This may seem simplistic, but, considering all the laptop parts companies out there right now, what about simply ordering a new shell that doesn't have a hole for the cam?
I always get a kick when our European cousins bring up the idea of cheap public transportation. In Europe, It can work. Here in the US. Not so much. I would like to see a major discussion about this topic. The pro's and the con's. I live in California, USA and the first major issue I see is earthquakes. We have a few from time to time. Also, the other major challenge we have is land mass. Things are much farther apart. Maybe at a city level this might work. Most EU countries are about the size of our cities, so that is a feasibility. What do others think on this matter? Is a cheap public transportation system possible that doesn't require armed guards at most stops, say, in downtown L.A.?
it's always good to claim you're "cutting the deficit" by cutting programs for the poor then giving out more money in tax cuts to the wealthy
I alwasy get a kick out of people pulling the same old bullshit "hurt the poor and help the rich" spiel. Seems the majority of the people have not clue one about economics. Here are some very over simplified basics.
Who is the largest group? The poor. Why? A defined welfare mentality propegated by the government and others who wish to redefine gov't by the people, of the people and for the people to people by the gov't and so on. Cut the entitlement programs and you save billions, force the broke minded in this nation to realise "Oh, hey! THey mean business! I can no longer sit on my arse and do nothing and wait for the check.", and actually increase the gdp because more people are forced to (oh! Wait for it!) educate themselves, raise themselves to a higher standard of living. We have so many programs out there (paid for by everyone else) that ANYONE, including the homeless on the street, can raise themselves well above their "station" and challenge the status quo.
Secondly, who creates the jobs that everyone is bitching about? The rich. Tax the rich into obvilion and guess what? They leave. Per capita, the rich pay so much more in taxes per year than most people gross! Guess what folks, the rich don't steal your pie. They don't take more than their fair share. When they receive tax breaks, they build bakeries and get a larger percent back because... (wait for it again) THEY DID THE DAMN WORK!!!
Get a clue and pull your dumb ass out of the abyss of socialism.
Short answer is Yes. The closed source of M$ *IS* preventing us from actively defending. AFAIK, M$ feels that they will get around to it or another company will step up to fill in the gap forcing us either way, to purchase yet another piece of software or the uber upgrade. Kinda like the insurance industry.
Joe Consumer: "Do I really need this?"
Co. Thug: "No, not at all. However, you never know when you may have an accident."
Well said. Too many topics are "Off-Limits" these days. If they can't be discussed then they will have no answer and be subject to who is stronger or who has the most money.
Unlike cake batter, once the egg and sperm come together, either naturally or technologically, it will become a human being. It won't become a dog or a hamster or a teradactyl. It will become a human child.
That point made, I agree with the point that a stance must be made and maintained. I had completely forgotten about invitro. That will add to my thoughts. Thank you.
...This just. Intergalactic highway r-405-g, was brought to an atomic halt when a space trucker from Andromeda's Pure Cane Sugar (IG Stk: APCS) planet blew an airlock and 40million cubic meters of the sweet stuff was left over 38 light years. APCS has denied any wrong doing but said that clean efforts would begin immeadiately. The trucker in question was later found at the Orion Unemployment Office, Nebulous Division. When asked for comment, he stated "I don't know what happened! One minute I was cruisen at 30 parsecs the next thing kablooie!! Everything went nova! I think the IGPF [Intergalactic Police Force] said something about triffles or truffles or something like that." We will have further updates as they become available. In other news...
my light pollution issue was to connect everything to multiple surge protectors. My 21" monitor, system, speakers and sub, camera adapter and charger are connected to a strip on my desk. My wife has all of her gear coneected through a strip on her desk. Then I have the electrical board which contains the DSL modem, D-Link router and NGear switch on it's own strip. At night or if I am going away for a few days, everything goes through a shut down. Boxes go off then all the strips are turned off. Light goes away, and the crickets come out because the noise pollution has gone away as well:-). A definite side benifit that I have noticed over the few months I have been doing this is that my eletrical bill has decreased significantly. Anyway, that what I do and it works for me. Maybe you can experiment a bit and see what might work for you. Cheers.
Yes it must be understood that the Bush Administration has not kept everything above board as they should have. It must also be understood that Teddy Kennedy is a slim and trim upright, 100% patriotic, 100% pro-democracy American that has absolutely no ties to organized crime what so ever. Yeah right.
Michael Moore's film is a laughable and blatant attempt to discredit the current administration and push the Democrats Socialist agenda. He calls it a Documentary. Like the rest of his work, that is a statement based on falehoods and twisting of words.
He has a very clever film editor. If you notice in the movie, all the clips are Bush bashing, soldier bashing and America bashing. This man is so full of hate it is near terrifying. Anyway, I am tired of typing about a traitorous idiot, so I will leave you with a true fact. The definition of Documentary.
From The New Webster's Dictionary
Document 1.n. An official paper that gives information or supplies evidence 2. To support or supply with documents Documentary 3. set down in writing Documentaries n 4. a documentary film
So he has supposedly created an official film to provide information and evidence. IE It should be based on truth from BOTH sides and present ALL the facts to be considered a documentary. What Moore has created is a patently political, incredibly biased, piece of garbage, propaganda film. Nuff said.
When you download a game, it is not the same. All you get are bits and bytes. When you buy it from the store or have the actual box shipped to you, its kinda like a sick version of Christmas. It's the art work and holding the manual that the "Designers Made". I remember when I bought Ultima IV for the C64. The box was HUGE!!! I opened that monstrosity and I pulled out the cloth map, the METAL ankh, the instruction book, the book of virtues, and the spell book. It was awesome! Yes, IMHO, it is far better to have something corporeal in your hands than just bits&bytes.
You must be freaking stupid or just one of those "Pop-Culturally Correct". You obviously did not read the story. Let's take this point for point...
"...but at some point in their past, the families had pledged themselves to unpaid labor in return for loans of money."
This part sounds an awfull lot like a bank loan. You go to the bank, say "I need money for." Bank says "Sure, we charge this interest rate and have these processing fees." You say "That sounds good." Merry Christmas, you have just agreed to be in debt. Don't even try and tell me that it isn't the same. Just because they are working to repay the debt, does not mean that they are in Slavery. Look to Japan for another example. Housing is in such high demand and there is so little of it, that now mortgage companies over there are offering 99 year home loans. Guess what kids. Think that loan will be repaid in the lives of the original loanees?? Hmm??
Next set...
"After three months, the group had enough to pay off the loan against which Meera was bonded. She began earning money for her work, which greatly increased the amount she could contribute to the group. In another two months, another woman was freed; the following month, a third came out of bondage."
In this instance a group of people banded together to help each other get out from under the debt. That is awesome! That actually reaffirms my faith that humanity can work together to each others benefit without resorting to a Socialistic System. However the key point here is that THEY PAID OFF THE DEBT!!!! Happy New Year you now own your home because you had enough common sense to put aside a little bit extra from your paycheck AND applied it to the principle of the loan! Wow. Economics. Gotta love it.:-)
Next...
"At that point, the other members, seeing that freedom was possible, simply renounced their debts and declared themselves free."
This is commonly referred to as BANKRUPTCY. However, they apparently did not file the correct paperwork because...
"The moneylenders quickly moved against them, threatening them and driving them from the quarries."
This is generally what happens when you DON'T pay your bills. Whether you think they are just or not is irrelevent(sp?). Sorry Joe HomeOwner, you didn't pay your mortgage so we are forced to foreclose on OUR home. You do realize that unless you completely pay off your homeloan/carloan/stereo loan that you do not own it, right?;-)
Next...
"His master called him "my halvaha," meaning "my bonded plowman."
Ok, this one is easy. Let's look at the word BONDED...
Definition: \Bond"ed\, a. Placed under, or covered by, a bond, as for the payment of duties, or for conformity to certain regulations.
Hmmm. Looks like Joe Plowman up there owed monies or goods of some sort. Again, this sounds like a normal business transaction. Only that all the "legal" terms have been replaced with ugly terms. I guess that is where political correctness comes in.;-) Also, because he did not have enough courage, fortitude and perseverence to make it on his own, he re-bonded himself.
"After my wife received this money, we paid off our debt and were free to do whatever we wanted. But I was worried all the time--what if one of the children got sick? What if our crop failed? What if the government wanted some money? Since we no longer belonged to the landlord, we didn't get food every day as before. Finally, I went to the landlord and asked him to take me back. I didn't have to borrow any money, but he agreed to let me be his halvaha again. Now I don't worry so much; I know what to do."
In other words he GOT A JOB!!!
Just because you are living in a country that has become so incredibly sanitized in our speech, do not assume that you know what the hell is going on!! You are ignorant of your OWN plight in this land. Do you have a car loan? How about a house loan? Wh
Call me silly... but, isn't water evaporation part of the cycle of weather? Take out one part and the machine doesn't work. I hope that this "technology" is not used on a large scale. The implications concerning local weather patterns could be devastating.
It is an exercise in futility to continually castigate the guy about prior art this and prior art that. As everyone should know, the patent office is slow as snot in mid-winter while technology just now shifted into third gear with 4 more to go.
Technology is advancing so fast that any patent filed today would be nearly obsolete by the time it is finally awarded. Also, according to the story, the PTO went through this patent with a fine toothed comb. That added even more time. All the while, technology is speeding forward.
Wether you like it or not, his patents *appear* to be valid and no amount of whining will change that. This is something that is going to have to be decided in court. Yes, IBM patents everything under the sun as well but no one seems to bitch about them. "Hey, it's IBM. It's what they do." Get over it. Even IBM might not be able to get around this one.
One guy had the fore-thought and insight to think of web services before web services was even a solid concept. So what. Making fun of him with idiotic theories will not change matters. Get over it.
What I am saying, is that every now and again individuals, with out the help from multi-billion dollar conglomerates, can sometimes come up with multi-billion dollar ideas. Get over it. Move on. Nothing to see here.
Think about the numbers here... 8,500,000 X $49.95 ---------- $424,575,000
Does anyone have more concrete numbers? Cost to manufacture, advertisement, packaging... ETc...
I mean those are freakin' HUGE!! numbers for one game. What kind of profit is that??
SOunds like an ATM.
on
Cashless Society
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· Score: 2, Insightful
You have a piece of plastic. Used as a debit, the transaction is completed immediately, as in, the funds are withdrawn from your account. Id used as a Visa/Mastercard, the funds take a few days to withdraw. Personaly, I would not use it as the supposed lack of security. Also, from the paranoid aspect, Big Brother could track every transaction made. Isn't that what our US Gov't is trying to do? I happen to like my privacy and to those people who say "well, if you havn't done anything wrong, you have nothing to hide." I say take a flying leap.
Normally, I would agree. However, the police have a workaround for those individuals that are non-accomodating. They have a pretty little form that they want you to sign that gives them permission to search your vehicle. If you refuse, this, of course, sends up a red flag to the police. They then "detain" you by putting you in handcuffs (for your protection and theirs) and have you sit along side their cruiser. They then contact HQ and order a K-9 unit to come a sniff your car. This process can take anywhere from 45min to over 3 hours. They use your denial of access as probable cause. If they find nothing, then you are free to go with absolutely no recourse because they did not "arrest" you, they simply "detained" you (huge difference) which is well within the law. Of course, if they DO find something, then you have much bigger issues to contend with!;-O
He did not exploit a position of trust. He exploited a position of "mis" trust. Any phone operator, help desk personnel, or anyone who has access to accounts, who picks up an outside line, ABSOLUTELY MUST operate from a position of mistrust. Just about every company has security guidelines that phone personnel are required to follow. Companies that do not have guidelines in place, are fools. Companies that do not enforce the guidelines that are in place, are even bigger fools. It is those guidelines that provide the first line of defense against illegal access/activity on a customers account. It is the responsibility of the company to provide that "REASONABLE" level security. However, and sadly, the term "Reasonable" is subject to very wide interpretations.
The majority of companies out there are unable or unwilling to provide this reasonable level of security because security costs money. As such, security affects the bottom line. Top executives, providing as little funding for security as possible, still attempt to maintain the facade that they are "protecting" their customers personnal data. All in the name of profits and the "Bottom Line".
The fact that Kevin, and/or his cohorts, was able to talk his way past the phone trolls, proves this point. Those companies did not spend the proper amount to have the Phone Trolls trained. They did not spend the necessary amount to ensure that proper oversite for the phone trolls was in place. In essence, those companies that were damaged were more worried about the bottom line, than about the information they were supposed to be protecting. This is a major problem that is even more prevalent in todays sluggish economy.
The current day and age brings about even more opportunities for h4x0rs to gain illegal access to systems. With the advent of the internet and new user sign ups growing at an exponential rate, targets of opportunities are springing up everywhere. Also, new internet companies (and old brick and mortar companies who are putting their "presence" on the net) are providing even more targets. They do not seem to understand the need for security or their knowledge of security is minimalistic at best. New and old companies seem to believe that anyone who can produce a business card and "assure" them that they can protect their systems, will provide that ellusive "Silver Bullet". Again, it points to a companys' over-riding dedication to reducing the bottom line. Security costs money. What many companies and investors fail to realise, is that the lack of security, or under-powered security, will absolutely bury their bottom line.
Actually, my systems run 24/7. I do my best never to turn them off. Thanks for the info on the warranty. I will check seagates site. I thought 4 years was pretty darn good for a hard drive. Another question: Is running IDE drives 24/7 bad for them when, as you say, they are designed for multiple power on/off cycles?
Turning the system on and off all the time is bad as well. Power surges for the device powering up and also shutting down. I had a Seagate 15K rpm Cheetah that recently took a dump. No special filtering, no real cooling scheme to speak off. It ran for 4 years almost to the day. Then during a load of windows, it said bye-bye. Found out the motor crapped out.
IMHO, I don't think that the conditions drives are subjected to in everyday home computers will make that much of a difference. It would take continued extremem heat or continued extreme vibrations to really affect the drives perfomance or longevity. The vibrations from an 80 mm fan would not be enough to really be a determining factor. Might be ancillary but I don't think so.
This is a way that companies are getting around the gpl, lgpl, et al... I am not surprised by this tactic at all. With the economy the way it is, IT spending is at a near all time low. Companies scrambling for survival are going to use any and every dirty trick in the book. A previous post at the right of it. Post a review with the 20% relevant info and dump the rest. Reverse it on them. They use the law to get around issues they don't like or that affect the bottom line (read Cable Companies), so why not us?
Here is a letter that I sent to Anti-Leech support...
Greetings,
I am disappointed with your service. As stated in your FAQ, I am one of many that already pays to be online. I understand that webmasters need to make a living, however, Doubleclick and other advertising companies are getting more rich off webmasters because the webmaster only gets a pitence of the revenue generated from companies like Doubleclick.
The simple fact that you have taken it upon yourselves to provide this service is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing in that, it assists webmasters, who subscribe to your service, in attaining a paycheck. It is a curse in that, you have now removed that website from places I would like to visit. In essence, you are hindering rather than assisting the webmasters.
I block pop-ups and banners because I do not want to receive spam. I do not want my information stolen from me and sold to the highest bidder. I value my privacy and you should value your privacy as well. How much spam do you receive?
The reason I would visit a web page is because I found something interesting and what I felt was of value. Too many times have I visited web pages only to be bombarded and completely distracted by banners and pop-ups hawking services and products that I either have no interest in or don't use. What I wanted was to see the article or the product that I came to the web site for in the first place. By implementing your service, webmasters have now blocked and more than likely, irrevocably lost business due to the fact that we netizens value our privacy.
If we do not block pop-ups and banners, then our information is stolen by bots, processed, and sold. We, the viewer, receive no compensation for this injustice. Yes it costs the webmasters money to maintain a site. It costs us to even access the internet. Who do we block to receive just compensation for our time and bandwidth? It is a two way street. You cannot say that we are stealing when you are not compensating us. I reiterate, that we only visit a site because we found something in interest or of value. Are individuals sought out by law inforcement if they pass by a store front and don't stop to look at the ads in the window?
If we visit a brick and morter store and see something we might like to buy, but are then blasted with signs and sales-persons trying to sell us everything else that we are not interested in, including going to another store, are we to be fined, imprisoned, hunted down like rabbits? I don't think so. Myself, if I walk into a store and I am harrassed by a pushy salesperson, I am more than likely to walk out of that store never to return and I will tell all my frinends as well. Unintended consequences are a real pain.
Please remember. The Internet and the WWW were not intended to be a service for businesses and mass marketers. It was originally intended for research and to link people together. It was some rather savvy entrepreneurs who discovered that you could make a profit on the net.
I ask one final question. Your site is named Anti-Leech. You are in the business of providing blocks against those who would "Leech" or as you put it, "Steal" profits from a web site. We viewers, pay to access the net. We pay to conduct business on the net. We pay to be entertained on the net. Who exactely is the leech here? Thank you for your time. I look forward to your response.
Not sure if they will respond but if they do I will post immeadiately to/.
I left Verizon. It has been said before and I shall say it again. Use your dollars to express your opinion. It is the only thing that big corps like Verizon, et al... respect. It is the only thing that gets their attention. I have Nextel now and love the 2-way radio feature. On top of it all, Nextel service is so far and above that of Verizon, it's almost humerous.:-)
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This may seem simplistic, but, considering all the laptop parts companies out there right now, what about simply ordering a new shell that doesn't have a hole for the cam?
I always get a kick when our European cousins bring up the idea of cheap public transportation. In Europe, It can work. Here in the US. Not so much. I would like to see a major discussion about this topic. The pro's and the con's. I live in California, USA and the first major issue I see is earthquakes. We have a few from time to time. Also, the other major challenge we have is land mass. Things are much farther apart. Maybe at a city level this might work. Most EU countries are about the size of our cities, so that is a feasibility. What do others think on this matter? Is a cheap public transportation system possible that doesn't require armed guards at most stops, say, in downtown L.A.?
Is that Anal Glaucoma? 'Cause you can't see you ass going inot work? ;-)
it's always good to claim you're "cutting the deficit" by cutting programs for the poor then giving out more money in tax cuts to the wealthy
I alwasy get a kick out of people pulling the same old bullshit "hurt the poor and help the rich" spiel. Seems the majority of the people have not clue one about economics. Here are some very over simplified basics.
Who is the largest group? The poor. Why? A defined welfare mentality propegated by the government and others who wish to redefine gov't by the people, of the people and for the people to people by the gov't and so on. Cut the entitlement programs and you save billions, force the broke minded in this nation to realise "Oh, hey! THey mean business! I can no longer sit on my arse and do nothing and wait for the check.", and actually increase the gdp because more people are forced to (oh! Wait for it!) educate themselves, raise themselves to a higher standard of living. We have so many programs out there (paid for by everyone else) that ANYONE, including the homeless on the street, can raise themselves well above their "station" and challenge the status quo.
Secondly, who creates the jobs that everyone is bitching about? The rich. Tax the rich into obvilion and guess what? They leave. Per capita, the rich pay so much more in taxes per year than most people gross! Guess what folks, the rich don't steal your pie. They don't take more than their fair share. When they receive tax breaks, they build bakeries and get a larger percent back because... (wait for it again) THEY DID THE DAMN WORK!!!
Get a clue and pull your dumb ass out of the abyss of socialism.
Short answer is Yes. The closed source of M$ *IS* preventing us from actively defending. AFAIK, M$ feels that they will get around to it or another company will step up to fill in the gap forcing us either way, to purchase yet another piece of software or the uber upgrade. Kinda like the insurance industry.
Joe Consumer: "Do I really need this?"
Co. Thug: "No, not at all. However, you never know when you may have an accident."
Well said. Too many topics are "Off-Limits" these days. If they can't be discussed then they will have no answer and be subject to who is stronger or who has the most money.
Unlike cake batter, once the egg and sperm come together, either naturally or technologically, it will become a human being. It won't become a dog or a hamster or a teradactyl. It will become a human child.
That point made, I agree with the point that a stance must be made and maintained. I had completely forgotten about invitro. That will add to my thoughts. Thank you.
"I guess in Soviet America, games shoot you. How many law suits would this cause based on unknown heart conditions?"
:-)
Spoken like a true liberal.
...This just. Intergalactic highway r-405-g, was brought to an atomic halt when a space trucker from Andromeda's Pure Cane Sugar (IG Stk: APCS) planet blew an airlock and 40million cubic meters of the sweet stuff was left over 38 light years. APCS has denied any wrong doing but said that clean efforts would begin immeadiately. The trucker in question was later found at the Orion Unemployment Office, Nebulous Division. When asked for comment, he stated "I don't know what happened! One minute I was cruisen at 30 parsecs the next thing kablooie!! Everything went nova! I think the IGPF [Intergalactic Police Force] said something about triffles or truffles or something like that." We will have further updates as they become available. In other news...
my light pollution issue was to connect everything to multiple surge protectors. My 21" monitor, system, speakers and sub, camera adapter and charger are connected to a strip on my desk. My wife has all of her gear coneected through a strip on her desk. Then I have the electrical board which contains the DSL modem, D-Link router and NGear switch on it's own strip. At night or if I am going away for a few days, everything goes through a shut down. Boxes go off then all the strips are turned off. Light goes away, and the crickets come out because the noise pollution has gone away as well :-). A definite side benifit that I have noticed over the few months I have been doing this is that my eletrical bill has decreased significantly. Anyway, that what I do and it works for me. Maybe you can experiment a bit and see what might work for you. Cheers.
Yes it must be understood that the Bush Administration has not kept everything above board as they should have. It must also be understood that Teddy Kennedy is a slim and trim upright, 100% patriotic, 100% pro-democracy American that has absolutely no ties to organized crime what so ever. Yeah right.
Michael Moore's film is a laughable and blatant attempt to discredit the current administration and push the Democrats Socialist agenda. He calls it a Documentary. Like the rest of his work, that is a statement based on falehoods and twisting of words.
He has a very clever film editor. If you notice in the movie, all the clips are Bush bashing, soldier bashing and America bashing. This man is so full of hate it is near terrifying. Anyway, I am tired of typing about a traitorous idiot, so I will leave you with a true fact. The definition of Documentary.
From The New Webster's Dictionary
Document 1.n. An official paper that gives information or supplies evidence
2. To support or supply with documents Documentary
3. set down in writing
Documentaries n 4. a documentary film
So he has supposedly created an official film to provide information and evidence. IE It should be based on truth from BOTH sides and present ALL the facts to be considered a documentary. What Moore has created is a patently political, incredibly biased, piece of garbage, propaganda film. Nuff said.
When you download a game, it is not the same. All you get are bits and bytes. When you buy it from the store or have the actual box shipped to you, its kinda like a sick version of Christmas. It's the art work and holding the manual that the "Designers Made". I remember when I bought Ultima IV for the C64. The box was HUGE!!! I opened that monstrosity and I pulled out the cloth map, the METAL ankh, the instruction book, the book of virtues, and the spell book. It was awesome! Yes, IMHO, it is far better to have something corporeal in your hands than just bits&bytes.
You must be freaking stupid or just one of those "Pop-Culturally Correct". You obviously did not read the story. Let's take this point for point...
." Bank says "Sure, we charge this interest rate and have these processing fees." You say "That sounds good." Merry Christmas, you have just agreed to be in debt. Don't even try and tell me that it isn't the same. Just because they are working to repay the debt, does not mean that they are in Slavery. Look to Japan for another example. Housing is in such high demand and there is so little of it, that now mortgage companies over there are offering 99 year home loans. Guess what kids. Think that loan will be repaid in the lives of the original loanees?? Hmm??
:-)
;-)
;-) Also, because he did not have enough courage, fortitude and perseverence to make it on his own, he re-bonded himself.
"...but at some point in their past, the families had pledged themselves to unpaid labor in return for loans of money."
This part sounds an awfull lot like a bank loan. You go to the bank, say "I need money for
Next set...
"After three months, the group had enough to pay off the loan against which Meera was bonded. She began earning money for her work, which greatly increased the amount she could contribute to the group. In another two months, another woman was freed; the following month, a third came out of bondage."
In this instance a group of people banded together to help each other get out from under the debt. That is awesome! That actually reaffirms my faith that humanity can work together to each others benefit without resorting to a Socialistic System. However the key point here is that THEY PAID OFF THE DEBT!!!! Happy New Year you now own your home because you had enough common sense to put aside a little bit extra from your paycheck AND applied it to the principle of the loan! Wow. Economics. Gotta love it.
Next...
"At that point, the other members, seeing that freedom was possible, simply renounced their debts and declared themselves free."
This is commonly referred to as BANKRUPTCY. However, they apparently did not file the correct paperwork because...
"The moneylenders quickly moved against them, threatening them and driving them from the quarries."
This is generally what happens when you DON'T pay your bills. Whether you think they are just or not is irrelevent(sp?). Sorry Joe HomeOwner, you didn't pay your mortgage so we are forced to foreclose on OUR home. You do realize that unless you completely pay off your homeloan/carloan/stereo loan that you do not own it, right?
Next...
"His master called him "my halvaha," meaning "my bonded plowman."
Ok, this one is easy. Let's look at the word BONDED...
Definition: \Bond"ed\, a. Placed under, or covered by, a bond, as for the payment
of duties, or for conformity to certain regulations.
Hmmm. Looks like Joe Plowman up there owed monies or goods of some sort. Again, this sounds like a normal business transaction. Only that all the "legal" terms have been replaced with ugly terms. I guess that is where political correctness comes in.
"After my wife received this money, we paid off our debt and were free to do whatever we wanted. But I was worried all the time--what if one of the children got sick? What if our crop failed? What if the government wanted some money? Since we no longer belonged to the landlord, we didn't get food every day as before. Finally, I went to the landlord and asked him to take me back. I didn't have to borrow any money, but he agreed to let me be his halvaha again. Now I don't worry so much; I know what to do."
In other words he GOT A JOB!!!
Just because you are living in a country that has become so incredibly sanitized in our speech, do not assume that you know what the hell is going on!! You are ignorant of your OWN plight in this land. Do you have a car loan? How about a house loan? Wh
Call me silly... but, isn't water evaporation part of the cycle of weather? Take out one part and the machine doesn't work. I hope that this "technology" is not used on a large scale. The implications concerning local weather patterns could be devastating.
It is an exercise in futility to continually castigate the guy about prior art this and prior art that. As everyone should know, the patent office is slow as snot in mid-winter while technology just now shifted into third gear with 4 more to go.
Technology is advancing so fast that any patent filed today would be nearly obsolete by the time it is finally awarded. Also, according to the story, the PTO went through this patent with a fine toothed comb. That added even more time. All the while, technology is speeding forward.
Wether you like it or not, his patents *appear* to be valid and no amount of whining will change that. This is something that is going to have to be decided in court. Yes, IBM patents everything under the sun as well but no one seems to bitch about them. "Hey, it's IBM. It's what they do." Get over it. Even IBM might not be able to get around this one.
One guy had the fore-thought and insight to think of web services before web services was even a solid concept. So what. Making fun of him with idiotic theories will not change matters. Get over it.
What I am saying, is that every now and again individuals, with out the help from multi-billion dollar conglomerates, can sometimes come up with multi-billion dollar ideas. Get over it. Move on. Nothing to see here.
Think about the numbers here...
8,500,000
X $49.95
----------
$424,575,000
Does anyone have more concrete numbers? Cost to manufacture, advertisement, packaging... ETc...
I mean those are freakin' HUGE!! numbers for one game. What kind of profit is that??
You have a piece of plastic. Used as a debit, the transaction is completed immediately, as in, the funds are withdrawn from your account. Id used as a Visa/Mastercard, the funds take a few days to withdraw. Personaly, I would not use it as the supposed lack of security. Also, from the paranoid aspect, Big Brother could track every transaction made. Isn't that what our US Gov't is trying to do? I happen to like my privacy and to those people who say "well, if you havn't done anything wrong, you have nothing to hide." I say take a flying leap.
Normally, I would agree. However, the police have a workaround for those individuals that are non-accomodating. They have a pretty little form that they want you to sign that gives them permission to search your vehicle. If you refuse, this, of course, sends up a red flag to the police. They then "detain" you by putting you in handcuffs (for your protection and theirs) and have you sit along side their cruiser. They then contact HQ and order a K-9 unit to come a sniff your car. This process can take anywhere from 45min to over 3 hours. They use your denial of access as probable cause. If they find nothing, then you are free to go with absolutely no recourse because they did not "arrest" you, they simply "detained" you (huge difference) which is well within the law. Of course, if they DO find something, then you have much bigger issues to contend with! ;-O
He did not exploit a position of trust. He exploited a position of "mis" trust. Any phone operator, help desk personnel, or anyone who has access to accounts, who picks up an outside line, ABSOLUTELY MUST operate from a position of mistrust. Just about every company has security guidelines that phone personnel are required to follow. Companies that do not have guidelines in place, are fools. Companies that do not enforce the guidelines that are in place, are even bigger fools. It is those guidelines that provide the first line of defense against illegal access/activity on a customers account. It is the responsibility of the company to provide that "REASONABLE" level security. However, and sadly, the term "Reasonable" is subject to very wide interpretations.
The majority of companies out there are unable or unwilling to provide this reasonable level of security because security costs money. As such, security affects the bottom line. Top executives, providing as little funding for security as possible, still attempt to maintain the facade that they are "protecting" their customers personnal data. All in the name of profits and the "Bottom Line".
The fact that Kevin, and/or his cohorts, was able to talk his way past the phone trolls, proves this point. Those companies did not spend the proper amount to have the Phone Trolls trained. They did not spend the necessary amount to ensure that proper oversite for the phone trolls was in place. In essence, those companies that were damaged were more worried about the bottom line, than about the information they were supposed to be protecting. This is a major problem that is even more prevalent in todays sluggish economy.
The current day and age brings about even more opportunities for h4x0rs to gain illegal access to systems. With the advent of the internet and new user sign ups growing at an exponential rate, targets of opportunities are springing up everywhere. Also, new internet companies (and old brick and mortar companies who are putting their "presence" on the net) are providing even more targets. They do not seem to understand the need for security or their knowledge of security is minimalistic at best. New and old companies seem to believe that anyone who can produce a business card and "assure" them that they can protect their systems, will provide that ellusive "Silver Bullet". Again, it points to a companys' over-riding dedication to reducing the bottom line. Security costs money. What many companies and investors fail to realise, is that the lack of security, or under-powered security, will absolutely bury their bottom line.
Actually, my systems run 24/7. I do my best never to turn them off. Thanks for the info on the warranty. I will check seagates site. I thought 4 years was pretty darn good for a hard drive. Another question: Is running IDE drives 24/7 bad for them when, as you say, they are designed for multiple power on/off cycles?
Turning the system on and off all the time is bad as well. Power surges for the device powering up and also shutting down. I had a Seagate 15K rpm Cheetah that recently took a dump. No special filtering, no real cooling scheme to speak off. It ran for 4 years almost to the day. Then during a load of windows, it said bye-bye. Found out the motor crapped out.
IMHO, I don't think that the conditions drives are subjected to in everyday home computers will make that much of a difference. It would take continued extremem heat or continued extreme vibrations to really affect the drives perfomance or longevity. The vibrations from an 80 mm fan would not be enough to really be a determining factor. Might be ancillary but I don't think so.
to completely pulverize organic matter! You have the Tornado in a can and now a super powered steam engine! From the article...
;-)
"It doesn't simply mix -- it macerates," says Todman.
One question... What if they run into a school of tuna?
This is a way that companies are getting around the gpl, lgpl, et al... I am not surprised by this tactic at all. With the economy the way it is, IT spending is at a near all time low. Companies scrambling for survival are going to use any and every dirty trick in the book. A previous post at the right of it. Post a review with the 20% relevant info and dump the rest. Reverse it on them. They use the law to get around issues they don't like or that affect the bottom line (read Cable Companies), so why not us?
Here is a letter that I sent to Anti-Leech support...
/.
Greetings,
I am disappointed with your service. As stated in your FAQ, I am one of many that already pays to be online. I understand that webmasters need to make a living, however, Doubleclick and other advertising companies are getting more rich off webmasters because the webmaster only gets a pitence of the revenue generated from companies like Doubleclick.
The simple fact that you have taken it upon yourselves to provide this service is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing in that, it assists webmasters, who subscribe to your service, in attaining a paycheck. It is a curse in that, you have now removed that website from places I would like to visit. In essence, you are hindering rather than assisting the webmasters.
I block pop-ups and banners because I do not want to receive spam. I do not want my information stolen from me and sold to the highest bidder. I value my privacy and you should value your privacy as well. How much spam do you receive?
The reason I would visit a web page is because I found something interesting and what I felt was of value. Too many times have I visited web pages only to be bombarded and completely distracted by banners and pop-ups hawking services and products that I either have no interest in or don't use. What I wanted was to see the article or the product that I came to the web site for in the first place. By implementing your service, webmasters have now blocked and more than likely, irrevocably lost business due to the fact that we netizens value our privacy.
If we do not block pop-ups and banners, then our information is stolen by bots, processed, and sold. We, the viewer, receive no compensation for this injustice. Yes it costs the webmasters money to maintain a site. It costs us to even access the internet. Who do we block to receive just compensation for our time and bandwidth? It is a two way street. You cannot say that we are stealing when you are not compensating us. I reiterate, that we only visit a site because we found something in interest or of value. Are individuals sought out by law inforcement if they pass by a store front and don't stop to look at the ads in the window?
If we visit a brick and morter store and see something we might like to buy, but are then blasted with signs and sales-persons trying to sell us everything else that we are not interested in, including going to another store, are we to be fined, imprisoned, hunted down like rabbits? I don't think so. Myself, if I walk into a store and I am harrassed by a pushy salesperson, I am more than likely to walk out of that store never to return and I will tell all my frinends as well. Unintended consequences are a real pain.
Please remember. The Internet and the WWW were not intended to be a service for businesses and mass marketers. It was originally intended for research and to link people together. It was some rather savvy entrepreneurs who discovered that you could make a profit on the net.
I ask one final question. Your site is named Anti-Leech. You are in the business of providing blocks against those who would "Leech" or as you put it, "Steal" profits from a web site. We viewers, pay to access the net. We pay to conduct business on the net. We pay to be entertained on the net. Who exactely is the leech here? Thank you for your time. I look forward to your response.
Not sure if they will respond but if they do I will post immeadiately to
I left Verizon. It has been said before and I shall say it again. Use your dollars to express your opinion. It is the only thing that big corps like Verizon, et al... respect. It is the only thing that gets their attention. I have Nextel now and love the 2-way radio feature. On top of it all, Nextel service is so far and above that of Verizon, it's almost humerous. :-)