Just the other day, I watched a 6 or 7 year old kid in WalMart telling his mom to "go fuck yourself, bitch". She just smiled, laughed him off and got him the whatever cereal anyway.
Perhaps they should make a law licencing Intelligent Citizens. When a licenced individual sees someone acting like a moron (like that mother, or the idiots who water thier lawn while it is raining) they are allowed to go smack the shit out of that person for a period of not more than 5 minutes. Or, if they aren't into smacking people around, they get to write MORON on thier head with a Sharpie.
Of course, getting that through D.C. would be very tough... There is an Office Depot there right? Have them stock up on those Sharpies!
Glad you made that point. All the rest in the thread are harping about taking away "free" WiFi, when it was never free to begin with.
Taxpayers get the bill for everything that is provided to them as "free" by the government.
As for your second point, I think it's great too. While I think that everyone has a right to get on the Internet, I am not so sure it (or access to it) is a "utility" in it's own accord. Rather, I think that city governments need to provide reasonable access to the Internet to their citizens, which most cities already do...
I posted this on the forum of the original article, not asking about Myth, I figured/.ers would have a better take on Myth.
The most important missing feature:
The problem is when the Networks get creative with thier scheduleing and set a show to end @ say 9:02pm for LOST last night... All of the systems show that as an overlap and won't record any show that starts @ 9pm (like Idol, or West Wing). This is the feature I would really like to see happen.
It seems simple enough to allow the slight overlap (settable to X minutes) of programs, where the higher priority show records the whole show, and the you miss the first or last 2 mins of the lower priority show. Personally, I don't care if I miss the first 2 mins of Idol to catch the last 2 mins of Lost.
Can MythTV do this? I have a Tivo (s2) and an MCE laptop and niether of them can. Haven't built a Myth box yet.
So then what if my kid plays a Healer in his video games, then starts running around healing people who are in need... Or! Worse! becomes a Doctor! Do the makers and sellers of video games get a stipend for all his good deeds?
Washington is clearly too close to Canada, which is why blame it for everything.
Nope, we report all transactions that are over $10,000 too. And all Slot Jackpots that are > than $1999 go on a W2G. And all table game wins that are > than 300 times your original bet go on a W2G as well.
That's all Federal law.
People here TRY to counterfeit chips, but it never works. I think it just takes too long to realize any profit... you're right on, and slightly off, do do it you need to make a mess of lower denom chips (like 25s and 100s) and have a slew of people run them in in lots of say $400. Just isn't worth the risk / reward.
They try to counterfeit cash too, but that is why our Secret Service branch is bigger than anyone elses in in the country!
You are allowed and usually encouraged to take chips with you when you leave a casino... In fact, most casinos (especailly the Palms) have limited edition chips of all denomitaions that you are encouraged to collect. The casino's can then issue "Removal From Circulation" notices, that render the chips worthles... Perfect profit system.
On the other part of your statement,
"they won't be accepted at other casinos (especially since Wynn is not part of the major casino chains)"
Yes they will... The Main Cage at all Vegas-strip casinos will cash in chips from the other strip-casinos, related or not. Ex, you can take a chip from the MGM grand, to the Rio and exchange it no problem. The theory behind this is that they do not want chip contamination at the tables, but they would like you playing at thier property, not the competitions. Most casinos will have a limit on the $ of chips you can cash in, and if there is any question of authenticity, they will call the cage supervisor on duty over, who is trained in counterfeit chip / cash identification. Infact, they have the couterfiet chip sheet posted right at the cage (sometimes, in plain view of the player, mostly not).
Also, for those who are posting that they can't track thier chips, they can. They don't for players who have a few hundred, but get like $5000 or so in chips and watch them hawk you. You can't even cash them in at the cage until the cage calls an verifies with security.
Is there anyone out there who actually didn't know this was happening? The fact that it installed Gator and Bonzai buddy in its earlier releases should have clued everyone in...
Not that I have installed it in a long while, but I think now it installs WeatherBug, which everyone knows is really a pop-up system.
Kazza is, was and always will be SpyWare in my book... Go with any Gnutella system (and then remove the spware) or Torrents instead.
I am glad the government is finally doing this. Not because I think it will work, but now we finally have something to point to when the Mothers Coalitions get all up in arms about the content of games like GTA and the new Larry.
Of course, this will let them again blame Canada (Canada in this case being the Retailers) for thier kids playing these games... Well, at least they won't blame the developers anymore.
Why doesn't Congress pass a law allowing me to go kick lazy parents asses instead?
Your pretty close to dead on when you say:
"now as I see it you mean that we should have one manufacturer and model of car, vcr, phone, house and cookbook."
But not quite...
All Cars, VCRs, phones, houses and cookbooks all work very simply. If they didn't, I am sure that the simplist one to drive would be the Car we all had... In fact, the harder to drive cars are the ones that the specialists have (think Formula 1).
Really though, it would be nice if one had to have some basic "license" to operate a computer that showed that one has a basic understanding of them.
This would allow the populus to have the informed choice you want them all to have.
So then where is the marketing behind Linux? Maybe that is what is missing in the first place and maybe that is the answer to the original question of this thread... Linux and Mac aren't viable choices because of poor marketing.
That, it seems is extremely proabable. Though even with the greatest marketing in the world, I don't think my Mother, 55, retired teacher, could install Linux. It needs to be dumbed down for the masses, then properly marketed.
Unfortunatley, it really is the ultimate catch-22 though, because if Linux (or Mac, or Joe's Garage OS for that matter) ever did gain a foothold in the marketplace, then the worms and viruses will find thier new home in Linux (or other OS).
I don't think I ever did suggest that low-tech was low-brow. I don't think there are many CEO's who could properly install Linux either, they'd hire people like you and I to do that as part of thier decision / responsibility. Infact, I am headed to the CEO's house of one of the largest Reproductive clinics in the world to setup his wireless router... this guy is a doctor... let me quote his email...
"The gadget is in my study in a box on top of the hard drive."
Well educated, and doesn't realize that the "hard drive" he is referring to is really his Computer. Again, that's why they hire us. At least he had the basic understanding to know that his Wireless gear, out of the box, has absolutley zero security, which is why I have to drag my ass out of bed @ 9am on a Monday to go deal with it. Gotta love hourly rates for that crap.
However, Home users don't usually have that luxury. Unless Best Buy's geek squad now supports non MS things, which I don't think they do (I could be wrong though, never used them). Or, of course, they have a/.er in the family.
Take Care,
The Soul Master
Here is a test you can try at home if you don't belive me.
Give your mom a choice between 10 distros' of Linux and have her pick the correct distro for her needs.
When she chooses a version, have her install it (whichever one she chooses). If she thinks it sucks, let her pick a different distro.
No low tech user can do that. They have to be forece fed what they need.
I agree with the majority of/.ers in this thread that Linux is more stable, when the right distro is fixed and properly configured. Hell, maybe one of them will actually write the version that is stable out the box on all systems.
The thing that MS did, that the Linux community just hasn't figure out yet is to make everything simple for everyone... Yeah Windows has its pains, but it is simple.
So in essence, all of you repliers are saying that everything he did wrong was his fault? Because he didn't know any better?
Isn't that exactly the same problem with Windows? The users don't know any better and thier machines get infected with all sorts of crap and become unstable.
The true problem is that there is no "perfect OS", none of them are even close.
Windows, if it isn't patched / behind a firewall, has pathetic security.
Linux (any version), give a Linux installation CD to your mother, tell her to install it, get it on the net and secure it.
Mac, give your Mother a Mac, let her get that frowning face error and tell her to call mac to fix it. Then, after they come out and fix it, have any one of her firends giver her a CD to install.
Seriously, if any/.er really thinks that the masses are anywhere near savvy enough to do anything with a computer, we have some problems.
Living in Vegas, I love a wager, I would wager $1000 that if you took 100 completely random people and gave them all the same, simple 1990's VCR and told them to set the clock, less than 20 would actually be able to do it in the minute it would take any of us.
And THAT, dear friends, is the real problem with Windows, and computers in general.
I completly agree. This article is effecivly saying the same thing as "A 1992 Ford Explorer without the recalls fixed will explode faster than a 1992 Chevy Blazer, without it's recalls fixed.
This just isn't logical and it pains me to see that people get paid to waste thier time on somehting this moronic, or, that I am not one of the people getting paid to waste my time. It's one of those, I'm sure.
I am way with you... I can't belive the audacity of EA even trying to release NHL 2005 this year, considering that everyone knew there would be no 2005 season years ago.
On the other hand. If those who bought it, plugged it in and saw a black screen showing the words "We're not playing, so neither are you." That might have been a pretty funny joke.
Down 50%... Any one who thought anything different needs to get a clue.
Sorry for the rant, I am going through Hockey withdrawl.
Slashdot Mirror
The real greatest threat to the shuttle are the morons who decided it would be OK to fund this study.
Damn bureaucrats!
I am so glad the private sector is taking over the space program, Washington and NASA have become seriously stupid as of late.
I am beyond way with you.
Just the other day, I watched a 6 or 7 year old kid in WalMart telling his mom to "go fuck yourself, bitch". She just smiled, laughed him off and got him the whatever cereal anyway.
Perhaps they should make a law licencing Intelligent Citizens. When a licenced individual sees someone acting like a moron (like that mother, or the idiots who water thier lawn while it is raining) they are allowed to go smack the shit out of that person for a period of not more than 5 minutes. Or, if they aren't into smacking people around, they get to write MORON on thier head with a Sharpie.
Of course, getting that through D.C. would be very tough... There is an Office Depot there right? Have them stock up on those Sharpies!
Clearly there are alternate-universe versions of Copps and Powell running around doing good for the country!
Has anyone checked them for goatees?
So they're packaging them together? Sounds like a simple marketing strategy by two companies trying like mad to keep up with the Joneses.
I really don't see the problem, it's not like you can't uninstall Y! Toolbar if you don't want it (or not install it in the 1st place).
-S
Glad you made that point. All the rest in the thread are harping about taking away "free" WiFi, when it was never free to begin with.
...at the Library!
-S
Taxpayers get the bill for everything that is provided to them as "free" by the government.
As for your second point, I think it's great too. While I think that everyone has a right to get on the Internet, I am not so sure it (or access to it) is a "utility" in it's own accord. Rather, I think that city governments need to provide reasonable access to the Internet to their citizens, which most cities already do...
I posted this on the forum of the original article, not asking about Myth, I figured /.ers would have a better take on Myth.
The most important missing feature:
The problem is when the Networks get creative with thier scheduleing and set a show to end @ say 9:02pm for LOST last night... All of the systems show that as an overlap and won't record any show that starts @ 9pm (like Idol, or West Wing). This is the feature I would really like to see happen.
It seems simple enough to allow the slight overlap (settable to X minutes) of programs, where the higher priority show records the whole show, and the you miss the first or last 2 mins of the lower priority show. Personally, I don't care if I miss the first 2 mins of Idol to catch the last 2 mins of Lost.
Can MythTV do this? I have a Tivo (s2) and an MCE laptop and niether of them can. Haven't built a Myth box yet.
So then what if my kid plays a Healer in his video games, then starts running around healing people who are in need... Or! Worse! becomes a Doctor! Do the makers and sellers of video games get a stipend for all his good deeds?
Washington is clearly too close to Canada, which is why blame it for everything.
Morons.
Nope, we report all transactions that are over $10,000 too. And all Slot Jackpots that are > than $1999 go on a W2G. And all table game wins that are > than 300 times your original bet go on a W2G as well.
That's all Federal law.
People here TRY to counterfeit chips, but it never works. I think it just takes too long to realize any profit... you're right on, and slightly off, do do it you need to make a mess of lower denom chips (like 25s and 100s) and have a slew of people run them in in lots of say $400. Just isn't worth the risk / reward.
They try to counterfeit cash too, but that is why our Secret Service branch is bigger than anyone elses in in the country!
-S
Living in Vegas, this is how it actually works...
You are allowed and usually encouraged to take chips with you when you leave a casino... In fact, most casinos (especailly the Palms) have limited edition chips of all denomitaions that you are encouraged to collect. The casino's can then issue "Removal From Circulation" notices, that render the chips worthles... Perfect profit system.
On the other part of your statement,
"they won't be accepted at other casinos (especially since Wynn is not part of the major casino chains)"
Yes they will... The Main Cage at all Vegas-strip casinos will cash in chips from the other strip-casinos, related or not. Ex, you can take a chip from the MGM grand, to the Rio and exchange it no problem. The theory behind this is that they do not want chip contamination at the tables, but they would like you playing at thier property, not the competitions. Most casinos will have a limit on the $ of chips you can cash in, and if there is any question of authenticity, they will call the cage supervisor on duty over, who is trained in counterfeit chip / cash identification. Infact, they have the couterfiet chip sheet posted right at the cage (sometimes, in plain view of the player, mostly not).
Also, for those who are posting that they can't track thier chips, they can. They don't for players who have a few hundred, but get like $5000 or so in chips and watch them hawk you. You can't even cash them in at the cage until the cage calls an verifies with security.
Take it easy,
-S
Wrong! It is just as dumb as putting a floppy on a PC!
Ahh HA!
Is there anyone out there who actually didn't know this was happening? The fact that it installed Gator and Bonzai buddy in its earlier releases should have clued everyone in...
Not that I have installed it in a long while, but I think now it installs WeatherBug, which everyone knows is really a pop-up system.
Kazza is, was and always will be SpyWare in my book... Go with any Gnutella system (and then remove the spware) or Torrents instead.
My 2 Cents.
I am glad the government is finally doing this. Not because I think it will work, but now we finally have something to point to when the Mothers Coalitions get all up in arms about the content of games like GTA and the new Larry.
Of course, this will let them again blame Canada (Canada in this case being the Retailers) for thier kids playing these games... Well, at least they won't blame the developers anymore.
Why doesn't Congress pass a law allowing me to go kick lazy parents asses instead?
The Soul Master
Crap, I gotta stop typing these things in late at night... forgot to flip to plain ol' text again! Arrgh!
Your pretty close to dead on when you say: "now as I see it you mean that we should have one manufacturer and model of car, vcr, phone, house and cookbook." But not quite... All Cars, VCRs, phones, houses and cookbooks all work very simply. If they didn't, I am sure that the simplist one to drive would be the Car we all had... In fact, the harder to drive cars are the ones that the specialists have (think Formula 1). Really though, it would be nice if one had to have some basic "license" to operate a computer that showed that one has a basic understanding of them. This would allow the populus to have the informed choice you want them all to have. So then where is the marketing behind Linux? Maybe that is what is missing in the first place and maybe that is the answer to the original question of this thread... Linux and Mac aren't viable choices because of poor marketing. That, it seems is extremely proabable. Though even with the greatest marketing in the world, I don't think my Mother, 55, retired teacher, could install Linux. It needs to be dumbed down for the masses, then properly marketed. Unfortunatley, it really is the ultimate catch-22 though, because if Linux (or Mac, or Joe's Garage OS for that matter) ever did gain a foothold in the marketplace, then the worms and viruses will find thier new home in Linux (or other OS). I don't think I ever did suggest that low-tech was low-brow. I don't think there are many CEO's who could properly install Linux either, they'd hire people like you and I to do that as part of thier decision / responsibility. Infact, I am headed to the CEO's house of one of the largest Reproductive clinics in the world to setup his wireless router... this guy is a doctor... let me quote his email... "The gadget is in my study in a box on top of the hard drive." Well educated, and doesn't realize that the "hard drive" he is referring to is really his Computer. Again, that's why they hire us. At least he had the basic understanding to know that his Wireless gear, out of the box, has absolutley zero security, which is why I have to drag my ass out of bed @ 9am on a Monday to go deal with it. Gotta love hourly rates for that crap. However, Home users don't usually have that luxury. Unless Best Buy's geek squad now supports non MS things, which I don't think they do (I could be wrong though, never used them). Or, of course, they have a /.er in the family.
Take Care,
The Soul Master
Here is a test you can try at home if you don't belive me.
/.ers in this thread that Linux is more stable, when the right distro is fixed and properly configured. Hell, maybe one of them will actually write the version that is stable out the box on all systems.
Give your mom a choice between 10 distros' of Linux and have her pick the correct distro for her needs.
When she chooses a version, have her install it (whichever one she chooses). If she thinks it sucks, let her pick a different distro.
No low tech user can do that. They have to be forece fed what they need.
I agree with the majority of
The thing that MS did, that the Linux community just hasn't figure out yet is to make everything simple for everyone... Yeah Windows has its pains, but it is simple.
KISS for the masses.
Dammit, I forgot to switch to Plain Ol' Text when I shot that post. It's late, I'm tired...
Sue me.
So in essence, all of you repliers are saying that everything he did wrong was his fault? Because he didn't know any better? Isn't that exactly the same problem with Windows? The users don't know any better and thier machines get infected with all sorts of crap and become unstable. The true problem is that there is no "perfect OS", none of them are even close. Windows, if it isn't patched / behind a firewall, has pathetic security. Linux (any version), give a Linux installation CD to your mother, tell her to install it, get it on the net and secure it. Mac, give your Mother a Mac, let her get that frowning face error and tell her to call mac to fix it. Then, after they come out and fix it, have any one of her firends giver her a CD to install. Seriously, if any /.er really thinks that the masses are anywhere near savvy enough to do anything with a computer, we have some problems.
Living in Vegas, I love a wager, I would wager $1000 that if you took 100 completely random people and gave them all the same, simple 1990's VCR and told them to set the clock, less than 20 would actually be able to do it in the minute it would take any of us.
And THAT, dear friends, is the real problem with Windows, and computers in general.
I completly agree. This article is effecivly saying the same thing as "A 1992 Ford Explorer without the recalls fixed will explode faster than a 1992 Chevy Blazer, without it's recalls fixed.
This just isn't logical and it pains me to see that people get paid to waste thier time on somehting this moronic, or, that I am not one of the people getting paid to waste my time. It's one of those, I'm sure.
-S
I am way with you... I can't belive the audacity of EA even trying to release NHL 2005 this year, considering that everyone knew there would be no 2005 season years ago. On the other hand. If those who bought it, plugged it in and saw a black screen showing the words "We're not playing, so neither are you." That might have been a pretty funny joke. Down 50%... Any one who thought anything different needs to get a clue. Sorry for the rant, I am going through Hockey withdrawl.
I didn't read the thing, but I've got 20 bucks that says they own any and all code submitted too .
I love these "contests" where thousands give companies the rights to thier code to win some crappy prize.
Ahh,Capitalism!