The current state of Windows is dependent on the vast oceans of money that derive from Microsoft's heinous business practices during the era of MS-DOS when they had a clearly inferior product.
So indeed the comment the MS bought their first OS is very relevant. Their entry into the business and subsequent donimance has little or nothing to do with their current products.
What do you mean students don't pay taxes like other residents? Do they get exemptions from sales and gas taxes? Do their landlords not pay property taxes that get included in the rents they pay? If they take jobs in the city don't they pay state income taxes that get partially recycled to the city?
Yes, that is a common attitude. However some day you might buy a good pair of headphones. When you do you will sooner or later realize there are very audible flaws in your 192K MP3s.
Better to realize this now than after you have a lot of money invested in 192K MP3s.
I've been exposed to people who write audio codecs for a living. They can tell because they've become sensitive to the artifacts present in MP3s. They also can pick up problems with CD's that haven't been dithered properly. They can easily pick out MP3 even at 320kbps. These are specialists. But even in this study there was one individual who had a high success rate.
At 192K and a good pair of headphones with good material I think most people could learn pretty quickly to pick up the difference - loss of stereo image at higher frequencies is pretty easy to pick up.
There are also studies available that point out the advantages of high bit rate recordings - these enable the use of sophisticated filters that eliminate some of the issues present with CD sound. If you are interested and have a mathematical bent, look up the work of Meridian's Peter Craven. Again the differences can be detected by specialists. I'm old enough so that my ears are not good enough to pick up these improvements.
I rip to FLAC and convert for my portables because of these factors.
If you want to try some testing yourself visit hydrogenaudio. They have apps set up to do abx comparisons so you can test yourself.
I'd start with the military. The US spends more on it's defence budget than the rest of the world does on military budgets COMBINED.
Then we can go to work on corporate welfare; all sort of breaks and bailouts that are costing taxpayers trillions.
Then we need to look at redundancies in government. For example why do we have so many layers? Federal, State, County, and Town governments? Give me a break. And why so many local school governing bodies? Don't tell me about local control.. that's how we get Creationism in our schools.
And jails? The US incarcerates a higher percentage of it's population than any other nation. Ridiculous.
There are plenty of things that could be cut off without affecting social services one bit.
Sorry but the original point I made is valid. The system of government we live under does not include strict interpretation of the restrictions of enumerated powers under the Constitution. That's the way it is, and has been for hundreds of years now.
The arguments about that point were settled in the Supreme Court when this republic was very young. If you might remember the system of Common law depends greatly on precedent. That precedent is in this case very old and well established. And the fact of the matter is that the Constitution designates the Supreme Court as the means of arbitrating interpretation of the Constitution. Which decided on an expansive view of the powers outlined in the enumeration quite early.
Arguing to the contrary is just ignoring the facts of how this nation works.
Oh come on. The idea of narrowly construed and restricted enumerated powers lasted less than 5 years from the adoption of the Constitution. It died with the establishment of a national bank in 1791.
If this was interpreted narrowly we would have no programs like the EPA, Federal aid to education, the interstate highway system, etc etc etc. Bringing that objection up at this point is like trying to roll the US back to the time there were just 13 states.
Give us a break with this sort of nonsense, please.
To me the big advantage of Squeezebox over Sonus is that I already have a computer that is running 24x7. Since it is a generic PC hardware I don't have to buy into the closed and expensive to expand Sonus server stuff.
So there is no booting or anything like that for my Squeezebox setup - it is leveraging stuff that I (and I would guess a lot of other Slashdot readers) readers already have, and the cost is far lower because of that.
I have two Squeezebox Classic units. They are extremely well thought out devices with great software. With your music on a NAS server and wifi you can have distributed access to your music collection throughout your house. These things support streaming of FLAC files so lossless reproduction to very high quality levels is supported.
You can use a device like the Boom, or attach a Squeezebox to an existing setup equally easily.
These support playing back streaming audio from the internet as well.
What is truly pathetic is that the old AT&T would have handled this without problem. The company the built the first non-blocking electronic switch (the 1ESS) in 1965 and invented Shannon's law is now sadly but a faint memory.
The only things left are a legacy of Nobel Prizes (still growing) and water towers shaped like transistors.
Updated both a desktop and a laptop. The only issue I had was Palimpsest falsely reporting a large number of bad sectors on one of the laptop drives.
This was the first Linux update *ever* for me that didn't bork my wireless setup in my laptop. Also the first time I haven't had sound problems (I was using Pulse in 9.04 previously).
If you were to, $deity beware, read the article, you would know that the CO_2 helps transform Nitrogen-rich molecules into others which the plants can then use.
There is no mention of any measurements or similar evidence to support this wild claim in the article.
Like the grandparent I am extremely skeptical that pumping diesel exhaust into soil is going to be a replacement for fertilizer.
The idea is laughable actually.
The only thing this article shows is the total lack of science education on the part of people who wrote it and published it.
I am not saying you are getting a good deal or a poor one; just that you should be aware that "free" isn't the deal you are getting.
As far as 10's of thousands in debt, actually you do have that debt, in a socialized form. You will be paying it back as part of your taxes for the rest of your life.
In Finland 43.5% of GDP is collected in the form of taxes, in the US 28.5%. So you are paying 15% of your income for the rest of your life for these services.
The Guardians of Clan Donald (Na Dionadairean Clann Dhomhnuill) By authority of Lord Macdonald, Premier Clan Chief of Clan Donald. 22 Dunecht Road, Westhill, Aberdeenshire, AB32 6RH. Tele: 01224 740073
PRESS RELEASE Lord Macdonald of Macdonald, premier clan chief of Clan Donald, has appointed Ronald W McDonald to be Sergeant-Major at Arms of the Guardians of Clan Donald: the linear descendant of the chief's bodyguard. It will be open to all Macdonalds and their septs, dependents, and descendants, who are in good standing in the community. Successful applicants will be enlisted as Sergeants at Arms and issued with a Warrant in the form of a Certificate which is suitable for framing. The cost of membership is £1 (postal orders please) or £2 sterling for overseas applicants.
The Guardians of Clan Donald aim to uphold and protect the dignity and honour of the ancient and honourable name of Clan Donald by all legal means. One specific aim is to offer moral support to Mary Blair, proprietor of McMunchies, a small sandwich bar in Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire, who is being threatened with legal action by McDonald's Restaurants, the fast food chain, for daring to use the prefix "Mc" in the name of her shop. When interviewed in BBC2's "The Money Programme" a top trademark lawyer made it clear that McDonald's have not a legal leg to stand on. Instead they rely on their unlimited financial resources to bully small businesses who cannot afford to fight back.
This type of business ethics might be good practice in the USA but it is singularly un-British. McDonald's have registered most names beginning with 'Mc' as trademarks, not with any intention of using them, but to try and stop anyone of that name setting up a restaurant. Even my own name Ronald McDonald has been registered as one of their trademarks. This is an attack on Scottish culture when even our very names are hijacked.
It has been stated by government ministers that a person is fully entitled to use their own name for business. But McDonald's has grown so large it is supra-national, with an advertising budget bigger than the Gross National Product of many countries. It is time that the government took in hand this matter of bullying of small businesses by companies such as McDonald' s. Perhaps this might be a subject for debate by a future Scottish Parliament.
If McDonald's persists in its action against McMunchies they are disgracing the ancient and honourable name of Macdonald. In the days when a clan chief had the power of pit and gallows the ultimate penalty for shaming the clan name was to be flung over a cliff but it seems unlikely that any executive of McDonald's Restaurants would volunteer for this!
Injustice and bullying are matters that concerns everyone and not just those affiliated to one clan. To this end, the Guardians of Clan Donald have decided to launch a petition calling upon McDonald's Restaurants to drop their action against Mary Blair of McMunchies Sandwich Bar. Petitions should be sent to the Guardians of Clan Donald or direct to McDonald's Restaurants, 11-59 High Road, East Finchley, London N2 8AW. (Fax Number 0181-700 7050 Telephone 0181-700 7000). A personal letter, telephone call or fax to McDonald's condemning their action is also effective.
Any assistance from the media would be much appreciated.
Slashdot Mirror
We are also in a deep solar minimum.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/01apr_deepsolarminimum.htm
Oil yes, coal no. We have several centuries of coal left. Not to mention tar sands, oil shale, methane clathrate, natural gas and so on.
1. I don't think Pittsurgh has a city income tax.
2. Income taxes don't care about residency, only that you made the money while working there.
Damn straight Microsoft is always evil.
Just look at Steve Balmer's eyes. Notice the red glow. Can there be any doubt?
The current state of Windows is dependent on the vast oceans of money that derive from Microsoft's heinous business practices during the era of MS-DOS when they had a clearly inferior product.
So indeed the comment the MS bought their first OS is very relevant. Their entry into the business and subsequent donimance has little or nothing to do with their current products.
What do you mean students don't pay taxes like other residents? Do they get exemptions from sales and gas taxes? Do their landlords not pay property taxes that get included in the rents they pay? If they take jobs in the city don't they pay state income taxes that get partially recycled to the city?
Yes, that is a common attitude. However some day you might buy a good pair of headphones. When you do you will sooner or later realize there are very audible flaws in your 192K MP3s.
Better to realize this now than after you have a lot of money invested in 192K MP3s.
I've been exposed to people who write audio codecs for a living. They can tell because they've become sensitive to the artifacts present in MP3s. They also can pick up problems with CD's that haven't been dithered properly. They can easily pick out MP3 even at 320kbps. These are specialists. But even in this study there was one individual who had a high success rate.
At 192K and a good pair of headphones with good material I think most people could learn pretty quickly to pick up the difference - loss of stereo image at higher frequencies is pretty easy to pick up.
There are also studies available that point out the advantages of high bit rate recordings - these enable the use of sophisticated filters that eliminate some of the issues present with CD sound. If you are interested and have a mathematical bent, look up the work of Meridian's Peter Craven. Again the differences can be detected by specialists. I'm old enough so that my ears are not good enough to pick up these improvements.
I rip to FLAC and convert for my portables because of these factors.
If you want to try some testing yourself visit hydrogenaudio. They have apps set up to do abx comparisons so you can test yourself.
Oh yeah, I'm not saying that most of the money is not allocated to putatively useful things. But so much of that is frittered away in the process.
For example Medicare fraud now totals more than $60 billion per year.
I'd start with the military. The US spends more on it's defence budget than the rest of the world does on military budgets COMBINED.
Then we can go to work on corporate welfare; all sort of breaks and bailouts that are costing taxpayers trillions.
Then we need to look at redundancies in government. For example why do we have so many layers? Federal, State, County, and Town governments? Give me a break. And why so many local school governing bodies? Don't tell me about local control.. that's how we get Creationism in our schools.
And jails? The US incarcerates a higher percentage of it's population than any other nation. Ridiculous.
There are plenty of things that could be cut off without affecting social services one bit.
Taxes pay for very important things.
Unfortunately they also pay for a buttload of useless waste.
Sorry but the original point I made is valid. The system of government we live under does not include strict interpretation of the restrictions of enumerated powers under the Constitution. That's the way it is, and has been for hundreds of years now.
The arguments about that point were settled in the Supreme Court when this republic was very young. If you might remember the system of Common law depends greatly on precedent. That precedent is in this case very old and well established. And the fact of the matter is that the Constitution designates the Supreme Court as the means of arbitrating interpretation of the Constitution. Which decided on an expansive view of the powers outlined in the enumeration quite early.
Arguing to the contrary is just ignoring the facts of how this nation works.
Edward Tufte got it right some years ago. Powerpoint actually caused the failure of the space shuttle Columbia.
Just show these articles to your faculty...
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html
http://spectrum.troy.edu/~rbeaver/PPEvil.html
Might do some good.
Oh come on. The idea of narrowly construed and restricted enumerated powers lasted less than 5 years from the adoption of the Constitution. It died with the establishment of a national bank in 1791.
If this was interpreted narrowly we would have no programs like the EPA, Federal aid to education, the interstate highway system, etc etc etc. Bringing that objection up at this point is like trying to roll the US back to the time there were just 13 states.
Give us a break with this sort of nonsense, please.
To me the big advantage of Squeezebox over Sonus is that I already have a computer that is running 24x7. Since it is a generic PC hardware I don't have to buy into the closed and expensive to expand Sonus server stuff.
So there is no booting or anything like that for my Squeezebox setup - it is leveraging stuff that I (and I would guess a lot of other Slashdot readers) readers already have, and the cost is far lower because of that.
Actually the Squeezebox Classic and Transporter do have IR blaster output.
http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/IRBlaster
I have two Squeezebox Classic units. They are extremely well thought out devices with great software. With your music on a NAS server and wifi you can have distributed access to your music collection throughout your house. These things support streaming of FLAC files so lossless reproduction to very high quality levels is supported.
You can use a device like the Boom, or attach a Squeezebox to an existing setup equally easily.
These support playing back streaming audio from the internet as well.
What is truly pathetic is that the old AT&T would have handled this without problem. The company the built the first non-blocking electronic switch (the 1ESS) in 1965 and invented Shannon's law is now sadly but a faint memory.
The only things left are a legacy of Nobel Prizes (still growing) and water towers shaped like transistors.
Updated both a desktop and a laptop. The only issue I had was Palimpsest falsely reporting a large number of bad sectors on one of the laptop drives.
This was the first Linux update *ever* for me that didn't bork my wireless setup in my laptop. Also the first time I haven't had sound problems (I was using Pulse in 9.04 previously).
If you were to, $deity beware, read the article, you would know that the CO_2 helps transform Nitrogen-rich molecules into others which the plants can then use.
There is no mention of any measurements or similar evidence to support this wild claim in the article.
Like the grandparent I am extremely skeptical that pumping diesel exhaust into soil is going to be a replacement for fertilizer.
The idea is laughable actually.
The only thing this article shows is the total lack of science education on the part of people who wrote it and published it.
I'd extend that to include the idea that to be a really good scientist you have to love what you are doing.
For people like that money beyond the basic necessities is not much of a consideration. They don't keep score that way.
Cablevision Boost service opens port 80 to home users.
I am not saying you are getting a good deal or a poor one; just that you should be aware that "free" isn't the deal you are getting.
As far as 10's of thousands in debt, actually you do have that debt, in a socialized form. You will be paying it back as part of your taxes for the rest of your life.
In Finland 43.5% of GDP is collected in the form of taxes, in the US 28.5%. So you are paying 15% of your income for the rest of your life for these services.
The money has to come from somewhere.
The ITU is a pretty decent organization going back to 1865 with establishment of international standards for telegraphy.
One proposal was to put them in charge of the root name servers. It wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen.
The Guardians of Clan Donald
(Na Dionadairean Clann Dhomhnuill)
By authority of Lord Macdonald,
Premier Clan Chief of Clan Donald.
22 Dunecht Road, Westhill, Aberdeenshire, AB32 6RH.
Tele: 01224 740073
PRESS RELEASE
Lord Macdonald of Macdonald, premier clan chief of Clan Donald, has appointed Ronald W McDonald to be Sergeant-Major at Arms of the Guardians of Clan Donald: the linear descendant of the chief's bodyguard. It will be open to all Macdonalds and their septs, dependents, and descendants, who are in good standing in the community. Successful applicants will be enlisted as Sergeants at Arms and issued with a Warrant in the form of a Certificate which is suitable for framing. The cost of membership is £1 (postal orders please) or £2 sterling for overseas applicants.
The Guardians of Clan Donald aim to uphold and protect the dignity and honour of the ancient and honourable name of Clan Donald by all legal means. One specific aim is to offer moral support to Mary Blair, proprietor of McMunchies, a small sandwich bar in Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire, who is being threatened with legal action by McDonald's Restaurants, the fast food chain, for daring to use the prefix "Mc" in the name of her shop. When interviewed in BBC2's "The Money Programme" a top trademark lawyer made it clear that McDonald's have not a legal leg to stand on. Instead they rely on their unlimited financial resources to bully small businesses who cannot afford to fight back.
This type of business ethics might be good practice in the USA but it is singularly un-British. McDonald's have registered most names beginning with 'Mc' as trademarks, not with any intention of using them, but to try and stop anyone of that name setting up a restaurant. Even my own name Ronald McDonald has been registered as one of their trademarks. This is an attack on Scottish culture when even our very names are hijacked.
It has been stated by government ministers that a person is fully entitled to use their own name for business. But McDonald's has grown so large it is supra-national, with an advertising budget bigger than the Gross National Product of many countries. It is time that the government took in hand this matter of bullying of small businesses by companies such as McDonald' s. Perhaps this might be a subject for debate by a future Scottish Parliament.
If McDonald's persists in its action against McMunchies they are disgracing the ancient and honourable name of Macdonald. In the days when a clan chief had the power of pit and gallows the ultimate penalty for shaming the clan name was to be flung over a cliff but it seems unlikely that any executive of McDonald's Restaurants would volunteer for this!
Injustice and bullying are matters that concerns everyone and not just those affiliated to one clan. To this end, the Guardians of Clan Donald have decided to launch a petition calling upon McDonald's Restaurants to drop their action against Mary Blair of McMunchies Sandwich Bar. Petitions should be sent to the Guardians of Clan Donald or direct to McDonald's Restaurants, 11-59 High Road, East Finchley, London N2 8AW. (Fax Number 0181-700 7050 Telephone 0181-700 7000). A personal letter, telephone call or fax to McDonald's condemning their action is also effective.
Any assistance from the media would be much appreciated.
Back to Media Page
Press Index