It's a tough road to take, but if everybody tolerates corruption, it ain't gonna go away, and it certainly hurts more than it helps.
Bribery stories are my favorite from folks doing business overseas. In order to avoid direct bribery, some companies hire local "consultants," who get paid an obscene fee to help land the contract. What they do with their money doesn't concern the company paying the fee; the bribe is indirect.
My all time favorite was from a government auditor who visited Korea to check up on three local suppliers to the US military. The suppliers made dinner arrangements, and told the auditor where to meet them. When he arrived at the restaurant, there were the three suppliers, with four prostitutes seated at the table, with one empty seat.
What's so funny? The auditor had brought his wife along to see Korea, and came with him to the restaurant. One prostitute got her pay early, and the mood at the table afterwards was uncomfortable.
Boxing? Teaching folks how to beat each other senseless with their hands. Fencing? Teaching folks how to make human shish kabob. Martial arts? Teaching humans how to imitate how animals kill ("Hah! Tiger style!").
How come Kung Fu doesn't have a "human style?" The closest I've seen would be "Drunken boxer style" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunken_boxing. And that should be called "Saturday night in a pub in Ireland style."
Actually, this proposed law is all just election posturing for elections in Germany this year.
Great way to make friends with the younger voters: Take away their weekend hobby.
. . . it's proprietary, so no one, not even IBM, understands how it works.
The script kiddies will have to learn JCL. Have fun, you little rotten bastards!
And even if they manage to break into a machine, they will be confronted with z/OS ISPF . . . can they get their tn3270 sessions to work? Hee, hee! Find your PA1 key!
The best choice for a truly secure system, is to use some weird shit, that nobody else wants to use. And thus, there are not a lot of folks hacking about trying to poke holes in it.
Wait for a script kiddie post, on how to use nmap to probe for ports on LU6.2.
CERN gave themselves way too much publicity, about how advanced and expensive the LHC is. And then it fizzled out after all the hype. (Apologies to the CERN folks, but this is how a lot of government folks will see it.)
Given the current economic conditions, politicians are looking to cut costs, to spend on stimulus crap. And they are looking for big stuff, not school lunch program chump-change.
Anyone remember the US's "Superconducting Supercollider?" Politicians shit-canned it. With so many "supers" in the name, politicians were sure to think it was expensive.
A better name would have been "Little tiny subatomic bit of dust thingie (real cheap!)." Then the cost cutters would not have gone after it.
. . . you at least get something for the extra money.
As opposed to those other airline surcharges, like: extra baggage charge, security charge, too little baggage charge, late charge, early charge, right on time charge, homeland security charge, screaming kid charge, lack of screaming kid charge . . .
"Hello, and welcome to our flight. In order to ensure Homeland Security, alcoholic beverages will now cost $20 each. And non-alcoholic beverages will not be served."
"Our toilets are fitted with lapping sensors, so don't even dream of doing the family dog thing."
So, a company that should've died off in the nineties is being bought by a company that noone has ever heard of that should've died off in the eighties. Weird.
Micro Focus is still around, because Microsoft saw no reason to acquire or crush them back in the eighties or nineties.
Weird.
No, not weird, but it shows that you can run a business in a niche, but profitable market by flying under the acquisition or crush radars of other giants. If they are not worried about you, they are not going to acquire or crush you.
I'm aware most of the people here probably don't practice a religion. I do.
Hey, me too. Except that my religion's rites involve two crack whores, all the booze that I can shoplift, and a bathtub full of cottage cheese.
Troll on.
No, troll, but I would tend to disagree with you. I don't use Twitter, but in my opinion, religions have always been adept at adopting new technologies to "spread their word." Look at the "televangelists" in the US for an example.
And I could imagine that some folks who feel isolated by their faith, might take comfort in being able to send and receive quick messages to someone in their church. Just so they don't feel so alone. Unless they are Luddites, of course.
My faith is very taxing, as the cottage cheese tends to smell like something the cat dragged in after a couple of days.
I know, because he often rises from the dead in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping. He then proceeds to drink my beer, eat my chips and generally make a mess of the apartment.
He seems to have a penchant for microwave burritos as well. I can't remember any references to burritos in the Bible's chapter of "Exodus."
And he has been downloading porn on my computer, as well. Mummies seem to be into some weird kink. I'm kind of glad that I can't read Hieroglyphics . . . that's probably some nasty stuff that scholars have mistranslated.
If he was not such a valuable archeological artifact, I probably would have tossed the bastard.
Sweet, the right to a blog would be protected by both the first and second amendments!
He was not only a Founding Father and signer of The Declaration of Indepence and the Constitution . . . he was the first US American blogger. He not only wrote wacky and insightful stuff . . . he printed it himself as well!
If he were alive today, he would be writing a blog . . . and working at CERN . . . functioning as an ambassador . . . and doing Buckaroo Banzai stuff on the side.
Slashdot Mirror
Transparency International: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transparency_International and http://www.transparency.org/
It's a tough road to take, but if everybody tolerates corruption, it ain't gonna go away, and it certainly hurts more than it helps.
Bribery stories are my favorite from folks doing business overseas. In order to avoid direct bribery, some companies hire local "consultants," who get paid an obscene fee to help land the contract. What they do with their money doesn't concern the company paying the fee; the bribe is indirect.
My all time favorite was from a government auditor who visited Korea to check up on three local suppliers to the US military. The suppliers made dinner arrangements, and told the auditor where to meet them. When he arrived at the restaurant, there were the three suppliers, with four prostitutes seated at the table, with one empty seat.
What's so funny? The auditor had brought his wife along to see Korea, and came with him to the restaurant. One prostitute got her pay early, and the mood at the table afterwards was uncomfortable.
. . . especially the bit about the police, which I just read here: http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/gesellschaft/0,1518,623530,00.html
I think that this law would get, excuse me, "shot down" at the German Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof).
I seem to find many to be unreadable.
Mostly, the ones that I write.
How much for a "MacGyver" knife?
Poor MacGyver, on his next mission in Germany, he will have to construct a Swiss Army knife, out of chewing gum foil, paper clip, a bra, etc. . .
Boxing? Teaching folks how to beat each other senseless with their hands. Fencing? Teaching folks how to make human shish kabob. Martial arts? Teaching humans how to imitate how animals kill ("Hah! Tiger style!").
How come Kung Fu doesn't have a "human style?" The closest I've seen would be "Drunken boxer style" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunken_boxing. And that should be called "Saturday night in a pub in Ireland style."
Actually, this proposed law is all just election posturing for elections in Germany this year.
Great way to make friends with the younger voters: Take away their weekend hobby.
. . . "please submit your calenders to IBM, so they can check if you have used a patented method in your scheduling."
???
. . . it's proprietary, so no one, not even IBM, understands how it works.
The script kiddies will have to learn JCL. Have fun, you little rotten bastards!
And even if they manage to break into a machine, they will be confronted with z/OS ISPF . . . can they get their tn3270 sessions to work? Hee, hee! Find your PA1 key!
The best choice for a truly secure system, is to use some weird shit, that nobody else wants to use. And thus, there are not a lot of folks hacking about trying to poke holes in it.
Wait for a script kiddie post, on how to use nmap to probe for ports on LU6.2.
Sorry, Jack is in the slammer, for head butting some dude "to protect Brooke Shields' honor," or something like that: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/07/sutherland.charged/index.html
Truly bizarre . . . an impromptu alcohol fueled celebrity involuntary nose job.
No one living in their parents' basement should be without one.
. . . and a brilliant new gibberish metric: How big is your basement, in WoW Dollhouses?
That strange Moe-Stooge-haired dude had pointy ears.
Moe Stooge did have pointy ears . . . until Curly bit them off.
He gave Moe fair warning, though, by first barking repeatedly, and then shouting, "Oh? A wise guy, eh?"
Tyson had the ear biting down, put couldn't master the barking.
No, they will sue you to change your name. SRJC was founded in 1918. If you are posting on Slashdot, they have prior art and right to the initials.
If you are posting from the afterlife, you might have a case to sue them: "Santa Rosa Junior College vs. the late Sam Robert Jacob Christinson."
"Greta can you comment on that?"
CERN gave themselves way too much publicity, about how advanced and expensive the LHC is. And then it fizzled out after all the hype. (Apologies to the CERN folks, but this is how a lot of government folks will see it.)
Given the current economic conditions, politicians are looking to cut costs, to spend on stimulus crap. And they are looking for big stuff, not school lunch program chump-change.
Anyone remember the US's "Superconducting Supercollider?" Politicians shit-canned it. With so many "supers" in the name, politicians were sure to think it was expensive.
A better name would have been "Little tiny subatomic bit of dust thingie (real cheap!)." Then the cost cutters would not have gone after it.
. . . coming soon, to a neighborhood near you? Hopefully, Tamiflu will be able cure that as well . . .
. . . you at least get something for the extra money.
As opposed to those other airline surcharges, like: extra baggage charge, security charge, too little baggage charge, late charge, early charge, right on time charge, homeland security charge, screaming kid charge, lack of screaming kid charge . . .
"Hello, and welcome to our flight. In order to ensure Homeland Security, alcoholic beverages will now cost $20 each. And non-alcoholic beverages will not be served."
"Our toilets are fitted with lapping sensors, so don't even dream of doing the family dog thing."
The Wireless Gigabit (WiGig) spec is apparently 80 percent done and, since it is aimed at . . .
. . . Duke Nukem Forever players, it will never see the light of day.
. . . button "C" on the cartoon Speed Racer's original Mach 5 activated rotating saws at the front, that were able to clear the way of *anything*.
We might need to adjust the regulations for pedestrian protection for this to be offered as standard equipment.
. . . I thought that we were going to build an *elevator* to the moon, and would need robot elevator riders to make the trip.
I guess the NASA pundits for the *stairway* to the moon won out, and so we will need robot stair climbers . . . real soon.
So, a company that should've died off in the nineties is being bought by a company that noone has ever heard of that should've died off in the eighties. Weird.
Micro Focus is still around, because Microsoft saw no reason to acquire or crush them back in the eighties or nineties.
Weird.
No, not weird, but it shows that you can run a business in a niche, but profitable market by flying under the acquisition or crush radars of other giants. If they are not worried about you, they are not going to acquire or crush you.
Being that these are aimed at college students, I think that the ability to survive beer exposure would be a more important concern.
Whether spilled from your own beer bottle, or if your roommate hurls on it after drinking too much.
I like to mark important stuff with a highlighter, and stick Post-it bookmarks on important pages and sections. Does the Kindle support that?
I'm aware most of the people here probably don't practice a religion. I do.
Hey, me too. Except that my religion's rites involve two crack whores, all the booze that I can shoplift, and a bathtub full of cottage cheese.
Troll on.
No, troll, but I would tend to disagree with you. I don't use Twitter, but in my opinion, religions have always been adept at adopting new technologies to "spread their word." Look at the "televangelists" in the US for an example.
And I could imagine that some folks who feel isolated by their faith, might take comfort in being able to send and receive quick messages to someone in their church. Just so they don't feel so alone. Unless they are Luddites, of course.
My faith is very taxing, as the cottage cheese tends to smell like something the cat dragged in after a couple of days.
I know, because he often rises from the dead in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping. He then proceeds to drink my beer, eat my chips and generally make a mess of the apartment.
He seems to have a penchant for microwave burritos as well. I can't remember any references to burritos in the Bible's chapter of "Exodus."
And he has been downloading porn on my computer, as well. Mummies seem to be into some weird kink. I'm kind of glad that I can't read Hieroglyphics . . . that's probably some nasty stuff that scholars have mistranslated.
If he was not such a valuable archeological artifact, I probably would have tossed the bastard.
Sweet, the right to a blog would be protected by both the first and second amendments!
He was not only a Founding Father and signer of The Declaration of Indepence and the Constitution . . . he was the first US American blogger. He not only wrote wacky and insightful stuff . . . he printed it himself as well!
If he were alive today, he would be writing a blog . . . and working at CERN . . . functioning as an ambassador . . . and doing Buckaroo Banzai stuff on the side.
What? $8K for an afternoon? Is that Elliot Spitzer call girl working for IBM as a consultant?
I never really believed it. But the "due diligence" gave the opportunity for IBM to take a peek at what Sun has underneath its fingernails.
Sun is down on the ropes, and IBM would like to give it a knock out.
Yeah, IBM might have wanted to control Java, but the hardware . . . they've got enough hardware of their own.