There is no better controller combo in FPS games than WASD + mouse. Period.
I prefer QWES + Trackball myself... but other then that I agree.
I find that over long periods, WASD makes my fingers hurt (likely because fingers aren't on same line most of the time) but QWES keeps them in line and it's easier to drop the one finger down for back vs holding it up most of the time. I reconfigure every game first thing to this setup.
I am finding that I'm getting a little more used to FPS games on the Xbox 360 now.. as much as I used to suck at aiming using the sticks vs a trackball on a PC.
No one wants to confront an employee directly for fear of looking like a loud mouth jerk of a boss.
I think some of it is that, but more of it is likely they think they'll be seen as a failure if they have to fire/discipline someone underneath them.
One of my only complaints about my job is along the same lines.. noone gets fired from here for being incompetent. Unfortunately we have a few people in our group that are either incompetent, have attitudes that cause problems and get in the way.. or both mixed together. If I had any say, I could name 2 people in my group that should be fired on the spot.. but they're still here, a year plus later. It's mostly due to managers not wanting the mark of having fired someone from their group on their record.
One of the two is partly my fault too.. I admit it, me fooled me in the interview as well. I thought he knew his stuff, but it turns out he's a first class BS artist. I'm talking so good at BS that it's almost worth it to hear the guy talk in meetings with vendors and customers, because if you didn't know better, you'd think he held the whole team together and was the true brains of the organisation.
Contrast this with the Star Trek series. In those, the Humans always kicked ass.
You either didn't watch DS9, or didn't pay much attention. I thought that DS9 was some of the best Trek ever, and much of the best stuff was when the Federation was getting it's ass kicked big time. This was, supposedly, due at least in part to RDM's influence... and that's when it got "darker" and more realistic vs everything is perfect and the Federation always saves the day. Sure, in the end they won, at great cost... but it wouldn't bode well for the franchise to have the "good guys" lose, now would it?
One of my favorite DS9 eps was the one where Cisco was willing to put his ethics on hold in order to get the Romulans to join the war on the side of the Federation... because he knew they were doomed without them.
You guys managed to send that Peterson guy to the death row withoud either a body, a confession or even a first hand witness. He was basically conviced to death for beeing a cheating asshole.
Assuming you mean Scott Peterson.. try again. They did, in fact, find his wife's body and the unborn fetus.
He wasn't convicted because he cheated mostly because of how he acted after her disappearance, and based on testimony of others.
My problem this time was that I BELIEVED what the customers were saying. Just because every major EDA and FPGA company issued press releases supporting LPM doesn't mean that they actually want anything to do with it (it's basically now an Altera specific format). Learning the difference between what a customer will buy, and what he says he will buy is key.
The timing of this is interesting, had this fwd'd to me the other day. Other people figure this out eventually too.
I think we all tend to do this to a degree. Think about conversations with friends over just about anything you pay money for, and most times you'll list a bunch of things you want on something. Then stop and think of how many of those things you really could afford. I think that's where most of it comes from... we think of how the product could be perfect (or as close to it as we can currently think) without considering what it would cost if/when it were done to those specs.
Hell, I'd love to upgrade my home theater to a TV (I already have a 65" Mitsubishi HD TV) that does 1080p (mine does 1080i) and has some HDMI inputs. Plus I'd love a setup with a receiver that does what my current one does, but has at least 5 Component inputs (currently have 2, but with DVD, HD DVR, xbox 360, PS2 likely to be a ps3 in the future, etc.. I had to buy a remote controlled switching component box), and more.. but I don't have the cash for all that.
The MP3 market was very immature when Apple stepped in. Apple stepped into an immature market with an product bundle (both the slick iPod AND iTunes) and marketing and PR power that other MP3 players couldn't even begin to compete with. Apple pretty quickly hit critical mass and snatched up the entire immature market before anyone had a chance to defend themselves from the Apple takeover.
I respectfully disagree. When the iPod first came out, the mp3 market was not that immature still. I personally (and most other early adopters like me) had already owned at least a 1/2 dozen different players by then, from flash based, to CD-mp3 to hdd players. Sales of iPods weren't even that phenomenal until late 2003/early 2004. It took growth through word of mouth, and people seeing how simple they were to use (not to mention how well integrated into iTunes it was) before it really took off.
The release of the windows version of iTunes helped a lot too of course.
This is the latest "iPod killer" article that will be forgotten in a month. How many of these "killers" are we going to hear about before people wise up?
Nothing will be an "iPod killer" until it's as simple to use and straightforward as the iPod is. By that, I mean that even the average parents and grandparents can (and do) use them. Yes, my parents each have their own iPod, my grandparents share one... they love them, and use them all the time without problems. The only other semi-complicated device to come out like this that I can say the same for is Tivo.
Too many people, especially tech types, don't seem to get that it's the simplicity and intuitiveness of the iPod that has made it such a success. Yeah sure, most of us would love to have one device that does it all, but non technical people are too confused by things that try to do that. They want simple, and they want it done well. That's what Apple tapped into.
Who knows? Maybe Zune will be that easy to use. But IME, the addition of all the extra stuff they're trying to push with the Zune will get in the way and confuse the moms, dads and grandparents, and will keep it from becoming as huge as iPods are.
Oh, and yes, my dad even rips DVDs for his iPod. Which shocked even me.. all I had to do was point him to handbrake. He's otherwise completely clueless with computers (which is really sad considering he's worked with PBX phone systems his whole life and can do stuff on those blindfolded).
But I haven't had a single problem with 7.0 since installed it the day it came out. It's been rock solid.. only issue I've had is that I had to mark some albums as collections because it would split the display of the album covers into multiple ones when an album had different artists (like a movie soundtrack).
So, to recap: 1) oil companies have to pay their fair share to improve the environment; 2) the tax cannot be passed on to cunsumers; 3) This will benefit researchers and universities Do not be fooled by the anti-prop 87 propoganda.
Here's a really good, fair and well linked opinion (not mine) on the prop which shows exactly why #1 is total crap (they're already paying it, just a different way then other states do), why #3 isn't really true and there's not enough oversight on the money.. and if you actually believe #2, well, you clearly don't understand basic economics.
My ass, Vinod Khosla admits that he'd most likely directly benefit from the prop, and he's the main backer.
This is probably the best write-up I've seen on the proposition.. by someone who likes most of the ideals of it, but dislikes the motives of those behind it and how it's being protrayed by them.
A quote from there:
The initiative is being bankrolled by Vinod Khosla, and the proceeds will be directed primarily toward alternative energy, including Mr. Khosla's ethanol interests. Mr. Khosla has said "just because I might benefit, doesn't mean this isn't a good idea." True, but it creates a bit of a conflict of interest and gives rise to the potential that the funds raised will not be optimally deployed.
Before the claims come out.. no that's not my blog, nor anyone I even know. I just found it while looking for info on the proposition awhile back (Yes, I like to actually be informed about what I'm voting on) and found it to be one of the best write ups with many links to where he gets his data.
A time when you couldn't buy telephones in the store - they had to be leased from the Bells and from their stores.
Oh and they knew if you got a black market phone and hooked it up too. My father worked for AT&T for >20 years and tells of stories where the company would detect unauthorized phones, and they'd go and confiscate them. His favorite story involved a family: The mother answered the door, he explained they'd detected a problem and wanted to check out their lines, so she asked him to wait. He could hear her running around unhooking the phones (there were 2 or more unauthorized ones) and hiding them. When she let him in, he noticed she had a little kid, so he asked the kid "Where'd your mother hide the phones?" Without missing a beat he answered, "in the closet."
So many people alive today in the US don't remember when there was only the one phone company. Sure it had some good side effects, like the almost limitless amounts of money they spent on Bell Labs and the stuff that came out of there. But one has to wonder how different the telecom field would be today if they hadn't been broken up... or if they'd been broken up far sooner.
Life before VCRs; and yeah, the Wizard of OZ was on every Easter and that was your only chance to see it.
Life before the internet. Hell, computers in general, not just the internet. Sure, technically computers existed, but before mini computers and the home computer revolution, how many people in the general population really had access to a computer, or really knew what they were (aside from magical things in movies and TV)? Then again, plenty of people who have them still think they're magical things, so maybe that's a bad way to describe them.:)
Discipline is also better for military families, who often put a premium on the education of their children. The priorities are not the same for migrant families, for whom outright survival often takes priority.
This is something that has changed, for the worse, for migrant families in the last couple of decades as well. My two best friends were born in Mexico and their family came here (legally) when they were very young. I've known them since the first grade, and their family has always stressed not only education, but that they were going to learn and speak english.
Now we hear more and more that we shouldn't force kids to learn english, we should teach in their language and such instead.. and the results are clearly far worse.
On another note, Prop 13 gave everyone in California tax relieve, including businesses, who hadn't actually asked for it(!) That's what has really broken the back of the state budget for years in California.
The problem is, before 13 was passed (and the reason it was passed was due to) the taxes were being jacked up more and more every year as the values of housing rose quickly. If something wasn't done (and the government was just happy to keep taking everything it could from the people) there were a hell of a lot of people that were going to lose their homes, who had no problem paying the mortgage of their house but were being killed by the increasing taxes. Most of them elderly people who were living on fixed incomes and had enough money to survive on, not knowing they'd have to plan to keep paying ever higher and higher property taxes on top of everything else.
I think prop 13 was written fairly well in that people who have owned a home for a long time, don't get bogged down later on due to massive tax hikes when the value of their home (which they can't really get any use out of) rises, however new sales do allow for higher taxes, based on the value of the home at the time of the sale. Increases each year are capped, and basically the max is used each time, of course.
Now have there been negative impacts due to the proposition? Sure, rarely do laws/changes to the constitution not have at least some negative effects for some people. However, some claims that prop 13 is to blame for the rising cost of housing here seems to completely ignore all the damn barriers put into place against building more housing, nor the fact that there are so many people that want to live here.
I was born and raised (and still live) in San Diego, and I know there was a good chance that my parents would've lost their home had prop 13 not passed back in 1978. I also know that my already high property taxes would be at least almost triple today without prop 13 due to the rising value of the houses in the area.
I do think that the commercial loophole does suck.
Granted, a chart at wikipedia that doesn't include this new data.. but..
Many people look at the data and charts like this one and say, "see, CO2 levels seem to correspond with increased n temperature.. there, it's a fact that global warming is being caused/increased by humans!" But really, look at the chart. reading from right to left (since it's graphed today on the left and goes into the past as you go right).. I see what look like more cases of the temperature rising (or falling) before CO2 levels rise or fall. This would seem to indicate that perhaps CO2 levels are effected by temperature, not the other way around (or more likely, there's a symbiotic relationship). Notice that most of the highest (and lowest) points of temperature deviation are to the right of the corresponding CO2 points.
I still think that, while humans are having an effect on global temperatures, I don't think anyone has truly proven that we're the main (or even a significant) cause of global warming. There are plenty of people that have worked in climate fields for 40-50+ years that think the same way (like William Gray and many of his colleagues. Why I should listen to their opinions on things like Hurricane predictions yet ignore other things they're saying is beyond me. Most articles I've read where human induced global warming proponents try to get you to ignore people like Gray, simply dismiss their claims, or try to claim they don't know what they're talking about (despite 50+ years in the field), seemingly because they don't consider them "true" "climate scientists" vs meterologists.
What it really comes down to is that the global climate is a very complicated system, and I don't think we truly know enough about it to be making claims as fact regarding things like human induced global warming.
"Take-Two has until five o'clock p.m., Eastern time, Monday, August 14, 2006, to inform me in writing that it will forthwith provide me with a copy of Bully so that I and others can analyze it to determine whether it still poses a threat of copycat violence in our schools"
Takes a serious ego to think you have the right to make such a demand from a company, simply because you've set yourself up as the one to make sure video games aren't too violent.
I'd love to see Take-Two to tell him to take a flying leap.
If you are filling up the bagging area then.... YOU ARE TRYING TO BUY TOO MUCH STUFF USING SELF CHECKOUT!
I bought 2 items at Home Depot using the self-checkout this weekend.. and they overfilled the bagging area. I bought 2 sets of faux-wood blinds. Large and heavy, but 2 simple items. Computer would bitch about not having the things in the bagging area for a sec then realize they were there and move on.
I personally love using the self-check over the cashiers and always do when I can (Home Depot, Ralphs, Albertsons, etc).. As long as I don't have to wait for anyone, the self-check is ALWAYS faster for me. Of course, I'm not one of those that loses IQ when using the system. Yes, I can operate the self-check at a fast pace, and I don't take more then 20 seconds to get cash from an ATM unlike some people.
Oh, a couple weeks ago I also had 6 items at Home Depot and they didn't fit in the bagging area.. I bought 6 replacement cushions for my patio chairs. Goes without saying that I bought my items and was done (both times) before the rest of the pople using the self-checkout systems, and they were only buying a couple things as well.
A tad OT but... I still think the grocery clerk strike that happened a couple years ago was the dumbest thing they could've done to themselves. Here's a job where the actual skill required of workers has basically gone down in the last few decades (anyone remember when they had to type in all the sku numbers vs just swipe across a scanner?).. yet they still want more and more money. I don't know about everyone else here, but I regularly have to learn new things and become more and more efficient at my job to stay valuable and to get promotions/raises, but not cashiers. That strike only made me want to hurry up the adoption of more and more self-service systems to take them out of the loop alltogether.
the trouble with a homebrew system is that it is made using the cheap(est) parts. so no redundancy in your power supply, difficult to replace disks, no redundancy in the system disks. Additionally there's the limited raid volumes (your volume size is the number of data disks in one cabinet divided by the redundancy factor), and low network throughput. Not to mention the non-redundant powersupply's that break once every six months and take down an entire shelf. Not to mention the sheer time one needs to spend to build and moreover maintain it...
honestly, I think you're better off with one of these sun's.
Who said homebrew? There are other vendors out there that have had similar systems for at least 2 years. With redundant and hot swappable power, etc..
And frankly, my experience with Sun's amd based systems thus far has been that they're nowhere near as good (stability wise) as their SPARC line, only on par with other reputable system vendors. For the price, I can usually get more systems and the same stability using another vendor.
I saw at least 2 different companies offering almost identical ideas at least 2 years ago. Sure the total storage wasn't as high as the disks weren't as big yet, but the big 4U chassis with a ton of disk installed vertically isn't anything new.
Oh, and they are fools to throw the Netflix guy out there. He owns a distribution model, and with HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, I don't think the DVD as a distro method is nearly as dead as they think.
Not to mention... Who really wants to download movies anyway? I mean, if they get to a system where I can download a movie, and watch it on a big screen, HD TV in high res (without tons of pixelation) and get surround sound.. then yeah, it'll be a viable business. But for now.. all the download systems are highly compressed, and require setting up your computer with a TV to even see it on a TV. And forget about a simple plugin for surround on an existing home theater setup.
I'll be sticking to DVD (and probably won't upgrade to either HD or blu-ray until there are players that do both) for a long time I think.
When you can have a box like a Tivo and easily download movies that are >=DVD quality and have surround sound.. then we might see a change. Current speeds won't really cut it either as even with a cable modem, to get a movie that quality it'll take too long and require a lot of storage. I love being able to pop in a disc anytime and watch something immediately.
I'm always skeptical of claims that hundreds or thousands of supposedly respectable scientists hold a non-mainstream view but can't express it because some shadowy cabal is forcing them to stay quiet.
Here's one example of a scientist, that's still widely admired and trusted in the field for his hurricane predictions each year, but notice how he's basically been basically cutoff as far as federal grants go since 1992:
Are your funding problems due in part to your views?
G: I can't be sure, but I think that's a lot of the reason. I have been around 50 years, so my views on this are well known. I had NOAA money for 30 some years, and then when the Clinton administration came in and Gore started directing some of the environmental stuff, I was cut off. I couldn't get any NOAA money. They turned down 13 straight proposals from me.
This is just one guy, sure.. but he's well known and people trust his opionion.. as long as it's about hurricane forecasts. As soon as he voices his views on human-induced global warming.. they say you can't trust him anymore. Yeah, whatever.
Regarding Apple laptops being quite, the new MacBook Pro's are very noisy from what I've read and that's why there's a lot of complaints about them regarding that.
No they're not noisy. I have a 17" MacBookPro and it doesn't make any noise. I can hear the DVD drive when I read off a CD/DVD but that's about it.
However, it does get pretty damn hot when the CPU cores are pegged.
Look, I understand that the average American believes unions are evil - some notable bad examples, plus 70 years of anti-union propaganda, have seen to that.
Actually, my own personal anti-union feelings were formed by working in a union job myself. Didn't take long for me to realize that I was getting screwed over far more due to the union then if I had been able to fight for my own compensation. That, and seeing how little the union did for my father after 25+ years in a union job as well.
Just because people don't agree with your views, doesn't mean they were brainwashed or tricked by propaganda.
See if you can just cast aside the opinions of someone that's worked in meterology for 50 years who thinks that global warming being caused by human's isn't likely, and especially that increased weather patterns are not impacted by the measured warming. Note how his NOAA funding has basically been cut off since Gore became VP and started pushing for global warming studies.
Also note that Gray's experience is just fine for people who want to believe his hurricane forecasts.. but somehow his opinion doesn't count when it comes to global warming and it's (non) effect on weather patterns.
I can only speak to what I've lived through,But if you talk to any southerner they'll be happy to tell you about how screwy the weather has gotten.
Or, try reading opinions from a professional that's been working in the field for 50 years who thinks that man isn't responsible for global warming, and that while the temperature has been rising, it's part of a natural cycle.. nor is the warming reponsible (or it's effects aren't enough to measure) for the change in weather. Just one money quote:
You don't believe global warming is causing climate change?
G: No. If it is, it is causing such a small part that it is negligible. I'm not disputing that there has been global warming. There was a lot of global warming in the 1930s and '40s, and then there was a slight global cooling from the middle '40s to the early '70s. And there has been warming since the middle '70s, especially in the last 10 years. But this is natural, due to ocean circulation changes and other factors. It is not human induced.
Interesting article there BTW. Note how his funding magically dried up right about the time that Gore was VP and started pushing for more funding of global warming issues. I love too that people are more then willing to listen to this guy's hurricane predications each year. His experience is good enough to trust that, but when he brings up the rest.. suddenly he's not worth listenting to.
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I prefer QWES + Trackball myself... but other then that I agree.
I find that over long periods, WASD makes my fingers hurt (likely because fingers aren't on same line most of the time) but QWES keeps them in line and it's easier to drop the one finger down for back vs holding it up most of the time. I reconfigure every game first thing to this setup.
I am finding that I'm getting a little more used to FPS games on the Xbox 360 now.. as much as I used to suck at aiming using the sticks vs a trackball on a PC.
No one wants to confront an employee directly for fear of looking like a loud mouth jerk of a boss.
I think some of it is that, but more of it is likely they think they'll be seen as a failure if they have to fire/discipline someone underneath them.
One of my only complaints about my job is along the same lines.. noone gets fired from here for being incompetent. Unfortunately we have a few people in our group that are either incompetent, have attitudes that cause problems and get in the way.. or both mixed together. If I had any say, I could name 2 people in my group that should be fired on the spot.. but they're still here, a year plus later. It's mostly due to managers not wanting the mark of having fired someone from their group on their record.
One of the two is partly my fault too.. I admit it, me fooled me in the interview as well. I thought he knew his stuff, but it turns out he's a first class BS artist. I'm talking so good at BS that it's almost worth it to hear the guy talk in meetings with vendors and customers, because if you didn't know better, you'd think he held the whole team together and was the true brains of the organisation.
One of my favorite DS9 eps was the one where Cisco was willing to put his ethics on hold in order to get the Romulans to join the war on the side of the Federation... because he knew they were doomed without them.
Assuming you mean Scott Peterson.. try again. They did, in fact, find his wife's body and the unborn fetus.
He wasn't convicted because he cheated mostly because of how he acted after her disappearance, and based on testimony of others.
The timing of this is interesting, had this fwd'd to me the other day. Other people figure this out eventually too.
I think we all tend to do this to a degree. Think about conversations with friends over just about anything you pay money for, and most times you'll list a bunch of things you want on something. Then stop and think of how many of those things you really could afford. I think that's where most of it comes from... we think of how the product could be perfect (or as close to it as we can currently think) without considering what it would cost if/when it were done to those specs.
Hell, I'd love to upgrade my home theater to a TV (I already have a 65" Mitsubishi HD TV) that does 1080p (mine does 1080i) and has some HDMI inputs. Plus I'd love a setup with a receiver that does what my current one does, but has at least 5 Component inputs (currently have 2, but with DVD, HD DVR, xbox 360, PS2 likely to be a ps3 in the future, etc.. I had to buy a remote controlled switching component box), and more.. but I don't have the cash for all that.
I respectfully disagree. When the iPod first came out, the mp3 market was not that immature still. I personally (and most other early adopters like me) had already owned at least a 1/2 dozen different players by then, from flash based, to CD-mp3 to hdd players. Sales of iPods weren't even that phenomenal until late 2003/early 2004. It took growth through word of mouth, and people seeing how simple they were to use (not to mention how well integrated into iTunes it was) before it really took off.
The release of the windows version of iTunes helped a lot too of course.
Nothing will be an "iPod killer" until it's as simple to use and straightforward as the iPod is. By that, I mean that even the average parents and grandparents can (and do) use them. Yes, my parents each have their own iPod, my grandparents share one... they love them, and use them all the time without problems. The only other semi-complicated device to come out like this that I can say the same for is Tivo.
Too many people, especially tech types, don't seem to get that it's the simplicity and intuitiveness of the iPod that has made it such a success. Yeah sure, most of us would love to have one device that does it all, but non technical people are too confused by things that try to do that. They want simple, and they want it done well. That's what Apple tapped into.
Who knows? Maybe Zune will be that easy to use. But IME, the addition of all the extra stuff they're trying to push with the Zune will get in the way and confuse the moms, dads and grandparents, and will keep it from becoming as huge as iPods are.
Oh, and yes, my dad even rips DVDs for his iPod. Which shocked even me.. all I had to do was point him to handbrake. He's otherwise completely clueless with computers (which is really sad considering he's worked with PBX phone systems his whole life and can do stuff on those blindfolded).
But I haven't had a single problem with 7.0 since installed it the day it came out. It's been rock solid.. only issue I've had is that I had to mark some albums as collections because it would split the display of the album covers into multiple ones when an album had different artists (like a movie soundtrack).
Here's a really good, fair and well linked opinion (not mine) on the prop which shows exactly why #1 is total crap (they're already paying it, just a different way then other states do), why #3 isn't really true and there's not enough oversight on the money.. and if you actually believe #2, well, you clearly don't understand basic economics.
My ass, Vinod Khosla admits that he'd most likely directly benefit from the prop, and he's the main backer.
This is probably the best write-up I've seen on the proposition.. by someone who likes most of the ideals of it, but dislikes the motives of those behind it and how it's being protrayed by them.
A quote from there:
Before the claims come out.. no that's not my blog, nor anyone I even know. I just found it while looking for info on the proposition awhile back (Yes, I like to actually be informed about what I'm voting on) and found it to be one of the best write ups with many links to where he gets his data.
Oh and they knew if you got a black market phone and hooked it up too. My father worked for AT&T for >20 years and tells of stories where the company would detect unauthorized phones, and they'd go and confiscate them. His favorite story involved a family: The mother answered the door, he explained they'd detected a problem and wanted to check out their lines, so she asked him to wait. He could hear her running around unhooking the phones (there were 2 or more unauthorized ones) and hiding them. When she let him in, he noticed she had a little kid, so he asked the kid "Where'd your mother hide the phones?" Without missing a beat he answered, "in the closet."
So many people alive today in the US don't remember when there was only the one phone company. Sure it had some good side effects, like the almost limitless amounts of money they spent on Bell Labs and the stuff that came out of there. But one has to wonder how different the telecom field would be today if they hadn't been broken up... or if they'd been broken up far sooner.
Life before the internet.
Hell, computers in general, not just the internet. Sure, technically computers existed, but before mini computers and the home computer revolution, how many people in the general population really had access to a computer, or really knew what they were (aside from magical things in movies and TV)? Then again, plenty of people who have them still think they're magical things, so maybe that's a bad way to describe them.
Discipline is also better for military families, who often put a premium on the education of their children. The priorities are not the same for migrant families, for whom outright survival often takes priority.
This is something that has changed, for the worse, for migrant families in the last couple of decades as well. My two best friends were born in Mexico and their family came here (legally) when they were very young. I've known them since the first grade, and their family has always stressed not only education, but that they were going to learn and speak english.
Now we hear more and more that we shouldn't force kids to learn english, we should teach in their language and such instead.. and the results are clearly far worse.
On another note, Prop 13 gave everyone in California tax relieve, including businesses, who hadn't actually asked for it(!) That's what has really broken the back of the state budget for years in California.
The problem is, before 13 was passed (and the reason it was passed was due to) the taxes were being jacked up more and more every year as the values of housing rose quickly. If something wasn't done (and the government was just happy to keep taking everything it could from the people) there were a hell of a lot of people that were going to lose their homes, who had no problem paying the mortgage of their house but were being killed by the increasing taxes. Most of them elderly people who were living on fixed incomes and had enough money to survive on, not knowing they'd have to plan to keep paying ever higher and higher property taxes on top of everything else.
I think prop 13 was written fairly well in that people who have owned a home for a long time, don't get bogged down later on due to massive tax hikes when the value of their home (which they can't really get any use out of) rises, however new sales do allow for higher taxes, based on the value of the home at the time of the sale. Increases each year are capped, and basically the max is used each time, of course.
Now have there been negative impacts due to the proposition? Sure, rarely do laws/changes to the constitution not have at least some negative effects for some people. However, some claims that prop 13 is to blame for the rising cost of housing here seems to completely ignore all the damn barriers put into place against building more housing, nor the fact that there are so many people that want to live here.
I was born and raised (and still live) in San Diego, and I know there was a good chance that my parents would've lost their home had prop 13 not passed back in 1978. I also know that my already high property taxes would be at least almost triple today without prop 13 due to the rising value of the houses in the area.
I do think that the commercial loophole does suck.
Granted, a chart at wikipedia that doesn't include this new data.. but..
Many people look at the data and charts like this one and say, "see, CO2 levels seem to correspond with increased n temperature.. there, it's a fact that global warming is being caused/increased by humans!" But really, look at the chart. reading from right to left (since it's graphed today on the left and goes into the past as you go right).. I see what look like more cases of the temperature rising (or falling) before CO2 levels rise or fall. This would seem to indicate that perhaps CO2 levels are effected by temperature, not the other way around (or more likely, there's a symbiotic relationship). Notice that most of the highest (and lowest) points of temperature deviation are to the right of the corresponding CO2 points.
I still think that, while humans are having an effect on global temperatures, I don't think anyone has truly proven that we're the main (or even a significant) cause of global warming. There are plenty of people that have worked in climate fields for 40-50+ years that think the same way (like William Gray and many of his colleagues. Why I should listen to their opinions on things like Hurricane predictions yet ignore other things they're saying is beyond me. Most articles I've read where human induced global warming proponents try to get you to ignore people like Gray, simply dismiss their claims, or try to claim they don't know what they're talking about (despite 50+ years in the field), seemingly because they don't consider them "true" "climate scientists" vs meterologists.
What it really comes down to is that the global climate is a very complicated system, and I don't think we truly know enough about it to be making claims as fact regarding things like human induced global warming.
Agreed. Would love to see a judge ask him if he's sure he really has a clue about the legal system or something. Just really embarass the guy.
Takes a serious ego to think you have the right to make such a demand from a company, simply because you've set yourself up as the one to make sure video games aren't too violent.
I'd love to see Take-Two to tell him to take a flying leap.
I bought 2 items at Home Depot using the self-checkout this weekend.. and they overfilled the bagging area. I bought 2 sets of faux-wood blinds. Large and heavy, but 2 simple items. Computer would bitch about not having the things in the bagging area for a sec then realize they were there and move on.
I personally love using the self-check over the cashiers and always do when I can (Home Depot, Ralphs, Albertsons, etc).. As long as I don't have to wait for anyone, the self-check is ALWAYS faster for me. Of course, I'm not one of those that loses IQ when using the system. Yes, I can operate the self-check at a fast pace, and I don't take more then 20 seconds to get cash from an ATM unlike some people.
Oh, a couple weeks ago I also had 6 items at Home Depot and they didn't fit in the bagging area.. I bought 6 replacement cushions for my patio chairs. Goes without saying that I bought my items and was done (both times) before the rest of the pople using the self-checkout systems, and they were only buying a couple things as well.
A tad OT but...
I still think the grocery clerk strike that happened a couple years ago was the dumbest thing they could've done to themselves. Here's a job where the actual skill required of workers has basically gone down in the last few decades (anyone remember when they had to type in all the sku numbers vs just swipe across a scanner?).. yet they still want more and more money. I don't know about everyone else here, but I regularly have to learn new things and become more and more efficient at my job to stay valuable and to get promotions/raises, but not cashiers. That strike only made me want to hurry up the adoption of more and more self-service systems to take them out of the loop alltogether.
Who said homebrew? There are other vendors out there that have had similar systems for at least 2 years. With redundant and hot swappable power, etc..
And frankly, my experience with Sun's amd based systems thus far has been that they're nowhere near as good (stability wise) as their SPARC line, only on par with other reputable system vendors. For the price, I can usually get more systems and the same stability using another vendor.
I saw at least 2 different companies offering almost identical ideas at least 2 years ago. Sure the total storage wasn't as high as the disks weren't as big yet, but the big 4U chassis with a ton of disk installed vertically isn't anything new.
Not to mention... Who really wants to download movies anyway? I mean, if they get to a system where I can download a movie, and watch it on a big screen, HD TV in high res (without tons of pixelation) and get surround sound.. then yeah, it'll be a viable business. But for now.. all the download systems are highly compressed, and require setting up your computer with a TV to even see it on a TV. And forget about a simple plugin for surround on an existing home theater setup.
I'll be sticking to DVD (and probably won't upgrade to either HD or blu-ray until there are players that do both) for a long time I think.
When you can have a box like a Tivo and easily download movies that are >=DVD quality and have surround sound.. then we might see a change. Current speeds won't really cut it either as even with a cable modem, to get a movie that quality it'll take too long and require a lot of storage. I love being able to pop in a disc anytime and watch something immediately.
Here's one example of a scientist, that's still widely admired and trusted in the field for his hurricane predictions each year, but notice how he's basically been basically cutoff as far as federal grants go since 1992:
This is just one guy, sure.. but he's well known and people trust his opionion.. as long as it's about hurricane forecasts. As soon as he voices his views on human-induced global warming.. they say you can't trust him anymore. Yeah, whatever.
No they're not noisy. I have a 17" MacBookPro and it doesn't make any noise. I can hear the DVD drive when I read off a CD/DVD but that's about it.
However, it does get pretty damn hot when the CPU cores are pegged.
Actually, my own personal anti-union feelings were formed by working in a union job myself. Didn't take long for me to realize that I was getting screwed over far more due to the union then if I had been able to fight for my own compensation. That, and seeing how little the union did for my father after 25+ years in a union job as well.
Just because people don't agree with your views, doesn't mean they were brainwashed or tricked by propaganda.
See if you can just cast aside the opinions of someone that's worked in meterology for 50 years who thinks that global warming being caused by human's isn't likely, and especially that increased weather patterns are not impacted by the measured warming. Note how his NOAA funding has basically been cut off since Gore became VP and started pushing for global warming studies.
Also note that Gray's experience is just fine for people who want to believe his hurricane forecasts.. but somehow his opinion doesn't count when it comes to global warming and it's (non) effect on weather patterns.
Or, try reading opinions from a professional that's been working in the field for 50 years who thinks that man isn't responsible for global warming, and that while the temperature has been rising, it's part of a natural cycle.. nor is the warming reponsible (or it's effects aren't enough to measure) for the change in weather. Just one money quote:
Interesting article there BTW. Note how his funding magically dried up right about the time that Gore was VP and started pushing for more funding of global warming issues. I love too that people are more then willing to listen to this guy's hurricane predications each year. His experience is good enough to trust that, but when he brings up the rest.. suddenly he's not worth listenting to.