I didn't care until I started making audio CDs for the car. I just used mkisofs and cdrecord to burn CD and DVD ISOs. I just did that at first for audio, using lame in reverse to decode to wav, then cdrecord to make an audio CD but then I switched to K3B, which saved a lot of bullshit. I link mine against ffmpeg too, for more decoding support that saves me conversion steps.

I still use XMMS for listening to tunes. It still compiles (though its dependencies like Glib/GTK+ 1.x need some patching). Nobody can take my favourite mp3 player (with ogg and flac support) away, I don't care how old it is. I do have AmaroK though, but I did prefer the way it was back in the KDE 3 days.

I use a program called X File Explorer (formerly X Wincommander in the old days) for my file manager. It uses a not so common library called the FOX GUI Toolkit though. Chances are it'll be the only thing on my system that ever uses it. (Though for a while I used an audio editor called Rezound that used FOX but it fell into disrepair and I switched to Audacity.). I'm afraid I don't like very many file managers. Konq was good, I could configure that and like it (Even that was better in KDE 3 though), but I don't like Dolphin or the Gnome file manager Snotilus (really hate), or Thunar (I use XFCE as my desktop but not that thing). I hate Explorer in Windows too and use a replacement front end, "XPlorer2"

I use Kate when I need to work with Windows text files. It's the one I trust best not to fuck up the line breaks (though my vi editor, Elvis, is good too). It makes it easy to start a new text file with Windows/DOS EOL. "Tools -> End of Line -> Windows/DOS". Kwrite used to have that (and other settings I liked too), but they dumbed it down in KDE 4. Good to hear that there's a viable Windows port. Notepad breaks shit.

For Windows I actually use a bought program called "UltraEdit 32" for text editing because I need something that isn't going to mangle Unix files. It's also a very good hex editor (you right click on any file and it will open it in text or binary mode as necessary). I've used that program since about 1995, though it was much simpler back then. My old version worked through XP, but broke in 64 bit Windows. I rarely do any work in Windows (it exists just for games), but I need to be confident that I can work on a file to be re-uploaded without breaking it and I'm used to that program.

Quoting myself here. I probably should have looked at it again before commenting, but it seems that Yakuake has changed a lot since I first formed my opinion of it. (admittedly probably 10 years ago now that I think about it). They don't even call it a "quake style" terminal anymore, it's a "drop down terminal emulator". I take back what I said, it's just a different style of terminal now. Kind of like using a window manager that has window "rollup" controls.

I just remembered Yakuake being very awkward when I first looked at it.

He liked KDE 3, but when KDE 4 came out he got poxed off with it. I can't say I blame him, KDE 4 was silly when it first came out. Non configurable, awkward, bloated bullshit.

But KDE 4 has come a long way since then and is a very nice desktop (I don't use it myself, but I do have it. I tend to keep a KDE environment around for some of the apps, like K3B for example, which is my favourite burning front end, and "kpdf" now built in to "Okular"

Why? It's fine for Quake, but a video game command console doesn't help me get work done. It's more meant for typing a quick command then dismissing to get back to your game (or work in this case). I couldn't use that as an interactive terminal emulator.

It's not "his way or the highway" it's his way, or he disagrees with you. He doesn't say "you can't", he says "I don't, and you shouldn't"

You're free to go and use other software if you don't like GNU licenses. The authors of the projects decide how to license their software.

Philosophy is just that... you can't always follow it in practice. I like Richard Stallman's philosophy and I think I'd like the man if I met him, but if I followed his ideals I wouldn't have much. I want more than a Yeelong netbook (open hardware and software) and I still need a Windows install for my games, for example. Even in my Linux setup that I use for everything else, I still want to be able to play music and movies which happen to be in non-free file formats so I turn a blind eye and use things like MPlayer with non-free codecs. I use the Flash player too.

The news sites want their content indexed and they don't get to dictate the terms of it. If the French try to bully Google, they'll simply decline to participate and those searching can land elsewhere. It's a big Internet, with content parrotted across the globe.

It's not really sympathy, it's just that I like good search results and aggregations, with summaries.

Summaries are fair use and if the French don't think so, they can go boil their arses in oil.

The parent that you are trying to belittle is correct. Google will just de-list the news sites. Have they not already learned that lesson, that you can't have it both ways? Ask some Belgian news publishers. They are just not in a position to play "hard ball" with Google.

The reason the news sites don't like summaries is, it gives people a chance to decide if they are interested in reading the article before they click. It saves us from wasting our time. So... my heart just pumps purple piss for them.

Americans use the threat of bureaucratic red tape and obstruction all the time, just as much as the implied threat of violence if you don't do what they want.

Add that to the list of reasons why they are disliked in the world.

I mean, even dealing with American companies is like that. Don't ever produce parts for them, for example. They'll fuck up your whole assembly line at their whims if you so much as deviate from their specifications when you shrink wrap a pallet. We found that the only way to deal with them was to take risks, juggle numbers quite inappropriately to keep things off the books until the right time (so accountants at the head office don't have a shit fit), and stock pile thousands of manufactured parts knowing that they were going to be needing them eventually. Otherwise they'd have us doing die changes multiple times a day for short runs, then inventing reasons to reject shipments when they've decided they don't want any more of those parts right now, (but want THESE ones instead) as they've changed their mind on a production run and don't want them on their floor. When they really NEEDED those parts, there was no scrutiny or tomfoolery and they wanted them impossibly fast.

Not only won't I fly there, I will never set foot on their side of the border again. (I live in the country above them and they think they can even dictate our laws with their veiled threats of trade obstruction and ultimatums). I would just never subject myself to their out of control authority. Even petty officials (e.g. a fucking toll booth operator) have authority complexes there, never mind border officials and escalating levels of various police agencies that will be brought to bear on you if you so much as refuse to comply with a restaurant employee's orders.

In actual fact, that's quite rare in piracy circles, so cut out the FUD. These groups crack programs with pride.

Windows NT based systems have come with file permissions for a long time. Remove write permissions from the user and global startup folders. Yes, all write permissions, even for the user "System" (I hate anything that uses the startup folder anyway and wouldn't allow anything in there)

Or what about programs like that "Tea Timer" (Spybot Search and Destroy) or others that block things from getting in startup? (I always thought Tea Timer to be a silly nuisance, never to be activated, but here's an instance where it would help)

Attack foiled.

Personally I am not worried about this, for I use Windows only for games. The chances of me going to a bad URL while in Windows are near zero. Besides, now that the cat is out of the bag, Valve will probably find a way to mitigate this with one of the next client updates.

So? It's still just words. If anything, Facebook could ban the jackass user for breach of acceptable use policy. If such acts are not covered by such a policy, then that's Facebook's fault.

If you're going to have unmoderated comments (e.g. a "wall" that anyone can post to), you are going to have to expect people to defecate on it. Don't play the victim card.

I can truthfully say that no religion is better than yours :-)

Heheh... when I "blaspheme" and disrespect deity figures in front of religious people and they are shocked that I would say such things, I always tell them that I do not have to fear what I do not believe and that they should also free themselves from their silly superstitions.

I am willing to defend my (non) beliefs with violence too and I don't have to tolerate shit, if I do not wish to.

I used to love to talk to kids... nowadays you're treated with suspicion for approaching them (or letting them approach you) so it's best to just not get involved. Hell, give a kid some money in a store because they are a little short of change and people think you have an ulterior motive. When I was a kid I was grateful for the older person who said "here you go kid" when a cashier was berating you for not having enough money. It was nothing to them, but meant the world to me. Or the "stoner" (in retrospect) offering me half his chocolate bar. The old man on a park bench that just loved company etc. Right now I am remembering one such so fondly I've got a lump in my throat.

It's a shame that a few sickos have induced population wide paranoia. You don't even get a chance to reassure them, because they never say it to your face. Just "come on, let's go" as they cast you a dirty look that says "freak!" and herd their children away.

I just gave the video a dislike, and then reported it as SPAM.

We could help this guy by making sure the video gets flagged by a lot of people as inappropriate. It could be flagged for both mass advertising and misleading text.