The dichotomy between nerds and jocks is a false one, and it has been for some time.
That may be true in nature and even in some societies, but in USA it's definitely not true, or at the very least not completely true. The anti-intellectualism in USA is astounding, and it's not entirely caused by a reverence for sports stars (religion has to take a lot of blame). Personally, I think it's best that we do as a society what geeks and those who were picked on growing up were encouraged to do: ignore them. Ignore the sports stars, the people who are all style and no substance, ignore the incompetent naysayers. Don't believe that you have to be stupid to be a quarterback, but also don't limit yourself because you think you have to study all the time.
I never was very "athletic" growing up; sure, I hiked, backpacked, and was in the marching band. But until recently I had the same nerd attitude of shunning athletic activity as something that seemed a waste of time to me. If there is anything I could go back and tell myself, it would be to push myself not just in areas of the mind, but push myself bodily as well. Why? For one thing, studies have shown that exercise can signifigantly help improve cognition, not to mention mood. I've noticed this personally, and there's definitely something to "runner's high" and getting up early to exercise first thing in the morning so I have energy the whole rest of the day. A message to geeks and nerds: get some exercise, even if it's just walking around your neighborhood for twenty minutes a day; it WILL help. You don't have to play football (or American football), just get your pulse racing and you will find your mental performance increasing as well. Find something you like to do that is physical and do it; you'll feel better.
Do we really need, or even want, Windows any more?
Some of us haven't needed Windows for years, and haven't *wanted* it for even longer. The only reason I even know that Windows even exists is that I have to support it for my users at work.
So, they have it right that RedBox is cutting into their sales, but only of crappy movies which covers 2/3's (depending on who you are, this number fluctuates wildly).
Did you see Wolverine? There's better special effects on weekly TV shows. Yow!
That's sad. I just recently watched "The Fountain" and it had *incredible* special effects, made even more incredible by the fact that almost none of it was CGI. It was a really good movie as well. I only bring this up because "The Fountain" and Wolverine had the same actor as the lead. It really makes a difference when you've got a good writer and director (in this case the same person).
OTOH, the movie still cost millions to make, even with the special effects they used (which weren't used solely because they were much cheaper, but more for arts sake). I'm all for shitty movies not being made anymore, and I'll agree that when you make a movie with profit as the main motivation you are much less likely to get a good movie, but I fear for the future of good movies because often they aren't profitable. In a race to the bottom the first thing to be cut is not the crap - it's the less profitable.
In other words, standard FAT file path conventions. The most used file system in the world. As used by about 90% of people's desktop computers.
Damn, I'm out of mod points, otherwise I'd have modded you troll and moved on. Suffice to say, the idiocy of this first line alone is all I'm willing to deal with, so I will attempt to enlighten you, then move on.
Do you even know WTF you're talking about? Have you ever actually *written* any software that opens files? I mean, yeah, FAT is very widespread, used everywhere. But last I checked, none of Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, VxWorks or MacOSX (to name just a few OSes that have FATFS support) have drive letters or backslashes as directory separators. They also all support POSIX file semantics, even on FATFS. Drive letters, backslashes and non-POSIX filesystem semantics are *NOT* FAT file path conventions. To anyone who has ever even dabbled in system administration or programming on systems that have these "features" it is obvious what they are: bad design decisions that are only being held onto because of backwards compatibility.
You could say that about novels, too, yet people complain about Dan Brown's historical inaccuracies to no end.
And his shitty writing. It's one thing to write a rollicking good read that may not have all its technical details correct; it's another thing entirely to have formulaic plots, flat characters, *and* bad writing surrounding a core of fact after fact that is flat out wrong.
No, he's more like a brickie who gets home from his week at work and sits down in front of the TV with a beer instead of immediately running out to the back yard, mixing cement, and starting to build some random piece of wall just because he's got nothing better to do than try pointless exercises with different types of brick he's never used before and, god dammit, will almost certainly never use again. He's the brickie that gets home from work and actually relaxes and spends some time off because he knows that, while there're always new things to learn, he's mastered the basics and some of the advanced techniques in his job and that he's well enough equipped to perform his work well.
Programming for fun is great if you've got nothing better to do. But once you're doing 40+ hours of something productive a week it starts to lose its shine compared with activities which were actually designed from the start to be fun.
Let me just preface this by saying: yes, I have a life. I'm married, I'm a member of the local mountain rescue group, big band and orchestra. I currently work a 40 hour a week job writing software. I recognize the importance of balance and a need not to get so focused that you lose sight of the big picture.
That being said, I wish I had more time to program. I wish I could work full-time on software for me, instead of having my energy and motivation sapped by writing software for others. I do a little bit of coding in my spare time, but nothing serious (yet). I also think that anyone who works a job solely for the money is quite frankly missing out and selling themselves short. Not to mention, someone who loves the craft (whatever it is) and who spends at least some of their spare time on their "profession" will be better at that craft than those who always flop down on the couch and veg out at the end of the day. Of course I understand that some jobs just suck all your energy and enthusiasm for the activity (and almost all jobs have at least *some* days like that), but those who work a job just for a paycheck disgust me a little. I admit I read a lot more fiction than I really need to relax, and I probably wouldn't continue working where I do if I didn't need the money, but if I didn't love the work, I wouldn't do it at all. I'm fairly certain I have what it takes to make a lot more money (say, as a doctor or lawyer), but I love to code.
But there's no reason to harp on FOSS developers in particular
Yes there are a couple of reasons, the first and foremost being: as we hold our software to a higher standard, so should we hold ourselves to a higher standard. FOSS is progressive and egalitarian by it's very nature; why should we not also act that way and not tolerate intolerance?
Second, prejudice closes the mind, and a closed mind is a less creative one.
what's the reason why women aren't involved in [geeky/technical hobbies]
The reason is something that programmers, especially FOSS programmers have extremely limited control over: society and "traditional" female/male roles. Technical solutions to social problems don't work, and probably never will.
That being said, we in the FOSS community should hold ourselves to a higher standard, just as we hold our software to a higher standard. We should not tolerate prejudice of any kind, be it sexism, racism, etc. We may never get above 1.5% women FOSS developers, but that is no excuse to tolerate bigotry. Even from a utilitarian point of view, even if it doesn't bring in more women developers, prejudice closes the mind, and a closed mind is less apt to find inventive new ways to do things.
So that ONE instance is repeated over and over (and linked to) as "evidence" of "sexism" instead of being seen as what it really is: ONE instance out of thousands of non-sexist presentations.
Here's the deal: we should not tolerate this. People who give "presentations" like this should be heckled; they should be called out by the community. It doesn't matter how "talented" they may be; for every "little" act of offense they do, that repulses thousands of developers (both female AND male) who could have easily performed the same development work. Even if you go by Spolsky or Graham standards, all it takes is the loss of 100 programmers to nullify the "contributions" of one "talented" sexist pig.
Does it upset you when even one person gets tortured? Shouldn't we be holding ourselves to a higher standard, just as we hold our software to a higher standard? Sure, saying chauvinistic things isn't the same as torturing someone, but the principle is the same: some things just shouldn't be tolerated. The only way you get to be an asshole is a) if you don't scare away so many people that your attitude is a net lose in productivity and b) you are an asshole to everyone equally.
Let's not forget that some of us are training towards a goal, and you can't judge your progress until you are measuring your progress. Eg, I need to be able to ascend 1000ft over 1.8 miles with no pack in under 25 minutes in order to meet one of the requirements for the SAR group I am a member of. Sure, I could just use a watch, but having the heart rate monitor helps me better judge how hard to push myself, especially once you get up to the interval level (which is one of the fastest ways to improve aerobically). It's also an excellent motivator.
As to the original poster, I recently got a Garmin 405 and like it so far. I found a piece of software to download the data over the ANT+ stick at http://cgit.gromotion.com/cgit.cgi/gant/. It's very rough and doesn't offer anything for analysis yet, but it's a start.
Too true. I would also argue that if heart rate records are being used to deny people health insurance, the problem isn't keeping the heart rate records. Of course, suggesting that anything but the "free market" might be work better for health insurance will get many people to cover their ears and start screaming at the top of their voice "LALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU".
PS - I still use Electric Fence on a daily basis. Thank you very much for all your work on it!
By the way, I'm sorry that most of the folks who have posted so far are unsympathetic and unthinking creeps. It's your job to watch out for your child, and such thinking is hardly paranoid.
Bruce, some of us aren't unsympathetic and unthinking; we just see it from another POV. For one thing, most heart rate monitors, especially the kind likely to be bought at bargain basement prices for a public school, can't do anything other than tell you your current pulse. Even the high-end heart rate monitors are nowhere near an EKG/ECG, and couldn't point out arrythmia (yet).
It's all well and good to be concerned for your child's welfare, but a heart rate monitor can be very helpful in keeping track of and motivating someone to get into shape. Like you, I'm not sure how HIPAA would apply, but I would think a firm "NO" from a parent when they request to keep records of the kid's heart rate would suffice. If not, then lawsuit.
Just to answer at least one question in the summary: a heart rate monitor does exactly that: it monitors the rate that your heart pumps blood. They are not inherently dangerous; in fact, the opposite could be said. They can tell you when you are working out too hard (in case the pain wasn't enough) so you won't push yourself too hard and injure yourself. They are also widely used for conditioning; I use one myself to keep track of my progress when training for SAR operations, and just about everyone I know who is even somewhat competitive sportswise uses one (this includes cyclists, runners, hikers, etc).
Now, you don't necessarily need to buy one; in fact, if your kid has a wristwatch with a second hand, he already has a heart rate monitor: himself. He can simply take his pulse as the nurse does at the doctor's office, and he's good to go. The advantage that the heart rate monitor buys him is not having to consciously keep track of his heart rate, and depending on the model, all sorts of statistics (my very basic one gives me maximum for the session, average for the session, and time elapsed; others can do charts against GPS tracks).
It's actually kind of good to hear that at least one school somewhere is taking this kind of interest in their kids; at least, taking it on face value that's what it looks like to me. Combined with the correct teaching approach, such as explaining how the circulatory system works and that the harder you work, the faster your heart pumps, and explaining basic aerobic conditioning, this could be a brilliant way to get kids to get more exercise. Not all competition is healthy, and the fact is that heart rate varies wildly even between the most similarly trained individuals; neverthelss, the kids could even be encouraged to condition themselves to see who could get the lowest heart rate on, say, a one mile run (in a set amount of time). Or just encourage to keep beating their own averages by running faster, farther and with a lower overall heart rate (indicating an increase in conditioning).
One of the downsides to a heart rate monitor is that they could grow reliant on it, and not trust their own body's signals to let them know how hard they are working. It's also a shame that the school is insisting (if, indeed, they are) that these are required; they shouldn't be, and the aforementioned watch method is a perfectly suitable, cheap replacement. Again, I'm willing to bet that the school is trying to standardize, not wanting to leave anyone feeling left out, and their budget is probably strained already.
As for the paranoia about this being used against them later in life, first off, that's a problem with our health care system, and the solution is not to ignore our health in the hopes that the insurance companies will as well. Just keep the data private and insist that any school faculty is not allowed to record it unless they meet HIPAA standards. I doubt they do.
"Taskbar thumbnail previews" are something I remember having in Compiz long before Win7, and I don't remember seeing them on OS X, either. Want to be specific about what Mac things they're ripping off?
Heck, I remember having dynamically updated previews of running apps (I think this is what you're talking about) in the desktop switcher in Enlightenment, what 0.9? 0.7? I can't remember exactly, it was well over ten years ago. OS X wasn't even a gleam in Steve Jobs' eye back then, and Windows? Don't make me laugh.
I work for DoD. I remember thinking about posting about this the first time I saw it, years ago. The truth is, nobody cares. Everyone where I work has headphones on and is listening to MP3s, either on their portable music players (not all are iPod . . . ) or on their computers. About the last damn thing we need our government security tax dollars being wasted on is a quixotic quest to rid all government assets of "stolen" music.
It does sicken me a bit to see such propaganda bandied about as official government policy, but I figure if you aren't smart enough to know the difference between downloading data you have rights to (by fair use or otherwise) and an honest to goodness security breach, you shouldn't hold a clearance.
Google went wrong by giving handset manufacturers and carriers too much control
Really? As opposed to Apple's completely open, won't ever delete your app for any reason AppStore. No, it's pretty obvious to anyone with half a clue that the iPhone's success is due in no small part to Apple's marketing. Sad but true, decent (even superior) competing products won't gain market share for the simple fact that people can be brainwashed (ie, advertised to).
The bees' disappearance is far more worrying than only because of the possible loss of honey: bees are needed to fertilize many of our crops.
I was partly being facetious, but honey is really something of a wonder food, IMHO. Tastes great too.
That means that, in the near future, we'll all be eating soy-based junk
I don't mind soy, but I think I remember a Pohl novel (probably one in the Heechee saga) that described working in algae mines or something similar to produce edible foodstuffs from petroleum products. Not a pretty picture.
"The types of problems you can solve is directly related to the quality of abstraction available"
Probably not who you are thinking of, but Paul Graham has said something very similar many, many, many, many times. I suggest reading as much of his writing as you can.
Why are we _supposed_ to care about other species?
Oh, I don't know, maybe that minor little detail that we aren't capable of photosynthesis, and we are also not able to extract life sustaining nutrients from raw dirt. If nothing else we need to pay attention to other species as food source, and the food chain is a lot more complex than many people think. I, for one, would seriously miss honey if bees were to suddenly disappear.
Their OS, VxWorks, was/is used on many spacecrafts
It's also one of the very, very few OSes certified for aircraft. Wind River paid a good amount of money to get it certified, and as a customer you will pay an arm and a leg through your nose to get that certified software. It's one of the reasons on a (very) short list that we use it instead of Linux for a lot of software that goes on aircraft. Personally, I'm not too impressed with vxWorks, but I am a little disturbed by Intel picking them up; most embedded systems I've ever worked with are non-Intel (mostly PowerPC). How will this affect their support of non-Intel platforms? Of course, I was mildly annoyed when one of my former employers sold Wind River RTLinux, but they still seem to be going strong.
Socrates would have been downmodded into oblivion (though, I would have friended +6 him). Fortunately, someone recognized the genius in his asking leading questions that revealed the questioned's wrongful thinking, and preserved his writings.
the best technique is still to prevent people from getting root in the first place.
Which is why on most decent distributions root is not the primary account (default setup) and sometimes root is locked out altogether (eg, SELinux). This is also why most people still (justifiably) claim that Linux is more secure than Windows in just about every way possible: Windows' default user is root![1]
Footnote[1]: I don't know about more recent versions of Windows; I try not to touch the stuff unless I have to, and the most recent times I've had to (2000 and XP), Windows still seemed to have this problem. Even in the hands of highly skilled Windows admins, Windows seems to wallow in its insecurity.
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That may be true in nature and even in some societies, but in USA it's definitely not true, or at the very least not completely true. The anti-intellectualism in USA is astounding, and it's not entirely caused by a reverence for sports stars (religion has to take a lot of blame). Personally, I think it's best that we do as a society what geeks and those who were picked on growing up were encouraged to do: ignore them. Ignore the sports stars, the people who are all style and no substance, ignore the incompetent naysayers. Don't believe that you have to be stupid to be a quarterback, but also don't limit yourself because you think you have to study all the time.
I never was very "athletic" growing up; sure, I hiked, backpacked, and was in the marching band. But until recently I had the same nerd attitude of shunning athletic activity as something that seemed a waste of time to me. If there is anything I could go back and tell myself, it would be to push myself not just in areas of the mind, but push myself bodily as well. Why? For one thing, studies have shown that exercise can signifigantly help improve cognition, not to mention mood. I've noticed this personally, and there's definitely something to "runner's high" and getting up early to exercise first thing in the morning so I have energy the whole rest of the day. A message to geeks and nerds: get some exercise, even if it's just walking around your neighborhood for twenty minutes a day; it WILL help. You don't have to play football (or American football), just get your pulse racing and you will find your mental performance increasing as well. Find something you like to do that is physical and do it; you'll feel better.
Some of us haven't needed Windows for years, and haven't *wanted* it for even longer. The only reason I even know that Windows even exists is that I have to support it for my users at work.
I heard this one guy had higher standards than that, and some are even more discriminating in their taste.
That's sad. I just recently watched "The Fountain" and it had *incredible* special effects, made even more incredible by the fact that almost none of it was CGI. It was a really good movie as well. I only bring this up because "The Fountain" and Wolverine had the same actor as the lead. It really makes a difference when you've got a good writer and director (in this case the same person).
OTOH, the movie still cost millions to make, even with the special effects they used (which weren't used solely because they were much cheaper, but more for arts sake). I'm all for shitty movies not being made anymore, and I'll agree that when you make a movie with profit as the main motivation you are much less likely to get a good movie, but I fear for the future of good movies because often they aren't profitable. In a race to the bottom the first thing to be cut is not the crap - it's the less profitable.
Damn, I'm out of mod points, otherwise I'd have modded you troll and moved on. Suffice to say, the idiocy of this first line alone is all I'm willing to deal with, so I will attempt to enlighten you, then move on.
Do you even know WTF you're talking about? Have you ever actually *written* any software that opens files? I mean, yeah, FAT is very widespread, used everywhere. But last I checked, none of Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, VxWorks or MacOSX (to name just a few OSes that have FATFS support) have drive letters or backslashes as directory separators. They also all support POSIX file semantics, even on FATFS. Drive letters, backslashes and non-POSIX filesystem semantics are *NOT* FAT file path conventions. To anyone who has ever even dabbled in system administration or programming on systems that have these "features" it is obvious what they are: bad design decisions that are only being held onto because of backwards compatibility.
And his shitty writing. It's one thing to write a rollicking good read that may not have all its technical details correct; it's another thing entirely to have formulaic plots, flat characters, *and* bad writing surrounding a core of fact after fact that is flat out wrong.
Let me just preface this by saying: yes, I have a life. I'm married, I'm a member of the local mountain rescue group, big band and orchestra. I currently work a 40 hour a week job writing software. I recognize the importance of balance and a need not to get so focused that you lose sight of the big picture.
That being said, I wish I had more time to program. I wish I could work full-time on software for me, instead of having my energy and motivation sapped by writing software for others. I do a little bit of coding in my spare time, but nothing serious (yet). I also think that anyone who works a job solely for the money is quite frankly missing out and selling themselves short. Not to mention, someone who loves the craft (whatever it is) and who spends at least some of their spare time on their "profession" will be better at that craft than those who always flop down on the couch and veg out at the end of the day. Of course I understand that some jobs just suck all your energy and enthusiasm for the activity (and almost all jobs have at least *some* days like that), but those who work a job just for a paycheck disgust me a little. I admit I read a lot more fiction than I really need to relax, and I probably wouldn't continue working where I do if I didn't need the money, but if I didn't love the work, I wouldn't do it at all. I'm fairly certain I have what it takes to make a lot more money (say, as a doctor or lawyer), but I love to code.
Yes there are a couple of reasons, the first and foremost being: as we hold our software to a higher standard, so should we hold ourselves to a higher standard. FOSS is progressive and egalitarian by it's very nature; why should we not also act that way and not tolerate intolerance?
Second, prejudice closes the mind, and a closed mind is a less creative one.
The reason is something that programmers, especially FOSS programmers have extremely limited control over: society and "traditional" female/male roles. Technical solutions to social problems don't work, and probably never will.
That being said, we in the FOSS community should hold ourselves to a higher standard, just as we hold our software to a higher standard. We should not tolerate prejudice of any kind, be it sexism, racism, etc. We may never get above 1.5% women FOSS developers, but that is no excuse to tolerate bigotry. Even from a utilitarian point of view, even if it doesn't bring in more women developers, prejudice closes the mind, and a closed mind is less apt to find inventive new ways to do things.
Here's the deal: we should not tolerate this. People who give "presentations" like this should be heckled; they should be called out by the community. It doesn't matter how "talented" they may be; for every "little" act of offense they do, that repulses thousands of developers (both female AND male) who could have easily performed the same development work. Even if you go by Spolsky or Graham standards, all it takes is the loss of 100 programmers to nullify the "contributions" of one "talented" sexist pig.
Does it upset you when even one person gets tortured? Shouldn't we be holding ourselves to a higher standard, just as we hold our software to a higher standard? Sure, saying chauvinistic things isn't the same as torturing someone, but the principle is the same: some things just shouldn't be tolerated. The only way you get to be an asshole is a) if you don't scare away so many people that your attitude is a net lose in productivity and b) you are an asshole to everyone equally.
Let's not forget that some of us are training towards a goal, and you can't judge your progress until you are measuring your progress. Eg, I need to be able to ascend 1000ft over 1.8 miles with no pack in under 25 minutes in order to meet one of the requirements for the SAR group I am a member of. Sure, I could just use a watch, but having the heart rate monitor helps me better judge how hard to push myself, especially once you get up to the interval level (which is one of the fastest ways to improve aerobically). It's also an excellent motivator.
As to the original poster, I recently got a Garmin 405 and like it so far. I found a piece of software to download the data over the ANT+ stick at http://cgit.gromotion.com/cgit.cgi/gant/. It's very rough and doesn't offer anything for analysis yet, but it's a start.
Too true. I would also argue that if heart rate records are being used to deny people health insurance, the problem isn't keeping the heart rate records. Of course, suggesting that anything but the "free market" might be work better for health insurance will get many people to cover their ears and start screaming at the top of their voice "LALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU".
PS - I still use Electric Fence on a daily basis. Thank you very much for all your work on it!
Bruce, some of us aren't unsympathetic and unthinking; we just see it from another POV. For one thing, most heart rate monitors, especially the kind likely to be bought at bargain basement prices for a public school, can't do anything other than tell you your current pulse. Even the high-end heart rate monitors are nowhere near an EKG/ECG, and couldn't point out arrythmia (yet).
It's all well and good to be concerned for your child's welfare, but a heart rate monitor can be very helpful in keeping track of and motivating someone to get into shape. Like you, I'm not sure how HIPAA would apply, but I would think a firm "NO" from a parent when they request to keep records of the kid's heart rate would suffice. If not, then lawsuit.
Just to answer at least one question in the summary: a heart rate monitor does exactly that: it monitors the rate that your heart pumps blood. They are not inherently dangerous; in fact, the opposite could be said. They can tell you when you are working out too hard (in case the pain wasn't enough) so you won't push yourself too hard and injure yourself. They are also widely used for conditioning; I use one myself to keep track of my progress when training for SAR operations, and just about everyone I know who is even somewhat competitive sportswise uses one (this includes cyclists, runners, hikers, etc).
Now, you don't necessarily need to buy one; in fact, if your kid has a wristwatch with a second hand, he already has a heart rate monitor: himself. He can simply take his pulse as the nurse does at the doctor's office, and he's good to go. The advantage that the heart rate monitor buys him is not having to consciously keep track of his heart rate, and depending on the model, all sorts of statistics (my very basic one gives me maximum for the session, average for the session, and time elapsed; others can do charts against GPS tracks).
It's actually kind of good to hear that at least one school somewhere is taking this kind of interest in their kids; at least, taking it on face value that's what it looks like to me. Combined with the correct teaching approach, such as explaining how the circulatory system works and that the harder you work, the faster your heart pumps, and explaining basic aerobic conditioning, this could be a brilliant way to get kids to get more exercise. Not all competition is healthy, and the fact is that heart rate varies wildly even between the most similarly trained individuals; neverthelss, the kids could even be encouraged to condition themselves to see who could get the lowest heart rate on, say, a one mile run (in a set amount of time). Or just encourage to keep beating their own averages by running faster, farther and with a lower overall heart rate (indicating an increase in conditioning).
One of the downsides to a heart rate monitor is that they could grow reliant on it, and not trust their own body's signals to let them know how hard they are working. It's also a shame that the school is insisting (if, indeed, they are) that these are required; they shouldn't be, and the aforementioned watch method is a perfectly suitable, cheap replacement. Again, I'm willing to bet that the school is trying to standardize, not wanting to leave anyone feeling left out, and their budget is probably strained already.
As for the paranoia about this being used against them later in life, first off, that's a problem with our health care system, and the solution is not to ignore our health in the hopes that the insurance companies will as well. Just keep the data private and insist that any school faculty is not allowed to record it unless they meet HIPAA standards. I doubt they do.
Heck, I remember having dynamically updated previews of running apps (I think this is what you're talking about) in the desktop switcher in Enlightenment, what 0.9? 0.7? I can't remember exactly, it was well over ten years ago. OS X wasn't even a gleam in Steve Jobs' eye back then, and Windows? Don't make me laugh.
I work for DoD. I remember thinking about posting about this the first time I saw it, years ago. The truth is, nobody cares. Everyone where I work has headphones on and is listening to MP3s, either on their portable music players (not all are iPod . . . ) or on their computers. About the last damn thing we need our government security tax dollars being wasted on is a quixotic quest to rid all government assets of "stolen" music.
It does sicken me a bit to see such propaganda bandied about as official government policy, but I figure if you aren't smart enough to know the difference between downloading data you have rights to (by fair use or otherwise) and an honest to goodness security breach, you shouldn't hold a clearance.
What's the problem? Just grab the source and recompile it.
Really? As opposed to Apple's completely open, won't ever delete your app for any reason AppStore. No, it's pretty obvious to anyone with half a clue that the iPhone's success is due in no small part to Apple's marketing. Sad but true, decent (even superior) competing products won't gain market share for the simple fact that people can be brainwashed (ie, advertised to).
I was partly being facetious, but honey is really something of a wonder food, IMHO. Tastes great too.
I don't mind soy, but I think I remember a Pohl novel (probably one in the Heechee saga) that described working in algae mines or something similar to produce edible foodstuffs from petroleum products. Not a pretty picture.
Probably not who you are thinking of, but Paul Graham has said something very similar many, many, many, many times. I suggest reading as much of his writing as you can.
Oh, I don't know, maybe that minor little detail that we aren't capable of photosynthesis, and we are also not able to extract life sustaining nutrients from raw dirt. If nothing else we need to pay attention to other species as food source, and the food chain is a lot more complex than many people think. I, for one, would seriously miss honey if bees were to suddenly disappear.
Benefits are ephemera? Wow, what company do you work for? I'm just curious because I don't want to ever work for them.
It's also one of the very, very few OSes certified for aircraft. Wind River paid a good amount of money to get it certified, and as a customer you will pay an arm and a leg through your nose to get that certified software. It's one of the reasons on a (very) short list that we use it instead of Linux for a lot of software that goes on aircraft. Personally, I'm not too impressed with vxWorks, but I am a little disturbed by Intel picking them up; most embedded systems I've ever worked with are non-Intel (mostly PowerPC). How will this affect their support of non-Intel platforms? Of course, I was mildly annoyed when one of my former employers sold Wind River RTLinux, but they still seem to be going strong.
Socrates would have been downmodded into oblivion (though, I would have friended +6 him). Fortunately, someone recognized the genius in his asking leading questions that revealed the questioned's wrongful thinking, and preserved his writings.
Which is why on most decent distributions root is not the primary account (default setup) and sometimes root is locked out altogether (eg, SELinux). This is also why most people still (justifiably) claim that Linux is more secure than Windows in just about every way possible: Windows' default user is root![1]
Footnote[1]: I don't know about more recent versions of Windows; I try not to touch the stuff unless I have to, and the most recent times I've had to (2000 and XP), Windows still seemed to have this problem. Even in the hands of highly skilled Windows admins, Windows seems to wallow in its insecurity.