>Pretty much the same headache grandma would have looking for any missing linux drivers, and funny enough, in a bare-bone install, linux is likely to support more out of the box than Windows. Go figure.
That's still not true yet. You can install drivers in Windows with just the GUI - you go to a website, find the driver, hit 'Run' and then hit 'Next' a few times. When I last installed Kubuntu this year, I had to use the broken apt-get programs, and then had to resort to the console. And on the (few) drivers I found for Linux on websites, it was a.tar.gz file. With zero indication on how to use them. Even after I figured out how to untar them (or whatever it's called) I was just left with a bunch of files. I think I'm computer-savvy (just ignorant of Linux) but I couldn't figure that out.
Installing drivers isn't super-easy on any OS, but Linux vs Windows is no comparison. Until Linux supports all peripherals on newer laptops - which it doesn't - it will never take the desktop market.
Programmers' errors/naivete aside, if an error of 0.3433 seconds can mean the target aperture is 687m off, then a resolution of 0.1 seconds - even when working properly - could still be 200m off.
And I see other comments about using fixed-point. I wonder why couldn't they just use an integer and use deciseconds as their base time?
True - and it's almost the opposite of the end of the world scenario.
The long count flip is only significant (other than being the largest rollover possible for the calendar) because that's how long the previous world existed. Mayans believed that gods didn't like their first three worlds (presumably because there were no Mayans to worship them) and took a good 13 baktun (or 5,000 years or so) to scrap them and start over each time.
This date simply marks the time where this world lasts longer than the other world - it is not Doomsday, it's a celebration to revel in the fact the world is going to last so long.
- Video NTSC was the only 'option' and it was superior to PAL anyway if you had a black and white TV. It's the same reason DVD's were "chosen" over Blu-Ray discs - no one could use Blu-Ray in 1990, so why adopt the standard?
- Voltages. Same reason why there's HD-DVD and Blu-Ray - different companies/inventors trying to get some consumer lock-in.
- Car filters. Profit again - if only Mercedes-Benz companies make Mercedes-Benz parts, Mercedes-Benz gets to keep that revenue.
- Keyboards. That I don't know. Some guy thought people in his country would take advantage over the "optimum" placement and that was more important than international travelers. He/she may have been right.
The continuous-shuffle machines are in full use on lower-stakes tables. You're right in that some people don't like them, and don't play them as much. It's a very small number (most players just know Blackjack has the best odds, they don't necessarily understand that not shuffling is part of that).
But casinos don't simply care about the number of players - remember that for a casino, profit is not only a function of number of players, but the amount of money bet per hour. And casinos have already noted that the very small drop off in players is worth it, because CSM's remove the time spent shuffling and they can get in 75 hands/hour rather than 65.
I have a very dominant eye as well, but this new 3D that's coming out isn't too bad, because you need goggles to view it.
That's good for two reasons: 1) No widespread adoption - putting on goggles will work for some home and commercial use, but I'd say at least half of the eyeballs-on-screens will not have goggles. And 2) it should work with people like us - the screens switch inputs on and off, so you will still see the normal screen out of your good eye. They're not using colors, or separating one image into composite images or anything - it's one full frame on for half, then another full frame on for the second, then back to angle 1, etc. So you'll see a 60fps 3D image rendered in 2D at 30fps.
The exact, specific sound a duck call makes has nothing to do with this lawsuit. Technically, the NBC chimes and the MGM Lion sound different every single time they're played. It depends on the quality of the audio signal, the cables, EM interference, the size and material and condition of the speaker driver, etc.
No one cares about the exact sound, and it's not like they're trademarking a waveform.
The original tour people use quacks (of different consistencies - who cares?) to identify their brand, and the quack calls are certainly not functional - it's just a fun thing for tourists to do (for some reason - I hate walking around downtown when those things go by). The company's logos and tour vehicles branded with all sorts of duck crap - and now a rival tour company is stealing their idea and taking their gimmick. I don't think I've ever heard of a better example of trademark infringement than this case, save for "Magnetbox" type electronics.
We have these all over in Baltimore - they just put them on my street this summer. Although they're usually more expensive (our city is on the cusp of allowing the meters to charge $3/hr.), they're still a good solution.
First of all, it's not that hard to use. You walk half a block, and stick a piece of paper on your dash. It's not that hard.
The advantages come into play because you can now fit more cars on a city block. With no fixed meters, more cars can (and do) fit in so long as people park with a modicum of skill. This is actually the impetus for installing the meters everywhere - more cars = more revenue for the city. But that's fine - I want my city to have money because then they can make the city better (I'm not adopting the "us vs. them" mentality for issues like parking revenue...). Personally, if you can fit more cars by the venues I want to go to, that's good for me.
The other moneymaker for the city is that it's easier to double dip on spots - before if someone put in 1 hours' worth of quarters, and then left half an hour later, a second person could pull in and get a free half hour. With these meters, the original driver usually drives away with the original ticket and the second person has to pay for that half hour as well. Of course, people are working their way around that by leaving their still-valid tickets by the machine, but this requires a) altruism and b) effort, both of which are usually in short supply in the city:)
I certainly don't know the exact values, but IBM doesn't make anywhere near "all" their money from computers. They make more money from software than they do hardware, and possibly even more than that in consulting. The OP's point was that IBM is no longer a hardware company, which is largely true. But their name was too valuable to get rid of.
No - 10x smaller means 100x less area to deal with.
If you had a brother that was twice as tall as you, but all body parts were proportional to you, his shadow's area would be 4x yours (length x width) and he would weigh 8x as much as you do (l x w x h).
So galaxies are typically sized up by their diameter. If it's 1/10th the diameter, and area = Pi*r^2, then we're at 1/100th of the area, so the stars can be distributed just like ours and it all works out (although, the other galaxy would have to be the same height as ours).
That's a photocopy, not a scan that we're talking about here, where the content may be presented differently. Apparently that decision only affects exact copies as "There has been no independent creation, no distinguishable variation from pre-existing works, nothing recognizably the author's own contribution"
Well, simply cloning the card isn't necessarily enough - cards can be married to receivers, so a composite key (receiver EEPROM + card) can mitigate card-sharing hacks.
Yes, someone should invent a method for posting images on the internet and associating text with them.
You let me know when someone invents something that pirates can search easily, but the RIAA can't.
What I got out of this is that they're obfuscating information to hide it. If they're just turning.torrents into images to post to forums, then, well I don't get its usefulness. I don't know of many forums that allow you to upload images but don't allow you to post a link to a URL, which could just point to the torrent.
Hosting a bunch of images doesn't do any good unless you have a text (or at least searchable) description of what you're downloading. Without context, warehoused information is useless. And these PNG files are just different representations of the same quasi-legal information (that is, they're still colored bits.
Well, by RTFA, you'd know that you don't need a 2 year contract. You can get an iPhone, with no long-term commitment for $275, and based on eBay's prices, you'd actually make a profit selling it after using it for this pet project.
Many states still use Soundex for the first part, which is basically the first letter of your last name, along with a 3-digit number code that represents the pronunciation of your last name. It doesn't work with the spelling of your last name, because it was used at Ellis Island to give numbers to immigrants, who didn't always write English, so they'd say their name, and get a cool 4-digit alphanumeric.
I don't know how the rest of the DL's number is set - I'd bet part of it is serial.
Okay, guessing all 9 digits is good, so I'm not downplaying the success of this research. My sister and I were born 3 minutes apart and our SSNs are 20 values apart.
But the first 5 have always been not too difficult for some areas as it's based on date and location of birth (or date of issue, but there's obviously a correlation between the two). This makes it invaluable as a social hacking tool.
Just like the easy-to-guess Soundex numbers found on many state licenses, as well as the fact that credit cards use a system for numbering, simply correctly identifying the first few digits of a number can sometimes gain someone's trust ("Okay, I'm going to verify the first 4 digits of your Driver's License, but I won't disclose the whole thing over the phone. After I've verified this information, I will need...")
One of my coworkers was at a warehouse type facility and needed to put his laptop on the bench area to troubleshoot a problem. There was a box in the way, so he picked it up and moved it to another pile of boxes a few feet away. He got reprimanded for his behavior (although not formally as we don't work for that facility, they are our customer), because he took work away from the box-moving people.
With that behavior, I find it very plausible that he wouldn't have been allowed to work on that plane if someone else who was scheduled to work that day was available (even with a long commute).
Which is a shame because I use Clear for $35.00 a month for all my internet at home, and that's a flat fee (no surcharges/taxes). It was $25 for the first 6 months, too.
It really says something that Comcast charges more for basic cable than what other companies (or brands) are charging for unlimited 4G internet service.
Nearly everyone pays for Windows... I remember when I was jaded too (in college) and thought a lot of people pirated Windows. But it's more like just 12%, almost all of which are younger people, especially college students.
As you pointed out, it comes pre-loaded on machines, so that's how a lot of people get it. But it's not like they're suckers, nor are the people who actually pay for new versions and upgrades.
I buy Windows, and I also paid for Office 2007 Ultimate. Yeah, I could have torrented it, but you know what? Being able to write my term papers without worrying about new updates or WGA routes disabling features in either my OS or my document-writing program of choice. I know that I have the most up-to-date software, with no hassle, no registry hacks, and no waiting around for hacking updates.
Then of course there's businesses. They nearly always buy their OSes for obvious reasons.
Haha - found this area on my second try (I do live in Baltimore, so I have an idea of the bad areas, although I never really drive through them). Northeast is bad, and the western part is also bad. The middle of Baltimore and parts south near the harbor are good.
When I lose my legs, I need to go to your airport. I've seen wheelchaired persons wait in line, and then be forced to get out of their wheelchair while TSA agents flipped the thing upside down to look at it, and then the person *walked* through the X-ray machine.
Obviously, this wouldn't be the case with a double amputee, but I think if you can walk, even a little bit, the "I'm going in a wheelchair" scheme won't save you any time...
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That's actually a bumper sticker I've seen around DC (Goddard Space Flight Center is in a suburb):
On a red field:
"If this sticker is blue, slow down!"
>Pretty much the same headache grandma would have looking for any missing linux drivers, and funny enough, in a bare-bone install, linux is likely to support more out of the box than Windows. Go figure.
That's still not true yet. You can install drivers in Windows with just the GUI - you go to a website, find the driver, hit 'Run' and then hit 'Next' a few times. When I last installed Kubuntu this year, I had to use the broken apt-get programs, and then had to resort to the console. And on the (few) drivers I found for Linux on websites, it was a .tar.gz file. With zero indication on how to use them. Even after I figured out how to untar them (or whatever it's called) I was just left with a bunch of files. I think I'm computer-savvy (just ignorant of Linux) but I couldn't figure that out.
Installing drivers isn't super-easy on any OS, but Linux vs Windows is no comparison. Until Linux supports all peripherals on newer laptops - which it doesn't - it will never take the desktop market.
Programmers' errors/naivete aside, if an error of 0.3433 seconds can mean the target aperture is 687m off, then a resolution of 0.1 seconds - even when working properly - could still be 200m off.
And I see other comments about using fixed-point. I wonder why couldn't they just use an integer and use deciseconds as their base time?
Well, it's a federal crime to distribute movies without authorization.
True - and it's almost the opposite of the end of the world scenario.
The long count flip is only significant (other than being the largest rollover possible for the calendar) because that's how long the previous world existed. Mayans believed that gods didn't like their first three worlds (presumably because there were no Mayans to worship them) and took a good 13 baktun (or 5,000 years or so) to scrap them and start over each time.
This date simply marks the time where this world lasts longer than the other world - it is not Doomsday, it's a celebration to revel in the fact the world is going to last so long.
Probably no time zones. If it's noon in Sydney it's noon in New York city. This has obvious social/contextual downsides, and is a terrible idea.
"Hey, so I woke up at 6am this morning"
"Wow, you slept in a lot!"
"No, I live in Perth"
"Oh... then, wait, don't you guys eat dinner at 6am?"
- Video NTSC was the only 'option' and it was superior to PAL anyway if you had a black and white TV. It's the same reason DVD's were "chosen" over Blu-Ray discs - no one could use Blu-Ray in 1990, so why adopt the standard?
- Voltages. Same reason why there's HD-DVD and Blu-Ray - different companies/inventors trying to get some consumer lock-in.
- Car filters. Profit again - if only Mercedes-Benz companies make Mercedes-Benz parts, Mercedes-Benz gets to keep that revenue.
- Keyboards. That I don't know. Some guy thought people in his country would take advantage over the "optimum" placement and that was more important than international travelers. He/she may have been right.
- DVDs. Same as most others - consumer lock-in.
- Steering wheel/Street flow.,/b> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-hand_traffic#History
The continuous-shuffle machines are in full use on lower-stakes tables. You're right in that some people don't like them, and don't play them as much. It's a very small number (most players just know Blackjack has the best odds, they don't necessarily understand that not shuffling is part of that).
But casinos don't simply care about the number of players - remember that for a casino, profit is not only a function of number of players, but the amount of money bet per hour. And casinos have already noted that the very small drop off in players is worth it, because CSM's remove the time spent shuffling and they can get in 75 hands/hour rather than 65.
I have a very dominant eye as well, but this new 3D that's coming out isn't too bad, because you need goggles to view it.
That's good for two reasons: 1) No widespread adoption - putting on goggles will work for some home and commercial use, but I'd say at least half of the eyeballs-on-screens will not have goggles. And 2) it should work with people like us - the screens switch inputs on and off, so you will still see the normal screen out of your good eye. They're not using colors, or separating one image into composite images or anything - it's one full frame on for half, then another full frame on for the second, then back to angle 1, etc. So you'll see a 60fps 3D image rendered in 2D at 30fps.
The exact, specific sound a duck call makes has nothing to do with this lawsuit. Technically, the NBC chimes and the MGM Lion sound different every single time they're played. It depends on the quality of the audio signal, the cables, EM interference, the size and material and condition of the speaker driver, etc.
No one cares about the exact sound, and it's not like they're trademarking a waveform.
The original tour people use quacks (of different consistencies - who cares?) to identify their brand, and the quack calls are certainly not functional - it's just a fun thing for tourists to do (for some reason - I hate walking around downtown when those things go by). The company's logos and tour vehicles branded with all sorts of duck crap - and now a rival tour company is stealing their idea and taking their gimmick. I don't think I've ever heard of a better example of trademark infringement than this case, save for "Magnetbox" type electronics.
We have these all over in Baltimore - they just put them on my street this summer. Although they're usually more expensive (our city is on the cusp of allowing the meters to charge $3/hr.), they're still a good solution.
First of all, it's not that hard to use. You walk half a block, and stick a piece of paper on your dash. It's not that hard.
The advantages come into play because you can now fit more cars on a city block. With no fixed meters, more cars can (and do) fit in so long as people park with a modicum of skill. This is actually the impetus for installing the meters everywhere - more cars = more revenue for the city. But that's fine - I want my city to have money because then they can make the city better (I'm not adopting the "us vs. them" mentality for issues like parking revenue...). Personally, if you can fit more cars by the venues I want to go to, that's good for me.
The other moneymaker for the city is that it's easier to double dip on spots - before if someone put in 1 hours' worth of quarters, and then left half an hour later, a second person could pull in and get a free half hour. With these meters, the original driver usually drives away with the original ticket and the second person has to pay for that half hour as well. Of course, people are working their way around that by leaving their still-valid tickets by the machine, but this requires a) altruism and b) effort, both of which are usually in short supply in the city :)
I certainly don't know the exact values, but IBM doesn't make anywhere near "all" their money from computers. They make more money from software than they do hardware, and possibly even more than that in consulting. The OP's point was that IBM is no longer a hardware company, which is largely true. But their name was too valuable to get rid of.
No - 10x smaller means 100x less area to deal with.
If you had a brother that was twice as tall as you, but all body parts were proportional to you, his shadow's area would be 4x yours (length x width) and he would weigh 8x as much as you do (l x w x h).
So galaxies are typically sized up by their diameter. If it's 1/10th the diameter, and area = Pi*r^2, then we're at 1/100th of the area, so the stars can be distributed just like ours and it all works out (although, the other galaxy would have to be the same height as ours).
That's a photocopy, not a scan that we're talking about here, where the content may be presented differently. Apparently that decision only affects exact copies as
"There has been no independent creation, no distinguishable variation from pre-existing works, nothing recognizably the author's own contribution"
Well, simply cloning the card isn't necessarily enough - cards can be married to receivers, so a composite key (receiver EEPROM + card) can mitigate card-sharing hacks.
Yes, someone should invent a method for posting images on the internet and associating text with them.
You let me know when someone invents something that pirates can search easily, but the RIAA can't.
What I got out of this is that they're obfuscating information to hide it. If they're just turning .torrents into images to post to forums, then, well I don't get its usefulness. I don't know of many forums that allow you to upload images but don't allow you to post a link to a URL, which could just point to the torrent.
Hosting a bunch of images doesn't do any good unless you have a text (or at least searchable) description of what you're downloading. Without context, warehoused information is useless. And these PNG files are just different representations of the same quasi-legal information (that is, they're still colored bits.
Well, by RTFA, you'd know that you don't need a 2 year contract. You can get an iPhone, with no long-term commitment for $275, and based on eBay's prices, you'd actually make a profit selling it after using it for this pet project.
Many states still use Soundex for the first part, which is basically the first letter of your last name, along with a 3-digit number code that represents the pronunciation of your last name. It doesn't work with the spelling of your last name, because it was used at Ellis Island to give numbers to immigrants, who didn't always write English, so they'd say their name, and get a cool 4-digit alphanumeric.
I don't know how the rest of the DL's number is set - I'd bet part of it is serial.
Okay, guessing all 9 digits is good, so I'm not downplaying the success of this research. My sister and I were born 3 minutes apart and our SSNs are 20 values apart.
But the first 5 have always been not too difficult for some areas as it's based on date and location of birth (or date of issue, but there's obviously a correlation between the two). This makes it invaluable as a social hacking tool.
Just like the easy-to-guess Soundex numbers found on many state licenses, as well as the fact that credit cards use a system for numbering, simply correctly identifying the first few digits of a number can sometimes gain someone's trust ("Okay, I'm going to verify the first 4 digits of your Driver's License, but I won't disclose the whole thing over the phone. After I've verified this information, I will need...")
An anecdote:
One of my coworkers was at a warehouse type facility and needed to put his laptop on the bench area to troubleshoot a problem. There was a box in the way, so he picked it up and moved it to another pile of boxes a few feet away. He got reprimanded for his behavior (although not formally as we don't work for that facility, they are our customer), because he took work away from the box-moving people.
With that behavior, I find it very plausible that he wouldn't have been allowed to work on that plane if someone else who was scheduled to work that day was available (even with a long commute).
Which is a shame because I use Clear for $35.00 a month for all my internet at home, and that's a flat fee (no surcharges/taxes). It was $25 for the first 6 months, too.
It really says something that Comcast charges more for basic cable than what other companies (or brands) are charging for unlimited 4G internet service.
Nearly everyone pays for Windows... I remember when I was jaded too (in college) and thought a lot of people pirated Windows. But it's more like just 12%, almost all of which are younger people, especially college students.
As you pointed out, it comes pre-loaded on machines, so that's how a lot of people get it. But it's not like they're suckers, nor are the people who actually pay for new versions and upgrades.
I buy Windows, and I also paid for Office 2007 Ultimate. Yeah, I could have torrented it, but you know what? Being able to write my term papers without worrying about new updates or WGA routes disabling features in either my OS or my document-writing program of choice. I know that I have the most up-to-date software, with no hassle, no registry hacks, and no waiting around for hacking updates.
Then of course there's businesses. They nearly always buy their OSes for obvious reasons.
Haha - found this area on my second try (I do live in Baltimore, so I have an idea of the bad areas, although I never really drive through them). Northeast is bad, and the western part is also bad. The middle of Baltimore and parts south near the harbor are good.
When I lose my legs, I need to go to your airport. I've seen wheelchaired persons wait in line, and then be forced to get out of their wheelchair while TSA agents flipped the thing upside down to look at it, and then the person *walked* through the X-ray machine.
Obviously, this wouldn't be the case with a double amputee, but I think if you can walk, even a little bit, the "I'm going in a wheelchair" scheme won't save you any time...