So do they use voice recognition, or is there an operator listening to your request and conducting the search, then letting a computer speak the phone number?
Is anyone familiar with Canada's telephone directory assistance? Does it use voice recognition or is there an operator that listens to what you say?
I was in Toronto in 2000 and had to call directory assistance. I remember using a pay phone to call, and there was no charge (unlike the US). The system asked me for the listing, and within seconds I was given the number I needed. I don't see how any human could have given me the results that fast.
It's the media that defines what is right and wrong.
Do you want to know what the latest fashions are? Go read Maxim and FHM. If you're not a clone of those dork models in the fashion section, then you have no sense of style.
or they are addicted to food (carbohydrates, mostly)
Carbs aren't necessarily bad for you. Your body needs carbs, just not too many of them. In my opinion, it's sugars that make people fat.
Both of my grandparents are overweight. My grandfather isn't wide, but has a monster pot belly. My grandmother is wide, somewhere around 250lbs. This obesity is certainly not genetic as my mother and all her 5' tall sisters can barely keep their weight over 100. It's mostly caused by the diet. My grandmother and grandfather eat like hogs, and every meal is loaded with butter and sugar. She has a ton of health problems for which she takes an assortment of daily pills.
My other grandmother is 72 years old and in excellent shape. She walks 3-5 miles a day and has no health problems whatsoever. She regularly gets outside for her daily walks and eats mostly good food, with the exception of ice cream which I just found out is an addiction that runs in the family.
How did an article about burning scrotums lead to discussions about fat people?
Birth control (ie "the pill") is only 98% effective.
I thought it was something a little over 99%, meaning a few people out of every thousand may get pregnant. Does that take into consideration people who don't use it properly (take it exactly at the same time every single day), or is that percentage only people who use it properly?
Statisctically, does a 99% effective rate mean mean that one out of every 100 times you have intercourse a woman will become pregnant? I know of plenty of women who use the pill and have never become pregnant over many years.
I guess slashdot might be the wrong place for these questions.... now if you'll excuse me I need to go cool off. My scrotum is on fire.
In my original response, I meant to say that I'd be surprised if one out of ten households was offended by the superbowl mishap. In fact, I'd be surprised if one out of 1000 was offended.
LA isn't all Reagan Country. South Orange County is where it gets really bad. (W'04 on EVERY single suburban, escalade, excursion, expedition, cayenne, H2, etc.)
I live in Torrance, which can be considered
"Reagan Country" because there are a large number of corporations who do business in Torrance (Honda, Toyota, Honeywell, ExxonMobil, and many others) but between Torrance and Irvine it's fairly open minded. The farther inland you go the more that changes.
Another textbook example of hypocrisy. RNC Delegates openly going to strip clubs, looking for extra 'favors'. Are these the same Republicans who are trying to close pr0n shops and strip clubs in their home states?
So sporting events don't get a V-Chip rating? Most sporting events I've seen are pretty violent. Just look at the recent Detroit-Indiana basketball game (not a basketball fan but I read the news), or one of the many baseball games where the benches were cleared. Hockey anyone?
3. The material, taken as a whole, must lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
The superbowl halftime incident didn't lack any artistic value. Didn't anyone from the FCC see that? The little star thing covering Janet Jackson's nipple was pretty artistic, as was the entire performance.
When I was in college, our radio station's training guide laid out the rules of indecency Avoid George Carlin's Seven Dirty Words: Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker and Tits.
I don't think it was meant to be taken literally though. I remember as a kid watching "Salute Your Shorts" on Nickelodeon where Sponge was stumped on a trivia question and said "I'm pissed off because I don't know the answer!" Didn't U2's Boner get away with saying "This is really fucking great" on TV and the FCC didn't do anything about it? I would like to see SouthPark do an episode about the uses of the "F" word.
The whole problem with the indecency rules is that they're not strictly defined. Whether or not something is indecent is purely subjective. I'm not knocking any Christians (I'm one myself) but these ultra-conservative moral police Christians shouldn't forget something very important: "Judge not, lest ye be judged."
It seems obvious to most of us here that these special interest groups are a minority, but are they really? The religious right had an extremely important influence this past November, and it seems to me these same people are involved with these various 'I want to change the world' groups.
I would think that there's a HUGE number of people who don't give a rat's ass about whether Howard Stern talks about Sex, or if part of Janet Jackson's boob pops out (I'm bummed because I didn't get to see any nipple!). My theory is that the people who don't get offended by these antics have more important things to do with their time than sit around and complain how the world around us is indecent.
I find it ironic that the Parents Television Council is based in Los Angeles. We all know what multi billion dollar a year industry is based in the San Fernando Valley.
Los Angeles is a fairly open minded city, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that one out of ten LA households didn't mind the superbowl 'wardrobe mishap' at all.
I also have an i560. When you use the highest quality print settings and the Canon photographic paper, the results are amazing for such a low cost printer.
Where do you get the non-canon cartridges for $2?
When it comes to standard 4x6 or 5x7 photos, it's more cost effective for me to go to the local drugstores. There's always some store running a special for digital photo prints around 10 cents each.
I've seen many cases of this. I went to a boarding school (High School) and was friends with many international students. A majority of them went on to attend top universities in the USA. Unfortunately most are back in their home countries due to their inability to obtain a job or visa. 9-11 had a big impact.
I remember thinking it would be so cool to use that to play Punch Out. Unfortunately it was so friggin sensitive that you had to strain your arm to keep it centered, and any slight move would make it go crazy!
Now, I let my 2 year old nephew play with it when he comes to visit and he loves it (not hooked up to the Nintendo though).
I remember seeing a slashdot comment on the thread about the Hi-Def DVD format wars about how China openly steals ideas that are protected by US and Japanese patents then assigns them Chinese patents.
Is there any way to crack down on this international IP infringement? Can the manufacturers of products using stolen intellectual property be forbidden to sell/export their product to the USA?
This reminds me about and article I recently read about a Jeep made by Mitsubishi during WWII. The Japanese got their hands on a captured Aerican Jeep and instantly fell in love with it. It said "WILLYS" on the front and "MITSUBISHI" on the side. I believe after WWII several companies were granted permission (a license?) to legally manufacture these vehicles.
This is interesting, but not nearly as bad as the Russians. One of my favorite stories (though I can't verify it) is about Russians copying a toy model of a Submarine. They built a full scale submarine based on a plastic toy. They included a part on the bottom of the submarine which no one could explain what it's purpose was. It turns out the part was designed for the model's stand to be attached to!
What exactly is the benefit of having top notch international graduate students? Is it because most (if not all) grad students do good technical research that the universities get credit for?
At my nerdy school, I think over 75% of the students in the ECE and CS departments were international. The remaining 25% dressed in black and smelled funny.
I would agree the the Star-Tac is still one of the best phones in terms of quality and durability.
I had a black Star-Tac (CDMA) through Sprint and it was amazing. I went and bought a Timeport (Star-Tac lookalike that felt like it was made by Fisher Price) which ended up breaking. When that broke, I switched back to the old StarTac which worked fine until my wife lost it.
I currently have a fancy Sanyo, however it has more features than I need (it was free after signing 2 years of my life away to Sprint). The phone companies love to advertise their feature-loaded phones, however what they don't tell you is how much the extra services cost.
The only thing that I sort of like are polyphonic ringers. I enjoy the Super Mario Brothers theme song and the CHiPs theme song.
Slashdot Mirror
I prefer General Tso's Spam ...still haven't posted anything 'insightful' in three months as a registered slashdot user
So do they use voice recognition, or is there an operator listening to your request and conducting the search, then letting a computer speak the phone number?
I was in Toronto in 2000 and had to call directory assistance. I remember using a pay phone to call, and there was no charge (unlike the US). The system asked me for the listing, and within seconds I was given the number I needed. I don't see how any human could have given me the results that fast.
Do you want to know what the latest fashions are? Go read Maxim and FHM. If you're not a clone of those dork models in the fashion section, then you have no sense of style.
Carbs aren't necessarily bad for you. Your body needs carbs, just not too many of them. In my opinion, it's sugars that make people fat.
Both of my grandparents are overweight. My grandfather isn't wide, but has a monster pot belly. My grandmother is wide, somewhere around 250lbs. This obesity is certainly not genetic as my mother and all her 5' tall sisters can barely keep their weight over 100. It's mostly caused by the diet. My grandmother and grandfather eat like hogs, and every meal is loaded with butter and sugar. She has a ton of health problems for which she takes an assortment of daily pills.
My other grandmother is 72 years old and in excellent shape. She walks 3-5 miles a day and has no health problems whatsoever. She regularly gets outside for her daily walks and eats mostly good food, with the exception of ice cream which I just found out is an addiction that runs in the family.
How did an article about burning scrotums lead to discussions about fat people?
I thought it was something a little over 99%, meaning a few people out of every thousand may get pregnant. Does that take into consideration people who don't use it properly (take it exactly at the same time every single day), or is that percentage only people who use it properly?
Statisctically, does a 99% effective rate mean mean that one out of every 100 times you have intercourse a woman will become pregnant? I know of plenty of women who use the pill and have never become pregnant over many years.
I guess slashdot might be the wrong place for these questions.... now if you'll excuse me I need to go cool off. My scrotum is on fire.
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LA isn't all Reagan Country. South Orange County is where it gets really bad. (W'04 on EVERY single suburban, escalade, excursion, expedition, cayenne, H2, etc.)
I live in Torrance, which can be considered "Reagan Country" because there are a large number of corporations who do business in Torrance (Honda, Toyota, Honeywell, ExxonMobil, and many others) but between Torrance and Irvine it's fairly open minded. The farther inland you go the more that changes.
BTW, I am a republican for the most part. I get bothered by this Pro-Life issue however... and the party arrogance... and the hypocrisy.
http://www.villagevoice.com/blogs/stripclub/
Another textbook example of hypocrisy. RNC Delegates openly going to strip clubs, looking for extra 'favors'. Are these the same Republicans who are trying to close pr0n shops and strip clubs in their home states?
So sporting events don't get a V-Chip rating? Most sporting events I've seen are pretty violent. Just look at the recent Detroit-Indiana basketball game (not a basketball fan but I read the news), or one of the many baseball games where the benches were cleared. Hockey anyone?
The superbowl halftime incident didn't lack any artistic value. Didn't anyone from the FCC see that? The little star thing covering Janet Jackson's nipple was pretty artistic, as was the entire performance.
I don't think it was meant to be taken literally though. I remember as a kid watching "Salute Your Shorts" on Nickelodeon where Sponge was stumped on a trivia question and said "I'm pissed off because I don't know the answer!" Didn't U2's Boner get away with saying "This is really fucking great" on TV and the FCC didn't do anything about it? I would like to see SouthPark do an episode about the uses of the "F" word.
The whole problem with the indecency rules is that they're not strictly defined. Whether or not something is indecent is purely subjective. I'm not knocking any Christians (I'm one myself) but these ultra-conservative moral police Christians shouldn't forget something very important: "Judge not, lest ye be judged."
I would think that there's a HUGE number of people who don't give a rat's ass about whether Howard Stern talks about Sex, or if part of Janet Jackson's boob pops out (I'm bummed because I didn't get to see any nipple!). My theory is that the people who don't get offended by these antics have more important things to do with their time than sit around and complain how the world around us is indecent.
Los Angeles is a fairly open minded city, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that one out of ten LA households didn't mind the superbowl 'wardrobe mishap' at all.
Where do you get the non-canon cartridges for $2?
When it comes to standard 4x6 or 5x7 photos, it's more cost effective for me to go to the local drugstores. There's always some store running a special for digital photo prints around 10 cents each.
I've seen many cases of this. I went to a boarding school (High School) and was friends with many international students. A majority of them went on to attend top universities in the USA. Unfortunately most are back in their home countries due to their inability to obtain a job or visa. 9-11 had a big impact.
I remember thinking it would be so cool to use that to play Punch Out. Unfortunately it was so friggin sensitive that you had to strain your arm to keep it centered, and any slight move would make it go crazy! Now, I let my 2 year old nephew play with it when he comes to visit and he loves it (not hooked up to the Nintendo though).
Have you ever seen what happens to a LCD in cold weather? The response time is terrible.
Is there any way to crack down on this international IP infringement? Can the manufacturers of products using stolen intellectual property be forbidden to sell/export their product to the USA?
This reminds me about and article I recently read about a Jeep made by Mitsubishi during WWII. The Japanese got their hands on a captured Aerican Jeep and instantly fell in love with it. It said "WILLYS" on the front and "MITSUBISHI" on the side. I believe after WWII several companies were granted permission (a license?) to legally manufacture these vehicles.
This is interesting, but not nearly as bad as the Russians. One of my favorite stories (though I can't verify it) is about Russians copying a toy model of a Submarine. They built a full scale submarine based on a plastic toy. They included a part on the bottom of the submarine which no one could explain what it's purpose was. It turns out the part was designed for the model's stand to be attached to!
At my nerdy school, I think over 75% of the students in the ECE and CS departments were international. The remaining 25% dressed in black and smelled funny.
I had a black Star-Tac (CDMA) through Sprint and it was amazing. I went and bought a Timeport (Star-Tac lookalike that felt like it was made by Fisher Price) which ended up breaking. When that broke, I switched back to the old StarTac which worked fine until my wife lost it.
I currently have a fancy Sanyo, however it has more features than I need (it was free after signing 2 years of my life away to Sprint). The phone companies love to advertise their feature-loaded phones, however what they don't tell you is how much the extra services cost.
The only thing that I sort of like are polyphonic ringers. I enjoy the Super Mario Brothers theme song and the CHiPs theme song.
Does the 'p' stand for PROGRESSIVE?
(I'm too lazy to look it up on my own, as I've been awake for the past 48 hours with 14 of them spent in an airplane over the Pacific)