Are you just assuming that nature doesn't come up with new bacteria all the time, or that the world is empty of bacteria before we humans enter the scene?
In either case, nature is going to do what it's done with every human creation. Grind it under her foot if it deighns to get out.
Actually it's not a US centric thing. The machines first awoke at the University of Pennsylvania in the form of Eniac. Ever since they have been conspiring to make Philadelphia the center of the Universe. Just look at the disproportionate number of news stories about Philly on Fark.
No 40 out of said teeming millions. People are a lot more suceptable to cancer in general than you give them credit. Another goof with the truth they are using is comparing FATAL cancers in the population at large to cancers of the same type in the population studied.
It should also be noted that cancers you "suddenly" get in your 20's and 30's has been festering in your system for years if not decades. If these people are getting cancer at an early age caused by occupational exposure, it would be in their 40's and 50's.
The examples given in the article are a bit suspect as well. Breast cancer is pretty damn common in women. Old women and young women alike. Bone cancer is not in the right place to have been affected by chemicals from the environment. Liver, lungs, kidney, thyroid, they all process chemicals that come through your system. Skin cancer can be caused by exposure to certain compounds (oddly enough several of them are in suntan lotion.) Bones are not part of the metabolism, nor are they likely to come in contact with foriegn matter.
Prima Face, I feel for these folks. The are obviously suffering from debilitating cancer. That does not give them carte blanche to sue the bejesus out of anybody they think wronged them. Why not just accuse IBM of witchcraft while you are at it.
Actually Millions of people at dozens of sites. But if you are comparing computer professionals to, say, wheat farmers, they both have different ailments.
One would find Wheat farmers are far more prone to melanoma. And we all know wheat is very dangerous stuff.
From their annual report in 2000 IBM employed 316,000 people in 2000. Assuming they have an average turnover rate for the industry at about 20%, they cycle through 60,000 people per year. Over 50 years that's well over 3,000,000.
Granted, I don't have a good historical accounting of how many people worked there throughout history. That sort of minimal research would require me to go back through at least 50 annual reports.
I just wanted you to see the sheer numbers involved.
It's just that I've never heard of anything so blatantly broken that is so successful.
You are obviously not remembering the "good old days" very well. Every computer system is crummy. Linux is crummy. It's just a matter of how much we are paying for suckness.
At least Linux us honest about its suckworthyness. You don't see Linus making grand speeches about "Trustworthy" computing, or "Security through fill in the methodology". He and his cadre are out there coding for fun. They will tell you as much. Many just happen to be paid to do it for a living.
I personally use Linux. And it has nothing to do with quality. I'm constantly tweaking, patching, or scripting. It's about utility.
In my house I have a bunch of old crufted laptops that I reformatted as X terminals. It's amazing what a 486 thinkpad can do with a new network card and X windows.
Trustworth computing at work. Interesting how they have a critical flaw in Office at about the same time they are espousing new lock in features and DRM.
Slashdot Mirror
In either case, nature is going to do what it's done with every human creation. Grind it under her foot if it deighns to get out.
That's just to overcome everyone's assumption in the US that unless stated otherwise, it was invented here, back in WWII.
Until the Code Red virus strikes...
Lysol is now considered a terrorist substance capable of striking out electricity infrastructure!
Library of Congress is a unit of information storage. Its somewhere in the Terabytes range.
No, just the cast of Space Cowboys
Elephants have replaced VW beetles. It's getting harder to find beetles. Besides, most English speakers (by population) live in India.
Actually it's not a US centric thing. The machines first awoke at the University of Pennsylvania in the form of Eniac. Ever since they have been conspiring to make Philadelphia the center of the Universe. Just look at the disproportionate number of news stories about Philly on Fark.
A friend of mine used to get into amusement parks with his College ID, a labcoat, and a clipboard.
It should also be noted that cancers you "suddenly" get in your 20's and 30's has been festering in your system for years if not decades. If these people are getting cancer at an early age caused by occupational exposure, it would be in their 40's and 50's.
The examples given in the article are a bit suspect as well. Breast cancer is pretty damn common in women. Old women and young women alike. Bone cancer is not in the right place to have been affected by chemicals from the environment. Liver, lungs, kidney, thyroid, they all process chemicals that come through your system. Skin cancer can be caused by exposure to certain compounds (oddly enough several of them are in suntan lotion.) Bones are not part of the metabolism, nor are they likely to come in contact with foriegn matter.
Prima Face, I feel for these folks. The are obviously suffering from debilitating cancer. That does not give them carte blanche to sue the bejesus out of anybody they think wronged them. Why not just accuse IBM of witchcraft while you are at it.
Cue the "Ignore that man behind the curtain" references for SCO.
Our ISP was leveled in a Tornado.
Certain SlashDot personalities can be useful in controlling the masses working in your Silicon Mines.
One would find Wheat farmers are far more prone to melanoma. And we all know wheat is very dangerous stuff.
It was corporate CYA.
Granted, I don't have a good historical accounting of how many people worked there throughout history. That sort of minimal research would require me to go back through at least 50 annual reports.
I just wanted you to see the sheer numbers involved.
Was it 2 patches, or the same patch twice?
You are obviously not remembering the "good old days" very well. Every computer system is crummy. Linux is crummy. It's just a matter of how much we are paying for suckness.
At least Linux us honest about its suckworthyness. You don't see Linus making grand speeches about "Trustworthy" computing, or "Security through fill in the methodology". He and his cadre are out there coding for fun. They will tell you as much. Many just happen to be paid to do it for a living.
I personally use Linux. And it has nothing to do with quality. I'm constantly tweaking, patching, or scripting. It's about utility.
In my house I have a bunch of old crufted laptops that I reformatted as X terminals. It's amazing what a 486 thinkpad can do with a new network card and X windows.
Now what will really bake your noodle is: can we assemble and entire Microsoft installation from just the patches.
My tinfoil cap has 2 pennies.
White mice exposed to flourscent lights die.
Very slowly.
Hey, I like the LED in my neck. It's useful to read by. At least until it started blinking a few days ago.