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User: World.Pop(MPAA)

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  1. Depends on the Quality of the Book on What Can I Do About Book Pirates? · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'll admit, I've downloaded some ebooks in my lifetime. Half of them I don't read, and the ones I find indispensable, I buy because I prefer a hard copy rather than an ebook (also, I don't have to tote something electronic to read them). Admittedly, sometimes I download a book to see if it worth purchasing. I doubt many people will print the ebook and carry it around with them. I don't think coworkers in the software industry would applaud your thriftiness, especially since so many are authors themselves.

    So to prevent theft, I would make sure your book is jam-packed with as much relevant information as possible. Make it more reference-like; full of code snippets and tables of commonly used functions, and strategically place this information: eg in the appendixes [that way we don't have to go looking for them].

    I think most people that will actually a buy book, but also sometimes download pirated ebooks, will reward you for your efforts if the book was worth it. Take it from me, I have.

  2. Re:Yea, why the fuck not? on Do We Really Need a National Climate Service? · · Score: 1

    Agree on both accounts. I still believe we should have some sort of disability program, but people with health issues like obesity (lung cancer for smokers) should not be able to receive aid. If you caused the disability through prolonged stupidity, you deserve the consequences.

  3. Re:no brainer on Should the US Go Offensive In Cyberwarfare? · · Score: 1

    Don't be a hippy. Those projections came after the observed casualties on Iwo Jima and Okinawa, where KIA and WIA resulted in over 200,000 on both sides. The Japanese people were so relentless in the defense of Okinawa that there were reported cases of old women attacking GI's with pitchforks. The problem is, people who criticize the use of the Atomic bomb really have no sense of history. You forget the Japanese were just as vicious as the Nazi's in there campaign of conquest against the Pacific Rim. They pioneered biological weapons which were tested on Chinese in Manchuria. By the way, you say the decision was simply a political decision, but I will remind you that Truman didn't even know the weapon existed until weeks after assuming office. I don't know what country your from, but I hope to god you are not American or a country liberated by the Allies during World War II. We, Americans, have done some terrible things in our time, but I will absolutely not include anything during WWII other than the "Japanese Internment" to that list.

  4. Re:"Just like the atomic bomb" on Should the US Go Offensive In Cyberwarfare? · · Score: 1

    And yet we capitulate to North Korea's demands every 3 months or so.

  5. Re:no brainer on Should the US Go Offensive In Cyberwarfare? · · Score: 1

    Dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki certainly forced Japan to surrender. Keep in mind that it also saved millions of Japanese and American lives that would have been lost in an invasion.

  6. Re:no brainer on Should the US Go Offensive In Cyberwarfare? · · Score: 1

    Thank you. Someone in this forum that understands it's warfare and not a tree-hugging session.

  7. Re:putting vital systems on the Internet on Should the US Go Offensive In Cyberwarfare? · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Killing the internet to the hospitals might result in better service (less staff MySpacing and Facebooking while the emergency room's full).

  8. Re:no brainer on Should the US Go Offensive In Cyberwarfare? · · Score: 1

    Yes. War is a matter of escalation. The faster and harder we respond, the more likely the outcome will favor us and not the attacker. What would you rather us do, send Hilary Clinton in to resolve the matter? No, destroy their information infrastructure and surgically destroy their military assets.

  9. Re:what the US should do on Should the US Go Offensive In Cyberwarfare? · · Score: 5, Funny

    CLI baby. Go back to X windows from a command line. if the user doesnt want to do anything but what they have to on the computer, they won't be doing things that they shouldn't.

    I think that's the most retarded comment of the day.

  10. Re:what the US should do on Should the US Go Offensive In Cyberwarfare? · · Score: 1

    And *forced* to download malware? When was the last time you heard of a cyber thug holding a gun to someone's head, demanding they install their program, or else!?

    Microsoft pushed the ClickOnce .NET support addon to Mozilla browsers without even asking users. Some might consider this malware.

  11. Re:For the Masses? right.... on $150 Linux Laptop for the Masses · · Score: 1

    My Ubuntu machine was really cheap. $1000 for Intel Core 2 Duo 2.13 Ghz, 2GB of RAM, 250 GB SATA Hard Drive, NVidia GeForce 7300 SE (which I guess is alright, but considering I bought it to do server work, it's fine by me), and a 20" LCD with screen res of 1440x900. Really nice. I usually build my own PC, but I wanted to ensure hardware compatibility out of the box.

  12. WTF on Do "Illegal" Codecs Actually Scare Linux Users? · · Score: 1

    I'm sorry if I'm out of place, but this guy is a complete douchebag. WTF? Scared of using codecs of a legally sensitive nature? F#ck This Guy!

  13. Re:For the Masses? right.... on $150 Linux Laptop for the Masses · · Score: 1

    Assuming you want to go through all the trouble of getting your drivers to work considering half the hardware is made for Windows (and often doesn't work well anyway). I'm just getting into Linux, so I have to admit that it really is quite attractive to buy a system with the OS preinstalled. This way, I'm guaranteed it's going to work (or I have recourse to take it back).

    I should mention that I bought a Ubuntu Desktop from Dell about 3 months ago. All I can say is that I love it 30 times more than my XP rig. I hate it when Linux users act "high and mighty" about the inferiority of PC users' skills. Sure, many of us may not be able to configure a Linux machine, but that's not to say that we're not experienced programmers, database administrators, etc. Please show me the Master of All Things computer who can do anything in every environment! I think Linux would be a little more attractive if there wasn't that 10% of Linux users with the bad attitude.

    To the rest of the caring Linux patrons (THANK YOU SO MUCH!) Especially the members of the Ubuntu forums.

  14. Re:Wasted chance on Fox News' FTP Password Anyone? · · Score: 1

    Absolutely not! One of the best tools we have to stopping proliferation is saying the USA will use its arsenal as a deterrent force so those countries will not need their own. That is why most European countries do not have their own nuclear weapons program, because during the Cold War we used our arsenal to extend the MAD principle to protect them.

    MAD doesn't work! Look at all the problems we're having now trying to put up a Ballistic Missile Defense! The Russians are pissed because they are afraid it will be used as a counter to their arsenal. It makes more sense to at least decommission out own nuclear arsenal (or reduce to about 500 warheads) than it does to keep however many online (last time I checked, around 8,000). Recycle the nuclear material; we could be start and follow France's lead by using Breeder reactors. We have an energy crisis on our hands as it stands.

    Furthermore, I concede the 9-11 hijackers weren't Shiite. But look at the consequences of our war in Iraq. We've lit a match under the power keg that is the middle east. If you think Iraq is a better place because of us, take a little trip through Nasiriyah, Hillah, Fallujah, Ramadi, Amariyah-Ferris; I think you'll find people will admit they were safer under Saddam's regime than ours.
  15. Re:Wasted chance on Fox News' FTP Password Anyone? · · Score: 1

    I even heard Iran and North Korea had them too! You know what's even crazier???? None of the 9-11 hijackers had any connection to Iraq, and Saddam didn't care for radical Shiite Islamic Fundamentalism! Why is it only certain countries have the explicit right to own/maintain WMD? If America wants to encourage countries not to proliferate, would it not make sense to disband our own arsenal? Who are we going to use it on anyway?

  16. Re:So? on Harry Potter Leaked Via Handheld Camera · · Score: 1

    I only wish...

  17. Re:Sniff, sniff... on NZ Outfit Dumps Open Office For MS Office · · Score: 1

    I agree with you, about the literacy issue, but if a company feels like it must change suites (god knows why) then it's personnel should be able to adapt. I think there's something to be said about a "sink or swim" environment where you either learn how to use the software or lose your job. I don't think learning how to functionally use OpenOffice is unreasonable (successful companies need people who can adapt to the rate of technological change). Perhaps switching to OpenOffice could be more of a test of employee resourcefulness than anything else.

  18. Re:Sniff, sniff... on NZ Outfit Dumps Open Office For MS Office · · Score: 1

    But the contention that we're assuming is that we would have to convert MSO documents to whatever OpenOffice implementation. If the whole company's using the software, this shouldn't be an issue.

  19. Re:Sniff, sniff... on NZ Outfit Dumps Open Office For MS Office · · Score: 1

    I understand what you're trying to say, but OpenOffice offers relatively the same functionality. It also includes some applications that conceptually don't exist in the Office Suite like the Math-formula application. And while OpenOffice isn't as sophisticated as MSO it does have ODBC support and is including the functionality to import macros from Office VB.

  20. Incompatibility Issues? on NZ Outfit Dumps Open Office For MS Office · · Score: 1

    What was the company doing that caused them to have incompatibility issues? Hell, all that had to do was request that employee's download a copy of OpenOffice at home so they don't run into these issues. Also, I hate this bull crap about "training issues". When did people become so lazy that they couldn't tinker around with a program (which is not very dissimilar to the Office Suite) to figure out how to work it? Not to mention the wealth of free documentation available for the applications. Sounds like someone high up didn't want to put the effort in to make it work...

  21. Re:Being a non-Scientist on Dark Energy May Lurk In Hidden Dimensions · · Score: 1

    Thank you for this well described reply. I'm surprised publications try to make it out to be more of a controversy than it really is. In the meantime, I think I have a heck of a lot more reading to catch up on.

  22. Re:Being a non-Scientist on Dark Energy May Lurk In Hidden Dimensions · · Score: 1

    I mean MOND, String Theory, and Dark Matter. Believe me, I'm not trying to be argumentative; it's obvious that there are a lot of very well informed people on this thread (who have comprehensions of this subject waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay past mine). I'm speaking from what I read in Discovery or Pop Science...I merely give my point of view as an outsider that whenever this subject is covered, it seems even more contentious than global warming. So as a physics n00b, I will put the question to the forum:

    What is the relative percentage of scientists (in related fields) that believe in string theory compared to its alternatives?

  23. Re:Being a non-Scientist on Dark Energy May Lurk In Hidden Dimensions · · Score: 1

    As I said, "Non-Scientist". What I'm trying to get at is that reading the exorbitant amount of literature pushed to the masses for both of these theories, it seems as if there's absolutely no consensus one way or the other.

  24. Great try before you buy software... on Warning On Office 2007 "Try-Before-You-Buy" · · Score: 1

    I've heard of this great "try before you buy" software called Azureus. You can download what ever you want: Office 2007, Windows Vista, etc. The great part is, if you like it, you can keep it for free!

  25. Being a non-Scientist on Dark Energy May Lurk In Hidden Dimensions · · Score: 1

    Having absolutely no background in science I have no weight one way or the other on these issues. I just wanted to mention that it seems utterly ridiculous that every time something doesn't fit into the model of physics someone's trying to push, they try to "invent" something completely new to save their theory. IE: dark matter, dark energy, string theory, etc. I think that's why we've seen theories like MOND become more popular. It's simple and seems to work. When string theory fail, people add more strings! Of course, simple does not mean it's scientifically accurate and for all we know, string theory may be the "true theory". My point is we need to stop pushing stories that aggrandize theories until some serious research has been done on the issue.