>>>>>Private companies don't have access to my paycheck. For example when Comcast...I asked them to cancel my cable >> >>Private companies can use legal process..... Ever heard of "garnishment"?
Are you saying Comcast can drag me to court, convince the judge to FORCE me to be their customer, and suck/garnish a $70 subscription fee out of my paycheck each month??? - Dude. That has to be the most stupid idiotic thing I've ever heard anyone say. Of course they can't do that.
Now contrast that with government which can sign me up for __________ (fill in service) and simply extract the fee from my paycheck, even if I don't want said service. It's the power of the gun.
>>> This way the problem of 3rd world net speeds can be addressed.
What? The US has an average speed of 7.8 Mbit/s. Third world speeds are 3.6, 2.5, 1.8 in Chile, Brazil, or Argentina respectively. Or how about 1.9 for South Africa. Or 2.1 in China.
Compared to other continent-sized federations, the US is #2, behind Russia but ahead of the EU. The US is faaaaaar faster than a "third world speed"
>>>>>Like Windows XP with its lack of window scaling. >>> >>tweaking tools that let you enabled window scaling in Windows XP
I see a lot of XP bashing but even if it didn't have "window scaling" I still consider it the best Microsoft OS. Still better than Windows 6.1's (7) ribbon interface. I liked this OS at first, due to it fixing the Vista Beta release, but now I'm sick of it. The menus keep randomly moving around instead of staying put. Well..... at least it's not as bad as Microsoft's other bad idea (Bob) but still, why must MS "fix" what was never broke.
Private companies don't have access to my paycheck.
For example when Comcast yanked TCM off my cable without notice (and in violation of FCC rules), then sent me some paperwork that I could get TCM back by getting a "free" digital converter box at $5 per month rental (times 3 sets), I mailed them a photo of my middle digit attached to a formal complaint to the FCC, and asked them to cancel my cable effective the day they yanked TCM w/o telling me.
Now when Comcast mails me a letter asking me to "come back" I just laugh. Good luck trying to laugh at the IRS, FCC, or any other government desiring your money.
Especially when it's in favor of whatever they desire to happen. Politicians wanted healthcare so they generated a faulty "42.5 million americans uninsured" statistic. How? Using a couple mail-in postcards from voluntary recipients. Hardly scientific. (Real numbers from scientists estimate the number as 5-15 million uninsured U.S. citizens. +9 million if you include illegal non-citizens/intruders.)
And of course if the FCC stats show that ~40 million Americans don't have great than dialup speeds, that too works in politicians favor, and they'll justify it as a way to pass their favorite bill. (And also make their election funders happy.) Even on my DSL line which *never* falls below the advertised 750k, the FCC test showed only ~256k on the FCC test. Bogus.
Okay. Maybe I'm a little cynical.
Nah. I work for the government. More like - simple observation.
What do you pay or and what do you get? (just curious)
The speedtest.net you reference shows that the EU* is about 1 Mbit/s behind the US (which is 7.8 Mbit/s average). Now maybe your specific member state is faster overall, but the top US state is no slouch either (Delaware at 12.5). The only continent-sized federation faster than the US is the Russian Federation.
* * Yes I'm making a big jump here that you live in the EU.
It's possible to make websites act as fast as gopher, if you strip away all the garbage and focus on plain text plus maybe 1 or 2 GIF ads (to pay the bills).
If Isohunt disappears, where can I go to find my NapisyPL tv show rips?
Back to article - No need to kill Usenet. Just go back to the old system of sharing information directly from one sysop's computer to another sysop's computer, and then have the info filtered downward to the local users' computers.
Good point. So use the Atari 800 instead. I remember reading Atari Age about the new XL machines - I thought they were beautiful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Atari_800XL_Plain_White.jpg But my parents decided to buy the Commodore Plus/4 instead due to the built-in word processor.
It died a year later due to power supply problems, and Commodore was kind enough to give all Plus/4 owners a shiny new 128.
Bad timing. BOB might have worked if it had not been overshadowed by Windows 95's mac-like interface (with finder, trashcan, and all). Win95 was so close to perfect as an interface, that even now we still use it's Start menu paradigm.
>>>explaining that they'll choose the cities based upon other various factors
In Houston they bribed Compaq by giving them a Houston address. It didn't matter that Compaq was nowhere near Houston (about 10 miles outside city limits). Must feel good to be a politician with so much power (libido dominandi).
Back to topic: - I remember accessing the internet with only 1 k (1200 bps modem) - Today I access the web with either 50k or 750k, depending upon my location. - Do we really, honestly need 100,000k lines this desperately? That sounds more like a "luxury" than a "need" and this politician being on his knees to please Google seems pretty pathetic.
>>>The bandwith of 10 fingers is a lot higher than a mouse
You mean like a keyboard? Yeah they perfected that technology back in the 70s with TRS-80s (#1 computer at the time), Apple IIs, and Atari 400/800s which replaced previous toggle-switched computers with a 10-finger interface where you could type words directly on a CRT! (or TV). It was a great advancement in personal computers.
The problem with that 10-finger interface was the high learning curve which made people have to memorize all kinds of esoteric commands and key strokes, or constantly refer to a manual (Alt E == create text box in Word for DOS). The simplicity of the mouse was found to be better.
>>>I might say that there's a whole bunch of disenfranchised people in inner cities who can't afford internet access.
I find that funny, because when I visit the inner-city of Washington, Baltimore, or Philadelphia I see a lot of people carrying cellphones. Most likely they have cable TVC too. You mean to tell me they can afford those two ~$600/year bills, but not a $100 used computer (like mine) plus $7 dialup internet (again like me)???
Sorry bud. Not buying it. Worst case: They could just use their middle-school or high-school libraries, if they are children trying to get ahead in life and/or do a required paper. I'm tired of hearing "they don't have access" because it simply isn't true.
Like Bill Cosby said in his book, many young people have the access, they simply don't use it. They are throwing-away their opportunity.
>>>the sugar lobby is weak (USA). That's why there is so damn much HFC in everything.
Bzzzz. The sugar lobby is STRONG and have erected protective tariffs that raised cane sugar's cost to artifically-high levels. Therefore companies look for cheap alternatives (HFCS). This is a classic case of how government laws, which appear good on the surface to protect American sugar workers/farmers, actually cause unintended and harmful consequences.
The sugar tariffs should be removed, so we can import cheap sugar from elsewhere (like Brazil) and therefore make HFCS too expensive to use.
>>>Nintendo did have a great run in the 80's and 90's, but the last 10 years have not been kind to Nintendo and each time it seems to be getting a little worse >>>
Really? Well let's see:
Early 80s - #1 was Atari Late 80s - #1 with the NES Early 90s - #1 with the Super NES (beat Sega) Late 90s - #2 with the N64 (beat Sega again) Early 2000s - #2 with the Gamecube (it was a statistical tie with Xbox) Late 2000s - #1 with the Wii (outselling X360 and PS3 approximately two-to-one)
While Nintendo had a rough patch during the PS1/PS2 years, it appears they rose to the top again. Of course it helped that Sony made a major mistake with overpricing their console at $700 but still, the stats speak for themselves. I wouldn't call #1 a rough patch. .
>>>only the rare non-Nintendo made game is worth playing let alone buying instead of renting
>>>You don't get to return stuff because you don't like it. That's a courtesy offered by retailers, not a right.
And this is why I download stuff, and try it before buying it. I've grown tired of being stuck with crappy junk, and then the manufacturer says, "Too bad." Hell even candy makers let you return a candy bar if you don't like it.
And if the guy speeds-up to block me from moving to his lane, then I use my middle digit. In an up-and-down motion. If you act like an ass, then I won't hesitate to tell you.
>>>God damn I am tired of people who've enjoyed the fruits of public spending and are now complaining about anybody else doing so.
I never set foot in a government-funded library my whole life, and I seem to have made out okay (engineer - two degrees). And now that we have the internet, such that I or anybody else can download literally millions of free books (or just read wikipedia), the government-funded libraries are even less necessary.
Like the horse buggy whip, they have been obsoleted by newer/better technologies.
I think it's a lousy way to spend public money. I consider the existence of the internet to have invalidated the need for Video Rental stores (like the ones in my neighborhood that went bankrupt these last 2-3 years) or the need for libraries. People can now get the same information online.
Just as the car killed-off the horse whip, so too has the internet killed off the need foy many physical institutions.
CANE sugar has two parts: Glucose and Fructose. That's what I was talking about. With that in mind reread what I wrote: "You think replacing High Fructose CS with [cane] Sugar is better? Because it ain't."
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>>>>>Private companies don't have access to my paycheck. For example when Comcast...I asked them to cancel my cable
>>
>>Private companies can use legal process..... Ever heard of "garnishment"?
Are you saying Comcast can drag me to court, convince the judge to FORCE me to be their customer, and suck/garnish a $70 subscription fee out of my paycheck each month??? - Dude. That has to be the most stupid idiotic thing I've ever heard anyone say. Of course they can't do that.
Now contrast that with government which can sign me up for __________ (fill in service) and simply extract the fee from my paycheck, even if I don't want said service. It's the power of the gun.
>>> This way the problem of 3rd world net speeds can be addressed.
What? The US has an average speed of 7.8 Mbit/s. Third world speeds are 3.6, 2.5, 1.8 in Chile, Brazil, or Argentina respectively. Or how about 1.9 for South Africa. Or 2.1 in China.
Compared to other continent-sized federations, the US is #2, behind Russia but ahead of the EU. The US is faaaaaar faster than a "third world speed"
>>>>>Like Windows XP with its lack of window scaling.
>>>
>>tweaking tools that let you enabled window scaling in Windows XP
I see a lot of XP bashing but even if it didn't have "window scaling" I still consider it the best Microsoft OS. Still better than Windows 6.1's (7) ribbon interface. I liked this OS at first, due to it fixing the Vista Beta release, but now I'm sick of it. The menus keep randomly moving around instead of staying put. Well..... at least it's not as bad as Microsoft's other bad idea (Bob) but still, why must MS "fix" what was never broke.
More info here: http://toastytech.com/guis/win72.html
Oh and no I don't "have" to like Windows 7.
Private companies don't have access to my paycheck.
For example when Comcast yanked TCM off my cable without notice (and in violation of FCC rules), then sent me some paperwork that I could get TCM back by getting a "free" digital converter box at $5 per month rental (times 3 sets), I mailed them a photo of my middle digit attached to a formal complaint to the FCC, and asked them to cancel my cable effective the day they yanked TCM w/o telling me.
Now when Comcast mails me a letter asking me to "come back" I just laugh.
Good luck trying to laugh at the IRS, FCC, or any other government desiring your money.
Bad data == good data for a politician.
Especially when it's in favor of whatever they desire to happen. Politicians wanted healthcare so they generated a faulty "42.5 million americans uninsured" statistic. How? Using a couple mail-in postcards from voluntary recipients. Hardly scientific. (Real numbers from scientists estimate the number as 5-15 million uninsured U.S. citizens. +9 million if you include illegal non-citizens/intruders.)
And of course if the FCC stats show that ~40 million Americans don't have great than dialup speeds, that too works in politicians favor, and they'll justify it as a way to pass their favorite bill. (And also make their election funders happy.) Even on my DSL line which *never* falls below the advertised 750k, the FCC test showed only ~256k on the FCC test. Bogus.
Okay. Maybe I'm a little cynical.
Nah. I work for the government. More like - simple observation.
What do you pay or and what do you get? (just curious)
The speedtest.net you reference shows that the EU* is about 1 Mbit/s behind the US (which is 7.8 Mbit/s average). Now maybe your specific member state is faster overall, but the top US state is no slouch either (Delaware at 12.5). The only continent-sized federation faster than the US is the Russian Federation.
*
* Yes I'm making a big jump here that you live in the EU.
It's possible to make websites act as fast as gopher, if you strip away all the garbage and focus on plain text plus maybe 1 or 2 GIF ads (to pay the bills).
If Isohunt disappears, where can I go to find my NapisyPL tv show rips?
Back to article - No need to kill Usenet. Just go back to the old system of sharing information directly from one sysop's computer to another sysop's computer, and then have the info filtered downward to the local users' computers.
I like this Harry Potter version better:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY6mpaVEaTg
Good point. So use the Atari 800 instead. I remember reading Atari Age about the new XL machines - I thought they were beautiful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Atari_800XL_Plain_White.jpg But my parents decided to buy the Commodore Plus/4 instead due to the built-in word processor.
It died a year later due to power supply problems, and Commodore was kind enough to give all Plus/4 owners a shiny new 128.
>>>no other reason are given to why it failed.
Bad timing. BOB might have worked if it had not been overshadowed by Windows 95's mac-like interface (with finder, trashcan, and all). Win95 was so close to perfect as an interface, that even now we still use it's Start menu paradigm.
BOB didn't stand a chance.
Probably would have succeeded if it had been released during the Windows 3 years. Believe it or not, I think BOB was superior to that piece'o'crap.
Then again, what wasn't better than Windows 3? MacOS System 6/7 or Amiga Workbench were both better. Hell even Commodore=64's GEOS was better.
"I minimized my Word doc, and now I can't find it. Where'd it go?" - "It's behind the program manager." - "Grrrr."
>>>explaining that they'll choose the cities based upon other various factors
In Houston they bribed Compaq by giving them a Houston address. It didn't matter that Compaq was nowhere near Houston (about 10 miles outside city limits). Must feel good to be a politician with so much power (libido dominandi).
Back to topic:
- I remember accessing the internet with only 1 k (1200 bps modem)
- Today I access the web with either 50k or 750k, depending upon my location.
- Do we really, honestly need 100,000k lines this desperately? That sounds more like a "luxury" than a "need" and this politician being on his knees to please Google seems pretty pathetic.
You could use TAB to jump from one input box to another.
>>>The bandwith of 10 fingers is a lot higher than a mouse
You mean like a keyboard? Yeah they perfected that technology back in the 70s with TRS-80s (#1 computer at the time), Apple IIs, and Atari 400/800s which replaced previous toggle-switched computers with a 10-finger interface where you could type words directly on a CRT! (or TV). It was a great advancement in personal computers.
The problem with that 10-finger interface was the high learning curve which made people have to memorize all kinds of esoteric commands and key strokes, or constantly refer to a manual (Alt E == create text box in Word for DOS). The simplicity of the mouse was found to be better.
>>>I might say that there's a whole bunch of disenfranchised people in inner cities who can't afford internet access.
I find that funny, because when I visit the inner-city of Washington, Baltimore, or Philadelphia I see a lot of people carrying cellphones. Most likely they have cable TVC too. You mean to tell me they can afford those two ~$600/year bills, but not a $100 used computer (like mine) plus $7 dialup internet (again like me)???
Sorry bud. Not buying it. Worst case: They could just use their middle-school or high-school libraries, if they are children trying to get ahead in life and/or do a required paper. I'm tired of hearing "they don't have access" because it simply isn't true.
Like Bill Cosby said in his book, many young people have the access, they simply don't use it. They are throwing-away their opportunity.
>>>the sugar lobby is weak (USA). That's why there is so damn much HFC in everything.
Bzzzz. The sugar lobby is STRONG and have erected protective tariffs that raised cane sugar's cost to artifically-high levels. Therefore companies look for cheap alternatives (HFCS). This is a classic case of how government laws, which appear good on the surface to protect American sugar workers/farmers, actually cause unintended and harmful consequences.
The sugar tariffs should be removed, so we can import cheap sugar from elsewhere (like Brazil) and therefore make HFCS too expensive to use.
I can use my computer without barely moving at all. It's the perfect tool for my lazy self. ;-)
>>>Nintendo did have a great run in the 80's and 90's, but the last 10 years have not been kind to Nintendo and each time it seems to be getting a little worse
>>>
Really? Well let's see:
Early 80s - #1 was Atari
Late 80s - #1 with the NES
Early 90s - #1 with the Super NES (beat Sega)
Late 90s - #2 with the N64 (beat Sega again)
Early 2000s - #2 with the Gamecube (it was a statistical tie with Xbox)
Late 2000s - #1 with the Wii (outselling X360 and PS3 approximately two-to-one)
While Nintendo had a rough patch during the PS1/PS2 years, it appears they rose to the top again. Of course it helped that Sony made a major mistake with overpricing their console at $700 but still, the stats speak for themselves. I wouldn't call #1 a rough patch.
.
>>>only the rare non-Nintendo made game is worth playing let alone buying instead of renting
Sega games on Wii? They are still fun.
>>>You don't get to return stuff because you don't like it. That's a courtesy offered by retailers, not a right.
And this is why I download stuff, and try it before buying it. I've grown tired of being stuck with crappy junk, and then the manufacturer says, "Too bad." Hell even candy makers let you return a candy bar if you don't like it.
I use my turn signal.
And if the guy speeds-up to block me from moving to his lane, then I use my middle digit. In an up-and-down motion. If you act like an ass, then I won't hesitate to tell you.
>>>God damn I am tired of people who've enjoyed the fruits of public spending and are now complaining about anybody else doing so.
I never set foot in a government-funded library my whole life, and I seem to have made out okay (engineer - two degrees). And now that we have the internet, such that I or anybody else can download literally millions of free books (or just read wikipedia), the government-funded libraries are even less necessary.
Like the horse buggy whip, they have been obsoleted by newer/better technologies.
I think it's a lousy way to spend public money. I consider the existence of the internet to have invalidated the need for Video Rental stores (like the ones in my neighborhood that went bankrupt these last 2-3 years) or the need for libraries. People can now get the same information online.
Just as the car killed-off the horse whip, so too has the internet killed off the need foy many physical institutions.
>>>purportedly pedophiles? Trying to take down a document says nothing about its veracity.
No but it does demonstrate that Free Speech is no longer the law of the land.
CANE sugar has two parts: Glucose and Fructose. That's what I was talking about. With that in mind reread what I wrote: "You think replacing High Fructose CS with [cane] Sugar is better? Because it ain't."