GPP wasn't complaining about the government, he was complaining about the process. He said that political parties should "just fix" the problems rather than arguing with the opposition. I pointed out that they need to argue with the opposition because that's how our government works. Then I suggested that there are plenty of other countries without opposing political viewpoints.
So, no the solution isn't to just leave. But the solution also isn't to give one party complete, unopposed power.
I have a feeling that networking will be next on the ISP/Broadband/FiOS like level for Google.
Oh gods I hope so.
Right now I have two options: Crappy Verizon DSL that blocks ports and Comcast that charges an arm and a leg for mediocre service, bad tech support and even worse on-site support. (Search my blog for Comcast to read my horror stories.)
If Google (or, really, any other company) offered service in my area that was cheaper and/or better, I'd switch in a heartbeat. And I wouldn't doubt for a second that they could offer it, except that my state government is in the pocket of both Verizon and Comcast.
I'm in a similar situation. I started in February and I'm making $22/hr as contract to hire, with a pretty good chance of either getting permanent or renewed in the next couple months. The environment is casual dress, they bought a Mac Book Pro for me to use since I'm more familiar with OS X, nice environment. We play Unreal Tournament during lunch hours and there's a Q*Bert machine in the lounge. I'm signed up with the "Bagel Club," which means bagels every thursday, free pizza every now and then, free lunches whenever we have a meeting, and they're flying the team to a resort in Colorado for team-building exercises.
I look forward to coming into work every morning, I'm productive while I'm here, I enjoy what I do, and I like the people I'm working with. It's almost the perfect job. And I found out that, as an IT professional in my area of the country, I can pretty much get whatever I ask since the unemployment rate is below 2%.
Now to be modded down by folks who have bad jobs. But first, a bit of advice: Learn about the job market in the area and go find one. I had a horrible job a year ago that just kept getting worse. (For example: My boss wanted us to pray before every meeting, and I was making 40% less than I make now.) I decided to do something about it and found TONS of positions. I still have recruiters calling and emailing me. If you have any kind of experience you're a hot commodity. And, besides, if you find a worse position you can just leave.*
* Disclaimer: If you're heavily in debt and lack any sort of savings, this isn't a very good idea. I keep a month's salary in the bank at all times, which isn't a bad idea.
It's hard to "just fix the problem" when you've got to work with the other side to fix the problem. Case in point: The Iraq Occupation. Democrats were put back in the majority to end the war, but thanks to stalling tactics by the Republicans, they couldn't manage to do anything but maintain the status quo.
So unless you want to give all the power to one party, there's no way anyone can "just fix it." And I doubt anyone would want any one party to have complete power for any period of time.
What you see as stupid politics is how we come to decisions as a country. Granted, the dialog has degraded, mostly due to the removal of the fairness doctrine. But if you don't like it, you're perfectly capable of moving to a place where there's only one political party who can "just fix the problem" with no opposition.
Any unsigned band would be better off going straight to the Internet. Record companies can't do any more these days than an independent record producer in terms of recording quality, and since the cost of distribution is essentially nil, the only thing they'd be getting from a "normal" record company is promotion and songwriters. And if they don't mind doing their own promotion and write their own songs, this isn't a problem.
Case in point: Jonathan Coulton. He has said he makes as much as a signed band like the Dresden Dolls even though he's doing all of the scheduling, recording, songwriting and touring by himself.
Until you can provide a "don't think about it - it just works" Linux desktop the users aren't going to switch. Even then it had best come preinstalled and have a near seamless way to run windows software that they might want.
I disagree. There's tons of stuff you have to think about when using Windows. The difference, however, is that Linux makes you look at a command line, while Windows wraps it all in pretty GUI screens that all do essentially the same thing.
So Linux doesn't have to be "don't think about it - it just works" to succeed. It needs to be "don't think about it - just click OK" to succeed.
You can render anything on any computer, it's just a matter of how soon you want it. The fact that he wrote a program that did thousands of rectangles per minute was what people thought was impossible.
You're probably right about engineering or a software change. Apple is well known for using creative software to compensate for bad hardware or make great hardware even better. Bill Atkinson started this with the window rendering software in the original Macintosh. He could render rounded rectangles faster than anyone could imagine on a machine nobody thought was capable of such a task.
Blu-Ray's BD+ is an additional layer of DRM which has not yet been broken.
The reason it hasn't been broken is because it hasn't been used. Once they start trying to stop copying it will be broken in a matter of days, even if it's merely playing it back on an HD screen and recording it with an HD camera.
I wrote a letter. I got back a response that said "thank you for your views on this matter." And since my representative is of the opposite party than me, I think I've done more harm than good. "Hey, the other side wants us to keep net neutrality, so it must be a good thing for our side!"
Seriously, I don't think writing to 60 year old men who don't understand the issue will help this situation.
If that were true than my city, which has a population density similar to the Tokyo suburbs, would have super fast broadband. And New Yorkers would have 100Mbps symmetrical connections.
It's not density. It's laziness and over regulation.
It's not the guns and bombs I have a problem with. It's the massive amount of profit made by manufacturing them. It gives a certain, very powerful segment a society an incentive to choose war over diplomacy.
As a city dweller, I can tell you that Verizon most certainly is NOT planning on installing FiOS everywhere. All of the suburbs surrounding my small city have FiOS because the demand is there. They currently have no timetable for installing it anywhere within the city limits. This is despite the fact that the increased density of the city would yield twice as many subscribers per mile of fiber.
I'm not even able to get DSL at more than 3mbps from Verizon and, thanks to the ridiculous state government, I don't have any competing DSL providers in the area. So that leaves me with Comcast. Wow, a whopping two choices for broadband. Yay capitalism!
So, no, Verizon isn't going to be replacing it all with Fiber. They're going to be swapping it out in the rich suburbs and creating a broadband donut; Poor DSL in urban areas, FiOS in the suburbs, and cable or dial up in rural areas. Unless we have a program like the TVA or Rural Electrification from the 1930s for broadband, there's no way to prevent this.
What's in it for Apple? Well, the more people associate Apple with a good experience, the more folks are going to want to buy Macs rather than PCs. Then, Apple makes more money.
The iPod is part of this strategy. The iPhone is part of this strategy. Safari for Windows is also part of this strategy.
You can replace the hard drive and RAM in a MacBook with a set of torx drivers. Just take out the battery and remove the L-shaped piece of metal and you can remove just about everything.
Same goes for Powerbooks. My personal machine is a 1.5Ghz Powerbook G4. I don't foresee replacing it for a long time either. It's fine for everything I do outside of work, and any job I get will probably provide me with a machine.
However, my employer just gave me a brand new Mac Book Pro to use, so the Powerbook doesn't see much action these days.
I do the opposite. I tell people that I'll provide them with free tech support if they get a Mac. And with clever use of reverse SSH tunnels and VNC, I can do it from just about anywhere with little trouble.
Of course, I rarely get calls from the five people I've sold Macs to because they haven't had any trouble beyond the initial setup.
I don't actually see that much problem with being both beliver of evolution and the Big bang and being a christian. I think the problem is that people read the bible like it was a book about natural science instead of what it realy is ie a history book and a book about ethics.
The reason they need a literal reading of Genesis is that otherwise there wouldn't be original sin, and therefore they wouldn't need Jesus to forgive them of their original sin, and therefore wouldn't need to be Christians.
My brother-in-law has MD. Stem cell research could yield a treatment that could keep him from dying. These idiots have prevented the government from funding it and would make it completely illegal if they had their way. Millions of people will suffer and die because these people consider a clump of cells to be as human as someone who can feel love and pain and has memories.
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GPP wasn't complaining about the government, he was complaining about the process. He said that political parties should "just fix" the problems rather than arguing with the opposition. I pointed out that they need to argue with the opposition because that's how our government works. Then I suggested that there are plenty of other countries without opposing political viewpoints.
So, no the solution isn't to just leave. But the solution also isn't to give one party complete, unopposed power.
Oh gods I hope so.
Right now I have two options: Crappy Verizon DSL that blocks ports and Comcast that charges an arm and a leg for mediocre service, bad tech support and even worse on-site support. (Search my blog for Comcast to read my horror stories.)
If Google (or, really, any other company) offered service in my area that was cheaper and/or better, I'd switch in a heartbeat. And I wouldn't doubt for a second that they could offer it, except that my state government is in the pocket of both Verizon and Comcast.
I'm in a similar situation. I started in February and I'm making $22/hr as contract to hire, with a pretty good chance of either getting permanent or renewed in the next couple months. The environment is casual dress, they bought a Mac Book Pro for me to use since I'm more familiar with OS X, nice environment. We play Unreal Tournament during lunch hours and there's a Q*Bert machine in the lounge. I'm signed up with the "Bagel Club," which means bagels every thursday, free pizza every now and then, free lunches whenever we have a meeting, and they're flying the team to a resort in Colorado for team-building exercises.
I look forward to coming into work every morning, I'm productive while I'm here, I enjoy what I do, and I like the people I'm working with. It's almost the perfect job. And I found out that, as an IT professional in my area of the country, I can pretty much get whatever I ask since the unemployment rate is below 2%.
Now to be modded down by folks who have bad jobs. But first, a bit of advice: Learn about the job market in the area and go find one. I had a horrible job a year ago that just kept getting worse. (For example: My boss wanted us to pray before every meeting, and I was making 40% less than I make now.) I decided to do something about it and found TONS of positions. I still have recruiters calling and emailing me. If you have any kind of experience you're a hot commodity. And, besides, if you find a worse position you can just leave.*
* Disclaimer: If you're heavily in debt and lack any sort of savings, this isn't a very good idea. I keep a month's salary in the bank at all times, which isn't a bad idea.
It's hard to "just fix the problem" when you've got to work with the other side to fix the problem. Case in point: The Iraq Occupation. Democrats were put back in the majority to end the war, but thanks to stalling tactics by the Republicans, they couldn't manage to do anything but maintain the status quo.
So unless you want to give all the power to one party, there's no way anyone can "just fix it." And I doubt anyone would want any one party to have complete power for any period of time.
What you see as stupid politics is how we come to decisions as a country. Granted, the dialog has degraded, mostly due to the removal of the fairness doctrine. But if you don't like it, you're perfectly capable of moving to a place where there's only one political party who can "just fix the problem" with no opposition.
How long was this post in the message buffer? The 8600/300 came out in 1997! Maybe if you used comparable systems, you'd have an argument.
Any unsigned band would be better off going straight to the Internet. Record companies can't do any more these days than an independent record producer in terms of recording quality, and since the cost of distribution is essentially nil, the only thing they'd be getting from a "normal" record company is promotion and songwriters. And if they don't mind doing their own promotion and write their own songs, this isn't a problem.
Case in point: Jonathan Coulton. He has said he makes as much as a signed band like the Dresden Dolls even though he's doing all of the scheduling, recording, songwriting and touring by himself.
That's what I meant. They just take all the quirks that require a trip to the CLI and wrap a GUI around them. Then it's just as good as Windows.
I disagree. There's tons of stuff you have to think about when using Windows. The difference, however, is that Linux makes you look at a command line, while Windows wraps it all in pretty GUI screens that all do essentially the same thing.
So Linux doesn't have to be "don't think about it - it just works" to succeed. It needs to be "don't think about it - just click OK" to succeed.
You can render anything on any computer, it's just a matter of how soon you want it. The fact that he wrote a program that did thousands of rectangles per minute was what people thought was impossible.
You're probably right about engineering or a software change. Apple is well known for using creative software to compensate for bad hardware or make great hardware even better. Bill Atkinson started this with the window rendering software in the original Macintosh. He could render rounded rectangles faster than anyone could imagine on a machine nobody thought was capable of such a task.
If 1% of the people getting new phones buy on, Apple's met their goal.
I make my livelihood on a Mac. It's in my best interest to advocate for it. Same with Firefox and Textmate and Unix.
But why folks fight over game consoles is beyond me. There can't be that many professional gamers out there.
The reason it hasn't been broken is because it hasn't been used. Once they start trying to stop copying it will be broken in a matter of days, even if it's merely playing it back on an HD screen and recording it with an HD camera.
I wrote a letter. I got back a response that said "thank you for your views on this matter." And since my representative is of the opposite party than me, I think I've done more harm than good. "Hey, the other side wants us to keep net neutrality, so it must be a good thing for our side!"
Seriously, I don't think writing to 60 year old men who don't understand the issue will help this situation.
If that were true than my city, which has a population density similar to the Tokyo suburbs, would have super fast broadband. And New Yorkers would have 100Mbps symmetrical connections.
It's not density. It's laziness and over regulation.
It's not the guns and bombs I have a problem with. It's the massive amount of profit made by manufacturing them. It gives a certain, very powerful segment a society an incentive to choose war over diplomacy.
All they need is a timey-wimey detector that goes "ding!" when there's stuff.
Best. Episode. EVAR.
(Chick was hot, too)
As a city dweller, I can tell you that Verizon most certainly is NOT planning on installing FiOS everywhere. All of the suburbs surrounding my small city have FiOS because the demand is there. They currently have no timetable for installing it anywhere within the city limits. This is despite the fact that the increased density of the city would yield twice as many subscribers per mile of fiber.
I'm not even able to get DSL at more than 3mbps from Verizon and, thanks to the ridiculous state government, I don't have any competing DSL providers in the area. So that leaves me with Comcast. Wow, a whopping two choices for broadband. Yay capitalism!
So, no, Verizon isn't going to be replacing it all with Fiber. They're going to be swapping it out in the rich suburbs and creating a broadband donut; Poor DSL in urban areas, FiOS in the suburbs, and cable or dial up in rural areas. Unless we have a program like the TVA or Rural Electrification from the 1930s for broadband, there's no way to prevent this.
What's in it for Apple? Well, the more people associate Apple with a good experience, the more folks are going to want to buy Macs rather than PCs. Then, Apple makes more money.
The iPod is part of this strategy. The iPhone is part of this strategy. Safari for Windows is also part of this strategy.
You can replace the hard drive and RAM in a MacBook with a set of torx drivers. Just take out the battery and remove the L-shaped piece of metal and you can remove just about everything.
Same goes for Powerbooks. My personal machine is a 1.5Ghz Powerbook G4. I don't foresee replacing it for a long time either. It's fine for everything I do outside of work, and any job I get will probably provide me with a machine.
However, my employer just gave me a brand new Mac Book Pro to use, so the Powerbook doesn't see much action these days.
I agree with this, however I've found that the quality of the applications and consistency of user interfaces is far superior to Windows.
I'd say that Macs and PCs have a similar number of *good* applications.
And I've yet to find a text editor on any platform that can compare to TextMate.
I do the opposite. I tell people that I'll provide them with free tech support if they get a Mac. And with clever use of reverse SSH tunnels and VNC, I can do it from just about anywhere with little trouble.
Of course, I rarely get calls from the five people I've sold Macs to because they haven't had any trouble beyond the initial setup.
The reason they need a literal reading of Genesis is that otherwise there wouldn't be original sin, and therefore they wouldn't need Jesus to forgive them of their original sin, and therefore wouldn't need to be Christians.
My brother-in-law has MD. Stem cell research could yield a treatment that could keep him from dying. These idiots have prevented the government from funding it and would make it completely illegal if they had their way. Millions of people will suffer and die because these people consider a clump of cells to be as human as someone who can feel love and pain and has memories.
Dangerous? You're damn right it's dangerous.