"Tyranny of the majority" is still tyranny and still damages the individual right to free speech or freedom of worship. What about Indians or Hindus living in Germany? They use the swastika as a symbol of their religion, representing both good luck and God's providence. Are they forbidden from the free exercise of their religion? If so then basic rights have been violated.
Yep. We Americans have been looking for a new invention to sell the world. Well, it's fat. We have the biggest supply of fat of any country. Start-up the liposuction machines, and start exporting those fat-to-heart organ replacements.
There's more to it than that. The OP's opinion: "dumbed them down to appeal to a larger audience" describes cable television (or any mass media) perfectly. As time goes on, the requirement for more-and-more viewers, requires lowering the intelligence to where even Jimmy-Joe Bob can understand.
I remember when TLC was called the Learning Channel and actually had intelligent programming. Now it's more akin to the "Tender Loving Care" channel about babies, weddings, and other stuff that doesn't require thinking. Discover Channel has also been dumbed down. Ditto Animal Planet. Ditto A&E.
The History Channel is the only basic cable channel that still teaches something useful. The rest don't require anything more than 5th grade education.
I didn't say console was superior. I said that where PCs used to be a generation ahead of consoles (16 bit Amiga versus 8 bit NES), now the gap has closed. I cannot see any visible difference between the graphics of the latest PC game versus the same game on a PS3 or Xbox360.
The U.N. does not represent me. It represents governments, and as such represents politicians not citizens. Furthermore the U.N. collects dues which are taken from citizens' wallets, and that's "taxation without representation". Therefore the U.N. is neither of, by, or for the People.
>>>Health care is not hand holding, it's a basic human right.
You are 100% correct. Everyone has a right to walk into a doctor's office, say "I'm sick", and request treatment. In turn that doctor will do his best to cure you, and hand you a bill for his labor & expenses.
What you do Not have a right to do is pass the bill off to your neighbors, and demand that they pay it. That's called theft.
And that's a bad thing? Having a weak central government was the original intent. A weak government lacks the power to take your stuff or your liberty.
In this case, since the businesses who own those domains are outside of Kentucky's jurisdiction, the U.S. Supreme Court will declare this decision nullified.
I'm still using Office 97. I'm just a little bit behind in the times. (Or too cheap to lay-down $200 on a pointless upgrade.)
>>>Microsoft Calls Today Global Anti-Piracy Day
Ironically, even as I read this article, I am downloading Stargate Atlantis season 4. What I've seen so far (401-410) was crap, so I'm glad I tried it before wasting money on the stupid DVD. I guess I'm not really feeling the "spirit" of this day.
>>>Presumably some taxpayers can't afford (i.e. choose not to buy) anything more than dial-up access, so should students just have dial-up? >>>
I'd be okay with that. We all know that if I walked into a dorm right now, I'd see students surfing the net NOT for doing homework, but for downloading videos or other crap. Taxpayers shouldn't be paying for needless college crapola, when those same taxpayers are struggling to save their homes or put food on the table. If students want high-speed, they can buy themselves a satellite dish to hang-out the window. Or better yet, move to off-campus apartments.
Or even better, learn about sacrificing to attain a goal. You want a degree? Well earning that degree means sacrificing some pleasure NOW, for a better future later.
Can't you read a textbook or do homework while you're waiting for your 10-minute Itune download? Yes.
If you can find time for a kegger, you can find time to grab whatever lecture PDFs you need off the net. Sorry young padawan, but you're not getting any sympathy for me. I've been there; done that as recently as 2000. I don't think your profs are going to be accepting your excuses for not getting the homework done.
>>>With chunks, you have to manage them, or write scripts to manage them for you.
In this case it sounds like Windoze is better than Mac OS. Windoze automatically divides updates into smaller pieces, and allows the user to pick-and-choose which updates he wants or does not want. The largest major update I recall downloading was still only 50 megabyte. Only takes 45 minutes over a 128k connection.
That's okay. Pretty soon you'll graduate. Either you'll learn to sacrifice because you can't afford $100 a month internet, or you'll have to declare bankruptcy after you drive your credit debt over $10,000 from your foolish spending.
You make a simple process sound complicated, but this kind of thing happens everyday (inside corporations). The students would have to pick-up a waiver form, then get approval from their professor, and said professor would need to explain WHY the student needs unlimited bandwidth (for example: astronomy research). That alone would weed-out most of the students, since profs would refuse to sign the waivers for non-existent, bogus reasons.
Those few students (about 1 in 1000) who do get the prof's signature can hand the form to the Computer Services department, who would contact the prof to verify the signature is real, and then they would remove the 128k speed limit.
The advantage of this approach is instead of providing 10 megabit/sec to 40,000 students (400 gigabit) the university would only need to provide 128kbps * 39,960 + 10 mbps * 40 == approximately 5.5 gigabit total service. That is a huge savings in labor, wiring, servers, and cost.
BACK TO TOPIC: It also reduces the need to police for P2P since downloading illegal stuff at 128kbit/s is not really practical. Instead of $100,000 for enforcing P2P rules, universities could conceivably reduce that to just $5000 a year.
I wish the moderators would stop marking comments as trolls simply because they disagree. If you want to disagree, say so in a reply to the original post. I don't mind disagreement. I DO mind mis-marking of people's comments; that's abuse of your moderation powers. If you're not going to do a proper job, then step-down.
>>>10% reduction in coal burned per kWhr produced has the same impact as a 10% reduction in kWhrs used
Not true. The further you move down the line, the less each percent impacts the overall energy efficiency. Let's say 100 tons of coal makes 50 kilowatthours of electricity which is precisely how much energy you need to run a Microsoft container of servers (to make the math easy). Now let's suppose we take two approaches to saving energy:
- reduce power use of servers by 10%. So they use 45 kWh instead of 50. That's 5 kilowatthours saved.
- reduce coal to 90 tons per 50 kWh. So now 100 tons yield 55.55 kWh. That's 5.55 kilowatthours gained via improved efficiency.
As you can see, increasing efficiency at the source has a greater impact than improving efficiency at the destination. In this example it's only 0.55 kilowatthour difference, but it's not "same impact" as you originally stated. ----- Another example of this is when you take markdowns at the store. 10% off given by the store, plus another 10% give by your credit card, does NOT equal 20% off the original tag. The first deduction is larger than the second.
And you seem like a spoiled young man who can't handle the word "no" coming from his elders. FACT: In the real world you don't always get everything you want. Just because you want the equivalent of $200 a month ultrahighspeed internet in your dorm doesn't mean you're going to get it.
The university's not going to pay that bill. And neither are we taxpayers.
"Drunk frat boy" is a pretty good description of the kind of impression I'm getting of 2008-9 college students. I'm getting the impression you want, want, want regardless of the cost. Like a spoiled immature man who has never heard the word "no".
Not having to waste hours fiddling with Windows settings (or worse: forced upgrade of expensive video cards) is why I chose the console route. The gaming console just works.
What other kind of fuel is there? (And don't say hydrogen, which is an energy sink, not a source.)
Solar has not proven to be practical. I could cover my whole roof with sun-reactive diodes, and it still won't produce enough power to run my electric heat pump during winter. Wind has the same flaw.
I don't see *any* reason to play a PC game. Back in the 1970s, 80s, and early 90s it made sense to prefer computer games since the computer was typically more-advanced than a console. For example 16-bit Amiga was superior to the then-dominant 8-bit NES (both in graphics and sound quality).
But nowadays there's very little difference. A PS3 or Xbox360 or Wii looks just as good as the PC version. I don't blame some companies for not targeting the PC platform, since there's no real advantage to doing so.
(1) "Suffer" is not the correct word. Having a 750k connection is not torture at all. Everything works just fine, and I watch live tv over that same connection without flaw.
(2) Yes, because I'm paying the bill for your dorm internet. My wallet is being emptied by taxes to support your college education. That gives me at least some right to express an opinion about how the money is spent (or in this case: wasted). Since I can only afford a 750k line, I see no reason why MY taxes should be used to buy something faster than what I have. You don't need (key word) faster, more-expensive connections in your dorm.
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"Tyranny of the majority" is still tyranny and still damages the individual right to free speech or freedom of worship. What about Indians or Hindus living in Germany? They use the swastika as a symbol of their religion, representing both good luck and God's providence. Are they forbidden from the free exercise of their religion? If so then basic rights have been violated.
Yep. We Americans have been looking for a new invention to sell the world. Well, it's fat. We have the biggest supply of fat of any country. Start-up the liposuction machines, and start exporting those fat-to-heart organ replacements.
There's more to it than that. The OP's opinion: "dumbed them down to appeal to a larger audience" describes cable television (or any mass media) perfectly. As time goes on, the requirement for more-and-more viewers, requires lowering the intelligence to where even Jimmy-Joe Bob can understand.
I remember when TLC was called the Learning Channel and actually had intelligent programming. Now it's more akin to the "Tender Loving Care" channel about babies, weddings, and other stuff that doesn't require thinking. Discover Channel has also been dumbed down. Ditto Animal Planet. Ditto A&E.
The History Channel is the only basic cable channel that still teaches something useful. The rest don't require anything more than 5th grade education.
I didn't say console was superior. I said that where PCs used to be a generation ahead of consoles (16 bit Amiga versus 8 bit NES), now the gap has closed. I cannot see any visible difference between the graphics of the latest PC game versus the same game on a PS3 or Xbox360.
The U.N. does not represent me. It represents governments, and as such represents politicians not citizens. Furthermore the U.N. collects dues which are taken from citizens' wallets, and that's "taxation without representation". Therefore the U.N. is neither of, by, or for the People.
>>>Health care is not hand holding, it's a basic human right.
You are 100% correct. Everyone has a right to walk into a doctor's office, say "I'm sick", and request treatment. In turn that doctor will do his best to cure you, and hand you a bill for his labor & expenses.
What you do Not have a right to do is pass the bill off to your neighbors, and demand that they pay it. That's called theft.
>>>seasons 4 and 5 are shaky, but it picks up again after that
Atlantis was canceled after episode 520. There's supposed to be a finale released direct-to-dvd, and then that's the end.
So far I haven't encountered any documents that Office 97 can't open. When I do that's probably when I'll sell it and upgrade to the latest version.
And that's a bad thing? Having a weak central government was the original intent. A weak government lacks the power to take your stuff or your liberty.
In this case, since the businesses who own those domains are outside of Kentucky's jurisdiction, the U.S. Supreme Court will declare this decision nullified.
I'm still using Office 97. I'm just a little bit behind in the times. (Or too cheap to lay-down $200 on a pointless upgrade.)
>>>Microsoft Calls Today Global Anti-Piracy Day
Ironically, even as I read this article, I am downloading Stargate Atlantis season 4. What I've seen so far (401-410) was crap, so I'm glad I tried it before wasting money on the stupid DVD. I guess I'm not really feeling the "spirit" of this day.
>>>Presumably some taxpayers can't afford (i.e. choose not to buy) anything more than dial-up access, so should students just have dial-up?
>>>
I'd be okay with that. We all know that if I walked into a dorm right now, I'd see students surfing the net NOT for doing homework, but for downloading videos or other crap. Taxpayers shouldn't be paying for needless college crapola, when those same taxpayers are struggling to save their homes or put food on the table. If students want high-speed, they can buy themselves a satellite dish to hang-out the window. Or better yet, move to off-campus apartments.
Or even better, learn about sacrificing to attain a goal. You want a degree? Well earning that degree means sacrificing some pleasure NOW, for a better future later.
Can't you read a textbook or do homework while you're waiting for your 10-minute Itune download? Yes.
If you can find time for a kegger, you can find time to grab whatever lecture PDFs you need off the net. Sorry young padawan, but you're not getting any sympathy for me. I've been there; done that as recently as 2000. I don't think your profs are going to be accepting your excuses for not getting the homework done.
>>>With chunks, you have to manage them, or write scripts to manage them for you.
In this case it sounds like Windoze is better than Mac OS. Windoze automatically divides updates into smaller pieces, and allows the user to pick-and-choose which updates he wants or does not want. The largest major update I recall downloading was still only 50 megabyte. Only takes 45 minutes over a 128k connection.
That's okay. Pretty soon you'll graduate. Either you'll learn to sacrifice because you can't afford $100 a month internet, or you'll have to declare bankruptcy after you drive your credit debt over $10,000 from your foolish spending.
BTW, I'm only 29.
You make a simple process sound complicated, but this kind of thing happens everyday (inside corporations). The students would have to pick-up a waiver form, then get approval from their professor, and said professor would need to explain WHY the student needs unlimited bandwidth (for example: astronomy research). That alone would weed-out most of the students, since profs would refuse to sign the waivers for non-existent, bogus reasons.
Those few students (about 1 in 1000) who do get the prof's signature can hand the form to the Computer Services department, who would contact the prof to verify the signature is real, and then they would remove the 128k speed limit.
The advantage of this approach is instead of providing 10 megabit/sec to 40,000 students (400 gigabit) the university would only need to provide 128kbps * 39,960 + 10 mbps * 40 == approximately 5.5 gigabit total service. That is a huge savings in labor, wiring, servers, and cost.
BACK TO TOPIC: It also reduces the need to police for P2P since downloading illegal stuff at 128kbit/s is not really practical. Instead of $100,000 for enforcing P2P rules, universities could conceivably reduce that to just $5000 a year.
(Score: Troll)
I wish the moderators would stop marking comments as trolls simply because they disagree. If you want to disagree, say so in a reply to the original post. I don't mind disagreement. I DO mind mis-marking of people's comments; that's abuse of your moderation powers. If you're not going to do a proper job, then step-down.
>>>10% reduction in coal burned per kWhr produced has the same impact as a 10% reduction in kWhrs used
Not true. The further you move down the line, the less each percent impacts the overall energy efficiency. Let's say 100 tons of coal makes 50 kilowatthours of electricity which is precisely how much energy you need to run a Microsoft container of servers (to make the math easy). Now let's suppose we take two approaches to saving energy:
- reduce power use of servers by 10%. So they use 45 kWh instead of 50. That's 5 kilowatthours saved.
- reduce coal to 90 tons per 50 kWh. So now 100 tons yield 55.55 kWh. That's 5.55 kilowatthours gained via improved efficiency.
As you can see, increasing efficiency at the source has a greater impact than improving efficiency at the destination. In this example it's only 0.55 kilowatthour difference, but it's not "same impact" as you originally stated. ----- Another example of this is when you take markdowns at the store. 10% off given by the store, plus another 10% give by your credit card, does NOT equal 20% off the original tag. The first deduction is larger than the second.
And you seem like a spoiled young man who can't handle the word "no" coming from his elders. FACT: In the real world you don't always get everything you want. Just because you want the equivalent of $200 a month ultrahighspeed internet in your dorm doesn't mean you're going to get it.
The university's not going to pay that bill.
And neither are we taxpayers.
"Drunk frat boy" is a pretty good description of the kind of impression I'm getting of 2008-9 college students. I'm getting the impression you want, want, want regardless of the cost. Like a spoiled immature man who has never heard the word "no".
Not having to waste hours fiddling with Windows settings (or worse: forced upgrade of expensive video cards) is why I chose the console route. The gaming console just works.
What other kind of fuel is there? (And don't say hydrogen, which is an energy sink, not a source.)
Solar has not proven to be practical. I could cover my whole roof with sun-reactive diodes, and it still won't produce enough power to run my electric heat pump during winter. Wind has the same flaw.
My most productive time is immediately after I wake-up. It lasts until lunch and then peters-out.
I don't see *any* reason to play a PC game. Back in the 1970s, 80s, and early 90s it made sense to prefer computer games since the computer was typically more-advanced than a console. For example 16-bit Amiga was superior to the then-dominant 8-bit NES (both in graphics and sound quality).
But nowadays there's very little difference. A PS3 or Xbox360 or Wii looks just as good as the PC version. I don't blame some companies for not targeting the PC platform, since there's no real advantage to doing so.
(1) "Suffer" is not the correct word. Having a 750k connection is not torture at all. Everything works just fine, and I watch live tv over that same connection without flaw.
(2) Yes, because I'm paying the bill for your dorm internet. My wallet is being emptied by taxes to support your college education. That gives me at least some right to express an opinion about how the money is spent (or in this case: wasted). Since I can only afford a 750k line, I see no reason why MY taxes should be used to buy something faster than what I have. You don't need (key word) faster, more-expensive connections in your dorm.
The true energy savings happen at the source. We need to find ways to increase coal-to-electricity efficiency conversion to 90% or higher.