Except for the fact that he didn't even bother reading the part in the story about how burning CDs from iTunes is too cumbersome, as all track/album info is lost in the process.
So, go back and uncheck the non-obvious troll post, since he's very obviously trolling.
Depending on your implementation of SQL, you don't even have to do that much. Oracle supports giving the columns an alias in the from clause, and you can use that alias all the way through the SQL statment.
Re:Please refer to my posting history, my good sir
on
Sid Meier Responds
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· Score: 1
I think that it was implied to stop being a karma whore and post those as AC. That way, the folks get props and you don't get bashed for being a shameless karma whore.
On a personal note, I could care less whether you stop or not, seeing as I've got plenty karma to burn and all that.
Not a flame, not a troll, just trying to interpret for the unwashed masses of/.
But you're just proving my point. You paid for a title, had some fun with it and didn't like it for the long term. And you didn't have to pay a subscription to discover that. Go ArenaNet.
Personally, I look at it more like I do EQ. I bought EQ, played it for about the same amount of time as GW, and came to largely the same conclusion. I still didn't pay a monthly fee.
As to the newspaper analogy, I don't quite see where you're going w/ that. Instead, let's compare it to some other forms of popular entertainment out there, like a movie. Even if you go to a matinee showing, you're still shelling out 3 bucks for 2 hours at most. To get that kind of cost with an MMO, then you'd have to spend an enormous amount of time every month simply not playing it, and while I can understand that some people don't have that kind of time, 10 hours a month will give you the same entertainment costs as going to see a single matinee movie at a second run theatre. If you want to compare it to a first run, prime time showing, now you're talking about 8 bucks, just for the ticket, spread across 2 hours.
Ultimately, 15 bucks a month for something where you can easily spend 40 hours a month playing isn't the horrible deal that people make it out to be, especially when you compare other aspects of online games, such as customer service and content updates.
Oh, and the reason I used WoW for the comparison as opposed to something like PlanteSide, which was crap, or FFXI, was that the gameplay is vastly closer to GW than anything else. Game content from Pre-Searing up to Ascension is very comparable to WoW from levels 1-59. After that, it's somewhat comparable to WoW at level 60. Ultimately, GW isn't for someone who is looking for a longterm MMO; there simply isn't enough there to keep someone there.
As for the 'every game sucks because it's not WoW' comment, go stuff words in someone else's mouth. I never said that, or even implied it.
So, ultimately, it's like you said, and I said. GW is most definitly on par with other games that don't charge extra for better content, better customer service, more consistent content updates, etc. It's the same as every other game out there which isn't an MMO, which is exactly what GW is not.
As with all things, most certainly. However, as demonstrated by the GGP, one should show a modicum of respect and not refer to people who enjoy building a MythTV box or their own home theatre PC as a '1337 Linux hax0r', and pronounce the activity as 'pointless'.
As someone who's played multiple MMOs, from UO to WoW and just about all of them inbetween, as well as Guild Wars, I have to say that a lot of folks parading GW as being the trolls here.
So far, my GW experience has been more akin to Diablo 2, with the same quality and challenge of encounters as opposed to something that I'm likely to find in WoW, FFXI or EQ. As to the monthly fee being so horrible because you pay for it every day, let's look at exactly what that entails, shall we?
I'll use WoW, my current MMO of choice, which has a month by month fee of $15 bucks a month. Average of 30 days in a month, which gives us a cost of *gasp* 50 CENTS A DAY. Yea, that's so horribly expensive, isn't it?
Yes, GW will have free expansion content. However, looking at it, it's not terribly expansive, and at most is probably a weekend of content. WoW is getting to the point where the dev team is able to get a major content update out about every other month, which is what your monthly fees are paying for in part. GM staff is another thing that it pays for. Just for curiosity on the issue of Customer Service, have you tried getting any for Guild Wars? I have, and it sucks. It's down automatically through the website, and barely works. Not to mention that the most frequent problems I run into have zero help available, and any questions I send in regarding them are stonewalled.
GW is nice and fun, but only for a few weeks. After that, it's a waste of HDD space.
And that's where the problem lies. Currently, the industry does have a ratings system in place. The issue is that, like the MPAAs system, it's entirely self enforced. There are no requirements on either industry to enforce the ratings. In both cases they ask retailers to enforce them, but again, there is no requirement to do so.
The reason, I think, that there is such an outcry over all of this is that while the MPAA was and still is, given free reign without fear of gov't intervention, the gaming industry is being censored, and quite harshly.
From reading this thread, it appears to me that you're looking less for conversation with 'intelligent, compassionate human beings'[1] and more for individuals who are in agreement with you that you should be able to ride the back of those who, through their own intelligence, perseverance and hard work, were able to establish themselves in society, and acheive a level of comfort and happiness, which I might remind you, is one of the basic human liberties accorded the residents of the US.
So, in the future, I'd like to beseech you to avoid going to baseless insults when someone presents an arguement that you can find no intelligent reply to.
[1] In light of the fact that I have dedicated myself to the defense of my country, her ideals, and ensuring that my fellow countrymen and women can pursue a life in accordance with those ideals, I find myself in a position where I am able to make this statement.
While that's the case for Starcraft/Warcraft, it's not for C&C. On higher difficulties, the AI just starts with that much more stuff, similar to handicapping yourself in human vs human multiplayer.
Really great translation on the PRspeak, but you goofed one of them:
The forums are also a great place for gamers to express their opinions and give feedback about the game.
Not that we will pay attention to it. But feel free to post away!
The proper translation is as follows:
The forums are a place where we can troll the players into believing that we give a crap, but ignore everything they complain about while making empty promises to keep them giving us money.
The problem with FFXI isn't the gameplay; that works perfectly well. Skillchains aren't complex; you don't need the entire chart to find one, and there are people who have set up programs to produce them if you give the weapons in the group. I'm unable to give linkage, but if you look around enough, you can find them.
Getting back to gameplay, it's major problem is the same thing you'll run into with any MMORPG. This is the existence of other people. You find it in all of them, from EQ to UO, from AO to WoW. The existence of other people means that in that group you will have people who grasp game mechanics and such well, to those that don't. You'll have some of the nicest folks on earth, to people who are totally shitfaced assholes. I love the game, but by and large, find myself hating a good portion of my fellow players as I start getting into the higher levels. Looking at your complaints, I think that's your issue also.
So I guess you're saying that if my state congresscritters also attempt to pass legislation similar to this, I should refrain from writing them to give my opionion?
If that's the case, then I say you're full of shit.
We have all the rights except those explicitly denied, and those denied are subject to scrutiny by the justice system. If the government wants to pass a law, they can do so, but we should not tolerate anything less. Allowing non-laws to interfere with the lives of citizens is not even close to acceptable.
Wrong. We all have basic human rights, and anything beyond that, including air travel, is a priviledge that can be expressly denied. When you buy a ticket, you agree to go by the airline's rules, which it just so happens includes allowing them to search you and your belongings. Stallman was wrong here, and was not being opressed in anyway, which he would have the whole world believe. He was being an asshat, end of story.
The more asshats that resist, the less oppressive things will be./blockquote. There's a far cry from being opressed to being a self righteous moron who doesn't really understand the difference between rights and priviledges. Stallman is the latter, not the former.
Ten minutes shouldn't make a huge difference. If being delayed ten minutes at the security check-in delays people, you were already running late, and so you're to blame, not the freak ahead of you going slowly. You're actually being annoyed by a lot of nothing; ten minutes at the security check-in or ten minutes in the lounge, what's it matter?
If it's one person only, ever, then fine. But let's say that ahead of you is 300 RMS clones, all of them being self righteous asshats about how it's their 'right' to not take off their shoes at a security checkpoint, then challenge the authority of the security agent at the checkpoint on philosophical grounds. 10 minutes X 300 RMS clones = 3000 minutes. Not such a small deal anymore, is it?
On the topic of a 'Pseudo passport', we don't need one. After the events of 9-11-2001, the airline agencies became rather nervous, because they realized that they had very little idea of who was traveling on their aircraft. This lack of awareness led to 4 of them being flown into 3 buildings and a cornfield. So, as a result, they disallow transferral of tickets, and require you to positively identify yourself upon check-in. IMO, it's never been a big deal before this because noone really thought about it. Personally, I've always had to present ID at the counter; having to show it again at the gate is no big deal.
Honestly, I don't see what 'fundamental human rights' we've given up. Air travel isn't a right at all; it's a priviledge. People still have all the human rights as laid out in the Constitution/Bill of Rights and amendments thereof. None of that has changed. What's changed is that people are being forced to realize that everything they thought of as 'rights' but were in reality 'priviledges' are having restrictions placed upon them, with the idea behind those restrictions being the betterment of the greater's good. To me, that's not such a bad thing. I can deal with a little bit of discomfort if it means that a hundred thousand others can be a little bit safer.
The real question in this instance, as the GP points out, albeit in a roundabout manner, is what right of his was being violated? Air travel is nobody's 'right'. It is a priviledge, and one that carries along it's own set of rules and regulations, set forth by the agencies that govern air travel. They 'recommend' you take off your shoes prior to reaching the checkpoint; any rational adult will realize that it's something they have to do, will comply and get over themselves. I completely agree with the GP in that Stallman was being a self righteous asshat about this.
Per se, the trademark rights have nothing to do with quality.
This is wrong. Trademarks are about quality; using the Yugo example was not the best way to disprove it. I'll use your example to hopefully better explain.
If Yugo started making cars that didn't suck, their TM would not be in jeopardy. It would simply mean that they had raised the quality bar for anyone else licensing their trademark, i.e. aftermarket parts sales[1]. In effect, by making cars that don't suck, they force the part manufacturers to keep up with that. If they aren't, then Yugo, in order to enforce their copyright, would issue a cease&desist letter after cancelling the license due to the fact that the inferior quality of XYZ Aftermarket Yugo parts is diluting the trademark. Make sense?
With regards to the Linux mark, it was shown a few years ago[2] that it truly is necesarry to actively pursue and enforce the trademark on an international level to prevent the dilution of the mark. Otherwise, as has been said, and rightfully so, by many others here and on Groklaw, it is very likely that companies who are fond of pursuing immoral business practices will leverage the fact that the Linux mark is public domain, and use that to their advantage in spreading FUD. This could be accomplished by working to associate it with pr0n or by producing derivatives of far lower quality than should be expected.
Now, while you mention that it appears to be quality based, I can't agree with that. The appearance of such and the actual are a bit different. Additionally, saying that the quality of the original good can fluctuate may be true by the letter, but if FooBar suddenly started to suck after the original company was bought out, would anyone continue to buy it? I highly doubt that. As for Yugo, if they stopped sucking, I'd imagine they might sell again, too.
[1]I highly doubt that there is an aftermarket for Yugo parts, but it fits the example.
[2]I'm not going to link the Groklaw article again; I saw it in no less than 5 other posts before replying to you.
Depends on the situation. If a 4 star general is attempting to gain access to a protected installation, and a SF/MP member requests his ID, then that same 4 Star is required by law under UCMJ to provide it.
Here's a real-world example: Location is on some AFB's flight line. An O-6 pilot , who thinks that restricted area demarcations do not apply to him, enters the restricted area without utilizing an authorized entry point. The SF team on patrol in the area hails the O-6, who ignores their orders to halt. At this point, he's run down, jacked up, placed in handcuffs, at which point he's escorted from the area and subjected to a very through search.
So, as you can see, depending on the situation, there are NO repercussions. It's all about whether the challenging individual has the proper authority to request verification of identity. In all cases, a set of orders will be accompanied by a form of authentication, which you *should* be able to trust as valid.
Now, getting back to the situation at hand, involving the email. Most likely, they received and e-mail with a valid signature block of the Col. in question. Upon receipt of that, they can do one of two things:
1. Do what the email says. As far as they can tell, the email is properly authenticated as long as it comes from a.mil address and includes the proper signature block.
2. Reply to the email requesting clarification. If the response seems sketchy, they can then use their chain of command to verify the authenticity.
Now, herein lies the caveat in all of this; because they are cadets, they spend seven days a week, 24 hours a day getting it drilled into their heads to obey orders. As a result of that, they are less likely to question anything, or request clarification on anything they might otherwise question the authenticity of. Ultimately, I think this was a really bad way to handle the situation on part of the instructor.
Did you even read the parent post? Everything that you're talking about with regards to the changes in endgame content is exactly what he's railing against. Truthfully, I can't readily argue with him, either. I played WoW starting in beta, moved on to launch, and made it to 60. I've done MC a few times with my old guild, I've done successful runs against Onyxia.
The entire issue with WoW, as he mentioned, is that while the game is wonderful for the casual gamer from 1-60, once you get to 60, what then? There's nothing left which can be compared to all that has come before. It's an issue, and one that Blizzard needs to address. Ultimately, it's the casual players making the game as successful as it has been, not the l33t d00dz with all the ph4t lewtz.
So... you can't back up your words. Since you can't find a link, which would only take a few seconds on Google if such a product existed (I looked also; I couldn't find anything except tips on Word, Excel and Act mail merges), and since you talk about handcoding an application (surely tons more expensive than using Word and Excel out-of-the-box for only the cost of Office), I hereby declare you're full of crap.
Since you want to be an asshat about this, any reports engine in the world can do that. For mass document generation, mail merges are the WORST way to do it, and any IT professional who says otherwise should be shot. Don't take this to mean you should never; there are instances where it's good. However, for anything of scale it's total crap.
How do you know? Unless you work at Tricare, I don't see how you could comment on how they do their mail merges.
No, I don't work at Tricare. However, I do work with contractors who, in the past, have worked on contract for them, and guess what? The system they use to track patient information, which includes a method of mass printing mail, doesn't use Word, Access, or any of that crap.
As to regular envelopes being cheaper.. yea, they probably are. However, if you're working for an organization that is small enough to use Access as your database, and Word's mail merge is a good way of generating form letters, then I suppose that's fine and dandy. Most places which I've worked for generally don't worry about that, and apply best practices.
You didn't say Access was a "retarded POS" in the original message, you said Access was not a database. Go back and look it up. And don't try to make yourself look less foolish by trying to retroactively edit your message.
Right after you do. Adding information doesn't change anything; I implied that it was a retarded POS in the same breath I called it an overblown spreadsheet.
The huh? How does this answer my challenge in any way? Most mail merges are for normal USPS mail. Are you saying that a webapp will somehow print envelopes for USPS mailing? I don't even want to think about what kind of weird-ass javascipt or other hackery is needed to make web browsers print correctly on envelopes.
I'm really sorry that I have neither a link, nor the time to handcode an application to fit your needs. However, I assure you that they do exist. As to printing envelopes, that's what windowed envelopes are for. I trust you've gotten form letters from your credit agencies, correct? I can assure you that those weren't done using Word mail merge. As for healthcare businesses, I get plenty of mail from Tricare that is in no way printed using mail merge in Word, nor do I receive it electronically.
Sure you're a cop and you work in the IT field, but you're also a open source zealot and it shows.
So the fact that I hate Access automatically makes me an OS zealot? I mentioned those 3 DBMS because they're inexpensive solutions. Postgres and MySql are both OSS; SQL Server is not, but it doesn't cost nearly as much per license as Oracle. FWIW, I'm an Oracle DBA. I prefer it over all of them, but since cost appears to be an issue in this case, I left it out. There goes your 'open source zealot' BS.
Getting back to how Access is a retarded POS, find me a DBA with a good knowledge of data structures and orthoganol design who will agree with you about Access. If you can, then I'll gladly show you an MS zealot.
What's a better way to do mass mailings other than Word's mail merge? Seriously, what is your happy easy solution that's better and everybody loves it?
Off the top of my head? Go ahead and pick a webapp that automatically generates emails. Mail doesn't get sent out on it's own; you can configure any of those to print out a stack of form letters without having to deal with mail merge in Word.
Slashdot Mirror
Except for the fact that he didn't even bother reading the part in the story about how burning CDs from iTunes is too cumbersome, as all track/album info is lost in the process.
So, go back and uncheck the non-obvious troll post, since he's very obviously trolling.
Depending on your implementation of SQL, you don't even have to do that much. Oracle supports giving the columns an alias in the from clause, and you can use that alias all the way through the SQL statment.
I think that it was implied to stop being a karma whore and post those as AC. That way, the folks get props and you don't get bashed for being a shameless karma whore.
/.
On a personal note, I could care less whether you stop or not, seeing as I've got plenty karma to burn and all that.
Not a flame, not a troll, just trying to interpret for the unwashed masses of
Cheers. ^^v
Personally, I look at it more like I do EQ. I bought EQ, played it for about the same amount of time as GW, and came to largely the same conclusion. I still didn't pay a monthly fee.
As to the newspaper analogy, I don't quite see where you're going w/ that. Instead, let's compare it to some other forms of popular entertainment out there, like a movie. Even if you go to a matinee showing, you're still shelling out 3 bucks for 2 hours at most. To get that kind of cost with an MMO, then you'd have to spend an enormous amount of time every month simply not playing it, and while I can understand that some people don't have that kind of time, 10 hours a month will give you the same entertainment costs as going to see a single matinee movie at a second run theatre. If you want to compare it to a first run, prime time showing, now you're talking about 8 bucks, just for the ticket, spread across 2 hours.
Ultimately, 15 bucks a month for something where you can easily spend 40 hours a month playing isn't the horrible deal that people make it out to be, especially when you compare other aspects of online games, such as customer service and content updates.
Oh, and the reason I used WoW for the comparison as opposed to something like PlanteSide, which was crap, or FFXI, was that the gameplay is vastly closer to GW than anything else. Game content from Pre-Searing up to Ascension is very comparable to WoW from levels 1-59. After that, it's somewhat comparable to WoW at level 60. Ultimately, GW isn't for someone who is looking for a longterm MMO; there simply isn't enough there to keep someone there.
As for the 'every game sucks because it's not WoW' comment, go stuff words in someone else's mouth. I never said that, or even implied it.
So, ultimately, it's like you said, and I said. GW is most definitly on par with other games that don't charge extra for better content, better customer service, more consistent content updates, etc. It's the same as every other game out there which isn't an MMO, which is exactly what GW is not.
As with all things, most certainly. However, as demonstrated by the GGP, one should show a modicum of respect and not refer to people who enjoy building a MythTV box or their own home theatre PC as a '1337 Linux hax0r', and pronounce the activity as 'pointless'.
As someone who's played multiple MMOs, from UO to WoW and just about all of them inbetween, as well as Guild Wars, I have to say that a lot of folks parading GW as being the trolls here.
So far, my GW experience has been more akin to Diablo 2, with the same quality and challenge of encounters as opposed to something that I'm likely to find in WoW, FFXI or EQ. As to the monthly fee being so horrible because you pay for it every day, let's look at exactly what that entails, shall we?
I'll use WoW, my current MMO of choice, which has a month by month fee of $15 bucks a month. Average of 30 days in a month, which gives us a cost of *gasp* 50 CENTS A DAY. Yea, that's so horribly expensive, isn't it?
Yes, GW will have free expansion content. However, looking at it, it's not terribly expansive, and at most is probably a weekend of content. WoW is getting to the point where the dev team is able to get a major content update out about every other month, which is what your monthly fees are paying for in part. GM staff is another thing that it pays for. Just for curiosity on the issue of Customer Service, have you tried getting any for Guild Wars? I have, and it sucks. It's down automatically through the website, and barely works. Not to mention that the most frequent problems I run into have zero help available, and any questions I send in regarding them are stonewalled.
GW is nice and fun, but only for a few weeks. After that, it's a waste of HDD space.
Taking that in full context, I think he has a pretty good basis for having the domain name given to him.
And that's where the problem lies. Currently, the industry does have a ratings system in place. The issue is that, like the MPAAs system, it's entirely self enforced. There are no requirements on either industry to enforce the ratings. In both cases they ask retailers to enforce them, but again, there is no requirement to do so.
The reason, I think, that there is such an outcry over all of this is that while the MPAA was and still is, given free reign without fear of gov't intervention, the gaming industry is being censored, and quite harshly.
From reading this thread, it appears to me that you're looking less for conversation with 'intelligent, compassionate human beings'[1] and more for individuals who are in agreement with you that you should be able to ride the back of those who, through their own intelligence, perseverance and hard work, were able to establish themselves in society, and acheive a level of comfort and happiness, which I might remind you, is one of the basic human liberties accorded the residents of the US.
So, in the future, I'd like to beseech you to avoid going to baseless insults when someone presents an arguement that you can find no intelligent reply to.
[1] In light of the fact that I have dedicated myself to the defense of my country, her ideals, and ensuring that my fellow countrymen and women can pursue a life in accordance with those ideals, I find myself in a position where I am able to make this statement.
Yea, that was another of the major issues, but one that was in effect across all difficulties. That would happen at the easiest as well as hardest.
While that's the case for Starcraft/Warcraft, it's not for C&C. On higher difficulties, the AI just starts with that much more stuff, similar to handicapping yourself in human vs human multiplayer.
The proper translation is as follows:
The forums are a place where we can troll the players into believing that we give a crap, but ignore everything they complain about while making empty promises to keep them giving us money.
The problem with FFXI isn't the gameplay; that works perfectly well. Skillchains aren't complex; you don't need the entire chart to find one, and there are people who have set up programs to produce them if you give the weapons in the group. I'm unable to give linkage, but if you look around enough, you can find them.
Getting back to gameplay, it's major problem is the same thing you'll run into with any MMORPG. This is the existence of other people. You find it in all of them, from EQ to UO, from AO to WoW. The existence of other people means that in that group you will have people who grasp game mechanics and such well, to those that don't. You'll have some of the nicest folks on earth, to people who are totally shitfaced assholes. I love the game, but by and large, find myself hating a good portion of my fellow players as I start getting into the higher levels. Looking at your complaints, I think that's your issue also.
So I guess you're saying that if my state congresscritters also attempt to pass legislation similar to this, I should refrain from writing them to give my opionion?
If that's the case, then I say you're full of shit.
Wrong. We all have basic human rights, and anything beyond that, including air travel, is a priviledge that can be expressly denied. When you buy a ticket, you agree to go by the airline's rules, which it just so happens includes allowing them to search you and your belongings. Stallman was wrong here, and was not being opressed in anyway, which he would have the whole world believe. He was being an asshat, end of story.
If it's one person only, ever, then fine. But let's say that ahead of you is 300 RMS clones, all of them being self righteous asshats about how it's their 'right' to not take off their shoes at a security checkpoint, then challenge the authority of the security agent at the checkpoint on philosophical grounds. 10 minutes X 300 RMS clones = 3000 minutes. Not such a small deal anymore, is it?
On the topic of a 'Pseudo passport', we don't need one. After the events of 9-11-2001, the airline agencies became rather nervous, because they realized that they had very little idea of who was traveling on their aircraft. This lack of awareness led to 4 of them being flown into 3 buildings and a cornfield. So, as a result, they disallow transferral of tickets, and require you to positively identify yourself upon check-in. IMO, it's never been a big deal before this because noone really thought about it. Personally, I've always had to present ID at the counter; having to show it again at the gate is no big deal.
Honestly, I don't see what 'fundamental human rights' we've given up. Air travel isn't a right at all; it's a priviledge. People still have all the human rights as laid out in the Constitution/Bill of Rights and amendments thereof. None of that has changed. What's changed is that people are being forced to realize that everything they thought of as 'rights' but were in reality 'priviledges' are having restrictions placed upon them, with the idea behind those restrictions being the betterment of the greater's good. To me, that's not such a bad thing. I can deal with a little bit of discomfort if it means that a hundred thousand others can be a little bit safer.
The real question in this instance, as the GP points out, albeit in a roundabout manner, is what right of his was being violated? Air travel is nobody's 'right'. It is a priviledge, and one that carries along it's own set of rules and regulations, set forth by the agencies that govern air travel. They 'recommend' you take off your shoes prior to reaching the checkpoint; any rational adult will realize that it's something they have to do, will comply and get over themselves. I completely agree with the GP in that Stallman was being a self righteous asshat about this.
This is wrong. Trademarks are about quality; using the Yugo example was not the best way to disprove it. I'll use your example to hopefully better explain.
If Yugo started making cars that didn't suck, their TM would not be in jeopardy. It would simply mean that they had raised the quality bar for anyone else licensing their trademark, i.e. aftermarket parts sales[1]. In effect, by making cars that don't suck, they force the part manufacturers to keep up with that. If they aren't, then Yugo, in order to enforce their copyright, would issue a cease&desist letter after cancelling the license due to the fact that the inferior quality of XYZ Aftermarket Yugo parts is diluting the trademark. Make sense?
With regards to the Linux mark, it was shown a few years ago[2] that it truly is necesarry to actively pursue and enforce the trademark on an international level to prevent the dilution of the mark. Otherwise, as has been said, and rightfully so, by many others here and on Groklaw, it is very likely that companies who are fond of pursuing immoral business practices will leverage the fact that the Linux mark is public domain, and use that to their advantage in spreading FUD. This could be accomplished by working to associate it with pr0n or by producing derivatives of far lower quality than should be expected.
Now, while you mention that it appears to be quality based, I can't agree with that. The appearance of such and the actual are a bit different. Additionally, saying that the quality of the original good can fluctuate may be true by the letter, but if FooBar suddenly started to suck after the original company was bought out, would anyone continue to buy it? I highly doubt that. As for Yugo, if they stopped sucking, I'd imagine they might sell again, too.
[1]I highly doubt that there is an aftermarket for Yugo parts, but it fits the example.
[2]I'm not going to link the Groklaw article again; I saw it in no less than 5 other posts before replying to you.
In those cases, it's the responsibility of the individual being asked to identify themselves to shelf their ego and act like a professional.
Depends on the situation. If a 4 star general is attempting to gain access to a protected installation, and a SF/MP member requests his ID, then that same 4 Star is required by law under UCMJ to provide it.
.mil address and includes the proper signature block.
Here's a real-world example:
Location is on some AFB's flight line. An O-6 pilot , who thinks that restricted area demarcations do not apply to him, enters the restricted area without utilizing an authorized entry point. The SF team on patrol in the area hails the O-6, who ignores their orders to halt. At this point, he's run down, jacked up, placed in handcuffs, at which point he's escorted from the area and subjected to a very through search.
So, as you can see, depending on the situation, there are NO repercussions. It's all about whether the challenging individual has the proper authority to request verification of identity. In all cases, a set of orders will be accompanied by a form of authentication, which you *should* be able to trust as valid.
Now, getting back to the situation at hand, involving the email. Most likely, they received and e-mail with a valid signature block of the Col. in question. Upon receipt of that, they can do one of two things:
1. Do what the email says. As far as they can tell, the email is properly authenticated as long as it comes from a
2. Reply to the email requesting clarification. If the response seems sketchy, they can then use their chain of command to verify the authenticity.
Now, herein lies the caveat in all of this; because they are cadets, they spend seven days a week, 24 hours a day getting it drilled into their heads to obey orders. As a result of that, they are less likely to question anything, or request clarification on anything they might otherwise question the authenticity of. Ultimately, I think this was a really bad way to handle the situation on part of the instructor.
Did you even read the parent post? Everything that you're talking about with regards to the changes in endgame content is exactly what he's railing against. Truthfully, I can't readily argue with him, either. I played WoW starting in beta, moved on to launch, and made it to 60. I've done MC a few times with my old guild, I've done successful runs against Onyxia.
The entire issue with WoW, as he mentioned, is that while the game is wonderful for the casual gamer from 1-60, once you get to 60, what then? There's nothing left which can be compared to all that has come before. It's an issue, and one that Blizzard needs to address. Ultimately, it's the casual players making the game as successful as it has been, not the l33t d00dz with all the ph4t lewtz.
Kelgas
60 Shaman
Garona
Since you want to be an asshat about this, any reports engine in the world can do that. For mass document generation, mail merges are the WORST way to do it, and any IT professional who says otherwise should be shot. Don't take this to mean you should never; there are instances where it's good. However, for anything of scale it's total crap.
No, I don't work at Tricare. However, I do work with contractors who, in the past, have worked on contract for them, and guess what? The system they use to track patient information, which includes a method of mass printing mail, doesn't use Word, Access, or any of that crap.
As to regular envelopes being cheaper.. yea, they probably are. However, if you're working for an organization that is small enough to use Access as your database, and Word's mail merge is a good way of generating form letters, then I suppose that's fine and dandy. Most places which I've worked for generally don't worry about that, and apply best practices.
Right after you do. Adding information doesn't change anything; I implied that it was a retarded POS in the same breath I called it an overblown spreadsheet.
I'm really sorry that I have neither a link, nor the time to handcode an application to fit your needs. However, I assure you that they do exist. As to printing envelopes, that's what windowed envelopes are for. I trust you've gotten form letters from your credit agencies, correct? I can assure you that those weren't done using Word mail merge. As for healthcare businesses, I get plenty of mail from Tricare that is in no way printed using mail merge in Word, nor do I receive it electronically.
If you need to generate reports, there are better ways than Access for that, too.
Crystal Reports, Oracle Reports, and there's always the option to write a report engine from scratch in C# or Java.
So the fact that I hate Access automatically makes me an OS zealot? I mentioned those 3 DBMS because they're inexpensive solutions. Postgres and MySql are both OSS; SQL Server is not, but it doesn't cost nearly as much per license as Oracle. FWIW, I'm an Oracle DBA. I prefer it over all of them, but since cost appears to be an issue in this case, I left it out. There goes your 'open source zealot' BS.
Getting back to how Access is a retarded POS, find me a DBA with a good knowledge of data structures and orthoganol design who will agree with you about Access. If you can, then I'll gladly show you an MS zealot.
Off the top of my head? Go ahead and pick a webapp that automatically generates emails. Mail doesn't get sent out on it's own; you can configure any of those to print out a stack of form letters without having to deal with mail merge in Word.