Re:Switzerland, bah
on
Patent Nonsense
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· Score: 2, Flamebait
The only reason it's the most widely used is because it allows for anonymous accounts. Which generally are used by mobsters, terrorists, tax dodgers, drug dealers, and anyone else seeking a way to enjoy the ill-gotten fruits of their labors.
The EULA (and copyright) constrains supply. By controlling who can run their software, the supply is constrained compared to a hypothetical "natural" situation, where the only limit on who could install and run their software would be how much disk space it took up.
Without that constraint, the software is worth exactly $0. The constraint of free copying is what decreases supply, and increases demand, and gives IP it's value. And while the constitutional impetus for copyright is just and reasonable, the current implementation is not, and therefore, the current implementation of copyright is unconstitutional.
As long as the GPL expires at a certain time on a given piece of work, and that work then falls into the public domain, I don't really have a problem at all with it's constitutionality.
IP only has a value because the government enforces the owner's right to constrain supply.
So I guess it's only fair for the government to tax the IP owner so it can recoup it's costs incurred by the enforcement (ie. busting software pirates, in this case).
The value of IP is in the artificial constraint on supply.
Since digital data can be infinitely copied with no loss of integrity, and virtually no real-world costs, then it has a virtually infinite supply, and therefore can command a virtually zero price.
In order to make it "worth" something, it's "owner" (under enforcement from the government) has to constrain this supply artificially in order to boost prices. Sort of like building a fence around an oasis in the middle of a desert with an infinite water supply from an underground stream, and charging admission.
It challenges pretty much anyone's sense of right and wrong, and the way it's currently implemented in the US is unconstitutional. But the guy holding the keys to the gate makes lots of money, and that's all that matters.
Americans aren't taxed anymore now that Bush is in office. Well, that is if you define "Americans" to mean; any person or household whose combined W2 income is greater than $200,000. I guess the poor still pay about 30%.
I dunno - there were some bits to Babylon 5 where there was definately some harsh high-end military mayhem going on:
The Centauri orbital bombardment of the Narn homeworld. The Shadows' destruction of the Earth outpost. I even forget the one planet the Shadows destroyed with the ground penetrating nukes. Then there's Sheridan's destruction of Khazad Dum with the R/C spaceship loaded with nukes.
Unfortunately, in this case, the production budget wasn't up to portraying the kind of detail you're looking for.
What's totally scary is that this is the guy who kept Nixon's leash so short (according to the recently released tapes where Nixon was practically begging to nuke VietNam, and Kissinger said that it probably wasn't such a good idea).
My great uncle went to war for Hitler. He was Austrian - and was conscripted. Had he not gone, he would have been shot. He has photos of himself in uniform, his unit and drinking buddies, and the wreckage of a British plane he shot down, (along with it's dead pilot). When the Allies captured him, he says he was happy and relieved. His unit surrendered without any fight at all. Though his mind was changed after two years of inhumane treatment as a POW in France.
sounds like you have a poor understanding of what depleted uranium is. I guess you've read all the same alarmist propaganda I've read on the web - but maybe you had mixed cough medicine with your antidepressant.
Basically, depleted uranium is a metal, heavier than lead, and therefore more effective in imparting a projectile's kinetic energy. Has abso-fuckin-lutely NOTHING at all to do with radiation or fission, is not the cause of gulf war illness or any other made up mystery garbage.
one would hope that they would think; 'gee, if I fly this airplane into a building, the US will likely find out who I am, where I lived, and kill, maim, torture, irradiate, and poison everyone in my family, everyone I knew in my villiage growing up, and pretty much everyone else in a 100 mile radius, and make the land unlivable for the next 10,000 years.'
Alas, even THAT is not a deterrance. These people have been very carefully trained to keep their eye on the ball, which consists of a comfy chair in paradise.
Why should Israel have to withdraw to pre-1967 borders. IIRC, they were attacked, the attack was unprovoked, they defended themselves and decided to keep some of that territory as a defensive buffer.
Sounds totally reasonable to me. What puzzles me is, if people are unhappy living there, and if the Jordanians, Syrians, Egyptians, etc are all so concerned about the plight of their Arab brothers in Palestine, why in hell don't they offer to take on the refugees who no longer want to live there? Especially since it was their war that they started against Israel, so really, the situation was their doing.
Because it's SOOO much more convenient to just keep on hating the Jews, rather than to criticize one's own regime.
I preferred the late-great Carl Sagan's analogy; You and I are both in a locked room, standing in a foot of gasoline, with stacks of dynamite all over. Each of us is holding a lit match, each threatening to drop theirs first. . .
Well, the US can't "un create" them now. They have them, and nothing anyone does is going to put that particularly tempting genie back into the bottle.
Of course they want to discourage others from getting nukes as well. Any other nation that gets nukes does nothing to help the situation. Except for themselves. And only so long as those weapons aren't used. We only have to be afraid of the ones who are likely to actually use them.
Suddenly, I'm wondering when I'm going to get an email from my manager telling me I'm fired because I do not support one of my company's major business partners.
I *know* that if Microsoft is broken up, it will mean bad, bad things for the company I work for. I also know the difference between right and wrong. And if punishing the wrong means my company suffers, and I lose my job because of that, so be it. But now I'm worried that having my opinion and real name exposed publicly like this might be a threat to my career.
Ever notice when you're sitting with a bunch of other people in a group, say at a lunch table in a cafeteria, and someone comes along to sit down with the group - they'll move the chair trivially before sitting down? Maybe an inch to the left or something? Ever notice yourself doing that and wondering why?
It's human nature - the subconsious desire to at least perform some token act of control to demonstrate one's dominance, even if it's trivial in nature. It's just the way humans are. UI Nazis who come up with obtuse rationalizations to justify things like this article are just subconciously trying to enforce their own dominance on the situation, like the priest who chooses those non-movable pews for his church.
Next thing you know, they won't even permit us to even move or resize windows. (like all the various apps that launch and run "full screen" - - - iMovie anyone?).
I was a faithful watcher of B5 and even the short-lived spin-off, and Legend of the Rangers. What was the point of Legend of the Rangers? was it a pilot for an aborted series? Anyway, I will *not* be watching this new series, even though it sounds fairly interesting, and in the past you have delighted me with your story arcs and special effects, and colorful characters.
The reason is the network that's picking this up. I'm not going to subscribe to a general movie channel to watch a sci fi series. This show should be on the Scifi channel. Not Showtime. The best of luck to this latest endeavour. . .
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The only reason it's the most widely used is because it allows for anonymous accounts. Which generally are used by mobsters, terrorists, tax dodgers, drug dealers, and anyone else seeking a way to enjoy the ill-gotten fruits of their labors.
The EULA (and copyright) constrains supply. By controlling who can run their software, the supply is constrained compared to a hypothetical "natural" situation, where the only limit on who could install and run their software would be how much disk space it took up.
Without that constraint, the software is worth exactly $0. The constraint of free copying is what decreases supply, and increases demand, and gives IP it's value. And while the constitutional impetus for copyright is just and reasonable, the current implementation is not, and therefore, the current implementation of copyright is unconstitutional.
As long as the GPL expires at a certain time on a given piece of work, and that work then falls into the public domain, I don't really have a problem at all with it's constitutionality.
I'm willing to pay if *I* can prioritize that list. I think I'll put chicks in thongs somewhere above parks.
IP only has a value because the government enforces the owner's right to constrain supply.
So I guess it's only fair for the government to tax the IP owner so it can recoup it's costs incurred by the enforcement (ie. busting software pirates, in this case).
The value of IP is in the artificial constraint on supply.
Since digital data can be infinitely copied with no loss of integrity, and virtually no real-world costs, then it has a virtually infinite supply, and therefore can command a virtually zero price.
In order to make it "worth" something, it's "owner" (under enforcement from the government) has to constrain this supply artificially in order to boost prices. Sort of like building a fence around an oasis in the middle of a desert with an infinite water supply from an underground stream, and charging admission.
It challenges pretty much anyone's sense of right and wrong, and the way it's currently implemented in the US is unconstitutional. But the guy holding the keys to the gate makes lots of money, and that's all that matters.
Americans aren't taxed anymore now that Bush is in office. Well, that is if you define "Americans" to mean; any person or household whose combined W2 income is greater than $200,000. I guess the poor still pay about 30%.
careful man, don't insult Celine Dion in front of a Canadian. They're rabid about her. She's a national treasure. Not unlike Bob and Doug McKenzie.
I dunno - there were some bits to Babylon 5 where there was definately some harsh high-end military mayhem going on:
The Centauri orbital bombardment of the Narn homeworld.
The Shadows' destruction of the Earth outpost.
I even forget the one planet the Shadows destroyed with the ground penetrating nukes.
Then there's Sheridan's destruction of Khazad Dum with the R/C spaceship loaded with nukes.
Unfortunately, in this case, the production budget wasn't up to portraying the kind of detail you're looking for.
yum! Natalie Portman in the Milla Jojovich white band-aid costume. . .
.. . .and there was this one time, in band camp. . .
What's totally scary is that this is the guy who kept Nixon's leash so short (according to the recently released tapes where Nixon was practically begging to nuke VietNam, and Kissinger said that it probably wasn't such a good idea).
My great uncle went to war for Hitler. He was Austrian - and was conscripted. Had he not gone, he would have been shot. He has photos of himself in uniform, his unit and drinking buddies, and the wreckage of a British plane he shot down, (along with it's dead pilot). When the Allies captured him, he says he was happy and relieved. His unit surrendered without any fight at all. Though his mind was changed after two years of inhumane treatment as a POW in France.
sounds like you have a poor understanding of what depleted uranium is. I guess you've read all the same alarmist propaganda I've read on the web - but maybe you had mixed cough medicine with your antidepressant.
Basically, depleted uranium is a metal, heavier than lead, and therefore more effective in imparting a projectile's kinetic energy. Has abso-fuckin-lutely NOTHING at all to do with radiation or fission, is not the cause of gulf war illness or any other made up mystery garbage.
Yay Iceland!
That's okay. China can point all the nukes at us they want to. It's pretty much already taken for granted that they do.
one would hope that they would think;
'gee, if I fly this airplane into a building, the US will likely find out who I am, where I lived, and kill, maim, torture, irradiate, and poison everyone in my family, everyone I knew in my villiage growing up, and pretty much everyone else in a 100 mile radius, and make the land unlivable for the next 10,000 years.'
Alas, even THAT is not a deterrance. These people have been very carefully trained to keep their eye on the ball, which consists of a comfy chair in paradise.
Why should Israel have to withdraw to pre-1967 borders. IIRC, they were attacked, the attack was unprovoked, they defended themselves and decided to keep some of that territory as a defensive buffer.
Sounds totally reasonable to me. What puzzles me is, if people are unhappy living there, and if the Jordanians, Syrians, Egyptians, etc are all so concerned about the plight of their Arab brothers in Palestine, why in hell don't they offer to take on the refugees who no longer want to live there?
Especially since it was their war that they started against Israel, so really, the situation was their doing.
Because it's SOOO much more convenient to just keep on hating the Jews, rather than to criticize one's own regime.
The voices in your head told you that Afghanistan was about oil?
I preferred the late-great Carl Sagan's analogy;
You and I are both in a locked room, standing in a foot of gasoline, with stacks of dynamite all over. Each of us is holding a lit match, each threatening to drop theirs first. . .
Well, the US can't "un create" them now. They have them, and nothing anyone does is going to put that particularly tempting genie back into the bottle.
Of course they want to discourage others from getting nukes as well. Any other nation that gets nukes does nothing to help the situation. Except for themselves. And only so long as those weapons aren't used. We only have to be afraid of the ones who are likely to actually use them.
Suddenly, I'm wondering when I'm going to get an email from my manager telling me I'm fired because I do not support one of my company's major business partners.
I *know* that if Microsoft is broken up, it will mean bad, bad things for the company I work for.
I also know the difference between right and wrong. And if punishing the wrong means my company suffers, and I lose my job because of that, so be it. But now I'm worried that having my opinion and real name exposed publicly like this might be a threat to my career.
Ever notice when you're sitting with a bunch of other people in a group, say at a lunch table in a cafeteria, and someone comes along to sit down with the group - they'll move the chair trivially before sitting down? Maybe an inch to the left or something? Ever notice yourself doing that and wondering why?
It's human nature - the subconsious desire to at least perform some token act of control to demonstrate one's dominance, even if it's trivial in nature. It's just the way humans are. UI Nazis who come up with obtuse rationalizations to justify things like this article are just subconciously trying to enforce their own dominance on the situation, like the priest who chooses those non-movable pews for his church.
Next thing you know, they won't even permit us to even move or resize windows. (like all the various apps that launch and run "full screen" - - - iMovie anyone?).
and, as a bonus, Columbus is the only major city in Ohio that does not stink of urine!
I am NOT a freeloader!!!!
I fucking pay $40 a month for TV god damn it!
I was a faithful watcher of B5 and even the short-lived spin-off, and Legend of the Rangers.
What was the point of Legend of the Rangers? was it a pilot for an aborted series? Anyway, I will *not* be watching this new series, even though it sounds fairly interesting, and in the past you have delighted me with your story arcs and special effects, and colorful characters.
The reason is the network that's picking this up. I'm not going to subscribe to a general movie channel to watch a sci fi series. This show should be on the Scifi channel. Not Showtime. The best of luck to this latest endeavour. . .