Ah, the mandatory Slashdot liberal-bashing, anti-environmenal rant.
Well, congrats... your air and water still suck. Species are still going extinct. You put all your eggs on natural gas which is now drying up and prices skyrocketing,
Typical anti-environmentalist propaganda. Because a few environmental regulations that managed to squeeze by intense corporate lobbying and Republican opposition don't suddenly solve all the environmental problems in the world they should be repealed? Here's a question; what would the air quality be like without these emissions laws? Of course, the typical right-wing reaction to environmental problems has always been to a) spread FUD and personal attacks, and b) ignore the problem (what pollution?). They ignore the science, they ignore quality of life issues, all in an insane attempt to squeeze out a little bit more money for the corporations. The right has no environmental policy other than to pretend it doesn't exist. And natural gas is drying up? How come I haven't seen headlines to that effect? It would be a news item a lot more significant than California's energy shortages.
you're freezing your asses off and whining about power shortages, high prices, and rolling bloackouts.
Freezing? Yes, we all know what a tundra California is. And anyone "whining" about high prices has been doing it for a while, since the end-user pricing is set by the government.
(2) Blame deregulation for the energy shortage! Can't have liberals blaming their eco legislation or (gasp!) call for repealing some of it.
The "deregulation" involved freeing up the price utility companies pay the power generators; the cost to the end user is fixed by the government. Something which the utility companies fought for so they wouldn't have to risk actually seeing their prices go down to competition. Kind of backfired on them; they figured they'd make out better in the end if they didn't have to lower prices, and gambled that they wouldn't have the price they pay for the energy themselves shoot up. Of course the ultimate origin of the energy shortage is simply the fact that too many people are using it; logical thing would be to (gasp!) limit use, and since nobody seems to be too interested in doing that it has to be forced (i.e. blackouts). The bizarre thing is that companies who will obsess over every little expense their business runs up see nothing wrong in leaving the lights, air conditioning, and computers on all night when nobody's there.
Free tip for CA denizens: The Plan to steal your cars from you via smog regs is already well underway. Start fighting it now. Basically it combines (1) smog check rules DESIGNED TO FAIL A PERCENTAGE of cars (with an eventual goal of 97% of all cars over 10 years old) with (2) rules that make it ILLEGAL to keep an unregistered vechicle on your property. (1) + (2) = State power to STEAL YOUR CARS and crush them into cubes.
Are those capitalized words supposed to inspire shock and a surge of emotion? There is a terrible air pollution problem in California; the emissions standards are designed to alleviate this. Very few older cars may be able to pass these inspections. Whether your car's driving on your property or on the highways, it's still polluting a common resource; the air we breathe. Or would you accept it if someone moves next door to you and starts burning huge piles of tires 24 hours a day (why not? it's on his property!)
In the end, as much as the right tries to make it all sound like some secret conspiracy, auto emissions standards in California didn't just appear out of nowhere; they've been a topic of conversation for years, and the voters of California chose their representatives. This isn't some shadowy liberal plan; the majority of people there decided they wanted a cleaner environment, so they voted that way.
Just click on the "Election Fraud Wizard" for easy setup... --
Re:Yet Heroin will NEVER be legalized
on
"Traffic"
·
· Score: 2
certain irresponsible docters recommed we drink eight cups of the vile stuff a day!
Yes, I know it's meant as a joke, but the 8 glasses-of-water rule is a myth; the LA Times had a really interesting article on it here... --
Re:Why is the war still raging?
on
"Traffic"
·
· Score: 2
If the War on Drugs is so absurd, why is the U.S.A. wasting millions of dollars on such a futile war?
What is the motive? Whom does it benefit?
Politicians promise to continue the war on drugs; they get elected; they continue the war on drugs. Now everyone's acting all surprised? It's a democracy, that's how policies get made.
Of course, its more fun to actually whine about it than go to the voting booth it seems.
--
What's with all these lazy kids today? Make them install it themselves. Then if they can't do it yell that you were donating linux kernel code when you were their age. --
And if/when.NET takes off, your front end system will be substantially reduced to the point where it's feasible that an appliance like this could host remotely distributed.NET applications
My front end system will do nothing of the sort. I have no plans to adopt more MS software than I need to.
--
Well I think it will probably be MUCH less than a comparable PC. I mean, a top of the line nVidia card will cost you $500, and I doubt the xbox is going to go for more than that. --
How does it look if he stops the prosecution when he is three touchdowns ahead at halftime ?? He looks the fool.
The question is just how far to the right the Bush administration will go. The Reagan administration was sufficiently reactionary that they didn't even seem to care how their actions looked.
Second, there is the Orrin Hatch factor. Don't forget the judiciary committee's power in judicial appointments. Jesse Helms has blocked appointments of black justices on racial grounds over and over again, not to be overridden during Clinton's tenure. It is a farce.
Normally I would agree, but the new power sharing rules they've worked out might mean an end to this; tie votes in committee now apparently bring the matter to the Senate floor, so it should be much harder to block. Which in a lot of ways is a good thing, especially in the case of Helms, who (in addition to the blocking of judicial/diplomatic appointments) has been allowed to set U.S. foreign policy this way.
Third, even if Ashcroft (another racist, BTW) offers a deal after the appeal, the states do not have to agree. The federal government has only the power of suggestion to the state's attorney generals, and many of them are pursuing the case as is their duty - to win, and to win as big as possible, and then to consider whatever punishment/settlement is in the public's (and in this case the consumer's) best interests.
I don't know enough about the law to really comment on this, but if the federal lawsuit is killed by either the court of appeals or the supreme court (which after their election ruling would be unsurprising; unfortunately the court seems to have become totally politicized), the states' chances would probably be weakened.
Bush cannot risk losing a Republican on the Judicary Committee, especially the chair. Come to think of it, Bush cannot risk losing any Senate Republicans for two years
On the other hand, Hatch can't risk losing influence in the new administration, so I don't know how far his loyalty to Caldera will stretch...
This would make it great for pranks; sneak into someone's house and then train the network to play the theme from Psycho whenever someone takes a shower...
--
"Gamers are going to know right when they see this console and controller what to expect when they turn on the Xbox," Luke said recently. "They are going to know they are playing on a system that offers more power and new, unforeseen gaming experiences than they've ever seen on a home console."
The power Luke speaks of is easily evident in the raised ribs that run across the rich, black exterior of the console,
By that logic, I can speed up my computer by putting racing stripes on it...
--
The problem is I don't think Orrin Hatch would oppose judicial appointments (such as Ashcroft) simply because they're pro-Microsoft; he has substantial clout in the Republican party, and I don't think he'd risk it in a fight like that, especially considering there are a fair number of Democrats who seem to support MS. On the other hand, I doubt Bush would end the prosecution, but he'd definitely have them ease up on it I think. --
As for the still picture and the animated picture which you take with the eggy transmission possibility. As for the photograph and the animated picture which are sent even with the personal computer simplicity playback.
Did this make anyone else think of the Ray Bradbury story, "There Shall Come Soft Rains", about an automated house that outlives its owners, and keeps operating as if they were there? --
i absolutely, positively love the reaction when i tell people that i dont watch tv... no, none of it... no cable at all... not even an antenna...
Hell, I don't even have a TV. Started because I moved, didn't bring one, and didn't get around to buying one. Then I noticed there wasn't really anything I was missing. Now it's a point of pride not having one. Though my computer has a DVD player, so maybe that's cheating.
--
The Bible isn't usually considered by historians to be a great primary source of historical data, but even so I think it reinforces the idea of cultural advancement. Compare the events of the New Testament, which occurred around 2000 years ago, with those of the Old Testament, which occurred over a much earlier period of time. The latter tends to be a lot more bloodthirsty. One thing that's started to appear in this century is military intervention by the US and other nations for purely humanitarian reasons; I can't remember anything like that happening before. --
You know, out of all the possible futures devised by science fiction writers, I always liked Arthur C. Clarke's the best. He didn't portray utopias, but you got the sense that in the futures he created we had progressed as a species, scientifically and culturally. That's what I hope for the next hundred years; a progression, for us becoming a more mature society. We're not going to have a perfect world, but I'll be happy if we can just make it a better one than we have now. --
They work for the schools. Not learn AT the schools, but they work FOR the schools.
Best way to learn a subject is to teach it. Personally I think they should introduce this system in the US; I've always had fun in those rare opportunities I've had to teach, and I think it would help with the teacher shortage.
--
Hundreds of millions of people have been saved by technology. Look in any hospital: would it be there without computers? Probably. Would it be even 5% as efficient? Absolutely not.
While I agree computers have made hospitals more efficient, I think that 5% is way off. I don't think hospitals are taking care of 20 times as many patients or processing them 20 times as quickly as they used to. Actually, while office automation has improved efficiency in the workplace, I don't think it's by quite as much as a lot of people seem to think. People are working longer hours than they used to, and the efforts of millions of IT workers are needed to develop and maintain this automation. I'd think the typewriter and telephones were more important innovations in term of the workplace when they came out.
--
The problem here is one the publishers have created for themselves: They sell the book outright rather than license it with conditions on resale.
It would be easy for book publishers to offer their wares as licensed content, just as software is currently distributed.
That's not a "problem" for anyone except the book companies maybe. Right now you can borrow, lend and resell books without any restrictions; this is not a "problem", and the day when every book comes with a 3 page licensing agreement will be a sad day indeed. --
The last Christmas of the millenium and a rare solar eclipse; its times like these that I'm kind of sorry I'm not superstitious and could get all worked up over it... --
Its actually a bit harder to use than everyone on slashdot wants to believe. If you order something sent to an address other than the one listed on the credit card company, chances are they'll call you to confirm it. Even if they don't most people will catch unauthorized use pretty quickly, and under federal law you're only liable for up to $50 of unauthorized purchases. Only real problems start if you don't catch the credit card use fast enough, and let the thieves go wild for an extended period of time. And then unless you have an unrealistically high credit limit they won't be able to charge too much before they're maxed out.
--
Just wanted to say the best Infocom game was undeniably Trinity; probably came closer to a true literary feel than any computer game before or since.
And Planetfall was the second best.
--
Re:Prosperity: social and economic power is critic
on
Eat Less - Live Longer
·
· Score: 2
Aboriginal people with low population densities only have to work a few hours a day to get all their diet needs.
While this is true, it doesn't really tell the whole story. The most commonly cited study I've seen is the one done on the !Kung a couple of years ago. While it's true that they worked less hours per week, they also faced much more uncertainty, which is why many of them eagerly switched to manual labor (mostly as cattle herders for neighboring Bantu tribes), which involved a lot more work, but a lot less hours. This may be what happened in the past as urban, agrarian societies began to form when people abandoned hunting for herding and farming. --
Slashdot Mirror
Ah, the mandatory Slashdot liberal-bashing, anti-environmenal rant.
Well, congrats... your air and water still suck. Species are still going extinct. You put all your eggs on natural gas which is now drying up and prices skyrocketing,
Typical anti-environmentalist propaganda. Because a few environmental regulations that managed to squeeze by intense corporate lobbying and Republican opposition don't suddenly solve all the environmental problems in the world they should be repealed? Here's a question; what would the air quality be like without these emissions laws? Of course, the typical right-wing reaction to environmental problems has always been to a) spread FUD and personal attacks, and b) ignore the problem (what pollution?). They ignore the science, they ignore quality of life issues, all in an insane attempt to squeeze out a little bit more money for the corporations. The right has no environmental policy other than to pretend it doesn't exist. And natural gas is drying up? How come I haven't seen headlines to that effect? It would be a news item a lot more significant than California's energy shortages.
you're freezing your asses off and whining about power shortages, high prices, and rolling bloackouts.
Freezing? Yes, we all know what a tundra California is. And anyone "whining" about high prices has been doing it for a while, since the end-user pricing is set by the government.
(2) Blame deregulation for the energy shortage! Can't have liberals blaming their eco legislation or (gasp!) call for repealing some of it.
The "deregulation" involved freeing up the price utility companies pay the power generators; the cost to the end user is fixed by the government. Something which the utility companies fought for so they wouldn't have to risk actually seeing their prices go down to competition. Kind of backfired on them; they figured they'd make out better in the end if they didn't have to lower prices, and gambled that they wouldn't have the price they pay for the energy themselves shoot up. Of course the ultimate origin of the energy shortage is simply the fact that too many people are using it; logical thing would be to (gasp!) limit use, and since nobody seems to be too interested in doing that it has to be forced (i.e. blackouts). The bizarre thing is that companies who will obsess over every little expense their business runs up see nothing wrong in leaving the lights, air conditioning, and computers on all night when nobody's there.
Free tip for CA denizens: The Plan to steal your cars from you via smog regs is already well underway. Start fighting it now. Basically it combines (1) smog check rules DESIGNED TO FAIL A PERCENTAGE of cars (with an eventual goal of 97% of all cars over 10 years old) with (2) rules that make it ILLEGAL to keep an unregistered vechicle on your property. (1) + (2) = State power to STEAL YOUR CARS and crush them into cubes.
Are those capitalized words supposed to inspire shock and a surge of emotion? There is a terrible air pollution problem in California; the emissions standards are designed to alleviate this. Very few older cars may be able to pass these inspections. Whether your car's driving on your property or on the highways, it's still polluting a common resource; the air we breathe. Or would you accept it if someone moves next door to you and starts burning huge piles of tires 24 hours a day (why not? it's on his property!)
In the end, as much as the right tries to make it all sound like some secret conspiracy, auto emissions standards in California didn't just appear out of nowhere; they've been a topic of conversation for years, and the voters of California chose their representatives. This isn't some shadowy liberal plan; the majority of people there decided they wanted a cleaner environment, so they voted that way.
--
Just click on the "Election Fraud Wizard" for easy setup...
--
certain irresponsible docters recommed we drink eight cups of the vile stuff a day!
Yes, I know it's meant as a joke, but the 8 glasses-of-water rule is a myth; the LA Times had a really interesting article on it here...
--
If the War on Drugs is so absurd, why is the U.S.A. wasting millions of dollars on such a futile war?
What is the motive? Whom does it benefit?
Politicians promise to continue the war on drugs; they get elected; they continue the war on drugs. Now everyone's acting all surprised? It's a democracy, that's how policies get made.
Of course, its more fun to actually whine about it than go to the voting booth it seems.
--
What's with all these lazy kids today? Make them install it themselves. Then if they can't do it yell that you were donating linux kernel code when you were their age.
--
I thought it would make me all 31337...
--
And if/when .NET takes off, your front end system will be substantially reduced to the point where it's feasible that an appliance like this could host remotely distributed .NET applications
My front end system will do nothing of the sort. I have no plans to adopt more MS software than I need to.
--
Well I think it will probably be MUCH less than a comparable PC. I mean, a top of the line nVidia card will cost you $500, and I doubt the xbox is going to go for more than that.
--
How does it look if he stops the prosecution when he is three touchdowns ahead at halftime ?? He looks the fool.
The question is just how far to the right the Bush administration will go. The Reagan administration was sufficiently reactionary that they didn't even seem to care how their actions looked.
Second, there is the Orrin Hatch factor. Don't forget the judiciary committee's power in judicial appointments. Jesse Helms has blocked appointments of black justices on racial grounds over and over again, not to be overridden during Clinton's tenure. It is a farce.
Normally I would agree, but the new power sharing rules they've worked out might mean an end to this; tie votes in committee now apparently bring the matter to the Senate floor, so it should be much harder to block. Which in a lot of ways is a good thing, especially in the case of Helms, who (in addition to the blocking of judicial/diplomatic appointments) has been allowed to set U.S. foreign policy this way.
Third, even if Ashcroft (another racist, BTW) offers a deal after the appeal, the states do not have to agree. The federal government has only the power of suggestion to the state's attorney generals, and many of them are pursuing the case as is their duty - to win, and to win as big as possible, and then to consider whatever punishment/settlement is in the public's (and in this case the consumer's) best interests.
I don't know enough about the law to really comment on this, but if the federal lawsuit is killed by either the court of appeals or the supreme court (which after their election ruling would be unsurprising; unfortunately the court seems to have become totally politicized), the states' chances would probably be weakened. Bush cannot risk losing a Republican on the Judicary Committee, especially the chair. Come to think of it, Bush cannot risk losing any Senate Republicans for two years
On the other hand, Hatch can't risk losing influence in the new administration, so I don't know how far his loyalty to Caldera will stretch...
(until the Democrats take over).
Amen.
--
This would make it great for pranks; sneak into someone's house and then train the network to play the theme from Psycho whenever someone takes a shower...
--
"Gamers are going to know right when they see this console and controller what to expect when they turn on the Xbox," Luke said recently. "They are going to know they are playing on a system that offers more power and new, unforeseen gaming experiences than they've ever seen on a home console."
The power Luke speaks of is easily evident in the raised ribs that run across the rich, black exterior of the console,
By that logic, I can speed up my computer by putting racing stripes on it...
--
The problem is I don't think Orrin Hatch would oppose judicial appointments (such as Ashcroft) simply because they're pro-Microsoft; he has substantial clout in the Republican party, and I don't think he'd risk it in a fight like that, especially considering there are a fair number of Democrats who seem to support MS. On the other hand, I doubt Bush would end the prosecution, but he'd definitely have them ease up on it I think.
--
As for the still picture and the animated picture which you take with the eggy transmission possibility. As for the photograph and the animated picture which are sent even with the personal computer simplicity playback.
Makes sense to me!
--
Did this make anyone else think of the Ray Bradbury story, "There Shall Come Soft Rains", about an automated house that outlives its owners, and keeps operating as if they were there?
--
i absolutely, positively love the reaction when i tell people that i dont watch tv... no, none of it... no cable at all... not even an antenna...
Hell, I don't even have a TV. Started because I moved, didn't bring one, and didn't get around to buying one. Then I noticed there wasn't really anything I was missing. Now it's a point of pride not having one. Though my computer has a DVD player, so maybe that's cheating.
--
The Bible isn't usually considered by historians to be a great primary source of historical data, but even so I think it reinforces the idea of cultural advancement. Compare the events of the New Testament, which occurred around 2000 years ago, with those of the Old Testament, which occurred over a much earlier period of time. The latter tends to be a lot more bloodthirsty. One thing that's started to appear in this century is military intervention by the US and other nations for purely humanitarian reasons; I can't remember anything like that happening before.
--
But we can defeat them by creating a giant magnifying glass and positioning it between them and the sun...
--
You know, out of all the possible futures devised by science fiction writers, I always liked Arthur C. Clarke's the best. He didn't portray utopias, but you got the sense that in the futures he created we had progressed as a species, scientifically and culturally. That's what I hope for the next hundred years; a progression, for us becoming a more mature society. We're not going to have a perfect world, but I'll be happy if we can just make it a better one than we have now.
--
They work for the schools. Not learn AT the schools, but they work FOR the schools.
Best way to learn a subject is to teach it. Personally I think they should introduce this system in the US; I've always had fun in those rare opportunities I've had to teach, and I think it would help with the teacher shortage.
--
I beg to differ from the article submitter.
Hundreds of millions of people have been saved by technology. Look in any hospital: would it be there without computers? Probably. Would it be even 5% as efficient? Absolutely not.
While I agree computers have made hospitals more efficient, I think that 5% is way off. I don't think hospitals are taking care of 20 times as many patients or processing them 20 times as quickly as they used to. Actually, while office automation has improved efficiency in the workplace, I don't think it's by quite as much as a lot of people seem to think. People are working longer hours than they used to, and the efforts of millions of IT workers are needed to develop and maintain this automation. I'd think the typewriter and telephones were more important innovations in term of the workplace when they came out.
--
The problem here is one the publishers have created for themselves: They sell the book outright rather than license it with conditions on resale.
It would be easy for book publishers to offer their wares as licensed content, just as software is currently distributed.
That's not a "problem" for anyone except the book companies maybe. Right now you can borrow, lend and resell books without any restrictions; this is not a "problem", and the day when every book comes with a 3 page licensing agreement will be a sad day indeed.
--
The last Christmas of the millenium and a rare solar eclipse; its times like these that I'm kind of sorry I'm not superstitious and could get all worked up over it...
--
Its actually a bit harder to use than everyone on slashdot wants to believe. If you order something sent to an address other than the one listed on the credit card company, chances are they'll call you to confirm it. Even if they don't most people will catch unauthorized use pretty quickly, and under federal law you're only liable for up to $50 of unauthorized purchases. Only real problems start if you don't catch the credit card use fast enough, and let the thieves go wild for an extended period of time. And then unless you have an unrealistically high credit limit they won't be able to charge too much before they're maxed out.
--
Just wanted to say the best Infocom game was undeniably Trinity; probably came closer to a true literary feel than any computer game before or since.
And Planetfall was the second best.
--
Aboriginal people with low population densities only have to work a few hours a day to get all their diet needs.
While this is true, it doesn't really tell the whole story. The most commonly cited study I've seen is the one done on the !Kung a couple of years ago. While it's true that they worked less hours per week, they also faced much more uncertainty, which is why many of them eagerly switched to manual labor (mostly as cattle herders for neighboring Bantu tribes), which involved a lot more work, but a lot less hours. This may be what happened in the past as urban, agrarian societies began to form when people abandoned hunting for herding and farming.
--