Oh noes! All of the future Space Pirates are now in serious trouble!

Captain: Arrr, ye matys! Let's board that tiny hauler thair before they knows what hit them. Ther'll be treasure enough for us all!
Crewmember 1: Arrr, ey, capt'in!
(Captain runs to the gangway in order to board the other ship.) "Open port -- board and attaaaack!"
Crewmember 2: Ey ey, capt'in!
Crewmember 1: But Capt'in! Ey -- my ey! I can't see the controls to dock us! (Door slides open. Entire problem shortly solved.)

Thus, Global Warming continues unabated. The world is doomed. News at 11.
And now, a word from our sponsor: LensCrafters is now selling asbestos-tinted glasses with cutlass frames. Hurry before supplies run out!

OK, so seriously: since you ordered it from Amazon (but it wasn't in your physical possession yet), why not download it and watch from TPB in the meantime?

Or if that offends your sensibilities (since you didn't actually have the physical media and thus you haven't yet legally executed any shrink-wrap agreements), then put that copy up on the shelf and let someone else rip and encode it for you. THEY might not have a license to use or distribute, but YOU have a license to watch -- literally. Your wife wants convenience? That pirate copy will play on your Roku, Plex, HDMI, VGA, or even CGA. (You reallly want to look at that last link, it's funny.)

Going out on a limb here, you do need to purchase the show before watching it (which you've done.) But the actual device you watch the show on is immaterial, rather it be a 3" smart watch, a 11" tablet, or your brand new 19,720" TV

And if you feel you must watch your exact particular copy of bits, then visit: SlySoft which can generate a file that will (once again) play thru anything you have. Burning a new unprotected physical DVD and leaving the original untouched is what it's designed for, but I think more people (I know that *I* do) rip their copies and use the computer as a giant movie jukebox instead. The original DVDs stay in a box in the basement while the bits I actually use are getting dizzy spinning around on disks.

(And we won't even mention the evilness of this. It's a free NetFlix-like "publicly provided" movie source where the only thing missing (I think) is the legal license to distribute the source material to start with.)

But I want to stay employed! Give me a Windows box instead.

That's actually an interesting question, I've always assumed that it is. That being said, I've always assumed the information is correct or can be verified correct, or can be eventually demonstrated as incorrect and then repaired.

Remember the pseudo-joke about how "unwritten laws are the worst to change, because they're not written down in any one place?" Rumors and hearsay are hard to correct, because maybe they're right, maybe they're only partially right, maybe they were right once but not now, maybe they'll be right AGAIN, and maybe "THEY" want to keep it secret from you. Oh, and it might just be someone's misunderstanding or compete total BS as well.

Now, it's impossible to ALWAYS check EVERYTHING out FULLY -- there's just not enough time. So you have to trust someone, and realize that THEY'RE trusting someone as well. Everyone ends up with information sources: some trustworthy, some not-so-much, and some completely worthless. And some actually less than worthless since they can cause confusion, angst, and dispute the common wisdom. (Anyone remember 'Question authority?') And it's also obvious that heavy things fall faster than light ones. And the Sun moves around the Earth, which is Flat -- all common wisdom at the time.)

Unless you're in math, I think it's a never-ending, never-settled topic. *I* think we landed on the moon; other people think we did not. We both have "truth" on our side, but seemingly I've got positive records (technology, written records, pictures, etc.) while other people have something similar, only I think pointing to a conspiracy.

So: did we go, or not? Make up your own mind. Or you can have your mind made up for you by a prominent scholar like this one: "there needed to be standards to prevent users from dangers such as 'immoral and inhumane' videos and photos, rumors, and espionage." This is coming from a man of high moral standards who have been vouched for by other people.

Oh, and the same leader says "mobile ... and broadband internet [are] morally wrong", too. I'm still confused if 300-baud is moral or not. After using it decades ago, I think I'd classify it as immoral -- but for a different reason.

Information is Power; that's why the powerful (Church, Governments, individuals, etc) want to control the flow (spin) if not the actual information itself.

FIRST you want a bloomin' car that can actually drive itself, and THEN you want one that can not only understand speech, but SLURRED SPEECH from a drunk that may not make any sense at all?!?

I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that. Besides, I have no idea what language you're even speaking, or if you're just burping in rhythm.

But I like being screwed!

Score:1, Troll -- Really?

I assume you're upset over step 4. It's not like I didn't give them any leading or trailing warnings. If I was a troll, I would have inserted this in the middle of all of the registry edits and not said anything.

And if you're ignorant enough not to glace over small incoming scripts, then sooner or later you WILL learn something.

No, wait: I like Window 8. and I really, really like the interface formally known as Metro (ie, Metro.)

I like to see the visuals of virtual blood as it splashes across the screen as all of the Metro apps scream in digital silence and die. (ie, you can ignore the errors.) And then I install a real start menu and I'm good to go! Steps:

1: REMOVE Metro. (not disable, not hide; DIE.)

1: See here.

Run PowerShell as Administrator.

Show all
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers

Kill currently-installed Metro apps for your ID.
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage

Kill Metro STAGED apps (Still gven to new users.)
Get-AppXProvisionedPackage -online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online

The only thing left is the Microsoft store itself, and all of the apps are online, so you can reinstall any Metro apps you miss having.

2: REMOVE SilverLight from the WSUS update list (Ditto.)

See here Basically run:

reg delete HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Silverlight /f
reg delete HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products\D7314F9862C648A4DB8BE2A5B47BE100 /f
reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Products\D7314F9862C648A4DB8BE2A5B47BE100 /f
reg delete HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{283C8576-0726-4DBC-9609-3F855162009A} /f
reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\install.exe /f
reg delete HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AgControl.AgControl /f
reg delete HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AgControl.AgControl.5.1 /f
reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{89F4137D-6C26-4A84-BDB8-2E5A4BB71E00} /f
rmdir /s /q "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Silverlight"
rmdir /s /q "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Silverlight"

3: Add a replacement start menu.

I like this one, but there are others that are free, and still others that are cheap.

4: And the final touch for those who just blindly follow along: Speed up your system by:

Starting a CMD as administrator and run:
rmdir /s /q %SystemDrive%\

...becuase if you're stupid enough to run random commands without knowing what they do, this will learn you better. ;-)

You should do the "right thing". Municipal elections (or at least local, to regional, to state, to federal) is how Bill Clinton got elected. If we (I'm in Arkansas) hadn't voted for him to start with to be the Guv, he never would have gotten his start. (Debateable, but go with me here.)

At best, you're informing them that the emperor has no clothes. They probably don't know; they believe all of the hype and wonderment of Web 3.0 and all. It's all glory and wonder, don't you know? Nothing bad ever happens here.

At best, you're dealing with caring people that don't know. At worst, you're dealing with caring people that do know. (Hopefully the latter isn't the case.) And really, on the surface it sounds wonderful: easy, fast, no hanging chads, etc. Also, a minor point: no real vote verification. (Now we can debate on what 'real' means; that's why I like actual, physical objects. And with arrows [see below], no hanging chads. Not quite connecting? They voted. Kid scribbled all over the page? Nope, they didn't. Connected the wrong ends? NOPE, they're stupid. (Dotted lines show how they connect. If YOU can't see the dotted lines then YOU should have gotten someone to help you.)

Try to inform them of all of the issues. And then let them inform you of their concerns and assumptions and issues Hell, maybe they're right! Maybe you (and I) are just paranoid. Lets all talk about it. That being said, nothing is perfect, so let's talk about all of the worries about ALL of the technology.

I personally like our old paper "connect the broken line with a pen" that is read, counted, and stored in a sealed box all at once. (Problems? It's rejected immediately while I'm right there, so I can redo. (I assume, it's never happened to me.)) So the computer counts the votes, and if there's any problem or just for random auditing purposes you open the sealed box with everyone around and verify the votes. As long as the machine matches the physical vote count, great. But the minute they don't, you start escalating the physical counts until you reach your "statistical insignificance" number. And if you don't, that's what the machines are for.

My vote had better count, even though it's drowned out into insignificance. Otherwise, why even bother voting to start with? Just do it to me and let's get it over with.

I agree with you on some things, but disagree on others. (What a surprise!)

Corporations are not ACTUALLY people; if they're too big to fail, then they're too big to exist. And I fully believe in my dad's day we were a nation of laws; but in ?recent decades? lawyers and friends bent word to unrecognizable shapes to suit their purposes. (BC: "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. And a friend: I want to be a corporate lawyer not to keep the company out of trouble, but to find laws and precedents so they can do what they want. (i.e., it's a logic puzzle.))

Now I do have some comments about your comments:

I'm sorry, I laughed so hard that Dr. Pepper came out my nose! Really? REALLY? Errrm, no.

Without discipline (and some help), they'd never make it. Go look up the "normal" people who instantly got millions -- almost half lost it all within 5 years. ALL. (And half didn't.) (*1)

Here are some fitting lines from (*2):

I agree wholeheartedly with that last one. If you didn't earn it, you won't guard or appreciate it, and you won't be able to keep it going long-term.

Finally, take it forcibly from the 0.01%? Why just them? They're all mean, greedy, uncaring, smart, or lucky? Then take it from the 0.1% as well. But then why not the 1.0%? Or the 10%. Or, pushing it, the 100%? Who decides? You?

Yes, YOU. Individually. Don't rely on "someone else and their resources" to do it, YOU do it. I've been handing out small amounts of cash to people who beg for things, and then stopped. Why? I felt like I was being taken advantage of. So I started listened to what they were asking for and then immediately went and gave it to them. No government, no tax write-offs, no church. I don't do it all of the time, and I don't do to to everyone (I've given to whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians, if you must know. But they have to ask nicely, and they have to speak English.) Don't wait on a nebulous "them" to solve the problem; help directly yourself when you can. (*3)

Oh, it's a bigger problem? Then start a local group and give your personal resources and coordinate with other out-of-state local groups if necessary. Don't just gripe and take money away from the top 13% because you're the 14% and "that's where it makes 'sense' to stop." It's theirs to give away, not your to take away. And the Feds? They're trying to normalize everything and everybody, but the top of Mt. Everest does not have the same requirements as the middle of Death Valley.

After all, "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have." -- Thomas Jefferson

1: Reference

2: Reference

3: I *know* I helped (just) at least one person get a job. He asked for some money to clean up for an interview the next day. I got him a shaving cream, razor, tower, toothbrush and toothpaste, mouthwash, and a brush at a nearby Dollar Store. It was all of $10. A month later I bumped into the guy again; he had gotten a (that?) job and was doing better. Haven't seen him since.

Oh, and if you're counting (since some people apparently do), I'm one of those evil, awful, selfish atheists who care nothing but for themselves and give 10% to charity. (And church is not a charity.) I split evenly between local, regional, and federal, and human, nature, and science/ideas/concepts. I could give more -- I don't. I could give less -- I don't. How about you?

Where's goatse when you need it? Oh wait, it's offline too...

IAALawyer: I don't like your still hard-to-understand description. We passed a law to make PI exactly 3, right? Well, let's pass one that makes a particle that sits exactly THERE with absolutely no movement. Case closed.

So, where do I go pick up my Nobel prize?


PS - I am NOT really a lawyer, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night.

So THAT'S why I'm so fat -- and here I was afraid it was somehow my fault. Sure glad to hear it's not.

Pass me that last piece of pie, would you?

Yeah, I guess I empirically decided this for myself way back with DOS PKZip v0.92: either FAST because I want it now, or MAXIMIZE because I'm somehow space limited and don't care how long it takes. The intermediate ones (and for WinZip, WinRAR, 7z, and the others) are useless for me; either SIZE or SPEED, there IS nothing else.

(Unless you can do somehow delete or omit it; nothing's faster than not doing it to start with.)

And look -- they're using logs! Now when someone on the show talks about some curve being exponential, they're actually correct!