I have used it but I don't. I got tired of the slow screen changes. I would hit a remote button and nothing happend so I'd hit it again then It would move 2 spaces/screens + everything is organized horribly. You can't just click movies/action and see action movies you have to go to each network and the free movies section to search for what you want. Using the Tivo is far better in my opinion.
This may not seem innovative today thanks to the widespread use of Tivos and other DVRs but in 1999 when Tivo was first unveiled it was. It's easy to look at someone else's idea that has become commonplace and say "that idea is obvious" it is much harder to actually come up with the idea, patent it, and turn it into a viable product. If we don't allow the people who do innovate to defend those innovations with patents then what motivation do they have to put something new into the marketplace. Why should I put my time, energy, and money into inventing a new widget if I can only expect it to be stolen by Corporation X?
Many content providers do not want their content On Demand. A DVR can record and play back anything that is broadcast. I think if they could, AT&T, Verizon, etc. would put all their content On Demand as a way of competing with the DVR but they can't until they can convince the content providers to go along with it at a price they can pass along and expect consumers to pay.
Agreed. A patent troll buys up a bunch of patents then goes out and extorts money from companies that may be infringing on their newly acquired patents.
Tivo is defending it's own innovations. It is using the patent service the way it was intended: to allow smaller innovative companies to exist without having their ideas and tech stolen by the big guys.
I can't comment on the other issues but the cablecard situation is pretty much a non-issue at this point. I picked up an HD Tivo to replace my Series 2 not too long ago and had the cablecard installed by Comcast. The guy who came out said he had never done it before but he got on the phone with a more experienced tech and it was installed in ~5 minutes. The channel changing is instant now as I no longer have to wait for the IR blaster to talk to the cable box.
The are at lease trying to get into those markets. The already offer Netflix streaming and you can purchase or rent content from Amazon. Hopefully they will continue to expand these options into content from sites like Hulu. I'd hate to lose my Tivo box because they went out of business.
1. Simply recharnging most conventional battery chemistries is just out of the question. Most take hours. Apparently some exotic ones can take 10 mins, but I'm not sure what the tradeoffs are.
Even without the demand for the types of batteries that all electric cars require battery tech is advancing rapidly. An expanding electric car market will only speed up this process.
2. There are things like supercapacitors which do solve the recharging problem, but those are a very new technology and I suspect there are downsides.
Supercaps right now can both charge and discharge VERY fast. Pretty much as fast as you can feed them current or draw it. Their problem is capacity but there are a number of research projects under way that are working to expand that.
3. Any technology based on actually putting electricity into the battery has to contend with very high power draws. A "gas station" might need 300kV supply lines and look more like an electrical substation.
Electric cars will make most conventional service stations a thing of the past 90% (this is my gut talking, I'm too lazy to pull numbers) of fill-ups are for people commuting. The infrastructure is already in place for these people to charge at work and overnight (when the electric grid is underutilized) at home.
It seems like 90% of the argument against electric has to to with long haul trips. While this is an issue that needs to be addressed, it really should not be the center of the discussion.
I think it's a bit like buying a (very expensive) lottery ticket. The odds are one in a gazillion that it will pay off but the payout (saved life?) is huge.
Just like the cost of fossil fuels has been kept artificially low by government subsidies, some direct and some indirect, for decades.
In addition to direct subsidies and handouts to coal and oil companies, Billions of dollars are spent on wars, policing shipping lanes, protecting oil pipelines, etc... Add to that the health care costs associated with millions of people inhaling soot, hydrocarbons, and other pollutants from burning coal and oil.
If we actually paid directly for all of these costs, I am certain the cost of fossil fuel energy would be triple it's current point of use cost or more.
That's what's great about all the cheap USB Drives/cases that are available. I have a similar setup with an old laptop (low power consumption) and a couple of 500G USB drives. I just left XP Pro on it though and use Windows built-in file sharing. For running nightly backups it works fine.
A.) if Heaven exists, you're set, B.) if Heaven doesn't exist, you'll be dead by the time you learn the truth so who cares, and C.) you will have lived your life free of worry and doubt in regards to death, which is to your benefit during life.
If this is why you worship the you don't truly believe. You are just playing along in order to get the prize at the end (if there is one). From what I have read (of Christianity anyway) this isn't good enough to get you in, you have to have complete faith and "accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior."
I get that the lawyer is the one putting the effort into winning the case. My point is that the lawyers are the ones that benefit in these cases, not the victims. Class action lawsuits penalize the defendants and reward the lawyers. The general public does see a benefit though in that the threat of class action suits will (hopefully) discourage large entities like corporations from screwing the little guy who would otherwise have little legal chance against them.
BTW: I do not consider myself to be a victim in the MS issue. It was about some legalese loophole or something from the late '90s. The check I got was essentially found money. Not enough to buy a meal, but better than a stick in the eye.
$10 says the lawyers are the only winners. They always are. I've was part of a MS class action a few years ago. The lawyers took home like 1/3 of some multi-million dollar settlement and I got a check in the mail for a dollar something.
WP
"theres no telling what backdoors Al Qaada has running in our country's networks."
Sure there is... anyone can look at the source and see back doors, etc. It's more likely that there could be code in a MS project developed by foreigners in Canada http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/05/213424 9 because no one would have access to review the source code.
This may be a good way to protect your servers and other internal systems but without encryption enabled you still allow anyone to hop on your WiFi and attempt to hack your clients.
Slashdot Mirror
You left off one... Tivo HD $399 + $399 lifetime subscription and no monthly service fees.
Can it integrate directly with DirecTV?
I have used it but I don't. I got tired of the slow screen changes. I would hit a remote button and nothing happend so I'd hit it again then It would move 2 spaces/screens + everything is organized horribly. You can't just click movies/action and see action movies you have to go to each network and the free movies section to search for what you want. Using the Tivo is far better in my opinion.
This may not seem innovative today thanks to the widespread use of Tivos and other DVRs but in 1999 when Tivo was first unveiled it was. It's easy to look at someone else's idea that has become commonplace and say "that idea is obvious" it is much harder to actually come up with the idea, patent it, and turn it into a viable product. If we don't allow the people who do innovate to defend those innovations with patents then what motivation do they have to put something new into the marketplace. Why should I put my time, energy, and money into inventing a new widget if I can only expect it to be stolen by Corporation X?
Many content providers do not want their content On Demand. A DVR can record and play back anything that is broadcast. I think if they could, AT&T, Verizon, etc. would put all their content On Demand as a way of competing with the DVR but they can't until they can convince the content providers to go along with it at a price they can pass along and expect consumers to pay.
Agreed. A patent troll buys up a bunch of patents then goes out and extorts money from companies that may be infringing on their newly acquired patents. Tivo is defending it's own innovations. It is using the patent service the way it was intended: to allow smaller innovative companies to exist without having their ideas and tech stolen by the big guys.
I can't comment on the other issues but the cablecard situation is pretty much a non-issue at this point. I picked up an HD Tivo to replace my Series 2 not too long ago and had the cablecard installed by Comcast. The guy who came out said he had never done it before but he got on the phone with a more experienced tech and it was installed in ~5 minutes. The channel changing is instant now as I no longer have to wait for the IR blaster to talk to the cable box.
The are at lease trying to get into those markets. The already offer Netflix streaming and you can purchase or rent content from Amazon. Hopefully they will continue to expand these options into content from sites like Hulu. I'd hate to lose my Tivo box because they went out of business.
Gamma rays pass right through too and look what they did to Bruce Banner.
1. Simply recharnging most conventional battery chemistries is just out of the question. Most take hours. Apparently some exotic ones can take 10 mins, but I'm not sure what the tradeoffs are.
Even without the demand for the types of batteries that all electric cars require battery tech is advancing rapidly. An expanding electric car market will only speed up this process.
2. There are things like supercapacitors which do solve the recharging problem, but those are a very new technology and I suspect there are downsides.
Supercaps right now can both charge and discharge VERY fast. Pretty much as fast as you can feed them current or draw it. Their problem is capacity but there are a number of research projects under way that are working to expand that.
3. Any technology based on actually putting electricity into the battery has to contend with very high power draws. A "gas station" might need 300kV supply lines and look more like an electrical substation.
Electric cars will make most conventional service stations a thing of the past 90% (this is my gut talking, I'm too lazy to pull numbers) of fill-ups are for people commuting. The infrastructure is already in place for these people to charge at work and overnight (when the electric grid is underutilized) at home. It seems like 90% of the argument against electric has to to with long haul trips. While this is an issue that needs to be addressed, it really should not be the center of the discussion.
You forgot to mention that the primary source of hydrogen for fuel right now and in the foreseeable future is fossil fuels.
I think it's a bit like buying a (very expensive) lottery ticket. The odds are one in a gazillion that it will pay off but the payout (saved life?) is huge.
Great! Now I can start filtering tons of SPAM from Africa too!
It may also be of interest to note that even a developed nation like the US has trouble getting broadband Internet to rural areas.
Just like the cost of fossil fuels has been kept artificially low by government subsidies, some direct and some indirect, for decades.
In addition to direct subsidies and handouts to coal and oil companies, Billions of dollars are spent on wars, policing shipping lanes, protecting oil pipelines, etc... Add to that the health care costs associated with millions of people inhaling soot, hydrocarbons, and other pollutants from burning coal and oil.
If we actually paid directly for all of these costs, I am certain the cost of fossil fuel energy would be triple it's current point of use cost or more.
That's what's great about all the cheap USB Drives/cases that are available. I have a similar setup with an old laptop (low power consumption) and a couple of 500G USB drives. I just left XP Pro on it though and use Windows built-in file sharing. For running nightly backups it works fine.
WP
I believe the term he meant to use was oligarchy which somehow gets confused with fascism over and over.
oligarchy: a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes; also : a group exercising such control
from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=oligarchy
If this is why you worship the you don't truly believe. You are just playing along in order to get the prize at the end (if there is one). From what I have read (of Christianity anyway) this isn't good enough to get you in, you have to have complete faith and "accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior."
WP
Are you a lawyer? Did I touch a sore spot? ;)
I get that the lawyer is the one putting the effort into winning the case. My point is that the lawyers are the ones that benefit in these cases, not the victims. Class action lawsuits penalize the defendants and reward the lawyers. The general public does see a benefit though in that the threat of class action suits will (hopefully) discourage large entities like corporations from screwing the little guy who would otherwise have little legal chance against them.
BTW: I do not consider myself to be a victim in the MS issue. It was about some legalese loophole or something from the late '90s. The check I got was essentially found money. Not enough to buy a meal, but better than a stick in the eye.
He can't run a campaign while he is working for the White House. He is probably just preparing to get on-board with one of the Presidential campaigns.
But the pretty people LOOK so good on the TV.
All you are saying is that Security through Obscurity is more profitable not that it is more secure.
That is also why these guys have all the money in the world to throw at politicians and convince them that their way is better.
"theres no telling what backdoors Al Qaada has running in our country's networks."
4 9 because no one would have access to review the source code.
Sure there is... anyone can look at the source and see back doors, etc. It's more likely that there could be code in a MS project developed by foreigners in Canada http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/05/21342
This may be a good way to protect your servers and other internal systems but without encryption enabled you still allow anyone to hop on your WiFi and attempt to hack your clients.