It's Friday, and I haven't slept yet. I just took an assload of Benadryl, and I'm finishing up some Ramen Noodles (I should be sick of them, but I actually find them to be quite tasty. I'l explain later).
Bill Gates got knighted recently. I don't know what to make of it. I'm upset because it is an honour that, these days, is bestowed upon people who actually make noteworthy CONTRIBUTIONS to society, not people who aid in the downfall of society.
I will admit that Bill Gates does give millions of dollars to charity, but that is beside the point. Microsoft is an evil company. They broke the law several times and they have worked to stifle competition and innovation since they started making operating systems. They stole DOS from IBM. They copied much of their GUI from OS/2, Xerox, and Apple. They used their dominance in the operating system segment of the software market to crush Netscape Communicator during the Browser Wars, when Netscape was clearly the better browser. Ther ewere no major changes made to IE since then, up until just recently, when Microsoft began to feel threatened by Mozilla Firefox. If you want to experience a nightmare, try doing some of the things I do with IE. I have to visit some pretty nefarious websites (I'm looking for software cracks and serial numbers), and my Internet Explorer would constantly be getting hijacked by things like CoolWWSearch and Lop.com.
Microsoft is helping to lead the charge against open source software and innovation. They are figthing for software patents in Europe. This will mean that if two competing pieces of software are even remotely similar (like MS Office and OpenOffice.org), the guy with the patent can sue. Some of the best Linux distros come out of Europe. SuSe, anyone? Knoppix? Microsoft could sue the developers of these distros if software patents become legal in Europe.
Well, now that I think of it, Gate's title is "Knight Commanding of the British Empire. Since the tactics of Microsoft mirror the tactics that the British used to obtain an empire that the sun never set on, I guess it is only proper that they knight him...
Anyhow, I promised to explain why I should be sick of Ramen noodles. I used to be a fundie. And I used to go to Bible College in Canada. Not anymore, of course. When living in Canada, I was prohibited by the Canadian government from seeking employment. I would do odd jobs under the table here and there, but I was usually broke. Ramen noodles ("Mr. Noodles in Canada) are the cheapest meals that you can buy, and they offer a bit of variety as well. I ate them a lot. I lived with a family from the local PAOC (Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. The Canadian counterpart to the Assemblies of God), but I have the metabolism of a hummingbird on crack, and I didn't want to eat them out of house and home.
The Benadryl is kicking in, so I'm going to go to sleep.
Bill Gates got knighted recently. I don't know what to make of it. I'm upset because it is an honour that, these days, is bestowed upon people who actually make noteworthy CONTRIBUTIONS to society, not people who aid in the downfall of society.
I will admit that Bill Gates does give millions of dollars to charity, but that is beside the point. Microsoft is an evil company. They broke the law several times and they have worked to stifle competition and innovation since they started making operating systems. They stole DOS from IBM. They copied much of their GUI from OS/2, Xerox, and Apple. They used their dominance in the operating system segment of the software market to crush Netscape Communicator during the Browser Wars, when Netscape was clearly the better browser. Ther ewere no major changes made to IE since then, up until just recently, when Microsoft began to feel threatened by Mozilla Firefox. If you want to experience a nightmare, try doing some of the things I do with IE. I have to visit some pretty nefarious websites (I'm looking for software cracks and serial numbers), and my Internet Explorer would constantly be getting hijacked by things like CoolWWSearch and Lop.com.
Microsoft is helping to lead the charge against open source software and innovation. They are figthing for software patents in Europe. This will mean that if two competing pieces of software are even remotely similar (like MS Office and OpenOffice.org), the guy with the patent can sue. Some of the best Linux distros come out of Europe. SuSe, anyone? Knoppix? Microsoft could sue the developers of these distros if software patents become legal in Europe.
Well, now that I think of it, Gate's title is "Knight Commanding of the British Empire. Since the tactics of Microsoft mirror the tactics that the British used to obtain an empire that the sun never set on, I guess it is only proper that they knight him...
Anyhow, I promised to explain why I should be sick of Ramen noodles. I used to be a fundie. And I used to go to Bible College in Canada. Not anymore, of course. When living in Canada, I was prohibited by the Canadian government from seeking employment. I would do odd jobs under the table here and there, but I was usually broke. Ramen noodles ("Mr. Noodles in Canada) are the cheapest meals that you can buy, and they offer a bit of variety as well. I ate them a lot. I lived with a family from the local PAOC (Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. The Canadian counterpart to the Assemblies of God), but I have the metabolism of a hummingbird on crack, and I didn't want to eat them out of house and home.
The Benadryl is kicking in, so I'm going to go to sleep.
You should see Indochine. Its set in 1930s vietnam, and gives some perspective on why the vietnam war happened. It is also a visually beautiful movie.
[Edited on Mar 11, 2005 6:23PM]
I'll look for that movie and see if I can download it...
Oh, and I fixed my profile. I was doped up on Benadryl when I created my profile.