The poster mentioned "fixing up [his] house" as an alternate activity with more value. How many "computer geeks" out there who fault people who don't know basic computer operations, don't know how to sweat copper pipe, or replace a light fixture and so don't have the skills to maintain their home?
Your leaking pipes and worn-out light switch don't affect or inconvenience anyone other than you. Fix them at your leisure or not at all; nobody else will bother you about it.
If your computer is part of a botnet spewing spam across the Internet, it's a different class of problem entirely -- it affects thousands of people other than you. In fact, you may not even notice it happening....
I submit that the second is a much larger issue and more important problem than the first.
They're single-purpose devices with closed formats in an increasingly multipurpose open-format world. Why would anyone in their right mind spend about $400 on a device that is locked to proprietary formats and doesn't do much else except "read books." Just one more [expletives deleted] gadget to carry around.
I have been considering the idea of getting one of the "netbooks" (Acer One, eee-pc, whatever), which I think would be great for book reading as well as wireless net browsing and the like. For roughly the same money as an ebook reader, I could get an ebook reader AND a computer (of sorts) in one handy little unit.
You can use this to dismantle lit files and get the actual html text (and graphics) out for use with other programs: http://www.convertlit.com/download.php
If anyone stole my laptop they would have to either re-install the OS or spend time hacking into it to get anywhere.
I have set up a few laptops with a bios password so a thief can't change the bios, a grub password so a thief can't alter the boot options, and the computer owner's name and address included in the gdm login theme as part of the background.
I think that covers most of the bases that need to be covered....
Who in the hell will still have the receipt for cards they bought SIX years ago?
Small businesses are required to keep receipts for business expenses (like computer equipment) for six years. At least, that's the requirement here -- I'd imagine it's the same or very similar everywhere.
The only reason to ever use PDF is if it is NECESSARY for your audience to print the document in question.
I read a lot of e-books, many of which begin life as either a text file or a html file.
I use OpenOffice and cups-pdf to create a PDF file from those, and read them with acroread.
It's very convenient, much more "book-like" than simply reading the original text file. And acroread remembers the page you left off at and opens back up at that page (if you set the default options to do so, that is.)
Now that I've gotten used to it, I find that I like e-books better than p-books. I can set the type size that I prefer, and the computer holds the book for me so all I have to do is sit back and read.
I doubt I'll be surprised. It's a political thing. Internet in Saskatchewan for Everybody, and so on. There's no cap. They don't track individual customer usage volume at all.
It's a government-owned telephone company.
Now if you get your Internet from one of the cable companies (I actually do some occasional work for one of those) then they track your usage and there is indeed a cap. But not with Sask Tel.
Sask Tel (the government-owned telephone company in Saskatchewan, Canada) offers unlimited high-speed DSL service to everyone. I pay about $70 per month for mine, but I also have a static IP address.
I downloaded that from the MS website some years ago. I've tried to use it with DOSEMU on Linux (which runs most DOS software amazingly well) but found that it (Word 5.5) won't save files onto my hard drive. It checks to insure that you have sufficient free space on the drive to save the file and gets an answer that overflows the variable it's using so it thinks there is insufficient space and refuses to save a file.
I remember seeing a TSR program back when "huge" 40mb hard drives first came out (remember the Seagate ST250 that sounded like gravel being rolled in a pail when it was in use) that would fake the return from the DOS interrupt that tells you how much free space you have so programs wouldn't do that, but I haven't found it again.
This is why, when you go to a restaurant, and say: "and gimme a Coke with that" the waiter might ask: "Is Pepsi OK?" - they are required to, by requirements stemming from trademark law.
I sincerely doubt that random waiters are being "required" to ask that question by Coke or Pepsi. Or RC Cola.
Coke tastes different than Pepsi, and some people like one but not the other. "Is Pepsi OK?" "No, I'll have a root beer instead then."
True enough, but then you lose all rights to complain.
How so?
If J.P. Schook is elected to be my representative, then it's his job to represent me, regardless of whether I voted for him, against him, or not at all.
I think that's a business decision, not a "there ought to be a law" decision.
I'm all in favour of the options that you list if your circumstances require them. So... ask your cell phone company what they can offer you in that regard.
You still don't need a law.
Fi there's no option available that suits your needs, buy prepaid phone cards as required. It may cost (or may not) cost more that way, but that's a factor in your personal "business decision".
If families with teenage kids don't want to live in fear of huge bills, then get them an appropriate cell phone package price, or horrors!don't give them a cell phone.
If you're traveling internationally, get a local calling card when you arrive. Or leave your cell phone at home and use something else.
If there's nobody on the ballot that you can stomach, run for office yourself, or work to help somebody else get on the ballot.
First, I have no interest in running for office. I follow politics to some degree, but it's not a passionate interest and I have other things that I do that are of more importance. To me.
Second, if someone wishes to run for office, it is up to him to convince me that he is worthy. It's not my job to bang his or anyone else's drum.
Slashdot Mirror
I can: John Smith, Mary Smith and James Johnson. (Should be at least 200,000 of each of those.)
I get 10% on my gasoline purchases from our friendly local Co-op.
The poster mentioned "fixing up [his] house" as an alternate activity with more value. How many "computer geeks" out there who fault people who don't know basic computer operations, don't know how to sweat copper pipe, or replace a light fixture and so don't have the skills to maintain their home?
Your leaking pipes and worn-out light switch don't affect or inconvenience anyone other than you. Fix them at your leisure or not at all; nobody else will bother you about it.
If your computer is part of a botnet spewing spam across the Internet, it's a different class of problem entirely -- it affects thousands of people other than you. In fact, you may not even notice it happening....
I submit that the second is a much larger issue and more important problem than the first.
They're single-purpose devices with closed formats in an increasingly multipurpose open-format world. Why would anyone in their right mind spend about $400 on a device that is locked to proprietary formats and doesn't do much else except "read books." Just one more [expletives deleted] gadget to carry around.
I have been considering the idea of getting one of the "netbooks" (Acer One, eee-pc, whatever), which I think would be great for book reading as well as wireless net browsing and the like. For roughly the same money as an ebook reader, I could get an ebook reader AND a computer (of sorts) in one handy little unit.
I haven't thought of a downside yet.
You can use this to dismantle lit files and get the actual html text (and graphics) out for use with other programs: http://www.convertlit.com/download.php
If anyone stole my laptop they would have to either re-install the OS or spend time hacking into it to get anywhere.
I have set up a few laptops with a bios password so a thief can't change the bios, a grub password so a thief can't alter the boot options, and the computer owner's name and address included in the gdm login theme as part of the background.
I think that covers most of the bases that need to be covered....
Who in the hell will still have the receipt for cards they bought SIX years ago?
Small businesses are required to keep receipts for business expenses (like computer equipment) for six years. At least, that's the requirement here -- I'd imagine it's the same or very similar everywhere.
Eh? I own a movie theatre and I pay between 35% to 70% of my ticket revenue to the film company that made the movie.
I play movies between 3 to 8 weeks after initial release, though.
cd /opt/Adobe/Reader8/Reader/intellinux
mv plug_ins plug_ins.disabled
The only reason to ever use PDF is if it is NECESSARY for your audience to print the document in question.
I read a lot of e-books, many of which begin life as either a text file or a html file.
I use OpenOffice and cups-pdf to create a PDF file from those, and read them with acroread.
It's very convenient, much more "book-like" than simply reading the original text file. And acroread remembers the page you left off at and opens back up at that page (if you set the default options to do so, that is.)
Now that I've gotten used to it, I find that I like e-books better than p-books. I can set the type size that I prefer, and the computer holds the book for me so all I have to do is sit back and read.
CM Kornbluth foretold all of this very well in two short stories: The Marching Morons and The Little Black Bag.
If you haven't read them, do so at your first opportunity.
Why pay 25-30 bucks to own it?
License.
I doubt I'll be surprised. It's a political thing. Internet in Saskatchewan for Everybody, and so on. There's no cap. They don't track individual customer usage volume at all.
It's a government-owned telephone company.
Now if you get your Internet from one of the cable companies (I actually do some occasional work for one of those) then they track your usage and there is indeed a cap. But not with Sask Tel.
Sask Tel (the government-owned telephone company in Saskatchewan, Canada) offers unlimited high-speed DSL service to everyone. I pay about $70 per month for mine, but I also have a static IP address.
And yes, it's unlimited. All you can eat. No cap.
I downloaded that from the MS website some years ago. I've tried to use it with DOSEMU on Linux (which runs most DOS software amazingly well) but found that it (Word 5.5) won't save files onto my hard drive. It checks to insure that you have sufficient free space on the drive to save the file and gets an answer that overflows the variable it's using so it thinks there is insufficient space and refuses to save a file.
I remember seeing a TSR program back when "huge" 40mb hard drives first came out (remember the Seagate ST250 that sounded like gravel being rolled in a pail when it was in use) that would fake the return from the DOS interrupt that tells you how much free space you have so programs wouldn't do that, but I haven't found it again.
This is why, when you go to a restaurant, and say: "and gimme a Coke with that" the waiter might ask: "Is Pepsi OK?" - they are required to, by requirements stemming from trademark law.
I sincerely doubt that random waiters are being "required" to ask that question by Coke or Pepsi. Or RC Cola.
Coke tastes different than Pepsi, and some people like one but not the other. "Is Pepsi OK?" "No, I'll have a root beer instead then."
2016Chicago.com is free.
Eh?
whois 2016chicago.com tells me:
Record last updated on 28-Mar-2008.
Record expires on 27-Jul-2009.
Record created on 27-Jul-2005.
2016chicago.com hasn't been "free" since 2005, at least. What were you looking at to give you the idea that it was recently available?
http://www.hotbrick.com/
True enough, but then you lose all rights to complain.
How so?
If J.P. Schook is elected to be my representative, then it's his job to represent me, regardless of whether I voted for him, against him, or not at all.
I think that's a business decision, not a "there ought to be a law" decision.
I'm all in favour of the options that you list if your circumstances require them. So... ask your cell phone company what they can offer you in that regard.
You still don't need a law.
Fi there's no option available that suits your needs, buy prepaid phone cards as required. It may cost (or may not) cost more that way, but that's a factor in your personal "business decision".
There ought there to be a law?
Why?
If families with teenage kids don't want to live in fear of huge bills, then get them an appropriate cell phone package price, or horrors!don't give them a cell phone.
If you're traveling internationally, get a local calling card when you arrive. Or leave your cell phone at home and use something else.
There ought to be a law. Phooey.
He doesn't even seem to realize that naming his initial webpage file index.html would be more professional than redirecting to main.html
It's a pretty poor excuse for a web page and, as you said, it's a pretty poor excuse for "services", too.
Why does finding the available candidates "not worthy" have to mean that I'm against everything?
That's a large and unfounded assumption.
If there's nobody on the ballot that you can stomach, run for office yourself, or work to help somebody else get on the ballot.
First, I have no interest in running for office. I follow politics to some degree, but it's not a passionate interest and I have other things that I do that are of more importance. To me.
Second, if someone wishes to run for office, it is up to him to convince me that he is worthy. It's not my job to bang his or anyone else's drum.
You can DECLINE your ballot
So much for a secret ballot, eh?
How is it the business of the poll clerk or the guy behind me if I decide to "decline" my ballot by not marking it?
No thanks, I'll stick with doing it the other way.