iamshack

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 09:27 PM) Holy s*** that was close. Centimeters away from a loss. Kane should have put it away earlier too...huge dodged bullets by both teams

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 06:51 PM) This is actually true... Don't really give a s*** if you're downloading torrents, looking up porn, cheating on your wife, etc. none of this has anything to do with what I'm looking for (furthermore its illegal, you need a warrant for this stuff) Yeah, most of us are just looking up porn...in all seriousness

QUOTE (farmteam @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 06:17 PM) Wait, is this argument really "Insider trading is ok because people might do poorly at insider trading?" I think it's that the information is not material or significant enough to provide an advantage.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 05:38 PM) Yeah I'm referring to basic stuff like frequency response curves, what frequencies a given speaker can reproduce and with what accuracy. Any whether it can be detected in a double-blind test is crucial. The believers in the voodoo bulls*** hate actual tests and just swear that they can totally hear the difference in their $100/ft cables, man! And then there's plenty of purely subjective but definitely real differences. In-ear versus over-the-ear headphones sound different, tube amps and solid-state amps sound different, speakers from one company may sound different from another because they aren't designed on the same principles. One isn't better than the other, just different. Can "most people" detect them? Maybe, maybe not. Not if you're used to listening to 96khz mp3's on your standard ipod earphones. No different than someone who only ever drinks Miller Lite not being able to taste the differences between three different craft brew ales. I really hope I'm not sounding like a snob here. I've got a cheap Pioneer receiver, some okay Polk Audio floor speakers and some decent Sennheiser headphones. I hate the idiot audiophile world ($1000 speaker cables!! $500 solid copper power cables!) more than anything. But I really hate Bose (fantastic marketing, s*** product) and see some of the same from Beats (fantastic marketing, okay product). I don't think there is anything wrong with being interested in something enough to actually learn a bit about it, so not at all.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 05:20 PM) A lot of the high-end audio and video world is voodoo bulls*** without a doubt. But there are measurable and audible differences between different components, speakers, and overall systems. Different speakers, amps, crossovers, etc. are designed with different philosophies and construction techniques and are going to have different sounds. It comes down to personal preference at that point. But Bose is still garbage. Beats less so, but still really overpriced. That may be true...the question is can most humans even detect a lot of these subtleties?

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 02:16 PM) I shopped all winter and settled on Cobra Amps, I love them so far. I bought them new on Ebay for about $350, which was $150 cheaper than any store price (even though they were always "onsale"). And when it comes to graphite's on irons, I liked this comment from the evaluator at Golfsmith: "What pro do you see using graphite for their irons?" The thing is, who here has a game like a pro? I agree, I think graphite shafts on irons is a bit ridiculous and for show, but that comment really is a bit foolish. How many pros use blades? Does that mean every weekend hack should use blades too? I think it's important to have a nice set of equipment in any sport. Going from the crap level to the solid quality usually will both improve your results as well as your confidence and enjoyment of the game. But you reach a diminishing level of returns very quickly. Of course, no one in the golf industry wants to tell you this, because they want to take your money every year when that new driver or putter comes out. I'm a pretty decent player about a 12 or so with a horrible short game, so I strike the ball pretty well for someone who might play 5-10 times a year. I've had two sets of irons and the same set of woods for about 15 years now. Once you get a reasonably nice set of equipment, the gains really need to come from practice, not spending more money on clubs.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 01:37 PM) For that brand though even amazon was selling knock-offs. I have a pair of over the ear ones that I think are pretty great for traveling (flying) but I also made sure I bought them from an actual brick and mortar. No, I believe you...I just thought of the reviews I was reading when looking for headphones...

I dunno if I have ever seen a pair of headphones where some people don't say they sound like s***...give me a break, folks...

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 09:06 AM) The only real benefit to the additional money is that if the appraisal goes poorly, you probably won't have trouble financing still. However if you are a straight 10 or 20% down, you might run into that sort of difficulty. 10% or all cash, at the end of the day the buyer has a lot of potential outs either way. You are absolutely right...and so was GT when he asked why would they care about the DP...but from what the listing agents tell me, the seller will generally assume that the party who is willing to pay more cash will have more available options if something goes sideways (basically what you mentioned).

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 08:38 AM) The issue isn't really that they don't care, it's that if they decide to care, or worse, if someone decides to care, they can use that information against you, or a group of people, very much like what we see going on in the IRS right now. The fact that the information is being compiled, any rogue employee can do any of the following: steal it, sell it, release it, etc. Or, considering it's electronic surveillance/storage, that means it can probably be hacked/stolen by an outside entity and used for the same purposes, or simply released for no reason at all. It's not the fact that they don't care about us, it's the fact that the information is being compiled and stored in the first place, whether it's being used or not at this specific moment is irrelevant. Yes...and I guess that goes into the "I have more pressing concerns" department...

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 07:33 AM) If that was the case, they wouldn't be doing what they're doing, now would they? They do it so they can catch the outliers, which they don't know about before they start exhibiting signs of lunacy or abnormal behavior. I doubt they really care (or even want to know) what 99% of the law abiding citizens are doing. I understand there is an aspect to that where I should be angry that my privacy is being invaded, but I really have more pressing concerns than that.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 07:31 AM) Yea, so they were putting down $50k (31%) to my $16k (10%). A lot of sellers perceive having more cash to put down as a sign of financial health, and they will just take that offer first because they believe it has a lesser chance of falling apart...nothing you can do in those situations but move on and keep your eye on it in case it falls apart. I can't tell you how many times the sellers of the house we bought rejected us...but I just kept at it and it ended up working out. Yesterday I sent out an email to our lender, our agent, and the seller's agent, inviting them to come by for drinks one night (because we promised them we would), and the listing agent replied back that she has received more than one call from disgruntled potential buyers who had offered more than us at some point in the process but had walked away after being rejected. So just be willing to move on, but also keep your eye on homes you lost out on just in case, because s*** does happen.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 10:45 PM) I 1) am not really supposed to be talking about the topic and 2) generally just got tired of talking to deaf ears about electronic surveillance. The vast majority of people don't have the slightest clue what they're talking about and don't know where to start. Honestly though, what am I going to do? Go live off the grid somewhere? I understand the surveillance aspect of it all, but they don't give a s*** about the grunts like us...

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 12:44 PM) Ugh this waiting part sucks, there's one other offer on the table right now, the listing agent is going to choose the one that can close by July 12th, hopefully my lender gets back to them with that info. Yeah, that's the part that makes you crazy...the whole process stressed me out so much I started smoking again and drinking beers first thing when I got home from work...now that it is over I am back to healthy living Are you able to close on July 12th?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 01:56 PM) Ha, I was wondering why ComEd is always promoting better electricity conservation, effectively encouraging their customers to use less of the product. Now it makes sense. Yeah, it's really the only way you can expect a company to encourage people to utilize less of their product...

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 08:52 AM) http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/06/09/states-...gasoline-taxes/ States consider fees for hybrids to recoup lost gasoline taxes What do you guys think? Have I finally found a tax you disapprove of? We actually have something in the utility industry similar to this...we have something called "lost revenue" that the entire pool of electric rate payers pays to make up for the lost revenue from folks who participate in energy conservation programs. So if Bill is enrolled in the more efficient pool pump program and therefore saves $100 annually on his electric bill, the pool of ratepayers makes up for that deficiency as a whole.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 11:08 AM) That will be an interesting one to watch. Pacificorp and NV Energy aren't part of the same ISO, are they? I'm more familiar with the Midwest stuff.... No, neither are in an ISO...they are part of the WECC, which is just a coordinating council. There are rumors, however, that the two would ultimately merge and then join the CAISO.

So really the huge difference here between fingerprints and DNA testing is the turnaround time? I'm not sure why that even has 4th amendment implications... I thought the main point was to protect us from unreasonable searches and seizures. Why is fingerprinting allowed under some bs "administrative" excuse, when essentially, it is just a slightly less precise way of doing the exact same thing as DNA testing? Well, quite simply, because without it, we'd have a more difficult time holding suspects and solving crimes. Scalia mentions that even if we did have instantaneous (or darn near) DNA results, it would be a redundancy anyway. However, I fail to see why we can't use fingerprinting to establish identification and DNA testing to provide more precise crime investigation? Correct me if I am wrong, and I apologize in advance if I am, as I never had a ton of interest in Criminal Procedure, and so I have forgotten much of the details, but if I get picked up for a DUI, and they arrest and fingerprint me, and then it turns out my fingerprints are entering the database for the first time as a result of this arrest, and I am then matched to a previous unsolved crime, they can arrest and prosecute me for that previous crime as well, as long as we are within the statute of limitations for that particular crime? If so, I fail to see the difference here. Essentially, Scalia is going to argue that the key distinction lies in the time to process the test? I really fail to see the 4th Amendment considerations if I can utilize the fingerprints to establish identification and justify holding the arrestee until the proper procedural events can be carried out. Furthermore, how is fingerprinting essentially just an identification tool, when if my fingerprints have not been entered into any database, they will not serve any purpose of identification? Fingerprints are every bit an unreasonable search and seizure as DNA collection, with the mere exception that today's technology allows fingerprinting to be done in 30 minutes as opposed to 30 days. It isn't as if someone is going to be held for 30 days or 90 days absent any other evidence of identification while we wait for the DNA results to be returned. Finally, how can one argue that it will be impossible to limit DNA collection only to serious arrests? Fingerprinting does not happen when I am given a speeding ticket; why does it follow that DNA collection will inevitably happen in such situations?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 9, 2013 -> 10:21 AM) Don't get me wrong, laziness/cheapness definitely play a role in my selection of plants. I don't want to have to water plants if we go a few days without rain. I've also been growing my grass to be more drought-tolerant. Well, everyone out here has drip systems or sprinkler systems installed for the most part. It was completely foreign to me when I moved here. I bought my first house and had no idea the thing was not even running for the first month or so Anyways, the point is, this system is set up to cover almost every square inch of living organisms on this property. So I don't have to do a thing. And we hired a landscaper so I don't even have to really work the control systems either; he will maintain those. But I am going to talk to him on Tuesday about adjusting the watering schedule so that it all occurs between 10 pm and 7 am, if possible, because if you water your lawn in the heat the water can actually burn up the grass or else it just evaporates. And I also want to discuss with him introducing some drought-tolerant grass species, but I am not sure if that can be done gradually over time through just seeding, or if you actually have to rip the old grass out first. If so, that would be a major undertaking. Additionally, we have many mature trees on the property, and I am not going to mess with those. So it's going to have to be ripping out some of the plants along the perimeter (some need to be torn out anyways because they are poisonous to dogs) and putting in some more native plants.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 9, 2013 -> 10:07 AM) I didn't want to go all environmentalist in this thread, but yeah, that's more important than the cost to me. Yeah, I knew from your initial post...

Well I am glad some posters finally realized how hypocritical those comments are. Phil Rogers is the guy ranking our prospects for Baseball America when he has absolutely no clue what the hell he is talking about. Phil Rogers is the guy going on Chicago Tribune Live looking as unprepared to comment intelligently on Chicago baseball as my mother. The guy is just an incredible waste of space...for him to claim that someone else isn't putting in the work is mind-boggling.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 9, 2013 -> 08:03 AM) hey, if they're willing to pay your water bill... It's not even that as much as it is just I feel bad using these quantities of water just to keep my yard green...the bill will be obnoxious, but even more obnoxious is the entitlement to these quantities of water...

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jun 8, 2013 -> 05:16 PM) I put in an offer for a 3br duplex near Loyola today. Seemed like a real nice area and while its a short sale the bank has already preapproved the price so it should go quickly if they accept my offer. Good luck, Russ...keep us posted!

Hah...thanks guys...I'm not going to do anything elaborate...probably just one night in the new house I will make my move...it's not exactly a surprise or anything since we just bought a house together, but the timing will be, since she doesn't know what my plans are in terms of getting the ring.

Well, just paid for the ring...should be ready next week sometime...now that we've closed on the house and have an idea of what we're looking at as far as renovations/expenses, I figured I may as well get it paid for...