Learn from this one folks: without marketing and sales, no matter how good your product is, you will are doomed. The first time I heard Zodiac was their death announcement. In the time they've been on the market I've purchased three PDAs and certainly would have given one of theirs a try.
If this goes all the way to SCOTUS it will be a commerce clause argument: "Do states have the right to govern the labor practices of companies who employ workers who live in the boundaries of the state, even if those companies are engaged in interstate commerse?"
I doubt this one will make it to the Supremes. There's a truckload of these suits that have been resolved over the years. If Lee had a valid non-compete and went to work for a competitor, then he needs to keep his word. Google is interfereing in that contract by enticing Lee into breaking it. States can't invalidate the laws of other states - in fact, they are supposed to help each other enforce the law and court orders.
If you commit a crime in Ohio and run to Indiana where your actions would not have been a crime, when the law reaches out to get you, you'll find the athorities in Indiana will arrest you and ship you back to Ohio. States must give each other full faith and credit - that is, CA must respect the rulings of WA courts on WA law and vice versa.
Google is being evil on this one folks. My guess, MS and Google come to an understanding - and lee goes to work somewhere else.
Windows user whos computer wasn't plagued with tons of spy/malware.
I remember back in the early 90s when the shoe was on the other foot - apple's self launching floppies were causing campus wide virus problems so bad that users were switching to DOS wordperfect on a PC because they could lose their stuff on the macs.
Now Apple's the safe platform -- of course, thanks to building on a firm foundation of open source operating systems.
Apple has many breads and many butters: Macs and iPod
Ok. They have two loaves and two sticks of butter. The iPod business last I looked was OS independent. iPod has succeeded on the backs of PC users and Mac users.
appreciate the incredible design that went into their iPod and iTunes music store.
Outside the record industry, not one major corporation or government institution will purchase a Mac because of iTunes. You don't buy a business computer exclusively to use an MP3 player. Home users, yes... but last I looked iPod works fine on Wintel.
Apple, like them or not, is a cultural icon more than ever
Why does it always come down to cultural phenomena when people discuss apple? Apple has consistently pushed the envelope, delivered innovative products but is is the most second guessed company in the IT industry.
but I don't think Linux is on any march to "critical desktop mass."
Whatever. I suppose all the work on Open Office, KDE, Gnome, and so on is designed to make the server's user interface easier. Then you have the people like Linspire that have built a business on desktop Linux.
Sure its nifty and all, but why does one person's small project make the news?
Puhleeeez. Every time Slashdot features any small project someone has to pop in and bitch that it's not important, who cares, why is/. covering it and on and on... Sit down and have a nice cup of shut the @##@$@ up and be happy that another project just got a little sunshine.
Incidentally, this project is actually useful and could be yet another killer open source application when it grows up. Do you know how many old computers are out there that are obsolete only because there's no free lightweight desktop OS with internet connectivity for them?
Frankly, the only way a small project becomes a big one is when other developers, supporters and users find out the project exists and can contribute to it.
I am not trying to imply that it isn't a cool project or worth doing, but that if his project makes the news so should the majority of sourceforge projects.
Of course your not, but you are bitter about something. Don't be a boo-bird.
Me first please.
At least you admit it, thought which is a step up from usual:)
But I'm curious why the comments of a third rate vendor like Linspire merit posting to Slashdot.
Because they are right and thought provoking. The concept that single desktops are Apple's bread and butter is anecdotally true: Most companies only own a few of them - hidden in the bowels of the marketing or tech document department. Freelancers use them. Trendy executives & executive wannabees use Apple. So do very good designers and multimedia pros.
Apple's window to grab massive market share closes every day - a new Windows is on the horizon and Linux continues the march critical desktop mass...
Even worse - I had to explain two things that a Dad doesn't want to have to explain to an 8 year old daughter after a stroll through the game isle at CompUSA:
* Why do they always show pictures of girls with their underwear on on the front of boxes? * How come people like blood so much?
Of course, I cut through the phone isle to miss the pop CD section...
1) Only accept opt in lists. 2) Honor all unsubscribes, remove bounces. 3) Use a third party email delivery system. 4) Never send emails to a rented list through your domain. 5) Avoid overmailing. 6) Do not expect great things from email campaigns.
. With the companies you mentioned (at least the ones I'm familiar with) MS had a product that was nearly as good or better than their competitors.
Actually, not one of the products I mentioned was worse than it's MS competitor at the time of release with the lone exception of WordPerfect. The 5.2 for windows version was bad, compared to the first word for windows, but the 6.1 version was a work of art at the time. Word did not and still does not have many of the capabilities that WP had in 1996, starting with a decent grammar checker, tables of authorities and precise control (reveal codes)
My point, after all this rambling, is that Microsoft's OS is not competitive with Linux, so they can't throw out good FUD.
What does not work against linux is the vaporware play that MS usually launches in combination with your plateload of FUD. See with opensource, there is no vapor - only an extended beta test that accelerates as more people try it and submit improvements.
Actually, they are a law making entity. Congress has delegated the authority to regulate broadcast and wire-bound communication to the FCC in the act that created it and has added more power through several other laws over time. The FCC has broad power to regulate and even has a quasi-jusdicial function which in many cases must be used before a Federal court will accept a case. Regulatory agencies call lawmaking "rulemaking" and if you don't think they can make laws, go out and set up your own 100,000 watt FM blowtorch in you back yard and see how long it takes for the FCC to have you tossed in jail for violating their "rules"
Part of their rulemaking process requires input from the public and often, the commissioners use input from the public in shaping thier rules. In fact, ignoring public debate or not allowing it is a grounds the courts often use for invalidating a rule.
The FCC has no power to overturn state laws or find them unconstitutional, this is the Supreme Court's job.
The FCC's regulations trump state laws due to the commerce clause and the equal protection of the laws clause. When the FCC issues a ruling, for example saying that no one can prevent you from putting up a small satellite dish it literally vacated hundreds of thousands of regulations, ordinances and laws ranging from local neighborhood associations, to townships and counties, to state laws.
The FCC is not the way to go. Lobby Congress.
Congress is where you go after the FCC lobbying effort fails.
Crappy websites yeild horrible traffic. I will pay $8 per click for good traffic. I won't pay at all for bad traffic. Google has steadily declined in the quality of traffic they provide over the past couple of years. Overture, too has slid.
Eventually, Google and Yahoo will have to cull the herd (actually they do right now). They must deliver a good value compared to other kinds of advertisements. Advertisers have pulled the rug out from under the online ad market before, and they will again if they see costs for conversions going sky-high. Right now that is the trend.
Another problem is that crap websites create noise in search engine results diluting Google's core product and Yahoo's second product (their first is the myYahoo! portal).
Problem with that is that in many (most?) states, you have no right to a jury trial for a misdemeanor.
Not true. The standard is severity of penalty - six months or more jail time and can be less if the penalty includes additional features. Some misdemeanors can be punished by substantially more jail time.
I wonder what Bush would think of the current state of things, where people try to patent ideas originating durring the second world war? I wonder, too, if better telling the story of the rise of the computer and internet, and the history of software would help people understand just how big the giants are that today's "great innovators" stand on the backs of. I also wonder if people understand in the land rush to make all things some form of property or ther other just how much of their own freedom, and their own ability to express and create they give away.
And I also wonder how long after the Memex's release it will be before we see Duke Nukem Forever.
Photoshop from Adobe had never had any serious competitor
Nothing could be further from the truth. Last I looked Fireworks and CorelDraw's PhotoPaint component are still legit. The gap between PS and it's competitors is a wide one, but if PS stagnates, there are very competent barbarians at the gate.
Instead of republishing meaningless Apple PR on Slashdot, perhaps a more interesting discussion would be, how will Apple make money of its music business when the MP3 player market has reached saturation?
Like all Apple products, the response to competition will be the iPod II.
don't think that's quite right (see slave owners in the 1800s). and besides america's system doesn't reward anybody. the reward of what's supposed to be america's system is the freedom to live how you want to live, not to be rewarded for your hard work by being rich
You are right about our system not "rewarding" anyone. The beauty of America still is that you can pursue your dreams. If wealth is your thing, go for it. If something else matters, say the satisfaction of having created something of use to others, then have at it. No guarantees of success, that you'll ever attain those dreams, but you are free to pursue them. I agree it's sad that society equates wealth with success, and even more sad that people spend so much energy resenting others success when they could go get a measure of what they are so viperously jelous of.
You really should read the Millionaire Nextstore so you have some clue about who all these awful rich people you talk about are. You seem so bitter about rich/poor. I've experienced both situations in my life, and every day I thank my maker that I was born in the US where my life is up to me, and no one else.
The father takes the kid, gets him tutoring that summer, and then applies him to a new school, never mentioning the past one.
Sorry, but I'm not buying that most rich parents will lie for their kids. See, most rich people I know have a deep respect for the truth, personal accountability and responsibility. In a lot of ways, they are very admirable - and are not at all greedy bastards. They want their children to be good responsible people - better than themselves. They know that when the stakes are high, dishonesty and cheating can destroy their wealth and legacy. More likely, Dad would use the opportunity to teach the kid a lesson about effort.
There were other more deserving people....And if she was not lucky enough to have been born into her family, this woman would be working in a McDonalds for $6 an hour.
Isn't it a little arrogant to assume you are qualified to determine who deserves success and who does not? Why not learn how to succeed with the energy you are spending on trying to explain why others should not be allowed to prosper?
This all started with Bush Sr, and his NAFTA, to export jobs to Mexico. I remember the lies, how it would stregnthen the American workforce.
This is such a myth - that Bush was the force behind NAFTA. NAFTA passed under immense bipartisan support. I still remember the photo ops and being shocked that the conservative/protectionist and the liberal/socialist crowds both showed up for the pro-nafta events. Support for NAFTA continued under Clinton, including a massive bailout of the Mexican economy when the Peso collapsed in the mid-late 90s. It is sickening to see people who voted for NAFTA acting as if they had nothing to do with it. Voters need to hold their congresspeople responsible for passing legislation they don't want instead of re-electing them anyway. In fact, NAFTA even contributed to Newt Gingrich's republican revolution -people were seriously pissed with NAFTA, a tax increase and a incredibly waste filled federal budget. The Republicans benefited immensely from the fact the Democrats were the majority party and lost a majority of seats.
President doesn't ratify treaties or pass laws. The congress does.
Anyone see a pattern of what the republicans are doing? They got the idea, they no longer need American workers. So they started transfering jobs outside of the USA.
Like this is a republican-only idea. When your competition (who is fueled by US/World Bank "aid" free money) is dumping product on the market at a price below your cost you have to do something to survive. HP is about to face an onslaught of cheap computer gear and they are incredibly badly positioned for it. Dell and IBM on the other hand have already made their play to be ready. HP is facing extinction without action.
That said, I think that lopping a zero of the end of the CEO's salary might help a little bit...
e will become a nation where 4% of the population lives in gated and gaurded communities, and everyone else will live in an apartment, in places filled with violence, and we will be called sub-human.
Ironically, possibly the single greatest injustice of our time is the fact that 4% of the adult male black population lives in gated communities and are treated sub-human as they are incarcerated.
How can any country justify having CEO's that make $10,000,000+ a year, and having janitors who make $5.75 an hour?
It may not be fair, but it is just. It's equality of opportunity vs. equality of outcome. It's that the janitor can become the CEO - instead of being janitor for life. America's system rewards those who take initiative and live life to the fullest and is cruel to those who just want to get by on the backs of others. That said, I actually know several people who are retired custodians who have been smart with their money and are millionaires.
I also know a number of CEOs who wish they had held on to just 1 year's salary. It's not fair, it is what it is.
Money is evil. It makes people do horrible things.
People are evil, they use money to do evil things and do evil things in process of getting the money to do evil with.
SCO bought the controversy mongering press position on linux: skeptical that it was real, and challenging it's performance and legitimacy at every bend. The press hype things things because it generates sales (ad impressions, magazines, etc...). I think, that SCO and McBride got caught up in hype, much like many people got caught up in polls promising a Kerry win inthe last US election. As much as everyone wanted everything to be true, and the news was reporting it, making it seem more true, but at the end, just as the real experts said, the hype and the truth turned out to be two different things.
I think this happened to SCO on a grand scale - and they fed upon the media of the time and the desire for ANYTHING to stop Linux coming from MS and it's closest allies. They even got money from them. They got fame from the reporters like O'Gara. Their stock would go up when they reported more.
Fortunately, just because a newspaper prints it, it does not always mean it's true.
But after thinking about it for a few seconds it occured to me that since the internet is global you really need a global entity to be ultimately responsible for it. If there was a single global government then it'd be a no-brainer, but since the closest thing we have is the UN then why not?
This is a bad idea as the UN does not have a solid set of legal principals to run a business such as administering tlds. Also the talk of taxing registrations for some global make the world better program worries me. At least with the US you do have the right to petition the government for redress and can sue the government with the expectation of a fair trial - even if you are not from the US. With the UN, I'm sure you would have the right to submit a form to some office that would take 26 years to get it to, ironically, New York, USA to dispense with the problem.
What is really going on here is the UN has ALWAYS wanted a global tax of some kind and they are looking at DNS as the ticket to getting one. Say no to global taxation, especially without direct, elected representation. My god, it's hard enough to keep elected legislatures under control when it comes to taxes and lawmaking, let alone indirectly appointed legislative bodies.
Actually this whole thing is subterfuge for the soon to be released power e-i-macpod IIcx. It's a mac in the form factor of an ipod with a color screen and an integrated power supply. It has all the best features for big corporate partners and every trendy business process:
* High failure rate integrated power supply. (GM Model) * Color display incompatible with cheap add-on monitors. (Proprietary Lock out Model a-la old IBM) * DRM so you can lock users out of their data and sell them the keys (Ceasar Business Model) * iTunes (Razor Blade Model) * Only sold direct (Dell Model) * Backwards instruction set incompatibility (Apple Model)
The real question is what does an e-i-macpod ii cx look like? If you know, put a website to meet Apple's latest marketing strategy: leak info, then generate press by suing some poor geek who is trying to survive off of Google AdSense and Claria pop ups...
Terrorism may have turned the United States into a nation of fear and aggression, but it won't succeed in Europe.
I can tell you that here in the US that we do not live day to day in a state of paranoia and fear. The people here do not want war and we struggle with supporting it when it happens. This is a tradition that goes all the way back to our revolution.
War is also one of the few things we're really all that good at, the others being entertainment and creating property from thin air (patents, trademarks and so on). About all I do know is that there is a large number of countries and organizations that are very pissed at the hand they've been delt and want more power and wealth and will do anything in the name of god to get it. I do wish we'd all leave god out of this because if and when God notices what is going on, I would not be surprised if it rains for 40 years or worse. Since we are good at war, making movies and creating intellectual property, I suppose we'll fight these people by fighting them, making movies about fighting them, selling naked pictures of their college aged daughters gone wild and patenting their ideas, trademarking their products and copyrighting everything else for good measure.
Our news media is absolutely over the top on everything - you should see what happens when you get 40MPH winds and a couple of hail stones. When they get their hands on anything bigger, it's reported in a cataclysmic fashion that makes you think that everything and everyone is going completely insane because something worse than the end of all time is occuring.
They seem to be aiming at the same audience as the PS2 (as you said), but the problem is that there are far more 12 year olds and far less 25-35s in the handheld group than in the console group.
Nintendo, once again, has pulled of a monumental upset by simply understanding the market better. PSP is sexy, more powerful, etc... but DS is a blue ocean product where Nintedno didn't try to make a bigger better gameboy with a bigger screen that can play movies, too. They focused on making a more engaging game platform. That porn is available for PSP (and pleas from parents groups, censorship freaks and other people who fear nakedness fell on deaf ears) doesn't help it with the Wal-Mart set - or the under 15 set's parents.
Slashdot Mirror
Learn from this one folks: without marketing and sales, no matter how good your product is, you will are doomed. The first time I heard Zodiac was their death announcement. In the time they've been on the market I've purchased three PDAs and certainly would have given one of theirs a try.
If this goes all the way to SCOTUS it will be a commerce clause argument: "Do states have the right to govern the labor practices of companies who employ workers who live in the boundaries of the state, even if those companies are engaged in interstate commerse?"
I doubt this one will make it to the Supremes. There's a truckload of these suits that have been resolved over the years. If Lee had a valid non-compete and went to work for a competitor, then he needs to keep his word. Google is interfereing in that contract by enticing Lee into breaking it. States can't invalidate the laws of other states - in fact, they are supposed to help each other enforce the law and court orders.
If you commit a crime in Ohio and run to Indiana where your actions would not have been a crime, when the law reaches out to get you, you'll find the athorities in Indiana will arrest you and ship you back to Ohio. States must give each other full faith and credit - that is, CA must respect the rulings of WA courts on WA law and vice versa.
Google is being evil on this one folks. My guess, MS and Google come to an understanding - and lee goes to work somewhere else.
Windows user whos computer wasn't plagued with tons of spy/malware.
I remember back in the early 90s when the shoe was on the other foot - apple's self launching floppies were causing campus wide virus problems so bad that users were switching to DOS wordperfect on a PC because they could lose their stuff on the macs.
Now Apple's the safe platform -- of course, thanks to building on a firm foundation of open source operating systems.
Apple has many breads and many butters: Macs and iPod
Ok. They have two loaves and two sticks of butter. The iPod business last I looked was OS independent. iPod has succeeded on the backs of PC users and Mac users.
appreciate the incredible design that went into their iPod and iTunes music store.
Outside the record industry, not one major corporation or government institution will purchase a Mac because of iTunes. You don't buy a business computer exclusively to use an MP3 player. Home users, yes... but last I looked iPod works fine on Wintel.
Apple, like them or not, is a cultural icon more than ever
Why does it always come down to cultural phenomena when people discuss apple? Apple has consistently pushed the envelope, delivered innovative products but is is the most second guessed company in the IT industry.
but I don't think Linux is on any march to "critical desktop mass."
Whatever. I suppose all the work on Open Office, KDE, Gnome, and so on is designed to make the server's user interface easier. Then you have the people like Linspire that have built a business on desktop Linux.
Sure its nifty and all, but why does one person's small project make the news?
/. covering it and on and on... Sit down and have a nice cup of shut the @##@$@ up and be happy that another project just got a little sunshine.
:)
Puhleeeez. Every time Slashdot features any small project someone has to pop in and bitch that it's not important, who cares, why is
Incidentally, this project is actually useful and could be yet another killer open source application when it grows up. Do you know how many old computers are out there that are obsolete only because there's no free lightweight desktop OS with internet connectivity for them?
Frankly, the only way a small project becomes a big one is when other developers, supporters and users find out the project exists and can contribute to it.
I am not trying to imply that it isn't a cool project or worth doing, but that if his project makes the news so should the majority of sourceforge projects.
Of course your not, but you are bitter about something. Don't be a boo-bird.
Me first please.
At least you admit it, thought which is a step up from usual
But I'm curious why the comments of a third rate vendor like Linspire merit posting to Slashdot.
Because they are right and thought provoking. The concept that single desktops are Apple's bread and butter is anecdotally true: Most companies only own a few of them - hidden in the bowels of the marketing or tech document department. Freelancers use them. Trendy executives & executive wannabees use Apple. So do very good designers and multimedia pros.
Apple's window to grab massive market share closes every day - a new Windows is on the horizon and Linux continues the march critical desktop mass...
Even worse - I had to explain two things that a Dad doesn't want to have to explain to an 8 year old daughter after a stroll through the game isle at CompUSA:
* Why do they always show pictures of girls with their underwear on on the front of boxes?
* How come people like blood so much?
Of course, I cut through the phone isle to miss the pop CD section...
1) Only accept opt in lists.
2) Honor all unsubscribes, remove bounces.
3) Use a third party email delivery system.
4) Never send emails to a rented list through your domain.
5) Avoid overmailing.
6) Do not expect great things from email campaigns.
. With the companies you mentioned (at least the ones I'm familiar with) MS had a product that was nearly as good or better than their competitors.
Actually, not one of the products I mentioned was worse than it's MS competitor at the time of release with the lone exception of WordPerfect. The 5.2 for windows version was bad, compared to the first word for windows, but the 6.1 version was a work of art at the time. Word did not and still does not have many of the capabilities that WP had in 1996, starting with a decent grammar checker, tables of authorities and precise control (reveal codes)
My point, after all this rambling, is that Microsoft's OS is not competitive with Linux, so they can't throw out good FUD.
What does not work against linux is the vaporware play that MS usually launches in combination with your plateload of FUD. See with opensource, there is no vapor - only an extended beta test that accelerates as more people try it and submit improvements.
Then why isn't user 123.456.789.012 good enough?
Because it's an invalid IP address among other things.
The FCC is NOT a law-making entity.
Actually, they are a law making entity. Congress has delegated the authority to regulate broadcast and wire-bound communication to the FCC in the act that created it and has added more power through several other laws over time. The FCC has broad power to regulate and even has a quasi-jusdicial function which in many cases must be used before a Federal court will accept a case. Regulatory agencies call lawmaking "rulemaking" and if you don't think they can make laws, go out and set up your own 100,000 watt FM blowtorch in you back yard and see how long it takes for the FCC to have you tossed in jail for violating their "rules"
Part of their rulemaking process requires input from the public and often, the commissioners use input from the public in shaping thier rules. In fact, ignoring public debate or not allowing it is a grounds the courts often use for invalidating a rule.
The FCC has no power to overturn state laws or find them unconstitutional, this is the Supreme Court's job.
The FCC's regulations trump state laws due to the commerce clause and the equal protection of the laws clause. When the FCC issues a ruling, for example saying that no one can prevent you from putting up a small satellite dish it literally vacated hundreds of thousands of regulations, ordinances and laws ranging from local neighborhood associations, to townships and counties, to state laws.
The FCC is not the way to go. Lobby Congress.
Congress is where you go after the FCC lobbying effort fails.
Crappy websites yeild horrible traffic. I will pay $8 per click for good traffic. I won't pay at all for bad traffic. Google has steadily declined in the quality of traffic they provide over the past couple of years. Overture, too has slid.
Eventually, Google and Yahoo will have to cull the herd (actually they do right now). They must deliver a good value compared to other kinds of advertisements. Advertisers have pulled the rug out from under the online ad market before, and they will again if they see costs for conversions going sky-high. Right now that is the trend.
Another problem is that crap websites create noise in search engine results diluting Google's core product and Yahoo's second product (their first is the myYahoo! portal).
" Not true! It has worked in the past. IBM just retired OS/2; an example of Microsoft's FUD working to great effect.
Actually, MS Fud did its worse to VisiOn, GEM and DR-Dos COncurrent DOS, WordPerfect and Novell.
The problem is that MS isnt very good at FUD anymore. Now they use the bs-smokescreen method.
Problem with that is that in many (most?) states, you have no right to a jury trial for a misdemeanor.
Not true. The standard is severity of penalty - six months or more jail time and can be less if the penalty includes additional features. Some misdemeanors can be punished by substantially more jail time.
I wonder what Bush would think of the current state of things, where people try to patent ideas originating durring the second world war? I wonder, too, if better telling the story of the rise of the computer and internet, and the history of software would help people understand just how big the giants are that today's "great innovators" stand on the backs of. I also wonder if people understand in the land rush to make all things some form of property or ther other just how much of their own freedom, and their own ability to express and create they give away.
And I also wonder how long after the Memex's release it will be before we see Duke Nukem Forever.
Photoshop from Adobe had never had any serious competitor
Nothing could be further from the truth. Last I looked Fireworks and CorelDraw's PhotoPaint component are still legit. The gap between PS and it's competitors is a wide one, but if PS stagnates, there are very competent barbarians at the gate.
Instead of republishing meaningless Apple PR on Slashdot, perhaps a more interesting discussion would be, how will Apple make money of its music business when the MP3 player market has reached saturation?
Like all Apple products, the response to competition will be the iPod II.
don't think that's quite right (see slave owners in the 1800s). and besides america's system doesn't reward anybody. the reward of what's supposed to be america's system is the freedom to live how you want to live, not to be rewarded for your hard work by being rich
You are right about our system not "rewarding" anyone. The beauty of America still is that you can pursue your dreams. If wealth is your thing, go for it. If something else matters, say the satisfaction of having created something of use to others, then have at it. No guarantees of success, that you'll ever attain those dreams, but you are free to pursue them. I agree it's sad that society equates wealth with success, and even more sad that people spend so much energy resenting others success when they could go get a measure of what they are so viperously jelous of.
You really should read the Millionaire Nextstore so you have some clue about who all these awful rich people you talk about are. You seem so bitter about rich/poor. I've experienced both situations in my life, and every day I thank my maker that I was born in the US where my life is up to me, and no one else.
The father takes the kid, gets him tutoring that summer, and then applies him to a new school, never mentioning the past one.
Sorry, but I'm not buying that most rich parents will lie for their kids. See, most rich people I know have a deep respect for the truth, personal accountability and responsibility. In a lot of ways, they are very admirable - and are not at all greedy bastards. They want their children to be good responsible people - better than themselves. They know that when the stakes are high, dishonesty and cheating can destroy their wealth and legacy. More likely, Dad would use the opportunity to teach the kid a lesson about effort.
There were other more deserving people....And if she was not lucky enough to have been born into her family, this woman would be working in a McDonalds for $6 an hour.
Isn't it a little arrogant to assume you are qualified to determine who deserves success and who does not? Why not learn how to succeed with the energy you are spending on trying to explain why others should not be allowed to prosper?
This all started with Bush Sr, and his NAFTA, to export jobs to Mexico. I remember the lies, how it would stregnthen the American workforce.
This is such a myth - that Bush was the force behind NAFTA. NAFTA passed under immense bipartisan support. I still remember the photo ops and being shocked that the conservative/protectionist and the liberal/socialist crowds both showed up for the pro-nafta events. Support for NAFTA continued under Clinton, including a massive bailout of the Mexican economy when the Peso collapsed in the mid-late 90s. It is sickening to see people who voted for NAFTA acting as if they had nothing to do with it. Voters need to hold their congresspeople responsible for passing legislation they don't want instead of re-electing them anyway. In fact, NAFTA even contributed to Newt Gingrich's republican revolution -people were seriously pissed with NAFTA, a tax increase and a incredibly waste filled federal budget. The Republicans benefited immensely from the fact the Democrats were the majority party and lost a majority of seats.
President doesn't ratify treaties or pass laws. The congress does.
Anyone see a pattern of what the republicans are doing? They got the idea, they no longer need American workers. So they started transfering jobs outside of the USA.
Like this is a republican-only idea. When your competition (who is fueled by US/World Bank "aid" free money) is dumping product on the market at a price below your cost you have to do something to survive. HP is about to face an onslaught of cheap computer gear and they are incredibly badly positioned for it. Dell and IBM on the other hand have already made their play to be ready. HP is facing extinction without action.
That said, I think that lopping a zero of the end of the CEO's salary might help a little bit...
e will become a nation where 4% of the population lives in gated and gaurded communities, and everyone else will live in an apartment, in places filled with violence, and we will be called sub-human.
Ironically, possibly the single greatest injustice of our time is the fact that 4% of the adult male black population lives in gated communities and are treated sub-human as they are incarcerated.
How can any country justify having CEO's that make $10,000,000+ a year, and having janitors who make $5.75 an hour?
It may not be fair, but it is just. It's equality of opportunity vs. equality of outcome. It's that the janitor can become the CEO - instead of being janitor for life. America's system rewards those who take initiative and live life to the fullest and is cruel to those who just want to get by on the backs of others. That said, I actually know several people who are retired custodians who have been smart with their money and are millionaires.
I also know a number of CEOs who wish they had held on to just 1 year's salary. It's not fair, it is what it is.
Money is evil. It makes people do horrible things.
People are evil, they use money to do evil things and do evil things in process of getting the money to do evil with.
SCO bought the controversy mongering press position on linux: skeptical that it was real, and challenging it's performance and legitimacy at every bend. The press hype things things because it generates sales (ad impressions, magazines, etc...). I think, that SCO and McBride got caught up in hype, much like many people got caught up in polls promising a Kerry win inthe last US election. As much as everyone wanted everything to be true, and the news was reporting it, making it seem more true, but at the end, just as the real experts said, the hype and the truth turned out to be two different things.
I think this happened to SCO on a grand scale - and they fed upon the media of the time and the desire for ANYTHING to stop Linux coming from MS and it's closest allies. They even got money from them. They got fame from the reporters like O'Gara. Their stock would go up when they reported more.
Fortunately, just because a newspaper prints it, it does not always mean it's true.
But after thinking about it for a few seconds it occured to me that since the internet is global you really need a global entity to be ultimately responsible for it. If there was a single global government then it'd be a no-brainer, but since the closest thing we have is the UN then why not?
This is a bad idea as the UN does not have a solid set of legal principals to run a business such as administering tlds. Also the talk of taxing registrations for some global make the world better program worries me. At least with the US you do have the right to petition the government for redress and can sue the government with the expectation of a fair trial - even if you are not from the US. With the UN, I'm sure you would have the right to submit a form to some office that would take 26 years to get it to, ironically, New York, USA to dispense with the problem.
What is really going on here is the UN has ALWAYS wanted a global tax of some kind and they are looking at DNS as the ticket to getting one. Say no to global taxation, especially without direct, elected representation. My god, it's hard enough to keep elected legislatures under control when it comes to taxes and lawmaking, let alone indirectly appointed legislative bodies.
Actually this whole thing is subterfuge for the soon to be released power e-i-macpod IIcx. It's a mac in the form factor of an ipod with a color screen and an integrated power supply. It has all the best features for big corporate partners and every trendy business process:
* High failure rate integrated power supply. (GM Model)
* Color display incompatible with cheap add-on monitors. (Proprietary Lock out Model a-la old IBM)
* DRM so you can lock users out of their data and sell them the keys (Ceasar Business Model)
* iTunes (Razor Blade Model)
* Only sold direct (Dell Model)
* Backwards instruction set incompatibility (Apple Model)
The real question is what does an e-i-macpod ii cx look like? If you know, put a website to meet Apple's latest marketing strategy: leak info, then generate press by suing some poor geek who is trying to survive off of Google AdSense and Claria pop ups...
Terrorism may have turned the United States into a nation of fear and aggression, but it won't succeed in Europe.
I can tell you that here in the US that we do not live day to day in a state of paranoia and fear. The people here do not want war and we struggle with supporting it when it happens. This is a tradition that goes all the way back to our revolution.
War is also one of the few things we're really all that good at, the others being entertainment and creating property from thin air (patents, trademarks and so on). About all I do know is that there is a large number of countries and organizations that are very pissed at the hand they've been delt and want more power and wealth and will do anything in the name of god to get it. I do wish we'd all leave god out of this because if and when God notices what is going on, I would not be surprised if it rains for 40 years or worse. Since we are good at war, making movies and creating intellectual property, I suppose we'll fight these people by fighting them, making movies about fighting them, selling naked pictures of their college aged daughters gone wild and patenting their ideas, trademarking their products and copyrighting everything else for good measure.
Our news media is absolutely over the top on everything - you should see what happens when you get 40MPH winds and a couple of hail stones. When they get their hands on anything bigger, it's reported in a cataclysmic fashion that makes you think that everything and everyone is going completely insane because something worse than the end of all time is occuring.
They seem to be aiming at the same audience as the PS2 (as you said), but the problem is that there are far more 12 year olds and far less 25-35s in the handheld group than in the console group.
Nintendo, once again, has pulled of a monumental upset by simply understanding the market better. PSP is sexy, more powerful, etc... but DS is a blue ocean product where Nintedno didn't try to make a bigger better gameboy with a bigger screen that can play movies, too. They focused on making a more engaging game platform. That porn is available for PSP (and pleas from parents groups, censorship freaks and other people who fear nakedness fell on deaf ears) doesn't help it with the Wal-Mart set - or the under 15 set's parents.