I'm not a grammar savant, nor am I an english teacher. However, I would wager my grammar to be better than yours. I know you really wanted to have a complicated, well-thought post with incredible use of punctuation and such to show your great skill to the world -- unfortunately you have used a run-on sentence to do so:
"He just sits back and his brain feeds him the answer without any conscious sort of calculation."
I know, I know. I'm being extremely nitpicky, but, if you come on here claiming to be some grammatical genious who magically follows the rules, you can at least follow the rules for four or five short paragraphs.
I am currently a college student in Savannah, GA, but my home is in Murfreesboro, TN. In light of the current crisis gripping our nation, I wish to make a plea to you for my rights as an American. Our system of government works better than any government has worked in the history of the world. While certainly not the oldest country, the United States of America has the oldest standing government in the world right now -- all others have been toppled and completely reworked during the span of our existence. This is why I feel it is necessary to preserve those values which made our government and way of life uniquely successful.
I realize that the gung-ho hero in every American, myself included, wants to go after the terrorists who commited those horrendous acts of war at all costs. My more reasonable side, though, realizes that is a mistake. Instead, we need to utilize a tried and true system -- that which we have in place already -- to capture and/or destroy our enemies. If we begin by allowing the government to, say, read all our emails and "wiretap" our internet connections without due cause (namely a warrant), what is to stop them from reading all of our normal mail as well? Eventually, would it have the right to bug our houses and listen to our daily "private" conversations at home as well? I'm remembering stories of the KGB right now, how the lack of privacy made everyone paranoid (rightfully so), and how the system eventually failed.
While the masses will most certainly say, "I'm not breaking the law, so I don't care if the government reads what I do on the internet," I would disagree. Historically, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Sure, it sounds like a cheesy cliche, but it is a phrase to govern by. Most certainly, the people in office right now would not take unfair advantage of the new freedoms given to the government -- or perhaps they would, it is unimportant. What matters to me is this: In 40 years, when I'm 62 years old, will the new representatives/senators/executive leaders be as moral as they are today? NO! Look at *any* government in the history of the world that had the right to completely control and observe the activity of their citizens. Without fail, they evolve into tyranical institutions -- China, USSR, Afganistan, Pre-Revolution France. What is the other common thread that is running through most, if not all of these examples? The governments eventually failed.
That, my respectable representative, is what makes America great. The masses, who are not breaking the law and are not infringing on the rights of others, are above the authority of the law. They cannot be monitored or curtailed. Instead, only those who prove themselves untrustworty and contrary to the principles of our Great Nation can have their own rights and privacies limited. This is why I make a plea for you to vote against ANY bill submitted that infringes upon my established rights IN THE SLIGHTEST. Do not allow unwarranted taps of any sort, be they internet, email, phone, or otherwise. Do not allow the law to overstep the system put in place to protect the innocent masses. It is a mistake that would cost the future more dearly than we can imagine.
This is definitely NOT new news . . .
on
Laser-equipped 747
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· Score: 1
The Discovery Channel ran a program over a year ago, maybe even a couple years ago, in which they talked about various measures being tested for missile defense. An entire segment of the program was given to the 747's.
Pretty much, the problem with them is that the amount of fuel required to power a laser strong enough to destroy a missile is enormous, and each 747 could only physically hold enough fuel for 2 or 3 missiles (the entire area normally used for cargo and passengers was converted to a huge power cell).
I bought a Revolution 3D video card when it came out, along with the memory daughter card. In the end, I had a $500 card that was bought for the sole purpose of using 3D Studio MAX. I had this card because it was advertised by #9 that 3DS Max was one of their primary target applications.
What is important is that 3D Studio MAX requires specialized drivers in order to utilize its 3d functionality. Of course, since number 9 was targeting MAX as one of their primary applications, I assumed that the drivers would be included with the card. Wrong. So, I checked their web site -- no drivers. At this, I became worried. However, being a relatively calm person, I called up their tech support and asked them the status of the drivers.
The tech folks said that the drivers were in testing and would be released within the month. Ok, I'm happy. I'll just use software rendering until then. A month rolls around -- no drivers? I call again. This time, they say it is going to be another couple of months. So, now I start getting a little irritated. A month has passed, I can no longer return the card, and it is looking like they rooked me. I don't have enough money to be throwing it away like that, so I try to get some confirmation that they are, in fact, working on the drivers. They refused to send out any beta drivers, any incompletes, any anything for assurance.
Well, the story has an unhappy ending. After Autodesk released Max 2.0 (a couple weeks after, actually), Number 9 finally released the Max v1 heidi drivers. HAHA, great. Of course, v1 drivers aren't compatible with v2. I was screwed by number 9, and they didn't care -- they never offered any sort of reperations or even a simple apology.
So, I say this: GREAT. I'm happy they are out of business, and I hope their managers can't find replacement jobs. It is a sweet dessert to my eyes to read this news.
So, talking to the corp didn't help. Big suprise. Now there are a few other options people can take. Personally, I think a good approach would be for all of us to contact the Civil Liberties Union. The fact that this program is being utilized by a government institution gives some extra power to us, more specifically on the side of constitutionality (or so I hope). I'm no lawyer, but I hope I am accurate in this assumption. Here are 3 of their criteria for persecuting individuals, and why I think they would not stand up:
Displays intense intolerance or prejudice. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the KKK allowed to demonstrate and express its views? Isn't that one of those things that goes along with your constitutional rights? Now, individuals can get mad and curse and scream and express their views in contradiction, but the government cannot. The school system cannot say that one view is correct or not, and it cannot single out and persecute a person because they hate the different races, religions, hair do's, lipstick colors, or anything else people are prejudiced against.
Conveys violence in writings and/or drawings. Freedom of speech. Freedom of religion. Writings and drawings are also protected by the constitution. Also, now the schools will have to stop teaching about war, having essays on the subject, etc. etc, because that would be training the students to write on the very subjects for which they will be singled out. Another angle is this -- what is the symbol of the Christian faith? A guy getting nailed up on a cross, stabbed, suffocated, thorns jammed onto his head, and who knows what other undocumented nasties. I guess faithful followers of the nation's most popular religion will not be able to draw or write about that.
Is easily angered by minor things. Freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Something that is a minor infraction to one person, when viewed from a different angle, can be a very serious offense (such as tracking muddy boots across the floor of a temple in which you are supposed to remove your shoes). As long as the angry individual breaks no laws, then they are free to express their anger over any infraction. Heck, if they never express their feelings, can't that lead to nasty mental disorders and a build-up that will eventually lead to an explosion of rage and a shooting spree?
Perhaps there is more we can do that sit around on a message board bitching and moaning, or sending emails to a corp that we -know- will not deviate from their chosen path unless forced to do so by the government or the bottom line.
Can they PLEASE get rid of that damn yellow line showing 1st downs in football games! Jeez! That thing is annoying as heck! And credability? My Gerbil has more credibility than that thing.
Nevermind, I posted that previous in anger when I attempted to check my email, and the mail server appears to be down. Then, I just happened to notice about @Home being the target of usenet death, but I didn't check the part about "starts on the 18th"
I need to check my email, my @home email. This is frustrating as hell. Usenet folks picked the wrong damn day to start this. If they want to make a point, then they should do this on the weekend. That way, innocent people such as myself don't get hurt as badly when we can't get business emails in a timely manner. They would still cause a headache, and @home or whoever else would still scramble to fix the problem, but at least the people caught in the middle wouldn't feel the hurt as badly.
I know that Jupiter has a much greater mass than Earth or other planets, but here is the angle for my question:
We are very close (relatively) to Jupiter, and so are field of view on its gravity wobbles may be incomplete. When you take into account its moons plus the actual planet, its wobble may be much greater. So, my question is this: How can they be sure these planets aren't much smaller, but perhaps with multiple moons? Are they assuming these other planets have no moons?
The entire point of my post is not that there WOULD be security flaws, I don't believe there would be any. My point is that politicians, forever saving their asses, would target linux as a sacrificial anti-communist icon. Senators aren't as technical as the typical geek. They would see a pamplet labeled "Official Operating System of China" where it was detailed how Chinese programmers have made contributions, then next to it the request to put this official communist(read: compromised in their minds) OS on a US Government server. That isn't A Good Thing.
Lets say that China starts backing linux, and even throws government programmers at future kernels. Could this not put the US Government in a precarious position? The US may not want to use Linux in government computers if it is programmed by China because of possible security holes.
Assuming someone is able to break into the system through telnet and gain access to the hard-coded files, how much more work would it take to make a dreamcast emulator? After all, with the new nvidia chip coming out, a PC could very possibly handle dreamcast games . . . Just a thought.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm not a grammar savant, nor am I an english teacher. However, I would wager my grammar to be better than yours. I know you really wanted to have a complicated, well-thought post with incredible use of punctuation and such to show your great skill to the world -- unfortunately you have used a run-on sentence to do so:
"He just sits back and his brain feeds him the answer without any conscious sort of calculation."
I know, I know. I'm being extremely nitpicky, but, if you come on here claiming to be some grammatical genious who magically follows the rules, you can at least follow the rules for four or five short paragraphs.
I am currently a college student in Savannah, GA, but my home is in Murfreesboro, TN. In light of the current crisis gripping our nation, I wish to make a plea to you for my rights as an American. Our system of government works better than any government has worked in the history of the world. While certainly not the oldest country, the United States of America has the oldest standing government in the world right now -- all others have been toppled and completely reworked during the span of our existence. This is why I feel it is necessary to preserve those values which made our government and way of life uniquely successful.
I realize that the gung-ho hero in every American, myself included, wants to go after the terrorists who commited those horrendous acts of war at all costs. My more reasonable side, though, realizes that is a mistake. Instead, we need to utilize a tried and true system -- that which we have in place already -- to capture and/or destroy our enemies. If we begin by allowing the government to, say, read all our emails and "wiretap" our internet connections without due cause (namely a warrant), what is to stop them from reading all of our normal mail as well? Eventually, would it have the right to bug our houses and listen to our daily "private" conversations at home as well? I'm remembering stories of the KGB right now, how the lack of privacy made everyone paranoid (rightfully so), and how the system eventually failed.
While the masses will most certainly say, "I'm not breaking the law, so I don't care if the government reads what I do on the internet," I would disagree. Historically, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Sure, it sounds like a cheesy cliche, but it is a phrase to govern by. Most certainly, the people in office right now would not take unfair advantage of the new freedoms given to the government -- or perhaps they would, it is unimportant. What matters to me is this: In 40 years, when I'm 62 years old, will the new representatives/senators/executive leaders be as moral as they are today? NO! Look at *any* government in the history of the world that had the right to completely control and observe the activity of their citizens. Without fail, they evolve into tyranical institutions -- China, USSR, Afganistan, Pre-Revolution France. What is the other common thread that is running through most, if not all of these examples? The governments eventually failed.
That, my respectable representative, is what makes America great. The masses, who are not breaking the law and are not infringing on the rights of others, are above the authority of the law. They cannot be monitored or curtailed. Instead, only those who prove themselves untrustworty and contrary to the principles of our Great Nation can have their own rights and privacies limited. This is why I make a plea for you to vote against ANY bill submitted that infringes upon my established rights IN THE SLIGHTEST. Do not allow unwarranted taps of any sort, be they internet, email, phone, or otherwise. Do not allow the law to overstep the system put in place to protect the innocent masses. It is a mistake that would cost the future more dearly than we can imagine.
The Discovery Channel ran a program over a year ago, maybe even a couple years ago, in which they talked about various measures being tested for missile defense. An entire segment of the program was given to the 747's. Pretty much, the problem with them is that the amount of fuel required to power a laser strong enough to destroy a missile is enormous, and each 747 could only physically hold enough fuel for 2 or 3 missiles (the entire area normally used for cargo and passengers was converted to a huge power cell).
I bought a Revolution 3D video card when it came out, along with the memory daughter card. In the end, I had a $500 card that was bought for the sole purpose of using 3D Studio MAX. I had this card because it was advertised by #9 that 3DS Max was one of their primary target applications.
What is important is that 3D Studio MAX requires specialized drivers in order to utilize its 3d functionality. Of course, since number 9 was targeting MAX as one of their primary applications, I assumed that the drivers would be included with the card. Wrong. So, I checked their web site -- no drivers. At this, I became worried. However, being a relatively calm person, I called up their tech support and asked them the status of the drivers.
The tech folks said that the drivers were in testing and would be released within the month. Ok, I'm happy. I'll just use software rendering until then. A month rolls around -- no drivers? I call again. This time, they say it is going to be another couple of months. So, now I start getting a little irritated. A month has passed, I can no longer return the card, and it is looking like they rooked me. I don't have enough money to be throwing it away like that, so I try to get some confirmation that they are, in fact, working on the drivers. They refused to send out any beta drivers, any incompletes, any anything for assurance.
Well, the story has an unhappy ending. After Autodesk released Max 2.0 (a couple weeks after, actually), Number 9 finally released the Max v1 heidi drivers. HAHA, great. Of course, v1 drivers aren't compatible with v2. I was screwed by number 9, and they didn't care -- they never offered any sort of reperations or even a simple apology.
So, I say this: GREAT. I'm happy they are out of business, and I hope their managers can't find replacement jobs. It is a sweet dessert to my eyes to read this news.
Tanner
So, talking to the corp didn't help. Big suprise. Now there are a few other options people can take. Personally, I think a good approach would be for all of us to contact the Civil Liberties Union. The fact that this program is being utilized by a government institution gives some extra power to us, more specifically on the side of constitutionality (or so I hope). I'm no lawyer, but I hope I am accurate in this assumption. Here are 3 of their criteria for persecuting individuals, and why I think they would not stand up:
Displays intense intolerance or prejudice.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the KKK allowed to demonstrate and express its views? Isn't that one of those things that goes along with your constitutional rights? Now, individuals can get mad and curse and scream and express their views in contradiction, but the government cannot. The school system cannot say that one view is correct or not, and it cannot single out and persecute a person because they hate the different races, religions, hair do's, lipstick colors, or anything else people are prejudiced against.
Conveys violence in writings and/or drawings.
Freedom of speech. Freedom of religion. Writings and drawings are also protected by the constitution. Also, now the schools will have to stop teaching about war, having essays on the subject, etc. etc, because that would be training the students to write on the very subjects for which they will be singled out. Another angle is this -- what is the symbol of the Christian faith? A guy getting nailed up on a cross, stabbed, suffocated, thorns jammed onto his head, and who knows what other undocumented nasties. I guess faithful followers of the nation's most popular religion will not be able to draw or write about that.
Is easily angered by minor things.
Freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Something that is a minor infraction to one person, when viewed from a different angle, can be a very serious offense (such as tracking muddy boots across the floor of a temple in which you are supposed to remove your shoes). As long as the angry individual breaks no laws, then they are free to express their anger over any infraction. Heck, if they never express their feelings, can't that lead to nasty mental disorders and a build-up that will eventually lead to an explosion of rage and a shooting spree?
Perhaps there is more we can do that sit around on a message board bitching and moaning, or sending emails to a corp that we -know- will not deviate from their chosen path unless forced to do so by the government or the bottom line.
Can they PLEASE get rid of that damn yellow line showing 1st downs in football games! Jeez! That thing is annoying as heck! And credability? My Gerbil has more credibility than that thing.
Nevermind, I posted that previous in anger when I attempted to check my email, and the mail server appears to be down. Then, I just happened to notice about @Home being the target of usenet death, but I didn't check the part about "starts on the 18th"
Oh well. Stupid me.
Tanman
I need to check my email, my @home email. This is frustrating as hell. Usenet folks picked the wrong damn day to start this. If they want to make a point, then they should do this on the weekend. That way, innocent people such as myself don't get hurt as badly when we can't get business emails in a timely manner. They would still cause a headache, and @home or whoever else would still scramble to fix the problem, but at least the people caught in the middle wouldn't feel the hurt as badly.
Yes, God WOULD find a good way to stop us . . . Y2K BUG!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo "It's the end of the world as we know it, and I fell . . ." Fzzt
I know that Jupiter has a much greater mass than Earth or other planets, but here is the angle for my question:
We are very close (relatively) to Jupiter, and so are field of view on its gravity wobbles may be incomplete. When you take into account its moons plus the actual planet, its wobble may be much greater. So, my question is this: How can they be sure these planets aren't much smaller, but perhaps with multiple moons? Are they assuming these other planets have no moons?
Just my $0.02
The entire point of my post is not that there WOULD be security flaws, I don't believe there would be any.
My point is that politicians, forever saving their asses, would target linux as a sacrificial anti-communist icon. Senators aren't as technical as the typical geek. They would see a pamplet labeled "Official Operating System of China" where it was detailed how Chinese programmers have made contributions, then next to it the request to put this official communist(read: compromised in their minds) OS on a US Government server. That isn't A Good Thing.
Tanman
Lets say that China starts backing linux, and even throws government programmers at future kernels. Could this not put the US Government in a precarious position? The US may not want to use Linux in government computers if it is programmed by China because of possible security holes.
That could be very bad for the Linux community.
Tanman
Assuming someone is able to break into the system through telnet and gain access to the hard-coded files, how much more work would it take to make a dreamcast emulator? After all, with the new nvidia chip coming out, a PC could very possibly handle dreamcast games . . . Just a thought.