Miscellaneous Discussion Thread
It started with meeting with 2 doctors and signing a business agreement for our new business. It is exciting especially since with them both owning a practice and bringing their business into our new business we will be profitable on day 31. I am also going to be a 20% owner right away and 1/3 partner after 2 years with putting in $0.
When I got home I had an email for a cheap flight so I checked it out. I knew I had some points with southwest. I looked and I had 12600 points, there was a Friday flight for 6195 so I had enough for 2 tickets. I then booked a return red eye on monday night through spirit for 15000 points and I had 16185 points. Stats aligned and I had barely enough points for 2 round trips. So I will be back in vegas Jan 19th through 22nd with no kids. Who is ready to party?
Quote: FleaStiffGood luck in your business and in your gambling.
likewise
doctors? you surprise me again, and I am in awe of your (evident) cold calling abilities, or connections, whatever the case may be
Quote: odiousgambitlikewise
doctors? you surprise me again, and I am in awe of your (evident) cold calling abilities, or connections, whatever the case may be
Thanks guys.
Working with docs is not a far stretch. I currently manage a medical billing company. I had been in the process of creating my own company and was hoping to take one of the docs. About a month ago and before i told the doc that I was going to take he called me and mentioned starting a company. He then got a friend of his to go in on it. So there are 3 of us doing it.
Completely wild would be too powerful. What would be the right level of power?
Would this be a good home game at least? (Prob too many complications for a casino)
Quote: RigondeauxHalf baked idea for a poker game. There is one extra powerful card in the deck. However everybody knows when you have it. Maybe a different color on the back. Could apply to any game but let's say Texas hold em.
Completely wild would be too powerful. What would be the right level of power?
Would this be a good home game at least? (Prob too many complications for a casino)
Sounds like it could be fun. Are proprietary player vs player poker variants a thing?
Quote: RigondeauxHalf baked idea for a poker game. There is one extra powerful card in the deck. However everybody knows when you have it. Maybe a different color on the back. Could apply to any game but let's say Texas hold em.
Completely wild would be too powerful. What would be the right level of power?
Would this be a good home game at least? (Prob too many complications for a casino)
Use 2. One works as a red card (but does not duplicate any card already in your hand), the other is only black. Otherwise it is an unsuited Ace. They can be different from the others, but must appear like each other from the back.
It could fill any 4 card straight, any flush or SF of its color, and make 5oak for Aces only.
It would also help with draw games or 7 card poker games. 54 cards ought to let 7 hands draw up to 3. Only 1 person would need to fold at a full table of draw 3, and other games would have a larger burn.
Would make bluffing interesting, that's for sure.
Quote: RigondeauxHalf baked idea for a poker game. There is one extra powerful card in the deck. However everybody knows when you have it. Maybe a different color on the back. Could apply to any game but let's say Texas hold em.
Completely wild would be too powerful. What would be the right level of power?
Would this be a good home game at least? (Prob too many complications for a casino)
This wouldn't work for hold 'em but maybe five card draw. The power card works normally but the player holding it has a right to invoke an option immediately before the showdown: if he does so, all player hands (including his own) are reduced by one card (in his case the power card). That is, the players must now make their best four card poker hand. This could be interesting because the players would see that the power card is in play, but the wouldn't know if the holder would utilize it until the last minute.
Here's how it would work: Everyone gets five cards. Someone gets the power card. Players make bets and draw cards as necessary. Now, since the power card is in play, they have to select ONE of their cards and place it face down on the table. The power card holder keeps all five of his cards in hand. During the showdown, the power card holder either places the power card face down, indicating the game is now four cards and all tabled cards are out of play, or he retains the power card and shows his five card hand, indicating the game is five cards and the players may pick up their tabled cards and add them back to their hand.
I don't know how well that would work; I just came up with it off the top of my head.
Or change the river card for everyone.
This would encourage that person to stay in till the river no matter what happens, even with a bad starting hand and lots of action.
Next time there is a home poker game call it out in dealer's choice.
Probably your kids, for about two days to leave enough time to clean up after a few hundred of their closest friends before dad gets home. Bon voyage.Quote: GWAE...So I will be back in vegas Jan 19th through 22nd with no kids. Who is ready to party?
Ya, them rugrats can get really wild these days.Quote: DrawingDeadProbably your kids, for about two days to leave enough time to clean up after a few hundred of their closest friends before dad gets home. Bon voyage.
Mmmmkay, but if they are only rugrat age, they're still GWAE's rugrats, so I still expect them to go as hog wild ratting up that rug as possible.Quote: AxelWolfYa, them ]rugrats can get really wild these days.
Quote: AxelWolfPerhaps you get to see another river card for yourself.
Or change the river card for everyone.
This would encourage that person to stay in till the river no matter what happens, even with a bad starting hand and lots of action.
Next time there is a home poker game call it out in dealer's choice.
How about, no. I don't want another night of:
"What game is this? F*** it, I'll figure it out. Wait, why did I lose? NO THAT'S BULLS***!!! No one told me how this game works. How's it work again? NVM it's easy I'll figure it out. Wait what, there's no community cards? How do you win?" :crying_cat_emoji: :crying_cat_emoji: :crying_cat_emoji:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/11/21/this-man-is-about-to-launch-himself-in-his-homemade-rocket-to-prove-the-earth-is-flat/?hpid=hp_no-name_hp-in-the-news%3Apage%2Fin-the-news&utm_term=.097e8e2c4ceb
So, he's planning on getting a picture of the earth "on edge," like a long, skinny rectangle? From an altitude of 1,800'? Good luck with that one!Quote: lilredroosteron Saturday a man named Mike Hughes will launch himself into space on a homemade rocket. His main purpose is to take pictures that prove that THE EARTH IS FLAT. no kidding.
This smells of pure publicity stunt.
Oh, and I also saw the article on Forbes. I think this one sentence says all we need to know:
I can hear Jeff Foxworthy right now... "If you launch yourself in a rocket from your trailer... you might just be a redneck!"Quote: Forbes ArticleThe rocket will launch from a modified mobile home in the middle of the Mojave Desert.
Quote: lilredroosteron Saturday a man named Mike Hughes will launch himself into space on a homemade rocket. His main purpose is to take pictures that prove that THE EARTH IS FLAT. no kidding.
The people who believe the sky is really a painted ceiling think he's going crash into it.
j/k.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/9be2170d-65c7-3580-9715-77e99cc3e87a/ss_catholic-school-really.html
https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/uswgtBXfdTcVJ2yKEi9MJg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9ODAw/http://l.yimg.com/yp/offnetwork/a598bd3fc7c316c90541ebf838311cd9
Quote: TigerWuAnybody following any of this Net Neutrality drama? Some people are freaking out like it's going to be the end of the internet. I don't see what the big deal is... if ISPs start jacking up the prices I'll just cancel my internet.
It's not really a price thing, or only indirectly.
Without protection, which is the best they can approach equAl opportunity, the ISPs can hold your service hostage to the content providers. They will be charged for access by you to their product. If they don't pay, their bandwidth can be restricted or slowed down.
You as the customer will have trouble reaching sites you like, as those that pay the ransom will stream well, and those that don't will not load, or will buffer endlessly. Right now, that fee structure by cable or ISP providers is illegal.
People who game online. Who bet online. Who watch movies or shows On Demand. Who live-stream sports. Who download large files. Will see the quality of their service degrade.
Big losers: Netflix. YouTube. Amazon. Itunes. Hulu. Xbox. Google. Etc. All depend on you getting the max Bitstream you're paying for, to give you service.
Winners: comcast. Cox. Etc. They can keep charging you, but then also charge the other end.
And the fees your favorite providers will pay to get access to you, will of course be passed onto you in some fashion.
Look at how pissed everybody got at this site when it delayed loading. Expect that everywhere, randomly, based on whether the site has paid for access to you on your particular ISP.
It's going to truly suck.
Edit. It's hard to comment to the FCC directly. Their page has issues. But here is a change.org petition if you don't want this to happen.
https://www.change.org/p/save-net-neutrality-netneutrality?
Quote: beachbumbabsBig losers: Netflix. YouTube. Amazon. Itunes. Hulu. Xbox. Google. Etc. All depend on you getting the max Bitstream you're paying for, to give you service.
Winners: comcast. Cox. Etc. They can keep charging you, but then also charge the other end.
This is what I don't understand, though: There is no way these giant multi-billion dollar companies like Netflix, Google, Amazon, etc. are just going to sit back and let Comcast and Cox gauge them and their customers by jacking up prices all around. I don't know how they would stop them, but they stand to be the biggest losers out of all this and there's no way they're going to let that happen.
My Netflix and Amazon subscriptions double in price overnight? So long, streaming services.
Wait, if I don't have Netflix or Amazon anymore, why do I need internet? Bye bye, Cox.
Multiply that by tens of thousands or millions of customers, and these ISPs are going to be changing their tune real quick.
Quote: TigerWuThis is what I don't understand, though: There is no way these giant multi-billion dollar companies like Netflix, Google, Amazon, etc. are just going to sit back and let Comcast and Cox gauge them and their customers by jacking up prices all around. I don't know how they would stop them, but they stand to be the biggest losers out of all this and there's no way they're going to let that happen.
What choice are they going to have? They sit passively at the other end of the line. Your provider, if this thing happens, can block or throttle them down in favor of those who do pay.
You can't depend on them being able to stop or counter this from their end. It takes regulation to prevent the ISP from playing favorites.
Quote: TigerWuAnybody following any of this Net Neutrality drama? Some people are freaking out like it's going to be the end of the internet. I don't see what the big deal is... if ISPs start jacking up the prices I'll just cancel my internet.
Seems to me to be akin to Sam Walton closing down a 70mph expressway through town just to force everyone on 30mph surface streets that pass his store. It inconveniences an entire populace for personal gain. Stomping on the majority for the benefit of one person is neither democratic nor republic. A techie may feel free to correct my possibly shaky analogy.
Quote: DRichI have no qualms with it. It seems like a free market economy paradigm.
How many choices do you have for ISP's?
Quote: DRichI have no qualms with it. It seems like a free market economy paradigm.
the problem is that they are going to say something like, you have unlimited internet, but after you have used a certain amount of data we are going to slow the speed down to such and such. but THEY ARE GOING TO SLOW IT DOWN MORE THAN THEY SAY THEY ARE and its going to take forever to load some videos and a long time to load a newspaper article from a site that has a lot of other junk on it. they are going to effectively put you in a headlock and twist your arm to get you to pay for a higher level of service.
Quote: lilredroosterthey are going to effectively put you in a headlock and twist your arm to get you to pay for a higher level of service.
That's only going to work for so long until they start losing customers in droves. It's not like water or other utilities where you basically have to take what you're given. Internet gets too expensive, people will drop it.
Quote: lilredroosterthe problem is that they are going to say something like, you have unlimited internet, but after you have used a certain amount of data we are going to slow the speed down to such and such. but THEY ARE GOING TO SLOW IT DOWN MORE THAN THEY SAY THEY ARE and its going to take forever to load some videos and a long time to load a newspaper article from a site that has a lot of other junk on it. they are going to effectively put you in a headlock and twist your arm to get you to pay for a higher level of service.
Cell phone companies already do this.
Quote: RSCell phone companies already do this.
Yep. Even if you have any unlimited plan.
I watch a lot of YouTube so I get the "you've use such and such data this month and speeds might be slower than normal" or something similar. Usually it just slows load time.
Quote: TigerWuInternet gets too expensive, people will drop it.
you're joking aren't you?
people would stop drinking coffee before they dropped the internet.
alcoholics would stop boozing before they did that.
drug addicts would stop doing drugs before they did that.
Quote: lilredroosteryou're joking aren't you? people would stop drinking coffee and stop using doing drugs before they dropped the internet.
Haha... well, if that's what they want to spend their money on, more power to 'em.
I, personally, would drop the internet in a heartbeat if I thought I was paying too much. Did that with cable TV and smartphones and never looked back.
Quote: TigerWuThat's only going to work for so long until they start losing customers in droves. It's not like water or other utilities where you basically have to take what you're given. Internet gets too expensive, people will drop it.
I doubt it. People will drop heat, water, food before dropping the internet. Do you know a single friend or colleague that does not have internet access of some type in their home?
Quote: SOOPOOI doubt it. People will drop heat, water, food before dropping the internet.
I find that very hard to believe.
Quote:Do you know a single friend or colleague that does not have internet access of some type in their home?
No. But how many of those people need internet to actually live? People will literally die without food, water, heat, etc. Who is going to die from losing the internet? For most people the internet is a luxury good, unless they work from home to one degree or another.
Quote: TigerWuI find that very hard to believe.
No. But how many of those people need internet to actually live? People will literally die without food, water, heat, etc. Who is going to die from losing the internet? For most people the internet is a luxury good, unless they work from home to one degree or another.
We can agree to disagree. I believe the phrase is that 'internet use is inelastic'? Meaning as the price changes use changes very little. I pay around $1 a day for internet at home. If it was $2 or $5 I'm paying it.
I would say most people consider the internet a necessity, not a luxury.
Quote: SOOPOOWe can agree to disagree. I believe the phrase is that 'internet use is inelastic'? Meaning as the price changes use changes very little. I pay around $1 a day for internet at home. If it was $2 or $5 I'm paying it.
I would say most people consider the internet a necessity, not a luxury.
Okay, I won't argue anymore, but why do you think home internet considered a necessity? I mean, aside from the aforementioned people who work from home in one capacity or another. Everything I do with the internet at home is for purely entertainment purposes. It's no more a "necessity" than cable TV, DVDs, books, video games, etc.
Quote: SOOPOOI doubt it. People will drop heat, water, food before dropping the internet. Do you know a single friend or colleague that does not have internet access of some type in their home?
My parents do not have any home internet usage, including cell phones.
If you send a message, you do not want the ISP to examine it and decide if they should send it slowly or quickly based upon their views of your writing style and the content of the message. The ISP is supposed to send your idle chit chat just as it is also supposed to send an MRI, a picture of a cat, a phone call, or whatever.
However the major users of the internet should indeed pay for its support so google, Netflix, amazon, facebook etc. have a stake in avoiding being 'taxed' either directly or indirectly.
The recipient of a movie stream does not want frames dropping out or constant buffering problems caused by pictures of cats but in reality such buffering would be caused by the ISPs holding them hostage to a 'reserved capacity' for which a fee would be levied despite any ISP currently pooh poohing such a notion.
As in the Godfather there is a question of "maybe not now, but ten years down the road'. Things will not change over night because that would be too noticeable and could be undone, but things will eventually change. A lot of things are getting paywalled and a lot of services will soon become 'fragmented' at a technical and billing level. Its not that your email will be sidelined and snail mail will soon win any race, but an ISP will be tempted to sideline the traffic that is not paying its way. Its similar to railroad traffic under the communists. Trains carrying cucumber and trains carrying vodka could each be scheduled by bureaucrats but once scheduling was subject to bribery and corruption the shippers of cucumbers were unable to pay the bribes that the shippers of vodka could afford.
Quote: IbeatyouracesMy parents do not have any home internet usage, including cell phones.
There are people who have to crap in an outhouse. Of course there are exceptions. I consider an indoor toilet a necessity. I consider internet access a necessity. I know I wouldn't die without either of them. I guess I have a loose definition of necessity.
If so, why do you want to "fix" it? The content argument is good enough for me. I don't want to have slowed down content. Thus, why should I want to end net neutrality?
But essentially, many things are necessities now a days, for most people, like plumbing, electricity, heat, as well as Internet. Even though you don't NEED any or all of those things to survive doesn't mean it's not a necessity (if your counter-argument starts with, "But technically, the definition....", go away).
Quote: RS
But essentially, many things are necessities now a days, for most people, like plumbing, electricity, heat, as well as Internet. Even though you don't NEED any or all of those things to survive doesn't mean it's not a necessity (if your counter-argument starts with, "But technically, the definition....", go away).
But WHY is the internet a necessity in a non-business home environment? Plumbing, electricity, heat, and water all have demonstrable effects when it comes to improving quality of life, but how does the internet do that?
Quote: TigerWuBut WHY is the internet a necessity in a non-business home environment? Plumbing, electricity, heat, and water all have demonstrable effects when it comes to improving quality of life, but how does the internet do that?
Look up the kind of snake that just bit you in the woods.
Find out if you can do anything legally about your shitty neighbor instead of shooting him.
Quote: rxwineLook up the kind of snake that just bit you in the woods.
If I get bit by a snake I'm going to the doctor immediately. Regardless, before the internet was widespread I had a book on snake identification sitting on my bookshelf for just such an occasion. And I still have several first aid books on my bookshelf.
Quote:Find out if you can do anything legally about your shitty neighbor instead of shooting him.
Go to the library/bookstore and look at legal books. Make an appointment with a lawyer. Call the police non-emergency line and ask them what you should do. Having the internet in that situation would make things slightly more expedient, but you would not be hamstrung by any means if you did not have the internet and you had a lousy neighbor.
Both of those situations you listed are evidence that the internet is a convenience. I don't disagree with that at all. But I still don't think it is a vital necessity on the same level as utilities or food. Not even remotely.
I don't want to waste a day finding, paying, and talking to a lawyer about my neighbors or whatever else I'm interested in, unless it's something very serious.
Hell, there are very many instructional videos on YouTube. There are some about education, essentially tutors for math and science. Others on grammar, language, and history. Some on politics. There are others for various different things -- how to fix your garbage disposal (disposer?), how to fix your garage door clicker thingie, how to repair other common stuff. I even watched (and posted here) a video of a guy showing how to use a scythe to mow your lawn and the benefits of using a scythe vs normal mowers. Saw an instructional video on how to shave with a flat blade (or straight edge or something like that....like what old school barbers use).
If my dishwasher is broken (actually, I think it really is), it's much easier to look up online and figure out what's wrong with it, or at least have a good chance of figuring out what's wrong with it and being able to fix it myself or follow the proper path in getting it fixed. If I don't understand something or want to learn more about something political, social, educational, simply random, or hands on, I can look it up in short time.
That's just about the "what you can learn" using the Internet. That doesn't include stuff like communicating with friends (Facebook, twitter, MySpace, etc) or reconnecting with previous friends. Or stuff like being able to do banking and investing online. Or being able to shop for random stuff online. Or replacing a lost drivers license, pay tickets, etc. Or take online courses.
If it's really not a necessity, then try not using it for a month.
Edit: Of course the internet isn't as necessary as food, water, and those types of things. IMO, something doesn't need to be "if you don't have it you'll die" in order for it to be a necessity. Only thing you actually truly need is food and water. You don't need shelter, clothes, or any of that other stuff.
Quote: rxwineYou aren't allowed books as they don't feed you and are not water. That's a luxury.
Speak for yourself. Go without books.
Lol...
Quote: rxwineYou aren't allowed books as they don't feed you and are not water. That's a luxury.
Right. Just like the internet.
