Does Santa Hate Linux? 271
beernutmark writes "Well, it looks like Santa or at least Norad/Google hates Linux. This year, for the first time since its inception, Norad is not making a simple .kml file available for download to track Santa. You must connect to their website with a Windows/Mac browser and use the browser plugin. No full-screen Google Earth to look at the beautiful areas around Santa's path. (Anyone have any open source source kml files for tracking Santa or any idea how we can go about making one for 2010?)"
Well, actually (Score:3, Funny)
Linux users have figured out that Santa doesn't exist.
Hey, I just felt something woosh over my head! Was it Santa!? Maybe he does exist!
Re:Well, actually (Score:5, Informative)
Hey, I just felt something woosh over my head! Was it Santa!? Maybe he does exist!
No, that was a chair.
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Linux users have figured out that Santa doesn't exist.
Hey, I just felt something woosh over my head! Was it Santa!? Maybe he does exist!
I'm pretty sure he's still stuck in an interrogation room at a US border somewhere...
TSA : So tell me again what you're doing with all those kid's name and addresses while we finish checking all those laptops
Santa : Look, I just explained it all for the fifth time to that other government guy just a couple hours ago !
kml files? (Score:5, Funny)
This year, for the first time since its inception, Norad is not making a simple .kml file available for download to track Santa.
NORAD's been putting out .kml files since 1958?
Re:kml files? (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, but Al Gore's minions are hiding the data and now millions in the US are going to have their god given fairy tales taken away from them.
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The Gore Giveth, and the Gore taketh away... :)
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MODS (Score:2)
Re:kml files? (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:kml files? (Score:5, Funny)
Not .kml, no. Prior to 2000 the information was stored on .elf files, which are proprietary to the North Pole. They've been in use for centuries, but a .elf generally causes problems on newer computers, so .kml is more widely used now.
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it's clear on reading to me that since the inception of making available .kml files, this is the first year that they stopped doing so. i agree though, not the best sentence!
Install User Switcher Agent (Score:5, Informative)
Under Ubuntu, use Firefox, install User Switcher Agent, select "Internet Explorer 7". It appears to work fine. Granted, it is annoying, but it is easy to work around.
Re:Install User Switcher Agent (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Install User Switcher Agent (Score:5, Funny)
Awesome. So that makes 3 Christmases I've saved, 8 I've totally ruined, and 2 were kind of a draw.
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These 13 year old punk know-it-alls. Grrrr.
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Re:Install User Switcher Agent (Score:4, Informative)
It's working for me with Debian and Firefox - no user agent tricks or anything. Stupid article.
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Elves (Score:5, Funny)
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You can get full screen, at least. (Score:5, Informative)
1. Open web browser of your choice.
2. Go to noradsanta.com
3. (if you have NoScript, turn it off or at least unblock everything but googleanalytics).
4. On the right hand side, there's a diagonal arrow. Click it.
5. Hit whatever button makes your browser go fullscreen.
There. Full-screen Santa-y goodness.
Admittedly not QUITE as good as Google Earth, but you can at least get a full-screen Google Maps experience which is pretty darned close.
Tested in Linux (Mint 8, Firefox 3.5) and Windows XP, Firefox 3.5.
PS: Direct link to the fullscreen map: http://www.noradsanta.org/map.html#fullscreen [noradsanta.org]
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NORAD comfirms it (Score:5, Funny)
2009 is not the year of Santa on the desktop. At least, not for Linux users :(
I see what you did, there (Score:2)
Does Santa Hate Linux? .kml file available for download to track Santa. You must connect to their website with a Windows/Mac browser and use the browser plugin. No full-screen Google Earth to look at the beautiful areas around Santa's path. (Anyone have any open source source kml files for tracking Santa or any idea how we can go about making one for 2010?)"
beernutmark writes "Well, it looks like Santa or at least Norad/Google hates Linux. This year, for the first time since its inception, Norad is not making a simple
Gee, I wonder which line of this summary got this story posted. I wonder if those complaining about Apple rumor stories will catch this.
Think about it (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course Santa hates Linux. I mean, think about it, he's Mr. Materialism. Santa is all about shopping malls. It's that smart rabbi, that Jesus guy, who talked about sharing with others as a path to happiness, not Santa. Santa's heart belongs to Microsoft.
Linux was stolen! (Score:2)
You're a mean one, Mister Grinch...
Google Maps Link (Score:5, Informative)
You mean like this?
http://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/noradsanta/index.html#utm_campaign=en&utm_medium=hpp&utm_source=en-hpp-na-us-gns-norad [google.com]
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is that a kml file? No. Does it open in my fullscreen, native google earth program? No.
Vot, dis vorries you? (Score:2)
No he doesn't. (Score:4, Funny)
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WHAT no Drupal?!?!? Must actually want the site to scale.
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Thanks for that. Made me smile ... touche ...
reds in the sled (Score:2)
who cares? santa claus is a communist plot designed to make people think that giving is good, and it will lead to the destruction of the united states!!1!!
Google-Microsoft Rivalry Extends to Santa Sites (Score:2)
TechFlash: The Google-Microsoft rivalry now extends to Santa Web sites [techflash.com]
Isn't it Obvious? (Score:2)
C'mon guys. Tux is a penguin. Him and Santa are quite literally polar opposites!
OMG this explains it. (Score:2, Interesting)
Bullshit (Score:2)
Who cares about KML files and viewing in Google Earth?
I tracked Santa with my son last night WITH LINUX with NO problem. Non story.
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Yeah, because providing a link to download a KML file is much harder than embedding fullblown Google Earth as a browser plugin.
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Yes, they should do that because it would be better for you and just fuck the kids who this is really for.
You are just another selfish geek thinking the world should revolve around your wants.
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In other words, you are complaining that NORAD has gone out of its way and not supported Linux, which is the same damned thing.
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Yes, that's why it's actually been 9 years since .kml files were available
Re:Yes. (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, Linux would be related closer to "pagan" or polytheistic religions. We believe in multiple gods (software authors), although there is a high deity (Linus) who created the universe (Linux) where the rest reside. Some of the other deities work not only in his universe, but in others as well (other *nix's, and even Windows).
The gods are kind and benevolent. Not only do they bestow their gifts upon us (software), but they show us the way (source) so we can ascend to their level.
Not only do they welcome ascension, but the know that no being, god or mortal, is without flaw. They listen when we say there is a problem (bug report) and accept our suggestions (patches) to make the universe better.
Praise be to the gods and goddesses.
And to you, on the cusp of the celebration of the Winter Solstice, I wish you and yours the best. May we help educate the nonbelievers (monotheistic computer followers) into seeing the light (the world which is *nix).
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so...the OSS developers are the Ancients and the proprietary software developers are the Ori? That explains the burning sensation
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The false gods (Microsoft VAR) are all among us. Fear them not, for they hold no real power.
So say the gods. So say we all.
Actually, ascension isn't a Stargate creation. It's common among many theologies, that in death you will join your god (or gods) in their plane of existence. For the sake of keeping this simple for everyone, in Christian mythology, the good will rise (ascend) to heaven, to spend eternity with God. The riff-raff would be sent away to oth
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The gods are kind and benevolent.
Methinks you should take a closer look at pagain mythology.
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Well, "pagan" is a blanket term for anything not judeo-christian, typically all those "other" polytheistic religions. But yes, kind and loving isn't exactly the best way to describe most of them. :) The same can be said of the old testament "God" too. Well, unless catastrophic floods, plagues, and vengeance is "kind".
For the sake of the *nix and open source context, it is true though.
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Christianity comes from Judaism.
Read More [wikipedia.org] and more [answers.com] and more [google.com].
Pretty much if they use the Old and/or New Testament bibles, they fall into the category "judeo-christian".
If you're wishing me a Merry Christmas, you should already be familiar with this.
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Still, if you're going to use Wikipedia as a primary source... and suggest I go read it... perhaps rather than reading that blog I'll just share facts with you. And yes, I wish everyone a Merry
Re:Oh really. (Score:5, Insightful)
Perhaps he lets his prophet [lmgtfy.com] speak for him. He's funny that way.
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The original statement was regarding the Linux universe, and Linus created the core of it.
I won't argue that there were others who came before him. That's the wonders of polytheism. You can recognize the gods and goddesses for what they've done, and respect them accordingly. You obviously understand the older gods, and respect them accordingly.
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Ah yes! The cowards that always have 2 cents to dispose of.
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Apparently Santa can't be tracked in English - perhaps Norad's been taken over by non-English speaking saboteurs.
Selecting a language besides English gives the exact location of Santa.
When I selected Deutsch, here's what I got:
Willkommen beim NORAD-Programm zur Ortung des Weihnachtsmanns
Aktuelle Position Charleston, West Virginia, United States
Der Weihnachtsmann hält als nächstes in: Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States: 01:10
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Crap, I gotta get to bed. Santa's in Newark, NJ. Hmmm... better close the damper this year, don't want that Jersey stink in the house. I'll think up something to tell the kids....
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Which reminds me of two famous quotes.
"God is dead" - Nietzsche
"Nietzsche is dead" - God
Re:Who cares? (Score:5, Funny)
You forgot the last line:
"Nietzsche is God" - Death
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That's one I hadn't heard before, but I'll be sure to remember it. :)
Of course, it's all a complete mangling of the meaning of Nietzsche's quote, but hey, taking a single sound bite (or quote) out of context is fun. :) I'm surprised some particular mainstream news organizations don't piece together individual words to make something to talk about. There's a conspiracy newsletter that I ended up on, that does this all the time. They'll take a single factual event, and wrap a
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When it takes a man to make up a quote from God, then God is definitely dead.
Not having been there, for me to believe either quote would be an act of faith.
What about Donald Knuth? (Score:4, Insightful)
Professor Knuth is a Christian (see his 3:16), and I suspect he's smart enough to be on slashdot.
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I said he was smart enough to be on slashdot, not dumb enough to waste his time here. :-)
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I only write to him to bless me with the gift of Slack, and every year I receive Slackware.
I am a happy 30-something kid. What more could I ask for?
You and Christians, kissing in a tree (Score:2)
Sounds like you and some "Christians" have something in common - lots of the most religious people aren't so fond of Santa either.
Hint: Just because he's called "Saint Nick" does not mean the Pope has recognized him.
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Hint: Just because he's called "Saint Nick" does not mean the Pope has recognized him.
Ugh. Look up Saint Nicholas of Myra. The Pope recognized Saint Nick about 1000 years ago.
Double Ugh (Score:2)
Ugh. Look up Saint Nicholas of Myra. The Pope recognized Saint Nick about 1000 years ago.
And did he fly through the air powered by reindeer giving out the most commercially popular gifts?
Oh that's right, you took some ancient seed on which Saint Nick possibly borrowed a name from and utterly confused him with todays mysterious gift giver.
What once was is not what is. And the OP was not complaining about the Myrian St. Nick, or if he was he should make that just a bit clearer.
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Re:For once, I'm fine with being locked out... (Score:4, Interesting)
None of your precious tax money is being used for this. Santa is also not a Christian symbol at all anymore, but is really the symbol of the secular Christmas. Most people in the West who are not Jewish celebrate Christmas, with or without the religious part. Hell, Santa is huge in Japan, and they have very few Christians there. There was a story on CNN earlier today about how Santa is used there as a symbol to celebrate the New Year, and they're primarily Muslims.
I'm sorry you had a bunch of crappy Christmases as a child, but there's no need to take it out on everyone else.
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The Japanese are primarily Muslim? What?
Re:For once, I'm fine with being locked out... (Score:4, Informative)
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That's because the original St. Nicholas came from what in the modern day is Turkey.
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Actually many jewish people celebrate the holiday as well. Just it's not a religious holiday in any way for them any more than it is for atheists like me. It's become a general purpose holiday of giving that is often divorced from its original religious roots.
Re:For once, I'm fine with being locked out... (Score:4, Funny)
Actually many jewish people celebrate the holiday as well.
.. by going out for Chinese food.
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Santa is big in Japan as a symbol of Xmas, but Xmas in Japan isn't about kids getting gifts - it's actually more of a holiday for adults, in which couples exchange gift. It resembles the Anglo-American Valentine's Day more. Kids get gifts and money on New Year's day in Japan, and Santa's got little to do with it.
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Tracking Santa? Credibility? Wow. Just wow.
Your "secular xmas" is an invention of pure greed devised consciously to exploit and manipulate people into spending money they dont have to raise the bottom line for wealthy commercial interests.
No one said you had to participate. Isn't freedom great?
I am sorry you were raised so immersed in a culture of lies that you dont even understand that lying to children is evil, but no need to take it ou
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To be frank, you look like a complete kook and I say this as a person who doesn't believe in Christmas and finds holidays a waste of time. I'm sorry, but I'm being honest.
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Putting "^_^" as the end of your posts does not make you any less an asshole. Nobody cares about your hate for Christmas and the people who celebrate it. You are the guy who has to tell everyone you don't have a TV when they discuss a show they all watched at work? Just get over yourself already and grow up.
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"Bah! Humbug!"
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> ... they are using tax money ...
Not. It's all funded by corporate sponsors and volunteers. Analytical Graphics, Inc. (AGI) owns the website.
Re:For once, I'm fine with being locked out... (Score:4, Insightful)
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Christmas was only a "christian" holiday for a short time after the catholic church took it. It lost that meaning long ago.
PS, Saying "xtians" makes you sound like a pompous cunt.
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That "Christian fairy-tale" you are whining about is responsible for more joy, laughter, wonder, and good will in this world than anything else you can name.
Not in my house. The Tooth Fairy trumps all.
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That's so wrong, I don't know where to begin, but here goes:
1. Santa Claus is unrelated to Christianity.
2. Christmas is really a pagan festival that in relatively recent times was adopted by the Christian church and later by business people who wanted to sell more goods. The conversion into the event of mass consumption o
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1. Santa Claus is unrelated to Christianity.
Right, so you don't have to believe in God or Jesus to appreciate Santa.
2. Christmas is really a pagan festival that in relatively recent times was adopted by the Christian church and later by business people who wanted to sell more goods. The conversion into the event of mass consumption of goods that we have today was done very deliberately.
Again, no need to be a Christian to appreciate Santa.
As for the commercialism, you are free to give it the finger and still appreciate the spirit of Santa. Greet the sunrise on the 21st (and go on for 12 days). Give an elderly neighbor the gift of a snow-free driveway and good food. Prepare a feast. Give your mail carrier some home baked treats, etc. etc. They can't MAKE you go to the mall and abuse your credit cards and a lot of gestur
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That "Christian fairy-tale" you are whining about is responsible for more joy, laughter, wonder, and good will in this world than anything else you can name.
You don't have to believe in God or Jesus Christ to appreciate the magic of Santa Claus, and what it means to millions of people with purer hearts than you or I possess. So lighten up.
And Merry Christmas.
I think I would put the near-end of slavery as an institution, the development of modern medicine, literacy, and vastly improved agricultural methods way ahead of Santa Claus (which is generally limited to a subset of European cultures, anyway.) And when the poor kid goes to school and finds out that Santa loves the rich kids more than he loves him, one can begin to criticize the Calvinist implications smuggled into the Santa Claus legend.
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I'm an atheist too, but I celebrate Christmas. Why? Because I suspect that, like a lot of myths, the story of Jesus started with a grain of truth. I figure he was probably a Jewish rabble-rouser who went around preaching a philosophy of pacifism - a dangerous thing to do in an empire whose wealth and power was based almost entire on continuous military expansion. So, he caught the attention of the emperor, was executed, and as with many martyrs, his tale grew in the telling.
But, ignoring all of the supernat
Re:For once, I'm fine with being locked out... (Score:4, Insightful)
Ok you don't get it,
For a kid below the age of about 7 the world is a magical place and santa is a part of that wonder so is flying raindeer and elves.
The world for most of us is a much more mundane place even with Christianity wedging itself into our magical festival theres not much belief in elves or flying raindeer for the Christians.
It's not really christian.
It's a time for being nice to each other and if magic is real isn't that fantastic isn't the world better for magic? now tell me why you want to suck that joy out of your childrens lives?
now you can be cynical and see it all as a waste of money and exploitation of your wallet but really the look of happiness as your kids unwrap their presents, well worth it.
There is plenty of time for the drudgery that most of us live with
the worlds better with santa, and a little magic
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No, that's wrong. Saint Nicholas of Myra was a Christian saint famous for, among other things, leaving gifts in people's shoes/stockings.
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I'm tired of this fat jolly asshole violating our airspace every year.
Actually you should be far more worried about him violating the laws of physics.
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Eh.. If he's traveling at relativistic speeds in our atmosphere then Santa and reindeer are now a relativistic plasma.
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Deflector shield, dummy!
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He should try a distro that came out in the last 5 years. Heck, even Gentoo doesn't make it that hard anymore (though it does take that long still).
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The only thing I hate more than whiny bitches are whingy bitches!
(seriously, where the heck did that 'g' come from?)
Re:Arker, you're a scrooge. (Score:4, Interesting)
In 1956, a Colorado Springs-based Sears store ran an advertisement encouraging people to call Santa Claus on a special kind of telephone hotline. Due to a printing error, the phone number that was printed was the hotline that was actually for Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD). Then-Colonel Harry Shoup received the first call on Christmas Eve of 1955, from a six-year old boy who began reciting his Christmas list. Shoup then didn't find the call funny, but after asking the mother of the second caller what was happening, then realizing the mistake that had occurred, he told his staff to give Santa's position to any child who called in. Three years on, the government of the United States and Canada combined their respective national domestic air defenses into the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), but the tradition continued. Now major media outlets as well as children call in to inquire on Santa's location. NORAD relies on volunteers to help make Santa tracking possible. Many employees at Cheyenne Mountain and Peterson Air Force Base spend part of their Christmas Eve with their families and friends at NORAD's Santa Tracking Operations Center, in order to answer phones and provide Santa updates to thousands of callers. In 1997, Canadian Major Jamie Robertson took over the program and expanded it to the Web, where corporation-donated services have given the tradition global accessibility.