If I agree to pay a certain about, for a certain service, and they provide that service as advertised, why exactly am I supposed to feel any obligation to tip the person doing their job in an adequate manner?
About 5 years ago I switched from corded headphones to bluetooth when in the first week of a gym membership I destroyed 2 headphone cords by getting them caught on equipment.
I would never look back now. BT is by far a better solution.
Among other things I get 6 cases (12 ea) of SoBe LifeWater, and 3 cases of Ocean Spray Pact water delivered, because it's easier than going to the store myself. Getting them brought nearly all the way home, a variety of flavors, and a good price. It's a clear win for me.
Every month I am amazed at what stupid new tricks Amazon comes up with to make sure they lose money on the transaction. Aren't they supposed to be logistics geniuses? The order I get from them is routinely split into multiple shipments, sometimes multiple shipments on the same day, from the same Amazon warehouse 10 miles away. The most recent order included 2 of the cases being shipped via UPS instead of Amazon delivery even. That can't have been profitable.
I remember several years back, someone was working on running a new fiber cable between Chi and NY, that was a literal straight line. Or as straight as absolutely possible, in order to shave milliseconds off of communication times between the cities.
A year or two back I posted a review of a food truck that was positive about the product, but negative about some of the business practices of the truck. The vendor complained to Yelp, and they pulled the review because it wasn't just about the product itself. Business practices matter as well, at least they should. And the ease that the vendor had in getting a negative review turfed tells me that nothing on Yelp is to be trusted at all.
A season is a 1/4 trip around the sun. He got all the episodes available in that season. What he thought he was buying was Series 5 not season 5. Like how the british TV is named.
When they started "season 5" they said it was going to be in 2 halves, they've always referred to the last 8 episodes as being part of Season 5. So if someone bought a "season pass" for 5, they should have expected to get ALL of season 5.
At least people that bought the DVD/BluRay from Amazon could see exactly what they were getting, when they ordered the "season 5" disc. It clearly didn't have the second half of season 5 included.
I saw NIN in concert last summer at Shoreline in Mountain View, CA. And about 20min into the set, security came, and escorted me to the coat check area, and made me surrender my digital camera till the end of the show. It was the ONLY show I went to all summer at that venue that no cameras was the policy. The venue itself doesn't have a policy at all. But the artists can have that as a restriction for their tour.
Nope. The law forbids them from raising the prices in California to make up for said cost, so in reality the cost will be borne by oil users in all the US, not just CA. This actually subsidizes the cost for CA residents at the expense of everyone else, a smart move on their part.
Lets see, it's absolutely impossible to say what the cause of a price increase is, in absolute terms. So as long as the producer doesn't raise prices by an equivalent amount the day the law takes effect, then they're off scott free pretty much.
I have an iTunes library with about 11,000 tracks in it. Every single one of which I ripped using CDEX. When I got my iPod for xMas last year it was given with a $10 iTunes gift card which is still sitting unused in my wallet almost a year later. Since the inception of iTunes, et al, I have bought (leased/rented/borrowed) exactly 1 track. And I used the free code from a slurpee cup to get it. I like CD's as a format, I've still got every CD that I ripped for my collection, just in case (god forbid) I ever have to re-rip them.
I use Windows Media Player to watch TV Shows that I recorded using Snapstream on another machine. I've got a 6 tuner box, that I use to grab every show I'm even thinking about watching someday. Straight MPG files. They play just fine in WMP, so that's what I use.
So go nuts w/ the DRM stupidity MS. You're not gonna lose me as a customer, since there was never any danger of getting me as one.
And if you happen to piss off some existing customers, and build more demand for non-DRM solutions. In the meantime, I'll just keep on cruising along w/o all the annoyances.
If you disagree w/ the model that the RIAA operates under, and you remove yourself from their economic sphere, it won't matter AT ALL how many laws they pass.
If you will never, ever, ever buy, listen, admire the cover art of an RIAA CD, then who cares what kinds of restrictions are on it. If you're never going to get within 10 feet of it, who cares whether or not you can copy it, etc?
Kinda like for me, with cigarettes. They can slap a $1000/stick tax on them. And make it a criminal offense to stub one out to finish later. It will have exactly 0 effect on me. Because I don't have any business in any way with the tobacco industry.
Not an ideal comparison, but the best I can do on short notice.
As it stands now, there are some movies where people will go see them in the theatre rather than wait 3mo for the DVD.
But if you condense it down to a month, or less, then you'll lose those customers. If I know I can see it at home if I just wait 2 more weeks, there is FAR less incentive to go to the theatre for alot of movies.
Hell, as it stands I never go anyhow. It's been months since I went to a theatre.
The "beauty" of the proposition system in Calif, is that the voters can create laws without the involvement of the Legislature of the governator.
The good news is that you can get stuff done, that the big bucks special interest types might otherwise oppose.
The bad news is that with a little spit, polish, and a marketing campaign you can blow smoke up peoples asses till they feel all warm inside, and will vote for just about anything.
So now we have 2 paths for creating laws. Corrupt politicians, or stupid voters.
All that has *EVER* been banned, is federal funding of research. If there are so many promising avenues out there, just begging to be investigated, so they can yield fabulous, cheap treatments, then private reseach, funded by private dollars will find them.
Anyone that thinks that a government operation funded by someone elses money can make more rational decisions that a private company investing it's hard earned $$ needs to have their head examined.
If the market says that it's a losing bet, I don't want to fund that bet w/ my tax dollars instead. Unfortunately, my fellow voters in this state, aren't as smart.
I'm a fairly well informed Californian, who voted against this measure. It was a boondoggle from the get go. And only gets worse with time.
I voted against the measure for one simple, obvious fact. The supporters sold this to the state as a moneymaker. That it was a "can't lose" "investment" and that any research that was commercialized would send money back to the state, more than sufficient to repay the bonds, etc. Of course if that was the case, and that there was tons of medical cash to be made. Then private companies would already be funding this research.
Basically, *ANY* sure fire, guaranteed investment, where there our outsized returns that are 100% guaranteed is going to have people lined up around the block to get in on it. And the State has no need to float a massive bond to fund it. The market will throw money at anything even remotely like that.
So the basic premise that the measure was sold to the voters on, was a blatant lie. There's never been any guarantee at all that the taxpayers of Calif wouldn't be on the hook for the whole 3 Billion.
And since the measure was passed, it's only gotten to be less of a deal for the residents of Calif.
The part that the article referenced neglected to mention. Is that there are now some questions about the legality of the measure as it was passed. Specifically, now that they have all the $$ they wanted, they have discovered a tax issue. In order for the bonds to be issued as tax-free issues, then the state can't use the monies in profit making enterprises. So the State can't compel the grant recipients to pay the state back, no matter how much the generate in revenue from the discoveries that the taxpayers are now funding for them. And apparently the legal/tax ramifications of all of that were made clear to the primary boosters of the measure *before* the election. And they just neglected to mention that to the voters at all. They just kept selling how it was a "sure thing" investment. And the bonds are FAR less appealing in the market, and FAR more expensive to issue, if they aren't tax free bonds.
Anytime anyone tells you they have a sure fire investment, guaranteed to make you rich beyond your wildest dreams, RUN the other way, tightly clutching your wallet. A lesson that the state will be learning the hard way, this time around.
And particularly so, when they are operating on such a shoestring budget that they can't afford to spellcheck the release.
If they're overlooking something obvious like that, what else are they forgetting?
From the second paragraph: "In this phase of testing, conducted earlier this month in Arizona, LiftPort successfully launched an observation and communication platform a full mile in the air and maintained it in a stationery position for more than six hours while robotic lifters climbed up and down a ribbon attached to the platform."
We can, and already do make lower powered machines
on
A Kilowatt of Power
·
· Score: 1
The problem is that nobody wants them.
There are all sorts of low powered options out there. But you can't play Quake on them, and they don't run Windows. So they aren't sold into markets (home users) where nobody will buy them.
The staggering computational power of a modern machine goes hand in hand with the staggering amounts of power they are consuming now.
Slashdot Mirror
That doesn't sound like much of a solution for anything.
The only way you're going to get what you want, is if you stay offline, and cancel your TV service.
Don't let the door hit you on your way out.
Nobody is obliging you to spend hours online viewing them.
Just try putting content on the web behind a paywall, and just imagine the screams of outrage.
One wonders how they expect everything on the web to get paid for...
If I agree to pay a certain about, for a certain service, and they provide that service as advertised, why exactly am I supposed to feel any obligation to tip the person doing their job in an adequate manner?
About 5 years ago I switched from corded headphones to bluetooth when in the first week of a gym membership I destroyed 2 headphone cords by getting them caught on equipment.
I would never look back now. BT is by far a better solution.
Among other things I get 6 cases (12 ea) of SoBe LifeWater, and 3 cases of Ocean Spray Pact water delivered, because it's easier than going to the store myself. Getting them brought nearly all the way home, a variety of flavors, and a good price. It's a clear win for me.
Every month I am amazed at what stupid new tricks Amazon comes up with to make sure they lose money on the transaction. Aren't they supposed to be logistics geniuses? The order I get from them is routinely split into multiple shipments, sometimes multiple shipments on the same day, from the same Amazon warehouse 10 miles away. The most recent order included 2 of the cases being shipped via UPS instead of Amazon delivery even. That can't have been profitable.
That fine is so small, it could be paid of of petty cash at a startup.
I remember several years back, someone was working on running a new fiber cable between Chi and NY, that was a literal straight line. Or as straight as absolutely possible, in order to shave milliseconds off of communication times between the cities.
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0927/outfront-netscape-jim-barksdale-daniel-spivey-wall-street-speed-war.html
I'm sure the race to shave times hasn't slowed, since 2010.
A year or two back I posted a review of a food truck that was positive about the product, but negative about some of the business practices of the truck. The vendor complained to Yelp, and they pulled the review because it wasn't just about the product itself. Business practices matter as well, at least they should. And the ease that the vendor had in getting a negative review turfed tells me that nothing on Yelp is to be trusted at all.
A season is a 1/4 trip around the sun. He got all the episodes available in that season. What he thought he was buying was Series 5 not season 5. Like how the british TV is named.
When they started "season 5" they said it was going to be in 2 halves, they've always referred to the last 8 episodes as being part of Season 5. So if someone bought a "season pass" for 5, they should have expected to get ALL of season 5.
At least people that bought the DVD/BluRay from Amazon could see exactly what they were getting, when they ordered the "season 5" disc. It clearly didn't have the second half of season 5 included.
The 3d doesn't actually add ANYTHING over a flat map, sadly. :(
I saw NIN in concert last summer at Shoreline in Mountain View, CA. And about 20min into the set, security came, and escorted me to the coat check area, and made me surrender my digital camera till the end of the show. It was the ONLY show I went to all summer at that venue that no cameras was the policy. The venue itself doesn't have a policy at all. But the artists can have that as a restriction for their tour.
Nope. The law forbids them from raising the prices in California to make up for said cost, so in reality the cost will be borne by oil users in all the US, not just CA. This actually subsidizes the cost for CA residents at the expense of everyone else, a smart move on their part.
Lets see, it's absolutely impossible to say what the cause of a price increase is, in absolute terms. So as long as the producer doesn't raise prices by an equivalent amount the day the law takes effect, then they're off scott free pretty much.
And I am in the MSWin camp, as a user.
I have an iTunes library with about 11,000 tracks in it. Every single one of which I ripped using CDEX. When I got my iPod for xMas last year it was given with a $10 iTunes gift card which is still sitting unused in my wallet almost a year later. Since the inception of iTunes, et al, I have bought (leased/rented/borrowed) exactly 1 track. And I used the free code from a slurpee cup to get it. I like CD's as a format, I've still got every CD that I ripped for my collection, just in case (god forbid) I ever have to re-rip them.
I use Windows Media Player to watch TV Shows that I recorded using Snapstream on another machine. I've got a 6 tuner box, that I use to grab every show I'm even thinking about watching someday. Straight MPG files. They play just fine in WMP, so that's what I use.
So go nuts w/ the DRM stupidity MS. You're not gonna lose me as a customer, since there was never any danger of getting me as one.
And if you happen to piss off some existing customers, and build more demand for non-DRM solutions. In the meantime, I'll just keep on cruising along w/o all the annoyances.
http://www.scifi.com/dresdenfiles/
:)
It's due in January, at last word. Hopefully it will be good.
I saw a blurb somewhere about the show, and that's how I got into the books. And I'm damn glad I did.
And coming in the Spring the Harry Dresden tv show.
It's still out there, but anyone that thought it was really gonna be mainstream, is a dolt, I'd say.
You misunderstand the point of his thesis.
If you disagree w/ the model that the RIAA operates under, and you remove yourself from their economic sphere, it won't matter AT ALL how many laws they pass.
If you will never, ever, ever buy, listen, admire the cover art of an RIAA CD, then who cares what kinds of restrictions are on it. If you're never going to get within 10 feet of it, who cares whether or not you can copy it, etc?
Kinda like for me, with cigarettes. They can slap a $1000/stick tax on them. And make it a criminal offense to stub one out to finish later. It will have exactly 0 effect on me. Because I don't have any business in any way with the tobacco industry.
Not an ideal comparison, but the best I can do on short notice.
That's not quite the case.
As it stands now, there are some movies where people will go see them in the theatre rather than wait 3mo for the DVD.
But if you condense it down to a month, or less, then you'll lose those customers. If I know I can see it at home if I just wait 2 more weeks, there is FAR less incentive to go to the theatre for alot of movies.
Hell, as it stands I never go anyhow. It's been months since I went to a theatre.
The "beauty" of the proposition system in Calif, is that the voters can create laws without the involvement of the Legislature of the governator.
The good news is that you can get stuff done, that the big bucks special interest types might otherwise oppose.
The bad news is that with a little spit, polish, and a marketing campaign you can blow smoke up peoples asses till they feel all warm inside, and will vote for just about anything.
So now we have 2 paths for creating laws. Corrupt politicians, or stupid voters.
Can I take door #3 please? Pretty please?
All that has *EVER* been banned, is federal funding of research. If there are so many promising avenues out there, just begging to be investigated, so they can yield fabulous, cheap treatments, then private reseach, funded by private dollars will find them.
Anyone that thinks that a government operation funded by someone elses money can make more rational decisions that a private company investing it's hard earned $$ needs to have their head examined.
If the market says that it's a losing bet, I don't want to fund that bet w/ my tax dollars instead. Unfortunately, my fellow voters in this state, aren't as smart.
I'm a fairly well informed Californian, who voted against this measure. It was a boondoggle from the get go. And only gets worse with time.
I voted against the measure for one simple, obvious fact. The supporters sold this to the state as a moneymaker. That it was a "can't lose" "investment" and that any research that was commercialized would send money back to the state, more than sufficient to repay the bonds, etc. Of course if that was the case, and that there was tons of medical cash to be made. Then private companies would already be funding this research.
Basically, *ANY* sure fire, guaranteed investment, where there our outsized returns that are 100% guaranteed is going to have people lined up around the block to get in on it. And the State has no need to float a massive bond to fund it. The market will throw money at anything even remotely like that.
So the basic premise that the measure was sold to the voters on, was a blatant lie. There's never been any guarantee at all that the taxpayers of Calif wouldn't be on the hook for the whole 3 Billion.
And since the measure was passed, it's only gotten to be less of a deal for the residents of Calif.
The part that the article referenced neglected to mention. Is that there are now some questions about the legality of the measure as it was passed. Specifically, now that they have all the $$ they wanted, they have discovered a tax issue. In order for the bonds to be issued as tax-free issues, then the state can't use the monies in profit making enterprises. So the State can't compel the grant recipients to pay the state back, no matter how much the generate in revenue from the discoveries that the taxpayers are now funding for them. And apparently the legal/tax ramifications of all of that were made clear to the primary boosters of the measure *before* the election. And they just neglected to mention that to the voters at all. They just kept selling how it was a "sure thing" investment. And the bonds are FAR less appealing in the market, and FAR more expensive to issue, if they aren't tax free bonds.
Anytime anyone tells you they have a sure fire investment, guaranteed to make you rich beyond your wildest dreams, RUN the other way, tightly clutching your wallet. A lesson that the state will be learning the hard way, this time around.
And particularly so, when they are operating on such a shoestring budget that they can't afford to spellcheck the release.
If they're overlooking something obvious like that, what else are they forgetting?
From the second paragraph:
"In this phase of testing, conducted earlier this month in Arizona, LiftPort successfully launched an observation and communication platform a full mile in the air and maintained it in a stationery position for more than six hours while robotic lifters climbed up and down a ribbon attached to the platform."
The problem is that nobody wants them.
There are all sorts of low powered options out there. But you can't play Quake on them, and they don't run Windows. So they aren't sold into markets (home users) where nobody will buy them.
The staggering computational power of a modern machine goes hand in hand with the staggering amounts of power they are consuming now.
Between High speed USB and Firewire. And since the USB port is FAR more common on PC's still, it's probably a better solution to advertise, etc.
The througputs on either one, is going to be more than sufficient.