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I knew somebody was going to object to that sentence...

Anyway, I meant "straight" in the acting sense, sort of, not in the sexual sense. Or in other words, I'm claiming that Zapp isn't a parody of Shatner because Shatner himself is that bad too.

Don't you just hate it when you have to explain a joke?

That reminds me of the time I went shopping for a used car and saw a '95 Dodge Stratus for sale. Really nice condition, decent price, seemed like a good car, until I opened the hood...

The front fenders curl over much farther than most cars, so the hood area is smaller. As a result, I couldn't even see the battery. I asked the guy how you change the battery and he said he didn't know. I ran from that car.

I looked it up later, and it turns out that the "easiest" way to replace the battery is to remove the front tire. No thanks, Dodge... If a simple operation has been made that much more difficult than it should be, I don't want to think how much trouble I would have with more complicated tasks like the belts or water pump.

They say "Jiggawatts" in the movie but it was really just a mispronunciation of gigawatts.

Or, depending on who you ask, a perfectly acceptable, if unusual, pronunciation of gigawatts.

SarifDragon, you are right and wrong.

You also must be aware that Congress includes both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and that my original post did clearly say "Congress"...

I do appreciate the unattributed italicized quotation, though. You could work for the Associated Press with that type of unintelligent reporting.

Your assertion is broken. Let me fix that for you:

RIAA has a right to sue anyone that, based on reasonable evidence, a reasonable man might think has committed copyright infringement against one of their members.

RIAA is walking very closely to the line that separates appropriate uses of the law from barratry, which is a crime under common law, and also under statutory law in many places. When I say that RIAA is walking very closely to that line, I mean that from a middling distance it is clearly evident that sometimes they are on one side of that line, and sometimes on the other. But of course it is never that clear when looking up close at any individual instance.

RIAA lawyers are officers of the court, just the same as all other members of the bar. As such, they are supposed to be a first line of defense against would-be plaintiffs committing barratry. Lawyers involved in barratry are typically disbarred.

Answers.com notes that barratry has been invoked so rarely in the last hundred years or so that it is regarded by some as an archaic crime. That we haven't needed it much in the last century only shows that its appropriate use in an earlier time has been an effective deterrent to a particular kind of abuse of law. It seems like it is again necessary to show these legal curs the barratry whip, snap it at them a couple of times, and get them to slink away from this beastly RIAA pack and go back to chasing ambulances. Or whatever the bottom ten percent of law school graduates do when they can't find someone to pay them to bark and growl on command.

'kahuz' is not a word, as far as I know. At least, not in English.

The word you were looking for is 'cahoots'.

http://www.answers.com/topic/cahoots

- As for the IRS seizing property, there is at least some sort of process that happens before they do that. They don't just go in without any prior warning and take everything. - Actually, they can and do. It's called a jeopardy assessment.http://www.answers.com/topic/assessment -of-deficiency-1?cat=biz-fin

> btw. it's dependent

It's more usually dependent, especially as an adjective, but dependant is valid too.
http://www.answers.com/dependant

So they have read that article explaining the issue and created a theoretical Worm exploiting the documented security issue?

This is also exploiting a security announcement for popularity in my eyes.

http://www.answers.com/script+kiddie

I wonder what Mr. Lynn, the REAL issue reporter will say.

anti
ante
auntie

anti
ante
auntie

anti
ante
auntie

There has grown in the minds of certain groups in this country the idea that just because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with guaranteeing such a profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is supported by neither statute or common law. Neither corporations or individuals have the right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back.
-Robert Heinlein "Lifeline"

http://www.answers.com/topic/life-line

I believe the word you were looking for is voila (actually voilà). Vuala was.. creative though.

I didn't know South Carolina had such a big problem with drug smugglers, is it worse than COLOMBIA?

I didn't know South Carolina had such a big problem with drug smugglers, is it worse than COLOMBIA?

Its the future. We're either gonna have this or this. Maybe even this and probably more than a little of this. And hopefully no more of this. Might as well pick one now, because they're coming, and they're probably not leaving.

Its the future. We're either gonna have this or this. Maybe even this and probably more than a little of this. And hopefully no more of this. Might as well pick one now, because they're coming, and they're probably not leaving.

Its the future. We're either gonna have this or this. Maybe even this and probably more than a little of this. And hopefully no more of this. Might as well pick one now, because they're coming, and they're probably not leaving.

Its the future. We're either gonna have this or this. Maybe even this and probably more than a little of this. And hopefully no more of this. Might as well pick one now, because they're coming, and they're probably not leaving.

Its the future. We're either gonna have this or this. Maybe even this and probably more than a little of this. And hopefully no more of this. Might as well pick one now, because they're coming, and they're probably not leaving.

Gee, the cockney slang police have turned this whole discussion septic.

RMS?

You mean Richard M. Stallman right?

http://www.answers.com/topic/richard-stallman

Who says that a conspiracy needs to be secret or concealed?
http://www.answers.com/conspiracy&r=67/

American Heritage
Homicide
http://www.answers.com/homicide

1. The killing of one person by another.
2. A person who kills another person.

Murder
http://www.answers.com/murder

1.The unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with premeditated malice.

Merriam-Webster
Homicide
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/homicide
1 : a person who kills another
2 : a killing of one human being by another

Murder
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/murder
1.The crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought

I need to practice my spelling, you need a better dictionary. I'd rather be in my position than in yours.

American Heritage
Homicide
http://www.answers.com/homicide

1. The killing of one person by another.
2. A person who kills another person.

Murder
http://www.answers.com/murder

1.The unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with premeditated malice.

Merriam-Webster
Homicide
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/homicide
1 : a person who kills another
2 : a killing of one human being by another

Murder
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/murder
1.The crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought

I need to practice my spelling, you need a better dictionary. I'd rather be in my position than in yours.

1. (Abbr. gal.)
   1. A unit of volume in the U.S. Customary System, used in liquid measure, equal to 4 quarts (3.785 liters).
   2. A unit of volume in the British Imperial System, used in liquid and dry measure, equal to 4 quarts (4.546 liters).
2. A container with a capacity of one gallon.

Let's say that it is. Do you honestly think you'll ever be in a situation where you might be prosecuted for doing that? Do you think your wife/client/friend will turn you in because they immediately tried to call you back at home, and whoever answered said you weren't there?

This law is to protect against spoofing performed to deliberately and maliciously deceive. If you (or anyone else) tried to report someone for spoofing their cell number to their home number, it's pretty safe to say the police would place it neatly in the circular file along with the car stereo, mugging, and noisy neighbor complaints.

There is no such thing as a perfect law, and this one seems to have more benefits than possible detriments.

In a word, no.

Not necessarily... to wit, the level of science in 1908 (and the response time of the researchers) would mean that iridium would be virtually undetectable. Not to mention that the most-stable isotope has a half-life of only 73 days. At this point, they should be looking for concentrations of platinum or osmium.

Moreover, the Tunguska Event is largely thought to be an airburst phenomenon, and not a conventional meteor impact. TFA is accurate in this regard, as they refer to the alleged discovery as a “fragment” rather than an entire meteorite.

In all, TFP is what I call an “almost news” piece; it's not really news, it's just a foreshadowing of the potential for a fairly significant news piece to-come.

We'll be waiting while they go dig it out of the mud and see what it actually is.

Not necessarily... to wit, the level of science in 1908 (and the response time of the researchers) would mean that iridium would be virtually undetectable. Not to mention that the most-stable isotope has a half-life of only 73 days. At this point, they should be looking for concentrations of platinum or osmium.

Moreover, the Tunguska Event is largely thought to be an airburst phenomenon, and not a conventional meteor impact. TFA is accurate in this regard, as they refer to the alleged discovery as a “fragment” rather than an entire meteorite.

In all, TFP is what I call an “almost news” piece; it's not really news, it's just a foreshadowing of the potential for a fairly significant news piece to-come.

We'll be waiting while they go dig it out of the mud and see what it actually is.

Ah, great. I'm sold. My current phone has 'fea', but I had heard the iPhone didn't have it.

As if Apple would launch a phone that didn't contain the soul of an elf.

Er... um... Thanks for the offer, but no thanks. Really!

http://www.answers.com/psychoacoustics&r=67

off the hook or
off the hook
? ;)

The author seems to have missed the whole point of innovation. Adopting a new technology and successfully integrating it into a business model is what drives capitalism. The capitalist who can do this avoids the situation of producing a commodity. He gains a competitive advantage, either in distribution (Wal-Mart vs. K-Mart), production efficiency (Toyota vs. GM, US farms vs. 3rd world subsistence farmers), or by product differentiation (Intel's CPU business vs. the RAM business it abandoned). When the competition starts to close the gap, you need to do it again. In the aggregate, people produce more stuff with less raw material. Go back and read Joseph Schumpeter on creative destruction. There's a reason we're better off than our peasant ancestors.

Someone else posted this in another thread, but it's relevant: http://www.answers.com/topic/failed-predictions

        * "The more important fundamental laws and facts of physical science have all been discovered, and these are now so firmly established that the possibility of their ever being supplanted in consequence of new discoveries is exceedingly remote.... Our future discoveries must be looked for in the sixth place of decimals." -- Albert A. Michelson, German-born American physicist, 1894.

        * "There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now; All that remains is more and more precise measurement." -- Lord Kelvin, speaking to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1900.

        * "We are probably nearing the limit of all we can know about astronomy." -- Simon Newcomb, Canadian-born American astronomer, 1888.

I have a feeling that in 100 years, that list will be much longer, and our children will be laughing at it as we do today.

I wonder if that's really true. History has many examples of scientific facts being disproven.

http://www.answers.com/topic/failed-predictions

The thing is: scientific development will continue. Just like you wouldn't be able to tell in the year 1900 I would be writing this post on a laptop with built-in multimedia capabilites, wireless communitaction and massive computing power, you can't predict what kind of funny effects you can create with space and time when given virtually unlimted amounts of energy. (from our 2007 perspective)

Um, Gygax's whole point was that single-player, mechanics-based CRPGs aren't RPGs at all.

He's actually quite correct. Gamers tend to take "playing" in the sense of "game playing," when to roleplay actually means to give a performance, which necessarily in this context is a public act.

If you want to rationalize the usage and claim you're "roleplaying" because you think about being the character while you play, then Super Mario Bros. can be a roleplaying game and we have nothing to discuss... though we inferior, mechanics and board game-loving fans of the tactical turn-based CRPG would appreciate if you would leave our already-beleaguered genre alone and do your "roleplaying" in the millions of other genres of games in which it's possible by your broad definition. In other words, just because you personally don't enjoy it doesn't mean you need to attack it for not being a "true" roleplaying game, as with a single-player game that isn't possible anyway.

Um, Gygax's whole point was that single-player, mechanics-based CRPGs aren't RPGs at all.

He's actually quite correct. Gamers tend to take "playing" in the sense of "game playing," when to roleplay actually means to give a performance, which necessarily in this context is a public act.

If you want to rationalize the usage and claim you're "roleplaying" because you think about being the character while you play, then Super Mario Bros. can be a roleplaying game and we have nothing to discuss... though we inferior, mechanics and board game-loving fans of the tactical turn-based CRPG would appreciate if you would leave our already-beleaguered genre alone and do your "roleplaying" in the millions of other genres of games in which it's possible by your broad definition. In other words, just because you personally don't enjoy it doesn't mean you need to attack it for not being a "true" roleplaying game, as with a single-player game that isn't possible anyway.

Build that machine using thiotimoline. If you refuse to add the water after the machine has already tripped a positive response, expect your pipes to burst, or your house to be swamped in a flood, because the mixing of the thiotimoline and water has already happened/must happen. Computer says yes!

Mal-2

Phew! That makes me feel better.... ...not
I think the bigger issue here is not how long google holds privacy invading data on all of our web browsing habits (and email, personal calendar and personal documents via gmail's all-inclusive new features) which is scary, but the fact that the government is doing all of the above via secretly subpoeaning ISP's, apparently they have the ability to monitor all traffic and reconstruct data as viewed on targeted clients from packet stream analysis and tying it in with every other database they are building:

In 2002, for example, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)--the same branch of the Pentagon that created the beginnings of the Internet--proposed an ambitious Internet surveillance system termed Total Information Awareness (TIA). TIA would, according to DARPA, not only allow access to the content of virtually the whole Internet, but would enable the government to integrate that information with data gained by virtually any other means: wiretaps, criminal and other public records, on-line shopping habits, credit-card use, auto-mated tollbooth data, cell-phone calling records, and so on. TIA bids for information omniscience.

In the meantime, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) routinely employs the Carnivore program for Internet surveillance of individuals. Carnivore, whose use has been publicly acknowledged by the FBI since June 2000, is classified as a "high-speed packet sniffer" (a term explained below). It is part of a larger surveillance toolbox called the Dragonware Suite. Dragonware is comprised of three software tools: Carnivore, Packeteer, and Coolminer. No public information about Packeteer and Coolminer is available, but some experts assert that these programs organize the information collected by Carnivore and analyze it for various patterns (probably under the guidance of human users).

(from http://www.answers.com/topic/internet-surveillance )

Tie this all in patriot act, they can get all this without a warrant, and detain you indefinitely without trial...

Do you feel safe? Do you trust them not to misuse these broad powers?

I think the answer can be found by looking at Adobe's 3 beautiful office towers in San Jose, California...
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/6/64 /Adobe_HQ.jpg

Currently awaiting a decent implementation of TCP/IP over evergreens.

Can you really dip a coffer? http://www.answers.com/coffers?nafid=3

Reverse engineering specifically is for patents, but the idea I'm presenting is similar. As I pointed out in another thread, a song is a human interpretation of written music, much like a binary is a computer translation of source code. The difference is that humans do not perform exactly what is written, while computers do translate exactly what is written. Further, other humans attempting to write down the music from the performance would also not transcribe the exact music as it was played. Human errors creep in at each point. So, like the old game of "telephone" with one person whispering to another person, to yet another person, and then trying to figure out the original message, no transcription of a performance is going to get you the music as it was originally written. You would have a parody of the original written music - similar, but not quite exact.

parody (pr'-d) n., pl. -dies.
3. Music. The practice of reworking an already established composition, especially the incorporation into the Mass of material borrowed from other works, such as motets or madrigals.

And of course, parody is protected under copyright law.

It's like, as I say elsewhere, writing down the script of a play. Or to be /.ish, decompiling the source code of a compiled program.

No, I don't buy it. Writing down the script of the play would give you the exact script. However, a song is a human interpretation of written music, much like a binary is a computer translation of source code. The difference is that humans do not perform exactly what is written, while computers do. Further, other humans attempting to reverse-engineer the written music from the performance would also not transcribe the exact music as it was played. So, like the old game of "telephone" with one person whispering to another person, to yet another person, and then trying to figure out the original message, no transcription of a performance is going to get you the music as it was originally written. You would have a parody of the original written music - similar, but not quite exact.

parody (pr'-d) n., pl. -dies.
3. Music. The practice of reworking an already established composition, especially the incorporation into the Mass of material borrowed from other works, such as motets or madrigals.

And of course, parody is protected under copyright law.

Plans change rapidly in wartime, and circumstances meant that the Japanese did not get the opportunity to mount the invasion. Nevertheless, the intention was there as early as 1938 (Operation Mo). The planning included Yamamoto, Tomioka, Fukudome and Nagano, and involved landing the main force in North Queensland, not Darwin, hence the use of rail transport.

You might also want to re-read the linked page. To quote: