Quite honestly I wasn't sure if I would get a reply. Cool.
I try to reply whenever there's a comment with a question. Besides, this is Slashdot, you shouldn't worry about getting a comment - it'll happen, you should worry instead about being told to fuck off.
Paying for meals is iffy nowadays I think, but I think that only depends on where you are. There are women out there who expect the man to pay for everything. Sometimes I pay, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I pay my half. If I don't pay, I get the tip. I feel less comfortable "going half" on anything like a dinner. It just feels wierd scanning a bill and arguing over who ate most of the appetizer.
About the looks, you have a point. Looks count, and that's why people should clean up for their dates. I personally don't like pretty boys, but I also don't like hairy lumberjacks either. My advice to the ladies is not to date guys who make prettier girls than you do!
There are people who write full blown applications within Excel using the Visual Basic for Applications junk burried in Office. There are forms and controls, and just about every thing I'd expect to see except for the obvious overhead of being a program within a program. It's weird what you can do with Excel.
Just a question but, why doesn't HP have a version of Linux? Carly has nothing but good things to say about Lionux, and HP does have the experience and the position to make a great Linux system. just imagine it, hp -linux with full support for all HP hardware! Well, hopefully. I'd hate to see Dell beat HP to the punch.
Social cause? What's that? (Serious question!)
Literature, yes. Poetry, not so much.
Be interested in something bigger than you. If you and your date actually have the same interests, then perhaps you two can discuss that. I've wowed some of the CS and CPE majors I've dated by taking an interest in their disciplines. Having an interest in politics, or the environment, or even history, is something because it gives you something to talk about, and it shows that you are not two-dimensional. Two-dimensional really only works if you're one of those rare hetero male-models, or if your date is socially inept.:)
What it really comes down to is that you should show that you have interests and concerns, that you're life isn't only about one thing. Now, I'm sounding like Shannon Doherty in Mall Rats
On the flipside, don't be a firebrand preacher about your interests. Politics and religion are pretty risky topics for a first date. See, even the most secure independent minded trash-talkin slashdotting girl wants a knight in shining armor, a Prince Valiant. A Harrison Ford Han Solo... meow.
So equality... is it good, or is it whack?
Equality is very good. Some girls like to be babied to the extent that they don't like being cluttered by indepdent thoughts. The Hilton sisters would be a prime example of this, but she doesn't have to be a poor little rich girl to be like this either. It's okay to put a girl on a pedestal, but don't pamper her unless she pampers you. The last thing you want is to invest all your effort in a cold fish. If she wants to pay for dinner, don't be offended. She has the right to be proud of her financial accomplishments, and if she asks to take you out, don't be alarmed by her liberal heresy, but please at least open the door for her.
Wow, thanks for letting me be myself. I can be a geek. Isn't that nice.
I'm not the only one who says so, Teresa Strasser is a cute TV personality who also writes a singles column (mostly geared toward Jewesses), but it's a fun read for those of us who aren't Kosher:
I think a lot of those funny slapstick sex farces from the 70s and 80s like "Revenge of the Nerds" really give geeks a bad rap.
And we're supposed to read and understand them all? It's not like you've given us a manual or something, you know.
No, no manual, but in return we give you head. What's the complaint? It's either us or sheep. Besides, some women are so transparent that anyone whose played the Legend of Zelda would be able to figure them out.
So being late is ok if you're a girl? Why?
You get paid more than us, and you get to play pro baseball. Is it so much to ask that we make you wait? Seriously it's not good to make anyone wait, and I try not to, but we are expected to look good for our dates. We have to do our hair, match the right clothing, and that takes time. Now, if a girl makes you wait and she still looks horrible, then you've got a worthy complaint.:)
How exactly do you match a belt and a pair of shoes? What if I don't wear a belt?;)
It's simple. Don't wear a black belt with brown shoes, and vice-versa. There are certain basics to men's dress. Men should always accessorize with a watch and wallet. The wallet, if made of leather, should match the shoes (if made of leather). If you want to make a good impression, and if the dress code suggests it, you should wear a belt. Belts are used to hold your pants up like they were in the 19th century.:)
Was there any truth to that story about how young Bill Gates used to ask his dates what their SAT scores were, and then he'd use their scores to decide whether he wanted to date them again? I'm wondering what percentil he would fall in.
Oh, you're right on there. In this case I was meaning aspirations in the romantic sense. You want to do something. It's not always about making money and getting power. Many women have more appreciation for men whose goals include trying to make the world a better place. Being an idealistic romatnic is a good thing, and if your date is totally disgusted by idealism in general, then you'll realize it pretty quickly. The fancy restaurant remark is about identifying to your date that you think she is worth more than a buy one get one free burrito at Taco Bell. C'mon, even the geeks out there who've never even touched a girl must surely realize that fast food restaurants stopped being an ideal first date experience in the 60s.
But, again you're correct about the "secure me baby" girls. Hopefully their intentions become obvious before any damage is done.
I stand by the wine. See, wine is a symbol of class, and knowledge of wine is a sign of elegance. Beer, however tasty, does not show refinement. All men should have a suit and tie. Yes, if you live on the beaches of Hawaii, you'll probably never wear a suit, but you ought to have one. You don't have to be a wine drinker in order to know something about wine. It's about making a positive impression and not commiting a social faux pas in front of a date, or perhaps worse, a client or potential employer/business partner.
Well, different strokes for different folks, and these rules aren't in any particular order. But I don't care how horny your are or how horny she is, if the girl doesn't have a preference for you to be clean and showered, then you ought to rethink your plan. And there's not a single woman in the world who will suggest that you ignore her non-verbal communique.
If you're just looking to get laid, you still need to work on your visual presentation, or you just find someone who's really needing it bad.
Could you explain to the uninitiated how emerge and the whole portage system works? I've read the site's explanation of the benefits, but how does it work?
If I want an application, I just download the tarball, unpack it, customize the makefiles if necessary, and then build the app. I feel like doing things this way gives me access to the widest amount of software. I don't have to worry about finding compatible.RPMs
Women go for that stuff, trust me on this one.
I can validate this comment. We do love men who know how to dance, and it doesn't have to be a trendy hip-hop or house style. You can waltz, tango, or practically anything else because it shows you have a cultural side.
But if you really want to earn points:
1. Know something about wine. All men. ALL MEN should know about wine. At least understand the types of wine and how to evaluate a wine's flavor/
2. Ditch the false bravado. Machismo is attractive initially, but it quickly wears.
3. Take an interest in your date. Don't let her walk all over you, but show her you appreciate the time you're spending with her.
4. Be clean. Shave. Use cologne sparingly. Make sure you shoes and your belt match.
5. Be passionate about something. Have a social cause. Love poetry or literature.
6. Open doors for ladies, but don't order our dinners without our permission.
7. It's okay to be a geek. Geeks are sexy. They think about things, but don't brag or act superior because you know more about a subject than your date. Let her know that your geekness includes aspirations.
8. Pay attention to our non-verbal signals. Women average about 150 non-verbal signals every minute.
9. Don't be late, but be forgiving if we are.
10. Above all else, do not end the date with a heart-felt, "Gawd, I'd like to finger you" while escorting your date to her door.
And as a bonus for you college guys: don't do her homework for her, do offer to help tutor her if you'd like to help. And when you take her out on a date, don't take her to see a movie. 2 hours of silence in a theater isn't going to help her get to know you. Take her to dinner - it doesn't have to be a fancy restaurant, but it should be better than a fast food restaurant. If all you can afford is a corner dive, well, tell her. And tell her that you would (and will someday) take her to someplace much better. At least she'll know you're not just cheap, but that you are hoping for future dates. If she is worth her weight in RAM, she'll appreciate the honesty and be understanding without being judgemental. Go for a walk around town. Sit at an outside cafe and have coffee or ice cream. Go browsing through a department store 45 minutes before it closes. Buy her flowers. These are all good things.
CUPS... I was pulling my hair out. I have a Samsung ML series laser printer at work. It's a great little PCL language printer that comes with Linux drivers to include a bash installation script, and some profile files meant for use with CUPS. The problem was that I either had the wrong version of CUPS or no CUPS at all based on which distro I tried, so I simply gave up trying. I understand that talking to a printer is no simple feat. Windows makes it look easy. Right now, I've got an HP Deskjet 3620 that I'll need to test out.
I'm sure since then someone somewhere figured out how to get it working well. Maybe there's a master database somewhere containing user submissions on success stories with various hardware - sort of like WINE's app database, but I've not looked lately. I've got a Linux Format DVD containing a slew of products including Mandrake 9.0, which I'll gladly give a whirl when time permits. I was looking at the contents listing on the back of the DVD just today when I thought back to the last time I saw a CD collection of software. I was rummaging through the computer software bin at Borders in Chicago when I found a 2-disc Windows 95 shareware/freeware CDROM from Walnut Creek (the CD was basically a mirror of the Windows95.com shareware site) and a 4-disc FreeBSD collection. I don't think I've seen anything like that today for Windows or any other platform with the exception of the free magazine inserts and those ultra cheap game collections that still contain shareware versions of Hexen v 1.0... ah memories.
This could be true. I'd argue that the platform you start out on will definitely shape your upgrade path, but at the same time, as you engage in computing you gradually develop dependencies on the system you work with. For example, it was hard for me to go from UNIX to Windows, but now I am running Windows completely, and I'm having a hell of a time going back to UNIX - even going back to Slackware is hard for me, and I can't afford to consider the Mac as an option.
I have found that I don't like these newbie-branded distributions because I have expectations for what my UNIX experience should be like. I know I'm being unfair here. If all these distros pretty much work the same, why would someone switch from Mandrake to another distro? For me, getting my printers working under Slackware was hard, and both Red Hat and SuSe offered some nice printer config utilities. I can understand a vertical shift from Linux to FreeBSD or UNIX.
Stopping payments is what they do going into bankruptcy. Then they get protection, so they can reorganize, then, if they can come back, they do better, their creditors get paid after all, and everyone is better off.
Technically, Mandrake's creditors may only get some of what they are originally owed unless the exit plan involves full repayment of the original debt, albiet over an extended period of time. I'd have to look up the details to be sure. It could be that Mandrake will only be paying $0.80 off the dollar, which still would be helpful. If Mandrake will be paying back the original debt in total over a longer period, then essentially Mandrake will actually be paying more than the original debt. This is all good though. It's better than the huge loss to the market that a company in default creates.
I don't think Mandrake had any problems that would cause investors and consumers to lose faith in the company. Mandrake isn't MCI WorldCom:) So, Mandrake will likely continue to be profitable. Looks like the Linux community, at least on Slashdot, will warmly embrace the Mandrake comeback if it isn't a favorite distro. This is a great statement about the community. Does anyone know whether other commercial Linux companies are helping out Mandrake?
I was taking about the more objective connotation of "too high" that you mentioned. I know I pay a premium for the goods and services I purchase because of my location. When I talk about real estate cartels fixing prices, I am talking about prices that are above the market price. Anyone who comments should already know that market price is variable. Slashdotters already understand what a monopoly is and how roughly how it affects the market, but my guess is that many don't understand what an oligopoly is and how it affects the market more. So far the responses have indicated that some Slashdotters think that the real estate market is in perfect equilibrium and unaffected by cartels. Perhaps they'll further to argue that business cartels in anything other than the computer industry is a myth... like dry land.
But I'd agree with you, "higher than I think it ought to be sold for" is subjective, just like the one comment about me railing against capitalism is also subjective.
I posted earlier in the thread about the educational background of patent examiners. There are specific patent examiner posts that require education in the field the examiners are working on. For example, there are patent examiners that focus on biotechnology and organic chemistry. Others focus on electrical engineering and semiconductors. So, while patent clerks can't claim to be experts in all fields, they can claim to be automobile designers (mechanical engineers with some aerospace engineering knowledge) or material scientists. Someone in the patent office understands domains.
So I'm left wondering. I'm thinking that since the USPTO must get a lot of patent applications, the organization probably has a tendency to get overrun. If there aren't enough patent examiners who understand computer technologies, maybe a stack of related patent applications winds up on the desk of some patent examiner who knows mechanical engineering, or perhaps the junior level patent examiners don't really know how to approach the review process since they lack the real-world experience dealing with the technologies they're evaluating.
Ooh Ooh!! If there's not enough patent clerks, maybe the USPTO will outsource to India!
Well, for one they are civil service employees who get there job assignments just after getting their frontal lobotomy. Maybe the USPTO is trying so hard to objectively review patent applications that it ends up ignoring common sense. Maybe, as you're alluding to, there may be some qualification issues.
I looked at some job listings at the USPTO office, and it looks okay. I'd prefer a little more professional experience for these guys, especially GS-11s and above, but I guess you don't go from famed celebrity computer engineer to patent examiner.
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ahrpa/ohr/jobs/jobs.htm
In one circumstance, to apply for a job as a patent examiner for biotechnology and organic chemistry, the applicant must have a four-year course of study leading to a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.
The higher you go in rank (GS-7 and above), the academic requirements increment by one year graduate school experience in same or related field.
The requirements are pretty similar with requirements for other jobs. So, based on this, I default back to my earlier statement about the frontal lobotomy.
My first experience playing Quake left me in awe. It had turned out that the CD wasn't even in the tray. There was an old Front 242 disc inside, and Quake loaded the disc up and began playing various tracks. I had been playing using the ReaperBot then, and Front 242's "Manhunter" was selected for play alot!
I used to own Commander Keen back when games and anti-virus apps like Solomon were sold in small envelope-like paper containers. I've always had an appreciation for id Software. I think my favorites over the years have been in order: Sid Meier, Maxis, Id, and then Nintendo (or rather the publishing companies like Konami that made Nintendo great).
I have a love for horror games, but being PC-based there haven't been many worthwhile titles. I want something very very scary with plenty of atmoshere. I don't think I like roleplaying computer games much. 7th Guest was fun and revolutionary at the time. That 6 or 7 CD Phantasmagoria game was gruesome, but Longest Journey just didn't thrill me. There's a Lovecraft style Cthulu RPG game coming out (no ammo counter!!!), and maybe that will do it for me, but if anyone has a suggestion, I'm listening:)
If your job is outsourced then just move or find another job.
This is a valid suggestion that works for maybe a few months as your former company's competitors begin to do the same thing. Then people like me, or rather less qualified schmucks who whore themselves out on cable news to push their latest book, give lectures to other companies within your field on the benefits of outsourcing. Soon after the trend hits other industries, then after that people are moving back and forth between the coasts trying to find work, or they go back to school. Since these people were likely already college educated, these people go for a second or third degree, and by the time they reenter the workforce, the minimum education level has artificially increased due to the significant number of unemployed individuals with two or more degrees. This in turn hurts lesser educated unemployed individuals. But then we have to factor in the intrinsic value of a 22 year old college graduate with just a couple of bills to pay who is willing to (and able to) work for far less than a 30-40 year old with a mortgage and a family.
After a while, some decide they need to move to Europe in search of better economic opportunity. This has already happened in the US. It's hard to find work in France - Russia to a lesser extent as well. But now, those nations will tighten their hold on jobs and may even reject the exodus of American workers.
Hmm, would an Indian tech company even consider hiring an American worker unless he is a good frontman? We do have this absurd international reputation for being expensive, inefficient, and unproductive.
If your job is outsourced then just move or find another job is a simple answer with complex consequences.
I thought I made it clear that there's more to the curve than just supply and demand. NYC isn't the only expensive city to live in, and it's a bit of a myth that small towns are cheap. There are small towns all over the mid-west and south with tax bases equal to that of the major cities, and where prices are just as high. I'm not talking about rich places like Aspen or Pinehurst. I never said that real estate agents are the sole cause of high home prices. Of course the demand has something to do with it; but minus demand realtors (not agents) and developers can influence prices above market price through the use of monopolistic and cartel-like behavior.
You said that a bunch of poor folk live in the city and that crime is way higher. This isn't always case either.
de facto standard has long meant that something is an unofficial standard due to being widely used. For a long time in law and in science, Word Perfect and Quattro Pro were the de facto standards though MS Office products may have been widely used. If you go to law school you'll still find professors who refuse to use anything other than Word Perfect. In Business, Word and Excel have been the de facto standards. In graphic design Photoshop has been the de facto standard. "Wide used format" is actually less accurate than "de facto"
I don't think Lynx will do. The minimum feature set would have to provide people with an experience that most people consider representative of the Internet as we know it. For us that means a hell of a lot more, but for most I bet it would mean WWW and instant messaging. I'm not sure about IRC, I don't know if the average user knows what IRC is. We can definitely count out Usenet - and that would be very expensive to maintain for such a wide audience. I'm thinking POP and SMTP would be 'iffy since there's a whole generation of people being reared on webmail.
I used to have shell access. I used PINE for email and tin for Usenet. Now college students aren't getting those accounts. They have just the webmail access instead. Of course, POP and SMTP is still somewhat available.
I'd hate to see cable modem be the standard for broadband, although that and DSL would be the cheapest implementation. I'd rather we all have T1s, but that's too expensive. With cable modem, the likely course would be that the government would get even deeper in bed with the cable companies. I'm not pleased with Time Warner so willingly jumping in with the Feds on the wiretapping issue, and I don't believe that cable companies running broadband will ever get cheap. Just look at the price escalation for regular cable services over the years despite how ubiquitous cable has become.
I think if universal broadband was provided by the cable companies, the cost would be astronomical, even after a healthy amount of subsidies. Plus, laying cable is expensive. San Francisco has been working on public Wi-Fi, and I think that would be great, especially in rural areas. Couldn't we use Wi-Fi?
Hmmm, perform a high throw triple salchow and get a crowbar. Perform a triple toe loop and get a 2x4. Whack whack whack! The possibility of a cat fight between Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen alone should sell the game
Can you cite a qualified source of record that states you have the right to download MP3s off Kazaa for the tracks that compise that Led Zeppelin album you already own? RIAA doesn't even like people playing consuming CD audio using any other mechanism other than an official CD player.
I think what you're saying takes us back to the issue of making legitimate backups for what you have already purchased. I should have the right to make a backup of my DVDs and my CDs if I choose. I like to make mixes directly from my CDs, but you might prefer to use an MP3 player over a WalkMan. Say you lack the ability to make an MP3 on your own. Kazaa in this instance is no different from enlisting the help of a friend with all the necessary tools to help you make your backup or mix.
The reason I asked for a cite earlier is because RIAA is going to have a problem with your right because you can clearly download songs other than the ones you are licensed to consume. How does the license work if you decided to download live version or digitially remastered versions of the same song? I own a few digitally remastered version of older albums I once had on CD or vinyl. The question is, is a digital remaster the same as the original master?
Slashdot Mirror
Quite honestly I wasn't sure if I would get a reply. Cool.
I try to reply whenever there's a comment with a question. Besides, this is Slashdot, you shouldn't worry about getting a comment - it'll happen, you should worry instead about being told to fuck off.
Paying for meals is iffy nowadays I think, but I think that only depends on where you are. There are women out there who expect the man to pay for everything. Sometimes I pay, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I pay my half. If I don't pay, I get the tip. I feel less comfortable "going half" on anything like a dinner. It just feels wierd scanning a bill and arguing over who ate most of the appetizer.
About the looks, you have a point. Looks count, and that's why people should clean up for their dates. I personally don't like pretty boys, but I also don't like hairy lumberjacks either. My advice to the ladies is not to date guys who make prettier girls than you do!
There are people who write full blown applications within Excel using the Visual Basic for Applications junk burried in Office. There are forms and controls, and just about every thing I'd expect to see except for the obvious overhead of being a program within a program. It's weird what you can do with Excel.
Just a question but, why doesn't HP have a version of Linux? Carly has nothing but good things to say about Lionux, and HP does have the experience and the position to make a great Linux system. just imagine it, hp -linux with full support for all HP hardware! Well, hopefully. I'd hate to see Dell beat HP to the punch.
Social cause? What's that? (Serious question!) Literature, yes. Poetry, not so much. :)
What it really comes down to is that you should show that you have interests and concerns, that you're life isn't only about one thing. Now, I'm sounding like Shannon Doherty in Mall Rats
:)
Be interested in something bigger than you. If you and your date actually have the same interests, then perhaps you two can discuss that. I've wowed some of the CS and CPE majors I've dated by taking an interest in their disciplines. Having an interest in politics, or the environment, or even history, is something because it gives you something to talk about, and it shows that you are not two-dimensional. Two-dimensional really only works if you're one of those rare hetero male-models, or if your date is socially inept.
On the flipside, don't be a firebrand preacher about your interests. Politics and religion are pretty risky topics for a first date. See, even the most secure independent minded trash-talkin slashdotting girl wants a knight in shining armor, a Prince Valiant. A Harrison Ford Han Solo... meow.
So equality... is it good, or is it whack?
Equality is very good. Some girls like to be babied to the extent that they don't like being cluttered by indepdent thoughts. The Hilton sisters would be a prime example of this, but she doesn't have to be a poor little rich girl to be like this either. It's okay to put a girl on a pedestal, but don't pamper her unless she pampers you. The last thing you want is to invest all your effort in a cold fish. If she wants to pay for dinner, don't be offended. She has the right to be proud of her financial accomplishments, and if she asks to take you out, don't be alarmed by her liberal heresy, but please at least open the door for her.
Wow, thanks for letting me be myself. I can be a geek. Isn't that nice.
I'm not the only one who says so, Teresa Strasser is a cute TV personality who also writes a singles column (mostly geared toward Jewesses), but it's a fun read for those of us who aren't Kosher:
In Praise of Geeks
I think a lot of those funny slapstick sex farces from the 70s and 80s like "Revenge of the Nerds" really give geeks a bad rap.
And we're supposed to read and understand them all? It's not like you've given us a manual or something, you know.
No, no manual, but in return we give you head. What's the complaint? It's either us or sheep. Besides, some women are so transparent that anyone whose played the Legend of Zelda would be able to figure them out.
So being late is ok if you're a girl? Why?
You get paid more than us, and you get to play pro baseball. Is it so much to ask that we make you wait? Seriously it's not good to make anyone wait, and I try not to, but we are expected to look good for our dates. We have to do our hair, match the right clothing, and that takes time. Now, if a girl makes you wait and she still looks horrible, then you've got a worthy complaint.
How exactly do you match a belt and a pair of shoes? What if I don't wear a belt? ;)
:)
It's simple. Don't wear a black belt with brown shoes, and vice-versa. There are certain basics to men's dress. Men should always accessorize with a watch and wallet. The wallet, if made of leather, should match the shoes (if made of leather). If you want to make a good impression, and if the dress code suggests it, you should wear a belt. Belts are used to hold your pants up like they were in the 19th century.
Was there any truth to that story about how young Bill Gates used to ask his dates what their SAT scores were, and then he'd use their scores to decide whether he wanted to date them again? I'm wondering what percentil he would fall in.
Oh, you're right on there. In this case I was meaning aspirations in the romantic sense. You want to do something. It's not always about making money and getting power. Many women have more appreciation for men whose goals include trying to make the world a better place. Being an idealistic romatnic is a good thing, and if your date is totally disgusted by idealism in general, then you'll realize it pretty quickly. The fancy restaurant remark is about identifying to your date that you think she is worth more than a buy one get one free burrito at Taco Bell. C'mon, even the geeks out there who've never even touched a girl must surely realize that fast food restaurants stopped being an ideal first date experience in the 60s.
But, again you're correct about the "secure me baby" girls. Hopefully their intentions become obvious before any damage is done.
Thanks for the info. I guess part of the Gento niche is a base of users who all have broadband connections and time.
On second thought, that's probably not true. I've downloaded a lot of source tarballs over modem myself. It wasn't that painful.
I stand by the wine. See, wine is a symbol of class, and knowledge of wine is a sign of elegance. Beer, however tasty, does not show refinement. All men should have a suit and tie. Yes, if you live on the beaches of Hawaii, you'll probably never wear a suit, but you ought to have one. You don't have to be a wine drinker in order to know something about wine. It's about making a positive impression and not commiting a social faux pas in front of a date, or perhaps worse, a client or potential employer/business partner.
Well, different strokes for different folks, and these rules aren't in any particular order. But I don't care how horny your are or how horny she is, if the girl doesn't have a preference for you to be clean and showered, then you ought to rethink your plan. And there's not a single woman in the world who will suggest that you ignore her non-verbal communique.
If you're just looking to get laid, you still need to work on your visual presentation, or you just find someone who's really needing it bad.
Could you explain to the uninitiated how emerge and the whole portage system works? I've read the site's explanation of the benefits, but how does it work?
.RPMs
If I want an application, I just download the tarball, unpack it, customize the makefiles if necessary, and then build the app. I feel like doing things this way gives me access to the widest amount of software. I don't have to worry about finding compatible
Women go for that stuff, trust me on this one. I can validate this comment. We do love men who know how to dance, and it doesn't have to be a trendy hip-hop or house style. You can waltz, tango, or practically anything else because it shows you have a cultural side.
But if you really want to earn points:
1. Know something about wine. All men. ALL MEN should know about wine. At least understand the types of wine and how to evaluate a wine's flavor/
2. Ditch the false bravado. Machismo is attractive initially, but it quickly wears.
3. Take an interest in your date. Don't let her walk all over you, but show her you appreciate the time you're spending with her.
4. Be clean. Shave. Use cologne sparingly. Make sure you shoes and your belt match.
5. Be passionate about something. Have a social cause. Love poetry or literature.
6. Open doors for ladies, but don't order our dinners without our permission.
7. It's okay to be a geek. Geeks are sexy. They think about things, but don't brag or act superior because you know more about a subject than your date. Let her know that your geekness includes aspirations.
8. Pay attention to our non-verbal signals. Women average about 150 non-verbal signals every minute.
9. Don't be late, but be forgiving if we are.
10. Above all else, do not end the date with a heart-felt, "Gawd, I'd like to finger you" while escorting your date to her door.
And as a bonus for you college guys: don't do her homework for her, do offer to help tutor her if you'd like to help. And when you take her out on a date, don't take her to see a movie. 2 hours of silence in a theater isn't going to help her get to know you. Take her to dinner - it doesn't have to be a fancy restaurant, but it should be better than a fast food restaurant. If all you can afford is a corner dive, well, tell her. And tell her that you would (and will someday) take her to someplace much better. At least she'll know you're not just cheap, but that you are hoping for future dates. If she is worth her weight in RAM, she'll appreciate the honesty and be understanding without being judgemental. Go for a walk around town. Sit at an outside cafe and have coffee or ice cream. Go browsing through a department store 45 minutes before it closes. Buy her flowers. These are all good things.
CUPS... I was pulling my hair out. I have a Samsung ML series laser printer at work. It's a great little PCL language printer that comes with Linux drivers to include a bash installation script, and some profile files meant for use with CUPS. The problem was that I either had the wrong version of CUPS or no CUPS at all based on which distro I tried, so I simply gave up trying. I understand that talking to a printer is no simple feat. Windows makes it look easy. Right now, I've got an HP Deskjet 3620 that I'll need to test out.
I'm sure since then someone somewhere figured out how to get it working well. Maybe there's a master database somewhere containing user submissions on success stories with various hardware - sort of like WINE's app database, but I've not looked lately. I've got a Linux Format DVD containing a slew of products including Mandrake 9.0, which I'll gladly give a whirl when time permits. I was looking at the contents listing on the back of the DVD just today when I thought back to the last time I saw a CD collection of software. I was rummaging through the computer software bin at Borders in Chicago when I found a 2-disc Windows 95 shareware/freeware CDROM from Walnut Creek (the CD was basically a mirror of the Windows95.com shareware site) and a 4-disc FreeBSD collection. I don't think I've seen anything like that today for Windows or any other platform with the exception of the free magazine inserts and those ultra cheap game collections that still contain shareware versions of Hexen v 1.0... ah memories.
This could be true. I'd argue that the platform you start out on will definitely shape your upgrade path, but at the same time, as you engage in computing you gradually develop dependencies on the system you work with. For example, it was hard for me to go from UNIX to Windows, but now I am running Windows completely, and I'm having a hell of a time going back to UNIX - even going back to Slackware is hard for me, and I can't afford to consider the Mac as an option.
I have found that I don't like these newbie-branded distributions because I have expectations for what my UNIX experience should be like. I know I'm being unfair here. If all these distros pretty much work the same, why would someone switch from Mandrake to another distro? For me, getting my printers working under Slackware was hard, and both Red Hat and SuSe offered some nice printer config utilities. I can understand a vertical shift from Linux to FreeBSD or UNIX.
Stopping payments is what they do going into bankruptcy. Then they get protection, so they can reorganize, then, if they can come back, they do better, their creditors get paid after all, and everyone is better off.
:) So, Mandrake will likely continue to be profitable. Looks like the Linux community, at least on Slashdot, will warmly embrace the Mandrake comeback if it isn't a favorite distro. This is a great statement about the community. Does anyone know whether other commercial Linux companies are helping out Mandrake?
Technically, Mandrake's creditors may only get some of what they are originally owed unless the exit plan involves full repayment of the original debt, albiet over an extended period of time. I'd have to look up the details to be sure. It could be that Mandrake will only be paying $0.80 off the dollar, which still would be helpful. If Mandrake will be paying back the original debt in total over a longer period, then essentially Mandrake will actually be paying more than the original debt. This is all good though. It's better than the huge loss to the market that a company in default creates.
I don't think Mandrake had any problems that would cause investors and consumers to lose faith in the company. Mandrake isn't MCI WorldCom
I was taking about the more objective connotation of "too high" that you mentioned. I know I pay a premium for the goods and services I purchase because of my location. When I talk about real estate cartels fixing prices, I am talking about prices that are above the market price. Anyone who comments should already know that market price is variable. Slashdotters already understand what a monopoly is and how roughly how it affects the market, but my guess is that many don't understand what an oligopoly is and how it affects the market more. So far the responses have indicated that some Slashdotters think that the real estate market is in perfect equilibrium and unaffected by cartels. Perhaps they'll further to argue that business cartels in anything other than the computer industry is a myth... like dry land.
But I'd agree with you, "higher than I think it ought to be sold for" is subjective, just like the one comment about me railing against capitalism is also subjective.
I posted earlier in the thread about the educational background of patent examiners. There are specific patent examiner posts that require education in the field the examiners are working on. For example, there are patent examiners that focus on biotechnology and organic chemistry. Others focus on electrical engineering and semiconductors. So, while patent clerks can't claim to be experts in all fields, they can claim to be automobile designers (mechanical engineers with some aerospace engineering knowledge) or material scientists. Someone in the patent office understands domains.
So I'm left wondering. I'm thinking that since the USPTO must get a lot of patent applications, the organization probably has a tendency to get overrun. If there aren't enough patent examiners who understand computer technologies, maybe a stack of related patent applications winds up on the desk of some patent examiner who knows mechanical engineering, or perhaps the junior level patent examiners don't really know how to approach the review process since they lack the real-world experience dealing with the technologies they're evaluating.
Ooh Ooh!! If there's not enough patent clerks, maybe the USPTO will outsource to India!
Well, for one they are civil service employees who get there job assignments just after getting their frontal lobotomy. Maybe the USPTO is trying so hard to objectively review patent applications that it ends up ignoring common sense. Maybe, as you're alluding to, there may be some qualification issues.
s /jobs.htm
I looked at some job listings at the USPTO office, and it looks okay. I'd prefer a little more professional experience for these guys, especially GS-11s and above, but I guess you don't go from famed celebrity computer engineer to patent examiner. http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ahrpa/ohr/job
In one circumstance, to apply for a job as a patent examiner for biotechnology and organic chemistry, the applicant must have a four-year course of study leading to a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. The higher you go in rank (GS-7 and above), the academic requirements increment by one year graduate school experience in same or related field.
Vacancy Announcement for Patent Examiner (Biotechnology and Organic Chemistry)
The requirements are pretty similar with requirements for other jobs. So, based on this, I default back to my earlier statement about the frontal lobotomy.
My first experience playing Quake left me in awe. It had turned out that the CD wasn't even in the tray. There was an old Front 242 disc inside, and Quake loaded the disc up and began playing various tracks. I had been playing using the ReaperBot then, and Front 242's "Manhunter" was selected for play alot!
:)
I used to own Commander Keen back when games and anti-virus apps like Solomon were sold in small envelope-like paper containers. I've always had an appreciation for id Software. I think my favorites over the years have been in order: Sid Meier, Maxis, Id, and then Nintendo (or rather the publishing companies like Konami that made Nintendo great).
I have a love for horror games, but being PC-based there haven't been many worthwhile titles. I want something very very scary with plenty of atmoshere. I don't think I like roleplaying computer games much. 7th Guest was fun and revolutionary at the time. That 6 or 7 CD Phantasmagoria game was gruesome, but Longest Journey just didn't thrill me. There's a Lovecraft style Cthulu RPG game coming out (no ammo counter!!!), and maybe that will do it for me, but if anyone has a suggestion, I'm listening
If your job is outsourced then just move or find another job.
This is a valid suggestion that works for maybe a few months as your former company's competitors begin to do the same thing. Then people like me, or rather less qualified schmucks who whore themselves out on cable news to push their latest book, give lectures to other companies within your field on the benefits of outsourcing. Soon after the trend hits other industries, then after that people are moving back and forth between the coasts trying to find work, or they go back to school. Since these people were likely already college educated, these people go for a second or third degree, and by the time they reenter the workforce, the minimum education level has artificially increased due to the significant number of unemployed individuals with two or more degrees. This in turn hurts lesser educated unemployed individuals. But then we have to factor in the intrinsic value of a 22 year old college graduate with just a couple of bills to pay who is willing to (and able to) work for far less than a 30-40 year old with a mortgage and a family.
After a while, some decide they need to move to Europe in search of better economic opportunity. This has already happened in the US. It's hard to find work in France - Russia to a lesser extent as well. But now, those nations will tighten their hold on jobs and may even reject the exodus of American workers.
Hmm, would an Indian tech company even consider hiring an American worker unless he is a good frontman? We do have this absurd international reputation for being expensive, inefficient, and unproductive.
If your job is outsourced then just move or find another job is a simple answer with complex consequences.
I thought I made it clear that there's more to the curve than just supply and demand. NYC isn't the only expensive city to live in, and it's a bit of a myth that small towns are cheap. There are small towns all over the mid-west and south with tax bases equal to that of the major cities, and where prices are just as high. I'm not talking about rich places like Aspen or Pinehurst. I never said that real estate agents are the sole cause of high home prices. Of course the demand has something to do with it; but minus demand realtors (not agents) and developers can influence prices above market price through the use of monopolistic and cartel-like behavior.
You said that a bunch of poor folk live in the city and that crime is way higher. This isn't always case either.
de facto standard has long meant that something is an unofficial standard due to being widely used. For a long time in law and in science, Word Perfect and Quattro Pro were the de facto standards though MS Office products may have been widely used. If you go to law school you'll still find professors who refuse to use anything other than Word Perfect. In Business, Word and Excel have been the de facto standards. In graphic design Photoshop has been the de facto standard. "Wide used format" is actually less accurate than "de facto"
I don't think Lynx will do. The minimum feature set would have to provide people with an experience that most people consider representative of the Internet as we know it. For us that means a hell of a lot more, but for most I bet it would mean WWW and instant messaging. I'm not sure about IRC, I don't know if the average user knows what IRC is. We can definitely count out Usenet - and that would be very expensive to maintain for such a wide audience. I'm thinking POP and SMTP would be 'iffy since there's a whole generation of people being reared on webmail.
I used to have shell access. I used PINE for email and tin for Usenet. Now college students aren't getting those accounts. They have just the webmail access instead. Of course, POP and SMTP is still somewhat available.
I'd hate to see cable modem be the standard for broadband, although that and DSL would be the cheapest implementation. I'd rather we all have T1s, but that's too expensive. With cable modem, the likely course would be that the government would get even deeper in bed with the cable companies. I'm not pleased with Time Warner so willingly jumping in with the Feds on the wiretapping issue, and I don't believe that cable companies running broadband will ever get cheap. Just look at the price escalation for regular cable services over the years despite how ubiquitous cable has become.
I think if universal broadband was provided by the cable companies, the cost would be astronomical, even after a healthy amount of subsidies. Plus, laying cable is expensive. San Francisco has been working on public Wi-Fi, and I think that would be great, especially in rural areas. Couldn't we use Wi-Fi?
Hmmm, perform a high throw triple salchow and get a crowbar. Perform a triple toe loop and get a 2x4. Whack whack whack! The possibility of a cat fight between Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen alone should sell the game
Can you cite a qualified source of record that states you have the right to download MP3s off Kazaa for the tracks that compise that Led Zeppelin album you already own? RIAA doesn't even like people playing consuming CD audio using any other mechanism other than an official CD player.
I think what you're saying takes us back to the issue of making legitimate backups for what you have already purchased. I should have the right to make a backup of my DVDs and my CDs if I choose. I like to make mixes directly from my CDs, but you might prefer to use an MP3 player over a WalkMan. Say you lack the ability to make an MP3 on your own. Kazaa in this instance is no different from enlisting the help of a friend with all the necessary tools to help you make your backup or mix.
The reason I asked for a cite earlier is because RIAA is going to have a problem with your right because you can clearly download songs other than the ones you are licensed to consume. How does the license work if you decided to download live version or digitially remastered versions of the same song? I own a few digitally remastered version of older albums I once had on CD or vinyl. The question is, is a digital remaster the same as the original master?