this is a book for the masses, metaphorically following The Joy of Sex, which was also for the masses...
If you want Linux to be a serious player in the OS market, it's got to be used by more than the geek population... and that means getting information to the masses
a large number of the WinNation have never even heard of Linux, let alone know anything about it...
this is the sort of book to give to those people you know, who don't understand it...
that means girlfriends, boyfriends, friends, parents, siblings, cousins, bosses, co-workers, janitors... just about anyone you know who uses Windows...
if they don't know anything about it, they'll never switch to it...
in a public library you won't be catering just to aspiring programmers, you'll also have retirees researching computers for their own personal information, non-programming students trying to get an insight into the computer industry, mums and dads trying to figure out what their kids are on about...
I'm not saying you won't need programming books, they are essential, but if it's for a public library, you will need some broader books as well, such as:
The Unfinished Revolution
by Michael Dertouzos
http://www.unfinishedrevolution.com
Peer-to-Peer : Harnessing the Power of Disruptive Technologies
by Andy Oram
and depending on your budget, non-textbook style books like Jerry Kaplan's Startup would also be good
books aside, current general subjects important to the masses (the kind of stuff they'll be trying to look up) are:
* the internet
* privacy
* digital security (viruses, hackers etc.)
* email
* cultural shifts
* education
* global communication
* business on the internet (best to train em up right with some anti-spam books and warnings about get-rich-quick schemes)
Books for a school library would probably be a little different again.
personally I think it's unlikely that the US will give non-us extensions to the global community... which is a pity, as.com space is often taken up by mum and dad corner shops who don't even have an area code on their phone number.
a true global domain grouping would be great, with clear listings whether it is fully supported in your country (ThinkGeek for example does not ship certain items to Australia)
If you really want a democracy, everyone does need to vote.
Voting is a right and a responsibility, whether it's a law or not. Less than a third of Americans vote, which means two thirds of the country may object to the choice, but haven't voiced that.
Don't like the choices? hand in a blank or void ballot (writing reasons for not choosing either candidate usually makes a ballot void in most countries). This way, all voters are counted, and all blank or invalid votes are counted as such, displaying that people are willing to vote, just not for those options.
haven't looked anything up about it, as I don't live there, but they're doing some strange kind of deal with cable and free phone calls, ACT Electricity and Water are doing it... ACTEW...
all those annoying fake PC window ads... they screw up my pretty Mac view;o)
well okay, I really want em to get rid of em cos they're one of the reasons why a lot of elderly folks are scared of the internet, it lies to them all the time, and then they feel stupid and are afraid of it...
FUD all over again... but maybe this time the D stands for Distrust... not just Doubt
There's been a huge shift in public attitude towards the music industry. More people are aware of how much artists are often ripped off by their own labels. More people want artists to get more money. More people are not happy with the music industry in it's present form. More people are buying and listening to more music.
There are people who are also abusing the power of mp3s, there are always people who abuse the system. But right now, there's not a lot of alternatives. There will be in the future. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow... but it's coming...
Until then, put some support into places like Fairtunes.com, they're one of (surely not the only) the stepping stones to the future.
Revolutions like this don't happen overnight, but when there's a market for something, eventually someone will pick up the ball and run with it...
a lot of information in that article is not quite right. Drinks it says have the same ingredients do not, and warnings supposedly on Australian cans do not exist.
...have no warning about not mixing with alcohol, the only warning of any kind is:
Not suitable for children and caffiene sensitive persons. Pasteurised.
and right down the bottom:
Usage: 5 cans max. daily
Red Bull is not government approved in any way in Australia, it is imported into Australia via New Zealand under a strange loophole as a "dietary supplement"
Is there anyone out there who takes Taurine tablets without caffiene? what's the effect? I find other energy drinks do very little for me (V, Lift Plus etc), and none of the others I've tried contain Taurine.
Caffiene wakes me up a lot, but Red Bull increases my metabolism and makes me hyper-alert. I've been unable to find Taurine tablets so far, so haven't been able to test it myself
All the shampoo stuff aside, does anyone find the above statement indiciative of a major screwup? How hard is it to agree on a power socket, and make sure all the stuff that gets sent up there (at a cost of thousands of dollars per kilogram and undoubtedly safety-inspected to the nth degree at a cost of thousands more) has the right friggin' power plugs?
it seems to be very hard for two governments to agree on anything, especially when committees are involved...
one of the most frustrating things is losing an out of print book that's unlikely to ever be in print again
if this was to work, there would have to be some changes to the publishing industry, and if that's going to be half the pain in the ass that the music industry is, maybe we need to be a little more active in initiating change.
I'd love to be able to go into a store and "order" a book, maybe customised, with a certain cover from the range, in various sizes or languages.
a book copying machine is neat, but a made-to-order book system would be much neater
maybe this really needs a DVD-factor (not the encryption kind)... customisable, with extras
if it comes from a database, can the books be updated regularly?
how easy is it for an indy publisher to enter the ring?
could you sandwich books? if you wanted a series printed into one solid book, is that possible? bindings would probably limit sizes possible, but the publishing industry doesn't really allow for bundling of books outside the publishing houses deciding to
come to think of it... this in general should be making publishers pee their pants...
on a side note, I bought three books today... One that would be crap to print in this way (I'm guessing), as it's a glossy little quote book with cartoons, cute and it relies on it's looks to be readable... the other two would probably print nicely, no fuss covers, both made out of that weird plastic-covered paper, one of them smelling quite strongly of bleach (?!)
It's got potential... and like Henry Ford said...
there's a better way to do it, just find it
No chance the music or publishing industries are really going to seriously look for a better way, since some of the more useless people might lose their jobs... but that's evolution for ya...
as to that being an American right, even that is a stretch. The American Constitution clearly states in the Second Amendment - "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed"
You might wish it meant otherwise, but that seems pretty clearly aimed at the state armed forces, not civilians. Specifically a well-regulated armed force.
Slashdot Mirror
this is a book for the masses, metaphorically following The Joy of Sex, which was also for the masses...
If you want Linux to be a serious player in the OS market, it's got to be used by more than the geek population... and that means getting information to the masses
a large number of the WinNation have never even heard of Linux, let alone know anything about it...
this is the sort of book to give to those people you know, who don't understand it...
that means girlfriends, boyfriends, friends, parents, siblings, cousins, bosses, co-workers, janitors... just about anyone you know who uses Windows...
if they don't know anything about it, they'll never switch to it...
why not grandfathers and cousins?
it's a suggestion, get over it...
crap like this is exactly why women don't always get taken seriously... (and when it's crap like this, quite rightly so)
if any of the male technobabes I know did currently have girlfriends, this would certainly be on their christmas list from me...
don't be so damn literal...
cos I just don't have the patience...
in a public library you won't be catering just to aspiring programmers, you'll also have retirees researching computers for their own personal information, non-programming students trying to get an insight into the computer industry, mums and dads trying to figure out what their kids are on about...
I'm not saying you won't need programming books, they are essential, but if it's for a public library, you will need some broader books as well, such as:
The Unfinished Revolution
by Michael Dertouzos
http://www.unfinishedrevolution.com
Peer-to-Peer : Harnessing the Power of Disruptive Technologies
by Andy Oram
and depending on your budget, non-textbook style books like Jerry Kaplan's Startup would also be good
books aside, current general subjects important to the masses (the kind of stuff they'll be trying to look up) are:
* the internet
* privacy
* digital security (viruses, hackers etc.)
* email
* cultural shifts
* education
* global communication
* business on the internet (best to train em up right with some anti-spam books and warnings about get-rich-quick schemes)
Books for a school library would probably be a little different again.
personally I think it's unlikely that the US will give non-us extensions to the global community... which is a pity, as
a true global domain grouping would be great, with clear listings whether it is fully supported in your country (ThinkGeek for example does not ship certain items to Australia)
If you really want a democracy, everyone does need to vote.
Voting is a right and a responsibility, whether it's a law or not. Less than a third of Americans vote, which means two thirds of the country may object to the choice, but haven't voiced that.
Don't like the choices? hand in a blank or void ballot (writing reasons for not choosing either candidate usually makes a ballot void in most countries). This way, all voters are counted, and all blank or invalid votes are counted as such, displaying that people are willing to vote, just not for those options.
Wizardry... Mission Asteroid... it's just not the same anymore...
not to say I don't love Alpha Centauri
haven't looked anything up about it, as I don't live there, but they're doing some strange kind of deal with cable and free phone calls, ACT Electricity and Water are doing it... ACTEW...
anyone heard anything else about it?
more Slashdotters leavings their houses and going outside...
I'm going to bed... this reality vs nonreality is just too tiring today
all those annoying fake PC window ads... they screw up my pretty Mac view ;o)
well okay, I really want em to get rid of em cos they're one of the reasons why a lot of elderly folks are scared of the internet, it lies to them all the time, and then they feel stupid and are afraid of it...
FUD all over again... but maybe this time the D stands for Distrust... not just Doubt
there's no better way to say it than that.
There's been a huge shift in public attitude towards the music industry. More people are aware of how much artists are often ripped off by their own labels. More people want artists to get more money. More people are not happy with the music industry in it's present form. More people are buying and listening to more music.
There are people who are also abusing the power of mp3s, there are always people who abuse the system. But right now, there's not a lot of alternatives. There will be in the future. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow... but it's coming...
Until then, put some support into places like Fairtunes.com, they're one of (surely not the only) the stepping stones to the future.
Revolutions like this don't happen overnight, but when there's a market for something, eventually someone will pick up the ball and run with it...
thanks for the link
from the Yahoo story:
the twin American instincts to democratize and to commercialize. (Often they amount to the same thing.)
I'm not an American... does anyone else find this a scary statement... democracy = commercialism?
*whispers* a little known secret about beer... if you stay single, the last cold beer is always yours ;o)
on the news in Oz it specifically says caffiene, not taurine. I would Taurine would be a more likely prospect, considering the difference in dosage.
a lot of information in that article is not quite right. Drinks it says have the same ingredients do not, and warnings supposedly on Australian cans do not exist.
*pulling one out of my fridge*
...have no warning about not mixing with alcohol, the only warning of any kind is:
Not suitable for children and caffiene sensitive persons. Pasteurised.
and right down the bottom:
Usage: 5 cans max. daily
Red Bull is not government approved in any way in Australia, it is imported into Australia via New Zealand under a strange loophole as a "dietary supplement"
Is there anyone out there who takes Taurine tablets without caffiene? what's the effect? I find other energy drinks do very little for me (V, Lift Plus etc), and none of the others I've tried contain Taurine.
Caffiene wakes me up a lot, but Red Bull increases my metabolism and makes me hyper-alert. I've been unable to find Taurine tablets so far, so haven't been able to test it myself
rum to wine is not a good switch... *L*
Imagine is my favourite from John Lennon
I didn't think anyone still listened to the Beatles...
*hehe* c'mon... catch up... we're going out drinking...
probably a stupid question, but is there anything that actually creates water?
all we seem to do on Earth is move it around...
All the shampoo stuff aside, does anyone find the above statement indiciative of a major screwup? How hard is it to agree on a power socket, and make sure all the stuff that gets sent up there (at a cost of thousands of dollars per kilogram and undoubtedly safety-inspected to the nth degree at a cost of thousands more) has the right friggin' power plugs?
it seems to be very hard for two governments to agree on anything, especially when committees are involved...
machines on the street corner that print you up the daily paper on demand.
hasn't there been mention of this before? I remember something about being able to buy your local paper when travelling (or something like that)...
I buy a lot of books, both new and secondhand...
one of the most frustrating things is losing an out of print book that's unlikely to ever be in print again
if this was to work, there would have to be some changes to the publishing industry, and if that's going to be half the pain in the ass that the music industry is, maybe we need to be a little more active in initiating change.
I'd love to be able to go into a store and "order" a book, maybe customised, with a certain cover from the range, in various sizes or languages.
a book copying machine is neat, but a made-to-order book system would be much neater
maybe this really needs a DVD-factor (not the encryption kind)... customisable, with extras
if it comes from a database, can the books be updated regularly?
how easy is it for an indy publisher to enter the ring?
could you sandwich books? if you wanted a series printed into one solid book, is that possible? bindings would probably limit sizes possible, but the publishing industry doesn't really allow for bundling of books outside the publishing houses deciding to
come to think of it... this in general should be making publishers pee their pants...
on a side note, I bought three books today... One that would be crap to print in this way (I'm guessing), as it's a glossy little quote book with cartoons, cute and it relies on it's looks to be readable... the other two would probably print nicely, no fuss covers, both made out of that weird plastic-covered paper, one of them smelling quite strongly of bleach (?!)
It's got potential... and like Henry Ford said...
there's a better way to do it, just find it
No chance the music or publishing industries are really going to seriously look for a better way, since some of the more useless people might lose their jobs... but that's evolution for ya...
I don't even know what a meson is
I probably have this horribly wrong, please correct me.
does it mean regular matter is (over time) longer lasting and therefore stronger than antimatter?
bearing arms is not a human right
as to that being an American right, even that is a stretch. The American Constitution clearly states in the Second Amendment - "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed"
You might wish it meant otherwise, but that seems pretty clearly aimed at the state armed forces, not civilians. Specifically a well-regulated armed force.
Why not just ask me?
why not? cause they don't have a clue.