People are for anything that benefits them, and against anything that hurts/harms/annoys them. If the Information to be "freed" is something they personally want or could use, then they're for the freedom, no matter who would be hurt by it.
Since the release of their own personal information would hurt them in some way, they're against the "freedom" of that information.
Only the rare individual will be for something that will benefit the vast majority but hurt them personally.
There's no conflict in the two views, just ordinary selfishness. Part of the brilliance in the original design of the US government is in the use of selfishness in what I call the "Balance of Greed" to keep the country reasonably free and prosperous. The problem, of course, is what happens when one party or the other stops being greedy enough to steal the other guy's lunch. But never fear, sooner or later an opportunist will come along to balance things again. It's inevitable.
I just downloaded the ISO images the other day for Suse 9.3 and installed it. It is one DVD or 5 CD's, but it appears to be the entire Pro installation. They delay releasing the cost-free, non-"live" version for something like 6 weeks after the actual release. I imagine this delay is what will be eliminated.
The Internet as it exists today is a major threat to governments around the world, and corporate interests such as the MPAA, RIAA, and those people whose job it is to keep us glued to our television sets.
It is in the interest of these forces to keep people isolated, and dependant on them for all information and entertainment. One way or another, they will cripple today's internet until it becomes a variant of today's distribution system: Controlled and limited without a shred of privacy for anyone.
They will paraphrase Orwell and say, "Freedom is Terrorism" while doing their best to maintain the status quo.
The local (Trusted) Operating System is here to stay.
The US government should have been smart enough to treat people as resources to be developed. Give high schoolers a standardized test, and the kids with the best results get a full-paid scholorship to study certain majors in certain colleges and universities. The list of subjects would change year to year. The test would indicate aptitude in some areas, and that would narrow down the list of available majors.
The details would be hell to work out and administer, but the government (and possibly certain corporate sponsors) would have first-dibs on the graduates. Everybody wins, particularly the US economy.
It's getting so that higher education is completely out of reach of most people (and good higher education out of reach of all but the rich). Giving the poor and middle class a shot at the brass ring is the smartest thing the government could do to help reverse this science gap.
There is no way a "video iPod" is going to be popular. People can listen to music while they do other things: jog, drive, work. But you can't do those things and watch a movie. Besides, who wants to watch a movie on a 2- or 3-inch screen? It's bad enough on a 12-inch laptop screen.
Besides, even if people would buy such a device, why buy from Microsoft when they can get something a lot cooler looking from someone like Apple?
The first thing Microsoft would want to do with a movie player is to "integrate" all sorts of unnecessary features that would open the door for trojans, viruses, and spam (oh, my!).
Sorry, Bill. Bad idea. You're throwing money down a black hole with this one.
I don't know if it's still available, but you could get XP Service Pack 2 on a CD. Earlier, Microsoft experimented with putting updates for 98, ME, NT, 2000, and XP on a single CD (and sent it out for free). This kind of CD is great to have in the old kit bag, since you can stay disconnected from the internet until you've applied most of the important patches.
I don't know why Microsoft abandoned the idea of periodic OS updates on CD. Maybe too many people asked for them. I don't think you could buy the resulting good PR that cheaply. Alternately, they could post quarterly the ISO images, and encourage people to spread them around.
It will continue to be impossible to secure any version of Microsoft Windows until that company changes their design philosophy of mingling various unrelated tasks directly into the operating system.
The latest example is their plan to integrate RSS feeds into Littlebighorn (due out next near, whether it's ready or not). Lookie, boys and girls, a whole new way to infest Windows with viruses and malware. We haven't got the old holes plugged yet, but here we are planning to make new ones! You gotta love innovation at work.
Until they stop this "I'm OK, you're ok, so let's share" design philosophy, and get a little more paranoid, Windows will always be the easier target for the Internet's criminals and malcontents.
Oh wait, that's three words...well, two words and a curly thingamajig. Wait, Wait, I've got it. In true GNU fashion: replace Free with FAIB, which stands for "Free As In Beer".
This was a collection of short stories from the 50's or 60's that, basically, said that the world was populated with 99 percent idiots, with few real-world skills beyond the one or two they needed for their daily job. All the real thinking and innovation is done by the remaining 1 percent who are looked down on by the rest of society. One of the stores, "The Little Black Bag" was even made into a Twilight Zone episode (a doctor's bag from the future was so automated anyone could use it).
With spell checkers, and even (poor though they are) grammer checkers, what need does anyone have of those two skills after they graduate?
Look at the kind of entertainment on TV and in the movies that are popular nowadays. Comic books (and I include Star Wars and Star Trek in that category)!
One last thought: if you just thanked God that you're in that 1 percent of the population, don't be too sure.
This latest bit of news exemplifies why Microsoft will never be able to secure Windows -- why, in fact, it will never be able to even come close. Microsoft has this philosophy of supporting features like RSS in the lowest levels of the OS, in ways no sane person would even consider, never mind implement. Programmers always make mistakes. That's a given. All it takes is one small mistake to compromise the entire system. You don't add this sort of feature without being very careful (and we all know how successful Microsoft has been in this area).
I don't care what Microsoft says in its Get the FUD campaign, this design philosophy is the reason Windows will always be inferior to Linux when it comes to security, not the relative popularity of Windows and Linux.
As I've ranted before: using Windows is like having unprotected group sex with a roomful of complete strangers. This latest hare-brained scheme of theirs will like inviting even more people to the sex party. Ugh! Time to become a Monk.
That way, we can cancel the whole space program in 5 years or so, and get back to spending taxpayer money on the really important pork barrel projects.
At the risk of being modded down as a troll or flamebait, as a few others on this topic have been so far, I've never been a fan of Kevin Rose. Replacing Leo and Patrick with Kevin was a disaster almost as big as G4 and the Attack of the Show have been. Kevin is a nice guy, but he reminds me of that fellow down at the local computer society that you try to avoid at meetings: the wannabe hacker.
Since I won't go anywhere near G4, or its programming, his departure from that awful channel won't impact me in the slightest. But I do wish him well, whatever he does. Fortunately, the Internet is big enough for everyone.
Microsoft can now breathe easier. Now they won't have to trim more features off the OS to fit it on one DVD.
I can't wait to see the 3-D font they're planning to use in the DOS window (not to mention 3D Clippy!)
I had the same trouble this morning with Firefox. Refreshed a couple of times, and the links worked. Even IE6 didn't work at first. Double trouble here, since Groklaw also is linking to the Sys-Con site. Digg.com will probably be next to hammer them.
How heavy might this sucker be? To get some perspective, consider the laptop I'm using right now, an Acer Aspire 1710. It has a 17 inch diagonal screen (not a widescreen), a full-size keyboard (with keypad) and standard desktop PC components (CPU, memory, and hard-drive). It barely fits into the Targus case I bought for it (it's kinda thick on one end), and weighs in at a hefty 16 pounds. It's great when I need to take a full-blown workstation with me to a client, because I don't have to play around with a more anemic beast (e.g., I have the luxury of a fast 250 Gig hard drive)
Now, consider how much heavier a 19 inch machine might be. The screen alone would add significant poundage. Dell might use smaller and lighter components inside to shave some weight off, but you also need to look at the sheer size of the thing. If it ended up no heavier than my machine, the weight isn't a problem (IMHO), but I don't know about the size.
Slashdot Mirror
Hey, as long as I'm not downwind, what do I care?
People are for anything that benefits them, and against anything that hurts/harms/annoys them. If the Information to be "freed" is something they personally want or could use, then they're for the freedom, no matter who would be hurt by it.
Since the release of their own personal information would hurt them in some way, they're against the "freedom" of that information.
Only the rare individual will be for something that will benefit the vast majority but hurt them personally.
There's no conflict in the two views, just ordinary selfishness. Part of the brilliance in the original design of the US government is in the use of selfishness in what I call the "Balance of Greed" to keep the country reasonably free and prosperous. The problem, of course, is what happens when one party or the other stops being greedy enough to steal the other guy's lunch. But never fear, sooner or later an opportunist will come along to balance things again. It's inevitable.
I just downloaded the ISO images the other day for Suse 9.3 and installed it. It is one DVD or 5 CD's, but it appears to be the entire Pro installation. They delay releasing the cost-free, non-"live" version for something like 6 weeks after the actual release. I imagine this delay is what will be eliminated.
Why not use the existing standardized rating scale used for proprietary software?
Oh, wait...
The Internet as it exists today is a major threat to governments around the world, and corporate interests such as the MPAA, RIAA, and those people whose job it is to keep us glued to our television sets.
It is in the interest of these forces to keep people isolated, and dependant on them for all information and entertainment. One way or another, they will cripple today's internet until it becomes a variant of today's distribution system: Controlled and limited without a shred of privacy for anyone.
They will paraphrase Orwell and say, "Freedom is Terrorism" while doing their best to maintain the status quo.
The local (Trusted) Operating System is here to stay.
The US government should have been smart enough to treat people as resources to be developed. Give high schoolers a standardized test, and the kids with the best results get a full-paid scholorship to study certain majors in certain colleges and universities. The list of subjects would change year to year. The test would indicate aptitude in some areas, and that would narrow down the list of available majors .
The details would be hell to work out and administer, but the government (and possibly certain corporate sponsors) would have first-dibs on the graduates. Everybody wins, particularly the US economy.
It's getting so that higher education is completely out of reach of most people (and good higher education out of reach of all but the rich). Giving the poor and middle class a shot at the brass ring is the smartest thing the government could do to help reverse this science gap.
..of course, "Window Pain" would probably be more appropriate. I still prefer to call it Littlebighorn, though.
There is no way a "video iPod" is going to be popular. People can listen to music while they do other things: jog, drive, work. But you can't do those things and watch a movie. Besides, who wants to watch a movie on a 2- or 3-inch screen? It's bad enough on a 12-inch laptop screen.
Besides, even if people would buy such a device, why buy from Microsoft when they can get something a lot cooler looking from someone like Apple?
The first thing Microsoft would want to do with a movie player is to "integrate" all sorts of unnecessary features that would open the door for trojans, viruses, and spam (oh, my!).
Sorry, Bill. Bad idea. You're throwing money down a black hole with this one.
I don't know if it's still available, but you could get XP Service Pack 2 on a CD. Earlier, Microsoft experimented with putting updates for 98, ME, NT, 2000, and XP on a single CD (and sent it out for free). This kind of CD is great to have in the old kit bag, since you can stay disconnected from the internet until you've applied most of the important patches.
I don't know why Microsoft abandoned the idea of periodic OS updates on CD. Maybe too many people asked for them. I don't think you could buy the resulting good PR that cheaply. Alternately, they could post quarterly the ISO images, and encourage people to spread them around.
Anyway, that's my 1.99856714 cents worth.
It will continue to be impossible to secure any version of Microsoft Windows until that company changes their design philosophy of mingling various unrelated tasks directly into the operating system.
The latest example is their plan to integrate RSS feeds into Littlebighorn (due out next near, whether it's ready or not). Lookie, boys and girls, a whole new way to infest Windows with viruses and malware. We haven't got the old holes plugged yet, but here we are planning to make new ones! You gotta love innovation at work.
Until they stop this "I'm OK, you're ok, so let's share" design philosophy, and get a little more paranoid, Windows will always be the easier target for the Internet's criminals and malcontents.
Hey, I used their Norton Desktop 'way back on Windows 95. They're bringing it back? :)
Oh wait, that's three words...well, two words and a curly thingamajig. Wait, Wait, I've got it. In true GNU fashion: replace Free with FAIB, which stands for "Free As In Beer".
Oh, crap! Now you know why I suck at Scrabble.
This was a collection of short stories from the 50's or 60's that, basically, said that the world was populated with 99 percent idiots, with few real-world skills beyond the one or two they needed for their daily job. All the real thinking and innovation is done by the remaining 1 percent who are looked down on by the rest of society. One of the stores, "The Little Black Bag" was even made into a Twilight Zone episode (a doctor's bag from the future was so automated anyone could use it).
With spell checkers, and even (poor though they are) grammer checkers, what need does anyone have of those two skills after they graduate?
Look at the kind of entertainment on TV and in the movies that are popular nowadays. Comic books (and I include Star Wars and Star Trek in that category)!
One last thought: if you just thanked God that you're in that 1 percent of the population, don't be too sure.
This latest bit of news exemplifies why Microsoft will never be able to secure Windows -- why, in fact, it will never be able to even come close. Microsoft has this philosophy of supporting features like RSS in the lowest levels of the OS, in ways no sane person would even consider, never mind implement. Programmers always make mistakes. That's a given. All it takes is one small mistake to compromise the entire system. You don't add this sort of feature without being very careful (and we all know how successful Microsoft has been in this area).
I don't care what Microsoft says in its Get the FUD campaign, this design philosophy is the reason Windows will always be inferior to Linux when it comes to security, not the relative popularity of Windows and Linux.
As I've ranted before: using Windows is like having unprotected group sex with a roomful of complete strangers. This latest hare-brained scheme of theirs will like inviting even more people to the sex party. Ugh! Time to become a Monk.
How interesting. Just like UPN and Enterprise, only this time the Enterprise is rejecting XPN. Beam me up, Scotty!
Somehow, I don't think the Samba team would appreciate being associated with going to the loo.
This whole topic is so lame, I don't know where to begin. Must be a slow news day.
That way, we can cancel the whole space program in 5 years or so, and get back to spending taxpayer money on the really important pork barrel projects.
At the risk of being modded down as a troll or flamebait, as a few others on this topic have been so far, I've never been a fan of Kevin Rose. Replacing Leo and Patrick with Kevin was a disaster almost as big as G4 and the Attack of the Show have been. Kevin is a nice guy, but he reminds me of that fellow down at the local computer society that you try to avoid at meetings: the wannabe hacker.
Since I won't go anywhere near G4, or its programming, his departure from that awful channel won't impact me in the slightest. But I do wish him well, whatever he does. Fortunately, the Internet is big enough for everyone.
That's my question, but we all know the answer, don't we boys and girls?
Microsoft can now breathe easier. Now they won't have to trim more features off the OS to fit it on one DVD. I can't wait to see the 3-D font they're planning to use in the DOS window (not to mention 3D Clippy!)
I had the same trouble this morning with Firefox. Refreshed a couple of times, and the links worked. Even IE6 didn't work at first. Double trouble here, since Groklaw also is linking to the Sys-Con site. Digg.com will probably be next to hammer them.
It appears, according to their blogs on the Sys-Con web site (referenced above), that the senior editors have all resigned over this interview.
How heavy might this sucker be? To get some perspective, consider the laptop I'm using right now, an Acer Aspire 1710. It has a 17 inch diagonal screen (not a widescreen), a full-size keyboard (with keypad) and standard desktop PC components (CPU, memory, and hard-drive). It barely fits into the Targus case I bought for it (it's kinda thick on one end), and weighs in at a hefty 16 pounds. It's great when I need to take a full-blown workstation with me to a client, because I don't have to play around with a more anemic beast (e.g., I have the luxury of a fast 250 Gig hard drive)
Now, consider how much heavier a 19 inch machine might be. The screen alone would add significant poundage. Dell might use smaller and lighter components inside to shave some weight off, but you also need to look at the sheer size of the thing. If it ended up no heavier than my machine, the weight isn't a problem (IMHO), but I don't know about the size.
If it did, someone would have cloned it on Wincustomize.com by now, and saved us the time and trouble of waiting for LittleBigHorn's actual release.
Oh, well, what do you expect from Microsoft, the company that gave XP the Fisher-Price user interface in the first place!
(I'm not bashing Microsoft! I use the Korn shell!)