The previous poster was saying something else - you'd need a population wedded to that idea, because a tiny fraction of the population can volunteer, yes, but cannot produce the funds, and the enormous work involved in building, launching, assembling in orbit, and sending these ships on their way...
And it really would be a great effort, unless spaceflight becomes dirt cheap and simple, in which case yes, a small group of people could just put everything together and fly off.
"But now the US is finally telling China that enough is enough, and that it can't expect to wantonly proliferate nuclear weapons technology without facing consequences."
Consequences like having to endure *very* stern looks, and, in extreme cases, a very carefully worded warning.
Let's be serious for a second - short of full-scale war, there's nothing the US could to do make China do something or stop doing something, if they really don't wanna. They're a bit too big to respond to normal intimidation, and economic sanctions would hurt the US at least as bad as China, considering the ties between these countries.
Bad idea - the keys on the E71 are smaller than the ones on the iPod Touch (same as the iPhone's) virtual keyboard...
Just a warning, I've used both, and on the iPod Touch I can type normally (albeit annoyingly slow compared to a normal keyboard), but on the E71 I can barely press the keys, as my fingers are too big for them. Not to mention that they're also incredibly rounded, making them easier to miss in my case.
That's not to say normal people wouldn't be able to use it - it's just that if you think the iPhone keyboard is too small, then choosing the E71 is a grand step backwards.
I suggest going to a shop and trying the E71 first, for a longer time - try typing a mail, or a longer note, and see how it fits ; Don't just order it online, you might be really disappointed...
Ok, i didn't actually want to get into this discussion, as it's basically an invite to get your karma kicked - but do you really, honestly, consider spamming to be a crime worthy of death ?
Yes, spamming is definitely a crime, yes it's bloody annoying (oh, i know...), yes the people doing it should be punished for it.
But is it such a serious crime ?
Can you actually compare a flood of emails into your inbox, something you can set as "Not Spam" and not see again if the filters are holding, or something you can get away from, at least temporarily by switching email addresses - something that only affects an email address, which is only a small part of your life - to being beaten in the street to within an inch of your life, or getting robbed of your most favorite possessions, or getting killed, or any other really awful crimes that you cannot ignore when they happen to you, as they affect your entire life ?
Well yes, that is a part of the problem - the part that you aren't mentioning though is that most of the conflict there is caused by the western influence.
I really think cutting Africa off from external contact politically and economically might actually help things a lot. Not having the west as a buyer of diamonds, gold and who knows what other resources, might possibly see those resources used in Africa, instead of here.
Yes, there is aid poured into Africa, money, medicine, food, and everything - but put on a scale, all that aid is nothing compared to all the harm we do by buying everything, and in a lot of cases getting involved in various degrees in the politics of African countries just to ensure our supply of resources never ends.
Sorry, should've been a bit clearer - yes, the people with compromised computers will have the possibility to keep pouring out unprotected copies.
The point though is that most of these networks work on the principle of loads of people participating in file-sharing, either as seeders or as leechers.
Take away the masses unable to circumvent the TPM, and all file-sharing will basically stay in the hands of the original pirates and their circle - because, consider this, with the TPM on the computer you might not be able to use certain file-sharing programs, easy to blacklist so that you cannot install them, and you maybe couldn't play any media, audio or video, that doesn't have a certain "authenticity" verification, maybe even done on the spot, online, when you're trying to play it.
Yes, the people who modded the hardware will be able to install the file-sharing software, and play whatever media they like - but they do not represent the majority of users out there.
So piracy might go back to the pre-Internet era, swapping DVD's or BluRay discs full of software or media between friends, or at best sharing online among the few (relative to the original numbers) people who modded the hardware.
Oh, it would definitely work, in some way or another - but considering who is implementing it (an organization of multiple hardware/software manufacturers that each follow their own goals), it might very possibly be busted like most DRM solutions out there.
It's even possible that you could have a software solution one day that would tell anything checking your PC that it's "Trusted", while you can do anything with it. Jail-breaking does happen, after all.
The other possibility though, and probably what most companies are shooting for, is that the TCI would work just well enough to require hardware modding to circumvent - that would effectively kill off 90% or more copyright infringement and piracy, owing to the fact that most people wouldn't be able to mod their hardware, or know someone able to mod the hardware.
God, don't get me started on this... if my mother would've taught me german (well, saxon actually, but it's really close), i probably would've learned it in no time...
But in school you start with the grammar, and syntax, and everything - and the final result is that you're so horrified by the language, you don't even try to absorb it anymore...
And that's a shame, because the language is actually great. The problem isn't in the german grammar, it's in the way it was taught back home.
It probably would've been the same with english - if i didn't learn by myself how to read/write/speak english fluently, albeit not quite grammatically correct, before i started learning it officially in high-school, i still wouldn't have been able to carry a conversation, read a book in english, or watch a movie without subtitles.
Neither torture, nor execution would do anything to atone for the death of another human being.
There is absolutely no logical way you could get to that conclusion - the removal of one member of society isn't equaled by the removal of another, either through execution or through locking up. Neither does causing that person pain.
The only thing that might, on a larger scale, somewhat atone for what he did, is making him work for it - work to pay for his kids growing up, even though someone else is raising them. Keep the person productive, although outside normal society.
Even this isn't enough, but it's way better than killing him, or keeping him locked up in a cell for decades on taxpayer money.
I've had some trouble with my Google homepage and Youtube also, after and before upgrading to FF3 - for all Flash apps.
Apparently the problem was with Flash though, i could reproduce it on 4 machines, and worked perfectly on other 5 - installing an older version of Flash Player fixes the problem (9.something.something.47 does it, you can find older builds on Adobe's website). Hope this helps.
Christ mate, how did you manage to get to this comparison ?
It's like bloody saying that being good at a F1 racing game puts makes you similar to Michael Schumacher - i mean, granted, you just press a few keyboard buttons for fun, and Schumacher has to drive a really nasty contraption, making split-second decisions just to stay alive - but it's the same thing in the end, right ?
I have nothing against blogging, i follow quite a few interesting blogs myself, but common man, be a little realistic...
I don't know, this might muck up my karma, but still it has to be said...
Mate, if you live in a village somewhere, with no cars or industry nearby, i'd agree with you... otherwise, you get much more damage to your lungs from just having a walk in a city than from a rare second hand smoke.
Now, if you're in a tight space with a person who smokes, in a car or a room for example, then i agree it shouldn't be your problem, it should be up to the smoker to refrain from lighting up, or to go outside. That's the main reason why i never smoke inside any kind of building, or in any car. It's just a question of common courtesy - i choose to smoke because i like it, but i also know that it's bad for non-smokers, so i don't smoke near them. Hell, i even refrain from smoking in my own apartment, just because it's rented, and i don't want a possible future inhabitant to have to live with the smell of smoke imprinted in the walls and furniture.
...I'll simply not hire any person who graduated after 2005 unless they've actually got real world experience under their belt and even then they'll have to get technical describing their work, what they did, etc.
Try giving those people a practical exam at the interview, and request code samples - explained to you in detail at the interview - even a fresh grad would have tinkered around with code if he really really likes what he's doing.
It would make the interviewing process a bit longer, but i kinda believe you will get better employees and somewhat better satisfaction from it.
Ever think that maybe some of those rent-a-coders have learned to code because they liked it, and thus are just as good as enthusiasts here ?
Or you think that only people in the first world are capable of reaching the "higher levels" of IT, and the rest are exclusively on a tech support level ?
Actually, i think the reason why people don't always invest in better quality flash drives is the progress of the technology.
If you think about it, what's the point in investing in a 4GB ultra-mega-top-of-the-line-ruggedized drive, when at the same, or lower price even, you can buy a 16GB or 32GB normal drive, that usually lasts the same, and behaves almost the same...
Maybe people would be more willing to invest in a top of the line flash drive if they could upgrade the innards - no need for compatibility with other companies, or self service, or anything.
Just, whenever the technology is improved, allow your customers to get the drive to the store, and replace the chips from the 4GB they bought to the 16GB or 32GB that appeared - at a lower price, as you don't change the housing, and for most high-end drives, that is most of the cost. Of course, the drives would need to be redesigned a bit, to allow easy replacing of the chips, but i don't think it would be that difficult...
In an old plane, yes, maybe - in a modern airplane, i really, really doubt anyone would have the knowledge, resources, and time to fashion an alternate control center for the airplane before the cockpit crew land the plane, and while also battling passengers.
Not to mention that i doubt those cables and control surfaces are very easy to get to - and again, you need to do this while passengers inside oppose you.
Plus, how exactly are you going to carry all that equipment with you inside, along with serious weaponry to deal with the passengers that will attack you as they know there's a good chance they wouldn't survive anyway ? You can only keep people at bay with small arms or even knives while said people still think they have a chance of survival, and thus they aren't willing to do something to jeopardize said survival.
What i simply don't get though, is how are these abuses possible in the UK now, after all their experience with terrorists decades ago ?
And i don't mean why are they proposed, that's understandable for any government that wants more power and control - but how do these measures have popular approval, from people that lived through the Northern Ireland "troubles", keeping a "business as usual" attitude then.
Back then, you could respect the UK's approach to terrorism. Now ? Not so much - they are almost exactly like the US.
And well, it's not normal, as their situations are completely different - the americans are understandably panicked - they never knew what war or attacks are on their soil, in the past hundred years. For them one relatively small terrorist attack (compared to the amounts of victims from terrorist attacks in other countries, UK, Spain, etc., over time) was enough to scare the entire nation.
But Britain ? It's the country i would least expect to lose it's marbles in front of this kind of thing, after all they've been through in WW2 on their soil, and after the Northern Ireland "troubles"...
Slashdot Mirror
The previous poster was saying something else - you'd need a population wedded to that idea, because a tiny fraction of the population can volunteer, yes, but cannot produce the funds, and the enormous work involved in building, launching, assembling in orbit, and sending these ships on their way...
And it really would be a great effort, unless spaceflight becomes dirt cheap and simple, in which case yes, a small group of people could just put everything together and fly off.
"But now the US is finally telling China that enough is enough, and that it can't expect to wantonly proliferate nuclear weapons technology without facing consequences."
Consequences like having to endure *very* stern looks, and, in extreme cases, a very carefully worded warning.
Let's be serious for a second - short of full-scale war, there's nothing the US could to do make China do something or stop doing something, if they really don't wanna.
They're a bit too big to respond to normal intimidation, and economic sanctions would hurt the US at least as bad as China, considering the ties between these countries.
Isn't Greenland actually Danish, and not connected by land to the American continent ?
Oh, you were joking... Carry on then :)
Bad idea - the keys on the E71 are smaller than the ones on the iPod Touch (same as the iPhone's) virtual keyboard...
Just a warning, I've used both, and on the iPod Touch I can type normally (albeit annoyingly slow compared to a normal keyboard), but on the E71 I can barely press the keys, as my fingers are too big for them. Not to mention that they're also incredibly rounded, making them easier to miss in my case.
That's not to say normal people wouldn't be able to use it - it's just that if you think the iPhone keyboard is too small, then choosing the E71 is a grand step backwards.
I suggest going to a shop and trying the E71 first, for a longer time - try typing a mail, or a longer note, and see how it fits ; Don't just order it online, you might be really disappointed...
Ok, i didn't actually want to get into this discussion, as it's basically an invite to get your karma kicked - but do you really, honestly, consider spamming to be a crime worthy of death ?
Yes, spamming is definitely a crime, yes it's bloody annoying (oh, i know...), yes the people doing it should be punished for it.
But is it such a serious crime ?
Can you actually compare a flood of emails into your inbox, something you can set as "Not Spam" and not see again if the filters are holding, or something you can get away from, at least temporarily by switching email addresses - something that only affects an email address, which is only a small part of your life - to being beaten in the street to within an inch of your life, or getting robbed of your most favorite possessions, or getting killed, or any other really awful crimes that you cannot ignore when they happen to you, as they affect your entire life ?
It's just a question of scale...
Well yes, that is a part of the problem - the part that you aren't mentioning though is that most of the conflict there is caused by the western influence.
I really think cutting Africa off from external contact politically and economically might actually help things a lot.
Not having the west as a buyer of diamonds, gold and who knows what other resources, might possibly see those resources used in Africa, instead of here.
Yes, there is aid poured into Africa, money, medicine, food, and everything - but put on a scale, all that aid is nothing compared to all the harm we do by buying everything, and in a lot of cases getting involved in various degrees in the politics of African countries just to ensure our supply of resources never ends.
Sorry, should've been a bit clearer - yes, the people with compromised computers will have the possibility to keep pouring out unprotected copies.
The point though is that most of these networks work on the principle of loads of people participating in file-sharing, either as seeders or as leechers.
Take away the masses unable to circumvent the TPM, and all file-sharing will basically stay in the hands of the original pirates and their circle - because, consider this, with the TPM on the computer you might not be able to use certain file-sharing programs, easy to blacklist so that you cannot install them, and you maybe couldn't play any media, audio or video, that doesn't have a certain "authenticity" verification, maybe even done on the spot, online, when you're trying to play it.
Yes, the people who modded the hardware will be able to install the file-sharing software, and play whatever media they like - but they do not represent the majority of users out there.
So piracy might go back to the pre-Internet era, swapping DVD's or BluRay discs full of software or media between friends, or at best sharing online among the few (relative to the original numbers) people who modded the hardware.
Oh, it would definitely work, in some way or another - but considering who is implementing it (an organization of multiple hardware/software manufacturers that each follow their own goals), it might very possibly be busted like most DRM solutions out there.
It's even possible that you could have a software solution one day that would tell anything checking your PC that it's "Trusted", while you can do anything with it. Jail-breaking does happen, after all.
The other possibility though, and probably what most companies are shooting for, is that the TCI would work just well enough to require hardware modding to circumvent - that would effectively kill off 90% or more copyright infringement and piracy, owing to the fact that most people wouldn't be able to mod their hardware, or know someone able to mod the hardware.
God, don't get me started on this... if my mother would've taught me german (well, saxon actually, but it's really close), i probably would've learned it in no time...
But in school you start with the grammar, and syntax, and everything - and the final result is that you're so horrified by the language, you don't even try to absorb it anymore...
And that's a shame, because the language is actually great. The problem isn't in the german grammar, it's in the way it was taught back home.
It probably would've been the same with english - if i didn't learn by myself how to read/write/speak english fluently, albeit not quite grammatically correct, before i started learning it officially in high-school, i still wouldn't have been able to carry a conversation, read a book in english, or watch a movie without subtitles.
Neither torture, nor execution would do anything to atone for the death of another human being.
There is absolutely no logical way you could get to that conclusion - the removal of one member of society isn't equaled by the removal of another, either through execution or through locking up.
Neither does causing that person pain.
The only thing that might, on a larger scale, somewhat atone for what he did, is making him work for it - work to pay for his kids growing up, even though someone else is raising them.
Keep the person productive, although outside normal society.
Even this isn't enough, but it's way better than killing him, or keeping him locked up in a cell for decades on taxpayer money.
I don't think the guy was being serious... Well, it's possible, but it's too sad an idea to contemplate really...
I've had some trouble with my Google homepage and Youtube also, after and before upgrading to FF3 - for all Flash apps.
Apparently the problem was with Flash though, i could reproduce it on 4 machines, and worked perfectly on other 5 - installing an older version of Flash Player fixes the problem (9.something.something.47 does it, you can find older builds on Adobe's website). Hope this helps.
Yes, but, will it run Crysis ?
Einstein, Darwin, Freud, and Madame Curie (who's "Curi" ?) bloggers ?
Christ mate, how did you manage to get to this comparison ?
It's like bloody saying that being good at a F1 racing game puts makes you similar to Michael Schumacher - i mean, granted, you just press a few keyboard buttons for fun, and Schumacher has to drive a really nasty contraption, making split-second decisions just to stay alive - but it's the same thing in the end, right ?
I have nothing against blogging, i follow quite a few interesting blogs myself, but common man, be a little realistic...
I don't know, this might muck up my karma, but still it has to be said...
Mate, if you live in a village somewhere, with no cars or industry nearby, i'd agree with you... otherwise, you get much more damage to your lungs from just having a walk in a city than from a rare second hand smoke.
Now, if you're in a tight space with a person who smokes, in a car or a room for example, then i agree it shouldn't be your problem, it should be up to the smoker to refrain from lighting up, or to go outside.
That's the main reason why i never smoke inside any kind of building, or in any car. It's just a question of common courtesy - i choose to smoke because i like it, but i also know that it's bad for non-smokers, so i don't smoke near them.
Hell, i even refrain from smoking in my own apartment, just because it's rented, and i don't want a possible future inhabitant to have to live with the smell of smoke imprinted in the walls and furniture.
...I'll simply not hire any person who graduated after 2005 unless they've actually got real world experience under their belt and even then they'll have to get technical describing their work, what they did, etc.
Try giving those people a practical exam at the interview, and request code samples - explained to you in detail at the interview - even a fresh grad would have tinkered around with code if he really really likes what he's doing.
It would make the interviewing process a bit longer, but i kinda believe you will get better employees and somewhat better satisfaction from it.
Actually, i don't know if that's so correct...
Ever think that maybe some of those rent-a-coders have learned to code because they liked it, and thus are just as good as enthusiasts here ?
Or you think that only people in the first world are capable of reaching the "higher levels" of IT, and the rest are exclusively on a tech support level ?
Actually, i think the reason why people don't always invest in better quality flash drives is the progress of the technology.
If you think about it, what's the point in investing in a 4GB ultra-mega-top-of-the-line-ruggedized drive, when at the same, or lower price even, you can buy a 16GB or 32GB normal drive, that usually lasts the same, and behaves almost the same...
Maybe people would be more willing to invest in a top of the line flash drive if they could upgrade the innards - no need for compatibility with other companies, or self service, or anything.
Just, whenever the technology is improved, allow your customers to get the drive to the store, and replace the chips from the 4GB they bought to the 16GB or 32GB that appeared - at a lower price, as you don't change the housing, and for most high-end drives, that is most of the cost.
Of course, the drives would need to be redesigned a bit, to allow easy replacing of the chips, but i don't think it would be that difficult...
Ok, you might have a point there - but luckily i doubt Goldblum would be willing to blow himself up, so the world is safe.
In an old plane, yes, maybe - in a modern airplane, i really, really doubt anyone would have the knowledge, resources, and time to fashion an alternate control center for the airplane before the cockpit crew land the plane, and while also battling passengers.
Not to mention that i doubt those cables and control surfaces are very easy to get to - and again, you need to do this while passengers inside oppose you.
Plus, how exactly are you going to carry all that equipment with you inside, along with serious weaponry to deal with the passengers that will attack you as they know there's a good chance they wouldn't survive anyway ?
You can only keep people at bay with small arms or even knives while said people still think they have a chance of survival, and thus they aren't willing to do something to jeopardize said survival.
What i simply don't get though, is how are these abuses possible in the UK now, after all their experience with terrorists decades ago ?
And i don't mean why are they proposed, that's understandable for any government that wants more power and control - but how do these measures have popular approval, from people that lived through the Northern Ireland "troubles", keeping a "business as usual" attitude then.
Back then, you could respect the UK's approach to terrorism. Now ? Not so much - they are almost exactly like the US.
And well, it's not normal, as their situations are completely different - the americans are understandably panicked - they never knew what war or attacks are on their soil, in the past hundred years. For them one relatively small terrorist attack (compared to the amounts of victims from terrorist attacks in other countries, UK, Spain, etc., over time) was enough to scare the entire nation.
But Britain ? It's the country i would least expect to lose it's marbles in front of this kind of thing, after all they've been through in WW2 on their soil, and after the Northern Ireland "troubles"...
And why not ? If they can be considered an accessory to copyright crime why wouldn't he state be able to forbid it ?
It's not really an outlandish concept, sadly - if a bit paranoid.