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Alpha 21364 EV7 Specs Released

Jon Carroll writes " HP has revealed their Alpha roadmap today at RDF and the schedule goes as previously planned. Alpha 21364 (EV7) is based on 0.18 micron to be shipped by this year end and EV79 based on 0.13 micron SOI will be up next. EV7 will be at 1.2Ghz while EV79 will be at 1.6Ghz. The Alpha 21364 EV7 chip will have 152M transistors, 1.75MB integrated on-die L2 cache, 32GB/s of network bandwidth, integrated RDRAM memory controller with 8 channels up to 12.8GB/s of memory bandwidth. "

20 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. Wow!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I just wet my pants!!!

    1. Re:Wow!!! by ringbarer · · Score: -1, Offtopic
      OSDN | Our Network | Newsletters | Advertise | Shop Slashdot ----------- All OSDN Sites freshmeat Linux.com LinuxGram NewsForge OSDN.com Slashcode SourceForge.net X

      dcsmmasm ewpkq f[l[.sd dfas]e, ,m,lmffadf twewdsf af[fdw,f . kmfkm [,[ew mfmlmg erpkwe asd[mkewf gkdkgs foekfo p,t[gke fkd wertt asdfac uty d

      <TT>/dot .slash /dot .slash /dot .slash /dot .slash /dot .slash /dot ..slash /dot .slash /dot .slash /dot .slash /dot .slash /dot .slash </TT>

      and the schedule goes as previously planned. Alpha 21364 (EV7) is based on 0.18 micron to be shipped by this year end and EV79 based on 0.13 micron SOI will be up next. EV7 will be at 1.2Ghz while EV79 will be at 1.6Ghz. The Alpha 21364 EV7 chip will have 152M transistors, 1.75MB integrated on-die L2 cache, 32GB/s of network bandwidth, integrated RDRAM memory controller with 8 channels up to 12.8GB/s of memory bandwidth. "

      ringbarer (545020)
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      Yay (Score:1)
      by Lord Squirrel on Thursday July 04, @04:54PM (#3823718)
      (User #162184 Info)
      Alpha Lives! Yay! I can die happy now.
      --

      Lord of the Squirrels, Ambassador to the Moles, Minister of Rodential Information

      [ Reply to This | Parent ]

      Moderation - The tool of islamic terror (Score:1, Offtopic)
      by ringbarer on Thursday July 04, @04:57PM (#3823732)
      (User #545020 Info | http://slashdot.org/...&tid=153&cid=311582 5 | Last Journal: Saturday April 13, @07:45AM)
      Reposting again. Managed to get up to 50 Karma, posted ONE pro-Troll message, and got mod-bombed. This diatribe was truer than I thought. CLiT, I shall be honored if you accept me as a member!

      Visitors to the website slashdot.org [slashdot.org] will by now have surely heard of the act of Moderation. This is where a contributor's post can be 'Moderated' either positively or negatively, depending on how the Moderator perceives the value of the post. There is a sliding scale of total moderation points, from -1 to 5, along with snappy summaries of the reason for moderation, such as "Funny", "Insightful", or the ever popular "Troll". An additional benefit offered to Moderators is the ability to ban a poster from contributing, by negatively moderating enough of his postings in a 24 hour period.

      In order to retain some level of fairness for the Slashdot population, the Slashdot Editors (adopting the role of 'Benevolent Dictators') have implemented a scheme whereby regular users of Slashdot, chosen essentially at random, are given the ability to act as Moderators.

      This underlines an inherent flaw in the system. Psychological studies have shown that in any community, no matter how small, should a random sampling of people be given the slightest grasp of power, they will immediately abuse it. There is a primal, evolutionary desire in Man to place himself higher than his peers by whatever measurement they can muster. Slashdot Moderation provides the ideal means for which a man can prove himself more equal than others.

      At the risk of invoking Godwin's Law at such an early point in my thesis, I have no choice but to compare Slashdot Moderation to the systematic genocide of the Jewish community in 1930's Germany.

      A bold statement, I admit, and deliberately designed to shock, but I feel the statement is necessary. I shall now offer a more rational explanation, as well as a comparison of the parallels between Slashdot Culture, and the National Socialist regime.

      First, some history. National Socialism did not spring up overnight. It grew from a feeling of national bitterness and resentment at the war reparations Germany was forced to make after World War One. Germany was a broken country, populated by desperate starving people. And to the desperate, an extreme ideology begins to seem like a rational choice.

      The advent of new technology forces a paradigm shift in the way the beholders of that technology think. The Christianity Meme was made wide spread by the invention of the Gutenberg press. And the rise of National Socialism was made popular because of the invention of Cinema. Here we had a new means to control the flow of information to the populace, that they are willing to unquestioningly listen to due to the 'novelty factor' of moving pictures. It is no coincidence that some of the best Cinematography of the early 20th Century came out of the National Socialist propaganda machine.

      Why is this the case? It is yet another fault of man that a new means of distributing memes is perceived, due to the 'newness' of the medium, to have a greater 'validity' than older media. Those harnessing new inventions have the power to win control of the hearts and minds of others.

      With the tools in place, who should the National Socialists target? Clearly, as a counterpoint to Man's desire to hold power over others, there is also a desire to resent the success of others. If someone is successful, they reduce the self-worth of their beholders. Although times were harsh in Germany in the prelude to World War II, there were still successful inhabitants of that country. Possessing shrewd business acumen as well as the contacts in other countries needed to maintain support in such a poverty stricken and broken land, who else should deserve the wrath of the populace more than the Jews?

      Fast-forward to the latter quarter of the 20th Century. Computing technology is focused in niche markets, and limited to big successful companies like IBM and Microsoft. As the markets were limited, there were also limited opportunities for employment. This gave rise to a rising number of college dropouts, seething with resentment and unable to relate to society beyond the staccato clatter of keyboards and the pallid green glow of an 80x24 text display, and lacking the basic business skills (and a smart suit) needed to secure employment at one of these companies.

      At this time, a new invention was beginning to take hold in College campuses throughout the world. The Internet. As with the Gutenberg press and Cinema beforehand, this new technology would grow to spread one of the most virulent memes of the modern age - Open Source Software, created as the antithesis of successful business practise.

      So, the parallels between the birth of Anti-Semetic National Socialism and the birth of Open Source Software have been made. Of course, it is easy to claim that A=B without providing further logical evidence in support. So, the next task of my thesis is to provide further parallels, and bring this discourse back to the initial focus on Slashdot Moderation.

      Slashdot was conceived, in it's original 'Chips 'n' Dips' incarnation, as a vehemently anti-corporate Open Source website. Roughly 10-15 years down the line from the birth of Open Source, it has become saturated with propaganda, and now forms the centrepiece of the Open Source Development Network. An authority in it's field, Slashdot's success is in no small part due to the ability of the editors to 'pick and choose' valid news articles submitted by users, and present the same old tired "Open Source Good / Closed Source Bad" rhetoric time and time again, dabbling with anti-copyright and the right of the 'common man' to remove an artist's ability to gain compensation for the work. In essence, this is similar to the 'paring down' of artistic worth in 1930's Germany. If no-one is willing to contribute valid and vibrant art to the community, then all art shall become harsh and functional, possessing a certain intimidating aesthetic.

      Which leads onto Open Source's shining achievement - Linux. This diatribe is not aimed towards Linux in particular, as it is a well-oiled, well-tuned machine. A technically adept Operating System, it is worthy of admiration by any rational man. The point of this thesis is not to attack the art produced by Open Source coders, which in itself is worthy, but to enlighten all as to the political processes behind the OSS movement.

      By the same scale, it is hard to fault Mercedes for the technical excellence of the vehicles which were used by the National Socialist party. But the politics behind the party are what taint the image of Mercedes' vehicles of the era. The Swastika itself is a benign symbol, found this day in such diverse locations as Pokemon cards, but is permanently tainted with the history of the acts made under its auspice. In the same way, companies switching to Open Source solutions will begin to regard the Penguin with the same trepidation as their profits fall.

      It should be worth noting at this point that IBM, previously one of the world's greatest companies, has begun reporting servere financial losses, no doubt due to its adoption of Open Source practises. This epoch-making event was NOT reported on Slashdot, even though articles were submitted.

      And what of the other great company mentioned above? Microsoft, aka Micro$oft, Mickeysoft, Microshaft, Kro$oft, and many other derogatory and undeserved names. Throughout the previous 25 years, Microsoft has grown from strength to strength, again possessing shrewd business acumen as well as providing products that people want. This makes them the number one target for the OSS movement. Incapable of standing by their own merits, the OSS zealot would rather attack Microsoft as a priority than produce anything of worth for their community.

      Slashdot Moderators, crazed with their limited new-found power, exhibit this behavior. It is a sad state of affairs that the majority of article moderations are negative. Where is the positive feedback and sense of social contribution? Nowhere to be found. Moderators are too focused on putting their peers down to make themselves appear superior, rather than doing the hard work and becoming better on their own terms.

      As the National Socialists required a scapegoat, Slashdot Moderators require a constant stream of Postings to label '-1, Inferior'. Once a posting is reduced to the score of -1, it becomes invisible to the casual user. Again, this is a parallel to the Ghettoization of Germany upon the election of Hitler.

      In essence this would not be so bad, were postings to be evaluated on their own terms. However, alongside the moderation of their postings, each user has a 'Karma' value, namely the sum of their worth to the Slashdot community. As a user's posts are moderated up or down, so their Karma fluctuates. As Karma becomes negative, a user's default posting score is reduced, until they are posting at a default of -1. Again, ghettoizing PEOPLE, not just their opinions.

      This ghettoization is reinforced with the often fake belief that a negatively moderated post, and therefore the poster, is a "Troll". (Is it any wonder that such a name has been chosen to describe these people, invoking mental imagery of facial disfigurement and hooked noses?) As the Jews were accused of fraud, dishonesty and being subhuman animals, so too are Trolls accused of FUD, Crapflooding, and obfuscated goatse.cx links. Quite often, these 'undesirables' are capable of providing a valid insightful comment on a topic, but because it is in opposition to the Political dogma of Slashdot they are moderated back into their ghetto. The person becomes moderated, not their opinion.

      This is just the thin end of the wedge. Although, as memes are transient, it is difficult to silence an opinion, it is trivial to silence a person. Upon the rise of National Socialism in Germany, the populace were motivated by propaganda into entering the Jewish Ghettos en masse with the sole purpose of causing as much damage as possible to Jewish businesses and residences. The infamous Krystalnacht. This parallels far too accurately with the Slashdot Editor's non-discouragement of the act of IP-banning. As mentioned above, this occurs when an individual user's postings are repeatedly moderated down in a short period. They then become incapable of posting any contributions themselves. In essence, they have been silenced, regardless of the worth of their postings.

      Of course, the editors claim that Meta-Moderation is the panacea to solve this clear abuse of moderating privledge. But if a Meta Moderator is presented with a list of moderations that they disagree with, such as this targetted 'silencing' mentioned above, they cannot note them as such without in turn becoming an 'Undesirable' themselves, as too many Disagreements with the Moderation groupthink also result in loss of Karma.

      Throughout all of this, the Editors have claimed a false level of detachment from the acts of moderation. In a same way, as the National Socialists gathered their power and began working on their Elite Political wing, The SS, they too remained detached from the civilians working in their name. Why? Because after inspiring the populace to such acts of violence through their propaganda, they could then claim that they were only giving the people what they want.

      And then began the next stage of the atrocities. The Gestapo, Germany's secret police, were recruited from the best and the brightest of Germany's elite. As is the case now, the best and the brightest of society were often shunned and ostracized in society. In essence, the Gestapo were a tightly controlled 'Geek Army' of intelligent young men with a burning, seething resentment of normal society. The perfect psychological profile for the cause.

      After all, give a normal man (with an active sex life) a gun and he will use it responsibly in self defence. Give a geek a gun and he will behave according to his sociopathic logic and hatred of the world he arrogantly presumes to be distant from. Ask yourself why Slashdot flat-out justified the murder of innocents at Columbine. And then ask yourself why, even for a brief moment, you almost began to sympathize with the killers after Jon Katz' manipulative and pseudo-emotive Hellmouth articles.

      How this relates to Slashdot is clear. The majority of Slashdot posters are Sociopathic OSS zealots, unable through lack of social finesse or personal hygiene to mate regularly. Sexually and emotionally frustrated and with grudges to bear, incapable in their blinkered sense of self-righteousness of accepting any dissenting opinion than the OSS cause. Now give these people the opportunity to Moderate these dissenting opinions. Of course they are going to want to silence them, by any means necessary.

      Now, the Slashdot Editors have admitted taking this silence of opinion into the next stage, by moderating whole swathes of 'undesirable' posts negatively. And then permanently banning anyone who moderates said posts back up from moderating EVER again! The result of this new policy? The few Moderators with any sense of fairness and decency are removed from the moderation pool, leaving the power ENTIRELY in the hands of the zealots. Clearly, positive moderation is discouraged under this regime, which is a direct parallel with the way the National Socialists moved their own sympathisers into positions of power throughout Europe.

      So how does this compare to the genocide performed in Auschwitz and their ilk? I would like at this point to explain that in NO way do I wish to belittle the horrors that were performed in the name of National Socialism. The six million innocents killed were a cry of anguish from which humanity may never recover. And a vast distance in time and scope from a few banned posters on some shitty "My Favourite Links - now with comments" website. But these stories need to be retold before the horror is lost forever.

      For the only thing that we learn from history is that we never learn anything from history. Time and time again, the St. Vitus dance is played out, we make the same mistakes, and we perpetually fail to see the warning signs.

      So, moderators, the next time you moderate a rational, insightful post down, maybe because you disagree with it or because it's posted by a 'Known Troll', just ask yourself this...

      "Am I really contributing to the Slashdot Community, or selfishly destroying it?"

      --
      hemos_: Alterslash [alterslash.org] is illegal. And is violating copyright.
      [ Reply to This | Parent ]

      Wow!!! (Score:-1, Offtopic)
      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 04, @04:55PM (#3823721)
      I just wet my pants!!!

      [ Reply to This | Parent ]

      sorry i want this to be a good post (Score:-1, Offtopic)
      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 04, @04:55PM (#3823722)
      hAPpY FoURhT oF JuLyu! hehehehe FP roolz LoL
      gr8z 2 pHRaCK this is a fP perhapz lameness filter is screwing me OVER lol cool alphaz

      [ Reply to This | Parent ]

      Support the war against islam (Score:1, Offtopic)
      by ringbarer on Thursday July 04, @04:55PM (#3823724)
      (User #545020 Info | http://slashdot.org/...&tid=153&cid=311582 5 | Last Journal: Saturday April 13, @07:45AM)
      They are targetting our airports. Crashing planes into partying civilians. This is their way.

      Now we must show them ours. Take the war to them. We have guns. Let them feel the power of our righteous vengance.
      --
      hemos_: Alterslash [alterslash.org] is illegal. And is violating copyright.
      [ Reply to This | Parent ]

      Re:Support the war against islam (Score:0)
      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 04, @04:59PM (#3823744)
      Police/FBI etc. are saying it's probably not a terrorist attack because they would have done a much more effective job. Quit jumping to conclusions, you racist shitball.

      [ Reply to This | Parent ]

      happy july 4th (Score:-1)
      by Anonymous Pancake on Thursday July 04, @04:57PM (#3823733)
      (User #458864 Info | http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Monday July 01, @02:01AM)
      I'd like to wish a happy july 4th to the country that funds Israel's terrorism, created the DMCA, and generally wipes it's ass on the rest of the world.

      Happy July 4th you filthy pig fuckers.

      --

      Canada #1
      People who mod down -1 posts are cockgobbling faggots
      [ Reply to This | Parent ]

      Re:happy july 4th (Score:-1)
      by xdfgf on Thursday July 04, @05:00PM (#3823747)
      (User #460453 Info | http://www.churchofsatan.com/ | Last Journal: Wednesday June 12, @11:02PM)
      Thanks!
      --
      "SHITTY ASS RABBIT SMELLS LIKE... PUSSY! I HATE FUCKING RABBITS. HES A FAGGOT RABBIT!" - Gummo
      [ Reply to This | Parent ]

      alpha still lives? (Score:2)
      by Indy1 (slashdot-spam@nospam.btfh.net) on Thursday July 04, @04:58PM (#3823736)
      (User #99447 Info)
      Wait, i am confused here. I thought Dec was bought out by Compaq, which then butchered Dec and their Alpha technology to the point that Compaq finally sold off what remained of the Alpha to Intel (and a bunch of former Alpha engineers also went to AMD if memory serves correctly). Can any one clarify what really happened to Alpha ? I hope that Alpha sticks around, as i feel its a good archtecture (forgive spelling) compared to the x86 stuff.
      --
      Lawyers, MBA's, RIAA? A jedi fears not these things!
      [ Reply to This | Parent ]

      CAKE (Score:-1)
      by Yr0 (y o u a r e a p i l e o f p o o) on Thursday July 04, @04:59PM (#3823743)
      (User #224662 Info)
      almost as good as a wank.

      --

      I R00z J00!!!!!
      [ Reply to This | Parent ]

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  2. sorry i want this to be a good post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    hAPpY FoURhT oF JuLyu! hehehehe FP roolz LoL
    gr8z 2 pHRaCK this is a fP perhapz lameness filter is screwing me OVER lol cool alphaz

  3. Support the war against islam by ringbarer · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    They are targetting our airports. Crashing planes into partying civilians. This is their way.

    Now we must show them ours. Take the war to them. We have guns. Let them feel the power of our righteous vengance.

    --
    "Why did they cancel my favorite Sci-Fi show? I downloaded ALL the episodes!"
    1. Re:Support the war against islam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Police/FBI etc. are saying it's probably not a terrorist attack because they would have done a much more effective job. Quit jumping to conclusions, you racist shitball.

    2. Re:Support the war against islam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Americans are always outnumbered, never outgunned.

      I say bring it on.

  4. Moderation - The tool of islamic terror by ringbarer · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Reposting again. Managed to get up to 50 Karma, posted ONE pro-Troll message, and got mod-bombed. This diatribe was truer than I thought. CLiT, I shall be honored if you accept me as a member!

    Visitors to the website slashdot.org will by now have surely heard of the act of Moderation. This is where a contributor's post can be 'Moderated' either positively or negatively, depending on how the Moderator perceives the value of the post. There is a sliding scale of total moderation points, from -1 to 5, along with snappy summaries of the reason for moderation, such as "Funny", "Insightful", or the ever popular "Troll". An additional benefit offered to Moderators is the ability to ban a poster from contributing, by negatively moderating enough of his postings in a 24 hour period.

    In order to retain some level of fairness for the Slashdot population, the Slashdot Editors (adopting the role of 'Benevolent Dictators') have implemented a scheme whereby regular users of Slashdot, chosen essentially at random, are given the ability to act as Moderators.

    This underlines an inherent flaw in the system. Psychological studies have shown that in any community, no matter how small, should a random sampling of people be given the slightest grasp of power, they will immediately abuse it. There is a primal, evolutionary desire in Man to place himself higher than his peers by whatever measurement they can muster. Slashdot Moderation provides the ideal means for which a man can prove himself more equal than others.

    At the risk of invoking Godwin's Law at such an early point in my thesis, I have no choice but to compare Slashdot Moderation to the systematic genocide of the Jewish community in 1930's Germany.

    A bold statement, I admit, and deliberately designed to shock, but I feel the statement is necessary. I shall now offer a more rational explanation, as well as a comparison of the parallels between Slashdot Culture, and the National Socialist regime.

    First, some history. National Socialism did not spring up overnight. It grew from a feeling of national bitterness and resentment at the war reparations Germany was forced to make after World War One. Germany was a broken country, populated by desperate starving people. And to the desperate, an extreme ideology begins to seem like a rational choice.

    The advent of new technology forces a paradigm shift in the way the beholders of that technology think. The Christianity Meme was made wide spread by the invention of the Gutenberg press. And the rise of National Socialism was made popular because of the invention of Cinema. Here we had a new means to control the flow of information to the populace, that they are willing to unquestioningly listen to due to the 'novelty factor' of moving pictures. It is no coincidence that some of the best Cinematography of the early 20th Century came out of the National Socialist propaganda machine.

    Why is this the case? It is yet another fault of man that a new means of distributing memes is perceived, due to the 'newness' of the medium, to have a greater 'validity' than older media. Those harnessing new inventions have the power to win control of the hearts and minds of others.

    With the tools in place, who should the National Socialists target? Clearly, as a counterpoint to Man's desire to hold power over others, there is also a desire to resent the success of others. If someone is successful, they reduce the self-worth of their beholders. Although times were harsh in Germany in the prelude to World War II, there were still successful inhabitants of that country. Possessing shrewd business acumen as well as the contacts in other countries needed to maintain support in such a poverty stricken and broken land, who else should deserve the wrath of the populace more than the Jews?

    Fast-forward to the latter quarter of the 20th Century. Computing technology is focused in niche markets, and limited to big successful companies like IBM and Microsoft. As the markets were limited, there were also limited opportunities for employment. This gave rise to a rising number of college dropouts, seething with resentment and unable to relate to society beyond the staccato clatter of keyboards and the pallid green glow of an 80x24 text display, and lacking the basic business skills (and a smart suit) needed to secure employment at one of these companies.

    At this time, a new invention was beginning to take hold in College campuses throughout the world. The Internet. As with the Gutenberg press and Cinema beforehand, this new technology would grow to spread one of the most virulent memes of the modern age - Open Source Software, created as the antithesis of successful business practise.

    So, the parallels between the birth of Anti-Semetic National Socialism and the birth of Open Source Software have been made. Of course, it is easy to claim that A=B without providing further logical evidence in support. So, the next task of my thesis is to provide further parallels, and bring this discourse back to the initial focus on Slashdot Moderation.

    Slashdot was conceived, in it's original 'Chips 'n' Dips' incarnation, as a vehemently anti-corporate Open Source website. Roughly 10-15 years down the line from the birth of Open Source, it has become saturated with propaganda, and now forms the centrepiece of the Open Source Development Network. An authority in it's field, Slashdot's success is in no small part due to the ability of the editors to 'pick and choose' valid news articles submitted by users, and present the same old tired "Open Source Good / Closed Source Bad" rhetoric time and time again, dabbling with anti-copyright and the right of the 'common man' to remove an artist's ability to gain compensation for the work. In essence, this is similar to the 'paring down' of artistic worth in 1930's Germany. If no-one is willing to contribute valid and vibrant art to the community, then all art shall become harsh and functional, possessing a certain intimidating aesthetic.

    Which leads onto Open Source's shining achievement - Linux. This diatribe is not aimed towards Linux in particular, as it is a well-oiled, well-tuned machine. A technically adept Operating System, it is worthy of admiration by any rational man. The point of this thesis is not to attack the art produced by Open Source coders, which in itself is worthy, but to enlighten all as to the political processes behind the OSS movement.

    By the same scale, it is hard to fault Mercedes for the technical excellence of the vehicles which were used by the National Socialist party. But the politics behind the party are what taint the image of Mercedes' vehicles of the era. The Swastika itself is a benign symbol, found this day in such diverse locations as Pokemon cards, but is permanently tainted with the history of the acts made under its auspice. In the same way, companies switching to Open Source solutions will begin to regard the Penguin with the same trepidation as their profits fall.

    It should be worth noting at this point that IBM, previously one of the world's greatest companies, has begun reporting servere financial losses, no doubt due to its adoption of Open Source practises. This epoch-making event was NOT reported on Slashdot, even though articles were submitted.

    And what of the other great company mentioned above? Microsoft, aka Micro$oft, Mickeysoft, Microshaft, Kro$oft, and many other derogatory and undeserved names. Throughout the previous 25 years, Microsoft has grown from strength to strength, again possessing shrewd business acumen as well as providing products that people want. This makes them the number one target for the OSS movement. Incapable of standing by their own merits, the OSS zealot would rather attack Microsoft as a priority than produce anything of worth for their community.

    Slashdot Moderators, crazed with their limited new-found power, exhibit this behavior. It is a sad state of affairs that the majority of article moderations are negative. Where is the positive feedback and sense of social contribution? Nowhere to be found. Moderators are too focused on putting their peers down to make themselves appear superior, rather than doing the hard work and becoming better on their own terms.

    As the National Socialists required a scapegoat, Slashdot Moderators require a constant stream of Postings to label '-1, Inferior'. Once a posting is reduced to the score of -1, it becomes invisible to the casual user. Again, this is a parallel to the Ghettoization of Germany upon the election of Hitler.

    In essence this would not be so bad, were postings to be evaluated on their own terms. However, alongside the moderation of their postings, each user has a 'Karma' value, namely the sum of their worth to the Slashdot community. As a user's posts are moderated up or down, so their Karma fluctuates. As Karma becomes negative, a user's default posting score is reduced, until they are posting at a default of -1. Again, ghettoizing PEOPLE, not just their opinions.

    This ghettoization is reinforced with the often fake belief that a negatively moderated post, and therefore the poster, is a "Troll". (Is it any wonder that such a name has been chosen to describe these people, invoking mental imagery of facial disfigurement and hooked noses?) As the Jews were accused of fraud, dishonesty and being subhuman animals, so too are Trolls accused of FUD, Crapflooding, and obfuscated goatse.cx links. Quite often, these 'undesirables' are capable of providing a valid insightful comment on a topic, but because it is in opposition to the Political dogma of Slashdot they are moderated back into their ghetto. The person becomes moderated, not their opinion.

    This is just the thin end of the wedge. Although, as memes are transient, it is difficult to silence an opinion, it is trivial to silence a person. Upon the rise of National Socialism in Germany, the populace were motivated by propaganda into entering the Jewish Ghettos en masse with the sole purpose of causing as much damage as possible to Jewish businesses and residences. The infamous Krystalnacht. This parallels far too accurately with the Slashdot Editor's non-discouragement of the act of IP-banning. As mentioned above, this occurs when an individual user's postings are repeatedly moderated down in a short period. They then become incapable of posting any contributions themselves. In essence, they have been silenced, regardless of the worth of their postings.

    Of course, the editors claim that Meta-Moderation is the panacea to solve this clear abuse of moderating privledge. But if a Meta Moderator is presented with a list of moderations that they disagree with, such as this targetted 'silencing' mentioned above, they cannot note them as such without in turn becoming an 'Undesirable' themselves, as too many Disagreements with the Moderation groupthink also result in loss of Karma.

    Throughout all of this, the Editors have claimed a false level of detachment from the acts of moderation. In a same way, as the National Socialists gathered their power and began working on their Elite Political wing, The SS, they too remained detached from the civilians working in their name. Why? Because after inspiring the populace to such acts of violence through their propaganda, they could then claim that they were only giving the people what they want.

    And then began the next stage of the atrocities. The Gestapo, Germany's secret police, were recruited from the best and the brightest of Germany's elite. As is the case now, the best and the brightest of society were often shunned and ostracized in society. In essence, the Gestapo were a tightly controlled 'Geek Army' of intelligent young men with a burning, seething resentment of normal society. The perfect psychological profile for the cause.

    After all, give a normal man (with an active sex life) a gun and he will use it responsibly in self defence. Give a geek a gun and he will behave according to his sociopathic logic and hatred of the world he arrogantly presumes to be distant from. Ask yourself why Slashdot flat-out justified the murder of innocents at Columbine. And then ask yourself why, even for a brief moment, you almost began to sympathize with the killers after Jon Katz' manipulative and pseudo-emotive Hellmouth articles.

    How this relates to Slashdot is clear. The majority of Slashdot posters are Sociopathic OSS zealots, unable through lack of social finesse or personal hygiene to mate regularly. Sexually and emotionally frustrated and with grudges to bear, incapable in their blinkered sense of self-righteousness of accepting any dissenting opinion than the OSS cause. Now give these people the opportunity to Moderate these dissenting opinions. Of course they are going to want to silence them, by any means necessary.

    Now, the Slashdot Editors have admitted taking this silence of opinion into the next stage, by moderating whole swathes of 'undesirable' posts negatively. And then permanently banning anyone who moderates said posts back up from moderating EVER again! The result of this new policy? The few Moderators with any sense of fairness and decency are removed from the moderation pool, leaving the power ENTIRELY in the hands of the zealots. Clearly, positive moderation is discouraged under this regime, which is a direct parallel with the way the National Socialists moved their own sympathisers into positions of power throughout Europe.

    So how does this compare to the genocide performed in Auschwitz and their ilk? I would like at this point to explain that in NO way do I wish to belittle the horrors that were performed in the name of National Socialism. The six million innocents killed were a cry of anguish from which humanity may never recover. And a vast distance in time and scope from a few banned posters on some shitty "My Favourite Links - now with comments" website. But these stories need to be retold before the horror is lost forever.

    For the only thing that we learn from history is that we never learn anything from history. Time and time again, the St. Vitus dance is played out, we make the same mistakes, and we perpetually fail to see the warning signs.

    So, moderators, the next time you moderate a rational, insightful post down, maybe because you disagree with it or because it's posted by a 'Known Troll', just ask yourself this...

    "Am I really contributing to the Slashdot Community, or selfishly destroying it?"
    --
    "Why did they cancel my favorite Sci-Fi show? I downloaded ALL the episodes!"
    1. Re:Moderation - The tool of islamic terror by quantaman · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Your argument is very eloquent and well thought out. Unfortunatly it's also highly misleading.

      Of course, the editors claim that Meta-Moderation is the panacea to solve this clear abuse of moderating privledge. But if a Meta Moderator is presented with a list of moderations that they disagree with, such as this targetted 'silencing' mentioned above, they cannot note them as such without in turn becoming an 'Undesirable' themselves, as too many Disagreements with the Moderation groupthink also result in loss of Karma.

      You know what I recall very few meta-mods I've done where someone was moderated down for their opinion (a few border-line calls but nothing blatent). The vast majority of times people who are modded down have it done so because they are deliberatly trolling, wrong, offtopic, or the moderator didn't get it (we'll both be modded down, I'll be offtopic and rightly so). The hole in the system is with over/underrated where moderators aren't held accountable but I havn't seen many examples of that. For the most part any relevant, polite, accurate, well thought out argument will be modded up regardless of the views.

      Throughout all of this, the Editors have claimed a false level of detachment from the acts of moderation.


      From the faq
      Do editors moderate?
      The Slashdot Editors have unlimited mod points, and we have no problem using them. These moderations represent approximately 8% of all moderation, and according to Meta Moderation, the fairness of these comments is statistically indistinguishable from the moderation of non admin users (92-93% of moderations are ruled 'Fair'). You can argue that this is somehow inherently unfair, but one of the goals of Slashdot is to produce readable content for a variety of readers with a variety of reading habits, and this process improves discussions for the vast majority of Slashdot Readers, so it will stay this way.


      continuing...
      Throughout the previous 25 years, Microsoft has grown from strength to strength, again possessing shrewd business acumen as well as providing products that people want. This makes them the number one target for the OSS movement.

      Umm... I believe it is more the highly monopolistic and unfair buisness practices and the fear over what they will do with their immense amount of power that makes them enemy #1.

      Ask yourself why Slashdot flat-out justified the murder of innocents at Columbine.

      Justified or looked at the issue from both sides and tried to find the reasons so they could be avoided in the future. Frankly your NAZI analogy makes no sense it's a comparison based on massive stretches of facts reaching invalid conclusions. This is simply an online community presenting a certain set of viewpoints pertaining to certain issues and if I didn't have work to do I would try and show that furthur.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    2. Re:Moderation - The tool of islamic terror by AndrewHowe · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Although you were off-topic (where can you post such important stuff and be on-topic) I completely agree with you. Although I play chaotic-neutral in general, that is merely an experiment... And I know exactly how to meta-moderate.
      I am a Microsoft user and proud, well, at least not ashamed, to admit it. But there are some things we can agree on. Idiots do us no favours. I welcome, and thrive on, the cut and thrust of intellectual debate. Long live debate! And long may trolls starve, living only on the skinny bones of the lesser creatures.

  5. Impeach Cheney and Rumsfeld @# +420 Lewis !! #@ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Be Patriotic, Smoke Amerikan grown marijuana, not treasonous imports !!!!

    Courtesy of About 420

    Connotative Use/Meaning

    420 is a phreak s (and not just a hippie s) favorite number for a
    variety of reasons, or maybe for no reason at all, but colloquially
    the number says pot -- let s smoke pot, or someone s smoking
    pot, or gee, i really like pot, or time to smoke pot, either by
    time (4:20 a.m. or p.m.), date (April 20th), or otherwise (e.g. State
    Route 420). April 20th at 4:20 is marked by annual events in
    Mount Tamalpais, CA (an informal gathering); Marin Conty, CA
    (the 420 Hemp Fest); Ann Arbor, MI (the Hash Bash); and
    Washington, D.C. (buildup towards the July 4th Smoke-In).

    Original Source(s)

    Conventional wisdom: The most common tale is that 420 is the
    police radio code or criminal code (and therefore the police call)
    in certain part(s) of California (e.g. in Los Angeles or San
    Francisco) for having spotted someone consuming cannabis
    publicly, i.e. pot smoking in progress; that local cannabis users
    picked up on the code and began celebrating the number temporally
    (esp. 4:20 a.m., 4:20 p.m., and April 20); that the number became
    nationally popularized in the late 1980s and, more ferverently, in
    the early- to mid-1990s; and is colloquially applied to a variety of
    relaxed and/or inspired contexts, including not only pot
    consumption but also a good time more generally (in contrast to
    the drug war surrounding).

    Conventions are legends: 420 is not police radio code for
    anything, anywhere. Checks of criminal codes (including those of
    the City of San Francisco, the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles
    County, the State of California, and the federal penal code) suggest
    that the origin is neither Californian nor federal (the two best
    guesses). For instance, California Penal Code 420 defines as a
    misdemeanor the hindrance of use (obstructing entry) of public
    lands, and California Family Code 420 defines what constitutes a
    wedding ceremony (Marco). One state does come close: The
    Illinois Department of Revenue classifies the Alcoholic Liquor Act
    under Part 420, and the Cannabis and Controlled Substances Tax
    Act are next, under Part 428. (RB 5/19/99)

    True story?: According to Steven Hager, editor of High Times,
    the term 420 originated at San Rafael High School, in 1971,
    among a group of about a dozen pot-smoking wiseacres who
    called themselves the Waldos. The term 420 was shorthand for the
    time of day the group would meet, at the campus statue of Louis
    Pasteur, to smoke pot. ``Waldo Steve, a member of the group who
    now owns a business in San Francisco, says the Waldos would
    salute each other in the school hallway and say ``420 Louis! The
    term was one of many invented by the group, but it was the one
    that caught on. ``It was just a joke, but it came to mean all kinds of
    things, like `Do you have any? or `Do I look stoned? he said.
    ``Parents and teachers wouldn t know what we were talking about.
    The term took root, and flourished, and spread beyond San Rafael
    with the assistance of the Grateful Dead and their dedicated cohort
    of pot-smoking fans. The Waldos decided to assert their claim to
    the history of the term after decades of watching it spread, mutate
    and be appropriated by commercial interests. The Waldos contacted
    Hager, and presented him with evidence of 420 s history, primarily
    a collection of postmarked letters from the early 70s with lots of
    mention of 420. They also started a Web site, waldo420.com. ``We
    have proof, we were the first, Waldo Steve said. ``I mean, it s not
    like we wrote a book or invented anything. We just came up with a
    phrase. But it s kind of an honor that this emanated from San
    Rafael. Maria Alicia Gaura for the San Francisco Chronicle,
    4/20/00 p. A19; and thanks to Noah Cole for the submission

    Alternate explanations

    There are a variety of other explanations, all much more interesting
    than police code, and many plausible. Some are more likely uses
    of the 420/hemp connection rather than sources of it, such as the
    score for the football game in Fast Times at Ridgement High,
    42-0.

    Known Myths: It isn t police code (see above). There are 315
    chemicals in marijuana, not 420. And although tea time in
    Amsterdam is rumored to be 4:20, it is actually 5:30 (Gerhard
    den Hollander).
    Sixties Songs: For instance, Bob Dylan s famous Rainy Day
    Women #12 and 35 is a possible reference, or source --
    12x35=420. And Stephen Stills wrote (and Crosby Stills Nash
    & Young performed) a song 4+20 (first recorded 7/16/69,
    released on Deja Vu 3/11/70) about an 84-year-old
    poverty-stricken man who started and finished with nothing.
    (Thanks to Sherry Keel 12/6/98.) Dylan aslo mentions 4 and
    20 windows in The Balland of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest
    (on John Wesley Harding).
    Older Verse: But 420 in poetry is older than that - Greg
    Keller notes the old nursery rhyme line, four and twenty
    black birds baked in a pie. Revelation 5:14 (in the King
    James Version of the Christian Bible) reads, And the four
    beasts said A-Men. And the four and twenty elders fell down
    and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever. (Travis
    Spurley 2/15/99) And in Midnight s_Children, Salman
    Rushdie wrote, Inevitably, a number of these children failed
    to survive. Malnutrition, disease and the misfortunes of
    everyday life had accounted for no less than four hundred and
    twenty of them by the time I became conscious of their
    existence; although it is possible to hypothesize that these
    deaths, too, had their purpose, since 420 has been, since time
    immemorial, the number associated with fraud, deception and
    trickery. (Comet 2/14/98) Comet s best guess is that this
    refers to something in Indian mythology or numerology, since
    the book is set in India and frequently involves Indian history,
    culture, and religion. Given the high interest in Eastern
    religion among the phish/dead community, this seems a likely
    origin of 420 s current significance.
    Temporal Significance: Hands on analog clock at 4:20 look
    like position of doobie dangling from mouth Larry in
    Tuscan and Alex Mack 5/19/99). Disruptive students are out
    of detention and safetly away from school by 4:20, also
    rumored to be the time that you should dose to be peaking
    when the Dead went on stage Hart. The Waldos were a
    group of teens back in the 70 s that lived in San Rafael, CA.
    420 was the way they talked about pot in front of teachers,
    non-smoking family members etc. Also it was the time of day
    they could just go relax, and get baked. (PhunkCellar)
    Jamaicans purportedly worked till 4 then walked home then
    lit up. They would talk 420 like our parents talked about after
    5. That s when partying began Larry in Tuscan). Albert (not
    Abbie) Hofmann supposedly first encountered LSD at 4:20
    p.m. on 4/19/1943 (Bart Coleman citing Storming Heaven by
    Jay Stevens, recommended by Mickey Hart in Planet Drum).
    Surrealist painter Miro was born April 20, 1893. And
    www.filmspeed.com says the propoganda film Reefer
    Madness has a copyright date of April 20, 1936 (i.e. 4/20).
    (Patrick Woolford)
    Misc: Could be that it comes from hydroponics, the practice
    of cultivating plants in water often used by indoor marijuana
    cultivators, since 4 is used for H on a calculator (420/H20).
    (Nick Lowe 3/30/00) The number 80 (eight) is quatre vingt
    (pronounced cah-truh vahn), meaning four (times} twenty.
    Dan Nijjar 1/27/00 (No connection yet between the number
    80 and pot. A quarter pound is roughly 120 grams, rounding
    quarter-ounces to 7.5.) The titanic was supposed to arrive
    4/20/1912. (Thanks to RB.) Perhaps the heavy use of vt420
    terminals in the Berkeley area is to blame? (BTW, 420 in
    binary code is 110100100.)

    Ubiquitous?

    Now there s a 420 Pale Ale. One of the late-97/early-98 Got
    Milk ads featured a character eating cookies without milk and
    then passing a sign that reads Next Rest Area 420 miles (as Ross
    Bruning). Reportedly, all of the clocks in the movie Pulp Fiction
    are stuck on 4:20. Shirts with the number 420 on the red-and-blue
    interstate highway shield (Interstate 420?) have show up on the
    sitcom Will and Grace (Paul Risenhoover 5/14/99) and in several
    videos. UPS labelling software has a 420 postal code legend for
    next-day/2-day deliveries (which is how Phish tickets are sent).
    (Jack Lebowitz 10/3/98) MTV s 1997 Viewer s Choice Award (for
    the MTV Video Awards) was decided by calls to
    1-800-420-4MTV. And by May of 1998, the number was
    appearing in so many ads (eg Copenhagen 5/14/98 Rolling Stone
    p54, Corvette p55 5/98 Car & Driver) that its presence is
    presumed to be intentional. Many songs are around 4 minutes 20
    seconds long (since many songs fall between 2:30 and 5:30),
    including for example Pink Floyd s A Great Day for Freedom (on
    The Division Bell, 1994), the Foo Fighters My Hero, and
    Smokin from Boston s first album. There have also been some
    420 references on The Simpsons. In the re-run episode aired on
    April 20th, 1999 at a special time (probably in honor of those
    college students staying in the holiday spirit ;-), Homer mentions to
    Flanders that Barney s birthday is April 20th. Also, the jackpot sign
    in one part of the casino says $420,000. There are a couple less
    concrete ones, but these two have to be legit, especially since they
    decided to air THAT particular episode on 4/20/99. (Submitted by
    Matt Meehan 4/21/99) And (as of Fall 99) the 60 free minutes that
    Working Assets Long Distance offers, at the 7 cents per minute
    rate, is $4.20 free. There s even a band named 420, and another
    names . In the first fifteen pages of Karel Capek s novel War with
    the Newts, a man diving under wonder stayed down for four
    minutes and twenty seconds. Grant Garstka 1/6/00 At the
    suggested retail price ($3.96) and Michigan (6%) sales tax, a deck
    of Uno cards costs $4.20. Nic Boris 4:20 marks the first downbeat
    of the drums in Led Zeppelin s epic Stairway to Heaven. (Dan
    Harris) The bill authorizing force after the World Trade Center
    attacks of 9/11/01 passed 420 to 1, and news reports in following
    months noted many times that there are (or were then, anyway) 420
    airports in the U.S. Allan Morris And don t forget that Adolf Hitler
    was born on April 20, macabely celebrated (or at least
    referenced) via the Columbine High School shootings.

    Phish-related Occurances

    Whatever the origin, the number appears frequently... For the
    summer 1997 tour, TicketMaster service charges were $4.20. In
    the Fall 1997 Doniac Schvice Dry Goods section, a limited edition
    Pollack poster printed on 100% hemp is order number 420P. The
    Great Went was 420 miles from Boston (former home of Phish).
    The official logo includes 4 gills and 20 bubbles (Gringo
    11/12/98). As of 6/15/97, including covers and originals, Phish
    had performed a total of 420 songs (thought its 486 by 4/24/98).
    (David Steinberg). Lawnboy is 420megs of memory. Patrick
    Walker Phish s The Vibration of Life underlies a whirling loop
    with Seven Beats per second (which makes 420 beats per minute.)
    Trey has used the altered line woke up at 4:20 in Makisupa
    Policeman, which also often indirectly celebrates 420ing, e.g. by
    mention of goo balls. One of the funniest shirts around takes light
    jabs at both the 4:20 phenomenon and the rumored evolution
    (collapse?) of the Phish.Net (especially rec.music.phish) from
    being Gamehendge to Flamehendge, and beyond. The first day of
    the Great Went started at 4:20 (with Makisupa Policeman. (The
    second day started late, at 4:37.) Noah Cole The first single from
    Slip Stitch and Pass was played on WBCN 10/14/97 at 4:20 pm.
    An uproar at 12/31/96 can be heard on tape during the 2001, in
    response to an enormous digital clock (which was counting down
    to midnight) reaching 11:55:40 and reading -4:20. (Yoda)
    During the 9-12-00 2001, Trey hits the first riff right at 4:20 into
    the intro jam. (Cal 2/25/01) Some mail order tickets for the 1997
    New Year s run were in section 420. The first Mass Pike toll
    leaving Oswego was $4.20. (Camille Heath ) And the standard
    shipping for The Phish Companion through Amazon was
    originally $4.20.

    420 Shows: Phish performed on April 20 in 1989, 1990, 1991,
    1993, and 1994. The first day of the Great Went started at 4:20,
    although that was called a soundcheck by Trey after three songs.
    The Jazzfest Harry Hood 4-26-96 started at about 4:20 reported by
    Trevor. At Big Cypress, David Bowie was playing at 4:20 a.m.
    And the one event during the hiatus (10/8/00 - ?) featuring all
    four members - for Jason Colton s wedding - was 12/1/01, 420
    from: http://www.phish.net/faq/n420.html:

  6. Re:happy july 4th by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    Ya... but they ain't french atleast...

    You Canadian pussy just ran from Afgahn without even capturing anyone. Congrads you yellow colored cunts.

    I bet you voted Liberal... Dumbass!!!!

  7. The Death of Alpha, Queen of CPUs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I'm not dead yet!

  8. Will it run... by Lokni · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Now all of that is great and all, but will it run my WINDOZE!!

  9. Re:You are an apologist and a child molester by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    yes arab-terrorism, always true, just as arabs assume every israeli killing is an act of genocide is always true

  10. Incorrect by ringbarer · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Arabs are deceitful liers. There's no evidence for this, but it's a scientific FACT!

    --
    "Why did they cancel my favorite Sci-Fi show? I downloaded ALL the episodes!"
  11. One note by ringbarer · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    When I first penned this rambling diatribe, the additional fact that Editors have secret moderation powers hadn't been released. Now they admit to pulling strings amd killing any thought or idea they disagree with.

    --
    "Why did they cancel my favorite Sci-Fi show? I downloaded ALL the episodes!"
    1. Re:One note by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Oh you mean like most islamic regimes?

      No wonder the slashweenies love to defend islamic terrorists so much.

  12. Q.E.D. by ringbarer · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Thus we have come full circle. islam is National Socialism.

    --
    "Why did they cancel my favorite Sci-Fi show? I downloaded ALL the episodes!"
    1. Re:Q.E.D. by AndrewHowe · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      RE: your .sig, I never saw that place before, I can't personally see your copyright problem, but the graphs are f'ing sweet. Thankyou!!!!1

    2. Re:Q.E.D. by AndrewHowe · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      I'd just like to say that I was moderated (unfairly) overrated for that. Burn in hell, moderator...