"Do you seriously think that the vast majority of Stern listeners are part of the higher end of the scale in intelligence? Maybe there is some craving among the professionals of the world for his brand of low-brow humor, but I doubt it."
Stern's fans cut across intelligence lines - stop spewing your ignorant prejudice. I'm a research scientist, and I grew up on Stern. Many of my closest acquaintances listen/watch daily, and that includes judges, lawyers, and teachers, to name just a few. Whether or not you like it, many people find him funny. That doesn't mean we all like everything, and I know more than a few fans who change the station when he hits certain topics. It's entertainment, not gospel.
If OSCE officials were thrown out of the country, it would be an international incident of World War-starting proportions. The problem is that they may not be given access to the information they need, not that they'll be called terrorists. As corrupt as politics have become, the players aren't the fools people like to think they are. Dirty games call for dirty tricks, but you still need brains to play. (Oh, and don't call Bush an idiot just because he plays one on TV.)
Could you imagine what would happen if someone hacked into this (and you can be sure that they will)? Chances are, it's going to be chock-full of dark secrets and admissions of crimes. Just the kinds of things you don't want in anyone else's hands. This is a bad idea.
I've noticed that the BBC does a much better job on this type of thing than the American media. American news sources generally devote page 1 space to death and scandal, while the Beeb gets into the American court rulings related to personal liberty and freedoms, etc. I live in the 'States, but get more news from the BBC than anywhere else. If you care more about court rulings than manufactured "scandals" or political doublespeak, you don't have much choice. It's not necessarily the media's fault, rather it just reflects the local readership/viewership interests.
"BTW, the movie 'Willard' has probably done more to give rats a bad name image than anything other single modern thing."
Yeah, because the Black Plague just wasn't enough. People have despised rats for millenia due to their connection with filth and disease; there is no "modern thing" responsible, especially not a movie that nobody saw from last year.
I disagree with that one. I've found that there is nothing more annoying than having an application decide to launch itself while I'm working. All of a sudden, my word processor isn't listening for my typing (or it is doing so at an alarmingly slower rate), while I'm in the middle of a thought. Add in the fact that many updates on Windows require a restart, and you've got nothing but trouble on your hands. If you can set a schedule for a time you're never around (e.g. lunch break for office workers or class for students), you'd be fine. Otherwise, just remember to do it often. I've set up "Run Weekly" folders on my family members' desktops, and gave them a disclaimer that if they don't do everything there every week, I will not help them with computer problems under any circumstance. Far better than having them think their computer is slow or broken every time something wants to check for an update, in my experience.
Wouldn't the date be far more informative than anything else? If you have a 3-year old computer, I can probably give you general spec ranges to which it conforms. Whether you say it's a "Level 5" or not, my first response will always be "when was it made?" The only way to counter this would be to keep on going up (today's level 3 is next year's level 13). There are a hundred other reasons why this is a poor idea, but I'll leave them to other posts.
I wonder if we could pool enough money to get an ad out there. Just one spot in a primetime TV show (even a low-rated one) could drastically change the browser market-share. It could be a combo spot, 10-second intro ("The internet isn't the problem, it's your gateway. Believe it or not, there are several companies with better solutions, and they offer them for free.") then 5 seconds for Mozilla/Firebird/Thunderbird, 5 for Opera, etc. A 30 second ad (yes, I know they're ridiculously expensive) could probably take IE down to 50% in a week as word spread.
From the link, it looks like you're calling soapbox racers "cars." I don't think I could physically even fit into one of them, much less see any advantage over a bicycle.
The more big browsers there are, the more standards-compliant they must become (though not necessarily W3C standards). This is the opposite of instant messaging - your users must be able to access all content. Web coders would have to be compliant to ensure that people on all browsers could see content, as well. Ten browsers at 10% market share each would be much better than one at 75%.
I wonder about format intervals. I know that after 6-18 months, my XP box can degrade to the point of requiring manual reboots constantly. A reformat/reinstall typically brings me back to ~95%.
"President Bush and his top advisers have received intelligence reports in recent days describing a confusing series of actions by North Korea that some experts believe could indicate the country is preparing to conduct its first test explosion of a nuclear weapon, according to senior officials with access to the intelligence."
Writing a virus is not a crime. Writing a virus with the intent to cause harm is (ditto for negligence letting it get out). Don't expect him to be defended like the few innocents were.
I thought the same thing. I couldn't see how eating a computer file would help, so I assumed it meant physical pieces of paper, but then I couldn't see why they'd be flying around in toxic places. It wasn't until your post that I re-read it and figured out what was going on. Quite frankly, I still think my ideas are better. Imagine the potential of machines which can generate electricity by deleting old Word documents!
Slashdot Mirror
Sirius will likely give Stern a pay-extra [...] channel
Stern said that it would not be a premium service. (link)
"Do you seriously think that the vast majority of Stern listeners are part of the higher end of the scale in intelligence? Maybe there is some craving among the professionals of the world for his brand of low-brow humor, but I doubt it."
Stern's fans cut across intelligence lines - stop spewing your ignorant prejudice. I'm a research scientist, and I grew up on Stern. Many of my closest acquaintances listen/watch daily, and that includes judges, lawyers, and teachers, to name just a few. Whether or not you like it, many people find him funny. That doesn't mean we all like everything, and I know more than a few fans who change the station when he hits certain topics. It's entertainment, not gospel.
"How about shays (chaise) lounge?"
It's "chaise longue," not "chaise lounge." "Longue" means "long," "chaise" means "chair."
Help > About will reflect the old version until you restart the program.
Place your bets, people!
What percentage of posts in the first 15 minutes will be about the spelling of the last word in the title, and what percentage about the content?
If OSCE officials were thrown out of the country, it would be an international incident of World War-starting proportions. The problem is that they may not be given access to the information they need, not that they'll be called terrorists. As corrupt as politics have become, the players aren't the fools people like to think they are. Dirty games call for dirty tricks, but you still need brains to play. (Oh, and don't call Bush an idiot just because he plays one on TV.)
Could you imagine what would happen if someone hacked into this (and you can be sure that they will)? Chances are, it's going to be chock-full of dark secrets and admissions of crimes. Just the kinds of things you don't want in anyone else's hands. This is a bad idea.
I've noticed that the BBC does a much better job on this type of thing than the American media. American news sources generally devote page 1 space to death and scandal, while the Beeb gets into the American court rulings related to personal liberty and freedoms, etc. I live in the 'States, but get more news from the BBC than anywhere else. If you care more about court rulings than manufactured "scandals" or political doublespeak, you don't have much choice. It's not necessarily the media's fault, rather it just reflects the local readership/viewership interests.
"BTW, the movie 'Willard' has probably done more to give rats a bad name image than anything other single modern thing."
Yeah, because the Black Plague just wasn't enough. People have despised rats for millenia due to their connection with filth and disease; there is no "modern thing" responsible, especially not a movie that nobody saw from last year.
"- Automate patching"
I disagree with that one. I've found that there is nothing more annoying than having an application decide to launch itself while I'm working. All of a sudden, my word processor isn't listening for my typing (or it is doing so at an alarmingly slower rate), while I'm in the middle of a thought. Add in the fact that many updates on Windows require a restart, and you've got nothing but trouble on your hands. If you can set a schedule for a time you're never around (e.g. lunch break for office workers or class for students), you'd be fine. Otherwise, just remember to do it often. I've set up "Run Weekly" folders on my family members' desktops, and gave them a disclaimer that if they don't do everything there every week, I will not help them with computer problems under any circumstance. Far better than having them think their computer is slow or broken every time something wants to check for an update, in my experience.
Wouldn't the date be far more informative than anything else? If you have a 3-year old computer, I can probably give you general spec ranges to which it conforms. Whether you say it's a "Level 5" or not, my first response will always be "when was it made?" The only way to counter this would be to keep on going up (today's level 3 is next year's level 13). There are a hundred other reasons why this is a poor idea, but I'll leave them to other posts.
"Name one tech gadget that DOESN'T tend to die at the hands of a bored toddler."
Well, I have a feeling that a Swiss Army Knife would do far more damage to the toddler than he/she can do to it.
No, but not everybody is a shut-in. If something becomes big in the States, word usually spreads relatively quickly overseas.
I wonder if we could pool enough money to get an ad out there. Just one spot in a primetime TV show (even a low-rated one) could drastically change the browser market-share. It could be a combo spot, 10-second intro ("The internet isn't the problem, it's your gateway. Believe it or not, there are several companies with better solutions, and they offer them for free.") then 5 seconds for Mozilla/Firebird/Thunderbird, 5 for Opera, etc. A 30 second ad (yes, I know they're ridiculously expensive) could probably take IE down to 50% in a week as word spread.
From the link, it looks like you're calling soapbox racers "cars." I don't think I could physically even fit into one of them, much less see any advantage over a bicycle.
The more big browsers there are, the more standards-compliant they must become (though not necessarily W3C standards). This is the opposite of instant messaging - your users must be able to access all content. Web coders would have to be compliant to ensure that people on all browsers could see content, as well. Ten browsers at 10% market share each would be much better than one at 75%.
Perhaps you should send out an email to all potentially interested parties. "Send $20 and watch spam disappear from your computer!"
I wonder about format intervals. I know that after 6-18 months, my XP box can degrade to the point of requiring manual reboots constantly. A reformat/reinstall typically brings me back to ~95%.
"President Bush and his top advisers have received intelligence reports in recent days describing a confusing series of actions by North Korea that some experts believe could indicate the country is preparing to conduct its first test explosion of a nuclear weapon, according to senior officials with access to the intelligence."
NYT article "Atomic Activity in North Korea Raises Concerns," Sept. 11, 2004
I highly doubt they would make this information available to the public so quickly
...and I highly doubt that they could keep it from the public for this long.
That took me 15 minutes to get. I was messing with the contrast, zooming in, couldn't figure it out. Then it hit me like a bag of bricks - yow!
Writing a virus is not a crime. Writing a virus with the intent to cause harm is (ditto for negligence letting it get out). Don't expect him to be defended like the few innocents were.
I thought the same thing. I couldn't see how eating a computer file would help, so I assumed it meant physical pieces of paper, but then I couldn't see why they'd be flying around in toxic places. It wasn't until your post that I re-read it and figured out what was going on. Quite frankly, I still think my ideas are better. Imagine the potential of machines which can generate electricity by deleting old Word documents!
No. They don't pull the ID out of your pocket, do they? You have a choice - show ID or not. Nothing is forced (being an alcoholic isn't an excuse).
...and how is it he never thought to ditch the "bombed" account and start fresh?