2) If you use Linux, and you're not clever, then you're a security risk, and we don't want you.
No, this has more to do with the fact that it is unfortunately more difficult to support Linux, and very little to do with the merits of security on Linux.
The ugly truth is that the folks who aren't clever and who use Windows are a bigger security risk. Yes, these are the folks who use Outlook and click on attachments sent by strangers...
I'd like to add that I didn't think the book was perfect. I do, however, think that the criticisms of the book you've presented aren't valid.
1. North America lacking a crop. True for most of its history; corn was a relatively late introduction. Ad Diamond pointed out, Mexican corn doesn't do well when planted in northern climates--you need to adapt it.
2. Of course you *can* do it; the problem is that it's prohibitively hard. A quick look at a map shows that the distance between Mexico and Peru is significantly less than that between Rome and Shanghai. In addition to travelling through extremely rugged terrain, you've also go to go through some awful stretches of rain forest. In comparison, the silk road is relatively easy. Also, remember that indirect trade is easier (i.e., it's easier for the Chinese to trade with their neighbors, who trade with their neighbors, who trade with the Romans, than it was in the case of the Incans and the Aztecs).
"Where there's a will there's a way" only goes so far. Remembers, the harder it is to get there, the less profit there is in trade. You need something extraordinary (like silk) to make it profitable.
3. I did oversimplify this a bit. First, you're only able to supply examples for limited areas and times. Large parts of the continent are difficult to get to (even now), restricting trade, which meant that large parts of the continent didn't have access to wheat. Crops imported from elsewhere typically don't do well.
I think Diamond also made some points about the relatively large numbers of parasites present in Africa. In addition to world-wide problems like malaria, other parasites are a serious problem. I mean, where else do you have to worry about tse-tse flies and sleeping sickness?
Again, Diamond's book wasn't perfect, but I think you're too quick to dismiss it.
I will look at the book you've recommended, though.
While the book wasn't perfect, you aren't representing it well enough to have a credible opinion. First, his point was that cultures in North America lacked a crop which would suppport a large population. Yes, there was corn, but it takes a while for varieties adapted to the Mexican climate to adapt to the climate further up north. This was one of his points about the North-South axis. The other was that, due to an accident of geography, it's hard as hell to travel over land from (for instance) Mexico to Peru, much less to trade with them.
You're also misrepresenting his position on Africa. He argued that Africa also did not have a suitable crop to feed large civilizations. However, the Incans (potatoes) and the Aztecs, Mayans and other meso-american civilizations did (corn).
BTW, the Mayans and the Aztecs were located in North America and Central America.
"There have been several" creationist papers published. I hate to say it, but if the creationists had the facts on their side they would be able to publish more than "several" papers.
While of course both sides have quoted each other out of context, I'm afraid the creationists are far worse about this. In large part this is because the creationists hardly ever perform any original research; they have to resort to combing through the scientific literature (or in many cases the popular scientific literature) and quoting scientists to make their case. In many cases this seems to take the form of "quote mining," where the creationist latches onto any quote which appears to be critical of evolution, regardless of the context.
This is a good point, which can be used against both the sides.
With open source code, you can't guarantee that anybody has done more than glanced at the code.
Unfortunately, the same is true of proprietary code. Microsoft, for instance, clearly is much more interested in getting code out the door than in auditing it (which helped them compete against IBM in an era when buffer overflows in network services weren't considered important).
I've had mixed lucks with Thinkpads (AKA "Stinkpads).
Used 365XD: The LCD went out after I had it for a month. I'm not sure how long it had been around when I got it, though.
380D and 380XD: Very solid laptops. My company had very little trouble with these.
390E and 390X: These were a support nightmare (thank God I just sat by the support guy). We had people screwing up their LCD's all the time by bending them too far back. My mouse went out. A fair number of hard drivers went out (more so than for other models). A fair number of motherboards were replaced, seemingly at random. My 390X finally died when the plastic wiht the screws holding the LCD onto the rest of the laptop broke off. I'm not too bad on these things, either!
A21m and similar: Relatively few problems compared to the 390's. They appear to be much sturdier (so far).
No shit! There are good reasons to call in consultants (and there are plenty of good consultants out there), but upper management at my employer seems hellbent on paying consultants who aren't much more knowledgeable than I am (if at all).
Well, what do I expect when the boss's big accomplishment at this last job was outsourcing? If he hasn't figured out he works for a technology company yet he may never.
Slashdot Mirror
This isn't to say that there aren't problems with modern eye care--those laser mills make me nervous as hell.
The ugly truth is that the folks who aren't clever and who use Windows are a bigger security risk. Yes, these are the folks who use Outlook and click on attachments sent by strangers...
1. North America lacking a crop. True for most of its history; corn was a relatively late introduction. Ad Diamond pointed out, Mexican corn doesn't do well when planted in northern climates--you need to adapt it.
2. Of course you *can* do it; the problem is that it's prohibitively hard. A quick look at a map shows that the distance between Mexico and Peru is significantly less than that between Rome and Shanghai. In addition to travelling through extremely rugged terrain, you've also go to go through some awful stretches of rain forest. In comparison, the silk road is relatively easy. Also, remember that indirect trade is easier (i.e., it's easier for the Chinese to trade with their neighbors, who trade with their neighbors, who trade with the Romans, than it was in the case of the Incans and the Aztecs).
"Where there's a will there's a way" only goes so far. Remembers, the harder it is to get there, the less profit there is in trade. You need something extraordinary (like silk) to make it profitable. 3. I did oversimplify this a bit. First, you're only able to supply examples for limited areas and times. Large parts of the continent are difficult to get to (even now), restricting trade, which meant that large parts of the continent didn't have access to wheat. Crops imported from elsewhere typically don't do well.
I think Diamond also made some points about the relatively large numbers of parasites present in Africa. In addition to world-wide problems like malaria, other parasites are a serious problem. I mean, where else do you have to worry about tse-tse flies and sleeping sickness?
Again, Diamond's book wasn't perfect, but I think you're too quick to dismiss it.
I will look at the book you've recommended, though.
While the book wasn't perfect, you aren't representing it well enough to have a credible opinion. First, his point was that cultures in North America lacked a crop which would suppport a large population. Yes, there was corn, but it takes a while for varieties adapted to the Mexican climate to adapt to the climate further up north. This was one of his points about the North-South axis. The other was that, due to an accident of geography, it's hard as hell to travel over land from (for instance) Mexico to Peru, much less to trade with them. You're also misrepresenting his position on Africa. He argued that Africa also did not have a suitable crop to feed large civilizations. However, the Incans (potatoes) and the Aztecs, Mayans and other meso-american civilizations did (corn). BTW, the Mayans and the Aztecs were located in North America and Central America.
You're making the assumption that IE is actually an intrinsic part of the OS. I still don't buy that.
"There have been several" creationist papers published. I hate to say it, but if the creationists had the facts on their side they would be able to publish more than "several" papers.
While of course both sides have quoted each other out of context, I'm afraid the creationists are far worse about this. In large part this is because the creationists hardly ever perform any original research; they have to resort to combing through the scientific literature (or in many cases the popular scientific literature) and quoting scientists to make their case. In many cases this seems to take the form of "quote mining," where the creationist latches onto any quote which appears to be critical of evolution, regardless of the context.
For Gentry's claims, see (for instance):
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/po-halos.html
This is a good point, which can be used against both the sides.
With open source code, you can't guarantee that anybody has done more than glanced at the code.
Unfortunately, the same is true of proprietary code. Microsoft, for instance, clearly is much more interested in getting code out the door than in auditing it (which helped them compete against IBM in an era when buffer overflows in network services weren't considered important).
I've had mixed lucks with Thinkpads (AKA "Stinkpads). Used 365XD: The LCD went out after I had it for a month. I'm not sure how long it had been around when I got it, though. 380D and 380XD: Very solid laptops. My company had very little trouble with these. 390E and 390X: These were a support nightmare (thank God I just sat by the support guy). We had people screwing up their LCD's all the time by bending them too far back. My mouse went out. A fair number of hard drivers went out (more so than for other models). A fair number of motherboards were replaced, seemingly at random. My 390X finally died when the plastic wiht the screws holding the LCD onto the rest of the laptop broke off. I'm not too bad on these things, either! A21m and similar: Relatively few problems compared to the 390's. They appear to be much sturdier (so far).
No shit! There are good reasons to call in consultants (and there are plenty of good consultants out there), but upper management at my employer seems hellbent on paying consultants who aren't much more knowledgeable than I am (if at all). Well, what do I expect when the boss's big accomplishment at this last job was outsourcing? If he hasn't figured out he works for a technology company yet he may never.