Whoever moderated your post as informative is a fucktard. Of course other languages have phrases similar to "How are you". What the parent poster was getting at, is that Americans use this phrase in a different way to French and German speakers.
I'm not sure about the Spanish but the Brits and the Irish use the phrase the same way as Americans. Look here for about this because I'm not arsed repeating myself.
Actually, this is an Irish and British thing too. When in Germany, I got strange looks off people when I'd say "Wie geht's?" as a salutation. It was only when I was there a few months that I realised that mainland Europeans don't generally ask how you are as a salutation. I think that this is particular to English speaking countries and not solely an American feature.
It's about 'settling in' to a conversation. Irish people tend to speak to each other for a minute or so (usually asking each other how they are, talking about the weather etc.) before launching into what they actually want to speak to each other about.
Waiting 3 months to see a specialist isn't too bad if you didn't have to pay for it. I'm living in Ireland where we're supposed to have a public healthcare system. I had to wait 4 months to see a specialist and pay EUR150 for that one visit even though I'm privately insured on top of being entitled to public healthcare (I'd probably have to wait over a year if I was only on public healthcare).
When I was in Germany, I also had to see a specialist and I had to wait a week. I had to pay EUR10 for 3 months of treatment. Methinks Germany's got the best social welfare system in the world.
Funny you should say this but I'm actually looking for a job now. I'll graduate in the summer with a BSc. in Applied Computational Linguistics. I've applied to a good few companies and it all seems a bit hopeless, especially when people look at me funny when I tell them what my degree is. I feel like shouting "I'm a great programmer! Look at this project that I did last year, my lecturer was amazed that a 3rd year student could pull it off!". They seem to think that ACL means that I only study linguistics and maybe know how to turn a computer on and check emails. My course is pretty programming intensive. It's also quite intimidating when going to recruitment talks and 99% of the students there are MSc. students... [/rant]
The people out partying and drinking and having a good time with other good looking successful non-geeks see you as someone to do their homework and fix their computers.
Just because people aren't geeks and they go out at the weekend, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are good looking and/or successful.
It seems to me that Americans have this view that people fit easily into one category or the other. Apparently people are either democrats/republicans, unpopular/popular etc..
I'd have to disagree with ye there bug. Geek in the dictionary is defined as "an unfashionable or socially inept person" or "a person with an eccentric devotion to a particular interest". Just because someone is interested in computers or whatever, or works in the field of computers, it doesn't automatically mean that they have an "eccentric devotion" to computers. Geeks are easy to point out and there are no exceptions to this. If someone dresses in fashionable clothes and does not completely lack social skills, then they are, by definition, not a geek.
I was an ERASMUS student last year and the thing that I found most startling was that you could usually tell within a minute or two's conversation with an American student what they studied. You could speak to a student from anywhere else in the world for hours on end and, unless you asked them what they studied, you wouldn't have a clue as to what they study. In fact, when I got to know various people, I kept on forgetting what they studied but I never forgot what the Americans studied. It was as if the American students had a big badge on their chest, proclaiming what they studied.
Whatever American students choose what their major is, they seem to automatically gain an eccentric devotion to it. I wonder if this is because tuition fees are so high that they feel they should have a big interest in whatever they're spending so much money on. Or maybe they feel that whatever career they take, defines them. Americans seem to have a different work ethic than the Irish. Most of us think that our job is just something that gets us money and if it's something that we like doing, well that's a little bonus.
Anyway, to get back to the point, Geeks by definition are definitely not cool. The 'mainstream' only uses them from time to time because they provide a wealth of comic material. Of course, labelling someone a geek is completely subjective. People may say that I'm a geek because I am studying a computer degree and I read Slashdot daily. Other people may think that I am decidedly not a geek because I drink a lot and have a good time when I go out and I'm a pretty sociable person.
It's not very revolutionary is it? I've been getting Lost, Family Guy and American Dad episodes off the net a day or so after they've been aired on American TV for at least a year now. OK, I've been doing it illegally but still, iTunes is only innovation in as far as it being legal.
With the iMac finally having a remote control and being able to download certain TV shows via iTunes, it seems that the mainstream takes years to cop on about how people use their computers.
*sigh* People never learn. It surprises me (maybe it shouldn't) that the British government is taking this stance with the Islamic terrorists.
They took the same stance against terrorism in Northern Ireland. People kept on dying on both sides until they sat down and "appeased" the terrorists. While the situation up the North isn't ideal, it sure is far better than it was 20 years ago.
If I may use an analogy, sitting down and talking to terrorists is like brushing and flossing your teeth every day in order to prevent tooth decay and waging a "War On Terror" is the equivalent of taking all your teeth out.
I'm good friends with Americans over here in Germany (I'm Irish myself) and I have to agree. While they all have different political opinions, some are religious, some aren't but they all have a uniting love for the American Constitution. It's strange, they all go on about how great it is all the time.
When I point out things like slavery, general racial oppression and the Patriot Act, they kind of mutter something like every country isn't perfect.
I'm not sure though that they consider their country to be superior to everyone else's. It's only natural to feel that there's no place like home. I've caught myself looking down my nose at other countries but that doesn't mean that I truly believe that the Irish are God's chosen people.
The whole company blog thing is just a popular PR stunt. It makes a big corporation seem more open when they're acting the same as they always do. Letting employees blog is just a way of presenting a "friendly" face to the outside world.
I know I sound like a broken record here but I'll go on anyway. Maybe 'cause I've had a few beers and I'm usually more forgiving when I've had a few beers...
Anyway, when one buys a Mac, one doesn't buy just the hardware, one doesn't buy just the OS, one doesn't just buy the great Apps.
When you buy a Mac mini, you buy a computer which is great for anything you need to do bar CPU intensive scientific/graphic stuff. You also buy a computer that looks great and is TINY. With this computer, you also get a great OS that is stable, secure but is also extremely usable and is also miles ahead of all other Desktop OSes (I'm talking about Panther here BTW) and it also has all the free software ported to it that Linux has. Also, you get iTunes (which kicks all other MP3 players' asses) and all the other iLife apps. You also get iWorks.
How can a sane person honestly compare a Mac mini with a cheapo x86 computer??!?!
Seriously though. If I were to ever own an x86 box again, I'd probably install KUBUNTU. If was gonna have a server, I'd run Debian. Maybe 'cause it's what I'm used to but it's just so God damn stable and secure and fast.
All the new snazzy eye candy is run in the GPU on Tiger and it's only turned on if the GPU can handle it. The better the system, the more eye candy but the slower systems will run fine. Just with not as much eye candy.
That's all RMS is about. The right to use and modify software for one's purposes once it doesn't impeach on other people's rights.
I thought RMS was a bit wacky but once I actually read a bit of what he was saying, it made perfect sense. RMS isn't a radicalist. He makes perfect sense.
Don't buy one then. When I get a phone, I buy the bottom of the range one that makes phone calls, sends SMSs and has an alarm clock on it. That's all I need. Plus the battery life on it is amazing compared to current phones.
Free market dude. Buy what you want to buy and don't buy what you don't want to buy.
I was talking about Macs in general, not specifically the security of it's OS. What I meant is that Macs have hardware failures, apps still crash and still have security vulnerabilities. Because Mac OS X hasn't been exploited yet, it doesn't mean that it still doesn't have vulnerabilities and bugs, just like PCs.
Parent was implying that they were perfect. That's what I was talking about.
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Whoever moderated your post as informative is a fucktard. Of course other languages have phrases similar to "How are you". What the parent poster was getting at, is that Americans use this phrase in a different way to French and German speakers.
I'm not sure about the Spanish but the Brits and the Irish use the phrase the same way as Americans. Look here for about this because I'm not arsed repeating myself.
Actually, this is an Irish and British thing too. When in Germany, I got strange looks off people when I'd say "Wie geht's?" as a salutation. It was only when I was there a few months that I realised that mainland Europeans don't generally ask how you are as a salutation. I think that this is particular to English speaking countries and not solely an American feature.
It's about 'settling in' to a conversation. Irish people tend to speak to each other for a minute or so (usually asking each other how they are, talking about the weather etc.) before launching into what they actually want to speak to each other about.
Waiting 3 months to see a specialist isn't too bad if you didn't have to pay for it. I'm living in Ireland where we're supposed to have a public healthcare system. I had to wait 4 months to see a specialist and pay EUR150 for that one visit even though I'm privately insured on top of being entitled to public healthcare (I'd probably have to wait over a year if I was only on public healthcare).
When I was in Germany, I also had to see a specialist and I had to wait a week. I had to pay EUR10 for 3 months of treatment. Methinks Germany's got the best social welfare system in the world.
Funny you should say this but I'm actually looking for a job now. I'll graduate in the summer with a BSc. in Applied Computational Linguistics. I've applied to a good few companies and it all seems a bit hopeless, especially when people look at me funny when I tell them what my degree is. I feel like shouting "I'm a great programmer! Look at this project that I did last year, my lecturer was amazed that a 3rd year student could pull it off!". They seem to think that ACL means that I only study linguistics and maybe know how to turn a computer on and check emails. My course is pretty programming intensive. It's also quite intimidating when going to recruitment talks and 99% of the students there are MSc. students... [/rant]
:)
Anyway...any chance of a job?
Just because France is doing this and (if you listen to the likes of Bill O'Reilly) they're sworn enemies of America?
Honestly, if London, Berlin, Dublin, Madrid or any other European city had opted for OSS, would it have been viewed as a political news item?
This bollocks is, well, a load of bollocks.
What's wrong with Ireland?!?!
only joking
I'd have to disagree with ye there bug. Geek in the dictionary is defined as "an unfashionable or socially inept person" or "a person with an eccentric devotion to a particular interest". Just because someone is interested in computers or whatever, or works in the field of computers, it doesn't automatically mean that they have an "eccentric devotion" to computers. Geeks are easy to point out and there are no exceptions to this. If someone dresses in fashionable clothes and does not completely lack social skills, then they are, by definition, not a geek.
I was an ERASMUS student last year and the thing that I found most startling was that you could usually tell within a minute or two's conversation with an American student what they studied. You could speak to a student from anywhere else in the world for hours on end and, unless you asked them what they studied, you wouldn't have a clue as to what they study. In fact, when I got to know various people, I kept on forgetting what they studied but I never forgot what the Americans studied. It was as if the American students had a big badge on their chest, proclaiming what they studied.
Whatever American students choose what their major is, they seem to automatically gain an eccentric devotion to it. I wonder if this is because tuition fees are so high that they feel they should have a big interest in whatever they're spending so much money on. Or maybe they feel that whatever career they take, defines them. Americans seem to have a different work ethic than the Irish. Most of us think that our job is just something that gets us money and if it's something that we like doing, well that's a little bonus.
Anyway, to get back to the point, Geeks by definition are definitely not cool. The 'mainstream' only uses them from time to time because they provide a wealth of comic material. Of course, labelling someone a geek is completely subjective. People may say that I'm a geek because I am studying a computer degree and I read Slashdot daily. Other people may think that I am decidedly not a geek because I drink a lot and have a good time when I go out and I'm a pretty sociable person.
It's not very revolutionary is it? I've been getting Lost, Family Guy and American Dad episodes off the net a day or so after they've been aired on American TV for at least a year now. OK, I've been doing it illegally but still, iTunes is only innovation in as far as it being legal.
With the iMac finally having a remote control and being able to download certain TV shows via iTunes, it seems that the mainstream takes years to cop on about how people use their computers.
Computer news doesn't get more exciting than this. It's Google AND Firefox in it.....Open source and all that jazz. Magnificent!
"Another tip: never enter console commands you don't understand."
Poppycock! Recklessly fucking up your computer is the only way you'll learn anything!
*sigh* People never learn. It surprises me (maybe it shouldn't) that the British government is taking this stance with the Islamic terrorists.
They took the same stance against terrorism in Northern Ireland. People kept on dying on both sides until they sat down and "appeased" the terrorists. While the situation up the North isn't ideal, it sure is far better than it was 20 years ago.
If I may use an analogy, sitting down and talking to terrorists is like brushing and flossing your teeth every day in order to prevent tooth decay and waging a "War On Terror" is the equivalent of taking all your teeth out.
Plus, why is it only on American politics and, every now and again, on the EU?
I'm good friends with Americans over here in Germany (I'm Irish myself) and I have to agree. While they all have different political opinions, some are religious, some aren't but they all have a uniting love for the American Constitution. It's strange, they all go on about how great it is all the time.
When I point out things like slavery, general racial oppression and the Patriot Act, they kind of mutter something like every country isn't perfect.
I'm not sure though that they consider their country to be superior to everyone else's. It's only natural to feel that there's no place like home. I've caught myself looking down my nose at other countries but that doesn't mean that I truly believe that the Irish are God's chosen people.
The whole company blog thing is just a popular PR stunt. It makes a big corporation seem more open when they're acting the same as they always do. Letting employees blog is just a way of presenting a "friendly" face to the outside world.
Don't expect companies to be nice.
You can still be innovative while working within an existing academic field, you idiot.
I know I sound like a broken record here but I'll go on anyway. Maybe 'cause I've had a few beers and I'm usually more forgiving when I've had a few beers...
Anyway, when one buys a Mac, one doesn't buy just the hardware, one doesn't buy just the OS, one doesn't just buy the great Apps.
When you buy a Mac mini, you buy a computer which is great for anything you need to do bar CPU intensive scientific/graphic stuff. You also buy a computer that looks great and is TINY. With this computer, you also get a great OS that is stable, secure but is also extremely usable and is also miles ahead of all other Desktop OSes (I'm talking about Panther here BTW) and it also has all the free software ported to it that Linux has. Also, you get iTunes (which kicks all other MP3 players' asses) and all the other iLife apps. You also get iWorks.
How can a sane person honestly compare a Mac mini with a cheapo x86 computer??!?!
Actually GGP is a bigger dweeb for quoting such a shite film as Napoleon Dynamite. :p
Mac OS X :)
Seriously though. If I were to ever own an x86 box again, I'd probably install KUBUNTU. If was gonna have a server, I'd run Debian. Maybe 'cause it's what I'm used to but it's just so God damn stable and secure and fast.
All the new snazzy eye candy is run in the GPU on Tiger and it's only turned on if the GPU can handle it. The better the system, the more eye candy but the slower systems will run fine. Just with not as much eye candy.
Actually, it's spelled "criticiSed".
Unfortunately Communism and Socialism are instantly equated with the former Soviet Russia's totalitarian form of Government.
Free software being compared to Communism isn't so bad when everybody knows what Communism actually means. Unfortunately most people don't.
It's the same reason why free software is often referred to as open software because most people usually equate free to cheap.
One's right to use software.
That's all RMS is about. The right to use and modify software for one's purposes once it doesn't impeach on other people's rights.
I thought RMS was a bit wacky but once I actually read a bit of what he was saying, it made perfect sense. RMS isn't a radicalist. He makes perfect sense.
Don't buy one then. When I get a phone, I buy the bottom of the range one that makes phone calls, sends SMSs and has an alarm clock on it. That's all I need. Plus the battery life on it is amazing compared to current phones.
Free market dude. Buy what you want to buy and don't buy what you don't want to buy.
I was talking about Macs in general, not specifically the security of it's OS. What I meant is that Macs have hardware failures, apps still crash and still have security vulnerabilities. Because Mac OS X hasn't been exploited yet, it doesn't mean that it still doesn't have vulnerabilities and bugs, just like PCs.
Parent was implying that they were perfect. That's what I was talking about.