This is *not* AFRICA we're talking about; it is "South Africa", not your average african country. South Africa has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world. In fact, several years back, they were #1! Diamonds are really worth something.
This kind of measure dosn't tell you much about the typical person in South Africa. To find this out you'd be better off looking at median or mode figures for the population than the arithmetic mean.
From the point of a single product, they have a good point. Eventually, the programmer will/might realize that he could have written the same program for Windows, and have made himself a living writing programs (outside of the rat race, might I add)
Until Microsoft decides to clone their program, bundle it into Windows thus bankrupting them...
Windows operates under the assumption that the user *is* an idiot, and it treats them accordingly. Between all the stupid "Ok" dialogs and "Are you sure?" and Clippy, Windows does an excellent job of getting across the point that "you aren't smart enough to use a computer, so I have to hold your hand like a little kid crossing the street.
On the other hand Windows tends to assume users know what they are doing when it comes to installing software...
In a business setting, it's not only irresponsible, but blatantly stupid to depend on everyone in the company to be able to install software.
There is quite a sizable industry of third party Windows addons to attempt to prevent this.
In an educational setting this is even stupider. The users are children, they are students rather than employees and it's normal for users to use several machines in a day. On one hand you have the risk of an adult vandal who breaks their own machine and gets fired. On the other you have the risk of a teenage vandal who breaks several machines needed by lots of other people. With parents protesting if they are punished in any way.
*Plus* most users don't know a lick about Linux, and quite frankly, don't have the inclination to go through the 'hassle' of learning how it works and how to install the various packages required for a given application.
And they understand how Windows works? IMHO any corporate or educational organisation which expects end users to be installing software has a bigger problem that choosing what OS to install. Would you expect an office worker to build their own chair and desk; wire up their own power, telephone and network points? Would anyone, in their right mind, expect a high school student to do something similar? Using a computer is equivalent to sitting on a chair at a desk. Knowing how a computer works is equivalent to building a chair or desk in a workshop. They are different skill sets.
Bring on the flame, but Linux still isn't ready for prime-user use. It just isn't and it's gonna take a very long time before it gets to the point that companies are going to be ready to adopt it.
Strictly speaking Windows is not ready for "primetime" usage in business and education. Indeed it will probably never be ready since the single user paradigm is deep within the design. This is even more of an issue with education where you can easily have a situation of each user using 10 different workstaions and each workstation being used by 10 different people per day. In a business environment where someone might have a specific computer assigned to them Windows can cope somewhat better.
Not only that but when the current students get out into the workforce in 5 or so years time there is _no_ guarantee that Windows or Word will be the 'required' product to know.
Even if there are still products called "MS Windows", "MS Word", etc they may not look like those we have now.
That's because you have to edit a text file, and the file you have to edit requires su priviledges. It's in the x.conf file, I believe. Or rather, it's in the x config file, whatever it's called. Then you have to restart the x server.
As opposed to having a system where anyone sat in front of the machine can change the refresh rate, possibly to something the monitor cannot handle...
Let alone then mutating into "intersteller spacecraft". The term "fl;ying saucer" was originally used to describe the pattern of flight, rather than the shape anyway.
A "UFO" is just an unidentified flying object. Anything whizzing through the air that I can't identify is a "UFO",
Something travelling through space is probably really a "UO" since it dosn't have any air to fly through.
Re:Older soldier aren't soldiering...
on
GPS Jamming for $50
·
· Score: 1, Funny
Even before GPS, US units would get lost regularly on exercises in Germany due to poor map reading skills.
No, I see a more literal translation here... more like a "ship" taking about 1,000 cds of the "most current java installer" over to say... Zimbabwe... yup, that would fullfil the deal. Ship and java installer in the same sentence...no pun intended...
Why Zimbabwe? It would be cheaper to have the USAF "ship" a pile to Basra.
I don't know, while I didn't read the article....the headline blurb said they'd be required to "ship" it. Knowing Microsoft, that could mean it is in one of those 'extras' folders buried somewhere on the disc. Never installed unless the user digs around to find it!
What would happen if Microsoft simply didn't ship it? If it's something as trivial as a fine then they could easily not bother.
No, popular works should enter the public domain, during the lifetime of those who knew them best. Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, the Beatles, all should by now be in the public domain. Why should authors get to milk their old works until they die?
Or even the author's children or grandchildren...
Why shouldn't authors have to save their money for retirement during their best working years like the rest of us?
Once they have retired it isn't possible for their copyrights to encourage them to produce new works anyway...
For every work of art from the 20's and 30's that is still a major money maker, there are probably a thousand works which have already exhausted their value to the copyright holder. There's not sufficient interest to make it worthwhile to market it. But these works could still be valuable sources for new ideas and inspirations, historical research, and what not.
Is it worth locking up these thousands of works, making republication illegal even as the originals are ravaged by time, just to protect the few works which still provide a revenue stream?
Especially given that there are no copyright libraries for anything other that books and those which exist have a storage problem. It's now perfectly posible for the copyright on a work to outlast every copy of the work itself. In some cases even if the media survives there won't exist a working reading machine anywhere on the planet. (This has already happened with material only a few decades old.) Indeed the only works which may make it into the public domain in future might be those which are extensivly pirated.
Repeal the CTEA. In its place, set up a system where the original copyright term applies to every work, but that term can be extended for any given work.
Except that you need to go back a lot further than this. First removing the idea of copyright being "life plus X years". Instead having a fixed term somewhere between 5 and 15 years.
Since I believe in the importance of the public domain, extending the copyright on a work shouldn't be a trivial proposition. Copyright holders should be charged a fee that mirrors its value to the public; say, 1-2% of all profits attributable to the work in question over its lifetime.
A simpler solution would be to have a fee which doubles for every year of extension. Which means that if something is still making money at the end of it's regular term then keeping it in copyright for a few years dosn't cost the copyright holder that much, but the longer they want to hold on to it the more it costs. e.g. you get 5 years standard term and the first renewel costs 1 USD. Then 10 years would cost you 31 dollers; 15 years would cost you just over a thousand dollers; 20 years would be nearly 33 thousand dollers; 25 years would be just over a million dollers and 30 years would be 33 and a half million.
The interesting thing here, is that these titles predate Disney, therefore Disney only has copyright over the animated form that it has produced and anyone producing a work based on the original story should be free to do so. IANAL, but I believe that you can't take a work and remove it from the public domain.
But they can attempt to pollute the public domain. e.g. by claiming that a production of for example "Snow White" is a derived work of their version, rather than the public domain version.
No problem in Czech Republic either, with a testing period of something like, umh, 3 years.
Could it be that the problems here are due to US having a hotch potch of different cellular systems? Whereas the rest of the world uses GSM where SMS was part of the spec...
The computerized voting that this administration is pushing will only lead to more vote fraud because the count will not be audited. In the 2002 elections in 5 different states Republican candidates won by the same score of 18181 (a prime number). Now, I am willing to give Diebold the benefit of the doubt and say this is a programming error but the fact that this isn't being discussed in the media is a problem. This voting machine code should be GPL'ed so we can all look at it and make sure it works.
You can only verify if you can put the same data into your copy of the program. There are all sorts of issues surrounding being sure that the approved code and only that code is actually running on the machines.
If they do go to computerized voting there needs to be an audit trail.
How can you do this in such a way that makes an audit and/or recount possible?
this is true far, far too often. an end user says we need a web site that... we would like a java app to... this is where the systems analyst fails. it's their responsibility to keep asking further what the real requirements are, "we need to be able to collect, process and track orders in real time from our global customers." is a much better requirement statement than "we need a web site that takes orders from our customers".
Especially since the "we need a website..." only makes sense if that will be the only way you interact with customers. More likly a useful system will need to be able to cope with telephone, fax, mail and email as well as using a website.
I only partially agree with you. On the one hand, waiting a few hours (or even a few days) to make sure that all the ballots are counted correctly, and so that news about the outcome in one state doesn't affect another, all seem like good things.
Thing is that the US is rather unique in running multiple elections on a single ballot paper. Which makes counting (and recounting) complex.
In New Zealand we have pretty much a total political news blackout on election day until the polls close. They can talk about voter turnout estimates etc but nothing much else. Exit polling is illegal. All billboards must be done by midnight before election day.
What happens if any get let up? Hopefully something like disqualifying the candidate...
his english is damn near perfect (no offense to anyone on this but knowing a second language as good as your first is easier said than done)
Would you have been able to read it if it was written in Arabic? English is the world's second most used language, remember.
everything purchased on his site is is in US dollars.
Probably because he bought quite a bit from the US. No doubt if it has quoted in EGP there would be those complaining about having to multiply by 0.216450
the pictures could have easily be taken somewhere in california...
Does this mean that Hollywood could be in North East Africa:)
Slashdot Mirror
This is *not* AFRICA we're talking about; it is "South Africa", not your average african country. South Africa has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world. In fact, several years back, they were #1! Diamonds are really worth something.
This kind of measure dosn't tell you much about the typical person in South Africa. To find this out you'd be better off looking at median or mode figures for the population than the arithmetic mean.
From the point of a single product, they have a good point. Eventually, the programmer will/might realize that he could have written the same program for Windows, and have made himself a living writing programs (outside of the rat race, might I add)
Until Microsoft decides to clone their program, bundle it into Windows thus bankrupting them...
Not to mention that the vast majority of applications written for education use require a Win32 platform.
How many complex educational programs exist which are actually useful.
Having a bank of computers in a lab to teach kids linux is fantastic, but moving the whole school over to it is a bit too much.
As opposed to having banks of computers to "teach them Windows" or more likely to teach them some application they will never see outside a school.
What about Tony Blair's email address [bloggerheads.com] then?
Why bother, all he appears to do is parrot GW Bush?
Windows operates under the assumption that the user *is* an idiot, and it treats them accordingly. Between all the stupid "Ok" dialogs and "Are you sure?" and Clippy, Windows does an excellent job of getting across the point that "you aren't smart enough to use a computer, so I have to hold your hand like a little kid crossing the street.
On the other hand Windows tends to assume users know what they are doing when it comes to installing software...
In a business setting, it's not only irresponsible, but blatantly stupid to depend on everyone in the company to be able to install software.
There is quite a sizable industry of third party Windows addons to attempt to prevent this.
In an educational setting this is even stupider. The users are children, they are students rather than employees and it's normal for users to use several machines in a day.
On one hand you have the risk of an adult vandal who breaks their own machine and gets fired. On the other you have the risk of a teenage vandal who breaks several machines needed by lots of other people. With parents protesting if they are punished in any way.
*Plus* most users don't know a lick about Linux, and quite frankly, don't have the inclination to go through the 'hassle' of learning how it works and how to install the various packages required for a given application.
And they understand how Windows works? IMHO any corporate or educational organisation which expects end users to be installing software has a bigger problem that choosing what OS to install.
Would you expect an office worker to build their own chair and desk; wire up their own power, telephone and network points? Would anyone, in their right mind, expect a high school student to do something similar?
Using a computer is equivalent to sitting on a chair at a desk. Knowing how a computer works is equivalent to building a chair or desk in a workshop. They are different skill sets.
Bring on the flame, but Linux still isn't ready for prime-user use. It just isn't and it's gonna take a very long time before it gets to the point that companies are going to be ready to adopt it.
Strictly speaking Windows is not ready for "primetime" usage in business and education.
Indeed it will probably never be ready since the single user paradigm is deep within the design. This is even more of an issue with education where you can easily have a situation of each user using 10 different workstaions and each workstation being used by 10 different people per day. In a business environment where someone might have a specific computer assigned to them Windows can cope somewhat better.
Not only that but when the current students get out into the workforce in 5 or so years time there is _no_ guarantee that Windows or Word will be the 'required' product to know.
Even if there are still products called "MS Windows", "MS Word", etc they may not look like those we have now.
That's because you have to edit a text file, and the file you have to edit requires su priviledges. It's in the x.conf file, I believe. Or rather, it's in the x config file, whatever it's called. Then you have to restart the x server.
As opposed to having a system where anyone sat in front of the machine can change the refresh rate, possibly to something the monitor cannot handle...
Once the PM's email is made public, he will get tons of spam.
He's probably more concerned about getting "flamed" right now.
Why has it become such that UFO = flying saucer?
Let alone then mutating into "intersteller spacecraft".
The term "fl;ying saucer" was originally used to describe the pattern of flight, rather than the shape anyway.
A "UFO" is just an unidentified flying object. Anything whizzing through the air that I can't identify is a "UFO",
Something travelling through space is probably really a "UO" since it dosn't have any air to fly through.
Even before GPS, US units would get lost regularly on exercises in Germany due to poor map reading skills.
Rather fewer landmarks in Iraq than Germany too.
No, I see a more literal translation here... more like a "ship" taking about 1,000 cds of the "most current java installer" over to say... Zimbabwe... yup, that would fullfil the deal. Ship and java installer in the same sentence...no pun intended...
Why Zimbabwe? It would be cheaper to have the USAF "ship" a pile to Basra.
I don't know, while I didn't read the article....the headline blurb said they'd be required to "ship" it. Knowing Microsoft, that could mean it is in one of those 'extras' folders buried somewhere on the disc. Never installed unless the user digs around to find it!
What would happen if Microsoft simply didn't ship it? If it's something as trivial as a fine then they could easily not bother.
No, popular works should enter the public domain, during the lifetime of those who knew them best. Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, the Beatles, all should by now be in the public domain. Why should authors get to milk their old works until they die?
Or even the author's children or grandchildren...
Why shouldn't authors have to save their money for retirement during their best working years like the rest of us?
Once they have retired it isn't possible for their copyrights to encourage them to produce new works anyway...
For every work of art from the 20's and 30's that is still a major money maker, there are probably a thousand works which have already exhausted their value to the copyright holder. There's not sufficient interest to make it worthwhile to market it. But these works could still be valuable sources for new ideas and inspirations, historical research, and what not.
Is it worth locking up these thousands of works, making republication illegal even as the originals are ravaged by time, just to protect the few works which still provide a revenue stream?
Especially given that there are no copyright libraries for anything other that books and those which exist have a storage problem.
It's now perfectly posible for the copyright on a work to outlast every copy of the work itself. In some cases even if the media survives there won't exist a working reading machine anywhere on the planet. (This has already happened with material only a few decades old.) Indeed the only works which may make it into the public domain in future might be those which are extensivly pirated.
Repeal the CTEA. In its place, set up a system where the original copyright term applies to every work, but that term can be extended for any given work.
Except that you need to go back a lot further than this. First removing the idea of copyright being "life plus X years". Instead having a fixed term somewhere between 5 and 15 years.
Since I believe in the importance of the public domain, extending the copyright on a work shouldn't be a trivial proposition. Copyright holders should be charged a fee that mirrors its value to the public; say, 1-2% of all profits attributable to the work in question over its lifetime.
A simpler solution would be to have a fee which doubles for every year of extension. Which means that if something is still making money at the end of it's regular term then keeping it in copyright for a few years dosn't cost the copyright holder that much, but the longer they want to hold on to it the more it costs.
e.g. you get 5 years standard term and the first renewel costs 1 USD. Then 10 years would cost you 31 dollers; 15 years would cost you just over a thousand dollers; 20 years would be nearly 33 thousand dollers; 25 years would be just over a million dollers and 30 years would be 33 and a half million.
The interesting thing here, is that these titles predate Disney, therefore Disney only has copyright over the animated form that it has produced and anyone producing a work based on the original story should be free to do so. IANAL, but I believe that you can't take a work and remove it from the public domain.
But they can attempt to pollute the public domain. e.g. by claiming that a production of for example "Snow White" is a derived work of their version, rather than the public domain version.
No problem in Czech Republic either, with a testing period of something like, umh, 3 years.
Could it be that the problems here are due to US having a hotch potch of different cellular systems? Whereas the rest of the world uses GSM where SMS was part of the spec...
The computerized voting that this administration is pushing will only lead to more vote fraud because the count will not be audited. In the 2002 elections in 5 different states Republican candidates won by the same score of 18181 (a prime number). Now, I am willing to give Diebold the benefit of the doubt and say this is a programming error but the fact that this isn't being discussed in the media is a problem. This voting machine code should be GPL'ed so we can all look at it and make sure it works.
You can only verify if you can put the same data into your copy of the program. There are all sorts of issues surrounding being sure that the approved code and only that code is actually running on the machines.
If they do go to computerized voting there needs to be an audit trail.
How can you do this in such a way that makes an audit and/or recount possible?
For example, what good is a technologically sound voting system when all the candidates are shit
Sounds like a good case for having "None of these candidates" as an option.
Voting machines of any kind can be rigged.
As can vote counting machines.
They don't count the ballots at the polling place. How do I know that my ballot box is the same one that arrives at city hall.
The most obvious way is by having the taking of the box done in public.
this is true far, far too often. an end user says we need a web site that... we would like a java app to... this is where the systems analyst fails. it's their responsibility to keep asking further what the real requirements are, "we need to be able to collect, process and track orders in real time from our global customers." is a much better requirement statement than "we need a web site that takes orders from our customers".
..." only makes sense if that will be the only way you interact with customers. More likly a useful system will need to be able to cope with telephone, fax, mail and email as well as using a website.
Especially since the "we need a website
I only partially agree with you. On the one hand, waiting a few hours (or even a few days) to make sure that all the ballots are counted correctly, and so that news about the outcome in one state doesn't affect another, all seem like good things.
Thing is that the US is rather unique in running multiple elections on a single ballot paper. Which makes counting (and recounting) complex.
In New Zealand we have pretty much a total political news blackout on election day until the polls close. They can talk about voter turnout estimates etc but nothing much else. Exit polling is illegal. All billboards must be done by midnight before election day.
What happens if any get let up? Hopefully something like disqualifying the candidate...
his english is damn near perfect (no offense to anyone on this but knowing a second language as good as your first is easier said than done)
:)
Would you have been able to read it if it was written in Arabic? English is the world's second most used language, remember.
everything purchased on his site is is in US dollars.
Probably because he bought quite a bit from the US. No doubt if it has quoted in EGP there would be those complaining about having to multiply by 0.216450
the pictures could have easily be taken somewhere in california...
Does this mean that Hollywood could be in North East Africa