Microsoft was a good alternative when computers did cost $1500, but now the price is just too heavy. But they really can't win when the hardware is cheap.
I am not sure "can't" is the right word. They price it at what the market will bear, and of course there are volume and corporate discounts. Oh, and the discount you eventually get if you decide to run Linux instead. Microsoft made the (IMO good) business decision to go heavily after the business and bundled markets. Why try to sell something to the masses, when you can become the defacto standard by going after 2 markets? Sure, in your local Best Buy Vista may cost a lot, but Dell isn't paying that price.
I have actually wondered what Vista is like, but I certainly am not going to buy it to find out. When we bought a new laptop for my wife several months ago, we went through Dell Small Business, because they allow you to get XP. I wasn't willing to risk it with Vista. But eventually, I suppose I'll get to see it somehow, most likely through work. Microsoft will keep chugging along, maintaining it's desktop market share through the 2 ways it has done over the last decade and a half. It can use all that cash to break into new areas. But as Linus says, their 'vision' will always be somewhat tainted by their business model.
My machine has 768 MB RAM. It's an older machine (Duron 1.3, PC-133 memory), but it runs Kubuntu Feisty just great. I have a dual-monitor setup with a Geforce4 MX-440 video card. I now have Firefox open with 5+ tabs on it, Swiftweasel, 5 tabbed Konsoles, Gaim, Amarok, VMware console... and I have 452 MB free. What the heck do you use that much memory for? I know people now have 2 or 4 gig... but what the heck for? I can't figure out what is using it. ONCE I was able to use up my memory, by loading up about 20 very hi-res images in Firefox tabs. But other than that, I rarely use half of my memory. And I often run GIMP, OpenOffice.org, Kpdf, Ktorrent, K3b. I don't have memory issues. Is this just a bragging rights thing?
How come in the "What is your job within your company or organization?" section, the only thing around software development is "software developer"? Where is software QA/test? And why is this such an overlooked part of software development? I've been doing it for 13 years, and it always seems to be the thing that is overlooked the most often before going out the door, yet is always the scapegoat when things go wrong. Why is it so hard to get out of the land of "programming" and into the world of "software engineering"?
Maybe it all depends on who is making up the survey.
If a video is taking too long from Youtube, you can pause it and let it buffer the damn thing.
Exactly. Well, unless you are using Firefox on Linux like I do, then the sound stops after about 15 seconds... and sometimes it just stops playing and won't continue. But in THEORY I agree with you.
Microsoft can get $400,000 out of Bill's petty cash jar.
I remember years ago, when Gates donated something like $2 million to some charity, everyone was oooohing and ahhhing over it. Hell, it might have even been a story on here. There were some heated posts, and I contended that while 2 mil is a lot of money, Bill wasn't being generous. People laughed at me and even got angry, saying "how can you say he isn't generous if he gives away 2 million dollars?"
I did a quick and dirty net-worth calculation. If your net worth was $100,000 and you gave someone $2, it would be more generous (percentage-wise) than Bill giving away $1 million. Think about that for a second. And even just looking at percentage isn't fair, because if I give away 1/2 of 100,000 I only have 50k left. He could easily give away half of his net worth and still live more comfortably than most of the entire country. Hell, he could give away 90% of his net worth and live more comfortably than almost everyone.
So $400,000 ? That isn't even petty cash money - that's dryer money.
What's worse is that this will be justified under the guise of anti-terrorism.
Yeah, but luckily for us, our government is completely incompetent. So go ahead and do illegal activities over the internet. They are too stupid to catch you. If they've been tapping the internet traffic, and cell phone traffic, and everything else - they whey couldn't they do something about 9/11?
Do you really think people will continue to pay $10 for something they can get for nothing?
Well, for one who said $10? $10 for a CD seems a bit much, and downloads should be cheaper... how about $5? Why would someone pay $5 for something they can get for free? Convenience. I didn't get the Radiohead album cause I don't really like them. But if bands I did like offered albums for download, and I could get it and know it's "legit", what is $5? People blow that on a cup of coffee. And let's use our imaginations a little bit here... how about if you pay for the album, you can subscribe to their music newsletter, where you can get emails letting you know when new live tracks are available... or videos... or discounts on merchandise... or notice of affiliate band's downloads... or whatever else you can think of. Make it a service, a sales channel run by the bands themselves.
And let's look AHEAD about 20 years, and how much different the music scene would look if this sales model was adopted widespread. Look at the music from the past - the RIAA holds it under lock and key. Those artists only get a royalty if someone happens into a store and buys one of their CDs for $20... (or much less if they are in the bargain bin) There is no way the record labels will push or market them. They are effectively dead because they don't own the rights to their own music.
The RIAA is putting an end to their own cartel by not embracing technology. They should have done this when Napster came out, but they didn't. Here it is 10 years later, and they still don't get it. It is a PROVEN business model - people want digital music... look what Napster did, before MP3 players were common. Look what the iPod did to the music scene. People want music. Now, consider this concept - the RIAA opens up their vault of music, and offers any song older than 5 years for $0.10 per song... 2-5 years old it is $0.25 per song, and new to 2 years old $0.50 per song. Set up an easy payment model. Make them easy to get, sell compilations on CD/DVD/USB fobs available through the mail... MP3 players pre-loaded! Build lists of music - top 100 songs of the 90s, Elvis Discography, etc etc. Songs that nobody is buying now anyway. Make a new business service, packaging music in creative ways. Only sell those compilations as bundles, but allow people to build their own. Allow people to submit their "favorites" lists. Put burning stations in music stores, so people can buy them there. Charge a nominal fee for media and burning service (like $2). Make the music from their immense archive a) available and b) affordable. If they do this, people would buy it. Why pay for it when you can get it for free? Because people will pay for convenience if it is a reasonable price.
The mindless fury with which many Americans react to any suggestion that the USA is not absolutely, positively #1 in every single way is a much bigger problem for the country than anti-American bigotry... not to mention that a lot of the bigotry is a reaction to that particular type of arrogance.
This is just my experience, but take it for what it is worth... a few years ago, my wife and I went to Paris for a week. She has a Master's in French, so right away I had an advantage that most Americans do not - the ability to break the language barrier. She'd lived in Belgium for 9 months, so there was another advantage - culture knowledge. She made sure that we blended in. There were concerns at first about going, as we arrived 2 days after Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq. But all went very well, and the trip was great. Many of our friends thought that we were crazy, that we would be chased out of the country with pitchforks and torches for being from the US. But the bottom line was, we tried to fit in. She spoke the language, and I tried. We were treated normally. It was funny, we could spot American tourists a mile away (unless of course, they were blending like we were). The NASCAR T-shirts, tennis shoes, caps, etc. They were very loud and demanding in restaurants. It was embarassing. Now you could argue that they shouldn't change who they are, but you can't expect to get 'normal' treatment if you don't respect the country you are in. I heard one man saying "doesn't anyone here speak English?!" And yes, normally they do - as I found out when a kind waiter switched from speaking French to English when he realized his English was better than my French.:) The other funny thing that people at home always asked about was how rude the French were. They may not have been hi-how-are-you friendly, but they weren't rude. The rudest people we encountered on the entire trip were by far the people in O'Hare airport upon returning home. Maybe it's just a matter of perspective. Of course I was glad to return home, and I only spent a week there. But I can certainly see why people in other countries have their opinions about us. I think the real difference is that they can distinguish our citizens from our government... they hate our government for the way it behaves. They dislike our tourists for the same reason. But at the same time, they can respect us for our accomplishments and good traits. They don't seem as ridiculous and petty as we are towards them.
I am sure a few jaws will drop open when I say I haven't played HL2 yet. I am serious. But let me tell you why. I used to play Quake Mega-TF back in the day. A lot. I worked at a startup company, and we had a server that would run every day from 12 to 12:30, so we had a daily lunchtime game. It was great. We played HL or Unreal every once in a while, but TF was our standard. Although we played HL, I had never played the single-player game. This was all back in the late 90s. Fast forward about 5 years, and I had a little time... wasn't married yet, no kids yet. Picked up Half-Life, cheap. My hardware could play it no problem. I *thoroughly* enjoyed it. When I would get stuck, there were walkthroughs online. When I was done, I started downloading and playing single-player mods. There were some really good ones out there. I am not a hardcore dedicated gamer, but I spent some time playing HL mods. I tried playing online, but just didn't enjoy it as much as Quake TF. I am not sure why, but I preferred the single-player games for HL.
Then HL2 was coming out... I wanted it. But I would have to get a new video card to play it. Hmm, what to do? At the time, the ATI Radeon 9600 Pro was about $300. Should I get it? I waited. And the launch of HL2 was delayed. When it did come out, I would have saved at least $50 on the card. But I waited. I had gotten married and thought "It will be there, and I'll save money in the long run". I have since downloaded and played a few other HL mods... still enjoyable. Got Unreal Tournament running on my main machine (Linux) and played that a little. Still fun, but deathmatch is... deathmatch. Good for the occasional game, but that's about it.
So HL2 is still out there, and apparently still going strong. I have since had 2 kids, bought a motorcycle, and moved across the country. Gaming hasn't been in the forefront of my mind. I am sure there are plenty of mods waiting for me, and although I haven't looked, I'll bet the video cards that can play it are about $50. I would still have to buy a new one for my old dusty Windows machine. It still sits with the ATI-AIW-Pro32 that couldn't play the game when it came out. When I do get around to playing HL2, it will be fun. Real fun. And I'll have many hours of enjoyment ahead of me. And although HL2 is old news to most of you, I'll still enjoy every minute of it and not feel like I have missed out on anything. That is when you know you have a great game, when someone can pick it up for the first time after it has been out for years, and still really enjoy it.
If you rolled back your driver version, would you also have to roll back your kernel? I never really understood the relationship between nvidia-glx and nvidia-kernel-common, and whatever else is/was required. I just know that I have always had to tinker with my video setup on a new install/upgrade. And Linux has been my primary OS since RedHat 6.0.
I did the upgrade to Feisty, and had to go through hours of Nvidia hell to get my setup to work (dual-head Nvidia GeForce4 MX 440). It was to the point where I tried so many things I don't remember exactly what I had to do to get it to work. Sure, I can save off my xorg.conf file, but I have had it in the past where that didn't work and I had to create a new one. There are lots of guides out there, but that is almost a problem - lots of different things to try, no sure-fire way to get it to work.
I'll upgrade.. when I know I have several hours ahead of me to mess with it if the need arises. Let's hope it doesn't this time. It always seems to be an issue with xorg/nvidia/kernel compatibility that I have to wrestle with.
No, they just shouldn't do it. Because to make it illegal, we have to involve hundreds of lawyers, and waste everyone's time and taxpayer dollars to get some 1000 page document passed into law that some other lawyer at some point in time will "interpret" differently and allow some company to get away with something shady. Then we can start the lawsuit process, and get more lawyers involved. Our legal system is a quagmire.
Outlook + Exchange adds far too much business value to simply abandon in the name of Open and Free.
Yep... I always *hated* outlook for email (still do). But I use it daily at work. At work, I am constantly getting scheduled for meetings, or scheduling them myself. These meetings are always with people in different cities, states, or even different countries. You can look at other people's calendars, and see if they have declined/accepted a meeting. There are a few glitches, but overall it works very well. I use Office Communicator as much as email. Although I can't stand many things about it, it does integrate nicely with the corporate address book. If someone is in a meeting, their status goes to "in a meeting". If only they would have tabbed windows and allow logging of conversations. You can email a conversation, which is nice, but there are times when you forget to do it.
Overall, I have gained a real appreciation for using these tools in business by using them daily.
And if you think I have gone soft, I still use pine as my primary mail client at home.:)
This is nothing new, crackers have always preferred unix machines for a number of reasons.
I understand why you say this (and you did say unix, not linux), but you have to see the humor in your statements. "See!? Linux is better because it is the OS choice of *REAL* crackers." It could be seen as a mere spin attempt, but it is really the truth. What servers do you think crackers used to break into back in the day? I'll admit that there is certain fanboyism that exists around Linux, but usually the "it's really not the fault of the OS" can be backed up. If not, the attitude is generally "whoops... let's fix it ASAP". Whereas *ahem* other OS providers tend to do a lot more coverup, consult PR and lawyers, etc etc.
Maybe I misunderstand GIMP (maybe because I'm running XP), but you know Photoshop and you're looking for a free version, Paint.net will be a much easier transition.
I've never used Photoshop. Now which would be a better alternative? I have honestly never heard of paint.net. But, it's Windows only, and I run Linux. I guess my choice is clear.
If you know Photoshop, you probably already own a pirated copy anyway.
That was very easy to read even though it was totally "incorrect".
Really? I read it, and it was painful.. it was very hard for me to write that actually. There are certain grammar rules that are difficult, and easier to understand when people mess them up. But your vs you're? Contractions are SIMPLE, there should be no confusion around them. But this is the internet... what is really really sad is when I see these kinds of mistakes on TV or in big-name publications.. where they should know better.
You can argue that "very unique" is non-sensical, but the truth is that everyone reading that phrase knows the intention of the author, and therefore information information is being conveyed.
I don't know what your talking about, or for that matter what their talking about. All I know is that when choosing you're words, its best to use the correct ones. But this is the internet, so its neither hear or there. I guess I should of known better then to ask the question hear on Slashdot.
I'll bet poor ol' George's head is spinning... "wait, you mean we are building a site that will give us nookular capabilities? So.. so... what yer sayin' is that we have to attack ourselves. We can't stand for this. What? It's in Texas? I'm from Texas. I must be a terrrist. No, that can't be right..... DICK! Get in here."
Unless they say you're a 'terrah' suspect and ship you off to guantanamo bay without any kind of trial.
And leave you there. From Wikipedia: "Since the Afghanistan war 775 detainees who have been brought to Guantanamo, approximately 420 have been released. As of August 09, 2007, approximately 355 detainees remained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. More than a fifth have been cleared for release but may have to wait months or years for their freedom because U.S. officials are finding it increasingly difficult to line up places to send them, according to Bush administration officials and defense lawyers. Of the roughly 355 still incarcerated, U.S. officials said they intend to eventually put 60 to 80 on trial and free the rest."
I used to be a salaried employee, for a solid dozen years. Then I was out of a job. The only thing I could find was contract work. (software testing, FYI) I used to live in Chicagoland, and looking at the job market there, companies hire FTEs. Out here in AZ, everything seems to be either contract or more rarely contract-to-hire. So I took a contract position. The pay was OK, I was making about the same as I was salaried... but I was getting paid for every hour worked. One colleague was working 60+ hours per week, and then they offered him a full time position. He took it, and then realized "suddenly, it is like I am making minimum wage".
I am still contracting, and in a pretty secure position - but in the contracting world, that can end very suddenly if there is "restructuring". Although I like the money, the contracting company that I go through pays for my health insurance. Sounds great, right? Well, we recently had a baby, and the insurance sucks. It only covers 70% of most things, and if something is out of network (like the anesthesiologist for the delivery) it is only 60%. So I am probably making more per year than I did when I was salaried, but there is no raise, no bonus, no advancement, job instability, and we have thousands in medical bills to pay for our childbirth.
I like my job, and where I am working, and things are OK. I can't really complain. But if given a survey, there are enough things about my situation that I don't like that I would probably come up on the dissatisfied end of the spectrum. It isn't about being greedy, it's about having a company that looks out for its employees. I don't think that I am naive in thinking that something like that should be possible. To be honest, I haven't seen it all that much in my 15 year career.
Slashdot Mirror
But they really can't win when the hardware is cheap.
I am not sure "can't" is the right word. They price it at what the market will bear, and of course there are volume and corporate discounts. Oh, and the discount you eventually get if you decide to run Linux instead. Microsoft made the (IMO good) business decision to go heavily after the business and bundled markets. Why try to sell something to the masses, when you can become the defacto standard by going after 2 markets? Sure, in your local Best Buy Vista may cost a lot, but Dell isn't paying that price.
I have actually wondered what Vista is like, but I certainly am not going to buy it to find out. When we bought a new laptop for my wife several months ago, we went through Dell Small Business, because they allow you to get XP. I wasn't willing to risk it with Vista. But eventually, I suppose I'll get to see it somehow, most likely through work. Microsoft will keep chugging along, maintaining it's desktop market share through the 2 ways it has done over the last decade and a half. It can use all that cash to break into new areas. But as Linus says, their 'vision' will always be somewhat tainted by their business model.
My machine has 768 MB RAM. It's an older machine (Duron 1.3, PC-133 memory), but it runs Kubuntu Feisty just great. I have a dual-monitor setup with a Geforce4 MX-440 video card. I now have Firefox open with 5+ tabs on it, Swiftweasel, 5 tabbed Konsoles, Gaim, Amarok, VMware console... and I have 452 MB free. What the heck do you use that much memory for? I know people now have 2 or 4 gig... but what the heck for? I can't figure out what is using it. ONCE I was able to use up my memory, by loading up about 20 very hi-res images in Firefox tabs. But other than that, I rarely use half of my memory. And I often run GIMP, OpenOffice.org, Kpdf, Ktorrent, K3b. I don't have memory issues. Is this just a bragging rights thing?
Maybe it all depends on who is making up the survey.
Exactly. Well, unless you are using Firefox on Linux like I do, then the sound stops after about 15 seconds... and sometimes it just stops playing and won't continue. But in THEORY I agree with you.
I remember years ago, when Gates donated something like $2 million to some charity, everyone was oooohing and ahhhing over it. Hell, it might have even been a story on here. There were some heated posts, and I contended that while 2 mil is a lot of money, Bill wasn't being generous. People laughed at me and even got angry, saying "how can you say he isn't generous if he gives away 2 million dollars?"
I did a quick and dirty net-worth calculation. If your net worth was $100,000 and you gave someone $2, it would be more generous (percentage-wise) than Bill giving away $1 million. Think about that for a second. And even just looking at percentage isn't fair, because if I give away 1/2 of 100,000 I only have 50k left. He could easily give away half of his net worth and still live more comfortably than most of the entire country. Hell, he could give away 90% of his net worth and live more comfortably than almost everyone.
So $400,000 ? That isn't even petty cash money - that's dryer money.
Yeah, but luckily for us, our government is completely incompetent. So go ahead and do illegal activities over the internet. They are too stupid to catch you. If they've been tapping the internet traffic, and cell phone traffic, and everything else - they whey couldn't they do something about 9/11?
Well, for one who said $10? $10 for a CD seems a bit much, and downloads should be cheaper... how about $5? Why would someone pay $5 for something they can get for free? Convenience. I didn't get the Radiohead album cause I don't really like them. But if bands I did like offered albums for download, and I could get it and know it's "legit", what is $5? People blow that on a cup of coffee. And let's use our imaginations a little bit here... how about if you pay for the album, you can subscribe to their music newsletter, where you can get emails letting you know when new live tracks are available... or videos... or discounts on merchandise... or notice of affiliate band's downloads... or whatever else you can think of. Make it a service, a sales channel run by the bands themselves.
And let's look AHEAD about 20 years, and how much different the music scene would look if this sales model was adopted widespread. Look at the music from the past - the RIAA holds it under lock and key. Those artists only get a royalty if someone happens into a store and buys one of their CDs for $20... (or much less if they are in the bargain bin) There is no way the record labels will push or market them. They are effectively dead because they don't own the rights to their own music.
The RIAA is putting an end to their own cartel by not embracing technology. They should have done this when Napster came out, but they didn't. Here it is 10 years later, and they still don't get it. It is a PROVEN business model - people want digital music... look what Napster did, before MP3 players were common. Look what the iPod did to the music scene. People want music. Now, consider this concept - the RIAA opens up their vault of music, and offers any song older than 5 years for $0.10 per song... 2-5 years old it is $0.25 per song, and new to 2 years old $0.50 per song. Set up an easy payment model. Make them easy to get, sell compilations on CD/DVD/USB fobs available through the mail... MP3 players pre-loaded! Build lists of music - top 100 songs of the 90s, Elvis Discography, etc etc. Songs that nobody is buying now anyway. Make a new business service, packaging music in creative ways. Only sell those compilations as bundles, but allow people to build their own. Allow people to submit their "favorites" lists. Put burning stations in music stores, so people can buy them there. Charge a nominal fee for media and burning service (like $2). Make the music from their immense archive a) available and b) affordable. If they do this, people would buy it. Why pay for it when you can get it for free? Because people will pay for convenience if it is a reasonable price.
There's your answer - he pushed them to use Vista internally.
It's coming from Wal*Mart - no thanks. I don't shop there because I don't agree with the way they do business.
This is just my experience, but take it for what it is worth... a few years ago, my wife and I went to Paris for a week. She has a Master's in French, so right away I had an advantage that most Americans do not - the ability to break the language barrier. She'd lived in Belgium for 9 months, so there was another advantage - culture knowledge. She made sure that we blended in. There were concerns at first about going, as we arrived 2 days after Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq. But all went very well, and the trip was great. Many of our friends thought that we were crazy, that we would be chased out of the country with pitchforks and torches for being from the US. But the bottom line was, we tried to fit in. She spoke the language, and I tried. We were treated normally. It was funny, we could spot American tourists a mile away (unless of course, they were blending like we were). The NASCAR T-shirts, tennis shoes, caps, etc. They were very loud and demanding in restaurants. It was embarassing. Now you could argue that they shouldn't change who they are, but you can't expect to get 'normal' treatment if you don't respect the country you are in. I heard one man saying "doesn't anyone here speak English?!" And yes, normally they do - as I found out when a kind waiter switched from speaking French to English when he realized his English was better than my French.
Then HL2 was coming out... I wanted it. But I would have to get a new video card to play it. Hmm, what to do? At the time, the ATI Radeon 9600 Pro was about $300. Should I get it? I waited. And the launch of HL2 was delayed. When it did come out, I would have saved at least $50 on the card. But I waited. I had gotten married and thought "It will be there, and I'll save money in the long run". I have since downloaded and played a few other HL mods... still enjoyable. Got Unreal Tournament running on my main machine (Linux) and played that a little. Still fun, but deathmatch is
So HL2 is still out there, and apparently still going strong. I have since had 2 kids, bought a motorcycle, and moved across the country. Gaming hasn't been in the forefront of my mind. I am sure there are plenty of mods waiting for me, and although I haven't looked, I'll bet the video cards that can play it are about $50. I would still have to buy a new one for my old dusty Windows machine. It still sits with the ATI-AIW-Pro32 that couldn't play the game when it came out. When I do get around to playing HL2, it will be fun. Real fun. And I'll have many hours of enjoyment ahead of me. And although HL2 is old news to most of you, I'll still enjoy every minute of it and not feel like I have missed out on anything. That is when you know you have a great game, when someone can pick it up for the first time after it has been out for years, and still really enjoy it.
If you rolled back your driver version, would you also have to roll back your kernel? I never really understood the relationship between nvidia-glx and nvidia-kernel-common, and whatever else is/was required. I just know that I have always had to tinker with my video setup on a new install/upgrade. And Linux has been my primary OS since RedHat 6.0.
See, you can work Ubuntu into ANY comment. Try it, it's fun.
I'll upgrade.. when I know I have several hours ahead of me to mess with it if the need arises. Let's hope it doesn't this time. It always seems to be an issue with xorg/nvidia/kernel compatibility that I have to wrestle with.
No, they just shouldn't do it. Because to make it illegal, we have to involve hundreds of lawyers, and waste everyone's time and taxpayer dollars to get some 1000 page document passed into law that some other lawyer at some point in time will "interpret" differently and allow some company to get away with something shady. Then we can start the lawsuit process, and get more lawyers involved. Our legal system is a quagmire.
Yep... I always *hated* outlook for email (still do). But I use it daily at work. At work, I am constantly getting scheduled for meetings, or scheduling them myself. These meetings are always with people in different cities, states, or even different countries. You can look at other people's calendars, and see if they have declined/accepted a meeting. There are a few glitches, but overall it works very well. I use Office Communicator as much as email. Although I can't stand many things about it, it does integrate nicely with the corporate address book. If someone is in a meeting, their status goes to "in a meeting". If only they would have tabbed windows and allow logging of conversations. You can email a conversation, which is nice, but there are times when you forget to do it.
Overall, I have gained a real appreciation for using these tools in business by using them daily.
And if you think I have gone soft, I still use pine as my primary mail client at home.
I understand why you say this (and you did say unix, not linux), but you have to see the humor in your statements. "See!? Linux is better because it is the OS choice of *REAL* crackers." It could be seen as a mere spin attempt, but it is really the truth. What servers do you think crackers used to break into back in the day? I'll admit that there is certain fanboyism that exists around Linux, but usually the "it's really not the fault of the OS" can be backed up. If not, the attitude is generally "whoops... let's fix it ASAP". Whereas *ahem* other OS providers tend to do a lot more coverup, consult PR and lawyers, etc etc.
I've never used Photoshop. Now which would be a better alternative? I have honestly never heard of paint.net. But, it's Windows only, and I run Linux. I guess my choice is clear.
If you know Photoshop, you probably already own a pirated copy anyway.
Really? I read it, and it was painful.. it was very hard for me to write that actually. There are certain grammar rules that are difficult, and easier to understand when people mess them up. But your vs you're? Contractions are SIMPLE, there should be no confusion around them. But this is the internet... what is really really sad is when I see these kinds of mistakes on TV or in big-name publications.. where they should know better.
read the whole thing.. if that is the only BLATANT mistake you see, then you have issues.
I don't know what your talking about, or for that matter what their talking about. All I know is that when choosing you're words, its best to use the correct ones. But this is the internet, so its neither hear or there. I guess I should of known better then to ask the question hear on Slashdot.
I find it a little sad that THAT is what sunk in out of those sentences.
I'll bet poor ol' George's head is spinning... "wait, you mean we are building a site that will give us nookular capabilities? So.. so... what yer sayin' is that we have to attack ourselves. We can't stand for this. What? It's in Texas? I'm from Texas. I must be a terrrist. No, that can't be right. .... DICK! Get in here."
And leave you there. From Wikipedia: "Since the Afghanistan war 775 detainees who have been brought to Guantanamo, approximately 420 have been released. As of August 09, 2007, approximately 355 detainees remained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. More than a fifth have been cleared for release but may have to wait months or years for their freedom because U.S. officials are finding it increasingly difficult to line up places to send them, according to Bush administration officials and defense lawyers. Of the roughly 355 still incarcerated, U.S. officials said they intend to eventually put 60 to 80 on trial and free the rest."
I am still contracting, and in a pretty secure position - but in the contracting world, that can end very suddenly if there is "restructuring". Although I like the money, the contracting company that I go through pays for my health insurance. Sounds great, right? Well, we recently had a baby, and the insurance sucks. It only covers 70% of most things, and if something is out of network (like the anesthesiologist for the delivery) it is only 60%. So I am probably making more per year than I did when I was salaried, but there is no raise, no bonus, no advancement, job instability, and we have thousands in medical bills to pay for our childbirth.
I like my job, and where I am working, and things are OK. I can't really complain. But if given a survey, there are enough things about my situation that I don't like that I would probably come up on the dissatisfied end of the spectrum. It isn't about being greedy, it's about having a company that looks out for its employees. I don't think that I am naive in thinking that something like that should be possible. To be honest, I haven't seen it all that much in my 15 year career.