Re:Solar wind will kill this thing
on
Macs In Space II
·
· Score: 1
Haven't you ever noticed that all apple computers use standard military voltages?
And did anyone notice the similarity between a performa A/V slide out motherboard and a small square board that could fit easily into one of those lovely video guided trident missles used in desert storm about the same time the performa's came out?
When I used to work at computer city, a military freak/mac freak pointed these things out to me.
Also, I had a friend who was in desert storm and he said they used powerbooks with bubble plastic keyboards to keep the sand out.
I think a ton of apple's income comes from military contracts.
Never underestimate the power of a cute little rainbow apple with a bite taken out of it.
doesn't it seem like X comes with crappy documentation for installation?
I tried installing Xf864.0 when it came out a number of times, but i only got it to work by reading an article on some web page. Doesn't it seem like the authors would best know how to install it?
I'm sure there aren't a lack of people with good writing skills, I'm of the opinion that clear code arises from clear linguistic thought. So, whats up there?
But I'd still have to say thanks to the authors for what is arguably the most important part of the os as it exists today....
This is just ESR's usual fare. Pointing to corporate america as the only important thing that matters and should matter.
I don't give a flying f$*k what IBM and microsoft do. The important advancements are happening in linux right here, in the trenches, with the real people.
What makes linux great are not the corporate vultures sweeping in to make a profit off of everyone's passion. It is the passion that has created an entire operating system and platofrm out of nothing.
"``The person is not just a passenger, but has to participate,'' Grabosch said. "
yeah right.
see
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts -7 6/factshts/asseltrn.html
"Pilot astronaut applicants must also meet the following requirements prior to submitting an application:
(1) At least 1,000 hours pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft; flight test experience is highly desirable.
(2) Ability to pass a NASA Class I space physical, which is similar to a military or civilian Class I flight physical, and includes the following specific standards for vision: distance visual acuity - 20/50 or better uncorrected, correctable to 20/20, each eye.
(3) Height between 64 and 76 inches.
...
Applicants who meet the basic qualifications are evaluated by discipline panels during a week-long process of personal interviews, thorough medical evaluations, and orientation. The panel's recommendations are based on the applicant's education, training, and experience as well as unique qualifications and skills.
...
Final selection is based on satisfactory completion of the 1-year program. "
how likely do you think it is that there are a lot of game show contestants who are going to qualify for space travel?
until a few years from now, when we have luxury class space flights, I dont see this happening. All the article says is that some dumb tv company is planning it and putting money towards it. Not that it's going to happen any time soon.
notice:
"the flights, which are to take place between 2002 and 2008."
It is no joke that large corporations and government entities hide information from us on a day to day basis.
As Noam Chomsky has said time and time again...
http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/audio/pcpm/
...these organizations spend billions upon billions of dollars to make you think what they want you to think. The multi-billion dollar PR industry is very open about the fact that they want to control your minds.
That is what allows them to spend millions of dollars of tax payer money on the military research that creates things like irridium which can be then turned over to the private sector so the wealthy can profit from it.
And of course they're not going to tell you that on top of making you pay for it, the process of tearing it down might kill you.
I wonder why they're even in charge of this. This issue obviously affects their business very little, since they sell access, and spammers need bandwidth and we need bandwidth to download all that spam.
I personally used to always send unsolicited emails to abuse@uunet.com and I don't remmeber ever seeing anything come out of it. Those addresses I used to use still get insane amounts of spam. It's ridiculous.
Even my new addresses, which I've only been using for about a month, are already getting spammed. And I only use them for business functions and I'm always careful to not uncheck the "send me more info" buttons.
Obviously, spam is way out of control at this point and needs to be controlled by a different organization.
Maybe someone like internic or icann, at the domain name level, can have enough power to really do something about spammers.
The worst thing about this is the I dont' even think people are still dumb enought o believe in security through obscurity.
What's really happening here is that Microsoft is beefing up their MSN/web presence as much as possible to sell space and eyes to people. So people viewing all those important bug announcements all the time for the many many msft bugs mean more traffic on their site. Actually, in this way, they can make more money by having more bugs! HA!
MSN.com is one of the most visited sites on the internet today because IE defaults to it. Pretty nauseating. And they make very big money on the conent partnerships involved with that site. When I worked at a web tracking company, spidergate.net, they were trying to get us into some kind of detail and sending us big fat glossy three ring binders about all of their current partnerships with big e-commerce houses.
It's definitely a good idea to look for a small project to get involved in.
Personall, I think the free software community is very elitist. So, probably the only way to get in on something is to get in on something small. Also, realize that at first, you'll probably be fixing bugs for a long time. That's how I got statted at my first proramming job and its a good way to familiarize yourself with the code and catch on to the other programmer's coding styles.
When I was working on Canvas for linux, we tried numerous times to contribute our source back to the WINE community and were rejected numerous times. And I was contributing not only my changes, but changes for my co-workers who have 10 years of coding experience. We submitted our patches as diffs, to the mailing list, and directly to the WINE programmers, but they were never merged into the main branch. And our changes definitely worked, we tested them, we have an entire testing department. Basically, we sent patches in for months that were never accepted.
So, if I were you, I'd lok for a project that only has a few people working on it, who will really appreciate the help.
I think this is really a problem for the free software movement. People need to have more of an activist attitude in trying to get the word out and trying to bring new programmers up to speed.
I'm not looking for flames here, I just passionately care about free software and I've dedicated a lot of time and energy to making it work. I know of course lots and lots of people have, by creating all these wonderful pieces of free software we have. But I think that bringing new programmers onboard should be a high priority.
but seriously, I think this is just an inevitable result of faster/smaller/better.
it's really just a question of having the hardware for a particular application (storage for mp3's, comm device for wireless) in a small enough form to make it useful in a portable device.
just like the new samsung cell phone/mp3 player. that's a crazy combination too, but soonenough, you can have a full strength computer in your pocket and it'll be redunant to say what it does.
Or better than in your pocket, on an earring. heh, maybe we'll have supercomputer tongue rings you can keep concealed in your mouth. now that's a party. listen to your mp3's and your conversations through your teeth to your skull bone. yeah baby!
that's absolutely correct. I saw him in an interview and he says it's his worst movie. But come on. Of course it's not as good as the introspective/identity searching/mteaphorical/allegorical mind blowing stuff he does. It was written by somebody else. heh.
You're talking about David Lynch here. DAVID LYNCH. ( http://us.imdb.com/Name?Lynch,+David )
His adaptation was so far better that it's embarassing. He's a goddamn genius. (see eraserhead, wild at heart, blue velvet, or lost highway or reference)
And I think it's a testament to what a spectacular filmmaker David Lynch is that a movie he made 16 years ago is more believable and has beter special effects than a movie made today with all the digital tools available.
And worse than that, you're saying that this blonde kid's acting was better than Kyle MacLachlan? Please, please, please. The scene where he kills Jamis was so poorly built up, I didn't even care who won. It was extremely poor.
Let me repeat, D-a-v-i-d L-y-n-c-h. One of the greatest filmmakers to ever live. And you're trying to compare a tv mini series to his work?
It has the same information about the same companies that have been doing this for so long. And the headline on/. claims that they are suddenly affordable, but the article says they range from $5000-10000. Does that sound cheap to you?
If you think that the technologically knowledgable are not interested in real issues, then how do you think that the current movement is coming together?
How is it that the Seattle WTO protests were the largest in history when a year ago nobody even knew what the WTO was? Could it be because of the rapid spread of information over the net? And also becaus of the ability to organize and meet up with people from all over the world instantly?
Nah...
You should be aware of discrediting the growing movement. The damage you do could worsen your own situation. You're just adding to the mainstream media's din and ignoring the reality of america today. Here's something a little more hopeful from Howard Zinn a famous _historian_:
I think that the public in the United States is ready to listen to ideas about a new way of ordering society. I say ready because I think there's a general dissatisfaction with the american political system. There's an understanding among americans that the political system doesn't work. That's why fifty percent of the electorate does not go to the polls. And of those that do go to the polls, there's a distinct lack of enthusiasm. There's an understanding that the domination of the political process by the two major parties in the United States doesn't allow for different kinds of opinions, different kinds of voices, different kinds of political alternatives. Understanding of that. If you look at public opinion surveys in the United States over the last five or ten years, you'll find an interesting thing, and that is that public opinion surveys show that the american people as a whole are far more progressive than either of the major parties. You'll find again and again that the american public wants the goverment to intervene in the economy on behalf of people who are in need. You'll find that they want the goverment to tax the rich more heavily, that they're opposed to reducing the taxes on capital gains which benefit the wealthiest portion of the country. Again and again, the public has said , in these polls, that they would like to see a new independent political force other than the Democrats and the Republicans enter the contest for political office. So the system on the one hand, which goes along concentrating more and more wealth at the top and more and more power at the top and then on the other hand, there's this reservoir of opposition in the country which has not yet organized itself into a political force. And I think that i will take a lot more education and a lot more connections made among the millions of people in this country who want to change before something important and dramatic happens....
I think what sustains me is that I'm in contact with a lot of people around the country. I go around the country, do a lot of speaking, I go to all sorts of places all over the United States and wherever I go, I see people who are trying to do something about justice. Wherever I go I see people struggling: women struggling for equal rights, people working against racial discrimination, I see gay and lesbian people organizing for their rights, I see people protesting against foreign policy. Wherever i go I see this. And wherever I go I meet wonderful people and however small is the town that I'm going into, there's always a cluster of really good people who've devoted themselves to social change. Now this encourages me, this keeps me going. And this is in the immediate sense. But I think what also keeps me going is the kind of sense of history. There's a recognition that although cynicism and pessimism are sort of natural feelings when you look around at any given moment and see that things don't seem to be changing in the direction. That feeling of cynicism and pessimism has existed all through american history, in every period. And yet, at certain moments in history when people begin to speak up, when people begin to get together at certain moments of history, suddenly, there's a breakthrough and something happens. It happened in the thirties with the rise of the labor movement, it happened in the sixties with the civil rights and the anti-war movement and women's movement. And I think a little historical perspective would dispel some of the pessimism. People would realize that in the years before the rise of any of these movements, everything looked gloomy and then suddenly, things began to happen. Things can happen very fast when the indignation of the people overflows and when they begin to get together. I'll say just one more thing. And that is, one of the things that makes me continue to sort of speak out and to try to be active and involved is simply that it makes life more interesting and life more enjoyable, life more worthwhile. I think of Tolstoy and his story of the death of Ivan Illich about this very successful man on his deathbed who asked the question: "Have I done all the right things? I've become prosperous and successful and respected by the society. Why am I dissatisfied?" Because he hadn't really done anything important to change the world. And I think people who are involved lead more fruitful and more fulfilling lives. So that's what sustains me."
___________________________ Michael Cardenas http://www.fiu.edu/~mcarde02 http://www.deneba.com/linux
Get away and do something else. I think we spend far too much time with our heads stuck inside our cases and we don't see the real world and get some perspective. Think about something else, not computer related. Look at some painting books, read some fiction, realize that there is more to the world than bits. Maybe hang out with some old friends who are _not_ programmers! Recently I had a tech writing class where my teacher did _not_ want us to write about computers. At first I was outraged, but then it was kind of liberating. I began to remember all the interests I used to have before I became so completely absorbed by the computer world. So, if you can't write code because you're anxious about it, try to get out and see the rest of the world and get some perspective.
___________________________ Michael Cardenas http://www.fiu.edu/~mcarde02 http://www.deneba.com/linux
He's got a very good point. If people want commercial software on linux, they're going to have to pay for it. If we want great free software, we're going to have to write it ourselves.
The strength of linux is that open source projects have no development or marketing costs. This is not the case for closed source software shops. This fantasy about big software companies releasing free closed source versions of their software can't last for long. They're only doing this now because the linux market is still growing, so offering free stuff gives them an opportunity to gain market share and recoup the costs later. This is exactly what Corel is doing by giving some products away for free while charging for their other products. They're trying to establish a brand.
Until these companies start adopting open source development methods, they will fail. It just doesn't make sense to spend tons of r&d money on an app to give it away.
ESR makes this very clear here. "When I speak at technical conferences, I usually begin my talk by asking two questions: how many in the audience are paid to write software, and for how many do their salaries depend on the sale value of software. I generally get a forest of hands for the first question, few or none for the second, and considerable audience surprise at the proportion." Corel is filled with people whose income depends on the sale of their software. And so is Deneba...
___________________________ Michael Cardenas http://www.fiu.edu/~mcarde02 http://www.deneba.com/linux
Let me just point out two things linux would really really benefit from.
1.) An incremental linker! I've been working on a very large project in linux for the past year and I can tell you that waiting 1-5 minutes for a link is ridiculous. Both the mac and windows have this feature. Can't we do it? Let's start by appendign the new object code to the end, then finding all the references to the old object and pointing them to the new one... come on guys!
2.) An integrated debugger! Until you can set breakpoints from within emacs/vi/code fusion/fill in your favorite editor here it's going to continue to be hard as hell to debug on linux. I mean, we shouldn't have to rely on debuggers, but do we really want to leave emacs, launch the debugger, go back to emacs, get the line number, type b filename:line number forever! That's pretty damn counter productive!
I still LOVE cvs, vi, the test based nature of building, being able to use sed to fix my project, etc, but I don't have all the time in the world.
thank you...
___________________________ Michael Cardenas http://www.fiu.edu/~mcarde02 http://www.deneba.com/linux
Boy am I glad I sold my imac and bought a pc! Sheesh, $500! And no half life!
What a huge mistake apple made when they didn't allow clones to be made of macs. Even when they started them late, they were going so great! Oh well, I guess they'll just remain a niche market for a long time to come.
___________________________ Michael Cardenas http://www.fiu.edu/~mcarde02 http://www.deneba.com/linux
Question: Can we realistically say that the internet is making a difference in the political process? Can a basically unknown candidate like Ralph Nader get a resonable number of votes thanks to just his web site? Or are people really just going to the web sites of the candidates they hear about on television? In the closed capitalist mind space we inhabit, big monetary interests determine the range of possibilities people think are viable.
According to a recent IBM/Altavista study, even on the net the big money sites like Yahoo "basically control the flow of information". So can we really think that the net is going to suddenly bring us democracy despite the nondemocratic nature of our entire economy/political system?
Slashdot Mirror
Haven't you ever noticed that all apple computers use standard military voltages?
And did anyone notice the similarity between a performa A/V slide out motherboard and a small square board that could fit easily into one of those lovely video guided trident missles used in desert storm about the same time the performa's came out?
When I used to work at computer city, a military freak/mac freak pointed these things out to me.
Also, I had a friend who was in desert storm and he said they used powerbooks with bubble plastic keyboards to keep the sand out.
I think a ton of apple's income comes from military contracts.
Never underestimate the power of a cute little rainbow apple with a bite taken out of it.
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
Yeah, here in Miami on January 12 there's a "Pink Slip Party" for all the people laid off from the 210 dot coms that have gone out of business lately.
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
doesn't it seem like X comes with crappy documentation for installation?
I tried installing Xf864.0 when it came out a number of times, but i only got it to work by reading an article on some web page. Doesn't it seem like the authors would best know how to install it?
I'm sure there aren't a lack of people with good writing skills, I'm of the opinion that clear code arises from clear linguistic thought. So, whats up there?
But I'd still have to say thanks to the authors for what is arguably the most important part of the os as it exists today....
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
holy shit that's funny!!!
LOL
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
This is just ESR's usual fare. Pointing to corporate america as the only important thing that matters and should matter.
I don't give a flying f$*k what IBM and microsoft do. The important advancements are happening in linux right here, in the trenches, with the real people.
What makes linux great are not the corporate vultures sweeping in to make a profit off of everyone's passion. It is the passion that has created an entire operating system and platofrm out of nothing.
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
Ok, lets think about the feasability of this...
s -7 6/factshts/asseltrn.html
"``The person is not just a passenger, but has to participate,'' Grabosch said. "
yeah right.
see
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/st
"Pilot astronaut applicants must also meet the following requirements prior to submitting an application:
(1) At least 1,000 hours pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft; flight test experience is highly desirable.
(2) Ability to pass a NASA Class I space physical, which is similar to a military or civilian Class I flight physical, and includes the following specific standards for vision: distance visual acuity - 20/50 or better uncorrected, correctable to 20/20, each eye.
(3) Height between 64 and 76 inches.
...
Applicants who meet the basic qualifications are evaluated by discipline panels during a week-long process of personal interviews, thorough medical evaluations, and orientation. The panel's recommendations are based on the applicant's education, training, and experience as well as unique qualifications and skills.
...
Final selection is based on satisfactory completion of the 1-year program. "
how likely do you think it is that there are a lot of game show contestants who are going to qualify for space travel?
until a few years from now, when we have luxury class space flights, I dont see this happening. All the article says is that some dumb tv company is planning it and putting money towards it. Not that it's going to happen any time soon.
notice:
"the flights, which are to take place between 2002 and 2008."
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
a man who would rather punch code than wield a scalpel
Punch code?!?!? What does this guy think we do, put holes in cards?!!??
I'd say, imagining compex data structures and knowledge representation and forseeing their interactions is far more interesting that "sawing bone".
sheesh!
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
Ahh... they know what they should be looking for, that's not the problem...
The nature of the technique and the technology available means it is not presently possible to detect Earth-sized planets.
"As a result, searches are picking up all the weird giant planets first," said Dr Chris Tinney of the AAT.
and doesn't he sound like a good old geek saying that!!!
you gotta love it...
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
It's probably just a gross mistake by the author. Yet another: "technology will save the world. Let's all pat each other on the backs" book.
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
It is no joke that large corporations and government entities hide information from us on a day to day basis.
As Noam Chomsky has said time and time again...
http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/audio/pcpm/
...these organizations spend billions upon billions of dollars to make you think what they want you to think. The multi-billion dollar PR industry is very open about the fact that they want to control your minds.
That is what allows them to spend millions of dollars of tax payer money on the military research that creates things like irridium which can be then turned over to the private sector so the wealthy can profit from it.
And of course they're not going to tell you that on top of making you pay for it, the process of tearing it down might kill you.
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
oh fuck, i meant to uncheck it, OK?!!?!
heh...
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
I wonder why they're even in charge of this. This issue obviously affects their business very little, since they sell access, and spammers need bandwidth and we need bandwidth to download all that spam.
I personally used to always send unsolicited emails to abuse@uunet.com and I don't remmeber ever seeing anything come out of it. Those addresses I used to use still get insane amounts of spam. It's ridiculous.
Even my new addresses, which I've only been using for about a month, are already getting spammed. And I only use them for business functions and I'm always careful to not uncheck the "send me more info" buttons.
Obviously, spam is way out of control at this point and needs to be controlled by a different organization.
Maybe someone like internic or icann, at the domain name level, can have enough power to really do something about spammers.
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
This movie is a total huge disappointment.
:P
I'm actually an ENFP, so
but I've played ad&d for years and years and this movie does nothing but give d&d a really really bad name.
Our only hope is to wait for the hobbit movie, which looks awesome.
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
The worst thing about this is the I dont' even think people are still dumb enought o believe in security through obscurity.
What's really happening here is that Microsoft is beefing up their MSN/web presence as much as possible to sell space and eyes to people. So people viewing all those important bug announcements all the time for the many many msft bugs mean more traffic on their site. Actually, in this way, they can make more money by having more bugs! HA!
MSN.com is one of the most visited sites on the internet today because IE defaults to it. Pretty nauseating. And they make very big money on the conent partnerships involved with that site. When I worked at a web tracking company, spidergate.net, they were trying to get us into some kind of detail and sending us big fat glossy three ring binders about all of their current partnerships with big e-commerce houses.
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
It's definitely a good idea to look for a small project to get involved in.
Personall, I think the free software community is very elitist. So, probably the only way to get in on something is to get in on something small. Also, realize that at first, you'll probably be fixing bugs for a long time. That's how I got statted at my first proramming job and its a good way to familiarize yourself with the code and catch on to the other programmer's coding styles.
When I was working on Canvas for linux, we tried numerous times to contribute our source back to the WINE community and were rejected numerous times. And I was contributing not only my changes, but changes for my co-workers who have 10 years of coding experience. We submitted our patches as diffs, to the mailing list, and directly to the WINE programmers, but they were never merged into the main branch. And our changes definitely worked, we tested them, we have an entire testing department. Basically, we sent patches in for months that were never accepted.
So, if I were you, I'd lok for a project that only has a few people working on it, who will really appreciate the help.
I think this is really a problem for the free software movement. People need to have more of an activist attitude in trying to get the word out and trying to bring new programmers up to speed.
I'm not looking for flames here, I just passionately care about free software and I've dedicated a lot of time and energy to making it work. I know of course lots and lots of people have, by creating all these wonderful pieces of free software we have. But I think that bringing new programmers onboard should be a high priority.
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
but seriously, I think this is just an inevitable result of faster/smaller/better.
it's really just a question of having the hardware for a particular application (storage for mp3's, comm device for wireless) in a small enough form to make it useful in a portable device.
just like the new samsung cell phone/mp3 player. that's a crazy combination too, but soonenough, you can have a full strength computer in your pocket and it'll be redunant to say what it does.
Or better than in your pocket, on an earring. heh, maybe we'll have supercomputer tongue rings you can keep concealed in your mouth. now that's a party. listen to your mp3's and your conversations through your teeth to your skull bone. yeah baby!
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
that's absolutely correct. I saw him in an interview and he says it's his worst movie. But come on. Of course it's not as good as the introspective/identity searching/mteaphorical/allegorical mind blowing stuff he does. It was written by somebody else. heh.
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
Oh please.
You're talking about David Lynch here. DAVID LYNCH. ( http://us.imdb.com/Name?Lynch,+David )
His adaptation was so far better that it's embarassing. He's a goddamn genius. (see eraserhead, wild at heart, blue velvet, or lost highway or reference)
And I think it's a testament to what a spectacular filmmaker David Lynch is that a movie he made 16 years ago is more believable and has beter special effects than a movie made today with all the digital tools available.
And worse than that, you're saying that this blonde kid's acting was better than Kyle MacLachlan? Please, please, please. The scene where he kills Jamis was so poorly built up, I didn't even care who won. It was extremely poor.
Let me repeat, D-a-v-i-d L-y-n-c-h. One of the greatest filmmakers to ever live. And you're trying to compare a tv mini series to his work?
</end rant>
_______________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
___________________________
http://www.hyperpoem.net
I don't see why this article was even posted.
/. claims that they are suddenly affordable, but the article says they range from $5000-10000. Does that sound cheap to you?
It has the same information about the same companies that have been doing this for so long. And the headline on
___________________________
michael cardenas
If you think that the technologically knowledgable are not interested in real issues, then how do you think that the current movement is coming together?
How is it that the Seattle WTO protests were the largest in history when a year ago nobody even knew what the WTO was? Could it be because of the rapid spread of information over the net? And also becaus of the ability to organize and meet up with people from all over the world instantly?
Nah...
You should be aware of discrediting the growing movement. The damage you do could worsen your own situation. You're just adding to the mainstream media's din and ignoring the reality of america today. Here's something a little more hopeful from Howard Zinn a famous _historian_:
I think that the public in the United States is ready to listen to ideas about a new way of ordering society. I say ready because I think there's a general dissatisfaction with the american political system. There's an understanding among americans that the political system doesn't work. That's why fifty percent of the electorate does not go to the polls. And of those that do go to the polls, there's a distinct lack of enthusiasm. There's an understanding that the domination of the political process by the two major parties in the United States doesn't allow for different kinds of opinions, different kinds of voices, different kinds of political alternatives. Understanding of that. If you look at public opinion surveys in the United States over the last five or ten years, you'll find an interesting thing, and that is that public opinion surveys show that the american people as a whole are far more progressive than either of the major parties. You'll find again and again that the american public wants the goverment to intervene in the economy on behalf of people who are in need. You'll find that they want the goverment to tax the rich more heavily, that they're opposed to reducing the taxes on capital gains which benefit the wealthiest portion of the country. Again and again, the public has said , in these polls, that they would like to see a new independent political force other than the Democrats and the Republicans enter the contest for political office. So the system on the one hand, which goes along concentrating more and more wealth at the top and more and more power at the top and then on the other hand, there's this reservoir of opposition in the country which has not yet organized itself into a political force. And I think that i will take a lot more education and a lot more connections made among the millions of people in this country who want to change before something important and dramatic happens....
I think what sustains me is that I'm in contact with a lot of people around the country. I go around the country, do a lot of speaking, I go to all sorts of places all over the United States and wherever I go, I see people who are trying to do something about justice. Wherever I go I see people struggling: women struggling for equal rights, people working against racial discrimination, I see gay and lesbian people organizing for their rights, I see people protesting against foreign policy. Wherever i go I see this. And wherever I go I meet wonderful people and however small is the town that I'm going into, there's always a cluster of really good people who've devoted themselves to social change. Now this encourages me, this keeps me going. And this is in the immediate sense. But I think what also keeps me going is the kind of sense of history. There's a recognition that although cynicism and pessimism are sort of natural feelings when you look around at any given moment and see that things don't seem to be changing in the direction. That feeling of cynicism and pessimism has existed all through american history, in every period. And yet, at certain moments in history when people begin to speak up, when people begin to get together at certain moments of history, suddenly, there's a breakthrough and something happens. It happened in the thirties with the rise of the labor movement, it happened in the sixties with the civil rights and the anti-war movement and women's movement. And I think a little historical perspective would dispel some of the pessimism. People would realize that in the years before the rise of any of these movements, everything looked gloomy and then suddenly, things began to happen. Things can happen very fast when the indignation of the people overflows and when they begin to get together. I'll say just one more thing. And that is, one of the things that makes me continue to sort of speak out and to try to be active and involved is simply that it makes life more interesting and life more enjoyable, life more worthwhile. I think of Tolstoy and his story of the death of Ivan Illich about this very successful man on his deathbed who asked the question: "Have I done all the right things? I've become prosperous and successful and respected by the society. Why am I dissatisfied?" Because he hadn't really done anything important to change the world. And I think people who are involved lead more fruitful and more fulfilling lives. So that's what sustains me."
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Michael Cardenas
http://www.fiu.edu/~mcarde02
http://www.deneba.com/linux
Get away and do something else. I think we spend far too much time with our heads stuck inside our cases and we don't see the real world and get some perspective.
Think about something else, not computer related. Look at some painting books, read some fiction, realize that there is more to the world than bits. Maybe hang out with some old friends who are _not_ programmers!
Recently I had a tech writing class where my teacher did _not_ want us to write about computers. At first I was outraged, but then it was kind of liberating. I began to remember all the interests I used to have before I became so completely absorbed by the computer world.
So, if you can't write code because you're anxious about it, try to get out and see the rest of the world and get some perspective.
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Michael Cardenas
http://www.fiu.edu/~mcarde02
http://www.deneba.com/linux
He's got a very good point. If people want commercial software on linux, they're going to have to pay for it. If we want great free software, we're going to have to write it ourselves.
The strength of linux is that open source projects have no development or marketing costs. This is not the case for closed source software shops. This fantasy about big software companies releasing free closed source versions of their software can't last for long. They're only doing this now because the linux market is still growing, so offering free stuff gives them an opportunity to gain market share and recoup the costs later. This is exactly what Corel is doing by giving some products away for free while charging for their other products. They're trying to establish a brand.
Until these companies start adopting open source development methods, they will fail. It just doesn't make sense to spend tons of r&d money on an app to give it away.
ESR makes this very clear here. "When I speak at technical conferences, I usually begin my talk by asking two questions: how many in the audience are paid to write software, and for how many do their salaries depend on the sale value of software. I generally get a forest of hands for the first question, few or none for the second, and considerable audience surprise at the proportion." Corel is filled with people whose income depends on the sale of their software. And so is Deneba...
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Michael Cardenas
http://www.fiu.edu/~mcarde02
http://www.deneba.com/linux
Let me just point out two things linux would really really benefit from.
1.) An incremental linker! I've been working on a very large project in linux for the past year and I can tell you that waiting 1-5 minutes for a link is ridiculous. Both the mac and windows have this feature. Can't we do it? Let's start by appendign the new object code to the end, then finding all the references to the old object and pointing them to the new one... come on guys!
2.) An integrated debugger! Until you can set breakpoints from within emacs/vi/code fusion/fill in your favorite editor here it's going to continue to be hard as hell to debug on linux. I mean, we shouldn't have to rely on debuggers, but do we really want to leave emacs, launch the debugger, go back to emacs, get the line number, type b filename:line number forever! That's pretty damn counter productive!
I still LOVE cvs, vi, the test based nature of building, being able to use sed to fix my project, etc, but I don't have all the time in the world.
thank you...
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Michael Cardenas
http://www.fiu.edu/~mcarde02
http://www.deneba.com/linux
Boy am I glad I sold my imac and bought a pc! Sheesh, $500! And no half life!
What a huge mistake apple made when they didn't allow clones to be made of macs. Even when they started them late, they were going so great! Oh well, I guess they'll just remain a niche market for a long time to come.
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Michael Cardenas
http://www.fiu.edu/~mcarde02
http://www.deneba.com/linux
Question:
Can we realistically say that the internet is making a difference in the political process? Can a basically unknown candidate like Ralph Nader get a resonable number of votes thanks to just his web site? Or are people really just going to the web sites of the candidates they hear about on television? In the closed capitalist mind space we inhabit, big monetary interests determine the range of possibilities people think are viable.
According to a recent IBM/Altavista study, even on the net the big money sites like Yahoo "basically control the flow of information". So can we really think that the net is going to suddenly bring us democracy despite the nondemocratic nature of our entire economy/political system?
Vote for Ralph Nader. Period. thanks! his web site kicks ass too.
michael
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Michael Cardenas
http://www.fiu.edu/~mcarde02
http://www.deneba.com/linux