Have a Ladies' Night, or permanent discounts for women.
A mixed-gender crowd will be more social, and groups tend to gravitate towards the same hangouts to socialize (the "Third Place" idea). The longer people stay, the more you can charge them for time, and the more food and merch they buy.
Having women around brings in more guys. Too many women may scare off some of the more, um, reclusive gamers, but that market is so small that depending on them is suicide.
Having women around brings in more women, especially with this type of business. Most women will try to avoid places where there's no-one to talk to, and for most women this means other women.
Maybe if they didn't spend R&D time and money on useless features, their products would be more affordable.
Many people have the misconception that the price of something is usually related to how much it costs to produce it. While the price charged is usually greater than the cost to produce (well, post-dotcom-boom, anyway), that is where the association ends.
Software (and to a lesser extent, hardware) prices are based on percieved value. When Microsoft charges $400 for Office, do you really believe that R&D cost them $350 for every copy? The upfront cost was in the tens of millions, but the cost to print the CD, box and manual is right around $5. Does that mean that we should be paying $10 for office? After all, a 50% profit margin is pretty good, right?
Adobe doesn't charge $650 for PS-CS because their costs are high. They charge that much because that's what the market will bear. That's what it seems to be worth.
It would also be relatively cheap, at least in terms of space travel. To create a port at L 1 we can use the building methods that have already proved successful for Skylab and the International Space Station ? and we can probably get it up and running for $10 billion to $15 billion, significantly less than the International Space Station, which will likely exceed $100 billion in the end.
I realize that War is Bad, and the default leftist-libertarian stance of the average Slashdot reader will probably give this a pass, but here's what I think.
What if we had let Iraq have Kuwait? Sure, oil prices would have stabilized. But what do you suppose Mr. Hussein would have done with all that extra revenue? My guess tends away from healthcare programs and a justice system, and more towards a larger military so he could invade another country. We could have said "Take this, and no more," like the world did in 1936. I believe that the world is a better place because Mr. Bush (Sr.) drew his line in the sand.
Preemptive war is not a palatable policy for many people, myself included. But preventative action is the only way to prevent Really Big Wars[tm].
Design. Somebody has to have an idea, and sketch out a way of producing a sweater from it.
Energy. This is implicit in all the other components.
Nanotech would eliminate item #2 completely. With "replicator"-style devices at first in every retail outlet, and eventually in every home, the manufacturing industry disappears completely. Need to build cars? Take a nano-construction device to the location of your retail outlet, let it build a large enough copy of itself to build cars in, and start building cars.
Nanotech would reduce, though not eliminate, item #3. Administration is still necessary, but transportation infrastructure goes away. You don't need FedEx when ThinkGeek just sends you the "pattern" for the newest LED-encrusted timewaster.
Raw materials is another industry which is eliminated by nanotech. The only inputs you need are seawater and air, and the products output are atoms of various types. You don't need to buy cotton for a sweater when carbon nanotubes are simpler to build, lighter, and stronger.
Energy could be produced by several Manhattan-sized solar platforms in orbit. Again, all you need to do is send up some nano-bots and rocks, and the job is done.
What's left for humans to do? It could be argued (ala Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age) that the only thing that the machines can't do is think, so human thought becomes a scarce, and therefore pricable, property. Corporate administration, engineering, politics.
Most screener rips aren't distributed as straight copies; usually they're DivX or XviD, heavily compressed. So any straight-data change will most likely be lost in the conversion process.
At any rate, there's an easy way around this; do a diff between screeners from two different sources. If there's any identifying information, scramble it in the copy that's distributed, so that there's no way of telling where it came from.
I love the dichotomy. We all want computers that just do what we want them to and get out of the way the rest of the time, but we don't want software that babies us too much.
For the 100 things Word does that you don't want it to do: dollars to donuts there are at least 10 that speed up your personal paper-writing process. Innovation is getting to be pretty difficult in office software; there are only so many things you can do better when you're still communicating on pressed sheets of shredded wet wood. MS has tried a few, and I bet there are some that actually use some of those 100 other things. What? Well...well, no, not me, but...well, that's not the point.
Can you think of something you'd want Word to do that it doesn't do? Okay, something that's actually possible, given the limitations of computers in general?
The power consumption of a clocked transistor device is directly proportional to (a) the number of transistors, and (b) the square of the clock speed. Let's call it 1U for 1 transistor at 1 MHz, so (power consumption in U) = (# transistors)x((clock speed in MHz)^2). This means that 2 transistors at 1MHz will consume 2U, where 1 transistor at 2MHz will consume 4U.
The Pentium 4 has upwards of about 55 million transistors on the die. SDRAM needs 1 transistor and 1 capacitor per bit; for 8x1024x1024x1024 bits (1 GB), that's 8.6 billion transistors (I'll ignore the caps for now).
The base clock speed of the aforementioned P4 is 3.0 GHz, whereas the fastest DDR SDRAM runs at around 400MHz. Doing our math:
P4: (55x10^6)x((3000)^2) = 495 trillion U
SDRAM: (8.6x10^9)x((400)^2) = 1376 trillion U
Now, granted, all of this depends heavily on usage patterns; the P4 running a constant stream of NOPs will consume far less power, as will SDRAM that isn't being written to, but the point is that the consumption numbers are far closer than you think they are.
The Matrix didn't push the envelope in any single area, except maybe cinematography. What it did extremely well was to blend in Bruckheimer-style "blow shit up" mechanisms with a good plot and some interesting highbrow philosophical overtones.
You can get better philosophy from an arthouse flick, sure. But how many movies do you know of that have flannel-shirted, trucker-hatted, shitkicker-clad rednecks walking out discussing ubermenschen and brain-in-a-vat theories? While not exactly pioneering anything, it was a masterful blend of many different styles of film.
Wow. I think you've hit the peak of unintentional geek-flick referencing here. You've got a reply to an article about a Matrix movie, referencing the Terminator series, with a sig from the Evil Dead. It would only be more complete if your name was Frodo or somesuch.
Interestingly enough, Oregon is actually using this idea. Salem recently introduced a new "sur-tax," which adds between 1 and 9 percent on top of whatever tax you're already paying. So you pay a tax for the privilege of paying taxes.
I'd run for state legislature myself, but (a)I'm not old enough, and (b)I'm not stupid enough to get elected.
Computer networks would be taxed at that percent on either annual lease payments or depreciation.
Lease payments may be large, in the case of, say, an IBM or Cisco install, with IBM or Cisco hardware running the network. Computers themselves depreciate over two years (I think), and routers and bridges are probably the same, but I'm not sure how long the CPAs figure the Cat5 will last.
As somebody else stated, does this mean that buying any computer with an RJ45 connector will trigger a 9% sales tax? This is supposed to be a reform of Florida communications tax structure; they're probably trying to close up a tax loophole involving VoIP, but it sounds like they have DMCA-itis.
See, that's why I just ignore laws like that. I bought the DVD. It's mine. I own it.
Ah, but you don't own it. Or, at least, not the data on it. What you paid for was a shiny plastic disc (which is worth about $0.10, USD or CND) and a license to view the data stored on it at home, as long as there aren't too many people with you.
Now, under current US law, it's legal for you to store a backup copy, but it's not legal for you to crack the encryption on the video data (under the DMCA). If you use majick, you're fine; if you write C code, do not pass GO, and the MPAA will be happy to collect your $200 (again, USD or CND).
Re:Okay, but what about heating?
on
Clammy Modding
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· Score: 1
You'd probably want to implement something like an automobile's rear-windshield defroster; shouldn't take more than a few watts, and I would assume that the mouse cable's +5 is tied directly to the PSU's +5 (especially with a USB mouse), so you won't run out of current. This would work best with an aluminum mouse casing, like the new Logitech MX series. I would also take some pains to thermally isolate the top plate from the circuitry, in case it runs too hotly.
IIRC, Apple's cut is 50% of original sale. CD Baby probably takes 9% of the original sale price, leaving the artist with 41%. Still much better than Sony.
Large corporations generally don't pay much corporate income tax, but you're forgetting about payroll tax. For every 10 dollars you get paid, and every 3 dollars you pay out of it in tax, the company paying you pays Uncle Sam 3 dollars in payroll tax.
I'm really starting to get tired of the anti-corporate lynching around here. Every last one of us either works for, lives in a dwelling built by, or owns something created by a corporation, and most probably all three. The thing you're missing is that corporations are made of people.
The thing we should be railing against (or boycotting) is the increasing shareholder-centric, one-quarter-out mentality of executives. Corporations have responsibilities to three parties: the investors, the employees, and the customers. It's the neglecting of the last two you should be angry at. Corporations are not inherently evil; the industrial revolution could not have happened without them.
Actually, 5GHz won't affect humans nearly as much as 2.4GHz; a microwave oven operates at around 2.4GHz, where the 5GHz band does nothing useful/harmful on a macro scale.
Slashdot Mirror
A mixed-gender crowd will be more social, and groups tend to gravitate towards the same hangouts to socialize (the "Third Place" idea). The longer people stay, the more you can charge them for time, and the more food and merch they buy.
Having women around brings in more guys. Too many women may scare off some of the more, um, reclusive gamers, but that market is so small that depending on them is suicide.
Having women around brings in more women, especially with this type of business. Most women will try to avoid places where there's no-one to talk to, and for most women this means other women.
-- Hamster
Software (and to a lesser extent, hardware) prices are based on percieved value. When Microsoft charges $400 for Office, do you really believe that R&D cost them $350 for every copy? The upfront cost was in the tens of millions, but the cost to print the CD, box and manual is right around $5. Does that mean that we should be paying $10 for office? After all, a 50% profit margin is pretty good, right?
Adobe doesn't charge $650 for PS-CS because their costs are high. They charge that much because that's what the market will bear. That's what it seems to be worth.
-- Hamster
Hamster
Hamster
Hamster
I realize that War is Bad, and the default leftist-libertarian stance of the average Slashdot reader will probably give this a pass, but here's what I think.
What if we had let Iraq have Kuwait? Sure, oil prices would have stabilized. But what do you suppose Mr. Hussein would have done with all that extra revenue? My guess tends away from healthcare programs and a justice system, and more towards a larger military so he could invade another country. We could have said "Take this, and no more," like the world did in 1936. I believe that the world is a better place because Mr. Bush (Sr.) drew his line in the sand.
Preemptive war is not a palatable policy for many people, myself included. But preventative action is the only way to prevent Really Big Wars[tm].
Hamster
When you go to the Gap and buy a sweater, what are you paying for?
- Raw materials. Cotton, lycra, wool. These have to be harvested/mined/synthesized.
- Manufacturing. Conversion of raw materials into a finished product.
- Infrastructure. Transportation, retail outlets, corporate administration.
- Design. Somebody has to have an idea, and sketch out a way of producing a sweater from it.
- Energy. This is implicit in all the other components.
Nanotech would eliminate item #2 completely. With "replicator"-style devices at first in every retail outlet, and eventually in every home, the manufacturing industry disappears completely. Need to build cars? Take a nano-construction device to the location of your retail outlet, let it build a large enough copy of itself to build cars in, and start building cars.Nanotech would reduce, though not eliminate, item #3. Administration is still necessary, but transportation infrastructure goes away. You don't need FedEx when ThinkGeek just sends you the "pattern" for the newest LED-encrusted timewaster.
Raw materials is another industry which is eliminated by nanotech. The only inputs you need are seawater and air, and the products output are atoms of various types. You don't need to buy cotton for a sweater when carbon nanotubes are simpler to build, lighter, and stronger.
Energy could be produced by several Manhattan-sized solar platforms in orbit. Again, all you need to do is send up some nano-bots and rocks, and the job is done.
What's left for humans to do? It could be argued (ala Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age) that the only thing that the machines can't do is think, so human thought becomes a scarce, and therefore pricable, property. Corporate administration, engineering, politics.
Hamster
Most screener rips aren't distributed as straight copies; usually they're DivX or XviD, heavily compressed. So any straight-data change will most likely be lost in the conversion process.
At any rate, there's an easy way around this; do a diff between screeners from two different sources. If there's any identifying information, scramble it in the copy that's distributed, so that there's no way of telling where it came from.
Hamster
I love the dichotomy. We all want computers that just do what we want them to and get out of the way the rest of the time, but we don't want software that babies us too much.
For the 100 things Word does that you don't want it to do: dollars to donuts there are at least 10 that speed up your personal paper-writing process. Innovation is getting to be pretty difficult in office software; there are only so many things you can do better when you're still communicating on pressed sheets of shredded wet wood. MS has tried a few, and I bet there are some that actually use some of those 100 other things. What? Well...well, no, not me, but...well, that's not the point.
Can you think of something you'd want Word to do that it doesn't do? Okay, something that's actually possible, given the limitations of computers in general?
Hamster
The Pentium 4 has upwards of about 55 million transistors on the die. SDRAM needs 1 transistor and 1 capacitor per bit; for 8x1024x1024x1024 bits (1 GB), that's 8.6 billion transistors (I'll ignore the caps for now).
The base clock speed of the aforementioned P4 is 3.0 GHz, whereas the fastest DDR SDRAM runs at around 400MHz. Doing our math:
Now, granted, all of this depends heavily on usage patterns; the P4 running a constant stream of NOPs will consume far less power, as will SDRAM that isn't being written to, but the point is that the consumption numbers are far closer than you think they are.
Hamster
The Matrix didn't push the envelope in any single area, except maybe cinematography. What it did extremely well was to blend in Bruckheimer-style "blow shit up" mechanisms with a good plot and some interesting highbrow philosophical overtones.
You can get better philosophy from an arthouse flick, sure. But how many movies do you know of that have flannel-shirted, trucker-hatted, shitkicker-clad rednecks walking out discussing ubermenschen and brain-in-a-vat theories? While not exactly pioneering anything, it was a masterful blend of many different styles of film.
Hamster
Hamster
Hamster
Wow. I think you've hit the peak of unintentional geek-flick referencing here. You've got a reply to an article about a Matrix movie, referencing the Terminator series, with a sig from the Evil Dead. It would only be more complete if your name was Frodo or somesuch.
Hamster
Double wow. I never knew Mr. Card was a recording artist. (/me alt-tabs to kazaa...)
Hamster
Interestingly enough, Oregon is actually using this idea. Salem recently introduced a new "sur-tax," which adds between 1 and 9 percent on top of whatever tax you're already paying. So you pay a tax for the privilege of paying taxes.
I'd run for state legislature myself, but (a)I'm not old enough, and (b)I'm not stupid enough to get elected.
Hamster
As somebody else stated, does this mean that buying any computer with an RJ45 connector will trigger a 9% sales tax? This is supposed to be a reform of Florida communications tax structure; they're probably trying to close up a tax loophole involving VoIP, but it sounds like they have DMCA-itis.
Hamster
Now, under current US law, it's legal for you to store a backup copy, but it's not legal for you to crack the encryption on the video data (under the DMCA). If you use majick, you're fine; if you write C code, do not pass GO, and the MPAA will be happy to collect your $200 (again, USD or CND).
Hamster
Do you think they'll sell barebones versions for $1? Will they give you $699 if you buy after October 15?
Hamster
Hamster
You'd probably want to implement something like an automobile's rear-windshield defroster; shouldn't take more than a few watts, and I would assume that the mouse cable's +5 is tied directly to the PSU's +5 (especially with a USB mouse), so you won't run out of current. This would work best with an aluminum mouse casing, like the new Logitech MX series. I would also take some pains to thermally isolate the top plate from the circuitry, in case it runs too hotly.
-- Hamster
IIRC, Apple's cut is 50% of original sale. CD Baby probably takes 9% of the original sale price, leaving the artist with 41%. Still much better than Sony.
Hamster
Hamster
The thing we should be railing against (or boycotting) is the increasing shareholder-centric, one-quarter-out mentality of executives. Corporations have responsibilities to three parties: the investors, the employees, and the customers. It's the neglecting of the last two you should be angry at. Corporations are not inherently evil; the industrial revolution could not have happened without them.
Hamster
Actually, 5GHz won't affect humans nearly as much as 2.4GHz; a microwave oven operates at around 2.4GHz, where the 5GHz band does nothing useful/harmful on a macro scale.