"What if your child tries to claim the copyright as part of your esate after you die."
Or, for that matter, if you change your mind later on? You still hold the copyright, nothing legally binds you to keep your word that the work is unencumbered by copyright restrictions.
Although I agree with the sentiment, I've found after three years of going without any TV whatsoever that I end up spending the wasted time sleeping instead of doing anything worthwhile. So bang on as far as our freedoms go, but do recognize that time not spent watching television won't be productive by default.
"Without the checks and ballances we've previously had in place, who will be in charge of oversight? Will there be any oversight? Who keeps track of whose wire we're tapping?"
And with the Senate holding up Judiciary confirmation hearings... There aren't enough judges in the Judicial branch to get their regular jobs done and provide said oversight. Convenient, neh? Notice that the Republicans stonewalled Clinton's nominees too. It's not a party thing... Congress as a whole has simply found a way to tip the balance firmly in its favor.
The sad bit is that the info coming out of the sessions up on the Hill tends to indicate that the FBI et. al. had all the data they needed to nab the hijackers, even as restricted as they were before USAPATRIOT was enacted.
Tell me again why this crap is necessary to protect my "safety"? If I want to take the risk, can I opt out? *sigh*
Actually... The more I think about it, the less I'm convinced that the change was made to make Han a more likeable character... Seems to me that his dialogue with Jabba in the hangar would be a little more of a non-sequitur than it already is without that detail.
"Molecular Manufacturing: One of the coolest technologies ever. And yet, a great potential for being abused.This effectively removes the limit of scale on anything we build, be it large or small."
You cover the large bit. The small bit is that anyone can create a large batch of any chemical compound at will as long as they have the raw ingredients. Suddenly instead of kids bringing guns to school, they've got a jar of VX in their bookbags.
You're absolutely right. We ought to be thinking about the risks as well as the benefits on these.
No, I think the point being made is that it's inveitable. Like the Titanic. Business keeps cutting corners, and nobody gives a flying rats's ass until a bunch of people bite it. At which point it's a national frigging emergency of epic proportions that we must legislate out of existence now, never mind that if the corners weren't cut in the first place, those people'd still be breathing.
Nobody cares until enough somebodies get hurt. And the only reason they care then is that the perceived risk to their own precious fannies becomes high enough for them to notice. This is the way of it. It keeps happening, all through history, and we keep on ignoring it.
*deep breath* That's something I've needed to rant about for a while. Maturity bites.
And all those storm troopers are clones... which is why Lea asks Luke "Aren't you a little short for a storm-trooper?" when he comes to rescue her on the Death Star.
I've heard this one floated before... Does that mean that Zahn's full of it? Hmm. Actually, that would explain why Lucas withdrew canon status from Zahn's trilogy... The clone Stormtrooper thing may well be recent.
Hmm. I can't accept that, even if it is from the expanded universe. You're right in that the Sith would be motivated by greed to take as many apprentices as possible. In fact, the "Darth Bane" hypothesis is ridiculous because it assumes that a bunch of nihilistic self-promoters would obey anybody advocating limits to their personal power. My pet theory is simpler and explains more, giving it Occam's Advantage.
Basically, I contend that Sith masters could only take one apprentice because they could only control one at a time. Face it, you've gotta be able to exert numerous dots of Dominance (to use a White Wolf analogy) to get another Sith to obey you. And this is where Palpatine fucks up in ROTJ. In his greed and lack of opposition as Emperor of the Entire Galaxy, he forgets the basics and accepts Luke as his new "young apprentice". He totally misses the fact that in doing so, he can't control Vader (and with Luke, he's certainly got his hands full). Vader's like, "I don't want to kill you son, but I have to" early in the fight, but at the end he realizes, "Waitasec... That bastard's killing my son!" Hilarity and plummeting Emperor results.
So really, I don't care if the "Darth Bane" hypothesis is canon. It lacks any sort of logical analysis, and explains none of the mystery posed by ROTJ.
Why do they have to worry about one method of doing things being cheaper than another? They're a monopoly, for crying out loud. They're not going to worry about cost-effective behavior until it actually starts hitting them in the wallet. Fat chance of that ever happening, though.
Ok, maybe I'm being a little thickheaded, but why do we need more legislation to keep government from doing things that the Constitution says it can't do through legislation in the first place?
*sigh* Although if I had to take a guess, it'd be that the folks on the Hill don't give a crap about constitutionality in the first place.
Not a bad idea... Although some sort of mandatory release would have to be implemented as well. Think of all the old movies disintegrating in vaults in Hollywood that history will never remember. And this covers abandonware as well...
On the downside, it makes too much common sense. We can't have that, now can we?
As distasteful as I find it to be the voice of reason here, there's (theoretically anyway) more to it than that. If they've got the "perp" on tape and the defense can't kill the evidence because law enforcement has been given these powers, then they don't have to reveal who/what the "spy" is. Otherwise, in order to provide damning evidence, they've got to present the spy in court as a witness or evidence, blowing his/her/its cover and usefulness in uncovering further crimes.
So yeah, fishing and framing is a possible side effect (and quite likely to happen), but the ability to do so is hardly the "only reason they could actually want these powere[sic]". Even though I dislike the situation as much as anyone else on here, I couldn't let that one pass.
Hmm. So the reason they rotate into an inverted position (and that the main engines are canted in that funny angle) is so that the external tank can provide an aerodynamic dead area? That thought had never even occured to me before...
So do I... But since it's early in the morning, it triggered an odd mental image...
The Mootrix. Think about it: why would a cow be any less good at generating electricity than a human being? And most of the cows out there are destined to be a steak anyway...
Money and power are interchangeable. Money buys power. Power facilitates inflow of money. It's a positive-feedback loop.
Campaign finance reform entrenches incumbents? Fine. I gots two words to solve that problem: term limits. But the amount of power concentrated in the Legislative Branch of the U.S. government is corrupting enough as it is (you mention pork barreling, neh?), get the can of gasoline away from the fire!
Slashdot Mirror
"What if your child tries to claim the copyright as part of your esate after you die."
Or, for that matter, if you change your mind later on? You still hold the copyright, nothing legally binds you to keep your word that the work is unencumbered by copyright restrictions.
Aha! Another chance for a BTAF break!
Bob's all over that giant robot thing.
But then again, he's also out of his pistil.
Although I agree with the sentiment, I've found after three years of going without any TV whatsoever that I end up spending the wasted time sleeping instead of doing anything worthwhile. So bang on as far as our freedoms go, but do recognize that time not spent watching television won't be productive by default.
"Without the checks and ballances we've previously had in place, who will be in charge of oversight? Will there be any oversight? Who keeps track of whose wire we're tapping?"
And with the Senate holding up Judiciary confirmation hearings... There aren't enough judges in the Judicial branch to get their regular jobs done and provide said oversight. Convenient, neh? Notice that the Republicans stonewalled Clinton's nominees too. It's not a party thing... Congress as a whole has simply found a way to tip the balance firmly in its favor.
The sad bit is that the info coming out of the sessions up on the Hill tends to indicate that the FBI et. al. had all the data they needed to nab the hijackers, even as restricted as they were before USAPATRIOT was enacted.
Tell me again why this crap is necessary to protect my "safety"? If I want to take the risk, can I opt out? *sigh*
"A realtime "nude patch" :)"
Be careful what you wish for. Pr0n stars are not representative of the population at large.
"Aieeeee! My eyes!"
Actually... The more I think about it, the less I'm convinced that the change was made to make Han a more likeable character... Seems to me that his dialogue with Jabba in the hangar would be a little more of a non-sequitur than it already is without that detail.
"Molecular Manufacturing: One of the coolest technologies ever. And yet, a great potential for being abused.This effectively removes the limit of scale on anything we build, be it large or small."
You cover the large bit. The small bit is that anyone can create a large batch of any chemical compound at will as long as they have the raw ingredients. Suddenly instead of kids bringing guns to school, they've got a jar of VX in their bookbags.
You're absolutely right. We ought to be thinking about the risks as well as the benefits on these.
Nobody cares until enough somebodies get hurt. And the only reason they care then is that the perceived risk to their own precious fannies becomes high enough for them to notice. This is the way of it. It keeps happening, all through history, and we keep on ignoring it.
*deep breath* That's something I've needed to rant about for a while. Maturity bites.
I've heard this one floated before... Does that mean that Zahn's full of it? Hmm. Actually, that would explain why Lucas withdrew canon status from Zahn's trilogy... The clone Stormtrooper thing may well be recent.
Basically, I contend that Sith masters could only take one apprentice because they could only control one at a time. Face it, you've gotta be able to exert numerous dots of Dominance (to use a White Wolf analogy) to get another Sith to obey you. And this is where Palpatine fucks up in ROTJ. In his greed and lack of opposition as Emperor of the Entire Galaxy, he forgets the basics and accepts Luke as his new "young apprentice". He totally misses the fact that in doing so, he can't control Vader (and with Luke, he's certainly got his hands full). Vader's like, "I don't want to kill you son, but I have to" early in the fight, but at the end he realizes, "Waitasec... That bastard's killing my son!" Hilarity and plummeting Emperor results.
So really, I don't care if the "Darth Bane" hypothesis is canon. It lacks any sort of logical analysis, and explains none of the mystery posed by ROTJ.
Ok, maybe I'm being a little thickheaded, but why do we need more legislation to keep government from doing things that the Constitution says it can't do through legislation in the first place?
*sigh* Although if I had to take a guess, it'd be that the folks on the Hill don't give a crap about constitutionality in the first place.
Not a bad idea... Although some sort of mandatory release would have to be implemented as well. Think of all the old movies disintegrating in vaults in Hollywood that history will never remember. And this covers abandonware as well...
On the downside, it makes too much common sense. We can't have that, now can we?
*boggles* I think I'm going to lock my door and load my guns. Government is obviously incapable of protecting my rights.
As distasteful as I find it to be the voice of reason here, there's (theoretically anyway) more to it than that. If they've got the "perp" on tape and the defense can't kill the evidence because law enforcement has been given these powers, then they don't have to reveal who/what the "spy" is. Otherwise, in order to provide damning evidence, they've got to present the spy in court as a witness or evidence, blowing his/her/its cover and usefulness in uncovering further crimes.
So yeah, fishing and framing is a possible side effect (and quite likely to happen), but the ability to do so is hardly the "only reason they could actually want these powere[sic]". Even though I dislike the situation as much as anyone else on here, I couldn't let that one pass.
Huh. *ponders*
So do I... But since it's early in the morning, it triggered an odd mental image...
The Mootrix. Think about it: why would a cow be any less good at generating electricity than a human being? And most of the cows out there are destined to be a steak anyway...
Cyrix used to do that... I fell for it back when I didn't know any better (5x86)... Of course, you see where they are now...
Because there's an assload of planet between your telescope and the object you're looking for?
Duuuuuh...
As in "this event can only be described as 'An act of God...'"?
But I wonder... Which god? And why was he stuck in the middle of a forest in Siberia?
The same thing is in the process of happening for the word "terrorist"... Which is as much of a damned shame as the misuse of "pirate".
Money and power are interchangeable. Money buys power. Power facilitates inflow of money. It's a positive-feedback loop.
Campaign finance reform entrenches incumbents? Fine. I gots two words to solve that problem: term limits. But the amount of power concentrated in the Legislative Branch of the U.S. government is corrupting enough as it is (you mention pork barreling, neh?), get the can of gasoline away from the fire!