Or might MicroSoft develop newer, more invasive bugs that *only infest the machines of those who don't pay for this new "PROTECTION" service.*
Does this sound like a potential new market for the MicroSoft Corporation through hype, intimidation, and extortion? I'm sure we'd all be *SHOCKED* to hear of such a thing coming from Redmond, Washington.
La Plata? At least you can get mail there. Northwest of you, where I grew up, they pulled out the post office in about 1957. Ever heard of Halls, MO? Didn't think so.
It might improve their product line if they did [no offence to penguins everywhere]. From a corporate perspective I suspect they'd try about anything that might return them to their former profitability.
Excellent point. I seem to remember in one history book or another about WWII wherein at the end of the war, a Japanese officer was asked why after the Pearl Harbor attack the Japanese never tried to invade the thinly guarded West Coast. The officer's reply was instructive.
He pointed out that the Japanese high command was aware that Americans were allowed gun ownership. They correctly figured that back then most [or at least a lot of] homes had firearms. They didn't want to attack a population that in and of itself represented an "armed militia" even if the whole US Army hadn't shown up yet. He made a good point.
With all of our Homeland Security / al Qaeda concerns that is something to consider even today. Its easier to overwhelm an unarmed population.
Well, that *could* happen, but only if you allow the perp to get close enough to you in their attack to get their hands on you. If they're coming that fast, empty the magazine into them first -- and if they're still coming after you, then run.
On the other hand, its a lot easier to remember how to pull the trigger than how to do that neat taekwondo move you *thought* you would employ in such an instance, or won't actually work as you though.
Another consideration might be that in such a situation you'd actually have to be in physical contact with your assailant to use taekwondo, and if it didn't work . . . uh-oh.
With a firearm you could both produce it at the ready [enough to abort most assaults] or actually employ it forcefully while still out of his/her ability to physically remove it from your grasp.
Similar situation here in Missouri. We finally have a CCW law but thanks to complications, the sheriff of one county will issue them and the sheriff in the next county won't. At any rate, as you say its all about having the option.
If/When they work out the bugs I intend to take the class and apply for the permit. Then whether I'd actually carry a weapon at any point would mainly depend upon the danger I would foresee in a location I had to go to [and there aren't many dangerous places I'd willingly go, armed or not]. About the only occasion I could imagine would be if I were called to some remote rural property I own as I once was when someone notified me that it "might have been" broken into late one night. Don't bother telling me to call the authorities -- they informed me that their job didn't include playing nursemaid or body guard for me. The Police are very good about filling out forms and picking up pieces afterward, but in no way are they responsible for keeping us safe or protecting us. That's unfortunately the way it is. You are responsible for keeping your own ass safe. Firearms don't guarantee it, but sometimes they're the best you can do.
As has been said before, lethal force is only appropriate AS A LAST RESORT to protect your life or the life of someone else -- NEVER to protect mere property.
I was about to post the same thing but I see you got here first. Apollo was progress outward bound through the universe. ISS is a poorly ventilated condo in low earth orbit. Its not even a sideways movement -- its a retreat from where we've already been. Its time we go back to the moon. This time we need to build a base and establish some sort of permanent presence there for astronomy as well as low-g manufacture and research.
I'd have to say that I think that's the direction in which we are almost certainly heading at this point, but we're not quite there yet. Since we aren't quite there yet there is still time for us to prevent ever getting there IF large groups of us realize the potential problem and exert whatever power we still retain as citizens in a rational manner. As for the idea that we must choose between living in a police state or one of insecurity, that is a dangerous slope to cross. Remember what Ben Franklin [think that was the one] said about folks who would trade freedom for security -- that they'd neither have nor deserve either.
If in your estimation sounding the alarm is suicidal then I guess that's what you'll think I am -- and you might be right.
Giving business and government the ability to track our location, movements, and associations 24/7 in exchange for the convenience of not having to carry credit cards seems like a pretty bad trade-off. On the other hand its just what John Ashcroft and his friends in the department of Fatherland Security are having wet dreams about.
Wishing that the hypothetical airplane has a "crash button critical mass" of 50% is comforting but not completely realistic. Remember the Japanese cult a few years ago that released Saran gas in the subways. Its easy to forget that their ultimate goal was to end all life on earth [not just the lives of those who were different from them]. It was part of their "religion" so don't expect that we could understand it. With the right technology you only need one such cult.
The terrorists we're facing right now only want to destroy us. The Japanese cult wanted to kill everyone. They're both terrorists but there's a significant difference. Once we get a "lets-commit-suicide-for-everyone" cult with nanoweapons then all bets are off. Any technology as powerful as this one can and eventually will be turned against us just as every one before it.
Secrecy and other safeguards may not be 100% effective, but they have the potential to fare better than wishful thinking. Since I don't see any guidelines or safeguards in the near future I hope I'm wrong.
The article's author rhetorically asks: "Was the world's foremost software designer worried about offending dullards, dunces and dolts? Are there actually people out there who identify themselves that way? Even if so, you wouldn't think they'd represent Microsoft's target demographic."
As dullardly as it may seem to respond to a rhetorical question, yes - I think that pretty well describes Micro$oft's target demographic. After all, when a corporate entity does what they do and we put up with it, how smart is that?
Before Attorney General Ashcroft was the Attorney General, he was a U.S. Senator from Missouri. Then along about the 2000 election he was beaten at the polls by a dead man [the challenger's widow now serves in the Senate]. Before that he was the Governor of Missouri. We were saddled with him in that position for EIGHT YEARS! The man is the stereotypical uptight, right wing Republican politician (with all the negative connotations that that entails). The man had no sense of humor whatever. Some local wags remarked that setting him in place as Attorney General at least took him out of the Senate and put him somewhere "where he can't get into mischief." So much for that...
We are *REQUIRED* to take a certain number of hours every year. The classes must be pre-approved by administration, and they are very picky as to which classes and from which institutions. All classes must be taken on our own time and at our own expense. We are not reimbursed in any way. Failure to take classes results in a wage freeze [no increments or raises]. This way they insure that their employee base stays current at no cost to them. Cool, huh?
In our technologically backward area, there is a supermarket that uses those lovely remote control LCD price tags. All prices can be changed from a central location at will. What I found out from a female acquaintance who used to work there is that managment regularly changes the price of certain merchandise not only weekly but as often as several times a day in some cases. Soda, chips, and beer goes up in price a couple of hours before the football game comes on and then back down after halftime. You get the drift. Its all about maximizing profit by altering price to reflect supply v. demand on a very precise time scale. It may be irritating but it does make sense from a profit perspective.
Slashdot Mirror
Or might MicroSoft develop newer, more invasive bugs that *only infest the machines of those who don't pay for this new "PROTECTION" service.*
Does this sound like a potential new market for the MicroSoft Corporation through hype, intimidation, and extortion? I'm sure we'd all be *SHOCKED* to hear of such a thing coming from Redmond, Washington.
La Plata? At least you can get mail there. Northwest of you, where I grew up, they pulled out the post office in about 1957. Ever heard of Halls, MO? Didn't think so.
It might improve their product line if they did [no offence to penguins everywhere]. From a corporate perspective I suspect they'd try about anything that might return them to their former profitability.
Excellent point. I seem to remember in one history book or another about WWII wherein at the end of the war, a Japanese officer was asked why after the Pearl Harbor attack the Japanese never tried to invade the thinly guarded West Coast. The officer's reply was instructive.
He pointed out that the Japanese high command was aware that Americans were allowed gun ownership. They correctly figured that back then most [or at least a lot of] homes had firearms. They didn't want to attack a population that in and of itself represented an "armed militia" even if the whole US Army hadn't shown up yet. He made a good point.
With all of our Homeland Security / al Qaeda concerns that is something to consider even today. Its easier to overwhelm an unarmed population.
Well, that *could* happen, but only if you allow the perp to get close enough to you in their attack to get their hands on you. If they're coming that fast, empty the magazine into them first -- and if they're still coming after you, then run.
Certainly not *always* the answer.
On the other hand, its a lot easier to remember how to pull the trigger than how to do that neat taekwondo move you *thought* you would employ in such an instance, or won't actually work as you though.
Another consideration might be that in such a situation you'd actually have to be in physical contact with your assailant to use taekwondo, and if it didn't work . . . uh-oh.
With a firearm you could both produce it at the ready [enough to abort most assaults] or actually employ it forcefully while still out of his/her ability to physically remove it from your grasp.
I suppose the equally insane reply would go something like this:
."
"But so long as there are more of us armed non-criminals than there are armed criminials in the populace . .
But you get the idea.
Similar situation here in Missouri. We finally have a CCW law but thanks to complications, the sheriff of one county will issue them and the sheriff in the next county won't. At any rate, as you say its all about having the option.
If/When they work out the bugs I intend to take the class and apply for the permit. Then whether I'd actually carry a weapon at any point would mainly depend upon the danger I would foresee in a location I had to go to [and there aren't many dangerous places I'd willingly go, armed or not]. About the only occasion I could imagine would be if I were called to some remote rural property I own as I once was when someone notified me that it "might have been" broken into late one night. Don't bother telling me to call the authorities -- they informed me that their job didn't include playing nursemaid or body guard for me. The Police are very good about filling out forms and picking up pieces afterward, but in no way are they responsible for keeping us safe or protecting us. That's unfortunately the way it is. You are responsible for keeping your own ass safe. Firearms don't guarantee it, but sometimes they're the best you can do.
As has been said before, lethal force is only appropriate AS A LAST RESORT to protect your life or the life of someone else -- NEVER to protect mere property.
I was about to post the same thing but I see you got here first. Apollo was progress outward bound through the universe. ISS is a poorly ventilated condo in low earth orbit. Its not even a sideways movement -- its a retreat from where we've already been. Its time we go back to the moon. This time we need to build a base and establish some sort of permanent presence there for astronomy as well as low-g manufacture and research.
I'd have to say that I think that's the direction in which we are almost certainly heading at this point, but we're not quite there yet. Since we aren't quite there yet there is still time for us to prevent ever getting there IF large groups of us realize the potential problem and exert whatever power we still retain as citizens in a rational manner. As for the idea that we must choose between living in a police state or one of insecurity, that is a dangerous slope to cross. Remember what Ben Franklin [think that was the one] said about folks who would trade freedom for security -- that they'd neither have nor deserve either.
If in your estimation sounding the alarm is suicidal then I guess that's what you'll think I am -- and you might be right.
I'm not laughing. The question is this: "Is anyone else listening?"
Giving business and government the ability to track our location, movements, and associations 24/7 in exchange for the convenience of not having to carry credit cards seems like a pretty bad trade-off. On the other hand its just what John Ashcroft and his friends in the department of Fatherland Security are having wet dreams about.
Wishing that the hypothetical airplane has a "crash button critical mass" of 50% is comforting but not completely realistic. Remember the Japanese cult a few years ago that released Saran gas in the subways. Its easy to forget that their ultimate goal was to end all life on earth [not just the lives of those who were different from them]. It was part of their "religion" so don't expect that we could understand it. With the right technology you only need one such cult.
The terrorists we're facing right now only want to destroy us. The Japanese cult wanted to kill everyone. They're both terrorists but there's a significant difference. Once we get a "lets-commit-suicide-for-everyone" cult with nanoweapons then all bets are off. Any technology as powerful as this one can and eventually will be turned against us just as every one before it.
Secrecy and other safeguards may not be 100% effective, but they have the potential to fare better than wishful thinking. Since I don't see any guidelines or safeguards in the near future I hope I'm wrong.
The article's author rhetorically asks: "Was the world's foremost software designer worried about offending dullards, dunces and dolts? Are there actually people out there who identify themselves that way? Even if so, you wouldn't think they'd represent Microsoft's target demographic."
As dullardly as it may seem to respond to a rhetorical question, yes - I think that pretty well describes Micro$oft's target demographic. After all, when a corporate entity does what they do and we put up with it, how smart is that?
Before Attorney General Ashcroft was the Attorney General, he was a U.S. Senator from Missouri. Then along about the 2000 election he was beaten at the polls by a dead man [the challenger's widow now serves in the Senate]. Before that he was the Governor of Missouri. We were saddled with him in that position for EIGHT YEARS! The man is the stereotypical uptight, right wing Republican politician (with all the negative connotations that that entails). The man had no sense of humor whatever. Some local wags remarked that setting him in place as Attorney General at least took him out of the Senate and put him somewhere "where he can't get into mischief." So much for that...
We are *REQUIRED* to take a certain number of hours every year. The classes must be pre-approved by administration, and they are very picky as to which classes and from which institutions. All classes must be taken on our own time and at our own expense. We are not reimbursed in any way. Failure to take classes results in a wage freeze [no increments or raises]. This way they insure that their employee base stays current at no cost to them. Cool, huh?
In our technologically backward area, there is a supermarket that uses those lovely remote control LCD price tags. All prices can be changed from a central location at will. What I found out from a female acquaintance who used to work there is that managment regularly changes the price of certain merchandise not only weekly but as often as several times a day in some cases. Soda, chips, and beer goes up in price a couple of hours before the football game comes on and then back down after halftime. You get the drift. Its all about maximizing profit by altering price to reflect supply v. demand on a very precise time scale. It may be irritating but it does make sense from a profit perspective.