It is the Open Sores syndrome, it is way cool to start a new software project but when you have to maintain it because it is a bug beast it is always better to just start another project!
Ah that and documentation writing. That is the difference between Open and Closed sores
I agree, the speculation about the end of time for the "physical pirates" is pure bullshit. I am from Mexico, and, the prime example is the Tepito Market where people sell copies of movies and DVDs before they are available even at the cinema. They even sold the Xbox360 *before* it was out in Mexico (and the release time was the same in Mexico and the USA, usually what they do is assault trailers with merchandise).
If anyone wants to practice their spanish, here is a really good description of what the Tepito market is famous for in Mexico. Gosh, one of the main reasons why no one makes anything against it is that usually the heads of those markets (and the people moving the money) are the same of the people from the government!
So yeah, there is still *plenty* of demand for pirate DVDs and CDs (and even VHS!!) in the street.
Really, someone should make a documentary or movie about all these lawsuits. I think there is *enough* material for a good documentary and I am sure people in USA would pay more attention if the information was spoon fed by TV.
Were are the "The Corporation" guys or Michael Moore when he is needed?...
I agree on the fascinating subjects of research from games, however No game development house will allow any kind of research. They already have to spend 8 day weeks in order to produce games, they do not have time for research.
As for the Computer Games as a tool for research, I know about AI (it is my field of research for my PhD). Take a look at ORTS, the Excalibur project and SOAR. All of them are research projects from Universities using computer games (virtual environments, etc) to research some Artificial Intelligence subject.
I recently got pissed off by the Wii NES games... I have been reluctant to buy Wii points as I think the games are terribly overpriced. Finally I bought 1000 (the least you can buy) and I got the Super Maril Bros (NES) game.
The game has a lot of glitches, darn, it just does not compare to what you can achieve with nesticle + romhustler . The control is a bit awkward and worst of all the 99 lives trick at world 3-1 can not be done (yeah I know how to do it, I do it every time I play SMB in the NES).
Everything would be nice and all but really I decided not to spend any more money on the VC piece of shit. You can see lots of on screen glitches and bugs while playing. And I payed £4 for that? thanks but no thanks. I prefer to play the games at my computer and just connect the SVIDEo cable to the TV.
I also agree and further want to comment how it makes me laugh really really loud when Microsoft PR troll's say that illegaly downloaded Windows programs are dangerous and that if you do not have geniune software it is unsecure and my ass.
Software is software, wherever you get it you are getting the same POS if it has the same MD5 as their "original". And then, does it mean that if I make a Windows isntallation from an ORIGINAL disk but do not activate it or enter a "legal" serial number it means the software is dangerous? WTF then stop doing shitty dangerous software you assholes.
Anyway, I have been using WindowsUE for some time after HP *refused* to sell me a "restoration" CD for my legally bought notebook in which I could use my legally obtained Windows Professional product key (which is on a sticker under my laptop) and after also being unable to use *that* legally obtained code with any other Windows Professional Installation... the only "solution" the HP representative told me was that (and I QOUTE) "The only way is to purchase a retail version.". Well Fuck You... I wont pay for Windows XP two times and I want to use the license for which I AM entitled
Because I can not run the applications I need to work? like SPSS.
And no, i wont use R. I tried believe me but I would need to spend another two months of my PhD in order to learn another programming language just to make some ANOVAS, MANCOVAS, T tests and F-tests.
And no, it does not work under wine.
And no, I wont buy the *overkill* packages like Matlab or mathematica even if they are avaiable vor linux. And no the open source "versions" of SPSS (namely PSPP) are crap at best, as with most of Open source projects, they *start* fine but they are halted after the planning and a bit of developing have been done and the developer gets bored.
And yeah, I know I can run it in Windows XP. I will do that, this post is just a descriptive example of why people would get Vista instead of Linux, when the applications they use become available for Vista and then they become available ONLY for vista.
I recommend Deitel's C# book. It is a very comprehensive book and has everything you can need.
I will also recommend the In a Nutshell book. I am a big fan of those books as they cut all the crap and take you directly to the meat (I loved specially the SQL IAN book).
And for all the people saying "dont buy a book", STFU. If you do can not answer the question of the poster just do not post anything. His question is not "Should I buy a book?" but "Which book to buy". If there is something I have learned is that reading a book is *never* a bad idea. Or what, if someone asks you in the street how to get to X you answer "No, dont go to X, go to Y, X sucks" ?.
I agree with you, in Mexico is just a matter of luck... there are very nice people and policeman but you can also find really fucking bastards. Although from the first poster who said that his friend was stupid and took a swiss army knife, I can say that sometimes Americans get all bitchy and whiney trying to do X or Y thing they want and how they want and of course the police just get pissed off.
One of the things people should understand about Mexico is that unlike USA, cops (or other workers) are not afraid of being sued or whatever for punishing someone. If you do something stupid, be prepared to get the consequences (which are not, as in USA to be sued or whatever).
-- skip if you want -- As an example, I recently looked at one of the many advertisements in the UK bus stops telling "If you spit, we will prosecute" stating also that "our drivers have DNA kits". According to people here, it is the teenagers who sometimes spit the drivers, sometimes just to be "cool" with their friends and whatnot. I thought, why in Mexico no teen or nobody in fact would attempt to spit (not even imagine) to a bus driver? the answer is pretty simple, if he spits to a driver, the driver will beat up his ass so hard, he wont remember his name. And it would be the only time he would attempt it.
Of course, you can not do that in USA or in UK because then, the parents will sue the driver (as the boy is 15 and the driver is an adult). Another difference is that, after the beat had happened, lets say the police arrive. In the case of the UK or USA, the driver would be afraid because he could go to the police station and end in jail... in the case of Mexico, after the police arrived and the bus driver (and the guy who helps in the bus, usually one) and other people explained what happened, the police would only say to the buy: "well, you deserve it, you where so *stupid* to spit to the driver". --- end--
In conclusion, be chivalrous when you visit other countries, in some of them (UK for example, for me) they would be more serious and dry, whereas in some other countries they might me more easy going and more "the law of the wilderness" style.
And last but not least, remember that overall in the world, people DO NOT like Americans. You have a bad image. I KNOW you are not an ass as others but just *consider* it and try to behave nicely.
But you should take a look at *what* is it that these prebuilt machines had installed. See, a "standard" Linux distribution has a lot of shit installed (in the good sense of the word). Just looking at my FedoraCore 6 Accessories menu I can see "mouth", ksayit, kandy, karm and looking at sound and video I have liek 3 different "digital audio players".
Of course the choice is fine. The difference is that, usually the programs that are "bundled" in the Windows installs are programs started at Windows start time. And some of that shit take plenty of resources (Symantec crap anyone?, anti adware, anti shitware, anti malware). While whichever program is loaded in Linux would only consume resources if/while run.
Now, maybe your experience with prebuilt systems is bitter but, from my experience with an HP Pavillion ZV5000, I've got no problems, it was quite lean. Of course I removed MS Works and installed OOorg. And also, anther issue is that "normal" people will start buying Linux computers as they are available as a solution. I know it because *my* father is *eager* of using something else than Microsot products. He hates Office (he uses excel, but unfortunately OO Calc is no replacement for him... and no, it is not because of the use-as-database-issue, it is because of other functionality). But he really needs a solution. I can not tell him to install X or Y distribution because I KNOW something (wireles, graphics, sound... you name it) wont work on his computer.
Hence, a complete Linux Desktop or Laptop solution 100% compatible (including peripherals) is going to be very welcomed. For users and for corporations too.
The problem with offering Linux ready machines is that buyers will cry loud if the cost of the system is the same as the one *with* windows included because they will reason on the lines of "WTF Linux is free blah blah".
I would be very happy to buy a complete desktop PC to Dell, HP or anyone else with whichever Linux distro they choose given that I can personalize the machine (in one or other way what you can do now) before buying it including things like webcam, scanner, printer and other devices that are KNOWN to work with Linux. It is similar to my rant in the MythTV vs Tivo article, I would gladly pay them to offer that. Gosh, they could *even* Include CrossOver office or Cedega as an option (similarly on how they include MsWorks, antivirus and other crap now). I would buy it.
What I want is a complete solution, for me and for my dad, mom, brother, etc. A solution which is *guaranteed* to work.
For that, as I stated in another post, Dell would have to create their own Distro, based on Fedora, Ubuntu or any other distro. Why? because that way they will have more "control" over the content. It does not have to be a very different fork, just Ubuntu with some personalized Dell shit and personalized drivers for the offered machines that JUST WORKS. Now THAT would make Apple shiver:)
And you forgot to mention that your own country is called Estados Unidos Mexicanos, or the United States of Mexico. So I will refer to you as USMexican!
I ommited it as I thought it was not relevant but if you look at it, as I said in my post *every* country whose states are "United" in America continent are United States of America. Of course your translation was also wrong as the correct translation is United Mexican States or Mexican United States (as "Mexicanos" is working as an qualifying adjective for the United States or just States part).
And for the french reference, look in the thread for antoher answer where I point to a Wikipedia section about the "us nationals naming" on other countries. I am not inventing what I am saying here people, the fact that you just dont want to believe is just sad
Again, if you are not cult enough to know what you are talking about please: 1. Shut up 2. Get out of your freaking sofa, turn off your TV and get out of your country and see that the world does not starts and ends in your America.
I can't call BS on your other two examples, but I can for Italian. The USA is called "gli stati uniti", but in the four years that I lived there, I never heard an Italian call us anything but "Americani".
See, but your personal experience counts for just one... maybe your friends there knew you might get angry if they told you that. For a reference see: U.S. national in other languages.
Well, I just read the TF installation Manual and it seems quite complicated. Mostly due to the hundreds of different hardware that is not compatible or will not work one way or another in Linux.
From what I have read so far (from chapter 1 to 4, without counting: Download&Compile, Config Sound, MySQl,Setup Remote Control, Configuring MythTV, Configuring Frontend, installing Plugins, Troubleshooting) it seems you will need to spend a good 5 hours of your time just to make sure the components you buy are all compatible. At $200 the hour this is $1000 of my time (without including the cost of the hardware and config). Against $200 for a year of Tivo...
There is a point nobody has touched and I think is very important as well: it is also looking at mandating cooling-off periods during which customers could 'return' downloaded music."
I would love to see that come true. The digital distribution of music is in its current state unfair, apart from the fair use thing everybody in slashdot argues, after you download a copy of whatever music you download, you in fact have *nothing* more. So, at the end you are paying for nothing. Well, you are just paying for a series of electricity pulses being sent to you in specific order so you computer might write a copy of them in your hard disk but nevertheless, after you pay those $1.51945 USD (79 pence) for each song you have lost them.
If you like the song, good for you, if you did not like it, bad for you. If the file was somehow broken, bad for you, and, if you get tired of listening that Spears is innocent then the better thing you can do is delete the file...
Whereas with a non digital distribution (CD, cassete, vinyl, etc) you can *resell* the CD to anyone once you get it because you are in fact buying *something* for the same price (and sometimes for less if you buy it say at play.com ).
Of course the same thing happens with software... why have we tolerated this?
We aren't typically labeled United Statesians, or some other such nonsense.
Talk for yourself my friend, but in Spanish you are called Estadounidenses (and this is from Mexico to the south), in French it is étatsunie, in Italian it is statunitense.
And yeah, I am a Mexican and I also consider myself an American. Not that it really matters, but it really bothers me that just because your conutry does not have a proper name. In the end, Canada, Mexico, USA and other countries in the world are also United States [they are united no?] and they are of America.
In your country they teach you that America is no a continent but a union of two continets, but in every other place they teach that America is a continent, i.e. see America.
América es un continente que se extiende en gran parte del Hemisferio Occidental de la Tierra. America is a continent that extends in great part of the occidental hemisphere of the earth.
I do not know in which world do you live but in the rest of my world, in Mexico and UK none of the broadband plans (Cable or DSL) has a quota limit. Although of course in Mexico the speeds are about 512/256 and 1024/256 here in UK I have a plan of 2Mbit/256 for £10 (for one year... after that £18) and you can download whatever you will.
Ignoring the idiots that are going to naturally tell me that even though I've lost a sale to someone that now has no need except for 'good will' to actually purchase my product, that piracy and theft are not the same. I'll never be able to explain to them how it is, and they will never have a rational explanation for why it isn't (yet some teen will try to explain).
Allow me to be the one that feeds the trolls. Copyright violation... is the unauthorized use of material protected by intellectual property rights law, specifically copyright law, in a manner that violates one of the original copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it.
Theft... is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's freely-given consent. As a term, it is used as shorthand for all major crimes against property, encompassing offences such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, trespassing, shoplifting, intrusion, fraud (theft by deception) and sometimes criminal conversion. In some jurisdictions, theft is considered to be synonymous with larceny; in others, theft has replaced larceny.
o yes, big difference between a mass pirater and one that makes one or two copies. Its the difference between grand larceny and shoplifting No, they become two related things when the mass pirater starts profiting from the illegal distribution of the copyrighted work. While the former is a legal case of fair use.
Your 13 year old swearing disproves your point... no need to read the rest of the comment
My father bought an HP laptop. It had windows preinstalled.
After some time of installing crap (like the webshots [no...it is not porno] client and whatever else) something got wrong and he ended reinstalling it. He reinstalled with some disk from his office (read pir8). Some time ago, he started having problems again, he got some kind of MSN worm which installs a trojan that can get some sensitive information (passwords, etc). I told him that he needed to remove the trojan, and I sent him the address (URL) of an antivirus page telling how to remove it.
The next time I chat with him (he is in Mexico, I am in the UK so I can help him directly). He tells me he has a problem with the monitor because the resolution is not fine (i guess it is 800x600). After some time trying to guess he tells me that he *reinstalled* windows again. He does not care about his documents, he has everything backed up so he can reinstall and reinstall at will as GP said, it is *the* solution for them. I directed him to the HP laptop drivers page (that is something quite neat about HP).
Now, my father is *not* computer illiterate. He was using computer back before many slashdoters. He used QPRO in DOS (he made a Byorithm spreadsheet in QPRO) and he used to program in BASIC. He is a biologist, a Doctor in Biology for all that matters. The issue is that he just stopped caring about computers and instead focused on his work. Windows lets him do that, no really, to some degree it does. He hates Excel (he loved QPRO) and Microsoft but there are really not alternatives to that.
He tried moving from Windows to Linux with Mandrake Linux 2005. It was *THE* linux distribution for newbies back then, of course everything went smooth with the installation (I installed it). But the devil was in the details (as always with Linux) and after some time using OpenOffice and Mandrake he gave up and installed Windows again.
And as I said before, my dad is one that reads every manual, he read the Mandrake Manual (which was awful and stupid by the way), he really tried but it was more of a nightmare for me because it meant I was the *only* person he could ask when he didnt know something.
So, in my experience the problem is not linux overall, the problem is in the details, all those hundred of things that come up after you are setup.
I dont care if Dell or any other bundler preloads Linux. Windows works, it works for my laptop, it works for my dad's computer (and now laptop).
Linux works for ME in my workstation, it works on my server and that's what matters. If people are really confident about Linux being ready for the desktop, and they believe it is THAT MUCH BETTER than Windows then they should leave the market forces to speak for themselves. The truth is that it is not, not that it is not good but it is not so much good that people is willing to use it instead of whatever they are using.
Slashdot Mirror
It is the Open Sores syndrome, it is way cool to start a new software project but when you have to maintain it because it is a bug beast it is always better to just start another project!
Ah that and documentation writing. That is the difference between Open and Closed sores
Where is the MAFIAA tag? they are the ones at the back of this too.
And the taxis do exist and are called "ecotaxi".
Thanks for playing.
I agree, the speculation about the end of time for the "physical pirates" is pure bullshit. I am from Mexico, and, the prime example is the Tepito Market where people sell copies of movies and DVDs before they are available even at the cinema. They even sold the Xbox360 *before* it was out in Mexico (and the release time was the same in Mexico and the USA, usually what they do is assault trailers with merchandise).
If anyone wants to practice their spanish, here is a really good description of what the Tepito market is famous for in Mexico. Gosh, one of the main reasons why no one makes anything against it is that usually the heads of those markets (and the people moving the money) are the same of the people from the government!
So yeah, there is still *plenty* of demand for pirate DVDs and CDs (and even VHS!!) in the street.
Really, someone should make a documentary or movie about all these lawsuits. I think there is *enough* material for a good documentary and I am sure people in USA would pay more attention if the information was spoon fed by TV.
...
Were are the "The Corporation" guys or Michael Moore when he is needed?
I agree on the fascinating subjects of research from games, however No game development house will allow any kind of research. They already have to spend 8 day weeks in order to produce games, they do not have time for research.
As for the Computer Games as a tool for research, I know about AI (it is my field of research for my PhD). Take a look at ORTS, the Excalibur project and SOAR. All of them are research projects from Universities using computer games (virtual environments, etc) to research some Artificial Intelligence subject.
I recently got pissed off by the Wii NES games... I have been reluctant to buy Wii points as I think the games are terribly overpriced. Finally I bought 1000 (the least you can buy) and I got the Super Maril Bros (NES) game.
The game has a lot of glitches, darn, it just does not compare to what you can achieve with nesticle + romhustler . The control is a bit awkward and worst of all the 99 lives trick at world 3-1 can not be done (yeah I know how to do it, I do it every time I play SMB in the NES).
Everything would be nice and all but really I decided not to spend any more money on the VC piece of shit. You can see lots of on screen glitches and bugs while playing. And I payed £4 for that? thanks but no thanks. I prefer to play the games at my computer and just connect the SVIDEo cable to the TV.
...because Google rejected his application to work there as he could not solve the riddles...
I also agree and further want to comment how it makes me laugh really really loud when Microsoft PR troll's say that illegaly downloaded Windows programs are dangerous and that if you do not have geniune software it is unsecure and my ass.
Software is software, wherever you get it you are getting the same POS if it has the same MD5 as their "original". And then, does it mean that if I make a Windows isntallation from an ORIGINAL disk but do not activate it or enter a "legal" serial number it means the software is dangerous? WTF then stop doing shitty dangerous software you assholes.
Anyway, I have been using WindowsUE for some time after HP *refused* to sell me a "restoration" CD for my legally bought notebook in which I could use my legally obtained Windows Professional product key (which is on a sticker under my laptop) and after also being unable to use *that* legally obtained code with any other Windows Professional Installation... the only "solution" the HP representative told me was that (and I QOUTE) "The only way is to purchase a retail version.". Well Fuck You... I wont pay for Windows XP two times and I want to use the license for which I AM entitled
Because I can not run the applications I need to work? like SPSS.
And no, i wont use R. I tried believe me but I would need to spend another two months of my PhD in order to learn another programming language just to make some ANOVAS, MANCOVAS, T tests and F-tests.
And no, it does not work under wine.
And no, I wont buy the *overkill* packages like Matlab or mathematica even if they are avaiable vor linux.
And no the open source "versions" of SPSS (namely PSPP) are crap at best, as with most of Open source projects, they *start* fine but they are halted after the planning and a bit of developing have been done and the developer gets bored.
And yeah, I know I can run it in Windows XP. I will do that, this post is just a descriptive example of why people would get Vista instead of Linux, when the applications they use become available for Vista and then they become available ONLY for vista.
MMD-IDGAF
I have a BS in Software Engineering and am currently in my third year of my PhD. I would like to work in a game development company!
What? you do not sponsor international students?
bummer... I guess you are similar to all the other game devel companies I have applied. Next luck next time.
I recommend Deitel's C# book. It is a very comprehensive book and has everything you can need.
I will also recommend the In a Nutshell book. I am a big fan of those books as they cut all the crap and take you directly to the meat (I loved specially the SQL IAN book).
And for all the people saying "dont buy a book", STFU. If you do can not answer the question of the poster just do not post anything. His question is not "Should I buy a book?" but "Which book to buy". If there is something I have learned is that reading a book is *never* a bad idea. Or what, if someone asks you in the street how to get to X you answer "No, dont go to X, go to Y, X sucks" ?.
sheesh!
I agree with you, in Mexico is just a matter of luck... there are very nice people and policeman but you can also find really fucking bastards. Although from the first poster who said that his friend was stupid and took a swiss army knife, I can say that sometimes Americans get all bitchy and whiney trying to do X or Y thing they want and how they want and of course the police just get pissed off.
One of the things people should understand about Mexico is that unlike USA, cops (or other workers) are not afraid of being sued or whatever for punishing someone. If you do something stupid, be prepared to get the consequences (which are not, as in USA to be sued or whatever).
-- skip if you want --
As an example, I recently looked at one of the many advertisements in the UK bus stops telling "If you spit, we will prosecute" stating also that "our drivers have DNA kits". According to people here, it is the teenagers who sometimes spit the drivers, sometimes just to be "cool" with their friends and whatnot. I thought, why in Mexico no teen or nobody in fact would attempt to spit (not even imagine) to a bus driver? the answer is pretty simple, if he spits to a driver, the driver will beat up his ass so hard, he wont remember his name. And it would be the only time he would attempt it.
Of course, you can not do that in USA or in UK because then, the parents will sue the driver (as the boy is 15 and the driver is an adult). Another difference is that, after the beat had happened, lets say the police arrive. In the case of the UK or USA, the driver would be afraid because he could go to the police station and end in jail... in the case of Mexico, after the police arrived and the bus driver (and the guy who helps in the bus, usually one) and other people explained what happened, the police would only say to the buy: "well, you deserve it, you where so *stupid* to spit to the driver".
--- end--
In conclusion, be chivalrous when you visit other countries, in some of them (UK for example, for me) they would be more serious and dry, whereas in some other countries they might me more easy going and more "the law of the wilderness" style.
And last but not least, remember that overall in the world, people DO NOT like Americans. You have a bad image. I KNOW you are not an ass as others but just *consider* it and try to behave nicely.
But you should take a look at *what* is it that these prebuilt machines had installed. See, a "standard" Linux distribution has a lot of shit installed (in the good sense of the word). Just looking at my FedoraCore 6 Accessories menu I can see "mouth", ksayit, kandy, karm and looking at sound and video I have liek 3 different "digital audio players".
Of course the choice is fine. The difference is that, usually the programs that are "bundled" in the Windows installs are programs started at Windows start time. And some of that shit take plenty of resources (Symantec crap anyone?, anti adware, anti shitware, anti malware). While whichever program is loaded in Linux would only consume resources if/while run.
Now, maybe your experience with prebuilt systems is bitter but, from my experience with an HP Pavillion ZV5000, I've got no problems, it was quite lean. Of course I removed MS Works and installed OOorg. And also, anther issue is that "normal" people will start buying Linux computers as they are available as a solution. I know it because *my* father is *eager* of using something else than Microsot products. He hates Office (he uses excel, but unfortunately OO Calc is no replacement for him... and no, it is not because of the use-as-database-issue, it is because of other functionality). But he really needs a solution. I can not tell him to install X or Y distribution because I KNOW something (wireles, graphics, sound... you name it) wont work on his computer.
Hence, a complete Linux Desktop or Laptop solution 100% compatible (including peripherals) is going to be very welcomed. For users and for corporations too.
The problem with offering Linux ready machines is that buyers will cry loud if the cost of the system is the same as the one *with* windows included because they will reason on the lines of "WTF Linux is free blah blah".
:)
I would be very happy to buy a complete desktop PC to Dell, HP or anyone else with whichever Linux distro they choose given that I can personalize the machine (in one or other way what you can do now) before buying it including things like webcam, scanner, printer and other devices that are KNOWN to work with Linux. It is similar to my rant in the MythTV vs Tivo article, I would gladly pay them to offer that. Gosh, they could *even* Include CrossOver office or Cedega as an option (similarly on how they include MsWorks, antivirus and other crap now). I would buy it.
What I want is a complete solution, for me and for my dad, mom, brother, etc. A solution which is *guaranteed* to work.
For that, as I stated in another post, Dell would have to create their own Distro, based on Fedora, Ubuntu or any other distro. Why? because that way they will have more "control" over the content. It does not have to be a very different fork, just Ubuntu with some personalized Dell shit and personalized drivers for the offered machines that JUST WORKS. Now THAT would make Apple shiver
And you forgot to mention that your own country is called Estados Unidos Mexicanos, or the United States of Mexico. So I will refer to you as USMexican!
I ommited it as I thought it was not relevant but if you look at it, as I said in my post *every* country whose states are "United" in America continent are United States of America. Of course your translation was also wrong as the correct translation is United Mexican States or Mexican United States (as "Mexicanos" is working as an qualifying adjective for the United States or just States part).
And for the french reference, look in the thread for antoher answer where I point to a Wikipedia section about the "us nationals naming" on other countries. I am not inventing what I am saying here people, the fact that you just dont want to believe is just sad
oh, and by the way, if you go to the "American" page from the you can find *plenty* of rerefernces the "bullshitted" statunitense term.
Again, if you are not cult enough to know what you are talking about please:
1. Shut up
2. Get out of your freaking sofa, turn off your TV and get out of your country and see that the world does not starts and ends in your America.
I can't call BS on your other two examples, but I can for Italian. The USA is called "gli stati uniti", but in the four years that I lived there, I never heard an Italian call us anything but "Americani".
... maybe your friends there knew you might get angry if they told you that. For a reference see:
See, but your personal experience counts for just one
U.S. national in other languages.
See? I dont need to invent any tales.
(and its not as hard as you make out)
Well, I just read the TF installation Manual and it seems quite complicated. Mostly due to the hundreds of different hardware that is not compatible or will not work one way or another in Linux.
From what I have read so far (from chapter 1 to 4, without counting: Download&Compile, Config Sound, MySQl,Setup Remote Control, Configuring MythTV, Configuring Frontend, installing Plugins, Troubleshooting) it seems you will need to spend a good 5 hours of your time just to make sure the components you buy are all compatible. At $200 the hour this is $1000 of my time (without including the cost of the hardware and config). Against $200 for a year of Tivo...
There is a point nobody has touched and I think is very important as well:
it is also looking at mandating cooling-off periods during which customers could 'return' downloaded music."
I would love to see that come true. The digital distribution of music is in its current state unfair, apart from the fair use thing everybody in slashdot argues, after you download a copy of whatever music you download, you in fact have *nothing* more. So, at the end you are paying for nothing. Well, you are just paying for a series of electricity pulses being sent to you in specific order so you computer might write a copy of them in your hard disk but nevertheless, after you pay those $1.51945 USD (79 pence) for each song you have lost them.
If you like the song, good for you, if you did not like it, bad for you. If the file was somehow broken, bad for you, and, if you get tired of listening that Spears is innocent then the better thing you can do is delete the file...
Whereas with a non digital distribution (CD, cassete, vinyl, etc) you can *resell* the CD to anyone once you get it because you are in fact buying *something* for the same price (and sometimes for less if you buy it say at play.com ).
Of course the same thing happens with software... why have we tolerated this?
Talk for yourself my friend, but in Spanish you are called Estadounidenses (and this is from Mexico to the south), in French it is étatsunie, in Italian it is statunitense.
And yeah, I am a Mexican and I also consider myself an American. Not that it really matters, but it really bothers me that just because your conutry does not have a proper name. In the end, Canada, Mexico, USA and other countries in the world are also United States [they are united no?] and they are of America.
In your country they teach you that America is no a continent but a union of two continets, but in every other place they teach that America is a continent, i.e. see America. América es un continente que se extiende en gran parte del Hemisferio Occidental de la Tierra. America is a continent that extends in great part of the occidental hemisphere of the earth.
What I want is a solar powered citadel. Or at least something similar. Imagine a Mall located over the clouds =o) that would be cool.
I do not know in which world do you live but in the rest of my world, in Mexico and UK none of the broadband plans (Cable or DSL) has a quota limit. Although of course in Mexico the speeds are about 512/256 and 1024/256 here in UK I have a plan of 2Mbit/256 for £10 (for one year... after that £18) and you can download whatever you will.
Ignoring the idiots that are going to naturally tell me that even though I've lost a sale to someone that now has no need except for 'good will' to actually purchase my product, that piracy and theft are not the same. I'll never be able to explain to them how it is, and they will never have a rational explanation for why it isn't (yet some teen will try to explain).
Allow me to be the one that feeds the trolls.
Copyright violation...
is the unauthorized use of material protected by intellectual property rights law, specifically copyright law, in a manner that violates one of the original copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it.
Theft...
is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's freely-given consent. As a term, it is used as shorthand for all major crimes against property, encompassing offences such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, trespassing, shoplifting, intrusion, fraud (theft by deception) and sometimes criminal conversion. In some jurisdictions, theft is considered to be synonymous with larceny; in others, theft has replaced larceny.
o yes, big difference between a mass pirater and one that makes one or two copies. Its the difference between grand larceny and shoplifting
No, they become two related things when the mass pirater starts profiting from the illegal distribution of the copyrighted work. While the former is a legal case of fair use.
Your 13 year old swearing disproves your point... no need to read the rest of the comment
My father bought an HP laptop. It had windows preinstalled.
After some time of installing crap (like the webshots [no...it is not porno] client and whatever else) something got wrong and he ended reinstalling it. He reinstalled with some disk from his office (read pir8). Some time ago, he started having problems again, he got some kind of MSN worm which installs a trojan that can get some sensitive information (passwords, etc). I told him that he needed to remove the trojan, and I sent him the address (URL) of an antivirus page telling how to remove it.
The next time I chat with him (he is in Mexico, I am in the UK so I can help him directly). He tells me he has a problem with the monitor because the resolution is not fine (i guess it is 800x600). After some time trying to guess he tells me that he *reinstalled* windows again. He does not care about his documents, he has everything backed up so he can reinstall and reinstall at will as GP said, it is *the* solution for them. I directed him to the HP laptop drivers page (that is something quite neat about HP).
Now, my father is *not* computer illiterate. He was using computer back before many slashdoters. He used QPRO in DOS (he made a Byorithm spreadsheet in QPRO) and he used to program in BASIC. He is a biologist, a Doctor in Biology for all that matters. The issue is that he just stopped caring about computers and instead focused on his work. Windows lets him do that, no really, to some degree it does. He hates Excel (he loved QPRO) and Microsoft but there are really not alternatives to that.
He tried moving from Windows to Linux with Mandrake Linux 2005. It was *THE* linux distribution for newbies back then, of course everything went smooth with the installation (I installed it). But the devil was in the details (as always with Linux) and after some time using OpenOffice and Mandrake he gave up and installed Windows again.
And as I said before, my dad is one that reads every manual, he read the Mandrake Manual (which was awful and stupid by the way), he really tried but it was more of a nightmare for me because it meant I was the *only* person he could ask when he didnt know something.
So, in my experience the problem is not linux overall, the problem is in the details, all those hundred of things that come up after you are setup.
I dont care if Dell or any other bundler preloads Linux. Windows works, it works for my laptop, it works for my dad's computer (and now laptop).
Linux works for ME in my workstation, it works on my server and that's what matters. If people are really confident about Linux being ready for the desktop, and they believe it is THAT MUCH BETTER than Windows then they should leave the market forces to speak for themselves. The truth is that it is not, not that it is not good but it is not so much good that people is willing to use it instead of whatever they are using.