You do know that there's a VB 6 runtime, don't you? VB applications are not like Delphi (eg. completely self-contained). It just so happens that MS included the VB runtime in the OS starting with Windows 98 SP2 (I believe), so it was "seamless".
Incidentally the main VB 6 runtime is called "MSVBVM60.dll". The "VM" on the end of that does indeed stand for "virtual machine".
There is 1 merit: The VB6 runtime is 1.1 MBs as opposed to the 22 MB.NET Framework runtime, however with each new release of a Microsoft OS (as well as updates) the.NET framework is becoming quite ubiquitous...
Regardless, use whatever you like. If VB 6 is your thing, have at it. I'll never look back.
I think this is more indicative of Hollywood's "reality distortion field". As if somehow because I liked the LOTR Trilogy (done by Peter Jackson) I would be equally interested in King Kong.
Really, who gives a shit about what OS you use? It's like arguing over whether Sausage or Pepperoni or Pineapple/Ham pizza is better. Use (eat) what you like, and leave everyone else the hell alone. You want to tell people that Saugage is the best pizza in the world, go for it! But for the love of christ, stop getting your panties in a twist when someone prefers (or eats) something else. Perhaps it hasn't ever occured to you that people either a) Don't care or b) Like Windows (or OSX or FreeBSD or QNX or OS/2).
All of this "Linux self-masturbation love" is getting really tiring... even for/.
**Note: "You" was not directed at the parent post, but rather "you" in the open letter form.
"I'm sure Windows will be with us for a long time, but I'm also pretty sure that.NET won't."
You're fooling yourself if you think that is true. Microsoft's push to SOA includes putting all of their major application bases on the.NET framework.. Exchange, Office, BizTalk, SharePoint, CRM, etc. All of their verticles are normalizing on the same infrastructure to maximize interoperability between the platforms..NET is here to stay... The fundamental mistake that you're making is that.NET is anything like COM+ or ActiveX. On the surface they seem to be similar in function, however if you dig a little deeper you will find some very fundamental differences in how the technologies are being used and what it means for the future of microsoft products.
Regardless, we ALL have choices and learning to use Microsoft technologies (.NET included) doesn't mean that you're stuck using them forever. I program in a variety of languages and platforms and I enjoy all of them; The lessons and concepts I learn are always applicable across the board.
Start calling yourself a C# developer who is also fluent in VB.NET and you'll have better luck. Regardless of the technological aspects of.NET (Lang -> IL) VB does and will always have a stigma about it.
This pretty much goes for everyone looking for a job. The order in which you list your skills shows your comfort level with the technology even if it's only subconscious.
Financial Insdustry, paricularly credit analysis and credit scoring. Building custom score cards using analytics is big business here in the US. The really good thing about it is that every finance company has a score card used to determine credit worthiness but they are ALL custom. It would be suicide for the company to share their credit decisioning work, so they hire private consultants to constantly reinvent the wheel.
I should know, it's been working great for me! I'm sure that Europe (if not France) has a similar situation...
Click on Tools->Account Settings. In the list box on the left, the last entry says "Outgoing Server (SMTP)". Click on it. On the lower right there is a button entitiled "Advanced". Click on it. A small window will appear, allowing you to enter SMTP Servers to your hearts content. Once you have your SMTP servers entered, go to each mail account. Click on "Server Settings", then click on the "Advanced Button" in the lower right hand corner. Select the "SMTP" tab in the resulting dialog window. From the drop down, select the SMTP server you entered wish to use with this email account.
Keep digging, you crusty old billygoat. Your true nature (as expressed by your posts) is more revealing that anything my meager attempts at humor could ever illuminate.
That makes your comments even more egregious. If you're "older" and "wiser" then you certainly should have obtained the wisdom by now to have enough respect for other people's thoughts and ideas, even those you don't agree with, to not devalue their character or start ad hominem attacks.
Contrary to your lame sniping attempt, it's clear that age doesn't confer anything in the realm of mental prowess, rational thinking or respect for others as evidenced by you.
Though you may not agree with or find value in this particular essay, he is hardly an "idiot". Take a look at his bio sometime:
He's an external fellow at Berkely's Internation Computer Science Institute, was the Lead Scientist of the Tele-immersion Initiative researching advanced applications for Internet2 including "real time, remote, terascale processing, autostereo methods, haptics and software simulation component integration and reusability", which doesn't even mention his body of work around Virtual Reality (particularly his 3D graphic research).
His back ground is intense and impressive and he has no formal college degree... Pretty damned impressive if you ask me.
I can't believe how many posts on here are flaming the man who's ideas were lightyears ahead of his time. Even if you don't agree with his politics or his view of the world, at least have enough respect to not drop into personal attacks. It's really a sad day when we as geek culture can't respect the people who lead the way for future generations.
Un. Fucking. Believable.
(as a side note, Reddit.com had an interesting post about Slashdot being dead because it was for teenagers. I'm really starting to believe that was the case after reading this thread.)
"Is there any open source in memory database? Prefereable fast and stable?"
SQLite has a command line switch to load the and run the database in memory. Unless you're in need of some RDBMS specific tools (replication, etc.) this little gem is the best things I've seen.
I've been thinking about this topic quite a bit (the erosion of rights by media or "content" creators) and it occurs to me that there is a new form of civil disobedience that "we" as a technology industry could enact:
As an industry, we are the gatekeepers of technology. We know how the bits work; It's a specialized knowledge. So why do "we" fall to pressure from other industries? What I imagine is a scenario in which Media companies are dictating laws and congress is passing them and "we" refuse to develop the technology. There's probably a slim to zero chance it would work, but it would be a sight to see.
Media Companies: "All new devices are going to have (insert draconian DRM here)". Technology People: "Really? Who's going to develop this technology?" Media Companies: "You are." Tech People: "Oh? Why would we do that? You can pass all the laws you want, if we don't twiddle the bits for you, you're shit out of luck."
That's the basic idea anyway.
Of course, this reasoning has some serious flaws as you can't get technology people to agree on the color of shite, and this would require everyone who is involved with technology to agree...
Heh! Well then, perhaps someone else will find that advice useful. I apologise for misinterpreting your post. Regardless, don't EVER give a flying fuck what people think about you. If being interested in women you work with is lechery then the people you work with are too christian for their own good or they've got sticks so far up their asses they need to have them surgically removed.:-)
It never ceases to amaze me how people judge other people based on what "Mother Culture" tells them is OK. People as a herd dislike or think ill of others because they do something they are "supposed" (according to society) to find reprehensible, when the reality is that everyone is doing it and not talking about it. (with the exception of those people who actually bought the party line and think everyone else is towing the line as well). That doesn't mean that everyone is or should be a moral vacuum but holy crap, a little self-actualization and honesty would go a long way.
Here are my favorite "stigma's" that everyone is doing:
1) Masturbation: Almost without exception every guy (and a vast majority of women) masturbates, so why do people pretend like it's socially reprehensible? Why does it matter?
2) Porn: Pornography isn't a billion dollar industry in the United States because only people in California are buying it. People are totally fascinated with sex and the visual stimulation from watching sex, but still it's Taboo. What would happen if it weren't so socially repugnant? Would MORE people buy porn?
3) Drugs: Especially Pot. I know more people who smoke pot than don't, or have at one point in their lives smoked marijuana, yet we still have a "war on drugs" and it's EVIL (tm.)
Let me get this strait... You are old enough to know the difference between "Straitforward eye-contact and the "take me, I'm yours sort), but you're still so lame that you can't even talk to her? Additionally, after NOT talking to her for a year you're in such emotional despair that even the sight of her ruins your entire day? That's pretty sad, but all is not lost...
Here are some small bits of advice:
1) Get laid. Pay for it. There are escorts everywhere. Don't think of it as being desperate, think of it as job training. You're learning how to talk with women, how to touch them, what they like and what they think about. Escorts are perfect for this. They also have the side benefit of making you less desperate for sex and human interaction which women can detect from a mile away. As a bonus, they don't care if you make mistakes. You're learning from a professional and in fact you should tell them exactly that. "Hi, I'm really uncomfortable around women, and I don't get laid and I'm not good at releationships and I need help." Lastly, don't listen to anyone (including "Mother Culture") who says that paying for sex is bad or immoral. There's a HUGE difference between meeting an escort and picking up a street walker.
2) Talk to people. It takes practice but you can do it. Talk to everyone. Start off slowly, say hello to EVERYONE you see, man or woman, ugly or hot. Conversations are easy, because most people will do the talking if you let them, you just have to initiate the callback function. Here's how it works:
You: "Hi! How are you? How was your ?"
Them: "Hi! It was great. Blah blah blah."
You: "Oh, really? That's really cool. What did you think of "blah blah blah"?
They'll take over the conversation and you just have to listen to what they are saying and be truly interested. Think of it as a science experiment. You're studying humans and everything that they do. Ask pointed questions about whatever they are talking about to keep the conversation going. When you hit the "uncomfortable silence" phase of the conversation, just say "Well, good to see you; I've got a lot of work to do." And walk away. You can always excuse yourself. Another great one is "Well, I don't want to keep you. Talk to you later".
3) Go talk to that girl. Make up your mind that you're going to do it and just do it. Don't think, don't plan and for gawd sakes don't work out how the conversation is going to end before you even have it.
3a) Say hello to her, ask her how she is doing. Tell her that you think she's an interesting person and it seems like you have a lot in common. See if she'll go to lunch with you. As you said, she's a geek girl, so you know that you have plenty to talk about. If asking her to lunch is too hard, start simply.. Tell her you're going to grab some lunch and ask her you can pick her up something. You'll have the benefit of having an excuse to talk to her, you'll know a bit more about her (what she likes to eat) AND she'll probably feel obligated to eat with you in the lunch room (or whereever).
3b) After having a conversation with her a few times, tell her most of the truth. Here's how it would go:
"You know, I've been interested in talking to you for a while, but I'm such a nerd I couldn't get up the nerve to do it."
And she'll say:
"I wonder what took you so long. I've been giving you eyes for a while... Of course, I'm a dork too and couldn't come talk to you; I was too afraid."
Life is too short to freak out over something that never happened or something that "could have been"; Seize the day!
Because the idea of free software isn't about price. Basically what you're saying is that you don't want to pay for software, so you're going to get it for free regardless of whether or not it's "open source". You like the open source versions because it is legal to use them without paying money.
There's nothing wrong with that, other than it costs money to make software and no one has come up with a good model for making money as a programming besides the current proprietary model. Volunteer work is fine but it doesn't pay the mortgage. Until the attitude of "Money_Free" is replaced with paying for the time of the people working on the "RMS_Free" software, we're at an impass.
There's nothing wrong with your statment "Stick with Open Office". It's good, but your hyperbole is wanting. There is document compatibility between Office 2003 and Office XP. It's true that compatibility was borked between 97 and 2000; The reasons are most likely not because Microsoft wanted everyone to upgrade to squeeze money out of it's customers. That may have been a side effect, however the primary reason was due to the limitations of the document format used in Office 97. If an open source project changed document formats, it wouldn't be because of some sinister plan to wrangle money out of people; but only because it's given away free of charge.
It's not inconcievable that some people find that Office is just the superior product.
I'm guessing that this model is actually a lot like the ATT / BSD dabacle in the early 90s:
ATT: You're stealing our IP; We're suing you. Berkley: You're taking our code and removing the copyright so you can resell it. ATT: Oh, right. Nevermind. Berkely: No problem; Let's not discuss this again.
If there is enough cross polination of patents between the various participating vendors, it will be impossible to untangle it without destroying their own products. I'm guessing it would go something like this:
SCO-type: We're suing your because you're using our patents. IBM: (to other participants) Hey, these hanyaucks are suing us for patent infringment. Everyone else: Well, that's not going to do, I guess we'll have to counter sue. IBM: Right, let's get them. SCO-type: Uhh... nevermind. Can't you guys take a joke?
I'd say that's a pretty poor guess. Neuros has a history of "open source" with their media players. A few years ago they released the source code for their Neuros Syncronization Manager NSM. Their first generation player was pretty crappy in terms of hardware (FM transmitter didn't work right, only had a USB 1.1 (ugh!) interface) and the NSM software was kind of bunk; However they've had firm-ware updates for a while that support OGG and it's pretty interesting that a company is actually make a portable media player that they are encouraging (and supporting!) geek to hack (sounds like material for MAKE). I think that's a pretty post-modern (and refreshing) idea in a world where we're constantly assaulted with legal threats, DRM, etc.
Don't be so quick to judge something based on a partial quote from a magazine article. Besides, he's technically right about open-source projects. Taking a look at source-forge there are at least 100 projects that are dead for every one that is active, whether they were started by "kids" or not.
Anyway... Look a little closer at the project; there's some interesting stuff going on there.
I thought about this myself. Near as I can tell, with Gates (Balmer, et. al) It's not about money. It's like a competitive sport. They enjoy the rush of killing the competition. If it were about the money, they could have walked years ago.
It's unforutnate that more people don't do this; The question is: When is enough, enough? As a business man, you should make your 20 or 50 million and then step aside and let someone else have a go. Unfortunately, the same mentality that motivates these people to make 20 or 50 million is the same mentality that keeps them from letting it go. It's really like a sick game of "King of the hill" (minus the propane).
You know, I really *want* to agree with you; What you are saying makes a lot of sense. The problem is that these "companies" employ brainwashing tactics to make YOU want the crap they sell. It doesn't work the other way around. Here are a few examples:
Breakfast Cereal. Companies create this nasty, sugar filled crap and then attach cartoon characters to it, goofy songs and toy in the box gimmicks. They then advertise it on television at 7am during morning cartoons, directly to the children watching. Next time you're in the store, little Johnny is jumping up and down with excitement because "Captain Jack's Pirate Os" are on the shelf. He's excited and happy; Pulls at your heart strings and you buy it. Do you WANT this nasty cereal?
Services: I used to teach martial arts. One of the "tricks" that we were taught to use to get people to join our classes is give them "two free lessons." We'd get kids excited and their parents would bring them down for a 20 minute lesson in Karate. We were specifically instructed on how to manipulate the kid so that he (or she) got REALLY excited about taking Karate and how COOL! it was, etc. Then at the end of the second lesson we would hit them up with a three year contract at 125 bucks a month, and make them say no in front of their kids. (Yes, I know this is EVIL and wrong; that's why I do not work there anymore).
Technology: iPods. Who *needs* an iPod? As people point out constantly, the marketing is about the "experience". Well, that's a manipulated social event, created by Apple's marketing guys. I have an iPod; I love it. I owned a neuros before; which did exactly the same thing (and played OGG) but it wasn't as "cool". Apple has mastered it. They make you WANT their products.
In all of these cases, the consumer supposedly had a "choice" but this is psychological warfare. Marketing people go to school and do studies on the best way to manipulate people and their emotions, desires etc. Frankly, we don't dictate shit to anyone. Companies dictate to us what is cool, what is worth having, what the price is, etc.
They don't have to convice the few geeks on slashdot or sites like this. They convince 15 year olds who are subjected to mass marketing and peer pressure. As long as there are a core group of people who buy this drivel, we (the "fringe") are screwed.
The REAL kicker is that even when you try and convince them that they shouldn't buy the lastest Candy-Pop, they'll respond with "I don't care." or "I like this, I'm buying it." The concept of current actions having future consequences is relatively foreign to teenagers (on the average). Marketroids KNOW this, and you can bet your ass the RIAA/MPAA (etc.) know it too.
Slashdot Mirror
Perhaps it's moot to point this out, but by using iTunes, you're using Quicktime. The media engine behind iTunes IS quicktime.
Oh for fucks sake. Just say "Bullshit." :-)
You do know that there's a VB 6 runtime, don't you? VB applications are not like Delphi (eg. completely self-contained). It just so happens that MS included the VB runtime in the OS starting with Windows 98 SP2 (I believe), so it was "seamless".
.NET Framework runtime, however with each new release of a Microsoft OS (as well as updates) the .NET framework is becoming quite ubiquitous...
Incidentally the main VB 6 runtime is called "MSVBVM60.dll". The "VM" on the end of that does indeed stand for "virtual machine".
There is 1 merit: The VB6 runtime is 1.1 MBs as opposed to the 22 MB
Regardless, use whatever you like. If VB 6 is your thing, have at it. I'll never look back.
But... But...
it was done by Peter Jackson!
I think this is more indicative of Hollywood's "reality distortion field". As if somehow because I liked the LOTR Trilogy (done by Peter Jackson) I would be equally interested in King Kong.
Though I agree, I think it's more than that:
/.
Really, who gives a shit about what OS you use? It's like arguing over whether Sausage or Pepperoni or Pineapple/Ham pizza is better. Use (eat) what you like, and leave everyone else the hell alone. You want to tell people that Saugage is the best pizza in the world, go for it! But for the love of christ, stop getting your panties in a twist when someone prefers (or eats) something else. Perhaps it hasn't ever occured to you that people either a) Don't care or b) Like Windows (or OSX or FreeBSD or QNX or OS/2).
All of this "Linux self-masturbation love" is getting really tiring... even for
**Note: "You" was not directed at the parent post, but rather "you" in the open letter form.
"I'm sure Windows will be with us for a long time, but I'm also pretty sure that .NET won't."
.NET framework.. Exchange, Office, BizTalk, SharePoint, CRM, etc. All of their verticles are normalizing on the same infrastructure to maximize interoperability between the platforms. .NET is here to stay... The fundamental mistake that you're making is that .NET is anything like COM+ or ActiveX. On the surface they seem to be similar in function, however if you dig a little deeper you will find some very fundamental differences in how the technologies are being used and what it means for the future of microsoft products.
You're fooling yourself if you think that is true. Microsoft's push to SOA includes putting all of their major application bases on the
Regardless, we ALL have choices and learning to use Microsoft technologies (.NET included) doesn't mean that you're stuck using them forever. I program in a variety of languages and platforms and I enjoy all of them; The lessons and concepts I learn are always applicable across the board.
Start calling yourself a C# developer who is also fluent in VB.NET and you'll have better luck. Regardless of the technological aspects of .NET (Lang -> IL) VB does and will always have a stigma about it.
This pretty much goes for everyone looking for a job. The order in which you list your skills shows your comfort level with the technology even if it's only subconscious.
Ugh... sorry for the nasty typos. Have a new keyboard and the fingers haven't adjusted. :s/Insdustry/Industry :s/paricularly/particularly
Financial Insdustry, paricularly credit analysis and credit scoring. Building custom score cards using analytics is big business here in the US. The really good thing about it is that every finance company has a score card used to determine credit worthiness but they are ALL custom. It would be suicide for the company to share their credit decisioning work, so they hire private consultants to constantly reinvent the wheel.
I should know, it's been working great for me! I'm sure that Europe (if not France) has a similar situation...
In version 1.0.7 (and I assume 1.5):
Click on Tools->Account Settings. In the list box on the left, the last entry says "Outgoing Server (SMTP)". Click on it. On the lower right there is a button entitiled "Advanced". Click on it. A small window will appear, allowing you to enter SMTP Servers to your hearts content. Once you have your SMTP servers entered, go to each mail account. Click on "Server Settings", then click on the "Advanced Button" in the lower right hand corner. Select the "SMTP" tab in the resulting dialog window. From the drop down, select the SMTP server you entered wish to use with this email account.
Hope that helps.
Keep digging, you crusty old billygoat. Your true nature (as expressed by your posts) is more revealing that anything my meager attempts at humor could ever illuminate.
That makes your comments even more egregious. If you're "older" and "wiser" then you certainly should have obtained the wisdom by now to have enough respect for other people's thoughts and ideas, even those you don't agree with, to not devalue their character or start ad hominem attacks.
Contrary to your lame sniping attempt, it's clear that age doesn't confer anything in the realm of mental prowess, rational thinking or respect for others as evidenced by you.
Though you may not agree with or find value in this particular essay, he is hardly an "idiot". Take a look at his bio sometime:
He's an external fellow at Berkely's Internation Computer Science Institute, was the Lead Scientist of the Tele-immersion Initiative researching advanced applications for Internet2 including "real time, remote, terascale processing, autostereo methods, haptics and software simulation component integration and reusability", which doesn't even mention his body of work around Virtual Reality (particularly his 3D graphic research).
His back ground is intense and impressive and he has no formal college degree... Pretty damned impressive if you ask me.
I can't believe how many posts on here are flaming the man who's ideas were lightyears ahead of his time. Even if you don't agree with his politics or his view of the world, at least have enough respect to not drop into personal attacks. It's really a sad day when we as geek culture can't respect the people who lead the way for future generations.
Un. Fucking. Believable.
(as a side note, Reddit.com had an interesting post about Slashdot being dead because it was for teenagers. I'm really starting to believe that was the case after reading this thread.)
"Is there any open source in memory database? Prefereable fast and stable?"
SQLite has a command line switch to load the and run the database in memory. Unless you're in need of some RDBMS specific tools (replication, etc.) this little gem is the best things I've seen.
I've been thinking about this topic quite a bit (the erosion of rights by media or "content" creators) and it occurs to me that there is a new form of civil disobedience that "we" as a technology industry could enact:
As an industry, we are the gatekeepers of technology. We know how the bits work; It's a specialized knowledge. So why do "we" fall to pressure from other industries? What I imagine is a scenario in which Media companies are dictating laws and congress is passing them and "we" refuse to develop the technology. There's probably a slim to zero chance it would work, but it would be a sight to see.
Media Companies: "All new devices are going to have (insert draconian DRM here)".
Technology People: "Really? Who's going to develop this technology?"
Media Companies: "You are."
Tech People: "Oh? Why would we do that? You can pass all the laws you want, if we don't twiddle the bits for you, you're shit out of luck."
That's the basic idea anyway.
Of course, this reasoning has some serious flaws as you can't get technology people to agree on the color of shite, and this would require everyone who is involved with technology to agree...
Heh! Well then, perhaps someone else will find that advice useful. I apologise for misinterpreting your post. Regardless, don't EVER give a flying fuck what people think about you. If being interested in women you work with is lechery then the people you work with are too christian for their own good or they've got sticks so far up their asses they need to have them surgically removed. :-)
/end rant.
It never ceases to amaze me how people judge other people based on what "Mother Culture" tells them is OK. People as a herd dislike or think ill of others because they do something they are "supposed" (according to society) to find reprehensible, when the reality is that everyone is doing it and not talking about it. (with the exception of those people who actually bought the party line and think everyone else is towing the line as well). That doesn't mean that everyone is or should be a moral vacuum but holy crap, a little self-actualization and honesty would go a long way.
Here are my favorite "stigma's" that everyone is doing:
1) Masturbation: Almost without exception every guy (and a vast majority of women) masturbates, so why do people pretend like it's socially reprehensible? Why does it matter?
2) Porn: Pornography isn't a billion dollar industry in the United States because only people in California are buying it. People are totally fascinated with sex and the visual stimulation from watching sex, but still it's Taboo. What would happen if it weren't so socially repugnant? Would MORE people buy porn?
3) Drugs: Especially Pot. I know more people who smoke pot than don't, or have at one point in their lives smoked marijuana, yet we still have a "war on drugs" and it's EVIL (tm.)
Oh well...
Let me get this strait... You are old enough to know the difference between "Straitforward eye-contact and the "take me, I'm yours sort), but you're still so lame that you can't even talk to her? Additionally, after NOT talking to her for a year you're in such emotional despair that even the sight of her ruins your entire day? That's pretty sad, but all is not lost...
."
Here are some small bits of advice:
1) Get laid. Pay for it. There are escorts everywhere. Don't think of it as being desperate, think of it as job training. You're learning how to talk with women, how to touch them, what they like and what they think about. Escorts are perfect for this. They also have the side benefit of making you less desperate for sex and human interaction which women can detect from a mile away. As a bonus, they don't care if you make mistakes. You're learning from a professional and in fact you should tell them exactly that. "Hi, I'm really uncomfortable around women, and I don't get laid and I'm not good at releationships and I need help." Lastly, don't listen to anyone (including "Mother Culture") who says that paying for sex is bad or immoral. There's a HUGE difference between meeting an escort and picking up a street walker.
2) Talk to people. It takes practice but you can do it. Talk to everyone. Start off slowly, say hello to EVERYONE you see, man or woman, ugly or hot. Conversations are easy, because most people will do the talking if you let them, you just have to initiate the callback function. Here's how it works:
You: "Hi! How are you? How was your ?"
Them: "Hi! It was great. Blah blah blah."
You: "Oh, really? That's really cool. What did you think of "blah blah blah"?
They'll take over the conversation and you just have to listen to what they are saying and be truly interested. Think of it as a science experiment. You're studying humans and everything that they do. Ask pointed questions about whatever they are talking about to keep the conversation going. When you hit the "uncomfortable silence" phase of the conversation, just say "Well, good to see you; I've got a lot of work to do." And walk away. You can always excuse yourself. Another great one is "Well, I don't want to keep you. Talk to you later".
3) Go talk to that girl. Make up your mind that you're going to do it and just do it. Don't think, don't plan and for gawd sakes don't work out how the conversation is going to end before you even have it.
3a) Say hello to her, ask her how she is doing. Tell her that you think she's an interesting person and it seems like you have a lot in common. See if she'll go to lunch with you. As you said, she's a geek girl, so you know that you have plenty to talk about. If asking her to lunch is too hard, start simply.. Tell her you're going to grab some lunch and ask her you can pick her up something. You'll have the benefit of having an excuse to talk to her, you'll know a bit more about her (what she likes to eat) AND she'll probably feel obligated to eat with you in the lunch room (or whereever).
3b) After having a conversation with her a few times, tell her most of the truth. Here's how it would go:
"You know, I've been interested in talking to you for a while, but I'm such a nerd I couldn't get up the nerve to do it
And she'll say:
"I wonder what took you so long. I've been giving you eyes for a while... Of course, I'm a dork too and couldn't come talk to you; I was too afraid."
Life is too short to freak out over something that never happened or something that "could have been"; Seize the day!
GOOD LUCK!
Because the idea of free software isn't about price. Basically what you're saying is that you don't want to pay for software, so you're going to get it for free regardless of whether or not it's "open source". You like the open source versions because it is legal to use them without paying money.
There's nothing wrong with that, other than it costs money to make software and no one has come up with a good model for making money as a programming besides the current proprietary model. Volunteer work is fine but it doesn't pay the mortgage. Until the attitude of "Money_Free" is replaced with paying for the time of the people working on the "RMS_Free" software, we're at an impass.
There's nothing wrong with your statment "Stick with Open Office". It's good, but your hyperbole is wanting. There is document compatibility between Office 2003 and Office XP. It's true that compatibility was borked between 97 and 2000; The reasons are most likely not because Microsoft wanted everyone to upgrade to squeeze money out of it's customers. That may have been a side effect, however the primary reason was due to the limitations of the document format used in Office 97. If an open source project changed document formats, it wouldn't be because of some sinister plan to wrangle money out of people; but only because it's given away free of charge.
It's not inconcievable that some people find that Office is just the superior product.
I'm guessing that this model is actually a lot like the ATT / BSD dabacle in the early 90s:
ATT: You're stealing our IP; We're suing you.
Berkley: You're taking our code and removing the copyright so you can resell it.
ATT: Oh, right. Nevermind.
Berkely: No problem; Let's not discuss this again.
If there is enough cross polination of patents between the various participating vendors, it will be impossible to untangle it without destroying their own products. I'm guessing it would go something like this:
SCO-type: We're suing your because you're using our patents.
IBM: (to other participants) Hey, these hanyaucks are suing us for patent infringment.
Everyone else: Well, that's not going to do, I guess we'll have to counter sue.
IBM: Right, let's get them.
SCO-type: Uhh... nevermind. Can't you guys take a joke?
I'd say that's a pretty poor guess. Neuros has a history of "open source" with their media players. A few years ago they released the source code for their Neuros Syncronization Manager NSM. Their first generation player was pretty crappy in terms of hardware (FM transmitter didn't work right, only had a USB 1.1 (ugh!) interface) and the NSM software was kind of bunk; However they've had firm-ware updates for a while that support OGG and it's pretty interesting that a company is actually make a portable media player that they are encouraging (and supporting!) geek to hack (sounds like material for MAKE). I think that's a pretty post-modern (and refreshing) idea in a world where we're constantly assaulted with legal threats, DRM, etc.
Don't be so quick to judge something based on a partial quote from a magazine article. Besides, he's technically right about open-source projects. Taking a look at source-forge there are at least 100 projects that are dead for every one that is active, whether they were started by "kids" or not.
Anyway... Look a little closer at the project; there's some interesting stuff going on there.
What happened to the good old days of naked pictures of your hot teachers? Kids these days...
I thought about this myself. Near as I can tell, with Gates (Balmer, et. al) It's not about money. It's like a competitive sport. They enjoy the rush of killing the competition. If it were about the money, they could have walked years ago.
It's unforutnate that more people don't do this; The question is: When is enough, enough? As a business man, you should make your 20 or 50 million and then step aside and let someone else have a go. Unfortunately, the same mentality that motivates these people to make 20 or 50 million is the same mentality that keeps them from letting it go. It's really like a sick game of "King of the hill" (minus the propane).
You know, I really *want* to agree with you; What you are saying makes a lot of sense. The problem is that these "companies" employ brainwashing tactics to make YOU want the crap they sell. It doesn't work the other way around. Here are a few examples:
Breakfast Cereal. Companies create this nasty, sugar filled crap and then attach cartoon characters to it, goofy songs and toy in the box gimmicks. They then advertise it on television at 7am during morning cartoons, directly to the children watching. Next time you're in the store, little Johnny is jumping up and down with excitement because "Captain Jack's Pirate Os" are on the shelf. He's excited and happy; Pulls at your heart strings and you buy it. Do you WANT this nasty cereal?
Services: I used to teach martial arts. One of the "tricks" that we were taught to use to get people to join our classes is give them "two free lessons." We'd get kids excited and their parents would bring them down for a 20 minute lesson in Karate. We were specifically instructed on how to manipulate the kid so that he (or she) got REALLY excited about taking Karate and how COOL! it was, etc. Then at the end of the second lesson we would hit them up with a three year contract at 125 bucks a month, and make them say no in front of their kids. (Yes, I know this is EVIL and wrong; that's why I do not work there anymore).
Technology: iPods. Who *needs* an iPod? As people point out constantly, the marketing is about the "experience". Well, that's a manipulated social event, created by Apple's marketing guys. I have an iPod; I love it. I owned a neuros before; which did exactly the same thing (and played OGG) but it wasn't as "cool". Apple has mastered it. They make you WANT their products.
In all of these cases, the consumer supposedly had a "choice" but this is psychological warfare. Marketing people go to school and do studies on the best way to manipulate people and their emotions, desires etc. Frankly, we don't dictate shit to anyone. Companies dictate to us what is cool, what is worth having, what the price is, etc.
They don't have to convice the few geeks on slashdot or sites like this. They convince 15 year olds who are subjected to mass marketing and peer pressure. As long as there are a core group of people who buy this drivel, we (the "fringe") are screwed.
The REAL kicker is that even when you try and convince them that they shouldn't buy the lastest Candy-Pop, they'll respond with "I don't care." or "I like this, I'm buying it." The concept of current actions having future consequences is relatively foreign to teenagers (on the average). Marketroids KNOW this, and you can bet your ass the RIAA/MPAA (etc.) know it too.
/Sigh.
Administrator does not equal Root.
Though I'm not familiar with "DesktopBSD" specifically, my guess would be that it would be similar to adding a user to wheel and operator groups.
On the other hand, if they actually mean true "ROOT" then they should be taken out back and shot.