"The Release of Mac OS X seems to have started this trend. Microsoft soon followed suit with Windows Vista."
For very large values of 'soon.':-)
That said, I've launched OS X's chess a handful of times to show people how cool it looks... compared to the thousands of times I've launched Microsoft's included games (mostly Freecell.) If I ever get Vista, one of the first things I'll do is get the old games working on it--the new ones look like absolute SHIT. Multicolored, flashy shit, but shit nonetheless.
Yup. Assuming you have an average-to-quiet HTPC (hint: store the movies on a server that is well-cooled and in another room) you are probably facing one of two scenarios: - you've got a conventional TV, therefore your HTPC is already far away from you and you can't hear it, or - you've got a projector, in which case you can probably solve PC noise however you solved projector noise.
My projector (an old Epson) and my 'HTPC' (just a PPC Mac Mini; plays SD content just fine; an Intel Mini will handle HD if the need ever arises) are both behind me. The Mini is as close to silent as anything gets, and the projector is quiet enough that I only hear it when whatever I'm watching is totally silent--and even then, the fan is just white noise, so I almost never notice it. Movies (DVDs ripped to H264 MP4, 2-pass, ~1500kbps) are stored on my G5's 500 GB drives. (Soon to be a Mac Pro, with more/larger drives added as needed.)
And that fact that it carries sound is laughable too. WTF?!? Didn't we just spend 20 years being sold home theater gear and being told how the built-in speakers suck? And now the great leap forward is to use a shitty integrated cable like Apple shipped on the 6100 and abandoned over a decade ago?!?!?
> An HDMI enabled video card is *exactly* what some have been waiting for. > Now we can preview our work on a TV screen, which has a different colour > space to computer monitors
Then use high-quality cables. (Yes, Monster Cables are pretty much BS, but there is such thing as high-quality VGA cables that look good over "long" runs--and believe me, your basement isn't that long. Ask anyone who does trade shows--25' to 50' is no problem at all.) Or, put your computer close to your display.
Command-1 through Command-9 activate the first 9 links in your bookmark bar. This works even when the bookmark bar is hidden. If you like speed and real estate (and have a good memory) it's a great way to go. I've set the first 4 links to be the same on every Mac I use and it's really handy--my most-visited sites are a keystroke away and it's the same wherever I am.
Dude, get over it. '127.0.0.1' == 'the place I am at' == 'home.' Close enough. It's a joke. Then again, i think I'm wasting my breath explaining this to someone who says with an (allegedly) straight face "Please stop with the nonsensical jokes."
> So the only reason you are left with for wanting Linux on Dells is so that > the average consumer will see that they have alternatives to Windows.
Actually another reason--and probably an even bigger reason--is for people who want to run Linux at work, but work for large companies which only buy from Dell--companies with large IT departments who only want to buy things that have vendor support. Yes, I know, you can pay a dozen companies for Linux support, but the key here is to buy a supported computer from a vendor you're already doing business with. It's much, much easier to get things done in the corporate world when you can say "Let's buy this new product from this company we already deal with (and know, and trust, and we have support agreements, and they take our POs)" rather than "Let's do this new thing AND get a new company to do it!" I couldn't convince my boss to buy a support contract from RedHat--or even IBM--in a million years, but if Dell sold a computer with Linux on it I could order one tomorrow.
There are 3 thing on a semi-automatic* firearm that make noise:
1) the sound of the gunpowder burning 2) the crack of the bullet as it breaks the sound barrier 3) the sound of the weapon's action cycling (i.e., the part that ejects the empty shell casing and loads a fresh round into the chamber)
Silencers (yes, properly called 'supressors') only deal with #1. True, most don't totally silence the weapon, but silencers are still useful if they make it quieter overall, and the muffled sound is also harder to localize--i.e., hard to tell where the sound came from. They were originally developed by the same guy who invented mufflers for cars just to make the hobby quieter. Fun note from the Wikipedia page you mention: "The suppressor was first introduced into the United States Army Air Forces before World War II. Office of Strategic Services agents during World War II favored the newly-designed High Standard HDM.22 caliber pistol. The addition of a sound suppressor baffle to the barrel absorbed 90% of the noise. William Joseph Donovan, Director of the OSS, demonstrated the pistol for President Roosevelt while visiting the White House. Donovan fired ten shots into a sandbag without interrupting the President as he dictated a letter."
#2 can be addressed by using subsonic ammunition. It's easy to use a lighter charge and/or heavier bullet to reduce the final speed. The traditional.45 ACP load is subsonic--230gr @ 870fps, if memory serves. 9mm comes in supersonic and subsonic varieties--subsonic loads are usually 147gr @ 950fps. (Speed of sound = about 1100 fps.)
Specially-built pistols address #3. Pistols exist with an 'action lock' which prevents the weapon from cycling normally. This increases the interval between shots (the pistol must be unlocked, cycled, and re-locked) but the result is a very quiet weapon, when combined with a suitable load and good silencer.
I've only fired one--a silenced Beretta 92FS with supersonic ammunition at an indoor range--and while it wasn't totally silent, it was noticeably quieter than a normal Beretta. I just heard a 'crack-thwack' which was a combination of all the noises plus the bullet hitting the backstop 50 feet away. I'd love to fire one, with proper ammo, outdoors, into a soft backstop. YouTube has lots of videos of silenced weapons. Of course, a typical camera can't capture a regular weapon's noise accurately in the first place, but you can watch a few and get an idea of what real silencers do. One thing is for sure--most don't make the 'kshew' noise heard in movies.
Long story short:.22s can be made pretty close to silent. Larger rounds, not so much.
* revolvers can't be silenced due to the gap between the cylinder and barrel. #3 doesn't apply to single-shot, bolt-action, or pump-action weapons.
Then: chip-of-the-year: Socket 7, Slot 1, etc. Now: many, many more.
Then: RAM-of-the-year: 30 pin SIMMs, 72 pin SIMMs, PC-66 DIMMs, PC-100, PC-133 Now: many, many more.
Then: Speeds in MHz, and a couple extra features: L2 cache, MMX, 3DNow, SSE, etc. Now: All these 'comparable' numbers, or numbers that have no immediately discernible significance.
I quit building machines when the price advantage wasn't there any more. I remember building computers with carefully selected components for less than $700 (partially by omitting things I didn't need, like a sound card) compared to OEM computers which were $1,200 and up. Then for a few years it was more or less a wash, but you took comfort in the fact that you picked quality components, had a balanced system, and could easily upgrade. But once Dell started selling PCs for less than $500, I could barely even buy parts for that much, to say nothing of assembly time. (Especially when you factor in a legit Windows license.) And building for someone else? Who needs that headache! Tell them to buy an OEM and call the manufacturer if something goes wrong. Too often I built systems and was forever on the hook to fix them, even if the problem had nothing to do with the hardware I chose.
If you're a gamer, or want a tip-top system, or have other special needs or wants, by all means, build it yourself. I'm NOT saying no one should build their own system--I built plenty, and I'm glad I did. I'm just pointing out why I *don't* build my own anymore.
Take another look at your numbers. You don't want to buy a $674 Mac Mini* because of the hard drive, and you wish there was a similar machine for $1100? A) You can buy a lot of replacement hard drives for $426, or B) you can buy MiniStacks for them. Google for tests--they're faster than the internal drives. (Or C: buy 2 spare Minis for every 3 you deploy.)
By the way, the new Minis use SATA drives and performance is pretty good. Also: I bought a PPC Mac Mini the month it was introduced and it's been running 24/7/365 ever since, as my workstation and webserver. So I wouldn't stay up nights worrying about drive longevity. A laptop hard drive in a well-ventilated case in a climate-controlled office will probably last longer than the same drive in a laptop.
As for user serviceability, they're a bit tricky to get into, but not impossible. Google for disassembly guides and buy a putty knife.
* $674 = $599 + $75 for RAM. I personally think Core Due is just about as good as Core 2 Duo, but if you disagree... wait a few months. The Minis are due for an upgrade.
First of all, that survey is bullshit. I bet a survey taken before the iPod was introduced would have shown that no one would pay $400 for a 5 GB MP3 player. (No sense mentioning the infamous Slashdot coverage of its launch. Just curious--does Taco own an iPod? Or a Nomad?) In a quote attributed to Henry Ford, "If I would have asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse." The iPhone is gorgeous, and its price is in line with its features. It will sell just fine. Furthermore, IT WILL GET BETTER. The first iPod cost $400, had 5 GB storage, played MP3s, and had a monochrome display. Today's $400 iPod--wait, sorry, there isn't one, the most expensive is $350--has 80 GB storage, shows pictures, plays videos, and has a larger full-color screen. Apple doesn't need to have a mindblowing success with the first iteration. Like all Apple products, it will start off nice and pricey, then it will get nicer and less expensive over time. By Fall or Winter 2008, they'll probably be 8 GB and 16 GB for $299 and $349, and lots of people will buy them. Maybe they'll even keep making the 4 GB model, which could be $199 by 2009. It's Apple's way: make one pass for all the people with money, then take another pass for the next group down, and so on and so on and so on.
Speaking of price, this guy says that the Newton was $700 when it was introduced 14 years ago and that the iPhone, at $500, is in danger. Well, $700 in 1994 was a LOT more than $500 is today. And the Newton tried to create a new market: it was looking for people who wanted to carry something the size of a paperback and wanted to take notes electronically. The iPhone is looking to go after a portion of existing markets: people who already pay hundreds of dollars for phones, PDAs, and MP3 players.
Speaking of market, he says "Apple faces significant competition, something it didn't face in 1993 when it launched Newton." Yeah, but I'd rather have 10% of a HUGE market than 100% of a tiny one. "And you can bet that competition from the likes of Samsung and LG will both be good (although probably not as good as iPhone) and most assuredly cheaper." Yeah, like all those cheap non-Apple MP3 players that dominate the market now. Oh, wait...
"It's also becoming clear that Apple may be suffering from excessive hubris. That is evident by its strong demands on its partner in the U.S., Cingular/AT&T. The demands, including a slice of the cellular revenues and control of the sales channel, were so strong that Verizon Wireless turned the deal down." Ha. Apple is doing Cingular a fucking FAVOR by dragging them into the late 20th century with great-but-freaking-OBVIOUS features like random-access voicemail. Apple is going to sell thousands of these phones on that feature ALONE. People who hate Apple AND hate Cingular but get tons of voicemail and want to deal with it easily will be crawling over people to get an iPhone. (Especially if they ever offer a web-based gateway to voicemail--wouldn't THAT be something. Maybe even with voice recognition to transcribe messages so you can 'preview' them as text and then listen if you want to verify details.) Apple is going to hurt Cingular the same way that VCRs hurt the movie industry. This could even change how phones get used. Caller ID + great voicemail means that businesspeople might start giving out their mobile number like candy, knowing that they can easily deal with a HUGE volume of calls. I forget if it was demo'ed or not, but I'm sure the iPhone will come with an option "don't make any noise for an incoming call unless it's someone in my address book." You could run a whole business off of an iPhone, but never be interrupted during dinner.
This reminds me of George Lucas. He made Star Wars, the single biggest movie of all time (at the time) and he still had to fight tooth-and-nail to get The Empire Strikes Back made. Apple has pretty much demonstrated what they do, and what they do well, in the last few years. Shiny, gorgeous, expensive-but-worth it gadgets with great UI. Why are
> Policies are going to have to get implemented if you want to see cops > following the traffic laws without sirens. People aren't going to solve > this problem by bitching about cops and calling them assholes.
Good idea. Maybe as the first step towards getting policies changed, they could calmly, legally gather evidence to prove that there is a reason that these policies should exist, perhaps by legally videotaping cops while they're speeding... hmm, I think I read about someone doing that recently. IIRC, it didn't turn out too well. And they didn't even call the cops assholes.
>> I must point out that most of my experience with >> police has NOT been when I was doing something wrong.
> You are being hypocritical
No, I'm being 100% factual, literal... I don't know else how to say it. I'm not saying "he arrested me for no good reason!" I mean, like, I'm in a 7-11 and some cops come in. Or I'm at the mall, or the movies, or in any other public space, and cops arrive--not because of a disturbance, they're just there because they're there. *That's* what I mean. I've never been arrested, held, or even questioned by police. All I've ever done is get the occasional parking or speeding ticket. No DUIs, no accidents, not even a ticket for running a stop sign or red light. Just speeding, like 90% of the population does 90% of the time. Even so, when I get tickets, I don't have a magical badge I can wave to make the ticket go away, I just accept my fate... same as any civilian, or off-duty cop, should do.
> If you want cops to follow the laws better, than try to get policies > implemented that punish them for breaking the law, because > right now, there aren't that many.
We DO have policies. They're called LAWS. Police are exempt from some laws in the course of their duties--they can park in red zones, speed, and shoot people, to name just a few--but they are NOT exempt 100% of the time. An off-duty cop who speeds for no good reason should be ticketable just like the rest of us are.
Oops.:-) Well, I'll be honest, I'm more familiar with the English than the Latin, but I posted in Latin due to the reasons posted above--but the first Google match for my English search had the Latin quote as I posted it. I see that Wikipedia has the words in a different, and presumably correct, order. Thanks for pointing that out. Googling for both versions shows 486 matches vs. 310,000. Guess I was just unlucky.:-p
> Even off duty, he drove like a speed demon. I asked him what > happens if he got pulled over for speeding. He said he simply > shows the cop his police identification, and the cop will let > him go about his way. So there you have it, he speeds because > he can, not because he is on some evil power trip.
But cops should lead by example. They shouldn't speed if their lights and sirens aren't on. When cops speed, they're saying "This particular law doesn't matter." Even when driving a civilian vehicle, everyone sees them and sees just one more person speeding. But they still give out bullshit tickets, like one I got for doing 48 MPH on a nearly-deserted, 3-lanes-each-way road that just so happens to have a 35 mph posted limit along a 2-mile segment. (The rest of the road is 45 mph or 50.) I don't know about Phoenix, but cops in Orlando zip in and out of traffic on I-4 and tailgate like mad. So yes, I would say very much that the problem is with the cops themselves.
And remember, the plural of "anecdote" is not "data." Just because you have one friend who is a good cop does not mean that the other poster has no point. It has been my experience, meeting many cops in a variety of circumstances*, that yes, many ARE power-tripping assholes.
* I must point out that most of my experience with police has NOT been when I was doing something wrong.
> Just remember, if we force police to pull themselves over, > we are forcing them to work against each other.
Or maybe they could just NOT BREAK THE LAW IN THE FIRST PLACE. Just a thought.
I agree. I want to get one but last time I asked, my local Target said they get a handful of units every couple weeks and they disappear within hours. They've usually got a few PS3s in stock now.
Slashdot Mirror
"The Release of Mac OS X seems to have started this trend. Microsoft soon followed suit with Windows Vista."
:-)
For very large values of 'soon.'
That said, I've launched OS X's chess a handful of times to show people how cool it looks... compared to the thousands of times I've launched Microsoft's included games (mostly Freecell.) If I ever get Vista, one of the first things I'll do is get the old games working on it--the new ones look like absolute SHIT. Multicolored, flashy shit, but shit nonetheless.
They must be looking for a new noble cause to undertake since they solved Spam last year. Go team!
Yup. Assuming you have an average-to-quiet HTPC (hint: store the movies on a server that is well-cooled and in another room) you are probably facing one of two scenarios:
- you've got a conventional TV, therefore your HTPC is already far away from you and you can't hear it, or
- you've got a projector, in which case you can probably solve PC noise however you solved projector noise.
My projector (an old Epson) and my 'HTPC' (just a PPC Mac Mini; plays SD content just fine; an Intel Mini will handle HD if the need ever arises) are both behind me. The Mini is as close to silent as anything gets, and the projector is quiet enough that I only hear it when whatever I'm watching is totally silent--and even then, the fan is just white noise, so I almost never notice it. Movies (DVDs ripped to H264 MP4, 2-pass, ~1500kbps) are stored on my G5's 500 GB drives. (Soon to be a Mac Pro, with more/larger drives added as needed.)
And that fact that it carries sound is laughable too. WTF?!? Didn't we just spend 20 years being sold home theater gear and being told how the built-in speakers suck? And now the great leap forward is to use a shitty integrated cable like Apple shipped on the 6100 and abandoned over a decade ago?!?!?
> An HDMI enabled video card is *exactly* what some have been waiting for.
> Now we can preview our work on a TV screen, which has a different colour
> space to computer monitors
Wouldn't a DVI to HDMI converter work?
Then use high-quality cables. (Yes, Monster Cables are pretty much BS, but there is such thing as high-quality VGA cables that look good over "long" runs--and believe me, your basement isn't that long. Ask anyone who does trade shows--25' to 50' is no problem at all.) Or, put your computer close to your display.
Am I the only one who read that and saw "OpenOffice.org Tries to Do Well"?
May I sew you to your sheets?
Microsoft has lots of money and their growth is slowing. Maybe they could help. :-)
Command-1 through Command-9 activate the first 9 links in your bookmark bar. This works even when the bookmark bar is hidden. If you like speed and real estate (and have a good memory) it's a great way to go. I've set the first 4 links to be the same on every Mac I use and it's really handy--my most-visited sites are a keystroke away and it's the same wherever I am.
Dude, get over it. '127.0.0.1' == 'the place I am at' == 'home.' Close enough. It's a joke. Then again, i think I'm wasting my breath explaining this to someone who says with an (allegedly) straight face "Please stop with the nonsensical jokes."
> So the only reason you are left with for wanting Linux on Dells is so that
> the average consumer will see that they have alternatives to Windows.
Actually another reason--and probably an even bigger reason--is for people who want to run Linux at work, but work for large companies which only buy from Dell--companies with large IT departments who only want to buy things that have vendor support. Yes, I know, you can pay a dozen companies for Linux support, but the key here is to buy a supported computer from a vendor you're already doing business with. It's much, much easier to get things done in the corporate world when you can say "Let's buy this new product from this company we already deal with (and know, and trust, and we have support agreements, and they take our POs)" rather than "Let's do this new thing AND get a new company to do it!" I couldn't convince my boss to buy a support contract from RedHat--or even IBM--in a million years, but if Dell sold a computer with Linux on it I could order one tomorrow.
There are 3 thing on a semi-automatic* firearm that make noise:
.22 caliber pistol. The addition of a sound suppressor baffle to the barrel absorbed 90% of the noise. William Joseph Donovan, Director of the OSS, demonstrated the pistol for President Roosevelt while visiting the White House. Donovan fired ten shots into a sandbag without interrupting the President as he dictated a letter."
.45 ACP load is subsonic--230gr @ 870fps, if memory serves. 9mm comes in supersonic and subsonic varieties--subsonic loads are usually 147gr @ 950fps. (Speed of sound = about 1100 fps.)
.22s can be made pretty close to silent. Larger rounds, not so much.
1) the sound of the gunpowder burning
2) the crack of the bullet as it breaks the sound barrier
3) the sound of the weapon's action cycling (i.e., the part that ejects the empty shell casing and loads a fresh round into the chamber)
Silencers (yes, properly called 'supressors') only deal with #1. True, most don't totally silence the weapon, but silencers are still useful if they make it quieter overall, and the muffled sound is also harder to localize--i.e., hard to tell where the sound came from. They were originally developed by the same guy who invented mufflers for cars just to make the hobby quieter. Fun note from the Wikipedia page you mention: "The suppressor was first introduced into the United States Army Air Forces before World War II. Office of Strategic Services agents during World War II favored the newly-designed High Standard HDM
#2 can be addressed by using subsonic ammunition. It's easy to use a lighter charge and/or heavier bullet to reduce the final speed. The traditional
Specially-built pistols address #3. Pistols exist with an 'action lock' which prevents the weapon from cycling normally. This increases the interval between shots (the pistol must be unlocked, cycled, and re-locked) but the result is a very quiet weapon, when combined with a suitable load and good silencer.
I've only fired one--a silenced Beretta 92FS with supersonic ammunition at an indoor range--and while it wasn't totally silent, it was noticeably quieter than a normal Beretta. I just heard a 'crack-thwack' which was a combination of all the noises plus the bullet hitting the backstop 50 feet away. I'd love to fire one, with proper ammo, outdoors, into a soft backstop. YouTube has lots of videos of silenced weapons. Of course, a typical camera can't capture a regular weapon's noise accurately in the first place, but you can watch a few and get an idea of what real silencers do. One thing is for sure--most don't make the 'kshew' noise heard in movies.
Long story short:
* revolvers can't be silenced due to the gap between the cylinder and barrel. #3 doesn't apply to single-shot, bolt-action, or pump-action weapons.
It goes both ways.
Then: chip-of-the-year: Socket 7, Slot 1, etc.
Now: many, many more.
Then: RAM-of-the-year: 30 pin SIMMs, 72 pin SIMMs, PC-66 DIMMs, PC-100, PC-133
Now: many, many more.
Then: Speeds in MHz, and a couple extra features: L2 cache, MMX, 3DNow, SSE, etc.
Now: All these 'comparable' numbers, or numbers that have no immediately discernible significance.
I quit building machines when the price advantage wasn't there any more. I remember building computers with carefully selected components for less than $700 (partially by omitting things I didn't need, like a sound card) compared to OEM computers which were $1,200 and up. Then for a few years it was more or less a wash, but you took comfort in the fact that you picked quality components, had a balanced system, and could easily upgrade. But once Dell started selling PCs for less than $500, I could barely even buy parts for that much, to say nothing of assembly time. (Especially when you factor in a legit Windows license.) And building for someone else? Who needs that headache! Tell them to buy an OEM and call the manufacturer if something goes wrong. Too often I built systems and was forever on the hook to fix them, even if the problem had nothing to do with the hardware I chose.
If you're a gamer, or want a tip-top system, or have other special needs or wants, by all means, build it yourself. I'm NOT saying no one should build their own system--I built plenty, and I'm glad I did. I'm just pointing out why I *don't* build my own anymore.
Take another look at your numbers. You don't want to buy a $674 Mac Mini* because of the hard drive, and you wish there was a similar machine for $1100? A) You can buy a lot of replacement hard drives for $426, or B) you can buy MiniStacks for them. Google for tests--they're faster than the internal drives. (Or C: buy 2 spare Minis for every 3 you deploy.)
By the way, the new Minis use SATA drives and performance is pretty good. Also: I bought a PPC Mac Mini the month it was introduced and it's been running 24/7/365 ever since, as my workstation and webserver. So I wouldn't stay up nights worrying about drive longevity. A laptop hard drive in a well-ventilated case in a climate-controlled office will probably last longer than the same drive in a laptop.
As for user serviceability, they're a bit tricky to get into, but not impossible. Google for disassembly guides and buy a putty knife.
* $674 = $599 + $75 for RAM. I personally think Core Due is just about as good as Core 2 Duo, but if you disagree... wait a few months. The Minis are due for an upgrade.
Don't worry about the mod points. Thanks for the kind words.
First of all, that survey is bullshit. I bet a survey taken before the iPod was introduced would have shown that no one would pay $400 for a 5 GB MP3 player. (No sense mentioning the infamous Slashdot coverage of its launch. Just curious--does Taco own an iPod? Or a Nomad?) In a quote attributed to Henry Ford, "If I would have asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse." The iPhone is gorgeous, and its price is in line with its features. It will sell just fine. Furthermore, IT WILL GET BETTER. The first iPod cost $400, had 5 GB storage, played MP3s, and had a monochrome display. Today's $400 iPod--wait, sorry, there isn't one, the most expensive is $350--has 80 GB storage, shows pictures, plays videos, and has a larger full-color screen. Apple doesn't need to have a mindblowing success with the first iteration. Like all Apple products, it will start off nice and pricey, then it will get nicer and less expensive over time. By Fall or Winter 2008, they'll probably be 8 GB and 16 GB for $299 and $349, and lots of people will buy them. Maybe they'll even keep making the 4 GB model, which could be $199 by 2009. It's Apple's way: make one pass for all the people with money, then take another pass for the next group down, and so on and so on and so on.
Speaking of price, this guy says that the Newton was $700 when it was introduced 14 years ago and that the iPhone, at $500, is in danger. Well, $700 in 1994 was a LOT more than $500 is today. And the Newton tried to create a new market: it was looking for people who wanted to carry something the size of a paperback and wanted to take notes electronically. The iPhone is looking to go after a portion of existing markets: people who already pay hundreds of dollars for phones, PDAs, and MP3 players.
Speaking of market, he says "Apple faces significant competition, something it didn't face in 1993 when it launched Newton." Yeah, but I'd rather have 10% of a HUGE market than 100% of a tiny one. "And you can bet that competition from the likes of Samsung and LG will both be good (although probably not as good as iPhone) and most assuredly cheaper." Yeah, like all those cheap non-Apple MP3 players that dominate the market now. Oh, wait...
"It's also becoming clear that Apple may be suffering from excessive hubris. That is evident by its strong demands on its partner in the U.S., Cingular/AT&T. The demands, including a slice of the cellular revenues and control of the sales channel, were so strong that Verizon Wireless turned the deal down." Ha. Apple is doing Cingular a fucking FAVOR by dragging them into the late 20th century with great-but-freaking-OBVIOUS features like random-access voicemail. Apple is going to sell thousands of these phones on that feature ALONE. People who hate Apple AND hate Cingular but get tons of voicemail and want to deal with it easily will be crawling over people to get an iPhone. (Especially if they ever offer a web-based gateway to voicemail--wouldn't THAT be something. Maybe even with voice recognition to transcribe messages so you can 'preview' them as text and then listen if you want to verify details.) Apple is going to hurt Cingular the same way that VCRs hurt the movie industry. This could even change how phones get used. Caller ID + great voicemail means that businesspeople might start giving out their mobile number like candy, knowing that they can easily deal with a HUGE volume of calls. I forget if it was demo'ed or not, but I'm sure the iPhone will come with an option "don't make any noise for an incoming call unless it's someone in my address book." You could run a whole business off of an iPhone, but never be interrupted during dinner.
This reminds me of George Lucas. He made Star Wars, the single biggest movie of all time (at the time) and he still had to fight tooth-and-nail to get The Empire Strikes Back made. Apple has pretty much demonstrated what they do, and what they do well, in the last few years. Shiny, gorgeous, expensive-but-worth it gadgets with great UI. Why are
I recommend Hitchcock's Rope.
> Policies are going to have to get implemented if you want to see cops
> following the traffic laws without sirens. People aren't going to solve
> this problem by bitching about cops and calling them assholes.
Good idea. Maybe as the first step towards getting policies changed, they could calmly, legally gather evidence to prove that there is a reason that these policies should exist, perhaps by legally videotaping cops while they're speeding... hmm, I think I read about someone doing that recently. IIRC, it didn't turn out too well. And they didn't even call the cops assholes.
>> I must point out that most of my experience with
>> police has NOT been when I was doing something wrong.
> You are being hypocritical
No, I'm being 100% factual, literal... I don't know else how to say it. I'm not saying "he arrested me for no good reason!" I mean, like, I'm in a 7-11 and some cops come in. Or I'm at the mall, or the movies, or in any other public space, and cops arrive--not because of a disturbance, they're just there because they're there. *That's* what I mean. I've never been arrested, held, or even questioned by police. All I've ever done is get the occasional parking or speeding ticket. No DUIs, no accidents, not even a ticket for running a stop sign or red light. Just speeding, like 90% of the population does 90% of the time. Even so, when I get tickets, I don't have a magical badge I can wave to make the ticket go away, I just accept my fate... same as any civilian, or off-duty cop, should do.
> If you want cops to follow the laws better, than try to get policies
> implemented that punish them for breaking the law, because
> right now, there aren't that many.
We DO have policies. They're called LAWS. Police are exempt from some laws in the course of their duties--they can park in red zones, speed, and shoot people, to name just a few--but they are NOT exempt 100% of the time. An off-duty cop who speeds for no good reason should be ticketable just like the rest of us are.
Oops. :-) Well, I'll be honest, I'm more familiar with the English than the Latin, but I posted in Latin due to the reasons posted above--but the first Google match for my English search had the Latin quote as I posted it. I see that Wikipedia has the words in a different, and presumably correct, order. Thanks for pointing that out. Googling for both versions shows 486 matches vs. 310,000. Guess I was just unlucky. :-p
> Even off duty, he drove like a speed demon. I asked him what
> happens if he got pulled over for speeding. He said he simply
> shows the cop his police identification, and the cop will let
> him go about his way. So there you have it, he speeds because
> he can, not because he is on some evil power trip.
But cops should lead by example. They shouldn't speed if their lights and sirens aren't on. When cops speed, they're saying "This particular law doesn't matter." Even when driving a civilian vehicle, everyone sees them and sees just one more person speeding. But they still give out bullshit tickets, like one I got for doing 48 MPH on a nearly-deserted, 3-lanes-each-way road that just so happens to have a 35 mph posted limit along a 2-mile segment. (The rest of the road is 45 mph or 50.) I don't know about Phoenix, but cops in Orlando zip in and out of traffic on I-4 and tailgate like mad. So yes, I would say very much that the problem is with the cops themselves.
And remember, the plural of "anecdote" is not "data." Just because you have one friend who is a good cop does not mean that the other poster has no point. It has been my experience, meeting many cops in a variety of circumstances*, that yes, many ARE power-tripping assholes.
* I must point out that most of my experience with police has NOT been when I was doing something wrong.
> Just remember, if we force police to pull themselves over,
> we are forcing them to work against each other.
Or maybe they could just NOT BREAK THE LAW IN THE FIRST PLACE. Just a thought.
I don't throw out Latin phrases to sound smart. The point is to show that the question is an important one which has been asked and discussed for ages. This particular quote ("Who will watch the watchers?") goes back almost two thousand years.
Evidently not us.
I agree. I want to get one but last time I asked, my local Target said they get a handful of units every couple weeks and they disappear within hours. They've usually got a few PS3s in stock now.
thanks and thanks.