There is a Government Briefing Book hosted at change.gov that asks citizens to rank issues they are concerned with. Online poker is the number one issue in the Technology category. Maybe you're not concerned with the fight against classifying poker as a game of 'chance', while horsebetting is a game of 'skill', but many of us make our living doing this and pay our taxes on it like normal people. Countless others enjoy depositing $50 and enjoying their evening gambling. By a wide margin, most online poker deposits are $100 and 50% of them are made by Americans, and yet there are billions of dollars in prize money handed out every year, so that illustrates the scale of which Americans enjoy a very popular pasttime which the government is trying to end because of a desire to prohibit gambling inside the United States.
I know ten university students, like myself, who make a living playing online poker. Admittedly, it primarily "exploits" people with $50 who want to play poker from their home. It's a strategy game first and a luck game next, and your support for the PPA and pro-poker legislation makes it easier for us to transfer this money into the US, primarily for savings and investment at our age, and pay taxes on it. It's a completely ridiculous thing to legislate, and that's why I'm confident the World Series of Poker and its marketing buddies at ESPN, et al, with your support, can continue to bring the booming poker industry back home to the world capital of gambling, the USA.
The best way to keep children from accessing online gaming Web sites is to strictly require that all operators employ the best is class age-verification software. This can only be done through a licensing approval process and regulation. The UIGEA does not use the best way to prevent underage gambling and protect children.
Poker is a game of skill
Playing around a kitchen table or in cyberspace, the same talents and skills required to win at poker hold true. Observing betting patterns and watching when players fold are just as critical when playing poker over the Internet as when playing in person.
In addition, since poker is not a "house game" like blackjack and others, the game requires players to compete against other players. This characteristic is true whether someone is playing online or offline.
Poker is a game with a predominance of skill. Like chess, poker is a "thinking man's" game which relies on mathematics, psychology and money management.
Billions of tax revenue is being lost.
According to an economic analysis, 3.3 billion in federal tax revenue and addition 1 billion in state tax revenue could be raised if the federal government were to regulate Internet poker.
Poker is a source of charity.
In 2006, millions of dollars were raisedfor local and national charities through poker tournaments. One event in D.C. featuring 15 Members of Congress raised more than $288,000 to fight cancer.
Poker is one of the great American pastimes.
The game has been enjoyed by presidents, generals, Supreme Court Justices, Members of Congress and average Americans for more than 150 years.
Playing Poker Online Is Simply an American Tradition Evolving into the 21st Century
Americans have played poker throughout history. Playing poker on the Internet is simply an example of an American tradition evolving into the 21st century. It is unfathomable that poker, an American pastime and game of true skill, should be banned for the millions who enjoy playing responsibly.
75 percent of Americans oppose banning online poker.
According to national polling, a vast majority of Americans oppose federal efforts to ban online poker. Online Poker can be safe and regulated.
Appropriate federal regulation can ensure that minors are kept out of sites, services are provided to problem gamblers and the proper taxes are collected. The current system does nothing to protect children, problem gamblers and it is allowing billions in tax revenue to go overseas.
Online Poker vs. Online Horse Racing Betting?
If Congress allows me to bet on horses and state lotteries online, why can't I play a skill game like poker with other consenting adults?
Prohibitions don't work.
The UIGEA effectively bans online poker in the U.S. and drives those players underground. Meanwhile, poker continues to grow in popularity nationwide.
The PPA's position says YES.
4. Is playing poker legal in the United States?
Generally, playing poker in a social setting in one's home is legal in most, but not all, states. Some states permit playing social games of poker in taverns and bars, while very few states allow commercial poker games.
Increasingly, however, government officials have undertaken "crackdowns" on the playing of poker in traditional settings, including at charity events. These stories are detailed in the News section of this Web site.
The Internet poses separate issues. There is currently no federal law that prohibits anyone from playing poker online. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, does not change any federal gambling and does not make it illegal for people to play on the Internet (Note: some states do have laws, like Washington St. which have criminal penalties for online).
You going to pay for us to change all of the road signs all over the country that deal with "XXX tons maximum", "Height: 16'", "45 miles to _______", or "Speed limit: 70"?
That's the country's job, after all. Not to mention the problem that occurs in the private sector...
When everything is all said and done, the courts are going to rule that it is NOT illegal to share music over the internet. The laws in the US are set up in such a way that it is illegal to commit the first crime, the downloading, but once you put that data over the PUBLIC airwaves, it has become public data.
Disclaimer: IANAL...at least not for a couple more years, though my specialty will be copyright and patent. Also, this is not legal advice.
Part of me wishes this notebook was fueled by the Athlon64 rather than the Athlon XP-M chip because, like with the car, I want ultimate performance--but then I take one look at the machine's lustrous coat, and somehow everything else seems trivial.
RTFA before making conspiracy theories. Thank you.
Oh, and let me note before you say "thats only 90 cents per program!". Those fees are exaggerated during parts of the year. The 30% to charity was something I was going to do anyway, I donated $100 to Penny-Arcade's Child's Play. The fees are only about 8% lately, but at times they spike up to around 20%. Shipping is down since I've started skimping on stamps and only sticking one on an envelope instead of two. Packaging is constant. My profit is about 82% of the final purchase price, and during the school year I sell 3 programs a day, netting me about 11.50$/day, which rounds out nicely to 10$ on those days when I only sell 2.
Nope. I have no need for a website. You can view one of my eBay auctions here, though (until 1/29, at least):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item =3657074442&rd=1
Well, 10$ a day is $3,650 a year. This isn't bad for a college student doing two minutes of work a day. If you want to pull in 36500K/year, design 10 programs instead of 1 and market them. If you want to make 100K, design 30 programs and market them well. I spent 3 days coding, and I wasn't very good at it at the time (I started in VB, then the third day changed everything to C and restarted), so if you spend, say, 90 days coding, you could theoretically create the 30 programs required to bring in 100K. of course, lots of variables influence this.
Oh, You could also try selling them for more than $5 a pop. That's all my programs cost, cause I don't do it for the money as much as I do it for the experience.
I started this when I was 16. I designed programs to teach kids arithmetic. Now I'm 18, have a steady job that brings me about $10/day for all of the work of listing my programs on eBay, and every once in a while, I'll get lucky and a school will want to purchase 50 or 100 copies of my program on floppies for their computers. The programs took about 3 days to write, and they were the best 3 days of my life.
The solution? Start a pyramid scheme.
The way I did it was simple. There are tons of places online where people offering scholarships register. You can go there to find scholarships, then go to the scholarship's homepage and get information on how to submit. I never got any big scholarships, I just got several 500-2000 bucks hits, and it eventually added up.
I don't think the tip jar will pay for the setup, but I suspect customers may come and drink more coffee, so it'll be worthwhile even as a learning experience.
Go with 802.11b. Your internet connection isn't nearly fast enough to saturate 11Mb/s. Use an access point that goes to an ethernet card on the computer, which has another card that goes to the internet. If you want to run a wired or private network as well, hang a third card off the computer and make sure no one can go from the public network to the private one, only to the internet.
Then go wild with the linux. Be aware that the more programs you run, the more vulnerable you are to attacks. You'll be ssh'ing in every month to update the software if you use any new software that hasn't undergone the rigors of years of public internet testing.
Alternately, use an AP/Router combination. Make sure you don't skimp. Many have ability to block ports, limit usage, etc. You won't be able to prevent spammers as easily, but your ISP will tell you if that' becoming an issue. If so, put in a box later.
I had a friend who did something like this. He hooked 8000 (yes, eight thousand) lights up and made one continuous string across the entire yard, then set it up as a chaser. It looked REALLY good.
And most important: non-programmer users don't care what GUI toolkit their application is built upon. The GUI issue is a developer, not user, discussion.
*raises hand* I'm a user, and I care what GUI toolkit my application is built on. I prefer KDE. It looks more appealing to me. It seems to operate better on my system. I like the included programs packaged that can be used only on KDE. However, I don't care which GUI these guys choose, because I won't be using UserLinux anyway.
Slashdot Mirror
There is a Government Briefing Book hosted at change.gov that asks citizens to rank issues they are concerned with. Online poker is the number one issue in the Technology category. Maybe you're not concerned with the fight against classifying poker as a game of 'chance', while horsebetting is a game of 'skill', but many of us make our living doing this and pay our taxes on it like normal people. Countless others enjoy depositing $50 and enjoying their evening gambling. By a wide margin, most online poker deposits are $100 and 50% of them are made by Americans, and yet there are billions of dollars in prize money handed out every year, so that illustrates the scale of which Americans enjoy a very popular pasttime which the government is trying to end because of a desire to prohibit gambling inside the United States.
I know ten university students, like myself, who make a living playing online poker. Admittedly, it primarily "exploits" people with $50 who want to play poker from their home. It's a strategy game first and a luck game next, and your support for the PPA and pro-poker legislation makes it easier for us to transfer this money into the US, primarily for savings and investment at our age, and pay taxes on it. It's a completely ridiculous thing to legislate, and that's why I'm confident the World Series of Poker and its marketing buddies at ESPN, et al, with your support, can continue to bring the booming poker industry back home to the world capital of gambling, the USA.
Certain states, Kentucky comes to mind, have taken it into their own hands. http://www.pokerplayerpress.com/online-poker-ban.html
The best way to keep children from accessing online gaming Web sites is to strictly require that all operators employ the best is class age-verification software. This can only be done through a licensing approval process and regulation. The UIGEA does not use the best way to prevent underage gambling and protect children.
Poker is a game of skill
Playing around a kitchen table or in cyberspace, the same talents and skills required to win at poker hold true. Observing betting patterns and watching when players fold are just as critical when playing poker over the Internet as when playing in person.
In addition, since poker is not a "house game" like blackjack and others, the game requires players to compete against other players. This characteristic is true whether someone is playing online or offline.
Poker is a game with a predominance of skill. Like chess, poker is a "thinking man's" game which relies on mathematics, psychology and money management.
Billions of tax revenue is being lost.
According to an economic analysis, 3.3 billion in federal tax revenue and addition 1 billion in state tax revenue could be raised if the federal government were to regulate Internet poker.
Poker is a source of charity.
In 2006, millions of dollars were raisedfor local and national charities through poker tournaments. One event in D.C. featuring 15 Members of Congress raised more than $288,000 to fight cancer.
Poker is one of the great American pastimes.
The game has been enjoyed by presidents, generals, Supreme Court Justices, Members of Congress and average Americans for more than 150 years.
Playing Poker Online Is Simply an American Tradition Evolving into the 21st Century
Americans have played poker throughout history. Playing poker on the Internet is simply an example of an American tradition evolving into the 21st century. It is unfathomable that poker, an American pastime and game of true skill, should be banned for the millions who enjoy playing responsibly.
75 percent of Americans oppose banning online poker.
According to national polling, a vast majority of Americans oppose federal efforts to ban online poker. Online Poker can be safe and regulated.
Appropriate federal regulation can ensure that minors are kept out of sites, services are provided to problem gamblers and the proper taxes are collected. The current system does nothing to protect children, problem gamblers and it is allowing billions in tax revenue to go overseas.
Online Poker vs. Online Horse Racing Betting?
If Congress allows me to bet on horses and state lotteries online, why can't I play a skill game like poker with other consenting adults?
Prohibitions don't work.
The UIGEA effectively bans online poker in the U.S. and drives those players underground. Meanwhile, poker continues to grow in popularity nationwide.
The PPA's position says YES. 4. Is playing poker legal in the United States? Generally, playing poker in a social setting in one's home is legal in most, but not all, states. Some states permit playing social games of poker in taverns and bars, while very few states allow commercial poker games. Increasingly, however, government officials have undertaken "crackdowns" on the playing of poker in traditional settings, including at charity events. These stories are detailed in the News section of this Web site. The Internet poses separate issues. There is currently no federal law that prohibits anyone from playing poker online. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, does not change any federal gambling and does not make it illegal for people to play on the Internet (Note: some states do have laws, like Washington St. which have criminal penalties for online).
This place can't be real. If they don't have the internet or radios, how would we have heard about it?
Trust me, relaxing on MMORPGs aren't doing anything for the social skills of any people.
Yes, but when will we be able to put them in robots?
"Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, You're my only hope."
Done. Payable in slashdot subscriptions.
You going to pay for us to change all of the road signs all over the country that deal with "XXX tons maximum", "Height: 16'", "45 miles to _______", or "Speed limit: 70"?
That's the country's job, after all. Not to mention the problem that occurs in the private sector...
When everything is all said and done, the courts are going to rule that it is NOT illegal to share music over the internet. The laws in the US are set up in such a way that it is illegal to commit the first crime, the downloading, but once you put that data over the PUBLIC airwaves, it has become public data.
Disclaimer: IANAL...at least not for a couple more years, though my specialty will be copyright and patent. Also, this is not legal advice.
Part of me wishes this notebook was fueled by the Athlon64 rather than the Athlon XP-M chip because, like with the car, I want ultimate performance--but then I take one look at the machine's lustrous coat, and somehow everything else seems trivial.
RTFA before making conspiracy theories. Thank you.
Oh, and let me note before you say "thats only 90 cents per program!". Those fees are exaggerated during parts of the year. The 30% to charity was something I was going to do anyway, I donated $100 to Penny-Arcade's Child's Play. The fees are only about 8% lately, but at times they spike up to around 20%. Shipping is down since I've started skimping on stamps and only sticking one on an envelope instead of two. Packaging is constant. My profit is about 82% of the final purchase price, and during the school year I sell 3 programs a day, netting me about 11.50$/day, which rounds out nicely to 10$ on those days when I only sell 2.
Nope. I have no need for a website. You can view one of my eBay auctions here, though (until 1/29, at least): http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item =3657074442&rd=1
Well, 10$ a day is $3,650 a year. This isn't bad for a college student doing two minutes of work a day. If you want to pull in 36500K/year, design 10 programs instead of 1 and market them. If you want to make 100K, design 30 programs and market them well. I spent 3 days coding, and I wasn't very good at it at the time (I started in VB, then the third day changed everything to C and restarted), so if you spend, say, 90 days coding, you could theoretically create the 30 programs required to bring in 100K. of course, lots of variables influence this.
Oh, You could also try selling them for more than $5 a pop. That's all my programs cost, cause I don't do it for the money as much as I do it for the experience.
I started this when I was 16. I designed programs to teach kids arithmetic. Now I'm 18, have a steady job that brings me about $10/day for all of the work of listing my programs on eBay, and every once in a while, I'll get lucky and a school will want to purchase 50 or 100 copies of my program on floppies for their computers. The programs took about 3 days to write, and they were the best 3 days of my life.
XP requires a minimum of 128mb RAM to run smoothly. Trust me on this. I tried setting it up on my Dad's computer with 64 and it was slower than 98.
I would hope that the fixes for the Y2K bug would be available until our physical calendar loops around and we start over at 32767BC.
The solution? Start a pyramid scheme. The way I did it was simple. There are tons of places online where people offering scholarships register. You can go there to find scholarships, then go to the scholarship's homepage and get information on how to submit. I never got any big scholarships, I just got several 500-2000 bucks hits, and it eventually added up.
Liquid Nitrogen? Compressors? Huge heatsinks? Wouldn't it have been cheaper just to beowulf cluster a few systems together?
Then again, I guess that wouldn't be as 1337, and we wouldn't have this slashdot story over it.
I don't think the tip jar will pay for the setup, but I suspect customers may come and drink more coffee, so it'll be worthwhile even as a learning experience.
Go with 802.11b. Your internet connection isn't nearly fast enough to saturate 11Mb/s. Use an access point that goes to an ethernet card on the computer, which has another card that goes to the internet. If you want to run a wired or private network as well, hang a third card off the computer and make sure no one can go from the public network to the private one, only to the internet.
Then go wild with the linux. Be aware that the more programs you run, the more vulnerable you are to attacks. You'll be ssh'ing in every month to update the software if you use any new software that hasn't undergone the rigors of years of public internet testing.
Alternately, use an AP/Router combination. Make sure you don't skimp. Many have ability to block ports, limit usage, etc. You won't be able to prevent spammers as easily, but your ISP will tell you if that' becoming an issue. If so, put in a box later.
-1 Flamebait, -1 Offtopic
I had a friend who did something like this. He hooked 8000 (yes, eight thousand) lights up and made one continuous string across the entire yard, then set it up as a chaser. It looked REALLY good.
And most important: non-programmer users don't care what GUI toolkit their application is built upon. The GUI issue is a developer, not user, discussion.
*raises hand* I'm a user, and I care what GUI toolkit my application is built on. I prefer KDE. It looks more appealing to me. It seems to operate better on my system. I like the included programs packaged that can be used only on KDE. However, I don't care which GUI these guys choose, because I won't be using UserLinux anyway.