Black hats have announced that a Scud missle is to be dropped on Micro$oft's Redmond headquarters, to see if they can detect the cha-ching of hard currency on the surface.
Be careful not to equate "free speech" with the right to pirate or plagiarize works. Copyright was established so that the authors of printed works, software, music, or other works would receive credit for their creation, whether monetary or otherwise. If you copy GPL'd software, you are free to make a copy, but attribution to the original authors must be preserved. Even the GPL makes use of copyright. The real problem is with the DMCA, which is an unconstitutional law no matter what the Supreme Court says. The potential for Microsoft or any other company to suppress the ability of others to describe how the X-Box or other hardware may be modified is a bizarre extension to the notion of "copyright". This doesn't cover the issue of software piracy... Not that I am defending MS or anybody else for extracting monopoly rents from licensees.
You're right about this. More to the point, how does "freedom" equate with the world's biggest piracy dens? Respect for human rights and respect for intellectual property are two completely different issues; China has respect for neither and I think Russia is doubtful, especially where it comes to IP. Not that I am defending MS...
I am a mainline Protestant, so no Virgin Mary is in the picture. And I don't bow down to a cross; it's just a reminder of Jesus on the altar, not an idol. And cross-burning as a form of protest, well, at least in the U.S., it's indicative not of anti-Christian sentiment, but racism. Whether anyone should be prosecuted for that is a matter of hot debate.
Hatch is a Mormon and Mormon's believe that one day the Constitution of the US will "hang by a thread."
In that day, the Mormon belief goes, the Elders of the Mormon church will rush in to rescue it.
I wonder if Hatch believes he is rescuing the Constitution here or if he is trying to hurry it's demise so that the Mormon Elders can come in to rescue it.
It sounds like the same logic some fundamentalist kooks believe in: they are trying to breed a red heifer, because according to Revelation, it is one of the signs that Jesus will come again. If people are doing something to follow some kooky belief, I question their sanity. This is why the fundamentalist kooks are so pro-Israel: the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem must be destroyed, and the Jewish Temple rebuilt, they believe, before Jesus comes again. (The ancient Jewish temple was on the site of the present Dome of the Rock, where Muhammad is said to have ascended to heaven.)
Remember, this is the same guy who wants a Constitutional ammendment to prohibit flag burning.
As a mainline Christian, I consider a law against flag burning to be idolatry, because you are raising a symbol of the state up to be a symbol of reverence. Apparently Christian rightists forget about one of the commandments: "You shall not make an idol for yourself... you shall not bow down to them or worship them" (Ex. 20:5)
The "PATRIOT" Act is just part of the plan on the part of Reichsfuhrer Bush and Co. to create a fascistic state, with a Christian Rightist ideology that they at least pay lip service to. Making this law permanent would be a big mistake.
Almost two years ago, when I graduated from school with an IT degree, I purchased the laptop I used for classes and got a license and media for Windows NT and Microsoft Office. I believe I also got a license for Win 98 and Visual Studio 6 (with no media, but it was installed on the laptop). I signed a release/annex stating that I received all of these, and I believe that they were to be used for learning purposes only. So maybe this is the license issue done the right way. Like a lot of the campers who posted on this topic, I am leary of MS just giving people the software and not having them sign an annex or release, just to cover everyone's bases. BTW, I do use the Office SW, I had to buy a copy of VS for my own use, and the NT CDs are on the verge of becoming coasters, as I have Win 2k on my Windoze machines, including the laptop.
First of all, I really don't want to use Microsoft's dev tools because it locks me into Windows. I would rather program with Java or Python, where the app is sufficiently cross-platform that I don't have to rewrite it for Linux, Macintosh, or whatever. Sure, you'll be able to convert your Windows apps to the new file system, as long as it's written in C# or VB-- under any other language you might be SOL.
I think you're incredibly ingenuous if you think that Microsoft is not going to make this change in an attempt to wring the last drop of blood out of its customers. A lot of companies are getting fed up, especially where it concerns the server side. Check out this article to see what I'm talking about. Even if you discount it by about a quarter to a half, it's still not good news for Visual Studio developers.
My friend, it's not a matter of stupidity, it's a matter of greed. It's in their interest to keep their languages, operating system, and applications as proprietary as possible, in order to hang on to their monopoly. If you're developing on.NET, be prepared to relearn everything you know in a couple of years-- it will change because they are changing the file system on Longhorn to squeeze out every programming tools except those that are Microsoft-endorsed. They really aren't interested in anyone but themselves in creating tools to develop for Windows, and I can see them changing things around to deep-six Mono or any other third party software.
What I think a lot of folks are saying is that the certification of C# is meaningless-- it's what the companies do, and it's more a matter of who do you trust more? The biggest beef I have with Sun is not that they haven't sought to have Java standardized (the Java Community Process seems to work well enough)-- it's that they havenn't pushed hard enough to enhance the capabilities of Java, i.e., make the JVM more efficient, extend the capabilities of Java, etc. C# may be standardized but MS might change the language tomorrow for all I know, and you'd be starting from scratch if you're a C# programmer-- and you'd really be in deep doodoo if you are a Mono developer.
I just think that it's really suspicious that Bushie said in a speech right after the Sept. 11 attacks, "This is the reason for my administration"... like he had some foreknowledge of this threat, and did nothing about it. One wonders what they did know, and why they are such a secretive bunch. But that's what we get from a President who is appointed by fiat by the Supreme Court. They feel like they can do whatever the hell they want. In this light, everything seems like a politcal stunt to get the Reichsfuhrer re-elected-- I don't think the Florida ruse will be tolerated a second time. The question is, will the American people allow him to survive a second term? IMHO, we should ask Mexico to please take back Texas-- the other 49 states have had enough of this BUllSHit.
I used to work at a department store that had a housewares department. We sold George Forman grills, and we would no sooner have them stocked on the selling floor than they would be sold-- they were that popular.
To me, this seems like the next logical step for the George Forman grill line. Hungry? Have an available hunk of raw meat nearby? Maybe in your brown bag? Got some spare CPU cycles? (most everybody does) Boy, are you in luck! Just plug that grill into your USB port, and in about 10 minutes...Lunch! Lean, mean, and grilled to perfection!
Okay, I'll get out of Ron Popeil mode, and just say that I hope it comes with Linux drivers-- I'm just concerned it will get a little underdone if you run it with Windows;)
The way I see it, Mozilla and Opera fills a valuable role as the browser that comes out with leading edge/bleeding edge features first. Netscape incorporates what's in Mozilla shortly after they're proven, and then MSIE scrambles to catch up with Mozilla. I'm not disappointed that it doesn't have a big chunk of the desktop; what I'm disappointed in is the courts and the government, who haven't done the job of restraining Microsoft in its attempts to wreck the competition. Anyhow, I am loving Mozilla 1.3: have been enjoying tabbed browsing for a while now (coming soon to IE, I hear), and am just loving the popup suppression in this latest version. I run it as the default browser on all of my desktops, and the xft font package on Linux looks fantastic. I am patient enough to wait for the rest of the world to follow.
I think it's precisely because of the MCSE that this is a controversy. If I were a "real" engineer, I, too, would be pissed that people possessing this piece of paper have the word "engineer" in their certification. Folks with MCSEs are certified to possess only knowledge about Windows and the most general knowledge of networking.
Personally, I think in no way is programming a kind of engineering. I perceive the usual job designation of "Software Engineer" to be one of systems programming, i.e., lower-level functionality that might be written in C or Perl or maybe assembly language, often for a general purpose or multipurpose use. OTOH, "Application Programmers" are those who write software that utilizes lower-level functionality to create an application for a specific purpose, i.e., "keep an inventory of our widgets".
In both of these cases, you are writing software that utilizes tools created from a lower-level tool. So maybe those who create those base tools-- compilers, assemblers, and maybe kernel hackers-- are real "software engineers". The rest of us are "programmers" because we are using tools that abstract at least one level up from the base level of functionality of machine code.
I am not hung up on not being considered part of an "engineering" discipline-- I see myself as an "Information Technologist", where my job is to apply the technology to real-world situations. Sounds like engineering, but I can understand why "software engineering" isn't yet accepted as a canonical engineering discipline: it's not mature. There is no single method that has been determined to create solid software. When that day comes, then perhaps programming/software engineering will be taken more seriously.
No, what really annoys me is launching up2date after getting the emails and then finding out the servers are closed to all but those who are paid RHN subscribers. Instead, I went directly to the Samba, Ximian, etc. sites and just got the RPMs directly from the dev teams.
Of course, Microsoft has been beaten to the punch on this, as right now, running Linux, Mozilla 1.3, and Evolution takes care of all of these concerns, with no loss of control over one's machine.
The new way: An erroneous hit is made on you in NCIC. The officer deviates from procedure and federal law by not confirming the hit with the ORI. You sue the local agency for violation of civil rights. The judge finds the local agency and arresting officer liable. You still get money. Hooray.
I anticipate the next step out of this: Heinrich Himmler, er, John Ashcroft's Justice Department will advocate for a new law or reg to absolve law enforcement of the responsibility for false arrest because of inaccurate NCIC information. We are under a government that has little to no regard for the rights of individuals, and in the pursuit of securing us from terrorism to "defend freedom", they will surely destroy freedom.
The other issue here is whether inaccurate information should be allowed to remain on NCIC, just because it supposedly fits into patterns of behavior that they want to keep track of. It seems to me that they should have another database that relates to alleged terrorist activity, etc., and not use NCIC as a fount of data for mere allegations. It encourages a practice of arresting someone just because they "look suspicious" and gee, they happen to have a bunch of old speeding tickets back in Speed Trap. We all know that there are overzealous and bigoted cops out there, and this is the kind of practice that NCIC was meant to help prevent-- in addition to allowing them to direct their efforts at catching those who really are suspects.
Get yourself to your closest Linux user group: a list can be found with this link. You'll find folks there who have probably been through the problems you are experiencing, and who will be helpful. Unlike Mandrake, RedHat, and SuSE, it's the business of LUG's to share what they know... and it's always free.
In the tradition of campers who keep asking, "Is BSD dying?", I have to ask: is the commercial software business dying? I realize that this decision on Office Depot's part to become Microsoft's bitch affects hardware as well, but it seems to me that the real pinch of this move is going to come most significantly to the software business. If MS can make this arrangement stick, it will hit the commercial software houses the hardest. After all, why would the Beast "certify" anything for Windows XP if it is in a category that they would like to dominate? I have in mind the things that Intuit, Symantec, and other vendors who sell popular desktop programs and have a significant market share. If they don't dance to MS' tune, then they might get locked out of the retail channel. Then again, that would be grounds for another lawsuit, which, by the time the court rules against MS, said companies could be out of business. Not that it would be any great loss in some cases...
It seems to me that Microsoft not providing a version of Server 2003 for Opteron could be a monumental blunder for their designs on the server market. After all, SuSE and Mandrake reputedly already have 86x64 versions of their OS ready to go; so when the processor is ready for release, there will be at least 2 Linux distros that will run on it. A lot of us have already decided that we have no use for Microsoft, but it seems like the Beast would want to have a presence in this new market.
VQ, I don't do "official denials". I cannot speak for what the policy of the U.S. government has been or is now. I speak as a concerned individual who believes that those who have perpetrated as much evil as the former leadership of Yugoslavia must be brought to account for their actions. No matter how you may feel about the outcomes of the conflicts in the Balkans, people there deserve that much at least. It does a great disservice to
You presuppose that Ignatieff agrees with you in your belief that maintaining the "territorial
integrity" of Yugoslavia is a better end than the freedom of people. As a matter of fact, he doesn't agree with that assumption and supported the NATO intervention in Kosovo, to protect the Kosovar Albanians. His point on "proxy wars" is that they are fraught with risk because you are dealing with an outside party that you can't control. You can't call Kosovo a "proxy war", because it required the direct intervention of NATO through the dispatch of planes and troops. I can't say that I totally buy your notion of a U.S. conspiracy to control the Balkans because of a desire to secure an oil pipeline route, just as I don't think the only motivation for the war on Iraq is all about oil, either.
Now, were the Serbs wrong to call the KLA a terrorist group - when its mission was to kill the police
and others who refused to support them?...
How come that is terrorism if it occurs in America, but "freedom fighting" when it occurs in
Yugoslavia?
A favorite saying of some people is "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter". However, the difference between the terrorists and the freedom fighters is that those who fight for their freedom are usually those who are fighting against the establishment who typically have more power than they do. If they have any integrity, they target their attacks against the arms of the state. Such was the case with the KLA, and they were fighting against the Serb
government, which was all too willing to use its power to oppress the Kosovar Albanians. And as
you point out, they were taking on arms of the state-- the police and the military-- in their battles.
Sept. 11 and Oklahoma City were attacks on mostly civilian targets.
From the official indictment against Milosevic:
Approximately 800,000 Kosovo Albanian civilians were expelled from the province by their forced removal and subsequent looting and destruction of their homes, or by the shelling of villages. Surviving residents were sent to the borders of neighbouring countries. En route, many were killed, abused and had their possessions and identification papers stolen. Furthermore, specific massacres allegedly committed by Serb forces in places such as Dakovica/Gjakove, Suva Reka/Suhareke, Racak/Reçak, Bela Crkva/Bellacerke, Mala Krusa/Krushe e Vogel, Velika Krusa/Krushe e Mahde, Padaliste/Padalishte, Izbica/Izbice, Vucitrn/Vushtrri, Dubrava/Dubrave Prison complex, Meja/Meje and Kacani/Kacanik are listed in the indictment.
Your post is slightly off topic, but nonetheless deserves a response, because it seems to attempt to whitewash the ambition of the Yugoslavian regime in 1999 to move against the Kosovar Albanians in the desire of Milosevic & Co. for a "greater Serbia".
Only one word need be mentioned to inform the decision of NATO to move against Yugoslavia on the matter of Kosovo...BOSNIA. It is not for nothing that Slobodan Milosevic is on trial for crimes against humanity: for aiding and abetting the massacre of Bosnian Muslims and Croats, the evidence of which cannot be denied. Yes, yes, atrocities were committed against the Bosnian Serbs as well, and I believe that those responsible should be brought to justice. But it seems to me that the use of military force in Kosovo was justified, because there was a clear and present danger to ethnic Albanians there, based on past actions on the part of the Yugoslav government. That events did not transpire there in the way that they did in Bosnia is perhaps a testament to the deterrent effect that relatively early intervention had in preventing the situation from getting much worse.
The speculation that NATO may have killed more Kosovar civilians than the Yugoslav military or Serbian militias is just that: speculation. What is not speculation is that there is blood on the hands of Milosevic and Radovan Karadzic, and that people all over the former Yugoslav republics are looking for justice and an accounting of the actions of those in power during the wars. As for most of the news organizations you mention, they are independent, not state apparati, and have little interest in promoting an agenda that is anti-Serb or pro-Albanian. A humanitarian crisis or war anywhere is going to get some air time because it is a matter of life and death for the people involved.
Remember, it was B-92 in Belgrade that made the first crack in Milosevic's hold on power...because they told the truth. This is a testament to the power of the news media to effect change when they are not an arm of the state.
Slashdot Mirror
Black hats have announced that a Scud missle is to be dropped on Micro$oft's Redmond headquarters, to see if they can detect the cha-ching of hard currency on the surface.
Be careful not to equate "free speech" with the right to pirate or plagiarize works. Copyright was established so that the authors of printed works, software, music, or other works would receive credit for their creation, whether monetary or otherwise. If you copy GPL'd software, you are free to make a copy, but attribution to the original authors must be preserved. Even the GPL makes use of copyright. The real problem is with the DMCA, which is an unconstitutional law no matter what the Supreme Court says. The potential for Microsoft or any other company to suppress the ability of others to describe how the X-Box or other hardware may be modified is a bizarre extension to the notion of "copyright". This doesn't cover the issue of software piracy... Not that I am defending MS or anybody else for extracting monopoly rents from licensees.
You're right about this. More to the point, how does "freedom" equate with the world's biggest piracy dens? Respect for human rights and respect for intellectual property are two completely different issues; China has respect for neither and I think Russia is doubtful, especially where it comes to IP. Not that I am defending MS...
I am a mainline Protestant, so no Virgin Mary is in the picture. And I don't bow down to a cross; it's just a reminder of Jesus on the altar, not an idol. And cross-burning as a form of protest, well, at least in the U.S., it's indicative not of anti-Christian sentiment, but racism. Whether anyone should be prosecuted for that is a matter of hot debate.
Hey campers, I think FroMan here is Rush Limbaugh!!
Whoops, my mistake. If you were really Rush, you'd be bashing Clinton and not Gore.
Hatch is a Mormon and Mormon's believe that one day the Constitution of the US will "hang by a thread." In that day, the Mormon belief goes, the Elders of the Mormon church will rush in to rescue it. I wonder if Hatch believes he is rescuing the Constitution here or if he is trying to hurry it's demise so that the Mormon Elders can come in to rescue it.
It sounds like the same logic some fundamentalist kooks believe in: they are trying to breed a red heifer, because according to Revelation, it is one of the signs that Jesus will come again. If people are doing something to follow some kooky belief, I question their sanity. This is why the fundamentalist kooks are so pro-Israel: the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem must be destroyed, and the Jewish Temple rebuilt, they believe, before Jesus comes again. (The ancient Jewish temple was on the site of the present Dome of the Rock, where Muhammad is said to have ascended to heaven.)
Remember, this is the same guy who wants a Constitutional ammendment to prohibit flag burning.
As a mainline Christian, I consider a law against flag burning to be idolatry, because you are raising a symbol of the state up to be a symbol of reverence. Apparently Christian rightists forget about one of the commandments: "You shall not make an idol for yourself... you shall not bow down to them or worship them" (Ex. 20:5)
The "PATRIOT" Act is just part of the plan on the part of Reichsfuhrer Bush and Co. to create a fascistic state, with a Christian Rightist ideology that they at least pay lip service to. Making this law permanent would be a big mistake.
Almost two years ago, when I graduated from school with an IT degree, I purchased the laptop I used for classes and got a license and media for Windows NT and Microsoft Office. I believe I also got a license for Win 98 and Visual Studio 6 (with no media, but it was installed on the laptop). I signed a release/annex stating that I received all of these, and I believe that they were to be used for learning purposes only. So maybe this is the license issue done the right way. Like a lot of the campers who posted on this topic, I am leary of MS just giving people the software and not having them sign an annex or release, just to cover everyone's bases. BTW, I do use the Office SW, I had to buy a copy of VS for my own use, and the NT CDs are on the verge of becoming coasters, as I have Win 2k on my Windoze machines, including the laptop.
First of all, I really don't want to use Microsoft's dev tools because it locks me into Windows. I would rather program with Java or Python, where the app is sufficiently cross-platform that I don't have to rewrite it for Linux, Macintosh, or whatever. Sure, you'll be able to convert your Windows apps to the new file system, as long as it's written in C# or VB-- under any other language you might be SOL.
I think you're incredibly ingenuous if you think that Microsoft is not going to make this change in an attempt to wring the last drop of blood out of its customers. A lot of companies are getting fed up, especially where it concerns the server side. Check out this article to see what I'm talking about. Even if you discount it by about a quarter to a half, it's still not good news for Visual Studio developers.
My friend, it's not a matter of stupidity, it's a matter of greed. It's in their interest to keep their languages, operating system, and applications as proprietary as possible, in order to hang on to their monopoly. If you're developing on .NET, be prepared to relearn everything you know in a couple of years-- it will change because they are changing the file system on Longhorn to squeeze out every programming tools except those that are Microsoft-endorsed. They really aren't interested in anyone but themselves in creating tools to develop for Windows, and I can see them changing things around to deep-six Mono or any other third party software.
What I think a lot of folks are saying is that the certification of C# is meaningless-- it's what the companies do, and it's more a matter of who do you trust more? The biggest beef I have with Sun is not that they haven't sought to have Java standardized (the Java Community Process seems to work well enough)-- it's that they havenn't pushed hard enough to enhance the capabilities of Java, i.e., make the JVM more efficient, extend the capabilities of Java, etc. C# may be standardized but MS might change the language tomorrow for all I know, and you'd be starting from scratch if you're a C# programmer-- and you'd really be in deep doodoo if you are a Mono developer.
I just think that it's really suspicious that Bushie said in a speech right after the Sept. 11 attacks, "This is the reason for my administration"... like he had some foreknowledge of this threat, and did nothing about it. One wonders what they did know, and why they are such a secretive bunch. But that's what we get from a President who is appointed by fiat by the Supreme Court. They feel like they can do whatever the hell they want. In this light, everything seems like a politcal stunt to get the Reichsfuhrer re-elected-- I don't think the Florida ruse will be tolerated a second time. The question is, will the American people allow him to survive a second term? IMHO, we should ask Mexico to please take back Texas-- the other 49 states have had enough of this BUllSHit.
You can get 'em in different sizes, you know...even one that is the size of a Smokey Joe. All you need is a power outlet and a spare USB port. ;)
I used to work at a department store that had a housewares department. We sold George Forman grills, and we would no sooner have them stocked on the selling floor than they would be sold-- they were that popular.
To me, this seems like the next logical step for the George Forman grill line. Hungry? Have an available hunk of raw meat nearby? Maybe in your brown bag? Got some spare CPU cycles? (most everybody does) Boy, are you in luck! Just plug that grill into your USB port, and in about 10 minutes...Lunch! Lean, mean, and grilled to perfection!
Okay, I'll get out of Ron Popeil mode, and just say that I hope it comes with Linux drivers-- I'm just concerned it will get a little underdone if you run it with Windows ;)
?tahW siht si na lirpA slooF ?ekoJ
The way I see it, Mozilla and Opera fills a valuable role as the browser that comes out with leading edge/bleeding edge features first. Netscape incorporates what's in Mozilla shortly after they're proven, and then MSIE scrambles to catch up with Mozilla. I'm not disappointed that it doesn't have a big chunk of the desktop; what I'm disappointed in is the courts and the government, who haven't done the job of restraining Microsoft in its attempts to wreck the competition. Anyhow, I am loving Mozilla 1.3: have been enjoying tabbed browsing for a while now (coming soon to IE, I hear), and am just loving the popup suppression in this latest version. I run it as the default browser on all of my desktops, and the xft font package on Linux looks fantastic. I am patient enough to wait for the rest of the world to follow.
I think it's precisely because of the MCSE that this is a controversy. If I were a "real" engineer, I, too, would be pissed that people possessing this piece of paper have the word "engineer" in their certification. Folks with MCSEs are certified to possess only knowledge about Windows and the most general knowledge of networking.
Personally, I think in no way is programming a kind of engineering. I perceive the usual job designation of "Software Engineer" to be one of systems programming, i.e., lower-level functionality that might be written in C or Perl or maybe assembly language, often for a general purpose or multipurpose use. OTOH, "Application Programmers" are those who write software that utilizes lower-level functionality to create an application for a specific purpose, i.e., "keep an inventory of our widgets".
In both of these cases, you are writing software that utilizes tools created from a lower-level tool. So maybe those who create those base tools-- compilers, assemblers, and maybe kernel hackers-- are real "software engineers". The rest of us are "programmers" because we are using tools that abstract at least one level up from the base level of functionality of machine code.
I am not hung up on not being considered part of an "engineering" discipline-- I see myself as an "Information Technologist", where my job is to apply the technology to real-world situations. Sounds like engineering, but I can understand why "software engineering" isn't yet accepted as a canonical engineering discipline: it's not mature. There is no single method that has been determined to create solid software. When that day comes, then perhaps programming/software engineering will be taken more seriously.
No, what really annoys me is launching up2date after getting the emails and then finding out the servers are closed to all but those who are paid RHN subscribers. Instead, I went directly to the Samba, Ximian, etc. sites and just got the RPMs directly from the dev teams.
Tired of viruses, spyware, and popup ads...
Of course, Microsoft has been beaten to the punch on this, as right now, running Linux, Mozilla 1.3, and Evolution takes care of all of these concerns, with no loss of control over one's machine.
*sigh* [thinks on how to publicize this...]
The new way: An erroneous hit is made on you in NCIC. The officer deviates from procedure and federal law by not confirming the hit with the ORI. You sue the local agency for violation of civil rights. The judge finds the local agency and arresting officer liable. You still get money. Hooray.
I anticipate the next step out of this: Heinrich Himmler, er, John Ashcroft's Justice Department will advocate for a new law or reg to absolve law enforcement of the responsibility for false arrest because of inaccurate NCIC information. We are under a government that has little to no regard for the rights of individuals, and in the pursuit of securing us from terrorism to "defend freedom", they will surely destroy freedom.
The other issue here is whether inaccurate information should be allowed to remain on NCIC, just because it supposedly fits into patterns of behavior that they want to keep track of. It seems to me that they should have another database that relates to alleged terrorist activity, etc., and not use NCIC as a fount of data for mere allegations. It encourages a practice of arresting someone just because they "look suspicious" and gee, they happen to have a bunch of old speeding tickets back in Speed Trap. We all know that there are overzealous and bigoted cops out there, and this is the kind of practice that NCIC was meant to help prevent-- in addition to allowing them to direct their efforts at catching those who really are suspects.
Get yourself to your closest Linux user group: a list can be found with this link. You'll find folks there who have probably been through the problems you are experiencing, and who will be helpful. Unlike Mandrake, RedHat, and SuSE, it's the business of LUG's to share what they know... and it's always free.
In the tradition of campers who keep asking, "Is BSD dying?", I have to ask: is the commercial software business dying? I realize that this decision on Office Depot's part to become Microsoft's bitch affects hardware as well, but it seems to me that the real pinch of this move is going to come most significantly to the software business. If MS can make this arrangement stick, it will hit the commercial software houses the hardest. After all, why would the Beast "certify" anything for Windows XP if it is in a category that they would like to dominate? I have in mind the things that Intuit, Symantec, and other vendors who sell popular desktop programs and have a significant market share. If they don't dance to MS' tune, then they might get locked out of the retail channel. Then again, that would be grounds for another lawsuit, which, by the time the court rules against MS, said companies could be out of business. Not that it would be any great loss in some cases...
It seems to me that Microsoft not providing a version of Server 2003 for Opteron could be a monumental blunder for their designs on the server market. After all, SuSE and Mandrake reputedly already have 86x64 versions of their OS ready to go; so when the processor is ready for release, there will be at least 2 Linux distros that will run on it. A lot of us have already decided that we have no use for Microsoft, but it seems like the Beast would want to have a presence in this new market.
VQ, I don't do "official denials". I cannot speak for what the policy of the U.S. government has been or is now. I speak as a concerned individual who believes that those who have perpetrated as much evil as the former leadership of Yugoslavia must be brought to account for their actions. No matter how you may feel about the outcomes of the conflicts in the Balkans, people there deserve that much at least. It does a great disservice to
You presuppose that Ignatieff agrees with you in your belief that maintaining the "territorial integrity" of Yugoslavia is a better end than the freedom of people. As a matter of fact, he doesn't agree with that assumption and supported the NATO intervention in Kosovo, to protect the Kosovar Albanians. His point on "proxy wars" is that they are fraught with risk because you are dealing with an outside party that you can't control. You can't call Kosovo a "proxy war", because it required the direct intervention of NATO through the dispatch of planes and troops. I can't say that I totally buy your notion of a U.S. conspiracy to control the Balkans because of a desire to secure an oil pipeline route, just as I don't think the only motivation for the war on Iraq is all about oil, either.
Now, were the Serbs wrong to call the KLA a terrorist group - when its mission was to kill the police and others who refused to support them?...
How come that is terrorism if it occurs in America, but "freedom fighting" when it occurs in Yugoslavia?
A favorite saying of some people is "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter". However, the difference between the terrorists and the freedom fighters is that those who fight for their freedom are usually those who are fighting against the establishment who typically have more power than they do. If they have any integrity, they target their attacks against the arms of the state. Such was the case with the KLA, and they were fighting against the Serb government, which was all too willing to use its power to oppress the Kosovar Albanians. And as you point out, they were taking on arms of the state-- the police and the military-- in their battles. Sept. 11 and Oklahoma City were attacks on mostly civilian targets.
From the official indictment against Milosevic:
Approximately 800,000 Kosovo Albanian civilians were expelled from the province by their forced removal and subsequent looting and destruction of their homes, or by the shelling of villages. Surviving residents were sent to the borders of neighbouring countries. En route, many were killed, abused and had their possessions and identification papers stolen. Furthermore, specific massacres allegedly committed by Serb forces in places such as Dakovica/Gjakove, Suva Reka/Suhareke, Racak/Reçak, Bela Crkva/Bellacerke, Mala Krusa/Krushe e Vogel, Velika Krusa/Krushe e Mahde, Padaliste/Padalishte, Izbica/Izbice, Vucitrn/Vushtrri, Dubrava/Dubrave Prison complex, Meja/Meje and Kacani/Kacanik are listed in the indictment.
If you want to see the evidence entered against Milosevic over Kosovo, check it out: http://www.un.org/icty/glance/milosevic.htm
In the absence of evidence to exonerate Milosevic, I find it puzzling that anyone would defend the indefensible.
Your post is slightly off topic, but nonetheless deserves a response, because it seems to attempt to whitewash the ambition of the Yugoslavian regime in 1999 to move against the Kosovar Albanians in the desire of Milosevic & Co. for a "greater Serbia".
Only one word need be mentioned to inform the decision of NATO to move against Yugoslavia on the matter of Kosovo...BOSNIA. It is not for nothing that Slobodan Milosevic is on trial for crimes against humanity: for aiding and abetting the massacre of Bosnian Muslims and Croats, the evidence of which cannot be denied. Yes, yes, atrocities were committed against the Bosnian Serbs as well, and I believe that those responsible should be brought to justice. But it seems to me that the use of military force in Kosovo was justified, because there was a clear and present danger to ethnic Albanians there, based on past actions on the part of the Yugoslav government. That events did not transpire there in the way that they did in Bosnia is perhaps a testament to the deterrent effect that relatively early intervention had in preventing the situation from getting much worse.
The speculation that NATO may have killed more Kosovar civilians than the Yugoslav military or Serbian militias is just that: speculation. What is not speculation is that there is blood on the hands of Milosevic and Radovan Karadzic, and that people all over the former Yugoslav republics are looking for justice and an accounting of the actions of those in power during the wars. As for most of the news organizations you mention, they are independent, not state apparati, and have little interest in promoting an agenda that is anti-Serb or pro-Albanian. A humanitarian crisis or war anywhere is going to get some air time because it is a matter of life and death for the people involved.
Remember, it was B-92 in Belgrade that made the first crack in Milosevic's hold on power...because they told the truth. This is a testament to the power of the news media to effect change when they are not an arm of the state.
We need to have a new moderation flag: -1, Propaganda. This post merits it.