Whatver reputation the French may have in the US as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys," this incident proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that when carrying a firearm, the French will not hesitate to use deadly force against their own feet.
Except these days, manufacturers have taken to calling them notebook computers, mostly because the "must have more power" crowd keep par-boiling their privates.
The government also has many rules by which it is supposed to adhere when using its powers: the principle example in the United Statesis the Bill of Rights. Oversight and balance are central themes in the construction of our system of government - perhaps not always well executed, but central nonetheless.
If your argument is to be taken at face value, you might as well say, "The government has many powers with which it can abuse citizens. It sometimes even does abuse those powers. Since the alternative is anarchy, the obvious solution is to cede the government whatever powers it chooses to grant itself."
Hey, just spitballing, but what if ammunition manufacturers were required to add RFID tags to individual rounds?
(Okay, I know how cost prohibitive this would be, as well as technically difficult - how would the tag even survive? But ignore that for a sec.)
Ballistic analysis during a homicide investigation is usually used to try to determine what weapon fired a round in a given incident, assuming you cant say for certain. But what if the ballistics data isn't good enough? If the round had a surviving RFID tag, it could eventually be tracked back not only to its manufacturer, but to the store that sold it, and in theory to whom.
Humans build Cylons. They rebel, fight to a standstill, then they leave. Now they're back, and they're bad, and they can look like humans, and they essentially wiped out humanity except for this little fleet. Plus, the brilliant scientist (Gaius Baltar) who is supposed to be figuring out how to defeat them is also the guy who enabled them to wipe out our heroes' defenses, and is sorta seeing one of them. Like, a really hot one. In his head, all the time.
Oh, and Adama had another son named Zack who died and Apollo blamed him for it and and blah blah blah.
There are a whole bunch of reasons for choosing straw as a building material: it's cheap, enviornmentally friendly, an excellent insulator, breathable, and has great soundproofing qualities.
A List Apart is a terrific site, if you're already familiar with HTML, CSS, and perhaps some JavaScript.
As a resource for the novice user, however... no way. Uh uh. Heck, their motto is "For people who make websites," plural, which isn't likely to be an apt description of the target audience for this book.
Don't Make Me Think, mentioned elsewhere in the review: good, but Joe Shmoe who just wants to get his site up and running isn't likely to read a whole book on usability. A better choice might be Web Style Guide, plus whatever HTML reference you like (http://htmlhelp.com was mentioned elswhere).
I'm backing up about half dozen servers in our ops room.
In theory, I could use Arkeia to back up the Powerbook: the client runs on a bunch of different platforms, inlcuding Mac OS X. But I have an external hard drive I use to back up my laptop's system state. I'm just using the laptop as a very swank X terminal for that purpose.
Well, yeah, but the Apple memory is/cooler/, see? Because it's... white. Or something.
Okay, seriously: I've read about people having problems upgrading the OS on Apple hardware if they use off brand memory. It'll work great, then they try to move to OS X.n+1 and eet no work. Just something to bear in mind.
Let's look at a selected history of lightsaber injuries here. First, Dooku removes one of Anakin Skywalker's hands. Then, if these pics are accurate, Anakin returns the favor by removing both of Dooku's. In Episode V, Anakin (as Vader) removes one of Luke's hands. And finally, Luke returns that favor by removing Vader's prosthetic hand.
You'd think that at this point, some Jedi genius would have come up with at least a hand guard for those goddamn things.
On a different note, I propose a caption contest for the picture of Yoda, prone on the floor with his cane several feet away. My entry is, "When nine-hundred years you reach, as many push-ups you will not be able to do."
He actually makes a decent point in that it's possible to obtain versions of Firefox that aren't from "official" distribution sites. Okay, true enough. On the other hand, he also fails to notice that every installation of MSIE is digitally signed my Microsoft, a company which has an abysmal track record of producing buggy, hole-ridden software.
In this case, I think the devil you don't know is actually the better option.
Thanks for the heads up, genius. Of course, the guy I was responding to wrote, "If a program requires 'activation' I either don't use it or get a cracked/warez copy," thus making the problem worse - but hey, thanks for pointing out the obvious.
A guy walks into a doctor's office and pokes himself in the chest. "Doc, it hurts when I do this." He pokes himself in the shoulder, and says, "And when I do this." He pokes himself in the thigh. "And when I do this."
The doctor says, "You must be Polish, right?"
"How'd you know?"
"Your finger is broken."
("Those damn software companies. How dare they use product activation to help curb piracy? Well just for that, I'm going to pirate their stuff until they stop!" Yeah. I'm sure that's likely to convince them.)
Really? I've been seeing "Game of the year edition" boxes for about $20 for years now. It's more than $10, sure, but it's hardly full price.
Spolier: Brief synopsis of Half-Life 1.
on
Review: Half-Life 2
·
· Score: 2, Informative
I haven't yet played HL2, although my experience with its predecessor makes it a pretty sure buy for me (once I have a PC capable of running it. Ahem.) But since you're complaining that you feel a bit lost about the storyline, I thought I'd fill you in on what happened in the first installment of the series. (Note: this is a very brief walkthrough and based on my dim recollections of playing the game years ago.)
NOTE: It ain't karma whoring if you write the whole thing up yourself.;)
***SPOILERS BEGIN***
You are Gordon Freeman, at your first day on the job at the Black Mesa Research Center as a recent Doctoral graduate in physics (specifically, of the theoretical variety). As part of your first assignment, you are escorted to a lab deep underground, given a high-tech "hazard suit", and instructed to participate in an experiment.
As is always the case in such stories, the experiment goes horribly awry, tearing a hole in between dimensions and letting through all manner of bizarre monsters. At first, your only objective is escape to the surface. Upon reaching it, you discover that the military has been dispatched not to assist in your rescue as you'd hoped, but to "sterilize" the site and eliminate anything there they can find, including you. Along the way, you keep catching glimpses of a mysterious man in a suit carrying a briefcase, always beyond your reach.
With help from a few scientists and security officers you meet along the way, you discover that if anyone is capable of sealing the breach between dimensions, it would be the scientists at the nearby Lambda Complex. Once reaching it and making contact with them, they explain that the breach is being held open by a force on the other side, in a dimension called Xen, and that the only hope of closing it is to cross over into that dimension and destroy it.
(Side note: most people I know agree that the "Xen" part of HL1 was the weakest part of the game. Seriously, people - jumping puzzles? We hate that stuff.)
Anyhoo: cross over to Xen, find the big bad, kill it. The Man in the Suit finally reappears, congratulating you on your feat, claiming that you have "unlimited potential." (It becomes obvious during the course of his shpeel that he is more than just a random government crony - he seems capable of teleporting you around virtually at will.) He then makes the classic "offer you can't refuse": accept a job working for his organization, or "a fight you have no hope of winning." After you accept - I mean, you accept, don't you? - he congratulates you on your choice, and the closing credits roll.
I agree with you totally on this point. If they can write "You voted for liar #1" on screen but actually write something else to storage, why wouldn't they do the same thing on a paper receipt.
Because after the machine prints out a paper receipt, you get to look at it prior to putting it into the ballot box. And if it's wrong, you raise hell, and they correct the matter. Just like you would with a normal paper ballot.
I also have to laugh at these people who say they don't trust e-voting machines that they can't view the source on, but who will then walk in to a funny colored mechanical booth, push some buttons, then open a lever, and somewhow feel secure in their vote without a receipt and without knowing who the hell all those gears, cogs, and twiddlybits actually just voted for.
Or those antiquated punch ballots where each candidate choice has a number that matches a number on the card... that you can check by... oh, wait.
It was definitely a pretty bad episode in its own right, regardless of video game tie-ins.
On the other hand, it did contain a cute in-joke. While explaining how the game works to Teal'c, Carter says, "You've played Doom before, right?" He replies, "I have played Def Jam Vendetta." Chris Judge, the actor who plays Teal'c, also provided voice work for DJV.
Doh - I forgot to mention: Apple doesn't talk it up much, but a few standard PCMCIA wireless cards work just dandy with OS X. The makers of Kismac, a wireless stumbler for Mac OS (Kismac? Kismet? Get it?), maintains a list of 3rd party cards which work with their software.
Unfortunately, the pinouts on the Airport and Airport Extreme cards aren't the same. If you have a newer iBook or Powerbook, you can't use the old Airport cards, and vice-versa with the older systems and the new Airport Extreme cards.
No matter what they do, the show won't be as cool as the spoof of the Fantastic Four on The Venture Brothers. Here's a thought: ever wonder what it would be like to be constantly on fire? They did. It'd suck.
Slashdot Mirror
Whatver reputation the French may have in the US as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys," this incident proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that when carrying a firearm, the French will not hesitate to use deadly force against their own feet.
Except these days, manufacturers have taken to calling them notebook computers, mostly because the "must have more power" crowd keep par-boiling their privates.
Don't tell me - he slipped in the shower?
There are a couple of major differences.
1. Spoofing DNS is, like, hard, and stuff. This is just easy gruntwork.
2. Spoofing DNS is illegal in the US. This isn't. (probably.)
The government also has many rules by which it is supposed to adhere when using its powers: the principle example in the United Statesis the Bill of Rights. Oversight and balance are central themes in the construction of our system of government - perhaps not always well executed, but central nonetheless.
If your argument is to be taken at face value, you might as well say, "The government has many powers with which it can abuse citizens. It sometimes even does abuse those powers. Since the alternative is anarchy, the obvious solution is to cede the government whatever powers it chooses to grant itself."
Hey, just spitballing, but what if ammunition manufacturers were required to add RFID tags to individual rounds?
(Okay, I know how cost prohibitive this would be, as well as technically difficult - how would the tag even survive? But ignore that for a sec.)
Ballistic analysis during a homicide investigation is usually used to try to determine what weapon fired a round in a given incident, assuming you cant say for certain. But what if the ballistics data isn't good enough? If the round had a surviving RFID tag, it could eventually be tracked back not only to its manufacturer, but to the store that sold it, and in theory to whom.
Just a thought.
What you missed in the pilot.
Humans build Cylons. They rebel, fight to a standstill, then they leave. Now they're back, and they're bad, and they can look like humans, and they essentially wiped out humanity except for this little fleet. Plus, the brilliant scientist (Gaius Baltar) who is supposed to be figuring out how to defeat them is also the guy who enabled them to wipe out our heroes' defenses, and is sorta seeing one of them. Like, a really hot one. In his head, all the time.
Oh, and Adama had another son named Zack who died and Apollo blamed him for it and and blah blah blah.
I think that about covers it.
There are a whole bunch of reasons for choosing straw as a building material: it's cheap, enviornmentally friendly, an excellent insulator, breathable, and has great soundproofing qualities.
A List Apart is a terrific site, if you're already familiar with HTML, CSS, and perhaps some JavaScript.
As a resource for the novice user, however... no way. Uh uh. Heck, their motto is "For people who make websites," plural, which isn't likely to be an apt description of the target audience for this book.
Don't Make Me Think , mentioned elsewhere in the review: good, but Joe Shmoe who just wants to get his site up and running isn't likely to read a whole book on usability. A better choice might be Web Style Guide , plus whatever HTML reference you like (http://htmlhelp.com was mentioned elswhere).
I'm backing up about half dozen servers in our ops room.
In theory, I could use Arkeia to back up the Powerbook: the client runs on a bunch of different platforms, inlcuding Mac OS X. But I have an external hard drive I use to back up my laptop's system state. I'm just using the laptop as a very swank X terminal for that purpose.
I regularly ssh from my PowerBook in my office to our backup server, then run the Arkeia GUI over the connection.
Or at least I did, until something broke Fink's install of X11. Dammit.
"What's this? It says it's a malicious software remover."
"I dunno. Try running it?"
"Okay." (click-click.)
"PLEASE WAIT."
"What's it doing?"
"Dunno... oh, here."
"PROGRAM COMPLETE. FIFTEEN PROGRAMS REMOVED. HAVE FUN FIGURING OUT WHICH ONES, BITCHES."
"Dammit."
Well, yeah, but the Apple memory is /cooler/, see? Because it's... white. Or something.
Okay, seriously: I've read about people having problems upgrading the OS on Apple hardware if they use off brand memory. It'll work great, then they try to move to OS X.n+1 and eet no work. Just something to bear in mind.
Let's look at a selected history of lightsaber injuries here. First, Dooku removes one of Anakin Skywalker's hands. Then, if these pics are accurate, Anakin returns the favor by removing both of Dooku's. In Episode V, Anakin (as Vader) removes one of Luke's hands. And finally, Luke returns that favor by removing Vader's prosthetic hand.
You'd think that at this point, some Jedi genius would have come up with at least a hand guard for those goddamn things.
On a different note, I propose a caption contest for the picture of Yoda, prone on the floor with his cane several feet away. My entry is, "When nine-hundred years you reach, as many push-ups you will not be able to do."
He actually makes a decent point in that it's possible to obtain versions of Firefox that aren't from "official" distribution sites. Okay, true enough. On the other hand, he also fails to notice that every installation of MSIE is digitally signed my Microsoft, a company which has an abysmal track record of producing buggy, hole-ridden software.
In this case, I think the devil you don't know is actually the better option.
Thanks for the heads up, genius. Of course, the guy I was responding to wrote, "If a program requires 'activation' I either don't use it or get a cracked/warez copy," thus making the problem worse - but hey, thanks for pointing out the obvious.
A guy walks into a doctor's office and pokes himself in the chest. "Doc, it hurts when I do this." He pokes himself in the shoulder, and says, "And when I do this." He pokes himself in the thigh. "And when I do this."
The doctor says, "You must be Polish, right?"
"How'd you know?"
"Your finger is broken."
("Those damn software companies. How dare they use product activation to help curb piracy? Well just for that, I'm going to pirate their stuff until they stop!" Yeah. I'm sure that's likely to convince them.)
Really? I've been seeing "Game of the year edition" boxes for about $20 for years now. It's more than $10, sure, but it's hardly full price.
I haven't yet played HL2, although my experience with its predecessor makes it a pretty sure buy for me (once I have a PC capable of running it. Ahem.) But since you're complaining that you feel a bit lost about the storyline, I thought I'd fill you in on what happened in the first installment of the series. (Note: this is a very brief walkthrough and based on my dim recollections of playing the game years ago.)
;)
NOTE: It ain't karma whoring if you write the whole thing up yourself.
***SPOILERS BEGIN***
You are Gordon Freeman, at your first day on the job at the Black Mesa Research Center as a recent Doctoral graduate in physics (specifically, of the theoretical variety). As part of your first assignment, you are escorted to a lab deep underground, given a high-tech "hazard suit", and instructed to participate in an experiment.
As is always the case in such stories, the experiment goes horribly awry, tearing a hole in between dimensions and letting through all manner of bizarre monsters. At first, your only objective is escape to the surface. Upon reaching it, you discover that the military has been dispatched not to assist in your rescue as you'd hoped, but to "sterilize" the site and eliminate anything there they can find, including you. Along the way, you keep catching glimpses of a mysterious man in a suit carrying a briefcase, always beyond your reach.
With help from a few scientists and security officers you meet along the way, you discover that if anyone is capable of sealing the breach between dimensions, it would be the scientists at the nearby Lambda Complex. Once reaching it and making contact with them, they explain that the breach is being held open by a force on the other side, in a dimension called Xen, and that the only hope of closing it is to cross over into that dimension and destroy it.
(Side note: most people I know agree that the "Xen" part of HL1 was the weakest part of the game. Seriously, people - jumping puzzles? We hate that stuff.)
Anyhoo: cross over to Xen, find the big bad, kill it. The Man in the Suit finally reappears, congratulating you on your feat, claiming that you have "unlimited potential." (It becomes obvious during the course of his shpeel that he is more than just a random government crony - he seems capable of teleporting you around virtually at will.) He then makes the classic "offer you can't refuse": accept a job working for his organization, or "a fight you have no hope of winning." After you accept - I mean, you accept, don't you? - he congratulates you on your choice, and the closing credits roll.
*** SPOILERS END ***/B
Because after the machine prints out a paper receipt, you get to look at it prior to putting it into the ballot box. And if it's wrong, you raise hell, and they correct the matter. Just like you would with a normal paper ballot.
Or those antiquated punch ballots where each candidate choice has a number that matches a number on the card... that you can check by... oh, wait.
Nevermind.
It was definitely a pretty bad episode in its own right, regardless of video game tie-ins.
On the other hand, it did contain a cute in-joke. While explaining how the game works to Teal'c, Carter says, "You've played Doom before, right?" He replies, "I have played Def Jam Vendetta." Chris Judge, the actor who plays Teal'c, also provided voice work for DJV.
Doh - I forgot to mention: Apple doesn't talk it up much, but a few standard PCMCIA wireless cards work just dandy with OS X. The makers of Kismac, a wireless stumbler for Mac OS (Kismac? Kismet? Get it?), maintains a list of 3rd party cards which work with their software.
Unfortunately, the pinouts on the Airport and Airport Extreme cards aren't the same. If you have a newer iBook or Powerbook, you can't use the old Airport cards, and vice-versa with the older systems and the new Airport Extreme cards.
No matter what they do, the show won't be as cool as the spoof of the Fantastic Four on The Venture Brothers. Here's a thought: ever wonder what it would be like to be constantly on fire? They did. It'd suck.