Nonetheless, I'll probably have to vote for him because the other side will be running some jackass like Palin, Pawlenty or Bachmann, and letting them get within 3 miles of the White House would be disastrous.
Have you ever wondered what would happen if everyone wrote in "none of the above?" It's a complete impossibility but makes for some good thought...
Credit cards forged and stolen - yep, although there are protections where people are not liable for fraudulent transactions
PINs get stolen - only if people write them on their card or nearby, or tell someone their PIN = their responsibility
Enter PIN at ATM under duress - it happens; get the proper police report filed and you do have some recourse
In the first and third scenario, there are protections. Protections that are afforded through insurance premiums and monitoring services paid for by the bank. Then there's the thing about interchange fees (service fee paid for by the merchant to process a card transaction). I'm sure plenty of people have heard the squabble about those fees. Have you ever wondered how your bank is able to (in most cases) give you a card for free? Ever wondered how your bank is able to offer you $0 liability on fraudulent transactions? How about monitoring your card activity to detect fraud, for free? I can tell you the card networks do not run on magic pixie dust, or repair themselves, or keep themselves upgraded to support the traffic. The interchange fees help pay for all of that. It is commonly known that by virtue of a merchant accepting plastic for payment, their gross sales increase by 30%. A big benefit? I think so.
My car broke down and I had to call my insurance company. They wanted to know the street address of my location. I was broke down outside a McDonald's. I had to leave my car, walk into the restaurant, and ask for the manager, since none of the underlings knew the street address. If I lived in a 3G area instead of Edge, I would have used that feature in a heartbeat.
This.
Just 10 years ago people would have been grateful to have broken down outside a McDonald's. Something about how easy it was just to walk in and get the address.
In other words, they have plenty of chiefs and no fucking indians. (that's not a pun at India, it's a phrase familiar to all sailors and many Marines.)
The pun in question here does not refer to people from India but to Native Americans (which I am). Oh, and I fuck quite well thank you very much.
Company X has a right to TRY to make a profit. They do not however have a right to guaranteed profit. If Company Y can (even through reverse engineering) do it cheaper/better/faster then more power to them. That's called competition. Your argument of reverse engineering brings us to the bigger reason for pushing back against IP, and that is the current dismal state of copyright laws. My opinion is the original copyright limits remain the most proper. Most things in the consumer markets are well into the bargain basement seven years after release and technology improved a few times over. If a music album hasn't made a profit in seven years, it probably won't in the next 113. Yes protections should be provided for inventors, but reasonable limits MUST be applied to make it effective.
The M.O. we're seeing in the US today is that if your business model is failing, petition the government to create laws to ensure your continued relevance, however futile your attempts may eventually prove to be. A concrete dam can't hold back ALL the water... and eventually it will fail.
"...take off and fly like an aircraft to avoid roadside bombs."
Did anyone else read this as "...take off and fly like an aircraft to quickly* deploy assets to quell the masses from the air while keeping the soldiers relatively out of reach of citizen retaliation."
*quickly meaning not having to wait for traditional air support after the call is made.
Rules they may be. IMO rules are not meant to be mindlessly followed without any independent, rational thought. I would much rather have servicemen and women regularly apply the bullshit test. Yes I do make a very poor candidate for rank-and-file "just do as I say" organizational structures.
It is my strong opinion that organized religion was created for social control. Marriage was created to control sexual promiscuity by vowing to commit to one person while forsaking all others with attempted enforcement through fear of public shame if one were to break their vow. Sex is treated as something for procreation, not for enjoyment. Team sports allow an outlet for the mob mentality of mindless violence. There has always been violence (since way before video games), and always will be. I agree with the above poster who referenced a holy book filled with hatred and violence, and nobody likes a hypocrite. I say enjoy sex fully in whatever ways float your boat, and video games are more of an outlet for violence, not a gateway to it. I remember a saying... whenever you point a finger there are always three pointing back at you...
However, if they charge by the byte, then they have to deal with fluctuating income from one quarter to the next.
You mean they would have to deal with the highs and lows of operating a business just like other businesses? (read: retail [clothing, appliances, furniture, etc.], and most small business (supposedly the life of the American economy, according to politician double-speak)).
I suppose one could argue that AT&T provides a service where the above examples provide physical goods. We could also go one step further and point out that hospitality is a service industry, and very much subject to the highs and lows of economics.
Yet another boneheaded attempt at forcing our views/policies/laws/etc onto other countries. It makes me reminisce of the grade school playground antics from my youth. "If you're not with us, you're against us" comes to mind as well...
I just moved from the city to a small country community and it's actually less expensive, all things considered. Yes I spend more on gas to commute for work. I have satellite TV which for me is the same price as cable TV was in the city. We built a house and our mortgage + taxes + insurance is about $400 more than we were paying in rent, but it really wouldn't take that long for the rent to catch up. My water bill is about half what it was and property taxes are much lower. YMMV.
Information such as trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a company on a privileged or confidential basis that, if released, would result in competitive harm to the company, impair the government's ability to obtain like information in the future, or protect the government's interest in compliance with program effectiveness.
I wonder if this is the criteria for the withholding. Could the Army have entered into a NDA with private industry? What I picture is a situation where the Army lays out the budget for the project and a company agrees to write the code (A.I. behavior comes to mind) in return for whatever the Army can pay plus an agreement to not disclose the code. It has been years since I played AA so this theory make not make sense in some aspects.
My daughter is in 3rd grade this year and after reviewing the material I can say that if I hear of this happening in our school, I will be making a b-line to the superintendent's office. We don't need any more politically biased material perverting the minds of our children. If all aspects of the issue were discussed, my stance might be slightly different.
We already know what the mutation is that allows some humans to feel refreshed on less hours of sleep than others... it's called leading a healthy lifestyle. Regular exercise and eating healthy, real food (not the food-like substances we buy off the store shelves in boxes), will solve so many health problems of today. Alas, that is exactly what the "food" manufacturing giants and the pharmaceutical companies DO NOT want people to figure out. That might cut into their profits.
(and I say that having a newer-but-dead PC sitting beside my Mac, it's power supply having given up, rendering the newer PC nothing more than a large and expensive paper weight...).
Actually, they were proud of what they did, not just doing their job. FTA (chief of the investigation no less):
"Piracy, counterfeiting and other intellectual property rights violations not only cost U.S. businesses jobs and billions of dollars a year in lost revenue, they can also pose significant health and safety risks to consumers," he said.
Counterfeiting and piracy have grown in recent years in both magnitude and complexity, according to ICE. Industry and trade associations estimate that counterfeiting and piracy now cost the U.S. economy as much as $250 billion a year and a total of 750,000 American jobs.
I wonder what his source of information is. Oh the MAFIAA? Thought so. Next thing you know they're going to release videos saying it supports terrorism and child molesters.
LOL reading that quote FTA made me think of the investigator in Hackers giving interviews to the news media, all high and mighty. HACK THE PLANET!!! (scurries off to go watch Hackers)
The one thing that we as consumers forget from time to time is that questionable business practices are passively approved by us the consumers when we trade said companies our hard earned money for the product/service in consideration. If interoperability is not included in a product I am considering, I find an alternative product to trade my money for.
Do I really need an iPod when a mp3 player will do? Is purchasing mp3 tracks from Amazon a better alternative to iTunes since I can put them on any mp3 capable device?
Consumers have the power to be in control... We just need to realize it.
Slashdot Mirror
Nonetheless, I'll probably have to vote for him because the other side will be running some jackass like Palin, Pawlenty or Bachmann, and letting them get within 3 miles of the White House would be disastrous.
Have you ever wondered what would happen if everyone wrote in "none of the above?" It's a complete impossibility but makes for some good thought...
Credit cards forged and stolen - yep, although there are protections where people are not liable for fraudulent transactions
PINs get stolen - only if people write them on their card or nearby, or tell someone their PIN = their responsibility
Enter PIN at ATM under duress - it happens; get the proper police report filed and you do have some recourse
In the first and third scenario, there are protections. Protections that are afforded through insurance premiums and monitoring services paid for by the bank. Then there's the thing about interchange fees (service fee paid for by the merchant to process a card transaction). I'm sure plenty of people have heard the squabble about those fees. Have you ever wondered how your bank is able to (in most cases) give you a card for free? Ever wondered how your bank is able to offer you $0 liability on fraudulent transactions? How about monitoring your card activity to detect fraud, for free? I can tell you the card networks do not run on magic pixie dust, or repair themselves, or keep themselves upgraded to support the traffic. The interchange fees help pay for all of that. It is commonly known that by virtue of a merchant accepting plastic for payment, their gross sales increase by 30%. A big benefit? I think so.
Disclaimer: I do work in the banking industry
My car broke down and I had to call my insurance company. They wanted to know the street address of my location. I was broke down outside a McDonald's. I had to leave my car, walk into the restaurant, and ask for the manager, since none of the underlings knew the street address. If I lived in a 3G area instead of Edge, I would have used that feature in a heartbeat.
This.
Just 10 years ago people would have been grateful to have broken down outside a McDonald's. Something about how easy it was just to walk in and get the address.
So continues our skid...
In other words, they have plenty of chiefs and no fucking indians. (that's not a pun at India, it's a phrase familiar to all sailors and many Marines.)
The pun in question here does not refer to people from India but to Native Americans (which I am). Oh, and I fuck quite well thank you very much.
Company X has a right to TRY to make a profit. They do not however have a right to guaranteed profit. If Company Y can (even through reverse engineering) do it cheaper/better/faster then more power to them. That's called competition. Your argument of reverse engineering brings us to the bigger reason for pushing back against IP, and that is the current dismal state of copyright laws. My opinion is the original copyright limits remain the most proper. Most things in the consumer markets are well into the bargain basement seven years after release and technology improved a few times over. If a music album hasn't made a profit in seven years, it probably won't in the next 113. Yes protections should be provided for inventors, but reasonable limits MUST be applied to make it effective.
The M.O. we're seeing in the US today is that if your business model is failing, petition the government to create laws to ensure your continued relevance, however futile your attempts may eventually prove to be. A concrete dam can't hold back ALL the water... and eventually it will fail.
I agree with you but we're just users.
We're also the one's with the money and the votes (for congress I mean, we don't really vote for the president).
"...take off and fly like an aircraft to avoid roadside bombs."
Did anyone else read this as "...take off and fly like an aircraft to quickly* deploy assets to quell the masses from the air while keeping the soldiers relatively out of reach of citizen retaliation."
*quickly meaning not having to wait for traditional air support after the call is made.
Yes I know the tinfoil is a little tight today.
Rules they may be. IMO rules are not meant to be mindlessly followed without any independent, rational thought. I would much rather have servicemen and women regularly apply the bullshit test. Yes I do make a very poor candidate for rank-and-file "just do as I say" organizational structures.
It is my strong opinion that organized religion was created for social control. Marriage was created to control sexual promiscuity by vowing to commit to one person while forsaking all others with attempted enforcement through fear of public shame if one were to break their vow. Sex is treated as something for procreation, not for enjoyment. Team sports allow an outlet for the mob mentality of mindless violence. There has always been violence (since way before video games), and always will be. I agree with the above poster who referenced a holy book filled with hatred and violence, and nobody likes a hypocrite. I say enjoy sex fully in whatever ways float your boat, and video games are more of an outlet for violence, not a gateway to it. I remember a saying... whenever you point a finger there are always three pointing back at you...
However, if they charge by the byte, then they have to deal with fluctuating income from one quarter to the next.
You mean they would have to deal with the highs and lows of operating a business just like other businesses? (read: retail [clothing, appliances, furniture, etc.], and most small business (supposedly the life of the American economy, according to politician double-speak)).
I suppose one could argue that AT&T provides a service where the above examples provide physical goods. We could also go one step further and point out that hospitality is a service industry, and very much subject to the highs and lows of economics.
but it's potentially problematic to be using my Nexus one to look for the latest applications and come across app after app of soft porn.
I agree. Hard porn only please.
I would think such small institutions have a staff on the order of a couple of hundred people, at best?
Speaking from first hand knowledge and experience, a customer base of 10,000 would probably be served by 50-60 employees, tops.
Yet another boneheaded attempt at forcing our views/policies/laws/etc onto other countries. It makes me reminisce of the grade school playground antics from my youth. "If you're not with us, you're against us" comes to mind as well...
1. Priorities my good sir/madam... 2. Most financial institutions provide a night depository feature if you can't get there during business hours.
I sure hope it's Voltron and not power rangers...
I am left wondering if the improvement stated is a result of consumers switching carriers from AT&T.
I just moved from the city to a small country community and it's actually less expensive, all things considered. Yes I spend more on gas to commute for work. I have satellite TV which for me is the same price as cable TV was in the city. We built a house and our mortgage + taxes + insurance is about $400 more than we were paying in rent, but it really wouldn't take that long for the rent to catch up. My water bill is about half what it was and property taxes are much lower. YMMV.
Information such as trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a company on a privileged or confidential basis that, if released, would result in competitive harm to the company, impair the government's ability to obtain like information in the future, or protect the government's interest in compliance with program effectiveness.
I wonder if this is the criteria for the withholding. Could the Army have entered into a NDA with private industry? What I picture is a situation where the Army lays out the budget for the project and a company agrees to write the code (A.I. behavior comes to mind) in return for whatever the Army can pay plus an agreement to not disclose the code. It has been years since I played AA so this theory make not make sense in some aspects.
"Not to mention that this lets sleazy lawyers "fish" for people willing to pay them off rather than prove they did nothing wrong."
Ladies and gentlem, seeker_1us has just accidently illustraded exacly what's wrong.
It SHOULD be:
"Not to mention that this lets sleazy lawyers "fish" for people willing to pay them off rather than defend their innocence."
People ahve someone how got the twisted notion the innocence should be proven. This is wrong. it's to be defended.
Let's take that one step further and say guilt should be proven, not fished for.
My daughter is in 3rd grade this year and after reviewing the material I can say that if I hear of this happening in our school, I will be making a b-line to the superintendent's office. We don't need any more politically biased material perverting the minds of our children. If all aspects of the issue were discussed, my stance might be slightly different.
We already know what the mutation is that allows some humans to feel refreshed on less hours of sleep than others... it's called leading a healthy lifestyle. Regular exercise and eating healthy, real food (not the food-like substances we buy off the store shelves in boxes), will solve so many health problems of today. Alas, that is exactly what the "food" manufacturing giants and the pharmaceutical companies DO NOT want people to figure out. That might cut into their profits.
(and I say that having a newer-but-dead PC sitting beside my Mac, it's power supply having given up, rendering the newer PC nothing more than a large and expensive paper weight...).
Buy a new power supply? 5 minutes to install?
Actually, they were proud of what they did, not just doing their job. FTA (chief of the investigation no less):
"Piracy, counterfeiting and other intellectual property rights violations not only cost U.S. businesses jobs and billions of dollars a year in lost revenue, they can also pose significant health and safety risks to consumers," he said.
Counterfeiting and piracy have grown in recent years in both magnitude and complexity, according to ICE. Industry and trade associations estimate that counterfeiting and piracy now cost the U.S. economy as much as $250 billion a year and a total of 750,000 American jobs.
I wonder what his source of information is. Oh the MAFIAA? Thought so. Next thing you know they're going to release videos saying it supports terrorism and child molesters.
LOL reading that quote FTA made me think of the investigator in Hackers giving interviews to the news media, all high and mighty. HACK THE PLANET!!! (scurries off to go watch Hackers)
The one thing that we as consumers forget from time to time is that questionable business practices are passively approved by us the consumers when we trade said companies our hard earned money for the product/service in consideration. If interoperability is not included in a product I am considering, I find an alternative product to trade my money for. Do I really need an iPod when a mp3 player will do? Is purchasing mp3 tracks from Amazon a better alternative to iTunes since I can put them on any mp3 capable device? Consumers have the power to be in control... We just need to realize it.
8 flamers, a good amount of heatsinks, and decent armor made sure my friend's first laser shot was his last... hehe