Speaking of airplanes, I've found that noise-cancelling headphones are the only practical way to listen to movies/music on planes. With ordinary headphones I'm forced to crank the volume and find my ears ringing after a long flight.
Or could it be that the entire American media conversation has moved so far to the right that anything near the centre looks left-wing?
Honestly, you really should try looking at American media through the eyes of an outsider - the base definitions of "left", "centre" and "right" have all swung to the right. I would consider THAT to be the great, overarching victory of conservatives in America.
Look at the NYT - widely considered to be a left-leaning publication. Yet it:
- Published front-page, uncritical coverage of every Clinton smear that leaked out of Ken Starr's office while burying critical corrections and mea culpas deep into the paper.
- Ran juvenile, irresponsible coverage of the 2000 election that mocked Gore for being uptight and fawned over Bush for looking "presidential" while completely ignoring well-documented issues with huge implications for the US
- Beat the drum ceaselessly for war, allowing Judith Miller to become a mouthpiece for the administration and Ahmed Chalabi. Seriously, the NYT's prewar coverage was a major source of support for the administration
- Ran juvenile, irresponsible coverage of the 2004 election, passing on opportunities to hold the White House accountable for its first term while failing to reveal the Swift Boat lies and other obvious smear campaigns
- Continued to aggressively support Miller even when it became clear that she had run amok and compromised the paper's integrity
- Continues to soft-pedal criticism of the current administration
I suppose it makes sense that someone who would hold up "the hippes" as some kind of villain would also hold such a brain-dead view of global warming.
This is not a Good Thing. I live in Canada too - I'd love to have a warmer climate but it's just not that simple. Do you really think the climate will move up a few degrees on a global scale and just stop? It's a positive feedback loop - global warming is going to accelerate and so will its effects. As for effects, if nothing else, our First World economy could very well come crashing down, especially when you consider the coming decline in worldwide oil consumption too.
And you may not be bothered by the prospect of a few hundred million or a few billion brown and black people starving to death or dying of thirst but you really should be.
Don't get me wrong - I'm sad to see the Voyager mission winding down. It
would be great to see more discoveries from beyond the boundaries of our solar system. Unfortunately, we can't keep Voyager going forever. We just have to leave some discoveries for future generations.
I suspect that reversing a small fraction of the recent tax cuts for the wealthy could fund Voyager for a long, long time. Or heck, cancel the Alaska "Bridge to Nowhere". This isn't a matter of "we can't", it's a matter of "we choose not to".
An assumption like that is going to doom any attempt at weaning America off foreign energy. Driving is only one way to get around - what about public transportation, cycling, walking, carpooling?
America has a strong history of sacrifice for the good of the country, during wars, the Great Depression etc. This looming energy crisis has the potential to demand the greatest sacrifice in generations.
Sacred cows like the "right" to drive a gas-guzzling behemoth 60miles to work each day must be looked at in light of the sacrifice that will be required.
My wife's 1998-vintage Thinkpad (well out of warranty) failed in late 2001. We sent it to a local shop for repairs - they replaced the motherboard at no charge (parts OR labor!) because IBM had had "trouble" with this motherboard before.
When it failed again a year later, it was repaired again at no charge.
You could argue that it shouldn't have failed in the first place (bad solder on a power connection), but you can't beat that support! I won't buy anything but a Thinkpad anymore.
It's a Thinkpad, alright. They use 'em on the Space Shuttle too - basically NASA put a stake in the ground in the mid-90's, bought a boatload of 166MHz Thinkpads, put Windows 95(!) on them and characterized the heck out of them.
So the many faults of this platform are well understood, which is what really counts. Interesting article on this here
(Loving my T40... er... in the abstract sense only)
I think you're missing the strategy here - it's not about the iPod nearly as much as it is about iTunes.
Apple wants iTunes as widely used as possible, so it has to get its hardware into as many hands as possible. A lower-cost player makes perfect sense even if is less prestigious than the HD-based iPod.
Slashdot Mirror
Speaking of airplanes, I've found that noise-cancelling headphones are the only practical way to listen to movies/music on planes. With ordinary headphones I'm forced to crank the volume and find my ears ringing after a long flight.
I'm so pissed, I just slammed the door shut on some kid's nuts.
Huh. Nutcrashing. Making up buzzwords is easy AND fun!
But... how will you know there's Intel Inside now?
Thank god - I thought I had slipped into Bizarro-Slashdot.
For another amusing take on their launch party, see James Wolcott. Worth the read.
I sure could go for a hundred tacos right about now...
*salivate
Or could it be that the entire American media conversation has moved so far to the right that anything near the centre looks left-wing?
Honestly, you really should try looking at American media through the eyes of an outsider - the base definitions of "left", "centre" and "right" have all swung to the right. I would consider THAT to be the great, overarching victory of conservatives in America.
Look at the NYT - widely considered to be a left-leaning publication. Yet it:
- Published front-page, uncritical coverage of every Clinton smear that leaked out of Ken Starr's office while burying critical corrections and mea culpas deep into the paper.
- Ran juvenile, irresponsible coverage of the 2000 election that mocked Gore for being uptight and fawned over Bush for looking "presidential" while completely ignoring well-documented issues with huge implications for the US
- Beat the drum ceaselessly for war, allowing Judith Miller to become a mouthpiece for the administration and Ahmed Chalabi. Seriously, the NYT's prewar coverage was a major source of support for the administration
- Ran juvenile, irresponsible coverage of the 2004 election, passing on opportunities to hold the White House accountable for its first term while failing to reveal the Swift Boat lies and other obvious smear campaigns
- Continued to aggressively support Miller even when it became clear that she had run amok and compromised the paper's integrity
- Continues to soft-pedal criticism of the current administration
You call *that* left-wing?
You must be new here. Welcome to Slashdot!
I suppose it makes sense that someone who would hold up "the hippes" as some kind of villain would also hold such a brain-dead view of global warming.
This is not a Good Thing. I live in Canada too - I'd love to have a warmer climate but it's just not that simple. Do you really think the climate will move up a few degrees on a global scale and just stop? It's a positive feedback loop - global warming is going to accelerate and so will its effects. As for effects, if nothing else, our First World economy could very well come crashing down, especially when you consider the coming decline in worldwide oil consumption too.
And you may not be bothered by the prospect of a few hundred million or a few billion brown and black people starving to death or dying of thirst but you really should be.
I suspect that reversing a small fraction of the recent tax cuts for the wealthy could fund Voyager for a long, long time. Or heck, cancel the Alaska "Bridge to Nowhere". This isn't a matter of "we can't", it's a matter of "we choose not to".
Yeah, what he said! Who's running things these days, anyway? (Clicky)
Sigh... Good times... good times...
Black! (Like their gums turned...)
"My personal favourite is a white Siberian copy of a Sinclair Spectrum," says curator Tilly Blyth. "But then I'm an eighties girl."
*swoon*
...Homer jumps a shark on his motorcycle.
Somebody mod Parent [+1: Extreme!]
Come on people, Slashdot hasn't had a new mod category in years...
...every citizen still needs to drive to work.
An assumption like that is going to doom any attempt at weaning America off foreign energy. Driving is only one way to get around - what about public transportation, cycling, walking, carpooling?
America has a strong history of sacrifice for the good of the country, during wars, the Great Depression etc. This looming energy crisis has the potential to demand the greatest sacrifice in generations.
Sacred cows like the "right" to drive a gas-guzzling behemoth 60miles to work each day must be looked at in light of the sacrifice that will be required.
And yet you achieved a "Score:5, Funny".
Nicely done, my friend.
Better yet - if you haven't seen one, jam a screwdriver in there until you do!
inept, pimply-faced teens
Careful now - let's not invite JonKatz back into the picture...
Warning - anecdote:
My wife's 1998-vintage Thinkpad (well out of warranty) failed in late 2001. We sent it to a local shop for repairs - they replaced the motherboard at no charge (parts OR labor!) because IBM had had "trouble" with this motherboard before.
When it failed again a year later, it was repaired again at no charge.
You could argue that it shouldn't have failed in the first place (bad solder on a power connection), but you can't beat that support! I won't buy anything but a Thinkpad anymore.
So the many faults of this platform are well understood, which is what really counts. Interesting article on this here
(Loving my T40... er... in the abstract sense only)
Great idea - but I'd suggest (opaque) frozen carbonite for Bryan Adams and Celine Dion. Oh, and the Guess Who... have you seen Burton Cummings lately?
I think you're missing the strategy here - it's not about the iPod nearly as much as it is about iTunes.
Apple wants iTunes as widely used as possible, so it has to get its hardware into as many hands as possible. A lower-cost player makes perfect sense even if is less prestigious than the HD-based iPod.
...or when the loonies get elected en mass.