There is supposedly an organization at UA called the machine. It is greek oriented and has allegedly had a hand in "fixing" SGA elections.
Side note, at Auburn (the other University in Alabama), the student paper (The Plainsman) once had an insert with 2 free McDonald's Monopoly game pieces in it. The day the paper was distributed on campus, all copies were taken. If I recall correctly, the student responsible was discovered, but no crime had been committed because the paper was "free". This prompted a law to prevent the theft of free newspapers such that only one copy per reader is free.
This cuts both ways. Unless you are a PE (professional engineer). Engineer isn't a well defined term. My short definition is a person who solves practical problems with the application of science and mathematics. That is a broad definition. I don't have an engineering degree. I'm a drop out. I worked for the university I dropped out of as an Engineering Tech. II. Before that my job titles have been: research assistant, lab machinist, Engineering Tech. I. I worked there 7 years, mostly helping graduate students in their research and maintaining equipment. I currently work for a professor (Ph.D) at his home business. My title? Engineer. I was studing ME. I did well in most of my engineering classes. I didn't do well in some others (I don't do any fluid mechanics at my job, for example). I can handle a lot of engineering work and I can learn more as the job requires. I am an acomplished machinist (and I really like machining). I know if I'm in too deep, and can tell my boss if I am outside of my realm (hasn't happened yet). I've done circuit design (nothing fancy), and a lot of testing (boring, but it is necessary). Mostly, I'm doing mechanical design. I'm quick to tell people who question me that I don't have a degree, but that question doesn't come up very often, and it usually doesn't matter. My experience and work speaks for itself. I didn't fit in very well at school, so that is why I dropped out (and the money ran out). I'd make more money I'm sure if I had a degree, but I've never been lacking in the employment department (I didn't have college loans to pay off). My boss (whom I really like) is good about recognizing talent (he sees a lot of engineeers) and knows how to use people's strengths. I'm still young, and I don't regret not graduating. Before anyone flames me, I don't design bridges, dams or life support equipment. There is plenty of engineering work that isn't glamorious or life threatening. But I am one of those who skew the statistics. Experience counts for a lot in this world and it can make up for degrees.
True story: one day in the machine shop, a senior engineering student, working on senior project, asked the shop manager how one makes the wrinkles in the hole. "wrinkles?" the manager asks, to which the student replies "you know, for screws" "oh, you mean threads?" This is a senior ME student, not an EE. Small anecdote, but an example of some of the engineers who get their degree. Of course, you really start learning things on the job, a degree is just a starting point. And to the student's credit, he knew by the time he graduated, what screw threads are, so the school did its job.
I got the same treatment. I pressed one, and the first thing I said after the salesman introduced himself was: "please put me on your do not call list" CLICK! "hello, hello?" He had just hung up. I didn't complain, but now I wish I had. It was very rude.
I agree, but they are replacing them in education (I specifically see it in higher ed). They even have a little camera above a writing surface to project the teacher's writing (or display photos and other physical objects) on the digital projector, which is a little of a Rube Goldberg solution if you ask me. I was't trying to flame, I was just pointing out that overhead projectors seem to me (based on observation) to be on their way out. Like chalkboards are being replaced by dry erase boards. I don't view this as a good thing/bad thing, just that it is happening. And as a result, I don't believe that if this trend continues, no laptop maker is going to again make a laptop you describe. I wasn't describing my thinking, only my observations. I think that education (the system) is putting too much money in tech. that it doesn't need to perform its primary task (which to me should be math/science skills and critical thinking).
So, I agree that it would be nice to have a laptop that can be put on an overhead, but I would be willing to bet that it will not happen again.
I also wish that someone other than HP would start making RPN calculators in the quality of the old school HP. I don't believe that will happen either. And maybe I'm just suffering from grumpy old man syndrome, and the market will not support such a calculator. It seems that humans are attracted to the shiny new tech. like moths to a flame. And so you have a market in which organizations do not want to appear "old fashioned" and find the money to spend on new toys like digital projectors.
On a seperate note, who is really driving the tech. these days? Are US companys still the primary motivators for general purpose computers? I know that most production seems to be offshore, but Dell, HP, Apple, IBM, etc. are still the primary design companies, correct? Has the former Soviet Union spawned any computer companies? Japan? Europe? I know that Sony "makes" computers in that they are designed by Sony, but they are just clones of the Intel/Windows varity. Am I making sense? Is there any competing companies out there in the general purpose market? It seems to me you have primarly two choices of platform, Apple and Intel/AMD, and you do have several OSs to choose from, but is there much else out there? (I'll give you Sun Micro, but I see them as "big iron" like IBM). It seems to me that this is a US niche, like 35mm film cameras primarly came from Japanese companies, the US has really made stides in computer tech., with other countries following our lead. Again, this is my (possibly flawed) observation.
"overhead projector" you speak of? I kid, of course, but I believe they don't make laptops like this is because it makes it hard to sell the $3k SVGA projectors. I realize that overhead projectors are comparitively cheap and still useful, but I see that the institutions (businesses, schools, etc.) that need overhead projectors are moving on to digital projectors.
Of course, that doesn't mean that it is a great idea to replace a $300 overhead projector with a $3k digital one, but the digital projector also can replace a slide projector, a film projector, TV, etc.
This is just the march of technological progress I suppose. I expect certain laptops will have built in projectors in the future, if it hasn't been done yet.
as an owner of 2 butt sets (lineman's phones) I can say that this isn't always true. My old western electric rotary one is batteryless. It is still handy for just that reason (and yes, I can still dial out with it on POTS service). My newer Chesilvale needs a 9v battery to work, but it also has a speakerphone in it and more features. I don't believe the battery is there to prevent detection (eliminating voltage drops).
The is more to a butt set than it being a corded phone with alligator clips. It has an audio transformer in it which permits one to hear what is on the line without going "off hook". It allows one to monitor the line without being audibly noticed (there might still be a voltage drop).
Yeah, just like we have a maximum wage. Personally, I think there should be a maximum wage if there is going to be a minimum wage. This isn't my idea, I heard it from Jello Biafra (of the Dead Kennedys fame).
I say bullshit on the "no way to get DSL without a wireline phone number". I'm not trying to flame here. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can get 2 DSL modems and connect them over a dry pair. This of course will not provide POTS service. If it is just a matter of having a phone number for accounting purposes, then they could just make up a new exchange prefix for just this type of installation. The basic service, as far as I can tell, would cost $12/mo. but with fees and taxes, it is more like $19/mo. This service does not provide anything more than a dial tone and local calling. The reason I'm going to VoIP is the flat rate nationwide calling ($24/mo. thru voicepulse). This includes features that would be extra on the BellSouth POTS service. I get caller ID, voicemail, forwarding, call waiting, etc. The $40 "connect fee" that BellSouth (BS) charges is a complete rip off in my opinion. I could understand this if it were a installation on a new house, but I'm already wired. If it was a deposit, I wouldn't be complaining about the $40, but it is a fee. If BS went to a flat rate nationwide calling plan that cost what I'm paying thru voicepulse, this wouldn't be an issue. They are, I'm sure, losing customers to the cell phone industry (and slowly, VoIP). I have friends that only have a cell phone. BS needs to adapt or they are going to lose business. Their cost of operation (aside from basic wire maintence) has dropped I'm sure due to the use of digital packet switching which I'm sure they are using on the "backbone" or long haul trunks. Instead of adapting, they are using heavy handed tactics (getting laws that protect the status quo). They have a core base of mostly older people (like my grandmother) who don't now anything about the tech, and are happy with POTS service. I like caller ID, I like voicemail instead of using an answering machine, I like the ability to turn on call forwarding thru a browser interface. I can also customize my caller ID so calls from friends show up as their name instead of "xxx-xxx-xxxx" (insert phone number here). But what BS charges for extra features is excessive (because it is all done thru software). My only potential loss with VoIP is the possible lack of E911 service, and the fact that if I lose power, I lose the phone. I can use a UPS to correct the second, and I belive that the E911 is merely a configuration (software) issue. Hell, it might work right now, I don't feel the need to try it.
So please don't tell me this is a technical impossibility. If it is for accounting, they could implement a work around.
I'm not trying to plug voicepulse, but I'm been told (by Mark Spencer) that they are using Asterisk as their "engine". This is why they can provide extra features, because it doesn't cost anything, aside from the storage of voicemail.
Also, I am pissed at Charter (who provided my cable broadband) because they charge me an extra $10/mo. just to have broadband without cable TV. Can anyone explain this, other than the fact that they can?
Both BS and Charter are using their niche of having infrastructure to your house as a means to sell extra services (i.e. if you want broadband, you have to get these extra "features/charges" I don't watch TV (except for broadcast TV or at friends houses), but I'm being penalized on the cable front, just because I dare want broadband without TV.
So my broadband choices are: Get DSL through BS, which includes POTS (at least $12 extra, most likely more) or Cable internet ($10 extra without the TV). At least Charter doesn't charge an outragious connection fee. And Charter really does need to send a Tech out to hook up the line at the pole. BS just has to type some shit on a keyboard.
So, my last roommate moved out. The phone was in his name. BellSouth (BS) wants $40 to get it in my name. So I say fine, disconnect it, I'm going to VoIP. VoIP doesn't work well with the cable internet due to latency issues. BS is running ad campaigns here about $25/mo. DSL service. So I call them from work to order it. The Customer Rep. wants to know the phone #. I say I don't have one. I go round and round about the advertisement. I cannot get DSL without first getting POTS. I don't want POTS. Customer Rep: doesn't compute, must have POTS. The house is wired, it is within DSL range, but BS will not hook up DSL without POTS. The rep says that I can get POTS from another provider, and then get DSL. All other POTS providers cost more. Solution: Landlord, who lives below me, is willing to let me get my DLS thru her. She pays for POTS, I pay for DSL and share with her.
My main compaint is that BS runs deceptive ads (there is fine print, but I cannot read it quickly enough) and doesn't spell out in clear language to the customer reps that the customer cannot get DSL without POTS.
I believe that in Georgia, you can get "naked" DSL due to a state law that forces BS to unbundle. They are headquarted in Georgia. Don't they understand that what customers want in Georgia might be the same thing that customers in Alabama might also want? Do I have to get a politician to pass a law for me to get unbundled DSL?
The short answer: the cable company and the phone companies both suck when it comes to internet service. They both have big cash cows that are not directly related to internet service other than the fact that they have infrastructure to your house which can be used to provide broadband.
As a BellSouth "customer", Saying that BellSouth has the best customer service of the Baby Bells isn't much of a complement. Thank god for cable internet, or we would still be waiting for DSL.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but SBC is still a different company than BellSouth. As a BellSouth monopoly "customer" I can say that I do not like BellSouth.
I think it is true of anyone's 1st gen products. They often have bugs. Product development is difficult. It is even harder to get it right the first time. Apple is no exception. God bless the early adopter, for he helps to sort out the bugs for the rest of us.
Sat. photos of container truck traffic isn't proof of much of anything. You have to be able to know what is in the container. It could have been a lot of things. I have read that a lot of the upper officals in Saddam's government high tailed it to Syria to go into exile there. Saddam's wife being one of them. Maybe the containers contained their loot? If you can show me a legitimate sequence of photos of trucks leaving known WMD sites and going to Syria, I might believe you. The thing is, I don't believe such photos exist. Kennedy showed the world photos of the nuke site build up in Cuba. The Bush administration always says "trust us, we have the intellegence". Oh, and here are some photo's of "mobile weapons labs" parked in Iraq. I'm not flaming you, I just can't see this argument winning, unless you can tell me you are a satellite imagery analysis working for the DoD. Vanished photos from websites are as much proof as an article written by Judy Miller.
Well, The dictator has been removed from power. There are other nations who have killed their own citizens by the thousands. Iraq hasn't harbored terrorists since the 1970s, there were no Iraqis on the planes that hit the WTC and Pentagon. I don't recall Iraq (or Saddam) bragging about the existence of WMD's nor their plan to use them on the US(that is to say, in the weeks leading up to the invasion). I believe it was Colin Powell (and other WH officials) doing the bragging. We have an administration that appeared to be scheming to invade before Sept. 11, 2001. We have a nation with lots of oil, the extraction of which was run by non-US oil companies (French and Russian, I believe) We have an energy "task force" meeting with the VP, the minutes of which are secret.
It is also economically profitable to deny your competitors of resources, and to provide them through your own companies. This is why we prop up The House of Saud. It is in our interests to keep Saudi oil flowing because the US has a 49% stake in the oil business there. The terrorists on the planes that fateful day were mostly Saudi. How many Iraqi civilians have we killed? I don't know, but I would guess it is more than the approximately 3000 americans who died on 9/11. Hell, we are two thirds there with the number of troops that have been killed (On the US side, that is). We have an administration that has lied to the citizens of this democracy of ours. Tell me again what our purpose is? Usama has said that he wants the infedels out of Saudi. We left Saudi, and invaded Iraq. Who's side is Bush on? I'm beginning to wonder. And I recall that most people in the Middle East have always been wanting to get rid of Israel. The Iranians have STFU because they see a crazy person in the WH with his finger near the button. Smart those Iranians. It is one thing for you opponent to shout "death to America" and it is quite another to actually try and do it. The Iranians have been victims of US interference for a long time. I dare say that they have reason to chant. And how many times have you heard "nuke their ass, take their gas"? There are loonies everywhere. You have been lied to. And you ate it up. Saddam and his government were evil. Their military was already smashed. The insurgents are following the playbook of Sun Tzu. I'm not seeing any good news coming out of Iraq. Unless you count the progress of the puppet government.
Yes, we fight what we believe in. The US lifestyle is non-negotiable. We believe that it is our birthright to consume more than any other country, that our oil has been locked away under foreign lands and that it is our destiny to liberate resources around the globe for use in supporting our lifestyle. Is that what we're fighting for? Because I don't want it. The parent posting was oversimplified as is mine, but this cycle is going to continue until we all grow up and quit selling weapons to other nations, and disband our standing army, to be replaced by citizen soldiers, like the founders intended. until you can look at both sides of a conflict with fairness and thought, you will not hold the moral high ground. This latest conflict is amoral. I don't think this {cycle} will end until there is full scale nuclear combat. I see that as the logical conclusion for the path we are taking. I just have this funny feeling that there are powers in the US that are itching to nuke another nation. They are trying to find any excuse to do it. God help us all when that day comes. And I'm an atheist.
Slashdot Mirror
The wood working shop. I'm only 2 hours from Atlanta. I visit often.
There is supposedly an organization at UA called the machine. It is greek oriented and has allegedly had a hand in "fixing" SGA elections.
Side note, at Auburn (the other University in Alabama), the student paper (The Plainsman) once had an insert with 2 free McDonald's Monopoly game pieces in it. The day the paper was distributed on campus, all copies were taken. If I recall correctly, the student responsible was discovered, but no crime had been committed because the paper was "free". This prompted a law to prevent the theft of free newspapers such that only one copy per reader is free.
Microsoft tax becomes Dell profit!
1. build a huge base of loyal customers using MS Windows
2. Drop MS Windows
3. Profit?
Well, Uranus was originally named Georgium Sidus after King George III of England. Talk about blatant ass kissing there.
m y/planets/uranus/
Source: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astrono
Those names are no wackier than Uranus.
This cuts both ways. Unless you are a PE (professional engineer). Engineer isn't a well defined term. My short definition is a person who solves practical problems with the application of science and mathematics. That is a broad definition. I don't have an engineering degree. I'm a drop out. I worked for the university I dropped out of as an Engineering Tech. II. Before that my job titles have been: research assistant, lab machinist, Engineering Tech. I. I worked there 7 years, mostly helping graduate students in their research and maintaining equipment. I currently work for a professor (Ph.D) at his home business. My title? Engineer. I was studing ME. I did well in most of my engineering classes. I didn't do well in some others (I don't do any fluid mechanics at my job, for example). I can handle a lot of engineering work and I can learn more as the job requires. I am an acomplished machinist (and I really like machining). I know if I'm in too deep, and can tell my boss if I am outside of my realm (hasn't happened yet). I've done circuit design (nothing fancy), and a lot of testing (boring, but it is necessary). Mostly, I'm doing mechanical design. I'm quick to tell people who question me that I don't have a degree, but that question doesn't come up very often, and it usually doesn't matter. My experience and work speaks for itself. I didn't fit in very well at school, so that is why I dropped out (and the money ran out). I'd make more money I'm sure if I had a degree, but I've never been lacking in the employment department (I didn't have college loans to pay off). My boss (whom I really like) is good about recognizing talent (he sees a lot of engineeers) and knows how to use people's strengths. I'm still young, and I don't regret not graduating. Before anyone flames me, I don't design bridges, dams or life support equipment. There is plenty of engineering work that isn't glamorious or life threatening. But I am one of those who skew the statistics. Experience counts for a lot in this world and it can make up for degrees.
True story: one day in the machine shop, a senior engineering student, working on senior project, asked the shop manager how one makes the wrinkles in the hole. "wrinkles?" the manager asks, to which the student replies "you know, for screws" "oh, you mean threads?" This is a senior ME student, not an EE. Small anecdote, but an example of some of the engineers who get their degree. Of course, you really start learning things on the job, a degree is just a starting point. And to the student's credit, he knew by the time he graduated, what screw threads are, so the school did its job.
I got the same treatment. I pressed one, and the first thing I said after the salesman introduced himself was: "please put me on your do not call list" CLICK! "hello, hello?" He had just hung up. I didn't complain, but now I wish I had. It was very rude.
Oh, and bad spelling too. I meant, get used to it (the deception and bad spelling). There is also a lot of bad grammar. I'll stop now, I swear...
Get use to it. The deceived part. This is slashdot, where misleading headlines is par for the course.
I agree, but they are replacing them in education (I specifically see it in higher ed). They even have a little camera above a writing surface to project the teacher's writing (or display photos and other physical objects) on the digital projector, which is a little of a Rube Goldberg solution if you ask me. I was't trying to flame, I was just pointing out that overhead projectors seem to me (based on observation) to be on their way out. Like chalkboards are being replaced by dry erase boards. I don't view this as a good thing/bad thing, just that it is happening. And as a result, I don't believe that if this trend continues, no laptop maker is going to again make a laptop you describe. I wasn't describing my thinking, only my observations. I think that education (the system) is putting too much money in tech. that it doesn't need to perform its primary task (which to me should be math/science skills and critical thinking).
So, I agree that it would be nice to have a laptop that can be put on an overhead, but I would be willing to bet that it will not happen again. I also wish that someone other than HP would start making RPN calculators in the quality of the old school HP. I don't believe that will happen either. And maybe I'm just suffering from grumpy old man syndrome, and the market will not support such a calculator. It seems that humans are attracted to the shiny new tech. like moths to a flame. And so you have a market in which organizations do not want to appear "old fashioned" and find the money to spend on new toys like digital projectors.
On a seperate note, who is really driving the tech. these days? Are US companys still the primary motivators for general purpose computers? I know that most production seems to be offshore, but Dell, HP, Apple, IBM, etc. are still the primary design companies, correct? Has the former Soviet Union spawned any computer companies? Japan? Europe? I know that Sony "makes" computers in that they are designed by Sony, but they are just clones of the Intel/Windows varity. Am I making sense? Is there any competing companies out there in the general purpose market? It seems to me you have primarly two choices of platform, Apple and Intel/AMD, and you do have several OSs to choose from, but is there much else out there? (I'll give you Sun Micro, but I see them as "big iron" like IBM). It seems to me that this is a US niche, like 35mm film cameras primarly came from Japanese companies, the US has really made stides in computer tech., with other countries following our lead. Again, this is my (possibly flawed) observation.
"overhead projector" you speak of? I kid, of course, but I believe they don't make laptops like this is because it makes it hard to sell the $3k SVGA projectors. I realize that overhead projectors are comparitively cheap and still useful, but I see that the institutions (businesses, schools, etc.) that need overhead projectors are moving on to digital projectors.
Of course, that doesn't mean that it is a great idea to replace a $300 overhead projector with a $3k digital one, but the digital projector also can replace a slide projector, a film projector, TV, etc.
This is just the march of technological progress I suppose. I expect certain laptops will have built in projectors in the future, if it hasn't been done yet.
as an owner of 2 butt sets (lineman's phones) I can say that this isn't always true. My old western electric rotary one is batteryless. It is still handy for just that reason (and yes, I can still dial out with it on POTS service). My newer Chesilvale needs a 9v battery to work, but it also has a speakerphone in it and more features. I don't believe the battery is there to prevent detection (eliminating voltage drops).
The is more to a butt set than it being a corded phone with alligator clips. It has an audio transformer in it which permits one to hear what is on the line without going "off hook". It allows one to monitor the line without being audibly noticed (there might still be a voltage drop).
I have an AAC player you insensitive clod.
Maybe we need to start calling them compressed digital music players? CDMPs?
This would explain the dupes. I remember reading the original windowed hard drive posting on /. too. Either that, or he smokes crack.
Yeah, just like we have a maximum wage. Personally, I think there should be a maximum wage if there is going to be a minimum wage. This isn't my idea, I heard it from Jello Biafra (of the Dead Kennedys fame).
I say bullshit on the "no way to get DSL without a wireline phone number". I'm not trying to flame here. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can get 2 DSL modems and connect them over a dry pair. This of course will not provide POTS service. If it is just a matter of having a phone number for accounting purposes, then they could just make up a new exchange prefix for just this type of installation. The basic service, as far as I can tell, would cost $12/mo. but with fees and taxes, it is more like $19/mo. This service does not provide anything more than a dial tone and local calling. The reason I'm going to VoIP is the flat rate nationwide calling ($24/mo. thru voicepulse). This includes features that would be extra on the BellSouth POTS service. I get caller ID, voicemail, forwarding, call waiting, etc. The $40 "connect fee" that BellSouth (BS) charges is a complete rip off in my opinion. I could understand this if it were a installation on a new house, but I'm already wired. If it was a deposit, I wouldn't be complaining about the $40, but it is a fee. If BS went to a flat rate nationwide calling plan that cost what I'm paying thru voicepulse, this wouldn't be an issue. They are, I'm sure, losing customers to the cell phone industry (and slowly, VoIP). I have friends that only have a cell phone. BS needs to adapt or they are going to lose business. Their cost of operation (aside from basic wire maintence) has dropped I'm sure due to the use of digital packet switching which I'm sure they are using on the "backbone" or long haul trunks. Instead of adapting, they are using heavy handed tactics (getting laws that protect the status quo). They have a core base of mostly older people (like my grandmother) who don't now anything about the tech, and are happy with POTS service. I like caller ID, I like voicemail instead of using an answering machine, I like the ability to turn on call forwarding thru a browser interface. I can also customize my caller ID so calls from friends show up as their name instead of "xxx-xxx-xxxx" (insert phone number here). But what BS charges for extra features is excessive (because it is all done thru software). My only potential loss with VoIP is the possible lack of E911 service, and the fact that if I lose power, I lose the phone. I can use a UPS to correct the second, and I belive that the E911 is merely a configuration (software) issue. Hell, it might work right now, I don't feel the need to try it.
So please don't tell me this is a technical impossibility. If it is for accounting, they could implement a work around.
I'm not trying to plug voicepulse, but I'm been told (by Mark Spencer) that they are using Asterisk as their "engine". This is why they can provide extra features, because it doesn't cost anything, aside from the storage of voicemail.
Also, I am pissed at Charter (who provided my cable broadband) because they charge me an extra $10/mo. just to have broadband without cable TV. Can anyone explain this, other than the fact that they can?
Both BS and Charter are using their niche of having infrastructure to your house as a means to sell extra services (i.e. if you want broadband, you have to get these extra "features/charges" I don't watch TV (except for broadcast TV or at friends houses), but I'm being penalized on the cable front, just because I dare want broadband without TV.
So my broadband choices are: Get DSL through BS, which includes POTS (at least $12 extra, most likely more) or Cable internet ($10 extra without the TV). At least Charter doesn't charge an outragious connection fee. And Charter really does need to send a Tech out to hook up the line at the pole. BS just has to type some shit on a keyboard.
Well, my cable customer service sucks too.
So, my last roommate moved out. The phone was in his name. BellSouth (BS) wants $40 to get it in my name. So I say fine, disconnect it, I'm going to VoIP. VoIP doesn't work well with the cable internet due to latency issues. BS is running ad campaigns here about $25/mo. DSL service. So I call them from work to order it. The Customer Rep. wants to know the phone #. I say I don't have one. I go round and round about the advertisement. I cannot get DSL without first getting POTS. I don't want POTS. Customer Rep: doesn't compute, must have POTS. The house is wired, it is within DSL range, but BS will not hook up DSL without POTS. The rep says that I can get POTS from another provider, and then get DSL. All other POTS providers cost more. Solution: Landlord, who lives below me, is willing to let me get my DLS thru her. She pays for POTS, I pay for DSL and share with her.
My main compaint is that BS runs deceptive ads (there is fine print, but I cannot read it quickly enough) and doesn't spell out in clear language to the customer reps that the customer cannot get DSL without POTS.
I believe that in Georgia, you can get "naked" DSL due to a state law that forces BS to unbundle. They are headquarted in Georgia. Don't they understand that what customers want in Georgia might be the same thing that customers in Alabama might also want? Do I have to get a politician to pass a law for me to get unbundled DSL?
The short answer: the cable company and the phone companies both suck when it comes to internet service. They both have big cash cows that are not directly related to internet service other than the fact that they have infrastructure to your house which can be used to provide broadband.
As a BellSouth "customer", Saying that BellSouth has the best customer service of the Baby Bells isn't much of a complement. Thank god for cable internet, or we would still be waiting for DSL.
oops, misread your post. I still agree with it.
P.S. BellSouth Sucks.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but SBC is still a different company than BellSouth. As a BellSouth monopoly "customer" I can say that I do not like BellSouth.
my "Random shooting spree in a mall" video game. How do you decide who to shoot anyway?
I think it is true of anyone's 1st gen products. They often have bugs. Product development is difficult. It is even harder to get it right the first time. Apple is no exception. God bless the early adopter, for he helps to sort out the bugs for the rest of us.
Sat. photos of container truck traffic isn't proof of much of anything. You have to be able to know what is in the container. It could have been a lot of things. I have read that a lot of the upper officals in Saddam's government high tailed it to Syria to go into exile there. Saddam's wife being one of them. Maybe the containers contained their loot? If you can show me a legitimate sequence of photos of trucks leaving known WMD sites and going to Syria, I might believe you. The thing is, I don't believe such photos exist. Kennedy showed the world photos of the nuke site build up in Cuba. The Bush administration always says "trust us, we have the intellegence". Oh, and here are some photo's of "mobile weapons labs" parked in Iraq. I'm not flaming you, I just can't see this argument winning, unless you can tell me you are a satellite imagery analysis working for the DoD. Vanished photos from websites are as much proof as an article written by Judy Miller.
Well, The dictator has been removed from power. There are other nations who have killed their own citizens by the thousands. Iraq hasn't harbored terrorists since the 1970s, there were no Iraqis on the planes that hit the WTC and Pentagon. I don't recall Iraq (or Saddam) bragging about the existence of WMD's nor their plan to use them on the US(that is to say, in the weeks leading up to the invasion). I believe it was Colin Powell (and other WH officials) doing the bragging. We have an administration that appeared to be scheming to invade before Sept. 11, 2001. We have a nation with lots of oil, the extraction of which was run by non-US oil companies (French and Russian, I believe) We have an energy "task force" meeting with the VP, the minutes of which are secret.
It is also economically profitable to deny your competitors of resources, and to provide them through your own companies. This is why we prop up The House of Saud. It is in our interests to keep Saudi oil flowing because the US has a 49% stake in the oil business there. The terrorists on the planes that fateful day were mostly Saudi. How many Iraqi civilians have we killed? I don't know, but I would guess it is more than the approximately 3000 americans who died on 9/11. Hell, we are two thirds there with the number of troops that have been killed (On the US side, that is). We have an administration that has lied to the citizens of this democracy of ours. Tell me again what our purpose is? Usama has said that he wants the infedels out of Saudi. We left Saudi, and invaded Iraq. Who's side is Bush on? I'm beginning to wonder. And I recall that most people in the Middle East have always been wanting to get rid of Israel. The Iranians have STFU because they see a crazy person in the WH with his finger near the button. Smart those Iranians. It is one thing for you opponent to shout "death to America" and it is quite another to actually try and do it. The Iranians have been victims of US interference for a long time. I dare say that they have reason to chant. And how many times have you heard "nuke their ass, take their gas"? There are loonies everywhere. You have been lied to. And you ate it up. Saddam and his government were evil. Their military was already smashed. The insurgents are following the playbook of Sun Tzu. I'm not seeing any good news coming out of Iraq. Unless you count the progress of the puppet government.
Yes, we fight what we believe in. The US lifestyle is non-negotiable. We believe that it is our birthright to consume more than any other country, that our oil has been locked away under foreign lands and that it is our destiny to liberate resources around the globe for use in supporting our lifestyle. Is that what we're fighting for? Because I don't want it. The parent posting was oversimplified as is mine, but this cycle is going to continue until we all grow up and quit selling weapons to other nations, and disband our standing army, to be replaced by citizen soldiers, like the founders intended. until you can look at both sides of a conflict with fairness and thought, you will not hold the moral high ground. This latest conflict is amoral. I don't think this {cycle} will end until there is full scale nuclear combat. I see that as the logical conclusion for the path we are taking. I just have this funny feeling that there are powers in the US that are itching to nuke another nation. They are trying to find any excuse to do it. God help us all when that day comes. And I'm an atheist.