Shared bookmarks for del.icio.us user demiller on 2007-02-25
Shared bookmarks for del.icio.us user demiller on 2007-02-22
“Stallman Convinces Cuba to Switch to Open Source.”:http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/17/1337233&from=rss Perhaps more interesting and educational than the story itself (largely unsurprising, given the propensity for leftist governments to reject MS software as being too US-centric) are the thread responses on Slashdot. Aside from the predictable proprietary software trolls, note the large number of clearly American posters wringing their hands over the potential impact of this on adoption of Free Software. Sad to realize that even many Free Software advocates and users in the US are so egocentric in their outlook that they fail to understand that the view of Cuba, Venezuela, and leftist political philosophy in general might be radically different in other parts of the world than it is in the US.
While the US market is certainly an influence over the adoption of Free Software, it probably isn’t going to be the largest or even most important factor in the _world-wide_ adoption of non-commercial software technologies. Technical discussions aside, Free Software simply makes more economic, political, and social sense in many places outside the US, just as it does in certain sorts of institutions like, say, public hospitals.
I suspect Microsoft has already figured this out, and is deeply concerned about it. Richard Stallman certainly has, and is. Time for American geeks to broaden their horizons and understand it too. We should be helping our colleagues around the world employee Free Software in places where it can help promote freedom rather than getting hyped up about how possible associations between Free Software and Communism. Anyone persuaded by the Communism argument was never going to listen anyway.
Given the reason for and the authors of “this”:http://rackstrawpress.nfshost.com/ collection of political SF “recently discussed”:http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2007/02/indignant_and_illegal_fictions.html by “Charlie Stross,”:http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static I felt compelled to immediately order it. Had it only included fiction by Stross and “Ken MacLeod”:http://kenmacleod.blogspot.com/ I’d have shelled out for it, but there are a host of other talented writers with stories in there.
More importantly, the book represents the author’s collective response to the UK’s Terrorism Act of 2006, a vile piece of legislation in some ways even more stupid and horrible than our own PATRIOT Act. Frankly, I wish American SF authors were engaged in something similar.
Shared bookmarks for del.icio.us user demiller on 2007-02-13
Thursday evening while Terri was working on the old 15″ PowerBook G4, I heard the ‘book make an odd, high-pitched whining noise. As soon as I heard it I yelled to Terri “Pull the power! Pull the power!” but now it looks like I was too late. The ‘book will run as long as it’s hooked up to the mains, but it’s pretty clear the battery isn’t charging. I’ve tried two different AC adapters, and neither will cause the battery to charge, though the battery clearly works - it supplies power, it just won’t charge. My suspicion is a logic board problem, though it might be the battery itself. Unfortunately, I don’t have a spare battery to test with.
My 17″ PowerBook G4 has a dodgy video connection through the hinge between the notebook body and the LCD, such that you can only see the display if the LCD is positioned just right. Probably not a big deal to fix. I just never got around to it, so now I have two less than functional PowerBooks.
I’ve heard enough horror stories about Apple repair through the Apple stores that I’m frankly scared of turning either of my ‘books over to them, particularly since I have AppleCare on neither. I’m considering using “TechRestore”:http://powerbook.techrestore.com/ instead. I believe “Alwin”:http://alwinism.org/ may have used these folks in the past, but a quick search I did of his site didn’t turn up the post. Anyone have any recommendations pro or con?
Shared bookmarks for del.icio.us user demiller on 2007-02-03
In reference to the recent insane statements of Bill Gates, John Gruber (as usual) nails it in “Lies, Damned Lies, and Bill Gates.”:http://daringfireball.net/2007/02/lies_damned_lies_and_bill_gates Gates, Ballmer and the rest of the MS senior executives are frankly scum - not because their OS is crap (it isn’t really anymore, though it isn’t nearly as good as the alternatives in most applications), but because they are unrepentant, rapacious liars and crooks. Yes, crooks - despite the fact that the Bush-controlled Justice Department decided to fold on their anti-trust case some years ago, MS clearly engaged in illegal and monopolistic business practices, and still does.
The fact that Gates uttered such transparent falsehoods is ample evidence that he needs to go play his insincere charity foundation games full time before he completely destroys the company he built. Bill Gates wishes he were Steve Jobs, and he always has. No amount of money will ever compensate in Bill’s deranged and criminal mind for the fact that he’ll never, ever be the cool kid.
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