What genocide are you talking about? Are you blaming the actions of settlers in the area now called America on all Christians? My ancestors in Finland had nothing to do with it nor did the ancestors of people from many other Christian nations. You logic is as flawed as if I were to suggest that all Muslims were to blame for 9/11.
I have news for you pal, northern Europe was populated by other humans before being displaced by migrations of Caucasians from the east. This type of "genocide" had been happening on continental Europe and the British Isles for several millennia. I think what the Americans did was wrong but you act as if this had not happened before. The natives were outmatched on this continent militarily just as they were when the Europeans invaded Europe from the east.
As for you comment on the cross, it is a symbol of the sacrifice. That dude took the worst possible punishment a criminal could receive when he was falsely accused. There in, lies the sacrifice bit. He represented the "lamb" of God. Lambs were considered "clean" animals suitable for sacrifice. Are you aware of other cultures in the past sacrificing virgins? Why do you think they chose virgins instead of just anybody? They answer is they represent purity.
You act as if Christ and Christians did something horrible to you or that he was out of touch with the rest of the world. Here are some facts for you:
He was conceived to an unwed mother. This would have been the greatest embarrassment in the middle east of that time.
He was born in a barn. If that is not "common", I don't know what is.
He worked as a carpenter until he was 30. Sounds like a hard working Joe doesn't he?
He ended up travelling from town to town often sleeping outside. Do you have a problem with homeless people?
Be thankful that you have a roof over your head and have the freedom to be the asshole you are all thanks to those "Evil Christians" that invaded North America. You are always free to leave if you don't like it.
Your right, they don't have animal fat shortening but rather vegetable oil shortening as one of the main ingredients. Same diff nutritionally speaking and only matters if you happen to be a vegetarian.
So, in other words, you believe everyone is going to hell then? You don't believe in either forgiveness or mercy? You must not have a lot of friends then. People make mistakes all the time and if you cannot forgive and forget, then I have a hard time seeing how you can keep friends for long.
Perhaps, you should go on a sabbatical and look inside yourself. Chances are, you will not be as "holier than thou" after you examine your own soul. Then perhaps you will see that everyone has sinned.
Here is a little tidbit for you about the religion you are slagging off on. Christ said that a man sins not only by the acts he commits or the words he utters but also by his thoughts. If you are thinking about wanting to kill me right now, you are no better than a murderer in the eyes of God.
You really don't seem to get it and are attacking a faith out of ignorance. People fear what they do not understand.
Stop being such a judgemental hypocrite. The hatred you feel hurts you more than it does those you hate.
Canada is a big place too. I prefer microbreweries like Lighthouse Brewing Company or Okanagan Springs. The latter produce a beer with no preservatives or pasteurization in keeping with the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516. They just use Water, Barely, Hops and Yeast.
What you refer to as Canadian bacon looks like ham to me or it might be called back bacon. Bacon is the same here as it is there.
What you Americans call regular beer would be called "light" beer here. Regular beer in Canada has a much higher alcohol content.
I cannot comment on cigarettes since I don't smoke but Krispy Kremes are just sugar and lard. Where is the bloody flour? I'm guessing that you guys don't dunk your donuts in coffee.
Google bought Keyhole and Keyhole was in partnership In-Q-Tel press release and they employ former spies. Could this have something to do with upgrading the capacity or features of Google Maps/Earth for government purposes?
What is a Fascists? How are they different from Socialists? Wasn't Stalin a Fascist? He certainly acted a lot like Hitler. Didn't Mussolini also employ socialist economic policies? The only Fascist regime that I can think of as being right wing would have been Spain. So, where do all of you people get this notion from?
It seems to me that there is a problem with our educational system in North America where students are not allowed to think for themselves but rather are brainwashed into thinking a certain way.
Excuse me, but apparently you have never worked in high security environments. If you were to cover up your photo badge in an environment such as this, you would also be in trouble with security. The RFID technology is there to prevent tampering and for the security of those wearing said badge. Take off your tin foil hat, it is cutting off circulation to your brain.
If Boris the burglar gained access to this facility, there are larger security issues at issue then. Like I've said before, regular Photo ID can be forged easily.
The OP is trying to make a point that RFID is just another technology for presenting the information that is visible on a photo badge. If you object to an RFID badge being scanned, why don't you object to people seeing the information on your photo ID?
What really intrigues me is that there's absolutely no mention of what the security staff's reason for restricting Stallman's movements. Not even what his version of it was, or the versions of any of the other people in the room with him at the time.
Given his UN representative status, I would assume that they were concerned for his safety. They would want to ensure that they knew who was whom to prevent some anti-RMS guy from attacking him. How would you expect the security staff distinguishing one bearded hippy from another? What if the attacker was clean cut? Would they know who was the interloper quickly enough? Virtually nobody outside the/. readers and FOSS community knows who he is or what he looks like.
There really was no need for this. The RFID tag on his ID was a security measure to "protect" the delegates. These days, it is fairly easy to forge regular ID badges. Adding RFID tags to the badges help the security staff quickly identify important dignitaries in case someone suspicious is approaching them. It is also a way that they can find fake badges quickly. I'm sure the tinfoil wears of the past would have objected to having their picture taken, scanned in and printed on a badge as well.
I don't see how these tags are any more of an invasion of your privacy than the information you give out when you register/check in for the event. Given the temporary nature of these devices, I really don't see the issue here.
When will you people learn? Stop applying "Left" and "Right" labels to degrees of social or political control. The left to right spectrum concerns the amount of centralized/collective state control over the economy. It has nothing to do with social control or the lack there of. There are plenty of historical examples of regimes which implemented socialist "economic" policies while maintaining strict control over.
The Nazis nationalized several companies. That is a socialist trait. We do not even having to use the Nazis as an example to show repressive regimes around the world which are socialist economically.
Get it out of your head that "political/social control" = right wing. In reality, it is usually the left wing which tries to exert political control in what they view as the "common good" of the nation. It is impossible to have a far left regime without some form of totalitarianism given the selfishness of the human species.
I'm sorry that you leftists feel that you are getting the shaft by having both the Communist and Nazis on your side of the economic spectrum but that's life. Libertarianism is both anti-collectivist and for individual rights. If you really care about freedom, you would move away from the left and adopt a form of personal socialism where you donate to charities and NGO's instead of pressuring for more social welfare.
I dress casual everyday which usually consists of a monotone t-shirt, black or blue jeans, runners and some bling. I see nothing wrong with casual closes if they are clean and new looking. I also make sure that I'm well groomed during the week.
Most of the business people wear business attire and I've heard rumbling about developers wearing jeans all the time. What does it matter what style wear as long as I wear nice clothes and smell good?
Contrary to popular belief, not every IT worker is a smelly slob with grungy clothes.
Guys, you don't all have to wear monkey suits but would it hurt to dress a little better and practice proper hygiene? I don't want to inhale the sink of others. Show a little respect for yourself. Don't do it for them but do it to show yourself some respect.
PS. A nice side effect is that you get the attention of the ladies.
Ok. Let me rephrase what I said. The majority of you do not have a clue about real costs from a management perspective. I'm a developer but I am well aware of the labour costs companies incur to keep developers on the payroll. The formula is basically as follows: Salary+employer share of payroll taxes (unemployment premiums, pension, workers compensation premiums)+budget of training upgrading+budget for travel and other business expenses+infrastructure (office space, computers,power,coffee). Basically you would take the salary of an employee and double it.
Now consider that on top of developer salaries, you also have to employ QA departments and project managers. I did not even mention business logistics yet but I hope you get the picture.
I still don't think you understand how the software industry works. Economies of scale do not work in the same way with software as they do with hardware. How often do you hear hardware manufacturers having to release a complete replacement for all released units of a product? How do you "patch" hardware? Hardware is generally easily testable and rarely fails to work whereas software is far more unpredictable and harder to QA.
You cannot just expect to put out software and not have to patch it. The only categories of software that does not follow this release and patch model would be console games and embedded software but in that case, companies have to spend a great deal more on testing and you generally do not release consecutive versions of the same software to the market like you do with applications or business software.
What does tinkering have to do with being a "user" that uses those applications to actually produce something creative? If you spend you time tinkering with software, you are not a "user" but rather an enthusiast.
You can tinker a great deal with any Cocoa based app which make use of Interface Builder to design the GUI interface without having access to the source code. In fact, software can be extensible this way. You can also edit settings for the OS GUI and other programs by editing.plist files.
That's the key point. It's a common mistake to assume that computer users are just as passive as cows eating grass. Sure, the OS X type of grass might be easier to chew, but we're talking about humans here.
I think you are confusing enthusiasts and developers with "users". They are not the same thing and I'm afraid. The assumption that they are may have something to do with the usuability issues found throughout linux.
How much will the technical support costs be? Did you fail math in school? Do you have any clue about true margins for software? Apple would have to charge $400+ at least until economies of scale kicked in. Are you prepared to pay that much?
They didn't try it before with something like OS X.
1. Steve Jobs did that when he ran NeXT.
2. They charged over 500 bucks for the Intel version of NeXTStep.
3. MSFT blocked NeXTStep and BeOS adoption by OEMs. The lawsuit for the latter was settled after Be Inc. had already been bought by Palm.
4. Steve came back to Apple with the acquisition of NeXT by Apple and cancelled the clones.
5. Steve Jobs never like to make the same mistake twice.
6. Apple has been profitable ever since.
7. The average/. reader does not have experience in the commercial software industry or any business acumen.
8. OS X is essentially NEXT/Open Step 5/6.x with some Apple technology mixed in.
Here is info on NeXT. Check out the open implementation of OpenStep called GNUStep which Apple now calls Cocoa.
You have to be kidding me? 200 bucks? Try more like 500. Were you around when Apple was bleeding money because the clones cannibalized Apples market instead of expanding it? Apple had increased support costs from clone users and lower sales. The clone licensing fees were nothing compare to what they were making on hardware sales and did not even cover support costs.
I have the feeling that you people have never actually worked in the software industry as either technical support or as a "paid" developer. Software typically has a much lower profit margin than hardware but it is difficult for laymen to grasp as it is often spread out over a long period of time (the product life cycle). With hardware, you generally have high startup costs but running costs generally diminish over time.
Let me explain this to you all in simple terms. Apple's hardware sales subsidize OS X and iLife development. The price you pay would be much higher without subsidization given the cost of development (including patches) and the size of the market.
Software costs such as patches and technical support are pretty much constant throughout the products life after hitting the shelves.
Drivers? Are you kidding me? The driver model is not closed. You can get the API from Apple but don't expect to sell hardware without certified drivers. I care more about stability than the warm and fuzzy feelings of using OSS drivers. I prefer the hardware OEMs to provide the drivers.
What with this FOSS? Is the F for freedom? Not everyone agrees with RMS with regard to what freedom means.
Why is a user a moron? I can guarantee you that the parts this user purchased claimed they were 100% compatible with Microsoft products. What is the user supposed to do about this?
The user is not a moron but they should not expect it to be Microsoft compatible just because the hardware vendor says so. Apple can certify the hardware shipped in a Mac is fully compatible because they source the hardware and write the drivers. Third party gfx card upgrades also go through rigourous tested at Apple hardware labs and Apple either writes or assists the writing of the drivers.
Since MSFT does not control the hardware platform, they cannot force third-party products to be certified like Apple can.
How much did your time cost you? Or top put it another way, how much would it have cost you to pay someone else to source the parts and assemble it for you and install the software for you?
If you counted labour, it would cost you a lot more than 800 bucks.
This is what you are paying for with Apple, your wireless card "works". All the software "works" even if you are a technophobe granny. Quality is not just about the parts but the sum of the parts and how they fit together.
Uh, so say that you had another player. How are you supposed to listen to it on another player unless you buy a new one? What is the difference here? Could you point it out to me?
Slashdot Mirror
EMI is "one" of many labels. Could that be the discrepancy? iTMS launched in several markets without Sony participation (Japan & Australia).
What are you talking about? CDbaby is how independent bands without a record deal get on iTMS.
I have news for you pal, northern Europe was populated by other humans before being displaced by migrations of Caucasians from the east. This type of "genocide" had been happening on continental Europe and the British Isles for several millennia. I think what the Americans did was wrong but you act as if this had not happened before. The natives were outmatched on this continent militarily just as they were when the Europeans invaded Europe from the east.
As for you comment on the cross, it is a symbol of the sacrifice. That dude took the worst possible punishment a criminal could receive when he was falsely accused. There in, lies the sacrifice bit. He represented the "lamb" of God. Lambs were considered "clean" animals suitable for sacrifice. Are you aware of other cultures in the past sacrificing virgins? Why do you think they chose virgins instead of just anybody? They answer is they represent purity.
You act as if Christ and Christians did something horrible to you or that he was out of touch with the rest of the world. Here are some facts for you:
He was conceived to an unwed mother. This would have been the greatest embarrassment in the middle east of that time.
He was born in a barn. If that is not "common", I don't know what is.
He worked as a carpenter until he was 30. Sounds like a hard working Joe doesn't he?
He ended up travelling from town to town often sleeping outside. Do you have a problem with homeless people?
Be thankful that you have a roof over your head and have the freedom to be the asshole you are all thanks to those "Evil Christians" that invaded North America. You are always free to leave if you don't like it.
Your right, they don't have animal fat shortening but rather vegetable oil shortening as one of the main ingredients. Same diff nutritionally speaking and only matters if you happen to be a vegetarian.
Perhaps, you should go on a sabbatical and look inside yourself. Chances are, you will not be as "holier than thou" after you examine your own soul. Then perhaps you will see that everyone has sinned.
Here is a little tidbit for you about the religion you are slagging off on. Christ said that a man sins not only by the acts he commits or the words he utters but also by his thoughts. If you are thinking about wanting to kill me right now, you are no better than a murderer in the eyes of God.
You really don't seem to get it and are attacking a faith out of ignorance. People fear what they do not understand.
Stop being such a judgemental hypocrite. The hatred you feel hurts you more than it does those you hate.
Canada is a big place too. I prefer microbreweries like Lighthouse Brewing Company or Okanagan Springs. The latter produce a beer with no preservatives or pasteurization in keeping with the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516. They just use Water, Barely, Hops and Yeast.
What you Americans call regular beer would be called "light" beer here. Regular beer in Canada has a much higher alcohol content.
I cannot comment on cigarettes since I don't smoke but Krispy Kremes are just sugar and lard. Where is the bloody flour? I'm guessing that you guys don't dunk your donuts in coffee.
Oh no, here come the black helli.... NO CARRIER
It seems to me that there is a problem with our educational system in North America where students are not allowed to think for themselves but rather are brainwashed into thinking a certain way.
If Boris the burglar gained access to this facility, there are larger security issues at issue then. Like I've said before, regular Photo ID can be forged easily.
The OP is trying to make a point that RFID is just another technology for presenting the information that is visible on a photo badge. If you object to an RFID badge being scanned, why don't you object to people seeing the information on your photo ID?
Given his UN representative status, I would assume that they were concerned for his safety. They would want to ensure that they knew who was whom to prevent some anti-RMS guy from attacking him. How would you expect the security staff distinguishing one bearded hippy from another? What if the attacker was clean cut? Would they know who was the interloper quickly enough? Virtually nobody outside the /. readers and FOSS community knows who he is or what he looks like.
I don't see how these tags are any more of an invasion of your privacy than the information you give out when you register/check in for the event. Given the temporary nature of these devices, I really don't see the issue here.
The Nazis nationalized several companies. That is a socialist trait. We do not even having to use the Nazis as an example to show repressive regimes around the world which are socialist economically.
Get it out of your head that "political/social control" = right wing. In reality, it is usually the left wing which tries to exert political control in what they view as the "common good" of the nation. It is impossible to have a far left regime without some form of totalitarianism given the selfishness of the human species.
I'm sorry that you leftists feel that you are getting the shaft by having both the Communist and Nazis on your side of the economic spectrum but that's life. Libertarianism is both anti-collectivist and for individual rights. If you really care about freedom, you would move away from the left and adopt a form of personal socialism where you donate to charities and NGO's instead of pressuring for more social welfare.
Well perhaps you should take a look at the closest planet to the earth in terms of atmospheric makeup, Venus.
Most of the business people wear business attire and I've heard rumbling about developers wearing jeans all the time. What does it matter what style wear as long as I wear nice clothes and smell good?
Contrary to popular belief, not every IT worker is a smelly slob with grungy clothes.
Guys, you don't all have to wear monkey suits but would it hurt to dress a little better and practice proper hygiene? I don't want to inhale the sink of others. Show a little respect for yourself. Don't do it for them but do it to show yourself some respect.
PS. A nice side effect is that you get the attention of the ladies.
Now consider that on top of developer salaries, you also have to employ QA departments and project managers. I did not even mention business logistics yet but I hope you get the picture.
I still don't think you understand how the software industry works. Economies of scale do not work in the same way with software as they do with hardware. How often do you hear hardware manufacturers having to release a complete replacement for all released units of a product? How do you "patch" hardware? Hardware is generally easily testable and rarely fails to work whereas software is far more unpredictable and harder to QA.
You cannot just expect to put out software and not have to patch it. The only categories of software that does not follow this release and patch model would be console games and embedded software but in that case, companies have to spend a great deal more on testing and you generally do not release consecutive versions of the same software to the market like you do with applications or business software.
You can tinker a great deal with any Cocoa based app which make use of Interface Builder to design the GUI interface without having access to the source code. In fact, software can be extensible this way. You can also edit settings for the OS GUI and other programs by editing .plist files.
I think you are confusing enthusiasts and developers with "users". They are not the same thing and I'm afraid. The assumption that they are may have something to do with the usuability issues found throughout linux.
How much will the technical support costs be? Did you fail math in school? Do you have any clue about true margins for software? Apple would have to charge $400+ at least until economies of scale kicked in. Are you prepared to pay that much?
1. Steve Jobs did that when he ran NeXT. /. reader does not have experience in the commercial software industry or any business acumen.
2. They charged over 500 bucks for the Intel version of NeXTStep.
3. MSFT blocked NeXTStep and BeOS adoption by OEMs. The lawsuit for the latter was settled after Be Inc. had already been bought by Palm.
4. Steve came back to Apple with the acquisition of NeXT by Apple and cancelled the clones.
5. Steve Jobs never like to make the same mistake twice.
6. Apple has been profitable ever since.
7. The average
8. OS X is essentially NEXT/Open Step 5/6.x with some Apple technology mixed in.
Here is info on NeXT. Check out the open implementation of OpenStep called GNUStep which Apple now calls Cocoa.
I have the feeling that you people have never actually worked in the software industry as either technical support or as a "paid" developer. Software typically has a much lower profit margin than hardware but it is difficult for laymen to grasp as it is often spread out over a long period of time (the product life cycle). With hardware, you generally have high startup costs but running costs generally diminish over time.
Let me explain this to you all in simple terms. Apple's hardware sales subsidize OS X and iLife development. The price you pay would be much higher without subsidization given the cost of development (including patches) and the size of the market.
Software costs such as patches and technical support are pretty much constant throughout the products life after hitting the shelves.
Drivers? Are you kidding me? The driver model is not closed. You can get the API from Apple but don't expect to sell hardware without certified drivers. I care more about stability than the warm and fuzzy feelings of using OSS drivers. I prefer the hardware OEMs to provide the drivers.
What with this FOSS? Is the F for freedom? Not everyone agrees with RMS with regard to what freedom means.
The user is not a moron but they should not expect it to be Microsoft compatible just because the hardware vendor says so. Apple can certify the hardware shipped in a Mac is fully compatible because they source the hardware and write the drivers. Third party gfx card upgrades also go through rigourous tested at Apple hardware labs and Apple either writes or assists the writing of the drivers.
Since MSFT does not control the hardware platform, they cannot force third-party products to be certified like Apple can.
If you counted labour, it would cost you a lot more than 800 bucks.
This is what you are paying for with Apple, your wireless card "works". All the software "works" even if you are a technophobe granny. Quality is not just about the parts but the sum of the parts and how they fit together.
Uh, so say that you had another player. How are you supposed to listen to it on another player unless you buy a new one? What is the difference here? Could you point it out to me?