If I'm not mistaken, it's the U.K., with its unparalled number of public cameras that is thrusting the entire civilized world into the paradigm of the surveylance society. I'd be real surprised if a national ID system and DNA cataloguing aren't just around the corner. And wasn't the U.K DIRECTLY involved with Echelon? As far as government invasiveness is concerend, the U.S. is no picnic, but I'd be at least as worried if I lived in the U.K.
Yes, but local municipalities, as well as state legislatures, have complete control over what their police departments can and cannot do. In some areas (like mine), there have been a rash of moves to adopt photo radar to catch speeders. The police say they are only trying to maximize safety, which is complete B.S. - if that's the case, why are they mostly hanging out on tbe busiest thoroughfares, where everyone is pretty much going the same speed, and the chances for a speed-related accident really aren't that great? It's about MONEY. Speeding tickets don't carry any points, but can number in the thousands for a given month, and they net about $40 each. Can you say "cash cow?" This whole mentality was aptly demonstrated one day as someone, doing his civic duty, stood with a sign warning drivers of the radar several hundred feet away. He was given a ticket for "obstructing the flow of traffic" or some such nonsense. Here's the funny part - now, when ever the PD is operating their photo radar unit, they have to put out their OWN sign warning drivers that their speed is being monitored. There was serious talk about removing the flash from the radar unit as well (which would have effectively disabled it altogether), but this was not mandated. If the police are found to be getting a little too "happy" with new technolgy, state laws can always be used to "moderate" their enthusiasm. It's not a cure-all, but it does provide a foundation with which to enforce reasonable use. Overall, I think a little paranoia is a good thing. I don't think it's safe (or very smart) to walk around thinking that everyone (especially the government) always has YOUR best interest in mind.
If you pick up the book Zukav's The Dancing Wu Li Masters or Gleik's Chaos, Making a New Science (I forget which), you'll see the exact same thing mentioned.
No, that's not capitalism that fouling the air, it's opportunism. Opportunists are people who muddy the waters of capitalism, always trying to find the shortest distance between effort and reward.
I'm always amazed at the number of people that back into a corner, like a scared pup with its tail between its legs, chanting the, "it's going to happen sooner or later" mantra. Such has been the case with the issue of privacy, and now I see evidence that it's happening with this new software rental scheme. The truth is that it will only happen if we (consumers) let it happen. The whole snafu with DIVX is a great indication that consumers still have some sense when it comes to adopting new technology. Let's hope it sticks arount long enough to see MS (and others) write this off as a costly, yet failed, experiment.
Canada is probably the one nation that is REALLY pushing for a national DNA registry, and the USA is right on its heals. If that's the mark of a government that gives a damn about privacy and the rights of its people, then tell me what isn't.
There's always an injunction - in the cases I've seen that were tried at the state level first, questionable laws were never really allowed to take effect UNTIL a ruling was made, and IF the ruling was made in its favor.
The issue involved is one that deals with who has ownership of your personal information, and the information you generate as you conduct your day-to-day affairs. The fact that I prefer to keep my business MY business is only a statement that my life is my OWN, and not subject to public disclosure.
The ownership is ALREADY there...it's the collective contribution of people who have donated their time and expertise to produce something of quality and value. I've seen it mentioned that this is a significant driving force behind many of those who pariticipate. Other motivating factors include peer recognition, personal satisfaction, and a genuine passion for working with the technology.
And suddenly, just because Red Hat has elected to become a publicly-traded company, it takes a little stock certificate to validate all of this. Go figure.
Money is one of the few objective criteria we have in this country for measuring value. When you remove this element (ala free software), you basically disconnect it from the capitalist engine that drives the US economy. This is a cost of free software, and the proponents of the free software movement need to be prepared to deal with it. I don't think it can work both ways - that is, to claim that all software should be free, and then complain that because it *is* free, they haven't made any money off of it. Ironically, this money is required to participate in other sectors of the economy.
At the heart of the new phase is the Y2K Information Coordination Center (ICC), the Washington-based hub of a multimillion-dollar crisis management bunker to be operational by Oct. 31 and wind up by June 2000.
A government program that actually ends? The new millenium might be a strange time indeed!
SOME power will undoubtedly be interrupted. But I've heard reps from our own power company that they a) this company is ready for Y2K, and b) they have a contingency plan to remove themselves from the national power grid should there be a cascade effect from other facilities that are causing problems. Of course, just how accurate this is remains to be seen.
Yes, it certainly IS great news!
on
UCITA is passed
·
· Score: 2
Here are a few things to consider:
First, with the UCITA in force, purchasing commercial software will TRULY become a liability for a company- and in many cases, a signficant one. If I were a CIO, I don't know that I could logically (or ethically) encumber my company with something that could either mean an endless stream of "protection" money being paid to commercial software vendors, or risk being rendered non-functional without the use of the software.
Second, I figure that if the vendors supporting the UCITA are actually DUMB enough to attempt to wreak havoc on a company because of a perceived license violation, it's nothing that a few very COSTLY lawsuits won't cure.
Anyone with an IQ slightly higher than your average light bulb will know that just because a law is passed is no guarantee that it's even remotely a good one.
Generally, I'm against this kind of "protection," but having been an inexperienced trader for a while now, it's easy to see why they do this. I remember one day where NASDAQ was going through one of its usual tech stock run-ups, and there was one stock (I can remember which), but at one point, there was a HUGE difference between its bid and ask prices...we're talking several dollars here. This is, for the most part, rather unusual, but if I had been one of the unlucky investors that had my order executed at that high ask price, it would have immediately been worth substantially less. There are all kinds of weirdness that can happen, and if you don't know about them, you can end up screwing your self fairly easily. Fortunately, I only lost a few dollars on that one.
Solidarity works when you have large numbers of people living in absolute squalor, top management taking home millions of dollars each year in compensation, and no alternatives.
I've done some support-related work for large companies that have a strong union presence, and I've heard horror stories - not about what management is doing to the employees, but how the employees are screwing the company *because* they belong to a union. In the wrong place, unions have the potential to become little more than private welfare programs for the terminally incompetent.
Because of what it allows, you've lost total control over information about your LIFE, who you are, and what you do. Is this the mark of a FREE society? I don't think so!!!
First, come this election, I'm not voting for either of the major parties. They both suck. Second, since Lamar Smith seems to be so intent on affecting the private lives of EVERY American citizen (not just the lives of those who were dumb enough to elect him), I think a nationwide campaign to convince his electorate to vote him out of office would be very appropriate.
Agreed. This "one standard ID" will serve as an index key to your entire life - your medical records, purchases, bank transactions, etc. It's a very dangerous proposition.
This is funny - A very similar technique already used to copy the information on the mag stripe on the back of credit cards. This new requirement is not going to accomplish a damn thing...shortly after its introduction, there will be a black market for fake ID cards. And then, aside from a loss of even more of our freedom, what will have been accomplished?
Here's what gets me...all this crypto crap, this national ID card, and ideas like logging the DNA of all newborns (proposed by New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani) is coming from Republican party! It's abundantly clear that the only legislation they don't like is that which relinquishes control over peoples' private lives. The solution...vote Libertarian.
It's my opinion that we pay dearly for "what this got the auto workers." Because of the auto industry, we have a whole class of people working at jobs that require only basic skill levels, who are making salaries normally associated with white-collar, college-educated professionals. In other words, the labor, for what it is, is tremendously overpriced.
We don't need unions for this - we need to let the market take care of itself. Either someone will find an ingenious way of dealing with the problem, or the problem will become so bad that very qualified candidates will begin to consciously steer clear of these locations. If companies want to keep the best talent, THEY'LL have to figure it out.
What good is an $82K/year job if you're dumping most of into an outrageous mortgage payment (or worse, high rent), have to spend hours on the freeway to get to and from work, and on top of this, deal with the stress of the work itself? Some people may actually thrive on this, but personally, I think life has a little more to offer.
Oh - and I'd REALLY hate to be one of the "lucky" homeowners should the market take a dive.
Spelling is an integral part of writing, and writing is an integral part of communication. What you seem to be suggesting is that the best programmers are the worst communicators.
associated with cash ANY DAY OF THE YEAR over something that can be tracked, profiled, pimped, and misused in general. Initiate a transaction with a card (or other device designed to identify you), there's no telling WHO might end up with the information. Make one with cash, and no one knows you from Adam - which, for the most part, is just how it should be.
I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this yet. One more way to assign a unique "identifier" to everything you do.
I was thinking the other day...barring the fact that the big five recording companies are behind the SDMI for secure distribution of recorded music, I think it would be GREAT if there was an SPII (Strategic Personal Information Initiative). Just as SDMI is supposed to have "rules" that govern when and where a particular (secured) MP3 can be played or copied, I think that personal information should have the very same protection. What if, for example, upon providing the necessary information to a fulfillment house for a magazine subscription, you could set it and any other identifying information, to "self-destruct" after a specified period of time? Or, what if the information somehow existed so that it could remain indefinitely, but not be transferred to another party?
All of this aggregation of personal information is going to get us into a real Orwellian situation if it isn't stopped. All this talk about "we have to do it to catch criminals" is a bunch of HORSE manure. I'd like to see a list of all of the "criminals" that were stopped or caught using Echelon, for example. How much has crime in New York city *really* declined as a result of the 2,400+ public surveylance cameras?
And, conversely, notice how many arstists have voiced decisive support for MP3. Very few. In fact, if I were an artist faced with the prospect of support a medium which could mean that I get paid for very little of what I do, I don't know that I'd be very excited about it.
It's also possible that individual artists aren't fighting MP3s because the RIAA is doing it for them - besides...why should they? In many cases, they don't even own the music they produce.
MP3's are the shareware/freeware of the music world
Ha. In many cases, certainly not by the artist's choice. This decision is often made by some punk who has imbued him/herself with the authority to assert ownership of something they clearly do not own. I think there's a word for this....yeah...theft.
Slashdot Mirror
If I'm not mistaken, it's the U.K., with its unparalled number of public cameras that is thrusting the entire civilized world into the paradigm of the surveylance society. I'd be real surprised if a national ID system and DNA cataloguing aren't just around the corner. And wasn't the U.K DIRECTLY involved with Echelon? As far as government invasiveness is concerend, the U.S. is no picnic, but I'd be at least as worried if I lived in the U.K.
Yes, but local municipalities, as well as state legislatures, have complete control over what their police departments can and cannot do. In some areas (like mine), there have been a rash of moves to adopt photo radar to catch speeders. The police say they are only trying to maximize safety, which is complete B.S. - if that's the case, why are they mostly hanging out on tbe busiest thoroughfares, where everyone is pretty much going the same speed, and the chances for a speed-related accident really aren't that great? It's about MONEY. Speeding tickets don't carry any points, but can number in the thousands for a given month, and they net about $40 each. Can you say "cash cow?" This whole mentality was aptly demonstrated one day as someone, doing his civic duty, stood with a sign warning drivers of the radar several hundred feet away. He was given a ticket for "obstructing the flow of traffic" or some such nonsense. Here's the funny part - now, when ever the PD is operating their photo radar unit, they have to put out their OWN sign warning drivers that their speed is being monitored. There was serious talk about removing the flash from the radar unit as well (which would have effectively disabled it altogether), but this was not mandated. If the police are found to be getting a little too "happy" with new technolgy, state laws can always be used to "moderate" their enthusiasm. It's not a cure-all, but it does provide a foundation with which to enforce reasonable use. Overall, I think a little paranoia is a good thing. I don't think it's safe (or very smart) to walk around thinking that everyone (especially the government) always has YOUR best interest in mind.
If you pick up the book Zukav's The Dancing Wu Li Masters or Gleik's Chaos, Making a New Science (I forget which), you'll see the exact same thing mentioned.
No, that's not capitalism that fouling the air, it's opportunism. Opportunists are people who muddy the waters of capitalism, always trying to find the shortest distance between effort and reward.
I'm always amazed at the number of people that back into a corner, like a scared pup with its tail between its legs, chanting the, "it's going to happen sooner or later" mantra. Such has been the case with the issue of privacy, and now I see evidence that it's happening with this new software rental scheme. The truth is that it will only happen if we (consumers) let it happen. The whole snafu with DIVX is a great indication that consumers still have some sense when it comes to adopting new technology. Let's hope it sticks arount long enough to see MS (and others) write this off as a costly, yet failed, experiment.
Canada is probably the one nation that is REALLY pushing for a national DNA registry, and the USA is right on its heals. If that's the mark of a government that gives a damn about privacy and the rights of its people, then tell me what isn't.
There's always an injunction - in the cases I've seen that were tried at the state level first, questionable laws were never really allowed to take effect UNTIL a ruling was made, and IF the ruling was made in its favor.
The issue involved is one that deals with who has ownership of your personal information, and the information you generate as you conduct your day-to-day affairs. The fact that I prefer to keep my business MY business is only a statement that my life is my OWN, and not subject to public disclosure.
A company that controls the bandwidth can do what they want with it.
Sure, for as long as they're in business.
The ownership is ALREADY there...it's the collective contribution of people who have donated their time and expertise to produce something of quality and value. I've seen it mentioned that this is a significant driving force behind many of those who pariticipate. Other motivating factors include peer recognition, personal satisfaction, and a genuine passion for working with the technology.
And suddenly, just because Red Hat has elected to become a publicly-traded company, it takes a little stock certificate to validate all of this. Go figure.
Money is one of the few objective criteria we have in this country for measuring value. When you remove this element (ala free software), you basically disconnect it from the capitalist engine that drives the US economy. This is a cost of free software, and the proponents of the free software movement need to be prepared to deal with it. I don't think it can work both ways - that is, to claim that all software should be free, and then complain that because it *is* free, they haven't made any money off of it. Ironically, this money is required to participate in other sectors of the economy.
Did anyone catch the following sentence?
At the heart of the new phase is the Y2K Information Coordination Center (ICC), the Washington-based hub of a multimillion-dollar crisis management bunker to be operational by Oct. 31 and wind up by June 2000.
A government program that actually ends? The new millenium might be a strange time indeed!
SOME power will undoubtedly be interrupted. But I've heard reps from our own power company that they a) this company is ready for Y2K, and b) they have a contingency plan to remove themselves from the national power grid should there be a cascade effect from other facilities that are causing problems. Of course, just how accurate this is remains to be seen.
Here are a few things to consider:
First, with the UCITA in force, purchasing commercial software will TRULY become a liability for a company- and in many cases, a signficant one. If I were a CIO, I don't know that I could logically (or ethically) encumber my company with something that could either mean an endless stream of "protection" money being paid to commercial software vendors, or risk being rendered non-functional without the use of the software.
Second, I figure that if the vendors supporting the UCITA are actually DUMB enough to attempt to wreak havoc on a company because of a perceived license violation, it's nothing that a few very COSTLY lawsuits won't cure.
Anyone with an IQ slightly higher than your average light bulb will know that just because a law is passed is no guarantee that it's even remotely a good one.
Generally, I'm against this kind of "protection," but having been an inexperienced trader for a while now, it's easy to see why they do this. I remember one day where NASDAQ was going through one of its usual tech stock run-ups, and there was one stock (I can remember which), but at one point, there was a HUGE difference between its bid and ask prices...we're talking several dollars here. This is, for the most part, rather unusual, but if I had been one of the unlucky investors that had my order executed at that high ask price, it would have immediately been worth substantially less. There are all kinds of weirdness that can happen, and if you don't know about them, you can end up screwing your self fairly easily. Fortunately, I only lost a few dollars on that one.
Solidarity works when you have large numbers of people living in absolute squalor, top management taking home millions of dollars each year in compensation, and no alternatives.
I've done some support-related work for large companies that have a strong union presence, and I've heard horror stories - not about what management is doing to the employees, but how the employees are screwing the company *because* they belong to a union. In the wrong place, unions have the potential to become little more than private welfare programs for the terminally incompetent.
Because of what it allows, you've lost total control over information about your LIFE, who you are, and what you do. Is this the mark of a FREE society? I don't think so!!!
First, come this election, I'm not voting for either of the major parties. They both suck. Second, since Lamar Smith seems to be so intent on affecting the private lives of EVERY American citizen (not just the lives of those who were dumb enough to elect him), I think a nationwide campaign to convince his electorate to vote him out of office would be very appropriate.
Agreed. This "one standard ID" will serve as an index key to your entire life - your medical records, purchases, bank transactions, etc. It's a very dangerous proposition.
This is funny - A very similar technique already used to copy the information on the mag stripe on the back of credit cards. This new requirement is not going to accomplish a damn thing...shortly after its introduction, there will be a black market for fake ID cards. And then, aside from a loss of even more of our freedom, what will have been accomplished?
Here's what gets me...all this crypto crap, this national ID card, and ideas like logging the DNA of all newborns (proposed by New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani) is coming from Republican party! It's abundantly clear that the only legislation they don't like is that which relinquishes control over peoples' private lives. The solution...vote Libertarian.
It's my opinion that we pay dearly for "what this got the auto workers." Because of the auto industry, we have a whole class of people working at jobs that require only basic skill levels, who are making salaries normally associated with white-collar, college-educated professionals. In other words, the labor, for what it is, is tremendously overpriced.
We don't need unions for this - we need to let the market take care of itself. Either someone will find an ingenious way of dealing with the problem, or the problem will become so bad that very qualified candidates will begin to consciously steer clear of these locations. If companies want to keep the best talent, THEY'LL have to figure it out.
What good is an $82K/year job if you're dumping most of into an outrageous mortgage payment (or worse, high rent), have to spend hours on the freeway to get to and from work, and on top of this, deal with the stress of the work itself? Some people may actually thrive on this, but personally, I think life has a little more to offer.
Oh - and I'd REALLY hate to be one of the "lucky" homeowners should the market take a dive.
Spelling is an integral part of writing, and writing is an integral part of communication. What you seem to be suggesting is that the best programmers are the worst communicators.
associated with cash ANY DAY OF THE YEAR over something that can be tracked, profiled, pimped, and misused in general. Initiate a transaction with a card (or other device designed to identify you), there's no telling WHO might end up with the information. Make one with cash, and no one knows you from Adam - which, for the most part, is just how it should be.
I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this yet. One more way to assign a unique "identifier" to everything you do.
I was thinking the other day...barring the fact that the big five recording companies are behind the SDMI for secure distribution of recorded music, I think it would be GREAT if there was an SPII (Strategic Personal Information Initiative). Just as SDMI is supposed to have "rules" that govern when and where a particular (secured) MP3 can be played or copied, I think that personal information should have the very same protection. What if, for example, upon providing the necessary information to a fulfillment house for a magazine subscription, you could set it and any other identifying information, to "self-destruct" after a specified period of time? Or, what if the information somehow existed so that it could remain indefinitely, but not be transferred to another party?
All of this aggregation of personal information is going to get us into a real Orwellian situation if it isn't stopped. All this talk about "we have to do it to catch criminals" is a bunch of HORSE manure. I'd like to see a list of all of the "criminals" that were stopped or caught using Echelon, for example. How much has crime in New York city *really* declined as a result of the 2,400+ public surveylance cameras?
I guess not...it's probably the same 80% who cheat on tests, too, or the 55% of these cheaters who don't think there's anything wrong with it.
The logic here is inescapable: "this costs more than I think I should have to pay, so I'm just going to take it."
Notice how many artists are fighting mp3's.
And, conversely, notice how many arstists have voiced decisive support for MP3. Very few. In fact, if I were an artist faced with the prospect of support a medium which could mean that I get paid for very little of what I do, I don't know that I'd be very excited about it.
It's also possible that individual artists aren't fighting MP3s because the RIAA is doing it for them - besides...why should they? In many cases, they don't even own the music they produce.
MP3's are the shareware/freeware of the music world
Ha. In many cases, certainly not by the artist's choice. This decision is often made by some punk who has imbued him/herself with the authority to assert ownership of something they clearly do not own. I think there's a word for this....yeah...theft.