I didn't know thing had improved that much in Canada.
Jokes aside, the original meaning of first, second (which no-one talks about) and third world had to do with what side of the cold war you were on. First world countries were allied with the US and NATO, second world countries were allied with Russia and the Soviet Union (which is why there are no 2nd world countries and haven't been since 92) and third world are non-aligned countries.
So technically, Thailand is a first world country and Switzerland is a third world country.
then spend lots of tax dollars propping those people up with food stamps, etc, or just paying indirectly with theft and other criminal behaviour.
As opposed to the European way of making employees so expensive that you have 20% youth unemployment, who you then prop up with social programs, theft and other criminal behavior?
I'm not opposed to minimum wage (and frankly I wish we'd just tie it to inflation so we don't need to constantly adjust it). But lets not pretend that this will magically get people off of government assistance or eliminate crime.
I think their point was the terrible way the US runs it's welfare programs. Using obfuscation programs like food stamps to demean recipient in order to please angry old conservatives only makes the whole thing more expensive to run.
BTW, the UK which is in Europe doesn't have the same youth unemployment problem as France, same with Germany (which is sucking up cheap labour as fast as it can). The Eurozone's youth unemployment statistics are skewed because of specific regions in France and Italy where there aren't enough jobs... and places in Eastern Europe where many young women don't really enter the workforce. France and Italy have the issue of there simply not being enough jobs.
If you do the totals you get the same answer regardless, self service cashiers work out even in countries with 2-3x smaller minimum wage. You still need some cashiers to overseer the mechanical slaves, deal with customers experiencing technophobia or buying booze and tobacco.
This, stores have replaced checkouts in every state with self service checkouts... if it were just about the minimum wage then they wouldn't have bothered in states with low minimum wage. The biggest issue with adoption are the customers, as you correctly pointed out.
Of course a smartphone is nowhere near the level of a high-end standalone camera, but smartphones have gotten to the point that they are plenty good for the average Joe.
I'd agree... but the average Joe produces far poorer than average shots. Giving them better gear would not make them a better photographer.
However I was talking specifically about sports cameras which are designed to capture high resolution, high speed video photography along with being weatherproof and shock resistant. Most models will come with some inbuilt image stabilisation as well. Smart phones are in no-way designed for this and likely never will be.
I went to the Goodwood Festival of Speed last year with some friends. They took smartphones, I took a 5 year old Canon Ixus point and shoot. They all marvelled at how much better my shots were.. not just because I knew how to frame them, what angles to take, where to take them from, how to use light (OK, it was an overcast day so this didn't help so much) but because I used equipment that allowed me to take advantage of my skills.
Smartphone cameras may be "good enough" for the average mouth breather... but lets not kid ourselves into thinking they're good.
They already make their phones more expensive than anything a kid should have. What else can they do apart from this public-spirited action;-)
No they dont.
Iphones are not priced to be exclusive in the slightest. They're like the Toyota Camry of phones, white, boring, old tech and so common even someone on benefits can get a contract for one.
Parent's aren't paying £1000 a pop for one, they're paying £75 a month over 24 months for one (that's with a family discount).
You cant really get more average and peasant than an Iphone these days.
I work with a generally older male crowd, and some of them are quite vocal about their views on gender. Some are borderline MRA/MGTOW types, having been taken to the cleaners in divorces, etc. None are old enough to be adults back in the 50s when barely any married woman worked outside the home, but certainly some are old enough to look upon that time with nostalgia. The major thing that separates these guys from Mr. Damore is that they don't use company resources to promote their views, and their views don't really affect the work of others. I have to listen to them, but in reality they're no different than your traditional conservative white male talk radio-quoting types. They still do their jobs and don't anger anyone enough to make them complain.
The thing that's different with Google is that I'm sure their legal counsel just told the executives to make the problem go away immediately. No company wants to deal with the expense of a lawsuit and the reputation hit of getting dragged into court because one of their employees is acting like a jerk. I know the company I work for would show me the door in 15 seconds if I personally caused any reputational damage, regardless of how internal the forum was, or how the information was leaked.
The Damore memo was published internally for nearly a month before he was fired. Google aren't daft, if they wanted to fire him for the memo, they would have managed him out for poor performance or some such over the course of a month and completely had their arse covered.
What happened is that a director was called back from holiday... that doesn't happen over a nicely worded, if unpopular memo that has been published for a month. Google's official reason is that others refused to work with him, that and the fact the memo was published for a month before the incident tells me that is not what he was fired.
What I wonder is why the Aspergers/autism angle wasn't used instead."
Aspergers/Autism has an actual diagnosis in DSM IV and I don't think he'd be able to meet it. He only tried that angle once he realised his career was ruined and no-one was ever going to hire him in any professional capacity. He's suing Google now because he's realised his career is now limited to asking if you want fries with that and he no longer cares if the real reason for his dismissal comes to light.
Damore was asked for input in a debate on diversity hiring policies. He produced a thoughtful and well researched memo in response to the quest for how to best hire people. This memo was addressed to the people within the company, specifically those on the diversity committee. The memo was not released by Damore, and he did not intend for it to leave Google.
A month passed between the memo being released internally and a director being called back from holiday to deal with a situation.
So I have to ask, if he was fired for the content of the memo, why did they wait a month? If they wanted to do that they could have "managed" him out over that period and left their arses completely covered.
There's more to this story, directors do not get called back from holiday to deal with a nicely worded memo. I'll say it plainly, Damore was stupid, stupid enough to do something that got him fired and now stupid enough to put Google in a position where they may have to make what he did public. Previously they had incentive to keep it quiet to avoid being sued, that incentive has been removed.
The asshole in this case was the person or persons that released the document publicly. That person or persons created this shitstorm. Lots of people say things in private that if plastered on the internet, and taken far out of context, that could also create bad PR for a company.
Google fired the guy instead of standing up for him. Now they are getting sued for it. Good. They can't keep an internal memo to themselves so they deserve all the bad publicity they get from it.
You don't know what he actually did to get fired. You've only got what Damore wants you to think he was fired for, a story to which the facts do not add up for.
An employee is in no way obligated to stand up for every employee who has a tantrum. If the way Damore acted after being fired is any indication, he wasn't worth it and standing up for him probably would have caused more problems.
Call me when women are 50% in mining, underwater welding, septic tank maintenance, construction, etc... etc... etc....
That will happen when men are 50% in childcare, nursing, personal assistants. I thought you Damore-worshippers recognised that there were differences between sexes and (ostensibly) acknowledged that a pay gap shouldn't exist.
Crying out loud, when did Slashdot become a bunch of whining babies.
Will I get to take years off for maternity leave, and expect my job waiting for me?
Because in the real world, I lost my position because I took two months off to recover from having spinal fusion to have a tumor removed from my spinal cord.
This has nothing to do with gender and everything to do with poor industrial relations laws (basically the US system is set up to oppress the worker).
Here in the UK you cant be fired for having a legitimate medical illness and men are permitted to take paternity leave (which is just called parental leave for brevity's sake). Most new fathers take a month or two in order to help out with a newborn, but rarely more than that.
Your problem isn't that men don't get paternity leave, it's that you refuse to take power away from the bosses.
The issue France (as well as Germany and Iceland) is that women are often being paid less than men whilst doing exact same job (and it has nothing to do with parental leave as many are not parents).
I never understood how GoPro ended up getting so hyped in the first place. As smartphone cameras get better and better, the universe of people who really care enough to buy a stand alone camera keeps getting smaller. I know their schtick was "action sports" where a smartphone camera is too bulky or difficult to use, but most people figure out after filming a ski run or two that they aren't Shane McConkey (RIP) and won't be filming much of interest. Then, the gopro goes in the drawer, never to be used again.
I suppose branching out into drones was an attempt at recognition of the above, but the problem is then they had to extend outside their core competencies. There's a lot more to a good drone than a good camera.
Smartphones are nowhere near the level of a good sports camera... not by a long shot.
GoPro got so hyped up because they were the only major brand for a long time and they applied a little Apple-esque marketing pixie dust. Now there are dozens of Chinese no-name brand cameras that are just as good as a branded GoPro (because they're based of the designs GoPro haven't changed in ages) and GoPro are trying to enter new markets to avoid irrelevance as the pixie dust has worn off.
If your party votes no on NN, will you change your vote?
And there in lies the problem. Not just with Republicans, but the US two party system in general.
At least here in the UK when given two bad choices (as we were with Theresa May and Jeremy Corbin in the last election) we can vote for a third party and if enough people are dissatisfied with the major two parties, they depend on crossbenchers (third parties) to pass legislation. Currently the conservatives are relying on the two Northern Ireland parties (sinn fein and DUP) who hate each other. Its not perfect, but it can prevent parties from ignoring a dissatisfied voter base and ruling by fiat for their entire term.
Who is the hazard? The SWAT team went to a random address, based on an anonymous phone call, and killed the innocent occupant for basically no reason at all.
Barriss should be held accountable. But he didn't "murder" anyone. The SWAT team did that.
Actually he did murder someone... just because it happened by proxy does not clear him of guilt. He deliberately made a fraudulent call to the police that resulted in the death of another person. A smart lawyer would argue for a manslaughter charge (as killing him wasn't an intent, it was a consequence of his action) but there is no way Barriss could deny culpability in this.
Sure the police should have checked their targets instead of going in shooting, but realistically shouldn't have been called out in the first place. Sure the SWAT OIC should be investigated and punished, but that does not absolve Barriss of culpability one iota.
BTW, a smart prosecution will argue for the murder charge as, despite no intent to commit murder, the defendant knew he was putting the other persons life in danger. Given the defendants history this will be an easy win as long as the police didn't screw up the arrest (most acquittals happen because someone didn't follow procedure, not because the defendant was demonstrated to be innocent).
If you travel a lot, you lean to have several forms of funds. At least 2 credit cards. Some of the countries local cash. Some of a major currency (Euros, Dollars, maybe Yuan).
Its easy for any credit card to get canceled, always good to have multiples.
This. I only really use one card in day to day life (my main UK debit card) but when travelling I have 4 to choose from in case one gets locked. I usually have some GBP in my wallet anyway, but I would get some local currency as a backup rather than relying on Pounds, Euros or Dollars, swapping currencies is a right PITA in some countries and not something I'd like to do in an emergency..
What may shock some people is that I haven't used a credit card in almost 2 years. Since moving to the UK, there's been no need. I've usually pre-pay for rental cars, hotels are either pre-paid or paid on departure with cash or debit. The only reason I still have a credit card is purely for holding deposits and I don't see that role changing in any way in the future.
alternative payment systems that are superior to Visa in every way
Except for processing speed, cost, merchant adoption...
Doesn't the fact that Bitcoin holders want a Bitcoin Visa card indicate that there are at least some downsides of using Bitcoin as a day-to-day payment system?
Accepting credit cards are not cheap... or particularly fast. Merchant adoption is the only real reason you've got there.
Serious about the not cheap bit, for many small businesses, they're paying more in merchant service fees than staffing costs (hell, I've seen a case study that Chevron's US retail arm is paying more in interchange fees than staffing costs).
This is why I'll never give up cash, its really is the cheapest, fastest and most accepted form of payment.
Time sentenced does not mean time served. Given the US's penchant for locking up pot users for using pot... chances are room was needed to stow another dangerous stoner and he was released early.
The Halloween documents aren't good enough for you?
The Halloween Documents were 20 years ago, when Microsoft was managed by a completely different group of people. The documents describe a strategy of "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish" that would never work today.
Microsoft is still evil, but their evilness today is very different than it was 20 years ago.
That is entirely due to Microsoft's evil being opposed. Had the DOJ, EU and many others not stepped in to fight, Embrace, Extend, Extinguish would still be a reality today.
Oddly enough, there is another company today promoting the kind of vendor lock in and a monoculture that Microsoft did in the 90's... However they're getting a free pass because white and shiny.
I have actually been seeing of late, YouTube rants of people actually arguing that if you are of any non-white color they you by definition can NOT be a racist.
Seriously?
Geez....common sense has gone 101% out the door in the US.
And I have seen of late, YouTube rants of people actually arguing that if you are of any non-white colour you are inferior to whites... Amazing what you can find if you look for it.
The difference between you and I is that I know that the subjects of these videos are nutters and not representative of their society as a whole. Nor would I use such a nutter as a strawman.
Because the far left doesn't really exist in western societies. Marxism, Trotskyism and Lenninism have long since died, Maoism isn't actually communism any more (China is communist in name only) however fascism (which is extreme right wing) has been coming back with a vengeance.
As a centrist (centre right, objectively) I view all kinds of extremism as bad, especially authoritarian extremism such as fascism or Stalinism. I'm also acutely aware that our society is more tolerant of the extreme right rather than the extreme left. This means the extreme right can surreptitiously gain more power than they would be permitted to in the open and before you know it, there are enough of them to start causing problems for the rest of society... basically like the did in Germany in the 1920's. I dont really want to live under an extremist government or have standover men at polling booths, The biggest risk of extremism in western society comes from the far right.
However absolutely nothing is stopping you or anyone else from doing the same thing as the person in the article for symbols of the far left... the problem you've got is that there isn't really a big problem with the far left and well... most people who would bother with this have no idea what the left actually is so you'll get so many false positives that everyone will ignore you.
It's even better than that. Not only are they not drying to hide, they pop up whereever some offended snowflake deems them appropriate. Can't win an argument on merits? Call the other guy a Nazi and you're golden! I'll demonstrate:
1. American immigration laws should be enforced. 2. There is no evidence that police in America apply different standards to white citizens and non-white citizens. 3. Islamic fundamentalism motivates the violent act committed by many extremists and must be combated and defended against using within the framework of foreign diplomacy, foreign aid, military policy, and immigration policy. 4. Government benefits should only be provided to the demonstrably infirm or aged citizens and not be made available to able-bodied persons of working age. 5. Restrictions on the sale, ownership, or possession of firearms punish the law-abiding and do not make any dent in violent crime.
All of those are either factually true or present an opinion within the mainstream of acceptible American thought. How long will it take for someone to label one or all of them extreme and me an extremist beyond the pale of acceptable civil discourse.
Ignoring the fact that 2 and 5 are demonstrably wrong. You are the one trying to change the definition of Nazi, not anyone else.
The problem you have is that Nazism is a far right wing ideology based on extremist nationalism and institutionalised racism (the difference between a fascist and a Nazi is the fact Nazism has racism baked into it's very foundation). You have trouble reconciling the fact that right wing philosophies can be bad, so you need to change its definition to suit you.
Further more, you're trying to change the definition to make yourself look like a victim when you aren't one. I'm going to say something controversial... White males remain the most privileged group in modern western society. The problem you have is that you cant reconcile that with your desire to be a victim.
Finally, if you find you are being called a Nazi often, you either need to examine what you are saying (and how you are saying it) or find a different audience... However its more likely to be what you're saying rather than who you're saying it to.
While no US airlines operate 747, you don't have to go abroad. Airlines such as Qantas operate within-US segments on 747. Example, QF11 (LAX-JFK)
QF are in the process of phasing out their 747's. Their current problem is that their 747's are specialised versions built specifically for QANTAS to do trans pacific routes from Australia. So they're still being paid off. All of the trans-pacific routes are serviced by QF A380's now but they still need something for the old 747's to do.
Not even the 787. Soon the 727 or 737 along with the baby airbus planes will have long range engines capable of long distance flight. Used to be you needed a 747 to go from NYC to Rome or London. Now it's your average tiny plane with hourly or several flights a day which can be rescheduled if not enough tickets are sold.
The problem that the Jumbo's have is that most of the flights they were previously used for (read trans-Atlantic and most trans-pacific routes) are now serviceable by twin-jets aircraft operating on ETOPS 240 and beyond. The second issue is that airlines have been shoving more and more seats into a smaller space. It used to take a 747 to move what they now pack into a 787. So the B747 has been dying a quiet death whilst the A380 has been relegated to long range hub to hub flights (I.E. LHR to SIN).
Most people prefer aisle seat. But there is nothing wrong in preferring window seat.
As someone who used to do 100,000+ miles a year, I could never figure this one out. Window seats are infinitely preferable to aisle seats....
This, my shoulders are 53 CM bone to bone (not including the fleshy bits). I prefer the window seat to the aisle seat because my shoulders do not fit in a 19" seat, let alone a 17" seat because they're 20"+ wide.
I depend on the window recess to sit remotely comfortably. Sitting on the aisle seat is just an invitation to have everything that goes past knock my shoulders and elbow. This is also why I cant stand flying on a 787 and would take any other aircraft type over it no matter how old... because the 787 has no window recesses (or window shades).
It's called "leftism", and it comes in either fascism
Wrong.
Fascism is a far right ideology.
The far right is just as guilty as the far left in promoting censorship. Hell, it's worse here in the UK where the only people trying to tell you that you cant say things... are the Daily Mail crowd.
Finally, Macron has not asked for anything like censorship. If you actually read his speech, he's calling for rules around political advertising including complete disclosure about funding and organisation. Here's what the legislation actually calls for.
New legislation for websites would include more transparency about sponsored content. Under the new law, websites would have to say who is financing them and the amount of money for sponsored content would be capped.
So it's asking for who wrote it, who is speaking it and who paid for it.
Only someone who is daft enough to think fascism is left or uses the term "leftist" or "leftism" would possibly think that is a bad thing.
Slashdot Mirror
So Canada's a 3rd world country now?
Good to know.
I didn't know thing had improved that much in Canada.
Jokes aside, the original meaning of first, second (which no-one talks about) and third world had to do with what side of the cold war you were on. First world countries were allied with the US and NATO, second world countries were allied with Russia and the Soviet Union (which is why there are no 2nd world countries and haven't been since 92) and third world are non-aligned countries.
So technically, Thailand is a first world country and Switzerland is a third world country.
then spend lots of tax dollars propping those people up with food stamps, etc, or just paying indirectly with theft and other criminal behaviour.
As opposed to the European way of making employees so expensive that you have 20% youth unemployment, who you then prop up with social programs, theft and other criminal behavior?
I'm not opposed to minimum wage (and frankly I wish we'd just tie it to inflation so we don't need to constantly adjust it). But lets not pretend that this will magically get people off of government assistance or eliminate crime.
I think their point was the terrible way the US runs it's welfare programs. Using obfuscation programs like food stamps to demean recipient in order to please angry old conservatives only makes the whole thing more expensive to run.
BTW, the UK which is in Europe doesn't have the same youth unemployment problem as France, same with Germany (which is sucking up cheap labour as fast as it can). The Eurozone's youth unemployment statistics are skewed because of specific regions in France and Italy where there aren't enough jobs... and places in Eastern Europe where many young women don't really enter the workforce. France and Italy have the issue of there simply not being enough jobs.
If you do the totals you get the same answer regardless, self service cashiers work out even in countries with 2-3x smaller minimum wage. You still need some cashiers to overseer the mechanical slaves, deal with customers experiencing technophobia or buying booze and tobacco.
This, stores have replaced checkouts in every state with self service checkouts... if it were just about the minimum wage then they wouldn't have bothered in states with low minimum wage. The biggest issue with adoption are the customers, as you correctly pointed out.
Of course a smartphone is nowhere near the level of a high-end standalone camera, but smartphones have gotten to the point that they are plenty good for the average Joe.
I'd agree... but the average Joe produces far poorer than average shots. Giving them better gear would not make them a better photographer.
However I was talking specifically about sports cameras which are designed to capture high resolution, high speed video photography along with being weatherproof and shock resistant. Most models will come with some inbuilt image stabilisation as well. Smart phones are in no-way designed for this and likely never will be.
I went to the Goodwood Festival of Speed last year with some friends. They took smartphones, I took a 5 year old Canon Ixus point and shoot. They all marvelled at how much better my shots were.. not just because I knew how to frame them, what angles to take, where to take them from, how to use light (OK, it was an overcast day so this didn't help so much) but because I used equipment that allowed me to take advantage of my skills.
Smartphone cameras may be "good enough" for the average mouth breather... but lets not kid ourselves into thinking they're good.
They already make their phones more expensive than anything a kid should have. What else can they do apart from this public-spirited action ;-)
No they dont.
Iphones are not priced to be exclusive in the slightest. They're like the Toyota Camry of phones, white, boring, old tech and so common even someone on benefits can get a contract for one.
Parent's aren't paying £1000 a pop for one, they're paying £75 a month over 24 months for one (that's with a family discount).
You cant really get more average and peasant than an Iphone these days.
I work with a generally older male crowd, and some of them are quite vocal about their views on gender. Some are borderline MRA/MGTOW types, having been taken to the cleaners in divorces, etc. None are old enough to be adults back in the 50s when barely any married woman worked outside the home, but certainly some are old enough to look upon that time with nostalgia. The major thing that separates these guys from Mr. Damore is that they don't use company resources to promote their views, and their views don't really affect the work of others. I have to listen to them, but in reality they're no different than your traditional conservative white male talk radio-quoting types. They still do their jobs and don't anger anyone enough to make them complain.
The thing that's different with Google is that I'm sure their legal counsel just told the executives to make the problem go away immediately. No company wants to deal with the expense of a lawsuit and the reputation hit of getting dragged into court because one of their employees is acting like a jerk. I know the company I work for would show me the door in 15 seconds if I personally caused any reputational damage, regardless of how internal the forum was, or how the information was leaked.
The Damore memo was published internally for nearly a month before he was fired. Google aren't daft, if they wanted to fire him for the memo, they would have managed him out for poor performance or some such over the course of a month and completely had their arse covered.
What happened is that a director was called back from holiday... that doesn't happen over a nicely worded, if unpopular memo that has been published for a month. Google's official reason is that others refused to work with him, that and the fact the memo was published for a month before the incident tells me that is not what he was fired.
What I wonder is why the Aspergers/autism angle wasn't used instead."
Aspergers/Autism has an actual diagnosis in DSM IV and I don't think he'd be able to meet it. He only tried that angle once he realised his career was ruined and no-one was ever going to hire him in any professional capacity. He's suing Google now because he's realised his career is now limited to asking if you want fries with that and he no longer cares if the real reason for his dismissal comes to light.
Damore was asked for input in a debate on diversity hiring policies. He produced a thoughtful and well researched memo in response to the quest for how to best hire people. This memo was addressed to the people within the company, specifically those on the diversity committee. The memo was not released by Damore, and he did not intend for it to leave Google.
A month passed between the memo being released internally and a director being called back from holiday to deal with a situation.
So I have to ask, if he was fired for the content of the memo, why did they wait a month? If they wanted to do that they could have "managed" him out over that period and left their arses completely covered.
There's more to this story, directors do not get called back from holiday to deal with a nicely worded memo. I'll say it plainly, Damore was stupid, stupid enough to do something that got him fired and now stupid enough to put Google in a position where they may have to make what he did public. Previously they had incentive to keep it quiet to avoid being sued, that incentive has been removed.
The asshole in this case was the person or persons that released the document publicly. That person or persons created this shitstorm. Lots of people say things in private that if plastered on the internet, and taken far out of context, that could also create bad PR for a company.
Google fired the guy instead of standing up for him. Now they are getting sued for it. Good. They can't keep an internal memo to themselves so they deserve all the bad publicity they get from it.
You don't know what he actually did to get fired. You've only got what Damore wants you to think he was fired for, a story to which the facts do not add up for.
An employee is in no way obligated to stand up for every employee who has a tantrum. If the way Damore acted after being fired is any indication, he wasn't worth it and standing up for him probably would have caused more problems.
Call me when women are 50% in mining, underwater welding, septic tank maintenance, construction, etc... etc... etc....
That will happen when men are 50% in childcare, nursing, personal assistants. I thought you Damore-worshippers recognised that there were differences between sexes and (ostensibly) acknowledged that a pay gap shouldn't exist.
Crying out loud, when did Slashdot become a bunch of whining babies.
Will I get to take years off for maternity leave, and expect my job waiting for me?
Because in the real world, I lost my position because I took two months off to recover from having spinal fusion to have a tumor removed from my spinal cord.
This has nothing to do with gender and everything to do with poor industrial relations laws (basically the US system is set up to oppress the worker).
Here in the UK you cant be fired for having a legitimate medical illness and men are permitted to take paternity leave (which is just called parental leave for brevity's sake). Most new fathers take a month or two in order to help out with a newborn, but rarely more than that.
Your problem isn't that men don't get paternity leave, it's that you refuse to take power away from the bosses.
The issue France (as well as Germany and Iceland) is that women are often being paid less than men whilst doing exact same job (and it has nothing to do with parental leave as many are not parents).
I never understood how GoPro ended up getting so hyped in the first place. As smartphone cameras get better and better, the universe of people who really care enough to buy a stand alone camera keeps getting smaller. I know their schtick was "action sports" where a smartphone camera is too bulky or difficult to use, but most people figure out after filming a ski run or two that they aren't Shane McConkey (RIP) and won't be filming much of interest. Then, the gopro goes in the drawer, never to be used again.
I suppose branching out into drones was an attempt at recognition of the above, but the problem is then they had to extend outside their core competencies. There's a lot more to a good drone than a good camera.
Smartphones are nowhere near the level of a good sports camera... not by a long shot.
GoPro got so hyped up because they were the only major brand for a long time and they applied a little Apple-esque marketing pixie dust. Now there are dozens of Chinese no-name brand cameras that are just as good as a branded GoPro (because they're based of the designs GoPro haven't changed in ages) and GoPro are trying to enter new markets to avoid irrelevance as the pixie dust has worn off.
I am for rational NN. And i am 100% Republican.
If your party votes no on NN, will you change your vote?
And there in lies the problem. Not just with Republicans, but the US two party system in general.
At least here in the UK when given two bad choices (as we were with Theresa May and Jeremy Corbin in the last election) we can vote for a third party and if enough people are dissatisfied with the major two parties, they depend on crossbenchers (third parties) to pass legislation. Currently the conservatives are relying on the two Northern Ireland parties (sinn fein and DUP) who hate each other. Its not perfect, but it can prevent parties from ignoring a dissatisfied voter base and ruling by fiat for their entire term.
Better yet, just don't be a hazard to society.
Who is the hazard? The SWAT team went to a random address, based on an anonymous phone call, and killed the innocent occupant for basically no reason at all.
Barriss should be held accountable. But he didn't "murder" anyone. The SWAT team did that.
Actually he did murder someone... just because it happened by proxy does not clear him of guilt. He deliberately made a fraudulent call to the police that resulted in the death of another person. A smart lawyer would argue for a manslaughter charge (as killing him wasn't an intent, it was a consequence of his action) but there is no way Barriss could deny culpability in this.
Sure the police should have checked their targets instead of going in shooting, but realistically shouldn't have been called out in the first place. Sure the SWAT OIC should be investigated and punished, but that does not absolve Barriss of culpability one iota.
BTW, a smart prosecution will argue for the murder charge as, despite no intent to commit murder, the defendant knew he was putting the other persons life in danger. Given the defendants history this will be an easy win as long as the police didn't screw up the arrest (most acquittals happen because someone didn't follow procedure, not because the defendant was demonstrated to be innocent).
If you travel a lot, you lean to have several forms of funds. At least 2 credit cards. Some of the countries local cash. Some of a major currency (Euros, Dollars, maybe Yuan).
Its easy for any credit card to get canceled, always good to have multiples.
This. I only really use one card in day to day life (my main UK debit card) but when travelling I have 4 to choose from in case one gets locked. I usually have some GBP in my wallet anyway, but I would get some local currency as a backup rather than relying on Pounds, Euros or Dollars, swapping currencies is a right PITA in some countries and not something I'd like to do in an emergency..
What may shock some people is that I haven't used a credit card in almost 2 years. Since moving to the UK, there's been no need. I've usually pre-pay for rental cars, hotels are either pre-paid or paid on departure with cash or debit. The only reason I still have a credit card is purely for holding deposits and I don't see that role changing in any way in the future.
alternative payment systems that are superior to Visa in every way
Except for processing speed, cost, merchant adoption...
Doesn't the fact that Bitcoin holders want a Bitcoin Visa card indicate that there are at least some downsides of using Bitcoin as a day-to-day payment system?
Accepting credit cards are not cheap... or particularly fast. Merchant adoption is the only real reason you've got there.
Serious about the not cheap bit, for many small businesses, they're paying more in merchant service fees than staffing costs (hell, I've seen a case study that Chevron's US retail arm is paying more in interchange fees than staffing costs).
This is why I'll never give up cash, its really is the cheapest, fastest and most accepted form of payment.
In 2015. So why isn't he still behind bars?
Time sentenced does not mean time served. Given the US's penchant for locking up pot users for using pot... chances are room was needed to stow another dangerous stoner and he was released early.
The Halloween documents aren't good enough for you?
The Halloween Documents were 20 years ago, when Microsoft was managed by a completely different group of people. The documents describe a strategy of "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish" that would never work today.
Microsoft is still evil, but their evilness today is very different than it was 20 years ago.
That is entirely due to Microsoft's evil being opposed. Had the DOJ, EU and many others not stepped in to fight, Embrace, Extend, Extinguish would still be a reality today.
Oddly enough, there is another company today promoting the kind of vendor lock in and a monoculture that Microsoft did in the 90's... However they're getting a free pass because white and shiny.
Pretty much this. Distraction will be a MAJOR issue.
Distraction has to be a major issue. Ads that don't get your attention don't work.
Oddly enough, I feel that we're going to have to legislate against in car advertising... and it will be Europe that will be first.
I know..go figure, right?
I have actually been seeing of late, YouTube rants of people actually arguing that if you are of any non-white color they you by definition can NOT be a racist.
Seriously?
Geez....common sense has gone 101% out the door in the US.
And I have seen of late, YouTube rants of people actually arguing that if you are of any non-white colour you are inferior to whites... Amazing what you can find if you look for it.
The difference between you and I is that I know that the subjects of these videos are nutters and not representative of their society as a whole. Nor would I use such a nutter as a strawman.
And the far left gets a pass!
Because the far left doesn't really exist in western societies. Marxism, Trotskyism and Lenninism have long since died, Maoism isn't actually communism any more (China is communist in name only) however fascism (which is extreme right wing) has been coming back with a vengeance.
As a centrist (centre right, objectively) I view all kinds of extremism as bad, especially authoritarian extremism such as fascism or Stalinism. I'm also acutely aware that our society is more tolerant of the extreme right rather than the extreme left. This means the extreme right can surreptitiously gain more power than they would be permitted to in the open and before you know it, there are enough of them to start causing problems for the rest of society... basically like the did in Germany in the 1920's. I dont really want to live under an extremist government or have standover men at polling booths, The biggest risk of extremism in western society comes from the far right.
However absolutely nothing is stopping you or anyone else from doing the same thing as the person in the article for symbols of the far left... the problem you've got is that there isn't really a big problem with the far left and well... most people who would bother with this have no idea what the left actually is so you'll get so many false positives that everyone will ignore you.
It's even better than that. Not only are they not drying to hide, they pop up whereever some offended snowflake deems them appropriate. Can't win an argument on merits? Call the other guy a Nazi and you're golden! I'll demonstrate:
1. American immigration laws should be enforced.
2. There is no evidence that police in America apply different standards to white citizens and non-white citizens.
3. Islamic fundamentalism motivates the violent act committed by many extremists and must be combated and defended against using within the framework of foreign diplomacy, foreign aid, military policy, and immigration policy.
4. Government benefits should only be provided to the demonstrably infirm or aged citizens and not be made available to able-bodied persons of working age.
5. Restrictions on the sale, ownership, or possession of firearms punish the law-abiding and do not make any dent in violent crime.
All of those are either factually true or present an opinion within the mainstream of acceptible American thought. How long will it take for someone to label one or all of them extreme and me an extremist beyond the pale of acceptable civil discourse.
Ignoring the fact that 2 and 5 are demonstrably wrong. You are the one trying to change the definition of Nazi, not anyone else.
The problem you have is that Nazism is a far right wing ideology based on extremist nationalism and institutionalised racism (the difference between a fascist and a Nazi is the fact Nazism has racism baked into it's very foundation). You have trouble reconciling the fact that right wing philosophies can be bad, so you need to change its definition to suit you.
Further more, you're trying to change the definition to make yourself look like a victim when you aren't one. I'm going to say something controversial... White males remain the most privileged group in modern western society. The problem you have is that you cant reconcile that with your desire to be a victim.
Finally, if you find you are being called a Nazi often, you either need to examine what you are saying (and how you are saying it) or find a different audience... However its more likely to be what you're saying rather than who you're saying it to.
Every government on Earth is composed entirely of humans.
Most state leaders have pets, usually at least a dog, which presumably helps calm the humans and reduces the risk of rash decisions.
For example, the UK's current leader Arlene Foster has a white haired terrier called Theresa May.
While no US airlines operate 747, you don't have to go abroad. Airlines such as Qantas operate within-US segments on 747. Example, QF11 (LAX-JFK)
QF are in the process of phasing out their 747's. Their current problem is that their 747's are specialised versions built specifically for QANTAS to do trans pacific routes from Australia. So they're still being paid off. All of the trans-pacific routes are serviced by QF A380's now but they still need something for the old 747's to do.
Not even the 787. Soon the 727 or 737 along with the baby airbus planes will have long range engines capable of long distance flight. Used to be you needed a 747 to go from NYC to Rome or London. Now it's your average tiny plane with hourly or several flights a day which can be rescheduled if not enough tickets are sold.
The problem that the Jumbo's have is that most of the flights they were previously used for (read trans-Atlantic and most trans-pacific routes) are now serviceable by twin-jets aircraft operating on ETOPS 240 and beyond. The second issue is that airlines have been shoving more and more seats into a smaller space. It used to take a 747 to move what they now pack into a 787. So the B747 has been dying a quiet death whilst the A380 has been relegated to long range hub to hub flights (I.E. LHR to SIN).
Most people prefer aisle seat. But there is nothing wrong in preferring window seat.
As someone who used to do 100,000+ miles a year, I could never figure this one out. Window seats are infinitely preferable to aisle seats... .
This, my shoulders are 53 CM bone to bone (not including the fleshy bits). I prefer the window seat to the aisle seat because my shoulders do not fit in a 19" seat, let alone a 17" seat because they're 20"+ wide.
I depend on the window recess to sit remotely comfortably. Sitting on the aisle seat is just an invitation to have everything that goes past knock my shoulders and elbow. This is also why I cant stand flying on a 787 and would take any other aircraft type over it no matter how old... because the 787 has no window recesses (or window shades).
It's called "leftism", and it comes in either fascism
Wrong.
Fascism is a far right ideology.
The far right is just as guilty as the far left in promoting censorship. Hell, it's worse here in the UK where the only people trying to tell you that you cant say things... are the Daily Mail crowd.
Finally, Macron has not asked for anything like censorship. If you actually read his speech, he's calling for rules around political advertising including complete disclosure about funding and organisation. Here's what the legislation actually calls for.
New legislation for websites would include more transparency about sponsored content. Under the new law, websites would have to say who is financing them and the amount of money for sponsored content would be capped.
So it's asking for who wrote it, who is speaking it and who paid for it.
Only someone who is daft enough to think fascism is left or uses the term "leftist" or "leftism" would possibly think that is a bad thing.