My resolution is to finally become a full fledged Geek! Sounds silly to most, but hey, I'm only partway there. I also resolve to become more educated on the issues I care about. In the meantime I'm going to spoil the living hell out of my beloved geek by making more home cooked meals (yes guys, thats stew, and homemade bread, and roasts, and deserts), iron his shirts, and bring him snacks when he's working late into the night on his computerized legos!
WARNING: I am offering myself up for flamebait with this one but here goes---
NSI did not lock the domain name as they should have... not once but TWICE. Big mistake on thier part but they are not to blame entirely. Register.com sold the name (apparantly) to GreatDomains.com who (again apparantly) sold the name to a gentleman in the UK. No mistake here, to Register.com the domain was available. (Their mistake is in not helping to retrieve the name after finding out it wasn't REALLY available).
Now we have this gentleman in the UK who has the name and is willing to "give it up" for $500,000. Here is where to place your blame (IMHO). If, and I don't recall seeing it mentioned, this man was made aware of the mistake, he should have offered to rescind his deal with GreatDomains.com, who should rescind their deal with Register.com who should return the domain name to NSI who should LOCK the damn thing and complete the transfer.
But NO this guy, who probably paid much more than $70 but much less than $500,000 for the domain is looking to make a profit at someone elses expense. He is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! and he is who the "polite" emails should be sent to (again, JMHO).
"...but it does seem that some sort of international task force, funded by a variety of governments (or the UN) would solve a lot of these kind of problems."
I'm more of the idea that some sort of task force by the people for the people is what is needed. And not just for IM issues. Each day there is a New & Improved something for the internet. There needs to be standards adopted somewhere or it will be necessary to have 1 of everything just to keep in touch.
I personally have been known to run AIM, ICQ, mIRC, my base e-mail, and my secondary e-mail concurrently just to keep in touch and get the decisions and deals made in a timely manner. I can multi-task with the best of them, but that doesn't mean I want to have to if the issues are important.
"The more intelligent you are the less need you have to spend valuable time relearning material that is trivial to a more advanced intellect and the more people that can approach things like quantum mechanics and the like."
My point being though, with the ability to continue to increase the average intelligence, won't everyone eventually be as intelligent as the next guy? If we're all looking and thinking alike, where are we? One Einstein in a million is a good thing for the world, but a world of One Million Einsteins may not be. Just a thought!
"...most of the enhancements will most likely not be able to be in pre-existing humans and so therefore will leave a huge gulf of your so called "defective" humans around"
Sorry to say this, but my words were "Skip the defective genes and leave the rest to chance...defective being defined as disabling or debilitating". I am not referring to people so much as the genes that CAUSE the disabling. Big difference there, if you understand that a person with a disability or genetic predisposition to certain cancers is not *IMHO* defective. My main point is to use this tool to eradicate "sickness", but leave physical appearance and intellectual attributes up to chance.
While the entire movie depicts and disects the ramifications of genetic perfectness, I think the best representation of the situation was summed up in one of the last lines of the movie "Just when I finally get to leave home, I realize it's harder to do than I thought". (not a perfect quote but the gist is there).
Hawke is really saying that while everyone's goal is to be "Valid", once there it's not the perfectness that you have always been led to believe. Maybe being "In-Valid" and yourself is really where it's best. Lesson: Is it really worth it in the end to bio-engineer everyone to some specific standard?
"Even assuming that universal medicare becomes available, is the entire world going to agree on what constitutes 'beautiful'? 'Smart' is also in the eye of the beholder."
Smart and beautiful are very subjective. Initially, those living less advantaged lives will aim for intelligence in their offspring. While those living in more technologically advanced countries will aim for the more physically perfect. JMHO
The scariest part, I think, is once the initial rush to change what currently is in terms of intelligence and physical attributes is over, will the world become a pod of Beautiful Brains? What good will it all be then?
As a side note, I do believe that the eradication of disease and disorder are probably the best benefits. Skip the defective genes and leave the rest to chance... defective being defined as disabling or debilitating. (Oh, I can feel the flames!)
I better idea would be to charge the sender of the emails, pings or whatever. Most people who really don't send much would hardly be effected, but the people who spam 1000's of messages would be screwed!
You very well could be onto something here. If spammers were charged for the e-mail they send, it may help to put a stop to it. OTH, the cost of tracking and monitoring such usage would cause ISP's to raise their rates to J.Q. Public. Bottom line is: Would it be worth it? Again the question about putting a price on someone's time to filter the spam out of it all.
I'm all for going, don't get me wrong, but we're not in the Cold War space race era any longer. We need better reasons than beating the bad guys to the punch now. Hmmmmm, what about betterment of living conditions? No, not on Mars, but eventually. What about 1 cause for all people -- explore the stars together (hmmm, global peace thru exploration?) What about "look to the future/stars?" we've heard about all our lives? 'Sides, we're hellbent on destroying this planet, why not find another to start fresh with? Not necessarily my "reasons" for why space exploration is a good thing, just playing devils advocate!
Whether or not Cybersquatting is right or wrong is very subjective. And there really isn't going to be a quick easy answer. Of course, Big Brother can always step in and make a "law" about it (and they will one day, you have to KNOW that). Personally, if a squatter has a domain name someone wants, then look into other possibilities. Add a "-" between words or something. Shows the squatter that you aren't that hard up for the domain. Of course, people who pay millions for domain names send a bad message to the squatters. They say "it's profitable"; I personally think it's wrong, but what the hey---if you've the money and the inclination to make squatting profitable to someone, then it's your money!
/. doesn't write the stories, they just take the information from/.ers and post it for others to see. So, that takes the heat off/. As for the rest, well, there's a little known component of humanism: fight or flight! When faced with a creature higher on the food chain you have to choose. The ISP made thier choice, then took the time to do their research. Right or wrong, they did what was felt best at the time. Since researching the issue further, they realize that putting the site back up isn't a bad thing, so do so. Hey, at least they took the time to check things out and then rescind their earlier conclusion... points from me for that. As for any nastigrams people are sending to the ISP and their clients... well, stupid is as stupid does! Unless you are willing to step up to the front line yourself, never condemn the soldier with the gun. Kudos to/. for giving us a medium to see what is going on out there. Kudos to the ISP for doing their research and putting the site back up. 50 lashes to the FBI for playing "power" and not seeing things for what they really are! --- "Without education there is only ignorance"
Slashdot Mirror
NSI did not lock the domain name as they should have... not once but TWICE. Big mistake on thier part but they are not to blame entirely. Register.com sold the name (apparantly) to GreatDomains.com who (again apparantly) sold the name to a gentleman in the UK. No mistake here, to Register.com the domain was available. (Their mistake is in not helping to retrieve the name after finding out it wasn't REALLY available).
Now we have this gentleman in the UK who has the name and is willing to "give it up" for $500,000. Here is where to place your blame (IMHO). If, and I don't recall seeing it mentioned, this man was made aware of the mistake, he should have offered to rescind his deal with GreatDomains.com, who should rescind their deal with Register.com who should return the domain name to NSI who should LOCK the damn thing and complete the transfer.
But NO this guy, who probably paid much more than $70 but much less than $500,000 for the domain is looking to make a profit at someone elses expense. He is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! and he is who the "polite" emails should be sent to (again, JMHO).
I'm more of the idea that some sort of task force by the people for the people is what is needed. And not just for IM issues. Each day there is a New & Improved something for the internet. There needs to be standards adopted somewhere or it will be necessary to have 1 of everything just to keep in touch.
I personally have been known to run AIM, ICQ, mIRC, my base e-mail, and my secondary e-mail concurrently just to keep in touch and get the decisions and deals made in a timely manner. I can multi-task with the best of them, but that doesn't mean I want to have to if the issues are important.
My point being though, with the ability to continue to increase the average intelligence, won't everyone eventually be as intelligent as the next guy? If we're all looking and thinking alike, where are we? One Einstein in a million is a good thing for the world, but a world of One Million Einsteins may not be. Just a thought!
"...most of the enhancements will most likely not be able to be in pre-existing humans and so therefore will leave a huge gulf of your so called "defective" humans around"
Sorry to say this, but my words were "Skip the defective genes and leave the rest to chance...defective being defined as disabling or debilitating". I am not referring to people so much as the genes that CAUSE the disabling. Big difference there, if you understand that a person with a disability or genetic predisposition to certain cancers is not *IMHO* defective. My main point is to use this tool to eradicate "sickness", but leave physical appearance and intellectual attributes up to chance.
Hawke is really saying that while everyone's goal is to be "Valid", once there it's not the perfectness that you have always been led to believe. Maybe being "In-Valid" and yourself is really where it's best. Lesson: Is it really worth it in the end to bio-engineer everyone to some specific standard?
Smart and beautiful are very subjective. Initially, those living less advantaged lives will aim for intelligence in their offspring. While those living in more technologically advanced countries will aim for the more physically perfect. JMHO
The scariest part, I think, is once the initial rush to change what currently is in terms of intelligence and physical attributes is over, will the world become a pod of Beautiful Brains? What good will it all be then?
As a side note, I do believe that the eradication of disease and disorder are probably the best benefits. Skip the defective genes and leave the rest to chance... defective being defined as disabling or debilitating. (Oh, I can feel the flames!)
You very well could be onto something here. If spammers were charged for the e-mail they send, it may help to put a stop to it. OTH, the cost of tracking and monitoring such usage would cause ISP's to raise their rates to J.Q. Public. Bottom line is: Would it be worth it? Again the question about putting a price on someone's time to filter the spam out of it all.
I'm all for going, don't get me wrong, but we're not in the Cold War space race era any longer. We need better reasons than beating the bad guys to the punch now. Hmmmmm, what about betterment of living conditions? No, not on Mars, but eventually. What about 1 cause for all people -- explore the stars together (hmmm, global peace thru exploration?) What about "look to the future/stars?" we've heard about all our lives? 'Sides, we're hellbent on destroying this planet, why not find another to start fresh with? Not necessarily my "reasons" for why space exploration is a good thing, just playing devils advocate!
Whether or not Cybersquatting is right or wrong is very subjective. And there really isn't going to be a quick easy answer. Of course, Big Brother can always step in and make a "law" about it (and they will one day, you have to KNOW that). Personally, if a squatter has a domain name someone wants, then look into other possibilities. Add a "-" between words or something. Shows the squatter that you aren't that hard up for the domain. Of course, people who pay millions for domain names send a bad message to the squatters. They say "it's profitable"; I personally think it's wrong, but what the hey---if you've the money and the inclination to make squatting profitable to someone, then it's your money!
/. doesn't write the stories, they just take the information from /.ers and post it for others to see. So, that takes the heat off /. As for the rest, well, there's a little known component of humanism: fight or flight! When faced with a creature higher on the food chain you have to choose. The ISP made thier choice, then took the time to do their research. Right or wrong, they did what was felt best at the time. Since researching the issue further, they realize that putting the site back up isn't a bad thing, so do so. Hey, at least they took the time to check things out and then rescind their earlier conclusion... points from me for that. As for any nastigrams people are sending to the ISP and their clients... well, stupid is as stupid does! Unless you are willing to step up to the front line yourself, never condemn the soldier with the gun. Kudos to /. for giving us a medium to see what is going on out there. Kudos to the ISP for doing their research and putting the site back up. 50 lashes to the FBI for playing "power" and not seeing things for what they really are! --- "Without education there is only ignorance"