...in a more general sense, many people with religious beliefs view organized religion as a sort of communal search for truth. There might be other functions that a religion serves, but the idea of helping people learn fundamental truths about God, the world, existence, life, etc. is a pretty fundamental aspect of religion. Your church is supposed to help you discover those truths and what they mean for you. </quote>
"organized religion" is a popular scarecrow to set alight on internet forums, but what does the concept mean, really?
When humans develop an interest in anything we share it with others, be it nerdly pursuits here on/., motorcycle clubs, places where people congregate who like a particular kind of music, anything.
There is nothing wrong with an organized association of people for any reason really. I don't see why religious pursuits should be any different. You can study more, learn more, and do more for others as a team than you can on your own.
Organization normally irritates people outside the group, in my estimation, because organization implies normative behavior, and sometimes people find anyone holding norms other than their own to be threatening.
If a religious organization has a dysfunctional quality to it, that no more damns organized religion than my 1983 Cadillac Cimarron damned the entire automotive industry.
I mean that if you hope to get people to switch, they need to be given the ability to do so, relatively pain-free.
Once again, Joe Average might think "Well, windows really pisses me off, I will try this Linux thing." then he ends up with sub-optimal display resolution and he can't get on the internet and his sound doesn't work, so he assumes it's just for hobbyists, and Baller welcomes him back into the fold with his new broken spirit... and Joe is less likely to attempt a switch later than he ever was because he tried and failed once already.
Broadcom, ATI, creative sound... I had issues with all three of those in one distro or another. Maybe there are workarounds for people more savvy than me, but I really put a big effort into it troubleshooting and looking and asking on message boards.
Maybe gurus could get it done, but are we supposed to expect the average consumer to compile their own sound drivers? (which still didn't work for me afterwards, by the way)
I know this isn't Linux et al's fault, it's the hardware manufacturers for not letting people write the drivers. But the problem for consumers doesn't change no matter who wins the finger pointing.
I know OSX supports less hardware, but it supports the hardware I have, so it works for me. To be honest, I don't care that much about taking part in an open system just to do it. I want whatever system works the best for me. For me, Windows and Linux kind of worked but left something to be desired. OSX so far has been a fine solution.
I tried many different Linux distros about 6 months ago, and could not find anything that worked out of the box. I couldn't get all my hardware working even on Ubuntu, the most hardware-friendly (for me) distro that I tried.
The average user has enough trouble keeping his machine from being hijacked and free of viruses and malware. If Linux is ever going to be the OS of choice for a consumer desktop, it has to be something a consumer can get running just by popping in the CD.
I was fed up with Windows and I couldn't get Ubuntu usable (to my satisfaction) even after spending several days on it. Result? Apple sold me a laptop.
I'm a supporter of Linux in all its flavors but getting it set up is, for the vast majority of people, still going to be a huge problem.
It's a mistake to act like it isn't an issue, because every person who pretends it isn't an issue pushes further out the date when it will no longer be.
Rather than legislate from the end of the buffet line like this, why don't they instead require hardware manufacturers to enable security in the installer unless the user specifically turns it off?
I've often wondered what would happen if some creep in the next apartment gained access to my network (hypothetically, mine's secured) and managed to sniff my shopping activity or worse, was doing illegal stuff that could be tracked back to me.
It would seem like a more sensible way to go about this - if you wanted to.
Right. If you're so dumb as to open email attachments promising XXX pictures, or to swallow the bait when you get a phishing email... maybe it would do you some good to be inundated with viruses once. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad for you to examine reality rather than wander around the web with a doe-eyed look of wonder and the helplessness of a newborn babe.
I used to pay money for Norton Utilities. I don't mind paying money for good software. Today, Symantec seems to want to control every aspect of my computer and cram themselves into every corner.
It's sad to see a good software outfit starting to become the new Real Networks
I read another article where an EA bigwig was dismayed by EA's consistently low ratings at metacritic and other sites.
Seems like a transparent attempt to eliminate competition with their crappy sports games.
I can't agree with that comment at all that Linux has been easier forever.
How can Linux be easier when say, I try to load Ubuntu and it never gets to desktop? How can it be easier when for many people, it doesn't support their video, sound, or wireless out of the box? (that's what happened to me).
I eventually got it working (well, except sound, and I understand that's Creative's fault and not Ubuntu) but the fact is that when I install Windows, it comes up to the desktop and I can use the internet.
I hate MS as much as the next guy, my home is almost MS free now, but I don't think that statement is tenable. Ubuntu is great but still not for the total amateur.
---The harddrive thrashes my disk almost 10 minutes after booting, the problem is known you can find lots of references on the web, but no definitive solution. (And yes even indexing is off on my machine)---
Holy crap! That happens on my machine *all* the time!
Randomly, the machine will just sit there with the hard drive grinding for 10, 15 minutes at a stretch. Nothing snowing in task manager, no processes that should be using all the system time. It's just doing nothing as fast as it can I guess.
Can't wait until my new Macbook Pro arrives tomorrow. My Windows machine belongs in a museum.
I dual boot between XP and Ubuntu and I agree with these statements.
I'm a Linux noob, I totally support the idea of open source. But it just sucks balls that XP works with my self-assembled system with no problems at all, but Ubuntu wouldn't even install for me. The installer hung and I'm not even sure how I got it to install now.
After that, it was a weeklong fight with Ubuntu to get wireless working - like I said, I'm a noob. Eventually I figured it out, and it could just be me but it seem slower than it does in XP - maybe a driver issue, who knows.
I still don't have any sound which I understand is Creative's fault, but to an end user, I just have sound in Windows but not in Ubuntu.
I installed some packages just from browsing for applications I wanted to try, and particularly with media players, some of them don't even open/open briefly and crash immediately. I fought for a while on DVD playback too. Video clips embedded in webpages don't seem to be working either.
Maybe these things are obvious to Linux experts but they weren't to me. After a month or so, I'm using and learning, but it's still not as functional as XP is. I still have to switch back to do things. And it was a knock down drag out to get it to where it is right now.
I'm totally a supporter of open source, but this didn't do anything to dispel perceptions that it's only for experts.
Slashdot Mirror
Other than Revenge of the Sith, which I found to be passable though not great, when was the last quality work that Lucas put out?
Wouldn't you have to go back to Last Crusade?
There is no standard in the universe by which the Phantom Menace can be judged a 'great movie'.
...in a more general sense, many people with religious beliefs view organized religion as a sort of communal search for truth. There might be other functions that a religion serves, but the idea of helping people learn fundamental truths about God, the world, existence, life, etc. is a pretty fundamental aspect of religion. Your church is supposed to help you discover those truths and what they mean for you.
/., motorcycle clubs, places where people congregate who like a particular kind of music, anything.
</quote>
"organized religion" is a popular scarecrow to set alight on internet forums, but what does the concept mean, really?
When humans develop an interest in anything we share it with others, be it nerdly pursuits here on
There is nothing wrong with an organized association of people for any reason really. I don't see why religious pursuits should be any different. You can study more, learn more, and do more for others as a team than you can on your own.
Organization normally irritates people outside the group, in my estimation, because organization implies normative behavior, and sometimes people find anyone holding norms other than their own to be threatening.
If a religious organization has a dysfunctional quality to it, that no more damns organized religion than my 1983 Cadillac Cimarron damned the entire automotive industry.
the Apple forum is that way --->
lolasaurus eating a roflanadon
You could take this year's raise, buy a fancy coffee machine and donate it to the break room, and then pocket the raise every year after that.
Even if it was a marginal 2% raise, you could probably buy a new car for that money over 10 years.
A positive net income for one accounting period does not necessarily mean the company as a whole is or will continue to be profitable.
I won't buy those products again either. Problem is, I've already got them.
Maybe Linux can catch me on my next generation of home pc...
I mean that if you hope to get people to switch, they need to be given the ability to do so, relatively pain-free.
Once again, Joe Average might think "Well, windows really pisses me off, I will try this Linux thing." then he ends up with sub-optimal display resolution and he can't get on the internet and his sound doesn't work, so he assumes it's just for hobbyists, and Baller welcomes him back into the fold with his new broken spirit... and Joe is less likely to attempt a switch later than he ever was because he tried and failed once already.
Broadcom, ATI, creative sound... I had issues with all three of those in one distro or another. Maybe there are workarounds for people more savvy than me, but I really put a big effort into it troubleshooting and looking and asking on message boards.
Maybe gurus could get it done, but are we supposed to expect the average consumer to compile their own sound drivers? (which still didn't work for me afterwards, by the way)
I know this isn't Linux et al's fault, it's the hardware manufacturers for not letting people write the drivers. But the problem for consumers doesn't change no matter who wins the finger pointing.
I know OSX supports less hardware, but it supports the hardware I have, so it works for me. To be honest, I don't care that much about taking part in an open system just to do it. I want whatever system works the best for me. For me, Windows and Linux kind of worked but left something to be desired. OSX so far has been a fine solution.
I tried many different Linux distros about 6 months ago, and could not find anything that worked out of the box. I couldn't get all my hardware working even on Ubuntu, the most hardware-friendly (for me) distro that I tried.
The average user has enough trouble keeping his machine from being hijacked and free of viruses and malware. If Linux is ever going to be the OS of choice for a consumer desktop, it has to be something a consumer can get running just by popping in the CD.
I was fed up with Windows and I couldn't get Ubuntu usable (to my satisfaction) even after spending several days on it. Result? Apple sold me a laptop.
I'm a supporter of Linux in all its flavors but getting it set up is, for the vast majority of people, still going to be a huge problem.
It's a mistake to act like it isn't an issue, because every person who pretends it isn't an issue pushes further out the date when it will no longer be.
Unbreakable union of freeborn republics, great Russia has welded forever to stand.
Created in struggle by will of the people, united and mighty, our Soviet land!
Rather than legislate from the end of the buffet line like this, why don't they instead require hardware manufacturers to enable security in the installer unless the user specifically turns it off?
I've often wondered what would happen if some creep in the next apartment gained access to my network (hypothetically, mine's secured) and managed to sniff my shopping activity or worse, was doing illegal stuff that could be tracked back to me.
It would seem like a more sensible way to go about this - if you wanted to.
Right. If you're so dumb as to open email attachments promising XXX pictures, or to swallow the bait when you get a phishing email... maybe it would do you some good to be inundated with viruses once. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad for you to examine reality rather than wander around the web with a doe-eyed look of wonder and the helplessness of a newborn babe.
Ditto.
I used to pay money for Norton Utilities. I don't mind paying money for good software. Today, Symantec seems to want to control every aspect of my computer and cram themselves into every corner.
It's sad to see a good software outfit starting to become the new Real Networks
I read another article where an EA bigwig was dismayed by EA's consistently low ratings at metacritic and other sites. Seems like a transparent attempt to eliminate competition with their crappy sports games.
Since when has MS ever done any "breakthrough engineering"?
Hell Gore might be bigger than Limbaugh these days.
I can't agree with that comment at all that Linux has been easier forever. How can Linux be easier when say, I try to load Ubuntu and it never gets to desktop? How can it be easier when for many people, it doesn't support their video, sound, or wireless out of the box? (that's what happened to me). I eventually got it working (well, except sound, and I understand that's Creative's fault and not Ubuntu) but the fact is that when I install Windows, it comes up to the desktop and I can use the internet. I hate MS as much as the next guy, my home is almost MS free now, but I don't think that statement is tenable. Ubuntu is great but still not for the total amateur.
---The harddrive thrashes my disk almost 10 minutes after booting, the problem is known you can find lots of references on the web, but no definitive solution. (And yes even indexing is off on my machine)--- Holy crap! That happens on my machine *all* the time! Randomly, the machine will just sit there with the hard drive grinding for 10, 15 minutes at a stretch. Nothing snowing in task manager, no processes that should be using all the system time. It's just doing nothing as fast as it can I guess. Can't wait until my new Macbook Pro arrives tomorrow. My Windows machine belongs in a museum.
I dual boot between XP and Ubuntu and I agree with these statements. I'm a Linux noob, I totally support the idea of open source. But it just sucks balls that XP works with my self-assembled system with no problems at all, but Ubuntu wouldn't even install for me. The installer hung and I'm not even sure how I got it to install now. After that, it was a weeklong fight with Ubuntu to get wireless working - like I said, I'm a noob. Eventually I figured it out, and it could just be me but it seem slower than it does in XP - maybe a driver issue, who knows. I still don't have any sound which I understand is Creative's fault, but to an end user, I just have sound in Windows but not in Ubuntu. I installed some packages just from browsing for applications I wanted to try, and particularly with media players, some of them don't even open/open briefly and crash immediately. I fought for a while on DVD playback too. Video clips embedded in webpages don't seem to be working either. Maybe these things are obvious to Linux experts but they weren't to me. After a month or so, I'm using and learning, but it's still not as functional as XP is. I still have to switch back to do things. And it was a knock down drag out to get it to where it is right now. I'm totally a supporter of open source, but this didn't do anything to dispel perceptions that it's only for experts.
I guess the "Can't make money on your own? Try to get it in court" business model didn't work out so well.