You're crazy. The more fancy but pointless graphics a page has, the less likely I am to stick around and finish reading the text. Pages that require shockwave or flash to view don't even get seen by me. Yeah, I miss out on a few things, but so far I've found they are worth it. If the page is readable using lynx, it is a well designed page. Graphics have their place, when information cannot be presented as effectively with text, but most of the graphics on the web even now is just eye-candy that, at best, gets in the way of the text.
I don't think you can make an argument that you are not permitting the signal onto your property if you're making use of the signal.
Why not? "I am giving no permission for or even acceptance of their sending this signal onto my property, but since they did it anyway, I am going to use it as I wish. Whatever use I make of the signal, my top preference is that they keep their signal off of my property." What is so hard to understand about that?
Why would the local telcos want to cause trouble? With DSL, I still have to pay for a local phone line. The DSL costs are more than my long distance and local service combined. My local phone company doesn't get my long distance money; why should they care if I use VoIP? If I start using it even for local calls, that cuts down on usage of their phone switches, though it does increase the DSL traffic. Overall, I would think they would be happy to see this happen.
Now, the long distance carriers will definitely have severe problems with this. AT&T will overcome it with its cable service. Sprint has started offering DSL (Sprint Ion). I don't know what MCI is doing.
Where this analogy breaks down is with the service, not the wires. Thegovernment should own the wires (or better yet, the fiber), and allow the various complanies to offer their services using those wires.
That is almost, but not quite, happening already. Instead of taking over the wires, the government is forcing the indvidual companies who own the wires to share them for a "reasonable"?? fee. MCI/AT&T/Sprint/etc. do not own the wires in many of the places they offer service, but they are stil able to offer their service, because the government is forcing the wire owners to allow them to do so.
Nobody is going to lay down parallel infrastructure when they can get the government to force the owners to allow them to use the existing infrastructure. The government should just take and manage the infrastructure itself.
Think of it more like the wires being the roads and the telecom companies being the bus/taxi/limo companies. Ideally, I should be able to hop in my own "car" and use the wires directly.
From what you describe, I would say Risk qualifies. The more territories you capture and hold onto, the more new armies appear on your next turn. Confiscation of those territories by opponents means fewer armies are created. Just the act of capturing a territory means you get a card that will eventually entitle you to even more armies, the number of which keeps growing throughout the game. I remember playing games where we were getting 50+ armies each for turning in cards. Our territories couldn't hold all the armies we were building up as we exchanged a few territories each turn, and it was risky making any significant fight because you had to keep huge masses of armies alive because your opponent would get another 50+ on his next turn.
Now, most of our games didn't end up like this, but every once in a while, something would balance just right, and we would end up at this kind of stalemate of ever-increasing armies..
Very good points. I did not realize the reader worked that way. However, what is to stop me from making a copy of the file before installing and reading it? Then I would have an unmodified copy do dispose of as I please, such as copying to my computer at work so I can read a few pages during breaks, or giving or lending to others. What is to stop me from extracting the text directly from the file, once the format and/or encryption is figured out? Sooner or later, a tool will be written to extract the text from the file.
The technological restrictions do not apply to the book itself, only to the particular file modified and shown by the reader software as and when presented via the reader software.
Maybe they should more clearly state that these "permisstions" are the settings applied to the reader software, not to the human reader.
Not that it matters. We know what the intentions are. The intentions are that those "permissions" apply to the human reader. Otherwise, why would they exist as restrictive options in the first place?
Treat it in the same vein as "This book cannot be lent or given to someone else." and "This book cannot be given to someone else." As the file is not all that hard to transfer, and as these notes are on the "permissions" page, I would say that their meaning of "cannot" is "is not allowed to".
See You are forbidden to read this.
The government takes your taxes at gunpoint if you don't give it over willingly and they are unable to take them through the courts. The fundamentalist cults you are referring to were doing more than just refusing to pay taxes; one in particular was intentionally writing bad checks and refusing to honor them.
Only a small part of our taxes goes to social security. The tax money is spent on all kinds of things that are good, a lot of stuff that is intended to benefit only a select group (state, lobby, etc.) at the expense of everyone else, and of course welfare. Welfare started off as a good idea, but it has since grown way out of hand, and way too many people abuse it. We need to keep welfare, but cut out the abuse. Unfortunately, anyone who proposes cracking down on the abusers will be made to look like a cold-hearted ass, and get run out of office, long before he would have any chance to prove those people are abusing it.
The US has also become the epitome of arrogance. Only a few do good for good's sake. Most do good for their own sake; whether because they believe they will benefit either financially, morally, or spiritually, it is still for their own sake. Way too many also try to impose their own control over whoever they help. On top of all that, the US really needs to get its own house in order before expecting the rest of the world to "do as we say, not as we do".
I mostly agree with the first part of your statements. If they beam their signal through me (or my property) without my permission, and I am able to capture and decode it, I see nothing wrong with that.
However, I strongly disagree with your final statement. There was nothing in their signal that forced me to pay attention to it or to obey it. If someone had rigged their system to obey the signals and didn't work with DirecTV to ensure they would not be harmed by doing so, it is their own problem.
The signal DirectTV sent out would not harm anyone who worked with DirecTV (i.e. a payine customer); it only harmed those who continued to obey the signal even though they knew DirectTV was sending updates that they couldn't figure out.
If you're in the US, that won't work. The post office is required to deliver every piece of mail to the address on it. They can not fail to deliver even the most obvious piece of junk mail; if they do and get caught, they get in big trouble, possibly even a felony offense.
The very first thing that popped into my mind when I read GNUPedia is a project for the development of a free encyclopedia. was Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This sounds like it could easily become the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Earth. Start producing Don't Panic stickers to slap on the front of your Palm III.
How is it that in one paragraph you state that corporations need the information so they can be more efficient or we are all harmed, yet in the next paragraph you make an exception to keep those same companies from avoiding "high-risk" people. Having those "high-risk" people will make the company less efficient. Which is it to be?
Women's shelters and clean waterways are for the good of people. Yes, we're paying for the crimes of others, but if we don't take care of it now, we'll pay even worse later.
The CD tax going to compensate the music companies for copying that may or may not be occurring is for the good of non-people. We are paying for the possible and potential. crimes of others. If we don't pay, nobody stands to get hurt; only a non-person (a music company) even has the potential to get hurt, though even that has not been proven. In fact, from what I hear, the copying actually helps sales in the long run.
So, there is a big difference between the CD tax and your examples.
Toll roads charge the tolls to pay back the loans (bonds) taken out to build the roads, and also to pay to maintain the roads. These roads were not (supposedly) built with our taxes. The roads that were built with our taxes are free to drive upon.
Take for instance marketting. Marketting is about getting people to change their behaviour in some manner, with or without their knowledge. However, one wouldn't expect to enforce a sort of compentency test for being exposed to marketting.
Bring it on. I'll take the test right now. Hmm, I failed? It's illegal to market to me? No one is allowed to let me see spam, advertising, tv commercials, telemarketers, etc.? You mean I might actually get to enjoy my life free of all the interruptions all you marketing-competent people have to deal with? I can't wait.
I wish that were the case here in USA. It doesn't matter what I put on the mailbox or tell the mail carrier, it is illegal for the post office to not deliver the mail, even when I clearly state I do not want it.
Humans like base 10 because we're raised on base 10. Raise your kids on base 16 or base 8, and they'll prefer it over base 10. The concepts are the same no matter what base you use; we're just trained from birth in base 10 so we can use it without even thinking about how it works.
And slow our orbit down so we get 1000 days a year, or speed it up to get 100 days a year? Or do we stick with a nice non-metric number of 36.525 days a month?
I'll agree that "human beings are not perfect" but not that "human beings are inherently corrupt." When we work together, we can accomplish a lot more than by working individually. However, that leaves us open to abuse by the relative few who are corrupt. It is those few who are corrupt that keeps communism from working properly. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to detect and delete those who are both corrupt and intelligent before they gain power and twist everyone else's goodwill to their own ends.
That article was very interesting, but nowhere does it imply that you have the right to drive on public highways. It does a very good job of listing and explaining the rights you do have: (1)to travel upon the highways, (2)to travel in a vehicle of any kind upon the highways, (3)to not be required to have a license for such travel. Nowhere does it state or imply that you have the right to operate a vehicle upon the highways. It does, however, show that the passengers in a vehicle have a lot more rights than I had realized. It also shows that the "No pedestrians" signs on many highways are illegal.
NATURAL VERSUS ARTIFICIAL RIGHTS.
There is no such thing as a "natural" right. All rights are artificial. As a country, we (well, the founders) made a list of rights that our country will consider to be "natural" rights, which places them above all other rights our country acknowledges. Other countries have essentially done the same, and so has the UN, and their lists don't always match up with ours. All the list does is state what our country considers to be the most important rights to protect. We, the people, can and should rise up to amend this list as needed as new rights and needs arise. We should not allow coorporations to amend this list for their own interest when that interest conflicts with the people's interest.
Slashdot Mirror
correction: but so far I have found they are not worth it.
Edward Burr
You're crazy. The more fancy but pointless graphics a page has, the less likely I am to stick around and finish reading the text. Pages that require shockwave or flash to view don't even get seen by me. Yeah, I miss out on a few things, but so far I've found they are worth it. If the page is readable using lynx, it is a well designed page. Graphics have their place, when information cannot be presented as effectively with text, but most of the graphics on the web even now is just eye-candy that, at best, gets in the way of the text.
Edward Burr
Why not? "I am giving no permission for or even acceptance of their sending this signal onto my property, but since they did it anyway, I am going to use it as I wish. Whatever use I make of the signal, my top preference is that they keep their signal off of my property." What is so hard to understand about that?
Edward Burr
Now, the long distance carriers will definitely have severe problems with this. AT&T will overcome it with its cable service. Sprint has started offering DSL (Sprint Ion). I don't know what MCI is doing.
Edward Burr
That is almost, but not quite, happening already. Instead of taking over the wires, the government is forcing the indvidual companies who own the wires to share them for a "reasonable"?? fee. MCI/AT&T/Sprint/etc. do not own the wires in many of the places they offer service, but they are stil able to offer their service, because the government is forcing the wire owners to allow them to do so.
Nobody is going to lay down parallel infrastructure when they can get the government to force the owners to allow them to use the existing infrastructure. The government should just take and manage the infrastructure itself. Think of it more like the wires being the roads and the telecom companies being the bus/taxi/limo companies. Ideally, I should be able to hop in my own "car" and use the wires directly.
Edward Burr
On the other hand, maybe when the price of CDs drops, fewer people will rip off the labels.
Edward Burr
Now, most of our games didn't end up like this, but every once in a while, something would balance just right, and we would end up at this kind of stalemate of ever-increasing armies..
Edward Burr
Not that it matters. We know what the intentions are. The intentions are that those "permissions" apply to the human reader. Otherwise, why would they exist as restrictive options in the first place?
Edward Burr
Treat it in the same vein as "This book cannot be lent or given to someone else." and "This book cannot be given to someone else." As the file is not all that hard to transfer, and as these notes are on the "permissions" page, I would say that their meaning of "cannot" is "is not allowed to". See You are forbidden to read this.
Edward Burr
Only a small part of our taxes goes to social security. The tax money is spent on all kinds of things that are good, a lot of stuff that is intended to benefit only a select group (state, lobby, etc.) at the expense of everyone else, and of course welfare. Welfare started off as a good idea, but it has since grown way out of hand, and way too many people abuse it. We need to keep welfare, but cut out the abuse. Unfortunately, anyone who proposes cracking down on the abusers will be made to look like a cold-hearted ass, and get run out of office, long before he would have any chance to prove those people are abusing it.
Edward Burr
The US has also become the epitome of arrogance. Only a few do good for good's sake. Most do good for their own sake; whether because they believe they will benefit either financially, morally, or spiritually, it is still for their own sake. Way too many also try to impose their own control over whoever they help. On top of all that, the US really needs to get its own house in order before expecting the rest of the world to "do as we say, not as we do".
Edward Burr
Fewer people buying and using mobile phones.
Fewer people driving with mobile phones.
Fewer people shouting into mobile phones at the restaurant.
Is this not a good thing?
Edward Burr
However, I strongly disagree with your final statement. There was nothing in their signal that forced me to pay attention to it or to obey it. If someone had rigged their system to obey the signals and didn't work with DirecTV to ensure they would not be harmed by doing so, it is their own problem. The signal DirectTV sent out would not harm anyone who worked with DirecTV (i.e. a payine customer); it only harmed those who continued to obey the signal even though they knew DirectTV was sending updates that they couldn't figure out.
Edward Burr
If you're in the US, that won't work. The post office is required to deliver every piece of mail to the address on it. They can not fail to deliver even the most obvious piece of junk mail; if they do and get caught, they get in big trouble, possibly even a felony offense.
Edward Burr
The very first thing that popped into my mind when I read GNUPedia is a project for the development of a free encyclopedia. was Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This sounds like it could easily become the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Earth. Start producing Don't Panic stickers to slap on the front of your Palm III.
Edward Burr
How is it that in one paragraph you state that corporations need the information so they can be more efficient or we are all harmed, yet in the next paragraph you make an exception to keep those same companies from avoiding "high-risk" people. Having those "high-risk" people will make the company less efficient. Which is it to be?
Edward Burr
The CD tax going to compensate the music companies for copying that may or may not be occurring is for the good of non-people. We are paying for the possible and potential. crimes of others. If we don't pay, nobody stands to get hurt; only a non-person (a music company) even has the potential to get hurt, though even that has not been proven. In fact, from what I hear, the copying actually helps sales in the long run.
So, there is a big difference between the CD tax and your examples.
Edward Burr
Toll roads charge the tolls to pay back the loans (bonds) taken out to build the roads, and also to pay to maintain the roads. These roads were not (supposedly) built with our taxes. The roads that were built with our taxes are free to drive upon.
Edward Burr
Bring it on. I'll take the test right now. Hmm, I failed? It's illegal to market to me? No one is allowed to let me see spam, advertising, tv commercials, telemarketers, etc.? You mean I might actually get to enjoy my life free of all the interruptions all you marketing-competent people have to deal with? I can't wait.
Edward Burr
I wish that were the case here in USA. It doesn't matter what I put on the mailbox or tell the mail carrier, it is illegal for the post office to not deliver the mail, even when I clearly state I do not want it.
Edward Burr
Humans like base 10 because we're raised on base 10. Raise your kids on base 16 or base 8, and they'll prefer it over base 10. The concepts are the same no matter what base you use; we're just trained from birth in base 10 so we can use it without even thinking about how it works.
Edward Burr
And slow our orbit down so we get 1000 days a year, or speed it up to get 100 days a year? Or do we stick with a nice non-metric number of 36.525 days a month?
Edward Burr
I'll agree that "human beings are not perfect" but not that "human beings are inherently corrupt." When we work together, we can accomplish a lot more than by working individually. However, that leaves us open to abuse by the relative few who are corrupt. It is those few who are corrupt that keeps communism from working properly. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to detect and delete those who are both corrupt and intelligent before they gain power and twist everyone else's goodwill to their own ends.
Edward Burr
That article was very interesting, but nowhere does it imply that you have the right to drive on public highways. It does a very good job of listing and explaining the rights you do have: (1)to travel upon the highways, (2)to travel in a vehicle of any kind upon the highways, (3)to not be required to have a license for such travel. Nowhere does it state or imply that you have the right to operate a vehicle upon the highways. It does, however, show that the passengers in a vehicle have a lot more rights than I had realized. It also shows that the "No pedestrians" signs on many highways are illegal.
Edward Burr
NATURAL VERSUS ARTIFICIAL RIGHTS.
There is no such thing as a "natural" right. All rights are artificial. As a country, we (well, the founders) made a list of rights that our country will consider to be "natural" rights, which places them above all other rights our country acknowledges. Other countries have essentially done the same, and so has the UN, and their lists don't always match up with ours. All the list does is state what our country considers to be the most important rights to protect. We, the people, can and should rise up to amend this list as needed as new rights and needs arise. We should not allow coorporations to amend this list for their own interest when that interest conflicts with the people's interest.
Edward Burr