On 8/18/05, Louis Proyect <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Yoshie wrote: > >I had to install the latest Mac OS in order to install the latest > >Dreamweaver I needed for my MRZine editing. So I did. Mac OS Tiger > >came with a feature called Spotlight, which allows me to search for > >anything saved anywhere on my computer. Very neat. In my view, a > >Mac is better than a Windows machine -- if only Mac prices could > >compete with Windows prices. . . . > > There's a noticeable shift to Macs where I work. First of all, web > developers find that it is easier to deploy from one unix platform to > another since the directory structures are the same. Also, with unix you > can find stuff a lot easier. For example, finding the last five files that > you updated on a Wintel machine is next to impossible. With a Mac, I > understand that this is a lot easier.
---------------------------- Speaking of Windows, Bill Gates is once again fretting about a global shortage of geniuses and is morphing from a capitalist into a philosopher: <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/236999_gates18.html> Thursday, August 18, 2005 Microsoft chairman makes pitch for foreign workers By TODD BISHOP SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER Contrary to popular sentiment, a country can never have too many geniuses. That was one of the underlying messages from Bill Gates during an appearance before a national convention of state legislators Wednesday in Seattle. Microsoft's founder touched on subjects as diverse as technology, education reform -- and his desire to see the United States make it easier for top foreign technologists to work here. Gates recalled a time when Microsoft hired a wave of people from India to work in the United States. News reports there lamented the departure of so many brilliant people, he said, while those here bemoaned the arrival of workers perceived as competing with domestic talent. "It really can't be bad news in both countries," Gates said. "If we sent them back, was the U.S. going to say, 'Good news -- geniuses are gone?' " It was one of several moments of laughter during the opening session of the National Conference of State Legislatures in downtown Seattle, where Gates was interviewed onstage by University of Washington President Mark Emmert. About 7,000 legislators, policy experts and others are attending the conference this week. Despite the laughter, Gates' comments on foreign workers ventured into controversial territory. U.S. labor groups oppose efforts by high-tech employers to let more foreign nationals work in the country under special visas. If the business tactics revealed in Microsoft's antitrust cases have diminished Gates' standing among state leaders, it wasn't apparent from his reception at the event. In some respects, they were fawning. "I think he is, in a real sense, a philosopher of the modern world," said Virginia state Sen. John Edwards, a Democrat. He cited Gates' ability to draw connections among the areas he focuses on in his work and philanthropy, such as technology, health care and education. On the subject of education, Gates reiterated comments from earlier this year, when he told the nation's governors that America's high schools have become "obsolete." "The nature of global competition is that the work forces, particularly in China and India, are getting better educated," he said. Gates also touched on areas related to Microsoft. He stressed the importance of digitizing records and told the legislators they should share the best practices they've come up with in areas such as communicating with constituents. That resonated with Utah state Sen. Patrice Arent, a Democrat who doesn't have her own staff and struggles to keep up with a huge volume of e-mail messages from constituents and others. She said she'd be happy to hear any further suggestions from Gates on the subject -- even via e-mail. P-I reporter Todd Bishop can be reached at 206-448-8221 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
