for those unwilling/unable to watch the video: it's a clip from a Wonderful Life, the scene where there's a run on George Bailey's bank. George explains that the bank's assets are invested "in Joe's house, that's right next to mine. And in the Kennedy house, and Mrs. Makelin's house, and a hundred others". i.e. not in cash-on-hand for the depositors. at least the loans aren't in default.
for those who don't get the reference, "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" is a song on the Rush album Fly By Night (and general nicknames for two of the band members IIRC)
just because it's on doesn't mean you have to watch it. I watched it once (nothing against the movie, most movies I only watch once or a few times). However, it wasn't enough to get the reference.
yes, there can be entertainment value in the game itself, and even simple games can be more fun as a social activity, betting or not yet the theoretical possibility of a payout helps because it's fun to think about what you'd do with the prize money.
Yes, it's fun to bet a small amount of money now and then (the more you're losing, the less fun it is) Also, a large amount of money may be proportionally more useful to someone than a smaller amount of money, in which case it may make sense for that person to bet seemingly against the odds
i don't get this argument an asset can be seized to cover a debt. here, government forces that debt on you, but how is that different from taxation in general?
trying to start a gas lawnmower is a classic pain in the ass. whether starting the first time or if you need to stop/start for some reason. extension cords are less annoying, but still somewhat problematic. battery-powered electrics are the best of both worlds, they do exist.
for that and other yard tools, they're small enough that battery capacity, charging time and other electrical infrastructure issues aren't relevant like they are for electric cars
lusers reporting as spam because they don't want to bother unsubscribing is a problem. but can one unsubscribe from those emails without missing out on the important/relevant emails? that's what I wondered about as I ran into the same problem
I can see genuine enemies both recognizing the effectiveness of particular tactics, yet I can also see the powers that be on both sides each stirring up conflict for their own interests (money? power? women?)
With one person, train/bus tickets are cheaper. with two, maybe. driving would make more sense costwise if you can carpool, perhaps switch between drivers to alleviate fatigue
I can't drive anyway (don't have enough practice/experience)
+1 Interesting in this case, they're both racial/ethnic separatists another example of how opposing extremists can have more in common with each other than with the moderates.
I assume by MA you mean Massachusetts; there's a major Amtrak route from DC to Boston that passes through Philadelphia.
tickets for that route are more expensive than usual right now because of the holiday timeframe, I wonder how the airlines are. Acela 'Express' is way more expensive, but regular trains also run along that route.
I live in Rochester NY, right on the route from Boston to Chicago (which includes Cleveland), as well as a route that that serves upstate NY and Toronto. less-direct routing to where one needs to go would be a problem if Amtrak goes there at all, but that's often a moot point.
Amtrak could be a lot better, but it's generally not as bad as you're making it out to be here.
Slashdot Mirror
for those unwilling/unable to watch the video:
it's a clip from a Wonderful Life, the scene where there's a run on George Bailey's bank. George explains that the bank's assets are invested "in Joe's house, that's right next to mine. And in the Kennedy house, and Mrs. Makelin's house, and a hundred others". i.e. not in cash-on-hand for the depositors. at least the loans aren't in default.
for those who don't get the reference, "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" is a song on the Rush album Fly By Night (and general nicknames for two of the band members IIRC)
just because it's on doesn't mean you have to watch it. I watched it once (nothing against the movie, most movies I only watch once or a few times). However, it wasn't enough to get the reference.
yes, there can be entertainment value in the game itself, and even simple games can be more fun as a social activity, betting or not
yet the theoretical possibility of a payout helps because it's fun to think about what you'd do with the prize money.
Yes, it's fun to bet a small amount of money now and then (the more you're losing, the less fun it is)
Also, a large amount of money may be proportionally more useful to someone than a smaller amount of money, in which case it may make sense for that person to bet seemingly against the odds
i don't get this argument
an asset can be seized to cover a debt.
here, government forces that debt on you, but how is that different from taxation in general?
yeah, I'm tired of people thinking *I'm* the crazy one because I don't want to believe in some far-out idea.
trying to start a gas lawnmower is a classic pain in the ass. whether starting the first time or if you need to stop/start for some reason.
extension cords are less annoying, but still somewhat problematic. battery-powered electrics are the best of both worlds, they do exist.
for that and other yard tools, they're small enough that battery capacity, charging time and other electrical infrastructure issues aren't relevant like they are for electric cars
lusers reporting as spam because they don't want to bother unsubscribing is a problem. but can one unsubscribe from those emails without missing out on the important/relevant emails? that's what I wondered about as I ran into the same problem
miniscule message storage limits like that are ridiculous anyway
excellent example of the Peter Principle
the point was "how the mighty have fallen", not something about sendmail in particular
yeah, they need to cut costs, but this isn't the way to go about it.
closing a bunch of offices in Podunk might be necessary, though.
of course, not gonna touch "administrative expenses" :(
never underestimate the bandwith of a postal delivery truck full of optical discs hurtling down side streets. :)
woosh!
so because Amtrak miscalculates the cost of driving (the competition), they don't price competitively?
I can see genuine enemies both recognizing the effectiveness of particular tactics, yet I can also see the powers that be on both sides each stirring up conflict for their own interests (money? power? women?)
what about costs of driving?
With one person, train/bus tickets are cheaper. with two, maybe.
driving would make more sense costwise if you can carpool, perhaps switch between drivers to alleviate fatigue
I can't drive anyway (don't have enough practice/experience)
+1 Interesting
in this case, they're both racial/ethnic separatists
another example of how opposing extremists can have more in common with each other than with the moderates.
Niels Bohr once said something to the effect of "if you claim to understand quantum mechanics, you don't."
the medieval Catholic Church as an indirect theocracy? DigiShaman did refer to that in a way, with the more direct and more recent Iran example
yes, Islam and Christianity are both Abrahamic religions (is that what you're getting at?)
but as I said, I meant to refer to extremists in general.
are they comparing notes with bible belt Christian fundamentalists? not a good sign.
different types of extremists, religious or secular, have some of the same stuff going on.
might have hit a peak travel time or something
yeah, right now Amtrak lists higher prices/lower availability due to Thanksgiving, apparently.
I agree that with Amtrak it's key to have a direct route to where you need to go.
Northeast Corridor is Boston/DC. big intermediate stops - New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore
I live in Rochester NY, right on a route from Boston to Chicago (major stop: Cleveland), as well as a route that that serves upstate NY and Toronto.
the minor stops create a big problem with acceleration/deceleration.
I assume by MA you mean Massachusetts; there's a major Amtrak route from DC to Boston that passes through Philadelphia.
tickets for that route are more expensive than usual right now because of the holiday timeframe, I wonder how the airlines are.
Acela 'Express' is way more expensive, but regular trains also run along that route.
I live in Rochester NY, right on the route from Boston to Chicago (which includes Cleveland), as well as a route that that serves upstate NY and Toronto.
less-direct routing to where one needs to go would be a problem if Amtrak goes there at all, but that's often a moot point.
Amtrak could be a lot better, but it's generally not as bad as you're making it out to be here.