China may bug US government PCs?
Welcome to the rest of the world!
Everyone else has to keep the same thing in mind when they use Windows in government and industry.
Someone better remake Bushido Blade for the Wii controller.
What I wouldn't pay for that combo... Just duct-tape the controller to a piece of wood any voila! Home kendo practice!
MySQL is named after one of the original coders daughter My (relatively common swedish girls name).
It just happens to mean "My SQL" in english.
And, no, I didn't just make that up.
A MySQL employee told me this when I asked why he didn't* pronounciate the products name as either "My sequel" or "My S.Q.L".
*) This was in Sweden. Don't know how they say it other countries... Seems stupid from a sales standpoint to stick to a non-intuitive (for a native english speaker) pronounciation outside of MySQLs home country...
On the whole, I agree with your reasoning about population density.
However, be careful with what you read into the gun-ownership statistics. Sweden has a very different gun-culture compared to the US (trust me on this).
It is hard to make a fair comparison just from the numbers of guns per capita.
I'm swedish, and obviously I'm flattered by your opinion.
However, you paint a little to rosy a picture.
Countrary to popular opinion there are some homeless here, and if you visited Stockholm or Malmö I am surprised you didn't see any.
Not homelessness on an US scale maybe, but the problem still exists.
Also, the the privacy and freedoms you speak of is under threat here, just as it is anywhere else in the west. The swedish government is leading an effort to increase electronic surveillance in the entire EU, for example. (The opposition basically agrees, so I guess privacy will just have to take one for the team, no matter what happens in the upcoming election.)
On the whole, this is a good place to live, and stand up well in comparison to just about anything out there.
Just don't expect heaven on earth.
Among the rules is a set of guidelines to prevent terrorists from gaining access to the space ships in order to use them as weapons.
Do anyone else think this terrorist hysteria is getting a bit overboard?
What kind of terrorist would this protect against? Dr Evil?
Could the slashdot editors please refrain from mentioning teh terrorists in just about every piece of totally unrelated news. (I know, I know the BBC did it too, but I would much rather have news for nerds, or stuff that matters. Mentioning terrorism here is neither.)
I would say it is to early to say who is "winning".
Iraq, as well as Afghanistan is not stable yet.
Both countries is still very much in a flux.
And Bin Laden did get the US forces away from Mecca and Medina (one of his objectives).
Bin Laden has had lots of setbacks, thats true. He himself is so compromised that he will never again play any significant role in world politics, orther than as a unifying symbol for religious nutcases. Being the worlds most wanted man kind of cramps your style. (He almost certainly has little to no real influence anymore.)
But he did get his holy war, and now others fight it for him. The whole middle east is more polarized than ever and people are forced to pick sides.
Also, he got rid of a secular dictator and long-time enemy of theocratic islam courtesy of Uncle Sam.
It is still to early to tell how this will all turn out.
But you can't seriously doubt that Al Quaida wanted to goad the US into rash action on 9/11, can you?
Maybe they did underestimate the magnitude of the response, and got more than they bargained for, but they were baiting for a fight.
The Zombie Survivial Guide author has no degree or expertise about real zombies, as far as I know.
Well, as they (unlike robots) don't actually exist expertise would be pretty hard to come by.
He wrote an entertaining book though, even if he creates his own rules instead of sticking to Romeros. (Personally I actually prefer the ZSG-style zombie.)
It is interesting to note that there seem to be a trend towards more and more traditionally feminine (and masculine) things being regarded as unisex.
I'm not just talking recent Fab-Five-style developments either. The trend has been in this direction for a long time.
The wristwatch for example had a bumpy start as a mens accessorie. Wearing your time-piece the same way as a piece of jewlery was at the time considered less than manly. Now the thought seems rediculous.
Same as with pants on females, nowdays most people can't see what the big fuss was all about.
It'll probably be some time before there are (non-scottish) men in skirts in the board-room though...
The fact that you are so quick to lump so many christians into the same bin as islamic fundies speaks volumes.
Yes, it does speak volumes, and I agree with every word of it.
Religious fundamentlists of every flavour share a lot of common traits. Basically they have the same mindset (even if their methods may vary a bit) no matter what the name of their religion is.
They all want to force their absolute and eternal truth on other people, whatever it takes.
The fact that you think there is a great difference between christian and muslim fundies speaks volumes about you.
We left Germany after helping to rebuild. We left Japan after rebuilding. We left Korea. We left Vietnam. We left Kuwait. We left Somalia and Kosovo. We're going to leave Afghanistan and Iraq, too, when the job is done.
I'm sorry, but this isn't exactly the entire truth.
While it is true that the US has not occupied, and retained possession of any countries, it has, as a rule, used those conflicts to expand it's influence.
The US has maintained a military presence in Germany, Japan, Korea, Kuwait (and Saudi Arabia, Cuba and more countries you didn't mention, but lets not bring that up).
In fact, the only countries you mention that the
US has completely pulled out of is Vietnam, Somalia and Kosovo.
And two of those pullouts only happened because the US failed to reach their objectives (lost, one might say).
Needless to say, having permanent military bases (manned by the worlds most powerful military, no less) gives a certain amount of influence over the host nation.
Also, I am willing to bet you that the US will not pull out of Iraq anytime soon (if it manages to stabilize it).
Having permanent bases in a stable Iraq would maintain US influence in the region at the current level, but free the US from it's current dependence on Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (The Saudis aren't exactly the ideal allies for the US, I'm sure you'll agree.).
Personally I think that was one of the biggest reason for the current war.
That is what a lot of people said in 1900. We know what happened by 1914.
True, but look at the EU now.
This is probably the first time in history there is a lasting peace in europe, and make no mistake, that is because of the interconnected economies.
Peace in Europe was one of the goals of ECSC (that later evolved into the EU of today).
Being mutually dependant on each other is a good way to prevent war.
I'm not really a anti-MS zealot, but unless Microsoft donates a lot to schools (with no strings attached) it is just the equivalent of a small discount on their software. In the end, they still get money from the school, not the other way around.
And what power would that be, pray tell?
If you say China you're on crack!
Do you realize that by interconnecting your economies you make war a lot less likely. It won't be in their interest to go to war with you if it would trash their own economy the same second the first shot were fired!
Sigh I don't know why I'm even answering a "OMG TREASON!"-screaming "patriot".
Answer to the first question:
Do you honestly think a company feels they need to justify their actions in terms of what is good for the US? Or for any other country?
And "foreign aid" it is most definitly not, since it is done purely out of self interest.
Question two:
They obviously think so, or they wouldn't do it.
Third question:
It depends on who you are.
For me? Probably bad.
For the world at large? I don't know, yet.
Corporations, by design, will fuck anyone over for a percentage, American, Chinese or otherwise.
But in the long run there are benefits to a world where nations are more mutually dependent on each other. It should cut down on war a bit (Look at the EU for example, Now is like the first time in history we aren't constantly killing each other over here. w00t!).
They made them out of carbon fiber and titanium now? I know this sounds wierd - but does it look cool?
I've only seen one, but yes, it looked pretty cool.
The owner of the titanium/carbon leg went for, and really pulled off a very Gibsonesque look.
It seemed to work very well too, I thought it was fake when I saw it from a distance but on closer inspection I noticed that this was indeed the real thing.
Slashdot Mirror
You are right, the problem applies to all closed source software. I only used Windows as an example because it is in so widespread use.
China may bug US government PCs?
Welcome to the rest of the world!
Everyone else has to keep the same thing in mind when they use Windows in government and industry.
Someone better remake Bushido Blade for the Wii controller.
What I wouldn't pay for that combo... Just duct-tape the controller to a piece of wood any voila! Home kendo practice!
MySQL is named after one of the original coders daughter My (relatively common swedish girls name).
It just happens to mean "My SQL" in english.
And, no, I didn't just make that up.
A MySQL employee told me this when I asked why he didn't* pronounciate the products name as either "My sequel" or "My S.Q.L".
*) This was in Sweden. Don't know how they say it other countries... Seems stupid from a sales standpoint to stick to a non-intuitive (for a native english speaker) pronounciation outside of MySQLs home country...
On the whole, I agree with your reasoning about population density.
However, be careful with what you read into the gun-ownership statistics. Sweden has a very different gun-culture compared to the US (trust me on this).
It is hard to make a fair comparison just from the numbers of guns per capita.
I'm swedish, and obviously I'm flattered by your opinion. However, you paint a little to rosy a picture. Countrary to popular opinion there are some homeless here, and if you visited Stockholm or Malmö I am surprised you didn't see any. Not homelessness on an US scale maybe, but the problem still exists. Also, the the privacy and freedoms you speak of is under threat here, just as it is anywhere else in the west. The swedish government is leading an effort to increase electronic surveillance in the entire EU, for example. (The opposition basically agrees, so I guess privacy will just have to take one for the team, no matter what happens in the upcoming election.) On the whole, this is a good place to live, and stand up well in comparison to just about anything out there. Just don't expect heaven on earth.
...time to declare a "War On Cars", yet?
What kind of terrorist would this protect against? Dr Evil?
Could the slashdot editors please refrain from mentioning teh terrorists in just about every piece of totally unrelated news. (I know, I know the BBC did it too, but I would much rather have news for nerds, or stuff that matters. Mentioning terrorism here is neither.)
Anti-war message?
Are we even talking about the same Orson Scott Card here?
Well, Bin Laden was the logical choise in 2001.
He did cause a (so far) lasting change of the political scene on a global scale after all.
Besides, if they could give it to Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin, why not Bin?
He may be bad, but so were they, no?
I would say it is to early to say who is "winning".
Iraq, as well as Afghanistan is not stable yet. Both countries is still very much in a flux. And Bin Laden did get the US forces away from Mecca and Medina (one of his objectives).
Bin Laden has had lots of setbacks, thats true. He himself is so compromised that he will never again play any significant role in world politics, orther than as a unifying symbol for religious nutcases. Being the worlds most wanted man kind of cramps your style. (He almost certainly has little to no real influence anymore.)
But he did get his holy war, and now others fight it for him. The whole middle east is more polarized than ever and people are forced to pick sides.
Also, he got rid of a secular dictator and long-time enemy of theocratic islam courtesy of Uncle Sam.
It is still to early to tell how this will all turn out.
But you can't seriously doubt that Al Quaida wanted to goad the US into rash action on 9/11, can you?
Maybe they did underestimate the magnitude of the response, and got more than they bargained for, but they were baiting for a fight.
He wrote an entertaining book though, even if he creates his own rules instead of sticking to Romeros. (Personally I actually prefer the ZSG-style zombie.)
Well, I haven't read this book, but "The Zombie Survival Guide" was really good.
Sticking to the literal truth about zombies might have been a tad boring, since zombies* doesn't actually exist.
*)At least as Max Brooks defines them.
I agree.
It is interesting to note that there seem to be a trend towards more and more traditionally feminine (and masculine) things being regarded as unisex.
I'm not just talking recent Fab-Five-style developments either. The trend has been in this direction for a long time.
The wristwatch for example had a bumpy start as a mens accessorie. Wearing your time-piece the same way as a piece of jewlery was at the time considered less than manly. Now the thought seems rediculous.
Same as with pants on females, nowdays most people can't see what the big fuss was all about.
It'll probably be some time before there are (non-scottish) men in skirts in the board-room though...
Religious fundamentlists of every flavour share a lot of common traits. Basically they have the same mindset (even if their methods may vary a bit) no matter what the name of their religion is.
They all want to force their absolute and eternal truth on other people, whatever it takes.
The fact that you think there is a great difference between christian and muslim fundies speaks volumes about you.
While it is true that the US has not occupied, and retained possession of any countries, it has, as a rule, used those conflicts to expand it's influence.
The US has maintained a military presence in Germany, Japan, Korea, Kuwait (and Saudi Arabia, Cuba and more countries you didn't mention, but lets not bring that up).
In fact, the only countries you mention that the US has completely pulled out of is Vietnam, Somalia and Kosovo.
And two of those pullouts only happened because the US failed to reach their objectives (lost, one might say).
Needless to say, having permanent military bases (manned by the worlds most powerful military, no less) gives a certain amount of influence over the host nation.
Also, I am willing to bet you that the US will not pull out of Iraq anytime soon (if it manages to stabilize it).
Having permanent bases in a stable Iraq would maintain US influence in the region at the current level, but free the US from it's current dependence on Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (The Saudis aren't exactly the ideal allies for the US, I'm sure you'll agree.).
Personally I think that was one of the biggest reason for the current war.
This is probably the first time in history there is a lasting peace in europe, and make no mistake, that is because of the interconnected economies.
Peace in Europe was one of the goals of ECSC (that later evolved into the EU of today).
Being mutually dependant on each other is a good way to prevent war.
Oh, ok.
I thought you were joking.
I'm not really a anti-MS zealot, but unless Microsoft donates a lot to schools (with no strings attached) it is just the equivalent of a small discount on their software.
In the end, they still get money from the school, not the other way around.
And what power would that be, pray tell?
If you say China you're on crack!
Do you realize that by interconnecting your economies you make war a lot less likely.
It won't be in their interest to go to war with you if it would trash their own economy the same second the first shot were fired!
Sigh I don't know why I'm even answering a "OMG TREASON!"-screaming "patriot".
Answer to the first question:
Do you honestly think a company feels they need to justify their actions in terms of what is good for the US? Or for any other country?
And "foreign aid" it is most definitly not, since it is done purely out of self interest.
Question two:
They obviously think so, or they wouldn't do it.
Third question:
It depends on who you are.
For me? Probably bad.
For the world at large? I don't know, yet.
Corporations, by design, will fuck anyone over for a percentage, American, Chinese or otherwise.
But in the long run there are benefits to a world where nations are more mutually dependent on each other. It should cut down on war a bit (Look at the EU for example, Now is like the first time in history we aren't constantly killing each other over here. w00t!).
Do you know what Windows and Office licenses cost?
Maybe because MySQL is a Swedish company.
Why would they care about foreign nations constitutions, or lack thereof?
The owner of the titanium/carbon leg went for, and really pulled off a very Gibsonesque look.
It seemed to work very well too, I thought it was fake when I saw it from a distance but on closer inspection I noticed that this was indeed the real thing.