Re: Week 1 NFL Picks
At 06:45 AM Thursday 9/7/2006, John D. Giorgis wrote: O.k. time for another season From Science News Online: Does Defense Win Championships? http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060909/mathtrek.asp -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: unholy OS wars
On 7 Sep 2006 at 20:04, Gibson Jonathan wrote:
As an artist hovering around the computer industry since High School I
find it amazing that AndrewC initially claims to be a non-expert, yet
sells computers he regularly builds. Andrew, you undercut yourself on
Go back and actually read it. What I said is I'm not a technophile. I
don't get caught up in the wow factor, the tech for the sake of
itself. What the tech does, the end result, is all I'm interested in.
That I'm fully conversant with how to handle the tech relates to the
fact that it's a useful skill which I've maintained because it's seen
of value - I frequently do simple stuff like driver changes at work
for the less technically inclined when the IT department as too busy.
It's years since I was a professional coomputer tech. I design games
these days.
how else does one troubleshoot? I do not understand what is gained
from such a pre-loaded frame on the conversation. That you bluster
with rudeness and intended insults reveals an arrogance I find
irresistible - where's my pile of throwing rocks and favorite sling?
As you couldn't even be bothered to properly read what I wrote, and
have put your own ignorant misunderstandings forwards purely so that
you could bash me, bluntly I'd of prefered it if you'rd of stayed
busy. And personally I prefer an axe.
My initial emotions fade into bemused humor and assume you simply had
too much caffeine - or too many pints - at the time this was written
since your tone has moderated over time. Others have rebutted this
enough in detail, so I'll try keeping mine somewhere around the 50,000
ft altitude.
You are so far the ONLY other person to support the comparison of
hardware lifetime vs time connected to the internet before you catch
nastyware.
It is evident to even my technophobic mother that these are not the
same thing.
know appreciate the differences. Been there, done both. For reasons
of aesthetics {from OS architecture to casing product design} I've been
much more interested in the Apple-thang than anything else I've come
across from the very beginning. The Mac literally drew me away from a
And I couldn't care less about the aesthetics of the case, for
example. My current PC's best features are not that it's blue and
grey, but that the power button is on the top front and that it has a
carry handle on top.
that irked so many, myself included. For instance, do you really care
if your iPod Nano isn't expandable {yet}? Damn things even look a tad
I don't have a MP3 player. There's nothing wrong with my minidisk
recorder (which I was given ages back for recording lectures in
University, since I'm dyslexic) for listening to music on the go.
Ask your
mother writing letters, sister ripping CD's, or cousin working at the
car repair what machine perks their interest and more often than not
they point at a Mac
The asethetics have zero to do with function. Sure, most PC cases are
ugly. It's a case. I really could't care less on the topic.
In reality you, Andrew, are heir to the mainframe and mini support
class of technicians who migrated out of the air conditioned
I'm a games designer. To quote an overused phrase, The medium is not
the message.
You're heir to the entire technophile snob legacy, the entire It
looks good so it must be superior class who are either gamers who go
for the PC with the blue LED's or the non-gamers who go for Mac's.
employed and users grateful to get them running, again. Macs simply
didn't require such overhead, and still don't - relatively speaking.
'Course not, you can support more 'NIX-based computers than you can
Windows with the same staff. Been known for ages. There's nothing
magical about Apple in that respect.
Even under the old Mac OS it was rare I had to do a fresh install {even
as a developer} and since the advent of OS X it's even better as I've
only installed from discs when Apple issues a major upgrade - about
once a year.
So more frequently than I'm forced to reach for the Windows disks
then (24-30 months).
I am writing on a G4/500 mHz machine that certainly feels
it's age when I look at minimal reqs for current games, but I bought
this and the original Cinema Display in 2000 and expect to hand both
down to my son soon for yet more life. Similarly I have almost all my
I have a Fujitsu Stylistic 1200, a P120. Oh sure, it's a pad-style PC
which I used to take notes in university in electronic form using a
scratchpad-app, but still.
My parents use my last PC, and will get the guts of this time the
next time I upgrade.
original machines and they still run fine - I keep them around to run
projects that I worked on that couldn't migrate to modern systems since
I have a resume/portfolio to protect - but they all are useful even if
they use more wattage {especially screens} than current gear.
Shrug, anything old I can generally boot to Linux and run, if it
won't work under windows. Don't need to keep old
Re: Trusted minister who fleeced his flock
Corrupt people abuse power and authority no matter where they get it. You can find corrupt individuals in any type of organization: police, corporations, sports, prisons, even Mac users. Why are you cherry picking the corruption found in religious organizations? You're not proving your case, or at least you're proving a different case than the one you seem to be trying to make. - Original Message From: William T Goodall [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Brin-L brin-l@mccmedia.com Sent: Friday, September 8, 2006 8:21:48 PM Subject: Trusted minister who fleeced his flock http://tinyurl.com/r22k8 By Nick Britten (Filed: 09/09/2006) A church minister who befriended elderly parishioners before forging documents to inherit their property and possessions was given 240 hours community service yesterday. Tony Craggs appeared the caring and enthusiastic minister the village of Charlesworth had been crying out for. But behind the scenes he plotted to steal hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of property by ingratiating himself with his parishioners, waiting until they were close to death and signing their properties over to himself. He was caught when one of them, Margaret Shaw, made an unexpected recovery after suffering a stroke and a brain haemorrhage. When she returned home from hospital, where Craggs, 43, had given her the last rites, she found he had forged her will, leaving her house to him. Another spinster, Lillian Radcliffe, refused to allow Craggs near her home after she suspected what he was up to but, after she died, he appeared with documents giving himself power of attorney and possession of her house. Last night Miss Shaw said she was appalled that Craggs had not been sent to jail. I wanted him to serve a prison sentence. I can't believe he's been let off, she said. After what he's put me through, it isn't fair. Birds of a feather Maru -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ Theists cannot be trusted as they believe that right and wrong are the arbitrary proclamations of invisible demons. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
BYU places '9/11 truth' professor on paid leave
Brigham Young University placed physics professor Steven Jones on paid leave Thursday while it reviews his involvement in the so-called 9/11 truth movement that accuses unnamed government agencies of orchestrating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. [...] BYU has repeatedly said that it does not endorse assertions made by individual faculty, the statement said. We are, however, concerned about the increasingly speculative and accusatory nature of these statements by Dr. Jones. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,645199800,00.html ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: unholy OS wars
At 10:04 PM Thursday 9/7/2006, Gibson Jonathan wrote: - Jonathan Real Men Don't Use Backspace Keys Gibson - So you blindly rely on the good graces of the spell checker? -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Morality
At 11:23 AM Friday 9/8/2006, Horn, John wrote:
On Behalf Of William T Goodall
Agnosticism : ~Believe {God(s) exist} is true Atheism :
Believe {God(s) exist} is ~true
Which are equivalent in a two-valued logic system.
Am I the only one who read this and thought, huh? Can you parse
that out for me...?
~ is a logical NOT, if that helps.
-- Ronn! :)
___
http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Keep Propaganda Off The Airwaves
At 02:55 PM Friday 9/8/2006, Dave Land wrote: On Sep 8, 2006, at 6:45 AM, jdiebremse wrote: --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], Nick Arnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, The ABC television network -- a cog in the Walt Disney empire -- And of course, I'd be curious how many letters you wrote to movie theatres to get them to keep Farenheit 911* off the screens I know you're asking Nick, but since his message followed mine on the same topic by just minutes, I'll respond here. I wrote no messages to any theaters about it, because I happen to agree with the thrust of F:911. [...] If there was a political point to be made by teaching kids that 2+2=3, it would be no different to me: lies are lies, and teaching kids lies as history is the beginning of the end. Dave IOW, if I agree with it, it is the TRUTH. If I don't agree with it, it is LIES. ;) Works For Me??? Maru -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Soldiers Die, CEOs Prosper
At 11:39 AM Friday 9/8/2006, Nick Arnett wrote: On 9/8/06, Alberto Monteiro [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Nick Arnett quoted: (...) researchers will inevitably say that the body count has crossed 100,000. All of this madness to stop a madman, Saddam Hussein. I think it's a small price to pay for the removal of a tyrant. What is the body count of a tyranny? Argentina's military dictatorship of the 70s had a body count like that. And Iraq is so much better off now? Anyway, the point of the editorial is about the profits, not the body count. War is a racket -- Major General Smedley Butler. And it just keeps getting worse. War is good business. -- General Bull Wright (Dan Rowan). -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: unholy OS wars
At 03:48 AM Friday 9/8/2006, Andrew Crystall wrote: You're heir to the entire technophile snob legacy, the entire It looks good so it must be superior class who are either gamers who go for the PC with the blue LED's or the non-gamers who go for Mac's. Personally, I am rather tired of blue LEDs used as indicator lights. They're too darned bright. I have put masking tape over some of them (others I have been able to turn the other way) so they aren't so bright. Though their excess short-wave emission does bring back memories of the 60s when it hits anything with day-glo or gitd pigment . . . Red Light Preserves Night Vision Maru -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Morality of Killing Babies
At 04:28 PM Friday 9/8/2006, Matt Grimaldi wrote: I'll stop by Joe's Artificial Organ and Taco Stand on the way. I think I've eaten there. Or at least somewhere that got their food from there . . . Barf Maru -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: unholy OS wars
On 9 Sep 2006, at 10:21AM, Ronn!Blankenship wrote: At 03:48 AM Friday 9/8/2006, Andrew Crystall wrote: You're heir to the entire technophile snob legacy, the entire It looks good so it must be superior class who are either gamers who go for the PC with the blue LED's or the non-gamers who go for Mac's. Personally, I am rather tired of blue LEDs used as indicator lights. They're too darned bright. I have put masking tape over some of them (others I have been able to turn the other way) so they aren't so bright. Yes, they can be very annoying. A new firewire disk enclosure I recently bought has one for disk access (the power light is a less annoying green) and it's way too bright. -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible. - Bertrand Russell ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Trusted minister who fleeced his flock
On 9 Sep 2006, at 9:02AM, Matt Grimaldi wrote: Corrupt people abuse power and authority no matter where they get it. You can find corrupt individuals in any type of organization: police, corporations, sports, prisons, even Mac users. Why are you cherry picking the corruption found in religious organizations? If people in religious organisations are no better than people in other organisations then where is all the virtue and goodness that religion advocates claim religion brings? You're not proving your case, or at least you're proving a different case than the one you seem to be trying to make. No, I'm fine. -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ Mac OS X is a rock-solid system that's beautifully designed. I much prefer it to Linux. - Bill Joy. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Soldiers Die, CEOs Prosper
At 09:44 AM Friday 9/8/2006, Alberto Monteiro wrote: Nick Arnett quoted: (...) researchers will inevitably say that the body count has crossed 100,000. All of this madness to stop a madman, Saddam Hussein. I think it's a small price to pay for the removal of a tyrant. What is the body count of a tyranny? Argentina's military dictatorship of the 70s had a body count like that. Brazilian's current drug civil war may have a body count of this magnitude. If there was a way to trade 100,000 and solve the drug problem, I think I would accept this price. Even if you knew with certainty going in that your wife and kids would be among the 100K? -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Morality of Killing Babies
At 01:55 AM Friday 9/8/2006, The Fool wrote: A. I know more about 'scripture' than you do. Much more. B. I've read the bible, more times than you will for the entire rest of life. C. I've read more about the bible than you ever will. D. I Own more translations of the Bible than there are regulars on this list. Would you care to quantify your answers? -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: unholy OS wars
At 05:01 AM Saturday 9/9/2006, William T Goodall wrote: On 9 Sep 2006, at 10:21AM, Ronn!Blankenship wrote: At 03:48 AM Friday 9/8/2006, Andrew Crystall wrote: You're heir to the entire technophile snob legacy, the entire It looks good so it must be superior class who are either gamers who go for the PC with the blue LED's or the non-gamers who go for Mac's. Personally, I am rather tired of blue LEDs used as indicator lights. They're too darned bright. I have put masking tape over some of them (others I have been able to turn the other way) so they aren't so bright. Yes, they can be very annoying. A new firewire disk enclosure I recently bought has one for disk access (the power light is a less annoying green) and it's way too bright. I have two exterior disk enclosures which use them for that purpose.* Plus I recently had to replace an old amplified TV antenna with one which turned out to have a blue LED to indicate when the amplification was turned on. Hardly need to light the room any more . . . _ *The default indicator on the new graphics tablet is also blue, but it changes color depending on what the tablet is doing. And it is indirect, so it is not quite so annoying as the others . . . -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Trusted minister who fleeced his flock
At 05:06 AM Saturday 9/9/2006, William T Goodall wrote: On 9 Sep 2006, at 9:02AM, Matt Grimaldi wrote: Corrupt people abuse power and authority no matter where they get it. You can find corrupt individuals in any type of organization: police, corporations, sports, prisons, even Mac users. Why are you cherry picking the corruption found in religious organizations? If people in religious organisations are no better than people in other organisations then where is all the virtue and goodness that religion advocates claim religion brings? Church is not a home for perfect people but a hospital for sinners. -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Trusted minister who fleeced his flock
On 9 Sep 2006 at 4:21, William T Goodall wrote: http://tinyurl.com/r22k8 By Nick Britten (Filed: 09/09/2006) A church minister who befriended elderly parishioners before forging documents to inherit their property and possessions was given 240 hours community service yesterday. Yes, so, a scammer. There are lots of scammers, and a lot of them work for, say, the government. And are atheist. Religion has nothing to do with this story beyond your selective newspicking of stories with absolutely no significence beyond omg there are scammers out there. Did you know that of the top ten scammers in the world, only one is a theist? Anyway... Dawn Falcon ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Trusted minister who fleeced his flock
On 9 Sep 2006 at 11:06, William T Goodall wrote: On 9 Sep 2006, at 9:02AM, Matt Grimaldi wrote: Corrupt people abuse power and authority no matter where they get it. You can find corrupt individuals in any type of organization: police, corporations, sports, prisons, even Mac users. Why are you cherry picking the corruption found in religious organizations? If people in religious organisations are no better than people in other organisations then where is all the virtue and goodness that religion advocates claim religion brings? Where's the link to the statistics then, rather than the individual cases? AndrewC ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Morality
On 9 Sep 2006 at 2:36, William T Goodall wrote: For me unknowable/meaningless = knowable/false. So you reject quantum theory entirely? Interesting. AndrewC ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Soldiers Die, CEOs Prosper
On 8 Sep 2006 at 7:37, Nick Arnett wrote: researchers will inevitably say that the body count has crossed 100,000. No, not really - it's disputed. All of this madness to stop a madman, Saddam Hussein. Who was killing arround 175 of his subjects a day a rate which excluding the war itself has been slashed by over two thirds. (And by over half, including the war). AndrewC Dawn Falcon ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Trusted minister who fleeced his flock
trusted minister fleeces flock is of the same genus as trusted teacher elopes with student, Trusted bookkeeper embezzles non-profit's funds, trusted doctor abuses patient, or trusted politician... OK, guys, stop laughing. But you know what I mean. Wherever someone is in a position of trust and in an office labeled as a do-good office you will get such headlines because we are apes, not angels, and the temptation can be overwhelming. How about discussing this headline: Regulations and Permits chief accused of extorting kickbacks... Duh? Is anyone surprised? So why are there headlines and shocked editorials and how-could-he-DO-that stories all over the Albuquerque papers? Mountain lion kills toy poodle! Breaking news! Our investigative reporter reveals there are prostitutes on East Central! Even during State Fair season! And there's rioting in Africa ... there's hurricanes in Florida ... and Texas needs rain. http://idiotgrrl.livejournal.com/ From: Andrew Crystall [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion brin-l@mccmedia.com To: Killer Bs Discussion brin-l@mccmedia.com Subject: Re: Trusted minister who fleeced his flock Date: Sat, 09 Sep 2006 12:47:52 +0100 On 9 Sep 2006 at 11:06, William T Goodall wrote: On 9 Sep 2006, at 9:02AM, Matt Grimaldi wrote: Corrupt people abuse power and authority no matter where they get it. You can find corrupt individuals in any type of organization: police, corporations, sports, prisons, even Mac users. Why are you cherry picking the corruption found in religious organizations? If people in religious organisations are no better than people in other organisations then where is all the virtue and goodness that religion advocates claim religion brings? Where's the link to the statistics then, rather than the individual cases? AndrewC ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Keep Propaganda Off The Airwaves
On Sep 9, 2006, at 2:43 AM, Ronn!Blankenship wrote: At 02:55 PM Friday 9/8/2006, Dave Land wrote: If there was a political point to be made by teaching kids that 2+2=3, it would be no different to me: lies are lies, and teaching kids lies as history is the beginning of the end. IOW, if I agree with it, it is the TRUTH. If I don't agree with it, it is LIES. ;) Winky-smiley notwithstanding: The series -- as far as we know* -- contradicts the 9/11 Commission Report, upon which ABC claimed it was based. The film -- as far as we know* -- also contradicts the president's own very clear assertion in a press conference this week that there is no connection between Iraq and 9/11. It also asserts the by-now discredited notion that Iraq had WMDs. These are not my opinions, they are the facts as they are known. * ABC said that before forming any opinion for the film, the viewers must first see the entire broadcast. Self-serving tripe. ABC has been heavily back-pedaling this week, saying that the film is a _dramatization_ of the events leading up to 9/11. In fact, the network's statements about the film have in themselves been contradictory: - When you take on the responsibility of telling the story behind such an important event, it is absolutely critical that you get it right. Having Governor Kean, who chaired the 9/11 Commission, as a key advisor on this movie has not only been an honor, its also been crucial to the project. vs. - The miniseries is a dramatization, not a documentary, drawn from a variety of sources, including the 9/11 Commission report, other published materials and from personal interviews; ... It contains fictionalized scenes. and - The 'Path to 9/11' miniseries is 'locked and ready to air.' vs. - No one has seen the final version of the miniseries, because the editing process is not yet complete, so criticisms of miniseries specifics are premature and irresponsible. Dave Self-Serving Tripe Maru ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Scholastic Does the Right Thing
Folks, In an impressive display of agility, educational publisher Scholastic has cancelled their planned distribution of study guides to accompany the Path to 9/11 miniseries and replaced them with a Media Literacy Discussion Guide that focuses on helping high-schoolers learn how to think about and interpret what they get from the media. Here's Scholastic's statement on the matter: http://www.scholastic.com/medialiteracy/ And the Media Literacy materials themselves: http://content.scholastic.com/browse/unitplan.jsp?id=175 Of course, that these materials could be used _just_ as well to to teach kids how to decide what to think about Fahrenheit 911 as the Path to 9/11 miniseries. I wonder if ABC will show anything like this kind of class? Will they follow CBS's lead on the Reagan docudrama and relegate it to ABC Family or another Disney-owned cable outlet? Dave ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Keep Propaganda Off The Airwaves
On Sep 8, 2006, at 10:30 PM, Nick Arnett wrote: On 9/8/06, jdiebremse [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: And of course, I'd be curious how many letters you wrote to movie theatres to get them to keep Farenheit 911* off the screens Moore's movie played in private theaters. ABC is using the public airwaves. There is a difference. This is a vital point: ABC was _given_ the public airwaves -- a multi-billion dollar gift. People had to decide to drive to the theater and pay ten bucks to see the Moore film if they chose to. ABC will air Path to 9/11 for free for two consecutive nights to an audience that has a hard time discriminating between reality and fiction when the fiction is presented as reality. I think I see a way forward: ABC can run a crawler under the entire miniseries (giving it that breaking news feel) stating THIS PART HAPPENED ... THIS PART IS FICTIONAL ... THIS PART IS PROPAGANDA. And they can have animated pop-ups in the corners: To learn more about how the Democrats are responsible for the other ills of society, visit www.blameroosevelt.com. Dave ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: unholy OS wars
On Sep 9, 2006, at 3:01 AM, William T Goodall wrote: Yes, they can be very annoying. A new firewire disk enclosure I recently bought has one for disk access (the power light is a less annoying green) and it's way too bright. I have a KGear USB2/FW enclosure that has *four* bright blue LEDs on its face, which is bad enough, but they flicker on disk access -- it's quite a light show. I folded a sheet of heavy card-stock around the front of the drive to tone it down. I consider this business of putting ultra-bright LEDs on the front of everything just one more step towards the annoying computer consoles in Star Trek TOS, where every time they touched the screen, it went bee-do-weep!, biddle-doop, blee-doo-wah? or chip-chip-chip. Dave ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Trusted minister who fleeced his flock
On Sep 9, 2006, at 5:28 AM, PAT MATHEWS wrote: trusted minister fleeces flock is of the same genus as trusted teacher elopes with student, Trusted bookkeeper embezzles non- profit's funds, trusted doctor abuses patient, or trusted politician... OK, guys, stop laughing. But you know what I mean. Dog Bites Man: not news.* Man Bites Dog: news. Trusted Minister Fosters Faith: not news. Trusted Minister Fleeces Flock: news**. ...and for the same reason: it is unusual. It is NOT the norm. Dave * Except here in the Bay Area, where Dog Mauls Lesbian played for several years. ** Also suffers from some of the oldest lazy reporter tricks: alliterative headline, failure to avoid cliches like the plague, ... ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: unholy OS wars
On 9/6/06, Richard Baker [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: JohnR said: What we really need is an OS with all of the advantages of XP and Ubuntu and none of the disadvantages of either. Then maybe we would have a decent operating system. That's called OS X. Oh, except for the fact that OS X is much easier to use (and prettier!) than XP. And traditional Unix doesn't actually make a whole heap of sense. Why are there dozens of different configuration file formats? Why does no other Unix have things like launchd and lookupd but rather a rats nest of systems for starting processes and looking up directory data? Rich Tradition! Why, without tradition, we'd be like... like a fiddler on a roof! Non-facetious answer: you're seriously underestimating the incredible constraint of backwards compatibility. There's millions and millions of lines of C and other Unixy languages programs, representing uncountable millions of dollars and man-hours of which crucial bits depend on that rats nest. Rewriting that for a more sensible operating system design is simply unfeasible - I've heard that IBM maintains backwards compatibility for programs back to the IBM 360 and even earlier -- they're not doing it for the hell of it you know. There are endless scads of research operating systems that are clearly superior to the big 6 - in capability (Genera, the LMI OS, Plan 9), mathematically verified reliability and security guarantees (think Coyotos and such), extensibility (SPING, the Lisp machine OSs) etc. And why has essentially none of them caught on? (I'm going to except GNU HURD here since there's an outside possibility that when it gets POSIX decently implemented the Debian HURD project might actually accomplish something) No backwards compatibility. Go ahead and analyze the various big 6: Windows was backwards compatible with DOS, which was the first big mover in the small microcomputers; Mac OS X, see Mac OS 9 and the larger microcomputers; the BSDs and Linux were determinedly backwards compatible with the long lineage of Unix. If people don't value security enough to take the comparatively trivial tasks of switching from Microsoft Word to OpenOffice's formats, and so on and so forth, why the *dickens* do you think the *developers* will dive back into their code to port to some novel operating system which presumably would otherwise break their programs in all sorts of novel ways (since otherwise there would seem to be little point to the new OS)? Chicken and egg problem. In the short-term, that rats nest is utterly rational. Unfortunately, the short term turns into the long term. ~maru notice I'm typing this with a Qwerty keyboard... ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Morality of Killing Babies
Matt Grimaldi wrote: As a list, we have not dropped our guidelines The Fool has definitely over-reacted. On the other hand, William *has* been trolling pretty heavily, and the strategy known as hoping it will stop on its own is not faring very well at this point. Just to clear this up, the Fool was referring to Brother John in his original post. Jim Clarification Maru ___ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web! ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
I Recommend...........
Once upon a time, there lived a nameless monster. The monster was dying to have a name so badly. So the monster decided to set out on a journey to find itself a name. But the world was such a large place. So the monster split into two and went on to two separate journeys. One went to the East and the other went to the west. The monster that went to the east found a village. There was a blacksmith at the village entrance. Mr.Blacksmith, please give me your name said the monster. I can't give you my name replied the blacksmith. If you give me your name I will jump inside you and make you stronger in return. said the monster. Really? I'll give you my name if you can make me stronger., the blacksmith told the monster. The monster jumped inside the blacksmith. The monster became Otto the blacksmith. Otto the blacksmith was the strongest man in the village. But one day he said: Look at me! Look at me! The monster inside of me has grown this big! *Chomp, chomp, munch, munch, gobble, gobble, gulp* The hungry monster ate Otto from the inside out. The monster then went back to become a monster without a name. Even though he jumped inside Hans the shoemaker *Chomp, chomp, munch, munch, gobble, gobble, gulp* He went back to being a monster without a name again. Even though he jumped inside Thomas the hunter. *Chomp, chomp, munch, munch, gobble, gobble, gulp* He still went back to being a monster without a name. The monster then went to a castle to find a wonderful name. Inside the castle, there was a very sick boy. I'll make you stronger if you give me your name said the monster In reply, the boy told him I'll give you my name if you can cure my illness and make me stronger. So the monster jumped inside the boy. The boy became very healthy. The King was delighted. The prince is well! The prince is well! said the King. The monster became fond of the boy's name. He also grew fond of his life inside the castle. That's why he endured even when he became hungry. Every day, even when his stomach became very empty, he endured. But then he became so hungry Look at me! Look at me! said the boy. The monster inside of me has grown this big! The boy then ate his father, servants, and everyone. *Chomp, chomp, munch, munch, gobble, gobble, gulp* Because everyone was gone The boy left on a journey He walked and walked for days. One day the boy met the monster that went west I have a name said the boy. It's a wonderful name. And then the monster that went west said... I don't need a name. I'm happy even if I don't have a name. Because we're monsters without names. The boy ate the monster that went west. Even though he now had a name There was no one left to call him by his name. Johan. It is a wonderful name. xponent Monster Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: I Recommend...........
On 9/9/06, Robert G. Seeberger [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: One day the boy met the monster that went west I have a name said the boy. It's a wonderful name. And then the monster that went west said... I don't need a name. I'm happy even if I don't have a name. Because we're monsters without names. The boy ate the monster that went west. Even though he now had a name There was no one left to call him by his name. Johan. It is a wonderful name. xponent Monster Maru rob I *knew* another Brin-eller would discover Monster one day! Now we can have semi-involved discussions of whether Monster would be better as a live action series, why the ending themes are so compelling, and whether the early portions of the series moves too slowly. ~maru /tenma-chan! ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: I Recommend...........
maru dubshinki wrote: Robert G. Seeberger wrote: There was no one left to call him by his name. Johan. It is a wonderful name. I *knew* another Brin-eller would discover Monster one day! Now we can have semi-involved discussions of whether Monster would be better as a live action series, why the ending themes are so compelling, and whether the early portions of the series moves too slowly. Or, you two could fill in the blanks and let the rest of us in on what you're talking about. Jim Just sayin' Maru ___ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web! ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
