I just tried Gnucleus and the new Morpheus. After that I spent about half an hour in the Morpheus channel fighting with the operators. I used to recommend Morpheus to everyone but I have totally turned against them now. Morpheus can fuck right off as far as I'm concerned.
What they did is they took an open source program at http://www.gnucleus.com and basically "stole" it, though it's legal to do so under the license it was released. They took the source code for the program, without even informing the gnucleus guys, put their own branding info on it, added popup ads, and released it as the "new" Morpheus. They added NOTHING, they just made it worse with ads, There is not a single reason to run the new Morpheus. Go with Gnucleus -- it's precisely the same program, but with the ads removed.
Also, since the people that did Gnucleus actually are able to write their own software, Gnucleus will be the source of improvements and updates, not Morpheus.
The channel operators on Music City are very afraid of people learning this fact. They kicked me several times for mentioning Gnucleus. Somehow they think they can supress the fact that they entirely ripped off other people's work. It's not going to happen, though, you can't hide lameness of this magnitude.
Morpheus has discredited themselves forever as far as I'm concerned.
There's more reasons to avoid spyware than the simple invasion of privacy.
Spyware will make your system unstable. Any small program that patches into Windows or Internet Explorer is always a bad idea. Products from Microsoft are notoriously unstable as is; the last thing they need is even more instability from hack patches like spyware. Has your browser been freezing up? Having unexplained system crashes? Spyware is a prime suspect for these outrages.
The fact that it's even possible for unknown software to patch and corrupt Windows is ultimately, of course, yet another sin of Microsoft, just as Microsoft must ultimately bear responsibility for all Outlook and IIS viruses.
Further, spyware is hidden. It typically won't show up in your lists of programs and only a sophisticated user can even tell that it's there.
Spyware remains in your computer even if you uninstall the software that originally infected your system. You won't get rid of it unless you sweep your registry (bad idea for most people) or run some software produced by virtuous programmers to remove it, like Ad Aware.
Spyware also represents a security risk. Think of your typical marketing type, hiring some low budget programmer to write software they don't expect a normal user to ever see. Do you think they're going to worry much about making their code secure?
There's already been exploits of people using spyware to download executables into your computer (typically by giving the malicious file the same name as the spyware executable).
I must not have half a brain, then, because I've read Tolkien's works several times and I don't see anything in them that is Christian allegory. I think perhaps you're one of those people that see Christian allegories in all things. The "Christ on the brain" syndrome.
Maybe Tolkien didn't have half a brain either, because this is what he had to say on the subject: "I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence."
It seems to me that LOTR is almost the opposite of a Christian allegory. There's no rebirth and ressurection here. In Tolkien's world, the magic and beauty is fading away, leaving our shores never to return. There's a sadness that runs through all his works that gives his tales much of their power.
Tolkien was heavily influenced by pre-Christian myths, and perhaps even more influenced by his anti-modernity. Look at the Shire and at Mordor and then think of rural England transforming into the industrial, modern world, with it's stinking factories and dehumanizing labor to enrich power-hungry tyrants. There's your allegory, if there is one to be found.
Microwaves as crowd dispersal weapons
on
Battlefield Lasers
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· Score: 2
The Air Force Research Lab has already set guidelines for acceptable pain levels for use against civilians, though some say the levels are too high as they could cause eye damage. Testing against human volunteers has already begun.
Wow. What a great link. I've read Chick's stuff before, but that's probably the most insane one I've ever seen. I'll definitely post it to my gaming group.
I agree. From looking at the world today, and the history that preceeded it, I'd have to conclude that powerful people in influential postions never scheme against each other to attempt to increase their power. They never take advantage of the tragedies of the day to advance their own agendas. They never allow personal slights to interfere with the discharging of their duty towards the states they lead. Babylon V certainly was unrealistic, both episodes that I saw.
I don't understand why these threads keep putting down the acting on B5. Picard is the only major character on any Sci Fi show that I can think of that was preformed half as well as the roles of G'Kar and Londo. The roles of Sheridan, Ivanova, and Delenn were exceptional as well.
Even the minor characters were great. Lennier could get more across with one look than the typical Trek character could with an entire scene of their hand-wringing monologues. And who could forget Lord Reefa or Mr. Morden or the Emperor Cartagia? How can someone say these were poor performances, especially in comparison to, say Voyager, or Enterprise, or any of those Sci-Fi channel shows that got cancelled after six weeks?
Has it occurred to you that maybe he's just giving us a heads up? Warning us about the possible consequences of shipping via UPS, in order to help us out?
Of course not. You're just leaping for any excuse to put someone down, to somehow make yourself feel better for your own useless existence.
Wagner James Au is a gushing idiot
on
XBox Released
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· Score: 2
I lost all interest in the conclusions of this article once I saw the author. Check out this previous article of his, on the game "Black & White".
There was a lot of pure hype "reviews" of this game that had nothing to do with the reality, but this is the worst one I ever read.
Here's some quotes to give you the tone:
"It may be hard to believe that the future of 21st century art is represented by a giant bipedal tiger who farts, break dances and flings livestock around when he's bored. But it requires only a few hours of play in the lands of Black & White, the new PC game from Lionhead Studios and lead designer Peter Molyneux, to know that this is exactly the case. "
"It is a great game, and if it becomes the mass market hit it deserves to be, it should shatter the last arbitrary boundary between culture and technology. And if that happens, and its success carries over to its online versions, it might even change the world."
"Taken as a literary work, Black & White fits into a distinctly British sub-genre best exemplified by the works of authors such as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien (and to a lesser extent, J.K. Rowling) who create fully-realized fantasy worlds that embody the human spirit. Black & White is their peer."
"What happens when your avatar is a unique and telling reflection of who you really are, and the choices you've made?.... What will happen when we interact in an online world, where everyone enters it in a similar state, wearing our souls, so to speak, on our sleeves?"
Tell me, those of you unfortunate enough to have purchased this game, are these fair comments? I know hardly anyone who even bothered to finish it, it was so annoying, repetitive, and simple-minded. And that's not even considering the massive bugs that made it damn near impossible to play for the first six months of its release. Not that any of these things stopped Wagner James Au from transcribing his fantasies.
I imagine his review of the X-Box has about the same level of insight and realism.
You really live in a black and white world, don't you? To you, it's a choice between a government that does nothing and regulates nothing and between a government that does everything and regulates everything. The fact that this belief has no correspondence whatsoever with the real world doesn't bother you much, does it?
Re:Planning to fight against the US army, are we?
on
Defining Globalism
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· Score: 1
However, it's interesting that you say I should only use guns against my fellow citizens. That's kind of mean, isn't it?
Depends on whether or not they need killing. You're from Texas. You understand.
I suggest finding yourself a pair of nuts and logging in the next time you want to flame someone.
I'd also suggest that you explain your curious notion that ideas in science fiction books should automatically be discounted in conversations about future trends in society. What do you think science fiction is all about?
I wonder if you ever read Snow Crash. If you had, you'd know it's exactly on target. The book is entirely about the consequences of globalization and it presents an interesting alternative vision.
In Snow Crash, there were a common set of low level protocols for all states to do business with each other, but it differed from our current reality in two major ways.
The states were very small. Instead of having merging superstates, we had very small "franchise" states like Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong, Narcolumbia, and so on. This allowed for more freedom and happiness since people could simply pick the state which suited them best, emigrate there, and no longer have to fight with all the other groups in society which had differring beliefs from their own.
All states were autonomous. There wasn't a central organization like the WTO telling everyone what their laws had to be. There were simple laws for commerce and settling disputes, but one state could not, for instance, tell another that it had to change it's pollution laws because they decreased profit potential for a corporation in a third state.
The world in Stephenson's vision, as silly as it was in many ways, thereby gained the benefits of globalization but it did not result in the bland, homogenous, corporate-ruled McWorld that so many fear. I think that's a worthy goal, myself.
I'm an immigrant to the US, and because of that I can tell you the joy one can feel from a fresh start. I'd welcome a world where there are many viable states with many viable philosophies, but all with fairly strong economies. We don't need one central world government, and we sure as hell don't need to have our own government overruled by unknown and unaccountable bureaucrats appointed in another country. Let's all go into business together, but preserve our own sovereignty.
That's what I think Stephenson was saying, and for you to just dismiss his entire book as being as relevant to the conversation as "The Matrix" only shows your own ignorance and lack of comprehension.
What are you saying? That our legally elected representitives would have to get together and decide, issue by issue, on the course of action that best strengthens our entire nation?
That they wouldn't be able to just subscribe to a single dogma like "the free market is always correct" and thereby abdicate their ability and responsibility to govern?
I'm with you. That would inded be a nightmarish world. That's why I've joined the Libertarian party.
Planning to fight against the US army, are we?
on
Defining Globalism
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· Score: 1
Please. Guns are a means to defend yourself against fellow citizens, not against the federal government. You're just indulging in a cowboy fantasy there, friend.
Look at David Koresh. He had his own compound and armory and a large force of fanatics at his call, yet he still got smoked the instant he raised arms against the government. The same fate has happened to every would-be minuteman like yourself that tried the same.
Keep your guns if you can handle them responsibly, I have no problem with that whatsoever. But don't spout crap about how you're the line of defense against the government. I wouldn't want to see you actually believe that and get yourself and your family killed if a three letter agency every did come knocking on your door.
This was a foolish article, merely one photographer's weak attempt to malign a new medium that she doesn't care to understand.
On a CD costing 50 cents, I can store 5000 images. I can then make as many copies of this CD as I want using home equipment that costs less than $200. Further, these images will be in formats that allow others to immediately use them in whatever projects they choose, or to simply transmit the images through phone lines to any location on the planet.
So tell me, does cheap mass storage of photographs in useful formats with free methods of replication and distribution threaten the historical record? Especially when the technology is open to everyone, not just those with photo labs?
Toronto is the worst place I've ever lived
on
LOTR Campout Begins
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· Score: 0, Offtopic
A common attitude of people from Toronto, most of whom consider civilization to begin and end at their city borders because they're so ignorant they've never been anywhere else.
I've lived in half a dozen Canadian cities. I've also lived in New York City, Seattle, and rural Connecticut. And of all the places I've lived, the very last one I'd ever live again would be Toronto.
Toronto manages to combine the worst aspects of both countries. It's got the pompousity and pretention of Canadians but without their gentle and friendly nature. It's got the crime, filth, and overcrowded nature of the worst of American cities but without America's prosperity, resources, opportunity, confidence, and bolder style of friendliness. It's a city where all conversation seems to just be searching for opportunities to kick others in the teeth. When I moved to New York City, I was amazed at how much nicer everyone was.
Canadians are a divided people in many ways, not just the obvious French/English thing. But one thing I found universal among all was an extreme dislike of Toronto and everything associated with. As one Canadian put it, "we should build a wall around Toronto so high that not even ideas get out".
Remember, clinton was elected by a plurality, not a majority.
A fact that was never relevant even when frustrated conservatives first brought it up in yet another lame attempt to undermine the last legitimate president.
Clinton won the popular vote and he won the electoral vote. There was never the slightest dispute of either.
Meanwhile, Bush Jr. lost the popular vote by half a million votes and would not have won the popular vote if not for a wide variety of election tampering offences in Florida.
Only the most partisan Republican hacks could even entertain the idea that Bush's and Clinton's elections were similar.
Yeah, I live in fear of German and Japanese terrorists every day. Don't you?
First, destroy the Taliban. Then, use our resources to rebuild Afghanistan into a civilized country. Give the next generation of Afghans hope for the future and you won't see nearly as much terror.
The worst thing you could do is "turn the other cheek", because that would simply prove that you kill Americans at will and get away with it. You've seen sharks with blood in the water? That's the situation we've live under.
Here's a link for anyone who doubts the nature of the enemy:
Give me a break. It's just using a buffer to store a datastream until a later point in time. If this is a patent infringement, then half the software out there is a patent infringment. Good god, what's next, patenting the concept of a variable?
Absolutely. I'm a Windows developer who has been in the process of switching religions for the last six months. My biggest beef with the OSS world is the incredibly poor documentation. Sometimes I get the impression that no one in the OSS world knows how to properly document software.
If you want an example of how to do things right, look at MSDN and learn from them. The biggest problem is the lack of sample code and commands.
Don't tell me in general terms "to do this, you have to do this, this, and this". Provide sample code so I can see exactly what you mean. If I can't just cut and paste the command and do some minor editing for my specific circumstance, you're not finished documenting, friends.
And don't give me any horseshit arguments about how you're so elite you don't need sample code. It's not about dick measuring, it's about wasting time. Maybe your time isn't valuable to you, but mine is, and I don't need to spend half an hour fucking around with various permutations of syntax just because you couldn't spend one minute to add a line of a sample code to your document.
Why not use Babylon 5 as an example of good acting? With the exceptions of Picard and Spock, there's never been a character on any Star Trek "franchise" that was half as interesting as G'Kar, Londo, Sheridan, Ivanova, Delenn, or Garibaldi.
The minor characters were great too. Lennier could get more across with one look than the typical Trek character could with an entire scene of their hand-wringing monologues. Even the recurring guest characters on B5 were far beyond the regulars on a Trek show. Who could forget Lord Reefa or Mr. Morden or the Emperor Cartagia?
Sinclair was wooden in a cheesy fashion, but it seemed to work for him, the same way Kirk's cheesiness ultimately made for a more interesting character. The only actor on B5 that I found really bad was the the red-headed telepath. Can't remember he name off-hand. Lyta, maybe? Zack was pretty bad too, but still likable.
Screw Napster, here's how to use Win MX
on
Napster Clawing Back
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· Score: 4, Informative
WinMX is an excellent replacement for Napster.
You need to use it with an updated server list. The default list is pretty
useless.
Run WinMX again. It will squeak about the sever list being out of date.
Choose the final option, "ignore". It may prompt you for a default login
and password. You can enter anything for these values.
Once you're done, select "connect all" on the high capacity networks
section and start searching.
Notes
WinMX searches on several networks at once, so results tend to trickle in
rather than hitting you all at once like with Napster. This can get annoying
since it sorts new results on the fly which means that previous results will
jump around in the list. You may wish to let it go for a few seconds, or
until you get the results you want, and then hit the "stop" button to
prevent new results from coming in.
Also, set your defaults for screening files. I go with "cable or better" for
connection and a bitrate of 128 k (only). Some audiophiles find this
insufficient and go for a higher bitrate, but to most ears, the only
difference is the larger file size and download time of mp3's with high
bitrates.
WinMX will find everything you search on, much like Napster, but the
connections aren't quite as reliable. If you get "connection refused" or
most other errors in red text, forget it and move in. If it says "busy, but
may join queue", you can join the remote queue by right-clicking on it.
WinMX will update your status periodically to tell you your position in the
queue.
It also works for other file types, like pictures and videos. You can
probably guess which types of multimedia are most commonly traded:)
Come on, you're not that dumb. You do realize there is a connection between the legitimacy of an election and the actual counting of votes, do you not? When Bush forces manoevred to prevent even the legally mandated automatic recount for these 1.58 million votes, why do you think that was? Remember, before the US Supreme Court intervened, Bush's lead was something like 120 votes. No wonder they squashed the vote count.
Second, the Florida Supreme Court's final ruling was a state-wide recounting of undervotes, not just a recount in a few counties. That's the one that the US Supreme Court stopped.
Third, most of the overseas Bush ballots were approved, even those that were postmarked a week after the election and as such were plainly illegal.
That's zero for three, friend. Instead of telling me to "get over it", perhaps you should become more familiar with the immediate history of your own country.
Slashdot Mirror
I just tried Gnucleus and the new Morpheus. After that I spent about half an hour in the Morpheus channel fighting with the operators. I used to recommend Morpheus to everyone but I have totally turned against them now. Morpheus can fuck right off as far as I'm concerned.
What they did is they took an open source program at http://www.gnucleus.com and basically "stole" it, though it's legal to do so under the license it was released. They took the source code for the program, without even informing the gnucleus guys, put their own branding info on it, added popup ads, and released it as the "new" Morpheus. They added NOTHING, they just made it worse with ads, There is not a single reason to run the new Morpheus. Go with Gnucleus -- it's precisely the same program, but with the ads removed.
Also, since the people that did Gnucleus actually are able to write their own software, Gnucleus will be the source of improvements and updates, not Morpheus.
The channel operators on Music City are very afraid of people learning this fact. They kicked me several times for mentioning Gnucleus. Somehow they think they can supress the fact that they entirely ripped off other people's work. It's not going to happen, though, you can't hide lameness of this magnitude.
Morpheus has discredited themselves forever as far as I'm concerned.
Once again: go to http://www.gnucleus.com and use their software. Delete Morpheus at once.
There's more reasons to avoid spyware than the simple invasion of privacy.
Spyware will make your system unstable. Any small program that patches into Windows or Internet Explorer is always a bad idea. Products from Microsoft are notoriously unstable as is; the last thing they need is even more instability from hack patches like spyware. Has your browser been freezing up? Having unexplained system crashes? Spyware is a prime suspect for these outrages.
The fact that it's even possible for unknown software to patch and corrupt Windows is ultimately, of course, yet another sin of Microsoft, just as Microsoft must ultimately bear responsibility for all Outlook and IIS viruses.
Further, spyware is hidden. It typically won't show up in your lists of programs and only a sophisticated user can even tell that it's there.
Spyware remains in your computer even if you uninstall the software that originally infected your system. You won't get rid of it unless you sweep your registry (bad idea for most people) or run some software produced by virtuous programmers to remove it, like Ad Aware.
Spyware also represents a security risk. Think of your typical marketing type, hiring some low budget programmer to write software they don't expect a normal user to ever see. Do you think they're going to worry much about making their code secure?
There's already been exploits of people using spyware to download executables into your computer (typically by giving the malicious file the same name as the spyware executable).
I must not have half a brain, then, because I've read Tolkien's works several times and I don't see anything in them that is Christian allegory. I think perhaps you're one of those people that see Christian allegories in all things. The "Christ on the brain" syndrome.
Maybe Tolkien didn't have half a brain either, because this is what he had to say on the subject: "I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence."
It seems to me that LOTR is almost the opposite of a Christian allegory. There's no rebirth and ressurection here. In Tolkien's world, the magic and beauty is fading away, leaving our shores never to return. There's a sadness that runs through all his works that gives his tales much of their power.
Tolkien was heavily influenced by pre-Christian myths, and perhaps even more influenced by his anti-modernity. Look at the Shire and at Mordor and then think of rural England transforming into the industrial, modern world, with it's stinking factories and dehumanizing labor to enrich power-hungry tyrants. There's your allegory, if there is one to be found.
It's already in the works.
Here's an interesting experiment on using microwaves to heat up crowds of dissenters.
The Air Force Research Lab has already set guidelines for acceptable pain levels for use against civilians, though some say the levels are too high as they could cause eye damage. Testing against human volunteers has already begun.
Wow. What a great link. I've read Chick's stuff before, but that's probably the most insane one I've ever seen. I'll definitely post it to my gaming group.
I agree. From looking at the world today, and the history that preceeded it, I'd have to conclude that powerful people in influential postions never scheme against each other to attempt to increase their power. They never take advantage of the tragedies of the day to advance their own agendas. They never allow personal slights to interfere with the discharging of their duty towards the states they lead. Babylon V certainly was unrealistic, both episodes that I saw.
I don't understand why these threads keep putting down the acting on B5. Picard is the only major character on any Sci Fi show that I can think of that was preformed half as well as the roles of G'Kar and Londo. The roles of Sheridan, Ivanova, and Delenn were exceptional as well.
Even the minor characters were great. Lennier could get more across with one look than the typical Trek character could with an entire scene of their hand-wringing monologues. And who could forget Lord Reefa or Mr. Morden or the Emperor Cartagia? How can someone say these were poor performances, especially in comparison to, say Voyager, or Enterprise, or any of those Sci-Fi channel shows that got cancelled after six weeks?
Hey, anonymous cowardly dork:
Has it occurred to you that maybe he's just giving us a heads up? Warning us about the possible consequences of shipping via UPS, in order to help us out?
Of course not. You're just leaping for any excuse to put someone down, to somehow make yourself feel better for your own useless existence.
I lost all interest in the conclusions of this article once I saw the author. Check out this previous article of his, on the game "Black & White".
Salon review of Black & White
There was a lot of pure hype "reviews" of this game that had nothing to do with the reality, but this is the worst one I ever read.
Here's some quotes to give you the tone:
Tell me, those of you unfortunate enough to have purchased this game, are these fair comments? I know hardly anyone who even bothered to finish it, it was so annoying, repetitive, and simple-minded. And that's not even considering the massive bugs that made it damn near impossible to play for the first six months of its release. Not that any of these things stopped Wagner James Au from transcribing his fantasies.
I imagine his review of the X-Box has about the same level of insight and realism.
You really live in a black and white world, don't you? To you, it's a choice between a government that does nothing and regulates nothing and between a government that does everything and regulates everything. The fact that this belief has no correspondence whatsoever with the real world doesn't bother you much, does it?
However, it's interesting that you say I should only use guns against my fellow citizens. That's kind of mean, isn't it?
Depends on whether or not they need killing. You're from Texas. You understand.
I suggest finding yourself a pair of nuts and logging in the next time you want to flame someone.
I'd also suggest that you explain your curious notion that ideas in science fiction books should automatically be discounted in conversations about future trends in society. What do you think science fiction is all about?
I wonder if you ever read Snow Crash. If you had, you'd know it's exactly on target. The book is entirely about the consequences of globalization and it presents an interesting alternative vision.
In Snow Crash, there were a common set of low level protocols for all states to do business with each other, but it differed from our current reality in two major ways.
The world in Stephenson's vision, as silly as it was in many ways, thereby gained the benefits of globalization but it did not result in the bland, homogenous, corporate-ruled McWorld that so many fear. I think that's a worthy goal, myself.
I'm an immigrant to the US, and because of that I can tell you the joy one can feel from a fresh start. I'd welcome a world where there are many viable states with many viable philosophies, but all with fairly strong economies. We don't need one central world government, and we sure as hell don't need to have our own government overruled by unknown and unaccountable bureaucrats appointed in another country. Let's all go into business together, but preserve our own sovereignty.
That's what I think Stephenson was saying, and for you to just dismiss his entire book as being as relevant to the conversation as "The Matrix" only shows your own ignorance and lack of comprehension.
What are you saying? That our legally elected representitives would have to get together and decide, issue by issue, on the course of action that best strengthens our entire nation?
That they wouldn't be able to just subscribe to a single dogma like "the free market is always correct" and thereby abdicate their ability and responsibility to govern?
I'm with you. That would inded be a nightmarish world. That's why I've joined the Libertarian party.
Please. Guns are a means to defend yourself against fellow citizens, not against the federal government. You're just indulging in a cowboy fantasy there, friend.
Look at David Koresh. He had his own compound and armory and a large force of fanatics at his call, yet he still got smoked the instant he raised arms against the government. The same fate has happened to every would-be minuteman like yourself that tried the same.
Keep your guns if you can handle them responsibly, I have no problem with that whatsoever. But don't spout crap about how you're the line of defense against the government. I wouldn't want to see you actually believe that and get yourself and your family killed if a three letter agency every did come knocking on your door.
This was a foolish article, merely one photographer's weak attempt to malign a new medium that she doesn't care to understand.
On a CD costing 50 cents, I can store 5000 images. I can then make as many copies of this CD as I want using home equipment that costs less than $200. Further, these images will be in formats that allow others to immediately use them in whatever projects they choose, or to simply transmit the images through phone lines to any location on the planet.
So tell me, does cheap mass storage of photographs in useful formats with free methods of replication and distribution threaten the historical record? Especially when the technology is open to everyone, not just those with photo labs?
A common attitude of people from Toronto, most of whom consider civilization to begin and end at their city borders because they're so ignorant they've never been anywhere else.
I've lived in half a dozen Canadian cities. I've also lived in New York City, Seattle, and rural Connecticut. And of all the places I've lived, the very last one I'd ever live again would be Toronto.
Toronto manages to combine the worst aspects of both countries. It's got the pompousity and pretention of Canadians but without their gentle and friendly nature. It's got the crime, filth, and overcrowded nature of the worst of American cities but without America's prosperity, resources, opportunity, confidence, and bolder style of friendliness. It's a city where all conversation seems to just be searching for opportunities to kick others in the teeth. When I moved to New York City, I was amazed at how much nicer everyone was.
Canadians are a divided people in many ways, not just the obvious French/English thing. But one thing I found universal among all was an extreme dislike of Toronto and everything associated with. As one Canadian put it, "we should build a wall around Toronto so high that not even ideas get out".
Remember, clinton was elected by a plurality, not a majority.
A fact that was never relevant even when frustrated conservatives first brought it up in yet another lame attempt to undermine the last legitimate president.
Clinton won the popular vote and he won the electoral vote. There was never the slightest dispute of either.
Meanwhile, Bush Jr. lost the popular vote by half a million votes and would not have won the popular vote if not for a wide variety of election tampering offences in Florida.
Only the most partisan Republican hacks could even entertain the idea that Bush's and Clinton's elections were similar.
Excellent post. Somebody mod this guy up to 5.
Anybody who claims that historical issues have never been solved by violence simply hasn't read a god damn thing about history.
Yeah, I live in fear of German and Japanese terrorists every day. Don't you?
First, destroy the Taliban. Then, use our resources to rebuild Afghanistan into a civilized country. Give the next generation of Afghans hope for the future and you won't see nearly as much terror.
The worst thing you could do is "turn the other cheek", because that would simply prove that you kill Americans at will and get away with it. You've seen sharks with blood in the water? That's the situation we've live under.
Here's a link for anyone who doubts the nature of the enemy:
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) gallery of Taliban atrocities
The world will be a better place for all when the Taliban leaders are dead, just as the world was a better place after Nuremberg.
Give me a break. It's just using a buffer to store a datastream until a later point in time. If this is a patent infringement, then half the software out there is a patent infringment. Good god, what's next, patenting the concept of a variable?
Absolutely. I'm a Windows developer who has been in the process of switching religions for the last six months. My biggest beef with the OSS world is the incredibly poor documentation. Sometimes I get the impression that no one in the OSS world knows how to properly document software.
If you want an example of how to do things right, look at MSDN and learn from them. The biggest problem is the lack of sample code and commands.
Don't tell me in general terms "to do this, you have to do this, this, and this". Provide sample code so I can see exactly what you mean. If I can't just cut and paste the command and do some minor editing for my specific circumstance, you're not finished documenting, friends.
And don't give me any horseshit arguments about how you're so elite you don't need sample code. It's not about dick measuring, it's about wasting time. Maybe your time isn't valuable to you, but mine is, and I don't need to spend half an hour fucking around with various permutations of syntax just because you couldn't spend one minute to add a line of a sample code to your document.
Why not use Babylon 5 as an example of good acting? With the exceptions of Picard and Spock, there's never been a character on any Star Trek "franchise" that was half as interesting as G'Kar, Londo, Sheridan, Ivanova, Delenn, or Garibaldi.
The minor characters were great too. Lennier could get more across with one look than the typical Trek character could with an entire scene of their hand-wringing monologues. Even the recurring guest characters on B5 were far beyond the regulars on a Trek show. Who could forget Lord Reefa or Mr. Morden or the Emperor Cartagia?
Sinclair was wooden in a cheesy fashion, but it seemed to work for him, the same way Kirk's cheesiness ultimately made for a more interesting character. The only actor on B5 that I found really bad was the the red-headed telepath. Can't remember he name off-hand. Lyta, maybe? Zack was pretty bad too, but still likable.
WinMX is an excellent replacement for Napster.
You need to use it with an updated server list. The default list is pretty
useless.
Instructions
http://www.trippynet.f2s.com/nservers25.dat.
You'll have to rename it to nservers.dat
Choose the final option, "ignore". It may prompt you for a default login
and password. You can enter anything for these values.
section and start searching.
Notes
WinMX searches on several networks at once, so results tend to trickle in
rather than hitting you all at once like with Napster. This can get annoying
since it sorts new results on the fly which means that previous results will
jump around in the list. You may wish to let it go for a few seconds, or
until you get the results you want, and then hit the "stop" button to
prevent new results from coming in.
Also, set your defaults for screening files. I go with "cable or better" for
connection and a bitrate of 128 k (only). Some audiophiles find this
insufficient and go for a higher bitrate, but to most ears, the only
difference is the larger file size and download time of mp3's with high
bitrates.
WinMX will find everything you search on, much like Napster, but the
connections aren't quite as reliable. If you get "connection refused" or
most other errors in red text, forget it and move in. If it says "busy, but
may join queue", you can join the remote queue by right-clicking on it.
WinMX will update your status periodically to tell you your position in the
queue.
It also works for other file types, like pictures and videos. You can :)
probably guess which types of multimedia are most commonly traded
Next time you want to call someone a "fucking coward", try logging in so you don't look like a hypocritical shithead.
Come on, you're not that dumb. You do realize there is a connection between the legitimacy of an election and the actual counting of votes, do you not? When Bush forces manoevred to prevent even the legally mandated automatic recount for these 1.58 million votes, why do you think that was? Remember, before the US Supreme Court intervened, Bush's lead was something like 120 votes. No wonder they squashed the vote count.
Second, the Florida Supreme Court's final ruling was a state-wide recounting of undervotes, not just a recount in a few counties. That's the one that the US Supreme Court stopped.
Third, most of the overseas Bush ballots were approved, even those that were postmarked a week after the election and as such were plainly illegal.
That's zero for three, friend. Instead of telling me to "get over it", perhaps you should become more familiar with the immediate history of your own country.