1) Living longer, doesn't mean being able to work longer. What percentage of people living to 80 instead of 70 spend those extra 10 years of life demented in a nursing home?
2) A higher retirement age means less jobs available for the youngest generation. Comic book man now lives in parent's basement until 45 yrs old, instead of 35... there just aren't extra jobs (sure as hell aren't creating jobs otherwise).
3) Political realities (or rather the fantasies that pass for reality in DC) dictate that not only do we have to keep the current flawed system as is, but create a secondary one in its place even more flawed. Pointing out how insane it is does nothing, the lunatics run this asylum.
Good idea. I want to be competing with 70 yr olds who have 45 years of experience. Young people have enough trouble finding decent jobs. Thanks Mr. AARP.
Ask me to invite you to metanet, and when you get there, start inviting people yourself.
Or you can fight the good political fight, and they'll even toss you a token victory once or twice a decade, while passing more extreme versions of the law after you let down your guard. Up to you.
Things got a little pissy in europe in the 1940s. Most reasonable people could care less whether someone is allowed to own a Nazi flag or not... it's that a nation might go too far in banning such things. The Nazis sort of proved they had no right to exist, but if the government doesn't like you, all they have to do is claim you're some covert neonazi group, and pretty soon all the same prohibitions apply to your group.
Even here in the US, nazis are only protected in principle, not because the fuckhats deserve to be protected.
Generic cards can be pretty cheap. I've seen them at $1 per, qty 100. DirecTV requires a custom ASIC, and I have no idea what process it uses but the features are probably pretty damn small. This guy may only be able to speak for DTV, but I'd imagine Dishnet pays a similar price.
I'm not disputing that this might be their philosophy, but no one can argue that it's cheap.
Even at their quantities, a card is still a non-trivial cost. Let's say it's only $5. Times 10 million subscribers, thats $50 million dollars. Then, logistics for shipping all of them. Double that. Add to it people who have older recievers, that just won't work, despite extensive testing. They'll spend $150 per subscriber there, and they'll do it because they don't want to risk losing that customer. I have no way to estimate how often this happens, but my guess is 25,000-100,000 for the p3-p4/p5 swap alone.
And in truth, what does it gain them? The conversion rate from satellite hackers to paying subscribers can't be that high, even when hacks are unavailable. And those conversions will only remain loyal as long as hacks remain unavailable. If they converted 200,000 such people with the last swap, I'd be shocked. And I would think that's the minimum necessary, to even break even.
From an accounting standpoint, this can't be justified on dollar amounts alone. You have to start figuring in other factors... such as strategy. If they can use high piracy numbers to get lucrative legislation passed, maybe you can make up for it in the long run (something that corporations are notorious for ignoring). But even if that is the case, this runs things in the complete opposite direction... at the moment, DirecTV has reduced their "piracy" problem from a high of maybe 400,000 at its peak, to no more than 5-10 (serious number). At the moment, no one who doesn't have access to a million dollar lab is completely locked out, and I have my doubts that even a proof of concept hack exists.
But it gets even weirder. of that 400,000 number, I'd say close to half were canadian... completely unavailable (by law) as customers. For them, there is no conversion possible.
None of it makes any sense, so I'm obviously missing pieces here and there. However, that only makes me suspicious that they're *really* up to something stinky.
Can they afford another card swap so quickly? I was suprised to see the P3 die so quickly after the P2, but P4 and P5 are already out... to retire those even a year from now seems insane.
Bullshit. Brother Farakhan says that the cold harsh weather of the scandinavian countries shriveled both the hearts and brains of whitey (not to mention the penis). They're all brutal oppressors who exist only to prevent you from getting your rightful slavery reparations check.
"If you're concerned about soviet invasion, then your fellow citizens probably are too. Setting up a soviet invasion watch scheme could help. The biggest deterrent is making sure that our homeland is carefully monitored for commie scouts. Most civil defense headquarters have soviet protection officers. That should be the first place you ask for help!"
I've been thinking the same thing. But instead of paintball, I plan on building a custom water cannon. It would fire 2 streams of water, either saline or with some funky polymer I've read about (maybe both), and would have some sort of voltage applied to it. Maybe selectively, wouldn't always want to fry people, just zap their asses once in awhile.
Wouldn't hurt to have the ED209 voice either, "RRROAAR! You have 10 seconds to comply."
That, along with my 2 inch thick steal front door with vault locks on it, and the SWAT team won't have any fun raiding my place.
EFC's last season is more than an honorable mention. It is unwatchable. The Core was horrid. I stand by it being the #1. And you filled up the list too quickly, no room left for Ep.5 AoTC.
Stargate the movie was actually kinda cool, what's your grudge against it?
Enterprise is bad, I'll concede. But Voyager consistently outsucks everything to date. Hmm, DS9 does sort of tie Voyager though..
You don't think that the screen won't have 2 columns? Will the checkbox widget in the middle be for the left column, or the right? Should it pop up a confirmation dialog asking "Do you *REALLY* want to vote for George Pidnick?" ? Will it enforce stupid things, like insisting that I fill in a checkbox in each election (even if I only want to vote presidential) ? After all, the same shitty programmer wannabes that do websites now, will probably be hired to write voting machine software...
A Portfolio with custom hardware, specifically a card that listens to and uses EM noise to attack unshielded electronics inside the ATM chassis, probably plugged into the Atari's serial port. Certain ATMs are vulnerable to pin-snarfing this way.
Not to mention, at the time, the Portfolio was one of the most portable machines... should he have lugged around a Compaq CRT/lunchbox computer?
Well, you didn't say much that I didn't already say, except to try and cloud things with details.
Maybe we do need someone to give permission for one person to get a house. I just feel that there are better ways to appoint people to do that, other than allowing the welathiest families from 500 years ago to set up an entire sham of a system.
Barter doesn't work. We can agree on that. But allowing the bank to earn interest on the same money 9 times over, allowing a private corporation to issue our money, just seems really dumb. But hey, you like it. Maybe when they finally own everything, they'll make your grandchildren pampered little lapdogs, I dunno.
Awesome? Ok, I admit it... I have discovered science fiction that is in fact worse than Firefly. Towards that end, I'm making a Top 10 list. Please contribute folks (not all the slots are filled).
#10 - #9 - The final season of Earth: Final Conflict. (Note: the first season is quite good, the rest are watchable) #8 - #7 - Any season of Star Trek: Voyager. #6 - #5 - Plan 9 Frome Outer Space #4 - Fox News #3 - #2 -
And the #1 Worse than Firefly Science Fiction show is....
Andromeda is much more watchable than Voyager even, let alone Firefly. The last episode I've seen, has Harper pulling a neat trick with a space station, to slow down the invaders... he speeds up the rotation, increasing percieved gravity by 400%. If only Star Trek could learn from this.
Matter of fact, I've not seen any dumb pseudo-science on it approaching the level of even the best of Voyager.
The entire premise, with him living 5 seconds what is actually 300 years, due to relavistic effects... that was pretty solid. The Nietzcheans, the Magog, the conflicts all seem real, somewhat important. It's somewhat original, too. It's not as bad a show as I originally thought, even if it's slightly campy at times (maybe it was Farscape that taught me campy isn't always bad).
Ok, this is dumb, and I can prove it. If you really meant "Dubya is still the least bad of a bad lot"... you might retain a little credibility. But even with that, it's implying you would want to see someone else (even a non-candidate) as president.
The way you worded it, you think he is the best person for the job out of all possible candidates, even hypothetical ones. Could you be any more retarded?
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Problems with that:
1) Living longer, doesn't mean being able to work longer. What percentage of people living to 80 instead of 70 spend those extra 10 years of life demented in a nursing home?
2) A higher retirement age means less jobs available for the youngest generation. Comic book man now lives in parent's basement until 45 yrs old, instead of 35... there just aren't extra jobs (sure as hell aren't creating jobs otherwise).
3) Political realities (or rather the fantasies that pass for reality in DC) dictate that not only do we have to keep the current flawed system as is, but create a secondary one in its place even more flawed. Pointing out how insane it is does nothing, the lunatics run this asylum.
Good idea. I want to be competing with 70 yr olds who have 45 years of experience. Young people have enough trouble finding decent jobs. Thanks Mr. AARP.
They won because they had starred in The Predator. Carl Weathers will become govenor of some eastern state by 2016.
Ask me to invite you to metanet, and when you get there, start inviting people yourself.
Or you can fight the good political fight, and they'll even toss you a token victory once or twice a decade, while passing more extreme versions of the law after you let down your guard. Up to you.
Things got a little pissy in europe in the 1940s. Most reasonable people could care less whether someone is allowed to own a Nazi flag or not... it's that a nation might go too far in banning such things. The Nazis sort of proved they had no right to exist, but if the government doesn't like you, all they have to do is claim you're some covert neonazi group, and pretty soon all the same prohibitions apply to your group.
Even here in the US, nazis are only protected in principle, not because the fuckhats deserve to be protected.
Generic cards can be pretty cheap. I've seen them at $1 per, qty 100. DirecTV requires a custom ASIC, and I have no idea what process it uses but the features are probably pretty damn small. This guy may only be able to speak for DTV, but I'd imagine Dishnet pays a similar price.
So, the price doubles. I won't tell anyone you work for NDS. ;)
Only after several levels of indirection. For instance, there is no "canadian HBO", but you can find The Sopranos on canadian channels.
;-)
Wonder if it's illegal for me to hack Bell Express Vu?
I'm not a potential rapist, but I do want one of those funky pirate hats. Hell, maybe even an eyepatch.
I'm not disputing that this might be their philosophy, but no one can argue that it's cheap.
Even at their quantities, a card is still a non-trivial cost. Let's say it's only $5. Times 10 million subscribers, thats $50 million dollars. Then, logistics for shipping all of them. Double that. Add to it people who have older recievers, that just won't work, despite extensive testing. They'll spend $150 per subscriber there, and they'll do it because they don't want to risk losing that customer. I have no way to estimate how often this happens, but my guess is 25,000-100,000 for the p3-p4/p5 swap alone.
And in truth, what does it gain them? The conversion rate from satellite hackers to paying subscribers can't be that high, even when hacks are unavailable. And those conversions will only remain loyal as long as hacks remain unavailable. If they converted 200,000 such people with the last swap, I'd be shocked. And I would think that's the minimum necessary, to even break even.
From an accounting standpoint, this can't be justified on dollar amounts alone. You have to start figuring in other factors... such as strategy. If they can use high piracy numbers to get lucrative legislation passed, maybe you can make up for it in the long run (something that corporations are notorious for ignoring). But even if that is the case, this runs things in the complete opposite direction... at the moment, DirecTV has reduced their "piracy" problem from a high of maybe 400,000 at its peak, to no more than 5-10 (serious number). At the moment, no one who doesn't have access to a million dollar lab is completely locked out, and I have my doubts that even a proof of concept hack exists.
But it gets even weirder. of that 400,000 number, I'd say close to half were canadian... completely unavailable (by law) as customers. For them, there is no conversion possible.
None of it makes any sense, so I'm obviously missing pieces here and there. However, that only makes me suspicious that they're *really* up to something stinky.
Can they afford another card swap so quickly? I was suprised to see the P3 die so quickly after the P2, but P4 and P5 are already out... to retire those even a year from now seems insane.
Bullshit. Brother Farakhan says that the cold harsh weather of the scandinavian countries shriveled both the hearts and brains of whitey (not to mention the penis). They're all brutal oppressors who exist only to prevent you from getting your rightful slavery reparations check.
That worked in the 1980s too.
"If you're concerned about soviet invasion, then your fellow citizens probably are too. Setting up a soviet invasion watch scheme could help. The biggest deterrent is making sure that our homeland is carefully monitored for commie scouts. Most civil defense headquarters have soviet protection officers. That should be the first place you ask for help!"
I've been thinking the same thing. But instead of paintball, I plan on building a custom water cannon. It would fire 2 streams of water, either saline or with some funky polymer I've read about (maybe both), and would have some sort of voltage applied to it. Maybe selectively, wouldn't always want to fry people, just zap their asses once in awhile.
Wouldn't hurt to have the ED209 voice either, "RRROAAR! You have 10 seconds to comply."
That, along with my 2 inch thick steal front door with vault locks on it, and the SWAT team won't have any fun raiding my place.
Too agressive. The last one we elected, invaded Iraq on some rather flimsy evidence of WMDs.
EFC's last season is more than an honorable mention. It is unwatchable. The Core was horrid. I stand by it being the #1. And you filled up the list too quickly, no room left for Ep.5 AoTC.
Stargate the movie was actually kinda cool, what's your grudge against it?
Enterprise is bad, I'll concede. But Voyager consistently outsucks everything to date. Hmm, DS9 does sort of tie Voyager though..
You don't think that the screen won't have 2 columns? Will the checkbox widget in the middle be for the left column, or the right? Should it pop up a confirmation dialog asking "Do you *REALLY* want to vote for George Pidnick?" ? Will it enforce stupid things, like insisting that I fill in a checkbox in each election (even if I only want to vote presidential) ? After all, the same shitty programmer wannabes that do websites now, will probably be hired to write voting machine software...
A Portfolio with custom hardware, specifically a card that listens to and uses EM noise to attack unshielded electronics inside the ATM chassis, probably plugged into the Atari's serial port. Certain ATMs are vulnerable to pin-snarfing this way.
Not to mention, at the time, the Portfolio was one of the most portable machines... should he have lugged around a Compaq CRT/lunchbox computer?
Well, you didn't say much that I didn't already say, except to try and cloud things with details.
Maybe we do need someone to give permission for one person to get a house. I just feel that there are better ways to appoint people to do that, other than allowing the welathiest families from 500 years ago to set up an entire sham of a system.
Barter doesn't work. We can agree on that. But allowing the bank to earn interest on the same money 9 times over, allowing a private corporation to issue our money, just seems really dumb. But hey, you like it. Maybe when they finally own everything, they'll make your grandchildren pampered little lapdogs, I dunno.
Awesome? Ok, I admit it... I have discovered science fiction that is in fact worse than Firefly. Towards that end, I'm making a Top 10 list. Please contribute folks (not all the slots are filled).
#10 -
#9 - The final season of Earth: Final Conflict. (Note: the first season is quite good, the rest are watchable)
#8 -
#7 - Any season of Star Trek: Voyager.
#6 -
#5 - Plan 9 Frome Outer Space
#4 - Fox News
#3 -
#2 -
And the #1 Worse than Firefly Science Fiction show is....
The Core!
Andromeda is much more watchable than Voyager even, let alone Firefly. The last episode I've seen, has Harper pulling a neat trick with a space station, to slow down the invaders... he speeds up the rotation, increasing percieved gravity by 400%. If only Star Trek could learn from this.
Matter of fact, I've not seen any dumb pseudo-science on it approaching the level of even the best of Voyager.
The entire premise, with him living 5 seconds what is actually 300 years, due to relavistic effects... that was pretty solid. The Nietzcheans, the Magog, the conflicts all seem real, somewhat important. It's somewhat original, too. It's not as bad a show as I originally thought, even if it's slightly campy at times (maybe it was Farscape that taught me campy isn't always bad).
Confucius say "Ret me outta here!".
There are those saintly enough, that had they control of all 3 branches, they might truly do good with it.
Do you honestly believe Bush is even close to that level of morality?
Ok, this is dumb, and I can prove it. If you really meant "Dubya is still the least bad of a bad lot"... you might retain a little credibility. But even with that, it's implying you would want to see someone else (even a non-candidate) as president.
The way you worded it, you think he is the best person for the job out of all possible candidates, even hypothetical ones. Could you be any more retarded?
Are you talking about the terrorists, or the republicans? Either way, I say we take the dropship back to the Sulako and nuke them from orbit.