I'm just glad Slashdot raised the flag on Diebold
on
Rumsfeld Stepping Down
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Indeed, a quick glance at Digg's top stories shows that people were on their toes all over America, just waiting to pounce on any perceived shenanigans at the polls. Over 1/3 of all the stories on yesterday's front Political News page are about Republicans trying to steal the election. http://www.digg.com/politics/page3
Okay, Time Warner charges it's RoadRunner cable modem customers $45 a month for unlimited hi-speed access. If you're only going to surf the web, chat and email, all you need is their competitor's $25 DSL service. But if you are going to download dozens of movies and TV show episodes every week through the binary newsgroups, you need that speed.
In essence, Time Warner is charging $20/month for all-you-can-watch, DRM-free access to current movies and TV shows. And we happily pay it. They've already proven that this is the business model that works, they should just go ahead and market it.
Rights curtailed "in certain times"??? You mean, until all the world's WMDs are found and destroyed? Or just until every terrorist is detained in an illegal overseas CIA prison? Whichever comes first? Laws like The Patriot Act have nothing to do with my security and everything to do with allowing those in power to stay in power.
Seatbelt laws is a perfect analogy. In order to save the insurance industry money, the politicians they paid off made it illegal for me to drive in comfort. What's to stop them from making fried foods illegal next? They are certainly more dangerous to my health than not wearing my seltbelt. Oh yeah, some corporate entity would lose money if they did that. So that's one freedom I don't have to worry about giving up.
A true American patriot believes in the Constitution, not in politicians.
I don't think tritonman was referring to PlameGate, which was really Rove and Cheney more than Bush anyway. Rather, I think he refers to the unconstitutional wiretapping the Bush administration has been performing on American citizens in the name of national security.
Either way, I fail to see why the article was modded funny. It's really just sad.
To extend, the lack of huge crowds of time-travelling tourists at events such as the WTC collapse is the best evidence that time travel from the future into our present cannot happen. Either that, or time travellers are required to cloak themselves. Otherwise, the streets and skies of NYC would have been packed with tricked-out Deloreans on 9-11-01.
Stephen Hawking thinks this may be because the furthest you can travel back in time is to the invention of the time machine (and it hasn't been invented yet). Even if there is no technological limitation, it might also be that going back to the time before the invention of the time machine is societally forbidden, in order to preserve the timeline that created the possibility of time travel. But that's another can of wormholes.
Jango Fett got beheaded by Mace Windu when his jetpack failed to ignite after he got run over by a Reek. Boba Fett got digested by a Sarlacc after Han Solo blindly whacked his jetpack, sending him ricocheting off Jabba's barge.
Jetpacks in the Star Wars Universe are about as advisable as superhero capes in The Incredibles' world.
Indeed, the current state of photovoltiac (PV) technology and economics make it hard to justify even solar-powered streetlights, let alone homes. In a recent analysis, the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute found that it is possible to use PV lighting -- if you're off the grid in a remote area, and fairly low light levels are acceptable (or desirable, to reduce light pollution, for example). But if you are anywhere near the grid, a PV parking lot fixture, for example, might never pay for itself, since maintenance costs may outstrip any energy cost savings.
Life cycle costs for this and several other possible PV lighting applications are detailed in the new report, Lighting Answers: Photovoltaic Lighting, available free at their web site: http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/publicationDetails.asp?id=1 271
Here in New York State they outlawed using cell phones while driving a few years ago (unless you use a hands-free set). People seemed to follow the law for about 2 months, then went back to their old ways. It didn't take long to realize that the cheap hands-free sets we all bought did nothing to improve safety; in fact, it was dangerous untangling the wires while trying to drive.
I can talk on the phone while driving without much problem...the hard part is DIALING. You pretty much have to take your eyes off the road to do it. Have you tried texting while driving? Now that's unsafe. Even reading an incoming message takes too much eye attention.
One of the major U.S. automakers put cameras and black box recorders into hundreds of cars for an internal safety study. As I recall, they found that driving a car with a built-in speakerphone (which could be controlled by voice or from buttons on the steering wheel) was much safer than trying to use a hands-free set, or just holding the phone.
All that said, it is annoying as hell to notice a clueless dufus on the phone, driving like an idiot. They probably drive like an idiot even when they aren't on the phone, but you still feel like yelling "shut up and drive" to them. I talk on the phone when driving as little as possible. I keep it short. I'll tell the other person to hang on I'll put the phone down if the driving gets tricky. You know, just use a little common sense.
The last time I got pulled over (for speeding) I happened to have a videocamera in the car. I didn't turn it on, but I did position it in the passenger seat so that it was aimed out my side window. I never mentioned it to the cop, but he seemed to take note of it right away. He was exceptionally polite to me, and let me go with a warning. That's never happened before.
Let's play fair here, coppers. If you're not doing anything wrong, then you have no reason to mind having your actions monitored and recorded, right? Right?
I am in favor of all putting webcams in all public classrooms and on all uniformed cops. They are our public servants. If they don't like being watched, there must be a reason.
Your points are well stated. Too bad you had to start you post with that childish "Bzzzt" business.
Slashdot posters are often self-rightous and immature, undercutting their own arguments with their obnoxious tone. Your post is actually much less annoying than most.
You at least refrained from tacking on personal attacks, and kept your arguments clean after that initial sideswipe on the parent's intelligence. Thanks for that.
I feel for you folks with eye conditions that rule our laser surgery. I wore glasses from age 16 to 36, and my dry eyes ruled out contact lenses. Frankly, I looked like a dork with glasses, and my social life suffered for it.
In 2000, I spent my tax return on lasik and it was the smartest thing I've ever done. It is unbelievably liberating not to have the responsibility of carrying those glasses around, especially since I was always losing or breaking them. Waking up and being able to see the clock. Walking down city streets and being able to tell what people are wearing ten blocks away. Going to the beach and being able to check out the sights without getting raccoon eyes. Seeing the branches on trees atop mountains miles away. I still get a warm feeling of gratitude every time.
For a fraction of what so many girls would spend on implants, you can do something that will not only improve your appearance, attractiveness, and self-esteem, but will make you feel like a bit of a superhero.
If you are not a candidate, man that sucks, but otherwise, just do it.
*I have no interest or stake in any lasik or related company*
If they started out round and then became increasingly polygonal as you sped up, until at high speed they were square. You'd have less contact with the road, so less resistance. Handling would suffer (as would ride smoothness, I imagine), but perhaps it would be "up to 75%" more efficient.
Thanks for the heads up. I didn't support it when Tipper did it to music, and I think Eliot Spitzer is barking up the wrong tree by looking for more video game labeling legislation. He should stick to enforcing the laws we already have.
You know, nude patches have been around as long as female characters in video games. Odd that it has become such a hot issue during an election year when the incumbents have performed so poorly on real issues.
There's a lot I DID tell people before G.W. got elected. Nobody listened, and here we are.
But seriously, it's no fun being Dem or GOP anymore. Both have too much invested in the status quo. As all our establishments are exposed as corrupt (political parties, the Catholic Church, Big Business, police forces, etc.) we, hopefully, will seek true reform. If things keep getting worse over the next two years at the rate they have declined lately...
A Ross Perot type with enough money to fight solo might have a real good chance in 2008.
I think the headline from the article you linked says it all: "Teen Birth Rate Down, Youth Less Likely to Be Involved In Violent Crimes; Kids More Likely To Be Overweight"
Obviously, kids are spending so much time in front of their PCs, IMing and MySpacing and gaming, that they are getting too fat to go out and commit crimes or even go on a date.
I agree, Hillary is pandering to conservative voters with her anti-violence-in-the-media stance, and it alienates her potential core audience (folks who value their dwindling civil liberties). Doesn't she remember how Tipper Gore's music censorship crusade hurt Al Gore's progressive image? I voted for Bill Clinton twice, and I even supported Hillary for NY Senator, but she won't be getting my vote again. And this B.S. issue is the main reason why. It shows that she is just another Washington pol who has no convictions beyond the ones that garner votes. Go, Spitzer, Go! Now, THERE's a guy who proves every day that he has my interests at heart. Taking on SONY, et al, for their truly illegal anti-consumer business practices, not just for their "moral" transgressions.
I used to doodle spinning superconductor discs producing gravitational fields in my college notebooks in the 80's. My pick-up rap used to have a bit about the flying saucer I designed that used spinning superconductors for propulsion.
I dunno why, but this effect always seemed obvious and intuitive to me. Are we really only now confiming it? Was this speculated in sci-fi or OMNI, because it seems awfully familiar for some reason.
He gave his facts. Where are yours? Regardless of whether the natives think it is "the right thing", we are only there because Bush and Co. lied. Had he told the truth, we would not be having this discussion.
The ability of the government to control the media, even in the face of the Internet, is astounding. But then, when half of the voting population is willing to believe anything they say, it's really not that hard for them to keep us "on message."
What will really be surprising about this story is if it gets any attention in the mainstream media.
I got moved into a cubicle where there is contant traffic behind me. I tried a mirror, but the angle was too small. Now I have a webcam on top of one of my monitors and I keep a little rear-view window open in the corner of the screen. At first, I expanded the image to take up the whole 2nd screen, but people were too fascinated by it and would stare at themselves as they went by. Now I keep the window to about 3 inches wide so I can view it but it is not so obvious to passers-by. Works great, and I can videochat with the GF with it, too. Also, when I'm home sick or whatever, I can RDC to my desktop and see the office. ---- To stay on topic, I use noice-cancelling headphones plugged into my desktop PC. If hearing the office was a problem, I could just send my microphone signal to the headphones. Also, you could use the motion-detection feature of most webcam softwares to alert you when someone comes up behind you.
Personally, my bad attitude toward cops comes from having been inexplicably whacked by their nightsticks in Santa Monica, California. Having brown skin was my crime.
But your point about them having to enforce bulls**t laws is well taken. I might not like the fire dept. so much if they went from bar to bar ticketing people who smoke too close to the entrance, and fined me for not replacing my smoke detector battery.
The cops, on the other hand, waste their time and my money protecting me from myself (drug laws, seat belt laws!). What useless busywork.
Mine likes nerds, too. Her favorite nickname for me is 'dork'. Gotta say, though, most girls I dated were not really into the nerdiness. My vast toy spaceship collection works pretty good to sort out the nerd-haters from the nerd-lovers.
Slashdot Mirror
Indeed, a quick glance at Digg's top stories shows that people were on their toes all over America, just waiting to pounce on any perceived shenanigans at the polls. Over 1/3 of all the stories on yesterday's front Political News page are about Republicans trying to steal the election.
http://www.digg.com/politics/page3
Okay, Time Warner charges it's RoadRunner cable modem customers $45 a month for unlimited hi-speed access. If you're only going to surf the web, chat and email, all you need is their competitor's $25 DSL service. But if you are going to download dozens of movies and TV show episodes every week through the binary newsgroups, you need that speed.
In essence, Time Warner is charging $20/month for all-you-can-watch, DRM-free access to current movies and TV shows. And we happily pay it. They've already proven that this is the business model that works, they should just go ahead and market it.
...you can't have any pudding.
I always thought it sounded like he was saying, "E! Yes, E!" Maybe the E! channel should use that song.
Rights curtailed "in certain times"??? You mean, until all the world's WMDs are found and destroyed? Or just until every terrorist is detained in an illegal overseas CIA prison? Whichever comes first? Laws like The Patriot Act have nothing to do with my security and everything to do with allowing those in power to stay in power. Seatbelt laws is a perfect analogy. In order to save the insurance industry money, the politicians they paid off made it illegal for me to drive in comfort. What's to stop them from making fried foods illegal next? They are certainly more dangerous to my health than not wearing my seltbelt. Oh yeah, some corporate entity would lose money if they did that. So that's one freedom I don't have to worry about giving up. A true American patriot believes in the Constitution, not in politicians.
I don't think tritonman was referring to PlameGate, which was really Rove and Cheney more than Bush anyway. Rather, I think he refers to the unconstitutional wiretapping the Bush administration has been performing on American citizens in the name of national security.
Either way, I fail to see why the article was modded funny. It's really just sad.
Excellent insight by Larry Niven.
To extend, the lack of huge crowds of time-travelling tourists at events such as the WTC collapse is the best evidence that time travel from the future into our present cannot happen. Either that, or time travellers are required to cloak themselves. Otherwise, the streets and skies of NYC would have been packed with tricked-out Deloreans on 9-11-01.
Stephen Hawking thinks this may be because the furthest you can travel back in time is to the invention of the time machine (and it hasn't been invented yet). Even if there is no technological limitation, it might also be that going back to the time before the invention of the time machine is societally forbidden, in order to preserve the timeline that created the possibility of time travel. But that's another can of wormholes.
Jango Fett got beheaded by Mace Windu when his jetpack failed to ignite after he got run over by a Reek. Boba Fett got digested by a Sarlacc after Han Solo blindly whacked his jetpack, sending him ricocheting off Jabba's barge.
Jetpacks in the Star Wars Universe are about as advisable as superhero capes in The Incredibles' world.
Indeed, the current state of photovoltiac (PV) technology and economics make it hard to justify even solar-powered streetlights, let alone homes. In a recent analysis, the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute found that it is possible to use PV lighting -- if you're off the grid in a remote area, and fairly low light levels are acceptable (or desirable, to reduce light pollution, for example). But if you are anywhere near the grid, a PV parking lot fixture, for example, might never pay for itself, since maintenance costs may outstrip any energy cost savings.
1 271
Life cycle costs for this and several other possible PV lighting applications are detailed in the new report, Lighting Answers: Photovoltaic Lighting, available free at their web site: http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/publicationDetails.asp?id=
Here in New York State they outlawed using cell phones while driving a few years ago (unless you use a hands-free set). People seemed to follow the law for about 2 months, then went back to their old ways. It didn't take long to realize that the cheap hands-free sets we all bought did nothing to improve safety; in fact, it was dangerous untangling the wires while trying to drive.
I can talk on the phone while driving without much problem...the hard part is DIALING. You pretty much have to take your eyes off the road to do it. Have you tried texting while driving? Now that's unsafe. Even reading an incoming message takes too much eye attention.
One of the major U.S. automakers put cameras and black box recorders into hundreds of cars for an internal safety study. As I recall, they found that driving a car with a built-in speakerphone (which could be controlled by voice or from buttons on the steering wheel) was much safer than trying to use a hands-free set, or just holding the phone.
All that said, it is annoying as hell to notice a clueless dufus on the phone, driving like an idiot. They probably drive like an idiot even when they aren't on the phone, but you still feel like yelling "shut up and drive" to them. I talk on the phone when driving as little as possible. I keep it short. I'll tell the other person to hang on I'll put the phone down if the driving gets tricky. You know, just use a little common sense.
The last time I got pulled over (for speeding) I happened to have a videocamera in the car. I didn't turn it on, but I did position it in the passenger seat so that it was aimed out my side window. I never mentioned it to the cop, but he seemed to take note of it right away. He was exceptionally polite to me, and let me go with a warning. That's never happened before.
Let's play fair here, coppers. If you're not doing anything wrong, then you have no reason to mind having your actions monitored and recorded, right? Right?
I am in favor of all putting webcams in all public classrooms and on all uniformed cops. They are our public servants. If they don't like being watched, there must be a reason.
Your points are well stated. Too bad you had to start you post with that childish "Bzzzt" business.
Slashdot posters are often self-rightous and immature, undercutting their own arguments with their obnoxious tone. Your post is actually much less annoying than most.
You at least refrained from tacking on personal attacks, and kept your arguments clean after that initial sideswipe on the parent's intelligence. Thanks for that.
I feel for you folks with eye conditions that rule our laser surgery. I wore glasses from age 16 to 36, and my dry eyes ruled out contact lenses. Frankly, I looked like a dork with glasses, and my social life suffered for it.
In 2000, I spent my tax return on lasik and it was the smartest thing I've ever done. It is unbelievably liberating not to have the responsibility of carrying those glasses around, especially since I was always losing or breaking them. Waking up and being able to see the clock. Walking down city streets and being able to tell what people are wearing ten blocks away. Going to the beach and being able to check out the sights without getting raccoon eyes. Seeing the branches on trees atop mountains miles away. I still get a warm feeling of gratitude every time.
For a fraction of what so many girls would spend on implants, you can do something that will not only improve your appearance, attractiveness, and self-esteem, but will make you feel like a bit of a superhero.
If you are not a candidate, man that sucks, but otherwise, just do it.
*I have no interest or stake in any lasik or related company*
If they started out round and then became increasingly polygonal as you sped up, until at high speed they were square. You'd have less contact with the road, so less resistance. Handling would suffer (as would ride smoothness, I imagine), but perhaps it would be "up to 75%" more efficient.
Thanks for the heads up. I didn't support it when Tipper did it to music, and I think Eliot Spitzer is barking up the wrong tree by looking for more video game labeling legislation. He should stick to enforcing the laws we already have.
You know, nude patches have been around as long as female characters in video games. Odd that it has become such a hot issue during an election year when the incumbents have performed so poorly on real issues.
There's a lot I DID tell people before G.W. got elected. Nobody listened, and here we are.
But seriously, it's no fun being Dem or GOP anymore. Both have too much invested in the status quo. As all our establishments are exposed as corrupt (political parties, the Catholic Church, Big Business, police forces, etc.) we, hopefully, will seek true reform. If things keep getting worse over the next two years at the rate they have declined lately...
A Ross Perot type with enough money to fight solo might have a real good chance in 2008.
I think the headline from the article you linked says it all: "Teen Birth Rate Down, Youth Less Likely to Be Involved In Violent Crimes; Kids More Likely To Be Overweight" Obviously, kids are spending so much time in front of their PCs, IMing and MySpacing and gaming, that they are getting too fat to go out and commit crimes or even go on a date.
I agree, Hillary is pandering to conservative voters with her anti-violence-in-the-media stance, and it alienates her potential core audience (folks who value their dwindling civil liberties). Doesn't she remember how Tipper Gore's music censorship crusade hurt Al Gore's progressive image? I voted for Bill Clinton twice, and I even supported Hillary for NY Senator, but she won't be getting my vote again. And this B.S. issue is the main reason why. It shows that she is just another Washington pol who has no convictions beyond the ones that garner votes. Go, Spitzer, Go! Now, THERE's a guy who proves every day that he has my interests at heart. Taking on SONY, et al, for their truly illegal anti-consumer business practices, not just for their "moral" transgressions.
I used to doodle spinning superconductor discs producing gravitational fields in my college notebooks in the 80's. My pick-up rap used to have a bit about the flying saucer I designed that used spinning superconductors for propulsion. I dunno why, but this effect always seemed obvious and intuitive to me. Are we really only now confiming it? Was this speculated in sci-fi or OMNI, because it seems awfully familiar for some reason.
Better than being removed after release.
Like the ability to save MS Word documents in Wordperfect format?
He gave his facts. Where are yours? Regardless of whether the natives think it is "the right thing", we are only there because Bush and Co. lied. Had he told the truth, we would not be having this discussion.
The Samsung SGH-D307 cell phone has a dual hinge design that sounds a lot like this. It's not a media player, tho.
The ability of the government to control the media, even in the face of the Internet, is astounding. But then, when half of the voting population is willing to believe anything they say, it's really not that hard for them to keep us "on message." What will really be surprising about this story is if it gets any attention in the mainstream media.
I got moved into a cubicle where there is contant traffic behind me. I tried a mirror, but the angle was too small. Now I have a webcam on top of one of my monitors and I keep a little rear-view window open in the corner of the screen. At first, I expanded the image to take up the whole 2nd screen, but people were too fascinated by it and would stare at themselves as they went by. Now I keep the window to about 3 inches wide so I can view it but it is not so obvious to passers-by. Works great, and I can videochat with the GF with it, too. Also, when I'm home sick or whatever, I can RDC to my desktop and see the office. ---- To stay on topic, I use noice-cancelling headphones plugged into my desktop PC. If hearing the office was a problem, I could just send my microphone signal to the headphones. Also, you could use the motion-detection feature of most webcam softwares to alert you when someone comes up behind you.
Personally, my bad attitude toward cops comes from having been inexplicably whacked by their nightsticks in Santa Monica, California. Having brown skin was my crime. But your point about them having to enforce bulls**t laws is well taken. I might not like the fire dept. so much if they went from bar to bar ticketing people who smoke too close to the entrance, and fined me for not replacing my smoke detector battery. The cops, on the other hand, waste their time and my money protecting me from myself (drug laws, seat belt laws!). What useless busywork.
My GF looks just like the fifth virtual finalist!
Mine likes nerds, too. Her favorite nickname for me is 'dork'. Gotta say, though, most girls I dated were not really into the nerdiness. My vast toy spaceship collection works pretty good to sort out the nerd-haters from the nerd-lovers.