a Siemens SK65 ca. 2004 like I have. The keypad rotates out when needed and is usable with the thumbs like a video game machine. Very ergonomic once you get used to it. And you still have the option of text entry on the numeric pad if you don't want to unfold the phone for some reason. Only problem: it's a Euro tri-band phone that doesn't do 850mHz, so reception outside NYC is sometimes a little spotty. It even has Blackberry functionality built in.
was not designed for typing efficiency. It was designed to actually slow down typists so that fast typers wouldn't jam the type bars in old-fashioned manual typewriters. The other problem with dumping the 2-ABC 3-DEF system on the keypad is that you'll break lots of 1-800 numbers for people who don't know any better.
Don't forget which party just swept to power! All you're doing is shaking faith in a system that finally elected Democrats!
Honestly, both parties in the US seem to be composed of nanny-state control freaks that can't seem to live and let live. Granted, the Democrats have a better record at the moment, but most of them are no angels either. What we need is a system of approval voting that allows for voting for *more* than one candidate to eliminate the problem of people thinking that they're wasting their vote if they aren't voting for a RepugliQuack(tm).
. Perhaps pieces of notebook paper stuffed into a fancy box with the word 'Ballots' written on the side with a fat sharpy.
For an election with 80 voters, that would probably be less prone to error than an electronic voting machine. At least there's an easy way to check the original votes.
are indoctrinated to believe that piracy is a mortal sin.
Nah, plenty of "normal" people pirate music, software or whatever. Besides, if you're licensed to use it, it isn't really piracy since a copy for that computer has already been bought by someone, somewhere. Not that I'm a huge fan of piracy - ultimately, corporations, people, whatever should be treated fairly and equally. By cheating MS, you're expressing your willingness to cheat other smaller, more innovative (and possibly more fragile financially) companies.
2k isn't being sold anymore either, and it was expensive and AFAIK there aren't all that many copies out there among consumers, and then there's the question of how many of those that have it would want to part with it.
A lot of older - ca 1999 - hardware is licensed to use 2k anyway (and thus has a valid key). If you don't have the disk, you can always get a pirated copy - MS isn't losing anything since the hardware is licensed to use 2k anyway (that is, if you care about MS losing money).
Yes, there are leftover copies of windows 98, but it's unstable, unsuported and a hassle to set up.
2k isn't that much more resource hungry. Also, there's the option of Ubuntu or some other easy to use distro of Linux. Will work just fine for Web surfing and word processing/DB/spreadsheets. It even works with a lot of digicams.
just keep computers longer and not toss them every 2 years. My HP Kayak Station ca. 1999 works just fine for word processing and 'net surfing. Which is all fully half of users probably need.
Also, the faster you go (and theirs does go fast) the more you can't have a door open.
The trains that I'm talking about do at least 60 mph. When you're sitting in the first few rows of seats, you can see into the driver's cab, and there's an LED digital speedometer above the window. Going through the Philly suburbs, between stations I saw 55-60 a couple of times. Actually kind of impressive since stations are around a mile and 1/2 apart on average.
In Vancouver (where I live) our subway system (well, it is aboveground, but whatever) is automated, no driver
Not even someone sitting up front to pull the emergency brake if something goes pear shaped!? I know the Wash DC subway is mostly automated, but they still have a driver up front. This stemming from an incident in the 80s(?) where a test train with a "driver" with no actual control over the train didn't stop when entering a terminal and kissed concrete, killing the crew.
So conversely, safety systems that can be overridden are a good thing. Like, um, Chernobyl?
In some cases, yes, but not in all cases as you clearly point out. One example is airbags: you want the airbags off if there's a small child sitting in a child seat in front (and with several kids, it may be impossible to have all of them in back unless you own one of those minivan/SUV abomination things).
But why should chewing gum in your own home be illegal? I can (barely) understand the argument against chewing and spitting in public, but why ban it entirely? It's not as if the health risk to others argument can even be used like in the case of smoking indoors.
The auto-attach thing is annoying, especially in places with a lot of WiFi in a small area like NYC. I can't count how many times I've got calls from business clients - "I'm at work and can't access the server/printer/etc." "Are you on the right wireless net?" And all this after I set the business network to be the topmost preferred network.
. Do you really think a system that lets subway trains run when the doors won't close would be better?
Well, a system that allows the driver to override in case of a mechanical failure *would* be better. BTW, in NJ and PA (USA) the older commuter trains with the manual doors often run with them open in summer. Not sure why - maybe just conductor laziness - but I haven't heard of anyone being thrown out at speed and killed.
You can't make the world totally safe and safety systems that can't be overridden are often a bad thing.
My SSID, OTOH, is "GetOut". i.e. no, you cannot use this AP.
Why not just name it "JoeSchmoe" or whatever your name is and use strongest encryption? "GetOut" seems like waving a red flag in front of every 1337 script kiddie that wants to impress its friends by hax0ring.
Singapore may be pretty ridicilous, but somehow I doubt they are going to throw the book at him. I wish the article would mention the minimum fine and sentence he could face. I bet even in singapore it's a far cry from 3 years in jail and a 10K fine.
Singapore has mandatory penalties for a lot of things. For example, if you're caught with 500g (approx a pound) of marijuana, the judge has no choice but to sentence you to death. This for the same offense that will get you a year or two in jail in many US states. As crazy as the US gov't and state legislatures are these days, be happy we don't all live in Singapore.
other people have a sharing nature and leave theirs open on purpose. How the heck do you tell the difference?
Deliberately shared networks are often names something like "UseMe", "PublicNet", "Shared", or "FreeInternet". So at least you'll know if someone's deliberately leaving theirs open.
Putting aside the fact that running an unsecured network should also be a punishable offence in this day and age
Why is running an unsecured network a problem, provided that the router is firewalled from the rest of the network so it can't access your personal computers/data? Ubiquitous unsecured 802.11 is useful and a heck of a lot cheaper than paying a cell provider $50+/mo for wireless data access.
Personally those who have open wifi networks need to close them.
Says who? Do you own a provider that stands to profit from selling EV-DO service?
I have a (firewalled) access point that has the SSID "UseMe". I *want* people to be able to get free Internet access. They aren't able to jump onto my personal network, just use the Internet for free. Sometimes handy if you're driving, have a laptop, and need to pull up Google Maps for directions.
Presumably they'll have normal paper or smartcard tickets as well. Not everyone has a cell phone in 2006 - I highly doubt everyone will in 2011. And what about people who lost their phone a week before the game and are waiting on a new one? Let's not turn possession of a cell phone into a "living license..."
Hell, even the muslim imams trying to overthrow the UK government by advocating mass murder get to keep doing that. Even after 7/7.
That's a sad thing that the imams (if citizens or residents of the UK) don't earn a swift trip down a rope for treason. AFAIK, the British still have the death penalty for treason but not for simple murder. During WWII, Lord Haw Haw and John Amery - both British subjects - earned their just deserts for working on propaganda for the Germans. Why you all don't have the b@lls to try those bastards for treason and at the very least boot them out of the UK permanently is beyond me.
Instead, the Government suspects anyone and everyone and keeps them under surveillance. So, in the name of fair play or whatever, the multitudes have to suffer for the crimes of a few.
So someone who signed up to serve their country and got hurt (whether mentally or physically) in the line of duty is deserving of a beating? Those vets that you speak of were normal Americans tryin to do their duty before they saw something that changed them for life. Get a clue, dude - your current attitude is hatefull and disgusting.
You know how I know america has a good governmental system ? You said that, and you're still alive, in fact, no one thinks you did anything wrong.
Whoever said anything about the US? I think the grandparent was talking about the *UK* and the ubiquity of video spying over there. And, besides, there are different ways for governments to control their subjects. Not all of them involve putting people against a wall. The modern trend seems to impose small financially annoying sentences for deviations from the norm - basically, price them out of the market. Long prison time and summary executions are so 1950s.
Slashdot Mirror
-b.
-b.
That might actually not have been unreasonable if he needed to run WinTel applications and his old Mac was a G4.
-b.
Honestly, both parties in the US seem to be composed of nanny-state control freaks that can't seem to live and let live. Granted, the Democrats have a better record at the moment, but most of them are no angels either. What we need is a system of approval voting that allows for voting for *more* than one candidate to eliminate the problem of people thinking that they're wasting their vote if they aren't voting for a RepugliQuack(tm).
-b.
For an election with 80 voters, that would probably be less prone to error than an electronic voting machine. At least there's an easy way to check the original votes.
-b.
Nah, plenty of "normal" people pirate music, software or whatever. Besides, if you're licensed to use it, it isn't really piracy since a copy for that computer has already been bought by someone, somewhere. Not that I'm a huge fan of piracy - ultimately, corporations, people, whatever should be treated fairly and equally. By cheating MS, you're expressing your willingness to cheat other smaller, more innovative (and possibly more fragile financially) companies.
-b.
A lot of older - ca 1999 - hardware is licensed to use 2k anyway (and thus has a valid key). If you don't have the disk, you can always get a pirated copy - MS isn't losing anything since the hardware is licensed to use 2k anyway (that is, if you care about MS losing money).
-b.
2k isn't that much more resource hungry. Also, there's the option of Ubuntu or some other easy to use distro of Linux. Will work just fine for Web surfing and word processing/DB/spreadsheets. It even works with a lot of digicams.
-b.
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Under Windows emulation? No thanks. The sad thing was that there was a UN*X native version of AutoCAD until 1997 or so.
-b.
The trains that I'm talking about do at least 60 mph. When you're sitting in the first few rows of seats, you can see into the driver's cab, and there's an LED digital speedometer above the window. Going through the Philly suburbs, between stations I saw 55-60 a couple of times. Actually kind of impressive since stations are around a mile and 1/2 apart on average.
In Vancouver (where I live) our subway system (well, it is aboveground, but whatever) is automated, no driver
Not even someone sitting up front to pull the emergency brake if something goes pear shaped!? I know the Wash DC subway is mostly automated, but they still have a driver up front. This stemming from an incident in the 80s(?) where a test train with a "driver" with no actual control over the train didn't stop when entering a terminal and kissed concrete, killing the crew.
-b.
In some cases, yes, but not in all cases as you clearly point out. One example is airbags: you want the airbags off if there's a small child sitting in a child seat in front (and with several kids, it may be impossible to have all of them in back unless you own one of those minivan/SUV abomination things).
-b.
If you like it, stay there. Just as long as you don't try to export your fascist ideology to the US or other more free countries.
-b.
But why should chewing gum in your own home be illegal? I can (barely) understand the argument against chewing and spitting in public, but why ban it entirely? It's not as if the health risk to others argument can even be used like in the case of smoking indoors.
-b.
The auto-attach thing is annoying, especially in places with a lot of WiFi in a small area like NYC. I can't count how many times I've got calls from business clients - "I'm at work and can't access the server/printer/etc." "Are you on the right wireless net?" And all this after I set the business network to be the topmost preferred network.
-b.
Well, a system that allows the driver to override in case of a mechanical failure *would* be better. BTW, in NJ and PA (USA) the older commuter trains with the manual doors often run with them open in summer. Not sure why - maybe just conductor laziness - but I haven't heard of anyone being thrown out at speed and killed.
You can't make the world totally safe and safety systems that can't be overridden are often a bad thing.
-b.
Why not just name it "JoeSchmoe" or whatever your name is and use strongest encryption? "GetOut" seems like waving a red flag in front of every 1337 script kiddie that wants to impress its friends by hax0ring.
-b.
Singapore has mandatory penalties for a lot of things. For example, if you're caught with 500g (approx a pound) of marijuana, the judge has no choice but to sentence you to death. This for the same offense that will get you a year or two in jail in many US states. As crazy as the US gov't and state legislatures are these days, be happy we don't all live in Singapore.
-b.
Deliberately shared networks are often names something like "UseMe", "PublicNet", "Shared", or "FreeInternet". So at least you'll know if someone's deliberately leaving theirs open.
-b.
Why is running an unsecured network a problem, provided that the router is firewalled from the rest of the network so it can't access your personal computers/data? Ubiquitous unsecured 802.11 is useful and a heck of a lot cheaper than paying a cell provider $50+/mo for wireless data access.
-b.
Says who? Do you own a provider that stands to profit from selling EV-DO service?
I have a (firewalled) access point that has the SSID "UseMe". I *want* people to be able to get free Internet access. They aren't able to jump onto my personal network, just use the Internet for free. Sometimes handy if you're driving, have a laptop, and need to pull up Google Maps for directions.
-b.
-b.
That's a sad thing that the imams (if citizens or residents of the UK) don't earn a swift trip down a rope for treason. AFAIK, the British still have the death penalty for treason but not for simple murder. During WWII, Lord Haw Haw and John Amery - both British subjects - earned their just deserts for working on propaganda for the Germans. Why you all don't have the b@lls to try those bastards for treason and at the very least boot them out of the UK permanently is beyond me.
Instead, the Government suspects anyone and everyone and keeps them under surveillance. So, in the name of fair play or whatever, the multitudes have to suffer for the crimes of a few.
-b.
So someone who signed up to serve their country and got hurt (whether mentally or physically) in the line of duty is deserving of a beating? Those vets that you speak of were normal Americans tryin to do their duty before they saw something that changed them for life. Get a clue, dude - your current attitude is hatefull and disgusting.
-b.
Whoever said anything about the US? I think the grandparent was talking about the *UK* and the ubiquity of video spying over there. And, besides, there are different ways for governments to control their subjects. Not all of them involve putting people against a wall. The modern trend seems to impose small financially annoying sentences for deviations from the norm - basically, price them out of the market. Long prison time and summary executions are so 1950s.
-b.