"Confidential to T-Mobile: NASA is downloading 36 MB TIFFs from Mars and I only get 2 bars of signal on my cell phone inside my house. Please look into upgrading."
Fair enough, but I'd argue that for most folks this is coming out of whatever "beverage budget" you already had. Instead of a Coke or an orange juice, you're buying a Pepsi.
It's also an economic multiplier -- "hey look, I'm getting a drink AND a song..." Or, "Hey, my drink/song costs less now..."
Yes, some outliers are going to buy litres of Pepsi, but I still think that most folks aren't actually going to drink more fluids as a result.
1) market share 2) millions of valid email addresses
So you take your bottle cap, login to your iTunes account, and Pepsi gets marketing information... How free is this music now? Pepsi is not doing this for the benefit of society. I'll be not at all surprised if I start getting spam from them.
Or, they could say "Hey, let us spam you and we'll give you one free song a month." You know a whole lot of people would sign up for that...
My goodness, your creative wit managed to combine Canadian military capacity with our abundant wildlife! How magnificiently original!
But please do not forget the remaining bevy of animals that could bolster Canada's defences. Squadrons of elk and moose, Special Forces composed of beavers and grizzly infantry come to mind.
Please continue to regale us with your useful analogies. I am sure you tried to fit flying squirrels in there too but simply ran out of time.
Great, oil tankers churning through uncharted waters. That's just what we need.
Canada had better beef up its defence spending and actively patrol the increasingly less fabled Northwest Passage or risk losing sovereignty over the area. Otherwise we're going to have no control over what sails through.
The founding of Nunavut is a step in the right direction (and far better than Canada's previous efforts of forcibly relocating Inuit and other groups to remote, unsustainable northern locations). But hopefully a sustainable government infrastructure in the North will yield environmental controls that can actually stand up to the the oil industry.
Interestingly, it looks like Iqaluit is considering a deep water port:
http://www.nunatsiaq.com/archives/030502/news/nu na vut/30502_04.html
Q: What do American beer and having sex in a canoe have in common?
A: Both are fucking close to water.
The Hon. Member is *not* a yappy cocker spaniel...
on
Spam, Milord
·
· Score: 3, Funny
I used to work in the British Columbia Legislature where I was privy to many a hilarious debate.
It fascinating to watch the 'Honourable Members' skirt the line between debate and personal insult. In the parliamentary system, if the Speaker/Chair thinks they've gone too far, they can call them on it and request they withdraw the offending statement. Dysfunctional as the B.C. Leg is, there were never any duels called on matters of honour. But this exchange between Moe Sihota and Fred Gingell back in 1993 was my all time favourite. Even in apologizing, insults can be made...
Hon. M. Sihota: The opposition seem to be irritated that I made some comments about trustees. They never seem to have any difficulty in taking some shots themselves at trade unions. Be that as it may, it is true that I made some comments about the trustees during the course of this dispute. It is my responsibility to comment on what is happening in a particular dispute, and indeed I did.
(Interjection.)
Hon. M. Sihota: Look, if the yappy cocker spaniel over there will settle down, we could....
F. Gingell: Listen to who's talking. Go back and read the way you used to speak in this House when you were in opposition.
The Chair: Order, please. Hon. members, the Chair doesn't wish to intervene, but if members are going to take liberties with respect to personal comments on individuals, it will be incumbent on the Chair to ask them to withdraw. I would ask the minister to withdraw the term "cocker spaniel."
Hon. M. Sihota: I withdraw my comment that the hon. member is a yappy cocker spaniel.
The Chair: Thank you, hon. minister. Please proceed.
Hon. M. Sihota: I'll wait for the member to settle down before I speak again...
From one of the Mac news sites a couple of months ago, can't remember which one:
A woman brings her Titanium PowerBook into a Mac repair shop. For some inexplicable reason she had put it in the oven for 20 minutes.
All the keys had popped off, the casing was scorched and the screen was cracked, but it still booted. External ports were fine -- a monitor and keyboard were attached and everything worked.
Pictures are here. They have no idea why she did it.
The easy answer -- write really boring documents that no one's going to redistribute.:)
But if the content is intriguing or controversial, get ready for redistribution. Think of the email from the USAF fighter pilot back in, what, 96/97, re what they were training to do in Bosnia. Not what the military wanted people to know, but interesting, but truthful, and widely distributed.
DRM or encryption be damned -- if the human eye can see it, and the incentive is high enough, it can get out. Unless there is an incentive to keep it to one's self, and that is inadvertent authentication.
Depending on the level of paranoia of redistribution, the sender could slightly and subtly modify the content of the memo. Whether it's slightly different content, or an extra space here or there... In essence everyone's getting a unique (and therefore traceable) document. The recipient won't realise it, but they're getting a letter, not a memo.
I have vague recollections of a utility that slightly modified kerning in postscript or pdf docs to that end, as well as rumours that Steve Jobs would give different docs to different people in order to trace leaks back when Apple employees were loose-lipped.
Fear for your job is a hell of an incentive to shut up and keep docs to yourself, though as fuckedcompany.com shows, if things get bad enough, or bad enough things happen... Beware a man with nothing to lose.
Didn't want the WSDOT site to be slashdotted. Some people actually rely on it. Figured the extra effort of cutting and pasting would prove a big enough barrier to ward off the curiosity seekers (or anonymous cowards...)
Seattle's had maps like this for years, and they work quite well:
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/PugetSoundTraffic/
They don't read speed directly, but rather chart traffic density by measuring the changes in inductance of 6 foot metal loops embedded in the highway every 1/2 mile or so. They count cars passing over the loops and measure the time a car spends over it.
From the WSDOT FAQ:
"How are "Stop and Go", "Heavy", "Moderate", and "Wide Open" defined?
Their definitions are based on a measurement called "loop occupancy". This is the percentage of time that a 6 foot square loop sensor is activated, or occupied, by vehicles traveling over it. Loop occupancy is measured by sampling the loop detector at a rate of 60 times per second. Each sample results in a "loop occupied" or "loop not occupied" response. A counter is incremented once for each "loop occupied" response. After 20 seconds, the total number of "loop occupied" responses is divided by 1200 (the total number of samples in a 20-second period) and then multiplied by 100 to get a percentage. The result is known as occupancy. On the map, "Stop and Go" (or BLACK) is defined as occupancy greater than 35%, "Heavy" (or RED) is 22-35% occupancy, "Moderate" (or YELLOW) is 15-22% occupancy, "Wide Open" (or GREEN) is below 15% occupancy. "
MGM is about to release Season 4 in Region 2 (Europe/Japan/Middle East), (Amazon and Blackstar)
but only the first season is available on DVD in North America.
It usually seems to be the other way around. Wonder what the delay is - syndication rights in N.A., maybe?
Not only is the character development strong, but the interplay between them is superb. Teal'c's mastery of understatement (his raised eyebrows speak volumes) when responding, General Hammond's patient tolerance of O'Neill, the underlying sexual tension between O'Neill and Carter, O'Neill's glaze when Jackson and Carter go off on technical tangents, or his mindless repetition of something he obviously doesn't understand...
The military loves the show - the general who guest starred actually is the Air Force Chief of Staff, General Michael Ryan. (My dad used to work for him, so I'm a fan...)
The time loop episode, 'Window of Opportunity' had me laughing so hard it hurt. I could hardly breathe. But the alien-building-a-stargate-in-the-basement was classic. "Oh, and you're going to need a new microwave."
I also heard that this is the last season. That's too bad, since it has only been getting better - the writers and actors have really hit their stride. God knows how they will end it.
Thanks for pointing out the archive, DaSyonic - that'll fill in some gaps.
Slashdot Mirror
Uhhh, if the voting machines don't boot up, I'd have to say there's a problem with electronic voting...
I don't have to boot up a pencil or a piece of paper. Hell, I can vote by candlelight if I have to.
From boingboing.net via Stephen Frank:
"Confidential to T-Mobile: NASA is downloading 36 MB TIFFs from Mars and I only get 2 bars of signal on my cell phone inside my house. Please look into upgrading."
Fair enough, but I'd argue that for most folks this is coming out of whatever "beverage budget" you already had. Instead of a Coke or an orange juice, you're buying a Pepsi.
It's also an economic multiplier -- "hey look, I'm getting a drink AND a song..." Or, "Hey, my drink/song costs less now..."
Yes, some outliers are going to buy litres of Pepsi, but I still think that most folks aren't actually going to drink more fluids as a result.
Damn grammacronym nazi... :)
1) market share
2) millions of valid email addresses
So you take your bottle cap, login to your iTunes account, and Pepsi gets marketing information... How free is this music now? Pepsi is not doing this for the benefit of society. I'll be not at all surprised if I start getting spam from them.
Or, they could say "Hey, let us spam you and we'll give you one free song a month." You know a whole lot of people would sign up for that...
TINSTAAFL...
I'd be pretty happy with a 45% hookup rate...
My goodness, your creative wit managed to combine Canadian military capacity with our abundant wildlife! How magnificiently original!
But please do not forget the remaining bevy of animals that could bolster Canada's defences. Squadrons of elk and moose, Special Forces composed of beavers and grizzly infantry come to mind.
Please continue to regale us with your useful analogies. I am sure you tried to fit flying squirrels in there too but simply ran out of time.
Great, oil tankers churning through uncharted waters. That's just what we need.
u na vut/30502_04.html
Canada had better beef up its defence spending and actively patrol the increasingly less fabled Northwest Passage or risk losing sovereignty over the area. Otherwise we're going to have no control over what sails through.
The founding of Nunavut is a step in the right direction (and far better than Canada's previous efforts of forcibly relocating Inuit and other groups to remote, unsustainable northern locations). But hopefully a sustainable government infrastructure in the North will yield environmental controls that can actually stand up to the the oil industry.
Interestingly, it looks like Iqaluit is considering a deep water port:
http://www.nunatsiaq.com/archives/030502/news/n
Q: What do American beer and having sex in a canoe have in common?
A: Both are fucking close to water.
It fascinating to watch the 'Honourable Members' skirt the line between debate and personal insult. In the parliamentary system, if the Speaker/Chair thinks they've gone too far, they can call them on it and request they withdraw the offending statement. Dysfunctional as the B.C. Leg is, there were never any duels called on matters of honour. But this exchange between Moe Sihota and Fred Gingell back in 1993 was my all time favourite. Even in apologizing, insults can be made...
Apparently Timbits are far more important that we ever imagined...
OK, I bite (no pun intended.) What *would* the weather and gravity be like on such a world?
Depending on how it spun, you could have areas in permanent shadow. Gravity would be interesting on the edge of the donut hole...
Gaaah, brain full -- it was originally posted here on
:(
Slashdot.
I even searched for "oven."
From one of the Mac news sites a couple of months ago, can't remember which one:
A woman brings her Titanium PowerBook into a Mac repair shop. For some inexplicable reason she had put it in the oven for 20 minutes.
All the keys had popped off, the casing was scorched and the screen was cracked, but it still booted. External ports were fine -- a monitor and keyboard were attached and everything worked.
Pictures are here. They have no idea why she did it.
The easy answer -- write really boring documents that no one's going to redistribute. :)
But if the content is intriguing or controversial, get ready for redistribution. Think of the email from the USAF fighter pilot back in, what, 96/97, re what they were training to do in Bosnia. Not what the military wanted people to know, but interesting, but truthful, and widely distributed.
DRM or encryption be damned -- if the human eye can see it, and the incentive is high enough, it can get out. Unless there is an incentive to keep it to one's self, and that is inadvertent authentication.
Depending on the level of paranoia of redistribution, the sender could slightly and subtly modify the content of the memo. Whether it's slightly different content, or an extra space here or there... In essence everyone's getting a unique (and therefore traceable) document. The recipient won't realise it, but they're getting a letter, not a memo.
I have vague recollections of a utility that slightly modified kerning in postscript or pdf docs to that end, as well as rumours that Steve Jobs would give different docs to different people in order to trace leaks back when Apple employees were loose-lipped.
Fear for your job is a hell of an incentive to shut up and keep docs to yourself, though as fuckedcompany.com shows, if things get bad enough, or bad enough things happen... Beware a man with nothing to lose.
Didn't want the WSDOT site to be slashdotted. Some people actually rely on it. Figured the extra effort of cutting and pasting would prove a big enough barrier to ward off the curiosity seekers (or anonymous cowards...)
-L.V.
Seattle's had maps like this for years, and they work quite well:
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/PugetSoundTraffic/
They don't read speed directly, but rather chart traffic density by measuring the changes in inductance of 6 foot metal loops embedded in the highway every 1/2 mile or so. They count cars passing over the loops and measure the time a car spends over it.
From the WSDOT FAQ:
"How are "Stop and Go", "Heavy", "Moderate", and "Wide Open" defined?
Their definitions are based on a measurement called "loop occupancy". This is the percentage of time that a 6 foot square loop sensor is activated, or occupied, by vehicles traveling over it. Loop occupancy is measured by sampling the loop detector at a rate of 60 times per second. Each sample results in a "loop occupied" or "loop not occupied" response. A counter is incremented once for each "loop occupied" response. After 20 seconds, the total number of "loop occupied" responses is divided by 1200 (the total number of samples in a 20-second period) and then multiplied by 100 to get a percentage. The result is known as occupancy. On the map, "Stop and Go" (or BLACK) is defined as occupancy greater than 35%, "Heavy" (or RED) is 22-35% occupancy, "Moderate" (or YELLOW) is 15-22% occupancy, "Wide Open" (or GREEN) is below 15% occupancy. "
It usually seems to be the other way around. Wonder what the delay is - syndication rights in N.A., maybe?
Man, I watch that show waaayyy too much, because reading through that list of quotes, I can hear exactly how they would be saying it.
The intonation and emphasis can be funnier than the writing itself.
I also like how they play Jack's mistrust of the Tok'ra, and how he complains that they never give them all the details (which is true...)
Not only is the character development strong, but the interplay between them is superb. Teal'c's mastery of understatement (his raised eyebrows speak volumes) when responding, General Hammond's patient tolerance of O'Neill, the underlying sexual tension between O'Neill and Carter, O'Neill's glaze when Jackson and Carter go off on technical tangents, or his mindless repetition of something he obviously doesn't understand...
The military loves the show - the general who guest starred actually is the Air Force Chief of Staff, General Michael Ryan. (My dad used to work for him, so I'm a fan...)
The time loop episode, 'Window of Opportunity' had me laughing so hard it hurt. I could hardly breathe. But the alien-building-a-stargate-in-the-basement was classic. "Oh, and you're going to need a new microwave."
I also heard that this is the last season. That's too bad, since it has only been getting better - the writers and actors have really hit their stride. God knows how they will end it.
Thanks for pointing out the archive, DaSyonic - that'll fill in some gaps.
If Quebec separates, Canada gets to keep Montreal. Quebec gets Toronto.
So, if someone on the station installed Eudora and upgraded to the paid version, would they get a statue on the lawn of Qualcomm's headquarters?