The problem with the US system is that people are just inclined to stick to voting for major powerbases, that they know and (rightly or wrongly) trust, so you end up with 2 parties that have a hope in hell of being elected. What's needed is for the elected persons to be held accountable for _everything_ they do. That's where Accountabilitarianism comes in.
As you have stated several times, you're concentrating on *short-term* costs of retraining people to get used to the way Opensource OSs and tools work. That's just as blinkered a way of thinking as always buying Microsoft, and you shoulod be looking at the long term picture! Once people WERE retrained, and OSS admins WERE plentiful, the long-term savings in software licensing costs would be tremendous.
They have to spend taxpayer's money to get the same stuff at an inflated cost?
Yes, I think that's precisely the point. The same software, but also support (for people used to Microsoft software simplicity), and someone to blame if it all goes wrong.
Most people (except for the real geeks, maybe) follow a pattern in their passwords. If you know the pattern, it makes the job easier.
It's amazing how many people don't make their password a random string. I just use the same randomly generated string, "LEAHOT", for every password and have no problems remembering it because I use it all the time.
Erm, that's a pretty nasty 'test' to try. Heck, that might even fool *me*. Not only are they giving their password to a system rather than a person (vastly more secure to start with), but it was a.mil website? How exactly are they meant to determine when a website is to be trusted then? You have to give your password out to some machine *sometime*.
What's next? We shouldn't use power outlets, controller ports, or component cable connections in games because the male and female ends unintentionally demonstrate male penile dominance over the female end's simulated vagina, and thus alienate female gamers?
Looks like we could have a reneissance of Freud's psychodynamic theory - except this time, people don't just dream of objects representing their supressed desires, they see them in real life!!
When was the last time you used a TV/console/stereo to create and print a neat letter, create a useful program, discuss something with somebody on the other side of the world (at an unmetered price rate), do advanced digital image editing... or, more importantly, have the ability to do *all* of those things, and more, in one session?
Telephones seem to be, more or less, for everyone. No telephone (whether it be landline or mobile) and people just won't be able to contact you very easily. The argument is that the internet is more than just a biiiig reference; it's a communications medium. One that has the potential to take over the function of the phone, and enhance it, and therefore, it may eventually be for everyone.
I wonder if this points to a class of telecommunications non-consumers - a certain group that simply doesn't consume or appreciate communications media enough to spend additional disposable income beyond what is freely available.
Seeing as how the single most progressive invention of humans so far has been that of advanced communication, I would think that evolution would mean these people will become fewer and fewer. Communications skills are the new strength; those who aren't willing to try and make use of advanced communications architecture are less likely to succeed and maybe even be happy. Maybe that's partly why younger generations are more friendly to communications technology - not just because they can learn more easily, but because society is evolving towards more and more communication.:-)
Your comment is utterly idiotic. What do you expect MS to do, put in a 'font prettiness' algorithm to decide whether it's attractive enough? Or only let certain fonts be dispayed, 'nice' fonts? Giving them yet more control over YOUR computer.
The idea that one OS would dominate is a natural one, but there is nothing natural about Windows being dominant,
Actually, its friendlier interface, better support (now declining rapidly) and the fact that there was a lot of compatible software make Windows the naturally dominant OS.
especially in network server environments.... and isn't the backbone of the internet *NIX?
AOL provides a wonderful environment for children to learn! All my friends use it for their homework, the service is great! And I can "talk" to my friend through it too! The most important thing is that the "whole family" can use it *safely*. We don't allow any paedophiles in the chatrooms. And this wonderful service, including access to the "internet", is included in the monthly fee! And you only have to pay hourly access charges on top! You just won't find a better deal!
5. What you see when you want to use a browser that's damn fast, uses the OS's default interface instead of sloooowly drawing its own, forgives the odd small coding error, supports file formats in, frankly, a much more sensible way than relying on MIME types.....
Sorry Mozilla, but you suck. And Opera is a TV chat show.
Your site looks cool. However, the question I would ask is this: what happens when CD Baby gets big? Not meant to be a joke; but won't it just become the next RIAA? Before you say no, consider that one or two artists are bound to become enormous, if you get big enough, and will want promotion, a legal team (for when they are sued by assholes), etc. And what will be done to address these needs? Won't record companies be formed, the RIAA companies of tomorrow? And if not, how else will you prevent this from happening?
I asked around on IRC for a couple of hours, ordered my 17" ViewSonic from an online store, got it in the post a couple of days later and never had a problem with it. *shrug*
Perhaps it was the adjective that NTL used that made it particularly false: 'high speed' broadband. I don't consider 128k to be 'high speed' for a broadband connection.
How about termly? That's the tried and tested system that's been going on for many decades now, and it seems to work pretty damn well. Checking up on your child's grades weekly or monthly seems very excessive to me, and could well make the child seem restricted/untrusted.
Fact is, if you don't occasionally help the kids 'clean' their room, you might just miss a dime bag of pot.
Ahem, if you're going to pick on drugs then at least pick a genuinely dangerous one like Heroin. You Americans need to lighten up and realise that cannabis should be *LEGALIZED* because it's *NOT DANGEROUS*!
Slashdot Mirror
"I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy but that could change." .Governor George W. Bush, Jr., 5/22/98
LOL! Talk about a Freudian slip. Did he really say that??
The problem with the US system is that people are just inclined to stick to voting for major powerbases, that they know and (rightly or wrongly) trust, so you end up with 2 parties that have a hope in hell of being elected. What's needed is for the elected persons to be held accountable for _everything_ they do. That's where Accountabilitarianism comes in.
As you have stated several times, you're concentrating on *short-term* costs of retraining people to get used to the way Opensource OSs and tools work. That's just as blinkered a way of thinking as always buying Microsoft, and you shoulod be looking at the long term picture! Once people WERE retrained, and OSS admins WERE plentiful, the long-term savings in software licensing costs would be tremendous.
freshmeat not good enough for them?
No.
They have to spend taxpayer's money to get the same stuff at an inflated cost?
Yes, I think that's precisely the point. The same software, but also support (for people used to Microsoft software simplicity), and someone to blame if it all goes wrong.
*sigh*
:-(
And that comment was supposed to be surrounded in <constroversy></controversy> tags, but Slashdot filtered them out
If the American political system worked, Gore would be president right now. :-)
Most people (except for the real geeks, maybe) follow a pattern in their passwords. If you know the pattern, it makes the job easier.
It's amazing how many people don't make their password a random string. I just use the same randomly generated string, "LEAHOT", for every password and have no problems remembering it because I use it all the time.
And yeah, there was a joke in there.
You have a weird sense of humor.
Erm, that's a pretty nasty 'test' to try. Heck, that might even fool *me*. Not only are they giving their password to a system rather than a person (vastly more secure to start with), but it was a .mil website? How exactly are they meant to determine when a website is to be trusted then? You have to give your password out to some machine *sometime*.
What's next? We shouldn't use power outlets, controller ports, or component cable connections in games because the male and female ends unintentionally demonstrate male penile dominance over the female end's simulated vagina, and thus alienate female gamers?
Looks like we could have a reneissance of Freud's psychodynamic theory - except this time, people don't just dream of objects representing their supressed desires, they see them in real life!!
When was the last time you used a TV/console/stereo to create and print a neat letter, create a useful program, discuss something with somebody on the other side of the world (at an unmetered price rate), do advanced digital image editing... or, more importantly, have the ability to do *all* of those things, and more, in one session?
Telephones seem to be, more or less, for everyone. No telephone (whether it be landline or mobile) and people just won't be able to contact you very easily. The argument is that the internet is more than just a biiiig reference; it's a communications medium. One that has the potential to take over the function of the phone, and enhance it, and therefore, it may eventually be for everyone.
I wonder if this points to a class of telecommunications non-consumers - a certain group that simply doesn't consume or appreciate communications media enough to spend additional disposable income beyond what is freely available.
:-)
Seeing as how the single most progressive invention of humans so far has been that of advanced communication, I would think that evolution would mean these people will become fewer and fewer. Communications skills are the new strength; those who aren't willing to try and make use of advanced communications architecture are less likely to succeed and maybe even be happy. Maybe that's partly why younger generations are more friendly to communications technology - not just because they can learn more easily, but because society is evolving towards more and more communication.
Your comment is utterly idiotic. What do you expect MS to do, put in a 'font prettiness' algorithm to decide whether it's attractive enough? Or only let certain fonts be dispayed, 'nice' fonts? Giving them yet more control over YOUR computer.
The idea that one OS would dominate is a natural one, but there is nothing natural about Windows being dominant,
... and isn't the backbone of the internet *NIX?
Actually, its friendlier interface, better support (now declining rapidly) and the fact that there was a lot of compatible software make Windows the naturally dominant OS.
especially in network server environments.
Heh :-)
:-)
I thought it was obvious it was a joke. Sorry
I was being sickeningly sarcastic. I hate AOL.
Three letters: AOL.
AOL provides a wonderful environment for children to learn! All my friends use it for their homework, the service is great! And I can "talk" to my friend through it too! The most important thing is that the "whole family" can use it *safely*. We don't allow any paedophiles in the chatrooms. And this wonderful service, including access to the "internet", is included in the monthly fee! And you only have to pay hourly access charges on top! You just won't find a better deal!
5. What you see when you want to use a browser that's damn fast, uses the OS's default interface instead of sloooowly drawing its own, forgives the odd small coding error, supports file formats in, frankly, a much more sensible way than relying on MIME types.....
Sorry Mozilla, but you suck. And Opera is a TV chat show.
Flamebait? Karma 2 burn.
If you want fair and balanced journalism you should be watchnig FOX news, not reading this site
I think listening to the president's speeches direct would be less biased...
I find this deliciously ironic, because the voiceover on the final ad goes something like "Don't ya love it when things just ... work?"
:-)
Well clearly things didn't "just work" if they needed 606 takes to get it right!!
Your site looks cool. However, the question I would ask is this: what happens when CD Baby gets big? Not meant to be a joke; but won't it just become the next RIAA? Before you say no, consider that one or two artists are bound to become enormous, if you get big enough, and will want promotion, a legal team (for when they are sued by assholes), etc. And what will be done to address these needs? Won't record companies be formed, the RIAA companies of tomorrow? And if not, how else will you prevent this from happening?
I asked around on IRC for a couple of hours, ordered my 17" ViewSonic from an online store, got it in the post a couple of days later and never had a problem with it. *shrug*
Perhaps it was the adjective that NTL used that made it particularly false: 'high speed' broadband. I don't consider 128k to be 'high speed' for a broadband connection.
How about termly? That's the tried and tested system that's been going on for many decades now, and it seems to work pretty damn well. Checking up on your child's grades weekly or monthly seems very excessive to me, and could well make the child seem restricted/untrusted.
Fact is, if you don't occasionally help the kids 'clean' their room, you might just miss a dime bag of pot.
Ahem, if you're going to pick on drugs then at least pick a genuinely dangerous one like Heroin. You Americans need to lighten up and realise that cannabis should be *LEGALIZED* because it's *NOT DANGEROUS*!