I don't disagree with the author of the Salon Article's ideas except that it completely ignores the references to classic Hollywood in the Star Wars movies, which to me are far more obvious. Light sabers came from the Errol Flynn swashbuckling movies, the gun turrett in the Millenniam Falcon was exactly like the B17 gun turrets in World War II movies, the speeders banging into each other in the forest in Empire Strikes Back was the chariot scence from Ben Hur. Also like Ben Hur and Sparticus, the Imperials use Brittish actors (the Romans) and the Rebels are mostly portrayed by American actors (the slaves). Jar Jar Binks *is* Stepin Fetchit. There are many more examples but you get the point.
I was a satellite dish salesman from 1994 to 2000.
On either of the little dish companies, Dish Network and DirecTV, or for that matter the BUDs (big, ugly dishes) you can get broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC or FOX) from various cities around the country. Actually you can't get them because your elected officials kowtow to the National Association of Broadcasters. If you work in the saltellite business you hate the NAB with the same passion as people here hate the RIAA and Disney. Something called the Satellite Home Viewers Act prohibits you from having broadcast channels from any city other than the one you live closest to. The thing about the newspapers is an analogy to explain the unfairness and of prohibiting you from watching NBC from any city other than the one you live near.
Do you get fuzzy recepting off the antenna from the local broadcast stations? Tough. If you live inside a line on a map called a "grade B contour" you cannot get the distant networks. The standard is severe. For example, here in Missouri, people who live 75 miles west of St. Louis as the crow flies out in the sticks who get crappy reception with big, expensive rooftop antennas are still prohibited from getting distand locals. Very few people in this country live outside the grade signal. Unless you're in the middle of Montana or someplace like that you are prohibited by law from receiving distant broadcast networks.
The NAB has an unusually powerfull hold on our congress because no politician wants to piss off the TV stations in their district. And since satellite dish owners are a small percentage of the electorate, then our elected scumbags side with the rich and powerfull NAB even though the prohibition on distant broadcast signals is unfair and certainly unconstitutional.
I got very involved writting letters to my congressman and senators and talking to customers about this issue back in '97 and '98 before the last Satellite Home Viewers Act and, at the end of it, became totally disgusted with the politcal process because it is clear that both Republicans and Democrats side with the rich and powerfull against the rights of individuals whenever they can get away with it.
Since getting out of the satellite business I've simply stopped watching TV and that's what I reccomend to you. Read a good book, meet friends at Starbucks for conversation, play the new Jedi Knight game. Screw TV.
I'll be telling it in about 14 hours when I get to work tomorrow.
The misleading part is that the website only makes a vague reference to "pre-camp study". What that means is that you get to plow through 7 800 page books and you need to be hitting at least 50% to 60% on the Transcenders before you come to the camp or you don't have much chance of passing the exams.
What I resent about Flash is that you cannot easily turn it off like animated gifs. In IE 5 or 6 you have to go to tools/internet options/security/custom level and turn off "run active X controls". Bun then other things may not work like the brower-based iAvenue application I have to use here at work. If you uninstall it (swflash.ocx) then you'll have to turn off "download signed active X controls" or every page with Flash will ask you if you want to install it, usually twice, every time you load a new page. Even then some pages (like Yahoo news) give me a warning box and warning sound on every page load that the page might not display correctly. In this case correctly means a big, horizontal box of blinking and flashing next to text that I'm trying to read.
Incredibly annoying. I've just come to hate Flash and I will continue to hate it until someone makes it easy for me to turn it off.
... 44 years old, have no friends or social life whatsoever, have never had a relationship and am diagnosed Aspergers. I answer the phone at a technology company and know more about the technology of our products then everyone else here put together. But I lack common sense which has greatly impeded my career. I don't know how to act around people. I am very effective in a one-way monologue (long-winded, pedantic speech) but completely uneffective in a two-way conversation. I spend almost all my free time playing computer games. I know there are a lot more Aspys (as we call ourselves) out there un-diagnosed who don't know that there is a clinical term for what they are - intelligent social misfits.
This article makes it sound like the operating system itself is going to somehow prevent us from ripping mp3s at 192k or whatever. I think what's really going on is Windows Media Player will do these things. I'm sure you'll still be free to install whatever ripping software you want and use it any way you want.
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I don't disagree with the author of the Salon Article's ideas except that it completely ignores the references to classic Hollywood in the Star Wars movies, which to me are far more obvious. Light sabers came from the Errol Flynn swashbuckling movies, the gun turrett in the Millenniam Falcon was exactly like the B17 gun turrets in World War II movies, the speeders banging into each other in the forest in Empire Strikes Back was the chariot scence from Ben Hur. Also like Ben Hur and Sparticus, the Imperials use Brittish actors (the Romans) and the Rebels are mostly portrayed by American actors (the slaves). Jar Jar Binks *is* Stepin Fetchit. There are many more examples but you get the point.
I was a satellite dish salesman from 1994 to 2000.
On either of the little dish companies, Dish Network and DirecTV, or for that matter the BUDs (big, ugly dishes) you can get broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC or FOX) from various cities around the country. Actually you can't get them because your elected officials kowtow to the National Association of Broadcasters. If you work in the saltellite business you hate the NAB with the same passion as people here hate the RIAA and Disney. Something called the Satellite Home Viewers Act prohibits you from having broadcast channels from any city other than the one you live closest to. The thing about the newspapers is an analogy to explain the unfairness and of prohibiting you from watching NBC from any city other than the one you live near.
Do you get fuzzy recepting off the antenna from the local broadcast stations? Tough. If you live inside a line on a map called a "grade B contour" you cannot get the distant networks. The standard is severe. For example, here in Missouri, people who live 75 miles west of St. Louis as the crow flies out in the sticks who get crappy reception with big, expensive rooftop antennas are still prohibited from getting distand locals. Very few people in this country live outside the grade signal. Unless you're in the middle of Montana or someplace like that you are prohibited by law from receiving distant broadcast networks.
The NAB has an unusually powerfull hold on our congress because no politician wants to piss off the TV stations in their district. And since satellite dish owners are a small percentage of the electorate, then our elected scumbags side with the rich and powerfull NAB even though the prohibition on distant broadcast signals is unfair and certainly unconstitutional.
I got very involved writting letters to my congressman and senators and talking to customers about this issue back in '97 and '98 before the last Satellite Home Viewers Act and, at the end of it, became totally disgusted with the politcal process because it is clear that both Republicans and Democrats side with the rich and powerfull against the rights of individuals whenever they can get away with it.
Since getting out of the satellite business I've simply stopped watching TV and that's what I reccomend to you. Read a good book, meet friends at Starbucks for conversation, play the new Jedi Knight game. Screw TV.
I'll be telling it in about 14 hours when I get to work tomorrow.
The misleading part is that the website only makes a vague reference to "pre-camp study". What that means is that you get to plow through 7 800 page books and you need to be hitting at least 50% to 60% on the Transcenders before you come to the camp or you don't have much chance of passing the exams.
"there's an awful lot of operations work to be done in integrating a company"
Like deciding who to fire among my friends who work at Compaq. Enjoy your multimillion dollar bonus Carly.
Amen, brother.
What I resent about Flash is that you cannot easily turn it off like animated gifs. In IE 5 or 6 you have to go to tools/internet options/security/custom level and turn off "run active X controls". Bun then other things may not work like the brower-based iAvenue application I have to use here at work. If you uninstall it (swflash.ocx) then you'll have to turn off "download signed active X controls" or every page with Flash will ask you if you want to install it, usually twice, every time you load a new page. Even then some pages (like Yahoo news) give me a warning box and warning sound on every page load that the page might not display correctly. In this case correctly means a big, horizontal box of blinking and flashing next to text that I'm trying to read.
Incredibly annoying. I've just come to hate Flash and I will continue to hate it until someone makes it easy for me to turn it off.
... 44 years old, have no friends or social life whatsoever, have never had a relationship and am diagnosed Aspergers. I answer the phone at a technology company and know more about the technology of our products then everyone else here put together. But I lack common sense which has greatly impeded my career. I don't know how to act around people. I am very effective in a one-way monologue (long-winded, pedantic speech) but completely uneffective in a two-way conversation. I spend almost all my free time playing computer games. I know there are a lot more Aspys (as we call ourselves) out there un-diagnosed who don't know that there is a clinical term for what they are - intelligent social misfits.
This article makes it sound like the operating system itself is going to somehow prevent us from ripping mp3s at 192k or whatever. I think what's really going on is Windows Media Player will do these things. I'm sure you'll still be free to install whatever ripping software you want and use it any way you want.