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It's the fundamental problem with being institutionalized in America: it's all about vengeance, not social rehabilitation.

One of the reasons I like Linux so much is that there's so little to complain about. Everything just works. Occasionally there's a driver hunt or compatibility issue, getting a scanner to work, but overall, once it's set up and working, smooth sailing.

That was the way Windows used to be. Everything would install and just work, while the Linux tinkerers spent hours chasing down compatibility issues and combing through HCL's. But Vista changed that perception and the very time Linux was making progress in big leaps.

Five years ago if you wanted a smooth install and minimal fuss you picked Windows 2000 or XP. Now you install Ubuntu or buy a Mac. The reality is probably a little more complex but the perception certainly has changed.

You can know how to eat without knowing how to cook.

It's silly to expect people to take time to learn how to cook before complaining that the Linux stew lacks something.

But it's fair to ignore complainers who just say "it's bad" without giving anything useful.

McCain might also have tried to manipulate elections an old fashioned today by commenting on the probable timing of Obama's arrival in Iraq.

This is obviously a major security issue for Obama, and shows us why McCain should not be president.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKN1830368120080718

Now that is nonsense. You are absolutely free to buy memory and hard drives wherever you want, and they are easy enough to install yourself. Some models make it a bit harder, but you can buy different models. You can attach and monitor you want, and if you are looking for a graphics card and don't find what you want, complain to the graphics card manufacturers.

eldavojohn writes "On message boards, Linus Torvalds was explaining why NDISWrapper is not eligible to be released under the GPL even though the project claims to be. Linus remarked, "Ndiswrapper itself is *not* compatible with the GPL. Trying to claim that ndiswrapper somehow itself is GPL'd even though it then loads modules that aren't is stupid and pointless. Clearly it just re-exports those GPLONLY functions to code that is *not* GPL'd." This all sprung up with someone restricted NDISWrapper's access to GPL-only symbols thereby breaking the utility. Linus merely replied that "If it loads non-GPL modules, it shouldn't be able to use GPLONLY symbols." As you may know, NDISWrapper implements Windows kernel API and then loads Windows binaries for a number of devices and runs them natively to avoid the cost and complication of emulation."

Lucas123 writes "Associated Press is reporting that The University of Iowa is shifting some mandatory classes to Friday in the hopes that it can curb binge drinking by its students. The story states that "The U.S. Surgeon General recommends more Friday classes." In other news, the university's website states it's holding a "block party" on Thursday."
http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=7037455

InfoWorldMike writes "Apple CEO Steve Jobs Thursday afternoon responded to a flood of complaints from existing iPhone owners over Wednesday's $200 price cut by promising the company would issue a $100 credit to anyone who bought an iPhone before the change. "I have received hundreds of emails from iPhone customers who are upset about Apple dropping the price of iPhone by $200 two months after it went on sale," Jobs said in a statement posted to the Apple Web site. In the open letter addressed to "all iPhone customers," Jobs defended the price cut, saying "now is the right time to do it. iPhone is a breakthrough product, and we have the chance to 'go for it' this holiday season." He also echoed — albeit in more circumspect language — comments made Wednesday in an interview with reporters from USA Today in which he told disgruntled owners: "There is always someone who bought a product before a particular cutoff date and misses the new price or the new operating system or the new whatever," Jobs said Thursday. "This is life in the technology lane.""
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/09/06/Apple-$100-iPhone-credit_1.html

thefickler writes "Known for having a media director that obsessively stalks critics, Overstock.com's IP address range has now been banned from editing on Wikipedia. Longtime Wikipedia staffer, David Gerard, posted this on the Administrators' Noticeboard Tuesday afternoon: "I've just blocked 65.116.112.0/21, which is an IP range (a) owned by Overstock.com (b) widely used by them for spamming, COI editing and attempted intimidation of administrators dealing with them. I strongly suggest against unblocking this range under any circumstances""

thefickler writes "Social engineering attacks are showing a strong rise this Summer. The latest trick is manipulating YouTube users to infect their PCs with a Trojan known as the Fake Codec. For most media, a certain codec is required to encode and decode a digital stream such as audio or video. When a user tries to view a video that requires a specific codec, they'll usually get the message, "Codec not found" or "The proper codec to play this media is not installed." Some sites will usually direct you to another website to download the codec; however, an increasing trend in late August is for hackers to direct users to download a fake codec, which will in turn install malicious software on the user's machine."

mccaffer writes "Finally X.Org have released the latest version which promises to drastically improve hotplug and on-the-fly output reconfiguration. See the list of latest features: http://xorg.freedesktop.org/wiki/Releases/7.3"
http://xorg.freedesktop.org/wiki/Releases/7.3

The wind turbine off in the distance is flopped over on its side -- the 11-foot blades suspended just above the ground at one end and a 2,000-pound, bulbous, galvanized steel counterbalance pitched into the air at the other. The unique turbine isn't broken; it was lowered from a height of 80 feet to test the ability to bring it down at the drop of a hat should foul weather set in or should the migratory songbirds and nesting seabirds that frequent this 95-acre island run afoul of the whirling blades.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070823115345.htm

RamblinLonghorn writes "The reviews for Bioshock are pouring in. With a metacritic score of 97%, the gaming press is united in their praise of the game. Gamasutra summarizes the finer points of the game and lists some of the reviewer's complaints.

Take Two Interactive Software stock, already reeling from the GTA IV delays, gained nearly 10% on Tuesday. Is Bioshock's critical praise and success a turning point for the embattled Take Two? How strong will Bioshock sell compared to other AAA titles set for release soon?"

Billosaur writes "Via BoingBoing comes word of a really cool new site: Galaxiki — A fictional galaxy anyone can edit. Members can create fictional solar systems — stars, planets, moons, asteroids, etc. Given that it's a galaxy, there is a lot of room for expansion. Membership to the site is free."
http://www.galaxiki.org/

davidmwilliams writes "Migrating from Windows to Linux need not be scary nor a boots-and-all approach. Here's ITWire's recommended staged approach along with reasons why people stick with Windows and how to respond to them. http://www.itwire.com/content/view/14142/53/"
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/14142/53/