Fezmid

It was JUST like it, only 43% of the numbers were different.

Don't bother calling, nobody will be able to answer anyway after the 5000 layoffs. http://slashdot.org/articles/06/08/04/003214.shtml CW

Good read that I hadn't seen before, thanks. Two problems I see. One, you can't tackle anyone from behind by their jersey? Huh? It's a penalty to grab the jersey to drag someone down now? Hopefully they only call that if it's a blatant injury attempt. Second, I think the review after down by contact could be a problem. When the whistle blows, players are going to keep gunning for the ball because the whistle no longer really means the end of the play. It'll be interesting to see. CW

That's what antennas are for. Better picture than cable anyway. Or, just wait until the middle of next year and most of the country will have HD locals from the dish as well. Either way, better than the Evil Empire(s). CW

That's not really her. She's on radio, so how would you know? It's like what you see on movies with 1-900 number operators

Actually, I just figure if TW doesn't get NFL Network, more people will sign up for Dish/DirecTV

I find that figure ($43B) impossible to believe -- since the oil companies posted record earnings.of $10.7B... http://money.cnn.com/2006/07/25/news/compa...nings/index.htm Now $16B, maybe I could buy that. Don't always believe everything on Wikipedia CW

How do you go from $1B to $4B? If they made $1B profit last year, you're asking for them to give up 10% of that to the NFL? Are you going to give SDS 10% of your profits to support the board? CW

No, I just like doing things in the city. CW

You're comparing apples to oranges. If the plumber is hired by the hour, then he shouldn't be surfing the net. If I hire him to fix a problem, then I don't care how long he takes doing it, as long as he finishes by the time I tell him to be done at (ie: Fix the problem today). That's how my job works -- I'm salaried, so get paid to do a job. If I can get all my work in the week done in 30 hours, cool. If it takes me 60 hours, then that's what it takes. Also, lots of people are in IT - so we have time to wait while patches are being installed, software is being updated, etc, etc, so sneaking a peek at the net every now and then isn't a big deal. When I first started my new job (5 months ago), my manager said to not worry about it if he walks by and I'm viewing a personal website. "As long as you're not viewing porn or playing poker online, I don't care." I responded with, "But blackjack is ok? " CW

I'm actually kinda surprised that the NFL Network would be forcing this; basically TW gets to air the channels for free. I would've thought that they wouldn't care - if the channel comes back, people are less likely to make an uproar (assuming most people even noticed -- I'm sure they would once they miss a preseason game, but other than that?) CW

Why do you say that? I was in Atlanta on business and my manager and I went to the Underground. Was cool to see, but we didn't stay long. It was just a glorified mall, and Minnesota already has the best mall in the world if you're into that sort of thing (which I'm not).

You guys don't know what a bad beat is. Going all in before the flop? That's a crapshoot, no matter what cards you have. That's NOT a bad beat. Let me tell you what a bad beat is... The blinds are 1000/2000, you go all-in with a good hand and win. Thinking you've won the tournament, you say, "Good game," only to realize that you only have 9,990 chips and your opponent still has 10 chips left. No problem, right? You sit back to watch the victory since the opponent doesn't even have enough to cover the blinds. He wins the first hand, now has 20 chips. Then wins again, 40 chips. Then wins again, 80 chips... Then wins again, 160 chips. Then wins again, 320 chips. Then wins AGAIN, 640 chips! By this point you're getting pissed off -- you have no control because the cards just get dealt automatically since your opponent can't cover the blinds. He wins again, 1,280 chips. And AGAIN, up to 2,560 chips, and just like that he's back in the game and you end up losing a few hands later! You don't have time to be because you're too busy doing Can't complain too much, because 2nd place is still decent, but to get beat, by no fault of your own, to a guy with 10 chips?! That's ridiculous. Thanks for reminding me about that AJ; you know I had ALMOST gotten over it.

That's what the subject says, but the meat of the original post was basically saying "Buffalo always has things to do - look at the free concerts!"

You can't get only Sunday Ticket, but even when you could, you wouldn't get NFL Network (or any other channel).

Minneapolis/St. Paul is a big party-town as well. We just had "Rib Fest" where there were a lot of free concerts (Ted Nugent and Kansas were two of the bigger names) - http://www.ribamerica.com/St_Paul_Entertainment Then there's the Taste of Minnesota: http://www.tasteofmn.org/june30th.html Minnesota State fair: http://www.mnstatefair.org/pages/grandstand.html http://www.mnstatefair.org/pages/free_stage.html The Basilica Block Party: http://www.basilicablockparty.org/ Aquatennial: http://www.aquatennial.org/ US Pond Hockey tournament (ok, no concerts, but hey): http://www.uspondhockey.com/page/pond_ticker.jsp So no, Buffalo isn't unique in it's "some party to attend every weekend" mentality. It's cool, but hardly unique. CW

Did you remember to pay your HD-DVD player bill?

Yes, he SHOULD be proud of himself for helping stop the erosion of civil liberties. But I suppose you'd be posting that Rosa Parks shouldn't have sat down on the bus as well, wouldn't you? Don't rock the boat.

What airports are YOU flying in? I"ve never been patted down at an airport. And yes, there have been issues raised when people are brought aside for "special screening" - not to mention with the whole "no fly list." CW

Well I for one appreciate this post! Thanks for the info! My wife's grandmother lives there, and her parents have a house in Green Bay and Winneconne, so next time she drags me to visit her family, I"ll tell her ok, but only if we get good wings!!! You have an address for that? ANd to those making fun of the name, the cities in WNY aren't any better. Lancaster? Lakawana? Tonawanda? EDIT: Found the link: http://www.legendlarrys.com/menu.html CW

I guess I assumed he wasn't from the Buffalo area when I said he needed CI.

It's always been hit or miss on the installers, because they're all independent contractors (actually, most cable installers, at least in my area, seem to be going that route as well; the Comcast truck says "Independent contractor" on the side). The company they're contracting with in your area is probably hiring bad people -- I'd call DirecTV and/or the company you dealt with and complain. If nobody complains, nothing will change. On the flip side, I had an EXCELLENT installation experience a couple of years ago when I had HD installed; the guy had to come out on THREE separate occasions to get the work done (because it took two guys about 10 hours total to get done...), but two of the dates they came were Saturday (so I wouldn't have to miss work), and they did an awesome job. To make matters better, because it took so long, they didn't charge me for running the wires in the walls (from the roof to the basement). Nice. Not sure about the double billing, but the key phrase to get things solved on the first call is to ask for "Customer Retention." They'll fix all your problems first time, and give you money to cover your time. I never try dealing with the frontline support, because they don't have anywhere near the power that CR has. For example, last April we had a freaky ice storm and my dish was literally burried in snow and ice. DirecTV sent someone over to fix it for me (free of charge), but unfortunately the guy said that their boss wasn't allowing anyone to go on the roof is there was snow on it because a couple people had already fallen off and been injured (sheet of ice under the snow). If I could clear the snow, he could help, but otherwise I was out of luck. Called DirecTV and they said I could hire someone to remove the snow from the roof, and gave me $150 to do that. Instead, I waited a day for everything to melt and had service back up anyway - plus the $150. I didn't even have to ask them for the money, they made the initial offer. So in my experience, their service is just as good as it's always been (and you can't count independent contractors IMHO, because it's hit and miss - if you call DTV about a bad install, they usually credit you for a month of service as well, making up for you waiting around for an installer). Yeah, companies that are ready to go out of business are launching new sats in the sky for fun. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/27/1249219&tid=129 CW

You'll be able to watch all the Sabres games that are on ESPN, OLN, and NBC without Center Ice. But overall, yes, for both Dish and DirecTV (and cable, for that matter). CW

Locals: Depends where you live. Do a search on DirecTV.com, enter your zipcode, and see if they offer locals. Most areas are covered by SD locals, and they're rolling out HD locals as we speak. MSG: You won't be able to watch sporting events on the regional sports networks (like MSG, YES, etc) - you'll need to subscribe to the cooresonding sports packages (MLB Extra Innings, NHL Center Ice, etc). This is true with both Dish and DirecTV as it has to do with the licensing agreements. However you should be able to see the pre/post game shows, unless Buffalo is different because Empire is gone. Not sure. DirecTV offers only a handful of HD channels, but they have a "special" slot where they move HD channels to when it's warrented. For example, OLN was in HD on DirecTV during the hockey playoffs, and the NFL Network is in HD from time to time as well. It hops around though, so is harder to figure out when things are in HD and when they're not. CW

Comments from the article: http://backslash.slashdot.org/backslash/06...31/195248.shtml Nice PDF of info on photography: http://www.kantor.com.nyud.net:8080/blog/L...otographers.pdf More photography info: http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm