Whatever. I'll contribute after to their (re)election campaign after they state their support for my issue in public, not before. Otherwise I may well be donating to the campaign coffers of a candidate I would never consider voting for.
I feel your pain, dude, but I fear it doesn't work that way. I agree that you must first identify if the congressperson in question is totally corrosive, such as Mr. Hollings.
But if the congressperson's stands on your key issues are neutral or unknown, you have a dilemma. The problem is that a legislator can afford to take strong stands (particuarly stands which offend orgs with bags of cash such as the RIAA) on only a few issues. She must maintain her position in the "gray zone" on everything else, carefully maintaining spin control until the last minute (or forever if possible). In this way she avoids making premature committments, avoids offending too many people, and keeps her options open.
So - unless your congressperson has taken a strong stand one way or another - to get his attention you will have to contribute cash "blind". That's why I suggest making a micropayment of $10 or $20 on each letter, rather than 1 or 2 big payments every year.
Writing your Congressman/woman/Senator helps on issues, but if you notice, bills that get passed usually have big lobbys behind them (special interests).
When you write your congressperson on an issue of great importance (and I think this is one such), you need to prepare two letters. The first to the congressperson at his US Government address, laying out your position in clear, calm, concise language, one page or less, typed and signed in blue ink, mailed from a post office in your district.
The second should be addressed to your congressperon's Chief of Staff, c/o Committee to Re-Elect Congressperson XYZ, at the reelection campaign's address (but not not not at a US Government address). The letter should be more or less the same. But stapled to it should be a check for $20, $30, $50, or whatever you think reasonable. Check made out to the re-election committee natually.
I think 20 or 30 thousand such letters would start to get the attention of Capitol Hill.
Sometimes the text of bills ends up creating the opposite effect of what is stated (can you say "Patriot Act"?). Is anyone doing a detailed analysis of this bill to determine if this is the one that proponents of the rights of individual citizens should be backing?
Comeon, dude. The Interstate Highways were indeed funded as a defense project - in the 1950s. The situation changed a bit in the early 1970s when US metro areas went from the "1 car + public transportation + ankle wagon per family" model to the "number of licensed drivers + 1 autos per family" model of transit. In case you hadn't noticed, this produced a big increase in the number of cars on the road, and hence traffic.
Boston was hurting in a big way (pun intended) due to trying to cram 1980s traffic down 1700s streets. Something had to be done. Whether the Big Dig was the right thing or not, and how efficently it was carried out, can be debated. But let's not bring poor old Dwight into it!
This beloved feature of Netware has always been admired. The user community has always requested it in other OSes but, as yet, the only thing to even come close is an NT/2000 add-on called Network Undelete, from the folks at Executive Software, the same people that brought us Diskeeper. Unfortunately, it's still not quite the same.
Several posts have stated that this should be a simple thing to implement. I cannot speak to the ease or difficulty of implementing this feature. However, one does have to wonder how easy it would really be. Considering that Salavge is such an old feature on Netware, that there have been so many requests for it in other OSes and yet Netware is still the only OS to offer it, one must conclude that it is not really so easy to implement
Ahh - but it is a violation of the Slashdot Code of Posting to mention Novell technology at all, and never in a complimentary way!
More seriously, most Linux-ians and Slahsdotters have never worked with a properly designed, engineered, and installed Netware network, so they don't know what that system is (was?) capable of.
If the thing pulses, it only makes it less effective.
Actually, that turns out not to be the case. Think about the amount of energy that a hammer delivers to a nail - not very much, really. If you put your palm on the nailhead and push slowly and steadily for 1/2 hour you will have converted a lot more energy to heat, but not accomplished anything w.r.t. getting the nail into the wood. Give the hammer a short, sharp swing and you will do a lot more damage with less energy expended.
Also, there are the issues of burning though any surface coating (aluminum oxide is an excellent mirror to most laser frequencies) and burning through the cloud of vapor from previous shots.
for me an airplane is a machine that has to take off by it's own means and fly, and before Santos Dumont's 14 bis flight in Paris in 1906 no plane by the wright brothers that i have heard anywhere has done so
So the F-14 and F-18 are not airplanes?
Just kidding a bit, but the idea of using a catapult vs. a wheeled takeoff is to me no big thing. Coordinated aileron-rudder control is what made everyone's jaw drop at the 1908 Paris Airshow.
"thanks to this flight the "Archdecon Prize" was awarded to Santos Dumont, who had thus, solved the problem of making a heavier-than-air machine take off by its own means."
so, why would they write this if he wasn't the first to fly?
This would be the same Smithsonian Institute that paid Glenn Curtiss to attempt to backdate the evidence that Langley's Aerodrome flew before 1903? (Curtiss managed to make it fly by changing out the engine for one powerful enough to get a banquet table into the air, almost losing his life in the attempt).
No, I would have to say the Smithsonian is not the most reliable source of information when it comes to claims of "first flight"!
Last time I checked the life expectancy of the average person has only increased since the advent of the pharmaceutical industry.
No doubt modern medicines have helped quite a bit. But I think you will find that life expectency started rising with the implmentation of flush toilets/sewage treatment systems, chlorinated potable water systems, and regular garbage disposal. Smallpox vaccination probably didn't hurt either but AFAIK there was never a patent on that.
Orville Wright signed the first few hundred US licenses. There used to be a few people wandering around who still had one of those, although I suspect they are all gone now.
I doubt, however, that Orville signed Glenn Curtiss' license! Probably one of the Army pilots that Wright trained granted that one.
..why Orville and Wilbur should have gone to all that trouble and then just given it all away? If you invest years of effort, labor, and money in creating something that didn't previously exist, why aren't you entitled to reap the benefits?
Which is pretty much how O&W felt. And when you dig into how they accomplished what they did, you can understand why they felt that way. Their achievement was tremendous.
Problem was, O&W wanted to control all future aircraft developments. Their licensing terms were onerous and they tried to kill any parallel development. That might not have been totally bad if, like Thomas Edison, they were able to build an entire industry to keep up with demand. But they couldn't: O&W were inventors, not businessmen.
So as a result the Wright patents were choking off all development and innovation in the field. And eventually something had to give way.
If the report had stated that IBM and Sun were working on this problem, I might have considered it a bit. But adding Microsoft in there makes the whole thing laughable. Since the days of Novell 3.11, adding Microsoft products to the networking mix has automatically tripled the sysadmin workload. Maybe not for the first six months, but starting as soon as there is a problem / something changes / the needs grow. Then - kabam! - massive problems which can only be fixed with (surprise) more Microsoft products and MCSEs.
The idea that Microsoft could automate this function makes me laugh. I guess it could install Microsoft Wallet and have it deduct the cost of the next round of upgrades from your bank account automatically...
Back in the early days of telecomputing, there were outfits like The Source, CompuServe, Genie, and the like. Those that survived realized that their users really wanted to get in touch with each other. Maybe they started out serving informaton, but either they wound up serving connectivity, or they died. Just about the entire industry seems to have forgotten that lesson, and is trying its hardest to turn the Internet from connectivity into information. *Their* information, for a price, preferably paid *every* time. Precisely the model that failed decades before.
Not entirely I would have to say. Outfits that provide high quality information, such as Lexis/Nexis, The Wall Street Journal, Aviation Week & Space Technology, various medical databases, the former IBM patent database, the ACM Library, etc. do quite well charging for information by the download. I agree that it is no longer possible to charge people for downloading a driver patch (how CompuServe made its fortune), but the idea that "information wants to be free" if far from fully tested yet.
50kw AM stations from Chicago, which is about 800 miles away.
No offense, but that is a rare location you are at. I bet if you moved 10 miles from where you are at you could not pick it up.
There are about 10 AM stations left in North America that have 50kW licenses grandfathered from before the Telecommuncation Act (of 1932? I think). WBBM and WLS in Chicago are two; WCBS in New York; and I don't remember the others. With a good receiver these guys can be picked up at night in Havana (Cuba, from Chicago, that is) much less 800 miles away. I used to listen to Chicago traffic reports on WBBM while I was working in Toronto, for old times sake.
That's what "clear channel" means, actually, since for obvious reasons these stations have an exclusive frequency in North America. Now that name has been perverted for other purposes...
I thought Postgres would have too many limitations to be considered a healthy alternative to Oracle.
Novell have historically included a database with Netware for two reasons. (1) To support their internal directory structure. All that NDS information has to go somewhere (2) to enable rapid deployment of midsized apps, typically developed by customers in-house.
I think Novell would tell you that if you have a super-duty database app you should buy Oracle, but they want a product available for "quick hit" applications.
This theory was more applicable in the 1980s-1990s though. Most companies today either buy prepackaged or already know they need big iron.
By having the FBI have access to your reading habits, it could save you from being in a building that gets hit by a plane. That is a good trade off. Even if not one terrorist is busted from this whole inactment, everyone in the trade towers and on the flights would have definitely traded this for their lives.
The people who had their lives, fortunes, and sacred honors destroyed as a result of being placed on Richard Nixon's Enemies List might disagree with you just a bit there. James Madison (whose life was in considerable danger every day during the Revolutionary period) might disagree also.
Actually, I think that Motorola sells far more processors in the embedded market than they do to Apple
I agree, but the price and profit per unit are a lot higher on a consumer-level PC CPU than an embedded chip. Motorla is a big supplier to the automakers, but GM et. al. don't like anything to cost more that $5 and want the price to decrease every year. Whereas people will pay big buck-aroos for the "hottest" CPU.
Again thank you Motorola for screwing us! I have a small feeling that IBM can be counted on a little more that motorola, because IBM sells its power pc based chips to more that just apple, where if I am not mistaken motorola only sells to Apple
The whole PowerPC thing was one of the most amazing displays of corporate loyalty I have ever heard of. Apple needed a new chip but was unwilling to abandon their historical supplier, so they forced IBM and Motorola to the table and knocked heads until they got a joint production agreement.
Most companies would have said: "sorry Motorola - you are out of gas. We just signed with Digital (Alpha) [or IBM or Intel]. Thanks for the memories". Instead Apple force-fed the entire PowerPC thing.
I wonder what their motivation was? And did Apple truely benefit in the long run?
I am generally not a big fan of Richard Stallman's whole "libre" schtick, but I think it should be clear that I mean free as in civil rights, not free as in price!
A key question: will this chip have DRM (aka Digital Rights Reduction) features built-in? If NOT, there could be a good market here for IBM as the free alternative to Intel.
They would herd over real fast until one of them tried to run their desktop using Linux and couldn't figure out how to do anything.
That was my thought too until last week.
In the past I used Unix quite a bit from the command line at an end-user level, but I had never actually sat down and worked through a Linux installation. So I ordered a copy of SuSE (from Computer Discount Warehouse no less) and tried a default "MCSE" install. Now, I did know how to use fdisk to make sure the partitions were fully cleaned out. But other than that I just clicked OK, OK, OK... (same as a Microsoft install;-) ) and waited. At the end of 45 minutes I had a usable GUI desktop with a usable Mozilla browser. I showed it to our CFO (not a fair test though as unlike Dilbert's CFO this guy is quite knowledgable) and without any training or prompting he fired up StarOffice and loaded some of his spreadsheets.
No muss and no fuss. Given the rather low level of computer literacy in many large organizations, I would estimate it would take about an hour of classroom training to get everyone running on SuSE/KDE (lower literacy = less to unlearn).
The only real problem I see now is lack of an equivelent to MS Outlook. If KDE gets that taken care of...
Yoda was no longer needed in the main battle, as it'd already been won - just mopping up left.
A Sith lord, though, would be far more dangerous to the Republic. Thus, Yoda went where he could be more of service.
Agreed, but that is what I am talking about. Yoda went for the main evil-doer, Count Sauraman... I mean Dooku. Slapped him around and was just about to put the cuffs on him. But when Dukoo threw a tiny little 20m granite pillar on top of Obi-Wan and Anikan, Yoda lets DoKo go in order to save the one-armed men, I mean O-W and A.
Which is exactly what Obi-Wan had just told Annnoboy he couldn't do. And while her acting ability ain't too great, Padme was way cuter than either of the bad-swordfighting-Jedi and a lot more worth saving.
The main reason this movie was my favorite is the fact that you get to see Yoda kick some ass and in what I believe was a realistic way for Yoda to act as a Jedi
I think we were all waiting for Yoda to finally get mad. But rather than bouncing around like a bumblebee on crack, wouldn't it have been more in character for him to remain calm and collected, as Alec Guiness/Obi Wan does when he finally faces Vadar? Sauraman pulling things off walls and running around like crazy, while Yoda makes one smooth, effortless move after another?
And please explain, why just five minute after Obi-Wan convinces Annikin that he must abandon Padme to "do his duty", does Yoda abandon his duty to the Republic in order to save two useless Jedi?
The problems and holes in TPM could have been fixed with some quick editing and a couple of reshot scenes. It wouldn't have approached the first Star Wars, but then again very little does.
AotC was so utterly, unredeemably bad that it is unfixable. Sheesh - once glance between Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher in ESB carried more romantic tension than 30 minutes of moping between what's his name and Natalie. "Let's go to the mall Anni". As my 8 y.o. said "Yuck". How perceptive is the mind of a child.
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But if the congressperson's stands on your key issues are neutral or unknown, you have a dilemma. The problem is that a legislator can afford to take strong stands (particuarly stands which offend orgs with bags of cash such as the RIAA) on only a few issues. She must maintain her position in the "gray zone" on everything else, carefully maintaining spin control until the last minute (or forever if possible). In this way she avoids making premature committments, avoids offending too many people, and keeps her options open.
So - unless your congressperson has taken a strong stand one way or another - to get his attention you will have to contribute cash "blind". That's why I suggest making a micropayment of $10 or $20 on each letter, rather than 1 or 2 big payments every year.
sPh
The second should be addressed to your congressperon's Chief of Staff, c/o Committee to Re-Elect Congressperson XYZ, at the reelection campaign's address (but not not not at a US Government address). The letter should be more or less the same. But stapled to it should be a check for $20, $30, $50, or whatever you think reasonable. Check made out to the re-election committee natually.
I think 20 or 30 thousand such letters would start to get the attention of Capitol Hill.
sPh
sPh
Boston was hurting in a big way (pun intended) due to trying to cram 1980s traffic down 1700s streets. Something had to be done. Whether the Big Dig was the right thing or not, and how efficently it was carried out, can be debated. But let's not bring poor old Dwight into it!
sPh
More seriously, most Linux-ians and Slahsdotters have never worked with a properly designed, engineered, and installed Netware network, so they don't know what that system is (was?) capable of.
sPh
Also, there are the issues of burning though any surface coating (aluminum oxide is an excellent mirror to most laser frequencies) and burning through the cloud of vapor from previous shots.
sPh
sPh
Just kidding a bit, but the idea of using a catapult vs. a wheeled takeoff is to me no big thing. Coordinated aileron-rudder control is what made everyone's jaw drop at the 1908 Paris Airshow.
sPh
No, I would have to say the Smithsonian is not the most reliable source of information when it comes to claims of "first flight"!
sPh
sPh
I doubt, however, that Orville signed Glenn Curtiss' license! Probably one of the Army pilots that Wright trained granted that one.
sPh
Problem was, O&W wanted to control all future aircraft developments. Their licensing terms were onerous and they tried to kill any parallel development. That might not have been totally bad if, like Thomas Edison, they were able to build an entire industry to keep up with demand. But they couldn't: O&W were inventors, not businessmen.
So as a result the Wright patents were choking off all development and innovation in the field. And eventually something had to give way.
sPh
The idea that Microsoft could automate this function makes me laugh. I guess it could install Microsoft Wallet and have it deduct the cost of the next round of upgrades from your bank account automatically...
sPh
sPh
That's what "clear channel" means, actually, since for obvious reasons these stations have an exclusive frequency in North America. Now that name has been perverted for other purposes...
sPh
I think Novell would tell you that if you have a super-duty database app you should buy Oracle, but they want a product available for "quick hit" applications.
This theory was more applicable in the 1980s-1990s though. Most companies today either buy prepackaged or already know they need big iron.
sPh
sPh
sPh
Most companies would have said: "sorry Motorola - you are out of gas. We just signed with Digital (Alpha) [or IBM or Intel]. Thanks for the memories". Instead Apple force-fed the entire PowerPC thing.
I wonder what their motivation was? And did Apple truely benefit in the long run?
sPh
I am generally not a big fan of Richard Stallman's whole "libre" schtick, but I think it should be clear that I mean free as in civil rights, not free as in price!
sPh
A key question: will this chip have DRM (aka Digital Rights Reduction) features built-in? If NOT, there could be a good market here for IBM as the free alternative to Intel.
sPh
In the past I used Unix quite a bit from the command line at an end-user level, but I had never actually sat down and worked through a Linux installation. So I ordered a copy of SuSE (from Computer Discount Warehouse no less) and tried a default "MCSE" install. Now, I did know how to use fdisk to make sure the partitions were fully cleaned out. But other than that I just clicked OK, OK, OK... (same as a Microsoft install ;-) ) and waited. At the end of 45 minutes I had a usable GUI desktop with a usable Mozilla browser. I showed it to our CFO (not a fair test though as unlike Dilbert's CFO this guy is quite knowledgable) and without any training or prompting he fired up StarOffice and loaded some of his spreadsheets.
No muss and no fuss. Given the rather low level of computer literacy in many large organizations, I would estimate it would take about an hour of classroom training to get everyone running on SuSE/KDE (lower literacy = less to unlearn).
The only real problem I see now is lack of an equivelent to MS Outlook. If KDE gets that taken care of...
sPh
Which is exactly what Obi-Wan had just told Annnoboy he couldn't do. And while her acting ability ain't too great, Padme was way cuter than either of the bad-swordfighting-Jedi and a lot more worth saving.
sPh
And please explain, why just five minute after Obi-Wan convinces Annikin that he must abandon Padme to "do his duty", does Yoda abandon his duty to the Republic in order to save two useless Jedi?
sPh
The problems and holes in TPM could have been fixed with some quick editing and a couple of reshot scenes. It wouldn't have approached the first Star Wars, but then again very little does.
AotC was so utterly, unredeemably bad that it is unfixable. Sheesh - once glance between Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher in ESB carried more romantic tension than 30 minutes of moping between what's his name and Natalie. "Let's go to the mall Anni". As my 8 y.o. said "Yuck". How perceptive is the mind of a child.
sPh