Well, while there is a LOT of snake oil out there, there is still *some* truth in that you get what you pay for....
A pair of desktop speakers, by LabTec, isn't going to sound nearly so good as my Klipschorn Speakers that I have in my living room. I have them connected to a pair of SE Tube amps from a small online company Decware. I've had them quite awhile and I love the sound of them. To each his own, I like the tube distortion, but I have ever since I was 12yrs and heard a pair of K-horns in an audio store running off a McIntosh tube amp system.
But I digress. The thing is...those cheap earbuds on an iPod aren't going to sound as nice as my Shure higher end earbuds.....at some point, you do get what you pay for. But one always has to be wary of what's being offered, and do their research, and test things in person.
That all being said, there are some fun DIY things you can do. I found lots of links years back, on taking multiple strands of Cat-6 cable, and braiding it in various fashions into speaker cable. I did my own variant, and I have to say, I liked the way it sounded...in fact, I still have it on my main front speakers (the khorns).
So, if you do enjoy GOOD fidelity in your audio, often you do have to pay a bit, but not always.
Sadly, so many kids today seem to see their music as disposable, and many have never HEARD what a good sound system can sound like...and only know white, cheap earbuds...or worse...the thudding of "Beats" headphones, that so far I've yet to find a tweeter installed.
But that's a different soapbox to get on altogether.
Well they could go a LONG way in letting users secure their own cars, by allowing a SIMPLE method for de-activating all this un-needed wireless connectivity. I have a phone/gps I don't need my fscking car wired to the fscking internet.
Lord, I'm really about to start upping my efforts to buy a restored 70's muscle car. No excess computers, nothing connecting to anything, basically a nice beefy engine, a drivetrain, possibly no catalytic converter (depends on the year)...simple and fun to drive.
Ok, I will update the suspension, and swap out the 8-track for a bit more modern stereo, but seriously, I would rather have a simpler car that just MOVES and is fun. I don't need it to be a connected device that likely transmits far too much information about me and my driving habits for my comfort, and is a target for hackers.
What customers are actually ASKING for all this shit in cars today? Seriously?
TVs do a lot of processing to stop the low quality broadcast image looking shite. It's better to just buy a TV and not connect it to your network. As a bonus it will probably still have a tuner and analogue inputs, unlike a computer monitor. Most computer monitors, even the ones with VGA, don't support sub 31KHz video like older games consoles and DVD players.
That reminds me, not long back I picked up an old Atari unit (1600?)...to play the old game Kaboom!.
I"ve tried playing it on my Samsung 59" plasma and it just does NOT want to play on there, torn image, etc.
Anyone know how to get the old Atari units to play on a modern flat screen TV?
If people were willing to accept their ride stopping to run a few errands along they way... they'd take the damned bus.
Well, except for the fact also, that most folks likely wouldn't want to be riding next to the smelly, disheveled wino or other low lifes that usually seem to inhabit busses.
That and public transportation not being really "door to door" for destination travels, which down here in Summer during the high heat/humidity is important, or during the heavy rain times.
I have a celI rarely use text, so paying $15 for a chunk of texts I'll never use is stupid.
You might wanna look at your carrier's website. These days, text messaging come free with any plan I've ever seen, not an extra charge like in the old days.
You've managed to stop GMail from pestering you to sign up for two factor authentication? How did you manage that? I can't seem to get it to stop (without actually signing up for it, which I'm not willing to do.)
I don't believe they every have asked me about it, hence I'd never heard of it.
My account is quite OLD...maybe that's it. I didn't give them any identifiable info when I set it up, I've never done G+...so, maybe I'm flying under the cloud as much as possible with Google.
I'd certainly not want to give them my phone number if that's what they use for the 2nd factor.
Yep..here we go, lowering standards ever MORE in our universities, and in life in general. Redefining what things mean, just to let a few more in under the bar.
Sounds like what the FCC will do in the US eventually. Just give it some time until "for the children" or to fight "the terrorists" the FCC will require real names etc.
Yep, I was just about to say, that as much as we in the US bash China for lack of privacy and personal rights (including the right 'not to be seen')....there are a lot in the US government (fed and state) just salivating over ending anonymous access to the internet just as much as the Chinese.
The internet really snuck in under the radar of most governments, and Lord knows..if it came in to being today, it would not be nearly what we see today.
Slowly but surely, I fear the US will follow suit and require registration to log on, regulation....and an end to what has so far proven to be a very valuable means of freely expressing one's self and speaking out against issues that matter.
If this comes to the US...I wonder how long before thieves just start shooting them down to steal from them?
I mean, hell...you can hardly let UPS/FedEx leave a package on your doorsteps these days in many cities without some fucker coming to steal it.
Just get a nice rifle with a scope along the travel routes of the delivery drones that is a bit remote, *BANG*..down it comes and then loot whatever its carrying.
Err...I guess I'm talking about the old fashioned people skills, and networking to make and keep contacts with people.
Hell, I'm not even on Facebook or twitter, or linked in, but yet, I still have a treasure trove of folks I've worked with in the past and keep up with (phone, email) and when I need a job, I reach out to them and they usually have leads for me and recommend me.
All this was done WAY prior to social networks you know. Maybe that's the problem, kids today don't know how to connect with and gather people connections if it doesn't involve having your face stuck in Facebook all day.
Then you often cannot publish, nor can you discuss details of your work with the best non-military people in the field. You can also wind up ordered to commit illegal or unconstitutional acts with no safe legal or political recourse. Do remember that Edward Snowden was a contractor and reported illegal activity to his superiors, and was told to "shut up" before he want to the press with very solid proof of illegal and abusive and unconstitutional activity by parts of the federal government.
Clearance jobs aren't ONLY for super top secret stuff, just handling personnel, PeopleSoft jobs even for the Feds require clearances.
SO, you don't have to worry about anything "illegal". It isn't just the three letter agencies that I was talking about above,in fact, those are a TINY part of the jobs I was talking bout with govt contracting.
If you're in CS...out of school, take the jobs you can get, learn, get resume experience and NETWORK with people.
Once you've paid your dues doing this awhile....incorporate yourself and contract. Especially if you can get into Federal Contracting, the money is good, you often can get on LONG term projects, the bill rate is much better, and it also helps discriminate in favor of being a US citizen, especially if there is a clearance required, no H1B's or other foreigners allowed in many of those positions.
That is where the money is at these days.
But, incorporate yourself so you can work corp-to-corp and they won't be scared of you having to be a W2 employee. I myself prefer the S-Corp, saves you a fortune of employment taxes (SS/Medicare) in that you don't have to pay that on all money billed, only a portion of it.
Trouble is....EVERYONE and their goat is also driving new Mustangs and Camaros. They all look the same, you don't know which one is the upper level one.
And with the TA I'm talking about, I intend to not get a collectible one, I want to mod it with new cam, etc...and get it up near the 500hp range.
There are also some mods you can do to the suspension to help it handle more like a newer car, and frankly,I think the older car (TA's with the round headlights, pre-bandit ones) just look cooler than most of what's out there now. I'd rather have something that's not a clone of today.
That and I've wanted one of these since High School...and I can pick up one of these TA's, mostly refurbed already for about $19K, and it should continue to go up in value as years go by, etc.
I've had a '96 911 turbo (lost that in Katrina), the first year of the C6 vette and other sports cars before that. I currently just want a muscle car, lots of torque in a straight line as a second driver car. I have a small two seater turbo now which is fun, but I want something of a torque monster to play with on alternate days....and gas is once again cheap.
I'm so thankful I live in states that either don't do inspections, or no sniff tests at least.
I can still modify my car to have a fun exhaust, tune it for performance.
My cars are in good repair, but I'm not wanting to be overburdened by regulations that suck performance out of my engines and make them sound like crap.
I'm actually looking forward to soon buying a 75-76 muscle car, maybe a Trans Am....455 4-speed and with a cam replacement, and some headers and making into true dual pipes...I can get over 500HP. Something fun to drive from years gone by.
Goodness.....how did we survive at all, in those few short years ago before cell phones became so ubiquitous?
I mean, none of us were remotely able to find and get jobs back in the dark ages of the late 90's and early 2000's. Yep, we all lived in caves, some with the luxury of landlines, and almost no internet connectivity for most.
Yep, we were all pretty agrarian, farm families at home with no hope of finding a job outside, nor communicate with anyone further than the end of the block.
Seriously, this wireless and instant communication is a very recent thing....while it makes things MUCH more convenient, it isn't a necessity. If you're very poor, you get your ass out and find out what you need to do. The unemployment office will help you too these days still.
Trust me, Chuck Schumer knows exactly what he's doing. He never passes up an opportunity to restrict freedom.
THIS^^
These leaders that are supposed to be representing the peoples' will, seem to be so disconnected from what we the people want.
I think a larger problem is these asshats making this a lifetime career.
I know it stands a snowballs chance in hell, but we desperately need term limits to keep fresh blood more representative of the citizenry going through up there on a regular basis. These govt jobs were NOT meant to be lifetime careers.
Maybe more of a chance of governmental representatives thinking more of the rights of the people over the ever growing power of the govt to restrict the commoners' rights.
Where in the Constitution it is not ok for them to do this? After all, you are on public roads, you still can go anywhere you want. I don't see where they are violating the Constitution here.
Remember, the Constitution doesn't grant YOU rights, those are natural. The Constitution is there to GRANT the federal govt very limited, enumerated rights. Basically it is supposed to be there to grant them rights and responsibilities, and anything NOT in the constitution is not something they are supposed to be able to do. This was the foundation for a limited, and minimally intrusive form of Federal Govt., which has been bastardized over the years, and many of us would prefer to have reigned in.
The govt is not supposed to be there to track me, nor put out a blanket dragnet of surveillance to try to find any wrongdoers out there. Especially at the Federal level. Possibly more able to at the state level, but at least on state and local level, you have a bit more recourse and influence over the local politicians than at a federal level.
Not to mention, if you don't like the rules of one state you are free to move to a more like minded state. If this is done federally and nationally, you lose that freedom.
But yes, the Constitution is there to grant very LIMITED and enumerated rights, roles and responsibilities for the federal govt. If it isn't in it the constitution, it should not be a power they have.
At least, that's the way and thought behind the construction and mandate of our govt. in the beginning.
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A pair of desktop speakers, by LabTec, isn't going to sound nearly so good as my Klipschorn Speakers that I have in my living room. I have them connected to a pair of SE Tube amps from a small online company Decware. I've had them quite awhile and I love the sound of them. To each his own, I like the tube distortion, but I have ever since I was 12yrs and heard a pair of K-horns in an audio store running off a McIntosh tube amp system.
But I digress. The thing is...those cheap earbuds on an iPod aren't going to sound as nice as my Shure higher end earbuds.....at some point, you do get what you pay for. But one always has to be wary of what's being offered, and do their research, and test things in person.
That all being said, there are some fun DIY things you can do. I found lots of links years back, on taking multiple strands of Cat-6 cable, and braiding it in various fashions into speaker cable. I did my own variant, and I have to say, I liked the way it sounded...in fact, I still have it on my main front speakers (the khorns).
So, if you do enjoy GOOD fidelity in your audio, often you do have to pay a bit, but not always.
Sadly, so many kids today seem to see their music as disposable, and many have never HEARD what a good sound system can sound like...and only know white, cheap earbuds...or worse...the thudding of "Beats" headphones, that so far I've yet to find a tweeter installed.
But that's a different soapbox to get on altogether.
Checking this out....
Lord, I'm really about to start upping my efforts to buy a restored 70's muscle car. No excess computers, nothing connecting to anything, basically a nice beefy engine, a drivetrain, possibly no catalytic converter (depends on the year)...simple and fun to drive.
Ok, I will update the suspension, and swap out the 8-track for a bit more modern stereo, but seriously, I would rather have a simpler car that just MOVES and is fun. I don't need it to be a connected device that likely transmits far too much information about me and my driving habits for my comfort, and is a target for hackers.
What customers are actually ASKING for all this shit in cars today? Seriously?
That reminds me, not long back I picked up an old Atari unit (1600?)...to play the old game Kaboom!.
I"ve tried playing it on my Samsung 59" plasma and it just does NOT want to play on there, torn image, etc.
Anyone know how to get the old Atari units to play on a modern flat screen TV?
Well, except for the fact also, that most folks likely wouldn't want to be riding next to the smelly, disheveled wino or other low lifes that usually seem to inhabit busses.
That and public transportation not being really "door to door" for destination travels, which down here in Summer during the high heat/humidity is important, or during the heavy rain times.
You might wanna look at your carrier's website. These days, text messaging come free with any plan I've ever seen, not an extra charge like in the old days.
Ugly is to the bone....
Beauty always fades away....
But UGLY holds its own!!!
I don't believe they every have asked me about it, hence I'd never heard of it.
My account is quite OLD...maybe that's it. I didn't give them any identifiable info when I set it up, I've never done G+...so, maybe I'm flying under the cloud as much as possible with Google.
I'd certainly not want to give them my phone number if that's what they use for the 2nd factor.
Then again...there is always the common sense approach, of not sticking your dick into someone that engages in risky behavior for getting HIV.
I've never seen anything but user/pass needed to create or access a gmail account?
Err...I've not been forced to give my real name to any website that I felt worthy of my joining to.
Some have asked, and I just don't give them my business.
Yep..here we go, lowering standards ever MORE in our universities, and in life in general. Redefining what things mean, just to let a few more in under the bar.
Well, maybe if she was sporting a bit more cleavage..but as it is, nothing sexy about her on that video.
Yep, I was just about to say, that as much as we in the US bash China for lack of privacy and personal rights (including the right 'not to be seen')....there are a lot in the US government (fed and state) just salivating over ending anonymous access to the internet just as much as the Chinese.
The internet really snuck in under the radar of most governments, and Lord knows..if it came in to being today, it would not be nearly what we see today.
Slowly but surely, I fear the US will follow suit and require registration to log on, regulation....and an end to what has so far proven to be a very valuable means of freely expressing one's self and speaking out against issues that matter.
I mean, hell...you can hardly let UPS/FedEx leave a package on your doorsteps these days in many cities without some fucker coming to steal it.
Just get a nice rifle with a scope along the travel routes of the delivery drones that is a bit remote, *BANG*..down it comes and then loot whatever its carrying.
Oh man, I wish I had mod points today.
I think you win with this one today!!
Hell, I'm not even on Facebook or twitter, or linked in, but yet, I still have a treasure trove of folks I've worked with in the past and keep up with (phone, email) and when I need a job, I reach out to them and they usually have leads for me and recommend me.
All this was done WAY prior to social networks you know. Maybe that's the problem, kids today don't know how to connect with and gather people connections if it doesn't involve having your face stuck in Facebook all day.
Clearance jobs aren't ONLY for super top secret stuff, just handling personnel, PeopleSoft jobs even for the Feds require clearances.
SO, you don't have to worry about anything "illegal". It isn't just the three letter agencies that I was talking about above,in fact, those are a TINY part of the jobs I was talking bout with govt contracting.
Once you've paid your dues doing this awhile....incorporate yourself and contract. Especially if you can get into Federal Contracting, the money is good, you often can get on LONG term projects, the bill rate is much better, and it also helps discriminate in favor of being a US citizen, especially if there is a clearance required, no H1B's or other foreigners allowed in many of those positions.
That is where the money is at these days.
But, incorporate yourself so you can work corp-to-corp and they won't be scared of you having to be a W2 employee. I myself prefer the S-Corp, saves you a fortune of employment taxes (SS/Medicare) in that you don't have to pay that on all money billed, only a portion of it.
And with the TA I'm talking about, I intend to not get a collectible one, I want to mod it with new cam, etc...and get it up near the 500hp range.
There are also some mods you can do to the suspension to help it handle more like a newer car, and frankly,I think the older car (TA's with the round headlights, pre-bandit ones) just look cooler than most of what's out there now. I'd rather have something that's not a clone of today.
That and I've wanted one of these since High School...and I can pick up one of these TA's, mostly refurbed already for about $19K, and it should continue to go up in value as years go by, etc.
I've had a '96 911 turbo (lost that in Katrina), the first year of the C6 vette and other sports cars before that. I currently just want a muscle car, lots of torque in a straight line as a second driver car. I have a small two seater turbo now which is fun, but I want something of a torque monster to play with on alternate days....and gas is once again cheap.
I can still modify my car to have a fun exhaust, tune it for performance.
My cars are in good repair, but I'm not wanting to be overburdened by regulations that suck performance out of my engines and make them sound like crap.
I'm actually looking forward to soon buying a 75-76 muscle car, maybe a Trans Am....455 4-speed and with a cam replacement, and some headers and making into true dual pipes...I can get over 500HP. Something fun to drive from years gone by.
Life's too short not to enjoy it to the max.
I mean, none of us were remotely able to find and get jobs back in the dark ages of the late 90's and early 2000's. Yep, we all lived in caves, some with the luxury of landlines, and almost no internet connectivity for most.
Yep, we were all pretty agrarian, farm families at home with no hope of finding a job outside, nor communicate with anyone further than the end of the block.
Seriously, this wireless and instant communication is a very recent thing....while it makes things MUCH more convenient, it isn't a necessity. If you're very poor, you get your ass out and find out what you need to do. The unemployment office will help you too these days still.
THIS^^
These leaders that are supposed to be representing the peoples' will, seem to be so disconnected from what we the people want.
I think a larger problem is these asshats making this a lifetime career.
I know it stands a snowballs chance in hell, but we desperately need term limits to keep fresh blood more representative of the citizenry going through up there on a regular basis. These govt jobs were NOT meant to be lifetime careers.
Maybe more of a chance of governmental representatives thinking more of the rights of the people over the ever growing power of the govt to restrict the commoners' rights.
I was only referring to the US, being that the data tracking in the article was with reference to the US governmental agencies.
Remember, the Constitution doesn't grant YOU rights, those are natural. The Constitution is there to GRANT the federal govt very limited, enumerated rights. Basically it is supposed to be there to grant them rights and responsibilities, and anything NOT in the constitution is not something they are supposed to be able to do. This was the foundation for a limited, and minimally intrusive form of Federal Govt., which has been bastardized over the years, and many of us would prefer to have reigned in.
The govt is not supposed to be there to track me, nor put out a blanket dragnet of surveillance to try to find any wrongdoers out there. Especially at the Federal level. Possibly more able to at the state level, but at least on state and local level, you have a bit more recourse and influence over the local politicians than at a federal level.
Not to mention, if you don't like the rules of one state you are free to move to a more like minded state. If this is done federally and nationally, you lose that freedom.
But yes, the Constitution is there to grant very LIMITED and enumerated rights, roles and responsibilities for the federal govt. If it isn't in it the constitution, it should not be a power they have.
At least, that's the way and thought behind the construction and mandate of our govt. in the beginning.