http://www.flounder.com/nomultiples.htm
Maybe it just doesn't come up that much?
In any event, I accidentally started a second copy of their glorious Borderlands. Pretty sure that should not be possible. Really, the bare minimum is just implementing the mutex part, only a few lines. All the other lines in that solution are to find the current copy of the program that is running and bring it up. Nice feature, but not required.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Why I don't have Cable
Cable television in recent years has become an abomination. In the past, there were a handful of channels airing "general" programming, and the rest concentrated on fulfilling specific niche topics. As the capacity of cable systems grew, it was generally the niche channels that got added first. You can almost hear them saying "we have 20 new channels to fill. How about a golf channel? How about a cooking channel, or one about travel?" This was the norm for many years.
Recently, most of the niche channels have decided to eschew their niche in favor of what can only be described as bullshit: reality TV. A genre which I find abhorrent.
Take A&E for instance. Once a channel that focused primarily on the fine arts, it now hosts such fine shows as "Dog the Bounty Hunter", "Gene Simmons Family Jewels", "Growing Up Gotti", "Family Plots", "Airline", "Inked", "King of Cars", and "Criss Angel Mindfreak". Really? Do people really watch that crap? I would rather be shot in the face than watch 5 minutes of any of those. And the thing is, supposedly, they made the switch because it actually generates more revenue. Huh. The "History" Channel, once a hold out in this race, now features "Ice Road Truckin" and a slew of conspiracy oriented crap. And the list goes on. At this point, as far as I know, MOST of these channels have switched largely to reality crap.
They've taken what was once decent programming and cheapened it, in the interest of profit. What scares me is that this actually is profitable; are people really that stupid/shallow? Plus, is there NO room for what they used to show? I mean, how many reality shows do we need? That appears to be all that cable is right now, cheap ass reality TV.
Sometimes, they add new channels whose purpose seems to be to replace the old channel that has "gone reality" (like the military channel in place of history). How long is it before these too succumb to the power of bullshit? Take the National Geographic Channel, which still does offer some educational programming, but also features the classics "Hard Time", "Prison Women", and my personal favorite, "the Dog Whisperer".
I've considered getting cable, but have not, because of this situation. There are a few things I want to watch, but to me paying for a cable subscription is essentially paying $50 or more (!) per month for all the reality BS i can watch. Pass.
Interestingly enough, Discovery, probably one of the first channels to sell out by "broadening" its programming is currently arguably the closest to its original intent. They are pretty light on the hard science documentary type stuff, but a lot of their programming actually is mildly educational.
Recently, most of the niche channels have decided to eschew their niche in favor of what can only be described as bullshit: reality TV. A genre which I find abhorrent.
Take A&E for instance. Once a channel that focused primarily on the fine arts, it now hosts such fine shows as "Dog the Bounty Hunter", "Gene Simmons Family Jewels", "Growing Up Gotti", "Family Plots", "Airline", "Inked", "King of Cars", and "Criss Angel Mindfreak". Really? Do people really watch that crap? I would rather be shot in the face than watch 5 minutes of any of those. And the thing is, supposedly, they made the switch because it actually generates more revenue. Huh. The "History" Channel, once a hold out in this race, now features "Ice Road Truckin" and a slew of conspiracy oriented crap. And the list goes on. At this point, as far as I know, MOST of these channels have switched largely to reality crap.
They've taken what was once decent programming and cheapened it, in the interest of profit. What scares me is that this actually is profitable; are people really that stupid/shallow? Plus, is there NO room for what they used to show? I mean, how many reality shows do we need? That appears to be all that cable is right now, cheap ass reality TV.
Sometimes, they add new channels whose purpose seems to be to replace the old channel that has "gone reality" (like the military channel in place of history). How long is it before these too succumb to the power of bullshit? Take the National Geographic Channel, which still does offer some educational programming, but also features the classics "Hard Time", "Prison Women", and my personal favorite, "the Dog Whisperer".
I've considered getting cable, but have not, because of this situation. There are a few things I want to watch, but to me paying for a cable subscription is essentially paying $50 or more (!) per month for all the reality BS i can watch. Pass.
Interestingly enough, Discovery, probably one of the first channels to sell out by "broadening" its programming is currently arguably the closest to its original intent. They are pretty light on the hard science documentary type stuff, but a lot of their programming actually is mildly educational.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)