So we turn off the hardware-generated CRCs made by the hardware guys, locked into PROMs somewhere, so the OS can do it?

Can we think this through a little farther?

There's a reason for the value of firmware doing it's job, and an OS doing it's job. The division of labor is important here. The OS, while better these days, is more likely to have tables thrown into RAM, accessible by other programs...like rootkits, viruses and other circus-ware.

Microsoft tried this once; it was call "Stacker" and it convinced everyone I know to reformat their drives, as well as to lose every bit of data on them.

Yeah, I know: they had good reasons this would work well, without any problems.

Lesson here: the hardware guys work with gears. The OS guys work with clouds. I've seen hardware guys outsmart OS guys time after time, because the hardware guys can _prove_ what they think to be true. This is an important factor.

Just more ramblin's from an old man who's seen this before.

Technology is viewed as the downfall of man...it's the basis of the ManMadeGlobalWarming(TM) religion. However, technology has been nothing but a friend, as mankind finds his way into the future.

Remember "London Fog"? Not just a line of outerwear in the 60's, it pointed to clueless Americans that time in history where 20,000 coal fires kept Britain warm back in the days of Sherlock Holmes. This 'fog' was actually smog, so thick that people with gardens (most of them, actually) had to sweep off the soot if they planned to get anything out of them. It collected that badly.

But here comes technology; no one loves pollution, so not only can we use one large coal plant and run wires everywhere, we also have piped natural gas and the skys are clear. Coal isn't without it's faults, but as recently as the 70's, things were pretty good.

Now, if we can ever get the liberals to permit us to create nuclear power plants, it could be better! Not because of the CO2, but because they're cleaner in general.

But that's not all:

- The story was set in a way to make us guilty of the removal of the indians. Not just in the story line, but they go to the trouble of using a native American 'war woop'. But I didn't DO that. Same for slavery: not gonna feel guilty.

- And lets not forget how America goes to foreign shores and loots them until they're poor!

Bullshit. You people have jobs. Where do you think that money comes from? Where'd it come from before we had a thriving overseas economy?

For example, in India a lot of people got jobs, thanks to the unions pushing up the cost of American production. Thanks, Nick-da-fish and the boys! Ever see India in Google? Wow...desolation. They REALLY NEED our technology.

We brought air-cleaners, clean rooms, caused them to create infrastructure, and now people who might be begging are aswering phones. That's not evil. I wish we had someone who could do that, here!

No, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to agree with'im on this point: so VERY MUCH of Christian Rock sounds like each other, or like the tired, whiny "Grunge" we grew out of.

It's not that the message isn't good; it is: the tunes just don't follow the usual rules of successful music writing like balanced themes, small, memorable melody-arcs, and catchy timings. These are all tools the other side has used for centuries.

See also: Smoke on the Water. The Macarena. Riding the Storm Out. Too Much Time On My Hands. Land of Confusion. TONS of others.

It's not about _sounding_like_ other bands, and having the message. It's about a band making their _own_ sound, and bringing the message.

There are some great songs out there; I just wish there were more, so we could better compete with the Adversary.

A couple a months before Jan 1 2000 I converted everything I had to Redhat, now Ubuntu Linux. In that time, I've never been hit by a virus, nor have I searched for them.

Every file on my machine is one that isn't likely to get a virus.

Why can't more of you guys try this alternative? It doesn't get any simpler. Stop being criminals with your MS Office and your nefarious copies of things.

Come, be free!

You don't watch much news; Saudi Arabia has become a smaller and smaller percentage of people selling us oil; from about 85 in the "oil embargo" days of the 70's to something like 17% now. We get a lot more from Canada and/or Alaska, without any one country having a lion's share.

This isn't foolishness; the end of this line means that GM cars may never get back here. GM has *no*reason* to be a quality product anymore. If they start making cars out of peanut butter tomorrow, the government will still pay them. It has to: it has to pay the unions.

Expect all sorts of disappointing, preachy cars to come out. The man in charge knows NOTHING about cars (he said so!) and so he'll make stupid little wind-up toys that we hate. And waste billions doing it.

The government had no right to take this action. It's just another part of the swirling disaster of these times. National defense is just a political plaything, money means nothing (because they, and not us, will always be fed).

But thanks for showing us you know nothing about what's going on. :)

Did you know GM, when they were taken hostage had a market-cap of Bed, Bath, and Beyond? GM's not done so well, since the unions made their demands. With 700,000 people on the payroll, and 100,000 actually working, they have a problem.

I think it was August of last year, Toyota and GM made the same number of cars. (to the nearest 1/10th million) Toyota made something like 27 billion, and GM LOST 37 billion.

Can you imagine it losing MORE money? Glad I didn't invest...

Agreed: Nothing's wrong with making money.

At what point (other than the Community ReInvestment Act robbing banks nearly at gunpoint) was anyone "consenting" and "acted against"?

Congress, despite the press Obama gets, is the key to the problem. ACORN was taking people into banks and forcing them, by the CRA to hand out BILLIONS. Almost no one else knew this loophole existed, so only Democrat friends got money for free. We pay for that. We weren't consenting, and it was done to _us_.

Let's fight the wrong-doers: the congress.

You'd think that's right...problem is, it's not.

Understand that before anyone had HEARD "AIG" there were problems. The Fed made deals with AIG, who, like a lot of people, pays their high-fliers with bonuses at the end of the year, rather than weekly.

Imagine that. Getting paid ONLY once a year. Once a month is hard enough. But this kinda of thing is required, due to congressional interferance. (The kind that makes Conservatives' blood boil, btw).

They make a deal with AIG, basically gutting them for profits, putting controls on them, and then recently the media gets ahold of it. OOH! What a great time to foster hatred of the rich (From whom we get jobs, btw). The state-run media comes in and calls them names, puffs up the hate, and soon the SEIU, an Obama-buddy union organization, is scheduling bus trips to show people where "the evil money people live" and perhaps throw some rocks.

So these people who've been working all year for a single paycheck, give that paycheck back.

What about this seems fair to you? We 'own' them, yeah. But isn't THAT even the wrong thing to do?

Why is money evil? No one ever demonstrates outside Democratic National Headquarters, George Soros' home, or the homes of dirty congressmen, ALL OF WHICH MAKE LARGE MULTIPLES OF WHAT WE DO. THEY ARE "RICH" TOO.

So what makes them right, and non-supporters of congressmen wrong?

AH! That's it.

[Guys, this is the way people have been played in every nation that's ever been taken down. Name your dictator. Stalin demonized the farmers until he had them killed. Then new people came to be farmers, who knew nothing, and almost everyone starved to death. Oh! Except for those who supported the government. WE NEED TO PAY ATTENTION HERE: WE'RE BEING PLAYED.]

Compared to that, the Starbucks in Mississippi is "nearby" if you walk. I mean REALLY nearby.

I'm kinda tired of the "like Earth" suggestions with 15G gravity, or oxygen with sulfuric acid or something.

Guys...really...no place close. No place suitable. Space exploration is dead only on TV.

Yeah, I was gonna say....will Slashdot TIP OVER and crash if we all rush to the keyboards to say "AW, dem dam pirates! They're makin' the movie guys just waste away!"

Well, there's ONE lie they can't make anymore, now, isn't it?

I've been computing since 1978. I remember CP/M. I might even have some source code. Ya know why CP/M worked? It made important parts of the computer *THE*SAME* as other manufacturers. Nowdays, that's called "The BIOS".

So each of these classically-trained business-school types will go out and make completely-different versions of the "less" command with different bells and whistles so THEY will be the "next IBM".

They're not idiots; they're mired in group-think. Isn't it time to upgrade the school curriculum again?

In 1929, we had a stock market crash, causing the Great Depression. It was huge, miserable, and something no one wants again. THOSE PEOPLE who were guiding the market were trained closer to the turn of the century with this idea:

"Any time you create a product, you immediately create the demand."

Brainless, huh? I 'create a product' every time I go to the bathroom. That doesn't mean anyone actually wants it.

Please, guys- Learn?

Had you taken a few more minutes, you might consider something rather....game-changing.

This is one of a handful of attempts, easily and quickly fixed by the same people who brought you the OS in the first place. It's source code is open for all to see. This makes 5-6 attempts I remember since about 1995, and I've yet to see one in the wild.

Meanwhile Windows, WITHOUT SOURCE CODE still manages to add another 100,000 new viruses to the circus every month. Last I looked, 2,000,000 viruses were kept in the stable, Microsoft made billions because of the harsh environment, and so many people went to places OTHER than Microsoft for viral care, it is it's own industry.

Keep dreaming that only 12 people on the planet run Linux. You do that. Just because you only hang out with people who run Windows doesn't mean the tens-of-millions don't exist.

But DO notice that, as threats come up, fixes....not bandaids are provided for the people who were hurt. Not promises. Enjoy that circus, willya? The rest of us have work to do.

Ya know, I've seen A LOT of announcements here, like the ever-popular flexible displays that are always "just around the corner" since about 1996, but there's a reality about things like this.

1. It's not a guaranteed arrival. Nothing in here says you get, for example, to keep the use of your penis, or that you'll be able to take the medicine AND sleep at night.

2. This won't likely start a new race of uber-supermen as one might guess. What it *will* do is complicate Oylmpic candidates and other sport.

I hate to be Slashdot's wet blanket, but I'm an old man, and I've seen a LOT of these things come to nothing.

Typically one makes 2-3 satellites at a time; all are meant to be identical in case it's necessary to compare the two for repair. But completely forgetting the invention of interchangable parts, satellites seem to be *very* proprietary.

Ya think computers are bad about that? I'd rather have computers- at least they have PCI/AGP/PCI-Express busses, where satellites tend to be very unique, I'm told.

What processes *doesn't* improve when you make units from similar, interchangable parts? Would we have computers on so many desks if they weren't at least a little interchangable?

There's never been a time where something was so clear, but those of a mindset couldn't see it. It's brainwashing, but with a visual component.

Obama's clearly on the take (as if there was any question) since he's still headed to Copenhagen. I fear for the inhabitants of costal areas, since the last time a president didn't sign Kyoto, for example it "caused hurricane Katrina" (though Clinton didn't, either)

"ClimateGate" is something not uttered on several TV "News" channels; I think we're at day 14, now....still not breaking news. Strangely? Fox News, "Not a real news service" has been carrying it from day 1.

It's so telling; ManMadeGlobalWarming(TM) was just a ruse to get us to lay down our freedoms and empty our pockets to people who don't deserve it. If a political figure you love, still hasn't got it, it's easy to tell he, too, is on the take!

I'm Conservative, and I really like Newt, but I'll never cast a vote for'im, because he was a believer. It's just not about the parties anymore- it's about where a politician wants freedom to be: with the people or the state.

Well, there are a lot of computers in Bangalore...India. Most of them seem to be starving, but they compute. :>