My job is as a mathematician, so every now and then I need to pull out a calculator. I could use a desk calculator, but I would then have to then transcribe them back into the computer. And since I am in the space launch business and having the wrong number of decimal places can be such a drag, I prefer to use the built-in calc program so I can cut and paste results.
So I also use the start -> run -> calc method. And on my own computer, it is just about the only thing I use the run for, so calc is almost always remembered, so for me it is Start -> run -> enter (calc)
People are done replacing their old LP/cassette collections.
And not only that, but most of the artists I listen to put out greatest hits albums, so instead of buyin all X of their albums to listen to the 3-5 good songs on each album, I bought a single CD with 20 great songs, or for some bands, a double CD set with 30+ great songs.
Most current/recent artists area lucky to have 5 good songs, because as people have stated before:
They are style over substance
They market one or two songs to death, and only those songs were given any thought in the first place
Concerts are get their money first affairs
Your favorite theory here
And because compiliation CDs became a hit, you can wait a little longer, and get an album with 12 artists one good hit. Of course that means only 6-8 of them will be any good. Your mileage may vary depending on your age/taste. So instead of selling maybe 3-5 of the 12 artists' CDs, they manage 1-2 per CD buyer. But those who actually buy the CDs are happier because they are getting what they want. I've been burned enough that the only CDs I buy new are of artists who I have been pleased with their CDs before, and there's only a couple of those and most have stopped making music.
I've seen the same sort of short-sighted buying in the US in rural areas. I've seen places where people have built new houses a half mile from a livestock farm that has been there for 50 years, then when they finally move in, they discover that when the wind is blowing the right way, there's a smell. Then they try to get zoning changed, or they sue, or some other tactic, to try to get the farm closed. What, you didn't think pigs smelled? Or did you even check to see who your neighbors were?
My personal favorite are the people of Ozone Park (Queens, NY). Most of these people gladly purchased homes adjacent to JFK International Airport (one of the busier in the world) then complain about the jet noise.
My favorites are those who move next to Naval Air Stations and Air Force Bases. Military jets are pretty powerful and have a requirement for night training. Ever get woken up by an F-14/15/16 in the middle of the night? Of course my equivalent is waking up to paired sonic booms and thinking the house was about to fall apart then realizing it was just the Shuttle landing in the middle of the night and going back to sleep. I lived at least 10 miles away from the landing strip by the way. Haven't been woken up that way in quite some time now.
I work in government, safety office for space launches. One person who was in a nasty car wreck does some of the work at home stuff. Most of the office is on flex (or part) time of one sort or another. One person would show up around noon, conference with those people she needed too, catch up on any emails, teleconferences (we have way too many, but most of the people we talk to are in other states)--therefore early afternoon conferences are the norm, for us) and then when most people are going home, she's doing those individual productivity actions.
Teamwork considerations even comes into play at times, as I have been switched from one group to another to optimize teamwork. I can work with just about anyone there, as a team or as an individual, whereas the person I swapped with could not and had caused friction. Being government, this was by far the best option available.
But as soon as I can convince them to let me work at home several days a week. For most of what I do at work, I probably could.
I have over 2000 songs on my work computer, but all of it is from CDs I or my wife own. And I probably have another 1000 I can toss on that computer. But 99.5% of those songs are from over 5 years ago, most more. Except for compilation records from recent years, the only CDs I buy are from artists who have been around for years.
But think about if I got a P2P program to share other files (it does happen) And because I am not using it for music I don't pay attention to the settings for sharing music. And my music is in the default folder. So suddenly 2000 songs would be open for sharing. Which would qualify me for special attention from the RIAA
Not saying this was the case with this girl or many of the others who the RIAA has gone after, but let's face it. The threat of millions in damages because I might not know the details of how the P2P programs work will keep me from downloading the P2P program. Even $3500K is more than I could handle. The RIAA now impacts more than just music. The RIAA is affecting what programs I can safely put on my computer.
Not only that, those songs are on a Windows machine, which are notorious for having security holes. Think about how many hackers have access to my machine, and therefore the songs. Think about a virus that when it infects your machine begins sharing all the mp3s on your computer. Remember, these people the RIAA is going after never actually put those songs on other's computers. All they did is make it available. Is that sufficient for the RIAA?
My concerns are not that the RIAA is going after these people, it's their tactics.
The FAA already is involved in space launch, at least, with regards to any commercial launch in the US.
The FAA has the authority to remove a launch license if they feel they there's danger in launching. However, they work closely with the Ranges, who have the safety expertise in determining that. And Range Safety also has the authority to stop a launch from happening (or even destroying the vehicle if necessary) For a commercial manned mission, FAA would likely defer to NASA, or at least NASA's expertise with regard to the safety of personnel.
Since those efforts of private groups to launch a man into a suborbital launch will probably not launch at either of the military Ranges (Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg) (who can blame them) the only government agency that applies is the FAA as far as I know.
Simpsons have gone out of their way to confuse the state issue. In the "Behind the Laughter" the narrator specifically mentions "this Northern Kentucky family" But since this was the story of the 'actors' behind the Simpsons (Homer's idea to create a show based on his family), that doesn't necessarily mean that the Simpsons is set in Northern Kentucky, keeping the confusion alive
Having gotten out of the Air Force a year ago, I can feel your pain. You know its a bad system when your incoming general tells his new command, "My wife's being having problems with Tricare for the past year." This was several years ago btw. If a general can't get things accomplished, how's a poor airman (I was an officer) going to fare.
Fortunately I was not in the region that got their records stolen, but my luck with Tricare is this.
We went on vacation a few months before I got out. My daughter got sick on the long trip, and being new parents we wanted to see a doctor. So we didn't everything we were supposed to. We called Tricare first (it wasn't an emergency) to get someone on their approved list, also because we didn't have a clue about local doctors. We then called this doctor and got a next day appt. We see the doctor for no more than 2 minutes, after about half an hour of paperwork, and the doctor basically says, "She's a kid, she'll get better." Gee thanks for all the help. Shall I bend over now for the bill?
So we go on our way, insurance paperwork all filled out, and about 6 months later it begins. We get the nasty letters saying pay us. Fortunately I am a government civilian so Tricare is still local. We give the stuff to Tricare and say handle iut. 3 months later, more pay us. Back to Tricare. Tricare confirmed they paid it. 2 months later a collection letter, which my wife ignored because she knew Tricare had told her it was paid, and within a day or two a collection agency calls with a nasty phone call. My wife had handled all the details with Tricare and was out at the time, so I tell the coolectors, Tricare pays, go see them, I will talk with them following this. They threaten legal action immediately, and offer to take a check or credit card over the phone. I basically tell them to go to hell and hung up, and then get confirmation from Tricare the next day that it had been paid approx 2 months prior (yes about a year after the fact) So, not sure I had been just tried to be rolled and perhaps someone was trying to take advantage of me or what.
Of course all my fun with Tricare happend AFTER I got out of the Air Force. Imagine that.
Spammers exist because people buy from them. It typically takes from 1,000 to 10,000 spams to make one sale. If you buy from a spammer, you are PERSONALLY responsible for the next 1,000 to 10,000 spams sent... Including the porn spam sent to your kids."
I imagine the same goes for pop ads. I would like your address so I can break your legs on behalf of the 10,000 people who saw an X-10 pop under that you personally financed.
From my experience using IE, it was probably more like 100 people who each had to see 100 of those X-10 ads
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My job is as a mathematician, so every now and then I need to pull out a calculator. I could use a desk calculator, but I would then have to then transcribe them back into the computer. And since I am in the space launch business and having the wrong number of decimal places can be such a drag, I prefer to use the built-in calc program so I can cut and paste results.
So I also use the start -> run -> calc method. And on my own computer, it is just about the only thing I use the run for, so calc is almost always remembered, so for me it is Start -> run -> enter (calc)
Most current/recent artists area lucky to have 5 good songs, because as people have stated before:
They are style over substance
They market one or two songs to death, and only those songs were given any thought in the first place
Concerts are get their money first affairs
Your favorite theory here
And because compiliation CDs became a hit, you can wait a little longer, and get an album with 12 artists one good hit. Of course that means only 6-8 of them will be any good. Your mileage may vary depending on your age/taste. So instead of selling maybe 3-5 of the 12 artists' CDs, they manage 1-2 per CD buyer. But those who actually buy the CDs are happier because they are getting what they want. I've been burned enough that the only CDs I buy new are of artists who I have been pleased with their CDs before, and there's only a couple of those and most have stopped making music.
I work in government, safety office for space launches. One person who was in a nasty car wreck does some of the work at home stuff. Most of the office is on flex (or part) time of one sort or another. One person would show up around noon, conference with those people she needed too, catch up on any emails, teleconferences (we have way too many, but most of the people we talk to are in other states)--therefore early afternoon conferences are the norm, for us) and then when most people are going home, she's doing those individual productivity actions. Teamwork considerations even comes into play at times, as I have been switched from one group to another to optimize teamwork. I can work with just about anyone there, as a team or as an individual, whereas the person I swapped with could not and had caused friction. Being government, this was by far the best option available. But as soon as I can convince them to let me work at home several days a week. For most of what I do at work, I probably could.
But think about if I got a P2P program to share other files (it does happen) And because I am not using it for music I don't pay attention to the settings for sharing music. And my music is in the default folder. So suddenly 2000 songs would be open for sharing. Which would qualify me for special attention from the RIAA
Not saying this was the case with this girl or many of the others who the RIAA has gone after, but let's face it. The threat of millions in damages because I might not know the details of how the P2P programs work will keep me from downloading the P2P program. Even $3500K is more than I could handle. The RIAA now impacts more than just music. The RIAA is affecting what programs I can safely put on my computer.
Not only that, those songs are on a Windows machine, which are notorious for having security holes. Think about how many hackers have access to my machine, and therefore the songs. Think about a virus that when it infects your machine begins sharing all the mp3s on your computer. Remember, these people the RIAA is going after never actually put those songs on other's computers. All they did is make it available. Is that sufficient for the RIAA?
My concerns are not that the RIAA is going after these people, it's their tactics.
The FAA already is involved in space launch, at least, with regards to any commercial launch in the US.
The FAA has the authority to remove a launch license if they feel they there's danger in launching. However, they work closely with the Ranges, who have the safety expertise in determining that. And Range Safety also has the authority to stop a launch from happening (or even destroying the vehicle if necessary) For a commercial manned mission, FAA would likely defer to NASA, or at least NASA's expertise with regard to the safety of personnel.
Since those efforts of private groups to launch a man into a suborbital launch will probably not launch at either of the military Ranges (Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg) (who can blame them) the only government agency that applies is the FAA as far as I know.
Fortunately I was not in the region that got their records stolen, but my luck with Tricare is this. We went on vacation a few months before I got out. My daughter got sick on the long trip, and being new parents we wanted to see a doctor. So we didn't everything we were supposed to. We called Tricare first (it wasn't an emergency) to get someone on their approved list, also because we didn't have a clue about local doctors. We then called this doctor and got a next day appt. We see the doctor for no more than 2 minutes, after about half an hour of paperwork, and the doctor basically says, "She's a kid, she'll get better." Gee thanks for all the help. Shall I bend over now for the bill?
So we go on our way, insurance paperwork all filled out, and about 6 months later it begins. We get the nasty letters saying pay us. Fortunately I am a government civilian so Tricare is still local. We give the stuff to Tricare and say handle iut. 3 months later, more pay us. Back to Tricare. Tricare confirmed they paid it. 2 months later a collection letter, which my wife ignored because she knew Tricare had told her it was paid, and within a day or two a collection agency calls with a nasty phone call. My wife had handled all the details with Tricare and was out at the time, so I tell the coolectors, Tricare pays, go see them, I will talk with them following this. They threaten legal action immediately, and offer to take a check or credit card over the phone. I basically tell them to go to hell and hung up, and then get confirmation from Tricare the next day that it had been paid approx 2 months prior (yes about a year after the fact) So, not sure I had been just tried to be rolled and perhaps someone was trying to take advantage of me or what.
Of course all my fun with Tricare happend AFTER I got out of the Air Force. Imagine that.