That's common problem of all developing countries: there is a huge gap between rich and poor. There is no middle class. Look at Russia: it created about half of the richest men in the world, yet majority of population lives in poverty.
I see the problem with the way those countries are run: laws have no checks and balances, laws not enforced, elite is untouchable, government is bought and sold, etc. And another interesting fact: Russia has highest mortality of journalists after Iraq, ensuring that no one speaks out and things stay the way they are.
Did they just correlate #of kids with TV vs. kids with PC? If so then surprise: correlation does not imply causation.
Either that or they could go around installing TVs and PCs and removing whatever kids had in their rooms before test, which I don't think the parents would let them do.
But I really don't get your "patent minefield" comment at all. That's what Microsoft was HOPING to accomplish, but frankly it seems obvious they failed miserably - that's why for the past couple years they've made significant moves towards coexistence and interoperability with Linux. It's not like they managed to even slow down Red Hat, let alone turn the corporate world against them.
http://www.bbspot.com/news/2000/4/MS_Buys_Evil.html
Upcoming Windows 8 Ultimate Server will feature an OpenSuse virtual engine!!!
Competing distribution of Linux will be quietly forced into an acquisition by Elliot...
I frequently wipe Windows and install Ubuntu for fellow computer-illiterate folks. I say "this way it cannot get trojans, and games you dont care for anyways".
The thing is to "sell" them the new operating system. If they do not like it for any reason, they will never agree to the switch again.
Often the only change needed to base install is loosing the default brown background: do not want to scare away new "customers" early on.
The brown background has to go, but the abomination they want to replace it with is unacceptable. Even posting a pretty background picture is not going to save the day.
I actually seen an interview with an expert who recommends shifting to neutral and demonstrated it in action. He also noted that turning off ignition is bad because it will kill power steering, and demonstrated that pressing breaks does little as the engine overpowers them.
I only hope that shift is not controlled by the same software *gulp*
Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated "If GM had kept up with the technology like the computer industry has, If we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."
In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating "If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:
l. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.
2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull over to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.
4. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.
5. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "General Protection Fault" warning light.
6. The airbag system would ask "are you sure" before deploying.
7. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
8. Every time GM introduced a new car, car buyers would have to learn to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
9. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.
You know, finding a way to India across Atlantic was an opera only a few hundred years ago, especially given the dangers of falling off the edge of the Earth.
And this is how you build a supersonic jet capable of interstellar travel:
1. Body: Heavy-duty cardboard tube..a lightweight metal tube also works.
2...
Ever since college I feel that UNIX is a far superior operating system. Security, user management, process management, command line power, etc.
However, everywhere you go, there is M$. They are known for squeezing out competition and making computer manufacturers pay them regardless of the system installed. They completely locked up PC market for decades. Majority of PC users have grown up with this and do not suspect that today there are better options out there.
Both Mac and Linux are UNIX-related systems. One being exorbitantly expensive, the other is free. You can stick with Windows for another 20 years, but I get the feeling that the monster is on its way out.
My main reason why it pays to ditch M$ today: no need to maintain expensive antivirus to keep malware out.
No, he does not "supporting the continuation of child exploitation"
He is right, all of the following will come to us at "great great expense":
- Stopping mining their resources for almost free
- Stopping dumping our hazardous waste on their land, almost for free
- Stopping charging them extra for our intellectual rights, in form of inflated medicine costs, etc.
- reducing trade tariffs to allow them to earn living by legal means. Wait, that would make us better off too... who cares?
You bought the car in 2001, and drive it for 9 years. Today, before morning commute, your get a message on your diagnostic panel:
Genuine Car Advantage Auto-installed (!):
Unable to verify wither you paid for your car [in 2001]. Until proof of payment is presented [to your car!], top speed will be reduced to 10 mph. Have a nice day!
Not exactly: one morning your trusty 10 year old car got "anti-theft" (a.k.a. anti-owner) system magically installed, and it just happens not to recognize your ignition key. Would you be mad? I know I would.
This sci-fi comedy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kin-dza-dza! is about a planet where they learned to turn water into energy... and now the planet is 100% desert.
When Bush invaded Iraq, he single-handedly kicked off international arms race. Because that means no one is safe from random invasions by (historically peaceful) US.
- North Korea tested atomic bomb
- Iran working on its atomic program in cooperation with Russia.
Putin would start arms race anyway, he got an empire to protect, both from outside and inside! Nothing keeps populace in line like show of power. "the Russians said would" is just an excuse, if not for that they would find something else to weasel out of previous treaties.
Q: People are treating Google like their most trusted friend. Should they be?
A: I think judgement matters If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place. But if you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines including Google do retain this information for some time, and it’s important, for example that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act. It is possible that that information could be made available to the authorities.”
So while Chinese govt has to hack their way in to fish for dissidents, US Govt can just waltz in and get any records they want (read: no warrant required).
Eric Schmidt: "If you have something [to hide], maybe you shouldn't be doing it"
Where Chinese government has to hack their way in, US govt agents simply show up and asks for disclosure. I don't think they even need a warrant for that.
In what ways are Communists more evil?
Generally any strong math background will give you leverage in CS. Rule of thumb for graduate math classes: take the easier one, you can always progress to harder class later (in grad or postgrad school).
Itemized list:
discrete math - yes
proofs - not relevant
sets - yes
algorithms - yes
graphs - most likely
math analysis - if you go for PHD
vectors - yes (esp. computer graphics)
euclidean space - same as vectors - yes
differentials - computer graphics
You can use the bare minimum on Emacs, such as "Open" and "Save" through the Menu toolbar. Don't need to know all the shortcuts nor Lisp to start working. And by the time a youngster needs the shortcuts, he can learn them faster than you think is possible.
I am forced to work on Windos lately, and even with cygwin, it is abhorrent for programming.
Slashdot Mirror
-Sure. What do you got?
-Authorization for a body cavity search.
[Police Academy] http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scriptshttp://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1580718#/p/police-academy-ii-script-2.html
That's common problem of all developing countries: there is a huge gap between rich and poor. There is no middle class. Look at Russia: it created about half of the richest men in the world, yet majority of population lives in poverty.
I see the problem with the way those countries are run: laws have no checks and balances, laws not enforced, elite is untouchable, government is bought and sold, etc. And another interesting fact: Russia has highest mortality of journalists after Iraq, ensuring that no one speaks out and things stay the way they are.
Did they just correlate #of kids with TV vs. kids with PC? If so then surprise: correlation does not imply causation.
Either that or they could go around installing TVs and PCs and removing whatever kids had in their rooms before test, which I don't think the parents would let them do.
Does not mean they are not working on it: http://www.techworld.com.au/article/333351/illuminating_elephant_open_source_room
http://www.bbspot.com/news/2000/4/MS_Buys_Evil.html
Upcoming Windows 8 Ultimate Server will feature an OpenSuse virtual engine!!!
Competing distribution of Linux will be quietly forced into an acquisition by Elliot...
guess we will have to unlock doors the old way for another 100 years or so
Pack your bags, kids, we are moving to Spain!
I frequently wipe Windows and install Ubuntu for fellow computer-illiterate folks. I say "this way it cannot get trojans, and games you dont care for anyways".
The thing is to "sell" them the new operating system. If they do not like it for any reason, they will never agree to the switch again.
Often the only change needed to base install is loosing the default brown background: do not want to scare away new "customers" early on.
The brown background has to go, but the abomination they want to replace it with is unacceptable. Even posting a pretty background picture is not going to save the day.
I actually seen an interview with an expert who recommends shifting to neutral and demonstrated it in action. He also noted that turning off ignition is bad because it will kill power steering, and demonstrated that pressing breaks does little as the engine overpowers them.
I only hope that shift is not controlled by the same software *gulp*
souce http://www.thenetworkadministrator.com/ComputerVsCarindustry.htm
Computer vs car industry
Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated "If GM had kept up with the technology like the computer industry has, If we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."
In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating "If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:
l. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.
2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull over to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.
4. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.
5. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "General Protection Fault" warning light.
6. The airbag system would ask "are you sure" before deploying.
7. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
8. Every time GM introduced a new car, car buyers would have to learn to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
9. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.
You know, finding a way to India across Atlantic was an opera only a few hundred years ago, especially given the dangers of falling off the edge of the Earth.
And this is how you build a supersonic jet capable of interstellar travel:
1. Body: Heavy-duty cardboard tube..a lightweight metal tube also works.
2...
How do I vote "with my feet" when every new system in sensible price range comes preinstalled with windows?
Ever since college I feel that UNIX is a far superior operating system. Security, user management, process management, command line power, etc.
However, everywhere you go, there is M$. They are known for squeezing out competition and making computer manufacturers pay them regardless of the system installed. They completely locked up PC market for decades. Majority of PC users have grown up with this and do not suspect that today there are better options out there.
Both Mac and Linux are UNIX-related systems. One being exorbitantly expensive, the other is free. You can stick with Windows for another 20 years, but I get the feeling that the monster is on its way out.
My main reason why it pays to ditch M$ today: no need to maintain expensive antivirus to keep malware out.
No, he does not "supporting the continuation of child exploitation"
He is right, all of the following will come to us at "great great expense":
- Stopping mining their resources for almost free
- Stopping dumping our hazardous waste on their land, almost for free
- Stopping charging them extra for our intellectual rights, in form of inflated medicine costs, etc.
- reducing trade tariffs to allow them to earn living by legal means. Wait, that would make us better off too... who cares?
Genuine Car Advantage Auto-installed (!):
Not exactly: one morning your trusty 10 year old car got "anti-theft" (a.k.a. anti-owner) system magically installed, and it just happens not to recognize your ignition key. Would you be mad? I know I would.
This sci-fi comedy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kin-dza-dza!
is about a planet where they learned to turn water into energy... and now the planet is 100% desert.
When Bush invaded Iraq, he single-handedly kicked off international arms race. Because that means no one is safe from random invasions by (historically peaceful) US.
- North Korea tested atomic bomb
- Iran working on its atomic program in cooperation with Russia.
Putin would start arms race anyway, he got an empire to protect, both from outside and inside! Nothing keeps populace in line like show of power. "the Russians said would" is just an excuse, if not for that they would find something else to weasel out of previous treaties.
There you have it: we have Patriot Act, and Chinese do not, so they had to resort to hacking.
http://blogs.gartner.com/jeffrey_mann/2009/12/18/googles-eric-schmidt-needs-media-training-not-a-privacy-spanking/
Q: People are treating Google like their most trusted friend. Should they be?
A: I think judgement matters If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place. But if you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines including Google do retain this information for some time, and it’s important, for example that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act. It is possible that that information could be made available to the authorities.”
So while Chinese govt has to hack their way in to fish for dissidents, US Govt can just waltz in and get any records they want (read: no warrant required).
Eric Schmidt: "If you have something [to hide], maybe you shouldn't be doing it"
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=983717
Where Chinese government has to hack their way in, US govt agents simply show up and asks for disclosure. I don't think they even need a warrant for that.
In what ways are Communists more evil?
Generally any strong math background will give you leverage in CS. Rule of thumb for graduate math classes: take the easier one, you can always progress to harder class later (in grad or postgrad school).
Itemized list:
discrete math - yes
proofs - not relevant
sets - yes
algorithms - yes
graphs - most likely
math analysis - if you go for PHD
vectors - yes (esp. computer graphics)
euclidean space - same as vectors - yes
differentials - computer graphics
One tank should last me to the Mars and back.
You can use the bare minimum on Emacs, such as "Open" and "Save" through the Menu toolbar. Don't need to know all the shortcuts nor Lisp to start working. And by the time a youngster needs the shortcuts, he can learn them faster than you think is possible.
I am forced to work on Windos lately, and even with cygwin, it is abhorrent for programming.