Then don't use the system! Devices that make it easier for drivers to not pay attention to what they're doing need to make sure that safety is addressed. The car won't beep if you don't turn the system on, or if you buy a car without it. I would want to know, if I'm not actively controlling the car, that the computer is working at doing that job and that the impression of being under control isn't false.
Similarly, aircraft have indicators that let the pilots know that the autopilot is in control and what mode the autopilot is in. It's kind of important to know for sure that a vehicle that can and will kill you if it crashes is under control by either a human or an automation system.
It's a feature that isn't available here. We (I live in the US) never get the really cool stuff. So we have to pay some specialist shop to import the stuff that carmakers are too lazy or stupid to send over here to meet the demand. I have quite a few things on my US-market 4-door Golf that VW refused to make available on the 4-door model here but that you can get on the 4-door Jetta or on the 2-door GTI. But not on the 4-door hatchback. But I had to install them myself.
So you can't find the info because in the US model line, it doesn't exist. Typical corporate refusal to capitalize on the fact that there ARE people in the US who don't want to have to buy huge SUVs or luxobarges or pricey-but-fast "compensation packages" to get useful stuff.
The risk is pretty low, although not nonexistent, as training and technologies have advanced a fair bit since the mid 1970s and mid 1980s, when the big disasters happened. The impact that is there (waste storage, mostly) is quite a lot less than what impact is there as a result of dirtier power plants.
1. Sure. But they actually can fix their mistakes instead of letting erroneous headlines that weren't confirmed before being printed above the fold go through. You don't do that. You just end up looking stupid.
2. How do you know I don't know what I'm talking about? I actually do have a degree in environmental science. Speaking of feet in mouth...
My comment is not intended to be taken as indicating any trends in paper subscriptions. It merely reflects the fact that I value not imposing any additional demands on forest resources when I have alternatives.
Of course it requires power. But the power plant will be there regardless, but deforestation will continue at varying levels depending on demand for paper. Furthermore, there are clean sources of energy like nuclear, wind, or hydro that don't pollute as much as gas, oil and coal do. These will be used increasingly in the future and are already a signficant part of the power generated in the US (where I live) today.
Plus, the net infrastructure is largely already in place, but the need to cut more trees (whether managed on tree farms or "wild" in forests) will not stop.
Gee, let's see. Would I rather pay 50 cents (or whatever it is) to get a space-wasting dirty tree-killing truck-polluting pile of paper with an erroneous "Miners rescued alive" headline, or view the news, no clutter/pollution/tree-killing required, online, with the CORRECT INFORMATION?
Plus, I can read what I want, be linked to other sources, read in the order I want without having to make piles all over the floor, worry about pages being out of order, and I can even easily e-mail links or text of stories to others.
Gee. I think I'll stay a web reader for a good long time.
Care or not, it makes you look sloppy. And you admitted to being sloppy, so I can tell my initial impression (can't be bothered to correct mistakes, can't be bothered to learn which word to use when so the incorrect word isn't chosen in the first place, sloppy) is probably correct.
And like it or not, word use does matter in written discussions. I can and do react appropriately from time to time when someone talks about how the "breaks" on their car quit working. I usually ask them how they managed to stop if their car broke when they tried.
Either learn to use the proper word or get used to people calling you on sloppiness.
Whether or not they're overpaid I'm not sure. They do, however, bitch too much about not being paid enough. Come on! Even a few hundred grand, which the newest of the players get, is more than a living wage. They need to suck it up and learn to deal when there are lots of people out there going with less than they need to feed themselves. If you have enough, you have no reason to whine.
Not necessarily. They can turn around and sue for recovery of the money on the basis that the payment was for goods or services that were misrepresented -- i.e. those who collected fees did not have legal standing to do so. They could also ask for punitive damages like interest as punishment for the false statements.
If the copying is done straight from the database, they have a case. If the publisher got the dates by calling the venues and asking for the future schedule, they don't. You can't stop someone from publishing something they were told unless they previously signed a contract to not do so. My calling you up and asking what color your car is, and you telling me it is blue, followed by my blogging that your car is blue, is not illegal. You freely told me what color your car was. And you can't sue me for libel or slander because I am merely publishing a true fact, nor can you sue me for a trade secret, because once you told it, it was no longer a secret.
Re:Spam is dead for me.
on
Spam is Dead
·
· Score: 1
Where did I say that everyone has the same standards as I do? I didn't. I don't care if you'd call me stupid for actually expecting professionalism, for actually expecting people on the internet to not call people "stupid" for disagreeing with something they post on an anonymous discussion site. How professional is that? It just makes you an asshole. I'd hang up and call YOUR competitor in a heartbeat if I asked you a question, you didn't agree with my reply, and you called me stupid.
I just happened to want to make a polite suggestion and I got called stupid. Way to go, asshole. I'll bet you don't pull that shit on your actual paying customers. Because, you know, that would be stupid.
Re:Spam is dead for me.
on
Spam is Dead
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I wouldn't buy from someone whose corporate address is run out of a free web-based email service. If a company can't bother to have its own domain name or is blatant about using free-mail for its official corporate functions, then they appear no better than the stereotypical pimply kid running a business out of his parents' basement. I don't know how many customers bypass you because of this amateurish idea, but I know I would.
Why not register a domain and have all the corporate email addresses just forward everything to the corresponding gmail account? (you say you gave up your domain, so I'm guessing you're all joeblow@gmail.com). It would look a lot more professional. Domains are so cheap these days that there's not really an excuse to continue to use amateur-appearing tactics. You'd probably be better off with this compromise, or a similar one.
Except I nearly never call anyone and mostly SMS, due to hearing impairment.;) You wouldn't learn too much about me that way!
But I actually have had problems of the sort you refer to, occasionally... of the sort that don't get a clue when you block them in IM, on online RPGs, etc. etc. For all the jokes about female drivers (I actually am a car geek and have a modded car, but I'm one of only two women in the local VW club) there's a dozen to be made about brainless guys.
Tell that to my car that currently has a battery drain problem due to, I suspect, the counterfeit fake Chinese ambient air temp sensor. I'm out $20+ to get a genuine part to fix the grounding problem, and I had to buy a $35 jump start battery device to solve the car's tendency to randomly die.
technically, the USPS signs saying that only Seeing Eye Dogs are allowed in the building is in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Only because it specifies dogs as the only animals allowed. It's perfectly legal to have signs allowing only service animals, but it's a little ignorant (by accident, I think, in this case) to say "dogs" because there are all kinds of other animals that help the disabled. I've even seen photos of a trained monkey assisting a wheelchair-bound person by pushing their foot back onto a footrest. I've also heard of ferrets used by the epileptic, since many animals are able to detect (somehow; we don't know how yet) impending seizures and signal the person to lie down and protect their head.
No. New versions of the software explicitly work with network connections; older versions have a special code (#,601 or something like that) that will make it use the network connection in most cases. I was one of the unlucky ones and had to haul the box in to work to use the regular phone line there since not even the hack worked. Never did find out why.
By now, though, I'd think new units would include the new code from the factory.
Er... they have. You can now enter a Canadian postal code at setup time and it will be recognized... although some boxes don't ship from the factory with the Canadian software. Here's how to make it work:
You used to be able to order a TiVo demo DVD that you could give away to people so they could see (on their TV DVD players) how TiVo worked -- no need to explain, just say "watch this".
I gave mine to my parents. I got it back with a "We couldn't figure it out" comment. And my dad's a tenured Ph.D. at a major university (you'd have heard of it)... sigh...
I think the timing is just about right for much of the uptake of digital televisions and flatpanels and the HD migration. I don't currently have a flatpanel television although I do have a Series 2 TiVo, and I plan to purchase a flatpanel and a Series 3 within the next 1-3 years; the current TiVo and set will be moved, probably to my bedroom, and the corner space taken up by the current set will be taken up instead by a curio display shelf designed for corners and used to display the space shuttle and mini-VW collection that is now on top of and in front of the TV.
In a small house, space has to be used efficiently and the fact that new HDTV equipment will be great for watching my DVD collection AND will take up empty wall space but free up needed floor space is very appealing. And TiVo will be rolling out these boxes at just the right time for me.
Predictions are out saying that HDTV/flatpanel purchases will increase quite a bit in the next few years in part due to people like me who will be buying just when the features like CableCard (no cable-box required, thus losing the hassles of IR blasters and such) required to get the full digital lineup (and all the subchannels of Discovery and History etc -- yes I'm a documentary addict) will be ready for prime time.
Recommendations for HDTV units in the range of 40"-55" or so (the sizes that will fit the available wallspace well) welcome. Since this Series3 will support HDMI among other things, I think that's my best bet. I also need composite inputs for my DVD player and RCA outputs for my digital speaker towers. Surround sound isn't a must because I am deaf in my left ear and have no stereo hearing so to be honest anything beyond mono is lost on me.
TiVo can't seem to get listings straight to save its life anyway. I sit down to watch "Cold Case" or what's supposed to be an NBC-aired CSI (which doesn't sound right to me but that's what the season pass says) and I get something that's not even related, like a news report or something. WTF?
Blame the guides as much as you blame the network.
Agreed. I don't understand why people gripe sometimes about this plugin or that one. If you don't want the feature, don't add the plugin. I've also seen people complain how basic Firefox is when first installed -- but that's by design! It starts with a basic setup and that way it is totally up to the user to add onto it, so as to minimize how much crud is in the browser unless the user specifically wants it to be there. I have all sorts of plugins and they're very useful (and some Greasemonkey scripts on top of that) but not everyone has to have 50 plugins like I do.
That said -- I probably won't install it, but what plugin is that?
Then don't use the system! Devices that make it easier for drivers to not pay attention to what they're doing need to make sure that safety is addressed. The car won't beep if you don't turn the system on, or if you buy a car without it. I would want to know, if I'm not actively controlling the car, that the computer is working at doing that job and that the impression of being under control isn't false.
Similarly, aircraft have indicators that let the pilots know that the autopilot is in control and what mode the autopilot is in. It's kind of important to know for sure that a vehicle that can and will kill you if it crashes is under control by either a human or an automation system.
It's a feature that isn't available here. We (I live in the US) never get the really cool stuff. So we have to pay some specialist shop to import the stuff that carmakers are too lazy or stupid to send over here to meet the demand. I have quite a few things on my US-market 4-door Golf that VW refused to make available on the 4-door model here but that you can get on the 4-door Jetta or on the 2-door GTI. But not on the 4-door hatchback. But I had to install them myself.
So you can't find the info because in the US model line, it doesn't exist. Typical corporate refusal to capitalize on the fact that there ARE people in the US who don't want to have to buy huge SUVs or luxobarges or pricey-but-fast "compensation packages" to get useful stuff.
The risk is pretty low, although not nonexistent, as training and technologies have advanced a fair bit since the mid 1970s and mid 1980s, when the big disasters happened. The impact that is there (waste storage, mostly) is quite a lot less than what impact is there as a result of dirtier power plants.
1. Sure. But they actually can fix their mistakes instead of letting erroneous headlines that weren't confirmed before being printed above the fold go through. You don't do that. You just end up looking stupid.
...
2. How do you know I don't know what I'm talking about? I actually do have a degree in environmental science. Speaking of feet in mouth
Wow. Imagine that. An adblocker that blocks ads! A product that does what it's supposed to! Call the BBB -- we've GOT to complain! That's not allowed!
My comment is not intended to be taken as indicating any trends in paper subscriptions. It merely reflects the fact that I value not imposing any additional demands on forest resources when I have alternatives.
Of course it requires power. But the power plant will be there regardless, but deforestation will continue at varying levels depending on demand for paper. Furthermore, there are clean sources of energy like nuclear, wind, or hydro that don't pollute as much as gas, oil and coal do. These will be used increasingly in the future and are already a signficant part of the power generated in the US (where I live) today.
Plus, the net infrastructure is largely already in place, but the need to cut more trees (whether managed on tree farms or "wild" in forests) will not stop.
Bingo.
Gee, let's see. Would I rather pay 50 cents (or whatever it is) to get a space-wasting dirty tree-killing truck-polluting pile of paper with an erroneous "Miners rescued alive" headline, or view the news, no clutter/pollution/tree-killing required, online, with the CORRECT INFORMATION?
Plus, I can read what I want, be linked to other sources, read in the order I want without having to make piles all over the floor, worry about pages being out of order, and I can even easily e-mail links or text of stories to others.
Gee. I think I'll stay a web reader for a good long time.
You mean the whining when you want to be greedier and aren't succeeding? Sadly, THAT is all too normal these days. :p
Care or not, it makes you look sloppy. And you admitted to being sloppy, so I can tell my initial impression (can't be bothered to correct mistakes, can't be bothered to learn which word to use when so the incorrect word isn't chosen in the first place, sloppy) is probably correct.
And like it or not, word use does matter in written discussions. I can and do react appropriately from time to time when someone talks about how the "breaks" on their car quit working. I usually ask them how they managed to stop if their car broke when they tried.
Either learn to use the proper word or get used to people calling you on sloppiness.
Whether or not they're overpaid I'm not sure. They do, however, bitch too much about not being paid enough. Come on! Even a few hundred grand, which the newest of the players get, is more than a living wage. They need to suck it up and learn to deal when there are lots of people out there going with less than they need to feed themselves. If you have enough, you have no reason to whine.
Not necessarily. They can turn around and sue for recovery of the money on the basis that the payment was for goods or services that were misrepresented -- i.e. those who collected fees did not have legal standing to do so. They could also ask for punitive damages like interest as punishment for the false statements.
If the copying is done straight from the database, they have a case. If the publisher got the dates by calling the venues and asking for the future schedule, they don't. You can't stop someone from publishing something they were told unless they previously signed a contract to not do so. My calling you up and asking what color your car is, and you telling me it is blue, followed by my blogging that your car is blue, is not illegal. You freely told me what color your car was. And you can't sue me for libel or slander because I am merely publishing a true fact, nor can you sue me for a trade secret, because once you told it, it was no longer a secret.
Where did I say that everyone has the same standards as I do? I didn't. I don't care if you'd call me stupid for actually expecting professionalism, for actually expecting people on the internet to not call people "stupid" for disagreeing with something they post on an anonymous discussion site. How professional is that? It just makes you an asshole. I'd hang up and call YOUR competitor in a heartbeat if I asked you a question, you didn't agree with my reply, and you called me stupid.
I just happened to want to make a polite suggestion and I got called stupid. Way to go, asshole. I'll bet you don't pull that shit on your actual paying customers. Because, you know, that would be stupid.
I wouldn't buy from someone whose corporate address is run out of a free web-based email service. If a company can't bother to have its own domain name or is blatant about using free-mail for its official corporate functions, then they appear no better than the stereotypical pimply kid running a business out of his parents' basement. I don't know how many customers bypass you because of this amateurish idea, but I know I would.
Why not register a domain and have all the corporate email addresses just forward everything to the corresponding gmail account? (you say you gave up your domain, so I'm guessing you're all joeblow@gmail.com). It would look a lot more professional. Domains are so cheap these days that there's not really an excuse to continue to use amateur-appearing tactics. You'd probably be better off with this compromise, or a similar one.
Except I nearly never call anyone and mostly SMS, due to hearing impairment. ;) You wouldn't learn too much about me that way!
But I actually have had problems of the sort you refer to, occasionally... of the sort that don't get a clue when you block them in IM, on online RPGs, etc. etc. For all the jokes about female drivers (I actually am a car geek and have a modded car, but I'm one of only two women in the local VW club) there's a dozen to be made about brainless guys.
Tell that to my car that currently has a battery drain problem due to, I suspect, the counterfeit fake Chinese ambient air temp sensor. I'm out $20+ to get a genuine part to fix the grounding problem, and I had to buy a $35 jump start battery device to solve the car's tendency to randomly die.
technically, the USPS signs saying that only Seeing Eye Dogs are allowed in the building is in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Only because it specifies dogs as the only animals allowed. It's perfectly legal to have signs allowing only service animals, but it's a little ignorant (by accident, I think, in this case) to say "dogs" because there are all kinds of other animals that help the disabled. I've even seen photos of a trained monkey assisting a wheelchair-bound person by pushing their foot back onto a footrest. I've also heard of ferrets used by the epileptic, since many animals are able to detect (somehow; we don't know how yet) impending seizures and signal the person to lie down and protect their head.
No. New versions of the software explicitly work with network connections; older versions have a special code (#,601 or something like that) that will make it use the network connection in most cases. I was one of the unlucky ones and had to haul the box in to work to use the regular phone line there since not even the hack worked. Never did find out why.
By now, though, I'd think new units would include the new code from the factory.
Er... they have. You can now enter a Canadian postal code at setup time and it will be recognized ... although some boxes don't ship from the factory with the Canadian software. Here's how to make it work:
Rob Cottingham Yes, you can get TiVo in Canada. Here's how to actually make it work.
I am not sure if they are actually sold in Canada yet, but either get a friend to buy you one and ship it directly or find a store that will do it.
You used to be able to order a TiVo demo DVD that you could give away to people so they could see (on their TV DVD players) how TiVo worked -- no need to explain, just say "watch this".
... sigh ...
I gave mine to my parents. I got it back with a "We couldn't figure it out" comment. And my dad's a tenured Ph.D. at a major university (you'd have heard of it)
I think the timing is just about right for much of the uptake of digital televisions and flatpanels and the HD migration. I don't currently have a flatpanel television although I do have a Series 2 TiVo, and I plan to purchase a flatpanel and a Series 3 within the next 1-3 years; the current TiVo and set will be moved, probably to my bedroom, and the corner space taken up by the current set will be taken up instead by a curio display shelf designed for corners and used to display the space shuttle and mini-VW collection that is now on top of and in front of the TV.
In a small house, space has to be used efficiently and the fact that new HDTV equipment will be great for watching my DVD collection AND will take up empty wall space but free up needed floor space is very appealing. And TiVo will be rolling out these boxes at just the right time for me.
Predictions are out saying that HDTV/flatpanel purchases will increase quite a bit in the next few years in part due to people like me who will be buying just when the features like CableCard (no cable-box required, thus losing the hassles of IR blasters and such) required to get the full digital lineup (and all the subchannels of Discovery and History etc -- yes I'm a documentary addict) will be ready for prime time.
Recommendations for HDTV units in the range of 40"-55" or so (the sizes that will fit the available wallspace well) welcome. Since this Series3 will support HDMI among other things, I think that's my best bet. I also need composite inputs for my DVD player and RCA outputs for my digital speaker towers. Surround sound isn't a must because I am deaf in my left ear and have no stereo hearing so to be honest anything beyond mono is lost on me.
We're here, we're just not blatant about it.
TiVo can't seem to get listings straight to save its life anyway. I sit down to watch "Cold Case" or what's supposed to be an NBC-aired CSI (which doesn't sound right to me but that's what the season pass says) and I get something that's not even related, like a news report or something. WTF?
Blame the guides as much as you blame the network.
Agreed. I don't understand why people gripe sometimes about this plugin or that one. If you don't want the feature, don't add the plugin. I've also seen people complain how basic Firefox is when first installed -- but that's by design! It starts with a basic setup and that way it is totally up to the user to add onto it, so as to minimize how much crud is in the browser unless the user specifically wants it to be there. I have all sorts of plugins and they're very useful (and some Greasemonkey scripts on top of that) but not everyone has to have 50 plugins like I do.
That said -- I probably won't install it, but what plugin is that?