Do a search for Red Adair. He is the most experienced in the world at putting out oil well fires with explosives--gets called in to middle eastern countries sometimes to put out their oil fires. I read an article about him in Reader's Digest.
I agree with the previous poster who doesn't think that cell phones are generally that necessary. There are some things where they are absolutely great--building contracts or realtors, where their office is in their car and they need to be able to field business calls when they're out. For most people, though, they are not that necessary. (There is a separate issue if they end up being cheaper than the landline, and you switch.)
I think, though, there has evolved (I would consider it devolved) this idea in our society that missing a call is a fate worse than death. You mention those three options of what to do if you get a call while you are in the bathroom. I would say take option 2 and enjoy your peace and quiet for a while. Check the message on the machine when you come out and call them back; what's so terrible about that?
You also pose the scenario of "single people who work outside the home". Well, isn't there a phone at your workplace where you can be reached?
I read someone else's post about needing a cell because they travel and need to call from other cities. There is an old fashioned remedy called a calling card. We still use that quite a bit. We have one that's $.06/min with no connection charge, so you can use it from a hotel room or airport pay phone or whatever.
We held out for a long time because a cell phone just wasn't necessary. We finally got a cell and dropped the land line because almost all of our calling was long distance to my wife's family. That made it worthwhile then.
Hey, I know we're generally techies here, and cell phones are cool, but taking your phone into the bathroom because a call can't wait five minutes??? They just aren't always that necessary.
It's about the rebates and the free phones. If they didn't have you sign into a contract, you would bilk them for the $80 rebate from Nokia, $100 rebate from AT&T, free phone, etc. and just skip out after one month of a $39.99 bill. They have to catch up from all the free stuff. All the companies have to do it that way to compete with each other, too, because if somebody did month to month, they would be able to offer the sweet-sounding deals like everybody else.
Remember where all this "negative news" is. It's in Groklaw instead of the Times or WSJ. The public is not reading any of this, so they're only hearing the SCO side of it.
"Do they, then, have the same rights as SCO? Sorry gang!" You seem to think you're being sarcastic, but actually, that is totally correct. Because you signed that contract that said they own whatever you create, Convergys really does own the Linux kernel patches you wrote. SCO is trying to basically do the opposite. SCO is trying to disown work that was done ON company time as part of supervisor approved duties. That is pretty open and shut, and they can't disown it.
I think I remember seeing an Ask Slashdot of this very thing already, but I couldn't find it from searching. There is a site with a CD image of a collection of general open source applications for Windows to help people get used to the idea of open source and how they can be quality programs. The site is http://theopencd.sunsite.dk
Dude! Were you never in college? It's not about "can't afford"; it's about the allure of **FREE!**. There's something very beatiful about stuff you get for free. Even if there was a little bartering of service involved, it still has that great feeling of victory in getting something for no money without stealing it.
I don't do support for a full time job, so I am not bothered by this yet. I actually enjoy helping people get their computers fixed. What I really don't like is trying to do this over the phone with them sitting at the computer. I can do things so much easier if I'm there doing stuff myself, but when they have to try to describe what they're seeing and read all the messages that are coming up on the screen, that is really frustrating. I was trying to help my father in law (in Michigan--I live in Idaho) get his internet hooked back up (SBC Global--I hate overcomplicated ISPs with their own little install programs that put these dialing and connection verifying programs on the computer.)
You say it's immpossible to vote against the pols who support this because of the voice vote process. Some people in this country, though, do already have a chance to express some outrage because there is a list on the bill of 9 cosponsors: COSPONSORS(9), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date)
Rep Delahunt, William D. - 11/20/2003 [MA-10]
Rep Greenwood, James C. - 10/8/2003 [PA-8]
Rep Hobson, David L. - 10/8/2003 [OH-7]
Rep Portman, Rob - 11/20/2003 [OH-2]
Rep Sensenbrenner, F. James, Jr. - 10/8/2003 [WI-5]
Rep Smith, Lamar - 10/8/2003 [TX-21]
Rep Tauzin, W. J. (Billy) - 10/8/2003 [LA-3]
Rep Turner, Michael R. - 11/20/2003 [OH-3] Rep Wexler, Robert - 11/20/2003 [FL-19]
So, if you live in one of these states, you can send a letter of disapproval.
Heh, that's a clever trick to post a link to your first post that got modded down so it can be seen again. That's doing an end run around the modding system, which many Slashdotters would say you should live with it. In your case, though, I agree with you--pretty unfair mod.
"I would submit movie->book is a superior order for enjoying them both." I hadn't thought of it before, but I do agree with this. There is amazing value in the books, but I think there could be great enjoyment (given not having seen or read either before) in seeing the movies first and then following up with the books. For those who have read the books first, there is some element of let-down in seeing the deviations that were made in the movies and just how shallow it is compared to the richness of the books. Going the other way, you get to experience the general story with good portrayals of the characters and sets, so you have a scope of it, and then in reading the books, your eyes are opened even further to the backstory, depth of narrative, and development of these characters, etc. The books are so much deeper than the movies, but the movies give great visuals and an effective, impacting impression. Think which you would appreciate more: deep, then shallow or shallow, then deep.
I just selected KDE as the only software package to install. It told at the bottom how much space that was supposed to take; I don't remember how much that was now--I think 800+ MB. Part of the mistake was probably when it asked if I wanted to download the updates and patches for the software I was installing. It started downloading a bunch of patches for KDE, and I think that's what filled up the extra space and made the installation hang.
"The last time I tried to set up a Mandrake box with no window manager, it came in around 400 megs." Yeah, I don't doubt that it would fit with no window manager, but that's not really a desktop system, like I'm looking for. Yes, I know I could get a good deal on a hard drive, but I just want to try out Linux to see if I can reasonably make the switch. I am not going to install Open Office or a bunch of other software right now. I just want to try the browser tools, see how reasonable it is to get plugins for web content (Realplayer, Quicktime, DivX, etc.) and try the apt utilities or installing something from RPMs. It's an unknown level of complication that I want to see how reasonable it will be. At this experimental stage, I don't think it's worth investing the money if I'm not necessarily going to make the switch. I think Knoppix may be best for what I want to try because it hardly needs any disk space, but I need to find a better mirror to download from than what I found earlier (about 2KB/sec--ugh.)
Thanks for the zipdisk recommendation. I just sold my parallel port zip drive, though, and have no internal. I see your general principle, though. If I can find a smaller distro that can install over the network or on one CD, that might work. I'll do some searching.
"Heck, a bare install of KDE, X, and Linux would probably take less than 500MB, not too far off Win 98SE" Maybe you didn't catch it, but I said I tried Debian and Mandrake with just KDE, and it ran out of room on the 1GB drive.
I think all potential third parties are afraid SCO will catch them in the crosshairs of a lawsuit if they raise their heads to speak up. And that's actually a pretty valid concern.
"Um, no mister McBride, sir. I don't think I was infringing on your IP in my book report. Do you have something in your Sys V code about Tom Sawyer?"
I sure didn't think this would be the case, but would you believe Linux installations are too big? I have a computer with a 1GB hard drive that I have been running Windows 98SE on for quite a while--takes up about 400MB or so. I tried Debian 3.0, and Mandrake 9.1. Neither would finish installing, even with no applications but KDE selected. I even tried and successfully installed Windows XP on it, and it fit in 1GB (barely). WTF? I thought Linux was supposed to be smaller, more code efficient, etc. Would I have to go back to like Mandrake 5 or 6 to get it small enough to fit in 1GB? I don't want to hear about MS having code bloat when the Linux distros take up more than twice the space for a base install.
The zealots may mod me as a troll or flamebait, but I really tried because I wanted to start using Linux and was pretty disappointed in their shortcoming.
Remember that it is generally congress that drafts and enacts most of these laws, rather than the president. That is where you can be most effective, especially because they are from the state you live in. A representative or senator's votes are public record. Start finding out what your congress person votes for and against. If they are voting for this bad stuff, write letters and make phone calls to them to tell them that you do not like their support of these bad policies. You complain about lack of choice in a presidential election, but it's sure not that bad in the state races. Speak up there because it will more likely be heard and more likely have an effect.
I love Jack in the Box commercials for their cleverness. One of theirs was a fake truck commercial like this. It had a similar kind of classic rock song while it showed a big truck climbing a hill of large rocks. There was a big thunderstorm, and a little lamb was scared and stuck on top of this hill. Jack jumps out of the truck dressed entirely like one of those cowboy-big-truck guys, with jeans and boots and all--oh yeah, except for his giant white ball for a head. He runs through the storm to rescue the lamb. I think it's then that they show it's a commercial for a new burger they are introducting. Then the funniest part: They do one of those classic truck things where they are dumping a load of something from a front-end loader into the bed of the truck to show strong the suspension is, but the only thing that drops out of the bucket is one of those new burgers. It hits the truck bed with a giant thud, and the truck slams down onto the axle, like they had just photoshopped out a 2 ton boulder or something.
They probably weren't technically re-using anyone else's footage, but it was a great use of a different commercial type to advertise something unrelated.
Slashdot Mirror
Do a search for Red Adair. He is the most experienced in the world at putting out oil well fires with explosives--gets called in to middle eastern countries sometimes to put out their oil fires. I read an article about him in Reader's Digest.
I agree with the previous poster who doesn't think that cell phones are generally that necessary. There are some things where they are absolutely great--building contracts or realtors, where their office is in their car and they need to be able to field business calls when they're out. For most people, though, they are not that necessary. (There is a separate issue if they end up being cheaper than the landline, and you switch.)
I think, though, there has evolved (I would consider it devolved) this idea in our society that missing a call is a fate worse than death. You mention those three options of what to do if you get a call while you are in the bathroom. I would say take option 2 and enjoy your peace and quiet for a while. Check the message on the machine when you come out and call them back; what's so terrible about that?
You also pose the scenario of "single people who work outside the home". Well, isn't there a phone at your workplace where you can be reached?
I read someone else's post about needing a cell because they travel and need to call from other cities. There is an old fashioned remedy called a calling card. We still use that quite a bit. We have one that's $.06/min with no connection charge, so you can use it from a hotel room or airport pay phone or whatever.
We held out for a long time because a cell phone just wasn't necessary. We finally got a cell and dropped the land line because almost all of our calling was long distance to my wife's family. That made it worthwhile then.
Hey, I know we're generally techies here, and cell phones are cool, but taking your phone into the bathroom because a call can't wait five minutes??? They just aren't always that necessary.
It's about the rebates and the free phones. If they didn't have you sign into a contract, you would bilk them for the $80 rebate from Nokia, $100 rebate from AT&T, free phone, etc. and just skip out after one month of a $39.99 bill. They have to catch up from all the free stuff. All the companies have to do it that way to compete with each other, too, because if somebody did month to month, they would be able to offer the sweet-sounding deals like everybody else.
Remember where all this "negative news" is. It's in Groklaw instead of the Times or WSJ. The public is not reading any of this, so they're only hearing the SCO side of it.
"Do they, then, have the same rights as SCO? Sorry gang!"
You seem to think you're being sarcastic, but actually, that is totally correct. Because you signed that contract that said they own whatever you create, Convergys really does own the Linux kernel patches you wrote. SCO is trying to basically do the opposite. SCO is trying to disown work that was done ON company time as part of supervisor approved duties. That is pretty open and shut, and they can't disown it.
I think I remember seeing an Ask Slashdot of this very thing already, but I couldn't find it from searching. There is a site with a CD image of a collection of general open source applications for Windows to help people get used to the idea of open source and how they can be quality programs. The site is
http://theopencd.sunsite.dk
Dude! Were you never in college? It's not about "can't afford"; it's about the allure of **FREE!**. There's something very beatiful about stuff you get for free. Even if there was a little bartering of service involved, it still has that great feeling of victory in getting something for no money without stealing it.
I don't do support for a full time job, so I am not bothered by this yet. I actually enjoy helping people get their computers fixed. What I really don't like is trying to do this over the phone with them sitting at the computer. I can do things so much easier if I'm there doing stuff myself, but when they have to try to describe what they're seeing and read all the messages that are coming up on the screen, that is really frustrating. I was trying to help my father in law (in Michigan--I live in Idaho) get his internet hooked back up (SBC Global--I hate overcomplicated ISPs with their own little install programs that put these dialing and connection verifying programs on the computer.)
Wow! Is there a +2 Funny AND Insightful ?
No, I think you're trolling.
You say it's immpossible to vote against the pols who support this because of the voice vote process. Some people in this country, though, do already have a chance to express some outrage because there is a list on the bill of 9 cosponsors:
COSPONSORS(9), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date)
Rep Delahunt, William D. - 11/20/2003 [MA-10]
Rep Greenwood, James C. - 10/8/2003 [PA-8]
Rep Hobson, David L. - 10/8/2003 [OH-7]
Rep Portman, Rob - 11/20/2003 [OH-2]
Rep Sensenbrenner, F. James, Jr. - 10/8/2003 [WI-5]
Rep Smith, Lamar - 10/8/2003 [TX-21]
Rep Tauzin, W. J. (Billy) - 10/8/2003 [LA-3]
Rep Turner, Michael R. - 11/20/2003 [OH-3]
Rep Wexler, Robert - 11/20/2003 [FL-19]
So, if you live in one of these states, you can send a letter of disapproval.
Heh, that's a clever trick to post a link to your first post that got modded down so it can be seen again. That's doing an end run around the modding system, which many Slashdotters would say you should live with it. In your case, though, I agree with you--pretty unfair mod.
Yeah, so did congress, but they seem to have forgotten.
wow. AC screaming "Government conspiracy!" gets modded 5 Insightful. Where is my Metamod?
"I would submit movie->book is a superior order for enjoying them both."
I hadn't thought of it before, but I do agree with this. There is amazing value in the books, but I think there could be great enjoyment (given not having seen or read either before) in seeing the movies first and then following up with the books. For those who have read the books first, there is some element of let-down in seeing the deviations that were made in the movies and just how shallow it is compared to the richness of the books. Going the other way, you get to experience the general story with good portrayals of the characters and sets, so you have a scope of it, and then in reading the books, your eyes are opened even further to the backstory, depth of narrative, and development of these characters, etc. The books are so much deeper than the movies, but the movies give great visuals and an effective, impacting impression. Think which you would appreciate more: deep, then shallow or shallow, then deep.
Whoa! Windows crashed a Linux box just sitting next to it! I think that may be a first.
I just selected KDE as the only software package to install. It told at the bottom how much space that was supposed to take; I don't remember how much that was now--I think 800+ MB. Part of the mistake was probably when it asked if I wanted to download the updates and patches for the software I was installing. It started downloading a bunch of patches for KDE, and I think that's what filled up the extra space and made the installation hang.
"The last time I tried to set up a Mandrake box with no window manager, it came in around 400 megs."
Yeah, I don't doubt that it would fit with no window manager, but that's not really a desktop system, like I'm looking for.
Yes, I know I could get a good deal on a hard drive, but I just want to try out Linux to see if I can reasonably make the switch. I am not going to install Open Office or a bunch of other software right now. I just want to try the browser tools, see how reasonable it is to get plugins for web content (Realplayer, Quicktime, DivX, etc.) and try the apt utilities or installing something from RPMs. It's an unknown level of complication that I want to see how reasonable it will be. At this experimental stage, I don't think it's worth investing the money if I'm not necessarily going to make the switch. I think Knoppix may be best for what I want to try because it hardly needs any disk space, but I need to find a better mirror to download from than what I found earlier (about 2KB/sec--ugh.)
Thanks for the zipdisk recommendation. I just sold my parallel port zip drive, though, and have no internal. I see your general principle, though. If I can find a smaller distro that can install over the network or on one CD, that might work. I'll do some searching.
"Heck, a bare install of KDE, X, and Linux would probably take less than 500MB, not too far off Win 98SE"
Maybe you didn't catch it, but I said I tried Debian and Mandrake with just KDE, and it ran out of room on the 1GB drive.
I think all potential third parties are afraid SCO will catch them in the crosshairs of a lawsuit if they raise their heads to speak up. And that's actually a pretty valid concern.
"Um, no mister McBride, sir. I don't think I was infringing on your IP in my book report. Do you have something in your Sys V code about Tom Sawyer?"
I sure didn't think this would be the case, but would you believe Linux installations are too big? I have a computer with a 1GB hard drive that I have been running Windows 98SE on for quite a while--takes up about 400MB or so. I tried Debian 3.0, and Mandrake 9.1. Neither would finish installing, even with no applications but KDE selected. I even tried and successfully installed Windows XP on it, and it fit in 1GB (barely). WTF? I thought Linux was supposed to be smaller, more code efficient, etc. Would I have to go back to like Mandrake 5 or 6 to get it small enough to fit in 1GB? I don't want to hear about MS having code bloat when the Linux distros take up more than twice the space for a base install.
The zealots may mod me as a troll or flamebait, but I really tried because I wanted to start using Linux and was pretty disappointed in their shortcoming.
Remember that it is generally congress that drafts and enacts most of these laws, rather than the president. That is where you can be most effective, especially because they are from the state you live in. A representative or senator's votes are public record. Start finding out what your congress person votes for and against. If they are voting for this bad stuff, write letters and make phone calls to them to tell them that you do not like their support of these bad policies. You complain about lack of choice in a presidential election, but it's sure not that bad in the state races. Speak up there because it will more likely be heard and more likely have an effect.
I love Jack in the Box commercials for their cleverness. One of theirs was a fake truck commercial like this. It had a similar kind of classic rock song while it showed a big truck climbing a hill of large rocks. There was a big thunderstorm, and a little lamb was scared and stuck on top of this hill. Jack jumps out of the truck dressed entirely like one of those cowboy-big-truck guys, with jeans and boots and all--oh yeah, except for his giant white ball for a head. He runs through the storm to rescue the lamb. I think it's then that they show it's a commercial for a new burger they are introducting. Then the funniest part: They do one of those classic truck things where they are dumping a load of something from a front-end loader into the bed of the truck to show strong the suspension is, but the only thing that drops out of the bucket is one of those new burgers. It hits the truck bed with a giant thud, and the truck slams down onto the axle, like they had just photoshopped out a 2 ton boulder or something.
They probably weren't technically re-using anyone else's footage, but it was a great use of a different commercial type to advertise something unrelated.