Many things are a waste of time. Watching TV is a waste of time. Going to the theatre is a waste of time. Reading a book is a waste of time. Good heavens, reading Slashdot is a waste of time!

Or perhaps not. If it's what you want to do, then, as far as you are concerned, it's not a waste of time. Building an "open source" laptop is no more a waste of time than Linus's initial interest in producing a new (open source) kernel.

I'm not an engineer, but I (for one) am interested in how this project/hobby works out. Certainly I think "open source" hardware is something to be encouraged (like "open source" or "free" (libre) software).

As to usefulness, who, in 1991, thought a new "open source" kernel would be of any use? Who thinks so now? (Answer - me, for one! I'm typing this in Firefox running under LMDE XFCE!)

I'll consider buying one if it becomes commercially available.

I came across this while reading the article. I stopped reading at this point. He might have something useful to say, but if it is interspersed with comments like this, I'm not going to read it.

Doubly sad as the original "computer programmer" of often considered to be a woman - Lady Ada Lovelace. And I write this as as man!

Yes, I got the warning about being in the UK every time I bought a ticket via the mobile broadband. Fortunately although I was working away from home I was in the UK, so was legit.

And if you play on-line they'll check the number for you and send you an email - so no need to get someone else to check your numbers.

Strangely, the problem of them refusing to pay me the jackpot when I won it because they assumed I wasn't in the UK when I purchased the winning ticket, never arose!

A few years ago I got a Vodafone PAYG mobile "dongle" for internet access while working away from home. Same issue - to enable access to 'blocked' sites I had to verify my age by making a credit card payment.

And the 'adult' site I wanted to visit while away from home? The National Lottery! I assumed that it gets classified as a gambling site, despite the fact that it is government sanctioned.

It'll be intriguing whether certain NHS sites will also get blocked, like Sexually transmitted infections. Unfortunately I won't know as I'll immediately opt-out of all and every filter!

2990709.

Oooh, we're nearly up to 3 million Slashdot registrations!

It's not a community, it's a software development project. OK, one can talk about a developer "community", but as soon as that "community" starts having rules and customs not directly linked to the development of the software in question, it becomes something else, especially if the rules and customs can be perceived as antithetical to the development process. The Linux kernel development team are not a masonic lodge!

So, the position has shifted from "extraction doesn't cause earthquakes" to "OK, extraction causes earthquakes but these are good earthquakes"!

It's how we used to get data into the system, or store data from the system, many (ahem) decades ago!

Seriously, it's a shame these technologies are no longer used, as they would be ideal for this purpose.

Agreed. Bloody Celts, Romans, Angles, Saxons, Vikings , Normans, et al. They should all bloody well go back to where they came from and leave the UK for us Beaker People, that's what I say!

(/sarcasm - in case anyone took this seriously!)

I've got XP installed under VirtualBox on my Mint LMDE XFCE desktop. I installed XP because I've got a retail license which I bought in 2001. For what I need Windows for (a few work-related websites that need IE and for a work-format CV that needs to be in Word format), it is good enough. I do not feel inclined to buy another copy of Windows that I only need to boot into once a month or so. I especially do not feel inclined to buy a version of windows that has been as comprehensively slated a Windows 8! (I've avoided Gnome 3 and Unity and use XFCE - yes, I'm that sort of guy!) Until XP becomes unusable, or those few sites need a later version of IE than can be installed with XP, I'll keep to XP.

And if I change my main desktop (I'm thinking about either Arch or Xubuntu), I shall again install XP in a virtualised environment. It does the job. If (heaven forfend!) those work-related websites I need to visit cease to be IE only, and I can update my work-format CV using something other than Word, I can then ditch Windows completely.

(Sudden though - Amazon's MP3 downloader only runs under Windows. OK there is an old Linux version but it seems it is no longer supported. I'll need to keep Windows for that as well!)

I used to maintain C (with curses) well over a decade ago, but it's all gone now (rusted away to nothing). However, with the advent of the Raspberry Pi (which I think runs better either headless or without going into X) I'm getting this strange urge to revisit and re-establish some C skills. Back-to-basics, as it were.

In addition to this, I'll probably aim to study for some Java certification, and get a solid handle on design patterns.

If I do need to get to grips with something "modern", it'll probably be Google Web Toolkit (GWT)

OK, I'll be honest, the Java certification and GWT would be for work. The C and nCurses would be for me!

I'm not an OSX user. Is this true?

And if it is, people put up with it?

Fascinating!

Nothing, as long as horse meat is labelled as "horse meat", and the paperwork trail can be traced. The problem is when horse meat is labelled as "beef", and their isn't a full paperwork trail.

The paperwork trail is important to show that it is "fit for human consumption". How the animal dies is important - was it put down using a barbiturate for instance. If it was, it shouldn't get into the human food chain.

(As a vegetarian I take a neutral view as to the relative merits of horse meat vs beef - I eat neither!)

It get's better. For international sporting events (etc.) it's called Chinese Taipei. Confused me when this name cropped up in the London Olympics.

Different parts of the country. The badger cull is in the South West (Gloucestershire and Somerset). North Yorkshire is in the North East.