Kim used to have a column in one of the free computer newspapers back in the days when they had such things. The reference you are looking for is accessed from the columns tab. It was in a column on "10 free alternatives to popular pricey programs" http://www.komando.com/columns/index.aspx?id=5046 I think she used to title herself Kim, The Computer Goddess. Hard to dispute with her on that. Harold -----Original Message----- From: Mike Schwartz Reply-To: schwartz@acm.org, Main PLUG discussion list To: PLUG-discuss mailing list Cc: Mike L Schwartz Subject: OT? (maybe) http://komando.com/ promotes Floss on radio Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:59:37 -0700 Today in the car, while listening to AM 550 (KFYI), Kim Komando was saying something about how Microsoft Office can be expensive, while openoffice.org [OOo] can do just about the same things, for way less money. Whoa! that wasn't expected! (by me...) She also mentioned some other free (or "open source") software - such as, I remember GIMP for sure, but I am not sure what others. She 'might' have mentioned Firefox. I did not write it down (I was driving). She did say that one could go to her web site at http://komando.com/ and then just click on (something or other). I went to that web site, and I tried clicking on a few of the choices. I do not think that "Cool Sites" is the thing to click on, but it might be "Downloads". (but I tried that, and there was probably a sequence of sub-options to click, that she talked about, but that I do not remember...). I thought this was interesting, because in the past I always just sorta assumed that a radio person would just see who advertises, and that would influence their opinions about things, and their choices of what to talk about. In this case, it sounds like Kim Komando was just "telling it like it is", perhaps as a way of creating credibility with listeners -- so that they will conclude that she is a good source of info about computer related stuff. (and maybe there is some truth to that -- now). It does make sense that, for stuff like free (or "open source") software, that "word of mouth" endorsements would give it a lot of popularity, especially in light of the price. (and related factors, such as reduced incentive for the distributors to try to achieve some kind of "vendor lock in" using proprietary data formats, or non-standard features, etc.) However, I was still a little surprised, and maybe puzzled. Why would Kim Komando want to tell folks about free (or "open source") software? Other than maybe out of the goodness of her heart? (just how much goodness does her heart have?) Well one possible reason, might be to cause listeners to read her web site. (I probably had ever spent much time - and ZERO money - there before, but today I read most of "http://www.komando.com/about/"). It's a big bright world out there. Don't take my word for it. See for yourself. -- Mike Schwartz Glendale AZ schwartz@acm.org --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss