I have an old iPhone 4S with no data plan and location services turned off. No apps except a book reader and a couple of other things, all with privacy maximized. A $100 pay-as-you-go card is good for a year, and I've never yet used one up.
Also, the phone spends so much time completely turned off I only have to charge it about once a week...probably less, actually. When I'm home, you reach me by land line or not at all.
So no, I don't get spied on a lot by my phone...certainly not when I'm at home. Is there anything else I can help you with?
I will not voluntarily have something in my home that constantly spies on me and reports to somebody else. I don't care whether it's the government, some corporation or whatever. The only way they would have my best interests at heart would be on those rare occasions when mine and theirs were congruent.
So no. No. Fuck no. I will not put up with it.
What's ironic is that the flagging PC industry could be revived by a totally locked down, totally secure "personal assistant" like some kind of next-generation Siri. The kind of power needed to run something like that would mean there might finally be a need to get busy on quantum computing for upper middle class families.
Sadly, there's not much chance of it happening. Real power and independence in the hands of a lot of reasonably tech savvy people is the last thing our lords and masters want. They don't care about guns. In the end, a bunch of militia crackpots armed to the teeth would last about five minutes against the armed forces. Independent citizens with minds of their own and the ability to act pretty much like tiny versions of todays multi-national corporations...now that my friends, is a threat to the power structure.
...convoys of armed thugs in stolen vehicles trailing along behind these things, secure in the knowledge that people will be coming out of their houses late at night to pick up a pizza at the curb.
"Landshark Home Raiders" is a catchy name. Or maybe, "Su Casa Es Mi Casa, Inc."
Now, can anybody tell me where to find the sequels? I hear "Water Found Inside the Moon" and "Water Found All Over the Face of the Moon" can leave you with carpal tunnel and a serious wrist sprain.
I hope the people of Slashdot will help me test the translation program I have written. It allows on-the-fly repair of English statements badly-translated from the main Afghani languages and renders them into a more accurate English translation.
I entered the customs official's comment, "It's a very long and inefficient process and that's why people do not use this method," into my software, and this is what I got back:
"When they can't afford proper health care or to send their kids to college, how can I expect US taxpayers to make me a millionaire if they know how much I'm stealing?"
Does that sound about right to you guys? For some reason, the software has trouble with the snicker at the end of the official's words.
"I faithfully promise upon my heart and soul that under no circumstances will I stick my hand up your dress ever again until the next time. And I truly mean what I say, Missy.
I moved to Pale Moon because it's pre-disaster FIrefox. However, my needs might not be similar to yours. It doesn't have as add-ons as Firefox...though that might be changing.
The constant update cycle, trying to become Chrome-but-worse, disabling treasured extensions and plugins, all of these tactics and more have cratered Firefox's market share, but some people still apparently have it installed on their system.
Clearly, these few remaining miscreants must be driven away as fast as possible. Default collection of private data should do the trick!
Thanks in large part to those who voted for Trump, net neutrality is dead or dying.
This is a fact. Read it quickly, because I expect to be modded into oblivion by the politically-motivated multiple account holders who are taking over at Slashdot.
LOL...Why not? The idea that slimy green things might be undulating around our li'l Voyager is kind of inspiring, isn't it?
To be honest, though, I wasn't thinking it would have to be primitives. It's just a very direct system...you wouldn't have to figure out what kind of power supply, or have something complicated to make it produce sound. As long as they could read a pictogram, they'd know enough to make noise with it.
Even today, you could make a really good case for using a record. All you really need to make it play is a paper cone and a needle. I bet a rolled up leaf and a thorn would even work. It's not the best way, but it would certainly let somebody know what was coming out of the "amplifier" was non-random, and worthy of attention.
Yew sownd lak one of them leetists. Yew thank yer bettr n reel peepl. Yew shud go bak ta yer librul frenz an yer librul waaf, wat you arnt even related to, an shut up cuz we runnin the cuntree now.
I love your idea to treat them like a non-profit organization eligible for charity-related tax breaks. When the subject comes up, my religious friends like to mention all the charitable work their churches do. That would be a wonderful way to compensate them fairly without providing the full-tilt free ride they're getting now.
I would also like to see their ability to perform state-recognized marriages withdrawn...or at least withdrawn from churches that refuse to marry people the state allows to marry.
We're in complete agreement about education and birth control. I can't comment about national health care, except to say I hope Americans get it soon. I'm a Canadian with American relatives, and I've seen both sides in detail.
Fact: Windmills can potentially have impacts on birds through collisions and habitat disruption. However, the impact is very small, and dramatically less than that of urban sprawl, buildings, house cats or climate change. For example, one study notes that for every 10,000 birds killed by human activities including fatalities by collisions with man made structures, less than one death is caused by a wind turbine. For every 1 bird death caused by a wind turbine, 1,000 to 2,000 bird deaths are caused by cats. Even the National Audubon Society strongly supports wind power as a clean alternative energy source that reduces the threat of global warming.
I have to suspect the bulk of the "loss" is from healthcare dollars spent to keep these people alive. I would bet they've lumped in all the costs...including more kids with asthma, adults who could reasonably be expected to have a job, and old folks who wind up in chronic care facilities because they're invalids thanks to lung/heart problems.
You might be right that society would be better off if they died, but don't you think it would be better for all concerned if we addressed overpopulation by birth control?
I think a good first step would be to get rid of the tax break for churches. Just about all the major religions seem to be against birth control to one degree or another.
I have no idea whether it is or not, but it's certainly not impossible. I'm going to go out on a limb, here, and say I think we can reasonably conclude they didn't just pull the number out of their ass...that they have some plausible reason for choosing it. I would suggest if they're even close to right, it's because bad air quality disproportionately affects poor people, and poor people would be the ones most likely to access health care via the emergency ward, which is the most costly form of care in the US. Frankly, I can't get my head around the cost of health care in your country, or the fact that so many of you are driven into bankruptcy if somebody in the family gets sick.
"Additional concerns about health impacts from sound, infrasound and flickering light from wind turbines have been extensively studied around the world and found to have no significant human health impact
It's actually fairly simple to put a value on a human life. Insurance companies do it all the time. So do courts, in wrongful death trials.
Also, when the numbers are large, you can make some fairly accurate assessments about the amount of extra health care somebody will need under defined circumstances. Again, insurance companies have no problem doing this, and getting results that allow them to turn a good profit.
You're right about the deniers, but I think we both know nothing's going to convince them anyway. The ones that aren't paid shills have drunk deeply of the Koolaid, and won't be convinced by anything so nebulous as actuarial tables.
There's a conference concerning air quality held every couple of years called "Upwind-Downwind". A few years ago, somebody presented a paper at one of them that indicated a majority of people who wound up in an emergency ward with some kind of heart problem had been breathing air on or very close to a road within the previous few hours. It was really pretty amazing. And yes, they'd taken into account all the obvious stuff like "everybody lives near a road".
There's also been evidence from mobile air testing labs that levels of NOx and SOx skyrocket at heavily-used intersections during red lights. It's extremely localized...as in feet, not yards. I'll be really interested to see what happens to general public health when the internal combustion engine has been mostly replaced.
Slashdot Mirror
I have an old iPhone 4S with no data plan and location services turned off. No apps except a book reader and a couple of other things, all with privacy maximized. A $100 pay-as-you-go card is good for a year, and I've never yet used one up.
Also, the phone spends so much time completely turned off I only have to charge it about once a week...probably less, actually. When I'm home, you reach me by land line or not at all.
So no, I don't get spied on a lot by my phone...certainly not when I'm at home. Is there anything else I can help you with?
My friend, it's like you're reading my mind.
I will not voluntarily have something in my home that constantly spies on me and reports to somebody else. I don't care whether it's the government, some corporation or whatever. The only way they would have my best interests at heart would be on those rare occasions when mine and theirs were congruent .
So no. No. Fuck no. I will not put up with it.
What's ironic is that the flagging PC industry could be revived by a totally locked down, totally secure "personal assistant" like some kind of next-generation Siri. The kind of power needed to run something like that would mean there might finally be a need to get busy on quantum computing for upper middle class families.
Sadly, there's not much chance of it happening. Real power and independence in the hands of a lot of reasonably tech savvy people is the last thing our lords and masters want. They don't care about guns. In the end, a bunch of militia crackpots armed to the teeth would last about five minutes against the armed forces. Independent citizens with minds of their own and the ability to act pretty much like tiny versions of todays multi-national corporations...now that my friends, is a threat to the power structure.
...convoys of armed thugs in stolen vehicles trailing along behind these things, secure in the knowledge that people will be coming out of their houses late at night to pick up a pizza at the curb.
"Landshark Home Raiders" is a catchy name. Or maybe, "Su Casa Es Mi Casa, Inc."
Sounds great. I'll get this at once!
Now, can anybody tell me where to find the sequels? I hear "Water Found Inside the Moon" and "Water Found All Over the Face of the Moon" can leave you with carpal tunnel and a serious wrist sprain.
I want them for a friend, of course.
I hope the people of Slashdot will help me test the translation program I have written. It allows on-the-fly repair of English statements badly-translated from the main Afghani languages and renders them into a more accurate English translation.
I entered the customs official's comment, "It's a very long and inefficient process and that's why people do not use this method," into my software, and this is what I got back:
"When they can't afford proper health care or to send their kids to college, how can I expect US taxpayers to make me a millionaire if they know how much I'm stealing?"
Does that sound about right to you guys? For some reason, the software has trouble with the snicker at the end of the official's words.
Is this the first time a large, democratic government has expressly considered meta-data in a ruling?
"I faithfully promise upon my heart and soul that under no circumstances will I stick my hand up your dress ever again until the next time. And I truly mean what I say, Missy.
I moved to Pale Moon because it's pre-disaster FIrefox. However, my needs might not be similar to yours. It doesn't have as add-ons as Firefox...though that might be changing.
The constant update cycle, trying to become Chrome-but-worse, disabling treasured extensions and plugins, all of these tactics and more have cratered Firefox's market share, but some people still apparently have it installed on their system.
Clearly, these few remaining miscreants must be driven away as fast as possible. Default collection of private data should do the trick!
Thanks in large part to those who voted for Trump, net neutrality is dead or dying.
This is a fact. Read it quickly, because I expect to be modded into oblivion by the politically-motivated multiple account holders who are taking over at Slashdot.
LOL...Why not? The idea that slimy green things might be undulating around our li'l Voyager is kind of inspiring, isn't it?
To be honest, though, I wasn't thinking it would have to be primitives. It's just a very direct system...you wouldn't have to figure out what kind of power supply, or have something complicated to make it produce sound. As long as they could read a pictogram, they'd know enough to make noise with it.
Even today, you could make a really good case for using a record. All you really need to make it play is a paper cone and a needle. I bet a rolled up leaf and a thorn would even work. It's not the best way, but it would certainly let somebody know what was coming out of the "amplifier" was non-random, and worthy of attention.
Yew sownd lak one of them leetists. Yew thank yer bettr n reel peepl. Yew shud go bak ta yer librul frenz an yer librul waaf, wat you arnt even related to, an shut up cuz we runnin the cuntree now.
You're free because you don't have anything anybody wants.
Bannon, Spicer, Preibus, Flynn, Scaramucci...Trump wasn't kidding when he said he was going to "drain the swamp".
I love your idea to treat them like a non-profit organization eligible for charity-related tax breaks. When the subject comes up, my religious friends like to mention all the charitable work their churches do. That would be a wonderful way to compensate them fairly without providing the full-tilt free ride they're getting now.
I would also like to see their ability to perform state-recognized marriages withdrawn...or at least withdrawn from churches that refuse to marry people the state allows to marry.
We're in complete agreement about education and birth control. I can't comment about national health care, except to say I hope Americans get it soon. I'm a Canadian with American relatives, and I've seen both sides in detail.
Fact: Windmills can potentially have impacts on birds through collisions and habitat disruption. However, the impact is very small, and dramatically less than that of urban sprawl, buildings, house cats or climate change. For example, one study notes that for every 10,000 birds killed by human activities including fatalities by collisions with man made structures, less than one death is caused by a wind turbine. For every 1 bird death caused by a wind turbine, 1,000 to 2,000 bird deaths are caused by cats. Even the National Audubon Society strongly supports wind power as a clean alternative energy source that reduces the threat of global warming.
http://www.torontoenvironment.org/windmills/myths#birds
I hope that gets addressed very, very soon. I agree with you 100%.
Oh, jeez.
BEFORE they needed a trip to the hospital, dumbass.
I have to suspect the bulk of the "loss" is from healthcare dollars spent to keep these people alive. I would bet they've lumped in all the costs...including more kids with asthma, adults who could reasonably be expected to have a job, and old folks who wind up in chronic care facilities because they're invalids thanks to lung/heart problems.
You might be right that society would be better off if they died, but don't you think it would be better for all concerned if we addressed overpopulation by birth control?
I think a good first step would be to get rid of the tax break for churches. Just about all the major religions seem to be against birth control to one degree or another.
I have no idea whether it is or not, but it's certainly not impossible. I'm going to go out on a limb, here, and say I think we can reasonably conclude they didn't just pull the number out of their ass...that they have some plausible reason for choosing it. I would suggest if they're even close to right, it's because bad air quality disproportionately affects poor people, and poor people would be the ones most likely to access health care via the emergency ward, which is the most costly form of care in the US. Frankly, I can't get my head around the cost of health care in your country, or the fact that so many of you are driven into bankruptcy if somebody in the family gets sick.
"Additional concerns about health impacts from sound, infrasound and flickering light from wind turbines have been extensively studied around the world and found to have no significant human health impact
http://www.torontoenvironment.org/windmills/myths#infrasound
It's actually fairly simple to put a value on a human life. Insurance companies do it all the time. So do courts, in wrongful death trials.
Also, when the numbers are large, you can make some fairly accurate assessments about the amount of extra health care somebody will need under defined circumstances. Again, insurance companies have no problem doing this, and getting results that allow them to turn a good profit.
You're right about the deniers, but I think we both know nothing's going to convince them anyway. The ones that aren't paid shills have drunk deeply of the Koolaid, and won't be convinced by anything so nebulous as actuarial tables.
There's a conference concerning air quality held every couple of years called "Upwind-Downwind". A few years ago, somebody presented a paper at one of them that indicated a majority of people who wound up in an emergency ward with some kind of heart problem had been breathing air on or very close to a road within the previous few hours. It was really pretty amazing. And yes, they'd taken into account all the obvious stuff like "everybody lives near a road".
There's also been evidence from mobile air testing labs that levels of NOx and SOx skyrocket at heavily-used intersections during red lights. It's extremely localized...as in feet, not yards. I'll be really interested to see what happens to general public health when the internal combustion engine has been mostly replaced.