text:
Gay Marriage and Martin Luther King's Dream
When President Obama spoke at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial dedication last year, he urged the nation to continue to press for the goals and hopes of the "black preacher with no official rank or title who somehow gave voice to our deepest dreams" and helped make the nation "more perfect." By announcing his support for same-sex marriage last week, President Obama is sincerely convinced that now he is helping to make the nation even more perfect.
Martin Luther King's dream was that "little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers." President Obama's dream seems to be that little black boys and little white boys will watch their teenage brothers go to prom together....and eventually enter into a legal marriage with one another. Did Martin Luther King have this dream for little black boys and little white boys?
In a 1958 letter published by Ebony magazine, King responded to a question from a boy who was struggling with homosexual feelings. King called the boy's feelings toward the same gender a "problem." He went on to tell the boy, "You are already on the right road toward a solution, since you honestly recognize the problem and have a desire to solve it." The civil rights leader knew the difference between skin color and sexual desires.
President Obama is leading the way on gay marriage for what he hopes will be a large following of black pastors and their congregations. Many black pastors are not following his lead. The vast majority of pastors in the black community do not want the children in their church being taught that homosexual behavior is no longer sinful. They do not want the teenagers in their church experimenting with homosexuality. These pastors know that, like other sexual sins, homosexual acts become like a drug for those who give into this dangerous temptation.
Almost every teenager is tempted to sin sexually. A relative few are tempted to dabble with homosexuality. For every teen that experiments with homosexual acts, there are probably 40 or 50 teens who experiment with other sexual sins. No teenager wakes up one day and chooses to have desires to sin sexually. Those desires somehow just seem to find their way into the heart of most teens. The minute a teenager gives into any sexual temptation, he or she can quickly become addicted to that particular sin.
The Scriptures explain why sexual sin is so addictive and damaging. God's Word tells us, "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body." (1 Cor. 6:18) While it's true that "all sin is sin," it's also true that there is only one sin against your body....and that is sexual sin. That one sin has serious consequences both physically and spiritually.
By his promotion of same-sex marriage, the president has now brought this issue to the forefront of the black church in America. This is a seminal moment for black pastors in our nation. Will adultery and premarital sex continue to be preached as sin from the pulpits, but not homosexual behavior? Did Martin Luther King agree with Obama's dream? More importantly, did Jesus have that dream for His followers?
Some argue that Jesus never specifically mentioned homosexual behavior. That is true. But He didn't mention some other types of sexual sin either. Does that mean that those other sexual sins, including sex acts with relatives or animals, are no longer sinful today? Of course not.
Notice how Jesus always raised the bar on sin, and never lowered it. Jesus referenced the Old Testament commandment and then raised the bar when He said, "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment....anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell." (Matthew 5:21,22) That certainly isn't lowering the standard.
In the Old Testament, adultery and homosexual behavior were condemned. Jesus referenced the Old Testament and then raised the bar when He said "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:27,28) Jesus definitely raised the bar when it came to sexuality. That is why the New Testament, just like the Old Testament, speaks so harshly against adultery and homosexual acts.
Carlton Pearson is a black minister who at one point led a congregation with over 5,000 in attendance. That was back when he taught the historic biblical positions on adultery, homosexual behavior, heaven, and hell. Pearson's thinking has changed drastically. He now believes that everyone is going to heaven and that homosexuality is a gift from God. His dream now seems to be in line with the one held by President Obama.
Oprah Winfrey recently asked a prominent black minister about the homosexual issue. Bishop T.D. Jakes answered Oprah's question this way: "I'm not called to give my opinion. I'm called as a pastor to give the scriptural position on it."
Black pastors in America today get to articulate their own dream for our nation. Will they give their opinion on homosexual behavior? Or the president's dream? Or the scriptural position? What do black pastors envision for little black boys who will soon be teenagers looking for role models and for clear sexual boundaries? Do the black pastors of America agree with Carlton Pearson on this issue....or with T.D. Jakes? And more importantly, how many of them will keep the bar as high as Jesus raised it on things like murder and human sexuality?
The world has changed a lot since the days of Martin Luther King Jr. We all get to play a role in whether our children will be given man's opinion, or God's Word, on something as crucial as their sexuality. Jesus made it clear that our choices on earth do indeed have eternal consequences, including those choices involving sin against our own body.
God is not a cosmic killjoy. That is why He created sex for man and woman to enjoy in marriage. We would be wise to share the biblical teaching on sexuality with every young person in America. Otherwise, the sexual dream that gets planted in their mind by a well-meaning preacher or politician could quickly turn into a never-ending nightmare.


text:
I had felt deeply uncomfortable about my contribution to climate change for decades. My electricity and car were powered by fossil fuels. My groceries were trucked and flown in from distant places. My bank invested in coal, oil and gas.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
At the same time, I worried about the world my two children would be left with.
My personal decisions were contributing to rising pollution levels and, in turn, worsening extreme weather events like heatwaves that hurt people.
Things had to change. So, I did the most affordable things first. I started growing vegetables, planted fruit trees and bought two chickens (Eggy Azalea and Maggie Noodles).
I switched power companies to access clean energy, bought appliances with a four or five-star energy rating and switched all the lightbulbs in my house to LED to reduce energy usage.
I read everything I could about batteries, solar panels and other innovative ways to cut my power bills, and soon realised this could make the biggest dent yet in my carbon footprint.
Seven months ago, I installed a solar and battery system which effectively turned my home into a mini power station.
My seven-kilowatt battery includes an Australian-made invention from Reposit Power, which allows me to sell the power that I don't use at home directly to the electricity grid.
So far, I've made $95 from side-stepping big energy companies and their miserly tariffs and trading my own electricity.
Beyond the money, I feel joy that my micro power station is contributing to cleaning up the environment.
It has taken me five years, but now I no longer rely on fossil fuels at home.
And my children, aged 12 and 17, will also reap the benefits.
Dr Kim Loo is a GP working in Glenwood, NSW and a member of Doctors for the Environment

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Mad Dogs and Englishmen: Moon Chung-in's Vision of Sunshine
As a companion to Eunsil Esther Park's special review of Moon Chung-in's latest book, SinoNK editors Christopher Green and Steven Denney give their own critical take on Moon's spirited defense of the sunshine policy.
Before Unhasu Encores, a Memoir
by Adam Cathcart Apart from Escape from Camp 14, this spring's "must-read" refugee memoir is by Eunsun Kim, 26, whose book,« Corée du Nord, 9 ans pour fuir l'enfer », a collaboration with Le Figaro's Sebastian Faletti, just came out in French. (The title translates as "North Korea: 9 Years to Escape from Hell / 逃离地狱–朝鲜9年.") Unlike […]
Hostage Princes and Shadow Reformers: Kim Jong Nam
We recently learned that Kim Jong Nam [金正男], the eldest son of Kim Jong Il, had struck up a friendship with Japanese reporter, Yoji Komi [五味洋治], in the Beijing Capital Airport in 2004 and has corresponded with him frequently since by e-mail. Recently, Kim instructed Yoji to collate all the materials, over 100 e-mails and […]


text:
Yorkshire Wolds NMP, SE 97 SW/ink AP transcription
- Date:
- Feb 1981 - Dec 1991
- Location:
- North Yorkshire
- Reference:
- 1210103
- Type:
- Aerial Photograph Transcription
Not what you're looking for? Try a new search
This is part of the Volume: AF1096540 RCHME: Yorkshire Wolds Project, SE 97 SW; within the Series: RCH01/009 Yorkshire Wolds NMP; within the Collection: RCH01 Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) Archive
© Crown Copyright. Historic England Archive
Air Photograph Interpreter: Stoertz, Cathy: Rchme Swindon
Our website works best with the latest version of the browsers below, unfortunately your browser is not supported. Using an old browser means that some parts of our website might not work correctly.


text:
My-Mu.com Blog | My-Mu.com Guest Blog | Podcast | |||||||||
Home | About My-Mu | Resources | Book Store | Interactive Media | Links | ||||||
Mu-Mu.com: Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Tahsin Mayatepek & Mu (Part 1)
For a long time I had been aware from speaking with people and emails that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the first President of the Republic of Turkey was a sincere believer in the theories of James Churchward and the common origin of man in the now sunken continent of Mu. For over a year I have been searching for information on the research that Ataturk undertook with regards to the 'Great Uighur Empire' as detailed by my great grandfather in the 'Children of Mu.' [Please note that this is an ongoing effort to research the sources of stories about the 'Great Uighur Empire' and is carried out on the 'Great Uighur Empire' mailing list, details of which can be found here: http://mail.my-mu.com/mailman/listinfo/gue_my-mu.com] Well, finally I have been provided some clues. Recently, a reader wrote to inform me that Ataturk had sent the historian, Tahsin Mayatepek to serve as the Turkish Ambassador to Mexico and that while he was there he was tasked with researching the similarities between the Turkic people and the Mayas. Also, Tahsin wrote five reports on the Turkic origins of Mayan civilization. This person has graciously agreed to translate these reports into English. As soon as I have obtained the English translations, they will be placed on the website under resources. Also, I have also discovered the name of an author Sinan Meydan that has written books on the subject of Ataturk and his study of the lost continent of Mu. I have yet to contact him, but when I do, I'll pass along what I learn. There are other theories competing with the theory of the Turkic roots of the Mayan civilization. For instance, there are several scholars and their works that postulate that Africa was the source of Mesoamerican civilization. These scholars point at the 'African features' of Olmec statues, introduced botanical evidence (the bottle gourd), and linguistic elements linking the African continent to Mesoamerica. Another theory elucidates that Vedic influences in India served as the basis for culture and civilization for Mesoamerica and likewise it has been postulated that the Tamil people from Sri Lanka and southern India first brought their culture and civilization to Central America. Certain architectural features and linguistic content are used to provide the proof of these hypotheses. Another theory insists that the Chinese were the true source of culture and civilizations for Mesoamerica. This ideology was also backed up with artifacts. Niven found what he termed a 'Chinaman' statue in his excavations in Mexico and an image was reproduced by James Churchward in his book "The Lost Continent of Mu Motherland of Man" (1926), "The Lost Continent of Mu"(1931.)
Today's standard theory of the origin of the people inhabiting the Americas is that there was a migration through the land-bridge through the Bering Straits or in small boats along the Pacific coastline from Asia. Of course, as the standard hypothesis, these theories are rejected almost immediately in favor of some of the other lines of research indicating long oceanic voyages or from the lost continents of Atlantis, Mu, or Lemuria. Even the dates of the earliest arrivals are a contentious issue. Based on archaeological evidence available when the theories were first postulated, the human presence in the Americas was dated to 10,000 years ago. When finds were made that pushed back these dates, the original theory became a conspiracy and those that had stated it were hiding the truth. The purpose of my research into the theories of James Churchward and the Lost Continent of Mu is to understand and interpret the evidence to reach a solid, defendable foundation of knowledge. Do artifacts from the Topper Site in South Carolina bear any resemblance to artifacts from the European Solutrean culture? Is there reason to believe Dr. Goodyear when he states that there are European influences in pre-Clovis sites in the Americas? Does the genetic evidence retrieved from the Windover site in eastern Florida indicate a heretofore unknown people? What about the age of some of the South American sites that predate any sites in North America, where did those folks come from? Does any of this mean that the European influences were derived from colonies of Atlantis before it sank or are these the remnants of the colonies of Mu? There are still many questions to be answered and probably even more to be asked. The veil surrounding the theories researched by Ataturk regarding the Great Uighur Empire and the Turkic origin of mankind will hopefully be lifted soon and serve as a starting point for further understanding. Lastly, let me state that I have the utmost respect for the final resting place for everyone that came before us. I understand the concern felt by some that the respect due them has not always been shown to the remains of Native Americans and I share their concern that disturbing their remains is against their wishes. However, I would be remiss if I did not mention that our knowledge of the people inhabiting the Americans is fragmented at best. One or more groups/tribes can trace their ancestry to a certain location for hundreds of years and while it is understandable that they do not wish for their ancestors to be dug up, the fact remains (i.e., the remains discovered at the Windover Bog site or the Kenewick Man), that the remains of some folks are not related to the people who were here when the European settlers arrived. With the laws on the books today, any research into finding out who some of the other peoples were is forbidden. Were more remains found today, archaeologists are not able to even test to discover whether or not they are related to the people known as 'native Americans.' Therefore, until something can be worked out to be able to research the peopling of the Americas, science takes a back seat to political correctness. My concern is that if someone does find the remains of colonists from Atlantis or Mu that date back ten or twelve thousand years, the find must be covered and everyone loses the knowledge which might tell us the truth, instead of the fragmented truth that is known today.
Jack Churchward |


text:
By Ed Oswald | Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 1:11 pm
I noticed some tweets (join me on Twitter', @edoswald) over the past several days regarding Microsoft's latest ad from those on Redmond's side of the aisle. One of them specifically told "Mac fanbois" to "GROW UP," so I decided to post this to explain why Microsoft's latest ad is not only factually loose, but offensive as well.
"Lauren" is given $1,000 to go and get a PC. Within 10 seconds, Microsoft's already going for the gusto. She goes into the "Mac store" — red flag here already, anyone who is even remotely interested in a Mac knows it's the Apple Store — and within seconds is out saying how the only under $1,000 unit is the white Macbook.
Okay, true enough there Lauren. But in the car, she then proceeds to take it where I think the ad shouldn't have gone, and where I began to have a problem with it. "I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person," she exclaims. Wow, just wow.
So, Microsoft, apparently now bankrupt with ideas on how to fight back, needs to take it there. While yes, Apple's ads poke fun at Microsoft/PCs, it has always been in a lighthearted manner that was funny.
There was nothing funny about Lauren's delivery. In fact, it was almost said with a snarkiness that seems to try to rekindle the old "Mac users are jerks" stigma. I personally take offense to that.
Of course next they're in the Best Buy, and Lauren is just "overwhelmed" by the choices. Now, Microsoft won't tell you exactly what these computers are or do–heck, that might show the consumer you get what you pay for!
Finally she settles on a $699 HP Pavillion Notebook. The best thing about this is the fact that it has all the trappings of what drove PC users to Macs and got Microsoft sued over Vista for.
Forget about Aero, this thing does Vista Home. RAM? It's the slower DDR2 model. The screen? Reviewed as one of the worst one person had ever seen. The battery? 2.5 hours per charge. In other words, this thing IS worth only the $699 she "paid" for it.
Cheap is not better people, it never will be. While yes, Apple's products do sometimes carry some kind of premium, for the most part you will get a much better constructed product. It's worth spending the extra money.
Add to it the LIFETIME free technical support IN PERSON, and how can you argue with that. That's worth the extra money in and of itself.
Best of all? Lauren's not real. She's an actress.
So there you go. I hope Microsoft's happy with what they got. Misleading consumers into thinking they can get good computers for rock bottom prices. Bravo.
The sad thing? A lot of consumers will probably fall for this crap.
Lauren may be an actor but she wasn't acting off of any script or guidelines. You should be sure to point that out.
Good point. Muay Thai Combinations | Muay Thai Kick | Martial Arts for Children
How do we know that? After finding out she is indeed an actress, all bets are off as to the validity of anything happening in this ad, IMHO.
Anyone thinking this ad was not scripted is smoking some serious dogScheiße!
Hey, I personally think Lauren is pretty hot- love redheads! But with Windows Vista the only choice, she may have more beauty than brains.
Generally speaking, people who use Macs are less computer literate (no offense intended) because Macs are beautifully designed no-brainer machines. This is a good thing for people like graphic artists, liberal techno-posers, aesthetically-sensitive female college students, and really old people – who don't like to be bothered with technical details, logical thinking, or the pain of hacking through computer problems. It also lets such people pretend that they are participating "on the leading edge" of the technological revolution: "Look at me; I'm microblogging about carbon-neutral tofu!" The trade-off, of course, is price. Apple customers pay through the nose (both at point of sale and later, for service). I like to call this price disparity the "no-brainer" tax. Just remember that "less brain pain = more wallet drain".
Not Scripted??
I refer to her last line in the ad ("I'm a PC.. and I got what I wanted"). Anyone who expects us to believe that she had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA that she was making a Microsoft commercial when she delivered that line (which links this poor excuse for a campaign in with Microsoft's last poor excuse for a campaign) either smoked some bad crack (or works in advertising – don't get me started).
"Add to it the LIFETIME free technical support IN PERSON, and how can you argue with that. That's worth the extra money in and of itself."
Lol. If you're making 20K a year before taxes and the stability of your job isn't assured, a 2K computer with free tech support so you can send email, surf the net, and organize photos, isn't that palatable. This is why people are buying netbooks.
I have a lifetime's worth of computer experience, starting in the late 1970s.
I write software for a living. I use Macs because they let me concentrate less on the pain of keeping the machine running and more on actually getting work done. They also have a strong aesthetic appeal – everything was designed in an integrated way that makes it all work harmoniously.
There's nothing wrong with being knowledgeable about computers, and yet admitting you don't want to be a slave to problems. And if you're in that position, Apple gear is worth every penny.
Wow Ron, just before you rush out from under the bridge to see if that's another billygoat clipclopping overhead.. Wanting a computer that just works – makes you less computer literate? I could go on here, but really? Do you run Norton? Do you get pleasure from it?
If you enjoy using the command line interface so much, get a Mac.
@Ed: I don't think anything Lauren said is offensive, but it does play into the stigma associated with being a Mac user. (For an example of this stigma, see what Ron said above.) It's no more offensive than that old Mac commercial when PC gets a C++ GUI programming guide as a gift. I clearly remember thinking, "I wonder what widget toolkit it's about… or maybe it's an overview of ALL of them!"
I don't understand the "offense". Unfortunately Apple has been using the PC/Mac adds tend to be more designed to offend the "other" than to showcase the benefits of a Mac. Those commercials were so off the mark from the reality, that they were received well hoping to be comical. So when a commercial showcases the value difference which is hard to argue based on specs and price paid, how is this worse? The comments here make assumptions the HP user would have a paltry experience, but that comes off sounding more defensive based on opinion, than on the cost to ability of the purchase.
If Apple wants to compare hardware, than they should go head to head with the other PC hardware manufacturers.
Why doesn't Apple sell OSX to be used on non-Apple hardware? When you have existing hardware that is already superior, it's a big step to say "if I want to try OSX, I need to throw this hardware away and buy Apple branded hardware which is pretty much the same". Make it so it's the curious person who does not like their OS to really try an alternative without the cost penalty.
Take the HP notebook in the ad, and sell both Vista and OSX on it, and see how consumers react. If OSX is so superior of an experience, it would be an even hardware platform to make comparisons.
Is Apple a software company who sells specialized hardware to optimize their software, or are they a hardware company who wants to showcase their hardware with a specialized OS?
If Apple did open up their software to be installed on non-Apple hardware easily by consumers, would it lose it's perceived benefit? Could it scale to the permutations of different hardware out there and offer the same experience?
It's ironic that Apple appears to have become what they rallied against in their 1984 commercial.
@Ron: Way to cram us all into a convenient, outmoded stereotype. I can code my own web pages. I feel comfortable mucking with hardware. I write for a major PC (Windows-centric) publication. I eat meat. And I own a Mac.
I won't say I was insulted, per se, but the ad just seemed so strange. For one, it suggested that Mac users buy Macs just for image. Um, no. I own a Mac because I prefer the way it works. I'm sure there are some Mac users who *do* buy one just on the basis of cool, but my gut feeling is if you asked random Mac users on the street, most of them would say that hey bought the Mac for the way it works, not for coolness.
And while I know the "just not cool enough" quip was meant to be a sarcastic jab, I agree with what one of Macworld's bloggers have to say on the topic:
"Microsoft's backhand shot at "coolness" is just trying to reinforce the view that Mac users are simply stuck-up snobs who pay too much attention to such mundane things as how good a computer looks—but I think it might just come across as an admission of inferiority to the casual observer."
MS is onto something with the message that you can get a PC for less than a Mac (at least initial cost), I think they could've taken a slightly different approach.
And another thing: I've just gotten so sick of the whole platform war. I have Mac-using friends and colleagues, and Windows-using friends and colleagues. I worked at a computer store for two years, and sold computers with Apple logos, Dell logos, Lenovos, and so on. And guess, what? I don't care what people use, as long as they use the system that would work best for them.
Why people insist on making it a class war/holy war is beyond me.
Yeah, the holy war is pretty lame. Even stupider are the people that still say crap like "Oh, Mac is only good for graphics." *yawn*
Offensive? You've got to be kidding me! The "light hearted" Mac ads made PCs users out to be pudgy balding guys who dig spreadsheets. Nothing but laughs there… So now an ad comes along that says, in essence, I got a computer with the specs I wanted for the price I wanted. Oh right, I forgot the snarky comment. I do feel your pain. Why don't the offended Mac folks focus their outrage on the fact that poor Lauren can't afford a Mac. Surely there's a social justice issue there.
"Generally speaking, people who use Macs are less computer literate"
I'm offended. I'm a Mac user and a scientist. I like my presentations to LOOK GOOD. Got a problem with that?
Ron: When's MSFT gonna discover UNIX? OS X has been on UNIX–what– eight years? Windows: still waiting………..
No matter how objectively I view it, I have a difficult time finding this ad offensive to anyone but die-hard Apple evangelists. Certainly I have great difficulty finding it to be any more offensive than Apple's (often factually dubious) "Get A Mac" ads of the past three years.
Regarding your specific concerns, you're being a bit factually loose yourself. Yes, she says "Mac store", but there's no doubt what store she's entering. If I were a non-techie, I might call it the 'Mac store' or 'iPod store' or 'big shiny aluminum cube' if I felt like it, and I am certain that someone like my little sister (if she were looking for a laptop) would very likely call it the Mac store. It's a minor point, not a "red flag", and possibly only done to avoid trademark infringement or some such thing, the closest thing Microsoft does to labeling Apple 'Brand X' as in commercials of old. (Apple never says 'Microsoft' in their ads, either – conspiracy? Doubtful.)
Regarding the uproar over her 'cool' line… Well, and? After three years of relentless (if usually amusing) ads in the Get A Mac campaign, Apple has done far more to stereotype Windows users with their spreadsheets and calculators than merely accusing them of an excess of cool. Yes, her delivery was serious, but given her criteria (a 17″ laptop under $1000) and the massive price difference between her budget and Apple's offerings, is she not allowed to feel dismayed? I also hardly think one can get offended by how she 'almost' said something.
Next, you get your facts wrong. The computer she purchased (identified by several sources as this one: http://tinyurl.com/d4v9v2 [an HP dv7-1245dx]) features Vista Home Premium, with Aero fully capable and functional. Vista Home Basic, the stripped-down Vista that got Microsoft in trouble, hasn't been sold with many mainstream laptops for a while now, since all but netbooks and sub-$500 laptops have hardware capable to run any of Vista Home Premium's features. Vista Home does not equal Vista Home Basic. Yes, it comes with DDR2 RAM – Just like the least expensive (and still $300 pricier) MacBook, only Lauren's HP will have 4GB instead of the 2GB-equipped MacBook. Similarly, her HP will have a 320GB hard drive instead of the MacBook's 120GB, and Microsoft Works preinstalled compared to the MacBook's $49 extra for iWork. You're right about the battery life on the HP being skint, that I'll concede. She might be an actress, but does anyone expect 'real' people in any kind of advertising these days… and, for that matter, don't actresses need laptops too? Maybe she's just an extrovert. I can't say how 'real' she is, since I don't know if she was 'found' or hired for this as, but it's *possible* she's still 'real'.
Bottom line, though? With so many people living 'in the cloud' these days, it's getting harder to justify the Apple premium. Yes, they're more beautiful machines. Yes, they're better-designed. If 90% of what we do is inside Firefox or the cross-platform iTunes anyway, however, at what point does that no longer matter? Lauren's $699 laptop obviously doesn't compare to its only direct Apple analogue, the $2800 17″ MacBook Pro, but those are clearly two completely different markets. How many trips to the Genius Bar would it take for Lauren to justify even the cheapest Mac's price differential? We know nothing of her real needs beyond 'speed, 17″ screen, comfortable keyboard', so it's hard to say. What's misleading about the ad? Upgrading to Vista was painful, but a pre-installed system is perfectly usable – what's Lauren missing here that obviates the $300+ price bump to a Mac laptop?
Fuck off.
I've been using computers since 1979 and the Mac is the best user experience currently available – to any computer user. By that I mean a machine that is used to create stuff. Stick to your fucking pc and just piss off.
The Mac may be more expensive, but I earn more money in less time with more fun.
Let all the people who want it cheap stick with Windows and loose their time, concentration and inspiration. The new Windows 7 again is just a cheap copy, profoundly unesthetic. Have You already noticed the difference of web pages dedicated to Mac users and the ones for PC (shareware, etc)? I admit, that MS has some advantages in functionality (Explorer) and for traditional Offfice folks more software choices, but that's about it.
@Ron I have actually found the opposite of your argument to be true. Most of the people I know who use macs (many of them are developers) do so because they know they are getting what they pay for because they ARE computer literate.
I also know a lot of people that buy cheap PCs because they don't realize that they are buying a product that just isn't going to hold up. Look at Lauren in the ad.
I am a Mac user and in no way feel like I am too good for a PC I just find that Macs work better with less hassle for me. Sure, you can get a decent PC, but you are going to be paying more for it too.
"Mac users are jerks" … sadly in my experience this happens to be generally true.
…obviously with exceptions to the rule as always.
Ron's comments caused me to experience many lolz.
This ad is "offensive" and all the "I'm a PC" "I'm a Mac" ads aren't ???
what a hoot!
The entire business model of Apple has been built on the image of "cool" for years. They invented tech evangelists for gods sake. They ran the offensive PC/Mac ads promoting the "cool" factor. And they succeeded in creating a snobbish presumptuous customer base – which has no problem with spending extra bucks to maintain their self image. Pretty sick if you ask me.
But this killer ad has knocked their legs right out from under them! Hit Mac freaks right where it counts – their "coolness" factor. How sweet!!
I believe Microsoft is telling America not to spend more than $700 on a 17″ laptop.
If I were HP, Dell, or Best Buy, I'd be pretty hacked-off, since my profit comes from the more expensive machines.
But what does Microsoft care? They make the same on any machine.
Microsoft needs to tread carefully here …
No, Mac users are not, as a rule, jerks, except maybe for rattyuk, who succeeded in perpetuating that priggish element of the Mac user image.
Hey Ron. Thanks for trolling.
I bought my first computer (a Vic 20) in 1982. In the subsequent years, I have owned a C64, an Amiga 500, a generic PC and four Macs (currently saving for a new Macbook).
I have been providing PC (not Mac) support in my workplace for 19 years. Why the hell would I want to put up with all the attendant problems at home. While they are not perfect (nothing is), mostly Macs do work as advertised. My long experience supporting PC's in a large installation says that the same cannot be said for computers running Windows.
Your comments are not just ignorant, but demonstrate the arrogance that Mac users are so often accused of.
What is all this 'extra time' people keep saying it takes to do stuff on Windows? I write a lot – and I just click on the Word icon in my quick launch bar and start writing. It's almost instantaneous! If I want to ftp something – I click on the Filezilla icon and start uploading my files. I click on the Photoshop Elements icon to do my image editing. Firefox also opens whenever I click on its icon. I can then go to any web site I want by clicking on a bookmark or typing in an address. I usually use Songbird to play music, and it too is just a click away.
Those programs are all available on Windows and Mac OS X, by the way, and work pretty much the same in either environment.
Yeah, I need anti virus software running quietly in the backbround, but it updates itself every day without my help (and it's one of several free options).
I think Os X is a superbly designed and intuitive operating system, but Windows XP and Vista work well enough for most people, and Mac evangelists have oversold the ease-of-use argument that was probably once a lot more relevant. If you want a Mac and can afford it, go for it. But don't get OFFENDED when Microsoft tries to convince potential customers that Windows is a valid choice.
I'd heard she was an actress but was judiciously skeptical until it was substantiated. I've had good times with both Mac and Windows but the overall Mac experience wins for me. I also went into details about what doesn't make sense about this ad, and why a lot of the Mac vs. PC conflict is artificial and doesn't matter: http://tr.im/macpc
@Badooble: Installing a Windows PC and configuring it well took me usually one day, the Mac two hours. In case of a problem i bring it to my dealer and have it repaired either right now or in the next two days (I can rent a machine), the salesmen are all competent.
Daily work : a lot of intuitive shortcuts, a true object oriented OS, system wide configurations (one example : I have a french machine with an english system and write also a lot in german), Spotlight, Gestures Trackpad, Exposé, Dashbord, all seemlessly integrated, no bullshit apps.
One example : I drag the icon in the title of a Finder window onto my text editor and he shows all the files in it in a side bar.
Another example : Setting up TimeMachine with a mixed Ethernet / Wifi LAN takes about 3 minutes.
I've been working on Windows for about ten years and had a hard time to switch, as developer I work pretty close to the system, but in no way I'd go back. Just compare the Ssytem preferences Panels of Windows 7 against the one in OS X, the Mac one is readable ata a glance, the windows one requitres my full attention.
As noted, basically MS is preaching to the choir – why pay more than $699 for any PC and all brands are the SAME ..
One neglects the fact that not every one can afford a mac. It's a fact. I can afford them so i own several, it's not a coolness issue, they're just better. However that being said, we've berated pc's for their many many flaws for soooooo long, must we be so defensive when the pc community points one of the few flaws that are persent in the apple world. And lets be real they could make a more affordable mac that would run very well, christ i'm typing this on a 5 year old powermac that seems to function at almost the same speed as my brand new macbook. If you doubt this google "nvidia ion" and you'll see what i mean.
Anyone that thinks the commercial wasn't scripted to some degree is just plain nuts. Clearly she had either been fed some things to say or it was entirely scripted. Either way, it wasn't what it appeared to be or was portrayed to be. The merits of the argument and the offensiveness of it are all subjective, but nonetheless the tact Microsoft is making seems odd.
Oh, and the comment that Mac users are not technical was just pathetic. Grow up!
I think that it's a great ad! Apple has been beating Microsoft around for years with the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" crap. I have a custom built Dell mobile workstation that I designed just as my business partners MacBookPro. My system was only $400 less than his; mine did have a faster processor and the next step up in HDD. Really the only difference is the OS, I had mine built with XP Pro. I just didn't want to deal with Vista at that time. When it comes to performance, they are pretty much equal, as they should be. The big difference is that he has had some major quality issues like a dead motherboard, then a dead DVD module, next was a dead Firewire card, and the worst was the swelling battery that rendered the keyboard useless and a major repair was done. All this happened within the first 16 months! All but the motherboard happen just after the warranty ran out. For me, I've had only one issue and that was with my DVD module. Dell sent me a new module by next day service, plugged it in and no problems. So, what I'm saying is, the two systems are pretty much equal when you are pricing oranges to oranges. Even though I'm a Windows PC user I feel that Apple has the best OS but that's really all. When Windows 7 gets here, things may get even closer. I'm just sticking with my Dell mobile custom workstation. It's an awesome machine! Just as awesome as any MacBookPro.
". . . people who use Macs are less computer literate . . . Macs are beautifully designed no-brainer machines. This is a good thing for people like graphic artists . . . "
Sorry to pile on, Ron, but you also clearly don't have much of an idea of what's involved with doing graphic arts, as you call them, on the Mac or any other platform – let alone serious professional design and production, especially for print – and to have pushed the boundaries of the technology for the last two decades.
First of all, once print design and production started to migrate away from the drafting board in about 1987 – and finishing the conversion in about 1994/1995 – the art directors became the MOST computer-literate people in any creative organization. And we were all self-taught – the software courses didn't exist.
From day one, we were constantly manipulating bigger files than whatever machines we were working on could really handle. And we were recovering from the inevitable crashes – often at 3 am the night before a major presentation, with no tech support available by phone or any other way (remember there was no internet.)
In fact, if we were in any sort of corporate environment, the knowledge of the tech support folks about our particular problems was often laughable. What did they know about Quark or the early versions of Illustrator or Photoshop? What did they know about font conflicts, or that hangs and freezes meant we needed more memory – when an extra few megs cost hundreds of dollars?
Did the help-desk folks have to attach stacks of external hard drives, including removables with exotic brand names like Bernoulli and Syquest, so their other users could transport huge (in the day) 40- and 50-mb files to printers? And let me tell you how we attached those drives to each other and our Macs: SCSI. Big, thick cables with connectors the size of half a deck of cards – no hot-swapping, and please remember that you have to add a terminator to the first and last device on your daisy chain, or nothing will work.
Now, it's true that for normal people (not us pixel-pushers) a modern Mac OS X notebook or box will almost never crash, and earlier Macs were more reliable than PCs, we designers have always had to watch our tendencies to overtax whatever hardware we have in front of us. Back in the day that meant not having too many fonts in a document, or too many text boxes, lest the file not print. Today – actually about a month ago – I discovered I can still break Illustrator. (Just run it after installing free fonts. I didn't go so far as to use the fonts – they were just sitting there in the font menu!)
And who do you think was first in line to try out any time-saving utilities, or anything that would maybe make a machine run a little faster? Yup. We art directors/designers. And sometimes they'd bite us in the butt with a big old extension conflict. So we'd be doing the dance, as I called it – I'll grant you that my one friend on the help desk had a more technical name – binary substitution? I must say, a mundane feature of the Mac OS was invaluable for that – the ability to color the file icons. I could color half of the extensions red before uninstalling them, then put recolor the half I was putting back.
Ron, how many of your supposedly more serious computer users routinely manipulate 100-mb files even now (granted, video files get that big and more, very fast), when most entire web sites rarely get that big? How many records would a sales database have to have before it got that big?
Another note from history: Let's remember why print design has stayed on the Mac. For the first decade, if we tried to do full-color print work on the Windows platform, the color-management technology was poor to nonexistent. So a brochure, for instance, could look great onscreen – but at the printer, the CEO's face could wind up purple on press – or green.
Finally, I couldn't help letting out a guffaw at the idea of an art director paying the Apple store for service. Maybe some do. (My attorney would if I let her. But she's an attorney.) (And our family did conclude, recently, that soldering motherboards is perhaps better left to the pros.) But I bet more of us get under the hood ourselves, especially for simple component upgrades, like memory and storage.
Now, of course, print design troubleshoots itself, and the hardware on both platforms is finally at least as powerful as it needs to be to put out a full publication.
And designers have added the web to their box of tricks. You know, in learning to write CSS and HTML; getting up to speed ton the social web – Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed and more; and learning just enough to be dangerous about the various scripting languages – it never once occurred to me that web design was a fitting profession for the computer-phobic.
Less computer literate?
Writers? Maybe. Art directors? Are you mad?
First of all, lets everyone get it straight, PC's are just that, personal computers! There are are Apple PC's, Windows PC's and Linux PC's, etc. Secondly, I'm the founder and CEO of Mountain Trail Press and not only am I the original prepress tech/photographer I still do most of the design and prepress work. From 1999 on I've been on a Windows based PC publishing books and calendars. I've not, even one time, had any problems with color control. I can also tell you that we put out some of the highest quality products in the industry. We deal with nature photography projects so we know color control. Oh, and we are professional photographers as well. All of our printing is in Asia, Hong Kong and Korea. We now print all of our proofs in house and send them over with our digital files. Our printers request only high resolution PDF's for CTP printing and it's a piece of cake! So stating that Windows PC's are a problem in grapics is really a non-issue. Again, my Windows PC will do anything that a comparable Apple PC will do and just as fast. The problem is that people compare a $700 Windows PC to a $2,700 Apple PC. If they compare similar units they will get similar results every time.
Oh, and 100mb files, my last book project was 5.6GBs when finished. I routinely work on photographic files that are as much as 1GB in size. They are from drum scanned 4x5in transparencies and our digital files are getting up to over a 1 GB now. Oh, and I'm now doing all my work on a docked Dell Precision mobile workstation.
Terrible article Ed. The apple ads are more offensive than this one because they don't use facts, this one does.
Stop sucking Jobs' dick you dumbass Mactard!
Ha ha, now you say Apple ads are not offensive. May be I'm not cool enough to understand you.
The irony is that "Lauren" herself uses idiotic selection criteria – "the look of that one is drawing me" – and seems to have scant idea of what underlies the summary specifications (she is just a 17" size queen). For the record I'm a die-hard Mac user, but think the ad is good! It's no more "snarky" than the "I'm a Mac/PC" ads by Apple. Would it convince me to buy a Windows PC…lol.
No offense dude, but with the personal attacks guys Jobs & Co. kept making on Windows and even Bill G. all the time, the implications of Vista copying Mac on technologies that Microsoft deputed over a decade ago as demonstrations (unlike Apple's paltry millions customers, MS has billions–even a tiny gaff or break, such as those in Vista, is a big deal: they don't release a lot quickly without MUCH work), etc., there's no room to talk in defense of Apple on this.
Nor is Ron's comment above incorrect people: and neither is Apple uncandid: they sell with the expectation of making nose bleeds, so I don't know why fanboys try defending Apple on this: and why should we complain about it, it's their product? Let consumers decide, and if Apple at some point has too much pressure from avoidance, they'll be forced to drive prices down.
As for "you get what you pay for", not with Apple: they definitely overcharge–one can assemble far superior hardware configurations for much less, and apple's aluminum frames don't justify it either: they're cheap where one places a disk in the optical drive, and internally they're poorly assembled–not unoften with tape!
So yeah, no offense: take this from a buy who's even been considering getting a Mac. : )
The 'weird' thing about the advert, and previous Microsoft adverts, is that they never mention the Windows operating system. They're to busy advertising other company's hardware. They show the Windows logo at the end of the advert almost incidentally.
All the original Apple Ads were comparing PC's 'as a whole' and never once mentioned Windows. They could as easily have been showing how easy it was to use a Mac compared to installing Linux (although we know they weren't).
Microsoft would be better pointing out that 'their' operating system can be used on a PC 'and' a Mac but OSx can't.
"Less computer literate? Writers? Maybe. Art directors? Are you mad?"
epic seventh grade godlike computer skillz of html scripting
macn00b, plz
Get ready for this shocker- the two guys that play the mac and of on the apple commercials are actors too!! Yeah I know it's hard to believe, but sometimes they use actors to portray real live people! I hope that didn't just bring your whole life crashing down. But the truth is that the commercial has a valid point. Apple machines cost more than comparable PCs. I've been a mac user since before it was cool, but I can see that for people making the choice between platforms, cost can play a huge role. And not everybody needs a top of the line computer. For most users, the increase in price for performance is not worth it. Especially when most people only browse the web, send the occasional email and maybe write documents with microsoft office. You don't need a perfect screen or blazing fast ram for simple tasks like these.
And the guy that plays PC said that the commercials are bullsh** and the info is totally not true.
But does it really matter? Generally speaking, Windows-based computers are cheaper then macs, but not always. Do direct comparisons and price differences won't be that crazy.
Or, you could solve all problems and get Linux.
well, what should u expect, ms marketing …
I'm assuming that this article was meant to troll for comments (and it has worked), because only a fanboy or someone trying to stir the pot could view one commercial with such sensitivity, and yet find the others to be humorous. Huh?
At least from some of the comments above, I've learned that I must be one of the more careful and delicate users out there when it comes to the PCs in my inventory. After reading the comments about how they won't hold up, I'm thankful that every PC I have ever owned has only been retired when it doesn't make financial sense to upgrade it any more. I feel sorry for the legions who have their PCs falling apart left and right.
@ Jared.
And the irony of course is that Justin actually uses a PC and John Hodgeman is an avid Mac user.
Err… Blame the ad agency?
Generally speaking, people who use PC's are less computer literate (no offense intended) because PC's are adequately designed virus prone machines. This is a good thing for people like IT pros, liberal techno-posers, monetary-sensitive female college students, and really old people – who don't like to be bothered with technical details, logical thinking, or the pain of hacking through computer problems. Someone hacked your registry? Wipe the hard drive and re-install Windows. Some .dll file get corrupted? Wipe the hard drive and re-install Windows, etc… oh yeah, coming to a PC near you soon – conficker!
Want to see how many of your PC friends are "computer literate", try this: When they are not looking, download a "blue screen of death" pic off the web, set it as the desktop pic and then hide their desktop icons. LOL
@ work my company has made it mandatory that our screen savers lock us out after 10 minutes of inactivity, forcing us to log back in. We are not allowed to change this. So I scheduled a re-occuring task (running a me) to open the Calculator every nine minutes, stay active for a minute and then close. According to our "IT professional" this causes viruses. REALLY!!
Back on topic, I think this is a good ad. MUCH better than the Seinfeld ads. The day I can buy that HP laptop and install OS X on it (legally and without any hassles) will be a great day. I am NOT anti-PC, just anti-M$.
The funny thing is that the data (rather than anecdotes from Mac fanbois) indicates that there is no real difference in reliability of HP vs Apple laptops. See the data from Consumer Reports: http://cybernetnews.com/2008/05/08/the-most-reliable-laptop-is/
In fact, if you notice, of the laptops listed, Apple requires the MOST repairs (but the delta isn't statistically significant).
Additionally, some people seem to have qualms with Lauren for not buying the top of the line for whatever she is getting. That is almost always a mistake in the tech industry, even for laptops. This is due to the fact that it's almost always cheaper to upgrade in a couple of years once you realize that you need said feature. For example, why spend $2k on a MBP today, when you could buy another HP in two years for probably $500 that would absolutely blow the doors off of these machines (probably quad-core if not six cores — 8GB of RAM running Win7 SP1, etc…).
If you're a techie who's identity is intertwined with having the cutting edge gadgets then it may make sense to spend more today. But for most people, including Lauren, you really want to get the minimal feature set that will likely meet your needs over the next year or two. I think she did that, unless it turns out she's a developer, video editor, or hardcore gamer.
honestly, can't you people find something worthwhile to get upset about!?
Ed, thank you for your take on the ad. I think you offer some insights others have missed.
The ad clearly shows MS taking the low road against Apple, echoing Ballmer's rant on the $500 logo. (Must be the poor results of a closed-door focus group.)
OTOH, lessons I take from the ad: (1) The Apple Store is the first place to go when you want to buy a computer. (2) If you can afford them, Apple is clearly the way to go. (3) If you have money for a premium computer, (whether Apple, Vaio, Adamo, or the like) you are cool. (4) If you have to buy HP you aren't cool. (5) PC brands are all the same, the only criteria to consider is which is the cheapest.
Ed, I agree the ad has a number of offensive elements. But its implied statements against HP and other PC hardware manufactures are the most offensive.
"In fact, if you notice, of the laptops listed, Apple requires the MOST repairs (but the delta isn't statistically significant)." Yea, Apple @ 23% vs HP @ 22%.
From the article you linked to:
"While Apple ranked on the bottom of the list with 23% of owners needing a serious repair in the chart above, Apple ranked on the very top for the number of people satisfied with the laptop tech support they received from the company. Coming in at the bottom of the list for satisfied customers after they needed tech support was owners of HP laptops." Nuff said.
Ed writes: "So, Microsoft, apparently now bankrupt with ideas on how to fight back, needs to take it there. While yes, Apple's ads poke fun at Microsoft/PCs, it has always been in a lighthearted manner that was funny."
Ed, seriously, how old are you? 15? 19? You're "offended," this ad by Microsoft has insulted you in a way that attacks your values, ethnicity, sensibilities? But a chubby guy with glasses — who is supposed to represent the Windows universe — is "lighthearted" and "funny"? I would like assume that you wrote something intentionally provocative but really don't believe it. If not, be patient: someone will be along to give you a pacifier and change your diaper.
Wow, I thought I had heard it all in the growing trend of political correctness, but this definitely takes the cake. A computer user complaining about an ad… from the competing product?
Get a grip! Mac ads have consistently portrayed PC's (and by extension their users) as monotone and boring. PC users didn't care, because they were busy using their computers and not taking part of this "mac" culture.
And by the way, when you talk about price, I have a challenge. Go onto the Mac website and check how much the new 17″ MacBook Pro is. Then go on to any customizable PC laptop site, and spend ~$2800 customizing. I guarantee you you will get twice the ram, twice the video capabilities, twice the storage, and a hard protective case, not to mention a screen with higher resolution capabilities.
Sure, Vista sucked. We all know that, it was a major error on Microsofts part, but I'm using Windows 7 right now and there is a huge difference, and Mac is going to have a lot to compete with. Macs are overpriced, and I guarantee you Macs are going to start coming down in price once Microsoft becomes competitive with it's OS.
I've used Macs exclusively at home for business and personal tasks for the past twenty years, and you couldn't pay me enough to use PCs and Windows!
Never had a single malware issue, never wasted so much as a single cpu cycle on anti-virus software running various iterations of the Mac OS, and reliability of Macs have been excellent (have owned Mac SE, original iMac, G3 iBook, PowerMac G4 tower, PowerMac G5, Macbook Pro, and two Mac Pros).
By the way, I have plenty of experience through various jobs using Dull PCs (and Windows), so I know what it's like to use both platforms. I'd bet 95% of Mac owners have significant experience on PCs, while perhaps 5% of Windows fanboys have any experience whatsoever on any Mac OS.
Oh, and I've never chosen any Mac I've purchased based upon monitor size.
This commerical isn't "crap", and I think it raises a good point.
In fact, I think a lot of people miss the point of this ad. Its purpose is to point out that Apple doesn't offer machines that fit the needs of most customers.
In "Lauren"'s case, she wanted a laptop with a 17″ screen, probably for watching movies on a larger screen and other basic tasks. Not gaming, design work, or other intensive tasks. Yes, the 17" MacBook Pro is a far better machine, but most likely she doesn't need a super high-res screen, lots or RAM, or long battery life.
Of course she'd be happier with a MBP, but that doesn't matter. The MBP isn't targeted at people like her and is out of reach of her, because she is an average customer.
Lauren may be an actress, but she represents the many people who, for instance, want a large screened mac portable without paying $2000 and don't care about the smaller details of CPU, etc. Most people plug their laptops into the wall at home most of the time and use little more than a web browser and word processor. Many mac users are responding to this ad by comparing specs and operating systems, when specs and operating systems don't matter to the customer that this ad targets.
I am simply amazed (after reading some of these comments) that companies seem to be able to accomplish so much without using MACs.
Personal computer use is just that, PERSONAL! People may use whatever hardware or software they prefer. It has been my experience that the average user runs two or three programs (that they generally learn at work) play games, send e-mails, and blog. He/she is not out there trying to save the world with a computer.
Industries and individuals who require or prefer whatever perceived advantage they get from having a MAC (Music, graphic, development, no virus scans, etc.) use them, but the rest of the business world uses the tired old PC many of them running Microsoft operating systems and they are doing just fine.
I provided IT support for architects here in Atlanta, and I watched them Design and Construct Olympic Venues (Including the Olympic Village at Georgia Tech)and it was all done on PC's.
Our Military uses PCs, our banking institutions us PCs. College students are using PCs and they manage to produce enough work to graduate (some of them even graduate with honors) from universities and colleges that have PCs and OS that are not OSX.
Give it a rest. Microsft and Apple both have the same goal: Making Money. And as for retailers, well let me tell you this, retailers like Best Buys deal in volume sales. If they are selling 20 PCs to every 3 Macs, their money is not coming from Mac sales.
Regarding all the "work" companies get done using PCs, just ask the French Navy, the British Navy, the Vancouver school system, etc. how that has been going for them recently. They've all had malware take down significant systems in the past few months. Nothing similar has hit Mac users ever!
After doing all my home computer stuff only on Windows-based PC's and having each one hit the dumpster after just a couple of years, I am trying my luck with an iMac.
So far, so good.
No need to update the AVP nearly every day because… surprise, most viruses target Windows. Indeed, I've not even installed an AVP yet. On the Windows PC's every time the AVP subscription ran out, the computer would crash because those viruses are constantly trying to impose themselves onto the Windows PC's.
As for the price, a reasonably good iMac goes for 1200. The last PC I got in a similar package went for … 1600. That's 400 Best Buy doesn't get.
@Wilbur, if your point is that Macs have better technical support when they go wrong, which they will at a rate equal to that of other laptops, if not slightly more, then I fully agree. The genius bar is great when your Mac breaks down. No disputing that.
As a Mac user, I find it offensive to PC users. She wants a Mac, but she's too poor. The way she purchases a computer is to go into a big box, read a 2×4 card of specs she doesn't understand, goes for the shiny one (even though the entire Pavilion dv line is extremely shoddy — years worth of dvs with AMD procs and Nvidia graphics are highly prone to failure because of cheap solder on cheap mobos), and she's done in 5 minutes. No real understanding of software, no real understanding of specs, no true comparison shopping (a few minutes and excepting the advice of a Best Buy lackey), and really she wanted a Mac all along.
If I were a PC user, I'd be offended.
"…accepting the advice of a Best Buy lackey…"
Damn, that brain fart really pisses me off, even if I'm prone to it.
i dont think they are offensive, just annoying. MICROSOFT WE GET IT MACS ARE EXPENSIVE!!! We got that long before osX came out. But we still love our macs.
Have you lost your mind?
$2,500 for a computer? Add on those extras, then the tax.
I don't care if it lasts four years. I don't care if it "gives you a good experience" as filthy as that sounds.
For people who don't need a computer to do work they get paid for, anything above 400 or 500 dollars is an idiotically high price.
But I suppose that's what Apple marketing is all about, and why they have all these Mac idiots brainwashed. I've never seen such a bunch of whiny crybabies.
Waaaah. Clicking on applications is sooooo haaarrrddd. The computer almost locked up on meeeee when I was transferring a fiiiile. The experience isnt the saaaaaame. I have to have things a CERTTTAIN WAAAAaaaaYyyyyyy.
The $300 netbook of today is the $3000 Mac of 5 years ago and more so.
Don't you think Apple execs realize that so called "el cheapo" computers available now actually do a ton of stuff that "cheap" computers had no way of doing just five years ago?
If people realize that, and free their minds of this brainwashing, then there is no more need to spend a ton of cash.
Don't you think Apple publicists skulk through these pages all the time and drop BS about the "Mac Experience" justifying the ridiculously high cost? If they didn't have these Mac idiots lulled into a state of unconsciousness about how much money they're being ripping off of, Apple would lose their profit margin business strategy and dehydrate.
People don't like it when they get called up on the fact that they've been fooled and cheated out of their own money. Build quality, my ass.
"The sad thing? A lot of consumers will probably fall for this crap." … and in the long run this will hurt Microsoft, unless their $9 billion annual R&D budget actually comes up with a shipping product and provides some, you know, ROI – stuff that decent business needs to survive the long term.
If you watch the ad carefully, you can see the passer-bys have moved about three feet in the time she's "in the store."
Here are a couple of links to stories regarding malware taking Windohs computers to their knees. The school system in Vancouver has 10,000 CPUs that need individual attention to be brought back in service. So, how much cheaper are 'dohs computers now?
I don't get the point.
Who cares if you're offended or not?
Honestly, what difference does it make?
Mac users are jerks. Grow up.
Mac users ARE jerks, so it's nice to see someone say it. They tend to be gay too, not that that's bad, but it tends to be true. Macs are feminine computers, great for girls, and well, you know.
@Bill and me,
I want what you two are smoking.
I think the ad was marketing brilliance on the part of Microsoft (and I'm a Mac person!). Let's see: What's the only thing that makes the HP Pavilion better than a macbook? Oh yeah, it's cheap. There's absolutely no way that Apple can fight back on that argument. Let's put a cute girl in a commercial and make the commercial reek of trendy viral marketing and we've got ourselves an extremely effective ad.
Not looking for a flame-war here, but I do have to say that Macs are definitely the prevailing winners of the user experience (interface R&D, simplicity, overall design) AND MacOSX Unix-based, which inherently makes their operating system more secure. But yes, they're *WAY* more expensive because they're intended to be a luxury product: not something that your everyday non-engineering college student needs.
Five years ago, I bought a Mac because I thought I was too stupid to own a PC. I'd just opened my own business and couldn't afford to hire computer help. Five years later, I have the same computer, which upgraded nicely along the way. I've rarely needed help–well except for the one-on-ones to learn Garage Band, Video Editing, iMovie and other programs. All of which run on my computer without a hitch. So, sorry Lauren, ya shudda bought a Mac.
Anyone know why Microsoft is urging its OEM's to race to the bottom. Dell is fuming because it spending tons on ads doing exactly the opposite of the MS ad. I smell a war between Dell and MS.
Hahaha whatever I love the new Microsoft commercials. Rock on!
I wrote about the flip-side of the coin two years ago.
It's good to see Apple have made a dent in the market share a bit since then.
The Mac ads are saying that windows is for uptight coporate tools and macs are for cool friendly folk, plus Windows isn't not very good.
The MS adds are saying that Mac users are elitists and overpaying for brand name and cult status.
They are just ads, neither more or less acurate or misleading. It's just that Microsoft finally has hired an agency that's making a little buzz after years of being smacked down by Apple. But to be offended by either? Seriously?
lol… wow, I wrote about this just yesterday. Mac fanatics really need to take a chill pill. Considering the fact that this commercial, actor or no actor, script or no script, recognizes the real scenario that many are facing in a tough economy, it's got a point, just like the Mac vs PC ads had an honest point a while back. It's an honest jab. I would point right back to the Mac vs PC ads, and say they are offensive by making fun of PC users, but then again I run Ubuntu so I don't really care. 😛
Man, based on your response to the ad the only thing I can say is that you need therapy.
The ad was not, in any way, more "offensive" than any of the bazillion Mac vs. PCs that preceded it. It isn't any less accurate (actually, it looks to me way more strict to the facts than many of the Mac vs. PCs ads, as the only error was an irrelevant one about the name of the store, while Mac vs. PC ads had plenty of factual claims that were wrong), it doesn't insult anyone and it only makes one joke, that is a direct but very light response to more of an insult perpetrated by the Mac ads (if you are a PC, you are uncool and boring).
So if you are considering this ad offensive and though the Mac vs. PC ads were not, you really need to have your head examined. Seriously.
Oh, and for someone talking about disinformation, you seem to be pretty disinformed. Vista Home runs aero, and so does that laptop. And the "slow" DDR RAM produces a performance impact of about 0.5% in real use. 0.5% of performance doesn't seem like a big sacrifice when we are talking about an 80% reduction in whole computer cost.
Oh, come on. The PC community has taken it on the chin with the Mac (excuse me, Apple) ads that have been HIGHLY OFFENSIVE (to use your language) to me for years. I don't find them funny. In fact, i use my handy remote to bypass them on my VISTA Media Center PC–which works just beautifully, by the way.
Grow up, people. It's an ad. It's meant to drive home a point. Macs are not godlike devices. They're computers. Steve Jobs isn't a God, either. He's a gifted designer and a better marketer.
Get a life. Use what you want to use and let me use what i want to use. This Microsoft ad was no more offensive than any Apple ad. Thicken your skin, man.
The commercial isn't offensive to me, a Mac user. It is in my opinion stupid and stereotypical.
First, the price difference is over 2000$ between what Lauren got and the Mac Pro 17″. Second, the real world application of ddr3 vs ddr2 is negligible, unless the user is a gamer or in the 3d digital art world, and moreover, for 2800 Lauren could have gotten a 17in laptop with ddr3, a ssd (solid state hard drive), and blu-ray!just to mention a few items. Also, the computer does have vista home, thats vista home premium 64bit os. Seriously, the author of this article needs to stop misleading people and start getting his facts correct.
"if you asked random Mac users on the street, most of them would say that hey bought the Mac for the way it works, not for coolness"
You're not cool if you're doing something to be cool.
So, duh.
Hold on – why is it "funny" to call PC users bland and unsophisticated and lacking in style or grace or that "they get what they paid for" – but "not funny" to say Macs are overpriced and that people who own them are smug and egotistical?
Double standard here or what?
@ Ron – Your comments made my day, I mean seriously I shot coffee outta my nose laughing at your idiocy! You think that Mac users are LESS computer literate than PC users? WTF! Any loser hillbilly with $300 can got to Walmart or Best Buy and purchase a PC. I believe this tips the scale of computer illiterates in your favor, based merely on numbers…
"…liberal techno-posers…"
WTF is that?
I remember when "uh-huck uh-huck" was the phrase signifying a dolt; now its misuse of the word liberal (pronounced by slackjaws as librul)
I recognize that Macs and PCs each have their strong points. I use both for different things.
It's a fact that some humans are willing to pay more for brand identity. This is present in virtually every industry, and there's no reason for the computer market to be immune. Some – perhaps many, perhaps only a few – of the population of Mac users need the special capabilities a Mac has. For some, it's largely a brand identity thing. For some – perhaps many – it's a combination of these factors. The thing is, nobody wants to think of themselves as the guy or girl who flushed a few hundred bucks or more for the purpose of having a machine with a certain logo on the back. That's not cool no matter who you are. That's part of where some of the flakier excuses for Mac use come from (and I recognize that not all reasons for Mac use are flaky excuses!) – stuff like "inspires my creativity" and "spend time getting stuff done instead of on computer maintenance". I respect both Mac and PC use, but people really need to look at what they're actual requirements are before purchasing things. (Brand snobbery – in either direction – is not a wholly illegitimate purchasing direction force, but it's probably one that most people probably don't want to make part of their decision if they're actually sitting down to think about it.)
derp de derp. Derp de derpity derpy derp. Mac the derpa derpa derpaderp. Derp de derp. Da teedily dumb. PC Der, and Tum Ta Tittaly Tum Ta Too, Da Derp Dee Derp Da Teetley Derpee Derpee Dumb.
I'm sorry i bothered looking into this thread.
How dare a major corporation like Microsoft hire a beautiful young girl to advertise their product! How dare an actress take money to act as though she is in full support of a product! Are you guys really all that shocked and appalled at this commercial? How is this any different from all those athletes that advertise for sodas and candy bars? Do you really think that athletes consume that crap on a regular basis? I'm a Linux and I'm not freaking out over this. Why's it such a big deal? Anybody know where I can get a copy of 99 Pieces?
At apple we aim for the not so savvy computer folks and less literate about computers. That why we provide a blackbox solution. Use it and throw it. With PC folks need to be more educated
Guys, c'mon, PCs are cheaper than MACs, case closed.
Don't get me wrong, I think MACs are great computers, but you pay a hell of a premium for the operating system.
I think MACs are great for old people or young people who are first using PCs. Otherwise, if you just over being a novice, you can get a MUCH better deal with a PC, that is a fact not an opinion.
I think it is funny how people get so upset over a commercial. Commercials are designed to sell a product, one way or another. To make such a big deal over how they choose to present their computers or any overtones that you may infer from it is just childish. Aren't there better things to put your energy into, or is it really that important to make the advertisers out to be liars and somehow out to cheat the public. I mean, does anyone really think there are actually ethics in the advertising world??
Sure the ads is one-sided, just as the MAC ads are one-sided in arguing that the PC is comehow incapable of creating web pages or editing videos.
The video also does a great job of showing that for anyone looking for a cheap, low-end laptop has FAR greater range available in PC's
what's all the fuss about!
mac types are all mad she's "really" an actress? and everyone else is ticked that iPhones are spontaneously combusting (while steve jobs says apple's not at fault – pfft!)
look.. the ads are not talking to died-in-the-wool mac-addicts – they're targeted to ppl w/ money in their hands, ready to buy a computer… right NOW – and they've got two choices
and.. its a recession on right now
so? you can get "a computer" for $700 – it runs windows, not mac
big deal
MS scores some points – deal with it!
look at this http://www.macmod.com/other/1951-microsoft-lauren-sues-microsoft-a-best-buy
microsoft had to pay for her used macbook pro
Can dish it out but can't take it. Boo hoo.
hiya, perhaps this post can be a bit off topic but in any event, I have been surfing around your web site and it also looks truly tasteful..I'm setting up a new blog and now im hard-pressed to make the idea appear great, and supply top quality content. I have learned quite a lot here and I wait for more updates and could be returning.
I don't see what's so bad about this. Mac has been trash talking Windows for a long time now, doing everything short of saying that PCs are worthless trash compared to Macs. To add insult to injury, most of what they insinuated was downright untrue, and the fact that they tried to dress up their lies as "light-hearted" "jokes" makes it even worse. If you ask me, Microsoft's ad wasn't nearly as bad. They pointed out that Macs are expensive. True. They pointed out their large selection, and that you can pick up a PC for cheap. True. They used Apple's own "cool" "hipster" garbage against them instead of making things up. Where's the comparison? Just be happy they won't lower themselves enough to resort to the sort of thinly veiled libel that Apple uses on a regular basis.
As for the technical debate between the two… well, I haven't touched a Mac since I was introduced to Windows. Mac had too many limitations for me–too many things I couldn't do. I never experienced a crash, which I did with my PCs in the old days, but nowadays, my PCs literally never crash. I can't imagine a more stable operating system than Win7 64 Pro, because I've literally never had any issues with it. It was fully functional from the get-go, no drivers needed, never any stability issues, even with the CPU overclocked by 43%. I plug in an ethernet cable, and the internet works. I click the "Internet" button, and the internet works. I put in a CD, and the installation disks painlessly guide me through any and all installations.
To be honest with you, I can only see 3 possible reasons why anyone would think a Mac is better. One, everyone who cares about being hip thinks they're hip. Two, everyone who is afraid of technology has been convinced by Apple that Windows is some kind of scary technical nightmare. Three, Macs have such a small market share that nobody bothers to write malware for the platform.
Truth be told, I can do anything I can do with a Mac with a PC, just as easily… and then some. If I don't want to be technical, I don't have to be. If I get the itch, hell, let's screw around with the registry or download some crazy piece of freeware into a Windows VM. Still itchin' for more? Let's open up Visual Studio and write my own software. Personally, I don't know of any operating system that offers such a blend between ease of use and functionality. Linux sounds like it's getting there, but from what I've seen and heard about the Mac (admitting i've had no first-hand experience in the last 10 years aside from watching friends use their Mac laptops, which, by the way, they say are great chic magnets–straight from the mac user's lips) it doesn't have anything to offer me except for a reduced malware threat. And in return, I lose compatibility with… almost everything.
[…] ad (embedded below) seems to be getting a pretty good reception across the web – except among die-hard Mac users, of course. I like it – Lauren is adorable and the ad makes a valid point about the […]
[…] Why Microsoft's "Lauren" Ad is Offensive […]
[…] (this topic was at the top of Techmeme earlier today) and feel the need to point out the "offense," "pointlessness," and […]
[…] Lesson In Blog Ethics Well, my latest post on Technologizer has certainly struck a chord among many on both sides of the aisle. It's […]
[…] a lighter note, this article, "Why Microsoft's 'Lauren' Ad is Offensive" was a tirade of typical Mac-user pride and elitism. The article's author complains that the […]
[…] Why Microsoft's "Lauren" Ad is Offensive I noticed some tweets (join me on Twitter', @edoswald) over the past several days regarding Microsoft's […] […]
[…] place notes that she calls "the Apple store" "the Mac store," like that's some sort of major transgression. Astute observers observe that she didn't […]
[…] the folks who got upset about the ad making Mac people sound like elitist jerks…and then blogged in their own defense about it to cement the stereotype.) God forbid someone buy a cheap PC laptop and live happily ever after. […]
[…] red. You can see this passion crop up in some of the comments on Ed Oswald's two recent posts (here and here) on Microsoft's new "Lauren" ad comparing 17-inch Windows laptops to the MacBook […]
[…] You can see this passion crop up in some of the comments on Ed Oswald's two recent posts (here and here) on Microsoft's new "Lauren" ad comparing 17-inch Windows laptops to the […]


text:
At its I/O developer conference today, Google didn't just launch a completely revamped version of Drive. It also launched Drive for Work, a new version of Drive and Google apps for businesses that comes with a number of extra security features. The one feature most users will notice first, however, is that Drive for Work doesn't have any storage limitations.
If you've followed along, this doesn't come as a major shock. Google already reduced the price of Drive storage drastically earlier this year. As Google Drive's director of product management Scott Johnston told me earlier this week, IT departments shouldn't have to think about storage anymore, but as many services moved to the cloud, storage pricing was somehow left behind.
Now, with a $10/month/seat Drive for Work subscription, users won't have to worry about that anymore. To clearly show that Google is serious about this, the team has also raised the maximum file size for uploads to 5 terabytes. Nobody in their right mind is going to upload a 5 terabyte file to Drive anytime soon, but if you feel like testing it out, be Google's guest.
The regular Google Apps for Business account is still available for $5/month/seat, too, and users on those accounts will also get access to the new web interface and updated mobile apps.
While unlimited storage is the most eye-catching feature of Drive for Work, though, it also comes with a number of other tools that businesses have been asking for. Just like the current $10 Apps for Business plan, Drive for Work includes support for Google Apps Vault, for example, which allows companies to retain files and emails for compliance reasons.
The new subscription also gives companies access to the Drive's audit features so they can track who accesses which documents and where they are shared. In addition, Google has launched an Audit API so that companies can create their own dashboards based on this data.
Drive for Work, Google tells me, also offers enterprise-grade security and compliance, including a SSAE 16 / ISAE 3402 Type II, SOC 2-audit, ISO 27001 certification, adherence to the Safe Harbor Privacy Principles, and can support industry-specific requirements like HIPAA.
In a similar vein, Drive for Work also allows businesses to set more fine-grained access controls and lets them turn certain Drive features like sync on or off for different business groups (in case you don't want your legal team to be able to sync files, for example).
As Johnston told me, companies of all sizes have been asking Google for these features. While tools like Vault may seem most useful for larger corporations, many small- and medium-sized businesses have been asking for many of these features, too — not necessarily because they need them now, but because they want to know that those tools will be there as they grow.


text:
Rosales hits 2 HRs, leads Rangers over White Sox
CHICAGO (AP) -- Adam Rosales homered twice in a game for the first time in his career and Nick Tepesch pitched scoreless ball into the sixth inning, leading the Texas Rangers over Chris Sale and the Chicago White Sox 3-1 Wednesday.
The Rangers, who began the day with baseball's worst record, have won consecutive games for the first time since June 27-28. They routed the White Sox 16-0 on Tuesday night.
Rosales hit a two-run shot in the second and added a solo shot in the seventh. He entered the game with only one homer this season.
White Sox center fielder Adam Eaton exited in the second after running into the right-center field fence trying to catch Rosales' homer. The team said Eaton bruised his lower back.
Tepesch (4-7) gave up six hits in 5 2-3 innings. He had lost four straight decisions, and skipped a turn because of a sore left knee.
Sale (10-2) allowed three hits in six innings, striking out nine. His only other loss this season came on June 12, when he was outdueled by Detroit's Max Scherzer.
Chicago's Dayan Viciedo homered in the seventh off Roman Mendez. Neftali Feliz got two outs for his fourth save in five chances.
In four starts and one relief appearance in July, Tepesch allowed 18 runs in 22 2-3 innings before his knee flared up in the seventh inning of his last start, on July 26 against Oakland.
On Wednesday, Tepesch sailed through five innings before leaving with runners on second and third and two outs in the sixth. Roman Mendez replaced him and got major league home run leader Jose Abreu to ground out.
Rangers: Catcher Geovany Soto (strained right groin) is expected to be activated from the disabled list on Friday, and catcher Chris Gimenez comes off three-day paternity leave Thursday. With catcher Robinson Chirinos already on the roster and the addition of first baseman Mike Carp on Monday, Gimenez will likely to be sent to Triple-A Round Rock.
White Sox: Alejandro De Aza was back in left field after sitting out Tuesday night's game with a bruised left knee. ... Pitching coach Don Cooper missed the game because of a recurrence of vertigo-like symptoms. He won't make the trip with the team to Seattle. Cooper has missed 13 games with the condition so far.
Rangers: Texas is off on Thursday, then opens a three-game series at Houston on Friday. Rangers RHP Miles Mikolas (1-4, 7.29) is scheduled to make his seventh start against LHP Brett Oberholtzer (4-7, 4.13).
White Sox: Chicago starts a four-game series at Seattle on Thursday night. RHP Scott Carroll (4-6. 4.36) will oppose RHP Roenis Elias (8-9, 4.19). Carroll is 2-1 with a 3.03 ERA in his last four starts.


text:
Newsweek has an article titled "DNA Testing: In Our Blood", which offers layman's introduction to the world of population genetics and geneaological testing.
From the article:
The research led Skorecki's team to Africa, where they tested members of the Lemba tribe, a group that believed they were descended from the Biblical land of Judea. Some of their DNA matched the Cohan signature. "We share a common paternal ancestry," says Skorecki. In 2001, Father Bill Sanchez, a Roman Catholic priest in Albuquerque, N.M., discovered he closely matched the Cohan signature, too. Sanchez's Jewish roots go back to Spain (his mother's heritage is Native American). Today he keeps pictures of his Christian and Jewish ancestors on his wall; in November he traveled to Israel. Now his niece Jessica Gonzales, 24, wants to go. Raised Catholic, she wants to learn more about her family roots. "I've been reading a lot about Judaism," she says.I don't know the specifics of Father Sanchez family origins, but I have to wonder when Skorecki et al. will finally decide to come clean about the significance of their "Cohen signature" and the little-known fact that it is neither a Jewish nor a Cohen-specific signature. I have a feeling that there are quite a lot of people out there who've been "reading about Judaism" based on false beliefs created by dubious science.
Also, from the article:
Last fall, Wells packed up 500 blood-collection tubes, needles, alcohol wipes and cheek swabs and headed off to Chad, one of the project's first testing sites, where he took 300 DNA samples from towns and villages around the country. Thirty-five to 40 came from members of the isolated Laal community, whose population, at fewer than 750, is declining. Wells fears that this community will die out within the next 10 to 30 years, taking with it valuable DNA and cultural traditions and an ancient language—information that could provide critical insights into the first people to live in Central Africa more than 40,000 years ago. "We can use DNA to figure out some of these great mysteries, to make sense of the past," says Wells.I guess I was right about Dr. Wells' activities in my New Year's predictions... and their name is Laal. Now, let's hope that Dr. Wells and his team will find some time to devote to the other 6,000,000,000-750 of us.


text:
Peanut butter recall expands beyond Trader Joe's
(CNN) -- Sunland, Inc., has expanded its voluntary recall to include all of the products manufactured at its peanut butter and nut manufacturing plant in Portales, New Mexico.
The plant was shut down on Saturday, September 22nd after Trader Joe's recalled its Creamy Salted Valencia Peanut Butter because it was linked to potential contamination with Salmonella, according to Katalin Coburn, Sunland's vice president for media relations.
Two days ago, the company expanded its voluntary recall to include all the peanut and almond butter products it makes. Now the remaining Cashew Butter, Tahini and Roasted Blanched Peanut Products, which are also manufactured at this plant, are being recalled too.
According to the latest information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30 people in 19 states have been sickened by a strain of Salmonella called Bredeney. Four people have been hospitalized so far, but no one has died.
The reported illnesses occurred between June 11 and September 11. Nearly two-thirds of those sickened are under the age of 10. Young children, the elderly and those who are already sick or chronically ill are more susceptible to severe illness if they become infected with Salmonella.
This company says the recall applies to the all products manufactured at this plant with a "best if used by" date between May 1, 2013 and September 24, 2013. Consumers can find this date stamped on the side of the jar's label below the lid of the jar.
Coburn tells CNN that there has been "no link to any specific product," but rather 14 of those sickened had been interviewed by health officials and 12 of those people recalled eating Trader Joe's peanut butter. She says that's "the reason for this entirely preemptive and voluntary recall."
The CDC has reported that 12 of those sickened indicated that they ate Trader Joe's Valencia Creamy Salted Peanut Butter made with sea salt and that this is a likely source of the outbreak.
Since this is an ongoing investigation, the FDA will not comment on specific details, according to a spokeswoman.
Consumers are urged to dispose of any remaining jars of Sunland, Inc., products in the home or return them to the place of purchase. A full list of all voluntarily recalled products can be found on Sunland's website. Consumers can also contact Sunland by calling 1-866-837-1018 for more information on the recall.


text:
Privacy policy
According to current legislation Law 15/1999 of 13th of December, on the protection of personal Data act and Law 34/2002 on services of the information society SMART SHOPPING S.L., (from hereon www.laurapaterson.es), tax number: B73709131, with tax domicile Av. Teniente Montesinos , nº 8 (Torre A – planta 4); CP 30100 – Espinardo, Murcia (Spain), contact telephone (+34) 968 833 830, email address email@example.com, informs and communicates to the users of its webpage its privacy policy regarding the protection of data on a personal level.
The title given to the file personal details are deposited is www.laurapaterson.es.
www.laurapaterson.es, is responsible for, as set out in the personal data protection law, and certifies to have taken all security measures, both technological and organisational to protect the confidentiality and integrity of all information as established in law 15/1999 13th of December, and order in council 1720/2007, 21st of December, approving thereby law development ruling of the law 15/1999, 13th of December, of the personal data protection act which complements it.
The aim of the website is not to store personal data. Access and use of the website does not imply communication of the personal data. However, if the user wishes to purchase merchandise offered on the site all necessary forms and questionnaires should be duly filled out.
By completing the forms and giving us the necessary information the user authorises and voluntarily consents to treatment of their personal data, information given freely to the website. The user hereby agrees to and consents that any data both now and in the future can be stored in a file containing such details.
Details requested for registration are compulsory in those cases where requested.
www.laurapaterson.es, can deny registration to any user who does not give such information.
In the electronic forms those fields, which are obligatory and necessary, will be specified. Those which are not will also be specified.
www.laurapaterson.es, will use the information given by the user in the following ways:
- Client Registration on the site.
- For the processing of orders, bookings, quotes or any other kind of petition which is requested by the user via the web or telephone.
- The running and administration of the site.
- For the sending of newsletters, to inform of the latest news, offers, promotions and publicity regarding the site.
- Incident and problem solving.
www.laurapaterson.es, will only store the facilitated data during the time needed to comply with the objectives as set out in clause three of the privacy policy. Once complied it will be erased, guaranteeing with this process that all data is treated securely and confidentially.
www.laurapaterson.es, may reveal personal information should it be required by law should content on the site infringe legal rights of third parties or to protect the rights, property and/ or security of other parties. .
Data may also be shared with:
- "The transport agency dealing with delivery of the merchandise.
- The authorities, in help with a police or legal investigation (in such cases we will reveal the pertinent information like name, city, state or province, postcode, telephone number, email address, ID number and IP address). We will not, however, reveal any information to any legal bodies without an order of the court.
As established by law 15/1999 13th of December the title holder of the personal data can at any time exercise his rights of access, rectification, cancellation and opposition of the terms collected in law 15/1999 13 of December. This can be done with no charge by contacting SMART SHOPPING S.L., at: Av. Teniente Montesinos , nº 8 (Torre A – planta 4); CP 30100 – Espinardo, Murcia (Spain), or via email on firstname.lastname@example.com , communicating the desire to exercise the previously mentioned rights.
www.laurapaterson.es, as the responsibility holder of the file and website guarantees complete compliance with law 15/1999 13th of December regarding the personal data protection act and order in council 1720/2007, 21st of December, 21st of December, approving thereby law development ruling of the law 15/1999, 13th of December, of the personal data protection act which complements it.
It also certifies compliance to those legal requirements established in law 34/2002 in services to the information society regarding the titleholder's data and unwanted commercial communications.
www.laurapaterson.es, guarantees total confidentiality regarding all communication held with the user, using the information obtained correctly and conscientiously.
www.laurapaterson.es, promises never to reveal any confidential information unless legally required to do so.
The user confirms that all data facility is correct and true. www.laurapaterson.es holds the right to exclude all those registered users who have given false, inexact or incomplete information, without prejudicing other rights. No user, unless authorised by power of attorney, can use another person's identity. The user may only provide data corresponding to their person.
The user is aware and accepts the privacy policy at www.laurapaterson.es understanding that his personal details will be used when required by the site and stored in a file under the terms mentioned above. Treatment by the advertised will be for advertising, statistical, commercial reasons, which includes other existing marketing tools.
The user is aware and hereby accepts the conditions established in www.laurapaterson.es privacy policy. They hereby freely and voluntarily consent to the automatic and non-automatic treatment of their personal data and to the inclusion, following the terms established in these clauses, of the information in the personal data file. Treatment by the advertised will be for advertising, statistical, commercial reasons, which includes other existing marketing tools.
The user also consents to receiving commercial information promoted by www.laurapaterson.es sent to all clients and registered users.
www.laurapaterson.es can personally or via a contracted third party use cookies when a user browses on the website. Cookies are files sent to a browser via a web server to register activities by the user on the website.
Cookies used by www.laurapaterson.es or the third party acting in its name associate themselves with an anonymous user and his computer. They do not provide any personal details to a third party.
When the user allows reception he will be able to recognise the server which is using the cookies. In order to do this please consult each individual browser.
Thanks to cookies www.laurapaterson.es, or the third party (acting in laurapaterson.es name) can recognise the browser being used enabling easier browsing, allowing for example, the users, who have registered previously, to access areas, services, promotions or competitions reserved exclusively for them without having to register each time they enter the site. They are also used to measure audience and traffic numbers, to control progress and visits.
The user can configure their browser to be alerted on screen when cookies are received and prevent these cookies from being saved on the hard drive. Please consult your browser's manual for more information. It is not necessary for the user to allow cookies in order to use www.laurapaterson.es, nor is it necessary to allow installation of those cookies sent by www.laurapaterson.es, or the third party acting on its behalf without prejudicing the need to register or login with each visit.


text:
We found 1 episode of LINUX Unplugged with the tag "lxqt".
300: Ultimate Fedora Test
May 7th, 2019 | 1 hr 5 mins
18.04, bootloaderspec, buku, dell, dell precision 3540, fedora, fedora 30, flicker free boot, gnome 3.32, grub, homebrew smart watch, jupiter broadcasting, l4t, linux on the switch, linux unplugged, lxqt, mir, nintendo switch, pantheon, pcap, project sputnik, python classroom, red hat, red hat logo, rhel 8, shadowman, silverblue, smarch watch, sysctl explorer, systemd-boot, termshark, ubuntu, wayland, wayland conformance suite, wireshark, xfce
Is Fedora 30 the peak release of this distribution? We put it through the ultimate test, live on the air, and put everything on the line.


text:
High Noon Fabric - Windy Grey Cotton
Colour: Windy Grey
Material: Upholstery Weight Cotton
Weight & Durability: 335 gsm. 25,000 rubs
Width: 137cm
All approx. Images are indicative only.
The Collection is the winner of the prestigious Elle Deco International Design Award India 2019 for Fabric Design.
Toile Indienne's tribute to Padma Bhushan B V Doshi, outstanding architect and recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, 2018.
The Collection is built by fusing elements from Doshi's architecture, revealing the geometrical abstraction inherent in them, with a Cubist and Mid-Century Modern exploration of form and a modernist colour palette. The designs hint of the art of his mentor, Le Corbusier.
Printed on upholstery weight cotton offering spectacular touch and drape.
- Eco friendly: Printing dyes are GOTS certified and meet Inditex 'Clear to Wear' criteria.
- Original design created in our studio.
Rub test: All of our upholstery fabrics are tested as per the Martindale Rub test which is a measure of the durability and suitability of a fabric for various uses – i.e. frequently used sofas, decorative accent chairs or commercial heavy-duty use.
British Standard 2543 specifies the following rub counts for end-use applications:
Light domestic – 15,000 rubs
General domestic – 20,000 rubs
Heavy domestic – 25,000 rubs
Severe domestic/general contract – 30,000 rubs
Care: Dry Clean. Keep away from direct sunlight.
Return and Refunds: We take responsibility for free replacement or refund of defective or wrong items sent, as per our T&C's.
India Sales: Includes shipping and applicable taxes.
International Sales: Shipping, Customs duties, and taxes are extra. See Terms and Conditions.


text:
The End of the SuperFogeys on Drunk Duck - But Not The End of the SuperFogeys!
th3rdworld on Nov. 24, 2008
Goodbye Duck! It's been fun!
Chapter Six continues at http://www.superfogeys.com! And the story keeps on truckin'. Hope you join us.
Thanks to all of the regular commentors on DD. You guys really mean a lot to me and I hope I don't lose any of you. That would be a real shame. SF is only gonna get better. Big, big stuff ahead.
See you there,