You're absolutely right, sortof. The only reason these are remotely considered adult series is because of two main groups: The FCC, and the Religious Right. The Pat Robertson crew wants to force it's own moral code, based on a 2000 year old story book, on everybody, and the FCC, a government body, is too afraid of catching flak from them to oppose it and loosen its restrictions on TV broadcasting.
Dragonball Z in its original form, by those Religious Right standards, is nowhere near for kids. They'd have a fit if they knew what a potty mouth Son Gohan really is. One of Son Goku's first lines when he meets Raditz is "Get the fuck off of my planet."
We'll never see a series like Ranma 1/2 on American TV thanks to the Right. Sex is a big part of the comedy on that show, since Ranma is often turned into a girl and back, resulting in breasts and butts hanging out all over the place. In Japan, that show IS for kids, as is Dragonball. Sexually, the Japanese aren't as "pent-up" as we are "supposed" to be.
Only when we get a channel that shows un-cut Anime (which we'll have to pay for, and will probably be an upper tier channel) will we see them in their original form, instead of chopped to hell to appease the FCC, and therefore appease the Religious Right. From here, my.sig speaks for itself...
Doesn't Matter
on
DSL Rising
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I still can't get either-or in my little podunk redneck town. Sucks being the only geek in the county. Whichever becomes available first, I'm going to jump on with reckless abandon. And I pray that it's Cable. I've seen both in action (Verizon DSL and Adelphia PowerLink), and Cable, for my needs, is the easy way to go.
Now, if those corporate control freaks would just get off their keisters and hardwire my town, I could pay their salaries...
Trekkers: Usually smell normal, as they shower regularly, go out regularly, and generally have lives.
Trekkies: Smell musty, spending alot of time in their basements watching TNG seasons 1-7 on DVD over and over. Also carry a strong BO, since they don't shower much. Reason? Still waiting for Trek-like technology to do the showering for them.
Now, which one smells like a winner to you?
Cigs/Booze vs Pr0n
on
Google vs. Evil
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
It's not hard to figure out his reasoning here. Cigs and Booze are choices that people make at the ages of 18 and 21 respectively. Both can hurt you immensely (cancer anyone?).
Now, porn on the other hand, isn't a choice made at a certain age. Sex is a part of life. And while it can hurt you (STDs, Early Age Pregnancy, Child Support, etc.), it's not likely going to kill you. Sex is part of human instinct. Every species on the planet is born with the intuition to further itself through breeding. The only reason sex is considered "evil" in the mainstream is because of Religious Zealots who want you to think it's a sin.
It looks like it's just a case of choosing the lesser of two evils. If Google were to go public, I'd buy, porn or no porn. It'd just be a sound investment. I'm a big user of Google, as many other people are, I'm sure (well, those who change their default search from MSN to Google, anyway).
I don't think I've ever seen a discussion here on/. that has spawned so many AC posts. I was going to try and moderate here, but DAMN!
Now to get myself back on topic. If you use a credit card on ebay, you're insane. Every time I deal on ebay, I only use postal money orders. Period. It's no big thing to go to your local post office to get/cash one. Unless some idiot is counterfitting things, it's the most secure way I can find to do business on an auction site. And it's not like it's a big pain in the ass, either. Every town has a post office. If it doesn't, the next town over probably does.
It basically boils down to the fact that these are issued by the government. You'ld have to be insane to want to commit fraud when dealing with PMOs. You either have balls the size of Alaska or a brain the size of the period at the end of this sentance. Using a credit card on ebay is like saying "Hey. Take my valuable information, please!"
Sites like ebay should also provide an easy-to-access list of 100% trusted partner sites. Just because an URL contains the name "ebay" in it doesn't mean it's alright. Let's face it: apart from we ubergeeks and a small percentage of the non-geek population, most people are just dumb as rocks when it comes to dealing with anything on the net, let alone any form of e-commerce. It should fall upon sites like ebay to educate their users, even just a little bit.
Bigfoot gives his first interview to "Inside Edition" There really WERE Aliens inside the Roswell Craft Saddam Hussein gives up and disarms Communism is good for you.
What's my point? Well, all of these things are complete crap that don't mean squat. Micro$oft releasing its source code won't mean much more than the above phoney headlines until they release it to everyone. What they're doing is panicing and frantically trying to undermine Linux. Goes to show what they'll do when they're backed into a big corner. I'd love to see what happens when the corners start getting smaller and smaller...
Nothing much else to say, other than luck for the future, and try to keep it down to under three BabyTacos. If they all start "geek news" websites, the world's web servers would cower in fear...
We've all seen the IBM ads with the basketball team, and specifically the one featuring Linux ("Because He Loves The Game" So TRUE!). Now, here for all of/. to see, is my Linux Commercial pitch.
The commercial opens with the side of a large house shown. This house has many, many windows, some ornate, some plain. After a few seconds, a baseball smashes through one of them, shattering it. After a few more seconds, another baseball smashes another window. Several quick cuts of different windows being smashed by more and more baseballs. Cut to a pile of baseballs laying on the ground. After a moment, a black CG flipper reaches down and picks one up. The camera follows the ball to reveal Tux, wearing a ball cap bearing the "official" Tux logo, and he's got an EVIL grin. The final cut to the product screen, which says "Linux: Smashing Convention. http://www.linux.org" and a final sound of a ball shattering glass.
How 'bout some Sim Rocky Horror Online Saturday nights...
"Hey, SimJanet... I really love the... SimSkillful way... you beat the other SimGirls (with a SimHammer)... to the SimBride's SimBoquet!" *cue SimMusic*
Eat your heart out, Richard O'Brien! And remember, kids... Don't SimDream it, SimBe it!
Apart from the downsides mentioned in the review, there are a few that have been pointed out here on/. before. Time to rehash the list, and add some asides.
First of all, not everyone has broadband. There are still alot of users (me included) that are stuck on dial-up due to lack of speed by Comm companies to get the ball rolling. I was once told that DSL would be available within three months by Verizon. One year later, I'm still waiting for DSL. And while Adelphia has done a better job with their PowerLink cable service, it still hasn't reached my town (but is available five miles away: anyone know where we can get some cheap WiFi repeaters?) yet.
The second big deterrant is the fact that this service is limited to Windoze. Can you say DRM is a bad thing? I can. The fact that this service isn't available to *nix, MacOSX (not sure about 9.x and below) or BSD users. Screw that. It's about freedom of choice.
Then there are the network troubles mentioned in the article. Even with broadband, we're expected to compromise our network security and configuration just to download a movie? BS. For the 50 minutes (give or take) that we would have to sit there waiting for the movie to come down, our networks could be compromised. I'm sure alot of us aren't willing to sacrifice the security and structure we spent money and time to build up.
The watch limit is horrible. Just 24 hours? I'd rather drive to my local movie shack and rent a VHS copy which I can keep for a few days. The reccomendation of 5 days in the review would be much better, and worth the pains taken to download it.
Having to connect to authenticate is a bit of a pain, especially for mobile users. After all, you're not going to go WarDriving or pay for special access to a WiFi network just to watch a movie. That adds to the cost, something we economically-minded users don't like. Even open WiFi networks aren't that sound of a notion, because they're not quite available everywhere. While it may be a necessary evil to prevent piracy, it's also a pain in the arse...
I don't think I'll be renting movies from this service anytime soon, if ever. I'd much rather wait for a DVD release and shell out $20 to own it for the rest of my life. Wany my opinion? Screw this...
If The Sims Online is going to be anything like Slashdot, it's going to have the following things:
1. Duplicate Everything. 2. Cheesey polls with the ever-present CowboyNeal option. 3. Trolls. 4. Anonymous Sims who think they're smarter than everyone else, but afraid to reveal their true selves. 5. CmdrTaco's Anime Hut (to me, that'd be a plus) 6. A Town Hall where geeks with no lives can bitch about Farscape and Firefly being cancled. 7. Computers that boot into Linux, run WINE, and then play The Sims Online. 8. Insert Rip on JonKatz Here. 9. A graveyard with tombstones that read MINIX, FreeBSD, and other OSs people are fond of calling "dead." 10. UFOs and subsequent Government Cover-Ups. 11. A Babylon 5 Shrine. 12. The city of Torvalds, CA.
What I'd really like to see in TSO would be a hidden Middle Earth landscape, in which case I'd hustle in and set up shop at either Eisengard or Mordor (preferably Mordor). Sim LotR, Sim Hobbits, Sim Uruk-Hai, Sim Rangers, wouldn't that be grand?
Here and there, I've been saying that Firefly needs to go away. It's a direct double rip-off of Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star, and probably several other interstellar programs I might have missed. But the big two victims are enough. Maybe its failure will teach the American media that they can't just go ripping off our friends in Japan.
Feel free to slap me around and Mod me "troll," but this is something I won't let go. And PLEASE!!! No "I Am Firefly" campaigns like that goofy "I Am Farscape" thing. Just remember that it's only a television program, and all of them eventually get cancled...
When do you all think the Religious Right will get their hands on this story and knock it down, claiming that "it's morally wrong to toy with God's creations?"
They're lucky they got as far as they did with stem cell research. Creating hybrids, now, that's a whole other matter...
...and better yet WINS an Academy Award, the statue should be handed directly to Hayao Miyazaki and noone else. That's his baby. To have Disney step onto the stage and take credit for this astonishing film would be a disgrace. Screw the "must be an active producer" rules. Miyazaki deserves that honor, not the rip-off artists at Disney.
And while I'm on the subject, if an Anime motion picture can win an academy award, then it must be a legitimate art form worth a look from the "mainstream." Hopefully, that sort of wake-up call could get America out of it's "animation is for kids and can't be taken seriously" slump...
...still has to come up with the $20 million if he expects his behind saved with the rest of humanity. It'd cost that much just to pay me to tolerate him on that kind of trip. Not to mention pay for the pain and suffering from having to hear 1000 12 year old girls screaming cause they're riding a rocket ship with his Backstreet self...
Try not to build it too high, or with any balconys. You all know how Michael Jackson likes to dangle his kids out of four story windows...
And for crying out loud. Make sure the central computer doesn't run Windows! If it does, humanity is doomed no matter what...
...One will survive. And yes, I am optimistic. Linux on the desktop is possible. What needs to happen is people need to be exposed to it. How? Here's my plan.
Start with education. Before someone can use Linux, people have to get beyond relying on Microsoft to take care of everything and actually learn some of the ins and outs of their machine. That way, when it comes to actually installing Linux, they're not as lost as they would be when it tells them "Hey, your modem isn't compatable."
After they are educated, start them on something that doesn't require a leap of faith (i.e. repartitioning their hard drive, etc). Knoppix is perfect for that. It runs off of a CD and doesn't require any extensive knowledge, reformatting or repartitioning. This will help them get used to Linux's differences from Windows at a pace they can understand. They can click around, see what's where, etc.
Once they're familiar, at least in part, with Linux as an OS, then they might be ready for a distro like Mandrake, Debian, or one that doesn't require them to do any Kernel work. Another reason for starting with something like Mdk or Deb (or even RH), is that software installation after the initial OS load is fairly simple thanks to packages. The only conceivable snag in that plan is dependancies. Make the machine dual boot with the default OS in LILO (or whatever boot manager you pick) pointing at Windows. That way, they don't have to leave Windows right away.
From there, it's all up to software companies. But, of course, they won't be too quick to jump on. While Joe and Jane Consumer won't really care about modifying and redistributing source code, major software vendors aren't too keen on the Open Source/GPL way of doing things. They're only concerned about money. Since MS likes to keep their source closed, they feel a whole heck of alot more secure about things. They can charge for their software, in other words. It's getting them to embrace the Linux platform that is going to determine the fate of Linux on the Desktop in the end.
And all this is probably just wishfull thinking on my part, since we all know how MS works...
...then there has to be a conceiveable way to snake some other Linux OS on there, right? I say get one with a blank drive and go to town. I'd prefer to roll a nice sleek Mdk8.2, or perhaps GenToo...
I could also use it to roll something else, and not have Redmond knocking at my com ports wanting to add their own kabuki-ninja stealthy version of D9-THC. That shit's way too expensive. I like a securely rolled distro, anyway... ^-^
And just how long will that term be? Will it end when any given user is sick of A)The Blue Screen? B)Having to call Tech Support like clockwork? C)That nasty green Start Button starts making them a little seasick (like it does me)? or D)When they discover Linux (after it has been made into a viable desktop OS for everyone)?
"Microsoft regards such talk as too dramatic and distracting. It is software, after all, not war, company officials said. It is far more productive in their view to talk about the technical aspects of Windows vs. Linux."
You want productive and dramatic? Here's the breakdown:
Windows = $150+ (depending on where you get it) Linux = Free, Nominal fee if you buy a packaged distro
Wow. Rocket Science. Those are the numbers that Joe and Jane Public understand. And once they find out that Linux does alot of what they want to do with computers, Linux is gonna look a whole lot better when they get to Wal-Mart.
Now, let's look at it from a government perspective:
Windows = Closed Source, any software is going to be both proprietary and costly. Linux = GNU GPL allows for total customization of the OS and applications without having to spend a fortune.
Unless MS is in bed with a government (like it is with ours here in the US), that Government is going to like the idea that, instead of spending millions on licenses and proprietary software, they can spend under a million on a few programmers who can tailor everything to their exact specifications. And the big issue, Security, can be resolved during the process of customization. Any Geek worth his salt can recognize a potential security flaw in the code. With Windows, you're sitting on your laurels waiting for an announcement and patch (MS has been known to wait quite a while to release them), and also those ever sneaky EULA changes.
It's a no-brainer, really. Linux and its OS brothers and sisters (and bastard children) are the most logical choice. Cost effective and customizable, something both Governments and Joe/Jane (in this case, Jose/Juanita) Puiblic can both understand.
Looks like Gates' travel itinerary has grown again. First India, now Spain. If he has to keep giving out "free software" to convince people that his is the right path to take, MS will go broke.
'This merger would give EchoStar control of the skies for the provision of video programming by satellite, leaving customers to suffer from the resulting reduction of competition'.
Gee, doesn't that sound familiar? So they'll lay the spank on the Satellite TV industry, but not try and lay it on other companies in, say, the software/OS industry? Back off on the guys that control 90% of the world's PCs (not to mention try and sneak in anti-open-source legislation), but lord help us if one company controls what people get with their cable bill? Sounds like a double standard to me.
Vote November 5th, and VOTE INDEPENDANT (i.e. vote for someone other than the big two). It may not do much, but it does send something of a message...
Anyone interested in MS's Political Contributions? Or how they've fluctuated over the years? Check out This Page to get started.
Up ontil the antitrust investigation began, MS didn't give diddly squat to political campaigns. Even before then, they gave their cash to whoever had control. It's not that hard to figure out from the graph that whichever party had the top position (ie The President) got the most moolah from Bill and Company. After Dubya was "elected", the donations got wildly lopsided in favor of the Republicans, since it was the Democratic Government, under Speedy Willie Clinton, that started the antitrust hearings, It's not hard to guess why they started getting the short end of the MS tit to suck on.
Just thought that might interest you all, seeing as how this particular "ruling" is about to be handed down. And just in case you want to see what kinds of contributions are being made by tech companies these days, check out Open Secrets.org. Handy little refference page for the coming Nov. 5 (my birthday, of all days) Elections...
Slashdot Mirror
You're absolutely right, sortof. The only reason these are remotely considered adult series is because of two main groups: The FCC, and the Religious Right. The Pat Robertson crew wants to force it's own moral code, based on a 2000 year old story book, on everybody, and the FCC, a government body, is too afraid of catching flak from them to oppose it and loosen its restrictions on TV broadcasting.
.sig speaks for itself...
Dragonball Z in its original form, by those Religious Right standards, is nowhere near for kids. They'd have a fit if they knew what a potty mouth Son Gohan really is. One of Son Goku's first lines when he meets Raditz is "Get the fuck off of my planet."
We'll never see a series like Ranma 1/2 on American TV thanks to the Right. Sex is a big part of the comedy on that show, since Ranma is often turned into a girl and back, resulting in breasts and butts hanging out all over the place. In Japan, that show IS for kids, as is Dragonball. Sexually, the Japanese aren't as "pent-up" as we are "supposed" to be.
Only when we get a channel that shows un-cut Anime (which we'll have to pay for, and will probably be an upper tier channel) will we see them in their original form, instead of chopped to hell to appease the FCC, and therefore appease the Religious Right. From here, my
I still can't get either-or in my little podunk redneck town. Sucks being the only geek in the county. Whichever becomes available first, I'm going to jump on with reckless abandon. And I pray that it's Cable. I've seen both in action (Verizon DSL and Adelphia PowerLink), and Cable, for my needs, is the easy way to go.
Now, if those corporate control freaks would just get off their keisters and hardwire my town, I could pay their salaries...
Trekkers: Usually smell normal, as they shower regularly, go out regularly, and generally have lives.
Trekkies: Smell musty, spending alot of time in their basements watching TNG seasons 1-7 on DVD over and over. Also carry a strong BO, since they don't shower much. Reason? Still waiting for Trek-like technology to do the showering for them.
Now, which one smells like a winner to you?
It's not hard to figure out his reasoning here. Cigs and Booze are choices that people make at the ages of 18 and 21 respectively. Both can hurt you immensely (cancer anyone?).
Now, porn on the other hand, isn't a choice made at a certain age. Sex is a part of life. And while it can hurt you (STDs, Early Age Pregnancy, Child Support, etc.), it's not likely going to kill you. Sex is part of human instinct. Every species on the planet is born with the intuition to further itself through breeding. The only reason sex is considered "evil" in the mainstream is because of Religious Zealots who want you to think it's a sin.
It looks like it's just a case of choosing the lesser of two evils. If Google were to go public, I'd buy, porn or no porn. It'd just be a sound investment. I'm a big user of Google, as many other people are, I'm sure (well, those who change their default search from MSN to Google, anyway).
I don't think I've ever seen a discussion here on /. that has spawned so many AC posts. I was going to try and moderate here, but DAMN!
Now to get myself back on topic. If you use a credit card on ebay, you're insane. Every time I deal on ebay, I only use postal money orders. Period. It's no big thing to go to your local post office to get/cash one. Unless some idiot is counterfitting things, it's the most secure way I can find to do business on an auction site. And it's not like it's a big pain in the ass, either. Every town has a post office. If it doesn't, the next town over probably does.
It basically boils down to the fact that these are issued by the government. You'ld have to be insane to want to commit fraud when dealing with PMOs. You either have balls the size of Alaska or a brain the size of the period at the end of this sentance. Using a credit card on ebay is like saying "Hey. Take my valuable information, please!"
Sites like ebay should also provide an easy-to-access list of 100% trusted partner sites. Just because an URL contains the name "ebay" in it doesn't mean it's alright. Let's face it: apart from we ubergeeks and a small percentage of the non-geek population, most people are just dumb as rocks when it comes to dealing with anything on the net, let alone any form of e-commerce. It should fall upon sites like ebay to educate their users, even just a little bit.
Bigfoot gives his first interview to "Inside Edition"
There really WERE Aliens inside the Roswell Craft
Saddam Hussein gives up and disarms
Communism is good for you.
What's my point? Well, all of these things are complete crap that don't mean squat. Micro$oft releasing its source code won't mean much more than the above phoney headlines until they release it to everyone. What they're doing is panicing and frantically trying to undermine Linux. Goes to show what they'll do when they're backed into a big corner. I'd love to see what happens when the corners start getting smaller and smaller...
...Rational, maybe they could actualy produce a rational thought. Then, they'd realize that they're making a crappy product and fix things.
Of course, that particular dream isn't really rational, is it...
Nothing much else to say, other than luck for the future, and try to keep it down to under three BabyTacos. If they all start "geek news" websites, the world's web servers would cower in fear...
We've all seen the IBM ads with the basketball team, and specifically the one featuring Linux ("Because He Loves The Game" So TRUE!). Now, here for all of /. to see, is my Linux Commercial pitch.
The commercial opens with the side of a large house shown. This house has many, many windows, some ornate, some plain. After a few seconds, a baseball smashes through one of them, shattering it. After a few more seconds, another baseball smashes another window. Several quick cuts of different windows being smashed by more and more baseballs. Cut to a pile of baseballs laying on the ground. After a moment, a black CG flipper reaches down and picks one up. The camera follows the ball to reveal Tux, wearing a ball cap bearing the "official" Tux logo, and he's got an EVIL grin. The final cut to the product screen, which says "Linux: Smashing Convention. http://www.linux.org" and a final sound of a ball shattering glass.
Let the Love Fest Begin...
How 'bout some Sim Rocky Horror Online Saturday nights...
"Hey, SimJanet... I really love the... SimSkillful way... you beat the other SimGirls (with a SimHammer)... to the SimBride's SimBoquet!" *cue SimMusic*
Eat your heart out, Richard O'Brien! And remember, kids... Don't SimDream it, SimBe it!
Apart from the downsides mentioned in the review, there are a few that have been pointed out here on /. before. Time to rehash the list, and add some asides.
First of all, not everyone has broadband. There are still alot of users (me included) that are stuck on dial-up due to lack of speed by Comm companies to get the ball rolling. I was once told that DSL would be available within three months by Verizon. One year later, I'm still waiting for DSL. And while Adelphia has done a better job with their PowerLink cable service, it still hasn't reached my town (but is available five miles away: anyone know where we can get some cheap WiFi repeaters?) yet.
The second big deterrant is the fact that this service is limited to Windoze. Can you say DRM is a bad thing? I can. The fact that this service isn't available to *nix, MacOSX (not sure about 9.x and below) or BSD users. Screw that. It's about freedom of choice.
Then there are the network troubles mentioned in the article. Even with broadband, we're expected to compromise our network security and configuration just to download a movie? BS. For the 50 minutes (give or take) that we would have to sit there waiting for the movie to come down, our networks could be compromised. I'm sure alot of us aren't willing to sacrifice the security and structure we spent money and time to build up.
The watch limit is horrible. Just 24 hours? I'd rather drive to my local movie shack and rent a VHS copy which I can keep for a few days. The reccomendation of 5 days in the review would be much better, and worth the pains taken to download it.
Having to connect to authenticate is a bit of a pain, especially for mobile users. After all, you're not going to go WarDriving or pay for special access to a WiFi network just to watch a movie. That adds to the cost, something we economically-minded users don't like. Even open WiFi networks aren't that sound of a notion, because they're not quite available everywhere. While it may be a necessary evil to prevent piracy, it's also a pain in the arse...
I don't think I'll be renting movies from this service anytime soon, if ever. I'd much rather wait for a DVD release and shell out $20 to own it for the rest of my life. Wany my opinion? Screw this...
If The Sims Online is going to be anything like Slashdot, it's going to have the following things:
1. Duplicate Everything.
2. Cheesey polls with the ever-present CowboyNeal option.
3. Trolls.
4. Anonymous Sims who think they're smarter than everyone else, but afraid to reveal their true selves.
5. CmdrTaco's Anime Hut (to me, that'd be a plus)
6. A Town Hall where geeks with no lives can bitch about Farscape and Firefly being cancled.
7. Computers that boot into Linux, run WINE, and then play The Sims Online.
8. Insert Rip on JonKatz Here.
9. A graveyard with tombstones that read MINIX, FreeBSD, and other OSs people are fond of calling "dead."
10. UFOs and subsequent Government Cover-Ups.
11. A Babylon 5 Shrine.
12. The city of Torvalds, CA.
What I'd really like to see in TSO would be a hidden Middle Earth landscape, in which case I'd hustle in and set up shop at either Eisengard or Mordor (preferably Mordor). Sim LotR, Sim Hobbits, Sim Uruk-Hai, Sim Rangers, wouldn't that be grand?
I'll second that notion, but it'll have to wait till my cousin from Jersey gets here. Oh well, at least I can compile while I wait to kill time.
Here and there, I've been saying that Firefly needs to go away. It's a direct double rip-off of Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star, and probably several other interstellar programs I might have missed. But the big two victims are enough. Maybe its failure will teach the American media that they can't just go ripping off our friends in Japan.
Feel free to slap me around and Mod me "troll," but this is something I won't let go. And PLEASE!!! No "I Am Firefly" campaigns like that goofy "I Am Farscape" thing. Just remember that it's only a television program, and all of them eventually get cancled...
When do you all think the Religious Right will get their hands on this story and knock it down, claiming that "it's morally wrong to toy with God's creations?"
They're lucky they got as far as they did with stem cell research. Creating hybrids, now, that's a whole other matter...
...and better yet WINS an Academy Award, the statue should be handed directly to Hayao Miyazaki and noone else. That's his baby. To have Disney step onto the stage and take credit for this astonishing film would be a disgrace. Screw the "must be an active producer" rules. Miyazaki deserves that honor, not the rip-off artists at Disney.
And while I'm on the subject, if an Anime motion picture can win an academy award, then it must be a legitimate art form worth a look from the "mainstream." Hopefully, that sort of wake-up call could get America out of it's "animation is for kids and can't be taken seriously" slump...
...still has to come up with the $20 million if he expects his behind saved with the rest of humanity. It'd cost that much just to pay me to tolerate him on that kind of trip. Not to mention pay for the pain and suffering from having to hear 1000 12 year old girls screaming cause they're riding a rocket ship with his Backstreet self...
Try not to build it too high, or with any balconys. You all know how Michael Jackson likes to dangle his kids out of four story windows...
And for crying out loud. Make sure the central computer doesn't run Windows! If it does, humanity is doomed no matter what...
...One will survive. And yes, I am optimistic. Linux on the desktop is possible. What needs to happen is people need to be exposed to it. How? Here's my plan.
Start with education. Before someone can use Linux, people have to get beyond relying on Microsoft to take care of everything and actually learn some of the ins and outs of their machine. That way, when it comes to actually installing Linux, they're not as lost as they would be when it tells them "Hey, your modem isn't compatable."
After they are educated, start them on something that doesn't require a leap of faith (i.e. repartitioning their hard drive, etc). Knoppix is perfect for that. It runs off of a CD and doesn't require any extensive knowledge, reformatting or repartitioning. This will help them get used to Linux's differences from Windows at a pace they can understand. They can click around, see what's where, etc.
Once they're familiar, at least in part, with Linux as an OS, then they might be ready for a distro like Mandrake, Debian, or one that doesn't require them to do any Kernel work. Another reason for starting with something like Mdk or Deb (or even RH), is that software installation after the initial OS load is fairly simple thanks to packages. The only conceivable snag in that plan is dependancies. Make the machine dual boot with the default OS in LILO (or whatever boot manager you pick) pointing at Windows. That way, they don't have to leave Windows right away.
From there, it's all up to software companies. But, of course, they won't be too quick to jump on. While Joe and Jane Consumer won't really care about modifying and redistributing source code, major software vendors aren't too keen on the Open Source/GPL way of doing things. They're only concerned about money. Since MS likes to keep their source closed, they feel a whole heck of alot more secure about things. They can charge for their software, in other words. It's getting them to embrace the Linux platform that is going to determine the fate of Linux on the Desktop in the end.
And all this is probably just wishfull thinking on my part, since we all know how MS works...
A while ago, I had heard that you were going to stop doing commercials for Priceline. Was that just a rumor, or what did they do to keep you around?
...then there has to be a conceiveable way to snake some other Linux OS on there, right? I say get one with a blank drive and go to town. I'd prefer to roll a nice sleek Mdk8.2, or perhaps GenToo...
I could also use it to roll something else, and not have Redmond knocking at my com ports wanting to add their own kabuki-ninja stealthy version of D9-THC. That shit's way too expensive. I like a securely rolled distro, anyway... ^-^
Self Moderation -1(Obvious Marijuana Innuendo)
And just how long will that term be? Will it end when any given user is sick of A)The Blue Screen? B)Having to call Tech Support like clockwork? C)That nasty green Start Button starts making them a little seasick (like it does me)? or D)When they discover Linux (after it has been made into a viable desktop OS for everyone)?
An even better reason to yell "Hang Up And Drive!" on the freeway...
"Microsoft regards such talk as too dramatic and distracting. It is software, after all, not war, company officials said. It is far more productive in their view to talk about the technical aspects of Windows vs. Linux."
You want productive and dramatic? Here's the breakdown:
Windows = $150+ (depending on where you get it)
Linux = Free, Nominal fee if you buy a packaged distro
Wow. Rocket Science. Those are the numbers that Joe and Jane Public understand. And once they find out that Linux does alot of what they want to do with computers, Linux is gonna look a whole lot better when they get to Wal-Mart.
Now, let's look at it from a government perspective:
Windows = Closed Source, any software is going to be both proprietary and costly.
Linux = GNU GPL allows for total customization of the OS and applications without having to spend a fortune.
Unless MS is in bed with a government (like it is with ours here in the US), that Government is going to like the idea that, instead of spending millions on licenses and proprietary software, they can spend under a million on a few programmers who can tailor everything to their exact specifications. And the big issue, Security, can be resolved during the process of customization. Any Geek worth his salt can recognize a potential security flaw in the code. With Windows, you're sitting on your laurels waiting for an announcement and patch (MS has been known to wait quite a while to release them), and also those ever sneaky EULA changes.
It's a no-brainer, really. Linux and its OS brothers and sisters (and bastard children) are the most logical choice. Cost effective and customizable, something both Governments and Joe/Jane (in this case, Jose/Juanita) Puiblic can both understand.
Looks like Gates' travel itinerary has grown again. First India, now Spain. If he has to keep giving out "free software" to convince people that his is the right path to take, MS will go broke.
'This merger would give EchoStar control of the skies for the provision of video programming by satellite, leaving customers to suffer from the resulting reduction of competition'.
Gee, doesn't that sound familiar? So they'll lay the spank on the Satellite TV industry, but not try and lay it on other companies in, say, the software/OS industry? Back off on the guys that control 90% of the world's PCs (not to mention try and sneak in anti-open-source legislation), but lord help us if one company controls what people get with their cable bill? Sounds like a double standard to me.
Vote November 5th, and VOTE INDEPENDANT (i.e. vote for someone other than the big two). It may not do much, but it does send something of a message...
Anyone interested in MS's Political Contributions? Or how they've fluctuated over the years? Check out This Page to get started.
Up ontil the antitrust investigation began, MS didn't give diddly squat to political campaigns. Even before then, they gave their cash to whoever had control. It's not that hard to figure out from the graph that whichever party had the top position (ie The President) got the most moolah from Bill and Company. After Dubya was "elected", the donations got wildly lopsided in favor of the Republicans, since it was the Democratic Government, under Speedy Willie Clinton, that started the antitrust hearings, It's not hard to guess why they started getting the short end of the MS tit to suck on.
Just thought that might interest you all, seeing as how this particular "ruling" is about to be handed down. And just in case you want to see what kinds of contributions are being made by tech companies these days, check out Open Secrets.org. Handy little refference page for the coming Nov. 5 (my birthday, of all days) Elections...