I'm a system administrator running mostly NT boxes. I got into a discussion with a unix admin [added emphasis mine]
Look, don't try to talk this over the OS advacacy gulf. In Windows, not knowing how to program at all, even to the extent of never writing.BAT files, is alright. The system will let you cope. (Yes, yes, you will be crippled, but that's aside the point.) This is not true in *NIX land- as any native, immigrant, itenerant or visitor will be able to tell you (if only by their total lack of understanding). *NIX demands that you know why the system works- just to configure it properly- and that requires a knowledge of programming (though I've never encountered needing to know real assembler, knowing the concepts sure helps every once in a while).
So if you want the answer in simple terms- sure, you're both right, but only in Windows can you get away with no knowledge of programming and still administer a box (yes, yes, poorly, but a MCSE will help. That doesn't teach programming, IIRC).
Anyone know what OS all of those NCR automatic teller machines run on?
I sh*t you not- Windows 3.x. I got the immense priveledge of waiting for a grease monkey to unknot the bill dispenser on the local ATM and first thing he did was stop the user interface- underneath was the immediatly recognizable Win16 interface. Granted that at the distance I was from that tiny screen I could be wrong, but given window border styles and the instantly recognizable '-' button, I was sure it was 3.1 (at least 3.x)!
Threw me for a loop, too. If ATMs run Windows, why do they have a text-only interface??
Okay, let's take these criticisms one at a time. Hopefully, I can get you to see my point of view- not change yours. You are welcome to your opinion; just hear mine out.
1) Bad stories
Methinks you have been watching too much Toonami. Yes, you watch a few eps of what CN puts on and you'll think "gawd what garbage!" But switch over to Friends and seriously compare the plot depth. Same for Buffy; now I'm serious here!! Think about it- there are, according to dramatists, less than a dozen basic plot lines (they'll give you different answers according to their view, but noone I know goes over about 10). And on top of that, you're viewing this across a cultural chasm (little bit deeper & wider than a generation gap). Sure, you might have to watch the same thing once or twice, but once you've build some sort of mental bridge you'll see that maybe, just maybe, some of this is deeper than American film. (Princess Mononoke comes to mind; similar enough to Aesop's tales you might find it a jumpable region, yet also a good film on just its' own merits.)
2) Bad animation, jerkiness with poor color composition
Hmm... two words. Abstract Art. Yes, you might not think it's 'real art' (I sure don't) but apparently it is to some people. After all, culture truly is a fluid thing and perhaps someday realism may be considered childish art. (But I truly doubt it.)
3) Bad translations [there]of
Hmmm. Define 'bad'. Are these translations literal? Most certainly not; but I'd like to see a literal translation preserve the humor of a pun. (Can't be done, except in exceptional cases). Also refer back to point one- that cultural chasm might keep you from understanding a word-for-word translation. True-to-intent translations? Perhaps; I'm not fluent in any language but English, so I've no real grounds to say. All I can say is: if it really is a bad translation, keep up the good work-- I enjoy what anime I've seen.
4) Bad dialogue
5) A bunch of people OBSESSED with this shit to a sickening point.
I'm going to deal both of these one swift blow. Ever been to a Star Trek convention?? I haven't, really, but I did attend Dragon*Con in Atlanta-- general sci-fi but still the point holds. I may enjoy Trek as much as the next geek, but I don't go out and buy the uniform and the badge and tricorder and makeup kits and wear all of it to every convention held. Some people do. Obsession is (IMHO- this is not a statement of fact) hardwired into today's American (if not general Western) culture because of the popularism ('be-like-us' Borg attitude). And after looking hard at trekkies talk to a non-trekkie- they sure as shooting won't 'get it' and the most cultured of them (nye kultoorni! Literal Translation: uncultured! or perhaps, with context: BARBARIANS!) will tell you that the dialog is soooooo hakneyed. Perhaps it is, but that does nothing to diminish the good parts. But these poor souls are so caught up in either critical examination of the medium or interest in what's-the-latest-brand-worn-by-the-latest-boy-ban d that they can't see the social criticism in Trek. (Not that Trek is alone in that.)
And so in conclusion: hopefully I have answered your question. If you haven't read between the lines and gotten the point, I'll spell it out. We like anime because it is a different take on drama- one not supported by live action nor explored by western animators. If you do not understand this, you are free to find your entertainment elsewhere.
The speed of the desktop will not be wha makes or breaks linux on the desktop.
Yes, it will; or at least, it will until we can retrain the users to do things efficiently.
Earlier today I had to run an inter-departmental errand and watched someone's secretary print 20 documents. I would just hilight them all, right mouse them, and click 'Print' in the drop-down menu. Was she doing that? Not even close. She would double-click each document (Word.doc files, mainly), click the toolbar 'print' icon, close word, and then double click the next document.
I found it laughable, and bit back a biting response and instead calmly showed her a faster way to do it. She never knew you could print files without opening them!
The problem isn't the desktop; Linux users are used to doing things efficiently (in any system- I'd be willing to bet that every/. reader knows the keyboard shortcuts for the OSes they regularly use. It's just efficient.) Until every user is doing things efficiently, not just by rote memorization, we won't see Linux on the desktop.
Ignore the other folks. Go watch Tech Tv - they have good help shows, and on a number of them they have Windows usability tips. They give out the shortcut [Win]+d (for desktop)- this hides all of the windows and lets you get to the desktop. Pressing it again opens only the windows you had open; this is the best feature I've yet seen for the [Win] key (other than +f for find and +e for Explorer and +r for run -- driving everyone around me crazy with how fast I do things...).
Ever had to listen to a top-ten station? I've got a coworker who keeps one on the air; I don't understand the concept at all. You can tell what part of the hour it is by which song / what part is currently playing. New music? Not there.
Me, I only buy soundtrack CDs and compilations. Yes, that means my music is at least 6 years behind the current selection (often far more than that; last CD I bought was classical), but then again what is this thread about, anyway...
More clearly than anything, it represents a real crisis in North American universities today: people think of them as valuable only insofar as they provide job training and a career boost.
The college I attended was a Liberal Arts college (even though I was persueing, as one might guess from my Slashdot readership, a CompSci degree). One of the main drawing points for me to this college was that it had a two year course that was a philosophy / ethics / religion bastardized amalgam (this is me with a more 'mature' and cultured viewpoint speaking; coming out of high school it sounded terriffic). I hated the course after one semester, as you had to really read and do the work (more so, I think, than would be required by a traditional course) but it did one important thing. It made me think about how I faced the 'big questions of life'. And after leaving college I never lost the interest that couse inspired in me to learn how others faced those same questions (mainly garnered from reading Kant and Nietche and Plato and...).
It's gotten so bad, in fact, that when the major controversy about patenting programs came out, I did my own (refresher) research on the topic. I ended up at Project Gutenburg reading a monogram on the nature of property. (Direct link not provided to comply with their linkage policy. Search for the author: Proudhon)
Now, I don't take your opinion too seriously if you don't get off your duff and educate yourself about the issue. (Though here, that's mainly a anti-troll thing.) Oh, the evils I propegate all due those horrid years in that stuffy classroom.;-)
IANAL, but I believe that the game is still under copyright. However, they probably distribute with out fear of prosecution for one or more of the following reasons:
A) The publishing company might have gone under - slashdotted site, as of posting don't know
B) The ATARI 2600 is well past the peak of tech and those games don't compete with modern ones
C) The cost of prosecuting these pirates far outweighs the return ($0, the games are no longer for sale)
So this is warez; but of a kind so 'minor' that nobody n their right mind would try to prosecute the pirates (but ouf course, we all know lawers aren't in their right mind).
The gas pump doesn't stop supporting your old car!
And to use an even better analogy, you can still buy parts for a 30 year old car.
I don't mind if the software manufacturers sell their latest product with new systems, but to kill support for old systems is not fair. All they have to do is implement a computer-based knowledge system and then the tech support monkey just asks you "Alright, what version are you running?" and the knowlege base will adjust its' answers accordingly. I am sorry to say that greed pure and clear must be why the corporations won't keep support.
When you make a product with virtually zero duplication cost, why do you then feel you need to force consumers to buy it?
This just sounds like what I expect out of Microsoft. They take well trained engineers and lock them in a room with a bunch of computers to write a progam, and apparently in the labs its' rock solid. But once it is released into the wild, it doesn't work at all.
Seriously, though, this is a total disgrace and failure of service worthy of America Off-Line.
I, for one, do not apply for a job without first doing research into the exact nature of my duties, responsibilities, and most importantly, authority.
Here it becomes critical as (with the first suggested settlement) the comittee may not have very much authority to actually do anything in the event of a agreement violation.<br>
My question is: if you were to be appointed to this position, what authority to remedy faults in existing or future products would you request?
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutly.
And now let me expound upon that.
I have a friend-of-a-friend story: a friend of mine is a lawer who defended a client accused of a computer crime- namely, running p0rn and selling 'services' on the 'net. When the police (Atlanta, GA- local mind you) raided his house, they took everything. Incuding, for no reason whatsoever, his pickup truck. And then auctioned said truck off. Before he was proven guilty in a court of law- before, even, he went to court. In total defiance of the constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure. And this was doubly unreasonable as a) they had no reason to sieze his vehicle and b) the had no right to sell it before his guilt was determined.
So if you want to say something sensible and levelheaded like "ensure that adequate oversight exists", keep in mind that the overseer needs to know about the issures involved. And when they don't, any amount of oversight won't do anything to stem corruption. Because I'm sure as sure can be that the goverment has sharp oversight over the local police departments, but yet that didn't stop this from happening. I don't even want to think about what the police really do in cases of phone tapping.
Yep, I did that- my computer is the backbone of my 'entertainment center'. Goes something like this:
PS2/VCR => SVideo input to computer
Radio/Tape player => Audio input line
Computer => dual head output
This way I can do a whole lot all at once, even driving it all through my antiqudated PII. I'm still waiting for an app that will 'kill' that processor....
Neither argument is favored. Occam's razor favors the hypothosis that organic chemicals are the cause; whether they form living cells or not is yet to be determined.
Glenn Teeter from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington state says bacteria aren't the simplest explanation for Europa's spectrum.
Yet... No one has managed to come up with the perfect mix of [mineral] salts to explain all of Europa's spectrum.
Okay boys, settle down and apply a little common sense here. If the experiment works, let's ask ourselves why. At the least, it proves Europa has all the right elements (pun intended, for sure) for life to form.
Of course we still would want to go and see for ourselves, just to be sure. But let's make sure the astronauts pack lots of penicillin, just in case. {grin}
Rather than ask about current copyright/patent laws, or pending ones, I would like to know what you think the ideal Intellectual Property laws are (assume you could rewrite them as you wish). Also, what sort of international agreements would have to be passed alongside this?
Is it just me, or does law seem to get screwier and screwier? From trying to regulate internet sites (too many slashdot links to provide), or RIAA/MPAA copyright lawsuits (links? ditto), and now we'll have unenforcable patent laws on the books.
Really. You can control the production of (say, for example) a car, but you can't control the replication of a gene sequence very well.
Sprinkle with a company patenting a pre-existing gene (anyone want to apply on a patent for hemoglobin production?), and we have a recipe for disaster.
Anyone know where I can buy a sizable island cheap?
"We sort of mentally went in that direction with our movie, and I think we gave it that degree of weight and gravity, and that authenticity makes it feel Tolkien-esque. Also I think it's a more interesting approach than just saying it's fantasy, it's fairytale, let's just be over the top and make a film for kids. We weren't interested in doing that."
What a relief. The kiddie feel of the animated Hobbit film really ruined that one- I look forward to this. (Might even go from 'must-buy' to 'must-preorder').
Or just a closet you can turn into a wiring closet?
My suggestion is this: there is no way to know what is going to be standard cabling 10-15 years from now... so plan to be able to change out all of your wiring.
Instead of running cables, buy smallish (1" or thereabouts) PVC pipes, and instead of running a wire, run pipes (and a string!) to the wiring closet. Although you can't do this with electrical wiring for code reasons, it should work for phone/ ethernet/ cable/ etc. Voila! instant modular wiring. (YMMV.)
------
Take a large dose of computing power, throw in a dash of hackerism how-to, and top with a smattering of WiFi... beowulf supercomputing on the (real) highway!!!
Now those long, traffic-jam laden commutes might not be so bad for society after all- just add a little distributed computing.
Since everyone is talking whole system, I'll only mention the main peripheral concern: a graphics tablet. My recommendation is to check out Wacom- their line of professional graphics tablets are just about the best out there- while being both Mac and PC enabled.
Free Software, costly documentation??
on
The LDP and Debian
·
· Score: 1
To answer your question very briefly, it does me no good to get free (speech) software when I get free (beer) documentation with it. In that situation, I can change the software but not the documentation- and who would want that??
There's a great little science experiment demonstrating how plants get nutrients by osmosis; you stick a flower into a cup of colored water and the next day you can see the colors that were in the water in the flower.
The same thing is true of government; and keeping in mind that a lot of politicians (in fact, a lot of people in generic seats of power) are a lot more reactionary than your average/.er, or even just the average citizen; it will take a while longer yet- children who grew up not knowing why the letters on a keyboard are in alphabetical order will be the ones who change the politics.
But to conclude or suggest that the product is inferior for starters because is not sending the commercial competitors to the pawn shop...thats bunch of malarkey.
I'm a platform agnostic. Sure, I'll ask people "why are you running Windows?", but I don't then immediatly plug Linux as the grand solution.
New users -and casual users- need Windows (or a Mac) so they don't have to worry about the details of configuring the system. Learning exactly how PnP works isn't something they are interested in. As long as the only thing they use the computer for is simple tasks -write letters or surf the net- Linux isn't for them.
And on the embedded scale, much the same applies. I use a Handspring Visor; all because I want a OS on my handheld that <i>gets out of my way</i>. The OS needs to pull up whatever app I need- be it the calendar or notepad or whatever- and then dissapear- because the more memory / processor / battery power needed, the more it costs, and the less I want it.
No system can be applied everywhere in the computing world and be the best solution everywhere. Linux has its' issues dealing with new users and embedded systems; this is not a flaw. Where Microsoft has failed is trying to write a system that can be used everywhere. It won't work; IMHO it <i>can't</i> work. Let's not drive Linux down that same road.
The method used in my workplace is a 'game' called Dirty Santa. This works only at Xmas time, of course...
Everyone brings a gift (about $5-$10 value). They all go (wrapped but completely unlabeled) into a pile. Everyone draws a number (no gift, no number). #1 goes first (of course), and picks a gift. #2 gets to either a) pick a gift or b) steal from #1 (who then must open another gift from under the tree). #3 can open a present or steal from either #2 or #1, and so forth. When it's all over, #1 gets one final chance to steal from anyone at all (since they had to open a present at the start).
Generally, this starts holiday parties very well- good gifts like (chocolates are a perrenial fav) get stolen frequently while, well, boobie prizes get lumped on the poor sap who ended up opening them.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm a system administrator running mostly NT boxes. I got into a discussion with a unix admin [added emphasis mine] .BAT files, is alright. The system will let you cope. (Yes, yes, you will be crippled, but that's aside the point.) This is not true in *NIX land- as any native, immigrant, itenerant or visitor will be able to tell you (if only by their total lack of understanding). *NIX demands that you know why the system works- just to configure it properly- and that requires a knowledge of programming (though I've never encountered needing to know real assembler, knowing the concepts sure helps every once in a while).
Look, don't try to talk this over the OS advacacy gulf. In Windows, not knowing how to program at all, even to the extent of never writing
So if you want the answer in simple terms- sure, you're both right, but only in Windows can you get away with no knowledge of programming and still administer a box (yes, yes, poorly, but a MCSE will help. That doesn't teach programming, IIRC).
Anyone know what OS all of those NCR automatic teller machines run on?
I sh*t you not- Windows 3.x. I got the immense priveledge of waiting for a grease monkey to unknot the bill dispenser on the local ATM and first thing he did was stop the user interface- underneath was the immediatly recognizable Win16 interface. Granted that at the distance I was from that tiny screen I could be wrong, but given window border styles and the instantly recognizable '-' button, I was sure it was 3.1 (at least 3.x)!
Threw me for a loop, too. If ATMs run Windows, why do they have a text-only interface??
Okay, let's take these criticisms one at a time. Hopefully, I can get you to see my point of view- not change yours. You are welcome to your opinion; just hear mine out.
n d that they can't see the social criticism in Trek. (Not that Trek is alone in that.)
1) Bad stories
Methinks you have been watching too much Toonami. Yes, you watch a few eps of what CN puts on and you'll think "gawd what garbage!" But switch over to Friends and seriously compare the plot depth. Same for Buffy; now I'm serious here!! Think about it- there are, according to dramatists, less than a dozen basic plot lines (they'll give you different answers according to their view, but noone I know goes over about 10). And on top of that, you're viewing this across a cultural chasm (little bit deeper & wider than a generation gap). Sure, you might have to watch the same thing once or twice, but once you've build some sort of mental bridge you'll see that maybe, just maybe, some of this is deeper than American film. (Princess Mononoke comes to mind; similar enough to Aesop's tales you might find it a jumpable region, yet also a good film on just its' own merits.)
2) Bad animation, jerkiness with poor color composition
Hmm... two words. Abstract Art. Yes, you might not think it's 'real art' (I sure don't) but apparently it is to some people. After all, culture truly is a fluid thing and perhaps someday realism may be considered childish art. (But I truly doubt it.)
3) Bad translations [there]of
Hmmm. Define 'bad'. Are these translations literal? Most certainly not; but I'd like to see a literal translation preserve the humor of a pun. (Can't be done, except in exceptional cases). Also refer back to point one- that cultural chasm might keep you from understanding a word-for-word translation. True-to-intent translations? Perhaps; I'm not fluent in any language but English, so I've no real grounds to say. All I can say is: if it really is a bad translation, keep up the good work-- I enjoy what anime I've seen.
4) Bad dialogue
5) A bunch of people OBSESSED with this shit to a sickening point.
I'm going to deal both of these one swift blow. Ever been to a Star Trek convention?? I haven't, really, but I did attend Dragon*Con in Atlanta-- general sci-fi but still the point holds. I may enjoy Trek as much as the next geek, but I don't go out and buy the uniform and the badge and tricorder and makeup kits and wear all of it to every convention held. Some people do. Obsession is (IMHO- this is not a statement of fact) hardwired into today's American (if not general Western) culture because of the popularism ('be-like-us' Borg attitude). And after looking hard at trekkies talk to a non-trekkie- they sure as shooting won't 'get it' and the most cultured of them (nye kultoorni! Literal Translation: uncultured! or perhaps, with context: BARBARIANS!) will tell you that the dialog is soooooo hakneyed. Perhaps it is, but that does nothing to diminish the good parts. But these poor souls are so caught up in either critical examination of the medium or interest in what's-the-latest-brand-worn-by-the-latest-boy-ba
And so in conclusion: hopefully I have answered your question. If you haven't read between the lines and gotten the point, I'll spell it out. We like anime because it is a different take on drama- one not supported by live action nor explored by western animators. If you do not understand this, you are free to find your entertainment elsewhere.
The speed of the desktop will not be wha makes or breaks linux on the desktop.
.doc files, mainly), click the toolbar 'print' icon, close word, and then double click the next document.
/. reader knows the keyboard shortcuts for the OSes they regularly use. It's just efficient.) Until every user is doing things efficiently, not just by rote memorization, we won't see Linux on the desktop.
Yes, it will; or at least, it will until we can retrain the users to do things efficiently. Earlier today I had to run an inter-departmental errand and watched someone's secretary print 20 documents. I would just hilight them all, right mouse them, and click 'Print' in the drop-down menu. Was she doing that? Not even close. She would double-click each document (Word
I found it laughable, and bit back a biting response and instead calmly showed her a faster way to do it. She never knew you could print files without opening them!
The problem isn't the desktop; Linux users are used to doing things efficiently (in any system- I'd be willing to bet that every
Ignore the other folks. Go watch Tech Tv - they have good help shows, and on a number of them they have Windows usability tips. They give out the shortcut [Win]+d (for desktop)- this hides all of the windows and lets you get to the desktop. Pressing it again opens only the windows you had open; this is the best feature I've yet seen for the [Win] key (other than +f for find and +e for Explorer and +r for run -- driving everyone around me crazy with how fast I do things...).
Ever had to listen to a top-ten station? I've got a coworker who keeps one on the air; I don't understand the concept at all. You can tell what part of the hour it is by which song / what part is currently playing. New music? Not there.
Me, I only buy soundtrack CDs and compilations. Yes, that means my music is at least 6 years behind the current selection (often far more than that; last CD I bought was classical), but then again what is this thread about, anyway...
It's gotten so bad, in fact, that when the major controversy about patenting programs came out, I did my own (refresher) research on the topic. I ended up at Project Gutenburg reading a monogram on the nature of property. (Direct link not provided to comply with their linkage policy. Search for the author: Proudhon)
Now, I don't take your opinion too seriously if you don't get off your duff and educate yourself about the issue. (Though here, that's mainly a anti-troll thing.) Oh, the evils I propegate all due those horrid years in that stuffy classroom.
IANAL, but I believe that the game is still under copyright. However, they probably distribute with out fear of prosecution for one or more of the following reasons:
A) The publishing company might have gone under - slashdotted site, as of posting don't know
B) The ATARI 2600 is well past the peak of tech and those games don't compete with modern ones
C) The cost of prosecuting these pirates far outweighs the return ($0, the games are no longer for sale)
So this is warez; but of a kind so 'minor' that nobody n their right mind would try to prosecute the pirates (but ouf course, we all know lawers aren't in their right mind).
The gas pump doesn't stop supporting your old car!
And to use an even better analogy, you can still buy parts for a 30 year old car.
I don't mind if the software manufacturers sell their latest product with new systems, but to kill support for old systems is not fair. All they have to do is implement a computer-based knowledge system and then the tech support monkey just asks you "Alright, what version are you running?" and the knowlege base will adjust its' answers accordingly. I am sorry to say that greed pure and clear must be why the corporations won't keep support.
When you make a product with virtually zero duplication cost, why do you then feel you need to force consumers to buy it?
This just sounds like what I expect out of Microsoft. They take well trained engineers and lock them in a room with a bunch of computers to write a progam, and apparently in the labs its' rock solid. But once it is released into the wild, it doesn't work at all.
Seriously, though, this is a total disgrace and failure of service worthy of America Off-Line.
And people wonder why I hate big business....
I, for one, do not apply for a job without first doing research into the exact nature of my duties, responsibilities, and most importantly, authority.
Here it becomes critical as (with the first suggested settlement) the comittee may not have very much authority to actually do anything in the event of a agreement violation.<br>
My question is: if you were to be appointed to this position, what authority to remedy faults in existing or future products would you request?
Here's the one counterargument for what you said:
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutly.
And now let me expound upon that.
I have a friend-of-a-friend story: a friend of mine is a lawer who defended a client accused of a computer crime- namely, running p0rn and selling 'services' on the 'net. When the police (Atlanta, GA- local mind you) raided his house, they took everything. Incuding, for no reason whatsoever, his pickup truck. And then auctioned said truck off. Before he was proven guilty in a court of law- before, even, he went to court. In total defiance of the constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure. And this was doubly unreasonable as a) they had no reason to sieze his vehicle and b) the had no right to sell it before his guilt was determined.
So if you want to say something sensible and levelheaded like "ensure that adequate oversight exists", keep in mind that the overseer needs to know about the issures involved. And when they don't, any amount of oversight won't do anything to stem corruption. Because I'm sure as sure can be that the goverment has sharp oversight over the local police departments, but yet that didn't stop this from happening. I don't even want to think about what the police really do in cases of phone tapping.
Yep, I did that- my computer is the backbone of my 'entertainment center'. Goes something like this:
PS2/VCR => SVideo input to computer
Radio/Tape player => Audio input line
Computer => dual head output
This way I can do a whole lot all at once, even driving it all through my antiqudated PII. I'm still waiting for an app that will 'kill' that processor....
Neither argument is favored. Occam's razor favors the hypothosis that organic chemicals are the cause; whether they form living cells or not is yet to be determined.
Glenn Teeter from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington state says bacteria aren't the simplest explanation for Europa's spectrum.
Yet...
No one has managed to come up with the perfect mix of [mineral] salts to explain all of Europa's spectrum.
Okay boys, settle down and apply a little common sense here. If the experiment works, let's ask ourselves why. At the least, it proves Europa has all the right elements (pun intended, for sure) for life to form.
Of course we still would want to go and see for ourselves, just to be sure. But let's make sure the astronauts pack lots of penicillin, just in case. {grin}
Rather than ask about current copyright/patent laws, or pending ones, I would like to know what you think the ideal Intellectual Property laws are (assume you could rewrite them as you wish). Also, what sort of international agreements would have to be passed alongside this?
Is it just me, or does law seem to get screwier and screwier? From trying to regulate internet sites (too many slashdot links to provide), or RIAA/MPAA copyright lawsuits (links? ditto), and now we'll have unenforcable patent laws on the books.
Really. You can control the production of (say, for example) a car, but you can't control the replication of a gene sequence very well.
Sprinkle with a company patenting a pre-existing gene (anyone want to apply on a patent for hemoglobin production?), and we have a recipe for disaster.
Anyone know where I can buy a sizable island cheap?
Or just a closet you can turn into a wiring closet?
My suggestion is this: there is no way to know what is going to be standard cabling 10-15 years from now... so plan to be able to change out all of your wiring.
Instead of running cables, buy smallish (1" or thereabouts) PVC pipes, and instead of running a wire, run pipes (and a string!) to the wiring closet. Although you can't do this with electrical wiring for code reasons, it should work for phone/ ethernet/ cable/ etc. Voila! instant modular wiring. (YMMV.)
------
Take a large dose of computing power, throw in a dash of hackerism how-to, and top with a smattering of WiFi... beowulf supercomputing on the (real) highway!!!
Now those long, traffic-jam laden commutes might not be so bad for society after all- just add a little distributed computing.
Since everyone is talking whole system, I'll only mention the main peripheral concern: a graphics tablet. My recommendation is to check out Wacom- their line of professional graphics tablets are just about the best out there- while being both Mac and PC enabled.
To answer your question very briefly, it does me no good to get free (speech) software when I get free (beer) documentation with it. In that situation, I can change the software but not the documentation- and who would want that??
There's a great little science experiment demonstrating how plants get nutrients by osmosis; you stick a flower into a cup of colored water and the next day you can see the colors that were in the water in the flower.
/.er, or even just the average citizen; it will take a while longer yet- children who grew up not knowing why the letters on a keyboard are in alphabetical order will be the ones who change the politics.
The same thing is true of government; and keeping in mind that a lot of politicians (in fact, a lot of people in generic seats of power) are a lot more reactionary than your average
But to conclude or suggest that the product is inferior for starters because is not sending the commercial competitors to the pawn shop...thats bunch of malarkey.
I'm a platform agnostic. Sure, I'll ask people "why are you running Windows?", but I don't then immediatly plug Linux as the grand solution.
New users -and casual users- need Windows (or a Mac) so they don't have to worry about the details of configuring the system. Learning exactly how PnP works isn't something they are interested in. As long as the only thing they use the computer for is simple tasks -write letters or surf the net- Linux isn't for them.
And on the embedded scale, much the same applies. I use a Handspring Visor; all because I want a OS on my handheld that <i>gets out of my way</i>. The OS needs to pull up whatever app I need- be it the calendar or notepad or whatever- and then dissapear- because the more memory / processor / battery power needed, the more it costs, and the less I want it.
No system can be applied everywhere in the computing world and be the best solution everywhere. Linux has its' issues dealing with new users and embedded systems; this is not a flaw. Where Microsoft has failed is trying to write a system that can be used everywhere. It won't work; IMHO it <i>can't</i> work. Let's not drive Linux down that same road.
The method used in my workplace is a 'game' called Dirty Santa. This works only at Xmas time, of course...
Everyone brings a gift (about $5-$10 value). They all go (wrapped but completely unlabeled) into a pile. Everyone draws a number (no gift, no number). #1 goes first (of course), and picks a gift. #2 gets to either a) pick a gift or b) steal from #1 (who then must open another gift from under the tree). #3 can open a present or steal from either #2 or #1, and so forth. When it's all over, #1 gets one final chance to steal from anyone at all (since they had to open a present at the start).
Generally, this starts holiday parties very well- good gifts like (chocolates are a perrenial fav) get stolen frequently while, well, boobie prizes get lumped on the poor sap who ended up opening them.