My roomies and I use it to choose movies all the time... Especially when we all want to watch something different, this has settled arguments before they start... and if I can explain the method to a raging alcoholic, the Sheeple should be trainable with minimal effort.
Using aviator's goggles with some low-intensity RGB LEDs inside the cup, each changing intensity randomly every sec or two or five, could you defeat the puke-saber?
{Ok, I never said it'd LOOK cool, but would it work?}
Shine a bright flashlight at your eyelids and see if you can guess what will happen when you try this strategy.
As you guessed, one of us was bored enough to try. When I tried with either lamp or bright flashlight, even rolling my eyes up, enough light was visible to be easily seen. A few questions came to mind:
1. Since the wavelength of the beam changes a bit as it filters through your tissue, is that why they had to have shifting frequencies? After all, FTA:
"There's one wavelength that gets everybody," says IOS President Bob Lieberman. "Vlad [IOS top scientist Vladimir Rubtsov] calls it 'the evil color.'"
If one color gets everyone, why would they need "rapidly changing wavelengths", or did the reporter get their terminology mixed up?
2. Y'know that "pretty lights" effect you get when you rub your eyes? Would that be enough to throw off "the evil color"?
What I've never got my head around is that people increasingly don't want to read anything.
Agreed, and I try to work around it with the following question line to clients: "Say you have two drivers. One is familiar with the state Driver's Handbook and traffic laws, having read up on them. The other has just got behind the wheel for the first time. Which one do you think would get in more accidents, and why?"
Of COURSE you get the ones that'll politely nod, and then go right back to what they're used to doing. It IS gratifying, however, to see that lightbulb flicker on every so often...
When an intern of ours started working here, he'd ask question after question. I'd answer the tricky/ambiguous ones, but if he stumped me or asked something he SHOULD know, I'd smile and reply: "I'm not sure, but you'll be able to tell me tomorrow after you check tonight, won't you?" He invariably had the answer the next day...
...and now he's now one of the most capable die-hard Linux admins you'd want to see....
...a point hit home by the success of the "For Dummies/Idiots" series. It's one of the selling points of the books, and the reason why our shop recommends the series for neophytes....
And if you match that with a gun, surely the only solution is for everybody to carry fecking ridiculous big guns around?
The trick isn't to have the biggest gun; the trick is to have the most accurate shot. ANY yutz can spray a room with a machine gun, and even miss their target. One shot from a trained sniper, OTOH....
We have the exact circumstances that are necessary to have carbon-based extravagant life on any planet. We are the perfect distance from the sun, have the perfect atmosphere even the perfect combination of chemicals and gasses.
...as far as we're aware. These conditions may be on the outside range of the scale for all we know.
In my head, I see this report should an alien civilization arrive:
"Well, their planet has an uneven orbit; closer to the sun half of their "year". Their atmosphere is twice as thick, even while their gravity is half ours. The normal noble gas ratios are way off, and their oceans are highly saline; that's right, poor air, poison water. Frankly, I'm amazed life was able to get off the ground here!"
Would you really expose yourself to a "civilization"... that murders it's own population for a fuel source...?
Sure, if I thought I could get 'em to stop...
...and I'm fairly certain that aliens even just showing up here would put a kibosh on fighting world-wide for a week, minimum... at least, 'til the world's governments figured out whether they wanted to shoot at the aliens, instead.
Well said, and I have NO idea why you got modded 'bait because of it. Personally, I'd suggest the AC also research the difference 'tween "white-hat" and "black-hat" before arguing further.
Having some ethics problems? Don't paint everyone else with that brush, Bucko... At our job, we're proud to do honest work. We've found that shooting straight with your clients will bring 'em back more than the recently mentioned Geek Squad {and others, of course} file-stealing fiasco.
Don't bother lying on Slashdot...
Don't need to, and haven't in all the time I've posted here. I'm well aware that a lot of people try to be someone else online. I'm not one of 'em. I don't need to be. I stand by every one of my posts, whether {as is your right} you disagree with me or not.
You leech their music and porn collection, and teach them not to share out their download folder.
As if. First, any geek that can't find free porn on the web, IRC, and elsewhere is NOT looking. Even discounting copyrighted material, there's enough amateur material to keep you launching the hand shuttle for YEARS.
Second: As for any backups done, they're deleted 2 weeks after service. The only reason we keep it for that long is if/when the client deletes/can't find a file in the restored backup.
Third, I tell them simply what the law says: that it's illegal to share this stuff. I tell 'em that while the chances ARE low that they'll get popped, it IS a possibility. While I don't go into detail concerning long filenames and obscure {to them} extensions, I *do* mention that it makes it more likely to garner malware on your PC. Many of them don't even realize that sharing IS illegal {per my OP}, and are happy for the advice.
"Whichever legal download site suits their fancy"? Gimme a break!
Please. They exist. As mentioned in the news recently, some are even offering DRM-free music for 30-40 cents more. Suicide Girls would strike me as a popular soft-porn site, for starters. How about mail-order porn and toys right to your door? Why the surprise?
Their "fancy" means "all the free music/movies/porn I can download at my current bandwidth cap".
Once again, you're painting a lot of people with the same brush. Many people prefer to collect their entertainment media legally. It's usually less hassle.
If you know of a legal source for that, by all means feel free to correct me. See above for details...
I don't mind profit. You don't profit, you don't pay the bills. This goes beyond profit, however. This feels similar to the CD price-fixing lawsuit brought against BMG, EMI, Sony, and others in the late 90's/2000s.
I don't like the idea of bleeding a customer for every cent you think you can get...but that is, of course, just my opinion. Decide and think for yourself.
...were our brethren simply walking around with bug-sweepers? It'd be nice to find out what equipment she was using to record... Our shop also does CCTV work, and I've seen some scary new models/combos of concealed cameras/DVRs available. Shirt buttons, pen cams, wall clocks, ties, even sprinkler heads...
I'm becoming more and more inclined to start building an 'arsenal'.
No need for an "arsenal", as it were; Lara Croft and Hollywood aside, you can only accurately fire one at a time. Just get one firearm that you find you can handle easily. The folks at your local shooting range can give suggestions, or let you "test" various models and types that'll fit your purposes. Myself, I prefer my short-barrel 12-gauge shotgun. With the right load, it makes it less likely [over a pistol] that my neighbor will get hit if I miss. It also looks scary as hell to most, and the distinctive "CHAK-CHAK" of chambering a round has been known to get intruders to leave without a shot fired.
In addition, be SURE to check your local laws concerning the use of lethal force in home defense. Many areas/states/cities/countries have restrictions on the circumstances in which you can fire. Some suggest only if they're armed, while others just specify "illegal entry". You don't want to run afoul of the law here.
I've also heard at least a half-dozen cops [yes, cops] suggest the next trick, although I'd STRONGLY recommend against it:
Buy TWO firearms, they maintain... One perfectly legal, and another bought "on the street", serial number filed off. If someone breaks in, shoot 'em and put the "street" gun in their hand. Once again, I'd not recommend this: If you're caught, it's some pretty serious jail time.
All said and done, I wish you the best of luck on your {potential} firearm purchase, and pray you never have to actually USE it.
I'm not saying don't innovate, but what's the point of pissing and moaning when 90% can get higher speeds than they need for the time being? ....Maybe 'cause some would think that artificial, arbitrary service caps for no good reason [other than corporate profit] is not what we should have...?
For many, they don't even think it's illegal to download. After all, plenty of ISP ads are along the line: download music and movies at blazing speeds!
We get 'em in the shop all the time. They're convinced that because the web ad says "Pay a 'lifetime' membership and never pay for music again!" that it's legit. O' course most Slashdotters know what they get is a hacked torrent client and a LOT of liability. After a brief explanation of why this is a problem, they're referred to whichever legal download site suits their fancy. They thank us darn near every time, too.
Educate the Sheeple and they'll bleat your tune. Make sure it's the right one!
No. Actually, that technology give parents the fuzzy good feeling that they're in control. Newsflash: They're not.
Actually, yes. Yes, we are... unless the parent doesn't give a rat's ass what their kid does, in which case it's a neglect issue.
Did it work when your dad told you you are not supposed to go to that extremely important once-a-lifetime concert? Or did you sneak out?
He used blocking technology; he hid the car keys and set the house alarm. {Side note: It's a good thing he did, as that was the '86 concert a couple of kids got stabbed at.}
I'm not saying parents are ALWAYS right, but having them in control is {usually} better than some faceless government agency that doesn't care, or letting kids raise themselves.
The main problem I have had with Open Office is usually minor font and layout problems espectially moving from one system to an other (say from OO to Office.
...and this is different than the layout problems that converting to/from [Works / AbiWord / WordPerfect / insertyourfaveWPsolutionhere] engenders...how?
This isn't an OpenOffice problem, this is a standards problem.
All depends on which Bluetooth standard you're running, too. Feel free to check the chart over here for a speed comparison. It tries to show usable bandwidth rather than peak theoretical speeds, and looking at the numbers, I'm betting that the problem wasn't Bluetooth itself, but rather a butt-ugly implementation of it. My VoIP runs on far less bandwidth than the slowest BT standard.
Bluetooth wasn't meant for real-time communications...
Call me crazy, but don't many cell phones allow for Bluetooth headsets? T'would seem to be real-time enough...
mainly because there are a lot of problems in this world. some of which the usa helps with, some of which the usa hinders progress on. but rather than try to solve problems, a certain segment of the world (you) is more obsessed with blaming the usa for the problems than with actually fixing the problems
Fascinating. I said nothing of the sort. I'm not blaming the US for the world's woes, nor am I ignorant of the impact our actions have on the world. Bad way to start....
e'ts put it another way: pick a problem in the world. any problem at all. now, go ahead and do what you obviously do, and blame the usa for it. fact: when you do that, when you hold the usa as accountable and responsible for something, you implicitly expect them to clean it up (whether or not they are actually acountable for them in reality, as opposed to braindead propaganda)
Funny, I don't remember blaming the US for anything that we've not done. My observation, especially in the summary at the end, is boundary-transcending. It's a human problem, not a call for blind nationalism. Duh.
in other words, in the blame game, be careful what you ask for. by blaming the usa for world problems, you forever more bind them to the solution to the world's problems as well. can you indemnify an entity for a crime, and then expect them to not pay penance for that crime, to fix their mess? do you see why your "blame the usa" mentality works against your goal: the marginalization of the usa?
...and here is where you started to enter "tin-foil-hat" territory. I'm amused, actually; I've no idea why you think a military brat would have ANY interest in "the marginalization of the usa", nor which phrase you decided to turn to somehow believe this was my point. Let me make one point clear, however: Just because I love America does NOT mean I'll turn a blind eye to when we screw up. I vote with my wallet and at the voting booth. THAT is the way *I* decide to change the world around me....
i think some people say "look at how the usa screwed this up!" and then expect the usa to go away in shame for getting involved. except that's not how reality works. when you find someone guilty of a crime, you involve them further in that crime, because now they owe a debt they need to fix. no one breaks something, and then their punishment is to walk away and not fix their mess. that's not how reality works (except in some warped minds, like yours)
Thanks for the Beetlejuice flashback! "...and it keeps getting funnier EVERY time I see it..." Seriously, man, if you think that anyone who doesn't believe as you do is "warped", you're going to have a hard time getting through life. Y'see, America's supposed to be about choice, and I'm happy to exercise my freedom of speech. Emigrate if you find this idea repugnant. Let's skip the rest of the tired rhetoric and end with:
stupid, pathetic, typical, lowest common denominator, low iq. a replacement for critical thought. you don't have to think about a problem: something bad happened somewhere in the world? "usa's fault"
If you have to drop to name-calling to prove a point, you must not have much of a point to begin with....and before you try to show someone as "stupid", I'd STRONGLY recommend you check your basic spelling, grammar, and capitalization. In addition, you might want to actually read someone's posts before replying.... I know this is Slashdot, but ranting without reason rarely ends up well.
Slashdot Mirror
My roomies and I use it to choose movies all the time... Especially when we all want to watch something different, this has settled arguments before they start... and if I can explain the method to a raging alcoholic, the Sheeple should be trainable with minimal effort.
Using aviator's goggles with some low-intensity RGB LEDs inside the cup, each changing intensity randomly every sec or two or five, could you defeat the puke-saber?
{Ok, I never said it'd LOOK cool, but would it work?}
As you guessed, one of us was bored enough to try. When I tried with either lamp or bright flashlight, even rolling my eyes up, enough light was visible to be easily seen. A few questions came to mind:
1. Since the wavelength of the beam changes a bit as it filters through your tissue, is that why they had to have shifting frequencies? After all, FTA:
"There's one wavelength that gets everybody," says IOS President Bob Lieberman. "Vlad [IOS top scientist Vladimir Rubtsov] calls it 'the evil color.'"If one color gets everyone, why would they need "rapidly changing wavelengths", or did the reporter get their terminology mixed up?
2. Y'know that "pretty lights" effect you get when you rub your eyes? Would that be enough to throw off "the evil color"?
Agreed, and I try to work around it with the following question line to clients: "Say you have two drivers. One is familiar with the state Driver's Handbook and traffic laws, having read up on them. The other has just got behind the wheel for the first time. Which one do you think would get in more accidents, and why?"
Of COURSE you get the ones that'll politely nod, and then go right back to what they're used to doing. It IS gratifying, however, to see that lightbulb flicker on every so often...
When an intern of ours started working here, he'd ask question after question. I'd answer the tricky/ambiguous ones, but if he stumped me or asked something he SHOULD know, I'd smile and reply: "I'm not sure, but you'll be able to tell me tomorrow after you check tonight, won't you?" He invariably had the answer the next day...
...a point hit home by the success of the "For Dummies/Idiots" series. It's one of the selling points of the books, and the reason why our shop recommends the series for neophytes....
The trick isn't to have the biggest gun; the trick is to have the most accurate shot. ANY yutz can spray a room with a machine gun, and even miss their target. One shot from a trained sniper, OTOH....
...defeated, of course, by the nearest prowler with a drugged steak...
...as far as we're aware. These conditions may be on the outside range of the scale for all we know.
In my head, I see this report should an alien civilization arrive:
"Well, their planet has an uneven orbit; closer to the sun half of their "year". Their atmosphere is twice as thick, even while their gravity is half ours. The normal noble gas ratios are way off, and their oceans are highly saline; that's right, poor air, poison water. Frankly, I'm amazed life was able to get off the ground here!"Sure, if I thought I could get 'em to stop...
Well said, and I have NO idea why you got modded 'bait because of it. Personally, I'd suggest the AC also research the difference 'tween "white-hat" and "black-hat" before arguing further.
Having some ethics problems? Don't paint everyone else with that brush, Bucko... At our job, we're proud to do honest work. We've found that shooting straight with your clients will bring 'em back more than the recently mentioned Geek Squad {and others, of course} file-stealing fiasco.
Don't bother lying on Slashdot...Don't need to, and haven't in all the time I've posted here. I'm well aware that a lot of people try to be someone else online. I'm not one of 'em. I don't need to be. I stand by every one of my posts, whether {as is your right} you disagree with me or not.
You leech their music and porn collection, and teach them not to share out their download folder.As if. First, any geek that can't find free porn on the web, IRC, and elsewhere is NOT looking. Even discounting copyrighted material, there's enough amateur material to keep you launching the hand shuttle for YEARS.
Second: As for any backups done, they're deleted 2 weeks after service. The only reason we keep it for that long is if/when the client deletes/can't find a file in the restored backup.
Third, I tell them simply what the law says: that it's illegal to share this stuff. I tell 'em that while the chances ARE low that they'll get popped, it IS a possibility. While I don't go into detail concerning long filenames and obscure {to them} extensions, I *do* mention that it makes it more likely to garner malware on your PC. Many of them don't even realize that sharing IS illegal {per my OP}, and are happy for the advice.
"Whichever legal download site suits their fancy"? Gimme a break!Please. They exist. As mentioned in the news recently, some are even offering DRM-free music for 30-40 cents more. Suicide Girls would strike me as a popular soft-porn site, for starters. How about mail-order porn and toys right to your door? Why the surprise?
Their "fancy" means "all the free music/movies/porn I can download at my current bandwidth cap".Once again, you're painting a lot of people with the same brush. Many people prefer to collect their entertainment media legally. It's usually less hassle.
If you know of a legal source for that, by all means feel free to correct me. See above for details...I don't mind profit. You don't profit, you don't pay the bills. This goes beyond profit, however. This feels similar to the CD price-fixing lawsuit brought against BMG, EMI, Sony, and others in the late 90's/2000s.
I don't like the idea of bleeding a customer for every cent you think you can get...but that is, of course, just my opinion. Decide and think for yourself....were our brethren simply walking around with bug-sweepers? It'd be nice to find out what equipment she was using to record... Our shop also does CCTV work, and I've seen some scary new models/combos of concealed cameras/DVRs available. Shirt buttons, pen cams, wall clocks, ties, even sprinkler heads...
No need for an "arsenal", as it were; Lara Croft and Hollywood aside, you can only accurately fire one at a time. Just get one firearm that you find you can handle easily. The folks at your local shooting range can give suggestions, or let you "test" various models and types that'll fit your purposes. Myself, I prefer my short-barrel 12-gauge shotgun. With the right load, it makes it less likely [over a pistol] that my neighbor will get hit if I miss. It also looks scary as hell to most, and the distinctive "CHAK-CHAK" of chambering a round has been known to get intruders to leave without a shot fired.
In addition, be SURE to check your local laws concerning the use of lethal force in home defense. Many areas/states/cities/countries have restrictions on the circumstances in which you can fire. Some suggest only if they're armed, while others just specify "illegal entry". You don't want to run afoul of the law here.
I've also heard at least a half-dozen cops [yes, cops] suggest the next trick, although I'd STRONGLY recommend against it:
Buy TWO firearms, they maintain... One perfectly legal, and another bought "on the street", serial number filed off. If someone breaks in, shoot 'em and put the "street" gun in their hand. Once again, I'd not recommend this: If you're caught, it's some pretty serious jail time.
All said and done, I wish you the best of luck on your {potential} firearm purchase, and pray you never have to actually USE it.
The first image that came to mind when I read that?
Someone getting arrested for stealing the tires off a Yugo....
It's just not worth the trouble.
We get 'em in the shop all the time. They're convinced that because the web ad says "Pay a 'lifetime' membership and never pay for music again!" that it's legit. O' course most Slashdotters know what they get is a hacked torrent client and a LOT of liability. After a brief explanation of why this is a problem, they're referred to whichever legal download site suits their fancy. They thank us darn near every time, too.
Educate the Sheeple and they'll bleat your tune. Make sure it's the right one!
Actually, yes. Yes, we are... unless the parent doesn't give a rat's ass what their kid does, in which case it's a neglect issue.
Did it work when your dad told you you are not supposed to go to that extremely important once-a-lifetime concert? Or did you sneak out?He used blocking technology; he hid the car keys and set the house alarm. {Side note: It's a good thing he did, as that was the '86 concert a couple of kids got stabbed at.}
I'm not saying parents are ALWAYS right, but having them in control is {usually} better than some faceless government agency that doesn't care, or letting kids raise themselves.
...and this is different than the layout problems that converting to/from [Works / AbiWord / WordPerfect / insertyourfaveWPsolutionhere] engenders ...how?
This isn't an OpenOffice problem, this is a standards problem.
...possible for Jeff Smith to sue? After all, he came up with Phoney Bone first...
All depends on which Bluetooth standard you're running, too. Feel free to check the chart over here for a speed comparison. It tries to show usable bandwidth rather than peak theoretical speeds, and looking at the numbers, I'm betting that the problem wasn't Bluetooth itself, but rather a butt-ugly implementation of it. My VoIP runs on far less bandwidth than the slowest BT standard.
Call me crazy, but don't many cell phones allow for Bluetooth headsets? T'would seem to be real-time enough...
Actually, none of this exists; it's all just a fig newton of your amalgamation. ;)
Already did. I'm not being criminalized for being 70% deaf and needing to watch DVDs on my PC with headphones.
Fascinating. I said nothing of the sort. I'm not blaming the US for the world's woes, nor am I ignorant of the impact our actions have on the world. Bad way to start....
e'ts put it another way: pick a problem in the world. any problem at all. now, go ahead and do what you obviously do, and blame the usa for it. fact: when you do that, when you hold the usa as accountable and responsible for something, you implicitly expect them to clean it up (whether or not they are actually acountable for them in reality, as opposed to braindead propaganda)Funny, I don't remember blaming the US for anything that we've not done. My observation, especially in the summary at the end, is boundary-transcending. It's a human problem, not a call for blind nationalism. Duh.
in other words, in the blame game, be careful what you ask for. by blaming the usa for world problems, you forever more bind them to the solution to the world's problems as well. can you indemnify an entity for a crime, and then expect them to not pay penance for that crime, to fix their mess? do you see why your "blame the usa" mentality works against your goal: the marginalization of the usa?...and here is where you started to enter "tin-foil-hat" territory. I'm amused, actually; I've no idea why you think a military brat would have ANY interest in "the marginalization of the usa", nor which phrase you decided to turn to somehow believe this was my point. Let me make one point clear, however: Just because I love America does NOT mean I'll turn a blind eye to when we screw up. I vote with my wallet and at the voting booth. THAT is the way *I* decide to change the world around me....
i think some people say "look at how the usa screwed this up!" and then expect the usa to go away in shame for getting involved. except that's not how reality works. when you find someone guilty of a crime, you involve them further in that crime, because now they owe a debt they need to fix. no one breaks something, and then their punishment is to walk away and not fix their mess. that's not how reality works (except in some warped minds, like yours)Thanks for the Beetlejuice flashback! "...and it keeps getting funnier EVERY time I see it..." Seriously, man, if you think that anyone who doesn't believe as you do is "warped", you're going to have a hard time getting through life. Y'see, America's supposed to be about choice, and I'm happy to exercise my freedom of speech. Emigrate if you find this idea repugnant. Let's skip the rest of the tired rhetoric and end with:
stupid, pathetic, typical, lowest common denominator, low iq. a replacement for critical thought. you don't have to think about a problem: something bad happened somewhere in the world? "usa's fault"If you have to drop to name-calling to prove a point, you must not have much of a point to begin with....and before you try to show someone as "stupid", I'd STRONGLY recommend you check your basic spelling, grammar, and capitalization. In addition, you might want to actually read someone's posts before replying.... I know this is Slashdot, but ranting without reason rarely ends up well.