My fiancee is getting a new phone as a late Christmas gift (only late because of a delay in shipping) which has AOL IM built in, and my BlackBerry will also do IM. Since unlimited internet is only $15/month for her phone and our group unlimited text package is $30/month, I will most likely drop the text package when her phone arrives. I prefer IM to SMS anyway.
Rumor has it the new Mac mini will have the same Nvidia graphics as the new MacBooks so, apart from price (it's a Mac after all), a mini with a third-party BD drive would be a great HD box.
I'm still looking forward to the day when I'm only charged for what I send, not what I receive. I have two phones on my account, one for me and one for my fiancee, and before I added a texting package any time one of us texted the other my account was charged twice. Once for the sent message, again when it was received. I honestly believe the cell companies do this to force you into a texting package.
Unfortunately there are a whole lot more lazy citizens than responsible citizens. This means that the majority wants the government to step up and do all those things you and I feel are unnecessary so they don't have to think and do for themselves as often.
For example: A responsible citizen picks up the remote, programs the V-chip or its equivalent and prevents his kids from seeing something he objects to on television. A lazy citizen feels it is the government's responsibility to use its heavy hand to censor television for everyone at once, no matter what his childless agnostic neighbor wants to see.
On a more personal note: We use Macs in our home, and one advantage therein is the very powerful built-in parental controls. The kids, both preteens, have their own restricted accounts on the family computer and are limited to a hand picked set of kid-friendly websites. As they get older, their list of allowed websites will shift accordingly. Until we decide they are old enough to venture out on their own, they will continue to be restricted based on our preferences for them. We don't want the entire internet filtered or watered down, we prefer to set the bar ourselves within our own walls.
It all comes down to personal responsibility, which unfortunately is an alien concept to most Americans.
So use your own router and build your own storage unit. You don't have to buy Apple products if you don't want to, and iTunes on Windows or Mac will stream just fine through a regular router and external drive. I do exactly that.
As for the actual topic of this article...I'd prefer not to have 100% of my internet traffic routed through government filters. I know a lot of it is watched at present, and I have nothing to hide except maybe my credit card numbers when I buy from newegg and amazon. It's just sort of creepy to know for sure that your government is watching your every online move.
Of course, I personally think Obama doesn't give a rat's ass what people are doing online and he genuinely wants cheap, easy broadband for the masses. It's those who work under him that I worry about.
Since we're both being pedantic, my original hypothetical involved someone being violent towards me while they were standing on my doorstep, i.e. in my residence. Yes I very well can shoot them. I'll still have to go to court and defend my actions, as it should be.
Regardless, I have never shot anyone and I hope I never have to. I abhor the thought, actually, but I'm a realist and I know that the day may come where I am obligated to defend my home and family and I'm prepared to do so.
Ok you completely failed to grasp my point so I'll spell it out for you in small words. I don't live in constant fear of someone knowing who I am. It's that simple. I don't road rage, and if someone rages on me I get out of their way. If they choose to bring it to my home, god help them. If they do happen to be angry enough to damage my property, well that's what insurance is for. If I don't catch them in the act, the next person they try to terrorize will. Besides all that, as I said it's a sleepy little town and that kind of shit really doesn't happen here.
Oh, and as for "checking my state's laws" all I have to do is reach in my desk drawer for a copy. I work for the government and I'm well aware of my rights regarding defense of my home. Nice attempt at being a know-it-all though.
Well I do have my callsign as my tag, as well as part of my email address. If someone really hates me badly enough to come knock on my door and confront me about it, they will get one of two greetings, and they're both 12ga buckshot.
And no, I'm not an internet tough guy. I just live in a small town where people are nice enough not to bother you, and where it's still legal to shoot them on your doorstep if they happen to stop being so nice.
Job != career. Google has entry-level jobs in the server rooms, and apart from that Google has careers for those with the experience, education and drive to take the company to new places.
As a cop, or whatever you are, you might applaud this result because of your *needs*.
I neglected to mention, the result of this case royally pissed me off. The charges should have been dismissed, period. No plea, no "nolo contendre", the judge should have had the stones to say to the prosecutor "get the hell out of my courtroom with your trumped up charges!" and let her continue teaching.
Though I will agree that "power junkie" cops exist, I must say that you grossly misunderstood the meaning behind my emphasis. It's the same kind of "need" to do your job well and proper that anyone who excels at their profession should feel. Would you want a house designed by an architect who didn't care whether the floors and walls fell in on you within a month?
It's that desire to do the best you can do that separates a good cop from the rest. Yes, the power junkie type sometimes do a great job too, but they almost always fall victim to the power trip eventually.
I will say, too, that time and again I've seen investigators do the right thing and back off a suspect when it's obvious they aren't guilty. It literally makes no sense to continue to follow false leads, power trip or not.
As for your bonus compensation theory, well in my department detectives don't get any compensation beyond the annual cost of living raise. Bonuses don't exist in a government job, at least not on the county level; you're trying to apply capitalistic values to a government entity and it doesn't work that way. They do get "Detective of the Month" plaques for solving particularly difficult cases, and in my opinion they are well deserved.
And just so we're clear on my personal stake: I'm not a cop, never been one and don't want to be. I'm literally not enough of an asshole to be one. I was told that by a supervisor early in my career in law enforcement and I wasn't offended at all. I know it's not in my blood to be one and I'd be a lousy one if I tried. I'm neither a cop-hater nor a cop groupie; I do my job (communications) and I'm damn good at it, and the guys and gals I work with are, for the most part, good cops. I've known a few bad ones too over the years, and I have no truck with that type. I'll call out a bad cop in a heartbeat, as will any of my coworkers. We don't like that shit in our ranks.
Take it from someone who works in law enforcement: If the cops truly considered the suspects innocent until proven guilty, they'd never arrest anyone. "Well, Captain, we only have a tenuous thread linking Joe to the crime scene, better not even think about arresting him unless he confesses out of the blue". Sorry, but it just doesn't work that way.
You see, cops *need* that drive, that determination that this is the guy in order to feel good enough to bring the evidence before the prosecutor. It doesn't seem right, but it's how the system works. The cops don't truly know for sure the guy did it, but it's not an issue at that point because they aren't the judge and jury; just the ones making the case. They are required to be diligent in their investigation; to do less would be dereliction of their duties.
The same goes for the prosecution, with some reservations. They are required to prosecute to the best of their ability, however they are also expected to back down if it is overwhelmingly obvious that they have the wrong man. To continue relentlessly without a shred of probable cause is what leads to malicious prosecution lawsuits.
As for the teacher in this story, I'm not really sure how she was convinced to take a plea; the article is woefully short on details. My guess would be that they either are really good at intimidation and she has a wimpy lawyer, or they had something else -- possibly unrelated to this case -- to use as leverage.
Anything that is allowed with makeup should be allowed with Photoshop.
I can use makeup to make someone look like Freddy Krueger. Should I be allowed to doctor a photo in the same vein, and present that as the actual person?
Ummm, what?? If they get a hold of the original camera, they will be able to determine which camera took the pictures stored on the original camera? After a few weeks of study?
I'm 31, watched TOS with my dad as a kid. I really didn't get into the series until TNG though; I still say it's the best Trek available, absent half of season two and any episode where Lwaxana Troi is integral to the plot (love ya Majel, but that character was overdone).
I really liked the trailer too, though I do see why some of the hardest of the hardcore are complaining; it's not Shatner/Nimoy/Kelley/Doohan so they won't like it on principle. As for all the action, have any of these self-important, know it all Trekkies actually watched a Trek movie? As opposed to the series, the movies are all about action, explosions, fight scenes, senior bridge staff arguing, et cetera. In fact, the only thing this trailer has that the older movies lack is sex and a classic Corvette.
So it doesn't fit in the Trek Bible; I think it will still look good next to it on the bookshelf.
I'm just a casual Trek fan, so I may be wrong about this, but I believe the original Enterprise NCC-1701 was the first Constitution class to be built. I'm almost positive the NCC-1701-D was the first Galaxy class too.
No, I think he doesn't understand his phone's settings.
My Nokia E62 can wake the dead in ringing and I can set it to annoy me for 2 hours after a email or sms has been received.
My BlackBerry 8110 can do the same thing. I've also had a Nokia N-series and they are highly configurable as you said. The downside to the Nokia was having to manually turn the alarm clock back on every day; for some insane reason it deleted the alarm clock setting every time it went off.
he does not need a pager, he needs a non-crappy phone. Blackberry's are made for trendy executives that dont want to be bothered. they like the pathetic vibrate and the pleasing tone that says "please pay attention to me."
I'm not sure you've ever used a BlackBerry based on that statement. BlackBerries are made for anyone who wants a smartphone that does more than Palm, WinMo, Symbian or Apple. In other words, me; I've owned all the above and the BB is the most versatile in my experience. I'm not overly trendy and I'm an office drone, not an exec; my phone is for personal use. I certainly enjoy having a phone that pushes email to me and has a decent browser. It's hands down the most configurable phone I've ever owned.
My E62 on the other hand screams, "I'm trying to piss you off, come deal with me NOW!!!" If set to loudest volume I can hear the alerts and ringing through my pillow over my head 2 rooms away.
I'll second that; Nokias can be damn loud if you want them to.
Plus the tools I get from running symbian, I get cool apps that can record phone calls, only ring on specific numbers after hours, etc... Oh and if you really gotta have it, it works with blackberry push. and if you have it debranded, it's as fast as the e61i after you remove the crappy cingular firmware.
There are some great apps on Symbian, though just like the BB most are commercial. The Palm platform is the only place you'll find a freeware alternative for just about every commercial title, and that's mostly due to the years of PalmOS PDAs before the first Treo was born.
All in all, my BB is at once the most complicated and most useful phone I've ever owned. The several months I spent with an iPhone were simplistic but fun, until the 2.0 firmware was released and it became so crash-happy that I couldn't rely on it for basic phone functions anymore.
Regarding the Ask Slashdot question: Don't bother with the hassle of yet another digital device and monthly bill. Read your damn manual and figure out where the Loud profile setting is. Find or create a ringtone that is guaranteed to wake your zombie ass up even after downing a case of Natural Light and two joints. You'll be just fine, trust me.
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My fiancee is getting a new phone as a late Christmas gift (only late because of a delay in shipping) which has AOL IM built in, and my BlackBerry will also do IM. Since unlimited internet is only $15/month for her phone and our group unlimited text package is $30/month, I will most likely drop the text package when her phone arrives. I prefer IM to SMS anyway.
Ouch, that must have been recently then. It was 20 cents each for me when I decided to add the package. I had no idea it was so much now.
Rumor has it the new Mac mini will have the same Nvidia graphics as the new MacBooks so, apart from price (it's a Mac after all), a mini with a third-party BD drive would be a great HD box.
I'm still looking forward to the day when I'm only charged for what I send, not what I receive. I have two phones on my account, one for me and one for my fiancee, and before I added a texting package any time one of us texted the other my account was charged twice. Once for the sent message, again when it was received. I honestly believe the cell companies do this to force you into a texting package.
Unfortunately there are a whole lot more lazy citizens than responsible citizens. This means that the majority wants the government to step up and do all those things you and I feel are unnecessary so they don't have to think and do for themselves as often.
For example: A responsible citizen picks up the remote, programs the V-chip or its equivalent and prevents his kids from seeing something he objects to on television. A lazy citizen feels it is the government's responsibility to use its heavy hand to censor television for everyone at once, no matter what his childless agnostic neighbor wants to see.
On a more personal note: We use Macs in our home, and one advantage therein is the very powerful built-in parental controls. The kids, both preteens, have their own restricted accounts on the family computer and are limited to a hand picked set of kid-friendly websites. As they get older, their list of allowed websites will shift accordingly. Until we decide they are old enough to venture out on their own, they will continue to be restricted based on our preferences for them. We don't want the entire internet filtered or watered down, we prefer to set the bar ourselves within our own walls.
It all comes down to personal responsibility, which unfortunately is an alien concept to most Americans.
So use your own router and build your own storage unit. You don't have to buy Apple products if you don't want to, and iTunes on Windows or Mac will stream just fine through a regular router and external drive. I do exactly that.
As for the actual topic of this article...I'd prefer not to have 100% of my internet traffic routed through government filters. I know a lot of it is watched at present, and I have nothing to hide except maybe my credit card numbers when I buy from newegg and amazon. It's just sort of creepy to know for sure that your government is watching your every online move.
Of course, I personally think Obama doesn't give a rat's ass what people are doing online and he genuinely wants cheap, easy broadband for the masses. It's those who work under him that I worry about.
Since we're both being pedantic, my original hypothetical involved someone being violent towards me while they were standing on my doorstep, i.e. in my residence. Yes I very well can shoot them. I'll still have to go to court and defend my actions, as it should be.
Regardless, I have never shot anyone and I hope I never have to. I abhor the thought, actually, but I'm a realist and I know that the day may come where I am obligated to defend my home and family and I'm prepared to do so.
Ok you completely failed to grasp my point so I'll spell it out for you in small words. I don't live in constant fear of someone knowing who I am. It's that simple. I don't road rage, and if someone rages on me I get out of their way. If they choose to bring it to my home, god help them. If they do happen to be angry enough to damage my property, well that's what insurance is for. If I don't catch them in the act, the next person they try to terrorize will. Besides all that, as I said it's a sleepy little town and that kind of shit really doesn't happen here.
Oh, and as for "checking my state's laws" all I have to do is reach in my desk drawer for a copy. I work for the government and I'm well aware of my rights regarding defense of my home. Nice attempt at being a know-it-all though.
Well I do have my callsign as my tag, as well as part of my email address. If someone really hates me badly enough to come knock on my door and confront me about it, they will get one of two greetings, and they're both 12ga buckshot.
And no, I'm not an internet tough guy. I just live in a small town where people are nice enough not to bother you, and where it's still legal to shoot them on your doorstep if they happen to stop being so nice.
As a bonus, your data will fall under Rule 34, which reinforces the meme.
Job != career. Google has entry-level jobs in the server rooms, and apart from that Google has careers for those with the experience, education and drive to take the company to new places.
Wow. Poindexter. Oh snap, I've been told.
Go watch a few youtube videos and you'll get the joke. Then again...
Well if you're eating John West products, you'll need a bear-resistant cloth. Back to the drawing board!
As a cop, or whatever you are, you might applaud this result because of your *needs*.
I neglected to mention, the result of this case royally pissed me off. The charges should have been dismissed, period. No plea, no "nolo contendre", the judge should have had the stones to say to the prosecutor "get the hell out of my courtroom with your trumped up charges!" and let her continue teaching.
Though I will agree that "power junkie" cops exist, I must say that you grossly misunderstood the meaning behind my emphasis. It's the same kind of "need" to do your job well and proper that anyone who excels at their profession should feel. Would you want a house designed by an architect who didn't care whether the floors and walls fell in on you within a month?
It's that desire to do the best you can do that separates a good cop from the rest. Yes, the power junkie type sometimes do a great job too, but they almost always fall victim to the power trip eventually.
I will say, too, that time and again I've seen investigators do the right thing and back off a suspect when it's obvious they aren't guilty. It literally makes no sense to continue to follow false leads, power trip or not.
As for your bonus compensation theory, well in my department detectives don't get any compensation beyond the annual cost of living raise. Bonuses don't exist in a government job, at least not on the county level; you're trying to apply capitalistic values to a government entity and it doesn't work that way. They do get "Detective of the Month" plaques for solving particularly difficult cases, and in my opinion they are well deserved.
And just so we're clear on my personal stake: I'm not a cop, never been one and don't want to be. I'm literally not enough of an asshole to be one. I was told that by a supervisor early in my career in law enforcement and I wasn't offended at all. I know it's not in my blood to be one and I'd be a lousy one if I tried. I'm neither a cop-hater nor a cop groupie; I do my job (communications) and I'm damn good at it, and the guys and gals I work with are, for the most part, good cops. I've known a few bad ones too over the years, and I have no truck with that type. I'll call out a bad cop in a heartbeat, as will any of my coworkers. We don't like that shit in our ranks.
Take it from someone who works in law enforcement: If the cops truly considered the suspects innocent until proven guilty, they'd never arrest anyone. "Well, Captain, we only have a tenuous thread linking Joe to the crime scene, better not even think about arresting him unless he confesses out of the blue". Sorry, but it just doesn't work that way.
You see, cops *need* that drive, that determination that this is the guy in order to feel good enough to bring the evidence before the prosecutor. It doesn't seem right, but it's how the system works. The cops don't truly know for sure the guy did it, but it's not an issue at that point because they aren't the judge and jury; just the ones making the case. They are required to be diligent in their investigation; to do less would be dereliction of their duties.
The same goes for the prosecution, with some reservations. They are required to prosecute to the best of their ability, however they are also expected to back down if it is overwhelmingly obvious that they have the wrong man. To continue relentlessly without a shred of probable cause is what leads to malicious prosecution lawsuits.
As for the teacher in this story, I'm not really sure how she was convinced to take a plea; the article is woefully short on details. My guess would be that they either are really good at intimidation and she has a wimpy lawyer, or they had something else -- possibly unrelated to this case -- to use as leverage.
Anything that is allowed with makeup should be allowed with Photoshop.
I can use makeup to make someone look like Freddy Krueger. Should I be allowed to doctor a photo in the same vein, and present that as the actual person?
It's called "mock surprise" mixed with a bit of sarcasm. Sorry it went over your head.
In your defense, it was a half-assed attempt on my part.
Congratulations on re-reemphasizing the obviousness of my redundancy. Or something.
I'm going back to bed. Carry on.
Ummm, what?? If they get a hold of the original camera, they will be able to determine which camera took the pictures stored on the original camera? After a few weeks of study?
That's some mighty fine police work, Lou.
Thanks for that info, I forgot all about Memory Alpha. Now I can fail less at the Trek trivia!
I guess maybe I had that "first of its class" crap lodged in my head from both generations of ships being the flagship of the Fleet at the time.
I'm 31, watched TOS with my dad as a kid. I really didn't get into the series until TNG though; I still say it's the best Trek available, absent half of season two and any episode where Lwaxana Troi is integral to the plot (love ya Majel, but that character was overdone).
I really liked the trailer too, though I do see why some of the hardest of the hardcore are complaining; it's not Shatner/Nimoy/Kelley/Doohan so they won't like it on principle. As for all the action, have any of these self-important, know it all Trekkies actually watched a Trek movie? As opposed to the series, the movies are all about action, explosions, fight scenes, senior bridge staff arguing, et cetera. In fact, the only thing this trailer has that the older movies lack is sex and a classic Corvette.
So it doesn't fit in the Trek Bible; I think it will still look good next to it on the bookshelf.
I'm just a casual Trek fan, so I may be wrong about this, but I believe the original Enterprise NCC-1701 was the first Constitution class to be built. I'm almost positive the NCC-1701-D was the first Galaxy class too.
Or how about he simply has a crappy phone.
No, I think he doesn't understand his phone's settings.
My Nokia E62 can wake the dead in ringing and I can set it to annoy me for 2 hours after a email or sms has been received.
My BlackBerry 8110 can do the same thing. I've also had a Nokia N-series and they are highly configurable as you said. The downside to the Nokia was having to manually turn the alarm clock back on every day; for some insane reason it deleted the alarm clock setting every time it went off.
he does not need a pager, he needs a non-crappy phone. Blackberry's are made for trendy executives that dont want to be bothered. they like the pathetic vibrate and the pleasing tone that says "please pay attention to me."
I'm not sure you've ever used a BlackBerry based on that statement. BlackBerries are made for anyone who wants a smartphone that does more than Palm, WinMo, Symbian or Apple. In other words, me; I've owned all the above and the BB is the most versatile in my experience. I'm not overly trendy and I'm an office drone, not an exec; my phone is for personal use. I certainly enjoy having a phone that pushes email to me and has a decent browser. It's hands down the most configurable phone I've ever owned.
My E62 on the other hand screams, "I'm trying to piss you off, come deal with me NOW!!!" If set to loudest volume I can hear the alerts and ringing through my pillow over my head 2 rooms away.
I'll second that; Nokias can be damn loud if you want them to.
Plus the tools I get from running symbian, I get cool apps that can record phone calls, only ring on specific numbers after hours, etc... Oh and if you really gotta have it, it works with blackberry push. and if you have it debranded, it's as fast as the e61i after you remove the crappy cingular firmware.
There are some great apps on Symbian, though just like the BB most are commercial. The Palm platform is the only place you'll find a freeware alternative for just about every commercial title, and that's mostly due to the years of PalmOS PDAs before the first Treo was born. All in all, my BB is at once the most complicated and most useful phone I've ever owned. The several months I spent with an iPhone were simplistic but fun, until the 2.0 firmware was released and it became so crash-happy that I couldn't rely on it for basic phone functions anymore.
Regarding the Ask Slashdot question: Don't bother with the hassle of yet another digital device and monthly bill. Read your damn manual and figure out where the Loud profile setting is. Find or create a ringtone that is guaranteed to wake your zombie ass up even after downing a case of Natural Light and two joints. You'll be just fine, trust me.
Luddite!