"This is solely an artifact of our time measuring system."
A time measurement system based on the frequency vernal equinox, solar days and an attempted reconcilliation of the moon's orbit around the earth with the tropical year. Tidal forces between the earth, moon and sun keep everything related and fairly close to integer numbers.
"The moon is full every 28 days, but months are slightly longer than that."
Give it a few more million years. Fun with harmonics!
"If a full moon is early enough in the month, it will be full twice."
The science part comes from the way we're able to predict them centuries in advance with more precision than you can shake a stick at. For example, we can say what longitudes will actually experience this blue moon; The full moon won't be until 1806 UTC, which means about 1/4 of the planet will already be in August by the time it happens.
"The British Columbia government by the end of this year will have it so every official community in the province will have access. I know of communities with a few thousand people..."
As I said in my previous post: "One line 10 km long is cheaper to deploy than ten lines 1 km long." They have broadband because the provincial government doesn't have to run multiple cables this way and that, they only need to send one wire into the heart of that population concentration.
"Every official community," hm? What's the qualifier there? Someplace that just happens to have its own post office or postcode? Or must it have its own courthouse and municipal government?
"when a private citizen can use a department whose purpose is theoretically to protect us to lock down roads?"
When that private citizen has a guest list including 50 chief executives of sovereign republics, people who also happen to be rather high in the chain of command for National Guard units and other state militias.
"Canada is only one tenth the population of the US,"
... which would mean something if Canada's population distribution was anything like the US. It isn't. While the US seems to have one of the most homogeneous population distributions on the globe, the vast majority of Canadians live within 200 km or so of the US border (try naming a major Canadian city that isn't) and then tend to clump around urban centers. You can play connect-the-dots with Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary over in Alberta, while major US cities like Chicago and Houston are a little tough to pick out if you don't know where to look.
One line 10 km long is cheaper to deploy than ten lines 1 km long.
It's quite possibly the most perfect piece of political satire I have ever come across. Consider the line it's lampooning and the context in which it was said:
"Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?"
"but Nintendo's systems since SNES have had the capability to support s-video cables,"
Only the older SNES supported S-video. The newer, smaller model (which they used) doesn't support S-video without modification. You'll note the warning if you browse to Nintendo's S-video cable in their online store.
It's kinda like the top-loading NES not supporting composite outputs, only not as stupid.:)
Here in what we pretend is a federal system state and local governments are supposed to be responsible for their own revenues. For example, most local governments get their money from property taxes, water bills and the like. Congress has little to no say in things like that.
"And Germany was allied with Japan, and vice versa, which just made Germany an equal enemy."
Yeah, that explains why the US declared war on Japan on December 8 and then had to issue separate declarations of war against Germany and Italy on December 11. Check it out. And what do we see in the war declaration against Germany? "Whereas the Government of Germany has formally declared war against the Government and the people of the United States of America..."
It's not very clear that Roosevelt could have convinced Congress in particular and the US in general to get this declaration had Hitler been a little less insane. There was precedent on Hitler not following up on his treaties (such as with the Soviet Union), the many American voters who had German ancestry, bad memories of the first war, etc. There's also the ever-present isolationist streak in the US ("So what if he's butchering people? So long as he's not butchering Americans it's none of our concern.") Roosevelt was out on a limb with Lend-Lease as it was.
There's also the example of the Soviet Union. The "Great Patriotic War" with Germany started in June of 1941, and yet they didn't declare war on Japan until 1945, several days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
<FLAMEBAIT> Without Hitler chiming in on December 11, 1941, Roosevelt trying to pursue war with Germany would likely have been about as popular then as Bush trying to pursue war with Iraq today. "They weren't involved in the attack. It's distracting us from our true enemies." </FLAMEBAIT>
"There's already a remedy for customers whose needs aren't being met"
In case you missed the NFL & Hollywood vs. TiVo bit, the viewer is not the customer. The customers are those folks paying the network money for those 30-second spots that try to sell you stuff. The vewier isn't the customer, the viewer is the product being sold to the customer.
"Arcades in general, if you look at them, have been in a slow decline in the USA for quite a while.
Why?"
Because the damned things charge $1+ for a play but still only accept quarters? Sure, there's always the historically unreliable bill readers, but if vending machines, slot machines, automated tolls and parking meters can take half-dollar and dollar coins, why not arcade machines?
I mean really, you can't have enough coins in your pocket to spend a decent amount of time in an arcade without needing a strong belt.
"Ten thousand years from now, the most important historical event will be when our descendants understand the meaning behind the following mysterious inscription:"
If that stuff is still a problem to a human civilization after 10,000 more years of technological development, I'm not sure it's worth the effort to warn them. Rubber stamp the species as "wasted effort" and let the galaxy move on.
"If PC gaming is going to survive it's going to have to do so in the well-lit family rooms and dens of America right along side the GameCube, PS2 and Xbox"
No, if PC gaming is to survive it needs to have good games that are written right the first time and don't require you to own hardware that only came out just last week to run them.
Console gamers don't do PC gaming not because the installation process frightens us, it's because we don't consider it worth the time and money. Just because the games are plug-and-play and hook up to a television doesn't make them good. Just ask Acclaim.
"And you never asked because the public defender advised you to plead no contest and move along like a good citizen."
When exactly did it become a requirement to listen to the public defender's advice? After all, it's your defense, not theirs. And you of all people seem to be suspicious enough of "The Man" to not take such advice without protest.
And what state do you live in that you're not allowed to ask for a new public defender? Letting you go through two or three public defenders gives the judge the chance to demonstrate to any potential appeals court that your Sixth Amendment rights weren't violated.
"you probably don't have a camcorder record of the whole incident anyways in which case,"
This works in your favor. It's one less thing they have to try to prove your guilt with.
"you'll be lucky if the judge doesn't recommend that the bailiff hold you for a psyche eval if you insist on the point."
That would be a violation of your Fifth Amendment rights. Instant retrial (if the state cares to pay for further prosection).
"What part of "reality" don't you understand?"
The one I question and observe on my own rather than going by anecdotal (dis)information.
"Let's be honest. The judge will look at you like you're a DUMBASS."
While I'm not exactly a lawyer, traffic violations and jury duty have had me in my share of courtrooms. The judge doesn't look at you like that unless you do something completely stupid. An example comes to mind of someone who pled not guilty to a speeding violation because "I've been driving for years professionally and I don't remember there ever being a sign there" (all while the judge, because of the "not guilty" plea, gets to look over that colorful driving record of his).
"The System" isn't about trying to get you in and out as quickly as possible but about letting you have more than enough rope to hang yourself with, and that involves letting you have your say (no matter what). For example, if you plead "not guilty" to a speeding violation, the judge won't treat you like a dumbass (unless you merit it), he will instead look at the cop. The cop will then mechanically rattle off the serial number of the radar gun, when it was last calibrated before/after it clocked you, and when the officer became qualified to use said radar gun. Then the judge will look at you and ask "Well?" and listen to whatever you have to say.
The claim that the police officer in question did not identify himself to you satisfactorily is a serious claim and will merit serious attention from the judge, if for no other reason than because it's something your average judge doesn't hear very often (it would certainly break up the monotony). And if your case has merit he'll rule in your favor, if for no other reason than how it will look when the judge is up for re-election ("I helped stand up to abusive police officers!" etc.)
"You'll have a five minute chat with the public defender"
The public defender is there to offer you advice, that's all. There's nothing that says that you must follow that advice.
And the calibur of the public defender's advice would depend a lot on how the public defender is chosen in your state, wouldn't it? Do you know how your home state chooses them?
"If you choose to try and argue it on your own the judge will look at you like you're on crack, rule in favor of the arresting officer, and that's that."
Judges don't like to leave themselves open to appeal. Being overruled by a higher court can look really bad on your public record, especially if it's over something as trivial as courtroom procedure; it says "I'm not doing my job right." Even if you're a complete idiot, they'd much rather you state your claim for the public record, demonstrating in your own words just how much of an idiot you are. It's a nice paper trail that helps them cover their own ass.
Try taking a day off work and spend it in your local courthouse some time. Even if it does nothing but reinforce your own prejudices about "The System" it will still be educational.
Slashdot Mirror
You're confusing Alabama with its evil twin--Mississippi.
"We are watching you. Stop playing games on your computer and get back to work."
And stop playing with yourself!
<REAL GENIUS/>
"This falls under science?"
Yes, it's called "astronomy."
"This is solely an artifact of our time measuring system."
A time measurement system based on the frequency vernal equinox, solar days and an attempted reconcilliation of the moon's orbit around the earth with the tropical year. Tidal forces between the earth, moon and sun keep everything related and fairly close to integer numbers.
"The moon is full every 28 days, but months are slightly longer than that."
Give it a few more million years. Fun with harmonics!
"If a full moon is early enough in the month, it will be full twice."
The science part comes from the way we're able to predict them centuries in advance with more precision than you can shake a stick at. For example, we can say what longitudes will actually experience this blue moon; The full moon won't be until 1806 UTC, which means about 1/4 of the planet will already be in August by the time it happens.
"The British Columbia government by the end of this year will have it so every official community in the province will have access. I know of communities with a few thousand people..."
As I said in my previous post: "One line 10 km long is cheaper to deploy than ten lines 1 km long." They have broadband because the provincial government doesn't have to run multiple cables this way and that, they only need to send one wire into the heart of that population concentration.
"Every official community," hm? What's the qualifier there? Someplace that just happens to have its own post office or postcode? Or must it have its own courthouse and municipal government?
"when a private citizen can use a department whose purpose is theoretically to protect us to lock down roads?"
When that private citizen has a guest list including 50 chief executives of sovereign republics, people who also happen to be rather high in the chain of command for National Guard units and other state militias.
One line 10 km long is cheaper to deploy than ten lines 1 km long.
"but now get to learn about a more powerful evil named 'Vince'."
It all makes sense now! He was posessed by Vince Clortho, keymaster of Gozer!
You're confusing him with Stephen King.
George Lucas--Greedo scammed me first!
"Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity."
There's a reason why "military intelligence" is considered an oxymoron.
"To put it in 15th century terms, it'd be like sailing all the way around the world to land on a tiny rocky atoll with no native life."
Yeah, the Czar would be much better off selling the whole thing to the silly Americans.
Room temperature and room pressure are two different things.
It's quite possibly the most perfect piece of political satire I have ever come across. Consider the line it's lampooning and the context in which it was said:
"Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?"
"but Nintendo's systems since SNES have had the capability to support s-video cables,"
:)
Only the older SNES supported S-video. The newer, smaller model (which they used) doesn't support S-video without modification. You'll note the warning if you browse to Nintendo's S-video cable in their online store.
It's kinda like the top-loading NES not supporting composite outputs, only not as stupid.
Because wood is a very poor conductor of heat and I'm running AMD.
"Maybe we should cut local government some more?"
National government != local government.
Here in what we pretend is a federal system state and local governments are supposed to be responsible for their own revenues. For example, most local governments get their money from property taxes, water bills and the like. Congress has little to no say in things like that.
"And Germany was allied with Japan, and vice versa, which just made Germany an equal enemy."
Yeah, that explains why the US declared war on Japan on December 8 and then had to issue separate declarations of war against Germany and Italy on December 11. Check it out. And what do we see in the war declaration against Germany? "Whereas the Government of Germany has formally declared war against the Government and the people of the United States of America..."
It's not very clear that Roosevelt could have convinced Congress in particular and the US in general to get this declaration had Hitler been a little less insane. There was precedent on Hitler not following up on his treaties (such as with the Soviet Union), the many American voters who had German ancestry, bad memories of the first war, etc. There's also the ever-present isolationist streak in the US ("So what if he's butchering people? So long as he's not butchering Americans it's none of our concern.") Roosevelt was out on a limb with Lend-Lease as it was.
There's also the example of the Soviet Union. The "Great Patriotic War" with Germany started in June of 1941, and yet they didn't declare war on Japan until 1945, several days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
<FLAMEBAIT>
Without Hitler chiming in on December 11, 1941, Roosevelt trying to pursue war with Germany would likely have been about as popular then as Bush trying to pursue war with Iraq today. "They weren't involved in the attack. It's distracting us from our true enemies."
</FLAMEBAIT>
"There's already a remedy for customers whose needs aren't being met"
In case you missed the NFL & Hollywood vs. TiVo bit, the viewer is not the customer. The customers are those folks paying the network money for those 30-second spots that try to sell you stuff. The vewier isn't the customer, the viewer is the product being sold to the customer.
"Arcades in general, if you look at them, have been in a slow decline in the USA for quite a while.
Why?"
Because the damned things charge $1+ for a play but still only accept quarters? Sure, there's always the historically unreliable bill readers, but if vending machines, slot machines, automated tolls and parking meters can take half-dollar and dollar coins, why not arcade machines?
I mean really, you can't have enough coins in your pocket to spend a decent amount of time in an arcade without needing a strong belt.
" Keep it up, and remember to vote Republican this fall."
Yeah, I feel a whole lot better with Democrats like Fritz Hollings out there protecting my fair use rights.
"Ten thousand years from now, the most important historical event will be when our descendants understand the meaning behind the following mysterious inscription:"
If that stuff is still a problem to a human civilization after 10,000 more years of technological development, I'm not sure it's worth the effort to warn them. Rubber stamp the species as "wasted effort" and let the galaxy move on.
"some guy kept going on and on about how happy he will be when the helicopters are nerfed."
Yeah, since helicopters played almost no role in the war to begin with...
"If PC gaming is going to survive it's going to have to do so in the well-lit family rooms and dens of America right along side the GameCube, PS2 and Xbox"
No, if PC gaming is to survive it needs to have good games that are written right the first time and don't require you to own hardware that only came out just last week to run them.
Console gamers don't do PC gaming not because the installation process frightens us, it's because we don't consider it worth the time and money. Just because the games are plug-and-play and hook up to a television doesn't make them good. Just ask Acclaim.
"And you never asked because the public defender advised you to plead no contest and move along like a good citizen."
When exactly did it become a requirement to listen to the public defender's advice? After all, it's your defense, not theirs. And you of all people seem to be suspicious enough of "The Man" to not take such advice without protest.
And what state do you live in that you're not allowed to ask for a new public defender? Letting you go through two or three public defenders gives the judge the chance to demonstrate to any potential appeals court that your Sixth Amendment rights weren't violated.
"you probably don't have a camcorder record of the whole incident anyways in which case,"
This works in your favor. It's one less thing they have to try to prove your guilt with.
"you'll be lucky if the judge doesn't recommend that the bailiff hold you for a psyche eval if you insist on the point."
That would be a violation of your Fifth Amendment rights. Instant retrial (if the state cares to pay for further prosection).
"What part of "reality" don't you understand?"
The one I question and observe on my own rather than going by anecdotal (dis)information.
"Let's be honest. The judge will look at you like you're a DUMBASS."
While I'm not exactly a lawyer, traffic violations and jury duty have had me in my share of courtrooms. The judge doesn't look at you like that unless you do something completely stupid. An example comes to mind of someone who pled not guilty to a speeding violation because "I've been driving for years professionally and I don't remember there ever being a sign there" (all while the judge, because of the "not guilty" plea, gets to look over that colorful driving record of his).
"The System" isn't about trying to get you in and out as quickly as possible but about letting you have more than enough rope to hang yourself with, and that involves letting you have your say (no matter what). For example, if you plead "not guilty" to a speeding violation, the judge won't treat you like a dumbass (unless you merit it), he will instead look at the cop. The cop will then mechanically rattle off the serial number of the radar gun, when it was last calibrated before/after it clocked you, and when the officer became qualified to use said radar gun. Then the judge will look at you and ask "Well?" and listen to whatever you have to say.
The claim that the police officer in question did not identify himself to you satisfactorily is a serious claim and will merit serious attention from the judge, if for no other reason than because it's something your average judge doesn't hear very often (it would certainly break up the monotony). And if your case has merit he'll rule in your favor, if for no other reason than how it will look when the judge is up for re-election ("I helped stand up to abusive police officers!" etc.)
"You'll have a five minute chat with the public defender"
The public defender is there to offer you advice, that's all. There's nothing that says that you must follow that advice.
And the calibur of the public defender's advice would depend a lot on how the public defender is chosen in your state, wouldn't it? Do you know how your home state chooses them?
"If you choose to try and argue it on your own the judge will look at you like you're on crack, rule in favor of the arresting officer, and that's that."
Judges don't like to leave themselves open to appeal. Being overruled by a higher court can look really bad on your public record, especially if it's over something as trivial as courtroom procedure; it says "I'm not doing my job right." Even if you're a complete idiot, they'd much rather you state your claim for the public record, demonstrating in your own words just how much of an idiot you are. It's a nice paper trail that helps them cover their own ass.
Try taking a day off work and spend it in your local courthouse some time. Even if it does nothing but reinforce your own prejudices about "The System" it will still be educational.