No, I didn't burn my house, but I sold/gave away all my four computers. I was just so damn tired of wasting time on something that would never be complete. The noise of the fans and the hopeless snake-pit of wires and dust in the corner were also contributing factors.
My computerless life lasted for about 6 months and was, in general, a nice experience. Then I got a nice, silent computer with a flat screen.
Our demise as a race is inevitable. It will come either in the form of a suicide (nuclear war, man-made pandemic etc.), natural disaster (supervolcano, asteroid, getting hit by a deep-space gamma-ray burst) or evolution.
I wouldn't call Bill Gates bad at spending his money for a good cause. He's well known for donating significant sums for charity which, I might add, is much more moral than contributing to an X-prize attempt.
The moment/. eliminates anomymous posting, I'll quit.
I've got excellent karma but I've always enjoyed reading Slashdot at -1. Why? I like the raw tastelessness and counterculture in the -1 or 0 rated posts. I prefer the creativity of the more refined trolls as opposed to the bland groupthink that tends to get more and more dominating in the typical high karma posts.
The question was whether it should be banned from general public who would wash themselves and their kitchen sink daily in it just because they've got a friggin' viral infection.
reduce ZITS in children that are prine to acne.
If you knew anything about medicine, you'd know that there are far better alternatives than run-of-the-mill antibacterial soap. Furthermore, average acne is a social not a medical problem. Most people grow over it completely without medication. Mentally scarred? Talk to a psychologist.
cross contaminiation from sick family members
If a member of the family has a viral infection, the chances are that everybody's going to get it. If it's a bacterial infection, the chances are still that everybody's going to get it even if you shower in anti-bacterial soap. The difference is that not showering in the soap does not produce bugs that are immune.
I guess my bottom line is this: it's natural to get sick once in a while. Stop fighting it! You're only making it worse by employing anti-bacterial soaps at home - leave some ammo for us healthcare professionals!
you just screamed "I'm a moron" at the top of your lungs.
Ah, yes, the friendly Linux community...
Did you read my post? I don't care to read through a goddamned list of all the possible options. I want a quick and dirty "examples" section in the manual.
Besides, your example does not work:
rpm -ql flightgear-0.9.3-1grk.i386.rpm
package flightgear-0.9.3-1grk.i386.rpm is not installed
Why do you think we're losing - badly - the fight against bacterial infections? Simple.
I'm a GP (General Practitioner for those of you who don't know the term) and I don't think a day goes by without a concerned by undereducated mom or dad, who just won't take a "no" as an answer when they ask for a course of antibiotics for their little brat with a viral infection. The result: viral infections come and go, but all bacteria that survives the unnecessary antibiotic treatment emerges stronger. Hence, we've got more and more drug-resistant cultures around.
The antibacterial soaps are doing exactly the same in your kitchen sink. Yes, they will kill all the weak bacteria in your sink, but whatever survives is much much harder to deal with in the future.
Well, I personally have a problem with its obscure syntax. For instance, I frequently have to Google how to list the files in a package on my hard drive with rpm.
In other words, rpm man-page is close to useless because it does not include examples of the most common use. You learn by doing, not by reading a comprehensive list of all the options and switches.
I wish Debian were more modern. I miss apt-get, but I like bleeding edge hardware more and it's usually only either Mandrake or Red Hat that installs cleanly.
Another problem is that any package management system makes it hard to combine stuff that you've compiled yourself and regular packages.
If you wish to burn DVDs on Linux, be prepared to be disappointed.
A while ago I bought Plextor's top-of-the-line DVD+-RW drive and I still can't write DVDs in Linux.
First of all, I had to download the Schilly's closed-source dvdrecord because RedHat's fork doesn't even recognize the drive.
But even the closed-source version refused to blank a DVD+RW disc (get this for doing that) and crashed when it's tried to fixing a DVD-R disc. Even today I have to do all the DVD burning in Windows. CD-RW burning works just fine under Linux.
It's difficult to get proper cooling for dual systems (Opterons in particular) in 1U. You can't just go and buy a case, mobo and stuff in two blowers and heat sinks and expect it to work in your rack running 24/7/365.
At which point you need to explain what you're talking about using plain, simple English as a series of points
Text in general is bad because:
1) Audience will have to spend time reading it. While they are reading, they are not listening to you. When you have an audience that's not listening you, then you have confused delegates.
2) Text is boring. Data tables are horrendously boring and outright impossible to digest.
3) If you can express something in writing, you can tell it to the audience. If you can tell it to the audience, why write it on the slide in the first place?
The most common mistake I see a new PhD student do is to make a presentation that helps him to remember what he's supposed to say (by having a lot of text) - he makes the presentation for himself, not for the audience. That's a recipe for a boring presentation.
If you have no clue what you are saying, then learn it by heart and watch your audience fall asleep
If you have no clue what you are saying, you have absolutely no business being up there giving the talk in the first place.
The learning I was talking about was knowing the order of slides and their contents so that you don't have to keep on glancing over your shoulder to see what's coming up next.
Slashdot Mirror
I suppose you've never seen an archeologist get excited about friggin' ancient toothpicks? I have.
No, I didn't burn my house, but I sold/gave away all my four computers. I was just so damn tired of wasting time on something that would never be complete. The noise of the fans and the hopeless snake-pit of wires and dust in the corner were also contributing factors.
My computerless life lasted for about 6 months and was, in general, a nice experience. Then I got a nice, silent computer with a flat screen.
Our demise as a race is inevitable. It will come either in the form of a suicide (nuclear war, man-made pandemic etc.), natural disaster (supervolcano, asteroid, getting hit by a deep-space gamma-ray burst) or evolution.
What's important is that our knowledge survives.
I wouldn't call Bill Gates bad at spending his money for a good cause. He's well known for donating significant sums for charity which, I might add, is much more moral than contributing to an X-prize attempt.
And have you ever tried to design a layout of your own?
Just like DDT was safe.
Do not click on that link!
I've got excellent karma but I've always enjoyed reading Slashdot at -1. Why? I like the raw tastelessness and counterculture in the -1 or 0 rated posts. I prefer the creativity of the more refined trolls as opposed to the bland groupthink that tends to get more and more dominating in the typical high karma posts.
The federal law is general - you can't escape it across the state borders?
I don't believe it! Why has there not been a Slashdot story about this: Cowboy Neal is serving in Iraq!
No. I wouldn't go quite as far as that.
You know, hell is the impossibility of reason... oh, wait! Heck. You might be onto something here!
Oh, so I shouldn't report my troubles I have with rpm unless I contribute?
Do you think doctors are any better in this respect than the geeks manning helpdesks?
Absolutely.
The question was whether it should be banned from general public who would wash themselves and their kitchen sink daily in it just because they've got a friggin' viral infection.
reduce ZITS in children that are prine to acne.
If you knew anything about medicine, you'd know that there are far better alternatives than run-of-the-mill antibacterial soap. Furthermore, average acne is a social not a medical problem. Most people grow over it completely without medication. Mentally scarred? Talk to a psychologist.
cross contaminiation from sick family members
If a member of the family has a viral infection, the chances are that everybody's going to get it. If it's a bacterial infection, the chances are still that everybody's going to get it even if you shower in anti-bacterial soap. The difference is that not showering in the soap does not produce bugs that are immune.
I guess my bottom line is this: it's natural to get sick once in a while. Stop fighting it! You're only making it worse by employing anti-bacterial soaps at home - leave some ammo for us healthcare professionals!
Let's turn the argument around. How hard can it be to provide examples of the most commonly used commands?! Cdrecord does it perfectly.
So you wish to challenge AMA?
Ah, yes, the friendly Linux community...
Did you read my post? I don't care to read through a goddamned list of all the possible options. I want a quick and dirty "examples" section in the manual.
Besides, your example does not work:
rpm -ql flightgear-0.9.3-1grk.i386.rpm
package flightgear-0.9.3-1grk.i386.rpm is not installed
Why do you think we're losing - badly - the fight against bacterial infections? Simple.
I'm a GP (General Practitioner for those of you who don't know the term) and I don't think a day goes by without a concerned by undereducated mom or dad, who just won't take a "no" as an answer when they ask for a course of antibiotics for their little brat with a viral infection. The result: viral infections come and go, but all bacteria that survives the unnecessary antibiotic treatment emerges stronger. Hence, we've got more and more drug-resistant cultures around.
The antibacterial soaps are doing exactly the same in your kitchen sink. Yes, they will kill all the weak bacteria in your sink, but whatever survives is much much harder to deal with in the future.
In other words, rpm man-page is close to useless because it does not include examples of the most common use. You learn by doing, not by reading a comprehensive list of all the options and switches.
I wish Debian were more modern. I miss apt-get, but I like bleeding edge hardware more and it's usually only either Mandrake or Red Hat that installs cleanly.
Another problem is that any package management system makes it hard to combine stuff that you've compiled yourself and regular packages.
A while ago I bought Plextor's top-of-the-line DVD+-RW drive and I still can't write DVDs in Linux.
First of all, I had to download the Schilly's closed-source dvdrecord because RedHat's fork doesn't even recognize the drive.
But even the closed-source version refused to blank a DVD+RW disc (get this for doing that) and crashed when it's tried to fixing a DVD-R disc. Even today I have to do all the DVD burning in Windows. CD-RW burning works just fine under Linux.
It's difficult to get proper cooling for dual systems (Opterons in particular) in 1U. You can't just go and buy a case, mobo and stuff in two blowers and heat sinks and expect it to work in your rack running 24/7/365.
Would two full-size P4/AMD heat sinks even fit on an flex-ATX board?
As I said, I do them for a living.
At which point you need to explain what you're talking about using plain, simple English as a series of points
Text in general is bad because:
1) Audience will have to spend time reading it. While they are reading, they are not listening to you. When you have an audience that's not listening you, then you have confused delegates.
2) Text is boring. Data tables are horrendously boring and outright impossible to digest.
3) If you can express something in writing, you can tell it to the audience. If you can tell it to the audience, why write it on the slide in the first place?
The most common mistake I see a new PhD student do is to make a presentation that helps him to remember what he's supposed to say (by having a lot of text) - he makes the presentation for himself, not for the audience. That's a recipe for a boring presentation.
If you have no clue what you are saying, you have absolutely no business being up there giving the talk in the first place.
The learning I was talking about was knowing the order of slides and their contents so that you don't have to keep on glancing over your shoulder to see what's coming up next.
LaTeX? Don't make me laugh.