>>>>>And channels 14-20(?) are reserved for land mobile. >> >>Nope
Yep. I live in one of those zones that can't use 14-20. So my original post stands correct, given the context I was using (the Washington-Harrisburg-Philadelphia region). .
>>>I don't get why the FCC hasn't given those guys the boot
Because they are used for emergency services. Of course the FCC could reassign them to the freed-up 52 to 69 spectrum but that would take a couple years.
It's about 25 actual stations. If channels 31 and up are eliminated, leaving behind only 18 usable slots, those stations will have to combine with others. Like CBS with CW, FOX with MyNetTV, NBC with ABC, and so on. CBS would be on channel 13-1 while CW is on 13-2. FOX on channel 17-1 and MNT on 17-2. Et cetera.
So virtually all the subchannel networks I listed would disappear forever due to lack of space. No more movie channel (which I enjoy) or 24-hour news channel (ditto) or RetroTV or Qubo or Universal Sports or _____ (fill in the blank). All gone.
>>>In the 1700's if you owned more than one slave you were considered wealthy
But if you are $200,000 in debt you don't really "own" anything do you? Just as you don't own your car or your house - the bank owns it. Jefferson didn't own slaves - he merely leased them. The slaves were owned by the bank(s), and the bank reclaimed them as soon as Jefferson died. His children inherited nothing because Jefferson owned nothing. He had the appearance of wealth but in reality he was a poor man.
>>>I've never visited the home of a poor person from the early nineteenth century but I'm pretty sure it would not much resemble Monticello
You confuse the APPEARANCE of wealth with actual wealth. I've met lots of people who had Lexuses and huge homes, but they were actually poor (deep deep in debt). They were okay so long as they had a job, but when that job disappeared so too did the artificial appearance. They became homeless.
Jefferson was one of those types - the appearance of wealth, but in reality a poor man (as was his father before him). It was only his status that stopped the bankers from kicking him out of his home, but it eventually caught-up with him, and he died destitute. His children inherited nothing.
Anyway: The point is - the US Founders were not wealthy. That's a myth.
But the Michigan law is null-and-void due to the Michigan Constitution saying cities retain the power to negotiate contracts. In other words, the MI Constitution says nobody can tell Detroit City what to do in their Comcast negotiations.
Most women prefer the assholes, not the nice guys, because it's the assholes who exude confidence while the nice guys defer and move to the back of the crowd where they go unnoticed.
It amazes me how many people seem to have Zero grasp of how the world actually works.
Corporations commit fraud every day. Hell my second-to-last job only paid me 51 weeks out of the 52 week contract. But when I challenged them, they claimed they had no timecard (even though I typed it in myself), and therefore owe me nothing since there's no proof I was present from January 4 to 8 (my last week). In other words my boss and some HR manager lied, and said they never saw me at my desk for those five days. (Which of course I was and my secretary can attest to that.)
Point - This is how the world works. Corporations defraud customers and/or workers. I see no reason why we can't reverse that direction once in a while.
>>>Or were you just being a pain in the ass for the sake of it?
You know what? You're right. I shouldn't be a pain in the ass. Nobody should. We should just voluntarily march into the gas chambers like polite little nobodies. The government is only looking out for us - why should we question their authority, or protect the Bill of Rights???/end sarcasm
They didn't get a search warrant. They didn't do jack shit. They just made me stand behind my car for two hours, while they stopped and questioned other drivers...... then I guess they decided I'd been "punished" enough (I was turning red) and let me back in my car. I then continued by vacation.
My trunk was empty other than the mini-spare tire.
The point is that I will not submit to unconstitutional, warrantless searches. I will not voluntarily give up my rights as a liberated person. You ever heard that story about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in the 1940s? I probably would have been part of it. Better to die free, than die licking some soldier's boots begging for mercy. Better to be an Individual than to be a lowly serf.
I received three warnings from my ISP to stop torrenting. Now I still do it, but only on private members-only trackers. I'm curious what would happen if I got a 4th warning. Maybe nothing. Verizon seems lax when it comes to restricting users .
>>>"yeah yeah... [ rolls eyes ]... nothing to do with me. I just want to copy it to my mp3 player. Anyway"
I'm sorry friend but if you get caught, you'll be fined $250,000 for every song you illegally copied to a non-apple device. I don't want to see that happen to you. - "Oh come on. I won't get caught." - Yeah that's what a college girl named Jamie Thomas said too, but now she's been hit with a 2 million dollar fine. - "Seriously? 2 million dollars?" - Yep. RIAA is a bitch. (shrug)
P.S. This will probably get me modded down, but I don't care. Robin Hood helped the poor by taking-back what the rich had stolen from them. I consider this to be the same deal. (Especially since Apple received a taxpayer bailout - they stole that money IMHO.)
- Buy rubber bumper. - Install on iPhone to fix its defect. - Return empty envelopes with tracking number. - Wait two months. - Call credit card company to explain that you returned the rubber bumper, and would like to be refunded the money. Provide tracking number.
Apple owes every customer a free fix for their defective phone.
1. So you say there is a problem if I hold the phone the wrong way? (wait for response). Please show me the correct way.
2. That seems very impractical and uncomfortable. I'm liable to get hand cramps. Is it true you have a rubber bumper that will fix the problem?
3. Well since we've established the phone is defective, and this rubber bumper fixes the problem, then it should be free. So I'll give you a choice: Either give me a full refund for my phone, or fix the problem at no charge. Pick one. Or else I and a million other customers will drag you into court, and make your life a living hell.
4. Remember:
There's no excuse for corporations to Steal money from customers with inferior or defective products. The customer is not always right, but in most cases the Consumer Protection Laws are on your side. Previous corporations that challenged the U.S. Government typically lost, and the customers received refunds or free fixes.
In particle physics there are experiments which seem to prove faster-than-light communication is possible. So it might take 150 years to reach a star, but the camera could beam back the video instantly.
Or like in the Asimov novel Robots of Dawn, maybe long-lived humans will become so afraid of death & disease that they will stop exploring completely. In that Science story the humans are born, live, and die in their homes.
I too agree with Sony's decision. It's their game and he stole it, so naturally they will protect their copy right and Intellectual property.
On the other hand I enjoy bucking authority, so I'd probably upload the Lemmings game to the net, just like I did with the original game back in the 80s. Copyright is supposed to enrich our culture (by promoting profit for inventors/artists), not to lock it up behind a wall where few can access it. (Like Disney's Song of the South which near-nobody ever gets to see.)
Even when you're polite, it doesn't mean you'll get good treatment. I encountered Homeland Security while driving from California to Texas, and even though I smiled and submitted to the Armed Soldiers, they still made me stand-around in the hot sun for two hours. Why? I refused to pop my trunk. I politely told them if they get a search warrant from a judge, then I'll open the car, but I will not submit to an warrantless search. So they punished me.
And then there's the guy who was flying from St Louis to Washington DC (his home), and the TSA forced him to an interrogation. He too was polite but it didn't stop the Armed Idiots from harassing him and making him miss his flight. Oh yeah - his crime? He had about $5000 in his wallet. Oh noes! OMG! A fucking american who has money! He must be a criminal!
>>>In some states here in the US, you actually do have to answer reasonable questions from a police officer
Dear police brown-noser: Constitutional law trumps lower-level State law. Quote: "No person... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."
And on and on and on. We are living in a world where armed soldiers (police) can beat up citizens at will, and there's almost never any consequences for the m,other fucjerks. They are there to SERVE us and we pay them to do that duty - not to treat us like white serfs to beat into submission whenever they feel like it. Sig Heil! like a good little servant. Or be led to your beating (see the above videos).
And I hate living in a pre-warp culture. Come on scientists. Invent a warp drive so instead of taking blurry images, we can send a camera to that distant planet and take a photo directly.
I don't know. Maybe this is why aliens have never contacted us? Maybe they are stuck inside their local solar system, same as we are, and the distance between stars is just too big a hurdle to jump. I once read a Science story about humans that hopped on a giant ship and accelerated to llghtspeed to visit a star with an earthlike planet. The humans inboard only aged two years, but 150 years passed-away back home..... whole countries rose and fell during that timespan. Totally impractical way to explore.
"Ya know that new CD you bought? ASCAP and RIAA won't let you copy it to your iPod."
"What?!?!?"
"That's right. They expect you to buy the song twice - once on CD and again for your iPod and then a third time for your computer. It's nuts." - That's how you get people to pay attention.
Actually - only the sucky games drop below $5 (new). Greatest Hits games usually hang-around $20. Look at Final Fantasy 7 - been out for fifteen years and yet still sells for $19.99 new.
I avoid downloadable games. Why? You can't resell them and recover your money, after you finish playing them.
>>>What incentive is being offered for the goons to play nicely?
The law. The representatives in Congress obeying their oath to serve the People, not corporations, and eliminating ridiculous $250,000 per song fines. I don't expect RIAA/MPAA to stop what they are doing - I simply expect that lawmakers would ignore their whining. .
>>>What's (collective "you") your proposal for how they get paid?
RIAA/MPAA don't get paid. They shouldn't even exist. The money should go directly to the corporation (Sony Records for example) and then the creative staff (singers, writers, engineers) just like any other employee. AND with the understanding that some people will never pay, but enough people WILL pay to keep the creative people from starving. For example on my last job I never got my last week's pay. I worked 52 weeks but only was paid 51.
That's approximately equivalent to 52 people taking a song, but only 51 pay for it. Does that suck I didn't get week 52's pay? Sure but I still made-out well - I still collected enough money (51 weeks times $1600) to make the job worthwhile and pay my bills. Same with artists. Even with downloaders taking songs/books/videos for nothing, the artists still make out okay.
>>>England is not a Republic, but it is a Representative Democracy
And that is precisely what's wrong with England. There's no Supreme Law to stop the Parliament from passing any law they wish, including rounding-up undesirables and sticking them in concentration camps.
In the US we have a Constitution which forbids such acts. In England parliamentarians are above the law. In the US (and other republics) they are below the law. They are restrained/limited while the Law remains supreme
Slashdot Mirror
>>>>>And channels 14-20(?) are reserved for land mobile.
>>
>>Nope
Yep. I live in one of those zones that can't use 14-20. So my original post stands correct, given the context I was using (the Washington-Harrisburg-Philadelphia region).
.
>>>I don't get why the FCC hasn't given those guys the boot
Because they are used for emergency services. Of course the FCC could reassign them to the freed-up 52 to 69 spectrum but that would take a couple years.
It's about 25 actual stations. If channels 31 and up are eliminated, leaving behind only 18 usable slots, those stations will have to combine with others. Like CBS with CW, FOX with MyNetTV, NBC with ABC, and so on. CBS would be on channel 13-1 while CW is on 13-2. FOX on channel 17-1 and MNT on 17-2. Et cetera.
So virtually all the subchannel networks I listed would disappear forever due to lack of space. No more movie channel (which I enjoy) or 24-hour news channel (ditto) or RetroTV or Qubo or Universal Sports or _____ (fill in the blank). All gone.
>>>In the 1700's if you owned more than one slave you were considered wealthy
But if you are $200,000 in debt you don't really "own" anything do you? Just as you don't own your car or your house - the bank owns it. Jefferson didn't own slaves - he merely leased them. The slaves were owned by the bank(s), and the bank reclaimed them as soon as Jefferson died. His children inherited nothing because Jefferson owned nothing. He had the appearance of wealth but in reality he was a poor man.
>>>I've never visited the home of a poor person from the early nineteenth century but I'm pretty sure it would not much resemble Monticello
You confuse the APPEARANCE of wealth with actual wealth. I've met lots of people who had Lexuses and huge homes, but they were actually poor (deep deep in debt). They were okay so long as they had a job, but when that job disappeared so too did the artificial appearance. They became homeless.
Jefferson was one of those types - the appearance of wealth, but in reality a poor man (as was his father before him). It was only his status that stopped the bankers from kicking him out of his home, but it eventually caught-up with him, and he died destitute. His children inherited nothing.
Anyway: The point is - the US Founders were not wealthy. That's a myth.
But the Michigan law is null-and-void due to the Michigan Constitution saying cities retain the power to negotiate contracts. In other words, the MI Constitution says nobody can tell Detroit City what to do in their Comcast negotiations.
Most women prefer the assholes, not the nice guys, because it's the assholes who exude confidence while the nice guys defer and move to the back of the crowd where they go unnoticed.
Rather than lose China, I'd comply with the government's wishes and obey the law (i.e. filter). Nice guys who "do no evil" ultimately finish last.
It amazes me how many people seem to have Zero grasp of how the world actually works.
Corporations commit fraud every day. Hell my second-to-last job only paid me 51 weeks out of the 52 week contract. But when I challenged them, they claimed they had no timecard (even though I typed it in myself), and therefore owe me nothing since there's no proof I was present from January 4 to 8 (my last week). In other words my boss and some HR manager lied, and said they never saw me at my desk for those five days. (Which of course I was and my secretary can attest to that.)
Point - This is how the world works. Corporations defraud customers and/or workers. I see no reason why we can't reverse that direction once in a while.
>>>Or were you just being a pain in the ass for the sake of it?
You know what? You're right. I shouldn't be a pain in the ass. Nobody should. We should just voluntarily march into the gas chambers like polite little nobodies. The government is only looking out for us - why should we question their authority, or protect the Bill of Rights??? /end sarcasm
They didn't get a search warrant. They didn't do jack shit. They just made me stand behind my car for two hours, while they stopped and questioned other drivers...... then I guess they decided I'd been "punished" enough (I was turning red) and let me back in my car. I then continued by vacation.
My trunk was empty other than the mini-spare tire.
The point is that I will not submit to unconstitutional, warrantless searches. I will not voluntarily give up my rights as a liberated person. You ever heard that story about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in the 1940s? I probably would have been part of it. Better to die free, than die licking some soldier's boots begging for mercy. Better to be an Individual than to be a lowly serf.
I received three warnings from my ISP to stop torrenting. Now I still do it, but only on private members-only trackers. I'm curious what would happen if I got a 4th warning. Maybe nothing. Verizon seems lax when it comes to restricting users
.
>>>"yeah yeah ... [ rolls eyes ] ... nothing to do with me. I just want to copy it to my mp3 player. Anyway"
I'm sorry friend but if you get caught, you'll be fined $250,000 for every song you illegally copied to a non-apple device. I don't want to see that happen to you. - "Oh come on. I won't get caught." - Yeah that's what a college girl named Jamie Thomas said too, but now she's been hit with a 2 million dollar fine. - "Seriously? 2 million dollars?" - Yep. RIAA is a bitch. (shrug)
>>>"you know that New CD you bought? ASCAP and RIAA think that you are a stinking dirty THIEF scumbag if you put it on your ipod."
Likely response: "You sound like that Glenn Beck dude. Stop being so sensationalist."
P.S. This will probably get me modded down, but I don't care. Robin Hood helped the poor by taking-back what the rich had stolen from them. I consider this to be the same deal. (Especially since Apple received a taxpayer bailout - they stole that money IMHO.)
- Buy rubber bumper.
- Install on iPhone to fix its defect.
- Return empty envelopes with tracking number.
- Wait two months.
- Call credit card company to explain that you returned the rubber bumper, and would like to be refunded the money. Provide tracking number.
Apple owes every customer a free fix for their defective phone.
From the Customer Handbook:
1. So you say there is a problem if I hold the phone the wrong way? (wait for response). Please show me the correct way.
2. That seems very impractical and uncomfortable. I'm liable to get hand cramps. Is it true you have a rubber bumper that will fix the problem?
3. Well since we've established the phone is defective, and this rubber bumper fixes the problem, then it should be free. So I'll give you a choice: Either give me a full refund for my phone, or fix the problem at no charge. Pick one. Or else I and a million other customers will drag you into court, and make your life a living hell.
4. Remember:
There's no excuse for corporations to Steal money from customers with inferior or defective products. The customer is not always right, but in most cases the Consumer Protection Laws are on your side. Previous corporations that challenged the U.S. Government typically lost, and the customers received refunds or free fixes.
In particle physics there are experiments which seem to prove faster-than-light communication is possible. So it might take 150 years to reach a star, but the camera could beam back the video instantly.
Or like in the Asimov novel Robots of Dawn, maybe long-lived humans will become so afraid of death & disease that they will stop exploring completely. In that Science story the humans are born, live, and die in their homes.
I too agree with Sony's decision. It's their game and he stole it, so naturally they will protect their copy right and Intellectual property.
On the other hand I enjoy bucking authority, so I'd probably upload the Lemmings game to the net, just like I did with the original game back in the 80s. Copyright is supposed to enrich our culture (by promoting profit for inventors/artists), not to lock it up behind a wall where few can access it. (Like Disney's Song of the South which near-nobody ever gets to see.)
Even when you're polite, it doesn't mean you'll get good treatment. I encountered Homeland Security while driving from California to Texas, and even though I smiled and submitted to the Armed Soldiers, they still made me stand-around in the hot sun for two hours. Why? I refused to pop my trunk. I politely told them if they get a search warrant from a judge, then I'll open the car, but I will not submit to an warrantless search. So they punished me.
And then there's the guy who was flying from St Louis to Washington DC (his home), and the TSA forced him to an interrogation. He too was polite but it didn't stop the Armed Idiots from harassing him and making him miss his flight. Oh yeah - his crime? He had about $5000 in his wallet. Oh noes! OMG! A fucking american who has money! He must be a criminal!
Fuckign a. Freedom? More like serfdom.
AUDIO OF TSA INTERROGATION of innocent traveler: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWcUFB92S2o#t=1m15s
>>>In some states here in the US, you actually do have to answer reasonable questions from a police officer
Dear police brown-noser: Constitutional law trumps lower-level State law. Quote: "No person... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."
And Then There's THIS Asshole: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v60oNUoHBYM
And this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibSwITK4jjQ
And this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KM1ukwBGv4
And this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPRrHYn3TiU
And this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUzd7G875Hc
And on and on and on. We are living in a world where armed soldiers (police) can beat up citizens at will, and there's almost never any consequences for the m,other fucjerks. They are there to SERVE us and we pay them to do that duty - not to treat us like white serfs to beat into submission whenever they feel like it. Sig Heil! like a good little servant. Or be led to your beating (see the above videos).
And I hate living in a pre-warp culture. Come on scientists. Invent a warp drive so instead of taking blurry images, we can send a camera to that distant planet and take a photo directly.
I don't know. Maybe this is why aliens have never contacted us? Maybe they are stuck inside their local solar system, same as we are, and the distance between stars is just too big a hurdle to jump. I once read a Science story about humans that hopped on a giant ship and accelerated to llghtspeed to visit a star with an earthlike planet. The humans inboard only aged two years, but 150 years passed-away back home..... whole countries rose and fell during that timespan. Totally impractical way to explore.
"Ya know that new CD you bought? ASCAP and RIAA won't let you copy it to your iPod."
"What?!?!?"
"That's right. They expect you to buy the song twice - once on CD and again for your iPod and then a third time for your computer. It's nuts." - That's how you get people to pay attention.
Actually - only the sucky games drop below $5 (new). Greatest Hits games usually hang-around $20. Look at Final Fantasy 7 - been out for fifteen years and yet still sells for $19.99 new.
I avoid downloadable games. Why? You can't resell them and recover your money, after you finish playing them.
>>>What incentive is being offered for the goons to play nicely?
The law. The representatives in Congress obeying their oath to serve the People, not corporations, and eliminating ridiculous $250,000 per song fines. I don't expect RIAA/MPAA to stop what they are doing - I simply expect that lawmakers would ignore their whining.
.
>>>What's (collective "you") your proposal for how they get paid?
RIAA/MPAA don't get paid. They shouldn't even exist. The money should go directly to the corporation (Sony Records for example) and then the creative staff (singers, writers, engineers) just like any other employee. AND with the understanding that some people will never pay, but enough people WILL pay to keep the creative people from starving. For example on my last job I never got my last week's pay. I worked 52 weeks but only was paid 51.
That's approximately equivalent to 52 people taking a song, but only 51 pay for it. Does that suck I didn't get week 52's pay? Sure but I still made-out well - I still collected enough money (51 weeks times $1600) to make the job worthwhile and pay my bills. Same with artists. Even with downloaders taking songs/books/videos for nothing, the artists still make out okay.
Kids don't cost that much, especially if you are as frugal with them as with yourself. (i.e. I'm using a 20 year old TV, so the kid can too.)
>>>England is not a Republic, but it is a Representative Democracy
And that is precisely what's wrong with England. There's no Supreme Law to stop the Parliament from passing any law they wish, including rounding-up undesirables and sticking them in concentration camps.
In the US we have a Constitution which forbids such acts. In England parliamentarians are above the law. In the US (and other republics) they are below the law. They are restrained/limited while the Law remains supreme