I did a little asking around, turns out the exchange rate is unspecified, or more to the point, if you earn 5000 Buckazoids, or Zorkmids (TM) or Triganic Ningies, or Gold Pieces, etc., they aren't looking for dollars as a percentage of your gross.
They're looking for Buckazoids, or Zorkmids (TM) or Triganic Ningies, or Gold Pieces, etc.
They want you to travel the virtual galaxy, fight virtual monsters, or dust virtual miniblinds, sell virtual illicit drugs, etc., and then give them the virtual cash...
THEY WANT TO BE ABLE TO PLAY TOO!
And they don't want to have to do the grunt work of virtually EARNING the virtual cheese. The way they figure it, when you find out they don't want actual money, that people will be so relieved that they'll fork over the virtual stuff happily!
No, actually, I was just kidding. They want your dollars.
"Mr Jones? Max Smith, Internal Revenue Service calling. Seems to us here at the IRS that there is a problem with your 2007 Form 1040. You failed to report the income from the sales of 12 residential dwellings, and the profits from the subsequent erection of three hotels in their places, located, according to our records, on Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky Avenues. Additionally, you collected $1,600 in fees from a person named Gorge Ricardo for a hotel you owned on Boardwalk Ave., on four separate occasions, which he claimed as a business expense. Taxes and penalties assessed will total approximately $18,274.89. You may round this down to the next lower dollar if you compute these figures in whole dollars only.
We expect to receive a check in payment by August 15th, or you may expect to be levied additional fees, or possibly having a warrant issued for your arrest. Nobody wants that to happen, so... would you like to copy down the address you can send your check in to?"
I agree there are problems with the course of action I suggest, but there are also problems not taking this action. A little personal 'situational awareness' would help with many of the problems, like someone following you home. This assumes total 100% coverage surveillance, and that people might not have multiple masks. You could carry several, or everybody could just use the same one. Hmmm... sounds like a halfway decent idea for a SF story.:)
You make a strong point, to which I offer this as an alternative: suppose masks don't have to be so overt. Maybe... a simple, strategic application of makeup, or camouflage which might not be detected as a mask would be sufficient. Or just everyone agreeing, (like school kids dropping textbooks off their desks in unison at exactly 1:55 PM style) to start wearing exactly the same thing. Blue denim jeans, white T-Shirt, black leather jacket. All about the same color, shade, material, cut, and fit, which would make it substantially harder to track an individual, at least, without going to much greater pains.
As for businesses, I don't know that they necessarily could refuse. (As an experiment, try it. I'm not somewhere where I can conveniently, but may when I get home.) Not at least until it is banned by law. And if it is banned, perhaps the measure will have achieved its objective, to wit: forcing the 'man' to outlaw anonymity openly, forcing him to 'take off his mask', metaphorically speaking, revealing the true tyrant beneath.
As for your longterm fear of cranimorphological identification, it'd have to be able to see through your hairstyle, which would be extremely tough, considering most people's heads are shaped close enough to alike to render such recognition from a distance to be problematic. I'm not worried about that.
The key here is, at least we, the people, would have taken a stand on it. It doesn't work if just I do it, or just you do it. And if it did result in an increase in crime, or terrorism, just maybe, it'd force governments to rethink pissing people off for the sake of money, hmm?
How long until they start fining the unemployed for the income tax revenue they fail to produce by steadfast laziness, or prosecuting anorexic persons for avoiding taxes on food, snacks, or beverages by not eating?
If this shmoe got his car to run on veggie oil, maybe instead of fining him, they should hire him, maybe, just maybe, he's onto something.
A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed that people who count their thumbs as fingers can enumerate up to 25% higher than those who don't.
I was just going to ask (as a suggestion I hope people will pick up on) that we all start wearing face-masks in public. So far as I know it's not illegal (as long as you don't, i.e., hold-up a liquer store while wearing one) and will allow people not only privacy, but greater ability to express themselves than is afforded by clothing and makeup. Imaine all the cats and dogs you'll see coming at you down the street. All those hidden cameras they put everywhere... useless. What a glorious day, shame the masks are neccessary though, as they shouldn't be. I am thinking of getting one that looks like a penguin. I will be unique. Just like everyone else. Plus then people may also assume I'm an OSS fan. All good things.
Anything arguing in favor of increasing the ability of the minority to extract fees for the use of an idea (ideas being sacred on/.) and allowing that minority to limit how and where anyone can use those ideas is bound to do one thing, start flame-wars.
How about this as a counterproposal: we eliminate the idea of intellectual property (I had this thought first therefor if you want to think it too you have to pay me) altogether, and deem only that which is tangible to be protectable as property. How about that as an idea? You can use it, by the way, free of charge. The idea of branding an idea is silly, and promotes illicit appeals to authority. (This idea is better because it's Jim's, or that idea sucks because it is Bob's... without regard to the merrits of the idea.)
Some might ask, 'wouldn't this discourage innovation?' No, on the contrary, it will only discourage innovation motivated by GREED. As for innovations which require lots of money, but aren't motivated by greed, like... "How about we find a cure for cancer?" they will have to be funded by the public, which is as it should be anyway, as all will potentially benefit.
As for what kind of damage this will do to the burgeoning music and film industries... fsck 'em. Maybe music megastar whacko's will go away, and we'll see a resurgence of local performing talent. Same for the stage... live stage performances are better than celluloid anyway, they require a certain amount of imagination on the part of the viewer, instead of deadening it.
Like I said, you may use these ideas, as they are (as all ideas should be) free.
Here's an idea I've been kicking around for a little while...
Supposition 1: Personal data is a commodity because it's unique to the individual it regards.
Supposition 2: Personal data must be safeguarded because people use it to demonstrate that they are whom they claim to be, that is, to identify people uniquely, to facilitate transactions which either immediately, or ultimately involve the exchange of money, goods, or services, etc.
Conclusion: Personal data is desirable to people who should not have it, for their own financial gain at your expense.
Countless instances of identity theft bear out my conclusion. Now...
Posit: What if, since we can't conduct business efficiently in the world today the way things are going, and since we can't count on business or government to take care of our personal data, we scortch the earth, so to speak. That is, what if we, as a group, post all our so-called "sensitive data" to a website on the internet, and perhaps even have someone verify that it's accurate, then inform credit-reporting agencies, banks, and other financial institutions that the information has been compromised, and place fraud alerts on all our record-files.
It's OUR information afterall, if we want to disseminate it, that's our business. Now, if everyone has access to it, no one can prove the person in possession of it is really any particular person, it becomes VALUELESS.
Anyone who extends credit without adequately verifying that the applicant is who he/she says he/she is, will be liable for all damages since they have a duty to know, and reasonably SHOULD know that the person's information was compromised. I'm not be a lawyer, but if there are any lawyers reading this, you can argue whether or not this idea is valid.
When software companies treat their code the way we collectively treat our personal information, we in the/. Community LAUGH at THEM. It's called "security through obscurity", and as we all know, that scheme is doomed to failure. My idea is security through information proliferation. Let's practice what we preach, and open-source/GPL our "personal data" simultaneously allowing anyone to view or use it, and insodoing, render it unusable and useless.
There are many things you can do to avoid the need for such things as Anti-virus software, anti-spyware, anti-worm, etc. ad infanatum. The very simplest is to perform the following simple procedure:
Step 1. Log off/out of your applications and operating system software Step 2. Power-down your computer, monitor, and all other peripherals Step 3. Unplug or otherwise disconnect computer from mains, and all peripherals Step 4. Take computer, all peripherals, all computer software and books in your posession, and place them in a neat stack directly in front of your home, in the viscinity of where the public garbage collection picks up your trash. If you live in an apartment, place said items adjacent to the communal dumpster, trash collection area, etc. If you are homeless, live on the street, or in a public shelter, why do you have any of these items in your possession? Step 5. Resolve never again to purchase any form of electronic data-processing equipment, to include communications gear containing transistor-based electronics, etc. Step 6. (Optional) Move to the mountains, raise sheep, yaks, etc. Enjoy freedom from modern world and attendant headaches.
Or as an alternative, you can pay AV "protection money" and smile. Remember that when you pay taxes, its much the same way. The fact is, unless you can protect yourself and what is "yours" from all comers, don't be too grumpy about pooling your money with all the others who are unable to protect themselves to hire a few toughs to do it for you. Or in the case of computer security, a few nerds.
What about windows? (By which I mean the breakable kind... okay, by which I mean the kind that can be broken by the neighbor kid with lousy aim and a baseball, not Micro$oft Windows)... have they come up with a transparent RF reflective/absorbing paint, or a new kind of glass to replace your current, lamentably radio-frequency-transparent windows? What happens if you open the window? The screen will have to be RF reflective/absorbing too.
Are people counting the cost of that into their equations? Or is this stuff only intended for use in a closed room with no windows?
What is the potential user of this technology supposed to do when a family member carelessly opens the door and fails to close it when they leave?
Seems like it might be a just a little bit early to ditch WEP/WAP.
Finally, will the paint be available in hot neon pink? ~Hal
The sheer entrenchment of the music and film industries, who in theory, should exist to keep us entertained, has blinded people to the real question.
The real question is this: is this really a bad thing? Suppose, hypothetically, that the RIAA (and it's evil sister the MPAA) both went the way of the dinosaurs, and artists could not score obscene amounts of money for a snappy tune that happens to make fingers snap and toes tap? Suppose further that an "artist"'s income depended as it once did, on talent, or failing that, skill, or failing that, tenacity? How could anyone, let alone the/. community, regard that as anything but a blessing?
I'll hasten to point out that we do not need either of these groups to distribute music or movies anymore. I don't know about any of you, but I'm all set to skip and dance and sing to the tune of "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead!" when either of these (or indeed, any such) organzations commence daisy elevation. ~Hal
(and at the risk of flamebaiting/tolling myself...)
I've seen a lot of PSP's, and own one myself. No doubt you were gazing at the fellow's screen counting dead pixels, and no doubt this fascinated you, what with it being SUCH a rare occurance, seeing a PSP with dead pixels and whatnot.
Seriously, is this a common problem? I've yet to see it, and my PSP is not only over a year old now, but it's been to war. And in this harsh desert environment, I've seen about a dozen PSP's, and have yet to see even ONE dead pixel among them.
Quit hating on Sony, and their fantastic little game system/computer. It rocks. ~Hal
Sharing is harmful to children, and dangerous to national security. Admittedly, I don't have time to read the propoganda... er... article, but... what's that you say? FILE SHARING? Oh, sorry, is that materially different from any other kind of sharing?
Should we just go ahead and abolish the free interchange of ideas while we're at it, so we can stop the sharing of such harmful ideas as "I think we should go home and beat our children" or "I think we should get together and resist our Tyrannical Opressors (TM)" and then just silently curse this minority that 'ruined free speech' for the rest of us?
Or should we recognize that govenment regulation of the exchange of information or ideas which, (although not being a lawyer) I could have SWORN was for forbidden by the first amendment, is the action of the corrupting influence of large amounts of what was originally, (ironically) OUR money which we gave to the RIAA/MPAA etc., when we purchased music and movies "legitimately" in the first place?
RIAA and MPAA are like DRUG ADDICTS, we gave them the drug, cash, we want to stop supplying them, but they are strung out and need more of the drug. Always they need more, and I think, if they could, they would be willing to kill (you or me) to get it. However, killing is generally still illegal, so they can't.
Seeing them pull the strings of our lawmakers telling us ultimately, that it is illegal for us to talk to one another is disenhartening to say the least.
Q: How is it that our planet, it's telescopes and astronomers, beat the electromagnetic energy which was suposedly ALL projected from a single object, (the Big Bang Singularity, as I believe members of the new Creationism that is Modern Cosmology call it) to where we are now, to intercept it?
A fundamental problem with the assertion that radio astronomers are now seeing the "afterglow" from the "Big Bang", is that we would have had to *beat* the light here. We should be, SHOULD BE, INSIDE the light-cone of the "Big Bang" event. according to the theory, and let me underscore that word, THEORY. No matter how powerful the telescope, there is no way we should be able to see the 'bang', or anything which occured shortly thereafter. In fact, if the universe is *only* 13+ billion years old, the electromagnetic energy from the 'bang' raced past us at 300,000 km/s about 13+ BILLION YEARS AGO, while the matter that would one day become us, plodded by at a comparitively pokey... well, less than 300,000 km/s. So someone please explain to me... how did our planet got in front of it?
At the risk of flamebateing, I want to point this out: a true scientist cleaves NOT to any hypothesis that does not jibe with the observations.
I'm not asserting I know what happened, I am just asserting that the "Big Bang" could not have, and all the "evidence" of it is a case of "scientists" trying to fit the data to the hypothesis, and as far as I'm concerned, it's just as much a 'belief system' as any other.
You can always put a fraud alert on your record with the various reporting companies, but Murphy's Law dictates that you'll need a new line of credit, FAST, immediately to one month after you put the alert on there. Then you'll wish you hadn't.
As for crashing "the system", I have often hoped.
"Think of it Marty, no more rich people, no more poor, everyone's the same". "You haven't gone crazy on me, have you Cos?"
I have thought about posting all my personal info, and in excrutiating deatil, and then sending a link to it to the various anti-fraud addresses at credit companies and reporting agencies, but... I am waiting to see how it goes for the first few thousand to try it.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 exploit allows hackers to take control of toilets and install rootkits on toaster ovens at LANL, the IRS and the Detroit, IL city hall. Film at 11.
Open Source Music? It might sound like...
"... you know you've gotta SHOCK the monkey, yeah yeah, shock the monkey, shock shock shock..."
"This song is distributed under the mGPL, and may be freely redistributed subject to the following conditions..."
(Or would it be more like a BSD-ish license?)
;-)
hallux-s
Slashdot Mirror
(over a dozen years) I would just like to say "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!"
Anon,
I did a little asking around, turns out the exchange rate is unspecified, or more to the point, if you earn 5000 Buckazoids, or Zorkmids (TM) or Triganic Ningies, or Gold Pieces, etc., they aren't looking for dollars as a percentage of your gross.
They're looking for Buckazoids, or Zorkmids (TM) or Triganic Ningies, or Gold Pieces, etc.
They want you to travel the virtual galaxy, fight virtual monsters, or dust virtual miniblinds, sell virtual illicit drugs, etc., and then give them the virtual cash...
THEY WANT TO BE ABLE TO PLAY TOO!
And they don't want to have to do the grunt work of virtually EARNING the virtual cheese. The way they figure it, when you find out they don't want actual money, that people will be so relieved that they'll fork over the virtual stuff happily!
No, actually, I was just kidding. They want your dollars.
~Hal
"Mr Jones? Max Smith, Internal Revenue Service calling. Seems to us here at the IRS that there is a problem with your 2007 Form 1040. You failed to report the income from the sales of 12 residential dwellings, and the profits from the subsequent erection of three hotels in their places, located, according to our records, on Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky Avenues. Additionally, you collected $1,600 in fees from a person named Gorge Ricardo for a hotel you owned on Boardwalk Ave., on four separate occasions, which he claimed as a business expense. Taxes and penalties assessed will total approximately $18,274.89. You may round this down to the next lower dollar if you compute these figures in whole dollars only.
We expect to receive a check in payment by August 15th, or you may expect to be levied additional fees, or possibly having a warrant issued for your arrest. Nobody wants that to happen, so... would you like to copy down the address you can send your check in to?"
~hal
I agree there are problems with the course of action I suggest, but there are also problems not taking this action. A little personal 'situational awareness' would help with many of the problems, like someone following you home. This assumes total 100% coverage surveillance, and that people might not have multiple masks. You could carry several, or everybody could just use the same one. Hmmm... sounds like a halfway decent idea for a SF story. :)
You make a strong point, to which I offer this as an alternative: suppose masks don't have to be so overt. Maybe... a simple, strategic application of makeup, or camouflage which might not be detected as a mask would be sufficient. Or just everyone agreeing, (like school kids dropping textbooks off their desks in unison at exactly 1:55 PM style) to start wearing exactly the same thing. Blue denim jeans, white T-Shirt, black leather jacket. All about the same color, shade, material, cut, and fit, which would make it substantially harder to track an individual, at least, without going to much greater pains.
As for businesses, I don't know that they necessarily could refuse. (As an experiment, try it. I'm not somewhere where I can conveniently, but may when I get home.) Not at least until it is banned by law. And if it is banned, perhaps the measure will have achieved its objective, to wit: forcing the 'man' to outlaw anonymity openly, forcing him to 'take off his mask', metaphorically speaking, revealing the true tyrant beneath.
As for your longterm fear of cranimorphological identification, it'd have to be able to see through your hairstyle, which would be extremely tough, considering most people's heads are shaped close enough to alike to render such recognition from a distance to be problematic. I'm not worried about that.
The key here is, at least we, the people, would have taken a stand on it. It doesn't work if just I do it, or just you do it. And if it did result in an increase in crime, or terrorism, just maybe, it'd force governments to rethink pissing people off for the sake of money, hmm?
Think about it.
~hal
How long until they start fining the unemployed for the income tax revenue they fail to produce by steadfast laziness, or prosecuting anorexic persons for avoiding taxes on food, snacks, or beverages by not eating?
If this shmoe got his car to run on veggie oil, maybe instead of fining him, they should hire him, maybe, just maybe, he's onto something.
~hal
A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed that people who count their thumbs as fingers can enumerate up to 25% higher than those who don't.
~Hal
I was just going to ask (as a suggestion I hope people will pick up on) that we all start wearing face-masks in public. So far as I know it's not illegal (as long as you don't, i.e., hold-up a liquer store while wearing one) and will allow people not only privacy, but greater ability to express themselves than is afforded by clothing and makeup. Imaine all the cats and dogs you'll see coming at you down the street. All those hidden cameras they put everywhere... useless. What a glorious day, shame the masks are neccessary though, as they shouldn't be. I am thinking of getting one that looks like a penguin. I will be unique. Just like everyone else. Plus then people may also assume I'm an OSS fan. All good things.
~Hallux
Anything arguing in favor of increasing the ability of the minority to extract fees for the use of an idea (ideas being sacred on /.) and allowing that minority to limit how and where anyone can use those ideas is bound to do one thing, start flame-wars.
How about this as a counterproposal: we eliminate the idea of intellectual property (I had this thought first therefor if you want to think it too you have to pay me) altogether, and deem only that which is tangible to be protectable as property. How about that as an idea? You can use it, by the way, free of charge. The idea of branding an idea is silly, and promotes illicit appeals to authority. (This idea is better because it's Jim's, or that idea sucks because it is Bob's... without regard to the merrits of the idea.)
Some might ask, 'wouldn't this discourage innovation?' No, on the contrary, it will only discourage innovation motivated by GREED. As for innovations which require lots of money, but aren't motivated by greed, like... "How about we find a cure for cancer?" they will have to be funded by the public, which is as it should be anyway, as all will potentially benefit.
As for what kind of damage this will do to the burgeoning music and film industries... fsck 'em. Maybe music megastar whacko's will go away, and we'll see a resurgence of local performing talent. Same for the stage... live stage performances are better than celluloid anyway, they require a certain amount of imagination on the part of the viewer, instead of deadening it.
Like I said, you may use these ideas, as they are (as all ideas should be) free.
~Hal
Anyone needed another reason to hate AT&T... :)
Here it is!
~Hal
Here's an idea I've been kicking around for a little while...
/. Community LAUGH at THEM. It's called "security through obscurity", and as we all know, that scheme is doomed to failure. My idea is security through information proliferation. Let's practice what we preach, and open-source/GPL our "personal data" simultaneously allowing anyone to view or use it, and insodoing, render it unusable and useless.
Supposition 1: Personal data is a commodity because it's unique to the individual it regards.
Supposition 2: Personal data must be safeguarded because people use it to demonstrate that they are whom they claim to be, that is, to identify people uniquely, to facilitate transactions which either immediately, or ultimately involve the exchange of money, goods, or services, etc.
Conclusion: Personal data is desirable to people who should not have it, for their own financial gain at your expense.
Countless instances of identity theft bear out my conclusion. Now...
Posit: What if, since we can't conduct business efficiently in the world today the way things are going, and since we can't count on business or government to take care of our personal data, we scortch the earth, so to speak. That is, what if we, as a group, post all our so-called "sensitive data" to a website on the internet, and perhaps even have someone verify that it's accurate, then inform credit-reporting agencies, banks, and other financial institutions that the information has been compromised, and place fraud alerts on all our record-files.
It's OUR information afterall, if we want to disseminate it, that's our business. Now, if everyone has access to it, no one can prove the person in possession of it is really any particular person, it becomes VALUELESS.
Anyone who extends credit without adequately verifying that the applicant is who he/she says he/she is, will be liable for all damages since they have a duty to know, and reasonably SHOULD know that the person's information was compromised. I'm not be a lawyer, but if there are any lawyers reading this, you can argue whether or not this idea is valid.
When software companies treat their code the way we collectively treat our personal information, we in the
Or is someone already doing this?
Discuss.
~Hal
What can I say, both to the original story and to this particular comment?
Hmmm... Hahaahahahahahahahahha!
MOD parent up, Score: 5, FUNNY!
Oh, wait, you were serious?
Sorry.
~Hal
There are many things you can do to avoid the need for such things as Anti-virus software, anti-spyware, anti-worm, etc. ad infanatum. The very simplest is to perform the following simple procedure:
Step 1. Log off/out of your applications and operating system software
Step 2. Power-down your computer, monitor, and all other peripherals
Step 3. Unplug or otherwise disconnect computer from mains, and all peripherals
Step 4. Take computer, all peripherals, all computer software and books in your posession, and place them in a neat stack directly in front of your home, in the viscinity of where the public garbage collection picks up your trash. If you live in an apartment, place said items adjacent to the communal dumpster, trash collection area, etc. If you are homeless, live on the street, or in a public shelter, why do you have any of these items in your possession?
Step 5. Resolve never again to purchase any form of electronic data-processing equipment, to include communications gear containing transistor-based electronics, etc.
Step 6. (Optional) Move to the mountains, raise sheep, yaks, etc. Enjoy freedom from modern world and attendant headaches.
Or as an alternative, you can pay AV "protection money" and smile. Remember that when you pay taxes, its much the same way. The fact is, unless you can protect yourself and what is "yours" from all comers, don't be too grumpy about pooling your money with all the others who are unable to protect themselves to hire a few toughs to do it for you. Or in the case of computer security, a few nerds.
~Hal.
Are people counting the cost of that into their equations? Or is this stuff only intended for use in a closed room with no windows?
What is the potential user of this technology supposed to do when a family member carelessly opens the door and fails to close it when they leave?
Seems like it might be a just a little bit early to ditch WEP/WAP.
Finally, will the paint be available in hot neon pink?
~Hal
The real question is this: is this really a bad thing? Suppose, hypothetically, that the RIAA (and it's evil sister the MPAA) both went the way of the dinosaurs, and artists could not score obscene amounts of money for a snappy tune that happens to make fingers snap and toes tap? Suppose further that an "artist"'s income depended as it once did, on talent, or failing that, skill, or failing that, tenacity? How could anyone, let alone the
I'll hasten to point out that we do not need either of these groups to distribute music or movies anymore. I don't know about any of you, but I'm all set to skip and dance and sing to the tune of "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead!" when either of these (or indeed, any such) organzations commence daisy elevation.
~Hal
seems to me this story was posted several days early (should have popped up on April 1st)
~Hal
(and at the risk of flamebaiting/tolling myself...)
I've seen a lot of PSP's, and own one myself. No doubt you were gazing at the fellow's screen counting dead pixels, and no doubt this fascinated you, what with it being SUCH a rare occurance, seeing a PSP with dead pixels and whatnot.
Seriously, is this a common problem? I've yet to see it, and my PSP is not only over a year old now, but it's been to war. And in this harsh desert environment, I've seen about a dozen PSP's, and have yet to see even ONE dead pixel among them.
Quit hating on Sony, and their fantastic little game system/computer. It rocks.
~Hal
Should we just go ahead and abolish the free interchange of ideas while we're at it, so we can stop the sharing of such harmful ideas as "I think we should go home and beat our children" or "I think we should get together and resist our Tyrannical Opressors (TM)" and then just silently curse this minority that 'ruined free speech' for the rest of us?
Or should we recognize that govenment regulation of the exchange of information or ideas which, (although not being a lawyer) I could have SWORN was for forbidden by the first amendment, is the action of the corrupting influence of large amounts of what was originally, (ironically) OUR money which we gave to the RIAA/MPAA etc., when we purchased music and movies "legitimately" in the first place?
RIAA and MPAA are like DRUG ADDICTS, we gave them the drug, cash, we want to stop supplying them, but they are strung out and need more of the drug. Always they need more, and I think, if they could, they would be willing to kill (you or me) to get it. However, killing is generally still illegal, so they can't.
Seeing them pull the strings of our lawmakers telling us ultimately, that it is illegal for us to talk to one another is disenhartening to say the least.
~Hal
"Xingular, the new AT&Bell-SouthWest, NexSprint, Virgin-Exxon-Chevron-Mobile Telephone Company"
~Hal
A fundamental problem with the assertion that radio astronomers are now seeing the "afterglow" from the "Big Bang", is that we would have had to *beat* the light here. We should be, SHOULD BE, INSIDE the light-cone of the "Big Bang" event. according to the theory, and let me underscore that word, THEORY. No matter how powerful the telescope, there is no way we should be able to see the 'bang', or anything which occured shortly thereafter. In fact, if the universe is *only* 13+ billion years old, the electromagnetic energy from the 'bang' raced past us at 300,000 km/s about 13+ BILLION YEARS AGO, while the matter that would one day become us, plodded by at a comparitively pokey... well, less than 300,000 km/s. So someone please explain to me... how did our planet got in front of it?
At the risk of flamebateing, I want to point this out: a true scientist cleaves NOT to any hypothesis that does not jibe with the observations.
I'm not asserting I know what happened, I am just asserting that the "Big Bang" could not have, and all the "evidence" of it is a case of "scientists" trying to fit the data to the hypothesis, and as far as I'm concerned, it's just as much a 'belief system' as any other.
~Hallux
You can always put a fraud alert on your record with the various reporting companies, but Murphy's Law dictates that you'll need a new line of credit, FAST, immediately to one month after you put the alert on there. Then you'll wish you hadn't.
As for crashing "the system", I have often hoped.
"Think of it Marty, no more rich people, no more poor, everyone's the same". "You haven't gone crazy on me, have you Cos?"
I have thought about posting all my personal info, and in excrutiating deatil, and then sending a link to it to the various anti-fraud addresses at credit companies and reporting agencies, but... I am waiting to see how it goes for the first few thousand to try it.
What if I'm bad with people AND bad at math?!?
~hs
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 exploit allows hackers to take control of toilets and install rootkits on toaster ovens at LANL, the IRS and the Detroit, IL city hall. Film at 11.
Open Source Music? It might sound like...
;-)
"... you know you've gotta SHOCK the monkey, yeah yeah, shock the monkey, shock shock shock..."
"This song is distributed under the mGPL, and may be freely redistributed subject to the following conditions..."
(Or would it be more like a BSD-ish license?)
hallux-s