What do you need documentation for when you've got the source code? Just read *that* if you want to know how the program is supposed to work.

And how many FOSS developers are nodding their heads in agreement right now? Sad, sad, sad!

Hollywood lives in a fantasy world where everyone buys the latest and greatest equipment as soon as it comes on the market. The reality is that there are a lot of people who do not have digital HDMI equipment, don't need it, and don't want it. And don't kid yourselves that this new restriction will be limited to those new movies. The moment Cable companies have the ability to turn off your analog outputs, there will be whole cable networks that will switch them off 24/7 (with the option to have them switched back on for $15 a month). Starting, of course, with the new Comcast/NBC cable networks.

Here's a message for the FCC: Please nip this in the bud now.

Post-It notes have the distinct advantage that no computer virus or Trojan can steal it.

dBase3 FTW

The problem is there's not enough pork going to somebody's congressional district, that's all. Dollars to donuts there's a specific lobbyist (and company) behind it all.

There *is* a solution: It's called Duct Tape.

On Friday, I installed the 64 bit version of 9.10 on a Dell Inspiron 1721 laptop and a Dell Studio XPS 435T desktop without any problems or complaints. Did an update on the laptop with an already encrypted Home directory, and it worked just fine. Even the built-in Broadcom WiFi worked properly. I did a fresh install on the desktop, and all the multimedia hardware and software worked without trouble.

In the end, your success depends on what you've got and what you're using. I should mention that I always keep my Home directory on a separate hard drive partition, and make a backup of the system before making this sort of move. That ought to go without saying, but a lot of people out there hate the "B" word ("backup" for all you /. pervs out there).

I don't like the idea of needing this "Cloud" thing to use something I paid good money for. I haven't downloaded anything from Steam for that reason, and because I'm forced to use it after I purchase one of their games at a brick-and-morter, I haven't purchased anything made by Valve since the original Half Life.

Say, Mickey, here's a suggestion: make sure you use someone like Microsoft to handle the technical details. I mean, there's no "Danger" in trusting them with The Cloud, right? What could possibly go wrngo?

Let's take a brief spin in Professor Peabody's Wayback Machine, shall we? When it first came out, I took the new version of Windows for a spin, and hated it. It required more resources than I felt it deserved (particularly memory). In addition to all the bloat, I thought the user interface was the ugliest I'd ever seen. Plus, it didn't give me anything I didn't already have with the old system. Other than some DRM, that is.

That new operating system was called XP. I decided to stick with 2000 Professional. I still use 2000 to this day for all my work and some games. I keep it away from the Internet (no browsing, and no email), and have no problems. Oh, and I'm still using Office 97 on it as well.

Now, tell me again why Windows 7 is so much better than Vista, when I don't even feel a need for XP?

Why on Earth would you trust your valuable data (and if it wasn't valuable to you, why keep it in the first place?) to someone else, someone who doesn't answer to the same people you do? I have always thought that "the cloud" is an epic fail waiting to happen. As a concept, it makes no sense. It's a scheme worthy of Professor Harold Hill himself.

You want your data safe? You want it backed up properly? Don't want to lose it? Then put it on your own hardware and take care of it yourself. Don't leave it to someone else to save your bacon when something goes wrong. Because, in the end, they don't care about you. You're just a monthly fee to them, and the agreement/contract/whatever you signed with them absolves them of all responsibility.

How can someone forget a password in three days? Easy.They didn't stick the Post-It note with it on their monitor before going home Friday afternoon.

Sheesh! Think, people!

Imagine the impact on this whole debate should the Supreme Court of the US use Bilski to kill or limit software patents (don't hold your breath), as Red Hat and the FSF are now arguing in their amicus briefs. First of all, will we be free then to embrace Mono and Moonlight without fear of reprisals from Redmond? Will Microsoft make changes to both specs to make them very difficult, if not impossible, to implement properly without Windows running?

Remember that wonderful default in Windows that forces you to hold down the Alt key to see which letters on menu items identify the shortcut keys? I make sure that's always turned off when I use a computer. Firefox better have a way to *permanently* restore the menus, without holding down the ALT key (not to mention hide the #$%&@% ribbon), or I guarantee you there'll be a fork!

1970 called: they want their "Security Thru Obscurity" argument back.

Currently, at least in the United States, school is a wonderful place to learn how to take and pass tests. That's it. Just because someone can pass a test doesn't mean they've learned *anything* about the subject tested. Today's tests by their very nature ask simple questions whose answers can be easily graded. Real knowledge doesn't fit into such easily-designated cubbyholes. As a result, we are rapidly building C.M. Kornbluth's world from "The Marching Morons", if we're not there already. Change is badly needed.

School should be a place that prepares a child for living in the real world, not fulfill the fantasies of Liberal Arts graduates who seem to think that being "well rounded" is the goal of every human being on the planet.

Horse hockey, as Colonel Potter is fond of saying!

What subjects should be taught? Here's a short list:

Reading, Writing / Speaking (i.e., how to effectively express yourself), Math (up to Geometry and your basic Algebra), Logic (i.e., how to think and reason in any situation), Social skills (i.e., how to deal effectively with people), Computers (how to use them safely, how to find information using the Internet), and everyday technology (basic home repairs -- including simple electrical, plumbing, and carpentry, basic car repairs, and everybody learns how to drive a car *properly*), and what they used to call "home economics" -- buying a home, paying bills, buying groceries, etc. Add "how to get and keep a job" to that list.

Optionally, we might want to teach a foreign language (not everybody may have the ability to handle it, though), but only if the first priority is *speaking* it, not reading a paragraph and answering a bunch of questions. After all, language is for communication first and foremost.

Oh, and about testing? Absolutely *no* written tests other than for Writing (essay, of course) and Math (a sheet of paper with a question and lots of blank space for the answer). Everything else is a "show me what you've learned". Explain it verbally, demonstrate it with your hands, something, *anything* but use a number 2 pencil to answer.

Call this whole thing "Modern Urban Survival", and the Final Grade will be given *after* graduation in the real world.