EPA Official: S-sir, I'm afraid you've gone mad with power... Russ Cargill: Of course I have. You ever tried going mad without power? It's boring. No one listens to you! /simpsons
Yeah, whatever, I will still do research for unimportant papers via Wikipedia and its vast citations, because when I use other encyclopedias I only get ONE source for information. Jeez, what is the big deal? If your subject is controversial, what makes you think a single source is more reliable? If you just need to know the molecular structure for cuprous iodide or Mussolini's place of birth it's great! Only pricks are trying to turn it into another Myspace.
Would it be so hard to "boycott" these sites for anyone here? I occasionally look at ebay, but usually ^W always there is a better deal from another source.
I am reminded of an article involving the defeat of password theft via keylogger. The process involves cooking up an already strong password, but incorporating mouse clicks to relocate the cursor in the password as part of the deal... I.E....
"asdf$1234" is your chosen "strong" password, but after typing "asdf" you click the cursor after the second character, "s" and continue from there, leaving as$1234df. Since mouse clicks are not (typically) recorded by keyloggers, you would frustrate attempts to steal your data in that way. You could incorporate as many cursor moves as desired, should incorporate as many as practical, and it could all theoretically become part of the "muscle memory" discussed by other posts.
Lakdawalla found that a mistake was apparently made in stitching together the 19 strips of imagery to produce the finished picture - and that Chinese officials unknowingly pointed out that mistake as they defended the photo's veracity.
Not a fake, not an intentional edit, and a moronic blunder in trying to prove authenticity.
I use Vista daily, for school-related online components that require vanilla IE and basic access to Microsoft controls through XML and such. For the other 95% of the time, I am fine and dandy through Knoppix on campus workstations, or Red Hat at home or on the laptop. What is all this whining? Reinstall winders if there is a problem (as we discussed a week or two ago) and if you are pertarded enuff to buy a 'puter from ol' Dell and their counterparts, well, tough shit!
Coming from over ten years of commissioned retail sales management:
With sales weasels, the BE ALL AND END ALL is the district manager, or regional manager for that matter. If you escalate the problem, they will make an underling Make It Go Away(TM). The worst thing for them is to have to deal with customers directly.
Beyond "a manager," it does not seem that the impasse was sent up the chain a single link.
MAKE SOME FREAKING NOISE in a civil manner, and all of your dreams will come true.
A battered woman is best off when related to a real man, a member of a dying breed. We remember how to disappear a guy. Counseling not required. Without a father, father-in-law, brother, cousin, close friend, or godfather in possession of Actual Real Testicles (TM). Sadly, a battered woman is best served with tartar sauce, justice system on the side. A stupid ass phone is a hill of beans unless 911 is dialed on it, and that usually happens when it is too late.
I know what you're getting at with the two-way street bit, but with that location tracking info you'll just be like Sigourney Weaver with the little alien-detecting-PDA. Blip, Blip, Blip, there he is. Difference is that Sigourney had an assault rifle and a handful of jarheads to tend to her woes. Who is gonna be there when Bobby the beater is in the ceiling?
There seems to be this ridiculous notion out there that you and everything about you is some kind of giant secret. Case in point, has anyone gone shopping for car insurance lately? Honestly, the password to your email account is the least of your concerns when compared to the way that credit scoring rapes you on something like that.
If I have:
A) No speeding tickets
B) No DUI convictions
C) No accidents
D) An eviction five years ago
E) A big student loan
then I will have higher insurance rates than an 18-year-old with no credit whatsoever. ZOMG the insurance company is in my credits powning my billz!
Furthermore, has anyone paid taxes lately? We carefully pen or key all of our vitals, all of our earnings and where we earned them, all of our expenditures and where we spent them, our political affiliations, our medical conditions, our contact info, our religion, our blood types, et cetera. Then what? We can but choose between the creepy old letter carrier, Chester, and the creepy old internet. Who gets all this juicy data next, we can only imagine. I promise, it is not good.
Here's a tasty one for you... Homeland security. Had to get that phrase in there for all the conspiracy types on Google. Tracking your library card? To hell with that lame crap... to hear them tell it they are in your fone processin your data anyway.
Speaking of Google... well... Google. Sign in to be mined^W Googled^w convenienced.
There are a Segan Billion Billion data leaks out there, and you and your data don't exactly get to choose where to leak.
So when I see these articles about **DIGITAL DEVICES CONTAIN DATA AND THEY CAN SEE MEEE ZOMG** I tend to seriously consider going back to lighting my farts, just to cover the evidence. Plus, it is truly entertaining when compared to sweating about the spy in my pocket. Fsck my own mini-stalker, where do I get a mini-hooker?
Why bother being paranoid? They're going to get you anyway.
Also, your post reminds me of a couple of great space colonization games. The first was released on floppy for DOS. It was calles Maelstrom. Something out there is claiming to be the modern incarnation, but it smelled of BS.
The other is Imperium Galactica, and I bet that is the one your friend was referring to. It is a smooth game, and the sequel was too.
I am playing Civilization IV right now. We are in the midst of the release of the Beyond The Sword expansion, so now is a pretty great time to start playing. The multiplayer arrangement is damned slick, but I still prefer the pace of single player on epic mode, with a huge map and a cooler full of beer.
The vanilla game is great, having drawn on experience from the prior incarnations and tapped hardware for complexity they really kicked the crap out of a release version. The Warlords expansion throws some new wrenches into the cogs of the game's mechanics, especially (surprise surprise) when at war. The new expansion shifts the focus to the later modes of combat seen after the development of gunpowder. There are mods that use and abuse the engine to great avail, including everything from colonization of ocean space to shifting the basic algebra of the game. No two vanilla games are ever the same, but with all these options there is no reason to get bored.
Tonight I am picking up a game I had abandoned a few months ago, which I think really highlights the value of the Civilization franchise... you can always come back. Games like Rome: Total War or Galactic Civilizations feel a bit like a story game compared to the sandbox of Civ. It is also a savory break from FPS titles... I simply cannot tolerate another spin on the merry-go-round for Half-Life 2, and if I had a nickel for every hour I spent on Eve or Mechwarrior 3 I would be dictating this post to my sexy blond assistant across my marble desk in Hawaii. Those games are not even installed on any of these computers anymore, but I could wheel over to another desk and fire up Civilization I, II, or III if the inclination strikes. In the closet, I am sure there is a floppy with some Civ I saves ready to be savored anew. Hell FreeCiv even goes with you on your USB disk.
Upgrade the thing. You shouldn't need much. Exercise your brain and exorcise WOW or whatever forever. Sid hasn't let me down yet.
Plus, Spock narrates all of the science tree dialogs. Let me know how you like it.
I find the diplomatic victory to be occasionally frustrating. Build the UN, get elected permanent Secretary General by being extra nice to everyone. The point of the game is playing, not winning though. I find it to me much more rewarding to forget about victory altogether and focus on experimenting with the game mechanics or toying with the AI. Meticulously micromanaging every city can make a few turns last all evening. It is worth the upgrade and purchase.
I would also like to point out that there are official expansions and many fine mods.
Which game was briefly highlighted as "one of the latest" that was distinctly Japanese in style and featured a childish character jumping over symbols?...Something ribbon...
I thought it looked cool, possibly a diversion from Cloud and Flow for down-time at work or before bed.
President Bill Clinton refused to forward the protocol to Congress for ratification. Vice President Al Gore wanted language including developing nations in the accords, and when the language was not added he withdrew his support for the treaty. Only after President Bush was elected did Mr. Gore call for total adoption of the Kyoto treaty as it is. Before we lob accusations about what "Shrub" has or has not done, we should consider why we are in this situation. In the 90's, Vice President Al Gore knew that the most risky source of an increase in emissions came from developing nations, not "USians." That and the crippling restrictions on US business were all the justification he needed to kill the treaty in the United States. He was right.
They paint the walls of the pool blue (duh). Not arguing against blue water, but hey... the world's largest swimming pool is crap compared to the ocean, and we don't paint the ocean floor... yet.
In other news, a molehill has become a mountain. Here's tom with the weather:
I am reminded of This 2001 train accident in Baltimore, where a tunnel fire severed a major internet backbone among other things and disrupted local communications as far away as Africa. It seems that while decentralized and robust on the massive scale, the internet is vulnerable as a child to small accidents or attacks, whose ramifications can be felt worldwide. It is too big to be defended or destroyed.
At my ~auto parts~ second job, the "computer" I use most frequently is an AS400 dumb terminal, with one of those indestructible mechanical keyboards that go *KLOP* with every stroke, hence yanking a magic invisible electron-riddled cable in a secret room far, far across the complex. Yup, I get something other than Windows alright, with all the brilliance that green monochrome can offer.
Other machines have keyboards that were manufactured post-AT, and run RedHat with a slick emulation of the dumb terminal... but this is over the same old crusty cables. Off-site backup is simple, cheap, and internal for this small local company.
My primary employer emulates (infringes) AS400 with modest success, at great cost. The ability to subvert Windows' insecurity is a real plus (for me) there, especially when I involve my USB disk, but there really is something primal, satisfying, and tactilely delicious about that *KLOP* that no Windows, Linux, or any flavor box could ever replace.
Fun gadgets are great, but how about making vehicles more user-serviceable? I can fix anything on my '96, but my mom's^w girlfriend's '06 is a mystery to me. On many Kia models, you can't even change the oil without special tools.
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."
-- Antoine de Saint-Exuper
Slashdot Mirror
EPA Official: S-sir, I'm afraid you've gone mad with power...
/simpsons
Russ Cargill: Of course I have. You ever tried going mad without power? It's boring. No one listens to you!
Yeah, whatever, I will still do research for unimportant papers via Wikipedia and its vast citations, because when I use other encyclopedias I only get ONE source for information. Jeez, what is the big deal? If your subject is controversial, what makes you think a single source is more reliable? If you just need to know the molecular structure for cuprous iodide or Mussolini's place of birth it's great! Only pricks are trying to turn it into another Myspace.
Here is the list at the originator's site: http://www.ontrackdatarecovery.com/data-disasters-2007/?news=120407
Would it be so hard to "boycott" these sites for anyone here? I occasionally look at ebay, but usually ^W always there is a better deal from another source.
I am reminded of an article involving the defeat of password theft via keylogger. The process involves cooking up an already strong password, but incorporating mouse clicks to relocate the cursor in the password as part of the deal... I.E....
"asdf$1234" is your chosen "strong" password, but after typing "asdf" you click the cursor after the second character, "s" and continue from there, leaving as$1234df. Since mouse clicks are not (typically) recorded by keyloggers, you would frustrate attempts to steal your data in that way. You could incorporate as many cursor moves as desired, should incorporate as many as practical, and it could all theoretically become part of the "muscle memory" discussed by other posts.
Based on information Beacon has collected, you might be interested in the following items:
He-Man Underwear 3-pack, size 8
Lara Croft Bikini Poster
"Bride of Chucky" on VHS!
froogle.com for whitebox laptops.... you can build your own. Asus has several options.
I use Vista daily, for school-related online components that require vanilla IE and basic access to Microsoft controls through XML and such. For the other 95% of the time, I am fine and dandy through Knoppix on campus workstations, or Red Hat at home or on the laptop. What is all this whining? Reinstall winders if there is a problem (as we discussed a week or two ago) and if you are pertarded enuff to buy a 'puter from ol' Dell and their counterparts, well, tough shit!
Coming from over ten years of commissioned retail sales management:
With sales weasels, the BE ALL AND END ALL is the district manager, or regional manager for that matter. If you escalate the problem, they will make an underling Make It Go Away(TM). The worst thing for them is to have to deal with customers directly.
Beyond "a manager," it does not seem that the impasse was sent up the chain a single link.
MAKE SOME FREAKING NOISE in a civil manner, and all of your dreams will come true.
lines that crows fly frequently intersect.
A battered woman is best off when related to a real man, a member of a dying breed. We remember how to disappear a guy. Counseling not required. Without a father, father-in-law, brother, cousin, close friend, or godfather in possession of Actual Real Testicles (TM). Sadly, a battered woman is best served with tartar sauce, justice system on the side. A stupid ass phone is a hill of beans unless 911 is dialed on it, and that usually happens when it is too late.
I know what you're getting at with the two-way street bit, but with that location tracking info you'll just be like Sigourney Weaver with the little alien-detecting-PDA. Blip, Blip, Blip, there he is. Difference is that Sigourney had an assault rifle and a handful of jarheads to tend to her woes. Who is gonna be there when Bobby the beater is in the ceiling?
There seems to be this ridiculous notion out there that you and everything about you is some kind of giant secret. Case in point, has anyone gone shopping for car insurance lately? Honestly, the password to your email account is the least of your concerns when compared to the way that credit scoring rapes you on something like that.
If I have:
A) No speeding tickets
B) No DUI convictions
C) No accidents
D) An eviction five years ago
E) A big student loan
then I will have higher insurance rates than an 18-year-old with no credit whatsoever. ZOMG the insurance company is in my credits powning my billz!
Furthermore, has anyone paid taxes lately? We carefully pen or key all of our vitals, all of our earnings and where we earned them, all of our expenditures and where we spent them, our political affiliations, our medical conditions, our contact info, our religion, our blood types, et cetera. Then what? We can but choose between the creepy old letter carrier, Chester, and the creepy old internet. Who gets all this juicy data next, we can only imagine. I promise, it is not good.
Here's a tasty one for you... Homeland security. Had to get that phrase in there for all the conspiracy types on Google. Tracking your library card? To hell with that lame crap... to hear them tell it they are in your fone processin your data anyway.
Speaking of Google... well... Google. Sign in to be mined^W Googled^w convenienced.
There are a Segan Billion Billion data leaks out there, and you and your data don't exactly get to choose where to leak.
So when I see these articles about **DIGITAL DEVICES CONTAIN DATA AND THEY CAN SEE MEEE ZOMG** I tend to seriously consider going back to lighting my farts, just to cover the evidence. Plus, it is truly entertaining when compared to sweating about the spy in my pocket. Fsck my own mini-stalker, where do I get a mini-hooker?
Why bother being paranoid? They're going to get you anyway.
Also, your post reminds me of a couple of great space colonization games. The first was released on floppy for DOS. It was calles Maelstrom. Something out there is claiming to be the modern incarnation, but it smelled of BS. The other is Imperium Galactica, and I bet that is the one your friend was referring to. It is a smooth game, and the sequel was too.
I am playing Civilization IV right now. We are in the midst of the release of the Beyond The Sword expansion, so now is a pretty great time to start playing. The multiplayer arrangement is damned slick, but I still prefer the pace of single player on epic mode, with a huge map and a cooler full of beer.
The vanilla game is great, having drawn on experience from the prior incarnations and tapped hardware for complexity they really kicked the crap out of a release version. The Warlords expansion throws some new wrenches into the cogs of the game's mechanics, especially (surprise surprise) when at war. The new expansion shifts the focus to the later modes of combat seen after the development of gunpowder. There are mods that use and abuse the engine to great avail, including everything from colonization of ocean space to shifting the basic algebra of the game. No two vanilla games are ever the same, but with all these options there is no reason to get bored.
Tonight I am picking up a game I had abandoned a few months ago, which I think really highlights the value of the Civilization franchise... you can always come back. Games like Rome: Total War or Galactic Civilizations feel a bit like a story game compared to the sandbox of Civ. It is also a savory break from FPS titles... I simply cannot tolerate another spin on the merry-go-round for Half-Life 2, and if I had a nickel for every hour I spent on Eve or Mechwarrior 3 I would be dictating this post to my sexy blond assistant across my marble desk in Hawaii. Those games are not even installed on any of these computers anymore, but I could wheel over to another desk and fire up Civilization I, II, or III if the inclination strikes. In the closet, I am sure there is a floppy with some Civ I saves ready to be savored anew. Hell FreeCiv even goes with you on your USB disk.
Upgrade the thing. You shouldn't need much. Exercise your brain and exorcise WOW or whatever forever. Sid hasn't let me down yet.
Plus, Spock narrates all of the science tree dialogs. Let me know how you like it.
I find the diplomatic victory to be occasionally frustrating. Build the UN, get elected permanent Secretary General by being extra nice to everyone. The point of the game is playing, not winning though. I find it to me much more rewarding to forget about victory altogether and focus on experimenting with the game mechanics or toying with the AI. Meticulously micromanaging every city can make a few turns last all evening. It is worth the upgrade and purchase. I would also like to point out that there are official expansions and many fine mods.
Which game was briefly highlighted as "one of the latest" that was distinctly Japanese in style and featured a childish character jumping over symbols? ...Something ribbon...
I thought it looked cool, possibly a diversion from Cloud and Flow for down-time at work or before bed.
--puts on vest, points-- "Ha-ha!"
President Bill Clinton refused to forward the protocol to Congress for ratification. Vice President Al Gore wanted language including developing nations in the accords, and when the language was not added he withdrew his support for the treaty. Only after President Bush was elected did Mr. Gore call for total adoption of the Kyoto treaty as it is. Before we lob accusations about what "Shrub" has or has not done, we should consider why we are in this situation. In the 90's, Vice President Al Gore knew that the most risky source of an increase in emissions came from developing nations, not "USians." That and the crippling restrictions on US business were all the justification he needed to kill the treaty in the United States. He was right.
They paint the walls of the pool blue (duh). Not arguing against blue water, but hey... the world's largest swimming pool is crap compared to the ocean, and we don't paint the ocean floor... yet.
Hello, E-trade? Yeah... how invested am I am in the stock "PBG" and how much have I lost? Oh, I just read that the sky is falling is all.
Repairman: [pointing to a Good/Evil switch on the back of the doll] Yup, here's your problem. Someone set this thing to ``Evil''.
/simpsons
In other news, a molehill has become a mountain. Here's tom with the weather:
I am reminded of This 2001 train accident in Baltimore, where a tunnel fire severed a major internet backbone among other things and disrupted local communications as far away as Africa. It seems that while decentralized and robust on the massive scale, the internet is vulnerable as a child to small accidents or attacks, whose ramifications can be felt worldwide. It is too big to be defended or destroyed.
At my ~auto parts~ second job, the "computer" I use most frequently is an AS400 dumb terminal, with one of those indestructible mechanical keyboards that go *KLOP* with every stroke, hence yanking a magic invisible electron-riddled cable in a secret room far, far across the complex. Yup, I get something other than Windows alright, with all the brilliance that green monochrome can offer.
Other machines have keyboards that were manufactured post-AT, and run RedHat with a slick emulation of the dumb terminal... but this is over the same old crusty cables. Off-site backup is simple, cheap, and internal for this small local company.
My primary employer emulates (infringes) AS400 with modest success, at great cost. The ability to subvert Windows' insecurity is a real plus (for me) there, especially when I involve my USB disk, but there really is something primal, satisfying, and tactilely delicious about that *KLOP* that no Windows, Linux, or any flavor box could ever replace.
*KLOP*
The eclipse starts at 3:18 p.m. EST Saturday, with the total eclipse occurring at 5:44 p.m. EST. Look east at sunset. I'll be out there for sure.
The next total lunar eclipse occurs on August 28.