I'm amazed at how much of an opinion you have on a device that isn't even been released yet, and that, by the accounts of everyone who's touched it, that quite a few features are simply screenshots.
I'm a staunch defender of fair use, but I don't pirate anything that I can legally obtain in the US. If it's not good enough for me to buy, I'm not going to bolster their argument that they should limit my rights due to piracy.
And if the BBC made their shows available for purchase at the same time they aired in the UK, I'd buy them, too.
I think the problem here is less with the parking and more with Florida. Too many people, too many alligators, and too much weather. Why don't we launch from the Arizona desert or something? The couple degrees of latitude couldn't make that much difference.
I think the greater crime is that this person spent four years in college and four years in medical school, plus a lot of residency time, and they're spending all that time doing what is essentially clerical work. How many more people could afford medical care, or could be seen by a doctor, if they weren't spending their time tracking down billing information.
The single biggest evidence is how popular culture perceives hospitals. Very, very rarely are they sleek places full of computers. Mostly, it's a place with mounds and mounds of paperwork and reams of filing cabinets and an old green-on-black terminal at the receptionist's desk.
They've never checked my ID when I've gone there, and I've dropped off a ton of stuff. As long as it's not a huge truckload, I'd say just bring it yourself. It's on Harrisburg Pike, right about halfway between the Park City Mall and F&M.
They also take old paint, motor oil, and batteries.
Depends on how you define transplant. I'm born and raised in PA, but I've lived in Williamsport, Clearfield, Harrisburg, State College, Wilkes-Barre, Harrisburg again, and now Lancaster. (Near F&M)
And of all these places, Lancaster is the best by far.
There's still too much paper in health care and banking.
When I go to the doctor, I've got to fill out forms containing information that I've already filled out for that doctor or information that should be available to my doctor from other places I've filled it out. And I've got to fill out those forms on paper, which are then entered by someone else, increasing the rate of error.
My wife works as a TSS and she still has about an hour of paperwork to fill out every week. To fulfill HIPA requirements, it has to meet very strict requirements. She's been called in to correct things like lines not reaching to the edge of the form box or signing the paper in black ink instead of blue.
Restricting behavior to meet requirements is something that computer programs can do very well, but her company and the state haven't set up a system where she can log into a website, enter the information, digitally sign it, and submit it without using paper. And the worst part is that these forms she fills out must be retained even though they're digitized to be sent to
Finally, when I was getting my mortgage, they insisted that I fax information to them so they'd have a hard copy. Never mind that fax machines are almost negligible, never mind that fax machines are less secure than an encrypted email, and never mind that the functionality of the form could have been duplicated through a website. I was forced to take time out of my day to hunt down a fax machine and then pay to use it.
There's still too much paper in our society. And one of the main reasons for this is because the government hasn't stepped up to alter laws like HIPA that mandate paper copies of all information.
Why is this modded troll? Electronics are very harmful to the environment. They're full of heavy metals and toxic chemicals, and there are toxic chemicals used in their production that aren't always disposed of properly. I guess pointing out uncomfortable truths is something most/. readers can't handle.
Tech companies and communities are starting to catch on, however. Several manufacturers will take your old computer when you buy a new one, and my county (Lancaster, PA) offers free electronics and household hazardous waste recycling to residents.
As an atheist, I can see how you'd say this. There are too many atheists, in my opinion, that take the word of theoretical physicists at face value. They're becoming a new priesthood, and that's a dangerous road to start going down, regardless of their qualifications.
I'm skeptical of this new idea of Hawking. If something is unproveable, then it's just the same as it not being true. It's like Sagan's dragon in his garage.
So until I see some math or published works, these could very well be the rantings of a madman.
Maybe that's my issue with this. I'm not a gamer. I barely have time to play the PSX I've got sitting on my VCR at home. And I'm a lot less concerned about the quality of the picture than I am with the quality of the content that's being shown. "The Empire Strikes Back" will always be the best Star Wars movie regardless of whether it's shown on my iPod, an HDTV, or a theatre.
The only sport I was able to stick with through high school was marching band. (And if you don't think that's a sport, you try running fifteen yards in five seconds while blowing a horn, facing front, and dressing lines.) Am I supposed to go out and start a marching band to get some exercise?
I think finding a sport you "love" is overrated. Finding a sport you can tolerate is better, then adding things you love to it. I hate walking and running, but I do it anyway because it gives me alone time to listen to the podcasts to which I'm subscribed.
The virtual world is a better place to be. I can seek out people of common interests. I can block people who are jerks. I'm judged by my ability to form cogent arguments rather than my appearance or speech.
But, really, there's no reason you ever have to leave the virtual world. Most podcasts are about an hour long, which is plenty of time to get enough exercise. Plug in your earbuds and go for a walk. Turn around halfway through and do this three times a week. No need to leave the virtual world, and no need to turn into a lardass.
I'm perfectly willing and able to pay for content. If I were able to get Dr. Who legally in the US in its original form in a short time frame, I'd gladly pay for it. There's really no reason for me not to be able to, other than antiquated distribution rights. I'm sure the BBC would love to be able to sell these things directly to me as they're produced.
As for actual facts, they're blatantly visible. The huge glut of reality TV shows, the masses of idiotic sitcoms, the shows about aliens and Nostradamus that pass for documentaries on the History Channel. If you can't see this happening then you're beyond hope.
I'm aware that whether it's SD or HD doesn't make it any better, but the content producers and the content distributors are marketing HD like it's going to make Gigli an Oscar-worthy production.
It's like a cult, really. They're saying that if only I spend thousands on an HD system, all the content they spew at me will be engrossing and entertaining.
One thing that's encouraging for me is that the barrier to entry is being consistently lowered. Spielberg and Lucas started out on 8mm cameras making low-budget films with their friends. The big name directors of the future are on the Internet right now, making low-budget films with their friends, but they've got the technology to do very professional-looking work. And because of the Internet, a lot of people can see their work.
Things like Galacticast or Star Wreck or the fan-produced Star Trek: New Voyages are incubators for future blockbuster writers and directors, and they're actually really great content.
It's more than just my opinion. The vast majority of content these days is geared towards the lowest common denominator and the lowest cost. Rather than taking risks and respecting their audience, they've decided that we're all morons and that we'll take what they're feeding us. There are a few shows and movies that do make it through, but they're few and very far between.
This is why I've gone to other, possibly illegal, ways of getting content that appeals to me. And I know I'm not the only one.
I would rather the studios get cracking on some good content rather than having us watch the same, boring, stale content in OMG U CAN SEE THER POREZORS!1!!one! I get more entertainment value out of my free podcasts than out of my television. The content is stuff I actually care about, and while the production value isn't always the greatest it's almost always worth the price of bandwidth. And I can watch or listen to them at work.
And the worst part is that when the studios make good content, it's canceled or sunk very quickly. Most people have probably never heard of Idiocracy, but everyone I've heard who's seen it says it's awesome, but it only ran for one weekend in 8 theaters because some exec got scared because it made fun of all the idiots of the world. And then there's Firefly, and Dr. Who, and Torchwood, which got shown out of order and canceled, butchered unrecognizably to add commercials, and completely ignored respectively.
To put it another way: I don't see any reason I should upgrade to HD just so I can get the MPAA regulating what I watch or be able to see the blades of grass on the field where millionaires in tights jump on each other.
I downloaded the HD podcast of the 2007 Macworld Keynote, and that's about 1.3GB. I also download a few video podcasts and some TV shows every month, so that's at least another gig. And when Dr. Who starts up on 3/31, I'll be flying BitTorrent Airways four times a month for about 500MB. Uh... I mean I'll be waiting patiently for Sci Fi to butcher it and add commercials.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm amazed at how much of an opinion you have on a device that isn't even been released yet, and that, by the accounts of everyone who's touched it, that quite a few features are simply screenshots.
What I really, truly want is no advertising. Can they give me that?
I'm a staunch defender of fair use, but I don't pirate anything that I can legally obtain in the US. If it's not good enough for me to buy, I'm not going to bolster their argument that they should limit my rights due to piracy.
And if the BBC made their shows available for purchase at the same time they aired in the UK, I'd buy them, too.
I think the problem here is less with the parking and more with Florida. Too many people, too many alligators, and too much weather. Why don't we launch from the Arizona desert or something? The couple degrees of latitude couldn't make that much difference.
What about mirrors? The sun puts out a lot of energy. There's got to be enough there to melt some of the ice.
I think the greater crime is that this person spent four years in college and four years in medical school, plus a lot of residency time, and they're spending all that time doing what is essentially clerical work. How many more people could afford medical care, or could be seen by a doctor, if they weren't spending their time tracking down billing information.
The single biggest evidence is how popular culture perceives hospitals. Very, very rarely are they sleek places full of computers. Mostly, it's a place with mounds and mounds of paperwork and reams of filing cabinets and an old green-on-black terminal at the receptionist's desk.
They've never checked my ID when I've gone there, and I've dropped off a ton of stuff. As long as it's not a huge truckload, I'd say just bring it yourself. It's on Harrisburg Pike, right about halfway between the Park City Mall and F&M.
They also take old paint, motor oil, and batteries.
Depends on how you define transplant. I'm born and raised in PA, but I've lived in Williamsport, Clearfield, Harrisburg, State College, Wilkes-Barre, Harrisburg again, and now Lancaster. (Near F&M)
And of all these places, Lancaster is the best by far.
Why wouldn't we want to take European length vacations? I'd gladly take a month off every year and only have to work 35 hours a week.
There's still too much paper in health care and banking.
When I go to the doctor, I've got to fill out forms containing information that I've already filled out for that doctor or information that should be available to my doctor from other places I've filled it out. And I've got to fill out those forms on paper, which are then entered by someone else, increasing the rate of error.
My wife works as a TSS and she still has about an hour of paperwork to fill out every week. To fulfill HIPA requirements, it has to meet very strict requirements. She's been called in to correct things like lines not reaching to the edge of the form box or signing the paper in black ink instead of blue.
Restricting behavior to meet requirements is something that computer programs can do very well, but her company and the state haven't set up a system where she can log into a website, enter the information, digitally sign it, and submit it without using paper. And the worst part is that these forms she fills out must be retained even though they're digitized to be sent to
Finally, when I was getting my mortgage, they insisted that I fax information to them so they'd have a hard copy. Never mind that fax machines are almost negligible, never mind that fax machines are less secure than an encrypted email, and never mind that the functionality of the form could have been duplicated through a website. I was forced to take time out of my day to hunt down a fax machine and then pay to use it.
There's still too much paper in our society. And one of the main reasons for this is because the government hasn't stepped up to alter laws like HIPA that mandate paper copies of all information.
Why is this modded troll? Electronics are very harmful to the environment. They're full of heavy metals and toxic chemicals, and there are toxic chemicals used in their production that aren't always disposed of properly. I guess pointing out uncomfortable truths is something most /. readers can't handle.
Tech companies and communities are starting to catch on, however. Several manufacturers will take your old computer when you buy a new one, and my county (Lancaster, PA) offers free electronics and household hazardous waste recycling to residents.
As an atheist, I can see how you'd say this. There are too many atheists, in my opinion, that take the word of theoretical physicists at face value. They're becoming a new priesthood, and that's a dangerous road to start going down, regardless of their qualifications.
I'm skeptical of this new idea of Hawking. If something is unproveable, then it's just the same as it not being true. It's like Sagan's dragon in his garage.
So until I see some math or published works, these could very well be the rantings of a madman.
Maybe that's my issue with this. I'm not a gamer. I barely have time to play the PSX I've got sitting on my VCR at home. And I'm a lot less concerned about the quality of the picture than I am with the quality of the content that's being shown. "The Empire Strikes Back" will always be the best Star Wars movie regardless of whether it's shown on my iPod, an HDTV, or a theatre.
Amazing! One show! Well then there's obviously nothing at all wrong with the system!
The only sport I was able to stick with through high school was marching band. (And if you don't think that's a sport, you try running fifteen yards in five seconds while blowing a horn, facing front, and dressing lines.) Am I supposed to go out and start a marching band to get some exercise?
I think finding a sport you "love" is overrated. Finding a sport you can tolerate is better, then adding things you love to it. I hate walking and running, but I do it anyway because it gives me alone time to listen to the podcasts to which I'm subscribed.
The virtual world is a better place to be. I can seek out people of common interests. I can block people who are jerks. I'm judged by my ability to form cogent arguments rather than my appearance or speech.
But, really, there's no reason you ever have to leave the virtual world. Most podcasts are about an hour long, which is plenty of time to get enough exercise. Plug in your earbuds and go for a walk. Turn around halfway through and do this three times a week. No need to leave the virtual world, and no need to turn into a lardass.
I'm perfectly willing and able to pay for content. If I were able to get Dr. Who legally in the US in its original form in a short time frame, I'd gladly pay for it. There's really no reason for me not to be able to, other than antiquated distribution rights. I'm sure the BBC would love to be able to sell these things directly to me as they're produced.
As for actual facts, they're blatantly visible. The huge glut of reality TV shows, the masses of idiotic sitcoms, the shows about aliens and Nostradamus that pass for documentaries on the History Channel. If you can't see this happening then you're beyond hope.
I'm aware that whether it's SD or HD doesn't make it any better, but the content producers and the content distributors are marketing HD like it's going to make Gigli an Oscar-worthy production.
It's like a cult, really. They're saying that if only I spend thousands on an HD system, all the content they spew at me will be engrossing and entertaining.
One thing that's encouraging for me is that the barrier to entry is being consistently lowered. Spielberg and Lucas started out on 8mm cameras making low-budget films with their friends. The big name directors of the future are on the Internet right now, making low-budget films with their friends, but they've got the technology to do very professional-looking work. And because of the Internet, a lot of people can see their work.
Things like Galacticast or Star Wreck or the fan-produced Star Trek: New Voyages are incubators for future blockbuster writers and directors, and they're actually really great content.
It's more than just my opinion. The vast majority of content these days is geared towards the lowest common denominator and the lowest cost. Rather than taking risks and respecting their audience, they've decided that we're all morons and that we'll take what they're feeding us. There are a few shows and movies that do make it through, but they're few and very far between.
This is why I've gone to other, possibly illegal, ways of getting content that appeals to me. And I know I'm not the only one.
That's all well and good, but if the content is going to be bad, no amount of high definition will fix it.
Marathon is ten times better than Doom. Same era, same technology, far better implementation. And without Marathon, you wouldn't have Halo.
I would rather the studios get cracking on some good content rather than having us watch the same, boring, stale content in OMG U CAN SEE THER POREZORS!1!!one! I get more entertainment value out of my free podcasts than out of my television. The content is stuff I actually care about, and while the production value isn't always the greatest it's almost always worth the price of bandwidth. And I can watch or listen to them at work.
And the worst part is that when the studios make good content, it's canceled or sunk very quickly. Most people have probably never heard of Idiocracy, but everyone I've heard who's seen it says it's awesome, but it only ran for one weekend in 8 theaters because some exec got scared because it made fun of all the idiots of the world. And then there's Firefly, and Dr. Who, and Torchwood, which got shown out of order and canceled, butchered unrecognizably to add commercials, and completely ignored respectively.
To put it another way: I don't see any reason I should upgrade to HD just so I can get the MPAA regulating what I watch or be able to see the blades of grass on the field where millionaires in tights jump on each other.
I downloaded the HD podcast of the 2007 Macworld Keynote, and that's about 1.3GB. I also download a few video podcasts and some TV shows every month, so that's at least another gig. And when Dr. Who starts up on 3/31, I'll be flying BitTorrent Airways four times a month for about 500MB. Uh... I mean I'll be waiting patiently for Sci Fi to butcher it and add commercials.