What TFA say, and I quote, is "The technology claims to be able to increase magnet motor efficiency substantially, even over the 100% barrier." Efficiency beyond 100% is perpetual motion, and is physically impossible. Period.
Patents have been issued on perpetual motion machines (which don't work) before.
If ISPs offer tiered service by lowering the price from current prices on slower service, the market might decide to tolerate this.
If they offer tiered service by charging current prices for the slowest service, and higher prices for faster service, the market will decide they don't really need internet access at all.
It is always a mistake to demand higher prices for the same service, or force lower service for the same price. People simply won't bother.
The reason people die of malnutrition while dieting is because they take up dangerous fad diets that would kill anyone from malnutrition. "Eat only this kind of food, and not any of these other kinds" is dangerous, and not a valid diet.
The flip side is that the "epidemic" of obesity in the US can be traced directly to changing the definition of obesity, from the old actuarial tables to the medical dangerous BMI calculation. The only way I could get to a "healthy" weight, according to my BMI would be a a decomposing body, having never been at that weight at my adult height. Body fat at less than 2% will kill you.
And the largest study ever done on the health effects of obesity showed that the dangers of being up to 100 pounds overweight are minimal, and completely dissapear as you age. If it doesn't kill before you're 30, it never will.
In the end, it is a matter of "eat less, and excercise more." But do so with some understanding of what a balanced diet is, rather than hopping on the latest medically dagerous fad diet so some scam artist can get rich killing you.
First, judgements have a statute of limitations in pretty much all states. 10 years is common. After that, the judgement disappears.
Second, bankruptcy costs a few hundred bucks. If the spammer has any other significant debt, this judgement will actually do him a favor by clearing all his debt out.
The net effect of this will be zero, or actually enable the spammer to expand his operation with upgraded equipment.
Except the 15 year old made it quite clear that the lawyer solicited testimony he knew to be untrue. That's suborning perjury, generally a felony and always, always grounds for disbarrment.
I disagree. Term #6 requires Sony "..obtain an opinion from at least one qualified, independent third-party that the content protection software used on any such CDs is effective..."
In other words, if enforce, Sony is no long allowed to use any DRM software that doesn't work. And none of it works.
There are significant differences between using a case as a reference in an argument and using it as a precedent.
Reference: "This judge rules this way on a case that is similiar in these respects, and this is his logic in doing so."
Precedent: "In this case, the appellate (or Supreme) court said this is the law of the land, and if you ignore it, you'll be overruled and look stupid."
No. It isn't even usable as case law in the same federal district at this point, though it can be cited to support a particular line of thought. If it were to be appealed, and upheld, then it could be used as binding case law in the same district. The only way it can affect courts outside that district if if the Supreme Court rules on it.
Where do channel 4 get the idea that this is good entertainment?
From their ratings.
And keep in mind, "good entertainment" means "profitable." And there are two ways to increase profit. The first is to increase revenue. The second is to reduce production cost. Reality shows are dirt cheap to make.
Only when it's done by white hat companies, which is to say, companies doing open source. Nothing an open source company does can possibly be evil, can it?
What you describe it exactly how it works, dufus. The guy changed the UPC to a different one for a cheaper product. The cash register scanned the wrong UPC, queried the database, and was given the wrong price.
It does vary by state, but in the Colorado case, they charged the little punk with a felony because he's a punk who whines about how unfair it is that he got caught, and they want to scare him before they let him plead down to a misdemeanor. Which will probably be enough to get him expelled from the university.
If the little punk really doesn't know, at 19, that stealing it wrong, he's a sociopath and should be locked up forever.
What you describe isn't called a rebate. It's called a kickback. Generally speaking, it's viewed as a bad thing. In some states, it's actually illegal.
Having worked in retail for 20+ years, most of it at fairly high levels, I can tell you why manufacturers do rebates: retailers demand them.
"We're WallyWorld, and we control 99.867% of the retail market for your product. If you don't offer a rebate, we won't advertise your product, we'll advertise your competitor's product. In fact, we won't even carry your product."
Retailers want rebates because it lets them hold (and advertise the hell out of) a sale without actually having to put anything on sale. The retailer benefits from increased revenue from more selling product at full price to the marks, er, consumers, who think they're getting a deal.
The failure rate for rebates - the percentage never actually paid, even though they're sent in, is also quite high, because manufacturers don't like rebates much at all.
No do not wait to see if they try to rip you off. When they threaten to commit a federal crime, immediately hang up on them - without a word - and call your bank and report the threat.
They will cancel your card and send you a new one, which is an inconvenience, to be sure, but it's far less inconvenient to both you and the bank than having to dispute a fraudulent charge.
Plus, it documents the illegal behavior of the merchant, and makes it easier for their merchant service to drop them.
Clown like this get away with it because so many consumers are idiots.
That's rather ironic. If you read 419eater or any of the other "scam the scammer" sites out there, it's pretty clear who the stupid and greedy ones are in this game.
People tend to see in others what they see in themselves. That's why the only people who are really at risk to these kinds of scams are those who are dishonest, or stupid and desperate.
Slashdot Mirror
What TFA say, and I quote, is "The technology claims to be able to increase magnet motor efficiency substantially, even over the 100% barrier." Efficiency beyond 100% is perpetual motion, and is physically impossible. Period.
Patents have been issued on perpetual motion machines (which don't work) before.
I'll believe it when I see it.
This looks like a good followup (from different people, of course) for the Couch Bike.
If ISPs offer tiered service by lowering the price from current prices on slower service, the market might decide to tolerate this.
If they offer tiered service by charging current prices for the slowest service, and higher prices for faster service, the market will decide they don't really need internet access at all.
It is always a mistake to demand higher prices for the same service, or force lower service for the same price. People simply won't bother.
Because the FBI takes a dim view of assholes wasting their time on civil matters the FBI couldn't possibly get involved in even if they wanted to.
I've yet to see someone claim to have "contacted the FBI" who actually did, after being read the riot act.
The reason people die of malnutrition while dieting is because they take up dangerous fad diets that would kill anyone from malnutrition. "Eat only this kind of food, and not any of these other kinds" is dangerous, and not a valid diet.
The flip side is that the "epidemic" of obesity in the US can be traced directly to changing the definition of obesity, from the old actuarial tables to the medical dangerous BMI calculation. The only way I could get to a "healthy" weight, according to my BMI would be a a decomposing body, having never been at that weight at my adult height. Body fat at less than 2% will kill you.
And the largest study ever done on the health effects of obesity showed that the dangers of being up to 100 pounds overweight are minimal, and completely dissapear as you age. If it doesn't kill before you're 30, it never will.
In the end, it is a matter of "eat less, and excercise more." But do so with some understanding of what a balanced diet is, rather than hopping on the latest medically dagerous fad diet so some scam artist can get rich killing you.
This patent will conflict with Despair.com's registered trademark, won't it?
First, judgements have a statute of limitations in pretty much all states. 10 years is common. After that, the judgement disappears.
Second, bankruptcy costs a few hundred bucks. If the spammer has any other significant debt, this judgement will actually do him a favor by clearing all his debt out.
The net effect of this will be zero, or actually enable the spammer to expand his operation with upgraded equipment.
Except the 15 year old made it quite clear that the lawyer solicited testimony he knew to be untrue. That's suborning perjury, generally a felony and always, always grounds for disbarrment.
I disagree. Term #6 requires Sony "..obtain an opinion from at least one qualified, independent third-party that the content protection software used on any such CDs is effective..."
In other words, if enforce, Sony is no long allowed to use any DRM software that doesn't work. And none of it works.
You obviously haven't heard about the Space Cadet reality TV series filming right now.
There are significant differences between using a case as a reference in an argument and using it as a precedent.
Reference: "This judge rules this way on a case that is similiar in these respects, and this is his logic in doing so."
Precedent: "In this case, the appellate (or Supreme) court said this is the law of the land, and if you ignore it, you'll be overruled and look stupid."
Judges do not like to look stupid.
No. It isn't even usable as case law in the same federal district at this point, though it can be cited to support a particular line of thought. If it were to be appealed, and upheld, then it could be used as binding case law in the same district. The only way it can affect courts outside that district if if the Supreme Court rules on it.
Where do channel 4 get the idea that this is good entertainment?
From their ratings.
And keep in mind, "good entertainment" means "profitable." And there are two ways to increase profit. The first is to increase revenue. The second is to reduce production cost. Reality shows are dirt cheap to make.
More like "Similar schemes in the past elsewhere in the world had failed and city people would not be satisfied ..."
This clown is complaining that consumers won't like it. Negroponte's market isn't consumers.
It's that simple.
Only when it's done by white hat companies, which is to say, companies doing open source. Nothing an open source company does can possibly be evil, can it?
What you describe it exactly how it works, dufus. The guy changed the UPC to a different one for a cheaper product. The cash register scanned the wrong UPC, queried the database, and was given the wrong price.
It does vary by state, but in the Colorado case, they charged the little punk with a felony because he's a punk who whines about how unfair it is that he got caught, and they want to scare him before they let him plead down to a misdemeanor. Which will probably be enough to get him expelled from the university.
If the little punk really doesn't know, at 19, that stealing it wrong, he's a sociopath and should be locked up forever.
What you describe isn't called a rebate. It's called a kickback. Generally speaking, it's viewed as a bad thing. In some states, it's actually illegal.
Having worked in retail for 20+ years, most of it at fairly high levels, I can tell you why manufacturers do rebates: retailers demand them.
"We're WallyWorld, and we control 99.867% of the retail market for your product. If you don't offer a rebate, we won't advertise your product, we'll advertise your competitor's product. In fact, we won't even carry your product."
Retailers want rebates because it lets them hold (and advertise the hell out of) a sale without actually having to put anything on sale. The retailer benefits from increased revenue from more selling product at full price to the marks, er, consumers, who think they're getting a deal.
The failure rate for rebates - the percentage never actually paid, even though they're sent in, is also quite high, because manufacturers don't like rebates much at all.
Or better yet, just reduce the price at the cash register. It's called "putting the item on sale," and it works really well.
Except that no system is prefectly secure.
And once someone finds a hole in this magic system, it will become the most effective means of distributing viruses ever invented.
No do not wait to see if they try to rip you off. When they threaten to commit a federal crime, immediately hang up on them - without a word - and call your bank and report the threat.
They will cancel your card and send you a new one, which is an inconvenience, to be sure, but it's far less inconvenient to both you and the bank than having to dispute a fraudulent charge.
Plus, it documents the illegal behavior of the merchant, and makes it easier for their merchant service to drop them.
Clown like this get away with it because so many consumers are idiots.
If nobody buys the games new, there won't be any used games to sell again later.
That's rather ironic. If you read 419eater or any of the other "scam the scammer" sites out there, it's pretty clear who the stupid and greedy ones are in this game.
People tend to see in others what they see in themselves. That's why the only people who are really at risk to these kinds of scams are those who are dishonest, or stupid and desperate.
The only way something like this works is if there is an neutral agency that one can report this to.
And then, only if that neutral agency is more secure than the banks. There is no reason to suppose that would be the case.
And when someone cracks that neutral agency - and make no mistake, someone will eventually - then they can phish anyone.