Yes they could and would sue Apple. Unlike apache, microsoft and ibm the apple server exists for one purpose - to serve music. And if that music is being illegally shared.. shrug.
I wouldn't put it past them to sue apple or - at the very least - cancel their contract with apple which would cause apple's Music store to fail miserably.
Since when is apple in the business of law enforcement?
Since a failure to enforce copyright provisions or enabling consumers to share pirated music will cause lawsuits to rain down upon their heads a la kazaa, napster, etc, etc.
Well think about it. How much do you value the time of the programmers working on the code? How much does it cost to have all the equipment necassary to work on linux (mirrors, bandwith, compiling machines, etc, etc). Linux (and OS) is not *free* software, it does cost something but the cost is just not factored into the price since the work is voluntary - in most cases.
I have no idea what Linux, in general, costs if you factored in time, bandiwth, etc but I would not be suprised to see it in the tens of millions.
While I joke about being in liberal arts as much as the next person - as I say i'm in the collegs of Arts and Crafts - liberal arts includes many disciples. Economics, History, Political Science, etc, etc. Not "hurl crap at a canvas"
I could just as easily make fun of the CS deparatment at most colleges consiting mainly of smelly professors who can't teach and have no social skills.
But please, continue your ignorance and prejudice it does make you look oh so smart.
except that the architect says "despite being changed you remain irrevocably human." The machines haven't outright lied to anyone yet so the presumption is that he is still human.
Do they die? I mean really. According to the Architect Neo has been reborn 6 times. This either demonstrates that they can replicate Neo at will or a person can simply be 'reborn' inside the matrix.
It can also be said that they do the "needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" argument to justify killing a few people.
Yeah I thought of that on the way home. I, unfortunately, do not have a equation for human population growth but if you assumed 17 females, 1 kid a year and they just breed like absolute bunnies then you could probably - easily - get 250,000 people (plus people freed from the matrix) which is what they stated the population was of Zion.
hrm. Let's do some math. 17 females x 1 kid a year for 13 years = 221 kids + original 17 and 9. that's a total of 247 after 13 years. Now when the kids start breeding... yeah. I mean we are assuming extreme population growth. I Should probably grab a formula off Google but I *think* it can be done assuming lots and lots of sex =).
Well yeah I'm not positive of a matrix-within-a-matrix. I also thought that they might literally just make Neo a god, a real messiah figure much like paul atreides. It's possible and, heck, wouldn't even be that bad of a thing.
The beginning of the movie when agent smith sent his virus into that guy who was dialing home. And then he had a knife and was ready to kill neo at Zion. He was the guy laying on the table.
Wether or not it was an emp pulse that destroyed them... I'm just not sure. The ship was destroyed and based on previous cannon from the matrix they said that the EMP had a short range. I dunno. We will find out in 6 months I guess =).
No. =). Which is why I maintain that Neo is actually still on the course the machines laid out for him. Think about it. If the machines really wanted him to just "go back to the source" they wouldn't have shown him the scenes of trinity dying. Nor would they destroy that other ship to force trinity to enter the matrix. Remember that one guy said that Neo was still following orders...
Yeah I know... but hey, it isn't the revolution yet!
Hrm. I thought so at first but the ship had been destroyed for well over a minute before the sentinels were stopped. I don't know, I will have to re watch that scene (like everything else in the matrix).
Well all those different neo's were the 6 previous Neo's who had allready fulfilled their destiny like the architect said... of course can you believe the architect? Me thinks you cannot and we will be suprised by how this all fits together.
Actually I believe the Oracle works because she *has lived through the entire thing before!*
Yeah there is definately another world here and alot of stuff is going on. The entire thing, this entire story line, is probably made up. Hell for all we know it could be aliens or Amazon women from the moon controlling humanity. I can SO not wait for the next movie.
how did Neo stop the Sentinels that came at him in the real world?
Simple answer - he is STILL INSIDE THE MATRIX as you said!. All of Zion is in the matrix, everything we've seen is still inside the matrix. Read My Comments on this I won't bother repeating them here. This also answers pretty much the rest of your questions. There is no Zion! It's all fake, a construct to manipulate that 1% of the population who can't accept the matrix (like the architect said).
It makes sense after all, hell I believe (as the previous comment expands on) that Neo is STILL following the course the machines laid out for him. They can create anything they want, why not have layers within layers. I totally agree with you on this... very much so.
Also remember the first movie they said "The One" awoke the first of them from the Matrix and prophesized his return JUST as Neo was supposed to do. Go through the door, select 30 or so people from the Matrix and have them rebuild Zion and prophesize his return.
Heck, it even makes sense that they can't see the sky because of the clouds and the 'solar power' thingy. If they can't see the sky they can't calculate the positions of the stars. If they can't do that they cannot really tell what time or year it is! Absolutely brilliant!
I think 'revolutions' is when Neo finally discovers that there is something outside the matrix within matrix and the *real* reason they keep humans around. Why design all this complexity and all this effort to keeping humans CONSCIOUS? Remember if they real really just wanted humans as batteries why not just use russian sleep - 3 electrodes on the head, send a current through em and you never ever wake up.
I've long thought that the machines actually have a deep seated command to do no harm to humans and are simply trying to work their way around it. It even makes sense because it is apparent that people can be reborn multiple times as evidenced by Neo. Nobody dies the whole darn ball of wax just resets itself every few hundred years. Or it could be the machines just want something to do, i.e. design and run the Matrix. Shrug, who knows?
I actually think this one could end like 1984 with Neo, and everybody else, simply being reset. Which would be very depressing yet... real. and good.
Yeah that cracked me up as well. Also if you watched really close you would've noticed them using something like "ssh v1 exploit (something)" to haxx0r into the computer. Really nifty IMHO.
And man....
SPOILERS BEEP BEEP BEEP SPOILERS BEEP BEEP BEEP
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
All me and my friends can figure out is that they are trapped inside a matrix within a matrix AND neo went on the EXACT COURSE THE MACHINES WANTED HIM ON! It makes perfect sense when you think about it, which is why it is probably wrong.
Yeah Neo (and every other human, even Zion) is still trapped inside the matrix. Reasons? Well let's think about it. They targeted and destroyed one of the hovercraft JUST so Trinity would have to go out and get the power shut off. Two, they showed him the pictures of trinity dying to entice him to go out the other door back into the matrix. Three, Neo was able to destroy those sentinels by THOUGHT outside the Matrix. Four, Neo can see the future. Five, Agent Smith was able to transfer his consciousness into the 'real world'. I don't see how this is possible (I mean a computer program mapping itself to the human synapses?) unless Zion or the 'real world' is actually the matrix. Agents can take over people by 'overwriting' them - in the matrix . Why can Neo see the future... well just like the oracle because *has has already lived it!*
I also think I understand why they alllow Neo to exist and return again and again (besides fixing a flaw). it sets humanity on a predictable course and allows them to control it and fulfills the human need for hope and choice. A messiah, prophecy, etc. Maybe in the first design they had no idea about Neo but now they do and can deal with him, obviously. Destroying him would give rise to perhaps somebody else, some other Messiah who might just succeed in destroying the matrix. It also makes sense for there to be Matrix's inside the Matrix like layers of an onion. After all you can manipulate an entire world, why not make multiple layers?
They said 1% of the population won't accept the matrix. That 1% is given an outlet - to Zion another matrix. That way they can't corrupt or influence the other 99%. Logically, allowing a real human city to exist would be a *very bad no good idea* since they might - jsut might - come up with a weapon or something else that could actually kill the machines. So it makes sense that instead of allowing a real city they make a fake one. Zion also might have different rules and levels of control than the Matrix which allows for people to not understand what is really going on - i.e. they are still in the matrix. Even the idea of 'bending the rules of the computer program' allows for them to take a sample of the human population that doesn't like rules and allow them to break them in ways the machines can control and manipulate.
It is also plausible that the whole idea of humans as 'batteries' is simply a 'red herring' to through humans off the real course of why they are kept around. Perhaps if they figured out THAT they would be able to hurt the machines.
I simply can't wait for the next movie. A really cool ending, much like 1984, would have neo simply fullfilling his purpose, waking up the next generation to live in 'Zion' and telling them he will return and then just replaying the first scene of the orginal Matrix. No hope, despair, etc. But interesting ending nonetheless.
Whew. Good movie.
---- END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER ---
Yeah that's because nobody wants to cut programs or jobs. It's odd that people complain so much about the waste of government programs (and let's face it they do waste a ton of money) but when it comes down to it people often times find the programs quite useful and don't want them cut.
I live in nebraska, a hard core conservative state, and even here people complained enough about what the tax cuts would do that the state legislature raised taxes over the governors objections rather than see massive cuts to the education programs of the state.
If republicans really wanted to make the government smaller then they should cut departments and programs along with spending instead of creating new ones (Department of 'homeland security'). They should know by now that the tactic of 'cut taxes and wait for things to get cut' never actually works since the Federal government just runs a deficit and nobody takes responsibility for it.
No of course not, if gore would've been elected the economy would still be in the same shape it is now, it isn't the presidents fault the economy went in the tank. What would be different is nearly 1.5 trillion in tax cuts for the rich wouldn't have been passed and the federal economy wouldn't have been running record deficits. I also doubt they would've created a massive new federal department that essentially duplicates the functions of other existing departments to combat the nebulous form of 'terrorism'. I also doubt he would've gone to war with Iraq and blown 100$ billion dollars or so they don't have or flat out used the war to deflect attention of americans away from the worsening economy but then again politicians are politicians so who knows.
An urban legend eh? I've looked at plenty of publications, including the official US government budget documents, that show there was indeed a surplus and that - shock - some of that surplus was even used to pay down the debt. Of course who can even be sure with the byzantine way the government does its budget and the weird accounting practices they use - you might indeed be right.
I just wait for the day when the federal government can't keep spending money and cutting taxes and is forced to somehow shave off 500$ billion off the federal budget or come up with a way to shore up social security. That will be interesting to say the least when tens of thousnads of jobs and hundreds of programs are cut.
Oh, I forgot, the California is on the LEFT coast.
Yes that explains why our ever conservative president and congress are busy not only cutting taxes by 500$ billion but at the same time continuing to raise expenses of the federal government. Now we running a near record deficit with no end in sight.. Let me know how that bit of fiscal wisdom - from our RIGHT coast - works.
Here's a hint for you, neither party manages the budgets particularly well at all, they are equally fiscally irresponsible.
Did anyone else find it really interesting that IIS now has text based configuration files. I only have passing expierence using IIS but one of the biggest headaches I have heard from people who use it alot is the fact that IIS is a real pain to configure among multiple machines.
Anyone here run IIS and used these new text based conf files and can comment on them?
Re:Fallout
on
Nuke-Lobbing
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
but all of our nukes are intended to detonate at altitude.
not true at all. The US maintains both Air and ground burst nuclear weapons for a variety of reasons. Air Burst are useful for taking out alot of crap over a wide area. However they are not very effective at taking out hardened targets (bunkers, missle silos, etc) so the us still maintains a large arsenal of groundburst weapons for this reason.
While nuclear weapons can be delivered "clean" they also make "dirty" bombs for the exact opposite purpose. The US, and the russians, used to maintain a large inventory of nukes designed to poison crop fields. Detonate 40-50 airburst over Nebraska,Iowa, and Kansas and watch the breadbasket of the US go to hell due to the fallout from these "dirty" nukes.
Also, nuetron bombs might be what you are thinking of. These weapons have almost no blast or fireball. Instead they are designed to simply put out a large amount of short term radiation, essentially killing everything around them but leaving the cities, etc free of damage and radiation. IIRC these weapons are banned by both sides.
They might also be keeping the humans alive because of a deep seated program for "do no harm" or some such. Now they might have worked their way around this directive (i.e. humans will live better, less hurt, etc if they live in The Matrix) but they cannot out right destroy or just 'put the humans to sleep'
Re:Also get free POP3 Hotmail access for spam free
on
FTC vs Spammers
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· Score: 1
Thank you so very much for that link, that is the best thing ever.
To my knowledge there is no way in heck they can detect another computer behind a Nat. It sounds like BS or a scare tactic. Absolutely ridiculous.
While I on the subject of crappy ISP's I don't understand what is the point of all these conditions. I have friends that work for a fairly large (state-wide), very profitable, ISP that has none of this. Heck they even allow you to resell the service if you so desire. As they say, as long as they make money why should they care? As they see it these restrictive terms drive people directly to them. For instance they started reselling Time Warner's Cable service. TW prohibits Web Servers and such but they do not. Result - alot of customers switching over to them because of the less restrictive terms of use.
If you are in Nebraska, or western edge of Iowa some areas of south dakot and Kansas, I highly recommend Internet Nebraska, they provide DSL, dialup, and cable and their terms and conditions are extremely reasonable. Not to mention they are nice people. =)
Not only linux rescue but Knoppix as well, can't recommend that enough. I also find a number of other things quite handy, i'm a windows pc tech workign with about 500 computers and this is what I carry in my backup when i go around and do maint.
Leatherman - Always carry one with you. Has damm near every tool you will ever need to fix a computer
Norton Ghost - Ghost images of computers are so very, very, very,very helpful of a trick/tool
Every copy of windows you can find with there respective boot disks
A Laptop with NIC/Modem. seriously helpful if you need drivers off the internet and a computer is broken.
The largest collection of drivers you can find. Just grab em and keep them. Drivers aren't that big and ever my collection (a few thousand) doesn't exceed 1 gbyte
Maxtor/IBM/WD/etc hard disk testing software. Each company puts out it's own disks with these testing utilities on them. Search their pages to find the respective ones you will need.
mcafee viruscan, updated w/ a emergency repair disk(I prefer to use 4.x version. Still updated regularly and works quite well). Self-explanatory
Windows Service Packs, etc just in case they only have a modem connection
Looking through my backpack that's about all I can find.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes they could and would sue Apple. Unlike apache, microsoft and ibm the apple server exists for one purpose - to serve music. And if that music is being illegally shared.. shrug.
I wouldn't put it past them to sue apple or - at the very least - cancel their contract with apple which would cause apple's Music store to fail miserably.
Since when is apple in the business of law enforcement?
Since a failure to enforce copyright provisions or enabling consumers to share pirated music will cause lawsuits to rain down upon their heads a la kazaa, napster, etc, etc.
Gazillions to develop? Really?
Let's see your pay-stubs.
Well think about it. How much do you value the time of the programmers working on the code? How much does it cost to have all the equipment necassary to work on linux (mirrors, bandwith, compiling machines, etc, etc). Linux (and OS) is not *free* software, it does cost something but the cost is just not factored into the price since the work is voluntary - in most cases.
I have no idea what Linux, in general, costs if you factored in time, bandiwth, etc but I would not be suprised to see it in the tens of millions.
How did this get modded up?
While I joke about being in liberal arts as much as the next person - as I say i'm in the collegs of Arts and Crafts - liberal arts includes many disciples. Economics, History, Political Science, etc, etc. Not "hurl crap at a canvas"
I could just as easily make fun of the CS deparatment at most colleges consiting mainly of smelly professors who can't teach and have no social skills.
But please, continue your ignorance and prejudice it does make you look oh so smart.
except that the architect says "despite being changed you remain irrevocably human." The machines haven't outright lied to anyone yet so the presumption is that he is still human.
Do they die? I mean really. According to the Architect Neo has been reborn 6 times. This either demonstrates that they can replicate Neo at will or a person can simply be 'reborn' inside the matrix.
It can also be said that they do the "needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" argument to justify killing a few people.
Yeah I thought of that on the way home. I, unfortunately, do not have a equation for human population growth but if you assumed 17 females, 1 kid a year and they just breed like absolute bunnies then you could probably - easily - get 250,000 people (plus people freed from the matrix) which is what they stated the population was of Zion.
hrm. Let's do some math. 17 females x 1 kid a year for 13 years = 221 kids + original 17 and 9. that's a total of 247 after 13 years. Now when the kids start breeding... yeah. I mean we are assuming extreme population growth. I Should probably grab a formula off Google but I *think* it can be done assuming lots and lots of sex =).
Well yeah I'm not positive of a matrix-within-a-matrix. I also thought that they might literally just make Neo a god, a real messiah figure much like paul atreides. It's possible and, heck, wouldn't even be that bad of a thing.
The beginning of the movie when agent smith sent his virus into that guy who was dialing home. And then he had a knife and was ready to kill neo at Zion. He was the guy laying on the table.
Wether or not it was an emp pulse that destroyed them... I'm just not sure. The ship was destroyed and based on previous cannon from the matrix they said that the EMP had a short range. I dunno. We will find out in 6 months I guess =).
No. =). Which is why I maintain that Neo is actually still on the course the machines laid out for him. Think about it. If the machines really wanted him to just "go back to the source" they wouldn't have shown him the scenes of trinity dying. Nor would they destroy that other ship to force trinity to enter the matrix. Remember that one guy said that Neo was still following orders...
Yeah I know... but hey, it isn't the revolution yet!
Hrm. I thought so at first but the ship had been destroyed for well over a minute before the sentinels were stopped. I don't know, I will have to re watch that scene (like everything else in the matrix).
Well all those different neo's were the 6 previous Neo's who had allready fulfilled their destiny like the architect said... of course can you believe the architect? Me thinks you cannot and we will be suprised by how this all fits together.
Actually I believe the Oracle works because she *has lived through the entire thing before!*
Yeah there is definately another world here and alot of stuff is going on. The entire thing, this entire story line, is probably made up. Hell for all we know it could be aliens or Amazon women from the moon controlling humanity. I can SO not wait for the next movie.
SPOILER SPOLIER SPOLIER
Allright here's how we figured this...
how did Neo stop the Sentinels that came at him in the real world?
Simple answer - he is STILL INSIDE THE MATRIX as you said!. All of Zion is in the matrix, everything we've seen is still inside the matrix. Read My Comments on this I won't bother repeating them here. This also answers pretty much the rest of your questions. There is no Zion! It's all fake, a construct to manipulate that 1% of the population who can't accept the matrix (like the architect said).
It makes sense after all, hell I believe (as the previous comment expands on) that Neo is STILL following the course the machines laid out for him. They can create anything they want, why not have layers within layers. I totally agree with you on this... very much so.
Also remember the first movie they said "The One" awoke the first of them from the Matrix and prophesized his return JUST as Neo was supposed to do. Go through the door, select 30 or so people from the Matrix and have them rebuild Zion and prophesize his return.
Heck, it even makes sense that they can't see the sky because of the clouds and the 'solar power' thingy. If they can't see the sky they can't calculate the positions of the stars. If they can't do that they cannot really tell what time or year it is! Absolutely brilliant!
I think 'revolutions' is when Neo finally discovers that there is something outside the matrix within matrix and the *real* reason they keep humans around. Why design all this complexity and all this effort to keeping humans CONSCIOUS? Remember if they real really just wanted humans as batteries why not just use russian sleep - 3 electrodes on the head, send a current through em and you never ever wake up.
I've long thought that the machines actually have a deep seated command to do no harm to humans and are simply trying to work their way around it. It even makes sense because it is apparent that people can be reborn multiple times as evidenced by Neo. Nobody dies the whole darn ball of wax just resets itself every few hundred years. Or it could be the machines just want something to do, i.e. design and run the Matrix. Shrug, who knows?
I actually think this one could end like 1984 with Neo, and everybody else, simply being reset. Which would be very depressing yet... real. and good.
Yeah that cracked me up as well. Also if you watched really close you would've noticed them using something like "ssh v1 exploit (something)" to haxx0r into the computer. Really nifty IMHO.
....
And man
SPOILERS BEEP BEEP BEEP SPOILERS BEEP BEEP BEEP
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
All me and my friends can figure out is that they are trapped inside a matrix within a matrix AND neo went on the EXACT COURSE THE MACHINES WANTED HIM ON! It makes perfect sense when you think about it, which is why it is probably wrong.
Yeah Neo (and every other human, even Zion) is still trapped inside the matrix. Reasons? Well let's think about it. They targeted and destroyed one of the hovercraft JUST so Trinity would have to go out and get the power shut off. Two, they showed him the pictures of trinity dying to entice him to go out the other door back into the matrix. Three, Neo was able to destroy those sentinels by THOUGHT outside the Matrix. Four, Neo can see the future. Five, Agent Smith was able to transfer his consciousness into the 'real world'. I don't see how this is possible (I mean a computer program mapping itself to the human synapses?) unless Zion or the 'real world' is actually the matrix. Agents can take over people by 'overwriting' them - in the matrix . Why can Neo see the future... well just like the oracle because *has has already lived it!*
I also think I understand why they alllow Neo to exist and return again and again (besides fixing a flaw). it sets humanity on a predictable course and allows them to control it and fulfills the human need for hope and choice. A messiah, prophecy, etc. Maybe in the first design they had no idea about Neo but now they do and can deal with him, obviously. Destroying him would give rise to perhaps somebody else, some other Messiah who might just succeed in destroying the matrix. It also makes sense for there to be Matrix's inside the Matrix like layers of an onion. After all you can manipulate an entire world, why not make multiple layers?
They said 1% of the population won't accept the matrix. That 1% is given an outlet - to Zion another matrix. That way they can't corrupt or influence the other 99%. Logically, allowing a real human city to exist would be a *very bad no good idea* since they might - jsut might - come up with a weapon or something else that could actually kill the machines. So it makes sense that instead of allowing a real city they make a fake one. Zion also might have different rules and levels of control than the Matrix which allows for people to not understand what is really going on - i.e. they are still in the matrix. Even the idea of 'bending the rules of the computer program' allows for them to take a sample of the human population that doesn't like rules and allow them to break them in ways the machines can control and manipulate.
It is also plausible that the whole idea of humans as 'batteries' is simply a 'red herring' to through humans off the real course of why they are kept around. Perhaps if they figured out THAT they would be able to hurt the machines.
I simply can't wait for the next movie. A really cool ending, much like 1984, would have neo simply fullfilling his purpose, waking up the next generation to live in 'Zion' and telling them he will return and then just replaying the first scene of the orginal Matrix. No hope, despair, etc. But interesting ending nonetheless.
Whew. Good movie.
---- END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER ---
Yeah that's because nobody wants to cut programs or jobs. It's odd that people complain so much about the waste of government programs (and let's face it they do waste a ton of money) but when it comes down to it people often times find the programs quite useful and don't want them cut.
I live in nebraska, a hard core conservative state, and even here people complained enough about what the tax cuts would do that the state legislature raised taxes over the governors objections rather than see massive cuts to the education programs of the state.
Getting off topic but I have karma to burn...
If republicans really wanted to make the government smaller then they should cut departments and programs along with spending instead of creating new ones (Department of 'homeland security'). They should know by now that the tactic of 'cut taxes and wait for things to get cut' never actually works since the Federal government just runs a deficit and nobody takes responsibility for it.
No of course not, if gore would've been elected the economy would still be in the same shape it is now, it isn't the presidents fault the economy went in the tank. What would be different is nearly 1.5 trillion in tax cuts for the rich wouldn't have been passed and the federal economy wouldn't have been running record deficits. I also doubt they would've created a massive new federal department that essentially duplicates the functions of other existing departments to combat the nebulous form of 'terrorism'. I also doubt he would've gone to war with Iraq and blown 100$ billion dollars or so they don't have or flat out used the war to deflect attention of americans away from the worsening economy but then again politicians are politicians so who knows.
An urban legend eh? I've looked at plenty of publications, including the official US government budget documents, that show there was indeed a surplus and that - shock - some of that surplus was even used to pay down the debt. Of course who can even be sure with the byzantine way the government does its budget and the weird accounting practices they use - you might indeed be right.
I just wait for the day when the federal government can't keep spending money and cutting taxes and is forced to somehow shave off 500$ billion off the federal budget or come up with a way to shore up social security. That will be interesting to say the least when tens of thousnads of jobs and hundreds of programs are cut.
Oh, I forgot, the California is on the LEFT coast.
Yes that explains why our ever conservative president and congress are busy not only cutting taxes by 500$ billion but at the same time continuing to raise expenses of the federal government. Now we running a near record deficit with no end in sight.. Let me know how that bit of fiscal wisdom - from our RIGHT coast - works.
Here's a hint for you, neither party manages the budgets particularly well at all, they are equally fiscally irresponsible.
Did anyone else find it really interesting that IIS now has text based configuration files. I only have passing expierence using IIS but one of the biggest headaches I have heard from people who use it alot is the fact that IIS is a real pain to configure among multiple machines.
Anyone here run IIS and used these new text based conf files and can comment on them?
but all of our nukes are intended to detonate at altitude.
not true at all. The US maintains both Air and ground burst nuclear weapons for a variety of reasons. Air Burst are useful for taking out alot of crap over a wide area. However they are not very effective at taking out hardened targets (bunkers, missle silos, etc) so the us still maintains a large arsenal of groundburst weapons for this reason.
While nuclear weapons can be delivered "clean" they also make "dirty" bombs for the exact opposite purpose. The US, and the russians, used to maintain a large inventory of nukes designed to poison crop fields. Detonate 40-50 airburst over Nebraska,Iowa, and Kansas and watch the breadbasket of the US go to hell due to the fallout from these "dirty" nukes.
Also, nuetron bombs might be what you are thinking of. These weapons have almost no blast or fireball. Instead they are designed to simply put out a large amount of short term radiation, essentially killing everything around them but leaving the cities, etc free of damage and radiation. IIRC these weapons are banned by both sides.
They might also be keeping the humans alive because of a deep seated program for "do no harm" or some such. Now they might have worked their way around this directive (i.e. humans will live better, less hurt, etc if they live in The Matrix) but they cannot out right destroy or just 'put the humans to sleep'
Thank you so very much for that link, that is the best thing ever.
Probably. That is what the "we can change these terms with no notice" thing at the bottom means.
Sigh. Damm lawyers and greedy bastards.
To my knowledge there is no way in heck they can detect another computer behind a Nat. It sounds like BS or a scare tactic. Absolutely ridiculous.
While I on the subject of crappy ISP's I don't understand what is the point of all these conditions. I have friends that work for a fairly large (state-wide), very profitable, ISP that has none of this. Heck they even allow you to resell the service if you so desire. As they say, as long as they make money why should they care? As they see it these restrictive terms drive people directly to them. For instance they started reselling Time Warner's Cable service. TW prohibits Web Servers and such but they do not. Result - alot of customers switching over to them because of the less restrictive terms of use.
If you are in Nebraska, or western edge of Iowa some areas of south dakot and Kansas, I highly recommend Internet Nebraska, they provide DSL, dialup, and cable and their terms and conditions are extremely reasonable. Not to mention they are nice people. =)
Just use the compacted leatherman, works great!
- Leatherman - Always carry one with you. Has damm near every tool you will ever need to fix a computer
- Norton Ghost - Ghost images of computers are so very, very, very,very helpful of a trick/tool
- Every copy of windows you can find with there respective boot disks
- A Laptop with NIC/Modem. seriously helpful if you need drivers off the internet and a computer is broken.
- The largest collection of drivers you can find. Just grab em and keep them. Drivers aren't that big and ever my collection (a few thousand) doesn't exceed 1 gbyte
- Maxtor/IBM/WD/etc hard disk testing software. Each company puts out it's own disks with these testing utilities on them. Search their pages to find the respective ones you will need.
- mcafee viruscan, updated w/ a emergency repair disk(I prefer to use 4.x version. Still updated regularly and works quite well). Self-explanatory
- Windows Service Packs, etc just in case they only have a modem connection
Looking through my backpack that's about all I can find.