It doesn't even have to be that. It could be 1 shot and you need a medic to patch you up. That's what real war is like. There's no such thing as stumbling-around when you have a bullet in you.
Well coming from an era when we had dumb terminals, I have no desire to go back to that. I like being able to use my computer even when it's not connected to the net. Like last night, I was watching videos without a connection. I couldn't do that with one of those so-called "cloud" computers, because neither the movie nor the player software would be on my machine.
And if you're really concerned about backing-up your data, there are services you can use NOW to upload your HDD to the net, so if your house burns down you'll still have your data stored safely. You don't need to turn your 1500 Megahertz Atom computer into a dumb client.
>>>Your model airplane hobby is not important to your function as a citizen of the US. Education is.
Neither is playing free games or watching Star Trek vids at the library. If you want to do that, fine, but do it with your OWN cash (buy the games/vids yourself), not by robbing your neighbors' wallets to get yourself free goodies. .
>>>Societies around the world have agreed on the value of public libraries for hundreds of years.
Nay... thousands of years. But just as the Alexandia Library used to be filled with clay tablets, and was eventually phased-out to be replaced with paper tomes... now the paper has been phased-out and replaced with electronic bits (i.e. computer networks). Stop trying to hang onto your old clay tablets. Their time has passed.
You might be able to convince me of the need to have a government-funded Online library (think LOC.gov or thomas.gov), but you will never convince me we still need the inefficiency/cost of physical buildings. Like clay tablets, they are obsolete. Let them pass.
>>>And the only reason those monopolies stay in place is because those same companies you list collude together to lobby that they stay around. If you think any of those companies actually want to compete against each other you're living in a fantasy world. >>>
And if you had bothered to read my WHOLE message, you would not have repeated what I already said: "Of course they won't because Comcast bribes the politicians to keep the monopoly."
There's a simpler answer: The "45 million uninsured Americans" that politicians kept talking about actually ARE insured - by the government's existing programs. You're old, or you're a child, and when you enter the hospital you are instantly signed-up for Medicare or SCHIP. That drops the number to about 20 million instantly.
Also the stats come from about 5,000 mail-in surveys from voluntary respondents (the other persons threw-out the surveys). NOT an accurate scientific polling, therefore the "45 mil" number is invalid. It's no better than a guess.
But of course you don't want to hear it.
Like Mulder in the Xfiles, you'd rather "Believe the Lie"
>>>No. Natural monopoly due to high fixed cost of infrastructure would prevent that.
I don't consider running fiber optics to be a "natural" monopoly. Fiber is cheap - and the metal pipes are already under the street. If a new competitor like Google wants to start supplying hookups, all they have to do is run the fiber through the pipe to any customer who requests Google TV or Internet.
In fact there are some towns that DO have two competing cable companies, thereby giving customers a choice.
>>>I have 600k\s. I pay $50/month for that, and feel lucky.
That's nuts. I have DSL through my phone company and it only costs $15/month. If I were in a position of power (nudges FCC), I would mandate DSL must be supplied to any customer that requests it. The wires are already there - all that's needed is to install the ~$1000 DSLAM at each central station.
It's also dumb. Even if you bought a low-end Intel Atom machine, why would you want to waste that CPU letting it be a dumb terminal? Put that CPU to work by enabling it to do tasks independently even if the network connection fails.
I got bored with that game after about half a day. It seemed like a cool concept but it's missing... something. Maybe I just got tired of the repetitive battles and lack of any compelling story to make me push forward.
>>>'Fictional Physics' of the old retro games or games from the Atari and Amiga era are still more playable to me than allot of the newer games coming out >>>
Agreed. This is why I got my hands on an old Commodore=64. I can't do any useful work with it anymore (well except word processing), but it makes a great game console. 5000+ games and I've barely scratched the surface. The Super Nintendo and PS1 also had a lot of good 2D-based games.
It seems lately the old "modern" games I still enjoy are RPGs (for their story) and Nintendo/Sega games that explore imaginative concepts rather than reality.
I'd put the 50 million in the bank, go into semi-retirement (i.e. work because I WANT to work not because I have to), and live off the interest of the 50 million. Any excess money that I did not spend would be used to hand-out free computers and help people get online.
>>>Not every game HAS to have super high detailed 3D graphics, a physics system plucked from the altars
Yes you would think that, but it's not how the average buyer (read: kid, teen, or young adult) thinks. As example I didn't know what to buy my nephews for Christmas, so I just bought a pile of new Xbox and X360 games, and let them pick the 4 games they liked best. I was surprised when they picked the X360 game "Pinata" (or whatever it's called) instead of the Xbox Splinter Cell 2 game. So I asked why they chose the kiddie party game rather than the military game (which is their favorite genre).
"Because Xbox games have poor graphics."
Yep. Already judging games on looks, not fun, and this is why you can't create some 2D or 2.5D game - it will be automatically judged as crap. Personally I would have picked the Splinter Cell game (since I thought the Pinata game was dull), but then I've learned to judge things based upon the personality (fun, challenge, et cetera) not the T&A (polygon or pixel counts).
Aside -
This is why I like Nintendo games, and get a little annoyed when I hear people say "Nintendo consoles are crap". Okay so their consoles are not impressive hardware, but Nintendo still uses their imagination to create fun games. Ditto Sega. FOR ME the less real a game is, the more I enjoy it, because it feels like I've entered another world. Simulations of reality are nice, but how many times can I watch a body blowup and splatter blood all over the place? I think I'm sick of that genre. (Plus it really isn't realistic that you can get shot a dozen times and still be moving. I'd like to see a real FPS where one shot and you're done.)
>>>You have no idea what its like to be poor, do you?
Yes.
I do.
The difference is that I drug myself out of it, because I realized wasting my money on cellphones, hubcaps, and other shit was not going to help me one damn bit. I got a computer for cheap. I focused on learning that thing inside-out, and then I turned it into a career.
I don't buy the "I can't afford a $100 computer" BS. It is only one hundred dollars, and even poor people can scrape it together if they learn to sacrifice (i.e. no cell, no cable tv, et cetera)
Well you can buy books for mere pennies via Amazon's used book store. Then have them shipped to you priority, or within 1 week, depending upon how impatient you are. Since you're likely an old person you will probably enjoy the more sedate delivery time. - Or if you're an impatient SOB, then drive to Barnes & Noble and buy the book immediately. .
>>>But I still read books, see plays, listen to radio, watch TV, and go to movies
I'm happy for you. Just don't expect me to fund your hobby (i.e. give you free books, videos, whatever). After all I don't suck dollars our of YOUR wallet to fund my model airplane hobby, so neither should I have to fund yours. Get your own damn money.
Really??? Why does the liver need fructose, and not glucose like every other cell in your body? To me your comment is akin to saying your liver needs alcohol every day.
>>>Suppose you're an American who holds Democratic views. Your superiors happen to be hardcore Republicans >>>
Given recent history it's more likely to be the opposite (most college grads are likely to be Democrats). You say you watch Glenn Beck? You lose that upcoming promotion. You announce you joined the Tea Party to kick-out the D's for passing a lousy, lousy bill? Be prepared to be called a "racist" and other nasty comments by your bosses. And so on.
the only reason ISPs have monopolies is because local governments GAVE them the monopoly. If local governments stopped handing-out these exclusive licenses, and allowed the free market to operate, then we'd have a dozen different companies serving our homes. Just imagine if your choices were:
- Comcast - Cox - Time-warner - Cablevision - Verizon - Roadrunner - Quest - ATT - AppleTV - MSN.....and you simply chose whichever one you liked best, and "hooked" into their privately-owned fiber to get your internet and/or cable television. That would be possible if local governments revoked the exclusive monopoly. (Of course they won't because Comcast bribes the politicians to keep the monopoly.)
Slashdot Mirror
>>>1 shot; 1 kill play...
It doesn't even have to be that. It could be 1 shot and you need a medic to patch you up. That's what real war is like. There's no such thing as stumbling-around when you have a bullet in you.
>>>Ok people, do you have any CLUE how many radio waves are going through your body at any given time?
I'm being irradiated right now.
By my CRT.
Tuned to playboy.
It tingles.
Africa? I thought that story happened in the U.S.
...without telling the Moron, and then let the moron keep insisting "your wireless makes me sick". It would be funny. Especially in court.
Well coming from an era when we had dumb terminals, I have no desire to go back to that. I like being able to use my computer even when it's not connected to the net. Like last night, I was watching videos without a connection. I couldn't do that with one of those so-called "cloud" computers, because neither the movie nor the player software would be on my machine.
And if you're really concerned about backing-up your data, there are services you can use NOW to upload your HDD to the net, so if your house burns down you'll still have your data stored safely. You don't need to turn your 1500 Megahertz Atom computer into a dumb client.
>>>If you had money to waste on hubcaps, cellphones, and other shit, you weren't even CLOSE to poor.
Less than $15,000 income == poor according to the U.S. IRS. Yes I fit that description.
>>>Your model airplane hobby is not important to your function as a citizen of the US. Education is.
Neither is playing free games or watching Star Trek vids at the library. If you want to do that, fine, but do it with your OWN cash (buy the games/vids yourself), not by robbing your neighbors' wallets to get yourself free goodies.
.
>>>Societies around the world have agreed on the value of public libraries for hundreds of years.
Nay... thousands of years. But just as the Alexandia Library used to be filled with clay tablets, and was eventually phased-out to be replaced with paper tomes... now the paper has been phased-out and replaced with electronic bits (i.e. computer networks). Stop trying to hang onto your old clay tablets. Their time has passed.
You might be able to convince me of the need to have a government-funded Online library (think LOC.gov or thomas.gov), but you will never convince me we still need the inefficiency/cost of physical buildings. Like clay tablets, they are obsolete. Let them pass.
>>>And the only reason those monopolies stay in place is because those same companies you list collude together to lobby that they stay around. If you think any of those companies actually want to compete against each other you're living in a fantasy world.
>>>
And if you had bothered to read my WHOLE message, you would not have repeated what I already said:
"Of course they won't because Comcast bribes the politicians to keep the monopoly."
There's a simpler answer: The "45 million uninsured Americans" that politicians kept talking about actually ARE insured - by the government's existing programs. You're old, or you're a child, and when you enter the hospital you are instantly signed-up for Medicare or SCHIP. That drops the number to about 20 million instantly.
Also the stats come from about 5,000 mail-in surveys from voluntary respondents (the other persons threw-out the surveys). NOT an accurate scientific polling, therefore the "45 mil" number is invalid. It's no better than a guess.
But of course you don't want to hear it.
Like Mulder in the Xfiles, you'd rather "Believe the Lie"
>>>No. Natural monopoly due to high fixed cost of infrastructure would prevent that.
I don't consider running fiber optics to be a "natural" monopoly. Fiber is cheap - and the metal pipes are already under the street. If a new competitor like Google wants to start supplying hookups, all they have to do is run the fiber through the pipe to any customer who requests Google TV or Internet.
In fact there are some towns that DO have two competing cable companies, thereby giving customers a choice.
>>>So if the majority of the EU is at 7.8Mb/s
6.8 Mbit/s
>>>I have 600k\s. I pay $50/month for that, and feel lucky.
That's nuts. I have DSL through my phone company and it only costs $15/month. If I were in a position of power (nudges FCC), I would mandate DSL must be supplied to any customer that requests it. The wires are already there - all that's needed is to install the ~$1000 DSLAM at each central station.
It's also dumb. Even if you bought a low-end Intel Atom machine, why would you want to waste that CPU letting it be a dumb terminal? Put that CPU to work by enabling it to do tasks independently even if the network connection fails.
>>>by Killjoy_NL... (Score:2, Flamebait)
What idiot marked this "flamebait"??? What lousy moderation.
VID about growing EU power - http://www.youtube.com/user/DanHannanMEP#p/a/u/0/ti3UcQG0lP4
VID about growing EU debt - http://www.youtube.com/user/DanHannanMEP#p/a/u/1/dnlygjOABG0
The EU is throwing its weight around I see.
It doesn't yet have a military, but if MEP Daniel Hannan is correct then they are already drafting laws to make a military.
>>>Borderlands
I got bored with that game after about half a day. It seemed like a cool concept but it's missing... something. Maybe I just got tired of the repetitive battles and lack of any compelling story to make me push forward.
>>>'Fictional Physics' of the old retro games or games from the Atari and Amiga era are still more playable to me than allot of the newer games coming out
>>>
Agreed. This is why I got my hands on an old Commodore=64. I can't do any useful work with it anymore (well except word processing), but it makes a great game console. 5000+ games and I've barely scratched the surface. The Super Nintendo and PS1 also had a lot of good 2D-based games.
It seems lately the old "modern" games I still enjoy are RPGs (for their story) and Nintendo/Sega games that explore imaginative concepts rather than reality.
I'd put the 50 million in the bank, go into semi-retirement (i.e. work because I WANT to work not because I have to), and live off the interest of the 50 million. Any excess money that I did not spend would be used to hand-out free computers and help people get online.
>>>Not every game HAS to have super high detailed 3D graphics, a physics system plucked from the altars
Yes you would think that, but it's not how the average buyer (read: kid, teen, or young adult) thinks. As example I didn't know what to buy my nephews for Christmas, so I just bought a pile of new Xbox and X360 games, and let them pick the 4 games they liked best. I was surprised when they picked the X360 game "Pinata" (or whatever it's called) instead of the Xbox Splinter Cell 2 game. So I asked why they chose the kiddie party game rather than the military game (which is their favorite genre).
"Because Xbox games have poor graphics."
Yep. Already judging games on looks, not fun, and this is why you can't create some 2D or 2.5D game - it will be automatically judged as crap. Personally I would have picked the Splinter Cell game (since I thought the Pinata game was dull), but then I've learned to judge things based upon the personality (fun, challenge, et cetera) not the T&A (polygon or pixel counts).
Aside -
This is why I like Nintendo games, and get a little annoyed when I hear people say "Nintendo consoles are crap". Okay so their consoles are not impressive hardware, but Nintendo still uses their imagination to create fun games. Ditto Sega. FOR ME the less real a game is, the more I enjoy it, because it feels like I've entered another world. Simulations of reality are nice, but how many times can I watch a body blowup and splatter blood all over the place? I think I'm sick of that genre. (Plus it really isn't realistic that you can get shot a dozen times and still be moving. I'd like to see a real FPS where one shot and you're done.)
>>>You have no idea what its like to be poor, do you?
Yes.
I do.
The difference is that I drug myself out of it, because I realized wasting my money on cellphones, hubcaps, and other shit was not going to help me one damn bit. I got a computer for cheap. I focused on learning that thing inside-out, and then I turned it into a career.
I don't buy the "I can't afford a $100 computer" BS. It is only one hundred dollars, and even poor people can scrape it together if they learn to sacrifice (i.e. no cell, no cable tv, et cetera)
>>>I want an actual physical book
How quaint.
Well you can buy books for mere pennies via Amazon's used book store. Then have them shipped to you priority, or within 1 week, depending upon how impatient you are. Since you're likely an old person you will probably enjoy the more sedate delivery time. - Or if you're an impatient SOB, then drive to Barnes & Noble and buy the book immediately.
.
>>>But I still read books, see plays, listen to radio, watch TV, and go to movies
I'm happy for you. Just don't expect me to fund your hobby (i.e. give you free books, videos, whatever). After all I don't suck dollars our of YOUR wallet to fund my model airplane hobby, so neither should I have to fund yours. Get your own damn money.
Nothing you just said is true. Sugar is easier to make, and easier to use, which is why cane sugar is used everywhere else, except the U.S.
Really??? Why does the liver need fructose, and not glucose like every other cell in your body? To me your comment is akin to saying your liver needs alcohol every day.
>>>Suppose you're an American who holds Democratic views. Your superiors happen to be hardcore Republicans
>>>
Given recent history it's more likely to be the opposite (most college grads are likely to be Democrats). You say you watch Glenn Beck? You lose that upcoming promotion. You announce you joined the Tea Party to kick-out the D's for passing a lousy, lousy bill? Be prepared to be called a "racist" and other nasty comments by your bosses. And so on.
Ya know.....
the only reason ISPs have monopolies is because local governments GAVE them the monopoly. If local governments stopped handing-out these exclusive licenses, and allowed the free market to operate, then we'd have a dozen different companies serving our homes. Just imagine if your choices were:
- Comcast .....and you simply chose whichever one you liked best, and "hooked" into their privately-owned fiber to get your internet and/or cable television. That would be possible if local governments revoked the exclusive monopoly. (Of course they won't because Comcast bribes the politicians to keep the monopoly.)
- Cox
- Time-warner
- Cablevision
- Verizon
- Roadrunner
- Quest
- ATT
- AppleTV
- MSN