Luckily, they have plenty of *general purpose* organic units to fall back on, which, while less efficient than the tube network, can quickly transport the physical objects. Just because no one has "courier" in their job description, doesn't mean there are no available couriers.
The point of this article is that pneumatic tube networks are frelling cool, and they're old tech. To many persons of geeky persuasion (including me), this type of thing is fascinating.
It shouldn't (but probably will) be considered trolling to point out that the political section of their client list consists of the Republican Party, the Conservative Party (of England), The Department of Defense, the Whitehouse, and the State of California. That section hasn't changed in that last year, so I assume it's referring to not only the Republican governor of California, but also Dubbya's Whitehouse. Sounds like they get most, if not all, of their political business from conservative sources.
Apple charges me around $100 each year to upgrade my G4 Mac from 10.3 to 10.4 to 10.5, whereas Microsoft charged me *nothing* to upgrade from XP to XP-SP1 to SP2 to SP3
That is hardly true. Upgrades once a year? 10.3 had a 1.5 year lifespan, 10.4 lasted almost 2.5 years, and 10.5 is nearing it's 2 year mark as well. Plus, the soon-to-come upgrade to 10.6 is only 29 bucks.
Also, Windows service packs are minor updates, mostly for bugfixes and consolidated security patches; Apple doesn't charge for these minor updates either. All the OS X point upgrades (10.3, 10.4, 10.5) were *major* upgrades, packed with new features.
Over the last seven years using Wintel OS has been free, where using Apple's OS has been costly.
In other words, over the last seven years, Windows has not released any new features. And you're ignoring Vista, which you apparently were not forced to upgrade to; Interestingly, you weren't forced to upgrade to 10.3, 10.4 or 10.5, either. You always have the option not to buy; if you don't think the feature set of a particular release is big enough, wait for the next one, and you get double the features for the same price.
The "shortage" was due to the gaming of the system that you mentioned. By shutting down perfectly good, working power plants, less electricity was supplied, creating an illusion of a true shortage. This was the biggest problem. And by extension, it was more profitable to raise energy prices than to build more power plants; nuclear or otherwise..
Do you REALLY think anyone made money selling electricity in a blackout?
Yes.
So, say you own three hydroelectric power plants. You discover that, demand for electricity being what it is, you could still sell two-thirds of your generating capacity if you double the price. So what do you do? You shut one of the plants down for "maintenance", claiming it is disabled, and double the price. You save a bundle of money on overhead for running the plant you shut down, and you make more money selling the electricity than you did before. During the blackouts.
Actually, it's been a problem for a few thousand years, anyway. There has been a boom recently, though, perhaps explained by the fact that a can of spray paint or a sharpie are both much easier to carry, conceal, and use covertly. Imagine a kid trying to sneak a bucket of paint and a brush into a school bathroom...
Nobody is arguing wether we need intellectual property in todayÂs society. But in what form is what is interesting, because we constantly need to shape our society to where we want to go. There is no doubt copyright shouldnÂt extend idefinately, and patents shouldnÂt cover algorithms etc. Actually, we *are* arguing about that. First of all, Intellectual Property is a relatively new term, coming into usage in the last 30 years. The concept of an idea being ownable came with it. Copyright and patent laws had nothing to do with actually *owning* the idea, rather, they were mechanisms to allow a person short-term, exclusive use of a novel idea. Somehow, in the last 30 years or so, IP proponents have caused a paradigm shift so that people think they own their ideas.
But no idea is truly novel, only a distortion or combination of previous ideas, at best arrived at through more detailed observations of reality. And if no idea is truly novel, and all ideas are "stolen" from various other people, then how can it be one person's property?
Don't get me wrong, I think copyrights and patents are good things, with appropriate limitations. If someone spends some time developing an idea, and end up with something novel *enough*, then they should be allowed to profit from the idea. But people need to realize that they don't "own" their ideas. At best, they are custodians of them, with ownership defaulting to the the whole human race.
As far as I know that defense probably wouldn't work. It's akin to leaving your gun on the kitchen table. In the US, the use of various tools implies knowledge & responsible handling. Unless you live in California where you can get away with anything. Hmm. So you're saying that me sharing my wifi with my neighbors is irresponsible? I thought it was called "being nice".
Disclaimer: IANAP (P=physicist) I think the answer is still very close to the same. I'm sure that scientists haven't discovered all the chemical bonds that are possible. It is conceivable that there are undiscovered molecular bonds that hold gigantic amounts of energy. Since that energy has mass, the theoretical upper bound really is defined by e=mc^2.
At most alternative grocery stores (Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, etc) you can buy roasted hemp nuts, which are a similar food to shelled sunflower seeds. Hemp seeds have high protein and fat content, so you can use hemp oil in places you would use, say, olive oil; and with all the protein in them, they can be used to make many of the things that we currently use soybeans for.
Because a couple of those pictures are of a (very old) macintosh. Running System 6 (Mac OS 6), if my eyes (and those scrollbars!) don't deceive me.
The Mac seems to be running some Symbolics software, as well, and sporting a keyboard template for it.
Remember, though: Comcast isn't doing packet shaping. They are sending RST (reset) packets, essentially "hanging up" the connection, pretending to be the server you are talking to.
To detect this, simply scan all the RST packets that come in, and try to detect a pattern of forgery. This is easier, of course, if you can ask the server if the RST packet was real.
WOW. Where the hell do you live, so I can stay away?
I ride the bus in the California bay area; it is *nothing* like you've described. The buses are fast. Commuting by car takes me 35 minutes to over an hour (depending on traffic) while public transport gets me there reliably in 40 minutes.
How do you transport a suitcase, a computer, and a week's shopping on the bus? And where do you leave it when you need to go somewhere? Honestly, when do you have all that stuff at once? A suitcase, a computer, and a week's shopping?!? Please. Be serious.
Spending a few minutes finding a parking spot is better than walking several miles to and from the bus stop. Where I live, there is always a bus stop within a block of me. And since I don't get much exercise at work, the small amount of walking to the bus stop doesn't hurt.
Regardless, There have been times when I searched for parking, and ended up having to park several blocks away. I have to say, if you are going into San Francisco, the best way is to take public transportation. Parking there is a bitch, and/or expensive (parking is often more expensive than getting there).
Yes, a double-decker bus with a couple of pensioners on the way to the post office is far less polluting than a small car... How about a hydrogen fueled bus with thirty or so people on it?
Yes, your arguments make sense for systems that use antique buses, which noone rides, but when people actually use the system, some pretty cool things can happen.
Don't misread this post as saying that public transportation is perfect for everything. I still drive when I am doing major shopping, or when I'm not feeling well. Noone has implemented a good solution for these circumstances yet. But at least 90% of the time, public transportation is worthy of use.
Not sure about the GP, but I'm from California. The last election I voted in had (iirc) four sheets of paper as the ballot. First came national elections (president, senate, house), then state elections (governor, state house and senate), then local (sheriff, mayor, city council), then eight or nine propositions. This easily covers a few sheets of cardstock.
You incorrectly dereferenced your pronoun. GP was referring to the US govt. (specifically the US military). Also, the GP did not state that "they" would love to see the limbs blown off; the statement was that the since the military is short on soldiers, they would probably like to be able to strap a "good as new" prosthetic on them and send them back to the front lines.
Slashdot Mirror
(and no couriers available to fall back on)
Luckily, they have plenty of *general purpose* organic units to fall back on, which, while less efficient than the tube network, can quickly transport the physical objects. Just because no one has "courier" in their job description, doesn't mean there are no available couriers.
The point of this article is that pneumatic tube networks are frelling cool, and they're old tech. To many persons of geeky persuasion (including me), this type of thing is fascinating.
It shouldn't (but probably will) be considered trolling to point out that the political section of their client list consists of the Republican Party, the Conservative Party (of England), The Department of Defense, the Whitehouse, and the State of California. That section hasn't changed in that last year, so I assume it's referring to not only the Republican governor of California, but also Dubbya's Whitehouse. Sounds like they get most, if not all, of their political business from conservative sources.
Apple charges me around $100 each year to upgrade my G4 Mac from 10.3 to 10.4 to 10.5, whereas Microsoft charged me *nothing* to upgrade from XP to XP-SP1 to SP2 to SP3
That is hardly true. Upgrades once a year? 10.3 had a 1.5 year lifespan, 10.4 lasted almost 2.5 years, and 10.5 is nearing it's 2 year mark as well. Plus, the soon-to-come upgrade to 10.6 is only 29 bucks. Also, Windows service packs are minor updates, mostly for bugfixes and consolidated security patches; Apple doesn't charge for these minor updates either. All the OS X point upgrades (10.3, 10.4, 10.5) were *major* upgrades, packed with new features.
Over the last seven years using Wintel OS has been free, where using Apple's OS has been costly.
In other words, over the last seven years, Windows has not released any new features. And you're ignoring Vista, which you apparently were not forced to upgrade to; Interestingly, you weren't forced to upgrade to 10.3, 10.4 or 10.5, either. You always have the option not to buy; if you don't think the feature set of a particular release is big enough, wait for the next one, and you get double the features for the same price.
But I wasn't even thinking of eating it. Why would they print that? Must be part of some corporate mindfsck. I wonder what it tastes like...
The "shortage" was due to the gaming of the system that you mentioned. By shutting down perfectly good, working power plants, less electricity was supplied, creating an illusion of a true shortage. This was the biggest problem. And by extension, it was more profitable to raise energy prices than to build more power plants; nuclear or otherwise..
Do you REALLY think anyone made money selling electricity in a blackout?
Yes.
So, say you own three hydroelectric power plants. You discover that, demand for electricity being what it is, you could still sell two-thirds of your generating capacity if you double the price. So what do you do? You shut one of the plants down for "maintenance", claiming it is disabled, and double the price. You save a bundle of money on overhead for running the plant you shut down, and you make more money selling the electricity than you did before. During the blackouts.
Yes, stuff like that really did happen.
Yeah, I'm sure rolling blackouts due to lack of government regulations does wonders for an economy.
There, fixed it for you.
Actually, it's been a problem for a few thousand years, anyway. There has been a boom recently, though, perhaps explained by the fact that a can of spray paint or a sharpie are both much easier to carry, conceal, and use covertly. Imagine a kid trying to sneak a bucket of paint and a brush into a school bathroom...
But no idea is truly novel, only a distortion or combination of previous ideas, at best arrived at through more detailed observations of reality. And if no idea is truly novel, and all ideas are "stolen" from various other people, then how can it be one person's property?
Don't get me wrong, I think copyrights and patents are good things, with appropriate limitations. If someone spends some time developing an idea, and end up with something novel *enough*, then they should be allowed to profit from the idea. But people need to realize that they don't "own" their ideas. At best, they are custodians of them, with ownership defaulting to the the whole human race.
That's a long way down the road. They only just released "Hairy Hardon".
...
Wait, did I get the name right?
...something might be wrong with the article their reading...
/bring on the corrections hmmmm, where to start?Disclaimer: IANAP (P=physicist)
I think the answer is still very close to the same. I'm sure that scientists haven't discovered all the chemical bonds that are possible. It is conceivable that there are undiscovered molecular bonds that hold gigantic amounts of energy. Since that energy has mass, the theoretical upper bound really is defined by e=mc^2.
good grief, listen to yourself!!!!
"irrevocable" is an absolute term, just like "bricked". By very definition, if something is eventually revoked, it wasn't irrevocable.
Please, go back to grade school. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars.
At most alternative grocery stores (Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, etc) you can buy roasted hemp nuts, which are a similar food to shelled sunflower seeds. Hemp seeds have high protein and fat content, so you can use hemp oil in places you would use, say, olive oil; and with all the protein in them, they can be used to make many of the things that we currently use soybeans for.
Because a couple of those pictures are of a (very old) macintosh. Running System 6 (Mac OS 6), if my eyes (and those scrollbars!) don't deceive me. The Mac seems to be running some Symbolics software, as well, and sporting a keyboard template for it.
Remember, though: Comcast isn't doing packet shaping. They are sending RST (reset) packets, essentially "hanging up" the connection, pretending to be the server you are talking to.
To detect this, simply scan all the RST packets that come in, and try to detect a pattern of forgery. This is easier, of course, if you can ask the server if the RST packet was real.
*sigh* This is an example of Objective-C.
However, I wonder how this impacts people who have no stable postal address?
I ride the bus in the California bay area; it is *nothing* like you've described. The buses are fast. Commuting by car takes me 35 minutes to over an hour (depending on traffic) while public transport gets me there reliably in 40 minutes.
How do you transport a suitcase, a computer, and a week's shopping on the bus? And where do you leave it when you need to go somewhere? Honestly, when do you have all that stuff at once? A suitcase, a computer, and a week's shopping?!? Please. Be serious. Spending a few minutes finding a parking spot is better than walking several miles to and from the bus stop. Where I live, there is always a bus stop within a block of me. And since I don't get much exercise at work, the small amount of walking to the bus stop doesn't hurt.Regardless, There have been times when I searched for parking, and ended up having to park several blocks away. I have to say, if you are going into San Francisco, the best way is to take public transportation. Parking there is a bitch, and/or expensive (parking is often more expensive than getting there).
Yes, a double-decker bus with a couple of pensioners on the way to the post office is far less polluting than a small car... How about a hydrogen fueled bus with thirty or so people on it?Yes, your arguments make sense for systems that use antique buses, which noone rides, but when people actually use the system, some pretty cool things can happen.
Don't misread this post as saying that public transportation is perfect for everything. I still drive when I am doing major shopping, or when I'm not feeling well. Noone has implemented a good solution for these circumstances yet. But at least 90% of the time, public transportation is worthy of use.
Not sure about the GP, but I'm from California. The last election I voted in had (iirc) four sheets of paper as the ballot. First came national elections (president, senate, house), then state elections (governor, state house and senate), then local (sheriff, mayor, city council), then eight or nine propositions. This easily covers a few sheets of cardstock.
You incorrectly dereferenced your pronoun. GP was referring to the US govt. (specifically the US military). Also, the GP did not state that "they" would love to see the limbs blown off; the statement was that the since the military is short on soldiers, they would probably like to be able to strap a "good as new" prosthetic on them and send them back to the front lines.