Oops, you are absolutely correct! Though I have haven't heard of the buying pressure of an exercised put as a hedge, the proceeds retained from the option premium is definitely a hedge. Thanks for the correction!
what is wrong with issuing puts on its stock ? This provides a good source of revenue for M$ and could act as a good brake during minor price drops. Looks like a hedging strategy to me
When you write a covered put, which is what Bill Parish claims M$ is doing, you only make money when your stock goes up, so it would be akin to, though not the same as buying calls on their own stock. Therefore it is not a hedge (who hedges against their own stock going up?)
Parish states that this is decidedly evil because MS is almost guaranteed a profit by just manipulating its own stock price with the various tricky methods outlined in the article.
I don't know if this is true or not, but I say what the heck..
The first season of Earth:Final Conflict was superb. It was basically Gene Roddenberry's vision of what would happen if a race of superior alien beings with ambiguous motives came to Earth and shared its knowledge. It was very intriguing, and the twists and turns of the stories, as well as the ambiguous intentions of both the aliens and the "resistance" fighters who defied them was enthralling. We identified with the main character of Boone who is a double agent for both the aliens and the resistance, and we discover, along with him, as the puzzle unravels and the picture becomes clearer, who the "real" bad guys are. The acting and writing was also top-notch, with Majel Barrett carrying on Roddenberry's vision in his stead.
Unfortunately, all good things.... they changed producers after the first season and killed off the main character (Kevin Kilner was the best thing about the show). Now it is just another shoot-em-up, punch-em-up, Humans vs. Aliens show a la "V".
Thats what happens when Marketing and Pointy-Haired-Bosses take over the reigns: "Yes yes! More kung-fu, lasers and breasts, and the aliens need to have lasers coming out of their breasts!"
Instead of appreciating the show for its entertainment value, trekkies would incessantly debate the minutiae of the show and whether this or that scientific aspect was legit. I thought: Who cares? If I want to deal with some legit science, I'll pick up a tome based on fact, not watch a fictional TV show. Just entertain me.
I'm sorry, but that is exactly why I loved TNG so much, because they tried to delve into some of the more esoteric and inventive sides of science and astronomy (altho most of the time they resorted to "techno-babble"). I loved discussing the episodes with my friends and debating whether it was feasible for Geordi and Ensign Ro to be able to be intangible and walk through walls, yet at the same time not fall straight through the floor into space. But the science and the seriousness made it fascinating.
Granted, its not as funny as Kirk slapping his face in exasperation as Spock misunderstands some comment, or Bones complain about his limitations as a physicians, but then TOS was different. It had a different focus, and relied less on technology and more on morality.
I agree! Forget that FDA approved junk! I suggest you try out Edediah Smiths "Magic Snake-Oil Unguent" to cure all your ailments! Yessiree, made from pure cobra gall bladder extract and blessed by none other than the great preacher, Jerry Falwell himself.
This'll take care of your cold, rheumatiz, corns, warts, genital herpes, acne, dry-eye, demonic possession and bubonic plague with just a daily application. Buy now and get a bottle Montgomery Finch's "Vitality Tonic", free!
Blessings comes in both Childrens and Super-Potent strength!
...is that I could more or less "prove" anything I wanted to through personal experience, so it is not an effective argument. In fact I could tell you that God personally appeared to me told me that I am Christ reborn. So when are you planning to bow down at my feet and revere me?
From the Webstser's Unabridged Dictionary copyright 1996:
religion \Re*li"gion\ (r[-e]*l[i^]j"[u^]n), n. [F., from L. religio; cf. religens pious, revering the gods, Gr. 'ale`gein to heed, have a care. Cf. Neglect.] 1. The outward act or form by which men indicate their recognition of the existence of a god or of gods having power over their destiny, to whom obedience, service, and honor are due; the feeling or expression of human love, fear, or awe of some superhuman and overruling power, whether by profession of belief, by observance of rites and ceremonies, or by the conduct of life; a system of faith and worship; a manifestation of piety; as, ethical religions; monotheistic religions; natural religion; revealed religion; the religion of the Jews; the religion of idol worshipers.
Ahem... Looks like we're getting in a semantics problem here... perhaps I should have said Belief in God and morality can be exclusive of one another.
Forget for a moment that I believe that thoughts are a product of biological and chemical processes within the brain, and lets assume for the sake of the argument that the mind is a product of the soul.
People have been known to go crazy and create people as well as devise whole worlds and realities within their minds. (schizophrenics for instance.) I suspect that after a month or two, I would go completely mad, and formulate my own reality.
Of course, science has since determined that many mental illnesses are due to chemical imbalances, and not (as the church would have it) demonic possession. So perhaps it would be quite different.
Lets not forget that Yahoo and Excite are not just search engines, but also public companies. An investor who wants to buy some share of Yahoo's stock, is going to want to gather as much info about Yahoo as possible, and one way of achieving this would be to search for it on various search engines. The same applies for Internet Analysts and students who want to do reports on search engine technology.
Also, someone here mentioned before that the word "yahoo" and "excite" have alternate meanings, such as the yahoos of Gullivers Travels, and the "excite" states of nerve-endings and electrons!
Another reason why someone would want to search on search engine keywords would be to look for news articles, opinions, and general info about the company. A fine example would be for an investor who is looking to invest in Infoseek, I would want to grab as much information as possible, and one way of doing it would be to hit the different search engines. I never liked Lycos anyway, so I'm not surprised. I guess the Yahoo/Altavista/Deja combo is still the best information resource for me.
You are not alone. Non-beleivers have hated and killed religious people since the beginning, taking from them what they wanted. so I guess you consider yourselves in good company.
Eh? How's this? Aside from Communism, which IMHO is just as evil as organized religion, I can't think of any circumstances where non-believers of religion have persecuted and killed believers. On the other hand, I can think of several instances where religious people have persecured and killed non-believers as well as multitudes of circumstances where members of one religion have persecuted and killed those of another.
Remember why religion exists -- for many hundreds/thousands of years, it's been the only source of comfort for people who have had their wealth, children, lives property -- you name it -- stripped from then by the "might makes right/nietschze/ survival of the fittest" crowd.
Right... how? By becoming the single most powerful and richest political organization in the land (greater than the monarchy)
Ah yes, the ever-popular Satanism bashing. Why is it perfectly acceptable to badmouth Satanic morals/values/worldviews, yet you can't *touch* Buddah, homosexuality, etc. without the ACLU screaming "foul" So much for "tolerance", eh?
To everyone else: we're just interested in freeing people from drugs, mental illness, pornography, sexual addictions, etc. If you are suffering from these, then our goal is to help you out of it. If you don't want out of these problems, then we're not going to bug you.
'the hell (no pun intended) is wrong with sex and pr0nography? Also, would you mind telling me how you go about "freeing" folks from mental illness?
Its my oppinion (and Katz's article kind of supports this, Godwin's law really supports this, and the seemingly relentless struggle to remove God "now that we have technology") that no one is more closed minded and opinionated as an open minded modern free thinker.
You are either exaggerating, or you have never read the view points of a certain Patrick Buchanan.
Honestly the thought of an eternal afterlife scares the shit out of me. Living forever being happy, with no emotion other than joy all the time sounds like one of the worst fates ever. I'd rather go to hell where I can feel pain, at least it would be more interesting.
Here is an interesting question... what is "joy" without "suffering"? If we have never suffered a single day in our whole lives, would we know what "joy" is? Would we appreciate this "joy"?
I tend to think that joy is somewhat relative. What might be a crappy life for us right now, might be heaven for some poor kid in Rwanda who is sick, starving and suffering just to survive.
I agree with you. But religion and morality can be seperated and one need not be religious to be ethical. While it is true that religion does expound moral and ethical values, they can be exclusive of each other. (IMHO that is about all religion is good for)
Is this a sarcastic post? God is represented by his/her/its followers since he/her/it doesn't make him/her/it-self readily apparent. Saying, "God's a dick for having his henchman kill abortion doctors. That darned God, I'll give him such a pinch!" implies automaton-followers. And I know you Christians believe in "free-will"
Yet, I have met very few people who are not Christians who will admit that they are just as deserving of hell as the aforementioned mass murderer.
Well as a non-believer, I don't believe in Hell, so your point is kinda moot as well.
Besides, Hell can't be all that bad, considering the majority of the world is going to be stewing in their for not believing in the "right" deity. I'll have plenty of company.
For the non-Christian, who may have deeply-set antipathy towards Christianity or religion in general, can still choose to live a life of love. If they do, at the time of judgement they will be presented with the Truth in BIG BOLD LETTERS, see it for reality, and will be sheltered in Grace and Forgiveness.
Eeehh.. so whats the point of worshipping the Big G at all, if all we have to do is live a life of love? I mean, that would certainly free up Sunday mornings for a lot of people!
Can we write a MOD that would make this game more relevant to today? Such as adding evil Homo-Sodomites that we can shoot full of viruses with our 8-ball AIDS-Launcher. Or even better, we can pump up abortion doctors full of lead and turn their white lab coats red with the blood of justice!!
I bet ya I can make tons a money down in the southern states (Move over "Redneck Rampage!")
Uhhh....AT&T Was a GOVERNMENT ENFORCED monopoly! Like Con Edison in New York, and Network Solutions. Think any differently now?
Also, anti-trust issues have been raging for years before Bill Gates was even a gleam in his father's eye.. take my word for it. They are just the latest victim.
Anyway, on a more serious note, I am a Libertarian, and we are also quite in support of less government intervention and greater freedom within markets.
I don't understand where you come up with this junk that the U.S. would be in the Stone Age if we had totally free markets. Don't you understand that its the free market that facilitates progress, and the government that hinders it? ( remember when everything related to telephones had to be bought from AT&T? How about Network Solutions?). Lets take a look at the opposite extreme of free-markets and take a look at Socialism... doesn't quite give you the warm and fuzzies does it?
...he ended up becoming the CTO of this new media company called Think New Ideas. I was an equity analyst back in 1996, and I attended a roadshow for an Internet start-up that was IPOing - lo and behold I saw Adam Curry the MTV veejay on the executive board. Hehehe, pretty damn funny, the company turned out to be shite anyway.
In any event, does anyone remember that short-lived animated series on MTV about this giant, muscular rabbit super-hero that wore a purple suit, and lived in some chick's dreamworld? It was great, ranked right up there with Aeon Flux
Slashdot Mirror
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PanDuh!
When you write a covered put, which is what Bill Parish claims M$ is doing, you only make money when your stock goes up, so it would be akin to, though not the same as buying calls on their own stock. Therefore it is not a hedge (who hedges against their own stock going up?)
Parish states that this is decidedly evil because MS is almost guaranteed a profit by just manipulating its own stock price with the various tricky methods outlined in the article.
I don't know if this is true or not, but I say what the heck..
Unfortunately, all good things.... they changed producers after the first season and killed off the main character (Kevin Kilner was the best thing about the show). Now it is just another shoot-em-up, punch-em-up, Humans vs. Aliens show a la "V".
Thats what happens when Marketing and Pointy-Haired-Bosses take over the reigns: "Yes yes! More kung-fu, lasers and breasts, and the aliens need to have lasers coming out of their breasts!"
What a pity...
I'm sorry, but that is exactly why I loved TNG so much, because they tried to delve into some of the more esoteric and inventive sides of science and astronomy (altho most of the time they resorted to "techno-babble"). I loved discussing the episodes with my friends and debating whether it was feasible for Geordi and Ensign Ro to be able to be intangible and walk through walls, yet at the same time not fall straight through the floor into space. But the science and the seriousness made it fascinating.
Granted, its not as funny as Kirk slapping his face in exasperation as Spock misunderstands some comment, or Bones complain about his limitations as a physicians, but then TOS was different. It had a different focus, and relied less on technology and more on morality.
Thank you
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PanDuh!
This'll take care of your cold, rheumatiz, corns, warts, genital herpes, acne, dry-eye, demonic possession and bubonic plague with just a daily application. Buy now and get a bottle Montgomery Finch's "Vitality Tonic", free!
Blessings comes in both Childrens and Super-Potent strength!
Coward
Not anytime soon, I hope ;)
--
PanDuh!
People have been known to go crazy and create people as well as devise whole worlds and realities within their minds. (schizophrenics for instance.) I suspect that after a month or two, I would go completely mad, and formulate my own reality.
Of course, science has since determined that many mental illnesses are due to chemical imbalances, and not (as the church would have it) demonic possession. So perhaps it would be quite different.
Also, someone here mentioned before that the word "yahoo" and "excite" have alternate meanings, such as the yahoos of Gullivers Travels, and the "excite" states of nerve-endings and electrons!
--
PanDuh!
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PanDuh
Eh? How's this? Aside from Communism, which IMHO is just as evil as organized religion, I can't think of any circumstances where non-believers of religion have persecuted and killed believers.
On the other hand, I can think of several instances where religious people have persecured and killed non-believers as well as multitudes of circumstances where members of one religion have persecuted and killed those of another.
Remember why religion exists -- for many hundreds/thousands of years, it's been the only source of comfort for people who have had their wealth, children, lives property -- you name it -- stripped from then by the "might makes right/nietschze/ survival of the fittest" crowd.
Right... how? By becoming the single most powerful and richest political organization in the land (greater than the monarchy)
Ah yes, the ever-popular Satanism bashing. Why is it perfectly acceptable to badmouth Satanic morals/values/worldviews, yet you can't *touch* Buddah, homosexuality, etc. without the ACLU screaming "foul" So much for "tolerance", eh?
'the hell (no pun intended) is wrong with sex and pr0nography? Also, would you mind telling me how you go about "freeing" folks from mental illness?
--
PanDuh!
You are either exaggerating, or you have never read the view points of a certain Patrick Buchanan.
--PanDuh!
Here is an interesting question... what is "joy" without "suffering"? If we have never suffered a single day in our whole lives, would we know what "joy" is? Would we appreciate this "joy"?
I tend to think that joy is somewhat relative. What might be a crappy life for us right now, might be heaven for some poor kid in Rwanda who is sick, starving and suffering just to survive.
Without pain, we cannot know pleasure.
--
PanDuh!
(IMHO that is about all religion is good for)
PanDuh!
PanDuh!
Well as a non-believer, I don't believe in Hell, so your point is kinda moot as well.
Besides, Hell can't be all that bad, considering the majority of the world is going to be stewing in their for not believing in the "right" deity. I'll have plenty of company.
-- PanDuh!
Eeehh.. so whats the point of worshipping the Big G at all, if all we have to do is live a life of love? I mean, that would certainly free up Sunday mornings for a lot of people!
-- PanDuh!
Or even better, we can pump up abortion doctors full of lead and turn their white lab coats red with the blood of justice!!
I bet ya I can make tons a money down in the southern states (Move over "Redneck Rampage!")
PanDuh!
Also, anti-trust issues have been raging for years before Bill Gates was even a gleam in his father's eye.. take my word for it. They are just the latest victim.
PanDuh!
Anyway, on a more serious note, I am a Libertarian, and we are also quite in support of less government intervention and greater freedom within markets.
I don't understand where you come up with this junk that the U.S. would be in the Stone Age if we had totally free markets. Don't you understand that its the free market that facilitates progress, and the government that hinders it? ( remember when everything related to telephones had to be bought from AT&T? How about Network Solutions?). Lets take a look at the opposite extreme of free-markets and take a look at Socialism... doesn't quite give you the warm and fuzzies does it?
--
PanDuh!
In any event, does anyone remember that short-lived animated series on MTV about this giant, muscular rabbit super-hero that wore a purple suit, and lived in some chick's dreamworld? It was great, ranked right up there with Aeon Flux
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PanDuh