There are some good points there, but I'll offer another possibility; maybe the "end" college provides is more significant than just the goal portion.

I hire people, and generally I treat a college degree as a prerequisite. Not because of specific coursework, but because the fact someone has completed a degree demonstrates an ability to keep on task for an extended period of time regardless of distractions. I don't mind major switchers, and I'm not looking for someone who did it in three years to the exclusion of life. Rather, I want to see that someone figured out how to navigate the always Byzantine requirements to get the right class into your schedule in the right order within a time limit.

Additionally, the social skills from college become pretty important - it's pretty hard to make it out of college without some kind of lab class that involves working with classmates on a group project. And everyone had someone in that project who didn't do what everyone wanted, or at least didn't pull their fair share. I want to know how you dealt with that, how did you feel about it, and what did you learn from it.

Finally, and MOST critically, I am always on the lookout for people who can write well on deadline. regardless of the technical nature of the project, the ability to explain what you are doing and why is just essential.

So yes, it's great if you can see your path in college as stepping stones to specific knowledge, but you shouldn't ignore the ancillary benefits that employers count on.

Step 1. Download UNetBootin from SourceForge (2 minutes)

Step 2. Stick in a blank USB thumb drive and use UNetBootin to install Linux Mint version 6 or Puppy Linux version 4 onto the drive. (3 to 30 minutes depending on network speed)

Step 3. Reboot and tell your BIOS to make your newly bootable USB thumb drive the boot drive. (2 minutes)

I did RTFA, this was strictly in response to the OP who was using the phrase "MUSIC FILES SHOULD BE FREE, PERFORMANCES SHOULD BE PAID FOR, THIS IS THE 21st CENTURY DEFINITION OF A MUSICIAN."

the question of Choruss and compensation plans is a separate point. And certainly one that needs more scrutiny.

I shall repeat:

Musicians DO choose the method of music distribution that best suits their needs! they CHOOSE to sign a contract with a studio rather than using the self publishing route. Musicians have the same inalienable rights as the rest of us, they are fully emancipated.

That some of them choose to go through a studio that has draconian DRM policies is their choice! If you feel strongly about it, then the choice of studio that the musician makes should help you decide if you want to listen to his/her music.

Nothing will work faster at changing polices like lack of money to studio artists.

Since when did produced, professional music become such a life necessity that you get to dictate the cost structure and business model?

If you don't like how they distribute music, Don't BUY IT!

Why is that so damn hard to understand? The value of the music is the nexus of what the artist/studio is willing to sell it for, and what you are willing to pay for it. The "21st Century Definition of a Musician" clearly includes the ability of a musician to refuse to sign a contract with a big studio. Why do you somehow think the artist is being repressed? The artists have heard of the internet too, yet somehow, they keep doing deals with studios! I wonder if somehow, they think studios do things that they will have to spend a lot of time and money to do, like front money for big venues, pay for plane tickets, studio time, etc etc.

I am so sick and tired of the bastille storming attitude regarding music. I've decided to buy the (little) I want, and ignore the rest.

To shake your little fist in the air at the music "man" is just sad and pathetic.

I'm bothered that FSF has pulled down the discussion and dialog that led to the GPLv3, but if anyone can find it, you will see that under v2 you could structure a patent licensing deal in a way that did not cover downstream users of the code. The clear and obvious example was the Novell deal. v3 was altered to prevent patent deals like the Novell deal (and you'll note that Linux still seems to stick with v2).

So for Jeremy to argue that deals can't be done under v2 flies in the face of Eben Moglen's reading of the law. And while Jeremy's a better coder, Moglen's a better lawyer.

This is pure bunk. Ignore and move on.

TomTom were found to be a gpl violator in '04, sued Garmin in '07 and Toyota in '08 for infringing TomTom patents, and have a very restrictive EULA.

1) Make friends with someone living in America with a *nix box

2) Get US credit card

3) ssh -D 6666 youracct@yourpal.com

4) Configure SOCKS 5 proxy to get webby goodness from localhost on 6666 in Firefox network prefs

5) Australia? Where the hell is that?

I think the best idea is to start tracking the laptop. Send out GPS coordinates, send out IP addresses, send out _fingerprints_, take screen shots, etc.

If it has a webcam, add mugshot. Compare the image on a local mugshot database, get some likely culprits and their last known address. Then maybe automate the search warrant, police report, and insurance claims process and you've got a real solution. Of course, the search warrant part is now optional, I believe.

RedSeal is at: www.redseal.net

Great scanning/tracking tool for network infrastructure inventory control. Automated management of what lies below layer 3 is always a challenge, though.