I should clarify. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would love for a volunteer to come in and implement their new VoIP/video teleconferencing system and fix their LEAP authentication issues, etc. If your situation is so complex that it would take a week to get up to speed, then you probably have significantly more invested in your situation than the benefactor I had in mind. What I had in mind was something closer to, say, wiring a school network or setting up a few laptops for a school that's never had a computer. In the IT world I think that qualifies as grunt work, and certainly fits the time frame. And perhaps isn't outside the scope of what could be taught in that time frame as well.

You are correct in that the Haiti tragedy is what got me thinking about it. But I completely understand the issues with entering a disaster zone. It had crossed my mind that in a few months (when we are planning on actually taking a vacation) the situation might be more suitable for rebuilding efforts. However, there are literally hundreds of millions of dollars in aid money heading their way that will (hopefully) be put toward rebuilding on a scale that can't accommodate short-term volunteers. So I tried to find a more appropriate cause...didn't have much luck...came to Slashdot...etc...etc

Please mod the parent up. Part of my thought process was that I don't want to climb a mountain. Not because I don't want to put in the physical effort, but because I don't really get a thrill out of it. Meeting people, learning about them and their culture, and perhaps teaching them something about "us" is actually really fun. I expected that some people would go the "tan" route with their response. But I'm convinced that for many of them it's because they've never done it before.

That's what I used to think. But I have found that going and sitting on the beach for a week only makes going back to work that much more difficult, unless a week on the beach is what you really needed. We think it would not only be fulfilling, but probably pretty fun too. Besides, that's what we do in the Fall.

Or start using Opera.

Let's be fair. They work perfectly 1460/1461 of the time, since that was just 1 out of 4 years.

Doesn't that kind of nullify...

It's impressive when a contradiction of that caliber makes into the same sentence.

It sounds better to say "Withholding the truth, it's what holds relationships together". Not telling the whole truth isn't necessarily a lie as long as the important facts aren't misrepresented.

Two bits of advice:

1. Learn how to recognize when "it" is more important to the other person.
2. Learn how to fight (A.K.A. Pre-marriage counseling), because sometimes you can't tell if it's more important.

My wife has a master's degree in counseling and insisted we go to couples counseling, even before we were engaged. She assumed we had problems even though we were both happy. In hindsight it was the smartest thing we could have possibly done, and I recommend it to everyone because we learned how to fight. You're going to "fight", but it doesn't have to turn into a fight. Learn to recognize when emotions are overriding logical thought. If she "just doesn't get it", perhaps you're saying it wrong, and vice-versa.

And learn to recognize when "it" matters more to her. She has to do the same, otherwise you never get what you want, and that's more important than you think. It might be a decision about what you want to eat for dinner or it could be that you want to spend your tax return on a vacation but she wants a new kitchen. And most importantly, if she wants to order a pizza for dinner but you're not wild about the idea, and you end up ordering pizza, she doesn't "owe" you for that unless you establish it when the decision is made. For instance, "Sure we can order pizza. Mind if we go out for beer and wings tomorrow?" It scales up.

As for finances, there may not be a universal answer. What works for us is a "joint" account and personal accounts. After the household budget is deposited into the joint account each month (plus extra for vacation and emergencies) the rest goes into our individual accounts. Believe it or not, we came up with that system after I wanted to buy her a surprise. I knew she would think it was too expensive and it's not much of a surprise when it shows up on your bank statement. We both get to shop without constantly feeling like we have to get it approved first.

Yes, I can see it now. One hundred doctors and 100 obese patients, using the jet engine intake for their magical liposuction wands. Is fat combustible?

Captain: I'm sorry. We don't have enough fuel for this much cargo.
Doctor: Oh don't worry. We will by the time we get there.

Perhaps that wasn't their intention, but iTunes doesn't run on an iPod, it runs on Windows (not exclusively of course). And like you mentioned, Windows is designed to work with everything. So why can't "Windows" (iTunes) sync with my Pre or my Sansa or any other player? I've been asked that question and I can't imagine I'm alone. What's more frustrating is that it CAN sync to any of those things, Apple just won't let you do it. It's vendor lock-in.

I don't use any Apple products. I'm not an Apple hater either. I still think that fundamentally there is no difference between what Apple is doing and what Microsoft has done in the past. But somehow Apple gets a pass.

If Palm wants to compete, then let them create their own service and interface rather than leveraging another company's successful work. You say that's unfair because Apple has created a heavily lopsided playing field, and now it's impossible to compete with the massive popularity of iTunes. But you have to ask yourself, where were these same competitors five years ago?

Vendor lock-in is vendor lock-in. How is Apple blocking {not-an-iPod} from syncing with iTunes any different than if Microsoft blocked {not-IE} from running under Windows? I don't hate either of them. I say let them do whatever they want. But fundamentally it's the same thing. And while you may not do it, there are plenty of others out there that will somehow argue that it's different.

Make no mistake, I don't particularly approve that Apple did what they did, but if you bought a Palm Pre and couldn't see this coming you are not only blind but you're an idiot.

Blind maybe, but not an idiot. For "idiot" to be an option you would have to present a strong, valid reason why Apple is justified in blocking anybody else from using some other device with iTunes. The same amount of effort went into blocking the Pre as it would have taken to pop-up a warning that says "This is not an approved device and may not function properly with iTunes. Use at your own risk." If they did that, what would Apple/iPod/iTunes users lose?

Add to that, Opera's biggest install base is mobile devices. When your desktop and your laptop/PDA/Wii and the rest of the laundry list of devices that run (or are at least capable of running) Opera are suddenly connected and your data is freely accessible wherever you may roam...that's a game changer...as long as your "server" is powered on and connected.

I have to agree with the parent. In my mind, the biggest benefit is the ability to share information with myself, not everybody else. It just so happens that sharing/exchanging/communicating with others is one and the same.

Well I saw it a little differently. It looks to me like an attempt to duplicate some of the functions offered by Sharepoint and Messenger, but in a browser. Add in the API and you're steps from offering all of the functions. Everyone that doesn't use IE should be applauding this. One of the biggest hangups on adopting non-IE6 browsers is the massive corporate intranet establishment. At least this offers some functionality that a PHB might find attractive, and therefore at least a little motivation to move to a standards based intranet. Keep in mind that you can "direct connect" Unite without going through Opera servers. And I expect, if it catches on, there will be some sort of appliance offered that can privately act as the central server.