Reading comprehension still isn't your strong suit, is it?
I was not defending Lewis A. Mettler per se. I wa merely pointing out that you did not disclose a possible reson for being biased against him. For the record, I only know him from his Slashdot posts, which sounded fairly reasonable, if a little one-sided. You, however, I know from other venues...
Hmm. I point out that you have ties to Microsoft, and hence an a priori bias against people like Lewis A. Mettler.
I also refer people to your USENET history, which has some angry oubursts which could be called 'kooky' at best.
I think these facts speak for themselves. I don't see the ad hominem.
On the other hand, I don't try to inflate my own importance by posting additional replies as AC. Honestly Simon, if you didn't think the style would give you away, did you think I would overlook the misspelling of my name?
Sad. Real sad. For others reading this: my full name is Mart van de Wege. I have never tried to disguise it, so go and check my history against Simon Cooke's. I am fully confident in who will come out more mature in the comparison.
Minor note of interest: The grandparent poster spectecjr is one Simon Cooke, a former Microsoft employee, and full-time Microsoft defender on all sorts of online media.
Oh, and him calling someone else a kook is too laughable to describe, as he has a rather kooky history too. Check out the Google USENET archives for some fun.
You do realise you just proved the point, don't you?
Let's see:
Java app running on Linux uses System resources and runs out of file handles: application gets shut down gracefully with a meaningful error message.
Java app running on WIndows 2000 uses System resources and runs out of file handles: Kernel panic.
Now what system handles this better? Regardless how badly the app is programmed, no way a userspace application should cause a kernel panic. The fact that it can do so on Win2k is testament to Win2k's quality.
(Note that by exhausting system resources like filehandles, a badly written app can DoS even a well written kernel, but that is still not the same as causing an outright panic).
The solution? Do the same thing private industry does: Keep the Indians, fire the chiefs.
While your idea is entirely the right one (i.e. people's ability to actually do things is smothered by too many layers of management), I must point out for completeness' sake that private industry is guilty of the same practice.
Just look at the waves of downsizing that have been happening since the late eighties: it was the workers, non-skilled or skilled, that got the sack, whereas management stayed. In fact, management has been bamboozling the public with so much propaganda that until recently it was very acceptable that CEO salaries kept rising despite same CEOs running companies into the ground, requiring yet another round of lay-offs.
Institutional problems are common to all large organisations, both public and private. The government has no monopoly on needless bureaucracy.
One minor correction: you cannot sell copies of GPL'ed source code beyond the cost of media. You can charge for the binaries whatever the market will bear.
How well does Linux do with this?) Try running a few OpenGL apps that don't stress the graphics hardware at the same time. Do they slow down?
While my graphics hardware is not quite representative (the Matrox G450 is not known for great 3D performance), I ran two instances of glxgears.
Short conclusion: MesaGL on Linux has the same problem. Long conclusion: the windows showed noticable slowdowns, up to the point where animation was suspended in one window while the other ran, with the system switching the running window at seemingly random intervals.
You are right of course. But there is a difference between using the tried-and-true device of the 'star-crossed lovers' and ripping off the plot. Be fair, how many Hollywood movies have done something original with the tragic love story?
The true test of art is not being 100% original, the true test is taking an existing device and doing something interesting with it. Hell, most of Shakespeare's plays are based on that method, and he knew how create something interesting and daring from a cliché.
I don't expect that kind of brilliance from Hollywood. A careful reading of my original comment will show that I don't believe in 100% originality, and especially not coming from mass market entertainment. What I do expect, even in my mass market entertainment is quality, not uninspired hacks.
Mart
Nothing new under the sun
on
Underworld Trailer
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
The Hollywood Business Plan:
Rip off the plot from Romeo and Juliet again.
Rip off the setting from White Wolf's World of Darkness.
Profit?
Seriously, the more new movies come out, the less I care. They're all boring and derivative anyway. Stolen plots, cardboard characters, and they only rely on some special effects to draw in the crowds.
And ironies of ironies, the MPAA is one of the organisations fighting against people making derivatives. Perhaps after a hundred years of strong copyright they might finally start making original movies again. Too bad I'll be dead...
Sigh. It seems the old philosopher was right: there is nothing new under the sun.
The worst part of this discussion is that there are several Microsoft apologists currently scored at +3 or higher, whereas your analysis, which is spot-on, is languishing at 1.
And then there are still people denying that a massive Microsoft astroturf campaign is going on on Slashdot.
Yeah right. Time for some Metamodding. Let's hope these bastards lose their mod privileges when I'm done with them.
I find that the aromatics are easier for the general public than the English blends.
That's why I specifically mentioned heavy aromatics;-).
I prefer lightly to medium cased tobaccos, and then even those with a subtle topping only, not the super-sweet ones. My current favourite is W.O. Larsens Master Blend Golden Dream, a slightly sweet Burley/Virginia/Black Cavendish melange. It has quite a strong nicotine kick, but it tastes and smells nice, especially because the casing is only the merest hint of vanilla, not overbearing.
Danish and Dutch Cavendish blends are usually the sort of aromatic that most non-smokers really like. I do agree that English blends can have a very off-putting smell, as the tobaccos used are rather pungent.
Start smoking a pipe! There are several brands of pipe tobacco that can deliver a mean nicotine hit purely through the membranes of the mouth, and they taste good to boot.
Also, even though pipe-smoking is not entirely risk free, its harmful effects get lost in the noise of modern life. The common joke is that pipe-smoking is as bad as eating red meat. Doing the latter in excess will increase your chances of cardiovascular problems, but in moderation it is not harmful. So also with pipe-smoking.
And finally, the smell of quality tobacco is generally considered nice by non-smokers, unless you smoke really heavy aromatics.
Well, your original comment was thoughtless enough that I don't think my reaction was over the top. You have been around Slashdot long enough to know that oneliners with little corroboration can get you flamed from one side of the other.
Trust me, carelessly advocating Linux with a comparable one-liner brings the astroturfers out of the woodwork real quick. Hence my rather strong reaction.
I did see your other posts in this thread, and given that you were more than ready to admit mistakes, I merely waited to see what your reply to my last post would be.
I have to say, you showed class. Be a little more careful what you say next time. Slashdot readers have a short fuse, that's the nature of the forum. I am not always this abrasive, but I was rather tired last night, so I got a little heated up.
The problem with Nvidia's card (assuming that problem ever existed, let's pretend it did) was not Microsoft's fault.
Guess what? Your hypothetical X problem is not Linux' fault, but the distro vendor's. Two can play at this game, you know.
It means that Linux is just as vulnerable to problems like that. Only, to fix a problem like that, you better know your way around shell.
Did I pretend anything else? I did not even make remarks on the relative difficulty of using a shell vs. using regedit. Quit trying to pretend my position is less reasonable than it actually is, just because I happen to strongly disagree with you. You're not helping your case with these tactics you know.
BTW, by not addressing it, I see you agree with my statement that your problem was an uncommon one. Thank you.
So let me get this straight: Having to enter shell and edit a text file is a totally acceptable way for Joe Longneck to maintain his machine?
I might have agreed that that is not an acceptable way to maintain his machine, but unfortunately that was not what your initial comment was about. Your original comment read: 'Not if he has to edit a.CONF file to change video modes because he bought a new monitor.'(emphasis mine). I merely asserted that having to edit XF86Config is unnecessary when merely buying a new monitor. Nice strawman you set up. I am not playing though.
As for your ad hominem: If you really are a Systems Analyst, you're not a bloody good one. You can't even do the minimum of analysis to see that your problem is not common, and you can't even do the minimum analysis to read and comprehend another's point. That points to you entering this argument biased and just plain disregarding anything that does not fit your bias.
As for 'your problem is not common so we're not going to help': yeah, it's harsh. But since I'm not charging for tech support, I am fully within my rights to expect that anyone having a problem posting it on a public board has at least enough intelligence to do some research, lest he make a fool of himself in public. If he doesn't, well, he'll get called on it, in public, where his own foolish assertion was made first.
Note very well that from your description, you did not have problems connecting a monitor to an already installed system, you had problems setting it up in the first place. That is a common problem, and one that is usually and quickly helped with if you ask your questions in the right places in the right manner. Using a strawman argument to reiterate FUD we've been hearing for literally years will earn you flames though, and protesting that you get flamed brands you as not very smart at best
If X is properly set up by your distro vendor, it will automatically detect and use the highest possible resolution your videocard/monitor combo can handle. Simply switching monitors should not influence that.
Now, in certain edge cases, this may turn out to be problematic. But then again, the solution to similar problems in Windows often mean editing the registry (getting nVidia drivers to do more than 60Hz refresh on some systems for example).
Therefore, since this is not a common failing (as you yourself admit it might not be), and since similar problems on Windows are as complex to find a solution for, your snide remarks at config file editing were uncalled for. Since us Linux users have been hearing this for years ('Linux is hard because you have to edit config files'), I think I have a right to feel slightly irate and call your post FUD. Heck, if you had complained that setting the default resolution to a different setting than the maximum possible involved editing XF86Config, I would not have been so harsh, even though the major distros do provide graphical tools for this task.
I did not ignore your comment. I did point out that in the vast majority of cases your comment is inapplicable. Your sneer of 'how typical' is more typical of Linux-bashing MS astroturfer trying to deflect attention from the fact that he's been caught out.
Problems will happen on any system, but if you can't even do enough research to find out that your problem is not common, you shouldn't be surprised if people give you attitude.
This is a very nice gesture by Bitstream. The one thing I don't like is the constant harping in the press release that this will finally make Linux look good.
Of course, the Gnome Foundation can hardly say anything else, as they would otherwise ruin the good PR for Bitstream, but frankly, I don't think anything is wrong with the fonts right now, with the exception of distros picking dumb defaults, and idiots with a two-day course in using Frontpage building websites. Try surfing the web with 'Use own fonts' on in Galeon, and then viewing the same pages with the specified fonts. If you want a headache, that'll give it to you (sadly, Open Source oriented sites are not free of this evil neither. On default settings NewsForge is unreadable because it picks a sans-serif font in small type, a typographical no-no if there ever was one for a site where the information is supposed to be primarily textual).
After picking the right fonts, I have never felt the need for anti-aliased fonts on my desktop. My text is clear and sharp at 1280x1024, and even my laptop at 1024x768 on 14.4inch screen looks fairly good. Certainly nothing like the headache-inducing nightmare some of the people on this thread want us to believe.
Of course, that I get a nice desktop look with using Adobe fonts for all my settings just proves the point I made in the second paragraph. And the fact that these fonts come standard with X reinforces it.
Still, a big thank you to Bitstream is in order. Whatever the motives, this was a good thing.
While I agree that Williams is a fine writer, his books seem to be lacking in the rereadability department. In other words, although I enjoy reading the stories, they lack richness in their worldbuilding, and his characters are almost, but not quite engaging enough to entice me into a second (and third, and fourth...) read.
Personal tastes aside, the 'Memory, Sorrow and Thorn' trilogy has nowhere near the richness of 'The Lord of the Rings', that much is obvious from the first reading. If Tolkien is not your taste, Williams might be suitable, but that's the most positive thing I can say.
Communism is the philosophy that the government should own and directly control all means of production.
This is wrong actually. I don't blame you for it, but a little enlightenment is needed.
The actual definition of Communism is: 'the voluntary association of free and independent producers.' The means of production were meant to be freely shared by those employing them, the producers themselves. It was recognised by the early communists that holders of capital (in the form of money and/or natural resources or other assets) and workers should be considered equal in the process of producing goods and services. Hence the idea of common ownership of the means of production.
It was first Marx and later Lenin who posited that this should be brought about by revolution, and that the revolutionary state should take control of the means of production as a prelude to common ownership. Of course the latter never happens, and we end up with the Stalins of the world, and all that it entails.
So your definition of 'Communism' is actually Marxism-Leninism, which unfortunately has been the dominant interpretation thanks to the Soviet Union. And even the independent Communist voices did not have the guts to return to the pre-Leninist interpretations (witness the International Socialists. A scary bunch).
As a Libertarian Socialist, I am very much concerned about this mis-appropriation of the theoretical basis of Communism, so I hope you'll accept my critique on your otherwise well thought-out post.
Try Peter F. Hamilton. A good writer who burst onto the scene in the middle of the nineties. His first novels are set in England after Global Warming, with a nice mix of cyberpunk, classic whodunit, and old-fashioned psi-talent scifi:
Mindstar Rising
A Quantum Murder
The Nano Flower
All feature psi-enhanced private detective (and more, but I'm not telling) Greg Mandel. They're not part of a trilogy, but still best read in order.
About the only weakness in the series is the plotting. While Hamilton tells a good story with engaging characters, a detailed setting and a fine command of the English language, especially the first two books suffer from having the ending being obvious at about three-quarters through. The other qualities of his writing more than compensate, but it is still obvious that these were his first full-length novels.
His other work, especially the Night's Dawn trilogy, is classic space opera, although the noir and cyberpunk elements do persist in his short stories. A nice bundling of some of his stories is 'A Second Chance at Eden' which might serve as a nice introduction to his style.
If you want to see some spectacular engineering, I suggest visiting the Delta Works in the Netherlands.
The Delta Works are basically a series of projects, culminating in the flood control barrier in the Eastern Scheldt (Oosterscheldedam), to protect the lower areas of the Netherlands against flooding.
The impetus to build them was the great storm of 1953, where a combination of storm and high tides flooded most of the coastal regions, claiming some 1800 lives. A decision was made to improve our already impressive flood defences.
One problem turned up however: the Eastern Scheldt. This arm of the Scheldt delta was unique in terms of its environmental value, and also home to a very lucrative arm of the fishing industry (mussels and oysters). In order to protect both the environment and business, a decision was made to put in a flood barrier instead of a regular dam.
At its time, the Eastern Scheldt flood barrier was the most technologically advanced piece of hydrological engineering in the world, and you'll still be hard pressed to find its equal now.
The official URL returns an error from where I'm sitting, but a Google search on "Delta Works" returns enough English-language sites to give you an idea.
Bonus: most Dutchmen have a fair command of the English language, so getting around should be easy. I am also a native of the area that was hit hardest, so if you need a personal guide, just drop me an e-mail.
Slashdot Mirror
Reading comprehension still isn't your strong suit, is it?
I was not defending Lewis A. Mettler per se. I wa merely pointing out that you did not disclose a possible reson for being biased against him. For the record, I only know him from his Slashdot posts, which sounded fairly reasonable, if a little one-sided. You, however, I know from other venues...
MartHmm. I point out that you have ties to Microsoft, and hence an a priori bias against people like Lewis A. Mettler.
I also refer people to your USENET history, which has some angry oubursts which could be called 'kooky' at best.
I think these facts speak for themselves. I don't see the ad hominem.
On the other hand, I don't try to inflate my own importance by posting additional replies as AC. Honestly Simon, if you didn't think the style would give you away, did you think I would overlook the misspelling of my name?
Sad. Real sad. For others reading this: my full name is Mart van de Wege. I have never tried to disguise it, so go and check my history against Simon Cooke's. I am fully confident in who will come out more mature in the comparison.
MartMinor note of interest: The grandparent poster spectecjr is one Simon Cooke, a former Microsoft employee, and full-time Microsoft defender on all sorts of online media.
Oh, and him calling someone else a kook is too laughable to describe, as he has a rather kooky history too. Check out the Google USENET archives for some fun.
Mart
You do realise you just proved the point, don't you?
Let's see:
Now what system handles this better? Regardless how badly the app is programmed, no way a userspace application should cause a kernel panic. The fact that it can do so on Win2k is testament to Win2k's quality.
(Note that by exhausting system resources like filehandles, a badly written app can DoS even a well written kernel, but that is still not the same as causing an outright panic).
MartWhile your idea is entirely the right one (i.e. people's ability to actually do things is smothered by too many layers of management), I must point out for completeness' sake that private industry is guilty of the same practice.
Just look at the waves of downsizing that have been happening since the late eighties: it was the workers, non-skilled or skilled, that got the sack, whereas management stayed. In fact, management has been bamboozling the public with so much propaganda that until recently it was very acceptable that CEO salaries kept rising despite same CEOs running companies into the ground, requiring yet another round of lay-offs.
Institutional problems are common to all large organisations, both public and private. The government has no monopoly on needless bureaucracy.
MartOne minor correction: you cannot sell copies of GPL'ed source code beyond the cost of media. You can charge for the binaries whatever the market will bear.
See 'Selling Free Software' for a more complete explanation.
MartOn using OpenGL in multiple windows....
While my graphics hardware is not quite representative (the Matrox G450 is not known for great 3D performance), I ran two instances of glxgears.
Short conclusion: MesaGL on Linux has the same problem. Long conclusion: the windows showed noticable slowdowns, up to the point where animation was suspended in one window while the other ran, with the system switching the running window at seemingly random intervals.
System specs:
Hope this helps,
Mart
Try this, which works in all Netscape-derived browsers (IOW all browers on *nix):
Voila, Netscape, Mozilla (and derivatives), and Konqueror open the new URL.
HTH,
Mart
Dear God! Call me an old curmudgeon if you like, but this is not original; someone already did something similar in 2002.
MartYou are right of course. But there is a difference between using the tried-and-true device of the 'star-crossed lovers' and ripping off the plot. Be fair, how many Hollywood movies have done something original with the tragic love story?
The true test of art is not being 100% original, the true test is taking an existing device and doing something interesting with it. Hell, most of Shakespeare's plays are based on that method, and he knew how create something interesting and daring from a cliché.
I don't expect that kind of brilliance from Hollywood. A careful reading of my original comment will show that I don't believe in 100% originality, and especially not coming from mass market entertainment. What I do expect, even in my mass market entertainment is quality, not uninspired hacks.
MartThe Hollywood Business Plan:
Seriously, the more new movies come out, the less I care. They're all boring and derivative anyway. Stolen plots, cardboard characters, and they only rely on some special effects to draw in the crowds.
And ironies of ironies, the MPAA is one of the organisations fighting against people making derivatives. Perhaps after a hundred years of strong copyright they might finally start making original movies again. Too bad I'll be dead...
Sigh. It seems the old philosopher was right: there is nothing new under the sun.
MartThe worst part of this discussion is that there are several Microsoft apologists currently scored at +3 or higher, whereas your analysis, which is spot-on, is languishing at 1.
And then there are still people denying that a massive Microsoft astroturf campaign is going on on Slashdot.
Yeah right. Time for some Metamodding. Let's hope these bastards lose their mod privileges when I'm done with them.
MartI prefer lightly to medium cased tobaccos, and then even those with a subtle topping only, not the super-sweet ones. My current favourite is W.O. Larsens Master Blend Golden Dream, a slightly sweet Burley/Virginia/Black Cavendish melange. It has quite a strong nicotine kick, but it tastes and smells nice, especially because the casing is only the merest hint of vanilla, not overbearing.
Danish and Dutch Cavendish blends are usually the sort of aromatic that most non-smokers really like. I do agree that English blends can have a very off-putting smell, as the tobaccos used are rather pungent.
Good to see another pipe smoker here though.
MartStart smoking a pipe! There are several brands of pipe tobacco that can deliver a mean nicotine hit purely through the membranes of the mouth, and they taste good to boot.
Also, even though pipe-smoking is not entirely risk free, its harmful effects get lost in the noise of modern life. The common joke is that pipe-smoking is as bad as eating red meat. Doing the latter in excess will increase your chances of cardiovascular problems, but in moderation it is not harmful. So also with pipe-smoking.
And finally, the smell of quality tobacco is generally considered nice by non-smokers, unless you smoke really heavy aromatics.
So drop those ciggies, and pick up a pipe!
Mart (happy pipe smoker)Well, your original comment was thoughtless enough that I don't think my reaction was over the top. You have been around Slashdot long enough to know that oneliners with little corroboration can get you flamed from one side of the other.
Trust me, carelessly advocating Linux with a comparable one-liner brings the astroturfers out of the woodwork real quick. Hence my rather strong reaction.
I did see your other posts in this thread, and given that you were more than ready to admit mistakes, I merely waited to see what your reply to my last post would be.
I have to say, you showed class. Be a little more careful what you say next time. Slashdot readers have a short fuse, that's the nature of the forum. I am not always this abrasive, but I was rather tired last night, so I got a little heated up.
MartBTW, by not addressing it, I see you agree with my statement that your problem was an uncommon one. Thank you.
I might have agreed that that is not an acceptable way to maintain his machine, but unfortunately that was not what your initial comment was about. Your original comment read: 'Not if he has to edit aAs for your ad hominem: If you really are a Systems Analyst, you're not a bloody good one. You can't even do the minimum of analysis to see that your problem is not common, and you can't even do the minimum analysis to read and comprehend another's point. That points to you entering this argument biased and just plain disregarding anything that does not fit your bias.
As for 'your problem is not common so we're not going to help': yeah, it's harsh. But since I'm not charging for tech support, I am fully within my rights to expect that anyone having a problem posting it on a public board has at least enough intelligence to do some research, lest he make a fool of himself in public. If he doesn't, well, he'll get called on it, in public, where his own foolish assertion was made first.
Note very well that from your description, you did not have problems connecting a monitor to an already installed system, you had problems setting it up in the first place. That is a common problem, and one that is usually and quickly helped with if you ask your questions in the right places in the right manner. Using a strawman argument to reiterate FUD we've been hearing for literally years will earn you flames though, and protesting that you get flamed brands you as not very smart at best
HAND,
MartIf X is properly set up by your distro vendor, it will automatically detect and use the highest possible resolution your videocard/monitor combo can handle. Simply switching monitors should not influence that.
Now, in certain edge cases, this may turn out to be problematic. But then again, the solution to similar problems in Windows often mean editing the registry (getting nVidia drivers to do more than 60Hz refresh on some systems for example).
Therefore, since this is not a common failing (as you yourself admit it might not be), and since similar problems on Windows are as complex to find a solution for, your snide remarks at config file editing were uncalled for. Since us Linux users have been hearing this for years ('Linux is hard because you have to edit config files'), I think I have a right to feel slightly irate and call your post FUD. Heck, if you had complained that setting the default resolution to a different setting than the maximum possible involved editing XF86Config, I would not have been so harsh, even though the major distros do provide graphical tools for this task.
I did not ignore your comment. I did point out that in the vast majority of cases your comment is inapplicable. Your sneer of 'how typical' is more typical of Linux-bashing MS astroturfer trying to deflect attention from the fact that he's been caught out.
Problems will happen on any system, but if you can't even do enough research to find out that your problem is not common, you shouldn't be surprised if people give you attitude.
If
- The monitor supports DDC (All modern monitors except for the most crappy OEM models do) and
- The Linux distribution in question runs XFree86 4.0 or higher (all 2001 and later distros do),
Then Joe User will have no problems running his new monitor at all.Please be so kind as to take your stale FUD elsewhere.
MartThis is a very nice gesture by Bitstream. The one thing I don't like is the constant harping in the press release that this will finally make Linux look good.
Of course, the Gnome Foundation can hardly say anything else, as they would otherwise ruin the good PR for Bitstream, but frankly, I don't think anything is wrong with the fonts right now, with the exception of distros picking dumb defaults, and idiots with a two-day course in using Frontpage building websites. Try surfing the web with 'Use own fonts' on in Galeon, and then viewing the same pages with the specified fonts. If you want a headache, that'll give it to you (sadly, Open Source oriented sites are not free of this evil neither. On default settings NewsForge is unreadable because it picks a sans-serif font in small type, a typographical no-no if there ever was one for a site where the information is supposed to be primarily textual).
After picking the right fonts, I have never felt the need for anti-aliased fonts on my desktop. My text is clear and sharp at 1280x1024, and even my laptop at 1024x768 on 14.4inch screen looks fairly good. Certainly nothing like the headache-inducing nightmare some of the people on this thread want us to believe.
Of course, that I get a nice desktop look with using Adobe fonts for all my settings just proves the point I made in the second paragraph. And the fact that these fonts come standard with X reinforces it.
Still, a big thank you to Bitstream is in order. Whatever the motives, this was a good thing.
MartWhile I agree that Williams is a fine writer, his books seem to be lacking in the rereadability department. In other words, although I enjoy reading the stories, they lack richness in their worldbuilding, and his characters are almost, but not quite engaging enough to entice me into a second (and third, and fourth...) read.
Personal tastes aside, the 'Memory, Sorrow and Thorn' trilogy has nowhere near the richness of 'The Lord of the Rings', that much is obvious from the first reading. If Tolkien is not your taste, Williams might be suitable, but that's the most positive thing I can say.
MartGreat post. One minor quibble though:
You said:
This is wrong actually. I don't blame you for it, but a little enlightenment is needed.The actual definition of Communism is: 'the voluntary association of free and independent producers.' The means of production were meant to be freely shared by those employing them, the producers themselves. It was recognised by the early communists that holders of capital (in the form of money and/or natural resources or other assets) and workers should be considered equal in the process of producing goods and services. Hence the idea of common ownership of the means of production.
It was first Marx and later Lenin who posited that this should be brought about by revolution, and that the revolutionary state should take control of the means of production as a prelude to common ownership. Of course the latter never happens, and we end up with the Stalins of the world, and all that it entails.
So your definition of 'Communism' is actually Marxism-Leninism, which unfortunately has been the dominant interpretation thanks to the Soviet Union. And even the independent Communist voices did not have the guts to return to the pre-Leninist interpretations (witness the International Socialists. A scary bunch).
As a Libertarian Socialist, I am very much concerned about this mis-appropriation of the theoretical basis of Communism, so I hope you'll accept my critique on your otherwise well thought-out post.
MartTry Peter F. Hamilton. A good writer who burst onto the scene in the middle of the nineties. His first novels are set in England after Global Warming, with a nice mix of cyberpunk, classic whodunit, and old-fashioned psi-talent scifi:
All feature psi-enhanced private detective (and more, but I'm not telling) Greg Mandel. They're not part of a trilogy, but still best read in order.
About the only weakness in the series is the plotting. While Hamilton tells a good story with engaging characters, a detailed setting and a fine command of the English language, especially the first two books suffer from having the ending being obvious at about three-quarters through. The other qualities of his writing more than compensate, but it is still obvious that these were his first full-length novels.
His other work, especially the Night's Dawn trilogy, is classic space opera, although the noir and cyberpunk elements do persist in his short stories. A nice bundling of some of his stories is 'A Second Chance at Eden' which might serve as a nice introduction to his style.
MartWhat about FreeCiv? Perhaps it scores low on the easy-to-pickup scale, but I imagine anyone has played some Civilisation version before.
Bonus is that as a turn based game it can be easily paused when necessary, and it is heaps of fun.
MartActually, RHAT did get a 2-for-1 split just before the crash, so hovering around $6 it is doing quite well.
MartIf you want to see some spectacular engineering, I suggest visiting the Delta Works in the Netherlands.
The Delta Works are basically a series of projects, culminating in the flood control barrier in the Eastern Scheldt (Oosterscheldedam), to protect the lower areas of the Netherlands against flooding.
The impetus to build them was the great storm of 1953, where a combination of storm and high tides flooded most of the coastal regions, claiming some 1800 lives. A decision was made to improve our already impressive flood defences.
One problem turned up however: the Eastern Scheldt. This arm of the Scheldt delta was unique in terms of its environmental value, and also home to a very lucrative arm of the fishing industry (mussels and oysters). In order to protect both the environment and business, a decision was made to put in a flood barrier instead of a regular dam.
At its time, the Eastern Scheldt flood barrier was the most technologically advanced piece of hydrological engineering in the world, and you'll still be hard pressed to find its equal now.
The official URL returns an error from where I'm sitting, but a Google search on "Delta Works" returns enough English-language sites to give you an idea.
Bonus: most Dutchmen have a fair command of the English language, so getting around should be easy. I am also a native of the area that was hit hardest, so if you need a personal guide, just drop me an e-mail.
Mart