Some good questions. That they might have even considered projecting fuel savings sheds a new light on the subject. I for one don't have much faith in the engine industry, when my first car (86 Honda Accord) got 28 MPG, and a 2010 gets 31, something is horribly wrong. But I digress, interested in seeing some answers.
I view it in a similar light to IT work. For general everyday problems, if you do a "proper" google and your google-fu is strong (read: boolean) then it is almost guaranteed that someone somewhere has had the same problem as you, and has at least an insight or possible answer. The more complicated the issue, the less likely you are to find a reliable and educated answer to your question.
Not sure if you're still reading this, but, I think simple small shifts in policy that could very well also deal with the nuclear issue. For example, one of the primary things Iran uses their nuclear capabilities for is mostly just for saber rattling in order to get attention, and at the nuclear "breakthrough" point, respect that has often been denied them. Really and truly, besides a general education on Iran, simply acknowledging Iran as a ME superpower, while making other concessions with them at the same time, could all be done in one fell swoop. Flyntt Leverrit (Spelling?) a former CIA guy, released an article explaining how our traditional piece by piece talking points will not work, and that we must have one big accord all signed at once. Robert Baer's book also has some clearly defined proposals (some of which are a bit far fetched) that we could use to ally ourselves with Iran, and if the case required, use them to control Iraq, and to a much smaller extent Afghanistan, should we ever withdraw.
Operation Personal Rant = engaged / Ah the classic, if you don't agree with policy, move away statement. Listen here fucktard, I am a Iraq Combat vet, and consider myself a patriot. While this gives me no more right to speech than any other American citizen, it gives me clout with fuckheads like you. What I do not consider myself a BLIND patriot. As Howard Zinn stated, "DISSENT IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF PATRIOTISM" Very few people (only pure anarchists) would want to live "in a country without police", What I don't want is for police that are militaristic, don't know the law, often have no better education than highschool, and are increasingly corrupt in my country. The entire "Love it or leave it" is predicated on the premise that either you COMPLETELY love (read: agree) with all policy of the USA (Which any semi-intelligent person does not) or you do not deserve and should not live here. Thats not how it works. I can love my country, and hate it's government, (or the power elite who have gotten us into this mess we are in today). What it boils down to, is that this type of statement is one of the most destructive to discourse tactics used by people who have little knowledge or facts to defend their beliefs, where the then label someone with a negative, anti-american label so as to discredit them. This is known as a argumentative logical fallacy as a "ad hominem" attack. Where you attack the person presenting an argument instead of the argument. YOU DO NOT HAVE A RIGHT TO NOT BE OFFENDED!
Exactly, we will never be able to make any large amounts of progress in Us politics until (among many other things) people can stop just blaming and demonizing the "other side". Conservatives, democrats, and everything in between and outside of that is currently involved has been tainted and is not to be trusted. Imagine for a second that all of a sudden no politician could be called a democrat or republican, or left or right, and people had to actually judge people on their stances on issues. Ah but that takes too much effort. Keeping up with what politicians really think, from local to state to federal levels takes time and effort on the citizens part, and this is why most people are "idiots". They don't want to know the truth, they just want to be able to say, "ah, that guy looks and talks like me, is from the same state, I agree with him no matter what!" I fear it is a underlying problem that will not be solved in my lifetime, if anyone has any ideas let me know.
Also for off-roaders like me, manual can be almost a requirement in sticky situations. Now if Jeep would get their ass in gear and bring a diesel wrangler to the states, it'd be all good.
Summary:" first people caught with downloaded copies have been put behind bars" TFA: "White supremacist who manufactured ricin jailed" Big difference. Now, we can focus on the charges against the author/writer, but make it a bit more clear please. Its retarded to arrest someone over information, but its the UK, so what can you expect. Who draws the line, do they arrest authors of high level physicist books about nuclear devices? UK is quickly revealing the police state mentality they have been hiding for so long, I guess next time I'm on that side of the pond I'll be sure to avoid it.
Someone go find the RIAA/MPAA or whatever the equivalent in Germany is, use their wifi (would WEP or WPA-TSK count as "adequately secured to the danger of unauthorized third parties abusing it to commit copyright violation,'?) And start downloading everything you can think of. Lets see if they sue themselves.
Ah the crutch is that you are quite correct about Iran. What many people fail to take into account and I think is a very large possibility, is that it is too late, Iran is already a local hegemony, not just in Iraq, but using strife in the middle east to wiggle into Bahrain and the Saud's territory. The book by former CIA guy Robert Baer "The Devil We Know, Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower" Bob argues this is the case, that we have already basically handed over the keys to Iran, but are too stupid to realize it. On top of that, everyone assumes that we DONT want Iran a superpower, but I think one of the most overlooked things is that if anything they could be the controlling factor of radical islam if ever such a thing could exist. Bob argues that they have evolved strategically and tactically from sponsors of terrorism in the 70's to a militarily strategically thinking entity, something we often overlook.
"long-time Lugaru fans" and "shortly after launch" It seems your time frame is messed up. A quick google shows Lugaru was released in 2005. Its 2010, that seems like plenty of time to have found or made the source code =)
Hobbleware will be the downfall of the big gaming companies is mroe like it. Already we have examples like the humble indie bundle http://www.wolfire.com/humble who has almost made 1mil in a week by touting DRM free non restrictive, multiplatform gaming. Indie developers are quick and agile, can adapt to the market, can beat large company prices ($60 for DRM laden shit, or $10 for Indie "free spirit" stuff) and are more apt to try radical gaming concepts out. Some of the biggest games in the market have been created by gamers via modding (cstrike). I say, let these asshole keep whining about piracy and hanging themselves even more, by the time they realize how stupid they are it will be too late. The only real threat is when they start lobbying for draconian laws and enforcement regarding all games.
I don't know, back in the day when I started trying out Mandrake it was the Ubuntu of the time. (2000ish) It had gui installation and was generally easier to deal with that redhat or the other popular distros. Once you had it installed however, it did lack the substance of the other distros IMO.
The issue that many people try to draw clear lines between but that is hard to actually do is the amount of realism vs fun that constitutes and escape from reality. As a former military person, I tend to stick to FPS games, but when it comes to some of my favorites, (rainbow six, Operation Flashpoint 2, ARMA 2 etc) many of friends find it not as fun due to the "slow pace". But I still find it an interesting escape from reality. Its all in the eye of the beholder.
The problem I find is that we often engineer these great feats, but we hardly understand on a macro scale how they effect/affect (I'm drunk btw, good excuse) the "larger picture". Yes we may "save the seals" by killing all of their natural predators, but we often fail to take into account factors that we either overlook or are beyond our current scope of knowledge. Tampering with weather is almost the same as blasphemy in my view.
I have seen some of his actions lately that seem to show he is making smarter decisions, but that being said, Gates is one of the last people I think we would want in the presidency, much less in the position he is in now. Under his watch since 2006 there have been some of the biggest travesties, both strategically and tactically, that could have been made. He is not only one of the "good ol boys" who basically got into his position because of his tenure at A&M and previous work at CIA (while being heavily involved in the Iran Contra affair), but he is one of what Micheal Scheuer calls the Cold War men. He studies the soviets in school, and Scheuer argues in his book "Marching toward Hell, America and Islam after Iraq" the cold war mindset is one of the key issues with our modern strategic failures.
Let me explain a bit if I may, leaders during the cold war developed a mindset that they have yet to grow out of, in many ways it was an required, but currently among the things they still grasp to and in doing so lose grip on reality are: a fixation on the nation-state as opposed to international groups, forgetting the rule by example of soft power and public diplomacy many founders intended,
the use of proxies for war,
a good sense of time (that tactical and precise action should be taken sooner rather than later, the opportunities we had to kill Bin Laden in the 90's for example), ahistorical thinking - the process in which many leaders who championed war in Afghanistan and Iraq without even being slightly informed on the history and culture of the middle east, where they even to this day continue to view history with some sort of contempt, like they are too good to learn the lessons of the British or Alexander the Great. The use of exiles and expatriates as a source of information and strategy, when often these same expats havent been in their own countries for over decades. It may have worked in the cold war, but not anymore (cough Chalabi cough). The mission creep of rebuilding nation-states before a war was even over is also just as ridiculous. But above all, the fixation with the RMA (Revolution in Military Affairs) that to this day is taught in war schools, but is fundamentally flawed in its replacing of flesh and bone on the ground with technology, making leaders imagine "bloodless" wars that are impossible.
Basically what I'm saying is Gates is exactly the type of leader who got us in the mess we are in in the first place, just because he has a couple of good ideas now doesn't change that.
Slashdot Mirror
Which is why those of us to disagree with apple but use their product out of necessity exclaim, long live the jailbreak!
It's not all ok, but who has the energy anymore to go on long rants about why Apple is evil. Well we are on /. =)
Some good questions. That they might have even considered projecting fuel savings sheds a new light on the subject. I for one don't have much faith in the engine industry, when my first car (86 Honda Accord) got 28 MPG, and a 2010 gets 31, something is horribly wrong. But I digress, interested in seeing some answers.
I agree.
I view it in a similar light to IT work. For general everyday problems, if you do a "proper" google and your google-fu is strong (read: boolean) then it is almost guaranteed that someone somewhere has had the same problem as you, and has at least an insight or possible answer. The more complicated the issue, the less likely you are to find a reliable and educated answer to your question.
Not sure if you're still reading this, but, I think simple small shifts in policy that could very well also deal with the nuclear issue. For example, one of the primary things Iran uses their nuclear capabilities for is mostly just for saber rattling in order to get attention, and at the nuclear "breakthrough" point, respect that has often been denied them. Really and truly, besides a general education on Iran, simply acknowledging Iran as a ME superpower, while making other concessions with them at the same time, could all be done in one fell swoop. Flyntt Leverrit (Spelling?) a former CIA guy, released an article explaining how our traditional piece by piece talking points will not work, and that we must have one big accord all signed at once. Robert Baer's book also has some clearly defined proposals (some of which are a bit far fetched) that we could use to ally ourselves with Iran, and if the case required, use them to control Iraq, and to a much smaller extent Afghanistan, should we ever withdraw.
Operation Personal Rant = engaged / Ah the classic, if you don't agree with policy, move away statement. Listen here fucktard, I am a Iraq Combat vet, and consider myself a patriot. While this gives me no more right to speech than any other American citizen, it gives me clout with fuckheads like you. What I do not consider myself a BLIND patriot. As Howard Zinn stated, "DISSENT IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF PATRIOTISM" Very few people (only pure anarchists) would want to live "in a country without police", What I don't want is for police that are militaristic, don't know the law, often have no better education than highschool, and are increasingly corrupt in my country. The entire "Love it or leave it" is predicated on the premise that either you COMPLETELY love (read: agree) with all policy of the USA (Which any semi-intelligent person does not) or you do not deserve and should not live here. Thats not how it works. I can love my country, and hate it's government, (or the power elite who have gotten us into this mess we are in today). What it boils down to, is that this type of statement is one of the most destructive to discourse tactics used by people who have little knowledge or facts to defend their beliefs, where the then label someone with a negative, anti-american label so as to discredit them. This is known as a argumentative logical fallacy as a "ad hominem" attack. Where you attack the person presenting an argument instead of the argument. YOU DO NOT HAVE A RIGHT TO NOT BE OFFENDED!
Or, just do like I did, tape over anything that glows!
Exactly, we will never be able to make any large amounts of progress in Us politics until (among many other things) people can stop just blaming and demonizing the "other side". Conservatives, democrats, and everything in between and outside of that is currently involved has been tainted and is not to be trusted. Imagine for a second that all of a sudden no politician could be called a democrat or republican, or left or right, and people had to actually judge people on their stances on issues. Ah but that takes too much effort. Keeping up with what politicians really think, from local to state to federal levels takes time and effort on the citizens part, and this is why most people are "idiots". They don't want to know the truth, they just want to be able to say, "ah, that guy looks and talks like me, is from the same state, I agree with him no matter what!" I fear it is a underlying problem that will not be solved in my lifetime, if anyone has any ideas let me know.
Rofl
Also for off-roaders like me, manual can be almost a requirement in sticky situations. Now if Jeep would get their ass in gear and bring a diesel wrangler to the states, it'd be all good.
Hit the nail on the head my friend.
Summary:" first people caught with downloaded copies have been put behind bars" TFA: "White supremacist who manufactured ricin jailed" Big difference. Now, we can focus on the charges against the author/writer, but make it a bit more clear please. Its retarded to arrest someone over information, but its the UK, so what can you expect. Who draws the line, do they arrest authors of high level physicist books about nuclear devices? UK is quickly revealing the police state mentality they have been hiding for so long, I guess next time I'm on that side of the pond I'll be sure to avoid it.
Karma and Murphys law, a deadly combination.
Someone go find the RIAA/MPAA or whatever the equivalent in Germany is, use their wifi (would WEP or WPA-TSK count as "adequately secured to the danger of unauthorized third parties abusing it to commit copyright violation,'?) And start downloading everything you can think of. Lets see if they sue themselves.
Side note: Probably involve longer jail time than murder or rape too.
Ah the crutch is that you are quite correct about Iran. What many people fail to take into account and I think is a very large possibility, is that it is too late, Iran is already a local hegemony, not just in Iraq, but using strife in the middle east to wiggle into Bahrain and the Saud's territory. The book by former CIA guy Robert Baer "The Devil We Know, Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower" Bob argues this is the case, that we have already basically handed over the keys to Iran, but are too stupid to realize it. On top of that, everyone assumes that we DONT want Iran a superpower, but I think one of the most overlooked things is that if anything they could be the controlling factor of radical islam if ever such a thing could exist. Bob argues that they have evolved strategically and tactically from sponsors of terrorism in the 70's to a militarily strategically thinking entity, something we often overlook.
"long-time Lugaru fans" and "shortly after launch" It seems your time frame is messed up. A quick google shows Lugaru was released in 2005. Its 2010, that seems like plenty of time to have found or made the source code =)
Hobbleware will be the downfall of the big gaming companies is mroe like it. Already we have examples like the humble indie bundle http://www.wolfire.com/humble who has almost made 1mil in a week by touting DRM free non restrictive, multiplatform gaming. Indie developers are quick and agile, can adapt to the market, can beat large company prices ($60 for DRM laden shit, or $10 for Indie "free spirit" stuff) and are more apt to try radical gaming concepts out. Some of the biggest games in the market have been created by gamers via modding (cstrike). I say, let these asshole keep whining about piracy and hanging themselves even more, by the time they realize how stupid they are it will be too late. The only real threat is when they start lobbying for draconian laws and enforcement regarding all games.
I don't know, back in the day when I started trying out Mandrake it was the Ubuntu of the time. (2000ish) It had gui installation and was generally easier to deal with that redhat or the other popular distros. Once you had it installed however, it did lack the substance of the other distros IMO.
The issue that many people try to draw clear lines between but that is hard to actually do is the amount of realism vs fun that constitutes and escape from reality. As a former military person, I tend to stick to FPS games, but when it comes to some of my favorites, (rainbow six, Operation Flashpoint 2, ARMA 2 etc) many of friends find it not as fun due to the "slow pace". But I still find it an interesting escape from reality. Its all in the eye of the beholder.
I bet you're wrong. 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 trillion dollars.
Not that I'm religious at all, just trying to make a point.
The problem I find is that we often engineer these great feats, but we hardly understand on a macro scale how they effect/affect (I'm drunk btw, good excuse) the "larger picture". Yes we may "save the seals" by killing all of their natural predators, but we often fail to take into account factors that we either overlook or are beyond our current scope of knowledge. Tampering with weather is almost the same as blasphemy in my view.
I have seen some of his actions lately that seem to show he is making smarter decisions, but that being said, Gates is one of the last people I think we would want in the presidency, much less in the position he is in now. Under his watch since 2006 there have been some of the biggest travesties, both strategically and tactically, that could have been made. He is not only one of the "good ol boys" who basically got into his position because of his tenure at A&M and previous work at CIA (while being heavily involved in the Iran Contra affair), but he is one of what Micheal Scheuer calls the Cold War men. He studies the soviets in school, and Scheuer argues in his book "Marching toward Hell, America and Islam after Iraq" the cold war mindset is one of the key issues with our modern strategic failures.
Let me explain a bit if I may, leaders during the cold war developed a mindset that they have yet to grow out of, in many ways it was an required, but currently among the things they still grasp to and in doing so lose grip on reality are:
a fixation on the nation-state as opposed to international groups,
forgetting the rule by example of soft power and public diplomacy many founders intended,
the use of proxies for war,
a good sense of time (that tactical and precise action should be taken sooner rather than later, the opportunities we had to kill Bin Laden in the 90's for example),
ahistorical thinking - the process in which many leaders who championed war in Afghanistan and Iraq without even being slightly informed on the history and culture of the middle east, where they even to this day continue to view history with some sort of contempt, like they are too good to learn the lessons of the British or Alexander the Great.
The use of exiles and expatriates as a source of information and strategy, when often these same expats havent been in their own countries for over decades. It may have worked in the cold war, but not anymore (cough Chalabi cough).
The mission creep of rebuilding nation-states before a war was even over is also just as ridiculous.
But above all, the fixation with the RMA (Revolution in Military Affairs) that to this day is taught in war schools, but is fundamentally flawed in its replacing of flesh and bone on the ground with technology, making leaders imagine "bloodless" wars that are impossible.
Basically what I'm saying is Gates is exactly the type of leader who got us in the mess we are in in the first place, just because he has a couple of good ideas now doesn't change that.