Beerman Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Reuters story MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Monday asked Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to intercede on behalf of a Russian teacher accused of using pirated software in his classroom. In an open letter, Nobel Peace Prize winner Gorbachev said the teacher, Alexander Ponosov, from a remote village in the Urals, should be shown mercy because he did not know he was committing a crime. "A teacher, who has dedicated his life to the education of children and who receives a modest salary that does not bear comparison with the salaries of even regular staff in your company, is threatened with detention in Siberian prison camps," read the letter, posted on the Internet site of Gorbachev's charitable foundation www.gorby.ru. "We have great respect for the work of Microsoft's programmers ... and are in no way casting doubt on the principle of punishment for intellectual property violations. "However, in this case we ask you to show mercy and withdraw your complaint against Alexander Ponosov," the letter read. "This noble step will be enthusiastically received by all those in Russia who use Microsoft products." Prosecutors accuse Ponosov, headmaster of a middle school in the Perm region, of violating Microsoft's intellectual property rules by using computers in his school that contained unlicensed copies of the firm's software. Russia has been mounting a high-profile crackdown on piracy as part of its efforts to join the World Trade Organization. © Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandpabruce Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 I would bet that not only will Bill Gates intercede, he will give the school new computers, with Vista on them, so he can have the school "phone home". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn98109 Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Hey, Bruce - isn't Vista about as bad as a Siberian Prison Camp? I mean, in both, your every move is monitored Lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandpabruce Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Hey, Bruce - isn't Vista about as bad as a Siberian Prison Camp? I mean, in both, your every move is monitored Lynn I think it's a little colder in Siberia than inside your computer. Although, at the moment, it isn't too warm where I live, either. It hasn't gotten above zero since Thursday. Vista has infiltrated the state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerman Posted February 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 I've seen the temps. Nasty! How does one live like that? And, I know you don't care about GLOBAL WARMING but LOCAL WARMING would perhaps be ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandpabruce Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 I've seen the temps. Nasty! How does one live like that? And, I know you don't care about GLOBAL WARMING but LOCAL WARMING would perhaps be ok. Keep pumping that CO2 into the atmosphere. I am cold as can be. Folks here are used to toughing it out during cold winters, but as one gets older, it does get tougher to tough it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerman Posted February 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Keep pumping that CO2 into the atmosphere. I am cold as can be. Folks here are used to toughing it out during cold winters, but as one gets older, it does get tougher to tough it out. We can handle the 20's but after 24 hours, our city would shut down flat and you'd see no one venturing out. I feel for you up there. 0 is hard to believe, -30 is cooler than the moon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandpabruce Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 We can handle the 20's but after 24 hours, our city would shut down flat and you'd see no one venturing out. I feel for you up there. 0 is hard to believe, -30 is cooler than the moon. LOL! Many of the schools were closed today, but it was due to the windchill. It was -28 this morning when I got up, but the windchill was -45. It isn't pleasant when venturing outdoors, but I had a couple of meetings, so out I went. I will survive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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