I just feel that needing the latest and greatest so that you can "love your PC again" when all you're using is an office suite just might be a sign that the office suite is bloated well beyond what is required.
The Office suite is simply where most users will spend their working hours.
But "after hours" is just as important to many folks - and a PC that is strong in media play, media production and gaming is the win win choice.
Call it the system builder price - if you are inclined to be charitable.
Dell's consumer product is the OEM system bundle.
Which - coincidentally - is pretty much the whole of the consumer PC market. Heathkit died about thirty years back.
Dell will gladly sell you any flavor of OEM Office.
But the chances are really quite good that your employer supports Microsoft's Home User program, or that you are eligible for academic pricing or other discounts.
While its unfortunate that this error killed people
There is no mention of any deaths.
Even under normal circumstances, the procedure requires more radiation than most other types of CT scans. Radiation exposure increases the likelihood of cancer, though the risk is lower in older patients because they are likely to die of other causes first.
The median age of these patients is 70 years - and they are surely far more at risk of a second - more dibilitating - stroke than a cancer that might not manifest itself for another five, ten, or fifteen years.
As a philosopher, I know that a computer will never be self-aware.
But how do you know that?
I can't see any fundamental difference between an organic brain and an inorganic brain that is built on the same model and to the same level of complexity.
I still own one of these things. Unfortunately it failed for the same reason LaserDisc failed - it couldn't record live television or home movies as VHS could do.
There were other problems, not least the weight and bulk of the disk and caddy.
The "light" wasn't for the blacks who built the University of Virginia or who were brought to the school as servants for its - all-male - students.
Jefferson lived as aristocrats have always lived - pretty much as if he had unlimited funds - and unlimited hands to draw upon - and like many of his class he spent most of his life on the edge of bankruptcy.
This tends to have disastrous consequences for those dependent on The Master's patronage.
Jefferson's slaves might reasonably have asked why they weren't being compensated for their own contributions - or whether they might be in better hands with a northerner who knew how to turn an idea into an invention that just might bring in some much-needed cash.
It interests me how easily the populist-anarchic-socialist-libertarian geek takes on the coloration of an aristocratic elite- when the really interesting things in American art and invention have always had solid lower and middle class roots - a world thoroughly tainted with thoughts of property and profit.
It can be almost trivially easy to build a profile - age, sex, sexual preferences, employment, education - based on resources accessible to anyone on the net.
Enlightening people on the benefits of FOSS is surely the only way.
FOSS is a development model.
One of many.
Users care only about the finished product, whether it is a game or an office suite - and users have their own needs, interests and values.
Ideological purity or political correctness do not rank high among them.
FOSS is not exclusive to Linux.
FOSS can be piss-poor in delivering a product attractive to the non-technical end user.
This is never more evident than in gaming.
The lone programmer can still produce can produce an appealing casual game like Tetris.
But the demands for outside talent escalate rapidly in other genres.
The original Half-Life was compelling because Black Mesa had the "look and feel" of a real place.
Not the geek's combat arena.
Not the dark house of a third-rate amusement park. These illusions are hard to create and difficult to sustain.
Half-Life had a narrative. There were moments of quiet when you could think your way through a problem.
The search for the "killer app" is problematic.
Linux needs "best of breed" in every genre. Not four or five apps that can be trivially ported.
The Windows backlist is immensely strong in the consumer market space. I'd take the odds that Print Shop has a stronger hold on its users than The Gimp.
You want the original Fallout trilogy ready-to-run on Win 7?
Ever wonder how John Brown financed and armed his men for the raid on Harper's Ferry?
It makes for quite a story:
The Secret Six were not hardscrabble ruffians or ex-slaves but men of culture, education, and fortune, and, as such, an especial threat to the slave- holding plutocracy Five of the six were from Boston: Higginson a preacher and a writer; Sanborn a young writer, teacher, and protégé of Ralph Waldo Emerson; Howe a world- renowned physician who worked with the blind and deaf; Theodore Parker a well-known abolitionist and Unitarian preacher; and George L. Stearns a prosperous manufacturer. The sixth member, Gerrit Smith, was a rich upstate New York businessman and philanthropist.Civil War Chronicles: The Secret Six
First off, it's hard to believe guys like this decide to blow things up.
It isn't hard to believe at all.
Intellectuals of a certain type have always been attracted to games of espionage, treason and conspiracy - and "game" is, I think, the right word here:
The problem for OEMs is that it's hard for them to sell a computer with Linux because people can't install The Sims 3 on it. ASUS did the world a massive favour with their Linux netbooks which demonstrated that as long as you don't have a slot to put Sims 3 discs in and does all the things that Windows does you need not pay the Microsoft tax
The Linux netbook exited the WalMart stage faster than a Granny Greeter with the runs.
It wasn't as capable or as attractive as the competition.
WalMart.com offers over fifty systems eligible for a free upgrade to Win 7, none priced over $1700. The least expensive, $400.
It's a good mix of mid-line tech including an attractive desktop replacement from Toshiba with a 64 GB SSD and 320 GB HDD.
The gamer can begin with The Underdogs, Download.com and Gog.com.
There is D2D and Steam.
If he wants the jewel cased game or the collector's edition with the retro-styled lithographed lunch box and collectible candle there is Amazon.com.
That doesn't even begin to exhaust the possibilities.
If you want FOSS, you can have FOSS. Pretty much everything in your Linux repository remotely of interest to the non-technical end user will be ported to Widows or begin as a native Windows.
The Sun JAVA Store. iTunes. Netflix. Rhapsody. Live365. Rental services. Subscription services.
Freeware. Shareware. Add-ware. It's a genuinely open market, and there is nothing like it in the world.
Windows has the broadest support in hardware and software of any consumer oriented OS on the planet.
a very limited number of known products, specific browsers which have been concluded by the European Commission should be included on the ballot screen.
Does anyone else find it really, really, strange that the allegedly libertarian geek would accept without protest - even demand - that the state bureaucracy give its stamp of approval before a browser can appear on the ballot?
Can't he see what a precedent this sets?
Surfing the political wave is treacherous - with dramatic shifts from left to right. FOSS and anti-trust can wipe-out.
He is not limited to a screen shot and a paragraph or two of description - which will inevitably be fretted and fussed over word-by-word by the anal-retentive geek and EU bureaucrat.
Slashdot Mirror
That people aren't comfortable with Linux isn't Linux's fault.
In less than one year the Win 7 Beta/RC went on from nothing to capture a 1.5% share of the global desktop.
OSX 10.5 with its impeccable UNIX roots took 3%.
Vista holds about 20% of the market.
Linux simply seems to have run out of gas. Top Operating System Share Trend, OS Platform Statistics
Linux's part of the bargain is complete.
The bargain is never complete until you make the sale.
You know you can install Windows on a Mac, right?
But the Mac is typically available only in a half dozen or so standard configurations.
With Windows there is a broad spectrum of product available at every price point.
I just feel that needing the latest and greatest so that you can "love your PC again" when all you're using is an office suite just might be a sign that the office suite is bloated well beyond what is required.
The Office suite is simply where most users will spend their working hours.
But "after hours" is just as important to many folks - and a PC that is strong in media play, media production and gaming is the win win choice.
The Geek - always - quotes retail list.
For parts.
Call it the system builder price - if you are inclined to be charitable.
Dell's consumer product is the OEM system bundle.
Which - coincidentally - is pretty much the whole of the consumer PC market. Heathkit died about thirty years back.
Dell will gladly sell you any flavor of OEM Office.
But the chances are really quite good that your employer supports Microsoft's Home User program, or that you are eligible for academic pricing or other discounts.
What? Sigh. Once again, all together now: Piracy is not stealing.
The Black Flag was flying over the Carribbean when "piracy" was first used to descrbe copyright infringement.
The connection was anchored then. High profile sites like "The Pirate Bay keep it anchored now.
This a not a battle the geek can win. He can't even hold the line on Slashdot.
"
But wait, there's one more oddity in the same sentence: "more money" - which assumes that money is made at all by piracy
The line can't even be held within a single post.
There is money to made in "pirated" IP of every sort: New wave of pirates has psoriasis, frat boy hair; no peglegs
But Ars Technica got one fact wrong. The DOJ will prosecute an individual who is not in the game for the money:
San Diego County Man Pleads Guilty In Movie Piracy Case for posting 'Slumdog Millionaire' On Internet
A word to the wise:
This was a guilty plea on a felony charge.
The Feds award the geek bonus points for the upload of a pre-release screener.
Hopefully this also means that those three-strike laws wont be possible, since getting broadband access should be a legal right.
Legal rights and privileges are often conditional on good behavior - and they can be forfeit.
Your "Right to Travel" isn't a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card.
Being trained to fully understand the laws of physics would certainly decrease automobile accidents.
The geek tends to assume he has complete, accurate and timely information -
That he is in full control of the situation -
and that the correct response will simply pop out a slot.
While its unfortunate that this error killed people
There is no mention of any deaths.
Even under normal circumstances, the procedure requires more radiation than most other types of CT scans. Radiation exposure increases the likelihood of cancer, though the risk is lower in older patients because they are likely to die of other causes first.
The median age of these patients is 70 years - and they are surely far more at risk of a second - more dibilitating - stroke than a cancer that might not manifest itself for another five, ten, or fifteen years.
As a philosopher, I know that a computer will never be self-aware.
But how do you know that?
I can't see any fundamental difference between an organic brain and an inorganic brain that is built on the same model and to the same level of complexity.
Why should one be self-aware and the other not?
I still own one of these things. Unfortunately it failed for the same reason LaserDisc failed - it couldn't record live television or home movies as VHS could do.
There were other problems, not least the weight and bulk of the disk and caddy.
For pictures of a typical Sears player: Adam's Selectavison Page
They have caught a couple people but investigated dozens of innocent people.
In the real world, federal criminal investigations don't play out like Columbo.
There can be hundreds of possibilities at least worth considering.
Here's what Thomas Jefferson said
Jefferson was part of the slave-holding elite.
The "light" wasn't for the blacks who built the University of Virginia or who were brought to the school as servants for its - all-male - students.
Jefferson lived as aristocrats have always lived - pretty much as if he had unlimited funds - and unlimited hands to draw upon - and like many of his class he spent most of his life on the edge of bankruptcy.
This tends to have disastrous consequences for those dependent on The Master's patronage.
Jefferson's slaves might reasonably have asked why they weren't being compensated for their own contributions - or whether they might be in better hands with a northerner who knew how to turn an idea into an invention that just might bring in some much-needed cash.
It interests me how easily the populist-anarchic-socialist-libertarian geek takes on the coloration of an aristocratic elite-
when the really interesting things in American art and invention have always had solid lower and middle class roots - a world thoroughly tainted with thoughts of property and profit.
Because women don't volunteer their time for FOSS development, men are sexist? Sorry, I just don't follow that logic.
You have more invested than your time and skills - you have invested your trust in others and your own self-respect:
When the environment is hostile it makes sense to move on.
The argument isn't that men are sexist - it's that the geek is sexist - or - more tellingly - sexually immature.
Adolescent.
on the internet nobody knows you're a dog.
This myth has been debunked so many times on Slashdot I can't even begin to count the number.
But this search link is suggestive:
site: yro:slashdot.org Internet profiling
It can be almost trivially easy to build a profile - age, sex, sexual preferences, employment, education - based on resources accessible to anyone on the net.
Enlightening people on the benefits of FOSS is surely the only way.
FOSS is a development model.
One of many.
Users care only about the finished product, whether it is a game or an office suite - and users have their own needs, interests and values.
Ideological purity or political correctness do not rank high among them.
FOSS is not exclusive to Linux.
FOSS can be piss-poor in delivering a product attractive to the non-technical end user.
This is never more evident than in gaming.
The lone programmer can still produce can produce an appealing casual game like Tetris.
But the demands for outside talent escalate rapidly in other genres.
The original Half-Life was compelling because Black Mesa had the "look and feel" of a real place.
Not the geek's combat arena.
Not the dark house of a third-rate amusement park. These illusions are hard to create and difficult to sustain.
Half-Life had a narrative. There were moments of quiet when you could think your way through a problem.
The search for the "killer app" is problematic.
Linux needs "best of breed" in every genre. Not four or five apps that can be trivially ported.
The Windows backlist is immensely strong in the consumer market space. I'd take the odds that Print Shop has a stronger hold on its users than The Gimp.
You want the original Fallout trilogy ready-to-run on Win 7?
Look any farther than Gog.com.
Ever wonder how John Brown financed and armed his men for the raid on Harper's Ferry?
It makes for quite a story:
The Secret Six were not hardscrabble ruffians or ex-slaves but men of culture, education, and fortune, and, as such, an especial threat to the slave- holding plutocracy Five of the six were from Boston: Higginson a preacher and a writer; Sanborn a young writer, teacher, and protégé of Ralph Waldo Emerson; Howe a world- renowned physician who worked with the blind and deaf; Theodore Parker a well-known abolitionist and Unitarian preacher; and George L. Stearns a prosperous manufacturer. The sixth member, Gerrit Smith, was a rich upstate New York businessman and philanthropist. Civil War Chronicles: The Secret Six
You work with what you have.
It isn't hard to believe at all.
Intellectuals of a certain type have always been attracted to games of espionage, treason and conspiracy - and "game" is, I think, the right word here:
Cambridge Five, Whittaker Chambers
Most probably don't expect to be around when things blow up - but now and again you may find an exception: 2001 Anthrax Attacks
These guys are so smart.
The geek really ought to have learned by now that the smart and the arrogant make stupid mistakes. Hans Reiser
Remember Bush was friends with Osama Bin Laden's family. It's not trolling it's a fact.
Don't think of it as a family - think of it as a clan of about 600 with close connections to the Saudi royal house.
But close is worth perhaps $5 billion tops. It doesn't put you in the line of succession. It doesn't rake in the really big bucks.
The Bin Laden fortune is rooted in construction and, specifically, the restoration of landmarks like the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Anyone with an interest in the theater, psychology or history could have told you how this story is going to play out.
bin Laden family
The problem for OEMs is that it's hard for them to sell a computer with Linux because people can't install The Sims 3 on it. ASUS did the world a massive favour with their Linux netbooks which demonstrated that as long as you don't have a slot to put Sims 3 discs in and does all the things that Windows does you need not pay the Microsoft tax
The Linux netbook exited the WalMart stage faster than a Granny Greeter with the runs.
It wasn't as capable or as attractive as the competition.
WalMart.com offers over fifty systems eligible for a free upgrade to Win 7, none priced over $1700. The least expensive, $400.
It's a good mix of mid-line tech including an attractive desktop replacement from Toshiba with a 64 GB SSD and 320 GB HDD.
The gamer can begin with The Underdogs, Download.com and Gog.com.
There is D2D and Steam.
If he wants the jewel cased game or the collector's edition with the retro-styled lithographed lunch box and collectible candle there is Amazon.com.
That doesn't even begin to exhaust the possibilities.
If you want FOSS, you can have FOSS. Pretty much everything in your Linux repository remotely of interest to the non-technical end user will be ported to Widows or begin as a native Windows.
The Sun JAVA Store. iTunes. Netflix. Rhapsody. Live365. Rental services. Subscription services.
Freeware. Shareware. Add-ware. It's a genuinely open market, and there is nothing like it in the world.
Windows has the broadest support in hardware and software of any consumer oriented OS on the planet.
That is the real meaning of The Microsoft Tax.
Microsoft are free to add as many additional browsers as they like to the list.
And the EU is free to subtract as many browsers as it likes from the list.
2: Raise prices to drive down demand like this schmuck suggests, lose customers.
I'd say that depends on which customers you lose. It can make perfect sense to lighten the load.
How considerate of you to dirty-up my Windoze with Innerweb Exploder
It's talk like this that has me siding with the fullback who stuffs the dork in his locker.
a very limited number of known products, specific browsers which have been concluded by the European Commission should be included on the ballot screen.
Does anyone else find it really, really, strange that the allegedly libertarian geek would accept without protest - even demand - that the state bureaucracy give its stamp of approval before a browser can appear on the ballot?
Can't he see what a precedent this sets?
Surfing the political wave is treacherous - with dramatic shifts from left to right. FOSS and anti-trust can wipe-out.
With a browser installed by default the user can go online and compare the home pages of other browsers.
He can - if he chooses - seek out independent reviews.
The more technically minded might be attracted to resources like Secunia: Vulnerability Report: Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.x
He is not limited to a screen shot and a paragraph or two of description -
which will inevitably be fretted and fussed over word-by-word by the anal-retentive geek and EU bureaucrat.