I don't think this is true, although it is certainly logical. I think you are thinking of what a reasonable person would do - you, me, whomever. If I raped someone and knew I would be fried extra crispy, I might as well kill her, right? Seems not to be the case, though.
A friend of mine is an FBI agent. He attended a class once held by a profiler who specializes in sexual crimes, and who has spent hours interviewing nutball rapists. Turns out, when someone goes to commit a sexual offence, they almost always have in mind the amount of violence they want to commit. And it usually escalates (but not always). So, Mr. I.B. Rapist wants to rape and has decided that whether she fights or not, he's going to smack her around a bit, or give her a good beating, or kill her. If he is only wanting to smack her around a bit, and she fights him tooth and nail, he'll run off like the chicken-shit, maladjusted no balls having ass that he is. If she just freezes and lies back and complies, like so many of the very misguided anti-rape groups say (they say, "Do what it takes to survive" - but they don't recommend women arm themselves in any way... Idiots.), he still smacks her around a bit.
Bottom line, guys, arm the women in your life. Give them a fighting chance. Then, I suggest you start putting the toilet seat down. A sleepy woman with a gun and a wet ass can be more dangerous than a wounded bear.
Amen, brother. This has been an enlightening discussion; I've been thinking of leaving my job as a pediatric ICU nurse for something in IT. Maybe I'd better rethink my rethinking.
This article is very well written; it reminds me of the book by John Stossel that I am currently reading, "Give Me a Break." He points out how reporters have no problems with drawing illogical conclusions or making things up if 'big business' is being pilloried, but if one points out the ineffectiveness and stupidity of government programs, he is proclaimed by the fruit-n-granola crowd to be 'a shill of big business.'
I didn't make up anything. I read, I noticed, I posted. Every single one of the people who wrote things supporting the docs had been modded down. Every one. Maybe I missed the ones you've seen which were modded up; perhaps someone metamodded between the time I made my comment and the time you made yours.
Either way, I would appreciate it if you'd refrain from accusing me or others of lying or making things up when you can not possibly know what I saw at the time I was reading in this dynamically changing environment.
On the surface, I couldn't agree more. Wanting to foster an independent mindset/personality, this would be a good way to do it. Make him understand that if he makes his own way in life, the world can come to him on HIS terms.
Unfortunately, I don't think its the best answer. I think most of us tend to selectively forget the hard part of growing up. Hell, its hard enough growing up for the jock who is popular and has a 'way with people.' It is living hell for those who just can't seem to make their life 'click' with others. They see other people their agegroup interacting with other people easily; when our nerd tries the same thing, it falls flat; the girl gives him that 'look,' the guy laughs at him or smacks him around a bit. These things hurt; they form the personality in a very negative way in most cases. They can lead to a person who SAYS "I don't care what people think about me, fuck 'em." But its not true. They do care, they just don't interact well with others.
Get him in karate, like others posted. Show him the importance of grooming; he needs to know that he can still have the same interests and hobbies with non-greasy hair, but it'll make him less repulsive to others - especially girls.
I can't help but notice that every single person who has posted anything remotely supporting the doc's in this situation has been modded down. Nice, slashholes.
The editors probably don't do it; the cops get to come in to a local TV studio and go over the tape and edit out things that they don't want shown.
On a humorous note:
I was working in Fort Worth, Tx, and one of the cops who did off-duty security where I worked had been on cops, and I remembered the episode (shot in CowTown!) There was a part where the cops were called out on a prowler call, and as the principle cop and camera were going around the side of the lady's house, a gunshot rang out. They booked it to the rear, guns drawn, and found the little old lady in a robe on her back porch, pistol in hand, saying she'd shot at the guy. The cops were real nice to her, looked around her back yard (there was a little storage shed in the back yard, they looked between it and the fence) and in the alley, no badguy. The cop told her "I'm glad you have your gun, Mrs. , but be careful, that could have been one of my officers."
Ok, scenario ends. What you DIDN'T see, and this cop told me about, was that the next morning, they found the burgler that she had shot, lying dead UNDER the storage shed; apparently he'd crawled under to hide from the cops and lay down for a little nap.
Good points, all.
I have a friend who is an FBI agent. Back lo, those many years ago, when he was a lowly city cop and I would go on rideouts with him, we were talking about the shitload of arrestable offences. He said, "There're probably about 1000 local ordinances I can arrest you on; I probably know about half of 'em. THere are probably 20,000 state and federal laws I can arrest you for breaking; I might know 1/4 of 'em. Basically, if a cop wants to bad enough, and knows enough law, he can find a reason to take you in."
This conversation didn't give me a warm fuzzy deep down, y'know? The scary thing is, he's one of the good guys - I saw him arrest people for boneheaded stunts (DUI, outstanding warrants, whatever) and he was always very cordial to them; he would ask them what music they liked, and turn his car radio to that kind of station for the ride to the jail. Even Tejano. Blech.
Remember Sam Donaldson? I have no problems with a reporter asking critical questions of the President; but this asshole was so rude to Reagan that I was hoping the SS would take him out back and teach him the same manners my daddy taught me, using the same methods. Then he could stand up all he wanted during those conferences. Wouldn't have a choice, really.
I have lived in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, both places where one would assume mobile phones are issued at birth. The rudeness is appalling; people talking on the phone - loudly - sitting in cafes, in theaters - basically the same thing that pisses us off in America. Learn first, then speak.
The Minnesota researchers envision people buying ethanol to power the small fuel cell in their basements. The cell could produce 1 kilowatt of power, nearly enough for an average home.
I'm curious; I think I've read that fuel cells produce heat while in operation. Is it enough to boil off the ethanol in your newly fermented batch of sugar/corn water? It'd have to be 78C, if I remember right.
Other than that, a solar stil would be great; if you have any links to such products or plans, please post 'em!
introduced the word "hacker" into the vernacular when he accidentally unleashed an Internet worm in 1988
When I was a junior in high school, I wrote a paper about hackers. I was living in a podunk West Texas town and the term hacker was certainly in the 'vernacular' (that word always makes me think of worms) then; I graduated in '87. Methinks the authors sense of time, or his desire to 'sex up' his article, are off a bit.
Sorry, but I just got back to the US from living in Moscow, and what you are saying is bullshit, IMO. When I walk around and see the detritous that remains of Soviet era 'caring,' then walk (actually, drive my car) around and see things in the US, I can't help but think that perhaps we are doing something right, and the Soviets and communism in general are wrong. Communism only spreads the misery and poverty, completely crushing any desire to excel. Imagine, being considered a criminal simply for creating or building something and trying to sell it. Unbelievable.
The poor in the US have a higher standard of living than the middle class in the Russian Federation. We have our warts, but communism was a cancer, and I'm glad for the Russian people, whom I genuinely admire, that this particular cancer was excised.
The government has basically forbid this guy from criticizing the system. I hope that this sends a message to everyone in the same situation to not plead down, and to raise as much hell as possible.
Yep. They're going after the media next. You idiot. Every media whore except Fox *hates* George Bush - and any Repub, for that matter. So, if criticizing the system were this guy's crime, then we'd better build more prisons. I think Mike Farrell and all the rest of the media folks will get their own special prison, but hey, that's the perc's of celebrity.
Go read the article. The guy deserves more than one year in the pen, and its not for expressing his opinion.
There are plenty of people in this country who hated New York City and the US federal government long before Arabs did and plenty of people with an economic self-interest in the state of war.
Ludicrous.
Time and again, people act as if they have special knowledge of some US led or Bush led or Jewish led (yeah, Bush sure gets props from the US Jewish community!) conspiracy to commit 9/11 to foment war. Poppycock.
Bin Laden and his band of merry assholes tried unsucessfully once to bomb the WTC, were successful another time, and really successful a third. Evidence points so much to Muslim terrorists that only a fool could honestly believe otherwise.
Plus, my own bias - I was in a Riyadh hospital watching 9/11 unfold, with my jaw dropped to the floor, like most everyone else. I watched as physicians I worked with, good Muslim boys, slapped each other on the back and said "Inshallah", which is an extremely overused word in the Muslim world meaning, "God willing." That, and "al humdulilah", which means, "thanks be to God." These are physicians, people who are supposed to preserve life, and they were cheering as if their team had just won. Which, in a way, it did. They laughed as we saw the footage (live, uncut) of people falling to their deaths from the towers.
Didn't mean to get on a soapbox; I just get frustrated after what I saw to hear people deny the absolute facts of the matter. Its like being around really off-kilter UFO hunters, who can see the red and green lights making an approach towards a major airport, and say, "Look! A UFO!"
It's kinda sad, when I was a kid they used to open the door and let kids look into the cockpit while boarding the plane. That's no more and will never be again.
When I made my first overseas flight on a 747, Saudia Air to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, I went up to the cockpit while we we over Egypt; I got some great pictures of the Nile and Luxor from 37k feet.
That was in January. In September of that year, of course, things changed. You're right, it is sad. These two pilots were really cool and took the time to show me things on the flight deck that I never knew about.
Stupid terrorists. I hope they are enjoying their virgins.
I'm sorry, but I'd just tell them to piss off. If they want to keep things stone-age with their confiscatory regulations, then let them. There're plenty of other islands in the sea.
Or, maybe, they'll just go rent Chain Reaction, and follow the script.
Sorry, I'm just not convinced. I just don't buy all this weird anti-corporate conspiracy BS. If someone came out with an inexpensive source of non-polluting energy, there would be no way to stop it. Once a patent was applied for, or it was posted on the internet, there would be no stopping the media frenzy that would occur. Once people know how it can be done, it will be duplicated, legally and illegally, all over the world. The Japanese, especially, are an oil dependent nation, having none of their own and using it at a rate approaching ours.
Now, as for what you say about taxation, I'm not too inclined to disagree with you completely. You see legislation being considered/passed in different areas making it illegal to use biodiesel or m/ethanol as fuel for automobiles used on the public roads without paying a tax on the fuel. WTF? Is the government so short sighted that it is willing to throw up barriers like this to clean energy, just for a couple of nickels per gallon used? (rhetorical question)
The reason we use Petrochemicals instead of the green method of your choice is because we - the world - have a huge infrastructure in place to provide for this. If you want to start your own free/green energy distribution then fine, go ahead, the oil companies won't stand in your way but you face a simple uphill battle of fighting what is cheap and available right now.
This is like those ads you see in the back of science magazines, saying they have plans for a 348mpg carburator and the only reason you don't know about it is because the oil companies are suppressing the technology. Uhm, whatever. Maybe, it just doesn't work for shit, which is why you are stuck advertising it next to geek personals.
This is a good point, but I think the Linux elitists cause the others to pale in comparison on the arrogance front. I've been involved in waaaay too many (expensive) hobbies, and have seen a person like that in each subculture. But for the most part these folks were very helpful to the newbie. I flew RC planes and then helis (I'm selling mine, if anyone's interested!;)) and those guys were great; helping me to set up the system, radio, throttles, blade pitch, advising on good aftermarket stuff and what to stay away from.
Linux, too, has a great community of helpful folks; I've been shocked at how I can ask a question in a group and have several answers, at least one of them useful. But the community is also chock full of people who look down on anyone who doesn't have their same knowledge base or devotion to the 'cause.' And that's the distinction. RC heli guys just wanna fly their expensive toys; Linux devotees have a banner they want us all to march under, and all bow down towards RMS 5 times a day, and if you are an infidel, you are less than scum.
As you say, perhaps it will change; however, having been involved with computer bulletin boards back in the Fido days, it seems like I'm basically seeing the same elite hax0r mentality now as I saw back then.
I dislike MS's business practices, years of smoke and mirrors, FUD, and years of shitty OS's (always advertised with something like, "This one is IT!!"). I hate what I've seen them do to smaller companies, and I am very pissed that they are getting away with it.
Having said that, I must grudgingly say that XP seems to, if not *work* better, then *install* better, then anything out there (I won't talk Mac, I'm clueless). I can't tell you what a sinking sensation in the gut it is for me to say MS has done something right; perhaps they've finally bought enough 3rd party software and imported enough outside contracters to have put out something worth more than a stinking pile of fetid chimp guano. I have installed it several times (I tinker), and the only times I've had trouble are things like driver issues with modems (Linux doesn't work with this modem either), and I have a dual proc Athlon that seems to be a mite squirrelly at times under XP-Pro; the jury is still out.
The upgrade process is always a PITA, but for me at least, the XP-PRO upgrade was fairly painless. I only said F@#K 278 times, S#$T 978 times, and G#D D$#%ED PIECE OF S$#T MOTHERF@#KER 452 times.
Luckily, grandma wasn't in the room for that.
You confused my point about g-ma and mom; mom could install XP, nervously, on the hardware I have at the house. G-ma? I wouldn't do that to her. But my point it, my grandmother, an 81 year old woman with macular degeneration (failing eyesight) can fire up her XP computer, and following the printed instructions by the monitor that a relative gave her, can surf the web, send/read/print her e-mails, etc. I know some will say, "But you can do that with Gnome or KDE," but I've used both of those, and you need to fart with settings waaaaay to much for my grandmother's capabilities.
So, I stick by my original statement. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some baking to do.
That's the trouble with the Linux community, boys and germs; arrogance.
You guys think that because you have spent unbelievable amounts of time sitting in front of a glowing CRT learning the intricate details of an OS, that anyone who doesn't want to do likewise is a lamer, loser, or whatever.
Then, you piss and moan that Linux doesn't have more acceptability. Hey, I hate M$ as much as the next guy (see, I even used the $ instead of the S, to show what a great anti-M$ guy I am), but they have done something the Linux folks haven't: Released a product that my grandmother can sit down in front of, click a few things, and go. If I hand my mother an XP disk and a new computer and say, 'Install this,' she will first tell me to wash my hands, dinner is almost ready; then she will be able to sit down and do it. If I hand her a Mandrake disk, I guarantee, she will need to ask me a bunch of questions about the process, ones that you and I will roll our eyes at, but if you don't know something, you don't know it, and have to find out somehow.
In short, I haven't read this book. But a beginner's guide reviewed by a beginner means a hell of a lot more to me than the same guide reviewed by someone who is so experienced that he has forgotten his first dull stare at the blinking login prompt.
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A friend of mine is an FBI agent. He attended a class once held by a profiler who specializes in sexual crimes, and who has spent hours interviewing nutball rapists. Turns out, when someone goes to commit a sexual offence, they almost always have in mind the amount of violence they want to commit. And it usually escalates (but not always). So, Mr. I.B. Rapist wants to rape and has decided that whether she fights or not, he's going to smack her around a bit, or give her a good beating, or kill her. If he is only wanting to smack her around a bit, and she fights him tooth and nail, he'll run off like the chicken-shit, maladjusted no balls having ass that he is. If she just freezes and lies back and complies, like so many of the very misguided anti-rape groups say (they say, "Do what it takes to survive" - but they don't recommend women arm themselves in any way... Idiots.), he still smacks her around a bit.
Bottom line, guys, arm the women in your life. Give them a fighting chance. Then, I suggest you start putting the toilet seat down. A sleepy woman with a gun and a wet ass can be more dangerous than a wounded bear.
After reading more of your posts, I see we live in the same city. I work at the hospital with the bitchin' train set. ;)
Amen, brother. This has been an enlightening discussion; I've been thinking of leaving my job as a pediatric ICU nurse for something in IT. Maybe I'd better rethink my rethinking.
(/me) urinates into own mouth. Just because.
This article is very well written; it reminds me of the book by John Stossel that I am currently reading, "Give Me a Break." He points out how reporters have no problems with drawing illogical conclusions or making things up if 'big business' is being pilloried, but if one points out the ineffectiveness and stupidity of government programs, he is proclaimed by the fruit-n-granola crowd to be 'a shill of big business.'
Either way, I would appreciate it if you'd refrain from accusing me or others of lying or making things up when you can not possibly know what I saw at the time I was reading in this dynamically changing environment.
Fair enough?
Unfortunately, I don't think its the best answer. I think most of us tend to selectively forget the hard part of growing up. Hell, its hard enough growing up for the jock who is popular and has a 'way with people.' It is living hell for those who just can't seem to make their life 'click' with others. They see other people their agegroup interacting with other people easily; when our nerd tries the same thing, it falls flat; the girl gives him that 'look,' the guy laughs at him or smacks him around a bit. These things hurt; they form the personality in a very negative way in most cases. They can lead to a person who SAYS "I don't care what people think about me, fuck 'em." But its not true. They do care, they just don't interact well with others.
Get him in karate, like others posted. Show him the importance of grooming; he needs to know that he can still have the same interests and hobbies with non-greasy hair, but it'll make him less repulsive to others - especially girls.
My .02.....
Neither do you.
I can't help but notice that every single person who has posted anything remotely supporting the doc's in this situation has been modded down. Nice, slashholes.
On a humorous note: I was working in Fort Worth, Tx, and one of the cops who did off-duty security where I worked had been on cops, and I remembered the episode (shot in CowTown!) There was a part where the cops were called out on a prowler call, and as the principle cop and camera were going around the side of the lady's house, a gunshot rang out. They booked it to the rear, guns drawn, and found the little old lady in a robe on her back porch, pistol in hand, saying she'd shot at the guy. The cops were real nice to her, looked around her back yard (there was a little storage shed in the back yard, they looked between it and the fence) and in the alley, no badguy. The cop told her "I'm glad you have your gun, Mrs. , but be careful, that could have been one of my officers."
Ok, scenario ends. What you DIDN'T see, and this cop told me about, was that the next morning, they found the burgler that she had shot, lying dead UNDER the storage shed; apparently he'd crawled under to hide from the cops and lay down for a little nap.
Good points, all. I have a friend who is an FBI agent. Back lo, those many years ago, when he was a lowly city cop and I would go on rideouts with him, we were talking about the shitload of arrestable offences. He said, "There're probably about 1000 local ordinances I can arrest you on; I probably know about half of 'em. THere are probably 20,000 state and federal laws I can arrest you for breaking; I might know 1/4 of 'em. Basically, if a cop wants to bad enough, and knows enough law, he can find a reason to take you in." This conversation didn't give me a warm fuzzy deep down, y'know? The scary thing is, he's one of the good guys - I saw him arrest people for boneheaded stunts (DUI, outstanding warrants, whatever) and he was always very cordial to them; he would ask them what music they liked, and turn his car radio to that kind of station for the ride to the jail. Even Tejano. Blech.
Remember Sam Donaldson? I have no problems with a reporter asking critical questions of the President; but this asshole was so rude to Reagan that I was hoping the SS would take him out back and teach him the same manners my daddy taught me, using the same methods. Then he could stand up all he wanted during those conferences. Wouldn't have a choice, really.
That was just a silly jab at Americans.
I have lived in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, both places where one would assume mobile phones are issued at birth. The rudeness is appalling; people talking on the phone - loudly - sitting in cafes, in theaters - basically the same thing that pisses us off in America.
Learn first, then speak.
Sorry, but I just got back to the US from living in Moscow, and what you are saying is bullshit, IMO. When I walk around and see the detritous that remains of Soviet era 'caring,' then walk (actually, drive my car) around and see things in the US, I can't help but think that perhaps we are doing something right, and the Soviets and communism in general are wrong. Communism only spreads the misery and poverty, completely crushing any desire to excel. Imagine, being considered a criminal simply for creating or building something and trying to sell it. Unbelievable.
The poor in the US have a higher standard of living than the middle class in the Russian Federation. We have our warts, but communism was a cancer, and I'm glad for the Russian people, whom I genuinely admire, that this particular cancer was excised.
Time and again, people act as if they have special knowledge of some US led or Bush led or Jewish led (yeah, Bush sure gets props from the US Jewish community!) conspiracy to commit 9/11 to foment war. Poppycock.
Bin Laden and his band of merry assholes tried unsucessfully once to bomb the WTC, were successful another time, and really successful a third. Evidence points so much to Muslim terrorists that only a fool could honestly believe otherwise.
Plus, my own bias - I was in a Riyadh hospital watching 9/11 unfold, with my jaw dropped to the floor, like most everyone else. I watched as physicians I worked with, good Muslim boys, slapped each other on the back and said "Inshallah", which is an extremely overused word in the Muslim world meaning, "God willing." That, and "al humdulilah", which means, "thanks be to God." These are physicians, people who are supposed to preserve life, and they were cheering as if their team had just won. Which, in a way, it did. They laughed as we saw the footage (live, uncut) of people falling to their deaths from the towers.
Didn't mean to get on a soapbox; I just get frustrated after what I saw to hear people deny the absolute facts of the matter. Its like being around really off-kilter UFO hunters, who can see the red and green lights making an approach towards a major airport, and say, "Look! A UFO!"
That was in January. In September of that year, of course, things changed. You're right, it is sad. These two pilots were really cool and took the time to show me things on the flight deck that I never knew about.
Stupid terrorists. I hope they are enjoying their virgins.
I'm sorry, but I'd just tell them to piss off. If they want to keep things stone-age with their confiscatory regulations, then let them. There're plenty of other islands in the sea.
Sorry, I'm just not convinced. I just don't buy all this weird anti-corporate conspiracy BS. If someone came out with an inexpensive source of non-polluting energy, there would be no way to stop it. Once a patent was applied for, or it was posted on the internet, there would be no stopping the media frenzy that would occur. Once people know how it can be done, it will be duplicated, legally and illegally, all over the world. The Japanese, especially, are an oil dependent nation, having none of their own and using it at a rate approaching ours.
Now, as for what you say about taxation, I'm not too inclined to disagree with you completely. You see legislation being considered/passed in different areas making it illegal to use biodiesel or m/ethanol as fuel for automobiles used on the public roads without paying a tax on the fuel. WTF? Is the government so short sighted that it is willing to throw up barriers like this to clean energy, just for a couple of nickels per gallon used? (rhetorical question)
Puh-leeeeease.
The reason we use Petrochemicals instead of the green method of your choice is because we - the world - have a huge infrastructure in place to provide for this. If you want to start your own free/green energy distribution then fine, go ahead, the oil companies won't stand in your way but you face a simple uphill battle of fighting what is cheap and available right now.
This is like those ads you see in the back of science magazines, saying they have plans for a 348mpg carburator and the only reason you don't know about it is because the oil companies are suppressing the technology. Uhm, whatever. Maybe, it just doesn't work for shit, which is why you are stuck advertising it next to geek personals.
This is a good point, but I think the Linux elitists cause the others to pale in comparison on the arrogance front. I've been involved in waaaay too many (expensive) hobbies, and have seen a person like that in each subculture. But for the most part these folks were very helpful to the newbie. I flew RC planes and then helis (I'm selling mine, if anyone's interested! ;)) and those guys were great; helping me to set up the system, radio, throttles, blade pitch, advising on good aftermarket stuff and what to stay away from.
Linux, too, has a great community of helpful folks; I've been shocked at how I can ask a question in a group and have several answers, at least one of them useful. But the community is also chock full of people who look down on anyone who doesn't have their same knowledge base or devotion to the 'cause.' And that's the distinction. RC heli guys just wanna fly their expensive toys; Linux devotees have a banner they want us all to march under, and all bow down towards RMS 5 times a day, and if you are an infidel, you are less than scum.
As you say, perhaps it will change; however, having been involved with computer bulletin boards back in the Fido days, it seems like I'm basically seeing the same elite hax0r mentality now as I saw back then.
I dislike MS's business practices, years of smoke and mirrors, FUD, and years of shitty OS's (always advertised with something like, "This one is IT!!"). I hate what I've seen them do to smaller companies, and I am very pissed that they are getting away with it.
Having said that, I must grudgingly say that XP seems to, if not *work* better, then *install* better, then anything out there (I won't talk Mac, I'm clueless). I can't tell you what a sinking sensation in the gut it is for me to say MS has done something right; perhaps they've finally bought enough 3rd party software and imported enough outside contracters to have put out something worth more than a stinking pile of fetid chimp guano. I have installed it several times (I tinker), and the only times I've had trouble are things like driver issues with modems (Linux doesn't work with this modem either), and I have a dual proc Athlon that seems to be a mite squirrelly at times under XP-Pro; the jury is still out.
The upgrade process is always a PITA, but for me at least, the XP-PRO upgrade was fairly painless. I only said F@#K 278 times, S#$T 978 times, and G#D D$#%ED PIECE OF S$#T MOTHERF@#KER 452 times.
Luckily, grandma wasn't in the room for that.
You confused my point about g-ma and mom; mom could install XP, nervously, on the hardware I have at the house. G-ma? I wouldn't do that to her. But my point it, my grandmother, an 81 year old woman with macular degeneration (failing eyesight) can fire up her XP computer, and following the printed instructions by the monitor that a relative gave her, can surf the web, send/read/print her e-mails, etc. I know some will say, "But you can do that with Gnome or KDE," but I've used both of those, and you need to fart with settings waaaaay to much for my grandmother's capabilities.
So, I stick by my original statement. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some baking to do.
What an arrogant ass you are.
That's the trouble with the Linux community, boys and germs; arrogance.
You guys think that because you have spent unbelievable amounts of time sitting in front of a glowing CRT learning the intricate details of an OS, that anyone who doesn't want to do likewise is a lamer, loser, or whatever.
Then, you piss and moan that Linux doesn't have more acceptability. Hey, I hate M$ as much as the next guy (see, I even used the $ instead of the S, to show what a great anti-M$ guy I am), but they have done something the Linux folks haven't: Released a product that my grandmother can sit down in front of, click a few things, and go. If I hand my mother an XP disk and a new computer and say, 'Install this,' she will first tell me to wash my hands, dinner is almost ready; then she will be able to sit down and do it. If I hand her a Mandrake disk, I guarantee, she will need to ask me a bunch of questions about the process, ones that you and I will roll our eyes at, but if you don't know something, you don't know it, and have to find out somehow.
In short, I haven't read this book. But a beginner's guide reviewed by a beginner means a hell of a lot more to me than the same guide reviewed by someone who is so experienced that he has forgotten his first dull stare at the blinking login prompt.