Seems Costa Rica may make it a crime to make Internet-based phone calls. It would be a shame if this sets a precedent of setting legistlation that would seriously stunt the growth of these emerging technologies that should be making communication cheaper and easier, not harder and illegal.
Now, before I say this, I want to point out I'm seriously not trying to be a dick.
That being said, I don't think any country really, but especially America and Western Europe, as well as other technologically advanced nations around the world, will ever look to Costa Rica for precedent setting on probably any issue, but especially things like this. That would make about as much sense as looking to Afganistan for space exploration practices.
Besides, we've got plenty of other things here to make VOIP illegal, like dying old telcos that still have money in their banks and congressmen in the pockets.
Surprised no one has directly answered your question, but they did hit on this by talking about it the Tory being used in military bombers, I came across it meta-modding, so your answer:
A Ramjet is a type of jet engine designed by William Avery.
Ramjets reduce engine complexity by eliminating most of the moving parts: they have no fans to do the compression in the front of the engine.
The basic principle of a ramjet is the same as that in a jet engine: intake, compression, combustion, exhaust. (Note: it would be very helpful to understand the principles of operation of a turbojet jet engine in order to fully understand this discussion.)
When air enters any jet engine, its speed decreases and its pressure increases, called the 'ram compression effect'. At high speeds this process can be very effective, and can compress enough oxygen to efficiently burn the fuel for the engine all on its own.
Ramjets essentially do not work at all below half the speed of sound, and ramjets are inefficient due to low compression ratios until the airspeed exceeds 600 mph (1000 km/h). However, they outperform traditional jet engine designs at supersonic speeds, and although inefficient at the slower speeds, are still more fuel efficient than rockets.
Ramjets are built to utilize the compression effect through a careful inlet design. Beyond that the engine is largely nothing more than a well-designed tube. A ramjet thus contains no (major) moving parts, and hence is lighterweight than a turbojet and is particularly useful in applications requiring a small and simple engine for high speed use.
On the downsides they need to be flying at high speeds to start, making them less than useful for general tasks. A wide flight envelope (range of flight conditions), such as both low to high speeds and low to high altitudes, can force significant design compromises, and they tend to work best at one designed speed and altitude.
They have found most use almost exclusively in missiles, where they are boosted to operating speeds by a rocket motor, or by being attached to another aircraft (typically a fighter). Today ramjets have been generally replaced by small turbofans or rockets.
Ramjets always slow the incoming air to subsonic speeds. Scramjets, or "supersonic combustion ramjet" are similar to Ramjets in that they rely on the ram effect for compression, but the air goes through the entire jet at supersonic speeds.
So far as I understand it, the Tory was, as you pointed out, a ramjet engine. Ramjets (and scramjets) depend on an atmosphere, or more accurately oxygen, to operate properly, just like basically every other non-nuclear engine. No atmosphere = no oxygen = no combustion. Now, why someone would design a nuclear powered ramjet is beyond me, as oxygen wouldn't really be needed in the equation since you wouldn't be combusting fuel unless it also had conventional engines, though the military use of irradiating a country as you nuke it back to the stone age cannot be overlooked. But anyway, a ramjet would be basically useless once you were in space, the same as your car, the same as any fighter jet. This is why you can't just send an F-15 into space, it's engines wouldn't be able to 'breathe' and it would cease to operate. Now, there is the Bussard Ramjet that would theoretically work, but it's only a concept and not a working idea.
Rocekt engines, meanwhile, handle all of their combustion internally and don't require any outside fuel, unlike ramjets that need oxygen from outside to work correctly. As such, any type of ramjet design would be useless on a mission to other planets once you left Earth's atmosphere, which is why the Tory was ignored here.
Hell, I just got my 17' 1.8GHz iMac a few days ago, upgraded ram to 512 MB (matches) and the hard drive to 160 GB (40 GB better), as well as a DVD-R/CD-RW and some other perks, and it was only a few dollars over $1600, with shipping and tax, after my student discount, which I don't believe you can get on the Hippie. So for about $100 less before shipping is even factored in on the Hippie, I am now the proud owner of a far superior computer, and it runs OS X. Yeah, I can rock that.
Wrong, moron. Don't be so quick to open your damn fool mouth, it makes you look mentally retarded when people show exactly why you should have just stayed quiet.
Try ex-armed guard. We had to learn when we could and couldn't shoot people. Someone steals a bag of money from a armored transport but doesn't give you any reason to believe they are going to attempt to harm you, you can't shoot them in Colorado. They pull a gun on you, but turn and run before you fire on them, you cannot shoot them. Well, you can, but you'll get a murder charge. I was mearly trying to get across the point that it is highly advisable that anyone looking into self-defense means learn their local laws. Before I knew mine, I assumed it was cool to blow away some fucker stealing lawn gnomes. Turns out it's not... except in Texas.
And then there was my time in the military, but that's a whole different society. There, you shoot anyone coming anywhere near that airstrip that doesn't go by you first. Those 15 ft. high razor wire topped fences are there for a reason, and it's to encourage people to make sure those guard towers don't come in handy.
And speaking of Mods, what happened to my +1, Insightful? I don't really care, but it's kind of odd it just disappeared without a -1, Overrated or anything else in sight. I'll just chaulk it up to some sort of pussy censorship.
Just hear me out here. If you read the Declaration of Independence, it more or less says people have not only the right but the responsibility to overthrow corrupt governments for the good of the country (country and government are NOT the same thing). Combine this with the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which is there to ensure people have the means to overthrow the government if need be (anyone that says it's there for hunting is a moron), and you can clearly see the founding fathers of the U.S. intended for the populace to always be able to keep the government in check with the threat of revolution if the governement became corrupt.
Initally, a farmer could more or less be on par with the military if he could afford it. As time has went on however, that parity has been lost, as more and more weapons are illegal for civilians to have. This is not what was intended when this country was founded. I, as well as any other citizen, should be fully able to have nuclear weapons and fully stocked aircraft carriers if I can afford them, not to mention assault weapons and other non-WMDs. It may sound extremist, but it would ensure our government stays true to its principals for all time. Now, you can take that as funny or insightful or whatever, but taken strictly, it's the damn truth.
And just remember, a man with a gun is a citizen, capable of defending himself, his country, and his fellow citizens from threats both foreign and domestic. A man without a gun is a subject, who must depend on others for protection. I know, a gun isn't going to stop a bomber aircraft, but it is going to go a long way if everyone takes up arms. Look at how many problems we're having in Iraq, and that's only thanks to a very small minority of the country who views us as hostile invaders and has taken up arms against us. While we are winning, a small, dedicated group is managing to heavily slow the progress of the mightiest military humanity has ever known. Weither or not they are right is irrelevent, they are getting results.
I always hope and pray to whatever god that I'll never need to actually kill anyone, but at the same time, I'll gladly slaughter this whole damn world if that's what it takes. You just go ahead and look me up if you should require protection at a later point in time. You will, of course, have to get up to speed, but most of the world has grown complacent over time, so we can't hold it against you.
A world of strife, the only world a true soldier can be happy in.
Funny, but true. Based on my experiences, the further I've went into the frozen north, there are fewer the people and those that are there are generally better examples of humanity. Some of the nicest, most helpful and sociable people I've ever met have been Canadians and north North Dakota(ins?). I guess cold and harsh nature makes for warmer, better perfect people.
Look, I understand not wanting to hurt people, but you have to realize anyone that is commiting a crime against you is typically a peice of shit that deserves to be hurt.
I was once the same way, but having been robbed/stolen from several times in the past, my general philosophy has evolved so that as far as I'm concerned, once someone has decided that it is both necessary and appropriate to try to steal from or injure me or those under my protection, they have made a conscious decision that their life is now forfit. As such, I'm now the proud owner of several firearms that are kept with me basically all the time and will NOT hesitate to shoot to kill if necessary.
This brings me to an important point, if you decide to adopt my general outlook on things, get intimately familier with your local and state laws on when you can and cannot use leathal force, they vary greatly from place to place. For example, in Colorado where I live, it is perfectly legal to kill someone if you feel they have both the opportunity and means to injure/kill you or another person. This can amount to them saying they're going to kick your ass, then charging you. It's considered perfectly clean to throw down and blow their ass away right there. However, it is not legal to kill in defense of property unless it is to protect yourself/others. So you couldn't go outside and kill some duche for stealing your car stereo (sadly) unless he pulls a knife or something on you when you confront him. You could still beat his ass, just don't shoot or you'd likely eat a manslaughter charge. Now if he's trying to burn down your house and you do the world a favor, that would be fine, as arson often directly endangers human life. Meanwhile, in Texas (among several other states), it is perfectly leagal to kill in defense of property, so you will without question want to check on those laws.
Other than that, all I can tell you is to remember that anyone commiting a crime against you quite likely doesn't give a shit about you or anyone else and could care less what happens to you. I recommend you do the same when it comes to them. Oh, and make sure to shoot to kill. I can't count the number of times I've seen news stories where someone has been paralized robbing a house or mugging someone, but then managed to sue their victim and win a sizeable judgement in civil court. So make sure the only people that can sue are their family who will have a much harder time convincing the judge that they need $2 million to make up for the loss of that abortion their mother should have had.
It's a cold, nasty world out there. All you have to do to ensure your continual survival is just be the most stone cold motherfucker on the planet. Hope that helps. Good luck.
Attached to the article is a lovely little game called Deep Freeze, and Christ almighty is it hard.
The point of the game is that you're supposed to use Rat Bastard (As I'm now referring to the Weasel) to kick a ball to destroy Pirates (Represented by a Skull and Crossbones) and Software (Represented by a CD. Note that I said software, not illegal software, just plain software. Interesting...) all while collecting Licenses to protect your city.
Ah, yes, you're asking the same question I was, "Protect it from what?" Quickly, you will learn the answer, to protect your fair city from being "frozen" by software piracy. The game is ridiculouslyhard and as far as I played it, is impossible to win. I can only assume that this is by design to show kids how hard it is to "defend" against the deluge of pirated software.
Man, does anyone else feel like they're in some kind of really weird, fucked up movie with a bad plot everytime they read this absolutly insane software piracy shit? Seriously, it seems like I'm inside of some horrible plot hole whenever I read the BSA is working in conjunction with Weekly Reader (Which I remember from back when I was in school) in order to indoctrinate 4th graders to believe software piracy is some sort of scourge of the Universe. Back when I read Weekly Reader, it had stuff about all kinds of exotic animals, something about space, or just anything else kids thought was really cool. Now it teaches them about Copyright laws?
What the fuck? This country really needs to get its shit back together. I love America, but I fear for our future when corporations can have the power to set ciriculum, especially for such young, impressionable kids like this.
...the mobile phone is the primary convergence point for digital devices and will soon cause iPod sales to evaporate
Right... Apple... Embattled... Porting OS X to Intel... G4 Overrated... Steve dying of cancer... iPod sales evaporating... Blah blah blah. Been there, heard dumb things like this before. Seriously, this article is retarded and a waste of Slashspace. I think the low comment numbers speak for that to a certain degree.
He talks about Real's recent breaking of the iPod (which I would be quite surprised if Apple didn't try to DMCA their ass for or at least issue a firmware upgrade to "fix" the problem) and how it's basically just the tip of the iceburg. I really enjoyed the part:
"We are stunned that RealNetworks has adopted the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod," Apple said in a release [about Real hacking the iPod].
Now, besides the fact that Apples' response was decidedly uncool for a company whose products must stay cool at all costs...
Duh. Apple doesn't like people fucking with their shit. I can say I would have issued about the same response. Well, maybe a little more harsh, but along the same lines. It's like how they don't allow Mac clones to be made anymore. It can possibly take away market share (from the iTunes Store, in this case) from them and removes their total power over their creation, something Apple loves to control. I've used and loved Macs for somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 years, and I can say without a doubt they do not like to lose money or power over their creations. And since when has Real been "cool", as is implied by saying Apple is uncool for not allowing Real to have their way with the iPod? '96? Anyone?
Another choice quote from the article:
People can only buy what they can afford. Lots of people want an iPod; they simply can't plunk down a $300 for a digital music player.
Like hell. I thought the Minis wouldn't sell worth a shit (mostly due to being too expensive for not enough capacity) and I was dead wrong. I couldn't have been more wrong. They cannot keep those things in stock, and they cost $249 for 1/5 the capacity of the $300 normal iPod. Plus, apple doesn't exactly cater to the bargain basement crowd. Their cheapest computer is still several hundred dollars more expensive than almost all other major brands cheapest comp. You get what you pay for, and people know this.
And one last gem:
It's a sad truth, but yes, the iPod is going to go away. Everyone knows it; they just don't know when.
Really? Thanks for the news break, Peter Jennings. And in other news, The Persian Empire lasted, in one form or another, from 648 BC to 1935 AD. Everything goes away eventually.
I agree with what I think you're saying here, don't get me wrong. I'm just saying, where we had a defense budget of somewhere just over $200 billion about 4-5 years ago, we now have one of about $400 billion. Meanwhile, it seems like NASA, as well as everyone else's budget, has been hacked down in the process.
I'd be all for cutting the DOD budget back down to the $200 billion area and distributing the funds around to our other programs that could make better use of it. The DOD would still have more than enough to operate (Check the CIA World Factbook for defense budgets of other countries around the world. We'd still be basically outspending the top 10 and some change.), and we could get some money into more useful areas. And just for the record, I'm all for a strong military, but it seems like our current structure seems to blow a lot of money, but that's another topic.
...NASA's budget gets us a pointless space station, a broken space shuttle and a few (very expensive) inter-planetary probes. (For example, Cassini cost 3 billion dollars!)
I think the only reason the ISS is pointless (I have to agree, it's Skylab 2 as far I'm concerned.) is that it got planned with great enthusiasm, but then got horribly neglected. Had it actually been fully realized, it would have been quite useful. In it's current state though, it's a waste of money. The shuttles have been very good to us, but they're just to damn old and do need to be replaced, no argument there. While expensive, Cassini is a perfect example of what happens when projects are properly funded. It's functioning perfectly and we're already learning new things from it, and it's actual work component of its mission has basically just begun. It's just like with Galileo that went to Jupiter a few years ago. When projects are actually well funded, they succeed with great results.
Oh please, you cant honestly think this is a viable thing to hold against the bush administration do you? that in 3 billion years when our star collapses we won't be able to escape?
At what point did I say a damn thing about the Bush admin.? Seriously. Go back, and quote where the fuck I said, "Bush is cutting NASA's budget." Go on, go and find it. Wait, you can't, because you're trying to drag presidential politics into a discussion that has nothing to do with them, you partisan moron.
While I personally think Bush is more or less a puppet to special interests and some trully fucked up individuals, I can't blame him in the slightest for this. I actually think his policy towards space is the best thing he's done in his presidency. He advocates spending MORE money on NASA, boosting their budget by $2 bil./year for the next several years and letting them build things like lunar bases and make trips to Mars. While expensive projects, the guy has his shit together on space. However, things like NASA funding (and, for that matter, basically all other federal funding) are ultimitely decided by Congress. The president can put in his say, but Congress holds the purse strings.
Now, junior, that is how you would refute my statement had I said, "Bush hates space!". Which I didn't. Which is why to me at least you just look retarded. Don't read things that aren't there, you'll save us all a lot of time.
As for the planet thing, arent you overstating the problem some?
No, I'm not. I didn't say it would not be inhabitable tomorrow or in 10 years or anything that soon. Just that someday, possibly though our own actions, possibly though just some act of nature, for whatever reason, our planet will become uninhabitable. Simple as that. Sooner or later, it will happen, and if we fail to be off of this rock by then, we're just some ruins for a more advanced civilization to find. That's it, end of story. Humanity is done. And while $600,000 million to NASA one way or the other won't be the deciding factor, it just serves as a sign to show people don't really grasp the above fact. Space isn't a curiosity, it's a necessity for all of Humanity. Perhaps it's not the most pressing need today, but one day, it will be and we had damn sure better be ready by then, and it's never to soon to get to cracking on it.
Wholly agreed. I believe (Not 100%, but pretty sure and don't feel like checking right now.) NASA's budget this year is something like $15.7 Billion, and I know next year it's getting scaled back to $15.1. But it's more or less been mandated they come up with a new shuttle, fix the current fleet to some degree, and keep the ISS and any other projects flying on the little bit of change they have left.
Meanwhile, the DOD gets about $400 Billion a year, to put the above into perspective. And I believe our national budget is something like $3 trillion.
In short, lately, our policy here in the U.S., the nation that put mankind on the moon with the support of basically the whole country only 35 years ago, is, "Fuck Space".
I mean, it's not like we'll ever need to leave Earth or anything. Without question, our star will last forever, and our planet will always been inhabitable.
The Bloodmoon has come back... (Dramatic Pause Here, as we stare out into the gazes of the thousands in attendance and the millions at home in front of their computers, and for a brief moment, we crack a smile as they hinge on our aforementioned Dramatic Pause)
To Slashot!
This is what we were missing before. I don't know where they all went, but it's good to see them returning. This is one of the few intelligent posts I've read recently.
I applaud you. You're actually able to read between the fucked up lines getting drawn in the United States right now. This is a skill virtually all other people seem to lack. Most just see the face value of the story (Ashcroft is a dumb ass and thinks art might be used for terror!) and assume we have morons running the country. You, my friend, see the bigger picture, that we have some seriously fucked up and manipulative people running the show.
I was going to continue my ongoing protest of/.'s general worthlessness and not even bother pointing out the same thing, but you've drawn me back out into the/world. Finally, some intelligence displayed around here. Why, why can't they all be like you?
I cannot even think of the number of laws this administration has passed that have duel political uses like the example here. But look all up and down the board and you'll see them. Everything from the DMCA to CAPPS to the PATRIOT Act can be used in a way to curtail political descent.
Just a thought, tying back to my most recent journal entry. The last president I can think of (and it's 0400 here, so I'm really not thinking to clearly, but still) that suspended Habeas Corpus (See: Guantanamo Bay) was Lincoln, and that was in the middle of the Civil War. Or maybe I should start referring to it as Civil War 1...
So, in short, to you, Maljin, thank you. To the rest of you sheeple, wake the fuck up, and do it before it is to late.
And this will probably be one of, if not the last of, all my posts here. I'll still read and troll (god, I love the indignant responses to some of the things I've posted), but shit like this is the exact reason I don't care anymore.
You make a very valid point. You do it quickly and effectively. The same can be said for this post by jmccay. They may be a bit bitter, but it's still the fucking truth. A lot of Americans (myself, and apparently you two) have been screwed by corporations for the good of the bottom line we worked to build. And yes, we are quite pissed off about that.
And what do you two get for your posts? Modded Flamebait and Troll, respectively.
But that's not even the worst part. This is. pclminion says:
And you're blaming the Indians for accepting a job offer? People offer them money, and they take it! How dare they! Of course, you would do different.
And where's it at? +5, insightful. Well, in answer. No, we wouldn't code for minimum wage at best. So to review, by venting on a subject that has effected not just tech people, but those from many industries including manufacturing and customer support in the United States, at least 2.6 million people at my last count, you are trying to start a flame war or posting misleading information. But by saying those people are being hypocritical by saying they are pissed about losing their jobs (and who knows what else as a result), and assuming that they are willing to work for nothing, you get modded to +5.
And as Beatbyte said in a reply to that post, Businesses big enough to do the outsourcing are already too big to not be greedy. I would expect them to be. They're in business to make money. Not make people happy.
Exactly. They're there to make money, not to support the country that sustains them in any way so long as they can save a little bit more money for their CEO/CFO to embezzle or at least get paid 100x more than the average worker, which should be fucking illegal anyway. And this is why America is doomed to eventual failure in our current social set up. But hey, surely a large corporation and our government will take care of us when that happens, right?
So yeah. Fuck Slashdot. Fuck Slashdot hard in its ass. And while I'm at it, fuck America too. Fuck all the idiots like me who were brave enough and stupid enough to put our lives on the line to defend this fucked up country, either because we thought we could make a difference, or we just didn't know what the hell else to do, and who are now at best unable to find a job here after we were done, or at worst are dying in far away, fucked up lands so that Haliburton can make an extra $200 million next quarter. Fuck all the mother fuckers who convinced me to do this or that because I could make a few more dollars here or there. So fucking what? The dollar hasn't been the most powerful currency in a while now.
We have a total fucktard running this country. Gays shouldn't marry because it ruins the sanctity of marriage, because somehow a 50% divorce rate and every 3 time remarried couple fucking around on each other hasn't done that. Stem cell research should be banned, since it only promises to cure many diseases and heal many injuries. Fuck spending another 10% on NASAs 15 billion dollar budget over 20 years, because this planet will be just fine for all of existence and we'll never need to leave, ever. Not in 10 years, a million years, a billion years, or a trillion years, and besides, we need to spend $400 billion a year on defense.
Defense... what a fucking joke. We haven't been invaded in any meaningful sense of the word since 1812. Not defending a whole lot. And the broke ass Russians developed a hyper-sonic satellite killer missile that really bones the dumb assed Star Warz money-toilet.
And fuck the environment hard. Who needs clean air and wat
Exactly my points. My last 3 downloads, which spans about 6 months in time:
One Of A Kind (Rob Van Dam's Theme) - Breaking Point
Baby Got Back - Sir Mixalot
Dancin' With Myself - Billy Idol
As you can see, either very old stuff, or a little obscure. And the 2 CDs I did buy last year were both ones I already had MP3s of for a while, but bought for the music video DVDs and nice artworks, and lyrics. And as you point out, oh no! The RIAA MAY sue me (though, we're still not sure if they can even win in court, as no one has really tested them) IF I'm not smart enough to move downloaded music to another location IF I'm using Kazaa, which I'm not. The lawsuit, the tool that will be the destruction of intelligent society.
Ok, this one's kind of out there, but I think I've came up with the real reason file sharing is going down. Stick with me here. Now, you know as well as I do "piracy" (thought pirates had to have sabers and cool hats) doesn't really hurt CD sells by and large. If anything, it helps good artists/bands that aren't well known and pushes them. Take Darude and ATB for example. Before internet file sharing really picked up, they were known by some, but not many people. Now, practiaclly everyone has either heard of them or at least of the Sandstorm and Summer songs. And their success can be attributed at least in some part to the popularity they gained thanks to file sharing. I know I'm not alone in being one of the people that first downloaded their music, decided I really liked it, then went and bought the CDs. The point is, groups/artists like these have benifited heavily from piracy.
Now we also know that for the few bands/artists that have seen CD sales down due to piracy it is only for the fact people will acquire the one or two songs they want off a CD that are not available on a single, and opt to not pay $20 for an additional 15 tracks of shit. Ok, maybe some bands like Metallica and Bizkut (weither you like them or not, make no mistake, they recycle heavily and have for a long time. Besides, it makes this theory no less viable.) lose some sells here, but only because they can no longer get by with 1 or 2 good songs and now need to generate a decent CD in order to get sells.
Ok, now the good part, the point of it all. Now, I'm not sure exactly how long p2p file sharing has been around, at least 5 years. And I know about 7 or 8 years ago, I was using a fairly mature Hotline client to download music with their client/server architecture. So we've probably had ~10 years of more or less easy music file sharing. What if the decrese in file sharing is due to the same reason we're seeing a decrese in CD sales? What if file sharring traffic is dropping simply because we're just running out of stuff we want? I seen exactly 2 CDs I've thought were worth purchasing in the last year, and by and large, the music industry is just producing unbelievable amounts of pure crap lately. It didn't always used to be like this. 2 or 3 years ago, I probably bought ~15 CDs a year, because while it wasn't the highest quality stuff, it was still decent, and there was still some older stuff I wanted. But now I have everything up until current that I want, and nothing much is really appealing to me currently. And I'm not alone. There's not a huge demand anymore for Boy Band #13287-Q, Britany Clone #31775-B, and Mad Street Cred Rapper #21992-H. Not a lot of origional, interesting material is being made right now.
So, back to the point. What if most of the people that do download music online are just simply running out of stuff to get and already have everything they want, and that is the real reason file sharing is down? Especially with broadband. I know whenever I get on a decent pipe, I spend about an hour downloading EVERYTHING I've been meaning to get lately, and then I can't think of anything else I'd want. I'm sure the RIAA tactics have scared away some, but I also know I probably didn't even download 20 songs all last year. A couple years back, I'd pull that many, if not more, down a day sometimes.
I personally will take back anything I have, no matter the cost of the item, if it breaks within its warrenty through no fault of my own.
That being said, you grossly misunderestimate how cheap people are. Having worked many a shitty electronics retail job, I promise you, people will bring back anything that has broken if they think they have even the slightest chance of getting money/exchange/repair/anything.
Doesn't matter if their DVD player (or anything else, for that matter) ran out of warrenty 3 years ago, their kid spilled a 2 liter of 7 Up in it and their dog somehow managed to take a shit in the open drive bay, they'll bring it back. And then they'll get mad at you personally when you refuse to give them anything. I've seriously nearly got into physical fights with people over my refusal to do anything for them in accordance with whatever store's (Circuit City, Best Buy, etc.) policies. Seriously.
And then you have the true top 1% of humanity who brings back stuff they think is broken but they just didn't turn on the power switch in back or turned down the brightness and contrast all the way, etc.
Very, very true. I worked at Circut City about 3 years ago, when a decent DVD player cost $200 and only had AV out. We had some Apex's for about $50 or $60. I would sell these to people, then the same people would bring them back within 2 weeks, maybe a month at most. One day I was back in receiving and one of the managers had a palette of Apex's stacked up and shrink wrapped. 7-10 boxs tall, 3 or 4 wide.
Me: We got another shipment of these pieces of crap?
Manager: Nope. These are all going back defective.
I know AOL blocks (for me at least) all e-mail from sacbeemail.com. Until I abandonned them last year, I hadn't recieved a single e-mail my girlfriend had sent for over a year. I even opened up an account to test it myself and none of my messages ever came through. I also remember for a while (at least a week or two, maybe longer) they were blocking all email from Earthlink accounts until enough people bitched about it and they fixed it. My e-mails about Sacebee never recieved any answer.
And their spam filters make SO much of a difference. About a month ago was the last time I checked my AOL accout, and in 2 days I accumulated approximatly 45 spams, and blatant ones at that. I have yet to recieve even one e-mail from any one, on any account, ever, that had the words Viagra, 3+ inches, lowest rates EVER, lose 25 pounds, or Paris Hilton that I was even remotely interested in reading...
Personally, I've always prefered to sign them up for free hardcore gay porn, but I think I like your idea better. I knew someone would find a use for those wealthy Nigerian benefactor's of deposed kings someday. I love it. You just got a new fan.
This shouldn't really come as to big of a suprise. Political acts have been exempted from major laws before. From the DoNotCall.gov FAQs:
The National Do Not Call Registry does not limit calls by political organizations, charities or telephone surveyors.
Political spam isn't to much different from unsolicited political phone calls. And both would surely be of intrest to the politicians, as they seem to have exempted them from the laws. I find political phone calls equally, if not more annoying, then people asking me if I want to save $.13 a year on my long distance bills.
Seriously, I've been saying for a while now (a coule months, anyway) that the G5 was a superior chip and I've had to listen to the "Wait until its compared to an Opteron, then we'll talk" retorts, even having people use that exact phrase a few times. Don't get me wrong, I like AMD. If (god forbid) I ever have to use a PC, I much prefer to use ones running AMDs and some type of Linux, but damn does it feel good to be right. And now all of the Op supporters only logical explanation as to how their processor lost is that the bear feats guys is being paid off by Apple/IBM/The Illuminati, somebody. Yeah, that has to be it.
I don't care if this gets modded Flamey, or Trolly (since, you know, you never learned how to accept a defeat), or Insightfully, or Funnyy, or even at all. I don't care what you have to say in reply to it. Both OSes were less than 64 Bits, and if anything the AMD had an edge over the G5 with a better graphics card. In fact, looking at the stats, it would have been almost impossible to build a more equal, fair test. And I was really surprised to see the G5 system actually cost nearly $700 less. Wow. Seriously, I didn't see that coming, even if the Op system was a "purchased" system. All I have to say is:
50 is a kind of randapher guess I took. I'm sure it would be more if I went and actually bothered to check, but I don't really care. If Apple (OS What? Details son, details) has had 78 holes, Microsoft has probably had about 8 million. Besides, who cares? We all know MS systems are less secure than Apple systems. No news there. Stop trying to defend against every anti-MS comment, it's to much work for a person to do. Besides, I said 50 critical fixes. I guarantee there haven't been that many critical fixes to OS X.
And I'm well aware, as are virtually all Mac users, that we don't have the perfect OS by any means. It has it's issues. All of them do. Just ours has fewer issues than almost all others (especially compared to our user base), is probably the easiest to use (approx. 10 years of usage, never had to even deal with device drivers) and learn, has a decent amount of software support, has 0 viruses (besides the ones that affect all Microsoft products on all platforms), and is by far and away just the nicest looking. No one ever said it was perfect. Jaguar was the same way. And it's better now in Panther. And OS X will be better still in 10.4, and then 10.5, and so on. Things are as good as they ever have been, but they can only get better from here.
On a totally unrelated note, I'm updating my post reply policy for ACs.
Slashdot Mirror
Seems Costa Rica may make it a crime to make Internet-based phone calls. It would be a shame if this sets a precedent of setting legistlation that would seriously stunt the growth of these emerging technologies that should be making communication cheaper and easier, not harder and illegal. Now, before I say this, I want to point out I'm seriously not trying to be a dick.
That being said, I don't think any country really, but especially America and Western Europe, as well as other technologically advanced nations around the world, will ever look to Costa Rica for precedent setting on probably any issue, but especially things like this. That would make about as much sense as looking to Afganistan for space exploration practices.
Besides, we've got plenty of other things here to make VOIP illegal, like dying old telcos that still have money in their banks and congressmen in the pockets.
Surprised no one has directly answered your question, but they did hit on this by talking about it the Tory being used in military bombers, I came across it meta-modding, so your answer:
First, taken from the Wikipedia:
A Ramjet is a type of jet engine designed by William Avery.
Ramjets reduce engine complexity by eliminating most of the moving parts: they have no fans to do the compression in the front of the engine.
The basic principle of a ramjet is the same as that in a jet engine: intake, compression, combustion, exhaust. (Note: it would be very helpful to understand the principles of operation of a turbojet jet engine in order to fully understand this discussion.)
When air enters any jet engine, its speed decreases and its pressure increases, called the 'ram compression effect'. At high speeds this process can be very effective, and can compress enough oxygen to efficiently burn the fuel for the engine all on its own.
Ramjets essentially do not work at all below half the speed of sound, and ramjets are inefficient due to low compression ratios until the airspeed exceeds 600 mph (1000 km/h). However, they outperform traditional jet engine designs at supersonic speeds, and although inefficient at the slower speeds, are still more fuel efficient than rockets.
Ramjets are built to utilize the compression effect through a careful inlet design. Beyond that the engine is largely nothing more than a well-designed tube. A ramjet thus contains no (major) moving parts, and hence is lighterweight than a turbojet and is particularly useful in applications requiring a small and simple engine for high speed use.
On the downsides they need to be flying at high speeds to start, making them less than useful for general tasks. A wide flight envelope (range of flight conditions), such as both low to high speeds and low to high altitudes, can force significant design compromises, and they tend to work best at one designed speed and altitude.
They have found most use almost exclusively in missiles, where they are boosted to operating speeds by a rocket motor, or by being attached to another aircraft (typically a fighter). Today ramjets have been generally replaced by small turbofans or rockets.
Ramjets always slow the incoming air to subsonic speeds. Scramjets, or "supersonic combustion ramjet" are similar to Ramjets in that they rely on the ram effect for compression, but the air goes through the entire jet at supersonic speeds.
So far as I understand it, the Tory was, as you pointed out, a ramjet engine. Ramjets (and scramjets) depend on an atmosphere, or more accurately oxygen, to operate properly, just like basically every other non-nuclear engine. No atmosphere = no oxygen = no combustion. Now, why someone would design a nuclear powered ramjet is beyond me, as oxygen wouldn't really be needed in the equation since you wouldn't be combusting fuel unless it also had conventional engines, though the military use of irradiating a country as you nuke it back to the stone age cannot be overlooked. But anyway, a ramjet would be basically useless once you were in space, the same as your car, the same as any fighter jet. This is why you can't just send an F-15 into space, it's engines wouldn't be able to 'breathe' and it would cease to operate. Now, there is the Bussard Ramjet that would theoretically work, but it's only a concept and not a working idea.
Rocekt engines, meanwhile, handle all of their combustion internally and don't require any outside fuel, unlike ramjets that need oxygen from outside to work correctly. As such, any type of ramjet design would be useless on a mission to other planets once you left Earth's atmosphere, which is why the Tory was ignored here.
Hell, I just got my 17' 1.8GHz iMac a few days ago, upgraded ram to 512 MB (matches) and the hard drive to 160 GB (40 GB better), as well as a DVD-R/CD-RW and some other perks, and it was only a few dollars over $1600, with shipping and tax, after my student discount, which I don't believe you can get on the Hippie. So for about $100 less before shipping is even factored in on the Hippie, I am now the proud owner of a far superior computer, and it runs OS X. Yeah, I can rock that.
Not exactly work/school safe, but here's what's apparently worth ¥2 million.
Wrong, moron. Don't be so quick to open your damn fool mouth, it makes you look mentally retarded when people show exactly why you should have just stayed quiet.
Try ex-armed guard. We had to learn when we could and couldn't shoot people. Someone steals a bag of money from a armored transport but doesn't give you any reason to believe they are going to attempt to harm you, you can't shoot them in Colorado. They pull a gun on you, but turn and run before you fire on them, you cannot shoot them. Well, you can, but you'll get a murder charge. I was mearly trying to get across the point that it is highly advisable that anyone looking into self-defense means learn their local laws. Before I knew mine, I assumed it was cool to blow away some fucker stealing lawn gnomes. Turns out it's not... except in Texas.
And then there was my time in the military, but that's a whole different society. There, you shoot anyone coming anywhere near that airstrip that doesn't go by you first. Those 15 ft. high razor wire topped fences are there for a reason, and it's to encourage people to make sure those guard towers don't come in handy.
And speaking of Mods, what happened to my +1, Insightful? I don't really care, but it's kind of odd it just disappeared without a -1, Overrated or anything else in sight. I'll just chaulk it up to some sort of pussy censorship.
Good luck with that.
Just hear me out here. If you read the Declaration of Independence, it more or less says people have not only the right but the responsibility to overthrow corrupt governments for the good of the country (country and government are NOT the same thing). Combine this with the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which is there to ensure people have the means to overthrow the government if need be (anyone that says it's there for hunting is a moron), and you can clearly see the founding fathers of the U.S. intended for the populace to always be able to keep the government in check with the threat of revolution if the governement became corrupt.
Initally, a farmer could more or less be on par with the military if he could afford it. As time has went on however, that parity has been lost, as more and more weapons are illegal for civilians to have. This is not what was intended when this country was founded. I, as well as any other citizen, should be fully able to have nuclear weapons and fully stocked aircraft carriers if I can afford them, not to mention assault weapons and other non-WMDs. It may sound extremist, but it would ensure our government stays true to its principals for all time. Now, you can take that as funny or insightful or whatever, but taken strictly, it's the damn truth.
And just remember, a man with a gun is a citizen, capable of defending himself, his country, and his fellow citizens from threats both foreign and domestic. A man without a gun is a subject, who must depend on others for protection. I know, a gun isn't going to stop a bomber aircraft, but it is going to go a long way if everyone takes up arms. Look at how many problems we're having in Iraq, and that's only thanks to a very small minority of the country who views us as hostile invaders and has taken up arms against us. While we are winning, a small, dedicated group is managing to heavily slow the progress of the mightiest military humanity has ever known. Weither or not they are right is irrelevent, they are getting results.
I always hope and pray to whatever god that I'll never need to actually kill anyone, but at the same time, I'll gladly slaughter this whole damn world if that's what it takes. You just go ahead and look me up if you should require protection at a later point in time. You will, of course, have to get up to speed, but most of the world has grown complacent over time, so we can't hold it against you.
A world of strife, the only world a true soldier can be happy in.
Funny, but true. Based on my experiences, the further I've went into the frozen north, there are fewer the people and those that are there are generally better examples of humanity. Some of the nicest, most helpful and sociable people I've ever met have been Canadians and north North Dakota(ins?). I guess cold and harsh nature makes for warmer, better perfect people.
Look, I understand not wanting to hurt people, but you have to realize anyone that is commiting a crime against you is typically a peice of shit that deserves to be hurt.
I was once the same way, but having been robbed/stolen from several times in the past, my general philosophy has evolved so that as far as I'm concerned, once someone has decided that it is both necessary and appropriate to try to steal from or injure me or those under my protection, they have made a conscious decision that their life is now forfit. As such, I'm now the proud owner of several firearms that are kept with me basically all the time and will NOT hesitate to shoot to kill if necessary.
This brings me to an important point, if you decide to adopt my general outlook on things, get intimately familier with your local and state laws on when you can and cannot use leathal force, they vary greatly from place to place. For example, in Colorado where I live, it is perfectly legal to kill someone if you feel they have both the opportunity and means to injure/kill you or another person. This can amount to them saying they're going to kick your ass, then charging you. It's considered perfectly clean to throw down and blow their ass away right there. However, it is not legal to kill in defense of property unless it is to protect yourself/others. So you couldn't go outside and kill some duche for stealing your car stereo (sadly) unless he pulls a knife or something on you when you confront him. You could still beat his ass, just don't shoot or you'd likely eat a manslaughter charge. Now if he's trying to burn down your house and you do the world a favor, that would be fine, as arson often directly endangers human life. Meanwhile, in Texas (among several other states), it is perfectly leagal to kill in defense of property, so you will without question want to check on those laws.
Other than that, all I can tell you is to remember that anyone commiting a crime against you quite likely doesn't give a shit about you or anyone else and could care less what happens to you. I recommend you do the same when it comes to them. Oh, and make sure to shoot to kill. I can't count the number of times I've seen news stories where someone has been paralized robbing a house or mugging someone, but then managed to sue their victim and win a sizeable judgement in civil court. So make sure the only people that can sue are their family who will have a much harder time convincing the judge that they need $2 million to make up for the loss of that abortion their mother should have had.
It's a cold, nasty world out there. All you have to do to ensure your continual survival is just be the most stone cold motherfucker on the planet. Hope that helps. Good luck.
Attached to the article is a lovely little game called Deep Freeze, and Christ almighty is it hard.
The point of the game is that you're supposed to use Rat Bastard (As I'm now referring to the Weasel) to kick a ball to destroy Pirates (Represented by a Skull and Crossbones) and Software (Represented by a CD. Note that I said software, not illegal software, just plain software. Interesting...) all while collecting Licenses to protect your city.
Ah, yes, you're asking the same question I was, "Protect it from what?" Quickly, you will learn the answer, to protect your fair city from being "frozen" by software piracy. The game is ridiculouslyhard and as far as I played it, is impossible to win. I can only assume that this is by design to show kids how hard it is to "defend" against the deluge of pirated software.
Man, does anyone else feel like they're in some kind of really weird, fucked up movie with a bad plot everytime they read this absolutly insane software piracy shit? Seriously, it seems like I'm inside of some horrible plot hole whenever I read the BSA is working in conjunction with Weekly Reader (Which I remember from back when I was in school) in order to indoctrinate 4th graders to believe software piracy is some sort of scourge of the Universe. Back when I read Weekly Reader, it had stuff about all kinds of exotic animals, something about space, or just anything else kids thought was really cool. Now it teaches them about Copyright laws?
What the fuck? This country really needs to get its shit back together. I love America, but I fear for our future when corporations can have the power to set ciriculum, especially for such young, impressionable kids like this.
...the mobile phone is the primary convergence point for digital devices and will soon cause iPod sales to evaporate
Right... Apple... Embattled... Porting OS X to Intel... G4 Overrated... Steve dying of cancer... iPod sales evaporating... Blah blah blah. Been there, heard dumb things like this before. Seriously, this article is retarded and a waste of Slashspace. I think the low comment numbers speak for that to a certain degree.
He talks about Real's recent breaking of the iPod (which I would be quite surprised if Apple didn't try to DMCA their ass for or at least issue a firmware upgrade to "fix" the problem) and how it's basically just the tip of the iceburg. I really enjoyed the part:
"We are stunned that RealNetworks has adopted the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod," Apple said in a release [about Real hacking the iPod].
Now, besides the fact that Apples' response was decidedly uncool for a company whose products must stay cool at all costs...
Duh. Apple doesn't like people fucking with their shit. I can say I would have issued about the same response. Well, maybe a little more harsh, but along the same lines. It's like how they don't allow Mac clones to be made anymore. It can possibly take away market share (from the iTunes Store, in this case) from them and removes their total power over their creation, something Apple loves to control. I've used and loved Macs for somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 years, and I can say without a doubt they do not like to lose money or power over their creations. And since when has Real been "cool", as is implied by saying Apple is uncool for not allowing Real to have their way with the iPod? '96? Anyone?
Another choice quote from the article:
People can only buy what they can afford. Lots of people want an iPod; they simply can't plunk down a $300 for a digital music player.
Like hell. I thought the Minis wouldn't sell worth a shit (mostly due to being too expensive for not enough capacity) and I was dead wrong. I couldn't have been more wrong. They cannot keep those things in stock, and they cost $249 for 1/5 the capacity of the $300 normal iPod. Plus, apple doesn't exactly cater to the bargain basement crowd. Their cheapest computer is still several hundred dollars more expensive than almost all other major brands cheapest comp. You get what you pay for, and people know this.
And one last gem:
It's a sad truth, but yes, the iPod is going to go away. Everyone knows it; they just don't know when.
Really? Thanks for the news break, Peter Jennings. And in other news, The Persian Empire lasted, in one form or another, from 648 BC to 1935 AD. Everything goes away eventually.
I agree with what I think you're saying here, don't get me wrong. I'm just saying, where we had a defense budget of somewhere just over $200 billion about 4-5 years ago, we now have one of about $400 billion. Meanwhile, it seems like NASA, as well as everyone else's budget, has been hacked down in the process.
...NASA's budget gets us a pointless space station, a broken space shuttle and a few (very expensive) inter-planetary probes. (For example, Cassini cost 3 billion dollars!)
I'd be all for cutting the DOD budget back down to the $200 billion area and distributing the funds around to our other programs that could make better use of it. The DOD would still have more than enough to operate (Check the CIA World Factbook for defense budgets of other countries around the world. We'd still be basically outspending the top 10 and some change.), and we could get some money into more useful areas. And just for the record, I'm all for a strong military, but it seems like our current structure seems to blow a lot of money, but that's another topic.
I think the only reason the ISS is pointless (I have to agree, it's Skylab 2 as far I'm concerned.) is that it got planned with great enthusiasm, but then got horribly neglected. Had it actually been fully realized, it would have been quite useful. In it's current state though, it's a waste of money. The shuttles have been very good to us, but they're just to damn old and do need to be replaced, no argument there. While expensive, Cassini is a perfect example of what happens when projects are properly funded. It's functioning perfectly and we're already learning new things from it, and it's actual work component of its mission has basically just begun. It's just like with Galileo that went to Jupiter a few years ago. When projects are actually well funded, they succeed with great results.
Oh please, you cant honestly think this is a viable thing to hold against the bush administration do you? that in 3 billion years when our star collapses we won't be able to escape?
At what point did I say a damn thing about the Bush admin.? Seriously. Go back, and quote where the fuck I said, "Bush is cutting NASA's budget." Go on, go and find it. Wait, you can't, because you're trying to drag presidential politics into a discussion that has nothing to do with them, you partisan moron.
While I personally think Bush is more or less a puppet to special interests and some trully fucked up individuals, I can't blame him in the slightest for this. I actually think his policy towards space is the best thing he's done in his presidency. He advocates spending MORE money on NASA, boosting their budget by $2 bil./year for the next several years and letting them build things like lunar bases and make trips to Mars. While expensive projects, the guy has his shit together on space. However, things like NASA funding (and, for that matter, basically all other federal funding) are ultimitely decided by Congress. The president can put in his say, but Congress holds the purse strings.
Now, junior, that is how you would refute my statement had I said, "Bush hates space!". Which I didn't. Which is why to me at least you just look retarded. Don't read things that aren't there, you'll save us all a lot of time.
As for the planet thing, arent you overstating the problem some?
No, I'm not. I didn't say it would not be inhabitable tomorrow or in 10 years or anything that soon. Just that someday, possibly though our own actions, possibly though just some act of nature, for whatever reason, our planet will become uninhabitable. Simple as that. Sooner or later, it will happen, and if we fail to be off of this rock by then, we're just some ruins for a more advanced civilization to find. That's it, end of story. Humanity is done. And while $600,000 million to NASA one way or the other won't be the deciding factor, it just serves as a sign to show people don't really grasp the above fact. Space isn't a curiosity, it's a necessity for all of Humanity. Perhaps it's not the most pressing need today, but one day, it will be and we had damn sure better be ready by then, and it's never to soon to get to cracking on it.
Wholly agreed. I believe (Not 100%, but pretty sure and don't feel like checking right now.) NASA's budget this year is something like $15.7 Billion, and I know next year it's getting scaled back to $15.1. But it's more or less been mandated they come up with a new shuttle, fix the current fleet to some degree, and keep the ISS and any other projects flying on the little bit of change they have left.
Meanwhile, the DOD gets about $400 Billion a year, to put the above into perspective. And I believe our national budget is something like $3 trillion.
In short, lately, our policy here in the U.S., the nation that put mankind on the moon with the support of basically the whole country only 35 years ago, is, "Fuck Space".
I mean, it's not like we'll ever need to leave Earth or anything. Without question, our star will last forever, and our planet will always been inhabitable.
Right?...
Right?
FINALLY!
/.'s general worthlessness and not even bother pointing out the same thing, but you've drawn me back out into the /world. Finally, some intelligence displayed around here. Why, why can't they all be like you?
The Bloodmoon has come back... (Dramatic Pause Here, as we stare out into the gazes of the thousands in attendance and the millions at home in front of their computers, and for a brief moment, we crack a smile as they hinge on our aforementioned Dramatic Pause)
To Slashot!
This is what we were missing before. I don't know where they all went, but it's good to see them returning. This is one of the few intelligent posts I've read recently.
I applaud you. You're actually able to read between the fucked up lines getting drawn in the United States right now. This is a skill virtually all other people seem to lack. Most just see the face value of the story (Ashcroft is a dumb ass and thinks art might be used for terror!) and assume we have morons running the country. You, my friend, see the bigger picture, that we have some seriously fucked up and manipulative people running the show.
I was going to continue my ongoing protest of
I cannot even think of the number of laws this administration has passed that have duel political uses like the example here. But look all up and down the board and you'll see them. Everything from the DMCA to CAPPS to the PATRIOT Act can be used in a way to curtail political descent.
Just a thought, tying back to my most recent journal entry. The last president I can think of (and it's 0400 here, so I'm really not thinking to clearly, but still) that suspended Habeas Corpus (See: Guantanamo Bay) was Lincoln, and that was in the middle of the Civil War. Or maybe I should start referring to it as Civil War 1...
So, in short, to you, Maljin, thank you. To the rest of you sheeple, wake the fuck up, and do it before it is to late.
Actually, not a bad idea.
And this will probably be one of, if not the last of, all my posts here. I'll still read and troll (god, I love the indignant responses to some of the things I've posted), but shit like this is the exact reason I don't care anymore.
You make a very valid point. You do it quickly and effectively. The same can be said for this post by jmccay. They may be a bit bitter, but it's still the fucking truth. A lot of Americans (myself, and apparently you two) have been screwed by corporations for the good of the bottom line we worked to build. And yes, we are quite pissed off about that.
And what do you two get for your posts? Modded Flamebait and Troll, respectively.
But that's not even the worst part. This is. pclminion says:
And you're blaming the Indians for accepting a job offer? People offer them money, and they take it! How dare they! Of course, you would do different.
And where's it at? +5, insightful. Well, in answer. No, we wouldn't code for minimum wage at best. So to review, by venting on a subject that has effected not just tech people, but those from many industries including manufacturing and customer support in the United States, at least 2.6 million people at my last count, you are trying to start a flame war or posting misleading information. But by saying those people are being hypocritical by saying they are pissed about losing their jobs (and who knows what else as a result), and assuming that they are willing to work for nothing, you get modded to +5.
And as Beatbyte said in a reply to that post, Businesses big enough to do the outsourcing are already too big to not be greedy. I would expect them to be. They're in business to make money. Not make people happy.
Exactly. They're there to make money, not to support the country that sustains them in any way so long as they can save a little bit more money for their CEO/CFO to embezzle or at least get paid 100x more than the average worker, which should be fucking illegal anyway. And this is why America is doomed to eventual failure in our current social set up. But hey, surely a large corporation and our government will take care of us when that happens, right?
So yeah. Fuck Slashdot. Fuck Slashdot hard in its ass. And while I'm at it, fuck America too. Fuck all the idiots like me who were brave enough and stupid enough to put our lives on the line to defend this fucked up country, either because we thought we could make a difference, or we just didn't know what the hell else to do, and who are now at best unable to find a job here after we were done, or at worst are dying in far away, fucked up lands so that Haliburton can make an extra $200 million next quarter. Fuck all the mother fuckers who convinced me to do this or that because I could make a few more dollars here or there. So fucking what? The dollar hasn't been the most powerful currency in a while now.
We have a total fucktard running this country. Gays shouldn't marry because it ruins the sanctity of marriage, because somehow a 50% divorce rate and every 3 time remarried couple fucking around on each other hasn't done that. Stem cell research should be banned, since it only promises to cure many diseases and heal many injuries. Fuck spending another 10% on NASAs 15 billion dollar budget over 20 years, because this planet will be just fine for all of existence and we'll never need to leave, ever. Not in 10 years, a million years, a billion years, or a trillion years, and besides, we need to spend $400 billion a year on defense.
Defense... what a fucking joke. We haven't been invaded in any meaningful sense of the word since 1812. Not defending a whole lot. And the broke ass Russians developed a hyper-sonic satellite killer missile that really bones the dumb assed Star Warz money-toilet.
And fuck the environment hard. Who needs clean air and wat
- One Of A Kind (Rob Van Dam's Theme) - Breaking Point
- Baby Got Back - Sir Mixalot
- Dancin' With Myself - Billy Idol
As you can see, either very old stuff, or a little obscure. And the 2 CDs I did buy last year were both ones I already had MP3s of for a while, but bought for the music video DVDs and nice artworks, and lyrics. And as you point out, oh no! The RIAA MAY sue me (though, we're still not sure if they can even win in court, as no one has really tested them) IF I'm not smart enough to move downloaded music to another location IF I'm using Kazaa, which I'm not. The lawsuit, the tool that will be the destruction of intelligent society.Ok, this one's kind of out there, but I think I've came up with the real reason file sharing is going down. Stick with me here. Now, you know as well as I do "piracy" (thought pirates had to have sabers and cool hats) doesn't really hurt CD sells by and large. If anything, it helps good artists/bands that aren't well known and pushes them. Take Darude and ATB for example. Before internet file sharing really picked up, they were known by some, but not many people. Now, practiaclly everyone has either heard of them or at least of the Sandstorm and Summer songs. And their success can be attributed at least in some part to the popularity they gained thanks to file sharing. I know I'm not alone in being one of the people that first downloaded their music, decided I really liked it, then went and bought the CDs. The point is, groups/artists like these have benifited heavily from piracy.
Now we also know that for the few bands/artists that have seen CD sales down due to piracy it is only for the fact people will acquire the one or two songs they want off a CD that are not available on a single, and opt to not pay $20 for an additional 15 tracks of shit. Ok, maybe some bands like Metallica and Bizkut (weither you like them or not, make no mistake, they recycle heavily and have for a long time. Besides, it makes this theory no less viable.) lose some sells here, but only because they can no longer get by with 1 or 2 good songs and now need to generate a decent CD in order to get sells.
Ok, now the good part, the point of it all. Now, I'm not sure exactly how long p2p file sharing has been around, at least 5 years. And I know about 7 or 8 years ago, I was using a fairly mature Hotline client to download music with their client/server architecture. So we've probably had ~10 years of more or less easy music file sharing. What if the decrese in file sharing is due to the same reason we're seeing a decrese in CD sales? What if file sharring traffic is dropping simply because we're just running out of stuff we want? I seen exactly 2 CDs I've thought were worth purchasing in the last year, and by and large, the music industry is just producing unbelievable amounts of pure crap lately. It didn't always used to be like this. 2 or 3 years ago, I probably bought ~15 CDs a year, because while it wasn't the highest quality stuff, it was still decent, and there was still some older stuff I wanted. But now I have everything up until current that I want, and nothing much is really appealing to me currently. And I'm not alone. There's not a huge demand anymore for Boy Band #13287-Q, Britany Clone #31775-B, and Mad Street Cred Rapper #21992-H. Not a lot of origional, interesting material is being made right now.
So, back to the point. What if most of the people that do download music online are just simply running out of stuff to get and already have everything they want, and that is the real reason file sharing is down? Especially with broadband. I know whenever I get on a decent pipe, I spend about an hour downloading EVERYTHING I've been meaning to get lately, and then I can't think of anything else I'd want. I'm sure the RIAA tactics have scared away some, but I also know I probably didn't even download 20 songs all last year. A couple years back, I'd pull that many, if not more, down a day sometimes.
Just a thought.
I personally will take back anything I have, no matter the cost of the item, if it breaks within its warrenty through no fault of my own.
That being said, you grossly misunderestimate how cheap people are. Having worked many a shitty electronics retail job, I promise you, people will bring back anything that has broken if they think they have even the slightest chance of getting money/exchange/repair/anything.
Doesn't matter if their DVD player (or anything else, for that matter) ran out of warrenty 3 years ago, their kid spilled a 2 liter of 7 Up in it and their dog somehow managed to take a shit in the open drive bay, they'll bring it back. And then they'll get mad at you personally when you refuse to give them anything. I've seriously nearly got into physical fights with people over my refusal to do anything for them in accordance with whatever store's (Circuit City, Best Buy, etc.) policies. Seriously.
And then you have the true top 1% of humanity who brings back stuff they think is broken but they just didn't turn on the power switch in back or turned down the brightness and contrast all the way, etc.
Very, very true. I worked at Circut City about 3 years ago, when a decent DVD player cost $200 and only had AV out. We had some Apex's for about $50 or $60. I would sell these to people, then the same people would bring them back within 2 weeks, maybe a month at most. One day I was back in receiving and one of the managers had a palette of Apex's stacked up and shrink wrapped. 7-10 boxs tall, 3 or 4 wide.
Me: We got another shipment of these pieces of crap?
Manager: Nope. These are all going back defective.
Me: Oh.
Manager: You get what you pay for.
Collectively: Yep.
Apex is true, utter garbage.
I know AOL blocks (for me at least) all e-mail from sacbeemail.com. Until I abandonned them last year, I hadn't recieved a single e-mail my girlfriend had sent for over a year. I even opened up an account to test it myself and none of my messages ever came through. I also remember for a while (at least a week or two, maybe longer) they were blocking all email from Earthlink accounts until enough people bitched about it and they fixed it. My e-mails about Sacebee never recieved any answer.
And their spam filters make SO much of a difference. About a month ago was the last time I checked my AOL accout, and in 2 days I accumulated approximatly 45 spams, and blatant ones at that. I have yet to recieve even one e-mail from any one, on any account, ever, that had the words Viagra, 3+ inches, lowest rates EVER, lose 25 pounds, or Paris Hilton that I was even remotely interested in reading...
Yep, some solid filtering there.
Personally, I've always prefered to sign them up for free hardcore gay porn, but I think I like your idea better. I knew someone would find a use for those wealthy Nigerian benefactor's of deposed kings someday. I love it. You just got a new fan.
This shouldn't really come as to big of a suprise. Political acts have been exempted from major laws before. From the DoNotCall.gov FAQs:
The National Do Not Call Registry does not limit calls by political organizations, charities or telephone surveyors.
Political spam isn't to much different from unsolicited political phone calls. And both would surely be of intrest to the politicians, as they seem to have exempted them from the laws. I find political phone calls equally, if not more annoying, then people asking me if I want to save $.13 a year on my long distance bills.
Wooooooooo!!!
Seriously, I've been saying for a while now (a coule months, anyway) that the G5 was a superior chip and I've had to listen to the "Wait until its compared to an Opteron, then we'll talk" retorts, even having people use that exact phrase a few times. Don't get me wrong, I like AMD. If (god forbid) I ever have to use a PC, I much prefer to use ones running AMDs and some type of Linux, but damn does it feel good to be right. And now all of the Op supporters only logical explanation as to how their processor lost is that the bear feats guys is being paid off by Apple/IBM/The Illuminati, somebody. Yeah, that has to be it.
I don't care if this gets modded Flamey, or Trolly (since, you know, you never learned how to accept a defeat), or Insightfully, or Funnyy, or even at all. I don't care what you have to say in reply to it. Both OSes were less than 64 Bits, and if anything the AMD had an edge over the G5 with a better graphics card. In fact, looking at the stats, it would have been almost impossible to build a more equal, fair test. And I was really surprised to see the G5 system actually cost nearly $700 less. Wow. Seriously, I didn't see that coming, even if the Op system was a "purchased" system. All I have to say is:
Wooooooo!!!
50 is a kind of randapher guess I took. I'm sure it would be more if I went and actually bothered to check, but I don't really care. If Apple (OS What? Details son, details) has had 78 holes, Microsoft has probably had about 8 million. Besides, who cares? We all know MS systems are less secure than Apple systems. No news there. Stop trying to defend against every anti-MS comment, it's to much work for a person to do. Besides, I said 50 critical fixes. I guarantee there haven't been that many critical fixes to OS X.
And I'm well aware, as are virtually all Mac users, that we don't have the perfect OS by any means. It has it's issues. All of them do. Just ours has fewer issues than almost all others (especially compared to our user base), is probably the easiest to use (approx. 10 years of usage, never had to even deal with device drivers) and learn, has a decent amount of software support, has 0 viruses (besides the ones that affect all Microsoft products on all platforms), and is by far and away just the nicest looking. No one ever said it was perfect. Jaguar was the same way. And it's better now in Panther. And OS X will be better still in 10.4, and then 10.5, and so on. Things are as good as they ever have been, but they can only get better from here.
On a totally unrelated note, I'm updating my post reply policy for ACs.