Maybe he is making stuff up, maybe not. Back when the Hoover Dam was built over-engineering was considered the best way of building, well almost anything.
You have to consider that it is the computer that has helped us under-engineer stuff. When the Hoover dam was built you had little choice. If you tried to use the correct amount of concrete on the correct scale you might have gotten it wrong. If you multiplied that number by a factor of 10 (consider the poster did say 1800 years, 180 years is 1/10th that) then you know that even if you did make a mistake somewhere you still wouldn't have a problem.
Look at the difference between old time skyscrapers (Empire State) and new ones (not a completley fair comparison, but the World Trade Center). The Empire State building has taken at least 2 plane hits during its lifespan.
I bought a Microsoft ergonomic keyboard a couple years ago. I can touch type and I actually find that my touchtyping speed improves with ergonomic.
Anyways.... On the upper rt corner is a key marked 'sleep'. Should have been marked 'Blue Screen of Death' cause that is what it caused.
At the time I had an awful computer desk and the only way I could really get things done was with the keyboard on my lap. I can not tell you how many times the upper right corner would find it's way underneath the desk and then.... BLAM BSOD time.
You would think I could turn that feature off somewhere, in the bios, inside windows, in the keyboard drivers. But I never found anything.
Finally one day I had had all I could take and I could take no more. I pulled out a phillips head and an exacto knife. Someone was getting surgery.
I opened up the keyboard and examined the button and the circuit pads. I decided my best bet was to physicaly cut the rubber button out of the rubber pad.
That sleep button? Not a problem no'mo.
Re:Game?!?!? I looked, didn't see much of a game..
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Biofeedback Gaming
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· Score: 0, Troll
I am a troll? Whoever the lamebraine was that moderated me, did he even look at the sight in question?
Do it and then apologize. And maybe then I will forgive you. Myst would have been a game. But this? This isn't even a tech demo. It is something more nefarious. It is like a quasi-religion of some sort with aboriginies on the pipes.
Game?!?!? I looked, didn't see much of a game...
on
Biofeedback Gaming
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· Score: 0, Insightful
I can sum up a review of this game in one word, Gay. You want two words? Gay, gay. How about 4? really, really gay, gay.
Everyone that has every run over a pedestrian in GTA, yanked the ladders out of the pools of there sims and camped at least once in UT needs to check out this.. ***cough***game***cough***
And what is with the Slashdot editors taste in music? After reading the write up I thought it was gonna be a Nine Inch Nails project, or maybe Britney Spears at the least. But this is some aboriginal dude blowing a pipe.
Wake me up when the porn industry utilizes bio-feedback. I will be all over that....
Didn't you guys get any today? How about yesterday? How about ever? No, your birthday doesn't count.
Seriously, screw the whole originality thing. I am happy that there are people out there making a home brew game and getting it published like that.
I think it is cool as all out. I will buy a copy of this game simply to show support for this movement.
Someone in a thread snobbed off the DC. Well there is one enormous advantage to publishing on the DC that Sony, Micro$oft and the Big ~N~ just can't compete with. The odds of Sega suing them for publishing an unlicensed game on this platform is pretty low.
When I worked at Appleby Windows there NDA was supposed to keep us from ripping off leads (telemarketing term) and taking knowledge about our Windows to other companies.
Appleby really abused that system. If they got wind that you were working for another Window, Door or Patio company they came after you.
What do you think the actual risks are of working for those companies anyways? Say you have no inclination to do dishonest stuff like stealing leads and the like, you just want a job. So you keep your trap shut and work it.
Does anyone think that they will actually get caught?
How about this, lets say the NDA is for 4 years and you have been working at the competition during years 3, 4 and 5. If Appleby (or whoever) figures this out in year 5 are you clear? Or can they get you for years 3 and 4?
This is a state-by-state sorta thing. I would imagine that enforceabilities are different in different states.
I did evil telemarketing for Appleby Windows out of York for almost 5 years. They had a non-compete agreement. I have seen them pursue it ruthlessly.
Something else that needs to be considered is wether a lawsuit was 'won' or 'settled'.
People that say 'I don't think you can sue for that.' are wrong. I can sue you for reading this comment. You can sue me for writing it. But can I legally win that suit in court?
Appleby had big ass lawyers to throw around. Dollars to Doughnuts (mmmmm doughnuts) says that they never actually 'won' any of those suits but settled with other companies.
And that really makes NDA's evil. You are out looking for a job and even if the NDA is BS you probably cannot afford to 'win' a lawsuit.
Someone said 'Whats done is done'. I agree with that sentiment. We are in the 'Find problem, fix it and move on' stage and backtracking does nothing.
However since the subject was brought up, I have the thought of how could they have known?
Okay we have said that technicaly it was feasible to rescue.
Let's say we get into a time machine and go back to Janurary and try to convince NASA that something is very, very wrong and they need to start prepping Atlantis. Even if you could show those officials your time machine and convince them you are who you say you are they are still not going to do it without absolute proof that Columbia is in a bad, bad way.
Did we have a system available to us in Janurary to assess the damage properly?
Having an astronaut do an EVA with one of those jet packs they got is a serious step. It is very possible it would end up with the astronaut doing that 'dying' thing that they all try to avoid. So you can't simply throw that out. Once again you have to have serious suspicions that you can back up before you go that step. I would say that is the last step before prepping Atlantis.
I remember this as a huge debate directly after the crash. I remember being thoroughly unsold on if we could have figured it out.
I will admit that if I worked in law enforcement I would not be capable of not doing this. At some point I would become bored enough and I would type: Alias: Cowboy Neal as my search string and get:
Name: William Jefferson Clinton
in return.
Seriously though, you know you would play with that thing occasionaly. Selling it to the tabloids, now that is crossing a line.
But you have to look at weather and the effiency of solar panels. If you have a cloudy day they just don't work well. There are only a few places in this country (like the desert areas) where it is reasonable to think that you can make an excess amount of electricty every year via solar.
And then there is the cost for putting all those solar panels up on your roof.
One has to wonder what the maintenence is like on those things.
It isn't that I want to put solar panel, or any other 'green' technology down. That really isn't my point at all. I just think that gasoline cars are demonized by these people. But if you take a fair look at all the options you will find that technology and market forces are not yet in a place for us to cut our dependence to fossil fuels.
I guess what I am trying to do is to hold the same light up to 'green' technology as they hold up to fossil fuels.
Oh a new thought just went through my head. What about the nasty things that go into making batteries? What does that have to do with anything? Solar power. I am not stupid, I know that with solar power the goal is to generate an excess of electricity during days/good weather and store the excess for nighttime/bad weather. This of course mandates the use of batteries.
Consider that for a second. If we all moved towards solar power how awful would all those new batteries we would need be for the environment?
Re:renting is kinda needed for many...
on
Rent a Segway
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· Score: 1
I will never stoop to posting as an AC. I am fit enough to not need a fruity (not my choice of words, you brought it up) Segway. And I have enough dexterity to use the shift key properly, but I am not anal enough to run a spell checker on a Slashdot post.
Say what you want about my dating habits, but when I take your Mom out at least I have somewhere to put her. Where do you put a date on one of those Segway things? Or do you just put it in your closet? The Segway I mean, not the date.
Solar energy is good, for those that have it and those that it makes sense for.
Not everyone can be completly off the grid like you, you are completly off the grid, right?
If the sun is blocked from clouds you are hosed.
And as far as fossil fuels, my point is that a large amount of electrical cars get there energy from fossil fuels. The fossil fuels are in the power plants (coal, natural gas, oil). Maybe you prefer nuclear (I won't open that Pandora's Box) or hydro (destroys ecosystems) or wind (most places don't have constant wind, even those places that do wind farms take up enormous tracks of land to generate equivalent power to a power station, and this also contributes to destroying ecosystems).
Every energy source you can think of has a big downside. Green people need to get a clue. Those people suffer from Ostrich system, they can't see where the power is generated from (or they are fooled like power choice programs, you really believe that?) so they fool themselves into thinking that somehow it is a better choice then gasoline powered cars.
The only constant and consitant place to get solar energy from is space. Japan has a plan to atempt to colect it in space with a satelite and then to beam it to a collecting station via microwave radiation. When birds start dying around the collecting station, or planes start having problems I wonder if the enviromentalists will cover it or freak out?
A cars energy cost seems pretty simple to me, 20 mpg, 40 mpg, whatever.
But these things are misleading. You think that somehow it is 'green' and better then a car just because you are plugging it into an electrical outlet.
And electricity comes from where, fossil fuels, nuclear, damns, wind and in a small amount of cases solar.
If you want to measure the true environmental impact of these things you cannot stop at the electrical outlet on your wall. You really must consider what is generating that electricty.
Case in point. Hydrogen cars. To create the hydrogen they use an electric charge to separate the hydrogen atoms from the oxygen atoms in water. Currently if our country went to a hydrogen economy we would use MORE fossil fuels running power plants then what we use currently running cars.
Don't be fooled. The green people are just that, green, moldy and without a lot of thought.
Re:renting is kinda needed for many...
on
Rent a Segway
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· Score: 1
Um, yes I do play RPG's as chicks. I like looking at them.
And if you read the thread you will see that there are a conisderable number of people that do it as well.
And your point is??????
I still think there is a correlation between you being too lazy to walk to the mailbox and your unwillingless to use a caps lock key.
At the end of the day I may be a nerd, but you are a dork. In the heirarchy of things I am still supperior.
Re:renting is kinda needed for many...
on
Rent a Segway
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· Score: 1
No offense, but you are the most annoying person on the planet. Did your Mom ever tell you that? Seriously, if the people buying Segways are the sort of people that don't capitilize (too lazy to hit the shift key, need a Segway to get from there front door to the mailbox, yeah I think we are onto something) and insist on calling it the ht then I don't want to be associated with them.
I am convinced that Neo is not 'The One'. Trinity is.
I'll be quick, you can fill in the holes yourself.
Smith told Neo that Neo had 'overwritten' Smith's programming when Neo entered Smith. Inside the Matrix they are all programs, Neo, Trinity, Smith - everyone and everything.
So it really isn't a stretch to think that Neo entering Trinity could have a similar effect on Trinity as it did on Smith.
Okay, the Oracle admitted that she was nothing but a tool of the system. She came right out and said it. She is the one that told Neo that in the end it is about choices and because she is a program she has none.
The Administrator pretty much backed up the Oracle on that. That makes Neo an even bigger tool. It also makes Morpheus possibly the biggest patsy in all of history.
Now we assume that the prophecy came from the Oracle. But, I stress, WE ASSUME it. I need to watch the first movie again this weekend because I do not believe that it is spelled out like that. What if the prophecy didn't come from the Oracle?
That changes things dramaticly. The Administrator said that every 'Neo' that is created has a new flaw. And the Administrator is not capable of predicting that flaw or planning against it. The Administrator didn't know Neo's flaw until he met Neo.
Neo's flaw of course is his love of Trinity.
His love of Trinity is the reason that he chose the left door (saving Trinity) from the right door. It was implied that all the other Neo's chose the right door. But then again I think we can assume that even if they chose the left door they didn't rescue Trinity, they allowed her to die.
Now reverse to something Agent Smith said. Agent Smith (I love that guy, I hope he kicks Neo's ass in the next movie) told Neo that when Neo entered him some of Neo's programming overwrote his own. Considering that everyone in the Matrix, Agent Smith, Neo, Trinity - everyone, is nothing more then a program this makes sense. Agent Smith said that the reason he can do the things he does is because of that.
Okay, Neo has his hand inside Trinity massaging Trinity's heart.
I think that in the next movie we will find that Trinity is 'The One' from the prophecy.
And Trinity will destroy the machines. Because, the Administrator doesn't know about 2 anomolies. He only plans for one. One anomolie he has under control, 2 he has never considered. Neo's flaw of Love for Trinity allows 2 anomolies to come into existence. If the Prophecy doesn't come from the Oracle, whom I no longer trust, then this actually fulfills the Prophecy.
Now as for the Matrix inside the Matrix thing... I need to think about that. I have an explanation for the coma and Neo destroying the Centinels. I will do a seperate post since I am so long winded.
I have this theory and this stuff falls underneath it. Of course there are problems, big 600 mile radius problems, and this just might punch a 600 mile wide whole in my theory. But I thought I would throw it out and see if anyone wants to bite.
The theory goes like this. Truly new technology, and by truly new I don't mean the newest chips, I mean stuff that you cannot imagine, well stuff like this. The government has been working on truly new technology for at least 10 years by the time we hear about it first.
My definition of new technology is very, very tight. It is not the refinement of old technology. As an example we have been reading about quatum computing for lets say 5 years now. I am suggesting that 15 years ago the government got a head start on it. Hell if they have a use for it I bet that they have a mainframe already. Granted super-duper top secret. But I am suggesting that this stuff exists.
Well I will be the first to admit that this punches a whole in my theory. Cause I can't imagine how you could hide a 600 mile wide ring like this.
Anyone think of a way?
Also there is another hole. A device like this would probably work best if it's construction was kept secret (not that that may be possible) but once it existed it would work best if everyone knew about it. You wouldn't want it to be secret then. You would want it to be public knowledge that you had a way to resolve the Korea problem.
Cause I want one of these things. I want one really, really badly. I would be emailing the scientists right now and asking who to make the checks out to. Can you imagine the fun you would have? Hell, I bet one of these is a better chick magnet then my '96 Tracker w/the roof off! I want to be Bill's bitch. Please Bill can I have one, PLEASE! PLEASE!
I mean, wow you could like own the country. Hell, I would have the largest penius on the planet! I would truly be the Alpha Male.
Of course I would imagine that infertility could be a side affect of being near all those neutrinos.
Hell, I would settle for just being the operator that gets to press the BIG RED BUTTON that says "Fire!".
Hell I would remodel the control Center to look just like the bridge of the star ship Enterprise. Only I would replace the crew with naked chicks. And when it was time I would sit in my chair and I would say "Number One Ho, make it so."
And I would wave my hand and North Korea would just simply cease to be.
I will define 'sucky music' more thoroughly. We will see if you can see my point then.
I have a little test. It goes like this. 99% of music is crap. Hell, 99.99% of it is crap actually. It is a very, very small sliver of a percent that is actually not crap. That goes for all music. I am saying that out of the thousands of albums I legally own most are in the crap category. That goes for you, me and everyone. Most of the music we enjoy is crap.
Here is the trap. I suspect that most of the music that we enjoy require us to be in a certain time and space. When I say time and space, I don't mean like compass directions, I mean like growing up in the 90's, or being a teen during Woodstock. Take Hip Hop and R&B as an example. I can't stand the stuff. Is it because I am a racist asshole? No. It is because I am 30 years old and I grew up in a different time and place. If the music is good but it requires that you grow up in that time and place to enjoy it then it is crap. Period.
Truly great music defies this.
Look at Don McLean's American Pie. I am 30 years old, do the math, that song was recorded before I was born. I have absolute faith that when my children are old enough to appreciate music I will be able to play that song for them and they will love it. That song is a truly great song. A lot of Jimmi Hendrix music passes this test. So does some Black Sabbath.
The problem in finding this stuff is that you are blinded by music that was your generation. You don't have the ability to properly test that music. The only way to do it is to find someone that is completly out of the know and to play it and see what happens. Look at Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Sonic Youth and Nirvanna. They all put out albums that people consider 'classic'. But are they classic in the sense that Jimmi Hendrix is classic? Or are they just albums that somehow define the music they are about? They are two different things.
I truly don't know the answer to that question. Those are albums of my time. I cut my concert teeth at a Sepultura/Helmut/Ministry concert. My first pit (every bit of a special memory to me as my first blow job) was Sepultura. If I find a 14 year old kid and play that music for him what is he going to think of those classic tracks?
Now you may be sitting there nodding your head and saying 'He has a point, but this jerk is way too harsh to define stuff like that.'. I am inclined to agree with you. But I don't measure all music like that. I already admitted that most of the stuff I enjoy is crap. I kind of look at things like this. The quality of (RIAA endoresed, available in record stores, copyrighted) music being put out can be measured by the percentage of it that is not crap. And I charge that, that percentage is smaller then it has ever been before. I think that percentage is historicaly small.
I am also making the arguement that the people that are out there making music that is not crap are having a tougher time getting a contract then ever before. I would imagine that TMBG wouldn't sum up there existence as a cakewalk. But I have this feeling that there are people out there right now of that caliber that find they simply can't get there music signed.
For the last time I am not blaming the musicians. This is the fault of the RIAA.
I am reading through all these comments and no one seems to have nailed it. The way I see it there are several reasons the RIAA is in trouble. (in no particular order) 1. Todays music sucks donkey ass through a crazy straw. This is the oldest reason, and the reason why the RIAA loosing money predates Napster. On the surface it sounds like I am blaming the musicians, after all they are making the music. Wrong. Many years ago the RIAA realized that POP music is where all the money is. They have been ignoring decent artists for a while now in favor for people whom they consider low risk. It is those risky folks that put out great music.
2. Failure to acknowledge and take advantage of a changing marketplace. If the RIAA had been on the forefront of digital downloads this would be an entirely different, and I suspect legal marketplace. Instead they screamed and kicked like a 4 year old. No amount of wishing and suing will make the digital domain go away. For whatever reason that I cannot understand the RIAA refuses to even consider to adapt. My best guess is it is a poorly chosen use of 'pride'.
3. Abuse of there most loyal customers. I used to buy a lot of music. Something along the lines of 2 to 3 albums a month with the occasional splurge of a 5 album or a box set purchase. Then I began learning about my computer. Then I bought a CDRW drive. What I did next was to back up my investment. I am tired of scratching overpriced CD's and making them useless. I am tired of having them stolen. I am tired of having to track them down when I have misplace them. I am tired of having to decide what gets kept at work and what not. A PC and a CDRW drive (legally too I might ad) resolves all those problems. Now whenever I buy a CD I feel like a scmuck. I feel like I am being treated so badly by these people I must be out of my mind to spend money on the overpriced product. That is no way for an industry to act. I should feel good buying there product.
The RIAA is dying and it is a death that cannot come soon enough. Sooner or later a talented and smart musician will utilize the web and digital downloads to reach superstardom and cut the RIAA trappings out of the equation. That day will be the axe to the neck of the RIAA and it cannot come too soon for the industry.
I did Cedar Point last year and all I can say is that it's wooden roller coasters were dissapointments. Rails on a wooden roller coaster? What is up with that?
I live in York County Pennsylvania and we have a local Park in Hershey (as in Hershey bar) called Hershey Park. They have the finest and funnest wooden roller coasters you will ever imagine. The Comet is something stupid like 50 years old. And it is a blast. It is more fun and a better ride then any wooden coasters in Cedar Point.
Then they have the Wildcat, built 4 or 5 years ago. Holy crappola Batman. The Wildcat is a ride that you will not soon forget. It is slick and fast and feels like it is gonna come apart at any second.
There third one is a dueling coaster (can't think of the name) where they have 2 tracks and the coasters race to the finish line.
I have ridden other wooden coasters in other parks.
Cedar Point is all about the steel coasters. As well as it should be, they do those steel coasters like no one else.
Granted this is just like anything else. On one end of the spectrum you have the company doing the audit. They are there to point out any and every flaw. No flaw too small. And on the other end you have the clueless pointy haired CEO who is pissed at the IT guys because he just had to reinstall his Gator Password tool for the 3rd time in the last month.
(ever see the Dilbert where they gave the pointy haired boss an etch-a-sketch and told him it was a laptop? To reboot you hold it over your head and shake)
Smart people look for some place in between the two ends of that spectrum.
If I was sitting on that board I would be taking notes on what was overboard and what was not. You discuss it and move on from there. But I do think it is insane to think that these people would forge problems.
Is there anyone that works at a company that has no security issues at all? Look hard enough and you will find some. Why forge results and destroy your reputation and business when all you have to do is look for the smallest and stupidest and most rediculous problems.
Hell those people come out on top. They get mistaken for being thorough.
Slashdot Mirror
Maybe he is making stuff up, maybe not.
Back when the Hoover Dam was built over-engineering was considered the best way of building, well almost anything.
You have to consider that it is the computer that has helped us under-engineer stuff.
When the Hoover dam was built you had little choice. If you tried to use the correct amount of concrete on the correct scale you might have gotten it wrong.
If you multiplied that number by a factor of 10 (consider the poster did say 1800 years, 180 years is 1/10th that) then you know that even if you did make a mistake somewhere you still wouldn't have a problem.
Look at the difference between old time skyscrapers (Empire State) and new ones (not a completley fair comparison, but the World Trade Center).
The Empire State building has taken at least 2 plane hits during its lifespan.
Once during WWII with a twin engine bomber.
I bought a Microsoft ergonomic keyboard a couple years ago. I can touch type and I actually find that my touchtyping speed improves with ergonomic.
Anyways....
On the upper rt corner is a key marked 'sleep'.
Should have been marked 'Blue Screen of Death' cause that is what it caused.
At the time I had an awful computer desk and the only way I could really get things done was with the keyboard on my lap. I can not tell you how many times the upper right corner would find it's way underneath the desk and then.... BLAM BSOD time.
You would think I could turn that feature off somewhere, in the bios, inside windows, in the keyboard drivers. But I never found anything.
Finally one day I had had all I could take and I could take no more.
I pulled out a phillips head and an exacto knife.
Someone was getting surgery.
I opened up the keyboard and examined the button and the circuit pads. I decided my best bet was to physicaly cut the rubber button out of the rubber pad.
That sleep button? Not a problem no'mo.
I am a troll?
Whoever the lamebraine was that moderated me, did he even look at the sight in question?
Do it and then apologize. And maybe then I will forgive you.
Myst would have been a game. But this?
This isn't even a tech demo. It is something more nefarious. It is like a quasi-religion of some sort with aboriginies on the pipes.
I can sum up a review of this game in one word,
Gay.
You want two words?
Gay, gay.
How about 4?
really, really gay, gay.
Everyone that has every run over a pedestrian in GTA, yanked the ladders out of the pools of there sims and camped at least once in UT needs to check out this.. ***cough***game***cough***
And what is with the Slashdot editors taste in music? After reading the write up I thought it was gonna be a Nine Inch Nails project, or maybe Britney Spears at the least. But this is some aboriginal dude blowing a pipe.
Wake me up when the porn industry utilizes bio-feedback. I will be all over that....
Didn't you guys get any today?
How about yesterday?
How about ever?
No, your birthday doesn't count.
Seriously, screw the whole originality thing. I am happy that there are people out there making a home brew game and getting it published like that.
I think it is cool as all out. I will buy a copy of this game simply to show support for this movement.
Someone in a thread snobbed off the DC. Well there is one enormous advantage to publishing on the DC that Sony, Micro$oft and the Big ~N~ just can't compete with.
The odds of Sega suing them for publishing an unlicensed game on this platform is pretty low.
I applaud them.
Good Job.
Actually....
the NDA said you couldn't work at companies that did installations of doors, windows or patio rooms.
Then again at the time I wasn't in the IT field.
When I worked at Appleby Windows there NDA was supposed to keep us from ripping off leads (telemarketing term) and taking knowledge about our Windows to other companies.
Appleby really abused that system. If they got wind that you were working for another Window, Door or Patio company they came after you.
What do you think the actual risks are of working for those companies anyways?
Say you have no inclination to do dishonest stuff like stealing leads and the like, you just want a job. So you keep your trap shut and work it.
Does anyone think that they will actually get caught?
How about this, lets say the NDA is for 4 years and you have been working at the competition during years 3, 4 and 5. If Appleby (or whoever) figures this out in year 5 are you clear? Or can they get you for years 3 and 4?
This is a state-by-state sorta thing.
I would imagine that enforceabilities are different in different states.
I did evil telemarketing for Appleby Windows out of York for almost 5 years. They had a non-compete agreement. I have seen them pursue it ruthlessly.
Something else that needs to be considered is wether a lawsuit was 'won' or 'settled'.
People that say 'I don't think you can sue for that.' are wrong.
I can sue you for reading this comment.
You can sue me for writing it.
But can I legally win that suit in court?
Appleby had big ass lawyers to throw around. Dollars to Doughnuts (mmmmm doughnuts) says that they never actually 'won' any of those suits but settled with other companies.
And that really makes NDA's evil. You are out looking for a job and even if the NDA is BS you probably cannot afford to 'win' a lawsuit.
Someone said 'Whats done is done'.
I agree with that sentiment. We are in the 'Find problem, fix it and move on' stage and backtracking does nothing.
However since the subject was brought up, I have the thought of how could they have known?
Okay we have said that technicaly it was feasible to rescue.
Let's say we get into a time machine and go back to Janurary and try to convince NASA that something is very, very wrong and they need to start prepping Atlantis.
Even if you could show those officials your time machine and convince them you are who you say you are they are still not going to do it without absolute proof that Columbia is in a bad, bad way.
Did we have a system available to us in Janurary to assess the damage properly?
Having an astronaut do an EVA with one of those jet packs they got is a serious step. It is very possible it would end up with the astronaut doing that 'dying' thing that they all try to avoid.
So you can't simply throw that out. Once again you have to have serious suspicions that you can back up before you go that step. I would say that is the last step before prepping Atlantis.
I remember this as a huge debate directly after the crash. I remember being thoroughly unsold on if we could have figured it out.
I will admit that if I worked in law enforcement I would not be capable of not doing this.
At some point I would become bored enough and I would type:
Alias: Cowboy Neal
as my search string and get:
Name: William Jefferson Clinton
in return.
Seriously though, you know you would play with that thing occasionaly. Selling it to the tabloids, now that is crossing a line.
And that is fine for him.
But you have to look at weather and the effiency of solar panels.
If you have a cloudy day they just don't work well.
There are only a few places in this country (like the desert areas) where it is reasonable to think that you can make an excess amount of electricty every year via solar.
And then there is the cost for putting all those solar panels up on your roof.
One has to wonder what the maintenence is like on those things.
It isn't that I want to put solar panel, or any other 'green' technology down. That really isn't my point at all.
I just think that gasoline cars are demonized by these people. But if you take a fair look at all the options you will find that technology and market forces are not yet in a place for us to cut our dependence to fossil fuels.
I guess what I am trying to do is to hold the same light up to 'green' technology as they hold up to fossil fuels.
Oh a new thought just went through my head.
What about the nasty things that go into making batteries?
What does that have to do with anything?
Solar power. I am not stupid, I know that with solar power the goal is to generate an excess of electricity during days/good weather and store the excess for nighttime/bad weather.
This of course mandates the use of batteries.
Consider that for a second. If we all moved towards solar power how awful would all those new batteries we would need be for the environment?
I will never stoop to posting as an AC.
I am fit enough to not need a fruity (not my choice of words, you brought it up) Segway.
And I have enough dexterity to use the shift key properly, but I am not anal enough to run a spell checker on a Slashdot post.
Say what you want about my dating habits, but when I take your Mom out at least I have somewhere to put her. Where do you put a date on one of those Segway things?
Or do you just put it in your closet?
The Segway I mean, not the date.
Solar energy is good, for those that have it and those that it makes sense for.
Not everyone can be completly off the grid like you, you are completly off the grid, right?
If the sun is blocked from clouds you are hosed.
And as far as fossil fuels, my point is that a large amount of electrical cars get there energy from fossil fuels. The fossil fuels are in the power plants (coal, natural gas, oil). Maybe you prefer nuclear (I won't open that Pandora's Box) or hydro (destroys ecosystems) or wind (most places don't have constant wind, even those places that do wind farms take up enormous tracks of land to generate equivalent power to a power station, and this also contributes to destroying ecosystems).
Every energy source you can think of has a big downside.
Green people need to get a clue. Those people suffer from Ostrich system, they can't see where the power is generated from (or they are fooled like power choice programs, you really believe that?) so they fool themselves into thinking that somehow it is a better choice then gasoline powered cars.
The only constant and consitant place to get solar energy from is space. Japan has a plan to atempt to colect it in space with a satelite and then to beam it to a collecting station via microwave radiation.
When birds start dying around the collecting station, or planes start having problems I wonder if the enviromentalists will cover it or freak out?
A cars energy cost seems pretty simple to me, 20 mpg, 40 mpg, whatever.
But these things are misleading. You think that somehow it is 'green' and better then a car just because you are plugging it into an electrical outlet.
And electricity comes from where, fossil fuels, nuclear, damns, wind and in a small amount of cases solar.
If you want to measure the true environmental impact of these things you cannot stop at the electrical outlet on your wall. You really must consider what is generating that electricty.
Case in point. Hydrogen cars. To create the hydrogen they use an electric charge to separate the hydrogen atoms from the oxygen atoms in water.
Currently if our country went to a hydrogen economy we would use MORE fossil fuels running power plants then what we use currently running cars.
Don't be fooled. The green people are just that, green, moldy and without a lot of thought.
Um, yes I do play RPG's as chicks.
I like looking at them.
And if you read the thread you will see that there are a conisderable number of people that do it as well.
And your point is??????
I still think there is a correlation between you being too lazy to walk to the mailbox and your unwillingless to use a caps lock key.
At the end of the day I may be a nerd, but you are a dork. In the heirarchy of things I am still supperior.
No offense, but you are the most annoying person on the planet.
Did your Mom ever tell you that?
Seriously, if the people buying Segways are the sort of people that don't capitilize (too lazy to hit the shift key, need a Segway to get from there front door to the mailbox, yeah I think we are onto something) and insist on calling it the ht then I don't want to be associated with them.
In what universe is the Segway ever a good idea?
I am convinced that Neo is not 'The One'.
Trinity is.
I'll be quick, you can fill in the holes yourself.
Smith told Neo that Neo had 'overwritten' Smith's programming when Neo entered Smith.
Inside the Matrix they are all programs, Neo, Trinity, Smith - everyone and everything.
So it really isn't a stretch to think that Neo entering Trinity could have a similar effect on Trinity as it did on Smith.
I am telling you Trinity is 'The One.'.
How about this...
The prophecy is real.
And Neo is not 'The One'.
Trinity is 'The One'
Okay, the Oracle admitted that she was nothing but a tool of the system. She came right out and said it. She is the one that told Neo that in the end it is about choices and because she is a program she has none.
The Administrator pretty much backed up the Oracle on that. That makes Neo an even bigger tool. It also makes Morpheus possibly the biggest patsy in all of history.
Now we assume that the prophecy came from the Oracle. But, I stress, WE ASSUME it. I need to watch the first movie again this weekend because I do not believe that it is spelled out like that. What if the prophecy didn't come from the Oracle?
That changes things dramaticly.
The Administrator said that every 'Neo' that is created has a new flaw. And the Administrator is not capable of predicting that flaw or planning against it. The Administrator didn't know Neo's flaw until he met Neo.
Neo's flaw of course is his love of Trinity.
His love of Trinity is the reason that he chose the left door (saving Trinity) from the right door. It was implied that all the other Neo's chose the right door.
But then again I think we can assume that even if they chose the left door they didn't rescue Trinity, they allowed her to die.
Now reverse to something Agent Smith said.
Agent Smith (I love that guy, I hope he kicks Neo's ass in the next movie) told Neo that when Neo entered him some of Neo's programming overwrote his own.
Considering that everyone in the Matrix, Agent Smith, Neo, Trinity - everyone, is nothing more then a program this makes sense.
Agent Smith said that the reason he can do the things he does is because of that.
Okay, Neo has his hand inside Trinity massaging Trinity's heart.
I think that in the next movie we will find that Trinity is 'The One' from the prophecy.
And Trinity will destroy the machines.
Because, the Administrator doesn't know about 2 anomolies. He only plans for one. One anomolie he has under control, 2 he has never considered. Neo's flaw of Love for Trinity allows 2 anomolies to come into existence.
If the Prophecy doesn't come from the Oracle, whom I no longer trust, then this actually fulfills the Prophecy.
Now as for the Matrix inside the Matrix thing...
I need to think about that. I have an explanation for the coma and Neo destroying the Centinels. I will do a seperate post since I am so long winded.
I have this theory and this stuff falls underneath it.
Of course there are problems, big 600 mile radius problems, and this just might punch a 600 mile wide whole in my theory.
But I thought I would throw it out and see if anyone wants to bite.
The theory goes like this. Truly new technology, and by truly new I don't mean the newest chips, I mean stuff that you cannot imagine, well stuff like this. The government has been working on truly new technology for at least 10 years by the time we hear about it first.
My definition of new technology is very, very tight. It is not the refinement of old technology.
As an example we have been reading about quatum computing for lets say 5 years now. I am suggesting that 15 years ago the government got a head start on it. Hell if they have a use for it I bet that they have a mainframe already. Granted super-duper top secret. But I am suggesting that this stuff exists.
Well I will be the first to admit that this punches a whole in my theory. Cause I can't imagine how you could hide a 600 mile wide ring like this.
Anyone think of a way?
Also there is another hole. A device like this would probably work best if it's construction was kept secret (not that that may be possible) but once it existed it would work best if everyone knew about it.
You wouldn't want it to be secret then. You would want it to be public knowledge that you had a way to resolve the Korea problem.
Just random crazy thoughts.
Hey check this out, I am late in taking my meds.
Cause I want one of these things. I want one really, really badly.
I would be emailing the scientists right now and asking who to make the checks out to.
Can you imagine the fun you would have? Hell, I bet one of these is a better chick magnet then my '96 Tracker w/the roof off!
I want to be Bill's bitch.
Please Bill can I have one, PLEASE! PLEASE!
I mean, wow you could like own the country.
Hell, I would have the largest penius on the planet! I would truly be the Alpha Male.
Of course I would imagine that infertility could be a side affect of being near all those neutrinos.
Hell, I would settle for just being the operator that gets to press the BIG RED BUTTON that says "Fire!".
Hell I would remodel the control Center to look just like the bridge of the star ship Enterprise. Only I would replace the crew with naked chicks.
And when it was time I would sit in my chair and I would say "Number One Ho, make it so."
And I would wave my hand and North Korea would just simply cease to be.
You have no idea who your sarcasm is directed at.
I will define 'sucky music' more thoroughly. We will see if you can see my point then.
I have a little test. It goes like this. 99% of music is crap. Hell, 99.99% of it is crap actually. It is a very, very small sliver of a percent that is actually not crap.
That goes for all music. I am saying that out of the thousands of albums I legally own most are in the crap category. That goes for you, me and everyone. Most of the music we enjoy is crap.
Here is the trap. I suspect that most of the music that we enjoy require us to be in a certain time and space. When I say time and space, I don't mean like compass directions, I mean like growing up in the 90's, or being a teen during Woodstock.
Take Hip Hop and R&B as an example. I can't stand the stuff. Is it because I am a racist asshole? No. It is because I am 30 years old and I grew up in a different time and place.
If the music is good but it requires that you grow up in that time and place to enjoy it then it is crap. Period.
Truly great music defies this.
Look at Don McLean's American Pie. I am 30 years old, do the math, that song was recorded before I was born. I have absolute faith that when my children are old enough to appreciate music I will be able to play that song for them and they will love it. That song is a truly great song.
A lot of Jimmi Hendrix music passes this test.
So does some Black Sabbath.
The problem in finding this stuff is that you are blinded by music that was your generation. You don't have the ability to properly test that music. The only way to do it is to find someone that is completly out of the know and to play it and see what happens.
Look at Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Sonic Youth and Nirvanna. They all put out albums that people consider 'classic'. But are they classic in the sense that Jimmi Hendrix is classic? Or are they just albums that somehow define the music they are about?
They are two different things.
I truly don't know the answer to that question. Those are albums of my time. I cut my concert teeth at a Sepultura/Helmut/Ministry concert. My first pit (every bit of a special memory to me as my first blow job) was Sepultura. If I find a 14 year old kid and play that music for him what is he going to think of those classic tracks?
Now you may be sitting there nodding your head and saying 'He has a point, but this jerk is way too harsh to define stuff like that.'. I am inclined to agree with you.
But I don't measure all music like that. I already admitted that most of the stuff I enjoy is crap.
I kind of look at things like this. The quality of (RIAA endoresed, available in record stores, copyrighted) music being put out can be measured by the percentage of it that is not crap.
And I charge that, that percentage is smaller then it has ever been before. I think that percentage is historicaly small.
I am also making the arguement that the people that are out there making music that is not crap are having a tougher time getting a contract then ever before. I would imagine that TMBG wouldn't sum up there existence as a cakewalk. But I have this feeling that there are people out there right now of that caliber that find they simply can't get there music signed.
For the last time I am not blaming the musicians. This is the fault of the RIAA.
I know nothing. Lets be clear. I beg your forgiveness if this is a stupid comment.
But...............
Is there any way someone could steal credit cards by hiding a laptop within a hotspot sniffing packets and recording the transmissions?
It occurs to me that you know that anytime someone boots up into this thing they are using a credit card. It is kind of hard to resist such an idea.
I am reading through all these comments and no one seems to have nailed it.
The way I see it there are several reasons the RIAA is in trouble.
(in no particular order)
1. Todays music sucks donkey ass through a crazy straw. This is the oldest reason, and the reason why the RIAA loosing money predates Napster. On the surface it sounds like I am blaming the musicians, after all they are making the music. Wrong. Many years ago the RIAA realized that POP music is where all the money is. They have been ignoring decent artists for a while now in favor for people whom they consider low risk. It is those risky folks that put out great music.
2. Failure to acknowledge and take advantage of a changing marketplace. If the RIAA had been on the forefront of digital downloads this would be an entirely different, and I suspect legal marketplace. Instead they screamed and kicked like a 4 year old. No amount of wishing and suing will make the digital domain go away. For whatever reason that I cannot understand the RIAA refuses to even consider to adapt. My best guess is it is a poorly chosen use of 'pride'.
3. Abuse of there most loyal customers. I used to buy a lot of music. Something along the lines of 2 to 3 albums a month with the occasional splurge of a 5 album or a box set purchase. Then I began learning about my computer. Then I bought a CDRW drive. What I did next was to back up my investment. I am tired of scratching overpriced CD's and making them useless. I am tired of having them stolen. I am tired of having to track them down when I have misplace them. I am tired of having to decide what gets kept at work and what not. A PC and a CDRW drive (legally too I might ad) resolves all those problems. Now whenever I buy a CD I feel like a scmuck. I feel like I am being treated so badly by these people I must be out of my mind to spend money on the overpriced product.
That is no way for an industry to act. I should feel good buying there product.
The RIAA is dying and it is a death that cannot come soon enough.
Sooner or later a talented and smart musician will utilize the web and digital downloads to reach superstardom and cut the RIAA trappings out of the equation.
That day will be the axe to the neck of the RIAA and it cannot come too soon for the industry.
I did Cedar Point last year and all I can say is that it's wooden roller coasters were dissapointments.
Rails on a wooden roller coaster? What is up with that?
I live in York County Pennsylvania and we have a local Park in Hershey (as in Hershey bar) called Hershey Park.
They have the finest and funnest wooden roller coasters you will ever imagine.
The Comet is something stupid like 50 years old. And it is a blast. It is more fun and a better ride then any wooden coasters in Cedar Point.
Then they have the Wildcat, built 4 or 5 years ago.
Holy crappola Batman. The Wildcat is a ride that you will not soon forget. It is slick and fast and feels like it is gonna come apart at any second.
There third one is a dueling coaster (can't think of the name) where they have 2 tracks and the coasters race to the finish line.
I have ridden other wooden coasters in other parks.
Cedar Point is all about the steel coasters. As well as it should be, they do those steel coasters like no one else.
But do not judge wooden coasters on Cedar Point
Granted this is just like anything else.
On one end of the spectrum you have the company doing the audit.
They are there to point out any and every flaw. No flaw too small.
And on the other end you have the clueless pointy haired CEO who is pissed at the IT guys because he just had to reinstall his Gator Password tool for the 3rd time in the last month.
(ever see the Dilbert where they gave the pointy haired boss an etch-a-sketch and told him it was a laptop? To reboot you hold it over your head and shake)
Smart people look for some place in between the two ends of that spectrum.
If I was sitting on that board I would be taking notes on what was overboard and what was not. You discuss it and move on from there.
But I do think it is insane to think that these people would forge problems.
Is there anyone that works at a company that has no security issues at all?
Look hard enough and you will find some. Why forge results and destroy your reputation and business when all you have to do is look for the smallest and stupidest and most rediculous problems.
Hell those people come out on top. They get mistaken for being thorough.