I think Roc97007 has it right, it is about control. The feeling of power of being able to get someone to do what you want them to do against their wishes. Power is like a drug that people allow themselves to get hooked on, and usually turns out to be their downfall.
You are a fool. The jewish people are to blame, huh? Who else is on your 'list'? Protestants? Catholics? Dark skinned people? Olive skinned? Light skinned? Short people?
I hope that one day you grow up, see how immature you are, and stop your 'hating', for it really does lead to the 'dark side'.
Start working on your morality, boy. Perhaps one day you will be a man.
Can't be too clean in 'stir', eh? No, doesn't look like the type who can handle prison well. God knows how much his parents are going to have to pay in lawyer fees. This is why it's so important that a man or woman must develop a moral code asap in their life. Do the right thing, always.
If this guy hadn't have been stopped, he would likely have continued, hurting more innocents, getting bolder. Might have turned into a full-fledged rapist, murderer. He got some taste of power over people, and found he liked it, and wouldn't have stopped himself. Not a man, imo, just another run of the mill bully coward.
Sex offender status for life, And yes, that kind of probation is far more stringent than regular probation, and regular probation is not fun. Even if he gets a no jail deal, breaking any of probation's rules is enough to get him sent to a real jail cell. He will have to report whenever he's told to, if he doesn't, jail. He will be monitored for drugs/alcohol. Failing a test means jail. He will have to report his living address whenever he moves (if his probation officer permits him to move). If he doesn't, jail. Any other type of crime he may commit in the future while on probation will carry a heavier than normal sentence. He was studying computer science in college, that career is now out the window, and he'll probably have to stay off computers as part of his probation, so he will probably re-offend.
He has irrevocably changed the course of his very young and promising life, thinking he would never get caught. Lots of guys like him in jail who thought they were too good to get caught.
This is what bullying is, taking unfair advantage over someone else. In this case the suspect had enough knowledge to manipulate others computers, but not enough know-how to keep himself from handcuffs. Great! This 19 year old punk-ass is going to jail for (hopefully) a very long time, long term probation at the very least. I don't care that he's still in his 'teen' years, 18 is considered old enough to be considered an adult, and he will be tried as one.
I applaud this brave young lady for standing up to this creep. She did the right thing.
The overall energy required to sublimate the CO2 from the south polar ice cap is modeled by Zubrin and McKay.[1] Raising temperature of the poles by four Kelvin would be necessary in order to trigger a runaway greenhouse effect. If using orbital mirrors, an estimated 120 MWe-years would be required in order to produce mirrors large enough to vaporize the ice caps. This is considered the most effective method, though the least practical. If using powerful halocarbon greenhouse gases, an order of 1000 MWe-years would be required to accomplish this heating. Although ineffectual in comparison, it is considered the most practical method. Impacting an asteroid, which is often considered a synergistic effect, would require approximately four 10-billion-tonne ammonia-rich asteroids to trigger the runaway greenhouse effect, totaling an eight degree increase in temperature.
It's set a few years from now, when police DNA testing is ubiquitous. There was a very clever criminal who stumbled into a crime scene by accident. He had a spray bottle of "Stadium DNA" with him, so he squirted it around the room before leaving.
Holy carp. So all that's really needed (at least on the short term (without a strong magnetic field)) is heat.
I wonder if we can ignite one of the moons?
We can have heat after we convert the water/ice into hydrogen from Earth supplied machinery, no?
Localized heat, true. I was thinking lots of heat, on a global basis. Then plant something that will unlock the water and metabolize carbon dioxide, and you could eventually have a somewhat breathable atmosphere. Until it escapes again, of course.
Yep, we're gonna have to do something about that faulty Martian magnetosphere, all right. There must be a solution, we just don't know what it is, yet...
Actually, no they don't. I googled "How much sunlight does Germany get" and after disregarding Fox's disinformation links, I found this:
Germany: Your Unlikely World Leader in Solar Power
germany solar leaderThe average day in Germany is cloudy. In fact, Germans see an average of just over 1500 hours of sunshine per year, a bit less than 64 days worth of sunlight. Needless to say, Germany would be one of the last countries you’d expect to be the overwhelming leader in solar energy production. Yet here it is. Germany alone has half of the world’s solar installations and is the third-largest producer of solar cells. Q-Cells, a German company, recently pulled ahead of Sharp as the world’s largest maker of photovoltaic cells. So how did they do it? How could a dreary country like Germany singlehandedly conquer the solar industry?
To find out, one need look no further than the German government’s aggressive renewable energy incentives. In 2000 the Renewable Energy Sources Act was passed, requiring the country’s utility companies to purchase electricity from solar start-ups at rates higher than retail value. Commonly known as feed-in tariffs, these subsidies made it easy for new solar companies to turn a profit. In fact, their profits were pretty much locked in, and companies raced to get started. That’s how in just four years Germany was already responsible for half of solar electricity generated worldwide.
Now, eight years later the country is still going strong. The progressive law is a broad measure attempting to reduce carbon emissions. The goal is to derive a quarter of its power from renewable sources by 2020. They are already ahead of the 12.5%-by-2010 benchmark set by the European Union. Germany already stands tall with 14.2% of its electricity coming from renewable sources.
And the effect of Germany’s solar leadership has resonated globally. Spain, France, Italy, and Greece have installed similar incentive plans. And U.S. states, led by California, have instituted German-inspired incentives such as net metering.
The pressure on Mars is ~600 Pascals (wikipedia). If Im reading that chart right, you need a pressure of ~1kPa before liquid water is even possible.
Well, I assume we won't be camping out on the surface. We will need to construct pressurized living & working areas (that are radiation-proofed (compress Mars's soil into blocks, spray seal the interiors and exteriors?)).
So, though the dirt does contain water, it's not enough for our purposes. We should make our first 'camps' where the water/ice is, no?
Kind of like the late Sam Kinison's joke about people starving in the desert should "move where the food is.", makes sense to me to start our colonies where the water is.
Both the northern polar cap (Planum Boreum) and the southern polar cap (Planum Australe) are thought to grow in thickness during the winter and partially sublime during the summer. In 2004, the MARSIS radar sounder on the Mars Express satellite targeted the southern polar cap, and was able to confirm that ice there extends to a depth of 3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi) below the surface. In the same year, the OMEGA instrument on the same orbiter revealed that the cap is divided into three distinct parts, with varying contents of frozen water depending on latitude. The first part is the bright part of the polar cap seen in images, centered on the pole, which is a mixture of 85% CO2 ice to 15% water ice. The second part comprises steep slopes known as scarps, made almost entirely of water ice, that ring and fall away from the polar cap to the surrounding plains. The third part encompasses the vast permafrost fields that stretch for tens of kilometres away from the scarps, and is not obviously part of the cap until the surface composition is analysed. NASA scientists calculate that the volume of water ice in the south polar ice cap, if melted, would be sufficient to cover the entire planetary surface to a depth of 11 metres (36 ft). Observations over both poles and more widely over the planet suggest melting all the surface ice would produce a water equivalent global layer 35 meters deep.
On July 2008, NASA announced that the Phoenix lander had confirmed the presence of water ice at its landing site near the northern polar ice cap (at 68.2 latitude). This was the first ever direct observation of ice from the surface. Two years later, the shallow radar on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took measurements of the north polar ice cap and determined that the total volume of water ice in the cap is 821,000 cubic kilometers (197,000 cubic miles). That is equal to 30% of the Earth's Greenland ice sheet, or enough to cover the surface of Mars to a depth of 5.6 meters. Both polar caps reveal abundant fine internal layers when examined in HiRISE and Mars Global Surveyor imagery. Many researchers have attempted to use this layering to attempt to understand the structure, history, and flow properties of the caps,[4] although their interpretation is not straightforward.
Lake Vostok in Antarctica may have implications for liquid water still existing on Mars because if water existed before the polar ice caps on Mars, it is possible that there is still liquid water below the ice caps.
Don't know how deep the h20 goes, though it seems to be planetwide...
“Mars has kind of a global layer, a layer of surface soil that has been mixed and distributed by frequent dust storms. So a scoop of this stuff is basically a microscopic Mars rock collection,” said Leshin. “If you mix many grains of it together, you probably have an accurate picture of typical martian crust. By learning about it in any one place, you’re learning about the entire planet.”
I've read that Woz helps out startups by investing in their ideas. In his own way, he keeps his hand in the tech game, though he seems to prefer to stay low-key about his doings. I couldn't blame him if he did nothing else since his groundbreaking tech work, took the money and retired. His place in history is assured.
After a long while without any moderation points (a year, maybe), last week I logged in and saw that I had 5. Use 'em or lose 'em within a few days. After using them, I then received 15 to use or lose. I have no idea as to the how or why either, just was happy to be able to promote some good commenting (and knock down a few rude ones!)
Telsa's claims might be misleading, but if you want a pathological lying sack of shit, look no further than your local car dealer.
Or it's the guy in back doing the actual financing. He makes sure he makes money on the front AND back end of the deals. I worked delivering new cars for a dealership for a time, and got to overhear some of the shenanigans that get pulled, including forging the customer's names to paperwork. (Leases are usually never good deals for the buyer, but the dealerships always make money on them.)
I recently bought a used car that came with tinted side and rear windows, and was pulled over last week for it in an eastern Long Island N.Y. town. The summer tourist season has just ended, meaning the local police here have lots of free time for pulling people over for any reason now. I asked the young officer why I was pulled over, he replied, "Vehicle safety check", my windows being tinted being the reason, and I was quickly left to go on my way, this time.
Now with these 'texting zones' where police will be higher in order to more easily see into a vehicle, any window tintinf at all will mean an instant (and expensive) ticket every time.
I'm all for safer driving on our roads, but it sure seems to me that New York State has come up with many new and creative traffic laws over the last several years, most of which carry heavy(er) fines and license points. It's almost as if the elected officials in Albany need more money to cover what they need to embezzle, We have had many corruption stories coming out of our capitol here for the last several years, which leads me to wonder if it's really about safety or just another revenue producer for the state.
Android gizmos have average build quality, good specs, lower quality software and poor long term support. Apple iPhones have better build quality, good specs, higher quality software and excellent long term support. Apple takes usually years to 'orphan' an older device. IOS 7 runs on iPhone 4, while that device is only three years old, in the Android world getting a 3 year old device to run the latest version of Android usually does not happen.
If you're the proud owner of a new iPhone 5S or iPhone 5C -- or if you're thinking about buying one -- be sure to handle it with care. Durability tests suggests the new models are more likely to break if you drop them, compared to previous iPhone models.
The new phones were tested by SquareTrade, a provider of protection plans for gadgets. They also tested several other competing smartphones to see which ones best withstand drops, dunks under water, and other common hazards. Its finding: The latest iPhones aren't as durable as last year's iPhone 5.
The biggest loser, however, was Samsung's Galaxy S4, which failed to work after being submerged in water and being dropped 5 feet off the ground, according to San Francisco-based SquareTrade.
The phone that withstood SquareTrade's torture test best was Google Inc.'s Moto X. The Moto X is the first phone designed with the Internet company as Motorola's new owner. Released in August, the Moto X is also the first smartphone assembled in the U.S.
"We were expecting that at least one of the new iPhone models would up its game, but surprisingly, it was the Moto X that proved most forgiving of accidents," said Ty Shay, chief marketing officer at SquareTrade.
Officials from Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and Google Inc. didn't immediately return email messages for comment.
About 2 years ago I had an 'Ask Slashdot' submission accepted, and I was asking the/. community about security on my android phone. My concerns were about 'forced Blue tooth hacks', WiFi security, etc. A couple hundred comments generated, most all of them very derisive of the possibility that these devices were not secure, except for one or two commenters who agreed that, yes, there are ways that the phone can be accessed. Today we know far more about the backdoors on all types of phones, computers, routers, NSA... etc. Then, it turns out, most all the commenters here were..., wrong, or at least 'ill-informed', shall I say?
I beleive I stated then that I'd heard you should never say anything in an email, text or voice call that you wouldn't want to be repeated back in an open courtroom. Today, to expect any perfect type of security from any form of electronic device would be quite a stupid thought, especially from any people who keep up on current events.
I take no joy here now in the fact that my suspicions of two years ago were all valid and vindicated. Having said that, fellow/.'ers, who had my 'karma' demoted back then because of my 'Ask Slashdot' submission, I just want to say here....
From the linked article: "The accident happened when a B-52 bomber got into trouble, having embarked from Seymour Johnson Air Force base in Goldsboro for a routine flight along the East Coast. As it went into a tailspin, the hydrogen bombs it was carrying became separated. One fell into a field near Faro, North Carolina, its parachute draped in the branches of a tree; the other plummeted into a meadow off Big Daddy's Road."
"Jones found that of the four safety mechanisms in the Faro bomb, designed to prevent unintended detonation, three failed to operate properly. When the bomb hit the ground, a firing signal was sent to the nuclear core of the device, and it was only that final, highly vulnerable switch that averted calamity. "The MK 39 Mod 2 bomb did not possess adequate safety for the airborne alert role in the B-52," Jones concludes."
Lets hear it for the Inanimate Carbon Rod! Um, I mean..., Malfunctioning Low-Voltage Switch!
Seriously, this was new news to me. Makes me wonder how many other near catastrophes also didn't happen due to dumb luck.
I can't imagine your lack of experience with actual addiction makes your condescending advice useful for people struggling with substance abuse problems.
Bzzzzz, wrong! But thanks for playing. I work 12+ hour shifts every day this year driving a cab and don't always have time to post here at length, need to get sleep.
I'm a survivor of an alcoholic, violent, cold mother who hated my father who she divorced when I was 5. She beat and whipped me constantly through my childhood because (as she later told me years later) I reminded her of him. My family finally broke apart when I was 13 after she tried to kill me with a very sharp fireman's axe to my head, fortunately for me she was drunk at the time and did not swing down perfectly squarely. Still have a depression in my skull from the force of the impact.
I had my run with drugs and alcohol in my day, been there, done that, and have heard many true life stories from other addicts. I ran and chaired a N.O.M.A.D. (NO Mood Altering Drugs) group for 6+ months, and attended AA for a year in my mid-20's. So I feel qualified to speak on the subject. I've known many drug addicts and alcoholics in my life, I try to help many people with my experience in life, give hope to them, by letting them hear my 'straight talk'. If it comes off cold sounding to you, it's not meant that way at all, it's the truth, and I'm being as serious as a heart attack.
Remove the drugs and alcohol from an addict and you usually have a good person there, one who is emotionally stunted, as they've never really dealt with their emotions, too painful for them. Masking their emotional pain by using is not addressing the root issues of their self-destructive behavior, they need to get clean before they can truly face the cause of their pain head on. Some survive to reach this point, some don't , that's just the cold facts of this life.
I know that stopping the addiction is the first necessary step any addict must take. Over time as their mind begins to clear, they become more capable of greater and greater insight to their lives, the root cause of their lack of self-esteem, and the dawning reality that they can have a normal, decent life. But if the addict does not take their addiction as the serious problem it is, they can't be helped. Today, being an experienced survivor of this life, I try to 'lead by example' whenever I can. I don't always have time to talk gently to some addicts, I lay the truth out to them in a factual, truthful way. That is if they don't take their addiction as serious as a heart attack, then they might die, or needlessly cause the deaths of others. We all have the power to change the course of our lives, that's called 'free will'. And we have to live with our decisions, for better or worse.
To close out here, if you want the best shot at a good life, avoid drugs and alcohol. 1/3 of people live normal, sober lives, they don't 'do' any substances in their lives, and usually live out their lives happy and contentedly. Some of us have to work hard to overcome adversity forom the past, but anyone can do it, I've seen miracle lifestyle turnarounds, and applaud anyone who tries to better their lives. But I do not mollycoddle addicts, it's too damn important a subject.
Slashdot Mirror
I think Roc97007 has it right, it is about control. The feeling of power of being able to get someone to do what you want them to do against their wishes. Power is like a drug that people allow themselves to get hooked on, and usually turns out to be their downfall.
I hope that one day you grow up, see how immature you are, and stop your 'hating', for it really does lead to the 'dark side'.
Start working on your morality, boy. Perhaps one day you will be a man.
If this guy hadn't have been stopped, he would likely have continued, hurting more innocents, getting bolder. Might have turned into a full-fledged rapist, murderer. He got some taste of power over people, and found he liked it, and wouldn't have stopped himself. Not a man, imo, just another run of the mill bully coward.
and that can be wor(s)e then doing jail time.
Sex offender status for life, And yes, that kind of probation is far more stringent than regular probation, and regular probation is not fun. Even if he gets a no jail deal, breaking any of probation's rules is enough to get him sent to a real jail cell. He will have to report whenever he's told to, if he doesn't, jail. He will be monitored for drugs/alcohol. Failing a test means jail. He will have to report his living address whenever he moves (if his probation officer permits him to move). If he doesn't, jail. Any other type of crime he may commit in the future while on probation will carry a heavier than normal sentence. He was studying computer science in college, that career is now out the window, and he'll probably have to stay off computers as part of his probation, so he will probably re-offend.
He has irrevocably changed the course of his very young and promising life, thinking he would never get caught. Lots of guys like him in jail who thought they were too good to get caught.
I applaud this brave young lady for standing up to this creep. She did the right thing.
you're doing it wrong....
You may just need a primer for windows 8 shortcuts
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/windows-8-keyboard-shortcuts/
The overall energy required to sublimate the CO2 from the south polar ice cap is modeled by Zubrin and McKay.[1] Raising temperature of the poles by four Kelvin would be necessary in order to trigger a runaway greenhouse effect. If using orbital mirrors, an estimated 120 MWe-years would be required in order to produce mirrors large enough to vaporize the ice caps. This is considered the most effective method, though the least practical. If using powerful halocarbon greenhouse gases, an order of 1000 MWe-years would be required to accomplish this heating. Although ineffectual in comparison, it is considered the most practical method. Impacting an asteroid, which is often considered a synergistic effect, would require approximately four 10-billion-tonne ammonia-rich asteroids to trigger the runaway greenhouse effect, totaling an eight degree increase in temperature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Mars
It's set a few years from now, when police DNA testing is ubiquitous. There was a very clever criminal who stumbled into a crime scene by accident. He had a spray bottle of "Stadium DNA" with him, so he squirted it around the room before leaving.
And another Kickstarter project is born...
Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.
Of course these light-sabers will be made for a more civilized time...
(ducks!)
Thank you, Sheldon; that was interesting.
Your welcome, NoNon.
P.S. My mother called me 'Sheldon' once.
But just once.
Holy carp. So all that's really needed (at least on the short term (without a strong magnetic field)) is heat.
I wonder if we can ignite one of the moons?
We can have heat after we convert the water/ice into hydrogen from Earth supplied machinery, no?
Localized heat, true. I was thinking lots of heat, on a global basis. Then plant something that will unlock the water and metabolize carbon dioxide, and you could eventually have a somewhat breathable atmosphere. Until it escapes again, of course.
Yep, we're gonna have to do something about that faulty Martian magnetosphere, all right. There must be a solution, we just don't know what it is, yet...
Germany: Your Unlikely World Leader in Solar Power
germany solar leaderThe average day in Germany is cloudy. In fact, Germans see an average of just over 1500 hours of sunshine per year, a bit less than 64 days worth of sunlight. Needless to say, Germany would be one of the last countries you’d expect to be the overwhelming leader in solar energy production. Yet here it is. Germany alone has half of the world’s solar installations and is the third-largest producer of solar cells. Q-Cells, a German company, recently pulled ahead of Sharp as the world’s largest maker of photovoltaic cells. So how did they do it? How could a dreary country like Germany singlehandedly conquer the solar industry?
To find out, one need look no further than the German government’s aggressive renewable energy incentives. In 2000 the Renewable Energy Sources Act was passed, requiring the country’s utility companies to purchase electricity from solar start-ups at rates higher than retail value. Commonly known as feed-in tariffs, these subsidies made it easy for new solar companies to turn a profit. In fact, their profits were pretty much locked in, and companies raced to get started. That’s how in just four years Germany was already responsible for half of solar electricity generated worldwide.
Now, eight years later the country is still going strong. The progressive law is a broad measure attempting to reduce carbon emissions. The goal is to derive a quarter of its power from renewable sources by 2020. They are already ahead of the 12.5%-by-2010 benchmark set by the European Union. Germany already stands tall with 14.2% of its electricity coming from renewable sources.
And the effect of Germany’s solar leadership has resonated globally. Spain, France, Italy, and Greece have installed similar incentive plans. And U.S. states, led by California, have instituted German-inspired incentives such as net metering.
Link: http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/solar-information/germany-your-unlikely-world-leader-in-solar-power/
Holy carp. So all that's really needed (at least on the short term (without a strong magnetic field)) is heat.
I wonder if we can ignite one of the moons?
We can have heat after we convert the water/ice into hydrogen from Earth supplied machinery, no?
Heres a phase diagram of water. http://www.phy.duke.edu/~hsg/363/table-images/water-phase-diagram.gif
The pressure on Mars is ~600 Pascals (wikipedia). If Im reading that chart right, you need a pressure of ~1kPa before liquid water is even possible.
Well, I assume we won't be camping out on the surface. We will need to construct pressurized living & working areas (that are radiation-proofed (compress Mars's soil into blocks, spray seal the interiors and exteriors?)).
So, though the dirt does contain water, it's not enough for our purposes. We should make our first 'camps' where the water/ice is, no?
Kind of like the late Sam Kinison's joke about people starving in the desert should "move where the food is.", makes sense to me to start our colonies where the water is.
Main article: Martian polar ice caps
Both the northern polar cap (Planum Boreum) and the southern polar cap (Planum Australe) are thought to grow in thickness during the winter and partially sublime during the summer. In 2004, the MARSIS radar sounder on the Mars Express satellite targeted the southern polar cap, and was able to confirm that ice there extends to a depth of 3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi) below the surface. In the same year, the OMEGA instrument on the same orbiter revealed that the cap is divided into three distinct parts, with varying contents of frozen water depending on latitude. The first part is the bright part of the polar cap seen in images, centered on the pole, which is a mixture of 85% CO2 ice to 15% water ice. The second part comprises steep slopes known as scarps, made almost entirely of water ice, that ring and fall away from the polar cap to the surrounding plains. The third part encompasses the vast permafrost fields that stretch for tens of kilometres away from the scarps, and is not obviously part of the cap until the surface composition is analysed. NASA scientists calculate that the volume of water ice in the south polar ice cap, if melted, would be sufficient to cover the entire planetary surface to a depth of 11 metres (36 ft). Observations over both poles and more widely over the planet suggest melting all the surface ice would produce a water equivalent global layer 35 meters deep.
On July 2008, NASA announced that the Phoenix lander had confirmed the presence of water ice at its landing site near the northern polar ice cap (at 68.2 latitude). This was the first ever direct observation of ice from the surface. Two years later, the shallow radar on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took measurements of the north polar ice cap and determined that the total volume of water ice in the cap is 821,000 cubic kilometers (197,000 cubic miles). That is equal to 30% of the Earth's Greenland ice sheet, or enough to cover the surface of Mars to a depth of 5.6 meters. Both polar caps reveal abundant fine internal layers when examined in HiRISE and Mars Global Surveyor imagery. Many researchers have attempted to use this layering to attempt to understand the structure, history, and flow properties of the caps,[4] although their interpretation is not straightforward.
Lake Vostok in Antarctica may have implications for liquid water still existing on Mars because if water existed before the polar ice caps on Mars, it is possible that there is still liquid water below the ice caps.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_on_Mars
“Mars has kind of a global layer, a layer of surface soil that has been mixed and distributed by frequent dust storms. So a scoop of this stuff is basically a microscopic Mars rock collection,” said Leshin. “If you mix many grains of it together, you probably have an accurate picture of typical martian crust. By learning about it in any one place, you’re learning about the entire planet.”
http://news.rpi.edu/content/2013/09/26/nasa-mars-rover-curiosity-finds-water-first-sample-planet-surface?destination=node/40197
I've read that Woz helps out startups by investing in their ideas. In his own way, he keeps his hand in the tech game, though he seems to prefer to stay low-key about his doings. I couldn't blame him if he did nothing else since his groundbreaking tech work, took the money and retired. His place in history is assured.
After a long while without any moderation points (a year, maybe), last week I logged in and saw that I had 5. Use 'em or lose 'em within a few days. After using them, I then received 15 to use or lose. I have no idea as to the how or why either, just was happy to be able to promote some good commenting (and knock down a few rude ones!)
Telsa's claims might be misleading, but if you want a pathological lying sack of shit, look no further than your local car dealer.
Or it's the guy in back doing the actual financing. He makes sure he makes money on the front AND back end of the deals. I worked delivering new cars for a dealership for a time, and got to overhear some of the shenanigans that get pulled, including forging the customer's names to paperwork. (Leases are usually never good deals for the buyer, but the dealerships always make money on them.)
Now with these 'texting zones' where police will be higher in order to more easily see into a vehicle, any window tintinf at all will mean an instant (and expensive) ticket every time.
I'm all for safer driving on our roads, but it sure seems to me that New York State has come up with many new and creative traffic laws over the last several years, most of which carry heavy(er) fines and license points. It's almost as if the elected officials in Albany need more money to cover what they need to embezzle, We have had many corruption stories coming out of our capitol here for the last several years, which leads me to wonder if it's really about safety or just another revenue producer for the state.
Android gizmos have average build quality, good specs, lower quality software and poor long term support. Apple iPhones have better build quality, good specs, higher quality software and excellent long term support. Apple takes usually years to 'orphan' an older device. IOS 7 runs on iPhone 4, while that device is only three years old, in the Android world getting a 3 year old device to run the latest version of Android usually does not happen.
If you're the proud owner of a new iPhone 5S or iPhone 5C -- or if you're thinking about buying one -- be sure to handle it with care. Durability tests suggests the new models are more likely to break if you drop them, compared to previous iPhone models.
The new phones were tested by SquareTrade, a provider of protection plans for gadgets. They also tested several other competing smartphones to see which ones best withstand drops, dunks under water, and other common hazards. Its finding: The latest iPhones aren't as durable as last year's iPhone 5.
The biggest loser, however, was Samsung's Galaxy S4, which failed to work after being submerged in water and being dropped 5 feet off the ground, according to San Francisco-based SquareTrade.
The phone that withstood SquareTrade's torture test best was Google Inc.'s Moto X. The Moto X is the first phone designed with the Internet company as Motorola's new owner. Released in August, the Moto X is also the first smartphone assembled in the U.S.
"We were expecting that at least one of the new iPhone models would up its game, but surprisingly, it was the Moto X that proved most forgiving of accidents," said Ty Shay, chief marketing officer at SquareTrade.
Officials from Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and Google Inc. didn't immediately return email messages for comment.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57604082/new-iphone-5s-iphone-5c-may-be-more-likely-to-break/
I beleive I stated then that I'd heard you should never say anything in an email, text or voice call that you wouldn't want to be repeated back in an open courtroom. Today, to expect any perfect type of security from any form of electronic device would be quite a stupid thought, especially from any people who keep up on current events.
I take no joy here now in the fact that my suspicions of two years ago were all valid and vindicated. Having said that, fellow /.'ers, who had my 'karma' demoted back then because of my 'Ask Slashdot' submission, I just want to say here....
I told you so!
"Jones found that of the four safety mechanisms in the Faro bomb, designed to prevent unintended detonation, three failed to operate properly. When the bomb hit the ground, a firing signal was sent to the nuclear core of the device, and it was only that final, highly vulnerable switch that averted calamity. "The MK 39 Mod 2 bomb did not possess adequate safety for the airborne alert role in the B-52," Jones concludes."
Lets hear it for the Inanimate Carbon Rod! Um, I mean..., Malfunctioning Low-Voltage Switch!
Seriously, this was new news to me. Makes me wonder how many other near catastrophes also didn't happen due to dumb luck.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/gta-v-a-sophisticated-gaming-experience-says-man-w,33893/
I can't imagine your lack of experience with actual addiction makes your condescending advice useful for people struggling with substance abuse problems.
Bzzzzz, wrong! But thanks for playing. I work 12+ hour shifts every day this year driving a cab and don't always have time to post here at length, need to get sleep. I'm a survivor of an alcoholic, violent, cold mother who hated my father who she divorced when I was 5. She beat and whipped me constantly through my childhood because (as she later told me years later) I reminded her of him. My family finally broke apart when I was 13 after she tried to kill me with a very sharp fireman's axe to my head, fortunately for me she was drunk at the time and did not swing down perfectly squarely. Still have a depression in my skull from the force of the impact.
I had my run with drugs and alcohol in my day, been there, done that, and have heard many true life stories from other addicts. I ran and chaired a N.O.M.A.D. (NO Mood Altering Drugs) group for 6+ months, and attended AA for a year in my mid-20's. So I feel qualified to speak on the subject. I've known many drug addicts and alcoholics in my life, I try to help many people with my experience in life, give hope to them, by letting them hear my 'straight talk'. If it comes off cold sounding to you, it's not meant that way at all, it's the truth, and I'm being as serious as a heart attack.
Remove the drugs and alcohol from an addict and you usually have a good person there, one who is emotionally stunted, as they've never really dealt with their emotions, too painful for them. Masking their emotional pain by using is not addressing the root issues of their self-destructive behavior, they need to get clean before they can truly face the cause of their pain head on. Some survive to reach this point, some don't , that's just the cold facts of this life.
I know that stopping the addiction is the first necessary step any addict must take. Over time as their mind begins to clear, they become more capable of greater and greater insight to their lives, the root cause of their lack of self-esteem, and the dawning reality that they can have a normal, decent life. But if the addict does not take their addiction as the serious problem it is, they can't be helped. Today, being an experienced survivor of this life, I try to 'lead by example' whenever I can. I don't always have time to talk gently to some addicts, I lay the truth out to them in a factual, truthful way. That is if they don't take their addiction as serious as a heart attack, then they might die, or needlessly cause the deaths of others. We all have the power to change the course of our lives, that's called 'free will'. And we have to live with our decisions, for better or worse.
To close out here, if you want the best shot at a good life, avoid drugs and alcohol. 1/3 of people live normal, sober lives, they don't 'do' any substances in their lives, and usually live out their lives happy and contentedly. Some of us have to work hard to overcome adversity forom the past, but anyone can do it, I've seen miracle lifestyle turnarounds, and applaud anyone who tries to better their lives. But I do not mollycoddle addicts, it's too damn important a subject.