... we're all responsible for our ills, in one way or another.
No, I'm being held responsible for someone else's ills. That's the bit that gets to me. I'm being presumed guilty before I even buy a computer, and therefore restricted in the use of my own property.
I have to deal with speed limits being lowered to deal with idiots who speed, bag searches at supermarkets because of idiots who shoplift, and even more intensive screenings at airports because of morons who want to use innocents for their own personal socio-political stupidity. Now I'm also being restricted in my personal hobby interest and profession?
I think I'll be sticking to Linux, where groups like Debian will remove software because it comes under a license that's too restrictive.
If you block one, it is inconsistent to not block the other.
But to block the Black Panthers would be against the rights of African-American militants, depriving them of their right to freedom of speech. The Political Correctness army would be rioting^H^H^H^H^H^Hlobbying before the afterimage had faded from the monitor
Racism is evil, but reverse racism is an order of magnitude greater. Unfortunatly, that's what we tend to see these days. Worse still is the censorship of these issues, which should instead be used to educate the public.
The point is not to block the information, but to block the knowledge that the information existed in the first place. That is why censorship is such a big deal.
If you stop a group from actively publishing, it will go underground. If you eradicate knowledge of a group, they don't get the next generation on dissidents, who don't know that a resistance movement even exists.
Hey, books are cool. Better than a laptop for bedtime reading.
Thing is, if things are censored, how much harder is it for "objectionable material" to be removed from libraries? It would take a while, but is quite within the jurisdiction of a restricted state.
But as someone else pointed out, countries can shape and redirect traffic back to their own TLD. How can you get google.com if you keep getting google.com.fr back?
Sure there are anonymous servers, but they aren't known to most people, and can be blocked as well.
A [German|French] student needs information on WWII, and the political aftermath. Where can they find information on anti-semitism and white supremacy groups to add to the project?
Same student needs to study the socio-politcal problems facing modern medicine. They know that others are choosing stem cell research or cloning, and want to do something with more information. They choose abortion. Where did all the statistics and one side's propaganda go? They need to offset one point of view with the other side, and can no longer access pro-life sites.
Propaganda is still propaganda, regardless of truth. But politically, propaganda is what the opposition puts out, and must be eradicated.
It will only be a year or two before home computers are powerful enough for people to render home-made movies with CG effects to rival that of the latest Hollywood blockbusters.
Thing is, will the users be savvy enough to figure out how to do it?
There will be some, probably quite a few. But only a small percentage will be both a) smart enough to know how to work the software, as well as 2) actually wanting to do it.
I could run an audio station from my PC. I could make original music with the software out there, and my musical knowledge and creative ability. I don't personally know that many people who know as much about both music as well as computers as I do. But do I want to? Hell no. I've got too much else to do. I don't even have a sound card in my system.
You deal with americans, you deal with their laws.
Except: The US laws do not apply where it could inconvenience any US company.
Proof: The recent lawsuit against the tabacco companies, where the payout was in the millions. An Australian is going to try the same thing, but US law only allows a maximum of 30% of a US-based payout to be given to overseas claims. However, a US company (or person) can claim damaged, etc from another country that could total that county's yearly exports.
And yet, this is considered fair. Just because the US has nuclear weapons, and other politicians are weak-willed brown-nosers.
Arguably making their software harder to copy will damage them in the long run.
Which is why M$ cd's are able to be copied, even when the game industry has proven that copying can be made so much harder. Sure, all games can (and will) be cracked. But it is so much easier to just copy the windoze *cough* OS *cough* because they want people to be using it. They make the money not from the average user, but from businesses, governments and universities that use hundreds or thousands at a time.
Having Joe Average use it at home means that he is less likely to want to change the work policy. Have it installed at work, and it's too much hassle for him to change his home system.
People do *not* intuitively know that ctrl+[z|x|c|v] will allow them to play with text. They still have to read it somewhere, or have someone teach them. There are manuals that come with Microsoft products, and Office has that annoying bloody paperclip to give hints.
I've actually spoken with someone who wrote a lot of documents in M$Office, and had done for around three years. She was shocked when I pointed out those 4 keybindings, and her work was made so much easier. 3 years of manually deleting and retyping is intuitive, not the keybindings.
It's only intuitive to you now because you know it. You had to be taught somewhere. How often did people complain that there was no "any" key? A lot of system messages were changed to read "enter" because of the complaints. Is that intuitive?
You have to start from scratch. Linux is not like Microsoft. The learning curve can be steep, depending on how deep you want to get.
Yes, Linux isn't 100% easy. That's because people aren't ready to change their habits. It's up to those who know to try and encourage the change, and to give the next generation the choice to learn straight away.
I'm doing an install of Debian for my mother, and so she brings me her tower and printer. No keyboard or mouse, and I don't have any AT keyboards anymore, or a serial mouse. I now have to wait until I can get to her, and do the update to the install over a 56K dialup. My point being that these people are going to complain that Linux is too hard, but don't even know enough about what they *do* run to make an informed decision.
If you had started on Linux, you would have gotten used to the clipboard issue you seem to have. If someone had convinced you to give another OS a go, you then would find something that doesn't work the same way, and been frustrated. It's human nature to do that.
Go to a LUG. Sign up for mailing lists for your distro and WM. Talk to people. One of the great things about OSS is that if you know how to complain and where, things will get done. A bug reported to Open Office can be picked up in as little as 90 mins, with contact details of the guy fixing it. Same thing goes with other projects. Just be careful of the one-man operations, as some developers don't take criticism too well. It must suck to know you're a virgin forever, so you have to cut the guys a little slack...
Considering how quickly Linux has expanded, it is still quite young. Now is the time for a major changeover, and then it will become what it should be: easy. Give it a couple more years, and then see if you have any major issues. I know that the last 3 years have been interesting for me, and even more so the previous years when I was dual-booting. Patience, grasshopper. Frustration will lead to knowledge, and knowledge will lead to wisdom. The key is to talk to others, and to learn.
Heh. KDE is nearly as bloated as anything M$ have brought out. They try to incorporate every idea that seems like it might work, just in case someone wants it.
You say that you know a bit, but it seems that you still only use KDE. Why? There are a myriad of WMs or DEs out there. Gnome, Enlightenment, AfterStep, Window Maker. All act differently. Personally, I prefer Blackbox.
Don't blame X for your problems, blame KDE. And then try to find something that works for you. That is the whole *point* of choosing Linux: the choices.
KDE works for some people, and it can be quite nice to look at. I just wouldn't use it, and I haven't for quite some time. Find what does what you want it to, and stick with it.
The whole ctrl+[z|x|c|v] thing should work in most apps, but it's often easier to highlight and middle-click. Works fine for me. Every time, too.
And now that the Democrats have ousted Natasha Stott Despoja, I don't see it lasting long. There goes the deciding vote, straight into brown-nose mode.
Because the film-makers are assuming that American audiences are stupid, and won't equate "philosopher" with a wizard-like feel, but will think along the lines of "a guy who talks too much".
There are other examples of this in the same movie/book. Words like cardigan swapped to sweater, etc. I'm sure that even the American education system can handle synonyms, but the film-makers seem to disagree there.
Most of the rest of the world would understand the situation when you mention George III, but again the film-makers want to ensure you can only think one way. Their way.
In short: those that control the way you percieve the world, are ensuring that you percieve only what is approved by them. Sorry.
I believe that it is Switzerland that has a really good system for health care. The more you earn, the more taxes you pay. Fair enough. But then when you go to the doctor, you get treated. Regardless of income, you get the best treatment available. And the Swiss have some damn fine specialists.
In todays society, you can make quite a good living from doing nothing. Sad, but all too true. people will be there to take advantage of freebies. I've known of people to put more effort into arranging a scam or robbery than it would have been worth to get a job and earn the money legit. To quote Bart Simpson: "He says that there are no easy answers. Well, I say HE'S NOT LOOKING HARD ENOUGH!"
I know that I am doing my best. I am studying, and should be able to set us up better in a couple of years. The government does what it can to catch the cheats, but there is a whole society know based around the concept.
And as for the tragedy scenario? That's the point of my study now. To allow that I can afford what is needed, and the ability to do all I can to prevent issues. I wouldn't wish the tragedies on anybody, but they happen all the same. I've seen it too many times. It's our jobs to either prevent or prepare for the tragedies, but do what we can if they happen.
Well, yeah. Eventually. But I don't need to have any more that a few dollars to pay for medications, right now. And when you are sick, it's the *now* that matters.
People will always take advantage of the freebies, and it causes problems for those that don't. I figure that between you and your aunt, it evens out. Besides, a good doctor would see the pattern, and treat the hyperchondria. Is it her fault if she's being mis-diagnosed?
Sure, I have to wait for a while. I expect that. But i don't get turned away at the door, or sent a huge bill, just because I need treatment. I am treated. In an emergency situation, I am treated now, and a deal made later. In elective surgery (like my tonsils, which need taking out), I have to either pay now or wait. When I can afford private cover, I will pay. But for now, the public system does quite well.
I know that John Howard would love to abolish all the public health care system, just as he wants to get rid of the fair dismissal laws. he wants a system where the user pays, all the time. I can see how this makes sense, but only if you actually have the money to make the payments.
Having been surrounded by druggies who live on the government handouts, having kids just to get more, and abusing the amulance service by ODing 3-4 times a week and then knowing how to not pay up (by not getting into the ambulance), I've seen the sort of people that clog up the system. But I still say that I could't afford to study *and* support my family without the help.
As for our previous pays, I drove a forklift and was given plenty of overtime, while my partner was a nanny. I can't remember what the gross pay was, but we can't get that any more, anyway. My partner is staying at home to raise our children, rather than shunting them off to care, and I wouldn't want to work 60+ hours a week and miss out on their childhood. Right now, I can study full time and have plenty of time at home. In two years, I can then work full time, once the bond is there.
Times change. A single wage for the low-end income will no longer pay the bills. We need the payments. I'm bettering my skills so that we can live comfortably. We won't need to be wealthy, but I'm sick of the debts.
My situation would have been shocking a generation ago. It would have been unheard of 2 generations ago. I hate to think what will happen with society in the next 20-25 years.
Cool. A good, well thought and intelligent reply, *and* you are logged in. Good to see some people can post these sort of things non-AC.
I'm pleased to see that you managed to make it like you have, and I wish you the best in raising your kids the same.
From where I started, I went to a private, catholic school for my secondary education, and still wound up pushing trolleys for 19 months after I finished. I actually would have had a better chance by going to the local state school, where they had a decent music and computer setup, because the private school had less funds and so spent it on sports equipment instead. At least, mostly on sports.
I'm now 30, and I'm studying at a government funded educational facility (TAFE. Technical And Further Education. Not quite university, but they teach industry-approved courses). I do this on a benefit called Austudy, while my partner in on a parenting payment. Without these, we wouldn't have money for food, clothes, rent, etc.
One of the advantages of this is something called a health care card, which combines with the government initiative of a medicare card to allow for free (100% free) health care. Whether I have a cold or a broken leg, or for my children's vaccinations. We've had two children, both in public hospitals, without any medical expenses. And only minimal costs for medications.
Because I paid taxes for many years, I have no issue using some of that to better our lives. I figure that when I finish, I'll be able to get into a much higher tax bracket, so I'll be able to pay more back to society for allowing me to take this time out.
These days, the cost of living is too high to allow pride to stop you from taking "handouts". While I appreciate your position, I would be unable to provide for my family *and* better my self at the same time. I would be stuck in a warehouse packing boxes, rather than (hopefully) running a company's network.
Compare this to when my partner and I where just together, where we were pulling in around AU$1,200 a week, after tax. Now we get just over AU$1,000 per fortnight. But the end results are going to be worth it.
Firstly, I'm replying to this as a parent, too. I don't wish these sort of incidents on anybody, but I use them as examples from real circumstances I have known, to prove a point.
What if you were to lose your job? What if you're wife became sick, and you had to either stay home and care for her, or hire someone to do that? What if the treatment was very expensive? There goes any money for your children's schooling...
Would you then keep your kids home, just so they don't drain the taxpayer-funded state schools?
What you are saying is that the children of the poor don't deserve an education. Or maybe that the poor people shouldn't be allowed to have children at all. Is that correct?
What if you had a situation where your daughter ran away. Say she was being abused and felt she couldn't tell you. Would you have her starve on the streets, eventually selling herself for food? How much do you think a 13 year old girl can earn as a prostitute? Or would you rather that she found a shelter to help her get her life back together? I know I'd hate it if it happened to my daughter, but I know where I'd rather her be if that ever happened: a shelter, where she gets (state funded) food and (state funded) shelter, as well as (state funded) councilling.
That is the point of paying taxes. To fund the entire country. It doesn't always work, or turn out like it's supposed to, but that's just human nature getting in the way. Just like your opinions, everyone has there own.
The taxes aren't there to drain your pay, but to better your country. In theory, this leads to more jobs and money for everyone, including opportunities for your own children.
Quote: You actually had the opportunity to do more than that at a few stages of the install; I suspect you just clicked through the "typical" settings for the networking, for example, and it went right through.
No, not quite. I just pressed two buttons: On, and the "OK" on the EULA. I had to configure networking, ppp, etc later. I was quite surprised. Impressed at the ease, but upset at the lack of options. I'd say they cancelled each other.
I'd admit to wanting the real thing as opposed to some commercial variant, though.
Quote: Just a suggestion, you might want to redo this install and choose "install on 1st use" for everything instead.
Ummm.... That could be a problem with (looks for Borgs)... borrowed.... CD's. I have to install now, and see what can be trimmed later.
As far as the OSS goes, at least I can grab just what I need, and no more. No bloat, except through choice. One of the (many) reasons I switched in the first place. I don't use Linux because I hate Microsoft (which I do), but because I love Linux.
I actually have decent hardware, and all pretty generic stuff. There should be no issues with detecting it. And so why should I not blame the installer? It isn't doing it's job, therefore it is inadaquite. Linux has a bad rap for being hard to install (hence the article), while windows is supposed to be idiot-proof. So yes, I blame the installer software. None of the Linux installs did that.
I've installed various OS's at various times, and I don't see why I should create a script for an ordinary setup. If I had some funky hardware, or a specific need for the software, then I would go for it. But I wasn't even able to do more than stick the CD in, switch on, and go. I set the timezone, removed the CD as it rebooted, and that was it until I had finished. No prompts, no options, nothing.
And if you read my comment, you would have seen that I needed Office as well, which comes to 2 CD's. Uncompressed, that can come to ~1.6GBs of usable data. I had to install the full Office suite, because I don't know exactly what I will be needing, including the help files. Open Office can only do so much, and we had been given documents which pushed the bounderies of what the suite would do. Therefore, OO tended to break with all the unportable "features". Like for a.ppt I did up, I lost the animations from my.gif's when I ported it. My.xls assignment had functions not supported, and the.doc was a nightmare even on the official platform. Access doesn't have any equivalent in OSS, which is generally a good thing...
Re-read the above message. Oh don't bother, I'll just tell you what you missed: I'm a *student*, which means a severe lack of fundage. A mature-age student, with a wife and two little mouths to feed and clothe, as well as buy textbooks, and pay for my course to better my life.
Get out of you're parent's basement (or maybe attic, or bedroom) and see what the real world is like.
I wish I could afford the AU$140 for a 60GB hdd, but I have to ride 17Kms (that's around 10 miles, to save you from having to work it out) each way, 5 days a week, on a pushbike, regardless of the weather, as well as lug my heavy textbooks. I do this to save the extra few dollars a day on public transport, and because I can't afford a car.
Besides, with a Linux system, a P100 can do just as much, only slightly slower.
I'm a real man, who thinks of family first, and my needs as secondary. Not a luser who can't even post a response to something like this with an account...:-)
Slashdot Mirror
No, I'm being held responsible for someone else's ills. That's the bit that gets to me. I'm being presumed guilty before I even buy a computer, and therefore restricted in the use of my own property.
I have to deal with speed limits being lowered to deal with idiots who speed, bag searches at supermarkets because of idiots who shoplift, and even more intensive screenings at airports because of morons who want to use innocents for their own personal socio-political stupidity. Now I'm also being restricted in my personal hobby interest and profession?
I think I'll be sticking to Linux, where groups like Debian will remove software because it comes under a license that's too restrictive.
Linux users - see time(2) manpage.
man 2 time
Reformatting time(2), please wait...
Wow! The power of Linux over Time! Cool!
Those who seek the power are least deserving of it.
Ravenn
Next we'll see occultists studying Pacman.
Then NASA will use Moon Buggy as a simulator for the next Mars mission.
And eventually the Army will use Quake to train... ummm... too late on that one. Hey, at least they build their own!
Ravenn
If you block one, it is inconsistent to not block the other.
But to block the Black Panthers would be against the rights of African-American militants, depriving them of their right to freedom of speech. The Political Correctness army would be rioting^H^H^H^H^H^Hlobbying before the afterimage had faded from the monitor
Racism is evil, but reverse racism is an order of magnitude greater. Unfortunatly, that's what we tend to see these days. Worse still is the censorship of these issues, which should instead be used to educate the public.
Ravenn
The point is not to block the information, but to block the knowledge that the information existed in the first place. That is why censorship is such a big deal.
If you stop a group from actively publishing, it will go underground. If you eradicate knowledge of a group, they don't get the next generation on dissidents, who don't know that a resistance movement even exists.
Ravenn
Hey, books are cool. Better than a laptop for bedtime reading.
Thing is, if things are censored, how much harder is it for "objectionable material" to be removed from libraries? It would take a while, but is quite within the jurisdiction of a restricted state.
Thought Police, anyone?
But as someone else pointed out, countries can shape and redirect traffic back to their own TLD. How can you get google.com if you keep getting google.com.fr back?
Sure there are anonymous servers, but they aren't known to most people, and can be blocked as well.
Hypothetical Question:
A [German|French] student needs information on WWII, and the political aftermath. Where can they find information on anti-semitism and white supremacy groups to add to the project?
Same student needs to study the socio-politcal problems facing modern medicine. They know that others are choosing stem cell research or cloning, and want to do something with more information. They choose abortion. Where did all the statistics and one side's propaganda go? They need to offset one point of view with the other side, and can no longer access pro-life sites.
Propaganda is still propaganda, regardless of truth. But politically, propaganda is what the opposition puts out, and must be eradicated.
Not good. Not good at all...
Ravenn
Heh. Dork.
If you look at the history of Debian releases, you may just see the sequence:
1.1 - Buzz
1.2 - Rex
1.3 - Bo
2.0 - Hamm
2.1 - Slink
2.2 - Potato
3.0+ - Woody
Testing - Sarge
Unstable - Sid
But I bet that someone will still have to explain it more to some...
RavennIt will only be a year or two before home computers are powerful enough for people to render home-made movies with CG effects to rival that of the latest Hollywood blockbusters.
Thing is, will the users be savvy enough to figure out how to do it?
There will be some, probably quite a few. But only a small percentage will be both a) smart enough to know how to work the software, as well as 2) actually wanting to do it.
I could run an audio station from my PC. I could make original music with the software out there, and my musical knowledge and creative ability. I don't personally know that many people who know as much about both music as well as computers as I do. But do I want to? Hell no. I've got too much else to do. I don't even have a sound card in my system.
You deal with americans, you deal with their laws.
Except: The US laws do not apply where it could inconvenience any US company.
Proof: The recent lawsuit against the tabacco companies, where the payout was in the millions. An Australian is going to try the same thing, but US law only allows a maximum of 30% of a US-based payout to be given to overseas claims. However, a US company (or person) can claim damaged, etc from another country that could total that county's yearly exports.
And yet, this is considered fair. Just because the US has nuclear weapons, and other politicians are weak-willed brown-nosers.
Arguably making their software harder to copy will damage them in the long run.
Which is why M$ cd's are able to be copied, even when the game industry has proven that copying can be made so much harder. Sure, all games can (and will) be cracked. But it is so much easier to just copy the windoze *cough* OS *cough* because they want people to be using it. They make the money not from the average user, but from businesses, governments and universities that use hundreds or thousands at a time.
Having Joe Average use it at home means that he is less likely to want to change the work policy. Have it installed at work, and it's too much hassle for him to change his home system.
Fortunately, this can work both ways now.
People do *not* intuitively know that ctrl+[z|x|c|v] will allow them to play with text. They still have to read it somewhere, or have someone teach them. There are manuals that come with Microsoft products, and Office has that annoying bloody paperclip to give hints.
I've actually spoken with someone who wrote a lot of documents in M$Office, and had done for around three years. She was shocked when I pointed out those 4 keybindings, and her work was made so much easier. 3 years of manually deleting and retyping is intuitive, not the keybindings.
It's only intuitive to you now because you know it. You had to be taught somewhere. How often did people complain that there was no "any" key? A lot of system messages were changed to read "enter" because of the complaints. Is that intuitive?
You have to start from scratch. Linux is not like Microsoft. The learning curve can be steep, depending on how deep you want to get.
Ravenn
Yes, Linux isn't 100% easy. That's because people aren't ready to change their habits. It's up to those who know to try and encourage the change, and to give the next generation the choice to learn straight away.
I'm doing an install of Debian for my mother, and so she brings me her tower and printer. No keyboard or mouse, and I don't have any AT keyboards anymore, or a serial mouse. I now have to wait until I can get to her, and do the update to the install over a 56K dialup. My point being that these people are going to complain that Linux is too hard, but don't even know enough about what they *do* run to make an informed decision.
If you had started on Linux, you would have gotten used to the clipboard issue you seem to have. If someone had convinced you to give another OS a go, you then would find something that doesn't work the same way, and been frustrated. It's human nature to do that.
Go to a LUG. Sign up for mailing lists for your distro and WM. Talk to people. One of the great things about OSS is that if you know how to complain and where, things will get done. A bug reported to Open Office can be picked up in as little as 90 mins, with contact details of the guy fixing it. Same thing goes with other projects. Just be careful of the one-man operations, as some developers don't take criticism too well. It must suck to know you're a virgin forever, so you have to cut the guys a little slack...
Considering how quickly Linux has expanded, it is still quite young. Now is the time for a major changeover, and then it will become what it should be: easy. Give it a couple more years, and then see if you have any major issues. I know that the last 3 years have been interesting for me, and even more so the previous years when I was dual-booting. Patience, grasshopper. Frustration will lead to knowledge, and knowledge will lead to wisdom. The key is to talk to others, and to learn.
Ravenn
Heh. KDE is nearly as bloated as anything M$ have brought out. They try to incorporate every idea that seems like it might work, just in case someone wants it.
You say that you know a bit, but it seems that you still only use KDE. Why? There are a myriad of WMs or DEs out there. Gnome, Enlightenment, AfterStep, Window Maker. All act differently. Personally, I prefer Blackbox.
Don't blame X for your problems, blame KDE. And then try to find something that works for you. That is the whole *point* of choosing Linux: the choices.
KDE works for some people, and it can be quite nice to look at. I just wouldn't use it, and I haven't for quite some time. Find what does what you want it to, and stick with it.
The whole ctrl+[z|x|c|v] thing should work in most apps, but it's often easier to highlight and middle-click. Works fine for me. Every time, too.
Ravenn
And now that the Democrats have ousted Natasha Stott Despoja, I don't see it lasting long. There goes the deciding vote, straight into brown-nose mode.
Ravenn
Because the film-makers are assuming that American audiences are stupid, and won't equate "philosopher" with a wizard-like feel, but will think along the lines of "a guy who talks too much".
There are other examples of this in the same movie/book. Words like cardigan swapped to sweater, etc. I'm sure that even the American education system can handle synonyms, but the film-makers seem to disagree there.
Most of the rest of the world would understand the situation when you mention George III, but again the film-makers want to ensure you can only think one way. Their way.
In short: those that control the way you percieve the world, are ensuring that you percieve only what is approved by them. Sorry.
Ravenn
I believe that it is Switzerland that has a really good system for health care. The more you earn, the more taxes you pay. Fair enough. But then when you go to the doctor, you get treated. Regardless of income, you get the best treatment available. And the Swiss have some damn fine specialists.
In todays society, you can make quite a good living from doing nothing. Sad, but all too true. people will be there to take advantage of freebies. I've known of people to put more effort into arranging a scam or robbery than it would have been worth to get a job and earn the money legit. To quote Bart Simpson: "He says that there are no easy answers. Well, I say HE'S NOT LOOKING HARD ENOUGH!"
I know that I am doing my best. I am studying, and should be able to set us up better in a couple of years. The government does what it can to catch the cheats, but there is a whole society know based around the concept.
And as for the tragedy scenario? That's the point of my study now. To allow that I can afford what is needed, and the ability to do all I can to prevent issues. I wouldn't wish the tragedies on anybody, but they happen all the same. I've seen it too many times. It's our jobs to either prevent or prepare for the tragedies, but do what we can if they happen.
My first priorities now are my children.
Ravenn
Quote:
Free? Oh, no, you *do* pay for it...
Well, yeah. Eventually. But I don't need to have any more that a few dollars to pay for medications, right now. And when you are sick, it's the *now* that matters.
People will always take advantage of the freebies, and it causes problems for those that don't. I figure that between you and your aunt, it evens out. Besides, a good doctor would see the pattern, and treat the hyperchondria. Is it her fault if she's being mis-diagnosed?
Sure, I have to wait for a while. I expect that. But i don't get turned away at the door, or sent a huge bill, just because I need treatment. I am treated. In an emergency situation, I am treated now, and a deal made later. In elective surgery (like my tonsils, which need taking out), I have to either pay now or wait. When I can afford private cover, I will pay. But for now, the public system does quite well.
I know that John Howard would love to abolish all the public health care system, just as he wants to get rid of the fair dismissal laws. he wants a system where the user pays, all the time. I can see how this makes sense, but only if you actually have the money to make the payments.
Having been surrounded by druggies who live on the government handouts, having kids just to get more, and abusing the amulance service by ODing 3-4 times a week and then knowing how to not pay up (by not getting into the ambulance), I've seen the sort of people that clog up the system. But I still say that I could't afford to study *and* support my family without the help.
As for our previous pays, I drove a forklift and was given plenty of overtime, while my partner was a nanny. I can't remember what the gross pay was, but we can't get that any more, anyway. My partner is staying at home to raise our children, rather than shunting them off to care, and I wouldn't want to work 60+ hours a week and miss out on their childhood. Right now, I can study full time and have plenty of time at home. In two years, I can then work full time, once the bond is there.
Times change. A single wage for the low-end income will no longer pay the bills. We need the payments. I'm bettering my skills so that we can live comfortably. We won't need to be wealthy, but I'm sick of the debts.
My situation would have been shocking a generation ago. It would have been unheard of 2 generations ago. I hate to think what will happen with society in the next 20-25 years.
Ravenn
Cool. A good, well thought and intelligent reply, *and* you are logged in. Good to see some people can post these sort of things non-AC.
I'm pleased to see that you managed to make it like you have, and I wish you the best in raising your kids the same.
From where I started, I went to a private, catholic school for my secondary education, and still wound up pushing trolleys for 19 months after I finished. I actually would have had a better chance by going to the local state school, where they had a decent music and computer setup, because the private school had less funds and so spent it on sports equipment instead. At least, mostly on sports.
I'm now 30, and I'm studying at a government funded educational facility (TAFE. Technical And Further Education. Not quite university, but they teach industry-approved courses). I do this on a benefit called Austudy, while my partner in on a parenting payment. Without these, we wouldn't have money for food, clothes, rent, etc.
One of the advantages of this is something called a health care card, which combines with the government initiative of a medicare card to allow for free (100% free) health care. Whether I have a cold or a broken leg, or for my children's vaccinations. We've had two children, both in public hospitals, without any medical expenses. And only minimal costs for medications.
Because I paid taxes for many years, I have no issue using some of that to better our lives. I figure that when I finish, I'll be able to get into a much higher tax bracket, so I'll be able to pay more back to society for allowing me to take this time out.
These days, the cost of living is too high to allow pride to stop you from taking "handouts". While I appreciate your position, I would be unable to provide for my family *and* better my self at the same time. I would be stuck in a warehouse packing boxes, rather than (hopefully) running a company's network.
Compare this to when my partner and I where just together, where we were pulling in around AU$1,200 a week, after tax. Now we get just over AU$1,000 per fortnight. But the end results are going to be worth it.
Ravenn
Firstly, I'm replying to this as a parent, too. I don't wish these sort of incidents on anybody, but I use them as examples from real circumstances I have known, to prove a point.
What if you were to lose your job? What if you're wife became sick, and you had to either stay home and care for her, or hire someone to do that? What if the treatment was very expensive? There goes any money for your children's schooling...
Would you then keep your kids home, just so they don't drain the taxpayer-funded state schools?
What you are saying is that the children of the poor don't deserve an education. Or maybe that the poor people shouldn't be allowed to have children at all. Is that correct?
What if you had a situation where your daughter ran away. Say she was being abused and felt she couldn't tell you. Would you have her starve on the streets, eventually selling herself for food? How much do you think a 13 year old girl can earn as a prostitute? Or would you rather that she found a shelter to help her get her life back together? I know I'd hate it if it happened to my daughter, but I know where I'd rather her be if that ever happened: a shelter, where she gets (state funded) food and (state funded) shelter, as well as (state funded) councilling.
That is the point of paying taxes. To fund the entire country. It doesn't always work, or turn out like it's supposed to, but that's just human nature getting in the way. Just like your opinions, everyone has there own.
The taxes aren't there to drain your pay, but to better your country. In theory, this leads to more jobs and money for everyone, including opportunities for your own children.
Ravenn
Quote:
You actually had the opportunity to do more than that at a few stages of the install; I suspect you just clicked through the "typical" settings for the networking, for example, and it went right through.
No, not quite. I just pressed two buttons: On, and the "OK" on the EULA. I had to configure networking, ppp, etc later. I was quite surprised. Impressed at the ease, but upset at the lack of options. I'd say they cancelled each other.
I'd admit to wanting the real thing as opposed to some commercial variant, though.
Quote:
Just a suggestion, you might want to redo this install and choose "install on 1st use" for everything instead.
Ummm.... That could be a problem with (looks for Borgs)... borrowed.... CD's. I have to install now, and see what can be trimmed later.
As far as the OSS goes, at least I can grab just what I need, and no more. No bloat, except through choice. One of the (many) reasons I switched in the first place. I don't use Linux because I hate Microsoft (which I do), but because I love Linux.
Ravenn
I actually have decent hardware, and all pretty generic stuff. There should be no issues with detecting it. And so why should I not blame the installer? It isn't doing it's job, therefore it is inadaquite. Linux has a bad rap for being hard to install (hence the article), while windows is supposed to be idiot-proof. So yes, I blame the installer software. None of the Linux installs did that.
.ppt I did up, I lost the animations from my .gif's when I ported it. My .xls assignment had functions not supported, and the .doc was a nightmare even on the official platform. Access doesn't have any equivalent in OSS, which is generally a good thing...
I've installed various OS's at various times, and I don't see why I should create a script for an ordinary setup. If I had some funky hardware, or a specific need for the software, then I would go for it. But I wasn't even able to do more than stick the CD in, switch on, and go. I set the timezone, removed the CD as it rebooted, and that was it until I had finished. No prompts, no options, nothing.
And if you read my comment, you would have seen that I needed Office as well, which comes to 2 CD's. Uncompressed, that can come to ~1.6GBs of usable data. I had to install the full Office suite, because I don't know exactly what I will be needing, including the help files. Open Office can only do so much, and we had been given documents which pushed the bounderies of what the suite would do. Therefore, OO tended to break with all the unportable "features". Like for a
Ravenn
Typical AC troll....
:-)
Re-read the above message. Oh don't bother, I'll just tell you what you missed: I'm a *student*, which means a severe lack of fundage. A mature-age student, with a wife and two little mouths to feed and clothe, as well as buy textbooks, and pay for my course to better my life.
Get out of you're parent's basement (or maybe attic, or bedroom) and see what the real world is like.
I wish I could afford the AU$140 for a 60GB hdd, but I have to ride 17Kms (that's around 10 miles, to save you from having to work it out) each way, 5 days a week, on a pushbike, regardless of the weather, as well as lug my heavy textbooks. I do this to save the extra few dollars a day on public transport, and because I can't afford a car.
Besides, with a Linux system, a P100 can do just as much, only slightly slower.
I'm a real man, who thinks of family first, and my needs as secondary. Not a luser who can't even post a response to something like this with an account...
Ravenn