Gentoo isn't actually that bad, though it does require a little more understanding of how the system works than something like Ubuntu. It does have a fairly decent package management system though, and because most of what you're using is compiled it tends to be a fairly fast system to use.

Each to their own. For me, computers have gotten fast enough that I don't really care about a few milliseconds here or there, and am currently using a Ubuntu derivative now for ease of package management (and because this particular one has a DE that I can't find elsewhere yet, as it's too new). But I did use Slackware for nearly 15 years before I decided I wanted something that was less involved for the package management. That's the beauty of the system -- you can do what you want with it, and there's many many different paths to accomplishing the same goal.

GTK isn't inherently riddled with those problems though. I mean, yes, most of the time when you see it, it's pretty god-awful, but it *is* possible to design a UI in GTK that looks pretty good, and which has a degree of UI uniformity. Take a look at elementary OS for an example of how it's possible to do GTK right. (and yes, I realize I'm cherry-picking an example, and that it's incredibly easy to find examples of GTK done horribly horribly wrong)

Of course, to throw a little gasoline on the fire, I prefer Enlightenment... ;)

I'd suggest you try a turnkey solution like Roku or a WDTV Live!.

Yes, I was using Windows Media Center for a while as well... I hadn't pirated it either (had a legal license), and it was ok. Especially if you installed the CCCP on it so it could play more types of files, but I find that a WDTV Live! uses a lot less electricity, and does basically the same thing, only better because it's a tool designed specifically for the task.

Really? I find it very good for navigating DLNA content on my stereo, because I can easily scroll through the list of content and then just tap on the song/album I want to play.... It's *way* better than using the original remote that came with it...

Really? Funny. I thought that the WDTV Live! I bought was pretty cheap, all things considered. It does exactly what he wants (to replace the Netgear box he currently has), and it can play off network-mounted file shares, meaning that he doesn't actually have to install any packages on his Mint box at all, just tell it to share the folder in question by Samba.

Unless you think that setting up a Samba share is an unsolved problem?

Ditto.

I have a WDTV Live! and it plays just about everything I have ever tried to throw at it. It has a Netflix client which I use extensively, as well as Hulu and other streaming media services. And it has built-in wireless N, in addition to Ethernet connectivity.

I stream media from a NAS which is sharing using SMB/Windows share. It supports DLNA, but I only use that for audio (because my stereo amplifier has a DLNA client built in for audio), but it can also build a media library for the audio files from the SMB share, and index them by all of the info in the metadata tags. Very happy with it.

On the other hand, if you're working 40 hours per week at the minimum wage in Canada, you are not poor enough as to qualify for welfare as well.... That's kind of the point I'm making. Yes, other countries have poverty, but no, other countries don't have people working full time who still qualify for income subsidy.

That's a large part of it. But I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around something that was in the summary: it said that 1 in 7 Americans are on stamps. That's an appalling statistic -- 1 in 7 Americans are poor enough that they wouldn't be able to feed themselves without government assistance?

While I agree that paying farmers not to actually produce food is ridiculous, plenty of other countries manage to feed their people without needing to resort to a program like that. Food stamps aren't the problem, they're the symptom.

According to that map, there seems to be a rather large American population in Cuba, too...

Didn't realize gitmo had gotten that big....

I'm leaning more towards something with your car.

Last week, when we had -30'C with wind chill in -40'C range for a week, my car was a rough start after 3 days in the driveway, but it still started and ran just fine. Just let it idle long enough to warm up (my car has a "cold engine" idiot light, wait for it to go off), and you'll be fine.

The *big* mistake people make with their cars when it gets really cold is using their car for short hops without giving it time to warm up. That's bad for engine durability, and the more immediate problem it causes is that it drains the battery. It takes more energy to start a car in the winter, and that means it needs to be running for longer in order to recharge. Waiting for the car to warm up before driving off will help with that, but you'll still probably have a problem by the end of the season if all you're doing is a 5 minute jaunt to the grocery store and back.

Jeans are absolutely the last thing you want to be wearing in cold weather. The cotton in them is hydrophilic, and that will only amplify the cold.

Even polyester is better than denim for cold weather...

Looked at a map recently? Getting to 0'F in Nevada is pretty significant, for most of the state. Kentucky's the same latitude, and I've seen Kentucky shut down for 1" of snow -- they just don't have the necessary equipment to clear the snow/ice from the roads, because they usually don't get it.

Similarly, -40'C is business as usual for the January freeze in this part of Canada (and northern parts of the US). I wore a 2nd scarf last week as I went about my usual business. In parts of the States, however, -40'C is apocalyptic.

It's funny, because the great comment/discussion you're talking about has been going downhill for a very long time. Just look at the first post on this topic, for a case in point.

That's not an unreasonable comparison... a growing number of Hindus actually believe that the many gods of Hinduism are all aspects of a single god, and there are even some who practice a sort of mixed bag where, nominally, they're Hindu and celebrate Hindu festivals like Diwali, but are also Christian, and celebrate Christian festivals like Christmas.

Computer sales in general are dipping across the board, because there's less reason to consider upgrading. Unless you count cell phone/tablet, many if not most of the people reading this probably haven't bought a new primary computing device in years. Heck, I'm typing this on a 3 year old laptop that is still running as well as it was the day I bought it. I have absolutely no reason to consider upgrading it until I start seeing hardware failures, and that could be another few years.

10 years ago, each new generation brought huge improvements in overall user experience/speed. Today, they're incremental at best, and most of the improvements that are being seen in the desktop/laptop markets are to do with power consumption, rather than actual speed improvements. Sure, buying a laptop which will run for 8 hours is better than that 3 year old laptop whose battery lasts 2.5 hours, is it *enough* of an upgrade to make it worth buying a new one? For most of us, no. Case in point: I'm using an inverter that I bought 6 years ago, rather than buying a new laptop with a longer-lasting battery right now (cellular data, too... in the back seat of a car that's travelling 100km/h through the countryside). Sure it's one more gadget to carry, it's still a lot cheaper than a new laptop which wouldn't give me any other improvement.