In fact, it is the government that can't take your money, your freedom or your life without good reason.
Drug asset forfeiture, GITMO, disproportionate racial representation on death row.
I don't know how anyone could say that statement with a straight face after thirty years of the war on drugs and the last eight of George Bush. Neither industry nor government can be trusted. Unchecked industry will become government. Unchecked government will become fascist.
Something about a tree of liberty and the blood of patriots...
I don't know exactly what the solution is, but between the Fed keeping interest rates at full throttle levels and Congress protecting Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac we didn't have a particularly free market either. And now of course, we need more intervention because things are too big to fail.
If being too big to fail is the problem, how about we focus on keeping things from being that big in the first place. Then we can simply let them fail.
All these people who didn't see the problem coming, then assured us it would be minor, and have so far seemed powerleess to fix it, now telling us they know how to prevent it next time seems... questionable.
Because it won't. More expensive hardware doesn't "futureproof". It's just obsolete AND expensive.
This has not been my experience with careful planning. My 8800 GTX probably draws way more power than it "should" but is otherwise able to handle everything I've thrown at it running 1920x1080 for the last 2.5 years. It is just beginning to grow obsolete, and I will replace it next year. Probably for around $300 this time, getting similar long-term value.
That's also why we've seen a ton of movement in the low-end segment, but very little progress at the top end. If you spent $500 on graphics two years ago, you're still within 10-15% of today's $500 graphics solutions, and that's just pathetic.
This is exactly what I do. Who wants to swap a card and drivers every twelve months? My card cost $479 in September 2006. I will keep it until next spring, minimum, so $12/month. Or I could upgrade every year to cheap, behind the times cards and deal with shipping, installation, potential failure, etc
And who's to say 20-30 years from now we're not projecting stereo images directly onto your retina, or even your optic nerve? I sure hope that is at a better resolution than 1900x1200
Actually your optic nerve is about half that resolution. We waste a lot of power rendering where we aren't looking. I imagine a direct projection would require resolving that issue.
Last years' CPU on last years' mobo costs 100 dollars for the pair.
While I certainly appreciate your sentiment I think you may be overstating. I purchased a cutting edge LGA775 motherboard about two years ago for $240. I always make sure the motherboard is strong precisely because I expect it to last. It died about a month ago and to replace just the board cost me $110.
The cheapest boards available were about $75 and were not reliable from a review standpoint and didn't quite match the featureset.
I'm a big fan of buying slightly outdated tech, but it certainly will run you more than a couple trips to the grocery store.
And oh yeah, I've been into computing since 8MHZ 286 was considered fast, so there.
Do I have to remind everyone how annoying it is to search for technical documentation for something vaguely Linux-related, only to find the first 30 hits are various forums with more or less clueless newbies discussing installation difficulties and the syntax of apt-get?
Gods yes. And not to mention that 80% of them are from 2006 or earlier.
Nintendo has done with the Wii what Sony did with the PS1 - create a system the market wants. Instead sony built the machine it wanted to make (replete with technologies like cell and blu-ray)and tried to use its strength and dominance of the previous generation to force the market to like what it had builtNintendo has done with the Wii what Sony did with the PS1 - create a system the market wants. Instead sony built the machine it wanted to make (replete with technologies like cell and blu-ray)and tried to use its strength and dominance of the previous generation to force the market to like what it had built. We all know the result. We all know the result.
This is anthropomorphizing. Both companies built the machines they "wanted". Why they did so is based on their understanding of their capabilities and where that would fit into the market. Sony, coming off a massive expansion from the PS1/2 success has a machine developed with a lot of money and fingers in the pie, and it shows. Thankfully, despite the initial price it seems to be reliable and solid even with the "committee" effect (cough MSFT cough).
Nintendo, coming from behind in the previous two cycles, had a much smaller and more targeted concept. They didn't go for graphics because it simply wasn't their forte. They have always targeted uniqueness, from N64 having the first analog stick and rumble to Virtual Boy (ouch!) to DS stylus to Wiimote. It's what they "want" to make.
There is no "caring" or "uncaring" aspect to the individual choices the companies make. They do their best with that they've got and it either sticks or it doesn't. There isn't some Jabba the Hutt esque figure eating frogs and chortling "Who cares what the market wants!" The closest thing is Kutaragi but at the end of the day he still expected his expensive machine would sell. He may have misunderstood, but he certainly cared. And while over twice as many people have gone for the Miyamoto's toy rather than Kutaragi's, 20M people still seem to have agreed with him.
If Oblivion was 3 to 4 years of inflation earlier you paid MORE for it.
I understand what you are saying, I don't see it that way. There is a lot more random stuff in FO3 (Andale, SatCom nukes, Talon Company base) that doesn't even have a quest associated with it. I see them as comparable though I like Fallout 3 more (one major thing: more damn voice actors), but you are correct that is an opinion.
If you really believe this your retirement should include lots of ammunition.
It won't technically go bankrupt. They will have lots and lots of dollars to pay it with. It's just more likely that the retirement age will be lifted, and benefits will be withered away by inflation.
So yes, we will all get something monthly out of SS, and we will all get to decide whether we want to see a matinee or get a burger with our stipend.
I will hold off buying any of their games until I see the DLC available for PS3 first.
I don't really get this. I played Oblivion for about two or three hundred hours without buying the expansion. I've played Fallout 3 for about the same. And I haven't nearly seen everything in either game.
Who needs DLC for these games? Most DLC seems to me completely superfluous.
I haven't got the integrated 3G, but I have tethered it to my Motorola V3xx without a hitch using a five dollar bluetooth adapter. I am more pleased with this thing than I have been with any electronics I've purchased for a long time.
Question: am I missing something? What is so important about the GHz of the processor to use it as a proxy for "performance"? Is it just historical, or maybe because it is easy to quantify, like in the case of megapixels in digital cameras (which are nowadays mostly meaningless, but easy to compare)?
Two things.
1) It's all about the epeen. If you've dropped $2K you want to know you've got the best.
2) It's how long it will last you. That 1.4Ghz processor is going to feel dated that much sooner.
That's it. It's really not much different than driving a car with 300hp vs 350hp. Are you going to get from one end of town to the other any faster, or even faster than 135hp Civic? Most likely not.
(and I'm libertarian, but generally vote Republican)
Please don't kid yourself. You're a Republican. And the exact type of person those on the left use to dismiss real Libertarians. No Libertarian can stomach the war on drugs, the war in Iraq, and the massive spending coming from the Republicans.
"I'm a Vegetarian, but I generally eat beef, eggs, and poultry."
Unfortunately, Stewart uses his "I'm just a comedian" line to cover himself when he distorts the facts. Rick Santelli, for example, was against both Bush and Obama's bailouts. Stewart portrayed him as happily accepting one and then decrying the other.
Slashdot Mirror
In fact, it is the government that can't take your money, your freedom or your life without good reason.
Drug asset forfeiture, GITMO, disproportionate racial representation on death row.
I don't know how anyone could say that statement with a straight face after thirty years of the war on drugs and the last eight of George Bush. Neither industry nor government can be trusted. Unchecked industry will become government. Unchecked government will become fascist.
Something about a tree of liberty and the blood of patriots...
I don't know exactly what the solution is, but between the Fed keeping interest rates at full throttle levels and Congress protecting Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac we didn't have a particularly free market either. And now of course, we need more intervention because things are too big to fail.
If being too big to fail is the problem, how about we focus on keeping things from being that big in the first place. Then we can simply let them fail.
All these people who didn't see the problem coming, then assured us it would be minor, and have so far seemed powerleess to fix it, now telling us they know how to prevent it next time seems... questionable.
Because it won't. More expensive hardware doesn't "futureproof". It's just obsolete AND expensive.
This has not been my experience with careful planning. My 8800 GTX probably draws way more power than it "should" but is otherwise able to handle everything I've thrown at it running 1920x1080 for the last 2.5 years. It is just beginning to grow obsolete, and I will replace it next year. Probably for around $300 this time, getting similar long-term value.
That's also why we've seen a ton of movement in the low-end segment, but very little progress at the top end. If you spent $500 on graphics two years ago, you're still within 10-15% of today's $500 graphics solutions, and that's just pathetic.
This is exactly what I do. Who wants to swap a card and drivers every twelve months? My card cost $479 in September 2006. I will keep it until next spring, minimum, so $12/month. Or I could upgrade every year to cheap, behind the times cards and deal with shipping, installation, potential failure, etc
And who's to say 20-30 years from now we're not projecting stereo images directly onto your retina, or even your optic nerve? I sure hope that is at a better resolution than 1900x1200
Actually your optic nerve is about half that resolution. We waste a lot of power rendering where we aren't looking. I imagine a direct projection would require resolving that issue.
Last years' CPU on last years' mobo costs 100 dollars for the pair.
While I certainly appreciate your sentiment I think you may be overstating. I purchased a cutting edge LGA775 motherboard about two years ago for $240. I always make sure the motherboard is strong precisely because I expect it to last. It died about a month ago and to replace just the board cost me $110.
The cheapest boards available were about $75 and were not reliable from a review standpoint and didn't quite match the featureset.
I'm a big fan of buying slightly outdated tech, but it certainly will run you more than a couple trips to the grocery store.
And oh yeah, I've been into computing since 8MHZ 286 was considered fast, so there.
Do I have to remind everyone how annoying it is to search for technical documentation for something vaguely Linux-related, only to find the first 30 hits are various forums with more or less clueless newbies discussing installation difficulties and the syntax of apt-get?
Gods yes. And not to mention that 80% of them are from 2006 or earlier.
Nintendo has done with the Wii what Sony did with the PS1 - create a system the market wants. Instead sony built the machine it wanted to make (replete with technologies like cell and blu-ray)and tried to use its strength and dominance of the previous generation to force the market to like what it had builtNintendo has done with the Wii what Sony did with the PS1 - create a system the market wants. Instead sony built the machine it wanted to make (replete with technologies like cell and blu-ray)and tried to use its strength and dominance of the previous generation to force the market to like what it had built. We all know the result. We all know the result.
This is anthropomorphizing. Both companies built the machines they "wanted". Why they did so is based on their understanding of their capabilities and where that would fit into the market. Sony, coming off a massive expansion from the PS1/2 success has a machine developed with a lot of money and fingers in the pie, and it shows. Thankfully, despite the initial price it seems to be reliable and solid even with the "committee" effect (cough MSFT cough).
Nintendo, coming from behind in the previous two cycles, had a much smaller and more targeted concept. They didn't go for graphics because it simply wasn't their forte. They have always targeted uniqueness, from N64 having the first analog stick and rumble to Virtual Boy (ouch!) to DS stylus to Wiimote. It's what they "want" to make.
There is no "caring" or "uncaring" aspect to the individual choices the companies make. They do their best with that they've got and it either sticks or it doesn't. There isn't some Jabba the Hutt esque figure eating frogs and chortling "Who cares what the market wants!" The closest thing is Kutaragi but at the end of the day he still expected his expensive machine would sell. He may have misunderstood, but he certainly cared. And while over twice as many people have gone for the Miyamoto's toy rather than Kutaragi's, 20M people still seem to have agreed with him.
The PS3 runs Linux. Granted you cannot access 3D graphics but still it is the only major console to do so natively. Ever.
The PS3 can use any bluetooth/usb keyboard/mouse.
The PS3 can use any bluetooth headset.
The PS3 can be upgraded with any laptop hardrive.
This whole Sony forces you to use their technology meme has to die. They do so no more and often less than other manufacturers of their size.
Hell, HD-DVD was an entire attempt by MSFT to force a doomed from the start tech down the market's throat. Most egregious I've seen in ages.
If Oblivion was 3 to 4 years of inflation earlier you paid MORE for it.
I understand what you are saying, I don't see it that way. There is a lot more random stuff in FO3 (Andale, SatCom nukes, Talon Company base) that doesn't even have a quest associated with it. I see them as comparable though I like Fallout 3 more (one major thing: more damn voice actors), but you are correct that is an opinion.
If you really believe this your retirement should include lots of ammunition.
It won't technically go bankrupt. They will have lots and lots of dollars to pay it with. It's just more likely that the retirement age will be lifted, and benefits will be withered away by inflation.
So yes, we will all get something monthly out of SS, and we will all get to decide whether we want to see a matinee or get a burger with our stipend.
I will hold off buying any of their games until I see the DLC available for PS3 first.
I don't really get this. I played Oblivion for about two or three hundred hours without buying the expansion. I've played Fallout 3 for about the same. And I haven't nearly seen everything in either game.
Who needs DLC for these games? Most DLC seems to me completely superfluous.
I hate to break the bad news to you, but the PS3 is second class in just about every other aspect of the gaming market as well.
Very true considering the Wii is first in most.
I haven't got the integrated 3G, but I have tethered it to my Motorola V3xx without a hitch using a five dollar bluetooth adapter. I am more pleased with this thing than I have been with any electronics I've purchased for a long time.
Question: am I missing something? What is so important about the GHz of the processor to use it as a proxy for "performance"? Is it just historical, or maybe because it is easy to quantify, like in the case of megapixels in digital cameras (which are nowadays mostly meaningless, but easy to compare)?
Two things.
1) It's all about the epeen. If you've dropped $2K you want to know you've got the best.
2) It's how long it will last you. That 1.4Ghz processor is going to feel dated that much sooner.
That's it. It's really not much different than driving a car with 300hp vs 350hp. Are you going to get from one end of town to the other any faster, or even faster than 135hp Civic? Most likely not.
I LOVE my Dell Mini 9. $220 shipped, $20 upgrade to 2GB memory. Runs Ubuntu like a champ.
Don't let this overpriced Edsel turn you off to their entire line.
By voting for those that perpetrated it. And that goes for either party.
Who says I can?
You.
But that will take time.
Nah, I saw Obama as the next Bush as soon as I heard he cleared 270 electoral votes.
I did expect him to take longer to confirm it.
Is the Cato institute conservative enough for you?
Once that happens, the remaining 50% of the country will agree with you and the Electoral College will be no more.
You mean remaining 24%.
Right now only one party got burned in recent memory, so only half the electorate harbors any distain for the EC.
You're forgetting the 52% of the people that didn't vote for either "branch" of hte American party that also got burned.
(and I'm libertarian, but generally vote Republican)
Please don't kid yourself. You're a Republican. And the exact type of person those on the left use to dismiss real Libertarians. No Libertarian can stomach the war on drugs, the war in Iraq, and the massive spending coming from the Republicans.
"I'm a Vegetarian, but I generally eat beef, eggs, and poultry."
Unfortunately, Stewart uses his "I'm just a comedian" line to cover himself when he distorts the facts. Rick Santelli, for example, was against both Bush and Obama's bailouts. Stewart portrayed him as happily accepting one and then decrying the other.
I do understand that Fox has no credibility criticizing this since they were so nakedly in favor of Bush.
Conservatives often attacked Bush when we went against their philosophy... illegal immigration being a biggie.
Good point.