Convert your text into mp3's and listen to them at a high rate of speed.
Blind people know all about this, but if you listen to high speed text you will get used to it. Try gradually increasing the speed...
Eventually you'll be going through 3-4 lengthy books in a week and without eye strain.
Project Gutenberg provides the fuel, and textaloud mp3 provides the engine.
There has been a story on here about ATT's new voice engine, natural voices, and it's absolutely phenomenal. At their higher end voices, it's virtually indistinguishable from human speech. (It's WAY beyond the "hawking" voice now.)
Anyways, I'm hooked to text-mp3's... I think most people will be too in a few years.
BTW, there's a pretty thriving ebook community on IRC as well.
NEways... good luck if you were looking for this. If you weren't, hope you have a good appetite for dust.
An interesting corollary to your proposition that people wouldn't buy these programs if they couldn't get them for free is that the rate of proliferation of free software like Linux is hurt by commercial software piracy.
Another is that since the users wouldn't buy the software anyway, it makes financial sense to try and extort quick settlements from them with the threat of civil or even criminal court actions.
The author of this anti-republican screed implies that the destruction of an entire planet is justified because Princess Leia is guilty of a few instances of lying to her mortal enemy, the empire. If Mr. Last is so willing to condemn people for a few mistakes, he ought to be punctilious about his own presentation of the facts.
Instead, he seems to be pretty free with analogies he clearly knows nothing about.
One particular example of this sloppiness is his statement that: "The Force, it turns out, is an inherited, genetic trait. If you don't have the blood, you don't get the Force. Which makes the Jedi not a democratic militia, but a royalist Swiss guard."
Now, it is true that the Swiss guard is an elite force. But Mr. Last is simply incorrect that it is, in any way, "royalist."
I present to you the official list of prerequisites for service in the Swiss guard:
To be Swiss citizen
Of catholic-Roman confession
To have an irreproachable reputation
To have achieved the school of recruit (Swiss)
To be old of 19 to 30 years
To measure more than 174 cm
To be unmarried
To have to finish successfully a training or a secondary school of the second degree
If Mr. Last would condemn others for their mistakes, he ought to be more careful about his own facts.
Movie theaters were probably thought to be similar breeding grounds for dissoluteness back in the 1920s when the problem was really that the parents didn't care enough about what their children were doing.
Actually, you're right, they were. I took a film history class in college, and one of the earliest arguments against movie theaters was that they were places for white slavery. Basically people associated the darkness of the movie theater with the evil that must be lurking there. Added to the relatively free hand of directors before censorship got underway and you had a pretty decent paranoia built up...
I'm sorry I can't find any great links summarizing this history, but here's something representative:
"As a student of classical languages I can't express how enough how annyoing it is to hear someone incorrectly use a word they got out of the thesaurus."
I'm sure we all pity your plight.
plight/plVIt/ n.2ME. [AN plit var. of OFr. ploit, pleit fold, PLAIT n. In branch I perh. infl. by prec.] I 1 Condition, state. Now esp. an unfortunate condition, a predicament. ME.
What is ironic about your post, however,
ironic/VI"rQnIk/ a.M17. [Fr. ironique or late L ironicus f. Gk eironikos dissembling, feigning ignorance, f. as IRONY n.: see -IC.] Pertaining to irony; uttering or given to irony; of the nature of or containing irony; = IRONICAL 1, 2.That's not a very satisfying definition, is it? Oh well.
is that so many of the words in the OED are there because of an initial misusage . ..
misusage/mIs"ju:sIdZ/ n. Now rare.M16. [f. MIS-1 2 + USAGE.]1 Misconduct; corrupt practice, abuse. M-L16.2 Ill usage; mistreatment. Formerly also in pl., instances of this. M16. 3 Bad or wrong use, misuse. M16.
. ..that became accepted and standardized.
You could learn a lesson from Samuel Johnson, friend. Words change... so should you.
Read the professor and the madman, it's a great read and will explain to you that this is the same process they used to collect all of the original words...
It was a joint collaboration very much like open-source software!
Expect this info, if available, to be used against you in the most prejudicial way.
The emphasis should be on "if available," I think you meant technologically available and not practically available, but let's assume it is the first.
There really aren't any regulations or statutes pertaining to the sale of this type of information; only very narrow classes of information are protected at all by law (medical records, the privacy rights to which you waive if you have insurance; video rental records, explicitly protected by Congress after the Bork confirmation hearings; student records, also protected from disclosure by statute). Everythign else is pretty much fair game.
These types of information are all protected because there was a perceived need to protect them. So, what makes you think that the powers that be are going to finance a giant system to allow everyone to access video archives of John Q.'s every move? Do you really believe that this could happen, that it is politically possible?
Personally, I'm undecided whether this is such a horrible thing. I mean, granted, it is sort of scary, having cameras everywhere, but hell, these are public places, and it wouldn't be wrong for a policeman to be standing there in the first place... I just don't really see the harm. Now, you're right, if everyone could access my most drunken indiscretions, I would be embarrassed as hell. Probably not in jail, just embarrassed. But, I don't see how it could possibly happen that a giant public database of all of our public movements will be made available to any and all people. It just, as a practical political matter is not going to happen. If it does, then I'll support initiatives like this map of non cctv supervised areas. Until then, I think it's a silly exercise.
Courts are "experts", an expert's opinions have the weight of facts.
Facts? Weight? Where?
The court's opinion is precedent in whatever jurisdiction it has authority over. Of course, the state supreme court can overrule them, and the other jurisdictions aren't bound too follow them although they can be persuasive.
Expert is a term of art in law for someone qualified to speak on a topic as a witness in the court.
Absolutely, right on point. I was about to say the same thing, but thought I'd search and see if anyone else had mentioned this.
How ironic is this? Every time freedoms are diminished in war, there is a consensus that it was wrong and shouldn't happen again. Thousands died in meaningless violence in September, should we add to that tragedy by allowing our freedoms to be curtailed?
Isn't it about time we learned this lesson?
It seems easy enough to understand that we need to sacrifice to remain free when we view it in terms of soldiers overseas, but we too must do what it takes to maintain our liberties here at home.
I guess I'm just not as attached to the aural and tactile features of my keyboard as you guys are.
This sounds like a great device, and I want one already... The only problem is it doesn't really look like it exists. Their contact page is an error, and you can't order one anywhere. Additionally, there's no video of a working model on there. Maybe this is someone's PR homework?
Actually, you have reason to be even less whelmed...:) The datalink has an infrared adapter for those with laptop monitors, so you can update it from any computer with a serial port...
Well actually, you could also use IR on the datalink. I bought a little adapter from Timex that would update the datalink via IR. The main purpose behind it was that you couldn't use the bar code feature with a laptop monitor.
I loved that watch. Then I left it at a restaurant by accident, and of course, none of the bus boys owned up to finding it. It's funny, it had a bunch of phone number that were useful to me, but they'll never be able to use. Oh well.
This fossil watch sounds like a great idea, I wonder why the datalink wasn't more popular.
I agree, why would we want to include humour? I'd much rather read stories while frowning and pouting. Laughing and smiling is for suckers and 'oh yeah, HUMAN BEINGS!! Don't be such a dumb ass.
Slashdot Mirror
Convert your text into mp3's and listen to them at a high rate of speed.
Blind people know all about this, but if you listen to high speed text you will get used to it. Try gradually increasing the speed...
Eventually you'll be going through 3-4 lengthy books in a week and without eye strain.
Project Gutenberg provides the fuel, and textaloud mp3 provides the engine.
There has been a story on here about ATT's new voice engine, natural voices, and it's absolutely phenomenal. At their higher end voices, it's virtually indistinguishable from human speech. (It's WAY beyond the "hawking" voice now.)
Anyways, I'm hooked to text-mp3's... I think most people will be too in a few years.
BTW, there's a pretty thriving ebook community on IRC as well.
NEways... good luck if you were looking for this. If you weren't, hope you have a good appetite for dust.
An interesting corollary to your proposition that people wouldn't buy these programs if they couldn't get them for free is that the rate of proliferation of free software like Linux is hurt by commercial software piracy.
Another is that since the users wouldn't buy the software anyway, it makes financial sense to try and extort quick settlements from them with the threat of civil or even criminal court actions.
. . .well DUH. Weren't we all thinking the same thing anyway?
The author of this anti-republican screed implies that the destruction of an entire planet is justified because Princess Leia is guilty of a few instances of lying to her mortal enemy, the empire. If Mr. Last is so willing to condemn people for a few mistakes, he ought to be punctilious about his own presentation of the facts.
Instead, he seems to be pretty free with analogies he clearly knows nothing about.
One particular example of this sloppiness is his statement that: "The Force, it turns out, is an inherited, genetic trait. If you don't have the blood, you don't get the Force. Which makes the Jedi not a democratic militia, but a royalist Swiss guard."
Now, it is true that the Swiss guard is an elite force. But Mr. Last is simply incorrect that it is, in any way, "royalist."
I present to you the official list of prerequisites for service in the Swiss guard:
To be Swiss citizen
Of catholic-Roman confession
To have an irreproachable reputation
To have achieved the school of recruit (Swiss)
To be old of 19 to 30 years
To measure more than 174 cm
To be unmarried
To have to finish successfully a training or a secondary school of the second degree
If Mr. Last would condemn others for their mistakes, he ought to be more careful about his own facts.
or is there no "record" button on this miracle of hi-tech?
Movie theaters were probably thought to be similar breeding grounds for dissoluteness back in the 1920s when the problem was really that the parents didn't care enough about what their children were doing.
:)
Actually, you're right, they were. I took a film history class in college, and one of the earliest arguments against movie theaters was that they were places for white slavery. Basically people associated the darkness of the movie theater with the evil that must be lurking there. Added to the relatively free hand of directors before censorship got underway and you had a pretty decent paranoia built up...
I'm sorry I can't find any great links summarizing this history, but here's something representative:
linkification
By the way, to the one reply, I love the MusicMan reference!
I would think this is more analogous to setting up forts and stringing heavy chains across rivers that used to be publicly navigable.
Why should content providers be happy about someone getting money for being a gatekeeper? It's not like they're getting any benefit from this.
:) That's what I was thinking... This created a lot of publicity...
Maybe you're joking, but you're right about Ashcroft's persecution complex and our loss of liberties, friend.
INCORRECT! The best show Discovery ever had (and still has) is "Walking with Prehistoric Beasts."
If you haven't walked with the beasts, you haven't lived.
I'm sure we all pity your plight.
What is ironic about your post, however,
is that so many of the words in the OED are there because of an initial misusage . .
. .
You could learn a lesson from Samuel Johnson, friend. Words change... so should you.
Read the professor and the madman, it's a great read and will explain to you that this is the same process they used to collect all of the original words...
It was a joint collaboration very much like open-source software!
Yes, clearly RAID is a stoopid answer...
Where will you be without your data after your house is nuked huh?
A well trained runner can chase most game animals until they collapse of heat prostration.
Did you by any chance hear the "This American Life," where the narrator and his brother tried to run down some antelope to prove your theory?
It was pretty amusing, they never did bag their antelope..
I think your apathy belies serious naivete.
I think your paranoia belies something similar.
Expect this info, if available, to be used against you in the most prejudicial way.
The emphasis should be on "if available," I think you meant technologically available and not practically available, but let's assume it is the first.
There really aren't any regulations or statutes pertaining to the sale of this type of information; only very narrow classes of information are protected at all by law (medical records, the privacy rights to which you waive if you have insurance; video rental records, explicitly protected by Congress after the Bork confirmation hearings; student records, also protected from disclosure by statute). Everythign else is pretty much fair game.
These types of information are all protected because there was a perceived need to protect them. So, what makes you think that the powers that be are going to finance a giant system to allow everyone to access video archives of John Q.'s every move? Do you really believe that this could happen, that it is politically possible?
Personally, I'm undecided whether this is such a horrible thing. I mean, granted, it is sort of scary, having cameras everywhere, but hell, these are public places, and it wouldn't be wrong for a policeman to be standing there in the first place... I just don't really see the harm. Now, you're right, if everyone could access my most drunken indiscretions, I would be embarrassed as hell. Probably not in jail, just embarrassed. But, I don't see how it could possibly happen that a giant public database of all of our public movements will be made available to any and all people. It just, as a practical political matter is not going to happen. If it does, then I'll support initiatives like this map of non cctv supervised areas. Until then, I think it's a silly exercise.
Courts are "experts", an expert's opinions have the weight of facts. Facts? Weight? Where?
The court's opinion is precedent in whatever jurisdiction it has authority over. Of course, the state supreme court can overrule them, and the other jurisdictions aren't bound too follow them although they can be persuasive.
Expert is a term of art in law for someone qualified to speak on a topic as a witness in the court.
Absolutely, right on point. I was about to say the same thing, but thought I'd search and see if anyone else had mentioned this.
How ironic is this? Every time freedoms are diminished in war, there is a consensus that it was wrong and shouldn't happen again. Thousands died in meaningless violence in September, should we add to that tragedy by allowing our freedoms to be curtailed?
Isn't it about time we learned this lesson?
It seems easy enough to understand that we need to sacrifice to remain free when we view it in terms of soldiers overseas, but we too must do what it takes to maintain our liberties here at home.
That is a great tip Mr. Lumpy. I didn't have the slightest clue those existed. Now I want one...
Hmmm...
It would if you wanted to talk to your computer all the time... I think I'd prefer silent interface myself...
I guess I'm just not as attached to the aural and tactile features of my keyboard as you guys are.
This sounds like a great device, and I want one already... The only problem is it doesn't really look like it exists. Their contact page is an error, and you can't order one anywhere. Additionally, there's no video of a working model on there. Maybe this is someone's PR homework?
Actually, you have reason to be even less whelmed... :) The datalink has an infrared adapter for those with laptop monitors, so you can update it from any computer with a serial port...
Well actually, you could also use IR on the datalink. I bought a little adapter from Timex that would update the datalink via IR. The main purpose behind it was that you couldn't use the bar code feature with a laptop monitor.
I loved that watch. Then I left it at a restaurant by accident, and of course, none of the bus boys owned up to finding it. It's funny, it had a bunch of phone number that were useful to me, but they'll never be able to use. Oh well.
This fossil watch sounds like a great idea, I wonder why the datalink wasn't more popular.
I agree, why would we want to include humour? I'd much rather read stories while frowning and pouting. Laughing and smiling is for suckers and 'oh yeah, HUMAN BEINGS!! Don't be such a dumb ass.
Why was this rated off-topic?
Actually, legally, corporations are "persons," fictional persons, but persons nonetheless. Sue away.
I know I do.
Personally since seeing AI, I've wanted a teddy bear that is smarter than I am.