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I expect Matt Richtel to have an article in a few weeks defending the 80 hours a week he spends at expensive dinner parties, golfing, and looking down his nose at New York from a yacht.

He probably spends more money on wine with dinner each night than these "wasteful" families spend in a month. There is an argument for not buying things you can't afford, but insulting people for spending money on relatively cheap hobbies is a rather pathetic article. (seriously, if I saw some analysis that low income families have half their income invested in Warhammer armies, then I might be concerned. Videogaming is cheap compared to much of what's out there)

From one of many Hulu's own case studies, 13 million views, 106K total votes
http://www.hulu.com/advertising/case-studies/oscars

So if you go strictly by the view rate, 13 million. That extra cost for a $1,000,000 advertisement would be a whole 7 cents. Since most adds are well under $1M it would be even less.

We can always make our voice heard...
http://www.hulu.com/support/support_form
1-877-719-2773
If they risk losing much of their customer base, perhaps they will change their mind. Sounds eerily familiar to Comcast's Xfinity TV app that will not count against their own cap...that they are claiming is necessary to prevent network congestion.

It's great to go back and watch this particular episode of Carl Sagan's Cosmos: Encyclopedia Galactica. He goes through the basic idea of the Drake Equation, opines on listening/detecting life elsewhere in the galaxy. It's really great stuff, and worth watching whether you've seen it before or not.

Getting all of your content on one box is absolutly available. Get a low power quite PC:

$330 Acer Revo
$300 Lenovo

Both of these have HDMI out, so the audio and video will connect natively to your TV with a single cable.

Buy a MCE remote:
$25 With learning capabilities

Install:
Hulu Desktop app that can be controlled with the above remote
iTunes. It is the one piece that likely won't be totally seamless, but will work, and button mapping should be easy enough.
$20 LM Remote lets you map any button on the remote so you can have one button switching between players
Windows 7 includes Media Center that has a Netflix plugin and can be controlled with the above remote.

If your dedicated to Apple, it looks like the only part that isn't available for use with a MacMini is the LM Remote, and I would be shocked if there isn't an equivalent.

I'm not saying that the situation isn't broken, but you seem to be making it worse than it actually is.

Pshhh.... qzjkh is a perfectly cromulent word.

I think you mean "kwyjibo."

Oblig SNL reference: the All-Drug Olympics. http://www.hulu.com/watch/124975/saturday-night-live-update-all-drug-olympics

The Principality of Sealand would be one candidate.

In any case, I'm not sure why is everybody so down about ASBO, from what I know of it, it seems like a much surer way of getting laid than urban exploring.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/243423/special-when-lit-a-pinball-documentary (for who can watch it) and http://www.tilt-movie.com/ ...

I can't tell whether this is offtopic or a brilliant channelling of Emily Litela, available only on hulu. http://www.hulu.com/watch/2364/saturday-night-live-weekend-update-emily-litella-on-violins-on-tv

It's a reference to this SNL commercial, I think:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/2340/saturday-night-live-old-glory

Web Therapy came up with this idea a looong time ago. Go on, follow the link. I'll wait. You can thank me later.

http://store.steampowered.com/
http://itunes.com/
http://netflix.com/
http://hulu.com/
http://spotify.com/
http://pandora.com/

"DRM is the reason Netflix isn't available on Linux."

I hate DRM, but when Netflix tells you that's why Netflix isn't available on Linux, they are lying.

HBOGo - Available on Linux
Amazon Prime - Available on Linux
Hulu Plus - Available on Linux

On the plus side, Netflix's lies further tarnish the reputation of DRM, which is agreeable to me.

But, you're right that MythTV does not natively support Netflix. Maybe it could be accessed via MythBrowser? Or is a real Win/Mac (on a PC) client necessary?

Netflix depends on Silverlight. Silverlight is not supported (or usable) on Linux. Doesn't even work under Wine. A good alternative to Netflix is Hulu. It uses Flash for video.

...were covered 30 years ago here.

"If we warn the past about an event like 9/11, and they actually DO something about it, what happens then? Would the American government spin it even further out of proportion, claiming the attacks would have used nukes and biological weapons? There's no way of knowing for certain.

We know what we have: A world that is worse off than before, yes, but not on the brink of having the planet destroyed. With the possibility that we could make things a lot worse and start World War III, is is really sensible to send messages back in time?"

Family Guy did that exact plot.

Here is the Hulu Link. Your Country May Vary.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/299685/family-guy-back-to-the-pilot#s-p1-so-i0

Will my robot insurance cover this?

It's a shame, because Microsoft and its licensees are missing out on so much potential revenue. Your idea would be well-suited to those minigames between stages where both players have to hammer both buttons as fast as they can, and the first one to inflate the balloon or destroy the car won. Except, instead of pressing the buttons, you're jacking off. Against another man, who is standing right next to you. That would be a cool arcade.

There is an SNL episode about that (Wii, not Kinect, though)

If you think that's interesting, watch the Ultimate Factory episode of UPS:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/213611/ultimate-factories-ups-worldport

There aren't a lot of secrets in logistics, fulfillment, and assembly. There's a lot of technology, or a lot of labor, or both. If you can, head to Asia to a printing plant that does tip-ins. A ridiculous amount of stuff is built manually. There's no secret to it - you do it the hard way, either with machines or with lots of people.

Funny, I was thinking the same thing.

The Devil: "I invented the TOS agreements. You ever say "yes" to those TOS agreements without reading it first? See you soon, buddy!"
http://www.hulu.com/watch/299647/saturday-night-live-weekend-update-the-devil-on-penn-state

I LOLed, but note that the character's name is actually Stefon.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/10310/saturday-night-live-bad-idea-jeans

Eat butter, drink oil, a high butterfat ice cream might work also.

mmm, moon waffles.

I think of Mango on SNL

DON'T DATE ROBOTS! (Brought to you by the Space Pope.)

http://www.hulu.com/watch/4510/futurama-anti-robot-propaganda

This is why I have Old Glory Robot Insurance. My policy already prevents robots from calling, and in the case one gets through, I'm financially covered.

As I posted here (the related p2presearch archive at listcultures.org has died, sadly, though is available elsewhere):
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:mf6UxV35GCQJ:listcultures.org/pipermail/p2presearch_listcultures.org/2009-November/005926.html+p2p+implications+robot+videos

=======

Michel Bauwens wrote:
> I see a big contradiction between freefall and total robotization, with
> freefall, who's going to invest in total automation?
>
> so I would add 2 centuries to the robotic prediction, though I'm not at all
> certain that this will occur, I think it's a capitalist fantasy essentially,
> to remove all human contact with making and producing its own livelihood
> (I'm aware of course that leftleaning people have the same vision from
> another angle)

OK, I responded to this once. I'm going to respond again with a longer list of videos. Most are short (except the Nova one).

"High-Speed Robot Hand Demonstrates Dexterity and Skillful Manipulation"
http://www.hizook.com/blog/2009/08/03/high-speed-robot-hand-demonstrates-dexterity-and-skillful-manipulation

"Nova: The Great Robot Race"
http://www.hulu.com/watch/23347/nova-the-great-robot-race

"DARPA Urban Challenge 2007"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQFEmR50HAk

"Home Assistance Robot"
http://www.gametrailers.com/user-movie/home-assistance-robot/295707

"ASIMO avoids moving obstacles"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPoANTKo5kA

"ASIMOs new artificial intelligence. (ASIMO is learning!)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9ByGQGiVMg

"Roomba"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqhIMFQNGCg

"IRobot Packbot action!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaP0waiz43w

"South Korea's Machine Gun Sentry Robot"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5YftEAbmMQ

"Sentry Robot to Patrol Maine School"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUNikzYgIf4

"Predator Drones"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMh8Cjnzen8

"Merseyside Police helicopter remote control drone"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s79QlJGQKks

"BigDog Overview"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-AGWq0k_Mo

"The Autonomous Grape-Vine Pruner"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GaGO9LIDEA

"Robots in warehouse"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdd6sQ8Cbe0

"VMS robotic milking"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPqWpOxQmIs

"Lely Robotic Barn Cleaner"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bphBIwv5Vp8

"Da Vinci Surgical Robot"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C17-bGquIjI

"CTC UT-1 ROV Ultra Trencher - Animation"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U72_B7B3Wk

"Mars Rover Vid

It's also on Netflix as well as on Hulu. Well worth watching; it's one of those that, like Firefly, got cancelled too early. They also did a movie later (made for TV, I think) that was pretty good.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/14755/the-dick-van-dyke-show-i-am-my-brothers-keeper springs to mind, not to mention a fair number of other sitcoms and cartoons.

(Hulu, sorry for those outside the US).

A fun (not fast, but pretty memorable) way to learn these is to watch the TV show CTRL: http://www.hulu.com/ctrl

...and disabled.

In Living Color was way ahead of its time.

Handiman joined the Justice Legion to settle an affirmative action suit brought on by the U.S. government.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/4992/in-living-color-handiman-joins-the-justice-legion

Well, Stefon, for one.

No. There isn't one because Linux market share on desktop is so incredibly small that no one wants to put up with the cost of supporting those few users... (snip)...companies don't want to support it.

You mean like Hulu and Amazon video ?

Yeah but AnnMarie Thomas isn't nearly as attractive as the Christina Bonnington

not that I choose videos based on the attractiveness of the woman in the video...

Christina has 68 likes, wonder how many she'll have after /. is done with her?

"Nobody needs to work because machines do that, they do what they please and have their needs provided for."

You've doomed us all!
Don't Date Robots!

Don't date robots! http://www.hulu.com/watch/4510/futurama-anti-robot-propaganda

And eventually we wouldn't need to spend a quarter of our life times in school.

If we could do that, would children like this ever exist again?

http://www.hulu.com/watch/219297/tedtalks-adora-svitak-what-adults-can-learn-from-kids

You know sometimes they call that insanity.

No, "they" don't. Albert Einstein never did. Only AA (and maybe Rita Mae Brown, though I think she used it after AA did) makes that claim, and AA is idiotic and full of shit. (http://www.hulu.com/watch/207926/family-guy-friends-of-peter-g :) http://rationallyspeaking.blogspot.com/2006/07/alcoholics-anonymous-doesnt-work.html ) http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein

There's an episode of The Office about this: Season 3: The Convict.

Prison Mike can set this super straight

Can you cite sources about the job claim?

Most prisons I've seen(in VA), the punishment is the monotony of nothing to do, ever. They're basically indoor cattle pens for people, and that's how the people in them feel.

You can see Morgan Spurlock go to a VA jail for a month in "30 Days", season 2, episode 6. Preview on Hulu and available on DVD and instant streaming on Netflix.

My frustration with the "scientific community" has been their consistent over-application of Occalm's Razor, explaining things in simple terms because anything more complex would be too difficult or expensive to make a sound-bite conclusion with in their research. Time and time again over the last 40 years, I have witnessed scientific dogma overturn itself with new research that, frankly, isn't much more impressive than the old research. I've gotten to where I trust it all less and less. When there's a viable alternative with millennia of human experience behind it, that's usually the alternative I will lean toward. Of course, in modern life, that's not always possible, but it often is, and when the new stuff is screwing up - the old stuff usually looks pretty workable.

I have worked with many "scientists," some good, some shills, and even the good ones will establish a personal prejudice about certain topics and be very easy to convince about things they believe, and horrible skeptics about things they don't - you can tell they're actually good when they occasionally let go of a long held prejudice when faced with convincing data. The shills are just predictable based on who pays them, and, unfortunately, in industry, I ran into more shills than good scientists. You might argue that companies hire "good scientists, who happen to agree with the company's interests" but that argument wears pretty thin when you get to know some of them, and track their reversals of opinion over time and employers.

So, when the scientific community comes out with yet another "your tiny little mind is just too feeble to understand why, but you should do as we say anyway because we know what is good for you" assertion, I do like to check their advice against history, personal experience, ulterior motives, alternative viewpoints, and just the basic smell test. Life is too short to thoroughly research every daily choice, we are all constantly developing our own set of prejudices, and I hope I continue to enjoy the freedom to make my own choices in things that matter to me like: food, water, shelter, and air to breathe.

There are days that I believe I might have to leave the United States to get that freedom.

Unfortunately, I don't think this will work quite as well for movies.

Don't be so sure. We're already seeing the rise of series such as Felicia Day's The Guild and Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog , which has been free online in various official capacities. Also, Google has started producing full-length movies, such as Girl Walks Into a Bar . (The latter of which even features some semi-big names, like Carla Gugino, Josh Hartnett, Danny DeVito, and a bunch of other names you'd probably recognize.) Also, Hulu is producing a show, The Confession , starring Kiefer Sutherland and John Hurt, both big names in the business.

I honestly think--and hope!--that the times of big television networks being the gateway to what we can and can't see are soon to be over.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/4162/saturday-night-live-chess-tournament

ABC World News with Diane Sawyer says that the containment vessel has cracked at about the 7:00 mark. "The only way the water could reach those levels is if it came into direct contact with uranium."

I don't know about *starting* in assembler, but a programmer who isn't somewhat proficient in assembler is going to have a very weird mental model of how programs work.

You say that like it's a bad thing. Yet a person who is "somewhat proficient" in assembler will likely have a mental model of how a modern computer works, that, while possibly less wierd, is no less incorrect. And it's is even more difficult to reason about how most nontrivial "programs" work by trying to "think like the machine." Moreover, to the extent this is false, the programs tend to be either trivial, or else difficult to design and maintain.

Once you know how the machine works, then you can start studying abstraction.

Given that the machine is a highly layered system of abstractions, this strikes me as a naïve and even dangerous philosophy from standpoints both theoretical and practical.

C.f., e.g., Parnas' remarks on your approach — under the heading "why conventional software development does not produce reliable programs" — "this intuitively appealing method works well," he writes, "on problems too small to matter."

With that said, I suspect we agree more than we disagree. To wit,

Treating OOP as the only way, or even the best way, to solve any computing problem is going to tend to produce programmers who think everything is a nail.

I agree completely. And it's even worse to treat OOP as synonymous with "abstraction," given that the problems with OOP are not that it encourages"abstraction," rather that it very frequently seems to lead to the wrong abstractions! But students' learning less about how to build the "right" abstractions doesn't strike me as a good solution to this problem.

In fact, the less practitioners know about "abstraction," the more likely they'll have little choice but to use "pre-canned abstractions," and in a very bad position, moreover, to evaluate vendors' claims that the "Frobozz Magic Framework(tm) v10.0" (incorporating even better "best practices") is not only both a floor wax and a dessert topping, but in fact the solution to all possible problems.

This is hyperbole, of course, but your "square peg, round hole" comment is quite on-point —I spent years working with developers, consultants, etc., who seemed to see programming as figuring out how to "adapt customers' problems to the latest solutions," and nearly always had a "solution" in mind before they knew anything about the problem. This led to things like "projects" like replacing perfectly workable Perl-driven Web applications with Java applications that were not only buggier, but orders of magnitude slower, to boot, because "Perl doesn't scale," then, when performance became a probem, suggesting a rewrite to enable a "multi-tier architecture" that included "Web acceleration front-ends" (read: proxy servers) to cache static pages, rather than forcing the application server to generate each page dynamically.

The reason why the Perl code was much faster than its replacement was that it only generated dynamic content once, so nearly every request was simply served by Apache out of the application's "content cache," guaranteed to be correct since the appropriate bits were purged automatically whenever new data arrived.

When I pointed this out, I was flooded with questions about whether it was "designed with future applications in mind." When I asked what future applications were in mind, none were, so I couldn't answer the question, of course. But given that the whole thing, modulo Apache itself and mod_perl, consisted of maybe 500 lines of code and was written in the course of a couple weeks, if, given some "future application," the answer wasn't an unqualified "yes,"

I just saw on Wednesday's Colbert Report that black smoke was seen coming out of reactor 3 and white smoke was seen coming out of reactor 2.

We're the phone company. We don't have to care!

Relevant Propaganda http://www.hulu.com/watch/4510/futurama-anti-robot-propaganda

This episode of Outer Limits is all about something like the article.

I'll stay off of the "mind network" thank-you-very-much.