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Is this American dollars?

If it was, then no matter who it was - unless he was endangering others lives (like if he had one other car around him at any time - or he had another person in his vehicle) - this seems excessive.

Not too long ago, I was caught speeding outside of El Centro, CA - I was doing 10 mph over the speed limit (75 in a 65 zone). To be honest, I didn't even realize I was speeding until I looked out the rearview mirror and seen the cop (I had gotten a severe sunburn the day before at Oceanside - and probably shouldn't have been driving - wasn't feeling very good). I pulled over, got the ticket, and went on my way. I later paid the fine, attended an online traffic school (to keep the points away) - in all, spent about $130 - plus my time.

Do I still speed - no - I realize now it isn't worth it - 65 vs 75 doesn't shave much time off in the end.

What gets me about the whole incident is the situation - I was speeding - yes - but I was outside of El Centro (about 25 miles outside), and anyone who has been out there knows it is flat, open land (desert?) - there wasn't a SINGLE car around me - my car is well tuned, the tires at proper pressure - the highway I was on was well maintained with a smooth surface, on a straight section. It was a VERY sunny and hot day (good grip on the road). I wasn't weaving, the road was empty around me (well, aside from the cop who probably pulled out from under an overpass to pull me over).

I guess what I am trying to say is that I realize that I broke the law - but that in the whole scheme of things I was really a danger to nobody, including myself. It wasn't like I was cruising at 120 in a 60 mph zone.

The final thing that irks me about all of this is what I know of an American citizen's constitutionally protected "Right to Travel" - if you really want your eyes opened, check out this link:

The Right to Travel

Essentially, the argument is (excerpted from the link above):

The forgotten legal maxim is that free people have a right to travel on the roads which are provided by their servants for that purpose, using ordinary transportation of the day. Licensing cannot be required of free people, because taking on the restrictions of a license requires the surrender of a right. The driver's license can be required of people who use the highways for trade, commerce, or hire; that is, if they earn their living on the road, and if they use extraordinary machines on the roads. In other words, if you are not using the highways for profit, you cannot be required to have a driver's license.

For further info, check out these links:

Vehicle Manufacturer's Certificate/Statement of Origin

Vehicle Registration in California

If you are an American driver/"owner" of a vehicle, you owe it to yourself (as a supposedly free individual) to be aware of this information...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I managed to find (on Pricewatch) an 18 CD-ROM changer (Pioneer DRM-1804X) for $299, which uses 3 six-disc magazines...

Still, I would love to see a 100/200/400 disc CD carosel changer. Why hasn't such a thing come to market? Would it be too slow to use? Is there no demand for such a thing? Is there something on the OS end that prevents it (or SCSI or IDE specs)?

I have given thought to taking a cheap $100 audio CD carosel (like a 60 disc or 100 disc), and dropping in the drive electronics from some CD-ROM drive - just to see if I could get it to work. Does this even sound like a project that could be done? Has anybody heard of doing such a thing before?

Such a device should be possible, and it shouldn't cost an arm and a leg...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I haven't supported the MPAA or their cronies for a long while now - I haven't bought movies, rented movies, bought any form of DVD or players...

Of course, here is a problem - I actually probably _have_ supported them in some way, without me really knowing it. I use Cox@Home for my broadband connection - I also have the digital cable package as well - with HBO and Cinemax - so I would imagine somewhere in that mix I am supporting the MPAA. Personally, I could drop the digital cable, but my GF is TV obsessed, so she wouldn't like that. These companies are so entrenched in so many areas, the only way to "opt-out" is to live in a box - and they would probably have made the box!

So, I do the next best thing - I buy VCD movies, from a company that drop-ships from Malaysia. Not the best quality, but still nice (and I was able to find a copy of Red Sonja!). I am not sure if these movies are licensed, rips, dubs from video tape or laser discs - whatever the case, many times I have seen movies pop up on the site before they were out of the theaters here (like SWTPM - it was on VCD long before video tape or DVD). Nor do I want to know...

I like VCDs - one can find a ton of anime, Chinese movies, regular movies and animation - anything. New movies continue to be released on VCD (like I said, most of the time before they are released here on video or DVD).

Anyhow, I would like to find a VCD player (hardware or software - any OS, but preferably Linux) that would play the disks without the "Remove 1, Insert 2" shuffle - just stick both in, and go. If it is software, then it should do it with two CD-ROM drives.

Does such a machine exist? I have seen many VCD only players, but every one had a single tray. Too bad Go-Video doesn't make dual VCD players.

On a side note - something else I have been unable to find: A CD-ROM carosel (sp?) - basically, I would love to find a 100 disk CD-ROM changer, at an affordable price (ie, $500). Does anyone make one of these (SCSI, IDE, USB, Firewire - doesn't matter)?

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

While you are right that Heron's steam Aeolipile would not have been capable of much power, what IS amazing is the fact that the ancient Greeks had all the essentials for a true steam engine, but didn't take the route of combining the elements to create such a machine.

The knew of valves and pistons - Heron even had an automatic temple door system that relied on air pressure drawing up water to activate the doors to open when a fire was burned on an alter nearby. Other uses were various automata for stage plays and productions, and for various waterworks (fountains and such).

The truth of the matter probably revolves around the fact that they didn't need such machines - there isn't much practical benefit of a machine that only somewhat works, when slaves are much, much cheaper (and in plentiful supply)...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Ebola Zaire...

The only thing keeping this beast from becoming rife around the world is it's burn-out rate - it typically kills its victoms before it can effectively spread.

There is no known cure for this contagion, though some individuals seem to be more resistant, and live through it, than others. Even so, the mortality rate for those contracting it is very high. Death fortunately comes quickly after initial onset of symptoms (which at first look suspiciously like cold or flu symptoms) - though not in any pleasent manner (essentially one bleeds out of every orifice on the body - including pores).

All it would take would be a release on a major population center with a good transportation hub (Paris, London, Los Angeles, Tokyo, etc) - preferably the release would happen in the transportation hub itself, in a terrorist attack. The contagion spreads mainly through blood and mucous (phlem), though there have been hints at it possibly being able to be airborne as well (scary shit).

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Does the Y2K "effects" fall on a bell curve, or something else?

If it falls on a bell curve, then why are we not asking why nothing happened (which is just as improbable on a bell curve as "things went to hell")?

I haven't seen any discussion on this. I have only been able to surmise that it doesn't fall on a bell curve, because it was a known thing (and not a random event), or because programming and preparation was actively done to avert anything.

I mean, the SEC required companies to give Y2K preparedness statements monthly (or quarterly) in 1999 - but arcording to Yardini (or was it Yourdon? - whoever the securities specialist was - not the Y2K doomsayer), no major company was prepared! So why didn't anything happen?

Can anyone answer this for me? It has bugged me all year. I wonder if things did fall apart, and a lot of CYA was covertly done - of course, we didn't hear about that, or anything - so that is probably just paranoia...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I have to say that I have had nothing but good experiences with Ebay and the sellers. I have a few rules about who to buy from - they have to very few negatives, the fewer the better, and the farther back "in time", the better. They have to have a positive rating above 10 (and I read those that are low, to determine if they are a new seller, and had bought 10 things, or if all ten things are sells - which if all are positive, is a good thing). If they have 200 positives, and have had 10 negative comments in the past 30 days, it is a no-sell for me.

Out of over 40 transactions, I have only had one go bad on me, and that was when I was selling - someone didn't send me the money after repeated contacts, so he didn't get the item, and I relisted the item - and it sold, and this time, I got the money, the buyer got the item - and everyone was happy.

My most recent experience has involved a VGA->TV converter that didn't work after I bought it. I have since contacted the seller, and he has said he will refund my money - we are still working things out, but I expect this transaction to go good as well.

There are obvious scams out there - some you have to watch for, and others are fun (I actually tried, knowing what I might find, to buy the Projection TV converter - I got a lens, and instructions - and they suck! - but I had a laugh - I got what I expected, and the seller got his money - so I did get sold something, and it wasn't a true "scam").

I think Ebay goes too far with this, though - I don't have a problem with a seller using Ebay as advertising, as long as they really sell a product (I do hate those sellers who put up Ebay ads with a price of 1 cent or something - all to get you to come to their site, only). I have gone to some seller's sites, and actually found it cheaper to buy from their own site, than from the auction (just because it is fixed price).

Online auctions are wacky things - sorta like real life f2f auctions, but in other ways strange...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!