Heh, damn right no FBI warnings. They look at your checkout records, and they're forbidden to warn you. Sort of like giving the DoHS a back-door to your TiVo. Thanks to the USA PATRIOT Act.
A whole bunch of the anachronisms in Firefly did bother me a lot. Especially WRT the interaction between economy and technology.
I bore with it for the enjoyment of the dialog and plot - which is where Whedon exels anyway.
For those of us with a good understanding of how space travel with today's technology works - and those who have studied NASA's Propulsion Physics "what-if" page, there is a certain degree of suspension of disbelief which we almost take for granted now in most science fiction. With FTL travel, artificial gravity, etc.
There's also the circulating conspiracy-theory that "sci-fi shows in general, are under the gun, because, demographically, their viewers are more likely to watch on a commercial-skipping PVR."
They're being repaced with cheaper sitcoms, or reality shows.
Good riddance, I say. The McDonaldization of science fiction entertainment has been a mixed bag. I'd rather be honest and pay for DVD sets, and fill my bookcase with them, and my spare time watching them. Fewer episodes of greater quality, perhaps not constrained by the limitations imposed by the 1-hour TV show format (commercial breaks - Monster Of The Week - 22 episodes per year - milktoast politically correct inoffensive content, etc).
Then I could cancel my cable entirely.
It was said that Tivo was going to eventually destroy television as we know it. Maybe to be replaced by something better.
Also, I find that in most cases it's EASIER to work on my car with a computer.
. . . if money's no object, sure.
But for many older cars, working on them requires a MUCH lower investment in tools and equipment. A few hundred bucks at best. But even just getting started with BASICS of electronic engine control systems diagnostics is several hundred bucks, and working on anything advanced, you're talking in the thousands. (ie. not for beginners, or "the poor").
When I have a simple system that I have to tweak and adjust on a weekly basis, but there's only a few variables involved, but the symptoms are well known, and well understood, and simple to fix. Instead of having an electronic system make adjustments to cover for mechanical issues, I become aware of the state and progression of the mechanical issue, and can adjust and tweak myself, where appropriate, and replace - when my budget allows. I'd rather have a no-start issue once every 6 months, and fix it by replacing a $10 set of points and condenser by myself in 10 minutes, than once every 5 years, the car pukes, and I have to deal with getting it towed in to service, pay $800 to get it "fixed" and have the problem repeat itself 1 week later.
For a "modern" engine, often you end up replacing $1000 components, with ctrl-alt-del style of trial/error. You say you had to "borrow" the auto parts store's scanner. For some of us, that's not an option, and where it is, it's certainly not as convenient as owning your own diagnostic equipment. And when that equipment consists of a $20 testing light, or at WORST, an $80 Timing strobe, that's easily within reach for most people. I can do it in my garage, I don't need to bum a ride to Pep Boyz, and wait in line.
I think the most expensive car-tool I own is a $300 CO meter, and that's really more of an advanced tuning tool, most people would never need one. Especially for a carbed engine.
Building on my last post on this topic - true - the Bible does not say that there's no life anywhere but Earth. But SOME Fundamentalists do take that to mean that things not explicitly stated in the Bible, can not be true. These are the same people who go to extreme lengths to explain why Pi=3, the Earth is really flat (round-earthers are a leftist conspiracy), and the Earth does not circle the Sun. And, of course, the moon landing and this mars junk were just a hoax filmed in some garage in Palmdale.
It all really depends on how literally the religious adherents take scripture. There is a strong Bible Literalist movement within Christianity. Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life could easily be rationalized away as demons trying to steer us from the truth, etc. But there are also a great many Christians who don't believe that the Bible is the literal unaltered Word of God. (Like me). Often, I feel like we're a dwindling minority. It's as if the strength of their faith depends on the crutch of rationalized physical evidence the Bible represents to them. Sad that their faith is really so weak that they require physical evidence.
I wonder about this, because I recall also hearing about how a component blew out in the assembled vehicle, and the probe had to be taken apart on the pad so the component could be replaced - did they re-sterilize it AFTER that procedure? and How?
It's not a brainwashing technique called "There Is No Alternative"
It's a logical fallacy, called "The False Dilemma".
Now, if we taught our children about critical thinking and logical fallacies in grade school, instead of how to score touchdowns, we would be in much better competitive shape in this global market.
Unfortunately, it would be seen as akin to "leftist brainwashing" to teach our children skills that would invalidate the entire Marketing Industry.
Copyright extension and legislation is nothing but a mechanism for the brokering of power and influence. Period.
There IS a fundamentally valid reason for both copyright and patents (and trademarks) to exist. But the scope has been blown way out of proportion by the power brokers, who are only in government to make a buck.
Actually, it's my understanding that from a purely scriptural standpoint, the moon, mars, venus, ALL heavenly bodies were put there by God to help us mark the time and the seasons, and also portents and omens, etc.
Which doesn't specifically say anything about what they are or are not, or whether there is or is not life on those bodies. It wasn't specifically mentioned in the Bible whether God created life there or not, or whether that life has souls, or whatever. Spiritually, it's pretty much a non-issue whether life exists there or not.
Even if the life were intelligent life, it wouldn't make any difference. However, given the paranoid nature of the Christian Fundamentalist mind (everything is an evil leftist conspiracy by the devil to persecute and destroy them) - there is a contingent of Christians who are worried that SUPERIOR alien life will someday be discovered, and they will come and impose THEIR religion on us - and since there's no guidance on that at all in scripture, they'll be interpreted as demons bringing false religion from the devil.
One point that is made in scripture, is that the Earth was specifically given to man, to do with as we please. The heavenly bodies were not. So if we were go colonise other planets, and exploit them, we don't specifically have God's permission. I'm sure that's probably not going to be an important point for Fundamentalists heavily invested in mining consortia.
And just how many people have died on american soil from terrorism since the patriot act was passed?
Actually, since I count Iraq as "American Soil" (after all, we ARE in control there, aren't we? - in fact, Iraqis have LESS rights in Iraq under US military rule than Americans have here in the US) - we've had DAILY terrorist attacks, thousands dead. No clue on the Ricin. No clue on the Anthrax. No clue on the Ohio sniper. The Washington sniper was only caught by blind luck on our part and stupidity on his part. Had in no way, anything to do with the liberties removed by USA PATRIOT Act. Bin Laden roams free, and the guy who sold nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran, and North Korea was pardoned, and the US State Department says that's OK.
Bush has been a miserable failure at security. He's even a failure at spin. Because he's not fooling all of the people. Only the gullible ones. Less and less every day.
If you read about the history of eyeglasses, you'll learn that back in the middle ages, when what we, today, call "proper" eyeglasses (not just a simple magnifier, but a lens that corrects for nearsightedness or farsightedness) - were invented, in Venice Italy, their fabrication was a carefully guarded trade secret. Corrective eyeglasses were for the extremely wealthy only. Among the extremely wealthy, of course, were the keepers of this secret.
Think about the millions of people who were functionally blind, and could not afford glasses due to this trade secret.
And now - due to openness of the technique, and this new technology, optical health insurance (and the incredibly obnoxious markups on lenses and frames that came with it) may no longer be necessary. Let's hope so.
I totally agree that business interests should have an input into public policy, and for the reasons you cite. But to have public policy meetings behind closed doors, where the public can not even gain access to minutes and notes after the fact, let alone aren't invited to provide their input, is just plain wrong.
Clinton VETOED the 1995 Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Critics of this bill predicted that it would enable and encourage widespread accounting fraud.
The Republican Congress overrode Clinton's veto.
I don't think Clinton deserves ANY of the blame for the Enrons, Tycos, and Worldcoms, or any of the other fraudulent pump and dump schemes that were the hallmark of the New Economy.
Bush, on the other hand, didn't even talk about tightening rules, or beefing up the SEC or FTC. The Republican Party's policies are to blame. And Bush is the poster child. You don't have to be a socialist, or a Democrat to see that when you base business on Nepotism, Favoritism, and Cronyism, that business does not have to compete, and therefore, it breeds incompetence and corruption. It's a recipie for Anti-Free Market oligarchy. It's the worst threat in the history of Capitalism since the Soviet Union.
Blame the 1995 Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. It relaxed the rules enough to allow much of this fraud. It's detractors warned about this. The president vetoed it. Money-grubbing market fundamentalists paid off their congressmen to override the veto.
(yes, I admit I didn't read the whole article, because it was instantly slashdotted).
Well, the response was still, a gross disservice to Sun's position. By descending to ESR's level, Phipps has left the arugment open - and there will continue to be whining and hand-wringing. Sure - no matter how good your argument is, there will always be folks who aren't convinced.
But at least he could have tried some well-reasoned arguments like this post: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=97352&c id=8319 213
Slashdot Mirror
Heh, damn right no FBI warnings.
They look at your checkout records, and they're forbidden to warn you. Sort of like giving the DoHS a back-door to your TiVo. Thanks to the USA PATRIOT Act.
A whole bunch of the anachronisms in Firefly did bother me a lot. Especially WRT the interaction between economy and technology.
I bore with it for the enjoyment of the dialog and plot - which is where Whedon exels anyway.
For those of us with a good understanding of how space travel with today's technology works - and those who have studied NASA's Propulsion Physics "what-if" page, there is a certain degree of suspension of disbelief which we almost take for granted now in most science fiction. With FTL travel, artificial gravity, etc.
There's also the circulating conspiracy-theory that "sci-fi shows in general, are under the gun, because, demographically, their viewers are more likely to watch on a commercial-skipping PVR."
They're being repaced with cheaper sitcoms, or reality shows.
Good riddance, I say. The McDonaldization of science fiction entertainment has been a mixed bag. I'd rather be honest and pay for DVD sets, and fill my bookcase with them, and my spare time watching them. Fewer episodes of greater quality, perhaps not constrained by the limitations imposed by the 1-hour TV show format (commercial breaks - Monster Of The Week - 22 episodes per year - milktoast politically correct inoffensive content, etc).
Then I could cancel my cable entirely.
It was said that Tivo was going to eventually destroy television as we know it. Maybe to be replaced by something better.
Also, I find that in most cases it's EASIER to work on my car with a computer.
. . . if money's no object, sure.
But for many older cars, working on them requires a MUCH lower investment in tools and equipment. A few hundred bucks at best. But even just getting started with BASICS of electronic engine control systems diagnostics is several hundred bucks, and working on anything advanced, you're talking in the thousands. (ie. not for beginners, or "the poor").
When I have a simple system that I have to tweak and adjust on a weekly basis, but there's only a few variables involved, but the symptoms are well known, and well understood, and simple to fix. Instead of having an electronic system make adjustments to cover for mechanical issues, I become aware of the state and progression of the mechanical issue, and can adjust and tweak myself, where appropriate, and replace - when my budget allows.
I'd rather have a no-start issue once every 6 months, and fix it by replacing a $10 set of points and condenser by myself in 10 minutes, than once every 5 years, the car pukes, and I have to deal with getting it towed in to service, pay $800 to get it "fixed" and have the problem repeat itself 1 week later.
For a "modern" engine, often you end up replacing $1000 components, with ctrl-alt-del style of trial/error. You say you had to "borrow" the auto parts store's scanner. For some of us, that's not an option, and where it is, it's certainly not as convenient as owning your own diagnostic equipment. And when that equipment consists of a $20 testing light, or at WORST, an $80 Timing strobe, that's easily within reach for most people. I can do it in my garage, I don't need to bum a ride to Pep Boyz, and wait in line.
I think the most expensive car-tool I own is a $300 CO meter, and that's really more of an advanced tuning tool, most people would never need one. Especially for a carbed engine.
Early fuel injection systems (like the Bosch D-Jet) isn't going to be susceptible to EMP either. MFI=Mechanical Fuel Injection.
- there's a lot of stuff out there you just don't get to enjoy when you're inside a building 8-12 hours a day.
. . . like truck-stop ho's?
Jesus never once said ONE word about "fags" either.
That argument doesn't seem to hold for the Bushies and Falwells though.
How is that any different from:
My God created the Earth 5 seconds ago. . complete with ME, and my memories of a past life?
NO! Shrimp are an ABOMINATION!!!
www.godhatesshrimp.com
Building on my last post on this topic - true - the Bible does not say that there's no life anywhere but Earth. But SOME Fundamentalists do take that to mean that things not explicitly stated in the Bible, can not be true. These are the same people who go to extreme lengths to explain why Pi=3, the Earth is really flat (round-earthers are a leftist conspiracy), and the Earth does not circle the Sun. And, of course, the moon landing and this mars junk were just a hoax filmed in some garage in Palmdale.
It all really depends on how literally the religious adherents take scripture. There is a strong Bible Literalist movement within Christianity. Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life could easily be rationalized away as demons trying to steer us from the truth, etc.
But there are also a great many Christians who don't believe that the Bible is the literal unaltered Word of God. (Like me). Often, I feel like we're a dwindling minority. It's as if the strength of their faith depends on the crutch of rationalized physical evidence the Bible represents to them. Sad that their faith is really so weak that they require physical evidence.
I wonder about this, because I recall also hearing about how a component blew out in the assembled vehicle, and the probe had to be taken apart on the pad so the component could be replaced - did they re-sterilize it AFTER that procedure? and How?
It's not a brainwashing technique called "There Is No Alternative"
It's a logical fallacy, called "The False Dilemma".
Now, if we taught our children about critical thinking and logical fallacies in grade school, instead of how to score touchdowns, we would be in much better competitive shape in this global market.
Unfortunately, it would be seen as akin to "leftist brainwashing" to teach our children skills that would invalidate the entire Marketing Industry.
Copyright extension and legislation is nothing but a mechanism for the brokering of power and influence. Period.
There IS a fundamentally valid reason for both copyright and patents (and trademarks) to exist. But the scope has been blown way out of proportion by the power brokers, who are only in government to make a buck.
Actually, it's my understanding that from a purely scriptural standpoint, the moon, mars, venus, ALL heavenly bodies were put there by God to help us mark the time and the seasons, and also portents and omens, etc.
Which doesn't specifically say anything about what they are or are not, or whether there is or is not life on those bodies. It wasn't specifically mentioned in the Bible whether God created life there or not, or whether that life has souls, or whatever. Spiritually, it's pretty much a non-issue whether life exists there or not.
Even if the life were intelligent life, it wouldn't make any difference. However, given the paranoid nature of the Christian Fundamentalist mind (everything is an evil leftist conspiracy by the devil to persecute and destroy them) - there is a contingent of Christians who are worried that SUPERIOR alien life will someday be discovered, and they will come and impose THEIR religion on us - and since there's no guidance on that at all in scripture, they'll be interpreted as demons bringing false religion from the devil.
One point that is made in scripture, is that the Earth was specifically given to man, to do with as we please. The heavenly bodies were not. So if we were go colonise other planets, and exploit them, we don't specifically have God's permission. I'm sure that's probably not going to be an important point for Fundamentalists heavily invested in mining consortia.
I would even argue that it's not good for Oracle.
Large companies, particularly those who dominate their markets, don't need to be competitive. So they grow fat and stupid.
Allowing overconsolidation is akin to corporate welfare.
Competition=good.
Unrestricted capitalism=monopolies=bad.
But isn't he the most fearsome raider of the high seas? He really kicks ass on his sailboat.
And just how many people have died on american soil from terrorism since the patriot act was passed?
Actually, since I count Iraq as "American Soil" (after all, we ARE in control there, aren't we? - in fact, Iraqis have LESS rights in Iraq under US military rule than Americans have here in the US) - we've had DAILY terrorist attacks, thousands dead. No clue on the Ricin. No clue on the Anthrax. No clue on the Ohio sniper. The Washington sniper was only caught by blind luck on our part and stupidity on his part. Had in no way, anything to do with the liberties removed by USA PATRIOT Act. Bin Laden roams free, and the guy who sold nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran, and North Korea was pardoned, and the US State Department says that's OK.
Bush has been a miserable failure at security. He's even a failure at spin. Because he's not fooling all of the people. Only the gullible ones. Less and less every day.
The Solution:
Stop developing for Windows, and port your software to Linux. DUH!
You can't be patient when you're doing the debugging on a production system.
Why are you debugging on a production system?
Because some bean-counter decided that you didn't need an extra test system, or the time to thoroughly debug it BEFORE you put it into production.
So why do we let bean-counters make ENGINEERING decisions?
THIS is why software sucks!
Kill all bean-counters.
Today.
If you read about the history of eyeglasses, you'll learn that back in the middle ages, when what we, today, call "proper" eyeglasses (not just a simple magnifier, but a lens that corrects for nearsightedness or farsightedness) - were invented, in Venice Italy, their fabrication was a carefully guarded trade secret. Corrective eyeglasses were for the extremely wealthy only. Among the extremely wealthy, of course, were the keepers of this secret.
Think about the millions of people who were functionally blind, and could not afford glasses due to this trade secret.
And now - due to openness of the technique, and this new technology, optical health insurance (and the incredibly obnoxious markups on lenses and frames that came with it) may no longer be necessary. Let's hope so.
I totally agree that business interests should have an input into public policy, and for the reasons you cite. But to have public policy meetings behind closed doors, where the public can not even gain access to minutes and notes after the fact, let alone aren't invited to provide their input, is just plain wrong.
Democracy and Freedom depend on openness.
Clinton VETOED the 1995 Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Critics of this bill predicted that it would enable and encourage widespread accounting fraud.
The Republican Congress overrode Clinton's veto.
I don't think Clinton deserves ANY of the blame for the Enrons, Tycos, and Worldcoms, or any of the other fraudulent pump and dump schemes that were the hallmark of the New Economy.
Bush, on the other hand, didn't even talk about tightening rules, or beefing up the SEC or FTC. The Republican Party's policies are to blame. And Bush is the poster child. You don't have to be a socialist, or a Democrat to see that when you base business on Nepotism, Favoritism, and Cronyism, that business does not have to compete, and therefore, it breeds incompetence and corruption. It's a recipie for Anti-Free Market oligarchy. It's the worst threat in the history of Capitalism since the Soviet Union.
Blame the 1995 Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. It relaxed the rules enough to allow much of this fraud.
It's detractors warned about this.
The president vetoed it.
Money-grubbing market fundamentalists paid off their congressmen to override the veto.
And the result?
Enron. Tyco. Worldcom. etc.
They key problem is that the presence of the runtime environment is not transparent to the user.
BING-fucking-GO and A-MEN!
(yes, I admit I didn't read the whole article, because it was instantly slashdotted).
c id=8319 213
Well, the response was still, a gross disservice to Sun's position. By descending to ESR's level, Phipps has left the arugment open - and there will continue to be whining and hand-wringing. Sure - no matter how good your argument is, there will always be folks who aren't convinced.
But at least he could have tried some well-reasoned arguments like this post:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=97352&