Personally, I won't touch bing. It generates money for Microsoft, who is willing to give me almost nothing for free. Their free products are tied to using their overly bloated over priced products.
Google has given me a browser, they gave me a superior search engine years ahead of any competition, they offer me a free operating system, AND they host a boatload of code for free stuff for which I've never paid a dime.
More, Google promotes the advancement of computer science, without trying to take possession of every line of code written to work with their offerings. None of that "embrace, extend, extinguish" nonsense.
And, if all the rest doesn't impress you, Google has decided that they WILL NOT censor the web for 1/4 of the world's population, while Microsoft is quite happy to do so.
If anyone is going to make money off of my searches, it will be Google, unless and until some other company steps up to offer me tons of free stuff, and to "Not be evil".
I guess you could summarize my attitude as "Fuck Microsoft!"
Actually, that left-wing vs right-wing thing was misleading even before it became obsolete, way back in the '80's. But, it still has a catchy sound to it, and prevents people looking at the real issues.
Seriously. Read the entire history of Israel, not just the propaganda that you learned in Sunday School, and in the mostly biased United States media outlets. Israel has the utmost contempt for a non-Jew's life and/or rights. They've proved that repeatedly. GP's irony is on target.
"What I'd like to know from the "right" is where is the outcry over this? "
A: Few people know about ACTA, unless they are nerds, geeks, moderately serious pirates, or representatives of the industries with a stake in ACTA
B: Few people who HAVE heard of ACTA care one whit. They don't understand the potential, and don't care to explore the possibilities. Doing so would move them uncomfortably close to the line of becoming a nerd, geek, or pirate.
C: Few people who have a clue have the balls to speak up. It's a bit like protesting draconian laws against child pornography - it makes you suspect to do so. And, let's face it - almost no one who isn't pirating, or at least downloading "illegal" content does care about piracy law.
Lasik? I've given it some rather serious thought. The problem is, some percentage of people have reported that they have problems with night driving afterwards. They get dazzling effects from oncoming headlights. That was the single thing that decided me against lasik. I have to be able to go at night. If I can't get up and go when necessary, I may no longer have a job.
Hoarding money in the US economy is such a rare phenomenon, that it might as well not exist. Perhaps you haven't been paying attention. People are spending money they don't even have, and in many cases, spending money they never will have. It's called credit. The credit crisis in the United States CAUSED the meltdown.
No one hoards in the United States. You're making this stuff up, based on some long outdated economics theory textbook.
"You'd think that they wouldn't default to giving away their (supposedly) valuable seal of approval, though."
Actually, I can't think of a single seal of approval, or certification, that means anything. The longer the "standard" has been around, the worse it is. It's all nonsense, IMHO. Reading reviews that real customers have written has proved more effective than looking for some certification which no one understands, and was likely paid for with cash money anyway.
Because, of course, illegal aliens are one of the tools that the employer uses against his workforce. More, this is our country, it's not the illegal alien's country. They are interlopers, making our problems more complex.
Do you have any idea how many of those interlopers retire from a job in the US, then move to Mexico? A good percentage of them never had any intentions whatsoever of becoming US citizens, even the "good" ones!
If something is happening on their server (farming) that they dislike, it is their right to block it, get an injunction, or whatever.
But, with this script, everything is happening on the user's computer, and Facebook has no jurisdiction over that.
As for TOS - I have little respect for them, anywhere. I do what I want to do, and if someone tries to stop me, I find a way to do what I want anyway. Just because they have lawyers doesn't mean they can tell me what to do.
He has another option, which corporations like to use. My wife works for a company that manufactures cheap chain saws, weed eaters, blowers and such stuff. Cheap power tools often break down, or cause accidents. They get sued for their crummy products from time to time. They offer little to no defense, sometimes settling, sometimes ignoring the issue, whatever seems right to them.
When they figure they've had enough heat, they change names, transfer ownership other members of the families, and other wierd crap. Working at the same plant with the same supervisors, the wife has signed paychecks from at least six different companies in the last 12 years.
So, this guy can just "give away" the rights to his script and/or software, and allow someone else to be the owner. He may or may not actually retain control, but he has "ceased and desisted" the distribution of that software. Facebook can't demand much more than that. He can change the name of the software, the name of the "owner", the place of business, and anything else he cares to change, as often as he likes, and thumb his nose at Facebook.
Kernel upgrades are OPTIONAL upgrades. The bank can run it's own update server, for that matter. From the security viewpoint, a new kernel can actually be undesirable, sometimes. I mean, it's wonderful if the new kernel enables new functionality, such as ext4, or some other fancy new file system. But, the bank's netbook doesn't need ext4, because it's a single purpose appliance. So, why upgrade the kernel?
Why the data plan? All that netbook needs is WIFI and/or ethernet connectivity, with ethernet being more secure. All the bank is interested in, is providing a secure means for you to communicate with the bank, they aren't in the business of subsidizing the telcos.
Uhhh - wait a minute here. Ubuntu doesn't "just work"? The most problems I've had were getting video cards to work like they are supposed to. Damned ATI drops support for this card or that, then you have to jump through hoops to get your hardware acceleration.
But, if you're booting to a secure OS specifically for the purpose of doing online banking, what need is there for super graphics?
Next most common problem is the WIFI card. Whoever distributes the CD needs to ensure that 99.9% of all WIFI cards are detected and supported.
What's the next most common problem? None that I can think of, really. If your browser opens, and connects to the bank, you should be good to go. No dongles, no bluetooth, no state of the art multimedia, none of that nonsense - just do your banking, then boot back into your main operating system.
Not so difficult, is it?
Of course, I'm not going to go that route. I just installed Ubuntu and Debian on all of my machines, and I don't worry very much about security. Yes, of course I check on things, and watch the logs, run Wireshark now and again, avoid phishing attacks, avoid using Root privileges, etc - all the common "common sense" security measures.
This is rated "funny" - but it's really not. I read a story about a credit union, in Texas I think, that found a bunch of CD's had been distributed to customers. The label claimed that they were distributed by the credit union, and that they contained software with which to securely connect to the bank. And, of course, the contents were just a trojan.
I kind of thought the story was covered here on slashdot, but I could be wrong.
"Answer this one question for me: would you still have been fired and replaced if we had made all the illegal immigrants valid US citizens, and told them that if they were being taken advantage of"
Of course. The difference in pay would have been less, maybe, but still substantial. A man with 5 or 10 or 15 years seniority can easily be replaced by a man with 2 years experience, at substantial savings. And, many people here on/. are all for that kind of crap. You'll find a number of posts, telling us that peole can't afford "quality" and opt for the ultracheap when they shop.
Look at housing, if you don't believe me. People "invest" in million dollar houses with a lot of bling - but the workmanship in the bling just blows. Stuff starts falling apart just about the same time that stuff in a housing project starts falling apart. Real "quality" lasts for decades, even centuries.
No one wants a craftsman these days. They want laborers to do what management tells them to do, and rely on sales to sell the product.
Might as well have me to build your next motherboard, and have the sales department tout it up as something that it isn't, as to have these unskilled laborers build your house for you.
Ignorance, from the top to the bottom of the industrial structure, and out into the market place.
It isn't paranoia when the bastards really are out to get you. The ignorant, the stupid, and the clueless just don't understand that there ARE ten million parasites and predators waiting to suck their life's blood from them.
That's "Mr. Asshole" to you, son. I haven't spent the past half century becoming the perfect asshole, just to be disrespected by some snot nosed kid who hasn't learned to wash behind his ears. "Mr. Asshole", and get the hell off my lawn!
Again, I insist that it is NOT xenophobic, or racist, to look out for your own first. Suppose you have lots and lots of money, and you have an idiot for a brother. At thanksgiving, do you feed the homeless, the poor, and the destitute, but tell your brother that he can't have any?
I said, as long as there is one homeless veteran in these United States, we don't need any outsiders coming in, looking for that free health care, food stamps, welfare, and free LEGAL counsel. When every one of my brothers and sisters who have served in the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard are properly taken care of, THEN, and ONLY THEN, will we have room for more outsiders.
And, while we're at it, we might explore the rest of my xenophobia and racism. Generational welfare people in the ghettos. It's past time to get them OUT of the ghettos. They can go to work for a Public Works agency in each state, planting trees, building dams and roads, or whatever. Hell, let them pick cotton, I don't care. No work, no eat.
I'm positively sick of hearing about those aliens "just doing the work that Americans won't do". That's bullshit. When a man is hungry, he will work. As long as you feed him, and let him get drunk and get laid while sitting on his ass, he will continue to do so.
This is a wealthy nation - and it could be much wealthier, if only we had the balls to make it so.
Instead, we fritter away the wealth that our ancestors left us, pissing it away on welfare deadbeats, alien immigrants looking for handouts, and exporting jobs WE need to people overseas.
Every app is available for download. If the user is savvy enough to understand the differences between versions, then he will be savvy enough to use Google to ask for help installing that particular version.
Attractive and fully functional GUI? Yeah, I guess so. Depending on what you mean by "attractive", and "fully functional". If, by "attractive" you mean, "it looks and works like Microsoft", then you're out of luck. If by "attractive" you mean "it has working buttons to open and close, with a title bar, a toolbar with a help button", yeah, it's all there. If by "attractive" you mean "can it get me off" - well, only you can be the judge of that. As for functionality - the GUI's are just front ends for the REAL package managers, and they are all fully functional.
Have you had a particular problem, or are you echoing some of the FUD that the Windows fanbois have posted?
But, of course, you realize that which browser you are using is probably the least of your concerns, when it comes to connecting with your company's network. Are these phones compatible, in all respects, including the security software?
Except that both types of sugar are poison. Yep, that granulated, bleached sugar you put in your coffe is poison. Nature didn't intend for your body to endure sugar spikes like that. Poison, poison, poison.
Switch to brown sugar, it's much better for you.
Honey is best, of course. Get yourself a beehive, and enjoy sweetness as nature intended.
Now, THERE'S an idea. People get the stupidest freaking gifts for service anniversaries. A telephone that is compatible with company systems is one of the best ideas I've ever heard of.
Now, let's try to convince the people who actually choose those "gifts".
Well - under these conditions, it becomes your responsibility to educate the poor fool. Really, you MUST launch into a tirade/lecture, informing him that impulsive buying, without even researching what the hell he needs or wants is the sign of a seriously diseased mind, and that his status as an employee is in jeopardy. Offer to help him, and when he agrees, reach into your desk for the 3 pound hammer, smash the damned phone, and tell him that it just your little secret - you won't tell management that he's a senile moron who is losing his tenuous grip on reality.
At this point, you inform him of the half dozen best choices for a personal phone, and usher him out of your office/cubicle/dungeon.
Slashdot Mirror
Personally, I won't touch bing. It generates money for Microsoft, who is willing to give me almost nothing for free. Their free products are tied to using their overly bloated over priced products.
Google has given me a browser, they gave me a superior search engine years ahead of any competition, they offer me a free operating system, AND they host a boatload of code for free stuff for which I've never paid a dime.
More, Google promotes the advancement of computer science, without trying to take possession of every line of code written to work with their offerings. None of that "embrace, extend, extinguish" nonsense.
And, if all the rest doesn't impress you, Google has decided that they WILL NOT censor the web for 1/4 of the world's population, while Microsoft is quite happy to do so.
If anyone is going to make money off of my searches, it will be Google, unless and until some other company steps up to offer me tons of free stuff, and to "Not be evil".
I guess you could summarize my attitude as "Fuck Microsoft!"
Actually, that left-wing vs right-wing thing was misleading even before it became obsolete, way back in the '80's. But, it still has a catchy sound to it, and prevents people looking at the real issues.
Seriously. Read the entire history of Israel, not just the propaganda that you learned in Sunday School, and in the mostly biased United States media outlets.
Israel has the utmost contempt for a non-Jew's life and/or rights. They've proved that repeatedly.
GP's irony is on target.
"What I'd like to know from the "right" is where is the outcry over this? "
A: Few people know about ACTA, unless they are nerds, geeks, moderately serious pirates, or representatives of the industries with a stake in ACTA
B: Few people who HAVE heard of ACTA care one whit. They don't understand the potential, and don't care to explore the possibilities. Doing so would move them uncomfortably close to the line of becoming a nerd, geek, or pirate.
C: Few people who have a clue have the balls to speak up. It's a bit like protesting draconian laws against child pornography - it makes you suspect to do so. And, let's face it - almost no one who isn't pirating, or at least downloading "illegal" content does care about piracy law.
Lasik? I've given it some rather serious thought. The problem is, some percentage of people have reported that they have problems with night driving afterwards. They get dazzling effects from oncoming headlights. That was the single thing that decided me against lasik. I have to be able to go at night. If I can't get up and go when necessary, I may no longer have a job.
Hoarding money in the US economy is such a rare phenomenon, that it might as well not exist. Perhaps you haven't been paying attention. People are spending money they don't even have, and in many cases, spending money they never will have. It's called credit. The credit crisis in the United States CAUSED the meltdown.
No one hoards in the United States. You're making this stuff up, based on some long outdated economics theory textbook.
"You'd think that they wouldn't default to giving away their (supposedly) valuable seal of approval, though."
Actually, I can't think of a single seal of approval, or certification, that means anything. The longer the "standard" has been around, the worse it is. It's all nonsense, IMHO. Reading reviews that real customers have written has proved more effective than looking for some certification which no one understands, and was likely paid for with cash money anyway.
Because, of course, illegal aliens are one of the tools that the employer uses against his workforce. More, this is our country, it's not the illegal alien's country. They are interlopers, making our problems more complex.
Do you have any idea how many of those interlopers retire from a job in the US, then move to Mexico? A good percentage of them never had any intentions whatsoever of becoming US citizens, even the "good" ones!
If something is happening on their server (farming) that they dislike, it is their right to block it, get an injunction, or whatever.
But, with this script, everything is happening on the user's computer, and Facebook has no jurisdiction over that.
As for TOS - I have little respect for them, anywhere. I do what I want to do, and if someone tries to stop me, I find a way to do what I want anyway. Just because they have lawyers doesn't mean they can tell me what to do.
He has another option, which corporations like to use. My wife works for a company that manufactures cheap chain saws, weed eaters, blowers and such stuff. Cheap power tools often break down, or cause accidents. They get sued for their crummy products from time to time. They offer little to no defense, sometimes settling, sometimes ignoring the issue, whatever seems right to them.
When they figure they've had enough heat, they change names, transfer ownership other members of the families, and other wierd crap. Working at the same plant with the same supervisors, the wife has signed paychecks from at least six different companies in the last 12 years.
So, this guy can just "give away" the rights to his script and/or software, and allow someone else to be the owner. He may or may not actually retain control, but he has "ceased and desisted" the distribution of that software. Facebook can't demand much more than that. He can change the name of the software, the name of the "owner", the place of business, and anything else he cares to change, as often as he likes, and thumb his nose at Facebook.
Kernel upgrades are OPTIONAL upgrades. The bank can run it's own update server, for that matter. From the security viewpoint, a new kernel can actually be undesirable, sometimes. I mean, it's wonderful if the new kernel enables new functionality, such as ext4, or some other fancy new file system. But, the bank's netbook doesn't need ext4, because it's a single purpose appliance. So, why upgrade the kernel?
Why the data plan? All that netbook needs is WIFI and/or ethernet connectivity, with ethernet being more secure. All the bank is interested in, is providing a secure means for you to communicate with the bank, they aren't in the business of subsidizing the telcos.
Uhhh - wait a minute here. Ubuntu doesn't "just work"? The most problems I've had were getting video cards to work like they are supposed to. Damned ATI drops support for this card or that, then you have to jump through hoops to get your hardware acceleration.
But, if you're booting to a secure OS specifically for the purpose of doing online banking, what need is there for super graphics?
Next most common problem is the WIFI card. Whoever distributes the CD needs to ensure that 99.9% of all WIFI cards are detected and supported.
What's the next most common problem? None that I can think of, really. If your browser opens, and connects to the bank, you should be good to go. No dongles, no bluetooth, no state of the art multimedia, none of that nonsense - just do your banking, then boot back into your main operating system.
Not so difficult, is it?
Of course, I'm not going to go that route. I just installed Ubuntu and Debian on all of my machines, and I don't worry very much about security. Yes, of course I check on things, and watch the logs, run Wireshark now and again, avoid phishing attacks, avoid using Root privileges, etc - all the common "common sense" security measures.
This is rated "funny" - but it's really not. I read a story about a credit union, in Texas I think, that found a bunch of CD's had been distributed to customers. The label claimed that they were distributed by the credit union, and that they contained software with which to securely connect to the bank. And, of course, the contents were just a trojan.
I kind of thought the story was covered here on slashdot, but I could be wrong.
Ahhhh - here we go. Someone tried to pass it off as "pentesting" in the slashdot story:
http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/08/27/2331201/Hackers-Or-Pen-Testers-Hit-Credit-Unions-With-Malware-On-CD?from=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot+(Slashdot)
"Answer this one question for me: would you still have been fired and replaced if we had made all the illegal immigrants valid US citizens, and told them that if they were being taken advantage of"
Of course. The difference in pay would have been less, maybe, but still substantial. A man with 5 or 10 or 15 years seniority can easily be replaced by a man with 2 years experience, at substantial savings. And, many people here on /. are all for that kind of crap. You'll find a number of posts, telling us that peole can't afford "quality" and opt for the ultracheap when they shop.
Look at housing, if you don't believe me. People "invest" in million dollar houses with a lot of bling - but the workmanship in the bling just blows. Stuff starts falling apart just about the same time that stuff in a housing project starts falling apart. Real "quality" lasts for decades, even centuries.
No one wants a craftsman these days. They want laborers to do what management tells them to do, and rely on sales to sell the product.
Might as well have me to build your next motherboard, and have the sales department tout it up as something that it isn't, as to have these unskilled laborers build your house for you.
Ignorance, from the top to the bottom of the industrial structure, and out into the market place.
Foxnews? That's one of the worst online parasites!! They won't suck your bank account dry - instead, they hoover up your BRAINZ!!!
It isn't paranoia when the bastards really are out to get you. The ignorant, the stupid, and the clueless just don't understand that there ARE ten million parasites and predators waiting to suck their life's blood from them.
That's "Mr. Asshole" to you, son. I haven't spent the past half century becoming the perfect asshole, just to be disrespected by some snot nosed kid who hasn't learned to wash behind his ears. "Mr. Asshole", and get the hell off my lawn!
Again, I insist that it is NOT xenophobic, or racist, to look out for your own first. Suppose you have lots and lots of money, and you have an idiot for a brother. At thanksgiving, do you feed the homeless, the poor, and the destitute, but tell your brother that he can't have any?
I said, as long as there is one homeless veteran in these United States, we don't need any outsiders coming in, looking for that free health care, food stamps, welfare, and free LEGAL counsel. When every one of my brothers and sisters who have served in the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard are properly taken care of, THEN, and ONLY THEN, will we have room for more outsiders.
And, while we're at it, we might explore the rest of my xenophobia and racism. Generational welfare people in the ghettos. It's past time to get them OUT of the ghettos. They can go to work for a Public Works agency in each state, planting trees, building dams and roads, or whatever. Hell, let them pick cotton, I don't care. No work, no eat.
I'm positively sick of hearing about those aliens "just doing the work that Americans won't do". That's bullshit. When a man is hungry, he will work. As long as you feed him, and let him get drunk and get laid while sitting on his ass, he will continue to do so.
This is a wealthy nation - and it could be much wealthier, if only we had the balls to make it so.
Instead, we fritter away the wealth that our ancestors left us, pissing it away on welfare deadbeats, alien immigrants looking for handouts, and exporting jobs WE need to people overseas.
Every app is available for download. If the user is savvy enough to understand the differences between versions, then he will be savvy enough to use Google to ask for help installing that particular version.
Attractive and fully functional GUI? Yeah, I guess so. Depending on what you mean by "attractive", and "fully functional". If, by "attractive" you mean, "it looks and works like Microsoft", then you're out of luck. If by "attractive" you mean "it has working buttons to open and close, with a title bar, a toolbar with a help button", yeah, it's all there. If by "attractive" you mean "can it get me off" - well, only you can be the judge of that. As for functionality - the GUI's are just front ends for the REAL package managers, and they are all fully functional.
Have you had a particular problem, or are you echoing some of the FUD that the Windows fanbois have posted?
http://www.opera.com/press/releases/2009/04/01_2/
But, of course, you realize that which browser you are using is probably the least of your concerns, when it comes to connecting with your company's network. Are these phones compatible, in all respects, including the security software?
Best thing to do is, ASK YOUR IT PEOPLE!!
So much for global warming, huh? Hell's burnt out, and the world will freeze over. I'm looking forward to some mastodon steak.
Except that both types of sugar are poison. Yep, that granulated, bleached sugar you put in your coffe is poison. Nature didn't intend for your body to endure sugar spikes like that. Poison, poison, poison.
Switch to brown sugar, it's much better for you.
Honey is best, of course. Get yourself a beehive, and enjoy sweetness as nature intended.
Now, THERE'S an idea. People get the stupidest freaking gifts for service anniversaries. A telephone that is compatible with company systems is one of the best ideas I've ever heard of.
Now, let's try to convince the people who actually choose those "gifts".
Well - under these conditions, it becomes your responsibility to educate the poor fool. Really, you MUST launch into a tirade/lecture, informing him that impulsive buying, without even researching what the hell he needs or wants is the sign of a seriously diseased mind, and that his status as an employee is in jeopardy. Offer to help him, and when he agrees, reach into your desk for the 3 pound hammer, smash the damned phone, and tell him that it just your little secret - you won't tell management that he's a senile moron who is losing his tenuous grip on reality.
At this point, you inform him of the half dozen best choices for a personal phone, and usher him out of your office/cubicle/dungeon.