As a recent transplant into the Bible Belt from...wait for it... Florida, I am appalled by native states tendency for redneckary in its rural areas.
FTFA linked in TFA there is this Gem. But a Miami paramedic warned that taking God out of the classroom has led to immorality and violence. He related the beating death last week of a toddler by a 12-year-old in Lauderhill to the teaching of evolution.
Damn you Darwin, Baby Killer.
Jesus Mohamed Buddha Christ on a Jetski. I give up, I mean there is no reasoning with these people. Darwinism threatens their tenuous hold on faith, they attack it with the ferocity of the LAPD.
Can their beliefs not stand in the light of facts? Millions of people around the world seem to be able reconcile their imaginary friend's ability to breath life into clay with the fact that it cannot be done. Why is it so hard to keep this one too.
I recently had a discussion with someone who was of the opinion that he derived his "Human Worth" from the creator, and if then he was a product of evolution his sense of worth would become diminished to a pointless existence.
What a crock, I reminded him that all people are born with equal "worth" and their actions over their lifetime define and increase or decrease their worth to society and themselves. I'm not sure he understood, but it was worth a shot.
I am saddened by this news story and am grateful that in at least this school district, science trumps religion in the classroom. Religion trumps science everywhere else in this burg but at least "Our children is learning."
You haven't told me how many units Walmart had to sell.
gPC sales figures are unreleased from WalMart, but WalMart has re-upped their supply. If you imagine Walmart buying carloads and advertising it in their weekly flyers for Xmas you are severely deluded.
Has you ever given her the chance?
I think you mean, Have I ever given her the chance? Both of her older brothers run WinXP, Only one of them fulltime. She has plenty of opportunity to compare and contrast. There has been exactly one occasion that she has asked for an unsupported game, a game that is now supported.
Openoffice and other Open Source apps available on Windows. You say this as if it is a detriment of Linux/FLOSS? I love the claim that FLOSS apps started as Native Windows apps. StarOffice is probably the only one you could make that claim about. The fact that Firefox, Gimp, and OpenOffice have windows ports is not a reason for using windows . It is a way to keep your apps when you are chained to Windows Box at work. It is also a great way to introduce new people to FLOSS, making the switch is easier if all your daily apps are available.
Quoting sales figures of windows software is useless, What do you compare it to, # of downloads or hits at ftp.debian.com. Microsoft Office is popular, I never said it wasn't. I implied it was an unnecessary expense.
How many of these games have native Linux clients and how many need WINE or Caldega?
First off, it's Cedega and we don't use it. Most of the games I mentioned use Wine, but I fail to see the relevance. Wine is free, and makes those games run better than in native Windows in most cases. UT2k4, Doom3, Quake4 and a few others are Linux native. The 50 or so other games on her machine are native Linux apps.
What do you have against emulating games of yesteryear? I paid for it and it won't run in VISTA or XP or even Linux natively. Enter DosBox, problem solved. Again I point to my Sig, There are a ton of very good games for Linux and Windows. The pace of development is staggering.
My point is this: Linux is increasing in popularity, It's on your phone, your router, in your car, your digital camera, your internet tablet, digital picture frame, the fish finder on your boat, and even the controls of your hot tub.(You have me to thank for that last one.) The recent trend in PC manufacturers shipping Linux PCs is increasing and all your windows fanboyisms are not going to change that. Laptops from Asus, Everex, Lenova, Dell and OLPC sell like mad despite your perceived notion that not having windows will hurt their sales.
By The way, according to my search for
Games at Sourceforge sorted by downloads, GlTron tops the list at 993,678 downloads. If you do it by category ZSNES tops it at 16,229,849 downloads, thats out of 22,681 or 14,583 projects (depending on which # you use). You are right that is significantly more than a truckload, sorry. Maybe you use a different Sourceforge though.
Every now and again the Geek proclaims that this bottom-feeder PC will win the masses over to Linux.
Yeah, you have a point there, I mean how many people really bought that Everex gPC, Oh thats right they sold out. Still, the Asus EEE is sitting on shelves right? No, ok but the Nokia n800, n810 is in the clearance bins right, Oh, no it's not. Well that doesn't mean people are going to use Linux, I mean who's ever even heard of Ubuntu. Still no large companies are going to support it. Unless you count IBM, Google, and Asus as big companies.
The buyer won't know Emacs.
But he will have heard of Print Shop, Quicken, Paint Shop Pro and a hundred other programs that for him will be a damn sight more useful.
Some people will desperately hold on to proprietary apps, just like they did in the days of Wordperfect. Hell, I clung to DOS well after most had made the switch. That does not mean that my kids will though. My 11 yr old has only ever used Linux, She could Gimp circles around most PSP users. She apt-gets all her software and wouldn't even think of plopping down a dime for application software. She has never even seen Emacs, although she is quite fond of OpenOffice and Inkscape.
Games, yeah again you have a point, It's not like she can play World of Warcraft, Eve Online, Halo, UT2004, Splinter Cell and Half Life 1 & 2, Oh yeah, she can and does. Not to Mention the truckload of Open Source Games available. See My Sig
So, what exactly is your point, I see now, Vista and OSX roxors. Sure they do. I know I like spending money for no good reason while at the same time annoying myself to death with shoddy security, and Overpriced Hardware & Software.
I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Microsoft, I was under the assumption that they were staffed by uninformed and relentless monopolists. I therefore vowed not to use, recommend, install, or otherwise service their products.
Now I can see, my assumption was wrong.
By default, these file types are blocked because the parsing code that Office 2003 uses to open and save the file types is less secure. Therefore, opening and saving these file types may pose a risk to you.
It's actually staffed by incompetent coders and management.
Again, I apologize and have updated my reasons for the ban.
Good for you. If, consequently, you feel confident in reporting Intel's actions as unchallenged fact then that's your decision. I don't.
I report the story just like everybody else. I personally believe it. This is a forum for opinions, last time I checked. I have no "Alleged" opinions on this story.
Anybody wanting to compete with Intel in a Windows-dominated world is pretty much stuck with incremental improvements on the x86 design. Linux runs fine on Intel, yes, but unlike Windows it also runs fine on ARM, PowerPC
Exactly, a Windows dominated world, Is it a stated goal of Intel's board to support? Seems to me every new Mac off the production line has a brand new spanking Intel processor in it.
Not to mention that the AMD Geode processor used by the OLPC is x86 architecture not ARM, not PowerPC. If Intel wanted to compete, come forward with a cheaper chip. Intel contributes quite alot to the Linux world and it is strange you think they are frightened of it's adoption.
You make a great case for why Microsoft to be against the OLPC, but no real reason why Intel should.
I think that the prospect of flooding an emerging market with Brand X would generally be seen as a threat by the manufacturers of Brand Y. Don't you?
No not really. The threat in my eyes would be Brand Y in this case AMD, not OLPC. Best way to eliminate it. Better chip at a lower cost. Guess that wasn't as easy as stabbing your partner in the back. OLPC single handedly created this "emerging market".
This is a stupid rebuttal. Intel is a business that OLPC is undercutting. This is not true for any of the others.
I call BS. Intel "invented" the classmate PC after the fact. They were not undercut by some device just because it contained a competitors chip. They were frightened at the prospect.
A perfect example is the Peruvian case. Intel was asked for a proposal for secondary school Classmates. Instead they tried to supplant the primary school contract already signed to OLPC, through lies and distortions. IF Intel was interested in selling their revolutionary Classmate PC why didn't they, when they were in fact offered a single bid contract?
So I can see why it was best for Intel to leave the party. Why pump money into something that helps AMD, Google, Red Hat, and News Corp when you can offer an alternative product completely in-house?
Yeah, but you miss the obvious point. The classmate PC predates Intel joining the foundation. Your point may be valid, if so, Why did Intel join?
At best to shut up Negroponte, at worst to gain Competitive advantage and sabotage OLPC efforts.
Probably because when a for-profit company distributes vast quantities of product below cost in an emerging market, it's called "dumping" and is generally frowned upon - especially if its being done by a monopoly player. Now, it may be legal for a charitable foundation to do that but they shouldn't act all surprised if the industry gets jittery about it.
OLPC is not dumping below cost, maybe damn close to cost, but not below cost for LCD, or flash, or Geode processor, they BUY these parts. Intel sets the prices of their processor. They have plenty of outdated chips faster than the Geode processor. Assuming you are correct and they could only do so by "dumping", as a member of the non-profit foundation they would face no such charge.
As for the rest of your comments.
I'm glad that you have personally read all of the articles, double-checked the citations
As I mentioned previously, I wrote an article on this topic, unlike a slew of bloggers & new media Journalists, I actually do research. Did I speak with the Peruvian minister? No. Did I speak with Negroponte? No. Did Speak with Intel? No.
See they have these nifty little things called press conferences. Designed to give their point of view as much positive spin as possible. Read them. Come to your own conclusions. If you can come up with a reading of the 35 or so articles covering the events just on Thursday that show Intel acting in good faith, you need reading comprehension lessons. A preponderance of the evidence is all that I require, You see, I am not a judge, and the only court I am interested in is the court of public opinion. In that court Intel is Guilty PERIOD.
Still not convinced?, Go back and read a few of the Hundreds of articles covering the span of this saga. Here read the one linked on this page. http://www.classmatepc.com/ Its my favorite. Funny, they don't link to press accounts of them ditching OLPC.
Sorry, you don't think that millions of children in the developing world growing up using (and possibly learning to program) Linux on an AMD-powered system could be even a teensy-weensy threat to MS or Intel?
Ridiculous to say it threatens Intel. Those kids may be Linux kids, Linux doesn't run on Intel anymore? I suppose if we gave them all cell phones it would be a threat to Intel because they contained ARMs. Windows, F*ck em.
Millions of kids will be potential customers to both companies, where before they'd have been lucky to ever see a computer let alone grow up using them. Sounds beneficial to me. But If you look only at the short term, OMG we aren't selling those, I could see how you could delude yourself.
Look at it this way, If OLPC dies due to these two maniacal corporation' shenanigans. What are the odds that they will continue the effort to get these 3rd world countries into the 21st century. Yeah, exactly zero chance. The classmate PC is not a product, it is a blunt weapon used to kill the OLPC, and as soon as it becomes unnecessary Intel will drop it like a nuclear potato.
Lastly, Do I believe everything I read from the WSJ or BBC? Not necessarily, unless it is corroborated by company press releases, project PR, and 50 other reputable news sources. You have some reason for doubting this particular story, I'd love to hear it.
If your aim is to create an open piece of hardware then yes. Foregoing patent encumbered 3rd part licensed software components is foolish and misguided.
Not all open source video codecs are software patent pariahs.
You don't think that they're in it just for the karma do you?
Nope, I'm only saying that the "Karma" is valuable to Google, News Corp, Red Hat and AMD.
Microsoft wants in to deny linux, Intel wants in to deny AMD, No interest in Karma at all. If you're statements were true, Red Hat should bolt when MS wants to participate, they didn't. AMD should bolt when Intel joined, they didn't even whimper. News Corp, well they need all the karma they can get.
Some companies really do want to change the world. A more educated prosperous 3rd world benefits us all. Sure maybe a 3rd world using linux doesn't help MS, but it doesn't preclude them from competing either.
In the eyes of MS and Intel, they can only prosper by continuing the dependence on their technologies and preventing anyone else's. Before this project neither had any interest in the target countries.
Now, I'm not condoning what Intel has (allegedly) done
Who is it you don't believe here, the Peruvian minister of education, the wall street journal, New York Times, BBC, or Professor Negroponte?
There is no alleged. The record is clear, before, during and after they joined the foundation. Intel has acted to sabotage the OLPC project from day one. They were promised to deliver a new XO prototype at CES this week, along with another 6 million in cash. Funny, 4 days before the event and right after OLPC recieved the notes from Peru they bolted.
The OLPC project is a massive threat to the Intel/Microsoft near-monopoly, and like it or not OLPC are going to have to raise their hardball game to make it work.
Nope, hardball is not required, Honesty is. OLPC threatens no one. Neither Microsoft nor Intel can afford to do what Negroponte proposes, at least according to them.
I just wrote up an article on this story yesterday.
Expect to hear all the usual "Intel is a business" bullsh*t that always comes up.
What has to be remembered is that Google is a business, Red Hat is a business, News Corp is a business too, and yet none of them actively tried to sabotage the OLPC foundation they had contracted to be a part of. Somehow they can justify their participation to the stockholders, but Intel can't? Intel was acting competitively before they joined the OLPC foundation in July of last year. After that time they continued to do so, only now they had access to a lot more information about XO potential buyers. Their behavior was despicable and only further enforces my decision long ago to buy AMD processors exclusively.
Adding insult to injury, Intel holds a press conference call announcing the decision to split, without informing the OLPC board. Read through the stories from last Thursday. The olpc foundation had no response because they were shocked.
"It's a lot easier to design future products with openness built into them," he said, "than to open a closed product."
Oh yeah, It certainly helps if you don't start with 3rd party licensed software. Building a new device based on linux is not what I'd call easy, but in legal terms it's a hell of alot easier than trying to "open" up a WinCE device.
Following the old adage "Do it right the first time."
She thought that this was a question about illegal downloading when it was actually a question about ripping CDs. That is not the position of Sony BMG. That is not the position of that spokesperson. That is not the position of the industry."
Whew, what a relief, I thought for a moment I was gonna have to erase all those CDs I bought and ripped.
Oh that's right, I don't buy CDs anymore except direct from the artist at a show. The legal battles initiated by the "industry" have long ago convinced me this is the only ethically correct option.
Test it out yourself.
Give any 14 year old in America $30, tell them to come back with either alcohol or illegal drugs whichever is easier to get.
Guaranteed, they will bring back drugs 99% of the time.
I've seen it in action hundreds of times over. It is much easier for children to get drugs than it is for them to get booze.
Hey man, go out and get your own drugs. Relying on 14yr olds, Bogus, man, bogus.
I mean, I just can't have teenagers over here all the time. The neihbors man, the neihbors.
When Silverlight was first announced and PopFly, Microsoft's social network built to demonstrate and hopefully kickoff Silverlight, were simultaneously launched; we were quick to appreciate the technical aspects of.NET and WPF taken online, but were careful to make it clear that we didn't think it stood much of a chance.
This content requires Microsoft Silverlight. The browser you are currently using is not Silverlight enabled. Please give this a try with Microsoft Internet Explorer (32-bit) or Mozilla Firefox.
Well that is a first. Reccommending Firefox on an MS page. Progress!, unfortunately I am using Firefox... on Debian.
Maybe after Miguel gets done pimping it for us nix users, I can behold the glory that is, nah I just can't finish it. Next!
We are once again experiencing the century-old practice of Yellow Journalism. In fact, I would say that media's role in how the Spanish-American War was sold to the public is disturbingly parallel to that of the invasion of Iraq, just with Karl Rove at the helm instead of William Randolph Hearst. What we think is this new medium of "infotainment" is simply an update of sensationalism.
Yeah, I kinda think Rupert has dibs on the Hearst Role in this remake.
The N800 can access the Internet through (in theory) any Bluetooth mobile phone, which makes life a lot easier when you're trying to buy a new phone.
Except for a few compatibility issues with particular models, you can pretty much get whichever phone you want. Because the N800 can handle all the expensive and demanding Internet and multimedia functions, the only minimum requirement is that the phone can work as a Bluetooth modem. It doesn't even have to be a Nokia, and the N800 can work with GSM, CDMA and 3G phones.
It's not a phone. Can be used as a Voip Phone (Gtalk, Skype), but it's intended purpose is an Internet Tablet.
Hmm, fork over my cash to a company doing all they can to stifle open source contributions to their device OR Support the open company to community atmosphere of the Maemo project with my $300.
Decisions, decisions.
Yeah, I'm gonna have to go Nokia on this one.
$299.00 n800
Slashdot Mirror
Nope Switchgrass is not plowed every year, it is mowed, sometimes twice annually. Replanted every 10 tears. Requires little fertilizer, if any.
FTFA linked in TFA there is this Gem.
But a Miami paramedic warned that taking God out of the classroom has led to immorality and violence. He related the beating death last week of a toddler by a 12-year-old in Lauderhill to the teaching of evolution.
Damn you Darwin, Baby Killer.
Jesus Mohamed Buddha Christ on a Jetski. I give up, I mean there is no reasoning with these people. Darwinism threatens their tenuous hold on faith, they attack it with the ferocity of the LAPD.
Can their beliefs not stand in the light of facts? Millions of people around the world seem to be able reconcile their imaginary friend's ability to breath life into clay with the fact that it cannot be done. Why is it so hard to keep this one too.
I recently had a discussion with someone who was of the opinion that he derived his "Human Worth" from the creator, and if then he was a product of evolution his sense of worth would become diminished to a pointless existence.
What a crock, I reminded him that all people are born with equal "worth" and their actions over their lifetime define and increase or decrease their worth to society and themselves. I'm not sure he understood, but it was worth a shot.
I am saddened by this news story and am grateful that in at least this school district, science trumps religion in the classroom. Religion trumps science everywhere else in this burg but at least "Our children is learning."
You haven't told me how many units Walmart had to sell.
gPC sales figures are unreleased from WalMart, but WalMart has re-upped their supply. If you imagine Walmart buying carloads and advertising it in their weekly flyers for Xmas you are severely deluded.
Has you ever given her the chance?
I think you mean, Have I ever given her the chance? Both of her older brothers run WinXP, Only one of them fulltime. She has plenty of opportunity to compare and contrast. There has been exactly one occasion that she has asked for an unsupported game, a game that is now supported.
Openoffice and other Open Source apps available on Windows. You say this as if it is a detriment of Linux/FLOSS? I love the claim that FLOSS apps started as Native Windows apps. StarOffice is probably the only one you could make that claim about. The fact that Firefox, Gimp, and OpenOffice have windows ports is not a reason for using windows . It is a way to keep your apps when you are chained to Windows Box at work. It is also a great way to introduce new people to FLOSS, making the switch is easier if all your daily apps are available.
Quoting sales figures of windows software is useless, What do you compare it to, # of downloads or hits at ftp.debian.com. Microsoft Office is popular, I never said it wasn't. I implied it was an unnecessary expense.
How many of these games have native Linux clients and how many need WINE or Caldega?
First off, it's Cedega and we don't use it. Most of the games I mentioned use Wine, but I fail to see the relevance. Wine is free, and makes those games run better than in native Windows in most cases. UT2k4, Doom3, Quake4 and a few others are Linux native. The 50 or so other games on her machine are native Linux apps.
What do you have against emulating games of yesteryear? I paid for it and it won't run in VISTA or XP or even Linux natively. Enter DosBox, problem solved. Again I point to my Sig, There are a ton of very good games for Linux and Windows. The pace of development is staggering.
My point is this: Linux is increasing in popularity, It's on your phone, your router, in your car, your digital camera, your internet tablet, digital picture frame, the fish finder on your boat, and even the controls of your hot tub.(You have me to thank for that last one.) The recent trend in PC manufacturers shipping Linux PCs is increasing and all your windows fanboyisms are not going to change that. Laptops from Asus, Everex, Lenova, Dell and OLPC sell like mad despite your perceived notion that not having windows will hurt their sales.
By The way, according to my search for Games at Sourceforge sorted by downloads, GlTron tops the list at 993,678 downloads. If you do it by category ZSNES tops it at 16,229,849 downloads, thats out of 22,681 or 14,583 projects (depending on which # you use). You are right that is significantly more than a truckload, sorry. Maybe you use a different Sourceforge though.
Yeah, you have a point there, I mean how many people really bought that Everex gPC, Oh thats right they sold out. Still, the Asus EEE is sitting on shelves right? No, ok but the Nokia n800, n810 is in the clearance bins right, Oh, no it's not. Well that doesn't mean people are going to use Linux, I mean who's ever even heard of Ubuntu. Still no large companies are going to support it. Unless you count IBM, Google, and Asus as big companies.
The buyer won't know Emacs. But he will have heard of Print Shop, Quicken, Paint Shop Pro and a hundred other programs that for him will be a damn sight more useful. Some people will desperately hold on to proprietary apps, just like they did in the days of Wordperfect. Hell, I clung to DOS well after most had made the switch. That does not mean that my kids will though. My 11 yr old has only ever used Linux, She could Gimp circles around most PSP users. She apt-gets all her software and wouldn't even think of plopping down a dime for application software. She has never even seen Emacs, although she is quite fond of OpenOffice and Inkscape.
Games, yeah again you have a point, It's not like she can play World of Warcraft, Eve Online, Halo, UT2004, Splinter Cell and Half Life 1 & 2, Oh yeah, she can and does. Not to Mention the truckload of Open Source Games available. See My Sig
I guess you don't really have a valid point then. Oh wait printers. Hp printers don't work, Unless ... https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportComponentsPrintersHp Those are only HP though, Oh wait, https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportComponentsPrinters
So, what exactly is your point, I see now, Vista and OSX roxors. Sure they do. I know I like spending money for no good reason while at the same time annoying myself to death with shoddy security, and Overpriced Hardware & Software.
Best Troll ever.
Once again proving Headlines are not news. RTFA idiot.
Grainy Video from the floor plus pics and an examination of what Tata had to cut out to make the price.
http://www.cnet.com/8301-13544_1-9843713-35.html
2500 bucks and its yours!
Now I can see, my assumption was wrong.
By default, these file types are blocked because the parsing code that Office 2003 uses to open and save the file types is less secure. Therefore, opening and saving these file types may pose a risk to you.
It's actually staffed by incompetent coders and management.
Again, I apologize and have updated my reasons for the ban.
I report the story just like everybody else. I personally believe it. This is a forum for opinions, last time I checked. I have no "Alleged" opinions on this story. Anybody wanting to compete with Intel in a Windows-dominated world is pretty much stuck with incremental improvements on the x86 design. Linux runs fine on Intel, yes, but unlike Windows it also runs fine on ARM, PowerPC
Exactly, a Windows dominated world, Is it a stated goal of Intel's board to support? Seems to me every new Mac off the production line has a brand new spanking Intel processor in it. Not to mention that the AMD Geode processor used by the OLPC is x86 architecture not ARM, not PowerPC. If Intel wanted to compete, come forward with a cheaper chip. Intel contributes quite alot to the Linux world and it is strange you think they are frightened of it's adoption.
You make a great case for why Microsoft to be against the OLPC, but no real reason why Intel should.
I think that the prospect of flooding an emerging market with Brand X would generally be seen as a threat by the manufacturers of Brand Y. Don't you?
No not really. The threat in my eyes would be Brand Y in this case AMD, not OLPC. Best way to eliminate it. Better chip at a lower cost. Guess that wasn't as easy as stabbing your partner in the back. OLPC single handedly created this "emerging market".
Interesting Conversation.
I call BS. Intel "invented" the classmate PC after the fact. They were not undercut by some device just because it contained a competitors chip. They were frightened at the prospect.
A perfect example is the Peruvian case. Intel was asked for a proposal for secondary school Classmates. Instead they tried to supplant the primary school contract already signed to OLPC, through lies and distortions. IF Intel was interested in selling their revolutionary Classmate PC why didn't they, when they were in fact offered a single bid contract?
Yeah, but you miss the obvious point. The classmate PC predates Intel joining the foundation. Your point may be valid, if so, Why did Intel join?
At best to shut up Negroponte, at worst to gain Competitive advantage and sabotage OLPC efforts.
As for the rest of your comments. I'm glad that you have personally read all of the articles, double-checked the citations
As I mentioned previously, I wrote an article on this topic, unlike a slew of bloggers & new media Journalists, I actually do research. Did I speak with the Peruvian minister? No. Did I speak with Negroponte? No. Did Speak with Intel? No.
See they have these nifty little things called press conferences. Designed to give their point of view as much positive spin as possible. Read them. Come to your own conclusions. If you can come up with a reading of the 35 or so articles covering the events just on Thursday that show Intel acting in good faith, you need reading comprehension lessons. A preponderance of the evidence is all that I require, You see, I am not a judge, and the only court I am interested in is the court of public opinion. In that court Intel is Guilty PERIOD.
Still not convinced?, Go back and read a few of the Hundreds of articles covering the span of this saga. Here read the one linked on this page. http://www.classmatepc.com/ Its my favorite. Funny, they don't link to press accounts of them ditching OLPC.
Sorry, you don't think that millions of children in the developing world growing up using (and possibly learning to program) Linux on an AMD-powered system could be even a teensy-weensy threat to MS or Intel?
Ridiculous to say it threatens Intel. Those kids may be Linux kids, Linux doesn't run on Intel anymore? I suppose if we gave them all cell phones it would be a threat to Intel because they contained ARMs. Windows, F*ck em.
Millions of kids will be potential customers to both companies, where before they'd have been lucky to ever see a computer let alone grow up using them. Sounds beneficial to me. But If you look only at the short term, OMG we aren't selling those, I could see how you could delude yourself.
Look at it this way, If OLPC dies due to these two maniacal corporation' shenanigans. What are the odds that they will continue the effort to get these 3rd world countries into the 21st century. Yeah, exactly zero chance. The classmate PC is not a product, it is a blunt weapon used to kill the OLPC, and as soon as it becomes unnecessary Intel will drop it like a nuclear potato.
Lastly, Do I believe everything I read from the WSJ or BBC? Not necessarily, unless it is corroborated by company press releases, project PR, and 50 other reputable news sources. You have some reason for doubting this particular story, I'd love to hear it.
Not all open source video codecs are software patent pariahs.
Some companies really do want to change the world. A more educated prosperous 3rd world benefits us all. Sure maybe a 3rd world using linux doesn't help MS, but it doesn't preclude them from competing either.
In the eyes of MS and Intel, they can only prosper by continuing the dependence on their technologies and preventing anyone else's. Before this project neither had any interest in the target countries.
Now, I'm not condoning what Intel has (allegedly) done
Who is it you don't believe here, the Peruvian minister of education, the wall street journal, New York Times, BBC, or Professor Negroponte?
There is no alleged. The record is clear, before, during and after they joined the foundation. Intel has acted to sabotage the OLPC project from day one. They were promised to deliver a new XO prototype at CES this week, along with another 6 million in cash. Funny, 4 days before the event and right after OLPC recieved the notes from Peru they bolted.
The OLPC project is a massive threat to the Intel/Microsoft near-monopoly, and like it or not OLPC are going to have to raise their hardball game to make it work.
Nope, hardball is not required, Honesty is. OLPC threatens no one. Neither Microsoft nor Intel can afford to do what Negroponte proposes, at least according to them.
Expect to hear all the usual "Intel is a business" bullsh*t that always comes up.
What has to be remembered is that Google is a business, Red Hat is a business, News Corp is a business too, and yet none of them actively tried to sabotage the OLPC foundation they had contracted to be a part of. Somehow they can justify their participation to the stockholders, but Intel can't? Intel was acting competitively before they joined the OLPC foundation in July of last year. After that time they continued to do so, only now they had access to a lot more information about XO potential buyers. Their behavior was despicable and only further enforces my decision long ago to buy AMD processors exclusively.
Adding insult to injury, Intel holds a press conference call announcing the decision to split, without informing the OLPC board. Read through the stories from last Thursday. The olpc foundation had no response because they were shocked.
They recovered nicely in my view with this official response. http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Intel#INTEL_RESIGNS_FROM_OLPC
I hope Negroponte & company sues for breach of contract.
Following the old adage "Do it right the first time."
Oh that's right, I don't buy CDs anymore except direct from the artist at a show. The legal battles initiated by the "industry" have long ago convinced me this is the only ethically correct option.
Hey man, go out and get your own drugs. Relying on 14yr olds, Bogus, man, bogus.
I mean, I just can't have teenagers over here all the time. The neihbors man, the neihbors.
Clicked PopFly. Lovely pic of Bill!
Clicked random link on the page.
Output:
Well that is a first. Reccommending Firefox on an MS page. Progress!, unfortunately I am using Firefox ... on Debian.
Maybe after Miguel gets done pimping it for us nix users, I can behold the glory that is, nah I just can't finish it. Next!
Oh, and just in case that ad is rotated, here is the aforementioned pic of Bill. http://www.popfly.ms/ads/skyscraper/bdlc-skyscraper.jpg
Yeah, I kinda think Rupert has dibs on the Hearst Role in this remake.
From http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/features/item/Semi-Convergence_Can_you_have_your_cake_and_eat_it_with_the_Nokia_N800.php
It's not a phone. Can be used as a Voip Phone (Gtalk, Skype), but it's intended purpose is an Internet Tablet.Decisions, decisions.
Yeah, I'm gonna have to go Nokia on this one. $299.00 n800
The breakthrough here is giving the GameCube HomeBrew Scene access to the Wii's unique features (Motion Sensitive Controllers shown in video)
best line ever.
FreeQuake, is a singleplayer, story based? well sorry, pretty much shoot them first, but what, you needed a reason?