The whole idea of a representational democracy is to give "the people" a say
Uh, what country are you thinking of? In America, the amount of 'say' one gets depends only on the size of the check you write.. ie: the most money wins.. pure and simple..
that is how we got the DMCA, MS monopoly-legality, infinate copyrights..and other such stupidity)... certainly none of this is in the interest of 99.9% of the voters, now is it... but it got bought (err, passed) anyways..
some democracy.. (at least we still have the right to say this though.. until somebody buys a law making it illegal to criticize American style 'the govt is for sale' big money corruption too)
Re: people complaining about why make linux look like windows?
Because that is what people are used to right now. So doing this, is embrace, and extend (since as we all know that linux is far more superior and more powerful than Windows). This strategy is in fact, how microsoft brilliantly overran so many other software markets in their quest to world domination. Fitting, now that we come back and use it on them as well.
Embracing and extending Windows, will beat them at their own game. Eventually, once people have moved over from Windows to 'Embraced Linux GUI' like the one in this article.. then they can migrate to (or just let them discover on their own) the good native linux GUI stuff a bit later on when they are more familiar..
That is the only way in fact, that linux will ever overtake the MS Windows desktop. Most non techies cannot easily make the (massive in their eyes) switch to a new desktop and OS. Embrace & extend works, is proven, and is a good strategy, and we should back it up in order to get people off the Monopoly when we can..
A politician getting elected without corporate political bribe money. Using the internet, and democratic grass root principles... wow.. maybe that will make him more accountable to the voters unlike the USA, where they are only accountable to the special interests who write the donation checks.
Why don't we try to get some of our own elected here, in the USA too..?
Maybe slashdot would be a good place to start this from..
Then we would have a fighting chance to stop all this bought & paid for legislation like the DMCA..etc..etc.
Maybe we should hurry before the establishment buys a law forbidding this! (which I am sure they will try..)
This debate is going the wrong way. A "Teamsters" (or dockworkers) type union is not the way to go about it.
Rather, people, like your doctor, or your lawyer, are card carrying union members. This is the kind of union we need. Because in essense, that is what the "bar association", or the state medical association is. It controls the number of members that enters its union, and makes it illegal for anyone to do that profession (doctor, lawyer), without being in their union (called an association). Usually, it is controlled by strict education requirements (ie. where you must go to an 'accredited' school, and a union entrance examination (bar exam..etc).. so no floods of H1B Indian doctors..or lawyers can enter. Number of lawyers/doctors who 'pass' the exam and enter the union each year is strictly limited by the existing lawyers/doctors, who control the union. This is why doctors and lawyers make so much.
We dont need the teamsters, what we need is the kind of union we need, like the doctors and lawyers have... then those who excel get more money, and be more successful, but then there isn't all the bs of H1Bs, lack of a voice on capitol hill..etc. The lawyers and doctors dont have any of these problems.. and that is why they make more, and keep their jobs in recessions.
1)If we let in every Chinese and Indian who wanted to come here to work in IT.. then IT worker salaries in the US would fall to Indian and Chinese levels since there is an almost endless supply of them willing to come here and work for low wages. This is basic economics.
2)If we toss out the illegals, production costs will not rise so much that normal people cannot buy the products.. just the CEOs will have to take pay cuts, adn that is what *would* happen. In other industrialized countries without H1B, people can afford products just fine. Just there is more balance (ie. engineer pay up, CEO pay down).
3)The reason there is a shortage of engineers going through school is that the smart people realize that there is no future in it, and choose to study something else, or like me, once they see what is going on, choose to leave the field and take another line of work that has a future, pays better and doesn't have mountains of H1B's waiting to take your job away if you dont agree to work for peanuts. When my kids are ready for college one day, IT is not something I plan to be recommending to them to study for those very reasons. .
It should have a light window manager (gnome is too slow on older hardware like P200s that often end up in our parents houses, but still work fine with MS windows), a web browser, mail, easy connection to the internet via dialup/adsl with wizards to set all this up, and an office suite.
Most functions of the OS should be easily accessible by wizards and menus (I don't think mom wants to be using VI to adjust her screens size/ colors/ resolution).
You should be able to put in 1 CD, (and a floppy if necessary), boot it, and have a whole linux install get set up with friendly menu's and then at the end of the install, everything should just work, with the window manager working, nice fonts, all devices (nothing esoteric, ie. modem, printer, sound, basic lan if there is one, the screen/graphics in the right graphics mode and internet browsing/getting connected to the internet/email and office).
So far, though I love linux, it seems to be not there yet (though I don't think we are that far away).
Is there anyone working on a standard linux distribution that is 'install and run' for mom and dad type non technie folks?
Now that would be the killer application that makes Redmond scared. .
The fact is that we now live in the post 'politically correct' world of the 90s.. It is not a happy lets all get to know each other place.. there are some seriously dangerous groups, and people out there that we have to be careful of.. anything else is really naive..
So after Sept 11, there are really only 2 choices..
Either: 1)We get non citizen people who are in the US from high risk groups (this means Al-quada countries, young male Muslims..etc) out, and make them re-apply their visas. If it costs the US govt $100,000K to do a real proper investigation on someone from these places, then that is the visa fee they pay, or they don't come back in. Then the investigation is done, and if they pass, they can come in. For good measure I would also have an American citizen in good standing (a fireman, police officer, town mayor) also take responsibility for them when they are here. If they cannot find anyone, then they also don't come in.
Then we won't need laws like the above in our own country, and we won't lose our rights.
Or choice 2: 2)We let them stay, but then the govt. has to do things like this law above, to tell apart the bad guys from the good ones who are among us. But the downside is that we lose our rights in the process.
Basically, that is the dillemma our government is in right now..
Practically, those are really the only 2 things you can do. Personally, I choose (1). Neither are nice really, and hopefully sometime soon in the future, we won't need to do either... but that is just not the reality right now in today's world..
I graduated in the last recession. I had a tech degree and an MBA from a top school, good grades..etc..
After sending out something like 1000 resumes, I got a job offer. It was for something like $20K/ year. I recounted this story a couple years ago during the dot.boom and people had already forgot the last recession, and thought that I must have been a total retard to not have gotten 50 job offers upon graduation without any effort...
..reality bites..
My advice from this experience would be that looking for jobs during recessions is not worth the effort if it can be possibly avoided/postponed.
Because even if you do find a job, you will be at a lowball salary rate, and probably wrong job for your career path, and then will have a dog of a time switching back to the right stream /salary later when things get better.
Instead, take this opportunity to go to grad school, or travel around the world, if you have /can borrow the money. In a few years, things will turn around again (provided they get rid of the H1Bs out of the country who are sucking the jobs away), and it will be easy to get a good job with good pay, and the extra study/travel is something you probably wont get the chance to to again after your career starts..
I am not convinced that the point (internet decreases tolerance) made in the article is a bad one.
To take the case in point made in the article (Israel -vs- Palestinians). Before the internet, there was only one side of that story that most Americans would ever see, the one we would get on CNN and the big papers.
But now though, with the magic of the internet, it is as easy as typing in (http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/index_e.htm) to see what the other side of the story is (and what a different story it is!).
I don't see how this is bad. That is what the internet is supposed to do.. let all sides express their views and opinions, without requiring you to be a major media company to be able to do so.
In the long run, I think that can be only a good thing..
Internet connectivity in Japan (home of Imode among other things) is way ahead of the states/ europe, so why not move the server there..
NTT sells business connections via fiber to the internet (10mbps and 100mbps/sec), for something like around $200 or $300 month depending which you choose, including the ISP fee. Connectivity to the US and Europe is pretty good (low ping times), generally.
[BTW, You can get residential (ie. dynamic IP) for about $75/month, which is what I have here in my house..
..its very cool, the hardest thing was actually finding a router that could route that fast, (linksys..etc, are too slow, max out at 5mbps or so), but some Japanese companies make them now.. it connects to an 100mhz PC I got for free from the bin, which now runs as a linux webserver (and linux, being so cpu efficient, has no trouble keeping up..as well as more modern machines I use for my desktop), but the server does a great job serving web pages & the like, running video conferences to the US..etc..
So if you need bandwidth, come here.. Very cool..
I *TRIED* to buy shareware.. this is the problem..
on
More On Policing Shareware
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· Score: 5, Interesting
This is an interesting debate.
I think shareware authors should be paid for their work. Shareware is cheap, shareware is great..
But...
In fact, I tried on 3 instances to buy/register shareware.. and this is what happened.. I think this is part of the problem...
1)Trumpet (a TCP IP stack from several years ago). Buy the program, registration never shows up in m ail.. wait.. email back and forth..wait some more.. in meantime, trial expires, re-install wait somemore. Client I am billing hours for is getting unhappy.. Calling to Australia to get it sorted out was not fun either.
2)DFX (an sound effects addin for winamp) Liked it, and tried to buy a copy with their VISA card purchase screen... then.. nothing happens.. no registration comes.. nothing..wait days... nothing happens, no reply, no program... nothing.. I write email to them.. nothing happens..no reply..
Finally I *CALLED* the company, to ask them what is going on. They said that my visa transaction was rejected (but they never bothered to inform me of this, even though they collected my email address (just to send me spam I guess?). When I asked the sales rep at DFX what is wrong, they told me that my destination address and billing address were different, (I am an expat overseas) so.. transaction just gets automatically rejected, bin'ed.. period. No mail, no reply, no followup, nothing.. rejects just goes to/dev/null..
They didn't email me when the Visa was rejected (or ask where I live.. or anything), nor did they even bother to reply my original emails. The answer the DFX rep gave me on the phone to all this was... "well, it is just a $15 program, so we can't spend too much effort (ie any!) to deal with things that might come up".
3)NJstar It is a great program. But they wanted me to send checks to Australia or something in AUS dollars.. gee.. how to I do that.. the bank will charge me $50 in processing fees (after waiting in 3 lines at 20 minutes a pop because no one would know how to draw up a foreign denominated check), for a $25 program..
Those are my stories..
..and people wonder why they don't register their shareware...?!...
...because it is too complicated to pay for it, thats why.. fix that, and then I am ready to buy lots of great stuff.. but right now it is just too much hassle I discovered, so I just stay away from it..
I saw the story.. the thing is, that although
technically illegal, in some cases, I dont really see software piracy (or music either for that matter) as unethical any longer, even though it might be (technically) illegal.
Though for small/honest software companies, buying software to support the creators, is important.. but in other cases, it is not so clear..
Some cases in point:
Microsoft: is an outright illegal monopoly, that basically got away with it, by giving money and greasing the wheels of the right players in the US govt. There is nothing legal about the way they do business, and it surprises me still, that foreign govts havent yet legalized the copying of their software since the monopoly is itself, illegal. Though maybe they forgot to think of that when they drew up the WTO regulations.. So I find it a real strech to think of copying M$ software as even being remotely unethical (in fact, it would be worse to give them the money, that they can then spend on lobbyists and politicians to flout our monopoly laws even further!)
RIAA/Record labels: pretty much every musician you talk to (famous or not) says the same thing.. Record contracts are designed to rob artists, who do not get compensated for their work. In fact, most artists say they want their work copied, because that way they get famous, and then can do concerts, which is the only way most artists *can* make money in the record business.
There is no protection for artists as similar RIAA record company lobbyist money was also used to buy and grease the wheels of politicians to take away artists rights over time, trample copyright principles...yada...yada.. forming, yet another cartel/monopoly.
Do unto them as they do unto you seems fair enough to me... I am not even sure why there is a debate about the ethics of software/music copying anymore, as the companies themselves sure arent showing any example of what ethical behavior even remotely looks like..
Places to hit:
Used PC street..
-this place is great.. find
P450s PCs with video cards, HDs and 100mbps
network cards in perfect shape for $100USD,
Laptops for $200, monitors for $40, flat panels
for $200.
-To get there: (sorry, Tokyo has no addresses
street names like we are used to)..
-Find the main street (its wide, 5 lanes across)
that goes through akihabara. Then Find La-ox
'COmputer Kan' (there are lots of La-ox
electronic stores in Akihabara, go to the
'computer kan'... its big.. very big, 7 floors.
It is on a side street off the main street
-Then from the entrance of Computer Kan (Laox),
you will see a narrow street going outwards..
-On weekends, lots of tables will be set up
there, and the regular shops will have all their
stuff set up outside sidewalk sale.. It is the
best street in Akihabara with the best deals,
dont miss it. It will pay for your trip to Japan.
Other good places..
Any of the Laox's (note the one with Foreign PCs
(ie. English) is usually a ripoff). For PC cards,
etc.. reasonable deals. All in Japanese though.
Misc electronics.. the old building next to the
Beckers fast food (by JR (Japan Rail) Akihabara
station).. many narrow aisles.. a true fire
trap, but lots and lots of cool electronics.
You can spend a day in AKihabara..
-pricing.. usually listed.. not much negotiating.
-Sometimes they dont let you open the packages,
before you buy, should be OK though.
I just saw the video on NHK (Japanese state television) of the interior of the neutrino detector after the "accident".
I dont understand it, it looks like a bomb was set off in it or something. The reporting was very sparse, but the video shows broken glass and electronic bits scattered everywhere in the water, and smashed parts and wires floating in the chamber, like a bomb (or a student going
nuts with a baseball bat in the tank or
something) hit it or something. It is very wierd
type of "accident" if that is what it was...
Any one know what *really* happened here?
It makes no sense..
They hit tower one of the WTC and *now toppled both over*. And got the pentagon too..
Now, a couple things.. this is bad, this is really bad..
Apparently it was Palestinian terrorists that
did it (so TV is reporting)..
If it really was Palestinians, as much as I hate to say this.. I sort of understand..
before I start, I am a normal American white guy, am open minded, and think every race in the world has a right to their own safety and piece (including Americans).. I have absolutely nothing to do with the Arab israeli conflict (I am not arab, or Jewish, or anything like that), nor do I know any of either side closely at all..
But I was in Isreal once on business, and I saw what the Israelies do to the Palestinians, and what I saw made me sick to be an American because of how our government supports what the Israelis do to those people..
Basically, the isrealis take palestinian land bit by bit to make settlements for Israelis only, and shoot/run over/kill Palestinians with the guns, helicopters and bullets that we, America give the Israelis.
We dont report these travesties on American news (though you can get it on the BBC, CBC and other foreign outlets, and watch Israelis shoot with machine guns, 12 year old arab kids throwing rocks).
It is worse than south Africa, and I go as far to say, that the Israelis have put the Palestinians in concentration camp like conditions for the last 20 years or so, bulldozing their houses for their land, shooting their kids, controlling their land, their economy and choking them off one by one..
And when other countries like the Africans try to tell the truth (yes, the Israelis are racists..absolutely, they have dual licence plates for Palestine cars, dont let them drive on the same roads as Israelis, and occupy their country).
And we, the United states government, give more money, bombs, guns and weapons to Israel than to any other country in the world in foreign aid.., knowing (and allowing0 the Israelis to shoot, maim and rob more palestians of there property, lives and freedom.
And we have been doing that for 20 years now at least..
What else should we have expected really?
This terrorism really sucks,.. but we should
also look at what we have been doing too the last 20 years.. and why a people felt so driven to do this to us..
Organize in the streets.. arrange demonstrations,
like those for Dmitry. In addition, hold a
mass rally on Ben Franklins'
B-day (in January sometime I think), a politician
who knew the dangers of such crazy patent (and
IP) rights and voiced against it publicly. Roll
back ridiculous copyright laws, and paid for
corporate fascist legislation.!
If you dont scare your representatives, they'll
just keep taking the checks from the RIAA, MPAA
..etc, banking them, and doing whatever the corps. and their associations pay them to do...
Organize now.. or "1984" will be here before we
know it..
Organize in the streets.. arrange demonstrations,
like those for Dmitry. Have it on Ben Franklins'
B-day (in January sometime I think), a politician
who knew the dangers of such crazy patent (and
IP) rights and voiced against it publicly.
If you dont scare your representatives, they'll
just keep taking the checks from the RIAA, MPAA
..etc, banking them, and doing whatever the corps.
and their associations pay them to do...
Organize now.. or "1984" will be here before you
know it..
Stage a Book Burning in front of Adobe offices!
on
Sklyarov Indicted
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· Score: 2, Interesting
how about staging a book burning (or old adobe software burning) in front of Adobe offices..
Since that basically is what the DMCA fight is all
about anyways.. control of thought, expression and writing in the digital age.....ie book
burning in the modern acge a la Fairenheit 451..
This is a type of action that might make it clear to the mainstream press what this fight is really about... control over our expression, and companies attempts to control press, throw people
in jail for thoughtcrime...etc..
And why Adobe? Well, they started it, and as far
as I am concerned, it was companies like these
that lobbied/bribed/pressured our congress people
to get this law.. so now they can use all that
political power and money to get Dmitry out, and
then get rid of this law, or suffer the
consequences publicly in the street from us.
I saw that.. the thing is, that what many of
those sites are for, is different.
Most of those are left wing anarchist, socialist
anti business groups.
I on the other hand am generally
pro business.... business is generally good
for our standard of living, and prosperity..
ie. your typical
middle class family.
But what I see here with
things like DCMA, FTAA and the rest is not
the usual 'pro business', programs that
generally are good for most Americans..
but rather corporate fascism, greed and anti-
democracy at the expense of the ordinary
people.. that is different.., it is anti
American, and is wrong.. it is bad. and must
be stopped. (and so should corporate donations..
if companies cant vote, then why should they
be allowed to give money... only people should
be allowed to give money.. same limits for everyone.. that is what the fathers intended..)
.. not the corrupt mess we have now..
Most of us on./ understand information, how
to use it, and disseminate it, widely, and
very quickly..
It is high time that we start to do this, before
we lose ALL our rights. Make websites, link to
them at the bottom of your pages. Get people
in the streets..
Re: writing to congressmen.. maybe it works but
I am not sure.. because congress people only work
for those people who pay them.. which means
not us.. so we have to put fear in their
hearts... take to the streets.. get in on the
front page of every paper in the country..make
them scared.. and they'll listen..
Protests, a manifesto (citizen's rights in the
IP age.. reasonable copyrights (ie. it expires
in 10 years).. and a whole slew of other things.
As well, we should keep protesting Adobe in
spite of what they say now.. they put Dimtry
in hock, so until he is free, protest them..
make Adobe use the same power they used to
get things like DCMA, to now get rid of it,
or we dont stop..
Thats the only way it will work, and only way
they will listen. Give hell to politicians to
take corporate bribes and pass laws that are
so obviously against the interests of the
people in the interest of corporate checks, and
give hell to the companies that are paying
those bribes..
Imagine a world where the govt. and corporations
(with the power of the laws they PAID for) can
search your PC (or the one in your office),
record everything, send the police to your house
and jail you for IP crimes (oops, your son
put a copy of IE on that old laptop, and the
license server at Redmond caught that! $6000 fine), or speechcrime (Dmitry), or thoughtcrime
(DeCss). This is what's coming people, unless
you get out there and do something.
It is war people.. wake up, or you will all
be prisoners of this orwellian future..
Organize yourselves (slashdot ed's?), get
a platform/manifesto, call the press, and
get out in the streets and make yourselves heard..
put fear in a politician today and remind them
that they had better answer to YOU.. or else..
I plan to, I hope many of you will do so as well
in your own cities/areas..
A handful of people protesting for Dmitry managed
to get this into CNN. It is time for more of
the same.. I suggest Ben Franklin's Birthday
as a day of protest (not sure when it is, anyone know?), as he as a politician who understood
technology and its potential misuses (IP controls/patent bogosity..etc) and reminded us
to fight against it.
We also need a website (or a GNU political party
or something), that lists out in plain english
what these congress people are voting for and
who is giving them the bribe money to do so (and
link it from all over, so everyone knows what
they are up to, and will call them on it).
Corporate fascism is definately taking over, and
I am starting to be not proud to be an American
anymore.. we must take to the streets.. banners
& protest.. its a whole civil rights movement,
and it involves all of us to stop this
corporate techno fascism before it goes any
further...
This is 1984.. in real life...
It won't stop unless we get out there, and make
it stop...
[Re: Dmitry..sigh, the day that the US arrests
someone for thoughtcrime... I thought I'd never
see it in real life.. we should all stop being
so naive]
Slashdot Mirror
The whole idea of a representational democracy is to give "the people" a say
Uh, what country are you thinking of? In America, the amount of 'say' one gets depends only on the size of the check you write.. ie: the most money wins.. pure and simple..
that is how we got the DMCA, MS monopoly-legality, infinate copyrights..and other such stupidity)... certainly none of this is in the interest of 99.9% of the voters, now is it... but it got bought (err, passed) anyways..
some democracy.. (at least we still have the right to say this though.. until somebody buys a law making it illegal to criticize American style 'the govt is for sale' big money corruption too)
Re: people complaining about why make linux look like windows?
Because that is what people are used to right now.
So doing this, is embrace, and extend (since as we all know that linux is far more superior and more powerful than Windows). This strategy is in fact, how microsoft brilliantly overran so many other software markets in their quest to world domination. Fitting, now that we come back and use it on them as well.
Embracing and extending Windows, will beat them at their own game. Eventually, once people have moved over from Windows to 'Embraced Linux GUI' like the one in this article.. then they can migrate to (or just let them discover on their own) the good native linux GUI stuff a bit later on when they are more familiar..
That is the only way in fact, that linux will ever overtake the MS Windows desktop. Most non techies cannot easily make the (massive in their eyes) switch to a new desktop and OS. Embrace & extend works, is proven, and is a good strategy, and we should back it up in order to get people off the Monopoly when we can..
Good article.
A politician getting elected without corporate
political bribe money. Using the internet, and
democratic grass root principles... wow..
maybe that will make him more accountable to
the voters unlike the USA, where they are only
accountable to the special interests who write
the donation checks.
Why don't we try to get some of our own elected
here, in the USA too..?
Maybe slashdot would be a good place to start this from..
Then we would have a fighting chance to stop all
this bought & paid for legislation like the DMCA..etc..etc.
Maybe we should hurry before the establishment buys a law forbidding this! (which I am sure they will try..)
This debate is going the wrong way.
A "Teamsters" (or dockworkers) type union is not the way to go about it.
Rather, people, like your doctor, or your lawyer, are card carrying union members. This is the kind of union we need. Because in essense, that is what the "bar association", or the state medical association is. It controls the number of members that enters its
union, and makes it illegal for anyone to do that profession (doctor, lawyer), without being in their union (called an association). Usually, it is controlled by strict education requirements (ie. where you must go to an 'accredited' school, and a union entrance examination (bar exam..etc).. so no floods of H1B Indian doctors..or lawyers can enter. Number of lawyers/doctors who 'pass' the exam and enter the union each year is strictly limited by the existing lawyers/doctors, who control the union. This is why doctors and lawyers make so much.
We dont need the teamsters, what we need is the kind of union we need, like the doctors and lawyers have... then those who excel get more money, and be more successful, but then there isn't all the bs of H1Bs, lack of a voice on capitol hill..etc. The lawyers and doctors dont have any of these problems.. and that is why they make more, and keep their jobs in recessions.
Japan already has CDMA cellphone, I have one here in Tokyo. . It also works with sending pictures and video as well I think too.
So how will the US overtake something Japan already has, and has had for a while? ?
Vote for anyone else.. get the message across.
Or better, start the 'slashdot party'!
1)If we let in every Chinese and Indian who wanted to come here to work in IT.. then IT worker salaries in the US would fall to Indian and Chinese levels since there is an almost endless supply of them willing to come here and work for low wages. This is basic economics.
2)If we toss out the illegals, production costs will not rise so much that normal people cannot buy the products.. just the CEOs will have to take pay cuts, adn that is what *would* happen. In other industrialized countries without H1B, people can afford products just fine. Just there is more balance (ie. engineer pay up, CEO pay down).
3)The reason there is a shortage of engineers going through school is that the smart people realize that there is no future in it, and choose to study something else, or like me, once they see what is going on, choose to leave the field and take another line of work that has a future, pays better and doesn't have mountains of H1B's waiting to take your job away if you dont agree to work for peanuts. When my kids are ready for college one day, IT is not something I plan to be recommending to them to study for those very reasons. .
AOL Time Warner IS a cable company. . .
What linux needs is a "family distribution".
It should have a light window manager (gnome is too slow on older hardware like P200s that often end up in our parents houses, but still work fine with MS windows), a web browser, mail, easy connection to the internet via dialup/adsl with wizards to set all this up, and an office suite.
Most functions of the OS should be easily accessible by wizards and menus (I don't think mom wants to be using VI to adjust her screens size/ colors/ resolution).
You should be able to put in 1 CD, (and a floppy if necessary), boot it, and have a whole linux install get set up with friendly menu's and then at the end of the install, everything should just work, with the window manager working, nice fonts, all devices (nothing esoteric, ie. modem, printer, sound, basic lan if there is one, the screen/graphics in the right graphics mode and internet browsing/getting connected to the internet/email and office).
So far, though I love linux, it seems to be not there yet (though I don't think we are that far away).
Is there anyone working on a standard linux distribution that is 'install and run' for mom and dad type non technie folks?
Now that would be the killer application that makes Redmond scared. .
What are we waiting for?
The fact is that we now live in the post 'politically correct' world of the 90s..
It is not a happy lets all get to know each other
place.. there are some seriously dangerous groups,
and people out there that we have to be careful
of.. anything else is really naive..
So after Sept 11, there are really only 2 choices..
Either:
1)We get non citizen people who are in the US from high risk groups (this means Al-quada countries, young male Muslims..etc) out, and make them re-apply their visas. If it costs the US govt $100,000K to do a real proper investigation on someone from these places, then that is the visa fee they pay, or they don't come back in. Then the investigation is done, and if they pass, they can come in. For good measure I would also have an American citizen in good standing (a fireman, police officer, town mayor) also take responsibility for them when they are here. If they cannot find anyone, then they also don't come in.
Then we won't need laws like the above in our own
country, and we won't lose our rights.
Or choice 2:
2)We let them stay, but then the govt. has to do things like this law above, to tell apart the bad guys from the good ones who are among us. But the downside is that we lose our rights in the process.
Basically, that is the dillemma our government is in right now..
Practically, those are really the only 2 things you can do. Personally, I choose (1). Neither are nice really, and hopefully sometime soon in the future, we won't need to do either... but that is just not the reality right now in today's world..
Recessions suck.. totally..
I graduated in the last recession. I had a tech degree and an MBA from a top school, good grades..etc..
After sending out something like 1000 resumes, I got a job offer. It was for something like $20K/
year. I recounted this story a couple years ago
during the dot.boom and people had already forgot
the last recession, and thought that I must have
been a total retard to not have gotten 50 job
offers upon graduation without any effort...
..reality bites..
My advice from this experience would be that
looking for jobs during recessions is not worth
the effort if it can be possibly avoided/postponed.
Because even if you do find a job, you will be
at a lowball salary rate, and probably wrong job
for your career path, and then will have a dog
of a time switching back to the right stream
/salary later when things get better.
Instead, take this opportunity to go to grad
school, or travel around the world, if you have
/can borrow the money. In a few years, things
will turn around again (provided they get rid of
the H1Bs out of the country who are sucking the
jobs away), and it will be easy to get a good
job with good pay, and the extra study/travel
is something you probably wont get the chance to
to again after your career starts..
I am not convinced that the point (internet decreases tolerance)
made in the article is a bad one.
To take the case in point made in the article (Israel -vs-
Palestinians). Before the internet, there was only one side
of that story that most Americans would ever see, the one we would
get on CNN and the big papers.
But now though, with the magic of the internet, it is as easy as
typing in (http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/index_e.htm) to see what
the other side of the story is (and what a different story it is!).
I don't see how this is bad. That is what the internet is supposed
to do.. let all sides express their views and opinions, without
requiring you to be a major media company to be able to do so.
In the long run, I think that can be only a good thing..
Takochan
>I am also a taxpayer and do not want this.
|Sarcasm on>>
But you are not a PAC, cannot bribe congressmen,
so what you want doesn't mean shit..
|Sarcasm off>>
That is what is wrong with the USA..
Maybe it is time for the 1 million geek march on
capital hill...
Internet connectivity in Japan (home of Imode
among other things) is way ahead of the states/
europe, so why not move the server there..
NTT sells business connections via fiber to
the internet (10mbps and 100mbps/sec), for
something like around $200 or $300 month
depending which you choose, including
the ISP fee. Connectivity to the US and Europe
is pretty good (low ping times), generally.
[BTW, You can get residential (ie. dynamic IP)
for about $75/month, which is what I have here in
my house..
..its very cool, the hardest thing was actually
finding a router that could route that fast,
(linksys..etc, are too slow, max out at 5mbps or
so), but some Japanese companies make them
now.. it connects to an 100mhz PC I got for
free from the bin, which now runs as a linux
webserver (and linux, being so cpu efficient,
has no trouble keeping up..as well as more modern
machines I use for my desktop), but the server
does a great job serving web pages & the like,
running video conferences to the US..etc..
So if you need bandwidth, come here..
Very cool..
This is an interesting debate.
/dev/null..
..
I think shareware authors should be paid for their work. Shareware is cheap, shareware is great..
But...
In fact, I tried on 3 instances to buy/register shareware.. and this is what happened.. I think this is part of the problem...
1)Trumpet (a TCP IP stack from several years ago).
Buy the program, registration never shows up in m ail.. wait.. email back and forth..wait some more.. in meantime, trial expires, re-install wait somemore. Client I am billing hours for is getting unhappy.. Calling to Australia to get it sorted out was not fun either.
2)DFX (an sound effects addin for winamp)
Liked it, and tried to buy a copy with their VISA card purchase screen... then.. nothing happens.. no registration comes.. nothing..wait days... nothing happens, no reply, no program... nothing.. I write email to them.. nothing happens..no reply..
Finally I *CALLED* the company, to ask them what is going on. They said that my visa transaction was rejected (but they never bothered to inform me of this, even though they collected my email address (just to send me spam I guess?). When I asked the sales rep at DFX what is wrong, they told me that my destination address and billing address were different, (I am an expat overseas) so.. transaction just gets automatically rejected, bin'ed.. period. No mail, no reply, no followup, nothing.. rejects just goes to
They didn't email me when the Visa was rejected (or ask where I live.. or anything), nor did they even bother to reply my original emails.
The answer the DFX rep gave me on the phone to all this was... "well, it is just a $15 program, so we can't spend too much effort (ie any!) to deal with things that might come up".
3)NJstar
It is a great program. But they wanted me to send checks to Australia or something in AUS dollars.. gee.. how to I do that.. the bank will charge me $50 in processing fees (after waiting in 3 lines at 20 minutes a pop because no one would know how to draw up a foreign denominated check), for a $25 program..
Those are my stories..
..and people wonder why they don't register their shareware...?!.
...because it is too complicated
to pay for it, thats why.. fix that, and then
I am ready to buy lots of great stuff.. but
right now it is just too much hassle I discovered,
so I just stay away from it..
I saw the story.. the thing is, that although
technically illegal, in some cases, I dont really see software piracy (or music either for that matter) as unethical any longer, even though it might be (technically) illegal.
Though for small/honest software companies, buying software to support the creators, is important.. but in other cases, it is not so clear..
Some cases in point:
Microsoft: is an outright illegal monopoly, that basically got away with it, by giving money and greasing the wheels of the right players in the US govt. There is nothing legal about the way they do business, and it surprises me still, that foreign govts havent yet legalized the copying of their software since the monopoly is itself, illegal. Though maybe they forgot to think of that when they drew up the WTO regulations.. So I find it a real strech to think of copying M$ software as even being remotely unethical (in fact, it would be worse to give them the money, that they can then spend on lobbyists and politicians to flout our monopoly laws even further!)
RIAA/Record labels: pretty much every musician you talk to (famous or not) says the same thing.. Record contracts are designed to rob artists, who do not get compensated for their work. In fact, most artists say they want their work copied, because that way they get famous, and then can do concerts, which is the only way most artists *can* make money in the record business.
There is no protection for artists as similar RIAA record company lobbyist money was also used to buy and grease the wheels of politicians to take away artists rights over time, trample copyright principles...yada...yada.. forming, yet another cartel/monopoly.
Do unto them as they do unto you seems fair enough to me... I am not even sure why there is a debate about the ethics of software/music copying anymore, as the companies themselves sure arent showing any example of what ethical behavior even remotely looks like..
Akihabara..
Easy.. no Japanese needed (usually).
Places to hit:
Used PC street..
-this place is great.. find
P450s PCs with video cards, HDs and 100mbps
network cards in perfect shape for $100USD,
Laptops for $200, monitors for $40, flat panels
for $200.
-To get there: (sorry, Tokyo has no addresses
street names like we are used to)..
-Find the main street (its wide, 5 lanes across)
that goes through akihabara. Then Find La-ox
'COmputer Kan' (there are lots of La-ox
electronic stores in Akihabara, go to the
'computer kan'... its big.. very big, 7 floors.
It is on a side street off the main street
-Then from the entrance of Computer Kan (Laox),
you will see a narrow street going outwards..
-On weekends, lots of tables will be set up
there, and the regular shops will have all their
stuff set up outside sidewalk sale.. It is the
best street in Akihabara with the best deals,
dont miss it. It will pay for your trip to Japan.
Other good places..
Any of the Laox's (note the one with Foreign PCs
(ie. English) is usually a ripoff). For PC cards,
etc.. reasonable deals. All in Japanese though.
Misc electronics.. the old building next to the
Beckers fast food (by JR (Japan Rail) Akihabara
station).. many narrow aisles.. a true fire
trap, but lots and lots of cool electronics.
You can spend a day in AKihabara..
-pricing.. usually listed.. not much negotiating.
-Sometimes they dont let you open the packages,
before you buy, should be OK though.
Bring lots of money.
I just saw the video on NHK (Japanese state television) of the interior of the neutrino detector after the "accident".
I dont understand it, it looks like a bomb was set off in it or something. The reporting was very sparse, but the video shows broken glass and electronic bits scattered everywhere in the water, and smashed parts and wires floating in the chamber, like a bomb (or a student going
nuts with a baseball bat in the tank or
something) hit it or something. It is very wierd
type of "accident" if that is what it was...
Any one know what *really* happened here?
It makes no sense..
They hit tower one of the WTC and *now toppled both over*. And got the pentagon too..
.. but we should
Now, a couple things.. this is bad, this is really bad..
Apparently it was Palestinian terrorists that
did it (so TV is reporting)..
If it really was Palestinians, as much as I hate to say this.. I sort of understand..
before I start, I am a normal American white guy, am open minded, and think every race in the world has a right to their own safety and piece (including Americans).. I have absolutely nothing to do with the Arab israeli conflict (I am not arab, or Jewish, or anything like that), nor do I know any of either side closely at all..
But I was in Isreal once on business, and I saw what the Israelies do to the Palestinians, and what I saw made me sick to be an American because of how our government supports what the Israelis do to those people..
Basically, the isrealis take palestinian land bit by bit to make settlements for Israelis only, and shoot/run over/kill Palestinians with the guns, helicopters and bullets that we, America give the Israelis.
We dont report these travesties on American news (though you can get it on the BBC, CBC and other foreign outlets, and watch Israelis shoot with machine guns, 12 year old arab kids throwing rocks).
It is worse than south Africa, and I go as far to say, that the Israelis have put the Palestinians in concentration camp like conditions for the last 20 years or so, bulldozing their houses for their land, shooting their kids, controlling their land, their economy and choking them off one by one..
And when other countries like the Africans try to tell the truth (yes, the Israelis are racists..absolutely, they have dual licence plates for Palestine cars, dont let them drive on the same roads as Israelis, and occupy their country).
And we, the United states government, give more money, bombs, guns and weapons to Israel than to any other country in the world in foreign aid.., knowing (and allowing0 the Israelis to shoot, maim and rob more palestians of there property, lives and freedom.
And we have been doing that for 20 years now at least..
What else should we have expected really?
This terrorism really sucks,
also look at what we have been doing too the last 20 years.. and why a people felt so driven to do this to us..
Organize in the streets.. arrange demonstrations,
like those for Dmitry. In addition, hold a
mass rally on Ben Franklins'
B-day (in January sometime I think), a politician
who knew the dangers of such crazy patent (and
IP) rights and voiced against it publicly. Roll
back ridiculous copyright laws, and paid for
corporate fascist legislation.!
If you dont scare your representatives, they'll
just keep taking the checks from the RIAA, MPAA
..etc, banking them, and doing whatever the corps. and their associations pay them to do...
Organize now.. or "1984" will be here before we
know it..
Organize in the streets.. arrange demonstrations,
like those for Dmitry. Have it on Ben Franklins'
B-day (in January sometime I think), a politician
who knew the dangers of such crazy patent (and
IP) rights and voiced against it publicly.
If you dont scare your representatives, they'll
just keep taking the checks from the RIAA, MPAA
..etc, banking them, and doing whatever the corps.
and their associations pay them to do...
Organize now.. or "1984" will be here before you
know it..
how about staging a book burning (or old adobe software burning) in front of Adobe offices..
Since that basically is what the DMCA fight is all
about anyways.. control of thought, expression and writing in the digital age.....ie book
burning in the modern acge a la Fairenheit 451..
This is a type of action that might make it clear to the mainstream press what this fight is really about... control over our expression, and companies attempts to control press, throw people
in jail for thoughtcrime...etc..
And why Adobe? Well, they started it, and as far
as I am concerned, it was companies like these
that lobbied/bribed/pressured our congress people
to get this law.. so now they can use all that
political power and money to get Dmitry out, and
then get rid of this law, or suffer the
consequences publicly in the street from us.
I saw that.. the thing is, that what many of
those sites are for, is different.
Most of those are left wing anarchist, socialist
anti business groups.
I on the other hand am generally
pro business..
for our standard of living, and prosperity..
ie. your typical
middle class family.
But what I see here with
things like DCMA, FTAA and the rest is not
the usual 'pro business', programs that
generally are good for most Americans..
but rather corporate fascism, greed and anti-
democracy at the expense of the ordinary
people.. that is different.., it is anti
American, and is wrong.. it is bad. and must
be stopped. (and so should corporate donations..
if companies cant vote, then why should they
be allowed to give money... only people should
be allowed to give money.. same limits for everyone.. that is what the fathers intended..)
.. not the corrupt mess we have now..
More on this stream..
./ understand information, how
Most of us on
to use it, and disseminate it, widely, and
very quickly..
It is high time that we start to do this, before
we lose ALL our rights. Make websites, link to
them at the bottom of your pages. Get people
in the streets..
Re: writing to congressmen.. maybe it works but
I am not sure.. because congress people only work
for those people who pay them.. which means
not us.. so we have to put fear in their
hearts... take to the streets.. get in on the
front page of every paper in the country..make
them scared.. and they'll listen..
Protests, a manifesto (citizen's rights in the
IP age.. reasonable copyrights (ie. it expires
in 10 years).. and a whole slew of other things.
As well, we should keep protesting Adobe in
spite of what they say now.. they put Dimtry
in hock, so until he is free, protest them..
make Adobe use the same power they used to
get things like DCMA, to now get rid of it,
or we dont stop..
Thats the only way it will work, and only way
they will listen. Give hell to politicians to
take corporate bribes and pass laws that are
so obviously against the interests of the
people in the interest of corporate checks, and
give hell to the companies that are paying
those bribes..
Imagine a world where the govt. and corporations
(with the power of the laws they PAID for) can
search your PC (or the one in your office),
record everything, send the police to your house
and jail you for IP crimes (oops, your son
put a copy of IE on that old laptop, and the
license server at Redmond caught that! $6000 fine), or speechcrime (Dmitry), or thoughtcrime
(DeCss). This is what's coming people, unless
you get out there and do something.
It is war people.. wake up, or you will all
be prisoners of this orwellian future..
Organize yourselves (slashdot ed's?), get
a platform/manifesto, call the press, and
get out in the streets and make yourselves heard..
put fear in a politician today and remind them
that they had better answer to YOU.. or else..
I plan to, I hope many of you will do so as well
in your own cities/areas..
It is time for protest in the streets..
A handful of people protesting for Dmitry managed
to get this into CNN. It is time for more of
the same.. I suggest Ben Franklin's Birthday
as a day of protest (not sure when it is, anyone know?), as he as a politician who understood
technology and its potential misuses (IP controls/patent bogosity..etc) and reminded us
to fight against it.
We also need a website (or a GNU political party
or something), that lists out in plain english
what these congress people are voting for and
who is giving them the bribe money to do so (and
link it from all over, so everyone knows what
they are up to, and will call them on it).
Corporate fascism is definately taking over, and
I am starting to be not proud to be an American
anymore.. we must take to the streets.. banners
& protest.. its a whole civil rights movement,
and it involves all of us to stop this
corporate techno fascism before it goes any
further...
This is 1984.. in real life...
It won't stop unless we get out there, and make
it stop...
[Re: Dmitry..sigh, the day that the US arrests
someone for thoughtcrime... I thought I'd never
see it in real life.. we should all stop being
so naive]