I love class-action lawsuits. I got ~$30 from the CD companies after they were sued for price-fixing. I got ~$50 from paypal after they were sued for violations of banking laws. And ~$1000 from a Amway-type company called Equinox for making false claims (I had spent $2000, so I still lost money, but it was nice to get some back). Whenever I hear news of a class action suit, I immediately sign up. It's like Christmas.;-) .
>>>three months of free play
Sounds okay to me. If I am already a subscriber of Warhammer, and I get three months free play on that game, or some other EA game, then it's like getting ~$60 extra cash in my wallet. My Cellphone company did a similar deal when they forgot to charge my account and turned-off my phone. I got the months of April, May, and June free of charge. Sweet.
And if the bank *doesn't* refund the overcharge fees?
Over this past year (2009) I've noticed a lot of corporations choosing to do the *wrong* thing rather than the right thing for their customers. Like when I returned a broken DVR to Sears and they never refunded the money. What recourse does a teeny-tiny customer really have against a billion-dollar machine?
And if you reply "sue them in court" then you're truly naive. Government has ALSO shown a tendency to act like a corporation (screw the customer).
- Okay. A Comcast cable carries about 5000 kiloherz of bandwidth.
- 200+ TV channels, plus internet occupy 5000 kilohertz of bandwidth.
- So..... where's the room to run 10-20 companies in parallel along that same cable? Hmmm. Seems there is none! The cable's already full. - Therefore if you want a second company to serve Neighborhood A, you need to run a second cable. If you want a third company, you need to run a third cable. And so on.
I believe he meant he'd like to see Verizon's monopoly revoked, so that other competitors (like Google or Cox or ATT) could enter the neighborhood with their own lines, running in parallel to Verizon's lines.
>>>Just imagine if you had 5 or 6 data pipes from different companies crossing your yard.
It would be just ONE metal pipe, with the fibers/coax/twisted-pair cables inside that single government-owned metal conduit. Also the metal pipe, like most water/sewer pipes, would run down the middle of the street not through people's yards.
>>>That's because people on dial-up don't go to speedtest.net.
I have. I wanted to see if my laptop's modem was truly providing me with the 50k connection it was claiming. The answer turned out to be "sometimes yes; sometimes no". The connection sometimes drops back to 24k.
Also if Russia really truly does have slow 256k connections as you claim, that would drag the overall average down, as it did for China (2 Mbps). Or South Africa (1 Mbps).
>>>>>>>You chose to live in a rural area, that's what happens. I pay $99 for 50Mbit over here in NYC. >> >>Great, so next time you're affected by crime, don't expect any of us to give a damn -- you just remember: you choose to live in NYC, that's what happens. Asshole. >>
You don't have to live in NYC. Pretty much anywhere along the Urban I95 corridor (from Boston to Richmond) will offer similar deals. I had upto 50 Mbit/s available in northeast Maryland (suburbia).
A 150 MB tv show only takes 1/2 hour over a 1 Mbit/s economy line. I think I can wait that long, rather than pay the Cox/Comcast/Time-Warner company ~$60 each month. - Or I could watch it in realtime through one of the abc.com, nbc.com, et cetera websites.
Being a cheapass(gamer.com) I always take the lowest price I can find.
My clothes washer was the ugly black-and-white model for $200. Minus a special $20 store rebate. My dialup connection is $7 - I only added broadband because I wanted to watch Supernatural on cw.com. My computer was $300 minus 10% discount from Discover Card. My HD Radio cost $60. My used laptop? $40.
>>>It is taking forever to load anything in that video.
Because the processor is only 300 megahertz. Watch this vid with a 1000 megahertz CPU. It works just fine, and would run even faster if it had a 2000+ DualCore: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc-kWAwRcgw
How about a meter like the one that measures my electricity? If I want to know how many kWh I used so far, I look at my meter. I also have one that plugs directly into a wall and measures my lights, or my frige, or whatever else I want to measure. Something like that could be used to count the number of gigabytes moved across your net connection.
In fact I'm using such a meter right now on my PC to see how many GB I used.
>>>when politicians talk about broadband, they mean essentially anything faster than a 58k modem
Strangely enough, the politicians are mostly correct in their viewpoint (probably by accident). First off "bands" refer to FREQUENCIES, not datarates. Second a phoneline is "narrowband" because it's 4 kilohertz wide (approximately one-half the width of an AM station).
"Broadband" would be anything significantly wider than the narrowband phoneline. For example DSL is 500+ kilohertz wide, which is about the same width as an FM station. Cable is also considered wideband because its width is 1000+ kilohertz.
"Really? I'd like to see 10.6 running on either 384 or 512 MB."
No seriously. I'd like to see this. There are a lot of videos on Youtube and Google of WIN7 running on 512, 256, or even 128 megabytes. I'd like to see OS X 10.6 running on similar "below spec" Macs. I heard a poster make the claim that it can be done, but have not yet seen the proof.
>>>Aren't the amendments acts of congress as well?
No. Congress proposes the amendments, but they remain just words on a page until 3/4 of the States approve the amendments. There have been several amendments that never became law, because although Congress approved those amendments, the States did not ratify them.
There are a lot of "false quotes" floating around. I suspect this is one of them. First off, Jefferson was sick for several weeks, so it's unlikely he had enough strength to compose anything 1 day before his death.
Second a lot of the false quotes actually belong to other people, not the U.S. Founders.
>>>>>Same applies to the EU. A majority of 13 Member States should have the power to nullify EU Acts that are unconstitutional >> >>yet feel yourself competent to tell how people living in another continent, one quarter world away
Key word: "should" not have to, or must. I'm offering my OPINION of what I think the Europeans should do, not forcing compliance as the Congress did when it mandated Utah outlaw polygamy. I observe; I opine. I do not force.
. >>>you should stop worrying what people who've been dead for centuries intended for your country
I disagree, as do most law schools. "Original intent" is commonplace when reviewing the laws written by previous generations. Even the U.S. Supreme Court does it, when they cite Jefferson's "separation of church and state" during review of 1st amendment cases.
As for the rest of our opinions about the US, you're entitled to express them. I've been listening to Europeans spew vitriol against America for awhile now, and that's fine. Just as I am entitled to observe the EU and offer my thoughts on its organization (headed towards centralized government, where the individual parliaments/assemblies/bundestags are left powerless), you are entitled to your thoughts about the US and its government. I would never imply you should shut up, as you have done with me.
I respect everyone's right to free speech, even if I disagree with them.
>>>I didn't claim that state legislature made segregation legal
Then why do you think they would do it again? Segregation did not originate at the state level before, so it's unlikely to originate there any time in the future. .
>>>This is exactly the kind of situation where the federal government's authority should trump state authority.
THAT'S what brought segregation in the first place. The late 1800s U.S. government FORCED segregation, even in northern states that preferred to treat everyone equally.
Any attempt to repeal the 17th amendment and restore the Senate to a State-elected body will fail. It will be met with accusations of "anti-democratic!" and probably "racist!" too. I'm afraid that is a law that can not be undone.
But there's still hope for a 28th amendment which would give 25 States the same power as the Supreme Court - to declare laws unconstitutional and nullified. Hence balance would be restored to our National-Local governments, rather than ALL the power going to the national government (a dangerous doctrine - power should never be concentrated).
>>>the Tea Party protests/movement started in January 2009 at the earliest
The first email I received was dated early December 2008, with the intent of protesting in February (which I attended). I know it's popular for Obama supporters to spread the myth that it was a protest against Obama, and the first protest did not happen until April 15, but in fact it started as a protest against the TARP bill which President Bush signed, before Obama even entered office.
It also had Libertarian roots originally, but then evolved to include both Dems and Reps.
Well if ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, et cetera are censoring the news by ignoring these stories, then you have to turn to alternate sources. For example, notice how they described the "hate speech" coming from Tea Party protestors, but completely ignored the anti-war riots happening in Berkeley just one week earlier. Or how they reported on the "Obama is a Nazi" posters, but completely ignored the "Bush is a Nazi" or "Bush is a chimp" posters in 2008.
Or the black man that Obama supporters beat to a pulp last month. These TV news organizations have sold-out to Democrats and only present the news that favors Democrats, while ignoring news that does not. And why not? Democrats have pledged to work with RIAA and MPAA to protect the TV/movie industry's productions.
Slashdot Mirror
>>>why we have class-action lawsuits
I love class-action lawsuits. I got ~$30 from the CD companies after they were sued for price-fixing. I got ~$50 from paypal after they were sued for violations of banking laws. And ~$1000 from a Amway-type company called Equinox for making false claims (I had spent $2000, so I still lost money, but it was nice to get some back). Whenever I hear news of a class action suit, I immediately sign up. It's like Christmas. ;-)
.
>>>three months of free play
Sounds okay to me. If I am already a subscriber of Warhammer, and I get three months free play on that game, or some other EA game, then it's like getting ~$60 extra cash in my wallet. My Cellphone company did a similar deal when they forgot to charge my account and turned-off my phone. I got the months of April, May, and June free of charge. Sweet.
And if the bank *doesn't* refund the overcharge fees?
Over this past year (2009) I've noticed a lot of corporations choosing to do the *wrong* thing rather than the right thing for their customers. Like when I returned a broken DVR to Sears and they never refunded the money. What recourse does a teeny-tiny customer really have against a billion-dollar machine?
And if you reply "sue them in court" then you're truly naive. Government has ALSO shown a tendency to act like a corporation (screw the customer).
>>>Oooor you could mandate sharing
- Okay. A Comcast cable carries about 5000 kiloherz of bandwidth.
- 200+ TV channels, plus internet occupy 5000 kilohertz of bandwidth.
- So..... where's the room to run 10-20 companies in parallel along that same cable? Hmmm. Seems there is none! The cable's already full. - Therefore if you want a second company to serve Neighborhood A, you need to run a second cable. If you want a third company, you need to run a third cable. And so on.
I believe he meant he'd like to see Verizon's monopoly revoked, so that other competitors (like Google or Cox or ATT) could enter the neighborhood with their own lines, running in parallel to Verizon's lines.
Anonymous Coward wrote:
You'd have to take your head out of your ass first.
+1 - I'm too cowardly to post under my actual handle, so I like to insult people from behind this cloak of invisiblity like a nancy boy.
>>>Just imagine if you had 5 or 6 data pipes from different companies crossing your yard.
It would be just ONE metal pipe, with the fibers/coax/twisted-pair cables inside that single government-owned metal conduit. Also the metal pipe, like most water/sewer pipes, would run down the middle of the street not through people's yards.
Jeez.
>>>That's because people on dial-up don't go to speedtest.net.
I have. I wanted to see if my laptop's modem was truly providing me with the 50k connection it was claiming. The answer turned out to be "sometimes yes; sometimes no". The connection sometimes drops back to 24k.
Also if Russia really truly does have slow 256k connections as you claim, that would drag the overall average down, as it did for China (2 Mbps). Or South Africa (1 Mbps).
>>>>>>>You chose to live in a rural area, that's what happens. I pay $99 for 50Mbit over here in NYC.
>>
>>Great, so next time you're affected by crime, don't expect any of us to give a damn -- you just remember: you choose to live in NYC, that's what happens. Asshole.
>>
You don't have to live in NYC. Pretty much anywhere along the Urban I95 corridor (from Boston to Richmond) will offer similar deals. I had upto 50 Mbit/s available in northeast Maryland (suburbia).
>>>get it hours (possibly days) sooner
"Exaggerate much?" - Buffy
A 150 MB tv show only takes 1/2 hour over a 1 Mbit/s economy line. I think I can wait that long, rather than pay the Cox/Comcast/Time-Warner company ~$60 each month. - Or I could watch it in realtime through one of the abc.com, nbc.com, et cetera websites.
Being a cheapass(gamer.com) I always take the lowest price I can find.
My clothes washer was the ugly black-and-white model for $200. Minus a special $20 store rebate. My dialup connection is $7 - I only added broadband because I wanted to watch Supernatural on cw.com. My computer was $300 minus 10% discount from Discover Card. My HD Radio cost $60. My used laptop? $40.
Yep.
>>>It is taking forever to load anything in that video.
Because the processor is only 300 megahertz. Watch this vid with a 1000 megahertz CPU. It works just fine, and would run even faster if it had a 2000+ DualCore: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc-kWAwRcgw
>>>how many Windows apps operate in 128MB
Not 128MB, but in 256MB you can run WIN7 plus Word. Excel. Opera. All at once.
>>>The internet, however, has no obvious feedback
How about a meter like the one that measures my electricity? If I want to know how many kWh I used so far, I look at my meter. I also have one that plugs directly into a wall and measures my lights, or my frige, or whatever else I want to measure. Something like that could be used to count the number of gigabytes moved across your net connection.
In fact I'm using such a meter right now on my PC to see how many GB I used.
>>>when politicians talk about broadband, they mean essentially anything faster than a 58k modem
Strangely enough, the politicians are mostly correct in their viewpoint (probably by accident). First off "bands" refer to FREQUENCIES, not datarates. Second a phoneline is "narrowband" because it's 4 kilohertz wide (approximately one-half the width of an AM station).
"Broadband" would be anything significantly wider than the narrowband phoneline. For example DSL is 500+ kilohertz wide, which is about the same width as an FM station. Cable is also considered wideband because its width is 1000+ kilohertz.
Narrowband == 4 kHz (phoneline)
Broadband == >> 4 kHz (DSL/cable/fiber)
"Really? I'd like to see 10.6 running on either 384 or 512 MB."
No seriously. I'd like to see this. There are a lot of videos on Youtube and Google of WIN7 running on 512, 256, or even 128 megabytes. I'd like to see OS X 10.6 running on similar "below spec" Macs. I heard a poster make the claim that it can be done, but have not yet seen the proof.
Thank you.
C=64
>>>Aren't the amendments acts of congress as well?
No. Congress proposes the amendments, but they remain just words on a page until 3/4 of the States approve the amendments. There have been several amendments that never became law, because although Congress approved those amendments, the States did not ratify them.
There are a lot of "false quotes" floating around. I suspect this is one of them. First off, Jefferson was sick for several weeks, so it's unlikely he had enough strength to compose anything 1 day before his death.
Second a lot of the false quotes actually belong to other people, not the U.S. Founders.
>>>>>Same applies to the EU. A majority of 13 Member States should have the power to nullify EU Acts that are unconstitutional
>>
>>yet feel yourself competent to tell how people living in another continent, one quarter world away
Key word: "should" not have to, or must. I'm offering my OPINION of what I think the Europeans should do, not forcing compliance as the Congress did when it mandated Utah outlaw polygamy. I observe; I opine. I do not force.
.
>>>you should stop worrying what people who've been dead for centuries intended for your country
I disagree, as do most law schools. "Original intent" is commonplace when reviewing the laws written by previous generations. Even the U.S. Supreme Court does it, when they cite Jefferson's "separation of church and state" during review of 1st amendment cases.
As for the rest of our opinions about the US, you're entitled to express them. I've been listening to Europeans spew vitriol against America for awhile now, and that's fine. Just as I am entitled to observe the EU and offer my thoughts on its organization (headed towards centralized government, where the individual parliaments/assemblies/bundestags are left powerless), you are entitled to your thoughts about the US and its government. I would never imply you should shut up, as you have done with me.
I respect everyone's right to free speech, even if I disagree with them.
You apparently do not.
>>>I didn't claim that state legislature made segregation legal
Then why do you think they would do it again? Segregation did not originate at the state level before, so it's unlikely to originate there any time in the future.
.
>>>This is exactly the kind of situation where the federal government's authority should trump state authority.
THAT'S what brought segregation in the first place. The late 1800s U.S. government FORCED segregation, even in northern states that preferred to treat everyone equally.
Any attempt to repeal the 17th amendment and restore the Senate to a State-elected body will fail. It will be met with accusations of "anti-democratic!" and probably "racist!" too. I'm afraid that is a law that can not be undone.
But there's still hope for a 28th amendment which would give 25 States the same power as the Supreme Court - to declare laws unconstitutional and nullified. Hence balance would be restored to our National-Local governments, rather than ALL the power going to the national government (a dangerous doctrine - power should never be concentrated).
Thanks for the backup and citation.
In any case, it's not an "antiObama" or "antiblack" or "racist" movement, since its genesis was during Bush's term.
>>>the Tea Party protests/movement started in January 2009 at the earliest
The first email I received was dated early December 2008, with the intent of protesting in February (which I attended). I know it's popular for Obama supporters to spread the myth that it was a protest against Obama, and the first protest did not happen until April 15, but in fact it started as a protest against the TARP bill which President Bush signed, before Obama even entered office.
It also had Libertarian roots originally, but then evolved to include both Dems and Reps.
I stand corrected.
I guess that goes back to what Judge Napolitano says: There's no real difference between the R's and D's.
Same party - different divisions.
I already provided a citation for you: http://trueslant.com/stephenwebster/2010/03/30/tx-county-teaching-kids-government-is-out-to-harm-them-makes-parents-unsuitable/
It has all the names, the location, even a copy of the police report.
Well if ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, et cetera are censoring the news by ignoring these stories, then you have to turn to alternate sources. For example, notice how they described the "hate speech" coming from Tea Party protestors, but completely ignored the anti-war riots happening in Berkeley just one week earlier. Or how they reported on the "Obama is a Nazi" posters, but completely ignored the "Bush is a Nazi" or "Bush is a chimp" posters in 2008.
Or the black man that Obama supporters beat to a pulp last month. These TV news organizations have sold-out to Democrats and only present the news that favors Democrats, while ignoring news that does not. And why not? Democrats have pledged to work with RIAA and MPAA to protect the TV/movie industry's productions.
Hence the nickname - DNC-NBC. Links to child custody case:
(read the CPS report at the bottom of the page)
http://trueslant.com/stephenwebster/2010/03/30/tx-county-teaching-kids-government-is-out-to-harm-them-makes-parents-unsuitable/
(google) http://www.google.com/search?q=seize+Child+distrusting+Government