Wrong. One of the most common criticisms of modern democracy is the simple fact that people don't care about anything. When it's time to vote, I tell everyone I know to vote for someone. I urge people to read everything they can get their hands on about all the candidates and issues. I would much rather have people I know vote for someone I hate than have them not vote at all. Apathy is the mother of all screwups.
Lately, I have been looking into other distributions that, like Ubuntu, are working to make strides to attract new users. I still have Debian Etch burned to a CD, waiting for a test in our lab. Next up is going to be Fedora. (emphasis mine) I'm supposed to take this reviewer seriously, when he hasn't got around to testing Debian Etch but wants me to trust his knowledge of Linux systems, including Ubuntu? Right.
Posting from an Ubuntu 64 workstation, running several Debian Etch VPS containers in VMWare Server, and a couple of dedicated Debian and FreeBSD boxes on this LAN.
Voting as a concept never has been complicated. However, you have to consider the fact that a huge portion of the American voting public cannot name:
1. The Vice President
2. The Speaker of the House
3. Their own state governor.
4. Any member of Congress.
When this is your voting public, how do you expect them to (a) understand, or (b) work up the gumption to care about voting issues? To most people, something's not an issue if they don't see it on headline news at 6.
"Democracy is a system of government whereby the people get no better than they deserve."
Yes, democracy is the best system of government available. Still, the question isn't one of "is the general population aware of voting issues", it's "does the general population actually care about voting issues"... That question leads to some pretty depressing answers.
This doesn't apply in the military. If something breaks, it will get fixed pronto or heads will roll at the vendor. In the unlikely event that the vendor is seriously dorked up, I assure you it will still get fixed through other channels. These sorts of mission-critical software failures are not commonly seen in most military environments, however, due to extremely long certification processes for anything that has blinky lights on it.
As much as I love open source software (my servers run on Debian, my workstations are Ubuntu 64, and I publish open source software in my limited spare time from active duty service), you're not going to see the Navy adopting a patch created in the last few days by Joe Developer. Things just don't work that way.
The military is starting to use open source software in more ways than people on the outside may realize. MediaWiki is used in some interesting ways, as is a certain open source instant messaging platform. Without going into detail on things that are best not discussed outside classified environments, there are other large open source software projects that have made their way into the server room.
The issue with Microsoft dependency is a long-standing problem having to do with extremely long certification processes. Another issue is the fact that in order to use anything new, the military winds up spending insane amounts of money on retraining personnel, restructuring documentation, testing in live combat environments, etc. Essentially, it's all the major problems of large corporate uptake of open source projects, with additional dependencies.
Things are slowly improving. The military uses what works, and for much of what we use in our infrastructure solutions developed on Microsoft platforms still work. That's not saying they're necessarily the best answer to a given technology need, but they're already in place and it will take some time for new ideas to get adopted.
To heck with Netscape, I didn't even really think AOL was still around in any meaningful context... who uses them these days, anyhow? Every grandmother I know uses someone else for high speed net access... then again, NetZero apparently still has enough money to run television commercials.
I think I'd be fairly amused, if a bit disturbed, to see someone in a retail electronics store standing in line while consuming energy drinks and utilizing porn. Talk about multitasking, that's awesome.
Nah, it was tech services customers of mine who used to have such meetings. They'd have meetings about meetings, meetings to discuss the meaning of prior meetings, meetings to plan upcoming meetings, cost analysis meetings to discuss waste in their companies while they drink $5 bottles of fancy water, etc.
The really funny part of your comment is the fact that these days, I actually do work for the government. I woke up at age 25 and decided to enlist in the Navy, and have been in the service for 16 months now. If you take mandatory redundancy requirements into account, a lot of what the military does is surprisingly efficient compared to some private sector enterprises. Of course, it's only because guys in the service can only handle so many meetings before they really just want to punch someone in the face...
...High-resolution PDFs and 'traditional on-the-toilet-readable paper-and-ink' issues are still available... Can I just pay a for low-resolution version printed on actual toilet paper instead? I guess that would make each article a one-time read, though...
I'll swear this has been happening for years. I've taken to the habit of not searching for a new domain until I'm ready to buy it, right then and there. In the past, I've seen cases where customers have searched for a domain, found it to be available, and by the time they had a meeting the next morning to discuss buying it have it be registered by someone else (usually a squatter). In a sense, it's just common sense that a lot of the domain search "services" would engage in a competitive practice like this. I'm not saying it's ethical, but it's been going on for a long time.
Maybe the community can come up with a list of guaranteed reputable domain search services that take measures to prevent this sort of activity, and support those organizations.
The truthfulness of the statement "DRM is impossible" depends on large numbers of people not becoming comfortable (i.e. complacent) with devices that enforce such measures. It's kinda like democracy: a system where everyone gets no better than they deserve. The masses have the power to either liberate themselves or throw themselves in a self-made prison.
Microsoft and security? Proprietary software and security? Talk about oxymorons. When I and other computer professionals think about security, we think about powerful, open source software, not closed source solutions like Microsoft's. Am I right guys? That was actually the most fan-boyish post I have ever read on this site, in over seven years of reading, beyond any shadow of a doubt, ever. For real. I threw up a little in my mouth. No kidding.
You see, the reviewer forgot to actually use both systems side by side, and wrote the review based on specs alone while filling in some vague hand-waving about software for effect. Deadlines are deadlines, gotta get to the presses!
I guess there are some RIAA types that frequent Slashdot nowadays. Oh, those folks have been trolling Slashdot for years now... all the major labels have an "ideology neutralization response unit" comprised of pale thin men in bad suits, hunkering over keyboards for days on end, just waiting for dangerous/. posts.
I think you're going to have a tough time finding something that seriously competes with Google on search. If you do happen to come across a company doing it better (or even as well), I'd recommend investing your life savings with them and keeping quiet about it for awhile...
But my real point was exactly what you state: web based interfaces will always be inherently slower than traditional ones. That machine sounds like an ideal candidate for use as a terminal device. Remote interfaces don't necessarily have to be web-based; if an organization got an open source office suite up and running in a terminal server environment they could use any low-powered client they wanted, without having to depend on a browser.
How long before systems built around concepts like OpenOffice.org Online become serious competition to Google Apps? I'd think this would be more the way to go for many businesses, as such a platform would grant them more direct control over the application environment and permit easier development of in-house extensions.
Here's the point: if a guy's got you by the collar with a knife in the other hand, demanding your wallet, you need to be prepared to react instantly. While it's agreed that you wouldn't have time or room to pull your gun, one of the easiest things you could do is simply drop to the side. I don't mean bend over, I mean let your entire body instantly become dead weight while tucking one leg under and extending the other. Once you're falling, it's a simple matter of sweeping his ankles or striking his knee as you roll laterally. You then have the option of just running away, as your chances of getting chased by the dude when he's disoriented for a few seconds are minimal.
Personally, if the guy were in a compromised position, I'd still do some damage before putting some distance between us. That's just me, though, and such behavior isn't recommended as the safest course of action.
Slashdot Mirror
Wrong. One of the most common criticisms of modern democracy is the simple fact that people don't care about anything. When it's time to vote, I tell everyone I know to vote for someone. I urge people to read everything they can get their hands on about all the candidates and issues. I would much rather have people I know vote for someone I hate than have them not vote at all. Apathy is the mother of all screwups.
Posting from an Ubuntu 64 workstation, running several Debian Etch VPS containers in VMWare Server, and a couple of dedicated Debian and FreeBSD boxes on this LAN.
Voting as a concept never has been complicated. However, you have to consider the fact that a huge portion of the American voting public cannot name:
1. The Vice President
2. The Speaker of the House
3. Their own state governor.
4. Any member of Congress.
When this is your voting public, how do you expect them to (a) understand, or (b) work up the gumption to care about voting issues? To most people, something's not an issue if they don't see it on headline news at 6.
"Democracy is a system of government whereby the people get no better than they deserve."
Yes, democracy is the best system of government available. Still, the question isn't one of "is the general population aware of voting issues", it's "does the general population actually care about voting issues"... That question leads to some pretty depressing answers.
Mod parent 100% asshole.
Mod parent up. It's a very good representation of how spills and such are dealt with.
This doesn't apply in the military. If something breaks, it will get fixed pronto or heads will roll at the vendor. In the unlikely event that the vendor is seriously dorked up, I assure you it will still get fixed through other channels. These sorts of mission-critical software failures are not commonly seen in most military environments, however, due to extremely long certification processes for anything that has blinky lights on it.
As much as I love open source software (my servers run on Debian, my workstations are Ubuntu 64, and I publish open source software in my limited spare time from active duty service), you're not going to see the Navy adopting a patch created in the last few days by Joe Developer. Things just don't work that way.
The military is starting to use open source software in more ways than people on the outside may realize. MediaWiki is used in some interesting ways, as is a certain open source instant messaging platform. Without going into detail on things that are best not discussed outside classified environments, there are other large open source software projects that have made their way into the server room.
The issue with Microsoft dependency is a long-standing problem having to do with extremely long certification processes. Another issue is the fact that in order to use anything new, the military winds up spending insane amounts of money on retraining personnel, restructuring documentation, testing in live combat environments, etc. Essentially, it's all the major problems of large corporate uptake of open source projects, with additional dependencies.
Things are slowly improving. The military uses what works, and for much of what we use in our infrastructure solutions developed on Microsoft platforms still work. That's not saying they're necessarily the best answer to a given technology need, but they're already in place and it will take some time for new ideas to get adopted.
To heck with Netscape, I didn't even really think AOL was still around in any meaningful context... who uses them these days, anyhow? Every grandmother I know uses someone else for high speed net access... then again, NetZero apparently still has enough money to run television commercials.
I think I'd be fairly amused, if a bit disturbed, to see someone in a retail electronics store standing in line while consuming energy drinks and utilizing porn. Talk about multitasking, that's awesome.
I'll file that one under "Annals of Improbable Product Usage."
Wal-Mart: We Sell Out For Less!
Nah, it was tech services customers of mine who used to have such meetings. They'd have meetings about meetings, meetings to discuss the meaning of prior meetings, meetings to plan upcoming meetings, cost analysis meetings to discuss waste in their companies while they drink $5 bottles of fancy water, etc.
The really funny part of your comment is the fact that these days, I actually do work for the government. I woke up at age 25 and decided to enlist in the Navy, and have been in the service for 16 months now. If you take mandatory redundancy requirements into account, a lot of what the military does is surprisingly efficient compared to some private sector enterprises. Of course, it's only because guys in the service can only handle so many meetings before they really just want to punch someone in the face...
...High-resolution PDFs and 'traditional on-the-toilet-readable paper-and-ink' issues are still available... Can I just pay a for low-resolution version printed on actual toilet paper instead? I guess that would make each article a one-time read, though...I'll swear this has been happening for years. I've taken to the habit of not searching for a new domain until I'm ready to buy it, right then and there. In the past, I've seen cases where customers have searched for a domain, found it to be available, and by the time they had a meeting the next morning to discuss buying it have it be registered by someone else (usually a squatter). In a sense, it's just common sense that a lot of the domain search "services" would engage in a competitive practice like this. I'm not saying it's ethical, but it's been going on for a long time.
Maybe the community can come up with a list of guaranteed reputable domain search services that take measures to prevent this sort of activity, and support those organizations.
The truthfulness of the statement "DRM is impossible" depends on large numbers of people not becoming comfortable (i.e. complacent) with devices that enforce such measures. It's kinda like democracy: a system where everyone gets no better than they deserve. The masses have the power to either liberate themselves or throw themselves in a self-made prison.
You won't have to install it; new sploits for IE will allow drive-by-chairloads.
Somewhere, even Richard Stallman is cringing.
You see, the reviewer forgot to actually use both systems side by side, and wrote the review based on specs alone while filling in some vague hand-waving about software for effect. Deadlines are deadlines, gotta get to the presses!
I think you're going to have a tough time finding something that seriously competes with Google on search. If you do happen to come across a company doing it better (or even as well), I'd recommend investing your life savings with them and keeping quiet about it for awhile...
How long before systems built around concepts like OpenOffice.org Online become serious competition to Google Apps? I'd think this would be more the way to go for many businesses, as such a platform would grant them more direct control over the application environment and permit easier development of in-house extensions.
Here's the point: if a guy's got you by the collar with a knife in the other hand, demanding your wallet, you need to be prepared to react instantly. While it's agreed that you wouldn't have time or room to pull your gun, one of the easiest things you could do is simply drop to the side. I don't mean bend over, I mean let your entire body instantly become dead weight while tucking one leg under and extending the other. Once you're falling, it's a simple matter of sweeping his ankles or striking his knee as you roll laterally. You then have the option of just running away, as your chances of getting chased by the dude when he's disoriented for a few seconds are minimal.
Personally, if the guy were in a compromised position, I'd still do some damage before putting some distance between us. That's just me, though, and such behavior isn't recommended as the safest course of action.