You're right, I should have said (celebate) homosexual.. that is (or at least was) the "word". My point was that some 'authority' would probably have him tagged as a queer, and thus a potential subversive, in their eyes.
How much public data does a user need to receive & transmit before that user is accorded common carrier status, and the attached protections? A fast broadband connection can pass as much inforamtion as a small telephone exchange.
So what if your little enterprise collects no revenue, nor puts any conditions on its 'subscribers'?
Granted, it's been twenty years, but this guy did release an album (with the Smiths) titled "The Queen is Dead". Contained a number of amusing lyrics such as "Her very lowness with her head in a sling.." and so on. Good record, btw.
Then of course, he's not only a homosexual but a vegetarian as well - strikes two and three, as it were.
Something like "Who finds out about corruption is irrelevant; who gets to decide what kinds of corruption are "Serious Stories" versus "Tinfoil Hat" material decides the rest."
You've hit on something very interesting here, and at the risk of an aptly-modded OT ramble, I'd like to expand on it.
Do you ever pay attention to those 'News of the Weird' or 'Offbeat News' sections of your local website / newspaper? While some of it is truly in the oddball category, there is something else going on, and it's much more subtle.
From my perspective, many of these 'offbeat' news stories would fall under another category - "News You Did Not Expect To Hear". That is, the rest of the news is 'safe' news - news that you could have expected to hear, based on the ongoing conditioning by all of the other news you've heard recently. The 'offbeat' news is the unsafe news, that was interesting enough to make it to print, but is otherwise not part of the main program.
For instance, a woman might give birth to a 15 pound baby. This is very unusual, and also quite newsworthy. So why is it tagged as offbeat? Perhaps to prevent distracting the news consumer from the latest strife in the Islamic world?
Color me cynical, but the whole concept of 'offbeat' news seems to be about molding public opinion to the viewpoints of the newsmakers (whoever they are).
In my experience, the Dreamcast fishing controller can also cause this problem. On the bright side, it's *extremely* easy to fix a 'blown' controller port in a DC.
The small daughterboard with the four controller ports has a small 1/4W flameproof resistor that sticks up from the board. Rather than being labeled as a resistor, it's labeled like a fuse (F1 or similar), as it's actually used as a fuse to protect the controller board.
The resistor opens up under load, causing all ports to go dead. Replace the resistor with a metal film or carbon comp part, and the ports will work again. Flameproof resistors are notorious for just 'opening up' like this, it was a poor choice of parts by Sega.
Sometime around 1998, there was a commonly available generic PC joystick which had a 'head' on it that was clearly shaped like a glans. They were typically CompUSA 'free' coupon items, built like total junk, and were rebranded by many companies.
Can anyone link a photo of this stick? I'd like to meet the tool who came up with it, the design really rubbed me the wrong way. Someone should take a rod to him.
You are mistaken. The original Atari 2600 (later the Commodore VIC-20, C-64, Wico and many other compatible models) had five *sets* of contacts - Up, Down, Left, Right and Button. Diagonal axes were supported in software, based on two simultaneous contact engagements (ie Left and Up for the upper left diagonal).
Several years ago, I read something that relates to this. Someone with better knowledge of Japanese consumer culture can chime in and correct me if this is incorrect.
I read that on a certain day every year in Japan, it is customary (at least in the wealthier areas) to put all of your used (from the last year or so) electronics out on the curb (or in the alley, whichever you have) as an emblem of your prosperity, and as a demonstration of your intent to replace your old Japanese goods with new.
People from less wealthy areas might come in the dark to scavenge near-new goods, but it is seriously frowned upon, as there is a great social stigma on the dumpster-diving concept.
While wasteful, the practice is not totally out of the question. If this is true, perhaps that these new regulations are just a sidenote to the Japanese consumer? I'm curious to know the truth of the matter.
I work for a small manufacturer of high-end vacuum tube audio equipment in the USA. While we have almost zero sales in Japan, we often get inquiries about vintage equipment and tubes. Last month, a Japanese gentleman stopped by the shop, with an American friend & interpreter. The laundry list was exactly as you describe - Western Electric, Voice of the Theater, Ampex, JBL, Altec, Electro-Voice and so forth.
As one would expect, he was exceptionally polite and willing to look at anything we cared to show him, but it was also very clear exactly what he was seeking. It's pretty odd how the Japanese aren't interested in *new* handbuilt USA tube equipment, but are willing to shell out a king's ransom for old gear, with questionable sonic qualities. While I'm not ultra-keen on seeing this legacy equipment go overseas, it's safe to say that it will be very well cared for by the new owners. They revere it almost to the point of fetishism.
I wanted to take him by the Pavek Radio Museum, but that would have been way too cruel;-)
Err, Philips isn't a 'big brand' product? Philips is a multinational conglomerate with their hands in just about every form of technology from lightbulbs to aerospace. Did I read your post right?
That said, I've had a DVP-642 for about two years, and while the firmware is a bit buggy (sometimes you need to power-off when changing formats, or the player will refuse to read the disc), this player is like a dream come true. It will play just about any format, from any media you throw at it. And they can be had new for around $65.
The first game title to be released for the Sony PS3 will be titled "Wall Street Fighter". In this multiplayer game, players use a virtual "Internet" to discuss, predict and ultimately manipulate the retail price of unreleased video game consoles, amassing vast fortunes by buying and selling futures.
Standardized connectors. It's one thing to have a variety of devices that use different voltages, but having a variety of 5V devices each of which uses its own style of plug & jack defies all common sense.
For that matter, even on devices that use the same voltages and connectors, there is no standardization for polarity! Is it really that difficult to agree that ring is negative, and tip is positive, or even vice-versa?
While that sounds like a nice idea, it's extremely wasteful.
If your global supply is 12V, and you want to run a 5V device, you need to blow off 7 volts.. that's more power wasted than actually delivered to the load. Kirchoff's & Watt's laws will get you everytime.
Welcome to the club, my friend. The only commercial CD I've bought in the last 5 (or has it been 10?) years, was a used copy of the latest Marilyn Manson, so I could decide if the content was good enough to - here it comes! - buy the VINYL.
I don't count the dollars I've shelled out to buy CDs from local bands, at their shows. Handing some band $7 in a bar for a copy of their new disc has a warm, friendly, old-fashioned feel to it. Of course, if they have vinyl, I buy it in favor of a CD. In any case, I enjoy seeing my cash going directly into their pockets - not into the perverted system of usury that is the Big Music Trade.
As a child of the 70's, I'd like to personally thank you for posting this comment. Not that we didn't have plenty of plastic crap back then, but nothing even close to what the eighties and beyond have brought us. Plastic has cheapened all of our lives.
Guess what? I'm totally fine with that. Likewise, I'm not too keen on what appears to be your apologistic stance on behalf of a gang of violent thugs. But here's the really fine point:
I don't have even the slightest desire to harm you personally, nor cause damage to your property over this disagreement. After all, these are just my personal beliefs, and I'm under no illusion that there in any great, inherent truth in them. Just one guy speaking for himself, no god over my shoulder egging me on.
Fine then - Provide us with a universal definition of 'common' decency, that everyone agrees on, and we can bring an end to this, and numerous other conflicts.
If I were really feeling like a jackass, this line would read something like "I'm all ears, don't keep me waiting!". But, since no such definition actually exists, I'll make no such pretense.
The Christians had their Piss Christ, and now the Muslims have their cartoons. If Islam wants the respect of the west, Islam is going to have to learn how to take a joke, and not be baited into violence and destruction at the turn of a page.
There's no way to plainly express these opinions without looking like a troll, so I'll take my mods as they come.
That was a very concise and thoughtful comment, but I'd like to point something out:
further destabilizing the ideal of capitalism.
If you are referring to the ideals of the Founders, capitalism was not necessarily among them. The ideal of Free Enterprise is a certainty, but the 'capitalist' system per se is not directly called out.
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Wow, that is +Insightful. Don't waste comments like that on the AC.
You're right, I should have said (celebate) homosexual.. that is (or at least was) the "word". My point was that some 'authority' would probably have him tagged as a queer, and thus a potential subversive, in their eyes.
How much public data does a user need to receive & transmit before that user is accorded common carrier status, and the attached protections? A fast broadband connection can pass as much inforamtion as a small telephone exchange.
So what if your little enterprise collects no revenue, nor puts any conditions on its 'subscribers'?
Granted, it's been twenty years, but this guy did release an album (with the Smiths) titled "The Queen is Dead". Contained a number of amusing lyrics such as "Her very lowness with her head in a sling.." and so on. Good record, btw.
Then of course, he's not only a homosexual but a vegetarian as well - strikes two and three, as it were.
Something like "Who finds out about corruption is irrelevant; who gets to decide what kinds of corruption are "Serious Stories" versus "Tinfoil Hat" material decides the rest."
You've hit on something very interesting here, and at the risk of an aptly-modded OT ramble, I'd like to expand on it.
Do you ever pay attention to those 'News of the Weird' or 'Offbeat News' sections of your local website / newspaper? While some of it is truly in the oddball category, there is something else going on, and it's much more subtle.
From my perspective, many of these 'offbeat' news stories would fall under another category - "News You Did Not Expect To Hear". That is, the rest of the news is 'safe' news - news that you could have expected to hear, based on the ongoing conditioning by all of the other news you've heard recently. The 'offbeat' news is the unsafe news, that was interesting enough to make it to print, but is otherwise not part of the main program.
For instance, a woman might give birth to a 15 pound baby. This is very unusual, and also quite newsworthy. So why is it tagged as offbeat? Perhaps to prevent distracting the news consumer from the latest strife in the Islamic world?
Color me cynical, but the whole concept of 'offbeat' news seems to be about molding public opinion to the viewpoints of the newsmakers (whoever they are).
In my experience, the Dreamcast fishing controller can also cause this problem. On the bright side, it's *extremely* easy to fix a 'blown' controller port in a DC.
The small daughterboard with the four controller ports has a small 1/4W flameproof resistor that sticks up from the board. Rather than being labeled as a resistor, it's labeled like a fuse (F1 or similar), as it's actually used as a fuse to protect the controller board.
The resistor opens up under load, causing all ports to go dead. Replace the resistor with a metal film or carbon comp part, and the ports will work again. Flameproof resistors are notorious for just 'opening up' like this, it was a poor choice of parts by Sega.
Sometime around 1998, there was a commonly available generic PC joystick which had a 'head' on it that was clearly shaped like a glans. They were typically CompUSA 'free' coupon items, built like total junk, and were rebranded by many companies.
Can anyone link a photo of this stick? I'd like to meet the tool who came up with it, the design really rubbed me the wrong way. Someone should take a rod to him.
The atari joystick had 8 contacts.
You are mistaken. The original Atari 2600 (later the Commodore VIC-20, C-64, Wico and many other compatible models) had five *sets* of contacts - Up, Down, Left, Right and Button. Diagonal axes were supported in software, based on two simultaneous contact engagements (ie Left and Up for the upper left diagonal).
Me: Nobody gives a crap about the Dreamcast.
You: What do you mean?!
Me: Did you know that in 2002, Sega landfilled six-million Dreamcast controllers, and one penguin?
You: A PENGUIN?!?!
Me: I told you nobody gives a crap about the Dreamcast...
Thanks (to several of you) for the info.. much more interesting than what I had originally read.
Several years ago, I read something that relates to this. Someone with better knowledge of Japanese consumer culture can chime in and correct me if this is incorrect.
I read that on a certain day every year in Japan, it is customary (at least in the wealthier areas) to put all of your used (from the last year or so) electronics out on the curb (or in the alley, whichever you have) as an emblem of your prosperity, and as a demonstration of your intent to replace your old Japanese goods with new.
People from less wealthy areas might come in the dark to scavenge near-new goods, but it is seriously frowned upon, as there is a great social stigma on the dumpster-diving concept.
While wasteful, the practice is not totally out of the question. If this is true, perhaps that these new regulations are just a sidenote to the Japanese consumer? I'm curious to know the truth of the matter.
I work for a small manufacturer of high-end vacuum tube audio equipment in the USA. While we have almost zero sales in Japan, we often get inquiries about vintage equipment and tubes. Last month, a Japanese gentleman stopped by the shop, with an American friend & interpreter. The laundry list was exactly as you describe - Western Electric, Voice of the Theater, Ampex, JBL, Altec, Electro-Voice and so forth.
As one would expect, he was exceptionally polite and willing to look at anything we cared to show him, but it was also very clear exactly what he was seeking. It's pretty odd how the Japanese aren't interested in *new* handbuilt USA tube equipment, but are willing to shell out a king's ransom for old gear, with questionable sonic qualities. While I'm not ultra-keen on seeing this legacy equipment go overseas, it's safe to say that it will be very well cared for by the new owners. They revere it almost to the point of fetishism.
I wanted to take him by the Pavek Radio Museum, but that would have been way too cruel ;-)
"I could have sold FIVE BILLION DOLLARS worth of movies last year!"
"And I would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for Samsung... and you meddling kids!"
Err, Philips isn't a 'big brand' product? Philips is a multinational conglomerate with their hands in just about every form of technology from lightbulbs to aerospace. Did I read your post right?
That said, I've had a DVP-642 for about two years, and while the firmware is a bit buggy (sometimes you need to power-off when changing formats, or the player will refuse to read the disc), this player is like a dream come true. It will play just about any format, from any media you throw at it. And they can be had new for around $65.
I think that people are people wherever you go.
More true words have never been spoken
It doesn't matter whether you're a Christian or a Muslim, and both religions have had their ugly moments
Again, a seemingly reasonable statement - that will get you detained and most likely deported from Saudi Arabia. Something to think about.
The first game title to be released for the Sony PS3 will be titled "Wall Street Fighter". In this multiplayer game, players use a virtual "Internet" to discuss, predict and ultimately manipulate the retail price of unreleased video game consoles, amassing vast fortunes by buying and selling futures.
Standardized connectors. It's one thing to have a variety of devices that use different voltages, but having a variety of 5V devices each of which uses its own style of plug & jack defies all common sense.
For that matter, even on devices that use the same voltages and connectors, there is no standardization for polarity! Is it really that difficult to agree that ring is negative, and tip is positive, or even vice-versa?
Adaptor lock-in is just plain obnoxious.
While that sounds like a nice idea, it's extremely wasteful.
If your global supply is 12V, and you want to run a 5V device, you need to blow off 7 volts.. that's more power wasted than actually delivered to the load. Kirchoff's & Watt's laws will get you everytime.
Welcome to the club, my friend. The only commercial CD I've bought in the last 5 (or has it been 10?) years, was a used copy of the latest Marilyn Manson, so I could decide if the content was good enough to - here it comes! - buy the VINYL.
I don't count the dollars I've shelled out to buy CDs from local bands, at their shows. Handing some band $7 in a bar for a copy of their new disc has a warm, friendly, old-fashioned feel to it. Of course, if they have vinyl, I buy it in favor of a CD. In any case, I enjoy seeing my cash going directly into their pockets - not into the perverted system of usury that is the Big Music Trade.
As a child of the 70's, I'd like to personally thank you for posting this comment. Not that we didn't have plenty of plastic crap back then, but nothing even close to what the eighties and beyond have brought us. Plastic has cheapened all of our lives.
"Metal - it's the Stuff of the Seventies!"
Just look for an opening in the meterology department of your local television station. That should easily meet all of your goals.
For those of you who didn't RTFS:
It's some Japanese technology demonstration.
You're quite welcome.
I don't like your tone.
Guess what? I'm totally fine with that. Likewise, I'm not too keen on what appears to be your apologistic stance on behalf of a gang of violent thugs. But here's the really fine point:
I don't have even the slightest desire to harm you personally, nor cause damage to your property over this disagreement. After all, these are just my personal beliefs, and I'm under no illusion that there in any great, inherent truth in them. Just one guy speaking for himself, no god over my shoulder egging me on.
Fine then - Provide us with a universal definition of 'common' decency, that everyone agrees on, and we can bring an end to this, and numerous other conflicts.
If I were really feeling like a jackass, this line would read something like "I'm all ears, don't keep me waiting!". But, since no such definition actually exists, I'll make no such pretense.
The Christians had their Piss Christ, and now the Muslims have their cartoons. If Islam wants the respect of the west, Islam is going to have to learn how to take a joke, and not be baited into violence and destruction at the turn of a page.
There's no way to plainly express these opinions without looking like a troll, so I'll take my mods as they come.
That was a very concise and thoughtful comment, but I'd like to point something out:
further destabilizing the ideal of capitalism.
If you are referring to the ideals of the Founders, capitalism was not necessarily among them. The ideal of Free Enterprise is a certainty, but the 'capitalist' system per se is not directly called out.