Maybe.

I'm sure there are quite a few who are clueless and / or don't care because they naively believe it doesn't impact them.
( There is a reason both parties target young ( read that: inexperienced in how corrupt politics really are ) voters so much. )

There are also quite a few who DO care, but are pretty much powerless to do anything about it outside of partying like it's 1776.

We can pretend we're still a Democracy and that voting for X over Y will magically fix things but, in reality, both X and Y are just mouthpieces of Z.
( Z = big business / big campaign donors / pretty much anyone with large checkbooks and an agenda )

So no matter whom we vote for, it's pretty much business as usual. ( See Mr. Hope and Change for the most recent example of this in action )

Or they spend many hours researching them and have come to the logical conclusion that it doesn't matter who you vote for, they're all just slightly different flavors of the same poison.

We need to burn the existing system to the ground and rebuild it. It's the only way to put us back on the right path.

I wonder if China has taken into account the sea-level rise that is likely forthcoming on all those little islands they're building in the South China Sea ?

Fast forward to 2020 when China converts said islands into a submarine base . . . lol

My mind is trying to wrap itself around what sort of person over at Mozilla sits around and thinks:

"Hmmmm, what could be our next feature to win over the folks using Chrome or IE . . . . something to really get folks excited . . . . "
. . . time passes . . .
"OH I KNOW ! How about MORE advertising !

Because obviously, the internet doesn't have enough of it already :| Brilliant . . . .

Dear Mozilla ( and the rest of you browser developers while we're on the subject ):

We develop and install things like Adblock, filter our traffic through proxy servers, use VPN's, and / or use every means at our
disposal to sanitize and disrupt as much advertising / tracking as possible from what is rapidly becoming an Internet that tastes like Cable TV.

If your ultimate goal is to destroy everything you've worked for up to this point, you're doing an outstanding job of it.

Based on Oregons pricing schedule, my tax would be $150 / year, just driving to and from work.

This will impact the poor much more than the upper-class since the poor typically can't afford to live close to work.

Homes start at the half-million dollar range if I want to live withing walking / cycling distance to where I work, so that's not an option.

Curious how they plan to implement such a thing in the larger States where you can drive for hours before you reach a major city.

"None. When I go to Japan, it is impossible not to notice how intelligent people are. Intelligent as in being able to express themselves, to think, reason, and synthesize positions out of multiple sources of information. This is not to say there aren't ignorant dumb-asses over there, but you can tell that basic, common education delivers over there."

This is because their basic, common public education is pretty much on par ( or exceeds ) with college level coursework here. Unlike the United States, being intelligent / smart or getting high marks isn't looked down upon. Here, you get ostracized for showing any sort of aptitude for learning. Their high schools exist to educate, vs merely serving as a location for hosting a Football stadium. I have nothing but respect for their educational system and none at all for our own.

Many of the other countries on the planet have figured out that a well educated population easily trumps the ignorant ones. Apparently the United States hasn't quite got there yet considering how piss poor our public education system really is. ( Especially funding wise ) They'll certainly figure it out in a generation or two when the other nations leave us in the dust.

To be honest, we should copy / emulate their public education system but I don't think our society could handle it. Can't put too much stress on little Timmy now can we ? He's in the starting lineup for Friday nights game ! :|

and voice recognition is still quite crude twenty years later.

I can barely get the software to recognize simple phrases especially in a noisy environment like a car.
I say CALL, it hears MALL, and so on.

I cannot imagine trying to dictate code / script this way ( I would go insane )

print space backquote date backquote space pipe space awk space singlequote leftcurlybrace print space dollarsign two rightcurlybrace singlequote . . . etc.

Now imagine a cubicle farm of fifty people all doing this aloud. :|

Chuckle. If one is using a GUI to configure Cisco gear, one should probably not be using Cisco gear.* :D

*Unless you're trying to learn it, then the GUI will help get you started.

While using "technology" ( streaming video ) to deliver training for the certifications I'm pursuing, I have found that taking notes via pen and paper is what helps me to retain it. I have tried using a laptop and the info just doesn't stick.

ONLY by writing it down manually do I remember it.

No matter how I try to emulate it with tech like a pen / tablet combo, it just isn't the same.

Interesting it is, but certainly nothing new.

It's your standard Fire Control problem. It's pretty much the same systems in place to keep ships guns pointed where they need to be regardless of how the ship is moving about in all axis. The only difference is this is a zero time of flight vs a ballistic solution. If you think about it, it's probably EASIER to keep a laser on target than it is to drop a projectile on one. ( You don't have to dial in spotter offsets for time of flight issues, wind, etc )

and damned if you don't There are only so many seats. They either try to distribute those as evenly as they can ( affirmative action ), or they fill it up with just the best candidates ( read that, test scores ) where they later catch nothing but hell because their student population isn't diverse enough. :| So they get hit with discrimination claims either way. Just from different groups. What this really shows is that not all colleges are equal. A Law degree from X is not the same as a Law degree from Y. So the folks complaining about discrimination are themselves enabling it, just later on down the road. In case I lost you with that last sentence here's how I explain it. Folks go to the Ivy League schools why ? Because they know top tier employers will choose students from those schools over other qualified candidates who didn't go to an Ivy League school. Two perfect candidates for the job, one with Ivy League credentials, one without. Who do you think will get picked up ? :| ( and everyone knows it, thus the competition to get in ) While not race based, it's still discrimination based on school reputation. Were all schools funded and staffed equally, this becomes a non-issue.

"Game developers stop the exponential increase in scene complexity, fidelity, draw calls, shader complexity, etc. I don't see this slowing down at all; if anything, game developers are making their games heavier and heavier at a faster rate than the GPU manufacturers can keep up. There used to be a time when you could buy a single discrete GPU of the highest make/model available on release day of a game, and you'd be able to run it with the maximum detail settings. Now, you either need SLI/CrossFireX, or lower your resolution beyond what's "standard" for the present day. Unfortunately, if texture size and scene complexity continue to climb, it won't matter if the options menu has a detail slider -- if your GPU can't keep up with the required number of pixels per second, it doesn't matter whether you're using big textures or tiny ones."

At one time, games were what pushed the hardware makers to keep innovating. There were games that, at top detail levels, exceeded the existing hardware capabilities of what was once considered state-of-the-art. ( As recently as 2004 actually. See Doom 3 or Everquest II for examples )

As a result, one wasn't able to run the game with all of its settings maxed out at all. Was just a fact of life then.

Some used texture maps that just flat out exceeded the Ram capabilities on the GPU. I think both games I mentioned required a minimum of 512MB Ram on the card to run the top tiers of textures. ( If memory serves me correctly ) At the time of their release, no GPU existed with those specs.

If you want better / more powerful hardware, then the game developers don't need to stop what they're doing. They need to do quite the opposite. Keep pushing the limits so the hardware folks will have a significant goal to work towards.

LOL

That pretty much sums up every single actor, celebrity or athlete :D

It's just how misplaced the values in the US really are.

If you cured Cancer tomorrow, you would win a million dollar Nobel Prize. Hooray !
Yet, be able to cry on cue or throw a ball and you'll never have financial issues ever again.

Now, of the two, which are more important ? :|

I gotta agree with you though. It's rather morale-killing to the 99% when someone is even able to make that kind of money doing something
so trivial while the rest slave away doing the daily grind somewhere for a tiny fraction of that. Seriously . . . $14 MILLION for two years of talking.
( I won't even insult the working class by calling it " work " )

I won't make $14 MILLION in my lifetime. In fact, at my current rate of pay, it would take me 175 YEARS to make it.
( For the record, those making minimum wage would need 928 YEARS to make it )

And the 1% wonder why we hate them so f*cking much.

Um . . . no.

The fix isn't banning all flying things from around the self proclaimed important people hangouts.
The fix is for the Government to quit over-reacting for obviously trivial issues.

It's an RC toy. . . who gives a shit ? Go pick it up and toss it back over the fence.

I might understand the concern if we're talking landing a fully armed Reaper drone on the front lawn, but in all
likelihood, this is some silly ass toy. Thus, pure Benny Hill style security theater.
( And it's every bit as amusing I might add )

If an RC device flies near your home, do you:

1) Look up and wave at it
2) Ignore it
3) Dress up like a Ninja, go all commando and proceed to lose your mind over it ?
( Insert obligatory " Get to the choppah " and " Get DOWN " vocalizations here )

Pffff. . . . Loophole.

All he has to do is change the wording of his website a bit.

From " I will teach you how to lie to the Federal Government " to " I will teach you how to lie LIKE the Federal Government " and all will be golden.
He can even call it a " Politician Boot Camp ".