taken web based classes or have gone back to college for specific courses to increase their productivity or their potential for promotion
Like myself, I know lots of females, most of them in their 30's plus, who wouldn't work in any other field.
"For all of us, "property" rights are well understood and universally accepted. You own a home. You own a car. They're yours - they belong to you. They are your property. Well, your ideas belong to you, too. And "intellectual property" is property, period.
But there are those who believe that because technology can access property and appropriate it, then somehow that which is yours is no longer yours -because technology has made it simple and easy for someone else to take it from you.
If intellectual property is not protected - across the board, in every case, with no exceptions and no sophistry about a changing world - what will happen? Intellectual property will suffer the fate of the buffalo."
HUH? Lets see, I hire an architect to design a house for me..or I 'PAY' him for one of his designs and I begin building said house. Excuse me...this plan, (Intellectual Property) IS now mine, is it not?
Now that I have purchased 'this intellectual property', I decide to build another house in another state just like the one I have already built.
So, I use the same plan, I have already purchased and have multiple copies made for the craftsmen and suppliers in the new state. NOW I AM STEALING?
I have purchased 'intellectual property' that I am only allowed to use, one time in one place?
Note, I don't 'DO' music on my computer, but I do not see how selling a product gives someone lifetime rights to how and when that sold commodity can be used.
Am I just dense, or am I missing some weird kind of logic here?
This is one of those examples in life where "FREE" is too big a price to pay!
Some of the superficial comments such as why would 'an Internet cafe' help underdeveloped starving populations seem to miss the reality of what technology could really accomplish in situations like this.
/. has a WebPage which I have seen as a /. link, which addresses exactly how useful minimal computer equipment with an extensive 'medical' database, can be in an isolated poor area where there are no medical facilities and only local, poorly trained medical practitioners. Her actions made it possible to access data that they would have no way of knowing or utilizing prior to her having done exactly what is being suggested by this group.
At least one person who posts on
One centrally located connected computer in a severely depressed rural area could be utilized for more then ONE specific project. It could access medical, agricultural, educational, political and cultural information and act as effectively as the little red schoolhouse did in the early days of the American West.
Not only could our OLD technology teach a man to fish, but how to prepare the fish properly, how to compost, how to balance a diet and how to work smarter at fishing, farming and family planning.
Good for these guys! Wish I wasn't SOooo old and still so technologically inept! I'd volunteer in a heartbeat!
Well, perhaps reading more then just Michael's post/posts would indeed lead to drawing your own conclusions on this or any other article posted on
Seems to me that several different voices have contributed quite a few additional links to info which would encourage the average reader to do just that!
The author of any article speaks in his own voice and we the readers speak in ours, hopefully adding to the mix of facts with which, ultimately, we all gain a larger view of that which
Personally, I look forward to these types of disagreements in anticipation of getting all the leads from all the voices. Then, I too, can make an 'informed' decision on a subject of major importance.
ahhh yes! The infamous rtfm line and for those who have difficulty with That, (perhaps 'no' nix commands experience), and who are seriously looking for just a couple of clues to the obtuse
language of 'tfm' "Read ThisFM ".
What a helpful concept!
Been there! Done that! and was spoken to like I was a low grade Mongoloid Idiot.
Yep! I'm sure to return and try it again.
I need assistance, NOT abuse and after a long time of subjecting myself to one abusive experience after another in linux irc channels, I must say one must have a thick hide and a serious interest to find those generous souls who really want to help.
And yes! Finally I did find one! Slashnet! #linuxhelp 4 Welcome. Topic: Linux! Kernels- (Sta.: 2.2.15 Dev.: 2.3.99-pre6)
To those who Do help...this newbie say 'thanks all'
and if the news is even semi-accurate... There are now 1.8 MILLION Americans incarcerated in the U.S.
Let Freedom Ring!
"Remember that Bill Gates didn't write DOS, he bought it. He didn't invent the interface, he copied it. He didn't invent any applications, he just copied and improved competing applications. If MS never existed, we'd be still have PC's, good apps, good OS's. We will never know what things would be like if MS hadn't been around."
...oh well, you DO know!
I know! I was there and I remember. Yes, MS needed to have a wake up call. No! MS is not the great evil!
My Apple 11E and 'Applewriter' with Apple's HORRIBLE manuals gathered dust while I used my IBM Selective to do WORK until MS made it possible for the non-tech among you, like myself, to use one set of like procedures to make many apps work on their OS.
By W-95, my technical skills had improved enough to realize I did not need an OS to make all my decisions for me and had discovered that there was more then one way to skin a cat.
Early Netscape, Opera, many exploratory applications written for Windows, taught me different ways to do things and I began to resent MS bloat and control.
I started looking at Unix and Linux three years ago while really annoyed at MS. (Nix's = pretty intimidating) The overbearing MSIE that was next to impossible to rip off of my computer and conflicted with NS which was hugely more useful and flexible. I agreed that MS was being devious.
My next computer was designed with my needs ONLY in mind and I insisted on being able to dual boot W-98 and Linux. I was going to learn Linux and then drop kick MS....Yeah Sure! I did not want MSIE, (It was however, included) I wanted Netscape. I wanted a great printer, scanner, Fax, & a web camera so my adult kids could communicate real time with each other and most of all ADSL. Of course I wanted to network a couple of machines in the house together.
Well, trust me. It is a whole lot harder, less rewarding and very frustrating to accomplish this for we of the 'unwashed masses'!
#1. Netscape Stinks! It is slow/it hangs up and frankly now it is now part of, IMHO, the real Great Evil (TW/AOL)
#2. MSIE for the first time in many years makes other browsers look like dogs.
#3. Hardware problems are such fun (Modems in particular were Excedrin headache #1
#4. Support...Heh!!!! Lots of MS support sites on the web. Lots of the unwashed masses to help, give tips, talk/walk through problems. Linux? Ah yes, the infamous RTFM! duh! Well I have every site imaginable bookmarked (message boards/help site/ man pages etc but help? Sorry guys it ain't happening! Fragmentation of distros, Nix elitism, youthful prejudice (don't put Linux on your grandmas machine) and Yep! You won't like this but it is a fact...Women are either treated like idiots or
Frankly, while I struggle to glean enough direction and tips to make my Linux machine useful for my Needs, I find MS is my most useful 'Tool'.
Do I want to see them broken up...I don't know now! Am I glad Bill was smart enough to be in the right place at the right time with the right tools (DOS/a plan/and tough legal advisers) YEP!
How did I get to Linux? BILL SENT ME.