Posts by Solomon Grundy 901 publicly visible posts • joined 12 Nov 2007
You're using the wrong logic. You assume that Zetas logic is something like yours, and you're very wrong. You're assuming a defensive strategy and they don't do that, they use insanely aggressive strategies to deal with those who threaten them; even if they aren't 100% sure who they are. Know your enemy and all that.
Most people don't know that coal excavation causes minor earthquakes but because of all the press fracking gets everyone will know about this non-incident. They should have picked a better term than "frack" anyway. It just doesn't sound friendly and it is perfect for press sound bites.
There was a radio ad here in the Washington D.C. area a while back that specifically said that fracking did not cause earthquakes, which is obviously a lie, but in today's age of sideways lobbying you can't always tell who is creating the lie: Is it the industry itself, is it scientists paid to validate something with certain findings, is it pet journalists who get fed exclusive information but may not know they're getting lied to? Who knows. I guess we never will.
Like I said in my original post, the initial aircraft designs last for decades and take into account future needs. As history as shown carriers will always try to get more passengers onto the existing craft by pushing the seats closer together. Commercial aircraft are over designed and built with the assumption that propulsion will improve. That's why none of the planes you have been on crashed when they were terribly overloaded compared to their initial specs.
is total crap for those of us that have to fly on a regular basis. I fly from Washington D.C. to the San Fransisco area at least three times a month, every month; for 3+ years now. Every single stop/transfer exponentially increases the chances of some sort of failure: Meaning I'm late for my meeting and that requires shifting many peoples schedules around, cancelling other meetings, getting a different hotel room and tons of other direct and indirect problems along with their associated costs (not just to me).
The hub model is fine for those who only fly occasionally (airports can even be fun if you aren't on a schedule and have some money to blow) but for people who have to travel on a schedule the point-to-point model is the only way. I'm not flying because I want to and I'm not going on vacation; it is work. There are so many people that I've met on a recurring basis on planes through the years; I can't believe there isn't a decent market for direct flights that don't require crazy scheduling yoga. Especially when the product (airplane) in question has a 50+ year lifespan for the airlines. Each plane is a long term investment and should be viewed as such.
I foresee a mix of both options from major hubs with increased flight-time options for all customers: "If you're willing to pay we can put you on a direct flight right now" as normal course of business vs. "oh. We have to send you to Cincinnati and Seattle if you want to fly anytime in the next week".
Sure, the seat sizes in the new planes are a bit better now, but after a few years they'll cram a few more in there. The declining size of the usable commercial passenger aircraft fleet guarantees that they'll try to cram more "self loading cargo" in to the craft after a while. Why do you think the seats are on rails? It's built right into all planes, even the brand new ones.
Wikipedia does have a lot of faults, for sure, but if you're interested in a solid subject then it will lead you in the right direction. As the web becomes more defined/constrained, general users need a resource that gives them the correct search terms to use; which Wikipedia often provides.
Everyone forgets that print encyclopedias weren't exactly peer reviewed before their publication. All that's changed has been the speed of "publication" of the info, any commercially viable interest has access to is still the same tripe that's been being pushed out for years.
Nothing wrong with contracts, especially if you are young or your lady doesn't want you at home very much. The contract game is a great way to develop a skillset that you can someday use to negotiate for a decent salary and a fulltime job/career.
After about a decade I was billing out for contract work at $335/hour. I make far less than that now but have a solid job. That being said though, the contracting days were some of the most fun times in my life.
A fresh uni grad with your attitude wouldn't get through HR in most decent size companies. You've got to put in your time in business if you truly expect to meet what you appear to view as "your right now that you got through school". Recent grads are generally terrible hires: You always have to fight them in order to make them understand the real world doesn't work like school did.
This nifty little loophole was put into the FOIA acts in both the UK and the USA not so much to prevent people from making impossible requests, but to give management an opportunity to not answer a question. This clause also gives the agencies/ministries a really good reason to keep data in disparate silos where they comply with data retention regulations but because the data is difficult to compile/analyze they can answer uncomfortable questions with "it costs too much".
The Ribbon not only does all the things you describe with the "heritage" UI, it is also, and has always been simple to customize. They even make a point & click tool if you're not into XML: see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb386089.aspx
The Ribbon lets you do anything you want. But has been met with some disdain because it looks different. If you want your productivity applications to tell you how to be productive without the option of making it your own, then I suggest looking at a Mac.
Of all the MS problems, sales isn't one of them. They are the predominant OS & will continue to be so for many, many years,
Also the Ribbon isn't that bad, is customizable with simple XML & has been proven to increase productivity with real world users. Being stuck in the stone ages & refusung change is what holds IT back.
If employee "happiness" could be better if enterprise tools didn't settle for "good enough". While development costs would certainly increase, could it also lower other extremely high priced line items like employee turnover & training costs? I know that an eccentric in-house application is a major source of "back burner" frustration at some places I've worked.
Sure, there are many ways to prevent this issue; but at the end of the day it is still an issue. Systems security is paid to prevent problems (forecast them, if you will).
In hindsight there is ALWAYS a way to get into any system/product. If your job is to PROTECT something & your measures have been found failing then it's on the Sec.
People poke holes in any/everything and at the end of the day someone has to pay for those decisions. Don't blame Micosoft or Apple. The persons that decided easy vs secure & thought they were taking the easy route are to blame.
Look to the Admins and their greasy, "keep my job because I deserve it" attitude. Truly secure products do exist, but they don't dominate the "fandom" entry level staff. Real security means people telling their bosses, staff, etc NO. That's where most IT folks fall down. They're not interested in security, or even their jobs, they just don't have the stones to say no.
The strategic target never was the timekeeping service. The targets are all the commercial services that have been using the "stolen data" through the service. If they can prove the distributor of the service was using stolen property they can go after all the commercial entities (who have money: As opposed to some volunteer in his basement).
Wouldn't it be funny if the timekeeper was working with AstroLabia to try and make some money off his years of work?
is what you just defined. I don't need help to find my car either but you have to realize that the mass of meatbags out there either do need help to find their car or they just feel 'better' because they have the option of using the system (and they are paying for it)..
I don't think you are wrong: Those people shouldn't be driving at all but we can't stop them and the OnStar system helps make sales and helps the stupids. The down side is that if you are in a single person crash where you are injured then there won't be a person to push the button, the system just has to work . Those people obviously need help and I don't think it is wrong to deliver an intrusive service if they are asking (and paying) for it. Most of El Reg readers are a bit above the tech curve but you're running a business then revenue has to come from somewhere. It obviously won't come from the select few who read this but we're kind of different.
Firstly I'll say that GM didn't handle this well and their lawyers (who decided this whole thing was a good idea didn't help) but I can say with absolute confidence that GM didn't set out to screw anyone with OnStar.
I wrote the book (literally) on the initial retrofits for OnStar in Cadillac; where the system was first available from GM and you could get it as a dealer installed option: And have done several updates since. It is designed and used as a safety and convenience tool that lets you have a live person at your disposal for about anything and will call emergency services if you are in a crash and can also find your car if it is stolen or even if you lose it in a huge parking lot/garage. It's like a navigation system that works combined with a concierge!
The system can't do that if it isn't tracking you all the time. That's why it works so well. Every real time notification system (even those from Volvo and Mercedes) has to know where you are at all the time or it won't deliver the results you want: Then you will complain that it didn't work as advertised.
I'll close my rant by saying that GM is trying like hell to make money by making shitty cars that nobody really wants and the board and investors demand revenue from something. That something shouldn't be your privacy for sure, but on the whole GM doesn't give two shites about your daily goings on. They are just trying to make everyone happy by giving you what you want from technology.
If you've got a complaint it should be with GM's house legals and Ms. Linda; not OnStar.
"lets's email the Interwebs around" is how it was designed to work man. Easy sharing and all that. You can't really blame the people making their living from doing it for doing what we all want. They are just taking advantage of all the thing we all made happen. Most of the people reading this wanted this monster they created.
Between my three homes I only have 11 Windows 7 machines and I will say that Adobe and Mozilla products cause me more downtime than power outages, network failures, hardware stoppages and drugs combined.
OSS is "better" because they update more often. Closed/In-House products are better because they update to target "real" issues.
The fact that most OSS if FREE makes the updates palatable. If I had to pay I'd actually be upset. FOSS or FREE closed source. Doesn't matter to my wallet.
Yep. The majority of workers here in the U.S. have to deal with the climate cycles. God knows we've tried to unionize the seasonal tempeurature shifts but we still aren't gaining ground. Fillibuster on Sol!
What a bunch of weeping vaginas. If it's too hot for you to lift and carry 49lbs then you're a useless American who doesn't deserve a job. Your parents & Grandparents didn't cry when they had to actually put in work in the same conditions. Are you really going to tell me your Grammy is stronger than you??
Ten years ago HP was unstoppable. Sure Carly helped spend some of their money but the company overall could do anything it wanted. Apple is currently in that position but now they have no Leader. HP is in their Sunset stage and Apple is in their Daytime/Plateau stage. Smart people are milking Apple for all they can get while the fruit is still ripe. Smart people are also bailing out of HP as fast as they can.
Sorry for the stupid metaphors and awful cliched statements but I didn't invent them and there is a time and place for that sort of shite.
are you gonna do with the money? After the jets, cars, drugs, sex partners, monkey butlers, private islands; what the hell are you going to do with that kind of money?
Sure you could donate it to a "good cause" but then the ED of those organizations would just be driving your fancy German/Italian car instead of you. I think she was a horrible political candidate for any position but she *did* create a lot of jobs.
It is a sad thing. The case is old and the evidence is iffy - they won't even let the guy take a polygraph; they've got to fry someone for killing that cop. Half of my family is from Georgia and I grew up on the Tennessee/Georgia border: Georgia is a fucked up place and they're still quick to blame a "darkie" for any crimes. The worst part is we will never know the truth and someone is going to die in about 50mins. Sad.
LightSquared was a lobbying gift to begin with. Laws were changed to give them access to bandwidth that really couldn't be used and everyone knew it. Now that the implications are becoming clear they're offering concessions but at the end of the day they had nothing to offer that would compete with the many uses of GPS by the govt at civilians in the U.S.
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