I was watching some brainrot or other on the tele, probably CNN, and the discussion topic was portable phones, and why Motorola wasn't doing as well as they thought they would. The answer was, primarily, cash. How can you not make money on Iridium? Lack of market. I might buy a satphone if I eventually buy that sailboat and want to be able to telecommute from the sea. Those who find themselves out and about and in unreliable phone country might want one. The market is relatively small, compared to the cellular/pcs/digital market, whereby most people in a reasonably sized urban area have reliable service. Consider the cost of the system, as well. Sure, those who need it can afford it, but as a measure of how much revenue that will generate, the outlook isn't great. So, factors: What is the total cost to OPERATE (not purchase) the system, compared to the amount of revenue which can be generated? What is the total start-up cost for the average customer, and is that low enough to allow broad entry? How does Iridium rate when put next to any other phone carrier, in terms of cost and benefit? I said all that to say this: Most mobile customers aren't willing to pay a premuim rate for more mobility. Of course, I'm probably wrong. =) All remains to be seen.
I, for one, do not own a DVD player. I am being a little cautious (and more than a little broke), and want to know how things are going to pan out before chucking down my couple hundred dollars with which folks can fuel their legal crusade against those who'd want to watch dvd video from an 'unregistered' platform (say, Linux).
I think it's amazing, DVD's popularity in the face of the controversy. Compared to CDs, for instance, DAT was great. However, it had the grubby fingerprints of Control on it, players were only made by a few companies, and ultimately it didn't see widespread use. I think this is largely due to freedom and availability of players and copying tech. Meanwhile, CDs, Cassettes and VHS videos, which are easy to copy and have a great many companies distributing players, make tons of cash and see widespread distribution.
Hp's stock had a nice little jump yesterday -- it'd been on the decline for a bit, perhaps this had something to do with it?
Go with series' and fansubs.
on
Essential Anime
·
· Score: 1
I'm really fond of long-running series'. I much prefer longer, more complex stories to those which can be summed up in a couple of hours. These don't always get released in the US, but they are usually available through fansubs (that's where someone who loves the show enough to subtitle it distributes it for the cost of a tape).
Some series' I recommend:
A Vision of Escaflowne -- easily my favorite series. 26 episodes which you won't be able to help watching straight through. It falls right in with El Hazard (someone mentioned this above) as other-world anime.
Fushigi Yuugi: The Mysterious Play -- Next in line, suprised no one's mentioned it. 52 eps. Really good. This one's hard to put down, but not many people have 36 hours to spend watching videos. =) The first 26 eps are available on DVD from pioneer, but the subbing isn't that great.
The Hakkenden -- Legend of the Dog Warriors. Live it, learn it, know it. It's mostly a fight anime, but it has excellent backstory. It's being produced by Pioneer, though not on DVD (to my knowledge).
Some resources for you:
Soyokaze Fansubs -- These are a group of folk what sub japanese releases and distribute them before they're released in the US. My fave place to shop. Around $4/tape.
I was recently recruited by a company called ANSER. Don't know if you kids are familiar with this company, but they are a NFP corporation which broke away from RAND back in the late 50's. They are a government-sponsored contracting company.
What was I recruited for, you ask? Intelligent agent programming. I would have been working on a package that 1) searched all available publicly accessible systems for images. 2) determined whether or not that image contained a human face. 3) compared that face to a known database of faces (say, a drivers' license photo archive).
I found all that extremely cool, and would've signed on were it not for the BFE factor. Fairmont WV is not my idea of a good time. However, it does raise the definition issue of publicly accessible networks. This was, after all, being developed for Uncle Scam, and he's got a lot more access than us 'joes'.
Let the paranioa begin. This product IS BEING DEVELOPED. If there were other products that collected snapshots from ATM cameras, security footage, television streams, etc, this could be a great aid to our lsw enforcement communities. And of course, anything which is an aid to the fuzz can be abused by the police and other government organizations.
Personally, I choose to have a little faith in our system. It works. Not perfectly, but it works. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: I don't care if the cops come in and measure my dick size, provided that means I can sleep at night knowing no one's going to break in to my house and injure my wife or steal my stuffed animals. And the US can have whatever surveillance equiptment they can afford if it means I can wake up without the Iraqi military camped on my lawn.
Is this a problem? It has the potential to be a problem. I choose security over privacy. Yeah, I know that's not cool. It's not hip. But it's the truth. Let's give the people with the cameras and microphones a break. They're really working for US, no matter how much we'd like to believe otherwise.
The real problem? What is the real problem? Why are you so scared of Big Brother?
There are two things: Security, and Freedom. Now pick one, because you can't have both.
So what if Uncle Sam knows what kinds of toilet paper you use? How does this information hurt you?
So what if Uncle Sam knows your sexual preference? We're passing laws by the ton making discrimination as bad as a hate crime anyhow.
So what if your picture appears? You're guaranteed no one will be masquerading as you.
Put the conspiracy books back on the shelf and revel in the fact that crime is at an all-time low, the standard of living is up, our economy is rockin', and you are well-enough off to have ready access to a marvel of silicon called a computer. Think ANY of the above would've happened without good intel by the gov? Think again.
If you want to live in a cave, go live in a cave. But don't fear imaginary enemies.
What's the big deal? Yeah, I know all the hype, I've heard all the conspiracy bull, and I know how the tech works, to stem all those arguments.
Why are all you people so afraid? Is the big, bad government coming down to take you away? Do you have lots of things to hide? Uncle Sam can read my mail for all I care, I don't have anything to hide.
When I go to sleep at night I know no one's going to break into my house because there's a police officer down the street. That establishment can be effective because they have information. They use that information to put away the people who'd break into my house.
When I wake up in the morning, I know it won't be to an invading army camped on my lawn, because my country uses my tax money to ensure that we have the best tech, and the best information available. If they want more info about me, mail me the forms, I'll help.
There are certain kinds of privacy we should protect. Every one of them ends when we step out the front door of our house. I don't need to hide. Neither do you.
Personally, if I'm in a car accident, and the emt finds (from his little id reader) that I'm allergic to penicillin right before he injects me, I'll wake up and thank the card that I'm alive. If I don't have to sit and wait on a background check, that's time I could be finishing up that book. If I can get my tax records from an ATM, that's time I save. While we're at it, use RSA and throw a money chip on there, I"ll buy my cereal with the blasted thing.
I've never read, seen, or heard anything, and I've looked REALLY hard, to make me believe that the US is doing anything that they believe is contrary to my interests.
If you're really worried about it, call your representative abd let them know, don't just whine about it.
While well-written and heartfelt, this article seems to ignore some facts about America. I'll point them out briefly so folks don't have to read for 10 minutes to get my point.
1. There are a finite number of jobs in America. Jobs are a resource.
2. Most illegal immigrants do not contribute to the US economy. Most are employed for below minimum wage and do not pay income tax. Yes, they buy food, but food doesn't have an associated sales tax. In this way, through income and sales tax, Americans contribute to out economy.
3. Most illegal immigrants are poor. It is statistical fact that crime is higher among the poor (including immigrants) than the well-off. Crime is at an all-time low in the US, there's no sense in bucking the trend.
4. There are plenty of people in the US to feel sorry for, without going to other countries. Let's solve our own hunger, housing, and employment crises before we import unskilled, poor people to add to the problem. I'm sure a lot of you are thinking 'Not all illegal immigrants are unskilled or poor,' and my response is 'Then, why aren't they legal immigrants?'
The bottom line is this: America needs people who will contribute in a significant way to the country to immigrate. People who are going to use up more resources than they contribute shouldn't be allowed 'in'.
Australia has a great immigration policy. Very strict. It boils down to whether or not the person can give more to the country than they take away.
Yeah, it's a shame that people are starving and dying. But we can't save everyone, nor should we try. Coddling the weak produces more weak.
Slashdot Mirror
I was watching some brainrot or other on the tele, probably CNN, and the discussion topic was portable phones, and why Motorola wasn't doing as well as they thought they would. The answer was, primarily, cash. How can you not make money on Iridium? Lack of market. I might buy a satphone if I eventually buy that sailboat and want to be able to telecommute from the sea. Those who find themselves out and about and in unreliable phone country might want one. The market is relatively small, compared to the cellular/pcs/digital market, whereby most people in a reasonably sized urban area have reliable service. Consider the cost of the system, as well. Sure, those who need it can afford it, but as a measure of how much revenue that will generate, the outlook isn't great. So, factors: What is the total cost to OPERATE (not purchase) the system, compared to the amount of revenue which can be generated? What is the total start-up cost for the average customer, and is that low enough to allow broad entry? How does Iridium rate when put next to any other phone carrier, in terms of cost and benefit? I said all that to say this: Most mobile customers aren't willing to pay a premuim rate for more mobility. Of course, I'm probably wrong. =) All remains to be seen.
I, for one, do not own a DVD player. I am being a little cautious (and more than a little broke), and want to know how things are going to pan out before chucking down my couple hundred dollars with which folks can fuel their legal crusade against those who'd want to watch dvd video from an 'unregistered' platform (say, Linux).
I think it's amazing, DVD's popularity in the face of the controversy. Compared to CDs, for instance, DAT was great. However, it had the grubby fingerprints of Control on it, players were only made by a few companies, and ultimately it didn't see widespread use. I think this is largely due to freedom and availability of players and copying tech. Meanwhile, CDs, Cassettes and VHS videos, which are easy to copy and have a great many companies distributing players, make tons of cash and see widespread distribution.
Of course, now I'm just babbling.
--ben
Hp's stock had a nice little jump yesterday -- it'd been on the decline for a bit, perhaps this had something to do with it?
I'm really fond of long-running series'. I much prefer longer, more complex stories to those which can be summed up in a couple of hours. These don't always get released in the US, but they are usually available through fansubs (that's where someone who loves the show enough to subtitle it distributes it for the cost of a tape).
Some series' I recommend:
A Vision of Escaflowne -- easily my favorite series. 26 episodes which you won't be able to help watching straight through. It falls right in with El Hazard (someone mentioned this above) as other-world anime.
Fushigi Yuugi: The Mysterious Play -- Next in line, suprised no one's mentioned it. 52 eps. Really good. This one's hard to put down, but not many people have 36 hours to spend watching videos. =) The first 26 eps are available on DVD from pioneer, but the subbing isn't that great.
The Hakkenden -- Legend of the Dog Warriors. Live it, learn it, know it. It's mostly a fight anime, but it has excellent backstory. It's being produced by Pioneer, though not on DVD (to my knowledge).
Some resources for you:
Soyokaze Fansubs -- These are a group of folk what sub japanese releases and distribute them before they're released in the US. My fave place to shop. Around $4/tape.
Pioneer Entertainment -- You wanted DVDs, here you go. Lots of reasonable titles.
The Anime Web Turnpike -- Lots of useful information about most series. Reviews, links, etc.
Hope this helped.
--naught
I was recently recruited by a company called ANSER. Don't know if you kids are familiar with this company, but they are a NFP corporation which broke away from RAND back in the late 50's. They are a government-sponsored contracting company.
What was I recruited for, you ask? Intelligent agent programming. I would have been working on a package that 1) searched all available publicly accessible systems for images. 2) determined whether or not that image contained a human face. 3) compared that face to a known database of faces (say, a drivers' license photo archive).
I found all that extremely cool, and would've signed on were it not for the BFE factor. Fairmont WV is not my idea of a good time. However, it does raise the definition issue of publicly accessible networks. This was, after all, being developed for Uncle Scam, and he's got a lot more access than us 'joes'.
Let the paranioa begin. This product IS BEING DEVELOPED. If there were other products that collected snapshots from ATM cameras, security footage, television streams, etc, this could be a great aid to our lsw enforcement communities. And of course, anything which is an aid to the fuzz can be abused by the police and other government organizations.
Personally, I choose to have a little faith in our system. It works. Not perfectly, but it works. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: I don't care if the cops come in and measure my dick size, provided that means I can sleep at night knowing no one's going to break in to my house and injure my wife or steal my stuffed animals. And the US can have whatever surveillance equiptment they can afford if it means I can wake up without the Iraqi military camped on my lawn.
Is this a problem? It has the potential to be a problem. I choose security over privacy. Yeah, I know that's not cool. It's not hip. But it's the truth. Let's give the people with the cameras and microphones a break. They're really working for US, no matter how much we'd like to believe otherwise.
Someone should REALLY take my soapbox away.
The real problem? What is the real problem? Why are you so scared of Big Brother?
There are two things: Security, and Freedom. Now pick one, because you can't have both.
So what if Uncle Sam knows what kinds of toilet paper you use? How does this information hurt you?
So what if Uncle Sam knows your sexual preference? We're passing laws by the ton making discrimination as bad as a hate crime anyhow.
So what if your picture appears? You're guaranteed no one will be masquerading as you.
Put the conspiracy books back on the shelf and revel in the fact that crime is at an all-time low, the standard of living is up, our economy is rockin', and you are well-enough off to have ready access to a marvel of silicon called a computer. Think ANY of the above would've happened without good intel by the gov? Think again.
If you want to live in a cave, go live in a cave. But don't fear imaginary enemies.
--ben
What's the big deal? Yeah, I know all the hype, I've heard all the conspiracy bull, and I know how the tech works, to stem all those arguments.
Why are all you people so afraid? Is the big, bad government coming down to take you away? Do you have lots of things to hide? Uncle Sam can read my mail for all I care, I don't have anything to hide.
When I go to sleep at night I know no one's going to break into my house because there's a police officer down the street. That establishment can be effective because they have information. They use that information to put away the people who'd break into my house.
When I wake up in the morning, I know it won't be to an invading army camped on my lawn, because my country uses my tax money to ensure that we have the best tech, and the best information available. If they want more info about me, mail me the forms, I'll help.
There are certain kinds of privacy we should protect. Every one of them ends when we step out the front door of our house. I don't need to hide. Neither do you.
Personally, if I'm in a car accident, and the emt finds (from his little id reader) that I'm allergic to penicillin right before he injects me, I'll wake up and thank the card that I'm alive. If I don't have to sit and wait on a background check, that's time I could be finishing up that book. If I can get my tax records from an ATM, that's time I save. While we're at it, use RSA and throw a money chip on there, I"ll buy my cereal with the blasted thing.
I've never read, seen, or heard anything, and I've looked REALLY hard, to make me believe that the US is doing anything that they believe is contrary to my interests.
If you're really worried about it, call your representative abd let them know, don't just whine about it.
--ben
While well-written and heartfelt, this article seems to ignore some facts about America. I'll point them out briefly so folks don't have to read for 10 minutes to get my point.
1. There are a finite number of jobs in America. Jobs are a resource.
2. Most illegal immigrants do not contribute to the US economy. Most are employed for below minimum wage and do not pay income tax. Yes, they buy food, but food doesn't have an associated sales tax. In this way, through income and sales tax, Americans contribute to out economy.
3. Most illegal immigrants are poor. It is statistical fact that crime is higher among the poor (including immigrants) than the well-off. Crime is at an all-time low in the US, there's no sense in bucking the trend.
4. There are plenty of people in the US to feel sorry for, without going to other countries. Let's solve our own hunger, housing, and employment crises before we import unskilled, poor people to add to the problem. I'm sure a lot of you are thinking 'Not all illegal immigrants are unskilled or poor,' and my response is 'Then, why aren't they legal immigrants?'
The bottom line is this: America needs people who will contribute in a significant way to the country to immigrate. People who are going to use up more resources than they contribute shouldn't be allowed 'in'.
Australia has a great immigration policy. Very strict. It boils down to whether or not the person can give more to the country than they take away.
Yeah, it's a shame that people are starving and dying. But we can't save everyone, nor should we try. Coddling the weak produces more weak.
Enough ranting from me.
--ben
I'll give a big 'Hell Yeah' there, if you'll pardon the campiness of the reference. There's a TheOnion headline that sums up the ACLU pretty nicely.
ACLU Defends Nazi's Right to Burn Down ACLU Headquarters