What about the Opus Dei, they seem to be mostly conservative and are Catholic as well.
I'm not certain on how influential or their numbers in relation to Jesuits or other liberal tendencies inside the Catholic church (which, like most large organizations, is far from monolithic as you can see), but the GP does have a point
and the pope says that contraception is bad (is the contraceptive pill free in the US?)
Interestingly enough, that's what the Opus Dei thinks, and they're the personal prelature of the Pope.
BTW I'm not just talking about the representation in the Da Vinci Code, they're well known and influential in my country and even run an University (the Universidad de Montevideo).
I've got a 2.2 kW contract (of course, not in the US) and it's enough for me (and I use about 300 kw/month, so I'd actually have energy to spare).
I guess California and the US in general are far more wasteful (and they would be, seeing as from another story http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=199007&cid=163 14731 that they have cheaper electricity and cheaper fuel than us in Uruguay).
BTW I'm not condemning you, I wish I could afford to be wasteful:)
I know it is not a popular opinion, but I state it in these threads often anyway: get a real identification system like the rest of the world has and stop using the SSN which used to say "not for identification purposes".
Nobody can ask for a credit card with my ID number alone in my country, it uses other forms of protection - photo and fingerprints plus some anti-faking measures, and before you say it's demeaning, or that it's not effective, think that it's the same system your country uses on everyone that lands in an airport (so you're either demeaning visitors, which I think you are, or by saying it doesn't work you're saying it's not effective as a tracking system).
By the way, this has been discussed to death even here, see
by lelitsch (31136): Assuming you live in the US, you obviously don't have a social security number, drivers license, birth certificate, or passport, and you have never been sick, or attended school; and have yet to pay taxes? Newsflash: the government holds a lot of data about you. Unfortunately, the data is currently linked by an universal and extremly weak key, namely a 9 digit number that you probably have passed out many times over to people who are as trustworthy as used car salesmen.
Come to think of it, more than a few probably were used car salesmen...
"'Pakistan's girl wonder (10-year-old Arfa Karim Randhawa)' is likely the youngest certified Microsoft expert"
The certification she received was as a Microsoft Certified Application Developer. She says she plans to pursue a more advanced certification, as a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer
Yes, they're being built in a small town next to the Uruguay river (Fray Bentos), and there's talk of a third being built in subsidiary Rio Negro (all rural areas).
The company I work for has been subcontracted for the IT of one of them (Metsä-Botnia).
Uruguay overall is a very nice country, I hope you enjoy your stay, and make sure to visit the eastern coast (esp. Punta del Este and the Rocha coast).
Not to be entirely off topic, that would be an excellent place to put some turbines, it's windy all year round and it would complement our hydroelectric power very well - about half of all the electricity in Uruguay is hydroelectric-generated, but we're in trouble now because demand is rising and all the government can come up with is to burn incredibly expensive oil, and to top that we're in conflict with neighbour Argentina so we can't get their natural gas reserves (which they need anyway as they're in shortage themselves).
There's talks of nuclear power (a mid-sized nuclear plant would take away the problem) but it seems far off... I saw some nice-looking huge General Electric turbines that were reported to generate 2 Mw each, that would be nice (although we need 1300 Mw to close the gap between supply and the demand increase).
It's even hurt us with the pulp mills, they said they'd have considered processing the pulp in Uruguay if energy costs weren't so high.
Wow... I didn't know we in the third world (Uruguay in my case) were ripped off so heavily.
Just for comparison, here's my bill from UTE (Usinas y Transmisiones Eléctricas) for one month in winter (I'm single and live in a one room apartment with my computer:P ):
Fixed Charges: 137 Uy$ = U$ 6
First 100 kWh at (Uy$ 1,892/U$ 0,083) = U$ 8,3
237 kWh at after the first 100 kWh (Uy$ 2,736/U$ 0,12) = U$ 28,2
Taxes = Uy$ 224 = U$ 9,8
Total = U$ 52,3 (for a single person !!!) for 337 kwH that makes more than 15 cents per kWh (and I have the cheapest rate!).
Ok, I'll bite. What does a FTA between Oman and the US have anything to do with a Dubai firm running (not owning if I recall correctly) US ports? If you know your geography, Dubai is in the United Arab Emirates, not Oman.
Can't comment on the detainee act but doesn't sound good. -
I still don't know what the problem is (of UAE firms operating US ports), I'll have to look it up.
It's mostly anecdotal, but I work at a Microsoft shop, and several developers still clamor for VMWare even though we have Virtual Server for free, as it seems to be a lot better performance-wise.
I'm still waiting for an update to Virtual PC, there the difference is abysmal.
Also, would it be possible to emulate some other hardware? The current video card emulated by Virtual PC won't support Aero.
leaving you with a local shell of people that are easily replaced figureheads and all the companies intellectual property in a another country where you have will have almost no chance of taking legal action no matter what is done by the people there.
Playing Devil's Advocate for a while (and living in a Third World country), it doesn't look like that here.
We do have a few offshore companies working here (one is the single largest IT employer in the country, even more than the government), and they have lobbied hard to the government, that much so that we had to copy & paste some of the US legislation on patents and other IP, and the US government is playing carrot & stick with a trade agreement to have other changes implemented.
So I'd say that a sufficiently large company will have chance to take legal action, and probably win it, not to mention the possibility of bribing, coercing & such (there was a huge case in Argentina regarding IBM not so long ago).
the point of the original FAQ is that music sales are declining.
Interestingly enough, what this FAQ says is that
Unit shipments have fallen 26%, from 1.16 billion units in 1999 to 860 million units last year
Nowhere does it say that music sales are declining. It says that CD recorded music sales are declining.
I haven't bought a music CD in 2 years.. but coincidentaly, I have "bought" my first digital music 2 years ago!
In other news,Casette shipments fell by 50% last year, and Vynil sales continue to decline (well actually not because of some nostalgia sales but you get my point)
Music CDs are getting obsolete, last I heard they don't play on an Ipod.
According to Michel's methodology, those who owned a computer bought almost 13 percent fewer CDs from 1999 to 2003, with those who bought the most music showing the largest decrease. His conclusion is that file-sharing does have an effect on music sales
Ok, I can accept that owning a computer causes fewer CD sales... but is it due to illegal file-sharing? iTunes? CD swapping and ripping (I did this, is it illegal - probably yes in the US)? Probably all of them, not just "file-sharing". I'd have to read the paper, but the conclusion doesn't seem to be the only logical explanation from the data and tendencies observed...
Even the paper's title is misleading: "The Impact of Digital File Sharing on the Music Industry" when it should say, "The Impact of Computer Ownership on the Music CD Recording Industry" . Intellectual dishonesty at its best.
CD's do sound better, but it's not inherent to the medium, I've heard about lossless formats (I still stick to MP3s as my sound system isn't good enough to notice much of a difference).
Friends of mine have pointed that out, but there's nothing preventing artists from creating one single huge MP3 and selling that if they don't want you to skip a part. And some do include recommended playlists with their music.
On the permanence part, well, it depends, yes, CDs tend to last longer than hard drives, but I have a few unusable CD's and I lost a few MP3s to not backing up, overall it seems the same.
I remember those times, and it was a great relief for me when I found out the Universal Hint System, it was like a Strategy Guide but tried to control the spoilers (yes I was that bad).
Still, once you get the Strategy Guide it's hard not to look at it whenever you're struck - that happened often with the Adventure Games where you had to figure out "oh, use the Banana with the Elevator, why didn't I think of that!".
It is my understanding that the "punitive damages" are not related to the damage that person caused, rather, to set an example for the population at large.
If punitive damages are not damages, what are they? They are fines, intended to punish or deter.
I was always fascinated by the punitive damages theory because it's not the way my countries' legal system works (there are several large legal traditions, ours is mostly based on the Spanish one which is itself based on the Roman one).
Every time I read this stuff, I see the SSN being used as an ID.
Yet you Americans state that you don't need or want a government-issued ID, bash the UK for launching one... and suffer for it.
Here in Uruguay we don't have that problem... hell the SSN equivalent was posted on the University boards next to names and grades - it was eliminated because students objected, but it is not treated as you do with SSN as something to keep hidden, because we know it's not secure.
Also, brick houses aren't really made out of brick anymore.
You must mean in the US. Over here (South America) plenty of new houses are made of brick (reinforced with concrete beams if I'm correct, I don't know much about building).
Here's a Colombian website which shows the basic Spanish system that's also used here (Uruguay)
Err... well, we might have to modify our building style over here thanks to the global climate changes... we had what amounts to a small hurricane last year, and we were thoroughly unprepared, it toppled lots of antennas, killed several people and most are still rebuilding (brick houses aren't as easy to rebuild as the wooden ones, I give you that).
In fact, someone who studied in Cuba told me housing there isn't built to resist, exactly the opposite... cheap to build and cheap to re-build after an hurricane.
So each polling station should spend enough money that they have enough booths that their entire county could vote at each polling place?
There are other alternatives, you know, countries larger than yours (see Brazil), or mine, have compulsory voting and they manage (you divide the number of booths by the voting stations, and have people assigned to polling stations. Not that hard).
Interesting, I don't live in the US and mine HAS...
because of 9/11, I can no longer visit your country without a Visa (nevermind it was some guys from another freaking continent), not even in transit in an airport to visit my brother in Canada
I'm actually looking for a direct flight that doesn't stop in the US, and if I don't feel like paying USD 100 for the right of stopping at your airports and maybe going sightseeing, you'll lose some dollars in tourism too.
You're also losing some other opportunities, several very bright graduates in my university chose European universities to do their postgraduate studies over US ones, and if I choose to work abroad (some countries even come hiring the best students here) I probably won't choose the US which was my #1 choice before (I'm not that good, but if enough bright people stop going there, it will be a problem).
Slashdot Mirror
I'm not certain on how influential or their numbers in relation to Jesuits or other liberal tendencies inside the Catholic church (which, like most large organizations, is far from monolithic as you can see), but the GP does have a point
Interestingly enough, that's what the Opus Dei thinks, and they're the personal prelature of the Pope.
BTW I'm not just talking about the representation in the Da Vinci Code, they're well known and influential in my country and even run an University (the Universidad de Montevideo).
More info at the usual place: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opus_Dei
I've got a 2.2 kW contract (of course, not in the US) and it's enough for me (and I use about 300 kw/month, so I'd actually have energy to spare).
3 14731 that they have cheaper electricity and cheaper fuel than us in Uruguay).
:)
I guess California and the US in general are far more wasteful (and they would be, seeing as from another story http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=199007&cid=16
BTW I'm not condemning you, I wish I could afford to be wasteful
Would you mind not giving plot spoilers?
See the other news today (Debian to rename Firefox "Iceweasel" or somesuch)
Nobody can ask for a credit card with my ID number alone in my country, it uses other forms of protection - photo and fingerprints plus some anti-faking measures, and before you say it's demeaning, or that it's not effective, think that it's the same system your country uses on everyone that lands in an airport (so you're either demeaning visitors, which I think you are, or by saying it doesn't work you're saying it's not effective as a tracking system).
By the way, this has been discussed to death even here, see
http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/27/2
I like this comment for instance:
It would take me 70 years to earn that kind of money (go Third World salaries - I don't expect to earn this for long though).
:P - and I should start practising those FPS skills :)
So quit whining
I know you meant it as a joke but:
t arfa14.html
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/232514_msf
"'Pakistan's girl wonder (10-year-old Arfa Karim Randhawa)' is likely the youngest certified Microsoft expert"
The certification she received was as a Microsoft Certified Application Developer. She says she plans to pursue a more advanced certification, as a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer
Yes, they're being built in a small town next to the Uruguay river (Fray Bentos), and there's talk of a third being built in subsidiary Rio Negro (all rural areas).
The company I work for has been subcontracted for the IT of one of them (Metsä-Botnia).
Uruguay overall is a very nice country, I hope you enjoy your stay, and make sure to visit the eastern coast (esp. Punta del Este and the Rocha coast).
Not to be entirely off topic, that would be an excellent place to put some turbines, it's windy all year round and it would complement our hydroelectric power very well - about half of all the electricity in Uruguay is hydroelectric-generated, but we're in trouble now because demand is rising and all the government can come up with is to burn incredibly expensive oil, and to top that we're in conflict with neighbour Argentina so we can't get their natural gas reserves (which they need anyway as they're in shortage themselves).
There's talks of nuclear power (a mid-sized nuclear plant would take away the problem) but it seems far off... I saw some nice-looking huge General Electric turbines that were reported to generate 2 Mw each, that would be nice (although we need 1300 Mw to close the gap between supply and the demand increase).
It's even hurt us with the pulp mills, they said they'd have considered processing the pulp in Uruguay if energy costs weren't so high.
Wow... I didn't know we in the third world (Uruguay in my case) were ripped off so heavily.
:P ):
Just for comparison, here's my bill from UTE (Usinas y Transmisiones Eléctricas) for one month in winter (I'm single and live in a one room apartment with my computer
Fixed Charges: 137 Uy$ = U$ 6 First 100 kWh at (Uy$ 1,892/U$ 0,083) = U$ 8,3 237 kWh at after the first 100 kWh (Uy$ 2,736/U$ 0,12) = U$ 28,2 Taxes = Uy$ 224 = U$ 9,8 Total = U$ 52,3 (for a single person !!!) for 337 kwH that makes more than 15 cents per kWh (and I have the cheapest rate!).
Ok, I'll bite. What does a FTA between Oman and the US have anything to do with a Dubai firm running (not owning if I recall correctly) US ports? If you know your geography, Dubai is in the United Arab Emirates, not Oman.
Can't comment on the detainee act but doesn't sound good. -
I still don't know what the problem is (of UAE firms operating US ports), I'll have to look it up.
The buckyballs look very much like an official soccer ball, hence the reference to FIFA (the official body regulating soccer).
Cool! That was exactly what I was looking for...
I hope Microsoft copies this soon so we can get it:P
Microsoft's Virtual Server is also available for free:
u alserver/software/default.mspx
:P
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/virt
Won't run on Ubuntu obviously
It's mostly anecdotal, but I work at a Microsoft shop, and several developers still clamor for VMWare even though we have Virtual Server for free, as it seems to be a lot better performance-wise.
I'm still waiting for an update to Virtual PC, there the difference is abysmal.
Also, would it be possible to emulate some other hardware? The current video card emulated by Virtual PC won't support Aero.
Playing Devil's Advocate for a while (and living in a Third World country), it doesn't look like that here.
We do have a few offshore companies working here (one is the single largest IT employer in the country, even more than the government), and they have lobbied hard to the government, that much so that we had to copy & paste some of the US legislation on patents and other IP, and the US government is playing carrot & stick with a trade agreement to have other changes implemented.
So I'd say that a sufficiently large company will have chance to take legal action, and probably win it, not to mention the possibility of bribing, coercing & such (there was a huge case in Argentina regarding IBM not so long ago).
Interestingly enough, what this FAQ says is that
Nowhere does it say that music sales are declining. It says that CD recorded music sales are declining.
I haven't bought a music CD in 2 years.. but coincidentaly, I have "bought" my first digital music 2 years ago!
In other news,Casette shipments fell by 50% last year, and Vynil sales continue to decline (well actually not because of some nostalgia sales but you get my point)
Music CDs are getting obsolete, last I heard they don't play on an Ipod.
Ok, I can accept that owning a computer causes fewer CD sales... but is it due to illegal file-sharing? iTunes? CD swapping and ripping (I did this, is it illegal - probably yes in the US)? Probably all of them, not just "file-sharing". I'd have to read the paper, but the conclusion doesn't seem to be the only logical explanation from the data and tendencies observed...
Even the paper's title is misleading: "The Impact of Digital File Sharing on the Music Industry" when it should say, "The Impact of Computer Ownership on the Music CD Recording Industry" . Intellectual dishonesty at its best.
CD's do sound better, but it's not inherent to the medium, I've heard about lossless formats (I still stick to MP3s as my sound system isn't good enough to notice much of a difference).
Friends of mine have pointed that out, but there's nothing preventing artists from creating one single huge MP3 and selling that if they don't want you to skip a part. And some do include recommended playlists with their music.
On the permanence part, well, it depends, yes, CDs tend to last longer than hard drives, but I have a few unusable CD's and I lost a few MP3s to not backing up, overall it seems the same.
I remember those times, and it was a great relief for me when I found out the Universal Hint System, it was like a Strategy Guide but tried to control the spoilers (yes I was that bad).
Still, once you get the Strategy Guide it's hard not to look at it whenever you're struck - that happened often with the Adventure Games where you had to figure out "oh, use the Banana with the Elevator, why didn't I think of that!".
Here's an interesting link: http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cjm_15.ht
and their comment:
I was always fascinated by the punitive damages theory because it's not the way my countries' legal system works (there are several large legal traditions, ours is mostly based on the Spanish one which is itself based on the Roman one).
I don't (live in South America). What are you talking about?
T ime
Is it something related to this? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_Butter_Jelly_
Every time I read this stuff, I see the SSN being used as an ID.
Yet you Americans state that you don't need or want a government-issued ID, bash the UK for launching one... and suffer for it.
Here in Uruguay we don't have that problem... hell the SSN equivalent was posted on the University boards next to names and grades - it was eliminated because students objected, but it is not treated as you do with SSN as something to keep hidden, because we know it's not secure.
You must mean in the US. Over here (South America) plenty of new houses are made of brick (reinforced with concrete beams if I'm correct, I don't know much about building).
Here's a Colombian website which shows the basic Spanish system that's also used here (Uruguay)
http://www.senamed.edu.co/cursos%20virtuales/cons
Err... well, we might have to modify our building style over here thanks to the global climate changes... we had what amounts to a small hurricane last year, and we were thoroughly unprepared, it toppled lots of antennas, killed several people and most are still rebuilding (brick houses aren't as easy to rebuild as the wooden ones, I give you that).
In fact, someone who studied in Cuba told me housing there isn't built to resist, exactly the opposite... cheap to build and cheap to re-build after an hurricane.
There are other alternatives, you know, countries larger than yours (see Brazil), or mine, have compulsory voting and they manage (you divide the number of booths by the voting stations, and have people assigned to polling stations. Not that hard).
Interesting, I don't live in the US and mine HAS...
because of 9/11, I can no longer visit your country without a Visa (nevermind it was some guys from another freaking continent), not even in transit in an airport to visit my brother in Canada
I'm actually looking for a direct flight that doesn't stop in the US, and if I don't feel like paying USD 100 for the right of stopping at your airports and maybe going sightseeing, you'll lose some dollars in tourism too.
You're also losing some other opportunities, several very bright graduates in my university chose European universities to do their postgraduate studies over US ones, and if I choose to work abroad (some countries even come hiring the best students here) I probably won't choose the US which was my #1 choice before (I'm not that good, but if enough bright people stop going there, it will be a problem).
And dead network cards/modems from lightning strikes aren't that uncommon either. I'd have some spare to sell to customers too.
If you're doing business in the US, I'd suggest having some memory as well (both old SIMM and modern DIMMs & DDR).
I also agree that you should try to keep the programs people use, and NEVER format without backing up everything.
Another great tool is Norton Ghost.