When I think of all the places I see TVs thrown about casually as background noise... Bars, Diners, chinese take-out, jiffy-lube, security desks, laundromats, barber shops, and on top of cardboard boxes owned by the homeless, I can't help but wonder what's going to happen to all those sets when the analog signal they all depend upon is suddenly cut off.
Most of the places I just named don't get cable, and they don't want the added do-hickie of a converter box, because the TV is just a prop and a distraction while you're really doing something else.
It seems to me that these are the people that are REALLY going to be inconvenienced by this switch-over, as, suddenly, no TV and nobody in these places has the money or ability to do the "upgrade".
What, are the landfills going to be full of TVs in 2009? Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Mercury.
Okay; lemme get this straight. You can use your old TV, but, you'll be using it through a converter box which outputs an analog signal. But there's a Broadcast flag to prevent you from recording stuff. Nani?
Can't I just plug my old VHS machine into the converter box's analog output and tape shows to my heart's content? So, I can still time shift and/or grab stuff into my computer for posting on bittorrent, yes? I fail to understand how this is going to affect anyone with old equipment and a converter box. Yes, once all the old equipment dies and we're all stuck using pure digital equipment 20 years from now, this is an issue, but, what's the problem currently?
And in 20 years, there will be a new standard anyhow which will make the digital stuff obsolete, and we start this upgrade cycle all over again, ala Blue_ray...
The infrastructure is not up to the task of delivering a digital HDTV signal to every home in America. The cable companies *think* they can handle the load, but they are way wrong.
There are old buildings with old wires, and as the signal strength decreases before it gets to the TV set (or converter box), the loss of signal will create all kinds of glitches.
Bad taps in lock boxes in basements can cause signal breakup, loss of signal entirely, and all manner of artifacting, including, but not limited to extreme pixelation of the image and audio degradation to the point of inaudibility.
In short; the cable companies could find themselves having to re-wire a large percentage of inner-urban areas where the loss of TV entirely for large percentages of the population could even lead to riots.
Worst is that they are in for a surprise when it still won't work because of other equipment failures between their origination point and the destination box.
The cable companies, used to short-changing their customer base and providing the lowest service at the higest prices, will suddenly find itself in the unenviable position of actually having to do WORK to make it all happen. And they aren't going to want to pay for it, having already spent their government subsidies on yachts for the upper executives.
In short, they aren't ready to handle even their existing customer base.
Think about it. Joe Consumer sees the Blu_ray at "The Wiz" or "Best Buy", and drools "Wow, what a sharp picture!!!". He buys the unit, takes it home, pops in a standard DVD on his standard TV set, and then wonders where all the extra resolution is.
You think I'm kidding but I'm not. I deal with people who hook their DVD into the VHS machine and then wonder why they can't see the DVD's play -- because the VHS machine is still set to "tuner", when it needs to be changed to "Aux" or "line in".
Believe me. People will return these things like mad when they don't get the same quality of image they saw in the store. They are not being told that they have to buy new DVDs and New TVs as well as the new player. It's like saying "This new stereo requires that you throw away your old speakers and buy new speakers too, plus, you can't play your old CD's in it either!"
I predict phantom warehouses of returned merchandise to keep it off the books so the stocks don't tumble.
No it is not. The government is a bunch of rich white people who were elected by corporations. There are no "common people" in government anymore, and there have not been for quite some time. Does Tom Delay really care about the common citizen or his next big fat corporate check that he can money launder into his pocket? The government is about POWER, not about people.
The current administration has been way more blatent about their theft of government money than any previous administration. They are also less apologetic about it as well. They steal, lie and then are arrogant about it as well. In the meantime, they distract us with the Iraq War and debates about gay marriage while they plunder us.
Sure, you can believe that the government is *you*. Just try running for office one day and see how hard it is to become part of the ruling class. Unless you're a member of the skull and bones, you're never going to be accepted nor will you ever get a foot in the door. And unless you start accepting brides and become corrupted and essentially are "bought" by lobbiests and corporations who will control you forever like a puppet, you're never going to get the money to win an election.
Just where did you ever get the idea that the government was for the people, of the people and by the people? And you bought that crap? Man...
So, just as how many VW Beetles can fill a Hectar, or whatever that was, now we're going to have a new slashdot metric -- i.e., how many trees your multicore CPU is worth?
Or maybe it's how many trees can fit in a Beetle.. or How many CPUs in hectar?..
Please note: these laptops are not in production. They are not--and will not--be available for purchase by individuals.
Until the kids they are given to turn around and create a lucrative market for themselves by re-selling the things on Ebay. How long before these laptops are widely stolen in third world countries and put up for sale online?
It really makes no sense NOT to sell them on the open market. What parent in the USA wouldn't want to buy their kid a $100 laptop so they can IM the third world kids that are using the laptops to run identity theft rings out of Romania?
Once these laptops get into the hands of kids, I suspect a huge new wave of internet crimes. Can't you just see the RIAA suing 10-year-old Janihari in Botswana for downloading an MP3?
Okay, to define an object as a planet, that body needs to be more affected by the gravity of the solar body it orbits than by the gravity of any other body. If it's more affected by the gravity of some other planetary body, then it's a moon, not a planet.
Spherical shape nor mass alone should be a factor. If you're going to go JUST by spherical shape and mass then the Earth's moon could be called a planet.
But obviously, we do need to take into consideration the object's mass, or every rock in the asteroid belt could be considered a planet.
So; to recap, the object needs to be a certain size and mass -- AND -- demonstrably affected by the gravity of the primary star of the system, so that it is in a solar orbit and not overtly affected by the gravity of other celestial bodies.
So, now we're down to size and mass question again -- It's a wacky situation, as moons of Jupiter can be larger and more massive than the planet we inhabit - I wonder if we'll ever discover a moon orbiting a gas giant, that has it's own moon... A moon's moon. What will we do then I wonder?
Redefine everything all over again?
Science is a constanly changing landscape. Even if we set in stone what we're going to call a planet, we'll be having this discussion again in 20 years or so.
For anyone that questions how society "molds" one gender into something, just check out your local Toys R Us.... Everything for girls is PINK, and many of the toys seem to center around the Kitchen or babies.
Toys for boys, on the other hand, involve construction, Remote control speed machines, police, army and fireman roles.
Girls are fed Princess fantasies. Boys are fed Star Wars/Action.
Believe me that, from birth onward, gender roles are forced onto you, and if you resist, you're an outsider with no friends.
"Subdivisions -- in the shopping malls, in the backs of cars, be cool or be cast out." -- Rush
Why is it that even with all this increased security in the the name of 'protecting the American public', you still have as much crime as ever in the subway?
How can homeland security ever hope to thwart a terrorist, if they can't thwart a 15-year-old with a glock?
I don't think anybody feels safer in the subway, just try riding the 'F' train at midnight and you'll notice that it still has the same level of crime as pre-9/11.
Don't you remember the episode of Star Trek TOS(James Doohan tie-in here) where the war was going on between planets and the victims of the attacks stepped peacefully into their disintigtration chambers, because the war itself was only foguth between two computers that counted casualties?
Kirk said that War is messy business, and if you reduce it to clean and easy, you're just going to have more of it. Once war becomes so horrific, that's when we'll stop.
Notice that we've so far, have avoided having total nuclear warfare? Have you figured out WHY we've avoided lobbing nukes at each other on a regular basis?
Because that kind of warfare is unthinkable because it is so horrific, it will wipe us all out and civilization will cease.
That's the ONLY kind of war that will prevent us from having war.
If you make warfare "humane", we'll just think of it as clean and easy, and just have it more often.
Norway has shown that Microsoft's revenue will drop if they change to open standards, so, in the interests of the world economy, Norway has been declared condemned, and will be aquired by Microsoft.
Fair market value will be given to the citizens, who will then be moved to nearby countries.
In other news, that's exactly what we've been doing in Iraq...
Very few car commercials tout a safe driving experience (Volvo perhaps as the exception), and in fact, many commercials show the car exceeding the speed limit, driving fast around dangerous corners, and spinning out across desert landscapes, with only the occiassional "professional driver on closed course, do not attempt." appearing briefly.
IS THIS NOT promoting a vehicle for unsafe and illegal driving? Are the auto manufacturers liable now when someone drives off a cliff while trying to imitate these moves?
If I recall, parents sued MTV when their kids imitated Beavis and Butthead and set their mattress on fire, the kids died as a result.
Are adults supposed to be less prone to imitating stupidity? I think not. Behind the wheel, everyone is 7 years old -- witness most drivers on the freeway exceeding 80mph and flashing their highbeams to anyone in their way.
It seems to me that "the ultimate driving machine" and other auto companies that promote their cars specifically as FAST, are now going to be in for it, as why would they build a car with 300 horsepower if not to exceed the speed limit?
Is this not EXACTLY the same thing as the grokster ruling?
So, let me get this straight, the Supreme Court has ruled that if the creator of the device promotes the ILLEGAL uses of the product or device, then the creator of the device is at fault, despite the potential legal uses of the device.
So, this is the difference between "escort/massage" and "whore"?
I mean, a car has legal uses, but, when criminals use a getaway car after robbing a bank, a car is an illegal device used for crime, regardless of the legal uses of the device.
Therefore, GM, Toyota, Ford, et al., need to be held responsible for the crimes committed using vehicles.
The author of the article is probably too young to remember Star Blazers. The author has clearly seen Akira, but Akira has "jumped the shark" so to speak, and crossed over from anime geek-ness to mainstream. Even people who've never heard of or liked anime have seen or heard of Akira.
However, I agree. The Wave Motion Gun is the beam weapon of all-time, and certainly the most impressive looking blaster (particularly from the target's viewpoint).
And who can resist that trumpet sound effect build-up as everyone puts on their goggles?
(Now I gotta pull my DVDs and watch again...) fun fun!
Starting a modern car is probably easier today, WHEN IT WORKS -- but, getting a modern car to start when something is wrong now takes much more time to diagnose the problem. Ironically, with the Model T's much simpler engine, there was, essentially, less to go wrong and even when the car was malfunctioning, could be forced to operate anyway.
One feature unique to the Model T is the Ford planetary transmission, which utilizes driving bands in internal clutches to transmit engine power, with or without reduction, to the rear wheels. Generally misunderstood by people who have no experience with early cars, this is, in effect, a two-speed automatic transmission which is controlled directly by the driver's feet. And it dates from 1908, which proves, if anything, that there is very little new under the sun!
Before you use such an incredibly ignorant anology, I'd like to point out that the Model T could run on cow paths and rutted, muddy roads that would stop a modern 4-wheel drive SUV dead in it's tracks. It was so simple to drive and maintain that an illiterate could operate it.
It was over-engineered to survive and keep going despite the fact that was regularly abused and run on the most horrible roads almost 100% of the time.
In many, MANY ways, it was more advanced than modern vehicles. And what is most sad is that you do not realize this -- newer is not necessarily better.
Slashdot Mirror
I really like using Christie's bondage outfit (and for that matter, Tina's black cat one).
Marry Me.
When I think of all the places I see TVs thrown about casually as background noise... Bars, Diners, chinese take-out, jiffy-lube, security desks, laundromats, barber shops, and on top of cardboard boxes owned by the homeless, I can't help but wonder what's going to happen to all those sets when the analog signal they all depend upon is suddenly cut off.
Most of the places I just named don't get cable, and they don't want the added do-hickie of a converter box, because the TV is just a prop and a distraction while you're really doing something else.
It seems to me that these are the people that are REALLY going to be inconvenienced by this switch-over, as, suddenly, no TV and nobody in these places has the money or ability to do the "upgrade".
What, are the landfills going to be full of TVs in 2009? Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Mercury.
Okay; lemme get this straight. You can use your old TV, but, you'll be using it through a converter box which outputs an analog signal. But there's a Broadcast flag to prevent you from recording stuff. Nani?
Can't I just plug my old VHS machine into the converter box's analog output and tape shows to my heart's content? So, I can still time shift and/or grab stuff into my computer for posting on bittorrent, yes? I fail to understand how this is going to affect anyone with old equipment and a converter box. Yes, once all the old equipment dies and we're all stuck using pure digital equipment 20 years from now, this is an issue, but, what's the problem currently?
And in 20 years, there will be a new standard anyhow which will make the digital stuff obsolete, and we start this upgrade cycle all over again, ala Blue_ray...
TTYL
Techrat
The infrastructure is not up to the task of delivering a digital HDTV signal to every home in America. The cable companies *think* they can handle the load, but they are way wrong.
There are old buildings with old wires, and as the signal strength decreases before it gets to the TV set (or converter box), the loss of signal will create all kinds of glitches.
Bad taps in lock boxes in basements can cause signal breakup, loss of signal entirely, and all manner of artifacting, including, but not limited to extreme pixelation of the image and audio degradation to the point of inaudibility.
In short; the cable companies could find themselves having to re-wire a large percentage of inner-urban areas where the loss of TV entirely for large percentages of the population could even lead to riots.
Worst is that they are in for a surprise when it still won't work because of other equipment failures between their origination point and the destination box.
The cable companies, used to short-changing their customer base and providing the lowest service at the higest prices, will suddenly find itself in the unenviable position of actually having to do WORK to make it all happen. And they aren't going to want to pay for it, having already spent their government subsidies on yachts for the upper executives.
In short, they aren't ready to handle even their existing customer base.
Yes she is....
Think about it. Joe Consumer sees the Blu_ray at "The Wiz" or "Best Buy", and drools "Wow, what a sharp picture!!!". He buys the unit, takes it home, pops in a standard DVD on his standard TV set, and then wonders where all the extra resolution is.
You think I'm kidding but I'm not. I deal with people who hook their DVD into the VHS machine and then wonder why they can't see the DVD's play -- because the VHS machine is still set to "tuner", when it needs to be changed to "Aux" or "line in".
Believe me. People will return these things like mad when they don't get the same quality of image they saw in the store. They are not being told that they have to buy new DVDs and New TVs as well as the new player. It's like saying "This new stereo requires that you throw away your old speakers and buy new speakers too, plus, you can't play your old CD's in it either!"
I predict phantom warehouses of returned merchandise to keep it off the books so the stocks don't tumble.
Trust me on this. People are stupid.
You know who the government is? You!
No it is not. The government is a bunch of rich white people who were elected by corporations. There are no "common people" in government anymore, and there have not been for quite some time. Does Tom Delay really care about the common citizen or his next big fat corporate check that he can money launder into his pocket? The government is about POWER, not about people.
The current administration has been way more blatent about their theft of government money than any previous administration. They are also less apologetic about it as well. They steal, lie and then are arrogant about it as well. In the meantime, they distract us with the Iraq War and debates about gay marriage while they plunder us.
Sure, you can believe that the government is *you*. Just try running for office one day and see how hard it is to become part of the ruling class. Unless you're a member of the skull and bones, you're never going to be accepted nor will you ever get a foot in the door. And unless you start accepting brides and become corrupted and essentially are "bought" by lobbiests and corporations who will control you forever like a puppet, you're never going to get the money to win an election.
Just where did you ever get the idea that the government was for the people, of the people and by the people? And you bought that crap? Man...
So, just as how many VW Beetles can fill a Hectar, or whatever that was, now we're going to have a new slashdot metric -- i.e., how many trees your multicore CPU is worth?
Or maybe it's how many trees can fit in a Beetle.. or How many CPUs in hectar?..
Have I worn out this joke yet?
Please note: these laptops are not in production. They are not--and will not--be available for purchase by individuals.
Until the kids they are given to turn around and create a lucrative market for themselves by re-selling the things on Ebay. How long before these laptops are widely stolen in third world countries and put up for sale online?
It really makes no sense NOT to sell them on the open market. What parent in the USA wouldn't want to buy their kid a $100 laptop so they can IM the third world kids that are using the laptops to run identity theft rings out of Romania?
Once these laptops get into the hands of kids, I suspect a huge new wave of internet crimes. Can't you just see the RIAA suing 10-year-old Janihari in Botswana for downloading an MP3?
Or am I just too cynical for my own good?
Okay, to define an object as a planet, that body needs to be more affected by the gravity of the solar body it orbits than by the gravity of any other body. If it's more affected by the gravity of some other planetary body, then it's a moon, not a planet.
Spherical shape nor mass alone should be a factor. If you're going to go JUST by spherical shape and mass then the Earth's moon could be called a planet.
But obviously, we do need to take into consideration the object's mass, or every rock in the asteroid belt could be considered a planet.
So; to recap, the object needs to be a certain size and mass -- AND -- demonstrably affected by the gravity of the primary star of the system, so that it is in a solar orbit and not overtly affected by the gravity of other celestial bodies.
So, now we're down to size and mass question again -- It's a wacky situation, as moons of Jupiter can be larger and more massive than the planet we inhabit - I wonder if we'll ever discover a moon orbiting a gas giant, that has it's own moon... A moon's moon. What will we do then I wonder?
Redefine everything all over again?
Science is a constanly changing landscape. Even if we set in stone what we're going to call a planet, we'll be having this discussion again in 20 years or so.
For anyone that questions how society "molds" one gender into something, just check out your local Toys R Us.... Everything for girls is PINK, and many of the toys seem to center around the Kitchen or babies.
Toys for boys, on the other hand, involve construction, Remote control speed machines, police, army and fireman roles.
Girls are fed Princess fantasies. Boys are fed Star Wars/Action.
Believe me that, from birth onward, gender roles are forced onto you, and if you resist, you're an outsider with no friends.
"Subdivisions -- in the shopping malls, in the backs of cars, be cool or be cast out." -- Rush
Yes, but I'll bet most women don't worry about dying of old age while still a virgin.
Why is it that even with all this increased security in the the name of 'protecting the American public', you still have as much crime as ever in the subway?
How can homeland security ever hope to thwart a terrorist, if they can't thwart a 15-year-old with a glock?
I don't think anybody feels safer in the subway, just try riding the 'F' train at midnight and you'll notice that it still has the same level of crime as pre-9/11.
Ummm., no, the parent poster meant that you could turn off the power and what's in memory is preserved.
In other words, you're in the middle of writing a program, and then decide the call it a day and you turn off the computer....
When you next turn ON the computer, it picks up where you left off -- as if it had never been off, because the contents of the RAM have not changed.
That's why core memory is cool.
Old computers rock!!!
Wrong wrong wrong dear friend...
Don't you remember the episode of Star Trek TOS(James Doohan tie-in here) where the war was going on between planets and the victims of the attacks stepped peacefully into their disintigtration chambers, because the war itself was only foguth between two computers that counted casualties?
Kirk said that War is messy business, and if you reduce it to clean and easy, you're just going to have more of it. Once war becomes so horrific, that's when we'll stop.
Notice that we've so far, have avoided having total nuclear warfare? Have you figured out WHY we've avoided lobbing nukes at each other on a regular basis?
Because that kind of warfare is unthinkable because it is so horrific, it will wipe us all out and civilization will cease.
That's the ONLY kind of war that will prevent us from having war.
If you make warfare "humane", we'll just think of it as clean and easy, and just have it more often.
And we can see the same story THREE times on the main page!!! That would be a historic first!
Come on slashdotters, let's make it happen!!!
Norway has shown that Microsoft's revenue will drop if they change to open standards, so, in the interests of the world economy, Norway has been declared condemned, and will be aquired by Microsoft.
Fair market value will be given to the citizens, who will then be moved to nearby countries.
In other news, that's exactly what we've been doing in Iraq...
Very few car commercials tout a safe driving experience (Volvo perhaps as the exception), and in fact, many commercials show the car exceeding the speed limit, driving fast around dangerous corners, and spinning out across desert landscapes, with only the occiassional "professional driver on closed course, do not attempt." appearing briefly.
IS THIS NOT promoting a vehicle for unsafe and illegal driving? Are the auto manufacturers liable now when someone drives off a cliff while trying to imitate these moves?
If I recall, parents sued MTV when their kids imitated Beavis and Butthead and set their mattress on fire, the kids died as a result.
Are adults supposed to be less prone to imitating stupidity? I think not. Behind the wheel, everyone is 7 years old -- witness most drivers on the freeway exceeding 80mph and flashing their highbeams to anyone in their way.
It seems to me that "the ultimate driving machine" and other auto companies that promote their cars specifically as FAST, are now going to be in for it, as why would they build a car with 300 horsepower if not to exceed the speed limit?
Is this not EXACTLY the same thing as the grokster ruling?
Hey; they put cat-ears on their anime-girls all the time, why not on their bullet trains?
And those anime-girls seem to have no problems surviving 300-mph crashes, so, those cat-ears must work!
So, let me get this straight, the Supreme Court has ruled that if the creator of the device promotes the ILLEGAL uses of the product or device, then the creator of the device is at fault, despite the potential legal uses of the device.
So, this is the difference between "escort/massage" and "whore"?
So, nothing new under the sun, essentially.
I mean, a car has legal uses, but, when criminals use a getaway car after robbing a bank, a car is an illegal device used for crime, regardless of the legal uses of the device.
Therefore, GM, Toyota, Ford, et al., need to be held responsible for the crimes committed using vehicles.
The author of the article is probably too young to remember Star Blazers. The author has clearly seen Akira, but Akira has "jumped the shark" so to speak, and crossed over from anime geek-ness to mainstream. Even people who've never heard of or liked anime have seen or heard of Akira.
However, I agree. The Wave Motion Gun is the beam weapon of all-time, and certainly the most impressive looking blaster (particularly from the target's viewpoint).
And who can resist that trumpet sound effect build-up as everyone puts on their goggles?
(Now I gotta pull my DVDs and watch again...) fun fun!
Hey, I've got kharma to burn...
Starting a modern car is probably easier today, WHEN IT WORKS -- but, getting a modern car to start when something is wrong now takes much more time to diagnose the problem. Ironically, with the Model T's much simpler engine, there was, essentially, less to go wrong and even when the car was malfunctioning, could be forced to operate anyway.
One feature unique to the Model T is the Ford planetary transmission, which utilizes driving bands in internal clutches to transmit engine power, with or without reduction, to the rear wheels. Generally misunderstood by people who have no experience with early cars, this is, in effect, a two-speed automatic transmission which is controlled directly by the driver's feet. And it dates from 1908, which proves, if anything, that there is very little new under the sun!
Before you use such an incredibly ignorant anology, I'd like to point out that the Model T could run on cow paths and rutted, muddy roads that would stop a modern 4-wheel drive SUV dead in it's tracks. It was so simple to drive and maintain that an illiterate could operate it.
It was over-engineered to survive and keep going despite the fact that was regularly abused and run on the most horrible roads almost 100% of the time.
In many, MANY ways, it was more advanced than modern vehicles. And what is most sad is that you do not realize this -- newer is not necessarily better.