"Regimes in the past have always started with the schools, where they develop a compliant citizenry," Whitehead continued. "These 'Student Locator' programs are ultimately aimed at getting students used to living in a total surveillance state where there will be no privacy, and wherever you go and whatever you text or email will be watched by the government."
Poor girl. She just wants to live in freedom. I wonder where she got that idea?
True. So if you became entirely pickled and besotted or as Ben Franklin like to put it, "seen a flock of moons", you may not arrive at the correct destination, but you will arrive there safely.
I hope those who comment on Scott Adam’s article take note of his caveat, “written for a rational audience that likes to have fun wrestling with unique or controversial points of view”. It’s a thinking-out-loud piece, which coming from Scott Adams, I enjoy.
I think he is wrong on two important points. One, I believe the Constitution does protect privacy, and I do not think Hitler analogies are self-refuting arguments. Hitler analogies are overused and too easy to make, which makes them fall on deaf ears, but not inherently self-refuting.
However, I do think Adams makes one good point. For those of you who are waging the war against the loss of privacy – news flash – you lost that war decades ago. Apparently you didn’t get the memo. It may be worth fighting to get privacy back, but it isn’t something we are in danger of losing. You cannot lose what you already lost. In this respect, I believe Adams makes a compelling case. Whatever privacy you think you enjoy is an illusion. It is a part of your life the government doesn’t care about at the present moment.
I know there is a habit here at Slashdot to only read and comment on the summary. Trust me, this article (though long) is worth the read. Very insightful. I did not know about the stack ranking system at Microsoft. What an amazingly stupid and suicidal system. Again, if you only read the summary, go read the article. It's worth your time.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I think most would agree that the brownish theme was more than a bad idea. It's always the first thing to go when I install a new Ubuntu distro. The new theme is a big improvement, but I think they could have done better. But it will make a better first impression. However, the great thing about the Linux user interface is, you can change it to look any way you want. If you are one of the few who liked the old brown theme, it should take you less than a minute to get it back. And if purple and orange isn't your cup of tea, go for Clearlooks or whatever you like. You can download all kinds of custom themes. Again, what you have in Ubuntu (and other Linux distros) is total control over the visual appearance of your UI. Mark Shuttleworth isn't deciding what theme you must use, but what theme you first see. It's a suggestion, not a mandate. After that, it's all up to you. That's the freedom of Linux.
Just my opinion for what it's worth. What gets me is the either/or evaluation of cloud computing. It's either good or bad, dumb or smart, the future or a dead end. What I see is the diversification of the technology landscape, not a monolithic movement in any direction. For some people, cloud computing is the ticket. It's all they need and they are going to love it. For others (like me), I like my island PC, enjoy tinkering with it, but will selectively use elements of cloud computing, such as Gmail. Others will have nothing to do with the 'cloud' for either ideological or need-based reasons. The technology is allowing us to do more things, not fewer things. What we will see is people doing more things differently as it suits them. I think the Chrome OS has a future, as does the Linux desktop, Windows and the Mac. The Xbox, the Wii and the Playstation are not the end of the gaming PC, but just an increase in the many ways technology will be used for people to amuse themselves. At some point in the future (in some Darwinian fashion) a selective pressure may simplify the technology landscape. There will be winners and losers. But at this point we are in a Cambrian explosion of diversification and multiplicity of options, and this is going to continue for some time.
This is someone spoofing Microsoft with a fake Ad, right? I mean, Microsoft couldn't be that stupid, could they? A corporation with that much money and access to the best marketing talent money could buy, wouldn't put out something out that lame would they? Someone explain this to me. Or do flying chairs cause cerebral damage?
I can't speak to the main issue of this story, but XP is anything but off the market. I bought a new copy of XP from New Egg last week for $90 and installed it on my daughter's computer. She has an older computer that cannot run Vista, and she lost her original XP CD. When her hard drive crashed, I replaced it and put the newly purchased copy of XP on it.
Well, if there is ever going to be a intelligent robot in my home, it better not be running Windows. I can see it now rummaging through my CD/DVD collection requiring proof that I purchased each one and then threatening throw chairs at me if I don't produce the receipts. If there was ever a case for Linux, this is it.
The thing I really like about Dropbox on my Linux system is the ability to create symbolic links in my Dropbox folder. This way I can keep all my folders and files where I want them and just create symbolic links to what I want backed up. I am only using the 2GB free offering at the moment, but I've been so happy with it I am likely to shell out the bucks for the paid version and backup my entire hard drive.
Other things I have tried: I still use rsync to backup to a separate hard drive, but that wouldn't help if the house were to burn down. I tried JungleDisk and did not like it. I also use the Amazon S3 service --very cheap-- using the Firefox S3 Organizer plug in. But Dropbox is more simple to use.
Microsoft didn't have to worry in the past about the Linux desktop because it was too much work to get set up and maintain. That has changed. I don't think the Linux desktop experience is quite there yet, but it is getting really close. In some ways it is already much better than Windows, and where it is not, it is catching up. What Microsoft fears is that at some point Ubuntu and > usage will reach a critical mass and explode on to the desktop scene. For this to hurt Microsoft, it doesn't mean Linux has to put them out of the market place. If Linux gained only 20% of the desktop market share, it would hurt, and probably hurt their pride the most. It may not happen, but Microsoft would have to be stupid to ignore the possibility. And quite frankly, I really don't know what Microsoft can do to stop it. They will try of course, and even resort to some of the dirty tricks they used in the past. But FOSS has no center to aim at. It's apparent weakness is its strength. It's a bunch of smart people all over the world doing what they like to do. I don't hate Microsoft and I don't want them to go out of business, but this is going to be fun to watch. I am hoping for the success of Linux on the desktop. This will be good even for the most dedicated MS or Apple fanboy. Real competition in the marketplace is good for everyone concerned. It will make whatever you choose to use better.
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I thought the attorney made a good point ...
"Regimes in the past have always started with the schools, where they develop a compliant citizenry," Whitehead continued. "These 'Student Locator' programs are ultimately aimed at getting students used to living in a total surveillance state where there will be no privacy, and wherever you go and whatever you text or email will be watched by the government."
Poor girl. She just wants to live in freedom. I wonder where she got that idea?
True. So if you became entirely pickled and besotted or as Ben Franklin like to put it, "seen a flock of moons", you may not arrive at the correct destination, but you will arrive there safely.
I hope those who comment on Scott Adam’s article take note of his caveat, “written for a rational audience that likes to have fun wrestling with unique or controversial points of view”. It’s a thinking-out-loud piece, which coming from Scott Adams, I enjoy.
I think he is wrong on two important points. One, I believe the Constitution does protect privacy, and I do not think Hitler analogies are self-refuting arguments. Hitler analogies are overused and too easy to make, which makes them fall on deaf ears, but not inherently self-refuting.
However, I do think Adams makes one good point. For those of you who are waging the war against the loss of privacy – news flash – you lost that war decades ago. Apparently you didn’t get the memo. It may be worth fighting to get privacy back, but it isn’t something we are in danger of losing. You cannot lose what you already lost. In this respect, I believe Adams makes a compelling case. Whatever privacy you think you enjoy is an illusion. It is a part of your life the government doesn’t care about at the present moment.
I know there is a habit here at Slashdot to only read and comment on the summary. Trust me, this article (though long) is worth the read. Very insightful. I did not know about the stack ranking system at Microsoft. What an amazingly stupid and suicidal system. Again, if you only read the summary, go read the article. It's worth your time.
Ooooh fun. Another LInux vs UNIX vs OSX vs Windows vs Darwin vs BSD vs some other *nix war. Does anyone remember which side I am on?
Democracy is one kind of freedom; Open Source is another kind of freedom.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I think most would agree that the brownish theme was more than a bad idea. It's always the first thing to go when I install a new Ubuntu distro. The new theme is a big improvement, but I think they could have done better. But it will make a better first impression. However, the great thing about the Linux user interface is, you can change it to look any way you want. If you are one of the few who liked the old brown theme, it should take you less than a minute to get it back. And if purple and orange isn't your cup of tea, go for Clearlooks or whatever you like. You can download all kinds of custom themes. Again, what you have in Ubuntu (and other Linux distros) is total control over the visual appearance of your UI. Mark Shuttleworth isn't deciding what theme you must use, but what theme you first see. It's a suggestion, not a mandate. After that, it's all up to you. That's the freedom of Linux.
"Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get." — Robert A. Heinlein
Just my opinion for what it's worth. What gets me is the either/or evaluation of cloud computing. It's either good or bad, dumb or smart, the future or a dead end. What I see is the diversification of the technology landscape, not a monolithic movement in any direction. For some people, cloud computing is the ticket. It's all they need and they are going to love it. For others (like me), I like my island PC, enjoy tinkering with it, but will selectively use elements of cloud computing, such as Gmail. Others will have nothing to do with the 'cloud' for either ideological or need-based reasons. The technology is allowing us to do more things, not fewer things. What we will see is people doing more things differently as it suits them. I think the Chrome OS has a future, as does the Linux desktop, Windows and the Mac. The Xbox, the Wii and the Playstation are not the end of the gaming PC, but just an increase in the many ways technology will be used for people to amuse themselves. At some point in the future (in some Darwinian fashion) a selective pressure may simplify the technology landscape. There will be winners and losers. But at this point we are in a Cambrian explosion of diversification and multiplicity of options, and this is going to continue for some time.
Not perfect, but a good start.
No, he should just reverse the polarity of the neutron flux. That always fixes things.
Always worked for me.
This is someone spoofing Microsoft with a fake Ad, right? I mean, Microsoft couldn't be that stupid, could they? A corporation with that much money and access to the best marketing talent money could buy, wouldn't put out something out that lame would they? Someone explain this to me. Or do flying chairs cause cerebral damage?
I can't speak to the main issue of this story, but XP is anything but off the market. I bought a new copy of XP from New Egg last week for $90 and installed it on my daughter's computer. She has an older computer that cannot run Vista, and she lost her original XP CD. When her hard drive crashed, I replaced it and put the newly purchased copy of XP on it.
Well, if there is ever going to be a intelligent robot in my home, it better not be running Windows. I can see it now rummaging through my CD/DVD collection requiring proof that I purchased each one and then threatening throw chairs at me if I don't produce the receipts. If there was ever a case for Linux, this is it.
Is there an open source alternative?
Wish I had mod points. Someone mod causality (777677) up.
Meet the new boss; same as the old boss -- The Who
Get back to me when Cassini captures a photo of a penguin waving...
Ah, an advanced form of life using Linux.
The thing I really like about Dropbox on my Linux system is the ability to create symbolic links in my Dropbox folder. This way I can keep all my folders and files where I want them and just create symbolic links to what I want backed up. I am only using the 2GB free offering at the moment, but I've been so happy with it I am likely to shell out the bucks for the paid version and backup my entire hard drive.
Other things I have tried: I still use rsync to backup to a separate hard drive, but that wouldn't help if the house were to burn down. I tried JungleDisk and did not like it. I also use the Amazon S3 service --very cheap-- using the Firefox S3 Organizer plug in. But Dropbox is more simple to use.
"My belief, as an American, is that if I have to start understanding the metric system, then the terrorists have won." -- Dave Barry
Microsoft didn't have to worry in the past about the Linux desktop because it was too much work to get set up and maintain. That has changed. I don't think the Linux desktop experience is quite there yet, but it is getting really close. In some ways it is already much better than Windows, and where it is not, it is catching up. What Microsoft fears is that at some point Ubuntu and > usage will reach a critical mass and explode on to the desktop scene. For this to hurt Microsoft, it doesn't mean Linux has to put them out of the market place. If Linux gained only 20% of the desktop market share, it would hurt, and probably hurt their pride the most. It may not happen, but Microsoft would have to be stupid to ignore the possibility. And quite frankly, I really don't know what Microsoft can do to stop it. They will try of course, and even resort to some of the dirty tricks they used in the past. But FOSS has no center to aim at. It's apparent weakness is its strength. It's a bunch of smart people all over the world doing what they like to do. I don't hate Microsoft and I don't want them to go out of business, but this is going to be fun to watch. I am hoping for the success of Linux on the desktop. This will be good even for the most dedicated MS or Apple fanboy. Real competition in the marketplace is good for everyone concerned. It will make whatever you choose to use better.