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User: nelsonal

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  1. Re:This is going to be instantly moded down on Philosophy, Reality and The Matrix · · Score: 1

    I haven't seen much opposition from right wing groups, other than a surprised reation to the rave/sex scene, they haven't had much bad to say about them. A few have spoken out against the violence, but again the response has been pretty muted. At least in my area, Harry Potter gets quite a bit more response than this did.

  2. Re:This is going to be instantly moded down on Philosophy, Reality and The Matrix · · Score: 1

    That was a pretty good one, since Freud was the psycologist who, at least popularly, saw a sexual meaning to nearly everything in everyday life. Since even a layperson can associate cigars with some parts of the male anatomy, it seems more likely that Freud was making a joke here. Although I do agree that many things, especially movies, get overanalysed. I've seen people try to attach deep meanings to the window washers in the first movie, and having been in a meeting with my boss, and noticed that the lawn mower was the suddenly much more interesting than the boss, I think they were just there to provide something to distract Neo.

  3. Re:MS gives credence to SCO? on Economist article on Sun's Linux Strategy · · Score: 1

    No, but a poor case backed up by $46 billion and a crackerjack legal team can tie the case up in court long enough to scare potential adoptors away.

  4. A thought on Is the Seeking of Lost Skills/Arts a Hacking Analog? · · Score: 1

    Earlier in the comments someone mentioned that they brew beer because they can make it exactly how they want and control ingreedients for the ideal brew, and this is the same reason that they build their own computer. It seems like the common thread in all of these is that we are all big time DIYs. I'd like to pose this question, why are geeks such do it yourselfers? My own initial guesses:

    Are we so arrogant that we are convinced that no one can do anything better than us?
    Did we learn over time not to trust others?
    Do we require the stimulation of understanding the process more than the final result?
    Any other ideas or comments?

  5. Re:time on Is the Seeking of Lost Skills/Arts a Hacking Analog? · · Score: 1

    From what my health food eating friends tell me the homemade yougurt is quite a bit better for you than the store bought stuff. More and more diverse active cultures, as well as you can use honey or just fruit as the sweetener rather than sugar.

  6. Re:Who is Tyler Durden? NT on Is the Seeking of Lost Skills/Arts a Hacking Analog? · · Score: 1

    He is in the movie "Fight Club" and his profession is soap making.

  7. Re:Off to the chinese buffet I go, then... on Buddhists Really Are Happier · · Score: 1

    I've gotten that one twice in the last few months. I've heard there are only a few big makers of fortune cookies, perhaps they rotate about 20 fortunes.

  8. Re:Toilet paper... on Caldera vs. Microsoft Court Documents To Be Shredded · · Score: 1

    So does that mean that the source is in french?

  9. Re:If you outlaw games on Washington State Restricts Anti-Cop Videogames · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Am I getting that old, it's a parady of an old (in the 1980s) NRA tag line
    If you outlaw guns, then only outlaws will have guns.
    By the way, if you make them illegal then by definition only outlaw kids will have the now outlawed games.

  10. Re:People walked out during the Zion "Dance" on Matrix Reloads to $42.5 Million Opening · · Score: 1

    Sorry, I was watching it for the second time, and having had too much beer between work and movie, I decided it was a better time serve out part of my slavery to causality.

  11. Re:Is it just me ... on Matrix Reloads to $42.5 Million Opening · · Score: 1

    I was really expecting a malt beverage product placement when that dude with the really long dreads started to stand up.

  12. Re:Hundreds of thousands from twelve? on Review: Matrix: Reloaded · · Score: 1

    Yet another reason to kill them off every 100 years. You do get some genetic differences from the "minds freed."

  13. Re:I pirated the game in my vicious youth... on Sid Meier Developing Pirates! Remake · · Score: 1

    I loved the copy protection of Pirates!Gold. I never even had to reach for the manual once I learned that the correct answer was always titled Captain, and it only took your cannons away if you were wrong. I wasted more time with that game...

  14. Ironic timing on Energy from Grapes · · Score: 2, Funny

    The expermentors tried grasshoppers and other insects, silly people should already have learned that it takes humans to produce any reasonable amount of energy.

  15. Re:Another scapegoat! Old retired people on California Senate Approves Net Tax Bill · · Score: 1

    In this case its quite rational, they pay very little income tax, but would be heavily affected by a sales tax. Since most of them live off of pension, social security, and savings, their income if it is taxable in the first place puts them in the lower tax brackets. Those investors successful enough to push into a higher tax bracket can buy things like municipal bonds that produce tax free income. However, their spending ususally outstrips thier income, since most people want to live a little during retirement. So for them no sales tax makes a whole lot of sense, its just really bad for business development, and the state doesn't seem to want to just become a big retirement home.

  16. Re:IBM went through this, on Apple Considering a Break-Up? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's usually just speculation until one of the billionares gets involved. What prompts these stories are when companies trade at or near cash value, but have business segments that others believe would be worth more separate. Think of what people would have paid for a piece of the internet explorer company in 1999, given the same advantages that it has, but it had a stock all to itself.
    What has prompted this is that Apple has been trading at cash value for almost a year (about $12/share), meaning investors put nearly zero value on the hardware business (between $1 and $2 for most of 2002 and 2003). If a large investor could buy enough stock, they could replace the board take their proportional share of most of the cash as a distribution to shareholders and sell off the businesses to the public or the heighest bidder. While the company was in a good position for this a month ago, assuming an investor could look out into the future and estimate how profitable the company would be selling Macs with IBM's 970 chips, an investor today would have to believe that the music sales business really is worth what investors have bid the rest of the stock up to (about $4 per share).

  17. Re:Oregonians always rant about no sales tax on California Senate Approves Net Tax Bill · · Score: 1

    As a native Washingtonian who is now in a tax free state (Montana) I have to disagree with your conclusion. While it is really nice to not have to worry about a dollar in the store being a $1.08 at the register, it always shocks me they first time I buy something in Washington and I'm expecting it to be 4 bucks and its $4.38. However, sales taxes are generally better for business development, since they let you defer any taxes on savings or investment. Montana keeps struggling with development because the large retired population keeps voting down any proposed changes to the sales tax, and we struggle along paying very high income and property taxes, while everyone wonders why the only jobs that are avalible are low wage service jobs for Californians. Oh, and your landlord prices property taxes into your rent. There are no free lunches.

  18. Re:Tax Fast Food on California Senate Approves Net Tax Bill · · Score: 1

    AFAIK Oregon still has no sales tax this would be more like a cigarette, beer, or lottery "sin tax." I think it is fairly common for states not to tax food, but to tax prepared meals. Some states exclude basic clothing, but not luxury clothing from the sales tax.

  19. Re:Huge budget deficit? on California Senate Approves Net Tax Bill · · Score: 1

    I'd love to see a state budget with a line item for lolipops.

  20. Re:skipping radio ads would be great on TiVo For Radio? · · Score: 1

    I agree that radio ads are annoying, I think it's a combination of two factors, first many national ads are just the soundtrack to a television ad, and the local ads are produced by the local talent, which in most areas means worse quality than the local talent that does television ads. Since the ads are cheaper than TV, the overall budget is lower.

  21. Re:customer perspective on California Senate Approves Net Tax Bill · · Score: 1

    I usually don't do it except at bigger places, with a bill over $20 or so. Occasionally you get a funny look, but from my own experience as a Washington Wal-Mart cashier, I'd get a Montanian or Oregonian a few times a week so I could remember how to ring up a tax exempt sale. Other than the cashiers that don't know how to ring up tax exempt sales, stores usually give authority to ring up tax exempt sales without managment authority. Other places that are likely not to quibble are those that sell to other retailers, since the other retailer will charge the tax, they generally can purchase tax exempt. Most retailers require that you mention it prior to ringing the sale up, but are generally pretty cool about it. Now if you head out of the Northwest, you would probably increase the number of funny looks considerably. Also, if you go to Canada and purchase items, you can get a form upon leaving that will get their VAT refunded to you. It's about 10% nationally, with usually an additional provincial tax, the refund can be considerable.

  22. Re:customer perspective on California Senate Approves Net Tax Bill · · Score: 1

    I live in Montana, a no sales tax state, and if we show an ID we don't have to pay sales tax anywhere. The retailer might make a fuss about it, but they will almost always eventually comply. While it is probably not worth the effort, and I'm sure states would start cracking down on the use tax, I would guess that out of staters could flash an ID and buy things at their own use tax rate.

  23. Re:Those "mail dumping" incidents a few years back on Internet Based Attacks in a Physical World · · Score: 1

    They are semi private, its still a government institution, and protected monopoly. It's not as privatized as GinneMae, the mortgage bank, but its more privatized than the Department of State. Also in reply to the grand parent, they are hemmoraging buckets of cash, due to large unionized workforce, and significant reduction in first class mail volume due to email. I think they lost 2-3 billion last year, they get congressional subsides to continue operations. Hence the postage stamp price increases. Also realize that UPS and Fedex are barred from doing first class delivery, but USPS could use profits in first class mail to reduce prices in overnight mail, but the others can't do the reverse.

  24. Re:Howto - Legalized Price Fixing on DRAM Price Fixing · · Score: 1

    OPEC learned in the 70s that you have to maintain a pretty fine balance for long term profitability. If you keep prices too high everyone finds ways to reduce their long term oil consumption (smaller cars, natural gas for heat and electricity) and that can be just as bad as too low a price. Saudi Arabia is the cheapest place to extract oil from (probably about $5 a barrel), which is why OPEC works, Russia is actually rapidly moving up the oil export list, but it is expensive to extract oil from Siberia (I'd guess about $15 on average), so they only make money at relativly higher prices. Since the Saudi's make money at almost any price, they can boost supply to reduce non OPEC competition and increase it to keep prices away from $40/barrel levels where they start reducing long term demand for oil. Also, realize that with the execption of Venezuela, all the OPEC members cheat like crazy on their quotas (Nash equalibriums and all that).

  25. Re:Howto - Legalized Price Fixing on DRAM Price Fixing · · Score: 1

    Maximum profit is actually where marginal revenue equals marginal cost. Which is supply and demand only for a competitive industry. Diamonds is a pretty good example of price fixing, too. It you want to include tariffs steel a pretty recent example.