Thank you, sir, for illustrating both our points.

Paai

Yes, he put a convincing Hitler on the screen. But the problem with al those 'historical' movies is, of course, is it true? Dunkirk, Pearl Harbour, A bridge too far, countless movies (and books, and series) are wll-known examples. But movies like U-571, convincing like they may seem, are way off the hstorical facts. Still they have shaped our perceeption of history. That worries me.

Paai

Read Pratchett, more in particular 'Going Postal'. Beautiful examples of business speak all through the book.

Paai

Forget about DRM of the content. If DRM of e.g., the rfc's (requests for comment; the 'standards' of the internet) had been enforced, the very structure of the internet would have been closed for every developer or hacker that would have wanted to experiment with it and add to it.

Paai

I do not understand why almost everybody keeps referring to these phenomena as 'atacks'. An 'attack' implies a malevolent agent and purpose.

So if you don't know what happened, what exactly is the damage or even whether anything happened at all, why keep using the word 'attack', implying that the Cubans had anything to do with it and did it on purpose? Unless of course somebody wants a reason to put pressure on Cuba. But the american gouvernement would not do that,would they?

Paai

As Terry Pratchett wrote somewhere: "Evidence means 'that what is seen'". Nuff said.

Paaia

I never understood the reluctance to develop weapons like the drones described here, or at least the emphasis on the problem whether innocent bystanders could be killed without human intervention. It did not stop bombing of open cities or the use of atomic bombs, where no human intervention was needed to select which individual had to die and who not.

Paai

I read the other day that it may also be a perfect example of mass hysteria...

Anyway: if the americans REALLY suspect a new weapon, they would not have closed the embassy, but replaced the personell with scientists to try and discover what was going on.

Paai

My wife and me have all five platforms at home: Windows, Android devices, iOS devices, an old Macbook that just won't die, and Linux, both on my desktop and for the heavy lifting. I always wonder what we do wrong on the iOS platform, because it is the most difficult to handle, throws a tantrum when asked to communicate with other systems, and it is not notably more stable than Android or Windows. The Macbook is all right, I guess, but we only use it for occasional browsing and email.

My two daughters were raised on a strict Windows diet, because it was obligatory at school, college and early university years. I never pushed them to use something else: "Don't piss against the wind" is my motto. Then they both embarked on scientific careers and now use Linux exclusively.
So it is not a matter of being cheap, but of using what is best for your purpose.

Paai

The author thinks that bash "...is the default shell included within Ubuntu...". Sometimes I think that too after a new (K)unbuntu install and then my scripts start acting funny and I am forcefully reminded that Ubuntu for some reason installs something called 'ash'. The same by the way is true for awk and gawk and only God knows why this so.

Anyway, I think WSL is no big deal. Twenty years ago there were already several ways to run the bash command line and Unix commands under Windows, all more or less satisfactory. And suddenly they would turn around and bite you. I suspect that it is the same for the newer ones.

Paai

The only thing that really works against speeding is the obligatory installation of an iron pin on the steering wheel aimed at a point between the drivers eyes.

The solution is perhaps rather expensive, but obvious: do not allow any operating system to have more than, e.g. 33% share in any essential sector of society. So that if any OS is overwhelmed by an attack, 66% of the capacity remains unaffected.

Paai

The germans call their smartphones 'handy', which really is a good name...

Paai

Funny thing is, I read in the dutch press that the hackers and the dissemination of the texs were financed by far-right american groups...

Paai