You can get cable/VoIP modems with a battery backup. The modem I got from Time Warner cable (in central NC) came with a backup that is reported to last close to 8 hours in the event of a power outage. Now, not only do I not have to worry about not being able to call 911 in a power outage (and I have a cell phone anyway), but I can pass the time during an outage by browsing the web.
Comparing this to the browser wars is a little misleading, unless Comcast is giving out the MS box as the standard set top box. Microsoft was able to gain a large share of the browser market by bundling IE with windows, which Netscape just couldn't compete with. And eventually, people started to realize that IE wasn't necessarily the best option, which is why Firefox's share of the market is increasing even though users have to actively seek it out.
Hardly. Tivo has name recognition in the DVR market (so much so that many people don't know what a DVR is, but certainly know what a Tivo is). Tivo's been in the market for years and has a large installed userbase. Microsoft will have to fight hard to catch up to this. In my opinion, this is similar to Microsoft entering the console market with the XBox. The XBox sells decently in the US, but it can't compare to PS2 sales in any market. Why? Sony has name recognition and beat MS to market in the current generation of consoles. I think that MS is going to have a very difficult time unseating Tivo as the King of DVRs.
One thing to bear in mind is that more than just the presidential election was on the ballot. Lots of state and local elections may have been affected by these anamolies and may have had their outcomes changed.
I don't promise that any of the sites are unbiased , but hopefully they'll help someone who has questions about where to vote and what to do if anyone interferes with your right to vote. I'd encourage everyone else to post links to useful sites here as well.
I also live in North Carolina and voted this morning. I was very suprised to see the large turnout for Kerry/Edwards at my polling station (in Winston-Salem in case you're wondering).
Considering that Edwards is from NC, I'm surprised that Bush didn't spend a little more time campaigning here to help secure his win. I'm almost certain that he'll win, but it was good to see some friends and family that I know are die-hard Republicans approach this election with an open mind. Note that I'm not saying that anyone with an open-mind will automatically vote for Kerry (or any other non-Bush candidate).
On your points about the 2000 election: I totally agree with your 3rd point. See my earlier post for some insight into what I think is wrong with our election system. I'm not familiar with the Condorcet voting system that you mentioned, but it sounds like you've spent more time looking into that issue than I have and are probably more qualified to advise on it. In my opinion, just about anything is better than the electoral college.
Regarding your first two points, the Gore campaign understood what they needed to win the electoral college and simply did not do enough to secure a decisive win. I'm very concerned about the fact that we're heading into another presidential election where one of several key states can determine the outcome of the entire election. Almost everyone recognized that something needed to be done after the 2000 fiasco and somehow we, as a country, have let ourselves get into virtually the same situation again.
Now on to my own political interests. I didn't state them originally because I didn't want to persuade the original poster, but I have nothing to hide. My first choice for President, given all of the choices that have been available during this election, is Dennis Kucinich. My first choice among the candidates that will be available on the ballot in my district is John Kerry. My other options are Bush, whose foreign policy I cannot support, and Badnarik whose policies I feel border on the insane (I have socialist leanings myself). There is no write-in slot on my ballot.
As for your recommendation on VotePair.org, that sounds like a good idea to me. However, I would still encourage the original poster to spend some time looking into the local elections on his ballot. We elect more than just a President tomorrow. I do have some personal issues with the practice of vote swapping, but my concerns shouldn't influence the poster asking for advice. Mainly, I would like my vote to be counted in my district (WHERE a candidate gets votes is important too) even though Bush will carry my state. Also, I think there are some legal questions that need to be answered concerning vote swapping. IANAL, but my wife is and her opinion is that there are questions surronding the legality of vote swapping.
On a final note, I am not a registered member of any political party and will not be voting a straight party ticket tomorrow (nor have I in the past).
An alternative is to take the time to learn about the candidates and issues being voted on in your precinct before tomorrow. I'm not saying that it's possible to develop a full understanding of every issue before voting closes, but if readers make the effort they might find that there is something or someone that they want to support.
To get you started, here are some links:
The most talked about election is the Presedential election, so here are links to each major candidate's site. You can find there stance on many issues and hopefully decide which candidate you prefer. You won't get any balanced views at these sites and I encourage you to visit as many other sites as possible if you're still undecided.
For information on local elections, check your voter registration card for a phone number or website where you can get more information on local elections. If nothing is listed, just Google for your county's Board of Elections website.
I'd advise you to vote for whomever you agree with politically no matter what state you live in.
Personally, I'll be voting for one of the major candidates and would really like to see him win. However, I'd like to see him win by having convinced people that he is the best candidate, not just because people think that the other candidate might be more evil.
Al Gore did not loose the 2000 election because of people voting for Nader or other candidates; Al Gore lost the 2000 election because he did not do a good job of convincing enough of the American people that he could be an effective and competent President.
I recommend that you not vote for what you consider the lesser of two evils, and don't let supporters of other candidates change your principles.
I don't think that anyone is trying to hide the fact that the politics section on Slashdot is an attempt increase revenues. I'd bet that ALL of Slashdot is an attempt to increase revenues.
However, I do appreciate that the Slashdot editors have made an effor to provide a place that the readers can comment (or troll) on current political issues.
If you don't like the topics, just go add the politics section to your filter list and move on.
The latest is actually 2.6.8.1. The (very short) change log for that version can be found here. Looks like there was an NFS bug in the 2.6.8 release that needed to be fixed.
You may also want to consider an Air Flo controller. I've never bought one because I just don't think it will work, but it might just help. If it does, that'd be really great for those long sessions of Super Monkey Ball.
Actually, from the description at Belkin's site, this keyboard is designed for gamers, not the physically challenged. It only comes in a left-handed configuration, so it wouldn't be very useful to someone who had lost the use of their left hand.
First, you will not risk life and limb writing your own keyboard driver, unless you've somehow decided to add in a force feedback option.
Second, my bet is that there will be an open source driver for this thing by the end of the week. Just keep watching the comments on this story and someone may have a link by later today.
I really have to disagree here. Maybe you've had a bad experience with Progressive, or maybe I've just been really lucky with them, but this doesn't reflect my experience at all. I've been with Progressive for 2 years now. I first switched to them when I moved to the DC area and Allstate quoted me a ridiculous rate. Progressive didn't beat it by much, but they did beat it. I just moved out of the DC area (back to where I was before) and now my rate is lower than it was the last time that I was here (even though I had an accident in that two year time span). Not only that, but when I got married, Progressive also beat my wife's insurance company's rate (sorry, but I don't remember who she was with).
All that aside, I will NOT be getting one of these little black boxes. Even if I have to pay a surchare or switch to a pricier insurance company, I don't feel that it's worth it to allow them to start tracking my driving habits. Event if it's only tracking speed now, I think we all know that if and when this catches on, there will be more sophisticated tracking devices just waiting to be installed (or ship from the manufacturer). All the more reason to buy an older car and fix it up.
I was browsing through the User Screenshots and noticed an interesting looking GKrellM-like application on the right side of this screenshot. Can anyone tell me what app that is?
Slashdot Mirror
You can get cable/VoIP modems with a battery backup. The modem I got from Time Warner cable (in central NC) came with a backup that is reported to last close to 8 hours in the event of a power outage. Now, not only do I not have to worry about not being able to call 911 in a power outage (and I have a cell phone anyway), but I can pass the time during an outage by browsing the web.
Also available in other formats from the FCC's Dail Digest
Text of the news releast.
Word file of the news releast.
Text of Mr. Powell's statement.
Word Document of Mr. Powell's statement.
For future reference, the FCC maintains a daily digest of their releases here.
Comparing this to the browser wars is a little misleading, unless Comcast is giving out the MS box as the standard set top box. Microsoft was able to gain a large share of the browser market by bundling IE with windows, which Netscape just couldn't compete with. And eventually, people started to realize that IE wasn't necessarily the best option, which is why Firefox's share of the market is increasing even though users have to actively seek it out.
Hardly. Tivo has name recognition in the DVR market (so much so that many people don't know what a DVR is, but certainly know what a Tivo is). Tivo's been in the market for years and has a large installed userbase. Microsoft will have to fight hard to catch up to this. In my opinion, this is similar to Microsoft entering the console market with the XBox. The XBox sells decently in the US, but it can't compare to PS2 sales in any market. Why? Sony has name recognition and beat MS to market in the current generation of consoles. I think that MS is going to have a very difficult time unseating Tivo as the King of DVRs.
You can get a real BT file here.
Does anyone know if the turrent rotates as it fires or does it always fire in the same direction?
Not that it really matters; the last time I checked, getting hit by a little foam disk wasn't much of a deterrent...
FYI, the Blizzard download client recommends forwarding ports 3724, 6112, and 6881-6999 on your router to the client running the download process.
while defending parents from the horrors of having to monitor their own children!
One thing to bear in mind is that more than just the presidential election was on the ballot. Lots of state and local elections may have been affected by these anamolies and may have had their outcomes changed.
Thanks for the informative link!
I don't promise that any of the sites are unbiased , but hopefully they'll help someone who has questions about where to vote and what to do if anyone interferes with your right to vote. I'd encourage everyone else to post links to useful sites here as well.
I also live in North Carolina and voted this morning. I was very suprised to see the large turnout for Kerry/Edwards at my polling station (in Winston-Salem in case you're wondering).
Considering that Edwards is from NC, I'm surprised that Bush didn't spend a little more time campaigning here to help secure his win. I'm almost certain that he'll win, but it was good to see some friends and family that I know are die-hard Republicans approach this election with an open mind. Note that I'm not saying that anyone with an open-mind will automatically vote for Kerry (or any other non-Bush candidate).
On your points about the 2000 election:
I totally agree with your 3rd point. See my earlier post for some insight into what I think is wrong with our election system. I'm not familiar with the Condorcet voting system that you mentioned, but it sounds like you've spent more time looking into that issue than I have and are probably more qualified to advise on it. In my opinion, just about anything is better than the electoral college.
Regarding your first two points, the Gore campaign understood what they needed to win the electoral college and simply did not do enough to secure a decisive win. I'm very concerned about the fact that we're heading into another presidential election where one of several key states can determine the outcome of the entire election. Almost everyone recognized that something needed to be done after the 2000 fiasco and somehow we, as a country, have let ourselves get into virtually the same situation again.
Now on to my own political interests. I didn't state them originally because I didn't want to persuade the original poster, but I have nothing to hide.
My first choice for President, given all of the choices that have been available during this election, is Dennis Kucinich. My first choice among the candidates that will be available on the ballot in my district is John Kerry. My other options are Bush, whose foreign policy I cannot support, and Badnarik whose policies I feel border on the insane (I have socialist leanings myself). There is no write-in slot on my ballot.
As for your recommendation on VotePair.org, that sounds like a good idea to me. However, I would still encourage the original poster to spend some time looking into the local elections on his ballot. We elect more than just a President tomorrow. I do have some personal issues with the practice of vote swapping, but my concerns shouldn't influence the poster asking for advice. Mainly, I would like my vote to be counted in my district (WHERE a candidate gets votes is important too) even though Bush will carry my state. Also, I think there are some legal questions that need to be answered concerning vote swapping. IANAL, but my wife is and her opinion is that there are questions surronding the legality of vote swapping.
On a final note, I am not a registered member of any political party and will not be voting a straight party ticket tomorrow (nor have I in the past).
To get you started, here are some links:
The most talked about election is the Presedential election, so here are links to each major candidate's site. You can find there stance on many issues and hopefully decide which candidate you prefer. You won't get any balanced views at these sites and I encourage you to visit as many other sites as possible if you're still undecided.
For information on local elections, check your voter registration card for a phone number or website where you can get more information on local elections. If nothing is listed, just Google for your county's Board of Elections website.
I'd advise you to vote for whomever you agree with politically no matter what state you live in.
Personally, I'll be voting for one of the major candidates and would really like to see him win. However, I'd like to see him win by having convinced people that he is the best candidate, not just because people think that the other candidate might be more evil.
Al Gore did not loose the 2000 election because of people voting for Nader or other candidates; Al Gore lost the 2000 election because he did not do a good job of convincing enough of the American people that he could be an effective and competent President.
I recommend that you not vote for what you consider the lesser of two evils, and don't let supporters of other candidates change your principles.
I don't think that anyone is trying to hide the fact that the politics section on Slashdot is an attempt increase revenues. I'd bet that ALL of Slashdot is an attempt to increase revenues.
However, I do appreciate that the Slashdot editors have made an effor to provide a place that the readers can comment (or troll) on current political issues.
If you don't like the topics, just go add the politics section to your filter list and move on.
The latest is actually 2.6.8.1. The (very short) change log for that version can be found here. Looks like there was an NFS bug in the 2.6.8 release that needed to be fixed.
You may also want to consider an Air Flo controller. I've never bought one because I just don't think it will work, but it might just help. If it does, that'd be really great for those long sessions of Super Monkey Ball.
Actually, from the description at Belkin's site, this keyboard is designed for gamers, not the physically challenged. It only comes in a left-handed configuration, so it wouldn't be very useful to someone who had lost the use of their left hand.
First, you will not risk life and limb writing your own keyboard driver, unless you've somehow decided to add in a force feedback option.
Second, my bet is that there will be an open source driver for this thing by the end of the week. Just keep watching the comments on this story and someone may have a link by later today.
I really have to disagree here. Maybe you've had a bad experience with Progressive, or maybe I've just been really lucky with them, but this doesn't reflect my experience at all. I've been with Progressive for 2 years now. I first switched to them when I moved to the DC area and Allstate quoted me a ridiculous rate. Progressive didn't beat it by much, but they did beat it. I just moved out of the DC area (back to where I was before) and now my rate is lower than it was the last time that I was here (even though I had an accident in that two year time span). Not only that, but when I got married, Progressive also beat my wife's insurance company's rate (sorry, but I don't remember who she was with).
All that aside, I will NOT be getting one of these little black boxes. Even if I have to pay a surchare or switch to a pricier insurance company, I don't feel that it's worth it to allow them to start tracking my driving habits. Event if it's only tracking speed now, I think we all know that if and when this catches on, there will be more sophisticated tracking devices just waiting to be installed (or ship from the manufacturer). All the more reason to buy an older car and fix it up.
The Linspire DVD Player seems to have been around since at least LinSpire 4.5 (does anyone know how old 4.5 is?). Looks like it's based on Xine.
Slashdot linked to this Ars Technica review of USB flash drives a while back. The nice thing is that the article lists which drives are bootable.
I was browsing through the User Screenshots and noticed an interesting looking GKrellM-like application on the right side of this screenshot. Can anyone tell me what app that is?
My Very Educated Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizza Slices.