... but it certainly intrudes on your personal life. As a telecommuter, I found I was working longer hours and felt obligated to be available as needed. I ended up having trouble balancing work and home life.
This is totally untrue. I mean, I was watching an old Star Trek rerun just the other day and they came across an ancient derelict spacecraft where the computer system _still worked_... People and their "facts" these days...
A hit is a hit is a hit, regardless of the intent. You might not like it but the numbers aren't false.
That may be. But how many non-false hits were unintentional and thus serving useless search information to someone that just says "whoops, I meant to type in the.com at the end" and ignores the results? Or better yet, how many hits resulted in an intentional search? *That* would be a more useful number. I've always had a problem with how folks quantify how well a thing is on the Internet by the number of hits it gets. Hits have the potential of being arbitrary and artificially inflated, as the original poster stated, and in my opinion provide little useful information.
Laptop rentals like car rentals... Just tell the rental company what software you need on the laptop when you reserve it, bring your USB file storage with all your files on it, and Bob's your uncle. Of course, this leaves out all the fine details, but anyone who has the resources to start such a business can work on that. *sigh* ah, the future... such a wondrous place, isn't it? And so... secure.../gam/
Exactly. I CAN mod whatever I own however I want without fear of the act of just modding it being illegal. _USE_ of said mods may or may not be legal, but that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that I can't see a reason why it would be illegal just to MOD something. If I mod my xbox so I can install a larger hard drive to store all of my ITMS files purchased from itunes, for instance, vs. modding it for the larger hard drive so I can rent video games and copy the content to my drive and return the game. One of those _uses_ breaks the law, but the simple fact that I modded it doesn't mean I broke the law.
WRT your example, I agree that I cannot mod my car in a way that makes it no longer street legal and still be able to drive my car on public streets legally. But I am saying that I should be able to mod my car so that it's no longer street legal without fear of breaking the law. If modding my xbox, car, Weber grill, etc., breaks the law, then I need to become more active in politics because it's just gotten too insane. If the USE of my mods is illegal and I USE a mod illegally, then, yes, I have indeed broken the law. But again, I'm not talking about using a mod illegally. I'm talking about just making the modification in the first place is NOT illegal.
Anyways... I hope I made myself a touch mroe clear.:-)
You should get ribeyes. Their the hardest steak to screw up and I think the most flavorful; although, if it catches fire, it'll still turn into charcoal. *sigh*
Do you mean, is it possible for one to mod an xbox? Or are you asking is it fair use for a person to mod their own xbox? If the former: yes, absolutely. I have modded my own, and know a few peeps that have, as well. If the latter, I don't know why not. I can mod my car, my laptop, my Dell PC, my house, etc.
I guess, I'm with you on the latter aspect: what's so special about an xbox that precludes me from the right to modify it with a "mod chip"?
More like speculative. Do you actually KNOW anyone who has a modded xbox who DOESN'T use it for pirated games? Regardless of whether modding HAS to be used for pirating, and regardless of whether pirating is "bad" or whatever, modded xbox systems are for playing pirated software. That's it. If you're going to pick a hole in this argument, this is the wrong one to choose.
Yes, I know someone. *I* have a modded xbox that I use to play the games that I have purchased so they have a faster load time, you insensitive clod. I also don't like getting up to change the game out, not having to worry about scratching the media, and other benefits of not relying on the physical disc to play my game. In addition, I have all of my CD music ripped to MP3 on the thing and use it as a media center -- CD music that I bought. Your comment is extremely thought provoking, nontheless. Not.
I have a problem with blocking content in an educational environment. It feels anti free-speech. I worked at a community college way back when things started to get interesting on the web and they had this policy that you could not browse certain web sites with the threat of suspension of expulsion. We would take a user's drivers license (why did we not have picture school IDs back then?) and if we caught them doing anything "bad" we would holdd their license and call the campus security. I had a serious problem with this and refused to take licenses and/or get involved in a posible free-speech debate. I wouldn't have taken the licenses anyways just on the basis that I didn't want to be responsible for someone else's personal information, which was kept in an unlocked drawer that could not be monitored 100% of the time....
There will always be someone who wants to abuse technology, and there will always be somebody who will want to stop the abusers, sometimes at any cost. I personally think we should stop trying to protect everybody and let people take responsibility for their own actions. If a kid fails school because they want to work on myspace rather than homework, that's no different than a kid failing school because they want to smoke pot, play video games, do sports, just hang out, etc rather than do their homework. It's not the technology. It's the lack of accountability and responsibility, between parents *and* the kids. You can only do so much protecting and then you're just creating an over-legislated, socialist environment.
Anyways... I think I've babbled enough about this, speaking of much ado about nothing...:-)
I'm pretty sure there's just no good way to get told you've lost your job. But I know there are a lot of bad ways. Impersonal and treated like a cog? Yep, this is one of them.
I'm reminded of the scene in Fifth Element when the old Chinese guy reads our hero's message:
(from IMDB)
Mr. Kim: You got a message. Korben Dallas: Yeah Mr. Kim: You're not gonna open it? It might be important. Korben Dallas: Yeah, like the last two I got were important. The first one was from my wife, telling me she was leaving. The second was from my lawyer, telling me he was leaving... with my wife. Mr. Kim: Ah, that's bad luck. Grandfather say it not rain everyday. This is good news, guaranteed. I bet your lunch. Korben Dallas: Okay, you're on. Mr. Kim: Come on...
While I understand that Dell sucks (I hate them too), I don't really think that I understand your comment. It seemed perfectly reasonable to me that Dell could have a sub-brand that did focus on performance, and while they might be overpriced, could probably put together something at the very pinnacle of performance available from consumer parts.
Yeah, think of alienware as Dell's new microbrewery. Same crap, just costs more.
Since the new guy has been in charge, he's executed significant cost reduction programs including cutting many of the bleeding edge technologies that had made Sony what it was. The PS3 fiasco is just one more example of how far Sony has fallen. I have been a Sony fan for many years, but the past couple years have broken my affinity towards their products. I now look elsewhere for a lot of tech that I once would only look towards them.
Don't get me wrong, I still like a fair amount of their products. I just don't think of them first anymore.
Oh, don't worry. Their updates are slowly making it less and less stable. Eventually my wife will demand a new laptop... one that runs that other OS. Like the one I'm using right now which "just works". She hates me some days... but I know it's just mac-envy. Plus I'm not sure if saying "I don't have that problem on my computer" helps any.
I just wish it didn't feel like an upgrade every time a new maintenance release was issued by Apple. I have to run all this stuff (repair permissions, backup data, etc) to prepare to install the update, then install the update, reboot, run all that stuff again, reboot, run all my apps to make sure they all still work... maybe I'm being too careful, but when I don't run all that stuff something ends up not working. Can't all that stuff be part of their pre- and post-update procedures or something? I'm really really lazy and hate massaging my computer all the time. Not to mention having to hunt for the page that describes exactly what's in the update and what new goodies I should expect...
what were we talking about again? Oh yeah. Vista. I'm *so* not switching back. Ever. hugs his ibook
without religion, what would become of war? or hate? How would world leaders control the masses? Honestly, without religion most people would be nice to each other because they'd have to -- there would be no higher being that would forgive them for their inhumanity to other humans. People would have to make more of an effort...
Now, *with* religion, you can slack off, cheat, lie, steal, kill, covet, etc, and still be forgiven regardless of how much you hurt those around you. You can waste all of the Earth's resources without concern because one day you'll be with your God and that's really all that matters. I mean, this Earth is temporary, right? People really don't matter so much as what those people believe in, right?
I forgot what I was saying... I think I was agreeing with you or something...
You got it! Someone here got it! I mean, he even said have fun editing the entry on "elephants".... duh! Honestly, some folks just don't get satire. I love it!
Yep, I have a bonafide graduate degree. MBA in marketing. It's *awesome*. Of course, I haven't really been able to use it much, since my BS was in computer science. I have been putting it to some personal use, tho... my wife and I have been trying to start a business.
Otherwise, maybe it might have helped if I could have switched careers, but it's been *very* difficult. If I had chosen a graduate degree in my field, I might have gotten *some* use out of it in my career, but to get any real use out of any graduate material, you have to either be very talented, know someone who can help you, or stay in academia. Otherwise, I would say most graduate degree holders probably don't need them.
Well, I suppose anything could be a "religion" if you think about it in those terms... My personal issue is not so much with the way you describe religion, but in terms of "faith". I'm hoping you wouldn't argue that faith equals science, since they are fundamental opposites.
Slashdot Mirror
... but it certainly intrudes on your personal life. As a telecommuter, I found I was working longer hours and felt obligated to be available as needed. I ended up having trouble balancing work and home life.
/gam/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tazer#Controversies
/gam/
'nuff said.
That is an excellent description of what is being discussed. It's *exactly* related to uncanny valley. If I only had a mod point...
/gam/
"Yes, even semiconductors wear out."
/gam/
This is totally untrue. I mean, I was watching an old Star Trek rerun just the other day and they came across an ancient derelict spacecraft where the computer system _still worked_... People and their "facts" these days...
Ah, nevermind... going back to my games again...
-gam
A hit is a hit is a hit, regardless of the intent. You might not like it but the numbers aren't false.
.com at the end" and ignores the results? Or better yet, how many hits resulted in an intentional search? *That* would be a more useful number. I've always had a problem with how folks quantify how well a thing is on the Internet by the number of hits it gets. Hits have the potential of being arbitrary and artificially inflated, as the original poster stated, and in my opinion provide little useful information.
/gam/
That may be. But how many non-false hits were unintentional and thus serving useless search information to someone that just says "whoops, I meant to type in the
Laptop rentals like car rentals... Just tell the rental company what software you need on the laptop when you reserve it, bring your USB file storage with all your files on it, and Bob's your uncle. Of course, this leaves out all the fine details, but anyone who has the resources to start such a business can work on that. *sigh* ah, the future... such a wondrous place, isn't it? And so... secure... /gam/
Exactly. I CAN mod whatever I own however I want without fear of the act of just modding it being illegal. _USE_ of said mods may or may not be legal, but that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that I can't see a reason why it would be illegal just to MOD something. If I mod my xbox so I can install a larger hard drive to store all of my ITMS files purchased from itunes, for instance, vs. modding it for the larger hard drive so I can rent video games and copy the content to my drive and return the game. One of those _uses_ breaks the law, but the simple fact that I modded it doesn't mean I broke the law.
:-)
/gam/
WRT your example, I agree that I cannot mod my car in a way that makes it no longer street legal and still be able to drive my car on public streets legally. But I am saying that I should be able to mod my car so that it's no longer street legal without fear of breaking the law. If modding my xbox, car, Weber grill, etc., breaks the law, then I need to become more active in politics because it's just gotten too insane. If the USE of my mods is illegal and I USE a mod illegally, then, yes, I have indeed broken the law. But again, I'm not talking about using a mod illegally. I'm talking about just making the modification in the first place is NOT illegal.
Anyways... I hope I made myself a touch mroe clear.
Cheers,
You should get ribeyes. Their the hardest steak to screw up and I think the most flavorful; although, if it catches fire, it'll still turn into charcoal. *sigh*
-gam
Do you mean, is it possible for one to mod an xbox? Or are you asking is it fair use for a person to mod their own xbox? If the former: yes, absolutely. I have modded my own, and know a few peeps that have, as well. If the latter, I don't know why not. I can mod my car, my laptop, my Dell PC, my house, etc.
/gam/
I guess, I'm with you on the latter aspect: what's so special about an xbox that precludes me from the right to modify it with a "mod chip"?
More like speculative. Do you actually KNOW anyone who has a modded xbox who DOESN'T use it for pirated games? Regardless of whether modding HAS to be used for pirating, and regardless of whether pirating is "bad" or whatever, modded xbox systems are for playing pirated software. That's it. If you're going to pick a hole in this argument, this is the wrong one to choose.
/gam/
Yes, I know someone. *I* have a modded xbox that I use to play the games that I have purchased so they have a faster load time, you insensitive clod. I also don't like getting up to change the game out, not having to worry about scratching the media, and other benefits of not relying on the physical disc to play my game. In addition, I have all of my CD music ripped to MP3 on the thing and use it as a media center -- CD music that I bought. Your comment is extremely thought provoking, nontheless. Not.
I have a problem with blocking content in an educational environment. It feels anti free-speech. I worked at a community college way back when things started to get interesting on the web and they had this policy that you could not browse certain web sites with the threat of suspension of expulsion. We would take a user's drivers license (why did we not have picture school IDs back then?) and if we caught them doing anything "bad" we would holdd their license and call the campus security. I had a serious problem with this and refused to take licenses and/or get involved in a posible free-speech debate. I wouldn't have taken the licenses anyways just on the basis that I didn't want to be responsible for someone else's personal information, which was kept in an unlocked drawer that could not be monitored 100% of the time....
:-)
/gam/
There will always be someone who wants to abuse technology, and there will always be somebody who will want to stop the abusers, sometimes at any cost. I personally think we should stop trying to protect everybody and let people take responsibility for their own actions. If a kid fails school because they want to work on myspace rather than homework, that's no different than a kid failing school because they want to smoke pot, play video games, do sports, just hang out, etc rather than do their homework. It's not the technology. It's the lack of accountability and responsibility, between parents *and* the kids. You can only do so much protecting and then you're just creating an over-legislated, socialist environment.
Anyways... I think I've babbled enough about this, speaking of much ado about nothing...
I'm pretty sure there's just no good way to get told you've lost your job. But I know there are a lot of bad ways. Impersonal and treated like a cog? Yep, this is one of them.
I'm reminded of the scene in Fifth Element when the old Chinese guy reads our hero's message:
(from IMDB)
Mr. Kim: You got a message.
Korben Dallas: Yeah
Mr. Kim: You're not gonna open it? It might be important.
Korben Dallas: Yeah, like the last two I got were important. The first one was from my wife, telling me she was leaving. The second was from my lawyer, telling me he was leaving... with my wife.
Mr. Kim: Ah, that's bad luck. Grandfather say it not rain everyday. This is good news, guaranteed. I bet your lunch.
Korben Dallas: Okay, you're on.
Mr. Kim: Come on...
[Reads]
Mr. Kim: You are fired! Oh.
-gam
While I understand that Dell sucks (I hate them too), I don't really think that I understand your comment. It seemed perfectly reasonable to me that Dell could have a sub-brand that did focus on performance, and while they might be overpriced, could probably put together something at the very pinnacle of performance available from consumer parts.
/gam/
Yeah, think of alienware as Dell's new microbrewery. Same crap, just costs more.
Although, they *might* give out customer info with only a simple letter from the NSA. It just depends on who you are.
/gam/
Since the new guy has been in charge, he's executed significant cost reduction programs including cutting many of the bleeding edge technologies that had made Sony what it was. The PS3 fiasco is just one more example of how far Sony has fallen. I have been a Sony fan for many years, but the past couple years have broken my affinity towards their products. I now look elsewhere for a lot of tech that I once would only look towards them.
/gam/
Don't get me wrong, I still like a fair amount of their products. I just don't think of them first anymore.
Oh, don't worry. Their updates are slowly making it less and less stable. Eventually my wife will demand a new laptop... one that runs that other OS. Like the one I'm using right now which "just works". She hates me some days... but I know it's just mac-envy. Plus I'm not sure if saying "I don't have that problem on my computer" helps any.
/gam/
I just wish it didn't feel like an upgrade every time a new maintenance release was issued by Apple. I have to run all this stuff (repair permissions, backup data, etc) to prepare to install the update, then install the update, reboot, run all that stuff again, reboot, run all my apps to make sure they all still work... maybe I'm being too careful, but when I don't run all that stuff something ends up not working. Can't all that stuff be part of their pre- and post-update procedures or something? I'm really really lazy and hate massaging my computer all the time. Not to mention having to hunt for the page that describes exactly what's in the update and what new goodies I should expect...
/gam/
what were we talking about again? Oh yeah. Vista. I'm *so* not switching back. Ever. hugs his ibook
without religion, what would become of war? or hate? How would world leaders control the masses? Honestly, without religion most people would be nice to each other because they'd have to -- there would be no higher being that would forgive them for their inhumanity to other humans. People would have to make more of an effort...
/gam/
Now, *with* religion, you can slack off, cheat, lie, steal, kill, covet, etc, and still be forgiven regardless of how much you hurt those around you. You can waste all of the Earth's resources without concern because one day you'll be with your God and that's really all that matters. I mean, this Earth is temporary, right? People really don't matter so much as what those people believe in, right?
I forgot what I was saying... I think I was agreeing with you or something...
anyways...
I play segway polo, you insensitive clod!
-gam
You got it! Someone here got it! I mean, he even said have fun editing the entry on "elephants".... duh! Honestly, some folks just don't get satire. I love it!
/gam/
Yep, I have a bonafide graduate degree. MBA in marketing. It's *awesome*. Of course, I haven't really been able to use it much, since my BS was in computer science. I have been putting it to some personal use, tho... my wife and I have been trying to start a business.
Otherwise, maybe it might have helped if I could have switched careers, but it's been *very* difficult. If I had chosen a graduate degree in my field, I might have gotten *some* use out of it in my career, but to get any real use out of any graduate material, you have to either be very talented, know someone who can help you, or stay in academia. Otherwise, I would say most graduate degree holders probably don't need them.
-gam
Subversion manages you!
Well, I suppose anything could be a "religion" if you think about it in those terms... My personal issue is not so much with the way you describe religion, but in terms of "faith". I'm hoping you wouldn't argue that faith equals science, since they are fundamental opposites.
/gam/
Good point. But I was only answering Stephen's question, not providing the means to achieve my answer. :-)
:-)
Hmm... King for a decade... I don't think I'd survive.
-gam