Touche. I still think it is morally questionable to target an area with low population and low voter turnout specifically because you think you can outweigh the local (albeit apathetic) voter base. It basically amounts to a peacful invasion. It might be peacful, but its still an invasion.
Ask President Perot about how outspending your opponent guarantees success. I guess I should have said I don't buy their explanation, they do attempt to explain. And yes, I did read the FAQ.
(Yes Blommberg and others have won this way, but its no guarantee)
Yeah, seems like they could pull off one surprise victory (See Jesse Ventura) but next time around poeple would turn out to vote and they would lose. I fidn it pretty funny that there plan for starting a new 'Free State' involves finding a state with a small enough population that they can drown out what the local people actually want.
11% of the population in a state with 1.5M would be 165k. 20k = 1.3%. So if the state regularly votes 51.3/48.7 on a given issue, perhaps they could sway it. More likely they would sway it by campaigning and lobbying, but still 20k people is pretty inconsequental in the larger scheme of general population votes. They could win local seats if all 20k move into the same county for instance, but this still would leave very limited power. Its a start I supposes.
Re:Haven't you overlooked something?
on
The Free State Project
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
According to the FAQ they believe with 20k supporters they could control a state with a population of 1.5M or less. How 20k votes outweigh 1.5M is one of the small details they don't explain. I wonder if they will get it figured out before the tanks roll into their compound.
The blurb with the story (and I admit I didnt read the actual story, but this is slashdot, so thats ok) says the exec claims DVDs will ruin the MOVIE INDUSTRY. My point is that buying a DVD still gets the studio plenty of money. Maybe they hurt theaters, but I don't see the industry as a whole in trouble from this. Frankly, I think its all crap. Phonographs didn't destroy the concert industry. VCRs didn't kill movies. Tivo didn't kill broadcast TV. Video killed the radio star, but who cars about that?
If I go see a movie at the theater it costs me about $10. If I buy the DVD it costs me about $20-$30. How is me buying the DVD instead of going to the theater worse for the movie studio?
If you need to read/. to realize stealing is illegal...
The only somewhat interesting question here is if the AIC news folks gave the guy up, which would have some interesting freedom of the press/protecting your source issues. (And you thought protecting the source was Linus' job)
Yes and no. Although I don't doubt Macs are easier, I really think you have to be a moron not to be able to get a PC to work for you. I'm fine with my PC now, and the Mac would be to play, so for $2k, I can think of other toys.. Down the road when Ineed to upgrade my PC anyway, maybe a mac, but I suspect it will still be more expensive than upgrading or getting a whole new PC.
The article as a whole is as funny as any of the mac switch parodies I've seen. A thousand times funnier actually because it's real. There is one point that I don't think you can argue with however. There are many more choices for hardware, and at the risk of making a sweeping generalization, PC hardware is cheaper. This is the only reason I haven't made the switch already. I can't afford to invest $2k right now for a decent mac system, plus however much to gather the suite of software that I rely on on my PC.
PS. Someone should mention to the MS marketing dept that they also produce Office for OSX.
Why a link only to Amazon?
on
Reflecting Fires
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
The story talks about Xlibris, which is probably much more interesting than this one particular book.. Then at the end they say you can buy it at Xlibris or Amazon but only Amazon has a link. Gee, how much do you want to bet that Xlibris doesn't have a commission program?/. - News for nerds, commisions for website owners.
Instead of giving snappy speeches to rally the masees, maybe the way to compete is to BUILD A BETTER PRODUCT THAN THE OTHER GUY! Nah.. They wouldn't want to do that. Thats just crazy.
I mean, seriously, why bother crippling a perfectly good operating system like linux? If you want a system that won't really let you do anything but browse the web, just use Windows.
If you were making $40k as a Systems Administrator in NYC you need to seriously re-examine the market. I don't know any sysadmins who would take that salary even in these tough times. Wait.. I take all that back. Send me your resume.
Eh. I'll give you Welcome To The Machine, but I think as a whole its more about missing Syd and the good old days. Before the record company got in the way was a a factor I'm sure, but I think Syd was the main thing. The video screens at every Roger show for the past few years have featured images of Syd while shine on is played.
I won a crappy old Thinkpad on eBay yesterday. 10.4" TFT screen. The screen is a little bigger than I wanted, and it's only 8 bit, but for 50 bucks even if I end up not liking the results, who cares? Anyone else starting to build one of these?
Slashdot Mirror
Touche. I still think it is morally questionable to target an area with low population and low voter turnout specifically because you think you can outweigh the local (albeit apathetic) voter base. It basically amounts to a peacful invasion. It might be peacful, but its still an invasion.
You're right, if the locals don't like it I suppose they are free to get the hell out. Quite a Utopia you've got here.
Ask President Perot about how outspending your opponent guarantees success. I guess I should have said I don't buy their explanation, they do attempt to explain. And yes, I did read the FAQ.
(Yes Blommberg and others have won this way, but its no guarantee)
Yeah, seems like they could pull off one surprise victory (See Jesse Ventura) but next time around poeple would turn out to vote and they would lose. I fidn it pretty funny that there plan for starting a new 'Free State' involves finding a state with a small enough population that they can drown out what the local people actually want.
11% of the population in a state with 1.5M would be 165k. 20k = 1.3%. So if the state regularly votes 51.3/48.7 on a given issue, perhaps they could sway it. More likely they would sway it by campaigning and lobbying, but still 20k people is pretty inconsequental in the larger scheme of general population votes. They could win local seats if all 20k move into the same county for instance, but this still would leave very limited power. Its a start I supposes.
According to the FAQ they believe with 20k supporters they could control a state with a population of 1.5M or less. How 20k votes outweigh 1.5M is one of the small details they don't explain. I wonder if they will get it figured out before the tanks roll into their compound.
I've been doing some experimenting myself and I'm almost ready to post my 'steel is stronger than cardboard' article. Who would have guessed?
This is cool in some horribly over the top manner, but I think the last cooling using liquid nitrogen story a few months back covered it.
Did you click on mine? This is an older P4 board. The questions was has a tube audio MB been made before.
It seems this has been done already by AOpen.
But its got tubes! That has got to be the coolest thing I've seen for a long time. HAve to get some more details on this.
The blurb with the story (and I admit I didnt read the actual story, but this is slashdot, so thats ok) says the exec claims DVDs will ruin the MOVIE INDUSTRY. My point is that buying a DVD still gets the studio plenty of money. Maybe they hurt theaters, but I don't see the industry as a whole in trouble from this. Frankly, I think its all crap. Phonographs didn't destroy the concert industry. VCRs didn't kill movies. Tivo didn't kill broadcast TV. Video killed the radio star, but who cars about that?
If I go see a movie at the theater it costs me about $10. If I buy the DVD it costs me about $20-$30. How is me buying the DVD instead of going to the theater worse for the movie studio?
If you need to read /. to realize stealing is illegal...
The only somewhat interesting question here is if the AIC news folks gave the guy up, which would have some interesting freedom of the press/protecting your source issues. (And you thought protecting the source was Linus' job)
Yes and no. Although I don't doubt Macs are easier, I really think you have to be a moron not to be able to get a PC to work for you. I'm fine with my PC now, and the Mac would be to play, so for $2k, I can think of other toys.. Down the road when Ineed to upgrade my PC anyway, maybe a mac, but I suspect it will still be more expensive than upgrading or getting a whole new PC.
The article as a whole is as funny as any of the mac switch parodies I've seen. A thousand times funnier actually because it's real. There is one point that I don't think you can argue with however. There are many more choices for hardware, and at the risk of making a sweeping generalization, PC hardware is cheaper. This is the only reason I haven't made the switch already. I can't afford to invest $2k right now for a decent mac system, plus however much to gather the suite of software that I rely on on my PC.
PS. Someone should mention to the MS marketing dept that they also produce Office for OSX.
*smacking forehead* D'oh!
PS Its $3 cheaper on Xlibris, and they offer an eBook version which Amazon does not.
see here
The story talks about Xlibris, which is probably much more interesting than this one particular book.. Then at the end they say you can buy it at Xlibris or Amazon but only Amazon has a link. Gee, how much do you want to bet that Xlibris doesn't have a commission program? /. - News for nerds, commisions for website owners.
So many jokes..
Brain overloading!
Anyway, my mission is clear. How could anyone possibly stop when they were so close to 42?!
Instead of giving snappy speeches to rally the masees, maybe the way to compete is to BUILD A BETTER PRODUCT THAN THE OTHER GUY! Nah.. They wouldn't want to do that. Thats just crazy.
I mean, seriously, why bother crippling a perfectly good operating system like linux? If you want a system that won't really let you do anything but browse the web, just use Windows.
Ok, that makes a lot more sense. I wish them lots of luck hiring people for $40k.
If you were making $40k as a Systems Administrator in NYC you need to seriously re-examine the market. I don't know any sysadmins who would take that salary even in these tough times. Wait.. I take all that back. Send me your resume.
Eh. I'll give you Welcome To The Machine, but I think as a whole its more about missing Syd and the good old days. Before the record company got in the way was a a factor I'm sure, but I think Syd was the main thing. The video screens at every Roger show for the past few years have featured images of Syd while shine on is played.
Anyone still reading this thread?
I won a crappy old Thinkpad on eBay yesterday. 10.4" TFT screen. The screen is a little bigger than I wanted, and it's only 8 bit, but for 50 bucks even if I end up not liking the results, who cares? Anyone else starting to build one of these?