Huh. I notice that all the building materials for those "built in hundreds of different ways" come in a rather small number of varying sizes, like "two by four". And there's rules for the construction of these homes that, while flexible, ensure safety and reliability of assembly.
Just like in a real ecosystem, diversity brings strength and resilience..
You haven't programmed using Windows APIs. You should try it some time, I think you'd like it -- it's packed with all kinds of diverse APIs and ways of doing things. That's really what's so nice about Windows standards... there's so many to choose from. Anyway, my point is diversity for its own sake is a waste of resources -- an idea that's been around since the Archean era. You're the result of a single thread of evolution stretching back billions of years, the one success out of tens of billions of failed evolutionary forks.
Nature tells us that in the overwhelming majority of cases, mutations (aka diversity) do not give an advantage. That isn't to say don't try... but it is to say rampant diversity would never get us anywhere -- for the most part, we should build on what we know works, and only occasionally take excursions outside that realm.
Users would entail corporate and consumer groups of users. It was proper to distinguish between differing environments.
Hmm... how come macs aren't more popular then? Could it be because people are already familiar with the systems they use at work, and when they go home, they make purchasing decisions based on that familiarity? Nah, that's crazy talk!
Whitelising a site in Firefox is about as hard as it is for IE.
Okay, now multiply that by 96,000 workstations. Oh wait, you don't think your users can be trusted to follow those steps? Well, it's a good thing we have Active Directory and PAC files to upda--oh, you mean Firefox doesn't have those? Oh. You mean, you have to update the file manually, by patching it? For every user?
Hmm. Well... I guess it's a good thing you didn't make any assumptions then about how easy it would be.
Why is it always that competing products have to be killed? It's not just with browsers, it's with other software and hardware too (think "iPad-killer" kind of stuff).
Take a look at the state of the art in software engineering right now. Now realize that if we built houses like that, the first wood pecker would destroy civilization. It's duplication of effort -- rather than develop one tool that does its job very well, we develop twenty tools that do the same job sorta passably okay. A lot of this is thanks to the fractally stupid idea of intellectual property, but there are other reasons. Now you're right -- competition is good. We see this kind of thing all the time in open source communities where developers can't make up their mind on how to move from idea to implimentation and fork a project. But usually one implimentation proves itself over the other(s) and those inferior forks die, or a new paradigm is established and both sets go on to do whatever specialized thing they need to do. It's social evolution, of sorts, and like all forms of evolution -- its survival of the fittest (not necessarily the biggest or strongest).
Firefox supports integrated domain authentication on windows.
Not exactly. With internet explorer, IWA is transparent to the user and administrator alike; You can set entire domains or subdomains to use it and be done with it. Firefox' support is clunky, and requires a list of every DNS domain, not every Active Directory domain which doesn't always match DNS records. As well, should you want the list to be updated, you have to remotely modify the configuration file of firefox for every user account on every workstation. Microsoft's implimentation is self-updating, automatic, and doesn't require organizing special deployments and patching systems to keep the list up to date.
So yes, it's possible to get Firefox working with IWA, but not exactly practical. Supporting Firefox is labor-intensive.
Many of us hate it but have to use it in the office.
Yes, and that's mostly because Firefox developers steadfastly refuse to add integrated domain authentication, which a lot of corporations use for their intranet access. The other component is group policies; Which again, Mozilla in its infinite wisdom has made its product neigh-impossible for administrators to configure and control remotely. Open Source often fails in corporate environments not because corporations are opposed to its licensing terms, but because the software can't have its functionality limited or modified via a centralized framework. They jabber on about how it's restricting the "freedoms" of its users, but nobody has freedom at work. It's work, dammit, not a playground, and your IT staff needs to be able to control and restrict things -- not because they're some kind of authoritarian jerks but because corporate environments have a very different set of requirements than consumer environments.
Internet Explorer would be dead by now if Mozilla and friends would just get with the program and include group policies and the ability to restrict software functionality (like automatic updates!) from a centralized source. But the community keeps bringing it back because it simply refuses to listen to what corporations ask for.
In the race card demo the "best lap" time is actually just your last lap. And when you finish all 10 laps the clock doesn't stop, so your "final time" keeps increasing. I wonder if this is a bug in Shumway or the game itself. And I only get around 7 FPS on average, on Firefox in Linux/x86.
Sounds like the app has a... (puts on sunglasses) race condition. YEEEEEEEEEEaaaaaaah!
I will put my efforts learning to do great things in html5.
Blank pages are the only thing you can do with HTML5 right now in many browsers. Some people, preferring not to wait, have taken the unusual step of working with what's available now. I know, it's a weird concept in IT... I prefer to time travel to the future too, but my TARDIS is busted, and worse, infested with a red-headed scottish girl with a terrible welsh accent. You wouldn't happen to have one I could "borrow", would you?
Windows 2000 / Windows ME - February 2000, (5 years)
Windows XP - October, 2001 (1 year!)
Windows Vista - January, 2007 (6 years)
Windows 7 - July 2009 (2 years!)
Windows 8 - October 2012 (3 years)
The general trend has been about 5 years, unless an operating system has bombed (Vista, ME). These each represent the major new versions, not minor updates (for example, Windows 95 -> Windows 98 was not included, because they basically have the same kernel and architecture). I'm not including NT, CE, etc., because those aren't used by a lot of consumers and don't represent the "main family" of Windows products.
As for Apple -- grab version 1.0 of your iPod. Hook it up. Notice that iTunes still recognizes and supports it? Same with any iPhone. The hardware is still supported many years after it has been superceded by a newer version. As for MacOS, the only limitation for upgrades has been the hardware requirements -- for example, the first generation mac mini's can only handle MacOS 10.5. You can add memory which then allows 10.6 to run (and would be supported by Apple!), but the stock units that were shipped out couldn't be upgraded. You can still call Apple support or bring an older version into a store and they'll work on it. Now I'm not saying there aren't issues -- but compared to the competition, Apple generally beats everyone when it comes to support. It's sorta the reason people buy Apple. Or did you think it was just to look hip? "It just works," is kinda their mantra... however untrue it sometimes is.
As for Windows 7 - they said no service pack, that in NO WAY means they won't continue supporting it. It simply means they aren't doing roll-ups. You are clueless.
*shakes head* Yeah, when XP SP2 was released, it totally didn't get any new features, like WPA for wifi, or an updated software firewall that didn't completely suck, or bluetooth support. Hey stupid, service packs aren't the same as "roll-ups". They also include enhancements. When Microsoft said "no new service packs", they meant "no new features". So if some new technology comes out... won't work for Windows 7. Imagine if this spring, some new version of WiFi is released that works over distances of 20 miles, at gigabit speeds, and allows infinite porn downloading. Now imagine the only way to get that is to upgrade to Windows 8. Tell me, how do you feel being forced to shell out another $300 on top of the grand you just spent getting your current computer for a new operating system, just to use said new hardware that otherwise would have had support added to it?
Pretty shitty, I'm guessing. That's what "no new service packs" means. Nothing today, but tomorrow, it'll mean a lot to you.
It's the game developers that have matured. The technology hasn't changed that much -- but the developers have gained experience and understanding. They aren't willing to jump to the latest version just because it's the latest version anymore. They have some business sense now; Which is why the Windows 8 app store looks like a barren desert. Developers know they won't make money there. Same with game developers -- they go where the money is, not where the marketing is. So when you're looking at DX10 versus DX11; The API doesn't make much difference in performance, so why not stick with something supported by more video cards out there, and better optimized in newer video cards anyway?
The developers have matured -- they have a business sense now, not just technical proficiency. DX11.1 can bite their shiny metal ass. Nobody will be developing on it for years to come.
If you're going to pick on them, at least pick something legitimate and don't whine about them not backporting features ad-infinitum.
On the whole, Microsoft releases a new (major) version of the Windows operating system every five years, with occasional offshoots like Windows ME, CE, etc., branching off of that. XP lasted longer than usual, and Vista pretty much exploded on the launch pad, forcing Microsoft to rush Windows 7 out. Windows 7 was only released 3 years ago and already they've released a new OS. It happened faster than usual, and it's getting a ton of push-back from everyone. Corporations are still just now starting migration off of XP.
In the Linux world, backporting of features continues for about five years as well -- with support gradually dropping off, first with new kernel features, then backwards compatibility, and finally security patches. Microsoft seems to be almost strong-arming people into adopting the latest operating system despite a lack of any "killer app" features -- they're saying now there will be no more service packs, no rollups, and no new features, for an operating system that just turned 3.
Sorry, but this isn't "MS bashing", this is someone looking at the competition -- Apple, who supports most of their products for almost a decade after they are first released, from the iPhone to the Mac mini -- the patches keep coming. Linux who maintains support for older kernel branches for a considerable period after -- and even then, with the source code available in theory you could support it yourself. Then there's Microsoft: "Upgrade or die!" I think a lot of people have a legitimate reason to pick on Microsoft...
Because it looks to me like Ballmer's under a lot of pressure to lay a golden egg and prove himself; Gates departed after Vista was released and Windows 7 is basically the same thing. Now look at Windows 8 -- "Metro" UI, new logo, massive marketing campaign, a locked-in app store, and a short list of bona fide new features... how can anyone not see they might as well be calling this BallmerOS? If it fails like Vista did, he'll have no credibility as an executive.
So they're pulling every dirty trick they can to force people to upgrade -- Ballmer needs good sales numbers or the first cost-cutting measure after it bombs will be his paycheck. And frankly... I don't think Windows users deserve to be treated like that just so one guy can prove himself. They should either put out a quality product, or wait until hardware and feature set makes a fork to a new version a logical development.
But then, what would I know... I'm just an engineer, not a politician or an executive.
We here at Internet Tubes And Things had to point out that due to the nature of the internet and the world wide web, banning all of Australia, or even most of the world, wouldn't accomplish anything. Suing google likewise does nothing, and in fact, nuclear weapons are also ineffective. You see, at Internet Tubes And Things, we believe in infinite redundancy and endless replication of data, especially data that's trying to be banned, censored, or access-controlled. Whenever someone tries to remove that product feature, we like to return it to the user in question about a thousand times more.
"Hi. My name is PPH and I plugged a thumb drive into my SCADA controller. I've been doing Windows for years and I guess it just caught up with me one day."
"Hi, PPH. This is the support group for information security professionals." (lights go out) "Alright guys, group therapy time has been rescheduled in favor of physical therapy. GET HIM!"
Which is different than a car in what way? They can stop making replacement parts for your particular make/model any time they wish and it that part breaks, you are SOL unless you can find a working one in a junkyard.
You're sitting there with the part in your hand. Believe it or not, that's all you need. Take it to a machine shop and they can make another.
This is why you buy COTS hardware instead of embedded solutions, guys. You can always upgrade the software on your own if you have to, but if you can't get to the firmware, then there's no telling if there's some dependancy or requirement to an outside source that you've overlooked. People have been building their own PVRs for years now, and many open source solutions like XMBC have matured to the point where they offer multiple service providers on a wide variety of cheap hardware.
And here's another reason people pirate: I know that I'll always have my video files on my harddrive. They're in a video container format that's been industry standard for years. There are no commercials, no external dependancies, and will play on almost any computer. I can't get that with Netflix -- once, I was halfway through watching a series on 'instant play' when they yanked the entire series. It's no longer available because of some obscure licensing issue that I wasn't informed of until after it was gone. When you rely on "legal" solutions, you're conceding that they have the right and ability to terminate your access at any time. That's also why I don't watch cable TV: It's encrypted and I can't record it. I can't go back and watch it again, and it may never be available again. With pirated content, I know exactly when it'll be available once I have it: Forever.
It's not mandatory, and it's a game. A service provided to you, and a limited version that's free to use. The security problem is inherent to all MMOs -- and Blizzard is providing a way for people concerned with hacking to protect their investment in the game, at a reasonable rate. These authenticator tokens often cost a lot more than the cost of a meal at mcdonald's in other industries. The guy doesn't have a leg to stand on. He max-leveled in idiot.
So where do you move a port besides next to the ocean?
You don't move the port. You move the city. The port can stay where it is; Just run rail and road lines out to it. It's a lot easier to restore power and services to an area that's easily evacuated, has no residential housing, etc., and limited infrastructure.
Your class envy rhetoric is idiotic. Manhattan has both rich and poor neighborhoods; flooding hurts both. Damaging business districts (which are interspersed throughout the island) hurts everyone.
It has Wall St. on it. Stop whining about idiocy; If there ever was a rich neighborhood in the United States, that would be it. And all of New York has exorbinantly high cost of living, apartments are tiny, real estate is at a premium -- I could go on. All of that is because that's where the financial businesses are. And that's the reason why these areas haven't been reinforced or evacuated. And for the record -- New Orleans also has a location which is important as an "inherent part of its geography".. along with every other coastal city. You can't say "Oh, but New York is special!" Bullshit. There's no genetic code forcing people to live there. There's no natural resource so valuable it can't be found anywhere else in the world.
This isn't about "class envy", this is about engineering: If every few years your city gets flooded and stormed on, maybe that's nature's way of saying "Hey, dumb fucks -- move somewhere more hospitable." And no amount of tunnel and subway protection is going to help when there's twenty feet of water on every surface street! Now yes, you probably could throw a few hundred billion or a few trillion dollars at the problem and "solve it", but it's a lot more practical to simply build in a place that isn't going to be hammered all the time.
I'm sick of watching billions of dollars every year go to save these asshats that live in flood-prone areas. That costs me -- a person who was smart enough to not live in an area mother nature periodically feels like taking a giant piss in. Why should I have to be paying for your idiocy? So you can have a "by the ocean" view? Fuck you. Build your city somewhere sane.
The only idea that's sure to work is to move the city to a safer location. Or at least the parts of it most suseptible to flooding. That's what they had to do in New Orleans. Or, perhaps it's because we're talking about rich white guys now instead of poor black people that we should expend many billions fortifying and rebuilding those neighborhoods? Oh, and yes, this comment will probably be flamed into oblivion and modded every which way, but it does have the benefit of being the truth.
DISSOCIATED PRESS -- In Phoenix, AZ today a man was taken into custody after a city sanitation worker reportedly discovered an aluminum can which had been placed in the trash bin instead of the recycling bin. He is currently in a military prison in Florida awaiting transportation to Guantanamo Bay and is facing multiple terrorism charges in connection with the wayward can. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security credited local government officials for the quick response, along with a new enhanced eco-terrorism fusion center which went online nine months ago. "Today marks another victory against the Global Warming terrorist threat," the spokesperson said. They urged citizens to remain watchful for other signs of terrorism as well, such as excessive toilet flushing, leaving the lights on when not at home, and paying for groceries using cash instead of credit.
Slashdot Mirror
perhaps you could explain it then.
I used to explain things on slashdot like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee.
Crazy talk? Whether it is crazy or not doesn't change the fact that
... The whooshing noise was the point going over your head.
There is no "one size fits all".
Huh. I notice that all the building materials for those "built in hundreds of different ways" come in a rather small number of varying sizes, like "two by four". And there's rules for the construction of these homes that, while flexible, ensure safety and reliability of assembly.
Just like in a real ecosystem, diversity brings strength and resilience..
You haven't programmed using Windows APIs. You should try it some time, I think you'd like it -- it's packed with all kinds of diverse APIs and ways of doing things. That's really what's so nice about Windows standards... there's so many to choose from. Anyway, my point is diversity for its own sake is a waste of resources -- an idea that's been around since the Archean era. You're the result of a single thread of evolution stretching back billions of years, the one success out of tens of billions of failed evolutionary forks.
Nature tells us that in the overwhelming majority of cases, mutations (aka diversity) do not give an advantage. That isn't to say don't try... but it is to say rampant diversity would never get us anywhere -- for the most part, we should build on what we know works, and only occasionally take excursions outside that realm.
Users would entail corporate and consumer groups of users. It was proper to distinguish between differing environments.
Hmm... how come macs aren't more popular then? Could it be because people are already familiar with the systems they use at work, and when they go home, they make purchasing decisions based on that familiarity? Nah, that's crazy talk!
Whitelising a site in Firefox is about as hard as it is for IE.
Okay, now multiply that by 96,000 workstations. Oh wait, you don't think your users can be trusted to follow those steps? Well, it's a good thing we have Active Directory and PAC files to upda--oh, you mean Firefox doesn't have those? Oh. You mean, you have to update the file manually, by patching it? For every user?
Hmm. Well... I guess it's a good thing you didn't make any assumptions then about how easy it would be.
Why is it always that competing products have to be killed? It's not just with browsers, it's with other software and hardware too (think "iPad-killer" kind of stuff).
Take a look at the state of the art in software engineering right now. Now realize that if we built houses like that, the first wood pecker would destroy civilization. It's duplication of effort -- rather than develop one tool that does its job very well, we develop twenty tools that do the same job sorta passably okay. A lot of this is thanks to the fractally stupid idea of intellectual property, but there are other reasons. Now you're right -- competition is good. We see this kind of thing all the time in open source communities where developers can't make up their mind on how to move from idea to implimentation and fork a project. But usually one implimentation proves itself over the other(s) and those inferior forks die, or a new paradigm is established and both sets go on to do whatever specialized thing they need to do. It's social evolution, of sorts, and like all forms of evolution -- its survival of the fittest (not necessarily the biggest or strongest).
Firefox supports integrated domain authentication on windows.
Not exactly. With internet explorer, IWA is transparent to the user and administrator alike; You can set entire domains or subdomains to use it and be done with it. Firefox' support is clunky, and requires a list of every DNS domain, not every Active Directory domain which doesn't always match DNS records. As well, should you want the list to be updated, you have to remotely modify the configuration file of firefox for every user account on every workstation. Microsoft's implimentation is self-updating, automatic, and doesn't require organizing special deployments and patching systems to keep the list up to date.
So yes, it's possible to get Firefox working with IWA, but not exactly practical. Supporting Firefox is labor-intensive.
Many of us hate it but have to use it in the office.
Yes, and that's mostly because Firefox developers steadfastly refuse to add integrated domain authentication, which a lot of corporations use for their intranet access. The other component is group policies; Which again, Mozilla in its infinite wisdom has made its product neigh-impossible for administrators to configure and control remotely. Open Source often fails in corporate environments not because corporations are opposed to its licensing terms, but because the software can't have its functionality limited or modified via a centralized framework. They jabber on about how it's restricting the "freedoms" of its users, but nobody has freedom at work. It's work, dammit, not a playground, and your IT staff needs to be able to control and restrict things -- not because they're some kind of authoritarian jerks but because corporate environments have a very different set of requirements than consumer environments.
Internet Explorer would be dead by now if Mozilla and friends would just get with the program and include group policies and the ability to restrict software functionality (like automatic updates!) from a centralized source. But the community keeps bringing it back because it simply refuses to listen to what corporations ask for.
In the race card demo the "best lap" time is actually just your last lap. And when you finish all 10 laps the clock doesn't stop, so your "final time" keeps increasing. I wonder if this is a bug in Shumway or the game itself. And I only get around 7 FPS on average, on Firefox in Linux/x86.
Sounds like the app has a... (puts on sunglasses) race condition. YEEEEEEEEEEaaaaaaah!
I will put my efforts learning to do great things in html5.
Blank pages are the only thing you can do with HTML5 right now in many browsers. Some people, preferring not to wait, have taken the unusual step of working with what's available now. I know, it's a weird concept in IT... I prefer to time travel to the future too, but my TARDIS is busted, and worse, infested with a red-headed scottish girl with a terrible welsh accent. You wouldn't happen to have one I could "borrow", would you?
The general trend has been about 5 years, unless an operating system has bombed (Vista, ME). These each represent the major new versions, not minor updates (for example, Windows 95 -> Windows 98 was not included, because they basically have the same kernel and architecture). I'm not including NT, CE, etc., because those aren't used by a lot of consumers and don't represent the "main family" of Windows products.
As for Apple -- grab version 1.0 of your iPod. Hook it up. Notice that iTunes still recognizes and supports it? Same with any iPhone. The hardware is still supported many years after it has been superceded by a newer version. As for MacOS, the only limitation for upgrades has been the hardware requirements -- for example, the first generation mac mini's can only handle MacOS 10.5. You can add memory which then allows 10.6 to run (and would be supported by Apple!), but the stock units that were shipped out couldn't be upgraded. You can still call Apple support or bring an older version into a store and they'll work on it. Now I'm not saying there aren't issues -- but compared to the competition, Apple generally beats everyone when it comes to support. It's sorta the reason people buy Apple. Or did you think it was just to look hip? "It just works," is kinda their mantra... however untrue it sometimes is.
As for Windows 7 - they said no service pack, that in NO WAY means they won't continue supporting it. It simply means they aren't doing roll-ups. You are clueless.
*shakes head* Yeah, when XP SP2 was released, it totally didn't get any new features, like WPA for wifi, or an updated software firewall that didn't completely suck, or bluetooth support. Hey stupid, service packs aren't the same as "roll-ups". They also include enhancements. When Microsoft said "no new service packs", they meant "no new features". So if some new technology comes out... won't work for Windows 7. Imagine if this spring, some new version of WiFi is released that works over distances of 20 miles, at gigabit speeds, and allows infinite porn downloading. Now imagine the only way to get that is to upgrade to Windows 8. Tell me, how do you feel being forced to shell out another $300 on top of the grand you just spent getting your current computer for a new operating system, just to use said new hardware that otherwise would have had support added to it?
Pretty shitty, I'm guessing. That's what "no new service packs" means. Nothing today, but tomorrow, it'll mean a lot to you.
Has rendering technology finally matured?
It's the game developers that have matured. The technology hasn't changed that much -- but the developers have gained experience and understanding. They aren't willing to jump to the latest version just because it's the latest version anymore. They have some business sense now; Which is why the Windows 8 app store looks like a barren desert. Developers know they won't make money there. Same with game developers -- they go where the money is, not where the marketing is. So when you're looking at DX10 versus DX11; The API doesn't make much difference in performance, so why not stick with something supported by more video cards out there, and better optimized in newer video cards anyway?
The developers have matured -- they have a business sense now, not just technical proficiency. DX11.1 can bite their shiny metal ass. Nobody will be developing on it for years to come.
If you're going to pick on them, at least pick something legitimate and don't whine about them not backporting features ad-infinitum.
On the whole, Microsoft releases a new (major) version of the Windows operating system every five years, with occasional offshoots like Windows ME, CE, etc., branching off of that. XP lasted longer than usual, and Vista pretty much exploded on the launch pad, forcing Microsoft to rush Windows 7 out. Windows 7 was only released 3 years ago and already they've released a new OS. It happened faster than usual, and it's getting a ton of push-back from everyone. Corporations are still just now starting migration off of XP.
In the Linux world, backporting of features continues for about five years as well -- with support gradually dropping off, first with new kernel features, then backwards compatibility, and finally security patches. Microsoft seems to be almost strong-arming people into adopting the latest operating system despite a lack of any "killer app" features -- they're saying now there will be no more service packs, no rollups, and no new features, for an operating system that just turned 3.
Sorry, but this isn't "MS bashing", this is someone looking at the competition -- Apple, who supports most of their products for almost a decade after they are first released, from the iPhone to the Mac mini -- the patches keep coming. Linux who maintains support for older kernel branches for a considerable period after -- and even then, with the source code available in theory you could support it yourself. Then there's Microsoft: "Upgrade or die!" I think a lot of people have a legitimate reason to pick on Microsoft...
Because it looks to me like Ballmer's under a lot of pressure to lay a golden egg and prove himself; Gates departed after Vista was released and Windows 7 is basically the same thing. Now look at Windows 8 -- "Metro" UI, new logo, massive marketing campaign, a locked-in app store, and a short list of bona fide new features... how can anyone not see they might as well be calling this BallmerOS? If it fails like Vista did, he'll have no credibility as an executive.
So they're pulling every dirty trick they can to force people to upgrade -- Ballmer needs good sales numbers or the first cost-cutting measure after it bombs will be his paycheck. And frankly... I don't think Windows users deserve to be treated like that just so one guy can prove himself. They should either put out a quality product, or wait until hardware and feature set makes a fork to a new version a logical development.
But then, what would I know... I'm just an engineer, not a politician or an executive.
We here at Internet Tubes And Things had to point out that due to the nature of the internet and the world wide web, banning all of Australia, or even most of the world, wouldn't accomplish anything. Suing google likewise does nothing, and in fact, nuclear weapons are also ineffective. You see, at Internet Tubes And Things, we believe in infinite redundancy and endless replication of data, especially data that's trying to be banned, censored, or access-controlled. Whenever someone tries to remove that product feature, we like to return it to the user in question about a thousand times more.
Thank You,
Internet Tubes And Things
if you keep picking on the SCADA, it will never heal!
Also, you're hurting its feelings.
"Hi. My name is PPH and I plugged a thumb drive into my SCADA controller. I've been doing Windows for years and I guess it just caught up with me one day."
"Hi, PPH. This is the support group for information security professionals." (lights go out) "Alright guys, group therapy time has been rescheduled in favor of physical therapy. GET HIM!"
What do all the blinking red light mean?
Nothing, unless you've tried turning it off and then back on again. In which case, it means I have to refer you to second level support.
I seem to recall the major feature of any electronic calculator was the ability to write 80085 and make your classmates giggle.
Which is different than a car in what way? They can stop making replacement parts for your particular make/model any time they wish and it that part breaks, you are SOL unless you can find a working one in a junkyard.
You're sitting there with the part in your hand. Believe it or not, that's all you need. Take it to a machine shop and they can make another.
This is why you buy COTS hardware instead of embedded solutions, guys. You can always upgrade the software on your own if you have to, but if you can't get to the firmware, then there's no telling if there's some dependancy or requirement to an outside source that you've overlooked. People have been building their own PVRs for years now, and many open source solutions like XMBC have matured to the point where they offer multiple service providers on a wide variety of cheap hardware.
And here's another reason people pirate: I know that I'll always have my video files on my harddrive. They're in a video container format that's been industry standard for years. There are no commercials, no external dependancies, and will play on almost any computer. I can't get that with Netflix -- once, I was halfway through watching a series on 'instant play' when they yanked the entire series. It's no longer available because of some obscure licensing issue that I wasn't informed of until after it was gone. When you rely on "legal" solutions, you're conceding that they have the right and ability to terminate your access at any time. That's also why I don't watch cable TV: It's encrypted and I can't record it. I can't go back and watch it again, and it may never be available again. With pirated content, I know exactly when it'll be available once I have it: Forever.
It's not mandatory, and it's a game. A service provided to you, and a limited version that's free to use. The security problem is inherent to all MMOs -- and Blizzard is providing a way for people concerned with hacking to protect their investment in the game, at a reasonable rate. These authenticator tokens often cost a lot more than the cost of a meal at mcdonald's in other industries. The guy doesn't have a leg to stand on. He max-leveled in idiot.
So where do you move a port besides next to the ocean?
You don't move the port. You move the city. The port can stay where it is; Just run rail and road lines out to it. It's a lot easier to restore power and services to an area that's easily evacuated, has no residential housing, etc., and limited infrastructure.
Your class envy rhetoric is idiotic. Manhattan has both rich and poor neighborhoods; flooding hurts both. Damaging business districts (which are interspersed throughout the island) hurts everyone.
It has Wall St. on it. Stop whining about idiocy; If there ever was a rich neighborhood in the United States, that would be it. And all of New York has exorbinantly high cost of living, apartments are tiny, real estate is at a premium -- I could go on. All of that is because that's where the financial businesses are. And that's the reason why these areas haven't been reinforced or evacuated. And for the record -- New Orleans also has a location which is important as an "inherent part of its geography" .. along with every other coastal city. You can't say "Oh, but New York is special!" Bullshit. There's no genetic code forcing people to live there. There's no natural resource so valuable it can't be found anywhere else in the world.
This isn't about "class envy", this is about engineering: If every few years your city gets flooded and stormed on, maybe that's nature's way of saying "Hey, dumb fucks -- move somewhere more hospitable." And no amount of tunnel and subway protection is going to help when there's twenty feet of water on every surface street! Now yes, you probably could throw a few hundred billion or a few trillion dollars at the problem and "solve it", but it's a lot more practical to simply build in a place that isn't going to be hammered all the time.
I'm sick of watching billions of dollars every year go to save these asshats that live in flood-prone areas. That costs me -- a person who was smart enough to not live in an area mother nature periodically feels like taking a giant piss in. Why should I have to be paying for your idiocy? So you can have a "by the ocean" view? Fuck you. Build your city somewhere sane.
The only idea that's sure to work is to move the city to a safer location. Or at least the parts of it most suseptible to flooding. That's what they had to do in New Orleans. Or, perhaps it's because we're talking about rich white guys now instead of poor black people that we should expend many billions fortifying and rebuilding those neighborhoods? Oh, and yes, this comment will probably be flamed into oblivion and modded every which way, but it does have the benefit of being the truth.
DISSOCIATED PRESS -- In Phoenix, AZ today a man was taken into custody after a city sanitation worker reportedly discovered an aluminum can which had been placed in the trash bin instead of the recycling bin. He is currently in a military prison in Florida awaiting transportation to Guantanamo Bay and is facing multiple terrorism charges in connection with the wayward can. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security credited local government officials for the quick response, along with a new enhanced eco-terrorism fusion center which went online nine months ago. "Today marks another victory against the Global Warming terrorist threat," the spokesperson said. They urged citizens to remain watchful for other signs of terrorism as well, such as excessive toilet flushing, leaving the lights on when not at home, and paying for groceries using cash instead of credit.