BANKSTER DOOMSDAY KIT ... Economic Inequality: a Small Price to Pay for Staying Human (8/23/2012, 2:54 pm) ...item 3.. Spotify - The bottom line: It's the best free music option since stealing. (July 14, 2011) ...

BANKSTER DOOMSDAY KIT ... Economic Inequality: a Small Price to Pay for Staying Human (8/23/2012, 2:54 pm) ...item 3.. Spotify - The bottom line: It's the best free music option since stealing. (July 14, 2011) ...

Image by marsmet451
It isn't enough to know that capitalism is moral and socialism is not. We must also know how to prove it to the rest of the world. If we don't do it soon, nothing else will matter.

Our editorial in the American Thinker
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........*****All images are copyrighted by their respective authors ........
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.....item 1).... People's Blog ... thepeoplescube.com ... Economic Inequality: a Small Price to Pay for Staying Human

Red Square
8/23/2012, 2:54 pm

It isn't enough to know that capitalism is moral and socialism is not. We must also know how to prove it to the rest of the world. If we don't do it soon, nothing else will matter.

Our editorial in the American Thinker
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img code photo ... SOCIALISM CAPITALISM

peoplescube.virtualestates.netdna-cdn.com/images/Socialis...

ThePeoplesClube.com

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By Oleg Atbashian

thepeoplescube.com/peoples-blog/economic-inequality-a-sma...

To paraphrase Baudelaire, the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world of the moral superiority of collectivism. According to Ayn Rand, if we don't convince the world otherwise, nothing else will work. Our greatest ally in this fight is human nature. Our greatest asset is morality itself, which is really, truly, undeniably, and absolutely on our side.

Today's political debates often end up in the following compromise: capitalism may be more economically efficient, but it's no moral match to economic equality that benefits most people. But the only way economic equality can benefit people is by pandering to their class envy. In all other aspects -- economical, political, cultural, philosophical, and spiritual -- it's a dastardly, immoral cause.

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To begin with, it is the efficiency of capitalism that benefits most people. Among other things, it raises everyone's living standards and quality of life; expands consumer choices; boosts innovation that reduces the share of low-paying, mind-numbing manual jobs; increases the pool of well-paid professional jobs; gives the poor access to things that only the rich could enjoy a short while ago; promotes the creation of new cures of diseases; extends life expectancy and makes old age much more enjoyable.

The alternative to capitalism -- whatever one would like to call it -- is the loss of freedom, loss of choices, government corruption, and moral decay. What do we get in return? The vague promise of economic equality.

But in human reality, complete economic equality cannot be achieved. A century of collectivist social experiments around the world has proven three undeniable facts: One, government-enforced economic equality results in a forced inequality of a powerless, impoverished populace ruled by a corrupt elite. Two, the main obstacle to economic equality is human nature. Three, human nature cannot be changed, no matter the effort to re-educate, indoctrinate, or punish the violators.

An essential part of everyone's human nature is what collectivists are maligning as greed. Generally speaking, it is a normal desire of all humans to achieve a better life for themselves and their children. In a free capitalist system, "greed-driven" achievers engage in lawful productive work, start businesses, and build things. In a restrictive socialist system, to achieve a better station in life, one must either join the corrupt government apparatus, or become part of the criminal underworld with its vast shadow economy. The alternative is to succumb to misery and, very likely, alcoholism or worse. In the end, capitalism brings out the best in people; socialism brings out the worst.

How worthy and moral can an ideal be that punishes achievement and criminalizes human nature?

Proponents of economic equality are either willfully blind, or are themselves sociopathic megalomaniacs, trying to create a restrictive system in which they envision themselves to be part of the powerful ruling elite. Both are willing to go to extremes in order to achieve their goal. As they spin their tale of an imminent paradise, they never say what it will cost us to get there -- and, frankly, they don't give a damn. Individual human sacrifice is never an obstacle for collectivists; their glorious end justifies any unsightly means.

It is up to us then to examine just what exactly we will have to give up for the promise of economic equality -- something that has been proven to not exist.

At first we will have to accept restrictions on certain consumer choices and products in exchange for letting the government take care of our personal well-being. Then come restrictions on speech and activities: a price for maintaining the national well-being. Eventually all dissent is suppressed and criminalized, as the media falls under the government control, young people are indoctrinated in the "new ways," businesses pay enormous taxes, more and more families descend into misery and live off government subsidies, the economy crumbles, and shortages create long lines at the supermarket.

The leaders shift the blame to "enemies of the people," saying that this country would have been a dreamland if it weren't for a few greedy reactionaries. With no one left to object, desperate citizens succumb to the hatred and accept the idea that eliminating the few is a fair price to pay for improving the lives of the many. Then they accept the idea that eliminating an entire class of people is a small price to pay. But despite all the bloodletting, the promised collectivist paradise never arrives and the misery only increases. By now the demoralized, destitute masses are fully separated from the ruling elites by an impenetrable wall of privilege.

The ultimate price -- the relentless sacrifice of millions of people: their work, careers, ambitions, property, and lives -- has been paid to reach an unattainable economic mirage, a phantom concocted in the feverish minds of a few maniacs obsessed with class envy.

In contrast, the price of living in a free and prosperous capitalist society is merely to accept economic inequality as a natural extension of human nature. Without doubt, it's a small price to pay for remaining a free, productive, and moral people who live in harmony with objectively true moral principles, otherwise known as the natural moral law.
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.....item 2).... youtube video ... Talking Heads - "Burning Down The House" ... 3:59 minutes ...

TA LKI N GHE ADS ... SP EAK IN GI N TO NGU ES "Burning Down The House" ...

From their 1983 album Speaking In Tongues

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8D4AsLzlM0&feature=related

Uploaded by ealdrett on Apr 22, 2010

No description available.

Category:
Music

License:
Standard YouTube License
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....item 3).... CNET ... download.cnet.com ... Home
Windows Software
MP3 & Audio Software
Music Management Software
Spotify

CNET Editors' review
by: Donald Bell on July 14, 2011

download.cnet.com/Spotify/3000-2141_4-10912348.html

----- The bottom line: It's the best free music option since stealing.

Review:

----- Installation

As a first-time user, you install the free Spotify Mac/PC application, open it up, and watch as it automatically imports your music collection and playlists from iTunes and other music software and presents you with a landing page filled with new releases, top lists, and music shared by your friends. Setup is swift.

----- Interface

Spotify's polished, iTunes-like interface is as inviting to music fans as a well-stocked record bin. Each portion of the bento-boxlike layout can be resized, and playback, volume, and track scrubber controls are placed neatly across the bottom. Browser-style back and forward buttons located to the left of the search box allow you to dig your way back out out of the rabbit hole of music discovery.

----- Features and support

Spotify's big trick is a little search box at the top of the screen that lets you search for any reasonably popular artist, song, or album in existence and stream it immediately. You can't get The Beatles, but we had no problem finding greats like The Rolling Stones and David Bowie, as well as obscure indies such as The Ghastly Ones or Four Tet.

Put simply, you tell your computer what you want to hear, and it plays it for you...for free, and without limitations for up to six months. It doesn't play something similar to the song you want (like Pandora), or a 30- to 60-second clip of the song you want (like iTunes)--it plays you the whole song or album, just as if it were in your personal music collection.

----- Spotify

Of course, there are a few other bells and whistles that make Spotify its own special thing. Facebook and Twitter integration enables you to easily share music discoveries with friends. Artist pages encourage discovery with bio pages and links out to similar artists and top hits of the decade to add context. Without any friction preventing you from jumping from one great song to the next, Spotify also provides a play queue off to the side, allowing you to stash your discoveries without interrupting the currently playing song.

Spotify's music service is uniquely generous, but it's not without limitations. Using the free version of the service, full songs can be streamed on demand in unlimited numbers for up to six months (with the occasional audio ad popping into rotation, similar to Pandora). After that time, free users can only play a given track a maximum of five times per month and are also subject to a cap of 10 hours of streaming per month. If you cough up per month, those restrictions (and ads) disappear, but you're still limited to listening only from your computer. At per month, you can use Spotify on mobile devices (including iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 7), and even cache your favorite music and playlists for offline listening.

----- Performance

We are happy to report that Spotify's song streams have a near-instant response upon start-up. For the most part, the experience feels just like listening to your locally stored music collection. The illusion is broken when you go to jump to the middle of a song or hit the skip button, which introduces a minor lag.
We had no issue with Spotify's default sound quality (96-160Kbps Ogg Vorbis), but fickle users have the option of digging into the software's Preferences and enabling high-quality streaming (320Kbps Ogg Vorbis).

Spotify walkthrough (photos)

----- Conclusion

Should you try it? Absolutely. Any and all music fans are encouraged to give it a whirl. The smart people at Spotify have made the free service incredibly attractive to new users, and there's really nothing to lose. Whether you find it important enough to upgrade to Spotify's premium options is entirely up to you, but they seem like a great value for any music fan with an insatiable appetite.

RealPlayer
Watch your favorite videos on your favorite devices.
Download Now

... Publisher's Description

From Spotify:

Spotify is a new way to enjoy music. Simply download and install, before you know it you'll be singing along to the genre, artist or song of your choice. With Spotify you are never far away from the song you want.

There are no restrictions in terms of what you can listen to or when. Forget about the hassle of waiting for files to download and fill up your hard drive before you get round to organizing them. Spotify is instant, fun and simple.

... More Popular Music Management Software downloads

- JetAudio Basic 29,353 downloads
- Easy MP3 Downloader 15,476 downloads
- Apple iTunes 12,077 downloads
- AoA iPod/iPad/iPhone to Computer Transfer 11,376 downloads
- Winamp 5,857 downloads
- Sony Ericsson PC Suite 5,591 downloads
- MediaMonkey Standard 3,366 downloads
- SharePod 2,880 downloads
- Apple iTunes (64-bit) 2,816 downloads
- See all Music Management Software downloads

LogMeIn Rescue
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The challenges of using a (DIY)-WEBCAM for astro imaging

Image by Stargazer95050
modifying one is the easy part -- see this post : /photos/sharpshutter/6667338191/

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After that, there are multiple challenges to master :
-) the FOV is TINY !!
Even with your finderscope properly aligned, finding Jupiter in the black sky isn't going to be easy. And just because your SLR and finderscope match, that doesn't mean the new WEBCAM will match equally
-- so another round of calibrations to match camera & finderscope
-- more effort needed during Polar Alignment & GOTO-alignment

-) the cells in the CCD (or CMOS) sensor are small -- they are noisy
that may be partially overcome by sampling and averaging --> record lots of images and do a lot of post-processing

-) the cells in the CCD (or CMOS) sensor are small -- they are not so sensitive
And while a SLR can expose longer, the streaming webcams have some limits in their exposure time. specialized astro CCD cameras do not have such limitations. As a result, there are thresholds where a simple webcam is not useful. Lunar images are no problem, Jupiter may be good as well

-) Headaches caused by the (Windows)-drivers
Often lacking manual controls -- and even if they have, some still do automatic exposure compensation despite my manual settings :-((

-) the resolution achievable is impressive
In fact it may be TOO IMPRESSIVE -- challenging the resolution limits of your scope. I am not sure if that oversampling can be used to some advantage. => see below (*)

-) PC / laptop required to record images
Running a laptop in cold damp air, so you better have some big batteries to power it. And also protect it from dew & mist

-) accurate focus is important
But touching the telescope's focus knob already sends tiny vibrations over the OTA resulting in big shivers of the image.

-) software for still image & streaming video capture
-) Software for image stacking from AVI or other video formats
-) Software to extract still images from the video stream & other video format conversions
got some good leads : users.belgacom.net/astronomy/software.html

-) upgrade your HD capacity -- those (lossless) (AVI) video-streams quickly exceed several GB
Swapping out the HD of a laptop can be easy -- unless it is a MAC
Moving the loss-less video files is challenging & slow -- can't copy a 6GB file onto a CF/SD card -- FAT32 file size limitation, ZIP/RAR will compress but take forever

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Comparison made using CCDcalc
-) 24x36mm sensor / FX ==> @ 12MP the resolution is 0.74 arcsec / pixel (each pixel is 8.5 x 8.5um)
-) 18x24mm sensor / DX ==> @ 18MP the resolution is 0.42 arcsec / pixel (each pixel is 4.8 x 4.8um)
-) 1/3" sensor / one of many webcam & cell-phone sensor sizes ==> @ 2MP the resolution is 0.26 arcsec / pixel (each pixel is 3 x 3um)

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More about this project : search/groups/ diy astro cam


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(*) The diffraction limit is -- rule of thumb ==> 125 / aperture [mm] = resolution [arcsec]
So a telescope with a 250mm / 10" aperture has a diffraction limit of 0.5 arcsec.
To resolve 0.26 arcseconds the aperture would need to be in the 20" range

Wire Googles Photo: Tarot Cards on Carpet

Image by Ryan Somma
Taken with the Wire Goggles App by dozingcatsoftware.com

Creative Commons licensed photo by ideonexus.com, please feel free to reuse for any purpose.

Velib station

Image by austinevan
Paris Vélib Service (Vélib is short for “Velo Liberte” or “Bike Freedom”) is a city-wide bike rental service. With plans for 20,600 bicycles available on 1,451 stations, it is the largest bicycle rental project in the world.

See more info at www.en.velib.paris.fr/

I place my notes, tips, tricks on Velib on my Veliblog: velibobsession.blogspot.com

Renting a Velib bike

These bikes are fun to rent and ride but, depending on how long you are in Paris, you may just want to buy a bike and lock it up outside where you are staying. I love the Velib system but it is more appropriate for short-term point-to-point transportation. If you're in Paris for more than a few weeks it may be more useful to buy a 100 euro bike at Decathalon (along with a good lock). Buying a bike is also better if you plan to ride more than just 30 minutes each time. Having said that I still like this system and use it often to get from place to place more quickly.

UPDATE (25 October 2007): The system now accepts American Express and JCB cards that do not have the EU smart chips! Good news for visitors that do not have an EU bank card.

UPDATE (28 October 2007): Be VERY careful out there... I'm sad to write that the the first fatility involving a Velib bicycle occurred on 18 October in the 13th arrondissement. This is first fatility since the service started July 15 2007. Marthe Coppel-Batsch, 59, a prominent Psychologist and Psychoanalyst, was struck by a truck near the corner of Boulevard de la Bastille and quai de la Rapée. The accident was caused when the driver of the truck could not see the bicyclist due to the "blind spot".

While the majority of Paris bike lanes are dedicated to bikes, there remains many that are shared between bikes, taxis, and buses. Riding in these shared lanes is tricky and I've found myself having to compete for space with very large vehicles that do not always see the bike riders well if at all. Bike helmets are not required nor used in Paris and perhaps they may catch on as there have 4 fatalities now involving bicyclists each year. www.liberation.fr/actualite/societe/285982.FR.php

UPDATE: With the transit strike over, bikes are now being repaired more quickly...

The French transit strike increased ridership but conversely resulted in many bikes not getting repaired. Twice while going to rent a Velib I found many bikes in the stands that were broken. The strike made transporting the bikes to the repair depots difficult resulting in many broken bikes being left in the stands.

So, WATCH OUT for flat tires, broken chains, bent wheels, etc.

The interface is a bit confusing... but it works (eventually) and you can rent a nice bike very cheaply.

Paris Vélib Service (Vélib is short for “Velo Liberte” or “Bike Freedom”) is a city-wide bike rental service. With plans for 20,600 bicycles available on 1,451 stations, it is the largest bicycle rental project in the world.

THE BIKES

The sturdy grey bikes come with a metal basket on the handlebars and are heavier than standard bicycles, built to withstand heavy use. In line with the program's green image, Vélib‘ maintenance staff get around town on 130 electrically assisted bicycles. A barge with 12 stops along the Seine will pick up bikes in need of major repairs. Cleaning staff drive electric vehicles and use rain collected on the roofs of JCDecaux offices

Shimano (brake systems)
Prowheel (core hardware)
Nexus (gear shifts, cables, etc)

The bikes are 3 speed “roadster”-type bikes.

I had some luck as when I arrived at the Jaures station as there was a ratp truck unloading new bikes. I spoke to the RATP employees and found out there are currently about 13,000 bikes in place right now with plans to have 20,600 by the end of the summer in 1,451 stations. The bikes just arrived a few days ago (on the 15th of July – right after bastille).

I walked down to the Jaures Vélib station and rented one! It’s a pretty cool bike; a bit particular looking but no one seems to mind riding them. I road it about 30 minutes and it did well. It’s not meant for comfort so watch out for bumps in the road and cobblestones. It has 3 speeds so is fairly flexible. It also has lots of illumination so seems fairly safe at night (I’ll try it tonight and see how it goes).

You have to buy a Vélib pass first:

Daily card is 1 euro
Weekly card is 7 euros
1 YEAR is 29 euros

To get the 1 year card you have to go online and sign up and get an “abonnement”. Most people visiting Paris will probably want to just get a bike for 7 days then check it in/out as needed over the 7 days.

UPDATE: I've found that I can get the Velib yearlong form online and link it to my metro pass by mailing in the form (along with a check for 29 euros and an authorization for 150 euros) to the Velib HQ outside Paris. Once this is done I can much more easily get a bike by just passing my navigo card over the sensor! The process to get the Navigo metro card linked to the Velib system is lengthy and requires several forms to be filled out (very very French).

The three choices do involve a 150 Euro “deposit”. That is, if you don’t return the bike within a certain amount of time you will be charged 150 euros.

There is a 13 point legal summary that you must accept to obtain a Vélib pass (one of the annoying features is having to read through the entire legal acceptance form on a small screen) NOTE: I have since found that you can "skip" the entire text. Another issue is that when you pay with a bank card you have to switch to a different interface screen. The Main interface (a color plasma screen) for the details of the bike pass then the smaller LCD screen for the details of your bank card. But, it’s very similar to the RATP and SNCF machines used to get metro and train tickets (at least in the complexity of the user interface).

To get the 1 year card you have to go online and sign up and get an “abonnement”. Most people visiting Paris will probably want to just get a bike for 7 days then check it in/out as needed over the 7 days.

Either of the three choices do involve a 150 Euro “deposit”. That is, if you don’t return the bike within a certain amount of time you will be charged 150 euros.

The first two options can be done right at the Vélib station. There’s not a person there so you have to use the interface.

Payment:

You can use French bank card and it looks like most ATM cards will work as well. I tried using my navigo and it worked great! I also used my Bank Card and it worked also. You can also use your navigo card (your metro pass which you can obtain free from www.navigo.fr/ - you’ll need to upload a photo and provide a French address – use the address you will be staying at even if it’s a hotel; the navigo card will arrive in a few days so do this before you leave)

UPDATE: The Velib system now accepts American Express and JCB cards that do not have smart chips! Good news for foreign visitors who don't have an EU smart card...

Language:

The interface says it’s in French, German, English but these languages don’t work yet (I guess they have not translated the interface so these buttons don’t do anything). So, you’ll need to read French but it’s not that hard and there are always people around willing to help. The RATP employees say there are plans to include other languages (up to 8) but right now there are only 3 (and only French is actually working right now!).

UPDATE: During the 2nd week the interface was updated and is now working in English, Spanish, and French.

Once you receive an abonnement card you will have to select a PIN (code secret) that will allow you to use your card in other stations.

Once you process a payment, you select the stall number, then go push the button on the stall corresponding to the bike you selected. Then you just go ride off into the sunset! Then return the bike at any other station.

Once you have the pass and bike you are charged based on how long you ride it – simple. If you check out a bike and ride it for less than an hour and a half it’s free! But if you ride it longer you have to pay - A supplement of 1 euro will be charged for an additional half-hour, 2 euros for another 30-minutes and 4 euros for every addition half-hour after that.

Don’t forget to push the button on the stall to get your bike! I don’t know how many people I’ve seen try to “swipe” the paper bike ticket on the navigo interface!

SECURITY

The bikes come with a cable lock. This is passed around a pole or other object then connects into the frame of the bike. There is a small key that will release once the cable lock is snapped into place. I've had a little bit of trouble at first then realized that after clicking one end of the cable in place, to unlock it, you must also push the cable connector in a bit further to get the key to release. It's not the thickest cable and so I prefer to keep the bike in sight when locked (if possible). Theft is not yet a serious problem for the program but it does happen. If you happen to lose the key, call the emergency number listed on the bike (01 30 79 79 30) and someone will come unlock the bike for you.

RETURN

To return the bike just put it into one of the stalls. Make sure the slot is engaged. It will "click" into the slot, the light will go "yellow" then to "green" about 5 seconds later when the RFID system recognizes your bike as being returned.

If there are problems you can call Vélib’s emergency number: 01 30 79 79 30. This number is also printed on the bike's handle-bar.

JCDecaux

JCDecaux sponsors the project in exchange for advertising rights in Paris. JCDecaux is Europe’s largest outdoor advertising company. Like a similar scheme in Lyon, where 10 percent of the city's population has a subscription to the local sharing scheme, Vélib is operated by outdoor advertising giant JCDecaux, which is footing the bill in exchange for exclusive rights to 1,628 Paris billboards.

UPDATE: I've been renting one 2 or 3 times a week and it seems to work well so far. Theft has not been a huge problem so far but it does happen. The bikes come with a lock but it is not a substantial one and is easily cut. When I stop to eat somewhere I lock it up but keep it in sight. Right now they program is regarded with some pride by parisians so it seems including the appropriate marketing and presentation has some benefits. For example, the program was marketed outside of normal medial channels (outside of France). The support infrastructure is also highly visible with specialized electric vehicles, boats, and even uniforms for the maintenance personnel. This makes sense though given that the company financing it is JCDecaux (Europe's largest outdoor advertising firm).

The UI terminals: These are two-sided. One side is the main UI for renting a bike, the other is a map and a smaller interface for obtaining the balance on your bike by entering the ticket number.

There have been glitches:

1. Terminal's are sometimes offline so no way to get a bike
2. There are bikes available but the terminal doesn't know this (RFID system goes down sometimes) so it sends you to an interface to find another Velib station.
3. Sometimes the terminals will be rebooted remotely and will be unavailable for about 5 minutes while it reboots.

The UI is based on windows VB script and runs on the Windows XP embedded OS. The BIOS is Phoenix 1.14. The hardware is a 1.3Ghz Pentium III with 500MB memory.

Thanks to all of you!

Image by Victor W.
Haven't been around much, my apologies to all of you.

Had a few problems with the computer a while back, (December last year!), some desperate attempts were made on my part to resurrect the beast.......mostly to no avail.

Finally got the machine up and running although now minus the old graphics card plus the 2Gb RAM I used to have, (all failed probably due to the original power supply fault!). So now according to 'windoze' I have a rubbish PC and my copy of vista doesn't run very well on it. (That's an understatement if ever I heard one!)

So what to do with my four year old machine, (flip, that's ancient isn't it?! can you imagine, four years old! I don't keep up with the times do I? - Sarcastic chuckle), now with 1Gb memory and cr*p graphics card - easy, buy a new one.......if that was a financial option that is. I've never been one to throw money at my problems, (and really don't understand people that do), so I looked around for an alternative which turned out to be Linux.
Linux? That's rubbish isn't it? Just to quote something I've read or heard whilst going through this process. Well it wasn't as hard or as 'rubbish' as I was led to believe it was going to be.

Enter Ubuntu and what a simple process it was to install that free bit of kit. Free? Must be rubbish.....except that it isn't. The usual arguments I've heard are that it doesn't operate like 'windoze' or look nice like a Mac OS - Really? Would that be because it's a different operating system? "Different", "New", can't be doing that now can we, stuck in our ways we are old chap. It didn't take as long as I expected to get used to a new OS and now that I've had it for a couple of weeks I'm afraid there's no turning back.
Why? Well because it runs great despite 'windoze' thinking I now have a cr*p PC. Fast boot-up, fast internet connectivity, multiple desktops, (which you'd never believe you'd need until you have it!), no anti-virus software required, (Really?! Oh yeah, you'd better believe it!), and just about every piece of productivity software I've needed is absolutely free. "Free", such a nice word.

But how can all this come about and especially for 'free'?
That'd be the reasoning behind the title to this image, it's thanks to all of you. Yeah, I know, some of you have never stumbled onto Linux or avoided it or never taken part in any of it so it can't be thanks to all of you. How can it?
If you bought a PC with 'windoze' or a mac you damn well paid for the OS too, you only have to take a look at the licensing conditions of your OS to see the restrictions imposed upon you. Not only that, but once your machine gets bogged down with all the 'updates' required you're along that rocky road of stumping up more cash for a newer version of that OS when it arrives. That's why alternatives can look so promising, especially for free and freely re-distributable. (Trying explaining that one to Mr. Gates when you've installed 'windoze' on multiple machines without double checking the software license - "Honest M'Lud, I didn't know I was 'stealing' anyfing" - Ignorance is no defence of the law I'm afraid.)
All this came about because we got stuck in that rut of buying these OS's that promised so much, offered little and got so used to being shafted we plod on merrily. Except that some people aren't happy with that and rewrote the 'rules'.

So the main thanks has to go to those people that had enough of bending over and taking it up the proverbial. All those 'geeks', 'coders', 'software engineers', whatever you want to call them banding together across the world and producing wonderful software like Ubuntu amongst others. I couldn't have done it, the great thing about open source software is that no one single person had to do it either, it's a collaboration, a joining of minds, skills, ideas, you name it all coming together to produce wonderful stuff. Humanity as a whole, not a dream but actually here.

If you disagree with that, then that's fair enough, after all most of us live in a 'free' country, don't we(?)

However, try explaining that to the school in Africa or some other far flung country who had several computers donated to them plus the means to run them but unfortunately no license or money to buy an expensive OS. Or the cash strapped education centre that can't afford the license conditions, or the updates, or the new releases, or find out they're breaking the law because someone donated a computer with an OS pre-installed, (look up your re-distributable terms again).

Yet here is an OS that is not only free but freely distributable as well, install it on one machine, install it on many, give away copies free to anyone you know who wants it. Great isn't it?
But what good would it do installing these free operating systems and especially for education centres. Heck, the rest of the world are using 'windoze' and mac products so it'd do them no good would it? Yeah, next thing you'll be telling me that you can't take photographs unless you have a Canon, or maybe a Nikon helps you take photographs like no other camera can? You can't produce a financial report unless you're using a bona fide copy of 'microsloth windoze office'? Perhaps we ought to give them pencils and paper.......or just perhaps the productivity tool that a computer can be with no other restrictions.

Oh, and of course there's me, had enough, not paying any more even if I could and loving the move to free :-)


The image contains some examples of the open source software out there and believe me there's a whole world more than that available. Some links if you want to find out more:

UBUNTU - The operating system. You can burn this to a 'live' CD or even a memory stick and run this first without upsetting your original configuration or OS. Try before you b.......erm you don't have to buy it ;-)

LINUX (.com) and LINUX (uk) - For more wonderful Linux goodness.

AUDACITY - A free audio editor that most of us have probably already stumbled upon.

GIMP - Another one we may have heard of, pretty good package too and improving all the time. Ideal for all your photo and image editing purposes. Of course there's not as many 'tutorials' as there are for 'photoshop', so you can carry on using your expensive, (or stolen), copy if you really must ;-)

LIBRE OFFICE - Free office tools, write, report, database, the usual stuff and for free.

FIREFOX - Probably already heard of this one too, the free web browser.

7 ZIP - Free data compression tool. Yep, free again.

If you like any of that, go and let someone else know about it too!


For some reason flickr won't allow me to reproduce 'free' and so I'm stuck with an attribution licence on this image. Don't bother attributing me, none of the logos are mine so it isn't really my set of images.