Those were fun. I got mine(since given to my brother when I joined the Marines) salvaging during bulk trash season. You'd be surprised at all the cool working stuff people trash. My first TV(first two or three actually) was from that, I got a set of golf clubs, all sorts of stuff... I wish they had something like that out here in california. Technically salvaging from trash piles was illegal, but the cities enforcement policy was this "If the property owner complains, we will send the cops." Otherwise, there was NO enforcment. I've been digging through piles with a cop car driving by and had no problems... those were the days.
I have not seen a single regulation that requires 100% compliance. Having been in the service of the Marine Corps, an organization renowned for high standards, working at the three star level, if one existed I would have seen it.
One thing though... this ruling is 100% impossible to enforce. There is always the matter of slightly modifying a music file(recorded or encoded as Mp3 at different settings, adding or cutting small bits of material, sending it up or down in pitch a slight amount, etc... I can see requiring Napster to do everything in their power to stop copyrighted songs from being traded, but the madness has got to stop. Unless you ban ALL distribution of copyrighted materials, period, including all currently legal methods of distribution, there will be ways online and off to pirate it. Whether or not you agree with trading of music files, you have to realize that there is no way for Napster to obey this order and stay in existence. Even if Napster folds, it will not dent sharing of copyrighted files. Nuclear war(and the accompnying extinction of Homo Sapiens) is about the only way to stop copyright infringment online that currently exists.
Cpl George E Worroll Jr. USMC
I hope the Governor gets reelected for the forseeable future. I'm ashamed at my home states legislature, they are idiots. Anyone know how the Milford reps and seenators voted?
While well intentioned, such laws don't adress the real problem. Kids who will be violent will be violent. Period. If they want to kill they will find a way.
I do agree with rating video games, beyond that encouraging parental involvement is the key. Banning them won't help(or work).
As was said to similar posts, the defense WAS NOT ALLOWED to show context of the quotes used. It isn't so much that he was charged for threatening that is riling people up. It is the severe miscariage of justice the way he is not being allowed to mount an adequate defense.
I don't know enough about the technicalities of evidence rules and such to know if the judge simply ruled in favor of scientology or if the Scientologists lawyers managed to find enough minor technicalities to successfully ban introduction of that evidence. Anyone able to enlighten us on that? If it was just a craven judge or badly written evidence laws? In the former case the judge should be publicly fired and the reasons spread far and wide. In the latter the laws concerning admissability of evidence need to be looked at.
I love some of their games... Magic is cool and I can't stop buying anything put out on Krynn no matter how hard I try to hate Wizards. But they managed to purchase the most critical company in modern gaming history, TSR. Without them so many other people would never have been inspired to start other games, so many great fantasy novels wouldn't be out, many classic computer games literally could not have existed. The role playing hobby would be at least a decade behind where it is now if it existed at all. Wizards bought it and rather than letting some dignity remain and use the TSR name as a subline(like White Wolf and ArtHaus or Black Dog)they relabeled it all and in a short time knowledge of TSR's existence at all will mark you as an old schooler in the gaming community... I don't like what they did. Kinda serves them right to get swallowed up themselves.
With that said, I would be much more upset if White Wolf got purchased away. It was sad that TSR went, but I doubt any company that would purchase White Wolf would have the balls to publish some of the stuff they have, even on the Black Dog label. If it happens though, as it is rumoured Hasbro wants white wolf(being easily the second most popular gaming company) I hope they simply provide the budget to produce more cool books(at higher quality of proofreading), take some of the increased profits from those books, and let white wolf do its thing. Kinda like the Slashdot/Andover thing. Provide money to run, take the profits, and let you guys handle other details.
1) Microsoft was in a major lawsuit already and could not afford to split the attention of their legal department nor the added bad press, whereas Scientology can at this point and more bad press wouldnt make a damn bit of difference to them.
2)The microsoft issue was covered under fair use and thus Microsoft could ask slashdot to pull it, and threaten lawyers, but Slashdot was virtually guaranteed a victory in the courtroom. Not so here.
While I agree with Slashdots actions in this, it is a pity. Very rarely should sacred texts be considered secret or restricted in any way. Specifics of rituals yes so long as the secrecy is there for a reason which is explained to curious initiates, but this isn't the Burning Times where uncontrolled distribution of religious texts got people killed(well at least in most of the world). If scientology is so good they should post it to as many places as they can themselves and encourage readers to repost it.
Interesting. I remember as a kid back in Connecticut there being snow. Then for several years winters were pathetic and almost no snow. Even now with the upswing in snowy weather winters aren't nearly as brutal when I go back there as they used to be in my childhood. I haven't been back during summer much... But winters are warmer than they once were, and what I remember from high school 5 years ago summers were a little cooler than they were in elementary school... Less CO2 in summer, cooler summers(happened) more in winter warmer winters(happened). Climate evening out already. I realize anecdotal evidence like this is far from proof, but it is interesting nonetheless. Anyone else notice something like this happening??
I remember way back in school(been out a while) learning that the Ice Age was NOT a single time when the planet was covered with ice. In fact there were a series of glacial movements every 10,000 years or so. With that in mind, we are up for an ice age in a few centuries at the most.
As for global warming triggering an ice age, that is NOT theory. Current research shows that before each previous ice age there was a period of global warming not unlike what we are experiencing today. It will happen, it is only a question of when.
This has been a bit of a build up, climate changes don't happen overnight. More like a snowball you roll down from up on top of a large hill. It's growth starts small but it starts picking up momentum and all of the sudden it can crush a house. Thats how the climate changes, little stuff at first, over a century or so, then BOOM! I'm not a meteorologist, but from the reading I have done, I'd say we will start suffering colder winters soon. then colder summers. Maybe not severely so in our lifetimes, but by our great grandchildren it will probably start happening and by their great grandchildren well I don't think I'd want to live at most spots on earth it would be so cold.
Re:Seems wasteful to me
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Paper Phones
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· Score: 2
>>paper is a non-renewable resource
???????? Paper is made from wood. Wood comes from trees. Trees come from seeds that they make themselves(don't get all technical on pollination issues please).
Some areas actually have more trees than they did 500 years ago. Connecticut does, learned that bit in boy scouts. Go to vermont, there are plenty of young trees on my familys property and on nearby land that are replacing the old. Paper is a self renewing resource. Greater use of paper will require more careful management of forests, but can be done indefinitely.
I think I heard of them maybe once before this article. So I don't quite get this quote:
"TribalVoice who was probably the only real threat to AOL in the instant messenger field"
How can a geek who almost always has 4 IM programs running(ICQ, MSN, Yahoo!, and AIM) and has on several occasions looked for more not have gotten into "the only real threat to AOL in the instant messenger field"?? Why is it that I see people put Yahoo Messenger names on email sig files, but never TribalVoice??? And TV is the only real IM competition AOL had?? Just seems odd to me... Yahoo at least is a serious competitor to AIM, but not something I almost never heard of.
AIM is easy but almost featureless. ICQ is feature heavy but a clunky interface. MSN is similar to AIM overall, slightly more features and better interface but I only have like two people I talk to on there.
I do like Yahoo! Messenger. A solid balance between the feature heavy(redundantly so) ICQ and the feature light AIM. The interface is more complicated than AIMs, due to the better feature set, but all the features make sense and are easy to use. The one thing I don't like is the limitation on the number of friends you can have on it. But as an instant messaging client, Yahoo! has the best overall. ICQ for its greater feature set is useful as a secondary, and the others, well if you havbe friends on them maybe otherwise why bother?
Also the Second Marine Aircraft Wing is headquartered and most of its forces based at Cherry Point NC, and a bit south in Beaufort SC is MCAS Beaufort SC and MCRD Parris Island SC(god the memories of that place). The Carolinas and Virginia are either the worst place to be or the best depending on your optimism level about nuclear war. Worst, because your chance of survival are about nil, best because your chances of dying in the first strike rather than of radiation sickness, to mobs of looters and bandits, or nuclear winter are absolutely guaranteed. Me, I'd rather be in a well stocked shelter in some deserted area of some mountain range. As far as possible from any point of strategic importance whether controlled by the military or civilians, and well stocked with edible plants and animals for when my supplies inevitably run out. Along with preferably several females and several other males, that way humanity would survive.
To think... backwoods rednecks are the only segment of society with a decent chance of surviving a nuclear war and its aftermath. Makes you wish more of Jeff Foxworthies stuff applied to you...
Actually, the only agency that has jurisdiction to collect intelligence on US entities(defined as US Citizens or corporations when) is the FBI. NSA, CIA, DOD only can do so in extremely strict circumstances of aiding civilian law enforcement and when it can be all but proven that said US entities are connected in a significant way to the foreign intelligence mission, such as an intelligence op gathering info on Osama Bin Laden leading back to a company in the US that is acting as a front. They then have to stop and request approval from higher authority(I believe to the level just below a cabinet secretary) to proceed, and the work will probably just be handed over to the FBI and local law enforcement anyways. The only other exception is when investigating individuals for security clearance purposes. If the NSA was found to be collecting intelligence on US entities as defined above in a situation not allowed above, or in a situation allowed above without getting the proper approvals, heads would roll.
Reference Executive Order 12333, Intelligence Oversight.
LCpl George E. Worroll Jr, United States Marine Corps
ICE was using copyrighted material. If they piss off the copyright owner in how they use them the copyright owner has every right(unless specifically signed away) to fight back against this. If you could post a link to impartial reporting on that issue, I might be inclined to agree with you, but cannot without further information on how the squabble started.
Besides... When you have a system so complex you have to take breaks in character creation to sleep, and thats when you are making a simple random character(not the BESM character I am making who won't be done for several days yet and several of my WoD characters that need more detailing) there is something wrong. I don't miss rolemaster. When I picked up some used MERP books I could see why, despite the popularity of Toliens works, MERP was not nearly as popular as other games. The system sucked much ass.
Not to mention... the selections were done by vote of Amazon customers. How many modern americans have read L'Morte d'Arthur(spelling?)? How many have read any Mark Twain outside of school? Not many. Now, if this had been a board of academics from multiple institutions that came up with the same choices it would be dumb, especially Harry Potter.
I definitely agree with your view... for different reasons, though your reasons are valid.
I hope, despite the fact that I am very happily NOT christian, that the reason for the Bible not being there was that all the people realized the individual books were written well before the current millenium. But with the harry potter in there, I'd have to say its probably because they simply dont' care. Like it or not, no single book has had more influence on human history than the Bible. Despite its origins in the first millenium AD and prior, it probably should qualify for most influential book in the world for this millenium, as it didn't gain its truly unreal level of cultural momentum until this millenium.
Security through obscurity does work when the obscurity covers _only_ the specific security plan at a site. This forces attackers waste time attempting exploits you have blocked, and may cause them to give up, fail, or get caught when otherwise they would root you. Simple military tactics, always keep your enemy guessing as to what you have and don't have.
However, when applied to security tools it does not work. Imagine security software like a wall. Why do walls work so well? Because the construction of a wall was open to all those who benefited from them. Other people could contribute to a better, more secure wall. Walls could provide the security you needed and the access you needed all at the same time. Security software must be open to the public so we can review and enhance the new "wall" of the 21st century.
I agree about original language being better. I always buy subtitled editions when available.
Occasionally a good dub comes out. Armitage III Poly Matrix is good, I've seen several of the original Armitage videos in Japanese so I do have a basis for comparison. However, Ranma for example is at best an acceptable dub, and don't even get me started on how badly DIC fucked up Sailor Moon, even ignoring their most senseless censorship.
Its also good sometimes to watch in a foreign language you don't understand w/o subtitles. A couple of my hentai are from Japan(VHS) and I've seen the vast majority of Sailor Moon, some of Ranma, some of Key the Metal Idol, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind(don't get me started on how badly they raped the manga- good manga shitty anime). You'd be surprised how much you understand. Its like you understand what they say without understanding any of the words. Add in a tiny knowledge of common pleasantries in that language and the series FAQ so you know whos who... even something you've never seen a version of in your native language can be cool.
The original Japanese series was awesome. Watch the original three part ending sequence to the first season, the finale in Day Of Destiny, a two part episode. The drama in even half of one part of that two parter outstripped all the drama in the entire DIC dub. The original series was just so much better. Strong themes of loyalty, ends vs. the means, redemption, "be careful what you wish for", relationships(on both a silly and serious level). I would recommend picking up or borrowing Pioneers subtitled release of the uncut Sailor Moon R movie. That shows the best of the series. Mamoru/Endymion(Darien/Prince Darien) was amazing, it shed more light on his troubled past(not to mention one of the best entrances in all of anime). His all consuming devotion to Usagi is shown and even at the worst he tries to save his friends soul despite the friend having tried to kill Usagi on multiple occasions. The original unbutchered series is awesome, great to watch on the same level as the DIC dub or on higher levels.
Hentai lovers would prefer teh original as well. Lesbian scouts, Granppa Hino being a lecherous old man, gay villians, scenes and entire episodes dropped from the dub due to skirt lifting, slutty outfits, actual full nudity... Violence for the most part wasn't edited out, with the notable exception of when Ami slaps Usagi across the face cause shes being a crybaby. Yes I mean Sailor Mercury.
All in all the DIC version isn't horrid, its entertaining, but as with virtually all anime, the original is far better.
Bishoju Senshi Sailor Moon is awesome. The crap DIC translation... well I like it but after viewing the original I realize how shitty dubbed anime really is. You should watch the original. It is much better and more mature. The tone is much darker than the american version(Admittedly, that isn't saying much) the later series and some of the first season episodes from time to time get as dark as the Batman cartoon. Day of Destiny... The original Japanese version was one of the best done two episode series I have ever seen. Loss, redemption, raging against the dying of the light, it was great. Still more childish than most presentations of such themes, but the seriousness of the situation was still clear. And the battle scene with Mettalia...
The later series got really good. Sailor Moon S covered(in addition to lesbian sailor scouts) the concept of situational ethics in whether to kill or save Sailor Saturn. Deals with demons to save your only child. The horror of the demon taking control.
Check out the movies too. Sailor Moon R was amazing. I got the Pioneer sub(uncut version) and was really impressed now that I understood the dialogue 100%. Loyalty and friendship was highlighted very well. As was fighting the temptations of evil. Not to mention Tuxedo Kamens best entrance. S was good as was Super S.
Don't trust DIC to show you the true quality of any anime.
Thanks.. Perhaps an auto word splitter should be put in to defeat that little annoyance. Don't know how hard it would be to code(I'm barely past "hello world" in C++) but I don't imagine it would be too difficult.
Hey, not everyone has 5000 character wide displays. Maybe its a problem with me, I've got IE 5.0 on Win NT workstation 4.0 SP5, I'll see if it happens at home, (Communicator 4.5 Win98) if so I'm submitting a bug report. Either way... this shouldn't happen.
I don't know about the PIV, but since the Pentium Pro changes to Intels x86 offerings have not been truly significant, simply a few tweaks to allow insanely high clock speeeds. That is impressive in its own way, that they can get so much mileage out of such an old design, but at some point it will give out. AMD has been more innovative than Intel, especially with 3D-Now. With 3D-Now support, AMD's K6-2 and 3 can defeat otherwise equal Pentium II systems, despite the weak FPU. With SSE the Pentium III takes the 3D benchmark from them AMD however, but the K6-3(first to offer L3 cache to my knowledge and allow 5 simulateous read/write ops to it) will beat a faster PIII in business software. Basically, Intel builds technology, AMD builds chips for the real world. Both approaches have their merits, and while Intel is dominant, their dominance is not unchallenged, which can only be good for the consumer.
Re:A small step towards damnation
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Biotransistors
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According to the Christian creation myth, we were created in Gods own image. Perhaps we are to be creators as well? Perhaps it is our purpose to advance life in all ways we can, and find new ways to use it. Adam was given dominion over all "lesser" life forms than the human, and presumably that charge would pass on to his descendants, and if you believe in the Judeo/Christian myth that means humanity as a whole has dominion over bacteria. Which means we have the right to use it. Also, Slashdot is religously neutral. The staff certainly has their own religious beliefs or lack thereof, which may or may not mesh with yours. Same goes for members. You have every right to present your views, but suggesting Slashdot ignore the stories entirely is ludicrous. If the word of these things never gets out, noone can protest, so if its morally wrong, it will go through without anyone saying it shouldn't. Slashdot is not necesarily promoting theses ideas, but presenting them and letting us discuss the matter freely. This fits in their theme of "News for nerds, stuff that matters". Thus, it should be here for discussion.
No blockbuster music stores near me. Sam Goody in San Diego may, a three story cd store(IN A SHOPPING MALL) should have a service like that.
But on the point... There is ALOT of music I've bought because the cover looked cool sitting there by the listening station. So I selected that disc and bought it right then, or went to the ATM machine and came back. Occasionally I've liked it so much I've bought it on credit. I've got a 56k modem so downloading much music isn't much of an option even to try out. But for those who have the bandwith, trying music before you buy can be great. Heck... I've spent time searching for CD Singles of Lucious Jackson, and other than them I only buy singles of Tori Amos. If it wasn't for try before I buy, I never would have gotten into them. I would have spent a couple of hundered less on music than I have(which from my collection size isn't that much however)
Slashdot Mirror
Those were fun. I got mine(since given to my brother when I joined the Marines) salvaging during bulk trash season. You'd be surprised at all the cool working stuff people trash. My first TV(first two or three actually) was from that, I got a set of golf clubs, all sorts of stuff... I wish they had something like that out here in california. Technically salvaging from trash piles was illegal, but the cities enforcement policy was this "If the property owner complains, we will send the cops." Otherwise, there was NO enforcment. I've been digging through piles with a cop car driving by and had no problems... those were the days.
I have not seen a single regulation that requires 100% compliance. Having been in the service of the Marine Corps, an organization renowned for high standards, working at the three star level, if one existed I would have seen it. One thing though... this ruling is 100% impossible to enforce. There is always the matter of slightly modifying a music file(recorded or encoded as Mp3 at different settings, adding or cutting small bits of material, sending it up or down in pitch a slight amount, etc... I can see requiring Napster to do everything in their power to stop copyrighted songs from being traded, but the madness has got to stop. Unless you ban ALL distribution of copyrighted materials, period, including all currently legal methods of distribution, there will be ways online and off to pirate it. Whether or not you agree with trading of music files, you have to realize that there is no way for Napster to obey this order and stay in existence. Even if Napster folds, it will not dent sharing of copyrighted files. Nuclear war(and the accompnying extinction of Homo Sapiens) is about the only way to stop copyright infringment online that currently exists. Cpl George E Worroll Jr. USMC
I hope the Governor gets reelected for the forseeable future. I'm ashamed at my home states legislature, they are idiots. Anyone know how the Milford reps and seenators voted? While well intentioned, such laws don't adress the real problem. Kids who will be violent will be violent. Period. If they want to kill they will find a way. I do agree with rating video games, beyond that encouraging parental involvement is the key. Banning them won't help(or work).
As was said to similar posts, the defense WAS NOT ALLOWED to show context of the quotes used. It isn't so much that he was charged for threatening that is riling people up. It is the severe miscariage of justice the way he is not being allowed to mount an adequate defense. I don't know enough about the technicalities of evidence rules and such to know if the judge simply ruled in favor of scientology or if the Scientologists lawyers managed to find enough minor technicalities to successfully ban introduction of that evidence. Anyone able to enlighten us on that? If it was just a craven judge or badly written evidence laws? In the former case the judge should be publicly fired and the reasons spread far and wide. In the latter the laws concerning admissability of evidence need to be looked at.
I love some of their games... Magic is cool and I can't stop buying anything put out on Krynn no matter how hard I try to hate Wizards. But they managed to purchase the most critical company in modern gaming history, TSR. Without them so many other people would never have been inspired to start other games, so many great fantasy novels wouldn't be out, many classic computer games literally could not have existed. The role playing hobby would be at least a decade behind where it is now if it existed at all. Wizards bought it and rather than letting some dignity remain and use the TSR name as a subline(like White Wolf and ArtHaus or Black Dog)they relabeled it all and in a short time knowledge of TSR's existence at all will mark you as an old schooler in the gaming community... I don't like what they did. Kinda serves them right to get swallowed up themselves.
With that said, I would be much more upset if White Wolf got purchased away. It was sad that TSR went, but I doubt any company that would purchase White Wolf would have the balls to publish some of the stuff they have, even on the Black Dog label. If it happens though, as it is rumoured Hasbro wants white wolf(being easily the second most popular gaming company) I hope they simply provide the budget to produce more cool books(at higher quality of proofreading), take some of the increased profits from those books, and let white wolf do its thing. Kinda like the Slashdot/Andover thing. Provide money to run, take the profits, and let you guys handle other details.
There are several differences-
1) Microsoft was in a major lawsuit already and could not afford to split the attention of their legal department nor the added bad press, whereas Scientology can at this point and more bad press wouldnt make a damn bit of difference to them.
2)The microsoft issue was covered under fair use and thus Microsoft could ask slashdot to pull it, and threaten lawyers, but Slashdot was virtually guaranteed a victory in the courtroom. Not so here.
While I agree with Slashdots actions in this, it is a pity. Very rarely should sacred texts be considered secret or restricted in any way. Specifics of rituals yes so long as the secrecy is there for a reason which is explained to curious initiates, but this isn't the Burning Times where uncontrolled distribution of religious texts got people killed(well at least in most of the world). If scientology is so good they should post it to as many places as they can themselves and encourage readers to repost it.
Interesting. I remember as a kid back in Connecticut there being snow. Then for several years winters were pathetic and almost no snow. Even now with the upswing in snowy weather winters aren't nearly as brutal when I go back there as they used to be in my childhood. I haven't been back during summer much... But winters are warmer than they once were, and what I remember from high school 5 years ago summers were a little cooler than they were in elementary school... Less CO2 in summer, cooler summers(happened) more in winter warmer winters(happened). Climate evening out already. I realize anecdotal evidence like this is far from proof, but it is interesting nonetheless. Anyone else notice something like this happening??
A bit more on this-
I remember way back in school(been out a while) learning that the Ice Age was NOT a single time when the planet was covered with ice. In fact there were a series of glacial movements every 10,000 years or so. With that in mind, we are up for an ice age in a few centuries at the most.
As for global warming triggering an ice age, that is NOT theory. Current research shows that before each previous ice age there was a period of global warming not unlike what we are experiencing today. It will happen, it is only a question of when.
This has been a bit of a build up, climate changes don't happen overnight. More like a snowball you roll down from up on top of a large hill. It's growth starts small but it starts picking up momentum and all of the sudden it can crush a house. Thats how the climate changes, little stuff at first, over a century or so, then BOOM! I'm not a meteorologist, but from the reading I have done, I'd say we will start suffering colder winters soon. then colder summers. Maybe not severely so in our lifetimes, but by our great grandchildren it will probably start happening and by their great grandchildren well I don't think I'd want to live at most spots on earth it would be so cold.
>>paper is a non-renewable resource
???????? Paper is made from wood. Wood comes from trees. Trees come from seeds that they make themselves(don't get all technical on pollination issues please).
Some areas actually have more trees than they did 500 years ago. Connecticut does, learned that bit in boy scouts. Go to vermont, there are plenty of young trees on my familys property and on nearby land that are replacing the old. Paper is a self renewing resource. Greater use of paper will require more careful management of forests, but can be done indefinitely.
I think I heard of them maybe once before this article. So I don't quite get this quote:
"TribalVoice who was probably the only real threat to AOL in the instant messenger field"
How can a geek who almost always has 4 IM programs running(ICQ, MSN, Yahoo!, and AIM) and has on several occasions looked for more not have gotten into "the only real threat to AOL in the instant messenger field"?? Why is it that I see people put Yahoo Messenger names on email sig files, but never TribalVoice??? And TV is the only real IM competition AOL had?? Just seems odd to me... Yahoo at least is a serious competitor to AIM, but not something I almost never heard of.
AIM is easy but almost featureless. ICQ is feature heavy but a clunky interface. MSN is similar to AIM overall, slightly more features and better interface but I only have like two people I talk to on there.
I do like Yahoo! Messenger. A solid balance between the feature heavy(redundantly so) ICQ and the feature light AIM. The interface is more complicated than AIMs, due to the better feature set, but all the features make sense and are easy to use. The one thing I don't like is the limitation on the number of friends you can have on it. But as an instant messaging client, Yahoo! has the best overall. ICQ for its greater feature set is useful as a secondary, and the others, well if you havbe friends on them maybe otherwise why bother?
Also the Second Marine Aircraft Wing is headquartered and most of its forces based at Cherry Point NC, and a bit south in Beaufort SC is MCAS Beaufort SC and MCRD Parris Island SC(god the memories of that place). The Carolinas and Virginia are either the worst place to be or the best depending on your optimism level about nuclear war. Worst, because your chance of survival are about nil, best because your chances of dying in the first strike rather than of radiation sickness, to mobs of looters and bandits, or nuclear winter are absolutely guaranteed. Me, I'd rather be in a well stocked shelter in some deserted area of some mountain range. As far as possible from any point of strategic importance whether controlled by the military or civilians, and well stocked with edible plants and animals for when my supplies inevitably run out. Along with preferably several females and several other males, that way humanity would survive.
To think... backwoods rednecks are the only segment of society with a decent chance of surviving a nuclear war and its aftermath. Makes you wish more of Jeff Foxworthies stuff applied to you...
SCIF- Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility.
Actually, the only agency that has jurisdiction to collect intelligence on US entities(defined as US Citizens or corporations when) is the FBI. NSA, CIA, DOD only can do so in extremely strict circumstances of aiding civilian law enforcement and when it can be all but proven that said US entities are connected in a significant way to the foreign intelligence mission, such as an intelligence op gathering info on Osama Bin Laden leading back to a company in the US that is acting as a front. They then have to stop and request approval from higher authority(I believe to the level just below a cabinet secretary) to proceed, and the work will probably just be handed over to the FBI and local law enforcement anyways. The only other exception is when investigating individuals for security clearance purposes. If the NSA was found to be collecting intelligence on US entities as defined above in a situation not allowed above, or in a situation allowed above without getting the proper approvals, heads would roll.
Reference Executive Order 12333, Intelligence Oversight.
LCpl George E. Worroll Jr, United States Marine Corps
ICE was using copyrighted material. If they piss off the copyright owner in how they use them the copyright owner has every right(unless specifically signed away) to fight back against this. If you could post a link to impartial reporting on that issue, I might be inclined to agree with you, but cannot without further information on how the squabble started.
Besides... When you have a system so complex you have to take breaks in character creation to sleep, and thats when you are making a simple random character(not the BESM character I am making who won't be done for several days yet and several of my WoD characters that need more detailing) there is something wrong. I don't miss rolemaster. When I picked up some used MERP books I could see why, despite the popularity of Toliens works, MERP was not nearly as popular as other games. The system sucked much ass.
Not to mention... the selections were done by vote of Amazon customers. How many modern americans have read L'Morte d'Arthur(spelling?)? How many have read any Mark Twain outside of school? Not many. Now, if this had been a board of academics from multiple institutions that came up with the same choices it would be dumb, especially Harry Potter.
I definitely agree with your view... for different reasons, though your reasons are valid.
I hope, despite the fact that I am very happily NOT christian, that the reason for the Bible not being there was that all the people realized the individual books were written well before the current millenium. But with the harry potter in there, I'd have to say its probably because they simply dont' care. Like it or not, no single book has had more influence on human history than the Bible. Despite its origins in the first millenium AD and prior, it probably should qualify for most influential book in the world for this millenium, as it didn't gain its truly unreal level of cultural momentum until this millenium.
I agree in general but have some other points.
Security through obscurity does work when the obscurity covers _only_ the specific security plan at a site. This forces attackers waste time attempting exploits you have blocked, and may cause them to give up, fail, or get caught when otherwise they would root you. Simple military tactics, always keep your enemy guessing as to what you have and don't have.
However, when applied to security tools it does not work. Imagine security software like a wall. Why do walls work so well? Because the construction of a wall was open to all those who benefited from them. Other people could contribute to a better, more secure wall. Walls could provide the security you needed and the access you needed all at the same time. Security software must be open to the public so we can review and enhance the new "wall" of the 21st century.
I agree about original language being better. I always buy subtitled editions when available. Occasionally a good dub comes out. Armitage III Poly Matrix is good, I've seen several of the original Armitage videos in Japanese so I do have a basis for comparison. However, Ranma for example is at best an acceptable dub, and don't even get me started on how badly DIC fucked up Sailor Moon, even ignoring their most senseless censorship. Its also good sometimes to watch in a foreign language you don't understand w/o subtitles. A couple of my hentai are from Japan(VHS) and I've seen the vast majority of Sailor Moon, some of Ranma, some of Key the Metal Idol, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind(don't get me started on how badly they raped the manga- good manga shitty anime). You'd be surprised how much you understand. Its like you understand what they say without understanding any of the words. Add in a tiny knowledge of common pleasantries in that language and the series FAQ so you know whos who... even something you've never seen a version of in your native language can be cool.
The original Japanese series was awesome. Watch the original three part ending sequence to the first season, the finale in Day Of Destiny, a two part episode. The drama in even half of one part of that two parter outstripped all the drama in the entire DIC dub. The original series was just so much better. Strong themes of loyalty, ends vs. the means, redemption, "be careful what you wish for", relationships(on both a silly and serious level). I would recommend picking up or borrowing Pioneers subtitled release of the uncut Sailor Moon R movie. That shows the best of the series. Mamoru/Endymion(Darien/Prince Darien) was amazing, it shed more light on his troubled past(not to mention one of the best entrances in all of anime). His all consuming devotion to Usagi is shown and even at the worst he tries to save his friends soul despite the friend having tried to kill Usagi on multiple occasions. The original unbutchered series is awesome, great to watch on the same level as the DIC dub or on higher levels.
Hentai lovers would prefer teh original as well. Lesbian scouts, Granppa Hino being a lecherous old man, gay villians, scenes and entire episodes dropped from the dub due to skirt lifting, slutty outfits, actual full nudity... Violence for the most part wasn't edited out, with the notable exception of when Ami slaps Usagi across the face cause shes being a crybaby. Yes I mean Sailor Mercury.
All in all the DIC version isn't horrid, its entertaining, but as with virtually all anime, the original is far better.
Bishoju Senshi Sailor Moon is awesome. The crap DIC translation... well I like it but after viewing the original I realize how shitty dubbed anime really is. You should watch the original. It is much better and more mature. The tone is much darker than the american version(Admittedly, that isn't saying much) the later series and some of the first season episodes from time to time get as dark as the Batman cartoon. Day of Destiny... The original Japanese version was one of the best done two episode series I have ever seen. Loss, redemption, raging against the dying of the light, it was great. Still more childish than most presentations of such themes, but the seriousness of the situation was still clear. And the battle scene with Mettalia... The later series got really good. Sailor Moon S covered(in addition to lesbian sailor scouts) the concept of situational ethics in whether to kill or save Sailor Saturn. Deals with demons to save your only child. The horror of the demon taking control. Check out the movies too. Sailor Moon R was amazing. I got the Pioneer sub(uncut version) and was really impressed now that I understood the dialogue 100%. Loyalty and friendship was highlighted very well. As was fighting the temptations of evil. Not to mention Tuxedo Kamens best entrance. S was good as was Super S. Don't trust DIC to show you the true quality of any anime.
Thanks.. Perhaps an auto word splitter should be put in to defeat that little annoyance. Don't know how hard it would be to code(I'm barely past "hello world" in C++) but I don't imagine it would be too difficult.
Hey, not everyone has 5000 character wide displays. Maybe its a problem with me, I've got IE 5.0 on Win NT workstation 4.0 SP5, I'll see if it happens at home, (Communicator 4.5 Win98) if so I'm submitting a bug report. Either way... this shouldn't happen.
I don't know about the PIV, but since the Pentium Pro changes to Intels x86 offerings have not been truly significant, simply a few tweaks to allow insanely high clock speeeds. That is impressive in its own way, that they can get so much mileage out of such an old design, but at some point it will give out. AMD has been more innovative than Intel, especially with 3D-Now. With 3D-Now support, AMD's K6-2 and 3 can defeat otherwise equal Pentium II systems, despite the weak FPU. With SSE the Pentium III takes the 3D benchmark from them AMD however, but the K6-3(first to offer L3 cache to my knowledge and allow 5 simulateous read/write ops to it) will beat a faster PIII in business software. Basically, Intel builds technology, AMD builds chips for the real world. Both approaches have their merits, and while Intel is dominant, their dominance is not unchallenged, which can only be good for the consumer.
According to the Christian creation myth, we were created in Gods own image. Perhaps we are to be creators as well? Perhaps it is our purpose to advance life in all ways we can, and find new ways to use it. Adam was given dominion over all "lesser" life forms than the human, and presumably that charge would pass on to his descendants, and if you believe in the Judeo/Christian myth that means humanity as a whole has dominion over bacteria. Which means we have the right to use it. Also, Slashdot is religously neutral. The staff certainly has their own religious beliefs or lack thereof, which may or may not mesh with yours. Same goes for members. You have every right to present your views, but suggesting Slashdot ignore the stories entirely is ludicrous. If the word of these things never gets out, noone can protest, so if its morally wrong, it will go through without anyone saying it shouldn't. Slashdot is not necesarily promoting theses ideas, but presenting them and letting us discuss the matter freely. This fits in their theme of "News for nerds, stuff that matters". Thus, it should be here for discussion.
No blockbuster music stores near me. Sam Goody in San Diego may, a three story cd store(IN A SHOPPING MALL) should have a service like that.
But on the point... There is ALOT of music I've bought because the cover looked cool sitting there by the listening station. So I selected that disc and bought it right then, or went to the ATM machine and came back. Occasionally I've liked it so much I've bought it on credit. I've got a 56k modem so downloading much music isn't much of an option even to try out. But for those who have the bandwith, trying music before you buy can be great. Heck... I've spent time searching for CD Singles of Lucious Jackson, and other than them I only buy singles of Tori Amos. If it wasn't for try before I buy, I never would have gotten into them. I would have spent a couple of hundered less on music than I have(which from my collection size isn't that much however)