I love it when just one person doesn't need something, they assume we all don't need it.
Anonymous calls are a real necessity in many instances. My wife is a probation officer who frequently works from home. She has to call scumbags and their scumbag relatives frequently to conduct interviews. They do not need to know our home phone number.
I can imagine there are other scenarios where blocking the number is prudent.
If only you could stop the interruptions...
on
The eBook Backlash
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· Score: 1
Am I the only one thinking 'turn off the wi-fi?' if you don't want to be interrupted by email?
If you had bothered to read the article mentioned in the posting, you would have seen that the case was about someone suing the Feds over the Communications Decency Act of 1996.
In short, the case is about the INTERNET. As a geek, I'm interested in that aspect.
I think it is naive at best to think that the majority of blogs that 'belong' to politicians are written personally by them. Most of the old guard arent' savy enough to do it. Of the rest, they may have started it on their own, but eventually it will get turned over to their staff, becoming nothing more than restated press releases.
I don't blog, but my understanding of the reasoning behind it is to put yourself out there and discuss whatever is on your mind at the time. Others are allowed to comment on that, discussion ensues among all, and hopefully, albeit rarely, something positive comes out of it.
It might start out well, but in the end political blogs will wind up serving the exact same (and useless purpose) that writing your Congressman a letter or email does today...a mostly useless waste of everyone's time. I say this with an insider's view, having done an internship in the office of one of my state's congressmen in DC.
Some political action organization (AARP, NRA, NAACP, etc) would send out mailers to it's members with little postcards for the member to send to their representatives in DC. The cards were even already filled out, with the member's name, address, and the names and addresses of their Congressman and Senator. We'd get these cards by the THOUSANDS when some issue was up in the House. They'd all get typed in to a database, and the THOUSANDS of copies of the same form letter would be sent out.
Note that the Congressman never interacted with these. I'm sure there was some impact from the sheer number of them ("Boss, we received 12,342 postcards from AARP about the social security bill...") but that's about it.
Then there's the nutjobs who write (or even call) on a weekly or more frequent basis.
Blogs will go the same way, I think. Issues will be posted by staff, people will go ape and respond to it, the nutjobs will post their rable with the majority of it not even being on topic, congressional staff will monitor and count the responses, and that's about it. All we've done is cut the United States Post Office out of the loop.
Wow. I'm not even sure how to respond to that. If the world thought as you do, there would be no literature...no television...no fables...no dreams...nothing of any real value.
There is a quote that goes something like 'the only thing new in this world is the history you don't know'...I think it's from Harry Truman.
That can be exteneded to fiction. It gives us the opportunity to think 'what if' about a number of scenarios. You get to try things out, see an example of how people might react, see how it might play out. In the case where it applies to a real world scenario, you may have already seen the effects of what not to do, and take a different path.
It's entertainment and it's educational all in one shot. How cool is that?
Of course it's dark and gloomy. For me, that's part of what makes it so great. It's REALISTIC in that reguard.
In the show timeline they are only something like a month out from the END OF THE WORLD as they knew it. Try and put yourselves in their shoes. How much fun are you going to be having if your entire world has been destroyed, billions of people killed, and you're running for your very life from beings bent on destroying you?
This is serious TV. I was left mentally exhausted by many eposides last season. They dealt with so many issues that have relevance to many topics in present day life.
Many of the more thoughtful notes that come under the heading of 'I hate BSG because...' seem to revolve around issues of not understanding certain basic concepts that were laid out in the mini-series.
THE MINI-SERIES IS REQUIRED VIEWING!
If you're willing to give it another shot, check out the mini-series on DVD first. It explains a lot of things.
Also know that this is really complex TV. Some episodes leave me mentally exhasting when I think of the things they are talking about and how they relate to today's world. If you are looking to be spoon-fed, you might want to go elsewhere.
I've had no issues with PairNIC (www.pairnic.com). I use them as well as their hosting services (www.pair.com) and have ZERO complaints about their services.
I agree that it will be tough to pull off, but I think this can be done and might be quite lucrative for your group. It will be a lot of work, but if you do this right, it's something you can repeat again and again and make money on. It will be a little easier every time you host it.
Some thoughts and suggestions in no particular order...
It sounds like you're a little hazy on some of the technical details. If I were you, I'd check around and find a LAN party in your town and check it out. See how it works. The second thing I'd do is try getting this setup with just your computer club. Try and get some of the kinks worked out BEFORE you charge people for the service you are providing. If you put on a good event people will come back for the next one. If you put on a bad show (can't get the network up, food sucks or is too expensive, etc.) then no one will come to the next one. Make it a good one and you might be able to do this once every couple of months or so.
Door prizes might be fun. Check with some local businesses and see if they'll donate cash or items for door prizes. They don't have to be big or even computer-related. Fun stuff that kids like.
I think the money to be made at a LAN party is in the food. Sure, you can charge everyone who comes $5 to get in the door or whatever, but then have all the eats and drinks you can think of ready to be purchased. Get it from Costco, and have folks lined up to work the food booth (cute chicks would probably work best). Plan a pizza run and charge everyone a fair markup for running for the pizza. See if you can get the pizza for free/cheap.
On the physical setup, you'll need a computer or router to act as the DHCP server. Then just get a mess of switches/hubs and hook all that up. DO NOT worry about cabling from the switches to the player's computers...make the players bring a cable.
Tables and chairs should be no problem at a school. Just make sure you give everyone plenty of space to spread out.
You will also need some extension cords for power. Again, I'd require everyone to bring their own power strip.
In general players should be required to supply: Computer with network card installed, monitor, power cables, power strip, network cable (15-25 feet should be plenty) and the games.
You might also think about setting some minimum requirements. Require Win98/ME/2K/XP, machine speeds, etc. You don't want someone showing up with their parents old Pentium 166 and wondering why they can't play.
Create a game list so people know what to bring and to make sure their systems can handle it. You might also specify patches that should be applied and possibly have a server or some CD's burned with all the relevant patches.
There are a lot of free demos out there for games. I'd make sure at least one of these was on the list. That way, anyone can come and take part even if they don't own any of the games.
Have some folks on-hand to do tech support. They should be familiar with setting up TCP/IP networking on the various Windows systems and configuring the games you will play. Depending on the size of the group, you might also want them well-marked (special hats or shirts).
Security is an issue. I'd make everyone aware that they are responsible for their own data security. If they have their computer open to the world and someone else sniffs into it and copies whatever, then it's the COMPUTER OWNER's fault.
Anti-Virus - REQUIRE everyone to have anti-virus software installed on their computer BEFORE they are allowed to connect to the network. Seems like every time I go to a private LAN party, there is always one idiot who doesn't have it, and of course is INFESTED. If they don't have one of the commercial packages they can get one of the free ones.
Physical security - tell all of your participants to mark their hardware and keep track of it. There are a lot of stories about folks going to some of the big public LAN parties around here where they get up for 5 minutes and come back to find their uber-cool headphones and joystick missing.
Allow a couple of hours for setup. It takes longer than you think.
Plan that you'll have at least one person who will need dedicated help fo
Slashdot Mirror
I find myself wondering why this article is considered "news". Is there anything new here? This happened 18 years ago. What am I missing?
I post this having not read a single page of this book. I was interested in getting this book for my attorney wife. When looking at it on AMAZON.COM, I noticed that the post here is a copy of only ONE of TWO reviews the book has on Amazon.com. The other review is HORRIBLE. http://www.amazon.com/Locked-Down-Information-Security-Lawyers/product-reviews/1614383642/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_one?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints=0 Read/order with caution.
This is not the only project to have licensing issues with Apple over the Lightning/30-pin connector. This project has had to change drastically over what it was initially...all to please the mighty Apple Beast. iExpander for iPhone 5 http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/108290897/iexpander-an-expansion-device-for-your-iphone-4-an
I love it when just one person doesn't need something, they assume we all don't need it. Anonymous calls are a real necessity in many instances. My wife is a probation officer who frequently works from home. She has to call scumbags and their scumbag relatives frequently to conduct interviews. They do not need to know our home phone number. I can imagine there are other scenarios where blocking the number is prudent.
Am I the only one thinking 'turn off the wi-fi?' if you don't want to be interrupted by email?
I wonder if this just applies to the memorial or if it also covers items to be sold in the gift shop? That's probably where the real money is.
They've always had the free version. You just have to look for it. http://free.grisoft.com/
If you had bothered to read the article mentioned in the posting, you would have seen that the case was about someone suing the Feds over the Communications Decency Act of 1996. In short, the case is about the INTERNET. As a geek, I'm interested in that aspect.
I think it is naive at best to think that the majority of blogs that 'belong' to politicians are written personally by them. Most of the old guard arent' savy enough to do it. Of the rest, they may have started it on their own, but eventually it will get turned over to their staff, becoming nothing more than restated press releases.
I don't blog, but my understanding of the reasoning behind it is to put yourself out there and discuss whatever is on your mind at the time. Others are allowed to comment on that, discussion ensues among all, and hopefully, albeit rarely, something positive comes out of it.
It might start out well, but in the end political blogs will wind up serving the exact same (and useless purpose) that writing your Congressman a letter or email does today...a mostly useless waste of everyone's time. I say this with an insider's view, having done an internship in the office of one of my state's congressmen in DC.
Some political action organization (AARP, NRA, NAACP, etc) would send out mailers to it's members with little postcards for the member to send to their representatives in DC. The cards were even already filled out, with the member's name, address, and the names and addresses of their Congressman and Senator. We'd get these cards by the THOUSANDS when some issue was up in the House. They'd all get typed in to a database, and the THOUSANDS of copies of the same form letter would be sent out.
Note that the Congressman never interacted with these. I'm sure there was some impact from the sheer number of them ("Boss, we received 12,342 postcards from AARP about the social security bill...") but that's about it.
Then there's the nutjobs who write (or even call) on a weekly or more frequent basis.
Blogs will go the same way, I think. Issues will be posted by staff, people will go ape and respond to it, the nutjobs will post their rable with the majority of it not even being on topic, congressional staff will monitor and count the responses, and that's about it. All we've done is cut the United States Post Office out of the loop.
Wow. I'm not even sure how to respond to that. If the world thought as you do, there would be no literature...no television...no fables...no dreams...nothing of any real value.
There is a quote that goes something like 'the only thing new in this world is the history you don't know'...I think it's from Harry Truman.
That can be exteneded to fiction. It gives us the opportunity to think 'what if' about a number of scenarios. You get to try things out, see an example of how people might react, see how it might play out. In the case where it applies to a real world scenario, you may have already seen the effects of what not to do, and take a different path.
It's entertainment and it's educational all in one shot. How cool is that?
Of course it's dark and gloomy. For me, that's part of what makes it so great. It's REALISTIC in that reguard.
In the show timeline they are only something like a month out from the END OF THE WORLD as they knew it. Try and put yourselves in their shoes. How much fun are you going to be having if your entire world has been destroyed, billions of people killed, and you're running for your very life from beings bent on destroying you?
This is serious TV. I was left mentally exhausted by many eposides last season. They dealt with so many issues that have relevance to many topics in present day life.
BSG is the best thing on TV, period.
Many of the more thoughtful notes that come under the heading of 'I hate BSG because...' seem to revolve around issues of not understanding certain basic concepts that were laid out in the mini-series. THE MINI-SERIES IS REQUIRED VIEWING! If you're willing to give it another shot, check out the mini-series on DVD first. It explains a lot of things. Also know that this is really complex TV. Some episodes leave me mentally exhasting when I think of the things they are talking about and how they relate to today's world. If you are looking to be spoon-fed, you might want to go elsewhere.
I've had no issues with PairNIC (www.pairnic.com). I use them as well as their hosting services (www.pair.com) and have ZERO complaints about their services.
If Shatner's efforts at Star Trek V are any indication, he should stay far, far away from the creative process of any show.
Why not do them all? Have a PC/XBOX/PS2/GAMECUBE Party/Tournament! Bring them all "together", sell them all the same food and make your dough!
I agree that it will be tough to pull off, but I think this can be done and might be quite lucrative for your group. It will be a lot of work, but if you do this right, it's something you can repeat again and again and make money on. It will be a little easier every time you host it.
Some thoughts and suggestions in no particular order...
It sounds like you're a little hazy on some of the technical details. If I were you, I'd check around and find a LAN party in your town and check it out. See how it works. The second thing I'd do is try getting this setup with just your computer club. Try and get some of the kinks worked out BEFORE you charge people for the service you are providing. If you put on a good event people will come back for the next one. If you put on a bad show (can't get the network up, food sucks or is too expensive, etc.) then no one will come to the next one. Make it a good one and you might be able to do this once every couple of months or so.
Door prizes might be fun. Check with some local businesses and see if they'll donate cash or items for door prizes. They don't have to be big or even computer-related. Fun stuff that kids like.
I think the money to be made at a LAN party is in the food. Sure, you can charge everyone who comes $5 to get in the door or whatever, but then have all the eats and drinks you can think of ready to be purchased. Get it from Costco, and have folks lined up to work the food booth (cute chicks would probably work best). Plan a pizza run and charge everyone a fair markup for running for the pizza. See if you can get the pizza for free/cheap.
On the physical setup, you'll need a computer or router to act as the DHCP server. Then just get a mess of switches/hubs and hook all that up. DO NOT worry about cabling from the switches to the player's computers...make the players bring a cable.
Tables and chairs should be no problem at a school. Just make sure you give everyone plenty of space to spread out.
You will also need some extension cords for power. Again, I'd require everyone to bring their own power strip.
In general players should be required to supply: Computer with network card installed, monitor, power cables, power strip, network cable (15-25 feet should be plenty) and the games.
You might also think about setting some minimum requirements. Require Win98/ME/2K/XP, machine speeds, etc. You don't want someone showing up with their parents old Pentium 166 and wondering why they can't play.
Create a game list so people know what to bring and to make sure their systems can handle it. You might also specify patches that should be applied and possibly have a server or some CD's burned with all the relevant patches.
There are a lot of free demos out there for games. I'd make sure at least one of these was on the list. That way, anyone can come and take part even if they don't own any of the games.
Have some folks on-hand to do tech support. They should be familiar with setting up TCP/IP networking on the various Windows systems and configuring the games you will play. Depending on the size of the group, you might also want them well-marked (special hats or shirts).
Security is an issue. I'd make everyone aware that they are responsible for their own data security. If they have their computer open to the world and someone else sniffs into it and copies whatever, then it's the COMPUTER OWNER's fault.
Anti-Virus - REQUIRE everyone to have anti-virus software installed on their computer BEFORE they are allowed to connect to the network. Seems like every time I go to a private LAN party, there is always one idiot who doesn't have it, and of course is INFESTED. If they don't have one of the commercial packages they can get one of the free ones.
Physical security - tell all of your participants to mark their hardware and keep track of it. There are a lot of stories about folks going to some of the big public LAN parties around here where they get up for 5 minutes and come back to find their uber-cool headphones and joystick missing.
Allow a couple of hours for setup. It takes longer than you think.
Plan that you'll have at least one person who will need dedicated help fo