Your rationalization states some very obvious points, though I'd like to see your basis for statistics ("hundreds of millions have...no relationship problems"). Please define "relationship problems" for the rest of us.
Also, there's nothing "obvious" regarding the poster's utilization of on-line porn as a "symptom...of [his] problems." You have no familiarity with the poster, so please keep your supposition to yourself. You negate much of the positive that the post offered.
The poster presumably posted as an AC because of typical reactions such as yours. Too bad you couldn't allow their statement of personal responsibility to represent the courage the person faced in dealing with their own problems and/or symptoms.
I know, as a parent and as an adult who has viewed pornography in it's many forms, that an adolescent who views pornography before they are able to functionally integrate sexuality into their psyche (and spirit, if you will) can very well be traumatized whereupon their perspective of sexuality is skewed for the rest of their developmental years.
Consider the impact of being a celebrity on the psyche of Michael Jackson, and please consider it carefully before you reply. Regardless of issues with his sexuality, consider his difficulties with social behavior in general. Can you imagine that those issues were perhaps caused by an exorbitant and premature exposure to celebrity-dom? Moreso than his adolescent being could process in a healthy manner? Do you really think that you and the teeming millions would be immune to that level of stimulation?
Again, I use the example as an analogy. Adjust the elements as you like, but please consider the mechanism. Replace "celebrity" and/or "sexuality" with "alcohol" (or any narcotic), "theft", "deception", "gambling", etc...
The greatest hope for children is a healthy parental figure who is able to coach, guide, and protect children from being over-exposed to things in life before they are ready. And, if and when they are exposed, hopefully those same of similar guiding forces will assist in the development of that young person's psyche, character, and sexuality.
You, cahiha, seem to have been able to handle your exposure to porn. That's great for you. Please be open to the idea that there of others in this world who are different, who have different tolerances, different support, and different reactions.
That being said, in regards to the topic at hand, I sure would love to see more government sponsored education as opposed to censorship.
While I see the analogy that you are bringing up, the racism that people are sensitive to is loaded with the pain and suffering associated with racial superiority. That racial superiority is borne from simple fear.
It seems that the point of this subject matter is more clearly defined as "speciation", distinction because of a need for natural variation. There is no association with superiority. There is no emotional element to this.
Uh, okay. That's one perspective. I, on the other hand, appreciate elegance and aesthetic as well as function. Mac OS X often delivers all of the above.
I can tell you that if you took a tool (or process) that was simply "more efficient", it's possible/likely that you'd long for more than just "bread and water" in your tool set. I am currently working with a piece of software that, uh, works, but it's a far cry from excellence. It makes me feel a sense of resignation as opposed to inspiration or excitement. How sad that people have to deal with the mundane in today's world of software.
This is not my opinion on Windows, though. I don't have the time to flush that out at this time so take the above statement as simply an alternative perspective on what can be used as a basis of comparison.
I'm starting to get fed up with being in favor of good international relations being associated with being unamerican.
Starting to? When _will_ you (and everyone else taking issue with the current "xenophobia") be fed up? I'm way done myself.
Whatever happened to the "global village" thing? I thank {insert your personal ultimate source of being here} that some people (like France) are willing to say "being the bully doesn't always work", even in response to violent transgressions.
Also, the incredibly dynamic, narrow-minded U.S. foreign policy that was drastically revised since 9/11 (or when Bush entered office -- your pick) is like a bad case of disinformation, obfuscating the true motivation of our actions. This totally complicates everything, so it's easy to dismiss any criticism as inapplicable to some particular issue -- eg. no longer supporting the Iraq invasion is wrong because we're still(?) there for "truth, justice, and the American way".
I'm still longing for cool heads to deal with this like honest, spiritually-minded, loving adults instead of grade-school children. This has become an extreme test of faith.
p.s. I'm not for/against religious-mindedness mind, er, you. It's just that "(team) spirit" is fundamentally inclusive and easier for people to relate to altogether as opposed to "religious dogma" which (often) intrinsically separates people at an emotional level.
I'm starting to get fed up with being in favor of good international relations being associated with being unamerican.
Starting to? When _will_ you (and everyone else taking issue with the current "xenophobia") be fed up? I'm way done myself.
Whatever happened to the "global village" thing? I thank {insert your personal ultimate source of being here} that some people (like France) are willing to say "being the bully doesn't always work", even in response to violent transgressions. Plus, the US international standing is being affected by the incredibly dynamic, narrow-minded foreign policy that was drastically revised since 9/11 (or when Bush entered office -- your pick).
I'm still looking for cool heads to deal with this like honest, spiritually-minded, loving adults instead of grade-school children. It could happen...
p.s. I'm not for/against religious-mindedness mind, er, you. It's just that "(team) spirit" is fundamentally inclusive and easier for people to relate to altogether as opposed to "religious dogma" which (often) intrinsically separates people at an emotional level.
Seems like a reasonable approach for pursuing that elusive combination of computer-based appliance in a living room. Microsoft goes from a PC-centric approach, Sony goes in the opposite direction.
Other items possibly in the game plan:
- Linux reduces cost and doesn't inadvertently support their competitor.
- Regardless of a Hard Drive or not, they could probably deliver enough functionality on a CD or DVD to make a turnkey media center
- Who knows what the linux programming community can come up with when they think of development from a console-centric perspective
- All the PS3 needs to be functional is a base OS with network connectivity.
This is coming from a recent console buyer, so I'm just throwing out ideas.
When's the last time you knew a Mac user to buy a Mac because "it has a G5" (unless they were comparing it to a G4 or PPC)? That's not a selling point for most people because it's moot. People compare price vs. performance, and that's typically secondary anyway.
Most people buy a Mac because of the user experience and the operating system. If Apple provides the same experience with a different chip, what does it matter?
Did people cry "confusion" when Apple moved from SCSI -> IDE? How about from SIMM to DIMM? Oh, and remember reeling from CD to DVD? That was a biggie.
Get a grip and stop the religious wars (in all senses). Buy, sell, and market a computer because it works for you.
Cut one leg of a tripod and it leans over. Cut a second and the tripod is seriously compromised. (Yes, I know, cut the third and just make it shorter to compensate, but then the whole thing is diminished).
In the context of "mind/body/spirit", our society is deep in the throes of fear, just like much of civilization has been in history. Much of our social norms are based on fear. While fear is necessary, too much is "toxic" and abusive. Yet we think it's acceptable and normal (eg. Simon from American Idol).
I know that this next bit sounds like General Ripper's "precious bodily fluids" from Dr. Strangelove, but hear me out.
Our bodies get compromised from the unhealthy diets in our society (McDonalds, sulfites, yeast, sugar, etc...). That's the second leg of the stool. Our spirit is left with the burden of holding up the load. It's no wonder to me that so many people have a hard time finding balance in life.
This isn't to place blame on anyone at all, even though I subscribe to conspiracy theories at times. I am trying to say that we, as people in (American) society, have a very subtle burden of maintaining balance, let alone grow, in any of these ways (mind/body/spirit).
Am I surprised at the spiritual emptiness of our society/world? I know it takes a lot of time and energy to maintain myself and I don't do a good job of it. It takes time and effort to avoid fast or processed food, schedule in exercise every day, be productive the way we need to be (work/school), and it takes time and energy to be spiritual in whatever form a person practices.
I keep this in mind when I at work or on the highway, for example, and someone acts unreasonably. I imagine that they are having as hard a time, if not moreso, than I am at living life. That helps me maintain a positive attitude as a basis for affecting my world.
Anyway, I know I'm taking this off on a serious tangent, but this parent post just scrapes the proverbial "tip of the iceberg" of what I think are our deepest social ailments. Don't shoot the messenger.
I haven't read the article, so this may be redundant, but so far, the comments haven't focused on this aspect of projects going awry.
Caveat: the point I'm making shouldn't be taken out of context. There are a number of issues that are causing delay, but the one below hasn't gotten it's "fair share" of exposure.
In the current implementation that I'm involved in, there are a number of issues that we've had issues with simply due to the vendor over selling the product. Whether we are caught not getting what we were told was available, or we are having to spend resources to get what wasn't actually in place (vaporware), both situations result in delay and were the direct effect of Sales selling something that Engineering didn't have.
Marketing often gets blamed and, in this case, IT is being scrutinized, but I believe it's often the reality that the Sales people, and/or the Sales Cycle, is faulty. I want to distinguish between Marketing and Sales here. Sales did a "bang up" (yes, I'm being sarcastic) job selling to our Executives and the Executives should bear responsibility for mandating a poor choice. The reality of the situation, though, is that the implementation team (both Vendor and Client), of which IT is only a part of, is burdened with "making it happen within budget and deadline".
Well, just try Office 2004 then. I agree with you that v.X runs very snappy, but 2004 is much slower. It seems an awful performance price to pay for relatively minor refinements.
Performance is slower in various aspects: launching, rendering, opening windows, etc... These are fundamental processes that just shouldn't be as slow as they are. Only when I run Office 2004 on my dual G5 do I get satisfactory performance.
I've been listening to Alan Watts lately, and he's inspired much thinking within lately. I wish I had heard him a few weeks ago, though, so that I could pose some questions to the candidates in our moderated Q&A recently.
I'm too busy to articulate any questions at the moment, but with the emphasis on issues and ideology, I feel terribly discouraged at the often thoughtless or carefree approaches to life by politicians. It seems like humanity is reduced to very impersonal demographics at times and I would like to have heard responses from the candidates from the perspective beyond the context of political issues.
This was for a desktop machine. Try the PowerBook
on
The Ultimate MacDate
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· Score: 2, Informative
Slightly off topic, but I feel compelled to urge Anand on this point.
I've been using a 12" PowerBook and it's the finest piece of hardware I've ever used. Obviously I haven't tried everything, but between many desktops and laptops, this is the easiest, most usable machine for light-to-medium office work and database development.
Portable, snappy, painless wireless and bluetooth (out-of-the-box), and OSX. It's just beautiful.
It's important to know that addictions take many forms yet thy all stem from the same sources. Those sources are one or more of the following: physiologic, genetic, mental, spiritual, abuse (in it's many forms), and trauma. All of these can be treated, some more than others, through combinations of medication, therapy, and individual or group support.
I think the one thing that prevents these maladies from improving is prejudice and ignorance (lack of education) from society as a whole. The same FUD that affected the response towards AIDS is present here as well, but it's being treated as much less of an epidemic.
One of the highly moderated posts refers to parents being the blame. I have mixed feelings about that. It's not just the immediate parents, but also those before and around them that all contribute to this issue. Parents who have little or no education regarding child rearing can't be expected to raise "normal" functional adults.
Examining our culture, it's easy to see the massive influences _away_ from nurturing and maturing people into truly evolved beings. Instead, we promote so many choices all the time that it's probably overwhelming for many people to assimilate all those influences gracefully.
Many of those choices involve drugs, sex, gaming, achievement, food, etc... All of these can be part of a healthy lifestyle, and in fact many of them are absolutely necessary. Many addicts are introduced to some of these too early in their development and are consumed by the experiences while unable to keep perspective (sex being a great example). Obviously, food is a necessity, but addicts use their drug of choice to excess.
As I said before, judgementalness and FUD are terribly non-productive towards the rehabilitation of addictive behaviours. These negative attitudes often evoke shame and guilt, both of which can turn the addict away from possible solutions.
Imagine a person with an eating disorder. Regardless of the reason for it, if their appearance is ridiculed rather than accepted, the message equates to scorn and rejection rather than safe trustworthiness. Food may be one of the person's few options for comfort and security. If part of the solution to a person's hurts involved discussion or seeking help of some form, how can they be expected to seek help from a culture that has already judged them based on their appearance?
There's much more to be said about this, but I'm at work right now. Please be considerate of those who deal with life in ways that are unfamiliar to yourself. The world has enough trouble on the large scales without needing to burden or shun people's feelings and life situations.
Thank you for reminding us to deal with the problem instead of the symptom.
My understanding of people with obsession and compulsion towards _any_ type of porn is that the impetus stems from an inappropriate exposure to the subject matter during some formative period in a person's life. That "inappropriate exposure" can take many forms -- from the extreme (rape), "commonplace" (sexual experiences at too young an age), or subtle/obscure (a sensitive person being rebuked for normal sexuality by an authority figure with dysfunctional boundaries).
Obviously, these can be dealt with through education, just like the sources of drug abuse, but it's a tough nut to crack, especially in a covertly repressed society like the U.S.
I fully agree with the parent poster and think our society would make progress if these source topics were discussed more openly rather than simply clamp down on the symptom. This is just one of those difficult realms of human social development, and it will continue to be difficult and slow gaining until we expose these issues to the light of day without harse, immature judgment and prejudice.
Interesting to hear you distill the players to just those three mentioned above. I would agree with you on the level of "Tier 1" solutions, but those are companies that are so large that I felt compelled to chime in here.
I'm a manager of a mid-sized company that has been courting Oracle, Microsoft, and one other vendor. We had initially contacted SAP as well, but they totally dropped the ball and never maintained contact.
Oracle's definitely pushing for our business, though the other two are working hard as well. Oracle's solution is Java based. This is a nominal consideration for us since we're presently a Mac house for the most part. We proofed Oracle's software just the other day on an eMac and it was acceptable, though we have yet to thoroughly test functionality in lieu of Oracle's certification on the Mac platform.
Microsoft is pitching Navision, the middle solution of their three ERP products, the low end filled by Great Plains, and the high end by Axtapa (sp?). They have a "six year plan" to unify the three while offering migration assurance.
The last product is published by a firm called Porini. It's an intriguing solution as it's basically a vertical solution as opposed to the other three vendors.
I just wanted to throw out my current experience with these vendors. I think the parent message's poster is correct in stating only those three apps for the largest organizations, but there are definitely more players in the "Tier 2" market and below. Truly, Oracle is somewhat aggressively pursuing a smaller market now. SAP said they were, but they dropped the ball. Microsoft is already in the marketplace, but I think they are maturing in the organization of their Small/Medium Business division.
If this is interesting to others, feel free to contact me offline.
I'm sooo glad that there was as much controversy from this movie as there was. It made me, an admitted liberal, question the movie and the information presented.
By doing so, I found an amazing amount of information, both for and against, which amounted to a "stimulating" debate. I wish more people would go deeper and deeper into the issues and information available.
Just on the surface, the criticisms raised against the movie have been addressed on Moore's own site. I have yet to see those responses refuted further, though I'm looking.
So, what you're saying is that the media hasn't given enough support to this war effort? I find it very confusing to hear that the nation's media has been too liberal when the bottom line is that we are, and have been, supporting the president by virtue of the fact that we're still in Iraq.
I see the media presenting faux pas by both Kerry and Bush, though there seem to be more opportunities to needle Bush. Why's that? Is the media really leaving out Kerry's flubbs? Or is Bush really less articulate, less informed, and less balanced?
The only this that I can give Bush credit for is his leadership quality. I don't agree with his choices at all, but if he did make decisions that I agreed with, I'd be very confident that he would be able to make things happen.
Nice point. This makes me think of people mailing postal letters addressed to Santa Clause. Sometimes there just is the right/convenient person to say certain things to. Sad, but true, at least for me.
I find it takes effort to build trusting and trustworthy relationships when you (or, more personally, I) didn't learn the functional behaviors necessary to maintain, let alone nourish, intimate relations.
Re:What's he going to swing on?
on
Spider-Man in India
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Supposedly the remake is based more on myth and magic as opposed to science and technology. Maybe this one will burrow and make traps like a wolf spider instead. Who knows? I'm interested to see the variation.
Isn't offshoring just a way to make the rich richer without regard for the American working class?
Please include a dialog on the pros/cons of benefitting America's shareholders versus costing America's workforce. In other words, while outsourcing may increase value of companies, is the benefit limited to stockholders or is there some obscure way in which the people who lost their jobs actually benefit?
Slashdot Mirror
But, but, but...talking about the other stuff you mentioned would show some sophistication and it might even (gasp!) raise the issues! We fear change!
Excuse me while I join my neighbors in hiding my head in the sand.
Nice catch. Note that the error was caused by Reuters, then in turn Yahoo. It was _not_ caused by the poster of the article here on /..
Nice diversion of the parent post's point.
Your rationalization states some very obvious points, though I'd like to see your basis for statistics ("hundreds of millions have...no relationship problems"). Please define "relationship problems" for the rest of us.
Also, there's nothing "obvious" regarding the poster's utilization of on-line porn as a "symptom...of [his] problems." You have no familiarity with the poster, so please keep your supposition to yourself. You negate much of the positive that the post offered.
The poster presumably posted as an AC because of typical reactions such as yours. Too bad you couldn't allow their statement of personal responsibility to represent the courage the person faced in dealing with their own problems and/or symptoms.
I know, as a parent and as an adult who has viewed pornography in it's many forms, that an adolescent who views pornography before they are able to functionally integrate sexuality into their psyche (and spirit, if you will) can very well be traumatized whereupon their perspective of sexuality is skewed for the rest of their developmental years.
Consider the impact of being a celebrity on the psyche of Michael Jackson, and please consider it carefully before you reply. Regardless of issues with his sexuality, consider his difficulties with social behavior in general. Can you imagine that those issues were perhaps caused by an exorbitant and premature exposure to celebrity-dom? Moreso than his adolescent being could process in a healthy manner? Do you really think that you and the teeming millions would be immune to that level of stimulation?
Again, I use the example as an analogy. Adjust the elements as you like, but please consider the mechanism. Replace "celebrity" and/or "sexuality" with "alcohol" (or any narcotic), "theft", "deception", "gambling", etc...
The greatest hope for children is a healthy parental figure who is able to coach, guide, and protect children from being over-exposed to things in life before they are ready. And, if and when they are exposed, hopefully those same of similar guiding forces will assist in the development of that young person's psyche, character, and sexuality.
You, cahiha, seem to have been able to handle your exposure to porn. That's great for you. Please be open to the idea that there of others in this world who are different, who have different tolerances, different support, and different reactions.
That being said, in regards to the topic at hand, I sure would love to see more government sponsored education as opposed to censorship.
Define "racism" vs "speciation".
While I see the analogy that you are bringing up, the racism that people are sensitive to is loaded with the pain and suffering associated with racial superiority. That racial superiority is borne from simple fear.
It seems that the point of this subject matter is more clearly defined as "speciation", distinction because of a need for natural variation. There is no association with superiority. There is no emotional element to this.
Uh, okay. That's one perspective. I, on the other hand, appreciate elegance and aesthetic as well as function. Mac OS X often delivers all of the above.
I can tell you that if you took a tool (or process) that was simply "more efficient", it's possible/likely that you'd long for more than just "bread and water" in your tool set. I am currently working with a piece of software that, uh, works, but it's a far cry from excellence. It makes me feel a sense of resignation as opposed to inspiration or excitement. How sad that people have to deal with the mundane in today's world of software.
This is not my opinion on Windows, though. I don't have the time to flush that out at this time so take the above statement as simply an alternative perspective on what can be used as a basis of comparison.
I'm starting to get fed up with being in favor of good international relations being associated with being unamerican.
Starting to? When _will_ you (and everyone else taking issue with the current "xenophobia") be fed up? I'm way done myself.
Whatever happened to the "global village" thing? I thank {insert your personal ultimate source of being here} that some people (like France) are willing to say "being the bully doesn't always work", even in response to violent transgressions.
Also, the incredibly dynamic, narrow-minded U.S. foreign policy that was drastically revised since 9/11 (or when Bush entered office -- your pick) is like a bad case of disinformation, obfuscating the true motivation of our actions. This totally complicates everything, so it's easy to dismiss any criticism as inapplicable to some particular issue -- eg. no longer supporting the Iraq invasion is wrong because we're still(?) there for "truth, justice, and the American way".
I'm still longing for cool heads to deal with this like honest, spiritually-minded , loving adults instead of grade-school children. This has become an extreme test of faith.
p.s. I'm not for/against religious-mindedness mind, er, you. It's just that "(team) spirit" is fundamentally inclusive and easier for people to relate to altogether as opposed to "religious dogma" which (often) intrinsically separates people at an emotional level.
p.p.s. BVis, nothing personal.
I'm starting to get fed up with being in favor of good international relations being associated with being unamerican.
Starting to? When _will_ you (and everyone else taking issue with the current "xenophobia") be fed up? I'm way done myself.
Whatever happened to the "global village" thing? I thank {insert your personal ultimate source of being here} that some people (like France) are willing to say "being the bully doesn't always work", even in response to violent transgressions. Plus, the US international standing is being affected by the incredibly dynamic, narrow-minded foreign policy that was drastically revised since 9/11 (or when Bush entered office -- your pick).
I'm still looking for cool heads to deal with this like honest, spiritually-minded, loving adults instead of grade-school children. It could happen...
p.s. I'm not for/against religious-mindedness mind, er, you. It's just that "(team) spirit" is fundamentally inclusive and easier for people to relate to altogether as opposed to "religious dogma" which (often) intrinsically separates people at an emotional level.
Seems like a reasonable approach for pursuing that elusive combination of computer-based appliance in a living room. Microsoft goes from a PC-centric approach, Sony goes in the opposite direction.
Other items possibly in the game plan:
- Linux reduces cost and doesn't inadvertently support their competitor.
- Regardless of a Hard Drive or not, they could probably deliver enough functionality on a CD or DVD to make a turnkey media center
- Who knows what the linux programming community can come up with when they think of development from a console-centric perspective
- All the PS3 needs to be functional is a base OS with network connectivity.
This is coming from a recent console buyer, so I'm just throwing out ideas.
When's the last time you knew a Mac user to buy a Mac because "it has a G5" (unless they were comparing it to a G4 or PPC)? That's not a selling point for most people because it's moot. People compare price vs. performance, and that's typically secondary anyway.
Most people buy a Mac because of the user experience and the operating system. If Apple provides the same experience with a different chip, what does it matter?
Did people cry "confusion" when Apple moved from SCSI -> IDE? How about from SIMM to DIMM? Oh, and remember reeling from CD to DVD? That was a biggie.
Get a grip and stop the religious wars (in all senses). Buy, sell, and market a computer because it works for you.
"Fear is the mind killer..." -- Frank Herbert
Cut one leg of a tripod and it leans over. Cut a second and the tripod is seriously compromised. (Yes, I know, cut the third and just make it shorter to compensate, but then the whole thing is diminished).
In the context of "mind/body/spirit", our society is deep in the throes of fear, just like much of civilization has been in history. Much of our social norms are based on fear. While fear is necessary, too much is "toxic" and abusive. Yet we think it's acceptable and normal (eg. Simon from American Idol).
I know that this next bit sounds like General Ripper's "precious bodily fluids" from Dr. Strangelove, but hear me out.
Our bodies get compromised from the unhealthy diets in our society (McDonalds, sulfites, yeast, sugar, etc...). That's the second leg of the stool. Our spirit is left with the burden of holding up the load. It's no wonder to me that so many people have a hard time finding balance in life.
This isn't to place blame on anyone at all, even though I subscribe to conspiracy theories at times. I am trying to say that we, as people in (American) society, have a very subtle burden of maintaining balance, let alone grow, in any of these ways (mind/body/spirit).
Am I surprised at the spiritual emptiness of our society/world? I know it takes a lot of time and energy to maintain myself and I don't do a good job of it. It takes time and effort to avoid fast or processed food, schedule in exercise every day, be productive the way we need to be (work/school), and it takes time and energy to be spiritual in whatever form a person practices.
I keep this in mind when I at work or on the highway, for example, and someone acts unreasonably. I imagine that they are having as hard a time, if not moreso, than I am at living life. That helps me maintain a positive attitude as a basis for affecting my world.
Anyway, I know I'm taking this off on a serious tangent, but this parent post just scrapes the proverbial "tip of the iceberg" of what I think are our deepest social ailments. Don't shoot the messenger.
Answer #1: Government Corruption
Answer #2: Yes
I haven't read the article, so this may be redundant, but so far, the comments haven't focused on this aspect of projects going awry.
Caveat: the point I'm making shouldn't be taken out of context. There are a number of issues that are causing delay, but the one below hasn't gotten it's "fair share" of exposure.
In the current implementation that I'm involved in, there are a number of issues that we've had issues with simply due to the vendor over selling the product. Whether we are caught not getting what we were told was available, or we are having to spend resources to get what wasn't actually in place (vaporware), both situations result in delay and were the direct effect of Sales selling something that Engineering didn't have.
Marketing often gets blamed and, in this case, IT is being scrutinized, but I believe it's often the reality that the Sales people, and/or the Sales Cycle, is faulty. I want to distinguish between Marketing and Sales here. Sales did a "bang up" (yes, I'm being sarcastic) job selling to our Executives and the Executives should bear responsibility for mandating a poor choice. The reality of the situation, though, is that the implementation team (both Vendor and Client), of which IT is only a part of, is burdened with "making it happen within budget and deadline".
Hopefully food for thought...
Can you say "Desparate Housewives"?
Well, just try Office 2004 then. I agree with you that v.X runs very snappy, but 2004 is much slower. It seems an awful performance price to pay for relatively minor refinements.
Performance is slower in various aspects: launching, rendering, opening windows, etc... These are fundamental processes that just shouldn't be as slow as they are. Only when I run Office 2004 on my dual G5 do I get satisfactory performance.
I've been listening to Alan Watts lately, and he's inspired much thinking within lately. I wish I had heard him a few weeks ago, though, so that I could pose some questions to the candidates in our moderated Q&A recently.
I'm too busy to articulate any questions at the moment, but with the emphasis on issues and ideology, I feel terribly discouraged at the often thoughtless or carefree approaches to life by politicians. It seems like humanity is reduced to very impersonal demographics at times and I would like to have heard responses from the candidates from the perspective beyond the context of political issues.
Slightly off topic, but I feel compelled to urge Anand on this point.
I've been using a 12" PowerBook and it's the finest piece of hardware I've ever used. Obviously I haven't tried everything, but between many desktops and laptops, this is the easiest, most usable machine for light-to-medium office work and database development.
Portable, snappy, painless wireless and bluetooth (out-of-the-box), and OSX. It's just beautiful.
It's important to know that addictions take many forms yet thy all stem from the same sources. Those sources are one or more of the following: physiologic, genetic, mental, spiritual, abuse (in it's many forms), and trauma. All of these can be treated, some more than others, through combinations of medication, therapy, and individual or group support.
I think the one thing that prevents these maladies from improving is prejudice and ignorance (lack of education) from society as a whole. The same FUD that affected the response towards AIDS is present here as well, but it's being treated as much less of an epidemic.
One of the highly moderated posts refers to parents being the blame. I have mixed feelings about that. It's not just the immediate parents, but also those before and around them that all contribute to this issue. Parents who have little or no education regarding child rearing can't be expected to raise "normal" functional adults.
Examining our culture, it's easy to see the massive influences _away_ from nurturing and maturing people into truly evolved beings. Instead, we promote so many choices all the time that it's probably overwhelming for many people to assimilate all those influences gracefully.
Many of those choices involve drugs, sex, gaming, achievement, food, etc... All of these can be part of a healthy lifestyle, and in fact many of them are absolutely necessary. Many addicts are introduced to some of these too early in their development and are consumed by the experiences while unable to keep perspective (sex being a great example). Obviously, food is a necessity, but addicts use their drug of choice to excess.
As I said before, judgementalness and FUD are terribly non-productive towards the rehabilitation of addictive behaviours. These negative attitudes often evoke shame and guilt, both of which can turn the addict away from possible solutions.
Imagine a person with an eating disorder. Regardless of the reason for it, if their appearance is ridiculed rather than accepted, the message equates to scorn and rejection rather than safe trustworthiness. Food may be one of the person's few options for comfort and security. If part of the solution to a person's hurts involved discussion or seeking help of some form, how can they be expected to seek help from a culture that has already judged them based on their appearance?
There's much more to be said about this, but I'm at work right now. Please be considerate of those who deal with life in ways that are unfamiliar to yourself. The world has enough trouble on the large scales without needing to burden or shun people's feelings and life situations.
Thank you for reminding us to deal with the problem instead of the symptom.
My understanding of people with obsession and compulsion towards _any_ type of porn is that the impetus stems from an inappropriate exposure to the subject matter during some formative period in a person's life. That "inappropriate exposure" can take many forms -- from the extreme (rape), "commonplace" (sexual experiences at too young an age), or subtle/obscure (a sensitive person being rebuked for normal sexuality by an authority figure with dysfunctional boundaries).
Obviously, these can be dealt with through education, just like the sources of drug abuse, but it's a tough nut to crack, especially in a covertly repressed society like the U.S.
I fully agree with the parent poster and think our society would make progress if these source topics were discussed more openly rather than simply clamp down on the symptom. This is just one of those difficult realms of human social development, and it will continue to be difficult and slow gaining until we expose these issues to the light of day without harse, immature judgment and prejudice.
Interesting to hear you distill the players to just those three mentioned above. I would agree with you on the level of "Tier 1" solutions, but those are companies that are so large that I felt compelled to chime in here.
I'm a manager of a mid-sized company that has been courting Oracle, Microsoft, and one other vendor. We had initially contacted SAP as well, but they totally dropped the ball and never maintained contact.
Oracle's definitely pushing for our business, though the other two are working hard as well. Oracle's solution is Java based. This is a nominal consideration for us since we're presently a Mac house for the most part. We proofed Oracle's software just the other day on an eMac and it was acceptable, though we have yet to thoroughly test functionality in lieu of Oracle's certification on the Mac platform.
Microsoft is pitching Navision, the middle solution of their three ERP products, the low end filled by Great Plains, and the high end by Axtapa (sp?). They have a "six year plan" to unify the three while offering migration assurance.
The last product is published by a firm called Porini. It's an intriguing solution as it's basically a vertical solution as opposed to the other three vendors.
I just wanted to throw out my current experience with these vendors. I think the parent message's poster is correct in stating only those three apps for the largest organizations, but there are definitely more players in the "Tier 2" market and below. Truly, Oracle is somewhat aggressively pursuing a smaller market now. SAP said they were, but they dropped the ball. Microsoft is already in the marketplace, but I think they are maturing in the organization of their Small/Medium Business division.
If this is interesting to others, feel free to contact me offline.
I'm sooo glad that there was as much controversy from this movie as there was. It made me, an admitted liberal, question the movie and the information presented.
By doing so, I found an amazing amount of information, both for and against, which amounted to a "stimulating" debate. I wish more people would go deeper and deeper into the issues and information available.
Just on the surface, the criticisms raised against the movie have been addressed on Moore's own site. I have yet to see those responses refuted further, though I'm looking.
So, what you're saying is that the media hasn't given enough support to this war effort? I find it very confusing to hear that the nation's media has been too liberal when the bottom line is that we are, and have been, supporting the president by virtue of the fact that we're still in Iraq.
I see the media presenting faux pas by both Kerry and Bush, though there seem to be more opportunities to needle Bush. Why's that? Is the media really leaving out Kerry's flubbs? Or is Bush really less articulate, less informed, and less balanced?
The only this that I can give Bush credit for is his leadership quality. I don't agree with his choices at all, but if he did make decisions that I agreed with, I'd be very confident that he would be able to make things happen.
Too bad he's a sexist, homophobic warmonger.
Nice point. This makes me think of people mailing postal letters addressed to Santa Clause. Sometimes there just is the right/convenient person to say certain things to. Sad, but true, at least for me.
I find it takes effort to build trusting and trustworthy relationships when you (or, more personally, I) didn't learn the functional behaviors necessary to maintain, let alone nourish, intimate relations.
Supposedly the remake is based more on myth and magic as opposed to science and technology. Maybe this one will burrow and make traps like a wolf spider instead. Who knows? I'm interested to see the variation.
Consider "open box" purchases and/or get to online stores promptly for current inventory. You may find some of what you're looking for.
Please include a dialog on the pros/cons of benefitting America's shareholders versus costing America's workforce. In other words, while outsourcing may increase value of companies, is the benefit limited to stockholders or is there some obscure way in which the people who lost their jobs actually benefit?