Mmm. Considering that someone has to operate the machinery to crush the hardware, someone has to certify the operator of the machinery, someone has to supervise the operation, someone has to file the paperwork etc etc...
I don't see a cost savings here.
So, I have yet to see a product where the norm is to buy it with a credit card and where you actually get to read the ELUA before charging the card.
Agreed. I often buy software for my University's computer labs. Since most of the software I need to buy is very proprietary and often one-of-its-kind, the software companies can pretty much call their own shots as far as licensing and EULAs go. For most of this software, you can only buy it direct from the company via their website or by phone. Many of these software products have obfuscated or not-well-developed websites which require a login to access support documents, which includes licensing restrictions (and never EULAs). And, you guessed it, you can't get a login until you buy the product. I have never asked, but I sincerely doubt that the phone salesperson would be willing to read the EULA aloud to me.
To add insult to injury, I often receive a copy of the software in the mail, and the EULA is taped to the outside of the CD case. The intent is obviously to say that I had a chance to read the EULA before breaking the seal on the CD case. But this is after I've found that the software I need can be ordered from only one place on earth, I had to go through immense internal business hurdles to obtain a purchase order to buy the software, waited several weeks for a shipment, and I wasn't even allowed to view any support/legal documentation on the product before paying for it. Like I'm going to return it at that point?
...the US and other Western countries claim to have invented much later. Everything from democracy, theater, architecture, clocks, mechanical toys, Hero's heat engines, sport competitions, etc.
Obligatory US bashing? The US doesn't claim to have invented any of those items; in most cases publicly acknowledging that the source or inspiration for those things comes mainly from ancient Greeks. (Source: All of my History classes in the U.S.)
They are the fathers of mathematics,
Well, except for what they got from the Indians, Arabs, Chinese and Egyptians.
Now don't get me wrong, the ancient Greek culture was truly spectacular in many ways, and definitely laid the formative base for many of the Western world's scientific, political and cultural views for thousands of years. I personally have a high admiration for their culture and intelligence.
By the way I am American, though my grandmother was full Greek.
Funny, but I truly thought that Windows was a virus at one point. I used to only use DOS on a PC, and one day I got a new PC that came with Windows 3.1 preinstalled. I fired it up once to look at it, then removed it because I needed the disk space. Later on, I found a hidden file called WINA20.SWP in my C: root. I couldn't figure out what it was, and feared it might be a virus. I posted to usenet and was ridiculed because as it turns out, this was the Windows swap file (which of course I didn't know about to delete, when I had removed the C:\WIN folder.)
It would be nice to know what exactly you are planning to do down there, and who (meaning what organizations) you will be working with. You say "relief efforts", but that can mean anything from shoveling debris out, patching up damaged structures, feeding and clothing people, attending to medical needs, catching stray dogs, restoring damaged telecomm/IT infrastructure... you get the idea.
All the suggestions I've seen so far are for materials and supplies for yourself -- that's all fine, just pack as if you're going to a third-world country to do mission work building a local well. Study work boots, sturdy clothing, hand tools, devices that don't need electricity of batteries (hand-crank radio and shake flashlights are essential), energy bars and MRE's for those times you can't find a kitchen or don't have time to stop to prepare a meal are all great. (Don't forget your own bedding.) But what do *other* people need?
As one poster alluded to, a high tolerance for FEMA (and even local authorities') interference is necessary. Expect to be blocked by red tape. Unless you are a card-carrying, picture-ID wearing member of Red Cross, you'll be blocked from doing a lot of things that would benefit people.
The BEST thing you can do is get in touch with the organization(s) or people in the places you are going down to and see what their CURRENT needs are. My wife just spent 10 days in Baton Rouge and before she went down, we collected a minivan full of supplies for her to distribute to people in shelters. She found out when she got there that the massive amounts of bottled water she took down were unwanted -- they'd been swamped with bottled water because that's what everyone thinks to give -- but the small medical supplies (gloves & masks, sterile instruments, prenatal vitamins for malnourished pregnant women, etc) were VERY welcomed. She also took down tons of bedding because that particular shelter was short on it.
You might be surprised at what's needed. We were told not to bother bringing clothing donations, because the Red Cross and Salvation Army had collected and distributed plenty. That was true, but what nobody'd thought to send was underwear. Most of the people who'd been staying in the shelter for 3-4 weeks had only one pair of underwear. My wife and a couple others on her team went to Wal-Mart and spent nearly $1000 on simple necessities, mostly underwear, to distribute. (And, BTW, got in trouble with the shelter management for doing so, because it was against policy. Though the management weren't planning to fill that need in any way.)
One other thing -- it might be tempting to take lots of Bibles down and plan to do some gentle ministry efforts. If you're going to an area controlled by FEMA or any government organization, or Red Cross, don't count on it -- proselytizing is explicitly forbidden in shelters. (Although religious groups providing humane aid are welcomed.)
Regardless, the person who forwarded these emails to external parties should be fired because company emails shouldn't be forwarded to unintended recipients without original author's consent.
Not necessarily. I work at a university, where all email is public record.
Hey, you learn something new every day. I made a table of MS Office products and didn't know about Small Business Management Edition. Guess I'll have to update the Office 2003 chart for 2006... uh.
Such a claim presumes an availability of resources (e.g., experienced drivers, fuel)
Louisana had 25% of the nations fuel refinery capacity and driving a bus is a skill but most people that can drive shift can do in a pinch.
Say Louisiana had 25% of the nation's fuel refinery. (I don't know that that's verified fact.) Do you know for a fact that enough of it was concentrated in the city proper so the buses could fuel up? Or along the route? With the highways already clogged with traffic going out, would the buses be able to fuel up along the way?
Yes, it would have made better sense to use buses instead of passenger cars to get people out of town. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, that wasn't done.
As for the latter part of that comment, most people can drive shift in a pinch but CDL is a different story. And what if they crash? Throwing inexperienced Joe Schmoe into the driver's seat of a passenger bus has the potential to drag limited resources (police, ambulance, tow truck) away from critically needed areas.
I would imagine that they might have called for volunteers school bus drivers to get people out. How many drivers would have responded is another question.
That last bit is just sad. The state had been pre-declared a disaster area. This means the local govt only had to pick up 20% of the tab. How much is a casualty worth ? And yes some of those taxpayers might not have been enthusiastic about the bill, how enthusiastic are they now ? At the very least the hospitals should have been evacuated so they would have more room available for the predicatable and predicted casualties from the storm.
You don't really have a good grasp of governing an area that is prone to threats of disasters, do you? We can armchair examine this all we want, but the fact is that this very unfortunate scenario that just happened is predicted every year. Yes, we weren't as well prepared as we could have been. Could we have prepared better? Maybe, maybe not. Hindsight is great.
Questions you might ask yourself are: Are we better prepared for California wildfires this year? Are we better prepared for midwest tornadoes this year? Will we be better prepared for hurricanes in Florida and other southern states (where attention hasn't been focused) next year?
And if the answer to any of those is "no", maybe you should ask yourself: "Why not?" (That's NOT a rhetorical question, btw.)
Whether this photograph truly represents a lost opportunity to have evacuated a substantial number of New Orleans residents ahead of Hurricane Katrina is difficult to assess. Such a claim presumes an availability of resources (e.g., experienced drivers, fuel) and workable logistics (e.g., sufficient means of notifying and getting residents to departure points, sufficiently clear roads for multiple trips out of town and back) that may or may not have been present. (There's no guarantee that all the buses shown in this picture were even in working condition.) And, given the particular geography of New Orleans, any such evacuation would have had to have begun well in advance of Hurricane Katrina to avoid exposing residents to the potential danger of being stuck in buses on traffic-clogged roads in the path of an approaching hurricane. Moreover, any type of evacuation effort would have incurred a substantial outlay of funds from local and/or state governments -- while everyone agrees with the advantage of hindsight that would have been money well spent, many taxpayers might not have been left feeling so enthusiastic about footing the bill for an unnecessary evacuation had Hurricane Katrina not proved so damaging.
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Mmm. Considering that someone has to operate the machinery to crush the hardware, someone has to certify the operator of the machinery, someone has to supervise the operation, someone has to file the paperwork etc etc... I don't see a cost savings here.
Agreed. I often buy software for my University's computer labs. Since most of the software I need to buy is very proprietary and often one-of-its-kind, the software companies can pretty much call their own shots as far as licensing and EULAs go. For most of this software, you can only buy it direct from the company via their website or by phone. Many of these software products have obfuscated or not-well-developed websites which require a login to access support documents, which includes licensing restrictions (and never EULAs). And, you guessed it, you can't get a login until you buy the product. I have never asked, but I sincerely doubt that the phone salesperson would be willing to read the EULA aloud to me.
To add insult to injury, I often receive a copy of the software in the mail, and the EULA is taped to the outside of the CD case. The intent is obviously to say that I had a chance to read the EULA before breaking the seal on the CD case. But this is after I've found that the software I need can be ordered from only one place on earth, I had to go through immense internal business hurdles to obtain a purchase order to buy the software, waited several weeks for a shipment, and I wasn't even allowed to view any support/legal documentation on the product before paying for it. Like I'm going to return it at that point?
Actually they can count up to 4 just fine. They just can't count beyond 4.
Obligatory US bashing? The US doesn't claim to have invented any of those items; in most cases publicly acknowledging that the source or inspiration for those things comes mainly from ancient Greeks. (Source: All of my History classes in the U.S.)
Well, except for what they got from the Indians, Arabs, Chinese and Egyptians.
Now don't get me wrong, the ancient Greek culture was truly spectacular in many ways, and definitely laid the formative base for many of the Western world's scientific, political and cultural views for thousands of years. I personally have a high admiration for their culture and intelligence.
By the way I am American, though my grandmother was full Greek.
Sounds like one o' them Arkansas logic puzzles.
Actually I think you meant to use this link.
My very point. :)
Yes, but it's only a matter of time before it's exploited and rewritten and unleashed on the Internet.
Funny, but I truly thought that Windows was a virus at one point. I used to only use DOS on a PC, and one day I got a new PC that came with Windows 3.1 preinstalled. I fired it up once to look at it, then removed it because I needed the disk space. Later on, I found a hidden file called WINA20.SWP in my C: root. I couldn't figure out what it was, and feared it might be a virus. I posted to usenet and was ridiculed because as it turns out, this was the Windows swap file (which of course I didn't know about to delete, when I had removed the C:\WIN folder.)
It would be nice to know what exactly you are planning to do down there, and who (meaning what organizations) you will be working with. You say "relief efforts", but that can mean anything from shoveling debris out, patching up damaged structures, feeding and clothing people, attending to medical needs, catching stray dogs, restoring damaged telecomm/IT infrastructure... you get the idea.
All the suggestions I've seen so far are for materials and supplies for yourself -- that's all fine, just pack as if you're going to a third-world country to do mission work building a local well. Study work boots, sturdy clothing, hand tools, devices that don't need electricity of batteries (hand-crank radio and shake flashlights are essential), energy bars and MRE's for those times you can't find a kitchen or don't have time to stop to prepare a meal are all great. (Don't forget your own bedding.) But what do *other* people need?
As one poster alluded to, a high tolerance for FEMA (and even local authorities') interference is necessary. Expect to be blocked by red tape. Unless you are a card-carrying, picture-ID wearing member of Red Cross, you'll be blocked from doing a lot of things that would benefit people.
The BEST thing you can do is get in touch with the organization(s) or people in the places you are going down to and see what their CURRENT needs are. My wife just spent 10 days in Baton Rouge and before she went down, we collected a minivan full of supplies for her to distribute to people in shelters. She found out when she got there that the massive amounts of bottled water she took down were unwanted -- they'd been swamped with bottled water because that's what everyone thinks to give -- but the small medical supplies (gloves & masks, sterile instruments, prenatal vitamins for malnourished pregnant women, etc) were VERY welcomed. She also took down tons of bedding because that particular shelter was short on it.
You might be surprised at what's needed. We were told not to bother bringing clothing donations, because the Red Cross and Salvation Army had collected and distributed plenty. That was true, but what nobody'd thought to send was underwear. Most of the people who'd been staying in the shelter for 3-4 weeks had only one pair of underwear. My wife and a couple others on her team went to Wal-Mart and spent nearly $1000 on simple necessities, mostly underwear, to distribute. (And, BTW, got in trouble with the shelter management for doing so, because it was against policy. Though the management weren't planning to fill that need in any way.)
One other thing -- it might be tempting to take lots of Bibles down and plan to do some gentle ministry efforts. If you're going to an area controlled by FEMA or any government organization, or Red Cross, don't count on it -- proselytizing is explicitly forbidden in shelters. (Although religious groups providing humane aid are welcomed.)
What about universal TV remotes? You can get a mini one for about $12.
They need to bump up the version to OpenOffice 12.
You laugh, but try sitting around in a refugee shelter for 3 weeks.
Not necessarily. I work at a university, where all email is public record.
Hey, you learn something new every day. I made a table of MS Office products and didn't know about Small Business Management Edition. Guess I'll have to update the Office 2003 chart for 2006... uh.
Iron Man.
And why not the Silver Surfer?
The subject material is way too heavy.and it was awesome!
Such a claim presumes an availability of resources (e.g., experienced drivers, fuel)
Louisana had 25% of the nations fuel refinery capacity and driving a bus is a skill but most people that can drive shift can do in a pinch.
Say Louisiana had 25% of the nation's fuel refinery. (I don't know that that's verified fact.) Do you know for a fact that enough of it was concentrated in the city proper so the buses could fuel up? Or along the route? With the highways already clogged with traffic going out, would the buses be able to fuel up along the way?
Yes, it would have made better sense to use buses instead of passenger cars to get people out of town. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, that wasn't done.
As for the latter part of that comment, most people can drive shift in a pinch but CDL is a different story. And what if they crash? Throwing inexperienced Joe Schmoe into the driver's seat of a passenger bus has the potential to drag limited resources (police, ambulance, tow truck) away from critically needed areas.
I would imagine that they might have called for volunteers school bus drivers to get people out. How many drivers would have responded is another question.
That last bit is just sad. The state had been pre-declared a disaster area. This means the local govt only had to pick up 20% of the tab. How much is a casualty worth ? And yes some of those taxpayers might not have been enthusiastic about the bill, how enthusiastic are they now ? At the very least the hospitals should have been evacuated so they would have more room available for the predicatable and predicted casualties from the storm.You don't really have a good grasp of governing an area that is prone to threats of disasters, do you? We can armchair examine this all we want, but the fact is that this very unfortunate scenario that just happened is predicted every year. Yes, we weren't as well prepared as we could have been. Could we have prepared better? Maybe, maybe not. Hindsight is great.
Questions you might ask yourself are: Are we better prepared for California wildfires this year? Are we better prepared for midwest tornadoes this year? Will we be better prepared for hurricanes in Florida and other southern states (where attention hasn't been focused) next year?
And if the answer to any of those is "no", maybe you should ask yourself: "Why not?" (That's NOT a rhetorical question, btw.)
Snopes to the rescue again!
In particular:
It's been done, more or less.
Back in the day? I still get forwards about the inhumanity of the site from the ladies in the office. And I still send them to Snopes. Doesn't help.