I'm speaking from the point-of-view of the User, not the asshole corporation, but the little innocent citizen who is wondering if he is about to get screwed. I am concerned about losing my ability to watch free television like Heroes, Lost, CSI, Smallville, 24, and of course the local news & weather. Since I live in the densely-populated Northeast, almost every channel is filled. There's only 4 non-adjacent open channels where I live; all the rest are reserved. I don't see how WSDs are going to operate without causing me to lose 70% of my channels (from ~19 downto just 5 locals).*
I invested $300 on four DTV tuner boxes, and another $100 on brand-new rooftop antennas, in order to prepare myself for the 2009 transition. I don't want my investment to be a waste because it picks-up playboy.com datastreams (garbage) instead of Heroes or 24 high-definition video.
If my $400 investment suddenly becomes worthless due to FCC approval of TV-blocking whitespace Ipods, then I might as well bend-over now.
I'm speaking from the point-of-view of the User, you know, the little guy. I am concerned about losing the ability to watch free television like Heroes, Lost, CSI, Smallville, 24, and of course the local news & weather. Since I live in the densely-populated Northeast, almost every channel is filled. There's only 3 non-adjacent open channels where I live; I don't see how WSDs are going to operate without causing me to lose 70% of my channels.
I'm speaking from the point-of-view of the User, who is concerned about losing his ability to watch free television like Heroes, Lost, CSI, Smallville, 24, and of course the local news & weather. I speak of "interference" in terms of lost picture, and "whitespace" as something that doesn't really exist. Since I live in the Northeast, almost every channel is filled. There's only 3 open channels where I live; I don't see how WSDs are going to operate without causing me to lose my picture.
>>> At 50 miles from the television tower, a whitespace device within [160 feet] from a set could cause interference.
Unacceptable. If I'm trying to watch the Phillies match on WPHL-17, the last thing I want is for some brat with an Ipod to start broadcasting over top of 17 (because the Ipod believes it's empty), or neighboring channels 16/18, and instantly block-out my viewing of the World Series. ----- See my signature. Whitespace gadgets are fine. Just keep them off the TV band. I need my television; I like my television. According to a quick calculation, the addition of whitespace interference on TV channels would drop my receivable stations.....
Unacceptable. I just invested $300 on four DTV converter boxes, and another $250 on brand-new rooftop antennas. I don't want my investment to be a waste because it picks-up playboy.com datastreams instead of Heroes or 24.
Excellent point.
Well I'm speaking from the point-of-view of the user, who is concerned about losing his ability to watch free television like Heroes, Lost, CSI, Smallville, 24, and of course the local news & weather. I speak of "interference" in terms of lost picture, and "whitespace" as something that doesn't really exist. Since I live in the Northeast, almost every channel is filled. There's only 3 open channels where I live; I don't see how WSDs are going to operate without causing me to lose my picture.
>>> At 50 miles from the television tower, a whitespace device within [160 feet] from a set could cause interference.
Unacceptable. If I'm trying to watch the Phillies match on WPHL-17, the last thing I want is for some brat with an Ipod to start broadcasting over top of 17 (because the Ipod believes it's empty), or neighboring channels 16/18, and instantly block-out my viewing of the World Series. ----- See my signature. Whitespace gadgets are fine. Just keep them off the TV band. I need my television; I like my television. According to a quick calculation, the addition of whitespace interference on TV channels would drop my receivable stations.....
From: ~19 channels (Baltimore, Philly, Harrisburg, Lancaster)
To: 5 channels (local market only)
Unacceptable. I just invested $300 on four DTV converter boxes, and another $250 on brand-new rooftop antennas. I don't want my investment to be a waste because it picks-up playboy.com datastreams instead of Heroes or 24.
>>> At 50 miles from the television tower, a whitespace device within [160 feet] from a set could cause interference.
Unacceptable. If I'm trying to watch the Phillies match on WPHL-17, the last thing I want is for some brat with an Ipod to start broadcasting over top of 17 (because the Ipod believes it's empty), or neighboring channels 16/18, and instantly block-out my viewing of the World Series. ----- Or worse, block out the station while a major snowstorm is blasting through, and I get cut-off. Television news/weather is FAR more-important than horny teen's desire to surf Pron from his bed. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)
See my signature. Whitespace gadgets are fine. Just keep them off the TV band. I need my television; I like my television. According to a quick calculation, the addition of whitespace interference on TV channels would drop my receivable stations.....
>>> At 50 miles from the television tower, a whitespace device within 50m from a set could allegedly cause interference.
Unacceptable. If I'm trying to watch the Phillies match on WPHL-17, the last thing I want is for some brat with an Ipod to start broadcasting over top of 17 (because the Ipod believes it's empty), or neighboring channels 16/18, and instantly block-out my viewing of the World Series.
Or worse, block out the station while a major snowstorm is blasting through, and I get cut-off. Television news/weather is FAR more-important than horny teen's desire to surf porn from his bed. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)
I saw that video. I also read the link about how a husband & wife were *detained overnight* by a border patrol, simply because they refused to consent to a search of their car.
The terrorists have already won. When we've turned our country into a place where you can be delayed from reaching work on time, simply because the border patrol decided to question you for half an hour, then individual liberty & sovereignty is dead, and the terrorists have won.
I don't think the Phoenix/San Diego traveler is discussing an international border patrol. He's discussing California's internal security station that checks to see if you are carrying non-native plants or animals into (or out of) California state. I've been through the station, and it's a joke. The people who work there have about as much power as a Park Ranger... i.e. none.
A border patrol is something entirely different. They are basically military police, and can cart you off to Guantanamo if they wish, and nobody would ever know.
>>>I've driven between Phoenix and San Diego numerous times over the last 5 years, and never been asked anything
Well I took a cross-country drive from California to Alabama, then north to Maryland. Along my journey I was stopped several times. When I arrived in Texas, they made me get out of the car and demanded to do a search. I refused. Why should my car be searched? I never crossed the international border, therefore there is no "just cause" to start searching.
Eventually they let me go after trying (and failing) to intimidate me into being searched, but it made me extremely angry. I had a Maryland tag. I was a tourist enjoying my vacaction, and these jack-booted thugs have sworn to uphold the constitution which states "the people shall be secure in their persons and papers" unless a search warrant is obtained. They are violating their oaths. They should be prosecuted.
I started using NoScript today. The only major problems I encountered were at CWtv.com, but after thrice selecting "all all on cwtv.com" I was finally able to watch my Supernatural video.
Questions:
Is there an equivalent of NoScript or FlashBlock for Internet Exploder? Also I have bothh Verizon DSL and Netscape Dialup, but I cannot use both at the same time. Is there some way to fix that problem?
>>>1GB / month before I have to pay extra. At my university, I'm charged around 2.5c per megabyte.
Holy cow! That's $25 per gigabyte! There's a solution available: Dialup. I don't know if it's available where you live, but I have Netscape ISP for just $7 a month. It uses image compression to squash pictures downto 20%, and has NO limit on how much you can download. Last month using bittorrent, I downloaded over 10 gigabytes and uploaded 7 gig..... still only cost me $7.00.
>>>What is the best way for humans to deal with the inconsistent amount of light over the year
The electric lightbulb. Specifically a 5 watt compact fluorescent. It's amazing how I can pretend it's daytime even when it's 4 a.m. in the morning. A marvelous invention, and I no longer care if the sun is up or not, and DST is irrelevant.
No actually I'm using XP. Having used Vista on my brothers 1/2 gig machine, I've decided not to touch Vista. Ever. Maybe Windows 7 will operate better.
If not, I'll hang onto the XP until my PC dies and then switch to a Mac. I used Macs in college. Other than a lack of software (the "Mac version coming soon" problem), the Macintosh Quadras of the 90s were faster and cleaner than Windows 3.1 or 95. I suspect the same comparison is still true today.
>>>Why? Are you still using an 80s-era Mac as your primary computer?
No but a modern PC running windows uses 1000 times more RAM than GEOS Commodore 64, but doesn't really do anything extra. The OS needs to go on a diet.
>>>If my ISP told my opponent what porn i watch, they'd be sued. To the GROUND.
Missing the point. With this device the ISP doesn't need to "tell" anything, because the government is already hooked-in to the wire & watching everything you do. ---- Including the newcomer politician, which gives the government Attorney General or governor or legislator the power to spy on the newcomer's playboy.com surfing habits & ruin his career.
Why do you need to take your whole family shopping? Can't you buy your Rice Krispies by yourself?;-) And even if you needed to take the whole family, then you can just take two cars. Mom and kid in the Aptera; dad and kid in the other. The combined 150 mpg is still a LOT better than the average 20mpg SUV.
Very few people need to carry a Ford Living Room everywhere they go.
For those wanting four wheels, Volkswagen will soon have a 1L/100km (240mpg) car.
I can see one way this might be abused - to eliminate political enemies.
"Well Mr. Smith's ISP reports he downloads copies of "Playboy's College Girls". Is this really the man you want to be your next state represenative???"
Well, that's partly true, but not totally. When my Verizon DSLAM decided to burn-up and knock out our neighborhood, I was still able to work the email through my Netscape Phone line connection. A 50k dialup works just fine.
Working on the military, I've learned not to rely on just a single source, which is the main problem here: People don't have a backup for when Google goes down.
That's no excuse. When I need a word processor, I need it NOW, not tomorrow. I do not want my software to be dependent upon anything except my Cl drive. No net connection required.
>>>This wouldn't be a big deal, except that when you opt out of health care, you die.
Yes but even if you "opt in" to government healthcare, you're still going to die! Jeez. Why can't people grasp this simple concept? Government healthcare is not some magic panacea that will make you live forever.
I agree with EA's assessment (althought 99.8% is rather high, 80% is probably more accurate). MOST people don't care about DRM restrictions......until EA, like Wlmart, turns off the servers and makes your $50 game worthless....or they try to play the game on their shiny-new Vista or Windows 7 computer, and the OS rejects it.
A lot of people don't realize how bad DRM can be until they get bit on the butt by a non-functioning piece of software or music or video.
>>>Yes, like spending less on food maybe? There are lot of people who can barely afford to feed themselves
And yet when I drive downtown, or directly talk to these people, I discover cellphones hanging off their hips and they tell me they have cable television, or how they just bought new clothes.
So they can afford to spend ~$700 on cell and ~$700 on cable tv each year, plus XXX on new clothes, but they can't afford food????? I'm not buying it.
>>>Name any country anywhere in the world where the Government are the only providers of health care
Canada. If you want a doctor who's not being controlled by the Parliament's purse-strings, you have to drive south-of-the-border to the United States. Many Canadians flee south to getaway from their Parliament's lousy healthcare.
Slashdot Mirror
P.S.
I'm speaking from the point-of-view of the User, not the asshole corporation, but the little innocent citizen who is wondering if he is about to get screwed. I am concerned about losing my ability to watch free television like Heroes, Lost, CSI, Smallville, 24, and of course the local news & weather. Since I live in the densely-populated Northeast, almost every channel is filled. There's only 4 non-adjacent open channels where I live; all the rest are reserved. I don't see how WSDs are going to operate without causing me to lose 70% of my channels (from ~19 downto just 5 locals).*
I invested $300 on four DTV tuner boxes, and another $100 on brand-new rooftop antennas, in order to prepare myself for the 2009 transition. I don't want my investment to be a waste because it picks-up playboy.com datastreams (garbage) instead of Heroes or 24 high-definition video.
If my $400 investment suddenly becomes worthless due to FCC approval of TV-blocking whitespace Ipods,
then I might as well bend-over now.
P.S.
I'm speaking from the point-of-view of the User, you know, the little guy. I am concerned about losing the ability to watch free television like Heroes, Lost, CSI, Smallville, 24, and of course the local news & weather. Since I live in the densely-populated Northeast, almost every channel is filled. There's only 3 non-adjacent open channels where I live; I don't see how WSDs are going to operate without causing me to lose 70% of my channels.
[format fix] Excellent point.
I'm speaking from the point-of-view of the User, who is concerned about losing his ability to watch free television like Heroes, Lost, CSI, Smallville, 24, and of course the local news & weather. I speak of "interference" in terms of lost picture, and "whitespace" as something that doesn't really exist. Since I live in the Northeast, almost every channel is filled. There's only 3 open channels where I live; I don't see how WSDs are going to operate without causing me to lose my picture.
>>> At 50 miles from the television tower, a whitespace device within [160 feet] from a set could cause interference.
Unacceptable. If I'm trying to watch the Phillies match on WPHL-17, the last thing I want is for some brat with an Ipod to start broadcasting over top of 17 (because the Ipod believes it's empty), or neighboring channels 16/18, and instantly block-out my viewing of the World Series. ----- See my signature. Whitespace gadgets are fine. Just keep them off the TV band. I need my television; I like my television. According to a quick calculation, the addition of whitespace interference on TV channels would drop my receivable stations.....
From: ~19 channels (Baltimore, Philly, Harrisburg, Lancaster)
To: 5 channels (local market only)
Unacceptable. I just invested $300 on four DTV converter boxes, and another $250 on brand-new rooftop antennas. I don't want my investment to be a waste because it picks-up playboy.com datastreams instead of Heroes or 24.
Excellent point. Well I'm speaking from the point-of-view of the user, who is concerned about losing his ability to watch free television like Heroes, Lost, CSI, Smallville, 24, and of course the local news & weather. I speak of "interference" in terms of lost picture, and "whitespace" as something that doesn't really exist. Since I live in the Northeast, almost every channel is filled. There's only 3 open channels where I live; I don't see how WSDs are going to operate without causing me to lose my picture. >>> At 50 miles from the television tower, a whitespace device within [160 feet] from a set could cause interference. Unacceptable. If I'm trying to watch the Phillies match on WPHL-17, the last thing I want is for some brat with an Ipod to start broadcasting over top of 17 (because the Ipod believes it's empty), or neighboring channels 16/18, and instantly block-out my viewing of the World Series. ----- See my signature. Whitespace gadgets are fine. Just keep them off the TV band. I need my television; I like my television. According to a quick calculation, the addition of whitespace interference on TV channels would drop my receivable stations..... From: ~19 channels (Baltimore, Philly, Harrisburg, Lancaster) To: 5 channels (local market only) Unacceptable. I just invested $300 on four DTV converter boxes, and another $250 on brand-new rooftop antennas. I don't want my investment to be a waste because it picks-up playboy.com datastreams instead of Heroes or 24.
>>> At 50 miles from the television tower, a whitespace device within [160 feet] from a set could cause interference.
Unacceptable. If I'm trying to watch the Phillies match on WPHL-17, the last thing I want is for some brat with an Ipod to start broadcasting over top of 17 (because the Ipod believes it's empty), or neighboring channels 16/18, and instantly block-out my viewing of the World Series. ----- Or worse, block out the station while a major snowstorm is blasting through, and I get cut-off. Television news/weather is FAR more-important than horny teen's desire to surf Pron from his bed. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)
See my signature. Whitespace gadgets are fine. Just keep them off the TV band. I need my television; I like my television. According to a quick calculation, the addition of whitespace interference on TV channels would drop my receivable stations.....
From: ~19 channels (Baltimore, Philly, Harrisburg, Lancaster)
To: 5 channels (local market only)
Unacceptable.
What's intercal?
>>> At 50 miles from the television tower, a whitespace device within 50m from a set could allegedly cause interference.
Unacceptable. If I'm trying to watch the Phillies match on WPHL-17, the last thing I want is for some brat with an Ipod to start broadcasting over top of 17 (because the Ipod believes it's empty), or neighboring channels 16/18, and instantly block-out my viewing of the World Series.
Or worse, block out the station while a major snowstorm is blasting through, and I get cut-off. Television news/weather is FAR more-important than horny teen's desire to surf porn from his bed. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)
I saw that video. I also read the link about how a husband & wife were *detained overnight* by a border patrol, simply because they refused to consent to a search of their car.
The terrorists have already won. When we've turned our country into a place where you can be delayed from reaching work on time, simply because the border patrol decided to question you for half an hour, then individual liberty & sovereignty is dead, and the terrorists have won.
I don't think the Phoenix/San Diego traveler is discussing an international border patrol. He's discussing California's internal security station that checks to see if you are carrying non-native plants or animals into (or out of) California state. I've been through the station, and it's a joke. The people who work there have about as much power as a Park Ranger... i.e. none.
A border patrol is something entirely different. They are basically military police, and can cart you off to Guantanamo if they wish, and nobody would ever know.
>>>I've driven between Phoenix and San Diego numerous times over the last 5 years, and never been asked anything
Well I took a cross-country drive from California to Alabama, then north to Maryland. Along my journey I was stopped several times. When I arrived in Texas, they made me get out of the car and demanded to do a search. I refused. Why should my car be searched? I never crossed the international border, therefore there is no "just cause" to start searching.
Eventually they let me go after trying (and failing) to intimidate me into being searched, but it made me extremely angry. I had a Maryland tag. I was a tourist enjoying my vacaction, and these jack-booted thugs have sworn to uphold the constitution which states "the people shall be secure in their persons and papers" unless a search warrant is obtained. They are violating their oaths. They should be prosecuted.
I started using NoScript today. The only major problems I encountered were at CWtv.com, but after thrice selecting "all all on cwtv.com" I was finally able to watch my Supernatural video.
Questions:
Is there an equivalent of NoScript or FlashBlock for Internet Exploder? Also I have bothh Verizon DSL and Netscape Dialup, but I cannot use both at the same time. Is there some way to fix that problem?
There are cheaper options for college students...
>>>1GB / month before I have to pay extra. At my university, I'm charged around 2.5c per megabyte.
Holy cow! That's $25 per gigabyte! There's a solution available: Dialup. I don't know if it's available where you live, but I have Netscape ISP for just $7 a month. It uses image compression to squash pictures downto 20%, and has NO limit on how much you can download. Last month using bittorrent, I downloaded over 10 gigabytes and uploaded 7 gig..... still only cost me $7.00.
>>>What is the best way for humans to deal with the inconsistent amount of light over the year
The electric lightbulb. Specifically a 5 watt compact fluorescent. It's amazing how I can pretend it's daytime even when it's 4 a.m. in the morning. A marvelous invention, and I no longer care if the sun is up or not, and DST is irrelevant.
No actually I'm using XP. Having used Vista on my brothers 1/2 gig machine, I've decided not to touch Vista. Ever. Maybe Windows 7 will operate better.
If not, I'll hang onto the XP until my PC dies and then switch to a Mac. I used Macs in college. Other than a lack of software (the "Mac version coming soon" problem), the Macintosh Quadras of the 90s were faster and cleaner than Windows 3.1 or 95. I suspect the same comparison is still true today.
>>>Why? Are you still using an 80s-era Mac as your primary computer?
No but a modern PC running windows uses 1000 times more RAM than GEOS Commodore 64, but doesn't really do anything extra. The OS needs to go on a diet.
>>>If my ISP told my opponent what porn i watch, they'd be sued. To the GROUND.
Missing the point. With this device the ISP doesn't need to "tell" anything, because the government is already hooked-in to the wire & watching everything you do. ---- Including the newcomer politician, which gives the government Attorney General or governor or legislator the power to spy on the newcomer's playboy.com surfing habits & ruin his career.
Why do you need to take your whole family shopping? Can't you buy your Rice Krispies by yourself? ;-) And even if you needed to take the whole family, then you can just take two cars. Mom and kid in the Aptera; dad and kid in the other. The combined 150 mpg is still a LOT better than the average 20mpg SUV.
Very few people need to carry a Ford Living Room everywhere they go.
For those wanting four wheels, Volkswagen will soon have a 1L/100km (240mpg) car.
I can see one way this might be abused - to eliminate political enemies. "Well Mr. Smith's ISP reports he downloads copies of "Playboy's College Girls". Is this really the man you want to be your next state represenative???"
Well, that's partly true, but not totally. When my Verizon DSLAM decided to burn-up and knock out our neighborhood, I was still able to work the email through my Netscape Phone line connection. A 50k dialup works just fine.
Working on the military, I've learned not to rely on just a single source, which is the main problem here: People don't have a backup for when Google goes down.
That's no excuse. When I need a word processor, I need it NOW, not tomorrow. I do not want my software to be dependent upon anything except my Cl drive. No net connection required.
>>>only final judgments are appealable, and appeals are not permissible in federal court from 'interlocutory' orders of that nature
I'm sure RIAA's lawyers are well aware of this.
They should be disbarred the same way Jack Thompson was disbarred.
>>>This wouldn't be a big deal, except that when you opt out of health care, you die.
Yes but even if you "opt in" to government healthcare, you're still going to die! Jeez. Why can't people grasp this simple concept? Government healthcare is not some magic panacea that will make you live forever.
I agree with EA's assessment (althought 99.8% is rather high, 80% is probably more accurate). MOST people don't care about DRM restrictions... ...until EA, like Wlmart, turns off the servers and makes your $50 game worthless. ...or they try to play the game on their shiny-new Vista or Windows 7 computer, and the OS rejects it.
A lot of people don't realize how bad DRM can be until they get bit on the butt by a non-functioning piece of software or music or video.
>>>Yes, like spending less on food maybe? There are lot of people who can barely afford to feed themselves
And yet when I drive downtown, or directly talk to these people, I discover cellphones hanging off their hips and they tell me they have cable television, or how they just bought new clothes.
So they can afford to spend ~$700 on cell and ~$700 on cable tv each year, plus XXX on new clothes, but they can't afford food????? I'm not buying it.
>>>Name any country anywhere in the world where the Government are the only providers of health care
Canada. If you want a doctor who's not being controlled by the Parliament's purse-strings, you have to drive south-of-the-border to the United States. Many Canadians flee south to getaway from their Parliament's lousy healthcare.