I had an Xbox before they released Live. It was unmodded. I remember downloading some software onto my desktop that allowed you to connect to some server that was hosting multi-player Halo. I only did it once just to see how it worked out so I really don't remember details. I do know it was possible though.
I guess I am not clear on their motive here. I can't see allowing users to play older games on Live being much of a cost at all. They aren't constantly releasing updates or anything for older games. I'm guessing that there aren't THAT many people playing the older games so it shouldn't be a capacity problem. Perhaps they are counting on selling more new games by cutting off the old ones?
I'm thinking the only people that it is really a big deal are those who like Halo 1 or Halo 2 and hate Halo 3 and other shooters. Those people are probably few in number but if you take away the reason they have a Live Account, they would probably cancel it.
Overall, I simply don't understand how this could matter enough to be a money saver for them. Then again, I don't really know what the gaming landscape on Live looks like.
Not every programmer is going to be bright enough to find back doors and such in large programs. In fact, they may have it worse. A knowledgeable user will know he can't necessarily trust a program and adjust his actions accordingly. A mediocre programmer could take a look at the source code, decide he doesn't see anything suspicious, and treat the program as if it is completely secure.
I also have to say that in a lot of cases it isn't the lack of mental faculties that prevents people from becoming programmers...but greater interest in something else. Not every genius is a programmer. Not every programmer is a genius...
This might be a stupid thought, but what the hell? I'll let it fly.
Fast forward a few years. At least 10. Let us say that E-Books have become the dominant format for distributing/reading books. Gone are the days of the book being sent to a printing company and cranking out tens of thousands of copies. Lower volume from the print is going to equal higher costs for the Publisher per printed book. Maybe they go the route of REALLY lowering the volume to the point where the new "Harry Potter" book only gets 500 physical hardcover books printed. They could probably charge a lot for those. They would become a valued collectors item of sorts rather than just one of a million. The value of physical books as a whole would be down, but individually they would be way up.
I could agree with you if, along with that thinking, there was an interface to which I could stream my thoughts and get new data to think about. That may be bearable. Of course, that is not possible (at least not yet) so you would be stuck thinking about only what the things you remember from when you were truly alive...walking around, reading, communicating with others. Have a thought that leaves you really curious for more information? You aren't getting that information. Finally came up with that idea for the next killer app? Sorry. You are never going to get to code it. Probably much sooner than you think, you'll have run out of stuff to think about and your only thoughts will be on the misery of your situation.
Actually, he didn't misspell Apple, Atari, and Commodore. In terms of the general populace, Microsoft is the one that shipped a GUI to most people. Yeah, there were people with computers back in the 80's but the percentage of the populace that owned a computer then as compared to now is very low. Most people who own a computer today may have a vague notion about Commodore ("Hey! My dorky uncle had one of them Commodore 64 things") and probably know Atari because of the Atari 2600.
The bad part is regarding your #2 - Use ONLY CASH, is that type of behavior (especially for larger items) is likely to get you investigated. My Uncle paid cash for a new car (It was just a cheap Neon, but still a bit of money) and ended up with the police coming to ask him about his finances. Cash is a great way to hide if you don't want people knowing a lot about you, and Drug Dealers and other criminals know this and tend to pay everything in cash.
Supply and Demand. There are a lot of people out there who can (or claim to) admin a Windows network. Many of those people, usually the barely able but sometimes really good Windows Sysadmins, have never even booted Linux a single time on their home machine. If you are just a guy who plays with his Windows machine a lot you can probably fake it enough to be a passable Windows Sysadmin. You probably couldn't figure out how to install a program in Linux without doing some research.
Now granted, there are fewer Linux Sysadmin jobs out there than Windows Sysadmin jobs, but the Windows market is flooded with Sysadmins. Those who aren't very good the company can pay peanuts for because they likely can't get a job elsewhere. Linux Sysadmins still have a pretty decent job market. They can't be paid $9 an hour because they'd be able to leave and fine a better paying job.
That's right. Everything is from bad social conditioning. Back in the day people were just tougher. Grandpa got oral cancer, he just rubbed some dirt on it and shook it off. None of these fancy pants "Procedures" to "Cure" or "Alleviate the excruciating pain". That is for today's generation of whiners.
Yeah, Grandpa died but he died a MAN. Not someone all "boo hoo doctor, is there anything we can do?"
Hey! IWOARB! (I was once a real Biochemist). Degree and all. I would say you are correct in that those types of things (Especially online gaming with constant "I leveled up" or "I got shiny new armor" will trigger some dopamine feedback. Of course, it probably will also tickle serotonin a bit and of course any change in Dopamine usually triggers a change in GABA.
It is probably important to note that it is not just online games and drugs that increase Dopamine activity. Having a good time/accomplishing something in real life will do so as well.
I've had a pet theory for awhile...total unsubstantiated and since I'm out of the field...it is not something that I will be able to test scientifically. I think the current psychiatric treatment method of "Depressed? Take these SSRI's" is a poor plan. The person may not have any issues with their Serotonin (But very well might after you give them drugs to mess with it!) Their depression may be more dopamine related, their anxiety may be more GABA related...whatever. Find out what things (there is usually at least one thing) that makes them feel ok. Often it will be an illicit drug or some type of impulsive activity. Examine what it is that makes them feel better, and pick an "Anti-Depressant" from there. Perhaps they do need an SSRI. Perhaps they need a dopamine fix that Provigil can provide. Perhaps they need a GABA fix that Benzodiazapines can provide. I know that some SSRI's (Effexor, for one) does help a bit with other Neurotransmitters but I think we need to try to direct treatment at single neutrotransmitters (other than just Serotonin) and see how that works out.
Delay entry into school for socially awkward kids? That seems like a bad idea. After all, many of those socially awkward kids are the ones that like to spend their time reading books, learning how stuff works, and stuff like that. You know...the kids that are academically gifted. The ones that you WANT to get into school to start down the path of learning.
I have to admit that I myself got VERY lucky. I was socially awkward as a first and second grader, but happened to go to a school where there were a few socially advanced geeks. They befriended me and I gained confidence in social situations quickly. By fourth or fifth grade I was not only one of the top kids academically, but the most popular kid in the class (to this day, I don't really know why, either. Perhaps it was because I treated everyone with respect?). Someone wanted to pick on me? They had to go through the other bullies, who happened to think I was super cool for some reason or another.
I think you'd have to be a pretty big idiot to have a hard time spotting the difference between harsh interaction between friends and outright bullying. My friends and I said some mean shit to each other (and still do!) but the person on the receiving end isn't usually cowering, cringing or crying. Not to mention the fact that any decent teacher/administrator is going to have a good idea of what kids consider each other friends. That kid kneeling down in the mud crying in front of the bigger kid? He is getting bullied. Those two kids wrestling around in the mud and putting each other in headlocks, while occasionally laughing and smiling? Friends. That kid that just made that other kid cry by telling him that he is a fucking small dicked retard that nobody likes? Bullying. Those two kids exchanging "Yo momma so fat" jabs....friends. In high school, even when I didn't know the people involved, it was always pretty damn obvious.
C'mon now. With a 3 digit UID do you REALLY expect us to believe you are young and healthy enough to ride a bicycle, electric or otherwise? Sorry! Sorry! I'll get off your lawn!
Seriously though, 100 pounds of weigh behind an unassisted bicycle? I've never ridden a bike with a trailer attached, but doesn't the inertia alone make this a pretty dangerous thing to do? I can't imagine having that sort of weight trailing behind me.
I used to do a fair amount of important stuff from other countries, China being one of them, to either use or resell on eBay (I was unemployed and broke at the time. It paid the bills and was actually a lot of fun, until Paypal destroyed me but that is another story.) I would talk to people on forums to see if there was experience with a certain company or if you could import certain goods from China....
What I got out of it is that a lot of things that are manufactured and branded in the United States would get scooped up by customs. I heard of all manner of things getting confiscated (Boots, Jackets, Staplers among those I remember) by customs because it was "Illegal" to import them. Some of these people may have been making crap up, as I never had any problems getting anything into the country, but they seemed very sincere. Perhaps this type of thing is similar to the problem your friend had with importing bikes.
Texas? California? Even the parts of Colorado that are farther South/away from mountains? You are forgetting to address those of us who live in climates that are icy hell for a good part of the year. I live in Wisconsin and my bike (normal, not electric) has to be put away for a good part of the year. Between piles of snow, sheets of ice, and temperatures well below zero with the wind chill, riding a bicycle year round just is not reasonable.
We've had a very mild winter this year so maybe I could have kept the bicycle out...but the previous few years have been absurd. In 2007/2008 we had 100 inches of snow dumped on us. Trust me, as much as it isn't fun digging a car out before heading on the road, it is outright dangerous to take a bike out most of the time.
Where I live, there aren't really that many bike lanes but the areas that have them are pretty high traffic. High traffic usually means bus routes. Nothing terrifies me more than when riding in the bike lanes than a big honking city bus and a driver that doesn't really care what is between him and the bus stop. They pull off the curb, across the bike lanes, and into the street without much regard for cars...much less bikes. If you are coming up on a bus and see the doors closing, you pretty much have to stop or you will be killed.
I have to disagree that it is automatically the car driver at fault. Years ago, I was an idiotic and arrogant kid. My bicycle was my only way of getting around and I put many many miles on it. Those roads? They weren't for the cars. They were for me and my bike. Those "Traffic Rules"? Didn't apply to me. I road wherever I wanted, crossed whatever street whenever I wanted, stayed in whatever lane I felt most comfortable in.
I had a terrible habit of riding against traffic. I felt safer seeing "Those idiots drivings cars" coming at me where I could see them rather than coming up from behind me. Flying through newly turned red lights without my hands even on the handlebars.
I finally got clobbered at an intersection by a lady turning right when I was doing my biking against traffic thing. She was really flustered and was begging me not to call the cops and was trying to dig around in her ratty car and ratty purse for a few dollars to give me. I realized...wow...this woman is upset and this is really 90% my fault. I don't know why the sudden surge of reasonableness hit my idiot teenager brain but I apologized for the scare I gave her, explained that I should have been on the other side of the road, and let her on her way.
I don't know enough about the software Climate outside the United States, but I really can't see how bootlegged copies of Windows are the #1 competition to Linux. The majority of people buy a new computer. It came with Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7. They'll upgrade Windows when....they buy a new computer. With Windows XP having been out since 2002 or whatever, most users have a copy of Windows XP. Except for the case of people who have purchased computers from small mom and pop shops that "forgot" to include the sticker with the license key, I've done very little in the way of using bootlegged copies of Windows. (Yes, Full Disclosure: I've helped users get cracked copies of Windows when they have been screwed like this and needed to reinstall. If that makes me a horrible software pirate that needs a visit from the BSA, so be it.)
Bootleg Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop? I can see that being a barrier to Linux on the desktop. Windows? Not so much.
Probably not typical, but a friend of mine is still running the RC. Why? Here was the situation. His laptop was acting up last summer. Constantly shutting down. I told him I would reload it for him. It came with Vista. I backed his stuff up, wiped his partition clean, and started installing Vista from scratch. It simply wouldn't finish installing. I tried several times with the same result (and no, I'm not so stupid that I don't know how to install Windows). I thought it was probably a hard drive or RAM problem so I ran some tests on those. No problems. I don't remember who the manufacturer is but they did not have XP drivers on their site for that model. For kicks I tried installing the Windows 7 RC. Perfect.
So...I gave the laptop back to him and I told him when Windows 7 actually came out we would have to do something about it. It hasn't been high priority until now, especially because he says the computer is working better now than it ever has. Of course, he won't be too happy when if it starts shutting down. Thanks for the reminder, Slashdot.;)
Paul Server Guy - Your web site is down again, or I'd go back and check. I thought it was the 3rd or 4th company listed where I got the "Get me the hell out of here" message. That is something you definitely might want to check out. After all, I'm not sure if Internet Explorer gives those warnings so if the page is hijacked with Malware it probably wouldn't impress potential volunteers/potential donators if they get infested visiting one of your partners.;)
My wife just got done with her student teaching (high school Social Studies) and she would often bring home "Essays" to be graded.
Back when I was in school, I was always in the higher level classes. I took AP Chem/History/English/Biology/English/Political Science/Physics. Expectations for essays in History, English, and Political Science were obviously higher than they were for the standard classes. I am not going to say that my high school essays were absolutely spectacular. I still have some of them and have read them again. They do contain grammar and spelling errors but not in abundance. They are all at least 2 pages long and in most cases quite a bit longer. They are well organized with an introduction which states the main points that I will cover, at least an entire paragraph devoted to said points, and a conclusion which reinforces the information that I presented.
The "Essay" questions that my wife's students answered.....wow. I mean WOW! They were MAYBE two paragraphs long but were mostly a single, four sentence paragraph. Most of them contain random conjecture instead of solid facts. A question such as "Discuss the reasons why President Lincoln freed the slaves" would be answered with something like "Cuz he liked black people and didn't want them to be slaves. Having slaves is meen and lincoln wanted peeps to be not meen."
For some reason, reading these answers just made me really sad. The obvious lack of knowledge, the obvious lack of command of written English, the obvious lack of any pride whatsoever in their school work, fear of what will happen when this generation is unleashed on the workforce and I am forced to cooperate with them in some form. If these were Special Ed or Learning Disabled kids, I could understand. No, they were standard kids from one of the better schools in the Public School system.
That is a very reasonable thought. It is possible that it is just a natural evolution of the language. After all, rules of grammar are not exactly the Laws of Thermodynamics. We can change them at any time we like for whatever reason we see fit.
Myself? I don't care if u use some shortcuts 4 wrds when u type 2 me. What I can't stand is people who refuse to attempt to communicate ideas longer than 160 characters or whatever the Twitter limit is. I have been called long winded, but I like to write messages that clearly layout my idea/tonight's plans/whatever. Many of the people I know seem to only have a set of canned responses that they allow themselves to use over text or E-Mail.
"Hello everyone. I was thinking of trying to get together and play poker for Jim's birthday this weekend. I'm thinking Texas Hold 'Em. I'd like to get at least eight of us together. We would play tournament style with a $40 buy-in. Are any of you interested in doing this? Anyone have a better idea?" Responses. "N" (Which appears to be a "No" but is actually "In"), "Definitely maybe" (Uhhh, ok), "time?" (what time are we playing? Or how much time before the blinds raise?), and other such responses are pretty typical for me to receive. It may be from some of my older less computer literate friends who don't type. It may be from one of my younger, "text-generation" friends who refuse to type.
Argh. Loose vs. Lose. Here is the scary part of that recent phenomenon. It has become so rampant that when I type something like "I hope the Colts lose the Super Bowl", I look at "lose" and feel it isn't right. I'm so used to seeing "loose" in that situation that I am nearly compelled to use it.
I've managed to get on the web site now. It isn't a whiz-bang web site with all sorts of awesome web features, but it does the job. Their content is a little slim but I assume this project is in the early stages. It appears that they have partnered with in some way with the University of Western Ontario (Enrollment: 30,000+) and the Oakland Univeristy (Enrollment: 20,000+). Now we aren't talking Harvard here but we aren't talking University of Phoenix, either. Their business partners.....I don't know about them. I tried to go to one web site and got the firefox "Get me the hell out of here, this page got jacked" message.
It should also be noted that their Web Master is currently operating out of the Sahara Desert. I'm guessing this site is new and she hasn't had much time to work on it. Not to mention, hey! If I'm donate money to a project that is supposed to sent people to space, I'd sure as hell rather them use the money to you know, send people to space rather than make their web site look all pretty with tons of Flash animation and the like.
Slashdot Mirror
I call bullshit on your post.....
Everybody knows that there are no original Xbox consoles that has evaded the "Red Rings" for this long. ;)
I had an Xbox before they released Live. It was unmodded. I remember downloading some software onto my desktop that allowed you to connect to some server that was hosting multi-player Halo. I only did it once just to see how it worked out so I really don't remember details. I do know it was possible though.
I guess I am not clear on their motive here. I can't see allowing users to play older games on Live being much of a cost at all. They aren't constantly releasing updates or anything for older games. I'm guessing that there aren't THAT many people playing the older games so it shouldn't be a capacity problem. Perhaps they are counting on selling more new games by cutting off the old ones?
I'm thinking the only people that it is really a big deal are those who like Halo 1 or Halo 2 and hate Halo 3 and other shooters. Those people are probably few in number but if you take away the reason they have a Live Account, they would probably cancel it.
Overall, I simply don't understand how this could matter enough to be a money saver for them. Then again, I don't really know what the gaming landscape on Live looks like.
Not every programmer is going to be bright enough to find back doors and such in large programs. In fact, they may have it worse. A knowledgeable user will know he can't necessarily trust a program and adjust his actions accordingly. A mediocre programmer could take a look at the source code, decide he doesn't see anything suspicious, and treat the program as if it is completely secure.
I also have to say that in a lot of cases it isn't the lack of mental faculties that prevents people from becoming programmers...but greater interest in something else. Not every genius is a programmer. Not every programmer is a genius...
This might be a stupid thought, but what the hell? I'll let it fly.
Fast forward a few years. At least 10. Let us say that E-Books have become the dominant format for distributing/reading books. Gone are the days of the book being sent to a printing company and cranking out tens of thousands of copies. Lower volume from the print is going to equal higher costs for the Publisher per printed book. Maybe they go the route of REALLY lowering the volume to the point where the new "Harry Potter" book only gets 500 physical hardcover books printed. They could probably charge a lot for those. They would become a valued collectors item of sorts rather than just one of a million. The value of physical books as a whole would be down, but individually they would be way up.
I could agree with you if, along with that thinking, there was an interface to which I could stream my thoughts and get new data to think about. That may be bearable. Of course, that is not possible (at least not yet) so you would be stuck thinking about only what the things you remember from when you were truly alive...walking around, reading, communicating with others. Have a thought that leaves you really curious for more information? You aren't getting that information. Finally came up with that idea for the next killer app? Sorry. You are never going to get to code it. Probably much sooner than you think, you'll have run out of stuff to think about and your only thoughts will be on the misery of your situation.
Actually, he didn't misspell Apple, Atari, and Commodore. In terms of the general populace, Microsoft is the one that shipped a GUI to most people. Yeah, there were people with computers back in the 80's but the percentage of the populace that owned a computer then as compared to now is very low. Most people who own a computer today may have a vague notion about Commodore ("Hey! My dorky uncle had one of them Commodore 64 things") and probably know Atari because of the Atari 2600.
The bad part is regarding your #2 - Use ONLY CASH, is that type of behavior (especially for larger items) is likely to get you investigated. My Uncle paid cash for a new car (It was just a cheap Neon, but still a bit of money) and ended up with the police coming to ask him about his finances. Cash is a great way to hide if you don't want people knowing a lot about you, and Drug Dealers and other criminals know this and tend to pay everything in cash.
Supply and Demand. There are a lot of people out there who can (or claim to) admin a Windows network. Many of those people, usually the barely able but sometimes really good Windows Sysadmins, have never even booted Linux a single time on their home machine. If you are just a guy who plays with his Windows machine a lot you can probably fake it enough to be a passable Windows Sysadmin. You probably couldn't figure out how to install a program in Linux without doing some research.
Now granted, there are fewer Linux Sysadmin jobs out there than Windows Sysadmin jobs, but the Windows market is flooded with Sysadmins. Those who aren't very good the company can pay peanuts for because they likely can't get a job elsewhere. Linux Sysadmins still have a pretty decent job market. They can't be paid $9 an hour because they'd be able to leave and fine a better paying job.
That's right. Everything is from bad social conditioning. Back in the day people were just tougher. Grandpa got oral cancer, he just rubbed some dirt on it and shook it off. None of these fancy pants "Procedures" to "Cure" or "Alleviate the excruciating pain". That is for today's generation of whiners.
Yeah, Grandpa died but he died a MAN. Not someone all "boo hoo doctor, is there anything we can do?"
Hey! IWOARB! (I was once a real Biochemist). Degree and all. I would say you are correct in that those types of things (Especially online gaming with constant "I leveled up" or "I got shiny new armor" will trigger some dopamine feedback. Of course, it probably will also tickle serotonin a bit and of course any change in Dopamine usually triggers a change in GABA.
It is probably important to note that it is not just online games and drugs that increase Dopamine activity. Having a good time/accomplishing something in real life will do so as well.
I've had a pet theory for awhile...total unsubstantiated and since I'm out of the field...it is not something that I will be able to test scientifically. I think the current psychiatric treatment method of "Depressed? Take these SSRI's" is a poor plan. The person may not have any issues with their Serotonin (But very well might after you give them drugs to mess with it!) Their depression may be more dopamine related, their anxiety may be more GABA related...whatever. Find out what things (there is usually at least one thing) that makes them feel ok. Often it will be an illicit drug or some type of impulsive activity. Examine what it is that makes them feel better, and pick an "Anti-Depressant" from there. Perhaps they do need an SSRI. Perhaps they need a dopamine fix that Provigil can provide. Perhaps they need a GABA fix that Benzodiazapines can provide. I know that some SSRI's (Effexor, for one) does help a bit with other Neurotransmitters but I think we need to try to direct treatment at single neutrotransmitters (other than just Serotonin) and see how that works out.
Delay entry into school for socially awkward kids? That seems like a bad idea. After all, many of those socially awkward kids are the ones that like to spend their time reading books, learning how stuff works, and stuff like that. You know...the kids that are academically gifted. The ones that you WANT to get into school to start down the path of learning.
I have to admit that I myself got VERY lucky. I was socially awkward as a first and second grader, but happened to go to a school where there were a few socially advanced geeks. They befriended me and I gained confidence in social situations quickly. By fourth or fifth grade I was not only one of the top kids academically, but the most popular kid in the class (to this day, I don't really know why, either. Perhaps it was because I treated everyone with respect?). Someone wanted to pick on me? They had to go through the other bullies, who happened to think I was super cool for some reason or another.
I think you'd have to be a pretty big idiot to have a hard time spotting the difference between harsh interaction between friends and outright bullying. My friends and I said some mean shit to each other (and still do!) but the person on the receiving end isn't usually cowering, cringing or crying. Not to mention the fact that any decent teacher/administrator is going to have a good idea of what kids consider each other friends. That kid kneeling down in the mud crying in front of the bigger kid? He is getting bullied. Those two kids wrestling around in the mud and putting each other in headlocks, while occasionally laughing and smiling? Friends. That kid that just made that other kid cry by telling him that he is a fucking small dicked retard that nobody likes? Bullying. Those two kids exchanging "Yo momma so fat" jabs....friends. In high school, even when I didn't know the people involved, it was always pretty damn obvious.
C'mon now. With a 3 digit UID do you REALLY expect us to believe you are young and healthy enough to ride a bicycle, electric or otherwise? Sorry! Sorry! I'll get off your lawn!
Seriously though, 100 pounds of weigh behind an unassisted bicycle? I've never ridden a bike with a trailer attached, but doesn't the inertia alone make this a pretty dangerous thing to do? I can't imagine having that sort of weight trailing behind me.
I used to do a fair amount of important stuff from other countries, China being one of them, to either use or resell on eBay (I was unemployed and broke at the time. It paid the bills and was actually a lot of fun, until Paypal destroyed me but that is another story.) I would talk to people on forums to see if there was experience with a certain company or if you could import certain goods from China....
What I got out of it is that a lot of things that are manufactured and branded in the United States would get scooped up by customs. I heard of all manner of things getting confiscated (Boots, Jackets, Staplers among those I remember) by customs because it was "Illegal" to import them. Some of these people may have been making crap up, as I never had any problems getting anything into the country, but they seemed very sincere. Perhaps this type of thing is similar to the problem your friend had with importing bikes.
Texas? California? Even the parts of Colorado that are farther South/away from mountains? You are forgetting to address those of us who live in climates that are icy hell for a good part of the year. I live in Wisconsin and my bike (normal, not electric) has to be put away for a good part of the year. Between piles of snow, sheets of ice, and temperatures well below zero with the wind chill, riding a bicycle year round just is not reasonable.
We've had a very mild winter this year so maybe I could have kept the bicycle out...but the previous few years have been absurd. In 2007/2008 we had 100 inches of snow dumped on us. Trust me, as much as it isn't fun digging a car out before heading on the road, it is outright dangerous to take a bike out most of the time.
Where I live, there aren't really that many bike lanes but the areas that have them are pretty high traffic. High traffic usually means bus routes. Nothing terrifies me more than when riding in the bike lanes than a big honking city bus and a driver that doesn't really care what is between him and the bus stop. They pull off the curb, across the bike lanes, and into the street without much regard for cars...much less bikes. If you are coming up on a bus and see the doors closing, you pretty much have to stop or you will be killed.
I have to disagree that it is automatically the car driver at fault. Years ago, I was an idiotic and arrogant kid. My bicycle was my only way of getting around and I put many many miles on it. Those roads? They weren't for the cars. They were for me and my bike. Those "Traffic Rules"? Didn't apply to me. I road wherever I wanted, crossed whatever street whenever I wanted, stayed in whatever lane I felt most comfortable in.
I had a terrible habit of riding against traffic. I felt safer seeing "Those idiots drivings cars" coming at me where I could see them rather than coming up from behind me. Flying through newly turned red lights without my hands even on the handlebars.
I finally got clobbered at an intersection by a lady turning right when I was doing my biking against traffic thing. She was really flustered and was begging me not to call the cops and was trying to dig around in her ratty car and ratty purse for a few dollars to give me. I realized...wow...this woman is upset and this is really 90% my fault. I don't know why the sudden surge of reasonableness hit my idiot teenager brain but I apologized for the scare I gave her, explained that I should have been on the other side of the road, and let her on her way.
I don't know enough about the software Climate outside the United States, but I really can't see how bootlegged copies of Windows are the #1 competition to Linux. The majority of people buy a new computer. It came with Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7. They'll upgrade Windows when....they buy a new computer. With Windows XP having been out since 2002 or whatever, most users have a copy of Windows XP. Except for the case of people who have purchased computers from small mom and pop shops that "forgot" to include the sticker with the license key, I've done very little in the way of using bootlegged copies of Windows. (Yes, Full Disclosure: I've helped users get cracked copies of Windows when they have been screwed like this and needed to reinstall. If that makes me a horrible software pirate that needs a visit from the BSA, so be it.)
Bootleg Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop? I can see that being a barrier to Linux on the desktop. Windows? Not so much.
Probably not typical, but a friend of mine is still running the RC. Why? Here was the situation. His laptop was acting up last summer. Constantly shutting down. I told him I would reload it for him. It came with Vista. I backed his stuff up, wiped his partition clean, and started installing Vista from scratch. It simply wouldn't finish installing. I tried several times with the same result (and no, I'm not so stupid that I don't know how to install Windows). I thought it was probably a hard drive or RAM problem so I ran some tests on those. No problems. I don't remember who the manufacturer is but they did not have XP drivers on their site for that model. For kicks I tried installing the Windows 7 RC. Perfect.
So...I gave the laptop back to him and I told him when Windows 7 actually came out we would have to do something about it. It hasn't been high priority until now, especially because he says the computer is working better now than it ever has. Of course, he won't be too happy when if it starts shutting down. Thanks for the reminder, Slashdot. ;)
Paul Server Guy - Your web site is down again, or I'd go back and check. I thought it was the 3rd or 4th company listed where I got the "Get me the hell out of here" message. That is something you definitely might want to check out. After all, I'm not sure if Internet Explorer gives those warnings so if the page is hijacked with Malware it probably wouldn't impress potential volunteers/potential donators if they get infested visiting one of your partners. ;)
My wife just got done with her student teaching (high school Social Studies) and she would often bring home "Essays" to be graded.
Back when I was in school, I was always in the higher level classes. I took AP Chem/History/English/Biology/English/Political Science/Physics. Expectations for essays in History, English, and Political Science were obviously higher than they were for the standard classes. I am not going to say that my high school essays were absolutely spectacular. I still have some of them and have read them again. They do contain grammar and spelling errors but not in abundance. They are all at least 2 pages long and in most cases quite a bit longer. They are well organized with an introduction which states the main points that I will cover, at least an entire paragraph devoted to said points, and a conclusion which reinforces the information that I presented.
The "Essay" questions that my wife's students answered.....wow. I mean WOW! They were MAYBE two paragraphs long but were mostly a single, four sentence paragraph. Most of them contain random conjecture instead of solid facts. A question such as "Discuss the reasons why President Lincoln freed the slaves" would be answered with something like "Cuz he liked black people and didn't want them to be slaves. Having slaves is meen and lincoln wanted peeps to be not meen."
For some reason, reading these answers just made me really sad. The obvious lack of knowledge, the obvious lack of command of written English, the obvious lack of any pride whatsoever in their school work, fear of what will happen when this generation is unleashed on the workforce and I am forced to cooperate with them in some form. If these were Special Ed or Learning Disabled kids, I could understand. No, they were standard kids from one of the better schools in the Public School system.
That is a very reasonable thought. It is possible that it is just a natural evolution of the language. After all, rules of grammar are not exactly the Laws of Thermodynamics. We can change them at any time we like for whatever reason we see fit.
Myself? I don't care if u use some shortcuts 4 wrds when u type 2 me. What I can't stand is people who refuse to attempt to communicate ideas longer than 160 characters or whatever the Twitter limit is. I have been called long winded, but I like to write messages that clearly layout my idea/tonight's plans/whatever. Many of the people I know seem to only have a set of canned responses that they allow themselves to use over text or E-Mail.
"Hello everyone. I was thinking of trying to get together and play poker for Jim's birthday this weekend. I'm thinking Texas Hold 'Em. I'd like to get at least eight of us together. We would play tournament style with a $40 buy-in. Are any of you interested in doing this? Anyone have a better idea?" Responses. "N" (Which appears to be a "No" but is actually "In"), "Definitely maybe" (Uhhh, ok), "time?" (what time are we playing? Or how much time before the blinds raise?), and other such responses are pretty typical for me to receive. It may be from some of my older less computer literate friends who don't type. It may be from one of my younger, "text-generation" friends who refuse to type.
Argh. Loose vs. Lose. Here is the scary part of that recent phenomenon. It has become so rampant that when I type something like "I hope the Colts lose the Super Bowl", I look at "lose" and feel it isn't right. I'm so used to seeing "loose" in that situation that I am nearly compelled to use it.
I've managed to get on the web site now. It isn't a whiz-bang web site with all sorts of awesome web features, but it does the job. Their content is a little slim but I assume this project is in the early stages. It appears that they have partnered with in some way with the University of Western Ontario (Enrollment: 30,000+) and the Oakland Univeristy (Enrollment: 20,000+). Now we aren't talking Harvard here but we aren't talking University of Phoenix, either. Their business partners.....I don't know about them. I tried to go to one web site and got the firefox "Get me the hell out of here, this page got jacked" message.
It should also be noted that their Web Master is currently operating out of the Sahara Desert. I'm guessing this site is new and she hasn't had much time to work on it. Not to mention, hey! If I'm donate money to a project that is supposed to sent people to space, I'd sure as hell rather them use the money to you know, send people to space rather than make their web site look all pretty with tons of Flash animation and the like.