Slashdot Mirror

"They still wouldn't want their addresses or phone numbers published on the Internet. Who would? Would the submitter?"

What and you think that your address or phone number is not on the internet as of yet? "Wanting" something doesn't necessarily make it happen. Either you consider yourself lucky, or you're totally ignorant as far as how much information about induviduals is stored; Privacy vanished during the 90's when it became feasible to get rid of it.

Publishing personal information, excluding mabye credit card and bank card information is doing no worse than has already been done. Just because you can't find "private" information on other people doesn't mean it doesn't exist on the internet.

(and some personal information)

" and that's why we hide ourselves on slashdot and in blogs. "

while mabye you can hide yourself, blogs are a public affair. They allow the world to see what exactly you are, and it allows you to say what needs to be said. Nothing about hiding. Everyone who ever hopes to have any sort of public life these days almost needs to have a blog, politicians, artists, you name it, because that is the way for the world to get to know you and for artists and poleticians you *want* to be known. Everything I say on /. and elsewhere I have a hard held belief that I have every right to say even if it sometimes dissagrees with what my local government feels I have a right to say; in those cases it is the government and the backwards plutocrats who elected them who are wrong; and it is my duty to oppose them. for the record

you have the wrong guy mister. That and I'm not a homophobe. My *nix system is fine, I don't need a prettier looking one. Yes I know I'm just feeding a troll.

you have the wrong guy mister. That and I'm not a homophobe. My *nix system is fine, I don't need a prettier looking one. Yes I know I'm just feeding a troll.

you have the wrong guy mister. That and I'm not a homophobe. My *nix system is fine, I don't need a prettier looking one. Yes I know I'm just feeding a troll.

in the meanwhile I can tell you as a musician, I've been helped out a fucking lot by the internet. I'm very poor right now, and my recordings aren't going to increase very fast until that changes, but if/when that does change, you can bet that people are going to hear it, if they hear it, through xmms/winamp.

ok[still grappling as to how exactly to reply to the earlier reply. it much more specifically hits at the critical point here; that systems of knowledge can be expressed as different sets of axioms, if expressable as axioms at all; and while my axioms may begin with additive inverses before subtraction, you may be able to go the other way, although I think it would be much less elegant. Stranger harmonies have erupted in mathematics than that, however... ]

a-a=0, is not totally far off. Comutativity even less so(a-a+b+a=a+b+a-a etc). I think it is weaker, because it assumes that additive inverses/negative numbers exist. if -a doesn't exist, then a-a does not equal zero, since by definition there is no a-a.
The suggestion that this is similar to proving god's existance via god's existance *in the bible* isn't really appropriate, as I do pull from two positive numbers, a negative number. Perhaps a similar argument involving god may turn out to be descartes';
nothing can be created by something less perfect than it is. something [known as i] exists therefor something perfect exists, [by induction]. you start the argument with not-god, and you end with god. sure there's probably plenty wrong with that argument, but it doesn't fail in the kind of way that a-a=0 does; that you can simply define a-a=0 and be done with it; but you cannot define away the sum of two cubes, at least without doing a lot of damage.
ie


1^3 + 2^3
1 + 8
9
(3)(3)
(1+2)(3)
(1+2)(1-2+4)

OK so nothing really spectacular happens on the last step here. But I think that negative numbers, in this view, become something of a property of regular, positive numbers. That they only exist insofar as relationships not between positive numbers and zero[ie, the standard a-a=0 view], but between different collections of items. There is a ratio which is *always* upheld, whether or not negative numbers exist. but if -ab is not negative, (ie, it is some ab instead) then the numbers a and b must have been subtracted. etc.

where I think this thread will actually get interesting is here:

god exists in the bible.
therefor god exists.
It is the nature of god in which my opinion may differ with others; Whereas some believe him to be, well, whatever they believe him to be, I will suggest that god is the collection of ideas, motivations and actions of those who believe in it, much the same as I am the sum of my actions, God is practically everywhere, and the effects of god can be long reaching on an almost unimaginable scale...at least for my imagination. How can you argue against this? if you believe that god has X nature, I too believe that god has X nature, in the amount that your opinion matters. if your opinion matters greatly, for some reason, X is relatively greatly true. I say.

damn am I ever hungry. I'm going for some KD.

thank you sir. for those still doubtful, check out my sig. Specifically, this section.

In case anyone hasn't seen it yet

The last 5 times [at least!] which I've forgotten to have coffee in a day I've slept straight through at least one of my classes, and usually all of them. It doesn't even dawn upon me until much later where I find myself thinking
'hey wait a minute, my coffee pot is empty, and wasn't filled!'

Usually i have around a half a pot to a pot a day. I need around two cups just to get me up in the mornings to some level of coherency. All my recent screw ups I can pin the blame on me for not drinking enough coffee in whatever day they occur on. It kind of worries me, actually; It's becoming more of a 'I have to have coffee, or I will not function with even mediocre talent' rather than a 'with smore coffee I can do better, longer, faster!.'

Which is of course, why I'll be into provigil as soon as I can get easy access to some.

(anyways, I've written many a song on the vector-meme of coffee and caffeine addiction...although none of those have been finished off, you can find some here, from my attempted album ""past tense" )

hold on there.
1) Monopolies create market inefficiencies
2) corporate power structures are evil Just because corporations are the cause of grief does not automatically make them some sort of scapegoat unworthy of attention. There are a lot of occurances that are unpleasant in this world, rainstorms, for example, happen sometimes, and for some are benificial, for others, they are harmful[ie tornados,etc] we must deal with them, as rational beings interacting with our environment. Sometimes that might mean revolution, sometimes that means just dealing with it.
great post btw.

when my music turns up on iTunes, i'll *consider* buying in. P2P is not evil, or wrong. It is the solution.

We need someone to find random RIAA execs, and execute them.

"The trouble with the Internet too is that it always leaves someone wanting more. Perhaps, if they were offline, they would have given up. But searching for more and more XXXX only leaves them more obsessed, I think. "

better to have them obsessed and mindlessly clicking away at some lame ass website then slitting their wrists because they are sick fucks. because god knows the psychiatric help system in north america is fucked up beyond all hell, and they can't get help there....and the school-industrial-military-prison complex isn't going to help them. who knows mabye they may bootstrap themselves to a new level of life that doesn't include cutting/anorexia. hell, i'm no longer suicidal

after watching the kult rise (and fall?), and keeping into mind the exponential growth of the world's population, i'ld have to disagree with you. we created our own unique "kulture", and with it it's own traditions, manerisms, symbols, 'gods', and so on and so forth. being a mostly open society, we all took part in it to some extent or other...and while perhaps we are not nor will ever be an established culture to the extent that say, the romans or the british were... we were definitely on the way in that direction.

i'm sad that some cultures lose their grip on humanity and fade into the death... but the amount of 'culture' more potent, and deep than anything we've seen so far is actually _growing_, whether you believe it or not. how many ethnicities were there 100 years ago? today? cargo cults much? with every divergence of religion(see scientology), and state(see quebec) and stuff like 2600... new cultures begin to form. and with it _new_ poetry, new literature, new music, and so on. as the population grows, and is more able to feed itself(culture only really grows once people have time...you can't have much of a culture if your held in one razorwire lined Nike sweatshop at machine gun forced to work 20.5 hours a day. )...more cultures will really shine.

and then you get the screwed up freaks who's main focus as far as freindship goes is 'a person who is not actively trying to kill or harm me in any way'. yes. that was my definition once upon a time. and i heard it echoed later on in a couple of places independant of my home town, once i found the internet. surely, the internet has changed the entire dynamics of freindship, as i thought that most of the people out there were totally against me, when in reality, they were just trying to save themselves face by picking on or just plain not supporting the freak. now with the internet the 'freaks' can 'team up' with eachother...so there HAS to be a new level of freindship screw-ed into the worldview of even the most unfreindly. right?

socialist as i can be sometimes, i see absolutely no problem with you drawing that reference. it makes sense to do so,(system is broken, therefor don't use the system).
but it has not always been this way. i couldn't tell you why exactly things aren't working right now(multibillion dollar studies are being done to determine the cause and i think even they are confused)
however, i feel privatization is not a cure for this ailment. sure, some people end up getting mediical coverage, but i'll never be included in that set of people(i'll be poor until i die). perhaps in the united states what you have is better than what we have right now, but 10 or so years ago this was not the case. even in saskatoon(which has a university+hospital link which for some reason makes the hospital more efficient) it's not that bad(thus 250km bus ride...that's how far away saskatoon is).
on the other hand, i feel that canada is going to become a true communistic state before the end of this century. or fall apart, one of the two. why do i say this? the majority of the population are boomers correct? well, if all the boomers are stuck in care homes, and they are also the majority of the population, and the care homes are funded by the government, well then guess what? you have a WHOLE MASSIVE BUNCH (because it would take that many) of young people employed to control and help out a whole massive bunch of old people by the government, and what you then have is everyone either working for the government(read: hospitals/care homes) or everyone being taken care of by government programs(hospital/care homes). obviously privatization would cure this(it would become a really nasty corporate state, then, although it needn't be that bad. but knowing the boomers i wouldn't discount it)... but in this case i forsee economic disaster, and adding of canada into the united states.
(/ranting)
in the meanwhile i just had the weirdest dream including a reference to this thread but yes, until we socialist states can get our shit together this view is acceptable.
i think part of the problem is that our liberal government starved healthcare(and it's not like you can just starve healthcare for 5 years then give it a bunch of money to make up for things and expect things to work out, healthcare is not a bank), and part of the reason it did that was trying to balance the budget due to deficits from the tories earlier, and that they were just plain crooked to begin with. while this may not be the only reason, i can tell you now don't elect crooks into office.

here's a question for you...what happens(or has happened) when there are just SO MANY BOOKS out there, that even IF you could somehow read through them, by a short way in you would become bored with them, because there is only SO MUCH you can do with books. and ditto with movies. what happens when it's all been done? and everyone's bored of the reruns? are we doomed to a "the metamorphasis of prime intellect" as a best-case scenario?

btw, i'm just trying to play devils advocate :D is this a significant event at all?

really? i'd love to know of one. locally i think i have access to two. the first is my university, and only because i'm a student, for 20$/month (30$/month phone line=50$/month. plus added bonus if i were to say something online or host something on my home computer they don't agree of i can be expelled. joy.) or i can go with SaskTel for 50$/month (30$/month phone line=80$/month).
that's it. I'm in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, on Highspeed Cable (27$/month total) because it's the cheapest available. on the other hand i AM interested in switching to an ISP, dialup (>=3000Baud) or otherwise, if they do not have such a fscked up EULA/Lisence Agreement. even at the same price. so where are these 'dime a dozen isps'? i'm pretty sure sasktel drove the all out by now. but i'm interested in knowing whatever it is that you know here, even if it's solely that there are still places in the world where theres' actually competition and thus at least at somewhere descent isp service.

really? i'd love to know of one. locally i think i have access to two. the first is my university, and only because i'm a student, for 20$/month (30$/month phone line=50$/month. plus added bonus if i were to say something online or host something on my home computer they don't agree of i can be expelled. joy.) or i can go with SaskTel for 50$/month (30$/month phone line=80$/month).
that's it. I'm in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, on Highspeed Cable (27$/month total) because it's the cheapest available. on the other hand i AM interested in switching to an ISP, dialup (>=3000Baud) or otherwise, if they do not have such a fscked up EULA/Lisence Agreement. even at the same price. so where are these 'dime a dozen isps'? i'm pretty sure sasktel drove the all out by now. but i'm interested in knowing whatever it is that you know here, even if it's solely that there are still places in the world where theres' actually competition and thus at least at somewhere descent isp service.

lol.
that's great. best reply so far :) and kudos on the nice computer, too.

im not so sure. my local public library (regina public library) will not let me have a library card, and i have been asked to leave for not having a library card. what does this come down to? if i want to read, stay and become informed, i have no local library resource...even if it wasn't in some way censorred. so where do i go from there? google is a start...but only a start. to find people who will sell me books, and the books that are worth giving away the little money i have...this is why the internet is important. not because of all the things it allows us to do--but that, if implemented correctly, it could allow everyone, and i mean everyone, regardless of ecconomic status, age(ever try, as an elementary school student, to find real_information? or even as a highschool student? most of it is filterred through reviews, textbooks, etc. ) , location (as in, there are no libraries i can go to here...but i can always browse gutenberg), etc. right now i am hosting my website and ftp-site, on 6 irc rooms, centericq, and of course talking on a slashdot forum, explaining to someone in a different country my views on education. today i will find help for any problems i have with my math homework, and communicate to my empty-nest-feeling parents 250km away. and today is a quiet day. i think theres some advancement here.
ok whats the point here?+ the point here is that there are things that are possible now, that were not possible without the internet. people with low ecconomic status may have a window of expression, communication, and a means to improve themselves through the aforementioned two items---either induvidualyl or collectively. and _SURE_ water, air, and food are more important. but it is only a matter of time between people,without water, air and food, who are communicating with the rest of us begin to A) alert the rest-of-us that there is a problem that we can help with and B) begin to learn why it is that they dont have these things (probably imf, or local oppression/misgoverning)...and then C) produce results. of course, i may be dreaming here...

given : i do think too many people these days are utterly incapable of surviving on their own. I myself have taken prairie-landscape survival training from cadets and elsewhere, and am confident in my skills that even though life would thereafter suck a lot more, i could if i desired to survive.

read this if you have time... while i havn't seen the movie in question["the network"] it outlines a possibility that perhaps even though induvidually we are all worthless, we in doing so are *replacable*. western civilization has thrived because a lesser, and lesser amount of people actually mattered...at first the kings, barons, clergy, knights...then kings, and higher nobles, then kings and kings alone, then finally to democracy, where no one really matters, and all we are is replacable parts, akin to 1 Byte portions of a hard disk. sure we could store data or use them, but often we just let them sit idle and spin around.

in the meanwhlie, this approach has been really successful because as a society we can do many things, at one time, whereas induviduals can do very little, comparitively. i wouldn't pretend to know everything in the university of regina's library : but if you add all the students, profs and past students & profs, you'd probly get a pretty good percentage going.

most importantly, perhaps i'd like to point out something that really stuck out to me. All knowledge, to me relies on communication and interaction. without it our braincells would not pass data in the form of chemical-electric energy...knowing, to me, isn't a static process - it happens because things change. it happens because people are communicating. Last night, me and one of my coworker, lets call her vert, were moving in directions towards eachother, being very close to the same size[her a little smaller]... we both stopped, and our stopping got our minds going and she said something, something stupid and bickering...and i replied[she can be such a troll sometimes], and this turned into a 20-30 second discourse...stopped by which the cook local, 'boss', stepped in an said 'quit flirting you two'. [while i think she's more or less a descent human being, she'sjust...well..not my type] we both, at the same moment, stopped talking, turned around 180 degrees, and started moving away from eachother in perfect unison, saying nothing until we were out of sight. there was potential energy stored within us, in the form of underlying assumptions, which was reacted on, which produced predictable results. i think what happened, is momentarily, a consiousness of sorts was formed. The machine did understand chinese...i mean, the set of people known as me_and_vert understood that we were flirting. this is much more important than any induviduals "knowing" of anything, or at least different from it. it is through this "knowing" that i believe western civilization thrives on.

i used to think western civilization would fall apart as we know it...but what i did not ask myself was, if i know it, then what *is* exactly western civilization? a collective of capitalist-democracies with fair laws built so that all men are equal in the eyes of the government, and that no one is above the law, and that people have an intrinsic worth, and have rights because of this?

only when i realized that western civilization is a feudal state of people who allow power to be distributed... do you think the internet, in all its giving-us-the-people-a-voice will cause more freedom, change, or whatnot in the world? for every second we spend online the energy, in the form of cashmoney, is released back into the system, usually by ISPs but also by hardware manufacturers, Credit card companies, and making our workplaces a profit[or making our workplaces work]. you may gain energy by working, but by working you lose more than you gain. in effect the more you do online, the more powerful the regieme becomes. the more you work to pay for your ISP the more stronger the regeime b

actually i think it does run apache now come come to think of it...honestly though, what do you expect - html 1.0 ?

HOLY xor!

isn't mp3.com and all it's artists owned by universal, now? especially considering it just takes artists and then does not let them apply for termination of contract[meaning Every Artist on Mp3.com is Owned by Universal, as is all their content unless otherwise owned by a label/copyrighted/etc before applying for mp3.com/upload?]...this means I am now owned by Apple!!! on the one hand, i've always been more or less a passive apple computers fan but...OMG! ownership rights it seems of my art is transferred to an even bigger company...-~ i don't know whether this is a good thing or not [large corporate entities buying eachother isn't necessarily a good thing]...on the one hand if Apple is pro-P2P technology, and anti-RIAA enough, mabye they may have enough backbone to start pulling things in some direction other than the one things are currently going..-~ of course...or they can become the next -big-brother-.

i personally hope that this is a good thing for musicians and artists...[empowering musicians with technology == a good thing]...but i'm not yet seeing how this would work...

Universal is bought out by Apple then : further integration between technology and content companies. you become part of the "art" system, you become part of the art system. but who would have thought the company that made this system would buy me and tens of thousands of other artists worldwide through universal...it boggles my mind... obligatory beep beep beep link

some of us have trouble affording musical equipment and a computer, let alone a server to host high volume traffic. YES have mp3s on your site but once ten or eleven people have downloaded it, allow for that to be put on the Gnutella/etc networks - this means that people can search gnutella FIRST, so that if the songs are on gnutella, you don't have to waste your bandwidth uploading it to them. not to mention not all places in the world have highspeed access[or the rights to host servers, especially high volume ones!] I myself just got off of dialup, about a month ago. imagine trying to upload 10 10 MB Mp3 files on a 14.4...bottleneck anyone?

i wrote 2 replies one at slashdot, one at kuro5hin. i had backups.

and somehow i simulttaneaously logged out in kuro5hin and closed the remaining 3 windows, with regular keystrokes. wtf.

i'll spare you most of the points and get to the meat. according to the article, this system is designed by the military, to harbour communictation between "assymetric" groups such as terrorist orginizations...and i think this everyone should pay attention to. these people want to replace irc, email, and the telephone forms of communication with this massive overbloat stuff : but that's not important. what is important about them doing this is that the military will have complete control over the form of communication, in this case. at least with email you can know at least to an extent who is seeing your mail...and ditto with irc....but a system partially funded by the military? iidono. creeps me out.

on the other hand... there is big differences between buying cobalt armour[a pragmatic object in a _game_] and a pair of virtual jeans that will NOT make you look any less ugly.