Yep, and then Microsoft created a free web browser and included it in their OS in August of that year. Everyone was quick to jump onboard. Al Gore invented the Internet and Netscape copied Microsoft and then sued.

Oh wait, it might not have happened that way. You should check your facts... Of course, I remember using an account a friend had at the university to access the Internet in 1985 and using Netscape Navigator in 94.

It is something I thought about while looking for work. I even did some searches on the idea. I didn't find much information. I did find jobs for teaching english as a second language. However, those required that you speak the native language fluently. I also found advice that I should become employed in the USA with an international company and after working there for some time, get transfered overseas. But then, that still requires employment in the USA. You are asking why the unemployed in the USA do not just jump on a boat and start working overseas. I'd be very interested in any information you have on how to accomplish this. It is not like I can just drive 50 miles and do an interview.

You might want to revisit the history books on this one...

Columbus was sponsored by Queen Isabella of Spain. There were several reasons for this sponsorship, though Columbus's personal wealth and power certainly came into play. At the time, the Ottomans and other Islamic nations controlled the trade routes to the east. Europe wanted the spices and medicines available in China. One of the hopeful outcomes was an allegiance with Murtada Khan of the Golden Horde. Murtada had expressed an interest in Christianity. With the recent defeat of the Moors in Spain and expulsion of the Jews, Spain was looking for new allies to continue the Christian assault on Islam and the capture of Jerusalem. Then too, I've also heard the rumor that King Ferdinand just wanted Columbus out of Spain so he would quit flirting with his wife. However, I've not found much to support this.

Given the events of the time, I'd say that religion and politics were the primary motivators, with profitability being a nice side-effect.

I didn't realize Pete was running again. Good to hear. Lets hope he gets elected this time!

Well, I guess it all depends on your definition of full. There are those people that won't believe there is an over population problem until the bodies are stacked to the upper reaches of the atmosphere and fed by single-cell organisms. Then there are those people who think a place is crowded if they can see a neighbor from their front porch. You can enjoy living like a cockroach so long as I can't see you from my front porch...

Netflix depends on Silverlight. Silverlight is not supported (or usable) on Linux. Doesn't even work under Wine. A good alternative to Netflix is Hulu. It uses Flash for video.

Just a quick search shows "Newt Gingrich" has not yet been claimed as a trademark. However, "Sarah Palin" filled for trademark protection on 11/5/2010. Maybe Newt should file before an opponent claims the trademark...

This is how everyone I know treats politics. Substitute American football for American politics. Look at how fans react. Fans will stand behind their favorite team, no matter how bad that team is. They will argue how theirs is the greatest team no matter how poor the team. Once you have team loyalty, nothing else matters. I see the same thing happen in politics all the time. The devil could rise from hell and offer to accept American servitude. Americans would jump at the opportunity as long as he was signed to their favorite political team.

Not that I disagree at all. However...

Do people really expect the company's IT to take over administration and maintenance of their personal computers? I thought the restriction on personal computers had more to do with data walking out the door.

People store that stuff on personal computers? My place of employment keeps that stuff on the email server and makes regular backups. All emails and IMs would be covered by handing over the backups.

I received a message a few months ago from Gentoo that Oracle had changed their licensing back to a distribution unfriendly version. Gentoo turned on the fetch restriction switch and gave me a link to download the needed files. I followed the link and read their new license only to discover that it forbade installing Java on Netbooks and cell phones. Three of the computers I maintain are Netbooks. I opted to skip updating Java until I learned more. Then life happened and I stopped paying attention to Java.

Today, I see this headline and I follow it to see what is going on. The comments seem to fall into two groups, Windows fan boys and OpenJDK discussion. OpenJDK is new to me and useful information. I've never heard of it before. Unfortunately, "emerge -s jdk" doesn't show an OpenJDK. I'll have to research it more. Perhaps it has a different name in Portage?

I originally installed Sun's JDK because my bank said I needed Sun's specific implementation to access my account on-line. I also worked for a company at the time that insisted that any data you wanted to capture needed to have an application coded in Java. I had played around with the idea of learning the language for work. That was given up when I figured out that any application I wrote wouldn't be approved for work use. I just did what most people did there, keep the data in Excel and away from the databases. It was that, or wait for the Dev team's multi-year backlog to clear.

I'll have to see what I can learn about OpenJDK and see if it covers my banking needs...

After glancing at the article, I have to ask, what is a TV? From the article:

So that tells me that a TV is not a video unit capable of displaying television shows. Perhaps they are referring to those old all-in-one units that had a television decoder built into the display? I have a 42-inch plasma display connected to a computer and home network. It is primarily used to view NetFlix, Hulu, and some light gaming. I also have a DTV tuner in a different computer on the same network. It can send video out to about ten other computers scattered around the house. Not a single display in the house has an integrated tuner. Does that mean I have zero televisions, or ten?

On a side note, I do laugh when I read Hulu's message that the current program is not viewable on televisions, then proceeds to display the show on my television.

I always figured Microsoft was at odds with itself. On one side, you have an operating system company that needs to recruit 3rd parties to write applications for their OS. On the other hand, you have an application company that needs to prevent 3rd parties from producing better software than you. Novel needed to trust Microsoft as their OS vendor. It has to be a weird situation to depend on your biggest competitor to deliver a stable platform that runs your software.