Though we do have various surround sound technologies for movies and TV, we don't have surround sound CD music. Back in the early 1970s the latest craze was 4-challen stereo high fidelity music. The technologies were splintered. Record encoding on vinyl had SQ, QS, and CD-4 on vinyl (the most accurate was CD-4). It was possible to broadcast SQ or QS stereo FM. They even came out with enhanced SQ encoding that could make a sound that was supposed to come out of one corner to be less prominent in the other three channels. It wasn't perfect, but it worked out very well.
What might have made it mainstream would be a 4-channel cassette tape, as cassette tapes were quite popular back then, but North American Philips corporation had the patent on cassette technology, and they would not allow any company to produce a 4-head, one direction cassette recording system. 8-track tapes were not reliable nor a great technology for great sound but could have been configured with 4 heads and two stereo tracks.. They were noisy, and the tapes were doomed to early wear-out. By the time you were able to get a 4-channel one direction cassette recorder, the desire of consumers for a surround sound 4-channel system had waned.
Perhaps it was the extra cost of having a special receiver or amp and preamp that had 4 separate channels, and the additional two speakers needed for the 4-channel sound.
We've come a long way from back then, and sound has gotten worse in the digital music processing we have that's popular. Dynamic range in most CDs is worse than on vinyl records when it could be much, much better. try playing a CD disc from Telarc and you'll see what I mean, though they are more for symphony music than pop music (unless they've broadened their offerings since the 80s).
Regardless of whether I'm wrong on some of these points, my point is that consumers are fickle, and sometimes downright cheap. Many don't buy into new tech because of the cost of the tech before it becomes cheaper. By the time it becomes cheaper, consumers have given up on the concept and have decided either to not move on or to move onto something else.
This doesn't change the requirements for a BS degree, but it might be just what you need.
If you really have a good background in the non-computer subjects you would have to take for a BS degree, take a course (as one of your electives) on how to document experiential learning. You'll get credits for taking the course and credits for your first experiential learning document that could, if you match your experiences and knowledge with a syllabus from your required courses list, get you credit for that class and a course waiver.
The course on how to document experiential learning is a good idea if you want to do this, but you might be able to figure out what you need to do in order to earn credits this way without taking the course. I feel I would not have been able to do this if I hadn't taken that course, but you may be different. You may be able to get a copy of another student's document from your student adviser and see how it all fits together. I aimed to document about 75% of the topics covered in any particular syllabus (which must be from an accredited institution, by the way). Two of my documents were requested as "models" for other students to be able to view, so your college should have samples of these available.
I got out of 27 credits worth of a bachelor's degree that way. (A friend of mine got out of 45 credits that way!) Some of my documentation was used to avoid taking courses I didn't particularly want to take, and others to just fill elective credits needed towards the degree.
The dollar cost for those experiential learning credits? My college didn't charge anything for the first 30 credits' worth of experiential learning, and only $10 per credit after that. This was 9 years ago, but even if it doubled in cost, it would still be a bargain in my book.
The real cost is your time. after doing a couple of these, I was able to knock out one of these in 2-3 evenings or part of one weekend.
You can also test out of certain classes. CLEP tests give you credit for courses and (I believe) a course waiver. You can also take simple course waiver tests from your college if you really know the subject well. I think you have to score 70% to get the course waiver. But that, unlike a CLEP test, probably doesn't give you credits toward your requirement for graduation, only a course waiver so that you don't have to take that course. You would have to make up those credits some other way.
I took one course waiver test to get out of a prerequisite course for an MBA degree. It was for calculus. I never had calculus, so I asked for an outline of what I would be tested on and bought the Idiot's Guide to Calculus, and studied through chapter 6, I think. I passed the test using a calculator that did most of the work for me, but it was allowed, and you have to know what you're doing with any calculator or you will get the wrong answer. (It just made it easier for me.)
I never took a CLEP test. I probably should have. There is a fee for taking a CLEP test. I'm sure, whatever that fee is, that it's worth it, assuming that you can pass the test.
If you are interested in this at all, I suggest asking your student adviser for more information. If you with to ask me more about this, email me at my username here at a very warm, "high temperature" place for email (a popular web mail place). I don't check that account every day, but I do occasionally check it, hopefully before the spam folder is purged by Microsoft.
I was thinking of my next laptop being a MAC. It won't be now, unless Apple takes action here in favor of the customer.
This will cost Apple more in lost sales than it would have cost to replace the laptop. And letting a company like that continue as an authorized service center is certain to have adverse impact on the Apple name.
Cloud 2? My company is working on Cloud 3 Premium Services. We're skipping version 2 altogether to give users the feeling that it's a well-developed platform. We plan to roll it out before it's fully ready and let users be our beta testers, much like a large software company in Washington does. Of course, your data will be safe with our Cloud 3 Premium Services, and we won't share your data with other parties, except those with whom we have a business partnership with.
I realize that big money is behind Monsanto, but, in principle, shouldn't the farmers who plant non-Monsanto Canola be able to sue when they find their seeds cross-pollinated with GM Canola? It seems to reason that it's one thing if a farmer is cultivating the licensed product, violating Monsanto's patent rights (under current patent laws), and quite another if Monsanto is polluting the farmer's seed base. I would think it only is fair that Monsanto would have to replace their contaminated seeds with non-GM seeds of the same variety the farmer planted, or at least provide the farmer with a waiver to grow canola from his own seed as an alternative, if the farmer feels he wants to grow the cross-pollinated stuff.
I don't do what you do with image management, but this product does a lot. You can get a free trial, and if you register with the company you will get an extended trial (I think it's 40 days).
http://www2.ashampoo.com/webcache/html/1/product_2_1018___USD.htm
Once you've registered a trial key, you will get offers from time to time. One of those offers is a name your own price deal which they do about every other month or so. While this normally sells for $50, you can probably get it for $15 or $20. They don't accept just any offer you make, so it's not truly name your own price, but they usually accept less than 1/2 of their normal price.
Whether you use calculus or statistics will depend on what career you end up in. Statistics are used in many industries to prove cause and effect in order to improve processes. They are very important in the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and other businesses as well, but you could be in a position in those industries where you have no need to use statistics.
Same for calculus. It was required as a prerequisite in one MBA school, but not in another. So in some business environments, it may be useful. In others, you'll never need to use it.
When I was considering one MBA school that did require calculus as a prerequisite, I took a proficiency exam to satisfy the requirement. I had never had calculus before, so I asked for an outline of the knowledge required and studied the first 6 chapters of the book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Calculus. It made calculus fairly easy to understand (for me, anyway), and I passed the proficiency exam for calculus. It didn't make me an expert in the subject, but if you want a good starting point as a refresher for calculus, I can recommend this book.
For statistics, I can't recommend any book on my own experience. I learned what I needed during an intensive 160 hour training course in Six Sigma techniques. But I would bet that this book would also be a good starting point for you as a refresher: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Statistics.
Both are available on Amazon.com. You can get both as used books there for less than $18 including shipping.
I was able to get a pair of 6 channel hearing aid (with 3 programs) for a lot less than I could with my insurance alone. Insurance had a maximum payout of something like $250. The hearing aids I got were over $6,000. I found out that we have a government program in our state (through the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation) which can pay for most of the cost of a hearing aid. Without lying about my income, which is nowhere near poverty level, I qualified for the coverage and we worked out a plan that my insurance would pay $250, I would pay $250, and the state would pay the rest. The amount you pay is somewhat negotiable, I found out, so I offered to pay the $500 and get $250 back from my insurance. I could have applied my part to my flexible medical spending account but I usually have no problems using it up in a year's time. See if you have such a plan in your state (I live in Ohio), and if you do, maybe they can cover some of the cost of your hearing aids.
Your name must be shared with quite a few other people in the world. You could say that there is information on the net about another person with the same name, or deny it in the same manner if it's pointed out to you. If my name were Michael Vick and someone mentioned what happened a few years ago, I would say that it wasn't the same Vick they read about. Unless there's a picture or something else relevant only to you in the information, you have a way out, unless the judgment is made without asking you first about it. There's no way around that last one unless you preemptively bring it up first, if you want to risk doing that. Or, you can tell the truth up front and see where it gets you.
We have these red light cameras in our city (in Ohio) and the whole thing was passed by City Hall very quickly without much room for public comment. There is a measure on the next voting ballot to make it necessary for a police officer to be present and personally issue the ticket if the red light cameras will be used to enforce traffic violations.
The current arrangement makes it a civil issue, not a moving violation, so you are presumed guilty and have to pay the fine in advance even if you want a hearing. At first, the cameras were issuing right turn on red violations when there was no violation. Talk about the public getting incensed over all of this! And there was supposed to be a law enforcement officer checking the video clips before the violation was deemed to be valid. It looks like the city council and mayor are now lame ducks and will be voted out of office over this.
One thing that bothers people is that the owner of the vehicle gets the ticket, and if the owner isn't driving, he or she has to rat out the driver or pay the fine as if they did the driving. That will be fixed if the law passes about requiring a police officer present to hand the ticket to the driver. There's also a court case over this because the contract the mayor signed may be invalid. And all of this was supposed to make our streets safer and had nothing to do with revenues for the city! (Right!)
Most difficult yrs in marriage R after the Wedding
on
Mario AI Competition
·
· Score: 1
A few words of advice from someone who is in a similar marriage and has been since 1974.
The most difficult years in marriage are after the wedding.:-)
I say that because so many people think that marriage will bring eternal bliss. It doesn't. But it doesn't have to be a living hell, either.
Marriage isn't so much about how compatible you are but how well you deal with incompatibility. It helps to find common interests that you can share in together. Look at disagreements as a challenge to work out together, not a reason to terminate the marriage. When people divorce and remarry, they don't realize that often they are taking with them into the new marriage the same problems that led to the failure of the previous marriage. It's better to work out those problems and not divorce in the first place.
I've fixed several infected systems that have been running Symantec AV. I use the free Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to clean up the problem, then install Avast or PCTools free version. AVG is also OK, but I had some issues between it and Windows Vista. For a firewall, I use the free version of ZoneAlarm. As for bloat, that was the first reason I turned away from Symantec products, even though I could pick their products up for less than a third of their price. McAfee wasn't much better with the bloat issue, either, but was a bit faster in my opinion. As for Symantec's recommendation to not trust free products, there's a conflict of interest in them telling me to use their products instead of free ones, isn't there? So why should I trust their statement(s) when they stand to profit from my following their advice?
Some here suggested using Linux, which is a good idea if the college permits it. If they don't permit it, what about installing Wine or Crossover Office and set up a few Windows programs using that, including their snooper tool? Then you could surf from within Linux. I would think that their snooper tool would get caught in the synthetic Windows system created by the Wine installation and never see beyond there.
Or, as others have suggested, you can run virtual machine software to run Windows in Linux, or vice-versa. Ubuntu even installs into Windows, but I never tried doing it that way. Or run XP in Vista with a virtual machine. That should allow you to hide at least part of your system from the spy software.
Another thought crossed my mind also. Why not use your connected PC as a gateway to the Internet and connect to it from another PC that doesn't permit file sharing? You could use an older Windows system to do the connecting and set up a second Ethernet card in it and connect through the gateway PC to the college network. I don't know if their software would allow for that or not.
Perhaps you can use a router as long as one PC has the software on it?
You do have options, and you can probably beat the system with some of the suggestions here. If you ask too many questions, though, of the IT people there, you may cause some trouble for yourself.
Not only do we not get the local paper, but many here have given up on it. I would not be surprised if it goes belly up soon.
I talked with a fellow who was getting it for FREE and he canceled it!
I think that publishing thing in the local paper and NOT on the city web site is a way that the city hides what it wants to do.
We had a red light camera ordinance that was tabled and everyone thought it was dead brought to life quickly without additional public notice even in the paper. Most of the local officials in the city are about to be voted out this year in elections because of this and a new ordinance is about to be put before voters to make it mandatory that any violations that the red light camera detect be given to the offender by a policeman on the scene. So it makes it necessary for a policeman to be present, making the use of the red light cameras inconvenient and impractical.
But not that many residents even knew anything was going on with these cameras in the first place because the first notice was posted in the local paper that few even read.
I'd like to see it made mandatory that governments publish news, laws, etc. that affect the average person on official web sites. Maybe also in local papers, but definitely on the web. Maybe even provide it in an optional RSS feed.
That would work for *most* people, but not every one has caller ID. I didn't until last month when I switched to telephone service provided by the cable company. The telephone company charged too much for phone service to begin with, and add a few dollars for touch-tone (yes, I used pulse dial until last month), caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, and other features. It was not uncommon for people to have a $50 telephone bill. I get all that for $25 per month ($20 for the first year). I also don't have a cell phone, but I would guess that caller ID is standard for them.
So those who don't have caller ID would have to pay for that feature if they don't have it already in order for the caller ID screening idea to work.
I received a call from some auto warranty place the night before the court injunction on those companies. The caller ID told me that. I waited a couple seconds then picked up the phone and said "hello." When I don't hear a response within about 1.5 seconds, I hang up, since that means that it's usually a telemarketer. I am on the federal DNC list but these people called anyway. I think that's what got them in trouble so quickly.
Maybe contact a nationally famous reporter who likes to cover things like this? Or 60 Minutes, Dateline, or even 20/20?
I liked the idea of Wikileaks the best, though, using an anonymous torrent file transfer to them. Then use a utility to wipe any drive that might have the file(s) on them. You can use one that does a DOD level deletion, or just use a wipe program. Some defragmenters will wipe the free space for you using your choice of wiping of the area for security purposes.
If you keep the files on a USB flash drive, you can either burn it, hide it somewhere safe away from home or work, or mail it to someone far away to hold it for you.
You can delete the torrent program (if you use one) and its folders before you do your file wiping or defragging with a wipe of the free space.
Maybe you can even mail a package with a DVD or CD to wherever it's going to end up, shipping it from another city or state even.
Posting here may flag you as a possible source for any release of information about this news, of course, so you may want to find a new home for your computer equipment so it's not taken and kept as possible evidence to mess with you.
If there is actual illegal activity going on, the feds will get wind of the information from Wikileaks or wherever it's posted or aired and take whatever action they care to do.
Best wishes on this, and I hope the results are posted here.
An MBA might qualify you for management in your field, and it also gives you a parachute to use if you either don't like the field or find yourself out of work. Also, there are 17 month MBA programs available. I got mine at Franklin University, Columbus, OH, in 17 months with one evening class per week and a fair amount of homework, mostly essay writing and group projects. I spent at least a few hours one evening a week for homework, sometimes on two evenings. Most group work was done by email. Most of the time I was the editor of the group papers to pull it all together so that it appeared to be written int he same style by the same person (which helps get a better grade than something that is hastily thrown together and doesn't transition well between the contributed parts).
Be aware that with a master's degree of any sort, you should expect to see more group work, something that I didn't care for since the group can pull you down and some might use the group to try to get a free ride with their work. If that latter thing happens, make sure that the instructor knows about it, make up for that person's lack of contribution to the project, and move on. That way the group is less likely to take a hit on the grade, but someone must make up for the slacker.
Also, don't expect a master's degree to make a big entry level salary. But it should get you more respect from interviewers and probably a somewhat higher salary over what you would get without one. If you get an MBA, you can work into your career interviews that you would like to get into management eventually once you have proven yourself to your superiors.
One other thing I would mention if you have any elective credits to earn yet is to look into experiential learning credits. I earned about a year's worth of college credits in my undergrad work that way and it didn't cost me anything but the effort to document my experiential learning. I got into a routine where I could crank out one documentation "booklet" in a day or two and get 3 credit hours for the work, even a course waiver if it was for one of my required subjects. I got out of a lot of schooling by doing that!!!
I forgot to add that you could instead ask the original owner to make the call and do the transfer of the account (or add you to the account, whatever it is that they wanted you to do.)
Write the company and explain your situation. Include copies of your eBay and Pay Pal invoices. Explain that this is not a warranty concern, that you just want to buy the part, you do not expect them to supply it for free.
Many times writing a letter will get to the right people and you will get action. It's possible that this could be phrased in a way that your state's attorney general would be interested in sending a letter to them. If you get a negative response, I would pursue that next. Include a copy of your complaint, the original letter to AlienWare, and send an update to the company letting them know that you want this to be investigated as an unfair sales practice (or something like that).
If you want to go full guns right away, file your complaint and then send a copy of that with your letter telling them that since they refuse to sell parts that are available for the unit to you, you are pursing legal action against them through your state's attorney general.
But I think that the gentler approach might be best, then take further action only if necessary. You might find that someone will give you what you want when they see documentation that you paid for the unit and that it hasn't been reported as stolen.
If software developers had to provide a timely fix or your money back (their choice), the free software developers would be free from legal liability.
Or just make the law apply to non-free software.
I see one issue with the law. Let's say program 1 and program 2 conflict with each other in some way, maybe making the OS freeze, freeze the program, or freeze the other program, or both programs freeze when both are running. Program developer 1 says it's program 2's fault, program developer 2 says it's program 1's fault.
An example is that I cannot get my Canon ZoomBrowser EX software for my digital camera to work,a nd to date their support people have not (yet) been able to help me fix the problem. (I can import and view pictures with either Windows Photo Gallery or use Fspot in Linux without any trouble.) Since it worked a while ago (I hadn't used it for a while), it is probably a conflict with another program. I can see each developer saying that it is the other program that is the problem. Even Canon mentioned that I might have to disable any drivers that access a scanner, like my MP210 multifiunction printer, scanner, and copier (I didn't have the driver installed at that time since it wouldn't install-another issue that I fixed myself since then).
In this case, if I was not satisfied with the crashing picture browser software, would I be eligible for a complete refund of my camera, or would the software be considered "free" and therefore the company would not be liable for the problem?
I can see this would be more a Windows software related problem than in Linux, and probably not common in the Mac OS either.
This law could stifle innovation, I think, if some limits are not placed on how liable the developers are, and if the individual coder is to blame, it will possibly cause even more problems. Good coders would require higher salaries, and that might drive software costs up. Then again, maybe this would get rid of the bad coders and solve the problems we're seeing in poorly coded software.
I browse You Tube occasionally (once a month perhaps) and would definitely NOT pay for viewing amateur videos there. How would I know if it's worth whatever small price I would be charged BEFORE I view the video? It wouldn't take long, in my opinion, for people to get tired of paying for so-so videos and just give up and go elsewhere.
The attraction is that it's free. Take that away, at any small price, and I think that the business model will fail. All the $$$ Google invested in You Tube will be lost. Well, most of it, maybe. There will be a few people who have lots of money and won't care how much they spend. But many people are suffering right now because of the wrecked economy caused by the greed of the people who once ran (or are still running) the monetary system. I for one am not working every week. But if I was, I still would not pay for you Tube content unless I had some guarantee that I would find it worthwhile. I would either give up what You Tube has to offer or go elsewhere if there are alternatives. And I think that people who put their videos on You Tube would decide to put them elsewhere if they knew that only a few people would be viewing their content instead of becoming "famous" because millions raved over something they put there.
Why not set up a dual boot machine? You could install Linux on a separate partition and let GRUB handle the choice between which OS to boot to at startup.
You could even set up two XP partitions, and use something like NeoSmart Technologies' Easy BCD as a boot manager. I use it in my Vista partition to allow me to boot to Linux when I want to, and it works pretty well, but you can also use it to choose between different Windows installations.
That way, the partition with all of the suspect Active-X controls and such would be separated from the good Windows partition. The only problem with using Windows for both operating systems is that malware might "see" the other Windows partition and cause problems. Of course, it might also "see" a Linux partition, but unless it destroys data, it probably won't find anything useful to exploit there.
Just my 2 cents, subject to inflation.
Slashdot Mirror
Though we do have various surround sound technologies for movies and TV, we don't have surround sound CD music. Back in the early 1970s the latest craze was 4-challen stereo high fidelity music. The technologies were splintered. Record encoding on vinyl had SQ, QS, and CD-4 on vinyl (the most accurate was CD-4). It was possible to broadcast SQ or QS stereo FM. They even came out with enhanced SQ encoding that could make a sound that was supposed to come out of one corner to be less prominent in the other three channels. It wasn't perfect, but it worked out very well. What might have made it mainstream would be a 4-channel cassette tape, as cassette tapes were quite popular back then, but North American Philips corporation had the patent on cassette technology, and they would not allow any company to produce a 4-head, one direction cassette recording system. 8-track tapes were not reliable nor a great technology for great sound but could have been configured with 4 heads and two stereo tracks.. They were noisy, and the tapes were doomed to early wear-out. By the time you were able to get a 4-channel one direction cassette recorder, the desire of consumers for a surround sound 4-channel system had waned. Perhaps it was the extra cost of having a special receiver or amp and preamp that had 4 separate channels, and the additional two speakers needed for the 4-channel sound. We've come a long way from back then, and sound has gotten worse in the digital music processing we have that's popular. Dynamic range in most CDs is worse than on vinyl records when it could be much, much better. try playing a CD disc from Telarc and you'll see what I mean, though they are more for symphony music than pop music (unless they've broadened their offerings since the 80s). Regardless of whether I'm wrong on some of these points, my point is that consumers are fickle, and sometimes downright cheap. Many don't buy into new tech because of the cost of the tech before it becomes cheaper. By the time it becomes cheaper, consumers have given up on the concept and have decided either to not move on or to move onto something else.
This doesn't change the requirements for a BS degree, but it might be just what you need. If you really have a good background in the non-computer subjects you would have to take for a BS degree, take a course (as one of your electives) on how to document experiential learning. You'll get credits for taking the course and credits for your first experiential learning document that could, if you match your experiences and knowledge with a syllabus from your required courses list, get you credit for that class and a course waiver. The course on how to document experiential learning is a good idea if you want to do this, but you might be able to figure out what you need to do in order to earn credits this way without taking the course. I feel I would not have been able to do this if I hadn't taken that course, but you may be different. You may be able to get a copy of another student's document from your student adviser and see how it all fits together. I aimed to document about 75% of the topics covered in any particular syllabus (which must be from an accredited institution, by the way). Two of my documents were requested as "models" for other students to be able to view, so your college should have samples of these available. I got out of 27 credits worth of a bachelor's degree that way. (A friend of mine got out of 45 credits that way!) Some of my documentation was used to avoid taking courses I didn't particularly want to take, and others to just fill elective credits needed towards the degree. The dollar cost for those experiential learning credits? My college didn't charge anything for the first 30 credits' worth of experiential learning, and only $10 per credit after that. This was 9 years ago, but even if it doubled in cost, it would still be a bargain in my book. The real cost is your time. after doing a couple of these, I was able to knock out one of these in 2-3 evenings or part of one weekend. You can also test out of certain classes. CLEP tests give you credit for courses and (I believe) a course waiver. You can also take simple course waiver tests from your college if you really know the subject well. I think you have to score 70% to get the course waiver. But that, unlike a CLEP test, probably doesn't give you credits toward your requirement for graduation, only a course waiver so that you don't have to take that course. You would have to make up those credits some other way. I took one course waiver test to get out of a prerequisite course for an MBA degree. It was for calculus. I never had calculus, so I asked for an outline of what I would be tested on and bought the Idiot's Guide to Calculus, and studied through chapter 6, I think. I passed the test using a calculator that did most of the work for me, but it was allowed, and you have to know what you're doing with any calculator or you will get the wrong answer. (It just made it easier for me.) I never took a CLEP test. I probably should have. There is a fee for taking a CLEP test. I'm sure, whatever that fee is, that it's worth it, assuming that you can pass the test. If you are interested in this at all, I suggest asking your student adviser for more information. If you with to ask me more about this, email me at my username here at a very warm, "high temperature" place for email (a popular web mail place). I don't check that account every day, but I do occasionally check it, hopefully before the spam folder is purged by Microsoft.
Two recent articles on PC Mech alerts had some information on "bit rot" and storage media: http://www.pcmech.com/article/how-to-avoid-bit-rot/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+pcmech%2Farticles+(PCMech.com) and http://www.pcmech.com/article/how-long-will-that-media-last/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+pcmech%2Farticles+(PCMech.com)
I was thinking of my next laptop being a MAC. It won't be now, unless Apple takes action here in favor of the customer.
This will cost Apple more in lost sales than it would have cost to replace the laptop. And letting a company like that continue as an authorized service center is certain to have adverse impact on the Apple name.
Cloud 2? My company is working on Cloud 3 Premium Services. We're skipping version 2 altogether to give users the feeling that it's a well-developed platform. We plan to roll it out before it's fully ready and let users be our beta testers, much like a large software company in Washington does. Of course, your data will be safe with our Cloud 3 Premium Services, and we won't share your data with other parties, except those with whom we have a business partnership with.
I realize that big money is behind Monsanto, but, in principle, shouldn't the farmers who plant non-Monsanto Canola be able to sue when they find their seeds cross-pollinated with GM Canola? It seems to reason that it's one thing if a farmer is cultivating the licensed product, violating Monsanto's patent rights (under current patent laws), and quite another if Monsanto is polluting the farmer's seed base. I would think it only is fair that Monsanto would have to replace their contaminated seeds with non-GM seeds of the same variety the farmer planted, or at least provide the farmer with a waiver to grow canola from his own seed as an alternative, if the farmer feels he wants to grow the cross-pollinated stuff.
I don't do what you do with image management, but this product does a lot. You can get a free trial, and if you register with the company you will get an extended trial (I think it's 40 days). http://www2.ashampoo.com/webcache/html/1/product_2_1018___USD.htm Once you've registered a trial key, you will get offers from time to time. One of those offers is a name your own price deal which they do about every other month or so. While this normally sells for $50, you can probably get it for $15 or $20. They don't accept just any offer you make, so it's not truly name your own price, but they usually accept less than 1/2 of their normal price.
Whether you use calculus or statistics will depend on what career you end up in. Statistics are used in many industries to prove cause and effect in order to improve processes. They are very important in the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and other businesses as well, but you could be in a position in those industries where you have no need to use statistics. Same for calculus. It was required as a prerequisite in one MBA school, but not in another. So in some business environments, it may be useful. In others, you'll never need to use it. When I was considering one MBA school that did require calculus as a prerequisite, I took a proficiency exam to satisfy the requirement. I had never had calculus before, so I asked for an outline of the knowledge required and studied the first 6 chapters of the book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Calculus. It made calculus fairly easy to understand (for me, anyway), and I passed the proficiency exam for calculus. It didn't make me an expert in the subject, but if you want a good starting point as a refresher for calculus, I can recommend this book. For statistics, I can't recommend any book on my own experience. I learned what I needed during an intensive 160 hour training course in Six Sigma techniques. But I would bet that this book would also be a good starting point for you as a refresher: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Statistics. Both are available on Amazon.com. You can get both as used books there for less than $18 including shipping.
I was able to get a pair of 6 channel hearing aid (with 3 programs) for a lot less than I could with my insurance alone. Insurance had a maximum payout of something like $250. The hearing aids I got were over $6,000. I found out that we have a government program in our state (through the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation) which can pay for most of the cost of a hearing aid. Without lying about my income, which is nowhere near poverty level, I qualified for the coverage and we worked out a plan that my insurance would pay $250, I would pay $250, and the state would pay the rest. The amount you pay is somewhat negotiable, I found out, so I offered to pay the $500 and get $250 back from my insurance. I could have applied my part to my flexible medical spending account but I usually have no problems using it up in a year's time. See if you have such a plan in your state (I live in Ohio), and if you do, maybe they can cover some of the cost of your hearing aids.
Your name must be shared with quite a few other people in the world. You could say that there is information on the net about another person with the same name, or deny it in the same manner if it's pointed out to you. If my name were Michael Vick and someone mentioned what happened a few years ago, I would say that it wasn't the same Vick they read about. Unless there's a picture or something else relevant only to you in the information, you have a way out, unless the judgment is made without asking you first about it. There's no way around that last one unless you preemptively bring it up first, if you want to risk doing that. Or, you can tell the truth up front and see where it gets you.
"And ITRI has started testing STOBA on electric car batteries." Is there such a thing as a NON-electric car battery? :-)
We have these red light cameras in our city (in Ohio) and the whole thing was passed by City Hall very quickly without much room for public comment. There is a measure on the next voting ballot to make it necessary for a police officer to be present and personally issue the ticket if the red light cameras will be used to enforce traffic violations. The current arrangement makes it a civil issue, not a moving violation, so you are presumed guilty and have to pay the fine in advance even if you want a hearing. At first, the cameras were issuing right turn on red violations when there was no violation. Talk about the public getting incensed over all of this! And there was supposed to be a law enforcement officer checking the video clips before the violation was deemed to be valid. It looks like the city council and mayor are now lame ducks and will be voted out of office over this. One thing that bothers people is that the owner of the vehicle gets the ticket, and if the owner isn't driving, he or she has to rat out the driver or pay the fine as if they did the driving. That will be fixed if the law passes about requiring a police officer present to hand the ticket to the driver. There's also a court case over this because the contract the mayor signed may be invalid. And all of this was supposed to make our streets safer and had nothing to do with revenues for the city! (Right!)
A few words of advice from someone who is in a similar marriage and has been since 1974. The most difficult years in marriage are after the wedding. :-)
I say that because so many people think that marriage will bring eternal bliss. It doesn't. But it doesn't have to be a living hell, either.
Marriage isn't so much about how compatible you are but how well you deal with incompatibility. It helps to find common interests that you can share in together. Look at disagreements as a challenge to work out together, not a reason to terminate the marriage. When people divorce and remarry, they don't realize that often they are taking with them into the new marriage the same problems that led to the failure of the previous marriage. It's better to work out those problems and not divorce in the first place.
I've fixed several infected systems that have been running Symantec AV. I use the free Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to clean up the problem, then install Avast or PCTools free version. AVG is also OK, but I had some issues between it and Windows Vista. For a firewall, I use the free version of ZoneAlarm. As for bloat, that was the first reason I turned away from Symantec products, even though I could pick their products up for less than a third of their price. McAfee wasn't much better with the bloat issue, either, but was a bit faster in my opinion. As for Symantec's recommendation to not trust free products, there's a conflict of interest in them telling me to use their products instead of free ones, isn't there? So why should I trust their statement(s) when they stand to profit from my following their advice?
Some here suggested using Linux, which is a good idea if the college permits it. If they don't permit it, what about installing Wine or Crossover Office and set up a few Windows programs using that, including their snooper tool? Then you could surf from within Linux. I would think that their snooper tool would get caught in the synthetic Windows system created by the Wine installation and never see beyond there. Or, as others have suggested, you can run virtual machine software to run Windows in Linux, or vice-versa. Ubuntu even installs into Windows, but I never tried doing it that way. Or run XP in Vista with a virtual machine. That should allow you to hide at least part of your system from the spy software. Another thought crossed my mind also. Why not use your connected PC as a gateway to the Internet and connect to it from another PC that doesn't permit file sharing? You could use an older Windows system to do the connecting and set up a second Ethernet card in it and connect through the gateway PC to the college network. I don't know if their software would allow for that or not. Perhaps you can use a router as long as one PC has the software on it? You do have options, and you can probably beat the system with some of the suggestions here. If you ask too many questions, though, of the IT people there, you may cause some trouble for yourself.
Send them to me.
I agree, but you should send them to both me and him, a 50-50 split. We'll put them to good use on eBay. Er, I mean, we'll give them a good home. :-)
Not only do we not get the local paper, but many here have given up on it. I would not be surprised if it goes belly up soon. I talked with a fellow who was getting it for FREE and he canceled it! I think that publishing thing in the local paper and NOT on the city web site is a way that the city hides what it wants to do. We had a red light camera ordinance that was tabled and everyone thought it was dead brought to life quickly without additional public notice even in the paper. Most of the local officials in the city are about to be voted out this year in elections because of this and a new ordinance is about to be put before voters to make it mandatory that any violations that the red light camera detect be given to the offender by a policeman on the scene. So it makes it necessary for a policeman to be present, making the use of the red light cameras inconvenient and impractical. But not that many residents even knew anything was going on with these cameras in the first place because the first notice was posted in the local paper that few even read. I'd like to see it made mandatory that governments publish news, laws, etc. that affect the average person on official web sites. Maybe also in local papers, but definitely on the web. Maybe even provide it in an optional RSS feed.
That would work for *most* people, but not every one has caller ID. I didn't until last month when I switched to telephone service provided by the cable company. The telephone company charged too much for phone service to begin with, and add a few dollars for touch-tone (yes, I used pulse dial until last month), caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, and other features. It was not uncommon for people to have a $50 telephone bill. I get all that for $25 per month ($20 for the first year). I also don't have a cell phone, but I would guess that caller ID is standard for them. So those who don't have caller ID would have to pay for that feature if they don't have it already in order for the caller ID screening idea to work. I received a call from some auto warranty place the night before the court injunction on those companies. The caller ID told me that. I waited a couple seconds then picked up the phone and said "hello." When I don't hear a response within about 1.5 seconds, I hang up, since that means that it's usually a telemarketer. I am on the federal DNC list but these people called anyway. I think that's what got them in trouble so quickly.
Maybe contact a nationally famous reporter who likes to cover things like this? Or 60 Minutes, Dateline, or even 20/20?
I liked the idea of Wikileaks the best, though, using an anonymous torrent file transfer to them. Then use a utility to wipe any drive that might have the file(s) on them. You can use one that does a DOD level deletion, or just use a wipe program. Some defragmenters will wipe the free space for you using your choice of wiping of the area for security purposes.
If you keep the files on a USB flash drive, you can either burn it, hide it somewhere safe away from home or work, or mail it to someone far away to hold it for you.
You can delete the torrent program (if you use one) and its folders before you do your file wiping or defragging with a wipe of the free space.
Maybe you can even mail a package with a DVD or CD to wherever it's going to end up, shipping it from another city or state even.
Posting here may flag you as a possible source for any release of information about this news, of course, so you may want to find a new home for your computer equipment so it's not taken and kept as possible evidence to mess with you.
If there is actual illegal activity going on, the feds will get wind of the information from Wikileaks or wherever it's posted or aired and take whatever action they care to do.
Best wishes on this, and I hope the results are posted here.
An MBA might qualify you for management in your field, and it also gives you a parachute to use if you either don't like the field or find yourself out of work. Also, there are 17 month MBA programs available. I got mine at Franklin University, Columbus, OH, in 17 months with one evening class per week and a fair amount of homework, mostly essay writing and group projects. I spent at least a few hours one evening a week for homework, sometimes on two evenings. Most group work was done by email. Most of the time I was the editor of the group papers to pull it all together so that it appeared to be written int he same style by the same person (which helps get a better grade than something that is hastily thrown together and doesn't transition well between the contributed parts).
Be aware that with a master's degree of any sort, you should expect to see more group work, something that I didn't care for since the group can pull you down and some might use the group to try to get a free ride with their work. If that latter thing happens, make sure that the instructor knows about it, make up for that person's lack of contribution to the project, and move on. That way the group is less likely to take a hit on the grade, but someone must make up for the slacker.
Also, don't expect a master's degree to make a big entry level salary. But it should get you more respect from interviewers and probably a somewhat higher salary over what you would get without one. If you get an MBA, you can work into your career interviews that you would like to get into management eventually once you have proven yourself to your superiors.
One other thing I would mention if you have any elective credits to earn yet is to look into experiential learning credits. I earned about a year's worth of college credits in my undergrad work that way and it didn't cost me anything but the effort to document my experiential learning. I got into a routine where I could crank out one documentation "booklet" in a day or two and get 3 credit hours for the work, even a course waiver if it was for one of my required subjects. I got out of a lot of schooling by doing that!!!
Donald
I forgot to add that you could instead ask the original owner to make the call and do the transfer of the account (or add you to the account, whatever it is that they wanted you to do.)
Write the company and explain your situation. Include copies of your eBay and Pay Pal invoices. Explain that this is not a warranty concern, that you just want to buy the part, you do not expect them to supply it for free. Many times writing a letter will get to the right people and you will get action. It's possible that this could be phrased in a way that your state's attorney general would be interested in sending a letter to them. If you get a negative response, I would pursue that next. Include a copy of your complaint, the original letter to AlienWare, and send an update to the company letting them know that you want this to be investigated as an unfair sales practice (or something like that). If you want to go full guns right away, file your complaint and then send a copy of that with your letter telling them that since they refuse to sell parts that are available for the unit to you, you are pursing legal action against them through your state's attorney general. But I think that the gentler approach might be best, then take further action only if necessary. You might find that someone will give you what you want when they see documentation that you paid for the unit and that it hasn't been reported as stolen.
If software developers had to provide a timely fix or your money back (their choice), the free software developers would be free from legal liability. Or just make the law apply to non-free software. I see one issue with the law. Let's say program 1 and program 2 conflict with each other in some way, maybe making the OS freeze, freeze the program, or freeze the other program, or both programs freeze when both are running. Program developer 1 says it's program 2's fault, program developer 2 says it's program 1's fault. An example is that I cannot get my Canon ZoomBrowser EX software for my digital camera to work,a nd to date their support people have not (yet) been able to help me fix the problem. (I can import and view pictures with either Windows Photo Gallery or use Fspot in Linux without any trouble.) Since it worked a while ago (I hadn't used it for a while), it is probably a conflict with another program. I can see each developer saying that it is the other program that is the problem. Even Canon mentioned that I might have to disable any drivers that access a scanner, like my MP210 multifiunction printer, scanner, and copier (I didn't have the driver installed at that time since it wouldn't install-another issue that I fixed myself since then). In this case, if I was not satisfied with the crashing picture browser software, would I be eligible for a complete refund of my camera, or would the software be considered "free" and therefore the company would not be liable for the problem? I can see this would be more a Windows software related problem than in Linux, and probably not common in the Mac OS either. This law could stifle innovation, I think, if some limits are not placed on how liable the developers are, and if the individual coder is to blame, it will possibly cause even more problems. Good coders would require higher salaries, and that might drive software costs up. Then again, maybe this would get rid of the bad coders and solve the problems we're seeing in poorly coded software.
I browse You Tube occasionally (once a month perhaps) and would definitely NOT pay for viewing amateur videos there. How would I know if it's worth whatever small price I would be charged BEFORE I view the video? It wouldn't take long, in my opinion, for people to get tired of paying for so-so videos and just give up and go elsewhere. The attraction is that it's free. Take that away, at any small price, and I think that the business model will fail. All the $$$ Google invested in You Tube will be lost. Well, most of it, maybe. There will be a few people who have lots of money and won't care how much they spend. But many people are suffering right now because of the wrecked economy caused by the greed of the people who once ran (or are still running) the monetary system. I for one am not working every week. But if I was, I still would not pay for you Tube content unless I had some guarantee that I would find it worthwhile. I would either give up what You Tube has to offer or go elsewhere if there are alternatives. And I think that people who put their videos on You Tube would decide to put them elsewhere if they knew that only a few people would be viewing their content instead of becoming "famous" because millions raved over something they put there.
Why not set up a dual boot machine? You could install Linux on a separate partition and let GRUB handle the choice between which OS to boot to at startup. You could even set up two XP partitions, and use something like NeoSmart Technologies' Easy BCD as a boot manager. I use it in my Vista partition to allow me to boot to Linux when I want to, and it works pretty well, but you can also use it to choose between different Windows installations. That way, the partition with all of the suspect Active-X controls and such would be separated from the good Windows partition. The only problem with using Windows for both operating systems is that malware might "see" the other Windows partition and cause problems. Of course, it might also "see" a Linux partition, but unless it destroys data, it probably won't find anything useful to exploit there. Just my 2 cents, subject to inflation.