But hey, how's that any different than data mining Netflix?
Your Netflix rental history isn't as helpful for a nosey insurance company looking to drop policyholders with genetic predisposition for expensive illnesses.
The trick isn't getting a kid to read as early as possible, it's getting them to *want* to learn to read and continue reading. What did it for me was when my parents finally bought a computer. I was 5 or 6, IIRC. Back in the DOS days it was awfully difficult to get around unless you could read. I was determined to learn to read so I could play with it. I've been a voracious reader ever sense. And I beat Mickey's Space Adventure before my older sister did and bragged like hell about it for months. (Yeah, I was a bit of a little twerp that way.;D).
Get the kid as many good games with lots of text as possible. Buy her any book she wants and keep encouraging her to read to her heart's content. Don't get pushy. You don't want her to equate reading with "you're not leaving this table until you eat those brussel sprouts!" If she learns to love reading, she'll have a much easier time in school and might just grow up to be smart enough to take good care of you when you're old and senile.;)
The other carriers could implement visual voicemail too if they were able to carry the iphone. AT&T isn't exactly dead weight to Apple. An unlocked any-carrier iphone wouldn't get the kickbacks from monthly service subscriptions AT&T is presently giving Apple for the exclusive contract.
Granted, the Nintendo GameCube wasn't the most popular console last time around. But it sold reasonably well and made Nintendo a tidy profit. I'd hardly call it "ill-fated."
Adobe gives Acrobat reader away for free. It charges money for its fancy publishing tools. So many of their paying customers are content creators that like getting paid . . . so yeah . . . I'll bet some of them actually asked for ads.
IANAP, but I think "undefined" would be a better answer. Sound is just vibrations travelling through matter. True vacuum, being the absence of matter has nothing for the sound to travel through so there is nothing to measure--zero is a measurable value, after all.
On the one hand, Comcast and their ilk have been dragging their heels implementing things like CableCard and working hard to keep their (in many cases) geographical monopolies safe from any other competition. As far as TV goes, most people's options boil down to little more than an antenna, DirecTV or The Cable Company. If there was an injection of more competition in the market I think we'd see a lot more innovative services like more robust video on demand, ala carte programming options, more and higher quality HD channels, and innovative new services we haven't even thought of.
On the other hand, this 70/70 rule sounds downright silly, as I doubt very much that's the case nationwide. The FCC has proven time and time again that it's an inept bureaucracy more interested in maintaining its own power and relevance than any concern for the public good. Handing them more power is seldom good for anybody.
I might be able to get onboard with something like a 70/70 rule if it was a little more automatic and less prone to government meddling. i.e. Let's say Comcast has 70% of 70% or more in a given metropolitan area--then kick in a rule forcing them to resell wholesale access to their infrastructure to other local competitors to keep them from being the only game in town. And before someone points out it's *their* infrastructure and they built and bought it--they did so with a lot of government subsidies and that infrastructure is sitting on a lot of public land. They only have mini-monopolies because the government has allowed it.
I'm interested to hear other people's takes on the pros and cons of all of this.
If your writing is really good and ends up creating a popular show, then you should get paid a lot. However, if your writing sucks, and the people don't watch your show, you should get paid less.
It already works that way. If you write bad shows/movies that don't get watched, the show gets canceled and you're out of a job. Shows that don't get watched don't get rerun and don't sell DVDs, so no residuals either. And as reputation-based as the entertainment industry is, if you have a habit writing flops, you'll soon be both out of a job and unable to get hired on a new one.
I fail to see how the guild promotes a large population of deadbeat writers. They work very hard, have next to no job security, and have to continuously apply for new work by submitting outlines and scripts which they may never get paid for having written at all except in the relatively rare case they're hired to write a specific pilot treatment or something.
I know several reasonably successful screenwriters and while each of them consider it their passion and a very fulfilling career, not one of them would call it a cush job. Add that a screenwriter is practically required to live in L.A. (not cheap!) and you'll understand why they all have to keep pretty hefty "rainy day" funds just to keep a roof over their heads.
I just wanted to add something about HotSpot@Home that I didn't realize until recently--it's an extra $10/month, but all your VOIP calls are unlimited (don't use minutes) however they *will* let you use VOIP on a phone that supports it *without* the extra fee if you don't mind VOIP calls using your minutes as normal. I never go through all of my minutes anyway but still wanted the added VOIP coverage, so I was happy to find out it was available without paying an extra monthly fee.
I'm no neuroscientist, but I'm of the understanding that individual neurons don't contain memories. Those are believed to be encoded through the vast interconnectedness of many individual neurons and when one neuron dies, the rest route around it so nothing is necessarily lost. Some new neurons are created throughout our adult lives and even a neuron that's been with you since birth will have had most of its molecules completely replaced several times. The original DNA molecule's probably still in there--but the water, salts, sugars, and proteins that make up just about everything else in a neuron are continuously replaced. All the electrons and neurochemicals making up all your memories, thoughts and personality are recycled and replaced.
If you could put *very tiny* "property of/name/" stickers on every atom in your newborn body, most would be gone now (having been replaced again and again).
As I stated, the restrictions have to not-violate the first amendment.
Ultimately, yes. But even if Congress does pass an anti-violent-video-game law that violates the first amendment, it stands until a court rules it unconstitutional. Add in a few rounds of appeals and we can be stuck with that law for years.
I hate to break this to you, but this has already happened to you several times, albeit more gradually. Most (if not all) of your molecules have been replaced continuously throughout your life since you've been eating, drinking, breathing, sweating, shedding, growing, shrinking and using the bathroom (sorry, I didn't want to say "peeing and pooping" because it sounded to juven--well, shit).
The replacement, if that person is more intelligent, would be able to do something without being insulting or counterproductive. For example, passing laws that restrict the sale of video games to minors without violating the first amendment. (This would be difficult, but possible if it doesn't restrict the speech in question.)
On December 9, 1993, the ax fell and the public federal hearings scrutinizing the ethics of the video game industry as a whole began . . . In an effort to help diffuse the situation at hand, the collective giants agreed to quickly adopt a rating system for threats . . . [Senators Lieberman and Kohl] claimed that, "If you don't do something, we will", and the rating system . . . would eventually become known as the ESRB rating system within a couple of years.
A nutjob (soon to be former) lawyer is much less of a threat than a couple of busybody senators trying to shore up their concerned soccer mom support.
Not sure how that would stand up. The other filesharers down the line would be the ones committing infringement and the RIAA would have to go after each and every one of them. IANAL, but if I run a red light and the eight cars behind me decide to run it too--I'm only responsible for one infraction, the other eight drivers made their own choice to run it after me even if I 'enabled' them to break the law by not stopping and forcing them all to stop behind me.
(Yeah yeah, criminal is different than civil, the analogy isn't a great fit to the actual situation, etc. It's a car analogy. We like those. Just go with it.)
I know affordable is a relative term, but $400 is no cheaper than other ebook readers. I'd consider buying a nice eink ebook reader once they come down in price more towards the $100 range but $400 just isn't worth it to me.
I'm less worried about the government having access to everyone's DNA profile than the insurance companies. Being on the lookout for any illnesses you're at risk for won't help much if your insurance company finds a way to use the information to deny you coverage.
Unfortunately, scientists have encountered significant difficulties in convincing comets to enter a convenient orbit around the Earth and accelerating back to the oort cloud by their own means.
I never understood the appeal to pre-ordering a game at a physical store. I mean, if you *must* have it on launch day, I suppose that makes sense. I don't mind the few extra days shipping would take and save a few bucks on sales tax by ordering online.
Minor nitpick: the greatest distance between the Earth and mars is about 400 million kilometers. Signal time lag would then be 20mins each way (so 40 mins between sending a signal and receiving a response), not 4 hours.
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Just look at Cattle. Their wild ancestor the Aurochs is long extinct.
Your Netflix rental history isn't as helpful for a nosey insurance company looking to drop policyholders with genetic predisposition for expensive illnesses.
The trick isn't getting a kid to read as early as possible, it's getting them to *want* to learn to read and continue reading. What did it for me was when my parents finally bought a computer. I was 5 or 6, IIRC. Back in the DOS days it was awfully difficult to get around unless you could read. I was determined to learn to read so I could play with it. I've been a voracious reader ever sense. And I beat Mickey's Space Adventure before my older sister did and bragged like hell about it for months. (Yeah, I was a bit of a little twerp that way. ;D).
Get the kid as many good games with lots of text as possible. Buy her any book she wants and keep encouraging her to read to her heart's content. Don't get pushy. You don't want her to equate reading with "you're not leaving this table until you eat those brussel sprouts!" If she learns to love reading, she'll have a much easier time in school and might just grow up to be smart enough to take good care of you when you're old and senile. ;)
The other carriers could implement visual voicemail too if they were able to carry the iphone. AT&T isn't exactly dead weight to Apple. An unlocked any-carrier iphone wouldn't get the kickbacks from monthly service subscriptions AT&T is presently giving Apple for the exclusive contract.
Granted, the Nintendo GameCube wasn't the most popular console last time around. But it sold reasonably well and made Nintendo a tidy profit. I'd hardly call it "ill-fated."
Adobe gives Acrobat reader away for free. It charges money for its fancy publishing tools. So many of their paying customers are content creators that like getting paid . . . so yeah . . . I'll bet some of them actually asked for ads.
IANAP, but I think "undefined" would be a better answer. Sound is just vibrations travelling through matter. True vacuum, being the absence of matter has nothing for the sound to travel through so there is nothing to measure--zero is a measurable value, after all.
On the one hand, Comcast and their ilk have been dragging their heels implementing things like CableCard and working hard to keep their (in many cases) geographical monopolies safe from any other competition. As far as TV goes, most people's options boil down to little more than an antenna, DirecTV or The Cable Company. If there was an injection of more competition in the market I think we'd see a lot more innovative services like more robust video on demand, ala carte programming options, more and higher quality HD channels, and innovative new services we haven't even thought of.
On the other hand, this 70/70 rule sounds downright silly, as I doubt very much that's the case nationwide. The FCC has proven time and time again that it's an inept bureaucracy more interested in maintaining its own power and relevance than any concern for the public good. Handing them more power is seldom good for anybody.
I might be able to get onboard with something like a 70/70 rule if it was a little more automatic and less prone to government meddling. i.e. Let's say Comcast has 70% of 70% or more in a given metropolitan area--then kick in a rule forcing them to resell wholesale access to their infrastructure to other local competitors to keep them from being the only game in town. And before someone points out it's *their* infrastructure and they built and bought it--they did so with a lot of government subsidies and that infrastructure is sitting on a lot of public land. They only have mini-monopolies because the government has allowed it.
I'm interested to hear other people's takes on the pros and cons of all of this.
It already works that way. If you write bad shows/movies that don't get watched, the show gets canceled and you're out of a job. Shows that don't get watched don't get rerun and don't sell DVDs, so no residuals either. And as reputation-based as the entertainment industry is, if you have a habit writing flops, you'll soon be both out of a job and unable to get hired on a new one.
I fail to see how the guild promotes a large population of deadbeat writers. They work very hard, have next to no job security, and have to continuously apply for new work by submitting outlines and scripts which they may never get paid for having written at all except in the relatively rare case they're hired to write a specific pilot treatment or something.
I know several reasonably successful screenwriters and while each of them consider it their passion and a very fulfilling career, not one of them would call it a cush job. Add that a screenwriter is practically required to live in L.A. (not cheap!) and you'll understand why they all have to keep pretty hefty "rainy day" funds just to keep a roof over their heads.
I just wanted to add something about HotSpot@Home that I didn't realize until recently--it's an extra $10/month, but all your VOIP calls are unlimited (don't use minutes) however they *will* let you use VOIP on a phone that supports it *without* the extra fee if you don't mind VOIP calls using your minutes as normal. I never go through all of my minutes anyway but still wanted the added VOIP coverage, so I was happy to find out it was available without paying an extra monthly fee.
I'm no neuroscientist, but I'm of the understanding that individual neurons don't contain memories. Those are believed to be encoded through the vast interconnectedness of many individual neurons and when one neuron dies, the rest route around it so nothing is necessarily lost. Some new neurons are created throughout our adult lives and even a neuron that's been with you since birth will have had most of its molecules completely replaced several times. The original DNA molecule's probably still in there--but the water, salts, sugars, and proteins that make up just about everything else in a neuron are continuously replaced. All the electrons and neurochemicals making up all your memories, thoughts and personality are recycled and replaced.
If you could put *very tiny* "property of /name/" stickers on every atom in your newborn body, most would be gone now (having been replaced again and again).
Ultimately, yes. But even if Congress does pass an anti-violent-video-game law that violates the first amendment, it stands until a court rules it unconstitutional. Add in a few rounds of appeals and we can be stuck with that law for years.
I hate to break this to you, but this has already happened to you several times, albeit more gradually. Most (if not all) of your molecules have been replaced continuously throughout your life since you've been eating, drinking, breathing, sweating, shedding, growing, shrinking and using the bathroom (sorry, I didn't want to say "peeing and pooping" because it sounded to juven--well, shit).
Shouldn't they be upset at Sun? Why is Apple getting the flack?
Remember Mortal Kombat? That's already very nearly happened:
A nutjob (soon to be former) lawyer is much less of a threat than a couple of busybody senators trying to shore up their concerned soccer mom support.
Not sure how that would stand up. The other filesharers down the line would be the ones committing infringement and the RIAA would have to go after each and every one of them. IANAL, but if I run a red light and the eight cars behind me decide to run it too--I'm only responsible for one infraction, the other eight drivers made their own choice to run it after me even if I 'enabled' them to break the law by not stopping and forcing them all to stop behind me.
(Yeah yeah, criminal is different than civil, the analogy isn't a great fit to the actual situation, etc. It's a car analogy. We like those. Just go with it.)
It is. I believe Microsoft refers to that as the kernel.
I know affordable is a relative term, but $400 is no cheaper than other ebook readers. I'd consider buying a nice eink ebook reader once they come down in price more towards the $100 range but $400 just isn't worth it to me.
I'm less worried about the government having access to everyone's DNA profile than the insurance companies. Being on the lookout for any illnesses you're at risk for won't help much if your insurance company finds a way to use the information to deny you coverage.
Unfortunately, scientists have encountered significant difficulties in convincing comets to enter a convenient orbit around the Earth and accelerating back to the oort cloud by their own means.
Oh goodie, some day all written communications will look like lolcat captions.
Shoot me now. kthxbai.
whoosh!
Open the door.
I never understood the appeal to pre-ordering a game at a physical store. I mean, if you *must* have it on launch day, I suppose that makes sense. I don't mind the few extra days shipping would take and save a few bucks on sales tax by ordering online.
Minor nitpick: the greatest distance between the Earth and mars is about 400 million kilometers. Signal time lag would then be 20mins each way (so 40 mins between sending a signal and receiving a response), not 4 hours.