Slashdot Mirror
SSSCA Introduced in Senate
Peter BG Shoemaker writes: "Wired is reporting that Hollings has officially submitted his newly renamed SSSCA, carrying the moniker Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA). It carries all the provisions we've been worrying about...there is a new battlefield folks..." Newsbytes has another story. Reuters has a story about News Corporation and Disney lobbying in support of the bill. I haven't seen the exact text of the bill as introduced; it will probably be in Thomas tomorrow. Update: 03/22 00:12 GMT by M : Declan McCullagh has collected several documents pertaining to the SSSCA, errr, CBDTPA. He's got a faxed copy of the bill (barely legible; read it on Thomas tomorrow), plus statements from Hollings (read it!), the MPAA, the RIAA, and several lobbying groups for the tech industry, who seem less enthralled about it.
Recently there has been some controversy over Slashdot's apparent disregard for browsers other than Konqueror or Netscape (*cough* IE *cough) ability to render the page, and some unfortunate crapfloods which would appear differently in different browsers.
The "editors" (I use the term loosely) of Slashdot appear to believe that Slashcode generates perfect HTML which any browser should render correctly, else the browser must be "buggy".
Slashcode's HTML Output
Just curious, I tried running the front page of Slashdot through the W3 validator to test this claim. The results were shocking.
Lets stick to the facts and drill down into the numbers. The W3 validator found HUNDREDS of errors on the very first page of Slashdot that you view every day. It terminated with the simple line Sorry, this document does not validate as HTML 3.2..
So, what is broken? Is it IE? Or is it the amateur garage-style open source code which is at fault? You be the judge.
Apparently, Slashcode follows the open source coding and testing ethic of "it worked for me". It's just too much to ask them to try to test their code for conformance and compliance, or even just try it on a variety of platforms.
Microsoft's HTML Output
Still curious, I tried running msn.com and microsoft.com through the validator. I was totally taken aback when the validator reported ZERO ERRORS in *either* of these pages.
Conculsion
1. It may benefit the coders to attempt to adapt to some kind of acceptable process for designing, writing, and testing their own code. Perhaps some professional experience would be beneficial here. Certainly an accountability for certain quality standards must be implemented.
2. Perhaps Slashdot should consider switching to IIS 5.0 or .NET server and rewriting their code using a stable, reliable platform like Visual C++ or .NET. Perhaps only then will the browser compatbility issues will be resolved.
These are just suggestions. I am here to help.
Go SSCA!!!!!
suck it down
Does he actually think his arguments through, or does he just chug along on his computer writing about whatever trite politics happen to suit his needs that day? I ask, because I'm willing to accept that his blatant indifference towards the feelings of others is due to intense misunderstanding, suspicion, and fear. I'm even willing to accept that it is easy to see from the foregoing that he has lost what little credibility he once had. But he constantly insists that his pronouncements can give us deeper insights into the nature of reality. But he contradicts himself when he says that he knows 100% of everything 100% of the time. Some prolix saboteurs have raised objections to my vituperations, but their objections are all politically motivated. Sen. Hallings has commented that this is the best of all possible worlds and that he is the best of all possible people. I would love to refute that, but there seems to be no need, seeing as his comment is lacking in common sense. I've already said this a thousand times and with a thousand different phrasings, but I frequently talk about how there is every indication that every morning he asks himself, "How can I fool the masses today?". I would drop the subject, except that I myself have never been in favor of being gratuitously ignorant. I have also never been in favor of sticking my head in the sand or of refusing to stand up and fight for our heritage, traditions, and values.
Nonetheless, for the nonce, Sen. Hallings is content to drag men out of their beds in the dead of night and castrate them. But by next weekend, he will spit in the face of propriety. You've heard me say that his drones are all sappy shirkers. True, that's a cheap shot, but too often, they do think and behave in ways that reinforce that image.
Isn't it odd that the worst types of mindless bureaucrats there are, whose libidinous lifestyle will displace meaningful discussion of an issue's merit or demerit with hunch and emotion sooner or later, are immune from censure? Why is that? This isn't such an easy question to answer, but let me take a stab at it: Sen. Hallings's inclinations represent a backward step of hundreds of years, a backward step into a chasm with no bottom save the endless darkness of death. You may not be aware of this, but Sen. Hallings would have us believe that arriving at a true state of comprehension is too difficult and/or time-consuming. Yeah, right.
Even without the bleeding-heart ideology of corporatism in the picture, we can still say that obscurantism is a growing threat to society and should be outlawed. Do I blame society for this? No, I blame Sen. Hallings. As a consistently mortified observer of his double standards, I can't help but want to reveal the nature and activity of his lickspittles and expose their inner contexts as well as their ultimate final aims. Almost without exception, when I'm through with him, he'll think twice before attempting to attack the fabric of this nation. Our goal must now be to expose Sen. Fritz Hallings's memoranda for what they really are. If you believe that that's a worthwhile goal, then I can truly use your help. Let me hear from you.
To start about the SSSCA, if you can go more than a minute without hearing the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act talk about classism, you're either deaf, dumb, or in a serious case of denial. Don't be fooled: The fact of the matter is that if we let the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act leave a generation of people planted in the mud of a pestiferous, insolent world, to begin a new life in the shadows of solipsism, all we'll have to look forward to in the future is a public realm devoid of culture and a narrow and routinized professional life untouched by the highest creations of civilization.
The Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act's operatives constitute the only known species of animal life that is both mammalian and invertebrate. I know you're wondering why I just wrote that. I'll explain shortly, but first, I should state that the space remaining in this letter will not suffice even to enumerate the ways in which the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act has tried to make a mockery of the term "roentgenographic". I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that whenever there's an argument about the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act's devotion to principles and to freedom, all one has to do is point out that the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act's undertakings have a crippling effect on science and technology. That should settle the argument pretty quickly. Let the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act's infernal arguments stand as evidence that the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act's reinterpretations of historic events are built on lies, and they depend on make-believe for their continuation. Before explaining why daft euphuists cause insurmountable trouble for us, I must first act honorably. Essentially, there is something grievously wrong with those devious pinheads who exhibit cruelty to animals. Shame on the lot of them!
The Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act's central role in the promotion of filthy elitism dates back a number of years. It is tempting to look for simple solutions to that problem, but there are no simple solutions. It is unprofessional and more than disgusting to believe that skin color means more than skill and gender is more impressive than genius, yes. But "the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act" has now become part of my vocabulary. Whenever I see someone shred the basic compact between the people and their government, I tell him or her to stop "the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act-ing". That's our situation today, in very rough outline. Of course, I've left out a thousand details and refinements and qualifications. I've not mentioned that the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act treats serious issues callously and somewhat flippantly. And I've ignored racialism altogether. I've simply pointed out one key fact: I find much to disagree with in the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act's complaints.
courtesy of Scott Pakin's automatic complaint-letter generator
Someone should assassinate sen. Hollings and these other media moguls. I'm serious. The easiest way to get rid of the problem is murder them, and smite anyone who dares to take their place.
I am sick and tired of a bunch of whiny
computer geeks, unable to affect any real
change in politics -- all talking, typing,
and really intellectually masturbating over
these issues.
get some sack, stand up for what you belive
in, and stop people, like "the powerful
chairman of the Senate Commerce committee"
from continuing to screw over the normal
person because of money, greed, and the
inherent need for companies to profit.
I feel badly I have to anon this, but
its unpopular enough to call for ACTION that
I may get in trouble.
I have two words for you: knob jockey.