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*Waves his arms* Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!!! --there's your answer.

First of all, yes, we *do* have it drummed into us that the US is the greatest country on earth. I, and a LOT of my friends apparently were paying some attention but then we also paid attention to the history of mistakes (Dread Scott still brings a tear to my eye when I think about it. How the hell are PEOPLE property....but I digress.) and downright idiocy that some Americans have committed. It's been oft quoted that those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it, and I believe this is another example of this.

Personally, the only answer that I've come up with is one that boils down to human nature. People generally will not change unless they are forced to do so, it's a question of comfort. I think that we don't teach our children the value of human life that much anymore and our culture certainly doesn't help in that department. Combining these factors I believe we've gotten what we have currently, a state where we're steadily sliding into a fascist mode of thinking and acting. A key ingredient to that is "a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism". I've been told quite a few times now that if I don't like the way things are, I can just leave. There's no possibility of a rational discussion with a lot of people anymore because they've let our society become polarized over a few subjects (abortion, religion and capital punishment to name some of them) and we pay more attention to those than anything else. (Please reference people blowing up abortion clinics to "save lives". It's like fvcking for virginity.) Inability to conduct logical discourse with a majority of the people I come into contact is the *norm* not the exception. All I get when I try most of the time is the same bs about "like it or lump it" or they resort to name-calling...because telling me that I'm a "tree-hugging enviro-fag" (yeah, that's not made up *rolls eyes*) somehow justifies their position that we should bomb anyone who doesn't look and act like us into the stone age.

I believe the true problem lies in human nature's resistance to admitting fault. Then again, it's my opinion...and I may be wrong.

A.A

80 cores means there are probably quite a lot of on-chip interconnects between the cores.

There has to be a typo hiding in there, but the whole thing is an empty set. It's hard to believe they can make 80 cores with 100E6 transistors when it take 261E6 transistors to make two. Each core would have less than a million transistors in the 80 core model. You have to go all the way back to the 486 to see that kind of count from Intel. It's possible because the cores are not x86, there's no "ability to use memory" and ... it's vapor ware. For the practical significance, they might as well have photographed a box of Pentiums and called it useful because Open Mosix does auto clustering and there are live CD versions. You've got a better chance of computing something with the box of Pentiums.

Bus space is not likely to be an issue either. It does not show up in this image of the cell processor.

AAC is supported on everything except cheapo Taiwan guys having MS sponsor them (with Wmedia).

All my files on my Nokia 9300 Symbian phone are AAC even including ringtones embedded in device ROM. The other, "real" phone of mine, not anything close to smart (SE K700i) has everything in aac too. In fact thanks to AAC's better compression, I can use its 46mb flash memory for music.

"(Advanced Audio Coding) An audio compression technology that is part of the MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 standards."
http://www.answers.com/aac

As long as MPEG committee builds the standards, AAC is a standard. All players can't support AAC because the companies making them can't afford or won't get the AAC license. Not because it is only an Apple standard. Zune has AAC because it is iPod competitor and MS also have money to afford that extra format.

Whole confusion comes from the container format of mpeg-4 is built on the quicktime standard I guess. Now there are people who thinks mpeg4/h264 is Apple only format while their new HD-Satellite receiver probably has it in a chip.

The propetioary standards are the ones you mentioned. WMA (if we ignore their propaganda) and ATRAC3 which Sony really missed a huge chance by not opening it.

and this

http://www.answers.com/topic/iriver-u10

For that to be true the Shrek 2 models would have to look less human than the repulsive examples. I don't think that's true at all. Shrek 2 got the hair right and the sub-surface scattering for lighting the skin.

Some examples and how I'd rate them along the curve:

• Oblivion: Corpse. Bottom of the curve.
• Polar express: Creepy doll. More human-like than Oblivion, but pretty uncanny.
• Shrek 2: A little bit uncanny, but I found the characters pleasant to look at.

Keep in mind those are still shots. In actuality, Oblivion and Polar Express look worse when moving. Shrek 2 looks better.

Mundane != Boring.

This title is just wrong. Zonk, is there any way we could please change it?

Mundane means commonplace, everyday, ordinary. Boring means uninteresting. Not the same. The article is not saying that games should be less interesting -- the article is saying that games could do well to apply more to real life, and to real skills (I.E. Smooth Moves having players balance brooms on their hands).

I'm all for making games more mundane -- I think it's a great idea, and it's a phenomenal idea for making games ultimately more fun. If "fun" is about learning patterns (as Raph Koster posits), then it only makes sense to build off of patterns that are found in real life (hence why driving games are so much fun).

However, I'm [b]not[/b] in support of making the games boring.

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

There's the definition of monopoly. Figure it out yourself.

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

Check your facts, Jack: http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?gwp=13&s=tendi nitis

After reading about Lyndon Johnson getting an enema in front of the press I think it is safe to say he wasn't getting any, except from Ladybird maybe.

Persecute

Prosecute

Persecute

Prosecute

McCarthy holding up an envelope? You mean Carnac, don't you?

Whenever it appears to the court that the taxpayer's position in the proceedings before the court instituted or maintained by such taxpayer under section 7433 is frivolous or groundless, the court may require the taxpayer to pay to the United States a penalty not in excess of $10,000.

Rule 11 requires all papers to be signed by the attorney. It also provides for sanctions against the attorney or client for harassment, frivolous arguments, or a lack of factual investigation. The purpose of sanctions is deterrent, not punitive.

Sorry, this guy has prior art.... better luck next time.

Oh, and don't try C3 either, that's taken too.

I am also not a lawyer, but I don't believe what you are positing would fall under fair use. In 1989, Kinkos was found guilty of copyright violation for copying substantial portions of textbooks (up to 100 pages at a stretch), and fined $1.9M plus court costs.

Basically (as I understand it) there are several factors that fall into the test for fair use. First, is whether the use is for commercial or non-profit use. In this case, copying the music would probably pass the test. The second test is whether the work is "creative" or "informational" in its origin. In this case, the deck would be stacked against a student copying the average RIAA CD for "educational" purposes, as the work itself is probably of a creative nature. The third factor is the scope of the portion used. Simply put, the less you use, the more chance it is fair use. So copying a whole CD wouldn't pass this test. Copying a whole "hit" song probably wouldn't either. There was an actual case where a church choir director was found guilty of copyright infringement for copying essentially all of the lyrics (or something like that) from a song, arranging it to his music, and distributing copies to his choir. It was found that despite his good faith desire (not to infringe), he was still infringing. I recall the famous instance of Gerald Ford's memoirs as well, where only a few hundred words of his 100,000 word work were reprinted, and the supreme court found in his publisher's favor.

So.. in summary, I think you are mistaken. It (copyright law) doesn't state what you think it does, and the test for fair use definitely isn't "explicit" (as you said).. it is rather subjective. Nice shell game, though. Anyone who is a real lawyer, feel free to respond and repudiate my whole post ;)

What's a bigger threat? Domestic terrorism is about as bad as it gets.

I am pretty sure Timothy McVeigh didn't have a whole terrorist organization, and neither do the anti-abortion nutcases.

The bare facts are that the ELF is a terrorist organization that plants firebombs and does all sorts of nasty things. How is the case against them overblown?

Seriously, if there is a group of people that deserves to spend time in Guantanamo, it would be people who think it is acceptable to engage in terrorism in the name of "animal rights"

Bloggers get a bad rap. Do you know what the definition of press is?

      1. The collecting and publishing or broadcasting of news; journalism in general.
      2. The entirety of media and agencies that collect, publish, transmit, or broadcast the news.
      3. The people involved in the media, as news reporters, photographers, publishers, and broadcasters.

http://www.answers.com/topic/umbrella-corporation

According to a Bloomberg News article I found, the global cellphone market is forecast to grow 12% over the previous year and reach 1.14 billion units in 2007.

The same article describes how Motorola grabbed 4% more of the market,with Sony Ericcsson the star performer grabbing 8%.

Sony Ericcsson models (at least the one with music that I wanted to buy) when I looked cost about $500 bucks. These things aren't subsidized either. You pay a chunk up front and then a chunk all along.

So Ballmer says Apple will grab 2%? Wow. 2% of 1.14 billion is 22.8 million units. At $500 each, that's over 11 billion dollars. Apple's sales for the fiscal year ending Sept. 2006 was$19 billion. So Ballmer says they are going to have *only* this incredible success, whereas if Apple pulls anything at all interesting out of this hat it has a chance at going like Sony Ericcson, which actually has worse design and features than the iPhone?

That, plus the trend for phones toward full browsers, larger screens and music. Maybe not in the U.S. where people don't spend money and are happy with motorola bricks, but there is a distinct possibility the iPhone could grab market overseas too.

My forecast is Microsoft needs to start ordering in chairs by the busload.

What about the Happy MAC startup icon/mascot? http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/justforfu n/happymacandfriends.html
or the accompanying 'sad mac' (system error) mascot/icon? http://www.answers.com/topic/sad-mac-png

But you have not provided a single instance of government control over media. It just doesn't happen. And you don't seem to be able to respond to the fact that the USSR did use massive amounts of propaganda.

That's a great example of a fnord if you can't notice them. Whenever I compare US and any foreign media, especially anything non-Western, it becomes pretty clear how much US media repeats US government's propaganda formulas. And when I don't, I am still sickened by the amount of illogical, sensationalist pandering to whatever is the currently most convenient to the government.

You missed the point. If you had strung the next sentence in, you would realize that all I was saying was that the reason troops were stationed around the world was to halt Soviet expansion. That was the reason, whether or not it was correct.

It was not the reason. A more realistic description can be found here and here. It would be extremely foolish for US military and political analysts, if they did honest job, to become mistaken about USSR intentions after WWII unless they all suffered from severe paranoia.

Now as for documents, I can produce one document and at least one other example. The document: the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, signed days before Germany invaded Poland. The agreement divided up Poland into a Soviet and a Nazi region.

USSR had no other choice -- at that time Germany literally 0wned Europe, and whatever land Stalin would not claim, would just go to Hitler in whatever version of the pact. Not signing the pact was not seen as an option because Stalin believed (more for ideological than practical reasons) that Hitler was not interested with a war against USSR, and was more afraid of USSR attacking Germany, thus signing the pact would protect USSR from Germany's "preemptive" strike. For USSR the pact was defensive, even if ill-advised. Poland and Baltic stated by that time were already doomed, and one can argue that if Nazi Germany managed to establish a stable empire within Europe, for any Eastern European country it would be much safer to be a USSR member rather than being ruled by Germans who literally treated population of those countries as subhumans according to their ideology, even before Holocaust.

region. As for the other example, Stalin made it clear in the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences that he wanted a "buffer zone" (i.e. that he wanted Eastern Europe) to slow further German attacks (the reason is irrelevant, he still was expanding). The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact was signed by the USSR, so that counts, and Stalin spoke at both Yalta and Potsdam, so that counts also.

An important property of any buffer is its stability. USSR wanted (and got) a stable zone of influence controlled by governments allied with USSR, not some kind of forefront of continuing expansion. Apparently at the time US and Britain accepted it as reasonable.

Generally, given a lack of evidence to the contrary, one accepts a statement as fact. It was not until the media (yes the media, traveling with the soldiers in Iraq) reported that no WMDs had been found that we grew skeptical. After all, we are generally conditioned to trust our leaders (this is true of almost any society and the media has nothing to do with it).

It was from the very beginning known that there were no WMD. The only possible way for the public to believe in such a nonsense from the government is total suppression of all rational thought because it was already known that Blix inspection found nothing, and all information about supposed weapon programs came from people interested in invasion. It was also well known that government of Iraq had no ties with international terrorists, especially ones interested in attacks on U

Every time I read one of these things that seem to mix physics and philosophy, I wonder how bored school kids in the 24th century will mock current scientific thought, although quantum entanglement would be pretty cool if an applicable use was found for it.

follows capitalism, in which people who work hard and make good choices are rewarded while the lazy and stupid are not.

"class struggle" (code for wealth envy)

Sometimes the lazy and stupid wind up rich (think about the rich liberal living-on-trust-fund brat denizens of the Hamptons)

Capitalism isn't designed to cure all problems. It's merely that which exists without government intervention,

government intervention, which always creates more problems than it solves (and it never solves anything).

By the way, did Marx ever define what a "class" was?

Absolutely positively no one should consider either of our opinions legal advice and should ask a lawyer in their own jurisdiction. I mainly commented because I did not want people falsely counting on your assertions which I very strongly believe to be in error.

More likely he was not convicted because the cops took the pot home and smoked it.

I have no firsthand experience but this was specifically covered by my law classes both in high school and undergrad.

From answers.com: "In Mapp v. Ohio (1961) the U.S. Supreme Court mandated states to exclude from trial evidence obtained in illegal searches, such as those without a proper warrant. This "exclusionary rule" has been the subject of great controversy and subsequent litigation. In recent years, the Supreme Court has narrowed the scope of the rule, in many circumstances permitting the introduction of any evidence gathered in "good faith.""

It goes on to include: "Warrants are not required for the gathering of evidence in some circumstances. These exceptions include evidence gathered after a lawful arrest, inspections by customs or border officials, searches made with the suspect's consent, searches of items in plain view, and searches of the belongings of secondary students on school property."

Exactly for the reason I listed in my previous example. If you're searching for a stolen piano and you find cocaine in a drawer you just violated the 4th amendment. If you're searching for a piano and you find a bag of coke sitting in plain sight on a coffee table it is admissible evidence of drug possession.

I understand the 4th amendment just fine, and I'm pretty sure I have a better grasp of the case law surrounding warrants and seizures. So long as officers are attempting to execute a warrant in good faith and are in the process of looking for the objects/persons named, anything they find is not protected by the 4th amendment just because it is not in the warrant. If it was, one could easily get around murder charges by placing the body and murder weapon in the middle of a room, then tipping off the cops that there is marijuana in the room. When they execute their warrant do you really think they could take the body and weapon but not use them as evidence in court since they were "illegally" discovered?

it started with a vendor issue, and then RIM's software did not react well to that issue.

Given the nature of the technology I find the explanation of a 'fail-over' system failing to kick in a tad disingenuous. It's not like a generator kicking in when the mains electricity stops. And what kind of design decisions led to an upgrade triggering outages for the entire North America.

I would have thought they had multiple nodes at multiple locations with no single point of failure. Or at least three redundant and independent systems, a main system, a backup system and a system for testing upgrades. Or is it like most commercial companies they designed the cheapest system possible.

Tell me it's not like the Uks DOH system where power cuts in Kent lead to system outages in the north of england. It takes real genius to design a distributed database that borks because of a power cut. sarcasm.

More details(Score:3, Informative)

not well up on American History?

Putting the Constitution in the hands of specially elected conventions would avoid the hostility of state officials jealous of their state's sovereignty, as would the nine-states requirement (the Articles required all thirteen states' consent for ratification of an amendment). The delegates also viewed the Constitution as a fundamental law requiring a form of adoption more solemn and significant, and less vulnerable to shifts of public opinion, than approval by state legislatures. The ratification process itself would induce Americans to think of themselves as a nation, encouraging them to look beyond their state's borders in deciding whether to support the Constitution and disposing them to adopt a new government for the American nation. Ratification Of The Constitution

The Civil War settled any remaining doubts about the independence and authority of the Federal Union. It is not a creature of the states. It belongs to "We, the people of these United States."

Lawful evil (as I understand it) doesn't mean they obey the laws set forth by some governing body. It means that they obey the laws of evil. Being Lawful Evil as about as evil as you can get. Lawful Evil will never group with a Good class unless they mean to kill them somewhere along the way. Lawful Evil will usually never let a Good class "get away". Neutral Evil accepts some good in order to advance themselves, and Chaotic Evil you really have no clue what side they will be on next. At least, that's how I always work it out. ;)

Minor quibble, adultery is not universally illegal in the US. See:

http://www.answers.com/topic/adultery#&lid=bc_Dire ctory&lpos=bc_Legal%20Encyclopedia

for a reasonable discussion.

"You seem to be presuming that people are incredibly stupid. Given that it is common knowledge that there are things like bacteria, mice, earthworms and mosquitoes in existence, it should be fairly clear to anyone that nobody is proposing a theory in which bigger brains are an inevitable outcome. (Maybe you can demonstrate that there are people who do believe this.)"

Dictionaries are good records of popular understanding of terms, so let's look at a dictionary definition - http://www.answers.com/topic/evolution#Dictionary - the American Heritage Dictionary tells us that evolution is "A gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form". That's what many people have in mind when they think about biological evolution; that species evolve into better and more complex forms, rather than simply 'better fitted' forms. This leads them to think of us as the pinnacle of the evolutionary process, and that every other species is in a constant evolutionary struggle to get bigger, smarter, faster and stronger.

i make my own games and sell them over the web

I'm sure I'd notice if the software business was communism.

Ah, but you ignore the derivative. Since 1968 the US State Department has been keeping track of the number of deaths caused by terrorism (http://www.answers.com/topic/history-of-terrorism ) Note, the annual rate has tripled since then. Contrast that with the rate of traffic deaths, which has actually gone down over the same period ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Highway_Traf fic_Safety_Administration The rate of traffic deaths has dropped 16% in the US from 1979 to 2002. If we extrapolate the two trends, inevitably a crossover happens. When will more Americans die from terrorism in any given year than die on America's highways? I believe we will see that occur in our lifetime.

It would be cool if thinkgeek or someone made cds that were 120mm wide, but they only used the 1st 80mm, like mini cds, and they had 20mm ninja star spikes or something.

why do i have to think of Albert II?

The number of times Jefferson has been mentioned lately on /. makes me think that with only a moderate investment (a shovel, some magnets and a length of wire) I could provide the USofA with a cheap source of energy.

Not so much. This IRS publication tells you to that "Illegal income, such as money from dealing illegal drugs, must be included in your income on Form 1040, line 21, or on Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040) if from your self-employment activity." Piece of cake. Just remember to classify your income as "fifth amendment" rather than "drug dealing."

O'Garish seems to fit the whole of SCO's activities since this started and not just O'Gara's reporting, which seems to exemplify it. If you like this new adjective variation of the public domain adjective "garish", feel free to use it as widely as you please.

Self-Incrimination Clause The Fifth Amendment's right against self-incrimination permits an individual to refuse to disclose information that could be used against her or him in a criminal prosecution. The purpose of this right is to inhibit the government from compelling a confession through force, coercion, or deception. The Self-Incrimination Clause applies to any state or federal legal proceeding, whether it is civil, criminal, administrative, or judicial in nature. This privilege is frequently invoked during the trial phase of legal proceedings, where individuals are placed under oath and asked questions on the witness stand. The privilege is also asserted with some frequency during the pretrial phase of legal proceedings. In the pretrial phase of criminal cases, it is usually asserted in response to pointed questions asked by law enforcement agents, prosecutors, and other government officials who are seeking to determine the persons responsible for a particular crime. During the pretrial phase of civil cases, parties may assert the right against self-incrimination when potentially damaging questions are posed in depositions and interrogatories.

Because biologists like to confuse people and sound important.

Bandying about drisophila melonagaster sounds smarter than saying fruit fly. But all it really means is "black bellied dew sucker". Now that's intellectual!

A charlatan is a person practicing quackery or some similar confidence trick in order to obtain money or advantage by false pretenses.

I believe that the next big popular "theory" will be the space seed theory.

The Burroughs could reconfigure itself also. But that was the 70's and this new machine is... new so it must be the first!

http://www.answers.com/topic/burroughs-b1700

luck-out
        verb to run out of luck; to have bad luck.

luck out
        Also, luck into. Gain success or something desirable through good fortune.

"At exactly what point do we accept that change is happening?"

"We" accept that change is happening. Whether that is part of a natural cycle "we" don't know.

"There's been evidence since the 60s..."

I was born in the 60s. When I was a child the world was supposedly facing castastrophic global cooling according to "compelling evidence".

"Now even laymen are noticing."

Yes, noticing the hype.

"If the change had happened in a single year there'd be panic but climates change slowly." ...and the mechanisms poorly understood.

"As contributions from China and developing countries to CO2 increase the problem will excellorate."

Assuming CO2 is causing a problem at all.

"I think when coastal property worldwide is devastated then people will wake up but not before."

I think you mean "if" coastal property... These are not facts, only theories.

"Right now the environment is compensating for the worst effects but everyone seems to agree there's a limit we just don't know what that is."

Everyone seems to agree to you. Way to keep an open mind. As I said before, I've lived long enough to experience two of these foolish theories now. I'm not biting yet.

"The temperature spike has been most dramatic in the last three to five years so we may have already passed that limit."

PANIC PANIC PANIC!!!

"The situation might be reversed by spending billions today, tomorrow it'll cost trillions. Not to reverse it because that won't be possible by then but trillions in lost property and droughts."

What situation? There are no facts, just theories, and there are no solutions regardless of price. Disease, famine, droughts, catastrophes...they're really got you scared don't they?

"Kind of surprised a Kiwii would be blowing off environmental issues."

If you think a Kiwi inherently cares more, perhaps you should consider his opinion to have more value, not less. Perhaps he does care more and has thought through it better than you have. Who says he's blowing off environmental issues?

"I was there during the Millenium rollover and skin cancer was near epidemic."

Bullshit. Skin cancer has always existed. Do you know what an epidemic is? http://www.answers.com/epidemic&r=67 How many people do you know with skin cancer?

"I found I didn't get tanned but fifteen minutes in the sun and I'd get a burn."

There's some real science for you. I don't recall anyone ever saying that the rules for tanning and sunburn have changed at all.

According to this definition of .com

Most all porn deserves to be on a .com and not a .xxx

And in response to needing a .xxx, please read this post I made awhile back.
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=21907 4&cid=17781478

That post also talks about how porn deserves to be on a .com

Sidenote: My captcha was pervert, lol.

Nutria already gave some examples, but I've got more for you.

Tandy 1000, HP's 95LX (and 200LX) palmtop PC with DOS (the 200 had MS-DOS 5.0), the HP 1000CX DOS palmtop, some of the early IBM Aptivas, the HP model 110 line of desktops, the rather famous GRiDLite (my GRiD laptops all loaded DOS from hardrive -- always wanted a GRiDLite too though), the IBM EduQuest Model 30 and Model 40 (I have a few model 40s, but only one still boots -- into OS/2 Warp because I'm not using the on-chip DOS), the Sharp PC-5000 portable, the IBM PCJr, certain IBM PS/1 machines, the Tandy 2500 XL, and some others.

Also, Franklin, Commodore, TI, and Atari had systems with some form of OS in the ROM. Some Franklin systems had something called F-DOS in ROM which I think was mostly a ripoff of AppleDOS.

Notice that these examples are not modern hacks to try it out at home, but all commercially shipped systems from the late 1970s to early 1990s.

AMD and Intel still have documentation on DOS in ROM for embedded systems on their websites, and AMD even recommends Datalight's solution.

It might have helped if I had managed to type "Why the long face". They for the is becoming my most common typo.

http://www.answers.com/card (#7)

Anyway:

So a horse walks into a bar and the bartender says "So Why the long face?".

is my idea of a really stupid joke, but it was only there as the 'joke object', so that I could modify the joke object by having the character I invented explain the joke in detail as if that was a funny thing to do.

It's like talking to the tv; it should be discouraged, with a heavy stick.

Without further comment, I think it's worth pointing out the recent case of Cetaceans v. Bush on this topic. (386 F.3d 1169 (9th Cir. 2004)) The court ruled that the world's dolphins do not have standing to sue.

Apparently because of some obscure oil-supply crisis in 1973, Congress decided to use the whole country as a guinea pig for a year and had everyone on DST between January 1974 and April 1975. Unfortunately some quango found that there was "statistically significant evidence of increased fatalities among school-age children in the mornings during the test period", so they scrapped it. Oops.