The same has been said of Maxtor, Quantum, Western Digital, IBM, Hitachi, Fujitsu... you name it.
*Every* HD manufacturer has had a bad batch, a bad design, or just bad luck, every now and then.
The same is true with practically any manfuacturer of physical (or probably other) goods. Some car makers have bad years, or a design flaw makes it into a particular model.
It is virtually impossible to make any valid claims that brand x is better/worse than brand y based on a single model/style of product. Even if you have 100 brand x widgets and 100 brand y widgets, you may have a defective model of brand x. Or you may have gotten lucky and gotten a good model of brand y.
The only useful conclusion that can be drawn from an experience like yours is that _that model_ of Seagate drive is less reliable than _that model_ of Hitachi drive in those specific respective environments, and under theose specific respective usage patterns. That's it.
You obviously have done zero research into this matter. A TiVo, MythTV, or any retail PVR of your choosing can work with practically any cable or satelite company. There are a few limitations... About the only one that can't be worked around is getting HD content off of encrypted channels. Just about anything else can be done without a problem.
I don't understand what you think is "goofy" about this. I put 10 gallons of gas into my Prius, I get 500 miles out of those 10 gallons. Hence, 50MPG. The fact that there is an electrical aspect is irrelevant.
That's simply not true. In your example, you do get 50mpg, because the eletricity you use to achieve 50mpg is generated by the gasoline in your tank.
If you plug your car in at home, then you are using an external fuel source (the electric outlet, which in turn is powered by some other fuel--perhaps fossil fuel, perhaps wind, perhaps nuclear, whatever).
Using your logic, I could put 5 gallons of gasoline a friend gave me into my tank along with 5 gallons I paid for, then drive 500 miles, and get 100mpg, because I only _paid_ for 5 gallons of gasoline.
Using that logic, I get 228mpg in my car! My car runs on vegitable oil I get for free that I mix with other agents... On friday, I put 10 gallons of free veg oil in my tank, along with 2 gallons of other fuel. 12 gallons of fuel @ 38mpg = 456 miles. 456 miles / 2 gallons paid for = 228 mpg. Wow! And I didn't even have to pay for fancy batteries!
I use Greencine (less evil version of Netflix??), and I use my subscription a bit differently. To me "unlimited rentals" is an excuse to return movies as quickly as possible, so I get the most movies per dollar.
When my rental arrives, I immediately rip it to the hard drive on my living room PC (attached to my LCD TV). Then I return the movie ASAP, and watch the image on the PC at my leasure (often after subsequent movie(s) have arrived). Yeah, so it's not legal... I call it "Time-shifted DVD rentals":)
And for the record, I *do* delete the images after I watch them! Honest!
Yes, it is a bunch of work. But it won't be long (relative to the likely lifetime of HD-DVD/BluRay) before hardware that can do this very efficiently will exist. It used to be nearly impossible to copy a CD. Even when CD burners came out, the initial investment was huge ($1000+), it took an hour to burn a disc, and cost $10+ for a blank media. Then DVD burners came out. And the burners were expensive, the media cost $10+, and it took a long time to rip and burn the media. And to recode the DVD to another format, we had to wait quite a while for the loose-DRM to be hacked.
All in all, it's my opinion that it will be just a matter of time before we can copy HD-DVD/BluRay with ease. Either because the HD frame-grabbing hardware will become cheap (quad-core CPUs will be a commodoty soon), and/or because someone can find a way around the DRM. Most likely both.
Of course I still think DRM sucks, even if I don't think it will keep me from copying HD content for very long.
"I just got an $1800 ticket for texting while driving"
"Texting" isn't even a verb in your example. The only verb in that sentence is "got." "Text" would be a verb, as in "I text people." But "texting", as another poster mentioned, is a gerund.
A simple (not fool proof) test to see whether a word is a verb, would be to try replacing it with another word. "I just got an $1800 ticket for paint" makes sense (gramatically, not necissarily logically). "Paint" is obviously not a verb.
My computer reboots.
This is a true story that happened to a customer who lived in a rural area when I worked for a dialup ISP several years ago.
Living in a rural area, the customer got their water from a well, and whenever the toilet would flush, their water reserve would suddenly drop low enough to kick on their water pump, and cause a temporary brown out.
No digit will ever be the same as the same digit in any previous 15 passwords. It contains numbers, lower and upper case letters, and a non-alphanumeric character.
Aside from pricing or AUP's, etc... what's the big deal?
There are existing technologies already in place that can provide way more "bandwidth" than we actually get to use. In my area Cox offers a 9mbit connection... and is physically capable of much more.
Granted, Verizon (and all the Bells) don't have this sort of physical capability over old copper, so I see why they're trying to catch up with this fiber stuff. And I'm not saying it's a bad thing. It's just not anything very new. It's just a new method to achieve the same-old-results. So I still have to ask: What's the big deal?
But what about the 'games' we play at work?
on
Just Let Me Play!
·
· Score: 3, Funny
My biggest problem is that my boss makes me play too many games before I get to accomplish any real work. I'm trying to earn an honest day's pay for an honest day's work... But all I get to do is waste time playing games!
Lots of weird magical weapons just waiting to be found.
"Lots" in a relatively loose sense of the word.
How truely different is a "Broad Sword" and a "King's Broad Sword" and a "King's Blue Broad Sword" and a "King's Blue Broad Sword of Fear" and a "King's Blue Broad Sword of Lots of Fear" and a... you get the idea.
Having several modifiers you can add to a weapon doesn't (in my opinion) make each possible variation of that weapon a unique special item.
Diablo's approach to weapon manufacturing reminds me of a simple BASIC program I thought was cool back in Jr. High I called 'insults'. "You $var1 $var2 of $var3 $var4!" where $var1 = adjective, $var2 = noun, $var3=adjective, $var4=noun. The number of possible insults is equal to the possible values of each multiplied together. Plug in 10 possible words into each place, and whoalla! 10,000 possible insults!
You smelly vat of retarted goat droppings!
You ugly pile of rotting worm guts!
You redundant naming scheme of silly weapons!
So, how does a maker of B-quality DOS and console games go on to become the single most successful videogame company in the history of the world?
By creating very unique, original gaming concepts, such as the "Role Playing Game," adding lots of custom content, including interesting levels, unique character types, and a wide range of items you can interact with... and putting it into a single package called "Diablo" then remove all of the complexities that would actually make the game interesting!
No, I'm serious! Diablo is a revolution in gaming technology and creativity! Compare it to...
You're right. I'm lying. So what is the secret? I guess I need to go read the article now.
World population is roughly 6.6 billion...
Land acreage is roughly 37.3 billion acres...
That comes to an average population of 2.85 people per 16-acres.
So... 3 people per 16 acres should be the *average* load. In this scenario, I'd guestimate that max would be closer to 50-100x the average if you take into account high population density apartment buildings, etc.
Even if we consider that they aren't simulating apartment buildings, though... my low-population density neighborhood has well over 3 people per 16 acres. Heck... my HOUSE has more than 3 people per 16 acres. I grew up on about a 2-acre lot, in a 7-member household. That's 56 people per 16-acres.
Slashdot Mirror
*Every* HD manufacturer has had a bad batch, a bad design, or just bad luck, every now and then.
The same is true with practically any manfuacturer of physical (or probably other) goods. Some car makers have bad years, or a design flaw makes it into a particular model.
It is virtually impossible to make any valid claims that brand x is better/worse than brand y based on a single model/style of product. Even if you have 100 brand x widgets and 100 brand y widgets, you may have a defective model of brand x. Or you may have gotten lucky and gotten a good model of brand y.
The only useful conclusion that can be drawn from an experience like yours is that _that model_ of Seagate drive is less reliable than _that model_ of Hitachi drive in those specific respective environments, and under theose specific respective usage patterns. That's it.
Tomorrow Google online dating?
You obviously have done zero research into this matter. A TiVo, MythTV, or any retail PVR of your choosing can work with practically any cable or satelite company. There are a few limitations... About the only one that can't be worked around is getting HD content off of encrypted channels. Just about anything else can be done without a problem.
That's simply not true. In your example, you do get 50mpg, because the eletricity you use to achieve 50mpg is generated by the gasoline in your tank.
If you plug your car in at home, then you are using an external fuel source (the electric outlet, which in turn is powered by some other fuel--perhaps fossil fuel, perhaps wind, perhaps nuclear, whatever).
Using your logic, I could put 5 gallons of gasoline a friend gave me into my tank along with 5 gallons I paid for, then drive 500 miles, and get 100mpg, because I only _paid_ for 5 gallons of gasoline.
Using that logic, I get 228mpg in my car! My car runs on vegitable oil I get for free that I mix with other agents... On friday, I put 10 gallons of free veg oil in my tank, along with 2 gallons of other fuel. 12 gallons of fuel @ 38mpg = 456 miles. 456 miles / 2 gallons paid for = 228 mpg. Wow! And I didn't even have to pay for fancy batteries!
Like the used vegitable oil I get from Denny's every couple days...
Cell phones that play MP3s?
When my rental arrives, I immediately rip it to the hard drive on my living room PC (attached to my LCD TV). Then I return the movie ASAP, and watch the image on the PC at my leasure (often after subsequent movie(s) have arrived). Yeah, so it's not legal... I call it "Time-shifted DVD rentals" :)
And for the record, I *do* delete the images after I watch them! Honest!
All in all, it's my opinion that it will be just a matter of time before we can copy HD-DVD/BluRay with ease. Either because the HD frame-grabbing hardware will become cheap (quad-core CPUs will be a commodoty soon), and/or because someone can find a way around the DRM. Most likely both.
Of course I still think DRM sucks, even if I don't think it will keep me from copying HD content for very long.
"Texting" isn't even a verb in your example. The only verb in that sentence is "got." "Text" would be a verb, as in "I text people." But "texting", as another poster mentioned, is a gerund.
A simple (not fool proof) test to see whether a word is a verb, would be to try replacing it with another word. "I just got an $1800 ticket for paint" makes sense (gramatically, not necissarily logically). "Paint" is obviously not a verb.
My computer reboots. This is a true story that happened to a customer who lived in a rural area when I worked for a dialup ISP several years ago. Living in a rural area, the customer got their water from a well, and whenever the toilet would flush, their water reserve would suddenly drop low enough to kick on their water pump, and cause a temporary brown out.
Internet access is not taxable in the U.S. So to answer your question, "no".
To simply have a web site? Or to offer actual content (i.e. news articles, classifieds, etc) via that web site?
Sounds like a good opporitunity to write an R.E.M. parody... "Losing my Commission"
Jan: 0123456789abcDE_
Feb: 123456789abcDE_0
Mar: 23456789abcDE_01
You get the idea
No digit will ever be the same as the same digit in any previous 15 passwords. It contains numbers, lower and upper case letters, and a non-alphanumeric character.
...where the kid leaves their cell phone in the turbolift while they go over to Billy's quarters to watch pr0n.
DE stands for Desktop Environment. A category of products that both KDE and Gnome fit into.
There are existing technologies already in place that can provide way more "bandwidth" than we actually get to use. In my area Cox offers a 9mbit connection... and is physically capable of much more.
Granted, Verizon (and all the Bells) don't have this sort of physical capability over old copper, so I see why they're trying to catch up with this fiber stuff. And I'm not saying it's a bad thing. It's just not anything very new. It's just a new method to achieve the same-old-results. So I still have to ask: What's the big deal?
My biggest problem is that my boss makes me play too many games before I get to accomplish any real work. I'm trying to earn an honest day's pay for an honest day's work... But all I get to do is waste time playing games!
"Lots" in a relatively loose sense of the word.
How truely different is a "Broad Sword" and a "King's Broad Sword" and a "King's Blue Broad Sword" and a "King's Blue Broad Sword of Fear" and a "King's Blue Broad Sword of Lots of Fear" and a... you get the idea.
Having several modifiers you can add to a weapon doesn't (in my opinion) make each possible variation of that weapon a unique special item.
Diablo's approach to weapon manufacturing reminds me of a simple BASIC program I thought was cool back in Jr. High I called 'insults'. "You $var1 $var2 of $var3 $var4!" where $var1 = adjective, $var2 = noun, $var3=adjective, $var4=noun. The number of possible insults is equal to the possible values of each multiplied together. Plug in 10 possible words into each place, and whoalla! 10,000 possible insults!
You smelly vat of retarted goat droppings!
You ugly pile of rotting worm guts!
You redundant naming scheme of silly weapons!
These would take dog fights to a whole new level of excitement!
By creating very unique, original gaming concepts, such as the "Role Playing Game," adding lots of custom content, including interesting levels, unique character types, and a wide range of items you can interact with... and putting it into a single package called "Diablo" then remove all of the complexities that would actually make the game interesting!
No, I'm serious! Diablo is a revolution in gaming technology and creativity! Compare it to...
You're right. I'm lying. So what is the secret? I guess I need to go read the article now.
Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?
That comment explains why it should not be called Half-Life 2: Episode One. Not why it should be.
...why the sequel is called Episode One.
Land acreage is roughly 37.3 billion acres...
That comes to an average population of 2.85 people per 16-acres.
So... 3 people per 16 acres should be the *average* load. In this scenario, I'd guestimate that max would be closer to 50-100x the average if you take into account high population density apartment buildings, etc.
Even if we consider that they aren't simulating apartment buildings, though... my low-population density neighborhood has well over 3 people per 16 acres. Heck... my HOUSE has more than 3 people per 16 acres. I grew up on about a 2-acre lot, in a 7-member household. That's 56 people per 16-acres.