Really? What are you reading? Immigration was well above energy prices, which the OP opined. And it's far from second to last...
Yes, I preselected the poll which represented a topic I was interested in, how the concerns of Americans would affect their votes. This is called "bias."
In that poll immigration came in second to last.
You are looking only at those polls which rank immigration higher. This is called "bias."
So I shall select another one from the list, the Gallup Poll, which ranks:
"The availability and affordability of health care" "The Social Security system" "The availability and affordability of energy" "Drug use" "Crime and violence" "The possibility of future terrorist attacks in the U.S." "The economy" and "Hunger and homelessness"
. ..ahead of illegal* immigration in their concerns
*emphasis mine. The ORC poll did not specify illegal immigration.
None of these polls makes any attempt to determine the root cause of immigration concerns, which could actually be about terrorism, the economy, or various percived social ills such as street crime.
It's a nice, fuzzy topic for politicians to use to exploit a variety of otherwise unrelated fears.
That poll does not ask Americans what it thinks the biggest problems are. The Opinion Research Corporation preselected the topics that it is interested in and asked Americans what it thinks of them. This is called "bias."
Of the preselected topics Americans responded by saying they were more concerned about:
Terrorism The Situation in Iraq Gas Prices The Economy and Corruption in Government
then they were about Immigration; which came in second to last, exactly as the OP opined.
The sad part is that Governement Surviellence of US Citizens is the only topic presented which was considered of lower importance than Immigration.
. ..anyone who fits this ridiculously broad definition of 'terrorism' can now be considred an 'enemy combatant' and stripped of their U.S. citizenship and rights. Under current legislation, a person could be legally held indefinitely without trial for something as innocuous as speeding. ..
. ..without judicial oversight or representation. Say hello to "Judge" Dredd.
In the case of boxed software the consideration is made to the retailer for a piece of physical property, not to the rights holder for the license.
And a license is not a contract. A license is a grant of limited rights. A license may be a valid license without being a contract at all, as most commercial EULAs are not.
They are often worded in doublespeak as if they were asking you to give something up, such as saying that you cannot copy the program to more than one computer, but this is actually a grant to copy to one computer. You are not giving up the right to copy to more than one computer because you never had that right in the first place.
EULAs are very carefully worded to give the impression that they are contracts without ever actually including any legally enforceable (certain commercial obligations of the licensee and rights held by the licensor cannot be altered by contract, they are a matter of law) contractual terms.
The GPL, oddly enough, is both a valid license and a contract, because it fully spells out the articles of consideration by both parties, the permanent assignment of what would otherwise be exlusive rights of distribution.
People can be threatened with prosecution for downloading files which a company mistakenly posts on a public webserver. ..
Threatened with prosecution is not the same thing as prosecuted.
Prosecuted is not the same thing as sucessfully prosecuted.
Capitulating to a threat because you are weaker and will get the shit beat out of you if you don't is a somewhat different issue. There is no actual double standard, everyone with enough money and power to access the law gets treated equally under law.
A dog who was too scared to leave a car with its owner. As it turns out this was a mistake. The owner was too scared to go back for it. As it turns out this was not a mistake.
Can you, for example, please point out where the forced-labor camps in the US are?
"A chain gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform a menial or physically challenging labor, such as chipping stone, often along a highway. This system (and the term for it) existed primarily in the United States, and has been phased out in most of, but not all of, the country. Some states are reintroducing chain gangs, although perhaps in a less oppressive form."
- Wikipedia
I might have suggested that portion of the US in Cuba, but with warrentless arrest for a time without limit, lack of representation or any real form of public scrutiny I don't really know that forced labor goes on there, do I?
No, we're not like China. ..yet, but all the elements that would allow us to be like China are already in place. It merely takes implimentation.
Vista pops up auth dialogs for these seemingly simple operations . ..
Yeah, that would get annoying about. ..the first time. Still, I've had to support a few systems where such might actually have been useful. There are people who delete/change things by accident and then get really weirded out by it.
If you're inclined to include this sort of annoying shit in your software the solution is already known and widely implimented: A STFU check box on the popup. At least that way you only annoy people once per function.
Slashdot Mirror
Really? What are you reading? Immigration was well above energy prices, which the OP opined. And it's far from second to last...
.ahead of illegal* immigration in their concerns
Yes, I preselected the poll which represented a topic I was interested in, how the concerns of Americans would affect their votes. This is called "bias."
In that poll immigration came in second to last.
You are looking only at those polls which rank immigration higher. This is called "bias."
So I shall select another one from the list, the Gallup Poll, which ranks:
"The availability and affordability of health care"
"The Social Security system"
"The availability and affordability of energy"
"Drug use"
"Crime and violence"
"The possibility of future terrorist attacks in the U.S."
"The economy"
and "Hunger and homelessness"
. .
*emphasis mine. The ORC poll did not specify illegal immigration.
None of these polls makes any attempt to determine the root cause of immigration concerns, which could actually be about terrorism, the economy, or various percived social ills such as street crime.
It's a nice, fuzzy topic for politicians to use to exploit a variety of otherwise unrelated fears.
KFG
OP specified an honest poll.
That poll does not ask Americans what it thinks the biggest problems are. The Opinion Research Corporation preselected the topics that it is interested in and asked Americans what it thinks of them. This is called "bias."
Of the preselected topics Americans responded by saying they were more concerned about:
Terrorism
The Situation in Iraq
Gas Prices
The Economy
and Corruption in Government
then they were about Immigration; which came in second to last, exactly as the OP opined.
The sad part is that Governement Surviellence of US Citizens is the only topic presented which was considered of lower importance than Immigration.
KFG
Britain's cams look in while Texas's cams look out.
Then how will they know if Napolean is coming?
KFG
. . .anyone who fits this ridiculously broad definition of 'terrorism' can now be considred an 'enemy combatant' and stripped of their U.S. citizenship and rights. Under current legislation, a person could be legally held indefinitely without trial for something as innocuous as speeding. . .
.without judicial oversight or representation. Say hello to "Judge" Dredd.
. .
KFG
Dude, it isn't just movies on TV, it's wireless.
KFG
You meet some pretty crazy people.
And some of them are judges.
KFG
Read my last paragraph again with your sarcasm filter turned off. :)
KFG
The money you pay is your consideration.
In the case of boxed software the consideration is made to the retailer for a piece of physical property, not to the rights holder for the license.
And a license is not a contract. A license is a grant of limited rights. A license may be a valid license without being a contract at all, as most commercial EULAs are not.
They are often worded in doublespeak as if they were asking you to give something up, such as saying that you cannot copy the program to more than one computer, but this is actually a grant to copy to one computer. You are not giving up the right to copy to more than one computer because you never had that right in the first place.
EULAs are very carefully worded to give the impression that they are contracts without ever actually including any legally enforceable (certain commercial obligations of the licensee and rights held by the licensor cannot be altered by contract, they are a matter of law) contractual terms.
The GPL, oddly enough, is both a valid license and a contract, because it fully spells out the articles of consideration by both parties, the permanent assignment of what would otherwise be exlusive rights of distribution.
KFG
People can be threatened with prosecution for downloading files which a company mistakenly posts on a public webserver. . .
Threatened with prosecution is not the same thing as prosecuted.
Prosecuted is not the same thing as sucessfully prosecuted.
Capitulating to a threat because you are weaker and will get the shit beat out of you if you don't is a somewhat different issue. There is no actual double standard, everyone with enough money and power to access the law gets treated equally under law.
KFG
What happened to "Give me liberty, or give me death!"?
Well, in point of fact, it, ummmmmmm, "died."
KFG
The current administration has a long history of scaring
people into electing and re-electing them.
Or at least close enough to electing them that they can make up the difference.
KFG
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_denomination_bi lls_in_US_currency
Don't ask me how I know about any of this. As I understand it what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
KFG
Hookers don't run.
Hot and cold slinking hookers.
But if you wave a $10,000 bill at them they'll slink really, really fast.
KFG
Hmmm....have I left anybody out????
Rent-a-cops.
KFG
This is fearmongering for POWER. . .
So, tell me, who are the terrorists again?
KFG
to suppress its peoples rights. the reason? who knows..
Power, money, Jesus, hot and cold running hookers.
I think that pretty much covers it.
One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn't belong. . .
KFG
Loss of life?
A dog who was too scared to leave a car with its owner. As it turns out this was a mistake.
The owner was too scared to go back for it. As it turns out this was not a mistake.
KFG
Can you, for example, please point out where the forced-labor camps in the US are?
.yet, but all the elements that would allow us to be like China are already in place. It merely takes implimentation.
"A chain gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform a menial or physically challenging labor, such as chipping stone, often along a highway. This system (and the term for it) existed primarily in the United States, and has been phased out in most of, but not all of, the country. Some states are reintroducing chain gangs, although perhaps in a less oppressive form."
- Wikipedia
I might have suggested that portion of the US in Cuba, but with warrentless arrest for a time without limit, lack of representation or any real form of public scrutiny I don't really know that forced labor goes on there, do I?
No, we're not like China. .
KFG
Mobile Desktop
KFG
About the weight of a good violin case; empty.
Everything is relative.
KFG
. . .like the "seven popups to delete a shortcut"
Really! Shouldn't take any more than five.
KFG
Vista pops up auth dialogs for these seemingly simple operations . . .
.the first time. Still, I've had to support a few systems where such might actually have been useful. There are people who delete/change things by accident and then get really weirded out by it.
Yeah, that would get annoying about. .
If you're inclined to include this sort of annoying shit in your software the solution is already known and widely implimented: A STFU check box on the popup. At least that way you only annoy people once per function.
KFG
1.Britney Spears
4 47749
.
.
.
5.Mariah Carey
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=187227&cid=15
KFG
It'll be too soon if I don't hear one of them sing their guts out ever again.
If they do, you won't have to.
KFG
I know a Merlin in a Mustang sounds like music.
:)
.
How about two Merlins in a Ford Mustang?
I'm partial to a Hispano in a Jenny, or a Ferrari in a Dino 156 myself.
. . . answer every possible question about music that ever existed. .
You hint at the fundamental question, don't you?
"What is music?"
KFG