OTOH, if there's a good OSS alternative to Quickbooks for Windows, some people will switch to that app (much less scary than switching the whole OS), and then when they ARE ready to switch to Linux, they'll already be using that app.
I once worked on a system that wouldn't let you change your password more than once in 3 days. Which means that if anyone discovered your password right after you changed it, you were screwed for 3 days.
I don't know about the other countries on your list, but until recently English was THE language of the USA. There were always immigrants who spoke something else, but if they did business with anyone, it was in English. It's only in the last 5-10 years that businesses have started including Spanish.
After 9/11, the internet collapsed, and no real news was available. Only TV provided reliable coverage, showing the footage, keeping us up to date with what was happening
Coverage, yes, but it wasn't really very informative. To a large extent they just showed the buildings falling repeatedly. And a 9/11-like internet collaspe is very rare. I'm glad TV was available, but I still got better news on the internet, after it stopped getting slashdotted.
For entertainment, for all the talk about lowest common denominator, I have a genius level IQ and yet I enjoy the same shows that most other Americans do. I like Desperate Housewives and Lost. I like 24 and Alias. I like CSI and Law and Order. I also like science fiction: Enterprise, Tru Calling, Firefly. I enjoy some shows that are at the bottom of the ratings too: Jack and Bobby, Veronica Mars. I even like the reality series. Survivor never disappoints. I've been watching the Biggest Loser and the Branson shows too this season, and I'm waiting for American Idol
I'm no genious;), but my list of good shows is considerably shorter than yours, and it seems to shrink every year. There's still enough to watch, but it may get so bad that even Tivo can't save it.
I don't see the quality of movies in general being any higher than those of television shows.
Is that what they mean by damning with faint praise?
With TiVo, television is the most reliable and least expensive form of entertainment available. I feel very lucky to have it.
Currently, I still agree with you. But TV is getting worse every year. Before Tivo, I was on the verge of throwing my TV out the window, and if it keeps getting worse, I still might do so.
- Intel with the Pentium 4 fiasco where speed is placed over performance;
- Microsoft with their ignoring of security concerns until way too late;
- Fast food providers in general, MacDonalds in particular;
- Radio/Television/Movie/Music industries;
The sad thing is, none of the above are "failures". Intel/Windows are everywhere. So are the McBarf meals. You can argue that they all suck, but Intel/MS/McDonalds don't care about that, they just watch the $$$ flow into their pockets. LCD seems to work, even for people who know better.
Sometimes, I just want to plop down in my chair, pick up the remote, and watch some "mindless" action/adventure or sci-fi show. AFAIK, I still can't do that from the Internet (at least not legally). The Internet is far more flexible, but TV still owns that niche, and Tivo solves the schduling problem.
There might be gaps in your working life. Maybe work for 100 years, build up your savings, then take a 60 year sabbatical to see the world. Resume your career, or start a new one at 200, and by the time you're sick of working, you'll be able to travel to Mars (which will be terraformed & inhabited by the 2200's).
I vaguely remember a Niven story about an astronaut flying through space at near-light speed for a few years. Because of time-dialation, a few years to him was centuries on Earth, and he thought everyone he knew would be dead when he returned. Instead, they were alive because they had conquered aging, but the astronaut was already too old for the treatment. So, the man who thought he'd outlive everyone he knew was the last man on Earth to die from old age.
People would probably get stuck in a rut for the first hundred years, but they'll get so bored that they'll resume doing new things and maybe taking risks out of sheer boredom.
Their DIRECT customer is the advertisers, but ultimately, the "buck" stops here. IOW, if they mess up my viewing, I won't watch their shows. If I don't watch their shows, I don't see ANY of their commercials (not even the blur I see while FFing). If the ad-monkeys catch on that people aren't watching the shows, they'll stop sponsoring them. So, don't p*ss me off!
How does that differ from the mainstream media? They also focus on only part of the story and neglect anything that either doesn't fit their bias, or that they think is boring.
Forcing people to change passwords every e.g. 60 days is also a terrible idea, because people will soon run out of easy-to-remember-yet-secure passwords and will just start incrementing numbers, as some of my coworkers do, which makes things trivial.
Or they'll write their password on a post-it note and stick it on their monitor.
I only bother with two classes. Slashdot, K5, and my various work accounts are variations of a "standard" password. My financial accounts use entirely different and more secure passwords.
Slashdot Mirror
OTOH, if there's a good OSS alternative to Quickbooks for Windows, some people will switch to that app (much less scary than switching the whole OS), and then when they ARE ready to switch to Linux, they'll already be using that app.
Wrong approach. Make it as good as possible, then advertise "Under Linux you can run this without malware/viruses/system instability".
I once worked on a system that wouldn't let you change your password more than once in 3 days. Which means that if anyone discovered your password right after you changed it, you were screwed for 3 days.
Bah! In Korea, only old people use NetBSD
I don't know about the other countries on your list, but until recently English was THE language of the USA. There were always immigrants who spoke something else, but if they did business with anyone, it was in English. It's only in the last 5-10 years that businesses have started including Spanish.
(X) Possesses Weapons of Mass Destruction
(X) Possesses 200 Million Man Army
(X) Possesses Cheap/Slave Labor
Actually, Esperanto HAS evolved.
e volve
http://esperanto.org/us/USEJ/world/kontraux.html#
I hope not! If we go to war with the Klingons, I'd feel a lot better if they were using Windows!
Someone who realized that all those people who DON'T live in Florida, Arizona, or southern Texas WANT global warming. At least in the winter.
Coverage, yes, but it wasn't really very informative. To a large extent they just showed the buildings falling repeatedly. And a 9/11-like internet collaspe is very rare. I'm glad TV was available, but I still got better news on the internet, after it stopped getting slashdotted.
I'm no genious
Is that what they mean by damning with faint praise?
Currently, I still agree with you. But TV is getting worse every year. Before Tivo, I was on the verge of throwing my TV out the window, and if it keeps getting worse, I still might do so.
The sad thing is, none of the above are "failures". Intel/Windows are everywhere. So are the McBarf meals. You can argue that they all suck, but Intel/MS/McDonalds don't care about that, they just watch the $$$ flow into their pockets. LCD seems to work, even for people who know better.
Sometimes it seems like that, but there are still a few decent shows. Smallville, Enterprise, and soon 24 will return.
Sometimes, I just want to plop down in my chair, pick up the remote, and watch some "mindless" action/adventure or sci-fi show. AFAIK, I still can't do that from the Internet (at least not legally). The Internet is far more flexible, but TV still owns that niche, and Tivo solves the schduling problem.
There might be gaps in your working life. Maybe work for 100 years, build up your savings, then take a 60 year sabbatical to see the world. Resume your career, or start a new one at 200, and by the time you're sick of working, you'll be able to travel to Mars (which will be terraformed & inhabited by the 2200's).
I vaguely remember a Niven story about an astronaut flying through space at near-light speed for a few years. Because of time-dialation, a few years to him was centuries on Earth, and he thought everyone he knew would be dead when he returned. Instead, they were alive because they had conquered aging, but the astronaut was already too old for the treatment. So, the man who thought he'd outlive everyone he knew was the last man on Earth to die from old age.
I stand on the Fifth.
People would probably get stuck in a rut for the first hundred years, but they'll get so bored that they'll resume doing new things and maybe taking risks out of sheer boredom.
Yeah, the caves were warm, but Thag DID lose his mammoth hides. It was a legitimate concern.
Not neccesarily. Maybe you spend your first century bungee jumping, until the cord breaks, and you're a quadrapeligic for the next 900 years.
Their DIRECT customer is the advertisers, but ultimately, the "buck" stops here. IOW, if they mess up my viewing, I won't watch their shows. If I don't watch their shows, I don't see ANY of their commercials (not even the blur I see while FFing). If the ad-monkeys catch on that people aren't watching the shows, they'll stop sponsoring them. So, don't p*ss me off!
Does that mean we'll have a long wait while the developers scratch their etch?
How does that differ from the mainstream media? They also focus on only part of the story and neglect anything that either doesn't fit their bias, or that they think is boring.
TV shows: 1,234,567
Good TV shows: 12
Good TV shows that are legal: No results found
Or they'll write their password on a post-it note and stick it on their monitor.
I only bother with two classes. Slashdot, K5, and my various work accounts are variations of a "standard" password. My financial accounts use entirely different and more secure passwords.