TBH, I don't think we even play the best games out there routinely - at least for board games. Monopoly, for instance, is a really shitty game with everything in favor of the guy who lands on good properties and then drags on forever. But it's one of those board games nearly every family has in their closet.
Some extended warranties are money down the drain and some not.
Had one on my father's iPad which turned out to be useless. The front screen just fell apart one day (I was there) and made a huge abyss not from any impact (it has a protective casing) but just some type of internal stress. Apple absolutely refused to cover it, even though it's apparent it's not from an impact. Some people are aware that tempered glass products can just absolutely implode one day but manufacturing defects or just stresses - I had a glass sink once explode in my bathroom in the night sounding like a grenade exploded in the distance - except Apple employees. They offered a fix 4x the cost on ifixit. So for iPads/iPhones, Applecare never again, total ripoff. OTOH, I know certain models of Apple notebooks where the logic boards (motherboards) fail quite frequently and it costs half the computer new to replace, at least. (Though I just use a PC notebook, but less worrisome).
I also laughed at people who got extended warranties on early flatscreen thin LCDs (they were still square) since it turned out replacing them with something better years down the road was only marginally more expensive than the extended warranty.
I agree completely. Tablets are a fad. The form factor is terrible and the functionality is lacking. I think that most people are going to continue using phones and laptops.
Baby Boomers who never really learned to use the computer. My Dad's eyes are too bad to see an iPhone and he learned computing on an iPad, it's perfect for him. He still can't use a laptop, but that's okay, he's not a power user. Browsing/email/skype, and a few apps.
I thought I would dislike a tablet, but I find them perfect for casual browsing and using on a treadmill to run netflix as an adhoc TV. In fact, I haven't watched TV on a television in months, would probably only buy 1 big one in the living room for the family in the future for movies (maybe, might even cut that down), and just have an tablet for viewing where convenient.
Really, I feel your comment is pre-iPad naysaying all over again.
Isn't there a way to promote them without mandating them?
My school had a lot of mandatory Shakespeare in 8-12th grades, 2+ plays a year and guess what? I always loved reading and yet absolutely detest and despise anything by him or any of the authors that was mandated as I associate it with a tedious chore and avoided anything by them ever since.
Idk if it's the case for everyone, but I always sought out what was interesting to me, it didn't have to be mandated. The trick isn't to ram it down the throat so the student has no choice but swallow but to provide a taste of it. You're never going to make students uninterested in science interested through brute force.
Science class should show some Carl Sagan's videos (and Brian Cox I find interesting too) to light up the imagination but another idea I think could be interesting is that science books, in between chapters, could print some short stories by these luminaries. Don't make it mandatory reading, but just have it there. A lot of people read to read, and having it right there in the text book could reach a lot of kids. If they like it, they will seek the author out on their own and branch out on their own.
Which is a sexy car but kinda sad as it's not one I consider ecological or sustainable for the world at large. Idk Fisker, but I was a fan of Aptera which also failed for various reasons but seemed to me more of a sustainable car nearly every family could afford.
Instead, we're going for car that's electric not because of the environment, but because it's wicked fast and great 0-60 times and looks cool. Nevermind the strip mining needed for all those battery packs and such or that it's a traditional car and so not very aerodynamic compared to what we could achieve (and so not as efficient). Sad that our society sometimes seems to be ruled by the sensibilities of a 13 year old but I guess that's just how it is.
IIRC, North Korea has declared war on the South multiple times since the armistice. In short, it's nothing new.
NK has had particularly bad farm yields and has trouble feeding it's army - recently China returned 12 NK soldiers that tried to escape. In years past, this wouldn't have happened as NK was keen to always make sure the Army got food but rations were cut last year. It needs an increase in foreign aid to hold itself up. That's what all this sword rattling is about. I hope that everyone lets them drop.
It used to be that sales tax balanced with shipping costs, but amazon effectively solved thee shipping cost problem.
Amazon itself gets a good deal from USPS/FedEx/UPS as a massive customer but a huge % of merchandise is increasingly sold by 3rd parties under their banner and they get no special pricing by the carriers.
You might see free shipping but the shipping price is built in. Which is why Amazon is often overpriced imo (on top of he big % they demand), but that's a different story.
You would not be leveling the playing field but plowing it under.
As a small time retailer, I could not possibly keep up with all the differing tax rates of every state/county/municipality, nor apply all the different rules when they apply and when they don't. I also don't have the time to register with all the various state treasuries so to send them their checks.
For the things I sell, the postage (which has been rocketing up in the last years) already surpasses what the sales tax charged, the playing field is leveled that way already in many cases.
And in the other cases, the US congress should not be holding up nonviable businesses any longer. Our economy gets stronger over time promoting market efficiencies. I employ a small amount of people, I and they all contribute to our state's treasuries and this would only throw a wrench in the works.
And who is supporting it? Walmart and other big retailers. Well yes, they have the resources to deal with this bullshit, and I don't. Which I suspect is much of the motivation.
I thought that the proportion between eyes and all that type of stuff was more pretty accurate. Also faces don't tend to change in a short period of time. Note that I'm not against two or more different methods being used to identify someone.
The human need to paint characters in black and white is annoying. Evil Gates is as annoying as those that want to paint a hagiography of him and not accept any criticism.
Looking forward to watching the usual mental gymnastics from you guys trying to make him out to be evil or something. Bonus points for not reading a word he says.
He was a ruthless businessman and set back computing in some ways that we are still feeling today. He's doing amazing things with his fortune since then.
So this is just a defense patent. To squat on it before anyone else.
The US Patent Office seems like a waste of time and money to me.
Nearly all the good stuff is kept secret and proprietary and unfiled anyway.... and all the big 500 companies run their employees ragged filling out and filing bullshit.
All the megacorps usually have folders of patents, in a Mutual Assured Destruction situation with all the other megacorps. If you're a small guy, good luck enforcing your patents, it usually means who has the best lawyer (read: most money), not justice.
There seems to be two beneficiaries to the patent system: the big corps trying to keep smaller, nimbler competitors out. And the patent trolls.
I don't think either side benefiting so much is what the original framers of the Constitution forseen or wanted. The system has to be either abolished or tightened up considerably, with fines for frivolous applications. I'm thinking that the patent office should mythbust. Show us the best thing on the market. Show us your invention. We'll pit the claims against reality and see if there is an improvement. If no improvement, don't patent it, even if it's a new brainfart.
The thing is, that this wouldn't be patentable in real life, even when patents first began.
Back then: "Hey, I want to patent something?"
USPTO: "What?"
"A customer requests a product, not just once, but to have it delivered to them regularly. We keep their names on file and send it out and collect payment at the end of the month."
USPTO: "That's not an invention, that's how you run your business. Fuck off."
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TBH, I don't think we even play the best games out there routinely - at least for board games. Monopoly, for instance, is a really shitty game with everything in favor of the guy who lands on good properties and then drags on forever. But it's one of those board games nearly every family has in their closet.
Some extended warranties are money down the drain and some not.
Had one on my father's iPad which turned out to be useless. The front screen just fell apart one day (I was there) and made a huge abyss not from any impact (it has a protective casing) but just some type of internal stress. Apple absolutely refused to cover it, even though it's apparent it's not from an impact. Some people are aware that tempered glass products can just absolutely implode one day but manufacturing defects or just stresses - I had a glass sink once explode in my bathroom in the night sounding like a grenade exploded in the distance - except Apple employees. They offered a fix 4x the cost on ifixit. So for iPads/iPhones, Applecare never again, total ripoff. OTOH, I know certain models of Apple notebooks where the logic boards (motherboards) fail quite frequently and it costs half the computer new to replace, at least. (Though I just use a PC notebook, but less worrisome).
I also laughed at people who got extended warranties on early flatscreen thin LCDs (they were still square) since it turned out replacing them with something better years down the road was only marginally more expensive than the extended warranty.
What does it cost society?
Humans are inherently unsafe behind the wheel and I look forward to computers either aiding us or taking full control soon.
If I argued along those lines somewhere, let me know.
“Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value – zero.” (Voltaire, 1694-1778)
Baby Boomers who never really learned to use the computer. My Dad's eyes are too bad to see an iPhone and he learned computing on an iPad, it's perfect for him. He still can't use a laptop, but that's okay, he's not a power user. Browsing/email/skype, and a few apps.
I thought I would dislike a tablet, but I find them perfect for casual browsing and using on a treadmill to run netflix as an adhoc TV. In fact, I haven't watched TV on a television in months, would probably only buy 1 big one in the living room for the family in the future for movies (maybe, might even cut that down), and just have an tablet for viewing where convenient.
Really, I feel your comment is pre-iPad naysaying all over again.
Isn't there a way to promote them without mandating them?
My school had a lot of mandatory Shakespeare in 8-12th grades, 2+ plays a year and guess what? I always loved reading and yet absolutely detest and despise anything by him or any of the authors that was mandated as I associate it with a tedious chore and avoided anything by them ever since.
Idk if it's the case for everyone, but I always sought out what was interesting to me, it didn't have to be mandated. The trick isn't to ram it down the throat so the student has no choice but swallow but to provide a taste of it. You're never going to make students uninterested in science interested through brute force.
Science class should show some Carl Sagan's videos (and Brian Cox I find interesting too) to light up the imagination but another idea I think could be interesting is that science books, in between chapters, could print some short stories by these luminaries. Don't make it mandatory reading, but just have it there. A lot of people read to read, and having it right there in the text book could reach a lot of kids. If they like it, they will seek the author out on their own and branch out on their own.
If you look at the typical Comp Sci and Engineering Classroom, it's pretty good.
These women have to come from somewhere, you can't (typically) hire them out of high school and expect them to perform.
Try Linux Mint. Moved from Ubuntu for the same reasons you cite. Happy with it.
That something like this even comes to court.
Which is a sexy car but kinda sad as it's not one I consider ecological or sustainable for the world at large. Idk Fisker, but I was a fan of Aptera which also failed for various reasons but seemed to me more of a sustainable car nearly every family could afford.
Instead, we're going for car that's electric not because of the environment, but because it's wicked fast and great 0-60 times and looks cool. Nevermind the strip mining needed for all those battery packs and such or that it's a traditional car and so not very aerodynamic compared to what we could achieve (and so not as efficient). Sad that our society sometimes seems to be ruled by the sensibilities of a 13 year old but I guess that's just how it is.
And of course no one would hire him today, the idea is completely DOA.
IIRC, North Korea has declared war on the South multiple times since the armistice. In short, it's nothing new.
NK has had particularly bad farm yields and has trouble feeding it's army - recently China returned 12 NK soldiers that tried to escape. In years past, this wouldn't have happened as NK was keen to always make sure the Army got food but rations were cut last year. It needs an increase in foreign aid to hold itself up. That's what all this sword rattling is about. I hope that everyone lets them drop.
And they'll end up abusing it.
66Mhz x 10,000. = 660,000Mhz = 660Ghz
Not that Moores law predicted clock speeds.
Amazon itself gets a good deal from USPS/FedEx/UPS as a massive customer but a huge % of merchandise is increasingly sold by 3rd parties under their banner and they get no special pricing by the carriers.
You might see free shipping but the shipping price is built in. Which is why Amazon is often overpriced imo (on top of he big % they demand), but that's a different story.
You would not be leveling the playing field but plowing it under.
As a small time retailer, I could not possibly keep up with all the differing tax rates of every state/county/municipality, nor apply all the different rules when they apply and when they don't. I also don't have the time to register with all the various state treasuries so to send them their checks.
For the things I sell, the postage (which has been rocketing up in the last years) already surpasses what the sales tax charged, the playing field is leveled that way already in many cases.
And in the other cases, the US congress should not be holding up nonviable businesses any longer. Our economy gets stronger over time promoting market efficiencies. I employ a small amount of people, I and they all contribute to our state's treasuries and this would only throw a wrench in the works.
And who is supporting it? Walmart and other big retailers. Well yes, they have the resources to deal with this bullshit, and I don't. Which I suspect is much of the motivation.
The buck has to stop somewhere. If the Chief Executive Officers can't take responsibilty, what are they being paid for?
Besides, DRM for a single game sounds way more like a CEO decision at best and not a board decision.
I thought that the proportion between eyes and all that type of stuff was more pretty accurate. Also faces don't tend to change in a short period of time. Note that I'm not against two or more different methods being used to identify someone.
I have nothing concrete to go by, but according to Distrowatch's Page Hit Ranking, Linux Mint by a margin.
But that's probably among people who install OSes and not necessarily commercial use.
No. Many past medals were for service, length of service, or campaigns. Some were even for good driving, believe it or not. Or good conduct.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Conduct_Medal_(United_States)
There are many medals, not all for valor.
The human need to paint characters in black and white is annoying. Evil Gates is as annoying as those that want to paint a hagiography of him and not accept any criticism.
He was a ruthless businessman and set back computing in some ways that we are still feeling today. He's doing amazing things with his fortune since then.
So this is just a defense patent. To squat on it before anyone else.
The US Patent Office seems like a waste of time and money to me.
Nearly all the good stuff is kept secret and proprietary and unfiled anyway.... and all the big 500 companies run their employees ragged filling out and filing bullshit.
All the megacorps usually have folders of patents, in a Mutual Assured Destruction situation with all the other megacorps. If you're a small guy, good luck enforcing your patents, it usually means who has the best lawyer (read: most money), not justice.
There seems to be two beneficiaries to the patent system: the big corps trying to keep smaller, nimbler competitors out. And the patent trolls.
I don't think either side benefiting so much is what the original framers of the Constitution forseen or wanted. The system has to be either abolished or tightened up considerably, with fines for frivolous applications. I'm thinking that the patent office should mythbust. Show us the best thing on the market. Show us your invention. We'll pit the claims against reality and see if there is an improvement. If no improvement, don't patent it, even if it's a new brainfart.
The thing is, that this wouldn't be patentable in real life, even when patents first began.
Back then:
"Hey, I want to patent something?"
USPTO: "What?"
"A customer requests a product, not just once, but to have it delivered to them regularly. We keep their names on file and send it out and collect payment at the end of the month."
USPTO: "That's not an invention, that's how you run your business. Fuck off."