kagerioshu

Like someone else has said before me, this is largely an issue based on your location and the providers in that area. However, I can at least comment on the ethics of these companies and on foulness in particular. Of all the businesses out there that provide phone service, the worst one that comes to mind is ATT.Don't get me wrong: I think ATT provides quality coverage and has some decent, feature-rich service options. That's not the point of my reply, however. I simply wish to point out how absolutely, unwaveringly predatory they are towards their customers.I've used their services periodically for the past three years and with every phone and plan I've had through them, they've set it up so that it's nearly impossible to keep your billing under control. From deceptive user agreement jargon to applications on phones you can't delete that misdirect you in ways to add unwanted charges to your account, they have every angle covered to walk you unknowingly into their service traps and to ensure that they can charge you what they please for it.For example, I just switched to a new phone that doesn't require a data plan. I was going to keep my line on this account as cheap as possible, but the phone comes with tons of system-locked applications and links that I can't disable or delete which immediately connect me to the internet upon activation, accidental or not, adding data charges to my phone. That alone would be pretty sinister, but what ATT does is automatically adds a data plan to my account of their choosing to ensure I don't "run up unnecessary charges." I have no use for internet on a phone, so I tried to disable it and guess what? This new phone has no option in the setup that allows me to do that, a feature which has been in every phone to date I've had with ATT.This behavior alone more than triples my bill! Just for an accident in most cases! Granted, I can call them and usually have it removed; however, this in itself is a huge hassle and they train their representatives to do their fare share of haranguing and wheedling to convince me that I NEED these added "services" after all, adding displeasure and inconvenience to the added charges.My girlfriend has a Blackberry through ATT and it's three years old. Apparently it's one of the last models that allowed customers to disable data -- now, if you want to buy a blackberry, you HAVE to purchase a data plan to go along with it in order to use it at all. Granted, you'd probably want a data plan if you're using a Blackberry, but the fact that they've made it mandatory just goes to prove my point.It isn't just Data plans though. They have all sorts of things set up to prevent a customer from being in full control of their charges. It isn't simply marketing flotsam that all the other competitors employ when they ask you if you're tired of mysterious charges. They're probably talking about ATT. You have to really examine your plan agreement and make certain you stress exactly what you want to pay for with these guys.I have no idea how the other providers stack up, but I can say this much at least: I used TracPhone and StraightTalk, which I believe utilize the Verizon network as a mobile virtual network operator. These two are essentially the same company, but with both services I got exactly what I agreed to paid for and no more, no less; they don't charge you for anything beyond what you choose to use whether it be on a per-minute basis or for a set monthly fee. They're not feature-rich but they do give you the basics if all you're looking for is texting, talking, and picture mail. I heard Metro PCS is good like this too, so if you want something simple, affordable and efficient, I'd recommend anybody to look into them. If you choose to go with ATT, I say to tread carefully and keep a hawk's eye on your monthly statement.

My main hobbies include photography, biking, cooking, and learning scripting (whether it is Flash, CSS, etc.)I find that photography is one of the most soothing, reflective activities one can get engaged in. It allows you to see the world on many levels; you develop senses to appreciate both the particular and the general, the small and large. Also, speaking for myself, it gives me inspiration to do lots of traveling -- which I guess counts as another major hobby, heh.Cooking has been something I've been gradually getting better at over time. I've been cooking for at least six years now, and I'd say that I'm quite capable despite lacking an "official" education. As for biking, that's one of those things that counts towards both photography and travel. :DI'm also a big geek, so I like to do studying and research on the side. My current interests are learning scripting skills so I can be better at maintaining websites and blogs.

Although I'm a man, like many of you I've been dealing with dry skin and eczema my entire life. I have tried many different "remedies", and while some of them have proven to be decent, none of them have really done my skin the justice it deserves. Some moisturizers leave the skin feeling filmy, others make me break out, etc.However, I came across a solution I found is quite remarkable. It may sound peculiar to most, but I started using olive oil a few years back and quite frankly, it has worked wonderfully ever since. Even Charles Atlas, the man that perhaps STARTED the body fitness trend in America, recommended olive oil as the superior solution for pampering one's skin. Of course, he recommended this for men, but I'm here saying that anybody can try it out if they're willing to think a little differently about skin treatment.Olive oil for dry skin is a very different kind of treatment compared to, let's say, a typical moisturizer. Most of them are developed to work anywhere, anytime. But olive oil should definitely be used right out of the shower. It works best when, after having taken a hot shower, youimmediately apply a generous amount to your face, torso, and wherever else you feel you need to treat your skin.The surprising thing about olive oil is that despite being a pure oil, it doesn't clog your pores nor will it cause your skin to break out or get dirty. Being wholly organic and natural, it absorbs quite easily and can be applied anytime you're done bathing. However, keep in mind that it can leave a peculiar "shine" to your complexion if you use too much at once (although this shine disappears in an hour or so).I won't say it's the ultimate solution for everyone, but I do believe that people without allergies to olives should definitely try it out at least once. I recommend using light olive oil as it is cleaner and has a smoother, lighter texture than the other types (extra virgin, regular).I really hope it works for others like it has for me. If not, then Godspeed and good luck on your search for skin treatment that expresses your beauty. :angel:

This is the single most fantastic, flamboyant act of computer hardware fraud I've ever heard of. There are so many ways to make money legitimately, it makes me wonder how something such as carefully creating mock processor units is managed -- and where? They must have some tools at their disposal to create such convincing look-a-like boxes and manufacturer so MANY of them. Wow. I bet it did make some criminals a lot of money -- and at the expense of every honest person who bought into them. A shame. :angel:

Sheepdog has a good point. As much of a bad rap tobacco has, it really fuels the economies of several nations simply due to absurd taxes levied against the product.I totally agree with HoRuS though. Tobacco is a choice people make for themselves, and while it may have an affect on others in congested areas, in almost all cases that is something people can choose to do something about (i.e leave the company of the smoker or ask him or her to put it out in their presence). There are many things that negatively affect air pollution and the world for the worse that should be addressed before the the choices each human being makes for himself or herself.Basically, if tobacco were to be made illegal, it would only produce more criminals; it won't change society's desire for it. The best thing to do is to work on continuing to educate people about its health risks and consequences. Some may call this method naive, but it actually works in America, where the number of smokers has dropped significantly in the past fifty years and now hovers around roughly 20%.I think the best thing to do is to just make a personal choice to avoid it. Wanting to illegalize what other people do should only be considered when it actually has a pronounced affect on your wealth being and freedom. Tobacco, whatever others may say about it, does neither and will continue to remain a choice that adults can make for themselves.

I suppose there's nothing definite about it, but yeah, the general consensus is that Facebook consists of a more intelligent, mature, and sociable audience than Myspace. The difference is quite easy to see in many ways when you compare the profiles of each site. I have accounts on both networks but I do greatly prefer Facebook over Myspace for several reasons.I think the most apparent one is that Facebook maintains a very professional, classy look. This is a given due to the fact that Facebook has an inherently attractive and formal design that you can't fundamentally alter. Same goes for the presentation of your profile. Another aspect that helps is that it gives users far greater control over the information they share with others, which helps to maintain professional and social boundaries with certain groups of people (and with the internet at large). You can honestly use Facebook as a means of supplementing a resume if you wanted to do so! Myspace on the other hand, while it does provide an avenue for more personal creativity, it is by and large dominated by incoherent design choices and poorly implemented script that really damage the reputation and stateliness of the service. It is theoretically able to be a wonderful network for all artists, but the reality of it is that when put in the hands of everyday people, most of whom don't possess canny tastes more or less, they relish their profiles with gaudy graphics and horrendous layouts that strain their credibility and character, which brings down the overall reputation and quality of the social networking site itself.Honestly though, I don't want to be a cynic but Facebook is starting to get that way too what with all the thousands of useless, pointless, nonsensical and sometimes even dangerous applications that made their way into the site. I can hardly check my friends updates without being bombarded by tons of useless boilerplate messages detailing their achievements in the latest farming clone or number grind game. Fortunately, you can disable pretty much all of them (a tedious process admittedly, but at least you can do it easily from within the site controls).Overall though, when you get down to it, you can't blame the social networking site on the users. Facebook is still Facebook, and while more and more regular people are using it, as long as the site stresses uniform appearance and strict quality control over the presentation of personal information, then it'll still be the better choice for those who opt for a respectable and objective public profile.To make a comparison of my own, I designed my own Myspace layout using my knowledge of CSS and html. It's not meant for professional purposes but it was fun and gave me a strong degree of personal expression that you can't get with Facebook. On the other hand, if I ever want to introduce myself to someone I'll definitely use Facebook. While it doesn't give me artistic expression, it does give users the opportunity to present information in a safe, approachable manner that can be scaled to suit the need of your public image.Basically, what it boils down to is that Facebook is perfect for networking professionally and presenting a comprehensible, objective, accurate image while Myspace is good for doing whatever the heck you want. Don't expect Myspace to be a good way of showing a future employer who you are, though! Haha.

I have no official stance as to what should be done with libraries, but it's my personal opinion that they remain an element of our society and culture. I've always enjoyed going to the library (and still do -- monthly), and well, I can never imagine a situation where a library does not exist, either due to obsolescence or lack of interest. Even with the internet growing everyday and taking up a larger aspect of information gathering and research, I still believe that libraries hold the key to objective, authentic information on the local level that just can't be preserved or guaranteed on a world-wide, dynamic, open-ended basis. For instance, when was the last time you could investigate all the newspapers and local publications for your town, city, etc. on the internet? Not every community has that luxury and for those that do the efforts are still immature. This is exactly what local libraries do and they manage that task very well.Of course, another great aspect of libraries is simply the wealth of random books they contain. I think everyone should spent at least a couple of hours at the library a month, casually browsing the selection. I'm very certain that if people did this they'd be surprised at the amount of literature that piques their interest, whether it be theoretical science paperbacks or fantasy fiction, biographies to philosophy, or anything in-between. This is how I found so many of my favorite books and reading material.Of course, libraries need to improve in many ways -- or simply can't manage some aspects of our growing information age. The most basic example I can think of is instructional material for computer science or programming. Basically, if you go to almost any library you'll find an enormous amount of reading material dedicated to computers. The problem is though, that almost all of it is woefully out-of-date or just plain obsolete. What you end up with is piles of books that simply have no relation to the things that matter in today's world. I'm talking stuff like books on how to deal with Photoshop 4.0, how to make the transition to html 4.0 for the 21st century, etc..Of course, there are still many extremely valuable books that can be found on this subject that hardly lose their value. At my local library in this quiet town I live in, you can find huge tombs on C++, the art of using Adobe Flash successfully (published 2008), and many other things that still offer a great way to understand subjects that are very relevant.All in all, I think that libraries won't lose their value if we understand just what they do best and how to respect them for the preservation of knowledge and information and the distribution of literature they offer both to local communities and to the greater world at large.

I don't necessarily agree with companies prying into people's personal information to make cases such as these against their employees. They can and should have the right to protect their interests, but they need more substantial proof than uninformed observations of website content to deny people their benefits. At the very least, these sort of decisions should have an objective evaluation given by a neutral third party.However! In this particular case, something such as "major depression" is a very fuzzy concept without the clear boundaries you'd find with something such as say, a disabling injury or physical disease. If she's taking pictures on facebook and having a good time, then she certainly isn't as severely depressed as she should be in order to get leave benefits. It's the equivalent of being caught dancing when you got time off by showing up to your boss with a leg cast. Basically, she was just milking the system and now she got caught. And that's her OWN fault.

I don't mind single-player games at all because they almost always involve predetermined closure, such as a final level, end to a story, last boss to defeat, etc..However, I really don't like games like WoW and other MMORPGs because of the fact that they basically ruin the lives of those who play them by wasting their good health and resemble 1984 in design. Sounds cliche and bizarre, but it's just that the time and effort that goes into them can just as well be put into real-life hobbies that reward a person with personal growth and accomplishment -- the kind of accomplishment that is measured only on your own terms of what you want to get out of it. Working on building a patio, sculpting furniture, rebuilding a car, painting, martial arts, etc.. these are things with value that last much longer and give you rewards that spread far and wide in the real world.What I mean by being like 1984 is that the things we aim for in reality are consistent with what mankind does for well-being,. In a virtual world, there is an invisible and absolute authority that controls and oversees all, an exclusive elite will rules the virtual world and gives the players meaningless tasks with planned obsolescence that are simply meant to waste their time and present the illusion that they're making progress in some arbitrary way... is this not like how a despotic utopia would operate if you were to take the terms and factors and place them in real life? I'm not being a presumptuous prude here, I'm just saying is all... the basic point stands that it is basically worthless to play in a virtual world where other people set the rules and you can't gain personal sanctification on your own terms. Something like Second Life seems much safer in this regards, but it isn't much of a game either, but that's neither her nor there...

Astrology is based on psychology and the tactics it allows astrologists to convince and trick people into believing it. This effectively gives it similar qualities to being like weather forecasts, except less accurate. It isn't that there's a nugget of truth hidden with the layers of mystical jargon and vague descriptions; rather, there's simply classic psychological tricks at work that aren't too easy to observe unless one is careful enough to maintain clear objectivity and critical thinking.Basically, you got to look for the usual cases of cold fishing, confirmation bias, etc.. and understand how those things are meant to undermine your judgment and soften your view of things to convince you that there's something in astrology for you to accept.I wouldn't worry about it too much, though. Unlike other forms of mysticism, astrology is pretty much harmless fun except in those rare cases that someone becomes addicted to it. Basically, if you give up your judgment concerning reality in some way, those who claim mastery over it with astrology (much like those who claim mastery with various religions) will then have mastery over you. Gotta maintain self-ownership.

The 'stache as it is known is something only a certain hairstyle can grow, so you won't find too many people capable of sporting it. But yeah, it has a rather bad iconic image that really seems to stand the test of time.The name Adolf will always carry an infamous quality, and I don't think people will forget the connotations anytime soon. Recognize the name Napoleon? That's the same situation, and it has a 100 year lead on Adolf. The only thing that can really go so far to remove the name's stigma from history would be to erase history altogether, and that would take another world war or a big brother society where naming wouldn't matter anyhow. Let's all hope nothing of the sort happens in our lifetime or in the far future!

Welcome aboard to Xisto. I've only been here for a somewhat short time myself, but I wholeheartedly recommend the service that's provided here. The forums are a great place to be, and there's something for everyone to discuss and friendly faces to chat with at pretty much any time of the day.I hope you enjoy it here like I do, and I wish you happy forum travels :]

Someof the best games in this particular genre go unnoticed and unappreciated by so many people. I can easily recommend the Gothic series for the PC to get your open-world RPG fix. I can go further and say that you should play the Sacred series, even though it's isometric 2d, it's still very much one of the finest games of its kind. Think Diablo II meets Oblivion, and you'll have a pretty decent idea of what to expect from it.Other games to consider are the following:Siverfall -- This was rather weak when it was first released, but several patches and a monstrous expansion pack later, it's now a fantastic RPG.Loki -- Loki is a very nice game with a rather brutal aesthetic. It plays more similarly to Diablo II than anything else, but it's still pretty open-ending in the same way the Elder Scroll series is.Morrowind -- A bit of a peculiar choice, considering how old it is and that Oblivion has succeeded it in the series. However, I will stand by my belief that this is THE definitive Elderscrolls game in terms of true immersion and quality of content and that Oblivion is weaker compared to it. Take that, fanboys

I prefer not using steam whenever I can, but I really have nothing bad to say about the service. I simply don't trust it maintaining my rights to the software I buy, especially seeing as how it has to be maintained through the Steam system and how the offline mode is a joke when it comes to controlling your games without an internet connection.Yeah yeah, I know, we're fast approaching the next decade and concerns about having sufficient offline services seems antiquated, but I come from a background in IT where I feel you can never be too prudent or careful in regards to your system, your software, and the flexibility your have regarding the two. You never know when you may lose internet for whatever reason, or have to rebuild your OS entirely due to a catastrophe. Furthermore, there's no guarantee that Steam will stick around for the long haul, and if it were to disappear or go offline, what could you do about the games you bought through it? That's hardly something anybody has to worry about at this moment, but I'm just saying.

I can't wait for Tekken 6 to hit the ps3 this year. As a semi-retired tournament player, I'm going to get back into the series more than ever and see how far I can take my abilities with this latest installment. :]

Solid State Drives (SSDs) are a long time coming. One of the oldest forms of technology still being used in computers today is the hard drive. While we have moved on to SATA connections for our drives and use PCI Express for our cards, we still have these lumbering, clanking, mechanical bricks whirring and wheezing which almost seems like raw irony. I think the only thing currently holding SSDs back is writing speeds. The fastest SSDs for consumer use are being produced by Intel and run the range of $300 for the entry level model to close to a thousand dollars for the extreme edition. You definitely get the performance you want out of them, but like always with their premium products, you have to pay for it. It's my desire to replace my current OS drive with an SSD towards the end of this year when I upgrade to Windows 7. Don't get me wrong; I'm not tech-obsessed. I simply think it's perfectly reasonable for us as consumers to not have to deal with grinding, clicking magnets and gears when it comes to performing the task of writing and maintaining our essential data of all things. Get rid of the noise, the heat, the waste of electricity, and replace it all with streamlined, efficient solid state drives that know how to do their job right in the 21st century. I know the Windows 7 architecture is going to emphasize the use of SSDs and so not only would I like to be ready by then, I'd also want to have a replacement for the one thing left in my system build that is simply antiquated by all accounts. I really hope this technology takes off within the next couple of years. I'd love to fully replace all my hard drives, but until the price goes down and the size of these SSDs improve, I'm going to have to limit my purchase to a smaller drive that can handle Windows 7 exclusively.

satellite internet is currently in the same state that "affordable" broadband was in back in the day, or even cellphones: dawning technology with service dominated by a tiny circle of the largest players with the least to lose who can play cutthroat tactics with consumers.satellite internet could improve in due time when there is greater competition and better technology, but it may take awhile considering that it's basically the only option for those who don't receive any form of land-based broadband in their areas. ;I

Assertiveness, simplicity, and affirmation are your three most powerful attributes when it comes to showing interest in the opposite sex and getting it back. The only approval or "chance" you need for you to move forward exist entirely in your mind. The circumstances and conditions are exactly what you decide to make of them -- nothing else matters. In other words, if you like this girl -- or any girl in the future -- ignore everything that led up to this point and everyone else involved. All you should concern yourself with is walking up to the girl that interests you and making conversation and dealing with her directly whenever you have an open, available moment to do so. Make her feel acknowledged and appreciated by giving her genuine attention. Maintain eye contact, smile often, make her laugh, and listen to what she has to say with positive reception. Make her feel good, compliment her often; flattery, even when it's most awkward and goofy, is always agreeable to the ears and very pleasurable to accept, especially for a female. Girls are more insecure, responsive, and sensitive than you think, and so they want to believe good things about themselves and will enjoy having someone make them feel this way. It's well-known that women are by nature the passive sex. Even the most extroverted, confident kind of girl will generally prefer a man who can take charge and show his assertiveness. This does NOT mean girls like an *BLEEP*. It means you should have steel in your spine; walk and talk like a man who knows what he likes, what he stands up for, and is confident to show that to others. It's just that most *BLEEP*s are obnoxious and pushy anyways so the traits get confused from a distance and a lot of girls can easily be manipulated by an aggressive *BLEEP*. Don't be afraid of those type, especially in high school -- you can be kind but assertive and self-confident at the same time. Don't pay any attention to any other guys. If you love this girl, then you are the only one that matters in her life. Always keep this in mind and never second guess yourself. However, and above all else, show the girl you like respect. In the rare event she has the tenacity and callousness to reject you completely, just respect her wishes and move on. If you followed what I said and played it straight with her, then she wasn't right for you anyways. You have nothing to regret when you did what you could honestly and confidently. There are plenty of attractive girls out there that value a man who values himself and has the confidence to show interest in them. Rule of thumb: if you don't know what to do, choose confidence. You can only fail if you think you will, and you're only intimidated when you allow it. Last but not least, take it easy on yourself and be light-hearted. It's still high school; most people here are still immature and confused in a lot of ways. You just gotta go with the flow and take what comes with a grain of salt. Your experiences will shape how you approach life in the future, so it's better now to build your confidence and keep things simple. If a girl breaks your heart, then you don't want to waste valuable years of your youth becoming angsty and cynical about woman. Good luck

I have a situation very similar to galexcd, but I haven't made the jump to Google voice yet. However, I just wanted to say that the ability to be connected digitally can't be underestimated or ignored -- there is a vast amount of flexibility that can be gained from our current level of technology, and I'm always looking forward to seeing the development of new methods of connectivity and the improvement of old standards.I use Skype for the same reason, because my home location doesn't provide cellphone reception, and it helps me immeasurably. I'm going to have to give this Google voice a try

My favorite car is not so much a manufactured vehicle, but I'll mention it all the same: an s13 or fc3s with an ls1 engine.I dunno, I just love the idea of a lightweight RWD chassis with a big block engine that's naturally aspirated, equipped to a standard :PCould replace the body with that of a Miata or (even crazier) an mr2 of some sort... now we're getting a little out there, but it's all done in the name of fun (and ungodly performance).

Google has a much different ambition than almost every other company out there, even when compared to Microsoft. The purpose behind Google's behavior is not simply a matter of profit; it's actually a very humanitarian and ideological effort which drives the company to continuously innovate and excel in terms of potential rather than drive home the highest amount of profit possible from the bottom line.In other words, Google aims to accomplish something beyond making money, which is basically all that most companies really seek to do. As for what Google wants to succeed at and WHY, well... there's some speculation there, but a prevalent idea is that Google wants to totally liberate the digital age and the information it contains before another group with less noble intentions works to control it (such as the government). Basically, if Google becomes totally entrenched, then there is no room for the likes of any controlling bodies to regulate and administrate what we find on the web and the way we access information.You won't find that idea on any of Google's press statements or anything related; it's simply conjecture, but is consistent with what the company does and the philosophy it maintains towards its stated goals.

Africa said it right. The main reason why Google is so successful lies with the people behind the company and their vision; these people are innovative geniuses. Yahoo has basically exhausted its intellectual resources but continues to offer fundamentally sound services (aside from web search), and Microsoft, while still a brilliant company, simply can't win against Google if it thinks their age-old strategy of brute force will win them dominant market share.Their aggressiveness may have worked for the browser wars, but this is much more than apples and oranges; being a bully is an impotent strategy when it comes to an internet service that can't be dominated or masked by local OS design. Even if Microsoft wants to whip Yahoo into submission, their combined might doesn't hold up to what Google provides, which is the sharpest and most efficient form of web search available. You can't fight that on any terms but the one it demands, which is to simply make a better product... and that's no easy task.

You don't need any screams to know that Siberia is hell on earth. The Russians knew this centuries before anything like this hoax creeped up. Take all the gulags for instance. :lol:My brother works for a very large and prominent oilfield services corporation and his latest assignment may very well be bringing him to Siberia. I know he has already visited the area, and based on what he has to say about it, it's pretty much one of the harshest, coldest, and most desolate lands in the world.SIBERIA! D:

The idea of this service is sound, but I could only agree with it on the basis that it is strictly a voluntary effort and that the ones rendering the service are in no way affiliated with the government.What I mean is that these families would have to willingly submit themselves to being monitored and regulated in order to improve their quality of living. This is simply a matter of keeping in line with what I believe are natural human rights; nobody has any obligation to anybody else to live up to a certain standard or maintain a certain conduct.More so, the regulating bodies would ideally be volunteer groups. I really shouldn't have to explain how absolutely criminally dangerous it is for the GOVERNMENT of all things to do the monitoring and regulating -- it's just simple sense. With anything of this nature that involves the government, there will ALWAYS be a prerogative to homogenize people in order to improve the convenience of ruling them. That's simply a fact.If anyone is wondering who would do the job, then that's quite easy to realize. There are always social workers and counselors ready and able to commit to these efforts, and giving them this responsibility would go very far in both helping the families that need this sort of strong-armed mentoring and protecting their natural rights. After all, what good could the government do to foster families when it would simultaneously teach the children by example that there are no inalienable human rights simply because the government methods do away with them? This is why government and morality do not go together -- nobody should be given the ruling authority to determine social moires and proper conduct.

As a paid subscriber to Skype, I have both nationwide calling and a registered phone number for only a sawbuck or so every three months. I honestly don't use it for the voip Skype service itself but rather as a backup phone that gives me the ability to relax the minutes I use on my cellphone. For only a couple of bucks a month or so I can lower my overall phone bill by as much as 50 dollars a month...if you're exceptionally strained for money, I can see people wanting to make free phone calls, but I think 10 dollars for a full-featured phone service that allows free calls across the states while offering voice mail, texting, and caller ID can hardly be beat.