cthrall asked: "So do we also think all ages should be able to watch R-rated movies?"
I don't think there should be state-regulated age limits on viewing R-rated movies; I don't think people should take seriously the pat and often misguided rating that some industry group happens to apply to a particular movie. It's just lazy thinking. (Some movies branded with a big fat R are perfectly fine IMO for children old enough to reason, whether or not 365 days have passed since they were legally eligible to drive in most parts of the U.S. Speaking of which, those driving-age laws...) Where are the alternate rating services, so that ratings could be used as tools of choice rather than denial? Now if a *theater* wants to cut out a portion of their paying audience to satisfy their own (serious, or just smarmy) sense of morality, Fine -- their decision to make.
That doesn't mean that children should be encouraged or required to watch a particular movie no matter what it's rated. I thought the (PG-13) Indiana Jones & Temple of Doom was pretty gruesome. Similarly, games should be up to the household mores and rules that a particular child lives within. If a 14-year-old has a job at which she works to save money so she can play at being a tank commander because she likes to provide alternate endings to historical battles... great. Her call. There are a lot of games I think are at best morally ambiguous no matter *what* age the player, but it isn't (and shouldn't be) my right to declare them verboten to anyone else.
My father recently bought a QMS/Minolta MagiColor color laster printer (phew!) -- they're available at all the big computer retailers like Fry's, CompUSA, Best Buy etc for about $1000, less online. (I think I saw $800 from a pricewatch lowballer, but I bet they have an interesting figure for shipping;)).
One thing I was worried about (and which I don't think the box really says) was whether it came with all of the toner packs necessary to print in color; answer is Yes, it does.
My dad recruited me to help him set it up on a recent visit (literally -- it is *heavy* even for two people, but does have some nice hide-away handles for lifting). It's performed moderately for him on a Windows 98 system; the print quality is really impressive to my tin eyes (not dye sub, but more bang for buck), but the software is apparently flakey.
I can't find any information indicating that this printer works with Linux, or I would probably start scraping together thousands of nickels...
But *if* you're on a Windows system (may also work with Macs, I dunno), this is something to think about before shelling out for a color inkjet. Don't buy it if you want to lead a single, mobile lifestyle, though.
Hmm... I suppose what would be best would be a heavy color laser printer bundled *with* a girlfriend...
ethereal wrote: "... So while you can't really expect the/. readership to agree on anything, I think it is more reasonable to expect the/. editorial staff to put forward a cohesive editorial policy on what they support and what they oppose. They have a "bully pulpit", but right now the message from that pulpit is sadly inconsistent."
Hmmm. Lots of people seem to feel the same way, but it's unlikely to happen. Why? Because we (Slashdot editors) don't necessarily agree on many issues, and we live too far from each other for frequent boxing matches or something...
- I think it's safe to say that all the/. editors like (read "prefer") free / Free software.:)
- We have differing ideas about free speech and what exactly that includes. (For instance, is "commerical speech" easily separable from non-commercial speech? Would you like to buy a Nixon-face showerhead?)
- We have differing ideas about the role government should play in people's lives.
- potaytoe, patahtoe
For instance, I think that the State should stay out of Microsoft's hair, and that it is Microsoft's perfect right to raise their prices stupendously (raise! raise!), bundle a blender along with each copy of their operating system (Hey, banks give toasters) and use their dominance in the operating system field to push hair creams and gels. That's because in a truly free market (the U.S. market is partly free, better than most), you have an important right to be annoying, and to offer bad deals. This is important because it's what makes it possible for others to enter any given market. If Microsoft Office cost $4000 instead of $400 (that's about today's cost, right?) but with the same features as it has right now, more businesses would be willing to try competing products. (Look at the cost of software 20 years ago to see what a good deal today's software is by comparison. At least, if you consider it a good deal...)
The U.S. government at the very least (YCMV) has a Constitutional responsibility to benefit the commonwealth, and to that end, I think Free software is a more rational way to spend tax dollars (which are borrowed) than is spending on Microsoft or most other proprietary software, because software is part of that commonwealth. If the Federal and assorted State governments made it a policy that all software purchased on these borrowed dollars (and ones with specifically listed allowed uses, too!) had to guarantee at the very least continued ownership by the purchasers (taxpayers), would anything other than open-source software (GPL, BSD, whatever) even fit the bill? It takes a much more indirect route to prove that a given State employee's copy of Office is providing a benefit to the commonwealth than that $400 donated to KDE, GNOME, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, OpenOffice.org, Mozilla, GNU, or some other producer of explicity free software would be. Rather than 2 hands taking away, perhaps we could reduce it to 1 and a half.
Note: this is a long-standing rant. Probably you don't agree, but I'm not kidding -- I really would like to see a free market in software, and in everything else, so long as no coercion or fraud is used. And to the degree that we should tolerate the somewhat-necessary evil of government, it should always be evaluated to see how it's extra-market activities can nonetheless be used to benefit mankind. This is one way.
As the logician on the MP&tSftHG soundtrack points out, "I seem to have strayed somewhat from my original point." But I think it's still on-topic there;)
In fact, I think EULAs are a good argument for free (and freer) software, and that using software to ignore EULAs by proxy is more of a political point rather than one intended to provide a legal defense.
EULAs (IMO) are generally silly as contracts (no meeting of minds, obfuscated language printed too small in tiny windows, no advance agreement in the case of most boxed software, etc) and this is an amusing reaction to them, but I don't recommend this sort of workaround. I like that it's drawing attention to EULA realities, though.
I'm not exactly a Microsoft basher in general -- in fact, I think Microsoft is being unfairly persecuted by the current antitrust bullying, and that people should be allowed to buy or sell (or otherwise release) whatever sort of software they'd like. I think the USPS deserves the treatment MSFT is getting, and that MS's largest customer (the Federal government) is being awfully two-faced.
On the other hand, I don't much like the crashes I've experienced on Windows machines, and I resent the obnoxious terms under which most Windows software is available. That doesn't mean that Microsoft, the company, hasn't done a huge amount to popularize GUIs for personal computers, added useful software over the years to their operating systems, and generally provided a popular, low-cost OS, sold software with enough utility that people seem happy to pay for it, etc. I'm amazed by the vitriol that many people express toward Microsoft, while still using their products.
Like the old joke Woody Allen tells in Annie Hall, "... and such small portions!"
There are alternatives I like much better than Microsoft software aesthetically / philisophically / practically, and for me Free software is more satisfying and useful than payware. YMMV, and TMMV, too. ("Their" for whichever They you like.)
If I needed to (have no pressing reason, though), I could re-install Windows from the disks that came with my laptop... but that would wipe out my current Linux install. (Restore disk is what came with it, not real install disks.)So I do *own* a copy, I just don't have any machines using it right now.
(I didn't format that list by hand by the way; I used the Plan Old Text option like I'm about to use for this post, too:))
Actually, using build 641 at least, OO has a seemingly fine spell-checker. I typed into a new document "It's time we tried some transfrobnulation." and turned on the spellchecker; the word you'd expect was underlined with a colored wiggly.
Probably several people have mentioned this somewhere in these comments, but I don't see it right now...
Qcad (see qcad.org) is great. It's cross-platform (Windows, Linux), fairly polished, includes a well-done online manual chock full of screenshots etc, not just an incomprehensible HOWTO written in Obscure. Installation -- at least with the statically linked version) was wizardly:) [That is, slick, and with one of those things which I hate to call "wizards."]
[Now, the part it's tough to explain to mom and dad:
1) gunzip (long filename). 2) tar (long filename) 3) cd to a subdirectory 4) type./install.sh
I don't see an obvious way to avoid these steps except through hopefully-intelligent interfaces, standalone or built into browsers, which will say "aha! a file in tar.gz format! I will make it easy for my troubled master!" Now that might be nice.
Re: QCad, note that I am an expert with CAD -- in fact, just the opposite, I am trying to figure out how it works, and somewhat frustrating, but I am finding the nice manual quite helpful in this regard. I just want to move my furniture around on screen darn it!
Anyhow, I think QCad's install and manual are ones that other programs might want to emulate.
With every big virus outbreak, I end up modifying my boilerplate response. Sure, I filter and then simply delete most of the incoming dreck, but especially for businesses, I like to point out that they don't have to take part in the semi-monthly beatings.
Here's the current one:
Dear Sir:
The virus known as Klez32 has generated mail to me labeled as coming from
your address (address).
This doesn't necessarily mean that your computer or even
your email account was directly involved, but it does mean that someone
with a computer running Microsoft Windows (and probably Microsoft Outlook)
has a virus-infected computer which makes it look like *you* are spamming
people.
Virus writers' intent (in my estimation) is to cause conflicts by
frustrating people into anger with each other. These people deserve to be
fed their own teeth, led barefoot through a hallway of snakes, and forced
to watch Waterworld over and over. They usually do this by taking advantage of
long-known security holes in Microsoft Windows and / or Microsoft Outlook. These
aren't the only vectors for viruses to spread, but because they're so widespread,
they make easy targets. By attaching your name to their malicious, intrusive mail, it's as if they hung a "Kick Me" sign on your back.
If you are running any version of Microsoft Windows, please make sure your
anti-virus files are up to date. Check the web sites of McAffee, Norton, or for
whichever antivirus maker you've settled on for updates.
And if you want to avoid (or at least greatly minimize) the dangers to your
data securty and reputation that computer viruses cause, I hope you consider
switching to one of the several excellent alternatives to Microsoft Windows, or
more urgently to any alternative to the security-challenged Microsoft Outlook.) There's excellent free software which is much less vulnerable to these attacks,
and in my experience is more robust in other ways as well.
Just because the government says Microsoft has a monopoly doesn't mean you have
to act like it's true:)
Thanks for checking up on the state of your system --
... would be for every plug-in accepted as part of the base package to feature a preview (as a condition of being there). Many (if not most) of the filters *do* have a preview, but those that don't are a) frustrating for its lack and b) slightly confusing just on that basis. ("Hey, the other filter had a preview -- where's my preview for this one?")
Other people would doubtless come up with new filters, but for each actual release, that would be a nice and helpful standard to meet, IMO.
StarOffice / OpenOffice run under Windows as well as *nix, Yes. In the brief time between the purchase of the laptop from which I write and the release of Mandrake 8.2, I lived with Microsoft Windows XP, and I put StarOffice on it as a test drive. Installed neatly, worked nicely, overall good.Now that I have OpenOffice as part of the distro, though, I have not had any great urge to install StarOffice under Linux, though I have it here on CD if I do...
a) What makes you say it's a fact that most people are happy with the software they have? I see just the opposite. Most people tolerate the software they have to different degrees, but wish it was better. (Nothing to do with licensing; this seems true across the board.)
b) I don't belive that most users, deep down, "really want open source software." I think most people don't care overmuch about that issue. I like open source software though. YMMV. If I thought that everyone already wanted this, I might devote more time to gardening or something.
c) Slashdot runs interesting (to us) reader-submitted items, and a smattering of other things. This is one. That a large number of them have to do with software freedom reflects the tastes of the posters.
There are low-end Sony DV cameras which have this feature which seem to cost *less* than the dedicated conversion box. I recently got one (TRV340) as open-box stock at a large electronics store for $299. (The very lowest end Sony does not have analog-DV conversion.)
So are there big advantages to the standalone box? I bought this camera in large part to convert old family videos, though I will be using it as an actual regular video camera, too:) What am I missing by using this instead of the standalone version?
It might look silly and invite lewd comparisons, but it would be handy for handle-free Macs (and heck, a lot of other things) to at least acknowledge that they will be moved occasionally by building in a reinforced slot for inserting a lifting pole, coolie style. Or perhaps a pair of open slots on the base of the machine, so lifting straps could be securely wrapped around it.
My father bought a color laser printer (QMS/minolta) which weighs about 90 lbs; it has pull-out handles (look weaker than they really are) without which it would have been much harder to help him move to his desk. Apple needs to Think Similar.
You wrote: "However, watch out; one scanner (the 1250) doesn't work under linux. Check out the link from the previous article for a complete rundown of supported printers and how well they work before you buy!"
Hear, hear! I wasted half a day because I picked up a 1250, figuring that it had just been accidentally left off the list of acceptable Epson printers (acceptable as listed on the Mandrake list of compatible hardware that is). After all, if all these other models work, and have similar model names, shouldn't this? Bad, bad, bad reasoning. Eh, I knew it was a slight gamble, but was unhappy to find out I'd lost.
Eventually, I went back and paid quite a bit more but ended up with an Epson Perfection 1650 Photo, and I'm happy with the tradeup. Works great with XSane (though for some reason it's recognized as a "GT8200" rather than a 1650 Photo -- eh, whatever), has been gobbling up my photographs and other documents for a couple of weeks now. I have no current need for the transparency adapter (already have a slide scanner thingie for my Nikon), but I suppose it's nice to have.
I am impressed with XSane -- Olivier Rauch, thank you!
timothy
thanks for the tip --
on
Space Ramen!
·
· Score: 1
I will have to check it out. Finding a good Asian grocery was already on my list for the day, and now you've done my work for me.
caused all sorts of wars because suddenly, after years of ineffective communication and garbled attempts to transmit meaning, suddenly peoples and races of creatures from all over the Galaxy could suddenly and accurately *understand each other.*
timothy
actually, only sort of
on
Space Ramen!
·
· Score: 1
(partly invalidating my previous post, but oh well)
Lots of veggies can be picked spicily and made into types of kimchi -- probably my favorite is actually oy kimchi, made from cucumber.
But "kimchi" by itself -- Yeah, unless context dictates otherwise (which it could), I would translate this as the cabbage variety. I think it would be fair to compare this with "toast" (as a noun)... lots of things can be toasted, but the primary meaning would still be "toasted bread."
This is making me so hungry for some I can feel the saliva filling my mouth. Arrgh! A bunch of Korean food and a large bowl of rice would greatly improve my situation right now.
It doesn't have any choice but to taste like (pickled, spiced) cabbage.
That's like saying that a poached egg doesn't taste much like an egg:)
Of course, whether or not it's *good* is another question. I like kimchi, but a lot of people don't -- it tends to dominate the scent environment of one's kitchen / apartment / house / city block / zip code. Plus, I once saw a friend discover a rather nasty bug in his kimchi. Unfortunately this was in a cafeteria, and everyone at the table had some from the same serving tray... I don't think we finished much of our kimchi that day.
a) I won't be replying to any responses to this reply:)
b) Lots of people submitted items about this computer. Same with Argentine Ants. Jet-cooled beer and ASCII Star Wars are both old.
c) Stories can be (and usually are) posted slightly into the future. Whether something was submitted "hours ago" doesn't mean that b) does not still apply.
d) Your site says "About a week ago, I began repeatedly submitting things I thought were important." This is annoying behavior. I can't stop anyone from doing it, but it certainly doesn't make me want to read things so-submitted. It's like mailing in all your letters to the editor with human feces smeared across them. (Or, just mailing the same letter dozens of times, to be a little more analogous.)
Granted, it would then lack the Trackpoint (IMO one of the things that makes Thinkpads great), but for $150 more you can get far, far more computer.
Not that this is the only choice, but for $799 (at least, that's what I paid at Fry's in Austin, and I have seen this price online elsewhere) you can get a Toshiba Satellite 1005-S157 (and some related models which I suppose vary by zilch internally) with:
- Gighertz Celeron - 256 Megs of memory, I think it takes up to a gig - 14.1" screen (1024 x768) - three USB ports - DVD drive
Shortcomings: Little else built in: No ethernet, modem is Winmodem only, no 802.11, no firewire. NiCD battery, not Lithium Ion. (Huh?!) However, it runs Linux great (It takes XFree 4.2 to use X though -- Mandrake 8.2 works), and I already had PCMCIA cards -- both an 802.11 card and a modem / ethernet combo, so I didn't have to pay any more. And the TP600 doesn't have 802.11 either (I think it has a modem and ethernet though, right?), so you'd be in the same boat.
There are some similar quite-good (looking) low-end laptops from HP.
Slashdot Mirror
cthrall asked: "So do we also think all ages should be able to watch R-rated movies?"
...) Where are the alternate rating services, so that ratings could be used as tools of choice rather than denial? Now if a *theater* wants to cut out a portion of their paying audience to satisfy their own (serious, or just smarmy) sense of morality, Fine -- their decision to make.
... great. Her call. There are a lot of games I think are at best morally ambiguous no matter *what* age the player, but it isn't (and shouldn't be) my right to declare them verboten to anyone else.
I don't think there should be state-regulated age limits on viewing R-rated movies; I don't think people should take seriously the pat and often misguided rating that some industry group happens to apply to a particular movie. It's just lazy thinking. (Some movies branded with a big fat R are perfectly fine IMO for children old enough to reason, whether or not 365 days have passed since they were legally eligible to drive in most parts of the U.S. Speaking of which, those driving-age laws
That doesn't mean that children should be encouraged or required to watch a particular movie no matter what it's rated. I thought the (PG-13) Indiana Jones & Temple of Doom was pretty gruesome. Similarly, games should be up to the household mores and rules that a particular child lives within. If a 14-year-old has a job at which she works to save money so she can play at being a tank commander because she likes to provide alternate endings to historical battles
timothy
My father recently bought a QMS/Minolta MagiColor color laster printer (phew!) -- they're available at all the big computer retailers like Fry's, CompUSA, Best Buy etc for about $1000, less online. (I think I saw $800 from a pricewatch lowballer, but I bet they have an interesting figure for shipping;)).
...
... I suppose what would be best would be a heavy color laser printer bundled *with* a girlfriend ...
One thing I was worried about (and which I don't think the box really says) was whether it came with all of the toner packs necessary to print in color; answer is Yes, it does.
My dad recruited me to help him set it up on a recent visit (literally -- it is *heavy* even for two people, but does have some nice hide-away handles for lifting). It's performed moderately for him on a Windows 98 system; the print quality is really impressive to my tin eyes (not dye sub, but more bang for buck), but the software is apparently flakey.
I can't find any information indicating that this printer works with Linux, or I would probably start scraping together thousands of nickels
But *if* you're on a Windows system (may also work with Macs, I dunno), this is something to think about before shelling out for a color inkjet. Don't buy it if you want to lead a single, mobile lifestyle, though.
Hmm
timothy
ethereal wrote: " ... So while you can't really expect the /. readership to agree on anything, I think it is more reasonable to expect the /. editorial staff to put forward a cohesive editorial policy on what they support and what they oppose. They have a "bully pulpit", but right now the message from that pulpit is sadly inconsistent."
...
/. editors like (read "prefer") free / Free software. :)
...)
;)
Hmmm. Lots of people seem to feel the same way, but it's unlikely to happen. Why? Because we (Slashdot editors) don't necessarily agree on many issues, and we live too far from each other for frequent boxing matches or something
- I think it's safe to say that all the
- We have differing ideas about free speech and what exactly that includes. (For instance, is "commerical speech" easily separable from non-commercial speech? Would you like to buy a Nixon-face showerhead?)
- We have differing ideas about the role government should play in people's lives.
- potaytoe, patahtoe
For instance, I think that the State should stay out of Microsoft's hair, and that it is Microsoft's perfect right to raise their prices stupendously (raise! raise!), bundle a blender along with each copy of their operating system (Hey, banks give toasters) and use their dominance in the operating system field to push hair creams and gels. That's because in a truly free market (the U.S. market is partly free, better than most), you have an important right to be annoying, and to offer bad deals. This is important because it's what makes it possible for others to enter any given market. If Microsoft Office cost $4000 instead of $400 (that's about today's cost, right?) but with the same features as it has right now, more businesses would be willing to try competing products. (Look at the cost of software 20 years ago to see what a good deal today's software is by comparison. At least, if you consider it a good deal
The U.S. government at the very least (YCMV) has a Constitutional responsibility to benefit the commonwealth, and to that end, I think Free software is a more rational way to spend tax dollars (which are borrowed) than is spending on Microsoft or most other proprietary software, because software is part of that commonwealth. If the Federal and assorted State governments made it a policy that all software purchased on these borrowed dollars (and ones with specifically listed allowed uses, too!) had to guarantee at the very least continued ownership by the purchasers (taxpayers), would anything other than open-source software (GPL, BSD, whatever) even fit the bill? It takes a much more indirect route to prove that a given State employee's copy of Office is providing a benefit to the commonwealth than that $400 donated to KDE, GNOME, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, OpenOffice.org, Mozilla, GNU, or some other producer of explicity free software would be. Rather than 2 hands taking away, perhaps we could reduce it to 1 and a half.
Note: this is a long-standing rant. Probably you don't agree, but I'm not kidding -- I really would like to see a free market in software, and in everything else, so long as no coercion or fraud is used. And to the degree that we should tolerate the somewhat-necessary evil of government, it should always be evaluated to see how it's extra-market activities can nonetheless be used to benefit mankind. This is one way.
As the logician on the MP&tSftHG soundtrack points out, "I seem to have strayed somewhat from my original point." But I think it's still on-topic there
timothy
That's roughly what I paid for my car 2 1/4 years ago, and it's held up well .... (95 Ford Escort Wagon). Not sexy, but I rather like it.
timothy
In fact, I think EULAs are a good argument for free (and freer) software, and that using software to ignore EULAs by proxy is more of a political point rather than one intended to provide a legal defense.
... but that would wipe out my current Linux install. (Restore disk is what came with it, not real install disks.)So I do *own* a copy, I just don't have any machines using it right now.
:))
EULAs (IMO) are generally silly as contracts (no meeting of minds, obfuscated language printed too small in tiny windows, no advance agreement in the case of most boxed software, etc) and this is an amusing reaction to them, but I don't recommend this sort of workaround. I like that it's drawing attention to EULA realities, though.
I'm not exactly a Microsoft basher in general -- in fact, I think Microsoft is being unfairly persecuted by the current antitrust bullying, and that people should be allowed to buy or sell (or otherwise release) whatever sort of software they'd like. I think the USPS deserves the treatment MSFT is getting, and that MS's largest customer (the Federal government) is being awfully two-faced.
On the other hand, I don't much like the crashes I've experienced on Windows machines, and I resent the obnoxious terms under which most Windows software is available. That doesn't mean that Microsoft, the company, hasn't done a huge amount to popularize GUIs for personal computers, added useful software over the years to their operating systems, and generally provided a popular, low-cost OS, sold software with enough utility that people seem happy to pay for it, etc. I'm amazed by the vitriol that many people express toward Microsoft, while still using their products.
Like the old joke Woody Allen tells in Annie Hall, "... and such small portions!"
There are alternatives I like much better than Microsoft software aesthetically / philisophically / practically, and for me Free software is more satisfying and useful than payware. YMMV, and TMMV, too. ("Their" for whichever They you like.)
If I needed to (have no pressing reason, though), I could re-install Windows from the disks that came with my laptop
(I didn't format that list by hand by the way; I used the Plan Old Text option like I'm about to use for this post, too
timothy
Actually, using build 641 at least, OO has a seemingly fine spell-checker. I typed into a new document "It's time we tried some transfrobnulation." and turned on the spellchecker; the word you'd expect was underlined with a colored wiggly.
timothy
a) He posted the source.
:)
b) I don't have a Windows machine around to test it. They crash too much, and the software which makes them useful tends to come with crappy EULAs.
c) See b)
timothy
Hey Eugene, is that a line from "Darwin's Black Box"? It looks awfully familiar, but I don't have that book in front of me right now ...
timothy
It's about making software accessable, in the interest of increasing the use of free software. That's what the story's about.
timothy
Probably several people have mentioned this somewhere in these comments, but I don't see it right now ...
:) [That is, slick, and with one of those things which I hate to call "wizards."]
./install.sh
Qcad (see qcad.org) is great. It's cross-platform (Windows, Linux), fairly polished, includes a well-done online manual chock full of screenshots etc, not just an incomprehensible HOWTO written in Obscure. Installation -- at least with the statically linked version) was wizardly
[Now, the part it's tough to explain to mom and dad:
1) gunzip (long filename).
2) tar (long filename)
3) cd to a subdirectory
4) type
I don't see an obvious way to avoid these steps except through hopefully-intelligent interfaces, standalone or built into browsers, which will say "aha! a file in tar.gz format! I will make it easy for my troubled master!" Now that might be nice.
Re: QCad, note that I am an expert with CAD -- in fact, just the opposite, I am trying to figure out how it works, and somewhat frustrating, but I am finding the nice manual quite helpful in this regard. I just want to move my furniture around on screen darn it!
Anyhow, I think QCad's install and manual are ones that other programs might want to emulate.
timothy
Here's the current one:
... would be for every plug-in accepted as part of the base package to feature a preview (as a condition of being there). Many (if not most) of the filters *do* have a preview, but those that don't are a) frustrating for its lack and b) slightly confusing just on that basis. ("Hey, the other filter had a preview -- where's my preview for this one?")
Other people would doubtless come up with new filters, but for each actual release, that would be a nice and helpful standard to meet, IMO.
timothy
StarOffice / OpenOffice run under Windows as well as *nix, Yes. In the brief time between the purchase of the laptop from which I write and the release of Mandrake 8.2, I lived with Microsoft Windows XP, and I put StarOffice on it as a test drive. Installed neatly, worked nicely, overall good.Now that I have OpenOffice as part of the distro, though, I have not had any great urge to install StarOffice under Linux, though I have it here on CD if I do ...
timothy
a) What makes you say it's a fact that most people are happy with the software they have? I see just the opposite. Most people tolerate the software they have to different degrees, but wish it was better. (Nothing to do with licensing; this seems true across the board.)
b) I don't belive that most users, deep down, "really want open source software." I think most people don't care overmuch about that issue. I like open source software though. YMMV. If I thought that everyone already wanted this, I might devote more time to gardening or something.
c) Slashdot runs interesting (to us) reader-submitted items, and a smattering of other things. This is one. That a large number of them have to do with software freedom reflects the tastes of the posters.
timothy
There are low-end Sony DV cameras which have this feature which seem to cost *less* than the dedicated conversion box. I recently got one (TRV340) as open-box stock at a large electronics store for $299. (The very lowest end Sony does not have analog-DV conversion.)
:) What am I missing by using this instead of the standalone version?
So are there big advantages to the standalone box? I bought this camera in large part to convert old family videos, though I will be using it as an actual regular video camera, too
timothy
It might look silly and invite lewd comparisons, but it would be handy for handle-free Macs (and heck, a lot of other things) to at least acknowledge that they will be moved occasionally by building in a reinforced slot for inserting a lifting pole, coolie style. Or perhaps a pair of open slots on the base of the machine, so lifting straps could be securely wrapped around it.
My father bought a color laser printer (QMS/minolta) which weighs about 90 lbs; it has pull-out handles (look weaker than they really are) without which it would have been much harder to help him move to his desk. Apple needs to Think Similar.
timothy
Great! Now we can be prepared!
:)
sheesh
Also, there is evidence that certain Germans may covet Krakow. Be on the alert.
One if by land, two if by sea!
timothy
You wrote: "However, watch out; one scanner (the 1250) doesn't work under linux. Check out the link from the previous article for a complete rundown of supported printers and how well they work before you buy!"
Hear, hear! I wasted half a day because I picked up a 1250, figuring that it had just been accidentally left off the list of acceptable Epson printers (acceptable as listed on the Mandrake list of compatible hardware that is). After all, if all these other models work, and have similar model names, shouldn't this? Bad, bad, bad reasoning. Eh, I knew it was a slight gamble, but was unhappy to find out I'd lost.
Eventually, I went back and paid quite a bit more but ended up with an Epson Perfection 1650 Photo, and I'm happy with the tradeup. Works great with XSane (though for some reason it's recognized as a "GT8200" rather than a 1650 Photo -- eh, whatever), has been gobbling up my photographs and other documents for a couple of weeks now. I have no current need for the transparency adapter (already have a slide scanner thingie for my Nikon), but I suppose it's nice to have.
I am impressed with XSane -- Olivier Rauch, thank you!
timothy
I will have to check it out. Finding a good Asian grocery was already on my list for the day, and now you've done my work for me.
timothy
caused all sorts of wars because suddenly, after years of ineffective communication and garbled attempts to transmit meaning, suddenly peoples and races of creatures from all over the Galaxy could suddenly and accurately *understand each other.*
timothy
(partly invalidating my previous post, but oh well)
... lots of things can be toasted, but the primary meaning would still be "toasted bread."
Lots of veggies can be picked spicily and made into types of kimchi -- probably my favorite is actually oy kimchi, made from cucumber.
But "kimchi" by itself -- Yeah, unless context dictates otherwise (which it could), I would translate this as the cabbage variety. I think it would be fair to compare this with "toast" (as a noun)
This is making me so hungry for some I can feel the saliva filling my mouth. Arrgh! A bunch of Korean food and a large bowl of rice would greatly improve my situation right now.
timothy
Kimchi *is* (pickled, spiced) cabbage.
:)
... I don't think we finished much of our kimchi that day.
It doesn't have any choice but to taste like (pickled, spiced) cabbage.
That's like saying that a poached egg doesn't taste much like an egg
Of course, whether or not it's *good* is another question. I like kimchi, but a lot of people don't -- it tends to dominate the scent environment of one's kitchen / apartment / house / city block / zip code. Plus, I once saw a friend discover a rather nasty bug in his kimchi. Unfortunately this was in a cafeteria, and everyone at the table had some from the same serving tray
timothy
a) I won't be replying to any responses to this reply :)
b) Lots of people submitted items about this computer. Same with Argentine Ants. Jet-cooled beer and ASCII Star Wars are both old.
c) Stories can be (and usually are) posted slightly into the future. Whether something was submitted "hours ago" doesn't mean that b) does not still apply.
d) Your site says "About a week ago, I began repeatedly submitting things I thought were important." This is annoying behavior. I can't stop anyone from doing it, but it certainly doesn't make me want to read things so-submitted. It's like mailing in all your letters to the editor with human feces smeared across them. (Or, just mailing the same letter dozens of times, to be a little more analogous.)
timothy
Thanks for pointing this out.
I've been thinking "Spiderman" for the past 24 years -- it's as if you suddenly told me that yogurt had a "3."
timothy
Granted, it would then lack the Trackpoint (IMO one of the things that makes Thinkpads great), but for $150 more you can get far, far more computer.
Not that this is the only choice, but for $799 (at least, that's what I paid at Fry's in Austin, and I have seen this price online elsewhere) you can get a Toshiba Satellite 1005-S157 (and some related models which I suppose vary by zilch internally) with:
- Gighertz Celeron
- 256 Megs of memory, I think it takes up to a gig
- 14.1" screen (1024 x768)
- three USB ports
- DVD drive
Shortcomings:
Little else built in: No ethernet, modem is Winmodem only, no 802.11, no firewire. NiCD battery, not Lithium Ion. (Huh?!) However, it runs Linux great (It takes XFree 4.2 to use X though -- Mandrake 8.2 works), and I already had PCMCIA cards -- both an 802.11 card and a modem / ethernet combo, so I didn't have to pay any more. And the TP600 doesn't have 802.11 either (I think it has a modem and ethernet though, right?), so you'd be in the same boat.
There are some similar quite-good (looking) low-end laptops from HP.
timothy