What do you know? It really is a telemarketer number. They don't leave a message, want you to call back, call if you are on the DNC list, and are an automobile warranty thing - from Texas, or so it seems. They have at least 17 complaints.
I figured it was some lady who mistakenly gave the AC her number but only wanted him to fix her computer and no, not like porn star computer fixing.;-)
Watching this series of exchanges has been like watching two retarded kids fight over which one gets to eat the red crayon.
No, that's not a compliment. Seriously, it's almost as if there's nothing between those two things. What's more amusing is that you mentioned science and reason above and neglected to consider probabilities and increased odds.
Seriously, fight over the purple crayon next. I hear that one tastes best.
Err... Hit up Google again. There's one more group of people on that list. I've been there - it might actually be for the best that they don't allow people to fuel their own vehicles. I don't want to totally spoil your Google search so I'll give you a hint. It's the Garden State. I'm not sure if they should even be allowed to own sharp steak knives.;-)
They say, right on the side of 'em and in big letters, do not leave pump unattended. It's people like you that make it so that I can't pump my own gas when I stop in New Jersey. They've got directions written right on them.
My geography is a little messed up but I suggest you try the Amazon. Not that I'd know anything about this, or anything. As of about a year ago, they were selling the non-C(something) cans. I looked it up at the time, I've since forgotten. It was like a year ago. I don't have enough brains to figure out how to use the new ones and I don't have enough hands to operate them when I do figure out how to use them.
I have two legal in-ground diesel tanks up at my home. Even above ground storage gets pretty well regulated but in-ground was a job and a half. The EPA doesn't take kindly to it even if you're by the book and an accident happens. I actually carry extra insurance just for that and the installation itself is insured by the installers for something like 12 more years. Hell, I don't even store much - just 2000 gallons. I understand the regulation gets even more strict with gasoline.
Err... In case you're curious as to why I'd have that much diesel, my home is in very rural, North Western, Maine. I basically consider and treat any mains electricity as backup these days. The longest they've gone without power, in that area and since I've been there, was 14 nights and 13 days. I like my creature comforts too much to not have a generator. Well, two generators.
I am of the opinion that knowing that information will not help them out much. Even if they knew Fareed's first and last names, even if they knew their history, even if they knew all there is to know about the man - they'd probably still be licking the window and munching on paint chips.
So you're saying that the economy did not function during that time frame? You're saying that "everything stopped" during the time of the Clipper Chip?
'Cause, I was there - I seem to remember it working.
Do not, of course, think that I'm suggesting we do so again. No, to do so again would be idiotic. I entirely agree that the government are the last people I'd trust with a master key.
I'm just not sure why you'd point to that and say it was a logical fallacy. 'Cause, well... Umm... I was there. The Clipper Chip was there. The economy still functioned and nothing really stopped. It was less than ideal, sure. But, it certainly wasn't stopped. I'm not actually sure why you'd point to it and indicate that it was. It wasn't that long ago. My memory's kind of bad (I do smoke some weed, after all). But, I don't remember everything stopping. I don't remember the economy stopping. I'd probably remember that.
Well, it's still encrypted - it's just very poorly encrypted and not really going to be effective for very long. Then the "bad guys" will only need to have one key. That doesn't make it not encrypted. Just like locking your suitcase with a TSA approved lock still means it's locked. It's just locked with a very weak lock that's trivial to open.
There's no magical definition for encryption that says it has to be good for it to be eligible to use the word. Not at all. Hell, we've even got phrases for varied types of encryption already.
What you said looks good and sure, it's pithy and everything. But no... Even if it's poorly encrypted, even if it's an absolutely stupid idea, even if it's one of the most ignorant things ever proposed - doesn't mean that it not encrypted. It's just not effectively encrypted like the TSA approved locked are not effectively locked. In fact, by some definition, nothing is ever secure. Ever. But, it's still entitled to the word. I even checked the definition at TFD before posting - I can link it if you want.
However, I'd like to take a minute to remind everyone that the word you're probably looking for is liberty. Even if they outlaw encryption, you're still free to use it. They'll just punish you. But, freedom is taken by force and with restraint and monitored. You are free. Cages take freedom, more or less. Rights and liberties are taken away much more readily.
An example of someone using the words properly? Give me liberty or give me death. You'll note, he didn't say give me freedom or give me death. One can even be not free and still retain some liberties.
I prefer to explain it this way: You're free to kill me. You are not at liberty to do so. If I try to kill you then you have the right to kill me. They're all intertwined but they're not necessarily interchangeable. Ideally, communication is clear so I try to make sure to use the more accurate words - with a bit more attention paid to that depending on the gravity of the situation.
A long time ago they were using phrases like, "User Friendly." (They weren't referencing licensing and rights.) They wanted a computer in ever home - and still do. Not just a dumb terminal but a full, multi-function, programmable computer. There are many who advocate for it - even to this day.
I've voiced, for many years, that there may be some unintended consequences. Sure, it looks good on paper but is it really going to end like people expected? I doubt it. Utopia is a rarity and that's why it's so valuable.
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change that part of the past - even if I could. (Even if I thought it would make things "better," I would not change it.) I'm grateful that the masses bought desktops. If they hadn't, we'd still be spending 12,000+ USD on a mid-range system with peripherals. Well, some of us still do spend that and more but we can get fairly decent setups for much, much lower. My laptop's kind of stupidly expensive but I was splurging and I like it. (It's a Titan X4K. Yeah, I decked it out with all the fixings. There's a 'configurator' on their site. Yes, yes I did add that... And that... Oh, and two of those.)
Anyhow, I imagine that if those people hadn't bought all those early Pentium boxes and kept doing so then the "mobile workstation" that I'm typing on right now might never have been developed or it would be a $50k device.
So, I'm grateful and there have been so many good things to come from it. I'm really excited to see where it goes. But, there are a number of consequences for those actions and one of them is the monetization of the web space, the subsequent abuses, the tracking of users, and the continued efforts to lock people into being with just a few large companies.
I've been turning back into a content creator instead of just a passive consumer and I'd not done anything in that arena since about 2007. It's actually hard to develop a decent site, using the now-standard tools, without relying on third party libraries and all that stuff. I finally compromised with myself and realized that the best I can realistically hope for, if I wanted what I wanted, was to either sit down and write *everything* myself or to accept that some third party sites would be called. I've kept them to a dull roar and, importantly to me, I've made sure that the site also works even if you block the third party content. It might not be as pretty, it might not be as quick, but you can do everything you want to (on the site) while blocking all third party scripts. That was important and I will not compromise on that.
But, wow... So much has changed. Holy crap. I was only "gone" from 2007 until the start of this year. I wasn't even 'gone" so much as I just didn't do anything. I still paid attention - somewhat. Still, it's like I'm a n00b or from a whole century ago. If you're in it, you might not notice how much it has moved and how quickly it has done so. Man, it's fast moving.
But yeah, it's a push. It's almost like a return to dumb terminals and mainframes. We've got supercomputers in our pockets and we want to compose documents on a web hosted version of Office? *sighs* It's almost like I'm on a different planet - but I did figure out how to enable it so that people can do that there. Should be fun.:D
I'm a fan of Opera which is basically built on Chromium but has all the nasties ripped out and a bunch of new stuff added. The Dev version has a built in (free) VPN and ad blocking. Those will trickle down to beta and then to stable. You can cheat and use a second extension (it doesn't eat resources really) that only comes up when you're at Google's Chrome site - then you can install and use both the Opera extensions and the Chrome extensions.
I am not invested in Opera. I've just been using them for... Hmm... Wow? 20+ years now? We used to have to pay for Opera or see ads. Seeing ads was not an option, so I paid. They were REALLY bad from about version 15 to 21 and became tolerable at 23 and usable at 25 and good at 28. They switched from Presto to WebKit. It's light, fast, feature-rich, and I have yet to find anything I wanted to do that can't be done.
I have found others who wanted tab stacking. It doesn't do that. Vivaldi does - I think you mentioned them above. Vivaldi isn't bad. I'm not a browser agnostic - I love my Opera. I'm just willing to use a better browser if one comes along and I do use different browsers for different tasks.
Have you seen what some of their employees do? Do they really need half of those people? Do they need dozens of evangelists? Does a non-profit need a director of diversity or whatever that title was that was brought up the other day? No - really. Do they need one of those? How much are these people making? It's a non-profit. They should be making a browser and, I guess, an email client. There. Done. They should be damned good versions, all told.
That said - try the "Aurora." It's their special dev build. It's not the dev tools - it's their special dev build. It's not even installed, I just load the binary from a folder. It even updates like that. I stuck some binaries around and made shortcuts and made an alias so that I can load it. Oh wow...
I've not been a fan of Firefox for years - but I've always tried to be supportive. Even my first paragraph is me being supportive. Whatever they're doing with the Aurora version? Do that. Stop with the crap. Stop with the social statements. Make a browser. Make it good. Done. They don't need evangelists, they're a non-profit browser company. They don't need diversity - they need skilled people who will do their job.
Seriously, write a browser and keep Thunderbird. Thunderbird and Aurora are the only two good things they have right now. Aurora, by the way, is awesome. The dev tools are great but it's still great as a browser. It is not my default but it's almost good enough to be my default.
Yeah, I did that. In fact, I kept Linux installed on a second partition for a dozen+ years. When asked (and you did not) I recommend against that dual boot thing. I dare say that, with more than a dozen years and as prolific as I write, I've examined this a lot. It is my experience that most people who do the dual booting thing do not actually convert and remain with Linux for any significant length of time. Which is okay, I'm not one to tell someone what OS to use. On the other hand, if you're interested in converting to the dark side, I've noticed most people do better at it when they go all gung-ho.
To give a bit of history... I came from Unix (more or less). Linux came out and I dicked around with it but I didn't really play with Linux until 1998 or so? It was about the time where I was comfortable with Windows at home and on some of the machines at the office. Everything else was usually from Sun.:) SunOS and Solaris were good to me and the hardware was fantastic but I'm trying to not digress too much.
Still, I liked the idea of Linux. I kept it installed on nearly every computer that I owned that had space. I preferred to put it on a second drive so often would buy (and still do) larger laptops for the express purpose of having a second drive bay. Yet, I didn't boot into it except to update it and try new things in it. Once in a while, I'd use if exclusively for a few months. Sometimes? I'd only use it for a day. Maybe even less - just long enough to break something and not feel like fixing it. Stuff like that.
During this time, with Linux installed on a 2nd drive or partition, I actually was awarded the MS MVP for more than a half-dozen years and in a variety of categories. I still had, even then, every intention to move to Linux. No... I didn't... I'd find something that looked interesting and I'd boot up a second machine or reboot the one I was on and boot to Linux. I'd get frustrated or bored and I'd just go back to Windows on the next boot. More often than not, I'd have broken something (which is actually how I learn) and then I'd just do a re-install or try a new distro and repeat the process - over a period of months, then years, then over a decade.
Then, in a fit of frustration, I realized what I had to do. How many files do you have stored that are cryptically named "setup.exe" or "install.zip?" How many copies of CCleaner.exe do you have? Do you even know what they are any more?
I was frustrated because I'm aging and, I swear, I can feel my brain plasticize. I wasn't learning anything new with Windows. Yes, it feels nice to have been recognized as an MVP and all that but that's not nearly as rewarding as it is to actually figure out something new and to learn something different. It's not as rewarding to know a bunch about the registry. What is rewarding is to figure out learning the ins-and-outs of something new. What is rewarding is finding new ways to approach problems and new ways to solve them. I was not learning anything new about Windows.
So, I guess you can say that I've used Linux for years but I've been a Linux user for only... Hmm... Just a couple or years now. I use Linux exclusively and I've gotta be going on a couple of years at it now. I do have a Windows phone, I guess that's not Linux but Android's not very much like a desktop Linux either. (I'm eagerly awaiting some reports on the new Ubuntu phone. I did pre-order a tablet. I should check on that.) I have pretty much used Linux exclusively on my home servers for much longer than that - but not on the desktop. It's not like I was a n00b coming into it or anything - but, still, there is much to learn even now.
Just delete everything. Save any personal documents. Wipe your drives. Burn all your Windows installs to the ground. Delete all those installers that you'll never need again. Then, no matter what, don't look back. Don't even install Windows in a VM. Screw it... Unless you have a compelling need, don't do it. That is, if you want to actually switch and stay switched. I h
I am a happy Linux user but I can't think of anything that I've ever done in Linux that I could not also accomplish in Windows. Some things are easier, some are harder. Meh, it's a trade-off and you get out of it what you put into it - with the Law of Diminishing Returns, of course. And yeah, you can swap out the Windows desktop and put a different one in. You just change out the explorer.exe process and you have a new desktop - there's some neat ones out there and I've played with making my own. (I presume that's still possible, I've not used Windows in a while.)
It's puzzling that people think that aspect would be a catastrophe. We're not trees. We can, you know, move. I've mentioned this before and they go on to tell me that it is expensive. Yeah? It's not like we have a choice in the matter and it's going to happen no matter how much shit we stuff in the air. No, really, it's going to happen and there's nothing we can do to stop it. All we can do is slow it down.
No, don't misinterpret that as me saying things I did not say. No, I don't think we should spew crap into the atmosphere at the rates we do and I've taken many steps to reduce my own emissions. It's just not a huge catastrophe if we accept that it's going to happen and start making preparations to move people as the water levels rise.
All these people running around like they're doing something meaningful would actually be doing something meaningful if they'd sponsor the moves for a few people at a time off some of the Pacific Ocean islands that only rise to a few feet above current levels. Yeah, it's great that they spent an extra twenty cents buying green power this month but they could just keep their old beater car and help some of them move.
They're around in Argentina and Peru that I know of. I have never used one. They're not entirely uncommon but they're not on every street corner. You see them in stores and clubs. I understand that there are some banks with them now but I am not able to confirm that at the moment. I'll send my son an email (he's still living in Peru) if you're really curious. I suspect Google knows about this - it is, after all, BTC and lots of people are interested in them. (I am not a member of those lots but I do sort of pay attention with bemusement.)
I'll bite. I shouldn't but, what the hell? I'm busy elsewhere so I may not even have to deal with any additional derp.
So... If I give you the benefit of doubt, will you actually listen? Science doesn't really work like that. First, you make an observation. Have you observed faster than light communication?
To put it into a bit different light, you aren't supposed to have to prove you're not guilty in a court of law. Not at all. The burden is on the State to prove that you're guilty. It's pretty much like that. Until you have an observation, you have nothing except conjecture. It's nice mental bubble gum but it's sure as hell not science - or even something worthy of formal debate.
What is "free market" about the cable industry? Those words have meaning. For the low price of a few cents, you can use the device you used to send that message for something else - like learning what those words mean. No matter where you put the quotes, there's no free market involved with the cable industry. At least not in the country where this is taking place, there isn't.
I did read the summary, but not the article - I am no heretic. What scares/saddens me is that it is a 21 billion dollar market. Americans are paying 21 billion dollars, per year, on just set-top rental fees. Really?
As for your prediction? People have been saying it for years. Laser discs were to shake up the industry as we know it. Dire warnings were given with Beta/VHS on the scene as everyone would just get their content on cassette and not watch on the air. Then it was the DVD. Then it was Netflix. Then it was Hulu+. Somewhere in there it was also piracy.
You might finally be right. It might happen though I don't know if there's a tipping point in the near future. I don't see a mass migration on the scale where I'd call it an avalanche or anything. I'm not really sure why they don't just make it easy for people to get their cable over their existent Internet connection. I kind of expect it to go that route, just some encrypted stream that you can grab. People seem happy enough to use cable for their internet connection so they're already sort of doing that. I figure that the bandwidth is adequate for that on DSL so I'm not sure why they don't take advantage of that market as well.
Actually, I think I did see something in my mail about getting television from my ISP. I don't actually watch much TV so I didn't look into it.
Which models should be the next question. Which model, singular, predicted those?
It's a bit disingenuous to point and say, "The models predicted it!" There have been quite a few models with varied degrees of accuracy. So, seeing as nobody asked... I will!
What model predicted those, made when, and to that degree of accuracy in all of those values? What percentages of the models made those same predictions? When did they make those predictions?
Do I *really* need the/s in there or is that not obvious? Sadly, there are people who think that it is so binary. Of course, there are people who are just as binary and at the opposing end of the spectrum. They both look good on paper, to some folks, but neither is really very good in reality.
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What do you know? It really is a telemarketer number. They don't leave a message, want you to call back, call if you are on the DNC list, and are an automobile warranty thing - from Texas, or so it seems. They have at least 17 complaints.
I figured it was some lady who mistakenly gave the AC her number but only wanted him to fix her computer and no, not like porn star computer fixing. ;-)
Watching this series of exchanges has been like watching two retarded kids fight over which one gets to eat the red crayon.
No, that's not a compliment. Seriously, it's almost as if there's nothing between those two things. What's more amusing is that you mentioned science and reason above and neglected to consider probabilities and increased odds.
Seriously, fight over the purple crayon next. I hear that one tastes best.
Err... Hit up Google again. There's one more group of people on that list. I've been there - it might actually be for the best that they don't allow people to fuel their own vehicles. I don't want to totally spoil your Google search so I'll give you a hint. It's the Garden State. I'm not sure if they should even be allowed to own sharp steak knives. ;-)
They say, right on the side of 'em and in big letters, do not leave pump unattended. It's people like you that make it so that I can't pump my own gas when I stop in New Jersey. They've got directions written right on them.
My geography is a little messed up but I suggest you try the Amazon. Not that I'd know anything about this, or anything. As of about a year ago, they were selling the non-C(something) cans. I looked it up at the time, I've since forgotten. It was like a year ago. I don't have enough brains to figure out how to use the new ones and I don't have enough hands to operate them when I do figure out how to use them.
I have two legal in-ground diesel tanks up at my home. Even above ground storage gets pretty well regulated but in-ground was a job and a half. The EPA doesn't take kindly to it even if you're by the book and an accident happens. I actually carry extra insurance just for that and the installation itself is insured by the installers for something like 12 more years. Hell, I don't even store much - just 2000 gallons. I understand the regulation gets even more strict with gasoline.
Err... In case you're curious as to why I'd have that much diesel, my home is in very rural, North Western, Maine. I basically consider and treat any mains electricity as backup these days. The longest they've gone without power, in that area and since I've been there, was 14 nights and 13 days. I like my creature comforts too much to not have a generator. Well, two generators.
I am of the opinion that knowing that information will not help them out much. Even if they knew Fareed's first and last names, even if they knew their history, even if they knew all there is to know about the man - they'd probably still be licking the window and munching on paint chips.
So you're saying that the economy did not function during that time frame? You're saying that "everything stopped" during the time of the Clipper Chip?
'Cause, I was there - I seem to remember it working.
Do not, of course, think that I'm suggesting we do so again. No, to do so again would be idiotic. I entirely agree that the government are the last people I'd trust with a master key.
I'm just not sure why you'd point to that and say it was a logical fallacy. 'Cause, well... Umm... I was there. The Clipper Chip was there. The economy still functioned and nothing really stopped. It was less than ideal, sure. But, it certainly wasn't stopped. I'm not actually sure why you'd point to it and indicate that it was. It wasn't that long ago. My memory's kind of bad (I do smoke some weed, after all). But, I don't remember everything stopping. I don't remember the economy stopping. I'd probably remember that.
Well, it's still encrypted - it's just very poorly encrypted and not really going to be effective for very long. Then the "bad guys" will only need to have one key. That doesn't make it not encrypted. Just like locking your suitcase with a TSA approved lock still means it's locked. It's just locked with a very weak lock that's trivial to open.
There's no magical definition for encryption that says it has to be good for it to be eligible to use the word. Not at all. Hell, we've even got phrases for varied types of encryption already.
What you said looks good and sure, it's pithy and everything. But no... Even if it's poorly encrypted, even if it's an absolutely stupid idea, even if it's one of the most ignorant things ever proposed - doesn't mean that it not encrypted. It's just not effectively encrypted like the TSA approved locked are not effectively locked. In fact, by some definition, nothing is ever secure. Ever. But, it's still entitled to the word. I even checked the definition at TFD before posting - I can link it if you want.
Or zealots.
However, I'd like to take a minute to remind everyone that the word you're probably looking for is liberty. Even if they outlaw encryption, you're still free to use it. They'll just punish you. But, freedom is taken by force and with restraint and monitored. You are free. Cages take freedom, more or less. Rights and liberties are taken away much more readily.
An example of someone using the words properly? Give me liberty or give me death. You'll note, he didn't say give me freedom or give me death. One can even be not free and still retain some liberties.
I prefer to explain it this way: You're free to kill me. You are not at liberty to do so. If I try to kill you then you have the right to kill me. They're all intertwined but they're not necessarily interchangeable. Ideally, communication is clear so I try to make sure to use the more accurate words - with a bit more attention paid to that depending on the gravity of the situation.
A long time ago they were using phrases like, "User Friendly." (They weren't referencing licensing and rights.) They wanted a computer in ever home - and still do. Not just a dumb terminal but a full, multi-function, programmable computer. There are many who advocate for it - even to this day.
I've voiced, for many years, that there may be some unintended consequences. Sure, it looks good on paper but is it really going to end like people expected? I doubt it. Utopia is a rarity and that's why it's so valuable.
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change that part of the past - even if I could. (Even if I thought it would make things "better," I would not change it.) I'm grateful that the masses bought desktops. If they hadn't, we'd still be spending 12,000+ USD on a mid-range system with peripherals. Well, some of us still do spend that and more but we can get fairly decent setups for much, much lower. My laptop's kind of stupidly expensive but I was splurging and I like it. (It's a Titan X4K. Yeah, I decked it out with all the fixings. There's a 'configurator' on their site. Yes, yes I did add that... And that... Oh, and two of those.)
Anyhow, I imagine that if those people hadn't bought all those early Pentium boxes and kept doing so then the "mobile workstation" that I'm typing on right now might never have been developed or it would be a $50k device.
So, I'm grateful and there have been so many good things to come from it. I'm really excited to see where it goes. But, there are a number of consequences for those actions and one of them is the monetization of the web space, the subsequent abuses, the tracking of users, and the continued efforts to lock people into being with just a few large companies.
I've been turning back into a content creator instead of just a passive consumer and I'd not done anything in that arena since about 2007. It's actually hard to develop a decent site, using the now-standard tools, without relying on third party libraries and all that stuff. I finally compromised with myself and realized that the best I can realistically hope for, if I wanted what I wanted, was to either sit down and write *everything* myself or to accept that some third party sites would be called. I've kept them to a dull roar and, importantly to me, I've made sure that the site also works even if you block the third party content. It might not be as pretty, it might not be as quick, but you can do everything you want to (on the site) while blocking all third party scripts. That was important and I will not compromise on that.
But, wow... So much has changed. Holy crap. I was only "gone" from 2007 until the start of this year. I wasn't even 'gone" so much as I just didn't do anything. I still paid attention - somewhat. Still, it's like I'm a n00b or from a whole century ago. If you're in it, you might not notice how much it has moved and how quickly it has done so. Man, it's fast moving.
But yeah, it's a push. It's almost like a return to dumb terminals and mainframes. We've got supercomputers in our pockets and we want to compose documents on a web hosted version of Office? *sighs* It's almost like I'm on a different planet - but I did figure out how to enable it so that people can do that there. Should be fun. :D
I'm a fan of Opera which is basically built on Chromium but has all the nasties ripped out and a bunch of new stuff added. The Dev version has a built in (free) VPN and ad blocking. Those will trickle down to beta and then to stable. You can cheat and use a second extension (it doesn't eat resources really) that only comes up when you're at Google's Chrome site - then you can install and use both the Opera extensions and the Chrome extensions.
I am not invested in Opera. I've just been using them for... Hmm... Wow? 20+ years now? We used to have to pay for Opera or see ads. Seeing ads was not an option, so I paid. They were REALLY bad from about version 15 to 21 and became tolerable at 23 and usable at 25 and good at 28. They switched from Presto to WebKit. It's light, fast, feature-rich, and I have yet to find anything I wanted to do that can't be done.
I have found others who wanted tab stacking. It doesn't do that. Vivaldi does - I think you mentioned them above. Vivaldi isn't bad. I'm not a browser agnostic - I love my Opera. I'm just willing to use a better browser if one comes along and I do use different browsers for different tasks.
Have you seen what some of their employees do? Do they really need half of those people? Do they need dozens of evangelists? Does a non-profit need a director of diversity or whatever that title was that was brought up the other day? No - really. Do they need one of those? How much are these people making? It's a non-profit. They should be making a browser and, I guess, an email client. There. Done. They should be damned good versions, all told.
That said - try the "Aurora." It's their special dev build. It's not the dev tools - it's their special dev build. It's not even installed, I just load the binary from a folder. It even updates like that. I stuck some binaries around and made shortcuts and made an alias so that I can load it. Oh wow...
I've not been a fan of Firefox for years - but I've always tried to be supportive. Even my first paragraph is me being supportive. Whatever they're doing with the Aurora version? Do that. Stop with the crap. Stop with the social statements. Make a browser. Make it good. Done. They don't need evangelists, they're a non-profit browser company. They don't need diversity - they need skilled people who will do their job.
Seriously, write a browser and keep Thunderbird. Thunderbird and Aurora are the only two good things they have right now. Aurora, by the way, is awesome. The dev tools are great but it's still great as a browser. It is not my default but it's almost good enough to be my default.
Yeah, I did that. In fact, I kept Linux installed on a second partition for a dozen+ years. When asked (and you did not) I recommend against that dual boot thing. I dare say that, with more than a dozen years and as prolific as I write, I've examined this a lot. It is my experience that most people who do the dual booting thing do not actually convert and remain with Linux for any significant length of time. Which is okay, I'm not one to tell someone what OS to use. On the other hand, if you're interested in converting to the dark side, I've noticed most people do better at it when they go all gung-ho.
To give a bit of history... I came from Unix (more or less). Linux came out and I dicked around with it but I didn't really play with Linux until 1998 or so? It was about the time where I was comfortable with Windows at home and on some of the machines at the office. Everything else was usually from Sun. :) SunOS and Solaris were good to me and the hardware was fantastic but I'm trying to not digress too much.
Still, I liked the idea of Linux. I kept it installed on nearly every computer that I owned that had space. I preferred to put it on a second drive so often would buy (and still do) larger laptops for the express purpose of having a second drive bay. Yet, I didn't boot into it except to update it and try new things in it. Once in a while, I'd use if exclusively for a few months. Sometimes? I'd only use it for a day. Maybe even less - just long enough to break something and not feel like fixing it. Stuff like that.
During this time, with Linux installed on a 2nd drive or partition, I actually was awarded the MS MVP for more than a half-dozen years and in a variety of categories. I still had, even then, every intention to move to Linux. No... I didn't... I'd find something that looked interesting and I'd boot up a second machine or reboot the one I was on and boot to Linux. I'd get frustrated or bored and I'd just go back to Windows on the next boot. More often than not, I'd have broken something (which is actually how I learn) and then I'd just do a re-install or try a new distro and repeat the process - over a period of months, then years, then over a decade.
Then, in a fit of frustration, I realized what I had to do. How many files do you have stored that are cryptically named "setup.exe" or "install.zip?" How many copies of CCleaner.exe do you have? Do you even know what they are any more?
I was frustrated because I'm aging and, I swear, I can feel my brain plasticize. I wasn't learning anything new with Windows. Yes, it feels nice to have been recognized as an MVP and all that but that's not nearly as rewarding as it is to actually figure out something new and to learn something different. It's not as rewarding to know a bunch about the registry. What is rewarding is to figure out learning the ins-and-outs of something new. What is rewarding is finding new ways to approach problems and new ways to solve them. I was not learning anything new about Windows.
So, I guess you can say that I've used Linux for years but I've been a Linux user for only... Hmm... Just a couple or years now. I use Linux exclusively and I've gotta be going on a couple of years at it now. I do have a Windows phone, I guess that's not Linux but Android's not very much like a desktop Linux either. (I'm eagerly awaiting some reports on the new Ubuntu phone. I did pre-order a tablet. I should check on that.) I have pretty much used Linux exclusively on my home servers for much longer than that - but not on the desktop. It's not like I was a n00b coming into it or anything - but, still, there is much to learn even now.
Just delete everything. Save any personal documents. Wipe your drives. Burn all your Windows installs to the ground. Delete all those installers that you'll never need again. Then, no matter what, don't look back. Don't even install Windows in a VM. Screw it... Unless you have a compelling need, don't do it. That is, if you want to actually switch and stay switched. I h
I am a happy Linux user but I can't think of anything that I've ever done in Linux that I could not also accomplish in Windows. Some things are easier, some are harder. Meh, it's a trade-off and you get out of it what you put into it - with the Law of Diminishing Returns, of course. And yeah, you can swap out the Windows desktop and put a different one in. You just change out the explorer.exe process and you have a new desktop - there's some neat ones out there and I've played with making my own. (I presume that's still possible, I've not used Windows in a while.)
It's puzzling that people think that aspect would be a catastrophe. We're not trees. We can, you know, move. I've mentioned this before and they go on to tell me that it is expensive. Yeah? It's not like we have a choice in the matter and it's going to happen no matter how much shit we stuff in the air. No, really, it's going to happen and there's nothing we can do to stop it. All we can do is slow it down.
No, don't misinterpret that as me saying things I did not say. No, I don't think we should spew crap into the atmosphere at the rates we do and I've taken many steps to reduce my own emissions. It's just not a huge catastrophe if we accept that it's going to happen and start making preparations to move people as the water levels rise.
All these people running around like they're doing something meaningful would actually be doing something meaningful if they'd sponsor the moves for a few people at a time off some of the Pacific Ocean islands that only rise to a few feet above current levels. Yeah, it's great that they spent an extra twenty cents buying green power this month but they could just keep their old beater car and help some of them move.
They're around in Argentina and Peru that I know of. I have never used one. They're not entirely uncommon but they're not on every street corner. You see them in stores and clubs. I understand that there are some banks with them now but I am not able to confirm that at the moment. I'll send my son an email (he's still living in Peru) if you're really curious. I suspect Google knows about this - it is, after all, BTC and lots of people are interested in them. (I am not a member of those lots but I do sort of pay attention with bemusement.)
I'll bite. I shouldn't but, what the hell? I'm busy elsewhere so I may not even have to deal with any additional derp.
So... If I give you the benefit of doubt, will you actually listen? Science doesn't really work like that. First, you make an observation. Have you observed faster than light communication?
To put it into a bit different light, you aren't supposed to have to prove you're not guilty in a court of law. Not at all. The burden is on the State to prove that you're guilty. It's pretty much like that. Until you have an observation, you have nothing except conjecture. It's nice mental bubble gum but it's sure as hell not science - or even something worthy of formal debate.
Sure but you hadn't observed. Once you observed it, you locked it into that state. By extension, that post they made? That's *your* fault.
What is "free market" about the cable industry? Those words have meaning. For the low price of a few cents, you can use the device you used to send that message for something else - like learning what those words mean. No matter where you put the quotes, there's no free market involved with the cable industry. At least not in the country where this is taking place, there isn't.
I did read the summary, but not the article - I am no heretic. What scares/saddens me is that it is a 21 billion dollar market. Americans are paying 21 billion dollars, per year, on just set-top rental fees. Really?
As for your prediction? People have been saying it for years. Laser discs were to shake up the industry as we know it. Dire warnings were given with Beta/VHS on the scene as everyone would just get their content on cassette and not watch on the air. Then it was the DVD. Then it was Netflix. Then it was Hulu+. Somewhere in there it was also piracy.
You might finally be right. It might happen though I don't know if there's a tipping point in the near future. I don't see a mass migration on the scale where I'd call it an avalanche or anything. I'm not really sure why they don't just make it easy for people to get their cable over their existent Internet connection. I kind of expect it to go that route, just some encrypted stream that you can grab. People seem happy enough to use cable for their internet connection so they're already sort of doing that. I figure that the bandwidth is adequate for that on DSL so I'm not sure why they don't take advantage of that market as well.
Actually, I think I did see something in my mail about getting television from my ISP. I don't actually watch much TV so I didn't look into it.
You're going to be in for a shock when you learn about there being people working in the construction field all over the world. ;-)
Which models should be the next question. Which model, singular, predicted those?
It's a bit disingenuous to point and say, "The models predicted it!" There have been quite a few models with varied degrees of accuracy. So, seeing as nobody asked... I will!
What model predicted those, made when, and to that degree of accuracy in all of those values? What percentages of the models made those same predictions? When did they make those predictions?
> profits first, people last.
Which is just the way it should be!
Do I *really* need the /s in there or is that not obvious? Sadly, there are people who think that it is so binary. Of course, there are people who are just as binary and at the opposing end of the spectrum. They both look good on paper, to some folks, but neither is really very good in reality.
Wait until they find out that the EFF, ACLU, Linux Foundation, FSF, and the BSD one (whose name escapes me right now) are all corporations.