Those updates are available for download and offline install too, no WGA required!:P If I were on dialup I'd do it that way, ditto bandwidth-strangled connection of any other sort.
If you or I get screwed by our ISP, we either switch, fight, or adapt. The Linux folks don't work against those who may choose or be coerced to adapt. I'm not defending the screwing, just pointing out options.
"And just how many independent journalists would be able to report on a hypothetical invasion force or civilian casualties within Iran without the Internet?"
All of them could report, but there might be a time lag while they got their act together. The internet is a convenience, but there was plenty of war photography and reporting before there were computers.
There are more cell phones than computers, and cutoff of one external connection does not mean that the rest of the Iranian internet combined with cellular, landlines, sat phones, TV, radio and amateur radio couldn't route around damage.
"True, but considering the country was recently 'liberated' and democracy was 'brought' to it, it is a little weird."
Reform of Islamic societies is like trying to teach a pig to sing. It does not work and annoys the pig. Even Ataturks reforms (such as the headscarf law) are under attack in modern Turkey. The more backward countries like A-stan are obviously doomed.
"The repeated mentioning of this guy taunting the animal irritates me, because it seems to imply it was his fault."
They did "volunteer" for what happened. I don't mourn people who are that stupid. Too bad about the tiger, but he sorted those punks attitude problem quite nicely.
As political,ideological and ethnic diversity brought on by un-managed immigration eliminate the bonds of society that restrained the populace from preying on each other, the logical next step is (unfortunately) a controlling state. I'm not rich, but I favor keeping the mob in check.
The ID schemes don't really benefit the ruling class (who can self-segregate away from the trash), but they are a step to order. The mass of the people are quite stupid (safe enough to say on Slashdot) so they must be managed.
"And in some places, this works. Catholicism has been gaining a lot of ground in Africa and South America even as it loses influence in the 'richer' countries--leading to, amongst other things, rather amusing conflicts between hereditarily Catholic (but not actively participating) Quebecois and immigrants to Quebec who are 'taking over' the old Catholic churches."
Catholicism gains ground easily among primitive peoples (before flaming me, read on!) because it is suited to the ways they prefer to think. That is why it was devastatingly effective in South and Central America as a tool of conquest. It is a natural for Africa too, as is Evangelism. Primitives who are not fond of Islam (perhaps due to having Muslim tribal rivals) have Christian alternatives. People like "General Butt Naked" (Google for him) can switch to a forgiving religion when they tire of ritual cannibalism.
Religion should be seen by awake people as primitive superstition, suitable for manipulating simpletons. They will not be rid of theism, so it is fair to use it to steer them politically.
"In-tank fuel pumps should have an access panel in the trunk."
Damn right, ditto truck beds that block pump access. More than one Chevy bed has been treated to a home-cut pump access hole after the owner tired of changing pumps by dropping the tank.
Full-size acft are not always loitering waiting for a call, and satellites can't see horizontally at near-ground level. A portable RC plane could be deployed and used to call in artillery or mortar strikes, with no full-size aviation involvement.
I am capable of being concerned with evil government, evil corporate entities, and evil pseudo-religious scams whose members seek to infiltrate society. They are all threats, and ignoring any gives it freedom to grow.
"I've never understood how a union supporter could go back to work for the same pricks they were fighting with in the first place."
Lack of other jobs, and non-portable retirement benefits come to mind. Unions aren't for unique and special snowflakes, they are to give the otherwise expendable individual the leverage of the group.
There are piles of old machines for donors, and it's quite practical to make a usable Linux box out of good throwaways. There is no need to use Win-shit.
A 440BX board or better, a PII or III, as much memory as ya can fit, a Soundblaster card, a 3Com or Intel NIC, a US Robotics external modem if you are on dialup, and an HP LaserJet for basic printing.
Well-supported, good hardware that's available in thrift stores, dumpsters, etc. Remember that you can build machines out of junk, and there is plenty of good junk.
Sure, plenty of us have money for better, but many of us don't and they needn't suffer much for it.
"Step two: have your dial-up ISP hang up on you before the download completes, "
Use a Windows download client that allows resuming. They have been available for many years. I downloaded many Linux.isos on my crappy emachines 400 back in the day.
"Many PCs from the Windows 98 era had 128 MB of RAM, but the Kubuntu live CD needs about twice that. Instead, you will need the alternate installer CD. But by this time, you might as well use Xubuntu instead."
I haven't run Window 98 on that little memory since 1999. If you are looking for a light,fast distro that runs sweetly on old junk I recommend Damn Small Linux. Anyone running a Windows 98-level box already has to research what will work with their obsolete Windows software, and has had years to obtain more memory.
"Step four: Have the CD fail to recognize at least one of sound, networking, and printing. Many older video cards have decent Free 2D drivers in X.Org, but winmodems and winprinters were unfortunately common in that era."
Check hardware support first. Good external hardware modems are dirt cheap used. They were an upgrade back in the day and still are. Network cards are very well supported.
Slashdot Mirror
I for one foresee a variation of this on the Howard Stern show.
"Doesn't that bother ANYONE?"
Not I. I don't consider that any life form has intrinsic value. I doubt nature does either.
Vista PE live CDs have already been built. Good stuff, but again not at the level of Linux live CDs. Certainly a good tool for the toolbox.
"Yeah, you should run Debian or Ubuntu like me."
:P
Those updates are available for download and offline install too, no WGA required!
If I were on dialup I'd do it that way, ditto bandwidth-strangled connection of any other sort.
If you or I get screwed by our ISP, we either switch, fight, or adapt. The Linux folks don't work against those who may choose or be coerced to adapt. I'm not defending the screwing, just pointing out options.
"If Microsoft's Patch Tuesday puts me over my limit, who's going to pay for it?"
You are, since you made the adult choice to use Windows and update each separate machine.
There are alternatives which let you download updates such as Heises Offline Update.
Compared to either, a live Linux CD wins.
I can rescue, troubleshoot, surf with, and easily install from a variety of live Linux CDs.
The tools are there to build something similar:
http://www.911cd.net/forums/
using Windows PE exist, but MSFT doesn't bother. Too bad, really. It would make user lives easier.
Kindly turn out for the next RIAA convention!
"And just how many independent journalists would be able to report on a hypothetical invasion force or civilian casualties within Iran without the Internet?"
All of them could report, but there might be a time lag while they got their act together. The internet is a convenience, but there was plenty of war photography and reporting before there were computers.
There are more cell phones than computers, and cutoff of one external connection does not mean that the rest of the Iranian internet combined with cellular, landlines, sat phones, TV, radio and amateur radio couldn't route around damage.
Sure, just install voice recognition capability. :)
BTW, avoid the command "Jerk it off".
"True, but considering the country was recently 'liberated' and democracy was 'brought' to it, it is a little weird."
Reform of Islamic societies is like trying to teach a pig to sing. It does not work and annoys the pig.
Even Ataturks reforms (such as the headscarf law) are under attack in modern Turkey. The more backward countries like A-stan are obviously doomed.
Both crucifixion and football are homoerotic display. They "fit" flawlessly.
""A communications disruption can mean only one thing - invasion."
- We all know who."
No country including Iran would use the internet for C4I, and BTW no credible invasion force could mass near Iran in secret.
"The repeated mentioning of this guy taunting the animal irritates me, because it seems to imply it was his fault."
They did "volunteer" for what happened. I don't mourn people who are that stupid. Too bad about the tiger, but he sorted those punks attitude problem quite nicely.
As political,ideological and ethnic diversity brought on by un-managed immigration eliminate the bonds of society that restrained the populace from preying on each other, the logical next step is (unfortunately) a controlling state. I'm not rich, but I favor keeping the mob in check.
The ID schemes don't really benefit the ruling class (who can self-segregate away from the trash), but they are a step to order. The mass of the people are quite stupid (safe enough to say on Slashdot) so they must be managed.
"And in some places, this works. Catholicism has been gaining a lot of ground in Africa and South America even as it loses influence in the 'richer' countries--leading to, amongst other things, rather amusing conflicts between hereditarily Catholic (but not actively participating) Quebecois and immigrants to Quebec who are 'taking over' the old Catholic churches."
Catholicism gains ground easily among primitive peoples (before flaming me, read on!) because it is suited to the ways they prefer to think. That is why it was devastatingly effective in South and Central America as a tool of conquest. It is a natural for Africa too, as is Evangelism. Primitives who are not fond of Islam (perhaps due to having Muslim tribal rivals) have Christian alternatives. People like "General Butt Naked" (Google for him) can switch to a forgiving religion when they tire of ritual cannibalism.
Religion should be seen by awake people as primitive superstition, suitable for manipulating simpletons. They will not be rid of theism, so it is fair to use it to steer them politically.
"In-tank fuel pumps should have an access panel in the trunk."
Damn right, ditto truck beds that block pump access. More than one Chevy bed has been treated to a home-cut pump access hole after the owner tired of changing pumps by dropping the tank.
Why is being superstition-free an extreme opinion?
Full-size acft are not always loitering waiting for a call, and satellites can't see horizontally at near-ground level. A portable RC plane could be deployed and used to call in artillery or mortar strikes, with no full-size aviation involvement.
"The only winning move is not to play. Not to play the Bismarkian game."
At which point those willing to play will promptly trounce the idealistic fools who abdicated their place in the game.
I am capable of being concerned with evil government, evil corporate entities, and evil pseudo-religious scams whose members seek to infiltrate society. They are all threats, and ignoring any gives it freedom to grow.
"I've never understood how a union supporter could go back to work for the same pricks they were fighting with in the first place."
Lack of other jobs, and non-portable retirement benefits come to mind. Unions aren't for unique and special snowflakes, they are to give the otherwise expendable individual the leverage of the group.
If one prices paving, the probable answer is "yes". It's a semi-rural/rural area.
There are piles of old machines for donors, and it's quite practical to make a usable Linux box out of good throwaways. There is no need to use Win-shit.
A 440BX board or better, a PII or III, as much memory as ya can fit, a Soundblaster card, a 3Com or Intel NIC, a US Robotics external modem if you are on dialup, and an HP LaserJet for basic printing.
Well-supported, good hardware that's available in thrift stores, dumpsters, etc. Remember that you can build machines out of junk, and there is plenty of good junk.
Sure, plenty of us have money for better, but many of us don't and they needn't suffer much for it.
"Step two: have your dial-up ISP hang up on you before the download completes, "
.isos on my crappy emachines 400 back in the day.
Use a Windows download client that allows resuming. They have been available for many years. I downloaded many Linux
"Workaround: Buy a copy of Kubuntu on CD."
BUY? 'buntu CDs are famously free:
https://shipit.kubuntu.org/
"Many PCs from the Windows 98 era had 128 MB of RAM, but the Kubuntu live CD needs about twice that. Instead, you will need the alternate installer CD. But by this time, you might as well use Xubuntu instead."
I haven't run Window 98 on that little memory since 1999. If you are looking for a light,fast distro that runs sweetly on old junk I recommend Damn Small Linux. Anyone running a Windows 98-level box already has to research what will work with their obsolete Windows software, and has had years to obtain more memory.
"Step four: Have the CD fail to recognize at least one of sound, networking, and printing. Many older video cards have decent Free 2D drivers in X.Org, but winmodems and winprinters were unfortunately common in that era."
Check hardware support first. Good external hardware modems are dirt cheap used. They were an upgrade back in the day and still are. Network cards are very well supported.
"Try riding a bike sometime."
The shoulderless roads where I live make that about as bright as using a chain saw in your lap, and it is too expensive to improve most of the roads.