This reminds me of my favorite part of software development schedules. The schedule is all laid out and planned, where the very last two weeks are listed "system test" with no time allocated afterwards for "fix." Simply brilliant.
This is very common, when there are only a few people developing the software, and, therefore, only a few people to test it. They aren't imaginative enough to do automated simulated-load testing, so they conlcude "it works when I click here and there...roll 'em out, boys!"
...many people automatically assume that electronic devices are more reliable and less prone to failure than the older voting hardware, when it certainly appears that this is not the case.
They are in denile. Reality isn't meshing with their idealism, but they press on anyway. Sad.
When there are 1500 pound gorillas like Microsoft and Sony, the goal is not to compete with them but find untapped markets. It isn't so much getting a slice of the pie, but making a whole new pie. Eventually, the gorrilla will eath the new pie, but, with some luck, enough time will have elapsed to give the small company some real revenue (hopefully enough to say "to hell with this" and retire).
I think you will find that competition is one of the highest priorities of the federal (and state) telecom regulators in both the US and Canada.
This is probably not entirely true, as industry lobbyists have too much influence over that regulation. Any appearance of competition is not true competition--it's only that which the industry and the regulators allowed for their short-term benefit. The telephone industry needs to be deregulated almost entirely (and gradually) to let it recover from prior government mistakes. The same is true of the health industry, where government regulation and loopholes created our current miserable healthcare system.
If he is an M.D., then his motivation for socialized healthcare is to further the entrenched elitism of the doctor cartel who manipulate the supply of qualified healthcare professionals and help keep prices artificially high. He would also be in a position to help craft loopholes in new legislation to further the greed of pharmaceutical and medical devices companies and the abilities of doctors and insurance companies to avoid all liability.
they make impulsive decisions but don't know why. they are slaves to the ideas they use to justify their impulsive decisions -after- they've made them.
Ahh, so the trilogy is a methodical dismantling of the Democratic party's platform. It all makes sense, now.
My question is...who even watches over the air television anymore?
Anyone who doesn't want to shell out the $30 to $80 per month to get it. To a low-income family, $360/year ain't chump change.
Also, some people find the 100+ channels a distraction from reality and avoid it for that reason.
Further, the over-the-air network TV channels are so bad that people who don't have cable/satellite basically watch PBS for TV and look elsewhere for entertainment. It is arguable that this is a healthier and smarter approach to life and family.
If TV is forced into a digital broadcast, then either digital TVs need to get under $100 real fast, or a lot of people won't even have PBS to fall back on.
Perhaps Matt Groenig is the reincarnation of Jesus, and we are nearing the "harvest". Those who are saved will be whisked to a heaven of donut clouds. Are you prepared?
Corporations have destroyed our dream and our hobby that was technology.
No, this isn't true. Don't take corporations out of context of the government. It is the government that creates the laws, the loopholes, and the pork deals that prop up these business models. Get the money out of Washington, first, bitch about corporations later.
Put simply, we need a speaker-to-suits. Someone who can speak Suit, who looks good in a suit, and someone who comes across to average Americans as a reasonable person with a reasonable point of view, not a commie nutjob who's out to steal money from that nice man at the RIAA.
Find a CEO who is also a libertarian. He should see that the government's agendas and actions aren't lining up with the direction of the free market and produce a rant that'll knock people's socks off.
Technically ESR fits this profile...so, seek a toned-down CEO who is a libertarian.
Some people claim that libertarians are whores for big business, but personal liberty and adherence to the Constitution take precedence (let the people decide; to hell with the FCC).
How about a LCD --> CCD analog hole? Just put the LCD up against a matching CCD for a pixel-to-pixel light transfer. Pipe the CCD output into the DVR/DVD-recorder/VCR.
I just had another thought: perhaps they want to get rid of analog transmission and force more-expensive digital TV, so that fewer people can recieve an education about current events (well, I suppose people could read a newspaper, but reading is hard for these people). With an ignorant populace, it'll be just like the Catholic church from 1000 years ago and the Constitution will be mostly a forgotten historical document.
A de facto information tyranny of the digital age. Just lovely. Just one more reason to not vote for a Republican or a Democrat in 2004 (they're all part of the problem not the solution!).
So you're telling me they will switch all broadcast even if there is only - say - 10% of the end-users equipped?
Well my nicest TV was built in the late 1980s. I'm not going to spend several hundred dollars for a new digital HDTV one until thing stabilize...but things are just getting more unstable (HDTV standards, broadcast flag, DRM). All this just means my trusty old TV might even see repairs, if needed.
If analog signals go away, then I'll just get a better connection to the Internet. WWW-based news is better than TV-based news, anyway. And, if there is truly a must-have show out there, I can order the DVD from the cable-channel's website (they get my 20 bucks, DRM be damned). Yep, they just might force me to choose off-line content, such as a DVD.
If NASA had this problem they would have had to build a Wind Tunnel and finance the development of a Supercomputer, in the "correct" congressional district. Ensuring future funding of the program.
The F150 solution goes to show what the private sector can do, given the proper motivation.
Sadly, people are still going to vote for socialized healthcare in 2004. Great, my next doctor visit will be managed by a NASA clone.
Slashdot Mirror
They tested the machines all last week.
This reminds me of my favorite part of software development schedules. The schedule is all laid out and planned, where the very last two weeks are listed "system test" with no time allocated afterwards for "fix." Simply brilliant.
A reliable solid-state voting machine is trivial. It comes in two pieces: paper and pen.
This is very common, when there are only a few people developing the software, and, therefore, only a few people to test it. They aren't imaginative enough to do automated simulated-load testing, so they conlcude "it works when I click here and there...roll 'em out, boys!"
...many people automatically assume that electronic devices are more reliable and less prone to failure than the older voting hardware, when it certainly appears that this is not the case.
They are in denile. Reality isn't meshing with their idealism, but they press on anyway. Sad.
When there are 1500 pound gorillas like Microsoft and Sony, the goal is not to compete with them but find untapped markets. It isn't so much getting a slice of the pie, but making a whole new pie. Eventually, the gorrilla will eath the new pie, but, with some luck, enough time will have elapsed to give the small company some real revenue (hopefully enough to say "to hell with this" and retire).
Finally, telescopes will make a name for themselves in the rally circuit.
I think you will find that competition is one of the highest priorities of the federal (and state) telecom regulators in both the US and Canada.
This is probably not entirely true, as industry lobbyists have too much influence over that regulation. Any appearance of competition is not true competition--it's only that which the industry and the regulators allowed for their short-term benefit. The telephone industry needs to be deregulated almost entirely (and gradually) to let it recover from prior government mistakes. The same is true of the health industry, where government regulation and loopholes created our current miserable healthcare system.
fffffFFFFFTT..blurp..ggrrrrrrr! rrrrrrr...frump!
Howard Dean, M.D. for President in '04
If he is an M.D., then his motivation for socialized healthcare is to further the entrenched elitism of the doctor cartel who manipulate the supply of qualified healthcare professionals and help keep prices artificially high. He would also be in a position to help craft loopholes in new legislation to further the greed of pharmaceutical and medical devices companies and the abilities of doctors and insurance companies to avoid all liability.
they make impulsive decisions but don't know why. they are slaves to the ideas they use to justify their impulsive decisions -after- they've made them.
Ahh, so the trilogy is a methodical dismantling of the Democratic party's platform. It all makes sense, now.
They aren't aliens. They're the people who watch Monday Night Football.
Here's just one example from the Seattle Times this year, along with a "non-lying" revision of the chart
The proper fix for this inequity among people is to repeal the income tax.
My question is...who even watches over the air television anymore?
Anyone who doesn't want to shell out the $30 to $80 per month to get it. To a low-income family, $360/year ain't chump change.
Also, some people find the 100+ channels a distraction from reality and avoid it for that reason.
Further, the over-the-air network TV channels are so bad that people who don't have cable/satellite basically watch PBS for TV and look elsewhere for entertainment. It is arguable that this is a healthier and smarter approach to life and family.
If TV is forced into a digital broadcast, then either digital TVs need to get under $100 real fast, or a lot of people won't even have PBS to fall back on.
Like just *what* friggin' show is worth SIX FREAKIN' KILOBUCKS to watch?
Yes, there are losers out there willing to shell this out to see Jennifer Anniston's titties in HDTV.
This decision ensures that organized crime and others who pirate for profit will continue to have a niche.
In a way, the war on piracy is an extension of the war on drugs. We can't have people getting their entertainment fix illegally, can we?
Ask a neurologist if entertainment is addictive. I'm pretty sure it is.
are we transforming into Bizarro world?
Perhaps Matt Groenig is the reincarnation of Jesus, and we are nearing the "harvest". Those who are saved will be whisked to a heaven of donut clouds. Are you prepared?
The government should be run by the geeks, nerds, scientists, engineers and the intellects of the society.
No, even this won't work (sounds very platonic). Fact: power and money corrupt. They can corrupt anyone, even those who appear uncorruptable.
Get the money out of government, and much of the corruption will follow. What are the odds of getting the sixteenth amendment repealed?
Corporations have destroyed our dream and our hobby that was technology.
No, this isn't true. Don't take corporations out of context of the government. It is the government that creates the laws, the loopholes, and the pork deals that prop up these business models. Get the money out of Washington, first, bitch about corporations later.
Put simply, we need a speaker-to-suits. Someone who can speak Suit, who looks good in a suit, and someone who comes across to average Americans as a reasonable person with a reasonable point of view, not a commie nutjob who's out to steal money from that nice man at the RIAA.
Find a CEO who is also a libertarian. He should see that the government's agendas and actions aren't lining up with the direction of the free market and produce a rant that'll knock people's socks off.
Technically ESR fits this profile...so, seek a toned-down CEO who is a libertarian.
Some people claim that libertarians are whores for big business, but personal liberty and adherence to the Constitution take precedence (let the people decide; to hell with the FCC).
But at the end of the day it is stealing. I am a bit at a loss that you see it otherwise.
This person is not a journalist. He's already made up his mind and presented his conclusion as news. He should be fired.
How about a LCD --> CCD analog hole? Just put the LCD up against a matching CCD for a pixel-to-pixel light transfer. Pipe the CCD output into the DVR/DVD-recorder/VCR.
I just had another thought: perhaps they want to get rid of analog transmission and force more-expensive digital TV, so that fewer people can recieve an education about current events (well, I suppose people could read a newspaper, but reading is hard for these people). With an ignorant populace, it'll be just like the Catholic church from 1000 years ago and the Constitution will be mostly a forgotten historical document.
A de facto information tyranny of the digital age. Just lovely. Just one more reason to not vote for a Republican or a Democrat in 2004 (they're all part of the problem not the solution!).
So you're telling me they will switch all broadcast even if there is only - say - 10% of the end-users equipped?
Well my nicest TV was built in the late 1980s. I'm not going to spend several hundred dollars for a new digital HDTV one until thing stabilize...but things are just getting more unstable (HDTV standards, broadcast flag, DRM). All this just means my trusty old TV might even see repairs, if needed.
If analog signals go away, then I'll just get a better connection to the Internet. WWW-based news is better than TV-based news, anyway. And, if there is truly a must-have show out there, I can order the DVD from the cable-channel's website (they get my 20 bucks, DRM be damned). Yep, they just might force me to choose off-line content, such as a DVD.
If NASA had this problem they would have had to build a Wind Tunnel and finance the development of a Supercomputer, in the "correct" congressional district. Ensuring future funding of the program.
The F150 solution goes to show what the private sector can do, given the proper motivation.
Sadly, people are still going to vote for socialized healthcare in 2004. Great, my next doctor visit will be managed by a NASA clone.
Yes, but Sun JDS is currently based on SuSE linux. Perhaps, Novell will simply be a supplier to Sun in addition to having their own desktop system.