Further, the natural Chinese economic advantage (lots of cheap labor), is of little value in the aerospace realm. Sure, you can have folks using picks and shovels on a dam along side modern construction equipment. But on a Saturn V/N-1 type rocket? Not likely.
Yeah, but they have the labor to build so many bad rockets, all they'd have to do is stack them up and climb to the moon.:-)
How do you think you get those "recommendations"? Brain waves? You're being recoded. And by name. Make no mistake.
You realize there's a computer IN the Tivo, right?
Look, I'm as concerned about the way things are heading in this world as anyone, but I refuse to decend into the world of black helicopters, Ryder Truck bombs and mystical trans-national agencies with a perpetual hard-on to know what Joe Nobody in Who Cares, New Hampshire is watching on Teevee tonight.
Pretty simple. Everyone I know with DBS has DirecTV, and they were all happy with it. I researched Dish, but didn't find anything significantly different to justify going with them.
I think some people are into doing things themselves, and if they have the parts/money then why not try it?
Oh, that's fine. I've no problem with that. I just don't understand those that will disparage me because I chose to buy the Tivo and do something else in my computer hobby.
Why? Because TiVo records EVERYTHING you do. EVERYTHING. Somewhere, somehow, the endless intrusion and archiving of our lives MUST STOP.
On a service where I agreed to sign up. and the data is not correlated by name. It's aggregate. I'll never understand this sort of paranoia.
Look, I liked Firefly. It was the #1 Season Pass on Tivo. If the networks would look at Tivo data as well as the outdated Neilsen system, and a few good shows survive as a reasult, then please record my viewing.
The government/multi-national conglomerate has you cataloged 5 ways to Sunday. The "If you're not doing anything wrong you shouldn't mind" attitude is what is losing us all the fredoms someone (obviously neither you nor I) shed blood for. Even up here in the "Live Free or Die" state the cops are forced to conduct roadblocks and peer into every car under the guise of "seat belt enforcement" Of course it's OK, it's "for the children".
This has nothing to do with Tivo. It's a non sequitur shackled to a strawman.
If that's not enough reason to reject even the concept of considering TiVo, you deserve the compartmentalized, regimented, programmed, bought and sold little life you live. Freedom, privacy, and self-respect are lost in little bits, and that is also how they are taken back.
Do you even realize that *you* are about 5 times scarier than anything you mentioned? You're an ideologue, dude. You lump everything together into one, vast boogeyman. Seat-belt searches and Tivo? Huh? Does that comparison actually make sense in your mind?
I'd offer some suggestions to help, but as far as I have ever been able to observe, ideology is a terminal illness. No one ever recovers. Sorry.
I wonder how many other people are feeling this effect?
I had a slightly opposite reaction. I'm watching a little more because I find more movies to watch with Tivo's search functions (and I never had the premium channels before), but I'm not spending all that much more time watching. In fact, I think I'm spending a little less.
The 30 second skip is the key here (Tivo has it, but you need to activate it via a secret code). Not only do I skip through commercials very quickly, but I've started skipping what I call "filler segments" in movies and television shows. An example would be extended shots of a car driving as the characters go from one location to another, or "music video" sections of movies that add nothing to the overall plot or any scene with Adam Sandler. If I record a news analysis show or one of the Sunday morning gabfests, I can skip to topics I find interesting.
And let's be proper and use "Hispanic" rather than "Mexican".
No thanks. I'll use the words I feel like using.:-) Besides, the majority of the Hispanics here are from Mexico or Mexican decent. This is like complaining about the term "Canadian". Nothing disparging going on. Just not my cup of tea (or schooner of Corona), musicwise.
How about "Spanish" because that's the language they use on those station?
I'm serious, and not trying to pick on people, but I can't quite see my way to bothering.
I used to have a Replay (Panasonic Showstopper), but bought a Tivo when I went to DirecTV because my local cable provider finally annoyed me enough. I picked up a combined "DirecTivo" unit.
For $199 I got free installation with dish (and they did a great job) and a dual tuner unit (Hughes HDVR2). The HDVR2 records the original data stream from the satellite (IOW, no digital-analog-digital generation loss) so the recorded shows look as good as watching live. My local channels come in over the dish now, and show up in the proper channel slots (2, 4, 5, 7, etc.) instead of up in the 600s or 700s. Satellite, local, and pay per view are all integrated into a slick package.
Cost in time: none. I'm able to log into work from home over a VPN, so I just worked at home the days of installation. Yeah, my cable company still gets me for Internet, but they achieved fiber optics at the curb in my area and reasonably priced megabit access, so that's OK.
The monthly charge for the Tivo service is only $6 through DirecTV for some reason. Honestly, if I have to worry about a $6 a month charge, I have greater concerns that watching television more efficiently.
I read accounts of the roll your own approach, and it just seems like endless hours of annoyance. I like to program and mess about with my computers (I have Macs, PCs and Linux boxen), but I really can't see the point to re-inventing the wheel in this case. They do seem to be getting a little more plug and play, but still... the claims of "it's free this way" completely ignores the value of a person's time.
As for the comparison, I liked the Replay a lot. It was my first DVR, and I had a definite "how did I live without this" reaction. However, I like the Tivo more for three reasons: "to do" list, better conflict resolution, and better search functions.
I like the direct recording of the original data stream, but Replay could just as easily do that in a combo unit, I imagine. I don't care about sending stuff to the computer, so I can't speak to that. Ultimately, it's just TV... that's why I like the DVRs in the first place- they make my TV time much more efficient (and shorter). If I just HAVE to have a copy of a movie, DVDs are cheap.
Guglielmo Marconi has released a new system for music delivery, its called "Radio". Unfortunately, it doesn't provide the ability to select a particular song, but it does provide the ability to choose genre.
Unfortunately, you're limited to only three genres, at least that's the situation here in SoCal. Pick one:
Yeah but a rfid-reader wallet connected to the net could report that you've been mugged immediately and 'deactivate' all those notes, making the mugging pointless (the money stops working in all rfid-aware connected cash registers)...
Ah, but the mugger will work with the hackers (who receive a cut) to disable the security system in your wallet while it's still in your pocket. And, seriously, do you really want hackers in your pants?
Do baking bread and brewing beer even qualify as lost arts?
I know five people who make their own beer and wine (not to mention the multitude of microbrewery brands that have popped up in recent years), and a good third of an aisle at my grocery store is ready to bake mixtures for those home bread machines. I have one myself because they make the perfect sized loaf for lonely single guys like me.
"Miss Johnson? The is the Pentagon. We have found your soul mate. Mr. Hussein will be arriving at your home soon to start the beginning of a beautiful relationship. As our service was a match or don't pay system, we will be billing your Visa card $125,400.00. Thank you for your business."
Where are the sex robots?
on
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· Score: 3, Funny
You know you want one. You know that's what will launch the robot industry just like sex lit a fire under the video industry and the internet and just about everything else.
A robot that licks and begs and follows orders is great, but not when it's a dog.
As for home defense, well, when the robot is not otherwise occupied (with sex or cleaning house or making me dinner, dammit) it's dressed in it's Carrie Anne Moss "Trinity" outfit and in full Kung-Fu mode.
Yeah, I have a sick, perverse and chauvinistic mind, but it's a very focused sick, perverse chauvinism, and that's a good thing. I think.
Actually, these robots would liberate women from having to deal with twisted desires and expectations of men raised on anime and Maxim magazine, and they can go form knitting circles or covens or whatever it is they do on "girl's night out."
You have to get up off your fat ass for it to clean up the mountain of Cheet-o crumbs underneath you.
Wow! I reread my simple little offhand quip about corners several times to see what set this off, but I can't quite find anything, so I'll just have to chalk it up to you being a total and complete loser.:-)
FWIW, I'm 6'3" and 195 lbs, so not fat, and I prefer Cheeze Puffs over Cheetos. So there. Ha!
Do experts in other fields (if I may be so bold as to count myself an "expert" in it) get as frustrated with journalists, or is it just a particular problem with science and tech journalism?
You are not alone. If you are still in college (or still facing starting it) by any chance, take a journalism course as a general ed elective. I did because I like writing and wanted to try something other than short stories. It was an eye opener about the sorts of people who major in journalism (by the end of the semester you know who's who). There was a large contingent of opinionated "crusader" types deeply steeped in ideology (which I personally rank as a mental illness).
OK, point granted on that one. I haven't bougt a paperback in several months on Amazon. However it's still cheaper than local stores given the free shipping, or at least until the corrupt, evil hippies running California enforce the sales tax for out-of-state purchases.:-\
I also just like that big box full of books showing up.:) As for oddballs, Amazon got me into the world of graphic novels and magna. I can't even find those at local bookstores, and I'm just too damned old to walk into a comic store.:-(
- was to get Wall Street to buy nothing thinking they were buying something
At least Amazon had and has a product, unlike a lot of dotcoms. It's still up to the investor to do due dilligence. I made some nice cash riding AMZN up because lots of investor *didn't* do theirs.
- was to create a web site where negative comments are systematically deleted hence convice everyone they're buying something great
Aw. Did they delete your "Ths book sux!" comment? Or your 19 page treatise on why Xenosaga was an inferior RPG? Personally, I see plenty of negative comments. I posted a few myself, and they are still there.
in the end, the american sheeple always needs to buy something: a stock, a Michael Crichton book, a scooter, the latest piece of crap their neighbour just bought.
Oh, please lead us from our squalor, Mr... wait, who the flying fuck at a rolling donut are you again, oh enlightened one? Please. Spare us. You're Joe (or Jane) Nobody from Who Cares, Nowhere just like the rest of us.
So what should we do? Squat in communes and scratch away at politico manifestos into the wee hours of the morning and only buy ideologically sound books printed with soy ink on hemp paper and sold at open air markets next to the free range organic vegetable corral?
I, for one, have done well in the stock market, and I'm just Mr. Average with a discount online broker account. I made a tidy killing buying Enron put options when the rumors first started.:-) Michael Crichton isn't my cup of tea (Timeline was OK), but I know plenty of scientists and engineers (and my GP doctor) who enjoy him for a light read.
Maybe if you worked hard to increase your earning power, you'd not be so jeaous of people who can buy whatever crap they feel like buying.
This has got to be a post from a parallel universe. I just spot checked about 15 books at random on Amazon, and they are all at the usual 20 to 30% discount. Add the fact that orders over $25 are free shipping, and no local stores can compete, especially in terms of selection. Local bookstores have become quite dumbed down in their science and engineering sections, and the SF/Fantasy aisles seem dominated by cookie cutter series.
I've ordered from amazon nearly 50 times by now, and I have never encountered a single problem. I always check "ship as one order", but Amazon commonly ships multiple packages as the books become available, and all at their cost.
One thing I would like to see is the discounts applied to engineering texts. I can't find anyone who does that, and Amazon would own that market if they did. The nearest technical bookstores to me are all 20 miles or more away, have horrific parking in crime ridden areas and charge full price. Why is it that the most intellectual bookstores are always in the most non-intellectual areas?
Amazon is one of the few online stores done right. Their crossreferencing of every book in multiple ways has led me to authors I never would have otherwise discovered. Never understood the "evil" labeling of Amazon. Because of some patent silliness? At least they're not dumping poison into rivers or releasing buggy operating systems or something.
Dude, you owe me a new irony meter. You blew mine right through the ceiling. People could have died, man!
And again, who cares about Tyler? The shows still fun to watch for the builds. Like I said, people need to lighten up. Grumbling "Ug, I'm turned off just thinking about it." is neither light nor up. It's taking the show, and yourself, too seriously.
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Yeah, but they have the labor to build so many bad rockets, all they'd have to do is stack them up and climb to the moon. :-)
Tivo's data recording was well publicized.
How do you think you get those "recommendations"? Brain waves? You're being recoded. And by name. Make no mistake.
You realize there's a computer IN the Tivo, right?
Look, I'm as concerned about the way things are heading in this world as anyone, but I refuse to decend into the world of black helicopters, Ryder Truck bombs and mystical trans-national agencies with a perpetual hard-on to know what Joe Nobody in Who Cares, New Hampshire is watching on Teevee tonight.
Pretty simple. Everyone I know with DBS has DirecTV, and they were all happy with it. I researched Dish, but didn't find anything significantly different to justify going with them.
I think some people are into doing things themselves, and if they have the parts/money then why not try it?
Oh, that's fine. I've no problem with that. I just don't understand those that will disparage me because I chose to buy the Tivo and do something else in my computer hobby.
On a service where I agreed to sign up. and the data is not correlated by name. It's aggregate. I'll never understand this sort of paranoia.
Look, I liked Firefly. It was the #1 Season Pass on Tivo. If the networks would look at Tivo data as well as the outdated Neilsen system, and a few good shows survive as a reasult, then please record my viewing.
The government/multi-national conglomerate has you cataloged 5 ways to Sunday. The "If you're not doing anything wrong you shouldn't mind" attitude is what is losing us all the fredoms someone (obviously neither you nor I) shed blood for. Even up here in the "Live Free or Die" state the cops are forced to conduct roadblocks and peer into every car under the guise of "seat belt enforcement" Of course it's OK, it's "for the children".
This has nothing to do with Tivo. It's a non sequitur shackled to a strawman.
If that's not enough reason to reject even the concept of considering TiVo, you deserve the compartmentalized, regimented, programmed, bought and sold little life you live. Freedom, privacy, and self-respect are lost in little bits, and that is also how they are taken back.
Do you even realize that *you* are about 5 times scarier than anything you mentioned? You're an ideologue, dude. You lump everything together into one, vast boogeyman. Seat-belt searches and Tivo? Huh? Does that comparison actually make sense in your mind?
I'd offer some suggestions to help, but as far as I have ever been able to observe, ideology is a terminal illness. No one ever recovers. Sorry.
I had a slightly opposite reaction. I'm watching a little more because I find more movies to watch with Tivo's search functions (and I never had the premium channels before), but I'm not spending all that much more time watching. In fact, I think I'm spending a little less.
The 30 second skip is the key here (Tivo has it, but you need to activate it via a secret code). Not only do I skip through commercials very quickly, but I've started skipping what I call "filler segments" in movies and television shows. An example would be extended shots of a car driving as the characters go from one location to another, or "music video" sections of movies that add nothing to the overall plot or any scene with Adam Sandler. If I record a news analysis show or one of the Sunday morning gabfests, I can skip to topics I find interesting.
Both banal and preteen.
And let's be proper and use "Hispanic" rather than "Mexican".
No thanks. I'll use the words I feel like using. :-) Besides, the majority of the Hispanics here are from Mexico or Mexican decent. This is like complaining about the term "Canadian". Nothing disparging going on. Just not my cup of tea (or schooner of Corona), musicwise.
How about "Spanish" because that's the language they use on those station?
I used to have a Replay (Panasonic Showstopper), but bought a Tivo when I went to DirecTV because my local cable provider finally annoyed me enough. I picked up a combined "DirecTivo" unit.
For $199 I got free installation with dish (and they did a great job) and a dual tuner unit (Hughes HDVR2). The HDVR2 records the original data stream from the satellite (IOW, no digital-analog-digital generation loss) so the recorded shows look as good as watching live. My local channels come in over the dish now, and show up in the proper channel slots (2, 4, 5, 7, etc.) instead of up in the 600s or 700s. Satellite, local, and pay per view are all integrated into a slick package.
Cost in time: none. I'm able to log into work from home over a VPN, so I just worked at home the days of installation. Yeah, my cable company still gets me for Internet, but they achieved fiber optics at the curb in my area and reasonably priced megabit access, so that's OK.
The monthly charge for the Tivo service is only $6 through DirecTV for some reason. Honestly, if I have to worry about a $6 a month charge, I have greater concerns that watching television more efficiently.
I read accounts of the roll your own approach, and it just seems like endless hours of annoyance. I like to program and mess about with my computers (I have Macs, PCs and Linux boxen), but I really can't see the point to re-inventing the wheel in this case. They do seem to be getting a little more plug and play, but still... the claims of "it's free this way" completely ignores the value of a person's time.
As for the comparison, I liked the Replay a lot. It was my first DVR, and I had a definite "how did I live without this" reaction. However, I like the Tivo more for three reasons: "to do" list, better conflict resolution, and better search functions.
I like the direct recording of the original data stream, but Replay could just as easily do that in a combo unit, I imagine. I don't care about sending stuff to the computer, so I can't speak to that. Ultimately, it's just TV... that's why I like the DVRs in the first place- they make my TV time much more efficient (and shorter). If I just HAVE to have a copy of a movie, DVDs are cheap.
Unfortunately, you're limited to only three genres, at least that's the situation here in SoCal. Pick one:
Ah, but the mugger will work with the hackers (who receive a cut) to disable the security system in your wallet while it's still in your pocket. And, seriously, do you really want hackers in your pants?
I know five people who make their own beer and wine (not to mention the multitude of microbrewery brands that have popped up in recent years), and a good third of an aisle at my grocery store is ready to bake mixtures for those home bread machines. I have one myself because they make the perfect sized loaf for lonely single guys like me.
It was the #1 season pass on Tivo, don't ya know.
"Miss Johnson? The is the Pentagon. We have found your soul mate. Mr. Hussein will be arriving at your home soon to start the beginning of a beautiful relationship. As our service was a match or don't pay system, we will be billing your Visa card $125,400.00. Thank you for your business."
"Soon to be a Microsoft standard."
A robot that licks and begs and follows orders is great, but not when it's a dog.
As for home defense, well, when the robot is not otherwise occupied (with sex or cleaning house or making me dinner, dammit) it's dressed in it's Carrie Anne Moss "Trinity" outfit and in full Kung-Fu mode.
Yeah, I have a sick, perverse and chauvinistic mind, but it's a very focused sick, perverse chauvinism, and that's a good thing. I think.
Actually, these robots would liberate women from having to deal with twisted desires and expectations of men raised on anime and Maxim magazine, and they can go form knitting circles or covens or whatever it is they do on "girl's night out."
Ah, blow me, geek. :-P My evolutionary branch is at least 50,000 years ahead of yours. So there. Ha, I showed him a thing or three.
Everything else can pretty much be derived from that.
Sorry. Pissy mood today. Monday and all that.
Wow! I reread my simple little offhand quip about corners several times to see what set this off, but I can't quite find anything, so I'll just have to chalk it up to you being a total and complete loser. :-)
FWIW, I'm 6'3" and 195 lbs, so not fat, and I prefer Cheeze Puffs over Cheetos. So there. Ha!
Rectangular rooms. Result: dirty corners.
You are not alone. If you are still in college (or still facing starting it) by any chance, take a journalism course as a general ed elective. I did because I like writing and wanted to try something other than short stories. It was an eye opener about the sorts of people who major in journalism (by the end of the semester you know who's who). There was a large contingent of opinionated "crusader" types deeply steeped in ideology (which I personally rank as a mental illness).
I also just like that big box full of books showing up. :) As for oddballs, Amazon got me into the world of graphic novels and magna. I can't even find those at local bookstores, and I'm just too damned old to walk into a comic store. :-(
At least Amazon had and has a product, unlike a lot of dotcoms. It's still up to the investor to do due dilligence. I made some nice cash riding AMZN up because lots of investor *didn't* do theirs.
- was to create a web site where negative comments are systematically deleted hence convice everyone they're buying something great
Aw. Did they delete your "Ths book sux!" comment? Or your 19 page treatise on why Xenosaga was an inferior RPG? Personally, I see plenty of negative comments. I posted a few myself, and they are still there.
in the end, the american sheeple always needs to buy something: a stock, a Michael Crichton book, a scooter, the latest piece of crap their neighbour just bought.
Oh, please lead us from our squalor, Mr... wait, who the flying fuck at a rolling donut are you again, oh enlightened one? Please. Spare us. You're Joe (or Jane) Nobody from Who Cares, Nowhere just like the rest of us.
So what should we do? Squat in communes and scratch away at politico manifestos into the wee hours of the morning and only buy ideologically sound books printed with soy ink on hemp paper and sold at open air markets next to the free range organic vegetable corral?
I, for one, have done well in the stock market, and I'm just Mr. Average with a discount online broker account. I made a tidy killing buying Enron put options when the rumors first started. :-) Michael Crichton isn't my cup of tea (Timeline was OK), but I know plenty of scientists and engineers (and my GP doctor) who enjoy him for a light read.
Maybe if you worked hard to increase your earning power, you'd not be so jeaous of people who can buy whatever crap they feel like buying.
I've ordered from amazon nearly 50 times by now, and I have never encountered a single problem. I always check "ship as one order", but Amazon commonly ships multiple packages as the books become available, and all at their cost.
One thing I would like to see is the discounts applied to engineering texts. I can't find anyone who does that, and Amazon would own that market if they did. The nearest technical bookstores to me are all 20 miles or more away, have horrific parking in crime ridden areas and charge full price. Why is it that the most intellectual bookstores are always in the most non-intellectual areas?
Amazon is one of the few online stores done right. Their crossreferencing of every book in multiple ways has led me to authors I never would have otherwise discovered. Never understood the "evil" labeling of Amazon. Because of some patent silliness? At least they're not dumping poison into rivers or releasing buggy operating systems or something.
Uuummm.... fear of microphones?
Fear of germs?
Fear of tiny gay men?
Honestly, you'd think the Internet would have spread information to the four corners of the Earth, but all it does it perpetuate the myths.
Followed by...
I'm 37 and still laugh at "poo poo" jokes.
Dude, you owe me a new irony meter. You blew mine right through the ceiling. People could have died, man!
And again, who cares about Tyler? The shows still fun to watch for the builds. Like I said, people need to lighten up. Grumbling "Ug, I'm turned off just thinking about it." is neither light nor up. It's taking the show, and yourself, too seriously.