Union? Yeah, right. I'm not a union man, never have been, never will be. But, let's look at reality. The unions have had their hey-day. The days of unions ended around 1982, give or take a couple years. The state of the economy today helps to erode the power of unions. I don't see any new unions being created for a long time to come. I don't see the size or power of any existing unions being increased any time soon. With real unemployment rates in the US exceeding 20% it just ain't happening.
Please explain something. I need to understand what has happened to the world, in times past, during ice ages, and during interglacial periods.
Is it not true that the earth has experienced GLOBAL WARMING on a massive scale, repeatedly? That is - huge swaths of the earth's surface have been covered by ice during one temperature extreme, to be replace by tropical forests when the other extreme comes along.
We only have some people's word that THIS TIME is any different from any other time. And, on what do they base their word? Models. Models based on mankind's imperfect understanding of nature, climate, and global warming. But, the models prove that those people's imperfect understanding really IS perfect, right?
Give us all a break. The earth is just about as warm now as it was 5000 years ago. Human bodies that were lost to the ice 5000 years ago are now being found, as the ice melts away.
Just what, exactly, led all of the alarmists to believe that climate is static, and that the climate and weather of the last ~100 years is "normal"?
WAKE UP PEOPLE!! WE ARE IN AN INTERGLACIAL WARMING PERIOD!!!
Social issues? You're dreaming. Supposing that you solved every single social issue that mankind faces today. Just suppose. You get praises, and hossanahs, not to mention all the peace prizes for the next 50 years. Big deal. You will have gained nothing. Why, you ask?
Simple. Mankind thrives on issues. With all of today's issues solved, he will run right out to create yet more issues tomorrow. We WILL find a reason to fight, at any cost. We WILL disagree, even if we must take an obviously wrong position to do so. We WILL oppress the underprivileged, even if we have to CREATE an underprivileged class to do so.
Since we're going to piss the money away, no matter what, we might as well piss it away on something that MIGHT do mankind some good. Let NASA go on, until they are superseded by something better. That something may very well be SpaceX, or it might be a United Nations (don't hold your breath, the UN never accomplishes anything) Space Administration. Something will come along, that gives us more bang for the buck, I'm sure.
Whatever. NASA is not the way forward, simple as that. Given a multi-billion organization filled with politicians and bureaucrats, pencil pushers, bean counters, technicians, and janitors, all designed to support an exceedingly small cadre who actually pursue the mission, NASA is just a dinosaur looking for a place to fossilize.
SpaceX and others will lead us onward, if we even go on.
Imagine the army, or the navy, organized like NASA is. We'd have 500 soldiers, 500 doctors, 1000 accountants, 1500 medics, 20,000 officer (with at least 1000 flag officers) and 500 hopeful politicians. Not to mention about 50 infiltrators from the competition. Oh, I forgot the 200 embedded journalists.
Fuck me running. Is it any wonder NASA has no balls?
Actually, I didn't see much of Gnu in ChromeOS. It's a freaking kernel with a browser. Gno Gnome, gno Gnash, gno gnothing. Just Linux and Chrome. That may be subject to change, but from the things I've read, gnot freaking likely.
The fact is, I like Google. I use a good bit of their stuff. But, another fact is, they make tons of money. They also answer to investors. Could ChromeOS be the ultimate spyware? Yes, it COULD!! Do I expect it to be? Not really. But, all the same, why don't we wait and see just how much spying it does in it's final version? I know for a fact that Google has a ton of spy crap watching us on the web. This is why I have AdBlock Plus - I don't like Google Analytics analyzing every move I make on the web.
Come on, children, let's stop being fanbois, and do our own analysis. And, someone mod Johnsie back up to at least a zero.
Yes, one of the intelligent criteria for choosing an app, is how easy it is to import and export data in alternative formats. I'm not a real office guy, but Open Office seems pretty good for that. MS Office to a lesser degree. When I open a file, I ALWAYS want to see an option like "Save as... " Even if I'm going to continue using the app forever, I want the option, because the guy I'm trying to send data to may not use the same apps.
As for the cloud, again, I want to be able to "Save as... " to my hard drive. Google MAY JUST HAVE the very best application on earth for any given purpose, but if I can't move my data to wherever, whenever, in any given format, then it's worth about ten pounds of shit in a five pound sack. Grandma has her decades old word processor, that is limited to a given set of formats. I want to send her something or other, I had BETTER be able to convert it. The same goes for any kind of application you care to name - because the boss is just as set in HIS ways as Grandma is.
I've worn so many different hats and names in my life, they don't mean much of anything anymore. Sailor (or squid), driver, maintenance man, carpenter, Dad, cubmaster, yada yada yada. Don't get hung up on labels and names. None of them can describe who and what I am. If someone feels confined or caged in by a name, maybe it's time to get out, and do something different.
Education is a lifetime thing. Tired of being the IT guy? Become an engineer, or a doctor, or a cop, or whatever the hell blows your skirt up. Hayseed farmers are cool, if they are happy at what they do.
I do find it immoral. The fact that a large percentage of IP is held by Americans doesn't change the immorality one whit. The evolution of copyright/patent law over the last 75 years has been just so freaking wrong. No patent, no copyright should last as much as 50 years. It was far more reasonable when 20 years was the maximum.
We did away with royalty, and the feudal system. We will eventually replace that with IP holders and a new feudal system.
"Look around, why do you think the economy is in the crapper? Because nothing is being produced anymore."
I've been saying as much for 30 years or more. Ever since I heard the term "service economy" the first time. While "service industries" are a necessity, the concept of a "service economy" amounts to little more than one huge circle jerk. A serves B, B serves C, C serves D, and D serves A - but nowhere in there is there a PRODUCER of ANYTHING. The dumbing down of America that I hear so much about was accomplished on the day that we bought into that service economy drivel. In another 50 years, if A, B, C, and D all pool their resources, the MIGHT buy enough food for one of the group to eat.
I can understand that. Maybe someone will mod you up.;^)
I've been denied service a few times in my life. Lame excuses like, "We just ran out of beer" is bullshit. If you were really out of beer, all the rest of the customers would have been on their way OUT as I walked IN. Just tell me that you don't want no sailors hanging around your bar, no white people hanging around your Bar-B-Que, or that you don't like Americans in general.
"Political Correctness is just a new version of Politeness."
Horse Shit.
Polite society has observed pretty much the same conventions for centuries now. Politeness hasn't changed much at all. Change is slow, and very gradual.
Politically correct is a fucking bludgeon used mostly by the left to beat down anyone who disagrees with their point of view.
Need an example? A polite person won't call a queer a queer - he will avoid the subject, or use less inflammatory terms. But, a polite person will STILL vote his conscience, and when the subject of homosexuality comes up, he will voice his opposition to it.
"Politically correct" bullshit makes it a crime for anyone to speak out against queer sumbitches who want to get married, and take over the churches, schools, military, or whatever else offends them. Opposition to homosexuality becomes a "hate crime".
Don't ever confuse "polite" and "politically correct".
Polite pretends that the queer isn't a cocksucker. Politically correct demands approval of cocksuckers.
I hear ya. I was *hoping* that Google was going to do as much with their ChromeOS. Unfortunately, I'm not much intrigued with the tangent they have gone off on.
A fair post. You could have made an excellent post, had you told us what you like about them, and what you don't like. I've played with a bunch of OS's now, and continue testing and playing. Solaris, for instance, is a nice strong contender in the server field, but it is much more limited as a desktop or workstation OS than most of the Linux flavors, due to a shortage of ported applications.
I've tried Haiku - can't remember now why I passed it over. Probably as limited as Solaris as a desktop/workstation, but I'm not sure.
I'll try the others.
It would just be nice if you told us what it was that YOU liked or disliked about them.;^)
Correct. You can't get any closer to the bullseye than to blow it off the target. George W. and Dick Cheney fucked everything up when they denied POW status to anyone they captured. There were, and still are, protocols established for trying a POW who is accused of war crimes. That lame-ass "enemy combatant" designation ruined everything.
Fucking inbreds from old money families, always want to leave their mark on the world. George and Dick sure did that here.
Industrial setting. Alright, if you say so, I won't argue that comparison.
But, I have yet to see the industrial setting that I experienced in the winter of 1978 in the North Atlantic, the North Sea, and various bodies of water in and around Ireland, Scotland, Norway, etc. Everything was lashed down, to prevent it from becoming a missile hazard. Even a navsup pub can be hazardous, when the ship is tossing, bucking, and rolling violently in stormy seas. We lashed ourselves into our bunks, because being thrown from the top bunk could be fatal. In this kind of environment, dropping the load is likely to mean being capsized, and losing all hands aboard.
Not everything aboard a destroyer is a combat system, true. But, there is nothing aboard ship that can't cost your life, or save your life, when the shit hits the fan.
Maybe you accepted a career of tedium while you were in. Personally, I volunteered for anything and everything, and I intentionally chose commands that were most likely to see action. You'll probably admit there is considerable difference between tender duty, and duty aboard a leading desron's flagship.
USS Richard E. Byrd DDG-23, DesRon 2
I'm less proud of the USS Koelsch FF-1049. That was the tedium you seem to have in mind. The most exciting thing on that tub was when they asked the landing party to go ashore to verify some satellite intelligence. Dropping the load was almost routine, so it was never sent into the North Atlantic, and certainly not during the winter months.
I can only assume that you've not been to court very often. Cops are just people. People lie, cheat, exaggerate, and do all kinds of things to win - in court, and elsewhere. Backwater cops have some basic requirements to become licensed. Basically, demonstrate an ability to drive fast, hit the broad side of a bard with a pistol from 10 feet, and operate a radar gun. I have an idea - if you happen to be non-white, why not google the problems with driving across east Texas. Take a drive in a pimped out vehicle, and make sure you are carrying several thousand dollars cash money. You'll learn to love and respect the cops in Texas, I promise.
"A reasonable functionality of this button would be to replace an existing screen with a splash screen that allows a child to interact with the responder while the later gets a remote desktop to the original session"
Alright, I'm not Australian - but if I were, I would be required to leave a backdoor into my machine, so that the police (or whatever government agency) could RDP in if my kid pushes this panic button? Aren't we going a long way backward? We need to re-start stoppoliceware.org? Good grief. Oh yeah - what if the police software doesn't work with Linux? All parents will be required to go backward to Windows?
Come on.....
As for the kids, they need to talk to mom and dad about anything that concerns them. Or, do we really WANT go groom them to live in a police state?
Old destroyer man here. Nature and the elements are one enemy that sailors battle every day. Not to mention Al Queda and assorted terrorists such as the ones who attacked the USS Cole. Pointing out that Iran is already geared up for war in the Strait of Hormuz, The Persian Guf, and the Sea of Oman is probably redundant.
No, treason is probably not an appropriate charge against these idiots, but I felt it necessary to point out that the US Navy is never at "peace". There are always operations taking place in which men's lives are in peril. Some of the most dangerous things pulled of by destroyers and small craft never make the news at all. Shipboard equipment is tested to it's limits daily, and lives depend on that equipment operating properly.
Care to step aboard an aircraft carrier? During flight operations, no matter how peaceful, there is more danger in one 24 hour day than most people can imagine.
Perhaps we don't speak the same English language. Nowhere did I propose that we "put down" a child with bad genes. I DID say that maybe we shouldn't go to the heroic efforts commonly used today to preserve the life of an infant who can't survive in the "real world". We've seen the stories of kids living in tents, children allergic to everything imaginable, children who simply COULD NOT have survived 100 years ago or more.
There's a vast difference between withholding some ultra-expensive treatment, and taking some kid with a deformity out behind the barn to put a bullet in his head. Don't put words in my mouth - as it seems some others have done above.
Slashdot Mirror
Union? Yeah, right. I'm not a union man, never have been, never will be. But, let's look at reality. The unions have had their hey-day. The days of unions ended around 1982, give or take a couple years. The state of the economy today helps to erode the power of unions. I don't see any new unions being created for a long time to come. I don't see the size or power of any existing unions being increased any time soon. With real unemployment rates in the US exceeding 20% it just ain't happening.
Please explain something. I need to understand what has happened to the world, in times past, during ice ages, and during interglacial periods.
Is it not true that the earth has experienced GLOBAL WARMING on a massive scale, repeatedly? That is - huge swaths of the earth's surface have been covered by ice during one temperature extreme, to be replace by tropical forests when the other extreme comes along.
We only have some people's word that THIS TIME is any different from any other time. And, on what do they base their word? Models. Models based on mankind's imperfect understanding of nature, climate, and global warming. But, the models prove that those people's imperfect understanding really IS perfect, right?
Give us all a break. The earth is just about as warm now as it was 5000 years ago. Human bodies that were lost to the ice 5000 years ago are now being found, as the ice melts away.
Just what, exactly, led all of the alarmists to believe that climate is static, and that the climate and weather of the last ~100 years is "normal"?
WAKE UP PEOPLE!! WE ARE IN AN INTERGLACIAL WARMING PERIOD!!!
Social issues? You're dreaming. Supposing that you solved every single social issue that mankind faces today. Just suppose. You get praises, and hossanahs, not to mention all the peace prizes for the next 50 years. Big deal. You will have gained nothing. Why, you ask?
Simple. Mankind thrives on issues. With all of today's issues solved, he will run right out to create yet more issues tomorrow. We WILL find a reason to fight, at any cost. We WILL disagree, even if we must take an obviously wrong position to do so. We WILL oppress the underprivileged, even if we have to CREATE an underprivileged class to do so.
Since we're going to piss the money away, no matter what, we might as well piss it away on something that MIGHT do mankind some good. Let NASA go on, until they are superseded by something better. That something may very well be SpaceX, or it might be a United Nations (don't hold your breath, the UN never accomplishes anything) Space Administration. Something will come along, that gives us more bang for the buck, I'm sure.
Whatever. NASA is not the way forward, simple as that. Given a multi-billion organization filled with politicians and bureaucrats, pencil pushers, bean counters, technicians, and janitors, all designed to support an exceedingly small cadre who actually pursue the mission, NASA is just a dinosaur looking for a place to fossilize.
SpaceX and others will lead us onward, if we even go on.
Imagine the army, or the navy, organized like NASA is. We'd have 500 soldiers, 500 doctors, 1000 accountants, 1500 medics, 20,000 officer (with at least 1000 flag officers) and 500 hopeful politicians. Not to mention about 50 infiltrators from the competition. Oh, I forgot the 200 embedded journalists.
Fuck me running. Is it any wonder NASA has no balls?
Actually, I didn't see much of Gnu in ChromeOS. It's a freaking kernel with a browser. Gno Gnome, gno Gnash, gno gnothing. Just Linux and Chrome. That may be subject to change, but from the things I've read, gnot freaking likely.
Modded troll. Hmmm. Fanbois bite.
The fact is, I like Google. I use a good bit of their stuff. But, another fact is, they make tons of money. They also answer to investors. Could ChromeOS be the ultimate spyware? Yes, it COULD!! Do I expect it to be? Not really. But, all the same, why don't we wait and see just how much spying it does in it's final version? I know for a fact that Google has a ton of spy crap watching us on the web. This is why I have AdBlock Plus - I don't like Google Analytics analyzing every move I make on the web.
Come on, children, let's stop being fanbois, and do our own analysis. And, someone mod Johnsie back up to at least a zero.
How 'bout a white pizza with calamare? (Oh-kay, I can't spell, but we both know what I want, right?)
So, why did you post AC? This post deserves a couple mod points, but no one is going to waste them on AC . . . . .
Yes, one of the intelligent criteria for choosing an app, is how easy it is to import and export data in alternative formats. I'm not a real office guy, but Open Office seems pretty good for that. MS Office to a lesser degree. When I open a file, I ALWAYS want to see an option like "Save as ... " Even if I'm going to continue using the app forever, I want the option, because the guy I'm trying to send data to may not use the same apps.
As for the cloud, again, I want to be able to "Save as ... " to my hard drive. Google MAY JUST HAVE the very best application on earth for any given purpose, but if I can't move my data to wherever, whenever, in any given format, then it's worth about ten pounds of shit in a five pound sack. Grandma has her decades old word processor, that is limited to a given set of formats. I want to send her something or other, I had BETTER be able to convert it. The same goes for any kind of application you care to name - because the boss is just as set in HIS ways as Grandma is.
I've worn so many different hats and names in my life, they don't mean much of anything anymore. Sailor (or squid), driver, maintenance man, carpenter, Dad, cubmaster, yada yada yada. Don't get hung up on labels and names. None of them can describe who and what I am. If someone feels confined or caged in by a name, maybe it's time to get out, and do something different.
Education is a lifetime thing. Tired of being the IT guy? Become an engineer, or a doctor, or a cop, or whatever the hell blows your skirt up. Hayseed farmers are cool, if they are happy at what they do.
I do find it immoral. The fact that a large percentage of IP is held by Americans doesn't change the immorality one whit. The evolution of copyright/patent law over the last 75 years has been just so freaking wrong. No patent, no copyright should last as much as 50 years. It was far more reasonable when 20 years was the maximum.
We did away with royalty, and the feudal system. We will eventually replace that with IP holders and a new feudal system.
"Look around, why do you think the economy is in the crapper? Because nothing is being produced anymore."
I've been saying as much for 30 years or more. Ever since I heard the term "service economy" the first time. While "service industries" are a necessity, the concept of a "service economy" amounts to little more than one huge circle jerk. A serves B, B serves C, C serves D, and D serves A - but nowhere in there is there a PRODUCER of ANYTHING. The dumbing down of America that I hear so much about was accomplished on the day that we bought into that service economy drivel. In another 50 years, if A, B, C, and D all pool their resources, the MIGHT buy enough food for one of the group to eat.
I can understand that. Maybe someone will mod you up. ;^)
I've been denied service a few times in my life. Lame excuses like, "We just ran out of beer" is bullshit. If you were really out of beer, all the rest of the customers would have been on their way OUT as I walked IN. Just tell me that you don't want no sailors hanging around your bar, no white people hanging around your Bar-B-Que, or that you don't like Americans in general.
There's a lot to be said for honesty.
"Political Correctness is just a new version of Politeness."
Horse Shit.
Polite society has observed pretty much the same conventions for centuries now. Politeness hasn't changed much at all. Change is slow, and very gradual.
Politically correct is a fucking bludgeon used mostly by the left to beat down anyone who disagrees with their point of view.
Need an example? A polite person won't call a queer a queer - he will avoid the subject, or use less inflammatory terms. But, a polite person will STILL vote his conscience, and when the subject of homosexuality comes up, he will voice his opposition to it.
"Politically correct" bullshit makes it a crime for anyone to speak out against queer sumbitches who want to get married, and take over the churches, schools, military, or whatever else offends them. Opposition to homosexuality becomes a "hate crime".
Don't ever confuse "polite" and "politically correct".
Polite pretends that the queer isn't a cocksucker. Politically correct demands approval of cocksuckers.
"For weaker people, this might lead to psychological problems and ultimately suicide."
Wait - you're suggesting that we can clean the gene pool with a little graffiti? Is that you, Mr. Darwin?
I hear ya. I was *hoping* that Google was going to do as much with their ChromeOS. Unfortunately, I'm not much intrigued with the tangent they have gone off on.
A fair post. You could have made an excellent post, had you told us what you like about them, and what you don't like. I've played with a bunch of OS's now, and continue testing and playing. Solaris, for instance, is a nice strong contender in the server field, but it is much more limited as a desktop or workstation OS than most of the Linux flavors, due to a shortage of ported applications.
I've tried Haiku - can't remember now why I passed it over. Probably as limited as Solaris as a desktop/workstation, but I'm not sure.
I'll try the others.
It would just be nice if you told us what it was that YOU liked or disliked about them. ;^)
Again, on target. This entire fiasco is the fault of the administration which attempted to create a new class of human being, sans rights of any kind.
Correct. You can't get any closer to the bullseye than to blow it off the target. George W. and Dick Cheney fucked everything up when they denied POW status to anyone they captured. There were, and still are, protocols established for trying a POW who is accused of war crimes. That lame-ass "enemy combatant" designation ruined everything.
Fucking inbreds from old money families, always want to leave their mark on the world. George and Dick sure did that here.
Industrial setting. Alright, if you say so, I won't argue that comparison.
But, I have yet to see the industrial setting that I experienced in the winter of 1978 in the North Atlantic, the North Sea, and various bodies of water in and around Ireland, Scotland, Norway, etc. Everything was lashed down, to prevent it from becoming a missile hazard. Even a navsup pub can be hazardous, when the ship is tossing, bucking, and rolling violently in stormy seas. We lashed ourselves into our bunks, because being thrown from the top bunk could be fatal. In this kind of environment, dropping the load is likely to mean being capsized, and losing all hands aboard.
Not everything aboard a destroyer is a combat system, true. But, there is nothing aboard ship that can't cost your life, or save your life, when the shit hits the fan.
Maybe you accepted a career of tedium while you were in. Personally, I volunteered for anything and everything, and I intentionally chose commands that were most likely to see action. You'll probably admit there is considerable difference between tender duty, and duty aboard a leading desron's flagship.
USS Richard E. Byrd DDG-23, DesRon 2
I'm less proud of the USS Koelsch FF-1049. That was the tedium you seem to have in mind. The most exciting thing on that tub was when they asked the landing party to go ashore to verify some satellite intelligence. Dropping the load was almost routine, so it was never sent into the North Atlantic, and certainly not during the winter months.
"syfy" ???? Sounds like a freaking sexual disease, shared by gay little bastids who can't handle Sci-Fi.
FFS, if you mean space opera, say so. If you mean science fiction, then use terms that adults might recognize.
I can only assume that you've not been to court very often. Cops are just people. People lie, cheat, exaggerate, and do all kinds of things to win - in court, and elsewhere. Backwater cops have some basic requirements to become licensed. Basically, demonstrate an ability to drive fast, hit the broad side of a bard with a pistol from 10 feet, and operate a radar gun. I have an idea - if you happen to be non-white, why not google the problems with driving across east Texas. Take a drive in a pimped out vehicle, and make sure you are carrying several thousand dollars cash money. You'll learn to love and respect the cops in Texas, I promise.
Don't drink the Kool-Aid. Trust no one.
"A reasonable functionality of this button would be to replace an existing screen with a splash screen that allows a child to interact with the responder while the later gets a remote desktop to the original session"
Alright, I'm not Australian - but if I were, I would be required to leave a backdoor into my machine, so that the police (or whatever government agency) could RDP in if my kid pushes this panic button? Aren't we going a long way backward? We need to re-start stoppoliceware.org? Good grief. Oh yeah - what if the police software doesn't work with Linux? All parents will be required to go backward to Windows?
Come on.....
As for the kids, they need to talk to mom and dad about anything that concerns them. Or, do we really WANT go groom them to live in a police state?
Old destroyer man here. Nature and the elements are one enemy that sailors battle every day. Not to mention Al Queda and assorted terrorists such as the ones who attacked the USS Cole. Pointing out that Iran is already geared up for war in the Strait of Hormuz, The Persian Guf, and the Sea of Oman is probably redundant.
No, treason is probably not an appropriate charge against these idiots, but I felt it necessary to point out that the US Navy is never at "peace". There are always operations taking place in which men's lives are in peril. Some of the most dangerous things pulled of by destroyers and small craft never make the news at all. Shipboard equipment is tested to it's limits daily, and lives depend on that equipment operating properly.
Care to step aboard an aircraft carrier? During flight operations, no matter how peaceful, there is more danger in one 24 hour day than most people can imagine.
Perhaps we don't speak the same English language. Nowhere did I propose that we "put down" a child with bad genes. I DID say that maybe we shouldn't go to the heroic efforts commonly used today to preserve the life of an infant who can't survive in the "real world". We've seen the stories of kids living in tents, children allergic to everything imaginable, children who simply COULD NOT have survived 100 years ago or more.
There's a vast difference between withholding some ultra-expensive treatment, and taking some kid with a deformity out behind the barn to put a bullet in his head. Don't put words in my mouth - as it seems some others have done above.