....or stay in this one and try to change it from within.
Good point. That's a possibility, too. Although, in this case, I have no idea how somebody would change society to make people be able to remain anonymous. That's a tough one.
We're effectively being forced to do this to participate in society
That's very true. You are. That's what defines a society. But nobody says you have to live in this society. Pick another one, or just move into the wilds of Canada and forget society. There has got to be a side effect to all of that convenience. To 99.99% of people in society, the "lack of privacy" (I don't think it is at all) is worth that convenience, which is why we have "societies" in the first place.
And all of you TV watching drones think that they haven't already been doing this for years with cable TV and satellite? That's pretty fucking naive. And to think that millions of people PAY to have crap fed into their homes, and their viewing habits monitored. Ha! Throw your fucking TV out the window.
How exactly do I *have* to upgrade my MS boxes? First off, formal support for W2K is going to last for at least another 3-4 years. Formal support for XP is going to last much longer. Red Hat support of it's small business products is already dead.
Secondly, the informal support of MS products will last a very, very long time due to the numbers of users out there using it. I don't know how I'd find support for a Linux distro that was even 2 years old.
If anything, it's Linux that forces me to upgrade, not Windows.
I think one major problem Linux faces is that Joe Average can't comprehend the speed that Linux has been changing with.
And that's another important point why some people (like myself) don't use Linux. I run a business. I don't play games. My computers are 100% vital to me being able to eat. A new kernel is released every other day it seems, and for a while, Red Hat was doing a new distro every 6 months. 6 months?!?! Are you out of your fucking mind? My computers need to run for *years* without "upgrades". The rapid changes are a huge turnoff to me in my business. I want nothing more than NOT to change stuff with my computers. They work, they make me money. Period. I've got auto update running on all of them, so if there's a patch, they get patched, and otherwise, I don't worry about it. I'll look at Linux at some point when it's mature and NOT changing every other day. Right now, it's just too flaky to be used in my business.
they leverage their market share to ensure you can't, shouldn't, or won't want to use a competitors product.
Taht's not true at all. Many, many people know and do have other options. I don't use Linux because it sucks (I'm not getting into this conversation). I don't use Apple because it's overpriced, and I don't like the lock-in. Thus, I *choose* Windows.
You go belly up because the market DEMANDS MS products. There are no MS thugs with guns forcing companies to sell MS. It's completely and entirely market driven. I have not seen one single successful PC company selling Linux pre-installed. Not a one. Even the owners of/. couldn't make it fly.
The law, in most jurisdictions, says that trademark infringements must be pursued, otherwise the trademark is unenforceable. Microsoft, essentially has to pursue this very obvious, very fucking stupid infringement, otherwise, their trademark will become unenforceable for good. Lindows is competing by riding on MS' name that they have spent time and money to build. Lindows are the scumbags here, any way you cut it.
I was a contractor during the whole dot-com bullshit, and it was great. I'm not sure what risk at all there is. I post on Monster.com. Headhunters take me out to lunch. I work. It was very, very, simple, and *much* more lucrative than doing what most suckers do: "permanent" employment.
You're making this too damn complicated. I just bought walkie-talkies that have a 5 mile range, low power usage, and 24 different channels. They work great. Pick a channel that nobody else is using. Simple.
Good point. I've never associated "PCB" with "printed circuit boards". Goes to show... working conditions in this country are incredibly good if people are worried about working near circuit boards!
I'll go one further. My grandfather died of lung cancer (no, he didn't smoke) after working win a plant that used PCB's for 20 years. He was 50. Beat *that*.
I don't care if I'm selling porn or holy water. Business is business. SPEWS is interfering with my very legitimate, legal business. If that business was large enough, I'd have a lawyer deal with them, since they are interfering with interstate commerce, which is generally considered fraud punishable by trible damages plus legal fees. As is, it's *just* under the threshold where it's worth my time and money to deal with those people. I've got a workaround in the meantime. And, no "crap" comes out of my servers. That's the whole point, dim bulb. I don't spam, yet I get punished for it.
I don't know what in the hell a "smarthost" is, but I've got several leased boxes at a facility that is on Spews' list. Finding a new ISP, getting out of the contract, re-configuring the new servers, moving the actual data (flat files and databases), changing all of the DNS and routing information, then double checking everything is going to take me a hell of a lot more than 5 minutes. Again, if you want a crack at it, contact me. I'm willing to pay $200/hour for that service, which means that if "it only takes 5 minutes", I'm willing to pay $16.67 for the entire job. Takers, anyone?
Even if you do, finding a new ISP or smarthost is a five minute job
5 minutes? Sure, then contact me, and I'll pay you for 5 minute's work of work to move all of my co-located servers to a new ISP. You have no idea what you're talking about.
Ah, well that's a completely different story, since all laws are good and useful, right? Possessing marijuana should be a felony, punishable by many years in prison. The Fed should be able to search you and wiretap you without a warrant (Patriot Act). Yeah, right. It's a law, so it must be bad. riiight. You just keep telling yourself that (where it fits your needs).
Wow, if the Department of Justice, which is currently run by a neo-nazi, homophobic, racist bastard is your idea of moralistic determination, then you're just as fucked up as Ashcroft is. You should seek help, immediately.
I wonder if there's any way microsoft could be convinced to program Windows update in a way that it could be accessed by other (standards compliant) browsers.
I'm sure they would, as soon as other browsers supported Active X.
Slashdot Mirror
....or stay in this one and try to change it from within.
Good point. That's a possibility, too. Although, in this case, I have no idea how somebody would change society to make people be able to remain anonymous. That's a tough one.
We're effectively being forced to do this to participate in society
That's very true. You are. That's what defines a society. But nobody says you have to live in this society. Pick another one, or just move into the wilds of Canada and forget society. There has got to be a side effect to all of that convenience. To 99.99% of people in society, the "lack of privacy" (I don't think it is at all) is worth that convenience, which is why we have "societies" in the first place.
Have you thought about maybe getting a hobby... like heavy drug use?
And all of you TV watching drones think that they haven't already been doing this for years with cable TV and satellite? That's pretty fucking naive. And to think that millions of people PAY to have crap fed into their homes, and their viewing habits monitored. Ha! Throw your fucking TV out the window.
How exactly do I *have* to upgrade my MS boxes? First off, formal support for W2K is going to last for at least another 3-4 years. Formal support for XP is going to last much longer. Red Hat support of it's small business products is already dead.
Secondly, the informal support of MS products will last a very, very long time due to the numbers of users out there using it. I don't know how I'd find support for a Linux distro that was even 2 years old.
If anything, it's Linux that forces me to upgrade, not Windows.
I think one major problem Linux faces is that Joe Average can't comprehend the speed that Linux has been changing with.
And that's another important point why some people (like myself) don't use Linux. I run a business. I don't play games. My computers are 100% vital to me being able to eat. A new kernel is released every other day it seems, and for a while, Red Hat was doing a new distro every 6 months. 6 months?!?! Are you out of your fucking mind? My computers need to run for *years* without "upgrades". The rapid changes are a huge turnoff to me in my business. I want nothing more than NOT to change stuff with my computers. They work, they make me money. Period. I've got auto update running on all of them, so if there's a patch, they get patched, and otherwise, I don't worry about it. I'll look at Linux at some point when it's mature and NOT changing every other day. Right now, it's just too flaky to be used in my business.
they leverage their market share to ensure you can't, shouldn't, or won't want to use a competitors product.
Taht's not true at all. Many, many people know and do have other options. I don't use Linux because it sucks (I'm not getting into this conversation). I don't use Apple because it's overpriced, and I don't like the lock-in. Thus, I *choose* Windows.
You go belly up because the market DEMANDS MS products. There are no MS thugs with guns forcing companies to sell MS. It's completely and entirely market driven. I have not seen one single successful PC company selling Linux pre-installed. Not a one. Even the owners of /. couldn't make it fly.
The law, in most jurisdictions, says that trademark infringements must be pursued, otherwise the trademark is unenforceable. Microsoft, essentially has to pursue this very obvious, very fucking stupid infringement, otherwise, their trademark will become unenforceable for good. Lindows is competing by riding on MS' name that they have spent time and money to build. Lindows are the scumbags here, any way you cut it.
Hey kid. "Old school" is good. It means "it works." Generally, it's not a good idea to fix what's not broken.
Doesn't he need those for something???
Laws are NOT a cure all. There already IS something in place. It's called "contract law" and "fraud". They've been around for hundreds of years.
I was a contractor during the whole dot-com bullshit, and it was great. I'm not sure what risk at all there is. I post on Monster.com. Headhunters take me out to lunch. I work. It was very, very, simple, and *much* more lucrative than doing what most suckers do: "permanent" employment.
Goddamn it, somebody mod this up! This is the funniest post I've seen in a looong time.
I should've put a fresh copy of Linux on the box she took, and let her figure it out on her own. That's what she deserved!
You're making this too damn complicated. I just bought walkie-talkies that have a 5 mile range, low power usage, and 24 different channels. They work great. Pick a channel that nobody else is using. Simple.
Good point. I've never associated "PCB" with "printed circuit boards". Goes to show... working conditions in this country are incredibly good if people are worried about working near circuit boards!
I'll go one further. My grandfather died of lung cancer (no, he didn't smoke) after working win a plant that used PCB's for 20 years. He was 50. Beat *that*.
I don't care if I'm selling porn or holy water. Business is business. SPEWS is interfering with my very legitimate, legal business. If that business was large enough, I'd have a lawyer deal with them, since they are interfering with interstate commerce, which is generally considered fraud punishable by trible damages plus legal fees. As is, it's *just* under the threshold where it's worth my time and money to deal with those people. I've got a workaround in the meantime.
And, no "crap" comes out of my servers. That's the whole point, dim bulb. I don't spam, yet I get punished for it.
I don't know what in the hell a "smarthost" is, but I've got several leased boxes at a facility that is on Spews' list. Finding a new ISP, getting out of the contract, re-configuring the new servers, moving the actual data (flat files and databases), changing all of the DNS and routing information, then double checking everything is going to take me a hell of a lot more than 5 minutes. Again, if you want a crack at it, contact me. I'm willing to pay $200/hour for that service, which means that if "it only takes 5 minutes", I'm willing to pay $16.67 for the entire job. Takers, anyone?
I don't do business with anyone who uses SPEWS.
Even if you do, finding a new ISP or smarthost is a five minute job
5 minutes? Sure, then contact me, and I'll pay you for 5 minute's work of work to move all of my co-located servers to a new ISP. You have no idea what you're talking about.
It is a legal determination
Ah, well that's a completely different story, since all laws are good and useful, right? Possessing marijuana should be a felony, punishable by many years in prison. The Fed should be able to search you and wiretap you without a warrant (Patriot Act). Yeah, right. It's a law, so it must be bad. riiight. You just keep telling yourself that (where it fits your needs).
Wow, if the Department of Justice, which is currently run by a neo-nazi, homophobic, racist bastard is your idea of moralistic determination, then you're just as fucked up as Ashcroft is. You should seek help, immediately.
I wonder if there's any way microsoft could be convinced to program Windows update in a way that it could be accessed by other (standards compliant) browsers.
I'm sure they would, as soon as other browsers supported Active X.