You always have "5" moderator points. Label his
postings as "TROLL" and make him cook his own dinner
Yeah, she's got to watch out, though, for when his buddies come over and Metamoderate.
Rob:
"Honey, would you get me a Lowbrau, please?" Kathleen: (-1 Troll) "Get it yourself, Rob, you lazy bum." Michael: (+1 Insightful) "Whoa! Rob, she's got you whipped!" Cliff: (Unfair:Troll) "Rob, you gonna let her do that to you?" Hemos: (+1 Interesting) "Hey, Rob, when did you start drinking?" CowboyNeal: (+1 Funny) "I suggest we set up a slashpoll on this one and let the readers decide who gets the beer:
If it came out digital first I would wait for the hardbound edition. I read the previous 4 books whenever and wherever I had time and it was convenient. Laptops are _not_ convenient. I still need to get a new battery for mine and keep putting it off, mostly because I rarely take it anywhere. As an book, I like to open and read (boot up time:
A bold move, certainly, but not a smart one, particularly because for books which sell in dozens of countries and in the tens of millions of copies, only a fraction of readers would have access to the electronics to read ebooks.
A fanciful notion, almost as far fetched as Hogwarts itself.
However, in times of war and for purposes of national security (which are subject to the whim of the president, atty general (hatchet man), or sec'y of defense (axe wielder) various or all rights may be suspended. It's up to citizens to challenge this in court and have it thrown out, but they get away with the dirty deed between the proclamation and suspension thereof.
Freedom indeed has it's price.
Other exciting unconstitutional behaviour, this morning I read that W. has decided to eliminate Saddam. Very nice, particularly since this is in violation of the constitution and harkens back to the bloody 50's and 60's when U.S. administrations toppled governments which didn't suit them without so much as declaring war. I have no love for Hussein, but this wrankles me, particularly because it's public information.
My spam, usually 30-40 a day is about half over the last week, something's happening and I doubt it's my ISP, as they're probably laidoff everyone but CEO.
I'll tell you what the FTC is talking about: How can we get the corporations more money so they
can keep backing our policical campaigns?
If there was any doubt about this, it should have been firmly removed when House Speaker, Dennis Hastert came out against campaign finance reform, because it would cost the GOP seats and possibly the house.
Well, dang, maybe we should make George King and Dennis and Trent dukes, that should allay their fears. What gets me, and probably more than a few others is that the corruption has become necessary because it's more about winning than doing the right thing. As each party ups the ante, the other sees and raises, until the public gets hurt enough to slap them back into place, but professional weasels always give themselves a way out and look for it.
Oh, I think IP is a good thing, too, but not in perpetuity. The current extention on exclusive rights to intellectual property is hardly what the founding fathers had in mind. Inventors, artists and producers should be encouraged to invent, create and produce, rather than sit on their asses and collect royalties for the rest of their lives because they happened to catch the spirit of invention at the right moment and lock it up in an iron bound chest. Ideas need to be shared, people need to collaborate. Locking down intellectual property impoverishes, as it deprives many from the benefits if the sole holder deems it unnecessary to make it available in the form the public would prefer, i.e. iconoclastic.
Take a good look around what happens when you are a fan and make a fansite, the way IP attorneys gorge themselves encouraging the MPAA and RIAA in their folly of copy protection, or Rambus tried to destroy inexpensive fast memory with an excessive tariff on DDR SDRAM license and using it to get their own RDRAM more accepted.
I suspect that the possibility of any outcome between Justice and the FTC is going to be a blatant corporate lovefest
Total agreement here, even with the Enron fartcloud envolping Washington, after that "Axis of evil" comment by Bush, I'm convinced the cherry is off the "war on terrorism" victory and W. is back to halfwit status. Particularly with the extremely soft stance with regard to Microsoft and the DoJ and M$ wanting to get the whole thing wrapped up fast so they can get back into the bedroom and continue screwing people. The current administration is a bunch of coldwarriors, corporate whores and dingbats, Colin Powell the notable exception, but tainted by association, nonetheless. If anything comes out of this it's probably the FTC and DoJ looking for any wrangling room left over Intellectual Property that they can lock up in favor of the GOP's big campaign donors.
While you're writing to your reps, tell them to vote for the campaign finance reform act to bring an end to the charade of people you've never heard of having $70 million before a presidential campaign even gets started.
Sorry to dowse the optimism, but @ $3K per camera I'm not enticed in the least. I have a tighter budget and look toward the below $1K price range, otherwise it still doesn't make much sense to abandon my Nikon FE2, for which I have some very nice glass.
The reality will be, assuming the price on these sensors is competitive, that manufacturers will run the same crummy resolution, because Joe Consumer is amazingly happy already with 35mm ASA 400 and 800 quality prints, which look terrible after a lifetime of ASA 25 & 64 film use, not to mention medium format, which is the only plausible choice for quality poster size prints.
It's a neat technology, but I'm underwhelmed until it translates into a high enough resolution sensor in a body I can use my existing glass on for a price comparable to buying a 35mm body. Granted, you get the luxury of instant feedback on your photo (though there are drawbacks, i.e. on how fast these hi-res images process in the camera see my webpage for SF Grand Prix pictures for further explanation and examples), film is still fast and affordable. All I really need is a better way to transfer negatives or slides to my PC. I have an HP photo/slide/negative scanner, but it's unimpressive.
Dunno about taste of the Palm Pilot, but I'm sure the pizza tasted like hell (from personal experience.) I hope they tossed it, rather than eat it, burnt plastic residue would settle on the pizza and probably make it toxic, besides just tasting that way.
Easier said than done, as consultants, when they are evil, already know how to undermine opposition and will paint you with a red brush. Fight to give your staffers a chance to review and voice opions on what consultants or sales people say. Though, it's often a done deal before they, or you even get a chance. Seen that one too many times.
Yeah, I'm in stitches. I've been through periods where I couldnt' even read Dilbert because it was actually too close to the bone. Give the guy a chance, tho.
My dad worked 38 years at Dow Chemical, as a ChemE, and during much of that time it was a great place, because at all levels of management were people who started as engineers, and understood. Now the company is run by business people and, well, I don't hear a lot of good things anymore.
From personal experience, particularly the worst during periods of transition, the best boss is one who doesn't just keep channels of communication open, but uses them.
Spend time each with with your analysts and coders, even if it's informal over coffee and doughnuts. Micromanage to your own peril, ignore staff to theirs and your own. Staffers are most productive when they feel their work has purpose and value. Keep informed on projects and status, don't just show up one day asking where a project is.
Be prepared to go to the mat for your staff, since bigwigs often are more clueless than immediate managers. Be sure you can translate, understanding each ends expectations, needs (often far different from expectations.) If your staff needs resources, you'll have to battle for them, make sure they can defend needs, because you'll probably have to relay to your manager. If cost cutting, be very careful. Damage to morale is the start of downward spirals. Fight for a training budget and for Q/A resources (i.e. people) as these are far more crucial than most senior managers are aware of.
Don't get dragged into more committees/groups meetings than you actually have time for. Poor time management of supers is one of my biggest gripes. Be available (see first topic.)
I was one of the few who actually put it on paper and spent money on a stamp.
Why? Because as so often been pointed out on here, a physical manifestation of opinion is more likely to get attention and a response. I'm looking forward to receiving it, by US mail and come what may, a copy of the letter and the response will be family artifacts.
It feels good to participate in a democracy. I encourage it.
I'd view the net as more of a Hydra, one interconnected body, but many heads, and one "heart" to each. Lately I've read a lot which concerns me about big content or communications companies working to shape the internet, rather into proprietary domains like AOL. Fortunately, it's still fractured enough that the individual who isn't locked into and MSN or AOL interface can still use the internet as they like, but I expect more ISP's agreeing to use MSN is a harbinger of things to come. Corporate America, to realize profits believes they have to define and control the interface, leading the user around by a ring in the nose, only to where they grant them access and to what they'll allow.
My introduction to the internet was through a shell and then a shell account on an ISP. My ISP yanked it, waiving it as some thing they had always planed on doing. So far they haven't moved all their users to MSN or something like it, but with new ownership in the future I wouldn't be surprised to find further limitations on how I may use my connection.
As AOL, MSN and others work to close up the internet, lopping off heads of the hydra, they get it down to a few manageable heads. The vanquished hearts or souls be damned.
Source is open, no sneaky CIA or Microsoft or script kiddies spying on formative legislation, intelligence, etc.
Saves big zorkmids on license fees (the tender spot for M$, government is a HUGE customer and can establish the trend for business and education software standards used, see all those zorkmids departing the pocketbook)
Costs some zorkmids for support and mods, but you actually get support and mods you want, rather that support and mods the closed vendor feels like providing you, creating competition in the support market (a GoodThing)
Built-in extortion of government having to "upgrade" (and shell out really big zorkmids) every few years for upgrades because M$ announces it will no longer support Windows n
Customer driven market. What the customer wants/needs isn't anticipated (and turned out in an incarnationof one-size-fits all), but tailored to the needs of the customer. If the Bundestag says "we want x that does y, in z way, then someone can step up and do it, it may take time, but of course others can benefit as it adds to open source.
As to suggestions that open source isn't good quality or pracicable (muchly as part of M$ whispering campaign against Linux, Open Source, etc.), much of that would be addressed by an expanding market.
If it succeeds, props to the Bundestag, way to show some moxie!
The worst aspect I've ever seen as a result of people buying established characters is that they have missed out on a lot of finer points of experience from game play. In short you end up with stupid high level characters, which on a whole can drag the game down, but only if more experienced players make the error of being led by these sorts.
Mythic can decide what can and cannot be done on their servers.
IANAL, but it looks to me like Mythic is interfering in interstate commerce. I think the law will not favor their stance. Try to keep an open mind in these legal wrangles as laws and precedents which cover many other things may be relevent, or like a recent article, may get tossed out of court because the court doesn't hold jurisdiction.
...perhaps it is time to step away from your computer.
Other unhealthy things people do, cramped up inside:
Read slashdot
Coin collecting
Stamp collecting
Watching TV
Reading books
Constructing models
Building home furniture out of Lego Brand Building Blocks (or Legos as they're commonly known)
Tweaking another 33MHz out of a CPU
In short, just about everything. So everyone should get up off their butts and go out and live life to it's fullest, teeth bared and snarling, or they're not doing a thing for themselves, society or the economy.
But, come to think of it, maybe they are doing something... Imagine the impact on the environment of tens or hundreds of thousands more people out and about, doing constructive things, I'm not sure it could take it. Maybe you should join the likes of Mike Vendeman, the one who trolls rec.bicycles.*, and drive people to do things or follow beliefs you value.
This was not intended to flame, but to underscore the differences in values and perception of others use of their time. I'm prone to it myself on occasion, but in a lucid moment recall I have my own hobbies and obsessions and wouldn't care to hear anyone sit in judgement on them.
What's so sad about it? It's judging the quality of others lives based up how you value yours. I wouldn't do it myself, but in consideration, suppose you were a collector of stamps and the one stamp you needed to complete a series was going for $10, with a book value of $20, or you could wait for another one to become available for less. If you choose to take it for the $10, the difference between $10 and perhaps a lower price would expense as the value of having it now as opposed to later. Same thing they're doing. As long as the server owner keeps the game going, the characters and eqz have value.
Re:Works great if you have a clean room available
on
Clear Hard Drive Mods
·
· Score: 1
Where? I have a sealed watch that needs a battery replaced and I haven't done it because I don't trust the Mall Watch Shop Morons.
For my watch I take it to a local jewelry shop which is serviced in this area by a specialist who lives in the San Jose area. For $70 I get cleaning, new seals, new battery (replaced in clean box with nitrogen inside) and pressure testing. Battery lasts about 2 years. Figure the labor respective of California cost of living, and it appears to be a pretty fair deal.
If your watch justifies that approximate cost every two years, I advise quizzing local jewelers as to their method of changing batteries. As for the people who sell watches in those kiosks in malls, I wouldn't even show it to them. Established jewlers are your best bet, but, as I found with one, no guarantee.
I've had this watch down to about 60 ft with no problems.
Re:Works great if you have a clean room available
on
Clear Hard Drive Mods
·
· Score: 2
at some fraction of a micron,
Ah for the good old days, running DEC RP04's, with those nice see through sliding tops and removable (oof) disk packs. Even at ~10 microns we forbid anyone to smoke in the computer room, because an airborn tar ball landing and attaching itself to the platters would gum up the heads even on those low tech beasties.
I wouldn't even attempt such a feat unless I had at my disposal a clean box with the propper atmosphere for the job. Open air is just nuts, after what a tiny bit of humidity did to fog the crystal of my swiss watch over time. (Now I send the watch to someone who changes the cell in a clean, nitrogen atmosphere box, like it's supposed to be done.)
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, she's got to watch out, though, for when his buddies come over and Metamoderate.
Rob: "Honey, would you get me a Lowbrau, please?"
Kathleen: (-1 Troll) "Get it yourself, Rob, you lazy bum."
Michael: (+1 Insightful) "Whoa! Rob, she's got you whipped!"
Cliff: (Unfair:Troll) "Rob, you gonna let her do that to you?"
Hemos: (+1 Interesting) "Hey, Rob, when did you start drinking?"
CowboyNeal: (+1 Funny) "I suggest we set up a slashpoll on this one and let the readers decide who gets the beer:
Kathleen
Rob
Anyone but CowboyNeal"
Grats, ya fraud! ;)
a beowulf cluster of little Robs!
Correction: As an book, I like to open and read (boot up time: <1.0 sec.) and stop when I've read enough (shutdown time <1.0 sec.)
A bold move, certainly, but not a smart one, particularly because for books which sell in dozens of countries and in the tens of millions of copies, only a fraction of readers would have access to the electronics to read ebooks.
A fanciful notion, almost as far fetched as Hogwarts itself.
However, in times of war and for purposes of national security (which are subject to the whim of the president, atty general (hatchet man), or sec'y of defense (axe wielder) various or all rights may be suspended. It's up to citizens to challenge this in court and have it thrown out, but they get away with the dirty deed between the proclamation and suspension thereof.
Freedom indeed has it's price.
Other exciting unconstitutional behaviour, this morning I read that W. has decided to eliminate Saddam. Very nice, particularly since this is in violation of the constitution and harkens back to the bloody 50's and 60's when U.S. administrations toppled governments which didn't suit them without so much as declaring war. I have no love for Hussein, but this wrankles me, particularly because it's public information.
My spam, usually 30-40 a day is about half over the last week, something's happening and I doubt it's my ISP, as they're probably laidoff everyone but CEO.
can keep backing our policical campaigns?
If there was any doubt about this, it should have been firmly removed when House Speaker, Dennis Hastert came out against campaign finance reform, because it would cost the GOP seats and possibly the house.
Well, dang, maybe we should make George King and Dennis and Trent dukes, that should allay their fears. What gets me, and probably more than a few others is that the corruption has become necessary because it's more about winning than doing the right thing. As each party ups the ante, the other sees and raises, until the public gets hurt enough to slap them back into place, but professional weasels always give themselves a way out and look for it.
Take a good look around what happens when you are a fan and make a fansite, the way IP attorneys gorge themselves encouraging the MPAA and RIAA in their folly of copy protection, or Rambus tried to destroy inexpensive fast memory with an excessive tariff on DDR SDRAM license and using it to get their own RDRAM more accepted.
Total agreement here, even with the Enron fartcloud envolping Washington, after that "Axis of evil" comment by Bush, I'm convinced the cherry is off the "war on terrorism" victory and W. is back to halfwit status. Particularly with the extremely soft stance with regard to Microsoft and the DoJ and M$ wanting to get the whole thing wrapped up fast so they can get back into the bedroom and continue screwing people. The current administration is a bunch of coldwarriors, corporate whores and dingbats, Colin Powell the notable exception, but tainted by association, nonetheless. If anything comes out of this it's probably the FTC and DoJ looking for any wrangling room left over Intellectual Property that they can lock up in favor of the GOP's big campaign donors.
While you're writing to your reps, tell them to vote for the campaign finance reform act to bring an end to the charade of people you've never heard of having $70 million before a presidential campaign even gets started.
The reality will be, assuming the price on these sensors is competitive, that manufacturers will run the same crummy resolution, because Joe Consumer is amazingly happy already with 35mm ASA 400 and 800 quality prints, which look terrible after a lifetime of ASA 25 & 64 film use, not to mention medium format, which is the only plausible choice for quality poster size prints.
It's a neat technology, but I'm underwhelmed until it translates into a high enough resolution sensor in a body I can use my existing glass on for a price comparable to buying a 35mm body. Granted, you get the luxury of instant feedback on your photo (though there are drawbacks, i.e. on how fast these hi-res images process in the camera see my webpage for SF Grand Prix pictures for further explanation and examples), film is still fast and affordable. All I really need is a better way to transfer negatives or slides to my PC. I have an HP photo/slide/negative scanner, but it's unimpressive.
Dunno about taste of the Palm Pilot, but I'm sure the pizza tasted like hell (from personal experience.) I hope they tossed it, rather than eat it, burnt plastic residue would settle on the pizza and probably make it toxic, besides just tasting that way.
Easier said than done, as consultants, when they are evil, already know how to undermine opposition and will paint you with a red brush. Fight to give your staffers a chance to review and voice opions on what consultants or sales people say. Though, it's often a done deal before they, or you even get a chance. Seen that one too many times.
Ah, like,
Those who can't do, teach
Those who can't teach, manage
Yeah, I'm in stitches. I've been through periods where I couldnt' even read Dilbert because it was actually too close to the bone. Give the guy a chance, tho.
My dad worked 38 years at Dow Chemical, as a ChemE, and during much of that time it was a great place, because at all levels of management were people who started as engineers, and understood. Now the company is run by business people and, well, I don't hear a lot of good things anymore.
Spend time each with with your analysts and coders, even if it's informal over coffee and doughnuts. Micromanage to your own peril, ignore staff to theirs and your own. Staffers are most productive when they feel their work has purpose and value. Keep informed on projects and status, don't just show up one day asking where a project is.
Be prepared to go to the mat for your staff, since bigwigs often are more clueless than immediate managers. Be sure you can translate, understanding each ends expectations, needs (often far different from expectations.) If your staff needs resources, you'll have to battle for them, make sure they can defend needs, because you'll probably have to relay to your manager. If cost cutting, be very careful. Damage to morale is the start of downward spirals. Fight for a training budget and for Q/A resources (i.e. people) as these are far more crucial than most senior managers are aware of.
Don't get dragged into more committees/groups meetings than you actually have time for. Poor time management of supers is one of my biggest gripes. Be available (see first topic.)
Best of luck
Why? Because as so often been pointed out on here, a physical manifestation of opinion is more likely to get attention and a response. I'm looking forward to receiving it, by US mail and come what may, a copy of the letter and the response will be family artifacts.
It feels good to participate in a democracy. I encourage it.
How many "I hate microsoft" comments came from Microsoft?
My introduction to the internet was through a shell and then a shell account on an ISP. My ISP yanked it, waiving it as some thing they had always planed on doing. So far they haven't moved all their users to MSN or something like it, but with new ownership in the future I wouldn't be surprised to find further limitations on how I may use my connection.
As AOL, MSN and others work to close up the internet, lopping off heads of the hydra, they get it down to a few manageable heads. The vanquished hearts or souls be damned.
Source is open, no sneaky CIA or Microsoft or script kiddies spying on formative legislation, intelligence, etc.
Saves big zorkmids on license fees (the tender spot for M$, government is a HUGE customer and can establish the trend for business and education software standards used, see all those zorkmids departing the pocketbook)
Costs some zorkmids for support and mods, but you actually get support and mods you want, rather that support and mods the closed vendor feels like providing you, creating competition in the support market (a GoodThing)
Built-in extortion of government having to "upgrade" (and shell out really big zorkmids) every few years for upgrades because M$ announces it will no longer support Windows n
Customer driven market. What the customer wants/needs isn't anticipated (and turned out in an incarnationof one-size-fits all), but tailored to the needs of the customer. If the Bundestag says "we want x that does y, in z way, then someone can step up and do it, it may take time, but of course others can benefit as it adds to open source.
As to suggestions that open source isn't good quality or pracicable (muchly as part of M$ whispering campaign against Linux, Open Source, etc.), much of that would be addressed by an expanding market.
If it succeeds, props to the Bundestag, way to show some moxie!
The worst aspect I've ever seen as a result of people buying established characters is that they have missed out on a lot of finer points of experience from game play. In short you end up with stupid high level characters, which on a whole can drag the game down, but only if more experienced players make the error of being led by these sorts.
IANAL, but it looks to me like Mythic is interfering in interstate commerce. I think the law will not favor their stance. Try to keep an open mind in these legal wrangles as laws and precedents which cover many other things may be relevent, or like a recent article, may get tossed out of court because the court doesn't hold jurisdiction.
Other unhealthy things people do, cramped up inside:
Read slashdot
Coin collecting
Stamp collecting
Watching TV
Reading books
Constructing models
Building home furniture out of Lego Brand Building Blocks (or Legos as they're commonly known)
Tweaking another 33MHz out of a CPU
In short, just about everything. So everyone should get up off their butts and go out and live life to it's fullest, teeth bared and snarling, or they're not doing a thing for themselves, society or the economy.
But, come to think of it, maybe they are doing something... Imagine the impact on the environment of tens or hundreds of thousands more people out and about, doing constructive things, I'm not sure it could take it. Maybe you should join the likes of Mike Vendeman, the one who trolls rec.bicycles.*, and drive people to do things or follow beliefs you value.
This was not intended to flame, but to underscore the differences in values and perception of others use of their time. I'm prone to it myself on occasion, but in a lucid moment recall I have my own hobbies and obsessions and wouldn't care to hear anyone sit in judgement on them.
What's so sad about it? It's judging the quality of others lives based up how you value yours. I wouldn't do it myself, but in consideration, suppose you were a collector of stamps and the one stamp you needed to complete a series was going for $10, with a book value of $20, or you could wait for another one to become available for less. If you choose to take it for the $10, the difference between $10 and perhaps a lower price would expense as the value of having it now as opposed to later. Same thing they're doing. As long as the server owner keeps the game going, the characters and eqz have value.
For my watch I take it to a local jewelry shop which is serviced in this area by a specialist who lives in the San Jose area. For $70 I get cleaning, new seals, new battery (replaced in clean box with nitrogen inside) and pressure testing. Battery lasts about 2 years. Figure the labor respective of California cost of living, and it appears to be a pretty fair deal.
If your watch justifies that approximate cost every two years, I advise quizzing local jewelers as to their method of changing batteries. As for the people who sell watches in those kiosks in malls, I wouldn't even show it to them. Established jewlers are your best bet, but, as I found with one, no guarantee.
I've had this watch down to about 60 ft with no problems.
Ah for the good old days, running DEC RP04's, with those nice see through sliding tops and removable (oof) disk packs. Even at ~10 microns we forbid anyone to smoke in the computer room, because an airborn tar ball landing and attaching itself to the platters would gum up the heads even on those low tech beasties.
I wouldn't even attempt such a feat unless I had at my disposal a clean box with the propper atmosphere for the job. Open air is just nuts, after what a tiny bit of humidity did to fog the crystal of my swiss watch over time. (Now I send the watch to someone who changes the cell in a clean, nitrogen atmosphere box, like it's supposed to be done.)