I remember a few years ago when an Army base here in Australia was overrun by kangaroos (seriously!). They were everywhere, and the decision was made by all the various Government departments to hire hunters and reduce the number to a managable level. Hunters came in and culled the kangaroos as necessary.
About the same time an article appeared in the paper reporting that the Army was having difficulty finding suitable moving target exercises for their troops.
Okay, I can see some rationale behind that one. What struck me as really strange though, was that the same base hired private security guards to guard the entrance to the base.
Come on. I know our military's stretched pretty thin, but those are all things our boys and girls are supposed to be good at!
Actually, no. Regardless of the term used, there is no provision (as mentioned in other threads) allowing timeshifting as a fair use. In fact, there is no fair use at all, even for making backups (excluding software) or transferring your new Britney CD to your iPod. Australians seem to think such fair use provisions exist, probably because they do in America.
Heck, I know Australians who have tried to 'plead the fifth' in court.
I've always apprreciated the way NZ has been happy to tell the yanks to get stuffed, olitically speaking at least.
Helen Clark did with the FTA. I also remember how David Lange wouldn't allow US warships into port if they wouldn't declare if they had nuclear capability (either fuel or weapons). It nearly ended the ANZUS treeaty, but it was a risk worth taking. I think Australia has a lot to learn here--we still have a lot to offer America militarily, even if we do distance ourselves slightly.
It's a pity about the economy in NZ over the last few decades. I ended up moving to Australia, like thousands of others, simply looking for work. That was a legacy of Robert Muldoon, GST, and Rogernomics, and appears to have had little to do with their . I've got to hand it to David Lange though--he's spent a lot of time since formal political retirement warning other governments about the mistakes he made. The economy seems to be improving too--it might be time to move back!
Add to this the fact that our farming sector is under threat from envirnmental factors. Salinity, ongoing drought, erosion and a whole heap of other things mean that farmers are struggling to keep rates of production up to their current levels. Granted, I know a lot of farmers, and the changes they've made to their farming practices to ease the situation truly belies their conservative image. They are extremely open to changing the way they treat their environment. But it still isn't enough.
Just go down to the supermarket and you will see what effect the drought has had on prices.
If we want to remain largely self sufficient in terms of food production, we'll simply have to export less. We can't expect farmers to produce more. I don't have any ready citations for this, but I have heard eminent scientists ecently state that we may not even be able to support ourselves in as little as fifty years' time.
In other words, as a nation we'll have to rely less on agricultural export to make a buck. We'll have to rely on other things--technology, art, and so on. These are the exact things that are being sold out by the FTA.
Interestingly enough, we seemed to be going that way after WWII, which was a great time of innovation and invention. Sadly, though, Bob Menzies instructed our peak Government research organisation, CSIRO, to stop researching those things and pour all their research dollars into agriculture. All the talk of the 'clever country' came true, but only in the farming sector.
Speaking as someone trained in interviewing techniques, there are two main reasons for asking these types of questions.
First, past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour. Now I don't know how empirically this principle has been tested, but it seems to be right. If someone shot up the lunch room in his last job, there's a reasonable possibility he may act a little irrationally in this one.
Second, it's a lot easier to give the 'right answer' to a hypothetical question. As an interviewer, I want to know how you are going act in a given situation. Of course, it's a,ot easier to colour the truth a little in those cases. You'll give the answer you think I want to hear, not the real one. More to the point, you'll probably even think it's true. It's sounds the most rational answer at the time, and it seems the most sensible. In the heat of the situation, though, your personality will shine through, not the one you were trying to sell the interviewer.
Havng said all of that, though, I've also been on the receiving end of this type of interviewing, and you can never think of a good answer until after the interview. Just bear in mind that everyone else in the the line has to go through the same set of questions as you do.
Finally, my experience is that managers still go on gut instinct and don't listen to a word you say. So try to give the right answers, sure. Just remember that it's the manager making the decision, not the HR bunny.
I'm yet to RTFA (yes, I'm a/. reader) but how much code is there in Xandros that isn't GPL? The kernel is, KDE is, and so will be pretty much everything else under the hood.
And while many people believe in things other than the GPL, that doesn't change the fact that the distribution of code based on GPL code must be accompanied by the code or an offer to make that code available. That would have to include a huge portion of Xandros. And the inclusion of some proprietary software doesn't prevent me from copying everything else.
And for the record, I do think everything should be open source and free. By asking for access to the source all I'm asking for is control over my own computer.
You could just try buying an MS mouse. I've had this discussion before on Slash. They're not the greatest, but I do enjoy the irony of using an MS mouse on an otherwise MS free machine.
Yep, more proof that Bill Gates is truly the Messiah. Why I would use an OS with an effeminate devil man (that's why they call him 'Beastie') is beyond me.
I would appreciate it if they could get their history right, though--the Recycle Bin was a transformed Trash Can, not the other way around.
Seriously though, I've been around the church long enough to know that there are plenty of Christians who would believe every word of this. Just start with a couple of choice phrases and they're eating out of your hand.
Thankfully, most of us have got brains. If that story had been published on slash though...
I remember about 5 years ago when I got given a 486 running Win95. I got so excited when I found I could change the wallpaper on the desktop. A day or two later I found the dialogue that let me change system fonts, screensavers and so on. I spent a couple of days at work dreaming about the possibilities this had.
About the same time, in an effort to learn how to use my new toy, I bought a computer magazine. There was an article in there that said how Linux was so much more configurable than Windows.
I couldn't believe it. Once I've configured the desktop, the fonts, the screensaver and (so I discovered) the alarm sounds, what's left?
Gees, next you're going to tell me that each user can have a separate configuration.
Hit - to drop to a console login. Login as root. Now you have a few options, depending on your knowledge of the system. In your case, run the X server config script (it's something like XFree86 or something. Type 'man XFree86' for a proper answer.) You should be able to change the settings on your mouse in there.
if you want to do it the real man's way (and I will admit that I'm not man enough to try this unless I really need to!) you can directly edit the config file itself.
And to be honest, I only learnt this after reinstalling Debian half a dozen times. It sounds like a waste of time, but I learnt more about computers during that process than I did in all the years of using a Windows box before.
I've been running a badly configured (read 'newbie') Debian unstable install for about twelve months now. In that time I've had some pretty bad crashes. But not once have I had an issue that caused me to restart. It's nearly always the X server or at a higher level than that. If I can kill X, I'm working again in a minute or so, and I don't have to wait for ScanDisk to put down its thang.
Hell, I can even install software without a restart. Imagine what I could do if I *did* understand it.
It was a bit slow, had a non-standard keyboard, non-standard graphic controller, an on-board hardware debugger (which defaulted to german keyboard layout) and the BIOS was a bit weird.
I can't see how a 'blackbox' approach will work with FOSS software. Unless the fundamental architecture of the software relies on this one 'feature' (hey! Let's stick in a browser too!) anyone with a bit of coding nous can snip the black box out, compile, and serve slightly chilled with a side plate of salad.
There won't be much of a market for pirate copies though, because it won't be that hard to source legal versions from outside Europe.
If the blackbox is to do anything serious, I imagine it would run with a bit of overhead. It has to recognise all the various denominations of all the currencies it is designed to block, and at the same time let me scan Monopoly(tm) money. Probably not a big problem, but the moment I can't design my own currency is the moment I, err, stay in Australia.
Maybe you'd feel safer using 98 now because it is no longer hacker's main interest for massive virus attack.
That sounds like me. At work we're forced to use Windows. Our IT department began rolling out XP about a week after we got our current machine, running 98SE. That was over two years ago now.
Whilst I've had to install a firewall (which IT don't like) and I look after antivirus upddates myself (instead of waiting for the bimonthly update CD to come from head office) I'm as happy (?) as I can be with Windows. Oh, this afternoon I plan to install FireFox too!
Slashdot Mirror
Same problem, another field.
I remember a few years ago when an Army base here in Australia was overrun by kangaroos (seriously!). They were everywhere, and the decision was made by all the various Government departments to hire hunters and reduce the number to a managable level. Hunters came in and culled the kangaroos as necessary.
About the same time an article appeared in the paper reporting that the Army was having difficulty finding suitable moving target exercises for their troops.
Okay, I can see some rationale behind that one. What struck me as really strange though, was that the same base hired private security guards to guard the entrance to the base.
Come on. I know our military's stretched pretty thin, but those are all things our boys and girls are supposed to be good at!
That's right. Are 'toss' and 'tosser' understood outside of Oz? Believe me, there are a lot of them reading /. right now...
Actually, no. Regardless of the term used, there is no provision (as mentioned in other threads) allowing timeshifting as a fair use. In fact, there is no fair use at all, even for making backups (excluding software) or transferring your new Britney CD to your iPod. Australians seem to think such fair use provisions exist, probably because they do in America.
Heck, I know Australians who have tried to 'plead the fifth' in court.
I've always apprreciated the way NZ has been happy to tell the yanks to get stuffed, olitically speaking at least.
Helen Clark did with the FTA. I also remember how David Lange wouldn't allow US warships into port if they wouldn't declare if they had nuclear capability (either fuel or weapons). It nearly ended the ANZUS treeaty, but it was a risk worth taking. I think Australia has a lot to learn here--we still have a lot to offer America militarily, even if we do distance ourselves slightly.
It's a pity about the economy in NZ over the last few decades. I ended up moving to Australia, like thousands of others, simply looking for work. That was a legacy of Robert Muldoon, GST, and Rogernomics, and appears to have had little to do with their . I've got to hand it to David Lange though--he's spent a lot of time since formal political retirement warning other governments about the mistakes he made. The economy seems to be improving too--it might be time to move back!
Add to this the fact that our farming sector is under threat from envirnmental factors. Salinity, ongoing drought, erosion and a whole heap of other things mean that farmers are struggling to keep rates of production up to their current levels. Granted, I know a lot of farmers, and the changes they've made to their farming practices to ease the situation truly belies their conservative image. They are extremely open to changing the way they treat their environment. But it still isn't enough.
Just go down to the supermarket and you will see what effect the drought has had on prices.
If we want to remain largely self sufficient in terms of food production, we'll simply have to export less. We can't expect farmers to produce more. I don't have any ready citations for this, but I have heard eminent scientists ecently state that we may not even be able to support ourselves in as little as fifty years' time.
In other words, as a nation we'll have to rely less on agricultural export to make a buck. We'll have to rely on other things--technology, art, and so on. These are the exact things that are being sold out by the FTA.
Interestingly enough, we seemed to be going that way after WWII, which was a great time of innovation and invention. Sadly, though, Bob Menzies instructed our peak Government research organisation, CSIRO, to stop researching those things and pour all their research dollars into agriculture. All the talk of the 'clever country' came true, but only in the farming sector.
Speaking as someone trained in interviewing techniques, there are two main reasons for asking these types of questions.
First, past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour. Now I don't know how empirically this principle has been tested, but it seems to be right. If someone shot up the lunch room in his last job, there's a reasonable possibility he may act a little irrationally in this one.
Second, it's a lot easier to give the 'right answer' to a hypothetical question. As an interviewer, I want to know how you are going act in a given situation. Of course, it's a,ot easier to colour the truth a little in those cases. You'll give the answer you think I want to hear, not the real one. More to the point, you'll probably even think it's true. It's sounds the most rational answer at the time, and it seems the most sensible. In the heat of the situation, though, your personality will shine through, not the one you were trying to sell the interviewer.
Havng said all of that, though, I've also been on the receiving end of this type of interviewing, and you can never think of a good answer until after the interview. Just bear in mind that everyone else in the the line has to go through the same set of questions as you do.
Finally, my experience is that managers still go on gut instinct and don't listen to a word you say. So try to give the right answers, sure. Just remember that it's the manager making the decision, not the HR bunny.
I'm yet to RTFA (yes, I'm a /. reader) but how much code is there in Xandros that isn't GPL? The kernel is, KDE is, and so will be pretty much everything else under the hood.
And while many people believe in things other than the GPL, that doesn't change the fact that the distribution of code based on GPL code must be accompanied by the code or an offer to make that code available. That would have to include a huge portion of Xandros. And the inclusion of some proprietary software doesn't prevent me from copying everything else.
And for the record, I do think everything should be open source and free. By asking for access to the source all I'm asking for is control over my own computer.
You could just try buying an MS mouse. I've had this discussion before on Slash. They're not the greatest, but I do enjoy the irony of using an MS mouse on an otherwise MS free machine.
Yep, more proof that Bill Gates is truly the Messiah. Why I would use an OS with an effeminate devil man (that's why they call him 'Beastie') is beyond me.
I would appreciate it if they could get their history right, though--the Recycle Bin was a transformed Trash Can, not the other way around.
Seriously though, I've been around the church long enough to know that there are plenty of Christians who would believe every word of this. Just start with a couple of choice phrases and they're eating out of your hand.
Thankfully, most of us have got brains. If that story had been published on slash though...
How did she remove IE on Win95? I thought it was-- oh...
Interestingly enough, the Bible doesn't say what the fruit Adam and Eve ate was. It was simply identified as a 'fruit.'
Hey, at least I picked the Jurassic Park reference.
Hey! I can see that without it being drawn in!
I remember about 5 years ago when I got given a 486 running Win95. I got so excited when I found I could change the wallpaper on the desktop. A day or two later I found the dialogue that let me change system fonts, screensavers and so on. I spent a couple of days at work dreaming about the possibilities this had.
About the same time, in an effort to learn how to use my new toy, I bought a computer magazine. There was an article in there that said how Linux was so much more configurable than Windows.
I couldn't believe it. Once I've configured the desktop, the fonts, the screensaver and (so I discovered) the alarm sounds, what's left?
Gees, next you're going to tell me that each user can have a separate configuration.
Easy, if you still have a surviving keyboard.
Hit - to drop to a console login. Login as root. Now you have a few options, depending on your knowledge of the system. In your case, run the X server config script (it's something like XFree86 or something. Type 'man XFree86' for a proper answer.) You should be able to change the settings on your mouse in there.
if you want to do it the real man's way (and I will admit that I'm not man enough to try this unless I really need to!) you can directly edit the config file itself.
And to be honest, I only learnt this after reinstalling Debian half a dozen times. It sounds like a waste of time, but I learnt more about computers during that process than I did in all the years of using a Windows box before.
I've been running a badly configured (read 'newbie') Debian unstable install for about twelve months now. In that time I've had some pretty bad crashes. But not once have I had an issue that caused me to restart. It's nearly always the X server or at a higher level than that. If I can kill X, I'm working again in a minute or so, and I don't have to wait for ScanDisk to put down its thang.
Hell, I can even install software without a restart. Imagine what I could do if I *did* understand it.
my laptop running XP hasn't crashed ONCE since my last reinstall
Oh, I thought this was a flame. Could someone with points mod this 'funny?'
Gee, any Aircraft Carrier that can't lock down a port must be in trouble. What, with all them guns and all...
It was a bit slow, had a non-standard keyboard, non-standard graphic controller, an on-board hardware debugger (which defaulted to german keyboard layout) and the BIOS was a bit weird.
Sounds suspiciously like Knoppix.
Obviously he has. Ever heard of getting it?
I can't see how a 'blackbox' approach will work with FOSS software. Unless the fundamental architecture of the software relies on this one 'feature' (hey! Let's stick in a browser too!) anyone with a bit of coding nous can snip the black box out, compile, and serve slightly chilled with a side plate of salad.
There won't be much of a market for pirate copies though, because it won't be that hard to source legal versions from outside Europe.
If the blackbox is to do anything serious, I imagine it would run with a bit of overhead. It has to recognise all the various denominations of all the currencies it is designed to block, and at the same time let me scan Monopoly(tm) money. Probably not a big problem, but the moment I can't design my own currency is the moment I, err, stay in Australia.
Which way will the blocking work? Will it block data coming from a KP site, or will it prevent BT users accessing those sites?
Because if it's the second, a whole lot of my spam won't work...
I get spam and the odd popup telling me these things every day. Should I listen to them?
Maybe you'd feel safer using 98 now because it is no longer hacker's main interest for massive virus attack.
That sounds like me. At work we're forced to use Windows. Our IT department began rolling out XP about a week after we got our current machine, running 98SE. That was over two years ago now.
Whilst I've had to install a firewall (which IT don't like) and I look after antivirus upddates myself (instead of waiting for the bimonthly update CD to come from head office) I'm as happy (?) as I can be with Windows. Oh, this afternoon I plan to install FireFox too!
Chanel No. 101 for the geek girl then?