The mono needle would play the stereo record, but the disc gets permanently damaged, the mono needle usually being too dull for the delicate stereo groove.
So if you got old stuff, don't try it. A mono record is usually no problem for a stereo pickup though.
Try pm-suspend-hybrid, this will initiate a normal hibernate: copy ram to disk as usual, but at the end it won't shutdown, but go into suspend. Result: If you come back, its instant on; but if the power ran out or was unplugged, your state is still saved and you return from hibernation.
People still unplug their stuff or let the batteries run out so don't expect that scenario until a memory technology that keeps its state without power (such as mram) becomes the norm.
Both sc1 and sc2 were lots of fun to play with another person. At least the PC/DOS game.
Unfortunately sc2 for 3do had "smooth zoom", which ruined the Ilrwrath ship. Thankfully, they added a "pc" switch to ur-quan masters (the open sourced edition).
A brand means nothing if the authors are not there. You know, the guys who open sourced the game as "Ur-Quan Masters" because only the brand did not belong to them...
And yes, i played the three Star Control games. 2 was the best, period. Since the second game was open sourced, its probably in the repository of your favorite distro.
If you stick to open, non DRM formats, there is no reason you can't read your books again, no matter the device you choose.
People have already done it with music in digital format, text is even easier. The epub format for example.
There are many ereaders without any sort of connectivity, no wifi or any other nonsense, just an usb cable and its recognized as a simple USB mass device (like a thumb drive), and some even take flash cards or such. Most of these can read the open formats perfectly.
The ereader is not an electronic book. It is an electronic LIBRARY. There is just no comparison. People often imagine themselves carrying a book, or the device... But the device is not a single book, it is tons of them, BUILDINGS of them. I mean, come on, a typical book is about 5mb, and the "pocket" ereader with 5" pearl white eink screen i use comes with 2gb of storage...
Backup? The same as with any other 2gb thumb drive.
Carrying more than 3 physical books is problematic, let alone thousands of them. You can now have the complete works ever written by somebody or from a subject. Also the device often allows you to search, just type the word or phrase and there it is!
Physical books can last a lot but they can also deteriorate, especially with public use and abuse; and, often works are never published again. With digital, nothing needs to be lost ever.
Remember, one of the oldest libraries was burnt down by American troops in Baghdad, the oldest known remaining human writings were lost forever and only digital pictures remain... You can go back in history to find again and again how libraries and writings of all forms were burnt down and lost.
Books are nice but fragile, and heavy, and impractical and time consuming to reproduce, and prone to idiots burning them. And in the rare situation you needed one, you can always print it back to deadtree format. So, various loads of trucks when you move, or a small and compact ereader?
The ereader might not be the answer for bookshops (unless they learn to sell books without DRM, like some did with mp3); but the age of libraries in the hands of everyone is already here.
Of course obsolete business models and copyright law might not stand it, but the fact won't change, the genie is out.
As for libraries, they have a limited number of copies, and limited working hours. IMO they should dedicate themselves to preserve physical books in controlled conditions and make sure there is a digital copy of everything, correct mistakes etc. People would no longer need a library card, just give everyone a reader with the whole thing, or at least a thumb drive or let people bring their own so they copy all they want to read at home.
Sooner than later all libraries should sync with each other, and people with them. There is no reason some have books others don't, at least not in digital form, yes, all languages, all subjects.
This is mundane compared to the stuff being done already with video and music.
I believe Bose speakers are factory equalized. I have read people say they are simple cheap speakers but equalized, which too many people fail to do, so they are paying to have someone do it for them when buying the Bose brand.
In theory we should all try to aim for a flat eq response, which is what sound engineers do to their monitors in studio. I don't think that's what Bose eq aims but i could be wrong.
People sometimes think flat eq is "boring", but that its actually what the sound engineer wanted it to sound like, so "boring" or "exciting" will depend on the mastering (for studio) or fidelity when recording a live performance.
Of course with the loudness war of the last decade it's rather hard to find good material to listen to in the first place.
"Health care is the same or worse than it was 15 years ago"
Only in the private sector, not in the Cuban-Venezuelan program "Barrio Adentro", simply the best medical attention can be obtained there for free. This mission was made to bypass the unwillingness of Venezuelan medics to aid the poor, but it ended surpassing the most expensive clinics, so much even wealthy people end going there, especially after the private medicine dries them dry and they have sold their last property trying to stay in a private clinic.
The fixed exchange was a direct result of the opposition sabotage to the economy in 2003. While I'm not personally in favor, it is true that if the opposition behaved back then, we wouldn't have it today. So i blame them entirely for it. The only way out now is the Sucre, our future regional coin.
You cannot choose a worse timing to talk about corruption, when right now very high officials are being detained for this. Maduro is clearly showing a no corruption policy, within his limited powers. He is, after all, the executive, not the judiciary branch, which is were most of the corruption still exists.
But yes i know, you are so used to repeat like a parrot the lies you and the opposition invented so many times, it's pointless to show you facts, as you'd rather cover your eyes instead than facing truths.
So what if they visit other countries? President Chavez brought up international relations with the world like no other leader did for Venezuela in history. So what if the US relations went down? Instead, relations with the entire world went up. The way USA behaves towards us made that an obvious outcome, if any country tries to be friends with another, it will lower their relation with USA. The USA doesn't like you trading with others, period.
So President Chavez brought up the nearly non existent relations with neighboring countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, with giant powers such as China and Russia, the Arab bloc, several Asian countries, etc.
The USA brought their relations down on their own. So they decided to ban weapons sales?, what are we supposed to do, let our army equipment go rust? Of course we went to the international market, and the best is from Russia, hence the Russian equipment; and the deals were even better, with technology transfer included.
Aww, the Americans don't like us dealing with Russians?, well that's too bad, so be it. It's not like we didn't try to keep those old F-16s still operating, but there comes a point when you have to replace them as getting parts from a third source becomes prohibiting, what with the US threatening everyone from selling their military technology to us. So yes, Sukhois it is, and MIs and AKs and whatever our Russian and Chinese friends provide that Americans don't want to, to keep our forces operational.
And so what if Iran provide us technology for Milk processing? or tractor technology from Belarus? It was the US gov who blocked the trades, it's not like we didn't try. We barely managed to buy American (floating) power plants thanks to our Citgo company.
Just like Cuba, how many Americans do you think tried to make business deals with us blocked by their own gov.? Cuba is not rich, and still they traded something they had in abundance: Medicine and health care for a bit of oil. That was one heck of deal, compared to prices of private medicine, is like we are ripping them off. But their solidarity prevails, and we provide a very needed resource so we are both happy. That is what international relations are about, not becoming lapdogs of the USA.
Chavez didn't care. You could call him informally just Chavez or Hugo, and not only he wouldn't mind, he would appreciate it.
He was formally the President. And as in many (but not all) countries, that position also entitles "Commander in Chief".
It was the people who used the titles out of admiration or such, and everyone would use a different one as they see fit. They felt addressing Hugo was possible, like a neighbor or friend, unlike the usual politician in the opposition.
Chavez was very close to the people, that is a fact of history.
He should have done that when he was in HK, but now its too late for that. Russia could be good enough, provided he doesn't mind shutting up which is Putin's condition for him to stay there.
If he gets asylum elsewhere, would he be allowed to speak? I have no idea, i suppose each country defines their own rules to concede asylum. I know some countries do require the person to remain low profile and not speak to the press etc to keep his status.
I could see something like that happening. It's not like the US governments have been good neighbors, what with that coup they supported in 2002 and all.
I would take the "lot of pressure from influential Americans and Venezuelan-Americans (some with direct government connections)" with a grain of salt. We do have some prominent American friends but they certainly cannot exert any sort of "pressure", as that would be a sure way for failure (that might be a cultural difference). And any Venezuelan claiming that, might actually be tied to opposition groups, which is exactly what you DON'T want.
Snowden is very lucky in this regard, as he has the President attention, no way bureaucracy would impede his asylum. But I'm sorry for this other guy. Any medical conditions could have been treated tho, all he needed was to go to a CDI which is part of a massive Cuban-Venezuelan free health care program (you think Michael Moore was joking when he ended up in Cuba to get free healthcare for the 9 11 workers?). They would only ask him an ID or passport for keeping records before receiving medical attention, zero money (he might need to be fluent in spanish tho).
But someone like him, coming from the USA asking asylum is probably going to get a lot of suspicion, Could that be a double agent? I don't really know what the grounds are to concede asylum here, but we do have a record of deporting wanted people to the USA, usually involved in drug trafficking.
Also most people here are not fluent in English language, and those who are tend to be tied to richer anti-popular groups (the opposition). So you have to be very careful who you are contacting, and if they see you with them, well... That won't look nice in your petition. Remember, you are free to have friends in the opposition, and so is the government free to deny your asylum request. Is not like we want more troublemakers.
Do know the Department of State is not exactly the most unbiased source about matters concerning Venezuela... The criminality levels are being treated right now in a massive program and is already on the decline. The big irony about that is the places with the most incidents are controlled by the opposition who won local and regional positions (the aforementioned Chacao/Baruta/El Hatillo are such examples; those are the places where the richer people live too.
But you can't come looking rich or acting stupid, or you risk getting mugged, so leave your gold chain home thank you:)
We are, of course not the USA, there is bound to be cultural differences, you have to be ready to endure such things when you decide to emigrate to a foreign nation.
Pure bullshit from the ones who just lost yet another election (tm).
They invent those lies, and then want to force them into reality, but fail.
It's mostly the opposite, but I'll let the people here do their own unbiased research if they want.
Their resentment from being out of power in the past 14 years simply leaves them sick. They can't stand the people supporting Chavez and now Maduro's anti-neoliberal policies.
Any American can come here and see the truth (as long as they don't go around giving money to protesters...). There are also plenty of documentaries to watch about Venezuela, and people you can ask.
Avoid asking venezuelans living abroad, many belong to families who robbed and then left the country, especially in Miami and Madrid.
You are a liar, thinking because these people don't live here, would eat that bullshit. But they do come here, and find nothing of your fantasies. Get off the tv and your facebook, and find out the products are all readily available, and not even imported goods.
I gotta love the irony of you denying to someone mentioning "USA is not a shit country". No, but their corporate government is.
Venezuela might not be a golden paradise, but is far better than you think. And if you hate it so much, why are you not you living abroad? Waiting until we implement Cuban like restrictions on traveling? Yes, get ~scared~ of your own lies, so you leave already to enjoy paradise USA or EU, i am sure you will be welcome with open hands, its not like they have job shortage or anything...
Especially funny after suspending the constitution.
A coup is a coup, backed or not by the population. You should have trialed that guy instead of having the military take power and put a puppet. And if you can't bear waiting for the next election, change the constitution so that there is a mechanism to revoke the president and other elected officials.
Well i suppose a country with 40 years without democracy couldn't bear it more than a single one of it. I guess that dictator movie guy was right...
Giana Sisters was a game from the late 80ies, a c64 SMB clone, a platform Nintendo never bothered with after Mario Bros.
But the current game might as well be considered original. If you never see the youtube videos of the classic game, you might never guess its based on a smb clone at all. I suppose their description was bad tho.
In truth, project Giana is pretty much an original platformer. It even feels closer to Sonic at times.
By default, a browser should not give a referrer, unless explicitly told to do so. Eg. RefControl for Firefox.
By default, a browser should not accept cookies, unless explicitly told to do so. Eg. CookieMonster for Firefox.
By default, a browser should not execute scripts or run plugins unless explicitly told to do so. Eg. NoScript for Firefox.
By default, a browser should not provide the info panopticlick obtains, such as the detailed user agent. That should be outright blank or generic and immutable from now on.
No, you don't need to know which browser and os i use; design your sites adhering to standards, period. To hell with stats, privacy first.
By default, a browser should not display images, unless explicitly told to do so. There was a time when this used to be the case, there was even a button to load images only when needed.
All these whitelist options should have the "accept from same server only"; or explicitly "whitelist server X" option.
There are also a plethora of little tricks advertisers (and others) use to track you, things Ghostery, and Adblock Edge both help to block.
If you tell me Firefox is going to provide these by default, or via a privacy setting, then we are talking.
Face it, the web is hostile. You just can't go out browsing without taking these measures anymore.
Also performance, don't laugh at the tracking some sites do; most won't even show you the page until every little last of the trackers get your info first, unless you block them from doing so in the first place. Often, one of the 3rd party servers is lagged or down.
And using the "Do not Track Lists" is begging for the opposite effect, it's like flagging "here i am", it's precisely why you never ever reply to spam emails, especially instructions to "unsubscribe" from their mailing lists, it will just confirm you and sell your email as valid to others.
As for revenue models and showing ads, i have said so before: serve (host) your own ads or be blocked, period. Syndicated (third party) ads are the first to be blocked by ad-blockers.
Ever heard of stevia? Thats what they use in asia for diet soda; it also happens to be the original sweetener for the very first ginger based drink invented in Ireland i think.
Due to corporate interests it had decades of baseless opposition in US, it was finally allowed to sell recently but not in ready made foods/drinks meaning your diet soda still comes with artificial crap.
You could at least replace sugar with this in drinks like coffee. Try it, but remember its 200x sweeter than sugar so careful with dosage.
Yes it tastes like sugar, no calories, and no problem for diabetics.
IMO he should request political asylum to People's Republic of China, i believe he has already helped them with crucial information and should be granted protection there, since being in Hong Kong he could easily reach the proper authorities. Staying in HK might be a little dangerous, better to move inland.
Julian Assange made a terrible mistake, traveling to a place friendly to US, he is now living under siege, as the UK doesn't care about other countries right to concede asylum.
But if Snowden being in HK went straight to Beijing authorities to request asylum, i see no reason they wouldn't consider it. And yes, he would live a normal Chinese life, with America becoming his enemy forever or until revolution takes place there.
Lets cite a precedent: Ex-CIA agent Phillip Agee defected to Cuba, he is still there, living peacefully and nicely, you can see him talking in many documentaries. Key point being, the country must not bend to US will.
If you are like Bradley Maning, you should not open your mouth until you are already in a safe place, and of course not expect to go back home ever; be ready to restart a new life elsewhere instead of being taken for a life sentence in prison.
The US gov. is becoming desperate, as their foreign policy had become so dirty people working inside is getting so disgusted they have started to leak information, and more will do it, but please do it properly, do not let them get you.
I started dual booting in 1997, and going exclusive in 2007.
I mostly use Linux, and occasionally the BSDs, but nothing else. Windows is past history. If something can't be made to work with Linux, then to me it doesn't exist. I'll find an alternative or make do without it.
I also stopped fixing other people's PCs after 2007, unless it involves Linux; i simply grow tired of the never ending windows mess.
Games are slowly coming into steam for Linux, i started purchasing a few i like, and will wait for more later.
Digital audio is fully covered with Ardour, which is simply the best there is (overkill for me, when Audacity mostly do everything i need).
Digital video editing has also been solved with Lightworks, and few others.
I never liked Photoshop interface, and i tried it that program since the win 3.x days. When gimp came about i loved its default interface, which is very much like Nextstep, including tearing menus.
Windows has activation, i don't want activation. Windows has malware, i don't want malware. Windows is tied to one company, i don't want being tied to any single company. Also windows is now tiles, i don't want tiles (or gnome3 for that matter).
There is a random mutation due to "background" (natural) radiation, at some point there is one with the aversion, who lives longer and breeds more (passing that characteristic to their offspring) than the others who kept dieing from the poison.
Without the poison, the glucose group would breed more instead and probably starve to extintion the others, or kept them a minority.
Battlefield 2142 was the last game i purchased from them, because i liked BF1942, and BF2 a lot. I bought those titles BECAUSE of the modding community.
By the time BF3 came along, i started boycotting EA for their abusive DRM. Incidentally, about that time dice removed the cd check from the older BF titles.
I'd rather play the older titles than touch BF3. Same with Simcity, v4 is good and with mods its even better.
Valve encourage mods while EA forbids them. Guess where my purchases go? EA is finished for me.
Both BF1942 and BF2 had excellent Star Wars mods, which i spent countless hours playing with. Prettier graphics mean nothing if bad gameplay and DRM comes to ruin it all.
I get bored quickly with stock maps, no matter the game. It is the modding community what makes a purchase truly worth it, and the more mods the better. When they said people were not allowed to mod BF3, i didn't want nothing with it, to this day.
I think the original Dice people should go independent with crowd-funding. In fact, anyone who is worth their talent should have left EA long ago.
And no, a franchise/trademark, no matter its value, doesn't make a good game. You can fool some people at first, like they did with Simcity 5, only to find out how bad it turned out; then simple word of mouth will destroy the millions spent in marketing.
EA is probably beyond repair at this point, they can't allow original ideas or talented people "because its risky". All they do is repeat and repeat, while adding idiotic DRM annoyances in the way. Not like Disney is any better...
Yes, but then again, once you have things settled and working properly, you rarely ever need support. Unlike some other proprietary OSes, where things are constantly breaking, a Linux machine always works unless the hardware fails.
I have lived such a transition. Before, Windows machines would break all the time, and people in support were always overwhelmed. Now with Linux in desktops, after a small period of shock from users because of the change, its boring and very rarely support is ever needed. People also tend to stick to their work, since they can no longer try/install random malware of the day.
You are also forgetting, support for free software can come from anywhere; you are not tied to a single vendor. And i mean real support, such as, "i need program x to do y, can you change it?"
Chaining yourself to a single vendor is business suicide; and a loss of sovereignty to a foreign corporation from a government perspective.
Once you break of the chains, you will never want to go back.
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The mono needle would play the stereo record, but the disc gets permanently damaged, the mono needle usually being too dull for the delicate stereo groove.
So if you got old stuff, don't try it. A mono record is usually no problem for a stereo pickup though.
Try pm-suspend-hybrid, this will initiate a normal hibernate: copy ram to disk as usual, but at the end it won't shutdown, but go into suspend. Result: If you come back, its instant on; but if the power ran out or was unplugged, your state is still saved and you return from hibernation.
People still unplug their stuff or let the batteries run out so don't expect that scenario until a memory technology that keeps its state without power (such as mram) becomes the norm.
Both sc1 and sc2 were lots of fun to play with another person. At least the PC/DOS game.
Unfortunately sc2 for 3do had "smooth zoom", which ruined the Ilrwrath ship. Thankfully, they added a "pc" switch to ur-quan masters (the open sourced edition).
If its like 3, screw that.
A brand means nothing if the authors are not there. You know, the guys who open sourced the game as "Ur-Quan Masters" because only the brand did not belong to them...
And yes, i played the three Star Control games. 2 was the best, period. Since the second game was open sourced, its probably in the repository of your favorite distro.
If you stick to open, non DRM formats, there is no reason you can't read your books again, no matter the device you choose.
People have already done it with music in digital format, text is even easier. The epub format for example.
There are many ereaders without any sort of connectivity, no wifi or any other nonsense, just an usb cable and its recognized as a simple USB mass device (like a thumb drive), and some even take flash cards or such. Most of these can read the open formats perfectly.
The ereader is not an electronic book. It is an electronic LIBRARY. There is just no comparison. People often imagine themselves carrying a book, or the device... But the device is not a single book, it is tons of them, BUILDINGS of them. I mean, come on, a typical book is about 5mb, and the "pocket" ereader with 5" pearl white eink screen i use comes with 2gb of storage...
Backup? The same as with any other 2gb thumb drive.
Carrying more than 3 physical books is problematic, let alone thousands of them. You can now have the complete works ever written by somebody or from a subject. Also the device often allows you to search, just type the word or phrase and there it is!
Physical books can last a lot but they can also deteriorate, especially with public use and abuse; and, often works are never published again. With digital, nothing needs to be lost ever.
Remember, one of the oldest libraries was burnt down by American troops in Baghdad, the oldest known remaining human writings were lost forever and only digital pictures remain... You can go back in history to find again and again how libraries and writings of all forms were burnt down and lost.
Books are nice but fragile, and heavy, and impractical and time consuming to reproduce, and prone to idiots burning them. And in the rare situation you needed one, you can always print it back to deadtree format. So, various loads of trucks when you move, or a small and compact ereader?
The ereader might not be the answer for bookshops (unless they learn to sell books without DRM, like some did with mp3); but the age of libraries in the hands of everyone is already here.
Of course obsolete business models and copyright law might not stand it, but the fact won't change, the genie is out.
As for libraries, they have a limited number of copies, and limited working hours. IMO they should dedicate themselves to preserve physical books in controlled conditions and make sure there is a digital copy of everything, correct mistakes etc. People would no longer need a library card, just give everyone a reader with the whole thing, or at least a thumb drive or let people bring their own so they copy all they want to read at home.
Sooner than later all libraries should sync with each other, and people with them. There is no reason some have books others don't, at least not in digital form, yes, all languages, all subjects.
This is mundane compared to the stuff being done already with video and music.
I believe Bose speakers are factory equalized. I have read people say they are simple cheap speakers but equalized, which too many people fail to do, so they are paying to have someone do it for them when buying the Bose brand.
In theory we should all try to aim for a flat eq response, which is what sound engineers do to their monitors in studio. I don't think that's what Bose eq aims but i could be wrong.
People sometimes think flat eq is "boring", but that its actually what the sound engineer wanted it to sound like, so "boring" or "exciting" will depend on the mastering (for studio) or fidelity when recording a live performance.
Of course with the loudness war of the last decade it's rather hard to find good material to listen to in the first place.
You seem to be forgetting any of the countries can simply send a plane there for a direct flight, escorted and all..,.
Are there also direct commercial flights from Moscow to Havana? I believe there are. He could go to Caracas from there too.
"Health care is the same or worse than it was 15 years ago"
Only in the private sector, not in the Cuban-Venezuelan program "Barrio Adentro", simply the best medical attention can be obtained there for free. This mission was made to bypass the unwillingness of Venezuelan medics to aid the poor, but it ended surpassing the most expensive clinics, so much even wealthy people end going there, especially after the private medicine dries them dry and they have sold their last property trying to stay in a private clinic.
The fixed exchange was a direct result of the opposition sabotage to the economy in 2003. While I'm not personally in favor, it is true that if the opposition behaved back then, we wouldn't have it today. So i blame them entirely for it. The only way out now is the Sucre, our future regional coin.
You cannot choose a worse timing to talk about corruption, when right now very high officials are being detained for this. Maduro is clearly showing a no corruption policy, within his limited powers. He is, after all, the executive, not the judiciary branch, which is were most of the corruption still exists.
But yes i know, you are so used to repeat like a parrot the lies you and the opposition invented so many times, it's pointless to show you facts, as you'd rather cover your eyes instead than facing truths.
So what if they visit other countries? President Chavez brought up international relations with the world like no other leader did for Venezuela in history. So what if the US relations went down? Instead, relations with the entire world went up. The way USA behaves towards us made that an obvious outcome, if any country tries to be friends with another, it will lower their relation with USA. The USA doesn't like you trading with others, period.
So President Chavez brought up the nearly non existent relations with neighboring countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, with giant powers such as China and Russia, the Arab bloc, several Asian countries, etc.
The USA brought their relations down on their own. So they decided to ban weapons sales?, what are we supposed to do, let our army equipment go rust? Of course we went to the international market, and the best is from Russia, hence the Russian equipment; and the deals were even better, with technology transfer included.
Aww, the Americans don't like us dealing with Russians?, well that's too bad, so be it. It's not like we didn't try to keep those old F-16s still operating, but there comes a point when you have to replace them as getting parts from a third source becomes prohibiting, what with the US threatening everyone from selling their military technology to us. So yes, Sukhois it is, and MIs and AKs and whatever our Russian and Chinese friends provide that Americans don't want to, to keep our forces operational.
And so what if Iran provide us technology for Milk processing? or tractor technology from Belarus? It was the US gov who blocked the trades, it's not like we didn't try. We barely managed to buy American (floating) power plants thanks to our Citgo company.
Just like Cuba, how many Americans do you think tried to make business deals with us blocked by their own gov.? Cuba is not rich, and still they traded something they had in abundance: Medicine and health care for a bit of oil. That was one heck of deal, compared to prices of private medicine, is like we are ripping them off. But their solidarity prevails, and we provide a very needed resource so we are both happy. That is what international relations are about, not becoming lapdogs of the USA.
Chavez didn't care. You could call him informally just Chavez or Hugo, and not only he wouldn't mind, he would appreciate it.
He was formally the President. And as in many (but not all) countries, that position also entitles "Commander in Chief".
It was the people who used the titles out of admiration or such, and everyone would use a different one as they see fit. They felt addressing Hugo was possible, like a neighbor or friend, unlike the usual politician in the opposition.
Chavez was very close to the people, that is a fact of history.
He could always board one of these.
Russia and Venezuela have excellent relations, and can no doubt mount a joint operation to make him reach the country safely.
He should have done that when he was in HK, but now its too late for that. Russia could be good enough, provided he doesn't mind shutting up which is Putin's condition for him to stay there.
If he gets asylum elsewhere, would he be allowed to speak? I have no idea, i suppose each country defines their own rules to concede asylum. I know some countries do require the person to remain low profile and not speak to the press etc to keep his status.
And there is no shortage or toilet paper, not in Caracas anyway.
I could see something like that happening. It's not like the US governments have been good neighbors, what with that coup they supported in 2002 and all.
I would take the "lot of pressure from influential Americans and Venezuelan-Americans (some with direct government connections)" with a grain of salt. We do have some prominent American friends but they certainly cannot exert any sort of "pressure", as that would be a sure way for failure (that might be a cultural difference). And any Venezuelan claiming that, might actually be tied to opposition groups, which is exactly what you DON'T want.
Snowden is very lucky in this regard, as he has the President attention, no way bureaucracy would impede his asylum. But I'm sorry for this other guy. Any medical conditions could have been treated tho, all he needed was to go to a CDI which is part of a massive Cuban-Venezuelan free health care program (you think Michael Moore was joking when he ended up in Cuba to get free healthcare for the 9 11 workers?). They would only ask him an ID or passport for keeping records before receiving medical attention, zero money (he might need to be fluent in spanish tho).
But someone like him, coming from the USA asking asylum is probably going to get a lot of suspicion, Could that be a double agent? I don't really know what the grounds are to concede asylum here, but we do have a record of deporting wanted people to the USA, usually involved in drug trafficking.
Also most people here are not fluent in English language, and those who are tend to be tied to richer anti-popular groups (the opposition). So you have to be very careful who you are contacting, and if they see you with them, well... That won't look nice in your petition. Remember, you are free to have friends in the opposition, and so is the government free to deny your asylum request. Is not like we want more troublemakers.
Do know the Department of State is not exactly the most unbiased source about matters concerning Venezuela... The criminality levels are being treated right now in a massive program and is already on the decline. The big irony about that is the places with the most incidents are controlled by the opposition who won local and regional positions (the aforementioned Chacao/Baruta/El Hatillo are such examples; those are the places where the richer people live too.
But you can't come looking rich or acting stupid, or you risk getting mugged, so leave your gold chain home thank you :)
We are, of course not the USA, there is bound to be cultural differences, you have to be ready to endure such things when you decide to emigrate to a foreign nation.
Pure bullshit from the ones who just lost yet another election (tm).
They invent those lies, and then want to force them into reality, but fail.
It's mostly the opposite, but I'll let the people here do their own unbiased research if they want.
Their resentment from being out of power in the past 14 years simply leaves them sick. They can't stand the people supporting Chavez and now Maduro's anti-neoliberal policies.
Any American can come here and see the truth (as long as they don't go around giving money to protesters...). There are also plenty of documentaries to watch about Venezuela, and people you can ask.
Avoid asking venezuelans living abroad, many belong to families who robbed and then left the country, especially in Miami and Madrid.
You are a liar, thinking because these people don't live here, would eat that bullshit. But they do come here, and find nothing of your fantasies. Get off the tv and your facebook, and find out the products are all readily available, and not even imported goods.
I gotta love the irony of you denying to someone mentioning "USA is not a shit country". No, but their corporate government is.
Venezuela might not be a golden paradise, but is far better than you think. And if you hate it so much, why are you not you living abroad? Waiting until we implement Cuban like restrictions on traveling? Yes, get ~scared~ of your own lies, so you leave already to enjoy paradise USA or EU, i am sure you will be welcome with open hands, its not like they have job shortage or anything...
Don't forget Orlando Bosch, also involved in blowing said plane.
He was given presidential pardon by Bush father...
Especially funny after suspending the constitution.
A coup is a coup, backed or not by the population. You should have trialed that guy instead of having the military take power and put a puppet. And if you can't bear waiting for the next election, change the constitution so that there is a mechanism to revoke the president and other elected officials.
Well i suppose a country with 40 years without democracy couldn't bear it more than a single one of it. I guess that dictator movie guy was right...
Giana Sisters was a game from the late 80ies, a c64 SMB clone, a platform Nintendo never bothered with after Mario Bros.
But the current game might as well be considered original. If you never see the youtube videos of the classic game, you might never guess its based on a smb clone at all. I suppose their description was bad tho.
In truth, project Giana is pretty much an original platformer. It even feels closer to Sonic at times.
By default, a browser should not give a referrer, unless explicitly told to do so. Eg. RefControl for Firefox.
By default, a browser should not accept cookies, unless explicitly told to do so. Eg. CookieMonster for Firefox.
By default, a browser should not execute scripts or run plugins unless explicitly told to do so. Eg. NoScript for Firefox.
By default, a browser should not provide the info panopticlick obtains, such as the detailed user agent. That should be outright blank or generic and immutable from now on.
No, you don't need to know which browser and os i use; design your sites adhering to standards, period. To hell with stats, privacy first.
By default, a browser should not display images, unless explicitly told to do so. There was a time when this used to be the case, there was even a button to load images only when needed.
All these whitelist options should have the "accept from same server only"; or explicitly "whitelist server X" option.
There are also a plethora of little tricks advertisers (and others) use to track you, things Ghostery, and Adblock Edge both help to block.
If you tell me Firefox is going to provide these by default, or via a privacy setting, then we are talking.
Face it, the web is hostile. You just can't go out browsing without taking these measures anymore.
Also performance, don't laugh at the tracking some sites do; most won't even show you the page until every little last of the trackers get your info first, unless you block them from doing so in the first place. Often, one of the 3rd party servers is lagged or down.
And using the "Do not Track Lists" is begging for the opposite effect, it's like flagging "here i am", it's precisely why you never ever reply to spam emails, especially instructions to "unsubscribe" from their mailing lists, it will just confirm you and sell your email as valid to others.
As for revenue models and showing ads, i have said so before: serve (host) your own ads or be blocked, period. Syndicated (third party) ads are the first to be blocked by ad-blockers.
Ever heard of stevia? Thats what they use in asia for diet soda; it also happens to be the original sweetener for the very first ginger based drink invented in Ireland i think.
Due to corporate interests it had decades of baseless opposition in US, it was finally allowed to sell recently but not in ready made foods/drinks meaning your diet soda still comes with artificial crap.
You could at least replace sugar with this in drinks like coffee. Try it, but remember its 200x sweeter than sugar so careful with dosage.
Yes it tastes like sugar, no calories, and no problem for diabetics.
IMO he should request political asylum to People's Republic of China, i believe he has already helped them with crucial information and should be granted protection there, since being in Hong Kong he could easily reach the proper authorities. Staying in HK might be a little dangerous, better to move inland.
Julian Assange made a terrible mistake, traveling to a place friendly to US, he is now living under siege, as the UK doesn't care about other countries right to concede asylum.
But if Snowden being in HK went straight to Beijing authorities to request asylum, i see no reason they wouldn't consider it. And yes, he would live a normal Chinese life, with America becoming his enemy forever or until revolution takes place there.
Lets cite a precedent: Ex-CIA agent Phillip Agee defected to Cuba, he is still there, living peacefully and nicely, you can see him talking in many documentaries. Key point being, the country must not bend to US will.
If you are like Bradley Maning, you should not open your mouth until you are already in a safe place, and of course not expect to go back home ever; be ready to restart a new life elsewhere instead of being taken for a life sentence in prison.
The US gov. is becoming desperate, as their foreign policy had become so dirty people working inside is getting so disgusted they have started to leak information, and more will do it, but please do it properly, do not let them get you.
I started dual booting in 1997, and going exclusive in 2007.
I mostly use Linux, and occasionally the BSDs, but nothing else. Windows is past history. If something can't be made to work with Linux, then to me it doesn't exist. I'll find an alternative or make do without it.
I also stopped fixing other people's PCs after 2007, unless it involves Linux; i simply grow tired of the never ending windows mess.
Games are slowly coming into steam for Linux, i started purchasing a few i like, and will wait for more later.
Digital audio is fully covered with Ardour, which is simply the best there is (overkill for me, when Audacity mostly do everything i need).
Digital video editing has also been solved with Lightworks, and few others.
I never liked Photoshop interface, and i tried it that program since the win 3.x days. When gimp came about i loved its default interface, which is very much like Nextstep, including tearing menus.
Windows has activation, i don't want activation. Windows has malware, i don't want malware. Windows is tied to one company, i don't want being tied to any single company. Also windows is now tiles, i don't want tiles (or gnome3 for that matter).
I believe it works like this:
There is a random mutation due to "background" (natural) radiation, at some point there is one with the aversion, who lives longer and breeds more (passing that characteristic to their offspring) than the others who kept dieing from the poison.
Without the poison, the glucose group would breed more instead and probably starve to extintion the others, or kept them a minority.
Battlefield 2142 was the last game i purchased from them, because i liked BF1942, and BF2 a lot. I bought those titles BECAUSE of the modding community.
By the time BF3 came along, i started boycotting EA for their abusive DRM. Incidentally, about that time dice removed the cd check from the older BF titles.
I'd rather play the older titles than touch BF3. Same with Simcity, v4 is good and with mods its even better.
Valve encourage mods while EA forbids them. Guess where my purchases go? EA is finished for me.
Both BF1942 and BF2 had excellent Star Wars mods, which i spent countless hours playing with. Prettier graphics mean nothing if bad gameplay and DRM comes to ruin it all.
I get bored quickly with stock maps, no matter the game. It is the modding community what makes a purchase truly worth it, and the more mods the better. When they said people were not allowed to mod BF3, i didn't want nothing with it, to this day.
I think the original Dice people should go independent with crowd-funding. In fact, anyone who is worth their talent should have left EA long ago.
And no, a franchise/trademark, no matter its value, doesn't make a good game. You can fool some people at first, like they did with Simcity 5, only to find out how bad it turned out; then simple word of mouth will destroy the millions spent in marketing.
EA is probably beyond repair at this point, they can't allow original ideas or talented people "because its risky". All they do is repeat and repeat, while adding idiotic DRM annoyances in the way. Not like Disney is any better...
Yes, but then again, once you have things settled and working properly, you rarely ever need support. Unlike some other proprietary OSes, where things are constantly breaking, a Linux machine always works unless the hardware fails.
I have lived such a transition. Before, Windows machines would break all the time, and people in support were always overwhelmed. Now with Linux in desktops, after a small period of shock from users because of the change, its boring and very rarely support is ever needed. People also tend to stick to their work, since they can no longer try/install random malware of the day.
You are also forgetting, support for free software can come from anywhere; you are not tied to a single vendor. And i mean real support, such as, "i need program x to do y, can you change it?"
Chaining yourself to a single vendor is business suicide; and a loss of sovereignty to a foreign corporation from a government perspective.
Once you break of the chains, you will never want to go back.