400 dollar Sony??? I play DVD's on my Playstation II. They cost only 200 bucks, and do double duty as DVD player and video game.
Re:We reward WiFi makers for a job badly done
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But if we don't buy into it, and at least TRY to make something useful and semi-secure out of it, it'll die off as a technology. Think of all the really cool things that companies have tried to market over the years, but which quietly dried up because of a lack of consumer interest. One thing leaps to mind: the laserdisk of the early eighties. And, another: vector displays like in the old Vectrex video game.
If it dies off, it's gone and no company will take a chance on it. If we keep it alive long enough, it might morph into something really cool.
The conversation is boring because YOU are boring. Boring and delusional.
You can drum up all sorts of silly arguments about how you're "rich" because you make more than 55K, but you're still totally wrong and completely misguided.
When I was in high school, I knew kids who were REALLY rich. One whose father owned a collection of chemical companies. One whose father owned a large interest in Procter and Gamble. One who, at seventeen, had her own apartment on fifth avenue and her own maid, doorman, and etc. Ok? I think we define "rich" very, very differently.
You are not rich. At best, you are mildly successful.
Trust me on this. I have known many truly rich people. I was one of three "poor" kids who went to my high school on scholarship. In my junior year, one kid's father bought him the Indianapolis 500 pace car as a graduation present, ok?
You don't know what you're talking about -- you're dreaming, and totally, shamelessly flattering yourself.
An AC wrote: " go read Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Eihren-something... Even if you disagree with her politics or writing style, her citations are bulletproof. There's a threshold wealth which is necessary to "succeed", and a lot of people don't have it. These people don't have a chance, unless they're just plain lucky. I could say I'm self-made, but that would be total bullshit. There are a lot of factors involved that don't count against my net worth: stable childhood, decent schools, a family I can fall back on if I need to ('taking risks' is bullshit if you can couch-surf for years if necessary), a degree, access to transportation, access to the 'net, etc."
Absolutely true! Even those of us who are working and middle class generally came *FROM* some background that made our lives possible. My parents were blue collar, and I inherited their work ethic and their basic protestant values (e.g. thrift, honesty, honor, etc). From the friends I had in college, I developed the ability to fix nearly anything, from phone circuits to pickup trucks. The people we interact with create us in a sense. The difference between rich and poor, though, is that the rich also pick up wealth and power, and a frame of mind that lets them believe that they are somehow superior to the rest of us.
Ah, well. I'd rather drive cross-country with a blue-collar gearhead like me than some rich doofus. If something goes wrong, at least the gearhead and I will be able to do something about it, and be back on the road before dark. If the rich doofus is out of cell-phone range of a tow truck, he's basically fucked. Just like in the slasher movies!
I've heard that, too -- but aside from inherited wealth, most rich people also have rich relatives, and use those connections to become even richer. Of course, they downplay all that, because here in the U.S. with our mythology of the "self-made man" it feels a little embarassing to be handed everything on a silver platter. Rich guys almost always come up with a "fighting my way up from the trenches" story. It's almost like a hobby for them.;)
Look, you're not rich, ok? You're a rich guy wannabe. There's a difference. You will never be in the top 25 percent, much less the top 1 percent. You are a mildly successful local entrepreneur. Alright? Not rich. Not in the top class. Not even close.
Wanna know what would make you top-shelf? Wanna know what would make you one of the boys?
For starters, you better be liquid, and I mean you better have a few million laying around ready to spend.
Second, you'd better have at least a million coming in annually, CEO-style.
Third, you'd better be all over the stock market, and have some heavy connections.
Fourth, you'd better be a landowner. And, I don't mean some dinky little high-ranch out in the burbs. I mean, LAND. Acreage. Second and third homes, and a vacation property. Cars in all locations.
But the REAL test is: do the rich invite you to their parties? Been to the Hamptons in the summer? Been to any serious charity benefits in NYC, the black-tie affairs the governor and mayor attend?
Get the picture yet? YOU'RE LITTLE PEOPLE. Just like us.
You're middle class. Your income is up and down like a friggin' yo-yo, you said that yourself. You don't even have as much action as a fucking family doctor. Why are you arguing on behalf of the rich? They aren't your friends. They aren't even going to be inclined to golf with you, much less give a shit what you think.
God, if I had a nickel for every small-town shop-owner I've had to listen to over the years who decided he was "Wealthy" because he owns a store and his own double-wide, I'd be rich myself.
Man, you really, really need to get your feet back on the ground.
Typical rich-guy wannabe bullshit. But, no hard feelings. One nice thing about America is you're free to use your delusions in any way you see fit, including sharing them here on Slashdot. Don't sprain yourself slapping yourself on the back, entrepreneur-boy.
But that's what all journalists do -- it's what all journalism and english majors are taught to do when they're undergrads. Consider how they put together papers while in college:
1. They decide what their paper is going to be about. Perhaps they tell their professor: "My paper is going to be about hedgehog mating rituals!"
2. They do a little prep research and formulate a position: "Hmm... None of the literature supports the idea that hedgehogs have the brains to have a mating ritual. Fuck. So... Ok, I'll write about how it's an instinctual thing!" This, then, becomes their "angle".
3. They research their angle, looking for support for it, and put each supporting statement on a little index card, with a proper citation. "Mackey noted that the Hedgehogs seemed to walk in circles for a few minutes before honing the mystical bone (citation, etc)."
4. Once they've got too many index cards to easily fit in their trendy little backpacks, they start writing. This mostly involves stringing together the text of all their little index cards, with some supporting sentences in between. "Mackey noted that the hedgehogs seemed to walk in circles for a few minutes before honing the mystical bone (citation for Mackey). Delouise also noted this behavior, describing the odd movements the hedgehog made just as he moved in on the female (Delouise citation)."
5. Then, they go over the paper again, inserting "glue" phrases to make it flow a little better. Then they tack on their list of citations. When they're done, they format it just so (they prof'll fail them if their margins are off by a thirty-second of an inch) and they print it out on nice, heavy stock and put it in folders from Kinko's.
6. They hand their papers to their professor, who skims them over and throws a dart at an arrangement of possible grades to set the score. Ah! B+!
This procedure happens over and over again until the students graduate, and a new flock of freshmen come in.
I feel SO LUCKY that all I had to put up with was English Composition (I was a comp sci major). If I NEVER have to write a fucking college paper again it'll be too soon.
Rich people (and rich people wannabes) always say that wealth is created by hard work, and benefits the best people (i.e. those who work hard). But really, all they're doing is slapping each other on the back and cheering "rah, rah for me, I'm rich and I deserve it!" Right. Like their rich family and friends had nothing to do with it -- like joe sixpack down the street gets the same investment advice and opportunities as the son of a banker. Suuuuuurre.
Poor, working, and middle class people, who work MUCH harder than any rich man, know that the game is really about a) who you know, b) being in the right place at the right time, and c) dumb, stupid luck. Rich people make other rich people richer, ok? If you're not in the club, you're on the outside looking in.
Even if you're a "self-made man" you're likely to be on the lower levels of wealth in America. You don't see too many people zipping up to the "top 25% or 1%" just by hard work, pal. Out of 256 million people in this country, there are very few who've done that. Probably only a few hundred, total. Most of us just have joe jobs, man. We work harder than any rich guy, but we get paid bupkiss, IF that is, we don't get laid off.
Save it. Just keep it to yourself. It's a pile of dung, and it stinketh.
Or it may have been, "Thank GOD -- one left. Maybe now the boss'll leave me the fuck alone. 'Cut this tree, cut that tree'... And, no overtime, either! Jeez, this friggin' economy, everyone's pay cut to one fish a day, layoffs every two weeks and of course, then they cook you so it's not like you're getting any benefits... Whatta life..."
Ok, if we're going to be serious about this (sigh) I'd probably build my shelter out of rocks, building a hollow cairn, and dump sand on the rocks to seal them up. The solar still is probably a pretty good idea, although you can also chew the leaves of green plants, sucking out the water and spitting out the leaves (that's what I was taught in MCT). You just have to make sure the sap is clear, not whitish, and you have to do a one-day test (rub some of the sap on your skin to see if any irritation shows up within a few hours, then try your tongue, then try drinking a small quantity, and if you're still feeling okay at the end of day one, the plants you've tested are safe).
You're right about food being kind of a non-issue. There are crabs, fish, small animals in the interior... Although I would probably stick to coastal areas, because navigation would be easier (I'd skirt around the treeline so it would be harder to see me, and follow the beach). I don't think I'd explore the interior too much, and I'd especially stay in shelter at night because most predators are nocturnal.
The first thing I'd do is use the knife to carve myself a bunch of spears from saplings, hardening the sharpened ends in a fire. Then, I'd start working on a longbow, arrows and a quiver. If you want to make poisoned-tip arrows (in case those pesky cannibals show up), here's how native americans did it in Florida (which is why they managed to wipe out several groups of conquistadors before firearms became common):
1. Use non-poisoned spears or arrows to get a wild boar. Bleed it out, catching the blood in a container. Eat the pig, of course. Keep the tendons and bones to make tools, like needles for sewing.
2. Allow the blood to rot over the course of a few weeks. Maybe mix a little seawater in to keep it liquid. You want it to be full of bacteria and botulin, you don't want it to dry out.
3. Keep it covered; you'll end up with a nasty, dark ichor. When you're going to go kill something (not something you're going to eat!) dip the tips of the arrows into the ichor. DO NOT LET YOURSELF GET SCRATCHED! even a scratch from this stuff gives you gangrene almost instantly. If you don't have antibiotics, you're dead meat.
Isn't that interesting? I heard that watching a show about the history of early colonization of the U.S. Supposedly the conquistadors were really freaked out by all this and left the territory in question, sort of a full retreat. As a supplemental note, if you're *really* nasty, you can do like the viet cong did with their booby-traps in vietnam: you can dip the ends of your spikes in your crap, so that anything you stab the spike into gets one hell of an infection almost instantly. Imagine how bad it would be if you mixed the two approaches...
That's a pretty good idea; I hadn't thought of that. Very interesting...
My problem with their charging for an annual update, and making you buy extra licenses for extra systems, was that it seemed kind of cheesy to charge people for such an essential service. But I guess it isn't that big a deal, considering I can just go to a mirror. I just wish I hadn't already blown the sixty bucks!
Man... How many beers is that? (counting on fingers)...;)
I didn't quote, nor did I reproduce video from, any warner bros property. Since the idea of dropping a pallet of things is not patentable (this has been done since the dawn of time thus there is a great deal of prior art) using that idea in a new implementation (e.g. dropping a pallet of briefs on a lawyer) is perfectly legitimate and there is no cause for concern.
Even better: in software development, the whole company can be virtual. Get a P.O. box for corporate registration, a cell phone for calls, a colocated server for the website, and coworkers anywhere out on the web. Do your work on your laptop or PC, and upload current versions of the software to the website for distribution. There *IS* no office, thus no zoning problems.
I'd be careful about the "incorporation to protect assets" idea. Courts have lately been trying to "pierce the corporate veil" by taking the position that acts of negligence or incompetence were performed by a person, so that person shares liability with the corporation (thus, you get sued TOO, even though you've incorporated). If your software does something that gets you sued, the first thing they'll claim is negligence or incompetence (or both). Be careful, and talk to a lawyer before you do anything.
Here in the U.S. every community is broken up into zones, which are set up for specific purposes. For example, any given piece of property can be zoned residential, or commercial, or mixed (for example, an apartment building which has an office on the first floor). The zoning laws determine what kind of building can be built on a given lot, and how that building can be used. You can't live in your office (legally), and you can't put a pizzeria in your garage, for example. They also determine what you're allowed to build within your zoning requirements. For instance, you can't build a moat around your house unless your zoning permits moats (very unlikely). You can't build with stone if your zoning says you're supposed to build a normal house with wooden framing. You can't even put up an eight foot fence if your zoning limits fences to four feet. It can get pretty silly...
Anyway, that's the basic idea. It's a whole bunch of sometimes arbitrary restrictions on what you can do with your own land.
"You're on an island, after a plane crash in which you were the only survivor. One one side of the island is a village full of maneating cannibals who are starving to death. In the middle of the island are wild boars, jungle cats, and all sorts of poisonous creatures. On your side of the island, there's nothing but rocks and the contents of your survival kit: one roll of toilet paper, some twine, a flaregun with three flares, a can of sardines, and a swiss army knife. What do you do first?"
(Of course, *I'd* say, "kiss my ass goodbye and hang myself with the twine", but I'd be open to other suggestions...)
When my Dad was in the Marine Corps, he and some friends stole a couple of manhole covers and threaded them on a weightlifting bar as a joke. They started working out with them, and my father did a full military press with the bar (that's where you're standing, and push the barbell up over your head, etc). His wrists locked, and he let the barbell fall backwards, behind him, breaking his wrists and burying the manhole covers several inches into the soft asphalt of the parade deck. Boy, did he get yelled at. Casts on his forearms to boot, for weeks until he healed.
Sigh... That's your "correct answer"??? No wonder everyone's out of work. Does no one think on their feet anymore? Woe, woe...
"Hey, Phil, how would you move Mt. Fuji?"
"Well, first I'd get a contract from you in which I'd get an hourly wage for moving Mt. Fuji, and total control of the project and its methods, with no sunset date on the contract and no deadline -- after all, we're not sure how long it would take, are we? I'd promise a measurable daily progress on the task, and I'd promise to work diligently on the task until the moment it is complete."
"Then, I'd get a little plastic spoon, and work diligently to move Mt. Fuji with it, one spoonful at a time."
Why leave it where it is? If the guy wants it moved, and his money is green, what the hell? Why not, I say. First shift, ready your spoons...
Cool -- I'm glad no fits. But I can't do Switzerland... I heard that when a foreigner moves there and tries to get a job, he gets taxed at 100% on all income from Switzerland, to protect the local's jobs. If you get citizenship, everything gets back to normal, but I don't imagine that would be very easy. Also I don't speak the language.
Drag. I hear the chocolate is fantastic. Plus, the Swiss Miss is a stone fox. And, she makes cocoa!
I'm behind you on the training idea. You could do something along the lines of a military model, where people sign up for a specialty, get trained, and then ship out to where the job is. I'd get behind that...
The medical question is tough. We do have pretty good tech, but it's a scandal that so many people have no access to healthcare. I think maybe a hybrid system would do the trick. Nationalized healthcare, but private clinics for special purposes, sort of like medical contracting companies. Hmm...
Oh, well, so we all migrate to OpenBSD. Big whoop, everything interesting is in the ports tree anyway. As a side benefit, we'd probably end up with more secure systems, and we wouldn't have to buy subscriptions to Red Hat Network to get our security updates (60 bucks a year for basic! Thanks for nothing, RH).
I've already got my OpenBSD CD, just in case. And, it came with stickers!
That's all well and good, but didn't several pretty significant people involved in Linux development already weigh in on this, and point out that there's no SCO code in their work? Linus included? SCO seems to be just spreading the FUD around. It's smarmy, it's sleazy, and I hope that IBM really whips their asses in court. In fact, if I were an IBM lawyer, I'd start opening countersuits. You know, the U.S. is the land where anyone can sue anyone, at any time, for anything. I'd be suing them for everything under the sun, no matter how thin the claim might be, and suck the life right out of them.
Think of it as an old Warner Bros cartoon:
(350-pound lawyer/gorilla): "Oh, you like lawsuits, eh? Well, let me indulge you... MUHAHAHAHA Let 'em have it, Ray!"
(98-pound milquetoast pipsqueak): "Um... What did you mean by that?" (looks up as a shadow expands around him, then forlornly says,) "Mother..."
BAM. An entire pallet of legal briefs drops out of the sky and lands on the pipsqueak with a little puff of dust. All that's left is his left hand, with a school ring on it, and his right hand, clutching a little briefcase. A groan is heard from under the pallet...
Slashdot Mirror
400 dollar Sony??? I play DVD's on my Playstation II. They cost only 200 bucks, and do double duty as DVD player and video game.
But if we don't buy into it, and at least TRY to make something useful and semi-secure out of it, it'll die off as a technology. Think of all the really cool things that companies have tried to market over the years, but which quietly dried up because of a lack of consumer interest. One thing leaps to mind: the laserdisk of the early eighties. And, another: vector displays like in the old Vectrex video game.
If it dies off, it's gone and no company will take a chance on it. If we keep it alive long enough, it might morph into something really cool.
The conversation is boring because YOU are boring. Boring and delusional.
You can drum up all sorts of silly arguments about how you're "rich" because you make more than 55K, but you're still totally wrong and completely misguided.
When I was in high school, I knew kids who were REALLY rich. One whose father owned a collection of chemical companies. One whose father owned a large interest in Procter and Gamble. One who, at seventeen, had her own apartment on fifth avenue and her own maid, doorman, and etc. Ok? I think we define "rich" very, very differently.
You are not rich. At best, you are mildly successful.
Trust me on this. I have known many truly rich people. I was one of three "poor" kids who went to my high school on scholarship. In my junior year, one kid's father bought him the Indianapolis 500 pace car as a graduation present, ok?
You don't know what you're talking about -- you're dreaming, and totally, shamelessly flattering yourself.
An AC wrote: " go read Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Eihren-something... Even if you disagree with her politics or writing style, her citations are bulletproof. There's a threshold wealth which is necessary to "succeed", and a lot of people don't have it. These people don't have a chance, unless they're just plain lucky.
I could say I'm self-made, but that would be total bullshit. There are a lot of factors involved that don't count against my net worth: stable childhood, decent schools, a family I can fall back on if I need to ('taking risks' is bullshit if you can couch-surf for years if necessary), a degree, access to transportation, access to the 'net, etc."
Absolutely true! Even those of us who are working and middle class generally came *FROM* some background that made our lives possible. My parents were blue collar, and I inherited their work ethic and their basic protestant values (e.g. thrift, honesty, honor, etc). From the friends I had in college, I developed the ability to fix nearly anything, from phone circuits to pickup trucks. The people we interact with create us in a sense. The difference between rich and poor, though, is that the rich also pick up wealth and power, and a frame of mind that lets them believe that they are somehow superior to the rest of us.
Ah, well. I'd rather drive cross-country with a blue-collar gearhead like me than some rich doofus. If something goes wrong, at least the gearhead and I will be able to do something about it, and be back on the road before dark. If the rich doofus is out of cell-phone range of a tow truck, he's basically fucked. Just like in the slasher movies!
I've heard that, too -- but aside from inherited wealth, most rich people also have rich relatives, and use those connections to become even richer. Of course, they downplay all that, because here in the U.S. with our mythology of the "self-made man" it feels a little embarassing to be handed everything on a silver platter. Rich guys almost always come up with a "fighting my way up from the trenches" story. It's almost like a hobby for them. ;)
Look, you're not rich, ok? You're a rich guy wannabe. There's a difference. You will never be in the top 25 percent, much less the top 1 percent. You are a mildly successful local entrepreneur. Alright? Not rich. Not in the top class. Not even close.
Wanna know what would make you top-shelf? Wanna know what would make you one of the boys?
For starters, you better be liquid, and I mean you better have a few million laying around ready to spend.
Second, you'd better have at least a million coming in annually, CEO-style.
Third, you'd better be all over the stock market, and have some heavy connections.
Fourth, you'd better be a landowner. And, I don't mean some dinky little high-ranch out in the burbs. I mean, LAND. Acreage. Second and third homes, and a vacation property. Cars in all locations.
But the REAL test is: do the rich invite you to their parties? Been to the Hamptons in the summer? Been to any serious charity benefits in NYC, the black-tie affairs the governor and mayor attend?
Get the picture yet? YOU'RE LITTLE PEOPLE. Just like us.
You're middle class. Your income is up and down like a friggin' yo-yo, you said that yourself. You don't even have as much action as a fucking family doctor. Why are you arguing on behalf of the rich? They aren't your friends. They aren't even going to be inclined to golf with you, much less give a shit what you think.
God, if I had a nickel for every small-town shop-owner I've had to listen to over the years who decided he was "Wealthy" because he owns a store and his own double-wide, I'd be rich myself.
Man, you really, really need to get your feet back on the ground.
Typical rich-guy wannabe bullshit. But, no hard feelings. One nice thing about America is you're free to use your delusions in any way you see fit, including sharing them here on Slashdot. Don't sprain yourself slapping yourself on the back, entrepreneur-boy.
But that's what all journalists do -- it's what all journalism and english majors are taught to do when they're undergrads. Consider how they put together papers while in college:
1. They decide what their paper is going to be about. Perhaps they tell their professor: "My paper is going to be about hedgehog mating rituals!"
2. They do a little prep research and formulate a position: "Hmm... None of the literature supports the idea that hedgehogs have the brains to have a mating ritual. Fuck. So... Ok, I'll write about how it's an instinctual thing!" This, then, becomes their "angle".
3. They research their angle, looking for support for it, and put each supporting statement on a little index card, with a proper citation. "Mackey noted that the Hedgehogs seemed to walk in circles for a few minutes before honing the mystical bone (citation, etc)."
4. Once they've got too many index cards to easily fit in their trendy little backpacks, they start writing. This mostly involves stringing together the text of all their little index cards, with some supporting sentences in between. "Mackey noted that the hedgehogs seemed to walk in circles for a few minutes before honing the mystical bone (citation for Mackey). Delouise also noted this behavior, describing the odd movements the hedgehog made just as he moved in on the female (Delouise citation)."
5. Then, they go over the paper again, inserting "glue" phrases to make it flow a little better. Then they tack on their list of citations. When they're done, they format it just so (they prof'll fail them if their margins are off by a thirty-second of an inch) and they print it out on nice, heavy stock and put it in folders from Kinko's.
6. They hand their papers to their professor, who skims them over and throws a dart at an arrangement of possible grades to set the score. Ah! B+!
This procedure happens over and over again until the students graduate, and a new flock of freshmen come in.
I feel SO LUCKY that all I had to put up with was English Composition (I was a comp sci major). If I NEVER have to write a fucking college paper again it'll be too soon.
Rich people (and rich people wannabes) always say that wealth is created by hard work, and benefits the best people (i.e. those who work hard). But really, all they're doing is slapping each other on the back and cheering "rah, rah for me, I'm rich and I deserve it!" Right. Like their rich family and friends had nothing to do with it -- like joe sixpack down the street gets the same investment advice and opportunities as the son of a banker. Suuuuuurre.
Poor, working, and middle class people, who work MUCH harder than any rich man, know that the game is really about a) who you know, b) being in the right place at the right time, and c) dumb, stupid luck. Rich people make other rich people richer, ok? If you're not in the club, you're on the outside looking in.
Even if you're a "self-made man" you're likely to be on the lower levels of wealth in America. You don't see too many people zipping up to the "top 25% or 1%" just by hard work, pal. Out of 256 million people in this country, there are very few who've done that. Probably only a few hundred, total. Most of us just have joe jobs, man. We work harder than any rich guy, but we get paid bupkiss, IF that is, we don't get laid off.
Save it. Just keep it to yourself. It's a pile of dung, and it stinketh.
Or it may have been, "Thank GOD -- one left. Maybe now the boss'll leave me the fuck alone. 'Cut this tree, cut that tree'... And, no overtime, either! Jeez, this friggin' economy, everyone's pay cut to one fish a day, layoffs every two weeks and of course, then they cook you so it's not like you're getting any benefits... Whatta life..."
Good answer!
Ok, if we're going to be serious about this (sigh) I'd probably build my shelter out of rocks, building a hollow cairn, and dump sand on the rocks to seal them up. The solar still is probably a pretty good idea, although you can also chew the leaves of green plants, sucking out the water and spitting out the leaves (that's what I was taught in MCT). You just have to make sure the sap is clear, not whitish, and you have to do a one-day test (rub some of the sap on your skin to see if any irritation shows up within a few hours, then try your tongue, then try drinking a small quantity, and if you're still feeling okay at the end of day one, the plants you've tested are safe).
You're right about food being kind of a non-issue. There are crabs, fish, small animals in the interior... Although I would probably stick to coastal areas, because navigation would be easier (I'd skirt around the treeline so it would be harder to see me, and follow the beach). I don't think I'd explore the interior too much, and I'd especially stay in shelter at night because most predators are nocturnal.
The first thing I'd do is use the knife to carve myself a bunch of spears from saplings, hardening the sharpened ends in a fire. Then, I'd start working on a longbow, arrows and a quiver. If you want to make poisoned-tip arrows (in case those pesky cannibals show up), here's how native americans did it in Florida (which is why they managed to wipe out several groups of conquistadors before firearms became common):
1. Use non-poisoned spears or arrows to get a wild boar. Bleed it out, catching the blood in a container. Eat the pig, of course. Keep the tendons and bones to make tools, like needles for sewing.
2. Allow the blood to rot over the course of a few weeks. Maybe mix a little seawater in to keep it liquid. You want it to be full of bacteria and botulin, you don't want it to dry out.
3. Keep it covered; you'll end up with a nasty, dark ichor. When you're going to go kill something (not something you're going to eat!) dip the tips of the arrows into the ichor. DO NOT LET YOURSELF GET SCRATCHED! even a scratch from this stuff gives you gangrene almost instantly. If you don't have antibiotics, you're dead meat.
Isn't that interesting? I heard that watching a show about the history of early colonization of the U.S. Supposedly the conquistadors were really freaked out by all this and left the territory in question, sort of a full retreat. As a supplemental note, if you're *really* nasty, you can do like the viet cong did with their booby-traps in vietnam: you can dip the ends of your spikes in your crap, so that anything you stab the spike into gets one hell of an infection almost instantly. Imagine how bad it would be if you mixed the two approaches...
The OpenBSD guys are pretty cool; I dig the James bond motif. It really is a quite nice system.
That's a pretty good idea; I hadn't thought of that. Very interesting...
;)
My problem with their charging for an annual update, and making you buy extra licenses for extra systems, was that it seemed kind of cheesy to charge people for such an essential service. But I guess it isn't that big a deal, considering I can just go to a mirror. I just wish I hadn't already blown the sixty bucks!
Man... How many beers is that? (counting on fingers)...
I didn't quote, nor did I reproduce video from, any warner bros property. Since the idea of dropping a pallet of things is not patentable (this has been done since the dawn of time thus there is a great deal of prior art) using that idea in a new implementation (e.g. dropping a pallet of briefs on a lawyer) is perfectly legitimate and there is no cause for concern.
;)
Thanks, though.
Now, THAT was an informative web page. Pretty interesting! I wonder how all this is going to shake out...
Phil
Imagine how much paperwork IBM could throw together... "Hey, Buddy, I gotta park this semi; we gotta deadline!"
Even better: in software development, the whole company can be virtual. Get a P.O. box for corporate registration, a cell phone for calls, a colocated server for the website, and coworkers anywhere out on the web. Do your work on your laptop or PC, and upload current versions of the software to the website for distribution. There *IS* no office, thus no zoning problems.
I'd be careful about the "incorporation to protect assets" idea. Courts have lately been trying to "pierce the corporate veil" by taking the position that acts of negligence or incompetence were performed by a person, so that person shares liability with the corporation (thus, you get sued TOO, even though you've incorporated). If your software does something that gets you sued, the first thing they'll claim is negligence or incompetence (or both). Be careful, and talk to a lawyer before you do anything.
Here in the U.S. every community is broken up into zones, which are set up for specific purposes. For example, any given piece of property can be zoned residential, or commercial, or mixed (for example, an apartment building which has an office on the first floor). The zoning laws determine what kind of building can be built on a given lot, and how that building can be used. You can't live in your office (legally), and you can't put a pizzeria in your garage, for example. They also determine what you're allowed to build within your zoning requirements. For instance, you can't build a moat around your house unless your zoning permits moats (very unlikely). You can't build with stone if your zoning says you're supposed to build a normal house with wooden framing. You can't even put up an eight foot fence if your zoning limits fences to four feet. It can get pretty silly...
Anyway, that's the basic idea. It's a whole bunch of sometimes arbitrary restrictions on what you can do with your own land.
Interview question number one:
"You're on an island, after a plane crash in which you were the only survivor. One one side of the island is a village full of maneating cannibals who are starving to death. In the middle of the island are wild boars, jungle cats, and all sorts of poisonous creatures. On your side of the island, there's nothing but rocks and the contents of your survival kit: one roll of toilet paper, some twine, a flaregun with three flares, a can of sardines, and a swiss army knife. What do you do first?"
(Of course, *I'd* say, "kiss my ass goodbye and hang myself with the twine", but I'd be open to other suggestions...)
When my Dad was in the Marine Corps, he and some friends stole a couple of manhole covers and threaded them on a weightlifting bar as a joke. They started working out with them, and my father did a full military press with the bar (that's where you're standing, and push the barbell up over your head, etc). His wrists locked, and he let the barbell fall backwards, behind him, breaking his wrists and burying the manhole covers several inches into the soft asphalt of the parade deck. Boy, did he get yelled at. Casts on his forearms to boot, for weeks until he healed.
He never did THAT again...
Sigh... That's your "correct answer"??? No wonder everyone's out of work. Does no one think on their feet anymore? Woe, woe...
"Hey, Phil, how would you move Mt. Fuji?"
"Well, first I'd get a contract from you in which I'd get an hourly wage for moving Mt. Fuji, and total control of the project and its methods, with no sunset date on the contract and no deadline -- after all, we're not sure how long it would take, are we? I'd promise a measurable daily progress on the task, and I'd promise to work diligently on the task until the moment it is complete."
"Then, I'd get a little plastic spoon, and work diligently to move Mt. Fuji with it, one spoonful at a time."
Why leave it where it is? If the guy wants it moved, and his money is green, what the hell? Why not, I say. First shift, ready your spoons...
Cool -- I'm glad no fits. But I can't do Switzerland... I heard that when a foreigner moves there and tries to get a job, he gets taxed at 100% on all income from Switzerland, to protect the local's jobs. If you get citizenship, everything gets back to normal, but I don't imagine that would be very easy. Also I don't speak the language.
Drag. I hear the chocolate is fantastic. Plus, the Swiss Miss is a stone fox. And, she makes cocoa!
I'm behind you on the training idea. You could do something along the lines of a military model, where people sign up for a specialty, get trained, and then ship out to where the job is. I'd get behind that...
The medical question is tough. We do have pretty good tech, but it's a scandal that so many people have no access to healthcare. I think maybe a hybrid system would do the trick. Nationalized healthcare, but private clinics for special purposes, sort of like medical contracting companies. Hmm...
Oh, well, so we all migrate to OpenBSD. Big whoop, everything interesting is in the ports tree anyway. As a side benefit, we'd probably end up with more secure systems, and we wouldn't have to buy subscriptions to Red Hat Network to get our security updates (60 bucks a year for basic! Thanks for nothing, RH).
I've already got my OpenBSD CD, just in case. And, it came with stickers!
That's all well and good, but didn't several pretty significant people involved in Linux development already weigh in on this, and point out that there's no SCO code in their work? Linus included? SCO seems to be just spreading the FUD around. It's smarmy, it's sleazy, and I hope that IBM really whips their asses in court. In fact, if I were an IBM lawyer, I'd start opening countersuits. You know, the U.S. is the land where anyone can sue anyone, at any time, for anything. I'd be suing them for everything under the sun, no matter how thin the claim might be, and suck the life right out of them.
Think of it as an old Warner Bros cartoon:
(350-pound lawyer/gorilla): "Oh, you like lawsuits, eh? Well, let me indulge you... MUHAHAHAHA Let 'em have it, Ray!"
(98-pound milquetoast pipsqueak): "Um... What did you mean by that?" (looks up as a shadow expands around him, then forlornly says,) "Mother..."
BAM. An entire pallet of legal briefs drops out of the sky and lands on the pipsqueak with a little puff of dust. All that's left is his left hand, with a school ring on it, and his right hand, clutching a little briefcase. A groan is heard from under the pallet...