The thief doesn't know the computer will be unusable when he steals it, and it still has a scrap value as you pointed out. Why not honeypot it? Enable the guest account and set up picture capture and my documents and desktop file sync to a network drive. Then you might salvage enough info to bust them. That would be more satisfying, and you might get your property back.
Coming from someone trying to set up CUPS and SANE on my MythTV machine, trying to get SANE up and a scanner accessible on a remote computer is like stabbing yourself in the eye with a butter knife.
SCOTUS rulings trump ALL lower court rulings and ALL government laws where the exact circumstances have been ruled on. I haven't checked their "Stop and ID" rulings, but assuming the GP is correct, SCOTUS rulings are germane to the conversation.
Now states may have "Stop and ID" laws that have not been tested, and they may believe given different wording that they are still lawful, but until they are tested up to SCOTUS, they may be determined to be unconstitutional or otherwise unenforceable.
I like Panera, but honestly is it really healthier on the whole than McDonalds, unless a person is one of those Birkenstock wearing organic hippies?
You can make bad and good food choices at each. Panera's fancy sandwiches are loaded with calories and carbs compared to a quarter pounder. There are healthier options available at McD also like grilled chicken, salads, yogurt parfaits.
They are definitely there partially to dissuade claims, they are also there from operational discoveries that certain services can not be economically and reliably performed.
But your analogy isn't complete. It would be like me going up to you, you have a shirt on that says "Caution: You will be sucker-punched" and me saying, "OK, sucker punch me." If we both agree about the facts of the case, I think you would have a hard time finding a judge to convict me of assault.
As you point out, certain rights are inalienable if it is a right that can not be legally waived, or the contract is ruled to be too one sided. That is why if the bins were full, the GP might have a better case. He reasonably wanted to take the flight he paid for, the airline asked him to check the bag, and he didn't have other options immediately available. But the fact the GP sought the bag to be checked, he consented to the terms of the contract, and had other options available to him.
I am neither a lawyer, but I have had exposure to aviation law.
Almost every airline specifically disclaims liability for damage AND LOSS for checked electronic equipment, valuable wearables like fur, jewelry, bearer instruments such as cash and stocks, and most things other than clothes.
You might have a case if the overhead bins were full and the airline required you to check it. But really the burden to remove valuable items is on you even in that situation. Case law in this respect is fairly well established.
Beyond that though, the time and environmental constraints of operating an airline require somewhat rough handling of bags, stacked one on top of others in the bin of the aircraft, and the potential to get rained on when loading/unloading/waiting. One should think very carefully before checking anything valuable.
From someone who has used every Windows version except 7, and Ubuntu for the past 2 years, personally I think Vista is a steaming pile of poo on usability.
But I think you have set yourself up in a false dichotomy with the Linux open/commercial/choices issues. For Linux users to be sending proprietary file formats like Word files, that most acquaintances would be likely to have, would mean Linux was immensely popular. Linux will never be even moderately popular, and by moderately I mean greater than 5% market share, without more quality commercial titles. This is especially true of edge uses / business uses, where there aren't enough interested open source developers but the software can be very profitable.
People send Word files because it is ubiquitous, they don't know of other file options even in Word, or they are too lazy to change the default which works for most recipients. The education part of using open source alternatives is already licked if the person is using Linux. I think Linux users will already lean toward open source titles if available and quality on Linux. Having more commerical software available also won't steer them to the dark side.
But just because you have commercial software available on your OS, doesn't necessarily mean software options or source code availability has been taken away from you. If a software is interesting or popular or expensive, some open source developer will probably try to make something with similar functionality. But a company won't say hey, commercial software isn't really welcome on Linux so let's open source it. Instead they'll say, lets develop on Microsoft or Apple.
With more users, and more software available (both free and commercial) comes more people interested in investing time and money to make the OS run great and become more usable. Right now, from a mainstream (Joe user) point of view, Linux is on the edge of viability. One really bad release from Ubuntu and one blockbuster OS or app release from Microsoft could set Linux on the desktop back years. I'd like Linux's future to be more secure.
Who says Linux should achieve Microsoft's market share? I'd like Linux to go from the perhaps 1% desktop market share to 10-15%. But Microsoft's 85% market share hasn't been healthy for them as an organization, or for society.
Aside from the fact the source says the Harman tap was from the FISA law, and not Bush's non-law.
There have been many reasonable accusations for why the Bush warrantless wiretapping was illegal (for gathering any amount of intelligence against American citizens). You can't make a bare assertion (or implication) that it was legal because a determination of supposed legality was made by a branch of the government. The Executive branch likely wasn't duly authorized to endorse such activities by fiat.
If a law isn't from a primal document like the Constitution or Declaration, since the Federal government as constituted has absolute restrictions on its legal activities (even if we frequently ignore those restrictions), laws can be, and frequently are found to be illegal. Nothing stops law makers from cooking up ridiculous, incoherent, inconsistent, poorly thought out laws. It may seem mutually exclusive, but nothing makes a law "legal" on its own.
"extreme political views of all stripes are most often held by those whose beliefs have not yet been challenged by real-world experience."
I'm with you.
"Most often this is due to youth and inexperience,"
You lost me.
Might be more true of libertarians and liberals, but have you looked at some of the raving Neo-Con lunatics on TV? Most of them are old gasbags with lots of the wrong kind of life experiences.
Do you have more evidence besides this IBM situation people drop the brand on early reports of proactively resolved problem products?
For me, if a company publically says a particular product may have problems, but we will support it to the point we can and we'll double the warranty, I will be very likely to stay with them as a customer on other products. And I might consider the problem product.
Now if a product gets some widely reported negative publicity on problems that may occur on a small portion of units (yet as a customer it is hard to verify that), and I don't feel like the company has done enough to support that customer, identify the problem, and alleviate concerns in general, I'll be very unlikely to remain a customer of theirs.
In the end I guess companies just decide whether to throw the dice on a big bet, or walk away with a small loss.
I'm in a similar situation now. My parents own a Samsung DVD-R120 that plays but won't record DVDs. I thought they were doing something wrong and didn't get around to checking it until this weekend 3 years after they bought it. I discover on the internet many people have the same problem with the AXAA submodel, but almost no one reports the problem with the XAA submodel.
I'm so frustrated that Samsung didn't proactively contact customers with this device, or at least post a notice to their support forums about the problem and offer a resolution, that despite how much I love Samsung displays I am considering swearing off Samsung products in general. We also had a cheapo Samsung DVD player that died just out of warranty, and an expensive upconverting DVD player that works ok but has a laggy UI. And it frustrates me how all the DVD and TV remote controls from the previous generation of devices have to be so precisely aimed.
Are you telling me it is only $10-20 more a month to get biz class service over residential class? I don't think most large cable companies have this small of a premium, but I guess I'll have to check.
Add a 1 to 3% fuel burn penalty for the life of that aircraft and recalculate. Satellite based internet requires a relatively large antenna that bulges off the top of the fuselage. Not aerodynamic, not green, not cheap, and not efficient. Not sure what if any fuel burn penalty there is for cellular based internet antennas.
I contacted Representative Branch's office, and I sent to Senator West's office too asking that he introduce a companion bill there, or support it in any other ways he can.
You're advice is tragically underrated. And though I don't have kids yet, it is inline with experiences of my friends and acquaintances in high school 15 years ago.
"Windows in old buildings have glass which is thicker at the bottom than at the top because of the glacial migration"
I read in Science News a long time ago a researcher measured late 19th century glass and found it had flowed an amount that would have taken over a thousand years. Turns out the way they used to cast glass had this side effect.
Shoot, $6 would barely cover the actual shipping charge for a 3.5 hard drive. Maybe you could ship a flash drive or possibly a laptop drive for $3-4. But if you don't have a box and packaging to reuse that's another $4 or more. And then the 10 minutes to purchase the postage on usps.gov, print out the shipping label, schedule a pickup, and package the product is another $5 worth of my time. I despise the high shipping costs too, but anything less than $10 to me seems reasonable.
I used to occasionally purchase things from Best Buy, but in the last several years I've been offended by their markups, mediocre selection, mostly ignorant yet presumptuous salespeople, and pushing of retarted service plans. I don't see much difference between Circuit City and Best Buy. Like another said, I'm generally happier purchasing from Amazon, NewEgg, and TigerDirect.
before they started throttling? I don't know at what point they instituted, it and how they dealt with legacy customers, but there is nothing "secret" about their throttling now. And honestly as a long time customer but infrequent exchanger, I appreciate the throttling.
I'd use it for a NAS, print server, itunes server. I could envision hooking it up to a HDHomeRun and using it as my MythTV backend. Lots of uses for this kind of thing.
I don't have a use for a webserver. But in your case why can't you prerender your images in the scales you need, and just have this device serve whichever image needed? You could save some considerable $ in power.
I have electricity within 3 feet of all my ethernet jacks. But the thought of using it as basically a network enabled X11 outlet switch if it only could switch power, or with external USB gear, seems like using a hammer to swat a fly.
I submitted a comment to the Hulu blog saying I love Hulu and know their hand was forced, but I would not watch Hulu until their "content partners" relent or they revealed which "partners" did this. I said I did this not out of protest of Hulu, but so I could ensure the "partners" who did this didn't get revenue from my advertising views.
I told them I hoped they could reveal which "partners" did this so I could return to Hulu and avoid only shows from those "partners", but I knew that was unlikely because those "partners" probably provided Hulu some of their VC.
My comment wasn't published, but there are other negative comments on the blog. I wonder which part of what I said wasn't kosher?
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The thief doesn't know the computer will be unusable when he steals it, and it still has a scrap value as you pointed out. Why not honeypot it? Enable the guest account and set up picture capture and my documents and desktop file sync to a network drive. Then you might salvage enough info to bust them. That would be more satisfying, and you might get your property back.
Coming from someone trying to set up CUPS and SANE on my MythTV machine, trying to get SANE up and a scanner accessible on a remote computer is like stabbing yourself in the eye with a butter knife.
SCOTUS rulings trump ALL lower court rulings and ALL government laws where the exact circumstances have been ruled on. I haven't checked their "Stop and ID" rulings, but assuming the GP is correct, SCOTUS rulings are germane to the conversation.
Now states may have "Stop and ID" laws that have not been tested, and they may believe given different wording that they are still lawful, but until they are tested up to SCOTUS, they may be determined to be unconstitutional or otherwise unenforceable.
I like Panera, but honestly is it really healthier on the whole than McDonalds, unless a person is one of those Birkenstock wearing organic hippies? You can make bad and good food choices at each. Panera's fancy sandwiches are loaded with calories and carbs compared to a quarter pounder. There are healthier options available at McD also like grilled chicken, salads, yogurt parfaits.
They are definitely there partially to dissuade claims, they are also there from operational discoveries that certain services can not be economically and reliably performed.
But your analogy isn't complete. It would be like me going up to you, you have a shirt on that says "Caution: You will be sucker-punched" and me saying, "OK, sucker punch me." If we both agree about the facts of the case, I think you would have a hard time finding a judge to convict me of assault.
As you point out, certain rights are inalienable if it is a right that can not be legally waived, or the contract is ruled to be too one sided. That is why if the bins were full, the GP might have a better case. He reasonably wanted to take the flight he paid for, the airline asked him to check the bag, and he didn't have other options immediately available. But the fact the GP sought the bag to be checked, he consented to the terms of the contract, and had other options available to him.
I am neither a lawyer, but I have had exposure to aviation law.
Almost every airline specifically disclaims liability for damage AND LOSS for checked electronic equipment, valuable wearables like fur, jewelry, bearer instruments such as cash and stocks, and most things other than clothes.
You might have a case if the overhead bins were full and the airline required you to check it. But really the burden to remove valuable items is on you even in that situation. Case law in this respect is fairly well established.
Beyond that though, the time and environmental constraints of operating an airline require somewhat rough handling of bags, stacked one on top of others in the bin of the aircraft, and the potential to get rained on when loading/unloading/waiting. One should think very carefully before checking anything valuable.
The credit card suggestion is a good one though.
than what Bose has been doing for years?
I'll ask again after one of their speakers in a car sits in the sun for a couple years and quits working.
From someone who has used every Windows version except 7, and Ubuntu for the past 2 years, personally I think Vista is a steaming pile of poo on usability.
But I think you have set yourself up in a false dichotomy with the Linux open/commercial/choices issues. For Linux users to be sending proprietary file formats like Word files, that most acquaintances would be likely to have, would mean Linux was immensely popular. Linux will never be even moderately popular, and by moderately I mean greater than 5% market share, without more quality commercial titles. This is especially true of edge uses / business uses, where there aren't enough interested open source developers but the software can be very profitable.
People send Word files because it is ubiquitous, they don't know of other file options even in Word, or they are too lazy to change the default which works for most recipients. The education part of using open source alternatives is already licked if the person is using Linux. I think Linux users will already lean toward open source titles if available and quality on Linux. Having more commerical software available also won't steer them to the dark side.
But just because you have commercial software available on your OS, doesn't necessarily mean software options or source code availability has been taken away from you. If a software is interesting or popular or expensive, some open source developer will probably try to make something with similar functionality. But a company won't say hey, commercial software isn't really welcome on Linux so let's open source it. Instead they'll say, lets develop on Microsoft or Apple.
With more users, and more software available (both free and commercial) comes more people interested in investing time and money to make the OS run great and become more usable. Right now, from a mainstream (Joe user) point of view, Linux is on the edge of viability. One really bad release from Ubuntu and one blockbuster OS or app release from Microsoft could set Linux on the desktop back years. I'd like Linux's future to be more secure.
Who says Linux should achieve Microsoft's market share? I'd like Linux to go from the perhaps 1% desktop market share to 10-15%. But Microsoft's 85% market share hasn't been healthy for them as an organization, or for society.
Aside from the fact the source says the Harman tap was from the FISA law, and not Bush's non-law.
There have been many reasonable accusations for why the Bush warrantless wiretapping was illegal (for gathering any amount of intelligence against American citizens). You can't make a bare assertion (or implication) that it was legal because a determination of supposed legality was made by a branch of the government. The Executive branch likely wasn't duly authorized to endorse such activities by fiat.
If a law isn't from a primal document like the Constitution or Declaration, since the Federal government as constituted has absolute restrictions on its legal activities (even if we frequently ignore those restrictions), laws can be, and frequently are found to be illegal. Nothing stops law makers from cooking up ridiculous, incoherent, inconsistent, poorly thought out laws. It may seem mutually exclusive, but nothing makes a law "legal" on its own.
"that's good old-fashioned left-liberal."
No way. He/She is a social libertarian/fiscal liberal.
"extreme political views of all stripes are most often held by those whose beliefs have not yet been challenged by real-world experience."
I'm with you.
"Most often this is due to youth and inexperience,"
You lost me.
Might be more true of libertarians and liberals, but have you looked at some of the raving Neo-Con lunatics on TV? Most of them are old gasbags with lots of the wrong kind of life experiences.
Do you have more evidence besides this IBM situation people drop the brand on early reports of proactively resolved problem products?
For me, if a company publically says a particular product may have problems, but we will support it to the point we can and we'll double the warranty, I will be very likely to stay with them as a customer on other products. And I might consider the problem product.
Now if a product gets some widely reported negative publicity on problems that may occur on a small portion of units (yet as a customer it is hard to verify that), and I don't feel like the company has done enough to support that customer, identify the problem, and alleviate concerns in general, I'll be very unlikely to remain a customer of theirs.
In the end I guess companies just decide whether to throw the dice on a big bet, or walk away with a small loss.
I'm in a similar situation now. My parents own a Samsung DVD-R120 that plays but won't record DVDs. I thought they were doing something wrong and didn't get around to checking it until this weekend 3 years after they bought it. I discover on the internet many people have the same problem with the AXAA submodel, but almost no one reports the problem with the XAA submodel.
I'm so frustrated that Samsung didn't proactively contact customers with this device, or at least post a notice to their support forums about the problem and offer a resolution, that despite how much I love Samsung displays I am considering swearing off Samsung products in general. We also had a cheapo Samsung DVD player that died just out of warranty, and an expensive upconverting DVD player that works ok but has a laggy UI. And it frustrates me how all the DVD and TV remote controls from the previous generation of devices have to be so precisely aimed.
Are you telling me it is only $10-20 more a month to get biz class service over residential class? I don't think most large cable companies have this small of a premium, but I guess I'll have to check.
Add a 1 to 3% fuel burn penalty for the life of that aircraft and recalculate. Satellite based internet requires a relatively large antenna that bulges off the top of the fuselage. Not aerodynamic, not green, not cheap, and not efficient. Not sure what if any fuel burn penalty there is for cellular based internet antennas.
I contacted Representative Branch's office, and I sent to Senator West's office too asking that he introduce a companion bill there, or support it in any other ways he can.
You're advice is tragically underrated. And though I don't have kids yet, it is inline with experiences of my friends and acquaintances in high school 15 years ago.
"Windows in old buildings have glass which is thicker at the bottom than at the top because of the glacial migration"
I read in Science News a long time ago a researcher measured late 19th century glass and found it had flowed an amount that would have taken over a thousand years. Turns out the way they used to cast glass had this side effect.
http://www.freecycle.org/
Shoot, $6 would barely cover the actual shipping charge for a 3.5 hard drive. Maybe you could ship a flash drive or possibly a laptop drive for $3-4. But if you don't have a box and packaging to reuse that's another $4 or more. And then the 10 minutes to purchase the postage on usps.gov, print out the shipping label, schedule a pickup, and package the product is another $5 worth of my time. I despise the high shipping costs too, but anything less than $10 to me seems reasonable.
I used to occasionally purchase things from Best Buy, but in the last several years I've been offended by their markups, mediocre selection, mostly ignorant yet presumptuous salespeople, and pushing of retarted service plans. I don't see much difference between Circuit City and Best Buy. Like another said, I'm generally happier purchasing from Amazon, NewEgg, and TigerDirect.
before they started throttling? I don't know at what point they instituted, it and how they dealt with legacy customers, but there is nothing "secret" about their throttling now. And honestly as a long time customer but infrequent exchanger, I appreciate the throttling.
I'd use it for a NAS, print server, itunes server. I could envision hooking it up to a HDHomeRun and using it as my MythTV backend. Lots of uses for this kind of thing.
I don't have a use for a webserver. But in your case why can't you prerender your images in the scales you need, and just have this device serve whichever image needed? You could save some considerable $ in power.
I have electricity within 3 feet of all my ethernet jacks. But the thought of using it as basically a network enabled X11 outlet switch if it only could switch power, or with external USB gear, seems like using a hammer to swat a fly.
I submitted a comment to the Hulu blog saying I love Hulu and know their hand was forced, but I would not watch Hulu until their "content partners" relent or they revealed which "partners" did this. I said I did this not out of protest of Hulu, but so I could ensure the "partners" who did this didn't get revenue from my advertising views.
I told them I hoped they could reveal which "partners" did this so I could return to Hulu and avoid only shows from those "partners", but I knew that was unlikely because those "partners" probably provided Hulu some of their VC.
My comment wasn't published, but there are other negative comments on the blog. I wonder which part of what I said wasn't kosher?