I believe Bill Gates would not support a Linux/*nix oriented laptop and has already derided this project. Warren Buffet is "invested" in Gates' foundation, thus that money would not go there either. It still is 7 laptops for $1000 donation. Where else can you get that deal?
And this is also having good features now (the 640x480 screen is too small in todays world - websurfing for info) and can go down in price over time.
Too bad it lost the hand crank in favor of a foot pedal though (handcrank would be 1 with the computer, footpedal is something carry around, an extra cable, and can be lost).
"has higher resolution than 95 percent of the laptop displays on the market today, approximately one-seventh of the power consumption, one-third of the price, sunlight readability, and room-light readability with the backlight off."
After growing up, children living with parents may be a source of derision in America, but in some countries 2 or 3 generations living under one roof is not unusual. Not that I am saying Russia is one of these since I don't know much about Russia, but I believe it's time for people making these comments to grow up rather than the people in these type of situations -- afterall, not all of the instances are equal.
I helped switch 3x more people (voluntarily, they sought me out) to Linux on the Desktop this year than last year. Last year, I switch infinitely more people than I did the year before. Does that mean the growth rate is rising or slowing?:)
This year - 3 people. Last year - 1 person. 2 years ago - 0
I really don't know why that is, I used to "preach" more about Linux pre-2000 and just sort of gave up. No one switched and really, I didn't feel like forcing the issue and Win2000 was pretty good. I really don't know why some people suddenly decide to switch now.....
On the good news, all the people I switch stayed. Before Ubuntu, I would have hesitated to switch people just because I figured they will bitch at me for whatever ended up not working but now, with Ubuntu's forums and that it just works 75% of the time (higher on older computers, less so on newer stuff), I think the tide is turning slowly........
This is what is wrong with the court system today. In psychology class, my very experienced (and upfront) psychology professor always said for punishments to be effective (deter someone from doing the wrong thing again), they had to be:
1. Immediate 2. Be equal to the act. 3. Consistent 4. Explain what was wrong with the act and the right thing to do.
This applies to children and adults alike.
I know that "making an example" has long been a misguided tradition in the courts, but who are you making the example to? Intelligent people reading the news, sitting at home?
Are we really going to ruin this person's life at $750 per song for 200 songs? That's just ridiculous. Yes, perhaps they acted childish, but it's just crappy music that was taken. Are we going to start executing people who steal something substantial, like a bike? Afterall, I had a bike stolen from me when I was 11, and I'm sure that act hurt me a lot more than these taking these 200 songs hurt the music industry.
since they are only retail store employees, it doesn't make much sense to fire them just for that. I mean they did minimal to spread it out there (other than being leechers along with a few thousand others).
It seems like they are enthusiastic about the product which is a good thing on a sales team, unless, of course, they start recommending people hold off until Leopard comes.
Could someone explain the exact reasoning behind this? I could imagine its simply the same mentality as the RIAA would show if an RIAA employee confessed to downloading songs off the internet - which makes it much more understandable (if their own employees can't serve as rolemodels, who can, right?)
The majority of the market cannot choose, as there is often only 1 or 2 choices for broadband, if that many. Plus, I consider it fraud if they advertise broadband internet, and decide to serve you their exclusive subset at a much higher speed. People signed and are already paying for the internet, not VerizonNet(TM). Ah, double dipping at it's finest.
AOL already tried to nicely sandbox the internet, it's not what people want nor pay for unless they have no other choice.
I believe because you (used to) be able to only patent a specific implementation. Software patents is or comes too close to patenting the idea itself. Someone used to be free to build a better mousetrap, just not working exactly like the one you patented. Now the very idea of the mousetrap is effectively patented when we pursue software patents.
The US has started to rest to much of its laurels on "Intellectual Property." Some intellectual property, you used to be able sell (books, music) and make money off it that way. This property was protected by copyright. So someone can make a book with a world like "Lord of the Rings" (and many have) or a game like Doom or music like (in same genre) Michael Jacksons - they just can't reproduced the original and claim it as theirs. Ideas and culture freely circulated around this way.
Some intellectual property (University research, public domain data) you used to be able to share freely and it enriched the whole economy -- helped your company manufacture better things or things cheaper, etcetera.
Patenting ideas themselves does nothing but stifle all innovation as ideas get owned. Common approaches to problems are now infinitely patentable to every new medium. Ad infinitum.
The US (and the West) will perish under a burden of its own making if we continue down this path. Patents of this type punish the innovative companies and breed hyenas that do nothing but litigate the rest of us into submission and poverty.
And the proof of that would be multiple vehicle pile-ups. The ultimate going with the flow.
That's inane. I lived in Germany long enough to experience the joys and wonders of the autobahn, one of the safest systems in the world known for not having speed limits (well, some sections:), and despite that, when they have pile-ups, it really is piled up, with dozens upon dozens of cars. And these were not in the sections with unlimited speed, it happened just as often in the 100-120kph areas.
Pile-ups is a function of tail-gating, following too closely the vehicle in front of you for the speed and conditions you are driving in and is the exact opposite of what I mean going with the flow.
But perhaps you don't know what I mean "going with the flow" - going down an entrance ramp at a constant 30mph (which the traffic sign dangerously suggests in many areas) until you hit the 65mph traffic on the interstate is not going with the flow. There is no more dangerous common situation I know of than, thanks to this slowpoke, being stopped at the end of the ramp without any room to accelerate other than the freeway itself.
My college resticts access, whereby I cannot reach certain sites, due to the filter classifying it as "games", when in reality I am looking up certain algorithms, some of which may be useful for 3d games or whatnot and just mention the word "game" somewhere in the body (which is ironic, as the University is offering a "video gaming" degree or certification). Stuff like this happens all the time. Even in the free wifi area of the library where I spend my FREE time. Which is odd, as slashdot as a whole can be accessed, the filter pops up for game articles.
Also, FTP is restricted for some reason, so I cannot log into my own account on my own website to d/l any assignments or whatever I saved there on another computer.
I think an employee needs to be accountable and pron sites should be blocked or at least have a policy in place, and I don't mind people getting fired to abusing the access, but current filters place a burden on legitimate uses as much as bad uses. If you can't trust your employees, maybe they shouldn't be hired in the first place.
Another good way of cutting down on them slacking is perhaps put their terminals in a way so it can be seen what they are doing. (Perhaps for the lower level employees).
Plus the speed limit is painfully slow in some areas. Everybody goes 65-75 on my local "55"mph highway. How will the teen react if the device is set to 55mph, will s/he follow it out of obligation and get themselves killed*
I'd much rather have a built in car device that detects the blood-alcohol level of the driver (any driver, not just teens) and not start the car. Once the car is started, I think any dumb device like this is dangerous for all involved. I mean, by the time your kids start driving, they will be going out of the house to college in 2 years, where you have no control. Give them some measure of freedom or don't let them drive at all.
*Statistically, it's safer to go 10mph faster than the speed limit than at the speed limit or 10mph below it. Speed alone doesn't kill, not going along with the normal traffic patterns does, go with the flow. Some experienced drivers still are unaware of this, to the detriment of all around them.
Assuming what you are selling has an active community and it is a standard item.
OTOH, this strategy just does not work with rare or unusual items. Sometimes you have to put it in the store until the right buyer comes along and is willing to go for the price.
I know multiple people that stopped selling. These are ebay's customers, they pay hefty fees.
If the sellers are not selling as well, they stop.
The market has gone down, but eBay responds (and to the demands of its stockholders to make more money) by ratcheting up their own fees. They have done this countless times.
My seller friends complain that they are there, not to make money for themselves as their own margins have been squeezed extremely thin, but to make eBay money. The greed eBay has shown the last few years has lost them much loyalty and many good sellers. A lot of them started selling locally again and have done better that way.
Meanwhile, Meg Whitman (the CEO) has pocketed 3 billion (yes you read correctly) for becoming CEO (no, she did not found the company nor was on the startup team) when it was already a done deal and in the top dog position.
MS does anything for Linux, it means its marketshare has been already depleted and such a move is largely irrevelent. But we are not there yet.
I think Linux uptake will come slower at first, the first 5% is hardest, and then suddenly accelerate (we are on the left side of the bell-curve). It's only a matter of time until those who have to pay MS money (computer vendors) will dare to preinstall a Linux (hopefully Ubuntu) on some of their systems and it will be a slow downhill slide for MS there as more and more institution ask what they are getting in exchange for paying for exorbitant site licenses/etcetera.
At least, that is my hope. Why the market does what it does is a mystery sometimes.....
"Proof-positive of LoJack's power comes from such stories as the one out of William Penn University in Iowa. A student there had a college laptop stolen. Absolute Software was promptly notified. And their recovery experts there soon tracked the laptop down to the phone line that the notebook was hooked into the Internet on. The Des Moines Police Department was notified, and officers promptly put down their donuts and coffee and swooped in on the missing PC."
The lojack program seems to do the exact thing yours does, but then again, perhaps because it is "official", the police may take the information more seriously.
Anything you type down should be things that you don't mind any others seeing. This is something you might think only needs to kept in mind with gmail, but it is a good overall rule, as even regular email itself can be stored by the recipient indefinitely and be used at a later date.
As Cardinal Richelieu said: "If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him."
That's true. You can't exactly sell "service" for most application (except perhaps access to an online service forum, etc). But many people I know, who are on Windows, take the software for free as well, legally or not. Many people, not just Linux users, are accustomed to "free" software in this day and age. The age of buying boxes at CompUSA is mostly over and has been killed by the internet, except for things like Photoshop, etcetera (where a lot of people still get it for free).
That said, it's just perplexing to me that Apple doesn't provide an iTunes app for Linux, presumably binary for the DRM. They make money off the users using it, not from the app itself.
Anyway, the people who pay for many of the apps like Photoshop are businesses, it's irrevelant if it is on MS or Photoshop, they still will pay to remain compliant. Are you sure you weren't being thrown a curveball, since another very public side of Linux is the one IBM is displaying?
punishing the companies is pointless for a descision that didn't involve the shareholders
Um, then why do I see the company is being punished now and likely into the future. As well as any action the customers may take. And I wonder how many shareholders were also customers being spied upon;)
But the government isn't a single mass behemoth entity that will wack AT&T out of existence for not complying. And AT&T certainly has the resources to fight the administration - for instance, having the people it gives campaign contributions to make noise.
I believe falling back on the shareholders is just an excuse to make shortterm decisions that are okay/good for the company but bad in the long run. And companies are obliged to act ethically - they can't murder people either because they are thinking of the stock holders.
And even more important is the customer base, which they violated. But since, in most regions they serve, telephone companies are monopolies more or less, it's not like a normal business where the customers can choose to leave for a comparable service.
Slashdot Mirror
I believe Bill Gates would not support a Linux/*nix oriented laptop and has already derided this project. Warren Buffet is "invested" in Gates' foundation, thus that money would not go there either. It still is 7 laptops for $1000 donation. Where else can you get that deal?
And this is also having good features now (the 640x480 screen is too small in todays world - websurfing for info) and can go down in price over time.
Too bad it lost the hand crank in favor of a foot pedal though (handcrank would be 1 with the computer, footpedal is something carry around, an extra cable, and can be lost).
Maybe his sick mother lives with him.
After growing up, children living with parents may be a source of derision in America, but in some countries 2 or 3 generations living under one roof is not unusual. Not that I am saying Russia is one of these since I don't know much about Russia, but I believe it's time for people making these comments to grow up rather than the people in these type of situations -- afterall, not all of the instances are equal.
I helped switch 3x more people (voluntarily, they sought me out) to Linux on the Desktop this year than last year. Last year, I switch infinitely more people than I did the year before. Does that mean the growth rate is rising or slowing? :)
This year - 3 people.
Last year - 1 person.
2 years ago - 0
I really don't know why that is, I used to "preach" more about Linux pre-2000 and just sort of gave up. No one switched and really, I didn't feel like forcing the issue and Win2000 was pretty good. I really don't know why some people suddenly decide to switch now.....
On the good news, all the people I switch stayed. Before Ubuntu, I would have hesitated to switch people just because I figured they will bitch at me for whatever ended up not working but now, with Ubuntu's forums and that it just works 75% of the time (higher on older computers, less so on newer stuff), I think the tide is turning slowly........
The damage must be severe, that's a Hummer, not a Lamborghini!
This is what is wrong with the court system today. In psychology class, my very experienced (and upfront) psychology professor always said for punishments to be effective (deter someone from doing the wrong thing again), they had to be:
1. Immediate
2. Be equal to the act.
3. Consistent
4. Explain what was wrong with the act and the right thing to do.
This applies to children and adults alike.
I know that "making an example" has long been a misguided tradition in the courts, but who are you making the example to? Intelligent people reading the news, sitting at home?
Are we really going to ruin this person's life at $750 per song for 200 songs? That's just ridiculous. Yes, perhaps they acted childish, but it's just crappy music that was taken. Are we going to start executing people who steal something substantial, like a bike? Afterall, I had a bike stolen from me when I was 11, and I'm sure that act hurt me a lot more than these taking these 200 songs hurt the music industry.
Swap hard drives with another computer.
since they are only retail store employees, it doesn't make much sense to fire them just for that. I mean they did minimal to spread it out there (other than being leechers along with a few thousand others).
It seems like they are enthusiastic about the product which is a good thing on a sales team, unless, of course, they start recommending people hold off until Leopard comes.
Could someone explain the exact reasoning behind this? I could imagine its simply the same mentality as the RIAA would show if an RIAA employee confessed to downloading songs off the internet - which makes it much more understandable (if their own employees can't serve as rolemodels, who can, right?)
The majority of the market cannot choose, as there is often only 1 or 2 choices for broadband, if that many. Plus, I consider it fraud if they advertise broadband internet, and decide to serve you their exclusive subset at a much higher speed. People signed and are already paying for the internet, not VerizonNet(TM). Ah, double dipping at it's finest.
AOL already tried to nicely sandbox the internet, it's not what people want nor pay for unless they have no other choice.
I believe because you (used to) be able to only patent a specific implementation. Software patents is or comes too close to patenting the idea itself. Someone used to be free to build a better mousetrap, just not working exactly like the one you patented. Now the very idea of the mousetrap is effectively patented when we pursue software patents.
The US has started to rest to much of its laurels on "Intellectual Property." Some intellectual property, you used to be able sell (books, music) and make money off it that way. This property was protected by copyright. So someone can make a book with a world like "Lord of the Rings" (and many have) or a game like Doom or music like (in same genre) Michael Jacksons - they just can't reproduced the original and claim it as theirs. Ideas and culture freely circulated around this way.
Some intellectual property (University research, public domain data) you used to be able to share freely and it enriched the whole economy -- helped your company manufacture better things or things cheaper, etcetera.
Patenting ideas themselves does nothing but stifle all innovation as ideas get owned. Common approaches to problems are now infinitely patentable to every new medium. Ad infinitum.
The US (and the West) will perish under a burden of its own making if we continue down this path. Patents of this type punish the innovative companies and breed hyenas that do nothing but litigate the rest of us into submission and poverty.
http://sense.bc.ca/disc/disc-05.htm
http://digg.com/tech_news/What_happens_when_you_d
That's inane. I lived in Germany long enough to experience the joys and wonders of the autobahn, one of the safest systems in the world known for not having speed limits (well, some sections:), and despite that, when they have pile-ups, it really is piled up, with dozens upon dozens of cars. And these were not in the sections with unlimited speed, it happened just as often in the 100-120kph areas.
Pile-ups is a function of tail-gating, following too closely the vehicle in front of you for the speed and conditions you are driving in and is the exact opposite of what I mean going with the flow.
But perhaps you don't know what I mean "going with the flow" - going down an entrance ramp at a constant 30mph (which the traffic sign dangerously suggests in many areas) until you hit the 65mph traffic on the interstate is not going with the flow. There is no more dangerous common situation I know of than, thanks to this slowpoke, being stopped at the end of the ramp without any room to accelerate other than the freeway itself.
My college resticts access, whereby I cannot reach certain sites, due to the filter classifying it as "games", when in reality I am looking up certain algorithms, some of which may be useful for 3d games or whatnot and just mention the word "game" somewhere in the body (which is ironic, as the University is offering a "video gaming" degree or certification). Stuff like this happens all the time. Even in the free wifi area of the library where I spend my FREE time. Which is odd, as slashdot as a whole can be accessed, the filter pops up for game articles.
Also, FTP is restricted for some reason, so I cannot log into my own account on my own website to d/l any assignments or whatever I saved there on another computer.
I think an employee needs to be accountable and pron sites should be blocked or at least have a policy in place, and I don't mind people getting fired to abusing the access, but current filters place a burden on legitimate uses as much as bad uses. If you can't trust your employees, maybe they shouldn't be hired in the first place.
Another good way of cutting down on them slacking is perhaps put their terminals in a way so it can be seen what they are doing. (Perhaps for the lower level employees).
Plus the speed limit is painfully slow in some areas. Everybody goes 65-75 on my local "55"mph highway. How will the teen react if the device is set to 55mph, will s/he follow it out of obligation and get themselves killed*
I'd much rather have a built in car device that detects the blood-alcohol level of the driver (any driver, not just teens) and not start the car. Once the car is started, I think any dumb device like this is dangerous for all involved. I mean, by the time your kids start driving, they will be going out of the house to college in 2 years, where you have no control. Give them some measure of freedom or don't let them drive at all.
*Statistically, it's safer to go 10mph faster than the speed limit than at the speed limit or 10mph below it. Speed alone doesn't kill, not going along with the normal traffic patterns does, go with the flow. Some experienced drivers still are unaware of this, to the detriment of all around them.
Assuming what you are selling has an active community and it is a standard item.
OTOH, this strategy just does not work with rare or unusual items. Sometimes you have to put it in the store until the right buyer comes along and is willing to go for the price.
I know multiple people that stopped selling. These are ebay's customers, they pay hefty fees.
If the sellers are not selling as well, they stop.
The market has gone down, but eBay responds (and to the demands of its stockholders to make more money) by ratcheting up their own fees. They have done this countless times.
My seller friends complain that they are there, not to make money for themselves as their own margins have been squeezed extremely thin, but to make eBay money. The greed eBay has shown the last few years has lost them much loyalty and many good sellers. A lot of them started selling locally again and have done better that way.
Meanwhile, Meg Whitman (the CEO) has pocketed 3 billion (yes you read correctly) for becoming CEO (no, she did not found the company nor was on the startup team) when it was already a done deal and in the top dog position.
Something is out of whack in this situation.
And there your credibility goes out the window:)
but why, at 18, are our kids old enough to fight and die for our country, yet they are not old enough to drink?
Just wondering, since this is a thread about soldiers' diversions and such.
MS does anything for Linux, it means its marketshare has been already depleted and such a move is largely irrevelent. But we are not there yet.
I think Linux uptake will come slower at first, the first 5% is hardest, and then suddenly accelerate (we are on the left side of the bell-curve). It's only a matter of time until those who have to pay MS money (computer vendors) will dare to preinstall a Linux (hopefully Ubuntu) on some of their systems and it will be a slow downhill slide for MS there as more and more institution ask what they are getting in exchange for paying for exorbitant site licenses/etcetera.
At least, that is my hope. Why the market does what it does is a mystery sometimes.....
selling you singles if it comes on physical medium.
For instance, in this case:
http://www.laptopical.com/lojack-for-laptop.html
"Proof-positive of LoJack's power comes from such stories as the one out of William Penn University in Iowa. A student there had a college laptop stolen. Absolute Software was promptly notified. And their recovery experts there soon tracked the laptop down to the phone line that the notebook was hooked into the Internet on. The Des Moines Police Department was notified, and officers promptly put down their donuts and coffee and swooped in on the missing PC."
The lojack program seems to do the exact thing yours does, but then again, perhaps because it is "official", the police may take the information more seriously.
Anything you type down should be things that you don't mind any others seeing. This is something you might think only needs to kept in mind with gmail, but it is a good overall rule, as even regular email itself can be stored by the recipient indefinitely and be used at a later date.
As Cardinal Richelieu said:
"If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him."
That's true. You can't exactly sell "service" for most application (except perhaps access to an online service forum, etc). But many people I know, who are on Windows, take the software for free as well, legally or not. Many people, not just Linux users, are accustomed to "free" software in this day and age. The age of buying boxes at CompUSA is mostly over and has been killed by the internet, except for things like Photoshop, etcetera (where a lot of people still get it for free).
That said, it's just perplexing to me that Apple doesn't provide an iTunes app for Linux, presumably binary for the DRM. They make money off the users using it, not from the app itself.
Anyway, the people who pay for many of the apps like Photoshop are businesses, it's irrevelant if it is on MS or Photoshop, they still will pay to remain compliant. Are you sure you weren't being thrown a curveball, since another very public side of Linux is the one IBM is displaying?
Perhaps you mean Hitler and Stalin? Mussolini certainly would not have been a match for either. Unless that is your point with Telcos vs Cable?
Um, then why do I see the company is being punished now and likely into the future. As well as any action the customers may take. And I wonder how many shareholders were also customers being spied upon;)
But the government isn't a single mass behemoth entity that will wack AT&T out of existence for not complying. And AT&T certainly has the resources to fight the administration - for instance, having the people it gives campaign contributions to make noise.
I believe falling back on the shareholders is just an excuse to make shortterm decisions that are okay/good for the company but bad in the long run. And companies are obliged to act ethically - they can't murder people either because they are thinking of the stock holders.
And even more important is the customer base, which they violated. But since, in most regions they serve, telephone companies are monopolies more or less, it's not like a normal business where the customers can choose to leave for a comparable service.
VOIP, here I come!