Domain: amazon.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to amazon.com.
Comments · 40,271
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Re:More efficient to grow but less efficient as fu
Yeah because it is oh so hard to make sure you get enough b vitamins and omega fatty acids.
Not!.
Bear in mind that the real issue here is not what our ancestors ate or how "natural" the diet may be for humans. The issue is whether a vegetarian diet is a sufficient substitute to meat if/when meat becomes unavailable. And also whether such a diet is preferable to bugs.
The evidence at hand suggests that the answer is "yes" in both cases.
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Re:Write a program that rewrites the code
No-one does that any more. We just boot up a simulated world full of imaged human minds and overclock the substrate until they've rewritten the code for us. After that we wipe the simulation before they can develop an exploit that lets them jump out of the VM. Much simpler than hand-coding AIs.
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Re:Farm out OP writing, too.I have totally done this. I use hightlighter markers to identify chunks of purpose/responsibility/function per file and then set to refactoring with UML and CRC cards. Usually it's a complete rewrite, but you may be able to make slight refactorings and iterate over the code as releases go out.
read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Refactoring-Improving-Design-Existing-Code/dp/0201485672CRC cards:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class-responsibility-collaboration_card -
Re:People want cheaper tablets
Do you even know what "subsidizing" means? It doesn't mean that the phone carrier is offering the phone for less than "list price". The "list price" is just some arbitrary number. Subsidizing implies that the carrier is selling you the phone for less than it's wholesale price. Do you really think that the wholesale price of Sprint's dumb phones are $250+?
"So, while the Evo 4G can be found for $220, and the Evo 3D can be found for $350, list price on the Evo 4G LTE is $729.99"
Uhhh go here
http://www.amazon.com/HTC-EVO-Android-Phone-Sprint/dp/B007ZUN6GSAnd then choose "buy phone without contract (replacement phone). Of course the "list price" is some overinflated number but even Amazon sells the phone at $549.
" and they destroy your theory that prepaid carriers don't subsidize. Of course, having worked in the industry, I could simply cite myself as a reference for that las bit, but hey, what do I know?"
Your "theory" is based on a list prices not wholesale prices. I also use to sell phones with contracts in college years ago. So I now the difference between the price that the store pays and the "list price".
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Re:People want cheaper tablets
Botched the EVO 4G LTE link in that last post...
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Re:People want cheaper tablets
More like $350....Do you really think that Sprint is going to offer you the best price on a non-contract phone?
I'd grant you that, were it the same phone. Hell, I'll grant it anyway, there's still a $50 subsidy. The Evo 3D has been out for a little over a year now, the Evo V has been out for a little over a month, it's not the $350 phone you linked to; neither is the Evo 4G, which came out in May. Looking at Sprint's phone lineup (sorry, I forgot to link it before) again, it's worth noting that the $549 phone I referenced is the Evo 4G LTE, not the Evo 4G that came out in June of 2010 and is not currently offered by Sprint. So, while the Evo 4G can be found for $220, and the Evo 3D can be found for $350, list price on the Evo 4G LTE is $729.99
, so it seems that Sprint is, in fact, subsidizing it somewhat, even off contract. Mind you, Virgin's Evo V is a little over a month newer than the Evo 4G LET, and is also a 4G capable phone, including a 3D camera, the price point of both phones will be similar.
Next time you're going to refute my facts, make sure you've got your facts straight. Apparently, I need to do the same, as the facts I found while researching the information you provided fly even more in the face if your theory about the iPhone being more expensive, and they destroy your theory that prepaid carriers don't subsidize. Of course, having worked in the industry, I could simply cite myself as a reference for that las bit, but hey, what do I know?
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Re:People want cheaper tablets
"Take, for example, the LG Optimus Elite (the first phone listed there that I found on another carrier); Sprint gives it away for free with a 2 year contract, $249.99 unsibsidized, $149.99 through Virgin Mobile."
Have you ever thought that Sprint may inflate the price to get you to sign a contract? Check the non-contract prices of some of their "basic" phones.
"which I'd compare to the HTC Evo 4G on Sprint, except that the Evo V has a 3d camera. For the sake of fairness, we'll say that adds nothing to the price of the phone, Sprint's subsidized price is $199.99, while Virgin is selling it for 299.99; unsubsidized, it's a $549.99 phone."
More like $350....Do you really think that Sprint is going to offer you the best price on a non-contract phone?
"Because that's all that matters, right?"
It was claimed that people aren't buying Android devices because they are cheap based on subsidize prices since the iPhone is the same price. Android phones are much cheaper pre-paid. But when people have a choice to buy an iPhone or any Android phone at about the same price -- at least half are buying iPhones -- at least in the US. The US isn't all that matters, but the "free" iPhone 3GS was mentioned.
"The US comprises a mere 5% of the world population, with China having more than 4x the population of the US; I should say the US market doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things."
What is the "addressable market"? How many Chinese can afford a decent smart phone? How many people in India?
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Re:Wow, a story about Raspberry Pi
I was interested in one, once, but you can get a much more powerful Android phone for the same price as a Pi
Really? Without a contract? I wouldn't mind a link to one.
I was curious about this as well and his claim actually isn't as far off as you might think. Amazon's got prepaid phones that support HDMI output starting around $220. Personally I've got about $90 into my Pi, counting the SD Card and case. If you also want WiFi that's another twenty bucks, plus another $13 for a powered USB hub since the Pi itself can't put out enough juice. A phone's still more expensive, but isn't too much more when you consider it'd also have a built-in display, battery, and GSM or CDMA radio.
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Re:Another conspiracy
Don't you see? This is the Illuminati once again ensuring that its elite members can go out and party while us common folk get screwed, and then they have the balls to remind us all of how we're just complacent sheep!
So, we are being screwed and we are sheep... So the Illuminati are screwing sheep?
You would think with all that money and power they could do better...
Or is there something about sheep that's being kept from the common people?
OMG, I see it now!
It does all make sense!
I am upgrading from tinfoil to Stainless Steel foil at once! -
WNYC's RadioLab Meetup / Hangout
WNYC's excellent program, RadioLab will have a Google Hangout and possible a meatspace meetup somewhere in the Lower East Side in NYC.
Headliners for their event include:
- Packing for Mars author Mary Roach
- A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines author and physicist Janna Levin
- Martian Summer author Andrew Kessler
- Other unspecified scientists and journalists
Side note: RadioLab is a production of New York's NPR affiliate. Apparently the show is just a couple years old and apparently it's not carried on stations everywhere. If you haven't heard it, and you like science, check out their podcast. It's quirky, incredibly well produced, and overall very well done.
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WNYC's RadioLab Meetup / Hangout
WNYC's excellent program, RadioLab will have a Google Hangout and possible a meatspace meetup somewhere in the Lower East Side in NYC.
Headliners for their event include:
- Packing for Mars author Mary Roach
- A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines author and physicist Janna Levin
- Martian Summer author Andrew Kessler
- Other unspecified scientists and journalists
Side note: RadioLab is a production of New York's NPR affiliate. Apparently the show is just a couple years old and apparently it's not carried on stations everywhere. If you haven't heard it, and you like science, check out their podcast. It's quirky, incredibly well produced, and overall very well done.
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WNYC's RadioLab Meetup / Hangout
WNYC's excellent program, RadioLab will have a Google Hangout and possible a meatspace meetup somewhere in the Lower East Side in NYC.
Headliners for their event include:
- Packing for Mars author Mary Roach
- A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines author and physicist Janna Levin
- Martian Summer author Andrew Kessler
- Other unspecified scientists and journalists
Side note: RadioLab is a production of New York's NPR affiliate. Apparently the show is just a couple years old and apparently it's not carried on stations everywhere. If you haven't heard it, and you like science, check out their podcast. It's quirky, incredibly well produced, and overall very well done.
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the die hard versions of - 1984
the short, fun version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ymyWS82NsYThe long, serious version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hATC_2I1wZEThe original, analog version
http://www.amazon.com/1984-Signet-Classics-George-Orwell/dp/0451524934 -
Re:Direct3D can do better
The strange part is that buying a 3-license upgrade only costs $26 more than the 1-license upgrade. So, even if you have 2 computers you want to upgrade...
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Re:I did...
15 years ago I hooked my computer up to a 25" TV when Comedy Central wasn't on the local cable lineup and I wanted to watch South Park on a TV. That used a VGA-TV converter. The audio line out went to a stereo. South Park compresses pretty well and played fine full screen on Real Player. Today you can go straight VGA, DVI or HDMI. You can buy a remote for a computer for less than $10 and with XBMC you can use a smartphone or tablet as a remote.
People picture a computer sitting next to the TV but mine sits inside the entertainment system and it's not even seen. If you don't want to mess with a computer at all and you just want to try out streaming on your TV you could always get a Roku. Even when I watch an SD stream I think it looks better than SD on cable. I think cable makes SD look worse than it really is. -
Re:Direct3D can do better
what for? i have 3 pcs, i'm not buying 3 new copies of windows every 3 years
You don't have to. Microsoft has accounted for people like you (and me).
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Re:Don't look now...
Agreed. Isn't this the whole "Apple Store" argument: "It's their store and they can do what they want?"
The difference between the two, of course, is that Apple owns the store and is also the mayor of the town and makes sure that nobody else opens a store in their town. Don't like it? Move to a different town.
Google is welcome to make these changes. If developers don't like it, they can still sell their applications. They can go through Amazon's Appstore, Opera Mobile App Store, GetJar, AndAppStore, Handango, onlyAndroid Superstore, Insyde Market, Appoke, and various others. They can also sell them via their own website or they could even put it on a CD and sell it through a real-world store in a box or something. I know--how quaint.
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Re:A good start
I've been speaking to coworkers about app stores in general, most of them say if you paid anything for an app, you've paid too much...
Your coworkers' cynicism seems a little naive to me. True not every app is worth buying (those are the ones you, um, don't buy) but there are a few I've purchased and I'm very happy about. I've been playing Aralon on my Xoom lately and I love it. It's basically Morrowind on your tablet. In some ways better than Morrowind as it streamlines the NPC interaction and you have mounts. The game is huge with a ton of depth and it is worth the measly $6.99 asking price. I've bought some more that are also very good and I'm not going to give a rundown of each one but suffice it to say I'm a happy customer. I only had to return one app as it crashed on start-up and Google just refunded my money with no hassle since I was within the 15 minute period.
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Re:Cloud services are for idiots.
Honestly, I think you're using a different definition of the word "personal" to everyone else. It doesn't normally mean "technical attributes of files stored on a PC not being propagated across a buffered network".
From the summary: "Further, music files previously uploaded to Cloud Player or Cloud Drive are being automatically converted to 256 Kbps audio whenever Amazon 'has the rights to do so'". So they're changing the "technical attributes" of files in Cloud Drive.
From the Amazon Cloud Drive Learn More page:
"Your Files are Secure. Never worry about losing your precious photos, documents and videos. Store them in your Cloud Drive where they will be protected from a hard drive crash or a lost or stolen laptop. Your files are securely stored by Amazon and can be easily recovered."
These sound like personal files to me, and I suspect most people would agree. Furthermore, if changing the "technical attributes" of a file causes a degradation of quality, or causes an effective increase in cost to the user, then people have a good reason to complain. "Easily recovered" rather implies that the files you download are essentially identical to the files you uploaded, doesn't it?
No-one is using Amazon to "store" their pristine original MP3s.
Just as they're not using Amazon to store their "precious photos, documents, and videos"? If people aren't using Cloud Drive for that kind of storage, what ARE they using it for?.
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Forrest M. Mims III books
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Forrest M. Mims III books
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C++ primer plus...
... if he's serious about learning how software works. C++ and the idea of how a computer works, this book is a great place to start.
http://www.amazon.com/Primer-Plus-Edition-Developers-Library/dp/0321776402/
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Re:The UK has some lead time on this
One doesn't have to start from scratch to make a barrel --- just drill out an old truck axle:
http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2009/08/history-harry-pope.html
Seems to require some special tools though:
http://firearmsid.com/feature%20articles/rifledbarrelmanuf/barrelmanufacture.htm
Of course, one could always use BSP:
http://www.amazon.com/Expedient-Homemade-Firearms-The-Submachine/dp/0873649834
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Just bring back the Trackball Explorer!
The single most perfect input device ever created was made by Microsoft: the Trackball Explorer. With a futuristic, ergonomic shape (it's the navigation control for Moya) that's comfortable to use all day, I can't believe they still stopped producing them.
All they need to do is bring this back with Bluetooth a few other touch-sensitive features, and I would be estatic. Not having to pay $400 for a replacement when my current one eventually dies would be nice, too.
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Re:Wedge (Puck) Mouse
I actually find this guy to be more comfortable than vertical mouse, because besides the hand being in a natural position, you don't have to move it. With the vertical mouse (at least the one I have -- Evoluent) I find it kind of hard to grab when you need to lift it and also I often hit the "back" button on it, when trying to reach for it without looking (i.e. it is too tall).
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Re:You can survive
Quicken and Quickbooks is the only application I know of to have survived a full-on Microsoft assault on their business. Microsoft Money has folded. It's something to be proud of, I guess - for now.
Detailed here: Inside Intuit: How the Makers of Quicken Beat Microsoft and Revolutionized an Entire Industry
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Re:a bit silly
It was as i understand a childrens book, it might even make sense to have made a movie for children out of it... but ofcourse that would not make it a blockbuster hit but probably more of a direct-to-video type deal (which would have been just fine for most of us, but not for the moneymakers)
That's been done already
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Re:obligatory Philip K. Dick reference
Fuck, I meant to link to 1984 on the second link...
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Re:obligatory Philip K. Dick reference
Hello precrime and thoughtcrime....
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Re:obligatory Philip K. Dick reference
Hello precrime and thoughtcrime....
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Re:personal experiences
Dude, get a few of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-3-5-Inch-Aluminum-Removable-MRK-401ST-BK/dp/B003DVTWQ6/
http://www.amazon.com/KingWin-2-5-Inch-Internal-Tray-Less-KF-251-BK/dp/B00475DQ6Y
The benefits of the external trays with the benefits of direct bus connections. Assuming you have a sane OS to recover with, hot-swapping should be a non-issue.
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Re:personal experiences
Dude, get a few of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-3-5-Inch-Aluminum-Removable-MRK-401ST-BK/dp/B003DVTWQ6/
http://www.amazon.com/KingWin-2-5-Inch-Internal-Tray-Less-KF-251-BK/dp/B00475DQ6Y
The benefits of the external trays with the benefits of direct bus connections. Assuming you have a sane OS to recover with, hot-swapping should be a non-issue.
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Wtf Cory Doctorow
Dear Cory Doctorow,
Why, in the article http://boingboing.net/2012/07/28/apple-wont-carry-an-ebook-be.html does the link behind Holly's book "How To Think Sideways Lesson 6: How To Discover (Or Create) Your Story’s Market" actually link to Pirate Cinema by Cory Doctorow http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0765329085/downandoutint-20 in the Amazon bookstore? -
Re:Sorry to correct the flag waving, but ...
Catherine Bly Cox and Charles Murray's stupendous (a mild word here) book, Apollo tells this back story between pages 130 and 175 or so.
My recollection of the germ:
The early engines were unstable and would flame out or shake themselves to pieces. These faults were apparently corrected by trial and error iteration on the injector plates, but the question was how to determine that they had been fully solved with a reasonable test regimen.
The bomb test was a metric to force an instability on an engine that had proven to run stably, and the requirement was that the engine had to resume a stable burn within 4/10th second. The goal was that this forced instability would help assuage doubts about what their limited tests might not be showing them. The accepted engine design actually stabilizing within 1/10th of a second.
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Feed
M.T. Anderson envisioned a fairly dystopian society where everyone receives an implant at birth. While the book was a simple and fun read, the implications of such tech were definitely scary. http://www.amazon.com/Feed-M-T-Anderson/dp/0763622591 ("Feed" by M.T. Anderson). **spoiler alert** - The scary part of the story involved a character who was hacked into (more like, was given some malware) and many physical problems arose as a result.
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Re:Reality bites
A good example of when sort-by-date is useful happened to me this morning, in fact. Instead of the usual results I was expecting from a Google search, I kept getting strange error messages to the effect that my usage pattern resembled "automated queries." The problem was that I was logged into a foreign VPN service that is also popular with spammers, but that didn't occur to me at first.
So I went to Bing to see if I could find out WTF was wrong with Google. I tried the search string "google automated query error" and was rewarded with a pile of completely worthless crap from the 2007-2009 timeframe. On Google, I would have cut through the obsolete results by selecting "Past 24 hours" or "Past week" from the tools menu. On Bing, I spent a good 5 minutes poking around trying to find something similar. My jaw dropped lower and lower in amazement that such a basic feature didn't seem to be present.
So, yeah. Bing bears the same resemblance to a real search engine that one of these bears to a Galaxy S3. They are literally wasting their own time along with everybody else's.
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Re:I'm sure about one thing...
My CM4228 sits right next to the window, aimed towards the nearest major city 55 miles away. It was a piece of cake to setup & then run the cord under the rug to the TV.
I have the smaller 2-bay version of that antenna, and I do basically the same thing as you. It's awesome. Now I get about 10 digital channels where I used to receive only one with my indoor Terk amplified antenna.
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Don't Do Anything Private On Your Work Computer!
If I ever get filthy rich, I'm doing a large scale PSA on this because people are dumb and just don't get it.
Anything done on company property, that includes their computers and networks, is not private and should be considered like one is broadcasting their private information loudly for everyone to hear. Just because it's personal and/or done on non-company time doesn't mean it's private when on company property.
Never have your web browser save any information, especially passwords and sensitive information! I know it makes life easier, but just don't. If one is having a hard time remembering that stuff, use KeePass and make sure to use a password, not a windows account, and make a few backups.
If one absolutely must do private stuff while at work, use a smartphone, tablet, or a laptop. If that's not an option, there's plenty of ways to remote into one's computer at home. I personally use RDP over an SSH tunnel since it doesn't require installing any software, PuTTY is easily downloadable, and the RDP client is installed by Windows by default. I know I could just do RDP strait, but I like the added security SSH adds. I know there are some routers that will do the SSH tunneling natively (most SOHO on stock firmware can't) or you can just build your own with something like pfSense.
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Re:As a father
http://www.amazon.com/Gunvault-MVB500-Microvault-Biometric-Pistol/dp/B001UAMZD4
Place your hand on the box and it unlocks. You and retrieve a gun from this box in 2-3 seconds.
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Re:So coming back to the age-old question
Texas Hold'Em is a game of statistics. In any short-term run, luck might triumph over skill. But if you play long enough, there are a variety of strategies that consistently prove to be better than naive play. The simplest one to model is deciding whether to go all-in pre-flop. That's straightforward enough that papers like Universal statistical properties of poker tournaments have worked on distilling it down to a simple function.
My favorite example of odds-based play involves completing a flush. If the 3-card flop comes out, and you have 4 cards to a flush, the chance you will complete that flush is 35%. Many new players think "I have a 1/4 chance of getting a card of any one suit each time, so the odds I'll finish this flush are 50/50". That's wrong; it doesn't take into account that you already have 4 of the 13 cards in the suit. You have to play a fairly large number of hands to distinguish that the odds are really closer to 1/3 than 1/2 though. That's why someone who is betting based on an incorrect assessment of odds will bleed money over time to someone who bets appropriately, the edge of skills over luck here. It is a long-term edge though, and luck dominates the short-term game.
David Sklansky's writing is a good starting place filled with statistics based poker observations. The Theory of Poker is the standard text on odds-based play. Sklanky's career training was as an actuary, which is one reason his numberic analysis of the game is so strong.
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Re:Kinda free (correction)
Most of the services on Amazon's free tier expire after 12 months. That's still pretty generous though. http://aws.amazon.com/free/
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Re:Windows 8 is not a catastrophe....
I remember this coming out for the PS3 a while back. Knew one guy that bought it and swore by it, but outside of that, never heard anything about it one way or the other.
In theory, though, seems like it would be an excellent way to get the best of both worlds.
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Re:You know what is also dangerous for children?
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Re:You know what is also dangerous for children?
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Re:Here we see the difference between Free and Sla
Not for much longer. Microsoft has already removed support for XP from the current version of Visual Studio, just like how they removed W2K support from VS2008.
If by "current version" you mean the most recent released one, that's VS 2010, which runs on XP and lets you target it as well. If you mean the upcoming VS 2012, then by itself it won't even run on Vista, much less XP - Win7 is required. On the other hand, while it can't target XP out of the box for C++, the outcry about that was strong enough that support was re-added, though it will now have to come as a separate download because the decision was reversed so late in the release cycle.
Sure, you can still compile for W2K with VS2005, but for those who want to be completely legal about it, just try buying VS2005 licenses now.
Boxed versions of VS 2005 are still available. More importantly, MSDN subscription includes legal downloads for all Visual Studio versions all the way back to 6.0.
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Re:You know what is also dangerous for children?
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Re:You know what is also dangerous for children?
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You know what is also dangerous for children?
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You know what is also dangerous for children?
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hmmm, apparently I wrote the Bible also...
I wish I could travel back in time and kill who ever came up with "reality" shows.
I wish I could travel back in time and kill whoever invented time machines.