This may be slightly off-topic, so mod me down accordingly, but isn't it a little inappropriate to equate Microsoft with the Borg? I mean, that would be suggesting that the technology that they create is actually superior to all other technologies out there, which we all know on/. to not be the case.
Instead, why not use the aliens of 'Aliens' fame for the metaphor? They're ravenous, all-consuming, and wouldn't know a proper operating system from a hole in the ground. Plus, they're bugs, something that Microsoft software has been equates with more times than one can shake a stick of RAM at...
That reminds me of an article I saw a while back that talked all about a resolution passed in Berkeley banning all space-based weapons.
It's one thing to create an un-enforceable rule, but it's a completely different matter to pass a law that more than likely will have absolutely no effect for at least another 10-20 years. It certainly shows a good deal of hubris on the part of the passing legislation, to believe that they can predict the future and therefore adopt a law to control it.
Then again, there's yet another similarity between the two that only surfaced in the last few years: Both of them formed the inspiration for two vastly different styles of Pen & Paper roleplaying. Lovecraft paved the way for the storyteller/scare-the-crap-out-of-you style employed by Call of Cthulhu and emulated with the ever-so-popular games of White Wolf, while Tolkien inspired Gary Gygax & co to make Dungeons and Dragons.
Of course, I personally think that neither one of them would have approved of the creations that their fans wrought in their name, and are probably flailing about in their graves (especially Tolkien at the way his masterpiece has been bastardized), but it's still a point to consider.
Slashdot Mirror
Phase II: Implement Soft- and Hardware for a Hardware-Based Blinkenlights Player.
Phase III:
Phase IV: Profit.
This may be slightly off-topic, so mod me down accordingly, but isn't it a little inappropriate to equate Microsoft with the Borg? I mean, that would be suggesting that the technology that they create is actually superior to all other technologies out there, which we all know on
Instead, why not use the aliens of 'Aliens' fame for the metaphor? They're ravenous, all-consuming, and wouldn't know a proper operating system from a hole in the ground. Plus, they're bugs, something that Microsoft software has been equates with more times than one can shake a stick of RAM at...
That reminds me of an article I saw a while back that talked all about a resolution passed in Berkeley banning all space-based weapons.
It's one thing to create an un-enforceable rule, but it's a completely different matter to pass a law that more than likely will have absolutely no effect for at least another 10-20 years. It certainly shows a good deal of hubris on the part of the passing legislation, to believe that they can predict the future and therefore adopt a law to control it.
Then again, there's yet another similarity between the two that only surfaced in the last few years: Both of them formed the inspiration for two vastly different styles of Pen & Paper roleplaying. Lovecraft paved the way for the storyteller/scare-the-crap-out-of-you style employed by Call of Cthulhu and emulated with the ever-so-popular games of White Wolf, while Tolkien inspired Gary Gygax & co to make Dungeons and Dragons. Of course, I personally think that neither one of them would have approved of the creations that their fans wrought in their name, and are probably flailing about in their graves (especially Tolkien at the way his masterpiece has been bastardized), but it's still a point to consider.