I don't mind shutting off my cell-phone, but what I find really annoying is that whole shut-off-all-electronics-during-takeoff-you-terror ist-bastard deal. Like my pda is really going to interfere with their radio, what with it emitting about as much RF as a wrist-watch. Not only that, my Palm V is impossible to shut off completely, so hitting the little off button is purely cosmetic. Try explaining that to a stewardess - sorry, flight-attendant...
The ribbon won't come straight down though. In fact, it will wrap around the earth from West to East (the direction of the earth's orbit). To realize why this is so, think about an object in orbit being pulled towards the earth by such a tether. At it's start it has a certain velocity tangential and proportional to its orbit. As it's being pulled in, this tangential velocity remains the same, but the radius of orbit decreases. The nearer it gets, the faster it's angular velocity gets. By the time it reaches earth, it will be going many orders of magnitude faster than the earth's surface. Assuming it has a very large surface area, it will vaporize almost immediately after hitting the atmosphere, except for a short length at the beginning that will float down at terminal velocity.
I believe you can test this easily by taking a string, a straw, and metal washer. Tie the washer to the string and pull the string through the straw. Let out a foot between the washer and the straw, and start spinning. Now pull the string in. The angular velocity increases, doesn't it?
I always thought it would be cool if an integrated cellphone/pda had a little clip-on device with a speaker and a microphone. The device would be very minimal, about the dimensions of a memory stick, and communicate with the pda via short-range rf. The pda could be used for typical pda functions, storing phone numbers, and web browsing, while the clip-on would be used for talking. You wouldn't be stuck with a pda with a dwarfish screen nor a cellphone that covers half your face. The best of both!
I have no doubt you encountered cheaters in Diablo 1, but I seriously doubt you lost to them in Quake 2, UT, and Starcraft. The difference between a novice and an advanced player in these games is so vast that it would seem to the novice as if most other players are cheating.
In both Q2 and UT, you will be "dead, dead, dead and dead again" unless you have played against other skilled players for months honing your ability. Playing against the computer or your local friends does not count, the difference is night and day. A really skilled player will always have the best weapons, be high on health, know the quickest route from any one point to another, know the most advantageous position in a fight, move unpredictably, and keep a bead on you at all times. You will *never* kill such a person unless you are near their skill level, or they are lagging badly.
In Starcraft the scenario is the same. A skilled player knows the *perfect* build order for the first 10 minutes. This build order *always* includes rushing with low-level troops. Asking them not to rush you is like asking someone in Quake to only attack you after you've had 20 minutes to look around. They won't do it. In games of skilled players versus other skilled players, this is not a problem. Early attacks are just a phase of the game and rarely end it right at the beginning. In games with skilled/unskilled player mismatches, this will always result in a quickly ended game. To you this seems unfair and stupid, because why would they want to end the game so quickly? What fun is that? To them, it is just a matter of course, and finishing the game with you quickly saves them time, because it would have been a pointless easy game no matter how long it lasted.
In general, when a player accuses other players of cheating, it just sounds like sour grapes. I've played all four of these games extensively (I'm embarrassed to admit), and with the exception of Diablo 1, I do well without ever cheating. It is a rare circumstance when I encounter someone who I think is cheating, and even then it's only a particular exploit that, while infuriating, is rarely game-breaking (such as the map cheat in Starcraft, or aim bots in Quake/UT). I suggest you find someone you trust who is experienced in the games and either watch him play, or play one-on-one against him. You will quickly learn to tell what is cheating, and what is merely better ability.
I actually tried that (got the address from the internet cache, though). Kept getting access denied, though. See my post further down for a technique that definitely works.
Through trial-and-error I found a relatively painless way to save real media streams to a file. I've only tried this on Windows XP, so your mileage may vary.
1) Get the latest RealOne player. Maybe not necessarily the latest, but I've only tried their current release. 2) Make sure the real media plugin is installed on your browser. And make sure your browser is set to keep at least a 300MB of storage cache. 3) Sign up for whatever movie you want to watch, and then play it. 4) Pause the player (*not* stop, pause). 5) Search around your fs for a temp directory with.tmp in it that is consistently increasing in size. In XP, it will likely be at "G:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Temp\" 6) Wait until the file stops increasing in size, and you think it's finished downloading (i.e. not just delayed). 7) Move the file and rename it with the.rm extension. 8) Open said file up with your favorite hex editor, and delete the leading zero-byte. (I guess this is Real's form of security-through-obscurity. Don't come running to me if you get the DMCA smack-down for doing this;)
Voila! You now have a fully functional real media file.
A CC# is a key. It grants access to money on credit. Giving away said key is giving access to a finite resource, one that doesn't belong to you. Distributing this key takes security and money away from the rightful owner, both finite resources (unlike the information itself).
This is the same as the forgery analogy. When distributing information that grants access to a finite resource without the owner's consent, you are stealing. When distributing information that is the resource itself (and is thus infinitely abundant), you are not stealing.
Of course, this is just from a logical standpoint. Legally, copyright prevents this. Morally, the question is debatable (i.e. content creators deserve to be compensated for their efforts, but if you cannot demonstrate harm due to a copy, is it wrong?).
Invalid analogy. The $100 dollar bill is merely symbolic. It represents $100 of purchasing power; it is not in and of itself worth that much. Copying the bill is not stealing, but paying for anything with that bill (or switching it with said fellow as you suggest), *is* stealing. It's stealing from everyone who legally participates in the economy. A little bit from everybody that aggregates to the value of $100.
Note, this differs significantly from copying information because a finite resource (monetary value) is reduced by this action. You can not, however, reduce the amount of information available by copying it.
Where'd film88.com go? It all makes perfect sense now. Slashdot is in league with the MPAA/RIAA and is using its power to censor - or as we call it, 'slashdot' - any sites that the aforementioned associations have a gripe with. It's just so devious, it makes me sick...
Yes, the drivers are sold, but there is no value lost by open sourcing them. Drivers for different hardware devices aren't interchangeable. I can't just upgrade el cheapo video card by installing the latest Detonator drivers (and thus 'steal' from nVidia). In fact, open sourcing drivers can only help since users can actually improve the product (e.g. make it faster, more reliable, and/or support different platforms), thus increasing its perceived value in the marketplace.
A year ago I disconnected my land-line and signed up for Sprint PCS. I used to get on the order of about 3 telemarketers calling me per day on the land-line, but haven't got a one through my cell phone yet. That, plus the convenience, was worth the switch alone. Not to mention I actually pay less for my cell phone (no exorbitant taxes and long-distance fees).
I know this sounds like an advertisement, but it's merely the truth. I don't know why anyone would want to stick with the regional telco monopolies anymore when there are such better alternatives.
I really hate that expression. An eye for an eye makes two people half-blind, not the whole world. You take my eye, I take yours, what's so difficult to understand about that? Note, this is not recursive, since order doesn't matter.
Re:Cats might eat "poisonous" frogs
on
The Plague of Frogs
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· Score: 1, Funny
Cats have been used for centuries to control pests, and the cost of keeping them is sure to be less (at least for resorts) than using humans. Also cats have great night vision, so they're more effective at hunting the frogs than humans.
Why did the image of a grizzly, vacant-eyed prison-worker with a bright orange jumpsuit, a large plastic bag, and one of those leaf pokers with half a dozen impaled frogs on it suddenly pop into my head?
If you want an intelligent review of the movie...
on
Review: Panic Room
·
· Score: 0
...you'll find Ebert's review here. Frankly, I'd like to get me some of that stuff Katz is smoking.
You bastard! If you're collecting unemployment checks and not devoting your time to searching for a new job, you're exploiting the system. The government (i.e. the taxpayers) are paying you to look for a job. So do it! That means 8 hours a day writing cover letters, contacting employers, sending out resumes. Not some bullshit checking hotjobs 5 minutes each day and then spending the rest of your time sitting around or working on your pet project. You're an f'n leech - and you always will be - so nothing I say can change your behavior, but just know that not everyone else out there is like you. Some people work for a living and it's at their expense you're slacking off.
Frankly, I hope the Dept. of Labor does catch up with you. You need a good flogging.
This might be redundant, as I'm sure I won't be the first to say this, but, throw these assholes in prison! And not the minimum-security polo-at-9:00-lattes-at-2:30 prison - the meeting-with-Bubba-and-a-stick-in-the-washroom prison. I'm tired of all these crooked executives getting off with light slaps on the wrist. If any of us peons ever stole that much money we'd never see the light of day again, much less get to keep the money.
Why do I get the distinct impression that no one at Enron or Andersen is going to get punished either (with the possible exception of a low-ranking scapegoat or two)?
Excuse me? Fox has 90% of the best shows on network television. Just to name some: Simpsons, Futurama, XFiles, Malcom in the MIddle, King of the Hill, Ally McBeal, Boston Public, That 70's show, Undeclared, Family Guy, The Tick (albeit not anymore), 24, and probably some others that I'm forgetting. What does NBC have? Friends? What about ABC? Drew Carey? WB, UPN, CBS? Nadda...
And to say that The Tick is more intelligent than the other shows on Fox just suggests a bit of a warped perspective.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't mind shutting off my cell-phone, but what I find really annoying is that whole shut-off-all-electronics-during-takeoff-you-terror ist-bastard deal. Like my pda is really going to interfere with their radio, what with it emitting about as much RF as a wrist-watch. Not only that, my Palm V is impossible to shut off completely, so hitting the little off button is purely cosmetic. Try explaining that to a stewardess - sorry, flight-attendant...
The ribbon won't come straight down though. In fact, it will wrap around the earth from West to East (the direction of the earth's orbit). To realize why this is so, think about an object in orbit being pulled towards the earth by such a tether. At it's start it has a certain velocity tangential and proportional to its orbit. As it's being pulled in, this tangential velocity remains the same, but the radius of orbit decreases. The nearer it gets, the faster it's angular velocity gets. By the time it reaches earth, it will be going many orders of magnitude faster than the earth's surface. Assuming it has a very large surface area, it will vaporize almost immediately after hitting the atmosphere, except for a short length at the beginning that will float down at terminal velocity.
I believe you can test this easily by taking a string, a straw, and metal washer. Tie the washer to the string and pull the string through the straw. Let out a foot between the washer and the straw, and start spinning. Now pull the string in. The angular velocity increases, doesn't it?
... Which very quickly resulted in a draw - Kasparov and the computer both suffering a fatal short-circuit.
"G'day, mate! Wouldya like jelly or syrup?"
(((shudder)))
I assume that's a euphamism for rape? Over here in the states we just call it "Bubba gets his groove on."
I always thought it would be cool if an integrated cellphone/pda had a little clip-on device with a speaker and a microphone. The device would be very minimal, about the dimensions of a memory stick, and communicate with the pda via short-range rf. The pda could be used for typical pda functions, storing phone numbers, and web browsing, while the clip-on would be used for talking. You wouldn't be stuck with a pda with a dwarfish screen nor a cellphone that covers half your face. The best of both!
I have no doubt you encountered cheaters in Diablo 1, but I seriously doubt you lost to them in Quake 2, UT, and Starcraft. The difference between a novice and an advanced player in these games is so vast that it would seem to the novice as if most other players are cheating.
In both Q2 and UT, you will be "dead, dead, dead and dead again" unless you have played against other skilled players for months honing your ability. Playing against the computer or your local friends does not count, the difference is night and day. A really skilled player will always have the best weapons, be high on health, know the quickest route from any one point to another, know the most advantageous position in a fight, move unpredictably, and keep a bead on you at all times. You will *never* kill such a person unless you are near their skill level, or they are lagging badly.
In Starcraft the scenario is the same. A skilled player knows the *perfect* build order for the first 10 minutes. This build order *always* includes rushing with low-level troops. Asking them not to rush you is like asking someone in Quake to only attack you after you've had 20 minutes to look around. They won't do it. In games of skilled players versus other skilled players, this is not a problem. Early attacks are just a phase of the game and rarely end it right at the beginning. In games with skilled/unskilled player mismatches, this will always result in a quickly ended game. To you this seems unfair and stupid, because why would they want to end the game so quickly? What fun is that? To them, it is just a matter of course, and finishing the game with you quickly saves them time, because it would have been a pointless easy game no matter how long it lasted.
In general, when a player accuses other players of cheating, it just sounds like sour grapes. I've played all four of these games extensively (I'm embarrassed to admit), and with the exception of Diablo 1, I do well without ever cheating. It is a rare circumstance when I encounter someone who I think is cheating, and even then it's only a particular exploit that, while infuriating, is rarely game-breaking (such as the map cheat in Starcraft, or aim bots in Quake/UT). I suggest you find someone you trust who is experienced in the games and either watch him play, or play one-on-one against him. You will quickly learn to tell what is cheating, and what is merely better ability.
I actually tried that (got the address from the internet cache, though). Kept getting access denied, though. See my post further down for a technique that definitely works.
Through trial-and-error I found a relatively painless way to save real media streams to a file. I've only tried this on Windows XP, so your mileage may vary.
.tmp in it that is consistently increasing in size. In XP, it will likely be at "G:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Temp\" .rm extension. ;)
1) Get the latest RealOne player. Maybe not necessarily the latest, but I've only tried their current release.
2) Make sure the real media plugin is installed on your browser. And make sure your browser is set to keep at least a 300MB of storage cache.
3) Sign up for whatever movie you want to watch, and then play it.
4) Pause the player (*not* stop, pause).
5) Search around your fs for a temp directory with
6) Wait until the file stops increasing in size, and you think it's finished downloading (i.e. not just delayed).
7) Move the file and rename it with the
8) Open said file up with your favorite hex editor, and delete the leading zero-byte. (I guess this is Real's form of security-through-obscurity. Don't come running to me if you get the DMCA smack-down for doing this
Voila! You now have a fully functional real media file.
Amazing. Another terrible analogy.
A CC# is a key. It grants access to money on credit. Giving away said key is giving access to a finite resource, one that doesn't belong to you. Distributing this key takes security and money away from the rightful owner, both finite resources (unlike the information itself).
This is the same as the forgery analogy. When distributing information that grants access to a finite resource without the owner's consent, you are stealing. When distributing information that is the resource itself (and is thus infinitely abundant), you are not stealing.
Of course, this is just from a logical standpoint. Legally, copyright prevents this. Morally, the question is debatable (i.e. content creators deserve to be compensated for their efforts, but if you cannot demonstrate harm due to a copy, is it wrong?).
Invalid analogy. The $100 dollar bill is merely symbolic. It represents $100 of purchasing power; it is not in and of itself worth that much. Copying the bill is not stealing, but paying for anything with that bill (or switching it with said fellow as you suggest), *is* stealing. It's stealing from everyone who legally participates in the economy. A little bit from everybody that aggregates to the value of $100.
Note, this differs significantly from copying information because a finite resource (monetary value) is reduced by this action. You can not, however, reduce the amount of information available by copying it.
Where'd film88.com go? It all makes perfect sense now. Slashdot is in league with the MPAA/RIAA and is using its power to censor - or as we call it, 'slashdot' - any sites that the aforementioned associations have a gripe with. It's just so devious, it makes me sick...
Yes, the drivers are sold, but there is no value lost by open sourcing them. Drivers for different hardware devices aren't interchangeable. I can't just upgrade el cheapo video card by installing the latest Detonator drivers (and thus 'steal' from nVidia). In fact, open sourcing drivers can only help since users can actually improve the product (e.g. make it faster, more reliable, and/or support different platforms), thus increasing its perceived value in the marketplace.
Ha! You just proved his point by refactoring your own code to less than 20 lines. And that code actually makes sense.
A year ago I disconnected my land-line and signed up for Sprint PCS. I used to get on the order of about 3 telemarketers calling me per day on the land-line, but haven't got a one through my cell phone yet. That, plus the convenience, was worth the switch alone. Not to mention I actually pay less for my cell phone (no exorbitant taxes and long-distance fees).
I know this sounds like an advertisement, but it's merely the truth. I don't know why anyone would want to stick with the regional telco monopolies anymore when there are such better alternatives.
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
I really hate that expression. An eye for an eye makes two people half-blind, not the whole world. You take my eye, I take yours, what's so difficult to understand about that? Note, this is not recursive, since order doesn't matter.
Cats have been used for centuries to control pests, and the cost of keeping them is sure to be less (at least for resorts) than using humans. Also cats have great night vision, so they're more effective at hunting the frogs than humans.
Why did the image of a grizzly, vacant-eyed prison-worker with a bright orange jumpsuit, a large plastic bag, and one of those leaf pokers with half a dozen impaled frogs on it suddenly pop into my head?
...you'll find Ebert's review here. Frankly, I'd like to get me some of that stuff Katz is smoking.
You bastard! If you're collecting unemployment checks and not devoting your time to searching for a new job, you're exploiting the system. The government (i.e. the taxpayers) are paying you to look for a job. So do it! That means 8 hours a day writing cover letters, contacting employers, sending out resumes. Not some bullshit checking hotjobs 5 minutes each day and then spending the rest of your time sitting around or working on your pet project. You're an f'n leech - and you always will be - so nothing I say can change your behavior, but just know that not everyone else out there is like you. Some people work for a living and it's at their expense you're slacking off.
Frankly, I hope the Dept. of Labor does catch up with you. You need a good flogging.
Put another nail in the coffin!
Can't say I'm upset about this...
aa a a lloooaaadd d d of f f ccccraaappp p p .. . . II I pllayy y PPP PP PSS22 aall ll tthee tiiimme. .. Nnnoo pp prrooobllemms ss s hhhhhherrree ... .. ..
I for one welcome our new robot overlords. All hail King Zoborg the Bowelless!
Seriously, though. Robots are our rightful heirs. So what if they start running things?
This might be redundant, as I'm sure I won't be the first to say this, but, throw these assholes in prison! And not the minimum-security polo-at-9:00-lattes-at-2:30 prison - the meeting-with-Bubba-and-a-stick-in-the-washroom prison. I'm tired of all these crooked executives getting off with light slaps on the wrist. If any of us peons ever stole that much money we'd never see the light of day again, much less get to keep the money.
Why do I get the distinct impression that no one at Enron or Andersen is going to get punished either (with the possible exception of a low-ranking scapegoat or two)?
Bertha shouldn't be-e-e-e! Bertha shouldn't be-e-e-e!
No GNU taxes!
Excuse me? Fox has 90% of the best shows on network television. Just to name some: Simpsons, Futurama, XFiles, Malcom in the MIddle, King of the Hill, Ally McBeal, Boston Public, That 70's show, Undeclared, Family Guy, The Tick (albeit not anymore), 24, and probably some others that I'm forgetting. What does NBC have? Friends? What about ABC? Drew Carey? WB, UPN, CBS? Nadda...
And to say that The Tick is more intelligent than the other shows on Fox just suggests a bit of a warped perspective.