>>How many people will refuse to install the "double your bandwidth" hacked firmware, that just so happens to disable any spectrum sensing and pump out bits at the highest power level available, and also disables FCC's ability to patch remotely ? >>>
Thanks. You just ruined my day. If the firmware can be hacked in your whitespace-equipped Ipod, you could also disable the TV-protective database, and broadcast your Ipod signals directly overtop of existing channels (like WGAL in my area).
>>>And yet, the physical universe brings forth singularities.
Yes but even they (black holes) eventually succumb to Thermodynamics and die-out. They gradually lose their energy and dissipate, and the universe becomes a vast nothing with no objects left except random electrons scattered throughout, and a universal average temperature of about -272 Celsius (heat death).
Well if THIS republican was in power (me), you wouldn't have just one service. There's enough room in underground pipes to run cables from Time-Warner, Comcast, Cox, Verizon, and allow each customer to choose their own company. This competition would ultimately drive-down prices due to positive pressure from angry homeowners. The Dish Company currently provides cable channels for as low as $20 a month. I suspect cable competition would lead to a similar pricing scheme, and which would benefit all citizens by helping them save money.
As for power, water, and so forth, I don't know how I would fix that. There's not enough room to run multiple water lines, so we'd probably have to stick with the current model (private companies but price-fixed by government).
>>>"Initially ALL devices must access a database of prohibited channels, based on location....and undergo certification."
This is VERY BAD NEWS, because the database will determine my WSD-equipped neighbor is in the Lancaster-Harrisburg DMA, and decide that channels from nearby DMAs like Baltimore and Philadelphia are not being used. Then it will start broadcasting directly over top the Baltimore/Philly channels.
This is the same way Dish and Directv markets are setup. Your "locals" are only those stations inside your DMA. Other stations from nearby cities don't exist as far as they are concerned, and the Whitespace devices will likely operate on the same principle of ignoring nearby cities.
I may as well sell my antenna now and jump onto cable, since I will soon have WSDs trampling all over my long-distance channels 2, 3, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 29, 35, 45, 57, and 65..... thereby making the antenna worthless for over-the-air reception from Baltimore or Philly.
It might work, but I doubt you could play movies on it. That's one of the problems I have with my Windows 98 laptop. Technically it can play amy movie I throw at it, but only the MPEG and Quicktime movies play at proper speed. The rest are like watching in slow motion (10 frames per second).
>>>Windows 3.x is a lean, stable, functional, and secure OS!
NONE of the DOS-based Windows (1,2,3,95,98/me) were stable. They were kludges sitting on top of an ancient DOS, trying to be a Mac-like environment.
The only truly stable Windows were the NT-based ones (including XP) which were built from the ground up.
>>>What I would like to see is prioritization of packets based on usage. The more you use, the less priority you have during peak times. >>>
That would break my access to video sites like scifi.com or nbc.com, because both cause a high level of usage, which would trigger your Quality of service protocol. The video packets would then be sitting in a queue somewhere, and I'd be staring at a "buffering video" screen instead of enjoying the free shows.
Perhaps the Antitrust "branch" of the government should step-in and require AT&T to charge $1/gigabyte regardless of the content. Keep access to youtube.com or AT&Tube.com at the same level of access (same cost to the user).
>>>Giving stuff for free to kill the competition is classic form of anti-competitive behaviour.
A common complaint, but I've never seen a real world example of this strategy working. Despite Best Buy's decision to give me their MP3 player for free, I don't see Apple being hurt. They are still selling Ipods like hotcakes.
In the northeast, things have been brighter. I could have bought DSL back in 2000, but it would have cost me around $100 a month. So instead I used a dialup plan.
My phoneline was noisy so all I got was 24k connection, maximum. Then literally over night it jumped to 50k, because my phone company had upgraded from analog to digital lines. Sweet. And just last year, they dropped the price on DSL. I now have a 750k connection for only $15 a month. (I have the option to go upto 12,000k, but it costs $50, and I don't want to spend $50.)
So yes things have been improving. My neighborhood has gone from 24k to a possible 12000k in just seven years time! Not bad at all.
-- Whitespace devices will kill television. Reserve channels 2-51 for TV only.
>>>Movies on "ATT Movies" won't count against the tier. They will partner with lets say Amazon for unmetered music downloads...this is the end of net-neutrality. >>>
This is no different than when my local Best Buy gave me a free MP3 player. If AT&T Internet wants to give stuff away for free, then that's a BENEFIT for the customer, not a detriment. IMHO net neutrality is violated is if AT&T blocks access to itunes.com. Then that's detrimental.
>>>"Users who exceed those caps would pay an additional $1 per gigabyte, per month."
Sounds entirely reasonable to me. I download Stargate and Doctor Who episodes at 70 or 150 megabyte a piece, so for just one dollar more I can get 7-14 more episodes each month. Not a big deal.
And for those who download Bluray-sized HD movies or tv shows, then you *should* pay more for the increased electricity & wiring costs required. Whereas grandma who is probably only reading email, should only have to pay $7-10 a month. That's entirely fair.
-- Channels 2-51 should be reserved for TV only. No whitespace devices.
And if you use ethanol in your car, you are using solar power. But as for solar cells for your laptop? It creates MORE pollution, from the manufacturing process of creating the cells, then simply using a few pennies from your local coal electric plant. You make the air pollution worse, not better.
The only time solar cells will reduce pollution is if you use them for mega-kilowatt devices, like heating units or air conditioners for your whole house. Only then do you overcome the pollution contribution from manufacturing the solar device.
First-off Comcast doesn't provide traditional phone service (as far as I know). So let's use an actual phone company like Verizon.
If your uncle paid his Verizon bills, but Verizon never bothered to pay Bell for access to Bell's cross-continent wiring, then Bell has every right to cut-off Verizon's access because Verizon is a deadbeat customer. You and your uncle may not be able to talk to one another as a result of this disconnect, but that's certainly not Bell's fault. That's the fault of Verizon not paying bills, and it's Verizon who should be punished (by courts) or sold (to somebody who has actual money).
Why? YOU insist upon shoving your communist/socialist morality down everybody's throat, forcing them to pay taxes towards objectionable things (like giving free healthcare to smokers, or free abortions to kill human fetuses).
It's funny how you object to religion, and then you turn-around and try to shove YOUR morality down everybody's throats. Hypocrite much? You're no better than the Popes.
>>>I think the intent here is to stop the medical monopolists
A government monopoly is still a monopoly. It is no better than a corporate monopoly, and far worse than true competition amongst multiple providers.
The reason I say you have "a 'right' to healthcare if you pay the doctor money", is because I don't think a doctor should be allowed to say "no". If said doctor refuses to take your money and shows you the door, then I think he should be prosecuted for dereliction of duty.
I still maintain everyone has a right to healthcare, so long as they have the money to pay for it. They have the right to buy a Porsche too, or a 1 Gigabit internet line, or a small mansion..... so long as they have the money.
If they don't have the money (shrug) too bad. You don't get any of it.
Sometimes the most-persuasive technique is to pretend to agree with someone even when you don't. "Yeah you're right people should get healthcare... but not for free."
Otherwise if you say "no you're wrong" they get defensive and don't hear a word you said. Putting people on the defense is not going to advance your cause.
>>>when I could get DSL, he said "never, unless the government forces us to"
Then that's what needs to happen. The government initiated the "rural access fee" in order to force phone companies to serve rural residents, and now it's time for that fee to be used to force the Telcos to upgrade the local switching stations with DSL capability.
Upgrading already-installed telephone wire is the cheapest, quickest way to provide broadband nationwide. In the meantime, may I suggest Netscape ISP? They use dialup combined with image compression to make webpages load as fast as my home DSL connection. That's what I use when I'm traveling in areas without broadband.
You know what? I hope they DO approve WSDs, because then I can listen to you (and other people) whining about how Ipods and other whitespace-enabled gadgets are causing interference with your Sci-Fi Channel and other cable channels. Some people don't learn except through direct experience.
>>>If I ever see you slowly bleeding to death on the side of the road, I hope you'll remind me that you have no right to expect any help from your fellow citizens, and I can then be on my way, >>>
(shrug). That's freedom. I may not like the KKK's racist attitudes, but I support their free speech, and likewise I support your right to ignore someone in need.
The alternative, where the government penalizes you $100,000 because you failed to help me, and then gives the money to me, is essentially what Gov't Healthcare amounts to. It's ANTI-choice and anti-liberty.
"Is life so sweet and peace so dear, to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it almighty God. Give me Liberty or give me death" P. Henry
>>>right to dignity with theft an emotional response, I'd call it a badly delusional response
Your right to "dignity" is inferior to my right to keep the money that I sweated/labored to earn. If you spent your life smoking an idiot, and now you need a new lung, well tough fucking shit. Your foolishness does NOT entitle you to reach into my wallet and stela my money.
>>>All of a sudden, your health is something you can't take chances with, because other people are depending upon you staying healthy. And their health is something you don't want to take chances with. >>>
First off, it's ridiculous to think you're going to die in your 20s or 30s. The odds are about the same as winning a lottery, because you're young and healthy and extrmely unlikely to experience catastrophic bodily failure until you're elderly.
Second, the U.S. government will take care of my children if I die. It's called Social Security. Or maybe Welfare/Food Stamps. It's one of those; the government does not abandon children.
>>>Perhaps you would prefer to go back to the time when you had to save 50% of the value of a home in order to get a mortgage on it?
If we had followed that rule, there would not have been the hyperinflation of housing value ($600,000 for a standard-sized house???), followed by the bursting of the bubble and resulting near-collapse of the banking system. As the Democratic Leader of the Senate recently stated, "Some people are probably better off renting, rather than buying a house they cannot afford."
>>>It is disgusting to think that the parent would even dare to compare socialized health care--health care!--to.... slavery. >>>
If you are working, not for yourself, but so Mr. Joe Smoker can buy himself a new $50,000 lung, then yes that makes you Joe's slave. At least partially. It's no different than if you were working to grow Joe's Cotton.
Taxes aren't theft if they provide for the COMMON welfare (benefit of all - like the national defense). But if taxes are collected in order to give some a new Lexus, then that IS theft. It's (involuntary) redistribution of wealth from the many to the one. It's no different than how a mafia operates.
>>>I'm sorry, you do realize you are stealing money from your neighbor to post, don't you? and to drive on the road? and to get a public defender, and to pay for people to defend the constitution? And to breath clean air? and to get electricity? >>>
No, no, no, no, and no. I pay Verizon (a private company) for my internet; nobody else pays it for me. I pay for my roads (approximately 3 dollars a day in gasoline tax collected). I don't need a public defender because I have enough money to hire my own lawyer. I pay taxes to support the army and navy, which defends ALL the people (COMMON welfare). Ditto the EPA. And the electricity is same as internet - I pay my own bills to a private company; nothing comes out of the U.S. treasury.
>>>There's no "Joe's health care" deduction on your paycheque. You pay taxes. The government spends some of that money on Joe's health care because it considers Joe's life to be worth more than your wealth. >>>
So in essence I'm Joe's slave, working my ass off to give him a new heart or lungs or whatever else he needs. The only thing I'm missing is chains.
Slashdot Mirror
>>How many people will refuse to install the "double your bandwidth" hacked firmware, that just so happens to disable any spectrum sensing and pump out bits at the highest power level available, and also disables FCC's ability to patch remotely ?
>>>
Thanks. You just ruined my day. If the firmware can be hacked in your whitespace-equipped Ipod, you could also disable the TV-protective database, and broadcast your Ipod signals directly overtop of existing channels (like WGAL in my area).
>>>And yet, the physical universe brings forth singularities.
Yes but even they (black holes) eventually succumb to Thermodynamics and die-out. They gradually lose their energy and dissipate, and the universe becomes a vast nothing with no objects left except random electrons scattered throughout, and a universal average temperature of about -272 Celsius (heat death).
Well if THIS republican was in power (me), you wouldn't have just one service. There's enough room in underground pipes to run cables from Time-Warner, Comcast, Cox, Verizon, and allow each customer to choose their own company. This competition would ultimately drive-down prices due to positive pressure from angry homeowners. The Dish Company currently provides cable channels for as low as $20 a month. I suspect cable competition would lead to a similar pricing scheme, and which would benefit all citizens by helping them save money.
As for power, water, and so forth, I don't know how I would fix that. There's not enough room to run multiple water lines, so we'd probably have to stick with the current model (private companies but price-fixed by government).
>>>"Initially ALL devices must access a database of prohibited channels, based on location....and undergo certification."
This is VERY BAD NEWS, because the database will determine my WSD-equipped neighbor is in the Lancaster-Harrisburg DMA, and decide that channels from nearby DMAs like Baltimore and Philadelphia are not being used. Then it will start broadcasting directly over top the Baltimore/Philly channels.
This is the same way Dish and Directv markets are setup. Your "locals" are only those stations inside your DMA. Other stations from nearby cities don't exist as far as they are concerned, and the Whitespace devices will likely operate on the same principle of ignoring nearby cities.
I may as well sell my antenna now and jump onto cable, since I will soon have WSDs trampling all over my long-distance channels 2, 3, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 29, 35, 45, 57, and 65..... thereby making the antenna worthless for over-the-air reception from Baltimore or Philly.
It might work, but I doubt you could play movies on it. That's one of the problems I have with my Windows 98 laptop. Technically it can play amy movie I throw at it, but only the MPEG and Quicktime movies play at proper speed. The rest are like watching in slow motion (10 frames per second).
>>>Windows 3.x is a lean, stable, functional, and secure OS!
NONE of the DOS-based Windows (1,2,3,95,98/me) were stable. They were kludges sitting on top of an ancient DOS, trying to be a Mac-like environment.
The only truly stable Windows were the NT-based ones (including XP) which were built from the ground up.
>>>What I would like to see is prioritization of packets based on usage. The more you use, the less priority you have during peak times.
>>>
That would break my access to video sites like scifi.com or nbc.com, because both cause a high level of usage, which would trigger your Quality of service protocol. The video packets would then be sitting in a queue somewhere, and I'd be staring at a "buffering video" screen instead of enjoying the free shows.
You make a really good argument.
Perhaps the Antitrust "branch" of the government should step-in and require AT&T to charge $1/gigabyte regardless of the content. Keep access to youtube.com or AT&Tube.com at the same level of access (same cost to the user).
>>>Giving stuff for free to kill the competition is classic form of anti-competitive behaviour.
A common complaint, but I've never seen a real world example of this strategy working. Despite Best Buy's decision to give me their MP3 player for free, I don't see Apple being hurt. They are still selling Ipods like hotcakes.
In the northeast, things have been brighter. I could have bought DSL back in 2000, but it would have cost me around $100 a month. So instead I used a dialup plan.
My phoneline was noisy so all I got was 24k connection, maximum. Then literally over night it jumped to 50k, because my phone company had upgraded from analog to digital lines. Sweet. And just last year, they dropped the price on DSL. I now have a 750k connection for only $15 a month. (I have the option to go upto 12,000k, but it costs $50, and I don't want to spend $50.)
So yes things have been improving. My neighborhood has gone from 24k to a possible 12000k in just seven years time! Not bad at all.
--
Whitespace devices will kill television. Reserve channels 2-51 for TV only.
>>>Movies on "ATT Movies" won't count against the tier. They will partner with lets say Amazon for unmetered music downloads...this is the end of net-neutrality.
>>>
This is no different than when my local Best Buy gave me a free MP3 player. If AT&T Internet wants to give stuff away for free, then that's a BENEFIT for the customer, not a detriment. IMHO net neutrality is violated is if AT&T blocks access to itunes.com. Then that's detrimental.
>>>"Users who exceed those caps would pay an additional $1 per gigabyte, per month."
Sounds entirely reasonable to me. I download Stargate and Doctor Who episodes at 70 or 150 megabyte a piece, so for just one dollar more I can get 7-14 more episodes each month. Not a big deal.
And for those who download Bluray-sized HD movies or tv shows, then you *should* pay more for the increased electricity & wiring costs required. Whereas grandma who is probably only reading email, should only have to pay $7-10 a month. That's entirely fair.
--
Channels 2-51 should be reserved for TV only. No whitespace devices.
And if you use ethanol in your car, you are using solar power. But as for solar cells for your laptop? It creates MORE pollution, from the manufacturing process of creating the cells, then simply using a few pennies from your local coal electric plant. You make the air pollution worse, not better.
The only time solar cells will reduce pollution is if you use them for mega-kilowatt devices, like heating units or air conditioners for your whole house. Only then do you overcome the pollution contribution from manufacturing the solar device.
First-off Comcast doesn't provide traditional phone service (as far as I know). So let's use an actual phone company like Verizon.
If your uncle paid his Verizon bills, but Verizon never bothered to pay Bell for access to Bell's cross-continent wiring, then Bell has every right to cut-off Verizon's access because Verizon is a deadbeat customer. You and your uncle may not be able to talk to one another as a result of this disconnect, but that's certainly not Bell's fault. That's the fault of Verizon not paying bills, and it's Verizon who should be punished (by courts) or sold (to somebody who has actual money).
>>>Get your religion's nose out of my wallet
Why? YOU insist upon shoving your communist/socialist morality down everybody's throat, forcing them to pay taxes towards objectionable things (like giving free healthcare to smokers, or free abortions to kill human fetuses).
It's funny how you object to religion, and then you turn-around and try to shove YOUR morality down everybody's throats. Hypocrite much? You're no better than the Popes.
>>>I think the intent here is to stop the medical monopolists
A government monopoly is still a monopoly. It is no better than a corporate monopoly, and far worse than true competition amongst multiple providers.
P.S.
The reason I say you have "a 'right' to healthcare if you pay the doctor money", is because I don't think a doctor should be allowed to say "no". If said doctor refuses to take your money and shows you the door, then I think he should be prosecuted for dereliction of duty.
I still maintain everyone has a right to healthcare, so long as they have the money to pay for it. They have the right to buy a Porsche too, or a 1 Gigabit internet line, or a small mansion..... so long as they have the money.
If they don't have the money (shrug) too bad. You don't get any of it.
Sometimes the most-persuasive technique is to pretend to agree with someone even when you don't. "Yeah you're right people should get healthcare... but not for free."
Otherwise if you say "no you're wrong" they get defensive and don't hear a word you said. Putting people on the defense is not going to advance your cause.
>>>when I could get DSL, he said "never, unless the government forces us to"
Then that's what needs to happen. The government initiated the "rural access fee" in order to force phone companies to serve rural residents, and now it's time for that fee to be used to force the Telcos to upgrade the local switching stations with DSL capability.
Upgrading already-installed telephone wire is the cheapest, quickest way to provide broadband nationwide. In the meantime, may I suggest Netscape ISP? They use dialup combined with image compression to make webpages load as fast as my home DSL connection. That's what I use when I'm traveling in areas without broadband.
You know what? I hope they DO approve WSDs, because then I can listen to you (and other people) whining about how Ipods and other whitespace-enabled gadgets are causing interference with your Sci-Fi Channel and other cable channels. Some people don't learn except through direct experience.
>>>If I ever see you slowly bleeding to death on the side of the road, I hope you'll remind me that you have no right to expect any help from your fellow citizens, and I can then be on my way,
>>>
(shrug). That's freedom. I may not like the KKK's racist attitudes, but I support their free speech, and likewise I support your right to ignore someone in need.
The alternative, where the government penalizes you $100,000 because you failed to help me, and then gives the money to me, is essentially what Gov't Healthcare amounts to. It's ANTI-choice and anti-liberty.
"Is life so sweet and peace so dear, to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it almighty God. Give me Liberty or give me death" P. Henry
>>>right to dignity with theft an emotional response, I'd call it a badly delusional response
Your right to "dignity" is inferior to my right to keep the money that I sweated/labored to earn. If you spent your life smoking an idiot, and now you need a new lung, well tough fucking shit. Your foolishness does NOT entitle you to reach into my wallet and stela my money.
>>>All of a sudden, your health is something you can't take chances with, because other people are depending upon you staying healthy. And their health is something you don't want to take chances with.
>>>
First off, it's ridiculous to think you're going to die in your 20s or 30s. The odds are about the same as winning a lottery, because you're young and healthy and extrmely unlikely to experience catastrophic bodily failure until you're elderly.
Second, the U.S. government will take care of my children if I die. It's called Social Security. Or maybe Welfare/Food Stamps. It's one of those; the government does not abandon children.
>>>Perhaps you would prefer to go back to the time when you had to save 50% of the value of a home in order to get a mortgage on it?
If we had followed that rule, there would not have been the hyperinflation of housing value ($600,000 for a standard-sized house???), followed by the bursting of the bubble and resulting near-collapse of the banking system. As the Democratic Leader of the Senate recently stated, "Some people are probably better off renting, rather than buying a house they cannot afford."
>>>It is disgusting to think that the parent would even dare to compare socialized health care--health care!--to .... slavery.
>>>
If you are working, not for yourself, but so Mr. Joe Smoker can buy himself a new $50,000 lung, then yes that makes you Joe's slave. At least partially. It's no different than if you were working to grow Joe's Cotton.
>>>taxes aren't theft. That's a false dichotomy
Taxes aren't theft if they provide for the COMMON welfare (benefit of all - like the national defense). But if taxes are collected in order to give some a new Lexus, then that IS theft. It's (involuntary) redistribution of wealth from the many to the one. It's no different than how a mafia operates.
>>>I'm sorry, you do realize you are stealing money from your neighbor to post, don't you? and to drive on the road? and to get a public defender, and to pay for people to defend the constitution? And to breath clean air? and to get electricity?
>>>
No, no, no, no, and no. I pay Verizon (a private company) for my internet; nobody else pays it for me. I pay for my roads (approximately 3 dollars a day in gasoline tax collected). I don't need a public defender because I have enough money to hire my own lawyer. I pay taxes to support the army and navy, which defends ALL the people (COMMON welfare). Ditto the EPA. And the electricity is same as internet - I pay my own bills to a private company; nothing comes out of the U.S. treasury.
So you totally missed.
Nice try thought.
>>>There's no "Joe's health care" deduction on your paycheque. You pay taxes. The government spends some of that money on Joe's health care because it considers Joe's life to be worth more than your wealth.
>>>
So in essence I'm Joe's slave, working my ass off to give him a new heart or lungs or whatever else he needs. The only thing I'm missing is chains.