Mandriva Linux finds Speedtouch USB DSL

I’ve been planning to switch over from Windows XP Pro to Linux for a long time now, I’ve seen a better world, but my software requirements and PC hardware has held me back……now the last of the technical objections has been swept away.

Over the next week or so I’ll be sorting out my back up situation, clearing out old files etc…..then making the switch to Mandriva Linux 2007 Spring One. I’ll finally be 100% Linux……a day I’ve been looking forward to for so long.

Who is going to kill Luke Skywalker?

One of the things which strike me about the “Legacy Of The Force” era of the Expanded Universe is the reluctance to kill off the Original Trilogy characters. Jacen Solo is now 40 ish? He’s a fully grown man. Han was about 30 in SW4, add another 8 or 9 to the Thrawn Trilogy where Jacen was born…..and you have a man close to 80…..yet he’s still being treated like a young-ish middle aged man for the action.

These characters are not immortal. They have to die at some point. The “New Jedi Order” series killed off Chewbacca and Anakin…..personally I was stunned at both because they were central characters on the hero’s side…..but since then, nothing.

Refusing Vista

Microsoft are at it again, they seem to be consumed with selective deafness and an automatic response to wave away any criticism as a “minor” issue. To help ensure people were forced to upgrade to Windows Vista with the hell that Vista entails, they set a date on allowing new XP license’s.

This meant that retailers selling new PC’s wouldn’t have a choice…..they’d have to install Vista, which in turn meant the customer didn’t have a choice….if they want a new PC with an operating system installed and ready to go…..they are stuck with Vista.

Alternate functions of an R2 unit

The trusty R2 unit is a companion and assistant to snub fighter pilots, who’s existence can turn from being part of a squadron, to being stranded in short order. Since there is little storage space in the snub fighters themselves, it stands to reason that an R2 unit has to be more than just an astromech, but a utility cabinet, and suitcase too.

The purpose of education

Education seems to be getting more and more skewed as time passes. The focus is on passing exams so the student can hit the working world with a nice impressive looking piece of paper. Yet what’s missing is a whole lot of life skills. Why? Is the point of education not to prepare the young to gradually become valuable members of society; to provide some value to it?

Babies are born with no knowledge and an insatiable thirst to learn. From birth to adulthood and beyond should be that learning time. It is not just up to the schools to educate either, basic skills are picked up before pre-school by interaction with parents, siblings etc. Kids also learn from their mistakes too…….and from their friends. We try to protect our kids and stop them making their own mistakes, or minimize the effects of those mistakes by covering for them, or making excuses. Why? They need to learn, and will learn if we let them. Why is it that many parents suddenly decide when their kids go to school that the role of educator is suddenly on one source?