One might legitimately ask, "What is your need to know?" Funny thing about the United States constitution - you aren't required to explain why you are exercising a right protected by the constitution.
Doesn't matter very much what the Netherland's reputation is, if the NSA straddles the backbones that serve the country. I really don't understand how anyone has missed that vital fact. The US knows where all the cables are. If they don't control either terminus, they can just splice in to the damned thing any where they find convenient.
Today, NO ONE has a good reputation for privacy. NO ONE can guarantee that the five-eyed-googly-monster isn't reading your every exchange. (Or, would that be the five-googly-eyed monster?)
Most of us just don't give a damn. If you don't like to read creative writing, just shut your computer off, stop watching television, and don't go out. You can train the members of your family to only write in the ways that you approve of. Obsessive compulsives shouldn't be forced to deal with the rest of us assholes. Just go into your cave, and ignore us. It's better for everyone that way.
You might ask what the law actually says, in regards to your automobile. Most states spell out very specifically that YOU are responsible for the safe operation of your vehicle. If you run someone over because of mechanical failure, you will be held responsible. You MIGHT be able to file suit against the garage that did the work on your vehicle, and you MIGHT actually win the suit, but you are still responsible for the accident.
That is naive. I've had people try to collect money for things that I did not owe. Which part of "scam" did you fail to understand? The "international" part should be a hint, at the least.
What does Caller ID tell you? You mention that the caller routes through various numbers, but do those numbers have something in common? Find that common denominator, and block it. I make almost zero international calls, so if I were getting calls from southeast Asia, I think that I would just block any calls from southeast Asia. Or, are they routing through South America on one call, then through eastern Europe on the next? Is Caller ID capable of distinguishing the country and/or region of origin?
The car analogy largely fails. If you want to force it, then I would respond that you should have taken responsibility to change your own damned tire, and seen to it that the job was done right, with a torque wrench instead of an over powered impact wrench. Yes, you're still responsible for your vehicle.
But, no, being psychotic is no excuse for murdering. That psychotic has a functioning brain, with which he makes decisions. He can decide to kill you, or he can decide to just beat the crap out of you, or he can decide that you're not worth the effort required to fight with you.
Anecdote: I met a psychotic person who actually USED that diagnosis to his advantage. I overheard him tell a guard, "I'm psychotic, if you fuck with me to much, I'll just kill you, and the court won't do shit to me because I'm psychotic!" That threat was enough to cause the guard to back down. Being psychotic didn't force the inmate to attack the guard, instead the inmate just used his condition to communicate a credible threat, thereby manipulating the guard's conduct.
In my own experience, some doctors are very empathic, while others are not. Nurses seem to have an even higher percentage of empathic people, while the heartless nurses seem to be even worse than a cold, unfeeling doctor.
If there is screening in the medical profession for psychopaths, it seems that the screening is only about 40% effective.
We ALL have psychopathic tendencies, empathic tendencies, etc ad nauseum. All of us learn, from the cradle, what is "acceptable" behavior, and what is not. We are all born with the potential to become almost anything, good or bad. Some of us have to work hard to learn some things, others of us just follow our natural inclinations.
We actually NEED all of these traits, IMHO. Consider the doctor - if he's psychopathic, then he's probably a cold, analytical, unfeeling kind of guy. Is that necessarily a "bad thing"? Absolutely not - those traits are good things in a scientist. He isn't going to allow stupid feelings, opinions, or emotions stand in the way of his research.
Sure, there is probably some point, or degree, at which being psychopathic makes you totally worthless to society. Where is that point?
Lizzie Borden probably had some value, up until she committed murder. PERHAPS had she been properly evaluated, and received counseling, she might have understood herself, and the people around her better. Being better able to relate with her family and acquaintances, she may have made more intelligent decisions. Or not - each person remains an individual after all. We each make conscious decisions to get along with people, or not to get along.
IMHO, we, as a race, developed all of our traits and tendencies for a reason. Even our worst traits have value under certain conditions and circumstances. Our best traits can actually work against us in other conditions and circumstances.
I wonder how many slashdotters have ever taken a test, only to learn things about themselves that they didn't know. A leadership course in the Navy included a self-evaluation test, that was never turned in to the instructors. The purpose of the test was to reveal to the student which type of leadership he could use most effectively. You may, or may not, imagine my surprise to learn that I was primarily an authoritarian. (note that being 'primarily' authoritarian doesn't preclude other tendencies) Once I understood that somewhat important fact, I was able to improve my leadership ability tremendously.
We could probably all benefit from a little self analysis.
I don't like thieves much better than you do. I can't stand the thieves who run the entertainment industries. Unreasonable copyright laws that last beyond the authors lifetime are insane money grabs, that should have been killed thirty years ago or more. Take down notices for works that never did belong to any corporation. Refusing to recognize fair use. Moving works of art from the public domain, into corporate control. Multi-million dollar settlements against common users (as opposed to industrial grade pirating and distribution operations).
I don't know if you've ever read this article: !Alles in ordnung!
Now, now - stop exaggerating. Corporations aren't allowed to simply buy elections. There is an approved bidding process. Candidates are shown off like prized cattle, and the corporations have to attend the auction, make their bids, then wait for election day to find whether their bids were successful. One does NOT simply waltz in, choose his candidate, and purchase him!
You have to realize how few people even know what a VM is. Or a snapshot. Where I work, there is one backup made each week, on the server. No other machine has a snapshot, a disk image, a backup, there are no VM's - nothing. If/when a disk fails, that machine comes to a halt until a vendor is called in to replace the disk, the OS, and all the software.
We have some fool who is referred to as "the IT guy". I can't even say that with a straight face. This is one of those who got a Microsoft-centric education, and proved to be pretty adept at accomplishing Microsoft-centric tasks - and just happens to be related to the company president.
Actually - it is anticipated that people in Africa will develop an immunity to AIDS within a few generations.
Hmmm - maybe I need to back track. I used Google to find a reference, and it seems that a lot of the people who were thought to be immune have actually developed AIDS since then. Damn, I hate when I think that I know something, then events prove that something to be wrong.
I dunno - the flu epidemic of 1918 would have been pretty devastating, had we not be so enthralled with the idea of devastating each other. Twenty million dead, if I recall correctly. Roughly equal to the number of those killed in the world war. I know that World War One was considered devastating.
The demographics will be interesting. Those demographics will include race, religion, wealth, and education. A rich white family with no religious objections to transfusions and other treatments, here in the US, has always enjoyed the "best" in health care. Those are the people who are going to be targeted by the super germs.
Poor black and Hispanic people with little or no access to healthcare, and especially those who distrust modern medicine, will probably be the most resistant to super germs. I mean, they've been fighting infections forever without those expensive antibiotics.
People from other countries, who have less access to healthcare than our poorest people in the states will probably be even more resistant to mutated germs and bacteria.
Single sign-on support? Interesting - maybe you need to whitelist a site or sites where you actually WANT that feature. That would be kinda like using AdBlock Plus, but white listing a small group of sites that you actually want to support. Think that would work?
"It frees up the nominal amount of attention that it requires and lets me use it to be even more aware of the road and traffic around me"
Alright - you make a pretty good point. Except - as I witness people driving all around me, it seems evident that a large majority of those people whose attention are freed up, waste that attention on trivial nonsense. Over all, I don't see a good trade off for the attention.
" Any muppet can drive 500 miles along interstates."
But, of course! I hope that I didn't give the impression that I've always been on the interstates. I've always used the interstates when it made sense to do so, but I don't drive out of my way to use them. I actually enjoy the scenic routes. Unless I'm pressed for time, I've been known to get off the interstate, so that I could see some of the towns in between points A and B.
You, Sir, have earned a salute. You've obviously done things the hard way long enough to know what you're doing. And, you'll most likely recognize when the gadget is wrong. (yep, it happens)
"(0) I have become a bit farsighted and it's harder to read than it used to be."
I empathize with that. Or, maybe commiserate is the proper term. The same thing is happening to me.
"(1) I don't always recognize turns. I can well remember rides where I missed a turn and overshot, and had to turn around and go back. Not a big deal most of the time; but when you are trying to beat a rain storm,"
Yep - we've all done it. Most of us can figure out what needs to be done, and we do it. Beating the rain storm? Well - the rain got me yesterday morning. I'm on a motorcyle, but yeah, again I can empathize.;^)
LOL, I remember the stone age. I posted a rant along those lines above. I just wish the kids would stay off my lawn while they are trying to figure out where they hell they are going!;^)
Please, explain why people need all this navigation. I simply don't understand it. I can start any place in the continental United States, refer to Rand McNally, and maybe write a few notes on a scrap of paper. I can drive ANYWHERE in ConUS or mainland Canada, without any further guidance.
Now, I may be pretty smart (like most people I like to think that I really am smart) but it doesn't tax my mind to remember a series of route numbers and directions. I don't need a cell phone, or a GPS to hold my hand, and tell me whether to turn left or right, or how many yards to travel before turning.
Cycling is somewhat different than driving on the highway - but FFS, everything comes at you slower, there are fewer things to remember, and landmarks should be more "intimate".
I'm sorry, but I see all this navigation software as just a tool to help dumb down America. Better to learn to read a map, then actually read the damned thing, then do your own thinking. Hey, I'll admit that software such as Rand McNally produces are beneficial. I can't know the current construction status of every mile of roadway in America. If you update McNally regularly, the software will warn you that US 1 and 9 are under construction in Smelly Swamp, North Carolina. That's a great feature - I can decide to take I-95 to avoid the construction. But, that's a simple decision, that should be made BEFORE you ever start out on your trip!
Alright, so maybe I'm off on a tangent here. The discussion is about cycling. Let me think - ride down my home street to Oak Street, make a right, ride to the library and make a left, go across the bridge then take the third left, go to the crest of the hill and cut down the alley next to the yellow house, wave at the old dude sitting on his back porch, turn right at the HUGE magnolia tree, watch on my right for the hot chick who often waters her flowers, at the church make a left, and I'm at work. Do I REALLY need navigation? Getting across town isn't exactly rocket surgery . . .
I'll repeat what I said above - disabling 3rd party cookies does not break the web. The fact is, those sites you mention intentionally break the web, then tell you that if you want to see the web, you have to enable their cookies. The web is there, with or without the cookies. Holding the web hostage, and telling users that they aren't permitted to see the web unless you can track them is evil. I don't do 3rd party cookies. Occasionally, some weird thing happens, and I can't see what I thought I wanted to see. I say, "Big deal - I didn't need that anyway!" I go on, and find the content that I was looking for through some other provider.
Utter nonsense. It breaks nothing to disable third party cookies. Absolutely nothing. It merely pisses of those people who are capitalizing on the web. Anyone who makes money by tracking me is irritated when they can't track me. Nothing is broken. It poisons parasites, but poisoning parasites makes the host stronger and healthier.
Linux Mint is Ubuntu based, and I don't use it. Linux Mint Debian Edition is - naturally enough - Debian based, and I use it. It's sweet. And, no, you can't mix the two. Adding a Ubuntu repository to your LMDE installation may work for awhile, but it's going to wreak havoc on your software manager eventually.
Slashdot Mirror
One might legitimately ask, "What is your need to know?" Funny thing about the United States constitution - you aren't required to explain why you are exercising a right protected by the constitution.
Doesn't matter very much what the Netherland's reputation is, if the NSA straddles the backbones that serve the country. I really don't understand how anyone has missed that vital fact. The US knows where all the cables are. If they don't control either terminus, they can just splice in to the damned thing any where they find convenient.
Today, NO ONE has a good reputation for privacy. NO ONE can guarantee that the five-eyed-googly-monster isn't reading your every exchange. (Or, would that be the five-googly-eyed monster?)
Most of us just don't give a damn. If you don't like to read creative writing, just shut your computer off, stop watching television, and don't go out. You can train the members of your family to only write in the ways that you approve of. Obsessive compulsives shouldn't be forced to deal with the rest of us assholes. Just go into your cave, and ignore us. It's better for everyone that way.
And, you don't suspect that this was a miscarriage of justice? It happens, you know.
You might ask what the law actually says, in regards to your automobile. Most states spell out very specifically that YOU are responsible for the safe operation of your vehicle. If you run someone over because of mechanical failure, you will be held responsible. You MIGHT be able to file suit against the garage that did the work on your vehicle, and you MIGHT actually win the suit, but you are still responsible for the accident.
That is naive. I've had people try to collect money for things that I did not owe. Which part of "scam" did you fail to understand? The "international" part should be a hint, at the least.
What does Caller ID tell you? You mention that the caller routes through various numbers, but do those numbers have something in common? Find that common denominator, and block it. I make almost zero international calls, so if I were getting calls from southeast Asia, I think that I would just block any calls from southeast Asia. Or, are they routing through South America on one call, then through eastern Europe on the next? Is Caller ID capable of distinguishing the country and/or region of origin?
"They are the ones who can step back and analyze a situation rationally,"
Is there some evidence that psychopaths are more or less rational than other people?
The car analogy largely fails. If you want to force it, then I would respond that you should have taken responsibility to change your own damned tire, and seen to it that the job was done right, with a torque wrench instead of an over powered impact wrench. Yes, you're still responsible for your vehicle.
But, no, being psychotic is no excuse for murdering. That psychotic has a functioning brain, with which he makes decisions. He can decide to kill you, or he can decide to just beat the crap out of you, or he can decide that you're not worth the effort required to fight with you.
Anecdote: I met a psychotic person who actually USED that diagnosis to his advantage. I overheard him tell a guard, "I'm psychotic, if you fuck with me to much, I'll just kill you, and the court won't do shit to me because I'm psychotic!" That threat was enough to cause the guard to back down. Being psychotic didn't force the inmate to attack the guard, instead the inmate just used his condition to communicate a credible threat, thereby manipulating the guard's conduct.
AC asks for your source. I'll echo that question.
In my own experience, some doctors are very empathic, while others are not. Nurses seem to have an even higher percentage of empathic people, while the heartless nurses seem to be even worse than a cold, unfeeling doctor.
If there is screening in the medical profession for psychopaths, it seems that the screening is only about 40% effective.
Spot on.
We ALL have psychopathic tendencies, empathic tendencies, etc ad nauseum. All of us learn, from the cradle, what is "acceptable" behavior, and what is not. We are all born with the potential to become almost anything, good or bad. Some of us have to work hard to learn some things, others of us just follow our natural inclinations.
We actually NEED all of these traits, IMHO. Consider the doctor - if he's psychopathic, then he's probably a cold, analytical, unfeeling kind of guy. Is that necessarily a "bad thing"? Absolutely not - those traits are good things in a scientist. He isn't going to allow stupid feelings, opinions, or emotions stand in the way of his research.
Sure, there is probably some point, or degree, at which being psychopathic makes you totally worthless to society. Where is that point?
Lizzie Borden probably had some value, up until she committed murder. PERHAPS had she been properly evaluated, and received counseling, she might have understood herself, and the people around her better. Being better able to relate with her family and acquaintances, she may have made more intelligent decisions. Or not - each person remains an individual after all. We each make conscious decisions to get along with people, or not to get along.
IMHO, we, as a race, developed all of our traits and tendencies for a reason. Even our worst traits have value under certain conditions and circumstances. Our best traits can actually work against us in other conditions and circumstances.
I wonder how many slashdotters have ever taken a test, only to learn things about themselves that they didn't know. A leadership course in the Navy included a self-evaluation test, that was never turned in to the instructors. The purpose of the test was to reveal to the student which type of leadership he could use most effectively. You may, or may not, imagine my surprise to learn that I was primarily an authoritarian. (note that being 'primarily' authoritarian doesn't preclude other tendencies) Once I understood that somewhat important fact, I was able to improve my leadership ability tremendously.
We could probably all benefit from a little self analysis.
I don't like thieves much better than you do. I can't stand the thieves who run the entertainment industries. Unreasonable copyright laws that last beyond the authors lifetime are insane money grabs, that should have been killed thirty years ago or more. Take down notices for works that never did belong to any corporation. Refusing to recognize fair use. Moving works of art from the public domain, into corporate control. Multi-million dollar settlements against common users (as opposed to industrial grade pirating and distribution operations).
I don't know if you've ever read this article:
!Alles in ordnung!
http://striderweb.com/blog/tag/books/
Now, now - stop exaggerating. Corporations aren't allowed to simply buy elections. There is an approved bidding process. Candidates are shown off like prized cattle, and the corporations have to attend the auction, make their bids, then wait for election day to find whether their bids were successful. One does NOT simply waltz in, choose his candidate, and purchase him!
You have to realize how few people even know what a VM is. Or a snapshot. Where I work, there is one backup made each week, on the server. No other machine has a snapshot, a disk image, a backup, there are no VM's - nothing. If/when a disk fails, that machine comes to a halt until a vendor is called in to replace the disk, the OS, and all the software.
We have some fool who is referred to as "the IT guy". I can't even say that with a straight face. This is one of those who got a Microsoft-centric education, and proved to be pretty adept at accomplishing Microsoft-centric tasks - and just happens to be related to the company president.
I know that our situation isn't unique.
Actually - it is anticipated that people in Africa will develop an immunity to AIDS within a few generations.
Hmmm - maybe I need to back track. I used Google to find a reference, and it seems that a lot of the people who were thought to be immune have actually developed AIDS since then. Damn, I hate when I think that I know something, then events prove that something to be wrong.
I dunno - the flu epidemic of 1918 would have been pretty devastating, had we not be so enthralled with the idea of devastating each other. Twenty million dead, if I recall correctly. Roughly equal to the number of those killed in the world war. I know that World War One was considered devastating.
The demographics will be interesting. Those demographics will include race, religion, wealth, and education. A rich white family with no religious objections to transfusions and other treatments, here in the US, has always enjoyed the "best" in health care. Those are the people who are going to be targeted by the super germs.
Poor black and Hispanic people with little or no access to healthcare, and especially those who distrust modern medicine, will probably be the most resistant to super germs. I mean, they've been fighting infections forever without those expensive antibiotics.
People from other countries, who have less access to healthcare than our poorest people in the states will probably be even more resistant to mutated germs and bacteria.
Single sign-on support? Interesting - maybe you need to whitelist a site or sites where you actually WANT that feature. That would be kinda like using AdBlock Plus, but white listing a small group of sites that you actually want to support. Think that would work?
"It frees up the nominal amount of attention that it requires and lets me use it to be even more aware of the road and traffic around me"
Alright - you make a pretty good point. Except - as I witness people driving all around me, it seems evident that a large majority of those people whose attention are freed up, waste that attention on trivial nonsense. Over all, I don't see a good trade off for the attention.
" Any muppet can drive 500 miles along interstates."
But, of course! I hope that I didn't give the impression that I've always been on the interstates. I've always used the interstates when it made sense to do so, but I don't drive out of my way to use them. I actually enjoy the scenic routes. Unless I'm pressed for time, I've been known to get off the interstate, so that I could see some of the towns in between points A and B.
You, Sir, have earned a salute. You've obviously done things the hard way long enough to know what you're doing. And, you'll most likely recognize when the gadget is wrong. (yep, it happens)
"(0) I have become a bit farsighted and it's harder to read than it used to be."
I empathize with that. Or, maybe commiserate is the proper term. The same thing is happening to me.
"(1) I don't always recognize turns. I can well remember rides where I missed a turn and overshot, and had to turn around and go back. Not a big deal most of the time; but when you are trying to beat a rain storm,"
Yep - we've all done it. Most of us can figure out what needs to be done, and we do it. Beating the rain storm? Well - the rain got me yesterday morning. I'm on a motorcyle, but yeah, again I can empathize. ;^)
LOL, I remember the stone age. I posted a rant along those lines above. I just wish the kids would stay off my lawn while they are trying to figure out where they hell they are going! ;^)
Please, explain why people need all this navigation. I simply don't understand it. I can start any place in the continental United States, refer to Rand McNally, and maybe write a few notes on a scrap of paper. I can drive ANYWHERE in ConUS or mainland Canada, without any further guidance.
Now, I may be pretty smart (like most people I like to think that I really am smart) but it doesn't tax my mind to remember a series of route numbers and directions. I don't need a cell phone, or a GPS to hold my hand, and tell me whether to turn left or right, or how many yards to travel before turning.
Cycling is somewhat different than driving on the highway - but FFS, everything comes at you slower, there are fewer things to remember, and landmarks should be more "intimate".
I'm sorry, but I see all this navigation software as just a tool to help dumb down America. Better to learn to read a map, then actually read the damned thing, then do your own thinking. Hey, I'll admit that software such as Rand McNally produces are beneficial. I can't know the current construction status of every mile of roadway in America. If you update McNally regularly, the software will warn you that US 1 and 9 are under construction in Smelly Swamp, North Carolina. That's a great feature - I can decide to take I-95 to avoid the construction. But, that's a simple decision, that should be made BEFORE you ever start out on your trip!
Alright, so maybe I'm off on a tangent here. The discussion is about cycling. Let me think - ride down my home street to Oak Street, make a right, ride to the library and make a left, go across the bridge then take the third left, go to the crest of the hill and cut down the alley next to the yellow house, wave at the old dude sitting on his back porch, turn right at the HUGE magnolia tree, watch on my right for the hot chick who often waters her flowers, at the church make a left, and I'm at work. Do I REALLY need navigation? Getting across town isn't exactly rocket surgery . . .
I'll repeat what I said above - disabling 3rd party cookies does not break the web. The fact is, those sites you mention intentionally break the web, then tell you that if you want to see the web, you have to enable their cookies. The web is there, with or without the cookies. Holding the web hostage, and telling users that they aren't permitted to see the web unless you can track them is evil. I don't do 3rd party cookies. Occasionally, some weird thing happens, and I can't see what I thought I wanted to see. I say, "Big deal - I didn't need that anyway!" I go on, and find the content that I was looking for through some other provider.
"Because it breaks the fucking web."
Utter nonsense. It breaks nothing to disable third party cookies. Absolutely nothing. It merely pisses of those people who are capitalizing on the web. Anyone who makes money by tracking me is irritated when they can't track me. Nothing is broken. It poisons parasites, but poisoning parasites makes the host stronger and healthier.
Linux Mint is Ubuntu based, and I don't use it. Linux Mint Debian Edition is - naturally enough - Debian based, and I use it. It's sweet. And, no, you can't mix the two. Adding a Ubuntu repository to your LMDE installation may work for awhile, but it's going to wreak havoc on your software manager eventually.