For my own personal and business communications, i use plain text for my e-mail 100% of the time. In the 1-in-a-million case that I need something more, I attach a PDF. I hate SPAM. However, there are a few company advertisements that I have opted to receive because they actually deal with things of interest to me. I don't mind getting a Paizo publishing newsletter in my e-mail, I'm often interested to know what new products they're carrying and what new books are out. Ditto for NewEgg. These, by definition, are not SPAM, because I opted to receive them, and they will stop sending them to me if I ask. How do we reconcile the two conflicting goals? I don't know.
negotiations that took place between Nintendo and MGM, over the use of King Kong. Turns out Nintendo dropped a bomb at the end of that one with by announcing they weren't paying, then or ever, because MGM didn't own the rights to King Kong anyway! Woops.
Jesus Christ! How do you make a solid capacitor? Never heard of Ceramic, foil, or tantalum caps have you? Do you also wonder when they're going to get the internet on computers?
No, they just didn't live long. Want to know why average life expectancies were not much over 40 with astronomical infant mortality rates? Disease ain't all of it. And naturally, the heat makes the unsafe water problems worse. As one is much more likely to drink unsafe water than anything more sterile, while dying of heat exhaustion.
There are lots of reasons why Audio Content will remain compelling for the near future. I can drive and listen to a podcast (or radio) show. Lots of employers, as noted in another reply, won't complain about employees listening to music or talk radio, but watching the equivalent of TV? hah! I also absolutely disagree with your final point. Video talent (and the Talent is important, again, unless you're doing porn, a pretty girl and a DV cam is not adequate for compelling video content.) will be getting more expensive in the future due to higher demand, it will not be getting cheaper.
High quality video production is EXPENSIVE, and that that is not changing. Cameras ain't even the beginning of the costs associated with video production. Expensive Lighting systems, Sets, Costuming, and a good number of behind the scenes personnel, and more, are all absolutely necessary for even watchable production values. Why would I watch poorly produced, acted, and edited video, starring people with bad to no make-up, utterly failing to cover up their offensive-to-man-and-god ugly faces? Consider this: Would any number of Talk radio personalities be ANYWHERE near as popular if the listeners were subjected to their ugly mugs all the time? Would people still enjoy listening to Rush Limbough rant if they had to stare at his pock marked visage the whole time? Hell no!
I can be amused listening to some pasty skinned geek rant on some topic or another, providing his voice is at least vaguely listenable ( and that's much easier to correct in post processing than an Ass ugly face), but if I'm expected to look at them? Yeah right!
To put it another way, unless you're going into porn, a DV camera and a pretty girl just ain't gonna cut it. Realistically, even good writing (and that's pretty rare anyway) isn't going to save Video Casting.
Podcasting is where its at for amateur media, in my opinion. Anybody with a Mic and a dream can compete quality wise with Talk Radio (I exaggerate, but not that much, as little as $1000-$2000 will get you equipment that, at least from a listener's perspective is as good or better than Broadcast, and at a certain point, more depends on what you're willing to spend on Bandwidth, than the gear you're using). Audio just gives a much better bang for the buck at this point. Anybody attempting, for example the niche Vegan cooking show you describe, would be better served by making it an Audio, rather than a Video, production.
hmmm, The entire idea of Video Podcasts just isn't as compelling to me. Largely because it is MUCH easier and cheaper to do high quality audio, than it is to do video. I mean, hell, the mainstream industry companies have a hard enough time finding talent that can act and not be offensive to the eye. How are people on ultra-tight budgets supposed to do so?
Ignorance. Air Conditioning may be a luxury in the Northeast, but in the South, with Summer Highs over 100F common, in combination with relative humidity exceeding 80%, summer air conditioning is every bit as much a necessity in the South as Winter Heat is in the North. Summer heatstroke is still a common cause of death among the elderly and poor throughout the South. I challenge you, visit southern George or Mississippi in the Summer sometime and try getting along without AC. If you're young and healthy (and drink enough water) it may not even kill you.
You're also ignoring the original reason for the TVA as well, which was to provide a safe drinking supply for the area, which had previously had some of the highest rates of Cholera and Dysentery in the world which further contributed to death rates among children and the elderly. That it ultimately came to deliver accessible electricity to the poorest area of the country, and one of the Hardest hit during the great Depression, was generally regarded as a positive thing.
What forms of climate control constitute a "luxury" is hugely dependent on where you live.
I was rather Studiously trying to avoid the comparison with the Nazis, but whatever. English mainstream media coverage of the purchase is rather hard to find. "The Guardian" in the UK covered it, http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1 928928,00.html They, along with lots and lots of blogs, say the event was commonly reported in South American Newspapers, unfortunately, I am literate in neither Spanish, nor Portugese, which makes searching for original reports a bit difficult.
The United States isn't that great a place to visit (or live) anyway, I'd say the best defense to this is just to Flip the RIAA the bird, and never enter US soil. Problem solved.
Of course, in the broader sense, this really creating a very interesting disparity in International law. The USA, along with some corrupt nations in South America, are fast becoming refuges for international criminals convicted/awaiting conviction in the International Court for War Crimes (*Cough* George W. Bush *Cough* who recently purchased a 100,000 acre ranch in Paraguay). The rest of world, on the other hand, is becoming a haven for people avoiding prosecution under US IP law. Living in the United States, I'd say we're definately getting the shitty end of the stick on this bargain.
Wealth Redistribution? YOU get a fucking life! The power of Congress to Tax Incomes is provided for in the Constitution. Get. Over. It.
Amendment XVI. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
As for the disarmament of the citizenry, who really gives a shit at this point? What are you going to do? Go hole up on a compound out west with your guns? What's the fucking point? Really think you're going to protect yourself from the government that way? With the hugely militarized police forces all across the country? You really think you're gonna go Tankgirl on the US Government or something? Have fun with that.
You libertarian asshats are all the same, "Give me MY Money and MY Guns, and fuck all you fuckers!" Gods forbid anyone should want to do anything for the public good, like try and encourage education, or public health. Can't have people who've already stolen their pile being forced to contribute anything back to society, that's UnAmerican!
Apparently, the Guys at Gametunnel don't like it that much. It's in 5th place on their Strategy game of the Year page, a placement I certainly don't understand.
um, anaerobic means "contains no molecular oxygen." The terms means nothing specifically about bacteria, although many types of bacteria are described as being anaerobic, which means they do not use oxygen in their metabolism and/or are outright poisoned by it. Molecular Oxygen is quite corrosive, which is why I added that stipulation.
I think the trick would probably be to get some volcanic stone, and then expose it to repeated explosions (not grinding) in an anaerobic environment, in as close to vacuum as you can generate on earth. By the way, grinding is definitely not the way to go here, as that would tend to polish the grains, making them far smoother than lunar dust.
You mean he secured counsel when he became the subject of an investigation, instead of ignoring it or defending himself like an idiot? He must be guilty! I'm unimpressed, and I'll stay that way until somebody files charges.
Falling stock? WTF? The only places I've seen people making a big deal out of this are posts by users on Tech sites. Meanwhile Apple stock is up nearly $4.00 today alone, and is riding at 10+ year high of over $84/share. Methinks there's some pretty heavy astroturfing going on about this. Because the facts seem to indicate that the shareholders and market in general don't give a flying fuck about this "huge" scandal. They're too busy watching Apple's continually rising sales and high profit margins to care about something as piss-insignificant as a $100 million in stock irregularities.
I mean, god damn people, this isn't ENRON or WorldCOM. Apple sure as hell isn't collapsing like a house of cards. The facts remain: Apple is making shit tonnes of money. Worst Case Scenario out of this event: Apple gets a bit of bad press nobody cares about, they pay a fairly minor fine (compared to their Billions in Cash and liquid assets) of a few hundred million plus maybe some back taxes, and maybe, MAYBE a CFO and some other financial staff get forced into early retirement. That's it. You think the board of directors (let alone the Shareholders(!)) are going to cashier Steve "Reality Distortion Field" Jobs over 10 or so million? HA! Get a fucking life!
I understand your anger, my point was that Cows really aren't a cost effective way of generating fuel (or food really, if anyone started paying attention). I am not meaning to say that there aren't lot's of better ways get energy, just that Cows aren't one of them. Various other methods, like Nuclear, Biomass fuels (of which Cows are one, but nowhere near as good as Algae or Soybeans, or Hemp), etc. These are the energy sources I think we should be devoting our resources to. Dependence on foreign oil is a bad thing(tm)
I'm not really all that impressed by the charges. Oooooh, back dating Stock Options to do a bit of tax evasion. That's some really nasty stuff there. As for Apple being a "good" company. I don't believe the Sun shines out of Steve Job's ass, but if some light tax evasion is the worst Apple's ever done (which it isn't) they'd still be a darn sight better than a lot of the competition.
Um, I'd say that's incredibly unlikely. Corporate break-ups generally only occur after they have been recommended by the FTC or legal investigations as a result of Antitrust abuses. I'm not even aware of any lawsuits pending against Apple for Antitrust violations. "Shady Business Practices" are cause for fines from the FTC, and possibly criminal prosecutions of Corporate Officers. I'm also unaware of any company being forcibly broken up on such a basis.
A great deal of ignorance is betrayed in your post. Of course new construction is the best time to do things right, BUT doing things right is often more expensive, and more difficult and time consuming. As a result, most Contractors will do what they can get away with, and many having their home built neither care, nor are aware they should.
Regarding your ad hominem slur, I'll throw the claim of illiteracy back in you court, McMansion is a commonly used derogatory term, used describe a cheaply constructed dwelling, often very large, but especially built to give the impression of largeness. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMansion
As one can see in the linked article (which includes a lengthy list of references) the term is commonly used in Newspapers and other publications in the United States. So, do YOU read?
Generally, Yes you'd measure it at 1atm. I'm actually surprised it isn't more than 400L. Note that one mole (6.0223x10^23 molecules, or atoms) of ideal gas (almost all normally encountered gases are close enough to be considered ideal) occupies 22.4L at 1atm. Noting that 1 mole of substance has a mass equal to the substance'as molecular weight in grams, which is 16g/mol for methane. That means that a Cow produces on average about 285 grams of methane per day. Which isn't all that much really.
Taking this further, by rough guesstimate, you'd need around 4000 grams of methane to substitute for a gallon of gas (This one is pretty rough, I'm using 4L is approximately 1 gallon, and ignoring that methane is significantly less dense than water, on the other hand, methane is also less energy dense than octane, so there you go), giving about 2 cow-weeks to produce the equivalent of a gallon of gas (assuming no loses). On the basis of this, I'd say you should take suggestions to run your car on cow methane with a huge grain of salt.
The Wall Street Journal is right (for once). The vast majority any house's electrical costs are Heating-Air Conditioning, and Water heating (baring designs using solar water heaters, and below ground air conditioning, I acknowledge that you exist, but let's face it, you're far less than 1% of the population). If electrical usage is rising, its the fault of the rise of McMansions, and generally larger housing in general. Most housing in the US is poorly designed and piss-poor insulated, with dozens of windows. All of which add hugely to HAC. Windows in particular are a huge elephant of electricity costs, especially the huge ones popular today, built with no consideration at all about where the sun is going to be at different seasons.
"2D games probably work well enough" is not true. Dosbox, as I've noted, has an absolutely lousy interface, most games will run OK, once (and if) you can get them installed and set up, and even for those that work, you have to duplicate a large part of setup every time you launch the application. However, due to their approach of duplicating dos functionality in a Window, if the game requires more obscure dos commands to perform its installation, it will barf and die. More Enterprise oriented Virtual Machines/Emulators lack a lot of Hardware support, and sound is generally poorly implemented, if at all, patchy Soundblaster 16 support ain't cutting it.
Slashdot Mirror
For my own personal and business communications, i use plain text for my e-mail 100% of the time. In the 1-in-a-million case that I need something more, I attach a PDF. I hate SPAM. However, there are a few company advertisements that I have opted to receive because they actually deal with things of interest to me. I don't mind getting a Paizo publishing newsletter in my e-mail, I'm often interested to know what new products they're carrying and what new books are out. Ditto for NewEgg. These, by definition, are not SPAM, because I opted to receive them, and they will stop sending them to me if I ask. How do we reconcile the two conflicting goals? I don't know.
negotiations that took place between Nintendo and MGM, over the use of King Kong. Turns out Nintendo dropped a bomb at the end of that one with by announcing they weren't paying, then or ever, because MGM didn't own the rights to King Kong anyway! Woops.
Jesus Christ! How do you make a solid capacitor? Never heard of Ceramic, foil, or tantalum caps have you? Do you also wonder when they're going to get the internet on computers?
No, they just didn't live long. Want to know why average life expectancies were not much over 40 with astronomical infant mortality rates? Disease ain't all of it. And naturally, the heat makes the unsafe water problems worse. As one is much more likely to drink unsafe water than anything more sterile, while dying of heat exhaustion.
Which is exactly why the attitude of, "Just wait and it'll all get sorted eventually." is fucking useless.
High quality video production is EXPENSIVE, and that that is not changing. Cameras ain't even the beginning of the costs associated with video production. Expensive Lighting systems, Sets, Costuming, and a good number of behind the scenes personnel, and more, are all absolutely necessary for even watchable production values. Why would I watch poorly produced, acted, and edited video, starring people with bad to no make-up, utterly failing to cover up their offensive-to-man-and-god ugly faces? Consider this: Would any number of Talk radio personalities be ANYWHERE near as popular if the listeners were subjected to their ugly mugs all the time? Would people still enjoy listening to Rush Limbough rant if they had to stare at his pock marked visage the whole time? Hell no!
I can be amused listening to some pasty skinned geek rant on some topic or another, providing his voice is at least vaguely listenable ( and that's much easier to correct in post processing than an Ass ugly face), but if I'm expected to look at them? Yeah right!
Podcasting is where its at for amateur media, in my opinion. Anybody with a Mic and a dream can compete quality wise with Talk Radio (I exaggerate, but not that much, as little as $1000-$2000 will get you equipment that, at least from a listener's perspective is as good or better than Broadcast, and at a certain point, more depends on what you're willing to spend on Bandwidth, than the gear you're using). Audio just gives a much better bang for the buck at this point. Anybody attempting, for example the niche Vegan cooking show you describe, would be better served by making it an Audio, rather than a Video, production.
hmmm, The entire idea of Video Podcasts just isn't as compelling to me. Largely because it is MUCH easier and cheaper to do high quality audio, than it is to do video. I mean, hell, the mainstream industry companies have a hard enough time finding talent that can act and not be offensive to the eye. How are people on ultra-tight budgets supposed to do so?
You're also ignoring the original reason for the TVA as well, which was to provide a safe drinking supply for the area, which had previously had some of the highest rates of Cholera and Dysentery in the world which further contributed to death rates among children and the elderly. That it ultimately came to deliver accessible electricity to the poorest area of the country, and one of the Hardest hit during the great Depression, was generally regarded as a positive thing.
What forms of climate control constitute a "luxury" is hugely dependent on where you live.
I was rather Studiously trying to avoid the comparison with the Nazis, but whatever. English mainstream media coverage of the purchase is rather hard to find. "The Guardian" in the UK covered it, http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1 928928,00.html They, along with lots and lots of blogs, say the event was commonly reported in South American Newspapers, unfortunately, I am literate in neither Spanish, nor Portugese, which makes searching for original reports a bit difficult.
Of course, in the broader sense, this really creating a very interesting disparity in International law. The USA, along with some corrupt nations in South America, are fast becoming refuges for international criminals convicted/awaiting conviction in the International Court for War Crimes (*Cough* George W. Bush *Cough* who recently purchased a 100,000 acre ranch in Paraguay). The rest of world, on the other hand, is becoming a haven for people avoiding prosecution under US IP law. Living in the United States, I'd say we're definately getting the shitty end of the stick on this bargain.
Amendment XVI. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
As for the disarmament of the citizenry, who really gives a shit at this point? What are you going to do? Go hole up on a compound out west with your guns? What's the fucking point? Really think you're going to protect yourself from the government that way? With the hugely militarized police forces all across the country? You really think you're gonna go Tankgirl on the US Government or something? Have fun with that.
You libertarian asshats are all the same, "Give me MY Money and MY Guns, and fuck all you fuckers!" Gods forbid anyone should want to do anything for the public good, like try and encourage education, or public health. Can't have people who've already stolen their pile being forced to contribute anything back to society, that's UnAmerican!
Apparently, the Guys at Gametunnel don't like it that much. It's in 5th place on their Strategy game of the Year page, a placement I certainly don't understand.
um, anaerobic means "contains no molecular oxygen." The terms means nothing specifically about bacteria, although many types of bacteria are described as being anaerobic, which means they do not use oxygen in their metabolism and/or are outright poisoned by it. Molecular Oxygen is quite corrosive, which is why I added that stipulation.
I think the trick would probably be to get some volcanic stone, and then expose it to repeated explosions (not grinding) in an anaerobic environment, in as close to vacuum as you can generate on earth. By the way, grinding is definitely not the way to go here, as that would tend to polish the grains, making them far smoother than lunar dust.
You mean he secured counsel when he became the subject of an investigation, instead of ignoring it or defending himself like an idiot? He must be guilty! I'm unimpressed, and I'll stay that way until somebody files charges.
I mean, god damn people, this isn't ENRON or WorldCOM. Apple sure as hell isn't collapsing like a house of cards. The facts remain: Apple is making shit tonnes of money. Worst Case Scenario out of this event: Apple gets a bit of bad press nobody cares about, they pay a fairly minor fine (compared to their Billions in Cash and liquid assets) of a few hundred million plus maybe some back taxes, and maybe, MAYBE a CFO and some other financial staff get forced into early retirement. That's it. You think the board of directors (let alone the Shareholders(!)) are going to cashier Steve "Reality Distortion Field" Jobs over 10 or so million? HA! Get a fucking life!
I understand your anger, my point was that Cows really aren't a cost effective way of generating fuel (or food really, if anyone started paying attention). I am not meaning to say that there aren't lot's of better ways get energy, just that Cows aren't one of them. Various other methods, like Nuclear, Biomass fuels (of which Cows are one, but nowhere near as good as Algae or Soybeans, or Hemp), etc. These are the energy sources I think we should be devoting our resources to. Dependence on foreign oil is a bad thing(tm)
I'm not really all that impressed by the charges. Oooooh, back dating Stock Options to do a bit of tax evasion. That's some really nasty stuff there. As for Apple being a "good" company. I don't believe the Sun shines out of Steve Job's ass, but if some light tax evasion is the worst Apple's ever done (which it isn't) they'd still be a darn sight better than a lot of the competition.
Um, I'd say that's incredibly unlikely. Corporate break-ups generally only occur after they have been recommended by the FTC or legal investigations as a result of Antitrust abuses. I'm not even aware of any lawsuits pending against Apple for Antitrust violations. "Shady Business Practices" are cause for fines from the FTC, and possibly criminal prosecutions of Corporate Officers. I'm also unaware of any company being forcibly broken up on such a basis.
Regarding your ad hominem slur, I'll throw the claim of illiteracy back in you court, McMansion is a commonly used derogatory term, used describe a cheaply constructed dwelling, often very large, but especially built to give the impression of largeness. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMansion
As one can see in the linked article (which includes a lengthy list of references) the term is commonly used in Newspapers and other publications in the United States. So, do YOU read?
By "gallon of gas" I mean Petrol. Alternatively, Diesel fuel if you will, commonly used vehicle fuels.
Taking this further, by rough guesstimate, you'd need around 4000 grams of methane to substitute for a gallon of gas (This one is pretty rough, I'm using 4L is approximately 1 gallon, and ignoring that methane is significantly less dense than water, on the other hand, methane is also less energy dense than octane, so there you go), giving about 2 cow-weeks to produce the equivalent of a gallon of gas (assuming no loses). On the basis of this, I'd say you should take suggestions to run your car on cow methane with a huge grain of salt.
The Wall Street Journal is right (for once). The vast majority any house's electrical costs are Heating-Air Conditioning, and Water heating (baring designs using solar water heaters, and below ground air conditioning, I acknowledge that you exist, but let's face it, you're far less than 1% of the population). If electrical usage is rising, its the fault of the rise of McMansions, and generally larger housing in general. Most housing in the US is poorly designed and piss-poor insulated, with dozens of windows. All of which add hugely to HAC. Windows in particular are a huge elephant of electricity costs, especially the huge ones popular today, built with no consideration at all about where the sun is going to be at different seasons.
"2D games probably work well enough" is not true. Dosbox, as I've noted, has an absolutely lousy interface, most games will run OK, once (and if) you can get them installed and set up, and even for those that work, you have to duplicate a large part of setup every time you launch the application. However, due to their approach of duplicating dos functionality in a Window, if the game requires more obscure dos commands to perform its installation, it will barf and die. More Enterprise oriented Virtual Machines/Emulators lack a lot of Hardware support, and sound is generally poorly implemented, if at all, patchy Soundblaster 16 support ain't cutting it.