Actually, if you look up the History of A&P it is almost identical to Wal Mart, except 100 years earlier- the expansion etc. I can't find it but there was a great comparison in I think Forbes a year or so ago.
One thing RE: Wal Mart- Wal Mart is hated, yet the people who work there make more than the the person who works where you buy your gasoline, and has a better chance of health ins. What shocks people, is Wal Mart employees make almost double what the people in mall stores make, yet no one is going after the gas stations or mall stores. There has been a lot of attention paid to the Wal Mart out here in Amish country (NE OHIO), with hitching posts in the lots. I hate to tell you but, many Wal Marts have hitching posts. Out here you see a lot of Horses and buggies, and at least half the time the Amish are on cell phones- hate to ruin the myth. Wal Mart got big doing what no one else would- opening stores in small towns where the big boys wouldn't tread. And guess what- it wasn't the prices we loved (they are great) it is the hours- the mom and pop stores that charge $3 for a roll of Bounty Paper Towels, well they were open till 5 on weekdays and maybe 3 hours on Saturday. Thats why we country Bumpkins (I am one) love Wal Mart- it is more the hours than the prices...
If I may mention something regarding the death tax- A: the money is taxed as it is earned, so if it is saved, it is taxed again when the person dies. B: You would be shocked to find out what our farms are worth- As urban sprawl attacks us, our farms are worth millions to deveopers, and are taxed as such at death.
I think that, as has been said, it is about convenience more than cost. Hypothetically, if there were an artist who isn't available on itunes (I am an avid itunes user) and I wanted a song/album by them, I would hypothetically find it on a free download site. It wouldn't be that I don't want to pay for it or am not willing to pay for it, it is that I am not willing to get my chubby self up, get in my car, drive to the music store, buy a CD that has 11 other songs on it I may not want, talk to the record store employee who has never heard of the Rolling Stones but recommends some Britney Spears, drive home, and then load that CD into my itunes....
Perhaps I am naive- but it is my understanding that when someone wants your product, you make it as easy as possible for them to buy it. Forcing people to do it your way, especially when that way is archaic and inconvenient, is going to lose you sales/customers. There are lots of examples of this in the business world- there are many hard to buy products/hard to shop at stores. Perhaps they don't care that they are losing sales...
I was a freshman at a large state college when Napster was the rage. Although I was a poor college student, it wasn't about the cost, it was about the convenience. Having friends over and want to hear a certain song? The record store closed an hour ago, and you are too drunk to drive anyhow- download it! Girl coming to your dorm room in half an hour, and you need to download some Barry White- download it. During those days I wished for a way to download clean copies of single songs legally- so when it became possible, I was all into it, and I use itunes all the time now.
With my cable company I have movies on demand (with full rewind, ff, pause etc), but I still hate being pushed into the mold of the networks (cable or otherwise) that I have to watch shows when they want me to. I will be excited when i can subscribe to say, a Seinfeld library or simpsons library where I can watch whatever epsiode I want, whenever I want without having to buy expensive DVD sets.
Also, re: opening day movie sales v. DVDs- I used to enjoy going to movies, and the consensus amongst my friends is that the reason we don't go anymore is a: $8.50 to see a movie so that some actor can make 20 million a movie is irritating, and the bigger deterrant- other moviegoers. People talking, yelling into their cell phones etc. during movies is so prevalent now that I have given up movie theaters, and instead have a decent home theater system. An usher in every theater for the whole movie may bring back people like me. Why spend $18 for two tickets, $5 for popcorn, $8 for a couple sodas etc. when you can buy the dvd the day it comes out for $20, or a week later for $10? Then you can watch it again and again...
It is all about convenience, for me.
Perhaps I am confused- Aren't we (the US) giving more HIB Visas, and aren't tech leaders saying we need to import more tech workers? (I think I read this on Slashdot that Bill Gates was saying the US will have a huge shortage). So where are these workers coming from? If the US and India are going to need to import workers, who will export them? (I don't mean to speak of people as a commodity, but the words fit)I know that this is a huge world, but what country will do the exporting?
On a side note, I cancelled my satellite radio because I was so angry I called customer service, which is in India, and A: I couldn't understand the representative (and I live in NE Ohio, where there are tons of foreign born people, from Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia etc and I am able to communicate with all of them, so it isn't that I have trouble understanding non-american dialects of English). I also switched banks because when I called my bank (my bank has its world headquarters in Cleveland, 20 miles from me) I got customer service in India, and couldn't understand the representative. Most of my Indian friends speak the Queen's English, which is easy for me to understand- so it seems that Indian companies are lowering their standards of hire. And no this isn't an American Centric view- if you are going to use customer service people to speak to people in another country, the people you hire ought to hbe understandable to those in that country.
As far as batteries- You can do it like diesel electric locomotives. The diesel supplies AC to run the locomotive. Electric motors do generate some torque- However, don't confuse torque with speed/velocity. I have a Ford F350 with thePower Stroke Diesel- It has enough torque to pull most houses off their foundations, but it is sloooooooow accelerating.
I think a bio-diesel running an electric generator could be a great solution for semis as well as light trucks.
Everything old is new again. Some of the earliest cars were electric.
On a related note- I have done some crazy things (read crazy as stupid) things with an electric vehicle, but it was a golf cart. If a man speaks in the forest and there is no woman there to hear him, is he still wrong?
A simple test:
Place people on a desert island- deprive them of food. See how long they live.
Place people on a desert island- deprive them of email. See how long they live.
Repeat for breathing, sex, whatever- figure out what is essential.
I know that I may not enjoy going three days without sex, however, if that killed me, I would be long gone. In fact.... I think I have gone 3 years without sex... and I am still alive.
So I do think that the term addiction is used in its very loosest sense here. I don't think anyone has ever had Delerium Tremors from not being able to use email for a while... Perhaps it would be better to say "people are so used to email that they don't like when they can't check it all the time." One time, i left my cell phone on top of my truck. Long story short I ended up diving over it. I was without a cell phone for 3 days (another long story). The first day was awful, I felt naked, and then it was actually liberating. Sort of like the first time I kicked off my Speedo and dove nude into the pool....
If a man speaks in the forest, and there is no woman there to hear him, is he still wrong?
I am trying to find some discussion of NASA and not Delay on this page- Anyhow- This seems to coincide with the announcement that the AF wants to put more weapons in space. Note that NASA is chartered under the Dept. of Defense, not as a civilian science fair.
Not to sound cynical again, but I won't be excited until we are on our way to Mars or the Moon. The gov't promised something? WooHooo! When the promise comes true (if) I will be excited.
What I am excited about is the possibility of a moonbase, mostly for study of the galaxy/universe from an astronomy perspective- A lot of observation needs to be done from above the Earth's atmosphere (hence the Hubble) so this could be really cool to have manned observation posts on the moon. (As long as there is a treaty to make sure that no one puts a giant billboard on the moon.... but thats another story. If a man speaks in the forest and there is no woman there to hear him, is he still wrong?
I live right next to an electical transformer, but also a Starbucks. If the transformer wasn't there, I would consider an antennae to use Starbuck's wifi at home. My point is, and I guess it is as much of a question as it is a point, is that has there been a study on how many people get free internet by latching on to someone else's wi-fi? In any apartment it would be fairly easy, and I know a lot of college kids do it (if they live of campus). I would love to walk the half mile to our town square while on the internet the whole way with my notebook.
How secure and reliable will a government network be? Some cities have great services while others have awful services, and I can't imagine a city that doesn't get it's streets plowed before rush hour is going to be a great supplier of wi-fi, but on the other hand, any time there is more competition, I am happy. I now pretty much have 1 option for internet access- I don't have a phone (just a cell) so I can't get DSL, so I have Cable, howver not only am I limited to one company, I also have to have cable TV to get Cable internet.
(I also live the Akron Area, home of First Energy, the company who some say helped start the huge NE blackout a few years ago, so My opinions on utilities may be skewed.)
Another consideration- lobbyists, aside from the ones that are seemingly directly affected, i.e. the private internet providers. I heard someone say that wi-fi is going to put a lot of companies under, for example- what good is XM if the country is saturated with wi-fi. Seems once wifi gets a strong foothold, we should get ready for some big changes. If a man speaks in the forest, and there is no woman there to hear him, is he still wrong?
Just my two cents from out here in fly over country- Here in Ohio, you see the "robot" farm machinery all the time- There are threshers, harvesters etc that have GPS and all the toys and do a lot of the grunt work of a farm by wire. Of course, as it is in everything in the US, liability is a chief concern. You don't want a huge harvester running alone running over a kid or something, so often times, even though it is unnecessary to have one, there is an "operator" along for the ride.
Also, as far as lawn mowers- when i was in college I used to work summers on a golf course, and during my coffee break I would read the turf grass magazines (there was no other reading material) and there were articles (this was 6 years ago) about the mowers that followed the underground wires. Once again, the chief issue was not reliability or quality, but liability.
On a semi related note- have you seen the dogs that are trained to help disabled people? The ones that can open the fridge (with a special handle) and bring the owner a beverage? Those are amazing... But it also begs the comparison about how things are cyclical- automatic lawn mowers used to be called goats... then man does it himself for a hundred years or so, and now, robots do what goats used to... If a man speaks in the forest, and there is no woman there to hear him, is he still wrong?
I hope that i am not being baited- However, people don't seem to understand what the department of homeland security is. It is an amalgamation of a lot of different agencies, including ICE (immigration and Customs Enforcement) and the Coast Guard. So yes, ICE may go after Fake LV Handbags, even though they aren't a terror threat. And yes, when the Coast Guard rescues someone from a sinking pleasure boat, that is the DHS, even though saving boaters isnt fighting terrorism.
I hope that helps- I am not trying to be an ass, but I think it is important for us to understand what we comment about....
Log onto http://www.dhs.gov/ to find out about the Department of Homeland Security.... -alex
I think that oftentimes we see too much a causes b, when it could be that some type of genetic language causes one to be predisposed to be an engineer, and that the same genetic language that causes one to be an engineer also causes one to have more boys.
A good example of this was a recent study about "nontraditional" names in the US (Da- prefixes, and -ius suffixes for example) led to lower academic performance, when it is more likely that kids with funky names do more poorly because parents who name kids funky names are more likely to be from a lower economic/educational strata
I am not sure if I am being clear, but I guess we just need to look at instead of A causes B, it could be C causes both A and B.
One a side note, by dad was sort of an early techie (Harvard grad (my sig is his quote), worked at Digital in the early 70's). He ended up in the defense industry, but on the business side (He calls me when he needs to open an attachment- lets just leave his current tech skill at that), however he still tells me every chance he gets that he was around at the dawn of the computer, you know fatherly stuff. (he does have some interesting stories about the hardware and software guys- the software guys used to be the low men on teh totem pole- not many people in those days thought software was ever going to be a money maker like hardware...). My point is, my dad was in astereotypical male role (tech/bus) and my mom is a college educated woman who stayed home with the kids- So did I have a 50-50 chance of being a male?
The next logical demonstration of patch spreed would be to release a project with a note saying it was patched a few minutes before release...
As far as browser security- Are we talking security for the masses or for the (somewhat)informed? I for one can't imagine needing a browser with "anti phish" technology or whatever they call it, just like I couldn't imagine a need for a car security system that works when you leave your keys in your car with the windows down in a bad neighborhood...
The best security is education/knowledge.
Then again, I have a Standard Poodle (inherited from my sister) who I refer to as my guard dog- people laugh at that, but I just need a smart dog who alerts me to anything wrong, so I can grab my 12 Gauge (I am a country bumpkin). That is clearly analagous to the browsers/software- I dont need protection per se, I just need a notifier that I should get my protection... (Insert joke about open sores on my date here)
Whenever I let loose a particularly rank, yet silent fart, I wait three seconds to allow for proper dispersion, and then say "MMmmmmmm, smells like someone is baking cookies" which causes people to instinctively inhale deeply, and thus enjoy my sphincterific emanations.
Here is my issue- like so many laws, this seems like it will punish legitimate businesses, and let the most egregious violators go. Fining a business (big or small) for sending spam, that sounds great, but the only ones who will be hurt are legitimate businesses. The people who send huge mailings from countries that even educated people can't find on a map, advertising larger penis size etc, will keep getting away with it.
I just would hate to see the independent store who sends emails get spanked because they didnt take someone off their list fast enough... The problem is, the more legitimate the business, the easier to track them down, and the more likely they will have to pay. Seems sort of unfair.
I am not sure if I am clearly expressing my thought here...
whenever I let loose a particularly rank, yet silent fart, I wait three seconds for proper dispersion, and then say "Mmmmm, smells like someone is baking cookies!" Those around me instinctively inhale deeply, thus enjoying my sphincterific emanation...
This is a great point- My bank employs voice recognition software along with a facial recognition and nearly unbreakable passwords:
For example- when I call my bank I say "Hi this is...., I would like to transfer such and such." The person at the other ends, who has met me many times, recognizes my voice. However there is a second level of security- passwords. The person at the bank will ask me a question, such as how is your sister. I have to know the answer to that security question- i.e. she is enjoying school etc.
If ever I physically enter the bank, which is rare, the facial recognition software comes into play. Believe it or not, but the bank employees know exactly who I am by looking at my face!!!!
They also know my buying patterns, id est if charges show up from "Charlie's house of Condom's" they know that fraud is occuring and will call me. They know this, because their facial recognition software has told them that I likely have no use for condoms, as I so rarely get any, that the condoms always expire (plus they are always too big....) when I let loose with a horendous smelling, yet silent fart, I will wait three seconds, and then ask "mmmm, does anyone smell cookies baking?"- people will instictively breathe deeply, and enjoy my Sphincteriffic oder!
What about libraries and rentals? This would totally wipe out the market for used DVDs....
Just me speaking, but this would be the end of my DVD buying....
Could I get something like this for my wandering girlfriend? Some kind of RFID chastity belt?
When I let a particularly nasty silent fart go, I wait three seconds, and then say "Mmmmmm, smells like someone is baking cookies." This results in those around me almost pavlovianally taking a deep breath through their noses- and enjoying my sphincteriffic emenations...."
It is a lot like what the Credit Report Companies are doing:
We make money off your personal info, you can subscribe to a service wherby if we lose your info or our records are incorrect, you will know that we screwed up.
Geee thanks!
One of the arguments against an all in one TV/DVD or TV/VCR is that if one function stops working, you are SOL. Also, I like knowing if I lose my IPOD, I havent lost my Telly and vice versa.
I read an article about the R*AA and the mobile phone people thinking people will pay $3-4 per song on their celly because they do it for ringtones.... I don't see this, as I think th max number of ring tones the median buyer would purchase a year is 10 or 20... A library of $4 songs, geez, come on. It just shows the complete disconnect some of these marketing people have with the consumer....
Will control alt delete be available for one touch dialing???
It is amazing the reach or star wars- some are interested in the science (I imagine many on this board) and some just care about the plot, others just like the spun off toys.
I would love a light saber...
Re the science of star trek: That is an amazing book- I had occasion to meet him (Dr. Kraus) when I was at CWRU for undergrad, and as an aside, his daughter played on the same field hockey team as my sister, so we spent many an hour pretending to watch th games while discussing physics. (Discuss may be the wrong word- it consisted of me asking questions, and him explaining.)
will cost employers $628,880,000 in lost productivity
I wonder how they come up with these numbers.... I do know that yesterday it was sunny and nice here, and today it is cool and rainy- and yesterday there were a lot fewer people in the office...
Here is my pet peeve- it is all these claims about what everything costs- there was an article in Reader's Digest (I know, I know... make fun...) a year or so ago about a guy, who totally unscientifically, wrote down for a year every time he saw one of these claims about money- things like traffic jams cost XXX million a year, headaches cost $XXX a year in lost productivity, the NCAA tourney costs $XXX million a year, PMS costs $XXX million a year, Hemmoroids cost $XXX billion a year in lost productivity and so on ad infinutum... the point is, just the examples he had found and added up, were something like 25 times the GDP of the US. So these monetary lost productivity claims are BS designed to make a headline impact in the newspapers. (I will say that I had a burrito yesterday for lunch, and the resulting gas caused several coworkers to leave their desks... so I must wonder what the dollar value of the lost productivity from my anal eruptions adds up to... luckily they were the silent and stinky variety, so I can't be blamed and subsequently billed...)
The low priced laptop is nothing new- Whenever I stay up late at night and watch TV, they always have ads for some electronics show at the fairgrounds with brand new name brand laptops for $75!!!, or amplifiers for $10 etc....
(Above deals are examples, and may not reflect actual merchandise available...)
May I ask a really dumb question... How are they defining American? Do they mean native born Americans educated in public schools? As America is a country of immigrants- immigration patterns will affect the knowledge base in any country- I am not just talking Visas, but also new citizens.
Keep in mind the amount of "American Ingenuity" Or "UK Ingenuity" after WWII that was a direct result of the Allies obtaining German science and engineering knowledge. A ton of great American thinkers were foreign born... Just one example, Einstein. How about Tesla, etc.....
For fake IDs for college students/drinking purposes however- People can spot a fake easily, even from other states. all that a lot of bartenders and door bouncers (especially in college towns) want is something that looks okay so that they can say to any cop- it looked real enough to me, even though the tender/bouncer knew it was fake.
When I was in college I bartended, and let's just say that if we were really hardcore about looking at the license and the pic to see if the license was real/the pic was of the person with the ID etc., we would have been out of business quickly due to lack of customers.
I believe the term is plausible deniability, id est the bartended can just say it fooled me wink wink.
There are a few bars I have been to where they run your ID through a scanner and it pops your age up on the screen from the stripe- but those places are the exception- places where they have too much business and can afford to turn away the high risk under 21 drinkers...
No matter your feelings on the war in Iraq...
The election of Saddam Hussein had a ballott that read:
PICK ONE:
[]Saddam Hussein
[]Torture me and and kill my family
As far as the Real ID act, I do think that those of us whose nerdiness carries over to other subjects, i.e. history junkie, gov't junkie, media junkie etc... this is going to be a very interesting few years as we watch this being fought over and go into effect.
Yes, I know it effects all in the US, but my point is that it will be an interesting show for those of us who spend a lot of time studying current political events....
Thanks for reading this
My understanding is that the President has the power to line item veto. It is amazing how many items pass with bills as riders...
This system made a lot of sense when people arrived for the congress on horseback, as they could add stuff evn if they were delayed... Maybe the time hads passed for the pork barrel and riders.
Sure the price is low... But the way I see it, I have my 9-5 (well, 8-6), and in my spare time I tinker anyway, so If I could get the $150 for tinkering....
There are plenty of people (read some open source believers) who would program for free... so $150 is some nice coin to put in the pockets for something you might have done for free...
Sort of like when my dad offers me $50 to do some project around his house that a handyman would charge $250, aside from the fact that I would do it for free for my dad, my rationale is why not earn $50 on my day off?
Now if a big corporation offered this low sum.... then it would be different... Plus (in the US, you have issues with 1099 and various liabilities, warnbing the extent of my legal knowledgecomes from Matlock and a few episodes of Law and Order...)
Slashdot Mirror
For something similar, "Rod's from God" about the tungsten rods dropped from space on targets- sort of crazy sounding. Check out this recent article: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/weeklysta ndard/20050608/cm_weeklystandard/therodsfromgod_1
Actually, if you look up the History of A&P it is almost identical to Wal Mart, except 100 years earlier- the expansion etc. I can't find it but there was a great comparison in I think Forbes a year or so ago.
One thing RE: Wal Mart- Wal Mart is hated, yet the people who work there make more than the the person who works where you buy your gasoline, and has a better chance of health ins. What shocks people, is Wal Mart employees make almost double what the people in mall stores make, yet no one is going after the gas stations or mall stores. There has been a lot of attention paid to the Wal Mart out here in Amish country (NE OHIO), with hitching posts in the lots. I hate to tell you but, many Wal Marts have hitching posts. Out here you see a lot of Horses and buggies, and at least half the time the Amish are on cell phones- hate to ruin the myth. Wal Mart got big doing what no one else would- opening stores in small towns where the big boys wouldn't tread. And guess what- it wasn't the prices we loved (they are great) it is the hours- the mom and pop stores that charge $3 for a roll of Bounty Paper Towels, well they were open till 5 on weekdays and maybe 3 hours on Saturday. Thats why we country Bumpkins (I am one) love Wal Mart- it is more the hours than the prices...
If I may mention something regarding the death tax- A: the money is taxed as it is earned, so if it is saved, it is taxed again when the person dies. B: You would be shocked to find out what our farms are worth- As urban sprawl attacks us, our farms are worth millions to deveopers, and are taxed as such at death.
I think that, as has been said, it is about convenience more than cost. Hypothetically, if there were an artist who isn't available on itunes (I am an avid itunes user) and I wanted a song/album by them, I would hypothetically find it on a free download site. It wouldn't be that I don't want to pay for it or am not willing to pay for it, it is that I am not willing to get my chubby self up, get in my car, drive to the music store, buy a CD that has 11 other songs on it I may not want, talk to the record store employee who has never heard of the Rolling Stones but recommends some Britney Spears, drive home, and then load that CD into my itunes....
Perhaps I am naive- but it is my understanding that when someone wants your product, you make it as easy as possible for them to buy it. Forcing people to do it your way, especially when that way is archaic and inconvenient, is going to lose you sales/customers. There are lots of examples of this in the business world- there are many hard to buy products/hard to shop at stores. Perhaps they don't care that they are losing sales...
I was a freshman at a large state college when Napster was the rage. Although I was a poor college student, it wasn't about the cost, it was about the convenience. Having friends over and want to hear a certain song? The record store closed an hour ago, and you are too drunk to drive anyhow- download it! Girl coming to your dorm room in half an hour, and you need to download some Barry White- download it. During those days I wished for a way to download clean copies of single songs legally- so when it became possible, I was all into it, and I use itunes all the time now.
With my cable company I have movies on demand (with full rewind, ff, pause etc), but I still hate being pushed into the mold of the networks (cable or otherwise) that I have to watch shows when they want me to. I will be excited when i can subscribe to say, a Seinfeld library or simpsons library where I can watch whatever epsiode I want, whenever I want without having to buy expensive DVD sets.
Also, re: opening day movie sales v. DVDs- I used to enjoy going to movies, and the consensus amongst my friends is that the reason we don't go anymore is a: $8.50 to see a movie so that some actor can make 20 million a movie is irritating, and the bigger deterrant- other moviegoers. People talking, yelling into their cell phones etc. during movies is so prevalent now that I have given up movie theaters, and instead have a decent home theater system. An usher in every theater for the whole movie may bring back people like me. Why spend $18 for two tickets, $5 for popcorn, $8 for a couple sodas etc. when you can buy the dvd the day it comes out for $20, or a week later for $10? Then you can watch it again and again...
It is all about convenience, for me.
Perhaps I am confused- Aren't we (the US) giving more HIB Visas, and aren't tech leaders saying we need to import more tech workers? (I think I read this on Slashdot that Bill Gates was saying the US will have a huge shortage). So where are these workers coming from? If the US and India are going to need to import workers, who will export them? (I don't mean to speak of people as a commodity, but the words fit)I know that this is a huge world, but what country will do the exporting?
On a side note, I cancelled my satellite radio because I was so angry I called customer service, which is in India, and A: I couldn't understand the representative (and I live in NE Ohio, where there are tons of foreign born people, from Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia etc and I am able to communicate with all of them, so it isn't that I have trouble understanding non-american dialects of English). I also switched banks because when I called my bank (my bank has its world headquarters in Cleveland, 20 miles from me) I got customer service in India, and couldn't understand the representative. Most of my Indian friends speak the Queen's English, which is easy for me to understand- so it seems that Indian companies are lowering their standards of hire. And no this isn't an American Centric view- if you are going to use customer service people to speak to people in another country, the people you hire ought to hbe understandable to those in that country.
As far as batteries- You can do it like diesel electric locomotives. The diesel supplies AC to run the locomotive. Electric motors do generate some torque- However, don't confuse torque with speed/velocity. I have a Ford F350 with thePower Stroke Diesel- It has enough torque to pull most houses off their foundations, but it is sloooooooow accelerating.
I think a bio-diesel running an electric generator could be a great solution for semis as well as light trucks.
Everything old is new again. Some of the earliest cars were electric.
On a related note- I have done some crazy things (read crazy as stupid) things with an electric vehicle, but it was a golf cart.
If a man speaks in the forest and there is no woman there to hear him, is he still wrong?
A simple test:
Place people on a desert island- deprive them of food. See how long they live.
Place people on a desert island- deprive them of email. See how long they live.
Repeat for breathing, sex, whatever- figure out what is essential.
I know that I may not enjoy going three days without sex, however, if that killed me, I would be long gone. In fact.... I think I have gone 3 years without sex... and I am still alive.
So I do think that the term addiction is used in its very loosest sense here. I don't think anyone has ever had Delerium Tremors from not being able to use email for a while... Perhaps it would be better to say "people are so used to email that they don't like when they can't check it all the time." One time, i left my cell phone on top of my truck. Long story short I ended up diving over it. I was without a cell phone for 3 days (another long story). The first day was awful, I felt naked, and then it was actually liberating. Sort of like the first time I kicked off my Speedo and dove nude into the pool....
If a man speaks in the forest, and there is no woman there to hear him, is he still wrong?
I am trying to find some discussion of NASA and not Delay on this page- Anyhow- This seems to coincide with the announcement that the AF wants to put more weapons in space. Note that NASA is chartered under the Dept. of Defense, not as a civilian science fair.
Not to sound cynical again, but I won't be excited until we are on our way to Mars or the Moon. The gov't promised something? WooHooo! When the promise comes true (if) I will be excited.
What I am excited about is the possibility of a moonbase, mostly for study of the galaxy/universe from an astronomy perspective- A lot of observation needs to be done from above the Earth's atmosphere (hence the Hubble) so this could be really cool to have manned observation posts on the moon.
(As long as there is a treaty to make sure that no one puts a giant billboard on the moon.... but thats another story.
If a man speaks in the forest and there is no woman there to hear him, is he still wrong?
I live right next to an electical transformer, but also a Starbucks. If the transformer wasn't there, I would consider an antennae to use Starbuck's wifi at home.
My point is, and I guess it is as much of a question as it is a point, is that has there been a study on how many people get free internet by latching on to someone else's wi-fi? In any apartment it would be fairly easy, and I know a lot of college kids do it (if they live of campus). I would love to walk the half mile to our town square while on the internet the whole way with my notebook.
How secure and reliable will a government network be? Some cities have great services while others have awful services, and I can't imagine a city that doesn't get it's streets plowed before rush hour is going to be a great supplier of wi-fi, but on the other hand, any time there is more competition, I am happy. I now pretty much have 1 option for internet access- I don't have a phone (just a cell) so I can't get DSL, so I have Cable, howver not only am I limited to one company, I also have to have cable TV to get Cable internet.
(I also live the Akron Area, home of First Energy, the company who some say helped start the huge NE blackout a few years ago, so My opinions on utilities may be skewed.)
Another consideration- lobbyists, aside from the ones that are seemingly directly affected, i.e. the private internet providers. I heard someone say that wi-fi is going to put a lot of companies under, for example- what good is XM if the country is saturated with wi-fi. Seems once wifi gets a strong foothold, we should get ready for some big changes.
If a man speaks in the forest, and there is no woman there to hear him, is he still wrong?
Just my two cents from out here in fly over country- Here in Ohio, you see the "robot" farm machinery all the time- There are threshers, harvesters etc that have GPS and all the toys and do a lot of the grunt work of a farm by wire. Of course, as it is in everything in the US, liability is a chief concern. You don't want a huge harvester running alone running over a kid or something, so often times, even though it is unnecessary to have one, there is an "operator" along for the ride.
Also, as far as lawn mowers- when i was in college I used to work summers on a golf course, and during my coffee break I would read the turf grass magazines (there was no other reading material) and there were articles (this was 6 years ago) about the mowers that followed the underground wires. Once again, the chief issue was not reliability or quality, but liability.
On a semi related note- have you seen the dogs that are trained to help disabled people? The ones that can open the fridge (with a special handle) and bring the owner a beverage? Those are amazing... But it also begs the comparison about how things are cyclical- automatic lawn mowers used to be called goats... then man does it himself for a hundred years or so, and now, robots do what goats used to...
If a man speaks in the forest, and there is no woman there to hear him, is he still wrong?
I hope that i am not being baited- However, people don't seem to understand what the department of homeland security is. It is an amalgamation of a lot of different agencies, including ICE (immigration and Customs Enforcement) and the Coast Guard. So yes, ICE may go after Fake LV Handbags, even though they aren't a terror threat. And yes, when the Coast Guard rescues someone from a sinking pleasure boat, that is the DHS, even though saving boaters isnt fighting terrorism.
I hope that helps- I am not trying to be an ass, but I think it is important for us to understand what we comment about....
Log onto http://www.dhs.gov/ to find out about the Department of Homeland Security.... -alex
I think that oftentimes we see too much a causes b, when it could be that some type of genetic language causes one to be predisposed to be an engineer, and that the same genetic language that causes one to be an engineer also causes one to have more boys.
A good example of this was a recent study about "nontraditional" names in the US (Da- prefixes, and -ius suffixes for example) led to lower academic performance, when it is more likely that kids with funky names do more poorly because parents who name kids funky names are more likely to be from a lower economic/educational strata
I am not sure if I am being clear, but I guess we just need to look at instead of A causes B, it could be C causes both A and B.
One a side note, by dad was sort of an early techie (Harvard grad (my sig is his quote), worked at Digital in the early 70's). He ended up in the defense industry, but on the business side (He calls me when he needs to open an attachment- lets just leave his current tech skill at that), however he still tells me every chance he gets that he was around at the dawn of the computer, you know fatherly stuff. (he does have some interesting stories about the hardware and software guys- the software guys used to be the low men on teh totem pole- not many people in those days thought software was ever going to be a money maker like hardware...). My point is, my dad was in astereotypical male role (tech/bus) and my mom is a college educated woman who stayed home with the kids- So did I have a 50-50 chance of being a male?
As far as browser security- Are we talking security for the masses or for the (somewhat)informed? I for one can't imagine needing a browser with "anti phish" technology or whatever they call it, just like I couldn't imagine a need for a car security system that works when you leave your keys in your car with the windows down in a bad neighborhood...
The best security is education/knowledge.
Then again, I have a Standard Poodle (inherited from my sister) who I refer to as my guard dog- people laugh at that, but I just need a smart dog who alerts me to anything wrong, so I can grab my 12 Gauge (I am a country bumpkin). That is clearly analagous to the browsers/software- I dont need protection per se, I just need a notifier that I should get my protection... (Insert joke about open sores on my date here)
Whenever I let loose a particularly rank, yet silent fart, I wait three seconds to allow for proper dispersion, and then say "MMmmmmmm, smells like someone is baking cookies" which causes people to instinctively inhale deeply, and thus enjoy my sphincterific emanations.
I just would hate to see the independent store who sends emails get spanked because they didnt take someone off their list fast enough... The problem is, the more legitimate the business, the easier to track them down, and the more likely they will have to pay. Seems sort of unfair.
I am not sure if I am clearly expressing my thought here...
whenever I let loose a particularly rank, yet silent fart, I wait three seconds for proper dispersion, and then say "Mmmmm, smells like someone is baking cookies!" Those around me instinctively inhale deeply, thus enjoying my sphincterific emanation...
This is a great point- My bank employs voice recognition software along with a facial recognition and nearly unbreakable passwords: ...., I would like to transfer such and such." The person at the other ends, who has met me many times, recognizes my voice. However there is a second level of security- passwords. The person at the bank will ask me a question, such as how is your sister. I have to know the answer to that security question- i.e. she is enjoying school etc.
For example- when I call my bank I say "Hi this is
If ever I physically enter the bank, which is rare, the facial recognition software comes into play. Believe it or not, but the bank employees know exactly who I am by looking at my face!!!!
They also know my buying patterns, id est if charges show up from "Charlie's house of Condom's" they know that fraud is occuring and will call me. They know this, because their facial recognition software has told them that I likely have no use for condoms, as I so rarely get any, that the condoms always expire (plus they are always too big....)
when I let loose with a horendous smelling, yet silent fart, I will wait three seconds, and then ask "mmmm, does anyone smell cookies baking?"- people will instictively breathe deeply, and enjoy my Sphincteriffic oder!
What about libraries and rentals? This would totally wipe out the market for used DVDs....
Just me speaking, but this would be the end of my DVD buying....
Could I get something like this for my wandering girlfriend? Some kind of RFID chastity belt?
When I let a particularly nasty silent fart go, I wait three seconds, and then say "Mmmmmm, smells like someone is baking cookies." This results in those around me almost pavlovianally taking a deep breath through their noses- and enjoying my sphincteriffic emenations...."
It is a lot like what the Credit Report Companies are doing:
We make money off your personal info, you can subscribe to a service wherby if we lose your info or our records are incorrect, you will know that we screwed up.
Geee thanks!
I read an article about the R*AA and the mobile phone people thinking people will pay $3-4 per song on their celly because they do it for ringtones.... I don't see this, as I think th max number of ring tones the median buyer would purchase a year is 10 or 20... A library of $4 songs, geez, come on. It just shows the complete disconnect some of these marketing people have with the consumer....
Will control alt delete be available for one touch dialing???
It is amazing the reach or star wars- some are interested in the science (I imagine many on this board) and some just care about the plot, others just like the spun off toys.
I would love a light saber...
Re the science of star trek: That is an amazing book- I had occasion to meet him (Dr. Kraus) when I was at CWRU for undergrad, and as an aside, his daughter played on the same field hockey team as my sister, so we spent many an hour pretending to watch th games while discussing physics. (Discuss may be the wrong word- it consisted of me asking questions, and him explaining.)
will cost employers $628,880,000 in lost productivity
I wonder how they come up with these numbers.... I do know that yesterday it was sunny and nice here, and today it is cool and rainy- and yesterday there were a lot fewer people in the office...
Here is my pet peeve- it is all these claims about what everything costs- there was an article in Reader's Digest (I know, I know... make fun...) a year or so ago about a guy, who totally unscientifically, wrote down for a year every time he saw one of these claims about money- things like traffic jams cost XXX million a year, headaches cost $XXX a year in lost productivity, the NCAA tourney costs $XXX million a year, PMS costs $XXX million a year, Hemmoroids cost $XXX billion a year in lost productivity and so on ad infinutum... the point is, just the examples he had found and added up, were something like 25 times the GDP of the US. So these monetary lost productivity claims are BS designed to make a headline impact in the newspapers. (I will say that I had a burrito yesterday for lunch, and the resulting gas caused several coworkers to leave their desks... so I must wonder what the dollar value of the lost productivity from my anal eruptions adds up to... luckily they were the silent and stinky variety, so I can't be blamed and subsequently billed...)
The low priced laptop is nothing new- Whenever I stay up late at night and watch TV, they always have ads for some electronics show at the fairgrounds with brand new name brand laptops for $75!!!, or amplifiers for $10 etc....
(Above deals are examples, and may not reflect actual merchandise available...)
May I ask a really dumb question... How are they defining American? Do they mean native born Americans educated in public schools? As America is a country of immigrants- immigration patterns will affect the knowledge base in any country- I am not just talking Visas, but also new citizens.
Keep in mind the amount of "American Ingenuity" Or "UK Ingenuity" after WWII that was a direct result of the Allies obtaining German science and engineering knowledge. A ton of great American thinkers were foreign born... Just one example, Einstein. How about Tesla, etc.....
For fake IDs for college students/drinking purposes however- People can spot a fake easily, even from other states. all that a lot of bartenders and door bouncers (especially in college towns) want is something that looks okay so that they can say to any cop- it looked real enough to me, even though the tender/bouncer knew it was fake.
When I was in college I bartended, and let's just say that if we were really hardcore about looking at the license and the pic to see if the license was real/the pic was of the person with the ID etc., we would have been out of business quickly due to lack of customers.
I believe the term is plausible deniability, id est the bartended can just say it fooled me wink wink.
There are a few bars I have been to where they run your ID through a scanner and it pops your age up on the screen from the stripe- but those places are the exception- places where they have too much business and can afford to turn away the high risk under 21 drinkers...
PICK ONE:
[]Saddam Hussein
[]Torture me and and kill my family
As far as the Real ID act, I do think that those of us whose nerdiness carries over to other subjects, i.e. history junkie, gov't junkie, media junkie etc... this is going to be a very interesting few years as we watch this being fought over and go into effect.
Yes, I know it effects all in the US, but my point is that it will be an interesting show for those of us who spend a lot of time studying current political events....
Thanks for reading this
My understanding is that the President has the power to line item veto. It is amazing how many items pass with bills as riders...
This system made a lot of sense when people arrived for the congress on horseback, as they could add stuff evn if they were delayed... Maybe the time hads passed for the pork barrel and riders.
Sure the price is low... But the way I see it, I have my 9-5 (well, 8-6), and in my spare time I tinker anyway, so If I could get the $150 for tinkering....
There are plenty of people (read some open source believers) who would program for free... so $150 is some nice coin to put in the pockets for something you might have done for free... Sort of like when my dad offers me $50 to do some project around his house that a handyman would charge $250, aside from the fact that I would do it for free for my dad, my rationale is why not earn $50 on my day off?
Now if a big corporation offered this low sum.... then it would be different... Plus (in the US, you have issues with 1099 and various liabilities, warnbing the extent of my legal knowledgecomes from Matlock and a few episodes of Law and Order...)