If poor software is criminal, who do I get arrested for all those times I tried to install Linux only to be greeted with the inability to connect to the network, get X running, or use most of my peripherals?
I definitely got closer to convincing my wife when my computer with Kubuntu installed opened a.docx file flawlessly without any additional effort on my part (well, I'm running a version ahead of stable at the moment, but this functionality will be in the October stable release, of course), while her Windows computer, with Microsoft Office, couldn't open it without downloading an additional compatibility pack. I know that she could do this if she installed OpenOffice on her computer, but it's interesting to see Linux distributions being the environments that "just work," while Windows requires additional cajoling.
When I started using Linux, it was for ideological and elitist reasons. Now, I use it because I can get work done quicker on it.
"Fees" aren't the same as taxes. Think about what "regulatory cost recovery charge (as seen on my ATT Wireless bill)" means: the carrier incurred an extra expense to implement something required by the government (emergency service support, rural location service, etc.). Whether you like the regulations or not, the cell phone providers should include them in their base price - they're part of the cost of doing business, after all.
I guess with flash drives, those days will be history -- when a flash drive is gone, it's probably gone for good.
Perhaps then, people will finally realize the wisdom of regular backups (or implement them, if they hadn't yet progressed beyond the realization stage).
I get those all the time for my company's software as well. In almost all cases, the HTML code provided for the "awards" contains a link back to the software download site. That's what they're looking for - a link-back to improve their Pagerank[tm]. What I do with them is I take the image, change it to greyscale so it doesn't clash with our site's design, scale it to a reasonable size, and host it locally, not linking to the site.
Awards do have the benefit of giving a product some appearance of legitimacy, so I like to display them, even if they're not as reputable as I'd like. If at all possible, however, I try to display awards that I know to be legitimate - such as TUCOWS - but getting products rated on the major download sites is a long, tedious process.
Ah, Hypercard - I have fond memories as well. Especially the built-in AppleScript support, which allowed me to enter a command that would kill the lock-down software that was installed on the lab computers. Those were the days...
My personal laptop (Fujitsu P-2046, five years old now) had a Trackpoint-type device (I say had because I must've not reconnected it correctly after upgrading the RAM a couple of years ago, and I haven't bothered to fix it). After using it for a couple of years, I realized that it was contributing to some finger pain I was experiencing. It required a fair bit more effort than a Thinkpad Trackpoint, but I noticed finger pain as well when I was using the Thinkpad I had when I worked for IBM. I'd take a mouse over a Trackpoint any day (though I'd take a Trackpoint over a touchpad for accuracy's sake, and probably a trackball over all of the above).
AFAIK, charging alone wouldn't brick an iPod - syncing would. If you synced your iPod with an unfamiliar (to it) version of iTunes, the charging circuit would effectively self-destruct.
Yet another reason why I have no plans to buy an iPod...
But Firefox has demonstrated that it is possible to win market share from Microsoft. The two essential ingredients are persistence and time....and a number of highly-publicized vulnerabilities in the Microsoft product, coupled with features that are very valuable to users, such as built-in pop-up blocking.
Most users are very conservative - they have something that works (albeit not optimally), so they're content not to change. My wife's computer has AOL IM running on it. It has an annoying habit of popping ads to the top of the screen which won't go away until the AIM window is clicked on. I've tried to convince her to switch to GAIM (which wouldn't be a hard switch), but she's refused. Though AIM has its annoyances, they're not enough to convince her to switch, which she perceives as a hassle.
Switching operating systems is a much more significant change - even experienced computer users try to avoid it. If the only benefits Linux can offer are better stability (which isn't that bad in the latest Windows versions, really), better security (which isn't nearly the problem on Windows it used to be, thanks to all-in-one router/firewall/wifi devices and much better browser security prompted by Firefox), and a better ideology, it's going to be a tough sell. Pair that with the fact that off-the-shelf software won't run on it, AOL/Geek Squad/etc. won't support it, and its unfamiliarity (no matter how similar or intuitive), and it's nearly an impossible sell.
A much better target is the corporate desktop. IT departments (at least theoretically) can evaluate Linux on its merits rather than comparing it to the warm-and-fuzzy feeling of familiarity. Also, not being able to install off-the-shelf software is a good thing in many corporate environments.
I've seen the hoops that organizations have to go through to keep an installed base of Windows clients operating - it's not pleasant. Linux is much better for corporations looking to keep control of their machines. That's a big advantage, especially since it is rooted in ideology - if Microsoft wants to make Windows more competitive in this area, it must open up the system to allow more flexibility. Linux should be targeted at this market first.
Who is smarter? The guy who blows all his cash on a sofa? Or the guy who lets his available cash earn interest while he pays off the sofa interest free for a year?
Ideally, the latter option is preferable. What happens, however, if some emergency (lay-off, medical, etc.) causes a money crunch? Both of those guys are screwed. There is a third, much better option: the guy that sits on his current junky sofa while he saves up the money to purchase a new sofa while still leaving his rainy-day fund intact.
Never put yourself in a financially precipitous situation for anything beyond basic needs.
Like bugzilla.mozilla doesn't drop requests with slashdot.org as referer.
They don't do that because of poor quality bug reports from Slashdot users. They block requests with slashdot.org as the referer to discourage Slashdot contributers from posting direct links to bugzilla pages, which would crash the server.
As another poster has suggested, this isn't truly a hardware firewall - it hijacks the network traffic from the host OS, after all. Since the network traffic is already in the network stack, how is this any better than a software firewall? Software firewalls are hardly performance hogs.
Another faithful RP listener here. I've also bought many CDs of artists that I first heard on RP. I rarely listen to commercial radio anymore (unless my wife is driving, because she likes listening to oldies). When I'm in the car, I listen to public radio. When I'm at my desk, I listen to Radio Paradise. This works well, since the language part of my brain that I use to listen to talk radio isn't as heavily used when I'm driving.
Unfortunately, the music that is controlled by RIAA members extends far beyond the top 40. We'd be saying goodbye to many semi-popular groups, classics, and classical recordings.
Looking at it from Viacom's perspective, however (which makes me feel icky - I think I'll have to take a second shower today), it would be incredibly difficult to keep up with the deluge of copyrighted content being posted by YouTube users. Viacom has an army of lawyers, but the army of people posting illegal content is even larger. Viacom doesn't need to be this strict with unauthorized distribution of their content, but given that they have chosen that path I can understand their frustration in getting it taken down.
A large part (all?) of Michigan uses systems like this. In Grand Rapids, where I worked as a poll worker last November, each precinct has one machine. Available interfaces include touchscreen, audio prompts, and sip-puff device. It's intended for people with disabilities, but there's no restriction on who can use it.
On every BSD system I've used, there is a per-user process limit that is lower than the total process limit. This means that a fork bomb will only affect the user who runs it. Someone with root privileges can still log in and run pkill/killall.
Do you think that the average user can tell the difference between a system crash and a problem affecting their account only? Regardless of the cause, Internet Explorer and MSN Messenger won't work, so the system is crashed as far as they're concerned.
That fixture might have a loose connection (most likely the bottom of the socket where the springy piece of metal touches the bulb). This causes higher resistance to the bulb, causing heat buildup and unreliable current.
Slashdot Mirror
If poor software is criminal, who do I get arrested for all those times I tried to install Linux only to be greeted with the inability to connect to the network, get X running, or use most of my peripherals?
Hardware manufacturers?
I definitely got closer to convincing my wife when my computer with Kubuntu installed opened a .docx file flawlessly without any additional effort on my part (well, I'm running a version ahead of stable at the moment, but this functionality will be in the October stable release, of course), while her Windows computer, with Microsoft Office, couldn't open it without downloading an additional compatibility pack. I know that she could do this if she installed OpenOffice on her computer, but it's interesting to see Linux distributions being the environments that "just work," while Windows requires additional cajoling.
When I started using Linux, it was for ideological and elitist reasons. Now, I use it because I can get work done quicker on it.
My guess is that phone plans in those other countries (especially small, non-island ones) have much better roaming terms than US plans.
"Fees" aren't the same as taxes. Think about what "regulatory cost recovery charge (as seen on my ATT Wireless bill)" means: the carrier incurred an extra expense to implement something required by the government (emergency service support, rural location service, etc.). Whether you like the regulations or not, the cell phone providers should include them in their base price - they're part of the cost of doing business, after all.
I guess with flash drives, those days will be history -- when a flash drive is gone, it's probably gone for good.
Perhaps then, people will finally realize the wisdom of regular backups (or implement them, if they hadn't yet progressed beyond the realization stage).
I get those all the time for my company's software as well. In almost all cases, the HTML code provided for the "awards" contains a link back to the software download site. That's what they're looking for - a link-back to improve their Pagerank[tm]. What I do with them is I take the image, change it to greyscale so it doesn't clash with our site's design, scale it to a reasonable size, and host it locally, not linking to the site.
Awards do have the benefit of giving a product some appearance of legitimacy, so I like to display them, even if they're not as reputable as I'd like. If at all possible, however, I try to display awards that I know to be legitimate - such as TUCOWS - but getting products rated on the major download sites is a long, tedious process.
Ah, Hypercard - I have fond memories as well. Especially the built-in AppleScript support, which allowed me to enter a command that would kill the lock-down software that was installed on the lab computers. Those were the days...
My personal laptop (Fujitsu P-2046, five years old now) had a Trackpoint-type device (I say had because I must've not reconnected it correctly after upgrading the RAM a couple of years ago, and I haven't bothered to fix it). After using it for a couple of years, I realized that it was contributing to some finger pain I was experiencing. It required a fair bit more effort than a Thinkpad Trackpoint, but I noticed finger pain as well when I was using the Thinkpad I had when I worked for IBM. I'd take a mouse over a Trackpoint any day (though I'd take a Trackpoint over a touchpad for accuracy's sake, and probably a trackball over all of the above).
AFAIK, charging alone wouldn't brick an iPod - syncing would. If you synced your iPod with an unfamiliar (to it) version of iTunes, the charging circuit would effectively self-destruct.
Yet another reason why I have no plans to buy an iPod...
But Firefox has demonstrated that it is possible to win market share from Microsoft. The two essential ingredients are persistence and time. ...and a number of highly-publicized vulnerabilities in the Microsoft product, coupled with features that are very valuable to users, such as built-in pop-up blocking.
Most users are very conservative - they have something that works (albeit not optimally), so they're content not to change. My wife's computer has AOL IM running on it. It has an annoying habit of popping ads to the top of the screen which won't go away until the AIM window is clicked on. I've tried to convince her to switch to GAIM (which wouldn't be a hard switch), but she's refused. Though AIM has its annoyances, they're not enough to convince her to switch, which she perceives as a hassle.
Switching operating systems is a much more significant change - even experienced computer users try to avoid it. If the only benefits Linux can offer are better stability (which isn't that bad in the latest Windows versions, really), better security (which isn't nearly the problem on Windows it used to be, thanks to all-in-one router/firewall/wifi devices and much better browser security prompted by Firefox), and a better ideology, it's going to be a tough sell. Pair that with the fact that off-the-shelf software won't run on it, AOL/Geek Squad/etc. won't support it, and its unfamiliarity (no matter how similar or intuitive), and it's nearly an impossible sell.
A much better target is the corporate desktop. IT departments (at least theoretically) can evaluate Linux on its merits rather than comparing it to the warm-and-fuzzy feeling of familiarity. Also, not being able to install off-the-shelf software is a good thing in many corporate environments.
I've seen the hoops that organizations have to go through to keep an installed base of Windows clients operating - it's not pleasant. Linux is much better for corporations looking to keep control of their machines. That's a big advantage, especially since it is rooted in ideology - if Microsoft wants to make Windows more competitive in this area, it must open up the system to allow more flexibility. Linux should be targeted at this market first.
All attractive females *should* be legally required to stay naked on warm days because they have nothing to hide.
Don't they usually have the most to hide?
Who is smarter? The guy who blows all his cash on a sofa? Or the guy who lets his available cash earn interest while he pays off the sofa interest free for a year?
Ideally, the latter option is preferable. What happens, however, if some emergency (lay-off, medical, etc.) causes a money crunch? Both of those guys are screwed. There is a third, much better option: the guy that sits on his current junky sofa while he saves up the money to purchase a new sofa while still leaving his rainy-day fund intact.
Never put yourself in a financially precipitous situation for anything beyond basic needs.
What would prevent them from making live shows? Like, you know, all musicians during the whole human history always did?
According to Google, 99.48% of musicians that have performed live shows are now dead. That's a pretty high mortality rate.
Like bugzilla.mozilla doesn't drop requests with slashdot.org as referer.
They don't do that because of poor quality bug reports from Slashdot users. They block requests with slashdot.org as the referer to discourage Slashdot contributers from posting direct links to bugzilla pages, which would crash the server.
This is what the Internet has reduced us to: it does not matter if it is correct, so long as it is delivered quickly.
I think this problem was around before the Internet.
As another poster has suggested, this isn't truly a hardware firewall - it hijacks the network traffic from the host OS, after all. Since the network traffic is already in the network stack, how is this any better than a software firewall? Software firewalls are hardly performance hogs.
But what base is the base in?
Another faithful RP listener here. I've also bought many CDs of artists that I first heard on RP. I rarely listen to commercial radio anymore (unless my wife is driving, because she likes listening to oldies). When I'm in the car, I listen to public radio. When I'm at my desk, I listen to Radio Paradise. This works well, since the language part of my brain that I use to listen to talk radio isn't as heavily used when I'm driving.
Anybody see a reason why this wouldn't work?
Quality of music, perhaps?
Unfortunately, the music that is controlled by RIAA members extends far beyond the top 40. We'd be saying goodbye to many semi-popular groups, classics, and classical recordings.
Looking at it from Viacom's perspective, however (which makes me feel icky - I think I'll have to take a second shower today), it would be incredibly difficult to keep up with the deluge of copyrighted content being posted by YouTube users. Viacom has an army of lawyers, but the army of people posting illegal content is even larger. Viacom doesn't need to be this strict with unauthorized distribution of their content, but given that they have chosen that path I can understand their frustration in getting it taken down.
You can Imagine the rest...
I think there was a cigar involved.
A large part (all?) of Michigan uses systems like this. In Grand Rapids, where I worked as a poll worker last November, each precinct has one machine. Available interfaces include touchscreen, audio prompts, and sip-puff device. It's intended for people with disabilities, but there's no restriction on who can use it.
Only when the light comes on.
On every BSD system I've used, there is a per-user process limit that is lower than the total process limit. This means that a fork bomb will only affect the user who runs it. Someone with root privileges can still log in and run pkill/killall.
Do you think that the average user can tell the difference between a system crash and a problem affecting their account only? Regardless of the cause, Internet Explorer and MSN Messenger won't work, so the system is crashed as far as they're concerned.
That fixture might have a loose connection (most likely the bottom of the socket where the springy piece of metal touches the bulb). This causes higher resistance to the bulb, causing heat buildup and unreliable current.