i've often thought about a satellite radio service. it would be nice to have constatntly streaming radio available pretty much everywhere. and god knows i hate ads.
i'm not a huge stern fan. but will listen when have the time and i can pick it up. when i was a commuter to nyc i listened to stern everyday. nowadays it usually only when the local npr outfit is doing it's pledge drive (yes i give, but i hate listening to the drive).
anyway. before it was a toss up XM v sirius. now it's a no-brainer: sirius.
i'm willing to bet (and people have put $0.5billion on it) there will be an immediate and signifigant bump in sirius' subscriptions in the next few weeks/months.
ultimately, this is only big because it gives them a serious (sirius, HA!) advantage vs XM.
don't know anyone on Xbox Live that would even care about using a KB/M, seeing as most console-FPS gamers actually prefer using a controller anyway, or at the very least have gotten used to it.
we'll see if they'll get used to being headshot repeatedly at their spawn.
people who prefer dual analog to kb/m deserve no mercy.
it's not the blogospehere's fault that there's no middle ground. the bushies have created a campaign (and an administration) that has at every turn justified it's decisions with bad science, poor intelligence and, at times, outright lies.
it's hard to have a civilized debate when the other side just screams at the top it's lungs "i don't care, you're a terrorist".
I'm the one who has to have everybody throw rocks at me all the time, so at least if they're going to throw rocks at me, they're going to throw rocks at me for something I love rather than something I think is not very good, or at least something I think is not finished.
where does the line to throw rocks at him start? do i need a ticket?
i'll bet on duke nukem forever before a 3rd party candidate anytime. that doesn't mean i wouldn't vote for a 3rd party, however.
yes, they can technically win. but, when you say
The problem with third parties is that they're X-Lite - where X = Republican or Democrats. And that they are typically one issue horses - so they have trouble getting people to buy-in.
you're dead wrong. the 3rd parties are forced into being one issue horses because of the dominance of the 2 parties. we live in a first past the post winner take all country. there's no prize for second place, so why bother. the only way 3rd parties can get ANYONE on board is if they play to single issue voters.
also, almost all of boards of election (they are county level) in the nation are run by just R's and D's. there IS an institutional bias against 3rd parties in the US. that is a fact.
it's certainly not impossible. but it is certainly inconvenient. just the fact that i have to power the phone off irritates me.
look, i own the phone. I like the phone. i am keeping the phone. i've weighed the options and *I* can live with these inconveniences.
but, considering what was promised of the phone, and the horseshit excuses VZW and MOTO have been putting out ("buy it know, an update is coming sometime between your first bill and when hell freezes over") I can understand why a large number of people are angry.
no. it doesn't support ev-do. i think you want the a780[phonescoop.com]. all the features of the 710 (1.3mp camera, mp3, flip, bt) PLUS quadband support, linux OS, ev-do support and a touchscreen (it's also a flip!).
the only thing VZW wants to 'secure' is their get it now, text messaging, and data traffic revenue.
if this was purely because of security concerns then why don't they support the transfer of files via USB?
the reason is that they don't want to is because cellular voice traffic is commoditized and a loss leader these days. their business model is to offer competively priced and widespread availabilty of voice plans then ream everyone on data, picture messaging and other features.
this isn't necessarily bad. but when i buy a $350 phone that claims to synch and x-fer files via BT i want it to perform as advertised.
that being said, i'm still keeping my v710. furhtermore the v710 made me switch from sprint. verizon is definitely shrewd.
with the 710 you cannot transfer files via BT or via USB. i have one. you can only do it via messaging (only 25 picture messages/month). or by using a transflash card (a micro sd card) that is nearly impossible to remove (you need to power off the phone and use tweezers). there are people that are working on developing usb hack to do this (as of now they can read and overwrite files on the phone via usb. but this is difficult to do and not officially supported)
furthermore, as of now, you can't even synch you addressbook/appointments via BT, you have to buy a USB cable. motorola claims they will fix this, but i doubt it.
but, verizon is still has the best coverage in the US and this phone is pretty good (flip, 1.3megapixel camera, BT(only headset and modem profiles), mp3 player, video player, upto 128mb removable flash memory, nice screen--though definitely not the best)
i get enough suspicous looks from security stations for having a plain usb key. every time i go the stae capitol this is the conversation: "what is this? a pocket knife?"
"no, it's a usb-key"
"a what?"
"it's for backing up computer files"
then they study it intensley for a minute trying to imagine a way that one could impale someone with 128mb of MSaccess files.
you could always just download the iso and get a keygen (you may argue that a game company can disappear in a year, but piracy is here to stay). sure, you can't play online then, but if valve is gone then so is online multiplay.
physical media sucks. it gets lost, scratched, and obsolete. why buy cd's? how do you know the CD format will be here in 10 years? ok. i'm being an asshole but so are you.
while i do agree that for the forseeable future this is fantasy it is an exciting idea.
30-40 years ago the concept of a personal computer would have evoked a similar response. let alone some kind of "invisible global network" that people could access with computers carried in their pockets.
this could work if and when mobile cpus have enough power (both computing and electrical) and, i would imagine, that much of this "grid" would be stationary Access Points (or perhaps they'd be more like relay stations).
but yes, this probably isn't going to catch on anytime soon.
look, i've given extensive trials (at least a month of solid 40hr/week usage) of the major browsers: Netscape (since 4), opera, safari, mozilla, firefox, ie. but, in a MSwindows environment, nothing beats the real-world performance of ie.
it does have a host of problems. but these aren't the days of ie4 where the browser really did crash every 30 minutes. and ALL of the pages that i need load properly.
ie6 loads signifgantly faster than mozilla on every machine i try (recently that's from an amd k6-2 366 to a p4). additionally, i do not have to worry about pages not rendering properly.
look, ie has security holes. and so does firefox. i run fully patched ie, behind a configured firewall with a current antivirus that has script blocking and i use a pop-up blocker (google toolbar).
it loads fast(er). it renders pages well. it handles plugins well.
i am not a web designer. perhaps my rudimentary html knowledge and cursory understanding of css leaves me blind to ie's "obvious flaws" but so would most of consumer computing market.
the "features" that mozilla boast aren't all that important to me. tabbed browsing isn't all that hot. I've been trained to look to the taskbar (and now with xp click on the ie group) to see what pages i'm browsing. and i am far too quick on the close button (and checking "don't aske me again") to make use of tabbed browsing. I have often closed several pages at once when i am tab browsing.
in fact, the ONLY feature that i can think of that firefox boasts is that it can--unlike ie--rememeber the web page icons (is that what they are called?). but even with firefox, it's not perfect (it will refresh only after you've gone to the page. but at least it does. ie forgets it 1 day after saving the favorite).
perhaps i'm missing the point, but i like to quickly, conviently, reliably access the web. and, in a properely maintained and secured environment and with a user who doesn't install weatherbug every 30 minutes ie is better at those tasks than any other broswer available for a MSwindows environment.
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Long live federalism!
if by 'good summary' you mean incomplete, biased, out of context, and off-topic then you are right.
you probably never got to the second paragraph. the shareware version only had the first paragraph.
Ghosts of Mars
mars. demons. guns. space marines. little or no plot.
seemed like doom to me.
i've often thought about a satellite radio service. it would be nice to have constatntly streaming radio available pretty much everywhere. and god knows i hate ads.
i'm not a huge stern fan. but will listen when have the time and i can pick it up. when i was a commuter to nyc i listened to stern everyday. nowadays it usually only when the local npr outfit is doing it's pledge drive (yes i give, but i hate listening to the drive).
anyway. before it was a toss up XM v sirius. now it's a no-brainer: sirius.
i'm willing to bet (and people have put $0.5billion on it) there will be an immediate and signifigant bump in sirius' subscriptions in the next few weeks/months.
ultimately, this is only big because it gives them a serious (sirius, HA!) advantage vs XM.
right, so they're going to patch all of their console games then?
don't know anyone on Xbox Live that would even care about using a KB/M, seeing as most console-FPS gamers actually prefer using a controller anyway, or at the very least have gotten used to it.
we'll see if they'll get used to being headshot repeatedly at their spawn.
people who prefer dual analog to kb/m deserve no mercy.
i know it's flamebait. but seriously, as bland of a candidate as kerry is can you honestly say, of bush, that you still trust him?
nerds are smart.
people who support bush arent. it's that simple.
bring it on.
it's not the blogospehere's fault that there's no middle ground. the bushies have created a campaign (and an administration) that has at every turn justified it's decisions with bad science, poor intelligence and, at times, outright lies.
it's hard to have a civilized debate when the other side just screams at the top it's lungs "i don't care, you're a terrorist".
see you in hell.
you lost me when you said:
I'm also a big believer in Adam Smith's invisible hand
show me a free market and i'll prove you a liar.
where does the line to throw rocks at him start? do i need a ticket?
what a pompous ass
yes, they can technically win. but, when you say
you're dead wrong. the 3rd parties are forced into being one issue horses because of the dominance of the 2 parties. we live in a first past the post winner take all country. there's no prize for second place, so why bother. the only way 3rd parties can get ANYONE on board is if they play to single issue voters.
also, almost all of boards of election (they are county level) in the nation are run by just R's and D's. there IS an institutional bias against 3rd parties in the US. that is a fact.
isn't it? or maybe we're fucking with the whales too much, again.
i love it when she says "your neutrinos are drifting"
wow, i can't believe i just admitted being such a loser.
these days?
it's certainly not impossible. but it is certainly inconvenient. just the fact that i have to power the phone off irritates me.
look, i own the phone. I like the phone. i am keeping the phone. i've weighed the options and *I* can live with these inconveniences.
but, considering what was promised of the phone, and the horseshit excuses VZW and MOTO have been putting out ("buy it know, an update is coming sometime between your first bill and when hell freezes over") I can understand why a large number of people are angry.
they will probably release a new firmware so you can synch (addresses, phone numbers, appointments) but i doubt we'll ever get BT file transfer.
no. it doesn't support ev-do. i think you want the a780[phonescoop.com]. all the features of the 710 (1.3mp camera, mp3, flip, bt) PLUS quadband support, linux OS, ev-do support and a touchscreen (it's also a flip!).
of course, VZW probably wont carry it.
the only thing VZW wants to 'secure' is their get it now, text messaging, and data traffic revenue.
if this was purely because of security concerns then why don't they support the transfer of files via USB?
the reason is that they don't want to is because cellular voice traffic is commoditized and a loss leader these days. their business model is to offer competively priced and widespread availabilty of voice plans then ream everyone on data, picture messaging and other features.
this isn't necessarily bad. but when i buy a $350 phone that claims to synch and x-fer files via BT i want it to perform as advertised.
that being said, i'm still keeping my v710. furhtermore the v710 made me switch from sprint. verizon is definitely shrewd.
with the 710 you cannot transfer files via BT or via USB. i have one. you can only do it via messaging (only 25 picture messages/month). or by using a transflash card (a micro sd card) that is nearly impossible to remove (you need to power off the phone and use tweezers). there are people that are working on developing usb hack to do this (as of now they can read and overwrite files on the phone via usb. but this is difficult to do and not officially supported)
furthermore, as of now, you can't even synch you addressbook/appointments via BT, you have to buy a USB cable. motorola claims they will fix this, but i doubt it.
but, verizon is still has the best coverage in the US and this phone is pretty good (flip, 1.3megapixel camera, BT(only headset and modem profiles), mp3 player, video player, upto 128mb removable flash memory, nice screen--though definitely not the best)
i get enough suspicous looks from security stations for having a plain usb key. every time i go the stae capitol this is the conversation:
"what is this? a pocket knife?"
"no, it's a usb-key"
"a what?"
"it's for backing up computer files"
then they study it intensley for a minute trying to imagine a way that one could impale someone with 128mb of MSaccess files.
you could always just download the iso and get a keygen (you may argue that a game company can disappear in a year, but piracy is here to stay). sure, you can't play online then, but if valve is gone then so is online multiplay.
physical media sucks. it gets lost, scratched, and obsolete. why buy cd's? how do you know the CD format will be here in 10 years? ok. i'm being an asshole but so are you.
while i do agree that for the forseeable future this is fantasy it is an exciting idea.
30-40 years ago the concept of a personal computer would have evoked a similar response. let alone some kind of "invisible global network" that people could access with computers carried in their pockets.
this could work if and when mobile cpus have enough power (both computing and electrical) and, i would imagine, that much of this "grid" would be stationary Access Points (or perhaps they'd be more like relay stations).
but yes, this probably isn't going to catch on anytime soon.
look, i've given extensive trials (at least a month of solid 40hr/week usage) of the major browsers: Netscape (since 4), opera, safari, mozilla, firefox, ie. but, in a MSwindows environment, nothing beats the real-world performance of ie.
it does have a host of problems. but these aren't the days of ie4 where the browser really did crash every 30 minutes. and ALL of the pages that i need load properly.
ie6 loads signifgantly faster than mozilla on every machine i try (recently that's from an amd k6-2 366 to a p4). additionally, i do not have to worry about pages not rendering properly.
look, ie has security holes. and so does firefox. i run fully patched ie, behind a configured firewall with a current antivirus that has script blocking and i use a pop-up blocker (google toolbar).
it loads fast(er). it renders pages well. it handles plugins well.
i am not a web designer. perhaps my rudimentary html knowledge and cursory understanding of css leaves me blind to ie's "obvious flaws" but so would most of consumer computing market.
the "features" that mozilla boast aren't all that important to me. tabbed browsing isn't all that hot. I've been trained to look to the taskbar (and now with xp click on the ie group) to see what pages i'm browsing. and i am far too quick on the close button (and checking "don't aske me again") to make use of tabbed browsing. I have often closed several pages at once when i am tab browsing.
in fact, the ONLY feature that i can think of that firefox boasts is that it can--unlike ie--rememeber the web page icons (is that what they are called?). but even with firefox, it's not perfect (it will refresh only after you've gone to the page. but at least it does. ie forgets it 1 day after saving the favorite).
perhaps i'm missing the point, but i like to quickly, conviently, reliably access the web. and, in a properely maintained and secured environment and with a user who doesn't install weatherbug every 30 minutes ie is better at those tasks than any other broswer available for a MSwindows environment.