Dude, this is way OFFTOPIC...
on
License to Sit
·
· Score: 5
... but if you think American toilets are something, try visiting Japan sometime!
The toilets there are something out of Star Trek. First, the seat is heated, so no freezing your butt when you get up late at night to do the #2. They sence when you sit on them, and TALK to you (in both Japanese AND English), giving instructions on their use. When you're done, you have the option of having the toilet wash and blow-dry your ass for you. And when you're done, they flush, clean, and disinfect themselves.
And when I say they clean themselves, I don't mean they have that blue bisciut in the tank that drops some perfumed slurry into the bowl when you flush. Nope, toilets in Japan have built in scrubbers that automatically scrub the bowl for you to keep it in pristine condition.
And that's just the low-end model they have in the hotels for us gaijin to use.
I'm told that some of the higher end models in homes over there have on-board equipment that'll analyse your urine and feces for indications of health problems and automatically email your doctor if they detect anything seroiusly amiss, store a history of results for download, etc...
>And the real question is what percentage of
>Napster users will shell out the clams vs moving
>to OpenNap or Gnutella.
Well, it depends. HOW MUCH I would pay also depends:
If the subscription fee goes to Fanning and Co. for providing such an awesome service as Napster:
$5 / month
IF the subscription fee goes into a general fund to be distributed to the artists whose songs are downloaded:
$10 / month
If the system is set up so that MY fee goes ONLY to the artists *I* download (ie. if I download five Less Than Jake tracks, anf five Paul Oakenfold tracks, Less Than Jake gets half of MY fee, and Oakenfold gets half of MY fee, but the backstreet boys don't get ANYTHING from me):
$15 / month
... but hasn't there already been a ruleing that it *IS* perfectly legal to "simulate" a minor in porn?
IIRC, the case involved none other than Larry Flynt, publisher of Hustler. Flynt also publishes a magazine called "Barely Legal", IIRC. In "Barely Legal", young looking 18 and 19 year old girls are depicted in various pornographic settings and actions. It's fairly easy to find 18 year old adult women who look like 14 year old girls (and, unfortunately, vice versa).
I'm pretty sure that Larry Flynt already took this one to court (the Supreme, IIRC) and won. So if it *IS* legal for a young looking adult to depict a minor LIVE *in real life*, I don't see why a completely fake CGI minor would be any less legal.
(But then again, you can be sure that the shrub is salivating at the chance to stack the Supreme Court and various other federal judicaries with uber-conservative x-tian righties, so who knows what the future will bring)
Everyone proposing or supporting such censorship would do well to watch "The People vs. Larry Flynt". There's an important message there.
That was the first day I swore in public, the first major fight I got in at school, the first time I was *suspended* from school, and the day I decided that New Yorkers were scum all rolled into one.
(I've since met some nice and New Yorkers decided that mabye I was hasty to judge all new yorkers as a whole, but that day shaped my opinion of them for years)
I was in the 4th grade at Hobe Sound Elementary school in Martin County, Florida... about 100 miles or so south of the cape. As always, we were dismissed from class to the playground to watch the shuttle go up...
Only THIS time was particularly special because there was a *teacher* on board! And we were going to get lessons FROM SPACE!!! (via cable TV of course).
So there I was, two minutes into the launch when it blew up. I had seen a couple other launches from the cape go boom before, so when I saw it, I knew what happened. I was staring in horrification... ready to throw up. Like some others mave mentioned here... my childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut going up in vapour with the Challenger.
Then the new kid in class; the asshole new yorker; starts jumping for joy!?!?! He was like "wooHoo... YES!!! Yea!!!" My horror turned to sheer hatred. I turned to him, yelled "you SHITFACE", and punched him right in the side of the head. And thus began my first real schoolyard fight.
It eventually took three teachers to pull me off that SOB: one to pull me back by the torso, and two to pull my arms out of the chokehold I had the asshole in.
I was sent home, and thus began my first suspension. Two whole days off of school... As if I could enjoy it after what had just happened to the Space Shuttle. (How times are different, eh? These days, if a 4th grader had done the same, they'd prolly try him as an adult for attempted murder)
I would submit that it IS indeed wierd to see an 800XL still in use like this. But it is NOT at ALL wierd to see the technology within.
Old computer: Wierd
Old CPU, OTOH: NOT wierd... actually, VERY common.
For something like medical data processing, you wouldn't hack an old Atari into the job. You'd build dedicated hardware with, perhaps, the same CPU as the old Atari at it's heart.
Since I was never a big Atari geek, I'll use another example I'm more familiar with, myself.
You VERY rarely see an Apple II, or a Mac 128 in common use anymore; especially not in anything mission critical (I'd call hospital equipment pretty mission critical).
BUT...
Crack open half of the embedded systems in the world, and I can all but GUARANTEE that you will find the venerable MOS 6502 (CPU for the Apple II), and Motorola 68000, all over the place still.
'Kay, I agree that there *IS* a place for copyrights and patents in the world. Your perfectly right in that without SOME intellectual property protection there is little to no incentive to invest in R&D, or to create new music/movies/art....
... tho I do maintain that a real artist (eg. Ani DiFranco) creates because she has a passion for her work, rathar than to be a corperate whore (ala metallica)...
But the situation has run amok. Artists and inventors do NOT control their work anymore, corperations do. And those corperations are determined to stifle innovation and see to it that the public NEVER has access to them.
Witness the recent "Sonny Bono Copyright Extension" BS. Basiclly, the copyright on Mickey Mouse was due to expire soon. So the Walt Disney Corperation bought enough congresscritters to get copyright extended from an already absurd 75 years, to a patently ridiculous 95 (IIRC) years.
Even the 17 years that a patent lasts is excessive IN THIS DAY AND AGE. Sure, back in the 17/1800s, it prolly took a good decade for one half of the country to even HEAR of innovation on the other side. But it's not the 1800s anymore. We're only a few weeks from entering the 21st century. The world is different now, and the copyright/patent periods of the past are obsolete NOW, and need to be depricated NOW.
Think of how damn FAST innovation proceeds NOW. What is the "Next Big Thing(tm)" just emerging on the highest end this year, will be the standard, ubiquitous technology NEXT year. The year after that, it will be obosolete junk, relagated to the lowest end by the *next* "Next Big Thing(tm)".
Examples? Who here remembers:
EDO RAM?
Pentium MMX?
28.8Kbps modems?
"Disk Doubler" utilities?
All of the above made their creators HEAPS of money. But they fell victim to the burn rate of the MODERN world. It's time to let the public play with them. So much for patented IP.
Copyrighted IP?:
The Spice Girls seem to be at the end of their run.
Hanson must be in puberty by now.
Who remembers Silverchair? Bush?
Hell, do ya REALLY think James Cameron is gonna make a sequel to Titanic???
Whoops, so much for copyrights too.
It is time for copyright and patent terms to be reset to something sane. With the rate we advance thesedays I'd say five years. Given that most new tech has a burn rate of only three years or so, five years is PLENTY of time for inventors to make HEAPS of money, but short enough a period not to stifle innovation by the little guy.
>What happens when Cali slides into the
>ocean after a 9.99 quake?
A few months ago there was an article, an "Ask Slashdot" I beleive, that asked the question: "what would happen to the net if the US dissappeared?".
The results were somewhat supprising (once you got past a lot of the crap)....
Now, by and large, we got a lot of the standard, "good riddance to the lazy fucking arrogant "USians"" trolls. But SOME people had enough clairity of mind, and desire to contribute to actually post trace routes. And I found the results quite astounding.
Austrailian packets tracerouted through San Jose to get to New Zealand. Packets from London were going througn Boston to get to France (!!!). Vancouver packets went through San Francisco and Boston to get to Toronto. Hell, one Australian, IIRC, had a traceroute go through San Jose just to get his packets from one Sydney ISP to another!!!
So to answer your question, if California crumbles into the Pacific, I think that much of the rest of the world goes into the shitter with us.
Now, much of the REST of the US, I doubt would be missed, or, indeed, it's absence noticed. (I, for one, am still hoping for a bigass comet to take out texas... (before January 20, please)). But the Bay Area and New England ARE rathar critical.
So, as long as San Francisco, Boston, and the appendage cities that surround each, survive whatever apocolypse that wipes out 99% of the world, I think we'll be just fine. Take out either or both, and the results will NOT be pretty.
IT managers choosing micro$oft over Wordperfect? What world are you living in?
The integration of Wordperfect in the corporate world is incredible. There won't be any changes to shiftin to m$orifice at all (PERIOD).
Do you have any facts to back up your statement that IT managers will force corporations to re-think their entire IT strategy because of this or are you just blowing it out your ass?
Wake up people; Wordperfect ain't all that bad; Wordperfect software works and people are using it because it kicks the shit out of m$orifice and other suites.
>When you decide to go with GSM (and I'm sure
>you will), be sure to choose Powertel.
'Kay, I've had it with sprint PCS myself, and am in the process of looking for a new provider...
... and I had a look at Powertel's site. It looks like a really good deal, considering my calling and travel habits. Only problem is, they're in Georgia, and describe the southeast as their home area.
I notice, tho, from your website that *YOU* are here in California. So i was wondering if you have personal expierence with PowerTel? Do you have their 50 state service? Is it reliable in CA? Bay Area vs. SoCal? How is customer service for you, considering you're on the other side of the country?
Or was your Powertel recommendation just from web research and not expierence (I hope not, it REALLY looks good right about now)
A few cellphones ago, when I was still in school before PCS became widespread, I had one of the earlier model Erikson dual mode digital/analog cellphones.
You know those annoying-as-hell anti-shoplifting sensors that go off if some dumbass salesdrone forgets to remove the tag from your purchase, or if the magnetic pad they rub the other model on fscks up, and you carry merchandise through them (never mind the fact that you just fscking BOUGHT the stuff)?
Well, I discovered, never mind how, that if I sey my cellphone to force itself to use the analog network instead of digital; if I had an active call at the time, my cellphone would set off those very sensors! Not only that, you didn't need to walk through the sensors to set them off, my phone would set them from a distance of ten feet or so!!!
It didn't work with ALL of those sensors, but it worked with enough (I assume only a certian model (but a pretty common one nonetheless) was vulnerable).
My friends and I had no ends of laughs by dialing into my answering machine at home, dropping the phone into my pocket, and walking through the mall, setting off alarm after alarm, and watching the rent-a-pigs scurry around all confused and not knowing what was going on or what to do.
Alternatively, if I timed it right, I could force an alarm to go off on myself, and, by acting all indignant and pissed off, usually wrangle a big apology and store credit (usually $20-$50) to make up for the "insult". This worked especially well in your larger chains; the WalMarts Kmarts, etc.
Sadly, though, that cellphone is long since gone, having dropped calls, and run the battery empty at inoppertune times far too often for my tastes. And I've been unable to duplicate the effect with any cellphone I've owned since.
>Amtrak has a train from Los Angeles to (I think)
>Jacksonville, FL via the southern states. I
>wonder why they didn't give you that schedule.
Hmmm, perhaps so. I did not know that route exists. I used their automatic trip planner on their website to get the schedule and price quote. (I wound up using travelocity for my plane tix)
I wonder if the LA/Jax train perhaps does not run every day, or only once a day at an oddball time? If that's the case, perhaps Amtrack's web app was not smart enough to know that I'd have been willing to adjust my schedule, or leave a day early or late if it would save me three days of mucking about in Chicago and New York.
Even if that's the case tho, it's still inexcusable. Travelocity, in addition to flights leaving near the time I specified, gave me a BIG list of various options, letting me choose everything from leaveing hours BEFORE my plan to get fewer layovers, to leaving just before midnight (a few hours AFTER my specified time) and catching the redeye so as to save some money and be able to sleep overnight on the flight.
Most of the other "airline tix" sites I checked offered the same flexibility. Amtrack did not.
>Why? I'm in favor of more public transportation.
>It's good for the environment. It's good for
>lower-class people (think of the cost of a
>car...not just buying it, but the insurance, gas,
>etc)
Well, I dunno 'bout the parent, but I'm all for public transit. I use a combo of BART and MUNI every day; to get to work during the week, and to go out on the weekends. But the system's not perfect. Wanna take public transit north of Market? Well, there's the F-line and the cable cars, but they are so infested by tourists that you're pretty much SOL. Everyone from Richmond, the Marina, and North Beach pretty much *HAS* to drive in.
But the original poster was criticising Amtrack. And I agree 100%. They suck. I WAS actually considering taking a train to Florida to see my family this xmas. *BIG* mistake!
To get to Florida from SF via Amtrack, I'd have to take a shuttle bus to some town called emeryville I think. From there, I'd have taken a train to Los Angeles, then to Chicago(!!!); from Chicago to F-ing Penn Station in *NEW YORK*; and then FINALLY, a train down the east coast to Florida.
It would have been a hellish five day trip each way, and would've wound up costing me MORE than my plane ticket that'll have me home in nine hours with only one layover in Atlanta.
I'm sorry, but any organisation so boneheaded as to route you through LA, Chigago, and New York over five days to get from SF to Palm Beach, and have the audacity to charge MORE tor that hell DESERVES to be put out of business.
Amtrack deserves not your endorcement, support, or custom; nor that of anyone ELSE, for that matter!
I've never encountered this scheme, so I can't offer that much of an educated comment, except:
You're VERY dependent on the quality of the scanner from the way this reads. I've never expierenced the scanner you mention, but the majority of positive image scanners have a rathar dodgy rep.
To get a REALLY good scan, you generally develop your film, but do NOT make prints. You then use a specialised negative scanner (NOT a positive scanner w/ negative attachment... blegh!) to get a good image into your computer.
Also, your summary doesn't mention how this scheme handles monitor calibration. But I do notice from a quick skim at the web page, that everything outside the "T series" is reliant on a Macintosh of some kind. I suspect therefore that it does use Apple's ColorSync in there somewhere, at least for monitor calibration.
See, the problem with CRTs is that the phosphors decay as they age. But the red, green, and blue phosphors decay at different rates, fscking up your colors. So you measure this decay, and boost the *signal* brightness of a particular phosphor over time, so as to keep the identical ACTUAL brightness.
ColorSync measures the decay of the phosphors with sensors internal to the monitor. This information is sent back to the computer via USB (ADB on older units) and the computer boosts the brightness accordingly. This is why higher end Apple monitors REQUIRE a USB/ADB link back to the box.
Many others, such as SGI/Radius/etc. use a more accurate, but much less convinent, external light meter to generate the monitor profile.
The truely crappy schemes require you to hold colored cards to the monitor, and GUESS how much your phosphors have decayed... sad, very sad.
>Any graphic designers in the audience care to say
>on what grounds Photoshop or some other
>proprietary package might still be superior to
>our beloved GIMP?
Sppeaking as a Linux/Mac/Vider/Graphics geek who worked on the newspaper whilst in college; and who made the mistake of mentioning this at my previous job, and wound up getting loaned to the design dept as the resident Mac guru as a result...
The GIMP is a fine little tool. I use it a lot...
... for WEB graphics!!!
>One thing I *have* heard is that GIMP is poorly
>equipped for print media. This has to do with the
>GIMP's limited support for non-RGB color
>palettes.
You have heard 100% correct sir. If you're ever going to commit to hard copy, the GIMP (as well as paint shop pro and the like) is absolutely WORTHLESS.
If you ever plan to PRINT your work to PAPER (and not have it look like crap) you MUST have a tool with support for: CMYK, Pantone colors, and COLOR CALIBRATION!!!
And I can't emphesize enough the importance of color calibration. Without it, you can be pretty much assured that the work you get printed will in no way resemble the work you submitted; your colors will be off not only between monitor and printer, but from computer to computer as well. And forget color calibration that involves "hold this card up to this square on your monitor and enter the number of the closest match". If you're going to print your work, you *MUST* have HARDWARE calibration!!! I've only seen a total of TWO calibration schemes that are worth more than a cup of warm piss. Those schemes are those of Apple Computer, and Silicon Graphics (big suprise, eh?).
>My understanding is that virtually no one in
>the print world uses RGB palettes.
Correct again. RGB are your component LIGHT colors; fine for web work where you can be sure that most ppl are viewing it on a shitty, non calibrated monitor. If you commit your work to PAPER, you use CMYK or Pantones. CMYK are the component colors of PIGMENTS... used if you're printing something like a photo, with MANY colors. Pantones are custom colors mixed in large batches... used if you're doing a large run of a product with FEW colors, like corperate letterhead w/ logos, etc.
>In fact, there is simply no alternative to
>this intergenerational transfer.
Wrong.
The simple, logical, and moral alternative is for individuals to take responsibility for their own actions; and not to assume that they can goof off their whole lives and and expect to become a parasite in soceity's bowels when they finally realise how bad they fscked themselves.
I've done the math; first as an exercise demanded by my college ecomonics professor against what I EXPECTED to be earning when I entered the work force; then on my own, once I did enter the work force.
Even if I make the totally unrealistic assumption that my income will never increase between now and the time I turn 65; the 5% gross that I drop into my 401K will return, by an order of magnitude, far more than I would be eligable to receive were I drawing social security. I beleive 12x was the exact factor... and that's just withdrawing intrest after I turn 65... that's WITHOUT touching so much as a cent of my principle!!!
And that's JUST the 401K, which I basiclly drop money into and ignore. That does NOT include my other investments which I manage more proactively. Nor does it include the vesting (current, or future) of my options. Nor does it include increases in salary and the corresponding increase in 401K contributions. To be fair, it does not include inflation either; but I'm confident that I'll beat that curve as well.
Were I able to opt out of social security and keep the money the government confiscates with each paycheck, I would do so in a heartbeat. I'm already doing better, with a SMALLER initial stake. If I invested that extra cash every month, I could damn near live like a king once I'm retired (or retire early, and just live like a duke).
I'm only 24 right now, so no matter who wins, Gore *OR* shrub, I have zero confidence that social security will be there for me to collect once I'm 65. But, you know what? I don't care. In fact, I welcome its demise... better sooner than later. I'd applaud if it were abolished NOW.
Thing is, I'm taking responsibility for my OWN life. I do *NOT* expect, nor want, the government to babysit me.
What'd sips do? Post to whatever the modern equivelent of the "inchfan" pirate forum is with his real login, and get it discovered and closed? Fail to moderate up another troll's posts? Break with the troll party line in some other way?
>Some of us can't tell the difference between
>160kbps and a CD track, though. Maybe I've just
>got bad ears.
More likely you have shitty audio gear.
When I Napster a track, and like it enough to keep, I make a point of tracking down the CD (given the RIAA/metallica's attack on the internet tho, I only buy USED CDs now); because if you have a *REAL* stereo with GOOD speakers, you *CAN* tell the difference.
Truth be told, though, on the Altec Lansing speakers hooked to my computer, or on the $5 cheapo headphones I toss in my laptop bag, *I* can't tell the difference either. But I use my Mac at home for SAMPLING music to decide if it's worth purchasing; and my laptop for music at work, where I can't really bring in any gear.
But on a *REAL* sound system, the difference is painful. And the computers of >99% of the populace don't count.
Sorry, but that Soundblaster (or compatible) card != a McIntosh tube amp.
Nor are those POS Labtec speakers in the same league as a proper set of Bose speakers.
Your $5 Koss headphones from K-Mart? Thanks, but I'll keep my Sennheisers, thank you very much.
Oh, and do you even want to CONSIDER all the extraneous electronic noise inside your average computer case, fscking up your audio?
One would think that at least metallica themselves, if not their masters at the RIAA headquarters, would know all this.
>In the 1980s, the US Army developed linked tank
>trainers in the United States and Germany, so
>that tankers in Germany could fight mock battles
>against tankers in the US. The reason for
>immersive video game-like tools such as this in
>a training environment is that it saves
>money, saves equipment, and often saves lives.
Actually, it was Lockheed Martin, not the army, that developed these tank simulators. And they didn't quit development when they hit "good enough" status in the '80s, they, as of last year at least, are still under continuing development.
The system in question is called the Close Combat Tactical Trainer. And it includes, now, not just tanks, but humvees, bradleys, and avaition as well. Check LMIS @:
I used to work two buildings over from the development/production area. A friend of mine worked on the CCTT himself.
They really ARE a very immersive expierence. From the outside, a CCTT just looks like bigass plastic boxes w/ a bunch of wireing between multiple units and the control room. For the M1 sims, there are even two seperate boxes; one for the driver's reclined position, and one for the Commander/Gunner/Loader. But once inside...
... Well, they go for EVERY detail you can imagine. For example: Ear protection is a MUST!!! They have a sound system in there that is flat out amazing. In an effort to promote realism, they try to make the sounds of combat as realistic and LOUD as the real thing. Every switch and control is there to the last detail, and it's just as cramped as the real thing. Honestly, I don't see how our army guys put up with that crap.
Of course, there were a few bugs when I was there. For instance, stuff blows up real good when you shoot it with the main gun (and set off heaps of subwoofers and mids to simulate the sound...) BUT, when I got to try the driver's compartment... well, the first thing I did, of course, was try to ram stuff (it's a TANK sim after all); and running into a simple farmyard barn caused the whole unit to crash as though I had plowed into the side of a mountain. Call me crazy, but I don't think a wood barn would stop a 70 ton M1 IRL. Fortunately, it wasn't a SYSTEM crash, just a TANK crash, and I was able to power the sucker back up (loud as fsck mids and tweeters) and tear up a bit of virtural countryside nonetheless.
What's even cooler, is AFTER a battle. The control room has a record of every movement, every shot, every kill. You can then look at a reply of the battle from a 1st person POV of any given unit, from an overhead POV, a tactical map, or even in 3D from any angle you wish (think of the 3D camera engine in Myth II: Soulblighter)!!!
Neat toys.... REALLY nifty COOL neat toys... Too bad lmco is an absolutely wretched company that treats it's employees like crap (I didn't know better when I took the job (first out of college) in the first place. after working in the bay area tho, Ill never work for a defence or government contractor again). Fortunately we both escaped from the defence contractor ghetto some time ago. Me to a really cool job in the city by the bay... and Andy wound up at a little company down in Tustin, called Loki.
Visit the "Sony" Metreon next time you're in downtown SF.
It's rathar sad actually, that even a company like Sony is forced to whore themselves out to gates like that. But then... given Sony's more recent actions, I've developed a distince lack of sympathy for Sony themselves.
>RIAA/metallica? (emphasis mine): So, am I
>to understand you'll pay for music you
>download, as long as you don't have to pay
>for Metallica
metallica ceased to be *ARTISTS* the day they released "the black album". Up to that point their albums were quite good, inspired, groundbreaking metal. The black album, and everything since, has been nothing more than radio-friendly, MTV-fodder crap.
Since then, they have become worse than sellouts. They have reinvented themselves as the #1 shills for the RIAA, talking heads for the very "establishment" they told us for years they were "rebelling" against.
They became something worse, by many orders of magnitude, than sellouts. They became hypocrites.
When you hear lars speak, you're really hearing what hillary rosen dictates. Metallica/RIAA are effectively the same entity. I see no point in distinguishing between them, when they do absolutely nothing to differentiate themselves.
metallica, the RIAA, the MPAA, lars, rosen, valenti.... is there ANY difference anymore? When you read statements by any of the three establishments, or their talking head spokesmen, they're pretty much interchangable, the only difference (besides a healthy dose of um's er's and uh's from lars (see the/. interview)) is the name... the message is the same party line across all three: money GOOOOD, technology BAAAAD!!!
If the subscription fee were simply going to Fanning and co. as payment for the wonderful service that is Napster?
$4.99
If the subscription fee were being payed into a general fund that is payed directly to the artists whose music is being downloaded?
$9.99
If the subscription fee were arranged so that there is NOT a general fund, but the fee that *I* pay goes ONLY to the artists whose MP3s *I* download, and the vapid crap that *I* never download doesn't see a penny of MY fee?
$14.99
If so much as a penny of the subscription fee goes into the coffers of the RIAA/metallica?
>Slashdot serve up a random subset of the stories
>when I have moderator points.
The problem with that idea is the same problem *I* have with meta-moderation.
When you get a set of posts at random like that you are deneied context. Sure, sometimes a post will quote the parent, but usually they do what I just did: quote only the specific part it's replying to. Rare (and rightfully so) is the post that'll quote the ENTIRE parent before a response.
Many are the posts that might seem trollish or flameish BY THEMSELVES, that, when you see the parent they are responding to, reveal themselves to actually be sarcastic replies, that, IN CONTEXT, deserve an insightful or intresting.
Likewise with offtopic. Sometimes a conversation veers off on a tangent that will be quite intresting, but if the post came up out of the contxt of the thread, it'll definately get zapped offtopic.
This critical problem is why I never meta-moderate. And it's why those asswipes with sigs that say, "moderators: you should be reading at -1, newest posts first", irritate me so.
I ALWAYS read at -1, modding or no. But mod w/ newist posts first? Fsck no!!! I will bloody well keep reading in nested mode so I can see WHAT a given post is a responce to!
Slashdot Mirror
The toilets there are something out of Star Trek. First, the seat is heated, so no freezing your butt when you get up late at night to do the #2. They sence when you sit on them, and TALK to you (in both Japanese AND English), giving instructions on their use. When you're done, you have the option of having the toilet wash and blow-dry your ass for you. And when you're done, they flush, clean, and disinfect themselves.
And when I say they clean themselves, I don't mean they have that blue bisciut in the tank that drops some perfumed slurry into the bowl when you flush. Nope, toilets in Japan have built in scrubbers that automatically scrub the bowl for you to keep it in pristine condition.
And that's just the low-end model they have in the hotels for us gaijin to use.
I'm told that some of the higher end models in homes over there have on-board equipment that'll analyse your urine and feces for indications of health problems and automatically email your doctor if they detect anything seroiusly amiss, store a history of results for download, etc...
john
Resistance is NOT futile!!!
Haiku:
I am not a drone.
Remove the collective if
What he DOES suffer from, is the delustion that he SPEAKS for all geeks.
... that and a desperate need for a professional editor.
john
Resistance is NOT futile!!!
Haiku:
I am not a drone.
Remove the collective if
>Napster users will shell out the clams vs moving
>to OpenNap or Gnutella.
Well, it depends. HOW MUCH I would pay also depends:
If the subscription fee goes to Fanning and Co. for providing such an awesome service as Napster:
$5 / month
IF the subscription fee goes into a general fund to be distributed to the artists whose songs are downloaded:
$10 / month
If the system is set up so that MY fee goes ONLY to the artists *I* download (ie. if I download five Less Than Jake tracks, anf five Paul Oakenfold tracks, Less Than Jake gets half of MY fee, and Oakenfold gets half of MY fee, but the backstreet boys don't get ANYTHING from me):
$15 / month
If the RIAA/Metallica get so much as a penny:
$0
john
Resistance is NOT futile!!!
Haiku:
I am not a drone.
Remove the collective if
IIRC, the case involved none other than Larry Flynt, publisher of Hustler. Flynt also publishes a magazine called "Barely Legal", IIRC. In "Barely Legal", young looking 18 and 19 year old girls are depicted in various pornographic settings and actions. It's fairly easy to find 18 year old adult women who look like 14 year old girls (and, unfortunately, vice versa).
I'm pretty sure that Larry Flynt already took this one to court (the Supreme, IIRC) and won. So if it *IS* legal for a young looking adult to depict a minor LIVE *in real life*, I don't see why a completely fake CGI minor would be any less legal.
(But then again, you can be sure that the shrub is salivating at the chance to stack the Supreme Court and various other federal judicaries with uber-conservative x-tian righties, so who knows what the future will bring)
Everyone proposing or supporting such censorship would do well to watch "The People vs. Larry Flynt". There's an important message there.
john
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That was the first day I swore in public, the first major fight I got in at school, the first time I was *suspended* from school, and the day I decided that New Yorkers were scum all rolled into one.
(I've since met some nice and New Yorkers decided that mabye I was hasty to judge all new yorkers as a whole, but that day shaped my opinion of them for years)
I was in the 4th grade at Hobe Sound Elementary school in Martin County, Florida... about 100 miles or so south of the cape. As always, we were dismissed from class to the playground to watch the shuttle go up...
Only THIS time was particularly special because there was a *teacher* on board! And we were going to get lessons FROM SPACE!!! (via cable TV of course).
So there I was, two minutes into the launch when it blew up. I had seen a couple other launches from the cape go boom before, so when I saw it, I knew what happened. I was staring in horrification... ready to throw up. Like some others mave mentioned here... my childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut going up in vapour with the Challenger.
Then the new kid in class; the asshole new yorker; starts jumping for joy!?!?! He was like "wooHoo... YES!!! Yea!!!" My horror turned to sheer hatred. I turned to him, yelled "you SHITFACE", and punched him right in the side of the head. And thus began my first real schoolyard fight.
It eventually took three teachers to pull me off that SOB: one to pull me back by the torso, and two to pull my arms out of the chokehold I had the asshole in.
I was sent home, and thus began my first suspension. Two whole days off of school... As if I could enjoy it after what had just happened to the Space Shuttle. (How times are different, eh? These days, if a 4th grader had done the same, they'd prolly try him as an adult for attempted murder)
john
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I think I read somewhere that CINC NORAD rotates between US and Canadian commanders, and the deputy is always from the other partner.
So if CINC NORAD is Canadian *now*, his deputy is American, and next year the CINC will be an American with a Canadian deputy.
This has piqued my intrest enough that I'm going to go look for a link, but I'm pretty sure I have it right.
john
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Old computer: Wierd
Old CPU, OTOH: NOT wierd... actually, VERY common.
For something like medical data processing, you wouldn't hack an old Atari into the job. You'd build dedicated hardware with, perhaps, the same CPU as the old Atari at it's heart.
Since I was never a big Atari geek, I'll use another example I'm more familiar with, myself.
You VERY rarely see an Apple II, or a Mac 128 in common use anymore; especially not in anything mission critical (I'd call hospital equipment pretty mission critical).
BUT...
Crack open half of the embedded systems in the world, and I can all but GUARANTEE that you will find the venerable MOS 6502 (CPU for the Apple II), and Motorola 68000, all over the place still.
john
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'Kay, I agree that there *IS* a place for copyrights and patents in the world. Your perfectly right in that without SOME intellectual property protection there is little to no incentive to invest in R&D, or to create new music/movies/art....
... tho I do maintain that a real artist (eg. Ani DiFranco) creates because she has a passion for her work, rathar than to be a corperate whore (ala metallica)...
But the situation has run amok. Artists and inventors do NOT control their work anymore, corperations do. And those corperations are determined to stifle innovation and see to it that the public NEVER has access to them.
Witness the recent "Sonny Bono Copyright Extension" BS. Basiclly, the copyright on Mickey Mouse was due to expire soon. So the Walt Disney Corperation bought enough congresscritters to get copyright extended from an already absurd 75 years, to a patently ridiculous 95 (IIRC) years.
Even the 17 years that a patent lasts is excessive IN THIS DAY AND AGE. Sure, back in the 17/1800s, it prolly took a good decade for one half of the country to even HEAR of innovation on the other side. But it's not the 1800s anymore. We're only a few weeks from entering the 21st century. The world is different now, and the copyright/patent periods of the past are obsolete NOW, and need to be depricated NOW.
Think of how damn FAST innovation proceeds NOW. What is the "Next Big Thing(tm)" just emerging on the highest end this year, will be the standard, ubiquitous technology NEXT year. The year after that, it will be obosolete junk, relagated to the lowest end by the *next* "Next Big Thing(tm)".
Examples? Who here remembers:
EDO RAM?
Pentium MMX?
28.8Kbps modems?
"Disk Doubler" utilities?
All of the above made their creators HEAPS of money. But they fell victim to the burn rate of the MODERN world. It's time to let the public play with them. So much for patented IP.
Copyrighted IP?:
The Spice Girls seem to be at the end of their run.
Hanson must be in puberty by now.
Who remembers Silverchair? Bush?
Hell, do ya REALLY think James Cameron is gonna make a sequel to Titanic???
Whoops, so much for copyrights too.
It is time for copyright and patent terms to be reset to something sane. With the rate we advance thesedays I'd say five years. Given that most new tech has a burn rate of only three years or so, five years is PLENTY of time for inventors to make HEAPS of money, but short enough a period not to stifle innovation by the little guy.
john
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>ocean after a 9.99 quake?
A few months ago there was an article, an "Ask Slashdot" I beleive, that asked the question: "what would happen to the net if the US dissappeared?".
The results were somewhat supprising (once you got past a lot of the crap)....
Now, by and large, we got a lot of the standard, "good riddance to the lazy fucking arrogant "USians"" trolls. But SOME people had enough clairity of mind, and desire to contribute to actually post trace routes. And I found the results quite astounding.
Austrailian packets tracerouted through San Jose to get to New Zealand. Packets from London were going througn Boston to get to France (!!!). Vancouver packets went through San Francisco and Boston to get to Toronto. Hell, one Australian, IIRC, had a traceroute go through San Jose just to get his packets from one Sydney ISP to another!!!
So to answer your question, if California crumbles into the Pacific, I think that much of the rest of the world goes into the shitter with us.
Now, much of the REST of the US, I doubt would be missed, or, indeed, it's absence noticed. (I, for one, am still hoping for a bigass comet to take out texas... (before January 20, please)). But the Bay Area and New England ARE rathar critical.
So, as long as San Francisco, Boston, and the appendage cities that surround each, survive whatever apocolypse that wipes out 99% of the world, I think we'll be just fine. Take out either or both, and the results will NOT be pretty.
john
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Flashback to 1990 or so...
IT managers choosing micro$oft over Wordperfect? What world are you living in?
The integration of Wordperfect in the corporate world is incredible. There won't be any changes to shiftin to m$orifice at all (PERIOD).
Do you have any facts to back up your statement that IT managers will force corporations to re-think their entire IT strategy because of this or are you just blowing it out your ass?
Wake up people; Wordperfect ain't all that bad; Wordperfect software works and people are using it because it kicks the shit out of m$orifice and other suites.
john
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>you will), be sure to choose Powertel.
'Kay, I've had it with sprint PCS myself, and am in the process of looking for a new provider...
... and I had a look at Powertel's site. It looks like a really good deal, considering my calling and travel habits. Only problem is, they're in Georgia, and describe the southeast as their home area.
I notice, tho, from your website that *YOU* are here in California. So i was wondering if you have personal expierence with PowerTel? Do you have their 50 state service? Is it reliable in CA? Bay Area vs. SoCal? How is customer service for you, considering you're on the other side of the country?
Or was your Powertel recommendation just from web research and not expierence (I hope not, it REALLY looks good right about now)
john
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A few cellphones ago, when I was still in school before PCS became widespread, I had one of the earlier model Erikson dual mode digital/analog cellphones.
You know those annoying-as-hell anti-shoplifting sensors that go off if some dumbass salesdrone forgets to remove the tag from your purchase, or if the magnetic pad they rub the other model on fscks up, and you carry merchandise through them (never mind the fact that you just fscking BOUGHT the stuff)?
Well, I discovered, never mind how, that if I sey my cellphone to force itself to use the analog network instead of digital; if I had an active call at the time, my cellphone would set off those very sensors! Not only that, you didn't need to walk through the sensors to set them off, my phone would set them from a distance of ten feet or so!!!
It didn't work with ALL of those sensors, but it worked with enough (I assume only a certian model (but a pretty common one nonetheless) was vulnerable).
My friends and I had no ends of laughs by dialing into my answering machine at home, dropping the phone into my pocket, and walking through the mall, setting off alarm after alarm, and watching the rent-a-pigs scurry around all confused and not knowing what was going on or what to do.
Alternatively, if I timed it right, I could force an alarm to go off on myself, and, by acting all indignant and pissed off, usually wrangle a big apology and store credit (usually $20-$50) to make up for the "insult". This worked especially well in your larger chains; the WalMarts Kmarts, etc.
Sadly, though, that cellphone is long since gone, having dropped calls, and run the battery empty at inoppertune times far too often for my tastes. And I've been unable to duplicate the effect with any cellphone I've owned since.
Oh well.... but it was great fun at the time!
john
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>Jacksonville, FL via the southern states. I
>wonder why they didn't give you that schedule.
Hmmm, perhaps so. I did not know that route exists. I used their automatic trip planner on their website to get the schedule and price quote. (I wound up using travelocity for my plane tix)
I wonder if the LA/Jax train perhaps does not run every day, or only once a day at an oddball time? If that's the case, perhaps Amtrack's web app was not smart enough to know that I'd have been willing to adjust my schedule, or leave a day early or late if it would save me three days of mucking about in Chicago and New York.
Even if that's the case tho, it's still inexcusable. Travelocity, in addition to flights leaving near the time I specified, gave me a BIG list of various options, letting me choose everything from leaveing hours BEFORE my plan to get fewer layovers, to leaving just before midnight (a few hours AFTER my specified time) and catching the redeye so as to save some money and be able to sleep overnight on the flight.
Most of the other "airline tix" sites I checked offered the same flexibility. Amtrack did not.
john
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>It's good for the environment. It's good for
>lower-class people (think of the cost of a
>car...not just buying it, but the insurance, gas,
>etc)
Well, I dunno 'bout the parent, but I'm all for public transit. I use a combo of BART and MUNI every day; to get to work during the week, and to go out on the weekends. But the system's not perfect. Wanna take public transit north of Market? Well, there's the F-line and the cable cars, but they are so infested by tourists that you're pretty much SOL. Everyone from Richmond, the Marina, and North Beach pretty much *HAS* to drive in.
But the original poster was criticising Amtrack. And I agree 100%. They suck. I WAS actually considering taking a train to Florida to see my family this xmas. *BIG* mistake!
To get to Florida from SF via Amtrack, I'd have to take a shuttle bus to some town called emeryville I think. From there, I'd have taken a train to Los Angeles, then to Chicago(!!!); from Chicago to F-ing Penn Station in *NEW YORK*; and then FINALLY, a train down the east coast to Florida.
It would have been a hellish five day trip each way, and would've wound up costing me MORE than my plane ticket that'll have me home in nine hours with only one layover in Atlanta.
I'm sorry, but any organisation so boneheaded as to route you through LA, Chigago, and New York over five days to get from SF to Palm Beach, and have the audacity to charge MORE tor that hell DESERVES to be put out of business.
Amtrack deserves not your endorcement, support, or custom; nor that of anyone ELSE, for that matter!
john
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Gore thinks he invented it.
Nader's rabid anti-business policies would likely destroy it.
And Browne would wrap it all up, put it on a platter, and hand it over to microsoft.
All things considered, of all four of them, Gore is the "least bad" choice, IMO. He may be delusional, but at least he won't be actively destructive.
john
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You're VERY dependent on the quality of the scanner from the way this reads. I've never expierenced the scanner you mention, but the majority of positive image scanners have a rathar dodgy rep.
To get a REALLY good scan, you generally develop your film, but do NOT make prints. You then use a specialised negative scanner (NOT a positive scanner w/ negative attachment... blegh!) to get a good image into your computer.
Also, your summary doesn't mention how this scheme handles monitor calibration. But I do notice from a quick skim at the web page, that everything outside the "T series" is reliant on a Macintosh of some kind. I suspect therefore that it does use Apple's ColorSync in there somewhere, at least for monitor calibration.
See, the problem with CRTs is that the phosphors decay as they age. But the red, green, and blue phosphors decay at different rates, fscking up your colors. So you measure this decay, and boost the *signal* brightness of a particular phosphor over time, so as to keep the identical ACTUAL brightness.
ColorSync measures the decay of the phosphors with sensors internal to the monitor. This information is sent back to the computer via USB (ADB on older units) and the computer boosts the brightness accordingly. This is why higher end Apple monitors REQUIRE a USB/ADB link back to the box.
Many others, such as SGI/Radius/etc. use a more accurate, but much less convinent, external light meter to generate the monitor profile.
The truely crappy schemes require you to hold colored cards to the monitor, and GUESS how much your phosphors have decayed... sad, very sad.
john
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>on what grounds Photoshop or some other
>proprietary package might still be superior to
>our beloved GIMP?
Sppeaking as a Linux/Mac/Vider/Graphics geek who worked on the newspaper whilst in college; and who made the mistake of mentioning this at my previous job, and wound up getting loaned to the design dept as the resident Mac guru as a result...
The GIMP is a fine little tool. I use it a lot...
... for WEB graphics!!!
>One thing I *have* heard is that GIMP is poorly
>equipped for print media. This has to do with the
>GIMP's limited support for non-RGB color
>palettes.
You have heard 100% correct sir. If you're ever going to commit to hard copy, the GIMP (as well as paint shop pro and the like) is absolutely WORTHLESS.
If you ever plan to PRINT your work to PAPER (and not have it look like crap) you MUST have a tool with support for: CMYK, Pantone colors, and COLOR CALIBRATION!!!
And I can't emphesize enough the importance of color calibration. Without it, you can be pretty much assured that the work you get printed will in no way resemble the work you submitted; your colors will be off not only between monitor and printer, but from computer to computer as well. And forget color calibration that involves "hold this card up to this square on your monitor and enter the number of the closest match". If you're going to print your work, you *MUST* have HARDWARE calibration!!! I've only seen a total of TWO calibration schemes that are worth more than a cup of warm piss. Those schemes are those of Apple Computer, and Silicon Graphics (big suprise, eh?).
>My understanding is that virtually no one in
>the print world uses RGB palettes.
Correct again. RGB are your component LIGHT colors; fine for web work where you can be sure that most ppl are viewing it on a shitty, non calibrated monitor. If you commit your work to PAPER, you use CMYK or Pantones. CMYK are the component colors of PIGMENTS... used if you're printing something like a photo, with MANY colors. Pantones are custom colors mixed in large batches... used if you're doing a large run of a product with FEW colors, like corperate letterhead w/ logos, etc.
Hope this helps.
john
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>this intergenerational transfer.
Wrong.
The simple, logical, and moral alternative is for individuals to take responsibility for their own actions; and not to assume that they can goof off their whole lives and and expect to become a parasite in soceity's bowels when they finally realise how bad they fscked themselves.
I've done the math; first as an exercise demanded by my college ecomonics professor against what I EXPECTED to be earning when I entered the work force; then on my own, once I did enter the work force.
Even if I make the totally unrealistic assumption that my income will never increase between now and the time I turn 65; the 5% gross that I drop into my 401K will return, by an order of magnitude, far more than I would be eligable to receive were I drawing social security. I beleive 12x was the exact factor... and that's just withdrawing intrest after I turn 65... that's WITHOUT touching so much as a cent of my principle!!!
And that's JUST the 401K, which I basiclly drop money into and ignore. That does NOT include my other investments which I manage more proactively. Nor does it include the vesting (current, or future) of my options. Nor does it include increases in salary and the corresponding increase in 401K contributions. To be fair, it does not include inflation either; but I'm confident that I'll beat that curve as well.
Were I able to opt out of social security and keep the money the government confiscates with each paycheck, I would do so in a heartbeat. I'm already doing better, with a SMALLER initial stake. If I invested that extra cash every month, I could damn near live like a king once I'm retired (or retire early, and just live like a duke).
I'm only 24 right now, so no matter who wins, Gore *OR* shrub, I have zero confidence that social security will be there for me to collect once I'm 65. But, you know what? I don't care. In fact, I welcome its demise... better sooner than later. I'd applaud if it were abolished NOW.
Thing is, I'm taking responsibility for my OWN life. I do *NOT* expect, nor want, the government to babysit me.
john
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This day has been getting wierder by the minute.
What'd sips do? Post to whatever the modern equivelent of the "inchfan" pirate forum is with his real login, and get it discovered and closed? Fail to moderate up another troll's posts? Break with the troll party line in some other way?
Oh, the humour...
john
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>160kbps and a CD track, though. Maybe I've just
>got bad ears.
More likely you have shitty audio gear.
When I Napster a track, and like it enough to keep, I make a point of tracking down the CD (given the RIAA/metallica's attack on the internet tho, I only buy USED CDs now); because if you have a *REAL* stereo with GOOD speakers, you *CAN* tell the difference.
Truth be told, though, on the Altec Lansing speakers hooked to my computer, or on the $5 cheapo headphones I toss in my laptop bag, *I* can't tell the difference either. But I use my Mac at home for SAMPLING music to decide if it's worth purchasing; and my laptop for music at work, where I can't really bring in any gear.
But on a *REAL* sound system, the difference is painful. And the computers of >99% of the populace don't count.
Sorry, but that Soundblaster (or compatible) card != a McIntosh tube amp.
Nor are those POS Labtec speakers in the same league as a proper set of Bose speakers.
Your $5 Koss headphones from K-Mart? Thanks, but I'll keep my Sennheisers, thank you very much.
Oh, and do you even want to CONSIDER all the extraneous electronic noise inside your average computer case, fscking up your audio?
One would think that at least metallica themselves, if not their masters at the RIAA headquarters, would know all this.
john
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>trainers in the United States and Germany, so
>that tankers in Germany could fight mock battles
>against tankers in the US. The reason for
>immersive video game-like tools such as this in
>a training environment is that it saves
>money, saves equipment, and often saves lives.
Actually, it was Lockheed Martin, not the army, that developed these tank simulators. And they didn't quit development when they hit "good enough" status in the '80s, they, as of last year at least, are still under continuing development.
The system in question is called the Close Combat Tactical Trainer. And it includes, now, not just tanks, but humvees, bradleys, and avaition as well. Check LMIS @:
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/lmis/level4/cctt.
I used to work two buildings over from the development/production area. A friend of mine worked on the CCTT himself.
They really ARE a very immersive expierence. From the outside, a CCTT just looks like bigass plastic boxes w/ a bunch of wireing between multiple units and the control room. For the M1 sims, there are even two seperate boxes; one for the driver's reclined position, and one for the Commander/Gunner/Loader. But once inside...
... Well, they go for EVERY detail you can imagine. For example: Ear protection is a MUST!!! They have a sound system in there that is flat out amazing. In an effort to promote realism, they try to make the sounds of combat as realistic and LOUD as the real thing. Every switch and control is there to the last detail, and it's just as cramped as the real thing. Honestly, I don't see how our army guys put up with that crap.
Of course, there were a few bugs when I was there. For instance, stuff blows up real good when you shoot it with the main gun (and set off heaps of subwoofers and mids to simulate the sound...) BUT, when I got to try the driver's compartment... well, the first thing I did, of course, was try to ram stuff (it's a TANK sim after all); and running into a simple farmyard barn caused the whole unit to crash as though I had plowed into the side of a mountain. Call me crazy, but I don't think a wood barn would stop a 70 ton M1 IRL. Fortunately, it wasn't a SYSTEM crash, just a TANK crash, and I was able to power the sucker back up (loud as fsck mids and tweeters) and tear up a bit of virtural countryside nonetheless.
What's even cooler, is AFTER a battle. The control room has a record of every movement, every shot, every kill. You can then look at a reply of the battle from a 1st person POV of any given unit, from an overhead POV, a tactical map, or even in 3D from any angle you wish (think of the 3D camera engine in Myth II: Soulblighter)!!!
Neat toys.... REALLY nifty COOL neat toys... Too bad lmco is an absolutely wretched company that treats it's employees like crap (I didn't know better when I took the job (first out of college) in the first place. after working in the bay area tho, Ill never work for a defence or government contractor again). Fortunately we both escaped from the defence contractor ghetto some time ago. Me to a really cool job in the city by the bay... and Andy wound up at a little company down in Tustin, called Loki.
john
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Visit the "Sony" Metreon next time you're in downtown SF.
It's rathar sad actually, that even a company like Sony is forced to whore themselves out to gates like that. But then... given Sony's more recent actions, I've developed a distince lack of sympathy for Sony themselves.
john
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>RIAA/metallica? (emphasis mine): So, am I
>to understand you'll pay for music you
>download, as long as you don't have to pay
>for Metallica
metallica ceased to be *ARTISTS* the day they released "the black album". Up to that point their albums were quite good, inspired, groundbreaking metal. The black album, and everything since, has been nothing more than radio-friendly, MTV-fodder crap.
Since then, they have become worse than sellouts. They have reinvented themselves as the #1 shills for the RIAA, talking heads for the very "establishment" they told us for years they were "rebelling" against.
They became something worse, by many orders of magnitude, than sellouts. They became hypocrites.
When you hear lars speak, you're really hearing what hillary rosen dictates. Metallica/RIAA are effectively the same entity. I see no point in distinguishing between them, when they do absolutely nothing to differentiate themselves.
metallica, the RIAA, the MPAA, lars, rosen, valenti.... is there ANY difference anymore? When you read statements by any of the three establishments, or their talking head spokesmen, they're pretty much interchangable, the only difference (besides a healthy dose of um's er's and uh's from lars (see the
Masters of Puppets indeed.
john
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It depends.
If the subscription fee were simply going to Fanning and co. as payment for the wonderful service that is Napster?
$4.99
If the subscription fee were being payed into a general fund that is payed directly to the artists whose music is being downloaded?
$9.99
If the subscription fee were arranged so that there is NOT a general fund, but the fee that *I* pay goes ONLY to the artists whose MP3s *I* download, and the vapid crap that *I* never download doesn't see a penny of MY fee?
$14.99
If so much as a penny of the subscription fee goes into the coffers of the RIAA/metallica?
$0.00
john
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>when I have moderator points.
The problem with that idea is the same problem *I* have with meta-moderation.
When you get a set of posts at random like that you are deneied context. Sure, sometimes a post will quote the parent, but usually they do what I just did: quote only the specific part it's replying to. Rare (and rightfully so) is the post that'll quote the ENTIRE parent before a response.
Many are the posts that might seem trollish or flameish BY THEMSELVES, that, when you see the parent they are responding to, reveal themselves to actually be sarcastic replies, that, IN CONTEXT, deserve an insightful or intresting.
Likewise with offtopic. Sometimes a conversation veers off on a tangent that will be quite intresting, but if the post came up out of the contxt of the thread, it'll definately get zapped offtopic.
This critical problem is why I never meta-moderate. And it's why those asswipes with sigs that say, "moderators: you should be reading at -1, newest posts first", irritate me so.
I ALWAYS read at -1, modding or no. But mod w/ newist posts first? Fsck no!!! I will bloody well keep reading in nested mode so I can see WHAT a given post is a responce to!
john
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Remove the collective if