Although the rest-of-the-world region of Google maps is not that useful quite yet, I'm really looking forward to the day when I can get both street level maps and satellite images detailed enough to show buildings and planes of almost any region of the world.
Would you have believed it if someone had come to you ten years ago and said that in 2005 you can do that on the net for free?
Fedex can get a letter across the country in 4 days for less than 50 cents?
Also, can Fedex/UPS deliver a "fragile"-stamped parcel without stomping it, kicking it, dropping it and driving a truck fork through it (happened to my shipment)? I doubt it.
Yep. Domestic transfers have no transfer fee, but you've got to pay an annual fee for all the services (debit/credit card, accounts, net banking, stock trading,...). It's about $15-$20 and depends on the bank and the services you're subscribing to.
If the guy fixing clothes dryers doesn't have a registered business, it's cash only and most likely under the table as far as the tax office is concerned.
If the guy has registered his shop as a business, I'd most likely be able to pay with my debit card or with the more recent smartcards that are supposed to replace small change in the future. My experience is that even the smallest of stores/kiosks accept these cards these days (down to payments of something like 1 euro).
Smaller transactions use cash, of course, but even then you'd get the cash from an ATM.
Ok, I was talking about the system in Finland and (I guess) in other Nordic countries, but I wrote the post in a hurry and forgot to clarify what "over here" actually meant.
Checks ceased to be a valid form of payment here in the early 1990s (IIRC) and these days all salaries must be paid as bank transfers. Nothing to complain about it, though. Heck, I get a pre-filled tax form every year because the tax office knows exactly how much money I make, what kind of loans I have and so on. I check it, correct it, sign it and that's the tax report.
I don't think that over here it would be possible to make a living without a bank account.
AFAIK, regular salaries are never-ever paid in cash (not even upon request), because every transaction is reported electronically to the tax office so that they can keep up with your income.
If you want a legal job, you have to have a bank account and a social security number. Period. Getting a bank account, of course, requires that you show a state issued photo ID (passport or a driver's license) from which they can write down your social security number and tie it to your account. No ID, no bank account.
Personally, I make almost all of my puchases by a combined debet/credit card. I hate handling cash and the pile of useless 10 euro-cent coins that I inevitably end up with.
I don't quite understand why you're using Windows as a reference, when I was clearly talking about Mac. I plugged the mouse in and it just worked.
Oh, I know, it needs you to know what you're doing, and that usually needs some brainwork.
Ah yes, the tired old "If Linux is not good enough for you, it's because you're not good enough for Linux" argument. Ten years ago I used to spout that elitist bullshit, too.
I've lost the count of how many Linux computers I've built. I've set up and maintained Sun and DEC Alpha boxes (running both DEC Unix and Linux) and, quite frankly, I feel like I've done my share of tweaking. Now, all I want is a desktop computer that works for me -- not vice versa -- and Linux just doesn't cut it.
For the sake of Slashdot's credibility we shouldn't be seeing articles like this.
Yes! And don't forget about those whose faith in the power of the open source is still weak. They might begin to falter in their faith if they see open source icon like Jamie openly discussing his loss of faith and subsequent defection to a non-free camp in public.
I gave up and went to Mac. I still have a Linux desktop, but I am sick, sick, sick to death of having to tweak every last little friggin' thing.
I also gave up and went for a Mac for exactly the same reason. It's unacceptable that in 2005 a Linux distribution (FC3, in my case) doesn't recognize a three-button+wheel USB mouse out-of-box or that setting up a TV card requires you to edit some config-files by hand.
Yes, fires do occur but it's still much easier to erase digital data either on purpose or by accident. Ask Enron people how easy it is to destroy reams and reams of paper documents. If everything is digitalised, you can do it much faster and leave absolutely no trace.
multiple backups at different physical locations, and preferably under the control of different authorities. Let a government rewrite, so long as blogs note the changes and link to diffs.
Why do you think that only a government would do rewrites? If the files are distributed and there's no way to detect tampering, you'd just end up with million different versions of the original document.
Even if the computers were everywhere, I'd still feel much more comfortable with the redundancy provided by physical media. I also don't see why the paper was singled out as the ecological threat here. I'd rather oppose ubiquitous computer access since it's not inevitable nor necessary.
But then again maybe it's just because I personally hate reading any text on a computer screen -- no matter how good the display is. If there's a lot of text, I'll print it out on sheets of nice acid-free and recyclable paper...
I don't see how producing and using paper would be an unnecessary waste of resources. Unless you figure out a way to make computers out of biodegradable materials, paper will always be more environmentally friendly media than computers.
Printouts/films are also a more robust way to store important data than any digital media. I regularly print out all my important e-mails and store them in a binder. Why? Because I've lost such e-mails too many times. Partly because of my mistakes and partly because someone messed up the server and backup tapes. Incompetence on my and administrators' part? Maybe, but I haven't lost a single important mail after I started doing that.
Digital media is just too volatile to be trusted with any long term storage.
Hopefully within the next 50 years we shall see actually see paper go the way of the Dodo and which would certainly be rather grand from an ecological stand point
You mean it would be more ecological to replace paper, which is relatively clean to produce and which also decomposeses naturally, with products of the semiconductor industry (hideously poisonous processes and materials which are not biodegradeable) ?
Then there's also the problem of reading large amounts of text on a screen. At least I have to do all my proofreading using a hardcopy and reading a large volume of text on the screen is real pain.
I'm sure the oil industry has already produced several reports showing that hybrid vehicles don't help in reducing pollution. Just like the tobacco industry used to publish reports showing that smoking and lung cancer are not related.
One ice cube displaced the same volume of water whether solid or liquid.
Actually that's not true when you have a freshwater ice cube melting in saltwater and then, as others have already pointed out, Antarctic ice has formed on land.
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks, but it looks like I'll have to wait for a Mac/Linux version.
Would you have believed it if someone had come to you ten years ago and said that in 2005 you can do that on the net for free?
Also, can Fedex/UPS deliver a "fragile"-stamped parcel without stomping it, kicking it, dropping it and driving a truck fork through it (happened to my shipment)? I doubt it.
Thanks.
Yep. Domestic transfers have no transfer fee, but you've got to pay an annual fee for all the services (debit/credit card, accounts, net banking, stock trading,...). It's about $15-$20 and depends on the bank and the services you're subscribing to.
If the guy has registered his shop as a business, I'd most likely be able to pay with my debit card or with the more recent smartcards that are supposed to replace small change in the future. My experience is that even the smallest of stores/kiosks accept these cards these days (down to payments of something like 1 euro).
Smaller transactions use cash, of course, but even then you'd get the cash from an ATM.
So won't the real Gord please stand up, please stand up, please stand up...
Checks ceased to be a valid form of payment here in the early 1990s (IIRC) and these days all salaries must be paid as bank transfers. Nothing to complain about it, though. Heck, I get a pre-filled tax form every year because the tax office knows exactly how much money I make, what kind of loans I have and so on. I check it, correct it, sign it and that's the tax report.
AFAIK, regular salaries are never-ever paid in cash (not even upon request), because every transaction is reported electronically to the tax office so that they can keep up with your income.
If you want a legal job, you have to have a bank account and a social security number. Period. Getting a bank account, of course, requires that you show a state issued photo ID (passport or a driver's license) from which they can write down your social security number and tie it to your account. No ID, no bank account.
Personally, I make almost all of my puchases by a combined debet/credit card. I hate handling cash and the pile of useless 10 euro-cent coins that I inevitably end up with.
Heh. Considering that in my native language "orkut" is slang for "orgasms", I can only agree with you.
Linux version 2.6.11-1.14_FC3 (bhcompile@thor.perf.redhat.com) (gcc version 3.4.3 20050227 (Red Hat 3.4.3-22)) #1 Thu Apr 7 19:25:50 EDT 2005
I have absolutely no idea how you read that as me saying: "EVERY system is right for EVERY person".
Uh. Why should I want to waste my time writing and testing such code when I can get a system that works out-of-box?
And did I say anything along those lines? No, I didn't.
I don't quite understand why you're using Windows as a reference, when I was clearly talking about Mac. I plugged the mouse in and it just worked.
Oh, I know, it needs you to know what you're doing, and that usually needs some brainwork.
Ah yes, the tired old "If Linux is not good enough for you, it's because you're not good enough for Linux" argument. Ten years ago I used to spout that elitist bullshit, too.
I've lost the count of how many Linux computers I've built. I've set up and maintained Sun and DEC Alpha boxes (running both DEC Unix and Linux) and, quite frankly, I feel like I've done my share of tweaking. Now, all I want is a desktop computer that works for me -- not vice versa -- and Linux just doesn't cut it.
Yes! And don't forget about those whose faith in the power of the open source is still weak. They might begin to falter in their faith if they see open source icon like Jamie openly discussing his loss of faith and subsequent defection to a non-free camp in public.
I also gave up and went for a Mac for exactly the same reason. It's unacceptable that in 2005 a Linux distribution (FC3, in my case) doesn't recognize a three-button+wheel USB mouse out-of-box or that setting up a TV card requires you to edit some config-files by hand.
multiple backups at different physical locations, and preferably under the control of different authorities. Let a government rewrite, so long as blogs note the changes and link to diffs.
Why do you think that only a government would do rewrites? If the files are distributed and there's no way to detect tampering, you'd just end up with million different versions of the original document.
But then again maybe it's just because I personally hate reading any text on a computer screen -- no matter how good the display is. If there's a lot of text, I'll print it out on sheets of nice acid-free and recyclable paper...
Printouts/films are also a more robust way to store important data than any digital media. I regularly print out all my important e-mails and store them in a binder. Why? Because I've lost such e-mails too many times. Partly because of my mistakes and partly because someone messed up the server and backup tapes. Incompetence on my and administrators' part? Maybe, but I haven't lost a single important mail after I started doing that.
Digital media is just too volatile to be trusted with any long term storage.
You mean it would be more ecological to replace paper, which is relatively clean to produce and which also decomposeses naturally, with products of the semiconductor industry (hideously poisonous processes and materials which are not biodegradeable) ?
Then there's also the problem of reading large amounts of text on a screen. At least I have to do all my proofreading using a hardcopy and reading a large volume of text on the screen is real pain.
Having been to numerous scientific conferences even the idea of men in tights in an academic conference made me shudder.
Indeed, and once again Daddypants was not reading his mail...
I'm sure the oil industry has already produced several reports showing that hybrid vehicles don't help in reducing pollution. Just like the tobacco industry used to publish reports showing that smoking and lung cancer are not related.
Actually that's not true when you have a freshwater ice cube melting in saltwater and then, as others have already pointed out, Antarctic ice has formed on land.