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Vice President Gore Writes for Slate
calibanDNS writes "Slate Magazine (owned by Microsoft) is running an article by VP and presidential hopeful Al Gore. In the article he downplays tension over the recent 'Findings of Fact' and suggests a crucial issue for voters: 'Whose finger do you want on the ALT-CONTROL-DELETE button?' He also talks about the features of Win 2K. The article has the normal Gore tone to it, but it gives us a good idea of what Gore's policy on monopolies and dealing with them is." All in all, a surprisingly decent article. Really. Sure wish we could get VP Gore to do a Slashdot interview, but every time we ask we get fobbed off on a different campaign staffer. Oh well.
Beautiful. You think he'd know that, having invented the Internet and everything. Or is it a subtle joke?
"Those who would give up essential liberty for temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin,
I know a lot of geeks are going to hate Gore for his constant use of the term "Information Superhighway" and his more recent comments that as a United States Senator he "took the lead in creating the Internet," but whatever you politics, I urge you not to be hasty. Don't reject Gore because of his occasionally boneheaded remarks. I think he actually has a relatively good grasp of technology issues (certainly more so than Mr. Bush).
I'm sure there are a host of sound reasons not to vote for Mr. Gore, but please don't let offhand remarks be the reason. Dig in before you decide!
Paid for by the by the Tweedledee for Ratcatcher Committee. All rights reserved. Some restrictions apply. Offer void in California, Rhode Island, and the Domincan Republic...
I'm curious, but how many of your would actually say "ALT-CONTROL-DELETE"?
normal pronunciation, correct me if I'm wrong, would be "CONTROL-ALT-DELETE", wouldn't it? Don't most people, in the instances when they have to, go from left to right? And wouldn't you say it aloud the same way that you normally hit the buttons?
now try doing it the way Gore suggested.
ALT CONTROL DELETE
go on. try it with me.
sorry about that, I really wanted to see how many of you almost rebooted your computer
cannot comprehend how some can argue that hate crimes are no different from all other crimes.
Umm...well...how about...
Murder is murder?
Yes, you're still just as dead whether you're white, black, Filipino-American, Korean, gay, or straight.
Mr. Vice President, if you hadn't spent so much time inventing the Internet, you might understand this.
--
Pretend there is some witty statement here.
Slate has its own thread of comments on the article that can be seen here. There are several good comments and A LOT of flames. Maybe they should impliment a moderation system over there.
~Caliban
I cannot comprehend how some can argue that if someone murders me, or my wife, or my niece, in any of the same ways that Al listed (prior to the quoted line), the murderers should be treated less harshly simply because the three of us chose not to lead an openly gay lifestyle.
I don't even see why our racial heritage would enter into it, so I don't get that aspect of hate-crimes legislation either. Ditto gender, religion, etc.
We can protect minorities of all types from oppression and hate using our most valuable resources -- love, charity, respect -- all we should ask from our government's court system is fairness, which, in setting punishments, should be as blind to the things that differentiate us as possible.
Practice random senselessness and act kind of beautiful.
Al Gore says "And to me, in a year when Matthew Shepard was crucified on a split rail fence because of his sexual orientation; when James Byrd was dragged to his death because of his skin color; and both a Filipino-American and a Korean graduate student were murdered because of the shape of their eyes--I cannot comprehend how some can argue that hate crimes are no different from all other crimes. That is why we need tougher laws to prevent and punish them."
Two of the killers of Byrd have already been given the death sentence, the third is still on trial.
The killer of Matthew Shepard avoided the death penalty because the family did not seek it, but he will still face life behind bars.
How, exactly, could "hate crime" legistlation possibly affect these crimes?
-- Don't Tase me, bro!
I suggested that one crucial issue for voters to ponder is this: Whose finger do you want on the ALT-CONTROL-DELETE button?
Is that the button I keep hitting by mistake, giving me a BSOD?
(I guess by this that Al Gore claims to have invented the keyboard, too)
Certified Microsoft Notworking Specialist
Ok.. so was there a point to his article? It appeared to me that he just rattled on. I felt like I was reading his journal about what he did for the day. There were words on the page, but there was no meaning. Did I miss something besides some PR for himself and MS?
"Where's the beef?"
"Anyone who can't laugh at himself is not taking life seriously enough." - Larry Wall
Guys, I work on Capitol Hill, and can assure you that Al Gore did NOT write the article. A staffer did. Vice-Presidents, Presidents, and Congressmen do not have time or inclination to do this, especially when they are campaigning. Everything is written and edited by staffers and looked over (sometimes) by the politician.
I can think of only a handful of exceptions to this. Nixon was the last President to write a significant number of his own speeches. Ronald Reagan was the only President to write a book while in office (It was a short book on the subject of abortion). Al Gore actually was one of the few to write a book himself while in office (the execrable Earth in the Balance), but a few of his Senate staff did most of the research. Anyway, Senators serve six-year terms, and have more time on their hands. Almost any other example I can think of was ghostwritten.
When I'm singing a ballad and a pair of underwear lands on my head, I hate that. It really kills the mood.
-Tom Jones
...Whose finger do you want on the ALT-CONTROL-DELETE button?
It's Control - Alt - Delete!
And what the heck is that supposed to mean, anyway? What does the president conceptually have the power to "reboot"? It sure isn't the economy, or any industry. Maybe education? Or maybe he's referring to "logging on", NT-style.
I bet some staffer just came up with a phrase that sounded sort of techno-power-cool and seemed appropriate for Microsoft (snicker), and didn't bother to define it, or even think very hard about it. And Gore just spouted it off.
Azog the Goblin
Torrey Hoffman (Azog)
"HTML needs a rant tag" - Alan Cox
It doesn't matter whose fingers are on the button if you are bluescreened and forced to do it.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
A one key reboot may not be the greatest of ideas... but it sure would be damn funny to press it on your buddies keyboard after he's been up all night writing his/her master's thesis...
Actually though, my favourite button is the f*ck it key.
-dr
The way Gore said it-- "...be worth *two* trillion dollars..."-- makes it sound like Gates is worth *one* trillion right now.
Dan Quayle may need some spelling lessons, but Gore needs a lesson in basic mathematics-- perhaps he could use a refresher course on scientific notation... Or counting, since CTRL-ALT-DEL is a *three* key combination, last time I checked...
Then again, he said that the whole "creating the Internet" thing was due to a "lack of sleep". Perhaps he'll finally fess up and attribute these screw ups to "lack of clue".
Clinton was a Rhodes scholar too, and all that intelligence didn't improve his legacy. Anyway, how can you say Bradley is not a career politician when he spent most of his adult life as a Senator, and only got out because Christine Whitman was planning to run against him (at the time)? Now he wants to spend a few more years at the trough in Washington, and somehow he is not a career politician? He is as big a hack as anybody. You shouldn't believe every puff piece you read in Time Magazine.
When I'm singing a ballad and a pair of underwear lands on my head, I hate that. It really kills the mood.
-Tom Jones
I like his swipe at Bush...
So I obviously spent too much time in advance preparing for a pop quiz about CEO's of software companies from hot spots around the world.
I can see it now. It is the day after the election. The Democrats lost horrendously cause Al didn't even get one vote. Then the President Elect steps up to the mic
"Ladies and gentlemen. I would like to introduce to you the newest member of the GOP." Pyro goes off, Rock and Roll music starts, and out comes Al Gore, who takes the mic
"I would just like to say, that I am tired of Bill Clinton getting all the women, and as far as I'm concerned the Democrats can SUCK IT! And now that I am certified to represent the G-O-P, we will insure that the common man is forever opprosed by the wealthy. And leading the charge as head opproser I would like to introduce....Heir Gates!"
Bill Gates comes out to some really lame music and takes the microphone.
"From now on all computers will run Windows. Running Linux will result in the death penalty. And that's the bottom line cause Bill Gates said so!"
*Sigh* Oh well if we are lucky maybe we will see Bill Gates powerbombed through a table by some irate democrats. hehe.
I may not be the biggest fan of Algore or even any of his opponents, but I wonder if Slate is going to let the rest of them have a chance to post equally blatant campaign stump speeches under the guise of "trip reports"?
The fact that Microsoft owns a publication like Slate really blurs the line between corporate PR and independent media. It's not hard to envision a scenario by which Microsoft offers Gore the free chance to spout his vote-for-me schtick in exchange for subtly favorable treatment if and when he becomes President.
Slate appeals to current-events junkies who also happen to spend a lot of time online. These are people likely to be quite knowledgeable about the DoJ vs MS case, and they also happen to be a key demographic Gore would like to reign in.
I don't like it, it's corporate-sponsored campaigning. Microsoft should definitely stay the hell out of presidential politics.
-Sharv
The problem I see with hate crimes is best exemplified in this comic.
As I mentioned above, Senators in safe seats have soooo much more free time than VP's running for President.
When I'm singing a ballad and a pair of underwear lands on my head, I hate that. It really kills the mood.
-Tom Jones
IANAL, but I believe 1st-3rd degree murder is primarily based on heat of the moment vs. premeditation, with intent to kill thrown in there somewhere.
What I don't understand is why should the particular reason you hate someone make a difference in the punishment. I agree that "hate crimes" are absolutely deplorable. What I don't feel comfortable with is legislating people's feelings. The crime is not hating someone, the crime is killing someone.
Did you remember to include the promise of a fat campaign contribution?
You can bet that Microsoft didn't forget!
It's still an exageration, but if you're going to mock people, it works better if you mock them for what they actually said. It also works better if you don't mock them about the same damn thing every single time their name is mentioned. Most people learn that in junior high school. Aside from political pundants and many geeks, evidently.
He was relevant to its beginnings by being instrumental in changing the early funding in a way that kept it funded.
On your point 4:
You should take into consideration that the election is still almost a year away. If you are 17 now, you will be 18 in time for the election unless your birthday fell within about the last two or three weeks. So get your posterior down to the courthouse or wherever you can get a voter registration form and get yourself registered to vote. Most counties will let you register to vote if you are 17 but will turn 18 before the next election.
Aside: When I titled my post "I hope he comes through" I meant to make a comment about hoping he would do a Slashdot interview...
/. dismissing him comepletely because of his boneheades remark about "taking the lead in creating the Internet."
I listened to a speech and Q&A he gave before Microsoft employees. He wouldn't comment on the case, but he said that he believed that "anti-trust law [was] good," and that "protecting the marketplace from dominance by a single player [is] an American value." I do not believe he's a Microsoft lapdog.
BTW, I am not even remotely endorsing Gore. I assure you that he is not my personal choice. Neither is Mr. Bush. I'm not saying who my choice is, but neither of these gentlemen is it.
I posted my original remark because I have read comments on
My interest was in encouraging people to look deeper, not in encouraging people to support a particular candidate!
Anyways, please carry on...
1) A jilted lover plans to kill his ex-girlfriend and does so.
2) A white racist plans to kill a black and does so.
Most people (including me) would say these two crimes deserve the same punishment.
Do you have statistics to back that up? I for one would be surprised to hear that most people feel the punishment should be identical. The second crime not only harms the obvious victim, but an entire segment of the population. What is more, it harms our entire society by tearing at the social fabric and stirring up hatred between the races that could, if unabated, lead to America resembling Kosovo or Bosnia. Based on the added threat to our society that hate crimes represent, versus similar crimes without the "hate" aspect, it is not unreasonable that the punishment is harsher.
This is easier to see if you consider crimes less drastic than murder, such as, say, intimidation, assault, or vandalism. Burning a cross does allot more than deface one's yard -- it terrorizes an entire household, a neighborhood, indeed (with enough press coverage) an entire segment of the American public. Not quite the same as a couple of malicious kids who light a bush on fire playing with matches because they don't like the old lady who won't let them eat her apples, nor should it be treated the same.
If motiviation is truly irrelevant, than one should have identical punishments for all murders (for example), whether deliberate, accidental, premiditated, or spontaneous. As another noted, the difference isn't in the act, but in the degree of thought that went into it. I leave it as an excersize to the class to recognize the aburdity of that approach.
On the other hand, if motivation is relevant, the motive of terrorizing an entire segment of the population (be it based on race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or whatever) and the associated social and cultural damage that does to our entire society as a whole, must be taken into consideration, which is precisely what hate crime legislation does.
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
Anyway, my comment never mentioned his shenanigans. By "his legacy" I was referring to his awful record as a President. What is his political legacy? Name one serious poilitical accomplishment of his, besides getting himself elected. Name one significant piece of legislation he got passed.
With respect to your comments about Bush and Reagan, everybody is welcome to their ignorance. You just got a bigger helping.
When I'm singing a ballad and a pair of underwear lands on my head, I hate that. It really kills the mood.
-Tom Jones
By the way, you overestimate the abilities of staff who ghostwrite articles and op-eds for politicos.
When I'm singing a ballad and a pair of underwear lands on my head, I hate that. It really kills the mood.
-Tom Jones
Did that school have the social classes and cliques that are found in many public schools? No. But I really don't think this was because of the uniforms. The uniforms may have helped, but what made the greatest difference was the size and the environment. When I graduated, the school was at record size: 200 students in total, grades 6 - 12 inclusive. In a school that small, you generally get to know everyone, at least by sight if not by name. Each year, the school would have a day or two of Sports Camp before classes began in September, and by the end of this the headmaster always made a point to know every student by name, and he succeeded. The school was by no means perfect, but was socially a far better place than the public schools I've gone to, and I think the main reason for that is that before long you get to know almost everyone, whether you try to or not. My graduating class was 50 people in total; there just aren't enough people to support cliques, whether they're in uniforms or not. Even if you do just look at someone and judge them based on your surface perceptions, in a school that small eventually you'll probably run into that person enough that you'll get a truer feel for what they're like.
I really don't think that uniforms in public schools with 1000+ students in three grades will help much. I'm fairly sure that all the school shootings in the states happened in large schools (at least hundreds of students per grade); IIRC, Columbine had something like over 3000 students. Put everyone in uniforms, and they'll eventually find other ways to split off into groups. But put them in schools of, say, less than a hundred students per grade, perhaps with uniforms as well, and I don't think social rifts of that kind would occur. Now, finding enough good teachers to staff that many schools and the money to fund all of them is an entirely different matter..
--Raereth
Al Gore, who helped enable the CDA, Echelon, the consideration of wiretap tech built into IP, ADA restraints on web publishing, and every other recent evil thing that's happening on the policy side of tech, is not sufficiently different than Jesse Helms or James Exon in this respect.
I'm not Al Gore fan, (I'm a Republican), but how can you say this? The VP doesn't vote on legislation, doesn't sign legislation, and doesn't enforece legislation. None of the votes on any of these issues were 50-50 in the senate, so what influence did they guy have on any of em?
DrLunch.com The site that tells you what's for lunch!
I'm frankly more concerned with who has their finger on the Stop+A buttons.
--
"L'IT c'est moi!"
Hypertext Webster Gateway Error
No match found for ergonometric
What a chump. And he wants to be President? Yeah, right...
======
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Sacred cows make the best burgers.
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Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.
Well, he spent some of his adult life at least as a basketball player. Only later was he drawn to a political career by his personal interest in social issues, etc. My impression of Gore on the other hand is the son of a senator who when to college to follow in the footsteps of his father and explicitly to "study" government and become a politician. Bill Bradley seems to be more true to the original conception of a politicial...namely an ordinary citizen, with concerns, originally for his local community, and later for the broader national community. Bill Bradley seems to be a peoples' politician while Gore seems a politicians' politician. Bradley seems a bit more level heading and less hypsterish.
And fyi, I don't read puff pieces from Time Magazine...I watch PBS and CSPAN.
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
To be more specific that is over a decade in sports...and to be fair @19 years in political office, about the same as Gore.
For some reason Gore feels like a Republican in Democrat clothing to me...
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
And I still say John McCain.. HEHE so what your point (okok, so he was involved in the whole SL thing, but it wasn't his fault, and he was found "not guilty" -grin-)
He was in the process of a divorce. Maby its just me, but someone who has already started divorce procedings, I honestly could care less about who they have sex with. Oh and btw he's now married to that woman. Whoa... SO SCANDULUS!
Let me put it this way. I have a tendency towards liberalism (which is not, despite a concerted effort, a dirty word). Of the field of serious candidates, I have a lukewarm interest in Mr. Bradley.
I find my policy priorities tend to intersect with mine. He seems (note seems) interested in actually debating policy and staking out positions that do not necessarily fit entirely with polls.
The truth is, American politics of late has, to steal a famous Shakespearean line, been "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
Alas, there is a party apparatus that will rally quite heavily behind Mr. Gore. As for the Republican party, well, they've been too far away from me for nearly twenty years.
Truth be told, I think the last President this country had that impressed me very much held office well before I was born. Harry S. Truman. And the last Republican for whom I have had any particular admiration would be Theodore Roosevelt (who was smarter than he seemed).
The rest of the field leaves me cold.
Of course, that should read, "I find his policy priorities tend to intersect with mine." It would be strange indeed if my policy priorities did not... Preview doesn't help when you read what you meant to say...