I'm with you. I grew up in the country and now live in the city. The slightest unusual noise and I'm awake. Thankfully both my kids can sleep through most noises, but this siren would probably be disturbing enough to wake them up, crying.
I hope this idea fails. The solution to blissed-out drivers is not to be louder and more annoying than them. I think the solution is to set power limits on stereo equipment, set limits on cell phone use and make drivers take tests every 5 years or so when they renew their licences.
Some people might think that infringes on their freedoms but I think it's a lot less infringing than a freaking sonic weapon blasting anyone and everyone in the vicinity.
We use strict policies on the desktop, and don't allow users to do things that are going to cause problems.
That must be a long list.
Seriously though, we use Macs in our office and one person here has the touch of death for computers. He was given a brand-new iMac running Leopard, clean install, and within a month he has managed to get the computer so bunged-up it won't even log out. What did he do? "Nothing," apparently.
I hate to say it, but things were better when the computers were mostly locked out by the previous tech, a permission nazi, and only a few computer-savvy people like myself with our collection of stolen passwords were able to make modifications. That's the only way to keep the PEBKACs from making things a splode.
True, because the rest of the book was "PREVIOUSLY, ON WHEEL OF TIME!"
I quit reading when the Winter of Whatever came out because I just didn't care anymore. I then got rid of all my books except "Eye of the World," the best in the series. Jordan should have planned and mapped out his series ahead of time, with a definitive end in mind, a la JK Rowling. Instead, his series went down the same road as Dune.
The year was 1945: the soldiers were coming home...this little store on Main Street, Vancouver, was given a big name. The store was named after London, England, the home of Canada's King, George VI. In the months after World War II, London Drugs carried the promise of peace and prosperity.
From the corporate site.
There isn't even a store in London, Ontario.
I'm with you, I've had too many ATI annoyances to jump back anytime soon. I've never had drivers bork my system as much as theirs (didn't uninstall the old ones first, then reboot and run as generic VGA first? ERROR... New drivers prevent Source engine games from launching... texture flickering... shadows look like ass... I could go on.)
And I find it interesting how perceptions have changed from nVidia being the plucky little guy, taking on big, bad Voodoo, to now being the big, bad guy monopoly company.
You're talking about the Canadian stores, right?
I won't miss them if they close. I either get stuff at the local independent computer shop, or Future Shop/London Drugs. The only thing I will miss, though, is they are the only place that still carries DIY stuff like resistors and solder and whatnot.
Yes, user lock-in to the application is what I was thinking of. They can keep you browsing in their window, and that way while you're looking for that song you want, you won't stumble upon it cheaper somewhere else, or think, "Hey I wonder if Amazon/whoever is selling it cheaper" and just abandon your purchase entirely.
I think one reason iTunes does so well is because it's a one-stop shopping trip, sure, you can probably find that song somewhere else, but it's here in iTunes now, you listened to it and liked it, it's just one click away from being yours... so I see the philosophy behind it, anyway. Works for me (only iTunes Plus though.)
In response to your other point, I run OS X at work and have changed the default browser to Firefox successfully.
And thanks to the other posters for analyzing the browser in iTunes, it's always puzzled me what it actually is.
why not let me do that from whatever browser I already have installed?
User lock-in? And I'm not saying the browser is a good or bad thing, just throwing out ideas here
Re:You do realize the other hobbies are the same?
on
How Do Games Grow Up?
·
· Score: 1
something by virtue more active, playing an instrument, car repair, computer repair, rock climbing, have delayed rewards and teach a great deal about fostering skill and having confidence in your abilities that have a much deeper and more lasting positive impact than passive forms of entertainment.
Very well-said.
While getting a perfect score in "Teen Girl Squad" in Episode 1 of the Strong Bad game gave me a sense of accomplishment and a good laugh, it was nothing compared to the victory I felt after successfully replacing the starter in my pickup truck or the euphoria I felt after nailing the last shingle on the roof of my shed or the satisfaction of figuring out how to successfully create and install a slipstreamed Windows XP disc.
I love gaming. It's taught me a lot and given me many hours of enjoyment and good memories. But it does not offer the "deeper and more lasting positive impact," as you put it, of more active accomplishments.
I like iTunes for all the reasons you mentioned. It has lots of great features I am still discovering (Genius is fun to play with). Recently I discovered I could put pictures of my family on my iPod and it syncs automatically. To add more, all I have to do is drag and drop jpegs into the appropriate folder for the next sync.
To the major criticism here, the automatic library updating, at first I thought it would have been better to automatically update the library from a directory, too, but I've concluded it's better to use the drag-and-drop method. I have some spoken word stuff on my music drive - interviews, sermons etc. - and that stuff just clutters up the music library when it gets auto-added. It's just easier to add new stuff as I rip it (yes, I still buy CDs and rip them with EAC:P )
The only thing that bothers me about iTunes - at least on PC - is the way it backs up all your preferences, playlists, playcounts and album artwork. I recently did an OS reinstall and it was a massive pain in the ass to restore those files. I thought I had done everything right and backed everything up, but I still had to rebuild the entire library. I thought I was saving time by leaving my music on a partition, and just backing up the iTunes library files. Wrong! Next time I'll just use the built-in backup feature, I have a faster DVD burner now so it shouldn't take too long.
Wait -- I just proof-read my post and there's one other thing that bugs me -- ripping CDs. I don't want to use AAC, personally I prefer ripping my MP3s with LAME because I think they sound better. iTunes' built-in ripping works great, but does not allow me to tinker with the settings as much as LAME. But that's pretty minor. EAC also has the added bonus of rigorous error-correction, eliminating popping and hissing. If iTunes ever adds LAME support, and that level of ripping error-correction, I won't need any other programs to manage my music.
what I really would like to know is why the fuck they thought it was a good idea to put a browser in the application by using mozilla code?!!
So they can someday build in a storefront/catalog browser? Like how iTunes appears to use some kind of hybrid Safari browser for the iTunes store? Or like how Steam uses Internet Explorer for its storefront and catalog browser? Just a thought.
You deserve to be modded up, that's a very good point. Too bad you posted AC!
I have been able to train my computer-illiterate father into something of an advanced amateur. I was able to walk him through flash-updating his BIOS over the phone, and he's since moved on to installing his own hardware and installing drivers and playing Half-Life 2 (never thought I'd see the day!)
I bet I could have got him using Linux by now using your method.
My theory is that people are just terrified of text - even though it's actually easier to fix things that way, they can more easily comprehend something with a graphical representation.
I think I agree with you, mostly, but I should probably say I think there's a difference between being "dumb" (not mute) and intelligence.
I'm sure there are a lot of criminals out there who score highly on IQ tests. But they do some incredibly idiotic things. Like the criminals who put hours of effort and high risk into stealing miles of copper wire off the telephone poles (although with current metal prices these kind of crimes probably will slow down).
Take these imbeciles, for example who were obviously intelligent enough to realize they could steal metal from locomotives to sell, and pulled it off, but were too dumb to realize or care that their $30 profit costs everyone -- including themselves -- who rely on the train's regular delivery of goods. They probably never even made the connection that if they cripple the trains, their local Wal-Mart won't be getting in that new shipment of XBox games for them to shove down their pants and shoplift next week.
They must be intelligent to plan these crimes and pull them off without getting caught. But they must be dumb, because for the amount of time and effort and risk they put into doing these things for less than a hundred bucks at the scrapyard, they could have got a real, legal, easier and safer job.
So the only conclusion I can make is criminals are dumb.
I could conceivably have proven you wrong, but I failed. Consider that support of your statement.
So if my post gets modded redundant, will yours too? Or will my perceived redundancy inevitably end up powering your snark-fueled post? What's the energy balance here?
Stop the cycle of madness now!
More sophisticated than some creep who keeps his kiddie porn files organized by horrific nature of abuse in his "My Pictures" file, yes. More sophisticated than someone who just downloads the stuff. And it did take several years to track him down and convict him.
He "swirled" it in such a way that it could be easily unswirled.
Maybe, but I read that Wikipedia article with dead links and "original research" too and I suspect it was a little tougher to unscramble than just running the filter in reverse.
I think you are correct. Most criminals are dumb. And I think you're right about this being a cash-saving tool. From the article:
The design concept is that any police person with adequate training could use the tool, so that when they go into a crime scene they can quickly review a computer for illicit images or videos.
Sounds like it relies more on officers' eyeballs than algorithms to do a quick scan for anything obvious. This tool will help them quickly move through the easy stuff, and allow them to focus time and resources on the more sophisticated criminals.
I could respond, but obviously you didn't read my post thoroughly, or the judgments I linked to, and you seem more interested in expressing your opinions about what you think the law should be than what it actually is, and how it is being interpreted by judges.
Don't let the facts get in the way of your opinion, OK? And I'm done here.
You make a good point, I'll take back some of my vitriol.
But I still think Canadian judges are all over the map and unreliable when it comes to making progressive, clear and decisive rulings about publications on the Internet. Compare the following three judgments from this year (which were in B.C. alone, I don't know what other judges in Canada are deciding). They all send different messages.
In this one a neo-Nazi in Fort St John is found guilty of defamation. One of the factors in the judgment is that his website contained links to hate websites. Isn't this exactly the opposite of the judgment in the p2pnet case?
In this case
a family wins a defamation judgment after complaining that a newspaper published an article, photo and cutline in print and on its website suggesting they may have been victims of a "grow-rip" (when people rob the individuals running a marijuana grow operation). The Internet connection here is that the judge didn't think the Internet publication, which continued for several months, was of much concern. Why not? There's just as good a chance that someone read the article online as there is someone read it in print.
Finally, How about this prize-winner: a Canadian judge awards an Australian $179,644.50 in damages over forum drama on a Usenet "alt.suicide.holiday" group. Does that mean we Slashdotters can sue each other for saying nasty things to each other? Heaven help us when this case gets cited as precedent.
I just don't think enough judges "get" the Internet yet, and the fact that their responses are all over the map proves it to me.
I think you'll agree that hacking and phreaking is different than some n00b using scripts to commit electronic crimes. Hacking something just for the sake of doing it, to learn how it works and to poke around in forbidden space, is different than stealing credit card numbers so you can buy the latest ecksbawks game.
Hacking is still illegal, but but it's not necessarily malicious, like stealing and using someone's credit card number.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm with you. I grew up in the country and now live in the city. The slightest unusual noise and I'm awake. Thankfully both my kids can sleep through most noises, but this siren would probably be disturbing enough to wake them up, crying.
I hope this idea fails. The solution to blissed-out drivers is not to be louder and more annoying than them. I think the solution is to set power limits on stereo equipment, set limits on cell phone use and make drivers take tests every 5 years or so when they renew their licences.
Some people might think that infringes on their freedoms but I think it's a lot less infringing than a freaking sonic weapon blasting anyone and everyone in the vicinity.
I think you mean Tarmon Gai'don and it hasn't happened yet. Or HAS it!
We use strict policies on the desktop, and don't allow users to do things that are going to cause problems.
That must be a long list.
Seriously though, we use Macs in our office and one person here has the touch of death for computers. He was given a brand-new iMac running Leopard, clean install, and within a month he has managed to get the computer so bunged-up it won't even log out. What did he do? "Nothing," apparently.
I hate to say it, but things were better when the computers were mostly locked out by the previous tech, a permission nazi, and only a few computer-savvy people like myself with our collection of stolen passwords were able to make modifications. That's the only way to keep the PEBKACs from making things a splode.
True, because the rest of the book was "PREVIOUSLY, ON WHEEL OF TIME!"
I quit reading when the Winter of Whatever came out because I just didn't care anymore. I then got rid of all my books except "Eye of the World," the best in the series. Jordan should have planned and mapped out his series ahead of time, with a definitive end in mind, a la JK Rowling. Instead, his series went down the same road as Dune.
C'mon mods, that was pretty funny!
I don't want to hurt customers who are just trying to play our game [so we are including a tube o' lube in each new box copy.]
TFA missed that part.
The year was 1945: the soldiers were coming home...this little store on Main Street, Vancouver, was given a big name. The store was named after London, England, the home of Canada's King, George VI. In the months after World War II, London Drugs carried the promise of peace and prosperity.
From the corporate site. There isn't even a store in London, Ontario.
I'm with you, I've had too many ATI annoyances to jump back anytime soon. I've never had drivers bork my system as much as theirs (didn't uninstall the old ones first, then reboot and run as generic VGA first? ERROR... New drivers prevent Source engine games from launching... texture flickering... shadows look like ass... I could go on.) And I find it interesting how perceptions have changed from nVidia being the plucky little guy, taking on big, bad Voodoo, to now being the big, bad guy monopoly company.
You're talking about the Canadian stores, right? I won't miss them if they close. I either get stuff at the local independent computer shop, or Future Shop/London Drugs. The only thing I will miss, though, is they are the only place that still carries DIY stuff like resistors and solder and whatnot.
Yes, user lock-in to the application is what I was thinking of. They can keep you browsing in their window, and that way while you're looking for that song you want, you won't stumble upon it cheaper somewhere else, or think, "Hey I wonder if Amazon/whoever is selling it cheaper" and just abandon your purchase entirely.
I think one reason iTunes does so well is because it's a one-stop shopping trip, sure, you can probably find that song somewhere else, but it's here in iTunes now, you listened to it and liked it, it's just one click away from being yours... so I see the philosophy behind it, anyway. Works for me (only iTunes Plus though.)
In response to your other point, I run OS X at work and have changed the default browser to Firefox successfully.
And thanks to the other posters for analyzing the browser in iTunes, it's always puzzled me what it actually is.
why not let me do that from whatever browser I already have installed?
User lock-in? And I'm not saying the browser is a good or bad thing, just throwing out ideas here
something by virtue more active, playing an instrument, car repair, computer repair, rock climbing, have delayed rewards and teach a great deal about fostering skill and having confidence in your abilities that have a much deeper and more lasting positive impact than passive forms of entertainment.
Very well-said.
While getting a perfect score in "Teen Girl Squad" in Episode 1 of the Strong Bad game gave me a sense of accomplishment and a good laugh, it was nothing compared to the victory I felt after successfully replacing the starter in my pickup truck or the euphoria I felt after nailing the last shingle on the roof of my shed or the satisfaction of figuring out how to successfully create and install a slipstreamed Windows XP disc.
I love gaming. It's taught me a lot and given me many hours of enjoyment and good memories. But it does not offer the "deeper and more lasting positive impact," as you put it, of more active accomplishments.
I like iTunes for all the reasons you mentioned. It has lots of great features I am still discovering (Genius is fun to play with). Recently I discovered I could put pictures of my family on my iPod and it syncs automatically. To add more, all I have to do is drag and drop jpegs into the appropriate folder for the next sync.
To the major criticism here, the automatic library updating, at first I thought it would have been better to automatically update the library from a directory, too, but I've concluded it's better to use the drag-and-drop method. I have some spoken word stuff on my music drive - interviews, sermons etc. - and that stuff just clutters up the music library when it gets auto-added. It's just easier to add new stuff as I rip it (yes, I still buy CDs and rip them with EAC :P )
The only thing that bothers me about iTunes - at least on PC - is the way it backs up all your preferences, playlists, playcounts and album artwork. I recently did an OS reinstall and it was a massive pain in the ass to restore those files. I thought I had done everything right and backed everything up, but I still had to rebuild the entire library. I thought I was saving time by leaving my music on a partition, and just backing up the iTunes library files. Wrong! Next time I'll just use the built-in backup feature, I have a faster DVD burner now so it shouldn't take too long.
Wait -- I just proof-read my post and there's one other thing that bugs me -- ripping CDs. I don't want to use AAC, personally I prefer ripping my MP3s with LAME because I think they sound better. iTunes' built-in ripping works great, but does not allow me to tinker with the settings as much as LAME. But that's pretty minor. EAC also has the added bonus of rigorous error-correction, eliminating popping and hissing. If iTunes ever adds LAME support, and that level of ripping error-correction, I won't need any other programs to manage my music.
what I really would like to know is why the fuck they thought it was a good idea to put a browser in the application by using mozilla code?!!
So they can someday build in a storefront/catalog browser? Like how iTunes appears to use some kind of hybrid Safari browser for the iTunes store? Or like how Steam uses Internet Explorer for its storefront and catalog browser? Just a thought.
You deserve to be modded up, that's a very good point. Too bad you posted AC!
I have been able to train my computer-illiterate father into something of an advanced amateur. I was able to walk him through flash-updating his BIOS over the phone, and he's since moved on to installing his own hardware and installing drivers and playing Half-Life 2 (never thought I'd see the day!)
I bet I could have got him using Linux by now using your method.
My theory is that people are just terrified of text - even though it's actually easier to fix things that way, they can more easily comprehend something with a graphical representation.
Come on mods, that was pretty funny!
Uliminati
The secreter, shadowier even more scarier elite wing of the Illuminati? Maybe this guy is on to something! Or just on something.
I think I agree with you, mostly, but I should probably say I think there's a difference between being "dumb" (not mute) and intelligence.
I'm sure there are a lot of criminals out there who score highly on IQ tests. But they do some incredibly idiotic things. Like the criminals who put hours of effort and high risk into stealing miles of copper wire off the telephone poles (although with current metal prices these kind of crimes probably will slow down).
Take these imbeciles, for example who were obviously intelligent enough to realize they could steal metal from locomotives to sell, and pulled it off, but were too dumb to realize or care that their $30 profit costs everyone -- including themselves -- who rely on the train's regular delivery of goods. They probably never even made the connection that if they cripple the trains, their local Wal-Mart won't be getting in that new shipment of XBox games for them to shove down their pants and shoplift next week.
They must be intelligent to plan these crimes and pull them off without getting caught. But they must be dumb, because for the amount of time and effort and risk they put into doing these things for less than a hundred bucks at the scrapyard, they could have got a real, legal, easier and safer job.
So the only conclusion I can make is criminals are dumb.
I could conceivably have proven you wrong, but I failed. Consider that support of your statement.
That's the funniest thing I've read all day :)
So if my post gets modded redundant, will yours too? Or will my perceived redundancy inevitably end up powering your snark-fueled post? What's the energy balance here? Stop the cycle of madness now!
That's funny, but it is exactly what happens in the Alberta oil sands.
Massive amounts of energy are used to extract oil from oil-saturated sand. The oil is then refined into gasoline, some of which inevitably ends up powering the extraction machinery.
You need a mod +1 ironic on top of the funny...
He "swirled" it in such a way that it could be easily unswirled.
Maybe, but I read that Wikipedia article with dead links and "original research" too and I suspect it was a little tougher to unscramble than just running the filter in reverse.
The design concept is that any police person with adequate training could use the tool, so that when they go into a crime scene they can quickly review a computer for illicit images or videos.
Sounds like it relies more on officers' eyeballs than algorithms to do a quick scan for anything obvious. This tool will help them quickly move through the easy stuff, and allow them to focus time and resources on the more sophisticated criminals.
I could respond, but obviously you didn't read my post thoroughly, or the judgments I linked to, and you seem more interested in expressing your opinions about what you think the law should be than what it actually is, and how it is being interpreted by judges.
Don't let the facts get in the way of your opinion, OK? And I'm done here.
You make a good point, I'll take back some of my vitriol.
But I still think Canadian judges are all over the map and unreliable when it comes to making progressive, clear and decisive rulings about publications on the Internet. Compare the following three judgments from this year (which were in B.C. alone, I don't know what other judges in Canada are deciding). They all send different messages.
In this one a neo-Nazi in Fort St John is found guilty of defamation. One of the factors in the judgment is that his website contained links to hate websites. Isn't this exactly the opposite of the judgment in the p2pnet case?
In this case a family wins a defamation judgment after complaining that a newspaper published an article, photo and cutline in print and on its website suggesting they may have been victims of a "grow-rip" (when people rob the individuals running a marijuana grow operation). The Internet connection here is that the judge didn't think the Internet publication, which continued for several months, was of much concern. Why not? There's just as good a chance that someone read the article online as there is someone read it in print.
Finally, How about this prize-winner: a Canadian judge awards an Australian $179,644.50 in damages over forum drama on a Usenet "alt.suicide.holiday" group. Does that mean we Slashdotters can sue each other for saying nasty things to each other? Heaven help us when this case gets cited as precedent.
I just don't think enough judges "get" the Internet yet, and the fact that their responses are all over the map proves it to me.
I think you'll agree that hacking and phreaking is different than some n00b using scripts to commit electronic crimes. Hacking something just for the sake of doing it, to learn how it works and to poke around in forbidden space, is different than stealing credit card numbers so you can buy the latest ecksbawks game.
Hacking is still illegal, but but it's not necessarily malicious, like stealing and using someone's credit card number.