Or maybe, instead of a constant firehose of crap going to Windows servers, we can have a dialog and elect to send stuff to MS when a problem happens. You know, how things used to be. They can create as detailed a dump file as they need, but I should have control over if/when it gets sent somewhere.
2. People everywhere. - Making noise, talking on their phone, a baby crying in a R rated movie...
I also have two little girls. Granted they go to bed earlier so that's a controllable problem.
3. Focus. - Painfully holding in my piss.
Depends on how hyped up the girls are. Sometimes we can quietly watch a movie, other times its a dance-off.
4. Relentlessness. - Still painfully holding in my piss.
With two little ones, DO NOT WANT. Granted we only really pause for something we haven't all seen before, otherwise they can take it elsewhere.
5. A massive speaker system. - My poor ears, no volume control.
I've long had a home theater system, at first it was used only for computer games, then video games. Still $600.
6. Previews. - Ads.
Still happen on disks (whose idiot decision was it to make unskippable ads on blu-ray and DVD?). We typically buy the 3-pack of movies, BD/DVD/Digital. Then watch the digital, which never has previews.
7. Disruption. - Um, disruption is a bad thing.
When we want movie time, we get movie time. When we want to have background noise, we have background noise. Don't tell me how to watch your crap.
8. Alone time. - I'm with people who the fuck wrote this.
I for one like curling up with the family and taking in a good movie. I'm not so into the sweaty hoss with the 64 oz of diabetes shoveling butter and chocolate into their noise-tube.
9. 32 ounces of cola in the dark. - Diabetes woooo!
I almost never buy concessions in a theater anyway. At home, I'll grab whatever I feel like drinking or snacking on.
10. Bragging rights. - People brag about going to the movies? How sad.
I guess I've been bragging about my setup... but at $1200 for a 104 inch 1080p screen with surround sound, that's less a lot of TV's out there. Some might end up spending more for some black-out shades for mid-day movie-going, but even that won't cost an arm and a leg.
I can't wait to see the news when the first iCar thinks the Apple Genius Bar has drive-up service.
On a more serious note, Apple is losing its ability to design and market hardware. There haven't been significant updates or showstoppers in about 3 years, they've become complacent. Much like the KFC sign that says "$5 bucket" (come get it you fat P.O.S.), Apple is now just counting on those people whose Christmas list is based on the annual Keynote presentation.
That said, I would never trust them to actually build a car. They may design some integrated infotainment system, which would be a logical next step from the iPhone and CarPlay (iDrive is a BMW thing, ha!). But to get all the stuff together for a full-on car? They barely support their hardware for over 2 years, what makes you think a 10+ year investment from them is worthwhile?
I'm no EE, but given that many NES's, SNES's and N64's are still working today, I'd say Nintendo did a pretty good job in designing a spec that was affordable and durable. Sure, there may be cheap components and some manufacturing issues that caused some to die prematurely, but that's always the case with any mass production.
What we are seeing here is a handful of units out of the thousands that have been sold. Like most things on the internet, a very vocal minority is speaking up.
The wife and I pay for Netflix, NBC (she loves the NCIS series'), and Hulu each month. Hulu has 2-3 commercials in succession and 2-3 breaks per 20-minute show. NBC, despite getting subscriber money directly, still shows commercials too. Why swap out cash cows when you can combine them?
"The Future Is Now!", "What a time to be alive!" etc...
This conversation has happened many times before. It's not enough to look at how much is spent on healthcare, you need to consider where the money comes from, e.g. what the national income tax is. The countries you listed have the following personal income taxe rates: Australia: 49% (max) + 4.75%-6.85% (varies by state/territory) payroll tax
Canada: 58.75% + Surcharge taxes (Varies) (15%-33% federal + 5%-25.75% provincial + 0–C$900 Health Premium + Surcharge Taxes) + 4.95% income tax (for the individual)
France: 45% (+4% for the wealthy) + 22% payroll tax for healthcare
Germany: 47.475% (45% income tax + 5.5% solidarity surcharge based on the total tax bill)+ 15% for one of the many public health insurances (fixed rate by law), as well as a solidarity tax (depending on income) and a 26% social security tax (retirement + unemployment)
UK: 45% (on income over £150,000) + up to 25.8% payroll tax for national insurance.
And here in the U.S. we don't have a mandatory health tax, though my insurance deduction for family is significantly less than Canada's health premium.
Of course, the tax law in the U.S. (and likely other countries) is more complex than these simple numbers, but I think the point that damn near every one of those countries pays well over 60% of personal income in taxes. We U.S. citizens pay more like 53%, if your state has an income tax. It's also not directly clear who pays the assorted payroll taxes, that could be a business expense, or it could be passed on to the employee paycheck like Social Security.
Most athletes seemingly have very little insight into the sports they excel at.
I'm not a sports fan but I distinctly remember hearing something while my dad was watching a game.
Madden: "You see, the problem is he didn't catch the ball. In this sport, it's all about the ball and because he didn't catch it, they don't get to move down the field... [another 5 minutes of "didn't catch" and how important it is]
Thank you for that insightful analysis, Mr. Madden. How many of those blows to the head did you take as a player?
"This is a story that needs to carry you through the suspenseful situation, and make you feel like you are there, and the only way to do that is through theatrical distribution," Nolan told the audience.
That may have been true some 10-15 years ago when average TV sizes were still pretty small and home theater setups were prohibitively expensive. But now I can get a 60" TV for $400, and a HTIB for ~$300. That used to be the price of just a TV, and a small one at that.
Last time I went to the theater (last weekend) I had an obnoxious kid talking on one side of me, and another kicking my seat. I think I'll manage with my big screen, surround sound, and a beer in one hand.
I still think the greatest proof of brilliant people are still stupid goes to NASA. Who coincidentally also have the record for most expensive rock thrown the furthest distance. It's hard to top a $330 million, 745lb rock thrown at Mars.
Other cost/schedule screw-ups are pretty common. Just look at the F-35.
On the plus side, since the VPN is itself a paid service, they are in it for the money too. Once they start selling out to ad companies, their profits will drop from lost subscriptions. It's just too bad we can't do that with ISPs.
Having lived in north Austin (Domain area), Leander and Pflugerville, I can definitively say that what should be a 6 minute commute to work can easily turn into 30 minutes during rush hour. I leave at oh-dark-thirty to avoid traffic, but if I should leave at 7, my ~25 min commute quickly turns into 45-60 minutes. The longest it has taken me to get home was an hour and 45 minutes for that same ~25 min drive.
*maybe* it's a 15 minute commute in the suburbs only, but inner-city there's no way.
I actually like how things are playing out. When I was growing up the only used game stores were mom and pop type places, that usually had a handful of other things like anime posters, comics, and cards (pokemon, magic, etc...).
Then Gamestop and EB came in and tried to take that model corporate. Which was kinda nice in the beginning because they actually had reasonable prices and trade-in values for used games. Then those guys started competing with the likes of eBay and Amazon (hell, even Best Buy). So they started putting profits first.
And now the mom and pop places are still doing well with the resurgence of retro-gaming. I go to my local used game stores whenever I'm on the lookout for a particular SNES or Genesis game (okay, maybe n64 or ps2/3 as well....) and their staff is much more helpful. I haven't set foot in a Gamestop in years. Maybe it's because of what others have mentioned. New Game for $59.99, used version for $55. New at Best Buy for $50. Screw Gamestop.
They probably got more than that. Gamestop sold bundles to try and stop scalping. They've removed a few from their site, but they basically had a switch + zelda, or + splatoon, or + whateverothergame, or +2 games, or you could shell out $640 for the ultimate bundle.
The thinking was that you have a sought-after $50-$60 game, if you force buyers to pay $300 for a system too, they are much less likely to dive in for the quick-and-easy profits off of a single game. Who knows if it worked, since the Switch was going for stupidly high prices on eBay too.
I always thought that Costco's Kirkland Signature was a rebrand of someone elses stuff. Kirkland Signature Vodka is a rebrand of Grey Goose (or a near-perfect match, according to a few vodka pros I've talked to). They may have their own food production facilities, dog food facilities, clothing manufacturing shops, stills and breweries, print shops, and hardware manufacturing factories (for assorted desks, garage stuff, tools, etc...) but I sincerely doubt it. An old reddit thread agrees, kinda.
If it's a rebrand, then Costco isn't really responsible for the manufacturing part, only the advertising and sale. Oracle didn't sue Samsung over Android (though I'm sure they tried or would have), they sued the source - Google. The fact that Costco is standing up for their supplier is interesting.
I'd be curious how this can be extended. If these assorted hate-filled or otherwise obscene channels that YouTube sells advertising space for mean those big advertisers pull funding, how much further does it need to go before we start seeing real change in advertising policies?
How many racists/bigots do we need searching for Amazon Prime/Downy soap/Mickey Mouse then the latest KKK propaganda before Google is forced to re-think their targeted advertising?
Lets face it, once the 500lb gorilla changes course, others will follow.
..Located in the base portion, this slot might also incorporate a communications interface and a means of power transfer, perhaps Lightning or a Smart Connector.
Perhaps it will have a Firewire adaptor, a db-25 port, or attach directly to your favorite adult toy. "Perhaps" is such a non-specific word this alone should fail any sort of novelty test.
Alternatively, a host device might transfer data and commands to the accessory via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or other wireless protocol. Onboard memory modules would further extend an iOS device's capabilities. Though the document fails to delve into details, accessory memory would presumably allow an iPhone or iPad to write and read app data.... Alternatively, certain embodiments have an iPad serving as the accessory's screen, with keyboard, memory, GPU and other operating guts located in the attached base portion.
So, just like the Microsoft Surface, then? Or is this more like any of the android tablets that have cases with bluetooth keyboards built-in?
This latter design resembles a beefed up version of Apple's Smart Case for iPad.
Never buy the first model year of a new car design. You're bound to get engine or transmission issues at a higher rate than after they've worked things out a bit.
Never buy the first release of a new game console. Just look at the XB360 RROD, or the PS1's CD-ROM issues.
Never pre-order or buy day-one titles. Look at Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed (Brotherhood?) issues. Or Batman Arkham Knight on PC - with 2 stop sales and recalls/refunds. Or really any release that sells half the game, then another half as DLC. Just wait for the GOTY edition to come out that has all the stuff.
I'm sure there's other stuff you don't want to buy the first of.
And...corporate income tax is a dumb idea in the first place, when those funds have already been taxes through both income and sales.
I'm no tax professional, but it seems to me that "corporate income tax" would be a tax done through that corporations income (right there in the name). If Apple paid $0 in taxes to NZ in the past 10 years, then no, neither their sales nor their income were taxed. Still think they are upstanding corporate citizens?
I did the same thing. I had this awesome mental image of two neighbors playing some insanely stupid mix of tanks and mario kart's battle mode. Lawn darts being the weapon of choice.
No, but people are arrested or censored for saying things someone doesn't like. Just look up George Carlin's 7 words you can't say on television.
In this case, it was a picture sent (most likely) with the intent to injure or induce a seizure. There's a difference between offensive and injurious intent.
Slashdot Mirror
Or maybe, instead of a constant firehose of crap going to Windows servers, we can have a dialog and elect to send stuff to MS when a problem happens. You know, how things used to be. They can create as detailed a dump file as they need, but I should have control over if/when it gets sent somewhere.
Adding my perspective:
1. The big screen. - My poor neck.
I have a 1080p projector and a dark room. $600.
2. People everywhere. - Making noise, talking on their phone, a baby crying in a R rated movie...
I also have two little girls. Granted they go to bed earlier so that's a controllable problem.
3. Focus. - Painfully holding in my piss.
Depends on how hyped up the girls are. Sometimes we can quietly watch a movie, other times its a dance-off.
4. Relentlessness. - Still painfully holding in my piss.
With two little ones, DO NOT WANT. Granted we only really pause for something we haven't all seen before, otherwise they can take it elsewhere.
5. A massive speaker system. - My poor ears, no volume control.
I've long had a home theater system, at first it was used only for computer games, then video games. Still $600.
6. Previews. - Ads.
Still happen on disks (whose idiot decision was it to make unskippable ads on blu-ray and DVD?). We typically buy the 3-pack of movies, BD/DVD/Digital. Then watch the digital, which never has previews.
7. Disruption. - Um, disruption is a bad thing.
When we want movie time, we get movie time. When we want to have background noise, we have background noise. Don't tell me how to watch your crap.
8. Alone time. - I'm with people who the fuck wrote this.
I for one like curling up with the family and taking in a good movie. I'm not so into the sweaty hoss with the 64 oz of diabetes shoveling butter and chocolate into their noise-tube.
9. 32 ounces of cola in the dark. - Diabetes woooo!
I almost never buy concessions in a theater anyway. At home, I'll grab whatever I feel like drinking or snacking on.
10. Bragging rights. - People brag about going to the movies? How sad.
I guess I've been bragging about my setup... but at $1200 for a 104 inch 1080p screen with surround sound, that's less a lot of TV's out there. Some might end up spending more for some black-out shades for mid-day movie-going, but even that won't cost an arm and a leg.
I can't wait to see the news when the first iCar thinks the Apple Genius Bar has drive-up service.
On a more serious note, Apple is losing its ability to design and market hardware. There haven't been significant updates or showstoppers in about 3 years, they've become complacent. Much like the KFC sign that says "$5 bucket" (come get it you fat P.O.S.), Apple is now just counting on those people whose Christmas list is based on the annual Keynote presentation.
That said, I would never trust them to actually build a car. They may design some integrated infotainment system, which would be a logical next step from the iPhone and CarPlay (iDrive is a BMW thing, ha!). But to get all the stuff together for a full-on car? They barely support their hardware for over 2 years, what makes you think a 10+ year investment from them is worthwhile?
I'm no EE, but given that many NES's, SNES's and N64's are still working today, I'd say Nintendo did a pretty good job in designing a spec that was affordable and durable. Sure, there may be cheap components and some manufacturing issues that caused some to die prematurely, but that's always the case with any mass production.
What we are seeing here is a handful of units out of the thousands that have been sold. Like most things on the internet, a very vocal minority is speaking up.
The wife and I pay for Netflix, NBC (she loves the NCIS series'), and Hulu each month. Hulu has 2-3 commercials in succession and 2-3 breaks per 20-minute show. NBC, despite getting subscriber money directly, still shows commercials too. Why swap out cash cows when you can combine them?
"The Future Is Now!", "What a time to be alive!" etc...
I for one am so glad we gave AT&T $6.5 billion. I mean, they have such a beautiful track record for emergency service.
This conversation has happened many times before. It's not enough to look at how much is spent on healthcare, you need to consider where the money comes from, e.g. what the national income tax is. The countries you listed have the following personal income taxe rates:
Australia: 49% (max) + 4.75%-6.85% (varies by state/territory) payroll tax
Canada: 58.75% + Surcharge taxes (Varies) (15%-33% federal + 5%-25.75% provincial + 0–C$900 Health Premium + Surcharge Taxes) + 4.95% income tax (for the individual)
France: 45% (+4% for the wealthy) + 22% payroll tax for healthcare
Germany: 47.475% (45% income tax + 5.5% solidarity surcharge based on the total tax bill)+ 15% for one of the many public health insurances (fixed rate by law), as well as a solidarity tax (depending on income) and a 26% social security tax (retirement + unemployment)
UK: 45% (on income over £150,000) + up to 25.8% payroll tax for national insurance.
US: 39.6 - 52.9% = 39.6% (federal) + 0 - 13.3% (state)
And here in the U.S. we don't have a mandatory health tax, though my insurance deduction for family is significantly less than Canada's health premium.
Of course, the tax law in the U.S. (and likely other countries) is more complex than these simple numbers, but I think the point that damn near every one of those countries pays well over 60% of personal income in taxes. We U.S. citizens pay more like 53%, if your state has an income tax. It's also not directly clear who pays the assorted payroll taxes, that could be a business expense, or it could be passed on to the employee paycheck like Social Security.
Most athletes seemingly have very little insight into the sports they excel at.
I'm not a sports fan but I distinctly remember hearing something while my dad was watching a game.
Madden: "You see, the problem is he didn't catch the ball. In this sport, it's all about the ball and because he didn't catch it, they don't get to move down the field... [another 5 minutes of "didn't catch" and how important it is]
Thank you for that insightful analysis, Mr. Madden. How many of those blows to the head did you take as a player?
"This is a story that needs to carry you through the suspenseful situation, and make you feel like you are there, and the only way to do that is through theatrical distribution," Nolan told the audience.
That may have been true some 10-15 years ago when average TV sizes were still pretty small and home theater setups were prohibitively expensive. But now I can get a 60" TV for $400, and a HTIB for ~$300. That used to be the price of just a TV, and a small one at that.
Last time I went to the theater (last weekend) I had an obnoxious kid talking on one side of me, and another kicking my seat. I think I'll manage with my big screen, surround sound, and a beer in one hand.
I still think the greatest proof of brilliant people are still stupid goes to NASA. Who coincidentally also have the record for most expensive rock thrown the furthest distance. It's hard to top a $330 million, 745lb rock thrown at Mars.
Other cost/schedule screw-ups are pretty common. Just look at the F-35.
On the plus side, since the VPN is itself a paid service, they are in it for the money too. Once they start selling out to ad companies, their profits will drop from lost subscriptions. It's just too bad we can't do that with ISPs.
Having lived in north Austin (Domain area), Leander and Pflugerville, I can definitively say that what should be a 6 minute commute to work can easily turn into 30 minutes during rush hour. I leave at oh-dark-thirty to avoid traffic, but if I should leave at 7, my ~25 min commute quickly turns into 45-60 minutes. The longest it has taken me to get home was an hour and 45 minutes for that same ~25 min drive.
*maybe* it's a 15 minute commute in the suburbs only, but inner-city there's no way.
I actually like how things are playing out. When I was growing up the only used game stores were mom and pop type places, that usually had a handful of other things like anime posters, comics, and cards (pokemon, magic, etc...).
Then Gamestop and EB came in and tried to take that model corporate. Which was kinda nice in the beginning because they actually had reasonable prices and trade-in values for used games. Then those guys started competing with the likes of eBay and Amazon (hell, even Best Buy). So they started putting profits first.
And now the mom and pop places are still doing well with the resurgence of retro-gaming. I go to my local used game stores whenever I'm on the lookout for a particular SNES or Genesis game (okay, maybe n64 or ps2/3 as well....) and their staff is much more helpful. I haven't set foot in a Gamestop in years. Maybe it's because of what others have mentioned. New Game for $59.99, used version for $55. New at Best Buy for $50. Screw Gamestop.
They probably got more than that. Gamestop sold bundles to try and stop scalping. They've removed a few from their site, but they basically had a switch + zelda, or + splatoon, or + whateverothergame, or +2 games, or you could shell out $640 for the ultimate bundle.
The thinking was that you have a sought-after $50-$60 game, if you force buyers to pay $300 for a system too, they are much less likely to dive in for the quick-and-easy profits off of a single game. Who knows if it worked, since the Switch was going for stupidly high prices on eBay too.
I always thought that Costco's Kirkland Signature was a rebrand of someone elses stuff. Kirkland Signature Vodka is a rebrand of Grey Goose (or a near-perfect match, according to a few vodka pros I've talked to). They may have their own food production facilities, dog food facilities, clothing manufacturing shops, stills and breweries, print shops, and hardware manufacturing factories (for assorted desks, garage stuff, tools, etc...) but I sincerely doubt it. An old reddit thread agrees, kinda.
If it's a rebrand, then Costco isn't really responsible for the manufacturing part, only the advertising and sale. Oracle didn't sue Samsung over Android (though I'm sure they tried or would have), they sued the source - Google. The fact that Costco is standing up for their supplier is interesting.
MS had this long drawn out "you can do this but not that" speech that took minutes to explain.
Sony says "here's how you lend your friend a game with Playstation" and hands a box to his friend.
It didn't even take 10 seconds for Sony to eat MS's lunch there.
I'd be curious how this can be extended. If these assorted hate-filled or otherwise obscene channels that YouTube sells advertising space for mean those big advertisers pull funding, how much further does it need to go before we start seeing real change in advertising policies?
How many racists/bigots do we need searching for Amazon Prime/Downy soap/Mickey Mouse then the latest KKK propaganda before Google is forced to re-think their targeted advertising?
Lets face it, once the 500lb gorilla changes course, others will follow.
Social Media: Never before have so many people had so much to say to so few.
..Located in the base portion, this slot might also incorporate a communications interface and a means of power transfer, perhaps Lightning or a Smart Connector.
Perhaps it will have a Firewire adaptor, a db-25 port, or attach directly to your favorite adult toy. "Perhaps" is such a non-specific word this alone should fail any sort of novelty test.
Alternatively, a host device might transfer data and commands to the accessory via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or other wireless protocol. Onboard memory modules would further extend an iOS device's capabilities. Though the document fails to delve into details, accessory memory would presumably allow an iPhone or iPad to write and read app data. ...
Alternatively, certain embodiments have an iPad serving as the accessory's screen, with keyboard, memory, GPU and other operating guts located in the attached base portion.
So, just like the Microsoft Surface, then? Or is this more like any of the android tablets that have cases with bluetooth keyboards built-in?
This latter design resembles a beefed up version of Apple's Smart Case for iPad.
Oh, so they have their own prior art.
Sage advice for nearly every industry.
Never buy the first model year of a new car design. You're bound to get engine or transmission issues at a higher rate than after they've worked things out a bit.
Never buy the first release of a new game console. Just look at the XB360 RROD, or the PS1's CD-ROM issues.
Never pre-order or buy day-one titles. Look at Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed (Brotherhood?) issues. Or Batman Arkham Knight on PC - with 2 stop sales and recalls/refunds. Or really any release that sells half the game, then another half as DLC. Just wait for the GOTY edition to come out that has all the stuff.
I'm sure there's other stuff you don't want to buy the first of.
And...corporate income tax is a dumb idea in the first place, when those funds have already been taxes through both income and sales.
I'm no tax professional, but it seems to me that "corporate income tax" would be a tax done through that corporations income (right there in the name). If Apple paid $0 in taxes to NZ in the past 10 years, then no, neither their sales nor their income were taxed. Still think they are upstanding corporate citizens?
I did the same thing. I had this awesome mental image of two neighbors playing some insanely stupid mix of tanks and mario kart's battle mode. Lawn darts being the weapon of choice.
Sam? is that you?
Yea, but if that "Subway Diet" is the least bit true... think of the yoga pants!
No, but people are arrested or censored for saying things someone doesn't like. Just look up George Carlin's 7 words you can't say on television.
In this case, it was a picture sent (most likely) with the intent to injure or induce a seizure. There's a difference between offensive and injurious intent.