It doesn't take long to get blacklisted by Spamcop doing this kind of thing. I know my servers are not going to see much SPAM from home cable/DSL users getting paid to relay.
That is the traditional definition, going back more than 50 years. (Although the original spelling was "nurd")
However, in the past 5-6 years, the WWW has fueled a sort of "geek pride" uprising, and now people who self-describe as "geek" are trying to make that the more prideful term.
What is inherently unprideful about being awkward in mainstream social situations? Even if this "geek pride" movement succeeds, it won't change the social skills of geeks. And it won't make them any smarter in comparison to nerds.
Let me give you one obvious hint - steal business ideas that are GOOD, not those that have been holding Apple back for the past 15+ years.
Holding Apple back? What do you think has differentiated Apple them from beige-box-wintel-mediocrity? All Element needs is a successful brandname and they are on their way to success. Even if it is Apple-like success, it wouldn't be bad.
And it's not like Microsoft won't help you fix a video driver or startup problem if you install AOL.
For free? I want to know how many of you actually call software vendors when the shit breaks. Last time I checked, they charge you big time for phone support. Or maybe it's because I am usually calling them on behalf of a business. Do home users generally get free support with Microsoft products?
Usually my first criteria when choosing new hardware is "How well does it run Linux?" This may sound like a loss of freedom/choice, but when you get down to it, PC hardware doesn't vary THAT MUCH in features and speed. It is a comodity. There is enough hardware out there that finding good hardware that also happens to be well supported in Linux isn't very difficult. But you still need to look. Not only do they pick well supported hardware for you, but they support it and tailor the the OS to work with it... and it is based on Debian! Go Element! Not that I would personally buy the systems, but I would definitly recommend it to anyone thinking about getting a new computer and running Linux.
It is good to see a company doing the work for people who want to run Linux... without worries of hardware support. Not only is it good for users, but it is good for general hardware support in Linux. The more vendors see people (or resellers) making their purchasing decisions based on how good the Linux drivers are for their hardware, the better the drivers will get.
It is the wannabe nerd that doesn't read books. Not the other way around. The wannabe nerd plays video games all day and spends his time in chatrooms. The true nerds are interested in many things besides computers/games... including books (fiction AND non-fiction). Sounds like you might be a wannabe nerd.
Although I often use nerd and geek somewhat interchangably, I have long felt that the proper distinction is that a "geek" is awkward in mainstream social situations (not the only feature, but an important one). Where a "nerd" is that *plus* very intelligent. If we take Revenge of the Nerds as an example (as contrived as it might be), Booger was merely a geek. The rest of them were nerds. Booger was, indeed, the cool one of the group.;-)
Of course, all of this could just be a function of a schools I went to. I've met many D&D/Tolkien/comic book fanatics that really aren't that bright at all. I'd tend to call them geeks. A nerd will generally have an intense interest in "real world" subjects along with the fantasy/sci-fi/etc, although still largely asocial.
Personally, I never really fit into any group. Although interesting in many of the things geeks and nerds were into, I generally didn't share the dedication.
You have been if you believed the Saddam/WMD lie.
Bush would have said just about anything to get his war. I imagine his motto is "The end justifies the means."
>I've read both sides of the story, and frankly, the Bush Administration is a lot more consistent with reports from my soldier friend in Fallujah and what I'm seeing
What "story" exactly? You seem to have failed to comment on the meat of my post.
I'm sure the astronauts would love to hear someone in the program ask "Why bring them back?"
Sending them food works until someone pulls the plug on the program. "Hmm, ratings are down, gotta cancel the show. Sorry guys, you're on your own." It is not like it would be easy or cheap to even send them food. Look how much trouble we have getting an unmanned probe there. No amount of revenue from a TV show is going to support launching supplies to Mars. Sorry.
Wouldn't the heat shielding that space vehicles use be anagolous to "stealth paint?" You could come up with any number of differences between a stealth bomber and a Mars space craft, but at least the stealth bomber is current technology. Nobody has a Mars shuttle. Surely that is going to cost as much if not more than a stealth bomber to develop.
You know, I love hearing about all these crazy plans to go to Mars, but it seems like very few people actually plan for the return trip. I assume they plan on getting these astronauts back. Visiting mars isn't like visiting the moon. They'll need to construct facilities to launch a return vehicle (and manufacture fuel, etc) That would be a pretty major undertaking. Maininging basic life support will be challenging enough...
Heh, not only do people not use WEP, but they usually leave the default password for the device. Unfortunately, if you have a home LAN and/or a business, you can't rely on someone else's wireless. (not that you should be relying on wireless at all, but that is a different story)
Dying? No. Getting crowded and more difficult to implement reliably? Yes. What are you going to do when your neighbor decides it woudl be useful to take up all non-overlapping channels? Sue them? You have to track them down first.
I tried implementing wireless for a client and they couldn't keep it running because some bozo in their building had a WAP that was channel hopping. Every time we found a free channel (there was 1 other wireless users in the building also), it'd get clobbered a few hours later.
I've been in places where you can't find a free channel because there are too many other people using Wi-Fi in the area. Now we're going to have individuals using ALL of the non-overlapping frequencies? That really sucks. As far as I am concerned, Wi-Fi as we know it will not go very far. There is just no way people are going to be able to share such a limited frequency spectrum... not in densly populated areas, anyway. I'll take good ol' reliable wires any day. Wireless is overrated.
Ah, I love it when software makers give away software and call it charity as if it were a real sacrafice or loss.
"Hmm, we have all this 'product' that costs practially nothing to reproduce once it has already been developed. And we also have a bunch of poor people threatening to move to Linux.... hmmm. I know! Lets give away old versions of our software to indoctrinate these poor people and make them dependant on us! Yay!"
Wake me up when Ford starts giving away F150's to African farmers.
Why are we in Iraq and relying on OPEC for oil when we could simply grow our own and still make a profit on exporting?
There is no way you can make growing, harvesting, and processing biomass anywhere NEAR as economical as pumping oil out of the ground. Also, do you have any idea how much land it would take just to supply enough biomass to power our automobiles? It is an environmental nightmare. All that raped land. All those pesticides and fertilizers...
Also, oil companies aren't stupid. If biodiesel were profitable, they'd be doing it. Oil is so profitibale that it is worth paying the "OPEC tax" to get it. You'd have to subsidize biodiesel.
Interesting, because after we invaded Iraq, oil prices went up. Either we really stink at this "oil or you life" thing, or it is just plain balderdash.
We're too busy putting down the Iraqi resistance to occupation to get the oil flowin'. The invansion has only just begun. We've been riding on post-liberation euphoria up until this point. The Iraqi's are only just now waking up to the fact that we dont' give a shit about them.
Have you ever stopped to consider that perhaps we really did go into Iraq to stabilize the Middle East and secure the free world from terrorism and WMDs?
Considered. And discarded. We've created a whole new lineage of "terrorists" in Iraq. The only way to free the world from terrorism is to stop pissing people off to such a degree that they feel the desire the blow themselves up and take us with them. And in case you haven't been watching the news, the whole Iraq/WMD connection has been blown to bits. Yeah, Saddam *had* WMDs (guess who gave them to him), but he didn't have any at the time we invaded. Even the Bush administration has quietly moved the focus from WMDs (because they could no longer maintain the lie) to "giving democracy to the Iraqi people." And that last reason for being there is also a joke. We don't want the Iraqi people to elect the leader of their choice. We want them to "elect" the leader of our choice. We want to install a leader that is friendly to US interests (oil, Israel)... all while ignoring the real problem: the Saudis.
Maybe Bush didn't lie after all, but he was telling the bald-faced truth the whole time?
And maybe my my door is a jar. You've been duped. Admit it, and vote against Bush this fall (assuming they don't cancel the election and declare martial law as Rush Limbaugh proposed).
Slashdot Mirror
It doesn't take long to get blacklisted by Spamcop doing this kind of thing. I know my servers are not going to see much SPAM from home cable/DSL users getting paid to relay.
-matthew
However, in the past 5-6 years, the WWW has fueled a sort of "geek pride" uprising, and now people who self-describe as "geek" are trying to make that the more prideful term.
What is inherently unprideful about being awkward in mainstream social situations? Even if this "geek pride" movement succeeds, it won't change the social skills of geeks. And it won't make them any smarter in comparison to nerds.
-matthew
Really? What kind of problems do you have?
Lets just go and label any hacker a "Terrorist." Oh wait, I think they did that already...
Well, it sounds like Element does it a little bit more than what HP does to Windows.
Well, i counted 5, but your point is made.
-matthew
Holding Apple back? What do you think has differentiated Apple them from beige-box-wintel-mediocrity? All Element needs is a successful brandname and they are on their way to success. Even if it is Apple-like success, it wouldn't be bad.
-matthew
For free? I want to know how many of you actually call software vendors when the shit breaks. Last time I checked, they charge you big time for phone support. Or maybe it's because I am usually calling them on behalf of a business. Do home users generally get free support with Microsoft products?
-matthew
It is good to see a company doing the work for people who want to run Linux... without worries of hardware support. Not only is it good for users, but it is good for general hardware support in Linux. The more vendors see people (or resellers) making their purchasing decisions based on how good the Linux drivers are for their hardware, the better the drivers will get.
-matthew
-matthew
Of course, all of this could just be a function of a schools I went to. I've met many D&D/Tolkien/comic book fanatics that really aren't that bright at all. I'd tend to call them geeks. A nerd will generally have an intense interest in "real world" subjects along with the fantasy/sci-fi/etc, although still largely asocial.
Personally, I never really fit into any group. Although interesting in many of the things geeks and nerds were into, I generally didn't share the dedication.
-matthew
You have been if you believed the Saddam/WMD lie. Bush would have said just about anything to get his war. I imagine his motto is "The end justifies the means."
>I've read both sides of the story, and frankly, the Bush Administration is a lot more consistent with reports from my soldier friend in Fallujah and what I'm seeing
What "story" exactly? You seem to have failed to comment on the meat of my post.
-matthew
That is an easy claim to make when there almost no chance of it actually happening.
I'm sure the astronauts would love to hear someone in the program ask "Why bring them back?"
Sending them food works until someone pulls the plug on the program. "Hmm, ratings are down, gotta cancel the show. Sorry guys, you're on your own." It is not like it would be easy or cheap to even send them food. Look how much trouble we have getting an unmanned probe there. No amount of revenue from a TV show is going to support launching supplies to Mars. Sorry.
-matthew
Wouldn't the heat shielding that space vehicles use be anagolous to "stealth paint?" You could come up with any number of differences between a stealth bomber and a Mars space craft, but at least the stealth bomber is current technology. Nobody has a Mars shuttle. Surely that is going to cost as much if not more than a stealth bomber to develop.
-matthew
Heh, not only do people not use WEP, but they usually leave the default password for the device. Unfortunately, if you have a home LAN and/or a business, you can't rely on someone else's wireless.
(not that you should be relying on wireless at all, but that is a different story)
It doesn't work like that. Your AP still has to recieve a singal from clients... which don't have an amplified signal.
-matthew
There is only 1-11 in the US.
-matthew
-matthew
Shouldn't be too difficult with the makers of the voting machines on his side.
-matthew
"Hmm, we have all this 'product' that costs practially nothing to reproduce once it has already been developed. And we also have a bunch of poor people threatening to move to Linux.... hmmm. I know! Lets give away old versions of our software to indoctrinate these poor people and make them dependant on us! Yay!"
Wake me up when Ford starts giving away F150's to African farmers.
-matthew
There is no way you can make growing, harvesting, and processing biomass anywhere NEAR as economical as pumping oil out of the ground. Also, do you have any idea how much land it would take just to supply enough biomass to power our automobiles? It is an environmental nightmare. All that raped land. All those pesticides and fertilizers...
Also, oil companies aren't stupid. If biodiesel were profitable, they'd be doing it. Oil is so profitibale that it is worth paying the "OPEC tax" to get it. You'd have to subsidize biodiesel.
-matthew
We're too busy putting down the Iraqi resistance to occupation to get the oil flowin'. The invansion has only just begun. We've been riding on post-liberation euphoria up until this point. The Iraqi's are only just now waking up to the fact that we dont' give a shit about them.
Have you ever stopped to consider that perhaps we really did go into Iraq to stabilize the Middle East and secure the free world from terrorism and WMDs?
Considered. And discarded. We've created a whole new lineage of "terrorists" in Iraq. The only way to free the world from terrorism is to stop pissing people off to such a degree that they feel the desire the blow themselves up and take us with them. And in case you haven't been watching the news, the whole Iraq/WMD connection has been blown to bits. Yeah, Saddam *had* WMDs (guess who gave them to him), but he didn't have any at the time we invaded. Even the Bush administration has quietly moved the focus from WMDs (because they could no longer maintain the lie) to "giving democracy to the Iraqi people." And that last reason for being there is also a joke. We don't want the Iraqi people to elect the leader of their choice. We want them to "elect" the leader of our choice. We want to install a leader that is friendly to US interests (oil, Israel)... all while ignoring the real problem: the Saudis.
Maybe Bush didn't lie after all, but he was telling the bald-faced truth the whole time?
And maybe my my door is a jar. You've been duped. Admit it, and vote against Bush this fall (assuming they don't cancel the election and declare martial law as Rush Limbaugh proposed).
-matthew