One more time, to clarify... I contribute what I can in my field of expertise. I was merely suggesting that there are some luminaries in the field that would be a good match. I realize everyone is touchy about the redistribution of wealth these days, but I'm pretty far from suggesting it be taxed out of anyone. I support the idea of people giving to projects that relate to the foundation of careers that they have found massive success in, of their own free will. Charitable giving, especially to something closely related to one's own good fortune and interests and the preservation of history is a decent thing to do. That is all. Relax.
Wow. Not that I owe your condescending ass an explanation, but allow me to elaborate. I build, repair, and support computers for a non-profit organization. I'm also on their board of directors, and partially responsible for advising the tech needs of the arts programs of every school in my county. In what would normally be billable hours for me, I probably contribute an amount equal to about 40% of my income each year. My field is less related to the actual general birth of computing, so my contribution is geared toward my particular expertise. My suggestion that people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs would be good contributors was related to their A) role in the early stages of personal computing, and B) their high profiles as entrepreneurs... which would be good publicity for the cause. Your veiled implication that I'm hoping to redistribute the wealth of others, and not my own, is a lame, reactionary jumping of the gun that was completely uncalled for. If your level of discourse is the "future of the world", I will join you in lamenting our future. So wag your finger at somebody else jackass.
Seems to me that some of the guys running the big tech companies should kick in a little something... Given Bletchley's place in computing history, Gates, Jobs, et al should throw them a bone. Even in this economy, Gates could probably fund it himself without really noticing a hit in his wallet.
I've been detained for "Failure to obey the reasonable request of an officer". I don't know how common that kind of law is, but in these parts (western NY) it's the easy fall back position for any cop that wants to roust you for something, or get a better look at what you're up to. I've never heard of anyone getting cited for just that, but I know plenty of people who started their encounter that way and ended up getting charged with various other crimes after the fact. It can be a lame way for the cops to hassle you, but I have seen it used many times in situations that definitely warranted it.
I do have to wonder what public sentiment would be if it were Cindy Sheehan instead of some random college student.
Too true. Hell, even here in southwestern NY, winter gets bad enough and road maintenance is under-funded enough that there is actually a need for SUVs and trucks. I have some friends who bought hybrids this year, it will be interesting to see how they do in the winter.
Just to get (sort of) back on topic... There are plenty of locations where you could build something like this without having to impact a living lake or river. What about building industrial parks around a geothermal plant? Here, we have a power plant right in the middle of the city... they pipe excess steam into a heating system that goes throughout our downtown area. Businesses can opt in to the district heating system, which offsets costs for our electricity. Seems like the same sort of thing could be done to use excess heat from geothermal.
An OPSEC review is different than making sure no "bad news" leaks out. There are more details than those of upcoming operations that are useful to the enemy... Suppose somebody innocently mentions where he's based in one post, then mentions that he eats lunch with a bunch of officers every day in another, and then posts a picture of himself eating at his preferred table in a third post... Spending an hour skimming a blog could provide interesting details and target opportunities to a mortar team, and they don't even have to be that smart to put all the info together. Or suppose that somebody mentions how his drinking buddy happens to be the guy in charge of the Stryker motor pool... A guerilla force with the internet skills of the average lovelorn teenager can Google names and look for them on MySpace, then start to develop a roster of people, places, and duties that would be incredibly useful for disrupting base operations. I've read plenty of milblogs that have passed the OPSEC inspection that were critical of the administration and command decisions, so I don't think they're filtering opinions, just operational details. I sat down and read Colby Buzzel's book My War in a couple of days. He writes about the entire process of going from unknown blogger to known potential security risk. Even after discovery, though they hassled him a bit, the military put very few real restrictions on him. As fashionable as it is to demonize the administration and Pentagon these days, this is really a non-story. Considering how popular camcorders, computers, digital cameras, and various audio recorders are among the troops... there won't be too many things that aren't exposed in time anyway.
Every time I've purchased a Mac, or a new version of their OS, there were coupons in the box for discounts on the next version. If I remember correctly, they also have some deal in place for a computer purchased within 60 or 90 days of a major OS release... allowing you to get the new one for free or really cheap. Maybe they've stopped doing that, but they used to be pretty generous in that department.
I've sat in on the franchise negotiations... Some municipalities might as well be holding a gun to their heads. The discussions I witnessed were nothing less than extortion. They know that if the cable operator doesn't play ball, customers won't blame the city when their tvs go black. The product is what it is, at a price arrived at pretty fairly. Maybe it's not for you, but the market disagrees with you. I have no stake in it either way, just thought I'd share something I learned while I worked in the field.
My point was that without the commercial content, subscription fees would be much higher. And, yes, raised costs of doing business translates to increased cost to the consumer. That happens in any business. In my market, Time Warner had those costs go up almost 25% over about five years. They raised ad sales rates, and only passed along a 2 to 3% increase yearly to their subscribers... most of that increase was actually on the higher tiers too, so it's not like they were gouging people who could only afford the basic packages. That's no red herring either. If you really can't handle commercials, even though they help keep costs down, maybe television isn't the product you seek. Try reading a book.
I worked in cable advertising for ten years, and there are a few things being overlooked here. Production companies make the shows. They sell them to the networks, who pay for them by running ads. The cable companies buy networks in packages. That's why there was the huge drama when Disney/ABC content was getting dropped from Time Warner systems. The argument was over Disney channels, not ABC affiliates. Because they're sold to TW as a package, when they pull one, they pull all of them. When a cable company buys a package of networks, they negotiate for slots to run local and regional ads. That ad revenue offsets the subscription fees. For example, a package of networks like CNN and its sister networks costs the cable company money to offer in their lineup. They recover part of the cost by selling ad slots, the rest comes from a portion of subscription fees, determined by the number of people in the market territory. All cable fees, and infrastructure decisions, are based on the number of subscribers in a market territory. They add up all of the per sub fees, tack on a percentage so they can make a profit, and that's how your billing amount is determined for must carry + ad supported channels.
For those of you who would see the end of the cable companies, consider a few more points... Cable companies have to pay a franchise fee to the territory they cover. Your local government soaks them for huge fees, just to be there. Then, the phone companies frequently rent pole space to them, so they don't have to double the number of poles. They pay insane amounts of taxes to local, state, and federal governments, provide jobs, and maintain a fair amount of internet infrastructure as well. I have no love for the cable advertising world, but it drives a fair amount of commerce.
If you're such a delicate genius that you can't possibly spare the time it takes to skip commercials, perhaps you should get your ass back into the lab and finish curing cancer.
I got my start on a beta version of Premiere in 1990, when quarter screen video at 15 fps was "exciting". I stuck with Premiere until OSX came out, as it was incredibly easy and powerful. I've used Avid, and found it to be the least friendly interface for video editing anywhere. I now use FCP, but will absolutely give Premiere another look when it's released. If they can integrate their products the way FCP Studio does, Adobe could seriously give Apple a run for the money. For me, the decision will be based on acceleration... I don't like FCP's lack of options in that department. Either way, competition in this arena will be a good thing, especially if it screws Avid. Seriously. Avid's interface sucks sweaty balls.
Tim Horton's stopped calling the XL an "XL" a couple of years ago. Now it's just an "L". Their lid vendor may not know that though, as it still says "XL" on the lid. I'm not being nitpicky, it's just that Tim Horton has been my co-pilot for many years.
As you all can probably imagine, any bitch cruel enough to do that to her "team" has endless techniques for punishing anyone and everyone who sticks their necks out. She holds grudges for a very long time, and is responsible for determining who gets what sales accounts... In other words, 80% of her people are wholly dependent on her mood for their livelihood. As long as the team hits their budget, divisional management doesn't put much effort into fixing things. The last three of my ten years there were spent under a different manager, which gave me ample opportunity to torpedo her relentlessly with no fear of reprisal. As a freelance, I still have opportunities to stick it to her, which I never pass up. I keep it subtle, so I'm not just some trash-talking former employee. I'm still friendly with her superiors, so I happen to know that she's on her way out. Good riddance.
When I worked for a division of the world's largest media company, bonus money was given to middle managers to divide up amongst their staff, including themselves. A few years ago, I saw the email announcing the amount. My manager was given $9000 to divide amongst a department of 11 people. We received half gallon jugs of maple syrup from her parents' farm, she received $9000. The best part was that she failed to notice the stamp across the label that read "Quality Control: Rejected". The next year, it was certificates thanking us for a $10 donation to a local soup kitchen. Apparently, she thinks she's the only one who watched Seinfeld.
The phone manufacturers have had plenty of time to make their phones more compatible with Macs. Having failed to do that for some time, Apple has every right to fill that product niche. I find it funny that Windows users love to point at the lack of software available for Macs, but get all whiny when Apple plans to put out something meant to work better, or exclusively, with Macs. Why shouldn't Apple put out a phone that gives Mac users the first crack at it? Sure, they'd have access to more customers if it was dual platform from day one, but as both a wireless customer and a Mac user, I appreciate the fact that Apple would offer something that the crappy wireless providers have failed to. Suck it Windows users, you get to wait for a change.
Amen to that. I wrapped up ten years at TW in June, so I got some of the before, during, and after AOL. It's like hiring a guy to come in your office and trash it every morning before you get there. Then, while you try to clean it up so you can start your work day, they sneak up behind you and kick you in the balls. The whole process repeats when you leave for lunch.
I haven't read all of the posts, so my apologies to anyone who posted it first, but... Wouldn't it be smart of Apple to pay these guys a consulting fee to spend a few days with their networking geeks and see if A) they can replicate it on an Airport card, and B) if there's a way to patch the problem, if it exists, in the OS? The hackers get paid, Apple patches a potential security flaw... everybody wins.
Let me get this straight... somehow showing somebody how to play a song will prevent people from writing new songs? I'm sorry, Logic has just stuffed it's head so far up it's own ass that it disappeared.
I would imagine that both companies have a slew of employees whose task is to read websites, like slashdot, and come up with lists of features that users are looking for, as well as complaints about current features. Assuming they look in some of the same places, it's entirely reasonable to assume that both companies will try to meet some demands that users are making. Apple, being the company trying to get people to switch, is trying to give users new to OSX features that they are used to, but with Apple's ease of use. I'm not saying they both come up with the same ideas at the same time, but I do think there are simultaneous reactions to user demands going on. For whatever reason, Apple seems to have a better grip on "user experience" than MS does. Apple has the advantage of being in control of the hardware, so it's easier for them to integrate things smoothly... Windows' marketshare, combined with a ridiculous number of hardware configurations makes their job that much harder.
Personally, I've used both for many years... and I prefer the Mac. I don't care how many people switch, unless they plan on calling me when something breaks. Many of my competitors (graphics/video production) are using Windows... That's fine by me. My computer and OS have never slowed me down, caused me to miss a deadline, or hindered me from offering a service. All I ask for in a system is all the tools I need and no downtime. The Mac, especially with OSX, has not only given me what I want in a system, every new set of features has given me a few new ways to increase my productivity that I had never even thought of. My experience with Windows has been nowhere near as nice. Most of us are looking for similar features, and in my experience, most of them are executed better by Apple.
Years ago, Apple replaced my first generation G3 beige desktop with the Blue & White tower about 3 days after they were released... It was a huge upgrade from the desktop machine, so I was pretty thrilled... so it wouldn't be unheard of. I'm sure it had more to do with them making up for mistakes made by my Apple-authorized repair shop, but it was still cool of them to do that.
Let's face it... It's a visual medium. If Nigerian scam artists were hotter, and included photos, they'd probably get more traffic, and make more money.
I've been a computer graphic artist for 20 years. Back when it was SuperPaint, Deluxe Paint, Pixel Paint Pro... I still drew with traditional tools on a very regular basis. Today, my drawing skills are just about shot. I'm having to re-learn basic drawing skills. It's embarrassing, but that's what years of Photoshop will get you if you don't keep up on the basics. So, I don't know what the details of their study are, but I can personally vouch for the validity of the concept.
Fortunately, the 80 billion viruses, available for Windows, are also not available for OS X. Symantec software has been goofy on Macs for a long time, so it doesn't exactly break my heart that NAV doesn't run on my Mac.
pete6677:They only do this in parts of town that have a high percentage of racial minorities. Seriously, go to different stores in a major city and see for yourself. In the suburban white areas, no stores do the door check thing. It's basically just a legal way to racially profile.
Wrong. I live in Jamestown, NY... White Trash Capital of The World. (Although, Vestal is up there, too). We have a Pakistani Doctor who moonlights as the exit guy. He apparently forgets that his ability to boss nurses in his office around doesn't translate into the ability to boss angry rednecks around at Wally World. He always tries to stop me. Sometimes I let him look. Other times I tell him to call a fucking cop if he thinks I stole something. As far as the profiling goes, I'm a 6 foot white guy with the "aging punk working in an office" look... he's a little Pakistani doctor who moonlights at Wal Mart.
Buffalo, on the other hand, has armed guards at the front doors of one of their Wal Marts...
Slashdot Mirror
One more time, to clarify... I contribute what I can in my field of expertise. I was merely suggesting that there are some luminaries in the field that would be a good match. I realize everyone is touchy about the redistribution of wealth these days, but I'm pretty far from suggesting it be taxed out of anyone. I support the idea of people giving to projects that relate to the foundation of careers that they have found massive success in, of their own free will. Charitable giving, especially to something closely related to one's own good fortune and interests and the preservation of history is a decent thing to do. That is all. Relax.
Wow. Not that I owe your condescending ass an explanation, but allow me to elaborate. I build, repair, and support computers for a non-profit organization. I'm also on their board of directors, and partially responsible for advising the tech needs of the arts programs of every school in my county. In what would normally be billable hours for me, I probably contribute an amount equal to about 40% of my income each year. My field is less related to the actual general birth of computing, so my contribution is geared toward my particular expertise. My suggestion that people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs would be good contributors was related to their A) role in the early stages of personal computing, and B) their high profiles as entrepreneurs... which would be good publicity for the cause. Your veiled implication that I'm hoping to redistribute the wealth of others, and not my own, is a lame, reactionary jumping of the gun that was completely uncalled for. If your level of discourse is the "future of the world", I will join you in lamenting our future. So wag your finger at somebody else jackass.
Seems to me that some of the guys running the big tech companies should kick in a little something... Given Bletchley's place in computing history, Gates, Jobs, et al should throw them a bone. Even in this economy, Gates could probably fund it himself without really noticing a hit in his wallet.
I do have to wonder what public sentiment would be if it were Cindy Sheehan instead of some random college student.
Just to get (sort of) back on topic... There are plenty of locations where you could build something like this without having to impact a living lake or river. What about building industrial parks around a geothermal plant? Here, we have a power plant right in the middle of the city... they pipe excess steam into a heating system that goes throughout our downtown area. Businesses can opt in to the district heating system, which offsets costs for our electricity. Seems like the same sort of thing could be done to use excess heat from geothermal.
An OPSEC review is different than making sure no "bad news" leaks out. There are more details than those of upcoming operations that are useful to the enemy... Suppose somebody innocently mentions where he's based in one post, then mentions that he eats lunch with a bunch of officers every day in another, and then posts a picture of himself eating at his preferred table in a third post... Spending an hour skimming a blog could provide interesting details and target opportunities to a mortar team, and they don't even have to be that smart to put all the info together. Or suppose that somebody mentions how his drinking buddy happens to be the guy in charge of the Stryker motor pool... A guerilla force with the internet skills of the average lovelorn teenager can Google names and look for them on MySpace, then start to develop a roster of people, places, and duties that would be incredibly useful for disrupting base operations. I've read plenty of milblogs that have passed the OPSEC inspection that were critical of the administration and command decisions, so I don't think they're filtering opinions, just operational details. I sat down and read Colby Buzzel's book My War in a couple of days. He writes about the entire process of going from unknown blogger to known potential security risk. Even after discovery, though they hassled him a bit, the military put very few real restrictions on him. As fashionable as it is to demonize the administration and Pentagon these days, this is really a non-story. Considering how popular camcorders, computers, digital cameras, and various audio recorders are among the troops... there won't be too many things that aren't exposed in time anyway.
Every time I've purchased a Mac, or a new version of their OS, there were coupons in the box for discounts on the next version. If I remember correctly, they also have some deal in place for a computer purchased within 60 or 90 days of a major OS release... allowing you to get the new one for free or really cheap. Maybe they've stopped doing that, but they used to be pretty generous in that department.
I've sat in on the franchise negotiations... Some municipalities might as well be holding a gun to their heads. The discussions I witnessed were nothing less than extortion. They know that if the cable operator doesn't play ball, customers won't blame the city when their tvs go black. The product is what it is, at a price arrived at pretty fairly. Maybe it's not for you, but the market disagrees with you. I have no stake in it either way, just thought I'd share something I learned while I worked in the field.
My point was that without the commercial content, subscription fees would be much higher. And, yes, raised costs of doing business translates to increased cost to the consumer. That happens in any business. In my market, Time Warner had those costs go up almost 25% over about five years. They raised ad sales rates, and only passed along a 2 to 3% increase yearly to their subscribers... most of that increase was actually on the higher tiers too, so it's not like they were gouging people who could only afford the basic packages. That's no red herring either. If you really can't handle commercials, even though they help keep costs down, maybe television isn't the product you seek. Try reading a book.
For those of you who would see the end of the cable companies, consider a few more points... Cable companies have to pay a franchise fee to the territory they cover. Your local government soaks them for huge fees, just to be there. Then, the phone companies frequently rent pole space to them, so they don't have to double the number of poles. They pay insane amounts of taxes to local, state, and federal governments, provide jobs, and maintain a fair amount of internet infrastructure as well. I have no love for the cable advertising world, but it drives a fair amount of commerce.
If you're such a delicate genius that you can't possibly spare the time it takes to skip commercials, perhaps you should get your ass back into the lab and finish curing cancer.
I got my start on a beta version of Premiere in 1990, when quarter screen video at 15 fps was "exciting". I stuck with Premiere until OSX came out, as it was incredibly easy and powerful. I've used Avid, and found it to be the least friendly interface for video editing anywhere. I now use FCP, but will absolutely give Premiere another look when it's released. If they can integrate their products the way FCP Studio does, Adobe could seriously give Apple a run for the money. For me, the decision will be based on acceleration... I don't like FCP's lack of options in that department. Either way, competition in this arena will be a good thing, especially if it screws Avid. Seriously. Avid's interface sucks sweaty balls.
Tim Horton's stopped calling the XL an "XL" a couple of years ago. Now it's just an "L". Their lid vendor may not know that though, as it still says "XL" on the lid. I'm not being nitpicky, it's just that Tim Horton has been my co-pilot for many years.
As you all can probably imagine, any bitch cruel enough to do that to her "team" has endless techniques for punishing anyone and everyone who sticks their necks out. She holds grudges for a very long time, and is responsible for determining who gets what sales accounts... In other words, 80% of her people are wholly dependent on her mood for their livelihood. As long as the team hits their budget, divisional management doesn't put much effort into fixing things. The last three of my ten years there were spent under a different manager, which gave me ample opportunity to torpedo her relentlessly with no fear of reprisal. As a freelance, I still have opportunities to stick it to her, which I never pass up. I keep it subtle, so I'm not just some trash-talking former employee. I'm still friendly with her superiors, so I happen to know that she's on her way out. Good riddance.
When I worked for a division of the world's largest media company, bonus money was given to middle managers to divide up amongst their staff, including themselves. A few years ago, I saw the email announcing the amount. My manager was given $9000 to divide amongst a department of 11 people. We received half gallon jugs of maple syrup from her parents' farm, she received $9000. The best part was that she failed to notice the stamp across the label that read "Quality Control: Rejected". The next year, it was certificates thanking us for a $10 donation to a local soup kitchen. Apparently, she thinks she's the only one who watched Seinfeld.
The phone manufacturers have had plenty of time to make their phones more compatible with Macs. Having failed to do that for some time, Apple has every right to fill that product niche. I find it funny that Windows users love to point at the lack of software available for Macs, but get all whiny when Apple plans to put out something meant to work better, or exclusively, with Macs. Why shouldn't Apple put out a phone that gives Mac users the first crack at it? Sure, they'd have access to more customers if it was dual platform from day one, but as both a wireless customer and a Mac user, I appreciate the fact that Apple would offer something that the crappy wireless providers have failed to. Suck it Windows users, you get to wait for a change.
Amen to that. I wrapped up ten years at TW in June, so I got some of the before, during, and after AOL. It's like hiring a guy to come in your office and trash it every morning before you get there. Then, while you try to clean it up so you can start your work day, they sneak up behind you and kick you in the balls. The whole process repeats when you leave for lunch.
I haven't read all of the posts, so my apologies to anyone who posted it first, but... Wouldn't it be smart of Apple to pay these guys a consulting fee to spend a few days with their networking geeks and see if A) they can replicate it on an Airport card, and B) if there's a way to patch the problem, if it exists, in the OS? The hackers get paid, Apple patches a potential security flaw... everybody wins.
Let me get this straight... somehow showing somebody how to play a song will prevent people from writing new songs? I'm sorry, Logic has just stuffed it's head so far up it's own ass that it disappeared.
Personally, I've used both for many years... and I prefer the Mac. I don't care how many people switch, unless they plan on calling me when something breaks. Many of my competitors (graphics/video production) are using Windows... That's fine by me. My computer and OS have never slowed me down, caused me to miss a deadline, or hindered me from offering a service. All I ask for in a system is all the tools I need and no downtime. The Mac, especially with OSX, has not only given me what I want in a system, every new set of features has given me a few new ways to increase my productivity that I had never even thought of. My experience with Windows has been nowhere near as nice. Most of us are looking for similar features, and in my experience, most of them are executed better by Apple.
Years ago, Apple replaced my first generation G3 beige desktop with the Blue & White tower about 3 days after they were released... It was a huge upgrade from the desktop machine, so I was pretty thrilled... so it wouldn't be unheard of. I'm sure it had more to do with them making up for mistakes made by my Apple-authorized repair shop, but it was still cool of them to do that.
Let's face it... It's a visual medium. If Nigerian scam artists were hotter, and included photos, they'd probably get more traffic, and make more money.
I've been a computer graphic artist for 20 years. Back when it was SuperPaint, Deluxe Paint, Pixel Paint Pro... I still drew with traditional tools on a very regular basis. Today, my drawing skills are just about shot. I'm having to re-learn basic drawing skills. It's embarrassing, but that's what years of Photoshop will get you if you don't keep up on the basics. So, I don't know what the details of their study are, but I can personally vouch for the validity of the concept.
Classic is just OS9 emulation to cover people during the change to OS X... It's time to let it go.
Fortunately, the 80 billion viruses, available for Windows, are also not available for OS X. Symantec software has been goofy on Macs for a long time, so it doesn't exactly break my heart that NAV doesn't run on my Mac.
Wrong. I live in Jamestown, NY... White Trash Capital of The World. (Although, Vestal is up there, too). We have a Pakistani Doctor who moonlights as the exit guy. He apparently forgets that his ability to boss nurses in his office around doesn't translate into the ability to boss angry rednecks around at Wally World. He always tries to stop me. Sometimes I let him look. Other times I tell him to call a fucking cop if he thinks I stole something. As far as the profiling goes, I'm a 6 foot white guy with the "aging punk working in an office" look... he's a little Pakistani doctor who moonlights at Wal Mart.
Buffalo, on the other hand, has armed guards at the front doors of one of their Wal Marts...