No, that one's going to go to the Bible or the Quran.
No vote for the Torah? You anti-semite bastard;) Where do you think all the "good" parts of the Bible (stoning, raping, pillaging, fire and brimstone) come from?
The Christian god is a pansy compared to that mean SOB that the Jews follow.
You Americans... always thinking that "half to 2/3" of the USA is the same thing as the whole world...:D
Well yeah, but you might want to consider if you'd really want to live in a World with the power vacuum created by the instantaneous crippling of the United States combined with a severe shortage of food and natural resources........
The 1.5km-diameter (or much more) space rock will definitely strike earth in the future. A comet will too
Yeah, but we actually have the ability (in theory anyway) of doing something about those space rocks if they are detected far enough in advance. Not the same for a super-volcano.
They will happen and when they happen there's a good chance they'll wipe out all human life still on the Earth
I have more faith in humanity than that. We are pretty scrappy little buggers when we need to be.
Mankind was almost extinguished, cut back to only a few thousand
Well, the flip side is that our race was apparently resilient enough to survive the last super volcano without the benefit of modern technology. I'd lay pretty good odds on our surviving the next eruption -- though I dunno if I would want to live in such a World.
Good time to start stocking up on canned food and ammo I suppose;)
How about 'screw' the whole tier system...and let me just pick out what channels I want ala-carte?
That isn't really technically feasible with analog cable systems. With analog cable all they can do is install traps that filter out specific frequency ranges (i.e: groups of channels). Most traps don't allow enough control to filter out just one or two channels and even if they did it would require a truck roll to your residence every time you wanted to change your subscription.
With digital cable this is obviously a lot easier -- but Time Warner isn't fully digital in most areas. Every single channel that you mentioned besides the food channel resides on the analog tier in my neck of the woods. Digital cable also comes with it's own problems, IMHO -- like having to use a set-top box instead of the tuner built into your TV/TiVo/VCR/etc.
Odometers don't track in-state mileage versus out-of-state mileage. The article isn't clear on if that matters to the plan here (it might only tax in-state driving, for example), but there's this little snippet about the test run:
Eh, good point. Realized that after I opened my mouth. Still, it seems to me that there would be a better way to do this than by using GPS.
I never said they weren't, in fact I never mentioned those uses. But Important != necessary. Columbus managed to cross the Atlantic without it. The Egyptians built fairly accurate pyramids without it. Kids today are just soft.
That's an interesting line of logic you are using. I suppose we don't need electricity either?
It will always be cheaper to find alternative materials here on Earth than it will be to bring them from space (at least with any technology we can expect to see in our lifetime)
That's a pretty pessimistic viewpoint. Luna is nearby and is rich in helium-3 (which will be incredibly valuable when we figure out how to make fusion work) among other resources.
The ONLY way for mankind to start moving out into the solar system is to abandon the idea that everything must make a monetary profit.
Where do you get the idea that mankind thinks EVERYTHING must make a profit? We already engage in any number of activities that don't produce profit.
Keep in mind, the first intentional RF transmissions sent by Hertz, which are admittedly very weak compared to what we broadcast today, have been travelling for about 130 years now.
Is that actually valid though? I seem to recall reading something a number of years ago that suggested that most RF modulation techniques would fade to background noise within three or four light years.
This is why corporate space exploration will never be any good.
I wouldn't be so sure about that. If we are really facing a metals shortage here on Earth that could change. There's a whole solar system full of resources just waiting to be utilized.
It's the only timing source used in CDMA systems. What about the other uses of GPS, like navigation and surveying? Gonna tell us that none of those are important either?
Really? All of it? When they're showing a movie they don't just have a player feeding direct into the sytem at the studio, they beam it up to a satellite and down again just for the fun of it? Don't think so.
Most television is distributed by satellite. Even if you just receive over the air broadcasts how do you think your local network affiliates receive their feeds from NBC/CBS/ABC/etc?
I didn't "equate" it with NASA. I used it as a justification for keeping a workable space program in place. You seemed to shoot down the idea because it's a "pipe-dream" to think we'd be able to survive on other bodies within the solar system. I pointed out that a space program gives us multiple options -- including saving our own planet.
Besides, if not NASA, then who? Do we have another institution with similar spaceflight experience that I'm not aware of?
Think again. Most of the deflection strategies I've seen don't necessarily require the use of nuclear weapons. Even if you were to use nukes to accomplish it though you wouldn't be using ICBMs to deliver them. ICBMs don't have the energy to achieve earth orbit -- let alone escape velocity.
Why do we have to take the hit if we have a workable space program? I'd rather deflect the damn thing than start digging tunnels while meekly accepting the fact that the vast majority of the human race and biosphere would die off.
The space program is pretty cheap if you look at it that way.
Except this is a larger area than a single store. If i can't get reliable coverage in half my county, people ARE likely to switch. It's actually the reason I'm on Verizon. I hate them, and would rather use pretty much ANY other provider... but none of them have close to the coverage of Verizon.
So your proposal is to mandate that other carriers be forced to let you roam on Verizon's network so you don't have to do business directly with Verizon? Obviously you've decided that the coverage Verizon offers is more important to you than the other reasons you hate them -- otherwise I assume you'd be doing business with someone else. What's the problem here? If you don't like Verizon switch to T-Mobile -- they are the anti-Verizon in terms of pricing plans and customer service -- but you'll "pay" for that cheaper rate plan with less coverage.
I'll tell you exactly what will happen if you mandate this: The carriers will all go back to charging for roaming (upwards of $0.69/min in the old days) instead of including it for free. Be careful what you wish for -- you might just get it.
As far as your nonsense on government mandates... fortunately government can do more than one thing at a time, so I don't see your point as relevent.
First off, it's spelled "relevant". Second off, I never said that Government can't do more than one thing at a time. All I said was that I'm not real comfortable with the idea of Governmental mandates. Every single mandate or regulation that you pass increases the cost of doing business which invariably increases the cost that you or I have to pay when we buy products from that business.
With some regulation (environmental regulation comes to mind -- nobody thinks Jiffy Lube dumping oil in the river would be good, even if it would make oil changes cheaper) the increased cost is justified as a net benefit to society. You'd have a harder time convincing me of that with a mandate to allow roaming in the wireless industry.
Seriously though, isn't it wonderful anti-gun nuts can't even make that weak argument anymore.
Oh, just wait. At the very least we've probably got another assault weapons ban coming back. You really would have thought that the Democrats would have learned by now.
My t-mobile phone roams onto AT&T quite frequently. It's a blackberry pearl. This is in an area with t-mobile coverage
Then T-Mobile allows roaming in your area. Typically they don't in areas where they have native coverage. Go to T-Mobile's coverage map and key in zip code 13760. Look at all the dead zones and notice where the roaming coverage is. Then go to AT&T's coverage map and look at their coverage in the same area.
T-Mobile won't allow you to roam on AT&T around these parts until you get out of the county where they have native coverage -- even if you are in part of the county where no coverage exists. This is SOP for them and be thankful you live in an area where they haven't decided to do this for whatever reason.
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No, because the people with guns and ammo would be inclined to shoot you and take the precious things from you because you were defenseless.
*racks slide*, I'll be taking that bottled water and your daughters if you don't mind. Nice doing business with you :)
No, that one's going to go to the Bible or the Quran.
No vote for the Torah? You anti-semite bastard ;) Where do you think all the "good" parts of the Bible (stoning, raping, pillaging, fire and brimstone) come from?
The Christian god is a pansy compared to that mean SOB that the Jews follow.
2012 is also predicted to be the year Sarah Palin is elected President. Coincidence? I think not!
Shit. We should be worried then. I don't think she can see Yellowstone from her house......
You Americans... always thinking that "half to 2/3" of the USA is the same thing as the whole world... :D
Well yeah, but you might want to consider if you'd really want to live in a World with the power vacuum created by the instantaneous crippling of the United States combined with a severe shortage of food and natural resources........
The 1.5km-diameter (or much more) space rock will definitely strike earth in the future. A comet will too
Yeah, but we actually have the ability (in theory anyway) of doing something about those space rocks if they are detected far enough in advance. Not the same for a super-volcano.
They will happen and when they happen there's a good chance they'll wipe out all human life still on the Earth
I have more faith in humanity than that. We are pretty scrappy little buggers when we need to be.
Mankind was almost extinguished, cut back to only a few thousand
Well, the flip side is that our race was apparently resilient enough to survive the last super volcano without the benefit of modern technology. I'd lay pretty good odds on our surviving the next eruption -- though I dunno if I would want to live in such a World.
Good time to start stocking up on canned food and ammo I suppose ;)
Screw your UID. Your username is way cooler than any three digit UID. My hats off to you :)
How about 'screw' the whole tier system...and let me just pick out what channels I want ala-carte?
That isn't really technically feasible with analog cable systems. With analog cable all they can do is install traps that filter out specific frequency ranges (i.e: groups of channels). Most traps don't allow enough control to filter out just one or two channels and even if they did it would require a truck roll to your residence every time you wanted to change your subscription.
With digital cable this is obviously a lot easier -- but Time Warner isn't fully digital in most areas. Every single channel that you mentioned besides the food channel resides on the analog tier in my neck of the woods. Digital cable also comes with it's own problems, IMHO -- like having to use a set-top box instead of the tuner built into your TV/TiVo/VCR/etc.
I'm still waiting for the torrent of Steve Irwin. Yeah, I'm going to hell ;)
Or roughly 3.5 Ford F-150's, since this is Slashdot and car analogies are mandatory.
How many Libraries of Congress is that?
Odometers don't track in-state mileage versus out-of-state mileage. The article isn't clear on if that matters to the plan here (it might only tax in-state driving, for example), but there's this little snippet about the test run:
Eh, good point. Realized that after I opened my mouth. Still, it seems to me that there would be a better way to do this than by using GPS.
Why just use the fancy new technology called an odometer? Check it every time you renew your registration and collect the fees at that time.
I never said they weren't, in fact I never mentioned those uses. But Important != necessary. Columbus managed to cross the Atlantic without it. The Egyptians built fairly accurate pyramids without it. Kids today are just soft.
That's an interesting line of logic you are using. I suppose we don't need electricity either?
It will always be cheaper to find alternative materials here on Earth than it will be to bring them from space (at least with any technology we can expect to see in our lifetime)
That's a pretty pessimistic viewpoint. Luna is nearby and is rich in helium-3 (which will be incredibly valuable when we figure out how to make fusion work) among other resources.
The ONLY way for mankind to start moving out into the solar system is to abandon the idea that everything must make a monetary profit.
Where do you get the idea that mankind thinks EVERYTHING must make a profit? We already engage in any number of activities that don't produce profit.
Keep in mind, the first intentional RF transmissions sent by Hertz, which are admittedly very weak compared to what we broadcast today, have been travelling for about 130 years now.
Is that actually valid though? I seem to recall reading something a number of years ago that suggested that most RF modulation techniques would fade to background noise within three or four light years.
This is why corporate space exploration will never be any good.
I wouldn't be so sure about that. If we are really facing a metals shortage here on Earth that could change. There's a whole solar system full of resources just waiting to be utilized.
Every person owns their body..
Then why can't I put THC into my body without being arrested?
GPS is the only timing source? Don't think so.
It's the only timing source used in CDMA systems. What about the other uses of GPS, like navigation and surveying? Gonna tell us that none of those are important either?
Really? All of it? When they're showing a movie they don't just have a player feeding direct into the sytem at the studio, they beam it up to a satellite and down again just for the fun of it? Don't think so.
Most television is distributed by satellite. Even if you just receive over the air broadcasts how do you think your local network affiliates receive their feeds from NBC/CBS/ABC/etc?
I didn't "equate" it with NASA. I used it as a justification for keeping a workable space program in place. You seemed to shoot down the idea because it's a "pipe-dream" to think we'd be able to survive on other bodies within the solar system. I pointed out that a space program gives us multiple options -- including saving our own planet.
Besides, if not NASA, then who? Do we have another institution with similar spaceflight experience that I'm not aware of?
Think again. Most of the deflection strategies I've seen don't necessarily require the use of nuclear weapons. Even if you were to use nukes to accomplish it though you wouldn't be using ICBMs to deliver them. ICBMs don't have the energy to achieve earth orbit -- let alone escape velocity.
Even after a large asteroid hit
Why do we have to take the hit if we have a workable space program? I'd rather deflect the damn thing than start digging tunnels while meekly accepting the fact that the vast majority of the human race and biosphere would die off.
The space program is pretty cheap if you look at it that way.
Except this is a larger area than a single store. If i can't get reliable coverage in half my county, people ARE likely to switch. It's actually the reason I'm on Verizon. I hate them, and would rather use pretty much ANY other provider... but none of them have close to the coverage of Verizon.
So your proposal is to mandate that other carriers be forced to let you roam on Verizon's network so you don't have to do business directly with Verizon? Obviously you've decided that the coverage Verizon offers is more important to you than the other reasons you hate them -- otherwise I assume you'd be doing business with someone else. What's the problem here? If you don't like Verizon switch to T-Mobile -- they are the anti-Verizon in terms of pricing plans and customer service -- but you'll "pay" for that cheaper rate plan with less coverage.
I'll tell you exactly what will happen if you mandate this: The carriers will all go back to charging for roaming (upwards of $0.69/min in the old days) instead of including it for free. Be careful what you wish for -- you might just get it.
As far as your nonsense on government mandates... fortunately government can do more than one thing at a time, so I don't see your point as relevent.
First off, it's spelled "relevant". Second off, I never said that Government can't do more than one thing at a time. All I said was that I'm not real comfortable with the idea of Governmental mandates. Every single mandate or regulation that you pass increases the cost of doing business which invariably increases the cost that you or I have to pay when we buy products from that business.
With some regulation (environmental regulation comes to mind -- nobody thinks Jiffy Lube dumping oil in the river would be good, even if it would make oil changes cheaper) the increased cost is justified as a net benefit to society. You'd have a harder time convincing me of that with a mandate to allow roaming in the wireless industry.
Seriously though, isn't it wonderful anti-gun nuts can't even make that weak argument anymore.
Oh, just wait. At the very least we've probably got another assault weapons ban coming back. You really would have thought that the Democrats would have learned by now.
My t-mobile phone roams onto AT&T quite frequently. It's a blackberry pearl. This is in an area with t-mobile coverage
Then T-Mobile allows roaming in your area. Typically they don't in areas where they have native coverage. Go to T-Mobile's coverage map and key in zip code 13760. Look at all the dead zones and notice where the roaming coverage is. Then go to AT&T's coverage map and look at their coverage in the same area.
T-Mobile won't allow you to roam on AT&T around these parts until you get out of the county where they have native coverage -- even if you are in part of the county where no coverage exists. This is SOP for them and be thankful you live in an area where they haven't decided to do this for whatever reason.