I'm not just being sarcastic or anything either. I've been creating a world for a game and I wanted it to be mostly Sci-Fi, but at the same time I wanted it to use magic, have knights, and so on. But I'm not just saying "okay there's magic" or anything. This is mostly Sci-Fi, so it has to have enough real science for me to be happy.
Enter Quantum Field Theory.
Either figure out for yourself, or if interested email me at cowmonaut@gmail.com and I'll send it to you once its formatted.
May sound ridiculous, but well quite frankly so do quarks. And they work so why NOT this? Personally I think its BS until proven, and I seriously doubt you'll get enough "thaumatons" gathered in one place to turn water into wine.
Office is COMPLETELY different than the Eve Client, and not just because the programs are different.
The Eve Client is available for download for FREE from their website. You can decompile it with FREE tools fairly painlessly.
Office however is the primary product of Microsoft. It and Windows need each other to exist for the most part, and both are equally important to Microsoft's business plan.
You can't just go decompile Office (easily, I'm sure you can do parts) and voila see the source code.
If this was the source code for the actual Eve SERVERS, then he'd have a valid comment. As it stands, his analogy is wildly inappropriate.
Disclaimer: I've played WoW. I've stopped playing it more times than I've played it. Yes I've done endgame. Yes I pre-ordered WAR Collector's Edition.
First off, WoW has exceptionally bad PvP. It's a well known tidbit that Blizzard just tacked it on really. That said, it has GREAT PvE and is a fun game. So long as you don't want to PvP. At least in my opinion.
Now, maybe things have changed. But when I first heard about this expansion it seemed to offer another 10 levels, and then Every Single Cool PvP Feature that WAR has promised from the get-go.
All I get from this expansion's release is that Blizzard is actually somewhat worried about Conan/WAR. But it's too little too late. I've played WoW when it first came out, and I even came back to play it when BC came out. Blizzard never fixed what I thought were major flaws (cough cough, World PvP in general) that they originally used as advertising points.
Honestly, I'm not trying to make a flamewar here. I just want to know if I'm alone in thinking that for PvP oriented players this is just too little too late? Arena was nice, and fairly fun. But other than that one morsal there has been NILCH good about WoW's PvP system.
Am I wrong? I honestly have stopped playing four or five times now just because of the PvP system. And before you say it, no not the ganking. Sometimes that's annoying but usually amusing.
Captcha: Lamented. Man. It's like its reading my mind.
"On a related note, I've used Vista, extensively, and don't like it. I don't bash it at every opportunity, but I do discourage its use for the following reasons
- UAC is still the most aggravating privilege prompt I've used - Vista, compared with Ubuntu or OS X, runs extremely slowly - Control Panel, and other OS dialogs have been obfuscated and made extremely convoluted for no apparent reason - (Subjective) I dislike the Aero user interface So there are three valid, and one personal reason that I prefer to use Ubuntu and OS X for my computing needs."
#1 -> Disable UAC then.
Windows in many ways really is the opposite of what most people think Linux is. It's one big mess, rather than a bunch of different organized parts. It also requires you to disable things you want rather than enable things you want 90% of the time.
Personally, I find it faster to disable things than enable all the features I'm going to use, but when I go Linux I prefer to add each thing in manually in the vain hope for optimization.
#2 Going to have to call "hardware" on that one.
On my Inspiron 1501 (2GB RAM; AMD64 X2 Turion) I don't notice any more lag on one OS or the other for the most part. With Gentoo (just curious I swear!) AND Vista I had the occasional app that would soak up all my resources and slow my computer down. The OSes themselves were pretty fast.
Gentoo was a bit faster I think, but Vista is still as fast if not faster than Windows XP from my experience so far.
#3 May have to give it to you here. It's all still there, but not in the same lingo/layout as XP so again, you have to learn something new.
#4 Aero is a fun toy. If I'm not using the resouces I don't mind playing with it, but I actually prefer the Vista GUI (which IS different than Aero btw) to Vista's version of Windows 2000. Like you said, personal preference.
The engineers at microsoft aren't that bad. Most of the REAL developers aren't even bad programmers. Managment is the problem at Microsoft, and a cry from them for modularity will be a boon to the engineers.
But as most of Slashdot has noticed, the management at Microsoft tends to be a bit . . . off.
And look at other sites that are more objective, like Tom's Hadware. ATI's 4 GPU solution uses twice the power at 20-85% worse performance depending on the game in question.
The Quad SLI drivers were released today. These sites managed to receieve the drivers, get everything set up, and then test several different games under several different resolutions, AND edit the and post the article.
Spare me. They couldn't have tested very thouroughly.
There's a reason Tom's Hardware doesn't have their results up. They test 6+ games ontop of 3DMark and at 3+ resolutions. Always have, always will.
Doesn't even matter. Joe Public is not going to "hack" his XBox360. For advanced technical users, sure that idea has merit and is a possibility. But for the "common man" that's too much work, and just isn't worth it.
As such, that point is moot. Aside from that, BluRay readers insofar cost as much as a high-end graphics card, and will probably be useless in a few months when "BluRay 3.0" comes out. And yet again, the PS3 will be the only BluRay player.
Sony vs Microsoft? Who cares. I LIKE Windows (at least 2000/XP, Vista I have a few points of contention with) but lets be honest, Microsoft has some upper managment issues. Sony has been trying the same game as Microsoft all these years, just in hardware rather than software.
It would have been "better" for everyone if the PS3 had stuck to DVD/HD-DVD but only for the money. I'm not going to get tottaly into the format debate. The only point that anyone needs to know about BluRay is that Sony (who loves their Rootkits on their CD/DVD drives) is in the control of ONE for-profit corporation, and has already changed 3 times since the 'format war' began. Qualities of BluRay aside, this is a big Lose for the consumer and non-Sony companies that need to use BluRay.
It is very doubtful Microsoft will just ignore this market, especially since it seems to be growing.
Most non-Windows people don't know it (usually fanboys to real experts are the only ones that do), but the Windows kernel is really a tiny little thing. Easily 90% of "Windows" is nothing but bloat (especially the shell, god I hate Explorer and I say that as a Windows user).
Take a gander at MinWin. It's what Microsoft uses for development of Windows and related tidbits. 25 megs on disk, and uses less than 40 megs RAM. That's with networking as well. Eric Taut demoed it at a lecture once with it acting as an HTTP server.
Why Microsoft doesn't develop MinWin into someting the end user wants that will also save their ass from a lot of the anti-trust problems they've been having lately is well beyond me. Be so much better for _everyone_ (especially Microsoft) if they would modularize it.
But anyways I digress. To answer your question, they'll probably make a Vista Lite or something for EEE PC. After all, they don't need some of the features of Windows anyways. The only real problem for it is Windows Aero anyways, and I know several people that have no interest in Windows Aero in the first place.
Wishful thought of the year: I hope Microsoft steps back, takes a look at all their problems and what the competition is doing, and then realizes the solution of their problem is to market MinWin and modularlize Windows. Then you can also satisify the people that want their right to choose what goes on. You'll also do better in the Server market if you DONT INCLUDE EXPLORER.EXE and make it REALLY command line, like MinWin.
Like I said, wishful thinking. Microsoft needs a massive change of upper managment. Most of the C(x)O's and their underlings are killing the company.
"Linux forces you to dive into the operating system, yes. Which is a good thing and the 'common man' should be doing it."
So you know the exact inner workings of your car? Or the bus you ride if you don't drive a car? Or how about your TV?
To the majority of people these things _just_ work. They don't know HOW it works. They don't CARE. Why should they? In their eyes, once something is set up it should just work, like say a toaster does. If it breaks, you either have the warranty or a mechanic/electrician fix it so it will "just work" again.
We are computer enthusiasts. We LIKE to know how this stuff works. Just like grease monkeys love cars and tinkering with them.
Your attitude is the exact elitism I was talking about in my original post.
Honestly, what the hell? I live in the United States and I have to tell you most of the people I deal with don't seem to give a damn about any other country. There are still some who think invading Iraq was the right thing to do (even though it was most definately not for the reasons we were given) but aside from that handful people are worried about paying the bills and just getting on with life.
I'm sorry, but from my personal experience most Americans just don't really care about the rest of the world. We have our own problems. We recognise there are issues that need to be dealt with in other countries at times, but most of us seem to prefer it if we weren't the damn aggressor.
I really wish Congress would keep a firmer leash on the military. I tend to be a military favoring kind of guy, but unless we work out some sort of agreement for aid or we are attacked we should keep our troops out of other people's business. Should note that I also think military aid should be a "one time" thing (eg stop helping pay for Israel's military might when we have domestic issues that need more funding) and that some things need to be stopped no matter the cost (such as genocide like the Holocaust).
I've also noticed, at least on freenet, that the perception of America depends widley on where you sit. Every country seems to have a different opinion, some are grossly misinformed (including some Americans) on what actually goes on in the US and countries where it uses its power.
I just think its interesting how 90% of people's perceptions are completely colored by outside sources. Their belief in what they see is unflappable usually, which is one reason war is a common trait to human history.
All of these "China is attacking us" stories tend to involve computers and the Internet. They also seem to not realise that just under 20% of the population OF THE WORLD is in China. Just from random script kiddies, most of the 'attacks' should be from China, followed by India (16%) depending on the level of Internet access. Considering those two countries, I think several people at least have the capability to steal some bandwidth.
So Slashdot, why do you and Something Awful seem to think China is an aggressor? If these attacks could at all be linked back to the Government of China there would be some global consequences. If China really wanted to hurt the US, they'd just have to stop doing business with us. Rare is the product that is not made in China.
Because every single one of those "-savvy" human beings you mentioned uses some form of technology to do it! War, education, entertainment (music/movies/books/games/ect), ALL of it revolves around technology. Technology is _EVERYWHERE_ in America, and _EVERYTHING_ makes use of it.
The "Tech-Savvy" people as you put it I'd trust over some of the others simply because it's a wider view. They aren't focused on just one thing. They can look at all those other arguments and see how technology has an effect on it.
Recently there have been some very, very stupid laws passed regarding technology. If you spend any time at all looking on this site you can see dozens of stories about them a day. Most regard patent and copyright law incase the hint isn't big enough.
Until now, we've had _no one_ who knows diddly about how any form of technology works. Ignorance essentially turns science into magic, and that is a very bad way to form laws. There are worse, but shits gotten pretty bad lately in some areas.
Now, we have someone who understands how technology works. Hell, he can write assembly! That's the freaking language of machines. Simply by being involved in "that area" he'll know that certain things change over time, or a number of other things.
To exagerate to make my point as is custom here when one is in a hurry (and invoking Godwin's Law), the way things were before is like having Hitler right a bunch of civil rights laws. He'll mess it up badly. Now we have a chance that someone else will have an influence on these laws, and maybe get some repealed. He may not turn out to be our Ghandi, but at least he won't be our Hitler.
Captcha is "idealism." Hopefully (ha) it's just a coincidence
This is not 1792. Actually, since 1903 Militia's have not been an automatic thing.
Funnily enough, if the Militia Act of 1792 was still in effect you would be legally forced to be armed with a rifle of some sort when you turn 18. If you speculate that common ammendments (such as allowing women to serve in the Militia) would be applied to it I'm sure there could be exceptions, but for the most part you would _have_ to be a gun owner.
Since 1903 the Militias have been the National Guard. These are known as "organized" militia and there is one for every State, and State has control of commissioning officers and an ability to requisition supplies to maintain them.
Note however, nothing legally bans "citizen" militias. In actuality the 1903 Act gave MORE power to the States rather than taking it away in that every State is garunteed an armed force of their own. And one that will operate without any debating of who is in charge.
You can easily join citizen militias or start one on your own, and be well within your legal rights.
Note however for reasons of international law one would *have* to be a member of a Militia, recognized by the State (several, actually most, citizen militias are state recognized) in which you operate and live in. Other countries don't have the same defenitions the US does for things, so if the Governments of the US didn't recognize you (at least one) you could easily be labled criminal or terrorist.
The more you know . . .
Is it one Microsoft hasn't patched? Was it on Vista or XP or 2000? Was it something that could have been prevented by system or user settings? Why was Outlook not switched to plaintext only to prevent malicious code from propagating?
This sounds more like an inept IT department than anything, and considering government pay grades if you aren't in _the_ top tier it wouldn't surprise me if that was the case really.
And to all you anti-Windows pro-Linux guys: How many groups of hackers does your OS have dedicated to breaking it? Microsoft damn sure has its flaws and issues, but most Windows exploits are found simply because Windows is _everywhere_ in the real world.
There is a reason NTFS was number two on the Slashdot FS poll, and it isn't because Windows and everything associated with it is total garbage. The 'open source attitude' is supposed to be about choice and sharing, not about elitism.
Sure, the default settings on Linux are more secure than on Windows. Linux is also not designed with the common man in mind. You shouldn't be surprised, especially IT guys, with how much of the problems with Windows are because of the marketing department rather than the actual coders. If the recent internal e-mails can't show that to you (what with the majority of the company bitching about how bad Vista was and how it shouldn't be released) then you are going through life blind.
Oh and yes, I use both Linux and Windows. Both have their uses. You don't throw out a screw driver when you get a power drill, and you don't throw out a ruler when you get a tape measure.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm not just being sarcastic or anything either. I've been creating a world for a game and I wanted it to be mostly Sci-Fi, but at the same time I wanted it to use magic, have knights, and so on. But I'm not just saying "okay there's magic" or anything. This is mostly Sci-Fi, so it has to have enough real science for me to be happy.
Enter Quantum Field Theory.
Either figure out for yourself, or if interested email me at cowmonaut@gmail.com and I'll send it to you once its formatted.
May sound ridiculous, but well quite frankly so do quarks. And they work so why NOT this? Personally I think its BS until proven, and I seriously doubt you'll get enough "thaumatons" gathered in one place to turn water into wine.
Why is this marked insightful?
Office is COMPLETELY different than the Eve Client, and not just because the programs are different.
The Eve Client is available for download for FREE from their website. You can decompile it with FREE tools fairly painlessly.
Office however is the primary product of Microsoft. It and Windows need each other to exist for the most part, and both are equally important to Microsoft's business plan.
You can't just go decompile Office (easily, I'm sure you can do parts) and voila see the source code.
If this was the source code for the actual Eve SERVERS, then he'd have a valid comment. As it stands, his analogy is wildly inappropriate.
Disclaimer: I've played WoW. I've stopped playing it more times than I've played it. Yes I've done endgame. Yes I pre-ordered WAR Collector's Edition.
First off, WoW has exceptionally bad PvP. It's a well known tidbit that Blizzard just tacked it on really. That said, it has GREAT PvE and is a fun game. So long as you don't want to PvP. At least in my opinion.
Now, maybe things have changed. But when I first heard about this expansion it seemed to offer another 10 levels, and then Every Single Cool PvP Feature that WAR has promised from the get-go.
All I get from this expansion's release is that Blizzard is actually somewhat worried about Conan/WAR. But it's too little too late. I've played WoW when it first came out, and I even came back to play it when BC came out. Blizzard never fixed what I thought were major flaws (cough cough, World PvP in general) that they originally used as advertising points.
Honestly, I'm not trying to make a flamewar here. I just want to know if I'm alone in thinking that for PvP oriented players this is just too little too late? Arena was nice, and fairly fun. But other than that one morsal there has been NILCH good about WoW's PvP system.
Am I wrong? I honestly have stopped playing four or five times now just because of the PvP system. And before you say it, no not the ganking. Sometimes that's annoying but usually amusing.
Captcha: Lamented. Man. It's like its reading my mind.
I hope I'm taking it the wrong way but incase I'm not:
Mitnick used social engineering . . .
At least if I'm remember it right.
"On a related note, I've used Vista, extensively, and don't like it. I don't bash it at every opportunity, but I do discourage its use for the following reasons
- UAC is still the most aggravating privilege prompt I've used
- Vista, compared with Ubuntu or OS X, runs extremely slowly
- Control Panel, and other OS dialogs have been obfuscated and made extremely convoluted for no apparent reason
- (Subjective) I dislike the Aero user interface
So there are three valid, and one personal reason that I prefer to use Ubuntu and OS X for my computing needs."
#1 -> Disable UAC then.
Windows in many ways really is the opposite of what most people think Linux is. It's one big mess, rather than a bunch of different organized parts. It also requires you to disable things you want rather than enable things you want 90% of the time.
Personally, I find it faster to disable things than enable all the features I'm going to use, but when I go Linux I prefer to add each thing in manually in the vain hope for optimization.
#2 Going to have to call "hardware" on that one.
On my Inspiron 1501 (2GB RAM; AMD64 X2 Turion) I don't notice any more lag on one OS or the other for the most part. With Gentoo (just curious I swear!) AND Vista I had the occasional app that would soak up all my resources and slow my computer down. The OSes themselves were pretty fast.
Gentoo was a bit faster I think, but Vista is still as fast if not faster than Windows XP from my experience so far.
#3 May have to give it to you here. It's all still there, but not in the same lingo/layout as XP so again, you have to learn something new.
#4 Aero is a fun toy. If I'm not using the resouces I don't mind playing with it, but I actually prefer the Vista GUI (which IS different than Aero btw) to Vista's version of Windows 2000. Like you said, personal preference.
It could have been an albatross.
You are correct, sir. Flaimbait tags on both the story and half the comments here in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .
The engineers at microsoft aren't that bad. Most of the REAL developers aren't even bad programmers. Managment is the problem at Microsoft, and a cry from them for modularity will be a boon to the engineers.
But as most of Slashdot has noticed, the management at Microsoft tends to be a bit . . . off.
And look at other sites that are more objective, like Tom's Hadware. ATI's 4 GPU solution uses twice the power at 20-85% worse performance depending on the game in question.
The Quad SLI drivers were released today. These sites managed to receieve the drivers, get everything set up, and then test several different games under several different resolutions, AND edit the and post the article.
Spare me. They couldn't have tested very thouroughly.
There's a reason Tom's Hardware doesn't have their results up. They test 6+ games ontop of 3DMark and at 3+ resolutions. Always have, always will.
Doesn't even matter. Joe Public is not going to "hack" his XBox360. For advanced technical users, sure that idea has merit and is a possibility. But for the "common man" that's too much work, and just isn't worth it.
As such, that point is moot. Aside from that, BluRay readers insofar cost as much as a high-end graphics card, and will probably be useless in a few months when "BluRay 3.0" comes out. And yet again, the PS3 will be the only BluRay player.
Sony vs Microsoft? Who cares. I LIKE Windows (at least 2000/XP, Vista I have a few points of contention with) but lets be honest, Microsoft has some upper managment issues. Sony has been trying the same game as Microsoft all these years, just in hardware rather than software.
It would have been "better" for everyone if the PS3 had stuck to DVD/HD-DVD but only for the money. I'm not going to get tottaly into the format debate. The only point that anyone needs to know about BluRay is that Sony (who loves their Rootkits on their CD/DVD drives) is in the control of ONE for-profit corporation, and has already changed 3 times since the 'format war' began. Qualities of BluRay aside, this is a big Lose for the consumer and non-Sony companies that need to use BluRay.
Most non-Windows people don't know it (usually fanboys to real experts are the only ones that do), but the Windows kernel is really a tiny little thing. Easily 90% of "Windows" is nothing but bloat (especially the shell, god I hate Explorer and I say that as a Windows user).
Take a gander at MinWin. It's what Microsoft uses for development of Windows and related tidbits. 25 megs on disk, and uses less than 40 megs RAM. That's with networking as well. Eric Taut demoed it at a lecture once with it acting as an HTTP server.
Why Microsoft doesn't develop MinWin into someting the end user wants that will also save their ass from a lot of the anti-trust problems they've been having lately is well beyond me. Be so much better for _everyone_ (especially Microsoft) if they would modularize it.
But anyways I digress. To answer your question, they'll probably make a Vista Lite or something for EEE PC. After all, they don't need some of the features of Windows anyways. The only real problem for it is Windows Aero anyways, and I know several people that have no interest in Windows Aero in the first place.
Wishful thought of the year: I hope Microsoft steps back, takes a look at all their problems and what the competition is doing, and then realizes the solution of their problem is to market MinWin and modularlize Windows. Then you can also satisify the people that want their right to choose what goes on. You'll also do better in the Server market if you DONT INCLUDE EXPLORER.EXE and make it REALLY command line, like MinWin.
Like I said, wishful thinking. Microsoft needs a massive change of upper managment. Most of the C(x)O's and their underlings are killing the company.
"Linux forces you to dive into the operating system, yes. Which is a good thing and the 'common man' should be doing it."
So you know the exact inner workings of your car? Or the bus you ride if you don't drive a car? Or how about your TV?
To the majority of people these things _just_ work. They don't know HOW it works. They don't CARE. Why should they? In their eyes, once something is set up it should just work, like say a toaster does. If it breaks, you either have the warranty or a mechanic/electrician fix it so it will "just work" again.
We are computer enthusiasts. We LIKE to know how this stuff works. Just like grease monkeys love cars and tinkering with them.
Your attitude is the exact elitism I was talking about in my original post.
Honestly, what the hell? I live in the United States and I have to tell you most of the people I deal with don't seem to give a damn about any other country. There are still some who think invading Iraq was the right thing to do (even though it was most definately not for the reasons we were given) but aside from that handful people are worried about paying the bills and just getting on with life. I'm sorry, but from my personal experience most Americans just don't really care about the rest of the world. We have our own problems. We recognise there are issues that need to be dealt with in other countries at times, but most of us seem to prefer it if we weren't the damn aggressor. I really wish Congress would keep a firmer leash on the military. I tend to be a military favoring kind of guy, but unless we work out some sort of agreement for aid or we are attacked we should keep our troops out of other people's business. Should note that I also think military aid should be a "one time" thing (eg stop helping pay for Israel's military might when we have domestic issues that need more funding) and that some things need to be stopped no matter the cost (such as genocide like the Holocaust). I've also noticed, at least on freenet, that the perception of America depends widley on where you sit. Every country seems to have a different opinion, some are grossly misinformed (including some Americans) on what actually goes on in the US and countries where it uses its power. I just think its interesting how 90% of people's perceptions are completely colored by outside sources. Their belief in what they see is unflappable usually, which is one reason war is a common trait to human history. All of these "China is attacking us" stories tend to involve computers and the Internet. They also seem to not realise that just under 20% of the population OF THE WORLD is in China. Just from random script kiddies, most of the 'attacks' should be from China, followed by India (16%) depending on the level of Internet access. Considering those two countries, I think several people at least have the capability to steal some bandwidth. So Slashdot, why do you and Something Awful seem to think China is an aggressor? If these attacks could at all be linked back to the Government of China there would be some global consequences. If China really wanted to hurt the US, they'd just have to stop doing business with us. Rare is the product that is not made in China.
Because every single one of those "-savvy" human beings you mentioned uses some form of technology to do it! War, education, entertainment (music/movies/books/games/ect), ALL of it revolves around technology. Technology is _EVERYWHERE_ in America, and _EVERYTHING_ makes use of it.
The "Tech-Savvy" people as you put it I'd trust over some of the others simply because it's a wider view. They aren't focused on just one thing. They can look at all those other arguments and see how technology has an effect on it.
Recently there have been some very, very stupid laws passed regarding technology. If you spend any time at all looking on this site you can see dozens of stories about them a day. Most regard patent and copyright law incase the hint isn't big enough.
Until now, we've had _no one_ who knows diddly about how any form of technology works. Ignorance essentially turns science into magic, and that is a very bad way to form laws. There are worse, but shits gotten pretty bad lately in some areas.
Now, we have someone who understands how technology works. Hell, he can write assembly! That's the freaking language of machines. Simply by being involved in "that area" he'll know that certain things change over time, or a number of other things.
To exagerate to make my point as is custom here when one is in a hurry (and invoking Godwin's Law), the way things were before is like having Hitler right a bunch of civil rights laws. He'll mess it up badly. Now we have a chance that someone else will have an influence on these laws, and maybe get some repealed. He may not turn out to be our Ghandi, but at least he won't be our Hitler.
Captcha is "idealism." Hopefully (ha) it's just a coincidence
This is not 1792. Actually, since 1903 Militia's have not been an automatic thing. Funnily enough, if the Militia Act of 1792 was still in effect you would be legally forced to be armed with a rifle of some sort when you turn 18. If you speculate that common ammendments (such as allowing women to serve in the Militia) would be applied to it I'm sure there could be exceptions, but for the most part you would _have_ to be a gun owner. Since 1903 the Militias have been the National Guard. These are known as "organized" militia and there is one for every State, and State has control of commissioning officers and an ability to requisition supplies to maintain them. Note however, nothing legally bans "citizen" militias. In actuality the 1903 Act gave MORE power to the States rather than taking it away in that every State is garunteed an armed force of their own. And one that will operate without any debating of who is in charge. You can easily join citizen militias or start one on your own, and be well within your legal rights. Note however for reasons of international law one would *have* to be a member of a Militia, recognized by the State (several, actually most, citizen militias are state recognized) in which you operate and live in. Other countries don't have the same defenitions the US does for things, so if the Governments of the US didn't recognize you (at least one) you could easily be labled criminal or terrorist. The more you know . . .
Is it one Microsoft hasn't patched? Was it on Vista or XP or 2000? Was it something that could have been prevented by system or user settings? Why was Outlook not switched to plaintext only to prevent malicious code from propagating?
This sounds more like an inept IT department than anything, and considering government pay grades if you aren't in _the_ top tier it wouldn't surprise me if that was the case really.
And to all you anti-Windows pro-Linux guys: How many groups of hackers does your OS have dedicated to breaking it? Microsoft damn sure has its flaws and issues, but most Windows exploits are found simply because Windows is _everywhere_ in the real world.
There is a reason NTFS was number two on the Slashdot FS poll, and it isn't because Windows and everything associated with it is total garbage. The 'open source attitude' is supposed to be about choice and sharing, not about elitism.
Sure, the default settings on Linux are more secure than on Windows. Linux is also not designed with the common man in mind. You shouldn't be surprised, especially IT guys, with how much of the problems with Windows are because of the marketing department rather than the actual coders. If the recent internal e-mails can't show that to you (what with the majority of the company bitching about how bad Vista was and how it shouldn't be released) then you are going through life blind.
Oh and yes, I use both Linux and Windows. Both have their uses. You don't throw out a screw driver when you get a power drill, and you don't throw out a ruler when you get a tape measure.