Some of those patent claims sound a little fishy, but IANAL. However, it's interesting that my main squeeze signed up for Blockbuster's service about the same time I got Netflix, and the first comment out of her mouth when describing it to me was: "It's just like Netflix!" Curiouser and curiouser...
Y'know, he might be an extreme example of paranoia, but I sympathize. Speaking as someone who has a public exposure, I can see why someone would want to hack him: It's all about the bragging rights.
Here's the part I can't figure... what's this about not checking luggage? Avoiding online check-in services is not unreasonable, if you're that sensitive.
But it's people like Burnett who turn what's ordinarily a tolerable-if-no-longer-pleasant experience into a nightmare as they try to jam their bags into the overheads. Don't get me started on the kids who have to bring a roll-aboard to be like their parents.
(Yeah, that might be offtopic, mod me if you must.)
I just want Lucas to fix the scene in Ep. IV where Luke jumps out of the X-fighter's cockpit and yells "CARRIE!!!"
Still get a kick out of that, I do...
Hmmm.... I suspect that in the aftermath of the Republican convention, my BS-detector needs some recalibration... there's something here in the manual about "loses accuracy after sustained overload conditions."
But then again, I wonder if some people have their speedometers set so that they think they're traveling at 80mph when they're actually standing still.
You seem to be used to driving on Mars, where the only other thing in sight is a NASA rover. This is Earth. WTF have you been for the last 20 years? Remember when the National Speed Limit was 55mph?
In California, the question should be phrased "When do you NOT see someone speeding?"
As far as cruising in the left lane at SpeedLimit-10, I see it every time I get on the road. It's usually some asshat in a Camry, too. S/he's on the cell phone, half of the time, to boot.
MMDV (my mileage did vary)...
On Tuesday, they put one "S" on my boarding pass -- oddly enough, this was US Air, the same folks who were so helpful to the Senator.
The TSA folks missed that when I went through security an hour before my flight. When I tried to board, the gate agent noticed the flag and denied boarding.
Seems my ticket wasn't punched. No kidding.
I got one of her colleagues to walk me back to the checkpoint, get a supervisor, and commit to me that he wouldn't close the door on me.
I was just a little frosty with the super, and he knew his gang had screwed up. I had a thorough but not intrusive inspection -- wand, no patdown, bag contents examined briefly. I made my flight with minutes to spare... it helped that I was going out of Gate 1 at SFO so the walk was all of 50 feet.
I was traveling on miles, for a funeral -- I suspect that having ordered up the ticket on Sunday night is what triggered the Screen flag. I had tried and failed to print a boarding pass from online Monday night, so I figured I'd be jumping through some hoops at the airport.
No hassles on the return to SF, yesterday. I wonder if I'll wind up on the list again, unless I fly on short notice. Then, I guess it's safest to bank on it.
If it's Norton 2004, the Windows Firewall will let Norton take over. Earlier versions, no dice. Should be the same - big names OK, little guys like Kerio, uh-uh. To me, this says MSFT is at least trying to accomodate third-party software.
But I'm futzing with my first XPSP2 crisis - a broken wireless hookup - right now.
I've put SP2 RTM onto a couple of machines in my lab with no ill effects, but this notebook is the first unwired machine to get it. I'm not terribly surprised that even with WF and NIS disabled, I'm still unable to ping my NAT box. With WF off and NIS on, I couldn't even ping my wireless NIC. However, the laptop -- an old Sony Z505 -- is getting an address from NAT through the AP, so figuring this out is going to be fun.
This is all par for the course, and why I love my work, even when I'm totally frustrated and looking frantically for the DWIM button.
You can get TiVO, even if you're in a north-facing apartment. You may have to wheedle your landlord to permit the antenna's installation in a non-exclusive area (such as the rooftop), but there's only one way to find out, and ask.
If you have exclusive control over useable space (such as a balcony), you have the right to install an antenna. The FCC explains this on a page http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.htmlthat is relatively straightforward for a government document.
But you're right about one thing -- the NFL is greedy and short-sighted. Not that this is news. Take it from me - I should be a Lions fan, but the team moved to Pontiac in my formative years. The new stadium was far enough north that the games were always blacked out in Flint, Thanksgiving being the exception that proves the rule. So, I started cheering for Oakland. Then I moved to the Bay Area, where the only time I will ever see an Raiders home game is on a Monday night, when Channel 7 has to buy up about 5,000-10,000 tickets at the last minute to be able to show the game. D'oh...
IANAL/A, but the rules for home office deductions are fairly straightforward. Deduction of rent, mortgage, etc. is only allowed if that space is *never* used for another purpose. A corner of a room won't qualify. nor will an entire room that is an office during business hours and becomes a TV room after 5pm.
Prorating other expenses such as phone and broadband is tricky to do. You might be able to use router logs (big maybe if you use a consumer-grade device) but I wouldn't recommend it. If you want to deduct this sort of charge, the easy way to do it is to install a second line. Then you can tell the auditor -- assuming you do get flagged -- "This one is for business, the other one is for personal use."
But, unless you're paying for business grade service with static IPs, you won't spend enough to make a dent in Schedule A's formula. In a simple example (renter, so no mortgage deduction) based on $180/month, itemizing this expense would save about $100/year on taxes vs. taking the standard deduction. YMWV - your mileage WILL vary.
I agree with the bulk of the comments - this sounds like a last-ditch attempt to cut expenses.
A guy I used to know had the cushiest job in transit: BART train operator. As he explained it to me.
Task 1: Open driver's cab window on platform side of train. Task 2: Make announcements in unknown alien language (like Klingonese, but more sibilant). Task 3: Hold down on button to keep doors open. Task 4: If doors are open for more than 1 minute, answer intercom and explain why doors are still open. Task 5: Ignore guys in back seats of last car with newspapers all over their laps.
*** That's right: The button holds the doors open. If it were up to the computer, BART trains would be in and out of a station in under a minute. ***
Slashdot Mirror
You should add some points to that plus-ten for it being from InfoWorld, since they picked it up from sdtimes.com, I believe.
There's an even better one on sdtimes.com, which apparently broke the story, but folks here seem to like third-hand news.
Some of those patent claims sound a little fishy, but IANAL. However, it's interesting that my main squeeze signed up for Blockbuster's service about the same time I got Netflix, and the first comment out of her mouth when describing it to me was: "It's just like Netflix!" Curiouser and curiouser...
Y'know, he might be an extreme example of paranoia, but I sympathize. Speaking as someone who has a public exposure, I can see why someone would want to hack him: It's all about the bragging rights. Here's the part I can't figure... what's this about not checking luggage? Avoiding online check-in services is not unreasonable, if you're that sensitive. But it's people like Burnett who turn what's ordinarily a tolerable-if-no-longer-pleasant experience into a nightmare as they try to jam their bags into the overheads. Don't get me started on the kids who have to bring a roll-aboard to be like their parents. (Yeah, that might be offtopic, mod me if you must.)
When you've had enough of Drudge and MoveOn, and you're ready for dessert, it's time for http://wonkette.com/!
I just want Lucas to fix the scene in Ep. IV where Luke jumps out of the X-fighter's cockpit and yells "CARRIE!!!" Still get a kick out of that, I do...
A couple of nits to pick...
1) MSFT is about to celebrate its 30th anniversary (founded 1975, incorporated 1981).
2) Windows has been around for 20 years (Windows 1.0 was beta tested in 1983-1984, released 1985).
3) The Windows NT/2000/XP code base is almost 12 years old (NT 3.1 was released in 1993).
4) Persistently buggy apps are found among both open- and closed-source software. There's no monoply on spaghetti code.
Hmmm.... I suspect that in the aftermath of the Republican convention, my BS-detector needs some recalibration... there's something here in the manual about "loses accuracy after sustained overload conditions."
But then again, I wonder if some people have their speedometers set so that they think they're traveling at 80mph when they're actually standing still.
You seem to be used to driving on Mars, where the only other thing in sight is a NASA rover. This is Earth. WTF have you been for the last 20 years? Remember when the National Speed Limit was 55mph?
In California, the question should be phrased "When do you NOT see someone speeding?"
As far as cruising in the left lane at SpeedLimit-10, I see it every time I get on the road. It's usually some asshat in a Camry, too. S/he's on the cell phone, half of the time, to boot.
mmmm... fairy dust and pot...
No one expects the Slashdot Inquisition!
MMDV (my mileage did vary)... On Tuesday, they put one "S" on my boarding pass -- oddly enough, this was US Air, the same folks who were so helpful to the Senator. The TSA folks missed that when I went through security an hour before my flight. When I tried to board, the gate agent noticed the flag and denied boarding. Seems my ticket wasn't punched. No kidding. I got one of her colleagues to walk me back to the checkpoint, get a supervisor, and commit to me that he wouldn't close the door on me. I was just a little frosty with the super, and he knew his gang had screwed up. I had a thorough but not intrusive inspection -- wand, no patdown, bag contents examined briefly. I made my flight with minutes to spare... it helped that I was going out of Gate 1 at SFO so the walk was all of 50 feet. I was traveling on miles, for a funeral -- I suspect that having ordered up the ticket on Sunday night is what triggered the Screen flag. I had tried and failed to print a boarding pass from online Monday night, so I figured I'd be jumping through some hoops at the airport. No hassles on the return to SF, yesterday. I wonder if I'll wind up on the list again, unless I fly on short notice. Then, I guess it's safest to bank on it.
If T. Kennedy's going to be a poster child, I want to buy stock in a paper mill, because that's gonna be a big poster...
If it's Norton 2004, the Windows Firewall will let Norton take over. Earlier versions, no dice. Should be the same - big names OK, little guys like Kerio, uh-uh. To me, this says MSFT is at least trying to accomodate third-party software.
But I'm futzing with my first XPSP2 crisis - a broken wireless hookup - right now.
I've put SP2 RTM onto a couple of machines in my lab with no ill effects, but this notebook is the first unwired machine to get it. I'm not terribly surprised that even with WF and NIS disabled, I'm still unable to ping my NAT box. With WF off and NIS on, I couldn't even ping my wireless NIC. However, the laptop -- an old Sony Z505 -- is getting an address from NAT through the AP, so figuring this out is going to be fun.
This is all par for the course, and why I love my work, even when I'm totally frustrated and looking frantically for the DWIM button.
that's "farrier" -- it means "one who shoes horses" -- not that spelling is considered a skill, or anything...
Good of you to point this out, since the MSFT Knowledge Base doesn't have anything on this topic.
You can get TiVO, even if you're in a north-facing apartment. You may have to wheedle your landlord to permit the antenna's installation in a non-exclusive area (such as the rooftop), but there's only one way to find out, and ask.
If you have exclusive control over useable space (such as a balcony), you have the right to install an antenna. The FCC explains this on a page http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.htmlthat is relatively straightforward for a government document.
But you're right about one thing -- the NFL is greedy and short-sighted. Not that this is news. Take it from me - I should be a Lions fan, but the team moved to Pontiac in my formative years. The new stadium was far enough north that the games were always blacked out in Flint, Thanksgiving being the exception that proves the rule. So, I started cheering for Oakland. Then I moved to the Bay Area, where the only time I will ever see an Raiders home game is on a Monday night, when Channel 7 has to buy up about 5,000-10,000 tickets at the last minute to be able to show the game. D'oh...
IANAL/A, but the rules for home office deductions are fairly straightforward. Deduction of rent, mortgage, etc. is only allowed if that space is *never* used for another purpose. A corner of a room won't qualify. nor will an entire room that is an office during business hours and becomes a TV room after 5pm.
Prorating other expenses such as phone and broadband is tricky to do. You might be able to use router logs (big maybe if you use a consumer-grade device) but I wouldn't recommend it. If you want to deduct this sort of charge, the easy way to do it is to install a second line. Then you can tell the auditor -- assuming you do get flagged -- "This one is for business, the other one is for personal use."
But, unless you're paying for business grade service with static IPs, you won't spend enough to make a dent in Schedule A's formula. In a simple example (renter, so no mortgage deduction) based on $180/month, itemizing this expense would save about $100/year on taxes vs. taking the standard deduction. YMWV - your mileage WILL vary.
I agree with the bulk of the comments - this sounds like a last-ditch attempt to cut expenses.
Damn, it feels good to be a gangster.
A guy I used to know had the cushiest job in transit: BART train operator. As he explained it to me.
Task 1: Open driver's cab window on platform side of train.
Task 2: Make announcements in unknown alien language (like Klingonese, but more sibilant).
Task 3: Hold down on button to keep doors open.
Task 4: If doors are open for more than 1 minute, answer intercom and explain why doors are still open.
Task 5: Ignore guys in back seats of last car with newspapers all over their laps.
*** That's right: The button holds the doors open. If it were up to the computer, BART trains would be in and out of a station in under a minute. ***
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