But if not by means of a donation button/link, how will the request for donations be communicated? Maybe by means of the "News" line that I requested removed?
At an urgent point, make a red line of text appear in the upper edge, saying something like "If all of you transferred X euros by Monday to such-and-such account number, this place would stay online for another year."
Of course, this means the administration should have its own official bank account, which is yet another thing that costs
The OS disc that you get along with the purchase, should be used for reinstalls on that machine only. Also, as far as I know, you are not even allowed to install some other OS on the machine to replace Windows, at least not as long as the warranty lasts. Not simply discouraged, but forbidden, it's an illegal operation.
I can't confirm the above. In case you trash your mashine you can reinstall the OS on another mashine with an OS disc you have a license key for. I did it myself for friends. They even registered to Microsoft after that and never had problems. Only limitation, you are forbidden to install from your licensed OS disk on more than one computer. It's also not forbidden or illegal to replace Windows during waranty. You may lose your waranty but that's not the same as "forbidden" or "illegal".
Well, I never meant to go into legal nuances. Even from afar the thing looks messy enough.
From what I have read, Microsoft imposes agreements to computer sellers that dual-boot machines must never be sold, and this is the de facto situation too. A computer salesman is not an end user, but this agreement effectively means they can't sell whatever computers they think best. Computer salesmen have less fun at work and less motivation to really educate end users in various tech stuff. And a quick googling shows that Microsoft is enhancing these policies http://www.dailytech.com/Microsoft+Bans+LinuxAndroid+DualBooting+on+Windows+8+ARM+Devices/article23785.htm The way I see it, these policies are unjustifiable, even though may be legal.
You, on the other hand, seem to condemn pirating. What is pirating and why is it condemnable?
Once upon a time, for being a good mobile customer, I got an offer for a home computer from my mobile (and internet and TV) provider. I use internet only with mobile phone and TV not at all, so the home computer offer didn't make sense to me. I diverted the offer to another person. When the computer arrived, it turned out it had bluetooth keyboard and bluetooth mouse. Those wireless peripherals probably were a hot offer at the time, but I was relieved already then that these things hadn't landed at my own place. I imagined changing batteries for those things...
In all the cases I checked, the conditions merely said that it could be installed on one machine only, which I interpreted as meaning one at a time, especially after that was mentioned explicitly on one or two of the SW packages. At no time did I see a statement saying that it could be installed only once, nor did the wording imply that.
Good that the licenses don't go quite as far as forbidding multiple attempts to install, but the demand to install on one machine only is nuts enough. At least Windows OS is explicit in demanding this. New "genuine" or authenticated Win PC's come with a sticker displaying the unique identity code on it. The OS disc that you get along with the purchase, should be used for reinstalls on that machine only. Also, as far as I know, you are not even allowed to install some other OS on the machine to replace Windows, at least not as long as the warranty lasts. Not simply discouraged, but forbidden, it's an illegal operation.
Since XP, I have seen some cute instructions on Windows how to check if you have a genuine authenticated PC. The instruction: Check the identity code in the OS and on the sticker on the machine. If these match, you are authenticated, yoohoo! The heartwarming benefit of being authenticated is that Microsoft call centre deems you worthy of their help. In real life, I don't know any individual who has relied on official Microsoft helpdesk. I know of companies though. Private persons simply go to some shop around the corner that says "old computers" and they get all their help there.
I know of a woman who bought a computer that came with Ubuntu preinstalled. This was a choice out of ignorance on her part. She assumed all computers came with Windows. She had heard of Macs too, but "Macs is what they use only in America" (my story is from another continent of course). When she ran into trouble with the computer, she took it to an "old computers" shop, where the OS was promptly replaced with Windows, because "that's what everybody uses" said the shop personnel, and of course it made the woman happy to see familiar icons again. And we can be sure that the disc to install the Windows had been used on tons of machines before and is still being used, because it's Win 7, the leatest greatest from MS. The absolute latest from MS is unfortunately crap and has not been picked up by those shops yet.
This is how all second-hand computer shops operate that I know of - with blatant disregard to the licenses of the biggies. The biggies can't enforce their unnatural rules even within their own industry, so there's not much of a chance to educate the userhood to behave according to EULA either.
Being a translator, proofreader and book editor, I have encountered whole paragraphs and even chapters in all caps. But you are right. I could learn the shortcuts to set chunks of text to uppercase and lowercase. Word processing software can do it. I use it from menus when needed, but I could learn the keyboard shortcuts or whatever else works in all the different editors.
You get the general idea? I want the caps lock key out of the way!
But you don't need a special keyboard for that: just tell your OS to treat the Caps Lock key as an extra Control key. As I'm sure I've said, I use Caps Lock as Compose.
But the thing is that I need caps lock function often enough. Is caps lock mappable to a key combo when I reassign the key to some other function?
I am in the somewhat weird position of being pro-second amendment while at the same time being more than a little afraid of some of the pro-concealed carry crowd. […]
Agreed. I'm pro-second amendment too. I just question the wisdom of allowing anyone that feels like to stroll into the school, courthouse, etc with a gun. I'm also for universal background checks, but don't suffer the delusion that they'll stop all criminals and lunatics from getting guns. […]
Perhaps that's somewhat weird in the US, but it doesn't sound like a particularly weird position to me.
Except that in Europe there's no second amendment. This constitutional amendment is interpreted by pro-gunners as a declaration of total freedom to shoot and bomb without any restriction or regulation. Nothing makes them back down from this interpretation, no reason, logic, nor even facts on how any point of constitution is actually implemented. For example, there's the first amendment, guaranteeing freedom of speech, but can you say absolutely anything without restriction or regulation?
No, I am not arguing. Enemies of reason don't make good discussion partners.
So you mean government regulated, not necessarily run by the government itself?
What's the difference? A branch of government, a formally autonomous government office (such as audit units), and a 100% government-owned company look like the shades of the same gray to me.
For example, in .de courts seem to think that if you bought something then you can sell it, no matter if the licence says you can't ( Windows OEM install discs are a prominent example )
Come to think of it, I seem to think that the concepts of buying and selling should not depend on what courts seem to think. When I bought something, it's mine and of course I can do whatever I want with it, resell it, borrow it, give it away or take it apart in any manner thinkable, including reverse engineer and copy. This is what buying and selling means. Particularly software licensing makes the act of paying feel more like rent or tax rather than buying.
Human nature is divine and diabolic nature active in the same body.
Not really. Human nature is to question why and explore. Ever had an inquisitive child ask you a question and then ask 'why' at the end of your explanation and then 'why' again at the end of that explanation, etc. etc.
Yes, I have them asking 'why' all the time. It's diabolic. And human.
I do my best to explain. I get through to children better than to you. That's life.
In the early days of this forum (the good old times) when issues such as site icons and smilie images came up, there was the recurring question of licenses - if this or that is "free" (not free as in grabbable because it's just lying around in the interwebs but free to use as per its accompanying license).
There's often some disconnect between end-user licenses of a thing and what a thing could actually be good for. For example according to some review, a version of Microsoft Surface tablet is great for business use - it even comes with MS Office! However, the Office has a home user license, i.e. free for non-commercial use as per license. (the review)
Are things inseparable from their licenses, creation inseparable from creator's intent, property inseparable from its title deed, or do users have some inalienable license of their own too? If yes, how do you motivate and define the limits?
The soup sector is one of the must-have functions of government. I mean, seriously, to take care of the poor or in case of disasters, there must be some institutional continuity to administer to these necessities.
Other cases I can think of where the government is indispensable is providing health care, education, and energy. Surely I am not off the mark here, because pretty much in every country these sectors are government controlled, even though the order of priority is reversed from what I stated.
Then there's the military sector, the so-called defence. There's no country in the world where this would be left to private citizens with enterpreneurial spirit, to be regulated by the mysteriously perfect invisible hand of the market forces.
By the age of twenty, I had already seen empires rise and fall first hand. Nothing human (or inhuman, if you prefer) is unknown to me.
I KNEW you were going to say something like that. Yes, empires have risen and fallen, but is it something humans do like bees make honey? I think not, but think what you will and keep it to yourself.
If you knew it, you should have some logical answer to it (as opposed to emotional).
We disagree on our views of human nature and I think, quite reasonably, that such disagreement itself is a vivid example of human nature, and of the nature of humanity. I have no problem living with it, but I accept that it's equally human to struggle painfully trying to cope with it. This is so because human nature is dual. Human nature is divine and diabolic nature active in the same body.
How do you know not working on Sunday etc. is against human nature? Maybe it's human nature to preach various things, to make up rules, to try to follow them, then to rebel, tear it all down, live in anarchy for a while, then think of some order again, etc?
Have you noticed this trend in human civilization? If not, then it is not in our nature.
Serious question. How far does your knowledge of history go? By the age of twenty, I had already seen empires rise and fall first hand. Nothing human (or inhuman, if you prefer) is unknown to me.
I have lived in anarchy - namely, the regime change era when Soviet Union fell apart from about 1989 to 1995. Money was worth nothing (hyperinflation); shops were empty; jobs were sometimes useful, but for other reasons than money; government administration didn't work in any manner (most of the time we didn't know who was in charge). What kept us alive was producing milk, fruit, and vegetables for ourselves by ourselves. Relatives in the city came to the farm to help often. They wanted their share too, because it's self-evident that food keeps you alive. Worked just fine, no money needed. Is there something unclear in this? Something dubious? Something outlandish? Weird Western people, what planet are you living on?
? Are you seriously promoting that as a way to live !!!!
You can promote whatever you want, but I prefer decent subsistence under whatever circumstances. The circumstances are not up to me. Nor up to you.
We did well. We didn't become a band of robbers even though this was the most profitable way to live at the time. It was not a short time. Nothing indicated how long it would last, if it's permanent or temporary. Given this experience, to me any order as well as disorder is temporary.
Do sermons preach something else than basic human nature?
Some sermons teach all sorts of things that do not derive from basic human nature - not working on Sunday, not eating "that which is forbidden", a woman covering her hair, and so on and so on and so on....
How do you know not working on Sunday etc. is against human nature? Maybe it's human nature to preach various things, to make up rules, to try to follow them, then to rebel, tear it all down, live in anarchy for a while, then think of some order again, etc?
To say that my family's goodness could only stem from religion is to say that it couldn't stem from basic human nature which is peace not hatred, happiness not greed, love not heartache, and wisdom not confusion. The goodness religion teaches lasts for the hour it takes to deliver the sermon and then people are off doing their own thing again...
Is basic human nature distinct from family and society influence? Do sermons preach something else than basic human nature?
If you envisage the so-called "simple life" where you live on a farm, grow or rear your own food and rely on no-one for anything else, you are surely thinking of a middle-age society or maybe even before that.
I have lived in anarchy - namely, the regime change era when Soviet Union fell apart from about 1989 to 1995. Money was worth nothing (hyperinflation); shops were empty; jobs were sometimes useful, but for other reasons than money; government administration didn't work in any manner (most of the time we didn't know who was in charge). What kept us alive was producing milk, fruit, and vegetables for ourselves by ourselves. Relatives in the city came to the farm to help often. They wanted their share too, because it's self-evident that food keeps you alive. Worked just fine, no money needed. Is there something unclear in this? Something dubious? Something outlandish? Weird Western people, what planet are you living on?
We are not free to do what we want and have the skills for. We are forced to do what brings in money. Stupid system.
You can't even farm without money, and you aren't forced to do what earns money.
During the era I described above, there were effectively no taxes, for two reasons: 1. Hyperinflation (which ended in monetary reform) 2. Weak government, lack of enforcement. Mafia was the government, but mafia didn't extend to the countryside.
Under the current order, you have to pay taxes - in money only. And the money system has been stretched everywhere without any apparent reason. I don't know in your country, but here you have to pay taxes, if you do/own anything that resembles a business, and when you work under a business - which of course covers pretty much everyone. For example my family farm was not a registered business, we thought we were just having our own life, but it sufficiently resembled a business so that when some government finally emerged, we were asked to pay taxes recursively based on estimates out of thin air, because there had been no real currency and no value for money for about half a decade - and there had been no business, just government regulation made up and enforced at some point what is considered a business. To pay taxes you have to have a job and earn money. To have a job you are forced to have a bank account, which is basically another layer of taxes on top of the government taxes. All regularly recurring fees and usury I consider taxes. Government, banks, and mafia work this way.
Actually, none of these requires any money. Children need clothes, food, education, and a home, and parents need the capacity to provide those things. Money is just a detour to get what we really need.
Please explain that. Where do you buy things without money? Some sort of barter system?
Incidentally, I grew up in a farm, almost all my uncles are construction workers and I myself have a university degree and teacher qualification. So, if the world functioned normally, the children could have all those things provided by the immediate circle of their own family. Alas, the world is insane and we all have to be busy earning money to buy necessary things and services, even though we actually have the skills to do it all by ourselves.
We are not free to do what we want and have the skills for. We are forced to do what brings in money. Stupid system.
I have no clue about any of the games mentioned here. I suppose they are all like Doom, except that there's more searching of charms rather than killing enemies. And this feels perfectly sufficient knowledge for me.
By the Balance, no.
Balance of what? Balance of Force? Does this mean adventure games are more like virtual role playing rather than hunt-and-shoot-and-upgrade-weapons-trick-and-cheat games? This would be very much like the quest game on my first smartphone SE P800 was. It had character choice with background stories, lots of emphasis on trick-and-cheat, while shooting was almost accidental aspect, pretty much non-existent. Prince of Persia is far more adventurous.
I got tired of being a money slave, there's much better things on life to be lived than money. Freedom and passion (maybe antagonistic things, eh? ) are surely more important than money.
Generally speaking, I agree, but there are things that require money...raising children, having enough to buy food and keep a roof over one's head.
Actually, none of these requires any money. Children need clothes, food, education, and a home, and parents need the capacity to provide those things. Money is just a detour to get what we really need.
You get the general idea? I want the caps lock key out of the way!
? Are you seriously promoting that as a way to live !!!!