Posts by Jourles

28

$3.15 per gallon and rising!

by Outaservice in

jw
friends

has gas prices affected your service time any?

outaservice (who had to quit altogether ) .

seriously, do you think it will affect the good ole society?

If anything, the WTS will "pass on" the costs associated with printing, shipping, etc. to the r&f. But this can only be done indirectly - a simple "we need more money" article in a KM would do it. I'd also bet my left nut that they wouldn't say a word about the poor publishers having to pay for higher gas prices out of their own pockets either. It would be all about them and being able to sustain the printing work.

I honestly do not see the WTS telling the pubs they can back off a little in field service due to gas costs. They *might* tell the pubs to help contribute to the driver's gas fund if they take someone else's vehicle other than their own. Many do this already by dropping a dollar or two in a cupholder. But let's face it, a dollar or two is nothing if you're the one with a large SUV in the hall that everyone expects to take out in service all the time. And if it's very hot or extremely cold out? Guess what? The car is going to be idling while bro-1hr-RV does his thing. I wonder how many pubs these days deep down hate taking their own car out? If I were still in or if my wife was still here, I'd go sell her SUV and buy a two-door coupe instead(or hell, even a truck!).

I'd also assume that many are starting to spend more on gas out in service than they contribute at the hall on a monthly basis. Some pubs might feel that by contributing in that way would get them off the hook for the other. That would spell more bad news for the WTS too if it were true.

If there is one bright ray of sunshine regarding this recession(yes, we are in one) and high gas prices, it is that the WTS is probably seeing a huge drop in cash flow right about now. With the Pew Forum's recent survey on jw's, all of those low income earners need to save pennies wherever they can. I know if I were in that position, donations at the hall would be one of the first places I would cut back at.

I bet they didn't even see this one coming.

106

Wear Your Motorcycle Helmet

by Justitia Themis in

never mind.

i can't get the picture to post.

if an administrator would like to delete this thread, that would be great.. .

Jourles

Uhm, if I told you my source, it could very well out me. Sorry, Oompa. But, I do know for a fact that he lived. Review my other posts and decide whether or not you feel I am credible.

Being a motorcyclist myself, I was forwarded this story and photo last year. I honestly have no idea why you would fear being outed over something as trivial as this story on a jw board. Are the two somehow connected? And if you "know for a fact that he lived," would you care to maybe give us this guy's phone number so we can call and talk to him? As far as the "credible" comment, ummm, I believe you now know where you stand on that issue....

I think we'll understand if you disappear from the board for a few days rather than explaining the contradictions presented.

22

OnStar cracked up to be, in a crack-up like this?

by Fatfreek in

jw
friends

the following onstar advertisment page from time has me puzzled.

you will see that the victim is being rescued and that he is in the middle of some desert wilderness.

the problem i have with this ad is based on my road trip experience last summer and the premise of onstar's claim that you must have cell phone coverage.

Jourles

Analog cell phones seem to get out further than the digital ones. This was tested, and observed during the testing phase of the units that we were beta-testing. Have you ever noticed that the cell phone towers that they originally put up were spaced further apart? That is due - in part to the ability of the Analog signals to go further. When digital cell phones came out - they had to go back and erect more towers - spaced closer together. Digital signals do not travel as far, and are much more susceptible to drop-out. (Analog signals tend to 'fade' - where digital signals are like a light switch - on or off.)

Well.........

It's not the technology that allows a cellular transmission to carry further, it is the frequency. The original cellular networks were and are still based on the 800-900MHz band. The lower the frequency, the farther a signal can travel and the better the penetration into buildings. When the FCC auctioned off the PCS frequencies in 1996 and you started to see a slew of new network providers breaking the "duopoly" that existed in markets back then, these new carriers used those PCS freqs which are in the 1800-1900MHz bands. These higher freqs required more cells to be built to penetrate into buildings. The higher the freq, the less penetration and distance. This is why more PCS cells are needed to cover a typical city compared to the 800MHz bands. Some carriers that exclusively use these PCS freqs are Sprint, T-Mobile, Cricket, MetroPCS, and a couple others. They don't own any cellular bands. The top two carriers that own the 800MHz spectrum are AT&T and Verizon(these two carriers also own PCS freqs as well). A few minor regional players also own this spectrum too, but they don't have a fairly nationwide footprint like the big two do.

When you used to hear static on an analog call, the equivalent sound on a digital call would sound like chopped speech and warbling. The greater the static on an analog call, the less audio you would hear on a digital one.

And one more thing - I know it sounds like the PCS bands are worthless compared to the cellular bands, but the higher the freq, the more bits-per-hertz you can push back and forth to a subscriber. This is one area where PCS spectrum can outshine cellular spectrum. It is much more efficient in terms of data throughput. A PCS carrier can also service many more subscribers using a smaller slice of spectrum compared to an 800MHz carrier.

22

OnStar cracked up to be, in a crack-up like this?

by Fatfreek in

jw
friends

the following onstar advertisment page from time has me puzzled.

you will see that the victim is being rescued and that he is in the middle of some desert wilderness.

the problem i have with this ad is based on my road trip experience last summer and the premise of onstar's claim that you must have cell phone coverage.

Jourles

Well it was odd as there were 4 people in the vehicle, 3 different cell providers between all of us and nobody had service but Onstar worked!

That's another small advantage most people don't have these days when traveling. With OnStar, you are using a 3 watt transceiver with an external antenna. Whereas with your portable phone, it is limited to a maximum of .6 watts. Put that portable phone in a metal cage along with possibly having a metallic based window tint applied, and then drop yourself in a remote area, there's a good chance you won't call out on that little phone.

22

OnStar cracked up to be, in a crack-up like this?

by Fatfreek in

jw
friends

the following onstar advertisment page from time has me puzzled.

you will see that the victim is being rescued and that he is in the middle of some desert wilderness.

the problem i have with this ad is based on my road trip experience last summer and the premise of onstar's claim that you must have cell phone coverage.

Jourles

I think it uses satellite. I used it to get out of a mess and had zero cell service but they came on very clear. The newer vehicles have the sat link, maybe it was the older ones that didn't.

Trust me, OnStar isn't used for voice-over-satellite. They only come into play(for OnStar) for location based services(gps). Take this from a guy who has worked for both the top two carriers in the US. Jourles, I'm the Network

22

OnStar cracked up to be, in a crack-up like this?

by Fatfreek in

jw
friends

the following onstar advertisment page from time has me puzzled.

you will see that the victim is being rescued and that he is in the middle of some desert wilderness.

the problem i have with this ad is based on my road trip experience last summer and the premise of onstar's claim that you must have cell phone coverage.

Jourles

OnStar uses blended hybrid technology to report your location and to allow you to place calls. The on-board "module" contains three primary components: Cell transceiver, gps receiver, and an Airbiquity unit. When you press your button for assistance, a call is placed to the OnStar call center. This call takes place over whichever cellular company is providing service at that particular location(VZW, AT&T, Sprint, etc.). While you're on the call, the Airbiquity unit is the primary component responsible for relaying gps and diagnostic information to the OnStar call center. Airbiquity patented this technology to allow a data stream(gps coordinates, diags) to traverse a voice path while you are on the call. It is overlaid. Pretty cool stuff. Otherwise without this tech, the voice and data streams would have to be sent over two separate paths, or two different "calls." Calls are not made to a satellite(s). You must be in range of a cellular network to be able to place a call or have your vehicle automatically send out a crash notification. For the most part, almost the entire freeway system in the US is covered. It's once you get out in the boonies where there is no coverage is when you're screwed.

Jourles, whose company just shut down their old analog service last week which serviced the old OnStar modules

71

You can be spied on even when your cellphone is off!!!

by ohiocowboy in

scary.... .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o61yfvpzgjs.

Jourles

Anyway, as far as the cords...you will believe it when you get your first automated ticket for speeding.

Well, the problem is, where do they get your information from in order to send you a ticket? There are systems out there for automatically ticketing speeding drivers, but they rely on photographic methods. A photo is taken of the driver and also the license plate. The mailing address of the owner of the vehicle is retrieved from the state motor vehicle department. A citation is then mailed to the address of the owner along with a photo of who was driving and their recorded speed. Those automated traffic analysis "tubes" are just that, they're for traffic analysis only.

All I know was that the county sent me a whole new tag the next year instead of a sticker which is most unusual.

Nothing sinister there. Do you happen to live in Michigan? Did you have the "Ol' Blue" license plate? Of the three vehicles I own, two had the original Blue plate(car and motorcycle). My other auto has the "Save Our Lights" lighthouse plate. The two "Ol' Blues" were replaced due to visibility concerns.(white lettering on dark blue) The "lighthouse" plate didn't need to be changed because the background was already white. This particular plate was also 3 1/2 years old.

Also, you will believe it when you see military pull you over for going beyond your authorized jurisdiction.

I'm not quite sure I understand this. Could you please clarify? I have a picture in my mind of a civilian driving onto a military base, but then the "authorized jurisdiction" is throwing me off.

71

You can be spied on even when your cellphone is off!!!

by ohiocowboy in

scary.... .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o61yfvpzgjs.

Jourles

I read through this thread and felt the urgent need to correct a few inaccuracies....

Another thing folks may not realize....those black cords stretched across the streets.....
Most people mistakenly think they are "traffic counters". They are NOT. They pick up a signal embedded in your car tag. This signal has all of your basic information...name, address, registration, driving history, etc. If you will notice, when you drive over those cords, you may see cords further down within another few miles, or on a turn off street.
The purpose of this is to register your rate of speed from point A to point B.

Whoa, I don't even know where to begin with this one. There are a bunch of stated "facts" here. Rather than trying to point out the many inaccuracies of this post, I would like to ask Tula to provide proof of existence of these items instead:

Automated Traffic Counters ("those black cords") with built-in RFID to read personally identifiable information
ATC's reading your car tag with "name, address, registration, driving history, etc."

And then there is:

A few years ago when I got my new car tag with the magnetic hologram in it, I went to radio shack and used their demagnetizer on it before I attached it to car.
The next year, instead of sending me a peel off to place on the tag......they sent me a whole new tag again.

Let me get the terminology straight here. I assume by "car tag," you mean the actual license plate - the metal 6"x12" plate that you affix to the rear of your car. And by the "peel off," you're referring to the standard yearly registration renewal sticker?

First off, what is a "magnetic hologram," and how exactly do you "demagnetize" it? Did the gentleman at Radio Shack ask why you were trying to demagnetize a hologram? I'm just curious as to what this would accomplish.

Ok, there's quite a bit more left on this thread to question, but I need to get some work done.

13

Something new on LULU.com

by Nathan Natas in

jw
friends

please note that at this time it is possible to post a review without buying a copy of the book.

how long will it be before this is turned off?.

note, for example that the "happy child" is outside the kingdom hall.... go here: http://www.lulu.com/content/1752441.

Jourles

Oh god, did you look at the "preview?"

115

Confidential Body of Elder Letters from 1981 through 2006

by Elsewhere in

jw
friends

here it is guys.

this is what darth frosty was talking about in his post the other day (http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/149460/1.ashx).

this is a collection of confidential letters from the watchtower society that were sent to the bodies of elders in the years 1981 through 2006. these are the letters that you were never meant to see or read.. there's all sorts of information in them ranging from the boring and mundian to instructions about how to handle child molesters.. many thanks to darth frosty and others (who i'm not sure can be named) who worked very hard and took risks to collect and scan the information.

Jourles

I just noticed that you're also missing the 6/6/06 letter. It had to do with distributing Kingdom News #37. I'll go through and scrub what you guys have and compare that to what I have and see where we end up.

Remember, the WTS considers these letters as "copyrighted." I just loved this line from that letter:

"Thus, Dirtclod's posting of these original works on the Internet is an infringement of Watchtower's copyright."

Here is the definition of what a copyright is:

§ 102. Subject matter of copyright: In general 28
(a) Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Works of authorship include the following categories:
(1) literary works;
(2) musical works, including any accompanying words;
(3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music;
(4) pantomimes and choreographic works;
(5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works;
(6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
(7) sound recordings; and
(8) architectural works.
(b) In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work.

Now tell me, where does a BoE letter fit into the above description? Under (a)1-8, the CLOSEST fit is "literary works." Ha! Literary work my ass. If anything, they fit section (b) to a tee. What else are the BoE letters other than, procedures, processes, systems, or method of operations? I sure wish I had the $$$ a few years back to take this to court. If someone did have the monetary backing to see something like this through, the WTS would keep it from going to court. Otherwise, all of the BoE letters become available for public viewing via the wonderful court system. In the meantime, they simply pull out the "copyright infringement" claim and threaten the ISP hosting the letters to shut it down.

Tell you what, keep the letters up permanently. If the WTS contacts your ISP to take them down, inform your ISP that they(the WTS) must provide a letter like the one above stating why they want them taken down. According to the DMCA, they must provide a written letter to YOU. Your ISP cannot simply take the site down due to a phone call or email threat. The WTS must send a letter. Get that letter. Or...the WTS finally realizes that the cat is already out of the bag and will never get put back in since the internet isn't about to go away anytime soon. I wonder if they will simply give up now and say screw it.