Character turns to audience, "Well, thank goodness we have Allstate to take care of us in this time of difficulty. Funerals, lawyers, death is expensive. I'm glad we got little Jimmy the coverage he needed."
And cut to more sobbing.
Not all products can be placed very easily into a show. It cuts out a big portion of the market that content-producers can sell to.
WWII was indeed "ancient history" for most people alive now.
So then what was the middle ages or the golden age of Rome? The beginning of time? Sheesh, get some perspective.
There just isn't anyone out there who wants to come over and take over our country.
That's not the only way to wage war. How about militarily enforced embargos? Strategic attacks on power plants, water/food supplies, destruction of major transport facilities? Perhaps somebody else will want a turn to be the primary meddler in the mid-east or the one leading trade talks and leading the way in international law. It's not so far fetched...
Giants meet to counter US power.
Even though I don't agree WWII was 'ancient history' and that it is in fact recent past considering there are plenty of vets still around who tell stories about it...
I think the standard argument that the parent poster would come back with would be the supposedly-enlightening rhetorical question, "And why do you think no one has tried to conquer the U.S. in the past 50 years?"
A: Because of its massive military.
I think it's amusing when people talk about how no nation could ever try to conquer the world because that's 'something of the dark ages' and we live in a 'modern era' when things like that don't happen. I feel like slapping them upside the head and saying, "Germany! Hello? Japan!"
It was only 67 years ago. Not thousands or even hundreds of years. We're no more enlightened or 'modern' than any other then-modern people were. There just hasn't been an opporunity for world-conquering by some egomaniac in the past 67 years. But I doubt very much we'll be as lucky over the next 67 years.
Right now, with Boston's reaction the way it was it seems to me the absolute best plan of attack for a terrorist cell would be to drop off literally thousands of empty boxes all over the city; on buses, trains, street corners, bridges. Everywhere. And watch the city go nuts. Your only risk would be being talked to by the police because you happen to be carrying a box with something like a teddy bear inside. Good luck prosecuting that guy.
The goal of terrorism is to terrorize, not to blow people up.
Sure, in the US there are some people actually making minimum wage who barely get by.
Then there are the other people who drive cars when they could be bicycling everywhere. Have a McMansion instead of renting a room. Buy frozen food or worse, fast food, instead of learning to cook. Have cable, internet and go to the movies on the weekend because those are minimum 'necessities'.
Take a look at Ben Franklin, stranded in England, penniless. He got a job and saw all his co-workers spending their daily pay on beer and a hot supper. What did he do? Ate practically nothing more than bread and water for almost two years so he could invest his money.
Sure, there are some people, people who have backed themselves into corners by having kids they can't afford or financing everything they own to the hilt. And there are people I actually feel bad for who need a break who had a kid they thought they could afford but then ended up requiring huge medical bills, or they themselves have huge medical bills. That can't be helped.
But that's a small minority of the financially oppressed. The rest just don't know how to hold onto a buck.
Work two jobs. Don't buy shit. Get rid of the internet at home, use the library. Don't buy what you can borrow. Get rid of the cell phone. Reconsider what you call a necessity. Stop eating meat and fresh milk. Downgrade your life, trade in the SUV for a sub-compact or the sub-compact for a bicycle or the bicyle for your legs. Get an apartment instead of a house. A studio instead of a one-bedroom. A room instead of a studio. Invest in your own job-training. Then instead of biting your tongue and living against your moral principles tell your boss to fuck off next time you really think you should since you're no longer banking on the next paycheck just to make rent.
Or consider an unused bedroom, a car, 5MB/s internet access and ready-made frozen food a necessity and continue to slave away. Let's just be clear though; it's your choice.
_
"Well, it's no trick to make a lot of money if what you want to do is make a lot of money." - Berstein in Citizen Kane
These power bills make me cringe. $100??? $300!?!?!
My one bedroom apartment with its occasionally used dishwasher, electric stove, fridge/freezer, 4 or 5 LED lightbulbs, 25"tv, router, modem, cell phone charger, electric razor, gaming pc & work pc costs me between $16-$24/month.
This is in Albuquerque, NM. I am pretty efficient. I...
1. Never leave things on when not using them and have everything plugged into power strips conveniently placed on TOP of my desks/tv stand so it's easy to flip off the switch so no standby power is ever wasted. It's just a habit now: Shutdown the pc, flip the power switch.
2. Use LED Bulbs
3. Have gas heat/hot water. Don't need AC. The air naturally circulates in the summer due to a heat chimney, plus my part of the building is shaded.
4. Keep my fridge/freezer packed to the brim with old milk jugs full of water.
I've never NOT done any of these things so I don't know what the bill would be if I didn't. Perhaps I should bite the bullet some month and try it out. But I can't imagine having a $100 electric bill. You guys all have hot tubs and the fanciest christmas displays in the county or what? I don't know if my bill would get that high even if I left everything on 24/7 for the entire month.
Am I an anomally? Is my meter broken? I don't know how I'd even get the bill that high if I wanted to.
IT MAKES NO SENSE for terrorists to call attention to their devices with bright flashing lights.
But the objective of terroristic warfare is not to blow up as many people as possible it's to terrorize as many people as possible. Whether they kill 2 or 20 random commuters in Boston doesn't make that big of a difference in their fight. It's the getting people too scared to drive to work the next day that makes the real economic and psychological impact.
So placing a bowling-ball with a wick sticking out of it in/on a train, bridge, highway, bus or terminal is actually their most effective attack if the city of Boston's response is typical.
They will:
1. bring traffic to a halt
2. give the media/politicos something to freak out about
3. cost the city/police force boat loads of $ and manpower
4. desensitize bomb squads to real threats. If they're getting called out everyday to diffuse bowling balls do you really think they will be as vigilant seven years later when they come upon an actual bomb?
5. expose themselves to minimal risk. "But judge, I was just going to go bowling this afternoon with my friends." While still accomplishing the same thing they would if they were carrying around and planting actual bombs.
a private party taking on a huge corporation over this is a ridiculous folly.
This idea is a ridiculous folly you noodle-armed nancy-pants. This is the great myth the corps want individuals to believe in. It's what the *IAA-of-the-month wants you to think and you're buying it. They want people to believe it's complicated, expensive or even impossible simply to enforce a contract. But that's not true at all. The courts are the ultimate leveling grown.
Small claims courts cover $15,000 claims now-a-days, in some states upwards of $20,000. You don't need a lawyer. All procedures are easy to follow and at any point you can ask a clerk how to accomplish something or during the hearing just ask the judge about an issue. No legal-speak required. Somewhere around a $29 filing fee (depends on your state/county) is all that's required.
I'm not a lawyer. I'm also not a schmuck who's too scared to assert my most basic rights. Anyway, you bet this is legal advice.
Not true at all. You don't have to buy brass knuckles or a.38 or hire thugs to go get your money back. Just go tell some special people what happened, they will check it out, and then they will use a thing called the law that we all agree on and they will use force to get your money back for you.
I've used the courts to get money back. It's easy. You might say that's looking out for myself or 'using a system'. But I see it as the entire society around me looking out for me.
If your view of the world were really true we'd all be in bunkers with rifles pointed at each other and no one would ever enter into any business venture ever. Most people ARE concerned about your being treated fairly simply because of their natural hatred for injustice and their self-interest in living in a society where agreements are enforced.
All you need is to get things in writing which is the default for 95% of the agreements I enter into. Then you have to take a day to learn how to use small claims courts (which cover up to $15,000 in my state) without a lawyer and you're done. If you don't think that's everyone looking out for you then you're just being cynical, which I suspect since it appears to be your default position.
blaiming others for your lack of skepticism doesn't reflect badly on them. Remember, no one is responsible for your life except you, even if it is easier to blaim your problems on something else.
Oh yes, blame the victim. So scammers aren't in the wrong, the scammed are? Give me a break.
I'd say dump the company as soon as you can, get a new job in the new town and then take 'em to small claims court for the missing relocation money. An oral contract IS enforcable by a court.
The shark was likely going to die anyway but even if it weren't it's worth risking killing one shark to get some footage of a species of animal hardly anyone has ever even seen.
That's why I laugh when people spot human-sized UFO craft. If there are UFOs here, they're microscopic.
Unless they sent the microscopic nanoprobes out hundreds or thousands of years ago followed by robotics and now they're past the exploration point and it's time to do some studying with a 'manned' expedition.
Though there are likely plenty of other reasons to laugh at them so you're probably still ok.
Funny that his not getting the initial sarcasm prompted him to make his own sarcastic comment about the initial sarcastic comment. You'd think he'd have stopped dead halfway through typing the post and gone, "Oh, right."
It's an online college dorm room door. There's a board for leaving a funny message or drawing stupid pictures. There might be a couple photos of the student and their friends from the last weekend trip. And, depending on the personality, there's a varying degree of bumper stickers, band names, logos, celebrity photos, pinups and god knows what turning it into a feast for the eyes/gargantuan eye-sore that gets the RA yelling at them to take it down.
Slashdot Mirror
Should I REALLY have to go to the trouble and expense of building a custom light fixture (that may not even be safe as I'm not an engineer)
It's called thinning the herd.
**screeching tires**
"NOOOOOO! Jimmy's dead!!!!!" **sobbing**
Character turns to audience, "Well, thank goodness we have Allstate to take care of us in this time of difficulty. Funerals, lawyers, death is expensive. I'm glad we got little Jimmy the coverage he needed."
And cut to more sobbing.
Not all products can be placed very easily into a show. It cuts out a big portion of the market that content-producers can sell to.
Hey don't yell at me 'cause you got burned. Buyer beware.
There is *nothing* I miss
How about that >$2,000?
**ducks**
I agree with your observations but as the parent was saying:
religious nut != conservative
And ever more lately:
conservative != republican
Gratned, often they go hand in hand but even more often people incorrectly use them interchangabley.
WWII was indeed "ancient history" for most people alive now.
So then what was the middle ages or the golden age of Rome? The beginning of time? Sheesh, get some perspective.
There just isn't anyone out there who wants to come over and take over our country.
That's not the only way to wage war. How about militarily enforced embargos? Strategic attacks on power plants, water/food supplies, destruction of major transport facilities? Perhaps somebody else will want a turn to be the primary meddler in the mid-east or the one leading trade talks and leading the way in international law. It's not so far fetched... Giants meet to counter US power.
But the ash and roots and dead leaves remain. So it's still a net carbon loss to the atmosphere.
Even though I don't agree WWII was 'ancient history' and that it is in fact recent past considering there are plenty of vets still around who tell stories about it...
I think the standard argument that the parent poster would come back with would be the supposedly-enlightening rhetorical question, "And why do you think no one has tried to conquer the U.S. in the past 50 years?"
A: Because of its massive military.
I think it's amusing when people talk about how no nation could ever try to conquer the world because that's 'something of the dark ages' and we live in a 'modern era' when things like that don't happen. I feel like slapping them upside the head and saying, "Germany! Hello? Japan!"
It was only 67 years ago. Not thousands or even hundreds of years. We're no more enlightened or 'modern' than any other then-modern people were. There just hasn't been an opporunity for world-conquering by some egomaniac in the past 67 years. But I doubt very much we'll be as lucky over the next 67 years.
Right now, with Boston's reaction the way it was it seems to me the absolute best plan of attack for a terrorist cell would be to drop off literally thousands of empty boxes all over the city; on buses, trains, street corners, bridges. Everywhere. And watch the city go nuts. Your only risk would be being talked to by the police because you happen to be carrying a box with something like a teddy bear inside. Good luck prosecuting that guy.
The goal of terrorism is to terrorize, not to blow people up.
Sure, in the US there are some people actually making minimum wage who barely get by.
Then there are the other people who drive cars when they could be bicycling everywhere. Have a McMansion instead of renting a room. Buy frozen food or worse, fast food, instead of learning to cook. Have cable, internet and go to the movies on the weekend because those are minimum 'necessities'.
Take a look at Ben Franklin, stranded in England, penniless. He got a job and saw all his co-workers spending their daily pay on beer and a hot supper. What did he do? Ate practically nothing more than bread and water for almost two years so he could invest his money.
Sure, there are some people, people who have backed themselves into corners by having kids they can't afford or financing everything they own to the hilt. And there are people I actually feel bad for who need a break who had a kid they thought they could afford but then ended up requiring huge medical bills, or they themselves have huge medical bills. That can't be helped.
But that's a small minority of the financially oppressed. The rest just don't know how to hold onto a buck.
Work two jobs. Don't buy shit. Get rid of the internet at home, use the library. Don't buy what you can borrow. Get rid of the cell phone. Reconsider what you call a necessity. Stop eating meat and fresh milk. Downgrade your life, trade in the SUV for a sub-compact or the sub-compact for a bicycle or the bicyle for your legs. Get an apartment instead of a house. A studio instead of a one-bedroom. A room instead of a studio. Invest in your own job-training. Then instead of biting your tongue and living against your moral principles tell your boss to fuck off next time you really think you should since you're no longer banking on the next paycheck just to make rent.
Or consider an unused bedroom, a car, 5MB/s internet access and ready-made frozen food a necessity and continue to slave away. Let's just be clear though; it's your choice.
_
"Well, it's no trick to make a lot of money if what you want to do is make a lot of money." - Berstein in Citizen Kane
These power bills make me cringe. $100??? $300!?!?!
My one bedroom apartment with its occasionally used dishwasher, electric stove, fridge/freezer, 4 or 5 LED lightbulbs, 25"tv, router, modem, cell phone charger, electric razor, gaming pc & work pc costs me between $16-$24/month.
This is in Albuquerque, NM. I am pretty efficient. I...
1. Never leave things on when not using them and have everything plugged into power strips conveniently placed on TOP of my desks/tv stand so it's easy to flip off the switch so no standby power is ever wasted. It's just a habit now: Shutdown the pc, flip the power switch.
2. Use LED Bulbs
3. Have gas heat/hot water. Don't need AC. The air naturally circulates in the summer due to a heat chimney, plus my part of the building is shaded.
4. Keep my fridge/freezer packed to the brim with old milk jugs full of water.
I've never NOT done any of these things so I don't know what the bill would be if I didn't. Perhaps I should bite the bullet some month and try it out. But I can't imagine having a $100 electric bill. You guys all have hot tubs and the fanciest christmas displays in the county or what? I don't know if my bill would get that high even if I left everything on 24/7 for the entire month.
Am I an anomally? Is my meter broken? I don't know how I'd even get the bill that high if I wanted to.
IT MAKES NO SENSE for terrorists to call attention to their devices with bright flashing lights.
But the objective of terroristic warfare is not to blow up as many people as possible it's to terrorize as many people as possible. Whether they kill 2 or 20 random commuters in Boston doesn't make that big of a difference in their fight. It's the getting people too scared to drive to work the next day that makes the real economic and psychological impact.
So placing a bowling-ball with a wick sticking out of it in/on a train, bridge, highway, bus or terminal is actually their most effective attack if the city of Boston's response is typical.
They will:
1. bring traffic to a halt
2. give the media/politicos something to freak out about
3. cost the city/police force boat loads of $ and manpower
4. desensitize bomb squads to real threats. If they're getting called out everyday to diffuse bowling balls do you really think they will be as vigilant seven years later when they come upon an actual bomb?
5. expose themselves to minimal risk. "But judge, I was just going to go bowling this afternoon with my friends." While still accomplishing the same thing they would if they were carrying around and planting actual bombs.
How about a toll-booth option for people who would rather pay cash?
OK, next problem!
I think we all assumed that his coming to slashdot was a statement that he has already tried all blatently obvious routes.
a private party taking on a huge corporation over this is a ridiculous folly.
This idea is a ridiculous folly you noodle-armed nancy-pants. This is the great myth the corps want individuals to believe in. It's what the *IAA-of-the-month wants you to think and you're buying it. They want people to believe it's complicated, expensive or even impossible simply to enforce a contract. But that's not true at all. The courts are the ultimate leveling grown.
Small claims courts cover $15,000 claims now-a-days, in some states upwards of $20,000. You don't need a lawyer. All procedures are easy to follow and at any point you can ask a clerk how to accomplish something or during the hearing just ask the judge about an issue. No legal-speak required. Somewhere around a $29 filing fee (depends on your state/county) is all that's required.
I'm not a lawyer. I'm also not a schmuck who's too scared to assert my most basic rights. Anyway, you bet this is legal advice.
Unemployment does suck...
What!?!
the only one looking out for you is you
.38 or hire thugs to go get your money back. Just go tell some special people what happened, they will check it out, and then they will use a thing called the law that we all agree on and they will use force to get your money back for you.
Not true at all. You don't have to buy brass knuckles or a
I've used the courts to get money back. It's easy. You might say that's looking out for myself or 'using a system'. But I see it as the entire society around me looking out for me.
If your view of the world were really true we'd all be in bunkers with rifles pointed at each other and no one would ever enter into any business venture ever. Most people ARE concerned about your being treated fairly simply because of their natural hatred for injustice and their self-interest in living in a society where agreements are enforced.
All you need is to get things in writing which is the default for 95% of the agreements I enter into. Then you have to take a day to learn how to use small claims courts (which cover up to $15,000 in my state) without a lawyer and you're done. If you don't think that's everyone looking out for you then you're just being cynical, which I suspect since it appears to be your default position.
blaiming others for your lack of skepticism doesn't reflect badly on them. Remember, no one is responsible for your life except you, even if it is easier to blaim your problems on something else.
Oh yes, blame the victim. So scammers aren't in the wrong, the scammed are? Give me a break.
I'd say dump the company as soon as you can, get a new job in the new town and then take 'em to small claims court for the missing relocation money. An oral contract IS enforcable by a court.
The shark was likely going to die anyway but even if it weren't it's worth risking killing one shark to get some footage of a species of animal hardly anyone has ever even seen.
Even if for the inspiration alone.
That's why I laugh when people spot human-sized UFO craft. If there are UFOs here, they're microscopic.
Unless they sent the microscopic nanoprobes out hundreds or thousands of years ago followed by robotics and now they're past the exploration point and it's time to do some studying with a 'manned' expedition.
Though there are likely plenty of other reasons to laugh at them so you're probably still ok.
Do you have your PC in the living room connected to a big screen? Does anybody you know?
Yes and Yes.
Anyone else?
Yes, I do. My MacBook spends most of it's time on the coffee table...
Wow, you'll have a great setup for watching movies why you could just...
Oh wait. Windows only.
DOH!
In today's world, it's easy to make money with more money.
As opposed to any other time in the existance of civilization?
Funny that his not getting the initial sarcasm prompted him to make his own sarcastic comment about the initial sarcastic comment. You'd think he'd have stopped dead halfway through typing the post and gone, "Oh, right."
Some of us just don't have that impulse it seems.
It's an online college dorm room door. There's a board for leaving a funny message or drawing stupid pictures. There might be a couple photos of the student and their friends from the last weekend trip. And, depending on the personality, there's a varying degree of bumper stickers, band names, logos, celebrity photos, pinups and god knows what turning it into a feast for the eyes/gargantuan eye-sore that gets the RA yelling at them to take it down.
Only online, there's no RA.