"Sorry officer, I didn't realize my licence plate was burned out".
Speaking of which, who's financially, (or even legally), responsible for a malfunctioning licence plate?
Sadly though, there are a lot more 30-100 year olds out voting for more police power based on media brainwashing than 18-29 year olds who know about the abuses of power, thus those who care about removing abuses of power always get outvoted.
You insensitive clod! I'm well into that '30-100 year old' demographic of which you speak so disparagingly, and so are many of my friends. And we're VERY aware of, and pissed off about, abuses of power. In fact, if you yourself are in that '18-29' demographic, then we were aware of, and fighting, abuses of power BEFORE YOU WERE EVEN BORN!
For the record, virtually everyone I know in my own demographic would like to see the police, as well as the government in general, on a much shorter leash and with much greater direct accountability. Your relative youth in no way gives you and your peers a monopoly on sensible, reasoned liberal thought.
Hear hear! I've been so annoyed with Gnome that I tried switching to KDE, but K-bloat was even worse than G-bloat, so now I'm back on Gnome, but using Dolphin whenever I can because Nautilus is so brain-dead.
Before Gnome programmers add more whiz-bang crap that needlessly chews up processor cycles, I hope they bring their file manager into the 21st century. Click-and-drag to select multiple files/folders, along with a full-featured INTEGRATED search capability, would be a good place to start.
Re:CmdrTaco drags big brass ones along the ground
on
iPad Review
·
· Score: 1
"The weight while holding it with one hand and typing with the other is going to be too much."
I know! Attach a keyboard to it with a stiff hinge, so you have a comfortable way to type as well as a built-in counterbalance and positioning system for the display! Oh, wait... Never mind!
...are the primary forces at work behind such legislation
Firstly, look past the rhetoric, posturing, and spurious justification, (the 'immigration problem'), and realize that this move simply concentrates more power in the hands of government. Governments always seek greater power, and that's just the nature of the beast. But insofar as we exercise our rights and our will, we hold the leash around this beast's neck. That leash is long overdue for a hard, sharp yanking.
Secondly, any popular support for this move will stem primarily from fear, some of it based in reality and some of it manufactured by politicians and corporate interests. Fear is a good tactician but a lousy strategist; it can get you out of a tight spot and save your life, but it's no way to RUN your life, it's no way to let OTHERS run your life, and it's no way to run a country. We need to be planning a future where we don't require such intrusive 'protections' as a matter of course, rather than perpetuating fear-based, ad-hoc reactions to a perpetual series of crises.
The parking brake, even if it's just been adjusted so that it exerts maximum braking power when the lever is pulled, is not a viable solution. The parking brake only works on the REAR wheels. So it only provides half, (or less than half), of normal maximum braking capacity; not to mention that applying it while you're driving at speed can cause the back end of the car to pass the front end in the blink of an eye. Putting your car into a spin while the accelerator is stuck? Not a good idea...
No, he's not being a jackass, he's being sensible and prudent.
"If exposure to or consumption of cigarettes, bisphenol A, hydrogenated vegetable oil, asbestos, DDT, etc. was of any danger to public health, there is no way you would be seeing these things anywhere where they could pose a danger to humans, the relevant governemnt authority or whatever the appropriate authority is in your country would be all over this."
Yeah, right. Even if you DO trust any government to protect you from such things given sufficient evidence of harm, (and I certainly don't), the fact is that, as was the case with the things I mentioned above, it often takes several decades to determine that something is a health risk. And it seldom happens in an "Oh my God, that's a serious health risk, let's do something about it!" manner. Typically there are some suggestions that it might be a risk, followed by push-back from not-so-disinterested parties, followed by more evidence, more pushback, etc. Just as is happening now regarding the health effects of electromagnetic radiation.
We Canadians ARE nice and sensible! Unfortunately, our politicians and lawmakers aren't...
In fact, as a country we're positively undone by being 'nice'; if we were the kind of people to have blood running in the streets, we wouldn't have such gits as politicians and lawmakers.
and I hope they use this patent themselves, and license it widely so that it permeates the advertising landscape. It will be a huge boost to FOSS and Open Hardware. Also, it will erode the DMCA, making it effectively unenforceable in many cases. After all, what jury in the country would convict a fellow citizen for hacking an end-run around something so odious and universally despised?
From the original article:
"The non-profit Canadian Private Copying Collective was established to collect the levy and to date they have distributed more than $160 million to more than 100,000 songwriters, recording artists, music publishers and record companies."
Let's see: $160,000,000 / 100,000 = $1600 per payee over the twelve years CPCC has been 'in business'.
$1600 / 12 = $133.34 per payee per year.
So even if the parasites, ("music publishers and record companies"), weren't getting a cut, that's about 37 cents per artist per day. Starving artists indeed!
It would be interesting to know what the parasites' portion of this levy is. How much money goes to the 'sine qua non' here, namely the artists? A quarter a day? A dime? Less?
Slashdot Mirror
Good God man! It almost sounds as though you've done this kind of thing before! Remind me never to piss you off...
"Sorry officer, I didn't realize my licence plate was burned out". Speaking of which, who's financially, (or even legally), responsible for a malfunctioning licence plate?
Sadly though, there are a lot more 30-100 year olds out voting for more police power based on media brainwashing than 18-29 year olds who know about the abuses of power, thus those who care about removing abuses of power always get outvoted.
You insensitive clod! I'm well into that '30-100 year old' demographic of which you speak so disparagingly, and so are many of my friends. And we're VERY aware of, and pissed off about, abuses of power. In fact, if you yourself are in that '18-29' demographic, then we were aware of, and fighting, abuses of power BEFORE YOU WERE EVEN BORN!
For the record, virtually everyone I know in my own demographic would like to see the police, as well as the government in general, on a much shorter leash and with much greater direct accountability. Your relative youth in no way gives you and your peers a monopoly on sensible, reasoned liberal thought.
The OP mentioned "the militarisation of cyberspace". Gee, didn't cyberspace BEGIN in the military?
It's not HIPPA, it's HIPAA, as in "Health Information Portability and Accountability Act".
Hear hear! I've been so annoyed with Gnome that I tried switching to KDE, but K-bloat was even worse than G-bloat, so now I'm back on Gnome, but using Dolphin whenever I can because Nautilus is so brain-dead.
Before Gnome programmers add more whiz-bang crap that needlessly chews up processor cycles, I hope they bring their file manager into the 21st century. Click-and-drag to select multiple files/folders, along with a full-featured INTEGRATED search capability, would be a good place to start.
"The weight while holding it with one hand and typing with the other is going to be too much."
I know! Attach a keyboard to it with a stiff hinge, so you have a comfortable way to type as well as a built-in counterbalance and positioning system for the display! Oh, wait... Never mind!
...or simply the product of a modern-day cargo cult?
...are the primary forces at work behind such legislation
Firstly, look past the rhetoric, posturing, and spurious justification, (the 'immigration problem'), and realize that this move simply concentrates more power in the hands of government. Governments always seek greater power, and that's just the nature of the beast. But insofar as we exercise our rights and our will, we hold the leash around this beast's neck. That leash is long overdue for a hard, sharp yanking.
Secondly, any popular support for this move will stem primarily from fear, some of it based in reality and some of it manufactured by politicians and corporate interests. Fear is a good tactician but a lousy strategist; it can get you out of a tight spot and save your life, but it's no way to RUN your life, it's no way to let OTHERS run your life, and it's no way to run a country. We need to be planning a future where we don't require such intrusive 'protections' as a matter of course, rather than perpetuating fear-based, ad-hoc reactions to a perpetual series of crises.
Just my two cents' worth...
The parking brake, even if it's just been adjusted so that it exerts maximum braking power when the lever is pulled, is not a viable solution. The parking brake only works on the REAR wheels. So it only provides half, (or less than half), of normal maximum braking capacity; not to mention that applying it while you're driving at speed can cause the back end of the car to pass the front end in the blink of an eye. Putting your car into a spin while the accelerator is stuck? Not a good idea...
No, he's not being a jackass, he's being sensible and prudent.
"If exposure to or consumption of cigarettes, bisphenol A, hydrogenated vegetable oil, asbestos, DDT, etc. was of any danger to public health, there is no way you would be seeing these things anywhere where they could pose a danger to humans, the relevant governemnt authority or whatever the appropriate authority is in your country would be all over this."
Yeah, right. Even if you DO trust any government to protect you from such things given sufficient evidence of harm, (and I certainly don't), the fact is that, as was the case with the things I mentioned above, it often takes several decades to determine that something is a health risk. And it seldom happens in an "Oh my God, that's a serious health risk, let's do something about it!" manner. Typically there are some suggestions that it might be a risk, followed by push-back from not-so-disinterested parties, followed by more evidence, more pushback, etc. Just as is happening now regarding the health effects of electromagnetic radiation.
We all need to adopt a new slogan: "Don't be Google"
We Canadians ARE nice and sensible! Unfortunately, our politicians and lawmakers aren't... In fact, as a country we're positively undone by being 'nice'; if we were the kind of people to have blood running in the streets, we wouldn't have such gits as politicians and lawmakers.
and I hope they use this patent themselves, and license it widely so that it permeates the advertising landscape. It will be a huge boost to FOSS and Open Hardware. Also, it will erode the DMCA, making it effectively unenforceable in many cases. After all, what jury in the country would convict a fellow citizen for hacking an end-run around something so odious and universally despised?
Nuke the Fat Soda Drinkers for Jesus! Guns Don't Kill People, Sugar Kills People! Give Me Liberty or Give Me Healthcare!
From the original article: "The non-profit Canadian Private Copying Collective was established to collect the levy and to date they have distributed more than $160 million to more than 100,000 songwriters, recording artists, music publishers and record companies." Let's see: $160,000,000 / 100,000 = $1600 per payee over the twelve years CPCC has been 'in business'. $1600 / 12 = $133.34 per payee per year. So even if the parasites, ("music publishers and record companies"), weren't getting a cut, that's about 37 cents per artist per day. Starving artists indeed! It would be interesting to know what the parasites' portion of this levy is. How much money goes to the 'sine qua non' here, namely the artists? A quarter a day? A dime? Less?