>>Italics were used to point out the typical "us" (smart people) vs. "them" (stupid people) attitude on/..
Sorry, as much as id like to stick up for joe schmoe here, I keep seeing search bars and settings changes on the computers of friends and family. When I ask why they dont just use google or yahoo, both excellent search engines, they tell me they dont rememer how they got that extra search bar or never noticed the changes. A little inspection shows that these changes are from spyware. So yeah, users are not making these changes, theyre just oblvious to it or have stopped fighting the spyware war and given up to whatever changes they find on their computer each time they boot it.
>>I'd expect a refund if I bought this and found no nudity included.
Hell, do it. And then sue the publisher and retailer for false advertising. These holier than thou rating boards can't just abritrily make the rules, yet they are immune from any punishment. But you can hit where it hurts - the pocketbook.
>users are free to run, share, and modify the software.
How many people even modify Azareus? Hell, why are they always begging for money when most OSS projects seem to do well without? OSS is nice when it works and produces a good product but its ugly as sin when it produces a bloaty java app and evangelists badmouth a decent closed alternative for the sake of ideology. Not to mention sticking to AZ for the sake of OSS steals thunder from other OSS projects and might be a disincentive to start a new one.
Yep. The cell phone virus meme has been going on for years now and it still hasnt happened. Vendor lock-in and lock-down goes a long way towards security it seems.
This is like porn to people like Bruce Schenier, but in real life its alarmist crap. This is just as real as "Toothing" which got lots of press but turned out to be an urban legend fueled by the sexual fantasies of tech writers.
>>Do these guys WANT to drive users to open source?
Err, yeah because all the popular linux distros have "non-crippled" firewalls by default eh? I can't think of any that ask me if I want to make sure to allow some app access to the WAN. They just do. Hell, I dont even see how Joe Computer User is going to make heads or tails of ipchains. He can barely grok the big fat GUIs of the Windows Firewall. Lets be thankful that he's even using that.
"No Dad, I said type in echo one greater than slash, no the other slash, proc, yes like a proctologist...."
Making matters worse is the poor pay for medicine with credit cards
Ken Steidl, a bankruptcy attorney in Pittsburgh, said it's a problem that he thinks is getting worse. Steidl has seen an upsurge in senior citizens paying for expensive medicines with credit cards, and then filing for bankruptcy after the bills come due.
Dennis Spyra, another bankruptcy attorney here, seconded the observation. Health care debts of $25,000 are driving some into bankruptcy, he said.
"I'm filing a lot of bankruptcies for senior citizens on fixed incomes and I can tell you that a substantial amount of the unsecured credit card debts... are for prescriptions," Spyra said.
A study of 1,931 consumer Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases from 84 federal judicial districts in 2000 found that medical debt per debtor was relatively small at $2,582, or about 5.6 percent of the general unsecured debt. But among those with unpaid medical bills, there were 14 people in the study with huge health care debts, including one individual with $615,000 in medical bills, according to the study by the U.S. Trustee Program.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04219/357 527.stm
I'm sure the "competitive medicare" in 2010 is going to solve this too.
The bill is a lot worse than that. If you can be found to make $100 a month (who cant?) then you will be refused bankrupcy. Period. Its a big fat hand out to the credit card companies. Bold emphasis mine. More from pbs.org
The main provisions of the means test are as follows: People with insufficient assets or income could still file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which if approved by a judge, erases debts entirely after certain assets are forfeited. But those with income above the state's median income who can pay at least $6,000 over five years -- $100 a month -- would be forced into Chapter 13, where a judge would order a repayment plan. Under current law, a bankruptcy judge determines under which chapter of the bankruptcy code a person falls -- whether they have to repay some or all of their debt. Each state's median will be based on U.S. Census numbers but would have to be adjusted for inflation, and how to calculate that adjustment has not yet been defined. The Census Bureau's latest figures show state median incomes range from $55,912 in Maryland and $30,072 in West Virginia. According to THE WASHINGTON POST, "it is estimated that the proposed legislation would force 30,000 to 100,000 additional filers a year into Chapter 13."
The bill also:
* Imposes new filing requiments on ALL filers.
* Requires people filing for bankruptcy to pay for credit counseling.
* Gives top priority to a spouse's claims for child support among creditors' claims on a debtor in bankruptcy.
* Allow for special accommodations for active-duty service members, low-income veterans and those with serious medical conditions in the new income test for bankruptcy applicants.
* Restrict the homestead exemption in states to $125,000 unless the person in bankruptcy bought his or her residence at least three years and four months before filing. Florida, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and Texas have unlimited homestead exemptions that allow wealthy people to file for bankruptcy and keep their mansions in those states sheltered from creditors. (Source: The Associated Press)
Don't forget the bankrupcy law changes. I guess this is what people get for voting republican and thinking that party is about the common man when its done little more than serve the elites. Hopefully, this will be another of their "social security reform" failures. I know, as a voter, I'm not forgetting how the GOP has acted and when these cronyists are out power they will stay out of power. Keep digging your own graves boys.
Actually its your move, not blizzards. They've shown to be incompetent yet we and millions of others continue to pay them. There are a lot of good games out there and WoW hasn't jumped the shark yet, but if I can't do a planned raid because of network or server issues then the game is useless to me. I haven't played in weeks and will be canceling soon. Not out of spite, but because the game doesnt have anything for me anymore and the downtime is ridiculous. Chronic gamers have nothing to complain about other than addiction, but guys like me who play only a few times a week to do a raid or play an alt and can't even get on because of downtime and network issues is inexcusable.
Why use it? Well, MIMO-based wireless tends to do a better job with interference and range. In fact, coverage may be the big seller here as broadband internet speeds dont even come close to B let along N. People aren't complaining about speed (well most anyway) they complain about coverage.
The thoroughput is very nice in situations where you have a home network with all the same brand network gear. Say you download a 1+gig movie on your desktop but decide you want to watch it on your laptop downstairs. At pre-N speeds its not such a big deal. On B its stupid and G its a exercise in patience.
But of course, outside of your own little network the card may be useless, so early adopter/buyer beware as usual.
Dick Cheney was on TV not too long ago defending the Saddam-9/11 connection to some reporter.
I guess 9/11 revenge feels better than say strategic geopolitical and regional dominance for future energy concerns, err I mean "saddam has WMDs and will give them to terrorists. We don't want to wait for the mushroom cloud."
>If it inspires a few of them to take a minute to evaluate their wireless security and then do something about it, chances are they will do more than just change the SSID.
Err, thats a big IF. Weigh the cost of passing and enforcing this law say versus a public information campaign. You're essentially using flawed reasoning of "if we could save just one life this whole thing would be worth it" which ignores opportunity cost and the reality of limited funds.
Partisan and inept? Maybe you didn't notice the humor icon in the article. No one is taking this seriously.
Secondly, this is not comparable to what Al Gore has been getting from just about everyone in regards to his comment about the internet. He said he helped "create" the internet, not "invent it." Bush's speech follows:
They did so for one reason: It turned out that those were the key ingredients for the development of the iPod.
>Why is this so incredibly hard for Americans to understand?
Because we're Americans. We can't find France on a map, but we 'boycott' their goods because Bill OReilly (3 million viewers) tells us so. We support a war in Iraq to get terrorists and WMD. Education is for Europeans. Now if you don't mind we're off to beat up some homos and invade Iran!
Actually, its rarely done to protect the children. The theocrats who push their judeo-christian beliefs on the rest of us through legislation use children politically to fulfill their agenda. The Chinese want to limit political dissidents, the Americans do it because "the invisible man in the sky says so."
Metroid's wacky stick-based controls hurt my hands. A lot. I can't see how anyone can deal with the default settings for more than 20 minutes. Then I realized I'm playing a FPS on a handheld when I bought the handheld to get away from the typical Sony/Xbox grind. If anything, Metriod Hunters is a seriously wrong move for this device. Its another 'me too' title with a control gimmick. Its like the developers were sitting around scratching their heads on how to use the touch screen and picked the worst control scheme imaginable. Is there some law that requires all DS games to use the touchscreen? Just because its there doesn't mean you have to use it, especially if you don't have good reason to. Imagine steering Mario Kart with the stick because Nintendo had to promote the touchscreen. Yeah its that bad.
I can't wait to sell it and buy something unique like Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. When I want FPS I've got BF2 on the PC. Thanks but no thanks Nintendo.
Yep, firefox's only hope not to lose signficant users with IE7 is to bank on the extension writing community's ability to write must-have extensions and to promote them.
This is funny as I just bought the game last night and I do play guitar. Well, I love it. Its like being able to play covers without the all the effort of learning the song. I found myself acting like a complete jerk striking silly Keith Richards-like poses and the occasional Townshend windmill.
The real downside isn't the cable, but the game moves so quickly you can't see any of the background animation because you're always focused hitting the right "notes." This wireless hack is cute, but they give you more than enough wire with the little guitar. Also, I would love to see more songs for this. Shame the developers said they wont release an expansion back but potentially a new version of the game next year. Maybe.
As far as mimicking a real instrument. Well, it could be a gateway to playing a real guitar the same way american idol has turned everyone into some wannabe vocalist/karaoke nut. The difference being that a guitar is a real instrument while the american idol vocal mimickry involves none of the discipline of learning a new instrument. If not, its a cool little game all its own and getting to play that trademark Brian May tone on the Killer Queen was worth the price of admission.
Take videotape out. Check. Put hard drive in. Check. Get patent. Check. Novel invention?
Recording television and watching it later. Hmm. I was doing this as a kid on my dad's old Betamax in the early 80s. Lets not push it here. Its a shame that companies like google and tivo have this geek halo around them, where we all just decide to give them a severe double standard. I'm certain if MS had this patent blood would be spilled by now.
>>f they revoke that patent you can pretty much kiss Tivo good bye.
Then so f'n long. Its not the job of the courts to make sure you remain profitable. Especially over their "time warping patent" which in a nutshell is "we patent computers recording tv video for later playback." Uhh, no. Hope you lose. There's a difference between first to market and innovation. They've been nice enough to stay away from MythTV but waiting on the niceness of corporations isn't what I call justice. Tivo's patent should be revoked. Hell, they havent made a profit in years (ever?) so these patents aren't exactly holding them together to begin with.
I'd rather kiss Tivo goodbye than anything that resembles a tivo (like mythtv) because of silly american patent law. If it takes another silly suit from echostar to question this patent, then all the better. No one else can afford to take Tivo on. There's no ACLU for ridiculous patents to fight the patent abusers.
That was my first thought. We have an out of context quote here designed to get the usualy suspects all in a tizzy. Surprise surprise, it worked. Its like hes fair game for ridicule because he's trying something out of the ordinary and consumerist america scoffs at the idea of an 100 laptop. Its almost communist! Maybe some right-thinking senator will put a stop to this. The question now is do we nuke MIT from orbit or just go for a "regime change."
What bugs me is the lack of scope here. Okay so they sue the parents of some kids who released a video. Obviously these families are fucked for life because of this incredible debt. Who has 100k to laying around? Guess little Johnny isn't going to college now because of a childhood prank. That seems highly unfair.
Now in the real world, people at sites like fark, ebaumsworld, etc sold a whole lot of banner ads with this video. Why aren't they being sued? Or the graphics professionals who took a boring video of a fat kid from some website and added in effects and sounds, hosted it, and promoted it? Its one thing for me to release a video and its another for the video to get picked up by commercial interests and artists and turned into this week's crazy meme without permission. Ebaumsworld still hosts it now. Why are they free from litigation?
The real problems with these lawsuits is that they just get the easy money while fark and ebaumsworld and the rest continue this kind of nonsense. They dont ask permission, they don't ask the source, they just link and host and put all the banner ad money in their pockets. They're laughing all the way to the bank while some canadian families are now expected to get the 300k other people have made off this kid.
So "cyberbullies" get some sort of lesson, which probably won't resonate to the rest of the culture of bullying and website profiteers get off scott free. That's justice?
Slashdot Mirror
>>Italics were used to point out the typical "us" (smart people) vs. "them" (stupid people) attitude on /..
Sorry, as much as id like to stick up for joe schmoe here, I keep seeing search bars and settings changes on the computers of friends and family. When I ask why they dont just use google or yahoo, both excellent search engines, they tell me they dont rememer how they got that extra search bar or never noticed the changes. A little inspection shows that these changes are from spyware. So yeah, users are not making these changes, theyre just oblvious to it or have stopped fighting the spyware war and given up to whatever changes they find on their computer each time they boot it.
>>I'd expect a refund if I bought this and found no nudity included.
Hell, do it. And then sue the publisher and retailer for false advertising. These holier than thou rating boards can't just abritrily make the rules, yet they are immune from any punishment. But you can hit where it hurts - the pocketbook.
>users are free to run, share, and modify the software.
How many people even modify Azareus? Hell, why are they always begging for money when most OSS projects seem to do well without? OSS is nice when it works and produces a good product but its ugly as sin when it produces a bloaty java app and evangelists badmouth a decent closed alternative for the sake of ideology. Not to mention sticking to AZ for the sake of OSS steals thunder from other OSS projects and might be a disincentive to start a new one.
Yep. The cell phone virus meme has been going on for years now and it still hasnt happened. Vendor lock-in and lock-down goes a long way towards security it seems.
This is like porn to people like Bruce Schenier, but in real life its alarmist crap. This is just as real as "Toothing" which got lots of press but turned out to be an urban legend fueled by the sexual fantasies of tech writers.
>>Do these guys WANT to drive users to open source?
Err, yeah because all the popular linux distros have "non-crippled" firewalls by default eh? I can't think of any that ask me if I want to make sure to allow some app access to the WAN. They just do. Hell, I dont even see how Joe Computer User is going to make heads or tails of ipchains. He can barely grok the big fat GUIs of the Windows Firewall. Lets be thankful that he's even using that.
"No Dad, I said type in echo one greater than slash, no the other slash, proc, yes like a proctologist...."
I'm sure the "competitive medicare" in 2010 is going to solve this too.
I never thought of long-term unemployment because of medical illness as "spending like a drunken sailor" but to each his own.
Don't forget the bankrupcy law changes. I guess this is what people get for voting republican and thinking that party is about the common man when its done little more than serve the elites. Hopefully, this will be another of their "social security reform" failures. I know, as a voter, I'm not forgetting how the GOP has acted and when these cronyists are out power they will stay out of power. Keep digging your own graves boys.
Actually its your move, not blizzards. They've shown to be incompetent yet we and millions of others continue to pay them. There are a lot of good games out there and WoW hasn't jumped the shark yet, but if I can't do a planned raid because of network or server issues then the game is useless to me. I haven't played in weeks and will be canceling soon. Not out of spite, but because the game doesnt have anything for me anymore and the downtime is ridiculous. Chronic gamers have nothing to complain about other than addiction, but guys like me who play only a few times a week to do a raid or play an alt and can't even get on because of downtime and network issues is inexcusable.
Why use it? Well, MIMO-based wireless tends to do a better job with interference and range. In fact, coverage may be the big seller here as broadband internet speeds dont even come close to B let along N. People aren't complaining about speed (well most anyway) they complain about coverage.
The thoroughput is very nice in situations where you have a home network with all the same brand network gear. Say you download a 1+gig movie on your desktop but decide you want to watch it on your laptop downstairs. At pre-N speeds its not such a big deal. On B its stupid and G its a exercise in patience.
But of course, outside of your own little network the card may be useless, so early adopter/buyer beware as usual.
Dick Cheney was on TV not too long ago defending the Saddam-9/11 connection to some reporter.
I guess 9/11 revenge feels better than say strategic geopolitical and regional dominance for future energy concerns, err I mean "saddam has WMDs and will give them to terrorists. We don't want to wait for the mushroom cloud."
So, has OJ found the real killer yet?
>If it inspires a few of them to take a minute to evaluate their wireless security and then do something about it, chances are they will do more than just change the SSID.
Err, thats a big IF. Weigh the cost of passing and enforcing this law say versus a public information campaign. You're essentially using flawed reasoning of "if we could save just one life this whole thing would be worth it" which ignores opportunity cost and the reality of limited funds.
>Also, the pictures have to be so goddamn sentimental, you want to puke.
Puke over IP or PoIP isn't scheduled to be released until Web 3.0.
Secondly, this is not comparable to what Al Gore has been getting from just about everyone in regards to his comment about the internet. He said he helped "create" the internet, not "invent it." Bush's speech follows: Mouse over the foot. "Its funny. Laugh."
>Why is this so incredibly hard for Americans to understand?
Because we're Americans. We can't find France on a map, but we 'boycott' their goods because Bill OReilly (3 million viewers) tells us so. We support a war in Iraq to get terrorists and WMD. Education is for Europeans. Now if you don't mind we're off to beat up some homos and invade Iran!
Actually, its rarely done to protect the children. The theocrats who push their judeo-christian beliefs on the rest of us through legislation use children politically to fulfill their agenda. The Chinese want to limit political dissidents, the Americans do it because "the invisible man in the sky says so."
Metroid's wacky stick-based controls hurt my hands. A lot. I can't see how anyone can deal with the default settings for more than 20 minutes. Then I realized I'm playing a FPS on a handheld when I bought the handheld to get away from the typical Sony/Xbox grind. If anything, Metriod Hunters is a seriously wrong move for this device. Its another 'me too' title with a control gimmick. Its like the developers were sitting around scratching their heads on how to use the touch screen and picked the worst control scheme imaginable. Is there some law that requires all DS games to use the touchscreen? Just because its there doesn't mean you have to use it, especially if you don't have good reason to. Imagine steering Mario Kart with the stick because Nintendo had to promote the touchscreen. Yeah its that bad.
I can't wait to sell it and buy something unique like Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. When I want FPS I've got BF2 on the PC. Thanks but no thanks Nintendo.
Yep, firefox's only hope not to lose signficant users with IE7 is to bank on the extension writing community's ability to write must-have extensions and to promote them.
This is funny as I just bought the game last night and I do play guitar. Well, I love it. Its like being able to play covers without the all the effort of learning the song. I found myself acting like a complete jerk striking silly Keith Richards-like poses and the occasional Townshend windmill.
The real downside isn't the cable, but the game moves so quickly you can't see any of the background animation because you're always focused hitting the right "notes." This wireless hack is cute, but they give you more than enough wire with the little guitar. Also, I would love to see more songs for this. Shame the developers said they wont release an expansion back but potentially a new version of the game next year. Maybe.
As far as mimicking a real instrument. Well, it could be a gateway to playing a real guitar the same way american idol has turned everyone into some wannabe vocalist/karaoke nut. The difference being that a guitar is a real instrument while the american idol vocal mimickry involves none of the discipline of learning a new instrument. If not, its a cool little game all its own and getting to play that trademark Brian May tone on the Killer Queen was worth the price of admission.
>>you manage a creature, a society, a world, a galaxy and a universe.
Its another Sim* game tweaking the old Populus formula from the 80s. Not exactly breaking new ground here.
>>novel invention in my books. I
Take videotape out. Check. Put hard drive in. Check. Get patent. Check. Novel invention?
Recording television and watching it later. Hmm. I was doing this as a kid on my dad's old Betamax in the early 80s. Lets not push it here. Its a shame that companies like google and tivo have this geek halo around them, where we all just decide to give them a severe double standard. I'm certain if MS had this patent blood would be spilled by now.
>>f they revoke that patent you can pretty much kiss Tivo good bye.
Then so f'n long. Its not the job of the courts to make sure you remain profitable. Especially over their "time warping patent" which in a nutshell is "we patent computers recording tv video for later playback." Uhh, no. Hope you lose. There's a difference between first to market and innovation. They've been nice enough to stay away from MythTV but waiting on the niceness of corporations isn't what I call justice. Tivo's patent should be revoked. Hell, they havent made a profit in years (ever?) so these patents aren't exactly holding them together to begin with.
I'd rather kiss Tivo goodbye than anything that resembles a tivo (like mythtv) because of silly american patent law. If it takes another silly suit from echostar to question this patent, then all the better. No one else can afford to take Tivo on. There's no ACLU for ridiculous patents to fight the patent abusers.
That was my first thought. We have an out of context quote here designed to get the usualy suspects all in a tizzy. Surprise surprise, it worked. Its like hes fair game for ridicule because he's trying something out of the ordinary and consumerist america scoffs at the idea of an 100 laptop. Its almost communist! Maybe some right-thinking senator will put a stop to this. The question now is do we nuke MIT from orbit or just go for a "regime change."
What bugs me is the lack of scope here. Okay so they sue the parents of some kids who released a video. Obviously these families are fucked for life because of this incredible debt. Who has 100k to laying around? Guess little Johnny isn't going to college now because of a childhood prank. That seems highly unfair.
Now in the real world, people at sites like fark, ebaumsworld, etc sold a whole lot of banner ads with this video. Why aren't they being sued? Or the graphics professionals who took a boring video of a fat kid from some website and added in effects and sounds, hosted it, and promoted it? Its one thing for me to release a video and its another for the video to get picked up by commercial interests and artists and turned into this week's crazy meme without permission. Ebaumsworld still hosts it now. Why are they free from litigation?
The real problems with these lawsuits is that they just get the easy money while fark and ebaumsworld and the rest continue this kind of nonsense. They dont ask permission, they don't ask the source, they just link and host and put all the banner ad money in their pockets. They're laughing all the way to the bank while some canadian families are now expected to get the 300k other people have made off this kid.
So "cyberbullies" get some sort of lesson, which probably won't resonate to the rest of the culture of bullying and website profiteers get off scott free. That's justice?