There are also plenty of people, probably many more than the prior set, that are poor because they made one bad decision (having a child by a loser who won't help) or had one episode of bad luck, combined with a lack of extended support networks. Either their friends & family are poor too, or their friends don't have enough money to help and their family is poor or estranged, etc. Define "poor"... I believe it would be defined by the standard of living. In America, there is little to no involuntary poverty. Anybody who wants to have a roof over his/her head and desires three meals a day will get it if they are willing to work for it (mostly). Poverty is not the same as the lower class of society. Poverty is a miserable existence characterized by lack of access to the basic necessitites. However, this is how I define it. You picked a more lenient definition and took offense to the GP's comment.
I was raised by a single mother, and I am offended by your characterization of the poor. Moreover, I am horror-struck that a significant group of people think that it's accurate.
Imagine if you had lived your whole life surrounded by people working at jobs that barely made ends meet. Did you go to school? Have a shelter? Clothes to wear? You sir, are by no means poor...
Now imagine how you would:
a) Fit your head around the notion that you could get a job that paid well, having no direct experience with people with such a job. You socialize with rich kids, smart kids and motivated kids in school. And in college. And at the playground. They have parents. It's not that hard.
b) Obtain the skills to get that job. American taxpayers sponsor your education if you have the financial need. Since you had the opportunity to go to a school, colleges will take you in. Maybe not Harvard, but if you are talented enough, Harvard is just 4 years away.
c) Recover, with no support network, from the inevitable bad decisions or bad luck that befall everyone. Can you give me examples of these bad decisions and bad luck that ruin people's lives? Most of these are avoidable. At the end of the day, if you want to be successful, your bad decisions should be along the lines of "I didn't pay my $400 credit card bill for 6 months and got pwn3d" instead of "I shot my roommate in rage".
d) Develop all of the skills and habits to take advantage of financial success, having not been raised with them. There is a phrase called "rags to riches" for a reason. And regardless, very few people can actually make $50 million in their lives. Being 'poor' is not much of an obstacle in America in the way of you making 2x the national average by the time you are 30.
If your parents worked professional jobs, ever bought you a car or bailed you out of some financial problem, or paid for your college, you have NO CONCEPT of why the poor are "the poor". Actually, if you never had to work as a 7 yr old, walk 1-2 miles everyday bringing 15 gallons of water for the family, drop out of school because your family needed your income, starve for an extended period of time, you have NO CONCEPT of why 'the poor' are 'the poor'.
While the characterization of the poor was probably inaccurate and intended as a joke, I think the idea of poverty in America is just funny to me since it seems so voluntary (in most cases). Most people who want to CAN make ends meet (even if it is 'barely') and that disqualifies you from talking about 'the poor'. You have every opportunity in America if you some fundamental criteria (food, shelter, clothing, school, no serious health issues etc.)
At the end of the day, the GP and your definitions of poor probably differed, but I found it funny how you told him you were offended since your mom couldn't afford to buy you the latest toys in the market. Before you got batshit crazy attacking me, I grew up in a very financially strapped family that barely made ends meet (mostly since we were supporting some part of our extended family for various reasons). I have never considered myself poor, but realized I grew up belonging to the lower class of society.
I spent New Year's at Seoul on a 20 hr stopover (flew the 'wrong' way to India to get the chance...) and struggled without knowing the language. Buying food, socks(I was wearing flip-flops because I didn't consider that my stopover between 2 cities at 20C would be at -5C... hehe) and getting a decent place to put my bags was a challenge, but it was a GREAT experience.
The hotel room had a TV and they had quite a few 'Gaming Channels' where they showed other people playing games all day. Most of the shows were Warcraft type strategy games, but some of them were FPS tournaments and Racing games as well. Game reviews were sprinkled in between... I didn't watch for more than an hour or so and the shows were in Korean, but I did get the feeling that out of the 6-7 channels only 1-2 could've be anything other than 24hr game channels...
The Dongdaemun electronics market was also fascinating from a nerd POV. Few to no pirated games, really cool phones, mp3 players and the like... It was pretty cool except for the fact that I knew I would've been fleeced given the absence of fixed prices and exorbitant tags on the devices on display... I wasn't planning on buying electronics either
The new years eve celebration itself was fantastic. I managed to get in the centre of the action based on a tip to get there 5 hrs early from a cute girl at the airport (who spoke bad english). The intersection of two roughly 6 lane roads was packed with people in all four directions for about half a mile each way and EACH ONE of them had a firecracker of some sort. Coupled with extravagant dancing and music performances at the square and an hour of organized fireworks (with people's fireworks competing) meant that it was one of the greatest experiences I've had. My hair smelled of phosphorus and sulphur for a couple of days even after about 7-8 shampooing efforts...
If you wanna go to Seoul, make it ther for new years...
I was comparing a geostationary orbit (which is by definition geosynchronous) to a polar geosynchronous orbit... Both would have different 'daylight' percentages?
Well, the $100 pricepoint would only be for Halo 3 (with the $40 being the exclusivity tax for being too cheap to buy a 360). Moreover, with DX10 limiting it to Vista means MS might get some Vista adoption going amongst gamers. Question is what strategy would allow them to
Reasons to boost price: a) Not terribly affect 360 sales boost b) Make enough money per sale to recover costs of porting a game designed for the 360 to PC
Reasons to lower price: a) Encourage adoption of Vista amongst gamerfolk b) Sell enough copies to recover costs of porting a game designed for the 360 to PC
Making the option available would have to be financially feasible, but I am sure with the online component, that's not entirely implausible.
But even if is financially feasible, I bet MS is just going to sit on their asses and bully PC gamers into buying a console because they probably assume the 360 is a godsend and that every human wants to play Halo 3.
Anyone else feel that MS needs to try and get Halo 3 for PC out and enable it with cross-platform gaming on Games for Windows Live?
Given that Halo 2 for PC was released only this year, I posit that my wish is highly unlikely. Obviously, MS would want to avoid the cannibalism of the Xbox 360 sales boost that Halo 3 is going to induce.
What if they price the PC version at $100 though? Would that be economically viable for both MS and the gamers?
1) Nerds are better with tech gadgets 2) We discover the magic before adolescence 3) The internet is for pr0n 4) Higher standards 5) Abstinence 6) You and your kids aren't in school simultaneously 7) Better grades 8) Better careers 9) Profit...
Corollary: You get 20 sexually active years with a hot chick as opposed to the 2 minutes it took you to get her knocked up.
I was going to point you to http://www.mgmaps.com/, but apparently Google stopped allowing the software to use their maps YESTERDAY. This is a sign from God that Google is evil...
Regardless, the software is top class and allows the use of a GPS with maps from other providers...
IIRC a satellite in a geosynch orbit is in sunlight for all but something like 10 minutes or so of a day. Off the top of my head, I would assume it would depend on what point on earth the satellite is synchronous to...
I think Sony's defence would revolve around prior art and the 'plurality of multi access memory modules equal to the number of cores' part. I don't buy their patent infringement argument for a variety of reasons (others have pointed these out and more).
I should have stated that I expected them to try and go after AMD/Intel if they won this lawsuit (highly unlikely- I hope...). Reason I say that is... If the memory module count did not deter them from trying to sue Sony, the absence of an hardware master-slave relationship would not deter them from suing multicore processor manufacturers.
Dumb lawsuit IMO. God forbid they should win this one...
Step2. Drive down some random street until you find... Step3. A neighbour with unprotected WIFI (or just crack their non-WPA2 secure connection) Call me a pedant, but do you not find it disconcerting to have neighbours on random streets? Maybe you meant they were somebody else's neighbour...
What kind of job asks you to take backup tapes w/ sensitive information home with you? Don't they have a cabinet or a drawer inside the building (which is itself presumably safer)?
So presently, laptops are getting radically cheaper. But these laptops are simply using old components (VIAs, Durons and Celerons??!!??) and building a portable that barely keeps up and is horribly outdated.
Given that as of now, I can configure a fairly decent desktop (comparable to a sub-$800 laptop) for under $400 (including a monitor), the craze for cheap laptops might mean a resurgence in desktops for all we know.
And you can never count out the masses who spend $2000 + on their up-to-date PCs (whether it's laptops or desktops). AMD/Intel are still developing chips that sell for $1000 for a couple of months and then drop to reasonable prices within a year.
Too early to make such predictions without any data on consumer reaction to these cheapo laptops... Especially them gamers'...
Slashdot Mirror
Imagine if you had lived your whole life surrounded by people working at jobs that barely made ends meet. Did you go to school? Have a shelter? Clothes to wear? You sir, are by no means poor... Now imagine how you would:
a) Fit your head around the notion that you could get a job that paid well, having no direct experience with people with such a job. You socialize with rich kids, smart kids and motivated kids in school. And in college. And at the playground. They have parents. It's not that hard. b) Obtain the skills to get that job. American taxpayers sponsor your education if you have the financial need. Since you had the opportunity to go to a school, colleges will take you in. Maybe not Harvard, but if you are talented enough, Harvard is just 4 years away. c) Recover, with no support network, from the inevitable bad decisions or bad luck that befall everyone. Can you give me examples of these bad decisions and bad luck that ruin people's lives? Most of these are avoidable. At the end of the day, if you want to be successful, your bad decisions should be along the lines of "I didn't pay my $400 credit card bill for 6 months and got pwn3d" instead of "I shot my roommate in rage". d) Develop all of the skills and habits to take advantage of financial success, having not been raised with them. There is a phrase called "rags to riches" for a reason. And regardless, very few people can actually make $50 million in their lives. Being 'poor' is not much of an obstacle in America in the way of you making 2x the national average by the time you are 30. If your parents worked professional jobs, ever bought you a car or bailed you out of some financial problem, or paid for your college, you have NO CONCEPT of why the poor are "the poor". Actually, if you never had to work as a 7 yr old, walk 1-2 miles everyday bringing 15 gallons of water for the family, drop out of school because your family needed your income, starve for an extended period of time, you have NO CONCEPT of why 'the poor' are 'the poor'.
While the characterization of the poor was probably inaccurate and intended as a joke, I think the idea of poverty in America is just funny to me since it seems so voluntary (in most cases). Most people who want to CAN make ends meet (even if it is 'barely') and that disqualifies you from talking about 'the poor'. You have every opportunity in America if you some fundamental criteria (food, shelter, clothing, school, no serious health issues etc.)
At the end of the day, the GP and your definitions of poor probably differed, but I found it funny how you told him you were offended since your mom couldn't afford to buy you the latest toys in the market. Before you got batshit crazy attacking me, I grew up in a very financially strapped family that barely made ends meet (mostly since we were supporting some part of our extended family for various reasons). I have never considered myself poor, but realized I grew up belonging to the lower class of society.
Cheers!
Gregorian Calendar :) 2004-2005
Cheers!
I spent New Year's at Seoul on a 20 hr stopover (flew the 'wrong' way to India to get the chance...) and struggled without knowing the language. Buying food, socks(I was wearing flip-flops because I didn't consider that my stopover between 2 cities at 20C would be at -5C ... hehe) and getting a decent place to put my bags was a challenge, but it was a GREAT experience.
...
The hotel room had a TV and they had quite a few 'Gaming Channels' where they showed other people playing games all day. Most of the shows were Warcraft type strategy games, but some of them were FPS tournaments and Racing games as well. Game reviews were sprinkled in between... I didn't watch for more than an hour or so and the shows were in Korean, but I did get the feeling that out of the 6-7 channels only 1-2 could've be anything other than 24hr game channels
The Dongdaemun electronics market was also fascinating from a nerd POV. Few to no pirated games, really cool phones, mp3 players and the like... It was pretty cool except for the fact that I knew I would've been fleeced given the absence of fixed prices and exorbitant tags on the devices on display... I wasn't planning on buying electronics either
The new years eve celebration itself was fantastic. I managed to get in the centre of the action based on a tip to get there 5 hrs early from a cute girl at the airport (who spoke bad english). The intersection of two roughly 6 lane roads was packed with people in all four directions for about half a mile each way and EACH ONE of them had a firecracker of some sort. Coupled with extravagant dancing and music performances at the square and an hour of organized fireworks (with people's fireworks competing) meant that it was one of the greatest experiences I've had. My hair smelled of phosphorus and sulphur for a couple of days even after about 7-8 shampooing efforts...
If you wanna go to Seoul, make it ther for new years...
</nostalgia>
Cheers!
I was comparing a geostationary orbit (which is by definition geosynchronous) to a polar geosynchronous orbit... Both would have different 'daylight' percentages?
Geosynchronous != Geostationary...
Cheers!
--
Vig
Would the inclination of the plane of the orbit not matter? e.g a Geostationary orbit vs one that passes over the poles?
Cheers!
Well, the $100 pricepoint would only be for Halo 3 (with the $40 being the exclusivity tax for being too cheap to buy a 360). Moreover, with DX10 limiting it to Vista means MS might get some Vista adoption going amongst gamers. Question is what strategy would allow them to
Reasons to boost price:
a) Not terribly affect 360 sales boost
b) Make enough money per sale to recover costs of porting a game designed for the 360 to PC
Reasons to lower price:
a) Encourage adoption of Vista amongst gamerfolk
b) Sell enough copies to recover costs of porting a game designed for the 360 to PC
Making the option available would have to be financially feasible, but I am sure with the online component, that's not entirely implausible.
But even if is financially feasible, I bet MS is just going to sit on their asses and bully PC gamers into buying a console because they probably assume the 360 is a godsend and that every human wants to play Halo 3.
Cheers!
Anyone else feel that MS needs to try and get Halo 3 for PC out and enable it with cross-platform gaming on Games for Windows Live?
Given that Halo 2 for PC was released only this year, I posit that my wish is highly unlikely. Obviously, MS would want to avoid the cannibalism of the Xbox 360 sales boost that Halo 3 is going to induce.
What if they price the PC version at $100 though? Would that be economically viable for both MS and the gamers?
Cheers!
... and the fact that I don't want to fuck anything that moves doesn't... Sir, I think you suffer from what is called Necrophilia.Cheers!
My wishful hypothesis:
1) Nerds are better with tech gadgets
2) We discover the magic before adolescence
3) The internet is for pr0n
4) Higher standards
5) Abstinence
6) You and your kids aren't in school simultaneously
7) Better grades
8) Better careers
9) Profit...
Corollary: You get 20 sexually active years with a hot chick as opposed to the 2 minutes it took you to get her knocked up.
Cheers!
becasue we wear tinfoil condoms.
Cheers!
I was going to point you to http://www.mgmaps.com/, but apparently Google stopped allowing the software to use their maps YESTERDAY. This is a sign from God that Google is evil...
Regardless, the software is top class and allows the use of a GPS with maps from other providers...
Cheers!
Cheers!
--
Vig
Pardon my ignorance if I sound stupid,
I think Sony's defence would revolve around prior art and the 'plurality of multi access memory modules equal to the number of cores' part. I don't buy their patent infringement argument for a variety of reasons (others have pointed these out and more).
I should have stated that I expected them to try and go after AMD/Intel if they won this lawsuit (highly unlikely- I hope...). Reason I say that is... If the memory module count did not deter them from trying to sue Sony, the absence of an hardware master-slave relationship would not deter them from suing multicore processor manufacturers.
Dumb lawsuit IMO. God forbid they should win this one...
Cheers!
Are they going to go after AMD and Intel for their multicore CPUs?
Cheers!
Step3. A neighbour with unprotected WIFI (or just crack their non-WPA2 secure connection) Call me a pedant, but do you not find it disconcerting to have neighbours on random streets? Maybe you meant they were somebody else's neighbour...
Cheers!
What kind of job asks you to take backup tapes w/ sensitive information home with you? Don't they have a cabinet or a drawer inside the building (which is itself presumably safer)?
Cheers!
Shhh! Slashdot is unaware of the long system :)
In all honesty, although milliards make more sense to me that the short system, you need to switch over since most of the world is...
Cheers!
I expected people to sell Vonage stock when SkypeIn was introduced....
...'
Mildly pedantic, but I think you meant to say 'Cue'
Unless it was 'Cue queueing up to sell Vonage stock in 3,2,1
Cheers!
I daresay this one is closer....
Cheers!
Perhaps this also has something to do with the article earlier today about filtering internet content?
Cheers!
Cheers!
tomorrow we can put it in a $50 iWatch Here starts the hype...
Cheers!
80% of them are farming gold for the upper 20% :) Gold farmers shouldn't count...
Cheers!
So presently, laptops are getting radically cheaper. But these laptops are simply using old components (VIAs, Durons and Celerons??!!??) and building a portable that barely keeps up and is horribly outdated.
Given that as of now, I can configure a fairly decent desktop (comparable to a sub-$800 laptop) for under $400 (including a monitor), the craze for cheap laptops might mean a resurgence in desktops for all we know.
And you can never count out the masses who spend $2000 + on their up-to-date PCs (whether it's laptops or desktops). AMD/Intel are still developing chips that sell for $1000 for a couple of months and then drop to reasonable prices within a year.
Too early to make such predictions without any data on consumer reaction to these cheapo laptops... Especially them gamers'...
Cheers!
Cheers!