I'll defer on the stovetop issue if you've got the background. I guess I've just never been that into cooking to make it matter for the dishes I prepare.
But for your emergency where the power was out, you mention that it was a couple of days. In my mind, any time you'll need to go "off grid" is when it gets *really* bad. As in: utilities won't be coming back for a few months. A widespread flu pandemic that kills one in four people. A 9.0 earthquake that obliterates a heavily populated area. Vital services are interrupted. What happens when the gas, electricity, and water no longer flows? I don't mean being able to maintain your current level of standards; I mean surviving. It is beyond the ability of the average person to harvest/manufacture natural gas, but an individual can get a few solar panels and a battery storage system to run a small stove, freezer, and heater.
On the other hand, I've never used a natural gas or propane storage tank before; I've just been hooked up to the gas on the street. Can anyone say how long one of those would last? If it's a few months, then electric appliances for off grid use might be unnecessary.
It isn't really that likely, but if you ever needed to go off grid in an emergency, your gas stove, dryer, furnace, etc will be useless if upstream gas production stops, and you can only store so much of the stuff for emergencies. If you had a solar, wind, geothermal, or other off grid alternative energy source, electric appliances will do much better.
Natural gas may be more efficient in the short term, but if you lose your supply you are pretty much screwed (for those appliaces that use it). In your case, you got moved out before it affected you, but if somebody can't move, they might want other options. Again, it isn't likely, and I have gas heat and a gas dryer myself, but I can think of situations where being limited to a resource you can't acquire yourself could be problematic.
Oh, and I call BS on the "can't really cook on an electric stove" thing. You do have heat control, and if you don't, you got a POS stovetop. They may not have the instant feedback of dialing down the gas, but just *plan* a little bit and adjust for the slight cool-down and warm-up times.
I pretty much came to the same conclusions as to what I think Microsoft should do, but I'm not sure if that's what they will do. It may not be the same, but there's the whole Xbox Media Center thing that Microsoft has not taken advantage of. I have this app installed on my softmodded Xbox.
As one legend goes, somebody showed XBMC to Bill Gates, and he said "Why the hell don't we have anything like this?" (Although this is probably closer to reality.) It would be super simple to make an app like this for the Xbox360, but none has appeared. Instead, Microsoft tries to leverage XP Media Center and hardware addons to the Xbox360. This is bullshit. Give me a simple app, loaded with codecs, with the ability to connect to a Windows/Samba share. That's it. Many are already connected to a network for Live and we don't need a computer to "stream" from; just a slow computer with enough disk space and I/O. Microsoft doesn't seem to realize just how close it could come to being the central hub of the living room if they offered this. I would be getting an Xbox360 in a heartbeat, but instead, I'm looking for another used Xbox for the living room and debating over getting a Wii.
But what could their reasons possibly be? Most likely extraordinary pressure from the MPAA-like organizations that want to make sure DRM is included and all sorts of fail-safes are there to ensure the continuation of their business model, so Microsoft instead . Their XNA studio ultimately may come to pass in a similar fashion, although there are differences. Microsoft does not want to upset the traditional publishers into abandoning its console when the players suddenly choose a $10 downloadable game from Live Arcade, which may offer the better gameplay per buck over a $60 store bought game.
In the end, it comes down to risks. Microsoft could easily create (or hire someone to create) an exact XBMC work-alike for the Xbox360. Would more people buy the Xbox360? Probably. But will enough people buy the XBMC clone (and indirectly, additional games/content) to make up for lost revenue in other areas? My guess is "yes", but Microsoft may not want to risk royally pissing off media companies with such a figurative middle finger. We all see how they are trying to appease them with the associated Zune actions.
That said, I think Microsoft does see the potential here with the homebrew community for themselves and the consumer and I hope they decide to take the risks to bring such choices to the their customers.
Whatever demographic they were aiming for, they've missed it and caused collateral damage. They didn't intentionally sacrifice goodwill for anything, though that's what happened; poor choice of words on my part. But yeah, you're probably right. There's nothing more "uncool" to a youth than a parent trying to be "hip".
In this case, it could work on both ends. First, the kids see Sony (as an "authority figure") doing this, so there's collective eyerolling and irritation on their part. Then, the adults (and society in general) see the kids react, and possibly start figuring that Sony isn't "cool" anymore as a part of the endless quest to be "cool". So instead of a net "cool" gain with the kids, Sony gets a net "uncool" with kids and adults.
Actually, I looked into Verizon's terms on the "unlimited" service. If you use more than 5 GB of data, you are simply deemed to be using the service inappropriately and will have your service cut. So there ends my little fantasy of screwing over Verizon (more than I already do). But I could probably use it to augment my existing service if I ever run low on minutes, though the number would be different.
Really? I pay $80/mo to Verizon for 450 minutes (unlimited nights and weekend) and unlimited data, so $30 a month for that and 50 extra minutes is a pretty good deal. I don't see that plan on the Sprint/Nextel website, though. Is it a special deal?
Yeah. Get an unlimited data plan on a smartphone, ditch the voice, and pay $68.00/year for the SkypeIn and SkypeOut service. Unlimited data *and* voice. Coverage area is smaller, but I could deal with that. Verizon might be pretty pissed, though, since I'd need a data connection active all the time so I could receive calls. Oh well...
Skype: Please make a Palm port of your software for the Treo! I don't want to be limited to a Windows Mobile device.
I'd be willing to bet that most people in the demographic they were aiming this for know what a PSP is already. I was halfway thinking of getting a PS3, but all these little things continue to turn me off to it. The chances of me purchasing a PS3 are closing in on the chances of me buying a PSP - that is to say, No Chance.
In the end, this isn't just some "bad press" I'm hearing about; I've been insulted. Sony seems to think that the demographic of people that will buy their PSP product, of which I'm a part, is both illiterate and unable to spell properly. Granted, Sony hasn't insulted me personally, but doing this has nonetheless lowered my view of them even further.
They have sacrificed their target demographic's goodwill for gaining a token amount of mindshare outside of the demographic. And the thoughts associated with that mindshare may be: "Golly, those gamers sure are pissed at Sony. Maybe I'll get little Timmy a DS instead of a PSP."
Nuking the planet will not render every living species extinct. Insects would probably survive and thrive.
Overfishing and death by motor boat aren't any less valid of threats. Many species may become smaller to be less appealing to humans as food. A smaller species may be less likely to be torn to shreds by a propeller. In my native area, fish in our lakes have drastically reduced in size over the years. Small fish are "thrown back" and continue to reproduce, while large fish are captured and eaten.
People seem to think that "natural selection" needs to result from some sort of natural process, when it's just a type of order arising out of a given system. The fact that we are a so-called "artificial" threat to a species doesn't negate the concept.
About 70% of biologists figure that we are in the middle of an extinction event right now. Whether it was started by humans at the end of the ice age by hunting and depletion of fauna, or some natural cause, is up for debate. But whatever the cause, geologically speaking, we are in the midst of a mass extinction right now.
Luckily for Earth, mass extinctions are often followed up by increased biodiversity. As you say, the organisms that adapt are the ones that survive. Not so lucky for us if we don't adapt.
There's nothing magical or extraordinarily high tech about automatic weapons and rockets. If it really came down to a full on Civil War in the USA, I'm sure a few facilities could ramp up to produce the things under the radar. There are drug labs all over the place now, and look how efficient we've been at taking care of those.
Of course, all that may be unnecessarily complicated. There are plenty of international weapons manufacturers that would love to sell to the American public, and getting those products across the largely unprotected/unwatched US borders would probably be trivial.
In short, if it gets that bad, the weapons will show.
Both Sony and Squeenix need to be taken down a notch or two.
To be fair, Square Enix has titles for both the PS2 and Gamecube, though not the same ones. They've said within the past couple years that they'd like to go more multiplatform. There are new Crystal Chronicles games in development for the DS and Wii. And I don't think that they've definitively chosen a console for the next Kingdom Hearts game. They have a lot more titles other than just Final Fantasy.
But I get your point. I'll take my time to cut down the people that play Final Fantasy games to the exclusion of other "RPG" games and have that "OMG FinFan is PS2 only FTW!!!!!" mentality.
The key things involved are that the sex offenders (for reasons known only to them selfs) still register with their REAL info. Why? No clue!
If a sex offender is too controlled by his (or her) urges to the point where they have sex with children, rape someone, or otherwise sexually assault other people, they may not be thinking too clearly in the first place.
They should forgive you for it, so you won't answer to them. You will have to answer to Jesus.:P
In all seriousness, "forgiveness" is really only part of it. The other part (if one cares) is taking responsibility for your actions if you are really sorry. Which I would guess means either deleting the files or buying them legitimately. I suppose it's your belief system that determines if that is a requisite of "honest" for you, though.
As far as Christians being honest and "paying for stuff", I'm a Christian, and I download music from P2P networks. Whatever. I don't see it as wrong. But for those artists that I listen to and like, I support them by buying their music through their chosen channels.
We're spending 1.6 billion a week on a war that will purportedly make us safer. (Irrelevant for our argument here whether it does or not.) But we won't spend several billion to ensure that one of the cornerstones of our democratic system of government, the voting process, is reasonably secure and verifiable?
The distinction could be different according to each person, I suppose. Personally, I'd rather throw up than be subjected to pain likened to covering half my body in molten lava. But that's just me.
Re:Complexity can be hidden, but there are costs.
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The Case for OpenID
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Yeah, unknown physical effects aside, the social implications of a ranged torture device aren't all that good. There's a fine line between "unbearable discomfort" and "pain".
Really, we'd probably do better to come up with an area weapon that produces the effects of the "sick sticks" in Minority Report; involuntary vomiting will stop someone in their tracks and the individual will definitely not wish to repeat it. Plus, sympathetic people might react with an "Ick, that sucks" feeling rather than a "I feel sorry for you and I hate those people too" sentiment.
I'm pretty sure that in the absence of ADS usage there are other options at our disposal other than "Kill".
But yes, we'd need to compare this against other weapons in our arsenal. I think that's pretty much what people do every day when they pick the right tool for the job; they weigh the pros and cons of their possible choices and make a (hopefully) informed decision. All this would be part of the process of determining proper usage procedures, including things like the effect on population acceptance and goodwill. Sure, this device may not kill people, but the ill-will they spread when they are dying of cancer in 20 years' time could do more damage than an amount of unfortunate deaths in quelling a riot.
I don't have the background to adequately judge the weapon myself. But if we, including the creators, can be reasonably certain the technology has no negative long-lasting effects, this could be useful. If I were accidentally caught in between a riot and the force trying to restore order, I'd much rather get hit with this than a bullet.
Re:Complexity can be hidden, but there are costs.
on
The Case for OpenID
·
· Score: 1
Which Wordpress plugin do you use? I've only found two for Wordpress so far.
And as people get older, their net worth probably increases, and might be less likely to participate in a riot. You might get a higher percentage of young people in a rioting crowd. A search on Google results in some second-hand info and notes of a 20-something average age for individual riots, but nothing conclusive. Does anybody know the average age distribution for a normalized riot crowd?
If younger people are more likely to join a riot, then a sonic repellent device might work out well. Plus you might have the added benefit of being able to single out the instigators of the riot; those people might be older and more dedicated to the "cause", but won't run because they can't hear the noise.
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I'll defer on the stovetop issue if you've got the background. I guess I've just never been that into cooking to make it matter for the dishes I prepare.
But for your emergency where the power was out, you mention that it was a couple of days. In my mind, any time you'll need to go "off grid" is when it gets *really* bad. As in: utilities won't be coming back for a few months. A widespread flu pandemic that kills one in four people. A 9.0 earthquake that obliterates a heavily populated area. Vital services are interrupted. What happens when the gas, electricity, and water no longer flows? I don't mean being able to maintain your current level of standards; I mean surviving. It is beyond the ability of the average person to harvest/manufacture natural gas, but an individual can get a few solar panels and a battery storage system to run a small stove, freezer, and heater.
On the other hand, I've never used a natural gas or propane storage tank before; I've just been hooked up to the gas on the street. Can anyone say how long one of those would last? If it's a few months, then electric appliances for off grid use might be unnecessary.
It isn't really that likely, but if you ever needed to go off grid in an emergency, your gas stove, dryer, furnace, etc will be useless if upstream gas production stops, and you can only store so much of the stuff for emergencies. If you had a solar, wind, geothermal, or other off grid alternative energy source, electric appliances will do much better.
Natural gas may be more efficient in the short term, but if you lose your supply you are pretty much screwed (for those appliaces that use it). In your case, you got moved out before it affected you, but if somebody can't move, they might want other options. Again, it isn't likely, and I have gas heat and a gas dryer myself, but I can think of situations where being limited to a resource you can't acquire yourself could be problematic.
Oh, and I call BS on the "can't really cook on an electric stove" thing. You do have heat control, and if you don't, you got a POS stovetop. They may not have the instant feedback of dialing down the gas, but just *plan* a little bit and adjust for the slight cool-down and warm-up times.
I pretty much came to the same conclusions as to what I think Microsoft should do, but I'm not sure if that's what they will do. It may not be the same, but there's the whole Xbox Media Center thing that Microsoft has not taken advantage of. I have this app installed on my softmodded Xbox.
As one legend goes, somebody showed XBMC to Bill Gates, and he said "Why the hell don't we have anything like this?" (Although this is probably closer to reality.) It would be super simple to make an app like this for the Xbox360, but none has appeared. Instead, Microsoft tries to leverage XP Media Center and hardware addons to the Xbox360. This is bullshit. Give me a simple app, loaded with codecs, with the ability to connect to a Windows/Samba share. That's it. Many are already connected to a network for Live and we don't need a computer to "stream" from; just a slow computer with enough disk space and I/O. Microsoft doesn't seem to realize just how close it could come to being the central hub of the living room if they offered this. I would be getting an Xbox360 in a heartbeat, but instead, I'm looking for another used Xbox for the living room and debating over getting a Wii.
But what could their reasons possibly be? Most likely extraordinary pressure from the MPAA-like organizations that want to make sure DRM is included and all sorts of fail-safes are there to ensure the continuation of their business model, so Microsoft instead . Their XNA studio ultimately may come to pass in a similar fashion, although there are differences. Microsoft does not want to upset the traditional publishers into abandoning its console when the players suddenly choose a $10 downloadable game from Live Arcade, which may offer the better gameplay per buck over a $60 store bought game.
In the end, it comes down to risks. Microsoft could easily create (or hire someone to create) an exact XBMC work-alike for the Xbox360. Would more people buy the Xbox360? Probably. But will enough people buy the XBMC clone (and indirectly, additional games/content) to make up for lost revenue in other areas? My guess is "yes", but Microsoft may not want to risk royally pissing off media companies with such a figurative middle finger. We all see how they are trying to appease them with the associated Zune actions.
That said, I think Microsoft does see the potential here with the homebrew community for themselves and the consumer and I hope they decide to take the risks to bring such choices to the their customers.
Whatever demographic they were aiming for, they've missed it and caused collateral damage. They didn't intentionally sacrifice goodwill for anything, though that's what happened; poor choice of words on my part. But yeah, you're probably right. There's nothing more "uncool" to a youth than a parent trying to be "hip".
In this case, it could work on both ends. First, the kids see Sony (as an "authority figure") doing this, so there's collective eyerolling and irritation on their part. Then, the adults (and society in general) see the kids react, and possibly start figuring that Sony isn't "cool" anymore as a part of the endless quest to be "cool". So instead of a net "cool" gain with the kids, Sony gets a net "uncool" with kids and adults.
Actually, I looked into Verizon's terms on the "unlimited" service. If you use more than 5 GB of data, you are simply deemed to be using the service inappropriately and will have your service cut. So there ends my little fantasy of screwing over Verizon (more than I already do). But I could probably use it to augment my existing service if I ever run low on minutes, though the number would be different.
Oh well. The things we do with technology.
Really? I pay $80/mo to Verizon for 450 minutes (unlimited nights and weekend) and unlimited data, so $30 a month for that and 50 extra minutes is a pretty good deal. I don't see that plan on the Sprint/Nextel website, though. Is it a special deal?
Yeah. Get an unlimited data plan on a smartphone, ditch the voice, and pay $68.00/year for the SkypeIn and SkypeOut service. Unlimited data *and* voice. Coverage area is smaller, but I could deal with that. Verizon might be pretty pissed, though, since I'd need a data connection active all the time so I could receive calls. Oh well...
Skype: Please make a Palm port of your software for the Treo! I don't want to be limited to a Windows Mobile device.
Remember the story about John the Baptist starting the buzz about the "one who comes after"?
To be fair, John the Baptist wasn't getting paid for his zeal, and he was eventually beheaded by Herod Antipas, at the request of Herod's wife.
I don't think the execs of the company that made this "blog" would be quite willing to die for Sony.
I'd be willing to bet that most people in the demographic they were aiming this for know what a PSP is already. I was halfway thinking of getting a PS3, but all these little things continue to turn me off to it. The chances of me purchasing a PS3 are closing in on the chances of me buying a PSP - that is to say, No Chance.
In the end, this isn't just some "bad press" I'm hearing about; I've been insulted. Sony seems to think that the demographic of people that will buy their PSP product, of which I'm a part, is both illiterate and unable to spell properly. Granted, Sony hasn't insulted me personally, but doing this has nonetheless lowered my view of them even further.
They have sacrificed their target demographic's goodwill for gaining a token amount of mindshare outside of the demographic. And the thoughts associated with that mindshare may be: "Golly, those gamers sure are pissed at Sony. Maybe I'll get little Timmy a DS instead of a PSP."
Nuking the planet will not render every living species extinct. Insects would probably survive and thrive.
Overfishing and death by motor boat aren't any less valid of threats. Many species may become smaller to be less appealing to humans as food. A smaller species may be less likely to be torn to shreds by a propeller. In my native area, fish in our lakes have drastically reduced in size over the years. Small fish are "thrown back" and continue to reproduce, while large fish are captured and eaten.
People seem to think that "natural selection" needs to result from some sort of natural process, when it's just a type of order arising out of a given system. The fact that we are a so-called "artificial" threat to a species doesn't negate the concept.
About 70% of biologists figure that we are in the middle of an extinction event right now. Whether it was started by humans at the end of the ice age by hunting and depletion of fauna, or some natural cause, is up for debate. But whatever the cause, geologically speaking, we are in the midst of a mass extinction right now.
Luckily for Earth, mass extinctions are often followed up by increased biodiversity. As you say, the organisms that adapt are the ones that survive. Not so lucky for us if we don't adapt.
Two words: Baby Cage.
Hmm. What about "itsatrap"?
There's nothing magical or extraordinarily high tech about automatic weapons and rockets. If it really came down to a full on Civil War in the USA, I'm sure a few facilities could ramp up to produce the things under the radar. There are drug labs all over the place now, and look how efficient we've been at taking care of those.
Of course, all that may be unnecessarily complicated. There are plenty of international weapons manufacturers that would love to sell to the American public, and getting those products across the largely unprotected/unwatched US borders would probably be trivial.
In short, if it gets that bad, the weapons will show.
Both Sony and Squeenix need to be taken down a notch or two.
To be fair, Square Enix has titles for both the PS2 and Gamecube, though not the same ones. They've said within the past couple years that they'd like to go more multiplatform. There are new Crystal Chronicles games in development for the DS and Wii. And I don't think that they've definitively chosen a console for the next Kingdom Hearts game. They have a lot more titles other than just Final Fantasy.
But I get your point. I'll take my time to cut down the people that play Final Fantasy games to the exclusion of other "RPG" games and have that "OMG FinFan is PS2 only FTW!!!!!" mentality.
The key things involved are that the sex offenders (for reasons known only to them selfs) still register with their REAL info. Why? No clue!
If a sex offender is too controlled by his (or her) urges to the point where they have sex with children, rape someone, or otherwise sexually assault other people, they may not be thinking too clearly in the first place.
They should forgive you for it, so you won't answer to them. You will have to answer to Jesus. :P
In all seriousness, "forgiveness" is really only part of it. The other part (if one cares) is taking responsibility for your actions if you are really sorry. Which I would guess means either deleting the files or buying them legitimately. I suppose it's your belief system that determines if that is a requisite of "honest" for you, though.
As far as Christians being honest and "paying for stuff", I'm a Christian, and I download music from P2P networks. Whatever. I don't see it as wrong. But for those artists that I listen to and like, I support them by buying their music through their chosen channels.
Yep, all bad excuses.
We're spending 1.6 billion a week on a war that will purportedly make us safer. (Irrelevant for our argument here whether it does or not.) But we won't spend several billion to ensure that one of the cornerstones of our democratic system of government, the voting process, is reasonably secure and verifiable?
Wonderful. Just peachy.
Yes, like that. What's your point?
The distinction could be different according to each person, I suppose. Personally, I'd rather throw up than be subjected to pain likened to covering half my body in molten lava. But that's just me.
Gotcha. I used that one for the same reason.
Yeah, unknown physical effects aside, the social implications of a ranged torture device aren't all that good. There's a fine line between "unbearable discomfort" and "pain".
Really, we'd probably do better to come up with an area weapon that produces the effects of the "sick sticks" in Minority Report; involuntary vomiting will stop someone in their tracks and the individual will definitely not wish to repeat it. Plus, sympathetic people might react with an "Ick, that sucks" feeling rather than a "I feel sorry for you and I hate those people too" sentiment.
I'm pretty sure that in the absence of ADS usage there are other options at our disposal other than "Kill".
But yes, we'd need to compare this against other weapons in our arsenal. I think that's pretty much what people do every day when they pick the right tool for the job; they weigh the pros and cons of their possible choices and make a (hopefully) informed decision. All this would be part of the process of determining proper usage procedures, including things like the effect on population acceptance and goodwill. Sure, this device may not kill people, but the ill-will they spread when they are dying of cancer in 20 years' time could do more damage than an amount of unfortunate deaths in quelling a riot.
I don't have the background to adequately judge the weapon myself. But if we, including the creators, can be reasonably certain the technology has no negative long-lasting effects, this could be useful. If I were accidentally caught in between a riot and the force trying to restore order, I'd much rather get hit with this than a bullet.
Which Wordpress plugin do you use? I've only found two for Wordpress so far.
And as people get older, their net worth probably increases, and might be less likely to participate in a riot. You might get a higher percentage of young people in a rioting crowd. A search on Google results in some second-hand info and notes of a 20-something average age for individual riots, but nothing conclusive. Does anybody know the average age distribution for a normalized riot crowd?
If younger people are more likely to join a riot, then a sonic repellent device might work out well. Plus you might have the added benefit of being able to single out the instigators of the riot; those people might be older and more dedicated to the "cause", but won't run because they can't hear the noise.