I can see it now: when you get in in the morning to start your car, the lcd panel has a list of updates for you to accept or reject installing that it's downloaded over the cellular data network overnight. From "beep tones" for your horn to "not installing this will void your warranty". Though they'll probably start charging for the beep tones.
I hope Boeing and Northrup come up with something a helluva lot better than this though --- it's probably the evolutionary step that *should* have been done back when they developed the shuttle a bit ahead of its time, but we should be able to do a vastly improved version of *that* now as an evolutionary step forward, not taking a giant leap back 30 years in technology.
There's a theater in Portland that has that, and all I can say is Ewwwww! I'll take butter w/popcorn salt thankyouverymuch...
At work, I get Orville Redenbacher Movie Theater Butter Light to microwave and it's pretty good.
In my home theater, I got a real popcorn machine, though confess I mostly got pre-packaged popcorn/oil thingies for it. I need to experiment and find the Definitive Recipe for it...
...it had damn well better stay public. But the internet routes around damage --- if noaa can't do it, it'll just become another open source project, as it partially is now...
Does anyone remember Control Data Corporation? Used to be, a long time ago, there were two main players in computers: IBM handled business and CDC handled scientific computing, with some gnats flying around, though DEC was more of a dragonfly;-). The world changed, however, and CDC waned in the 80's. Their spin: "We're going to go into services, not hardware". I think they're a vague memory in the absorption history of another company now (Hmmm. I guess not quite so vague, but I've not heard them mentioned anywhere in ages: CDC Wikipedia entry)
Amusingly, COBOL programming on a CDC Cyber put me through college. When I was about to graduate (81) and doing the interview thing, I'd been put in touch with a head hunter that specialized in finding positions for Cyber programmers. I went to an interview in Dallas, TX, and although it went well, when I came back, I said "no, I want to work with microcomputers, not mainframes." I got the classic "there's no future there" response. I've always wondered what became of her...
To a first approximation, the Apple iTunes DRM "standard" is available for licensing to noone.
Which is one reason why it's failed in my marketplace. They're riding the crest of people playing with a new toy right now, but when people figure out all the things they're prevented from doing with "their" purchase, it'll become the next betamax.
So we're supposed to accept DRM because they somehow feel entitled to our money? Oxygen is freely available too.
And if someone were making the oxygen, you can be damn sure they'd be figuring out how to get paid for doing so, or they'd stop making it. Except maybe for themselves. And maybe some altruistic souls would start up a few machines on their own. That doesn't make it wrong for others to try to get paid for their time and money investment.
As for me, I'll accept DRM when I can freely use the content any any device I choose, at any time I choose, from my stereo/theater, to the car, to a party at a friend's house. Just like I would a CD or a DVD. I don't see it happening anytime soon, but that's what I require before I'll accept it on anything that isn't of very high value to me, and then only grudgingly.
Yes, they do try to browse the Internet. I was in Fry's this weekend trying to decide if any of the few usb ethernet adapters might actually be supported by my Mac, even though they only listed Windoze. I tried to use my Treo, but Sprint was apparently having problems.
In any case, I do this sort of thing occasionally, and almost always have to wait for 250K even 500+K web pages to download. Sites like that are simply driving away business --- they're *all* so busy as be hard to use even on a PC with a high speed connection.
It's amazing how the concept of actually *using* your own site seems to be so foreign to the PHB's.
I don't get cable because I think the vast majority of it is crap and a waste of time. Heck, how many reality TV shows do people really need anyway?
That's shooting yourself in the foot --- the cable channels are where you can get away from the dreck on network tv! Though Tivo actually makes it possible to find the few pearls that are on the networks...until Stevens manages to turn it all into Sesame Street.
I've got an HP 970 at home hooked up with USB and I routinely print for sometimes months after the "low ink" warning comes up: I change cartridges when one of the inks runs out.
What they are asking for is a fair marketplace: the companies cannot force people to subsidize their infrastructure the way local government can. People should not be prevented from forming voluntary networks they fund themselves, but government should not be competing with with business: otherwise, you end up with a monopoly because no one else *can* compete, and then you end up with another bureaucratic money sink because "we don't have to care".
I sent in a suggestion that they digitally sign their email. Most modern email clients support X.509/SMIME and there's no excuse for all financial institutions in particular to not be signing their email so users can easily detect phishing. Not that there aren't still social engineering options even then, but they're harder and traceable (as long as the CA's keep doing their job properly).
I wish the government, a well as the public and jounalists, would just stop foucusing on something that casues so few accidents in the first place.
I can't agree more. I've been driving and talking on the cell phone for 14 accident free years now. I've driven worse from dealing with food than I ever have from the cell phone --- if they're going to start banning distractions, they should start with drive-thrus.
It's a simple matter to compensate for slower reaction times --- just don't follow so close, or in some cases, slowing down is appropriate.
My theory is that it's a combination of the fact that more people are doing it, so when they do the stupid things they always do, people see the cell phone and make unwarranted assumptions, combined with the all too common snobbery where if it's popular, it must be bad.
I started using quicken 10-15 years ago, when they were hooked up with checkfree. If I remember right, the interface had problems, so I switched to using checkfree's own app, and then moved to their web interface when that became available. I've also been displeased with the fact that Intuit changed the user interface several times, and seems to have made it worse with each version. I tried to move to the Mac, and found that they couldn't even import their own files --- you had to export/import through qif, which doesn't handle everything in the files, so you lose data anyhow. That was the final straw. Moneydance is on the verge of being a sufficient replacement, and I've bought my last Intuit product.
I quite agree --- that one is my all time favorite as well. I was just listing particularly good time travel and holodeck episodes because that was what the original comment was about.
Masks, however, not so much. Actually, I think Yesterday's Enterprise would be a good candidate for my second choice...
I hate to say it, but at least OSX actually has some real apps that actually work well for mere mortals. Unfortunately, that's not the case for Linux. OpenOffice is the closest, but I find I still have to resort to real Office occasionally to deal with stuff people send me. Getting closer, but not there yet...
Not that I want to defend Berman, but Yesterday's Enterprise and the two episodes with Moriarity taking control of the Enterprise were among the best of TNG.
When they came up with the idea of the holodeck, I was afraid of how it would be used, but some of those episodes were really good.
Likewise, 7 of 9 was clearly put on Voyager for T&A appeal, but they actually ended up making her one of the most interesting characters on the show *despite* that.
...it will stop the problem of... "my kid shot his friend when they got into my sock drawer."
The reason kids would do that in the first place are because it's mysterious and forbidden. If they were taught how to use the gun and just what it can do at an early age, not only would it no longer be mysterious, but they'd know exactly what it can do and how to handle it. I grew up with unlocked guns around the house. A cousin didn't, and he didn't make it past his teens either.
I've got an IMSAI 8080, still the best looking computer ever built, that I've been meaning to hook up some way so a modern computer can make interesting use of the lights and the switches can be put to use...
Amusingly, last weekend, I watched part of an old Matt Helm movie (James Bond spoof starring Dean Martin). He had a regular pistol with a 10 second delay timer on the trigger, and used it several times in exactly that way to get bad guys to shoot themselves.
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I can see it now: when you get in in the morning to start your car, the lcd panel has a list of updates for you to accept or reject installing that it's downloaded over the cellular data network overnight. From "beep tones" for your horn to "not installing this will void your warranty". Though they'll probably start charging for the beep tones.
...for a follow-on to Apollo 30 years ago.
I hope Boeing and Northrup come up with something a helluva lot better than this though --- it's probably the evolutionary step that *should* have been done back when they developed the shuttle a bit ahead of its time, but we should be able to do a vastly improved version of *that* now as an evolutionary step forward, not taking a giant leap back 30 years in technology.
There's a theater in Portland that has that, and all I can say is Ewwwww! I'll take butter w/popcorn salt thankyouverymuch...
At work, I get Orville Redenbacher Movie Theater Butter Light to microwave and it's pretty good.
In my home theater, I got a real popcorn machine, though confess I mostly got pre-packaged popcorn/oil thingies for it. I need to experiment and find the Definitive Recipe for it...
...it had damn well better stay public. But the internet routes around damage --- if noaa can't do it, it'll just become another open source project, as it partially is now...
My weather station
(the flatline yesterday was a power outage)
Citizen's Weather Observer Program
Does anyone remember Control Data Corporation? Used to be, a long time ago, there were two main players in computers: IBM handled business and CDC handled scientific computing, with some gnats flying around, though DEC was more of a dragonfly ;-). The world changed, however, and CDC waned in the 80's. Their spin: "We're going to go into services, not hardware". I think they're a vague memory in the absorption history of another company now (Hmmm. I guess not quite so vague, but I've not heard them mentioned anywhere in ages: CDC Wikipedia entry)
Amusingly, COBOL programming on a CDC Cyber put me through college. When I was about to graduate (81) and doing the interview thing, I'd been put in touch with a head hunter that specialized in finding positions for Cyber programmers. I went to an interview in Dallas, TX, and although it went well, when I came back, I said "no, I want to work with microcomputers, not mainframes." I got the classic "there's no future there" response. I've always wondered what became of her...
Which is one reason why it's failed in my marketplace. They're riding the crest of people playing with a new toy right now, but when people figure out all the things they're prevented from doing with "their" purchase, it'll become the next betamax.
And if someone were making the oxygen, you can be damn sure they'd be figuring out how to get paid for doing so, or they'd stop making it. Except maybe for themselves. And maybe some altruistic souls would start up a few machines on their own. That doesn't make it wrong for others to try to get paid for their time and money investment.
As for me, I'll accept DRM when I can freely use the content any any device I choose, at any time I choose, from my stereo/theater, to the car, to a party at a friend's house. Just like I would a CD or a DVD. I don't see it happening anytime soon, but that's what I require before I'll accept it on anything that isn't of very high value to me, and then only grudgingly.
Yes, they do try to browse the Internet. I was in Fry's this weekend trying to decide if any of the few usb ethernet adapters might actually be supported by my Mac, even though they only listed Windoze. I tried to use my Treo, but Sprint was apparently having problems.
In any case, I do this sort of thing occasionally, and almost always have to wait for 250K even 500+K web pages to download. Sites like that are simply driving away business --- they're *all* so busy as be hard to use even on a PC with a high speed connection.
It's amazing how the concept of actually *using* your own site seems to be so foreign to the PHB's.
If you use MSN, you're automatically disqualified from being a member?
I don't get cable because I think the vast majority of it is crap and a waste of time. Heck, how many reality TV shows do people really need anyway?
That's shooting yourself in the foot --- the cable channels are where you can get away from the dreck on network tv! Though Tivo actually makes it possible to find the few pearls that are on the networks...until Stevens manages to turn it all into Sesame Street.
I've got an HP 970 at home hooked up with USB and I routinely print for sometimes months after the "low ink" warning comes up: I change cartridges when one of the inks runs out.
What they are asking for is a fair marketplace: the companies cannot force people to subsidize their infrastructure the way local government can. People should not be prevented from forming voluntary networks they fund themselves, but government should not be competing with with business: otherwise, you end up with a monopoly because no one else *can* compete, and then you end up with another bureaucratic money sink because "we don't have to care".
I sent in a suggestion that they digitally sign their email. Most modern email clients support X.509/SMIME and there's no excuse for all financial institutions in particular to not be signing their email so users can easily detect phishing. Not that there aren't still social engineering options even then, but they're harder and traceable (as long as the CA's keep doing their job properly).
I wish the government, a well as the public and jounalists, would just stop foucusing on something that casues so few accidents in the first place.
I can't agree more. I've been driving and talking on the cell phone for 14 accident free years now. I've driven worse from dealing with food than I ever have from the cell phone --- if they're going to start banning distractions, they should start with drive-thrus.
It's a simple matter to compensate for slower reaction times --- just don't follow so close, or in some cases, slowing down is appropriate.
My theory is that it's a combination of the fact that more people are doing it, so when they do the stupid things they always do, people see the cell phone and make unwarranted assumptions, combined with the all too common snobbery where if it's popular, it must be bad.
I started using quicken 10-15 years ago, when they were hooked up with checkfree. If I remember right, the interface had problems, so I switched to using checkfree's own app, and then moved to their web interface when that became available. I've also been displeased with the fact that Intuit changed the user interface several times, and seems to have made it worse with each version. I tried to move to the Mac, and found that they couldn't even import their own files --- you had to export/import through qif, which doesn't handle everything in the files, so you lose data anyhow. That was the final straw. Moneydance is on the verge of being a sufficient replacement, and I've bought my last Intuit product.
I quite agree --- that one is my all time favorite as well. I was just listing particularly good time travel and holodeck episodes because that was what the original comment was about.
Masks, however, not so much. Actually, I think Yesterday's Enterprise would be a good candidate for my second choice...
I hate to say it, but at least OSX actually has some real apps that actually work well for mere mortals. Unfortunately, that's not the case for Linux. OpenOffice is the closest, but I find I still have to resort to real Office occasionally to deal with stuff people send me. Getting closer, but not there yet...
Not that I want to defend Berman, but Yesterday's Enterprise and the two episodes with Moriarity taking control of the Enterprise were among the best of TNG.
When they came up with the idea of the holodeck, I was afraid of how it would be used, but some of those episodes were really good.
Likewise, 7 of 9 was clearly put on Voyager for T&A appeal, but they actually ended up making her one of the most interesting characters on the show *despite* that.
A good thing I have a sense of humor ;-)
No, it's been about 35 years, but as I recall, he was over at a friend's house and they got out the friend's dad's gun and it went off...
And you want it to stay that way too...
The reason kids would do that in the first place are because it's mysterious and forbidden. If they were taught how to use the gun and just what it can do at an early age, not only would it no longer be mysterious, but they'd know exactly what it can do and how to handle it. I grew up with unlocked guns around the house. A cousin didn't, and he didn't make it past his teens either.
I've got an IMSAI 8080, still the best looking computer ever built, that I've been meaning to hook up some way so a modern computer can make interesting use of the lights and the switches can be put to use...
Why go to --- just look at the pictures of it on various web sites.
Amusingly, last weekend, I watched part of an old Matt Helm movie (James Bond spoof starring Dean Martin). He had a regular pistol with a 10 second delay timer on the trigger, and used it several times in exactly that way to get bad guys to shoot themselves.
Figures, just as I'm switching to postfix...