All three makers of the voting machines are Bush donors. And if they were Dean donors, this what matter... how exactly?
Nobody would bat an eye if the donors were any other party. I'm actually kind of glad that this electronic voting crap happened on a conservative rather than liberal watch. If this had happened, say, with Clinton in office or after the next Democrat President, we'd never hear about the problems inherent in the system in the mainstream press.
Most corporations make political contributions to one or BOTH parties. It is irrelevant.
Thank you! Did anybody ever see a report on exactly who Enron donated to? The Rebpulican connection was heavily touted as "proof" that Bush was in bed with Enron, but the truth of the matter was that Enron donated heavily to both of the big political parties. Yes, they did give a bit more to the Republicans, but the disproportions can be traced to state and local political parties. Enron was in Texas, a heavily conservative state.
I'm really getting sick of the constant Conservative bashing using distorted facts. It's gotten to the point now that if somebody in the mainstream media (anything but Fox News) criticizes Bush, I just can't believe it; it takes too much effort to verify the sources any more to find the real truth. Since Fox has a decidely "fair and balanced" Conservative bent, any criticism of Bush from them automatically gets more attention.
It's sad, really. If they guy I voted for is screwing up, I want to know about it. But I can't trust any of the sources to tell me the whole story any more.
Something like this seems simple, possibly even trivial, to overcome. The HTDV datastream is digital and needs to be decoded. Not only that, but the spec is an open specification so that all the hardware manufacturers for both reception and broadcast can be on the same page.
Would it not be possible to place an "apmlifier" in between cable feed and the the tuner and toggle the flag?
I haven't read the broadcast specs yet, but it seems like a simple enough transformation...
Can a drug dealer in Colombia transfer money to some corrupt DEA agent in New York by using stock markets?
Possible, but unlikely. Money laundering schemes normally work by routing "dirty" money through a "clean" operation with a small cut being taken by whoever's doing the washing. You'd want to make sure that you're money isn't at any more risk than normal, and the stock market would inject too much risk into the transaction. Not to mention that huge bidirectional trades of stock in a short time can cause the SEC to blink.
Far better to have a legitimate shell corporation hire the DEA agent for "security consultations" for some exorbanant hourly fee and move the money that way.
At least, that's how the whole laundering thing was explained to me. I'm not an accountant, I just write their software...
Figures... This must have happened somewhat recently, as I left the game about two or three weeks ago; they had just installed a patch with a ton of Jedi commands in it.
I absolutely loved the idea of this game when it was announced, and I waited patiently for them to release it. After playing it, mastering Artisan and then Architect, there was nothing for me to do.
SOE seems to say that they've developed one thing and then release patches and new features to the contrary. It's sad, really, because the potential for a Star Wars universe game is astronomical.
When I left, however, the game was starting to feel more like Everquest with a skin upgrade.
When I left SWG, there wasn't a single Jedi in the universe on any server. SOE went to great pains (so they say) to make sure that unlocking your "force sensitive" slot took a lot of work and exploring in the world.
The FS slots are also affected by "permadeath" after a certain point in training, so you can't go and take on a Krayt Dragon alone and expect to keep your character around.
Yes, most games in the Star Wars genre allow you to play the Jedi, but Star Wars: Galaxies developers made a really good attempt to make the Jedi the reclusive characters you'd expect them to be just prior to Episode IV.
I remember seeing several documentaries about landfills and the one point that really stuck in my head was that "biodegradable" often isn't.
In order for something to degrade in a landfill, it requires air. Take a core sample in your average landfill and you'll see that stuff just a foot or so down has degraded minutely or not at all. In the show I mentioned, there were still newspapers from decades ago that were as readable as the day they were thrown out.
Biodegradable is nice and all, but there has to be something else done. At the rate stuff is thrown out, air-insulating layers are added so fast that quite a lot of biodegradable stuff never has a chance to work it's magic.
Yep, Nissen food is correct for a real corporation.
I was using Nissan Food as an example in the whole trademark discussion. I guess I didn't make that clear at all in the example.:)
It's trademarked names they're dealing with. You can't copyright a word, you can trademark a word , image or phrase in regards to a certain market segment.
Trademarks are to safeguard the reputation of an entity in their market segment. For example, there's several comments about Nissan in the thread. I can trademark Nissan as the name for my company as long as that company isn't in the same markets that the Nissan Motor Corporation is in. There's a Nissan food company that I don't believe is related to the Nissan motor company. As soon as the noodle company started manufacturing motorcycles or engines under the Nissan name, there'd be trademark trouble.
Copyright, on the other hand, is to protect works and ideas of individuals or companies from theft or dilution from others. If I copyright a poem, for example, you are not free to set the poem to music without some sort of compensation to me, the original copyright holder.
I wish it were that simple, but after watching the 2000 elections, I can only imagine the fuckery that would result.
One side or the other would claim that the "old ladies" handing out new ballots were actually strong-arms of the opposing party who would berrate the person after looking at their screwed-up scantron. Not to mention the holdups in the lines as 9 out of 10 people have their scantrons rejected.
As long as we're voting, there will always be people screaming that they've been disenfranchised, discriminated against, or that the whole system is just a vast Right/Left-wing conspiracy to keep the Right/Left in power.
Yeah, there's got to be something better, but I think the scantrons would just move the problems to the polling places instead of the ballot-counting rooms.
The woodsy-road shot actually looked somewhat 3D to my eyes, the rest just looked like that annoying Wang Chung video from the 80's for "Everybody Have Fun Tonight".
I'm guessing that the large amount of movement of the closer objects helps to spoil the illusion in the rest of the pictures. Anybody know if I'm on the right track here?
Sorry, never meant to imply that it's clear cut. I do believe, however, given the climate in the legal system and the recent rulings you quoted, that it is likely. However, as is so often the case when dealing with the courts, nothing is certain.
As for commercial speech being protected, I wouldn't go so far to say that it is protected; rather that a recent ruling overturned the protected status that was granted earlier.
At some time in the future, I'd expect that the pendulum would swing again and commercials would again become protected under the First Amendment.
Why doesn't some manufacturer make a laptop that can be charged via USB?
I'm trying to remember the USB spec; it's been about 3 years since I had to deal with it, so this information may be a bit out of date.
By my recollection, though, there are two reasons that manufacturers don't do this:
The USB spec allows for bus-powered devices to draw power only. And the power they draw is supposed to be negligable, as well; something in the range of 5 milliampres for a bus-powered device. Devices are supposed to auto-power into a very low current sleep-state while they're not in use, as well. If everything went according to the spec, I don't think an extra 5 ma trickling into the battery wouldn't do a whole lot.
USB isn't a peer-to-peer technology ala Firewire, it requires a root control device. Making laptops able to hook up to each other in this manner would require special software, as well; I believe the software would have to be similar to the USB-USB networking in WinXP. It could work, but it would shift the burden of battery charging to the USB chipset manufacturer or the laptop builder rather than the OS guys.
Neither of these are too difficult to overcome -- well, except the 5ma draw for a bus-powered device -- but it would require an extension to the USB spec to make sure that all parties had a consistent way to make the laptops interact with each other in a charging mode.
A First Amendment challenge will (most likely) fail. There's already been several cases that have ruled commercial speech not protected under the First Amendment.
Yep, I revised my opinion in another response in this thread.
In short, I looked at plasmas about 18 months ago, and they were in the $15k range at the "high-end" store down the street. I figured about $7500 to $12500 at a more reasonable retailer. They've definately come down considerably since then.
The article said it was a Panasonic 42-inch plasma TV. Not what I would call an el-cheapo brand.
That being said, even Best Buy seems to have some prices in-line with the $3200 above. Price Match had them at $3799 from Best Buy. The prices have really come down since I've looked; that's almost reasonable.
After a bit more research, buying a POS monitor is less excuseable. Hell, my fairly nice ViewSonic A90f+ 19" monitor was only $299 full CompUSA retail.
Perhaps it was the geek penchant for "We're in a hurry, buy whatever the fuck is cheap" shopping...
'Parallels had been drawn between appropriating the "functional structure" of a computer system and commandeering the plot of a book, the judge noted.'
I wonder how this will work out. The fact that the judge is now using the plot of a book as a comparison is quite chilling.
I once remembered hearing that there were seven basic plot lines, so I Googled it and came up with this. It seems that nobody can agree what constitutes the "basic" plot.
If this case flies, I expect to see Ford suing every other car manufacturer for infringing on their copyrighted idea, Apple computer suing Dell, HPaq and every white-box manufacturer in the world, RCA suing all the television and radio manufacturers.
No idea is ever truly unique, just as no plot line is ever truly unique.
If, and it's a big if with the way that lawyers boost damage claims, there was a monetary charge to the NYT's LexisNexis account made by Lamo, I don't see how it could be anything but theft or fraud.
The account was used by an unauthorized individual and the charge was made. The money is taken from somewhere, be it the NYT accounts to pay for the unauthorized use, or the LexisNexis accounts via a bill adjustment. Just because saleable item is "bits" doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
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All three makers of the voting machines are Bush donors. And if they were Dean donors, this what matter... how exactly?
Nobody would bat an eye if the donors were any other party. I'm actually kind of glad that this electronic voting crap happened on a conservative rather than liberal watch. If this had happened, say, with Clinton in office or after the next Democrat President, we'd never hear about the problems inherent in the system in the mainstream press.
Most corporations make political contributions to one or BOTH parties. It is irrelevant.
Thank you! Did anybody ever see a report on exactly who Enron donated to? The Rebpulican connection was heavily touted as "proof" that Bush was in bed with Enron, but the truth of the matter was that Enron donated heavily to both of the big political parties. Yes, they did give a bit more to the Republicans, but the disproportions can be traced to state and local political parties. Enron was in Texas, a heavily conservative state.
I'm really getting sick of the constant Conservative bashing using distorted facts. It's gotten to the point now that if somebody in the mainstream media (anything but Fox News) criticizes Bush, I just can't believe it; it takes too much effort to verify the sources any more to find the real truth. Since Fox has a decidely "fair and balanced" Conservative bent, any criticism of Bush from them automatically gets more attention.
It's sad, really. If they guy I voted for is screwing up, I want to know about it. But I can't trust any of the sources to tell me the whole story any more.
Would it not be possible to place an "apmlifier" in between cable feed and the the tuner and toggle the flag?
I haven't read the broadcast specs yet, but it seems like a simple enough transformation...
Hrm... Sounds suspiciously like California...
Possible, but unlikely. Money laundering schemes normally work by routing "dirty" money through a "clean" operation with a small cut being taken by whoever's doing the washing. You'd want to make sure that you're money isn't at any more risk than normal, and the stock market would inject too much risk into the transaction. Not to mention that huge bidirectional trades of stock in a short time can cause the SEC to blink.
Far better to have a legitimate shell corporation hire the DEA agent for "security consultations" for some exorbanant hourly fee and move the money that way.
At least, that's how the whole laundering thing was explained to me. I'm not an accountant, I just write their software...
>That's why the opening screen in the first one reads "Episode IV."
I'll point you to a company called Ashton-Tate that produced the famous dBase software of the late 80's and beyond.
The first release of their software was "dBase III" because they thought a 3rd version of the software would be easier to market than a first.
I absolutely loved the idea of this game when it was announced, and I waited patiently for them to release it. After playing it, mastering Artisan and then Architect, there was nothing for me to do.
SOE seems to say that they've developed one thing and then release patches and new features to the contrary. It's sad, really, because the potential for a Star Wars universe game is astronomical.
When I left, however, the game was starting to feel more like Everquest with a skin upgrade.
The FS slots are also affected by "permadeath" after a certain point in training, so you can't go and take on a Krayt Dragon alone and expect to keep your character around.
Yes, most games in the Star Wars genre allow you to play the Jedi, but Star Wars: Galaxies developers made a really good attempt to make the Jedi the reclusive characters you'd expect them to be just prior to Episode IV.
In order for something to degrade in a landfill, it requires air. Take a core sample in your average landfill and you'll see that stuff just a foot or so down has degraded minutely or not at all. In the show I mentioned, there were still newspapers from decades ago that were as readable as the day they were thrown out.
Biodegradable is nice and all, but there has to be something else done. At the rate stuff is thrown out, air-insulating layers are added so fast that quite a lot of biodegradable stuff never has a chance to work it's magic.
Sorry for any confusion.
Trademarks are to safeguard the reputation of an entity in their market segment. For example, there's several comments about Nissan in the thread. I can trademark Nissan as the name for my company as long as that company isn't in the same markets that the Nissan Motor Corporation is in. There's a Nissan food company that I don't believe is related to the Nissan motor company. As soon as the noodle company started manufacturing motorcycles or engines under the Nissan name, there'd be trademark trouble.
Copyright, on the other hand, is to protect works and ideas of individuals or companies from theft or dilution from others. If I copyright a poem, for example, you are not free to set the poem to music without some sort of compensation to me, the original copyright holder.
One side or the other would claim that the "old ladies" handing out new ballots were actually strong-arms of the opposing party who would berrate the person after looking at their screwed-up scantron. Not to mention the holdups in the lines as 9 out of 10 people have their scantrons rejected.
As long as we're voting, there will always be people screaming that they've been disenfranchised, discriminated against, or that the whole system is just a vast Right/Left-wing conspiracy to keep the Right/Left in power.
Yeah, there's got to be something better, but I think the scantrons would just move the problems to the polling places instead of the ballot-counting rooms.
I'm guessing that the large amount of movement of the closer objects helps to spoil the illusion in the rest of the pictures. Anybody know if I'm on the right track here?
I can almost see it now... Some drunk, slobbering fool suing the party he asked out.
I think I used to work with you... Scary...
As for commercial speech being protected, I wouldn't go so far to say that it is protected; rather that a recent ruling overturned the protected status that was granted earlier.
At some time in the future, I'd expect that the pendulum would swing again and commercials would again become protected under the First Amendment.
I'm trying to remember the USB spec; it's been about 3 years since I had to deal with it, so this information may be a bit out of date.
By my recollection, though, there are two reasons that manufacturers don't do this:
- The USB spec allows for bus-powered devices to draw power only. And the power they draw is supposed to be negligable, as well; something in the range of 5 milliampres for a bus-powered device. Devices are supposed to auto-power into a very low current sleep-state while they're not in use, as well. If everything went according to the spec, I don't think an extra 5 ma trickling into the battery wouldn't do a whole lot.
- USB isn't a peer-to-peer technology ala Firewire, it requires a root control device. Making laptops able to hook up to each other in this manner would require special software, as well; I believe the software would have to be similar to the USB-USB networking in WinXP. It could work, but it would shift the burden of battery charging to the USB chipset manufacturer or the laptop builder rather than the OS guys.
Neither of these are too difficult to overcome -- well, except the 5ma draw for a bus-powered device -- but it would require an extension to the USB spec to make sure that all parties had a consistent way to make the laptops interact with each other in a charging mode.A First Amendment challenge will (most likely) fail. There's already been several cases that have ruled commercial speech not protected under the First Amendment.
In short, I looked at plasmas about 18 months ago, and they were in the $15k range at the "high-end" store down the street. I figured about $7500 to $12500 at a more reasonable retailer. They've definately come down considerably since then.
That being said, even Best Buy seems to have some prices in-line with the $3200 above. Price Match had them at $3799 from Best Buy. The prices have really come down since I've looked; that's almost reasonable.
After a bit more research, buying a POS monitor is less excuseable. Hell, my fairly nice ViewSonic A90f+ 19" monitor was only $299 full CompUSA retail.
Perhaps it was the geek penchant for "We're in a hurry, buy whatever the fuck is cheap" shopping...
Covering how many countries with unreliable power supplies would make make this useful to you? :)
I wonder how this will work out. The fact that the judge is now using the plot of a book as a comparison is quite chilling.
I once remembered hearing that there were seven basic plot lines, so I Googled it and came up with this. It seems that nobody can agree what constitutes the "basic" plot.
If this case flies, I expect to see Ford suing every other car manufacturer for infringing on their copyrighted idea, Apple computer suing Dell, HPaq and every white-box manufacturer in the world, RCA suing all the television and radio manufacturers.
No idea is ever truly unique, just as no plot line is ever truly unique.
I used to get comp time, too; it was standard practice at two companies I've worked for. Work an hour over, get an hour of comp time.
Come to think of it, I still have about 600 hours due to me from each of them...
If , and it's a big if with the way that lawyers boost damage claims, there was a monetary charge to the NYT's LexisNexis account made by Lamo, I don't see how it could be anything but theft or fraud.
The account was used by an unauthorized individual and the charge was made. The money is taken from somewhere, be it the NYT accounts to pay for the unauthorized use, or the LexisNexis accounts via a bill adjustment. Just because saleable item is "bits" doesn't mean it doesn't exist.