Friend of mine got one of them Asus EEE with Linux. As you said it just had some very nice friendly buttons that said what they did and did just that. However it was also possible to go out of that menu system and access a proper desktop; which was again very familiar and user-friendly. Anyone needing easy portable access to a browser, email reader, word processor, calendar or such (like say students, teachers, and a range of business people) then they should be able to pick up a netbook running whatever OS is available and use it without any inconvenience.
Building a user-friendly system for providing the basic functions desired by the majority of people wanting a netbook is at this point rapidly becoming a non-issue.
I hate to say it but this might almost not work for a population the size of America. I know on a smaller scale (like in Hennepin County, Minnesota) they get useful ideas from the populace with very realistic goals.
I reckon part is that the system is new, and part that people have received little to no education in how to engage in the democratic process constructively. With education, social conditioning and wider usage I believe the quality of submissions would begin to increase. Hopefully people will start to demand from the educational system, and from themselves, a higher priority being given to understanding and engaging constructively in the system for those with the desire to do so. Perhaps if people could participate on a level they felt were satisfying the amount of frustration and anger in society could be reduced somewhat.
This is exactly what's wrong, here. Appelate judges (which include the associates of the Supreme Court) do not represent the people. They represent the Constitution. They look at existing laws and make sure that, when a case is brought before them, those laws are being applied in keeping with the Constitution.
I would argue that the perspective of the individual and beliefs of society in general has influenced the interpretation of the constitution since the very beginning. For good and bad. If people feel judges are not dealing in a way they feel is just then they must act upon that and speak up. If it turns out that the RIAA's right to make a nuisance of themselves is protected by the constitution and people still feel it is unjust then being a democracy they should engage in the democratic process.
Adding a speculation. As technology evolves and knowledge (guides, e-books, videos, forums etc) continue to proliferate I could become (and already is according to some musician mates of mine) easier for independent bands and musicians to gain access to people with the equipment and knowledge of how to record and mix music at a high level of quality. While such equipment is by no means cheap it is cheaper, and easier to get than it has been in the past. For those with the drive and ambition to push their own career forward, and at least a day job to pay for it, producing an album outside the domain of those associated with RIAA is possible.
My speculation would be that should a growing segment of the industry become autonomous, recording and distributing independently, then RIAA's mandate and position would become increasingly weakened. And thus their power to push for prosecution of their own potential customers would be much diminished.
I reckon RIAA and those persuaded by their arguments will continue to try to tighten their grip as much as they can wherever they can. Whether or not Sotomayor will decide in ways that favour RIAA or not is something I hesitate to speculate about. However if people want their government representatives and judges to understand their reservations about RIAA's way of doing business they have to continue to speak up; not only to protest but also to try and find solutions to the situation we are at now.
What should be the principles behind music and movie distribution? I for one would hope for something that those purchasing and creating such material would both find acceptable. Though it is hard for me to say what that would be. At the moment what we have are many reacting to what they see as negative trends, and some saying so in well argued ways, but as long as RIAA can claim even an inch of legitimate concern for the artists and their rights they will continue to resist reforms they cant adequately, in their eyes, influence.
The difference in means between the sexes, or any other groups into which people can conveniently be divided, is far smaller than the variances between individuals.
I agree. While genetic differences, between sexes and ethnic groups, could probably affect the body and physical development of the individual. I would argue that for the significant majority the main factors would be intellectual stimulation during the formative years, complimented by study, practice and dedication when it comes to their performance in all fields; including math.
He said that the sort of debate that often takes place in public forums is useless, because it grossly oversimplifies things.
To a large part this is undoubtedly true. However public forums (as internet forums) does carry the potential to accommodate good debate; if the coding side of the forums is designed and evolved to facilitate such. Of course the overall quality of the debate, the fading of trolls and flameposts, and the quality of the fact checking; all rely on the people posting. One could argue that one of the ideals of a good educational system should not only teach certain basic information about the world and various fields of study; but also impart the knowledge and desire for people to contribute, hopefully constructively, to a public debate about a wide range of issues of interest to a citizen of a democratic society. Good leaders requires vigilant citizens.
One of the reasons for this course of action is that the daughter of a Norwegian MP killed herself two hours after taking a Scientology test while studying in France.
The Church, which is located only meters from Ballo's dormitory, states that the results had shown Ballo was "depressed, irresponsible, hyper-critical and lacking in harmony." Family blames Scientology for daughter's death
Apparently she suffered from periods of depressions; the critical and negative response she received from CoS pushed her a bit too far. She was twenty years old.
This particular case combined with other reports have caused the Norwegian Government to take a stern look at the practices of CoS; and try to evaluate if their practices comply with the law.
If just losing editing rights is as bad as Nazi prosecution then by comparison other forms of prosecution must be like killing kittens with sledgehammers.
You can bet if our species was as fanatical about science as it is about religious bureaucracy we would be in a better world.
Or we would have wars over the "right" research subjects to focus on. Especially the wars between the Cybernetics and the Bio-Engineered would be fierce.
Bing goes 'beyond the traditional search engines to help you make faster, more informed decisions' by combining a 'great search engine' with organized results.
Organized Results as in "higher rating the more you pay us"?
Oh there are freaks most definitely. Punkers and goths among other things. However we were speaking of stereotype nerds, which I would say that they are not.:P
It may be a stereotype but if you walk into most comic book/anime stores and look around at the people in them, the vast majority will match up to the stereotype.
At my local comic book store (it also sells books; specfic, fantasy, horror etc, and board games) I rarely if ever see any of the TV stereotype nerds. Then again I live in Norway so I guess it might not apply here or something. The people I see down there when I go to shop are mostly "normal" people. Everything from teenagers to old people browsing books or comics; and yes there is a pretty even distribution of girls there to. That being said reading comics, specfic or etc, (or being a nerd for that matter) is pretty much a none issue here; i.e. read/do what you like to read/do the rest of the people don't give a fuck one way or the other.
Genetic engineering is a tool, or method, just like everything else really. It can be researched, documented, understood, and used responsibly, or it could be used irresponsibly and have unintended side effects. In my mind what many authors and futurists warns of is unchecked or unbalanced genetic engineering run rampant.
The thing to keep in mind is that advances within this field is coming, what is or isn't possible is still subject to a great deal of speculation; but our understanding, and our ability to change and manipulate is increasing. Forces within society might want to slow down what they see as an unhealthy development. But the problem is that whatever legislation some countries or regions might wish to implement to combat these developments is futile. Other countries will continue research either openly or covertly; and I think undoubtedly there are those already working covertly on things that might be considered a bit icky by many. If we enact reasonable laws, and allow controlled research to continue we might be able to maintain some control of the technology; at least for a few years or decades. But if the edge of this field is driven underground then I fear things could easily go out of control. However, this is also pure speculation since I can not say what will or won't be possible with genetic Engineering.
Speculating further I would reckon that removing genetic inherited conditions and learning disabilities will one of the first benefits, and one that will drive many to embrace this field. But one could argue that if it is possible to give people perfect night vision, or similar traits, then sooner or later someone somewhere will either be born with night vision or have night vision eyes crafted straight into their skulls. Of course, as I said, speculation; but time does not stop. If it is possible with the right understanding and technology then it will be done. That is my feeling regarding the subject at least. So my argument is; lets have objective debates about genetic engineering and make sure that the legislation that is implemented isn't from fear or prejudice; but from long term thinking and reflecting about a field of research that carries the potential to make all our lives infinity better, or infinity worse, or both at the same time.
I agree that should be the number one short-term goal for governments of the world. The only problem is, what do you do about issues like OOXML, which is a standard, and which MS supports in name, but which isn't actually supported by anyone? Gaming the standards system has become too easy and corrupting standards has no penalty.
I know I have posted something similar like this before. However I believe it bears repeating.
The Norwegian Government, in a moment of clarity, decided to embrace open standards. From January 1 2009 all departments, institutions, schools and public sites; should deliver and accept all documents that are ODF, PDF or HTML (which ever is appropriate for the information in question). This doesn't bare those sites and institutions from putting up, or accepting, Microsoft document formats; but at everything have to be there in Open Standards first and foremost.
Freedom without restraint is chaos, and if we don't figure out some way to prevent online chaos, the quantity, quality and availability of the kinds of entertainment, literature, art and scholarship we need to have a healthy, vibrant culture will suffer.'"
Yes I always felt that what my freedom has been lacking is a Person or group of semi-elected officials filtering what information and data I am allowed to access. I feel that the view spewed forth by the Article author is one that believes that some form of "culture" or "art" is better than other forms; and that a group within the state or economic system should filter and decide what is allowed and what isn't. I understand the fear and panic some that might come when you realize that your current distribution model for certain products is quickly going the way of the Dodo. But certain things are inevitable.
There is no doubt, or at least I hope, that there will arise a new system that will allow people to, in some way shape or form, pay those that produce literature, music or other forms of entertainment or art. But even so I expect those with a real interest in such to continue creating. If for nothing else then for the fact that most bands make most of their money of gigs and concerts (and some from merchandise). And I guarantee that regardless of how easy or how cheap it is to download; people want to see bands they like LIVE. And people don't mind paying for the privilege. However this is money that goes almost directly to the band (in many cases) and the Distributors don't get to leech of a significant cut like they do with record sales.
My point I guess is that some things will change, through technology and social changes, fighting them will only push people harder and further into groups that oppose an insistence upon holding on to ageing distribution models. As many bring in to these debates; Musicians are almost to a man holding their tongue in the arguments; simply because there are very few among them that want to sue or otherwise antagonize their own fans. There might be fans that download songs illegally; but if that person later goes to one of their concerts, buys one of their shirts, or even buy their albums when the person in question have the economic capacity to do so; then it is a net profit for the band. Even if it might be appear like a loss to their record label.
It's more that governments are slow to react to changes, and it is only in the last 5-10 years that open source software has entered the public consciousness/at all/.
Indeed. The people in government aren't the ones with the best oversight and understanding of technological issues. When computers started gaining wide adaptation those deciding upon what systems to use for state and government work tried to make the best choice from the options they had, or thought they had, available. Going with a system like Windows seemed to have been the safe choice, Microsoft making every effort on all fronts to make the deciders feel like that to I am sure. But for non-techsavy bureaucrats and politicians whatever "Open Source" interests groups might have existed at the time might as well have been speaking another language entirely.
These days some of those non-techsavy bureaucrats and politicians might still be there, but the amount and eloquence of those preaching for open standards is increasing. With the developments being made the alternative for a Government to find a system were they can oversee, change, adapt and maintain, the code themselves must be becoming lucrative. If this could be done for costs that are below what have to be paid for licences and service at the present time; then it seems almost inevitable.
Unfortunately, people tend to look down as anything not requiring a college education as lesser work.
I wonder if some of these people are the same people that are complaining that foreigners are coming over taking "American Jobs". Jobs that the educational system regards as inferior and that have a low social status. While perhaps not all jobs are equal; at least those providing maintenance of vital systems and vehicles should be provided with a serious educational alternative and not be treated like they are worth less than those with an academic degree. Being an electrician, for instance, might not be as "intellectually challenging", in the eyes of some, as taking a degree; but we need good electricians as much, or more, than your average university graduate.
The truly interesting number for most people is the consumer or home user market.
Actually for me the interesting number is the number of schools and educational institutions that have, or are, implementing Skolelinux or Debian-Edu. Because in a way that means students at a, sometimes, early age starts out using Linux through their education.
Skolelinux, or other Liunux based educational operating systems, might not be widely adapted in a major way; but there are a growing number of schools in, and a few outside, Europe using it at the moment. I'd say that anyone gaining familiarity with a Linux based system through years of basic and advanced education could, given time, contribute to a far higher marked share for Linux based home operating systems a few years down the line.
I think it can be argued that each candidate should stand or fall entirely on their own merit; not be shoved to the front and top of an established party structure.
As it appear at the moment the two main parties, the media, interest groups and others, all try to influence who is or can be elected. Idea is to let people decide freely who is the best candidate and certain systems has been implemented to facilitate this. These systems however has in turn been shaped by ideology (in one shape or another) and has now left the people of the United States with a structure that almost rigidly maintains the need for the two parties. But people should be able to get a broader selection of candidates. The broad cultural, social and economical differences means that the ideas held by the citizens themselves are far more nuanced than what is reflected by the electoral system. Or so is my belief. So do not argue against those that support Nader upon the grounds that they are "stealing" votes form a "legitimate candidate"; all candidates are legitimate; and once everyone realize this perhaps one could hope for better and fairer elections.
Get over it.. Who really needs users to identify which piece of their computer is broken?
Agreed. Seems to me to be an issue of someone being annoyed because other people don't think about the same things as the writer in the same way as the writer does. Yes "most people" only acquire as much computer jargon, knowledge and skills as their life and/or work requires them to.
Personally when it comes say Cellphones or Cars my grasp and jargon would probably be laughable to any mechanic or technician in the related field. I can probably say "the engine is broken"; but the engine of a car has many parts and those parts have names; names I don't know and cba do learn simply because I expect to get a qualified serviceman to fix any issue. Hell I could probably save a ton of money by learning how to service my own car. There are after all books, guides and videos pretty easily available these days; but I don'; because I choose not to prioritize my time that way. But I digress.
The thing I was supposed to post was simply this: "Why is this nonsense news?"
What about the sun, the mail and the express? Most of the 'news'papers in this country are full of pure bullshit. I think its the fact that the BBC provides a consistent quality that forces some media outlets to up their game (channel4, telegraph, guardian, etc).
I certainly won't disagree with that. I was more assailing the proposition that the reason the BBC is better at delivering quality than certain American, or others, providers was because of Socialism Vs Capitalism; a notion I reject. Personally I believe political ideas get implemented differently depending upon who, when and where; and that the general educational level, and general midset; of British Citizens is far more influencial regarding how they get their news than any Socialstic Vs Capitalistic argument.
Slashdot Mirror
Friend of mine got one of them Asus EEE with Linux. As you said it just had some very nice friendly buttons that said what they did and did just that. However it was also possible to go out of that menu system and access a proper desktop; which was again very familiar and user-friendly. Anyone needing easy portable access to a browser, email reader, word processor, calendar or such (like say students, teachers, and a range of business people) then they should be able to pick up a netbook running whatever OS is available and use it without any inconvenience.
Building a user-friendly system for providing the basic functions desired by the majority of people wanting a netbook is at this point rapidly becoming a non-issue.
I hate to say it but this might almost not work for a population the size of America. I know on a smaller scale (like in Hennepin County, Minnesota) they get useful ideas from the populace with very realistic goals.
I reckon part is that the system is new, and part that people have received little to no education in how to engage in the democratic process constructively. With education, social conditioning and wider usage I believe the quality of submissions would begin to increase. Hopefully people will start to demand from the educational system, and from themselves, a higher priority being given to understanding and engaging constructively in the system for those with the desire to do so. Perhaps if people could participate on a level they felt were satisfying the amount of frustration and anger in society could be reduced somewhat.
This is exactly what's wrong, here. Appelate judges (which include the associates of the Supreme Court) do not represent the people. They represent the Constitution. They look at existing laws and make sure that, when a case is brought before them, those laws are being applied in keeping with the Constitution.
I would argue that the perspective of the individual and beliefs of society in general has influenced the interpretation of the constitution since the very beginning. For good and bad. If people feel judges are not dealing in a way they feel is just then they must act upon that and speak up. If it turns out that the RIAA's right to make a nuisance of themselves is protected by the constitution and people still feel it is unjust then being a democracy they should engage in the democratic process.
Adding a speculation. As technology evolves and knowledge (guides, e-books, videos, forums etc) continue to proliferate I could become (and already is according to some musician mates of mine) easier for independent bands and musicians to gain access to people with the equipment and knowledge of how to record and mix music at a high level of quality. While such equipment is by no means cheap it is cheaper, and easier to get than it has been in the past. For those with the drive and ambition to push their own career forward, and at least a day job to pay for it, producing an album outside the domain of those associated with RIAA is possible.
My speculation would be that should a growing segment of the industry become autonomous, recording and distributing independently, then RIAA's mandate and position would become increasingly weakened. And thus their power to push for prosecution of their own potential customers would be much diminished.
I reckon RIAA and those persuaded by their arguments will continue to try to tighten their grip as much as they can wherever they can. Whether or not Sotomayor will decide in ways that favour RIAA or not is something I hesitate to speculate about. However if people want their government representatives and judges to understand their reservations about RIAA's way of doing business they have to continue to speak up; not only to protest but also to try and find solutions to the situation we are at now.
What should be the principles behind music and movie distribution? I for one would hope for something that those purchasing and creating such material would both find acceptable. Though it is hard for me to say what that would be. At the moment what we have are many reacting to what they see as negative trends, and some saying so in well argued ways, but as long as RIAA can claim even an inch of legitimate concern for the artists and their rights they will continue to resist reforms they cant adequately, in their eyes, influence.
The difference in means between the sexes, or any other groups into which people can conveniently be divided, is far smaller than the variances between individuals.
I agree. While genetic differences, between sexes and ethnic groups, could probably affect the body and physical development of the individual. I would argue that for the significant majority the main factors would be intellectual stimulation during the formative years, complimented by study, practice and dedication when it comes to their performance in all fields; including math.
He said that the sort of debate that often takes place in public forums is useless, because it grossly oversimplifies things.
To a large part this is undoubtedly true. However public forums (as internet forums) does carry the potential to accommodate good debate; if the coding side of the forums is designed and evolved to facilitate such. Of course the overall quality of the debate, the fading of trolls and flameposts, and the quality of the fact checking; all rely on the people posting. One could argue that one of the ideals of a good educational system should not only teach certain basic information about the world and various fields of study; but also impart the knowledge and desire for people to contribute, hopefully constructively, to a public debate about a wide range of issues of interest to a citizen of a democratic society. Good leaders requires vigilant citizens.
The Church, which is located only meters from Ballo's dormitory, states that the results had shown Ballo was "depressed, irresponsible, hyper-critical and lacking in harmony."
Family blames Scientology for daughter's death
Apparently she suffered from periods of depressions; the critical and negative response she received from CoS pushed her a bit too far. She was twenty years old.
This particular case combined with other reports have caused the Norwegian Government to take a stern look at the practices of CoS; and try to evaluate if their practices comply with the law.
If losing editing rights (on Wikipedia) from CoS IPs is akin to Nazi prosecution of Jews then I wonder what they say about "The Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services is considering prosecuting and banning some Scientology practices, in particular the use of the Scientology personality test to sell courses. State Secretary Rigmor Aasrud said that the activities in question might be prosecuted as fraud or as violations of existing healthcare regulations." Or for that matter the trials against them in France.
If just losing editing rights is as bad as Nazi prosecution then by comparison other forms of prosecution must be like killing kittens with sledgehammers.
You can bet if our species was as fanatical about science as it is about religious bureaucracy we would be in a better world.
Or we would have wars over the "right" research subjects to focus on. Especially the wars between the Cybernetics and the Bio-Engineered would be fierce.
Don't you have anything better to do?
You do realize that we are talking about The Sims players here.
Bing goes 'beyond the traditional search engines to help you make faster, more informed decisions' by combining a 'great search engine' with organized results.
Organized Results as in "higher rating the more you pay us"?
Oh there are freaks most definitely. Punkers and goths among other things. However we were speaking of stereotype nerds, which I would say that they are not. :P
It may be a stereotype but if you walk into most comic book/anime stores and look around at the people in them, the vast majority will match up to the stereotype.
At my local comic book store (it also sells books; specfic, fantasy, horror etc, and board games) I rarely if ever see any of the TV stereotype nerds. Then again I live in Norway so I guess it might not apply here or something. The people I see down there when I go to shop are mostly "normal" people. Everything from teenagers to old people browsing books or comics; and yes there is a pretty even distribution of girls there to. That being said reading comics, specfic or etc, (or being a nerd for that matter) is pretty much a none issue here; i.e. read/do what you like to read/do the rest of the people don't give a fuck one way or the other.
As a wise man once said, "Life is pain. Anyone who says differently is selling something."
Which is why I never listen to dealer(s); just give me the damn drugs already!
Genetic engineering is a tool, or method, just like everything else really. It can be researched, documented, understood, and used responsibly, or it could be used irresponsibly and have unintended side effects. In my mind what many authors and futurists warns of is unchecked or unbalanced genetic engineering run rampant.
The thing to keep in mind is that advances within this field is coming, what is or isn't possible is still subject to a great deal of speculation; but our understanding, and our ability to change and manipulate is increasing. Forces within society might want to slow down what they see as an unhealthy development. But the problem is that whatever legislation some countries or regions might wish to implement to combat these developments is futile. Other countries will continue research either openly or covertly; and I think undoubtedly there are those already working covertly on things that might be considered a bit icky by many. If we enact reasonable laws, and allow controlled research to continue we might be able to maintain some control of the technology; at least for a few years or decades. But if the edge of this field is driven underground then I fear things could easily go out of control. However, this is also pure speculation since I can not say what will or won't be possible with genetic Engineering.
Speculating further I would reckon that removing genetic inherited conditions and learning disabilities will one of the first benefits, and one that will drive many to embrace this field. But one could argue that if it is possible to give people perfect night vision, or similar traits, then sooner or later someone somewhere will either be born with night vision or have night vision eyes crafted straight into their skulls. Of course, as I said, speculation; but time does not stop. If it is possible with the right understanding and technology then it will be done. That is my feeling regarding the subject at least. So my argument is; lets have objective debates about genetic engineering and make sure that the legislation that is implemented isn't from fear or prejudice; but from long term thinking and reflecting about a field of research that carries the potential to make all our lives infinity better, or infinity worse, or both at the same time.
I agree that should be the number one short-term goal for governments of the world. The only problem is, what do you do about issues like OOXML, which is a standard, and which MS supports in name, but which isn't actually supported by anyone? Gaming the standards system has become too easy and corrupting standards has no penalty.
I know I have posted something similar like this before. However I believe it bears repeating.
The Norwegian Government, in a moment of clarity, decided to embrace open standards. From January 1 2009 all departments, institutions, schools and public sites; should deliver and accept all documents that are ODF, PDF or HTML (which ever is appropriate for the information in question). This doesn't bare those sites and institutions from putting up, or accepting, Microsoft document formats; but at everything have to be there in Open Standards first and foremost.
Freedom without restraint is chaos, and if we don't figure out some way to prevent online chaos, the quantity, quality and availability of the kinds of entertainment, literature, art and scholarship we need to have a healthy, vibrant culture will suffer.'"
Yes I always felt that what my freedom has been lacking is a Person or group of semi-elected officials filtering what information and data I am allowed to access. I feel that the view spewed forth by the Article author is one that believes that some form of "culture" or "art" is better than other forms; and that a group within the state or economic system should filter and decide what is allowed and what isn't. I understand the fear and panic some that might come when you realize that your current distribution model for certain products is quickly going the way of the Dodo. But certain things are inevitable.
There is no doubt, or at least I hope, that there will arise a new system that will allow people to, in some way shape or form, pay those that produce literature, music or other forms of entertainment or art. But even so I expect those with a real interest in such to continue creating. If for nothing else then for the fact that most bands make most of their money of gigs and concerts (and some from merchandise). And I guarantee that regardless of how easy or how cheap it is to download; people want to see bands they like LIVE. And people don't mind paying for the privilege. However this is money that goes almost directly to the band (in many cases) and the Distributors don't get to leech of a significant cut like they do with record sales.
My point I guess is that some things will change, through technology and social changes, fighting them will only push people harder and further into groups that oppose an insistence upon holding on to ageing distribution models. As many bring in to these debates; Musicians are almost to a man holding their tongue in the arguments; simply because there are very few among them that want to sue or otherwise antagonize their own fans. There might be fans that download songs illegally; but if that person later goes to one of their concerts, buys one of their shirts, or even buy their albums when the person in question have the economic capacity to do so; then it is a net profit for the band. Even if it might be appear like a loss to their record label.
It's more that governments are slow to react to changes, and it is only in the last 5-10 years that open source software has entered the public consciousness /at all/.
Indeed. The people in government aren't the ones with the best oversight and understanding of technological issues. When computers started gaining wide adaptation those deciding upon what systems to use for state and government work tried to make the best choice from the options they had, or thought they had, available. Going with a system like Windows seemed to have been the safe choice, Microsoft making every effort on all fronts to make the deciders feel like that to I am sure. But for non-techsavy bureaucrats and politicians whatever "Open Source" interests groups might have existed at the time might as well have been speaking another language entirely.
These days some of those non-techsavy bureaucrats and politicians might still be there, but the amount and eloquence of those preaching for open standards is increasing. With the developments being made the alternative for a Government to find a system were they can oversee, change, adapt and maintain, the code themselves must be becoming lucrative. If this could be done for costs that are below what have to be paid for licences and service at the present time; then it seems almost inevitable.
Unfortunately, people tend to look down as anything not requiring a college education as lesser work.
I wonder if some of these people are the same people that are complaining that foreigners are coming over taking "American Jobs". Jobs that the educational system regards as inferior and that have a low social status. While perhaps not all jobs are equal; at least those providing maintenance of vital systems and vehicles should be provided with a serious educational alternative and not be treated like they are worth less than those with an academic degree. Being an electrician, for instance, might not be as "intellectually challenging", in the eyes of some, as taking a degree; but we need good electricians as much, or more, than your average university graduate.
The truly interesting number for most people is the consumer or home user market.
Actually for me the interesting number is the number of schools and educational institutions that have, or are, implementing Skolelinux or Debian-Edu. Because in a way that means students at a, sometimes, early age starts out using Linux through their education.
Skolelinux, or other Liunux based educational operating systems, might not be widely adapted in a major way; but there are a growing number of schools in, and a few outside, Europe using it at the moment. I'd say that anyone gaining familiarity with a Linux based system through years of basic and advanced education could, given time, contribute to a far higher marked share for Linux based home operating systems a few years down the line.
I think it can be argued that each candidate should stand or fall entirely on their own merit; not be shoved to the front and top of an established party structure.
As it appear at the moment the two main parties, the media, interest groups and others, all try to influence who is or can be elected. Idea is to let people decide freely who is the best candidate and certain systems has been implemented to facilitate this. These systems however has in turn been shaped by ideology (in one shape or another) and has now left the people of the United States with a structure that almost rigidly maintains the need for the two parties. But people should be able to get a broader selection of candidates. The broad cultural, social and economical differences means that the ideas held by the citizens themselves are far more nuanced than what is reflected by the electoral system. Or so is my belief. So do not argue against those that support Nader upon the grounds that they are "stealing" votes form a "legitimate candidate"; all candidates are legitimate; and once everyone realize this perhaps one could hope for better and fairer elections.
Thu shall not commit spam.
Get over it.. Who really needs users to identify which piece of their computer is broken?
Agreed. Seems to me to be an issue of someone being annoyed because other people don't think about the same things as the writer in the same way as the writer does. Yes "most people" only acquire as much computer jargon, knowledge and skills as their life and/or work requires them to.
Personally when it comes say Cellphones or Cars my grasp and jargon would probably be laughable to any mechanic or technician in the related field. I can probably say "the engine is broken"; but the engine of a car has many parts and those parts have names; names I don't know and cba do learn simply because I expect to get a qualified serviceman to fix any issue. Hell I could probably save a ton of money by learning how to service my own car. There are after all books, guides and videos pretty easily available these days; but I don'; because I choose not to prioritize my time that way. But I digress.
The thing I was supposed to post was simply this: "Why is this nonsense news?"
What about the sun, the mail and the express? Most of the 'news'papers in this country are full of pure bullshit. I think its the fact that the BBC provides a consistent quality that forces some media outlets to up their game (channel4, telegraph, guardian, etc).
I certainly won't disagree with that. I was more assailing the proposition that the reason the BBC is better at delivering quality than certain American, or others, providers was because of Socialism Vs Capitalism; a notion I reject. Personally I believe political ideas get implemented differently depending upon who, when and where; and that the general educational level, and general midset; of British Citizens is far more influencial regarding how they get their news than any Socialstic Vs Capitalistic argument.