If the purchase you make is easily fixed (i.e. software), then early adopters aren't getting screwed. For example, I bought GTA:SA the day it came out. Now it's recalled and an unmodifiable version is all you can buy. If I was a "patient, reasonable consumer" I wouldn't be able to play with all of the cool mods.
Every once in a while a good low-budget movie comes along that does quite well at the box office. It doesn't have the big flash-bang special effects of a Hollywood blockbuster, but does have a good story, good directing, and good editing.
Indie games are no different. If something is good, word-of-mouth will increase sales. Just because a game is an "indie" doesn't mean it's anything special. I subscribe to PC Gaming and they review all sorts of games every month, including indies, which get the lowest ratings because they suck compared to the rest of the competition. To be fair, a lot of big studio games also get mediocre ratings as well. Cool-looking graphics alone does not make for good game.
What it comes down to is if the game is fun to play. Your average gamer doesn't care about corporate politics, "starving" programmers and artists, etc., etc. when playing a game. They just want to have fun.
The days of shareware games are over. Games like Apogee's Commander Keen will never be anything more than a small blip on the gaming community's radar. This industry has matured, just like all other industries. You don't see or are unaware of indie car makers, indie beer breweries, indie toiletries manufactures, etc. The vast majority of people only know Ford, GM, Budweiser, Coors, Procter & Gamble, and Gillette. Just the same way most games only know EA and Vivendi.
Wow, reading that I was thinking back to when I was in high school back in the very early '90's and my friend bought Ultima IV (or V?) for his 286. It was the coolest thing we ever played. Then came Wing Commander and we were blown away by it. Then came the 3D Ultima - Ultima Underground and it was awesome. I even spent a couple hundred bucks to upgrade my PC from 1 to 4MB of RAM just to play it. Yeah, Origin really created worlds. But since Ultima Online (which I never played) I haven't heard much or became excited about any more Origin games.
Amazon.com sells HBO's original shows on DVD. Instead of stealing it, go ahead and buy the DVDs. That's what I do. You do not have the rights to access a recent work of art if the creator of it does not grant it. i.e. You do not get HBO, or your HBO license does not allow you to time-shift the show. Since HBO doesn't have advertising, the only sources of revenue come from paying subscribers and, to a much smaller extent, those of us who purchase the shows on DVD.
If you want to download a movie, go grab Star Wreck: In The Pirkinning. The creators of it allow anyone to download their movie and watch it at any time.
If people keep up with the attitude that they are "entitled" to others' work of art and continue to use BitTorrent and other file-sharing software to obtain it, this will create more regulation, lawsuits, and laws which would eventually stifle file-sharing and stop legitimate distribution of movies - i.e. Star Wreck.
Most of the hottest games today come with tools to make mods. Isn't it simple enough to just make a "No Ad" mod that replaces the advertising with a brick wall or crate or whatever else is supposed to be there? Personally, I like the fake ads and fake product placements in video games - it allows the creators to add some humor in an otherwise dark game. i.e. in FarCry, the mercenaries' bunkers have copies of PlayMerc lying around. Doom 3 has SuperKnockout(?) Chicken. Space Quest IV had Radio Shock, etc.
I play video games to escape from reality for a couple of hours. Now I'm going to get bombarded with ads in my "free time" as well? Since the average game is in his 20's to 30's, I will say that having ads in a game just to save a few bucks ain't worth it. We can afford the full (regular) price.
FWIW - I also don't watch TV because I hate advertising (18 minutes in a 1-hour episode), and instead buy the DVDs of that season the following fall. Smallville, 24, Battlestar Galactica, etc.
This kid graduated in the spring of '04 and, only 15 months later, is complaining about the IT industry? Get in line. Or rearrange your priorities. I think the college kids of today - or young people in general - think they are "entitled" to a nice job, nice pay, organized management, etc. Ha! Welcome to the real "Real World."
He's complaining about cubicles??? I recall one time a client (the president and the head of technology) came to visit us and they commented that it's too quiet in the office. They said that they wanted to hear and see people talking, discussing, and creating new ideas, etc. Sorry, kid, but you don't get a shiny office straight out of college, or even ever in life. He's got his expectations way, way, way too high. (I wonder if this carries over in his interpersonal relationships, or not, with the fairer sex.)
And yes, management is dumb in some areas, but really, really, really smart in the one area that counts - longevity. If a project fails, management doesn't get the can. They find the "problem" in I.T. and fire them. They can always shift the blame, pass the buck, and fudge the bottom line. The question to ask is how can you stay on managements' good side? Time to put your pride aside and learn how to suck up.
Personal growth is something you do on your own time not on company's time. They ain't paying ya to discover your inner calling.
Compensation & Overtime has been ruled null & void by the the greater supply of IT people. We are interchangeable. If you don't like and tell that to management they'll find a replacement for you, not pay you more. Every programmer thinks he's the hot shit. Don't let that get to your head. You're not.
I think this kid needs to growing up to do. It's funny because the older guys at the office just smile when I complain. It's the "been there, done that" experience that you learn as you grow older.
Is Microsoft delaying HALO 2 for the PC until it can put out this movie or is it just not planned? And will story, characters, and items in HALO 2 be in this movie? I've been waiting for quite a while to play HALO 2.
I absolutely HATE advertising. We are living in a world much like Lucas' THX-1138 - "Buy! Consume! Buy more! Consume more!" And with the cost of movies increasing to over $10 where I live, I just wait for the DVDs to come out. They usually have extended/deleted scenes, Director's Cut, making-of, etc. Couple that with a home theater system or even a home theater PC and the reason to go to the movies is almost nil. The last movie I saw - twice - was Star Wars III. I skipped work and saw it on opening day with a lot of adults (i.e. well-behaved audience). It rocked! I then saw it again on Friday night with a bunch of high school kids. They kept talking through the entire movie and it sucked - got my money back though. But now, DVDs are coming out 3 months after the movie stops playing in the theaters so I can wait. High on my list is Batman Begins, Sin City, Hitchhiker's Guide, and Kingdom of Heaven - Director's Cut.
As for TV shows, there's way too much advertising, especially on the Sci-Fi channel. So I just stopped watching TV. A 1-hour episode is only about 41 minutes of the actual episode and 19 minutes of advertising. Amazon.com sells boxed sets of the popular TV shows and I get those at the end of the season. High on my list for this fall/winter is Smallville Season 4, 24 Season 4, Battlestar Galactica Season 1, and Tru Calling Seasons 1 & 2.
seemed to reject Kerry more just on the basis of advertising against him.
Yet it is only now that the vast majority of Americans seem to have realized that they oppose Bush's policies and Bush himself. I genuinely would like to know what reasoning process you (and others) used in the '04 election so that I can better understand how we got to this place. Any insight you can provide would be appreciated.
Now don't get me - and my other fellow Republicans who aren't too happy with Bush - wrong. The reason we voted for Bush was because he still is a better choice than Kerry. If elections were tomorrow I would still not vote for Kerry but for the Libertarian candidate. But if it looked my state would be swing state where every vote counts, I would suck it up and still vote for Bush to ensure that Kerry would not get in.
What people such as yourself don't understand is that those of us who are Republicans and aren't happy with Bush for his big government policies such as hell don't want to vote for someone else (i.e. a Democrat) who will put in even bigger government policies. No, we are the small libertarian faction of the Republican party who want small government, but won't risk getting someone like Kerry or even Hillary getting into the White House.
You wan't meaningful change in this country? Then put up a candidate from either party who campaigns on SMALL government, CUT entitlements, CUT welfare, CUT the Department of Education, Energy, etc., etc., etc. and all the thousands of other government agencies not expressly stated in our Constitution nor granted the power to Congress to create. Of course that will NEVER happen from a major party so the Libertarians will continue to come up short again and again and again and will will continue to have what we have today - the lesser of two evils in office.
Remember, I voted against Kerry and against the Democrats, not necessarily for Bush.
Yeah, I voted for him too and am finally removing my BUSH/CHENEY '04 bumper sticker. He's dramatically increased the size of government since he took office in '00 with the Dept of Homeland Security, War on Terror, etc. The US Dollar has also plummeted since he took office. Next time I'm going to "throw away my vote" and vote for the Libertarian candidate.
Remember, it's both Democrats and Republicans who were going after Take-2 for the GTA:SA Hot Coffee mod. Both parties want to regulate us into their vision of conformity.
If two consenting adults want to do unspeakable things to each other, then sell a video of it for profit, so be it. The larger question is this - The audience of people who consume "urine, defecation, S&M, etc." videos is rather small. What's the real reason for getting the FBI involved?
A planet needs to spin on an axis, even a wobbly one. If it's just falling over in a random pattern, it's not a planet.
Size matters as well. How big is big enough? Well I would say it has to do with its gravitational force on other celestrial bodies.
Also, is it a orbiting another body? i.e. is it a moon? Our moon spins on an axis, exerts gravitational force on our ocean, but is a satellite of Earth.
smashes hospital door into male nurse's head takes his keychain and look at it
"Pussy Wagon, oh great..." flashback scene of male nurse introducing himself to comatose [bleep]
"So, your name is Ruck... and you like to fuck" smashes hospital door into male nurse's head
I guess I'm in a lucky situation. My dot-com went dot-bomb, but the Fotune 500 company that bought us out rolled us in with our existing salaries and still follow the corporate salary raise percentage, plus annual stock options. After seeing what my fellow I.T. people are making, I guess I shouldn't complain. And I only work 40 hours a week, plus only a couple of hours 1 or 2 weekends a month. I'm on call, but if I work in the middle of the night, I get to leave early.:-)
If Intel wanted to sell you a Pentium IV that was only for use in motherboards Intel manufactured, all they would have to do now is put a label on the box stating "For use in Intel brand motherboards only". Then they could sue you for violating the license by putting the chip in an Asus motherboard, and sue Via for making a chipset that induced you to violate the license, and sue Asus for making the motherboard that induced you to violate the license.
IIRC, Intel did sue VIA over SDRAM or something like that. I remember back in '01 buying a motherboard with a VIA chip because it would allow me to use SDRAM and not RAMBUS with the brand new Pentium 4 chip.
FWIW - I read the link the OP had, not any of the links from that link.
The dispute arises from Lexmark's advertising of its "Prebate" program, under which it gives purchasers an upfront discount in exchange for their agreement to return the empty cartridge to Lexmark for remanufac- turing -- a form of post-sale restriction on reuse. ACRA claims that Lexmark's advertising and promotional materials mislead customers into thinking the post-sale restriction is enforceable and that they actually receive a discounted price for the special cartridges.
So Pre-bate as in Pre-crime? I'm getting a discount for something I haven't done yet??? That sounds like deceptive advertising to me. The way I understand Lexmarks' pre-bate is that they are giving an up-front discount to customers - i.e. pricing the cartridges below fair-market value - and then restricting what they can do with their property. They must return it to Lexmark when the cartridges are empty. It sounds like Lexmark is only selling ink, and are leasing the plastic cartridges it comes in.
You only purchased "a right to use it" not actually own the device.
I disagree with that. I purchased a product for my use for whatever I see fit. Maybe I'm an artist and like to smash open the cartridge and spray the ink on a canvas for nice patterns. A "right to use" only applies when I'm renting or leasing an item. I have a "right to use" my apartment with certain restrictions - no pets, only 2 people maximum, no BBQ on the 1st floor, no renovations, etc. However, if I own my house, I can pretty much do what I damn well please - multiple pets, multiple housemates, BBQ in the backyard, put on an addition, etc.
Actually, we libertarians do care. It is the government pissing all over us via the rulings. Corporations have since the beginning of time been trying to do implement monopolistic practices. That's the nature of capitalism - maximize profits. The role of government is to ensure that everyone is playing fairly and to protect us, the consumer, from predatory actions which stifles innovation. Hey, I'm all for corporations making bazillion of dollars - as long as it was fair. No monopoly or ogopoloy.
If the cartridge was not my property, I could understand this ruling. It's their property and I'm only borrowing it. However, in this case, It's my property. If I choose to transfer a liquid that I own from a container that I own into another container that I own, that's nobody's business but mine. But if I destroy my printer because my refilled cartridge is not "up to specs," then it's also my fault.
Isn't this a monopolistic or ogopolistic practice which is suppose to be illegal? Isn't this ruining competition by putting up artificial barriers-of-entry for the printing cartridge market? If some smart company decides to make ink refills, that increases competition which provides us end-user consumers more choices, better quality, and lower prices.
Bah, I've already lost all hope for the U.S. from top to bottom. Watch the re-release of THX-1138. That's what we've become. "Buy, consume, buy more, consume more, take your drugs, beware of an interval-overdose."
Again, that's the problem. 1965 was FOURTY years ago. Except for old people in their 60's no one today was a teenager back then, much less born. That is history.
I pointed to Ellis Island because that's how the poor people came to the U.S. And look how well they've turned out compared to blacks who have been living here for centuries.
And it was on FOX News last night that the government is setting up desks/stations in the refugee camps so the poor blacks can pick up their welfare checks.
People around the world are looking at the situation of the poor blacks in N.O. and saying this is the true nature of America. Those rich, privledged, racist white Americans still treat blacks like that.
That is nothing but lies and a big misunderstanding of the large picture. For decades - even centuries - the majority of black people in America have created for themselves a "I'm a victim" mentality. This does not engender motivation to make one's life better. Witness all of the other foreigners who have come to America - some literally "off the boat" at Ellis Island in N.Y. - and became successful.
What we are seeing in N.O. is the result of socialism in America. I can't count the number of times on T.V. I've seen the poor black people complaining about "what is the government going to do", "where is the government to take care of us", "why has the government let us down." Instead of taking personal responsibility for their actions, they have been conditioned by receiving welfare checks and other government handouts, mainly from the Democratic Party, to not think for themselves.
I think that "leaders" like Jesse Jackson actually do more have than good for the black people of America by perpetuating the "I'm a victim" mentality.
Thus, the true nature of America that your foreigners are seeing today is the disgust we have with the failures of socialism and the continueing concept amongst blacks that they are "victims" of something that happened centuries ago. Any person, any group, any race, any religion, any civilization has been a "victim" or a descenent of "victim" of some event many years / decades / centuries in the past. You get over it and move on.
I would really like to see my fellow Americans get over and move beyond this "I'm a victim" mentality. Only then will we all be productive and work together to make America great again. If that cannot happen, then America - the republic and now the empire - will collapse into a 3rd world dictatorship under martial law like so many other African and South American countries have.
And so as not to be totally off-topic, I am quite concerned about this increase of weapons for controlling larger and larger crowds. What is our government thinking? Why the need to control many large amounts of people unless they see something awful coming...
I'm so sick of having to code all of these workarounds in my Java applications because our back-end datacenter was programmed in the early '80's on a mainframe and no one really knows the system that well enough to make any meaningful changes.
It's about time that we finally junked the mainframes and put them in a museum next to vaccuum tubes.
Redesign and rewrite the back-end applications from scratch. Use the latest design patterns and technologies. That will make our code a hellova lot easier to write and maintain and expand.
I slept thought my 5 AM alarms and was going to be late for work, but the sonic booms woke me up. I wonder how many people forgot or did not know about the Space Shuttle landing. My family thought it was an earthquake.
Most trucks are sold with governors at 95 MPH. If you are going 100+ MPH it's no longer a traffic violation, but a misdemeanor. But if you mod your truck's computer chip, you can remove the governor and go faster.
Isn't this comparable to GTA:SA? It's already rated M. But removing the censor-flag unveils softcore, clothed cartoon sex which the manufacturer locked out. What's next? Physically limiting the horsepower and output of automobile engines there is no way possible to exceed 95 mph?
Look dudes, if you want the ladies, you need to check out the
High Status Male web site.
And if you think the ladies want a nerd, you're wrong - they want what some nerds have: lots of $$$ from cashing out during the dot-com days. And when your nerdy self is at work, they are out satisfying their physical needs with real men.
Mathematically, it's a numbers game. The more girls you talk to and ask out, the better your chances are of dating one. Don't worry about their feelings, etc., just pretend you are listening to them. They like it when you are slightly ignoring them because they see it as a challenge to do more to get your full attention.
Remember this - women are hardwired to be submissive. They are pre-programmed to search for someone who can make them feel secure. If you aren't manly enough to elicit this primitive feeling in a woman, then find a women who is more timid than you. Nice guys do finish last.
There goes the usual/. response again: "You know, you can buy video cards that are well under $100 that have enough power to play any PC game out there. Only a fool spends $400 on a video card for their home gaming rig."
Know what? I bought the BFG 6800 Ultra when it first came out and Half-Life 2 running in 1600x1200 on my LCD display looks friggin awesome with all of the eye candy turned on. In fact, all games look awesome compared to when I used to play them with my old $100 card. Don't knock it just because you can't afford it.
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If the purchase you make is easily fixed (i.e. software), then early adopters aren't getting screwed. For example, I bought GTA:SA the day it came out. Now it's recalled and an unmodifiable version is all you can buy. If I was a "patient, reasonable consumer" I wouldn't be able to play with all of the cool mods.
Every once in a while a good low-budget movie comes along that does quite well at the box office. It doesn't have the big flash-bang special effects of a Hollywood blockbuster, but does have a good story, good directing, and good editing.
Indie games are no different. If something is good, word-of-mouth will increase sales. Just because a game is an "indie" doesn't mean it's anything special. I subscribe to PC Gaming and they review all sorts of games every month, including indies, which get the lowest ratings because they suck compared to the rest of the competition. To be fair, a lot of big studio games also get mediocre ratings as well. Cool-looking graphics alone does not make for good game.
What it comes down to is if the game is fun to play. Your average gamer doesn't care about corporate politics, "starving" programmers and artists, etc., etc. when playing a game. They just want to have fun.
The days of shareware games are over. Games like Apogee's Commander Keen will never be anything more than a small blip on the gaming community's radar. This industry has matured, just like all other industries. You don't see or are unaware of indie car makers, indie beer breweries, indie toiletries manufactures, etc. The vast majority of people only know Ford, GM, Budweiser, Coors, Procter & Gamble, and Gillette. Just the same way most games only know EA and Vivendi.
Wow, reading that I was thinking back to when I was in high school back in the very early '90's and my friend bought Ultima IV (or V?) for his 286. It was the coolest thing we ever played. Then came Wing Commander and we were blown away by it. Then came the 3D Ultima - Ultima Underground and it was awesome. I even spent a couple hundred bucks to upgrade my PC from 1 to 4MB of RAM just to play it. Yeah, Origin really created worlds. But since Ultima Online (which I never played) I haven't heard much or became excited about any more Origin games.
Amazon.com sells HBO's original shows on DVD. Instead of stealing it, go ahead and buy the DVDs. That's what I do. You do not have the rights to access a recent work of art if the creator of it does not grant it. i.e. You do not get HBO, or your HBO license does not allow you to time-shift the show. Since HBO doesn't have advertising, the only sources of revenue come from paying subscribers and, to a much smaller extent, those of us who purchase the shows on DVD.
If you want to download a movie, go grab Star Wreck: In The Pirkinning. The creators of it allow anyone to download their movie and watch it at any time.
If people keep up with the attitude that they are "entitled" to others' work of art and continue to use BitTorrent and other file-sharing software to obtain it, this will create more regulation, lawsuits, and laws which would eventually stifle file-sharing and stop legitimate distribution of movies - i.e. Star Wreck.
Most of the hottest games today come with tools to make mods. Isn't it simple enough to just make a "No Ad" mod that replaces the advertising with a brick wall or crate or whatever else is supposed to be there? Personally, I like the fake ads and fake product placements in video games - it allows the creators to add some humor in an otherwise dark game. i.e. in FarCry, the mercenaries' bunkers have copies of PlayMerc lying around. Doom 3 has SuperKnockout(?) Chicken. Space Quest IV had Radio Shock, etc.
I play video games to escape from reality for a couple of hours. Now I'm going to get bombarded with ads in my "free time" as well? Since the average game is in his 20's to 30's, I will say that having ads in a game just to save a few bucks ain't worth it. We can afford the full (regular) price.
FWIW - I also don't watch TV because I hate advertising (18 minutes in a 1-hour episode), and instead buy the DVDs of that season the following fall. Smallville, 24, Battlestar Galactica, etc.
This kid graduated in the spring of '04 and, only 15 months later, is complaining about the IT industry? Get in line. Or rearrange your priorities. I think the college kids of today - or young people in general - think they are "entitled" to a nice job, nice pay, organized management, etc. Ha! Welcome to the real "Real World."
He's complaining about cubicles??? I recall one time a client (the president and the head of technology) came to visit us and they commented that it's too quiet in the office. They said that they wanted to hear and see people talking, discussing, and creating new ideas, etc. Sorry, kid, but you don't get a shiny office straight out of college, or even ever in life. He's got his expectations way, way, way too high. (I wonder if this carries over in his interpersonal relationships, or not, with the fairer sex.)
And yes, management is dumb in some areas, but really, really, really smart in the one area that counts - longevity. If a project fails, management doesn't get the can. They find the "problem" in I.T. and fire them. They can always shift the blame, pass the buck, and fudge the bottom line. The question to ask is how can you stay on managements' good side? Time to put your pride aside and learn how to suck up.
Personal growth is something you do on your own time not on company's time. They ain't paying ya to discover your inner calling.
Compensation & Overtime has been ruled null & void by the the greater supply of IT people. We are interchangeable. If you don't like and tell that to management they'll find a replacement for you, not pay you more. Every programmer thinks he's the hot shit. Don't let that get to your head. You're not.
I think this kid needs to growing up to do. It's funny because the older guys at the office just smile when I complain. It's the "been there, done that" experience that you learn as you grow older.
Is Microsoft delaying HALO 2 for the PC until it can put out this movie or is it just not planned? And will story, characters, and items in HALO 2 be in this movie? I've been waiting for quite a while to play HALO 2.
I absolutely HATE advertising. We are living in a world much like Lucas' THX-1138 - "Buy! Consume! Buy more! Consume more!" And with the cost of movies increasing to over $10 where I live, I just wait for the DVDs to come out. They usually have extended/deleted scenes, Director's Cut, making-of, etc. Couple that with a home theater system or even a home theater PC and the reason to go to the movies is almost nil. The last movie I saw - twice - was Star Wars III. I skipped work and saw it on opening day with a lot of adults (i.e. well-behaved audience). It rocked! I then saw it again on Friday night with a bunch of high school kids. They kept talking through the entire movie and it sucked - got my money back though. But now, DVDs are coming out 3 months after the movie stops playing in the theaters so I can wait. High on my list is Batman Begins, Sin City, Hitchhiker's Guide, and Kingdom of Heaven - Director's Cut.
As for TV shows, there's way too much advertising, especially on the Sci-Fi channel. So I just stopped watching TV. A 1-hour episode is only about 41 minutes of the actual episode and 19 minutes of advertising. Amazon.com sells boxed sets of the popular TV shows and I get those at the end of the season. High on my list for this fall/winter is Smallville Season 4, 24 Season 4, Battlestar Galactica Season 1, and Tru Calling Seasons 1 & 2.
What people such as yourself don't understand is that those of us who are Republicans and aren't happy with Bush for his big government policies such as hell don't want to vote for someone else (i.e. a Democrat) who will put in even bigger government policies. No, we are the small libertarian faction of the Republican party who want small government, but won't risk getting someone like Kerry or even Hillary getting into the White House.
You wan't meaningful change in this country? Then put up a candidate from either party who campaigns on SMALL government, CUT entitlements, CUT welfare, CUT the Department of Education, Energy, etc., etc., etc. and all the thousands of other government agencies not expressly stated in our Constitution nor granted the power to Congress to create. Of course that will NEVER happen from a major party so the Libertarians will continue to come up short again and again and again and will will continue to have what we have today - the lesser of two evils in office.
Remember, I voted against Kerry and against the Democrats, not necessarily for Bush.
Yeah, I voted for him too and am finally removing my BUSH/CHENEY '04 bumper sticker. He's dramatically increased the size of government since he took office in '00 with the Dept of Homeland Security, War on Terror, etc. The US Dollar has also plummeted since he took office. Next time I'm going to "throw away my vote" and vote for the Libertarian candidate.
Remember, it's both Democrats and Republicans who were going after Take-2 for the GTA:SA Hot Coffee mod. Both parties want to regulate us into their vision of conformity.
If two consenting adults want to do unspeakable things to each other, then sell a video of it for profit, so be it. The larger question is this - The audience of people who consume "urine, defecation, S&M, etc." videos is rather small. What's the real reason for getting the FBI involved?
A planet needs to spin on an axis, even a wobbly one. If it's just falling over in a random pattern, it's not a planet.
Size matters as well. How big is big enough? Well I would say it has to do with its gravitational force on other celestrial bodies.
Also, is it a orbiting another body? i.e. is it a moon? Our moon spins on an axis, exerts gravitational force on our ocean, but is a satellite of Earth.
smashes hospital door into male nurse's head
takes his keychain and look at it
"Pussy Wagon, oh great..."
flashback scene of male nurse introducing himself to comatose [bleep]
"So, your name is Ruck... and you like to fuck"
smashes hospital door into male nurse's head
Quentin Tarantino owns the "Pussy Wagon" and drove as his everyday vehicle to promote the release of Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004).
I guess I'm in a lucky situation. My dot-com went dot-bomb, but the Fotune 500 company that bought us out rolled us in with our existing salaries and still follow the corporate salary raise percentage, plus annual stock options. After seeing what my fellow I.T. people are making, I guess I shouldn't complain. And I only work 40 hours a week, plus only a couple of hours 1 or 2 weekends a month. I'm on call, but if I work in the middle of the night, I get to leave early. :-)
Actually, we libertarians do care. It is the government pissing all over us via the rulings. Corporations have since the beginning of time been trying to do implement monopolistic practices. That's the nature of capitalism - maximize profits. The role of government is to ensure that everyone is playing fairly and to protect us, the consumer, from predatory actions which stifles innovation. Hey, I'm all for corporations making bazillion of dollars - as long as it was fair. No monopoly or ogopoloy.
If the cartridge was not my property, I could understand this ruling. It's their property and I'm only borrowing it. However, in this case, It's my property. If I choose to transfer a liquid that I own from a container that I own into another container that I own, that's nobody's business but mine. But if I destroy my printer because my refilled cartridge is not "up to specs," then it's also my fault.
Isn't this a monopolistic or ogopolistic practice which is suppose to be illegal? Isn't this ruining competition by putting up artificial barriers-of-entry for the printing cartridge market? If some smart company decides to make ink refills, that increases competition which provides us end-user consumers more choices, better quality, and lower prices.
Bah, I've already lost all hope for the U.S. from top to bottom. Watch the re-release of THX-1138. That's what we've become. "Buy, consume, buy more, consume more, take your drugs, beware of an interval-overdose."
Again, that's the problem. 1965 was FOURTY years ago. Except for old people in their 60's no one today was a teenager back then, much less born. That is history.
I pointed to Ellis Island because that's how the poor people came to the U.S. And look how well they've turned out compared to blacks who have been living here for centuries.
And it was on FOX News last night that the government is setting up desks/stations in the refugee camps so the poor blacks can pick up their welfare checks.
People around the world are looking at the situation of the poor blacks in N.O. and saying this is the true nature of America. Those rich, privledged, racist white Americans still treat blacks like that.
That is nothing but lies and a big misunderstanding of the large picture. For decades - even centuries - the majority of black people in America have created for themselves a "I'm a victim" mentality. This does not engender motivation to make one's life better. Witness all of the other foreigners who have come to America - some literally "off the boat" at Ellis Island in N.Y. - and became successful.
What we are seeing in N.O. is the result of socialism in America. I can't count the number of times on T.V. I've seen the poor black people complaining about "what is the government going to do", "where is the government to take care of us", "why has the government let us down." Instead of taking personal responsibility for their actions, they have been conditioned by receiving welfare checks and other government handouts, mainly from the Democratic Party, to not think for themselves.
I think that "leaders" like Jesse Jackson actually do more have than good for the black people of America by perpetuating the "I'm a victim" mentality.
Thus, the true nature of America that your foreigners are seeing today is the disgust we have with the failures of socialism and the continueing concept amongst blacks that they are "victims" of something that happened centuries ago. Any person, any group, any race, any religion, any civilization has been a "victim" or a descenent of "victim" of some event many years / decades / centuries in the past. You get over it and move on.
I would really like to see my fellow Americans get over and move beyond this "I'm a victim" mentality. Only then will we all be productive and work together to make America great again. If that cannot happen, then America - the republic and now the empire - will collapse into a 3rd world dictatorship under martial law like so many other African and South American countries have.
And so as not to be totally off-topic, I am quite concerned about this increase of weapons for controlling larger and larger crowds. What is our government thinking? Why the need to control many large amounts of people unless they see something awful coming...
I'm so sick of having to code all of these workarounds in my Java applications because our back-end datacenter was programmed in the early '80's on a mainframe and no one really knows the system that well enough to make any meaningful changes. It's about time that we finally junked the mainframes and put them in a museum next to vaccuum tubes. Redesign and rewrite the back-end applications from scratch. Use the latest design patterns and technologies. That will make our code a hellova lot easier to write and maintain and expand.
I slept thought my 5 AM alarms and was going to be late for work, but the sonic booms woke me up. I wonder how many people forgot or did not know about the Space Shuttle landing. My family thought it was an earthquake.
Most trucks are sold with governors at 95 MPH. If you are going 100+ MPH it's no longer a traffic violation, but a misdemeanor. But if you mod your truck's computer chip, you can remove the governor and go faster.
Isn't this comparable to GTA:SA? It's already rated M. But removing the censor-flag unveils softcore, clothed cartoon sex which the manufacturer locked out. What's next? Physically limiting the horsepower and output of automobile engines there is no way possible to exceed 95 mph?
Look dudes, if you want the ladies, you need to check out the High Status Male web site.
And if you think the ladies want a nerd, you're wrong - they want what some nerds have: lots of $$$ from cashing out during the dot-com days. And when your nerdy self is at work, they are out satisfying their physical needs with real men.
Mathematically, it's a numbers game. The more girls you talk to and ask out, the better your chances are of dating one. Don't worry about their feelings, etc., just pretend you are listening to them. They like it when you are slightly ignoring them because they see it as a challenge to do more to get your full attention.
Remember this - women are hardwired to be submissive. They are pre-programmed to search for someone who can make them feel secure. If you aren't manly enough to elicit this primitive feeling in a woman, then find a women who is more timid than you. Nice guys do finish last.
There goes the usual /. response again: "You know, you can buy video cards that are well under $100 that have enough power to play any PC game out there. Only a fool spends $400 on a video card for their home gaming rig."
Know what? I bought the BFG 6800 Ultra when it first came out and Half-Life 2 running in 1600x1200 on my LCD display looks friggin awesome with all of the eye candy turned on. In fact, all games look awesome compared to when I used to play them with my old $100 card. Don't knock it just because you can't afford it.