All sports are like that these days. "He's 10 and 1 on the road when it's raining and the temperature is below.."
It's pretty idiotic. My favorite "statistic": "He kicked two field goals, one from 25 yards and one from 45 yards for an average of 35 yards." Uh, when the sample size is 2, the average says NOTHING...
Don't get me wrong, I like college football and like seeing the highlights of games that affect my teams. But, I can wait until later that day if I'm at another game. Even when I was at Michigan State last fall for a game, I was still able to get the score update for a game I was interested in that was out of the conference and in another part of the country just by watching the boards.
"Meets expectations" and "Does not meet expectations".
Needless to say, employees evaluations are a joke here. I bet 99.99% of the employees here receive "Meets" - especially if they've worked to keep the expectations about their work low... (said the guy who's posting on/. instead of working)
I guess it's better than the forced 5-level system described, though, because no one has to be fired.
Yeah, and therein lies the problem with passenger rail in this country: except on the Northeast Corridor (owned by Amtrak; an impressive electrified line between Washington, DC and NYC; the extension to Boston could be considered part of it although it's not technically the "Northeast Corridor" as the Pennsylvania RR built it), freight takes first priority. Pretty much always.
When I lived in Georgia, I looked at taking the train home once instead of flying. Approximately the same price. But the flight was 2 hours (plus airport time) versus... 24 hours by train. I love trains, but why would I consider that option for just a few days' vacation? These are the kinds of problems that keep rail travel down in the US.
Flying from DC to Baltimore or NYC seems silly to me. On the other hand, travelling from NY to LA seems like an airline job to me - it's just too far over ground to get there in anything approaching the same time frame.
Transportation should be looked at as an integrated system, not competition. If we said, "Okay, trains will serve to get people from far out places to cities, connecting nearby cities, and to get people to/from the airports", I think we'd have a much more sane policy and we'd be able to figure out where high-speed rail and airport terminals are needed the most right now.
Careful there - I just bought a camera cell phone last weekend. As little as a month ago, I was saying that I can't see why anyone would want one.
I figured it out: My phone will cost $80 after rebates (rebate is $70), and it has a camera - LG VX6000. I paid $80 for a lot less phone two years ago (Kyocera 2235).
For an extra $5/month, I can transfer up to 80 pictures each month until December of 2005, then it drops to 40 pictures a month.
With those kinds of prices, why not get the camera phone?
You want to drive the train? There are several railroad historical societies that'll let you do that for a nominal donation. See here, for example, but I've heard of others.
Yeah - I can't see spending hundreds of dollars for a video card so I can play the latest game for 20 minutes and get bored.
Seriously: the last game I really wanted was Train Simulator. I played it for a couple weeks on and off, but I haven't started it in probably a year at this point. I was into Roller Coaster Tycoon for a while - same thing, but in that case it was problems with it locking up my machine that soured me.
I'm planning to switch my computers around so that I have one server and one PC, and the PC will dual boot between Linux and Windows, and it will have the better graphics card and faster processor, so maybe once I do that I'll get into gaming more. We'll see!
One thing - for me, the constant concern about video drivers, new video cards, faster processors, etc. is a turn-off to PC gaming. I understand that can be an advantage (only upgrade what you need to), but still it's a hassle.
The console systems have an advantage in that everything is set and the game is written for the console, which should remove any compatibility problems. I find this appealing.
Disclaimer - I don't own any consoles and rarely play PC games - my most frequent game (once or twice a week) is Doom, in part because I know my computer is plenty fast enough to run it smoothly under X Windows.
You're right! The Gnome stuff DOES run better for you! I'll switch today!:)
Seriously, I've found that the KDE stuff seems to work the best for me. But I regularly use programs for both, and I'm glad the integration is getting better all the time.
My major wish for the two projects at this point is to settle on one sound server, esound or arts. Running esound through artsdsp has some odd effects. Is there really a need to have two separate sound servers that (appear to) do the same thing?
In short, someone is annoyed at a vanity license plate that says "CAVSUCK", referring the the University of Virginia Cavaliers, presumably. (Of course, the owner of the plate could be referring to a specific automobile made by Chevy or just generally doesn't like people having a "cavalier" attitude...)
I commented that I'm offended by a lot of vanity plates with Christian messages, but we'll never see those removed. As you said, everything is offensive to someone.
I suggested that the Virginia DMV let the plate on the car, because that plate says a lot more about the owner than anything else, and it serves as an excellent indicator of someone I should avoid at all costs.
This reminds me of the times when I go up to a counter or call a company to order something - the employee is clicking away like mad when all I've said is, "I'm looking for a widget." It amazes me how many keystrokes they have to go through just to do something pretty simple. (I wish I could think of a good example off the top of my head, but a day of travelling has fried my brain for now.)
You see this on ST, too: "Worf, arm phasers and photon torpedos." *Worf's hands flying about hitting button after button* I think arming and firing phasers and torpedos is something you'd want to be able to do with a minimum of keystrokes (including safety precautions to prevent accidental firings, of course), but it sometimes looks like Worf or Data is working on reproducing the works of Shakespeare...
For what it's worth - in both of my cars (a Chevy Impala and a Mercury Cougar, both late-model), there's an "auto-volume adjustment". It works off your speed - the faster you go, the louder the radio gets. They are adjustable (one has 3 levels, the other has 7), or the feature can be turned off entirely.
It's a great feature - I find myself messing with the volume control a LOT less. It also doesn't require the technology and expense of sound-cancellation.:)
What if someone copies my roller skating website (roller-skate.org) and doesn't ever update it or changes some of the content to be incorrect or even defamatory? Those pages have MY name on them, and many of the people that surf my site won't understand that the copied pages aren't really mine.
Keep in mind these are the same people that don't understand that a list entitled "rink websites" would only include rinks that have a website. (Seriously. I get at least one or two submissions a week, even through a form that has http:// at the start of the field, where the submitter has just typed a rink name or something other than a URL.)
The CD/DVD thing doesn't make sense. They should've been there under/dev/hd{something} if you use IDE. Note that you might've had ide-scsi in use under 2.4, but that's not the way to go in 2.6 - you can access them directly.
Can't answer the USB question, other than to say that the only problem I've had with 2.6 is that my scanner can only be used by root, not by any users. Although it should fix the problem, I can't get the usbfs to recognize the devmode= option no matter what I do.
Slashdot Mirror
All sports are like that these days. "He's 10 and 1 on the road when it's raining and the temperature is below.."
It's pretty idiotic. My favorite "statistic": "He kicked two field goals, one from 25 yards and one from 45 yards for an average of 35 yards." Uh, when the sample size is 2, the average says NOTHING...
--RJ
Someone scored 6 points. That's what happened. ;)
Don't get me wrong, I like college football and like seeing the highlights of games that affect my teams. But, I can wait until later that day if I'm at another game. Even when I was at Michigan State last fall for a game, I was still able to get the score update for a game I was interested in that was out of the conference and in another part of the country just by watching the boards.
--RJ
"Meets expectations" and "Does not meet expectations".
/. instead of working)
Needless to say, employees evaluations are a joke here. I bet 99.99% of the employees here receive "Meets" - especially if they've worked to keep the expectations about their work low... (said the guy who's posting on
I guess it's better than the forced 5-level system described, though, because no one has to be fired.
--RJ
Yeah, and therein lies the problem with passenger rail in this country: except on the Northeast Corridor (owned by Amtrak; an impressive electrified line between Washington, DC and NYC; the extension to Boston could be considered part of it although it's not technically the "Northeast Corridor" as the Pennsylvania RR built it), freight takes first priority. Pretty much always.
When I lived in Georgia, I looked at taking the train home once instead of flying. Approximately the same price. But the flight was 2 hours (plus airport time) versus... 24 hours by train. I love trains, but why would I consider that option for just a few days' vacation? These are the kinds of problems that keep rail travel down in the US.
Flying from DC to Baltimore or NYC seems silly to me. On the other hand, travelling from NY to LA seems like an airline job to me - it's just too far over ground to get there in anything approaching the same time frame.
Transportation should be looked at as an integrated system, not competition. If we said, "Okay, trains will serve to get people from far out places to cities, connecting nearby cities, and to get people to/from the airports", I think we'd have a much more sane policy and we'd be able to figure out where high-speed rail and airport terminals are needed the most right now.
--RJ
Careful there - I just bought a camera cell phone last weekend. As little as a month ago, I was saying that I can't see why anyone would want one.
I figured it out: My phone will cost $80 after rebates (rebate is $70), and it has a camera - LG VX6000. I paid $80 for a lot less phone two years ago (Kyocera 2235).
For an extra $5/month, I can transfer up to 80 pictures each month until December of 2005, then it drops to 40 pictures a month.
With those kinds of prices, why not get the camera phone?
--RJ
I think you included an unnecessary phrase: "during an election season".
:)
Good comment anyway, though.
--RJ
Guess I should've looked closer - looks like the program is cancelled for 2004.
--RJ
You want to drive the train? There are several railroad historical societies that'll let you do that for a nominal donation. See here, for example, but I've heard of others.
--RJ
Yeah - I can't see spending hundreds of dollars for a video card so I can play the latest game for 20 minutes and get bored.
Seriously: the last game I really wanted was Train Simulator. I played it for a couple weeks on and off, but I haven't started it in probably a year at this point. I was into Roller Coaster Tycoon for a while - same thing, but in that case it was problems with it locking up my machine that soured me.
I'm planning to switch my computers around so that I have one server and one PC, and the PC will dual boot between Linux and Windows, and it will have the better graphics card and faster processor, so maybe once I do that I'll get into gaming more. We'll see!
--RJ
One thing - for me, the constant concern about video drivers, new video cards, faster processors, etc. is a turn-off to PC gaming. I understand that can be an advantage (only upgrade what you need to), but still it's a hassle.
The console systems have an advantage in that everything is set and the game is written for the console, which should remove any compatibility problems. I find this appealing.
Disclaimer - I don't own any consoles and rarely play PC games - my most frequent game (once or twice a week) is Doom, in part because I know my computer is plenty fast enough to run it smoothly under X Windows.
--RJ
You're right! The Gnome stuff DOES run better for you! I'll switch today! :)
Seriously, I've found that the KDE stuff seems to work the best for me. But I regularly use programs for both, and I'm glad the integration is getting better all the time.
My major wish for the two projects at this point is to settle on one sound server, esound or arts. Running esound through artsdsp has some odd effects. Is there really a need to have two separate sound servers that (appear to) do the same thing?
--RJ
Being a florist is dangerous work, sadly. I'm not surprised they're not all "very happy".
--RJ
Is NZ hiring?
--RJ
Slashdot gave away the PT Cruiser years ago!
--RJ
Utah might, but the Mormons don't! (Darl is Mormon. And "not acting in a manner befitting a Mormon," as I read somewhere.)
--RJ
Along those lines, check out this Dr. Gridlock column from the Washington Post.
In short, someone is annoyed at a vanity license plate that says "CAVSUCK", referring the the University of Virginia Cavaliers, presumably. (Of course, the owner of the plate could be referring to a specific automobile made by Chevy or just generally doesn't like people having a "cavalier" attitude...)
I commented that I'm offended by a lot of vanity plates with Christian messages, but we'll never see those removed. As you said, everything is offensive to someone.
I suggested that the Virginia DMV let the plate on the car, because that plate says a lot more about the owner than anything else, and it serves as an excellent indicator of someone I should avoid at all costs.
--RJ
You do know it's named after George Bush, Sr, right?
--RJ
Really? In both cars I have, it works great. The only time I can hear any variation is if I slam on the brakes - the volume drops noticeably quickly.
--RJ
This reminds me of the times when I go up to a counter or call a company to order something - the employee is clicking away like mad when all I've said is, "I'm looking for a widget." It amazes me how many keystrokes they have to go through just to do something pretty simple. (I wish I could think of a good example off the top of my head, but a day of travelling has fried my brain for now.)
You see this on ST, too: "Worf, arm phasers and photon torpedos." *Worf's hands flying about hitting button after button* I think arming and firing phasers and torpedos is something you'd want to be able to do with a minimum of keystrokes (including safety precautions to prevent accidental firings, of course), but it sometimes looks like Worf or Data is working on reproducing the works of Shakespeare...
--RJ
For what it's worth - in both of my cars (a Chevy Impala and a Mercury Cougar, both late-model), there's an "auto-volume adjustment". It works off your speed - the faster you go, the louder the radio gets. They are adjustable (one has 3 levels, the other has 7), or the feature can be turned off entirely.
:)
It's a great feature - I find myself messing with the volume control a LOT less. It also doesn't require the technology and expense of sound-cancellation.
--RJ
Can I ask how you do that? I mean, copy the DVDs to your hard drive? I've tried several things but can't get it to work.
Thanks.
--RJ
For what it's worth - the scanner is working perfectly under 2.4. Permissions on the /dev/usb/scanner* devices are all rw.
Thanks.
RJ
What if someone copies my roller skating website (roller-skate.org) and doesn't ever update it or changes some of the content to be incorrect or even defamatory? Those pages have MY name on them, and many of the people that surf my site won't understand that the copied pages aren't really mine.
Keep in mind these are the same people that don't understand that a list entitled "rink websites" would only include rinks that have a website. (Seriously. I get at least one or two submissions a week, even through a form that has http:// at the start of the field, where the submitter has just typed a rink name or something other than a URL.)
--RJ
The CD/DVD thing doesn't make sense. They should've been there under /dev/hd{something} if you use IDE. Note that you might've had ide-scsi in use under 2.4, but that's not the way to go in 2.6 - you can access them directly.
Can't answer the USB question, other than to say that the only problem I've had with 2.6 is that my scanner can only be used by root, not by any users. Although it should fix the problem, I can't get the usbfs to recognize the devmode= option no matter what I do.
--RJ
USB 2.0? My 2.4 kernels didn't have that, but maybe I just missed it.
--RJ