Here's the answer to the "why can't I get a date" thing.
All you need to do to get a date is to come across as a cocky, arrogant, rude asshole whenever you talk to women. I don't pretend to understand why, but women eat that shit up. (it doesn't hurt to lay off the computer talk, either....)
Now, if you're looking for a quality, intelligent woman to fall in love with and marry, then things get a little more complicated. The above advice will, however, at least get you laid.
(Yes, I know it's a sad state of affairs, but it does work.)
Sure, she had her problems, but as someone who works in the telecom industry, the hodgepodge of independant carriers and LECs that we have today, all with different rules, rates, and policies, is a complete fucking nightmare.
I'd much rather deal with one large monopoly than several dozen small ones.
Ya know, it's weird. My most recent video card upgrade was for the purpose of being able to play Doom 3. $100 for the card, and another $50 for the game, and I got bored with it after one evening. Haven't touched that game since.
But even after all these years, I still enjoy firing up Quake 2 every now and then.
A gaming PC? Wouldn't spend a dime on one. What I have done is spend about a hundred bucks to upgrade the video card in my general purpose PC.
Then again, the game I still play most frequently is Quake 2. I've tried a lot of the new games, and while the graphics are more impressive, they're just not as enjoyable.
Honestly, it amazes me that consoles continue to sell in the first place. My personal price ceiling for a game console would be about $150, for new tech. At this stage of the game, I'd probably not be willing to drop more than 40 or 50 bucks for a PS2 or Xbox.
Needless to say, the last game console I bought was a SNES.
Actually, as much as I despise the Moto V710, I do have to admit that it has AMAZING voice recognition.
No training, completely speaker independant. It does exactly what you describe. You pick it up, tap a button, say "Call Bob", and it calls Bob.
In pretty much all other aspects it's a lousy product not deserving of the hype it recieved. Interesting that the one thing it does very well (voice rec) never got any hype at all.
Simple, they have the hardware manufacturer include a "feature" to notify the network whenever vibrate mode is enabled, then bill you accordingly.
Considering the degree to which the carriers have managed to get Bluetooth (a hardware feature) crippled, it's not too much of a stretch to imagine them getting the manufacturers to add this functionality to the hardware.
No, that's not automation, it's redistribution of duties.
Sure, it made automation a simpler task to accomplish down the road, but it wasn't automation.
By your line of reasoning, anybody with a job at less than an executive level is "unthinking". That's not a fair assesment. I, for one, have had my share of "mindless" jobs, especially in my youth, but I have never considered myself to be "unthinking".
No, of course I wouldn't be so silly as to claim that Henry Ford's work wasn't a contribution to society. His pioneering of the assembly line was, to the best of my knowledge, a new and novel approach to the production of goods.
I will, however, claim that he didn't "automate" jack shit. He didn't have machines doing the work that people used to do, he simply arranged things so that one person did the same thing over and over, all day long.
I'll also claim that your argument is irrelevant. Any way you spin it, taking an established practice and simply implementing it in the programming language of your choice is not "new", "novel", or "innovative". It's simply shifting old ideas to a new platform. Yes, it's important work, and needs to be done, but it's not deserving of a patent.
I know that the rules read that way on paper, but it doesn't take too much intelligence to look at the patents that they've been granting lately to realize that "the rules" mean very, very little to a patent examiner.
Why should a business practice that has been around for thousands of years be deserving of a patent simply because the retailer in question operates a different type of store? Mom & Pop shops have been making suggestions to customers based on past shopping habits forever.
Why does attaching the word "Internet" suddenly make this a new and novel idea?
"Prior Art" is something that you use to defend yourself when you're being sued for infringement. The USPTO doesn't really take it into consideration during the process of granting a patent.
Well, since you'd be replacing the saline solution with fresh blood that has been stored at normal atmospheric pressure once they got to the surface, the bends would pretty much be a non-issue.
VOIP is VOIP and the regulations still apply. Changing from one type of wire to another to transport your packets doesn't relieve you from following the rules.
And online retailers usually offer better prices and a larger catalogue.
In exchange for being SLOW!!!!
I don't know about you, but when I'm in the market for a new toy, I'm not a patient man. I want it NOW!
I'll happily pay more money in exchange for being able to have the product TODAY rather than having to wait a week for shipping. More often than not, the places that offer the really attractive prices charge so much for shipping that buying it local only costs 5 or 10 bucks extra, anyway.
Not to mention that when I return or exchange something at a brick and mortar, I have the replacement in my hands within a few hours, rather than waiting a week or two while FedEx does its thing.
If you want this keyboard, and you can afford it, then buy it
What about someone who's on the fence about wanting one, and would like to walk into a store and actually lay their hands on the physical unit as part of making up their mind.
A few photos and some text on a web page is no substitute for walking into a brick and mortar and actually holding the physical product in your hands.
Slashdot Mirror
OK, guys...
Here's the answer to the "why can't I get a date" thing.
All you need to do to get a date is to come across as a cocky, arrogant, rude asshole whenever you talk to women. I don't pretend to understand why, but women eat that shit up. (it doesn't hurt to lay off the computer talk, either....)
Now, if you're looking for a quality, intelligent woman to fall in love with and marry, then things get a little more complicated. The above advice will, however, at least get you laid.
(Yes, I know it's a sad state of affairs, but it does work.)
I, for one, do miss Ma Bell.
Sure, she had her problems, but as someone who works in the telecom industry, the hodgepodge of independant carriers and LECs that we have today, all with different rules, rates, and policies, is a complete fucking nightmare.
I'd much rather deal with one large monopoly than several dozen small ones.
Ya know, it's weird. My most recent video card upgrade was for the purpose of being able to play Doom 3. $100 for the card, and another $50 for the game, and I got bored with it after one evening. Haven't touched that game since.
But even after all these years, I still enjoy firing up Quake 2 every now and then.
A gaming PC? Wouldn't spend a dime on one. What I have done is spend about a hundred bucks to upgrade the video card in my general purpose PC.
Then again, the game I still play most frequently is Quake 2. I've tried a lot of the new games, and while the graphics are more impressive, they're just not as enjoyable.
Opens up interesting possibilities.
Yeah, like gravity.
"Creeping up" on the price ceiling? Perhaps.
Honestly, it amazes me that consoles continue to sell in the first place. My personal price ceiling for a game console would be about $150, for new tech. At this stage of the game, I'd probably not be willing to drop more than 40 or 50 bucks for a PS2 or Xbox.
Needless to say, the last game console I bought was a SNES.
Because there's not enough of a market for them to make it profitable to produce them.
Actually, as much as I despise the Moto V710, I do have to admit that it has AMAZING voice recognition.
No training, completely speaker independant. It does exactly what you describe. You pick it up, tap a button, say "Call Bob", and it calls Bob.
In pretty much all other aspects it's a lousy product not deserving of the hype it recieved. Interesting that the one thing it does very well (voice rec) never got any hype at all.
Simple, they have the hardware manufacturer include a "feature" to notify the network whenever vibrate mode is enabled, then bill you accordingly.
Considering the degree to which the carriers have managed to get Bluetooth (a hardware feature) crippled, it's not too much of a stretch to imagine them getting the manufacturers to add this functionality to the hardware.
Would you people fuckin' wake up just for a second and realize that an old idea is an old idea, even if you happen to throw a computer into the mix?
FFS, using a computer to do things that human brains have seen as obvious for hundreds of years does not magically make something "innovative".
Oh, I see.
It's not so much the purchasing habits as it is the browsing habits...
Wow, that's innovative! Can you imagine what the world would be like today if retailers had though up such an idea 20 or 30 years ago?
Yawn.....
OK, so what is the patent about?
Enlighten me, please...
It covers things the user looked at, things other users looked at after looking at the thing the user is currently looking at, and a few other things.
Yeah. Exactly the sort of things that the owners of "Mom & Pop" joints have been watching for almost a thousand years.
Whooptie freakin' do....
Taking a computer and using it to do old things is NOT a new idea...
You want a fuckin' patent? Do me a favor and come up with an original idea, eh? Or do you lack the brainpower for that?
No, that's not automation, it's redistribution of duties.
Sure, it made automation a simpler task to accomplish down the road, but it wasn't automation.
By your line of reasoning, anybody with a job at less than an executive level is "unthinking". That's not a fair assesment. I, for one, have had my share of "mindless" jobs, especially in my youth, but I have never considered myself to be "unthinking".
OK, fine. I'll bite. You're the expert.
Please explain to me how the process of "making product suggestions based on the prior purchasing habits of the customer" is not covered by prior art.
No, of course I wouldn't be so silly as to claim that Henry Ford's work wasn't a contribution to society. His pioneering of the assembly line was, to the best of my knowledge, a new and novel approach to the production of goods.
I will, however, claim that he didn't "automate" jack shit. He didn't have machines doing the work that people used to do, he simply arranged things so that one person did the same thing over and over, all day long.
I'll also claim that your argument is irrelevant. Any way you spin it, taking an established practice and simply implementing it in the programming language of your choice is not "new", "novel", or "innovative". It's simply shifting old ideas to a new platform. Yes, it's important work, and needs to be done, but it's not deserving of a patent.
I'm sorry but YOU'RE dead wrong.
I know that the rules read that way on paper, but it doesn't take too much intelligence to look at the patents that they've been granting lately to realize that "the rules" mean very, very little to a patent examiner.
You are, of course, right...
But let me pose this question.
Why should a business practice that has been around for thousands of years be deserving of a patent simply because the retailer in question operates a different type of store? Mom & Pop shops have been making suggestions to customers based on past shopping habits forever.
Why does attaching the word "Internet" suddenly make this a new and novel idea?
"Prior Art" is something that you use to defend yourself when you're being sued for infringement. The USPTO doesn't really take it into consideration during the process of granting a patent.
(Although they should.)
Well, since you'd be replacing the saline solution with fresh blood that has been stored at normal atmospheric pressure once they got to the surface, the bends would pretty much be a non-issue.
Nope, isn't going to work that way.
VOIP is VOIP and the regulations still apply. Changing from one type of wire to another to transport your packets doesn't relieve you from following the rules.
And online retailers usually offer better prices and a larger catalogue.
In exchange for being SLOW!!!!
I don't know about you, but when I'm in the market for a new toy, I'm not a patient man. I want it NOW!
I'll happily pay more money in exchange for being able to have the product TODAY rather than having to wait a week for shipping. More often than not, the places that offer the really attractive prices charge so much for shipping that buying it local only costs 5 or 10 bucks extra, anyway.
Not to mention that when I return or exchange something at a brick and mortar, I have the replacement in my hands within a few hours, rather than waiting a week or two while FedEx does its thing.
If you want this keyboard, and you can afford it, then buy it
What about someone who's on the fence about wanting one, and would like to walk into a store and actually lay their hands on the physical unit as part of making up their mind.
A few photos and some text on a web page is no substitute for walking into a brick and mortar and actually holding the physical product in your hands.
Guess I learned something today. Although, that service does appear to be on the pricy side, so I'm still happy with the purchase that I made.