unless you have the annoying phone I have in which case you have to turn T9 on again for each message you try to type (multiple key presses (it's buried in a menu!) and most messages I type are less than 5 words long... if you could set it to default to on it might be usefull, but unless you're texting a whole novel, it's not worth the hassle of turning it on... (whoever designed this phone should really be forced to use it some time... it's got a myriad of equally idiodic design "features")
camcorders don't always show everything either... it was one example, maybe you simply can't see something due to camera angle, but the basic principle is that you can't come in half way through any incident and know everything that is going on. this is why it is a good thing to have the cameras on the cruisers, it allows investigators to see the context surrounding an incident. which may not be available on the tape provided by someone with an axe to grind.
>> Are people doing a little post-production work on them
not so much changing the video, as possibly chopping the start or end off... imagine watching a cop shoot someone, without seeing the part where that person drew a gun and threatened the cop. it is so easy to get the wrong impression just by cutting in to an incident part way through.
having cruiser-cams is a good thing for everyone, it helps reduce the likelyhood of a cop doing something wrong in a routine stop, but it also does a good job of countering unsupported allegations and partial truths.
ok, taking this way off topic, but I have to bite...
>> the documented evidence of Canadian atrocities (murder, anyone?) in Africa during their so-called peacekeeping missions
While you are correct that nobody is immune, What I see as the big difference here is how these were handled.
In the US whenever there is a "war crime" or other obvious problem in the military, the lowest members possible of the force take the fall, a private or a lieutenant goes to prison, and the military claims victory, that everything is right again, until next time. Nothing is ever done about the root of the problem.
In Canada, after the scandals in Africa, not only were the individual members involved punished, but the whole unit involved (Airborne Regiment) was completely disbanded. Changes to the whole structure were made to try to prevent the same thing from happening in the future. Has it solved the problem? only time will tell, but at least somethinge was tried.
Now I'm not saying that there will never be another scandal in the Canadian Military, that would be absurd, what I am saying though is that while preventing all problems is impossible, it's how the problems are dealt with that should be the measure we gauge people by, not wether there are any (if you only guage wether or not there are problems all you really measure is how well the problems get covered up)
and after you have added this much complexity, who still knows what they are voting for on every issue? 50 choices to be made? and you think that will be 50 MEANINGFUL choices? maybe they need to work on simplifying the system a bit...
Since the beginning of august this year all TELUS home ADSL "high speed" and "high speed enhanced" packages have shipped with a combination ADSL modem/firewall with built in 4 port switch and wireless router. by default the modem provides a firewall that blocks all incomming connections and monitors any attacks as well as outgoing traffic that matches the patern of known viruses (eg blaster) and will notify you of such things. the wireless router comes with ecryption on by default as well. the router is also highly configurable if you want port forwarding, or even to move a computer completely in to a DMZ setup, it also has parental controls...
The device being used is a 2700HG-E made by 2-wire. (with TELUS branding)
I believe that SBC is using this same device now as well, but I don't know what packages it comes with, or how theirs is set up.
being that he didn't manage to uninstall them all afterwards (yahoo toolbar remained) he is correct and it's possible he DID read the article... what am I saying... it's slashdot, who reads the articles?
we already have proven systems in place to keep air traffic away from stationary objects, what I'd be more concerned with would be failure modes, if something were to cause the tether to break, (wether it be your airplane, or any of a number of other situations) it would seem that there would be a LOT of tether to fall to earth... I certainly wouldn't want to be under it if it fell... and with the length of the tether, I would expect a rather large radius that would have the potential to be affected.
I would bet this has already been thought of, but I'd be curious to see what came of these thoughts?
2 ways I saw of dealing with this stuff that were well done...
instead of "press any key to continue" pk-software (surely you remember pk-zip) used "press a key to continue" which meant that anyone with a brain would hit whatever they wanted, but those clueless types could press "a" and everything would be fine.
the second one was a keyboard I used to have, the main enter key was labelled "enter" but the one on the numeric keypad was labelled "return" (or vice-versa I can't remember) meaning that no matter which term a programmer had chosed to use, the user would find it written on the keyboard...
both of these were very simple solutions to this age old problem, I never understood why those practices didn't catch on...
I would think a casino would still be suspicious if all the times you "lost" it was the adjacent space or two on the wheel... to do it properly you'd have to throw in some known loosing bets (other side of the wheel) too just to throw off suspiscion... keep in mind that casinos are nothing if not observant... they have a lot of money riding on this stuff...
I've found the only way to win from a casino is to be getting the profits from one (around here any casino operating on any given day has to have a charity "sponsor" who gets a percentage of the winnings (averaged over the course of 3 months) I have been involved in a few charities getting profits from casinos, and in a single day you easilly make $20,000 - $30,000 after the casino's take, and we're not even talking a Vegas casino, the ones I've helped at here have been almost deserted...)
while not written the same way, this really is the same everywhere, to use a tired example: you don't have the right to yell "fire" in a crowded theatre. in no society are you given the freedom to remove others freedoms or to infirnge upon the interests of society as a whole.
the difference isn't in the constitution, but in the interpretation and implementation of such.
I purchased a few of the philips marathon dimmables, but I was unable to get them to fit in any fixture in the house... I also found that they have a very small dimmable range (ie "romantic dinner" is somewhere in the range of off) unfortunately the lights in my house that are used the most are on a dimmer, and it's 5 bulbs all on at the same time... I'd love to replace them with CFLs but haven't found a solution I'm satisfied with yet.
have you tried the "outdoor" CFL bulbs? I used one in the hood fan over my stove, basically they are sealed to keep out moisture and such, should solve any problem with moisture from the sink/shower
there are dimmable CFL bulbs available in my local hardware store, I even made the mistake of buying some... 2 major problems:
1) they are HUGE, (ok, I have yet to ever see a CFL bulb as small as a normal light bulb (they're all close, but they never quite fit in the same fixture, but these ones are gigantic and I can't cram them in anywhere)
2) the dimmable range seems to be from 100% down to 75% anything lower than that they just cut off... sure they dim, but not enough to be usefull, my incandecent bulbs on the dimmer live at about a 20% level most of the time, the CFLs were simply too bright
in general I love the CFL bulbs, I've replaced most of the bulbs in my house with them, the exceptions are 2 lights that are on dimmers, and my bathrooms (though I had to modify most of my light fixtures to crram even the smallest CFL bulb in to them)
the reason I haven't done my bathrooms was orriginally that for a room that you were only in for a couple minutes at a time, the start up time of CFL bulbs was a pain, (though that has improved greatly recently) however I am still wondering about startup current, it used to be said that flourescent bulbs used a lot of current when first powering on, and that you had to leave them on for a while to actually gain savings over incandecents that had a lower startup current... not even sure if this is true anymore, and I can't find info on it anywhere...
hence a near perfect solution would make everything except an area the size of the pupils 100% invisible, and the small area 95% invisible, then on the inside of the field amplify the remaining 5% (or less) of the light in that area to allow vision (possibly 99% and 1%? or even more extreme depending on how much you can amplify the remaining light)
sure you'd still have a "detectable" presence in the area used to see, however it would be a very small area, and even it would only be a slight distortion, the odds of someone noticing it would be extremely slim.
Re:nobody's going to stop buying SUVs
on
The Hybrid Scooter
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
min-vans are smaller than most SUVs, are easier to get the kids in and out of, and have more cargo space, more fuel efficient, and are MUCH MUCH safer for you, your kids, and the rest of the world outside your vehicle, they handle better to avoid collisions, and perform better in almost all types of collisions.
the people who say that they need an SUV because they have kids is simply ignoring the fact that there is a much better vehicle out there for the purpose that they simply don't like (usually because it doesn't let them feel "macho" enough)
and if you insist that an SUV is too big, there are a large variety of station wagons on the market now too, which have at least as much cargo space as an SUV, with none of the drawbacks.
the only reason to own an SUV is if you are truly spending a lot of time off-road (and I don't mean gravel road, or dirt road, I mean NO road) and even then, there are only a select few SUVs that are any good at that either.
Where I live the local Police department has equipped a van with cameras and it's sole job is to drive around town and check lisence plates, I can't remember the exact statistics but when this was introduced (approx 2 years ago) they said it averaged finding one or two stollen cars per shift... I did see the vehicle one day, looks a little weird actually, it's a mini-van with 2 gigantic cameras on the roof, one aimed to each side of the vehicle and it drives slowly down residential streets and automatically scans plates as it goes. it seems to be effective, the question really boils down to, wether there is a cheaper way of getting similar results... as for the privacy issues, I believe this one doesn't store locations, it just checks plates and alerts the operator if it locates one that is flagged stolen in the database, so there's no information to be abused, and it's essentially no different from the cop on the beat checking plates, except that it checks hundreds more per shift.
I've had a very similar experience, in my province, (Alberta Canada) they just went to a new "Secure" driver's lisence, when you go to get it, they take away your old lisence, and give you a piece of paper that permits you to drive, but does not have your photo on it, and says in big letters "not to be used as identification". two weeks later your new lisence arrives in the mail.
the day after I got this paper lisence my grandfather (at the other end of the country) passed away, two days later I was on a plane on my way there, trying to get a boarding pass was EXTREMEMLY difficult. (after that I didn't require ID to pass security or board the aircraft) I called our government and asked them what we're supposed to use for ID in the mean time, they informed me that driver's lisences are not to be used for ID anyway, so it's not an issue, when I asked what we ARE Supposed to use for ID I was told a passport, or a citizenship card, neither of which I have (nobody who doesn't leave the country bothers to get a passport, and nobody who was born in Canada ever had a citizenship card) and, strangely enough, before I had my driver's lisence I had a government issued ID card (to prove my age to get me in to bars) but they take that away when you get your driver's lisence... go figure...
so, as it stands right now, for 2 weeks every 5 years, the vast majority of Albertans have no legal ID, they can't legally go to a bar, and will be hassled if they try to fly, not because they are trying to avoid the requirment for ID, but because the government refuses to give a valid alternative (they refuse to let you keep your old lisence, and the only other valid ID (passport) costs more than the lisence, and takes much longer to get anyway)
The only advice I have for Albertans about to renew their lisence is; "lose" your old lisence before renewal so that you'll still have it during those 2 weeks (of course, as I've only been through this ridiculous process once, I haven't tried this, so I don't know what additional hassles the registry might give you)
>> the guys who deliberately helped to rip off half the world and then made a point of showing off >> about it and treating the authorities with contempt, or the authorities who bitch-slapped them for it.
I'm confused... I can't tell which of those 2 is the pirate bay, and which is the media cartels? after all, the ultimate authority in any democratic country is "the people"...
while it's true that at the moment oxygen has to come from earth to the moon, the same is true for food. it would seem to me that the only viable solution to getting food and oxygen to a base on the moon, isn't to bring it from earth, nor is it to "mine" it from the moon, but rather to build a self sufficient environment, if you are talking about a permanent base on the moon, wouldn't it be prudent to build a base with it's own small eco-system? the right plants, it would seem, could provide both oxygen and food...
finally, someone else with a lyra. I was starting to think I was the only one... I've never understood the apple appologists and their blind love of the iPod, my lyra does more, cost less, is easier to use... what's not to like?
and herein lies one of the many problems of the iPod. software? why do you need specific software for an MP3 player? I hook mine up to any computer via usb, and it appears as another hard drive, I drag music on to it and can play it immediately, no drivers, no special software, works on mac, and linux, and windows, and any other OS that supports USB mass storage. no computer? that's fine, you can plug the player in to your stereo and hit record. want other options? sure, you can tote your music around on compact flash cards and load it that way if you want.
so just what makes the iPod's proprietary software better than not needing any at all?
and don't even get me started on the horrid user interface that is the hardware side of the ipod (just what is it that tells you that the ring on the front even IS a scroll wheel, or that that section in the middle is a button, never mind what the button does...) my mp3 player has a really novel concept... labelling, the buttons actually say what they do right on them!
Apple wasn't even first. mp3 players existed for a long time before the iPod. and I have an mp3 player that plays full motion video before the iPod even figured out how to display still images.
cheapest? hardly.
The only thing that I've seen that the iPod does better than every other player out there is marketting, Apple managed to make iPod synonymous with mp3 player, and for that I'll give them credit. but being the most used, does not make them the best (internet explorer anyone?) for anyone looking for an mp3 player, take a look around, you can do much better than an iPod.
>> I refuse to help anothe rliving thing unelss I am compensated
That is an awful sentiment to have, the world is only made better when we help other people whenever possible. I am quite happy to help another lving being whenever possible HOWEVER there are a few reasons I still refuse:
- companies aren't "living things" they are legal entities that don't even exist except on paper. - my generosity in helping others ends when they start making a profit off of my generosity, if they are making money off of me, I better get a share of it.
And that doesn't even take in to account the over-priced, under-featured comments made earlier...
Slashdot Mirror
unless you have the annoying phone I have in which case you have to turn T9 on again for each message you try to type (multiple key presses (it's buried in a menu!) and most messages I type are less than 5 words long... if you could set it to default to on it might be usefull, but unless you're texting a whole novel, it's not worth the hassle of turning it on... (whoever designed this phone should really be forced to use it some time... it's got a myriad of equally idiodic design "features")
camcorders don't always show everything either... it was one example, maybe you simply can't see something due to camera angle, but the basic principle is that you can't come in half way through any incident and know everything that is going on. this is why it is a good thing to have the cameras on the cruisers, it allows investigators to see the context surrounding an incident. which may not be available on the tape provided by someone with an axe to grind.
>> Are people doing a little post-production work on them
not so much changing the video, as possibly chopping the start or end off... imagine watching a cop shoot someone, without seeing the part where that person drew a gun and threatened the cop. it is so easy to get the wrong impression just by cutting in to an incident part way through.
having cruiser-cams is a good thing for everyone, it helps reduce the likelyhood of a cop doing something wrong in a routine stop, but it also does a good job of countering unsupported allegations and partial truths.
>> the accuracy of ATM actions are routinely audited by average citizens with a vested interest in the accuracy of an ATM's tabulations.
it's really too bad that average citizens don't have any vested interest in the accuracy of a voting machine's tabulations...
>> I'm not letting your near my computer ever again!
problem solved! you can sleep at night knowing they won't be bugging you for support anymore...
ok, taking this way off topic, but I have to bite...
>> the documented evidence of Canadian atrocities (murder, anyone?) in Africa during their so-called peacekeeping missions
While you are correct that nobody is immune, What I see as the big difference here is how these were handled.
In the US whenever there is a "war crime" or other obvious problem in the military, the lowest members possible of the force take the fall, a private or a lieutenant goes to prison, and the military claims victory, that everything is right again, until next time. Nothing is ever done about the root of the problem.
In Canada, after the scandals in Africa, not only were the individual members involved punished, but the whole unit involved (Airborne Regiment) was completely disbanded. Changes to the whole structure were made to try to prevent the same thing from happening in the future. Has it solved the problem? only time will tell, but at least somethinge was tried.
Now I'm not saying that there will never be another scandal in the Canadian Military, that would be absurd, what I am saying though is that while preventing all problems is impossible, it's how the problems are dealt with that should be the measure we gauge people by, not wether there are any (if you only guage wether or not there are problems all you really measure is how well the problems get covered up)
and after you have added this much complexity, who still knows what they are voting for on every issue? 50 choices to be made? and you think that will be 50 MEANINGFUL choices? maybe they need to work on simplifying the system a bit...
"What ISP sends you a firewall?"
TELUS.
Since the beginning of august this year all TELUS home ADSL "high speed" and "high speed enhanced" packages have shipped with a combination ADSL modem/firewall with built in 4 port switch and wireless router. by default the modem provides a firewall that blocks all incomming connections and monitors any attacks as well as outgoing traffic that matches the patern of known viruses (eg blaster) and will notify you of such things. the wireless router comes with ecryption on by default as well. the router is also highly configurable if you want port forwarding, or even to move a computer completely in to a DMZ setup, it also has parental controls...
The device being used is a 2700HG-E made by 2-wire. (with TELUS branding)
I believe that SBC is using this same device now as well, but I don't know what packages it comes with, or how theirs is set up.
being that he didn't manage to uninstall them all afterwards (yahoo toolbar remained) he is correct and it's possible he DID read the article... what am I saying... it's slashdot, who reads the articles?
we already have proven systems in place to keep air traffic away from stationary objects, what I'd be more concerned with would be failure modes, if something were to cause the tether to break, (wether it be your airplane, or any of a number of other situations) it would seem that there would be a LOT of tether to fall to earth... I certainly wouldn't want to be under it if it fell... and with the length of the tether, I would expect a rather large radius that would have the potential to be affected.
I would bet this has already been thought of, but I'd be curious to see what came of these thoughts?
memories from the old DOS days....
2 ways I saw of dealing with this stuff that were well done...
instead of "press any key to continue" pk-software (surely you remember pk-zip) used "press a key to continue" which meant that anyone with a brain would hit whatever they wanted, but those clueless types could press "a" and everything would be fine.
the second one was a keyboard I used to have, the main enter key was labelled "enter" but the one on the numeric keypad was labelled "return" (or vice-versa I can't remember) meaning that no matter which term a programmer had chosed to use, the user would find it written on the keyboard...
both of these were very simple solutions to this age old problem, I never understood why those practices didn't catch on...
I would think a casino would still be suspicious if all the times you "lost" it was the adjacent space or two on the wheel... to do it properly you'd have to throw in some known loosing bets (other side of the wheel) too just to throw off suspiscion... keep in mind that casinos are nothing if not observant... they have a lot of money riding on this stuff...
I've found the only way to win from a casino is to be getting the profits from one (around here any casino operating on any given day has to have a charity "sponsor" who gets a percentage of the winnings (averaged over the course of 3 months) I have been involved in a few charities getting profits from casinos, and in a single day you easilly make $20,000 - $30,000 after the casino's take, and we're not even talking a Vegas casino, the ones I've helped at here have been almost deserted...)
while not written the same way, this really is the same everywhere, to use a tired example: you don't have the right to yell "fire" in a crowded theatre. in no society are you given the freedom to remove others freedoms or to infirnge upon the interests of society as a whole.
the difference isn't in the constitution, but in the interpretation and implementation of such.
I purchased a few of the philips marathon dimmables, but I was unable to get them to fit in any fixture in the house... I also found that they have a very small dimmable range (ie "romantic dinner" is somewhere in the range of off) unfortunately the lights in my house that are used the most are on a dimmer, and it's 5 bulbs all on at the same time... I'd love to replace them with CFLs but haven't found a solution I'm satisfied with yet.
have you tried the "outdoor" CFL bulbs? I used one in the hood fan over my stove, basically they are sealed to keep out moisture and such, should solve any problem with moisture from the sink/shower
there are dimmable CFL bulbs available in my local hardware store, I even made the mistake of buying some... 2 major problems:
1) they are HUGE, (ok, I have yet to ever see a CFL bulb as small as a normal light bulb (they're all close, but they never quite fit in the same fixture, but these ones are gigantic and I can't cram them in anywhere)
2) the dimmable range seems to be from 100% down to 75% anything lower than that they just cut off... sure they dim, but not enough to be usefull, my incandecent bulbs on the dimmer live at about a 20% level most of the time, the CFLs were simply too bright
in general I love the CFL bulbs, I've replaced most of the bulbs in my house with them, the exceptions are 2 lights that are on dimmers, and my bathrooms (though I had to modify most of my light fixtures to crram even the smallest CFL bulb in to them)
the reason I haven't done my bathrooms was orriginally that for a room that you were only in for a couple minutes at a time, the start up time of CFL bulbs was a pain, (though that has improved greatly recently) however I am still wondering about startup current, it used to be said that flourescent bulbs used a lot of current when first powering on, and that you had to leave them on for a while to actually gain savings over incandecents that had a lower startup current... not even sure if this is true anymore, and I can't find info on it anywhere...
hence a near perfect solution would make everything except an area the size of the pupils 100% invisible, and the small area 95% invisible, then on the inside of the field amplify the remaining 5% (or less) of the light in that area to allow vision (possibly 99% and 1%? or even more extreme depending on how much you can amplify the remaining light)
sure you'd still have a "detectable" presence in the area used to see, however it would be a very small area, and even it would only be a slight distortion, the odds of someone noticing it would be extremely slim.
min-vans are smaller than most SUVs, are easier to get the kids in and out of, and have more cargo space, more fuel efficient, and are MUCH MUCH safer for you, your kids, and the rest of the world outside your vehicle, they handle better to avoid collisions, and perform better in almost all types of collisions.
the people who say that they need an SUV because they have kids is simply ignoring the fact that there is a much better vehicle out there for the purpose that they simply don't like (usually because it doesn't let them feel "macho" enough)
and if you insist that an SUV is too big, there are a large variety of station wagons on the market now too, which have at least as much cargo space as an SUV, with none of the drawbacks.
the only reason to own an SUV is if you are truly spending a lot of time off-road (and I don't mean gravel road, or dirt road, I mean NO road) and even then, there are only a select few SUVs that are any good at that either.
Where I live the local Police department has equipped a van with cameras and it's sole job is to drive around town and check lisence plates, I can't remember the exact statistics but when this was introduced (approx 2 years ago) they said it averaged finding one or two stollen cars per shift... I did see the vehicle one day, looks a little weird actually, it's a mini-van with 2 gigantic cameras on the roof, one aimed to each side of the vehicle and it drives slowly down residential streets and automatically scans plates as it goes. it seems to be effective, the question really boils down to, wether there is a cheaper way of getting similar results... as for the privacy issues, I believe this one doesn't store locations, it just checks plates and alerts the operator if it locates one that is flagged stolen in the database, so there's no information to be abused, and it's essentially no different from the cop on the beat checking plates, except that it checks hundreds more per shift.
I've had a very similar experience, in my province, (Alberta Canada) they just went to a new "Secure" driver's lisence, when you go to get it, they take away your old lisence, and give you a piece of paper that permits you to drive, but does not have your photo on it, and says in big letters "not to be used as identification". two weeks later your new lisence arrives in the mail.
the day after I got this paper lisence my grandfather (at the other end of the country) passed away, two days later I was on a plane on my way there, trying to get a boarding pass was EXTREMEMLY difficult. (after that I didn't require ID to pass security or board the aircraft) I called our government and asked them what we're supposed to use for ID in the mean time, they informed me that driver's lisences are not to be used for ID anyway, so it's not an issue, when I asked what we ARE Supposed to use for ID I was told a passport, or a citizenship card, neither of which I have (nobody who doesn't leave the country bothers to get a passport, and nobody who was born in Canada ever had a citizenship card) and, strangely enough, before I had my driver's lisence I had a government issued ID card (to prove my age to get me in to bars) but they take that away when you get your driver's lisence... go figure...
so, as it stands right now, for 2 weeks every 5 years, the vast majority of Albertans have no legal ID, they can't legally go to a bar, and will be hassled if they try to fly, not because they are trying to avoid the requirment for ID, but because the government refuses to give a valid alternative (they refuse to let you keep your old lisence, and the only other valid ID (passport) costs more than the lisence, and takes much longer to get anyway)
The only advice I have for Albertans about to renew their lisence is; "lose" your old lisence before renewal so that you'll still have it during those 2 weeks (of course, as I've only been through this ridiculous process once, I haven't tried this, so I don't know what additional hassles the registry might give you)
>> the guys who deliberately helped to rip off half the world and then made a point of showing off
>> about it and treating the authorities with contempt, or the authorities who bitch-slapped them for it.
I'm confused... I can't tell which of those 2 is the pirate bay, and which is the media cartels? after all, the ultimate authority in any democratic country is "the people"...
while it's true that at the moment oxygen has to come from earth to the moon, the same is true for food. it would seem to me that the only viable solution to getting food and oxygen to a base on the moon, isn't to bring it from earth, nor is it to "mine" it from the moon, but rather to build a self sufficient environment, if you are talking about a permanent base on the moon, wouldn't it be prudent to build a base with it's own small eco-system? the right plants, it would seem, could provide both oxygen and food...
finally, someone else with a lyra. I was starting to think I was the only one... I've never understood the apple appologists and their blind love of the iPod, my lyra does more, cost less, is easier to use... what's not to like?
and herein lies one of the many problems of the iPod. software? why do you need specific software for an MP3 player? I hook mine up to any computer via usb, and it appears as another hard drive, I drag music on to it and can play it immediately, no drivers, no special software, works on mac, and linux, and windows, and any other OS that supports USB mass storage. no computer? that's fine, you can plug the player in to your stereo and hit record. want other options? sure, you can tote your music around on compact flash cards and load it that way if you want.
so just what makes the iPod's proprietary software better than not needing any at all?
and don't even get me started on the horrid user interface that is the hardware side of the ipod (just what is it that tells you that the ring on the front even IS a scroll wheel, or that that section in the middle is a button, never mind what the button does...) my mp3 player has a really novel concept... labelling, the buttons actually say what they do right on them!
Apple wasn't even first. mp3 players existed for a long time before the iPod. and I have an mp3 player that plays full motion video before the iPod even figured out how to display still images.
cheapest? hardly.
The only thing that I've seen that the iPod does better than every other player out there is marketting, Apple managed to make iPod synonymous with mp3 player, and for that I'll give them credit. but being the most used, does not make them the best (internet explorer anyone?) for anyone looking for an mp3 player, take a look around, you can do much better than an iPod.
>> I refuse to help anothe rliving thing unelss I am compensated
That is an awful sentiment to have, the world is only made better when we help other people whenever possible. I am quite happy to help another lving being whenever possible HOWEVER there are a few reasons I still refuse:
- companies aren't "living things" they are legal entities that don't even exist except on paper.
- my generosity in helping others ends when they start making a profit off of my generosity, if they are making money off of me, I better get a share of it.
And that doesn't even take in to account the over-priced, under-featured comments made earlier...