I will still vote for candidates in the many other positions that are to be filled. But there is no one that meets the state's criteria that is a strong enough candidate to earn my endorsement or my vote. For the first time in my voting career (going back to 1992), yes, I am effectively not voting for anyone for president.
And I refuse to choose between the lesser of two evils (a practice that only benefits the evil of two lessers).
If everyone would stop worrying about how their neighbor is likely to vote, and just vote for the person who seems like they would do the best job, we wouldn't seem to be stuck picking between just two knuckleheads every four years.
Of course one of the other problems is ballot access. The rules are stacked against any third party candidate even getting on the ballot in the first place, especially here in North Carolina. And once you're on, this mental rut that most Americans are stuck in prevents the candidate from getting equal coverage in the news or a presence in the debates.
With only a few exceptions, write-ins are not counted by North Carolina.
You actually have to qualify as a write-in candidate here, and only a few people jumped through the necessary hoops to qualify. None are aligned with my political philosophy, which is mostly small-L libertarian. Barr says a lot of the things a Libertarian is supposed to say but forgive me if I'm not buying his sudden transformation from an authoritarian/statist to a freedom-loving Libertarian.
The Libertarian Party is the biggest 3rd party in this state and even it has had a terrible time of getting access to the ballot. It's really rough being a third party here.
The other third parties usually can't get on the ballot at all. For example, I can't even *write in* Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party) because the State BOE has affirmed he does not qualify as a *write in* candidate and as such votes for him will not be counted.
In North Carolina, there are three recognized candidates on the ballot. Obama, McCain, and Barr.
In the last general election, I lived in Pennsylvania which is an easier state in terms of ballot access. If I recall correctly, there were six candidates for president in 2004. North Carolina is a notoriously difficult state to gain access to the ballot.
None of the three candidates on the ballot here have demonstrated that they have solutions that fit within the limitations of federal government dictated within the US Constitution.
As such, I'm writing in "none of the above". The state board of elections has affirmed that they are going to disregard write-in votes for any of the people that I would like to write in, in spite of the state constitution's demand that all votes be counted.
Yes but the transmitter device is only permitted to transmit on specific frequencies. When it is splattering the rest of the spectrum with RFI, it's not functioning in a correct manner.
This is like back in the 1970's (yes I'm old enough to remember) when the guy with the souped-up CB radio next door could be heard loud & clear through your TV set.
Apple is responsible for making sure that its devices do not interfere with other electronic devices. Enforcement has been rather slack. But I doubt many are complaining.
The environmentalists have gotten Apple to wake up and pay more attention to how green their practices are. Now the rest of us should wake Apple up and make sure they play well with others, especially with regards to harmful RFI.
My employer asked me to do something that was unethical, and likely illegal. I asked to hold off on implementation until we could consult company counsel on the legality of it. Boss and director said "No. Do it. Now." I made my case, said I'd be happy to keep working there, or not, but I'm not going to do what they're asking me to do in this case.
The next day I got my walking papers. I felt more liberated than upset.
I've now worked for two scumbag marketing companies and I'm thinking it's probably best, if you have a conscience, to avoid them like the plague.
Me, personally, I don't know why I still have a mouse.
Apple got it right with the iPhone interface. They got it wrong with the touch pad for the Macbooks, IMO. If you hold your nose and watch an episode of the new Knight Rider series, check out the (fictional) interface they are using to the computer in the cave that they keep the car in. There is nothing holding us back from having something like that now, except for the software. If you look, it's basically an iPhone multitouch interface on a big honking LCD screen. If they need a keyboard, one is displayed on the desktop display (perhaps not optimal but a nice option).
My desktop experience hasn't changed substantially from what I had 10 or 15 years ago. I'm still using the same pointer device from nearly 25 years ago, with the addition of a scroll wheel. My keyboard is literally the same keyboard I've had since the mid 1980's (IBM model M) because the market hasn't come up with anything better since then (that's more of a hardware shortcoming, obviously).
Right now I think the best thing that can happen is for the Xorg team or someone else somewhere in the GUI stack to come up with something analogous to multitouch for the desktop interface. Then of course we also need display manufacturers to get on board.
I'm sure Apple is already doing this. I predict the next iMac generation will have a multitouch screen, and OS X Snow Leopard will support it (or the next release after Snow Leopard).
UTC is a good starting point. Eliminate time zones, eliminate DST. There is no reason that 0700 needs to be a morning hour. It's just 0700. Might be morning in London, middle of the night in New York. Who cares. No more fscking around with clocks twice a year. No more setting time zones on your GPS, your watch, your cell phone, your PC, etc.
You make a good point but I would take it another step and suggest that the ship should leave behind a substantial orbiting station, but the ship itself should be reused extensively for trips back and forth between Earth and Mars. I'd like to see it return.
I imagine that, for awhile anyway, the ship will be returning mostly empty for the first 2 or 3 round trips. But after that I'd like to see at least something substantial returning. I imagine that someone might make a whole new sensation in kitchen countertops using slabs of Martian rock the way granite or marble would be used today. And who knows; there could be vast quantities of precious metals under the surface of the red planet.
Just some bar room style conjecture. Pull up a beer and jump in.
We should have a functional space elevator in place here on Earth first, used regularly to haul heavy cargo into orbit.
An interplanetary vessel should be assembled in orbit from components manufactured on Earth. Once the ship is built, cargo to support the first expedition can be sent up, followed by consumables for the trip, followed by the explorers themselves.
If the whole space elevator thing works as we hope here on Earth, a similar system should be constructed on Mars to support long-term missions. Additionally we ought to have GPS and communications satellites in orbit around Mars before sending permanent colonists.
With space elevators in place on both ends, it becomes far less daunting to send the heavy cargo needed to build rugged and roomy shelters, greenhouses, etc.
Sending astronauts there for short term scientific visits is indeed a waste of time, money, and other resources. If the idea is to have a more permanent presence on the red planet at some point, we should be building out the infrastructure now that is needed to ensure the first colonists have what they need to succeed.
Back in the day I used Microfocus COBOL, which is still available today.
There are plenty of books out there on COBOL but O'Reilly, being geared mostly towards lower end machines, isn't likely to have much that is mainframe-centric like this. It's been over 15 years since I've written any COBOL (not long enough!) so I can't recommend a good modern guide.
Honestly, I think anything you can do in COBOL you can do better in Perl.
I think that the right to free speech trumps the notion that people don't like to be insulted. It's not a good feeling to feel insulted, but it's not a fundamental human right to not be insulted.
Well maybe I'm being American-centric, but I would like to believe that the rights that I enjoy are human rights and not American rights.
Here in the US, we often cite fringe groups like the neo nazis and Ku Klux Klan as the prime example of our right to free speech in action. You don't have to like what they have to say, but many of us would defend to their death the right to say it.
The will of the majority to oppress the minority is mob rule, and a particularly onerous form of tyranny.
Slashdot Mirror
...but Lumenlab is a much cooler site to go to in that they produce an affordable mini-CNC mill for $599 that is run by open source software.
The other 12 colonies have disowned New Jersey.
I will still vote for candidates in the many other positions that are to be filled. But there is no one that meets the state's criteria that is a strong enough candidate to earn my endorsement or my vote. For the first time in my voting career (going back to 1992), yes, I am effectively not voting for anyone for president.
I don't see things in such a binary fashion.
And I refuse to choose between the lesser of two evils (a practice that only benefits the evil of two lessers).
If everyone would stop worrying about how their neighbor is likely to vote, and just vote for the person who seems like they would do the best job, we wouldn't seem to be stuck picking between just two knuckleheads every four years.
Of course one of the other problems is ballot access. The rules are stacked against any third party candidate even getting on the ballot in the first place, especially here in North Carolina. And once you're on, this mental rut that most Americans are stuck in prevents the candidate from getting equal coverage in the news or a presence in the debates.
With only a few exceptions, write-ins are not counted by North Carolina.
You actually have to qualify as a write-in candidate here, and only a few people jumped through the necessary hoops to qualify. None are aligned with my political philosophy, which is mostly small-L libertarian. Barr says a lot of the things a Libertarian is supposed to say but forgive me if I'm not buying his sudden transformation from an authoritarian/statist to a freedom-loving Libertarian.
North Carolina.
The Libertarian Party is the biggest 3rd party in this state and even it has had a terrible time of getting access to the ballot. It's really rough being a third party here.
The other third parties usually can't get on the ballot at all. For example, I can't even *write in* Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party) because the State BOE has affirmed he does not qualify as a *write in* candidate and as such votes for him will not be counted.
In my state (NC), only three have qualified to get on the ballot (Obama, Barr, McCain).
Every state is different.
In North Carolina, there are three recognized candidates on the ballot. Obama, McCain, and Barr.
In the last general election, I lived in Pennsylvania which is an easier state in terms of ballot access. If I recall correctly, there were six candidates for president in 2004. North Carolina is a notoriously difficult state to gain access to the ballot.
None of the three candidates on the ballot here have demonstrated that they have solutions that fit within the limitations of federal government dictated within the US Constitution.
As such, I'm writing in "none of the above". The state board of elections has affirmed that they are going to disregard write-in votes for any of the people that I would like to write in, in spite of the state constitution's demand that all votes be counted.
Yes but the transmitter device is only permitted to transmit on specific frequencies. When it is splattering the rest of the spectrum with RFI, it's not functioning in a correct manner.
This is like back in the 1970's (yes I'm old enough to remember) when the guy with the souped-up CB radio next door could be heard loud & clear through your TV set.
Apple is responsible for making sure that its devices do not interfere with other electronic devices. Enforcement has been rather slack. But I doubt many are complaining.
The environmentalists have gotten Apple to wake up and pay more attention to how green their practices are. Now the rest of us should wake Apple up and make sure they play well with others, especially with regards to harmful RFI.
My employer asked me to do something that was unethical, and likely illegal. I asked to hold off on implementation until we could consult company counsel on the legality of it. Boss and director said "No. Do it. Now." I made my case, said I'd be happy to keep working there, or not, but I'm not going to do what they're asking me to do in this case.
The next day I got my walking papers. I felt more liberated than upset.
I've now worked for two scumbag marketing companies and I'm thinking it's probably best, if you have a conscience, to avoid them like the plague.
The US intelligence community and the enforcement agencies that act on its findings scare me a hell of a lot more than the "terrorists".
If a terrorist rules by fear, and the US government is trying to keep me scared all the time, doesn't that make the US government a terrorist cabal?
Me, personally, I don't know why I still have a mouse.
Apple got it right with the iPhone interface. They got it wrong with the touch pad for the Macbooks, IMO. If you hold your nose and watch an episode of the new Knight Rider series, check out the (fictional) interface they are using to the computer in the cave that they keep the car in. There is nothing holding us back from having something like that now, except for the software. If you look, it's basically an iPhone multitouch interface on a big honking LCD screen. If they need a keyboard, one is displayed on the desktop display (perhaps not optimal but a nice option).
My desktop experience hasn't changed substantially from what I had 10 or 15 years ago. I'm still using the same pointer device from nearly 25 years ago, with the addition of a scroll wheel. My keyboard is literally the same keyboard I've had since the mid 1980's (IBM model M) because the market hasn't come up with anything better since then (that's more of a hardware shortcoming, obviously).
Right now I think the best thing that can happen is for the Xorg team or someone else somewhere in the GUI stack to come up with something analogous to multitouch for the desktop interface. Then of course we also need display manufacturers to get on board.
I'm sure Apple is already doing this. I predict the next iMac generation will have a multitouch screen, and OS X Snow Leopard will support it (or the next release after Snow Leopard).
...do they have such awful terms of service?
My thoughts exactly.
UTC is a good starting point. Eliminate time zones, eliminate DST. There is no reason that 0700 needs to be a morning hour. It's just 0700. Might be morning in London, middle of the night in New York. Who cares. No more fscking around with clocks twice a year. No more setting time zones on your GPS, your watch, your cell phone, your PC, etc.
Sure it will.
It just won't be launched by the USA.
http://prisonplanet.com/
You make a good point but I would take it another step and suggest that the ship should leave behind a substantial orbiting station, but the ship itself should be reused extensively for trips back and forth between Earth and Mars. I'd like to see it return.
I imagine that, for awhile anyway, the ship will be returning mostly empty for the first 2 or 3 round trips. But after that I'd like to see at least something substantial returning. I imagine that someone might make a whole new sensation in kitchen countertops using slabs of Martian rock the way granite or marble would be used today. And who knows; there could be vast quantities of precious metals under the surface of the red planet.
Just some bar room style conjecture. Pull up a beer and jump in.
We should have a functional space elevator in place here on Earth first, used regularly to haul heavy cargo into orbit.
An interplanetary vessel should be assembled in orbit from components manufactured on Earth. Once the ship is built, cargo to support the first expedition can be sent up, followed by consumables for the trip, followed by the explorers themselves.
If the whole space elevator thing works as we hope here on Earth, a similar system should be constructed on Mars to support long-term missions. Additionally we ought to have GPS and communications satellites in orbit around Mars before sending permanent colonists.
With space elevators in place on both ends, it becomes far less daunting to send the heavy cargo needed to build rugged and roomy shelters, greenhouses, etc.
Sending astronauts there for short term scientific visits is indeed a waste of time, money, and other resources. If the idea is to have a more permanent presence on the red planet at some point, we should be building out the infrastructure now that is needed to ensure the first colonists have what they need to succeed.
Microsoft Visual COBOL? *blech*
Back in the day I used Microfocus COBOL, which is still available today.
There are plenty of books out there on COBOL but O'Reilly, being geared mostly towards lower end machines, isn't likely to have much that is mainframe-centric like this. It's been over 15 years since I've written any COBOL (not long enough!) so I can't recommend a good modern guide.
Honestly, I think anything you can do in COBOL you can do better in Perl.
COBOL is, after all, an acronym.
I heard there were some editors on the payroll but I have yet to see evidence of this.
It is useless.
I'm convinced the only reason it got to the /. front page is the combination of the terms "open source" and "DRM".
Certainly there is a more informative article out there on the same subject, but this is not it.
I think that the right to free speech trumps the notion that people don't like to be insulted. It's not a good feeling to feel insulted, but it's not a fundamental human right to not be insulted.
Well maybe I'm being American-centric, but I would like to believe that the rights that I enjoy are human rights and not American rights.
Here in the US, we often cite fringe groups like the neo nazis and Ku Klux Klan as the prime example of our right to free speech in action. You don't have to like what they have to say, but many of us would defend to their death the right to say it.
The will of the majority to oppress the minority is mob rule, and a particularly onerous form of tyranny.