I always thought that the mint should make all coins out of radioactive waste. It would solve the problem of nuclear waste disposal. It would encourage consumers to spend money - quickly. This would help the economy. And it would definitely discourage hoarding of currency.
I've been playing a video game all evening. And I still have a desire to violently knock down ten defenseless pins with a large heavy ball. Sometimes even as many as 91. Though I've successfully managed to restrain the urge to destroy video screens with small flying white objects.
Re: 100% inheritance tax. Most people are strongly motivated to want to provide a better life for the off-spring. I think that it's not in the interest of a nation to remove that incentive. However, there may be a point of diminishing returns. Both Gates and Buffet do plan to pass on enough money to their children to set them up for life. But both have already planned to contribute the vast bulk of their wealth to charitable works.
A new CEO is starting work. He walks into his new office, and the old CEO that he's replacing is packing up his stuff. The former CEO wishes his successor well and hands him three numbered envelopes which contain the solutions to any serious management problems.
After about six months, the stock slumps. The new CEO opens the first envelope. It says "Blame your predecessor". He holds a press conference and confidence in the company is restored.
Another six months pass and another crisis arises. He opens the second envelope. It says "Reorganize the company". He does so and the crisis passes.
After a year, things are terrible. The stock price is in a downward spiral. The CEO opens the third envelope. It says "Go get three envelopes...".
For the good of humanity we must take all that wealth and re-distribute it equitably! But before we do, we might want to check out some countries that have tried that. The results aren't pretty (for example Zimbabwe).
Seriously, the wealthy of the world can be divided into kleptocrats, heirs, and entrepreneurs. As far as I'm concerned, you can shoot the former. Certainly not the second, though you may debate the merits of inheritance tax (which I'm personally against). Mess with the third at the peril of your nations well being.
College isn't training you for a job, it is learning a field of study
I paid for my college education by working several jobs and taking out student loans. My expectation was that college was providing me with training for a job in a specific professional field. It did, and in fact provided a fairly good ROI. That was twenty five years ago. Today with college education in the US easily running into six figures, I suspect most students are still looking for job / professional training. That is, unless you are fortunate enough to have a large trust fund, and time to pursue your muse.
I hope Sega releases the Bleach game for the Wii in the US. It looks like a lot of fun. It makes excellent use of the Wiimote. And you get to look really stupid while playing it. Ban Kai!!
A while back the WSJ published an article on where US health care costs go. Around a third of the costs went to two places - lawyers and terminal care. Medical procedures don't always have a happy ending. All too often - when they don't have a good outcome, Americans tend to sue. The last stages of life in America are very expensive. Most Americans die in a hospital attached to tubes and instruments. And this doesn't count costs like defensive medicine (too many tests to avoid potential litigation). So more use of hospice services and real tort reform would go a long way to lowering costs of health care. Of course this would negatively impact profits at commercial hospitals and income of trial lawyers. Don't expect action from either political party any time soon.
>> If you want to discuss a successful long-lived organization - look at the Catholic church. It's been around for two thousand years.
> Judaism has the Catholic Church beat by at least 1500 years. I suspect it's even longer than that.
That is true, but Judaism (and most of the other mainstream religions) do not have a single central hierarchical organizational structure. The Catholic church does. I remember from a grad Organizational Behavior course that the Catholic church is the oldest hierarchical organization in existence. It's been around for two thousand years. Nintendo's lasted 117 years - far longer than most other companies. I wonder how long Microsoft will last. Based on the article, it seems to be suffering from fairly severe bureaucratic bloat.
I have a PC connected to the TV that I use as a PVR. I time shift a lot (my family mostly watches TV on weekend evenings). Occasionally we'll look at Google video, YouTube, or some other on-line video. But it's usually just for a few minutes. The content of on-line video still can't compare to best commercial offerings like '24', and 'Battlestar Galactica', 'Modern Marvels', 'Extreme Engineering', etc. It CAN compare with most of the other stuff on TV. Which, along with lack of time, tends to limit our TV viewing.
Nintendo? It's 117 years old, and able to release a much hyped console.
It's changed business models a few times. It started out as a playing card company. If you want to discuss a successful long-lived organization - look at the Catholic church. It's been around for two thousand years. It's got just a few layers of management and at the top 183 cardinals report to the Pope.
I'm even older, but still like PC-based FPS's and just got the new Nintendo console (w. Wii Sports and the new Zelda). Forty four is fairly young for arthritis. First I'd see if the medical community can do something for you. There are also drugs to alleviate the symptoms. But to answer the question - move from real-time games to ones requiring more thinking and strategy. Not necessarily chess, backgammon, bridge, etc. (though if you like that - there's plenty of on-line opportunities to play and socialize). Simulation games might fit the bill - historical battles, rise of civilizations, etc. Good luck to you.
Microsoft's strategy is to make Apple complete underestimate them as competition by releasing the lamest product of the year to much fanfare. No, I don't really believe that. But about a year or so from now, I expect to hear about the Zune again. On a Friday broadcast of the 'Daily Gizwiz'.
After several false starts I got the Wii connected to my Wifi (many thanks to the Slashdotter who recommended 'mixed' mode rather than 'G-only'). Then I kept getting the 'Try again later' messages. Last night at 11:30 PM (Eastern) I got connected to the Nintendo server. It immediately did a download that took about 45 minutes. Next a screen popped up asking me to identify which country I was in. I did so, and it did a second 45 minute download.
It looks like either installed a patch file (or more likely) that they re-flashed the firmware. After the upgrade I had access to the Wii Store, many of the menus had additional items and an intermediate screen had a new Nintendo logo background. The Weather and News still didn't work (perhaps the servers are not operational). Some new features (messaging) also appeared. Sounds like Nintendo didn't properly scale their servers or their network connections (or both) for the anticipated load. It will only get worse as they sell more systems before Christmas. Perhaps they need one of those Sun server farm in a shipping box (that was discussed in Slashdot a few weeks ago).
I got to my local Target at 6:35 AM and joined the line. At 7:00 AM Target employees gave out tickets to people in the line. I was number 56 out of 60 tickets. I went over and had breakfast at a nearby Panera Bread and was back to Target at 7:50 AM (the tickets reserved my system till Noon). By 8:30 AM I had my console and was headed home.
The Wii was relatively easy to set-up. The only complication was that the sensor bar could not fit on top of my TV since it would cover some buttons. I rigged it to the base of the unit, and loaded the Sports Game.
I'd gotten and extra Wiimote (but a second Nunchuck controller was not available). The connection to the TV was a composite (video + 2 RCA stereo jacks). This ONLY supports 480i in 4x3 aspect ratio. A separate (unavailable at local stores) connector is required for 480p in 16x9 aspect.
I played several of the Wii Sports games with my family. The Wii features a little applet called the Mii that lets you create an Avatar. These are used as both players in the Sports games and occasionally as part of the random group of on-screen spectators.
The Sports games are a lot of fun. The controller has the normal complement of buttons, plus motion sensors, rumble, speakers, and lights. The Sports games take full advantage of these. You move the controller to simulate the sport you are participating in. For instance, to bowl, depress the 'B' button, make a 'bowling motion' and release to ball. Another set of buttons lets you side-step or aim the ball. Synchronized with your motions, your avatar moves and releases the ball down the alley on the screen. Golf and baseball are similar.
The controller has a wrist-strap on it. Each game advises you to put on the wrist strap. Do it - otherwise the controller may go flying! You also need to be careful when moving the controller to avoid clocking some other player. The Wii requires quite a bit of living room space.
The one disappointment was the Wifi. My wireless network is very much locked down. I slowly had to open it up and try connecting, but thus far have had no luck at connecting the Wii to the Internet.
Serious Sam and Serious Sam 2nd Encounter on two PC's in cooperative game mode. Both great games and a lot of fun right up to (but NOT including) the end-game.
Slashdot Mirror
I always thought that the mint should make all coins out of radioactive waste. It would solve the problem of nuclear waste disposal. It would encourage consumers to spend money - quickly. This would help the economy. And it would definitely discourage hoarding of currency.
Mohinder discovers a new hero with the ability to digest lactose!! Will he be able to save him from Sylar?
I've been playing a video game all evening. And I still have a desire to violently knock down ten defenseless pins with a large heavy ball. Sometimes even as many as 91. Though I've successfully managed to restrain the urge to destroy video screens with small flying white objects.
Nintendo designed the Wiimote to what they felt would be appropriate safety standards when used responsibly and with a modicum of common sense.
And then released it to the gaming public!! The height of irresponsibility!
So, if my program does an address calculation that produces 'nullity', does that result in a 'nullity pointer exception'?
Re: 100% inheritance tax. Most people are strongly motivated to want to provide a better life for the off-spring. I think that it's not in the interest of a nation to remove that incentive. However, there may be a point of diminishing returns. Both Gates and Buffet do plan to pass on enough money to their children to set them up for life. But both have already planned to contribute the vast bulk of their wealth to charitable works.
A new CEO is starting work. He walks into his new office, and the old CEO that he's replacing is packing up his stuff. The former CEO wishes his successor well and hands him three numbered envelopes which contain the solutions to any serious management problems.
...".
After about six months, the stock slumps. The new CEO opens the first envelope. It says "Blame your predecessor". He holds a press conference and confidence in the company is restored.
Another six months pass and another crisis arises. He opens the second envelope. It says "Reorganize the company". He does so and the crisis passes.
After a year, things are terrible. The stock price is in a downward spiral. The CEO opens the third envelope. It says "Go get three envelopes
Next question.
For the good of humanity we must take all that wealth and re-distribute it equitably! But before we do, we might want to check out some countries that have tried that. The results aren't pretty (for example Zimbabwe).
Seriously, the wealthy of the world can be divided into kleptocrats, heirs, and entrepreneurs. As far as I'm concerned, you can shoot the former. Certainly not the second, though you may debate the merits of inheritance tax (which I'm personally against). Mess with the third at the peril of your nations well being.
College isn't training you for a job, it is learning a field of study
I paid for my college education by working several jobs and taking out student loans. My expectation was that college was providing me with training for a job in a specific professional field. It did, and in fact provided a fairly good ROI. That was twenty five years ago. Today with college education in the US easily running into six figures, I suspect most students are still looking for job / professional training. That is, unless you are fortunate enough to have a large trust fund, and time to pursue your muse.
I hope Sega releases the Bleach game for the Wii in the US. It looks like a lot of fun. It makes excellent use of the Wiimote. And you get to look really stupid while playing it. Ban Kai!!
after heavy last-minute lobbying by the MPAA
How did state senators know that they were really MPAA lobbyists?
A while back the WSJ published an article on where US health care costs go. Around a third of the costs went to two places - lawyers and terminal care. Medical procedures don't always have a happy ending. All too often - when they don't have a good outcome, Americans tend to sue. The last stages of life in America are very expensive. Most Americans die in a hospital attached to tubes and instruments. And this doesn't count costs like defensive medicine (too many tests to avoid potential litigation). So more use of hospice services and real tort reform would go a long way to lowering costs of health care. Of course this would negatively impact profits at commercial hospitals and income of trial lawyers. Don't expect action from either political party any time soon.
I heard that they canceled Kim's ITunes account. Now thats cold.
>> If you want to discuss a successful long-lived organization - look at the Catholic church. It's been around for two thousand years. > Judaism has the Catholic Church beat by at least 1500 years. I suspect it's even longer than that. That is true, but Judaism (and most of the other mainstream religions) do not have a single central hierarchical organizational structure. The Catholic church does. I remember from a grad Organizational Behavior course that the Catholic church is the oldest hierarchical organization in existence. It's been around for two thousand years. Nintendo's lasted 117 years - far longer than most other companies. I wonder how long Microsoft will last. Based on the article, it seems to be suffering from fairly severe bureaucratic bloat.
great business model too. Set them up on a life time payment plan and that they get their product when they die.
... oh, you weren't talking about that ... never mind.
Yeah, but the first Duke Nukem game was a lot of fun
I have a PC connected to the TV that I use as a PVR. I time shift a lot (my family mostly watches TV on weekend evenings). Occasionally we'll look at Google video, YouTube, or some other on-line video. But it's usually just for a few minutes. The content of on-line video still can't compare to best commercial offerings like '24', and 'Battlestar Galactica', 'Modern Marvels', 'Extreme Engineering', etc. It CAN compare with most of the other stuff on TV. Which, along with lack of time, tends to limit our TV viewing.
Nintendo? It's 117 years old, and able to release a much hyped console.
It's changed business models a few times. It started out as a playing card company. If you want to discuss a successful long-lived organization - look at the Catholic church. It's been around for two thousand years. It's got just a few layers of management and at the top 183 cardinals report to the Pope.
I'm even older, but still like PC-based FPS's and just got the new Nintendo console (w. Wii Sports and the new Zelda). Forty four is fairly young for arthritis. First I'd see if the medical community can do something for you. There are also drugs to alleviate the symptoms. But to answer the question - move from real-time games to ones requiring more thinking and strategy. Not necessarily chess, backgammon, bridge, etc. (though if you like that - there's plenty of on-line opportunities to play and socialize). Simulation games might fit the bill - historical battles, rise of civilizations, etc. Good luck to you.
Microsoft's strategy is to make Apple complete underestimate them as competition by releasing the lamest product of the year to much fanfare. No, I don't really believe that. But about a year or so from now, I expect to hear about the Zune again. On a Friday broadcast of the 'Daily Gizwiz'.
After several false starts I got the Wii connected to my Wifi (many thanks to the Slashdotter who recommended 'mixed' mode rather than 'G-only'). Then I kept getting the 'Try again later' messages. Last night at 11:30 PM (Eastern) I got connected to the Nintendo server. It immediately did a download that took about 45 minutes. Next a screen popped up asking me to identify which country I was in. I did so, and it did a second 45 minute download. It looks like either installed a patch file (or more likely) that they re-flashed the firmware. After the upgrade I had access to the Wii Store, many of the menus had additional items and an intermediate screen had a new Nintendo logo background. The Weather and News still didn't work (perhaps the servers are not operational). Some new features (messaging) also appeared. Sounds like Nintendo didn't properly scale their servers or their network connections (or both) for the anticipated load. It will only get worse as they sell more systems before Christmas. Perhaps they need one of those Sun server farm in a shipping box (that was discussed in Slashdot a few weeks ago).
I went through the same process. It turns out I had my access point set to g-only mode. I switched it to b+g mode and now it works great, WPA and all.
Thank you!!!
I got to my local Target at 6:35 AM and joined the line. At 7:00 AM Target employees gave out tickets to people in the line. I was number 56 out of 60 tickets. I went over and had breakfast at a nearby Panera Bread and was back to Target at 7:50 AM (the tickets reserved my system till Noon). By 8:30 AM I had my console and was headed home.
The Wii was relatively easy to set-up. The only complication was that the sensor bar could not fit on top of my TV since it would cover some buttons. I rigged it to the base of the unit, and loaded the Sports Game.
I'd gotten and extra Wiimote (but a second Nunchuck controller was not available). The connection to the TV was a composite (video + 2 RCA stereo jacks). This ONLY supports 480i in 4x3 aspect ratio. A separate (unavailable at local stores) connector is required for 480p in 16x9 aspect.
I played several of the Wii Sports games with my family. The Wii features a little applet called the Mii that lets you create an Avatar. These are used as both players in the Sports games and occasionally as part of the random group of on-screen spectators.
The Sports games are a lot of fun. The controller has the normal complement of buttons, plus motion sensors, rumble, speakers, and lights. The Sports games take full advantage of these. You move the controller to simulate the sport you are participating in. For instance, to bowl, depress the 'B' button, make a 'bowling motion' and release to ball. Another set of buttons lets you side-step or aim the ball. Synchronized with your motions, your avatar moves and releases the ball down the alley on the screen. Golf and baseball are similar.
The controller has a wrist-strap on it. Each game advises you to put on the wrist strap. Do it - otherwise the controller may go flying! You also need to be careful when moving the controller to avoid clocking some other player. The Wii requires quite a bit of living room space.
The one disappointment was the Wifi. My wireless network is very much locked down. I slowly had to open it up and try connecting, but thus far have had no luck at connecting the Wii to the Internet.
Yeah, but is it powerful enough to run Vista?
Serious Sam and Serious Sam 2nd Encounter on two PC's in cooperative game mode. Both great games and a lot of fun right up to (but NOT including) the end-game.