I am, however, curious as to why you posted as AC; are you suggesting that this post is too much of a troll, and would get modded down? If thats the case, you must not have much moral conviction, if you're not willing to stake karma (a ficticious, online only 'commodity' with no significant value) on a simple assertion of a belief.
As a moral rule, within a free-speech zone (i.e. the USA, most of Europe, the web) I have little respect for anonymous opinions. When you fear oppresion - like in China - it makes sense, but here [in the Free world], you're just demonstrating that you aren't willing to stake reputation on your own opinions. Sack up.
Oh yeah, nuking the producers of the most-used OS on the planet would be brilliant.
This sort of joke isn't funny, its just demonstrative of an unhealthy vitrol towards Microsoft. Linux is great, no one is saying otherwise, but it has serious lackings. It lacks ease of use, unification, game support, hardware support, etc. Quit bitching [everyone] about Microsoft, and help develop a viable Linux solution to the home user desktop.
Ah, but who said West Springfield is part of Springfield, much less even adjacent? For example, South Miami is its own city (although its part of the Miami-Dade County). Perhaps 'West Springfield' is just the Springfield-ian name for..oh...the Western united states?
The reason is simple, and its the very same reason people dont watch movies in foreign languages without subtitles:
We want to connect to the storyline, and through it the characters.
If a movie has too much of a break with reality - either because of it being too 'fantasy' for a person (i.e. how some people reacted to LotR, though not too many of course) or because it asks for too intense a suspension of disbelief (i.e. how many of us react to The Day After Tomorrow) - then people cant relate to it. Sure, its touching that Quaid's character wants to reach his son, but the setup is simply too absurd.
Another post aluded to aliens visiting; given the absurdity of the environmental effects visible in the movie, it actually is no less absurd to show an alien ship arriving, causing this damage and then leaving, than to have these environmental effects.
Think of it this way: suppose you were watching a sci-fi movie, and in the middle of it the writers changed the internal rules (i.e. a given cause had a new and different effect, unpredictably so). You'd be angry, because you can no longer connect to the story, because you cant predict results. Its the same thing: we're angry because this significant a suspension of disbelief calls for an absurd break from reality (think those crazy maneuvers they depicted in ID4 for existing aircraft).
That may be true, but here's the problem with your argument, and that of almost everyone who complains about these cameras:
WE ALL SPEED!
I'm a safe driver - I've driven without an accident my entire life - but I'll admit I regularly speed. Its a small amount - I'll go 40 in a 35 zone for example - but I do it, and so does everyone else on the road. I dont know anyone who doesn't speed like this, casually.
If you get nabbed by one of these cameras, you lost the gamble we all take. I've never met a single person who got a speeding ticket (automatic or in-person) who actually claims they weren't speeding (except to the judge, of course).
Okay, you're missing some serious factors that have already been brought up:
1) folders: these are present in the 4.x versions of Tivo software. However, as mentioned above, DirecTV chooses what version of software to run on DirecTivos, not Tivo, and they have chosen to keep 3.x
2) The ability to add external storage: what would that be enclosed in? Are you suggesting they support external firewire drive enclosures for example?
3) Network connectivity: the only purpose in this is to enable hacks such as web access or file extraction. If you're going to install these hacks (which do exist) then you are already going to do the network hacks.
4) Internet integration: this is mildly interesting, but would require Tivo to do some serious data alteration of IMDB's info (not to mention probably require some sort of contract with them).
5) caller id: what? why would you want this on your Tivo? There's a hack for this anyways...
I'm curious, what features would you have them add? HMO is already not going to happen for the simple reason that their networks have demanded it, so what would you add?
I'd bet against DirecTV ever putting a digital out on their receivers. As is, they simply cant use the Home Media Option that stand-alone Tivos have because too many networks refused to allow copying of their digital streams. Granted, there's an extensive community of people who hack their [Direc]Tivos to extract video, etc., but its not a built in feature.
I dont think it's very likely that DirecTV will buy out Tivo, for the simple reason that they wouldn't acquire a significant benefit in doing so. DirecTV already has a huge user base of people using DirecTivos, and would only be buying the hassle of continuing development of Stand-Alone Tivos which, by definition, would be used by people who aren't DirecTV consumers.
See, thats what the quote ("") marks are for: to tell you that the parent was quoting a memory of a long forgotten time, in which tapes were the dominant way to hold your music.
No, try and keep your scope proper next time you post. iTunes is, and always has been, entirely free to download. The Apple Music Store meanwhile is also free to use, although the actual purchasing of music costs money as the definition of 'purchase' requires.
Incorrect. The Apple solutions (iTunes/iPod) both allow you to shuffle based on songs, albums or playlists. This means I can shuffle based on albums (assuming I'm listening for several hours as I often do in the art studio) and it will play a whole album through, then randomly pick another and play it through, etc.
I'm just asking for an offtopic mod here, but I'd just like to chime in on something:
A sax is a woodwind, as I'm sure you know, because its sound originates in the wooden reed in the mouthpeice (just like other woodwinds like clarinets and oboes, both of whose bodies can be wood, plastic or other materials), whereas all brass instruments have their sound originate in a brass or otherwise metallic mouthpeice.
This is the same reason that a piano is considered a string instrument (since the sound originates in the vibrating string) as opposed to a percussion instrument (due to the hammers inside that hit the strings) even though it mechanically seems similar to the xylophone.
This is what we should be cheering, but inevitably someone will post complaining about them. Its the standard problem with the internet: some assholes who have no concerns with society but only instead worry about their own privacy are given a voice.
Frankly, there are zero valid privacy concerns. The only situation in which the black box is legally accessed by anyone other than a mechanic is in the event of an accident. These are not emissive, nor are they on any network. They simply act like a black box on a plane.
People often give the "if you're not doing anything wrong, then you've got nothing to hide" argument against people who have privacy concerns, but in this case its literally true: if you haven't done anything wrong, not only have you nothing to hide but there is in fact no way to even look.
Actually, there's a simple way to handle this that is already partially implemented: tilting. There are mice which sense how you tilt the mousewheel left/right, and it would be a simple matter to allow similar tilting of the mouse itself. This tilt (forward or back, or left to right) could be used as a "go deeper" or "back out" movement.
As for a direct interface, there are projects working on this (the New York Times covered this somewhere last week), but I'm not too interested in those. Very few people will really want neural interfaces (unless they're handicapped in some way) simply because of the fear of a crash: its trite, but imagine a blue screen of death in your skull.
In all honesty, i've never seen a good player use joysticks (or for that matter, anything but the keyboard/mouse or maybe a nostromo/mouse) to play a first person shooter...
Except for the fact that after you remove the electronics, the Sapphire drips off and dries into the air (i.e. no rubbing required) whereas to get that mineral oil off you'd have to painstakingly open and isolate each part, and dab/wipe all that oil off.
Not to mention that inert mineral oil would be absorbed into the fibers of a book or of a fabric, whereas Sapphire wont (which makes it ideal for fire suppression in libraries/clothing stores/repositories.
I'll admit, I've only regularly done the NYTimes crossword for a little over a year (I decided it would be a good exercise), so I may not have the best historical framework here. However, I think there are often excellent 'eureeka' moments, particularly on Thursday (where there is a trick to how certain boxes can be filled in, for example a single box meaning 'ying' horizontally and 'yang' vertically, as opposed to normal days were the clue is just a hint). I'll grant you, Saturdays are a bitch, but I still have those "Aha!" moments while working on them.
Speaking of which, its time for breakfast and a paper...
Incorrect. Small enough wires/paths on chips will actually burst into flames if enough current passes through them such as during an EMP. Remember, the passage of current causes heat to be built up from resistance, and when the traces are as thin as they are on a lot of electronics, they can easily pass the explosive heat point of that metal.
Example: put some metal in a microwave.
I think the irony of this situation is that we're already so far past the MAD model of weaponry (i.e. that there are already so many super weapons...) that whether or not a new technology provides a new superweapon is largely moot.
Sure, we may develop some fantastic death-star beam we can fire with pin point accuracy from space, but what does it matter if the enemy can simply still smuggle dirty bombs or plagues into our cities?
This is no more going to lead to a new superweapon [in and of itself] than any other increase in efficiency in power generation: we already have nuclear fusion bombs.
Strictly speaking, while maser is now also a word, 'microwave laser' is a perfectly valid term since the word 'microwave' merely describes a type of light (with light generically referring to photonic waves, i.e. EM waves).
Actually, the irony of your post is that your claim about gambling (that you always lose) belies your actual lack of understanding of the relevant concepts of economics here.
Its obviously true that over a long enough period of time, all of the games in a casino have a probability spread that benefits the casino over the player (although some games are as low as 51% to the casino). However, the very same math shows us that at different times the results of gambling will favor either the casino or the gambler (that is, at point A the gambler may be low, at B the gambler be high, whereas at C he's way down). The real trick to gambling (and I know, incidentally, two men who are professional poker players, i.e. they make all their income gambling) is to recognize when you're too deep in to recoop your losses (and thus, to bail out), but also to recognize when you're sufficiently high up so that you're statistically likely not to get any better. The good gamblers know how to quit, and in doing so they ride the same probabilities that the casino does.
In the USA, truth is a defense to libel. There is no tort if your printed stories are factually accurate.
In the UK, truth is no defense, you can still be sued if you print something that damages another person or company's else's reputation.
Several points: 1) This suit is exclusively concerned with American law, since it involves two American companies and their actions in the American economic sphere; 2) my understanding (which is admittedly not perfect, since I'm not a barrister/solicitor in british law) of the UK system is that truth is no defense if your presentation of the information is malicious. In other words, in the UK you can print/distribute destructive information if it is intended as reporting, whereas you would be exposed to libel if you did so as a non-reporting entity with the intent to harm.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm not disagreeing or agreeing.
I am, however, curious as to why you posted as AC; are you suggesting that this post is too much of a troll, and would get modded down? If thats the case, you must not have much moral conviction, if you're not willing to stake karma (a ficticious, online only 'commodity' with no significant value) on a simple assertion of a belief.
As a moral rule, within a free-speech zone (i.e. the USA, most of Europe, the web) I have little respect for anonymous opinions. When you fear oppresion - like in China - it makes sense, but here [in the Free world], you're just demonstrating that you aren't willing to stake reputation on your own opinions. Sack up.
Oh yeah, nuking the producers of the most-used OS on the planet would be brilliant.
This sort of joke isn't funny, its just demonstrative of an unhealthy vitrol towards Microsoft. Linux is great, no one is saying otherwise, but it has serious lackings. It lacks ease of use, unification, game support, hardware support, etc. Quit bitching [everyone] about Microsoft, and help develop a viable Linux solution to the home user desktop.
Ah, but who said West Springfield is part of Springfield, much less even adjacent? For example, South Miami is its own city (although its part of the Miami-Dade County). Perhaps 'West Springfield' is just the Springfield-ian name for..oh...the Western united states?
The reason is simple, and its the very same reason people dont watch movies in foreign languages without subtitles:
We want to connect to the storyline, and through it the characters.
If a movie has too much of a break with reality - either because of it being too 'fantasy' for a person (i.e. how some people reacted to LotR, though not too many of course) or because it asks for too intense a suspension of disbelief (i.e. how many of us react to The Day After Tomorrow) - then people cant relate to it. Sure, its touching that Quaid's character wants to reach his son, but the setup is simply too absurd.
Another post aluded to aliens visiting; given the absurdity of the environmental effects visible in the movie, it actually is no less absurd to show an alien ship arriving, causing this damage and then leaving, than to have these environmental effects.
Think of it this way: suppose you were watching a sci-fi movie, and in the middle of it the writers changed the internal rules (i.e. a given cause had a new and different effect, unpredictably so). You'd be angry, because you can no longer connect to the story, because you cant predict results. Its the same thing: we're angry because this significant a suspension of disbelief calls for an absurd break from reality (think those crazy maneuvers they depicted in ID4 for existing aircraft).
That may be true, but here's the problem with your argument, and that of almost everyone who complains about these cameras:
WE ALL SPEED!
I'm a safe driver - I've driven without an accident my entire life - but I'll admit I regularly speed. Its a small amount - I'll go 40 in a 35 zone for example - but I do it, and so does everyone else on the road. I dont know anyone who doesn't speed like this, casually.
If you get nabbed by one of these cameras, you lost the gamble we all take. I've never met a single person who got a speeding ticket (automatic or in-person) who actually claims they weren't speeding (except to the judge, of course).
Okay, you're missing some serious factors that have already been brought up:
1) folders: these are present in the 4.x versions of Tivo software. However, as mentioned above, DirecTV chooses what version of software to run on DirecTivos, not Tivo, and they have chosen to keep 3.x
2) The ability to add external storage: what would that be enclosed in? Are you suggesting they support external firewire drive enclosures for example?
3) Network connectivity: the only purpose in this is to enable hacks such as web access or file extraction. If you're going to install these hacks (which do exist) then you are already going to do the network hacks.
4) Internet integration: this is mildly interesting, but would require Tivo to do some serious data alteration of IMDB's info (not to mention probably require some sort of contract with them). 5) caller id: what? why would you want this on your Tivo? There's a hack for this anyways...
I'm curious, what features would you have them add? HMO is already not going to happen for the simple reason that their networks have demanded it, so what would you add?
I'd bet against DirecTV ever putting a digital out on their receivers. As is, they simply cant use the Home Media Option that stand-alone Tivos have because too many networks refused to allow copying of their digital streams. Granted, there's an extensive community of people who hack their [Direc]Tivos to extract video, etc., but its not a built in feature.
I dont think it's very likely that DirecTV will buy out Tivo, for the simple reason that they wouldn't acquire a significant benefit in doing so. DirecTV already has a huge user base of people using DirecTivos, and would only be buying the hassle of continuing development of Stand-Alone Tivos which, by definition, would be used by people who aren't DirecTV consumers.
See, thats what the quote ("") marks are for: to tell you that the parent was quoting a memory of a long forgotten time, in which tapes were the dominant way to hold your music.
No, try and keep your scope proper next time you post. iTunes is, and always has been, entirely free to download. The Apple Music Store meanwhile is also free to use, although the actual purchasing of music costs money as the definition of 'purchase' requires.
Incorrect. The Apple solutions (iTunes/iPod) both allow you to shuffle based on songs, albums or playlists. This means I can shuffle based on albums (assuming I'm listening for several hours as I often do in the art studio) and it will play a whole album through, then randomly pick another and play it through, etc.
I'm just asking for an offtopic mod here, but I'd just like to chime in on something:
A sax is a woodwind, as I'm sure you know, because its sound originates in the wooden reed in the mouthpeice (just like other woodwinds like clarinets and oboes, both of whose bodies can be wood, plastic or other materials), whereas all brass instruments have their sound originate in a brass or otherwise metallic mouthpeice.
This is the same reason that a piano is considered a string instrument (since the sound originates in the vibrating string) as opposed to a percussion instrument (due to the hammers inside that hit the strings) even though it mechanically seems similar to the xylophone.
This is what we should be cheering, but inevitably someone will post complaining about them. Its the standard problem with the internet: some assholes who have no concerns with society but only instead worry about their own privacy are given a voice.
Frankly, there are zero valid privacy concerns. The only situation in which the black box is legally accessed by anyone other than a mechanic is in the event of an accident. These are not emissive, nor are they on any network. They simply act like a black box on a plane.
People often give the "if you're not doing anything wrong, then you've got nothing to hide" argument against people who have privacy concerns, but in this case its literally true: if you haven't done anything wrong, not only have you nothing to hide but there is in fact no way to even look.
Actually, there's a simple way to handle this that is already partially implemented: tilting. There are mice which sense how you tilt the mousewheel left/right, and it would be a simple matter to allow similar tilting of the mouse itself. This tilt (forward or back, or left to right) could be used as a "go deeper" or "back out" movement. As for a direct interface, there are projects working on this (the New York Times covered this somewhere last week), but I'm not too interested in those. Very few people will really want neural interfaces (unless they're handicapped in some way) simply because of the fear of a crash: its trite, but imagine a blue screen of death in your skull.
In all honesty, i've never seen a good player use joysticks (or for that matter, anything but the keyboard/mouse or maybe a nostromo/mouse) to play a first person shooter...
Except for the fact that after you remove the electronics, the Sapphire drips off and dries into the air (i.e. no rubbing required) whereas to get that mineral oil off you'd have to painstakingly open and isolate each part, and dab/wipe all that oil off. Not to mention that inert mineral oil would be absorbed into the fibers of a book or of a fabric, whereas Sapphire wont (which makes it ideal for fire suppression in libraries/clothing stores/repositories.
I'll admit, I've only regularly done the NYTimes crossword for a little over a year (I decided it would be a good exercise), so I may not have the best historical framework here. However, I think there are often excellent 'eureeka' moments, particularly on Thursday (where there is a trick to how certain boxes can be filled in, for example a single box meaning 'ying' horizontally and 'yang' vertically, as opposed to normal days were the clue is just a hint). I'll grant you, Saturdays are a bitch, but I still have those "Aha!" moments while working on them.
Speaking of which, its time for breakfast and a paper...
Incorrect. Small enough wires/paths on chips will actually burst into flames if enough current passes through them such as during an EMP. Remember, the passage of current causes heat to be built up from resistance, and when the traces are as thin as they are on a lot of electronics, they can easily pass the explosive heat point of that metal. Example: put some metal in a microwave.
No joke, I thought of this exact scene when writing my post above, and simply couldn't figure out a good way to tie it into what I was saying.
I think the irony of this situation is that we're already so far past the MAD model of weaponry (i.e. that there are already so many super weapons...) that whether or not a new technology provides a new superweapon is largely moot.
Sure, we may develop some fantastic death-star beam we can fire with pin point accuracy from space, but what does it matter if the enemy can simply still smuggle dirty bombs or plagues into our cities?
This is no more going to lead to a new superweapon [in and of itself] than any other increase in efficiency in power generation: we already have nuclear fusion bombs.
Strictly speaking, while maser is now also a word, 'microwave laser' is a perfectly valid term since the word 'microwave' merely describes a type of light (with light generically referring to photonic waves, i.e. EM waves).
Actually, the irony of your post is that your claim about gambling (that you always lose) belies your actual lack of understanding of the relevant concepts of economics here.
Its obviously true that over a long enough period of time, all of the games in a casino have a probability spread that benefits the casino over the player (although some games are as low as 51% to the casino). However, the very same math shows us that at different times the results of gambling will favor either the casino or the gambler (that is, at point A the gambler may be low, at B the gambler be high, whereas at C he's way down). The real trick to gambling (and I know, incidentally, two men who are professional poker players, i.e. they make all their income gambling) is to recognize when you're too deep in to recoop your losses (and thus, to bail out), but also to recognize when you're sufficiently high up so that you're statistically likely not to get any better. The good gamblers know how to quit, and in doing so they ride the same probabilities that the casino does.
Several points: 1) This suit is exclusively concerned with American law, since it involves two American companies and their actions in the American economic sphere; 2) my understanding (which is admittedly not perfect, since I'm not a barrister/solicitor in british law) of the UK system is that truth is no defense if your presentation of the information is malicious. In other words, in the UK you can print/distribute destructive information if it is intended as reporting, whereas you would be exposed to libel if you did so as a non-reporting entity with the intent to harm.