Emotions and Music, Linux and Employment, More Religious Madness

[tcpip]

Over the past several days I've been suffering headaches, sleeping badly, eating poorly and have generally been struck by a malaise. Appropriately however and in part inspired by missmalice's list, trayce's and slowlight's postings (among others) and 1phish2phish's recent polls, I am attempting to compose my favourite LPs of contemporary music. True to form I am discovering that my preferences lie with the "critically acclaimed but rarely popular"; meaning complex psychoacoustics, existential lyric poetry and narrative consistency within the LP. With this line of thinking I might end up writing something for Music Theory, if they'll have me.

Microsoft, taking a hammering evidently on the server market and worried about the desktop market, have started a standard FUD campaign claiming Linux violates over 200 patents. Groklaw thought the matter was trivial enough to ignore. Ballmer appears to be getting the patent study completely wrong according to the author. Seems that they have ended up with a lot of egg on their face over this one. Appropriately, after several months of sporadic work (self-imposed), I'll be starting various Ubuntu/Debian sysadmin tasks as Internet Vision Technologies on Monday.

From mrteufel: In a blog backing Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas we have an advocate who claims that Heliocentrism is an atheist doctrine and a lie. Via cardinal_sodom Fawell supporters sought to bomb protestors at the evangelist's funeral. On convert_me, I take the opportunity to pull apart a Creationist site.

Comments

[cluebyfour.livejournal.com]

I think in the end that MS's patent violation claims will prove to be just a bunch of saber-rattling. Considering they bankrolled (in part) SCO's tilting at legal windmills, you'd think they'd have learned something from that experience, even with their deep pockets. They have proved rather adept at FUD campaigns over the years, even if FOSS advocates laugh them off.

My advice to people who are still unsure whether to adopt FOSS is to simply stay the course and don't let the bastards scare you off.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

You are quite right in all regards. The people that have to be convinced however are the holders of the purse-strings in management who hear news like this and suddenly become fearful due to this sabre-rattling.

Technical issues aside, there can be little doubt that one a moral level Microsoft can be described as 'evil'.