Optical media, remote controls, data compression algorithms (MP3, JPEG, etc.), plasma and LCD displays...just off the top of my head.
What are these guys smoking, I wonder?
Oh, and don't forget microwaves. Never forget microwaves.
After actually RTFA, though, I see that he's complaining that inventions in the 21st century are derivative, and all of the ones I listed are, like, so last century.
C'mon, man, give us a break! We're only 12% through this century, let's have this discussion again in 40 years or so (via a holographic virtual interface courtesy of implanted, bio-powered communications devices, perhaps...)
I don't know. Why would they want to sell bottled beverages purchased from the grocery store when they can get their own discounts by buying straight from the distributor? Oh wait...
It's not as far-fetched as you might think - the beer and soda industry already tried it a few years ago, suing a pub that bought bottled beverages cheaper at a local supermarket, arguing that those cheaper bottles were not intended for re-sale.
Maybe soup is a bad example. But it was not the only example. The fact that you clung to it while ignoring the much better example shows your bias.
I think his point was more to snub pre-made soup...because everyone in the world has both the time and desire to make soup from scratch, you know. Pre-made, clearly labelled and conveniently packaged food is no good because...I don't know, it's not made with love or something? He probably feels the same about microwave dinners.
Can't speak for the Forgotten Realms stuff. I was never in to that.
It fully depends on the writer.
The vast majority of them are good, some are terrific (anything by either Greenwood, for example, and some of the Salvatore), and some are so bad that I couldn't make myself finish them. Something about actually having the gall to use the phrase 'shrill bellow' just set my teeth on edge...
The main benefit to the Forgotten Realms (as it is with any serial novel set) is that it's a common world with pre-defined locations / gods / major characters. Authors can pare back on the background and setting descriptions somewhat and focus on character and plot development (sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much, again it depends on the author). Generally, they're a good 'candy' read, if you're in the mood for something quick and relaxing, but not too intellectually challenging. A better use of your time than watching sitcoms, though, unless you're watching Community or Modern Family:o)
Why do you feel entitled to other people's stuff because they wont license it to you on your terms? Why not refuse to pay AND refuse to watch it, that's a crazy idea right?
To me this sounds a lot like a land owner offering to let you hunt on his land with an exception - only if you do not drive motorized vehicles over it - and then your response being to plow through it with ATVs doing whatever the hell you want without compensation because "he didn't let me do what I want", "it's not stealing", or "it doesn't cost him anything so it should be free".
I simply require the right to use and manipulate my property how I see fit...just like I can with my purchased music and non-DRM eBooks (thanks to Baen and Tor).
Where is your outrage over people ripping their own music to mp3 (or flac or whatever) instead of shelling out again for a studio-created digital version? And paying yet again each time they wanted to move their music to a different device or convert the music to a different format? The studios certainly did not want to allow people to do that, but we just stopped buying their lame, crippled digital copies and went ahead and ripped our own from disc anyway. Yet the movie industry is fighting tooth and nail to prevent people from doing the same with their video...??
The difference between the music and the movie industry is that the music industry actually wised up (mostly) and read the writing on the wall. People wanted digital copies and weren't going to put up with their DRM bullshit, so they finally started offering their own uncrippled digital versions for sale...and made a killing. Yes, physical copy sales dropped, but the convenience, affordability and availability of mp3's more than made up the sales. Some brick and mortar stores may close...but there also used to be a lot more vinyl shops around. When technology moves forward, some get left behind.
I can't think of a single logical reason why the movie industry couldn't adopt the same model. Combat piracy by making your legal version more convenient to acquire (like iTunes for music) and at least relatively inexpensive. Okay, you can't really compete with 'free', but if it's priced at around the cost of a coffee at Starbucks for an SD version, people will go for it. Charge a bit more for the HD version...but allow people who sprung for the HD version to then create their own SD version, if they want (like you can recompress flac to mp3). Above all, don't try to restrict where and on what devices people can view the content!
To the movie industry: Host the digital files, give people around the world a chance to pay for and download them with ease and reliability...profit? I honestly can't see anything negative about this proposition. Your 'competition' on the torrent sites isn't going away any time soon, so why not try to benefit by directly offering people what they so obviously want? It is utterly baffling to me why they can't see this.
There is a mountain of evidence that clearly shows that peer-to-peer downloaders BUY MORE MUSIC AND MOVIES than non-downloaders.
Indeed.
Case in point: I recently discovered a great new (to me) show called Leverage. I got hooked, downloaded every episode I could find, and watched them in (almost) a non-stop marathon. But then...I went and gave away thirteen seasons for Christmas to friends and family (some only got Season 1, while some got all 4 available seasons). Seasons of Community and Modern Family were also popular Christmas gifts this year:)
Many of the titles on my own wish list were under the tree for me again this year (thanks guys!), even though I had pre-downloaded (and pre-watched:) most of them well before Christmas. I am currently ripping them and replacing the torrented copies, and if the extras are good, I'm ripping those too. I will watch them on any device I own that will play video, instead of only where and when and how the content providers would prefer me to watch it, and so will any guests while they are staying in our home.
OTOH, my parents don't download, but about 95% of their media is stuff my siblings and I bought for them, once we've had a chance to check it out and see if it's worth the time and money. Or if they've had a chance to see a sample of something at one of our houses, and liked it:)
There is a mountain of evidence that clearly shows that peer-to-peer downloaders BUY MORE MUSIC AND MOVIES than non-downloaders.
Indeed.
Case in point: I recently discovered a great TV show called Leverage, got hooked, and wound up downloading every episode I could find and watching them in (almost) a non-stop marathon. And guess what? I also bought and gave away thirteen seasons on DVD to friends and family this Christmas (some only got Season 1 or Season 1 and 2, while others got all four available seasons). Community and Modern Family season sets were also popular Christmas gifts this year:)
I also received many of the titles on my Christmas wish list (thanks guys!), even though I pretty much had all of them pre-downloaded (and pre-watched:) well before Christmas out of sheer impatience. Now I'm ripping and replacing the torrented copies, and if the extras are any good (some of them are excellent!, some of them are *meh*), then I'll rip those too. And I will watch them on any of my devices that can play video, not just what and when and where the content industry would prefer I watch them...and so will any guest of ours while they are in our home.
On the other hand, my parents don't download, but probably 95% of their media is stuff my siblings and I purchased for them...after checking it out (usually at their request) and figuring out if it's worth the time and money for them. We usually get it right:)
When you refuse to pay for movies, you're casting a vote against fun, big-budget movies that are made for the purpose of getting lots of people to come see them and enjoy them, and instead voting in favor of excruciatingly boring low-budget films that are made primarily so that the director could whine that the cheese-puff-snarfing American public wouldn't know great art if it bit them on their big bloated behind and subsequently didn't even buy enough tickets for the director to pay off the lien he took out on his Honda Civic to get the movie produced.
Secondly, I'm casting a vote against not being able to use the media I purchased in the manner I want, on whatever device I want for as long as I want.
I buy DVDs (okay, usually on sale) and rip them, because all of the legal digital versions available suck lame sauce in terms of DRM crap. If I'm feeling too lazy to rip it myself, I have no compunctions about grabbing a torrent.
Ok I think you need to step back for a glass of perspective and soda.
I think you need to step forward and see what people are doing on iPads and iPhones today. There are a lot of video CREATION and editing applications.
Why should Android users have to suffer with lower capabilities just because the technical elite deem some task silly, or only fit for "real computers"?
It's the worst form of technical snobbery to claim that device X "cannot do" Y, and undermines the very sprit of hacking itself that anything should be possible on ANYTHING with enough effort.
Hmmm...I was leaning towards the OP's position at first, but you make a very good point.
You also reminded me of one of my own pet peeves: the fact that the Handbrake developers decided that people should not be able to use their software on a netbook, despite the interface being pretty much completely scalable. They even throw in a snotty little dialog box that tells people that Handbrake won't work for screen resolutions under 1024x620...but it can operate just fine as long as you take out that artificial limitation, as this fellow demonstrates. Yes, it's slower (if you're actually running it on your netbook and not on an RDP session), and yes, the screen's a bit crowded, but it works and it allows me to re-encode video while away from my main systems. I set up an encode queue for overnight, and boom, it's done in the morning. On. My. Netbook.
Apparently it's been such an issue for Handbrake that it's made their FAQ page. The dev's response? "Please note, we do not intend to support netbooks or systems with low resolution screens." Now that's just being elitist.
So I suppose video editing on a tablet or phone should be just as possible, within limitations, as it is on a netbook. Yes, it'll typically take longer than it would using a 'proper' system, but that's one of the trade-offs one should expect. At least provide the tools, and let us decide how and where to use them!
Check out Andor's Trail by Oskar Wiksten and Scott Devaney (primary devs, others have also contributed of course). It's also available through the Play store.
If you're a fan of old-school hack & slash RPG's like Legend of Zelda, this is a delightful variant with hours (and hours and hours) of addicting gameplay:o)
Fair enough but you have to admit that they do take this out of context WAY to often. You set your drink down on a table they will call you out for being insulting to the Muslim faith.
Yeah, I hear you. I just want to point out, however, that there are over 1.5 billion practicing Muslims in the world. Painting them all with the same brush (as I'm sure you didn't intend to) is as fair as judging all Christians by the actions and statements of some batshit crazy militia with the slogan "for God, Guns and Glory!"
That aside, I agree that this particular protest is exceptionally stupid indeed...if they truly find it offensive, why is their beef even with Lego? It should be with Lucas, who originally created the character and setting. Logic certainly doesn't seem to factor in to this at all...
...after all, that's a good local supply of potatoes they got there.
Wonder what flavours they'll be making? Classics like Barbeque and Salt and Vinegar, or will they be targeting the specialty flavour markets, like Sauerkraut Surprise? (Surprise...it's sauerkraut flavoured!)
I think what concerns the educated public the most is RIM's lack of intelligence
Awww, you beat me to it!
Any business that's not totally dominate by a PHB should have by now at least started diversifying critical resources away from reliance on RIM.
Sadly true. And even more sadly...BB is the only device authorized for 'business' use for many companies in Canada. Is it because of too many PHB's, or too much IT inertia? I'm not sure. All I hear when I ask is that 'BB is the only secure platform', and they simply don't trust anyone else. That may have been true 10, or even 5 years ago, but now?
Anyhow, *picks up the popcorn*, let's sit back and enjoy the show!:)
'It is clear that the ugly figure of Jabba and the whole scene smacks of racial prejudice and vulgar insinuations against Asians and Orientals as people with deceitful and criminal personalities.
I have an Asian girl friend and she can't find anything offensive about this lego set. She showed it to her parents and they didn't see any issue with it and even her grandparents didn't see the issue. So as for it containing racial and prejudice against Asians, well not so much. Just because some people are to sensitive to everyday life doesn't make something offensive, it just makes them to sensitive to live the real world. Clearly someone or some small group got over worked up for no reason ( Like everyone over there does ) and hence we have a racist lego set.
Well, I was with you right up until that comment. Boo, fail.
There's a simple solution: don't buy phones under contract. There are many good unlocked phones around.
Phone contracts are a scam. If you willingly participate in such a scam, you're contributing to the problem.
It comes down to personal finances. It's the same reason vehicle leasing and 'rent to own' options are still popular alternatives to outright purchasing: the user defrays the initial ownership costs with the understanding that they don't actually 'own' the hardware until the lease or rental period is finished. While I agree this makes less sense for a $400 phone than it does for a $40,000 vehicle, it still amounts to the same reasoning.
FCC should allow unlocking of phones after the subsidy period is completed (essentially rent to own)
FCC should not only allow this, they should require the carrier to provide this service at the users request, any time after the original purchase contract is finished. It is officially the full and complete property of the user at that point, the carrier has no more (even imaginary) financial investment in the hardware. Why should the user be forced to accept a crippled phone once they have finished paying off their 'phone lease'?
AFAIK, the stated reason for crippling phones in the first place is to protect the carriers' investment in the hardware, which the user recognizes and accepts when they sign the multi-year contract...but once they have their money, there's absolutely no more need for 'protective measures', and the user is entitled to (finally) get a product that is fully functional. They may want to move to another carrier with the same device, or they may want to sell or give it away. Either way, being locked-in hampers the users ability to govern the use of their own property.
Partially due to population, that should be obvious. Also, Canada is already a socialist nation where the people have a laughable amount of control. I don't remember ever seeing anything other than a small strike in Canada. OWS and Teaparty type movements simply don't exist. What on earth does the Canadian Government have to worry about with Canadian citizens, compared to the US especially. The NWO took over Canada fully about 40 years ago. Long live the Queen eh?
Hmmm, you do seem to have some funny and completely inaccurate ideas about Canada.
A socialist nation? Because we have publicly funded healthcare, and don't let people just die in the street no doubt. Oh, and a stable banking system, let's not forget that. Although we did have those pesky OWS demonstrations too, as I recall. In fact, it was Canadians that started them (sad to say). And yes, our Unions are quite active, if maybe not quite as militant, as their counterparts are south of the border. You not hearing about strikes and labour actions speaks more to your listening skills outside your precious borders...
The population difference is only a multiplier of 10: i.e., the US has 10 times the population of Canada. Harder then to explain why there's over 200 times more requests logged from the American government, eh? Seriously, it's time you guys brought your government back in line down there:)
I find it interesting that the request for Canadian data is so low (38 requests, vs. the US at 8,438 requests), and that even with this low request rate, the rate of compliance by Google for Canadian data requests is less than 25%...interesting indeed.
Maybe our government just hasn't heard of teh google yet?:)
I can't be the only one who's creeped out about this. All my data in "the cloud"...
No, you're not the only one.
I recently picked up a Win 8 laptop to see what's what in the new platform, and I must say it has taken *way* longer than I expected to neuter and yank out all the 'helpful' cloud-based info-sharing/social/backup/spammer services...and I'm still keeping a mistrustful eye on it to be sure I got them all. That being said, once (most of) the cruft is cleared out of the way, it doesn't seem to be a bad little OS. It's just a shame that it comes all screwed up out of the box...
Yeah, dell can keep their little purse-computer, unless we can have absolute control over what it talks to, and when it talks to them...then it *might* be useful for in-house media streaming, or setting up a quick kitchen internet or something. Although given that it's wifi only, it's probably not even useful for that.
Stethoscope: "Yeah, I know we're like, essential for diagnosis...and we have an honorable history and all. Did I ever tell you my granddad worked on Lincoln? Yeah, it's pretty cool to hear him talk about the old days, before there was even stainless steel or replaceable earpieces. But I still feel that the MRI gets all the credit nowadays, you know? It's so hard to measure up to something that big, with all those fancy displays..."
Grad Student: "So, do you feel anger towards the MRI?"
Stethoscope: "Yeah...no...I don't know. It just flaunts it so much, you know? It's all like 'look, look, I can scan the entire body' and 'ooh, found that tumor' and stuff like that. But the basics are still important, right? Heart, lungs, those are still pretty key areas, am I correct?"
Grad Student: "Of course they're important, we couldn't live without them. Let's circle back a bit and talk about your grand dad some more: did you get along with him and your dad? And how was your relationship with your mom, she was a sphygmomanometer, wasn't she?"
Stethoscope: "Yeah, she was always pressuring us, but we loved her..."
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Optical media, remote controls, data compression algorithms (MP3, JPEG, etc.), plasma and LCD displays...just off the top of my head.
What are these guys smoking, I wonder?
Oh, and don't forget microwaves. Never forget microwaves.
After actually RTFA, though, I see that he's complaining that inventions in the 21st century are derivative, and all of the ones I listed are, like, so last century.
C'mon, man, give us a break! We're only 12% through this century, let's have this discussion again in 40 years or so (via a holographic virtual interface courtesy of implanted, bio-powered communications devices, perhaps...)
I don't know. Why would they want to sell bottled beverages purchased from the grocery store when they can get their own discounts by buying straight from the distributor? Oh wait...
It's not as far-fetched as you might think - the beer and soda industry already tried it a few years ago, suing a pub that bought bottled beverages cheaper at a local supermarket, arguing that those cheaper bottles were not intended for re-sale.
Maybe soup is a bad example. But it was not the only example. The fact that you clung to it while ignoring the much better example shows your bias.
I think his point was more to snub pre-made soup...because everyone in the world has both the time and desire to make soup from scratch, you know. Pre-made, clearly labelled and conveniently packaged food is no good because...I don't know, it's not made with love or something? He probably feels the same about microwave dinners.
Optical media, remote controls, data compression algorithms (MP3, JPEG, etc.), plasma and LCD displays...just off the top of my head.
What are these guys smoking, I wonder?
Can't speak for the Forgotten Realms stuff. I was never in to that.
It fully depends on the writer.
The vast majority of them are good, some are terrific (anything by either Greenwood, for example, and some of the Salvatore), and some are so bad that I couldn't make myself finish them. Something about actually having the gall to use the phrase 'shrill bellow' just set my teeth on edge...
The main benefit to the Forgotten Realms (as it is with any serial novel set) is that it's a common world with pre-defined locations / gods / major characters. Authors can pare back on the background and setting descriptions somewhat and focus on character and plot development (sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much, again it depends on the author). Generally, they're a good 'candy' read, if you're in the mood for something quick and relaxing, but not too intellectually challenging. A better use of your time than watching sitcoms, though, unless you're watching Community or Modern Family :o)
Sorry for the duplicate post, /. or my browser glitched on me and it looked like I had lost the first one.
Why do you feel entitled to other people's stuff because they wont license it to you on your terms? Why not refuse to pay AND refuse to watch it, that's a crazy idea right?
To me this sounds a lot like a land owner offering to let you hunt on his land with an exception - only if you do not drive motorized vehicles over it - and then your response being to plow through it with ATVs doing whatever the hell you want without compensation because "he didn't let me do what I want", "it's not stealing", or "it doesn't cost him anything so it should be free".
I simply require the right to use and manipulate my property how I see fit...just like I can with my purchased music and non-DRM eBooks (thanks to Baen and Tor).
Where is your outrage over people ripping their own music to mp3 (or flac or whatever) instead of shelling out again for a studio-created digital version? And paying yet again each time they wanted to move their music to a different device or convert the music to a different format? The studios certainly did not want to allow people to do that, but we just stopped buying their lame, crippled digital copies and went ahead and ripped our own from disc anyway. Yet the movie industry is fighting tooth and nail to prevent people from doing the same with their video...??
The difference between the music and the movie industry is that the music industry actually wised up (mostly) and read the writing on the wall. People wanted digital copies and weren't going to put up with their DRM bullshit, so they finally started offering their own uncrippled digital versions for sale...and made a killing. Yes, physical copy sales dropped, but the convenience, affordability and availability of mp3's more than made up the sales. Some brick and mortar stores may close...but there also used to be a lot more vinyl shops around. When technology moves forward, some get left behind.
I can't think of a single logical reason why the movie industry couldn't adopt the same model. Combat piracy by making your legal version more convenient to acquire (like iTunes for music) and at least relatively inexpensive. Okay, you can't really compete with 'free', but if it's priced at around the cost of a coffee at Starbucks for an SD version, people will go for it. Charge a bit more for the HD version...but allow people who sprung for the HD version to then create their own SD version, if they want (like you can recompress flac to mp3). Above all, don't try to restrict where and on what devices people can view the content!
To the movie industry: Host the digital files, give people around the world a chance to pay for and download them with ease and reliability...profit? I honestly can't see anything negative about this proposition. Your 'competition' on the torrent sites isn't going away any time soon, so why not try to benefit by directly offering people what they so obviously want? It is utterly baffling to me why they can't see this.
There is a mountain of evidence that clearly shows that peer-to-peer downloaders BUY MORE MUSIC AND MOVIES than non-downloaders.
Indeed.
Case in point: I recently discovered a great new (to me) show called Leverage. I got hooked, downloaded every episode I could find, and watched them in (almost) a non-stop marathon. But then...I went and gave away thirteen seasons for Christmas to friends and family (some only got Season 1, while some got all 4 available seasons). Seasons of Community and Modern Family were also popular Christmas gifts this year :)
Many of the titles on my own wish list were under the tree for me again this year (thanks guys!), even though I had pre-downloaded (and pre-watched :) most of them well before Christmas. I am currently ripping them and replacing the torrented copies, and if the extras are good, I'm ripping those too. I will watch them on any device I own that will play video, instead of only where and when and how the content providers would prefer me to watch it, and so will any guests while they are staying in our home.
OTOH, my parents don't download, but about 95% of their media is stuff my siblings and I bought for them, once we've had a chance to check it out and see if it's worth the time and money. Or if they've had a chance to see a sample of something at one of our houses, and liked it :)
There is a mountain of evidence that clearly shows that peer-to-peer downloaders BUY MORE MUSIC AND MOVIES than non-downloaders.
Indeed.
Case in point: I recently discovered a great TV show called Leverage, got hooked, and wound up downloading every episode I could find and watching them in (almost) a non-stop marathon. And guess what? I also bought and gave away thirteen seasons on DVD to friends and family this Christmas (some only got Season 1 or Season 1 and 2, while others got all four available seasons). Community and Modern Family season sets were also popular Christmas gifts this year :)
I also received many of the titles on my Christmas wish list (thanks guys!), even though I pretty much had all of them pre-downloaded (and pre-watched :) well before Christmas out of sheer impatience. Now I'm ripping and replacing the torrented copies, and if the extras are any good (some of them are excellent!, some of them are *meh*), then I'll rip those too. And I will watch them on any of my devices that can play video, not just what and when and where the content industry would prefer I watch them...and so will any guest of ours while they are in our home.
On the other hand, my parents don't download, but probably 95% of their media is stuff my siblings and I purchased for them...after checking it out (usually at their request) and figuring out if it's worth the time and money for them. We usually get it right :)
When you refuse to pay for movies, you're casting a vote against fun, big-budget movies that are made for the purpose of getting lots of people to come see them and enjoy them, and instead voting in favor of excruciatingly boring low-budget films that are made primarily so that the director could whine that the cheese-puff-snarfing American public wouldn't know great art if it bit them on their big bloated behind and subsequently didn't even buy enough tickets for the director to pay off the lien he took out on his Honda Civic to get the movie produced.
Firstly, this.
Secondly, I'm casting a vote against not being able to use the media I purchased in the manner I want, on whatever device I want for as long as I want.
I buy DVDs (okay, usually on sale) and rip them, because all of the legal digital versions available suck lame sauce in terms of DRM crap. If I'm feeling too lazy to rip it myself, I have no compunctions about grabbing a torrent.
In conclusion, I would like to refer you to this handy illustrated guide.
Oh, and this one too.
You want to edit A/V stuff... on a cell phone?
Ok I think you need to step back for a glass of perspective and soda.
I think you need to step forward and see what people are doing on iPads and iPhones today. There are a lot of video CREATION and editing applications.
Why should Android users have to suffer with lower capabilities just because the technical elite deem some task silly, or only fit for "real computers"?
It's the worst form of technical snobbery to claim that device X "cannot do" Y, and undermines the very sprit of hacking itself that anything should be possible on ANYTHING with enough effort.
Hmmm...I was leaning towards the OP's position at first, but you make a very good point.
You also reminded me of one of my own pet peeves: the fact that the Handbrake developers decided that people should not be able to use their software on a netbook, despite the interface being pretty much completely scalable. They even throw in a snotty little dialog box that tells people that Handbrake won't work for screen resolutions under 1024x620...but it can operate just fine as long as you take out that artificial limitation, as this fellow demonstrates. Yes, it's slower (if you're actually running it on your netbook and not on an RDP session), and yes, the screen's a bit crowded, but it works and it allows me to re-encode video while away from my main systems. I set up an encode queue for overnight, and boom, it's done in the morning. On. My. Netbook.
Apparently it's been such an issue for Handbrake that it's made their FAQ page. The dev's response? "Please note, we do not intend to support netbooks or systems with low resolution screens." Now that's just being elitist.
So I suppose video editing on a tablet or phone should be just as possible, within limitations, as it is on a netbook. Yes, it'll typically take longer than it would using a 'proper' system, but that's one of the trade-offs one should expect. At least provide the tools, and let us decide how and where to use them!
Check out Andor's Trail by Oskar Wiksten and Scott Devaney (primary devs, others have also contributed of course). It's also available through the Play store.
If you're a fan of old-school hack & slash RPG's like Legend of Zelda, this is a delightful variant with hours (and hours and hours) of addicting gameplay :o)
Fair enough but you have to admit that they do take this out of context WAY to often. You set your drink down on a table they will call you out for being insulting to the Muslim faith.
Yeah, I hear you. I just want to point out, however, that there are over 1.5 billion practicing Muslims in the world. Painting them all with the same brush (as I'm sure you didn't intend to) is as fair as judging all Christians by the actions and statements of some batshit crazy militia with the slogan "for God, Guns and Glory!"
That aside, I agree that this particular protest is exceptionally stupid indeed...if they truly find it offensive, why is their beef even with Lego? It should be with Lucas, who originally created the character and setting. Logic certainly doesn't seem to factor in to this at all...
...after all, that's a good local supply of potatoes they got there.
Wonder what flavours they'll be making? Classics like Barbeque and Salt and Vinegar, or will they be targeting the specialty flavour markets, like Sauerkraut Surprise? (Surprise...it's sauerkraut flavoured!)
Meh...please excuse my Friday silliness... ;o)
I think what concerns the educated public the most is RIM's lack of intelligence
Awww, you beat me to it!
Any business that's not totally dominate by a PHB should have by now at least started diversifying critical resources away from reliance on RIM.
Sadly true. And even more sadly...BB is the only device authorized for 'business' use for many companies in Canada. Is it because of too many PHB's, or too much IT inertia? I'm not sure. All I hear when I ask is that 'BB is the only secure platform', and they simply don't trust anyone else. That may have been true 10, or even 5 years ago, but now?
Anyhow, *picks up the popcorn*, let's sit back and enjoy the show! :)
First, Lego didn't design Jabba's Palace. I'm pretty sure that was under LucasArts' realm.
Second, Jabba's Palace is modeled like all the other homes on Tatooine. Except his is bigger. It's desert design influencing desert design.
Third, Jabba's not the only one smoking from a hookah like device in the movie.
Fourth, omg stop being the dumb.
Mod points if I had 'em to give...well summarized!
'It is clear that the ugly figure of Jabba and the whole scene smacks of racial prejudice and vulgar insinuations against Asians and Orientals as people with deceitful and criminal personalities.
I have an Asian girl friend and she can't find anything offensive about this lego set. She showed it to her parents and they didn't see any issue with it and even her grandparents didn't see the issue. So as for it containing racial and prejudice against Asians, well not so much. Just because some people are to sensitive to everyday life doesn't make something offensive, it just makes them to sensitive to live the real world. Clearly someone or some small group got over worked up for no reason ( Like everyone over there does ) and hence we have a racist lego set.
Well, I was with you right up until that comment. Boo, fail.
There's a simple solution: don't buy phones under contract. There are many good unlocked phones around.
Phone contracts are a scam. If you willingly participate in such a scam, you're contributing to the problem.
It comes down to personal finances. It's the same reason vehicle leasing and 'rent to own' options are still popular alternatives to outright purchasing: the user defrays the initial ownership costs with the understanding that they don't actually 'own' the hardware until the lease or rental period is finished. While I agree this makes less sense for a $400 phone than it does for a $40,000 vehicle, it still amounts to the same reasoning.
FCC should allow unlocking of phones after the subsidy period is completed (essentially rent to own)
FCC should not only allow this, they should require the carrier to provide this service at the users request, any time after the original purchase contract is finished. It is officially the full and complete property of the user at that point, the carrier has no more (even imaginary) financial investment in the hardware. Why should the user be forced to accept a crippled phone once they have finished paying off their 'phone lease'?
AFAIK, the stated reason for crippling phones in the first place is to protect the carriers' investment in the hardware, which the user recognizes and accepts when they sign the multi-year contract...but once they have their money, there's absolutely no more need for 'protective measures', and the user is entitled to (finally) get a product that is fully functional. They may want to move to another carrier with the same device, or they may want to sell or give it away. Either way, being locked-in hampers the users ability to govern the use of their own property.
Partially due to population, that should be obvious. Also, Canada is already a socialist nation where the people have a laughable amount of control. I don't remember ever seeing anything other than a small strike in Canada. OWS and Teaparty type movements simply don't exist. What on earth does the Canadian Government have to worry about with Canadian citizens, compared to the US especially. The NWO took over Canada fully about 40 years ago. Long live the Queen eh?
Hmmm, you do seem to have some funny and completely inaccurate ideas about Canada.
A socialist nation? Because we have publicly funded healthcare, and don't let people just die in the street no doubt. Oh, and a stable banking system, let's not forget that. Although we did have those pesky OWS demonstrations too, as I recall. In fact, it was Canadians that started them (sad to say). And yes, our Unions are quite active, if maybe not quite as militant, as their counterparts are south of the border. You not hearing about strikes and labour actions speaks more to your listening skills outside your precious borders...
The population difference is only a multiplier of 10: i.e., the US has 10 times the population of Canada. Harder then to explain why there's over 200 times more requests logged from the American government, eh? Seriously, it's time you guys brought your government back in line down there :)
I find it interesting that the request for Canadian data is so low (38 requests, vs. the US at 8,438 requests), and that even with this low request rate, the rate of compliance by Google for Canadian data requests is less than 25%...interesting indeed.
Maybe our government just hasn't heard of teh google yet? :)
megaconz ... Intentional or not... seems accurate enough.
Thanks! That's a handy mnemonic for remembering the site name...
I can't be the only one who's creeped out about this. All my data in "the cloud"...
No, you're not the only one.
I recently picked up a Win 8 laptop to see what's what in the new platform, and I must say it has taken *way* longer than I expected to neuter and yank out all the 'helpful' cloud-based info-sharing/social/backup/spammer services...and I'm still keeping a mistrustful eye on it to be sure I got them all. That being said, once (most of) the cruft is cleared out of the way, it doesn't seem to be a bad little OS. It's just a shame that it comes all screwed up out of the box...
Yeah, dell can keep their little purse-computer, unless we can have absolute control over what it talks to, and when it talks to them...then it *might* be useful for in-house media streaming, or setting up a quick kitchen internet or something. Although given that it's wifi only, it's probably not even useful for that.
Welcome to the new iPhone 11*...now limper than ever!
*Note: substitute 'Galaxy XYZ' if you're an Apple fan
What is the official reason for requesting the data anyway? Kim is being prosecuted and the site is down.
Nosiness.
Stethoscope: "Yeah, I know we're like, essential for diagnosis...and we have an honorable history and all. Did I ever tell you my granddad worked on Lincoln? Yeah, it's pretty cool to hear him talk about the old days, before there was even stainless steel or replaceable earpieces. But I still feel that the MRI gets all the credit nowadays, you know? It's so hard to measure up to something that big, with all those fancy displays..."
Grad Student: "So, do you feel anger towards the MRI?"
Stethoscope: "Yeah...no...I don't know. It just flaunts it so much, you know? It's all like 'look, look, I can scan the entire body' and 'ooh, found that tumor' and stuff like that. But the basics are still important, right? Heart, lungs, those are still pretty key areas, am I correct?"
Grad Student: "Of course they're important, we couldn't live without them. Let's circle back a bit and talk about your grand dad some more: did you get along with him and your dad? And how was your relationship with your mom, she was a sphygmomanometer, wasn't she?"
Stethoscope: "Yeah, she was always pressuring us, but we loved her..."