Let's say that any reasonable $60 game provides at least 20 hours of entertainment.
I've been playing N64 games with my friends since middle school. We still play semi-regularly, albeit now it's a drinking game. Some games (multiplayer mostly) provide much more than 80 hrs of fun. Examples: super smash brothers, mario kart, mario party, blitz.
Interactivity is simply more engaging (more fun) than passive entertainment.
First, you'd have to get a significant amount of the population off their asses
It pains me to say that would be a revolution in and of itself. Case in point: voter turnout in the US
In our hypothetical situation, you get 30% of American workers to stop going to work
In the Great Depression, unemployment was approximately 29%, so another depression could leave us in a similar state (this would also injure the corporations, decreasing their power and influence).
and money can indeed buy almost anything
How about Happiness? Loyalty? Obedience? As we've seen numerous times (American Revolution, Indian Independence, Viet Nam, Afghanistan, and now Iraq), the underdog (both in terms of money and technology) can often give the "superior" faction a run for their money.
I'm not a historian, but I think when a group of people initiate a revolution, it is because the current state of affairs is unacceptable to them, and they are willing to do *anything* to change it. When that happens, the majority of long-term concern goes out the window.
I noticed some mentioned the low salary, which is absurd. here you can see the base pay, there are many allowances (such as food, housing, having a family, being stationed in a "war zone") which add up, not to mention the amazing pension from retiring after 20 years (after 20 years of service, you'd be about 40, allowing for the possibility of another job). Another benefit is respect. Yesterday, I was in line at a restaurant, and someone thanked me for my service, and paid for my lunch.
Also, AFROTC has great scholarships. They pay for tuition, give a $300 semesterly book allowance, and a monthly stipend (>$300). And recently, they started offering scholarships for electrical engineering students without competition. Also, there are great opportunities such as the ACE Program. Overview here (Warning PDF).
And as for the physical requirements, they aren't extreme. ~40 pushups in 1 minute ~40 situps in one minute, and 1.5 miles in ~12 minutes.
If you haven't realized, I am in ROTC, and this is my desired career field.
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling, which thinks that nothing is worth war, is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." -John Stuart Mill
Actually, the planes themselves aren't that old. Every so often (ten years, IIRC), they strip everything out of the planes, and rebuild them from scratch (same as pretty much every aircraft)
And where are the free Fedora discs being mailed to anyone who wants, just for the asking?
The Fedora Free Media Project addresses this, although it is meant for people who can't afford to buy or download a disc. It it completely run (and funded, I think) by the fedora community. Also, it takes considerably less time to get media through the Fedora Free Media Project than ShipIt (based on my own personal experience)
Gen. Elder isn't just "some guy" starting a 'cyber command' in Louisiana (The secretary of the Air Force, along with some other military personel are in the process of creating it, and it should be ready this Summer); he is going to be the head of the Air Force Cyberspace Command, the new MAJCOM (major division of the Air Force, now there are 10), which is headquarted in Louisiana. This MAJCOM was specifically set up for this kind of thing, fulfilling the last line of the mission of the Air Force:
...to fly and fight in air, space, and cyberspace Also, Barksdale AFB was the first place the president was flown after 9/11, so as you can tell it's a major base.
True story: A few years ago, when our highschool teachers were first getting computers in their classrooms, one teacher called into the school's front office to complain that the cupholder on her computer would close every few minutes.
amaroK will not be ported to windows until (if ever):
* amaroK 2.0, which will use the Qt 4 toolkit. Qt 3.x releases, although have windows editions, are not compatible with the amaroK GPL license
* KDE-libs, and respective engines are ported to windows
* There is an open source windows developer willing to do all the hard work. There is as much chance of any of the current dev's porting to windows as there is copyrighted music download becoming free. I'll do it if it does.
So, stop harrasing us - it's not going to happen for a while.
Two beggars travelling along
One blind, the other lame
Picked an oyster on the way
To which they both laid claim
The matter rose so high, that they
Resolved to go to law
As often richer fools have done
Who quarrel for a straw
A lawyer took it straight in hand
Who knew his business was
To mind nor one nor the other side,
But make the best of the cause,
As always in the law's the case
So he his judgement gave
And lawyer-like he thus resolved
What each of them should have;
Blind plaintifff, lame defendant, share
The friendly laws impartial care,
A shell for him, a shell for the,
The middle is the lawyer's Fee.
Migrating from a word processor with grammar check to one without will undoubtedly have an adverse effect on many students and teachers, but in the end, it will hopefully teach them better proofreading skills. I know this to be the case from when I switched.
And yes, I know grammar check for OpenOffice is in development, but there's no indication of how long it will take.
The Air Force is in charge of the nukes However, your point is still valid
Let's say that any reasonable $60 game provides at least 20 hours of entertainment.
I've been playing N64 games with my friends since middle school. We still play semi-regularly, albeit now it's a drinking game. Some games (multiplayer mostly) provide much more than 80 hrs of fun. Examples: super smash brothers, mario kart, mario party, blitz.
Interactivity is simply more engaging (more fun) than passive entertainment.
Ballmer Peak
First, you'd have to get a significant amount of the population off their asses
It pains me to say that would be a revolution in and of itself. Case in point: voter turnout in the US
In our hypothetical situation, you get 30% of American workers to stop going to work
In the Great Depression, unemployment was approximately 29%, so another depression could leave us in a similar state (this would also injure the corporations, decreasing their power and influence).
and money can indeed buy almost anything
How about Happiness? Loyalty? Obedience?
As we've seen numerous times (American Revolution, Indian Independence, Viet Nam, Afghanistan, and now Iraq), the underdog (both in terms of money and technology) can often give the "superior" faction a run for their money.
I'm not a historian, but I think when a group of people initiate a revolution, it is because the current state of affairs is unacceptable to them, and they are willing to do *anything* to change it. When that happens, the majority of long-term concern goes out the window.
(emphasis mine)
personally, I'm for negative voting
No UAV is capable of fighting a mannned air craft and winning yet.
there, fixed that for you
"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." -Bill Cosby
Which is why you shouldn't swallow them
Take a look at Giant Isopods. Definitely the most alien thing I've ever seen.
I noticed some mentioned the low salary, which is absurd. here you can see the base pay, there are many allowances (such as food, housing, having a family, being stationed in a "war zone") which add up, not to mention the amazing pension from retiring after 20 years (after 20 years of service, you'd be about 40, allowing for the possibility of another job). Another benefit is respect. Yesterday, I was in line at a restaurant, and someone thanked me for my service, and paid for my lunch.
Also, AFROTC has great scholarships. They pay for tuition, give a $300 semesterly book allowance, and a monthly stipend (>$300). And recently, they started offering scholarships for electrical engineering students without competition. Also, there are great opportunities such as the ACE Program. Overview here (Warning PDF).
And as for the physical requirements, they aren't extreme. ~40 pushups in 1 minute ~40 situps in one minute, and 1.5 miles in ~12 minutes.
If you haven't realized, I am in ROTC, and this is my desired career field.
Don't forget, 50% off at Moe's with a military ID
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things.
The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling,
which thinks that nothing is worth war, is much worse.
The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight,
nothing which is more important than his own personal safety,
is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless
made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
-John Stuart Mill
Actually, the planes themselves aren't that old. Every so often (ten years, IIRC), they strip everything out of the planes, and rebuild them from scratch (same as pretty much every aircraft)
The Fedora Free Media Project addresses this, although it is meant for people who can't afford to buy or download a disc. It it completely run (and funded, I think) by the fedora community. Also, it takes considerably less time to get media through the Fedora Free Media Project than ShipIt (based on my own personal experience)
...get a hot secretary
Dr Gerhard Neukum
Duke Nukem
Really, ask yourself, what are the chances?
BMW Has already made plans to incorporate steam engines in their vehicles (and retrofit them in previous models)
...to fly and fight in air, space, and cyberspace Also, Barksdale AFB was the first place the president was flown after 9/11, so as you can tell it's a major base.True story: A few years ago, when our highschool teachers were first getting computers in their classrooms, one teacher called into the school's front office to complain that the cupholder on her computer would close every few minutes.
You must be new here...
The Air Force Honor Code:
I will not lie, steal, cheat, nor tolerate any among us who does
from the amarok developer's blog:
The Benefit of going to Law
by Ben Franklin
Two beggars travelling along
One blind, the other lame
Picked an oyster on the way
To which they both laid claim
The matter rose so high, that they
Resolved to go to law
As often richer fools have done
Who quarrel for a straw
A lawyer took it straight in hand
Who knew his business was
To mind nor one nor the other side,
But make the best of the cause,
As always in the law's the case
So he his judgement gave
And lawyer-like he thus resolved
What each of them should have;
Blind plaintifff, lame defendant, share
The friendly laws impartial care,
A shell for him, a shell for the,
The middle is the lawyer's Fee.
You know this is what they're really thinking
Migrating from a word processor with grammar check to one without will undoubtedly have an adverse effect on many students and teachers, but in the end, it will hopefully teach them better proofreading skills. I know this to be the case from when I switched.
And yes, I know grammar check for OpenOffice is in development, but there's no indication of how long it will take.