vansmack
Joined: October 04, 2001 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 19725
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 18, 2008 at 06:12 PM UTC
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Sorry, I just can't stop giggling with glee…
Ship of Fools Among the gems:
JOHN STUART MILL once dismissed the British Conservative Party as the stupid party. Today the Conservative Party is run by Oxford-educated high-fliers who have been busy reinventing conservatism for a new era. As Lexington sees it, the title of the â??stupid partyâ? now belongs to the Toriesâ?? transatlantic cousins, the Republicans.
Republicanismâ??s anti-intellectual turn is devastating for its future…..The partyâ??s loss of brains leaves it rudderless, without a compelling agenda.
The movement has little to say about todayâ??s pressing problems, such as global warming and the debacle in Iraq, and expends too much of its energy on xenophobia, homophobia and opposing stem-cell research.
Richard Weaver, one of the founders of modern conservatism, once wrote a book entitled â??Ideas have Consequencesâ?; unfortunately, too many Republicans are still refusing to acknowledge that idiocy has consequences, too.
The whole thing really is worth a read, Mr. manimtired.
godsshoeshine
Joined: September 18, 2003 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 4826
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 18, 2008 at 06:20 PM UTC
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that reminds me, i still havent got last weeks issue in the mail :mad:
vansmack
Joined: October 04, 2001 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 19725
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 18, 2008 at 06:22 PM UTC
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Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
that reminds me, i still havent got last weeks issue in the mail :mad:
http://www.economist.com/audioedition/
godsshoeshine
Joined: September 18, 2003 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 4826
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 18, 2008 at 06:29 PM UTC
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i keep forgetting about that, thanks
however, i cant stare at evo morales' jacket via audio
<img src="
http://media.economist.com/images/20081108/4508AM2.jpg" alt=" - " />
sweetcell
Joined: July 18, 2006 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 22608
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 18, 2008 at 07:06 PM UTC
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Originally posted by vansmack:
Sorry, I just can't stop giggling with glee…
Ship of Fools
The whole thing really is worth a read, Mr. manimtired.
here, let me reply for him: "LOL".
manimtired is symbolic of the reason why any party (including the dems) occasionally feel like they don't need ideas: the base that will vote for them regardless. i'm hopeful that this election proves that the base isn't enough and ones needs a thought-out platform, but maybe this is just a temporary situation.
Venerable Bede
Joined: October 16, 2001 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 3863
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 18, 2008 at 10:33 PM UTC
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Originally posted by vansmack:
The movement has little to say about todayâ??s pressing problems, such as global warming and
what's global warming?
vansmack
Joined: October 04, 2001 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 19725
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 18, 2008 at 10:36 PM UTC
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Originally posted by Venerable Bede:
what's global warming?
It's 40 years of the Democrat's in power.
Venerable Bede
Joined: October 16, 2001 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 3863
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 18, 2008 at 10:46 PM UTC
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Originally posted by vansmack:
Originally posted by Venerable Bede:
what's global warming?
It's 40 years of the Democrat's in power.
yeah, this country already did that. . .i don't think we need to experience that again.
vansmack
Joined: October 04, 2001 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 19725
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 18, 2008 at 11:44 PM UTC
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Originally posted by Venerable Bede:
yeah, this country already did that. . .i don't think we need to experience that again.
Then I probably wouldn't have pissed away, in such a grand fashion, the 6 years I had if I were a Republican…
godsshoeshine
Joined: September 18, 2003 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 4826
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 19, 2008 at 01:52 PM UTC
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what's idiocy
vansmack
Joined: October 04, 2001 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 19725
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 19, 2008 at 05:03 PM UTC
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As I got all excited to switch back to Netflix today with the unveiling of the new Xbox 360 interface, SONY goes and pees on the party….
NXE Netflix streaming loses Sony's Columbia Pictures movies Our Netflix streaming queues just got considerably shorter on the eve of the NXE launch. Acting on a tip, we popped into our Netflix account and sure enough, our "Instant Queue" had a new "Notes" column with an oft-repeated, red (nobody likes red!) notice: "Not available on Xbox." Logging onto Xbox Live (with an NXE account) confirmed that these titles were no longer available for streaming on Xbox 360.
vansmack
Joined: October 04, 2001 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 19725
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 20, 2008 at 07:55 PM UTC
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I tried to get a free trial of Netflix yesterday to test out the "Watch Instantly" stuff on the new Xbox 360 addin but they wouldn't let me because I was a previous customer (albeit, over 5 years ago, so remind me to point out the idiocy of that). Anyhow, so I signed up for the cheapest subscription I could just to check it out.
The selection is crap, but you netflix subscribers probably already knew that. The quality was alright, but with the ultra-limited selection, I'm not even close to giving up my Blockbuster subscription.
ratioci nation
Joined: November 22, 2002 at 06:01 AM UTC
Posts: 4463
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 20, 2008 at 08:03 PM UTC
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Originally posted by vansmack:
I tried to get a free trial of Netflix yesterday to test out the "Watch Instantly" stuff on the new Xbox 360 addin but they wouldn't let me because I was a previous customer (albeit, over 5 years ago, so remind me to point out the idiocy of that). Anyhow, so I signed up for the cheapest subscription I could just to check it out.
The selection is crap, but you netflix subscribers probably already knew that. The quality was alright, but with the ultra-limited selection, I'm not even close to giving up my Blockbuster subscription.
10 of the items in my queue of 40 items were available, maybe that says more about me, but I think thats pretty decent selection.
vansmack
Joined: October 04, 2001 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 19725
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 20, 2008 at 08:28 PM UTC
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That would have worked for me, but even with Smackette's learned tastes which far out pace my pop culture tastes, we had one on our current queue of around 30.
Venerable Bede
Joined: October 16, 2001 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 3863
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 20, 2008 at 10:01 PM UTC
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Originally posted by vansmack:
I tried to get a free trial of Netflix yesterday to test out the "Watch Instantly" stuff on the new Xbox 360 addin but they wouldn't let me because I was a previous customer (albeit, over 5 years ago, so remind me to point out the idiocy of that). Anyhow, so I signed up for the cheapest subscription I could just to check it out.
btw, the new xbox experience was thoroughly bewildering to me. . .at least they had a polo shirt for my avatar.
vansmack
Joined: October 04, 2001 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 19725
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 20, 2008 at 10:08 PM UTC
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Short a white belt too, but they did have my felt jacket, just in the wrong color.
Overall, I liked the concept, but they didn't do a damn thing to the music/movies interface for playing them from your computer. It's still as linear (read boring) as hell and are relying on machines with Media Center to spruce it up. Since every other media extender has a slick new interface for playing songs/movies from your computer regardless of media center's inclusion, why revamp the entire Xbox experience EXCEPT for the music/movie interface? Simply retarded. And I haven't even touched on CODECS yet.
[This is a condensed/cleaned up version of the feedback I sent to Microsoft as part of their beta team]
ratioci nation
Joined: November 22, 2002 at 06:01 AM UTC
Posts: 4463
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 20, 2008 at 11:33 PM UTC
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By the way, for anybody with a Mac looking to use access their media from xbox or PS3, I can vouch for these products:
http://www.nullriver.com/products Tried both the Medialink (PS3) and Connect360 (xbox)
Venerable Bede
Joined: October 16, 2001 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 3863
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 21, 2008 at 01:33 AM UTC
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Originally posted by pdx pollard:
By the way, for anybody with a Mac looking to use access their media from xbox or PS3, I can vouch for these products: http://www.nullriver.com/products
Tried both the Medialink (PS3) and Connect360 (xbox)
i've used connect360 for the music part, i just have to pay to have my whole library accessible, in which case i might as well just connect my 160MB ipod directly and by-pass the whole thing completely (come christmas time, it may be beneficial, or i could just use XM Holly from directv)…. unfortunately i couldn't figure out how to play a video i downloaded from itunes…..
vansmack
Joined: October 04, 2001 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 19725
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 21, 2008 at 05:10 PM UTC
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You'll have to hook your iPod up directly to your TV (not through your 360) to play itunes video.
Google "DRM" and "fairplay".
vansmack
Joined: October 04, 2001 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 19725
Re: Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...
November 21, 2008 at 05:17 PM UTC
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Originally posted by vansmack:
Therefore, there were a lot of new Dell Mini 9â??s in the Dell Outlet that could save you at least $50, maybe more..
Here's a 15% off code for those interested in a Mini from the outlet:
11HFRWXZHDLSBC
Expires 11/26
