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Comment Re:Community college is a much better deal (Score 1) 438

by Non-CleverNickName (#33706078) Attached to: You Are Not Mark Zuckerberg, So Stay In School
I agree. I happen to go to a community college in New Jersey (every county here has it's own community college for it's residents), and not only is the tuition a fraction of the state universities but after you finish your 2-year degree, you're allowed to transfer into a 4-year university as an instant Junior. No picking and choosing which credits they want to accept, just instant Junior status.

I've completed half of a Mechanical Engineering BS degree at essentially little to no cost from myself (state/federal grants + scholarships), and will be transferring to one of the top engineering schools in the state next Fall to continue the BS program. Had I gone to that 4 year university initially, I'd be 20-25k in debt right now.

Now I give that advice to all of my friends still living in NJ. If you're not entirely sure what you want to do but have at least realized that you can't sit on your ass forever, either go to a vocational school or a community college. After your 2 years are done, either use your Associates or vocational certificates to help find a relevant job in your field, or transfer to a university to complete a Bachelor's in 2 more years.

If after those initial 2 years you realize more university isn't for you, stick with your Associates/vocational certificates. You didn't spend tens of thousands of dollars to realize "University isn't for me.", and you're still in a better position than you'd be with no degree/certs at all.

Comment Wow, so you can track horse molesters too (Score 1) 358

by Non-CleverNickName (#28885845) Attached to: iPhone App Tracks Sex Offenders
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090730/ap_on_re_us/us_accused_horse_molester Man in SC was arrested and charged with tresspassing and buggery after breaking into a woman's stable and having sex with her horse.

He pleaded guilty last year to having sex with the same horse after owner Barbara Kenley found him in the same stable and was sentenced to probation and placed on the state's sex offender list.

He was put on the state's sex offender registry after pleading guilty to having sex with a horse.

Comment Re:Cars (Score 5, Insightful) 665

by Non-CleverNickName (#27891695) Attached to: Alienware Refusing Customers As Thieves
Well no, he's not asking Alienware to fix anything for him (under warranty or paying directly), he's just simply asking to buy a spare part from them so he can fix it himself.

It's more like buying a used car from someone, trying to buy an oil filter directly from the dealership, and being refused because you're not the original (authorized) owner of the car. You're not asking them to change your oil, which would give them a reason to check your warranty information to make sure everything's in line, or recording your VIN number in their system so they can keep track of what car's they've worked on for the day, he's just someone who wants to buy a part from them. They're just telling you they can't sell you an oil filter because they don't have a record of you buying the car from them.

Really, why should he even be required to be the owner of any Alienware merchandise to buy a replacement part for the laptop? I'm not entirely sure of what he told the CSR's on the phone, but I wonder what they'd say if I called up and wanted to buy a replacement glowing alien head (from their laptops) to decorate something in my house with. Will they deny me because I'm not an authorized owner of the laptop that the glowing alien head fits on, or will they gladly sell me the part regardless of whether I own one of their laptops or not?

If they're denying him the part because he wants it replaced free under the original owner's warranty, that's one thing. Refusing to sell him the part because they have no record of him buying anything directly from them is different.
Government

Submission + - Church of Scientology violates Federal Law (rapidshare.com) 5

Submitted by
FreedomToThink
FreedomToThink writes: "This is a very long story I'm sure the editors will have fun with, but I couldn't see how to cut it down at all.

On the eve of the Ides of March protest, from the source of the recent 'Anonymous' submitted CCHR leak on wikileaks, comes this message

"Dear $cientology,You attempt injunctions.I respond.Shall we continue the game? Much Love, DEEP CLAM"

Included was yet another PDF this time including yet more emails leaked from a Church of Scientology front group.

Vote Rigging?

From: "Mike Kaplan" <mkaplan@tampabay.rr.com>
To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;>
Subject: Fw: RE-ELECT FRANK HIBBARD, MAYOR OF CLEARWATER
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 11:53:07 -0400

See below. Everyone in Clearwater MUST vote. Every vote will be needed to be
sure Hibbard gets re-elected. The alternative is Rita Garvey who is an SP.

— Original Message —
From: Shelly <mailto:shelly.bauer@Earthlink.net> Bauer
To: Shelly Bauer <mailto:shelly.bauer@earthlink.net>
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 8:09 AM
Subject: RE-ELECT FRANK HIBBARD, MAYOR OF CLEARWATER

DO YOUR PART
RE-ELECT FRANK HIBBARD
MAYOR OF CLEARWATER
VOTE!!!
JANUARY 29TH
TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED!

Lunch with your preferred Presidential candidates for a high price?

ONE SEAT LEFT

I have arranged a private one-hour luncheon with Ron Paul on 11/28 in St.
Pete when he will be in town for the CNN/YouTube Republican debate.

This luncheon is reserved for $1000+ donors to Ron Paul's presidential
campaign. 19 people so far have paid and confirmed and will have the honor
and pleasure of having lunch and communicating with Ron Paul directly.


From the head of the "Non Proffit" CCHR Bruce Wiseman

Go the the HELP committee website. The link is here.
http://help.senate.gov/About.html
Here you will see the names of the Committee members on the left hand
side
of the page. Please go to the individual websites of the Republican =
members
(this will take just a bit of leg work on your part by putting their =
name
into Google) and calling their office or sending a fax to them (email is =
the
least effective) stating your opposition to S. 1375 The Mother's Act.


Currently, the law prohibits political campaign activity by charities and churches by defining a 501(c)(3) organization as one "which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office."

An OCMB (Operation Clambake Message Board)regular adds :

I downloaded myself a copy and started looking through them. I found an interesting one on pages 47-48.
http://rapidshare.com/files/99292051/CCHRLeak3.pdf.html

Karin Pouw of OSA of CofS writes a message.
It's forwarded by Michael Genung. He's the guy who runs ACSR, Association for Citizens Sociel Reform. http://www.citizensforsocialreform.org/ ["CSR Background and Philosopy: CSR was founded in 2001 by a group of Scientologists and other like-minded individuals concerned with the escalating social ills in society. CSR's purpose is to work with in the field of public policy to bring about more effective and humane solutions to these social ills of illiteracy, criminality substance abuse and general decay of character."]

Then it's forwarded by Doyle Mills, of LEAF fame (Letters to the Editor Attack Force).
Then it's forwarded by Mary C. (possibly one of two Mary C's I'm thinking of, but unsure).
Then it's forwarded by Mike Kaplan, another person who runs an email list and forwards CCHR type stuff to CofS members.

If that ain't stringing a line from the CofS to CCHR and the CofS front group ("grassroots") movements, then I don't know what is!


Apologies in advance as the Enturbulation servers will not be up to a slashdotting so the Coral Cache link is here Enturbulation Discussion (already cached for you)

ANYONE CAN REPORT TAX FRAUD DIRECTLY TO THE IRS : http://www.irs.gov/compliance/enforcement/article/0,,id=106778,00.html It does require that you print out and mail in an actual hardcopy, but it does not require you to identify yourself.

Just a casual user passing on a message from the Enturbulation forum, this is already out there, there's no reason to attack the messenger."

Comment Re:We know who did it (Score 1) 333

by Non-CleverNickName (#22352230) Attached to: Deal Reportedly Reached In Writers' Strike
Dude, that is actually an amazing idea!!

Step 1: Put Jack Bauer, Chuck Norris, and MacGyver on Lost
Step 2: Plant a timed bomb to destroy the island once someone escapes
Step 3: Set up blackjack tables and shag vans full of hookers for extra distractions
Step 4: Watch them battle for 16 weeks to see who can escape first
Step 5: PROFIT!!

And the beauty of this plan is that there aren't even any missing steps!!
Businesses

Submission + - 8 Years For IP Theft

Submitted by nick_davison
nick_davison writes: So you though a several thousand dollar settlement is harsh for copying and distributing some music? The BBC reports that Joya Williams, 42, from Atlanta has just been sentenced to 8 years in jail for copying and trying to distribute a recipe — in this case, Coca Cola's. District Judge J Owen Forrester said in sentencing, "This is the kind of offence that cannot be tolerated in our society."
Space

Submission + - European Galileo program in serious trouble

Submitted by elrous0
elrous0 writes: CNN, the Inquirer, et. al. are reporting that Europe's "Galileo" program is facing a serious financial and technical crisis and may be permanently stalled. The European program, designed to be a superior answer to the United States' "Global Positioning System" (GPS), has faced numerous hurdles since its incenption. To date, the Galileo program has succeeded in launching only one of its 30 planned satellites and has been beset by delays and cost overruns. Apparently, squabbling between the eight companies in the consortium behind the project is responsible for many of the problems. The project is now threatened with an EU takeover. But many are skeptical that even the EU can save the flagging program.
The Media

Submission + - Time of use rates and solar power

Submitted by
mdsolar
mdsolar writes: "The LA Time is running a story about how California is seeing a big drop off in applications for rebates for solar power systems. It seems that to get a rebate you have to also switch to a time of use rate with your utility. The math is not working out, especially for smaller systems that don't fully cover use during peak hours and so people are deciding not to go with solar. From the article:

The difference between peak and off-peak rates is particularly large in the 11 counties of Central, coastal and Southern California, where Edison provides electricity service to 13 million customers.
Edison charges summer time-of-use rates that range from 29.7 to 35.9 cents per kilowatt-hour between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays. It drops to a range of 16.3 to 18.6 cents per kilowatt-hour from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. weekdays and all weekend days and holidays, according to documents filed with the PUC.
There is likely an optimal system size that reduces consumer costs, but with things in flux you'd want some flexibility in your system."
Novell

Submission + - Dell has been re-assimilated

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Article: Dell joins Microsoft, Novell in Linux pact

Microsoft said on Monday Dell had joined a business collaboration it had with Novell to allow open-source Linux software to work with Windows.

The move makes Dell the first major systems provider to join the Microsoft-Novell collaboration, which consists of a broad set of business and technological agreements to make their products work together better to serve corporate customers using both Linux and Windows computer servers.

Under the latest agreement, Dell will purchase Suse Linux Enterprise Server certificates, Microsoft said. Suse Linux is Novell's operating system.

Dell will also establish a services and marketing program to migrate existing Linux users who are not Dell Linux customers to Suse Linux, Microsoft said.

Linux is the most popular variant of open-source software. Unlike proprietary software, open-source software lets developers share code and add functions, and users only pay for custom features, maintenance and technical support.
Businesses

Submission + - Web site helps callers slip past the recording

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "Ever called a big company to ask a little question only to have your call answered by a recording that prompts you to more recordings — none of which leads to an answer or allows you to speak to a real person?

This situation frustrated Boston entrepreneur and consumer advocate Paul English. English, who already headed a successful online travel business called Kayak.com and had his own blog, first noted his findings on his blog for each company's phone system that he managed to beat. The list grew longer as visitors to his site offered their horror stories and revealed their secrets to reaching a live person. The response was so great, it grew to where he created GetHuman.com. It features an alphabetized list of company names, a letter grade reflecting their level of customer service, their phone number and directions on how to get to a human being as soon as possible."
Microsoft

Submission + - Dell will be assimilated (Dell joins MS/Novell)

Submitted by
mw13068
mw13068 writes: "Here's an AP story about Dell joining the MS and Novell deal. An excerpt:

On Sunday, Microsoft and Novell said Dell has agreed to buy Suse Linux Enterprise Server certificates from Microsoft and that the computer maker will set up a services and marketing program aimed at getting users of open-source platforms to switch to the new Suse Linux offering.

"Dell is the first major systems provider to align with Microsoft and Novell in this collaboration, and we intend to lead in this space," Rick Becker, a vice president in Dell's product group, said in a statement."
Novell

Submission + - Dell joins Microsoft, Novell Alliance.

Submitted by NotAgent86
NotAgent86 writes: Microsoft and Novell said Monday that Dell has become the first major system vendor to join their controversial technology and marketing alliance, agreeing to work with Microsoft to distribute SUSE Linux Enterprise Server certificates. Dell has also agreed to provide services and marketing programs to migrate new server customers to Novell's distribution of Linux.

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