I read in a Reader's Digest a long time ago about a lie detector a police department used...a metal collander wired to a copy machine that spat out "He's lying!" at the push of a button...,p>
Not that I don't believe Reader's Digest *cough*, but I checked on snopes . There is no status on this one, it could be true or false. But the story dates pretty far back (late 1960's).
How long until the BSA starts conducting raids on businesses without SCO "liceneses"? By the BSA's standards, unlicensed software will get you audited, and they like to bring in their pet cops to do these raids.
I'll bet even the BSA looks at SCO and says "Jeez, what a bunch of clueless pricks."
(Oh, sorry.. there is research that has PROVEN the polygraph to have 50% accuracy rate.. ranking it right up there with the 'other' lie detector: A coin with the word 'truth' on one side and 'lie' on the other!)
Yeah, but the psychological power of being hooked up to a machine that can tell if you are lying is huge. Sure, the system can be beaten, and that has been proven. But most people don't know that, and furthermore don't know how to beat it. So they might be willing to divulge the truth more readily if they believe that if they lie they will be caught. That is why the term "lie detector" is much more ominous than "polygraph".
Is there a way to programmatically tell if someone is lying? I think there are general "tells" that most people do when they lie, and a computer can be taught to recognize these. But I don't think it will generally be accurate enough to escape harsh (and well deserved) scrutiny from the scientific community.
If I were you, I'd reexamine that attitude for this battle. You're making Microsoft a big fan of the DMCA.
Phbbbt. The DMCA is a garbage piece of legislation that can be hauled out for almost anything digital these days. In my eyes, it is invalid because it can be used to squash the little guy regardless of whether or not it is valid or not.
If there were true copyright violations going on, Microsoft could easily sue on that basis without invoking the DMCA. Besides, they stand to gain NOTHING by jailing a few hackers who crack open their over-hyped game system. It is a losing battle, and one that isn't worth fighting. They aren't losing money because of people modding their systems. If they are losing money because they chose to sell their systems at a loss to gain market share, then they have accomplished that. The point still stands, I can do whatever I want to a piece of hardware I have purchased, DMCA or no DMCA.
"'Scuse me? Show me where modding an Xbox/PS2 has affected any revenue stream."
Since XBOX's are sold at a loss and Slashdot won't stop glamourizing it.
Again, how does this affect the revenue stream? Modding an Xbox does not prevent the user from playing games on it. Hmm, are you suggesting that it be required that an Xbox owner purchase a certain number of games? After all, we wouldn't want to adversely affect any potential revenue for some company now, would we? Oooo! Here is a good one. What if I buy an Xbox, and only buy used games? I would be affecting revenue streams then too, so maybe I should be prosecuted as well.
Cut it with the ridiculous notion that just because MS makes a *conscious decision* to sell these units at an *initial* loss, owners are not able to modify a piece of hardware that they purchased. Microsoft can sell the Xbox for whatever they want - that has ZERO effect on what I can do with it once I purchase it.
I really welcome new small form factor computers like this one from Shuttle.
As much as I like computers, I dislike
1. space they take up
2. rats nest of cables in the back (like Brazil)
3. fan noise A laptop solves these problems, but at the sacrifice of a lousier keyboard and mouse interface.
The $300 price definitely helps market a machine, too, where used computers are cheap.
This is somewhat interesting, since this weekend I went the *opposite* route. I took an old Compaq Proliant server that they were throwing away at work, gutted it, and transplated my PC guts into it. I was looking to solve your #2 and #3, #1 isn't that big of a deal for me.
First off, what I took out - a working dual P133 motherboard. 4 4.3 GB SCSI drives, backplane, controller, etc. Dual 530W PS (DAMN big). All of it was working too. I put in the guts of my Linux machine, which is a Duron 1.13 (w/Zalman copper flower CPU cooler), CDRW, floppy, and 2 IDE HDDs. (which fit nicely on the removable SCSI rack plates), and a 400W Enermax whisper PS. I had to do some minor fabrication and modification, but it all fit. And working inside that case was really nice. No squinting and swearing, trying to get everything to fit inside. It was like building a PC inside a bathroom stall (proper analogy for a Compaq, with their damn special slider rails for drive bays and torx screws everywhere). But it is all pretty cool now. It is a massive machine, about 3 ft tall. The case is steel, so it is solid and quiet. There is plenty of airflow, and it runs cooler than before. And if the feds ever come and confiscate it, they'll probably throw out their back trying to lift it.:-)
So while small form factor is cool, I think it is verging on the "disposible PC". Where is the "upgradeability" that I have been promised for years and years? I bought tons of PC hardware that was built to be "upgradeable", but every time I come to that point where I think about upgrading, I end up either getting stuff off of eBay, or buying a whole new system. From AT to ATX, from socket processor, to slot, back to socket. SIMM, DIMM, SDRAM, DDR, etc. Unless you upgrade every 2 years, you are probably going to be SOL, at least buying anything new. I highly doubt that you'll be able to upgrade any of these micro systems.
Besides, if just anyone can write for or modify these things, that cuts out the revenue stream from licensing. The future will be in renting, not buying. And really, they've got every right to control the product if we keep buying it.
'Scuse me? Show me where modding an Xbox/PS2 has affected any revenue stream. It is a niche, hobbyist thing to do. If some hobbyist can out perform an entire software team in writing an application or game, then the company deserves to lose revenue.
If I purchase a piece of hardware, the ONLY thing a manufacturer should be able to do is void my warranty if I decide to hack it. Period. Hackers are not competition for big companies. Now maybe a company could be worried that the competition will leverage a hack to gain some insight into how they do things, but that would be pretty fruitless. After all, once a console hits the market, it doesn't do much good to figure out what it does because the company that released it is probably already working on the next generation. Heck, I am sure companies do their own hacking on competitors products, and they are probably much better at it than the hobbyist.
1. Call the phone. Talk to them on the phone and explain the oversight. Be polite and approach the situation purely as a problem solver with a helpful attitude. But take notes and pay close attention to how they response.
IF THAT FAILS, 2. Craft a letter. Be professional but firm. IF THAT FAILS, 3. Get a lawyer. A good one but one that will take the case for a percentage of this company that you are about to own.
I agree with your assessment, you should try and handle it outside of the legal system first. But if it comes down to it, and you can't afford a lawyer, you could also try contacting a university to see if some law student wants some practice. Maybe the professor would be willing to "take your case" as a class project or something.
I'm sorry but I'm just sick of George Lucas raping my fond childhood memories of the first 3 Star Wars movies, and my wallet. Isn't it enough that he's created 2 incredibly bad movies in a row?
I have to say, as much as I love Star Wars, I will have to seriously think about even going to see Episode 3. I'm not terribly hopeful. 3 more movies just doesn't fill me with any joy any more. From a worldwide love to a worldwide joke. Now -that's- a screwup.
When Episode II was out, everyone kept telling me they couldn't believe I hadn't seen it yet. I had one coworker who saw it multiple times. He said he liked it a lot. After getting excited (and very very letdown) about Episode I, I decided to wait on Episode II. I didn't see it in the theater, I rented it. I am so glad too, because I was able to fast-forward through the excruciatingly drawn-out love scenes. Even at that speed they were painful.
I didn't see the last Matrix movie in the theater either. The second one was somewhat of a letdown, and after hearing reviews of the third, I made the choice to wait again. I look forward to renting it, but am glad I waited. With ticket prices where they are, it takes a lot to get me to go to the theater anymore. I am content to wait until they come out on rental. I feel like I am not really missing much. You can talk about the "theater experience", but I value my time more than the experience.
Lucas blew it with EP I, and just blew with EP II. I hope EP III is a colossol flop at the box office, regardless of how good it is.
The lack of support for what are admittedly GOOD products is gnawing, and makes the enterprise usefulness of some of them fairly limited. You and I might be able to figure stuff out on our own, but Joe CEO wants everything he uses to be backed 24/7/365 by the company making it. And you know what? Hes right.
You know, having 24/7 support doesn't always mean much. Here at work we use Rational tools (now owned by IBM). Sure, we have a big honking support contract, but you know what happens when I call them for support? Jack. I either get someone who runs down a standard support call sheet that I have heard 100 times, or I get someone good who says "yeah, we know about that issue, it might be fixed in our next release. But maybe not." Wheeee, that support did me a fat lot of good. I know several of their Test Manager support people by name, and I would say that 90% of the time I call them with issues, the result is that the problem is a limitation of the system. I don't need their support people to tell me that. But I guess I can get a useless answer to my question 24/7.
I find it interesting that the PHB thinks that Microsoft stands behind their product, but knows better than to actually call up Microsoft as an end user and try to get help. It is a joke around here, and I am sure elsewhere, when the system locks up or crashes to say "Call up Microsoft Support". However, I can usually always find help in the user community, whether it be a Linux forum, or on sites like dvdrhelp.com. Community support is usually much better than "official" support, IMHO.
I think perhaps the image of a demon wearing a turban could be offensive to people who wear turbans.
They might feel they were being 'daemonised'
I get that part. But the original poster said:
> No, it doesn't. It's a cartoon devil. It doesn't
> offend anyone. Really.
So unless he/she was flip-flopping within the same post, then it was a negative comment about people who wear turbans. But I suppose the flip-flop was possible...
>> [and] has negative cultural, and religious >> ramifications.
> No, it doesn't. It's a cartoon devil. It doesn't > offend anyone. Really. Unless you're one of > those freaks who won't let their kids watch > Scoobie-doo because it's got ghosts in it. Trust > me.
*sigh* instead of modding you down as a troll, which you obviously are, I'll try to do the nice thing and throw you a little education bone...
Did you even look at what was linked? It wasn't just the cartoon devil, it was a group of devils re-enacting Iwo Jima. Holy symbolism Batman, I can see how that might be just a wee bit offensive to some people. And let's not be ignorant enough to assume that everyone in the world sits on their ass and watches cartoons on television. Or do you believe that the entire world wants to live and act like Americans?
> If it were hanging on a cross or wearing a > turban, *then* maybe it'd need changing.
Any why would it need changing if it was wearing a turban? What are the negative connotations of wearing a turban? Seriously. I know what you probably think they are, but let us all in on it. Show your true colors. Let us all in on your ignorance.
Where I have lived, experience indicates that you don't get good people to work these jobs (or that it is difficult to find and retain them).
All of what you said is correct - but that doesn't mean that the value of the position is very high. I am speaking of true value to society. To illustrate this, imagine if half of the fast food positions vanished overnight. Whooptie-doo. If half of our fast food restaurants had to go out of business, it wouldn't be a big deal. Now imagine if half of the hospitals did. Or half of the police stations, schools, universities, waste facilities, fire stations. If we lost half of our airline pilots, construction workers, factory workers, etc. Those are the ones that give us more immediate value. Then there are the writers, poets, artists, chefs, wine makers, musicians, research scientists, who contribute more to the long term value of our culture. And we do need jobs that aren't of high value, and that doesn't speak ill of the people who are in them. But don't tell me that a worker at McDonald's is undervalued.
NO! Microsoft has no intensions of living alongside Linux. These types of tools have many uses, but in Micosoft's view are to assist Linux users to migrate Linux operations to Windows. Don't fool yourself.
Not exactly. It is to migrate Unix users to Windows. (i.e. proprietary hardware to x86) It is to prevent them from migrating from Unix to Linux. They have finally resigned themselves to the fact that *nix is valuable: "This is really about the interoperability," said Dennis Oldroyd, the marketing director for Microsoft's Windows Server Group. "Very few of our customers are going to have a pure Unix or pure Windows environment...
Did you ever think 5 years ago that Microsoft would ever admit that their users would have anything but a pure Windows environment? And you missed my veiled reference when I said they will embrace it. They will embrace it - then extend it. That is their M.O.
Something like this happen could mean that Microsoft is starting to have a slight change of heart about the presence of Linux/UNIX.
I doubt it. More like they are finally able to see the writing on the wall. They are finally seeing that *nix has a presence, and they can't do a damn thing to stop it. So they will embrace it.
We all know what happens next...
Not that I don't see this as a good thing, but I think I'll go with what I know to be true and be extremely skeptical about their motives.
It seems that some of the most underpaid and undervalued workers are starting to be treated no better than the animals they are frying up.
I thought this story was about fast-food workers, not teachers. Since when are these people underpaid and undervalued? They may not make very much money, and they may have to work a lot of hours and do mundane tasks, but what VALUE do they really offer to society? Not that they don't deserve respect for the job they perform, but they would not be anywhere in the top 100 undervalued workers. Not every job has the same value in our society. Our society rewards some pretty ridiculous jobs in our society, and rewards some only a fraction of their true value, but fast food workers are not one of those.
People who shriek about "privacy" regarding these types of benign things have either never used them, or are just whoring for karma. There is no privacy issue. They're basically just a credit card you don't have to sign for.
Not to mention the fact that you don't technically have to sign for a credit card either. Do you sign anything when you pay at the pump with your credit card?
(sound of crickets)
Yeah, that's what I thought. Even on purchases, you don't always have to sign. What do you sign when you make an internet transaction? If you go to a store, they technically don't have to make you sign something if it is under a certain dollar amount (can't remember offhand what it is).
Personally, I don't use a Speedpass because I don't always go to Mobil. If I had one, I would probably always go to them, and I refuse to be controlled by their clever, evil marketing ideas.:-)
As others have pointed out, you shouldn't shake a Polaroid photo, it will make the colors run. I read this in Scientific American a couple of years ago, in their great "Ask the Experts" section.
People think for some reason that the photo needs to dry. This could be because the earlier instant photos had a chemical strip on them that needed to be peeled off, and shaking it did make it dry faster. But the Polaroid photos used a chemical reaction inside the picture. It isn't about trying to dry the ink in a traditional sense, it is about letting the chemical reaction take place undisturbed. Shaking a Polaroid photo will only mess it up. I am surprised the noted scholar Outkast doesn't know that.
And they are still around today. For my nieces this year for Christmas, I bought them Polaroid iZone cameras. They are small cameras that use instant film. The pictures are about 2"x1.5", so they are pretty small. But you can peel off the backing and the picture is a sticker. Pretty cool for an 11 and 8 year old. The camera was pretty cheap, at around $12, but the film costs about $5 per 18 exposures. I thought it was a cool gadget, and so did they.
This is directly from the RIAA's website , under the heading "What is the RIAA doing about piracy?"
One of the most important jobs of the RIAA is to investigate the illegal production and distribution of sound recordings. It is estimated that such illegal product costs the music industry more than 300 million dollars a year domestically. The RIAA pursues a global policy comprised of education, enforcement, developing technologies, and when necessary, litigation.
The RIAA assists authorities in identifying music pirates and shutting down their operations. In piracy cases involving physical product, the RIAA works with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and prosecutors? offices to coordinate seizures of pirated product. The RIAA-assisted raids have closed down hundreds of U.S. and overseas manufacturing and distributing operations, and significantly reduced illegal CD and cassette vending around the country.
So I guess they need to update it to inclue "taking the law into our own hands".
Back in the day when we were on the old Sun xterms, I was doing various scripts in ksh. Some of them were quite long and involved. I was still kind of learning ksh at the time, and had enough experience to be dangerous.
I was messing around, and wrote a small script, let's call it "hose". Hose contained one line: "./hose &"
After chmodding it, for some reason I typed "hose &" and hit Enter. At the time, we had 10 people per server, and I always had a load monitor running. It skyrocketed. People started complaining that the server ground to a halt. I went over to our IT person and told them what I did, but they couldn't get in fast enough. The process was spawning a new process so fast that we couldn't catch it. It was hard to even log in because the CPU was pegged. We thought - well, it will crash the server I guess. But it didn't. The load peaked, and stayed there. Just before the IT person was going to go into the server room and shut it down, I said "hold on!". I went back to my desk, typed in one command into the window I was still logged into, and everything went back to normal.
I was coding part of the Linux kernel, and thought to myself "Am I reinventing the wheel here?". So I looked around on the internet, and found some SCO code that did what I wanted to do, so I just copied it and submitted that to Linus. He accepted it and put it into the kernel.
Slashdot Mirror
Whew. There for a second I thought you were going to say that Josie Davis (ugly sister) was hotter than Nicole Eggert.
Then I thought - hmm, what did she look like. Hey hey! Doesn't look like she turned out too bad .
I read in a Reader's Digest a long time ago about a lie detector a police department used...a metal collander wired to a copy machine that spat out "He's lying!" at the push of a button...,p> Not that I don't believe Reader's Digest *cough*, but I checked on snopes . There is no status on this one, it could be true or false. But the story dates pretty far back (late 1960's).
I'll bet even the BSA looks at SCO and says "Jeez, what a bunch of clueless pricks."
Talk about the ultimate insult.
Yeah, but the psychological power of being hooked up to a machine that can tell if you are lying is huge. Sure, the system can be beaten, and that has been proven. But most people don't know that, and furthermore don't know how to beat it. So they might be willing to divulge the truth more readily if they believe that if they lie they will be caught. That is why the term "lie detector" is much more ominous than "polygraph".
Is there a way to programmatically tell if someone is lying? I think there are general "tells" that most people do when they lie, and a computer can be taught to recognize these. But I don't think it will generally be accurate enough to escape harsh (and well deserved) scrutiny from the scientific community.
Phbbbt. The DMCA is a garbage piece of legislation that can be hauled out for almost anything digital these days. In my eyes, it is invalid because it can be used to squash the little guy regardless of whether or not it is valid or not.
If there were true copyright violations going on, Microsoft could easily sue on that basis without invoking the DMCA. Besides, they stand to gain NOTHING by jailing a few hackers who crack open their over-hyped game system. It is a losing battle, and one that isn't worth fighting. They aren't losing money because of people modding their systems. If they are losing money because they chose to sell their systems at a loss to gain market share, then they have accomplished that. The point still stands, I can do whatever I want to a piece of hardware I have purchased, DMCA or no DMCA.
Since XBOX's are sold at a loss and Slashdot won't stop glamourizing it.
Again, how does this affect the revenue stream? Modding an Xbox does not prevent the user from playing games on it. Hmm, are you suggesting that it be required that an Xbox owner purchase a certain number of games? After all, we wouldn't want to adversely affect any potential revenue for some company now, would we? Oooo! Here is a good one. What if I buy an Xbox, and only buy used games? I would be affecting revenue streams then too, so maybe I should be prosecuted as well.
Cut it with the ridiculous notion that just because MS makes a *conscious decision* to sell these units at an *initial* loss, owners are not able to modify a piece of hardware that they purchased. Microsoft can sell the Xbox for whatever they want - that has ZERO effect on what I can do with it once I purchase it.
I really welcome new small form factor computers like this one from Shuttle.
:-)
As much as I like computers, I dislike
1. space they take up
2. rats nest of cables in the back (like Brazil)
3. fan noise
A laptop solves these problems, but at the sacrifice of a lousier keyboard and mouse interface.
The $300 price definitely helps market a machine, too, where used computers are cheap.
This is somewhat interesting, since this weekend I went the *opposite* route. I took an old Compaq Proliant server that they were throwing away at work, gutted it, and transplated my PC guts into it. I was looking to solve your #2 and #3, #1 isn't that big of a deal for me.
First off, what I took out - a working dual P133 motherboard. 4 4.3 GB SCSI drives, backplane, controller, etc. Dual 530W PS (DAMN big). All of it was working too. I put in the guts of my Linux machine, which is a Duron 1.13 (w/Zalman copper flower CPU cooler), CDRW, floppy, and 2 IDE HDDs. (which fit nicely on the removable SCSI rack plates), and a 400W Enermax whisper PS. I had to do some minor fabrication and modification, but it all fit. And working inside that case was really nice. No squinting and swearing, trying to get everything to fit inside. It was like building a PC inside a bathroom stall (proper analogy for a Compaq, with their damn special slider rails for drive bays and torx screws everywhere). But it is all pretty cool now. It is a massive machine, about 3 ft tall. The case is steel, so it is solid and quiet. There is plenty of airflow, and it runs cooler than before. And if the feds ever come and confiscate it, they'll probably throw out their back trying to lift it.
So while small form factor is cool, I think it is verging on the "disposible PC". Where is the "upgradeability" that I have been promised for years and years? I bought tons of PC hardware that was built to be "upgradeable", but every time I come to that point where I think about upgrading, I end up either getting stuff off of eBay, or buying a whole new system. From AT to ATX, from socket processor, to slot, back to socket. SIMM, DIMM, SDRAM, DDR, etc. Unless you upgrade every 2 years, you are probably going to be SOL, at least buying anything new. I highly doubt that you'll be able to upgrade any of these micro systems.
'Scuse me? Show me where modding an Xbox/PS2 has affected any revenue stream. It is a niche, hobbyist thing to do. If some hobbyist can out perform an entire software team in writing an application or game, then the company deserves to lose revenue.
If I purchase a piece of hardware, the ONLY thing a manufacturer should be able to do is void my warranty if I decide to hack it. Period. Hackers are not competition for big companies. Now maybe a company could be worried that the competition will leverage a hack to gain some insight into how they do things, but that would be pretty fruitless. After all, once a console hits the market, it doesn't do much good to figure out what it does because the company that released it is probably already working on the next generation. Heck, I am sure companies do their own hacking on competitors products, and they are probably much better at it than the hobbyist.
1. Call the phone. Talk to them on the phone and explain the oversight. Be polite and approach the situation purely as a problem solver with a helpful attitude. But take notes and pay close attention to how they response.
IF THAT FAILS,
2. Craft a letter. Be professional but firm.
IF THAT FAILS,
3. Get a lawyer. A good one but one that will take the case for a percentage of this company that you are about to own.
I agree with your assessment, you should try and handle it outside of the legal system first. But if it comes down to it, and you can't afford a lawyer, you could also try contacting a university to see if some law student wants some practice. Maybe the professor would be willing to "take your case" as a class project or something.
When Episode II was out, everyone kept telling me they couldn't believe I hadn't seen it yet. I had one coworker who saw it multiple times. He said he liked it a lot. After getting excited (and very very letdown) about Episode I, I decided to wait on Episode II. I didn't see it in the theater, I rented it. I am so glad too, because I was able to fast-forward through the excruciatingly drawn-out love scenes. Even at that speed they were painful.
I didn't see the last Matrix movie in the theater either. The second one was somewhat of a letdown, and after hearing reviews of the third, I made the choice to wait again. I look forward to renting it, but am glad I waited. With ticket prices where they are, it takes a lot to get me to go to the theater anymore. I am content to wait until they come out on rental. I feel like I am not really missing much. You can talk about the "theater experience", but I value my time more than the experience.
Lucas blew it with EP I, and just blew with EP II. I hope EP III is a colossol flop at the box office, regardless of how good it is.
You know, having 24/7 support doesn't always mean much. Here at work we use Rational tools (now owned by IBM). Sure, we have a big honking support contract, but you know what happens when I call them for support? Jack. I either get someone who runs down a standard support call sheet that I have heard 100 times, or I get someone good who says "yeah, we know about that issue, it might be fixed in our next release. But maybe not." Wheeee, that support did me a fat lot of good. I know several of their Test Manager support people by name, and I would say that 90% of the time I call them with issues, the result is that the problem is a limitation of the system. I don't need their support people to tell me that. But I guess I can get a useless answer to my question 24/7.
I find it interesting that the PHB thinks that Microsoft stands behind their product, but knows better than to actually call up Microsoft as an end user and try to get help. It is a joke around here, and I am sure elsewhere, when the system locks up or crashes to say "Call up Microsoft Support". However, I can usually always find help in the user community, whether it be a Linux forum, or on sites like dvdrhelp.com. Community support is usually much better than "official" support, IMHO.
I get that part. But the original poster said:
So unless he/she was flip-flopping within the same post, then it was a negative comment about people who wear turbans. But I suppose the flip-flop was possible...
>> ramifications.
> No, it doesn't. It's a cartoon devil. It doesn't
> offend anyone. Really. Unless you're one of
> those freaks who won't let their kids watch
> Scoobie-doo because it's got ghosts in it. Trust
> me.
*sigh* instead of modding you down as a troll, which you obviously are, I'll try to do the nice thing and throw you a little education bone...
Did you even look at what was linked? It wasn't just the cartoon devil, it was a group of devils re-enacting Iwo Jima. Holy symbolism Batman, I can see how that might be just a wee bit offensive to some people. And let's not be ignorant enough to assume that everyone in the world sits on their ass and watches cartoons on television. Or do you believe that the entire world wants to live and act like Americans?
> If it were hanging on a cross or wearing a
> turban, *then* maybe it'd need changing.
Any why would it need changing if it was wearing a turban? What are the negative connotations of wearing a turban? Seriously. I know what you probably think they are, but let us all in on it. Show your true colors. Let us all in on your ignorance.
All of what you said is correct - but that doesn't mean that the value of the position is very high. I am speaking of true value to society. To illustrate this, imagine if half of the fast food positions vanished overnight. Whooptie-doo. If half of our fast food restaurants had to go out of business, it wouldn't be a big deal. Now imagine if half of the hospitals did. Or half of the police stations, schools, universities, waste facilities, fire stations. If we lost half of our airline pilots, construction workers, factory workers, etc. Those are the ones that give us more immediate value. Then there are the writers, poets, artists, chefs, wine makers, musicians, research scientists, who contribute more to the long term value of our culture. And we do need jobs that aren't of high value, and that doesn't speak ill of the people who are in them. But don't tell me that a worker at McDonald's is undervalued.
Not exactly. It is to migrate Unix users to Windows. (i.e. proprietary hardware to x86) It is to prevent them from migrating from Unix to Linux. They have finally resigned themselves to the fact that *nix is valuable: "This is really about the interoperability," said Dennis Oldroyd, the marketing director for Microsoft's Windows Server Group. "Very few of our customers are going to have a pure Unix or pure Windows environment...
Did you ever think 5 years ago that Microsoft would ever admit that their users would have anything but a pure Windows environment? And you missed my veiled reference when I said they will embrace it. They will embrace it - then extend it. That is their M.O.
I doubt it. More like they are finally able to see the writing on the wall. They are finally seeing that *nix has a presence, and they can't do a damn thing to stop it. So they will embrace it.
We all know what happens next...
Not that I don't see this as a good thing, but I think I'll go with what I know to be true and be extremely skeptical about their motives.
I thought this story was about fast-food workers, not teachers. Since when are these people underpaid and undervalued? They may not make very much money, and they may have to work a lot of hours and do mundane tasks, but what VALUE do they really offer to society? Not that they don't deserve respect for the job they perform, but they would not be anywhere in the top 100 undervalued workers. Not every job has the same value in our society. Our society rewards some pretty ridiculous jobs in our society, and rewards some only a fraction of their true value, but fast food workers are not one of those.
Not to mention the fact that you don't technically have to sign for a credit card either. Do you sign anything when you pay at the pump with your credit card?
(sound of crickets)
Yeah, that's what I thought. Even on purchases, you don't always have to sign. What do you sign when you make an internet transaction? If you go to a store, they technically don't have to make you sign something if it is under a certain dollar amount (can't remember offhand what it is).
Personally, I don't use a Speedpass because I don't always go to Mobil. If I had one, I would probably always go to them, and I refuse to be controlled by their clever, evil marketing ideas. :-)
I always thought politicians were able to take 1 lb of something and turn it into 50 lbs of bullshit.
People think for some reason that the photo needs to dry. This could be because the earlier instant photos had a chemical strip on them that needed to be peeled off, and shaking it did make it dry faster. But the Polaroid photos used a chemical reaction inside the picture. It isn't about trying to dry the ink in a traditional sense, it is about letting the chemical reaction take place undisturbed. Shaking a Polaroid photo will only mess it up. I am surprised the noted scholar Outkast doesn't know that.
And they are still around today. For my nieces this year for Christmas, I bought them Polaroid iZone cameras. They are small cameras that use instant film. The pictures are about 2"x1.5", so they are pretty small. But you can peel off the backing and the picture is a sticker. Pretty cool for an 11 and 8 year old. The camera was pretty cheap, at around $12, but the film costs about $5 per 18 exposures. I thought it was a cool gadget, and so did they.
Can't wait to see what the entry for SCO looks like...
One of the most important jobs of the RIAA is to investigate the illegal production and distribution of sound recordings. It is estimated that such illegal product costs the music industry more than 300 million dollars a year domestically. The RIAA pursues a global policy comprised of education, enforcement, developing technologies, and when necessary, litigation.
The RIAA assists authorities in identifying music pirates and shutting down their operations. In piracy cases involving physical product, the RIAA works with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and prosecutors? offices to coordinate seizures of pirated product. The RIAA-assisted raids have closed down hundreds of U.S. and overseas manufacturing and distributing operations, and significantly reduced illegal CD and cassette vending around the country.
So I guess they need to update it to inclue "taking the law into our own hands".
Probably to protect the rover in case of this scenario .
I was messing around, and wrote a small script, let's call it "hose". Hose contained one line: "./hose &"
After chmodding it, for some reason I typed "hose &" and hit Enter. At the time, we had 10 people per server, and I always had a load monitor running. It skyrocketed. People started complaining that the server ground to a halt. I went over to our IT person and told them what I did, but they couldn't get in fast enough. The process was spawning a new process so fast that we couldn't catch it. It was hard to even log in because the CPU was pegged. We thought - well, it will crash the server I guess. But it didn't. The load peaked, and stayed there. Just before the IT person was going to go into the server room and shut it down, I said "hold on!". I went back to my desk, typed in one command into the window I was still logged into, and everything went back to normal.
What did I type?
rm hose
Boy, do I feel stupid now.