All major office suites are kitchen-sink applications that try to be everything to everybody, and Microsoft Office is probably the biggest sink of them all.
On the other hand, a simple communications blackout would be easier to achieve at the terminus. Just pull the plug on the router and be done with it. That's if Iran wanted to black itself out... that doesn't mean their can't be foul play at work from someone else.
Except that it's a very unlikely thing to say sarcastically.
Except that you're just wrong. The phrase "I could care less" is usually only about a notch above saying "fuck you, and the horse you rode in on." As the GP said, it's a colloquial expression and unless you've been exposed to it in the proper context you probably just won't get it. Attempting to analyze such expressions in any language using the kind of logic you were trying to apply is a fruitless exercise. Like a lot of other things in American English... you just have to know. If you don't, just accept it because that's what the rest of us do. It's not the literal meaning of the phrase that matters.
As their products aren't necessary to life and are clearly for entertainment value
My objection to the media conglomerates have less to do with their obnoxious and ineffective lawsuits that it does with their willingness to corrupt government officials to have laws written to suit their own dubious ends, without regard to anyone else, anywhere on the planet. Honestly, they don't care who they hurt, who they accuse, who they bankrupt. Whatever you want to say about the merits of their attacks on file sharers and torrent indexes, or for that matter the morality of those who use those services, the fact remains that the media corps and their representatives are evil people who will do anything, hurt anyone, to get their way. What's sickeningly hypocritical about it is that they perform these deeds under the guise of protecting their "artists" (e.g., creative cattle), who in reality have little stake in the outcome.
Understand this: these guys aren't out for justice, or redress of grievance... they want to trash as many lives as necessary to get the point across that... they can and will trash lives to protect their business. Intimidation and deterrence, in that order. Worse though, is the damage being done to "our precious freedoms" by the undue political influence these creeps wield upon various world governments, and the hideous laws they have paid to have imposed upon us. The wide-ranging effects of this unenlightened, nay, twisted behavior are being felt across virtually every industry in United States, and will soon sweep across Europe unless these criminal cartels are stopped.
I use an alternate-port SMTP service: my mail doesn't go through my ISP's server. That was after my outgoing mail got blocked and their customer service (I use the term loosely) people couldn't tell me why. I was just told that the problem should "correct itself" in a week or so. Well, it eventually did but by then I'd taken steps to never be in that position again. Now I just poll their mailbox for the occasional notification but I haven't sent a message through my ISP's SMTP server in years.
The problem with Comcast (and the other big boys) is that they don't apply this crap consistently or over the same regions. I've never had much of a problem, but then again where I live I happen to have multiple choices for broadband... I'm guessing that's enough to keep them from becoming too obnoxious. Hard to say, though, since Comcast is one of the most opaque companies in the business (ironic that a communications provider can't even communicate to its own customers.)
Huh? Hard-won knowledge should not be for sale to an inimical foreign power, particularly when it comes at the expense of our own people. To give you an example, I know a Ph.D whose degree is in materials science. The materials science curriculum was swamped with Chinese students, somehow a Chinese national managed to get the job of Dean of the school, and he would take year-long sabbaticals to China (paid for by the American taxpayer!) to recruit more Chinese students. There were so many that they were squeezing out all the non-Chinese students.
This is happening all over the country, my friend. Wake up and smell the coffee... China is doing a number on us.
Huh. That's weird. I'm a Comcast subscriber and I've never had that particular problem (plenty of others, believe me, but not that one.) I did have a problem where their DNS server wasn't working well, took seconds to respond. So I switched over to AT&T's DNS for a while until Comcast fixed theirs. You might try something like that to see if you have a DNS problem (try pointing to 4.2.2.4, say, and see if that improves matters.)
This is an argument I have to make with friends when I claim that Bush-Cheney is the most successful administration in US history. I agree with exactly ZERO of what they have done but as far as scaring the shit out of people, robbing us blind, and in general being dicks you cannot argue that they are unsuccessful.
It's all about your frame of reference.
I think of these things as kind of like an electric heater. Most people would argue that an electric heater is one of the most inefficient devices known to mankind. However, when viewed with the proper perspective, it's anything but. Put it this way: an electric heater is basically designed to waste power by transducing electrical energy into heat and spewing it into the immediate environment. A heater does this with virtually no losses. Therefore, an electric heater is almost 100% efficient, as long as there's nothing coming out of it that doesn't qualify as waste.
Which pretty much describes the Bush Administration.
I guess what irritates me is that many people from other nations complain about how Americans behave when in their country. I'm not arguing that, either... a little respect goes a long way and many of us don't bother to learn squat about the people and places we visit. However, I've noticed that often people come here and treat us with the same disrespect, while simultaneously availing themselves of all this nation has to offer.
I'll give you an example. The day 9/11 happened, one of my relatives was working at a local college (she managed the athletics department) and happened to be in the common room when the disaster was first broadcast. There was a group of Pakistani students hogging the big screen TV at the time, and when the scene of that jetliner striking the tower was shown, do you know what those students did? They stood up, to a man... and cheered. Like they'd just watched a touchdown at the Superbowl. In any event, they have every right to feel the way they do about America and its people (hey, it's a free country) but that was decidedly uncalled for. They were studying at taxpayer expense at a good American school. Oh well, that's gratitude for you.
This proved to be a tactical error on their part however, because several members of the school's football team were sitting at a nearby table watching the proceedings. Things stayed peaceful right then (everyone was still in shock over what they'd just witnessed) but I understand that several of the Pakistanis didn't make it to class the next day... unexpected visits to the hospital.
No offense, but it seems like you're going for the +5 "All Chinese suck because {insert generalization here}" mod.
Yeah, I figured someone would take it that way. I'm just commenting on what I've observed, and what people who've been in the grad school system recently have told me. I'm not particularly bigoted (other than that I don't like assholes in general) but let's face a little reality here: China's government is out to extract every ounce of useful information from us. They're doing that by flooding our schools with students. Some are jerks, some are not, sure. But the ones that are just here to get whatever knowledge they need and go home I've found are generally not interested in America or its people. We're at best a distraction.
I thought it said the magistrate suggested FIRING the attorneys.
A more effective solution might be filing the RIAA's attorneys (under "W" for Weasels, say) and then locking the cabinet. Just make sure it's a particularly sturdy model, and if it so happens that your filing cabinets are inside a bank vault so much the better.
... their motives are just like almost every other business: they wanna make a buck.
You could just as easily apply that premise to the Mafia. Look, the desire to make a buck does not make every such effort acceptable. An organization whose only product is intimidation, extortion and litigation cannot be considered a legitimate business entity in any civilized society.
So far as the BSA is concerned, the term "racketeer" comes much closer to the mark. Sooner or later they're going to piss off the wrong person and end up on the wrong end of a RICO suit.
Slashdot Mirror
Americans are first and foremost cheapskates.
Huh. And I was wondering why the iPod was so successful.
All major office suites are kitchen-sink applications that try to be everything to everybody, and Microsoft Office is probably the biggest sink of them all.
On so many levels.
I must say, you're a remarkably well-informed PHB.
if Microsoft buys Yahoo and it works out as well as the AOL / Time Warner merger.
On the other hand, a simple communications blackout would be easier to achieve at the terminus. Just pull the plug on the router and be done with it. That's if Iran wanted to black itself out ... that doesn't mean their can't be foul play at work from someone else.
Except that it's a very unlikely thing to say sarcastically.
... you just have to know. If you don't, just accept it because that's what the rest of us do. It's not the literal meaning of the phrase that matters.
Except that you're just wrong. The phrase "I could care less" is usually only about a notch above saying "fuck you, and the horse you rode in on." As the GP said, it's a colloquial expression and unless you've been exposed to it in the proper context you probably just won't get it. Attempting to analyze such expressions in any language using the kind of logic you were trying to apply is a fruitless exercise. Like a lot of other things in American English
The data returned by the satellite showed that Earth was not surrounded by a swarm of killer pebbles, as some scientists had feared.
It is now.
As their products aren't necessary to life and are clearly for entertainment value
... they want to trash as many lives as necessary to get the point across that ... they can and will trash lives to protect their business. Intimidation and deterrence, in that order. Worse though, is the damage being done to "our precious freedoms" by the undue political influence these creeps wield upon various world governments, and the hideous laws they have paid to have imposed upon us. The wide-ranging effects of this unenlightened, nay, twisted behavior are being felt across virtually every industry in United States, and will soon sweep across Europe unless these criminal cartels are stopped.
My objection to the media conglomerates have less to do with their obnoxious and ineffective lawsuits that it does with their willingness to corrupt government officials to have laws written to suit their own dubious ends, without regard to anyone else, anywhere on the planet. Honestly, they don't care who they hurt, who they accuse, who they bankrupt. Whatever you want to say about the merits of their attacks on file sharers and torrent indexes, or for that matter the morality of those who use those services, the fact remains that the media corps and their representatives are evil people who will do anything, hurt anyone, to get their way. What's sickeningly hypocritical about it is that they perform these deeds under the guise of protecting their "artists" (e.g., creative cattle), who in reality have little stake in the outcome.
Understand this: these guys aren't out for justice, or redress of grievance
or even arrested?
Well, if you're dead I'd say you've suffered a cardiac arrest, at least.
After doing this 3 times your gone.
What, precisely, does "you're gone" mean?
I use an alternate-port SMTP service: my mail doesn't go through my ISP's server. That was after my outgoing mail got blocked and their customer service (I use the term loosely) people couldn't tell me why. I was just told that the problem should "correct itself" in a week or so. Well, it eventually did but by then I'd taken steps to never be in that position again. Now I just poll their mailbox for the occasional notification but I haven't sent a message through my ISP's SMTP server in years.
The problem with Comcast (and the other big boys) is that they don't apply this crap consistently or over the same regions. I've never had much of a problem, but then again where I live I happen to have multiple choices for broadband ... I'm guessing that's enough to keep them from becoming too obnoxious. Hard to say, though, since Comcast is one of the most opaque companies in the business (ironic that a communications provider can't even communicate to its own customers.)
The idea of flying 2,000-pound cameras with kites.
I think they call those "spy satellites" nowadays.
Huh? Hard-won knowledge should not be for sale to an inimical foreign power, particularly when it comes at the expense of our own people. To give you an example, I know a Ph.D whose degree is in materials science. The materials science curriculum was swamped with Chinese students, somehow a Chinese national managed to get the job of Dean of the school, and he would take year-long sabbaticals to China (paid for by the American taxpayer!) to recruit more Chinese students. There were so many that they were squeezing out all the non-Chinese students.
... China is doing a number on us.
This is happening all over the country, my friend. Wake up and smell the coffee
Like there's not a large part of you now that didn't exist 30 years ago.
That is so true. I'm not as svelte as I once was.
Huh. That's weird. I'm a Comcast subscriber and I've never had that particular problem (plenty of others, believe me, but not that one.) I did have a problem where their DNS server wasn't working well, took seconds to respond. So I switched over to AT&T's DNS for a while until Comcast fixed theirs. You might try something like that to see if you have a DNS problem (try pointing to 4.2.2.4, say, and see if that improves matters.)
Can't stop the signal, Mal. ;-)
Yes I can, Mal.
{signed}
Mr. Sandvine
This is an argument I have to make with friends when I claim that Bush-Cheney is the most successful administration in US history. I agree with exactly ZERO of what they have done but as far as scaring the shit out of people, robbing us blind, and in general being dicks you cannot argue that they are unsuccessful.
It's all about your frame of reference.
I think of these things as kind of like an electric heater. Most people would argue that an electric heater is one of the most inefficient devices known to mankind. However, when viewed with the proper perspective, it's anything but. Put it this way: an electric heater is basically designed to waste power by transducing electrical energy into heat and spewing it into the immediate environment. A heater does this with virtually no losses. Therefore, an electric heater is almost 100% efficient, as long as there's nothing coming out of it that doesn't qualify as waste.
Which pretty much describes the Bush Administration.
That's actually funny, mods. And it's not offtopic (God some people with mod points have no sense of humor.)
Yeah ... I was (ahem) "suspicious" of their motives the first time I heard about them.
Bloodsucking leeches.
I guess what irritates me is that many people from other nations complain about how Americans behave when in their country. I'm not arguing that, either ... a little respect goes a long way and many of us don't bother to learn squat about the people and places we visit. However, I've noticed that often people come here and treat us with the same disrespect, while simultaneously availing themselves of all this nation has to offer.
... and cheered. Like they'd just watched a touchdown at the Superbowl. In any event, they have every right to feel the way they do about America and its people (hey, it's a free country) but that was decidedly uncalled for. They were studying at taxpayer expense at a good American school. Oh well, that's gratitude for you.
... unexpected visits to the hospital.
I'll give you an example. The day 9/11 happened, one of my relatives was working at a local college (she managed the athletics department) and happened to be in the common room when the disaster was first broadcast. There was a group of Pakistani students hogging the big screen TV at the time, and when the scene of that jetliner striking the tower was shown, do you know what those students did? They stood up, to a man
This proved to be a tactical error on their part however, because several members of the school's football team were sitting at a nearby table watching the proceedings. Things stayed peaceful right then (everyone was still in shock over what they'd just witnessed) but I understand that several of the Pakistanis didn't make it to class the next day
No offense, but it seems like you're going for the +5 "All Chinese suck because {insert generalization here}" mod.
Yeah, I figured someone would take it that way. I'm just commenting on what I've observed, and what people who've been in the grad school system recently have told me. I'm not particularly bigoted (other than that I don't like assholes in general) but let's face a little reality here: China's government is out to extract every ounce of useful information from us. They're doing that by flooding our schools with students. Some are jerks, some are not, sure. But the ones that are just here to get whatever knowledge they need and go home I've found are generally not interested in America or its people. We're at best a distraction.
I thought it said the magistrate suggested FIRING the attorneys.
A more effective solution might be filing the RIAA's attorneys (under "W" for Weasels, say) and then locking the cabinet. Just make sure it's a particularly sturdy model, and if it so happens that your filing cabinets are inside a bank vault so much the better.
... their motives are just like almost every other business: they wanna make a buck.
You could just as easily apply that premise to the Mafia. Look, the desire to make a buck does not make every such effort acceptable. An organization whose only product is intimidation, extortion and litigation cannot be considered a legitimate business entity in any civilized society.
So far as the BSA is concerned, the term "racketeer" comes much closer to the mark. Sooner or later they're going to piss off the wrong person and end up on the wrong end of a RICO suit.
Yeah, well, they call it the Melting Pot for a reason.