I am over-weight, don't exercise, don't stretch, eat McD's on occasion and I have never had back pain or RSI. Granted, I eat healthy meals most of the time, but I have been overweight for most of the last 20 years. I have been using computers as much and as long as you have. At one point I was using computers over 15 hours a day.
During the 8 years I was in the Navy, I was overweight and was able to pass the fitness tests with better scores than some of my leaner shipmates. Several of my leaner and fitter co-workers developed RSI while I did not.
While this was an interesting article, it was incomplete. It never touches on the user experience, which is what will make or break a desktop OS. If users don't like or can't use what they get, then an OS will be a desktop failure.
Also, this article seems to focus only on corporate use. In order for any system to be successful on the desktop, it must take into account home users.
Until it becomes easier for the average user to add hardware, and upgrade software on the GNU/Linux platform, Linux is not ready for the desktop.
But, I can't get a job doing this. I can't find anywhere to provide training. I can't get a job, because everyone wants 3 years experience in everything under the sun.
Can someone tell me where I can get training and experience when no one is teaching mainframes and no one is hiring unless one has 2-3 years experience?
Actually, you are wrong. The law does not forbid foreigners to work. It places limitations on foreign workers, just as in every other country.
The way the system is supposed to work is that a company should try to hire Americans citizens, and current legal immigrants first. If they are unable to find a qualified applicant, they request an H1-B visa. The H1-B visa allows a foreign national into the United States to work for that company, in a specific job, at the prevailing wage for that position.
Companies are abusing the system using a number of means.
There is what Sun is doing, i.e. laying off older, American workers then asking for H1-B visas.
Companies will ask for a multitude of skills and vast experience for minor positions.
Companies will offer salaries that are far less than the prevailing wage.
Many times, these two are combined, i.e. a company advertises a postion requiring many different skills and/or vast experience and offers a salary that is well below the prevailing wage.
Companies will advertise very specific requirements tailored to a specific worker. This is also against the H1-B process, as the company is not supposed attempt to locate a foreign worker before posting the position.
What is being alleged is that companies are preferencially hiring foreing workers, which is not allowed under U.S. Labor and Immigration laws. It is not that only citizens are allowed to work, but rather that citizens are being denied jobs in favor of foreign workers. This is fundamentally wrong. The Constitution states that the purpose of the government is to "Promote the General Welfare". Promoting the general welfare of the nation includes protecting the jobs of the citizen of the nation.
I have to disagree with you. IMHO, your analogy fails because it equates all profiling with racial discrimination. This is not true.
If someone has gang tattoos, dresses in gang colors, hangs in a neighborhood with alot of gang activity and stands on the corner making gang signs, that person has a high probability of being a member of a gang. If the gang the person is associated with is known for dealing drugs, then it would be reasonable to suspect the person is also a drug dealer.
If someone is wearing a suit and tie, carries a brief case and laptop, and is talking legalese into a cell phone, it is a good bet that person is involved in the legal profession.
If someone is flying on a one way ticket paid for with a credit card that has been used to purchase tickets for known terrorists, is using a name similar to a known terrorist, and requests a meal without pork, there is a high probablity that person is a terrorist, or is linked to a terrorist group. It may be worth while to observe and investigate that person.
Profiling is used every day, and not just by the government. When one applies for a job, one is profiled by the contents of one's CV. When one purchases insurance for a car, the insurance company basis it's quote on profiles. Marketing companies use profiles constantly.
When you see someone on the street, you look at them and profile them by how they look. You may not want to admit it, but it is true. Everyone does it.
It is foolish and costly to bury one's head in the sand and pretend profiling does not work. Serial killers are most likely to be middle-aged white men. Gang members are most likely to be young, urban, and middle class or below. A politician is most likely going to be a rich white guy.
If I *DRIVE* to virginia (or deleware etc) and buy a car.. I don't have to pay sales tax on it. [although I do get taxed when I register it in my own state.]
Bad analogy. If you drive to Virginia and buy a book, or a Big Mac, or most anything else that is subject to Viriginia sales tax, you will pay that tax.
If I order something over the phone, I don't have to pay tax in some states. Same if I order a magazine.
If the company you order from has a presence in your state, you probably are SUPPOSED to pay sales tax.
From reading the article, it appears to me that the taxes will be going back to the state of the purchaser. I consider that to be a good thing (for the state, at least).
While I agree that if one purchases something from the web-site of a retailer who has a presence in the same state as the purchaser, I do not agree that internet sales should be taxed when the company does not have a presence in that state. Thus, I believe that Walmart.com should collect sales tax for all sales, while a small retailer with a presence in one state should only have to collect sales tax for that particular state. From what I read in the article, this is exactly what is going to be happening.
While the Earth may become uninhabital for humans, it will still be here.
Which society are you referring to? The US? Last I checked, many other countries in the world were using microchips.
You mention nothing of overpopulation, such as in India or China, or unsustainable agricultral practices in places like Africa and South America.
While SUVs may love gasoline, I am sure you and many others love plastic and electricity, both made with fossil fuel and both contribute to all those bad environmental effects.
Yes, there is environmental damage being done. But, one can not point at on thing or even one group of things as say "The fault lies there."
From the clear cutting of trees for construction and firewood, and the resulting, drought, famine and polution from fires in third world countries to lax pollution controls, corruption, and overpopulation in second world countries, to over-consumption in first world contries, we are all at fault and there is no easy solution. Banning SUVs and developing a better chip making technology may be steps in the right direction, they are only two steps on a very long road.
And, all this to make the environment save for humans. Remember, pollution may kill off humans and other species, but the Earth will outlast us. Other species will survive and arise to take the places emptied by pollution. Mother Earth will live on even if some species do not, humans included.
According to the article I have read, SCO is only concerned about two libraries that they wrote that are not Free software. These libraries are ABI's used in UnixWare and OpenServer. The libraries are not integral to Linux or the X window system.
SCO is not going after every Linux vendor, only those distributing the two libraries without SCO's permission.
To me, this is all just FUD, and is being blown WAY out of proportion.
The gains won by the labor movement are slowly but surely being eaten away by suits who have somehow convinced people that a) unions are bad...
For all the good labor unions have done, they have wrought a lot of bad. A good example is the auto industry. In the current contracts with the UAW:
a worker who tightens 3 bolts in a vehical will make about $20.00 per hour.
The union determines who works on what part of the assembly, with the most senior people at the end of the line and the most junior at the beginning.
Senior people can not do a junior person's job, and vice versa.
The contract has a seniority layoff clause
If layoffs are needed, junior people have to go first, then the more senior in order. The companies end up with Senior people sitting around doing nothing and earning money, because the work at the beginning of the line does not get done because all the junior people have been laid off and the senior people can't/won't/aren't allowed to do the work at the beginning of the line. This causes even more financial problems for the company. The company closes the plant and the union gets upset.
This is just one of many examples of unions doing what is good for the worker in the short term and causing Bad Things.
Unions, like many things, can do good or bad. Unions are, in essence, a monoply on workers and on jobs. If the union is powerfull enough to dictate terms to a company, the company loses the ability to make workforce changes that may be necessary to keep the company profitable. This can lead to, at best higher prices, and, at worst, the disolution of the company. And, that is bad for everyone.
The problem is, that before eBooks, you couldn't "loan" your copy of the book to 10,000 of your friends on Kazaa
Is that really a loan? When you loan a thing, the thing goes to one person or group, and you no longer while it is loaned.
In actuality, you are making 10,000 copies of the book and giving the copies away. And that is against copyright law
I read the actual copy right law as applied to print and recordings. It seems fairly straight forward.
You buy a book. You own the book. You can sell the book. You can make copies of the book for personal use. If you sell the original, all the copies have to be destroyed, or go with the original. You can't sell copies with out the copy right holders permission. You can even loan the book, as long as the person you loan it to returns it and doesn't keep a copy.
I can't understand why software is being treated in a different manner.
Given: This book is copyrighted. Given: A book can be considered source code for ideas and/or information. Given: RMS believe source code should be freely redistributable.
Can I make a book of RMS's essays and sell it for $2.00 over the cost of printing and give none to RMS?
Can I make copies of this book and redistribute it for $2.00 over the cost of copying?
I believe software and digital media should be treated like any other work that has a copy right. You buy one copy. You can make back-up copies. You can use bits of the item under general fair use guidelines. You can not make copies to sell or give away, unless the author gives his OK. If you sell the copy, you sell everything and keep nothing.
I do not believe that ALL software should be freely distributable. That is for the author of the software to decide.
Actually, if you read the article carefully, they say that the application the research was running was the straw that broke the camel's back.
"The crisis had nothing to do with the particular software the researcher was using."
"The large volume of data the researcher was uploading happened to be the last drop that made the network overflow. "
While it is never said directly, the implication is that the network was a in bad shape to begin with, and when this guy started doing whatever he was doing, it just pushed things over the edge.
Slashdot Mirror
I am over-weight, don't exercise, don't stretch, eat McD's on occasion and I have never had back pain or RSI. Granted, I eat healthy meals most of the time, but I have been overweight for most of the last 20 years. I have been using computers as much and as long as you have. At one point I was using computers over 15 hours a day.
During the 8 years I was in the Navy, I was overweight and was able to pass the fitness tests with better scores than some of my leaner shipmates. Several of my leaner and fitter co-workers developed RSI while I did not.
You may now climb down off your high horse.
While this was an interesting article, it was incomplete. It never touches on the user experience, which is what will make or break a desktop OS. If users don't like or can't use what they get, then an OS will be a desktop failure.
Also, this article seems to focus only on corporate use. In order for any system to be successful on the desktop, it must take into account home users.
Until it becomes easier for the average user to add hardware, and upgrade software on the GNU/Linux platform, Linux is not ready for the desktop.
Send me some email and I will look into it.
But, I can't get a job doing this. I can't find anywhere to provide training. I can't get a job, because everyone wants 3 years experience in everything under the sun.
Can someone tell me where I can get training and experience when no one is teaching mainframes and no one is hiring unless one has 2-3 years experience?
Not quite. The earliest known case of HIV/AIDS was a member of the Bantu tribe who died in 1959. He died of an early strain of the virus.
In the USA, the earliest known case was a St. Louis teen who died of AIDS-like symptoms in 1969.
The way the system is supposed to work is that a company should try to hire Americans citizens, and current legal immigrants first. If they are unable to find a qualified applicant, they request an H1-B visa. The H1-B visa allows a foreign national into the United States to work for that company, in a specific job, at the prevailing wage for that position.
Companies are abusing the system using a number of means.
What is being alleged is that companies are preferencially hiring foreing workers, which is not allowed under U.S. Labor and Immigration laws. It is not that only citizens are allowed to work, but rather that citizens are being denied jobs in favor of foreign workers. This is fundamentally wrong. The Constitution states that the purpose of the government is to "Promote the General Welfare". Promoting the general welfare of the nation includes protecting the jobs of the citizen of the nation.
Ever hear of a Social Security Number. Try getting a job or a credit card with out one.
I have to disagree with you. IMHO, your analogy fails because it equates all profiling with racial discrimination. This is not true.
If someone has gang tattoos, dresses in gang colors, hangs in a neighborhood with alot of gang activity and stands on the corner making gang signs, that person has a high probability of being a member of a gang. If the gang the person is associated with is known for dealing drugs, then it would be reasonable to suspect the person is also a drug dealer.
If someone is wearing a suit and tie, carries a brief case and laptop, and is talking legalese into a cell phone, it is a good bet that person is involved in the legal profession.
If someone is flying on a one way ticket paid for with a credit card that has been used to purchase tickets for known terrorists, is using a name similar to a known terrorist, and requests a meal without pork, there is a high probablity that person is a terrorist, or is linked to a terrorist group. It may be worth while to observe and investigate that person.
Profiling is used every day, and not just by the government. When one applies for a job, one is profiled by the contents of one's CV. When one purchases insurance for a car, the insurance company basis it's quote on profiles. Marketing companies use profiles constantly.
When you see someone on the street, you look at them and profile them by how they look. You may not want to admit it, but it is true. Everyone does it.
It is foolish and costly to bury one's head in the sand and pretend profiling does not work. Serial killers are most likely to be middle-aged white men. Gang members are most likely to be young, urban, and middle class or below. A politician is most likely going to be a rich white guy.
Like it or not, profiles work.
Of course, if the has linked a CC# to terrorist activity, said information may be usefull.
Bad analogy. If you drive to Virginia and buy a book, or a Big Mac, or most anything else that is subject to Viriginia sales tax, you will pay that tax.
If I order something over the phone, I don't have to pay tax in some states. Same if I order a magazine.
If the company you order from has a presence in your state, you probably are SUPPOSED to pay sales tax.
From reading the article, it appears to me that the taxes will be going back to the state of the purchaser. I consider that to be a good thing (for the state, at least).
While I agree that if one purchases something from the web-site of a retailer who has a presence in the same state as the purchaser, I do not agree that internet sales should be taxed when the company does not have a presence in that state. Thus, I believe that Walmart.com should collect sales tax for all sales, while a small retailer with a presence in one state should only have to collect sales tax for that particular state. From what I read in the article, this is exactly what is going to be happening.
Is there any money in it?
Yes, there is environmental damage being done. But, one can not point at on thing or even one group of things as say "The fault lies there."
From the clear cutting of trees for construction and firewood, and the resulting, drought, famine and polution from fires in third world countries to lax pollution controls, corruption, and overpopulation in second world countries, to over-consumption in first world contries, we are all at fault and there is no easy solution. Banning SUVs and developing a better chip making technology may be steps in the right direction, they are only two steps on a very long road.
And, all this to make the environment save for humans. Remember, pollution may kill off humans and other species, but the Earth will outlast us. Other species will survive and arise to take the places emptied by pollution. Mother Earth will live on even if some species do not, humans included.
SCO is not going after every Linux vendor, only those distributing the two libraries without SCO's permission.
To me, this is all just FUD, and is being blown WAY out of proportion.
It probably is not illegal, but it is definately unethical.
And, it shows a remarkable lack of respect for their customers.
That sounds alot like the overpaid managers, excutives, atheletes, and stars of today.
For all the good labor unions have done, they have wrought a lot of bad. A good example is the auto industry. In the current contracts with the UAW:
- a worker who tightens 3 bolts in a vehical will make about $20.00 per hour.
- The union determines who works on what part of the assembly, with the most senior people at the end of the line and the most junior at the beginning.
- Senior people can not do a junior person's job, and vice versa.
- The contract has a seniority layoff clause
If layoffs are needed, junior people have to go first, then the more senior in order. The companies end up with Senior people sitting around doing nothing and earning money, because the work at the beginning of the line does not get done because all the junior people have been laid off and the senior people can't/won't/aren't allowed to do the work at the beginning of the line. This causes even more financial problems for the company. The company closes the plant and the union gets upset.This is just one of many examples of unions doing what is good for the worker in the short term and causing Bad Things.
Unions, like many things, can do good or bad. Unions are, in essence, a monoply on workers and on jobs. If the union is powerfull enough to dictate terms to a company, the company loses the ability to make workforce changes that may be necessary to keep the company profitable. This can lead to, at best higher prices, and, at worst, the disolution of the company. And, that is bad for everyone.
What about the items that have a low margin and high distribution costs, such as XBox, keyboards, and mice?
I have a better idea.
Buy only selected MS products. Specifically, those that MS loses money on, as shown in this slashdot article.
The problem is, that before eBooks, you couldn't "loan" your copy of the book to 10,000 of your friends on Kazaa Is that really a loan? When you loan a thing, the thing goes to one person or group, and you no longer while it is loaned. In actuality, you are making 10,000 copies of the book and giving the copies away. And that is against copyright law
I read the actual copy right law as applied to print and recordings. It seems fairly straight forward.
You buy a book. You own the book. You can sell the book. You can make copies of the book for personal use. If you sell the original, all the copies have to be destroyed, or go with the original. You can't sell copies with out the copy right holders permission. You can even loan the book, as long as the person you loan it to returns it and doesn't keep a copy.
I can't understand why software is being treated in a different manner.
Just my two cents.
Dont't print! Buy an old paper tape machine. That way no typing, just run the pape back in later!
w00t
Given: This book is copyrighted.
Given: A book can be considered source code for ideas and/or information.
Given: RMS believe source code should be freely redistributable.
Can I make a book of RMS's essays and sell it for $2.00 over the cost of printing and give none to RMS?
Can I make copies of this book and redistribute it for $2.00 over the cost of copying?
I believe software and digital media should be treated like any other work that has a copy right. You buy one copy. You can make back-up copies. You can use bits of the item under general fair use guidelines. You can not make copies to sell or give away, unless the author gives his OK. If you sell the copy, you sell everything and keep nothing.
I do not believe that ALL software should be freely distributable. That is for the author of the software to decide.
Why, yes, yes I can.
Currently, Nokia has the 1260, a basic TDMA phone that does nothing but make calls and send and receive text messages.
Compare that with the 9290, a Symbian based smartphone that can surf the web, run J2ME programs, send email, etc.
"The crisis had nothing to do with the particular software the researcher was using."
"The large volume of data the researcher was uploading happened to be the last drop that made the network overflow. "
While it is never said directly, the implication is that the network was a in bad shape to begin with, and when this guy started doing whatever he was doing, it just pushed things over the edge.
Nobody is forcing your to mod your Xbox, either.
You mod, you don't get to use the on-line service.
Last I checked, the service is run by MS and if they don't want modded boxes on it, I think they should be have that right.