On my trip from MN to TX last December I had no roaming charges. Last time I was in WI, just north of IL I made calls and had no roaming charges.
If these charges are unreasonable I suggest you switch to someone who will give you a good deal. AT&T and Verizion both have nearly the entire US covered with no roaming. Sprint, Cingular, and TMobile have most of the parts of the US where anyone goes covered with no roaming. I'm sure there are smaller local players with roaming agreements with one of the above that also can cover most of the US without roaming.
Apparently EU carriers haven't caught on. Someone should point out that in the US it was big bragging rights for years that there was no roaming costs, and even today a no roaming plan costs slightly more than a local plan. People will pay a little for the convince of not having to worry about it. Only sprint (which has the smallest coverage area) covers everything on their own, all the other carriers work out cross deals.
I can't imagine the Supreme Court upholding a law that restricts people's right to political expression, the heart of what the framers intenced to protect
Look closely at the latest (or any really) campaign finance reform bill and tell me how it differs from a restriction of the people's right to free political expression.
Oh, I agree that some people went to far, and I don't like that money influences politics. These laws are not the solution.
The most effective way to affect politics is run yourself and win. Next is to go to the caucuses of one major party and get some resolutions passed, and then work to get your canidate elected. However you can't run for all positions, or might not be elected, your next option isn't of much use if the rest of the party members shoot it down. So you have one more options: third party votes.
Voting for a third party gets noticed, perhaps out of proprotion. These are people who took the time to vote and were informed on the issues. Those who vote because they should: vote party lines because "dad was a democrat so I'm a democrat and I don't care if the party has changed"; "I'm a republican, and it is better to help a party that agrees with me partially than throw away my vote". Note that these are two groups that you don't have to worry about, they will vote for you, and make up a large part of the voters. Polititions have to worry about those who can be persuaded. Many voted for Kennedy because Nixon sweated on TV, not for serious reasons, so you don't have to worry about serious issues to get a nother group. Who is left? A very small group that you have to influence, because they
Of course polititions are also aware some people will always vote libratarian. (or whatever) However they care about those who might vote for them, if they were just a little more "left" or a little more "right". The only thing stopping them is there are those in a the middle who also will change votes, so it is a balance, get as many fringe votes as you can without scaring away the middle voters.
They may not act like it, but polititions always care about third parties, because their job is to get re-elected. And therefore you vote counts. If you can get a lot of others to vote with you your vote counts even more. (actually if you can get a lot of people to vote one way you have more power than even the richest man in the world)
I agree that I don't want direct market email. I do however want a lot of marketing bulk mail. I've signed up for several lists that could be considered marketing in your terms. The GOA's email alerts are a favorite of mine. And some products which I use have email lists that I sign up for so I know when there is an update.
Well as it happens, the majority of the people I've met from India (used to work with them) are from southern India, where as you said, Hindi is not a popular language. I know their perception of India influences mine. I don't think my statement is too grossly generalized. All generalizations are false though, something I hope everyone remembers. Then again I would hope everyone remembers to be polite but everyone forgets that once in a while too...
I agree, outsourcing tech support to the southern US wouldn't be a good idea, as most people have trouble understanding their accents. Same reason I don't reccomend outsourcing to India, not that those people don't speak a language I can understand, but that it is a lot of effort to understand them. Yes I have met people from India that speak English better than me (it isn't hard) with an accent that while different is easy to understand. Most however speak and English that I can understand only if I put effort into it. If English is your first language, odds are we can hold a conversation without both of us having to think about understanding the other (the main exception is the deep south US), this not true for the majority of Indians. I can hold a conversation with anyone who speaks enough English, but it is hard work in some cases.
Yeah, metal is stronger, but it also is hard on the joints. All the vibration from the hit is transmitted (and amplified?) to the arm. Fiberglass is strong too, and a lot better than metal, but a good wood handle still beats fiberglass.
I worked carpendry for about 10 months, I started with an all metal hammer, which is cheap and works fine, but I couldn't take it. I noticed a dramatic improvement when I went with a fiberglass handle hammer. Switching to a wood handle titanium hammer helped a lot, but it wasn't as dramatic as the switch to fiberglass. (Estwing hammers have a bad reputation for a good reason though) My carpil tunnel problems almost went away after the last switch. (Only getting out of carpentry got rid of it, but in exchange for a different RSI problem)
I consider paying $20 every year for a new handle well worth it considering the savings on my body. Depends on how you are using the hammer though. I recomend you experiment, hammers are cheap (even at $70), find what works best for you. Then again if your claw is the first to go I'm guessing you don't use hammers the same way a carpender does. (carpenders almost never drive a nail unless they are going to pull it out again latter)
Lindsay books has lots of neat books, some of which (depending on what is in print now) tell you how to make glass. If you really want to do experiments you will find their collection valuable for that purpose too.
P.S. the good stuff is in the dead tree catalog, but not online, so get a copy of the catalog.
Re:Magnusson Moss Warranty Act
on
Hack Your Car
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· Score: 1
Since I live in MN, it is unlikely I've been behind you. I have however started on a freeway ramp when a sports car with 7 times my acceleration was significantly in front of me, yet as I neared the end I was forced to slow down because I was in danger of rear ending the idiot if I didn't. This to a freeway where there was plenty of room to merge if I was going freeway speeds. I don't mind when I'm following a semi with a heavy load, they don't have the acceleration I have, but a sports car should have no problem with getting to freeway speeds.
My car has enough power to drive on the freeway, however it takes a skillful driver to do so. Semi drivers often reach 3 million accident free miles, and they have less acceleration than me.
I have a backup plan if nobody lets me in: keep driving on the shoulder, while that idiot passes, and the next guy lets me in before I reach the end of the merging lane. Granted I sometimes have to modify this depending on conditions, but then I never actually needed to use it either.
If MA drivers are as bad as you say (and I've heard they are), please do everyone a favor by setting a good example and letting cars merge. It really does speed up the freeway.
Take the defensive driving course, and apply it. If you have taken it already, apply it. And relax while you are at it, getting stressed out makes things worse for everyone.
Or has Linus quit Using make(1) since I last compiled a kernel? A quick serach of my 2.0.36 machine reveals awk, assembly, TCL/TK, and sh are all used too. All are programing languages and turing complete (except awk? I've never used awk so I'm not sure, but I know the rest are)
Linus uses the best tools for the job. I strongly doubt he has written his own make programs just so he can avoid a programing languages that does the job better. I suspect menuconfig has been re-written to be a lot better since 1998, but I'm sure Linus is perfectly willing to use the best tool for the job. C is an excellent tool for kernel programing, so that is what is mostly used. (though there is some assembly where needed)
I'm no expert on India, but your claim that I should think of the people of India does not apply. Remember, Britton ruled India for many years, they brought with their language when they ruled. Even those who were willing to learn the native language (instead of making the natives learn English) would find it hard to succeed because there are 18 different common languages in India, and few people speak many.
In short, while few people in India speak English as their first language, it is your best choice if you want to speak to a random person on the street and you don't know the local language.
Why do you think India is a popular place to outsource tech support to? There are a large number of people who know English and consider $20/day riches beyond belief. Of course the downside isn't discovered until latter when you realize that most speak with a thick accent that is hard for Americans to understand. (I'd presume the English have the same problem)
My dad had to learn German as a kid, because church service was conducted only in German. As a kid I recall going to church with grandma and grandpa, and while service had switched to English (I've now found out it was less than 5 years previous) hymns were often sung in German, and often the preacher did switch to german. Remember I was a kid - I recall the german clearly, but I don't know if it was often really amounts to. They switch to English only after the last member of the church who didn't know English died.
That is typical of immigrants, many never learn the natives language, but the kids do.
Unfortunately knowing German as a kid doesn't help my dad. German in Germany changed drasticly over the last 100 years, while the language he learned did not. Even more than the difference between Modern English and the English of Shakesper. OTOH, Germans who want to read those old letters stored in the attic have to send them to the US and get them translated into English, because most who can read old German live in the US and speak English but not modern German.
Once again I'm a nobody, I've been trying to afford a MiG-29 (or better, though I don't know if such exist) since I was a little kid. Now you tell me everyone owns one, except me. Life is sooo unfair, if everyone else can have one why can't I?
Seriously though, I'd really like to have a MiG-29 that I could afford to fly. Unlikely to happen, and most people I know can say that. Even most people who are pilots can't afford one, and most want one.
Titanium has come down in price significantly in the past few years. (Been happening since the Russians realized they needed money and had Titanium) My last hammer was made form wood and titanium and Cost $70, of which the handle was $20. (Trust me, well made tools are worth that price if you use them everyday) 10 years ago the idea of a common person owning a titanium hammer wasn't even worth considering, the price would be outrageous.
Each time you add something to that mix though, the total effort does not go up proportionally. The first two you mix are harder than the next one. Once you get an SGI systen settup in your network it is much easier to get a Sun system.
Actually looking at the mix you claimed there, the only systems that wouldn't be nearly trivial are IBM systems: the OS/390 mainframe (Running linux on that system would be trivial), and whatever the AS/400 runs. Perhaps some unknown like ATheOS (did I even spell that close?) would be difficult, but for the most part SGI, Sun, and Linux systems are similar enough to each other that knowing what made one work makes the other work.
Yes there is always effort in adding new things to the mix, but once you have started the effort goes down. You get one more advantage by having a lot of different systems in the mix: your admins have to know how things work, so you have a much easier time detecting the bad ones, making your total quality go up.
Re:I though otherwise, so did my physics teacher.
on
Comic Book Physics
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· Score: 3, Insightful
It is the delta-V that counts though, hitting the ground is more or less instant. A catch, even by a man moving upwards can be executed to slow that down. (Ie start the catch above your head, and slowly decelerate by moving your arms down). Mind there is still a large delta-V at any given instant, but not nearly as large.
It is left as an exercise to the reader to determin if spreading out the change in this way is enough to save a life.
Yep, a lot of foundation code is migratable. Oh wait, let me correct that, a lot of foundataion code is common between the two. Both systems for instance require libxml. More work is being done where it makes sense. However sometimes there are two different ways of doing something, both with good and bad points. Then one group goes one way and one the other. Sometimes it turns out after comparing what happens (sometimes after many years) when going different ways that one way is considered better. (Kde is considering replacing aRts for instance)
I've worked in the KDE source code, most of kdelibs is kparts, kio, or qt/kde interface. None of that can be factored out unless Gnome is willing to use those, which is unlikely. I'm not sure what is the base of GNOME, but I'm sure they are in the same situation, a lot of code with an interface that KDE has no interest in useing at this time, so why try to make it common. Any code that proves itself in the real world will be factored out into something both use, but only if and when it makes sense.
The KDE/GNOME split happened for political reasons, most developers have no problem working with others. However supporters of one project or the other tend to be religious about it, and they have no room for anything the other religion does.
I can't belive all the negative on this. It sounds like a good idea. If my HMO offered me a choice: get your care at the local hosptial, or we will fly you to India, and you can get the same thing there, plus the nurses will spend more time with you, and the quality will be at least as good. I'd go for it. And I'd make sure that my flight back was delayed for a few weeks while I toured a country I've never been to before.
Assuming the medical care is just as good, where is the downside?
I've heard of people being paid to give blood, but I've never met a person who has done it. I have met many people who have donated blood out of a sense for the common blood. I'm one, but my body doesn't take to donating blood, so they told me I didn't have to. I have sold plasma, which is blood parts, but that is a different thing. Plasma is taken twice a week, and it takes a lot longer (3 hours vs 1 hour), so it is fair to get some payment for the time. I'd give plasma for nothing though if there was a place nearby to do so.
I gotta echo the other guy, OpenOffice.org 1.1 really is that slow. I use it when I need to open a document that kword can't deal with, but otherwise ignore it because it is so slow. (My computer isn't fast though) Now that there is a new version of kWord I'm interesting in if it is enough better than I can uninstall OpenOffice.
Why was it illegal there though?
on
Cell-Phone Wars
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· Score: 1
You just described the perfect situation to have a cell phone: 20 minute wait (I've renewed my license in person, 20 minutes is reasonable) with nothing to do. Perfect time to chat on the cell phone.
Mind you need to pay attention so you know when your turn is up, but that is a different problem. (and if you lose your turn you go back to the end, it will teach people)
There is something wrong with anyone who thinks they need to control people in that situation. Its not a library, nor a movie theater, it is a waiting room where there is nothing to do except read the latest issue of Look[1] or something. '
In this case (medical devices that call home when there is a potential problem) not as well, perhaps not at all. Before cell phones there was no infrastructer that you could count on. Some old people had medical alarm buttons that could press, but that only worked when they knew there was a problem (ie it wasn't a sudden silent heart attack, but just sign that one could be coming) and they were at home in range of the base station.
Just because technology didn't exist before doesn't mean that you can do without it for the same quality of life.
A better marking plan for someone brave enough to pull it off:
The kind of diamond you give says a lot about you. A nateral diamond minded by children in a country where the bosses encourage war for their own profit sends a message. Or you can get an XYZ diamond, are a flawless creation of the american working man, paid a living wage.
A real marketing person could write much better copy than me, but you get the idea. In fact I encourage them to do so and require no credit for my idea. Gaphic images of bloody war, and children working will help you a long. Make sure you stick to facts though because you want reproters to check and find you are right.
Perhaps a better idea would be to start a synthetic diamond group to encourage the adoption of synthetic diamonds (you will need all the political help you can get). Evaluate working conditions of all members and let the best use your stamp of approval (like De Beers puts marks on some diamonds) - but let a few miners use the mark too.
Whatever, do not play a defensive game against De Beers, they are too good.
Money has value, if $4000 is 1/10th your annual salary and you spend it on jewelry I think there is something wrong with your priorities (unless you are a collector, and have carefully budgeted for the purchase, basicly buying nothing else of value all year). There is something wrong with the women who would want her man to spend that much money on jewelry, in the real world 40,000 isn't a lot of money of live on in the places where that is a common salary.
Now if we are talking 400,000 and it is 1/10th your salary I could see spending it, just because you have enough extra that it isn't wasteful as long as the rest of your spending is reasonable. (for your salary, you still have enough to pay cash for a million dollar house if you want it)
Maybe you could claim the old BASIC adventures from the 80s didn't have much a plot, but Infocom was famous for them, even Zork has a large background story - or it felt that way anyway, you didn't always know what or why but the feeling was that there was a large back ground. And the latter works got better.
If you look at the current winners of contests, you will see they are about plot and story, in some cases there aren't even puzzles. Graphics has a ways to go to get to this level, in part because there is so much more territory to cover before they get there, and in part because hardware isn't up to some of what is needed even yet.
Of course no graphical adventure can equal a good imagination when you come across a "breath taking view".
Slashdot Mirror
On my trip from MN to TX last December I had no roaming charges. Last time I was in WI, just north of IL I made calls and had no roaming charges.
If these charges are unreasonable I suggest you switch to someone who will give you a good deal. AT&T and Verizion both have nearly the entire US covered with no roaming. Sprint, Cingular, and TMobile have most of the parts of the US where anyone goes covered with no roaming. I'm sure there are smaller local players with roaming agreements with one of the above that also can cover most of the US without roaming.
Apparently EU carriers haven't caught on. Someone should point out that in the US it was big bragging rights for years that there was no roaming costs, and even today a no roaming plan costs slightly more than a local plan. People will pay a little for the convince of not having to worry about it. Only sprint (which has the smallest coverage area) covers everything on their own, all the other carriers work out cross deals.
I can't imagine the Supreme Court upholding a law that restricts people's right to political expression, the heart of what the framers intenced to protect
Look closely at the latest (or any really) campaign finance reform bill and tell me how it differs from a restriction of the people's right to free political expression.
Oh, I agree that some people went to far, and I don't like that money influences politics. These laws are not the solution.
The most effective way to affect politics is run yourself and win. Next is to go to the caucuses of one major party and get some resolutions passed, and then work to get your canidate elected. However you can't run for all positions, or might not be elected, your next option isn't of much use if the rest of the party members shoot it down. So you have one more options: third party votes.
Voting for a third party gets noticed, perhaps out of proprotion. These are people who took the time to vote and were informed on the issues. Those who vote because they should: vote party lines because "dad was a democrat so I'm a democrat and I don't care if the party has changed"; "I'm a republican, and it is better to help a party that agrees with me partially than throw away my vote". Note that these are two groups that you don't have to worry about, they will vote for you, and make up a large part of the voters. Polititions have to worry about those who can be persuaded. Many voted for Kennedy because Nixon sweated on TV, not for serious reasons, so you don't have to worry about serious issues to get a nother group. Who is left? A very small group that you have to influence, because they
Of course polititions are also aware some people will always vote libratarian. (or whatever) However they care about those who might vote for them, if they were just a little more "left" or a little more "right". The only thing stopping them is there are those in a the middle who also will change votes, so it is a balance, get as many fringe votes as you can without scaring away the middle voters.
They may not act like it, but polititions always care about third parties, because their job is to get re-elected. And therefore you vote counts. If you can get a lot of others to vote with you your vote counts even more. (actually if you can get a lot of people to vote one way you have more power than even the richest man in the world)
I agree that I don't want direct market email. I do however want a lot of marketing bulk mail. I've signed up for several lists that could be considered marketing in your terms. The GOA's email alerts are a favorite of mine. And some products which I use have email lists that I sign up for so I know when there is an update.
Well as it happens, the majority of the people I've met from India (used to work with them) are from southern India, where as you said, Hindi is not a popular language. I know their perception of India influences mine. I don't think my statement is too grossly generalized. All generalizations are false though, something I hope everyone remembers. Then again I would hope everyone remembers to be polite but everyone forgets that once in a while too...
I agree, outsourcing tech support to the southern US wouldn't be a good idea, as most people have trouble understanding their accents. Same reason I don't reccomend outsourcing to India, not that those people don't speak a language I can understand, but that it is a lot of effort to understand them. Yes I have met people from India that speak English better than me (it isn't hard) with an accent that while different is easy to understand. Most however speak and English that I can understand only if I put effort into it. If English is your first language, odds are we can hold a conversation without both of us having to think about understanding the other (the main exception is the deep south US), this not true for the majority of Indians. I can hold a conversation with anyone who speaks enough English, but it is hard work in some cases.
Yeah, metal is stronger, but it also is hard on the joints. All the vibration from the hit is transmitted (and amplified?) to the arm. Fiberglass is strong too, and a lot better than metal, but a good wood handle still beats fiberglass.
I worked carpendry for about 10 months, I started with an all metal hammer, which is cheap and works fine, but I couldn't take it. I noticed a dramatic improvement when I went with a fiberglass handle hammer. Switching to a wood handle titanium hammer helped a lot, but it wasn't as dramatic as the switch to fiberglass. (Estwing hammers have a bad reputation for a good reason though) My carpil tunnel problems almost went away after the last switch. (Only getting out of carpentry got rid of it, but in exchange for a different RSI problem)
I consider paying $20 every year for a new handle well worth it considering the savings on my body. Depends on how you are using the hammer though. I recomend you experiment, hammers are cheap (even at $70), find what works best for you. Then again if your claw is the first to go I'm guessing you don't use hammers the same way a carpender does. (carpenders almost never drive a nail unless they are going to pull it out again latter)
Lindsay books has lots of neat books, some of which (depending on what is in print now) tell you how to make glass. If you really want to do experiments you will find their collection valuable for that purpose too.
P.S. the good stuff is in the dead tree catalog, but not online, so get a copy of the catalog.
Since I live in MN, it is unlikely I've been behind you. I have however started on a freeway ramp when a sports car with 7 times my acceleration was significantly in front of me, yet as I neared the end I was forced to slow down because I was in danger of rear ending the idiot if I didn't. This to a freeway where there was plenty of room to merge if I was going freeway speeds. I don't mind when I'm following a semi with a heavy load, they don't have the acceleration I have, but a sports car should have no problem with getting to freeway speeds.
My car has enough power to drive on the freeway, however it takes a skillful driver to do so. Semi drivers often reach 3 million accident free miles, and they have less acceleration than me.
I have a backup plan if nobody lets me in: keep driving on the shoulder, while that idiot passes, and the next guy lets me in before I reach the end of the merging lane. Granted I sometimes have to modify this depending on conditions, but then I never actually needed to use it either.
If MA drivers are as bad as you say (and I've heard they are), please do everyone a favor by setting a good example and letting cars merge. It really does speed up the freeway.
Take the defensive driving course, and apply it. If you have taken it already, apply it. And relax while you are at it, getting stressed out makes things worse for everyone.
Or has Linus quit Using make(1) since I last compiled a kernel? A quick serach of my 2.0.36 machine reveals awk, assembly, TCL/TK, and sh are all used too. All are programing languages and turing complete (except awk? I've never used awk so I'm not sure, but I know the rest are)
Linus uses the best tools for the job. I strongly doubt he has written his own make programs just so he can avoid a programing languages that does the job better. I suspect menuconfig has been re-written to be a lot better since 1998, but I'm sure Linus is perfectly willing to use the best tool for the job. C is an excellent tool for kernel programing, so that is what is mostly used. (though there is some assembly where needed)
I'm no expert on India, but your claim that I should think of the people of India does not apply. Remember, Britton ruled India for many years, they brought with their language when they ruled. Even those who were willing to learn the native language (instead of making the natives learn English) would find it hard to succeed because there are 18 different common languages in India, and few people speak many.
In short, while few people in India speak English as their first language, it is your best choice if you want to speak to a random person on the street and you don't know the local language.
Why do you think India is a popular place to outsource tech support to? There are a large number of people who know English and consider $20/day riches beyond belief. Of course the downside isn't discovered until latter when you realize that most speak with a thick accent that is hard for Americans to understand. (I'd presume the English have the same problem)
My dad had to learn German as a kid, because church service was conducted only in German. As a kid I recall going to church with grandma and grandpa, and while service had switched to English (I've now found out it was less than 5 years previous) hymns were often sung in German, and often the preacher did switch to german. Remember I was a kid - I recall the german clearly, but I don't know if it was often really amounts to. They switch to English only after the last member of the church who didn't know English died.
That is typical of immigrants, many never learn the natives language, but the kids do.
Unfortunately knowing German as a kid doesn't help my dad. German in Germany changed drasticly over the last 100 years, while the language he learned did not. Even more than the difference between Modern English and the English of Shakesper. OTOH, Germans who want to read those old letters stored in the attic have to send them to the US and get them translated into English, because most who can read old German live in the US and speak English but not modern German.
Once again I'm a nobody, I've been trying to afford a MiG-29 (or better, though I don't know if such exist) since I was a little kid. Now you tell me everyone owns one, except me. Life is sooo unfair, if everyone else can have one why can't I?
Seriously though, I'd really like to have a MiG-29 that I could afford to fly. Unlikely to happen, and most people I know can say that. Even most people who are pilots can't afford one, and most want one.
Titanium has come down in price significantly in the past few years. (Been happening since the Russians realized they needed money and had Titanium) My last hammer was made form wood and titanium and Cost $70, of which the handle was $20. (Trust me, well made tools are worth that price if you use them everyday) 10 years ago the idea of a common person owning a titanium hammer wasn't even worth considering, the price would be outrageous.
Each time you add something to that mix though, the total effort does not go up proportionally. The first two you mix are harder than the next one. Once you get an SGI systen settup in your network it is much easier to get a Sun system.
Actually looking at the mix you claimed there, the only systems that wouldn't be nearly trivial are IBM systems: the OS/390 mainframe (Running linux on that system would be trivial), and whatever the AS/400 runs. Perhaps some unknown like ATheOS (did I even spell that close?) would be difficult, but for the most part SGI, Sun, and Linux systems are similar enough to each other that knowing what made one work makes the other work.
Yes there is always effort in adding new things to the mix, but once you have started the effort goes down. You get one more advantage by having a lot of different systems in the mix: your admins have to know how things work, so you have a much easier time detecting the bad ones, making your total quality go up.
It is the delta-V that counts though, hitting the ground is more or less instant. A catch, even by a man moving upwards can be executed to slow that down. (Ie start the catch above your head, and slowly decelerate by moving your arms down). Mind there is still a large delta-V at any given instant, but not nearly as large.
It is left as an exercise to the reader to determin if spreading out the change in this way is enough to save a life.
Yep, a lot of foundation code is migratable. Oh wait, let me correct that, a lot of foundataion code is common between the two. Both systems for instance require libxml. More work is being done where it makes sense. However sometimes there are two different ways of doing something, both with good and bad points. Then one group goes one way and one the other. Sometimes it turns out after comparing what happens (sometimes after many years) when going different ways that one way is considered better. (Kde is considering replacing aRts for instance)
I've worked in the KDE source code, most of kdelibs is kparts, kio, or qt/kde interface. None of that can be factored out unless Gnome is willing to use those, which is unlikely. I'm not sure what is the base of GNOME, but I'm sure they are in the same situation, a lot of code with an interface that KDE has no interest in useing at this time, so why try to make it common. Any code that proves itself in the real world will be factored out into something both use, but only if and when it makes sense.
The KDE/GNOME split happened for political reasons, most developers have no problem working with others. However supporters of one project or the other tend to be religious about it, and they have no room for anything the other religion does.
I can't belive all the negative on this. It sounds like a good idea. If my HMO offered me a choice: get your care at the local hosptial, or we will fly you to India, and you can get the same thing there, plus the nurses will spend more time with you, and the quality will be at least as good. I'd go for it. And I'd make sure that my flight back was delayed for a few weeks while I toured a country I've never been to before.
Assuming the medical care is just as good, where is the downside?
I've heard of people being paid to give blood, but I've never met a person who has done it. I have met many people who have donated blood out of a sense for the common blood. I'm one, but my body doesn't take to donating blood, so they told me I didn't have to. I have sold plasma, which is blood parts, but that is a different thing. Plasma is taken twice a week, and it takes a lot longer (3 hours vs 1 hour), so it is fair to get some payment for the time. I'd give plasma for nothing though if there was a place nearby to do so.
Real carpenders never call them blueprints, they are always prints. I did that job for a summer.
I only saw one print in the entire time that was blue. Most were printed on a large format printer attached that the architect drew the print up on.
I gotta echo the other guy, OpenOffice.org 1.1 really is that slow. I use it when I need to open a document that kword can't deal with, but otherwise ignore it because it is so slow. (My computer isn't fast though) Now that there is a new version of kWord I'm interesting in if it is enough better than I can uninstall OpenOffice.
You just described the perfect situation to have a cell phone: 20 minute wait (I've renewed my license in person, 20 minutes is reasonable) with nothing to do. Perfect time to chat on the cell phone.
Mind you need to pay attention so you know when your turn is up, but that is a different problem. (and if you lose your turn you go back to the end, it will teach people)
There is something wrong with anyone who thinks they need to control people in that situation. Its not a library, nor a movie theater, it is a waiting room where there is nothing to do except read the latest issue of Look[1] or something. '
[1] IIRC Look stopped publishing in the 1960s.
In this case (medical devices that call home when there is a potential problem) not as well, perhaps not at all. Before cell phones there was no infrastructer that you could count on. Some old people had medical alarm buttons that could press, but that only worked when they knew there was a problem (ie it wasn't a sudden silent heart attack, but just sign that one could be coming) and they were at home in range of the base station.
Just because technology didn't exist before doesn't mean that you can do without it for the same quality of life.
A better marking plan for someone brave enough to pull it off:
The kind of diamond you give says a lot about you. A nateral diamond minded by children in a country where the bosses encourage war for their own profit sends a message. Or you can get an XYZ diamond, are a flawless creation of the american working man, paid a living wage.
A real marketing person could write much better copy than me, but you get the idea. In fact I encourage them to do so and require no credit for my idea. Gaphic images of bloody war, and children working will help you a long. Make sure you stick to facts though because you want reproters to check and find you are right.
Perhaps a better idea would be to start a synthetic diamond group to encourage the adoption of synthetic diamonds (you will need all the political help you can get). Evaluate working conditions of all members and let the best use your stamp of approval (like De Beers puts marks on some diamonds) - but let a few miners use the mark too.
Whatever, do not play a defensive game against De Beers, they are too good.
Money has value, if $4000 is 1/10th your annual salary and you spend it on jewelry I think there is something wrong with your priorities (unless you are a collector, and have carefully budgeted for the purchase, basicly buying nothing else of value all year). There is something wrong with the women who would want her man to spend that much money on jewelry, in the real world 40,000 isn't a lot of money of live on in the places where that is a common salary.
Now if we are talking 400,000 and it is 1/10th your salary I could see spending it, just because you have enough extra that it isn't wasteful as long as the rest of your spending is reasonable. (for your salary, you still have enough to pay cash for a million dollar house if you want it)
Maybe you could claim the old BASIC adventures from the 80s didn't have much a plot, but Infocom was famous for them, even Zork has a large background story - or it felt that way anyway, you didn't always know what or why but the feeling was that there was a large back ground. And the latter works got better.
If you look at the current winners of contests, you will see they are about plot and story, in some cases there aren't even puzzles. Graphics has a ways to go to get to this level, in part because there is so much more territory to cover before they get there, and in part because hardware isn't up to some of what is needed even yet.
Of course no graphical adventure can equal a good imagination when you come across a "breath taking view".