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Comment Re: Example of How Not to Do It (Score 2) 75

I read a comment on Slashdot recently that the reason we aren't allowed to modify our comments is to prevent users from editing out things in order to accuse others of strawman attacks.

I have seen this happen on every single message board I've been a member of and is specifically the reason that I've disabled editing posts on any message board I have (and ever will) owned. I prefer receiving nasty messages that someone can't edit their posts rather than nasty messages about people changing their stories after receiving negative responses or whatever reason...

Comment Re:There is no such thing as karma. (Score 1) 180

Point: People are so damn quick to criticize other people's tastes. And I'm sick of it. If that guy wanted to download Gaga's album for 99 cents, big fucking deal. It's HIS life, not yours, so stop insulting the man.

Amen to this. Some of us have very eclectic musical tastes. I remember in the early 90's making a mix tape that included Garth Brooks, Metallica, Billy Ray Cyrus, Reba McIntyre, Led Zepplin & KISS, just as an example. Music is meant to speak to your soul, not to impress your friends. And for the record, I bought the Gaga album from Amazon for $0.99. ;-)

Comment Re:Dying out... (Score 1) 164

I don't think Libraries will survive for much longer. If you want a book now you can get it in a digital version, and the publishers are rather adamant about allowing their ebooks to be borrowed from the library, and pretty much anything else can be digitised and accessed online. So while its a nice idea to convert libraries to this sort of thing, they're not going to survive much longer in my opinion.

You obviously don't go to the library very often, do you? (I'm not trying to be a smart ass so please don't take this comment as such.) I work for a public library system that has consistent circulation of print and non-print materials. Besides checking out books, we offer reference services, free internet access and (thanks to Uncle Sam) you can come get your tax forms at the library. We do more than just "check out books" and we're gonna be here for a long time. :-)

Comment Re:Just what we need... (Score 1) 309

How do you know that public libraries won't have these machines installed? ...snip... Public libraries and schools already filter websites; this will take that sort of censorship to an entirely new level.

I can tell you from experience that we (libraries) only filter because we pretty much have to in order to continue to receive federal funding. Unless the feds push it on us, we won't be installing any of these copiers. Censorship sucks and most librarians hate it and fought very hard to stop it from happening in the first place.

Comment Re:Comparisons like this don't mean squat... (Score 1) 702

I converted my wife to Ubuntu after the 8th virus in 3 months. I did buy Crossover Pro for Photoshop, but that's about it. She loves how much faster her laptop is. She games on Facebook, uses Evolution for email, and OpenOffice for writing, etc. She's got Hulu Desktop installed, and will dock her laptop to our home theater system and watch TV that way. The number of "Hey hon, can you look at this?" type things have gone down incredibly. She's been on Ubuntu for about 18 months now, and can't fathom going back. So, I don't think that your point of, "Granny just stopped asking for help" is really valid. People are people, if you mess up their PC, you'll hear about it at every family gathering.

Rather than just doing a full out conversion with my wife and son right away, I've gone the dual boot route on all three of our laptop computers and when (not if) the time comes that one of them gets malware again, I will have them log in to the Ubuntu side for a few weeks before I get around to fixing their Windows systems. We'll see how that goes.

Comment Re:Comcast has Passwords? (Score 1) 158

All the ISP's do that and as I have told my friends and family repeatedly over the years, DON'T under any circumstances let the installer near your PC with that thing, it's not needed and can only lead to problems.

I will second that. When my current cable/phone/internet provider came and setup their equipment, the installer was beside himself because I wouldn't let him touch my computer. He tried the "required for this to operate" excuse. I told him that I was an IT professional and that I knew he was full of it and that if it was required, he could take his equipment home and I'd cancel my service. He asked if I would at least make the ISPs home page my start page. I guess they needed the inflated traffic stats.

Comment Re:Ohm's Law? (Score 1) 693

If the police ask you questions, the only appropriate answer is "My lawyer's name is ____."

I just had a very detailed conversation with my son about this the other day. We watch several of the crime shows and one of the officers said that they'd be better off telling what they knew now and would get into less trouble or something like that.

I explained to my son about the right to remain silent and what you say CAN AND WILL be used against you and had him tell me what that meant. I also explained how even the most innocent comments (i.e. "I never cared for that guy.") could be used to make it look like you have motive.

Bottom line was that I told him that regardless of what any authority figure said or what type of pressure they applied, he was to only ask to call me and I would come (with a lawyer if necessary). I would urge you all to have the same talk with your kids. Better safe than sorry. :)

Comment Re:Deja vu (Score 1) 334

You got that right. Those same folks will still put it off as long as they can. Once again, exceptions are being made for the few and quite frankly, it pisses me off. They've pretty well made it well known on EVERY station I've watched for the past year that this was going to happen. There's no way anyone without cable TV that watches on a regular basis had no idea this was coming. You snooze, you lose. Now I gotta watch those dumb ass announcements for another four months. Thanks a lot, NOT!

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