The Windows registry has a commercial purpose: It provides copy protection. That's why it is implemented in such a confusing way.
If the config data for each program were stored next to the binary for the program, it would be possible to copy the program merely by copying the program's sub-folder. The registry prevents this.
Corruption in the registry may corrupt the entire operating system. In a commercial OS, in a world in which the OS maker has a monopoly, occasional corruption of the OS is seen as a good thing, because it gives the users a reason to upgrade.
Is George W. Bush an Alcoholic?
on
eLection '04
·
· Score: 1
George W. Bush apparently has had a long involvement with problem drinking. The duration of his past
behavior was somewhat obscured by his failing to mention his DWI arrest. Governor Bush verified his arrest in a
recent TV interview. (DWI is Driving While Intoxicated.)
He has admitted drinking while he was in college. He was arrested for DWI when he was a grown man of 30.
He has said that he stopped drinking in 1986, when he was 40. He therefore apparently had problems with
alcohol for over 10 years, and perhaps as many as 18 years, in any case a large part of his adult life. According
to alcohol recovery groups, ten years of problem drinking certainly qualifies a person as an alcoholic. At the
very least, habitual abuse of alcohol is a manner of living that is the opposite of preparing for leadership.
Many times I have heard recovered alcoholics say, "Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic." Alcoholics have
told me they can never, even after 20 years, risk drinking alcohol again, for fear of a complete relapse. My
experience with acquaintances who have relapsed indicates that this is true.
People who have had no involvement with alcoholism often find it difficult to understand this sickness. Part of
the difficulty non-drinkers have in understanding alcoholism is caused by the huge effort alcoholics typically
expend to hide their activities. If you have any doubts about how to decide if someone is an alcoholic, call your
local AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), or other alcohol recovery program. Among other facts, they will tell you
that alcoholics are often extremely skillful, habitual liars.
One symptom of problem drinking is a lack of mental involvement. Lax mental habits often continue even when
an alcoholic is not an active drinker. This lack was easily seen in George W. Bush's statements about U.S. foreign
policy, until he was coached. It is also seen in his lack of intellectual curiosity and his poor use of the English
language.
Considering that alcoholics often relapse when under stress, and considering that alcoholics have histories of
bad judgment and causing pain in other people's lives, should George W. Bush be elected to one of the most
stressful jobs in the world, the presidency of the United States?
George Bush's running mate, Dick Cheney, has also been arrested for DWI.
Read an interesting and humorous dissenting reply below.
Michael Jennings
P.O. Box 14491
Portland, OR 97293-0491
Tel: (503) 233-7820
Fax: (419) 781-4606
E-Mail: M_Jennings@USA.com
November 5, 2000
You have my permission to print this.
I am not associated with any political group or campaign. This message is my personal opinion and was not
authorized or coordinated with anyone else. Although the information in this message comes from my
pre-existing knowledge and experience, I did verify it by discussing the finished message with a friend who is at
present enjoying his second recovery from active alcoholism.
When the message above was finished, I sent it to friends. One of them replied three times almost immediately,
disagreeing with what I said. His replies are instructive and humorous. He is not an American citizen, and
English is not his native language. His replies are copied below without change, and with his permission. His
telephone number was replaced with Xs, and his name removed.
_________
MESSAGE 1, 3:13 AM:
Mike! Sorry about that. One of the bests american presidents (Abraham Lincoln) was also an alcoholic! What
he drinks.... smokes.... whatever... does not make any difference.... As long as he is (will he be?) a good leader
and cares for his nation.... THAT'S WHAT IT MATTERS!!!! I don't care how much he drinks.... I don't even vote
here.... As long as this country keeps growing, it's ok for me!
Bye
[signed]
MESSAGE 2, 3:16 AM:
By the way, being the president of the richest country in the world (USA) is not very stressfull! Imagine yourself
being president of Afeganistan... Or other countries where they don't even have what to eat! Here is very, but
very easy do administrate!!!!!
[not signed]
MESSAGE 3, 3:17 AM:
It's even easier if you're drunk! hehehehehehehe! Call me! My phone # is xxx-xxx-xxxx
[not signed]
_________
By now you may have guessed that the friend who wrote the three messages above has problems with alcohol.
What is so interesting about these three messages is that they demonstrate the lack of mental engagement of a problem drinker.
Run Windows 98 Resource Meter (Start/Accessories/System Tools/Resource Meter).
User resources and GDI resources are very limited, by design. Exceed the need for these resources, and Win 98 and Win 95 will crash, no matter how much memory you have.
A company that has a monopoly can make more money by supplying an operating system with major design flaws. The company can slowly remove the flaws over several versions, and charge everyone for each new version.
It really is possible to win at Minesweeper by defining and solving sets of simultaneous linear binary equations. I wasn't pulling your leg, and I wasn't bragging.
The solution is too simple to mention. I suppose that anyone who knows how to solve simultaneous equations would be able to solve them when the numerical base is binary.
I assume that whatever mathematical problem they are discussing actually has nothing to do with winning at Minesweeper.
20 percent of the people in the world don't have enough to eat. So, winning at Minesweeper hasn't seemed like an important pursuit to me. I discovered that it was possible to write binary equations that show where the mine cannot be. I presume many other people have discovered the same thing.
The answer is NOT electromagnetic radiation. The physics doesn't work. Not enough energy is delivered to the diskette by cell phones.
The answer is probably dirty diskette drives and dirty diskettes.
Students should make backups on three diskettes, as others have said. Total cost of media, 30 cents. If students are properly warned they will do this; it's silly to say students are stupid.
Diskettes should be kept in ZipLock bags when not in use. This is NECESSARY. Otherwise gritty dirt can work its way in and grind a streak in the media.
If you see and advertisement like this...
on
Microsoft Cracked
·
· Score: 1
If you see and ad like this:
WinSki 2000, works just like Windows 2000, only 20 rubles.
Does Microsoft REALLY want to get into a battle over operating systems with Linux/BSD?
Microsoft has only ONE Public Relations department. Open Source Software has a million passionate advocates.
Bill Gates and his partners lack street smarts. They don't see that this is a battle they can't win.
Here is another example of Microsoft cluelessness: Microsoft did, and continues to do, things which attract the attention of the United States Department of Justice. Anyone with an understanding of conflict would not want to create such problems! 1) The DOJ has a literally endless amount of money. 2) Attacking Microsoft is much more fun than the jobs DOJ employees normally do. 3) There are people in the U.S. government who believe that killing people and destroying there property is a way to solve problems. (In the last 30 years the U.S. has bombed 11 countries!! If I counted correctly.)
Jeff Bezos says that he "wants to make Amazon the most customer-centric company on the Internet", but my experience is that the company is often abusive toward its customers.
Does abuse make more money than being kind to customers? I don't think so.
Before the Clinton-Gore administration, the government resisted computerization.
Al Gore pushed for adoption of computers and computer methods. Government departments began to have web pages. Government leaders began to get email addresses.
Because of Al Gore and the Clinton-Gore administration, it began to be easier to interact with the government. It is now possible to apply for federal trademark over the internet, for example. It is possible to download government manuals and forms.
Before the Clinton-Gore administration, I paid $50 to get the addresses of all the senators. The only way to get a list of addresses was through a commercial company which sold the information! The $50 price was for a non-profit organization. For a profit-making company, the cost was more. Now the list is a free download.
Before the Clinton-Gore administration, many people didn't want government to use computers effectively because it would reduce their profits, or their control.
Vice-President Gore led many initiatives like this to make government more for the people, rather than for particular interests.
By far the biggest problem the OSS community has is poor communication with users and potential users.
Marketing is creating a connection between an effort and potential users. Most OSS leaders don't think about marketing, or don't think about it sufficiently.
OSS project web site home pages often don't even have a few clear paragraphs about the purpose of the software! This is true even of large, excellent efforts like the PHP Hypertext Processor and the Python Programming Language.
Poor communication creates a high barrier for potential users and for potential developers. Better communication is the single most important area of improvement that could increase the spread of Open Source Software.
If you have an open source software project and need help with communication, email me. This seems to be the way that I can best contribute.
There is a simple answer to the problem of computer companies who litigate heavily. Don't buy the companys' products. The readers of Slashdot represent a large percentage of the people who would influence those buying decisions.
It doesn't make good business sense to buy from a company with methods heavily weighted toward lawsuits.
At one time.ARC was the most popular PC compression system. Then the.ARC company litigated, and everyone decided to use.ZIP compression. Now.ARC is mostly forgotten.
A source code converter would be better.
on
KBasic
·
· Score: 1
It seems to me that Microsoft put efficient tools into Visual Basic because the company wants to make sure it doesn't deliver a good programming tool. It isn't Basic that people like, it is the tools available in VB.
Visual Basic is written in C and C++, I understand. Microsoft wants to make sure that its customers are not able to become good enough programmers to compete with its own products. That's why it delivers efficient tools for a ridiculously bad language.
Most people don't seem to realize that the limitations of Microsoft products are deliberate. Windows 98 crashes because there is a deliberate limitation (of 128 K memory, I understand) in GDI and User resources. Exceed those limitations, and the operating system crashes without warning. Deliberate limitations like this are the action of a monopoly wanting to insure that the customers always have a reason to upgrade.
(Run Microsoft's own Resource Meter software in Windows 98 to see the limitations in action.)
It is a challenge for open source software creators not to get involved with Microsoft's destructiveness. Possibly what is really needed here is converter to take source code from a VB program and turn it into source code in a sensible language.
If the conversion could go in both directions, the need to write in VB would completely disappear. This is the desired effect. The present plan, of providing a VB-like language in open source software has the negative effect of encouraging VB programming.
Some people think that Microsoft is a software company that is sometimes abusive.
But, in my experience, Microsoft is an abuse company that sometimes sells software. Mark Microsoft, "Does not play well with others."
A benefit of having an abusive monopoly is that the abusiveness helps makes it clear to everyone that open source software is the answer. Microsoft's abusiveness hastens the day when most important, widely-used software is OSS.
The Sharkey's Extreme article is spread out over several pages to force you to see ads which you are probably not seeing, since you have trained yourself not to look.
The following links are pages that show Intel CPU plans, and are useful for someone planning a computer purchase who wants to avoid early obsolescence. (The spaces in Page X are put in by a bug in the Slashdot code.):
Is 1-click really easier? It requires over 400 words of explanation!
The media loves Jeff Bezos saying that he wants to make Amazon.com the most "customer-centric company in the world". But whenever I've tried to order something from Amazon, I've gotten so annoyed at the interface that I've given up, and bought somewhere else (usually Buy.com, which is slightly less annoying).
In practice, 1-click is nice only if you have been willing to pay a price in your time to get started, and you have been willing to accept involvement in the complicated issues raised in the explanation above.
Once you have paid a price in your time, you pay again in money for the convenience: I've found that Amazon.com is usually more expensive.
The reality, I've found, is that it is necessary to stay flexible and shop around.
According to an Amazon press release, Amazon tries different prices on different customers to survey how much people will pay. Supposedly they give back money to those who paid more during the survey. Playing complicated adversarial games in which the customer is not a player, but is the ball, is not convenient for the customer, only for Amazon.
Convenience is meaningful only if the total experience is convenient.
Slashdot Mirror
The Windows registry has a commercial purpose: It provides copy protection. That's why it is implemented in such a confusing way.
If the config data for each program were stored next to the binary for the program, it would be possible to copy the program merely by copying the program's sub-folder. The registry prevents this.
Corruption in the registry may corrupt the entire operating system. In a commercial OS, in a world in which the OS maker has a monopoly, occasional corruption of the OS is seen as a good thing, because it gives the users a reason to upgrade.
George W. Bush apparently has had a long involvement with problem drinking. The duration of his past
behavior was somewhat obscured by his failing to mention his DWI arrest. Governor Bush verified his arrest in a
recent TV interview. (DWI is Driving While Intoxicated.)
He has admitted drinking while he was in college. He was arrested for DWI when he was a grown man of 30.
He has said that he stopped drinking in 1986, when he was 40. He therefore apparently had problems with
alcohol for over 10 years, and perhaps as many as 18 years, in any case a large part of his adult life. According
to alcohol recovery groups, ten years of problem drinking certainly qualifies a person as an alcoholic. At the
very least, habitual abuse of alcohol is a manner of living that is the opposite of preparing for leadership.
Many times I have heard recovered alcoholics say, "Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic." Alcoholics have
told me they can never, even after 20 years, risk drinking alcohol again, for fear of a complete relapse. My
experience with acquaintances who have relapsed indicates that this is true.
People who have had no involvement with alcoholism often find it difficult to understand this sickness. Part of
the difficulty non-drinkers have in understanding alcoholism is caused by the huge effort alcoholics typically
expend to hide their activities. If you have any doubts about how to decide if someone is an alcoholic, call your
local AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), or other alcohol recovery program. Among other facts, they will tell you
that alcoholics are often extremely skillful, habitual liars.
One symptom of problem drinking is a lack of mental involvement. Lax mental habits often continue even when
an alcoholic is not an active drinker. This lack was easily seen in George W. Bush's statements about U.S. foreign
policy, until he was coached. It is also seen in his lack of intellectual curiosity and his poor use of the English
language.
Considering that alcoholics often relapse when under stress, and considering that alcoholics have histories of
bad judgment and causing pain in other people's lives, should George W. Bush be elected to one of the most
stressful jobs in the world, the presidency of the United States?
George Bush's running mate, Dick Cheney, has also been arrested for DWI.
Read an interesting and humorous dissenting reply below.
Michael Jennings
P.O. Box 14491
Portland, OR 97293-0491
Tel: (503) 233-7820
Fax: (419) 781-4606
E-Mail: M_Jennings@USA.com
November 5, 2000
You have my permission to print this.
I am not associated with any political group or campaign. This message is my personal opinion and was not
authorized or coordinated with anyone else. Although the information in this message comes from my
pre-existing knowledge and experience, I did verify it by discussing the finished message with a friend who is at
present enjoying his second recovery from active alcoholism.
When the message above was finished, I sent it to friends. One of them replied three times almost immediately,
disagreeing with what I said. His replies are instructive and humorous. He is not an American citizen, and
English is not his native language. His replies are copied below without change, and with his permission. His
telephone number was replaced with Xs, and his name removed.
_________
MESSAGE 1, 3:13 AM:
Mike! Sorry about that. One of the bests american presidents (Abraham Lincoln) was also an alcoholic! What
he drinks.... smokes.... whatever... does not make any difference.... As long as he is (will he be?) a good leader
and cares for his nation.... THAT'S WHAT IT MATTERS!!!! I don't care how much he drinks.... I don't even vote
here.... As long as this country keeps growing, it's ok for me!
Bye
[signed]
MESSAGE 2, 3:16 AM:
By the way, being the president of the richest country in the world (USA) is not very stressfull! Imagine yourself
being president of Afeganistan... Or other countries where they don't even have what to eat! Here is very, but
very easy do administrate!!!!!
[not signed]
MESSAGE 3, 3:17 AM:
It's even easier if you're drunk! hehehehehehehe! Call me! My phone # is xxx-xxx-xxxx
[not signed]
_________
By now you may have guessed that the friend who wrote the three messages above has problems with alcohol.
What is so interesting about these three messages is that they demonstrate the lack of mental engagement of a problem drinker.
Windows 98 is deliberately designed to crash.
Run Windows 98 Resource Meter (Start/Accessories/System Tools/Resource Meter).
User resources and GDI resources are very limited, by design. Exceed the need for these resources, and Win 98 and Win 95 will crash, no matter how much memory you have.
A company that has a monopoly can make more money by supplying an operating system with major design flaws. The company can slowly remove the flaws over several versions, and charge everyone for each new version.
It really is possible to win at Minesweeper by defining and solving sets of simultaneous linear binary equations. I wasn't pulling your leg, and I wasn't bragging.
The solution is too simple to mention. I suppose that anyone who knows how to solve simultaneous equations would be able to solve them when the numerical base is binary.
I assume that whatever mathematical problem they are discussing actually has nothing to do with winning at Minesweeper.
20 percent of the people in the world don't have enough to eat. So, winning at Minesweeper hasn't seemed like an important pursuit to me. I discovered that it was possible to write binary equations that show where the mine cannot be. I presume many other people have discovered the same thing.
It is possible to win at Minesweeper by defining and solving sets of simultaneous linear binary equations.
New Operating System!!!
Winski 2000 by MicroSlav
Operates just like Windows 2000!
Only 20 rubles. Put the money and your email address under the trash can on Ivanoff Street.
The answer is NOT electromagnetic radiation. The physics doesn't work. Not enough energy is delivered to the diskette by cell phones.
The answer is probably dirty diskette drives and dirty diskettes.
Students should make backups on three diskettes, as others have said. Total cost of media, 30 cents. If students are properly warned they will do this; it's silly to say students are stupid.
Diskettes should be kept in ZipLock bags when not in use. This is NECESSARY. Otherwise gritty dirt can work its way in and grind a streak in the media.
If you see and ad like this:
WinSki 2000, works just like Windows 2000, only 20 rubles.
Be suspicious!
Yes!!
Graphics people: Let's make our own ad!
Does Microsoft REALLY want to get into a battle over operating systems with Linux/BSD?
Microsoft has only ONE Public Relations department. Open Source Software has a million passionate advocates.
Bill Gates and his partners lack street smarts. They don't see that this is a battle they can't win.
Here is another example of Microsoft cluelessness: Microsoft did, and continues to do, things which attract the attention of the United States Department of Justice. Anyone with an understanding of conflict would not want to create such problems! 1) The DOJ has a literally endless amount of money. 2) Attacking Microsoft is much more fun than the jobs DOJ employees normally do. 3) There are people in the U.S. government who believe that killing people and destroying there property is a way to solve problems. (In the last 30 years the U.S. has bombed 11 countries!! If I counted correctly.)
Jeff Bezos says that he "wants to make Amazon the most customer-centric company on the Internet", but my experience is that the company is often abusive toward its customers.
Does abuse make more money than being kind to customers? I don't think so.
Before the Clinton-Gore administration, the government resisted computerization.
Al Gore pushed for adoption of computers and computer methods. Government departments began to have web pages. Government leaders began to get email addresses.
Because of Al Gore and the Clinton-Gore administration, it began to be easier to interact with the government. It is now possible to apply for federal trademark over the internet, for example. It is possible to download government manuals and forms.
Before the Clinton-Gore administration, I paid $50 to get the addresses of all the senators. The only way to get a list of addresses was through a commercial company which sold the information! The $50 price was for a non-profit organization. For a profit-making company, the cost was more. Now the list is a free download.
Before the Clinton-Gore administration, many people didn't want government to use computers effectively because it would reduce their profits, or their control.
Vice-President Gore led many initiatives like this to make government more for the people, rather than for particular interests.
By far the biggest problem the OSS community has is poor communication with users and potential users.
Marketing is creating a connection between an effort and potential users. Most OSS leaders don't think about marketing, or don't think about it sufficiently.
OSS project web site home pages often don't even have a few clear paragraphs about the purpose of the software! This is true even of large, excellent efforts like the PHP Hypertext Processor and the Python Programming Language.
Poor communication creates a high barrier for potential users and for potential developers. Better communication is the single most important area of improvement that could increase the spread of Open Source Software.
If you have an open source software project and need help with communication, email me. This seems to be the way that I can best contribute.
Michael
There is a simple answer to the problem of computer companies who litigate heavily. Don't buy the companys' products. The readers of Slashdot represent a large percentage of the people who would influence those buying decisions.
It doesn't make good business sense to buy from a company with methods heavily weighted toward lawsuits.
At one time
It seems to me that Microsoft put efficient tools into Visual Basic because the company wants to make sure it doesn't deliver a good programming tool. It isn't Basic that people like, it is the tools available in VB.
Visual Basic is written in C and C++, I understand. Microsoft wants to make sure that its customers are not able to become good enough programmers to compete with its own products. That's why it delivers efficient tools for a ridiculously bad language.
Most people don't seem to realize that the limitations of Microsoft products are deliberate. Windows 98 crashes because there is a deliberate limitation (of 128 K memory, I understand) in GDI and User resources. Exceed those limitations, and the operating system crashes without warning. Deliberate limitations like this are the action of a monopoly wanting to insure that the customers always have a reason to upgrade.
(Run Microsoft's own Resource Meter software in Windows 98 to see the limitations in action.)
It is a challenge for open source software creators not to get involved with Microsoft's destructiveness. Possibly what is really needed here is converter to take source code from a VB program and turn it into source code in a sensible language.
If the conversion could go in both directions, the need to write in VB would completely disappear. This is the desired effect. The present plan, of providing a VB-like language in open source software has the negative effect of encouraging VB programming.
Some people think that Microsoft is a software company that is sometimes abusive.
But, in my experience, Microsoft is an abuse company that sometimes sells software. Mark Microsoft, "Does not play well with others."
A benefit of having an abusive monopoly is that the abusiveness helps makes it clear to everyone that open source software is the answer. Microsoft's abusiveness hastens the day when most important, widely-used software is OSS.
Glenn Powers' CueCat: Game Over web page is brilliant.
It helped me understand my rights.
The Sharkey's Extreme article is spread out over several pages to force you to see ads which you are probably not seeing, since you have trained yourself not to look.
The following links are pages that show Intel CPU plans, and are useful for someone planning a computer purchase who wants to avoid early obsolescence. (The spaces in Page X are put in by a bug in the Slashdot code.):
Pag e 7, Pag e 8, Pag e 9, Pa ge 10, Pa ge 11, Pa ge 12, Pa ge 13
Those who use the Opera browser can load all the pages simply by holding down the control and shift keys while left-clicking on the links above.
The initial name for one of Intel's chips is Tualatin, not Tulatin. Sharkey's Extreme has it wrong in the first part of the article.
This is funny:
Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue misspelled its own name! Proof of this is that Tualatin is spelled correctly in the medallion.
This is funny:
Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue misspelled its own name!
Proof of this is that Tualatin is spelled correctly in the medallion.
The name is Tualatin, and Sharkey's Extreme has it wrong in the early parts of the article.
Is 1-click really easier? It requires over 400 words of explanation!
The media loves Jeff Bezos saying that he wants to make Amazon.com the most "customer-centric company in the world". But whenever I've tried to order something from Amazon, I've gotten so annoyed at the interface that I've given up, and bought somewhere else (usually Buy.com, which is slightly less annoying).
In practice, 1-click is nice only if you have been willing to pay a price in your time to get started, and you have been willing to accept involvement in the complicated issues raised in the explanation above. Once you have paid a price in your time, you pay again in money for the convenience: I've found that Amazon.com is usually more expensive.
The reality, I've found, is that it is necessary to stay flexible and shop around.
According to an Amazon press release, Amazon tries different prices on different customers to survey how much people will pay. Supposedly they give back money to those who paid more during the survey. Playing complicated adversarial games in which the customer is not a player, but is the ball, is not convenient for the customer, only for Amazon.
Convenience is meaningful only if the total experience is convenient.