In much of private industry, training and certifications do come first. I was recruited from my ISCET score by one company. They did not know my Age, Race, Gender, Faith, or Sexual Orientation. The knew I could be proficient in the position.

They would probably hire them if they could solve the router problem. Most parrots I've met have a better voice than some overseas call centers I've had on the phone, but theire technical knowlege seems to be a little limited. The good news is they would work for crackers.

Due to Affirmative Action and trying to meet quotas, this reverse discrimination is common.

Having been a victim of Affirmitive Action by the US Government, I have seen this first hand.

In the 1980's, there were 2 parts to the BPA (Bonniville Power Administration) apprenticeship program.

1 Testing. Skills, aptitude, physical, etc. Normal scoring
2 Score adjustment on Protected Status. Counts for almost 30%

In the 1980's, Millitary service was not a score booster. Scored top in #1. Scored 4th after step 2. Did not apply for any other government position due to chilling effects.

Private industry scores on just #1 unless forced by government pressure for tax breaks or other reasons. Lately there has been lots of pressure by the US Government to "Make it Right"

Due to my Race, Religiion, Gender, Sexual Orientation, & Age, I have a poor chance. Only recently Vetran status is the bright spot on my Resume. With the recent issues with BPA HR, I would have a chance at getting hired if in addition to Vetran status, I was a protected minority, femaie, gay, muslum, etc. In the meantime, I'm in the majority with slimming chances at economic recovery.

Most of the boxes that have a 500 Watt listing on the box is the maximum combined power of the box with a television plugged into it. Those boxes generally go into standby when the TV is turned off.

This is the same way Light Dimmers are rated. A 600 Watt dimmer does not consume 600 Watts, but can handle a 600 Watt chandilier with 6 100 Watt bulbs.

Check the back of the box. Does it include a place to plug in the TV?

I second the stuck in traffic milage. Unless heat prevents it, turn off the AC, and rolld down windows. It will literally idle for an entire weekend.

I know this because I put an inverter in mine and used it during an ice storm to power the fridge, TV, some lights, and the blower on the fireplace insert. The entire weekend used about 1/4 tank of gas.

Prius owners are not the ones running out of gas on the freeway in a backup, unless they run the AC.

My 2002 had a pack replaced last fall at 170,000 miles. Two weeks later, a semi changed lanes into it. I kept the new battery and put it into a 2003 with 135,000 miles on it. Fully expect to get another 170K on it.

What impressed me most was the reliability. At 170K miles the car still had over 50% of the original brake pads, all the original bulbs still work, etc. Changed the plugs at 120K Miles. Changed the 12 V battery 3 times. and regular oil and tire changes. Nothing broke on it in normal wear and tear.

Never had a car with that longevity before.

Saved on the Hybrid battery replacement by purchasing a new one online and changing it my self. Plenty of info online on chainging it, complete with safety info. If you change batteries in a 3-50KW UPS, you should have no problem changing out the pack.

In the live performance world, live performers is the norm. On the other hand, drum machines have pretty much been replaced by MIDI sequencers, so the drum track is CH 10 of the 16 channel MIDI specification for General MIDI. MIDI is quite common in recording. The insturments can be repeated perfectly every time while he vocals can do as many takes as required to get their part right. Sequenced music is common in soundtracks and many small artists recordings. For good insturment sounds, the MIDI is often fed to a sequencer by either 5 pin MIDI, or USB. Most good keyboards and digital drum sets include MIDI and/or USB connections for use with a sequencer, sound module, or other use. Using sound fonts (insturment sounds) in your software synthesizer, you can do most of the recording on a PC with a very good library of sampled insturment sounds.

I have seen bands using a laptop with a keyboard or digital drum set to add to the library of sounds beyond the built in sound fonts.

What is it called when someone's property is taken by force?

What do you call the one who takes what does not rightfully belong to them?

Now the stolen goods are up for sale. Are there laws against receiving stolen property?

If you are a student and working in the analog range, there are some great software audio RTA spectrum analizers out there. With an aftermarket analog interface, 16 bit stereo 96KHZ sample rates are supported for low quanitization error and allising at the high end.

My super cheap interface cost me $15, supports 16 bit stereo for wide dynamic range (lower noise floor by far over my internal sound card) and 44.1 or 48KHZ sample rates. With free Audacity to generate sweep tones, and JAPA RTA software, I can sweep filters, phase lock loop filters, speakers, rooms, etc for well within budget. With cheap, but up to spec sound interfaces, they can be used for student and semi pro work.

Not a slashvertisement, but the innexpensive interface I am using is one of the Behringer U-Control series. With Audacity as my function generator for Sine, Triangle, Square, or sawtooth, I can sweep linear or log over any reasonable audio frequency range I need. With JAPA on Linux patched with Jack, and input from the interface, I have over 100 DB of dynamic range on most frequencies in the 20-20K range. Any cheap 8 bit scope card simply does not have the resolution for this. Use what works best, even if it is cheaper.

For as much contrivocery as there is in the biblical history, only recently some of the evidence supporting it is starting to show up in science. First the discovery of the "Big Bang" and the Genisis creation story. In the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded or something like that.

The entire earth was covered in a flood, poor Noah. Hmm, now we find the flood drained somewhere. Is the Great Flood of Noah fiction? I have my doubts. Some of the stories are beginning to be supported by recent discoveries. How did they possibly get it right so many years ago?

Maybe there is another explination we will find.

When recommending test equipment, I tell them the same thing that I tell those needing a PC and ask for recommendations. I ask what are your requirements, and what are your wishlist.

Start with the essentials. Do you need Microsoft Office, why? Do you need to keep in a budget? If so how much and why? Can you spend extra for extras? If you can get the extra from an alternate for less, would it meet your requirements?

The PC scope. Define your requirements. Budget is item one listed. This severly limits your options. Is above audio REQUIRED? If not some simple audio interfaces can be used. On Linux there is an oscope program that works great with a sound card. Back to requirements, are you taking absolute voltage measurements? Do you require DC coupling? If so this is not an option that meets your requirements.

If working in audio frequencies, there are some excellent free spectrum analizers for free in Linux and not sure what is the options in Windows or Mac. For Linear Frequency and Log amplitude the JAAA program in most linux repositories whorks great. For Log frequency and Log amplitude, the companion JAPA program works great. I use it to ring monitors for band/PA. Audacity does a great job creating waveforms. I use it to create frequency sweeps for sound setup with the JAPA program. The sweep generation is a little obscure. Under Generate tab, it is the Chirp function. Set start frequency, end frequency, start amplitude and end amplitude, liner or log sweep, and duration of the "Chirp" to generate your signal.

For those with a good soundcard or external audio interface the generated sound is direct digital so any noise is not in the recording, but in the analog stream after the digital. Be sure to set the project frequency high, such as 96KHZ, in Audacity to prevent ailising in the upper frequencies. This is a better signal source than any CD recorded sweep due to the higher sample frequency than 44.1K of CD.

To recap, due to budget, shop for what is free or low cost. Your interface to the outside world will be your expense. There are low cost or no cost software that can enable better capture hardware. The above while nice did not meet the stated budget requirement. Retails for $299. So is the wishlist able to justify the higher cost?

All your reasons are valid. Tinkering with something you bought and own. Moving into hardware became second nature. Unlocking printers married to their ink supplier (reset ink levels, and refilling), Re-using VOIP hardware such as Sunrocket, Clearvoice, etc as a cheap source for hardware, etc. Please don't sell stuff as criple ware.

Bought one game the demo ran great once loaded. Found the real game would not play without the CD in the tray. If this is the case, IT SHOULD BE STATED ON THE BOX. Having to get the CD crack to play the game on some machines was unacceptable. Not all my machines have a CD in them. Digging out and connecting an external CD to play a game on the road is a quick way to get a return, regardless of the opened software can't be returned policy. The demo ran fine in testing. The final product failed to run in my configuration. No Refund = no future sales.

I've been waiting for ink prices to follow MP3 players, VCR's, DVD's etc in the price drop. The funny thing is this hasn't happened, so the expectation is not met leaving a market vacuum the same way physical CD's have dried up due to inflated prices. How is the sound track of music for a DVD more expensive to produce and distribute than the DVD?.

The high price for ink is creating alternatives to printing. This is being filled by other companies, and alternatives to hard copy.

Case in point. I have an HP 950C inkjet. It has been out of ink for over a year now. Costco has a bargain on ink. 2 black carts and one color cart for $97. Unable to justify the cost, I passed on the purchase.

I purchased a 2nd hand Laserjet all in one for $10 with a functioning cartridge. I just mail ordered an aftermarket 4 pack of carts for under $100 delivered.

Sorry HP, It is not an HP printer.

Do not track does not prohibit advertising. It is privacy for which websites you visit. Advertisers love that info to target ads and talor them to their target demographic. Let's face it, most beginning programmers are not interested in golf clubs. A guy shopping for an RV is a much better target.

Back on topic, I f I have an online persona that may be a grey area and I don't want a future employer to find out, while using a public hotspot, I could use a PC without a hard drive to boot from a Live CD to do my grey activities and then power down when done. Later in normal browsing that session is not associated with the other persona.

Example uses could be for protection on a whistle blower case. Your employer would not have a clue unless you provided unique information that only you had access to.

Logging in at work everything would be normal. Logging in at home only normal activities are in your history with your browser and ISP. A raid etc will come up clean of whistle blower materials.

There is nothing unique about an Ubuntu installation CD or DVD in your media that can tie you to your contacts with the press about the leaking drums of industrial solvent burried out back.

There are legit uses for do not track. Leave no fingerprints behind.