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Prompts italicized, percent signs between runs: The cat lovers of America announced today the birth of their much anticipated “Cats Against Trump” organization

by msla 5y ago

Prompts italicized, percent signs between runs: The cat lovers of America announced today the birth of their much anticipated “Cats Against Trump” organization in opposition to the new presidential administration. The group formed in the wake of the Trump administration’s controversial executive order barring immigration from Muslim-majority countries. “These executive orders are against the very values that we support as a society,” said founder of the new group, Mimi Fierlinger. “It’s time that America stood up for its diversity and values, and we’re doing so by standing against the hate that’s permeated our new president’s policies.” % Monday is a Red day. If you are out of Red, visit your dispensary before Monday. If you are out of dispensaries, visit an ATM that gives out cash on Mondays. It's free and no receipt is needed. That's an interesting one. Well, the thing is that I'll have quite a few of those days in a row, some weeks. There's no particular plan, so it's all a matter of opportunity and timing. However, even though I'm out of any of those stuffs, I haven't done badly this week, I have actually bought 1.5kg of ganja every week (included the week before) in order to make an extra bit of spending cash for the weeks to come. I also need to pay some electricity bills, one of the days the power will be cut. And I'm also out of money on some days, so I need to make an urgent one-time expenditure. Luckily, I have some extra dollars at the moment. % Survival Series by Jenny Holzer A little while ago, I got my hands on a copy of Jenny Holzer’s book Survival Series, which is a massive collection of her paintings from the past 30 years, including over 500 works dating from the mid 80s through to the present. The book starts with a short chapter on how and why Holzer started painting at all, and then goes on to talk about the series itself – the various themes covered over the years, the artists and galleries and museums around the world that have exhibited her work and her overall process and aesthetic. I couldn’t put this book down as it’s just so full of information – and some fascinating artwork. My only quibble is that the book doesn’t give enough information on the artists that have exhibited her work over the years. It would be so interesting to see which contemporary artists were inspired by her work. I’m not necessarily talking about just copyists, but rather who has been inspired by Holzer and why? At the very least, the book gives you a sense of how she approached her work: the theme and structure, how she works and develops the images and the colour palette. It also gives you a sense of how she approaches her practice, how she works with other artists and how she deals with the work of living artists. The book itself is very expensive and I don’t think I’d buy it – but if you’re a Holzer fan and interested in the development of her practice over the years, this is the book for you. The book is available from Holzer’s own website and from a few online bookshops (such as here). It also comes with free wallpapers and you can buy a CD-ROM with the whole collection of paintings for just US$39, or the individual works for $45. % I will make no bargains with terrorist hardware.” While at a previous forum “the president was asked how he would respond to Iran,” on the issue of nuclear proliferation, Obama replied that “it’s not a bargaining chip. I’m not going to bargain with you. I’m going to stop you from getting a nuclear weapon.” In his view, this was the key issue. And that, apparently, was the end of it. Obama seemed happy to leave the job of securing such an outcome to his successor. During a television interview with CNN, just a few hours after delivering the Cairo address, he declared: “This is my last term in the White House. I’m not going to be president for the next four years. The next president will inherit an economy that has performed very well since the financial crisis and they will be ready to deal with these issues. “But as we speak, there are millions of Americans who are out of work. They’re getting evicted, their homes are going into foreclosure and their credit is being destroyed. And they’re still paying taxes. So, I’m going to be talking to the American people about the challenges we’ve got, and the things we’re going to be doing in the next four years.” In short, Obama was giving the impression that he would be retiring as soon as he left office – on the strength of what was clearly supposed to be a major foreign policy success, the “successful surge” in Afghanistan. As David R. Sands showed recently in the London Review of Books, even “that seemingly easy success is largely illusory,” because much of it has been achieved through “the US military presence is already waning,” and because the US troop surge has not been followed by a similar US strategy for stabilizing Afghanistan.

msla 5y ago
If Linux users are the wacko fringe of IT, what’s this? By Tony Bradley for ZDNet Australia The Linux Foundation's newly-announced annual Linux.conf event is to be held in Sydney, Australia in June next year. The conference will be held at the Regent Hotel on Macquarie Street and will run from June 14 to 17. This could be seen as a big deal in a country like Australia, given Linux’s early adoption and popularity in the continent. But it’s yet to happen. “There’s very little awareness about the conference among people who are running large-scale Linux systems in their enterprises,” says Tim Veenstra, the vice president of communications and outreach for the Linux Foundation. That could change in a big way when the conference takes place. “I do think it will be well-attended,” he says. Veenstra adds that the conference will provide a mix of speakers, from both industry and community figures. There will be talks on issues such as cloud computing, enterprise management and the emergence of the containerised application platform. Another key addition to this year’s conference is the participation of the Debian project. It will be represented in a number of panels and will also hold its very first developer summit. “This is the first of many events that are to be sponsored by and in collaboration with the Debian Project,” Veenstra says. “The Debian Project will present, in addition to the main conference programme, an introduction to packaging and developing in the Debian way.” The conference will be free of charge to attend, and will offer both conference and tutorial tracks. Veenstra says: “While Linux is still the underdog to many enterprises, the reality is that the market is shifting and it is becoming more of an enterprise play, in large part due to the rise of mobile and cloud. If the Linux Foundation is truly listening to the needs of our membership base, then this event is one that should be in Sydney. “This is the first of many events that are to be sponsored by and in collaboration with the Debian Project.” “With only a few weeks to go before the conference is due to start, I would expect it to be standing room only and a must-attend event for the Linux ecosystem.” Related topics: slide-show: Windows 7's end of support date is nearly upon us. How will Windows 10 change the enterprise experience? Image: Flickr/Michele Spagnuolo In the IT marketplace, Windows 10 is a hot topic. What will Microsoft offer that’s attractive to enterprise users? Will this version of Windows bring the promise of Windows 7 and the stability and support of Windows 8.1? How much will Windows 10 have in common with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1? Microsoft hopes Windows 10 will address these and other questions. “We know that for a lot of users, Windows 10 will be the first new Windows in years,” says David Jones, senior product manager for Windows. “What I would say to our users is, make sure you give it a try, and we are not just launching Windows 10. This is the first major version in the Windows 10 series. We’re launching one Windows 10, which will be supported through both Windows Update and Microsoft security updates, for as long as there is active Windows 10 usage.” However, Windows 10 won’t be released to the market just yet. It’s expected to launch in late summer or early autumn next year. It will be the first major version of Windows in years, and one which Microsoft hopes will win back the hearts of enterprise users. While consumers might be happy to download the operating system and use it immediately, the same might not be true for many enterprise users. Those waiting until late next year will miss out on some advanced features. “We’re still tweaking the features, but we’re looking at features that will be in Windows 10 for the desktop,” Jones says. “Microsoft Office 2016 is definitely one of them.” The final version of Office will not be delivered with Windows 10, but an Office Runtime component will be bundled into the release. So, what will customers get when they install Windows 10? As is the case with Windows 8.1, some elements of the operating system will be familiar to users. That includes the Start menu, for instance, which will remain largely unchanged. One of the biggest changes, though, will come with Windows 10’s new version of Internet Explorer 11. The rendering engine for the browser will be more advanced, better supporting mobile devices. “With Windows 10, we’ve re-architected the platform and the browser,” Jones says. “We did this to ensure that it would be future-proofed and continue to be a platform that’s on the forefront of web technology.” In other words, Microsoft is hoping that it can get the best of both the world of desktop apps and the world of the web. And this new version of IE is part of that strategy. “Internet Explorer 11, we’re calling it Windows 10’s flagship app,” Jones says. “In the past, Internet Explorer has been kind of like an app where we’ve focused on making it good for the web, but it had some shortcomings. “Internet Explorer 11 is a full app, so we’re also focused on making it accessible for enterprise users and mobile users.” And the final version of Office will bring some new features, such as a “modern” experience in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. “We’ve made some pretty significant investments into the platform and the platform team for building Office for the modern experience,” Jones says. “People will notice that Office is more fluid, less reliant on a mouse or touchpad and more on gestures.” But it’s not all good news for Windows 7 users. Microsoft isn’t going to make Windows 7 available in its latest operating system. In fact, there won’t be a separate download of Windows 7 any more. Instead, Windows 7 will be delivered in a way that’s similar to Windows 8.1. Microsoft is offering support for Windows 7 through “extended support” until 2020. With the introduction of Windows 8.1, Microsoft began to move away from the traditional model of supporting Windows in an enterprise context. The next step, as Jones explains, is to move to a much more simplified approach. The new Windows 10 will not have a traditional distribution model, he says. “We will not distribute a traditional edition of Windows 10,” Jones says. “If you don’t have the right edition of Windows, you won’t get the features of Windows 10.” Jones says: “This is not a situation that we want to repeat with Windows 7. What we will do is continue to offer it as an option for those users who want to use a traditional Windows 7 experience. “If you want to get features, if you want to get access to certain security features that may be available through future versions, there will be a standalone service that will allow those users to do that.” Jones adds: “In the case of Windows 7, we won’t make that offer. Instead, we will make it available as a standalone option for those who want to stick with the classic desktop.” While Windows 10 is the focus of enterprise users, Jones says that the operating system will find its way into all types of computer.

by msla 5y ago

msla 5y ago

If Linux users are the wacko fringe of IT, what’s this? By Tony Bradley for ZDNet Australia The Linux Foundation's newly-announced annual Linux.conf event is to be held in Sydney, Australia in June next year. The conference will be held at the Regent Hotel on Macquarie Street and will run from June 14 to 17. This could be seen as a big deal in a country like Australia, given Linux’s early adoption and popularity in the continent. But it’s yet to happen. “There’s very little awareness about the conference among people who are running large-scale Linux systems in their enterprises,” says Tim Veenstra, the vice president of communications and outreach for the Linux Foundation. That could change in a big way when the conference takes place. “I do think it will be well-attended,” he says. Veenstra adds that the conference will provide a mix of speakers, from both industry and community figures. There will be talks on issues such as cloud computing, enterprise management and the emergence of the containerised application platform. Another key addition to this year’s conference is the participation of the Debian project. It will be represented in a number of panels and will also hold its very first developer summit. “This is the first of many events that are to be sponsored by and in collaboration with the Debian Project,” Veenstra says. “The Debian Project will present, in addition to the main conference programme, an introduction to packaging and developing in the Debian way.” The conference will be free of charge to attend, and will offer both conference and tutorial tracks. Veenstra says: “While Linux is still the underdog to many enterprises, the reality is that the market is shifting and it is becoming more of an enterprise play, in large part due to the rise of mobile and cloud. If the Linux Foundation is truly listening to the needs of our membership base, then this event is one that should be in Sydney. “This is the first of many events that are to be sponsored by and in collaboration with the Debian Project.” “With only a few weeks to go before the conference is due to start, I would expect it to be standing room only and a must-attend event for the Linux ecosystem.” Related topics: slide-show: Windows 7's end of support date is nearly upon us. How will Windows 10 change the enterprise experience? Image: Flickr/Michele Spagnuolo In the IT marketplace, Windows 10 is a hot topic. What will Microsoft offer that’s attractive to enterprise users? Will this version of Windows bring the promise of Windows 7 and the stability and support of Windows 8.1? How much will Windows 10 have in common with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1? Microsoft hopes Windows 10 will address these and other questions. “We know that for a lot of users, Windows 10 will be the first new Windows in years,” says David Jones, senior product manager for Windows. “What I would say to our users is, make sure you give it a try, and we are not just launching Windows 10. This is the first major version in the Windows 10 series. We’re launching one Windows 10, which will be supported through both Windows Update and Microsoft security updates, for as long as there is active Windows 10 usage.” However, Windows 10 won’t be released to the market just yet. It’s expected to launch in late summer or early autumn next year. It will be the first major version of Windows in years, and one which Microsoft hopes will win back the hearts of enterprise users. While consumers might be happy to download the operating system and use it immediately, the same might not be true for many enterprise users. Those waiting until late next year will miss out on some advanced features. “We’re still tweaking the features, but we’re looking at features that will be in Windows 10 for the desktop,” Jones says. “Microsoft Office 2016 is definitely one of them.” The final version of Office will not be delivered with Windows 10, but an Office Runtime component will be bundled into the release. So, what will customers get when they install Windows 10? As is the case with Windows 8.1, some elements of the operating system will be familiar to users. That includes the Start menu, for instance, which will remain largely unchanged. One of the biggest changes, though, will come with Windows 10’s new version of Internet Explorer 11. The rendering engine for the browser will be more advanced, better supporting mobile devices. “With Windows 10, we’ve re-architected the platform and the browser,” Jones says. “We did this to ensure that it would be future-proofed and continue to be a platform that’s on the forefront of web technology.” In other words, Microsoft is hoping that it can get the best of both the world of desktop apps and the world of the web. And this new version of IE is part of that strategy. “Internet Explorer 11, we’re calling it Windows 10’s flagship app,” Jones says. “In the past, Internet Explorer has been kind of like an app where we’ve focused on making it good for the web, but it had some shortcomings. “Internet Explorer 11 is a full app, so we’re also focused on making it accessible for enterprise users and mobile users.” And the final version of Office will bring some new features, such as a “modern” experience in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. “We’ve made some pretty significant investments into the platform and the platform team for building Office for the modern experience,” Jones says. “People will notice that Office is more fluid, less reliant on a mouse or touchpad and more on gestures.” But it’s not all good news for Windows 7 users. Microsoft isn’t going to make Windows 7 available in its latest operating system. In fact, there won’t be a separate download of Windows 7 any more. Instead, Windows 7 will be delivered in a way that’s similar to Windows 8.1. Microsoft is offering support for Windows 7 through “extended support” until 2020. With the introduction of Windows 8.1, Microsoft began to move away from the traditional model of supporting Windows in an enterprise context. The next step, as Jones explains, is to move to a much more simplified approach. The new Windows 10 will not have a traditional distribution model, he says. “We will not distribute a traditional edition of Windows 10,” Jones says. “If you don’t have the right edition of Windows, you won’t get the features of Windows 10.” Jones says: “This is not a situation that we want to repeat with Windows 7. What we will do is continue to offer it as an option for those users who want to use a traditional Windows 7 experience. “If you want to get features, if you want to get access to certain security features that may be available through future versions, there will be a standalone service that will allow those users to do that.” Jones adds: “In the case of Windows 7, we won’t make that offer. Instead, we will make it available as a standalone option for those who want to stick with the classic desktop.” While Windows 10 is the focus of enterprise users, Jones says that the operating system will find its way into all types of computer.