Also if you have the old style "mortgage" loans (as I do), once you hit 50, the loans are forgiven - and you qualify for deferment if you make less than £X per year. I've always made under £X per year so always had a deferment... at this rate come 50 I'll be having the writeoff. Not my plan... but still...
If the FCC standard chosen actually worked for VHF then that would be true. Low VHF (i.e. between channels 2 and 6 inclusive) is actually not very good for the 8-VSB modulation method. The complaints I hear are from TV DX reception enthusiasts and they're talking about their LOCAL stations... TV DX enthusiasts are more than likely to have decent receiving equipment and antenna installations, and they're having problems with the low-VHF signals. High VHF is better but is still more susceptible to interference compared to a UHF signal.
The main advantage to ATSC is its power requirements - i.e. more bang for the watt.
DVB-T has a nice capability that ATSC doesn't and that is its design to use different modulation techniques - QPSK, 16-QAM or 64-QAM. This allows a broadcaster to choose between a more robust signal with a lower bitrate, or a higher bitrate with more programming but a more sensitive signal. Also DVB-T can support single-frequency networks, which ATSC cannot. However DVB-T has been improved and there's DVB-T2, along with Mpeg4 will allow for 3 HD channels to be broadcast on a 8Mhz TV frequency.
There's another way to keep the meetings secret and stay within the 15 minute criteria. At our workplace we have to schedule meetings ahead of time far in advance but often because of the nature of our work they can get cancelled at little or no notice. Our way around that is to schedule for more than one day the same meeting, and the first time we get to meet is the 'meeting', the rest are then just cancelled.
So all the DHS needs to do is schedule lots and lots of meetings, give the required 15 days notice, and hey if the meeting gets cancelled then so be it. But then because of the scheduling and the publication of these meetings - it's in the public record that they're meeting - they're just *always* in meetings, that happen to be always closed.
My son's bladder was born on the outside - and needed it reversed. His surgeon at the time got to the point before putting it back in the body but then something happened: he moved on. However his new surgeon - Dr. Atala - is a guy renowned in the field for tissue re-engineering. My son's bladder is now back on the inside but one of the exciting things that is happening right now is that he has more of a chance of getting his bladder completely fixed out now than at any other time. His bladder is too small... and needs augmenting. The "traditional" way has been to augment the bladder with intestine tissue (often needing an extra channel for urine excretion), but Dr. Atala has managed to figure out how to augment the bladder - at least AFAIK in animals - with engineered tissue based on the original bladder. And the guy was attracted to our area to continue his research.
I'm excited about this growth area in medicine - not as a doctor or as a medical professional (sorry I am squeamish at blood) - but as a parent of a child who stands to benefit enormously from this kind of research. I hope and pray that this kind of stuff - patching hearts, augmenting bladders, mending broken organs in general - all develops and gets to the point of viability in time.
It was a wonderful piece of work - with great detail. It came on two Laserdiscs, which ran on a special reader linked up to a BBC Microcomputer. There aren't too many laserdisc players let alone BBC Microcomputers around anymore. As such, all the information that was available on two 12" laserdiscs was in danger of becoming unreadable and unaccessible. Fortunately people who remember about the 15 year old project and care for it have preserved the information and whilst it hasn't been converted to DVD format for people to play in their PC's... there are people who know how to access the information.
As other people have said here, if the data is important it will be preserved.
I'm at college as an undergraduate. I'm 30. I'm a USPR, not a US Citizen.
I've been invited by mail recently to join the Army on two occasions. Problem is that I was too old when I came here to sign up for Selective Service. But I am not too old to receive advertisments/invitations for me to join the Army.
I wonder if many people over the age of 30 have been receiving the invites to join the Army. Am I really too old? At 32 I'd be too old for the Territorial Army, but unsure of age limits for US. Not that I would sign up but there is this curious cat in me...
Funnily enough you mention this. I was listening to Jerry Springer on Air America Radio yesterday and he was mentioning these very same x-ray screening machines too, and that he'd have to take Viagra every time he went on a plane too! So you're not the only one thinking it's time for Viagra every time you fly.
Besides what's the health risk of Viagra and flying? Would that increase a risk of DVT?
It'd be nice if our cable company were sourcing their cable signals from a digital source. Time Warner Cable in Greensboro still sources some of their signals (e.g. Nickelodeon) from an analog satellite source. I often see what I call sparklies - when you will see bleed over of the picture from an area of picture on the left to an area on the right. I personally think that cable should be 100% digital as it would mean that the cable company could control subscriber access more readily rather than having to send out a service technician to visit the premesis to install the appropriate "filter".
It really is the problem of trying to fit a quart into a pint pot - and digitalization and compression is the solution - like you can fit a quart sized sponge into a pint sized container if you squeeze it. Analog signals are the electronic equivalent of sponges - they take up a lot of room and are easily compressible.
But yes, overcompression can be taken to extremes. The UK DTT TV system is a good example of this, as there are many complaints by customers who see regular pixellation. Their system really does need MPEG4 - and it's nice to see that the French are going at least part way by having a mix of MPEG2 & MPEG4 for their DTT system.
It really is a trade off. More channels in exchange for a little pixellation? I think I can live with that.
From this site, 405 line transmission on ITV at least was turned off on January 3rd, 1985.
But yes, the best way to phase in digital is to mandate that new analogue-only receivers cannot be sold in stores, and to let the old technology wither and die. The only problem with this is that in the late 1960's, most TV's - especially the 405 line kind - were using thermionic valve technology. Today's analogue tv's are using solid state technology, and generally these go on for years. These are going to take longer to become obsolete.
The only real other way is to have a free (or massively reduced cost) set top box program for those with limited means. Finally those refuseniks might just have to have new TV sets purchased for them. As the guy was saying in the IBA Engineering Announcements (one of those unscheduled TV programmes of the 1980s and 1990s on ITV in the UK), they received about 10 letters of complaint about the 405 line TV service being discontinued.
Who knows what the FCC might do here Stateside (where i am living now, being ex-pat Brit). I know they have rules in place in order to make sure new television receivers can receive the new DTV signals - being phased in first with the bigger sets and slowly working their way down - and that is the right way to go IMO. I think a state-by-state switchoff will need to be planned, or offer stations incentives to switch off some of the analog signals sooner rather than later to encourage switch over.
Mark.
But the BBC (like all UK broadcasters) are subject to something like a fairness doctrine, meaning that both sides need to be given equal airtime for their views. That's something that doesn't exist in the USA at this time.
When it comes to Visual Studio, it would appear that an anti-piracy solution was discovered: bundle Visual Studio with textbooks. Universities simply make a requirement of the student to get these particular books, and hey presto! A legal copy of Visual Studio for Visual Basic or Visual C++ or whatever. At least, that is how I got my copy of Visual Studio.Net anyway.
If it can work for submarines, why not road based passenger vehicles?
I guess the problem would be if there was a traffic accident then there would be a greater catastrophe on our hands.
However, if nuclear fission could be made small enough and safe enough for a road vehicle, it would solve the oil shortage problem, because it would be thousands of miles between refuels.
Yeah! And there's Sky Digital too! Not to mention some parts of the country even have Cable TV. And there is this thingumyjig you can plug between your telly and your tv aerial and you can get even more channels.
I think they call it Freeview.
The old days are gone. In fact, I'd say there's more shopping junk on Sky than there is in the USA on Dish Network and DirecTV and Time Warner Cable *combined*.
Depends on the university. The university I am at now (NC A&T) - most of the lecturers are using books they didn't write or have any input into (with the exception of one course), and they pretty much lecture from the book. So a book I have found was absolutely essential... and no they don't photocopy the book periodically and hand it out and no they don't keep copies of the text in the library.
However, at the Uni of Dundee, the library did keep some copies of the texts and the lectures weren't always straight out from the book; you were encouraged to take notes. I say did, because that was some years ago!
... I believe that it got resurrected by 1-800-BAR-NONE - a car finance company for those who have difficulty getting regular financing for a car. At least I see that "thing" on TV from time to time.
Mark.
I remember reading a posting somewhere back (no link, sorry) that parts of Louisiana were just getting phone service for the very first time. The phone company? BellSouth.
So the company that is complaining about a city providing telecomms services is the same company that can't provide basic service to everyone who wants it in the state of Louisiana???
My solution would be to get BellSouth to put the infrastructure in to these low income areas the city says don't have broadband... and to those who are truly low of income to be able to apply to the city or the broadband internet provider for a rebate coupon against the cost of the internet service.
The way things are going, the BBC is becoming a major news force in the USA anyway. An awful lot of US public radio stations are carrying BBC World Service overnight (cheaper than NPR), you can get BBC World Service on XM and Sirius, and BBC World TV programming gets aired on local PBS stations. Sure there's BBC America but if the BBC got BBC World carried on more cable systems and on the satellite services then we'd see them referred to in the same vein as CNN, MSNBC, Fox...
However, the BBC has advantages the US domestic networks don't, and that is an outsider's view. They aren't in the hands of politicians, and are non-commercial. Their interviewers are more straight and to the point, sometimes even confrontational (e.g. John Humphries, Jeremy Paxman...).
If the BBC were ever given funds to develop a proper US news service, I'm sure it would be successful - politicans couldn't criticize it for being left wing or right wing, and if someone like John Humphries ever got to interview President Bush (or anyone in the Bush Administration) I'm sure that would be a very interesting interview indeed. Don Rumsfeld for breakfast and Rice for lunch?
In any case, this is supposed to be about US uptake of broadband. My guesses as to why it's popular are a) you no longer have the World Wide Wait with dial up Internet (and Americans are impatient creatures... but then so am I...) b) you can get that pirate music easier and c) in a lot of cases it's cheaper than AOL and that second phone line, so why not go broadband, dump AOL and get that speed increase.
Sure there may be some election weirdnesses going on, but the bottom line at the end of the day is whether the voting can be verified or not. My own personal preferences are that all voting gets done on paper - it's verifiable, traceable (with serial numbers), and it's quite inexpensive to operate and run. It's worked well in the UK for years, and results can be pretty quick - polls can close at 9pm and have a result within a couple of hours for small areas in a mainly urban area. Rural areas can have a result by lunchtime the day after. The paper method is by far the most verifiable means of voting.
Optical scans are IMO the next best thing, because the voter made the marks on the ballot paper directly. If there is a discrepancy, then the votes could in theory be counted by hand. If the ballot is well designed then it could be counted by hand quickly; optical scanning just speeds up thee counting somewhat.
I have a big problem with touch screen voting that doesn't generate a print out. I believe that the voting is not intentionally rigged, but because these machines are designed to handle America's exceptionally complicated voting system, there's more chance for errors to creep in. You're usually voting on at least 3 federal elections, a dozen State elections, a couple of dozen county elections, and who knows how many municipal elections? Plus voting for judges, sherrif, and numerous referenda on local and state issues... it makes for an incredibly long and complex ballot. India can do electronic voting and do it error free, but that's because the equipment is incredibly simple and designed to vote for one race only.
Whatever you want to read into these irregularities, I do support recounts. This would be only to ensure that the vote was indeed accurate, and not to determine "whether the evil Diebold had rigged the election" - which is most likely untrue.
I hate to state this but it depends on where your credit card is issued and who the issuer is. I work for a major credit card company, and basically there is still a lot of "Buyer Beware" out there. If a store makes plain clear and simple what their return policy is and they deny a return because of it being out of policy then as long as there is documentation that can be provided that proves the customer was aware of this then a credit card company may well back them up and not issue you a credit. But often stores do not make clear their return policy and then rely on a small sign in the store as their defence.
Before working for this major credit card company, I worked for two main retail chains in the UK. PC World just had a statement that they accept returns within your statutory rights (i.e. they stick to the letter of UK law which btw is much more liberal than US sales law anywhere). I only worked there a few months because my wife dragged me Stateside. But UK credit cards tend to back you up more than US ones in the case of store returns. Before that I worked in Burtons - the menswear store. They had a great big sign at the cash register which clearly stated in big print what the return policy is (simply said: unhappy with your purchase for any reason, then please return your unworn merchandise within 30 days for full refund). They also had it printed on the back of the till receipt. This way, since anyone who made a purchase was given a receipt, hey presto they had a copy of the stores' return policy.
If The Limited print on the back of their receipts what the policy is and have it in big bold type at the register then customers do not have a leg to stand on when making a return because that would be the sales contract that they entered into. I don't know what their policy is because I don't shop there. I hate to say this I'm more of a Wal Mart shopper.
I hope that Cingular/AT&T accelerate the roll out of GSM 800... otherwise it'll end up being just a city network. One of the main reasons that attracted me to AT&T in the first place is the "old fashioned" TDMA digital network with analog roaming for one single reason: it's more likely to get a signal 'out in the sticks'.
Now what would be classified as 'out in the sticks'? Try Cherokee, NC. It's nestled in the Grreat Smoky Mountains, is home to a casino, what I would consider a major tourist center. GSM service stops (at least for Cingular) a little west of Asheville. At least I got a single analog dot on the AT&T in analog mode (though most of the time it did say no service). I think things were better with my wife's SprintPCS phone (analog & CDMA) last time she went over.
Another "Rural" area? Eastern NC and the Outer Banks. There's a whole stretch east of Rocky Mount and west of Manteo that have no GSM service from either Cingular, or AT&T. And Suncom haven't even built their licensed network yet! Down from Nags Head, NC to Ocracoke is another GSM blank spot.
So the strategy for Cingular/ATTWS IMO for these rural areas needs to be:
a) roll out GSM800 where possible. b) Get a GSM 800/1900 phone with analog out there, and maybe even with CDMA 800/1900 also.
That call from a bill collector isn't going to do any good, and in any case this sounds like a Chapter 7 case. It really wouldn't matter if the bill collector called you openly, anonymously or in an extremely aggressive manner. If you can't pay then guess what? You can't! That's what bankruptcy laws are there for, so that the medical bills can 'go away' and the bill collectors will never call you again. Yes, it screws up your credit but if you have a net worth of $70k and you owe $300k and that $70k is your family home then it is in theory possible for to keep your home and have this debt "go away". I'm saying this because I guess people who are in such a position have their credit record messed up so much anyway that it might well be a good idea to go into bankruptcy protection in order to improve their quality of life. It worked for me, but it might not work with you. This is when you do need a lawyer.
As a debtor myself faced with the harrassment of these phone calls, there is a way around it. Firstly, you _must_ send in a letter to your debtor, and state something like, "Per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, I request and require that you cease and desist in the practice of calling me at home or at work." Secondly, when waiting for them to get the letter answer the phone in a similar fashion, ending "Thank you for listening, have a great day, goodbye." Or something on similar lines. And then hang up. They will have made contact with you, and if they call you again today they will have violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and if you are so inclined you could then sue them for $100 or something greater.
It has caused my phone to be silent on matters of collection. It does not stop the letters and letters are easier for me to handle.
Well, where I work if you do get your password wrong three times in succession for "mission critical" systems then yes, it does get locked out permanently, and you need to call someone to get a reset.
Of course, the thing in the first place would be to secure the scrambled password file first.
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Also if you have the old style "mortgage" loans (as I do), once you hit 50, the loans are forgiven - and you qualify for deferment if you make less than £X per year. I've always made under £X per year so always had a deferment... at this rate come 50 I'll be having the writeoff. Not my plan... but still...
If the FCC standard chosen actually worked for VHF then that would be true. Low VHF (i.e. between channels 2 and 6 inclusive) is actually not very good for the 8-VSB modulation method. The complaints I hear are from TV DX reception enthusiasts and they're talking about their LOCAL stations... TV DX enthusiasts are more than likely to have decent receiving equipment and antenna installations, and they're having problems with the low-VHF signals. High VHF is better but is still more susceptible to interference compared to a UHF signal.
The main advantage to ATSC is its power requirements - i.e. more bang for the watt.
DVB-T has a nice capability that ATSC doesn't and that is its design to use different modulation techniques - QPSK, 16-QAM or 64-QAM. This allows a broadcaster to choose between a more robust signal with a lower bitrate, or a higher bitrate with more programming but a more sensitive signal. Also DVB-T can support single-frequency networks, which ATSC cannot. However DVB-T has been improved and there's DVB-T2, along with Mpeg4 will allow for 3 HD channels to be broadcast on a 8Mhz TV frequency.
There's another way to keep the meetings secret and stay within the 15 minute criteria. At our workplace we have to schedule meetings ahead of time far in advance but often because of the nature of our work they can get cancelled at little or no notice. Our way around that is to schedule for more than one day the same meeting, and the first time we get to meet is the 'meeting', the rest are then just cancelled.
So all the DHS needs to do is schedule lots and lots of meetings, give the required 15 days notice, and hey if the meeting gets cancelled then so be it. But then because of the scheduling and the publication of these meetings - it's in the public record that they're meeting - they're just *always* in meetings, that happen to be always closed.
Mark.
My son's bladder was born on the outside - and needed it reversed. His surgeon at the time got to the point before putting it back in the body but then something happened: he moved on. However his new surgeon - Dr. Atala - is a guy renowned in the field for tissue re-engineering. My son's bladder is now back on the inside but one of the exciting things that is happening right now is that he has more of a chance of getting his bladder completely fixed out now than at any other time. His bladder is too small... and needs augmenting. The "traditional" way has been to augment the bladder with intestine tissue (often needing an extra channel for urine excretion), but Dr. Atala has managed to figure out how to augment the bladder - at least AFAIK in animals - with engineered tissue based on the original bladder. And the guy was attracted to our area to continue his research.
I'm excited about this growth area in medicine - not as a doctor or as a medical professional (sorry I am squeamish at blood) - but as a parent of a child who stands to benefit enormously from this kind of research. I hope and pray that this kind of stuff - patching hearts, augmenting bladders, mending broken organs in general - all develops and gets to the point of viability in time.
Mark.
It was a wonderful piece of work - with great detail. It came on two Laserdiscs, which ran on a special reader linked up to a BBC Microcomputer. There aren't too many laserdisc players let alone BBC Microcomputers around anymore. As such, all the information that was available on two 12" laserdiscs was in danger of becoming unreadable and unaccessible. Fortunately people who remember about the 15 year old project and care for it have preserved the information and whilst it hasn't been converted to DVD format for people to play in their PC's... there are people who know how to access the information.
As other people have said here, if the data is important it will be preserved.
I'm at college as an undergraduate. I'm 30. I'm a USPR, not a US Citizen.
I've been invited by mail recently to join the Army on two occasions. Problem is that I was too old when I came here to sign up for Selective Service. But I am not too old to receive advertisments/invitations for me to join the Army.
I wonder if many people over the age of 30 have been receiving the invites to join the Army. Am I really too old? At 32 I'd be too old for the Territorial Army, but unsure of age limits for US. Not that I would sign up but there is this curious cat in me...
Funnily enough you mention this. I was listening to Jerry Springer on Air America Radio yesterday and he was mentioning these very same x-ray screening machines too, and that he'd have to take Viagra every time he went on a plane too! So you're not the only one thinking it's time for Viagra every time you fly.
Besides what's the health risk of Viagra and flying? Would that increase a risk of DVT?
Mark.
It'd be nice if our cable company were sourcing their cable signals from a digital source. Time Warner Cable in Greensboro still sources some of their signals (e.g. Nickelodeon) from an analog satellite source. I often see what I call sparklies - when you will see bleed over of the picture from an area of picture on the left to an area on the right. I personally think that cable should be 100% digital as it would mean that the cable company could control subscriber access more readily rather than having to send out a service technician to visit the premesis to install the appropriate "filter".
It really is the problem of trying to fit a quart into a pint pot - and digitalization and compression is the solution - like you can fit a quart sized sponge into a pint sized container if you squeeze it. Analog signals are the electronic equivalent of sponges - they take up a lot of room and are easily compressible.
But yes, overcompression can be taken to extremes. The UK DTT TV system is a good example of this, as there are many complaints by customers who see regular pixellation. Their system really does need MPEG4 - and it's nice to see that the French are going at least part way by having a mix of MPEG2 & MPEG4 for their DTT system.
It really is a trade off. More channels in exchange for a little pixellation? I think I can live with that.
Mark.
From this site, 405 line transmission on ITV at least was turned off on January 3rd, 1985. But yes, the best way to phase in digital is to mandate that new analogue-only receivers cannot be sold in stores, and to let the old technology wither and die. The only problem with this is that in the late 1960's, most TV's - especially the 405 line kind - were using thermionic valve technology. Today's analogue tv's are using solid state technology, and generally these go on for years. These are going to take longer to become obsolete. The only real other way is to have a free (or massively reduced cost) set top box program for those with limited means. Finally those refuseniks might just have to have new TV sets purchased for them. As the guy was saying in the IBA Engineering Announcements (one of those unscheduled TV programmes of the 1980s and 1990s on ITV in the UK), they received about 10 letters of complaint about the 405 line TV service being discontinued. Who knows what the FCC might do here Stateside (where i am living now, being ex-pat Brit). I know they have rules in place in order to make sure new television receivers can receive the new DTV signals - being phased in first with the bigger sets and slowly working their way down - and that is the right way to go IMO. I think a state-by-state switchoff will need to be planned, or offer stations incentives to switch off some of the analog signals sooner rather than later to encourage switch over. Mark.
Or check out the library... ours have these magazines in the reference section so you can read 'em for free.
But the BBC (like all UK broadcasters) are subject to something like a fairness doctrine, meaning that both sides need to be given equal airtime for their views. That's something that doesn't exist in the USA at this time.
When it comes to Visual Studio, it would appear that an anti-piracy solution was discovered: bundle Visual Studio with textbooks. Universities simply make a requirement of the student to get these particular books, and hey presto! A legal copy of Visual Studio for Visual Basic or Visual C++ or whatever. At least, that is how I got my copy of Visual Studio .Net anyway.
If it can work for submarines, why not road based passenger vehicles?
I guess the problem would be if there was a traffic accident then there would be a greater catastrophe on our hands.
However, if nuclear fission could be made small enough and safe enough for a road vehicle, it would solve the oil shortage problem, because it would be thousands of miles between refuels.
Mark.
Yeah! And there's Sky Digital too! Not to mention some parts of the country even have Cable TV. And there is this thingumyjig you can plug between your telly and your tv aerial and you can get even more channels.
I think they call it Freeview.
The old days are gone. In fact, I'd say there's more shopping junk on Sky than there is in the USA on Dish Network and DirecTV and Time Warner Cable *combined*.
Mark.
Depends on the university. The university I am at now (NC A&T) - most of the lecturers are using books they didn't write or have any input into (with the exception of one course), and they pretty much lecture from the book. So a book I have found was absolutely essential... and no they don't photocopy the book periodically and hand it out and no they don't keep copies of the text in the library.
However, at the Uni of Dundee, the library did keep some copies of the texts and the lectures weren't always straight out from the book; you were encouraged to take notes. I say did, because that was some years ago!
So at the uni I am at now, books are essential.
Mark.
... I believe that it got resurrected by 1-800-BAR-NONE - a car finance company for those who have difficulty getting regular financing for a car. At least I see that "thing" on TV from time to time. Mark.
Please note that this is inclusive of SCO Linux license fees. (that is if SCO is still around in 2008...)
I remember reading a posting somewhere back (no link, sorry) that parts of Louisiana were just getting phone service for the very first time. The phone company? BellSouth.
So the company that is complaining about a city providing telecomms services is the same company that can't provide basic service to everyone who wants it in the state of Louisiana???
My solution would be to get BellSouth to put the infrastructure in to these low income areas the city says don't have broadband... and to those who are truly low of income to be able to apply to the city or the broadband internet provider for a rebate coupon against the cost of the internet service.
Mark.
The way things are going, the BBC is becoming a major news force in the USA anyway. An awful lot of US public radio stations are carrying BBC World Service overnight (cheaper than NPR), you can get BBC World Service on XM and Sirius, and BBC World TV programming gets aired on local PBS stations. Sure there's BBC America but if the BBC got BBC World carried on more cable systems and on the satellite services then we'd see them referred to in the same vein as CNN, MSNBC, Fox...
... but then so am I...) b) you can get that pirate music easier and c) in a lot of cases it's cheaper than AOL and that second phone line, so why not go broadband, dump AOL and get that speed increase.
However, the BBC has advantages the US domestic networks don't, and that is an outsider's view. They aren't in the hands of politicians, and are non-commercial. Their interviewers are more straight and to the point, sometimes even confrontational (e.g. John Humphries, Jeremy Paxman...).
If the BBC were ever given funds to develop a proper US news service, I'm sure it would be successful - politicans couldn't criticize it for being left wing or right wing, and if someone like John Humphries ever got to interview President Bush (or anyone in the Bush Administration) I'm sure that would be a very interesting interview indeed. Don Rumsfeld for breakfast and Rice for lunch?
In any case, this is supposed to be about US uptake of broadband. My guesses as to why it's popular are a) you no longer have the World Wide Wait with dial up Internet (and Americans are impatient creatures
Mark.
Sure there may be some election weirdnesses going on, but the bottom line at the end of the day is whether the voting can be verified or not. My own personal preferences are that all voting gets done on paper - it's verifiable, traceable (with serial numbers), and it's quite inexpensive to operate and run. It's worked well in the UK for years, and results can be pretty quick - polls can close at 9pm and have a result within a couple of hours for small areas in a mainly urban area. Rural areas can have a result by lunchtime the day after. The paper method is by far the most verifiable means of voting.
Optical scans are IMO the next best thing, because the voter made the marks on the ballot paper directly. If there is a discrepancy, then the votes could in theory be counted by hand. If the ballot is well designed then it could be counted by hand quickly; optical scanning just speeds up thee counting somewhat.
I have a big problem with touch screen voting that doesn't generate a print out. I believe that the voting is not intentionally rigged, but because these machines are designed to handle America's exceptionally complicated voting system, there's more chance for errors to creep in. You're usually voting on at least 3 federal elections, a dozen State elections, a couple of dozen county elections, and who knows how many municipal elections? Plus voting for judges, sherrif, and numerous referenda on local and state issues... it makes for an incredibly long and complex ballot. India can do electronic voting and do it error free, but that's because the equipment is incredibly simple and designed to vote for one race only.
Whatever you want to read into these irregularities, I do support recounts. This would be only to ensure that the vote was indeed accurate, and not to determine "whether the evil Diebold had rigged the election" - which is most likely untrue.
Mark.
I hate to state this but it depends on where your credit card is issued and who the issuer is. I work for a major credit card company, and basically there is still a lot of "Buyer Beware" out there. If a store makes plain clear and simple what their return policy is and they deny a return because of it being out of policy then as long as there is documentation that can be provided that proves the customer was aware of this then a credit card company may well back them up and not issue you a credit. But often stores do not make clear their return policy and then rely on a small sign in the store as their defence.
Before working for this major credit card company, I worked for two main retail chains in the UK. PC World just had a statement that they accept returns within your statutory rights (i.e. they stick to the letter of UK law which btw is much more liberal than US sales law anywhere). I only worked there a few months because my wife dragged me Stateside. But UK credit cards tend to back you up more than US ones in the case of store returns. Before that I worked in Burtons - the menswear store. They had a great big sign at the cash register which clearly stated in big print what the return policy is (simply said: unhappy with your purchase for any reason, then please return your unworn merchandise within 30 days for full refund). They also had it printed on the back of the till receipt. This way, since anyone who made a purchase was given a receipt, hey presto they had a copy of the stores' return policy.
If The Limited print on the back of their receipts what the policy is and have it in big bold type at the register then customers do not have a leg to stand on when making a return because that would be the sales contract that they entered into. I don't know what their policy is because I don't shop there. I hate to say this I'm more of a Wal Mart shopper.
Mark.
I hope that Cingular/AT&T accelerate the roll out of GSM 800 ... otherwise it'll end up being just a city network. One of the main reasons that attracted me to AT&T in the first place is the "old fashioned" TDMA digital network with analog roaming for one single reason: it's more likely to get a signal 'out in the sticks'.
Now what would be classified as 'out in the sticks'? Try Cherokee, NC. It's nestled in the Grreat Smoky Mountains, is home to a casino, what I would consider a major tourist center. GSM service stops (at least for Cingular) a little west of Asheville. At least I got a single analog dot on the AT&T in analog mode (though most of the time it did say no service). I think things were better with my wife's SprintPCS phone (analog & CDMA) last time she went over.
Another "Rural" area? Eastern NC and the Outer Banks. There's a whole stretch east of Rocky Mount and west of Manteo that have no GSM service from either Cingular, or AT&T. And Suncom haven't even built their licensed network yet! Down from Nags Head, NC to Ocracoke is another GSM blank spot.
So the strategy for Cingular/ATTWS IMO for these rural areas needs to be:
a) roll out GSM800 where possible.
b) Get a GSM 800/1900 phone with analog out there, and maybe even with CDMA 800/1900 also.
Mark.
That call from a bill collector isn't going to do any good, and in any case this sounds like a Chapter 7 case. It really wouldn't matter if the bill collector called you openly, anonymously or in an extremely aggressive manner. If you can't pay then guess what? You can't! That's what bankruptcy laws are there for, so that the medical bills can 'go away' and the bill collectors will never call you again. Yes, it screws up your credit but if you have a net worth of $70k and you owe $300k and that $70k is your family home then it is in theory possible for to keep your home and have this debt "go away". I'm saying this because I guess people who are in such a position have their credit record messed up so much anyway that it might well be a good idea to go into bankruptcy protection in order to improve their quality of life. It worked for me, but it might not work with you. This is when you do need a lawyer.
Mark.
As a debtor myself faced with the harrassment of these phone calls, there is a way around it. Firstly, you _must_ send in a letter to your debtor, and state something like, "Per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, I request and require that you cease and desist in the practice of calling me at home or at work." Secondly, when waiting for them to get the letter answer the phone in a similar fashion, ending "Thank you for listening, have a great day, goodbye." Or something on similar lines. And then hang up. They will have made contact with you, and if they call you again today they will have violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and if you are so inclined you could then sue them for $100 or something greater.
It has caused my phone to be silent on matters of collection. It does not stop the letters and letters are easier for me to handle.
Mark.
Well, where I work if you do get your password wrong three times in succession for "mission critical" systems then yes, it does get locked out permanently, and you need to call someone to get a reset.
Of course, the thing in the first place would be to secure the scrambled password file first.
Mark.