"Lawyers: Guess what? India is also based on English common law, so many of our legal stuff can go over there too, which it is - especially contract law."
1) You must be a member of the Bar to practice law.
2) To be a member of the Bar, you have to pass the exam in the jurisdiction you want to practice in.
3) English Common Law is the basis of our courts/law system, but most of our law is really based on interpretations of the Constitution and laws by previous court decisions, "precedent".
4) Lawyers are sure to make sure it's illegal to outsource them!
My biggest customer (I work for small fry these days) just upgraded to the next edition of his industry specific app. It's back end DB is Oracle, but they don't even support that running on Linux. For the numbers of DB records they generate each year, this could also easily be done on MySql.
The software company, however, doesn't care. For the amount of $$ that was spent for the upgrade, the Server 2003 license wasn't that much, and the main executable in Winders only, so we had to have it anyway. For me to spend my time trying to get it to run under Wine would cost more than the cost of the license.
Now, if their next version is available for Linux MySql on the back end, that can save us some jack, and I'll recommend it.
"The problem though would come with moving from gasoline powered cars to hydrogen. I believe that the oil industry would try as hard as possible to prevent it from happening,..."
There's too many comments like that on Slashdot every time a disruptive technology is discussed. True, big companies have a large investment in the status quo, but it's stockholders that have invested and want a return on the dollar. Also, who's best to convert existing facilities into the new distribution centers for the new fuels? In my neck of the woods, there are damn few corners without a gas station on them already.
Where does the money come from to develop new technologies? Investors! They don't care who they invest with, so long as they believe they will get an equitable return on their investment. People want to make money, and if takes investing in HydroAlgeeCo Fuels (TM) or Exxon Mobil, they'll do it.
Just look at the Web as an example. Lots of guys come up w/ better ideas, and if the big guys can offer "good enough" for free (think IE vs. Netscape), people will take it. If not, someone either makes a bundle producing a better mousetrap or gets their technology bought up and incorporated into someone else's product (think FoxPro).
I know a lot of you think that investors in SCO were out to suppress Linux, but for the most part (MS and Sun deals excluded) it was about buying low and selling high. Same goes with big oil. If they see Hydro or Bio getting competitive, they'll get into the game. Heck, I'm suprised the Exxon Mobil hasn't tendered an offer for ADM yet!
Linspire and Xandros are 2 of the most user-friendly Linux's available, and Linspire comes w/ all the codecs built in. They also have OEMs w/ preconfigured computers. However both cost.
If you want a free-as-in-beer OS, you have to put up with it not having the licensed crap already installed. This cuts into the price advantage.
The real big problem is still app computability: "I have $250K invested in business apps that don't run on Linux, and you want me to switch to what? IS there a Linux app for me? Even if we abandon all the Windows licenses and apps we have, why should I put out $75K in employee retraining and 50K in lost productivity (until we're all ramped up on the new systems) to chance that something else is as good as what I have? To save $2500 in MS tax?"
No, until there are the apps needed at significant savings, most businesses won't switch, and most office workers have to be compatible at home w/ the office. Servers are an entirely different beast.
Now, getting Granny and you sister to switch because all they do is swap photos, email and play games, that I can do.
"Because the infrastructure for using biofuels is already in place. It would take almost 20-40 years to replace the vehicle fleet already in place with electric cars. We need a solution that we can start to apply today."
That depends up on the savings. If fossil fuels rise to $10/gal, and the equivalent price of electric is $3/ gal, then it would behoove the average American, who drives 15,000 miles/yr and averaged 20 mpg, to quickly convert. Once you reach the point that fossil fuels are hard to find at the pump do to limited demand, the inconvenience factor and attendant price rise of hard to find items make switching even more economical.
I won't consider a hybrid now because the additional price, compared to the amount of fuel I use yearly, makes it a 10 year payback, and since I don't keep cars that long, has a negative monetary effect.
Give me an electric that cost the same as a gas vehicle, and costs the same to operate, and I'll buy one for my city car. Give me the infrastructure for quick re-powers (fill-ups), and I'll also use it on long trips.
Wow! Told the truth and got modded to flamebait! Must tick off those Apple fanboys to hear their precious fruit company get tagged w/ the same brush-strokes as M$!
Charge people buying the internet FUD on Vista for XP today..... and then charge them again a year later when they have to upgrade to Vista!
Not really. Most systems are being bought w/ Vista and a "downgrade" to XP. For the price of Vista, you get Vista and XP. All you need to do is install Vista if they ever get enough bugs out of it for you to use it.
If Micro$oft put out good products, a lot of us would be out of a job!;->
It's not just a Chinese thing. Everybody will carry some portion of the place they grew up with them. It's part of who they are and they are part of that too. So when you attack someones homeland it's partially an attack on them (or so they perceive). Unless the party that is being attacked hurt them directly they will usually try to defend or justify it.
Not everyone. My grandmother immigrated form the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the early 1900's. Whenever someone talked about how "x" was better where they came from, her reply was always the same: "You like the Old Country so much, you go back to the Old Country! We're Americans now!"
This was despite the fact that here English reading comprehension was so poor that she and my Great Aunt would sit together in Church with their German Bibles to catch the full meaning of the passages read!
I, too, have done my share of govt. C&A work, and share a lot of your observations and frustrations.
One of the problems with the system is that it lets someone ignore the deficiencies by simply checking a box that says it's acceptable risk to their organization.
Not to defend Unisys's actions here, but in one article I read about this it indicates that Unisys told them they needed XYZ, but DHS responded with "But we want ABC", so that's what they gave them.
I was on a gov agency C&A a few years ago where an internal agency big-shot wrote the testing procedures for the C&A, and had no idea what needed to be in it. Several of us stated that what we were doing was not going to cut it, but the agency insisted, and we produced. Of course, they are now having to do it again right, but at least this was one case where my wasted tax dollars were going into my own pocket!
As I learned in the military, you have a duty to voice your concerns to a higher pay grade, and let them deal with it, but you have to do your duty or pay the consequences. You also have a duty, when the safety of the nation is at stake, to voice it to a VERY high level. Were I a Unisys employee and knew what was going on, my Congress-critter would have heard of it.
I recently interviewed at a VERY large banking corporation, and was surprised to learn that they were still 85% Win2K desktops. They were making the transition to XPPro, however, and don't plan on Vista anytime soon.
I was working for the Defense Dept. when XP came out, and the NSA told them to switch from W2K. We lost a lot of legacy hardware - specialty printers, some scanners and a few other devices due to a lack of driver support. I'm hearing the same about Vista for those who use it. (Plus side: XP users can now get cheap cast-off HW from upgraders!)
The real problem w/ Vista is the HW requirements, multiple versions and the MS "Do it our way or we remotely disable your system" threat. No business I know wants that, even if they are willing to eat the extra cash that new HW and the price of Enterprise will bring.
Yes, the American dollar does go farther. Look at all the Canucks reporting on how they buy things here because it cost 20-30% more north of the border.
They also have tighter regulations on many things, making them more expensive. Some may argue that it's good for the environment, or whatever argument you want to insert, but that's not the point being made here, value of the Dollar/Loonie is.
Canadians also spend a lot more on home heating then Americans do, albeit less on cooling. The harsher climate also is harder on autos and other equipment.
There's also the fact that all the good vacation spots are in the States (not my thinking, my Canadian friend's thinking, but you have the better side of the Falls!).
As to taxes, don't look at just income taxes, look at all the hidden taxes, from sales tax to excise taxes to govt. mandated permits to do anything from fishing to building office complexes. That all adds up. Americans pay over 40% in taxes, and many Europeans pay over 60%. What's the real tax burden in Canada?
It also found that 20 percent said they spend less time having sex because they are online."
No true geek would ever give up a chance for sex, just for the Internet. That's because REAL Geeks never (or hardly) get any, and won't pass up the chance.
This is really probably just women using the Internet as an excuse to keep their husbands/significant others at arm's length. "Not tonight Honey, I've gotta Google".
McBride's antics over the last few years has got me wondering, is he Larry's brother Daryl or his other brother Daryl?
Did he think he could fool us simply by dropping the y in his name?
Do you think Larry and the other Daryl will give him old job back cleaning out septic tanks? After all, it's obvious he was indispensable to them, his antics have proven that the only way he could be so full of crap is by actually sucking the septic tanks out by himself!
Too bad nobody ever told Darl that Gambling isn't a good business model.
He gambled that, by suing for their "stolen code" that was in Linux, he would either get someone to buck up or get IBM, Novel, etc. to buy them up. Maybe he was even hoping Bill Gates would make an offer, so that he could kill Linux.
The only problem was, no one rolled over and played dead, depriving Darl of a buyout and golden parachute, or a "Linux Lottery Lawsuit Goldmine". (TM)
Maybe, Darl, you'd have better luck taking your paycheck out to the local riverboat.....
"The important point to remember, though is *2 YEARS*. That's how long we have until the IPv4 address space is fully allocated at the top level. It may take a little longer (months?) before people start really feeling any pain from that at the end-user level. But its the critically important point for people to realize. Can you be ready for IPv6 in 2 years? You need to be. If its gonna take you 2 years to get IPv6 functioning in your network, then you need to start *NOW*.
Well, a lot of governments are going to IP6, which means their IP4 addresses will no longer be needed. As others move to IP6, their addresses can also be released back into the pool. It may be that in 3 or 4 years, only home users and small businesses are on IP4.
It wasn't worth going to court for, but I once had one of the big e-bay sellers, who starts every auction at $0.99, sell me a "lot" of one item for very little money. Low and behold they "LOST" it and couldn't complete the sale. The next week that very same number of the exact same item was for sale separately! Because they are VERY big sellers, e-bay will do nothing about them. However, they have been forced to move their warehouse because the Attorney General of the state they were in was looking at their practices. There's a whole web site devoted to their crooked dealings.
Well, you're wrong on several points. One, it's not just the CIA/NSA/DIA that restrict camera phones. It's a LOT of govt IT shops, and even some non IT areas. Of course not public areas. They try to keep the secrets out of the public areas!
Two, "Companies that have these restrictions are just full of themselves and think everything they do is some big secret." It's obvious that you don't have any respect for the R&D efforts of various companies. Companies spend billions to create new methods to produce better, faster and cheaper results, and need to protect themselves from the competition.
Third, There is legal precedence that if you selectively enforce a rule, you lose the power to enforce it at all. I they allow people to record on "a crappy cell phone", then try to enforce a no recording on camcorders rule (which WAS what was used here, after all) the courts may say that you can't discriminate, and you lose the right to protect your property.
Let me put it this way: if these things continue, soon we'll be only allowed to hear music on earphones. Because if you listen too loud in your house and SOMEONE can hear it from the street, then you're doing a public playback of your music, and you will certainly go to jail for that!
Actually, when I hear the 'thumpedy-thump" of the ghetto-blasters going down my street, that makes good sense! Now instead of calling the Police, who do nothing, I'll call the MPAA and report a public performance!;->
Wow! I guess you've never had a security job in a Govt. IT project, have you? I specifically got a cell phone w/o a camera because I do a lot of that, and I want to be able to take my cell phone with me. Some of the agencies I've worked for will not allow a cell phone with recording ability in it to get past the door. Try to sneak it in, you'll leave in handcuffs!
Some companies are just as serious about protecting their assets. Even a construction site I was on recently allowed no cameras because of their "secret" way of doing things.
If I want to protect my property, I have that right. That's not an endorsement of DRM or to say that 20 years is appropriate for this case, but failure to protect IP means loss of that IP.
Slashdot Mirror
1) You must be a member of the Bar to practice law.
2) To be a member of the Bar, you have to pass the exam in the jurisdiction you want to practice in.
3) English Common Law is the basis of our courts/law system, but most of our law is really based on interpretations of the Constitution and laws by previous court decisions, "precedent".
4) Lawyers are sure to make sure it's illegal to outsource them!
The software company, however, doesn't care. For the amount of $$ that was spent for the upgrade, the Server 2003 license wasn't that much, and the main executable in Winders only, so we had to have it anyway. For me to spend my time trying to get it to run under Wine would cost more than the cost of the license.
Now, if their next version is available for Linux MySql on the back end, that can save us some jack, and I'll recommend it.
Give us names that tells what's what, or we'll switch to AMD and they'll kick your butt!
Stop marketing and give is a way to know cores/speed/cache/socket/architecture.
There's too many comments like that on Slashdot every time a disruptive technology is discussed. True, big companies have a large investment in the status quo, but it's stockholders that have invested and want a return on the dollar. Also, who's best to convert existing facilities into the new distribution centers for the new fuels? In my neck of the woods, there are damn few corners without a gas station on them already.
Where does the money come from to develop new technologies? Investors! They don't care who they invest with, so long as they believe they will get an equitable return on their investment. People want to make money, and if takes investing in HydroAlgeeCo Fuels (TM) or Exxon Mobil, they'll do it.
Just look at the Web as an example. Lots of guys come up w/ better ideas, and if the big guys can offer "good enough" for free (think IE vs. Netscape), people will take it. If not, someone either makes a bundle producing a better mousetrap or gets their technology bought up and incorporated into someone else's product (think FoxPro).
I know a lot of you think that investors in SCO were out to suppress Linux, but for the most part (MS and Sun deals excluded) it was about buying low and selling high. Same goes with big oil. If they see Hydro or Bio getting competitive, they'll get into the game. Heck, I'm suprised the Exxon Mobil hasn't tendered an offer for ADM yet!
If you want a free-as-in-beer OS, you have to put up with it not having the licensed crap already installed. This cuts into the price advantage.
The real big problem is still app computability: "I have $250K invested in business apps that don't run on Linux, and you want me to switch to what? IS there a Linux app for me? Even if we abandon all the Windows licenses and apps we have, why should I put out $75K in employee retraining and 50K in lost productivity (until we're all ramped up on the new systems) to chance that something else is as good as what I have? To save $2500 in MS tax?"
No, until there are the apps needed at significant savings, most businesses won't switch, and most office workers have to be compatible at home w/ the office. Servers are an entirely different beast.
Now, getting Granny and you sister to switch because all they do is swap photos, email and play games, that I can do.
That depends up on the savings. If fossil fuels rise to $10/gal, and the equivalent price of electric is $3/ gal, then it would behoove the average American, who drives 15,000 miles/yr and averaged 20 mpg, to quickly convert. Once you reach the point that fossil fuels are hard to find at the pump do to limited demand, the inconvenience factor and attendant price rise of hard to find items make switching even more economical.
I won't consider a hybrid now because the additional price, compared to the amount of fuel I use yearly, makes it a 10 year payback, and since I don't keep cars that long, has a negative monetary effect.
Give me an electric that cost the same as a gas vehicle, and costs the same to operate, and I'll buy one for my city car. Give me the infrastructure for quick re-powers (fill-ups), and I'll also use it on long trips.
I could pay the extra bucks for a Treo or iPhone to combine Palm functions w/ a phone, but I'm cheap.
For those who need it, i would be a good option. I actually liked a friends Newton many years ago, but again, never had need for one.
Perhaps this will convince some Slashdotters that they are both self-serving big businesses.
Personally, I prefer people to use M$ products, because their constant problems keep me employed! :->
Not really. Most systems are being bought w/ Vista and a "downgrade" to XP. For the price of Vista, you get Vista and XP. All you need to do is install Vista if they ever get enough bugs out of it for you to use it.
If Micro$oft put out good products, a lot of us would be out of a job! ;->
Not everyone. My grandmother immigrated form the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the early 1900's. Whenever someone talked about how "x" was better where they came from, her reply was always the same: "You like the Old Country so much, you go back to the Old Country! We're Americans now!"
This was despite the fact that here English reading comprehension was so poor that she and my Great Aunt would sit together in Church with their German Bibles to catch the full meaning of the passages read!
One of the problems with the system is that it lets someone ignore the deficiencies by simply checking a box that says it's acceptable risk to their organization.
Not to defend Unisys's actions here, but in one article I read about this it indicates that Unisys told them they needed XYZ, but DHS responded with "But we want ABC", so that's what they gave them.
I was on a gov agency C&A a few years ago where an internal agency big-shot wrote the testing procedures for the C&A, and had no idea what needed to be in it. Several of us stated that what we were doing was not going to cut it, but the agency insisted, and we produced. Of course, they are now having to do it again right, but at least this was one case where my wasted tax dollars were going into my own pocket!
As I learned in the military, you have a duty to voice your concerns to a higher pay grade, and let them deal with it, but you have to do your duty or pay the consequences. You also have a duty, when the safety of the nation is at stake, to voice it to a VERY high level. Were I a Unisys employee and knew what was going on, my Congress-critter would have heard of it.
I was working for the Defense Dept. when XP came out, and the NSA told them to switch from W2K. We lost a lot of legacy hardware - specialty printers, some scanners and a few other devices due to a lack of driver support. I'm hearing the same about Vista for those who use it. (Plus side: XP users can now get cheap cast-off HW from upgraders!)
The real problem w/ Vista is the HW requirements, multiple versions and the MS "Do it our way or we remotely disable your system" threat. No business I know wants that, even if they are willing to eat the extra cash that new HW and the price of Enterprise will bring.
They also have tighter regulations on many things, making them more expensive. Some may argue that it's good for the environment, or whatever argument you want to insert, but that's not the point being made here, value of the Dollar/Loonie is.
Canadians also spend a lot more on home heating then Americans do, albeit less on cooling. The harsher climate also is harder on autos and other equipment.
There's also the fact that all the good vacation spots are in the States (not my thinking, my Canadian friend's thinking, but you have the better side of the Falls!).
As to taxes, don't look at just income taxes, look at all the hidden taxes, from sales tax to excise taxes to govt. mandated permits to do anything from fishing to building office complexes. That all adds up. Americans pay over 40% in taxes, and many Europeans pay over 60%. What's the real tax burden in Canada?
No true geek would ever give up a chance for sex, just for the Internet. That's because REAL Geeks never (or hardly) get any, and won't pass up the chance.
This is really probably just women using the Internet as an excuse to keep their husbands/significant others at arm's length. "Not tonight Honey, I've gotta Google".
Did he think he could fool us simply by dropping the y in his name?
Do you think Larry and the other Daryl will give him old job back cleaning out septic tanks? After all, it's obvious he was indispensable to them, his antics have proven that the only way he could be so full of crap is by actually sucking the septic tanks out by himself!
He gambled that, by suing for their "stolen code" that was in Linux, he would either get someone to buck up or get IBM, Novel, etc. to buy them up. Maybe he was even hoping Bill Gates would make an offer, so that he could kill Linux.
The only problem was, no one rolled over and played dead, depriving Darl of a buyout and golden parachute, or a "Linux Lottery Lawsuit Goldmine". (TM)
Maybe, Darl, you'd have better luck taking your paycheck out to the local riverboat.....
Well, a lot of governments are going to IP6, which means their IP4 addresses will no longer be needed. As others move to IP6, their addresses can also be released back into the pool. It may be that in 3 or 4 years, only home users and small businesses are on IP4.
Two, "Companies that have these restrictions are just full of themselves and think everything they do is some big secret." It's obvious that you don't have any respect for the R&D efforts of various companies. Companies spend billions to create new methods to produce better, faster and cheaper results, and need to protect themselves from the competition.
Third, There is legal precedence that if you selectively enforce a rule, you lose the power to enforce it at all. I they allow people to record on "a crappy cell phone", then try to enforce a no recording on camcorders rule (which WAS what was used here, after all) the courts may say that you can't discriminate, and you lose the right to protect your property.
I boycott them because they have no Milk-Duds. Can't watch a movie w/o Milk-Duds!
Actually, when I hear the 'thumpedy-thump" of the ghetto-blasters going down my street, that makes good sense! Now instead of calling the Police, who do nothing, I'll call the MPAA and report a public performance! ;->
Some companies are just as serious about protecting their assets. Even a construction site I was on recently allowed no cameras because of their "secret" way of doing things.
If I want to protect my property, I have that right. That's not an endorsement of DRM or to say that 20 years is appropriate for this case, but failure to protect IP means loss of that IP.