I totally agree. Since a small computer reseller doesn't have the buying power of the industry giants their prices will most definitely be above the prices of the larger OEM's. In some cases the Linux PC sellers seem to just buy retail from whomever, wipe out MS, install Linux, then charge through the nose for the same equipment you could buy for a large percentage less elsewhere. In any case, you are still paying for it in the higher prices charged for the pre-installed Linux PC's.
As the original poster said (modified slightly)...
Buy the laptop you want at the best price you can find, format the drive, install Linux and chuck the MS CD in the trash. As an added bonus you will truly demonstrate your hatred for the evil MS buy buying one of their products only to throw it in the garbage. That'll show them:-)
And apparently you seem to forget that business mail (junk mail as you call it) is in fact paid for by the parties that send it out. They send it of their own free will in order to promote their products. If we had no business mail (junk mail) at all I would absolutely hate to see the price we would have to pay to mail a letter. Business mail generates probably the largest source of revenue for the US Postal Service and thereby keeps your costs down. 37 cents ain't so bad for someone to take your letter to anyone anywhere in the entire country.
Spam email on the other hand does not pay for it's usage of the systems that transport it. It uses valuable and expensive bandwidth but pays nothing for it. Bandwidth is not free...and you and I end up paying the increased costs in order to support the spammers. To me spam email is no different than a junk fax. You send it and someone else has to pay for it.
There was a time many years ago where the internet did not exist as we know it today and you needed to use AOL, Compuserv, Prodigy, etc to "get online". I remember the old days of dialing into a service on my Apple II+ with a 300 baud modem. Nothing more than a real advanced massive user BBS. This was the only way for a home user to get connected to anything. Fast forward to the present day; we now have the internet and all of it's content ad nauseum.
I think the only users that are still on AOL or similar services are from the baby boomer era and prior. The level of computer literacy we have today is unbelievable. Try to find a 10 year old kid today that doesn't know how to use a computer. As the current generation grows up and the AOL generation dies off you will see AOL start to fail even worse than it currently is.
A friend of mine teaches computer classes and calculus at the local high school and junior college. According to him, the students in his computer classes usually know far more than he does and are usually more (gasp) Linux and BSD savvy than he ever was. Looks like a trend to me....as us old farts step down a newer and more computer literate generation is stepping up....and they most definitely do not need AOL or the stigma attached to using it. This is nothing more than a company who's time has come and gone attempting to hold on to what little is left in their rapidly dwindling demographic market.
Ok man, I see no "straw man" arguement here. I am not trying to hide a position I cannot defend. Guilty as charged...I thought I remembered the original posting and therefore did not feel that I had to reference it once again. The previous statement leaves nothing more to debate, you win...I have proven your point for you. I thought I had made this abundantly clear already. All that I am stating now is that the manner in which you replied to it was purely to be an asshole and nothing more. You are attempting to debate an arguement that doesn't exist!! Let me reiterate for you so that you may better comprehend. Yes...I fucked up. I thought I had my proverbial ducks in a goddamned row and posted what I thought was correct. I now know that I was not correct. You win....thats it....nothing more. There is no debate and there most definitely is not any form of "straw man" arguement here as that would require a disagreement of some kind.
Grow the hell up and attempt to find better ways to feel good about yourself that don't involve the need to point out other peoples flaws and gloat in your own perceived superiority. Yes....different topic...not the same debate. You "won?" the original one....and as far as I'm concerned I have spoken my peace and my conversation here has now ended.
"Sillycon rabbit, the bible is fiction."
Of course it is, no sarcasm intended at all. I think it's simply disgusting that so many people believe in these mystical gods that control and create everything. The worst of it is that they impose upon me laws and rules that are based upon their religion.
"Unfortunately for you, you are a member of the group that you detailed. Consider your original post. I suppose the thick sarcasm was meant to be informative, rather than insulting. Thought you got them good, didn't you?"
Actually, this all relates to the fact that I thought I had remembered the article stating that they were stringing them all up on a stringer and nothing more. I didn't feel the need to research it as I was sure that I remembered the original article. Surely you cannot possibly be so arrogant as to imply that you have never erred in a similar manner.
"Lesson to learn might be that you ought not attack when you haven't bothered to do your homework. Oh yeah I forgot, the original post was in the past. That was hard to tell from the nature of the Slashback article. Oh and I think Slashdot hasn't a search capability."
Actually, I think a better lesson here is that humans are not infallible; it's really not necessary to flame someone rather than inform them in an attempt to show off your intellectual prowess. If this was the "norm" we would all live in a world of assholes.
Whoopsie. Well, at least I feel good knowing that I made you feel better about yourself through pointing out other peoples flaws. If I hadn't goofed...well...who knows. You may not have had someone to point at and laugh about to boost your own self esteem:-) Those of us lowly non-humans who are not perfect such as yourself may make small mistakes such as in thinking that they remembered the original story that was posted several months ago?? And we also use run-on sentences as often as possible as to avoid the nasty punctuation stuff that a lot of people use to make their sentences textbook perfect so that they can impress all the smart people and laugh at all the dumm peeple liek m'eye self.
In any case...Imagine the wonderful free marketing tool this can be for AOL.:-)
Wow!! What a nice gesture!! You don't like my product so you won't be using it....then you are kind enough to return my promotional and advertisement materials to me free of charge so I can avoid the costs of having 1 Million more CD's made. Very nice guy!!! Saving AOL what must be several hundreds of thousands of dollars in CD pressing and printing fees has to be the nicest gesture I've ever heard of:-)
"If they reach their goal... I'd be happy to give them directions and greet them at the door... We would make a contribution ourselves to put them over the top" - Yes...I'm sure he would. This guy will obviously get a nice bonus check for all the money he saved his company.
This would be great news if.......
on
MAME To Become GPL?
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
The developers were able to add back the gambling type (fruit machines, blackjack, poker, etc.) games. I think the main reason for the source not being under the GPL was because of a) Nicola not liking the gambling games and b) The fear that the newer and still for sale Capcom, NeoGeo, and other roms may be added by someone causing pircay of new software. I do agree with not adding in current games that are still making money for their copyright holders. The crime of owning ROM images you do not own is still just as illegal regardless of their age unless the copyright has expired. I think the intentions of not emulating newer games was to help MAME "fly under the radar" of the IDSA.
As for the non-emulation of gambling type arcade games...well...it's a shame that someone would STOP others from adding that to the source.
"The lady did pay her bill in this case. It was the ISP who made the accounting mistake and wrongfully turned off her account."
And you know this how?? Simply because she says they did?? Maybe you should actually read the story before posting. She said she payed the bill...so obviously the ISP did not think there was a billing error. If the ISP had in fact found a billing error they would not have charged her and made her pay.
There are two sides to the story and you prefer to jump to conclusions based on one sides story only. I know...I know....Big companies just deserve to get screwed even if they are right.
SHE said that their accounting system screwed up. Why is it that there is only one side to this? Is it true that their accounting system screwed up simply because she thinks it did? Or is it simply that she: did not pay late charges, did not understand paying a bill in advance of the services she was receiving for the next month, or had been playing a constant game of catchup to the bill. Yes, people are used to paying for billed services in arrears....as in AFTER you receive the services. Phone bills, water bills, electricity bills, taxes...yup...all in arrears. ISP and Cable TV bills on the other hand are typically paid in advance.
This whole thing is pretty sad. I hear from people on a daily basis that don't pay their bill and wonder why their service is disconnected. I hear complaints to the effect of: "I'M LOSING $10,000.00 AN HOUR BECAUSE YOU &^%$@*&%^ DISCONNECTED ME!!!", "I HAVE IMPORTANT EMAIL THAT I NEED...I'M WAITING FOR AN IMPORTANT CLIENT!!!!", "I AM MISSING A CLASS THAT I HAD TO TAKE ONLINE FOR THE LATEST UNSKILLED STOOGE TRADE PSEUDO COLLEGE I AM ATTENDING!!. Well, the bottom line is simply pay your damned bill. If you refuse to pay your bill and decide to go to another ISP just email your contacts and inform them of the email address change.
The reason why the email accounts still accept mail and are not deleted immediately is due to the fact that some people may at times simply forget to pay the bill or have an outside entity (main corporate office) that pays the bill for them and may be a wee bit slow paying some months. This gives them the time to pay without having to lose their email accounts or any email that may have been delivered to them in the up to 2 months+ that they were in non-pay status. I can only imagine the hell there would be to pay if all accounts were deleted instantly at the time of nonpayment.
As far as her storefront analogy goes....it doesn't even make sense. She is comparing apples to oranges here. The ISP is NOT operating her business and acting as her agent in obtaining contracts. Lets say at her store that customers were mailing payments to her using the good old fashioned US Postal Service. It would NOT be her landlords responsibility to notify all her clients that her store was now closed....It would be HER responsibility to do this via a change of address notification to all of her clients.
Also, how are we sure that the ISP was in error?? Most people seem to have a hard time grasping the concept of their bill being payed for services in advance and not in arrears. Also, when people get late charges...they tend to think that they can simply pay the bill and not pay the late charges which can and DO accumulate over the months. I for one am waiting to see proof that the ISP was in error and it was simply not her own ignorance that caused the account to become delinquent in the first place. She should be happy that the ISP keeps her email for her for long enough to pay her damned bill or notify her contacts of her new address!!
Slashdot Mirror
Interstate 60 http://us.imdb.com/Title?0165832 Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt)http://us.imdb.com/Title?0130827
I totally agree. Since a small computer reseller doesn't have the buying power of the industry giants their prices will most definitely be above the prices of the larger OEM's. In some cases the Linux PC sellers seem to just buy retail from whomever, wipe out MS, install Linux, then charge through the nose for the same equipment you could buy for a large percentage less elsewhere. In any case, you are still paying for it in the higher prices charged for the pre-installed Linux PC's. As the original poster said (modified slightly)... Buy the laptop you want at the best price you can find, format the drive, install Linux and chuck the MS CD in the trash. As an added bonus you will truly demonstrate your hatred for the evil MS buy buying one of their products only to throw it in the garbage. That'll show them :-)
Spam email on the other hand does not pay for it's usage of the systems that transport it. It uses valuable and expensive bandwidth but pays nothing for it. Bandwidth is not free...and you and I end up paying the increased costs in order to support the spammers. To me spam email is no different than a junk fax. You send it and someone else has to pay for it.
I think the only users that are still on AOL or similar services are from the baby boomer era and prior. The level of computer literacy we have today is unbelievable. Try to find a 10 year old kid today that doesn't know how to use a computer. As the current generation grows up and the AOL generation dies off you will see AOL start to fail even worse than it currently is.
A friend of mine teaches computer classes and calculus at the local high school and junior college. According to him, the students in his computer classes usually know far more than he does and are usually more (gasp) Linux and BSD savvy than he ever was. Looks like a trend to me....as us old farts step down a newer and more computer literate generation is stepping up....and they most definitely do not need AOL or the stigma attached to using it. This is nothing more than a company who's time has come and gone attempting to hold on to what little is left in their rapidly dwindling demographic market.
Ok man, I see no "straw man" arguement here. I am not trying to hide a position I cannot defend. Guilty as charged...I thought I remembered the original posting and therefore did not feel that I had to reference it once again. The previous statement leaves nothing more to debate, you win...I have proven your point for you. I thought I had made this abundantly clear already. All that I am stating now is that the manner in which you replied to it was purely to be an asshole and nothing more. You are attempting to debate an arguement that doesn't exist!! Let me reiterate for you so that you may better comprehend. Yes...I fucked up. I thought I had my proverbial ducks in a goddamned row and posted what I thought was correct. I now know that I was not correct. You win....thats it....nothing more. There is no debate and there most definitely is not any form of "straw man" arguement here as that would require a disagreement of some kind. Grow the hell up and attempt to find better ways to feel good about yourself that don't involve the need to point out other peoples flaws and gloat in your own perceived superiority. Yes....different topic...not the same debate. You "won?" the original one....and as far as I'm concerned I have spoken my peace and my conversation here has now ended.
"Sillycon rabbit, the bible is fiction."
Of course it is, no sarcasm intended at all. I think it's simply disgusting that so many people believe in these mystical gods that control and create everything. The worst of it is that they impose upon me laws and rules that are based upon their religion.
"Unfortunately for you, you are a member of the group that you detailed. Consider your original post. I suppose the thick sarcasm was meant to be informative, rather than insulting. Thought you got them good, didn't you?"
Actually, this all relates to the fact that I thought I had remembered the article stating that they were stringing them all up on a stringer and nothing more. I didn't feel the need to research it as I was sure that I remembered the original article. Surely you cannot possibly be so arrogant as to imply that you have never erred in a similar manner.
"Lesson to learn might be that you ought not attack when you haven't bothered to do your homework. Oh yeah I forgot, the original post was in the past. That was hard to tell from the nature of the Slashback article. Oh and I think Slashdot hasn't a search capability."
Actually, I think a better lesson here is that humans are not infallible; it's really not necessary to flame someone rather than inform them in an attempt to show off your intellectual prowess. If this was the "norm" we would all live in a world of assholes.
In any case...Imagine the wonderful free marketing tool this can be for AOL. :-)
Have a wonderful evening.
"If they reach their goal ... I'd be happy to give them directions and greet them at the door ... We would make a contribution ourselves to put them over the top" - Yes...I'm sure he would. This guy will obviously get a nice bonus check for all the money he saved his company.
The developers were able to add back the gambling type (fruit machines, blackjack, poker, etc.) games. I think the main reason for the source not being under the GPL was because of a) Nicola not liking the gambling games and b) The fear that the newer and still for sale Capcom, NeoGeo, and other roms may be added by someone causing pircay of new software. I do agree with not adding in current games that are still making money for their copyright holders. The crime of owning ROM images you do not own is still just as illegal regardless of their age unless the copyright has expired. I think the intentions of not emulating newer games was to help MAME "fly under the radar" of the IDSA. As for the non-emulation of gambling type arcade games...well...it's a shame that someone would STOP others from adding that to the source.
"The lady did pay her bill in this case. It was the ISP who made the accounting mistake and wrongfully turned off her account." And you know this how?? Simply because she says they did?? Maybe you should actually read the story before posting. She said she payed the bill...so obviously the ISP did not think there was a billing error. If the ISP had in fact found a billing error they would not have charged her and made her pay. There are two sides to the story and you prefer to jump to conclusions based on one sides story only. I know...I know....Big companies just deserve to get screwed even if they are right.
SHE said that their accounting system screwed up. Why is it that there is only one side to this? Is it true that their accounting system screwed up simply because she thinks it did? Or is it simply that she: did not pay late charges, did not understand paying a bill in advance of the services she was receiving for the next month, or had been playing a constant game of catchup to the bill. Yes, people are used to paying for billed services in arrears....as in AFTER you receive the services. Phone bills, water bills, electricity bills, taxes...yup...all in arrears. ISP and Cable TV bills on the other hand are typically paid in advance.
This whole thing is pretty sad. I hear from people on a daily basis that don't pay their bill and wonder why their service is disconnected. I hear complaints to the effect of: "I'M LOSING $10,000.00 AN HOUR BECAUSE YOU &^%$@*&%^ DISCONNECTED ME!!!", "I HAVE IMPORTANT EMAIL THAT I NEED...I'M WAITING FOR AN IMPORTANT CLIENT!!!!", "I AM MISSING A CLASS THAT I HAD TO TAKE ONLINE FOR THE LATEST UNSKILLED STOOGE TRADE PSEUDO COLLEGE I AM ATTENDING!!. Well, the bottom line is simply pay your damned bill. If you refuse to pay your bill and decide to go to another ISP just email your contacts and inform them of the email address change.
The reason why the email accounts still accept mail and are not deleted immediately is due to the fact that some people may at times simply forget to pay the bill or have an outside entity (main corporate office) that pays the bill for them and may be a wee bit slow paying some months. This gives them the time to pay without having to lose their email accounts or any email that may have been delivered to them in the up to 2 months+ that they were in non-pay status. I can only imagine the hell there would be to pay if all accounts were deleted instantly at the time of nonpayment. As far as her storefront analogy goes....it doesn't even make sense. She is comparing apples to oranges here. The ISP is NOT operating her business and acting as her agent in obtaining contracts. Lets say at her store that customers were mailing payments to her using the good old fashioned US Postal Service. It would NOT be her landlords responsibility to notify all her clients that her store was now closed....It would be HER responsibility to do this via a change of address notification to all of her clients. Also, how are we sure that the ISP was in error?? Most people seem to have a hard time grasping the concept of their bill being payed for services in advance and not in arrears. Also, when people get late charges...they tend to think that they can simply pay the bill and not pay the late charges which can and DO accumulate over the months. I for one am waiting to see proof that the ISP was in error and it was simply not her own ignorance that caused the account to become delinquent in the first place. She should be happy that the ISP keeps her email for her for long enough to pay her damned bill or notify her contacts of her new address!!