You don't understand the situation. If you are known to be a jolly drinker and suddenly you stop, people will ask questions. That's the point where you need an explanation. Saying out loud you have a "problem" is socially less acceptable that a rationalized story.
I was lucky in a sense... My own family has been extremely supportive by not drinking ever around me. They don't need to, by now I'm very comfortable around people who drink. My in-laws never stopped drinking around me but the general consensus was that they "admired me for sticking to it". I still am convinced that in reality they didn't admire me for it and it was just a way to encourage me, but it's a way to show support.
As for everywhere else, well... That was easy. I got nabbed drunk driving (2.2 promille) and speeding (184km/h on their clock). I got my license revoked for a few months and had to explain myself in court. As this was the first offense (ahem, yeah, first time caught in 15 years would be a more apt way to put it), I got my license revoked for 22 months, but on probation. So, I'm free to drive, but should I get caught again (speeding or drinking) within the next five years, I get the 22 months plus whatever the new offense brings me. So, people get that story as for why I don't drink: "I'm on probation, I can't drink". That generally gets accepted.
That said, I got caught in an alcohol control yesterday, and while I didn't drink anything, I still was extremely stressed.
Same here. Atheist, bad drinking problem, didn't find AA helpful. I didn't go the meds way. I found myself a good psychiatrist who 'simply' found a good way to convince me that drinking was going to destroy me long term. I quit cold turkey 1st March 2010, and didn't drink a drip ever since. The only valid step with an addiction is realizing you have a problem, and then seeking help.
Naive? I don't think so... I didn't want to say it straight out, but artists should not get the free ride that the RIAA promises them (and few get). Basically, it's a gamble for the artists and like in all gambling, most lose. Below in the comments you'll find one where the poster says what has to be done to be an independent musician and live from it and it has a great sarcastic reply. The point is, being a profitable independent musician is hard work, but it is possible to make a living off it. Not like a rockstar, but like most people who -go figure- also work hard but aren't artists (like us IT people, or a carpenter...)
And BTW, why the hell does the world have to just suck for everyone but the top 1% anyway?
You could argue that if you love what you do, and work your butt off to achieve it, you are in the top 1% who don't have a sucky life because... well, you've got the luxury of doing what you love. Go talk with the average man, doing what you love is a luxury, no doubt about it.
That's a bit twisting it, but while I agree that it would be more fair that the world didn't suck for everyone.... the reality is that the world is not fair. You either accept that and make the best out of it, or you think you are entitled to something and complain. You see, the world is not fair and can and will never be fair. If it were fair, my brother would have been able to learn more and make the same kind of living I do. He doesn't, he's unemployed because school simply wasn't his thing (large difficulties to learn), and I had the genetic advantage on him actually having it easy to learn. He's unemployed and I'm earning a honest wage (nothing fancy, believe me, I'm not in those 1%... Assuming you don't mean 1% of the world population, because other whise we're both in those 1% simply because we have access to a computer and probably even own it!). Is that fair? No! Of course not... Is there a solution? Unless you adhere to hardcore socialism (everyone, doctor or janitor earns the same - which comes with lots of other problems) there is no solution.
mp3.com is an oddball. Thing is they did things that were doubtful legally (What Amazon, iTunes and Google want to do now, but those are large and have competent lawyer teams... they could get away with it) and that put them in the visor of the RIAA. If you host music that is owned by the labels, that's what happens. Once under RIAA control, they were free to ditch independent musicians. Imagine Microsoft would buy up a Mac Game company, do you really think they would still make Mac games? That is exactly the same.... Now, what happens if you avoid everything RIAA related? That works, and that's why Jamendo exists, and I'm sure there are others. (CDBaby too, I think)
I'm not pro-RIAA, I'm pro-honest work. Musicians blinded by RIAA contracts, try to skip the "work" part.
And as I said in another post, they can using the tools available to them. Internet, affordable recording equipement, etc... The labels are a scam (given their tactics), but nobody forces the artists to sign their fraudulent contracts. They do because they are blinded by the promise of fame and think that the labels will make that possible.
Thing is, they have a honest chance at that... Especially with the tools available today. Affordable recording tools (You don't need a professional studio any more these day. At least not the multi-million ones), the Internet for getting a following and eventually financing and there's always real on-stage gigs.
Don't misunderstand me, I think what the record labels do is vile, but musicians who are in for the love can still get a fair shot at earning money without them. Exactly as fair as my wife has trying to live from her art by promoting herself and financing her own expositions.
I fail to see what that has anything to do with anything. Shit sucks for others, so it's required to suck for you?
It has to do with reality and how it affects your life. If you're a dreamer and can't accept how the world works, you're in for a very tough surprise. There are many people like that, including my wife, but you won't change it. Musicians in for the love of it, should stay with they day jobs, work on the side for their "love", music, and try to break out once money starts rolling in. Alternatively they can quit their day job and try to live on their "love" and accept the consequences.
Signing with the big labels is trying to live from your "love", while living on credit of the big labels. Whether their terms are fair is another issue at all. Also, it has to do a lot with "day jobs": if they sign with a big label, their "love" becomes their day job and on most terms of the big labels they will have to betray it (notably their artistic integrrity, when the labels say that their music is not "mainstream" enough).
With all due respect... Are you implying that you are entitled to make money with what you love doing? I assure you that's not even remotely close to how reality actually works. Most people have a day job that they either accept as "necessary" or flat out hate it. Many people, including me, used to love what they did, but the realities of the workplace and business requirements usually put a halt to that. My dad always used to say, "Find a job you love and you'll never work in your whole life". As a matter of fact, I have a corollary to that: "Find a job you love, and lose your love for it". Yes, I still love programming, fiddling with hardware (e.g. dumpster diving), helping out people with their computer problems, but it's for my own and for the people I care about. My job, is just that... a job.
What about the people who love things like D&D or simply going for a walk in the forest? Should they be able to make money of it? Sure... They should have the right to attempt that, but reality will kick your butt quickly.
My wife would love to make her money with her paintings. She's pretty good, but to make a living out of it? I'm doubtful, may happen, but only if someone rich actually fancies her art and gets her out in public.
Also try selling your power to your neighbors, they eat cheese and live a short swim away.
Those neighbours you talk about are entirely on nuclear and sell their excess power to their neighbouring countries. Selling electricity to the French is like selling snow to the Inuit.
As far as I know: not at all. You get POP3, IMAP and I think a few connectors to free email systems (But I'm not sure those are still required, at least GMail allows IMAP) Even the lightning pluging doesn't seem to work well for calendaring.
If you're locked to Exchange, the only way to get it on Linux is use Evolution and last time I did that, it had to be done using OWA. That might have changed, though... That was a long time ago.
Yes, the argument about unfamiliarity is not a great one either, but I can understand it. It took a good 10 years for people to understand them properly in Europe. I got them covered in my driving lessons, but people older than me had to learn them without coaching. Even today, you find people who don't handle them properly, but for most people they aren't confusing any more. It will take time, that is sure. A bit like switching to metric would take time, but that's a whole other can of worms.
Seems to be only for The Netherlands (meaning, you have to be their customer in The Netherlands), and as such it can't apply to me. It is much cheaper though.
Actually, anyone who has advertisements enabled on slashdot will have seen ads by abroadband.com. I'm not affiliated with them, I'm just a customer. For good reason: I live in Luxembourg, which is tiny, so leaving the country is easily accomplished. You get plans with unlimited data here, but beware if you leave the country. It get expensive quickly. That's why I took the up the abroadband offer: emergency use in my own country (as it doesn't matter in which country you are) and when I leave the country and can't get access to normal wifi.
While 0,59€/MB might seem a lot, it is a great option to have in case of an emergency. 40GB of data would still be the price of a (entry-level?) Ford Mondeo though. Doing the same with my metered data plan, which is probably one of the most expensive in the country, would cost 3,4 times more, within the country. I don't even want to know what it would cost while roaming.
Yes! Thank you for saying it... I completely agree. Been doing this for years (Staying with what works, and upgrade on my terms) and it's never bitten me. To the contrary, it's kept a stable computing experience.
It was even more straightforward in XP. You had to do it for one single folder, My Documents, instead for all Libraries, which is a frigging pain in the ass. (No, I'm not happy with 7 at all.)
Well, keep in mind that Home Server is very close to dead... Hang to it as long as you can. One of the nicest features, drive extender, will be removed (if it hasn't already been in the latest version). For me, setting up Debian by PXE and doing a few apt-gets is as easy, if not easier than whatever Home Server offers.
If you'd set up such a machine (assuming you have the knowledge), your mom could also plug it into the network and pretty much forget it. Configuration of BackupPC is done by a web interface, so it's not exactly rocket science.
Any server requires some skill, here the skill has only been outsourced to the OEM. Not to mention that the hardware requirements are harsh compared to what an Open Source solution uses. A Soekris net5501 can easily run Debian/BackupPC, try doing that with Home Server.
You can, but it's very hard... How do I move user folder to a different drive. I found out the hard way when I installed my brothers new gaming machine. In XP it was easy-peasy to do. I had this partitioning scheme: C: = OS, D: = Data, E: = Applications, F: = Games and G: = Temp. I have not found how to do that with 7, where I had to settle for C: = Everything except data, D: = Data.
I personally think that it is unacceptable due to the rise of using SSDs for system disks, where the C/D scheme is at least needed.
Why give money to Microsoft for that? Ever heard of BackupPC. I don't know if it can wake up PCs, but the backup runs while the machines are on your network.
You don't have to... I ordered three Dell XPS L502x systems last week (Got a 50% rebate, resulting in each machine "only" being 526€, including shipping. For a quad core i7 and a Full HD screen, I though that was very reasonable. I wasn't in "need" of a new system, but I couldn't resist.) and I chose to get the recovery CDs. Costs 5€ which includes the Windows OEM installation CD. While I'd rather have those disks "free", I don't think 5€ is a huge expense compared to the hassle of not having them or having to make them yourself.
I haven't had the time to reinstall the machine (it won't ever boot in the OEM install, if I can stop it), but I'll find out soon enough how well the Windows installation disk works. (From my experiences at work: perfectly fine).
Ehm, the CRT is not on standby when I push the big button in front. All LEDs go out. No reaction to remote. The only way to turn it on is to push the big button again. I doubt it uses much, if anything at all.
I have one such set-top box. I needed one because I still have a CRT (Which I turn OFF when not in use, with the big button in front) and my cable is all-digital. It's a Technisat DigitCorder K2 and it's a frigging piece of crap. They should fire all programmers that worked on it especially the UI team. Regardless, I am scared to turn it off, so I don't. Why? Because sometimes it simply doesn't want to boot up again.
The other reason is that I have to set my TV to "EXT1" to use it, which means the you shouldn't use the remote of the TV except for volume control (The digicorder only knows "silent" and "not very loud"). Now, I know this, and you probably don't have a problem with this, but expaining these technicalities to my wife doesn't work. So, I say "use this remote", which is the one of the TechniSat and use that.
So, it's on "full-power", 24/7 because I really don't want TV-support calls while I'm at work.
Nope, you're not in the same situation at all as you dropped out of high school and the original poster did not. You fail at the requirements of getting accepted by a University, he does not.
I'm sorry this happened to you, but it's absolutely different. Since you're not exactly doing bad, why would you do it? In your case it doesn't even make any sense. (But I so sense some bitterness)
Hell, most people drop out when having to learn Haskell anyway.
I did CS, I haven't met anyone who dropped out because of Haskell... By then the herd was already thinned out completely. Are you trolling me?
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You don't understand the situation. If you are known to be a jolly drinker and suddenly you stop, people will ask questions. That's the point where you need an explanation. Saying out loud you have a "problem" is socially less acceptable that a rationalized story.
I was lucky in a sense... My own family has been extremely supportive by not drinking ever around me. They don't need to, by now I'm very comfortable around people who drink. My in-laws never stopped drinking around me but the general consensus was that they "admired me for sticking to it". I still am convinced that in reality they didn't admire me for it and it was just a way to encourage me, but it's a way to show support.
As for everywhere else, well... That was easy. I got nabbed drunk driving (2.2 promille) and speeding (184km/h on their clock). I got my license revoked for a few months and had to explain myself in court. As this was the first offense (ahem, yeah, first time caught in 15 years would be a more apt way to put it), I got my license revoked for 22 months, but on probation. So, I'm free to drive, but should I get caught again (speeding or drinking) within the next five years, I get the 22 months plus whatever the new offense brings me. So, people get that story as for why I don't drink: "I'm on probation, I can't drink". That generally gets accepted.
That said, I got caught in an alcohol control yesterday, and while I didn't drink anything, I still was extremely stressed.
Same here. Atheist, bad drinking problem, didn't find AA helpful. I didn't go the meds way. I found myself a good psychiatrist who 'simply' found a good way to convince me that drinking was going to destroy me long term. I quit cold turkey 1st March 2010, and didn't drink a drip ever since.
The only valid step with an addiction is realizing you have a problem, and then seeking help.
Naive? I don't think so... I didn't want to say it straight out, but artists should not get the free ride that the RIAA promises them (and few get). Basically, it's a gamble for the artists and like in all gambling, most lose. Below in the comments you'll find one where the poster says what has to be done to be an independent musician and live from it and it has a great sarcastic reply. The point is, being a profitable independent musician is hard work, but it is possible to make a living off it. Not like a rockstar, but like most people who -go figure- also work hard but aren't artists (like us IT people, or a carpenter...)
You could argue that if you love what you do, and work your butt off to achieve it, you are in the top 1% who don't have a sucky life because... well, you've got the luxury of doing what you love. Go talk with the average man, doing what you love is a luxury, no doubt about it.
That's a bit twisting it, but while I agree that it would be more fair that the world didn't suck for everyone.... the reality is that the world is not fair. You either accept that and make the best out of it, or you think you are entitled to something and complain. You see, the world is not fair and can and will never be fair. If it were fair, my brother would have been able to learn more and make the same kind of living I do. He doesn't, he's unemployed because school simply wasn't his thing (large difficulties to learn), and I had the genetic advantage on him actually having it easy to learn. He's unemployed and I'm earning a honest wage (nothing fancy, believe me, I'm not in those 1%... Assuming you don't mean 1% of the world population, because other whise we're both in those 1% simply because we have access to a computer and probably even own it!). Is that fair? No! Of course not... Is there a solution? Unless you adhere to hardcore socialism (everyone, doctor or janitor earns the same - which comes with lots of other problems) there is no solution.
mp3.com is an oddball. Thing is they did things that were doubtful legally (What Amazon, iTunes and Google want to do now, but those are large and have competent lawyer teams... they could get away with it) and that put them in the visor of the RIAA. If you host music that is owned by the labels, that's what happens. Once under RIAA control, they were free to ditch independent musicians. Imagine Microsoft would buy up a Mac Game company, do you really think they would still make Mac games? That is exactly the same.... Now, what happens if you avoid everything RIAA related? That works, and that's why Jamendo exists, and I'm sure there are others. (CDBaby too, I think)
I'm not pro-RIAA, I'm pro-honest work. Musicians blinded by RIAA contracts, try to skip the "work" part.
So what happens when you get stopped and your cellphone isn't charged? Just saying, there are advantages to physical tokens.
And as I said in another post, they can using the tools available to them. Internet, affordable recording equipement, etc... The labels are a scam (given their tactics), but nobody forces the artists to sign their fraudulent contracts. They do because they are blinded by the promise of fame and think that the labels will make that possible.
Thing is, they have a honest chance at that... Especially with the tools available today. Affordable recording tools (You don't need a professional studio any more these day. At least not the multi-million ones), the Internet for getting a following and eventually financing and there's always real on-stage gigs.
Don't misunderstand me, I think what the record labels do is vile, but musicians who are in for the love can still get a fair shot at earning money without them. Exactly as fair as my wife has trying to live from her art by promoting herself and financing her own expositions.
It has to do with reality and how it affects your life. If you're a dreamer and can't accept how the world works, you're in for a very tough surprise. There are many people like that, including my wife, but you won't change it. Musicians in for the love of it, should stay with they day jobs, work on the side for their "love", music, and try to break out once money starts rolling in. Alternatively they can quit their day job and try to live on their "love" and accept the consequences.
Signing with the big labels is trying to live from your "love", while living on credit of the big labels. Whether their terms are fair is another issue at all. Also, it has to do a lot with "day jobs": if they sign with a big label, their "love" becomes their day job and on most terms of the big labels they will have to betray it (notably their artistic integrrity, when the labels say that their music is not "mainstream" enough).
With all due respect... Are you implying that you are entitled to make money with what you love doing? I assure you that's not even remotely close to how reality actually works. Most people have a day job that they either accept as "necessary" or flat out hate it. Many people, including me, used to love what they did, but the realities of the workplace and business requirements usually put a halt to that. My dad always used to say, "Find a job you love and you'll never work in your whole life". As a matter of fact, I have a corollary to that: "Find a job you love, and lose your love for it". Yes, I still love programming, fiddling with hardware (e.g. dumpster diving), helping out people with their computer problems, but it's for my own and for the people I care about. My job, is just that... a job.
What about the people who love things like D&D or simply going for a walk in the forest? Should they be able to make money of it? Sure... They should have the right to attempt that, but reality will kick your butt quickly.
My wife would love to make her money with her paintings. She's pretty good, but to make a living out of it? I'm doubtful, may happen, but only if someone rich actually fancies her art and gets her out in public.
Those neighbours you talk about are entirely on nuclear and sell their excess power to their neighbouring countries. Selling electricity to the French is like selling snow to the Inuit.
As far as I know: not at all. You get POP3, IMAP and I think a few connectors to free email systems (But I'm not sure those are still required, at least GMail allows IMAP) Even the lightning pluging doesn't seem to work well for calendaring.
If you're locked to Exchange, the only way to get it on Linux is use Evolution and last time I did that, it had to be done using OWA. That might have changed, though... That was a long time ago.
We're on slashdot, I only read the summary ;-)
Yes, the argument about unfamiliarity is not a great one either, but I can understand it. It took a good 10 years for people to understand them properly in Europe. I got them covered in my driving lessons, but people older than me had to learn them without coaching. Even today, you find people who don't handle them properly, but for most people they aren't confusing any more. It will take time, that is sure. A bit like switching to metric would take time, but that's a whole other can of worms.
Wow... Just Wow... That's an argument against roundabouts?!? I personally find that one of the most sad statements I've read in a long time.
Seems to be only for The Netherlands (meaning, you have to be their customer in The Netherlands), and as such it can't apply to me. It is much cheaper though.
Actually, anyone who has advertisements enabled on slashdot will have seen ads by abroadband.com. I'm not affiliated with them, I'm just a customer. For good reason: I live in Luxembourg, which is tiny, so leaving the country is easily accomplished. You get plans with unlimited data here, but beware if you leave the country. It get expensive quickly. That's why I took the up the abroadband offer: emergency use in my own country (as it doesn't matter in which country you are) and when I leave the country and can't get access to normal wifi.
While 0,59€/MB might seem a lot, it is a great option to have in case of an emergency. 40GB of data would still be the price of a (entry-level?) Ford Mondeo though. Doing the same with my metered data plan, which is probably one of the most expensive in the country, would cost 3,4 times more, within the country. I don't even want to know what it would cost while roaming.
Still not cheap, but better than nothing.
Yes! Thank you for saying it... I completely agree. Been doing this for years (Staying with what works, and upgrade on my terms) and it's never bitten me. To the contrary, it's kept a stable computing experience.
It was even more straightforward in XP. You had to do it for one single folder, My Documents, instead for all Libraries, which is a frigging pain in the ass. (No, I'm not happy with 7 at all.)
Well, keep in mind that Home Server is very close to dead... Hang to it as long as you can. One of the nicest features, drive extender, will be removed (if it hasn't already been in the latest version). For me, setting up Debian by PXE and doing a few apt-gets is as easy, if not easier than whatever Home Server offers.
If you'd set up such a machine (assuming you have the knowledge), your mom could also plug it into the network and pretty much forget it. Configuration of BackupPC is done by a web interface, so it's not exactly rocket science.
Any server requires some skill, here the skill has only been outsourced to the OEM. Not to mention that the hardware requirements are harsh compared to what an Open Source solution uses. A Soekris net5501 can easily run Debian/BackupPC, try doing that with Home Server.
You can, but it's very hard... How do I move user folder to a different drive. I found out the hard way when I installed my brothers new gaming machine. In XP it was easy-peasy to do. I had this partitioning scheme: C: = OS, D: = Data, E: = Applications, F: = Games and G: = Temp. I have not found how to do that with 7, where I had to settle for C: = Everything except data, D: = Data.
I personally think that it is unacceptable due to the rise of using SSDs for system disks, where the C/D scheme is at least needed.
Why give money to Microsoft for that? Ever heard of BackupPC. I don't know if it can wake up PCs, but the backup runs while the machines are on your network.
You don't have to... I ordered three Dell XPS L502x systems last week (Got a 50% rebate, resulting in each machine "only" being 526€, including shipping. For a quad core i7 and a Full HD screen, I though that was very reasonable. I wasn't in "need" of a new system, but I couldn't resist.) and I chose to get the recovery CDs. Costs 5€ which includes the Windows OEM installation CD. While I'd rather have those disks "free", I don't think 5€ is a huge expense compared to the hassle of not having them or having to make them yourself.
I haven't had the time to reinstall the machine (it won't ever boot in the OEM install, if I can stop it), but I'll find out soon enough how well the Windows installation disk works. (From my experiences at work: perfectly fine).
Ehm, the CRT is not on standby when I push the big button in front. All LEDs go out. No reaction to remote. The only way to turn it on is to push the big button again. I doubt it uses much, if anything at all.
I have one such set-top box. I needed one because I still have a CRT (Which I turn OFF when not in use, with the big button in front) and my cable is all-digital. It's a Technisat DigitCorder K2 and it's a frigging piece of crap. They should fire all programmers that worked on it especially the UI team. Regardless, I am scared to turn it off, so I don't. Why? Because sometimes it simply doesn't want to boot up again.
The other reason is that I have to set my TV to "EXT1" to use it, which means the you shouldn't use the remote of the TV except for volume control (The digicorder only knows "silent" and "not very loud"). Now, I know this, and you probably don't have a problem with this, but expaining these technicalities to my wife doesn't work. So, I say "use this remote", which is the one of the TechniSat and use that.
So, it's on "full-power", 24/7 because I really don't want TV-support calls while I'm at work.
Nope, you're not in the same situation at all as you dropped out of high school and the original poster did not. You fail at the requirements of getting accepted by a University, he does not.
I'm sorry this happened to you, but it's absolutely different. Since you're not exactly doing bad, why would you do it? In your case it doesn't even make any sense. (But I so sense some bitterness)
I did CS, I haven't met anyone who dropped out because of Haskell... By then the herd was already thinned out completely. Are you trolling me?
Babysitting kids while their parents go to work in order to pay the suburbia home and two SUVs? ;-)