Its not so much a theory. We make so many simplifying assumptions about our surroundings that the underlying physics tend to elude us.

How many people REALLY understand how a steam engine works? Sewing machine?

Great story, loved the sewing machine gun.

I am going to spend seven dollars or so on wood and made some shelving. I wish I had a sewing machine here to sew my door/curtain to a fuller 2 extra feet, as at full length they are short that much so I need to sew one two feet down more, but thats a lot of hand stiching...

This comment here pretty much sums up why Linux is still having difficulty even treading water as a desktop.

http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1826490&cid=33931876

Or here for your reading pleasure

1. Confusing distros Just thinking about all the different distros and configurations still gives me a headache. Ubuntu has blunted this somewhat, but even with that you have to get into the Gnome vs. KDE thing, which is damned confusing to a layperson. The worst part of this is trying to download software for Linux off of some website and running into multiple versions with odd notations regarding different distros.
2. Poor documentation Again, Ubuntu helps. But even that is spotty compared to Windows. And the "documentation" website of many distros (and Linux software apps) is little more than a bugfix list.
3. Software, Software, Software this is the biggest problem, and not so easily dismissed as some fans would pretend. My mom, for example, uses special software to interface with her high-end sewing machine. Is it available for Linux? Probably not. Can I just direct her to a clone of equal quality? Probably not.
4. Little support (if not openly hostile) There aren't a lot of places to call for Linux support. And a lot of the places you can go for support on the net are filled with Linuix fanatics who are openly hostile to Windows switchers and newbies. The level of "you don't belong here" attitude towards newbies in Linux circles makes Apple fans look civil.
5. Ways of doing things that are confusing to a Windows user with windows, I can go to a website, download an installer and install my software. with Linux I can install it via the built-in installer. but that only works if said software is in the repository. If not, getting it installed is often a lot more complex than just downloading a file and double clicking on it to install. Which brings me to:
6. Still too much reliance on the command line interface Telling someone to break out a command line and type "sudo apt-get whateverthefuck" is like telling a Windows user to reinstall DOS and learn its syntax.

She has the same problem with her sewing machine.

Ok, since were all tossing in hummingbird stories, here's mine: Years ago I was working at a visitor information center in San Diego. There used to be a snack bar, and we had a wall of glass panes that surrounded the patio tables and protected customers from the wind which blew off the bay. Part of my job at the time was to clean these glass windows as they'd get hit with seagull shit from time to time.

Anyway, one morning I'm cleaning the glass and I find an "impact print" on one of the windows. I look down and find a dead hummingbird. Upon closer inspection, I find another hummingbird which was very much alive, but dazed and confused. I'm assuming they were flitting along and never knew what hit them. Me and my manager rescued the live one, and eventually nursed it back to health by using a Hi-C Fruit Punch juice box. We basically made an impromptu bird feeder by dipping the straw and then plugging it, therefore capturing the liquid in the straw and letting the hummingbird nurse from it. It's tongue would shoot straight out and up into the straw, repeatedly; reminded me of a tattoo gun or sewing machine.

At one point, the hummingbird was perched on my finger for about 5 minutes and I'll never forget it. How tiny it was, and how iridescent it's feathers were. You know those paint jobs where the light changes the color depending on your perspective? Well, those don't hold a candle to that hummingbird's coat. Truly beautiful in every sense of the word.

He eventually built up enough strength and about 2 hours later, we set him free.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'france, commercial, stopmotion, retro, 50s' to 'sewing machine, necchi, french, france, stopmotion, retro, 50s, 1957' - edited by kronosposeidon

The clothing store next door to Antonia's had to shut down because they didn't have a sewing machine and still worked manually. The owner, Marco, eventually got a loan as well in order to buy a sewing machine. So did the seamstress Claudia from across the street.

Antonia, having being in business first, had a solid customer base. However, Claudia launched the arrival of her new machine with a 50% promotion. Residents of the neighbourhood soon discovered that Claudia was a superior craftswoman. Soon, some of Antonia's and Marco's customers began leaving their shops for the better service across the street.

Marco, the poor sap, was going out of business when a great idea occured to him: why don't he and Antonia go into business together? They knock down the wall and match Claudia's prices, while offering half the production time and investing their assets in an automatic pattern maker.

In the meanwhile, sewing machine manufacturers noticed how accessible their sewing machines had became and started having trouble meeting demand. They had no choice but to increase the prices. Soon, $150 was no longer enough to buy a sewing machine. Furthermore, Antonia and Marco dominated the textile market in their respective city and competition could not stand a chance.

Success is often associated with personal ingenuity, and rightly so. Ideas like microcredit can work for a while, but it's not a long term "solution to poverty". It is nice to think that $150 bucks can get someone out of the hole for the rest of their lives, but the repercussions of foreigners attempting to create a goods and services market economy where none existed can be catastrophic. Advancement comes from within. It's for this reason that initiatives like "affirmative action" is absolute hogwash.

Have a read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window

Is this actually a parody, I really can't tell.

I guess my problem with many conspiracy theories is they see a correlation and draw a cause and effect conclusion. Anyone with any statistical experience should know correlations only show relationships, they do not prove causality.

In my opinion corporations are just opportunistic, whatever the landscape they're looking to turn a profit and will find a niche where ever they can. Women are going into the business world focus on showing how products will make them more successful (whether its actually true or not) and free up their time. Women are staying at home, focus on sewing machines, stove tops appliances and other house hold products they can use to make being a house wife easier and better to please their man. It doesn't matter in which direction culture moves corporations will have their paws in it, cause that's where the profit is.

easily the most entertaining sewing machine commercial i've ever seen...