No offense taken. Some people were more prone to be victims than others. Some were more likely to commit the offenses than others. The thing is, there is just enough assholes on board to make everyone's lives miserable from time to time.
As it is currently - in this day and age - the space jockeys are hand selected for their mission to be placed on such as highly technical ship as a spacecraft.
But, wait. Hyman G. Rickover used to hand-select the personnel he envisioned on Submarines, too. Every submariner, even to this day (loons and all) have psychological tests to see if they can handle the rigors of Space^H^H^H^H^HSubmarine Service. (Shut those hatches and you don't know where you are.) The point is, psychological tests were used to ensure perfect harmony on board subs.
I'm sure some teasing would go on, but I just don't think that older people do that kind of thing. That's young, testosterone-fueled, monkey alpha behavior that people grow out of when testosterone levels go down.
And that's where you'd be wrong. I'd be in agreement with you for heinous personal offenses (Tying someone up with duct-tape, holding personal items for ransom); however, our 50-something XO didn't have a problem supporting some of the lessor offenses committed against others. Our XO stole the navigator's pillow one day, wet it with water, placed it in the freezer until very solid and then placed it back just in time for the NAV to attempt to go to his bunk for some rack time. And, it isn't like the Captain wasn't cognizant of the goings-on. Generally, the Captain didn't partake in behavior like that. He was, by station, above such petty things. And rightly so.
These kinds of behavior have been handed down since sailors started sailing the seas. Boredom generates all kinds of oddities of entertainment one wouldn't normally find even mildly interesting onshore.
Contests to see who can come up with the most number of dishes cooked with animal 'X' (No Internet available so no cheating!).
Silly name games: Movie names beginning with one letter and ending in another. The end letter for the latter begins the name of the next title. If I said, "Rainman". You'd have to "Neverending Story". I've have to say, "Yanks". Until someone runs out of names.
It's traditional. Now, maybe you're correct and the Utopian-existence-in-space will supersede the odd behavior of man confined to small spaces for prolonged periods of time without much stimulation other than stress induced by that of their own small microcosm. Maybe space travel really will only ever be the realm of the people that act like Jon Luke Pickard and his bridge dwelling officers. Maybe I'm completely out of touch with what the future holds.
I'll agree with one point, though. Having lived through some of those same childish pranks I can only really say, "I hope you are correct." I somehow doubt it, though.
(ps: Then again, some of my fondest memories of the sonar shack consist of the movie game above. My favorite memory is when I got the Sonar Supervisor so pissed off he damn near attacked me. Paybacks are mothers.)
Lest anyone disagree, he's pretty damn accurate. I'm a former submariner. I've lived through fires, suicides (not me, silly!) and other casualties that really scared the personnel and myself on board my submarine. Let's focus on what scared the shit out of me. Floating in the middle of the ocean with no hydraulic pressure to steer the ship, no hydraulics to open and close critical valve's to safety-of-ship systems, limited fuel and using reactor power is now out of the question, bobbing on the ocean for three full days in heavy sea state. Since the reactor was placed in a 'safe' state, we used our diesel engine (yes, just 1!) to power critical systems. Limited lighting and ventilation only.
None of us were too sure if we'd make it back alive and/or in one piece. The only thing we had going for us is that we could still pull fresh oxygen into the boat. Oh, and the captain secured drills for the remainder of the cruise. He always made us run drills. Always except this time.
We had it made.
Now for the 'mostly' part. And this is the fun stuff.
You got 6 guys here who basically 'behaved' during the simulation. Wait till 60 days begins to set in. They'll start screwing with each other's minds. Trust me.
We used to lock people in their bunks by raising the hinged bunk and placing the support bar in its lock to keep it raised at 45 deg with the victim in it. For our astro buddies, Straps to keep you in your bunk will strangely become stuck with another victim in them.
Personal items will be held for ransom by some unknown assailant. Pictures will be posted of said personal item every few weeks. Sometimes with pieces of it missing, often being torn off of it...violently. Sometimes there are doubles of the items so as not to really destroy the object. Other times it's the real thing and your personal device is being destroyed!
Food will be contaminated. That's all I'm saying.
Why beat and a man down when you can slowly enjoy watch him tear himself apart because of the things that are subversively committed against him.
I'm no prophet here; but, I'm sure that as space travel becomes routine there are people that are going to enjoy tormenting others endlessly. Just like here on Earth. Ah, smell that fresh air.
That's too bad for her that she was weak willed and couldn't see what she was getting into until it was too late, and even then, she couldn't get out before it got worse (the modeling with titties should have clued her in if that's not what she wanted to do).
I don't know one iota more about this girl's plight than the rest of us readers and I'm not defending her actions. However, did it cross anyone's mind that she might have been very scared and acted out the wishes of her captors for fear of her own safety?
That being said, it makes me sick that there are people like that out there taking advantage of someone else because they 'have power' over them.
... understand the reason the govt does what it does, and therefore arrive at an intelligent way to fight them. but just a mindless "the govt wants to control you just because its like a bad hollywood movie" is paranoid schizophrenia, not intelligence
Ironically, I'm at a coffee shop with free Internet access and the executive bean counter who cut my job is three tables away having lunch.
If you have a job right now, count your lucky stars. I was the best in my group of contractors and my boss was shocked and dismayed when word came down to lay me off, too. There was a lot of talk of bringing me on full time. Then the hiring freeze hit - three months later I'm out of a job.
I just had to move out of my apartment. No Internet access (except at a cafe). Unemployment is currently the only thing keeping me afloat. My saving are draining fast. Fortunately my parent's home is empty and I can move into it while they're in Florida. But I can't stay there too long.
One recruiter I recently spoke to told me, "We don't get applicants from Oklahoma. That's very unusual." Yeah, my current location is working against me, too. Fantastic.
Here's the skinny: 1) Companies are pretty much only looking for local candidates. 2) Companies are not paying for travel expenses for non-local candidates. Would you spend $500 on the conjecture you might be hired for the position that five or six people are actually being interviewed for? 3) I'm being forced to write local addresses for those areas where I do want a position. Fortunately I have family spread out all over the US and can use their addresses. 4) If you're even slightly skittish that you may lose your job, START LOOKING NOW!
You're working? Shut your mouth, Keep your head down low, become more valuable but don't take risks. Even then....you're not guaranteed you'll be working next month.
I had this one company rep call me about how I had won 12 free magazine subscriptions for free - yes, that's right! FREE!. Made some 10 minute spiel about how wonderful it all was. All I needed to do was send $12.95 for some processing fee and I'd get my free, yes FREE! magazines.
I asked her, "If I won and my subscriptions are free why do I have to pay $12.95?"
To her credit, she replied, "Because they're free!" (Can't blame a girl for trying.)
Soooo, I reiterated my question a few more times until she hung up on me.
It feels good when I frustrate scammers at their own game.:P
There is a self-shot video on youtube that shows some kind of land surveyor trespassing on some guy's land. He had asked her on a previous date to stay off his property unless she had a warrant. A few weeks later she comes back (sans warrant) and attempts to get on his property again. He refuses and she starts spewing pseudo-law random crap which she attempts to use to get her on his property with his consent. He refuses still and eventually a cop shows up. He, the land owners, tells the cop that he does not want her on his property. The cop ignores him and lets the woman trespass.
Warrant or not, cops are going to infringe on the law regardless. Cops really do think they know what they are doing.
I'm not sure of the outcome of this episode but I'm sure if evidence was gathered by this woman trespassing on his land without a warrant it'd be inadmissible in court. Providing, of course, kangaroos aren't in the general vicinity of said court.
The point is, just spouting, "Get the F off my lawn" wont necessarily cause 'officials' to comply. I mean, Citizen, who the fuck are you? (tongue in cheek)
Oh. My. God! I have this same problem with my father.
Call #1: Short and sweet, "Hey, son, gimme a call." Call #2: with an angry tone and bent, "How come you never answer your phone. No one can ever get a hold of you."
Makes me *really* want to call him back. Not. Call #3: Just as angry....same message as #2, now with more filler and far more colorful. Call #4: So angry there is about 10 seconds of silence on the phone, then, "Fuck it!" and hangs up.
Seriously, if they weren't so full of hate because I wasn't able (or unwilling) to answer, they'd be hilarious.
Recently, and this is a no shitter. I called my parents to get the number to one of my cousins. Got the number and gave the cousin a call. I left a message because he wasn't there. Hours later I'm mountain biking in an area with VERY bad reception (mostly only enough reception for text messages). My phone rings a few times. Three messages are left. I imagine it's my cousin trying to return my call. (I dont stop while mountain biking in a bad reception areas because it's usually futile.) Here's a transcript of those messages:
Msg #1, (Cousin): Hey, man, I got your message, just returning your call. Msg #2, (Cousin): Ok, just me again, you must be busy. Msg #3, (father): (in an angry voice from the *start*!) Carl. Kevin called us and he is *trying* to call you. You called him to get a hold of him because you had specific questions and now you wont answer your god damned phone. No one can..yadda yadda yadda.
Yeah, I'm thinking that killing voice mail makes a lot of sense. Of course, if that happens I'd have to listen to my father directly. Yeah, that's going to be fun. Not.
Prolog
While I wrote this up expecting Informative I'm sure it's going to get modded Funny.
Also, save your typing. We all know father has issues.
IMHO, This is a terrible idea. Russia isn't exactly sitting at the top with regards to success rates with their nuclear power plants - whether they're ship-borne or land based. Russia has a whole shipyard full of nuclear relics from the cold war that are simply rusting away in a harbor. Some of these ships still highly radioactive. Dangerously so! Not very eco-friendly, is it? Dare I even mention Chernobyl?
Aren't we losing the arctic and antarctic ice sheets due to global warming? Now we want to cool nuclear power plants with frigid arctic water? Let me phrase that another way. Now we want to warm the arctic waters with the nuclear power plant cooling towers?
Let's not forget the fragility of the ecosystem there, either. I can practically guaranty when it comes time to dispose of nuclear cores they'll take shortcuts - as Russians always do - and some of these cores are going to wind up at the bottom of the ocean. It's not a questions of 'if', but 'when.'
listening to techno or classical, depending, I'll get more done in that span between 5:30 and 9:30 then many others in my department will get done in an entire week.
I totally agree. When I was able to listen to my iPod (before I lost my tunes - doom on me) I listened to Classical, techno and trance. Wow! Depending on my mood, I'd get more code written than at any other time. It didn't matter what idiot-fest was going on around me, either. Plug me in and BAM! I'm gone. I feel I got more work done in a year at one of my coveted jobs than at 4 years at others.
Music is where it's at. And, no - I wasn't in band in high school.
It's not that business class American's have some taboo about drinking alcohol while at lunch - it's more about having to drive back to work after you've had said alcohol. That is a major concern. Europeans, having so many other forms of transportation at their disposal, probably don't consider this fact as they cajole us Americans as they wait for their next stop on the line. Driving is essential in the US to work, live and play.
I worked at a company, here in the states, where we drank alcohol during lunch all the time - with our bosses present. Sadly, and here's where I agree with you, most companies here in the US frown on people coming back to work with the slightest amount of alcohol on their breath because companies are afraid of being sued because someone drank and got hurt while on the job. So, yes, people will refrain from drinking even at lunch out of fear of losing their job. Can you blame them?
As for lumping all American's as "uncultured drinkers", heh, I'm sure many a limey has his or her drinking problem. People are people all over the world - don't be so sanctimonious about people's use of alcohol here in the states. Most business class people I know you'd probably enjoy a conversion with over a beer either at lunch or after hours. We're not all drunks!;)
Now, I will agree that typical bars in the US are simply dives - places for people to get piss drunk. Anyone whose ever gone out on a Friday/Saturday night in the US knows what I'm talking about. I'd take a European pub over an American bar any day. When I was in Scotland, I went to more than a few pubs (Rose Street, Edinburgh, anyone?) and was so impressed with UK bars.
Democrats are well known to spend more money on espionage than are Republicans. Dems grant millions to the NSAs of America up front so they can anticipate the NME moves before they move. Repubs generally wait until there is a problem, flex muscle, send in the big guns *while* ramping up espionage for the given situation.
It's a strategy that's been playing out since Kennedy.
That being said, "Trust No One!" That goes for your messiah (Obama), too.
Hangings still happen in a few states. Agreed with your comment, however, it was distasteful and unnecessary what we did to Saddam.
We!? Did you have a mouse in your pocket when you wrote that? I hope so. Don't be so liberal in writing 'we' when it was clearly a 'they'. And I'm being serious here. Some members of the armed forces, or whatever watchdog 'they' used to watch Saddam, perpetrated this act. I, and millions of other American's, had nothing to do with it!
There is something you are not telling us. Or perhaps you made the whole post up?
I was able to get all my tunes off the HD but wasnt able to get them all loaded back onto the iPod from the fresh XP installation on the same LT.
true. I left out some details as this happened over a year ago. The LT died and would not boot (didn't have SpinRite at the time). I hooked the drive up to another PC and copied the directory to my desktop. When I tried to view the directory to see if all the files were copied I was prevented from seeing them as the permissions were set to my LT account. I forced the desktop to grant privilages for my desktop account - which probably killed the permissions for the LT account in the process. I was able to view the files. After I got my LT up and running after a few coughs and spits (Installed XP SP2, Windows update to SP3 where the process failed...twice. reinstalled XP SP2 again from scratch, downloaded each and every single patch to bring me up to date with SP3 (without installing SP3 itself) and was able to get the LT up - M$ or HP rogers that this is a problem on some PCs/LTs. ~3months went by before I tried to retrieve the files from the DT to the LT (as I hadn't plugged in my iPod to a computer during that time. (Am I allowed to be too busy to look for music?) When I plugged my iPod into the LT, iTunes didn't have any music yet - so it deleted all the files from the iPod. It mentioned something about binding the iPod to the LT and I did not expect it to delete all my files.
I copied the files from the DT to the LT, ran a newer version of iTunes and attempted to load the files. iTunes ran for a while and asked for passwords from time to time. I entered my password. I tried my current PW - FAIL. I tried some of the other PWs I used over the years - FAIL. Some succeeded, others failed. The more recent purchases are the ones that failed. All of my ripped CDs came over. Some of my Apple-purchased tunes came over. Over 300 other tracks still sit idle in my dormant repository - a great deal of those are supposed to be DRM free.
Whether or not you believe that is how it's supposed to work, that's how it went down.
I reluctantly purchased an ipod a few years ago. I didn't know just how much Id grow to love this thing. I love being able to take tunes with me where-ever I go. Then my laptop crashed, I was able to get all my tunes off the HD but wasnt able to get them all loaded back onto the iPod from the fresh XP installation on the same LT.
ALL of the songs I purchased without DRM I am unable to get back onto my iPod as well as a few others as I changed my password from time to time and cant remember which PW I used when I purchased certain tracks.
So, iTunes sucks major ass. You can't tell me that Apple doesn't have a record of the songs I purchased over the years. I can't download again one's I've already purchased. It's BS.
Now, I purchase all my tracks on CD, rip them using cdparanoia and copy to my iPod. iTunes manages the mp3s I create for my own personal use and my podcasts/vidcasts.
Keep your money as well as your sanity - rip CDs for personal use and dont buy from Apple.
Since student's really don't need to know the detail's about the planted seed life vs magic combination's of nutrients theories', the curriculum should just omit that part.
Jesus Christ people, you don't use an apostrophe to pluralize a noun. Fucking cut that shit out.
Screw evolution, I'd like to see basic literacy skill's make a comeback.
Slashdot Mirror
No offense taken. Some people were more prone to be victims than others. Some were more likely to commit the offenses than others. The thing is, there is just enough assholes on board to make everyone's lives miserable from time to time.
As it is currently - in this day and age - the space jockeys are hand selected for their mission to be placed on such as highly technical ship as a spacecraft.
But, wait. Hyman G. Rickover used to hand-select the personnel he envisioned on Submarines, too. Every submariner, even to this day (loons and all) have psychological tests to see if they can handle the rigors of Space^H^H^H^H^HSubmarine Service. (Shut those hatches and you don't know where you are.) The point is, psychological tests were used to ensure perfect harmony on board subs.
I wonder what happened? ;-)
And that's where you'd be wrong. I'd be in agreement with you for heinous personal offenses (Tying someone up with duct-tape, holding personal items for ransom); however, our 50-something XO didn't have a problem supporting some of the lessor offenses committed against others. Our XO stole the navigator's pillow one day, wet it with water, placed it in the freezer until very solid and then placed it back just in time for the NAV to attempt to go to his bunk for some rack time. And, it isn't like the Captain wasn't cognizant of the goings-on. Generally, the Captain didn't partake in behavior like that. He was, by station, above such petty things. And rightly so.
These kinds of behavior have been handed down since sailors started sailing the seas. Boredom generates all kinds of oddities of entertainment one wouldn't normally find even mildly interesting onshore.
Beard growing contests: Fastest-growing beard, worst beard (naturally kept), longest beard, best beard, fullest beard, sparsest beard, ....
Contests to see who can come up with the most number of dishes cooked with animal 'X' (No Internet available so no cheating!).
Silly name games: Movie names beginning with one letter and ending in another. The end letter for the latter begins the name of the next title.
If I said, "Rainman".
You'd have to "Neverending Story".
I've have to say, "Yanks".
Until someone runs out of names.
It's traditional. Now, maybe you're correct and the Utopian-existence-in-space will supersede the odd behavior of man confined to small spaces for prolonged periods of time without much stimulation other than stress induced by that of their own small microcosm. Maybe space travel really will only ever be the realm of the people that act like Jon Luke Pickard and his bridge dwelling officers. Maybe I'm completely out of touch with what the future holds.
I'll agree with one point, though. Having lived through some of those same childish pranks I can only really say, "I hope you are correct." I somehow doubt it, though.
(ps: Then again, some of my fondest memories of the sonar shack consist of the movie game above. My favorite memory is when I got the Sonar Supervisor so pissed off he damn near attacked me. Paybacks are mothers.)
I read your response and I liked it....mostly.
Lest anyone disagree, he's pretty damn accurate. I'm a former submariner. I've lived through fires, suicides (not me, silly!) and other casualties that really scared the personnel and myself on board my submarine. Let's focus on what scared the shit out of me. Floating in the middle of the ocean with no hydraulic pressure to steer the ship, no hydraulics to open and close critical valve's to safety-of-ship systems, limited fuel and using reactor power is now out of the question, bobbing on the ocean for three full days in heavy sea state. Since the reactor was placed in a 'safe' state, we used our diesel engine (yes, just 1!) to power critical systems. Limited lighting and ventilation only.
None of us were too sure if we'd make it back alive and/or in one piece. The only thing we had going for us is that we could still pull fresh oxygen into the boat. Oh, and the captain secured drills for the remainder of the cruise. He always made us run drills. Always except this time.
We had it made.
Now for the 'mostly' part. And this is the fun stuff.
You got 6 guys here who basically 'behaved' during the simulation. Wait till 60 days begins to set in. They'll start screwing with each other's minds. Trust me.
We used to lock people in their bunks by raising the hinged bunk and placing the support bar in its lock to keep it raised at 45 deg with the victim in it. For our astro buddies, Straps to keep you in your bunk will strangely become stuck with another victim in them.
Personal items will be held for ransom by some unknown assailant. Pictures will be posted of said personal item every few weeks. Sometimes with pieces of it missing, often being torn off of it...violently. Sometimes there are doubles of the items so as not to really destroy the object. Other times it's the real thing and your personal device is being destroyed!
Food will be contaminated. That's all I'm saying.
Why beat and a man down when you can slowly enjoy watch him tear himself apart because of the things that are subversively committed against him.
I'm no prophet here; but, I'm sure that as space travel becomes routine there are people that are going to enjoy tormenting others endlessly. Just like here on Earth. Ah, smell that fresh air.
I don't know one iota more about this girl's plight than the rest of us readers and I'm not defending her actions. However, did it cross anyone's mind that she might have been very scared and acted out the wishes of her captors for fear of her own safety?
That being said, it makes me sick that there are people like that out there taking advantage of someone else because they 'have power' over them.
Did the Chinese make you say that?
{{ducks}}
Ironically, I'm at a coffee shop with free Internet access and the executive bean counter who cut my job is three tables away having lunch.
If you have a job right now, count your lucky stars. I was the best in my group of contractors and my boss was shocked and dismayed when word came down to lay me off, too. There was a lot of talk of bringing me on full time. Then the hiring freeze hit - three months later I'm out of a job.
I just had to move out of my apartment. No Internet access (except at a cafe). Unemployment is currently the only thing keeping me afloat. My saving are draining fast. Fortunately my parent's home is empty and I can move into it while they're in Florida. But I can't stay there too long.
One recruiter I recently spoke to told me, "We don't get applicants from Oklahoma. That's very unusual." Yeah, my current location is working against me, too. Fantastic.
Here's the skinny:
1) Companies are pretty much only looking for local candidates.
2) Companies are not paying for travel expenses for non-local candidates. Would you spend $500 on the conjecture you might be hired for the position that five or six people are actually being interviewed for?
3) I'm being forced to write local addresses for those areas where I do want a position. Fortunately I have family spread out all over the US and can use their addresses.
4) If you're even slightly skittish that you may lose your job, START LOOKING NOW!
You're working? Shut your mouth, Keep your head down low, become more valuable but don't take risks. Even then....you're not guaranteed you'll be working next month.
Good luck.
I had this one company rep call me about how I had won 12 free magazine subscriptions for free - yes, that's right! FREE!. Made some 10 minute spiel about how wonderful it all was. All I needed to do was send $12.95 for some processing fee and I'd get my free, yes FREE! magazines.
I asked her, "If I won and my subscriptions are free why do I have to pay $12.95?"
To her credit, she replied, "Because they're free!" (Can't blame a girl for trying.)
Soooo, I reiterated my question a few more times until she hung up on me.
It feels good when I frustrate scammers at their own game. :P
Don't you mean, "Outed field-agent"?
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1242323&cid=28057793
In summary: Bork! Bork! Bork!
There is a self-shot video on youtube that shows some kind of land surveyor trespassing on some guy's land. He had asked her on a previous date to stay off his property unless she had a warrant. A few weeks later she comes back (sans warrant) and attempts to get on his property again. He refuses and she starts spewing pseudo-law random crap which she attempts to use to get her on his property with his consent. He refuses still and eventually a cop shows up. He, the land owners, tells the cop that he does not want her on his property. The cop ignores him and lets the woman trespass.
Warrant or not, cops are going to infringe on the law regardless. Cops really do think they know what they are doing.
I'm not sure of the outcome of this episode but I'm sure if evidence was gathered by this woman trespassing on his land without a warrant it'd be inadmissible in court. Providing, of course, kangaroos aren't in the general vicinity of said court.
The point is, just spouting, "Get the F off my lawn" wont necessarily cause 'officials' to comply. I mean, Citizen, who the fuck are you? (tongue in cheek)
I'm pretty sure a jury will agree & I'm willing to take my chances on that. Fixed that for you both.
Ok. Honest question time. Where does a company with that much capital keep it? Surely it's not in one bank, is it?
Do companies with that much money spread it over a few hundred banks? What?
Wanted:
Senior Software Engineer
Windows Platforms
MFC C++ - 10 Years
C# - 5 years
Axum - 5 years
You *know* it's going to happen.
Oh. My. God! I have this same problem with my father.
Call #1: Short and sweet, "Hey, son, gimme a call."
Call #2: with an angry tone and bent, "How come you never answer your phone. No one can ever get a hold of you."
Makes me *really* want to call him back. Not.
Call #3: Just as angry....same message as #2, now with more filler and far more colorful.
Call #4: So angry there is about 10 seconds of silence on the phone, then, "Fuck it!" and hangs up.
Seriously, if they weren't so full of hate because I wasn't able (or unwilling) to answer, they'd be hilarious.
Recently, and this is a no shitter. I called my parents to get the number to one of my cousins. Got the number and gave the cousin a call. I left a message because he wasn't there. Hours later I'm mountain biking in an area with VERY bad reception (mostly only enough reception for text messages).
My phone rings a few times. Three messages are left. I imagine it's my cousin trying to return my call. (I dont stop while mountain biking in a bad reception areas because it's usually futile.)
Here's a transcript of those messages:
Msg #1, (Cousin): Hey, man, I got your message, just returning your call.
Msg #2, (Cousin): Ok, just me again, you must be busy.
Msg #3, (father): (in an angry voice from the *start*!) Carl. Kevin called us and he is *trying* to call you. You called him to get a hold of him because you had specific questions and now you wont answer your god damned phone. No one can..yadda yadda yadda.
Yeah, I'm thinking that killing voice mail makes a lot of sense. Of course, if that happens I'd have to listen to my father directly. Yeah, that's going to be fun. Not.
Prolog
While I wrote this up expecting Informative I'm sure it's going to get modded Funny.
Also, save your typing. We all know father has issues.
I don't see this as being a major problem. The lawyers sure don't.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EULA#Product_liability
IMHO, This is a terrible idea. Russia isn't exactly sitting at the top with regards to success rates with their nuclear power plants - whether they're ship-borne or land based. Russia has a whole shipyard full of nuclear relics from the cold war that are simply rusting away in a harbor. Some of these ships still highly radioactive. Dangerously so! Not very eco-friendly, is it? Dare I even mention Chernobyl?
Aren't we losing the arctic and antarctic ice sheets due to global warming? Now we want to cool nuclear power plants with frigid arctic water? Let me phrase that another way. Now we want to warm the arctic waters with the nuclear power plant cooling towers?
Let's not forget the fragility of the ecosystem there, either. I can practically guaranty when it comes time to dispose of nuclear cores they'll take shortcuts - as Russians always do - and some of these cores are going to wind up at the bottom of the ocean. It's not a questions of 'if', but 'when.'
Yes, exactly!! :P
I totally agree. When I was able to listen to my iPod (before I lost my tunes - doom on me) I listened to Classical, techno and trance. Wow! Depending on my mood, I'd get more code written than at any other time. It didn't matter what idiot-fest was going on around me, either. Plug me in and BAM! I'm gone. I feel I got more work done in a year at one of my coveted jobs than at 4 years at others.
Music is where it's at. And, no - I wasn't in band in high school.
It's not that business class American's have some taboo about drinking alcohol while at lunch - it's more about having to drive back to work after you've had said alcohol. That is a major concern. Europeans, having so many other forms of transportation at their disposal, probably don't consider this fact as they cajole us Americans as they wait for their next stop on the line. Driving is essential in the US to work, live and play.
I worked at a company, here in the states, where we drank alcohol during lunch all the time - with our bosses present. Sadly, and here's where I agree with you, most companies here in the US frown on people coming back to work with the slightest amount of alcohol on their breath because companies are afraid of being sued because someone drank and got hurt while on the job. So, yes, people will refrain from drinking even at lunch out of fear of losing their job. Can you blame them?
As for lumping all American's as "uncultured drinkers", heh, I'm sure many a limey has his or her drinking problem. People are people all over the world - don't be so sanctimonious about people's use of alcohol here in the states. Most business class people I know you'd probably enjoy a conversion with over a beer either at lunch or after hours. We're not all drunks! ;)
Now, I will agree that typical bars in the US are simply dives - places for people to get piss drunk. Anyone whose ever gone out on a Friday/Saturday night in the US knows what I'm talking about. I'd take a European pub over an American bar any day. When I was in Scotland, I went to more than a few pubs (Rose Street, Edinburgh, anyone?) and was so impressed with UK bars.
Democrats are well known to spend more money on espionage than are Republicans. Dems grant millions to the NSAs of America up front so they can anticipate the NME moves before they move. Repubs generally wait until there is a problem, flex muscle, send in the big guns *while* ramping up espionage for the given situation.
It's a strategy that's been playing out since Kennedy.
That being said, "Trust No One!" That goes for your messiah (Obama), too.
We!? Did you have a mouse in your pocket when you wrote that? I hope so. Don't be so liberal in writing 'we' when it was clearly a 'they'. And I'm being serious here. Some members of the armed forces, or whatever watchdog 'they' used to watch Saddam, perpetrated this act. I, and millions of other American's, had nothing to do with it!
true. I left out some details as this happened over a year ago. The LT died and would not boot (didn't have SpinRite at the time). I hooked the drive up to another PC and copied the directory to my desktop. When I tried to view the directory to see if all the files were copied I was prevented from seeing them as the permissions were set to my LT account. I forced the desktop to grant privilages for my desktop account - which probably killed the permissions for the LT account in the process. I was able to view the files. After I got my LT up and running after a few coughs and spits (Installed XP SP2, Windows update to SP3 where the process failed...twice. reinstalled XP SP2 again from scratch, downloaded each and every single patch to bring me up to date with SP3 (without installing SP3 itself) and was able to get the LT up - M$ or HP rogers that this is a problem on some PCs/LTs. ~3months went by before I tried to retrieve the files from the DT to the LT (as I hadn't plugged in my iPod to a computer during that time. (Am I allowed to be too busy to look for music?) When I plugged my iPod into the LT, iTunes didn't have any music yet - so it deleted all the files from the iPod. It mentioned something about binding the iPod to the LT and I did not expect it to delete all my files.
I copied the files from the DT to the LT, ran a newer version of iTunes and attempted to load the files. iTunes ran for a while and asked for passwords from time to time. I entered my password. I tried my current PW - FAIL. I tried some of the other PWs I used over the years - FAIL. Some succeeded, others failed. The more recent purchases are the ones that failed. All of my ripped CDs came over. Some of my Apple-purchased tunes came over. Over 300 other tracks still sit idle in my dormant repository - a great deal of those are supposed to be DRM free.
Whether or not you believe that is how it's supposed to work, that's how it went down.
I did not know this. I thought Apple's policy was 1 download, 5 shares. Otherwise go screw. Maybe I'll contact them about it.
I reluctantly purchased an ipod a few years ago. I didn't know just how much Id grow to love this thing. I love being able to take tunes with me where-ever I go. Then my laptop crashed, I was able to get all my tunes off the HD but wasnt able to get them all loaded back onto the iPod from the fresh XP installation on the same LT.
ALL of the songs I purchased without DRM I am unable to get back onto my iPod as well as a few others as I changed my password from time to time and cant remember which PW I used when I purchased certain tracks.
So, iTunes sucks major ass. You can't tell me that Apple doesn't have a record of the songs I purchased over the years. I can't download again one's I've already purchased. It's BS.
Now, I purchase all my tracks on CD, rip them using cdparanoia and copy to my iPod. iTunes manages the mp3s I create for my own personal use and my podcasts/vidcasts.
Keep your money as well as your sanity - rip CDs for personal use and dont buy from Apple.