Years ago, I spent a ton of cash for essentially a Alienware OEM laptop that came pre-installed with a version of RedHat. It was from NextComputing who at the time offered portable UNIX solutions like the SPARCbook et al. Being niche market, it was pretty expensive but since it came per-installed with Linux I was on board.

The pre-installed version of linux only really served the purpose (as it would have even if it were Windows) of making sure everything "worked"; because after I felt satisfied with the hardware aspects of the machine, I installed Gentoo. I basically paid a lot of money to increment a number for one businessman to show another businessman; but it's the principle of what that number stands for right?

I really no longer care if the market has "numbers" indicating demand for Linux. Apparently Microsoft simply manoeuvres itself to where they get credit for each unit any ways diminishing the value of any alternative market evidence.

So the only thing I want is for manufacturers to give me the the option, with price reduction to reflect the fact, to purchase the machine without an Operating System. Currently anyone with a business account with Dell can do just this, my company does this all the time for any server, desktop or laptop we buy from Dell and all of our machines are Dell. However, I'm not a business and I want to be able to purchase from their consumer line with the same privilege.

If I create a game that the speed of light is only 50m/s then my FPS is going to seem really slow.

I have a lot of "smut" like domains. I would say, I own about 50 non-variant domain names; non-variant bob.com and bobby.com count as one. Maybe a solid 35 of those are no doubt fine domains for a smut site. All for personal use, because I'm a geek and feel I ought to own my own domains, I do not make money from them or anything, I don't even check the mail going to many of them so even if someone wanted to buy one for millions I never saw the offer, nor do I want to see such an offer honestly. To me, if you sit on a domain just to sell it that's questionable... but to sit on a cool domain to connect to IRC with or have an interesting email address, to me that's not a bad thing.

Years ago, when this whole .xxx thing came out, I was actually thinking of making a few of my domains into full-blown sites. So, I purchased the .xxx variants of some of my 'smut' domains and sat on them for a while. This was at a time when Firefox and IE needed a special plugin to visit these strange TLDs remember? Anyways, after a while and being charged an arm and a leg for them... I let them expire. Why would porn companies use .xxx? I bet Playboy will continue to hold, update and consider as a corporate/business portal, playboy.com to be their primary domain; even if they do in fact put all "content" on a playboy.xxx domain. This would go for all "adult" related sites, including perhaps companies such as F Street, DejaVu and others. Will Victoria Secrets be forced onto a .xxx domain? I doubt it. One problem is the fact that "xxx" means something totally different than just "porn". "xxx" has the connotation of degrading things, less tasteful depictions of "porn". I'll agree, Playboy and Penthouse is "porn", but Hustler or some weird Japanese fecal fetish magazine is "xxx". It's always been this way, and I fail to foresee it ever changing any time soon.

They will ALL have the .com and the .xxx domains in the end. As for those who find .xxx easy to "filter"... you'll still have all the old filter lists all the same because Playboy.com will still be erotic enough, suggestive enough, obvious enough that it will still be "porn". Only the most extreme smut sites will brag and find it sufficient for only a .xxx domain name such as, analgangbangs.xxx or creampieslurrpies.xxx. Everyone else, they will still have the .com versions of their domains.

Case in point? Are they going to make it a requirement that any content depicting nakedness, by law, must be on a .xxx domain? What if I connect directly to IP address as using scp, ftp or what not? Will it have to reverse to a .xxx host name? This is ridiculous if you ask me... but I think most of all the TLDs are ridiculous. .com, .net, .org, .mil, .smil, .edu... whatever.

But they are criminals, and therefore I for one am glad that the FBI has had some little success in tracking them down

You can not be serious Haeleth. By that rationale, any time a tyrant needs to gain your approval he only needs to make any opposing
act a criminal offense and you'll be certain to point out that "but they are criminals!".

You sir, need to read up on some philosophy, particularly Thoreau's Civil Disobedience. Regardless of government, that essay
applies to all authority as far as I'm concerned. To hell with you if you wish to ignore these hackers' obligation to resist and defy
while labeling them as crooks. For this, your post ought to be modded down. I'd have a good mind to pitch in on their effort, I'm
already rather adamant about our position as I have refused to update my PS3; I could care less about a trash proprietary blueray
feature ('new' bluerays don't work because I haven't updated my PS3), I could care less about their Sony Playstation Network. My
PS3 still has the Alternative OS feature; and Sony can suck my dick, it's my property not theirs they forfeited ALL rights to it the
moment they said my 400 dollars was fair trade at BestBuy. I don't give a flying rats ass what "laws" may disagree, I refuse to
acknowledge the authority of any person in defiance of my position and I'll break any damn law to preserve what I know
is right.

To hell with people like you. To hell with your rationale supporting Sony. To hell with your damn post.

Iran has scientists and engineers. They can build nuclear power plants, and other advanced technologies. The US would have you believe they are trying to build a nuclear bomb. Iran engineers and manufactures their own long range missiles, so they have the proverbial "rocket scientists" and apparently "competent" ones too.

What's the point of all this?

If you think, Iran, or any other country is unable to design and make their own "UAV", you have GOT to be drinking some serious kool-aid. They aren't stupid and they aren't dumb. Whoever from Iran reporting this story probably isn't allowed access to real photos, so they grab something from their little scrapbook and publish the story. Here in the US, we are so stupid to think that Iran scientists and government have nothing better to do than sit around a table and come up with stories to tell the world; for no purpose or goal at all?

Stop acting retarded people. You want stupid stuff printed in American stories, look at Popular Mechanics. "Oh, but those are artists renditions..." what's the difference!?

I refuse to believe, that "advertising" pays for all of "this" *points around the room, at the skyline, at my car, street, schools and a history book*.

Why does Wikipedia need 16 MILLION United States Dollars? I have a server up and running, it doesn't cost 16 million dollars. Ok, so it's not the fastest server, so an expensive internet connection. Expensive hardware yadda yadda yadda. I know it's not "cheap" by personal standards, but 16 million dollars is a helluva lot of money. Why does a "free" site need 16 million dollars?

Any how, advertisers can go to hell. I don't care how, when, where or what advertisers say. I don't want, a single advertisement, anywhere, ever while I peruse Wikipedia. NEVER EVER! Of course, unless, in the special event, perhaps by accident, that a banner advertising Coca-Cola is caught in the background of a photo of some Athlete, or perhaps I'm on the wiki-page for "advertisement" and it's showing me a picture of an actual example of quick lies, half truths etc. Or perhaps the article points to histories, such as cocaine usage in consumer products in the past and present, showing advertisements of various periods of history of coca-based products.

But, a real, intentional advertisement? Never. Why does Wikipedia need 16 million dollars for what essentially means a nice internet connection and some stable hardware? Why if they succumb to "advertisement" revenue that they'll all of a sudden be free and clear of financial woes? They are a free site! Who the hell is paying that much money for Advertisement? Why are companies allowed to Advertise, why are they compelled to spend so much money on advertisement to begin with? Apparently, so much money is dumped into Advertisement, that it can "fund" the world. If only, a company took that money and dumped into their Research & Development department, or their Quality Assurance department. If only...

http://hearing.siemens.com/sg/10-about-us/01-our-history/milestones.jsp?year=1924

Sorry, probably not time travel.

Mod this parent up!

I visited a small town on the east coast. It used to be a prosperous steel production town. Very poor now, the mines are closed, everything has gone to flip. This I do not believe was because of consumer pressure, I believe the shipping of steel production overseas happened long before Wal-Marts relative status.

But the parent here is correct. Fools who shop at Wal-Mart. I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart. My wife sometimes wants to go to Wal-Mart because she thinks things there are "cheap". Wal-Mart is one of the largest employers in the United States... how sad. But it's the way the ball bounces. People think "capitalism" is good. People think the goal of "capitalism" is bigger better faster cheaper. People think that they are saving a dollar at Wal-Mart, not realizing due to Double Irish tax fraud, that the dollar they spent at Wal-Mart will never reenter the US again, but be spent overseas somewhere. The media tries to mitigate these horrors by trying to stress the Double Irish tax scheme is for "tax deferment", they only pay taxes when they try to bring the money into the US but that money is NEVER brought back into the United States and stays in overseas financial institutions. This pulls some international corporations tax on international sales down to the single digits! The only tax they spend, is what they make off the American public... it turns out, your dollar really isn't that valuable or relevant compared to global profit margins. American consumerism, is junk investment.

You might hate this, but it's true. What does America create? Seriously... you think Apple created that iPhone? How much of that iPhone do you think was "designed" by American born, citizens working in Cupertino or any Apple owned facility in the United States? Who made your Intel processor; from my understanding, a fair amount of the designing is done in Isreal while a great deal of fabrication is done in Russian plants. How many American workers are hired by Microsoft, how many in the US on Microsoft's payroll are from India? Are you really proud that maybe 1,000 Microsoft executives and upper management who are the highest paid, might be "American"? What of the 88,000 others collecting a pay check?

It might be interesting, next time you are at a store... look at that dollar (or more accurately your debit card before you swipe it). What does it mean? Where did that number come from, where is that number going. What does it really mean.... that number? You don't know, neither does the guy next to you. All you care about, is getting that Dr. Pepper and you have a larger number in a "bank" than the number posted on the "price tag", so that means, algebraically that you can buy it. So you swipe your card... and off you go.

First, the PCWorld column states that Linux is dead because of a lack of content.

While I'll agree, desktop usage doesn't seem as wide spread as I would like it, a lack of content is NOT the reason for this problem.

I've NEVER seen a platform so rich in content. There is no computer system or operating system that has more applications than a FOSS system (aside from perhaps a Mac OS X box which cators to both Blender and the commercial Maya... as an example).

Secondly, a default install of any FOSS box would give the user far more content than a default install of Windows. The reason why Linux isn't taking the desktop by storm is simply because of one problem and only one problem.

Microsoft Office and the lack of 100% compatible alternatives.

This is the PRIME reason companies and individuals hold on to a Windows platform. It's the ONLY reason ONE of the FIVE machines on my company desk is Windows; the rest are Gentoo Linux boxes. Watch a DVD on Linux? I've been doing that for over a decade, what the hell is Mr. Strohmeye's problem?

Lack of desktop adoption yes, lack of content Robert Strohmeye doesn't know what he's talking about.

1) All the 3D technologies to date, work by tricking the brain. But the brain is still smarter than the technologies which is why a lot of people get headaches and other side effects trying to participate with the 3D stuff; I barely got through Avatar, and I watched maybe 10% of it without the glasses on. While there were some interesting 3D FX in Avatar (usually only the scenes of fluffies floating about), a more pleasurable experience would have been to watch the movie in 2D instead.

2) All the 3D technologies to date require additional hardware. Which the capitalists will attempt to capitalize one. It's my feeling that should I purchase a "3D" Television set, that is should come free with the same number of additional components to use the TV as the size of the average house hold population plus 2 more for visiting friends. So each family may be a mean sum of 3 people, so five "glasses" should be for free for each TV. And, the glasses shouldn't cost very much at all. Currently, they are around 150USD to 200USD; and not even stylish. For that kind of cash, it better be DG or some designer glasses with sapphire lenses. Only one pair is given for some televisions; boy if that isn't an insult! We don't have wives, girlfriends, friends or neighbors? What morons are deciding these things?

3) All the 3D technologies are ridiculously pricey, and with the above caveats out right stupid. While the idea is really cool, and the notion of such display systems gaining new R&D is appreciable. The capitalists running the show to the consumers are obviously out of touch with reality. There's no way I'm going to limit my viewing experience with a headache every 30 minutes; and pay dearly for the Television and pay dearly again for glasses. I can't even watch a full length movie with this stuff, I've tried varied 3D techniques none of them are comfortable and sustainable. On "movie nights" I can spend many hours watching movie after movie.

4) The industry put me off with the way they are wording things. "Consumers aren't cooperating" or "Consumers aren't doing their part". First off, it's not my responsibility or obligation to purchase your damn crap, get that through your skull or I'll write it on a bullet and help you get that message inside your head. If you make something worth buying, then I'll consider but just because you want more money for your own pleasure you have to earn it (just like you tell me). It's not that I'm not cooperating, it's you aren't doing your part in providing quality products or products worth buying, or if you think you are then you aren't putting reasonable price tags on those products. It's not the consumers responsibility to randomly purchase crap. I know you like impulse buying but be careful thinking that since some do that should be precedent; you just enjoy the morons who do buy Juicy Fruit gum at the checkout stand and you better respect those of us who don't. Don't tell me I'm not doing my part. You aren't doing yours!