I agree with you. But the only reasonable way to have a modicum of control over your system is with free software. Linux cannot be dismissed out of hand. It is sufficiently easy for anyone to use nowadays. And, many people are. Most people that I know, from my friends, family, to my doctor are using Linux. And it's a trend that can only help the consumer, individual and citizen.
Since I have Linux installed, they just set up the cable modem, never even turned the computer on. It was a brand new box, no OS, so after installing my version of Linux (about 15min) I was up and running on the net. No cable setup or special programs or anything. Just a clean install and started surfing.
Re:What's "FREE" about forcing software on the sta
on
Mega-Geek March?
·
· Score: 1
I think the important thing is to get some visibility for the issues at stake. I think we are quickly moving to the point where participation of the geater public in the development of issues that effect them is more and more is necessary. There's no doubt that taking our issues to the streets, as uncomfortable as some people may feel with public displays of affection and democracy, is an essential step to organizing effective resistance to mounting legislation, and putting the interests of the public on the agenda. Goofy costumes or not.
Coincidentally, New York Linux Scene, a volunteer advocacy group in NYC, is planning a demonstration of GNU/Linux solutions for small-mid sized businesses next Friday (May 24th).
The show will demonstrate how small-mid sized businesses can save money and take advantage of the latest technology showing off such goodies as Bayonne, LTSP, X Terminal services, OpenOffice.org, and Evolution
If you are interested in what GNU/Linux solutions are out there for your small to mid sized office, come over to Segal Theater at CUNY Graduate Center, 34th St. and 5th Ave from 10am-5pm next Friday the 24th. [Free and Open to the Public]
This is a volunteer demonstration. With work like this, we are changing the face of New York. If you are interested in coming or helping, contact paulr at nylxs.com.
Copyright is a limited government monopoly granted to entities. They are nothing more than a limited exception to the Bill of Rights permitted to Congress for the public good. They can not be allowed to be extended beyond their traditional restriction of the granting a monopoly of commerce in certain intellectual works and artifacts.
This is clearly an extremely important point. Copyright is an exception to our Bill of Rights. This exception is created to account for a limited circumstance where a restricted, limited monopoly was seen as working in the best interest of the people. As that exception becomes generalized, drawn out, and warped, it increasingly works against the public good.
Lastly, it's important to understand that technology has raised the issue of the Constitutional components of the Fair Use Doctrine. Clearly, we must now see that unless we are willing to be spied on, and infringed upon in a most basic way, and to dispense with our rights under the 4th Amendment, then we need to return to the Constitutional assumption that Fair Use is the embodiment of basic human rights, including the 1st and 4th Amendments
As technology becomes more and more a important in modern society, and integrates itself into how we as Americans, live our lives, this issue becomes increasingly important. The extent to which technology is used as a means to infringe on our constitutional rights has only been growing. This leads us to consider these as constitutional issues.
I never did understand this problem. They work really well together, and honestly, the average user is hardly aware that a program they are running is a gnome or kde program at all. To the user, a program is a program. Period.
There is nothing that says you can't run kdevelop in GNOME if you so desired. The desktops are there for choice, not to obligate you to use them.
As a developer, you probably would want to have the flexibility to see what your program looked like in each environment as much as a web page designer would like to say what his/her page looks like in different browsers.
Because it's Free (as in speech), powerful, and extendible. Your opinions of Linux asside, many people do care about putting linux on device, especially if they can interface with there computers.
Imagine hooking up you PDA to your home/office computer network as just another system,. Imagine not only running the same commands, but the same programs you run everyday on your home/office computer on your PDA! And then imagine customizing your PDA to do whatever you want. You know that little pet peeve you have with the way the software works? The way this or that iss designed? Well, you can get rid of it!
Energy and heat can be derived in a number of different ways. Gravity (from the mother planet as well as its own) itself in conjunction with other factors such as friction on a solid ice planet may be enough to produce vast oceans.
Thanks! I also found an apparently slashcode using site called LinuxMedNews. I think I'll try asking/snooping arround for similar programs. Wouldn't want to reinvent the wheel... Or do I?:)
Thanks a lot.
I am looking to write a good free-software database program to be used to keep patient records at doctor's offices. Mostly contact info with some user-specified classification schemes, searchable and able to automate printing of call-back notices etc. Ideally would run in linux with a nice, intuitive GUI, and fast to write, easy to maintain.
My guestion, coming at programming 100% fresh, what is the best language to write this program in? Should I be looking at certain (or *specific*)database programs to use as backends (i.e. MySQL or PostGreSQL)?
Thanks for your help.
Naomi Klein has written an article for Znet, describing how the biotech industry is hoping to make it impossible for lawmakers to ban or force restrictions on the industry by "contaminating" the whole gene pool.
To quote:
"The real strategy is to introduce so much genetic
pollution in the food system that meeting the consumer demand for
GM-Free is seen as not possible. The idea, quite simply, is to pollute
faster than countries can legislate - then change the laws to fit the
contamination.
A few reports from the front lines of this invisible war.
In April, Monsanto recalled about 10 percent of the GM canola seeds it
had distributed in Canada because of reports that the seeds had been
contaminated by another modified rape-seed variety, one not approved for
export. The most well-known of these cases is StarLink corn. The
genetically altered crop (meant for animals and deemed unfit for humans)
made its way into much of the U.S. corn supply after the buffer zones
surrounding the fields where it was grown proved wholly incapable of
containing the wind-borne pollen. Aventis, which owns the StarLink
patent, proposed a solution: instead of recalling the corn, why not
approve its consumption for humans?"
Have you recently visited an industrialized yet highly polarized third world nation? There is no shortage, I assure you. Without a workforce able to organize and collectively bargain, the fruits of their labor is concentrated in the hands of the priveleged few. This often acts in conjunction with reduced political power, which in turn contributes to the lack of funding for infrastructure that immediately effects these workers. That includes housing, transportation, health, and education. It's not hard to see how reduced bargaining power leads to a potential downward spiral in quality of living. The degree to which persons take an active role in their own well being (and the degree to which the powers that be react against them) directly affect what John Kenneth Galbraith once called "private affluence and public squalor."
You are not lowering your standard of living by choosing not to buy a particular manufacturer's product. Not only are you raising you standard of living, by raising the quality of your own decisions, acknowledging that you do have a say in your own life and your own decisions. But you are also helping to empower workers, both at home and abroad, the net effect of which is to raise the quality of life for everyone involved.
I don't see anything wrong with one tidbit being considered more newsworthy than another, or even one company being seen with more respect than another. It is very clear what Slashdot's readership is interested in. The fact is, this community has relied on this companies products and has found them useful. Whether or not company x closed a software devision is only relevent in so far as it effects this community.
For some really interesting discussions on media integrity and vested interests, though, check out FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting). They are definately the standard and best source for this sort of coverage.
What I'd love is to be able to load linux on my DC, connect it to my home ethernet LAN, boot games off of the hard drive on one of my other machines (kinda like the Dreamcast Mark II, also discussed here), and use its spare processing power when it's not being used for gaming. It'd also be sweet to be able to play normal Linux games (both 3d and otherwise) on my DC. Anybody know what the status of LinuxDC is?
While on the surface one might think NASA cutbacks are do to tax cuts, have you seen Bush's proposed millitary spending? No cuts there! Between one thing and another billions and billions more are going in that direction. And of particular note, while space exploration and scientific study is taking a back seat, the so-called "missile-defense" program is getting increased funding of another 20 billion dollars to millitarize space. With more likely to come as the feasability of this program (or lack thereof) becomes more apparent.
A reader over at Plastic expressed concern that humans should perhaps not be buying upgrades for their own bodies. On the contrary, there are circumstances by which it becomes very benificial to augment our bodies where they would otherwise provide a hinderance to us. Admitadly, there are limits. But this is just an extension of the first neanderthal man with a broken (or missing) leg being constructed a crutch to help him walk. It's part of what makes us human. To try to improve the lives of our fellow men. Of course there are limits to the circumstances that our technology should (and can) be used.
But I just checked my credit card. I don't believe they processed my order just yet. But if you are being charged, write to them, I'm sure they'll take care of it.
The question is not whether it is possible for everyone to gain from an economy. As someone who posted before me so aptly put it, the goal of redistribution of wealth is precisely for everyone to gain. However we do need to be aware of the fact that in our world today, the economic gain of some is overwhelmingly a result of economic loss of others. There are many ways to go about changing this, some of which have been practiced with some success, others are being formulated or being striven towards. For a good discussion on one such effort take a look at Michael Albert's (of Znet) ParEcon project page.
Believe it or not, calling up and asking them to take you off their mailing list tends to actually work (for a little while anyway).
Hey, anybody willing to get the ball rolling on a anti junk-mail bill/petition?
Also, you can buy some labels here to re-use them (if you're worried about paper consumption).
Slashdot Mirror
I agree with you. But the only reasonable way to have a modicum of control over your system is with free software. Linux cannot be dismissed out of hand. It is sufficiently easy for anyone to use nowadays. And, many people are. Most people that I know, from my friends, family, to my doctor are using Linux. And it's a trend that can only help the consumer, individual and citizen.
Since I have Linux installed, they just set up the cable modem, never even turned the computer on. It was a brand new box, no OS, so after installing my version of Linux (about 15min) I was up and running on the net. No cable setup or special programs or anything. Just a clean install and started surfing.
How about this?
New Yorkers For Fair Use and NYLXS are two organizations here in NYC doing just that.
I think the important thing is to get some visibility for the issues at stake. I think we are quickly moving to the point where participation of the geater public in the development of issues that effect them is more and more is necessary. There's no doubt that taking our issues to the streets, as uncomfortable as some people may feel with public displays of affection and democracy, is an essential step to organizing effective resistance to mounting legislation, and putting the interests of the public on the agenda. Goofy costumes or not.
The show will demonstrate how small-mid sized businesses can save money and take advantage of the latest technology showing off such goodies as Bayonne, LTSP, X Terminal services, OpenOffice.org, and Evolution
If you are interested in what GNU/Linux solutions are out there for your small to mid sized office, come over to Segal Theater at CUNY Graduate Center, 34th St. and 5th Ave from 10am-5pm next Friday the 24th. [Free and Open to the Public]
This is a volunteer demonstration. With work like this, we are changing the face of New York. If you are interested in coming or helping, contact paulr at nylxs.com.
This is clearly an extremely important point. Copyright is an exception to our Bill of Rights. This exception is created to account for a limited circumstance where a restricted, limited monopoly was seen as working in the best interest of the people. As that exception becomes generalized, drawn out, and warped, it increasingly works against the public good.
Lastly, it's important to understand that technology has raised the issue of the Constitutional components of the Fair Use Doctrine. Clearly, we must now see that unless we are willing to be spied on, and infringed upon in a most basic way, and to dispense with our rights under the 4th Amendment, then we need to return to the Constitutional assumption that Fair Use is the embodiment of basic human rights, including the 1st and 4th Amendments
As technology becomes more and more a important in modern society, and integrates itself into how we as Americans, live our lives, this issue becomes increasingly important. The extent to which technology is used as a means to infringe on our constitutional rights has only been growing. This leads us to consider these as constitutional issues.
I never did understand this problem. They work really well together, and honestly, the average user is hardly aware that a program they are running is a gnome or kde program at all. To the user, a program is a program. Period.
There is nothing that says you can't run kdevelop in GNOME if you so desired. The desktops are there for choice, not to obligate you to use them.
As a developer, you probably would want to have the flexibility to see what your program looked like in each environment as much as a web page designer would like to say what his/her page looks like in different browsers.
Imagine hooking up you PDA to your home/office computer network as just another system,. Imagine not only running the same commands, but the same programs you run everyday on your home/office computer on your PDA! And then imagine customizing your PDA to do whatever you want. You know that little pet peeve you have with the way the software works? The way this or that iss designed? Well, you can get rid of it!
There's not realy a non-disclosure agreement on bbeta testing, is there?
Energy and heat can be derived in a number of different ways. Gravity (from the mother planet as well as its own) itself in conjunction with other factors such as friction on a solid ice planet may be enough to produce vast oceans.
Thanks! I also found an apparently slashcode using site called LinuxMedNews. I think I'll try asking/snooping arround for similar programs. Wouldn't want to reinvent the wheel... Or do I? :)
Thanks a lot.
My guestion, coming at programming 100% fresh, what is the best language to write this program in? Should I be looking at certain (or *specific*)database programs to use as backends (i.e. MySQL or PostGreSQL)? Thanks for your help.
To quote:
"The real strategy is to introduce so much genetic pollution in the food system that meeting the consumer demand for GM-Free is seen as not possible. The idea, quite simply, is to pollute faster than countries can legislate - then change the laws to fit the contamination.
A few reports from the front lines of this invisible war.
In April, Monsanto recalled about 10 percent of the GM canola seeds it had distributed in Canada because of reports that the seeds had been contaminated by another modified rape-seed variety, one not approved for export. The most well-known of these cases is StarLink corn. The genetically altered crop (meant for animals and deemed unfit for humans) made its way into much of the U.S. corn supply after the buffer zones surrounding the fields where it was grown proved wholly incapable of containing the wind-borne pollen. Aventis, which owns the StarLink patent, proposed a solution: instead of recalling the corn, why not approve its consumption for humans?"
I believe it's Solaris based.
Have you recently visited an industrialized yet highly polarized third world nation? There is no shortage, I assure you. Without a workforce able to organize and collectively bargain, the fruits of their labor is concentrated in the hands of the priveleged few. This often acts in conjunction with reduced political power, which in turn contributes to the lack of funding for infrastructure that immediately effects these workers. That includes housing, transportation, health, and education. It's not hard to see how reduced bargaining power leads to a potential downward spiral in quality of living. The degree to which persons take an active role in their own well being (and the degree to which the powers that be react against them) directly affect what John Kenneth Galbraith once called "private affluence and public squalor."
You are not lowering your standard of living by choosing not to buy a particular manufacturer's product. Not only are you raising you standard of living, by raising the quality of your own decisions, acknowledging that you do have a say in your own life and your own decisions. But you are also helping to empower workers, both at home and abroad, the net effect of which is to raise the quality of life for everyone involved.
For some really interesting discussions on media integrity and vested interests, though, check out FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting). They are definately the standard and best source for this sort of coverage.
What I'd love is to be able to load linux on my DC, connect it to my home ethernet LAN, boot games off of the hard drive on one of my other machines (kinda like the Dreamcast Mark II, also discussed here), and use its spare processing power when it's not being used for gaming. It'd also be sweet to be able to play normal Linux games (both 3d and otherwise) on my DC. Anybody know what the status of LinuxDC is?
While on the surface one might think NASA cutbacks are do to tax cuts, have you seen Bush's proposed millitary spending? No cuts there! Between one thing and another billions and billions more are going in that direction. And of particular note, while space exploration and scientific study is taking a back seat, the so-called "missile-defense" program is getting increased funding of another 20 billion dollars to millitarize space. With more likely to come as the feasability of this program (or lack thereof) becomes more apparent.
A reader over at Plastic expressed concern that humans should perhaps not be buying upgrades for their own bodies. On the contrary, there are circumstances by which it becomes very benificial to augment our bodies where they would otherwise provide a hinderance to us. Admitadly, there are limits. But this is just an extension of the first neanderthal man with a broken (or missing) leg being constructed a crutch to help him walk. It's part of what makes us human. To try to improve the lives of our fellow men. Of course there are limits to the circumstances that our technology should (and can) be used.
But I just checked my credit card. I don't believe they processed my order just yet. But if you are being charged, write to them, I'm sure they'll take care of it.
Actually there's a wealth of technical manuals, mp3s (including spoken word), etc. (in addition to very ecclectic prOn)
The question is not whether it is possible for everyone to gain from an economy. As someone who posted before me so aptly put it, the goal of redistribution of wealth is precisely for everyone to gain. However we do need to be aware of the fact that in our world today, the economic gain of some is overwhelmingly a result of economic loss of others. There are many ways to go about changing this, some of which have been practiced with some success, others are being formulated or being striven towards. For a good discussion on one such effort take a look at Michael Albert's (of Znet) ParEcon project page.
Believe it or not, calling up and asking them to take you off their mailing list tends to actually work (for a little while anyway). Hey, anybody willing to get the ball rolling on a anti junk-mail bill/petition? Also, you can buy some labels here to re-use them (if you're worried about paper consumption).