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From: thanatoid on 10 Aug 2010 18:12
Homer <usenet(a)slated.org> wrote in
news:scl6j7-pjk.ln1(a)sky.matrix:

> Verily I say unto thee, that thanatoid spake thusly:

<SNIP>

> Talking of which, don't you find it a coincidence that the
> Renaissance; the greatest period of creativity, discovery
> and invention in the whole history of mankind; came
> crashing abruptly to an end at the exact same time as the
> enactment of the Statute of Monopolies?
>
> And yet, ironically, the supposed purpose of monopolies is
> to "promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts".

I know almost nothing about history.

> As best as I can tell, the only things monopolies promote
> is greed. It just opens up the floodgates to exploitative
> opportunists with trivial "inventions" and highly
> uninspiring "arts", from which they then mass produce
> second-rate products for a pittance using sweat-shop
> labour, charge an extortionate price, then hound those who
> dare to copy them like a pack of rabbid dogs.

France only has a few book publishing houses, yet they manage to
publish EVERYTHING, even if only 2,000 people buy some of the
titles. So it depends on where as well.

> So now we have gangsters like the the RIAA stalking a 10
> year girl over her mother's allegedly heinous crime of file
> sharing [1], thugs like the the Universal Music Group
> claiming that just "throwing away promo CDs is illegal"
> [2], and racketeers like the PRS trying to extort money
> from children singing christmas carols [3].
>
> Yes, real "progress".

Yes, the world is fucked. That is a given at this point.

<SNIP>

>>> The one that comes to mind was a certain version of
>>> Outlook, which stored the "PST" E-mail file in some
>>> bizarre location (causing me to lose all my E-mail).
>>
>> Well, that's what you get for using MS software. The OS is
>> only tolerable after SUPER EXTENSIVE tweaking, and with NO
>> other MS software.
>
> The best tweak for Windows is just to wipe it and get
> something better.

No, that's switching OS's which is difficult or inconvenient or
both, let alone for people older than 40.

The best tweak for Windows is to apply about 200 3rd party
tweaks which you can find easily, and to not use ANY MS software
except the OS. BTW, IE/OE CAN be removed from all versions of
windows, or at the very least, you can prevent them from
connecting to the net in your firewall.

<SNIP>

>>> Having been part of the Free Software community for many
>>> years, I've learned to foster greater interest in other
>>> people's needs, because I've found they reciprocate that
>>> generosity, and we all benefit as a result.
>>
>> England and Linux people are apparantly
>
> It's "apparently" with an "e". :)

Thank you.

> And I'm Scottish, not English.

Sorry. I should have said British, I keep on forgetting the
"United" Kingdom is a little bit /divided/.

>> quite civilized. You should visit some /other/ countries
>> and see what walking down the street is like there.
>
> I've seen quite a few of them in my time; most recently
> Nigeria and Kuwait. The people there were actually very
> polite, despite their difficult circumstances.

Again, the bigger the smile, the sharper the dagger. I have
friends who have lived in various parts of mid- and north-Africa
for /some/ time, so I know a little about what's behind the
smiles.

<SNIP>

>> I built the white (with red LED's) Sinclair calculator
>> from a kit in the late 1970's. I REALLY wish I had kept
>> it!
>
> I still have the red one:
>
> http://www.vintagecalculators.com/assets/images/Radionic_1_t
> .JPG

This is the one I built:
http://www.vintagecalculators.com/SinclairCambridgeUniversal_1.J
PG

<SNIP>

> I've never used Mint, but AFAICT the most a typical distro
> changes on your HDD is the partition layout, filesystem and
> MBR, depending on exactly what you specify. Changing it
> back to something suited to Windows should only require
> reformatting the filesystems as FAT32 (in your case)

No partition tool would. You can't imagine what MS fdisk was
reporting, and Partition Magic said the drive was unusable,
period, and would not even display ANYTHING, just a "buy a new
drive" message [paraphrased].

Anyway, it's done, no point in going over it again.

While I was at it I cleaned all the dry crud off the processor
and the 3.5"x4" heat sink with a �" copper plate, and applied
new CoolerMaster thermal paste. Runs faster and about 5-10%
cooler. I imagine it is happier.

So a few good things did happen in the end.

<SNIP>

> The Google home page is surely one of the most simple and
> bare of any on the Web. It only has a single logo and a
> text box. It really doesn't get any less bloated than that.

No, it also has about ten links on top, and four or so links
under the search entry box. And more, depending on browser.

> You're not thinking of the iGoogle "portal", are you?

NF. I don't think so.

> If so, then yes I agree those "portal" sites are
> abominations and should be burned at the stake. It was only
> because Yahoo! changed /its/ page from a simple search box
> to a "portal" that I switched to Google in the first place.
> I think the same probably goes for most people.

I used Google within a month of it going beta. I was *astounded*
at its speed, especially on a 28.8 modem, in 1977 or 1978 or
whatever.

>> The mere fact they have gone to what they now are from
>> just a great search engine is bloat.
>
> Those are just additional services that you don't need to
> use, or even see, if you don't want to.

I do not want to SEE THEM.
;-]

>> They are on the verge of overtaking MS in profits for
>> good.
>
> I hope so.
>
> Anything that brings an end to Microsoft's reign of terror
> has got to be a good thing.

Google may well turn out to be a LOT worse.

<SNIP>

>> If you trust it blindly. "Trust no one" - remember?
>
> "Circle of trust" - remember?
>
> It's pretty difficult to live at all if you don't trust
> anyone.

Sadly, life has taught me to trust no one - the HARD way.

<SNIP>

>>> That happens to be a very pertinent question, and one
>>> that I've asked quite a lot of other people to explain.
>>
>> :-) Maybe your gift wrapped "package management" system is
>> :not all that perfect after all... HMMM?
>
> That's also a very pertinent point.

{chuckle...}

<SNIP>

>>> I suggest you contact someone by the name of Miguel de
>>> Icaza (the Microsoft MVP responsible for Mono), and
>>> demand an explanation immediately. I tried, but he was
>>> evasive and mostly unresponsive.
>>
>> Big surprise.
>
> It was quite a shock to me too, especially as that
> Microsoft MVP turned out to be the person who created the
> Gnome Desktop Environment - the most common DE for
> GNU/Linux.

HMMM!

<SNIP>

> I doubt if he'd even talk to you, or any of the Linux
> advocates here. He only really talks to people at Microsoft
> and their friends now, or people who like promoting
> non-Free software.

I know he would never talk to me, it was a rehtorical q.

>> Plus, I don't care.
>
> You're lucky. I sometimes wish I didn't care either, it
> would make life so much easier.

Give it time. Eventually most rational people realize banging
their head against a variety of brick walls of different designs
is not very productive - and there are MUCH faster and less
painful ways of killing yourself.

<SNIP>

> lose my place in the document. I've also configured the
> middle button as the "jump" action in certain games, and
> trying to do that with a scroll-wheel "button" is just a
> nightmare, especially for really intensive action games.

I have no patience for games, so I don't have to endure their
various little quirks.

<SNIP>

> Well you aren't the typical noob either, since apparently

<SNIP>

> e-linux-13

Thank you. Much obliged.

<SNIP>

>> OK then. I /thought/ it was actually personal and
>> financial data.
>
> I said those documents were "important", but they're
> neither personal nor financial. In fact I don't really
> /have/ any personal documents, apart from a passport and a
> birth certificate, and the only records of my finances are
> stored at my bank (which I access online).

OK

:-]



--
Any mental activity is easy if it need not be subjected to
reality.
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