No, it's not that hard to get in many cases, but lately many dubious privacy violating activities seem to be proceeding without them.
At least where a warrant is required, you have a legal representative (of the people) to determine whether it is proper or not - a Judge.
As for the thermal cameras... searching a house with thermal imaging is IMHO still searching the house, and unreasonable should the occupant not be subject to investigation with a proper warrant.
a) The RIAA/MPAA (and others that misuse DCMA) aren't the police, although they'd like to think otherwise. In truth the police are putting way too much focus on fighting copyright/IP violations though...
b) Newspapers have certain rights with respect to the police etc. While "freedom of the press" has had to fight to stay alive sometimes, there is no "freedom of the search engine"
Actually, in XP you should never get a blue screen of death.
Reason: MS apparently decided that the BSOD was becoming too much of a symbol of windows failure, so they make XP by default reboot on an error that would otherwise cause a BSOD.
That being said, XP with good drivers is a vast improvement over any of the 9x series, but still not as stable as my 'nix.
And if you think on the fact that 'nix drivers are often hacked up without much support from the hardware makers... that should say a lot (either that HW makers create crappy drivers, or linux kernel developers are better at them).
Actually, there is a "the Dig" book. It wasn't half-bad... and while I only played the game throught the demo, it made me wish I had a copy of the game to compare it to.
A decent book and a decent movie: You've got plot and somewhat of a visual layout. Through in a good director and some decent actors and you *might* just have a pretty good movie.
If done right... a Roger Wilco or Leisure Suit Larry movie could have a fairly rich plot... and at least a wet-your-pants-funny storyline to go with it.
Actually, some movies have done well with little dialog. Take, for example, some actors that didn't speak English overly well at the start of their careers. Still lots of dialog in the movie, but the main character said much more with his/her expressions and body language than by voice.
In the case of Zelda et al, it's not hard to throw in some basic communication dialog. You walk up to a person and they tell you something... but it wouldn't be much different if you'd had link say "hey, have you heard about X?", or "Anything interesting happened around here recently?"
"If you haven't paid for it..., you've stolen it."
The real downside is that the corporations are trying to instill the concept of monentary transfer for a purchase.
For many things, you haven't stolen them if you don't pay... but you aren't doing a good thing if you don't give something back: Your time, your code, your money, your knowledge, your skill... there are many ways to pay for something.
Maybe we could subvert this a little by passing along the idea: If you don't give payback for that song you just downloaded, you're a leech... go share some songs with everyone else to even-up the tab.
As of yet I've seen some nice videoconferencing apps for Mac, Windows, and Linux. I haven't seen many that communication between the three. Assuming that GAIM will run on OSX, I believe that one of the nicest things is that users could use GAIM on different OS's and still manage to communicate using the video/video-chat features.
I've got a Kodak DX4900. Not a bad camera... though they're definately impact sensitive (I've experienced firsthand what happens when they get bumped too hard, and repair bill is expensive).
The camera only has 2x Optical zoom... which can be annoying when I'm trying to get a decent picture of something in certain distances. Landscapes are decent though, and macros come out very very nicely in most cases. For somebody taking pictures mostly close-up, I might recommend going higher-megapixel without worrying on opticla zoom.
However, that is only for photographing subjects withing a somewhat close vicinity to the camera. "distant" mode does still take nice scenerey pics, and "macro" mode takes awesome pics on this particular camera.
For me, the most lacking features were:
Low light sensitivity: Some cameras use a small red/IR light for focus, such as many Sony Cybershot models. Kodak lacks this and thus has focus/autofocus issues in lower light. Another option is "lamp" mode where instead of just a flash you can actually have a shot illumination period prior to shooting for focus purposes.
File-format options: Mine saves in JPG, which is lossy.
Colour depth/sensor: For some reason, "macro" shotes i've taken of flowers etc come out awesome, but skies usually have a dithered look as the camera can't match shades of blue (light issue, perhaps).
Indeed, while certain "global warming" factors can be traced to pollution, more concerning is the effect on wildlife of both pollution and over-harvesting
With respect to changes in the Earth itself, this may be part of a natural pattern, or some core activity which is causing a general increase in the outer skin. I wonder if anyone has done a "deep probe" to see how far these changes are penetrating.
Actually, there's nothing wrong with a girl "bitching" to you about her problems, personal or not. When she needs advice about a guy, whom better to ask than a guy? It's just when there are feelings on my part for the female in question that things have gotten dicey, but that's my issue, not hers.
As for your abilities with women and my not knowing you... I'm feeling a *terrible* loss at not being more informed... really.
Though your previous statements, somehow I think you're more like the type that the girls complain to me about...
Ah, and the trick is that really - unless you meet *the one* the first time around - getting dumped is actually a productive thing. After getting dumped a few times, and finding new relationships, you realize that you won't be doomed to singularity if you in turn do the dumping of less desirable females.
Although the.com has burst, many geeks still make a decent wage. There are women/men that will attach themselves to said geek like a parasite... you know the type: expensive gifts/movies/dinner/etc/etc
The problem is that many geeks don't really hit the dating scene until a bit later, at which point they're either bitter about relationships or (as you mentioned) feeling a need to "hang on" because singularity becomes a frightening prospect.
And of course, the women/men whom have had trashy relationships with the school jock/cheerleader end up looking for a decent guy after that initial period (those that don't drop out, get married, get pregnant, etc). After they clue in... suddenly geeks don't look so bad - exempting the bad BO geeks as opposed to the lesser-body-tone-social-skills variety...
I guess the advice is, rather than being depressed or getting too attached to a bad relationship, realize that as live goes on relationships for the successful/respectful type of person become easier. Eventually Suzy will find better qualifications for a man than a Porche-911 and a 6-pack... keep up your appearance and wait for her.
Of the ones that considered me a "good friend?" None, obviously, but why would I have. Now with other girlfriends/relationships... a few, at least enough for sex to lose its mystique and for me to realize that there are in fact more important things than sex.
Geeks can get laid, in fact in many cases (unless you're very unattractive) it's probably easier to get a quick lay than find a good relationship. And of course, constantly mentioning one's need to get laid is a good way to... well... not get laid... or meet a girl - which is probably why kiddies like you are a little short in your abilities with women.
Not only would that be a nasty impact on traffic, as it might very well delay legit data transfer in search of music... but it would be a huge resource hog.
Think about this: comparing each data stream against audio comparison of what... several thousands songs? I guess it depends on how much they want to compare... the popular stuff or everything? But it would still be a huge bottleneck as well as a major resource hog on the scanning servers.
That works out better... you get a good female friend, you can *both* complain about women, and you don't have to worry about mixed signals. Friendships between genders becomes mainly a problem in the "maybe" zone, or when mixed signals are coming across. Pretty hard to get confused when she's scoping out the same women you are:-)
Well... I remember not that long ago when the newest-off-the-shelf game didn't cost $50-80 (CAD). Not only that, but I remember when that same overhyped game didn't turn out to be a big POS that either broke on my PC, or just generally sucked.
Not that I haven't bought quite a few games lately, with many of them being very good... it's just that I've also managed to avoid a lot of crappy ones by downloading warez copies in order to determine if they were good or not.
This is especially true with CD-keyed online games. While I hate CD-keys, they're definately a useful way to put a demand for the authentic product.
Actually that is a perfectly valid arguement. Locally, we had a strong increase in speeding fine amounts - which strangely coincided with an increase to the police force in the area of... yes you guessed it... traffic enforcement!
Nothing wrong with traffic tickets to regular speeders/etc, until it becomes more of a cash-cow than a deterrent, nevermind the issues with "quotas" etc
Actually, I think the nerd stereotype is a bit overrated.
I haven't had many problems with the ladies, although my lack of focus on more *physical* aspects has led many a female friend to treat me more like a eunuch and thus I end up in the friend zone.
Meeting a real geek girl though... well it seems that most of the ones I've met fall into the antisocial category - not my cup of tea.
I doubt I'm all that desperate enough to "email" somebody a ring, although I'm sure you knew I was joking anyhow. You could always send me an email or nab my ICQ though, decent geeky conversation is hard to come by sometimes:-)
It's probably one of the drawbacks to friendship between genders, the inevitable crush-on-a-friend which becomes a bit of a gutkick when it's not returned.
That being said... hey wait a second, did you say female geek? Will you marry me!
Are you kidding me... where else could females find that friend to:
"Confide her intimate relationship problems in excruciating detail while at the same time telling you she wishes she could meet a 'decent' man"
Male nerds, don't tell me this hasn't happened to you.
Indeed, I'd rather that the minimum hours/day was bumped up by.5 before overtime kicked in, rather than have overtime go down entirely.
It's not the.5h here and there, it's the poor slobs that constantly get called in for 2-3OT because some other idiot borked their report and needs it retrieved from the backbits of the server, or something similar
The problem with most games is the balance between server CPU, bandwidth, and client data.
In the case of 3d games especially, the clients' fancy 3d card won't do much good unless the server sends it rendering information. Having the server determine "what can be seen" by a player beforehand gives excessive overhead, so in most cases you're sending such info to the client regardless of whether it is intended to be rendered. With the code for server/client communication, you could create a proxy or crack that would allow you to sniff data that should be hidden... like that guy hiding behind the crate you shouldn't see.
And, of course, in the same situation one could do all that by using a modified video setting which makes textures partially transparent... allowing you to see through the crate without any changes to the game binaries needed.
It might be OK for RTS games where the calculation of visibility is less intensive on the server, but not FPS or MMORPGs with 20+ players.
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"a warrant"
No, it's not that hard to get in many cases, but lately many dubious privacy violating activities seem to be proceeding without them.
At least where a warrant is required, you have a legal representative (of the people) to determine whether it is proper or not - a Judge.
As for the thermal cameras... searching a house with thermal imaging is IMHO still searching the house, and unreasonable should the occupant not be subject to investigation with a proper warrant.
a) The RIAA/MPAA (and others that misuse DCMA) aren't the police, although they'd like to think otherwise. In truth the police are putting way too much focus on fighting copyright/IP violations though...
b) Newspapers have certain rights with respect to the police etc. While "freedom of the press" has had to fight to stay alive sometimes, there is no "freedom of the search engine"
Actually, in XP you should never get a blue screen of death.
Reason: MS apparently decided that the BSOD was becoming too much of a symbol of windows failure, so they make XP by default reboot on an error that would otherwise cause a BSOD.
That being said, XP with good drivers is a vast improvement over any of the 9x series, but still not as stable as my 'nix.
And if you think on the fact that 'nix drivers are often hacked up without much support from the hardware makers... that should say a lot (either that HW makers create crappy drivers, or linux kernel developers are better at them).
Actually, there is a "the Dig" book. It wasn't half-bad... and while I only played the game throught the demo, it made me wish I had a copy of the game to compare it to.
A decent book and a decent movie: You've got plot and somewhat of a visual layout. Through in a good director and some decent actors and you *might* just have a pretty good movie.
If done right... a Roger Wilco or Leisure Suit Larry movie could have a fairly rich plot... and at least a wet-your-pants-funny storyline to go with it.
Actually, some movies have done well with little dialog. Take, for example, some actors that didn't speak English overly well at the start of their careers. Still lots of dialog in the movie, but the main character said much more with his/her expressions and body language than by voice.
In the case of Zelda et al, it's not hard to throw in some basic communication dialog. You walk up to a person and they tell you something... but it wouldn't be much different if you'd had link say "hey, have you heard about X?", or "Anything interesting happened around here recently?"
"If you haven't paid for it..., you've stolen it."
The real downside is that the corporations are trying to instill the concept of monentary transfer for a purchase.
For many things, you haven't stolen them if you don't pay... but you aren't doing a good thing if you don't give something back: Your time, your code, your money, your knowledge, your skill... there are many ways to pay for something.
Maybe we could subvert this a little by passing along the idea: If you don't give payback for that song you just downloaded, you're a leech... go share some songs with everyone else to even-up the tab.
As of yet I've seen some nice videoconferencing apps for Mac, Windows, and Linux. I haven't seen many that communication between the three. Assuming that GAIM will run on OSX, I believe that one of the nicest things is that users could use GAIM on different OS's and still manage to communicate using the video/video-chat features.
I've got a Kodak DX4900. Not a bad camera... though they're definately impact sensitive (I've experienced firsthand what happens when they get bumped too hard, and repair bill is expensive).
The camera only has 2x Optical zoom... which can be annoying when I'm trying to get a decent picture of something in certain distances. Landscapes are decent though, and macros come out very very nicely in most cases. For somebody taking pictures mostly close-up, I might recommend going higher-megapixel without worrying on opticla zoom.
However, that is only for photographing subjects withing a somewhat close vicinity to the camera. "distant" mode does still take nice scenerey pics, and "macro" mode takes awesome pics on this particular camera.
For me, the most lacking features were:
Low light sensitivity: Some cameras use a small red/IR light for focus, such as many Sony Cybershot models. Kodak lacks this and thus has focus/autofocus issues in lower light. Another option is "lamp" mode where instead of just a flash you can actually have a shot illumination period prior to shooting for focus purposes.
File-format options: Mine saves in JPG, which is lossy.
Colour depth/sensor: For some reason, "macro" shotes i've taken of flowers etc come out awesome, but skies usually have a dithered look as the camera can't match shades of blue (light issue, perhaps).
Indeed, while certain "global warming" factors can be traced to pollution, more concerning is the effect on wildlife of both pollution and over-harvesting
With respect to changes in the Earth itself, this may be part of a natural pattern, or some core activity which is causing a general increase in the outer skin. I wonder if anyone has done a "deep probe" to see how far these changes are penetrating.
Actually, there's nothing wrong with a girl "bitching" to you about her problems, personal or not. When she needs advice about a guy, whom better to ask than a guy? It's just when there are feelings on my part for the female in question that things have gotten dicey, but that's my issue, not hers.
As for your abilities with women and my not knowing you... I'm feeling a *terrible* loss at not being more informed... really.
Though your previous statements, somehow I think you're more like the type that the girls complain to me about...
Make it yell out in an effeminate male voice when abuse:
"Stop that, oooh, you bad boy. That's very naughty of you"
You can embarrass any would be aggressors enough so that the will leave beerbot alone then.
Ah, and the trick is that really - unless you meet *the one* the first time around - getting dumped is actually a productive thing. After getting dumped a few times, and finding new relationships, you realize that you won't be doomed to singularity if you in turn do the dumping of less desirable females.
.com has burst, many geeks still make a decent wage. There are women/men that will attach themselves to said geek like a parasite... you know the type: expensive gifts/movies/dinner/etc/etc
Although the
The problem is that many geeks don't really hit the dating scene until a bit later, at which point they're either bitter about relationships or (as you mentioned) feeling a need to "hang on" because singularity becomes a frightening prospect.
And of course, the women/men whom have had trashy relationships with the school jock/cheerleader end up looking for a decent guy after that initial period (those that don't drop out, get married, get pregnant, etc). After they clue in... suddenly geeks don't look so bad - exempting the bad BO geeks as opposed to the lesser-body-tone-social-skills variety...
I guess the advice is, rather than being depressed or getting too attached to a bad relationship, realize that as live goes on relationships for the successful/respectful type of person become easier. Eventually Suzy will find better qualifications for a man than a Porche-911 and a 6-pack... keep up your appearance and wait for her.
Of the ones that considered me a "good friend?" None, obviously, but why would I have. Now with other girlfriends/relationships... a few, at least enough for sex to lose its mystique and for me to realize that there are in fact more important things than sex.
Geeks can get laid, in fact in many cases (unless you're very unattractive) it's probably easier to get a quick lay than find a good relationship. And of course, constantly mentioning one's need to get laid is a good way to... well... not get laid... or meet a girl - which is probably why kiddies like you are a little short in your abilities with women.
Not only would that be a nasty impact on traffic, as it might very well delay legit data transfer in search of music... but it would be a huge resource hog.
Think about this: comparing each data stream against audio comparison of what... several thousands songs? I guess it depends on how much they want to compare... the popular stuff or everything? But it would still be a huge bottleneck as well as a major resource hog on the scanning servers.
That works out better... you get a good female friend, you can *both* complain about women, and you don't have to worry about mixed signals. Friendships between genders becomes mainly a problem in the "maybe" zone, or when mixed signals are coming across. Pretty hard to get confused when she's scoping out the same women you are :-)
Portmapper on port 111... on the systems I've used that's a fixed thing so no special settings were needed to configure it at a fixed-port.
Well... I remember not that long ago when the newest-off-the-shelf game didn't cost $50-80 (CAD). Not only that, but I remember when that same overhyped game didn't turn out to be a big POS that either broke on my PC, or just generally sucked.
Not that I haven't bought quite a few games lately, with many of them being very good... it's just that I've also managed to avoid a lot of crappy ones by downloading warez copies in order to determine if they were good or not.
This is especially true with CD-keyed online games. While I hate CD-keys, they're definately a useful way to put a demand for the authentic product.
Actually that is a perfectly valid arguement. Locally, we had a strong increase in speeding fine amounts - which strangely coincided with an increase to the police force in the area of... yes you guessed it... traffic enforcement!
Nothing wrong with traffic tickets to regular speeders/etc, until it becomes more of a cash-cow than a deterrent, nevermind the issues with "quotas" etc
Actually, I think the nerd stereotype is a bit overrated.
:-)
I haven't had many problems with the ladies, although my lack of focus on more *physical* aspects has led many a female friend to treat me more like a eunuch and thus I end up in the friend zone.
Meeting a real geek girl though... well it seems that most of the ones I've met fall into the antisocial category - not my cup of tea.
I doubt I'm all that desperate enough to "email" somebody a ring, although I'm sure you knew I was joking anyhow. You could always send me an email or nab my ICQ though, decent geeky conversation is hard to come by sometimes
It's probably one of the drawbacks to friendship between genders, the inevitable crush-on-a-friend which becomes a bit of a gutkick when it's not returned.
That being said... hey wait a second, did you say female geek? Will you marry me!
Are you kidding me... where else could females find that friend to:
"Confide her intimate relationship problems in excruciating detail while at the same time telling you she wishes she could meet a 'decent' man"
Male nerds, don't tell me this hasn't happened to you.
Indeed, I'd rather that the minimum hours/day was bumped up by .5 before overtime kicked in, rather than have overtime go down entirely.
.5h here and there, it's the poor slobs that constantly get called in for 2-3OT because some other idiot borked their report and needs it retrieved from the backbits of the server, or something similar
It's not the
Indeed, just taking it as cash and putting it into something like public schools, or a property/income tax break would make more sense to me.
I don't really know many people that would object to a tax break.
The problem with most games is the balance between server CPU, bandwidth, and client data.
In the case of 3d games especially, the clients' fancy 3d card won't do much good unless the server sends it rendering information. Having the server determine "what can be seen" by a player beforehand gives excessive overhead, so in most cases you're sending such info to the client regardless of whether it is intended to be rendered. With the code for server/client communication, you could create a proxy or crack that would allow you to sniff data that should be hidden... like that guy hiding behind the crate you shouldn't see.
And, of course, in the same situation one could do all that by using a modified video setting which makes textures partially transparent... allowing you to see through the crate without any changes to the game binaries needed.
It might be OK for RTS games where the calculation of visibility is less intensive on the server, but not FPS or MMORPGs with 20+ players.