Just because someone has $10,000 riding on a game offshore doesn't give him any less incentive to rig the game. Because the rigged games are still a problem, we still have to spend dollars to detect these crimes. Therefore, we'd be better off getting the tax dollars here in U.S. to offset that cost.
If Apple is admitting that they f*ed up, then why do they "... continue to vigorously deny all of the material allegations"? Sounds no better than any other company when it comes to admitting fault - including Microsoft.
I've been with Verizon Wireless for some time now, and I must say that they are hands-down the best wireless provider out there.
First of all, I live in a decent-sized city, but I often end up travelling out through the country to get various places around here. Even out in the middle of nowhere, I'm able to at least get a good-quality analog signal on my phone (I currently have the Kyocera 7135 smartphone, which is awesome).
As far as price goes, Verizon may be a bit higher than others, but you definitely get what you pay for. My current plan gives me 500 anytime minutes, unlimited nights and weekends, plus 1000 mobile-to-mobile minutes to talk to Verizon customers - all for $50/month (~$60 with taxes). Plus, all of the minutes are nationwide. I make full use of text messaging, and mobile web, and both of these services are nearly flawless.
Verizon's customer service is also top-notch. I've had to call a couple of times with a billing problem and both times, I've gotten more of a discount than I've asked for. One time, they even told me that I could switch to another plan which would give me more minutes for less money. Now that's something that definitely wasn't in their interest.
I don't mean to sound like Verizon's shill, but I really do recommend their service to anyone looking for a cell phone provider.
I can't wait! I'll just set my sig to "Linux Rules, Microsoft Sucks!" and wait for the karma points to roll in!:-)
I doubt the players like the machines, either...
on
Digital Baseball Umpires
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I am a baseball umpire (high school) and I doubt that the players - particularly the pitchers - would like this sort of device either.
At the major league level, there are pitchers who thrive upon umpires giving them a few inches off the outside corner. With a machine, their pitching careers would be over because now they'd have to throw all of their pitches within a tightly-defined strike zone to get a batter out.
With hitting being so much better than pitching (for most teams) these days, the balance would be thrown off that much more by having these machines call balls and strikes.
Do I even need to ask the question about what happens if the machine malfunctions? If you don't have a workable backup and there aren't any umpires who have practiced calling balls and strikes, that'll make for one ugly game!
You mean someone actually buys something at Sharper Image?!?!?!? I thought you were just supposed to go in, marvel at the expensive crap, and walk back out!
In probably 20+ visits to Sharper Image stores around the country, I have yet to see anyone actually buy something while I was there.
The same goes for Brookstone and all of the other Sharper Image clones.
I don't know about anyone else, but I would gladly pay more to have support for my product based out of the U.S., Canada, England, etc. - assuming they'd actually hire someone who could speak fluent (and understandable) English. Hell, I don't care where they base their support, as long as they give the reps a speech test!
More and more these days, I call a vendor and get connected to someone that I have to deal with through email in order to understand them - and I understand accents very well. That's not such a big problem if I don't have an urgent problem, but an extended conversation via email is not feasible for a complex/urgent problem.
Maybe when people get tired of dealing with unintelligible support personnel, they'll vote with their dollars and we'll start to see some jobs move back to the Western Hemisphere.
If AOL did indeed sell this guy their entire user list, then I have absolutely no sympathy for them. It also takes away the legitimacy of AOL, MSN, and Yahoo joining forces to eliminate spam when at least one of them (AOL) is actively contributing to the problem.
Maybe counting on ISPs to help eliminate the problem isn't such a great idea after all...
For those of us who have been thinking about purchasing an Apple for a little while now, this is just one more reason to do so. I've been trying to resist the urge, but once these systems come out, I'm sure they'll be too good to resist.
For someone who used to hate Apple with a passion and mock all Apple users, that's a huge step:-)
Now, if it will just bring me a beer, I could get rid of my girlfriend! It may be 8x more expensive than the Roomba, but that's nothing compared to how much she costs me!
That's no different than a cell phone company giving a phone away for free to get you to sign a two-year service contract. They're taking an initial loss in order to realize a long-term gain.
How would you prove that MS is selling its product at a loss? I'm sure their margin is much higher than it needs to be and they're just offering bare-bones pricing because they know that can make it up in service contracts and add-on software purchases.
You get your foot in the door any way you can and then make your money by selling the extras. It happens all the time in the business world.
I don't really think that anyone here believes that a law of any type will effectively stop spam. Spam is just like any other "problem" that the government has with the Internet: there is no effective way for them to legislate it because the Internet is a worldwide tool.
I'll offer Internet gambling as a case-in-point. Bills have been floating around Congress now for several years - at least since the late 90s - that seek to eradicate Internet gambling. None of them have passed to this point and none of them will get the job done because they can't effectively stop the money flow out of the US. Credit card companies have basically stopped dealing with Internet gambling transactions and even PayPal stopped providing money transfers, yet there are more ways to deposit today than there were 5 years ago! If Congress tries to cut off the money in some way, the casinos will find a way around it. After all, they aren't governed by our laws.
We can get into the issue of whether or not transactions that are processed by a server offshore - yet are originated in the US - are governed by US law another time.
The only way to stop spam is to make a fundamental change to the way we handle email across the Internet. As much as filters have helped in the spam battle, they clearly aren't a viable answer. A good solution to this problem will be a change that will enable me to avoid getting spam on a new Hotmail account that I've never even used. I can also only deal with a blacklist/whitelist concept until the blacklist gets to a certain length - then it becomes hard to manage.
One of the most secure "currencies" I've seen are casino chips. A counterfeiter would have to be incredibly skilled to create anything similar to some of the chips that Chipco and Paulson Gaming produce today. These are the chips that you see most-often at any major casino around the world. Not only is the chip material nearly impossible to duplicate, the counterfeiter would have to have some *very* sophisticated equipment to duplicate the dye and printing that chip manufacturers are able to accomplish.
As an owner of a set of Chipco chips, I can also attest to the fact that they are very durable and easy to clean, which should mean that we wouldn't have to make so much new currency each year just to replace the currency that gets worn out.
Why don't we all start using chips and plaques (the rectangular chips that you see used mostly in high-roller rooms)?
Whenever a telemarketer calls me, I always keep them on the phone and use this fun script against them! It's generally a great time for me and everyone in my vicinity.
Slashdot Mirror
Just because someone has $10,000 riding on a game offshore doesn't give him any less incentive to rig the game. Because the rigged games are still a problem, we still have to spend dollars to detect these crimes. Therefore, we'd be better off getting the tax dollars here in U.S. to offset that cost.
They are basically admitting they fucked up.
If Apple is admitting that they f*ed up, then why do they "... continue to vigorously deny all of the material allegations"? Sounds no better than any other company when it comes to admitting fault - including Microsoft.
I'm buying stock in Depends, Metamucil, Cadillac, Lincoln, and every drug company on the face of the earth.
Finally! The step before Profit!.
I've been with Verizon Wireless for some time now, and I must say that they are hands-down the best wireless provider out there.
First of all, I live in a decent-sized city, but I often end up travelling out through the country to get various places around here. Even out in the middle of nowhere, I'm able to at least get a good-quality analog signal on my phone (I currently have the Kyocera 7135 smartphone, which is awesome).
As far as price goes, Verizon may be a bit higher than others, but you definitely get what you pay for. My current plan gives me 500 anytime minutes, unlimited nights and weekends, plus 1000 mobile-to-mobile minutes to talk to Verizon customers - all for $50/month (~$60 with taxes). Plus, all of the minutes are nationwide. I make full use of text messaging, and mobile web, and both of these services are nearly flawless.
Verizon's customer service is also top-notch. I've had to call a couple of times with a billing problem and both times, I've gotten more of a discount than I've asked for. One time, they even told me that I could switch to another plan which would give me more minutes for less money. Now that's something that definitely wasn't in their interest.
I don't mean to sound like Verizon's shill, but I really do recommend their service to anyone looking for a cell phone provider.
I don't think MS will be using your business plan, as they'll never get to the all-important line 60: Profit! They'll just stay at ? indefinitely.
Secur!ty H013
we settle these disputes with a bottle of vodka and a game of our special "Roulette."
Sorry, it had to be done!
I can't wait! I'll just set my sig to "Linux Rules, Microsoft Sucks!" and wait for the karma points to roll in! :-)
I am a baseball umpire (high school) and I doubt that the players - particularly the pitchers - would like this sort of device either.
At the major league level, there are pitchers who thrive upon umpires giving them a few inches off the outside corner. With a machine, their pitching careers would be over because now they'd have to throw all of their pitches within a tightly-defined strike zone to get a batter out.
With hitting being so much better than pitching (for most teams) these days, the balance would be thrown off that much more by having these machines call balls and strikes.
Do I even need to ask the question about what happens if the machine malfunctions? If you don't have a workable backup and there aren't any umpires who have practiced calling balls and strikes, that'll make for one ugly game!
You mean someone actually buys something at Sharper Image?!?!?!? I thought you were just supposed to go in, marvel at the expensive crap, and walk back out!
In probably 20+ visits to Sharper Image stores around the country, I have yet to see anyone actually buy something while I was there.
The same goes for Brookstone and all of the other Sharper Image clones.
I don't know about anyone else, but I would gladly pay more to have support for my product based out of the U.S., Canada, England, etc. - assuming they'd actually hire someone who could speak fluent (and understandable) English. Hell, I don't care where they base their support, as long as they give the reps a speech test!
More and more these days, I call a vendor and get connected to someone that I have to deal with through email in order to understand them - and I understand accents very well. That's not such a big problem if I don't have an urgent problem, but an extended conversation via email is not feasible for a complex/urgent problem.
Maybe when people get tired of dealing with unintelligible support personnel, they'll vote with their dollars and we'll start to see some jobs move back to the Western Hemisphere.
If AOL did indeed sell this guy their entire user list, then I have absolutely no sympathy for them. It also takes away the legitimacy of AOL, MSN, and Yahoo joining forces to eliminate spam when at least one of them (AOL) is actively contributing to the problem.
Maybe counting on ISPs to help eliminate the problem isn't such a great idea after all...
For those of us who have been thinking about purchasing an Apple for a little while now, this is just one more reason to do so. I've been trying to resist the urge, but once these systems come out, I'm sure they'll be too good to resist. For someone who used to hate Apple with a passion and mock all Apple users, that's a huge step :-)
Now I don't have to manually download crappy rips of my favorite songs, I can have them forced upon me! :-)
Actually, this looks like a cool idea. The fact that it's a sourceforge project only makes it better!
Now, if it will just bring me a beer, I could get rid of my girlfriend! It may be 8x more expensive than the Roomba, but that's nothing compared to how much she costs me!
That's no different than a cell phone company giving a phone away for free to get you to sign a two-year service contract. They're taking an initial loss in order to realize a long-term gain.
How would you prove that MS is selling its product at a loss? I'm sure their margin is much higher than it needs to be and they're just offering bare-bones pricing because they know that can make it up in service contracts and add-on software purchases.
You get your foot in the door any way you can and then make your money by selling the extras. It happens all the time in the business world.
I don't really think that anyone here believes that a law of any type will effectively stop spam. Spam is just like any other "problem" that the government has with the Internet: there is no effective way for them to legislate it because the Internet is a worldwide tool.
I'll offer Internet gambling as a case-in-point. Bills have been floating around Congress now for several years - at least since the late 90s - that seek to eradicate Internet gambling. None of them have passed to this point and none of them will get the job done because they can't effectively stop the money flow out of the US. Credit card companies have basically stopped dealing with Internet gambling transactions and even PayPal stopped providing money transfers, yet there are more ways to deposit today than there were 5 years ago! If Congress tries to cut off the money in some way, the casinos will find a way around it. After all, they aren't governed by our laws.
We can get into the issue of whether or not transactions that are processed by a server offshore - yet are originated in the US - are governed by US law another time.
The only way to stop spam is to make a fundamental change to the way we handle email across the Internet. As much as filters have helped in the spam battle, they clearly aren't a viable answer. A good solution to this problem will be a change that will enable me to avoid getting spam on a new Hotmail account that I've never even used. I can also only deal with a blacklist/whitelist concept until the blacklist gets to a certain length - then it becomes hard to manage.
</rant>
Whew! I feel better. Time for a b33r.
One of the most secure "currencies" I've seen are casino chips. A counterfeiter would have to be incredibly skilled to create anything similar to some of the chips that Chipco and Paulson Gaming produce today. These are the chips that you see most-often at any major casino around the world. Not only is the chip material nearly impossible to duplicate, the counterfeiter would have to have some *very* sophisticated equipment to duplicate the dye and printing that chip manufacturers are able to accomplish.
As an owner of a set of Chipco chips, I can also attest to the fact that they are very durable and easy to clean, which should mean that we wouldn't have to make so much new currency each year just to replace the currency that gets worn out.
Why don't we all start using chips and plaques (the rectangular chips that you see used mostly in high-roller rooms)?
Whenever a telemarketer calls me, I always keep them on the phone and use this fun script against them! It's generally a great time for me and everyone in my vicinity.