While I agree with the principle behind this argument, this is like saying you'll never get behind the wheel of a car unless you bought all the parts yourself and built it yourself based on freely available plans.
After all, there's probably a GPS tracking system, data recorders that records the times when you're over the speed limit, and other potentially privacy-compromising system hidden in any car you buy.
Do you trust the drinking water coming through your pipes? What, you filter it first? OK, have you bothered to take the filter apart yourself to verify its components work as advertised or do you accept that government regulations will keep them from selling a defective product?
Consider Joe Average. Give him an open source program--he has to trust that you personally went through the code and verified it's clean, or that a bunch of unknowns on the net verified it. He sure as hell isn't going to go through all the code and compile it himself. And do you yourself trust that C compiler? There's that theory about how the original C compiler could have a backdoor put in, and every subsequent C compiler or program compiled could have a backdoor built into it during compile time.
In truth you can't trust ANYTHING you don't make yourself. But it's not practical to make everything yourself because of time constraints or inexperience, so at some point everyone has to put their trust in some system they didn't make themselves. And yes, sometimes that trust is violated, like tires that blow apart for no reason or the water is tainted with e-coli. But in the real world most people can't afford to distrust absolutely everything and still live a real life. Neither can most people who have a computer.
Like I said, I agree with the principle. But this is the real world, and many personal, idealized principles just don't play into it.
For some reason that brought to mind that ridiculous Dance of Profuse Apology Archer had to make to the leaders of some planet in Enterprise's "A night in Sickbay".
I wonder how many country's sacred trees Balmer's dog has relieved itself on...
dont push your little out of the country opinions on the rest of us that actually have to live with your decisions.
That statement is REALLY self-serving considering the US is forcing its will on countries left and right, for good or ill, and often with military might. At least Pedrito is just a single voice in a sea of similar and dissimilar opinions.
If the Patriot Act can be used to turn news sources into nothing more than an advertisment board for Georgie's trips in flight suits we should all look up the procedure for asking Canada for asylum
Don't know if you'd be accepted as refugees... at least the Vietnamese and Chinese boat people didn't have a choice about their government...
But even with something like that in place, this type of paper would never pass muster. Not through a peer review, and not through PR. You just don't criticize a large customer. Especially a customer with as much money as Microsoft.
Perhaps this is why he didn't pass the paper through atStake's legal or communications department. He knew they'd never approve it, and they'd do everything to block them if they knew ahead of time that he and his associates were going to publish it. Better to get the message out in the open and risk being fired, than button up what you strongly believe is in the public's best interest.
Do whistleblowers ask their organization's legal department for permission before calling the authorities?
I'd also add commercials that don't consider sales tax that must be added.
Too often I see ads on TV claiming that if you're down to one dollar in your pocket, hey, that's all you need to buy our burger!
Bzzt! wrong! Tack on x% tax!
I love Australia and New Zealand (and no doubt countless other countries), where tax must be included in all prices, and a sign elsewhere explaining exactly how much the taxes are ("all prices include 10% GST" in Australia)
According to the Mac Secrets book, a decade ago Apple shipped systems with monitors listed with the correct size--if it was 12" viewable, it was marketed as 12" instead of 13" like everyone else in the industry did. From a marketing standpoint of course consumers thought they were getting better value on the monitor.
So Apple went with the flow and started marketing 12" monitors as 13". And for a time it was good.
Until the industry got slapped with a deceptive advertising suit or something. But rather than market it CORRECTLY, now more ink is wasted when ads are printed with disclaimers, like "* 18.1" viewable" on 19" CRT screens.
Technically it was a stalemate since neither side gained nor lost territory. However, Canada objectively "won" in the sense that the US "lost" in its attempt to conquer its lands. In the same line of thought the US and UN allies "won" the Korean War by preventing the North from taking over the South, even though, again technically, North and South Korea are in stalemate and in fact still at war.
I'd sure like to know the conditions of "victory" in the US books. Surely they're not suggesting Canada invaded the US!?
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Hey, at least it can run Linux. ;)
After all, there's probably a GPS tracking system, data recorders that records the times when you're over the speed limit, and other potentially privacy-compromising system hidden in any car you buy.
Do you trust the drinking water coming through your pipes? What, you filter it first? OK, have you bothered to take the filter apart yourself to verify its components work as advertised or do you accept that government regulations will keep them from selling a defective product?
Consider Joe Average. Give him an open source program--he has to trust that you personally went through the code and verified it's clean, or that a bunch of unknowns on the net verified it. He sure as hell isn't going to go through all the code and compile it himself. And do you yourself trust that C compiler? There's that theory about how the original C compiler could have a backdoor put in, and every subsequent C compiler or program compiled could have a backdoor built into it during compile time.
In truth you can't trust ANYTHING you don't make yourself. But it's not practical to make everything yourself because of time constraints or inexperience, so at some point everyone has to put their trust in some system they didn't make themselves. And yes, sometimes that trust is violated, like tires that blow apart for no reason or the water is tainted with e-coli. But in the real world most people can't afford to distrust absolutely everything and still live a real life. Neither can most people who have a computer.
Like I said, I agree with the principle. But this is the real world, and many personal, idealized principles just don't play into it.
Yet another reason to get an iBook or Powerbook... no stupid stickers!
I wonder how many country's sacred trees Balmer's dog has relieved itself on...
Omniweb for Mac OS X provides multiple undo and redo for HTML text forms.
Home of the brave? Most definitely!
That statement is REALLY self-serving considering the US is forcing its will on countries left and right, for good or ill, and often with military might. At least Pedrito is just a single voice in a sea of similar and dissimilar opinions.
Don't know if you'd be accepted as refugees... at least the Vietnamese and Chinese boat people didn't have a choice about their government...
Perhaps this is why he didn't pass the paper through atStake's legal or communications department. He knew they'd never approve it, and they'd do everything to block them if they knew ahead of time that he and his associates were going to publish it. Better to get the message out in the open and risk being fired, than button up what you strongly believe is in the public's best interest.
Do whistleblowers ask their organization's legal department for permission before calling the authorities?
... is an optimist with experience.
They can't tax a volunteer service, can they? 10% of $0 is, well, $0...
Don't you mean "Two wrongs don't make a FLIGHT"?
Actually, the prime minister of Nada (i.e. nothing) is Mr. Chretien.
I'd also add commercials that don't consider sales tax that must be added.
Too often I see ads on TV claiming that if you're down to one dollar in your pocket, hey, that's all you need to buy our burger!
Bzzt! wrong! Tack on x% tax!
I love Australia and New Zealand (and no doubt countless other countries), where tax must be included in all prices, and a sign elsewhere explaining exactly how much the taxes are ("all prices include 10% GST" in Australia)
So Apple went with the flow and started marketing 12" monitors as 13". And for a time it was good.
Until the industry got slapped with a deceptive advertising suit or something. But rather than market it CORRECTLY, now more ink is wasted when ads are printed with disclaimers, like "* 18.1" viewable" on 19" CRT screens.
Gates embraces YOU!
I'd sure like to know the conditions of "victory" in the US books. Surely they're not suggesting Canada invaded the US!?
Wait! Wait! Don't forget, you have to be able to say "R-r-r-r-roll up the r-r-r-rim to win!" properly, with rolling-Rs!
That's because it seems you need them. Pity, that.
I've lived a city suburb all my life, have never held a real or even a pellet gun, and most of my friends (even rural ones) haven't either.
No, that's just Ontario...
Get in line bud, I live here and still don't have a tech job ;-)
That was Whitney Houston ;-)
move to Canada then ;-)
Whaddya mean, "pretty soon"? People are already removing Windows in droves!
A USA flag preceded by a "!" symbol.
;-)
As in "NOT USA"