damn I already posted but forgot to mention this one thing:
innovation (n-vshn)
n.
1. The act of introducing something new.
2. Something newly introduced.
When it comes to *Innovation*, it's not MS or Dell, it's always Apple. Apple consistently pushes the envelope of Consumer computing, more so than anyone else. At least give them credit in atime when the word innovate usually translates into "commandeer your competitors technology and call it your own". The browser,instant messaging, CD burning, home video, the list goes on.
I'm no Apple fanatic, if I had the moolah, I would buy one. But I don't so I can't. However, Mac users are on average, some of the most non-tech clued users out there. That's not a slap, just an observation. I'm no graphic designer, or DV editor, so in that respect, I'm the clueless one.
I believe PC's are for the office workers. PC's are also great for hot-rodding, gaming and buildiing the Ultimate Box. PC's are like sedans, minivans, sportscars and dragsters. It all depends on how you build it. Just like a car. Most cars are for The Rest Of Us.
Now, OTOH, we have the Mac. It's a Jaguar. It has sleek, sexy styling, the newest technology and gimmicks, and is engineered to last. The luxury auto of home computing. And a price tag to match. But nothing beats driving a nice well-made car no?
Apple can and does market to the Dubuques, but the Dubuques don't know shit, so they buy a Gateway Cow and get on AOL. And Bill Gates just got another dollar (or more). But a Mac is just what the Dubuques needed. See, Apple markets to the elite, when they're product is more than suitable for The Masses. Any newbie would be better off with a Mac than a PC any day. But the pricetag scares them off, because this is their first fray into computing, or their second and they think PC=computers. Another dollar to Bill.
I don't think Steve Jobs minds. He has a vision of the Mac as an expression of oneself. Image, style, and function. The Select. Macs are suitable for the die-hard artist, and for Grandma. But Mac users like to think of themselves as a cut above. Ok. That's cool, they make great machines.
But Katz is DEAD WRONG about them being troublesome or flaky. That award goes to PC's. PC's are like Frankenstein boxes, you never know what the hell is going on in there. If Apple wants to gain more market share, then just start slipping in the ads some stuff about reliability and long term value. That'll prick up ears, especially in this economic climate.
see here:
>On the contrary, many folks have had exceptional service with DSL. --emphasis mine.
Now see here:
> I have had BellSouth's
> my IP
>There has been exactly one outage...after I got the service...which I used the freely-provided
>Most of my friends...have cable modems, and not a day goes by...complain about their connection going down
>It seems to me that cable modem technology... are much more questionable than DSL.
Well it seems to me that you are using alot of I's, Me's, and My's in your "factual" account on "many folks' DSL service". And the rest is the opinion of your friends. Let me give you my *experience* as a seasoned helldesk tech at more than 3 companies that offered DSL and/or cable.
Invariably, customers of DSL broadband technology suffer more inconvenience/disatisfaction caused by faulty DSLAMS, line attentuation, network outages, software incompatibilities (PPPoE), and red tape from the Telco, than their cable modem counterparts.
Add to this the fact that average downstream and upstream speeds for cable users are usually twice as fast as DSL, waitlists are virtually non-existant, and availability is generally subject to whether or not you can get cable TV. If you can get TV, you can probably get broadband. Oh, and for the same price if not cheaper.
>To date, roughly 80 percent of the country's homes have broadband service available to them -- via cable lines, satellite or souped-up telephone lines (known as digital subscriber lines, or DSL). Yet only about 10 percent, or 10 million homes, have signed up.
I hate stats like this. 80% of homes have broadband access. So what? How many of the country's homes have a *computer*? Get that right, *then* tell me what % of those have broadband. Sheesh. I mean c'mon, there are still people that don't even own 1 computer, let alone 2 or more that need to be NAT'ed!;P
I would like to see the economy turn around just as much as the next person. Problem is, the PC market is saturated in North America. With no killer app(s) driving hardware and OS sales, the push for broadband appeals only to kernel geeks, warez kiddies, and pr0n lovers. Dial-up suits alot of peole fine. They get home and want to play with their kids, make love to the wife, watch a chop-socky movie, or have a nap. Most people dont even *like* computers <shock! gasp!> Personally, I would rather see a huge push for Linux in the Enterprise, (as in management discovers MS is expensive and a security liability) and an associated drive for linux admins and techies in the workplace. But that's me, I want a better job...
From what I can see, it's the UK and Europe that need broadband. The public there are asking for it, and it sounds like the market (yeah right, like the telcos are a market in any sense) could care less.
If there was a need for more broadband in NA, the public would pay for it. If $40/month isn't too much, you go for it, otherwise you stay on AOL. That's the other thing: for many people, AOL *is* the internet. I've actually dealt with a *lot* of people who tried out cable (Canadian cable is a helluva lot faster than its US counterpart btw) for FREE for a month, and then switched back to dial-up!!! wtf?
I (reluctantly) spent 2 months on dial-up after almost 3 straight years of fast-ass cable. Let me tell you, never again will I abuse myself like that again.
*twangy geetar sounds*
I was boooorrnn,
ina Saginaw Michigaaannnnn,
Iuuuha grew uuup....
*announcer cuts in again*
and how could you forget that great Johnny Cash tune, 'A Boy Named Sue'....
Hehe, I couldnt resist. I don't know about you, but up here in the Great White North, they keep airing this bizarre TV ad that has a guy sing those same warbly words. Hoo hoo!
Oh boy, mod me down, I'm outta CONTROL! That's twice tonight I've been taking potshots. Somebody left donuts and pop at the office and my bloodsugar is skyrocketing! Weeeee!
Ain't no president of mine. I'm Canadian;) Dubya can scream BUY!!! until he's blue in the face; up here our dollar is so shit, I couldn't BUY!!! if I tried.
>If most of us... spent some time actually lobbying and petitioning... (from the neighborhood greasy spoon to Washington), we'd see more of a difference.
Most people don't differentiate between their desktop and the Internet. They don't know what an OS is. They have a hard time remembering a mildly complex password, or simply don't bother to even make the effort to remember their passwords. Email is a difficult thing for most people.
Those that don't take the time to understand or care about these (tech)issues will never be persuaded, and will resist discussion. Their eyes will glaze over, and their attention will turn to Survivor 4.
>Why did the government have to sell the DNS system to these losers?
I have a feeling that it wouldn't matter who gained the monopoly at the time Internic(?) went private. Netsol was in the right place at the right time in history. What private company in the early childhood of the Information Revolution *isn't* doing it's best to rape everyone?
Unfortunately, business is business, and it is that mentality that allows people to act in a manner that in any other environment would be considered criminal.
In a 1000 years, anthropologists will wonder and spend their lifetimes trying to unravel the Culture of Capitalism (Or is it the Culture of Consumerism, I'm beginning to forget if I'm supposed to make lots or spend lots. Please O Lord of TV-Ads, guide me...) Similiar to the way we ponder and gape at cultures that practice(d) human sacrifice.
(I'm not equating human sacrifice with losing your domain name, just trying to illustrate a point.)
2000 Server and Advanced Server install IIS 5.0 by default. In fact, on all the installs I have done, if I ever tried to deselect IIS during the (attended) install, the machine would unexpectededly reboot, and I would have to resume the installation again. Suffice it to say, I would simply accept the default install and remove packages later.
I did an install the other day and was hit with CodeRed within 10 minutes of having the server up. I prolly had a few hundred active connections going to port 80.
I should have disconnected the box and turned off IIS before going to download the service packs and fixes. My bad, had to reinstall again. That's what you get for not paying attention, I guess.
Man, I've lost count of the posts on/. that go something like this:
Hi SlashDot, I'm $Xteen years old, and I'm the IT/NOC/Systems Director/Manager/Admin and I make $AVG_NORTH_AMERICAN_SALARY*2.5/year.
I never went to college, got the job right out of HS, starting as a phone jockey. I have $AGE/4 years experience. All my underlings are $AGE*4 years. Ph3@r m3.
If this is for real, then at 26 with no certs I'm washed up and ready for the old folks home.
Insensitivity: -1, Offtopic: -1, KiddyBashing: -1, Speaking your mind: Priceless
Not to mention the fact that very few providers or Telcos would want a bunch of techies crammed into a building, what with all the wireless antennae strung out the windows and on the roof, cat5 all over the damn place, and every Tom, Dick, and Harry with their own private WLAN.
Yep, like they are ever gonna let us get our hands on that kind of fiber. Upload cap at 250kbps, NO servers. Like having a hotrod that won't fit through the garage doors.
There are no homeless musicians.
They are always crashed out at a buddies place, eating his food, drinking his beer, having sex with his girlfriend...
uh-oh, I 've said too much already
>Money raised from the concerts will help fund an offensive against the major record labels for allegedly denying musicians a share of royalty earnings.
Not to downplay the fact that alot of artists *do* get the shaft by the record companies, but considering the -- erm, financial success -- of these artists, wouldn't it be more fitting to hold some benefit concerts to
-feed the homeless
-make a wish for a terminally ill child
-donate gifts to a low-income family
-donations to Amnesty International to keep the newly founded Afghan regime under control. One warlord for another right? Just give it 10 years, you'll be hearing from them again soon.
It *is* nearly Christams after all.
Now, I'm not a big xmas fan at all, and I've actually lived in some seriously shitty areas, so I have my criticisms of the poor and needy. However, I really don't think it's appropriate to be tossing money at Music Artists to help offset their court costs so they can fight the big bad RIAA. Let them foot the bill themselves, with funds from their own industry group. If $ARTIST wants to take his/her cut from my concert ticket to buy some coke, or put in for their court fees, that's their business. Just don't masquerade it as a "benefit".
<crotchety Old Man voice>
And another thing! Like hell am I'm going to go see that aging, worn-out fucking cokehead Elton John dance around with some homophobic little angst-ridden punk sonafabitch (like you have it so hard, go work in a sweat shop in China you fucken LA Burb refugee), all so they can whore their asses a little more to get me to buy their silly-ass brand name shoes.
In my day, we had to actually do WORK. You know the kind; shitty, unpleasant, unfulfilling jobs 8 hrs a day, 7 days a week, 12 months a year, no vacation, no benefits, the kind of job you dread so much you don't wanna wake up it's so fucking soul-destroying, just so we could get sold to a larger comapany and get layed off.
I only wish I got paid to dance around and curse like a MOFO next to jigglies, calling my mom a fucken biatch. And get paid to do it to! If you got fucked by your record deal, deal with it and join the club pal, because we are ALL getting fucked by the system. <crotchety Old Man has stroke and shuts up>
Update: I just re-read the article and realised that the concerts are to be held the night before the Grammys. I have no idea when the Grammys are held, I never watch them. But my original point still stands.
Elton, if you're reading this, take those Lion King royalties (your $$ not mine) and sue the ass off the RIAA, that way you can make everything you've done since 1983 dissapear;)
CmdrTaco: "Hmm, I need a story to whip up the/. crowd...lets see..."
Taco opens Konqueror and heads over to google. He begins to enter search terms.
Taco: "'Bill Gates and Goats'...heehee thats great! What!? No results?!? Hmm, Ok...'RMS eats baby'....shit, nothing."
This continues for awhile as Taco and the gang struggle to find something to really get the/. crowd into a feeding frenzy. It's not hard, but last weeks MSIE "exploit" was damn well near a Pulitzer for Michael. "Whatever we do," says Taco, "it needs to be from a third party, outlandish, unsubstantiated, and hopefullly, as short on detail as possible, the less the better. Ambiguity is what drives those page views, boys."
Suddenly, Taco has a brilliant thought, and races back to his hacked DreamCast. He furiously types in the phrase "Osama bin Laden hiding in Bill and Melinda Gates' guesthouse". To his joy and surprise, he nearly falls over when he sees this fine work of journalism.
Taco posts it to the front page and watches the pirana gather for the frenzy. Looks like/. is going to live to see another day.
Personally, I think that this discussion is lacking, mostly because everyone seems to be stuck in a loop complaining about whether or not nix support is better/worse than MS support.
I think the underlying theme here is that in general, *nix users tend to be better at identifying, troubleshooting, and solving problems than their MS counterparts. Basically it's easier to call a support line, reboot, download a patch/upgrade, or reinstall, than it is to really try to understand the problem at hand and find a solution. MS servers suck (IMHO) because I hate point and click administration. One of the beatiful things about a text config is the ability to comment or customise a config line about it's purpose, and why it was added. Try commenting a stupid dialogue box in Windows. You're stuck with whatever checkbox is there.
*nix forces you to get down and dirty with the OS, which is something I think is neccessary to being a good admin. Want to set up a web server? IIS == point and click install --> My First Webpage. Apache, understand DNS, ports, access privileges, scripts before you install == understanding of what a web server *is*, not a piece of software.
The thought of all these clowns complaining about "hard to install" pisses me off far more than their impression of MS tech support. I could care less about their subjective impression of the tech on the phone. What I care about is that these people (at lease the ones in the article)are essentially lazy about computers, and are supposed to be the sysadmins and netadmins of tommorrow. "Hard to install" translates to "I just don't care enough to find out how to make this bastard work". Not exactly the kind of attitude I'd expect from an admin.
So help me, when I save up to get certified, I am going to eat these assholes for lunch.
>Why would anyone go to school for IT? To learn about the OS's and technologies of today, that will be obsolete in five years? I don't get it. Study EE or CS or a hard science like Chem/Physics. That will give you a disciplined and flexible mind.
EE, not interested.
CS, not interested.
Hand me a router, some cabling, a handful of OS cd's, a dozen boxen, and tell me to make 'em hum; now you've got my attention.
Slashdot Mirror
That is all.
damn I already posted but forgot to mention this one thing:
innovation (n-vshn)
n.
1. The act of introducing something new.
2. Something newly introduced.
When it comes to *Innovation*, it's not MS or Dell, it's always Apple. Apple consistently pushes the envelope of Consumer computing, more so than anyone else. At least give them credit in atime when the word innovate usually translates into "commandeer your competitors technology and call it your own". The browser,instant messaging, CD burning, home video, the list goes on.
ok, bye.
Jon Katz : /. sanctioned Troll. Oh well.
I'm no Apple fanatic, if I had the moolah, I would buy one. But I don't so I can't. However, Mac users are on average, some of the most non-tech clued users out there. That's not a slap, just an observation. I'm no graphic designer, or DV editor, so in that respect, I'm the clueless one.
I believe PC's are for the office workers. PC's are also great for hot-rodding, gaming and buildiing the Ultimate Box. PC's are like sedans, minivans, sportscars and dragsters. It all depends on how you build it. Just like a car. Most cars are for The Rest Of Us.
Now, OTOH, we have the Mac. It's a Jaguar. It has sleek, sexy styling, the newest technology and gimmicks, and is engineered to last. The luxury auto of home computing. And a price tag to match. But nothing beats driving a nice well-made car no?
Apple can and does market to the Dubuques, but the Dubuques don't know shit, so they buy a Gateway Cow and get on AOL. And Bill Gates just got another dollar (or more). But a Mac is just what the Dubuques needed. See, Apple markets to the elite, when they're product is more than suitable for The Masses. Any newbie would be better off with a Mac than a PC any day. But the pricetag scares them off, because this is their first fray into computing, or their second and they think PC=computers. Another dollar to Bill.
I don't think Steve Jobs minds. He has a vision of the Mac as an expression of oneself. Image, style, and function. The Select. Macs are suitable for the die-hard artist, and for Grandma. But Mac users like to think of themselves as a cut above. Ok. That's cool, they make great machines.
But Katz is DEAD WRONG about them being troublesome or flaky. That award goes to PC's. PC's are like Frankenstein boxes, you never know what the hell is going on in there. If Apple wants to gain more market share, then just start slipping in the ads some stuff about reliability and long term value. That'll prick up ears, especially in this economic climate.
see here:
... are much more questionable than DSL.
>On the contrary, many folks have had exceptional service with DSL. --emphasis mine.
Now see here:
> I have had BellSouth's
> my IP
>There has been exactly one outage...after I got the service...which I used the freely-provided
>Most of my friends...have cable modems, and not a day goes by...complain about their connection going down
>It seems to me that cable modem technology
Well it seems to me that you are using alot of I's, Me's, and My's in your "factual" account on "many folks' DSL service". And the rest is the opinion of your friends. Let me give you my *experience* as a seasoned helldesk tech at more than 3 companies that offered DSL and/or cable.
Invariably, customers of DSL broadband technology suffer more inconvenience/disatisfaction caused by faulty DSLAMS, line attentuation, network outages, software incompatibilities (PPPoE), and red tape from the Telco, than their cable modem counterparts.
Add to this the fact that average downstream and upstream speeds for cable users are usually twice as fast as DSL, waitlists are virtually non-existant, and availability is generally subject to whether or not you can get cable TV. If you can get TV, you can probably get broadband. Oh, and for the same price if not cheaper.
Vancouver
Shaw Cable (TV company): $39.95/month CDN, 2 dynamic IPs, no traffic limit, first month free(30-day trial). Average dl 80 KILOBYTES/s, ul 40 KILOBYTES, distance is irrelevent, usually installed within 5 days.
Telus (phone company): $39.95/month CDN, 2 dynamic IPs, 5GB down 1 GB up (residential! pfft!), 2 months free if you buy the modem (translation:you just paid 2 months), avg dl 40KILOBYTES/s ul 10KILOBYTES/s, speeds are dependant on distance from the CO, and affect availibility, eligibility affected by line integrity (for those of you in older buildings--you're screwed), waitlists are usually about 6 months.
Both companies offer outlandish "corporate" and SOHO accounts, but the links are there, make up your own mind.
>To date, roughly 80 percent of the country's homes have broadband service available to them -- via cable lines, satellite or souped-up telephone lines (known as digital subscriber lines, or DSL). Yet only about 10 percent, or 10 million homes, have signed up.
;P
I hate stats like this. 80% of homes have broadband access. So what? How many of the country's homes have a *computer*? Get that right, *then* tell me what % of those have broadband. Sheesh. I mean c'mon, there are still people that don't even own 1 computer, let alone 2 or more that need to be NAT'ed!
I would like to see the economy turn around just as much as the next person. Problem is, the PC market is saturated in North America. With no killer app(s) driving hardware and OS sales, the push for broadband appeals only to kernel geeks, warez kiddies, and pr0n lovers. Dial-up suits alot of peole fine. They get home and want to play with their kids, make love to the wife, watch a chop-socky movie, or have a nap. Most people dont even *like* computers <shock! gasp!> Personally, I would rather see a huge push for Linux in the Enterprise, (as in management discovers MS is expensive and a security liability) and an associated drive for linux admins and techies in the workplace. But that's me, I want a better job...
From what I can see, it's the UK and Europe that need broadband. The public there are asking for it, and it sounds like the market (yeah right, like the telcos are a market in any sense) could care less.
If there was a need for more broadband in NA, the public would pay for it. If $40/month isn't too much, you go for it, otherwise you stay on AOL. That's the other thing: for many people, AOL *is* the internet. I've actually dealt with a *lot* of people who tried out cable (Canadian cable is a helluva lot faster than its US counterpart btw) for FREE for a month, and then switched back to dial-up!!! wtf?
I (reluctantly) spent 2 months on dial-up after almost 3 straight years of fast-ass cable. Let me tell you, never again will I abuse myself like that again.
cue announcer>
Do you remember those Great Country Classics? The days when a good ol' song told a *story*?
Well now you can relive those great oldies with Great Country Story Songs from K-Tel©!
*twangy geetar sounds*
I was boooorrnn,
ina Saginaw Michigaaannnnn,
Iuuuha grew uuup....
*announcer cuts in again*
and how could you forget that great Johnny Cash tune, 'A Boy Named Sue'....
Hehe, I couldnt resist. I don't know about you, but up here in the Great White North, they keep airing this bizarre TV ad that has a guy sing those same warbly words. Hoo hoo!
Oh boy, mod me down, I'm outta CONTROL! That's twice tonight I've been taking potshots. Somebody left donuts and pop at the office and my bloodsugar is skyrocketing! Weeeee!
>if he tought that would...
I tought I taw a puddy tat! HAR!!HAR!!HAR!!*snort*
...
*composes self*
I'm so sorry, mod away.
Ain't no president of mine. I'm Canadian ;) Dubya can scream BUY!!! until he's blue in the face; up here our dollar is so shit, I couldn't BUY!!! if I tried.
me, my pr0n, software to write 1s and 0s, a screwdriver, and some emery board, followed by fire.
Bye bye disk platters.
>If most of us ... spent some time actually lobbying and petitioning... (from the neighborhood greasy spoon to Washington), we'd see more of a difference.
Most people don't differentiate between their desktop and the Internet. They don't know what an OS is. They have a hard time remembering a mildly complex password, or simply don't bother to even make the effort to remember their passwords. Email is a difficult thing for most people.
Those that don't take the time to understand or care about these (tech)issues will never be persuaded, and will resist discussion. Their eyes will glaze over, and their attention will turn to Survivor 4.
>Why did the government have to sell the DNS system to these losers?
I have a feeling that it wouldn't matter who gained the monopoly at the time Internic(?) went private. Netsol was in the right place at the right time in history. What private company in the early childhood of the Information Revolution *isn't* doing it's best to rape everyone?
Unfortunately, business is business, and it is that mentality that allows people to act in a manner that in any other environment would be considered criminal.
In a 1000 years, anthropologists will wonder and spend their lifetimes trying to unravel the Culture of Capitalism (Or is it the Culture of Consumerism, I'm beginning to forget if I'm supposed to make lots or spend lots. Please O Lord of TV-Ads, guide me...) Similiar to the way we ponder and gape at cultures that practice(d) human sacrifice.
(I'm not equating human sacrifice with losing your domain name, just trying to illustrate a point.)
Get on the waitlist for www.off-topic-rant.com!
>I honestly can't remember with 2000 Server.
2000 Server and Advanced Server install IIS 5.0 by default. In fact, on all the installs I have done, if I ever tried to deselect IIS during the (attended) install, the machine would unexpectededly reboot, and I would have to resume the installation again. Suffice it to say, I would simply accept the default install and remove packages later.
I did an install the other day and was hit with CodeRed within 10 minutes of having the server up. I prolly had a few hundred active connections going to port 80.
I should have disconnected the box and turned off IIS before going to download the service packs and fixes. My bad, had to reinstall again. That's what you get for not paying attention, I guess.
Top Ten possible decoded messages in no particular order:
1) Resistance is Futile. You will be assimilated.
2) You've got mail!
3) Hi, how are you? I send this to you to have your advice.
4) w007!
5) link to goatsex
6) iFellOverandBroke <snicker>
7) All your Base are Belong to Us.
8) Get your *FREE* University Diploma!
9) For Entertainment purposes only. This message has been billed at $5.00 per AU
10) and last, but not least, this
see the .sig
Umm, pardon me, but for the life of me, I thought that in the original Greedo *did* shoot first...that's what made Han so cool. He anticipated Greedo.
If I'm wrong, please refresh my memory. Coulda sworn all these years Greedo fired first...
Gonna watch it from start to finish, something I've never done before. Never managed to see the whole thing yet...
Man, I've lost count of the posts on /. that go something like this:
Hi SlashDot, I'm $Xteen years old, and I'm the IT/NOC/Systems Director/Manager/Admin and I make $AVG_NORTH_AMERICAN_SALARY*2.5/year.
I never went to college, got the job right out of HS, starting as a phone jockey. I have $AGE/4 years experience. All my underlings are $AGE*4 years. Ph3@r m3.
If this is for real, then at 26 with no certs I'm washed up and ready for the old folks home.
Insensitivity: -1, Offtopic: -1, KiddyBashing: -1, Speaking your mind: Priceless
>Do you realise the amount of retro-fitting...
Not to mention the fact that very few providers or Telcos would want a bunch of techies crammed into a building, what with all the wireless antennae strung out the windows and on the roof, cat5 all over the damn place, and every Tom, Dick, and Harry with their own private WLAN.
Yep, like they are ever gonna let us get our hands on that kind of fiber. Upload cap at 250kbps, NO servers. Like having a hotrod that won't fit through the garage doors.
There are no homeless musicians.
They are always crashed out at a buddies place, eating his food, drinking his beer, having sex with his girlfriend...
uh-oh, I 've said too much already
;)
Bah. People always trot out trite attempts at reductionist postings when there's a competing point of view.
News Flash: Disposable post-modernist cynicism is no longer fresh or enlightening.
>Money raised from the concerts will help fund an offensive against the major record labels for allegedly denying musicians a share of royalty earnings.
;)
Not to downplay the fact that alot of artists *do* get the shaft by the record companies, but considering the -- erm, financial success -- of these artists, wouldn't it be more fitting to hold some benefit concerts to
-feed the homeless
-make a wish for a terminally ill child
-donate gifts to a low-income family
-donations to Amnesty International to keep the newly founded Afghan regime under control. One warlord for another right? Just give it 10 years, you'll be hearing from them again soon.
It *is* nearly Christams after all.
Now, I'm not a big xmas fan at all, and I've actually lived in some seriously shitty areas, so I have my criticisms of the poor and needy. However, I really don't think it's appropriate to be tossing money at Music Artists to help offset their court costs so they can fight the big bad RIAA. Let them foot the bill themselves, with funds from their own industry group. If $ARTIST wants to take his/her cut from my concert ticket to buy some coke, or put in for their court fees, that's their business. Just don't masquerade it as a "benefit".
<crotchety Old Man voice>
And another thing! Like hell am I'm going to go see that aging, worn-out fucking cokehead Elton John dance around with some homophobic little angst-ridden punk sonafabitch (like you have it so hard, go work in a sweat shop in China you fucken LA Burb refugee), all so they can whore their asses a little more to get me to buy their silly-ass brand name shoes.
In my day, we had to actually do WORK. You know the kind; shitty, unpleasant, unfulfilling jobs 8 hrs a day, 7 days a week, 12 months a year, no vacation, no benefits, the kind of job you dread so much you don't wanna wake up it's so fucking soul-destroying, just so we could get sold to a larger comapany and get layed off.
I only wish I got paid to dance around and curse like a MOFO next to jigglies, calling my mom a fucken biatch. And get paid to do it to! If you got fucked by your record deal, deal with it and join the club pal, because we are ALL getting fucked by the system.
<crotchety Old Man has stroke and shuts up>
Update: I just re-read the article and realised that the concerts are to be held the night before the Grammys. I have no idea when the Grammys are held, I never watch them. But my original point still stands.
Elton, if you're reading this, take those Lion King royalties (your $$ not mine) and sue the ass off the RIAA, that way you can make everything you've done since 1983 dissapear
Admirable, and I would like to work for you. Can you get me past the HR drones and their silly keyword search?
CmdrTaco: "Hmm, I need a story to whip up the /. crowd...lets see..."
/. crowd into a feeding frenzy. It's not hard, but last weeks MSIE "exploit" was damn well near a Pulitzer for Michael. "Whatever we do," says Taco, "it needs to be from a third party, outlandish, unsubstantiated, and hopefullly, as short on detail as possible, the less the better. Ambiguity is what drives those page views, boys."
/. is going to live to see another day.
Taco opens Konqueror and heads over to google. He begins to enter search terms.
Taco: "'Bill Gates and Goats'...heehee thats great! What!? No results?!? Hmm, Ok...'RMS eats baby'....shit, nothing."
This continues for awhile as Taco and the gang struggle to find something to really get the
Suddenly, Taco has a brilliant thought, and races back to his hacked DreamCast. He furiously types in the phrase "Osama bin Laden hiding in Bill and Melinda Gates' guesthouse". To his joy and surprise, he nearly falls over when he sees this fine work of journalism.
Taco posts it to the front page and watches the pirana gather for the frenzy. Looks like
Personally, I think that this discussion is lacking, mostly because everyone seems to be stuck in a loop complaining about whether or not nix support is better/worse than MS support.
I think the underlying theme here is that in general, *nix users tend to be better at identifying, troubleshooting, and solving problems than their MS counterparts. Basically it's easier to call a support line, reboot, download a patch/upgrade, or reinstall, than it is to really try to understand the problem at hand and find a solution. MS servers suck (IMHO) because I hate point and click administration. One of the beatiful things about a text config is the ability to comment or customise a config line about it's purpose, and why it was added. Try commenting a stupid dialogue box in Windows. You're stuck with whatever checkbox is there.
*nix forces you to get down and dirty with the OS, which is something I think is neccessary to being a good admin. Want to set up a web server? IIS == point and click install --> My First Webpage. Apache, understand DNS, ports, access privileges, scripts before you install == understanding of what a web server *is*, not a piece of software.
The thought of all these clowns complaining about "hard to install" pisses me off far more than their impression of MS tech support. I could care less about their subjective impression of the tech on the phone. What I care about is that these people (at lease the ones in the article)are essentially lazy about computers, and are supposed to be the sysadmins and netadmins of tommorrow. "Hard to install" translates to "I just don't care enough to find out how to make this bastard work". Not exactly the kind of attitude I'd expect from an admin.
So help me, when I save up to get certified, I am going to eat these assholes for lunch.
>Why would anyone go to school for IT? To learn about the OS's and technologies of today, that will be obsolete in five years? I don't get it. Study EE or CS or a hard science like Chem/Physics. That will give you a disciplined and flexible mind.
EE, not interested.
CS, not interested.
Hand me a router, some cabling, a handful of OS cd's, a dozen boxen, and tell me to make 'em hum; now you've got my attention.