Geez, no wonder slashdotters don't have girlfriends if they are spending $100/date for dinner and a movie...the only people going out slashdotters are those who want to eat at a place where dinner for two is about $80, i.e., golddiggers looking for the next Bill Gates.
My point is that we have a conflict between distributors/manufacturers of goods and the distrubutors of related services. Remember that without TV, networks wouldn't exist. Thus you would expect more alliances between the networks and manufacturers.
But the reality is very different. TV manufacturers are pushing more and more HDTV's, while networks (local affiliates) are more for pushing multicasting over HD.
One side has to cave in. Either production of HDTV's needs to slow down or we need see more embracing (yes, much more than what we have today) of HD with networks and affiliates.
Like I said, check out avsforum.com. There are some people who feel cheated when they are pressured to buy an HDTV at Best Buy, take it home, and find there is not as much HDTV as needed to justify the expense on the television.
"You mischaracterize the scope of the Electoral College. Even if it were abolished, the USA would still be "first past the post"- it would just be based on popular vote."
Not necessarily true. We could have an amendment that destroys the EC, but creates a system where each state gets one vote for president, and the state legislature picks their candidate (without using a election of the people). Whoever gets the majority wins. This would be similar to how the Presidential Election is handled today if no one can get 270 votes in the EC.
My point is that a popular vote is not necessarily the only alternative to the electoral college. There are many others which embody the spirit of the Electoral College.
Let's convince each state to get rid of voting for President. Just let each state legislature decide as is mentioned in the constitution, but states have abused it to allow people to vote for electors, when the constitution says they should do it themselves.
That way who you directly elect to state legislature means MUCH more than it does now, because those people will chose the electors for their state. That is representative democracy at its best.
Thus if you are a member of say, the Constitutional Party, and have a big following in a state congressional district, you can elect yoru guy to the State house, who in turns casts a vote for a favorable elector. Problem solved.
I think the biggest mistake our US Constitution ever made was to allow state legislatures to pass on their constitutional authority to pick electors to the people. All we needed was a specific provision saying that not only do state legislature's pick electors, they are permitted from holding an election to do so. That would have been perfect.
" The electoral college is largely the cause of a two party state in America. It's basically a first past the post winner take all system which punishes extremely heavily any votes for parties which are not the outright winners or potentially outright winners in elections. There is simply no point voting for any party which is not likely to receive 35%+ of the popular vote."
Sorry buddy, you are flat out WRONG. The electoral college is not to blame for winner take all states. That is up to the states.
You see, under the US Constitution, it is up the state legislature to determine how electors for the college will be chosen. 48 states have decided, ON THEIR OWN, to allow direct election for those electors in a winner take all system.
Frankly, each state could take away it's citizens "right" to vote for President, and simply chose their electors.
None of the problems you mention have ANYTHING to do with the Electoral College, but rather the fact that the states have abused the right to given to them in the constitution to decide how electors are chosen. Therein lies the problem. Blame the states, not the Electoral College.
And how about actually READING the Constitution before yapping about the Electoral College being the problem?
The FCC wants everyone to go digital, which means at least 480i digital. This isn't the problem, as the majority of over the air broadcast networks ARE doing this. I am sure some very small markets still have only analog broadcasts, but even this is dying out.
The problem is multicasting vs. HD. Broadcasters would rather dishout several 480i digital channels (that fit into the bandwidth of one analog channel), while people who are going out to buy HDTV's simply want that channel to be an HD channel (or at least have everything upconverted to an HD resolution).
Here is an example: PBS, as some of you may know, embraces the 1080i HDTV standard. BUT here in KC, the local affiliate just broadcasts in 720p. Why? Because it uses the extra bandwidth for a multicast channel.
Check out avsforum.com for more discussion on this topic. We can't have consumers being pushed into spending thousands on an HDTV, when broadcasters are pushing to have multiple 480i digital broadcasts. There is a conflict.
"A very worthwhile addition, the disc includes Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB, the short film precursor to the theatrical version. It fills 15 minutes and five seconds as it tells an abbreviated and fairly different version of the tale. It hasn't aged terribly well, as it often seems amateurishly acted and silly, but I'm happy to get in on this set, as it's very interesting to see Lucas's early work." http://www.dvdmg.com/thx1138.shtml
No, THX 1138 is an adapation from an earlier student film. They are different works. http://www.dvdmg.com/thx1138.shtml
Much like how Lucas considers SW (Original) to be different from SW:SE.
Thus Lucas is a hypocrit for putting the student film "Version" of THX along with theatrical THX on a DVD, while SW:Original does not appear on the SW Triology DVD Set.
In the AP interview, Lucas says the original SW films are incomplete and it's too bad fans fell in love with it. He has no plans to release them on DVD.
Now check out the THX 1138 DVD. Why the f*ck is his original student film on it???? After all, that student film is an uncomplete work and it's too bad fans want to see it. He should not be releasing it, but of course, he's a hypocrite.
Anybody remember all the talk that the next ST series (before Enterprise) was going to be Star Trek Academy, basically Star Trek meets Dawson's Creek? I think that would have been a neat show and drawn in a younger crowd.
Also, this idea sprang up BEFORE there ever was Smallville. Now if they do it looks like a Smallville ripoff, but I still want it. It can't be worse than Enterprise.
The ST franchise made a huge mistake by dumping the idea of a show based around the Academy in favor of Enterprise. People would be interested in the academy show (Set after the ST:TNG era), instead of Enterprise.
I agree with most posts. ST needs a break. A couple of years and then bring a GOOD show.
My favorite pg-13 flick: Natl Lampoon's European
on
PG-13 Rating Turns 20
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· Score: 1
This flick has to be the easist way for boys to see breasts in a film they can easily rent at a video store. I remember being a kid dying to see this flick because it had TONS of nudity, especially for a PG-13 movie.
You seem to be neglecting MS' cute and appropriate mascot...CLIPPY!!!!
Tux vs. Clippy? Tux, like many slashdotters, can just threaten to sit on his opponent and they'll go running for the hills.
Re:What? no one mentioned Mandrake yet...
on
Linux Desktop Guide
·
· Score: 1
Memo to Mandrake users:
APT4rpm is available for Mandrake and is easier than urpmi. Not only that, the graphical front end for APT, Synaptic, has been ported to Mandrake for this APT4RPM feature.
Why even bother with urpmi when you could just use apt like debian users (And PCLOS [Mandrake based live CD] users)
"Perhaps they were waiting on a patent before they really developed their online stuff."
Or they were just waiting until they can charge an arm and a leg in licensing fees from Microsoft and Sony.
XBOX and PS2 (Especially XBOX) read on this patent like nothing I've seen as of yet in the video game world. This doesn't mean Nintendo will assert it against MS, but they can.
If I were Nintendo, I would force MS and Sony to pay licensing fees or sue for infringement. The huge fees they could get could force MS and Sony to cut back on their online gaming, allowing Nintendo to get involved, if they want.
I just watched an episode of G4TechTV's "Icons "profiling Will Wright and it was before the full launch of The Sims Online. Someone said something like "it could do well, or fall flat on its face."
NetZero has not been free for several years now. Those bastards should have to change their name!
Juno also isn't free now. Hasn't been for several years.
Basically, late 2000/early 2001 saw the end of the "You get this for FREE, but we place ad bars on your computer" rage.
The thing is, people who have dialup today probably can't afford broadband. These are the people who didn't even have modems when all of us used 14.4/28.8 modems for PPP/SLIP/Unix Shell dialup accounts. Those people couldn't afford (or didn't want the service) dialup accounts then.
Now we have broadband, and they finally have dialup.
When we start to see ridiculously fast broadband connections in the US (like you see in Europe), those people with dialup now will finally get a Cable Modem or DSL line. And we'll still feel like they are behind the times.
"What's aggrivating is that the whole "campaign" is so insulting: Real is trying to pretend that they're "sponsoring" a grassroots campaign about "freedom of choice.""
I am/was sick of people telling 18-year old NON-geeks that "Technology is the future. You need to study a technical-related field and work in it, because that is where the money is at."
Too many people in the late 90's and early 00's went into CS/Engineering/MIS because the "money" was there, although they had no interest in computer science before that. That used to tick me off. It was pathetic to see some freshman "CS" majors who had to take bogus classes like "Intro to Computers"...and they were CS MAJORS!!!!!
Thank god the CS field will be left to the geeks who, by age 10, write simple programs in BASIC, by age 15, write simple C/C++ programs, and by age 22 (CS grad) can whip out almost anything in any comp lang (Except assembly, that's machine lang for morons:-))
"Seagate likely has trade secrets it is scared this ex-employee will divulge
Yep - they based their harddrive technology off of a chip and robotic arm found in a processing plant after the arrest of one Sarah Conner:)
C'mon... any trade secrets they could possibly have are almost certainly the exact same "trade secrets" their competitors have. Their tech just ain't that special."
Come on, though. There could be trade secrets about other stuff, such as methods to increase storage space on non-spinning disk media, etc, etc...the fact that they are trade SECRETS means we do not know what knowledge they have.
The point is that Seagate knows pretty much what this guy knows and is willing to enforce the non-compete if they can.
Slashdot Mirror
"Then the competition will be between Mac OS X and linux for the desktop."
If it comes to that, then simply isn't it Mac vs. PC?...after all, we can't install OS X onto an x86 system
Mac is for rich people, and PC is for the rest of us...
"We never go on dates anyways"
and not by choice either lol
but $200 = dinner and movie date for 2 fridays??
Geez, no wonder slashdotters don't have girlfriends if they are spending $100/date for dinner and a movie...the only people going out slashdotters are those who want to eat at a place where dinner for two is about $80, i.e., golddiggers looking for the next Bill Gates.
My point is that we have a conflict between distributors/manufacturers of goods and the distrubutors of related services. Remember that without TV, networks wouldn't exist. Thus you would expect more alliances between the networks and manufacturers.
But the reality is very different. TV manufacturers are pushing more and more HDTV's, while networks (local affiliates) are more for pushing multicasting over HD.
One side has to cave in. Either production of HDTV's needs to slow down or we need see more embracing (yes, much more than what we have today) of HD with networks and affiliates.
Like I said, check out avsforum.com. There are some people who feel cheated when they are pressured to buy an HDTV at Best Buy, take it home, and find there is not as much HDTV as needed to justify the expense on the television.
"You mischaracterize the scope of the Electoral College. Even if it were abolished, the USA would still be "first past the post"- it would just be based on popular vote."
Not necessarily true. We could have an amendment that destroys the EC, but creates a system where each state gets one vote for president, and the state legislature picks their candidate (without using a election of the people). Whoever gets the majority wins. This would be similar to how the Presidential Election is handled today if no one can get 270 votes in the EC.
My point is that a popular vote is not necessarily the only alternative to the electoral college. There are many others which embody the spirit of the Electoral College.
I think this is a more interesting idea:
Let's convince each state to get rid of voting for President. Just let each state legislature decide as is mentioned in the constitution, but states have abused it to allow people to vote for electors, when the constitution says they should do it themselves.
That way who you directly elect to state legislature means MUCH more than it does now, because those people will chose the electors for their state. That is representative democracy at its best.
Thus if you are a member of say, the Constitutional Party, and have a big following in a state congressional district, you can elect yoru guy to the State house, who in turns casts a vote for a favorable elector. Problem solved.
I think the biggest mistake our US Constitution ever made was to allow state legislatures to pass on their constitutional authority to pick electors to the people. All we needed was a specific provision saying that not only do state legislature's pick electors, they are permitted from holding an election to do so. That would have been perfect.
Michael Peroutka for President 2004!
" The electoral college is largely the cause of a two party state in America. It's basically a first past the post winner take all system which punishes extremely heavily any votes for parties which are not the outright winners or potentially outright winners in elections. There is simply no point voting for any party which is not likely to receive 35%+ of the popular vote."
Sorry buddy, you are flat out WRONG. The electoral college is not to blame for winner take all states. That is up to the states.
You see, under the US Constitution, it is up the state legislature to determine how electors for the college will be chosen. 48 states have decided, ON THEIR OWN, to allow direct election for those electors in a winner take all system.
Frankly, each state could take away it's citizens "right" to vote for President, and simply chose their electors.
None of the problems you mention have ANYTHING to do with the Electoral College, but rather the fact that the states have abused the right to given to them in the constitution to decide how electors are chosen. Therein lies the problem. Blame the states, not the Electoral College.
And how about actually READING the Constitution before yapping about the Electoral College being the problem?
Here is the deal:
The FCC wants everyone to go digital, which means at least 480i digital. This isn't the problem, as the majority of over the air broadcast networks ARE doing this. I am sure some very small markets still have only analog broadcasts, but even this is dying out.
The problem is multicasting vs. HD. Broadcasters would rather dishout several 480i digital channels (that fit into the bandwidth of one analog channel), while people who are going out to buy HDTV's simply want that channel to be an HD channel (or at least have everything upconverted to an HD resolution).
Here is an example: PBS, as some of you may know, embraces the 1080i HDTV standard. BUT here in KC, the local affiliate just broadcasts in 720p. Why? Because it uses the extra bandwidth for a multicast channel.
Check out avsforum.com for more discussion on this topic. We can't have consumers being pushed into spending thousands on an HDTV, when broadcasters are pushing to have multiple 480i digital broadcasts. There is a conflict.
What's this program called? Got a link? Thanks!
Come on! What's your ONE beef?
I bet it's abortion as the typical libertarian party line is pro-choice.
Remember, it's okay to be a pro-life libertarian.
Michael Peroutka for President 2004!
"A very worthwhile addition, the disc includes Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB, the short film precursor to the theatrical version. It fills 15 minutes and five seconds as it tells an abbreviated and fairly different version of the tale. It hasn't aged terribly well, as it often seems amateurishly acted and silly, but I'm happy to get in on this set, as it's very interesting to see Lucas's early work."
http://www.dvdmg.com/thx1138.shtml
Proof Lucas is a hypocrite.
No, THX 1138 is an adapation from an earlier student film. They are different works.
http://www.dvdmg.com/thx1138.shtml
Much like how Lucas considers SW (Original) to be different from SW:SE.
Thus Lucas is a hypocrit for putting the student film "Version" of THX along with theatrical THX on a DVD, while SW:Original does not appear on the SW Triology DVD Set.
In the AP interview, Lucas says the original SW films are incomplete and it's too bad fans fell in love with it. He has no plans to release them on DVD.
Now check out the THX 1138 DVD. Why the f*ck is his original student film on it???? After all, that student film is an uncomplete work and it's too bad fans want to see it. He should not be releasing it, but of course, he's a hypocrite.
Anybody remember all the talk that the next ST series (before Enterprise) was going to be Star Trek Academy, basically Star Trek meets Dawson's Creek? I think that would have been a neat show and drawn in a younger crowd.
Also, this idea sprang up BEFORE there ever was Smallville. Now if they do it looks like a Smallville ripoff, but I still want it. It can't be worse than Enterprise.
The ST franchise made a huge mistake by dumping the idea of a show based around the Academy in favor of Enterprise. People would be interested in the academy show (Set after the ST:TNG era), instead of Enterprise.
I agree with most posts. ST needs a break. A couple of years and then bring a GOOD show.
This flick has to be the easist way for boys to see breasts in a film they can easily rent at a video store. I remember being a kid dying to see this flick because it had TONS of nudity, especially for a PG-13 movie.
You seem to be neglecting MS' cute and appropriate mascot...CLIPPY!!!!
Tux vs. Clippy? Tux, like many slashdotters, can just threaten to sit on his opponent and they'll go running for the hills.
Memo to Mandrake users:
APT4rpm is available for Mandrake and is easier than urpmi. Not only that, the graphical front end for APT, Synaptic, has been ported to Mandrake for this APT4RPM feature.
Why even bother with urpmi when you could just use apt like debian users (And PCLOS [Mandrake based live CD] users)
"Perhaps they were waiting on a patent before they really developed their online stuff."
Or they were just waiting until they can charge an arm and a leg in licensing fees from Microsoft and Sony.
XBOX and PS2 (Especially XBOX) read on this patent like nothing I've seen as of yet in the video game world. This doesn't mean Nintendo will assert it against MS, but they can.
If I were Nintendo, I would force MS and Sony to pay licensing fees or sue for infringement. The huge fees they could get could force MS and Sony to cut back on their online gaming, allowing Nintendo to get involved, if they want.
Hehehehehehe.
I just watched an episode of G4TechTV's "Icons "profiling Will Wright and it was before the full launch of The Sims Online. Someone said something like "it could do well, or fall flat on its face."
Boy did it ever fall flat on its face.
"they don't know the aggrevation of trying to download a 266MB Windows XP SP2 update over modem."
:-)
If you went LINUX, this wouldn't be an issue
"Not counting totally free (NetZero, Juno)"
NetZero has not been free for several years now. Those bastards should have to change their name!
Juno also isn't free now. Hasn't been for several years.
Basically, late 2000/early 2001 saw the end of the "You get this for FREE, but we place ad bars on your computer" rage.
The thing is, people who have dialup today probably can't afford broadband. These are the people who didn't even have modems when all of us used 14.4/28.8 modems for PPP/SLIP/Unix Shell dialup accounts. Those people couldn't afford (or didn't want the service) dialup accounts then.
Now we have broadband, and they finally have dialup.
When we start to see ridiculously fast broadband connections in the US (like you see in Europe), those people with dialup now will finally get a Cable Modem or DSL line. And we'll still feel like they are behind the times.
"What's aggrivating is that the whole "campaign" is so insulting: Real is trying to pretend that they're "sponsoring" a grassroots campaign about "freedom of choice.""
Sounds to me a lot like IBM's Linux campaign...
Uhhh...what's with the offtopic score? This is a joke based on the topic and a "Red Dwarf" joke...geez, lighten up people...
Some hot buttery toast?
How about a bagel?
Okay, I'll get those Belgian Waffles ready. With Halo 3 on the side.
- Talkie Toaster
Why??? (and I wasn't a CS major by the way)
:-))
I am/was sick of people telling 18-year old NON-geeks that "Technology is the future. You need to study a technical-related field and work in it, because that is where the money is at."
Too many people in the late 90's and early 00's went into CS/Engineering/MIS because the "money" was there, although they had no interest in computer science before that. That used to tick me off. It was pathetic to see some freshman "CS" majors who had to take bogus classes like "Intro to Computers"...and they were CS MAJORS!!!!!
Thank god the CS field will be left to the geeks who, by age 10, write simple programs in BASIC, by age 15, write simple C/C++ programs, and by age 22 (CS grad) can whip out almost anything in any comp lang (Except assembly, that's machine lang for morons
"Seagate likely has trade secrets it is scared this ex-employee will divulge
:)
Yep - they based their harddrive technology off of a chip and robotic arm found in a processing plant after the arrest of one Sarah Conner
C'mon... any trade secrets they could possibly have are almost certainly the exact same "trade secrets" their competitors have. Their tech just ain't that special."
Come on, though. There could be trade secrets about other stuff, such as methods to increase storage space on non-spinning disk media, etc, etc...the fact that they are trade SECRETS means we do not know what knowledge they have.
The point is that Seagate knows pretty much what this guy knows and is willing to enforce the non-compete if they can.