Ok, now I got it, and you're so very right. This show has major flaws in the reality department.
However, and without spoilers, let's just say even if that kind of detection was for real, he'd have serious problems using it in later episodes. And no, I'm not talking about his losing precious parts of his body.
That's why he went the real nerd way, and got his _detection_ elsewhere in the science lab...
What do you mean, that he's got it in his brain together with No. 6's "image"?
Spoiler may follow for American audiences (?)
They do show an actual detector later in the show, in the form of a computer attached to a microscope slide analyzer, which turns green for humans and red for Cylons, and which apparently works, however Baltar may actually use the results...
Besides, as distinctive touches go, I'll take 'frak' over octagonal form-feed paper.
That one's funny, too... Did you notice old books in the captain's library have the usual four corners, though? And also some of the envelopes on Madam "Yessir" President's desk have four sides but contain octagonal sheets of paper, heh...
However, they did go to some lengths in the stationery department... Recon photos, or the small note in which the President has written the name of the civilian ship they had to take down, they're all cut at the corners.
Punishments aren't meted out to fit crimes, they are created to compensate for enforceability.
Yeah, sure, as in massacring a dozen people in Times Square at 4 pm, then saying hello to a nearby bank's CCTV camera, and surrendering to the police.
It's a very enforceable violation of law (many witnesses, clear-cut crime), and you're very likely to get caught for it -- in fact, you turn yourself in to the cops. Are you gonna get just a couple of month, and then you're out on parole? Don't think so.
Crimes are (theoretically) punished according to the impact they cause on victims and society as a whole, those against "life" usually getting the harshest penalties. Apparently, in the United States at this time, IP violation through the Internet is deemed as more dangerous to copyright holders' interests then the theft of a single copy.
That, and the fact that lobbyists have pushed for more "glamourous" laws in order to deter other (potential) criminals, contributed to this apparent paradox. To me, actually, it doesn't look paradoxical at all, though.
If you search for Louis Vuiton (and I know/.'ers do) you should have every expectation that the ads are associated with that brand. This is not the case when Google sells the ad to a competitor.
Why? First off, you're searching in Google so you should expect to have relevant search results, not necessarily relevant ads. Ads aren't part of the service Google offers you, they're just their part of the deal. As far as the user is concerned, Google might just as well display ads for Nike sportswear upon a search for "diamond rings." It's none of the user's concerns, as long as ads aren't too obtrusive or offensive.
Hell, before AdSense, ads on a website might easily have nothing to do with the page you were viewing. Or, again, a page with a review of the latest Nvidia graphics card might have been sold to ATI weeks before it was published... Or again, think of TV: you might be enjoying a show sponsored by Coca-Cola and BANG! There goes a Pepsi commercial. Unlikely, due to network management policies, but possible -- think of the Superbowl. Would that be a violation of your supposed rights?
Secondly, it's not like the advertised products were "Louis Vuiton" (notice the single T) as opposed to "Louis Vuitton(TM)". There was no mischief involved: you are simply presented with ads from an alternative, clearly recognizable as such.
What's next in your sense of consumer justice, banning all Chevrolet cars (or just Chevrolet ads, for that matter) from the town you live in, just because you chose a Ford and we wouldn't want you to get confused as to who makes better cars?
I thought that was incredibly awkward, too, but not being an American, I thought that might be what actually happens in the States -- I couldn't immediately think of other movies/shows in which they yell "Yes, ma'am."
I don't understand how "shove it up your ass" (said by Starbuck in the finale, if I'm not mistaken) exactly fits the "clean" attitude of the series. But then again, of course she was talking about the four-legged mammal...
Also, when you use that frack word exactly as you would the real one, and you use it a lot, is there a real benefit to the young American audience? I mean, would mommy not be pissed off if her kid kept telling her "I don't give a flyin' freck about the dishes!"?
As for Baltar. No judgement yet. Besides - what a horny !@#$%.
Mmmh... You bitch about flat characters and dismiss Baltar like this? Look at the way his every choice is duplicitous, and then happens to turn out for the best of the crew - or not, sometimes.
Think of the way you can never really tell when he's lying (I thought he never even began to build the Cylon detector), and think about the Cylon woman inside his head, conditioning him...
I agree that the twelve clones were a little "easy."
However, I was shocked when Boomer shot the captain - I thought she had somehow regained enough sanity to fly back to the ship. I was sure she might eventually kill herself later, but shooting the captain! That was brilliant.
The fact that the Doc chooses not to tell her she's a Cylon out of fear, and that it initially seems to be a good choice as she keeps doing her "human" job is brilliant as well, IMO.
In BG, you can never be sure whether a choice a character makes, out of whatever reason, is going to be a "good" or a "bad" one for their cause. Their behavior is so complex and the ramifications are so many...
Yes we do, as he mentions benefits, relocation bonuses and other amenities which must have come as part of contracted work. I think it's extremely more far-fetched to think that Google hires people on a verbal contract basis, than to think he signed a piece of paper, BTW.
And do we have any indication that if he did, it didn't have an "at will" clause that said he could be fired or quit for any or no reason at all?
Nope, of course. However, such a clause would be challengeable (IANAL, though.) For example, in the cases you agreed are blatantly illegal reasons for firing someone.
Also, we don't know for sure that he was fired.
That's indeed a good point but I don't see why you're participating in this discussion if you're not even willing to accept the most basic premise - that the story is actually real in its most basic form!
Hey, they are free to express their opinions just as Google is free to fire them for expressing them.
Not so easy pal, they both signed a contract and I'd like to see what's written in it.
Just because they hired him, doesn't mean they can fire him at their whim. As you may know, firing someone because of their origin or because they're HIV-positive (in workplaces where bloodshedding is not common, at least) is illegal. You can't just go around you're company and fire all employees who root for Philadelphia Eagles just because you're for Patriots and won the Superbowl Sunday.
I suppose the guy has revealed important company information, and that's why Google fired him. If Google had fired him just because they didn't like what he wrote about, say, the on-site car washer, there would have been grounds for a major lawsuit.
Writing stuff that generically "pisses off" your company may not be sufficient grounds to get fired, even from a legal point of view.
Mappy, an originally French service, has very good maps with public transportation and driving directions support. Maps are in flash, so they look smoother than usual.
Their database of local resources is pretty much empty, though, at least for Italy.
It's available in.fr,.co.uk,.it,.es and.nl flavors.
but until somebody can offer a guarantee to protect the little guy
They did protect me though, and finely so. I filed for PayPal Buyer Protection as I had not received an item (worth ~$100) for a whole month after the successful bid.
I filled all the required information, the seller did not reply to PayPal enquiries, and I had my money back in 8 days - 2 days sooner than what they specify in the FAQ.
Actually, they were so efficient, and the seller so stupid, that a couple of weeks later I even received the package. I never knew if it was a second shipment, or a very late first shipment.
I contacted the seller and paid him again, more out of fear that I might be considered a PayPal fraudster/exploiter than out of respect for him.
One thing I noticed as I used Linux desktop environments is letter spacing (and related typographical settings in font rendering.) OS X superior looks have very much to do with the way it renders fonts, IMO, even when compared to Windows. Variables such as spacing or kern must be controlled at the OS level on the Mac, as they're often editable via the system-wide font selection tool.
I've only had very minor experiences with Gnome or KDE, but I remember the irregular, large letter spacing as the one thing that prevented the GUI from looking really polished and elegant to me.
I've seen the same thing when running X apps in OS X, both through Apple's and Xfree.org server, so I guess it's more of a X problem. This page shows a good example of lousy spacing, although IANA professional typemeister, so I can't really tell how much of this is due to the particular font used.
In any case, I see a lot of talk about system-wide anti-aliasing, vector graphics etc... in Linux but very little about improving these typographical "variables" rendering.
May I suggest Sidetrack, a trackpad driver that will let you do pretty much anything you want with your trackpad.
You can bind any and all four corners of the pad to whatever function you may need, including "simulated" mouse buttons, Exposé functions or your favorite key combos. You may set timeouts for ignoring trackpad while you type, and more. "Continue mouse motion when finger reaches trackpad edge" is especially neat.
It's nag shareware - costs $15 and it's definitely worth it, but will run indefinitely even if unregistered, just pops up a small nag screen upon system login or when waking up from sleep.
... in all EU countries, effective 7/7/99. IANAL, but I guess this directive had to be ratified by member countries, so the actual date may have varied. Italian government took three years to do so, YMMV. Not sure if directive applies if not ratified by your country.
The law is only valid for individual customers, not merchants. Apple, like many other manufacturers, only mentions the first year. Apparently (but again, IANAL), that's because the law actually addresses the party which sold you the item -- which may not be Apple. Apple offers to pay for the first year, the second is up to the actual vendor.
If you bought from a EU AppleStore, though, you should be able to get your assistance from Apple during the second year, too.
Suppose you speak English but live in a country where ALL movies get dubbed (even local films often get voice-overs), and released up to 8 months later than their original release. In the Italian capital and second-largest city, there are only 2 theaters screening year-old movies in their original English language, with annoying subtitles.
Suppose Blockbuster and smaller chain stores don't care to release all DVDs with their original soundtrack (not even the dubbed surround track) for rental.
How do you say NO to the dubbed, late-release shit the local industry feeds the local market? Since the iTunes Music Store opened here, I've been buying all my music -- they don't dub music here, you know...
But I reserve the right to watch movies in their original form, no matter what local market laws say.
Oh and BTW, movie tickets here are up to 8 Euros (US$ 10.89), and Blockbuster rents a DVD for 6 Euros (US$ 8.17)... Comments welcome.
How so? You have both a system-level and a user-level/Library dir which is accessible to any application. Normally, non-Microsoft apps store mainly config txt files there, but I've seen library stuff there as well.
When writing libraries (and their installers if applicable) you just need to remember to put the actual libs in/Library/MyFantasticLib (su permissions required for installation) or/Users/John/Library, and tell developers to look there for your code.
Two, you don't get the app categorized in your program menus. (Throwing every app imaginable into an application folder is horrible management)
Point taken, but not its explanation. Having apps all in the same dir is OK, and I thought it was what everyone advocated here. But I concede that a crowded Dock may look overwhelming to those coming from Windows-style Start menus. However, there are many options and (free) launchers to help you sort the mess, to the point that after 5 months now I can't stand a Start menu...
Three, not every app does it this way, they also use the installer, for which I have yet to find a way to uninstall apps installed with the installer.
True, the installers AFAIK are used to check if the program can actually run on the system, and to "optimize the system" (performing an update of the library prelinks I guess.) I have a vague memory of uninstallers, but I couldn't quite cite one. However, all installers leave a "receipt" in/Library/Receipts, with a list of all files added. These receipts are used by programs such as Desinstaller or Pacifist to clean up all files which may be still around.
Finally, the apps will still walk all over your Library directory when you run them, and they won't clean up after themselves after you drag them to the trash.
Well, at least the mess is limited to the Library dir, and stuff is usually all under a dir the same name as the program. However, I agree that Apple should address this, as the average user (especially, a Mac user) can't be bothered to sift through/Library or run Desinstaller everytime s/he deletes an app.
On a totally unrelated note, the site in your sig is fantastic.
However, they mispelled the most important quote: it's "videtur" not "viditur". That almost made my fundamental understanding of Latin crumble, and I'm not even 25...
I'm pretty sure it's a sunlight-related artifact, too, but look closely to the right half of the picture.
Around pixel x=1828, y=726 you can see a similar, roughly ring-shaped artifact. I don't think it's part of the clouds, as it would not be in direct sunlight if it was at the same distance as clouds around it.
My guess is that it's part of the flare/noise caused by sunlight coming in at a weird angle. The "main" artifact over the lamp might just be a coincidence: the artifact is almost perfectly centered in the picture.
Finally, there's more weird pixels around x=890, y=1348. Same color, much more regular shape...
Slashdot Mirror
Actually I never manage to remember episode titles of the shows I watch...
In other words, enjoy...
Ok, now I got it, and you're so very right. This show has major flaws in the reality department.
However, and without spoilers, let's just say even if that kind of detection was for real, he'd have serious problems using it in later episodes. And no, I'm not talking about his losing precious parts of his body.
That's why he went the real nerd way, and got his _detection_ elsewhere in the science lab...
What do you mean, that he's got it in his brain together with No. 6's "image"?
Spoiler may follow for American audiences (?)
They do show an actual detector later in the show, in the form of a computer attached to a microscope slide analyzer, which turns green for humans and red for Cylons, and which apparently works, however Baltar may actually use the results...
Besides, as distinctive touches go, I'll take 'frak' over octagonal form-feed paper.
That one's funny, too... Did you notice old books in the captain's library have the usual four corners, though? And also some of the envelopes on Madam "Yessir" President's desk have four sides but contain octagonal sheets of paper, heh...
However, they did go to some lengths in the stationery department... Recon photos, or the small note in which the President has written the name of the civilian ship they had to take down, they're all cut at the corners.
Punishments aren't meted out to fit crimes, they are created to compensate for enforceability.
Yeah, sure, as in massacring a dozen people in Times Square at 4 pm, then saying hello to a nearby bank's CCTV camera, and surrendering to the police.
It's a very enforceable violation of law (many witnesses, clear-cut crime), and you're very likely to get caught for it -- in fact, you turn yourself in to the cops. Are you gonna get just a couple of month, and then you're out on parole? Don't think so.
Crimes are (theoretically) punished according to the impact they cause on victims and society as a whole, those against "life" usually getting the harshest penalties. Apparently, in the United States at this time, IP violation through the Internet is deemed as more dangerous to copyright holders' interests then the theft of a single copy.
That, and the fact that lobbyists have pushed for more "glamourous" laws in order to deter other (potential) criminals, contributed to this apparent paradox. To me, actually, it doesn't look paradoxical at all, though.
If you search for Louis Vuiton (and I know /.'ers do) you should have every expectation that the ads are associated with that brand. This is not the case when Google sells the ad to a competitor.
Why? First off, you're searching in Google so you should expect to have relevant search results, not necessarily relevant ads. Ads aren't part of the service Google offers you, they're just their part of the deal. As far as the user is concerned, Google might just as well display ads for Nike sportswear upon a search for "diamond rings." It's none of the user's concerns, as long as ads aren't too obtrusive or offensive.
Hell, before AdSense, ads on a website might easily have nothing to do with the page you were viewing. Or, again, a page with a review of the latest Nvidia graphics card might have been sold to ATI weeks before it was published... Or again, think of TV: you might be enjoying a show sponsored by Coca-Cola and BANG! There goes a Pepsi commercial. Unlikely, due to network management policies, but possible -- think of the Superbowl. Would that be a violation of your supposed rights?
Secondly, it's not like the advertised products were "Louis Vuiton" (notice the single T) as opposed to "Louis Vuitton(TM)". There was no mischief involved: you are simply presented with ads from an alternative, clearly recognizable as such.
What's next in your sense of consumer justice, banning all Chevrolet cars (or just Chevrolet ads, for that matter) from the town you live in, just because you chose a Ford and we wouldn't want you to get confused as to who makes better cars?
1) Saying "sir" to a woman?!
I thought that was incredibly awkward, too, but not being an American, I thought that might be what actually happens in the States -- I couldn't immediately think of other movies/shows in which they yell "Yes, ma'am."
So, is this not how they say in the US?
rofl... Glad you brought this up, BTW...
I don't understand how "shove it up your ass" (said by Starbuck in the finale, if I'm not mistaken) exactly fits the "clean" attitude of the series. But then again, of course she was talking about the four-legged mammal...
Also, when you use that frack word exactly as you would the real one, and you use it a lot, is there a real benefit to the young American audience? I mean, would mommy not be pissed off if her kid kept telling her "I don't give a flyin' freck about the dishes!"?
As for Baltar. No judgement yet. Besides - what a horny !@#$%.
Mmmh... You bitch about flat characters and dismiss Baltar like this? Look at the way his every choice is duplicitous, and then happens to turn out for the best of the crew - or not, sometimes.
Think of the way you can never really tell when he's lying (I thought he never even began to build the Cylon detector), and think about the Cylon woman inside his head, conditioning him...
I agree that the twelve clones were a little "easy."
However, I was shocked when Boomer shot the captain - I thought she had somehow regained enough sanity to fly back to the ship. I was sure she might eventually kill herself later, but shooting the captain! That was brilliant.
The fact that the Doc chooses not to tell her she's a Cylon out of fear, and that it initially seems to be a good choice as she keeps doing her "human" job is brilliant as well, IMO.
In BG, you can never be sure whether a choice a character makes, out of whatever reason, is going to be a "good" or a "bad" one for their cause. Their behavior is so complex and the ramifications are so many...
A great show indeed.
Do we know he signed a contract?
Yes we do, as he mentions benefits, relocation bonuses and other amenities which must have come as part of contracted work. I think it's extremely more far-fetched to think that Google hires people on a verbal contract basis, than to think he signed a piece of paper, BTW.
And do we have any indication that if he did, it didn't have an "at will" clause that said he could be fired or quit for any or no reason at all?
Nope, of course. However, such a clause would be challengeable (IANAL, though.) For example, in the cases you agreed are blatantly illegal reasons for firing someone.
Also, we don't know for sure that he was fired.
That's indeed a good point but I don't see why you're participating in this discussion if you're not even willing to accept the most basic premise - that the story is actually real in its most basic form!
Hey, they are free to express their opinions just as Google is free to fire them for expressing them.
Not so easy pal, they both signed a contract and I'd like to see what's written in it.
Just because they hired him, doesn't mean they can fire him at their whim. As you may know, firing someone because of their origin or because they're HIV-positive (in workplaces where bloodshedding is not common, at least) is illegal. You can't just go around you're company and fire all employees who root for Philadelphia Eagles just because you're for Patriots and won the Superbowl Sunday.
I suppose the guy has revealed important company information, and that's why Google fired him. If Google had fired him just because they didn't like what he wrote about, say, the on-site car washer, there would have been grounds for a major lawsuit.
Writing stuff that generically "pisses off" your company may not be sufficient grounds to get fired, even from a legal point of view.
Mappy, an originally French service, has very good maps with public transportation and driving directions support. Maps are in flash, so they look smoother than usual.
.fr, .co.uk, .it, .es and .nl flavors.
Their database of local resources is pretty much empty, though, at least for Italy.
It's available in
but until somebody can offer a guarantee to protect the little guy
They did protect me though, and finely so. I filed for PayPal Buyer Protection as I had not received an item (worth ~$100) for a whole month after the successful bid.
I filled all the required information, the seller did not reply to PayPal enquiries, and I had my money back in 8 days - 2 days sooner than what they specify in the FAQ.
Actually, they were so efficient, and the seller so stupid, that a couple of weeks later I even received the package. I never knew if it was a second shipment, or a very late first shipment.
I contacted the seller and paid him again, more out of fear that I might be considered a PayPal fraudster/exploiter than out of respect for him.
One thing I noticed as I used Linux desktop environments is letter spacing (and related typographical settings in font rendering.) OS X superior looks have very much to do with the way it renders fonts, IMO, even when compared to Windows. Variables such as spacing or kern must be controlled at the OS level on the Mac, as they're often editable via the system-wide font selection tool.
I've only had very minor experiences with Gnome or KDE, but I remember the irregular, large letter spacing as the one thing that prevented the GUI from looking really polished and elegant to me.
I've seen the same thing when running X apps in OS X, both through Apple's and Xfree.org server, so I guess it's more of a X problem. This page shows a good example of lousy spacing, although IANA professional typemeister, so I can't really tell how much of this is due to the particular font used.
In any case, I see a lot of talk about system-wide anti-aliasing, vector graphics etc... in Linux but very little about improving these typographical "variables" rendering.
May I suggest Sidetrack, a trackpad driver that will let you do pretty much anything you want with your trackpad.
You can bind any and all four corners of the pad to whatever function you may need, including "simulated" mouse buttons, Exposé functions or your favorite key combos. You may set timeouts for ignoring trackpad while you type, and more. "Continue mouse motion when finger reaches trackpad edge" is especially neat.
It's nag shareware - costs $15 and it's definitely worth it, but will run indefinitely even if unregistered, just pops up a small nag screen upon system login or when waking up from sleep.
... in all EU countries, effective 7/7/99. IANAL, but I guess this directive had to be ratified by member countries, so the actual date may have varied. Italian government took three years to do so, YMMV. Not sure if directive applies if not ratified by your country.
The law is only valid for individual customers, not merchants. Apple, like many other manufacturers, only mentions the first year. Apparently (but again, IANAL), that's because the law actually addresses the party which sold you the item -- which may not be Apple. Apple offers to pay for the first year, the second is up to the actual vendor.
If you bought from a EU AppleStore, though, you should be able to get your assistance from Apple during the second year, too.
See here, esp. art. 5.
There's also another side of the matter.
Suppose you speak English but live in a country where ALL movies get dubbed (even local films often get voice-overs), and released up to 8 months later than their original release. In the Italian capital and second-largest city, there are only 2 theaters screening year-old movies in their original English language, with annoying subtitles.
Suppose Blockbuster and smaller chain stores don't care to release all DVDs with their original soundtrack (not even the dubbed surround track) for rental.
How do you say NO to the dubbed, late-release shit the local industry feeds the local market? Since the iTunes Music Store opened here, I've been buying all my music -- they don't dub music here, you know...
But I reserve the right to watch movies in their original form, no matter what local market laws say.
Oh and BTW, movie tickets here are up to 8 Euros (US$ 10.89), and Blockbuster rents a DVD for 6 Euros (US$ 8.17)... Comments welcome.
See comment before yours... Check the number of transactions against MAX_INT and fire an alarm if equal...
Or, better yet, set it to fire an alarm at [MAX_INT - (AVERAGE_NUM_OF_TRANSACTIONS_IN_ONE_MONTH)]...
That is, if it would be too costly to switch to larger variables...
One, you lose the benefit of shared libraries.
/Library dir which is accessible to any application. Normally, non-Microsoft apps store mainly config txt files there, but I've seen library stuff there as well.
/Library/MyFantasticLib (su permissions required for installation) or /Users/John/Library, and tell developers to look there for your code.
/Library/Receipts, with a list of all files added. These receipts are used by programs such as Desinstaller or Pacifist to clean up all files which may be still around.
/Library or run Desinstaller everytime s/he deletes an app.
How so? You have both a system-level and a user-level
When writing libraries (and their installers if applicable) you just need to remember to put the actual libs in
Two, you don't get the app categorized in your program menus. (Throwing every app imaginable into an application folder is horrible management)
Point taken, but not its explanation. Having apps all in the same dir is OK, and I thought it was what everyone advocated here. But I concede that a crowded Dock may look overwhelming to those coming from Windows-style Start menus. However, there are many options and (free) launchers to help you sort the mess, to the point that after 5 months now I can't stand a Start menu...
Three, not every app does it this way, they also use the installer, for which I have yet to find a way to uninstall apps installed with the installer.
True, the installers AFAIK are used to check if the program can actually run on the system, and to "optimize the system" (performing an update of the library prelinks I guess.) I have a vague memory of uninstallers, but I couldn't quite cite one. However, all installers leave a "receipt" in
Finally, the apps will still walk all over your Library directory when you run them, and they won't clean up after themselves after you drag them to the trash.
Well, at least the mess is limited to the Library dir, and stuff is usually all under a dir the same name as the program. However, I agree that Apple should address this, as the average user (especially, a Mac user) can't be bothered to sift through
The .app container file is seen by the (UNIX-like) shell as a directory (application.app) containing the actual app files.
.app dir will automate the installation just fine.
A recursive copy/move of the
Map service URLs to be sent over email were one of the main reasons for my discovery of SnipURL.com.
Then I found out in Pennsylvania, only old people click URLs in emails.
In case you'd like to speak in Japanese (UTF-8) over MSN, Adium for OS X reads fine on MSN Messenger clients, and viceversa.
On a totally unrelated note, the site in your sig is fantastic.
However, they mispelled the most important quote: it's "videtur" not "viditur". That almost made my fundamental understanding of Latin crumble, and I'm not even 25...
I'm pretty sure it's a sunlight-related artifact, too, but look closely to the right half of the picture.
Around pixel x=1828, y=726 you can see a similar, roughly ring-shaped artifact. I don't think it's part of the clouds, as it would not be in direct sunlight if it was at the same distance as clouds around it.
My guess is that it's part of the flare/noise caused by sunlight coming in at a weird angle. The "main" artifact over the lamp might just be a coincidence: the artifact is almost perfectly centered in the picture.
Finally, there's more weird pixels around x=890, y=1348. Same color, much more regular shape...