Greetings and salutations...
Once again...money to a politician is like crack to an addict.
Having said that, here is my situation. I drive an f350, not because I think it is the greatest vehicle in the world, or because I tie too much of myself in the vehicle I drive. I have the truck because at this point in my life I am moving a lot of stuff around that will not fit in the Prius. Also, for what it is worth, I specifically bought a diesel truck, to maximize the mileage I would get. While 17 MPG still means it is painfully expensive to fill up the tank on the truck, it is a LOT better than the 9 MPG or so that the similar gasoline powered truck gets, and, is not bad for a vehicle that weighs close to 4 tons.
Adding taxes, especially with the economy being in the state it is now, would push a huge number of people like me into bankruptcy and, likely end up adding to the costs to society. Not only that, it will give MORE money to the politicians...and see my first sentence for how I feel about that.
Pleasant dreams
Dave Mundt
Which is why the Republicans resolutely opposed Clinton's massive illegal wiretapping program and his creation of a massive homeland security bureaucracy, as well as ongoing attempts by the Democrats to use the government to control people's marriage and reproductive choices since the 70s. And let's not even get started on the utterly obscene debts that Clinton, Carter and Johnson ran up.
Greetings and salutations...
Hum...the only "massive wiretapping program" that there is a record of for the Clinton administration is Echelon, run by the NSA, and almost exclusively focused on listening to the conversations of the REST of the world. According to a couple of different testimonies to Congress, any conversations by Americans were authorised by a FISA warrant. While this is cold comfort, since that particular court seems to be pretty much a rubber stamp for the intelligence committee, unlike the Bush administration, at least Clinton made the effort to get a warrant from them. As for a "massive homeland security bureaucracy", I must have slept through that one, as it seems that the only such entity *I* heard about was created by (you guessed it) the BUSH administration.
As for controlling reproductive and marriage rights....no matter what one's point of view about who should be doing what, the Clinton administration was in the camp of leaving it to the individual Citizen to make that decision. Bush and, other Republican administrations cling to the idea that these are issues that are too weighty and complicated for the individual Citizen to decide, and so the GOVERNMENT should create laws to decide for them.
Finally, as for obscene debts....there have been a number of posts already pointing out which administrations have burdened Americans with huge increases in debt. From my point of view, though, if Americans were serous about debt reduction, they would vote out the politicians that keep spending money as if it was from an unending spring, and, would voluntarily cut back on the services and benefits they demand. We have the government that reflects what we are...and for the past several years, we have had a government of spoiled children, who believe they should have whatever they want, without any cost or consequences. We apparently have a more adult administration now, and, we are going to have to deal with some painful realities for some time if America has a chance to get back on a positive path.
Remember...money to a politician is like crack to an addict.
regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations;
Actually, the car companies are doing exactly what they are mandated to do. We all have to remember that the job of the car companies is NOT to produce great transportation for Americans and the rest of the world. Their job, being a publicly traded company, is to make as much profit for their shareholders, at the lowest expense possible.
As long as this subtle difference in goals is in force, we will have the same situation of the car companies working to vacuum as much cash out of our pockets as possible, and, doing what ever they can to keep competition from rising.
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations...
I want to take a moment to point out that everyone's experience is unique and different. i run OpenSuSE on my laptop exclusively, and, the only time I see delays in switching context are from tab to tab in OPera, after it has been running for a while. Now, I know that is because one of Opera's few failings is that it seems to want to allocate every byte of memory in the system, which starts forcing things out to the swap file. However, even when the internal tabs in Opera start slowing down, switching context to another application continues to be snappy until Opera finally floods the entire memory space. When I close Opera down...Poof! All is snappy again.
However, I shall be pulling down an ISO and installing Haiku sometime soon, mainly because I am interested to see what folks are doing in the area. it is fairly unlikely I will actually jump ship to Haiku, though... I am more comfortable using an OS that has been in development for 40 years...
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations...
Well, as an example of this....QUITE a few years ago, right after college, a good buddy of mine got a job with IBM. The FIRST day on the job he had to copy some documents. Well, he walked to the front of the cube farm and in a loud voice asked "where is the Xerox machine!". It got quiet enough in the cube farm to hear a pin drop...Kind of like that great scene in every Western where the stranger walks into the saloon and even the piano music stops! One of the managers on the floor informed him in no uncertain terms where the THERMOFAX machine was located...
He really thought at first that his career at IBM was going to last about three hours!
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations.
If we do nothing but whine about it, there will be no reason for the FCC to NOT bow to the desires of their corporate overlords. So...below is a quote of the comment I just sent to the FCC via their comment page:
If the bureaucrats are slashdotted with comments against this, it MAY be enough to not only halt this foolish move, but, get them to RAISE the definition of broadband speed to something "reasonable".
I often wonder why it is that so many other countries can get much faster broadband speeds, at MUCH lower costs than Americans? It could not be because of corporations striving to such as much money out of our pockets for the shareholders, instead of trying to provide the best service possible at the lowest cost now could it?
regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations.
I see that there is a push by some broadband providers to LOWER the definition to 1/3 of its current minimum, from 768 mb/s to 256 mb/s. I have to strongly urge that this action NOT be taken, but, rather, that the minimum broadband speed either be left alone, or, preferably raised to 1500 mb/s.
While it may be to the economic advantage of some of these companies to drop the lower limit, there is no benefit and several likely costs and downsides for the consumer. For example:
1) By lowering the minimum speed, it will allow the providers to change their rate structure, increasing the cost for "higher" broadband speeds - so what is an already high cost today will simply increase, likely causing many Americans to have to downgrade their service.
2) Over the past several years the Internet has changed radically in the content available to the browser. It has gone from websites being mainly unadorned text with a few, small pictures, to websites that are very content heavy with much hidden control information sent to the browser, allowing font changes, large images, animations, and other content-rich presentations.
3) The types of content available to the browser have also changed radically in the past few years. Such services as streaming audio and/or video, voice over IP, etc, have made the Internet a much more useful tool for the consumer. However, these technologies will not work at any acceptable level if the minimum broadband speed is dropped below its current levels.
4) Since consumer grade broadband service in the United States is, typically, a "best effort" service offered by the providers, even today there are many cases where the consumer is paying for 1500 mb/s service, but, in reality is receiving much slower speeds, sometimes as low as the 256 mb/s speed that the providers are pushing for. I am sure that, if this lower limit is allowed, then, consumers will quickly see their "broadband" speeds dropping down to the 50 mb/s area, which is no better than the dial-up speeds available with standard modems from the 1980s.
For these and other reasons, I would strongly urge the FCC to refuse to drop the lower communication rates defining broadband, and, instead, would urge that they be raised to the suggested 1500 mb/s.
If you can hunt deer with a 4" cannon, more power to you. Most deer in West Virginia are killed by SUVs.
Greetings and Salutations....
You may laugh...but look at THIS site: http://www.buckstix.com/howitzer.htm
While a bit over the top, it is pretty amusingly written.
regards
dave mundt
P4 is awesome and works great for huge repos with lots of developers.
However it is getting stale. I can't think of a single new feature added to it since I started using it in 1999.
Greetings and Salutations...
Funny...I tend to think of software more like a truck than a stalk of celery, so, staleness really never popped up on my radar. What new features would add to the capabilities of a package that you describe as "awesome"?
Not flaming, I am really curious, as I have done some software development myself, and, wonder where the line is between actually adding good functionality to a tool, and "creeping featuritis" that adds bells, whistles and complications, but no real increased usability.
regards
dave mundt
Greetings and Salutations.
After skimming 800 bitches, moans, complaints, ad hominum attacks and one invocation of Godwin's Law, I want to ask This:
Since pretty much everyone agrees (to some extent) that the health care system in America is broken...WHat can we do to fix it?
it is easy to complain and snipe about the situation, but, that is what has gotten America into this position. What we citizens need to do is find a way to FIX the problem, and implement it.
I have my own ideas, but, would be more interested in seeing if anyone else out there is willing to pick up the challenge.
Regards
dave mundt
No...they are NOT bringing in the money for the schools. They are bringing in the money for the FOOTBALL program. and as for benefits...In a perfect reflection of the reality in America, the top athletes get whatever they want, whenever they want with almost ZERO chance of repercussions. The less talented, support crew...get pretty much nothing, and run a much larger risk of being thrown under the bus by an uncaring administration as a sacrificial goat.
Pleasant dreams.
dave mundt
Greetings and Salutations...
I had an amusing interaction with Comcast a few years ago in this area too. I dropped their service, and, returned the cable box to them. When I turned it in, the clerk said I had internet service with them, and, did I bring the modem in too? I DID have the service, but, I had bought the modem on my own, and, explained this to her. She made a note in the database, and, as far as I knew, that was that.
Well, about a year later, I get these really threatening letters from Comcast dunning me for the modem, or payment for it. I was a TAD annoyed by this, so, since I still had the paperwork where I had bought the modem from a vendor on Ebay, I scanned it all in, and sent their notice back to them, with MY paperwork, and, a short note that said, in part... "If your records indicate that I leased the modem from you, then, you have probably been billing me too much for the comcast subscription over the past several years. Please remit a check immediately for the incorrect charged". Amazingly enough, they dropped the subject like a hot potato. I did not, alas, have a bill handy to actually CHECK about the modem lease payments, though, I was pretty sure they had not been billing me. My housemate actually took care of the cable bill, so I never saw it....
Regards
Dave Mundt
And speaking of informative scientific answers...go to the root domain: http://www.eskimo.com/ and scroll down a bit to find the answer to the question "Why are there no penguins at the North Pole?"
This is IMPORTANT for Linux folks to know...and learn from.
But if you look back through your newspaper headlines about fraud by people with no past record, you'll see a frequent (but not universal) indicator - the person committing fraud had debt problems, and began stealing to try to pay off debts.
Then how do you account for Bernie Madoff who had impeccable credit before his arrest and conviction? So I guess you would like for him to manage your finances?
Hum...if I could be one of the FIRST clients he took on, I would say "heck yes!". If I was one of the last half, I would say a big "HECK NO".
regards
dave mundt
How about just paying for something with money you actually own in stead of using credit for everything? It's pretty hard getting screwed like that and it seems to work in the rest of the world...
Greetings and salutations...
Let me address this...I have spent MOST of my life paying cash for my purchases. Know what that has done for me? Made it IMPOSSIBLE to get a credit card of my own, because I don't show up in the credit reporting agency database. It is nearly impossible to get a loan, and, I get a lot of strange looks when I buy large ticket items. Apparently, the picture of reality in MOST folks minds here in America is that anyone who pays cash for something must be a drug dealer, trying to launder some money.
All right...before anyone else points it out, I COULD get a "secured" credit card, by depositing the amount of cash that I wanted "credit" on. However, how does that differ from a Debit Card? In my mind, not at all. So...after 40 or so years of paying cash for everything, I am forced to get someone else to get a credit card FOR me, under THEIR account. Does that make sense?
Pleasant Dreams.
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations...
Notice that this is a website focused at "C" level managers. Not that I am saying that being too accurate can cause their heads to hurt...but....
In any case, there are certain levels of management where one needs fluff to make them feel as if they understand what is going on, yet, not cause them enough confusion that a worried frown might sully their brow.
Regards
Dave Mundt
After 30+ years in the work force, my immediate answer is "ANY". It has been my experience that "off the clock" time is ALWAYS considered to be a free gift by the the employer. And, to make it worse, if one works 10 hours off the clock this month, then, they will expect 20 hours next month...and be shocked and surprised if they do not get it.
So...do not do it...it is not worth it. Follow Nancy Reagan's advice and "just say no"
Regards
Dave Mundt
In a point related to your previous statement, I don't live in a bad neighborhood, so the only people I have to worry about are the others I mentioned. Such as the man who shot two children through his door when their father decided to let them trick or treat at one last house. One fortunately lived. Of course, it was found to be a no-fault death, because, of course, life isn't as important to our legal system as defending yourself from trick-or-treating elementary school children.
Hum... a quick google search brings up THIS reference:
http://scaredmonkeys.net/index.php?topic=3921.0
From the story (which I am sure no one will read), this has HARDLY been considered a "no fault" death. Whether that was an appropriate action to a knock on the door is hard to tell. Considering the hints of the lifestyle he had been in, and the previous break-in and such, I can certainly understand WHY he might believe that every knock on the door was someone trying to kill him.
The 2nd amendment isn't about hunting, it's there for defense against foreign powers and armed insurrection.
And, although it is pretty meaningless today, to help give the citizens a way to defend themselves against a tyrannical government that was hell-bent on a path of putting every person in the country into little cages. Not of course, that this would be relevant in TODAY's World. Its not like we have an overwhelming government that wants to control every aspect of our lives, and, has a terrible record of secrecy, and, of limiting the exercise of free speech of the citizens to "freedom zones"....
I know what the 2nd amendment is about and yet most gun owners talk about the need to defend their families from criminals (for instance, trick-or-treating elementary school students). People may talk about Montana being full of nuts, but to be honest, I respect those people because they do gather in militias for the very reasons you stated. Paranoid or not, they're keeping the spirit of the 2nd amendment.
Those adults were as stupid as the ones from South Park...maybe a good idea for an episode? Especially since the recent ones have been really lacking...
I am old.... I remember when South Park was a satire...not a documentary.
Greetings and Salutations...
Frankly, the bigger issue I see is that America has a really crappy driver's education program. Most of the collisions I have seen have involved at least one driver being REALLY STUPID. There is one simple rule that should be the #1 commandment when driving. That is : Treat EVERYONE else as a homicidal maniac with YOUR picture on their dashboard. Over the past 20 years or more I have seen a terrible drop in the use of defensive driving techniques and, more and more people doing stupid, ill-considered things that put them and the others around them at risk. Who among us has not seen people whip from the left lane of the Interstate across three or more lanes, to BARELY make it to the exit? Or people ignoring the posted speed limit, and, slaloming through the traffic at a high rate of speed? Or reading a book/newspaper/etc while rolling down the road? Or texting on their cell phones? (just to hit a few high points of stupidity).
As a matter of fact, just the other day I had a little bump from behind on my trailer hitch (i have a goodly-sized truck) from a soccer mom in a van. I was stopped at a red light, and, she just rolled right into me. The cause? She had just heard over the radio that Michael Jackson was dead. No damage to speak of, so I suggested she be a bit more careful the next time, and we moved on.
Speaking of clearance at intersection stops....My rule is that if I cannot see the tires on the car in front of me when I come to a halt, then, I am stopping TOO CLOSE to it. If everyone would use this rule, intersections would be a lot safer.
Of course, the whole idea of driving at the speed limit seems to be a shock to American drivers...Please try and remember that the traffic control folks do not put those signs up simply because they got a good deal on them at a surplus auction. Those numbers MEAN something, and, it is a much safer drive if one sticks to them. They are, by the by, the maximum safe speed for that section of road under average to poor conditions (wet road, rain, etc).
Waiting for the flames
dave mundt
Greetings and Salutations...
I would argue with this point of view, as it is putting a strange spin on the idea of insurance, and, is, at best, half-baked. The fact of the matter is that the ORIGINAL design of insurance was to provide support and coverage for a random group of people. The idea was that for any population, a VAST majority of people would NEVER need to use the insurance to cover the costs of catastrophic events. A small proportion of the population would need to draw from the money pool to cover some problems. This population MIGHT draw enough to approach the amount they paid into the pool with their premiums. Another, very small proportion would require a large subsidy that might end up being several times the amount they paid into the pool. However, the overall effect would be that a combination of the premiums paid in, and, the income from investments from those premiums would leave a pool of money to cover the draws.
Now...in TODAY'S society, there are two major factors that work to screw up this plan.
1). Insurance is no longer a "non-profit" function. Instead, insurance companies have become publicly traded entities and for-profit organizations. The bottom line is that once a company becomes a for-profit entity (with or without shareholders), the entire focus of the company changes to sucking as much money out of the customer base as possible for as little cost and work as is possible. This also means that when one DOES have a claim against one's insurance, the premiums almost ALWAYS jump up for however long the company feels is necessary to recoup the amount they paid out, plus interest.
2) The cost of repairs has skyrocketed. Is it reasonable that hitting a bit of road debris and breaking a cheap, plastic bumper should cost close to $2000.00 to fix? I think not. Is it reasonable that a trip to the emergency room, to get a cut on one's forehead should cost close to $1000.00? Or that a stay in a hospital room can run thousands of dollars a day? Or, that two aspirin in a cup, delivered by a nurse's aide making barely over minimum wage should be billed at $15.00 or more? Again...I think not. And, in a strange, recursive cycle, now, the cost of medications is so high that it is nearly impossible for the average citizen to purchase them, so, it is necessary to use insurance payments - which, because the billing is going to a faceless corporation and it is someone else's money - tends to inflate the costs of medicines...making it more expensive for the average citizen to have access to them.
How to fix the problem?
There are, alas, no easy answers. I think that removing health care from the "for profit" market and increasing regulation on it would go a LONG way towards curbing the greed. However, that is politically difficult, so, I suspect that, like the situation with GM and various other parts of America's remaining manufacturing base, we will ignore the problem until it becomes a massive crisis that threatens to fall over and crush us...or...perhaps more aptly...FALLS over and crushes us.
Greetings and Salutations...
First off, I fear this is a hoax, simply because we are hearing about it BEFOREHAND. One of my favorite comments (said about a recent event where some flake was arrested after some very vocal threats against our President) is "Real assassins don't tell you they are coming to kill you".
Secondly, if it were me, I would overwrite the hard drive with "DEADBEEF". Not only is it traditional, but, it has a certain charming truth to it that would add amusement.
regards
dave mundt
Slashdot Mirror
Greetings and salutations...
Once again...money to a politician is like crack to an addict.
Having said that, here is my situation. I drive an f350, not because I think it is the greatest vehicle in the world, or because I tie too much of myself in the vehicle I drive. I have the truck because at this point in my life I am moving a lot of stuff around that will not fit in the Prius. Also, for what it is worth, I specifically bought a diesel truck, to maximize the mileage I would get. While 17 MPG still means it is painfully expensive to fill up the tank on the truck, it is a LOT better than the 9 MPG or so that the similar gasoline powered truck gets, and, is not bad for a vehicle that weighs close to 4 tons.
Adding taxes, especially with the economy being in the state it is now, would push a huge number of people like me into bankruptcy and, likely end up adding to the costs to society. Not only that, it will give MORE money to the politicians...and see my first sentence for how I feel about that.
Pleasant dreams
Dave Mundt
Which is why the Republicans resolutely opposed Clinton's massive illegal wiretapping program and his creation of a massive homeland security bureaucracy, as well as ongoing attempts by the Democrats to use the government to control people's marriage and reproductive choices since the 70s. And let's not even get started on the utterly obscene debts that Clinton, Carter and Johnson ran up.
Greetings and salutations...
Hum...the only "massive wiretapping program" that there is a record of for the Clinton administration is Echelon, run by the NSA, and almost exclusively focused on listening to the conversations of the REST of the world. According to a couple of different testimonies to Congress, any conversations by Americans were authorised by a FISA warrant. While this is cold comfort, since that particular court seems to be pretty much a rubber stamp for the intelligence committee, unlike the Bush administration, at least Clinton made the effort to get a warrant from them. As for a "massive homeland security bureaucracy", I must have slept through that one, as it seems that the only such entity *I* heard about was created by (you guessed it) the BUSH administration.
As for controlling reproductive and marriage rights....no matter what one's point of view about who should be doing what, the Clinton administration was in the camp of leaving it to the individual Citizen to make that decision. Bush and, other Republican administrations cling to the idea that these are issues that are too weighty and complicated for the individual Citizen to decide, and so the GOVERNMENT should create laws to decide for them.
Finally, as for obscene debts....there have been a number of posts already pointing out which administrations have burdened Americans with huge increases in debt. From my point of view, though, if Americans were serous about debt reduction, they would vote out the politicians that keep spending money as if it was from an unending spring, and, would voluntarily cut back on the services and benefits they demand. We have the government that reflects what we are...and for the past several years, we have had a government of spoiled children, who believe they should have whatever they want, without any cost or consequences. We apparently have a more adult administration now, and, we are going to have to deal with some painful realities for some time if America has a chance to get back on a positive path.
Remember...money to a politician is like crack to an addict.
regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations;
Actually, the car companies are doing exactly what they are mandated to do. We all have to remember that the job of the car companies is NOT to produce great transportation for Americans and the rest of the world. Their job, being a publicly traded company, is to make as much profit for their shareholders, at the lowest expense possible.
As long as this subtle difference in goals is in force, we will have the same situation of the car companies working to vacuum as much cash out of our pockets as possible, and, doing what ever they can to keep competition from rising.
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations...
I want to take a moment to point out that everyone's experience is unique and different. i run OpenSuSE on my laptop exclusively, and, the only time I see delays in switching context are from tab to tab in OPera, after it has been running for a while. Now, I know that is because one of Opera's few failings is that it seems to want to allocate every byte of memory in the system, which starts forcing things out to the swap file. However, even when the internal tabs in Opera start slowing down, switching context to another application continues to be snappy until Opera finally floods the entire memory space. When I close Opera down...Poof! All is snappy again.
However, I shall be pulling down an ISO and installing Haiku sometime soon, mainly because I am interested to see what folks are doing in the area. it is fairly unlikely I will actually jump ship to Haiku, though... I am more comfortable using an OS that has been in development for 40 years...
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations...
Well, as an example of this....QUITE a few years ago, right after college, a good buddy of mine got a job with IBM. The FIRST day on the job he had to copy some documents. Well, he walked to the front of the cube farm and in a loud voice asked "where is the Xerox machine!". It got quiet enough in the cube farm to hear a pin drop...Kind of like that great scene in every Western where the stranger walks into the saloon and even the piano music stops! One of the managers on the floor informed him in no uncertain terms where the THERMOFAX machine was located...
He really thought at first that his career at IBM was going to last about three hours!
Regards
Dave Mundt
Would you care to cite a credible source for that? Groklaw is as fair and balanced as Fox News.
Now THAT is subtle humor!
Greetings and Salutations.
If we do nothing but whine about it, there will be no reason for the FCC to NOT bow to the desires of their corporate overlords. So...below is a quote of the comment I just sent to the FCC via their comment page:
http://esupport.fcc.gov/askfccapp/extapp/submitMsg.action?dept_id=bband
If the bureaucrats are slashdotted with comments against this, it MAY be enough to not only halt this foolish move, but, get them to RAISE the definition of broadband speed to something "reasonable".
I often wonder why it is that so many other countries can get much faster broadband speeds, at MUCH lower costs than Americans? It could not be because of corporations striving to such as much money out of our pockets for the shareholders, instead of trying to provide the best service possible at the lowest cost now could it?
regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations.
I see that there is a push by some broadband providers to LOWER the definition to 1/3 of its current minimum, from 768 mb/s to 256 mb/s. I have to strongly urge that this action NOT be taken, but, rather, that the minimum broadband speed either be left alone, or, preferably raised to 1500 mb/s.
While it may be to the economic advantage of some of these companies to drop the lower limit, there is no benefit and several likely costs and downsides for the consumer. For example:
1) By lowering the minimum speed, it will allow the providers to change their rate structure, increasing the cost for "higher" broadband speeds - so what is an already high cost today will simply increase, likely causing many Americans to have to downgrade their service.
2) Over the past several years the Internet has changed radically in the content available to the browser. It has gone from websites being mainly unadorned text with a few, small pictures, to websites that are very content heavy with much hidden control information sent to the browser, allowing font changes, large images, animations, and other content-rich presentations.
3) The types of content available to the browser have also changed radically in the past few years. Such services as streaming audio and/or video, voice over IP, etc, have made the Internet a much more useful tool for the consumer. However, these technologies will not work at any acceptable level if the minimum broadband speed is dropped below its current levels.
4) Since consumer grade broadband service in the United States is, typically, a "best effort" service offered by the providers, even today there are many cases where the consumer is paying for 1500 mb/s service, but, in reality is receiving much slower speeds, sometimes as low as the 256 mb/s speed that the providers are pushing for. I am sure that, if this lower limit is allowed, then, consumers will quickly see their "broadband" speeds dropping down to the 50 mb/s area, which is no better than the dial-up speeds available with standard modems from the 1980s.
For these and other reasons, I would strongly urge the FCC to refuse to drop the lower communication rates defining broadband, and, instead, would urge that they be raised to the suggested 1500 mb/s.
respectfully
Dave Mundt
If you can hunt deer with a 4" cannon, more power to you. Most deer in West Virginia are killed by SUVs.
Greetings and Salutations....
You may laugh...but look at THIS site:
http://www.buckstix.com/howitzer.htm
While a bit over the top, it is pretty amusingly written.
regards
dave mundt
P4 is awesome and works great for huge repos with lots of developers.
However it is getting stale. I can't think of a single new feature added to it since I started using it in 1999.
Greetings and Salutations...
Funny...I tend to think of software more like a truck than a stalk of celery, so, staleness really never popped up on my radar. What new features would add to the capabilities of a package that you describe as "awesome"?
Not flaming, I am really curious, as I have done some software development myself, and, wonder where the line is between actually adding good functionality to a tool, and "creeping featuritis" that adds bells, whistles and complications, but no real increased usability.
regards
dave mundt
And there are times when I look at the state of the world, and wonder if that would be a BAD thing
pleasant dreams
dave mundt
Greetings and Salutations.
After skimming 800 bitches, moans, complaints, ad hominum attacks and one invocation of Godwin's Law, I want to ask This:
Since pretty much everyone agrees (to some extent) that the health care system in America is broken...WHat can we do to fix it?
it is easy to complain and snipe about the situation, but, that is what has gotten America into this position. What we citizens need to do is find a way to FIX the problem, and implement it.
I have my own ideas, but, would be more interested in seeing if anyone else out there is willing to pick up the challenge.
Regards
dave mundt
No...they are NOT bringing in the money for the schools. They are bringing in the money for the FOOTBALL program. and as for benefits...In a perfect reflection of the reality in America, the top athletes get whatever they want, whenever they want with almost ZERO chance of repercussions. The less talented, support crew...get pretty much nothing, and run a much larger risk of being thrown under the bus by an uncaring administration as a sacrificial goat.
Pleasant dreams.
dave mundt
Greetings and Salutations...
I had an amusing interaction with Comcast a few years ago in this area too. I dropped their service, and, returned the cable box to them. When I turned it in, the clerk said I had internet service with them, and, did I bring the modem in too? I DID have the service, but, I had bought the modem on my own, and, explained this to her. She made a note in the database, and, as far as I knew, that was that.
Well, about a year later, I get these really threatening letters from Comcast dunning me for the modem, or payment for it. I was a TAD annoyed by this, so, since I still had the paperwork where I had bought the modem from a vendor on Ebay, I scanned it all in, and sent their notice back to them, with MY paperwork, and, a short note that said, in part... "If your records indicate that I leased the modem from you, then, you have probably been billing me too much for the comcast subscription over the past several years. Please remit a check immediately for the incorrect charged". Amazingly enough, they dropped the subject like a hot potato. I did not, alas, have a bill handy to actually CHECK about the modem lease payments, though, I was pretty sure they had not been billing me. My housemate actually took care of the cable bill, so I never saw it....
Regards
Dave Mundt
And speaking of informative scientific answers...go to the root domain:
http://www.eskimo.com/ and scroll down a bit to find the answer to the question "Why are there no penguins at the North Pole?"
This is IMPORTANT for Linux folks to know...and learn from.
regards
dave mundt
Then how do you account for Bernie Madoff who had impeccable credit before his arrest and conviction? So I guess you would like for him to manage your finances?
Hum...if I could be one of the FIRST clients he took on, I would say "heck yes!". If I was one of the last half, I would say a big "HECK NO".
regards
dave mundt
How about just paying for something with money you actually own in stead of using credit for everything? It's pretty hard getting screwed like that and it seems to work in the rest of the world...
Greetings and salutations...
Let me address this...I have spent MOST of my life paying cash for my purchases. Know what that has done for me? Made it IMPOSSIBLE to get a credit card of my own, because I don't show up in the credit reporting agency database. It is nearly impossible to get a loan, and, I get a lot of strange looks when I buy large ticket items. Apparently, the picture of reality in MOST folks minds here in America is that anyone who pays cash for something must be a drug dealer, trying to launder some money.
All right...before anyone else points it out, I COULD get a "secured" credit card, by depositing the amount of cash that I wanted "credit" on. However, how does that differ from a Debit Card? In my mind, not at all. So...after 40 or so years of paying cash for everything, I am forced to get someone else to get a credit card FOR me, under THEIR account. Does that make sense?
Pleasant Dreams.
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations...
Notice that this is a website focused at "C" level managers. Not that I am saying that being too accurate can cause their heads to hurt...but....
In any case, there are certain levels of management where one needs fluff to make them feel as if they understand what is going on, yet, not cause them enough confusion that a worried frown might sully their brow.
Regards
Dave Mundt
After 30+ years in the work force, my immediate answer is "ANY".
It has been my experience that "off the clock" time is ALWAYS considered to be a free gift by the the employer.
And, to make it worse, if one works 10 hours off the clock this month, then, they will
expect 20 hours next month...and be shocked and surprised if they do not get it.
So...do not do it...it is not worth it. Follow Nancy Reagan's advice and "just say no"
Regards
Dave Mundt
greetings and Salutations...
I suspect that it only took three minutes because THPR took time to WATCH the video too.
regards
dave mundt
In a point related to your previous statement, I don't live in a bad neighborhood, so the only people I have to worry about are the others I mentioned. Such as the man who shot two children through his door when their father decided to let them trick or treat at one last house. One fortunately lived. Of course, it was found to be a no-fault death, because, of course, life isn't as important to our legal system as defending yourself from trick-or-treating elementary school children.
Hum... a quick google search brings up THIS reference:
http://scaredmonkeys.net/index.php?topic=3921.0
From the story (which I am sure no one will read), this has HARDLY been considered a "no fault" death. Whether that was an appropriate action to a knock on the door is hard to tell. Considering the hints of the lifestyle he had been in, and the previous break-in and such, I can certainly understand WHY he might believe that every knock on the door was someone trying to kill him.
The 2nd amendment isn't about hunting, it's there for defense against foreign powers and armed insurrection.
And, although it is pretty meaningless today, to help give the citizens a way to defend themselves against a tyrannical government that was hell-bent on a path of putting every person in the country into little cages. Not of course, that this would be relevant in TODAY's World. Its not like we have an overwhelming government that wants to control every aspect of our lives, and, has a terrible record of secrecy, and, of limiting the exercise of free speech of the citizens to "freedom zones"....
I know what the 2nd amendment is about and yet most gun owners talk about the need to defend their families from criminals (for instance, trick-or-treating elementary school students). People may talk about Montana being full of nuts, but to be honest, I respect those people because they do gather in militias for the very reasons you stated. Paranoid or not, they're keeping the spirit of the 2nd amendment.
Those adults were as stupid as the ones from South Park...maybe a good idea for an episode? Especially since the recent ones have been really lacking...
I am old....
I remember when South Park was a satire...not a documentary.
Greetings and Salutations...
Frankly, the bigger issue I see is that America has a really crappy driver's education program. Most of the collisions I have seen have involved at least one driver being REALLY STUPID. There is one simple rule that should be the #1 commandment when driving. That is : Treat EVERYONE else as a homicidal maniac with YOUR picture on their dashboard. Over the past 20 years or more I have seen a terrible drop in the use of defensive driving techniques and, more and more people doing stupid, ill-considered things that put them and the others around them at risk. Who among us has not seen people whip from the left lane of the Interstate across three or more lanes, to BARELY make it to the exit? Or people ignoring the posted speed limit, and, slaloming through the traffic at a high rate of speed? Or reading a book/newspaper/etc while rolling down the road? Or texting on their cell phones? (just to hit a few high points of stupidity).
As a matter of fact, just the other day I had a little bump from behind on my trailer hitch (i have a goodly-sized truck) from a soccer mom in a van. I was stopped at a red light, and, she just rolled right into me. The cause? She had just heard over the radio that Michael Jackson was dead. No damage to speak of, so I suggested she be a bit more careful the next time, and we moved on.
Speaking of clearance at intersection stops....My rule is that if I cannot see the tires on the car in front of me when I come to a halt, then, I am stopping TOO CLOSE to it. If everyone would use this rule, intersections would be a lot safer.
Of course, the whole idea of driving at the speed limit seems to be a shock to American drivers...Please try and remember that the traffic control folks do not put those signs up simply because they got a good deal on them at a surplus auction. Those numbers MEAN something, and, it is a much safer drive if one sticks to them. They are, by the by, the maximum safe speed for that section of road under average to poor conditions (wet road, rain, etc).
Waiting for the flames
dave mundt
Greetings and Salutations...
I would argue with this point of view, as it is putting a strange spin on the idea of insurance, and, is, at best, half-baked. The fact of the matter is that the ORIGINAL design of insurance was to provide support and coverage for a random group of people. The idea was that for any population, a VAST majority of people would NEVER need to use the insurance to cover the costs of catastrophic events. A small proportion of the population would need to draw from the money pool to cover some problems. This population MIGHT draw enough to approach the amount they paid into the pool with their premiums. Another, very small proportion would require a large subsidy that might end up being several times the amount they paid into the pool. However, the overall effect would be that a combination of the premiums paid in, and, the income from investments from those premiums would leave a pool of money to cover the draws.
Now...in TODAY'S society, there are two major factors that work to screw up this plan.
1). Insurance is no longer a "non-profit" function. Instead, insurance companies have become publicly traded entities and for-profit organizations. The bottom line is that once a company becomes a for-profit entity (with or without shareholders), the entire focus of the company changes to sucking as much money out of the customer base as possible for as little cost and work as is possible. This also means that when one DOES have a claim against one's insurance, the premiums almost ALWAYS jump up for however long the company feels is necessary to recoup the amount they paid out, plus interest.
2) The cost of repairs has skyrocketed. Is it reasonable that hitting a bit of road debris and breaking a cheap, plastic bumper should cost close to $2000.00 to fix? I think not. Is it reasonable that a trip to the emergency room, to get a cut on one's forehead should cost close to $1000.00? Or that a stay in a hospital room can run thousands of dollars a day? Or, that two aspirin in a cup, delivered by a nurse's aide making barely over minimum wage should be billed at $15.00 or more? Again...I think not. And, in a strange, recursive cycle, now, the cost of medications is so high that it is nearly impossible for the average citizen to purchase them, so, it is necessary to use insurance payments - which, because the billing is going to a faceless corporation and it is someone else's money - tends to inflate the costs of medicines...making it more expensive for the average citizen to have access to them.
How to fix the problem?
There are, alas, no easy answers. I think that removing health care from the "for profit" market and increasing regulation on it would go a LONG way towards curbing the greed. However, that is politically difficult, so, I suspect that, like the situation with GM and various other parts of America's remaining manufacturing base, we will ignore the problem until it becomes a massive crisis that threatens to fall over and crush us...or...perhaps more aptly...FALLS over and crushes us.
Pleasant Dreams.
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations...
First off, I fear this is a hoax, simply because we are hearing about it BEFOREHAND. One of my favorite comments (said about a recent event where some flake was arrested after some very vocal threats against our President) is "Real assassins don't tell you they are coming to kill you".
Secondly, if it were me, I would overwrite the hard drive with "DEADBEEF". Not only is it traditional, but, it has a certain charming truth to it that would add amusement.
regards
dave mundt
... first starts playing, etc. I live alone..
Ok...since everyone ELSE is too polite and civilized to say it...I will...
Can someone mod this REDUNDANT
G,D & R
dave mundt