When the person ultimately in charge of something as big as Slashdot, who undoubtedly normally has to remain neutral for advertising sales purposes comes out and TRASHES a company, you know he's pissed...
"Well, LDs were marketed towards videophiles with lots of money. DVDs have the benefit of appealing both to the videophile and the average consumer - high quality, letterbox, extras, along with being inexpensive."
I've bought all 97 of my laserdiscs in the last year and a half, and I bought them all used, on the average $4-$8 apiece. I think that it would be hard to do better price-wise for the quality.
No thanks... I'll stick with my Criterion Edition on Laserdisc. No macrovision, no regions, only 100% pure genuine NTSC movie, English on the Digital track, Japanese on the Analogue track.
Anime was MEANT to be on Laserdisc!
I'm actually surprised that LDs weren't stocked in stores... they're large enough that they would be hard to stick inside a coat and walk off with. I suppose that their asking $50 a disc probably is what killed them though.
I think that net voting, with the current levels of technology, is a bad thing. Look at how easy it is to compromise 80% of the computers in the world! They can be either a)knocked off the net, b) hacked and forced to send back bad data, or c) hacked and used for an attack, all easily enough that it's simply a bad idea. If these researchers think that it's a bad idea, I'm all for their recommendation of not doing it.
I can just see it now...
US Government: "We need an online voting system"
Microsoft hands government a shrink-wrapped copy of Windows XP Server and IIS, Government hands Microsoft a huge check
Microsoft: "Here you go, if there are any bugs or exploits, look for the next release..."
"Xena the warrior princess is NOT a historical figure.
They mixed up the timelines having her be at the siege of Troy and meeting Julius Caesar even though there were centuries between the time of the Trojan War and the rule of Caesar.
And they had Homer telling the story of Spartacus when Spartacus lived about 3 centuries after Homer's death!!
Read some real historical works and don't take what you see on TV for absolute truth.
You probably think the Teletubbies are real too!"
Wow... I've never seen anyone so completely miss a joke before! You'd think the Star Craft reference would have been some indication that _maybe_ I wasn't being serious. I don't watch TV. It's boring, it's non-interactive, it's not even able to be dealt with at a pace except of which has already been decided, and it's made for the masses, which are generally stupid.
Your knowing all these details about the show you are lambasting me for supposedly watching doesn't exactly cast you in the greatest light. At least you're watching a Sam Raimi show though. It's just a pity that you had to memorize so many facts.
yeah, well, Tinki-Winki is real, and gay, and he wants you for his sex slave!
"What could we use this for? Oh I don?t know, say find a way to better predict when a hurricane is coming?"
I don't know... somehow sneaking into girls dorm bathrooms, getting caught, and using the excuse "I was just trying to predict the next hurricane!" probably won't cut it...
Of course, we could also just build a mile-high structure along the eastern seaboard of the U.S. and hang a massive shower curtain, and when the curtain is blown inward, we'd know that one was coming. Of course, if it's ripped from the rod (as can happen normally if one accidently catches the curtain and slips), we could end up with entire communities having rain protection for years...
We don't need any record of what mankind has done freely available to anyone, nope...
We need what the big publishers say is what we should see and do, and forget about the past. It's unimportant anyway. In fact, just give your money to the publisher now, so they'll send you more of what they just published because it's popular.
We're at war with EastAsia, We've always been at war with EastAsia...
... MAPS will start sending out email to random people, explaining how their services can reduce the spam problem on their email servers. It'll probably be almost as bad as when the emails for "system security" clog up and crash the mail server...
"Seriously though, why on earth would anybody want to run an IRC server on a major network? Is it for the money, or is it just for the women?"
Hey, don't knock "for the women"... I knew of a guy who was the SysOp of one of the largest BBSes in Phoenix, something like 50 lines when it finally just ended, and he used his "cool bbs" routine to get laid...
Of course, I've got to wonder about the girls who'd screw a guy whose claim to fame is a computer with a lot of modems plugged into it (or even an array of them)
I've tried using EFnet for IRC, but any channel that deals with anything even close to a popular topic has been the target of channel takeovers, denial of servicing and hacking of channel participants' computers, flooding, and other general crap to such an extent that I gave up on it in favour of DALnet a couple of years ago. I mean, freakin' #M&M6 (for might and magic) was even having problems, and it was a puny little channel by comparison. At least the other IRC networks don't have rampant channel battles of that type. I'll be somewhat sad to see EFnet go, but I'm not really surprised in light of how the network has been let go.
"Women are more understanding than men and are more ameanable to concensus forming. I dont recall hearing about women starting wars."
uh, hold on there a second... Joan of Arc, Helen of Troy (admittedly indirectly, but she did cause it), the Amazons, Xena Warrior Princess, Kerrigan (from StarCraft), etc...
Women DO start wars! Entire peoples fall because of them!
If that isn't a load of FUD, I don't know what is. a _library_ isn't your code, it's invoked. It doesn't make you have to GPL your code, you didn't edit someone else's GPLed code. If you edit GPLed code, that must be released. If you copy someone's GPLed code, that part of the code, that file, must be GPLed. If you write something that makes a function call, you do not have to release it. It's bullshit like saying "you compiled it with GCC, so it has to be GPL" or "you linked to a GPLed library, so it has to be GPL" that are completely bogus that are scaring away management and decisionmakers from PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE platforms. Try getting life and reading up on what actually happens to a program that is GPL before you come and make dumbass statements like that.
"Good information requires attention, but it creates more, and better, attention. Good information pulls our minds out of the chaos surrounding us. There is then more attention, and less chaos"
I don't believe that you are correct. Many good ideas and much good information is ignored simply because media outlets do not want to distribute it, and most people are unwilling to go in-depth to find something that is not in mainstream circulation. Good ideas are ignored because the 'herd' isn't looking at them.
I don't watch TV anymore because I am tired of being told what to think and what shows are popular and the like. I don't subscribe to the newspaper for the same reason. If I want information, I go actively seek it out, and sometimes I'll end up using mass-media as a source, but I do that as rarely as possible.
the problem is that anything that is 'the authority' or 'the establishment' has the problem of now that they are mainstream, they can do what they want and for at least a while, their audience will buy it. They reach a point where true quality isn't important anymore, for perceived quality is present, and this doesn't lend well to maintaining the long-term credibility when the publisher can make more money by tailoring things to specific groups that are willing to pay for the priviledge. It's reasons like this that I don't care for groups like Microsoft, AOL, or any of these huge conglomerates that are built to cover dozens of markets to milk every last cent out of an unwitting population.
I'm curious to know how they can disallow someone to license software based on that person's own will. Wouldn't the Microsoft license agreement on a commercial product like this be subject to the concept of being a product that once sold, can be used for whatever purposes the purchaser has in mind, providing that software piracy isn't being engaged in? I can see how they can say that people can purchase a license for 20 users for a server product, for there is a pricing structure and defintive products, but this is a product designed to be part of manufacturing, to make OTHER products...
First off, I'm all in favour of people standing up for their rights to speak, make their opinion known, etc.
Spamming should NOT be covered by the first amendment. PUBLISHING is covered by the first amendment, creation of work is covered by the first amendment. FORCING CRAP INTO PEOPLE'S INBOXES SHOULD NOT BE COVERED.
I believe that people have the right to put whatever they want up on a web page (within libel limits of course), express their ideas, opinions, creativity, and if Spammers want to put their stuff on a web page somewhere, more power to them! If they want to buy banner ads on sites, again, they are free to. I don't think that Spam is covered under the first amendment because it infringes upon others to "say" what is transmitted, prohibiting the sending of the message unsolicited to millions of people is irrevelant. They are allowed to create their message, their delivery method is the problem. I do not think that it is right for someone to push crap like that down my DSL line to where I host my email, for I am paying for the bandwidth, not them. If they want to send to me unsolicited, they should pay for the transmission rates more than they do, and they aren't. If spammers will pay the backbone providers so that my DSL rates can be lessened, I'll be happy to take their mail and do what I do with junk mail, trash it.
Spam is a problem, and this problem really needs to be corrected, and soon.
"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."
"As someone living under reasonable privacy laws, I find it somewhat alien that so much personal information (the street address of my home!) is published for the world to see. "
Get a P.O. Box then. You don't have to use your home address. P.O. Boxes are cheap too. That way, there's not much anyone can do except snail mail bomb you, which is just too expensive to be worth normally.
I like the database being open, for it isn't just a government-accessible set of records, it's world accessible. Because it's so open, it helps for fairness in dealing with registrars and ICANN more than otherwise, or so I believe.
"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."
"Man, some of you guys are as automatic as a jack in the box. Give you the right stimulus, get the exact response."
Well, I bash on Microsoft because their products are generally pieces of junk. I use an OS that is free and cannot be commercial, and it is developed by people in their spare time who are gracious enough to lend their talents despite their hectic work schedules, and it still is better than anything coming out of Redmond. Besides, Linux people aren't trying to collect marketing data, and aren't trying to artifically adjust the market itself that they operate in to their own favour. Microsoft stands accused of all of these, and is in court litigation for the last one.
If Microsoft put out a decent product, didn't screw with others for their marketing, and won over customers on merit, I would not have a problem with them. Unfortunately, none of these are true, and after having to deal with their shitty OSes for several years as a field service technician, I don't see a reason to use their software if another solution is available. I will gladly even use products that compete with a potentially decent product that they have, simply to deny them the income of that into their corporate monstrosity.
Don't compare dissing corporate stupidity to someone's family, they are wholly unreleated, and even stretching the analogy, it doesn't hold up. If you don't like how people here dis on Microsoft, don't read the articles. Slashdot's core readers seem to be UN*X people, so it would make sense that we don't like Microsoft, no wouldn't it?
"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."
The problem with Ashcroft's statment is that defining obscene will probably just as bad as trying to define what pornography is. If anyone remembers, Dave Barry, Mark Russell, and several other comedians had a FIELD DAY when the supreme court tried to define pornography, and STILL nothing was done. I don't think that "obscene" can be defined except on a personal level and truly be defined, since I find things obscene that others do not. If the Government wants to take action against pedophiles, underage porn, etc, they need to define their speech as such. They also need to look at more than just the end product, the dirty pictures, they need to look at how the underage people are being exploited, WHO is doing the exploiting, and what caused the underage people to end up in the situation they're in, otherwise they're just putting a bandaid on a bullet wound.
"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."
On the same token though, I have had trouble with being pulled over in a bad part of town supposedly for squealing tires, which was a class one misdemeanor, when the cops really should be looking through bad areas (alley ways, etc) to get the real creeps. The officer that cited me didn't even note that I had a witness, my passenger, but he noted that he had a witness, another officer. The fuckhead (and I only use the term because it truly does fit) didn't even have his facts straight, and I had to go into court and explain all of this to the prosecutor, who felt that the officer was wasting his time by making him prosecute something that had LOTS of holes in it.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the police, I might get pissed at some specific officers, but that is an officer by officer assessment. We see in the news places like Cincinatti, where the police DO seem to have a problem, and probably need to be severely cleaned up, but many places do have decent forces. I just wish that the departments would hold the officers more accountable for what the do, and if they constantly issue citations that are struck down in court, the officer needs to come under scrutiny.
Just my two cents...
"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."
Madrid is a city in Spain. If you are over the age of thirteen and you don't know that, I really have to start to question the education system that you came through, for most students study Eurpoean history in high school, and learn about Spain and its cities at SOME point...
"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."
Well, if they expected teargas, which if I'm not mistaken is fired in metallic magnetically reactive canisters, I would think that they could potentially set up a perimeter with electomagnets that would probably do a fairly effective job, if they have the materials needed to attract the fast moving canister. Granted they'd have to put quite a distance between the electronics and the magnets, or shield the hell out of them, but they could really really annoy the hell out of beseiging force's abilities to use non-deadly measures.
<sarcasm> Of course, here they'll just send lawyers at them, since as we know, lawyers must have some super power that causes us to need them in the quantities that we have... </sarcasm>
I still think that if one ever is going to build a compound that one thinks would be beseiged by a government agency, the first rule should be to have a larger audio system, so you can pump Bauhaus' Bela Lugosi is Dead at them at all hours of the night and day... *grin*
"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."
I'm left handed. This is PERFECT for uses where I don't need many characters beyond the standard Alphabet! I've been using a split ergo at work to try to type correctly, but I still end up typing very poorly with my right hand, and quite honestly, I think that I could be very proficient with this new keyboard design after a very short time using it. the only real drawback that I see with it is that they didn't put the numbers and their associated shifts in the normal place, so that would cause some problems, but otherwise, this looks VERY impressive to me.
"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."
Slashdot Mirror
When the person ultimately in charge of something as big as Slashdot, who undoubtedly normally has to remain neutral for advertising sales purposes comes out and TRASHES a company, you know he's pissed...
*grin*
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
I wish I could type... almost every lawmaker in Washington is guilty...
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
"Well, LDs were marketed towards videophiles with lots of money. DVDs have the benefit of appealing both to the videophile and the average consumer - high quality, letterbox, extras, along with being inexpensive."
I've bought all 97 of my laserdiscs in the last year and a half, and I bought them all used, on the average $4-$8 apiece. I think that it would be hard to do better price-wise for the quality.
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
No thanks... I'll stick with my Criterion Edition on Laserdisc. No macrovision, no regions, only 100% pure genuine NTSC movie, English on the Digital track, Japanese on the Analogue track.
Anime was MEANT to be on Laserdisc!
I'm actually surprised that LDs weren't stocked in stores... they're large enough that they would be hard to stick inside a coat and walk off with. I suppose that their asking $50 a disc probably is what killed them though.
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
I think that net voting, with the current levels of technology, is a bad thing. Look at how easy it is to compromise 80% of the computers in the world! They can be either a)knocked off the net, b) hacked and forced to send back bad data, or c) hacked and used for an attack, all easily enough that it's simply a bad idea. If these researchers think that it's a bad idea, I'm all for their recommendation of not doing it.
I can just see it now...
US Government: "We need an online voting system"
Microsoft hands government a shrink-wrapped copy of Windows XP Server and IIS, Government hands Microsoft a huge check
Microsoft: "Here you go, if there are any bugs or exploits, look for the next release..."
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
"Xena the warrior princess is NOT a historical figure.
They mixed up the timelines having her be at the siege of Troy and meeting Julius Caesar even though there were centuries between the time of the Trojan War and the rule of Caesar.
And they had Homer telling the story of Spartacus when Spartacus lived about 3 centuries after Homer's death!!
Read some real historical works and don't take what you see on TV for absolute truth.
You probably think the Teletubbies are real too!"
Wow... I've never seen anyone so completely miss a joke before! You'd think the Star Craft reference would have been some indication that _maybe_ I wasn't being serious. I don't watch TV. It's boring, it's non-interactive, it's not even able to be dealt with at a pace except of which has already been decided, and it's made for the masses, which are generally stupid.
Your knowing all these details about the show you are lambasting me for supposedly watching doesn't exactly cast you in the greatest light. At least you're watching a Sam Raimi show though. It's just a pity that you had to memorize so many facts.
yeah, well, Tinki-Winki is real, and gay, and he wants you for his sex slave!
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
"What could we use this for? Oh I don?t know, say find a way to better predict when a hurricane is coming?"
I don't know... somehow sneaking into girls dorm bathrooms, getting caught, and using the excuse "I was just trying to predict the next hurricane!" probably won't cut it...
Of course, we could also just build a mile-high structure along the eastern seaboard of the U.S. and hang a massive shower curtain, and when the curtain is blown inward, we'd know that one was coming. Of course, if it's ripped from the rod (as can happen normally if one accidently catches the curtain and slips), we could end up with entire communities having rain protection for years...
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
"Why would you clean something that can be replaced for $1.99?"
Hell, why would you spend $1.99 on a shower curtain when you can eat for two weeks on that?
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
We don't need any record of what mankind has done freely available to anyone, nope...
We need what the big publishers say is what we should see and do, and forget about the past. It's unimportant anyway. In fact, just give your money to the publisher now, so they'll send you more of what they just published because it's popular.
We're at war with EastAsia, We've always been at war with EastAsia...
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
... MAPS will start sending out email to random people, explaining how their services can reduce the spam problem on their email servers. It'll probably be almost as bad as when the emails for "system security" clog up and crash the mail server...
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
"Seriously though, why on earth would anybody want to run an IRC server on a major network? Is it for the money, or is it just for the women?"
Hey, don't knock "for the women"... I knew of a guy who was the SysOp of one of the largest BBSes in Phoenix, something like 50 lines when it finally just ended, and he used his "cool bbs" routine to get laid...
Of course, I've got to wonder about the girls who'd screw a guy whose claim to fame is a computer with a lot of modems plugged into it (or even an array of them)
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
I've tried using EFnet for IRC, but any channel that deals with anything even close to a popular topic has been the target of channel takeovers, denial of servicing and hacking of channel participants' computers, flooding, and other general crap to such an extent that I gave up on it in favour of DALnet a couple of years ago. I mean, freakin' #M&M6 (for might and magic) was even having problems, and it was a puny little channel by comparison. At least the other IRC networks don't have rampant channel battles of that type. I'll be somewhat sad to see EFnet go, but I'm not really surprised in light of how the network has been let go.
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
"Women are more understanding than men and are more ameanable to concensus forming. I dont recall hearing about women starting wars."
uh, hold on there a second... Joan of Arc, Helen of Troy (admittedly indirectly, but she did cause it), the Amazons, Xena Warrior Princess, Kerrigan (from StarCraft), etc... Women DO start wars! Entire peoples fall because of them!
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
If that isn't a load of FUD, I don't know what is. a _library_ isn't your code, it's invoked. It doesn't make you have to GPL your code, you didn't edit someone else's GPLed code. If you edit GPLed code, that must be released. If you copy someone's GPLed code, that part of the code, that file, must be GPLed. If you write something that makes a function call, you do not have to release it. It's bullshit like saying "you compiled it with GCC, so it has to be GPL" or "you linked to a GPLed library, so it has to be GPL" that are completely bogus that are scaring away management and decisionmakers from PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE platforms. Try getting life and reading up on what actually happens to a program that is GPL before you come and make dumbass statements like that.
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
"Good information requires attention, but it creates more, and better, attention. Good information pulls our minds out of the chaos surrounding us. There is then more attention, and less chaos"
I don't believe that you are correct. Many good ideas and much good information is ignored simply because media outlets do not want to distribute it, and most people are unwilling to go in-depth to find something that is not in mainstream circulation. Good ideas are ignored because the 'herd' isn't looking at them.
I don't watch TV anymore because I am tired of being told what to think and what shows are popular and the like. I don't subscribe to the newspaper for the same reason. If I want information, I go actively seek it out, and sometimes I'll end up using mass-media as a source, but I do that as rarely as possible.
the problem is that anything that is 'the authority' or 'the establishment' has the problem of now that they are mainstream, they can do what they want and for at least a while, their audience will buy it. They reach a point where true quality isn't important anymore, for perceived quality is present, and this doesn't lend well to maintaining the long-term credibility when the publisher can make more money by tailoring things to specific groups that are willing to pay for the priviledge. It's reasons like this that I don't care for groups like Microsoft, AOL, or any of these huge conglomerates that are built to cover dozens of markets to milk every last cent out of an unwitting population.
Just my two cents worth...
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
I'm curious to know how they can disallow someone to license software based on that person's own will. Wouldn't the Microsoft license agreement on a commercial product like this be subject to the concept of being a product that once sold, can be used for whatever purposes the purchaser has in mind, providing that software piracy isn't being engaged in? I can see how they can say that people can purchase a license for 20 users for a server product, for there is a pricing structure and defintive products, but this is a product designed to be part of manufacturing, to make OTHER products...
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
First off, I'm all in favour of people standing up for their rights to speak, make their opinion known, etc.
Spamming should NOT be covered by the first amendment. PUBLISHING is covered by the first amendment, creation of work is covered by the first amendment. FORCING CRAP INTO PEOPLE'S INBOXES SHOULD NOT BE COVERED.
I believe that people have the right to put whatever they want up on a web page (within libel limits of course), express their ideas, opinions, creativity, and if Spammers want to put their stuff on a web page somewhere, more power to them! If they want to buy banner ads on sites, again, they are free to. I don't think that Spam is covered under the first amendment because it infringes upon others to "say" what is transmitted, prohibiting the sending of the message unsolicited to millions of people is irrevelant. They are allowed to create their message, their delivery method is the problem. I do not think that it is right for someone to push crap like that down my DSL line to where I host my email, for I am paying for the bandwidth, not them. If they want to send to me unsolicited, they should pay for the transmission rates more than they do, and they aren't. If spammers will pay the backbone providers so that my DSL rates can be lessened, I'll be happy to take their mail and do what I do with junk mail, trash it.
Spam is a problem, and this problem really needs to be corrected, and soon.
"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."
like Ô or or ¦ and go "Prince" on everyone...
"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."
"As someone living under reasonable privacy laws, I find it somewhat alien that so much personal information (the street address of my home!) is published for the world to see. "
Get a P.O. Box then. You don't have to use your home address. P.O. Boxes are cheap too. That way, there's not much anyone can do except snail mail bomb you, which is just too expensive to be worth normally.
I like the database being open, for it isn't just a government-accessible set of records, it's world accessible. Because it's so open, it helps for fairness in dealing with registrars and ICANN more than otherwise, or so I believe.
"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."
"Man, some of you guys are as automatic as a jack in the box. Give you the right stimulus, get the exact response."
Well, I bash on Microsoft because their products are generally pieces of junk. I use an OS that is free and cannot be commercial, and it is developed by people in their spare time who are gracious enough to lend their talents despite their hectic work schedules, and it still is better than anything coming out of Redmond. Besides, Linux people aren't trying to collect marketing data, and aren't trying to artifically adjust the market itself that they operate in to their own favour. Microsoft stands accused of all of these, and is in court litigation for the last one.
If Microsoft put out a decent product, didn't screw with others for their marketing, and won over customers on merit, I would not have a problem with them. Unfortunately, none of these are true, and after having to deal with their shitty OSes for several years as a field service technician, I don't see a reason to use their software if another solution is available. I will gladly even use products that compete with a potentially decent product that they have, simply to deny them the income of that into their corporate monstrosity.
Don't compare dissing corporate stupidity to someone's family, they are wholly unreleated, and even stretching the analogy, it doesn't hold up. If you don't like how people here dis on Microsoft, don't read the articles. Slashdot's core readers seem to be UN*X people, so it would make sense that we don't like Microsoft, no wouldn't it?
"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."
The problem with Ashcroft's statment is that defining obscene will probably just as bad as trying to define what pornography is. If anyone remembers, Dave Barry, Mark Russell, and several other comedians had a FIELD DAY when the supreme court tried to define pornography, and STILL nothing was done. I don't think that "obscene" can be defined except on a personal level and truly be defined, since I find things obscene that others do not. If the Government wants to take action against pedophiles, underage porn, etc, they need to define their speech as such. They also need to look at more than just the end product, the dirty pictures, they need to look at how the underage people are being exploited, WHO is doing the exploiting, and what caused the underage people to end up in the situation they're in, otherwise they're just putting a bandaid on a bullet wound.
"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."
On the same token though, I have had trouble with being pulled over in a bad part of town supposedly for squealing tires, which was a class one misdemeanor, when the cops really should be looking through bad areas (alley ways, etc) to get the real creeps. The officer that cited me didn't even note that I had a witness, my passenger, but he noted that he had a witness, another officer. The fuckhead (and I only use the term because it truly does fit) didn't even have his facts straight, and I had to go into court and explain all of this to the prosecutor, who felt that the officer was wasting his time by making him prosecute something that had LOTS of holes in it.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the police, I might get pissed at some specific officers, but that is an officer by officer assessment. We see in the news places like Cincinatti, where the police DO seem to have a problem, and probably need to be severely cleaned up, but many places do have decent forces. I just wish that the departments would hold the officers more accountable for what the do, and if they constantly issue citations that are struck down in court, the officer needs to come under scrutiny.
Just my two cents...
"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."
Madrid is a city in Spain. If you are over the age of thirteen and you don't know that, I really have to start to question the education system that you came through, for most students study Eurpoean history in high school, and learn about Spain and its cities at SOME point...
"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."
Well, if they expected teargas, which if I'm not mistaken is fired in metallic magnetically reactive canisters, I would think that they could potentially set up a perimeter with electomagnets that would probably do a fairly effective job, if they have the materials needed to attract the fast moving canister. Granted they'd have to put quite a distance between the electronics and the magnets, or shield the hell out of them, but they could really really annoy the hell out of beseiging force's abilities to use non-deadly measures.
<sarcasm> Of course, here they'll just send lawyers at them, since as we know, lawyers must have some super power that causes us to need them in the quantities that we have... </sarcasm>
I still think that if one ever is going to build a compound that one thinks would be beseiged by a government agency, the first rule should be to have a larger audio system, so you can pump Bauhaus' Bela Lugosi is Dead at them at all hours of the night and day... *grin*
"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."
I'm left handed. This is PERFECT for uses where I don't need many characters beyond the standard Alphabet! I've been using a split ergo at work to try to type correctly, but I still end up typing very poorly with my right hand, and quite honestly, I think that I could be very proficient with this new keyboard design after a very short time using it. the only real drawback that I see with it is that they didn't put the numbers and their associated shifts in the normal place, so that would cause some problems, but otherwise, this looks VERY impressive to me.
"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."