I would love to be able to a nice looking portable device that could run MAME or a terminal emulator at a pinch.
Haha I'm waiting to see the multi-touch interface for "pinching" my ssh sessions... What exactly would the "pinch" do? All of this pinching (iPhone) and squirting (Zune) can't be good for you. Kids these days...
Remember, they aren't really taking anything away from you by lowering the price of their current/future products, they are simply giving everybody more value for their money.
Well, the resale value of my 8GB iPhone just went down a couple hundred $, but it's not really a big deal. I bought the 8GB iPhone when it was released because it was a great phone and it was worth $599. 2 years ago I bought an unlocked GSM Treo 650 and it cost me $650. Smart phones have always been expensive (the unlocked ones). Apple is probably just making their prices more in line with the competition for carrier locked phones (ala Blackberry, Treo, Windows Mobile).
Why does anyone care about this man's rights, whether it is regarding showing his license or showing his receipt?
Who cares!
It's all meaningless in the face of the laws the USA have enacted in the last several years which have destroyed several sections of the US constitution.
I agree 100% with your last statement. Often times in history, it is only when a sufficient number of rights have been eroded, and people are finally pushed to the edge of what is acceptable to them, they act out. It is often with a small and seemingly symbolic protest, such as in the case of Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her bus seat. You might say "does anyone care about Rosa Parks' Rights?" I don't mean to imply that what this man did was as noble or self sacrificing as what Rosa Parks did, but surely, you have to see some similarities.
I find comfort in the fact that we as a people have been pushed so far down the road towards totalitarianism that small gestures of personal protest such as this draw a huge response. Those of you that think this guy is just an "asshole" need to STFU and read some history books. This is how revolutions start, with small acts of bravery against a nation of people that are too scared to rock the boat.
Get a bucket, a pole, and some cement. Cement pole into bucket. Mount dish on pole. Place on roof, near a window, whatever. It doesn't do any permanent damage, so if you're not a jerk to the landlord, they just might let you do it. You'll have to find a clean way to run the wire in, best bet is to do it where wires (like cable) already go into the place, or through a window.
These are good ideas, but I would have to make the pole 30-40 feet tall to get over the trees and neighbor's houses. Mounting on the roof would do the trick, but alas that option is out.
Actually, I'm kinda glad in a way I can't do it, because I don't need to be watching that much tv anyway...
Hopefully, the company will release the server & client code as open source; they can then watch in frustration as dozens of servers & tens of thousands of players jump on it.
You can pick any commercially made game title, and I can tell you for certainty that this will almost never happen. The reason? Third-party libraries. Every game company uses tons of 3rd party libraries, especially MMOs. They don't want to develop an engine and all of the technical stuff when they also have to spend so much time making content. So, if you're a game company, and you licensed the engine from Unreal, they will never give you permission to release their source code, so even if you released your extensions to their source code, it would never compile without the proprietary libraries to link against...
Actually, I tried to force my landlord to allow me to install a sattelite dish. While the law says that technically they must allow it, they can make up all kinds of ridiculous rules that pretty much nullify the law. For example, my landlord said that I could install a sattelite dish, but I couldn't drill holes in the roof, as that could damage the house. No sattelite installer would install a sattelite dish without drilling holes in the roof, so I was stuck, unless I wanted to install it myself and try to jury rig something without drilling holes in the roof. So yes, even though the law is on your side, landlords and HOAs can still come up with ridiculous and stupid rules that get around the intent of the law and still prohibit you from installing sattelite dishes.
Blah blah blah... strawman argument about the Iraq war... leading to completely unrelated statement about copyright infringement being theft. How again did you get modded up for this pathetic attempt at using a strawman argument to bolster a completely unrelated claim?
Not everyone from Connecticut, but the worst yuppies, the kind who cut me off in their SUVs on NYC roads, while talking on their cellphones with the "W04" bumperstickers.
I almost spewed my beverage on the monitor when I read that because I get cut off by those kind of people on the Merritt parkway every day. You know, the people that have the biggest possible gas guzzling SUV you can find and probably work at GE or Sikorsky and think that God made W president just so they can continue to pull in $200k/year of blood money by selling bombs that our government uses to oppress poor people in foreign countries... Yeah, talk about being cut off from reality.
The best way to deal with people like that is to laugh at them.
Good idea. I'm going to try that next time we have a conversation about how "global warming can't possibly be happening because the media was talking about global cooling in the 70s." Laughter is sometimes the best way to deal with impossible stupidity.
A huge fifth column of anti-Americans. Somewhere around 60M strong (the number who voted for Bush in 2004).
I'm afraid it may be too late for these guys. I work with two of them. Far right Bush supporters who hang on every hate-filled word that Rush Limbaugh spews across the airwaves, and believing everything that Fox news has to say. I tried to engage them in intelligent political dialogue, but we don't even agree on the facts. They honestly believe that Saddam Hussein caused 9/11. It is that bad. When I tried to discuss the expansion of police state powers, and put it in language they might relate to, such as "would you give Hillary Clinton the power to wiretap phones?", I just get blank stares. No response. They know they can't win that argument so they don't even try. Here are some choice quotes from one of my more politically active republican cubicle mates:
"Just make me dictator and I'll solve everything."
"I hope I get called to jury duty. I'll tell the judge 'guilty until proven more guilty.' The fact that he was riding in the back of a police car is evidence enough for me to convict anyone."
"The media is entirely controlled by the liberal media elite. Fox is just trying to balance it out."
I hope you are right about bringing them back, but unfortunately, I think it might just take something along the lines of imposed martial law and mandatory curfews before they see the error of their ways. After discussing the Iraq war with people that seriously believe Saddam Hussein caused 9/11, I pointed them to the Pew research study showing Fox news viewers were more likely to have common misconceptions about the war. Again with the blank stares and no response.
When you don't even agree on the facts, it's tough to have a dialogue. That is what scares me the most about this new 1/5th of americans that believe they are right and above the law.
FWIW, I live in Connecticut, about 50 miles away from NYC. Hardly the bastion of right-wing conservatism you would expect to find people like this at.
... people like you who wished to turn the judiciary into the new monarchy.
Had to respond to this as well. How can the judiciary be a new monarchy when they are appointed by our very elected representatives? Sounds like a representative democracy to me.
I believe the judiciary has the power given it by the Constitution and no other. A belief that Jefferson, for example, shared, and went to his grave shouting to people like you who wished to turn the judiciary into the new monarchy.
Ok, since you still don't seem to understand the constitution, let me quote it for you:
Article III, Section II (Judicial scope of power):
Section 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority;--to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls;--to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction;--to controversies to which the United States shall be a party;--to controversies between two or more states;--between a state and citizens of another state;--between citizens of different states;--between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of different states, and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects.
Doesn't sound like a judiciary that has no power now does it? That's right, they have the power to decide constitutionality of ALL laws, treaties, etc. Jefferson and the founding fathers knew the importance of a judiciary that could occasionally put a stop to things that are unconstitutional. You would be wise to accept that the judiciary may just be the last thing standing between us and a totalitarian, fascist state that would make us all slaves.
The targets that are being monitored within our own borders are so because the trail from overseas led back here. Known terrorists, affiliates, fund raisers, materials providers, etc., made calls to people here in the USA, or people in the USA called them.
Are you sure about that? Because I've heard Patriot act powers are being abused to wiretap people that merely protested the war. See this article: Is the Pentagon spying on Americans? This is being reported in the mainstream media, so what scares me even more are the abuses which haven't been made public.
I think you'll find the warrantless wiretapping we've found out about so far is just the tip of the iceberg. The only things we know about are what has been leaked by concerned insiders. How many more crimes and injustices has our executive committed behind closed doors that we don't even know about yet?
We should be afraid... very afraid... of our government, not of faceless, nameless terrorists that mean to do us harm.
No where in this balance of power is the judiciary involved. For them to take over any part of this power, or for the legislature to attempt to transfer any of this power to them, is an abuse of the Constitution.
You need to read the constitution. The judiciary is the final check on whether a law is constitutional or not, and they have the sole discretion of striking down a law, even if the the legislature voted for it, and the president signed it. They also have the power to interpret how laws are to be enforced, which means, yes, when the president gets caught with his hand in the "wiretapping without warrants" cookie jar, it is their constitutional obligation, duty, and responsibility, to smack him down for it.
The fact that you're a Bush supporter, and believe the judiciary has no power whatsoever is very telling. It means the propaganda you've been reading is effective, and that is reason enough for me personally to be very fearful of our country; a country in which people can be controlled by the mass-media to believe that the very constitution itself is not what it seems.
I wonder if there is a mostly lossless way to convert DIVX content into H264, since they may differ but they must share similarities too.
There is no way to convert from one lossy format to another lossy format without losing some content. It's like the second law of thermodynamics, but for data... The data just isn't there so it can't be made up on the fly.
WHEN ARE WE GETTING A 64-BIT FLASH PLAYER FOR WINDOWS???? XP x64, or Vista x64. Hell, even a crappy beta would be fine.
Maybe when 64-bit Windows gets enough market share to have even a fraction as many desktops as there are Linux users out there, you _might_ get a plugin. Seriously, would you demand the same thing for your OpenBSD box? Because it sounds to me like you're the 0.001% of the userbase out there whining "why doesn't Adobe provide X software for my GNU/hurd system?"
It would be great if all of my electrical things in my house could get together and say, "OK, guys, we have X amount of electricity to use today between all of us. Let's figure out, based on past usage patterns, who needs to be on and when in order to hit this budget".
It sounds great now, but wait for the screams you hear from the shower when the hot water heater cuts out 2 minutes in...
But look at how readily Apple, now experiencing some measure of success, can ignore the desires of their own customers. Do you know how many consumers want to buy OSX to run on their own custom-built hardware?
Cry me a fucking river. If you don't like Apple's products, here's a novel thought: Don't buy them. All I see is people lined up around the block to buy Apple's products because they work better than the competition. Sounds like the free market is working just fine.
Why is the "Think of the Children" argument valid here, but not at any other time? Just like why is FUD OK when talking about Global Warming and not the War on Terror?
Well, mainly because when people use the "think of the children" argument to limit freedom, they do everyone a disservice. Where we really should be thinking of the children is on environmental issues such as these. It's not wrong to want to leave the planet in as good or better condition than when we found it.
When I was a kid, my parents used to take us camping in the rocky mountains every summer. They always taught us to leave the campground as clean or cleaner than when we found it. That means not littering and leaving garbage all over the ground for the next people that come to use the campground.
Polluting the environment and destroying our earth is pretty much saying "Fuck you!" to everyone else that lives on this world after you.
So yes, I will use the "think of the children" argument here. It's perfectly valid. I'm not using it to justify government intrusion into our private lives and governmental raising of our kids for us.
Well, at least he's not emotionally invested or anything.
Don't you think it's appropriate to be at least somewhat emotionally invested when it's the goddamn future of our children that is at stake? You and all the other global warming deniers can take a flying fuck.
Whine about his works as you like; he is actually DOING SOMETHING, and doing it legitimately (albeit badly), and making a bunch of money at it.
No, he is exploiting a loophole in the tax code that allows him to make money by contributing nothing useful at all to society and merely leeching off of the tax revenue collected from others. Sorry my friend, but Uwe Boll is the scum of the earth, and has contributed nothing meaningful to society.
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I find comfort in the fact that we as a people have been pushed so far down the road towards totalitarianism that small gestures of personal protest such as this draw a huge response. Those of you that think this guy is just an "asshole" need to STFU and read some history books. This is how revolutions start, with small acts of bravery against a nation of people that are too scared to rock the boat.
Actually, I'm kinda glad in a way I can't do it, because I don't need to be watching that much tv anyway...
Blah blah blah... strawman argument about the Iraq war... leading to completely unrelated statement about copyright infringement being theft. How again did you get modded up for this pathetic attempt at using a strawman argument to bolster a completely unrelated claim?
OpenMoko: Write Our Software, Chumps!
"Just make me dictator and I'll solve everything."
"I hope I get called to jury duty. I'll tell the judge 'guilty until proven more guilty.' The fact that he was riding in the back of a police car is evidence enough for me to convict anyone."
"The media is entirely controlled by the liberal media elite. Fox is just trying to balance it out."
I hope you are right about bringing them back, but unfortunately, I think it might just take something along the lines of imposed martial law and mandatory curfews before they see the error of their ways. After discussing the Iraq war with people that seriously believe Saddam Hussein caused 9/11, I pointed them to the Pew research study showing Fox news viewers were more likely to have common misconceptions about the war. Again with the blank stares and no response.
When you don't even agree on the facts, it's tough to have a dialogue. That is what scares me the most about this new 1/5th of americans that believe they are right and above the law.
FWIW, I live in Connecticut, about 50 miles away from NYC. Hardly the bastion of right-wing conservatism you would expect to find people like this at.
The few remaining Bush supporters seem to troll this board abusing the moderation system and spouting lies with their last gasping breath. If you want a really good laugh, check out this comment I wrote to a Bush supporter in a recent story. He doesn't even believe the judiciary has any power whatsoever. If you read farther down the thread you'll see I actually had to quote the constitution to him. Go away republican trolls. Your lies are not wanted. We are intelligent intellectuals and engineers here, and we see through your "talking points" to the spin behind them.
Thanks for putting up with this BS. I just friended you.
Article III, Section II (Judicial scope of power):
Section 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority;--to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls;--to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction;--to controversies to which the United States shall be a party;--to controversies between two or more states;--between a state and citizens of another state;--between citizens of different states;--between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of different states, and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects.
Doesn't sound like a judiciary that has no power now does it? That's right, they have the power to decide constitutionality of ALL laws, treaties, etc. Jefferson and the founding fathers knew the importance of a judiciary that could occasionally put a stop to things that are unconstitutional. You would be wise to accept that the judiciary may just be the last thing standing between us and a totalitarian, fascist state that would make us all slaves.
I think you'll find the warrantless wiretapping we've found out about so far is just the tip of the iceberg. The only things we know about are what has been leaked by concerned insiders. How many more crimes and injustices has our executive committed behind closed doors that we don't even know about yet?
We should be afraid... very afraid... of our government, not of faceless, nameless terrorists that mean to do us harm.
The fact that you're a Bush supporter, and believe the judiciary has no power whatsoever is very telling. It means the propaganda you've been reading is effective, and that is reason enough for me personally to be very fearful of our country; a country in which people can be controlled by the mass-media to believe that the very constitution itself is not what it seems.
That is awesome. I've didn't notice this before, but the new business doublespeak is remarkably Orwellian... Scary isn't it?
Well, mainly because when people use the "think of the children" argument to limit freedom, they do everyone a disservice. Where we really should be thinking of the children is on environmental issues such as these. It's not wrong to want to leave the planet in as good or better condition than when we found it.
When I was a kid, my parents used to take us camping in the rocky mountains every summer. They always taught us to leave the campground as clean or cleaner than when we found it. That means not littering and leaving garbage all over the ground for the next people that come to use the campground.
Polluting the environment and destroying our earth is pretty much saying "Fuck you!" to everyone else that lives on this world after you.
So yes, I will use the "think of the children" argument here. It's perfectly valid. I'm not using it to justify government intrusion into our private lives and governmental raising of our kids for us.