Yes, I did read your post. You talked about a bunch of technologies (solar, wind) that cannot currently provide more than a fraction of the energy we need. (If you think I'm wrong about this, let's have some links.) Then you went on to talk about fusion power, carbon sequestration, and various other technologies that are a long way from being able to scale up to any useful extent.
If it were just the loonies saying loony things, I wouldn't mind so much. Alas, most of what gets said in this discussion is plausible-sounding stuff by people who consider themselves reasonably intelligent, but who happen to be scientifically illiterate.
I, for one, welcome our impending ecological collapse. I'd rather starve to death than listen to any more crap.
I'm actually planning on taking a class in kitchen knife skills.
Yeah, Linux is just a tool, but hiring managers and HR bureaucracies are big on buzzword compliance. I've lost work because I didn't have experience with specific tools, even though I had tons of experience with similar tools that do the the exact same job. It's a stupid way of doing things, but that's the way it is.
OK, two big problems with that. First of all, the factors that keep third parties from gaining critical mass have nothing to do with the size of the HoR. Second, the US isn't a parliamentary democracy — the President doesn't need a majority in the HoR to govern.
Nobody ever accomplishes anything alone, but some people have unusual qualities that allow them to do great things. Whatever qualities Armstrong had (and yeah, he was an impressive guy) they were shared by the rest of the Astronaut Corps, any one of which could have stepped in and taken his place if necessary.
Now, the astronauts were and are an impressive bunch of people, but are they all among the greatest people of their time?
I'm not trying to run down Armstrong's achievements. I'm just think that describing him in hyperbolic terms is stupid. I say this as one of the leading pundits on the Internet.
The achievements you mention are pretty big. But I just can't place them on the same level as, say, Jonas Salk, whose research saved hundreds of thousands of kids from being crippled for life. Or Alan Turing, whose work on codebreaking machinery saved thousands of lives during WW II, and this before he went on the help lay the foundations of modern computer science. Or...
Actually, I think the choice is not so much between "some" and "none" as between action that means just following a popular but pointless internet meme (vote for Ron Paul, sign an online petition) and actually involving yourself in the less interesting but more vital aspects of the democratic process.
I'd actually place Columbus several greatness levels below Armstrong. His sole claim to fame is that he stupidly did something that didn't know he'd done, and did it before anybody else. His geography stunk, he repeatedly drove men under him to mutiny, and he had a huge ego, By blind luck, he was the first to chart a route across the Atlantic, but European navigators were all over the place, and would have charted the route in the next few years in any case.
Note that if you're a blue-water sailor and you're trying to use 16th-century tech to travel from Europe to India (as many people were), it's pretty much impossible to avoid stopping in Brazil. "Discovering America" is not a big achievement.
So, educate them. Make some noise, make it clear that some votes are on the line. There are no guarantees that you'll get your way, but there's a chance, and it's a lot more productive and educational than standing around complaining about lawyers and politicians.
Sigh. Not to minimize Armstrong's achievements — which took courage, brains, and skill — but he himself would probably wince at your hype. One of the greatest men in the 20th century? He led a historic space mission. That's a big deal, but it's not in the same class as wiping out smallpox, discovering relativity, defeating Nazi Germany, holding a nation together with a third of its workers unemployed, laying the foundations of the computer revolution...
Whatever her interests, if an IP law comes up for a vote, and a bunch of geeks in her district make their views known to her, they will certainly get her attention. That is, if they can tear themselves away from viral campaigns to elect Ron Paul,
OK then, how about getting the technical people who do care about IP issues to track the activities of their local congressperson? I assume you know who your Representative is and how they voted on IP issues, but do most geeks?
... by the time they even make it to state rep they've been whoring so damned long for cash they might as well have permanent kneepads grafted.
Agreed. So how do we change this?
I don't have a straightforward answer.But it certainly has to be making people give a shit about "minor" political races. Stop telling each other that Ron Paul can save America if you can just elect him President (he can't and you can't) and start thinking about the boring local stuff. I mean, how many people know who their local state representative is? Hell, how many people even know they have one?
If standardizing user interfaces is illegal, isn't that the same as making the company with the most popular interface a monopoly? I wouldn't mind so much if it weren't that Apple also demands that right to determine what content and software you can put on your device. And they want a cut of every sale of software or content.
This is reminiscent of George Selden and his patent on the automobile. If he'd been allowed to enforce his patents against Henry Ford, there'd be no cheap cars that ordinary people could afford. But that would have been OK, Ford was just a "copyist" right?
Slashdot Mirror
Yes, I did read your post. You talked about a bunch of technologies (solar, wind) that cannot currently provide more than a fraction of the energy we need. (If you think I'm wrong about this, let's have some links.) Then you went on to talk about fusion power, carbon sequestration, and various other technologies that are a long way from being able to scale up to any useful extent.
"Drill baby, drill" sounds better. I especially like the sexual connotations.
Oh great, in 50 years, we'll have the green technology we need to prevent global warming — 50 years too late.
If it were just the loonies saying loony things, I wouldn't mind so much. Alas, most of what gets said in this discussion is plausible-sounding stuff by people who consider themselves reasonably intelligent, but who happen to be scientifically illiterate.
I, for one, welcome our impending ecological collapse. I'd rather starve to death than listen to any more crap.
I'm actually planning on taking a class in kitchen knife skills.
Yeah, Linux is just a tool, but hiring managers and HR bureaucracies are big on buzzword compliance. I've lost work because I didn't have experience with specific tools, even though I had tons of experience with similar tools that do the the exact same job. It's a stupid way of doing things, but that's the way it is.
OK, two big problems with that. First of all, the factors that keep third parties from gaining critical mass have nothing to do with the size of the HoR. Second, the US isn't a parliamentary democracy — the President doesn't need a majority in the HoR to govern.
Nobody ever accomplishes anything alone, but some people have unusual qualities that allow them to do great things. Whatever qualities Armstrong had (and yeah, he was an impressive guy) they were shared by the rest of the Astronaut Corps, any one of which could have stepped in and taken his place if necessary.
Now, the astronauts were and are an impressive bunch of people, but are they all among the greatest people of their time?
I'm not trying to run down Armstrong's achievements. I'm just think that describing him in hyperbolic terms is stupid. I say this as one of the leading pundits on the Internet.
If your waste treatment plants are mismanaged and polluting now, giving them the ability to generate electricity isn't likely to change that.
The web site in your sig is broken.
I actually agree that expanding the House of Representatives is a good idea, but I think expanding it to 32,000 people is impractical.
...heat produced directly by all human activity combined is tiny..
Even in election years?
I take it you credit Rep. Paul with sanity and intelligence. I think on that point we must agree to disagree.
The achievements you mention are pretty big. But I just can't place them on the same level as, say, Jonas Salk, whose research saved hundreds of thousands of kids from being crippled for life. Or Alan Turing, whose work on codebreaking machinery saved thousands of lives during WW II, and this before he went on the help lay the foundations of modern computer science. Or...
Actually, I think the choice is not so much between "some" and "none" as between action that means just following a popular but pointless internet meme (vote for Ron Paul, sign an online petition) and actually involving yourself in the less interesting but more vital aspects of the democratic process.
Sure, he was an admirable guy, and deserved recognition. But "among the greatest men of the 20th century"? Please.
I'd actually place Columbus several greatness levels below Armstrong. His sole claim to fame is that he stupidly did something that didn't know he'd done, and did it before anybody else. His geography stunk, he repeatedly drove men under him to mutiny, and he had a huge ego, By blind luck, he was the first to chart a route across the Atlantic, but European navigators were all over the place, and would have charted the route in the next few years in any case.
Note that if you're a blue-water sailor and you're trying to use 16th-century tech to travel from Europe to India (as many people were), it's pretty much impossible to avoid stopping in Brazil. "Discovering America" is not a big achievement.
So, educate them. Make some noise, make it clear that some votes are on the line. There are no guarantees that you'll get your way, but there's a chance, and it's a lot more productive and educational than standing around complaining about lawyers and politicians.
Sigh. Not to minimize Armstrong's achievements — which took courage, brains, and skill — but he himself would probably wince at your hype. One of the greatest men in the 20th century? He led a historic space mission. That's a big deal, but it's not in the same class as wiping out smallpox, discovering relativity, defeating Nazi Germany, holding a nation together with a third of its workers unemployed, laying the foundations of the computer revolution...
Whatever her interests, if an IP law comes up for a vote, and a bunch of geeks in her district make their views known to her, they will certainly get her attention. That is, if they can tear themselves away from viral campaigns to elect Ron Paul,
Tom Green himself just called BS on your story. He posted as an AC, so he's probably below your threshold.
I guess an, "OK, I was wrong" is too much to hope for.
OK then, how about getting the technical people who do care about IP issues to track the activities of their local congressperson? I assume you know who your Representative is and how they voted on IP issues, but do most geeks?
My cliches are smarter than those of TPP.
I actually don't care if people vote "the right way". I just want them to work on their political ADHD.
No, it's worse than that. I'm suggesting that people involve themselves in the day-to-day workings of government. I know, naive of me.
... by the time they even make it to state rep they've been whoring so damned long for cash they might as well have permanent kneepads grafted.
Agreed. So how do we change this?
I don't have a straightforward answer.But it certainly has to be making people give a shit about "minor" political races. Stop telling each other that Ron Paul can save America if you can just elect him President (he can't and you can't) and start thinking about the boring local stuff. I mean, how many people know who their local state representative is? Hell, how many people even know they have one?
If standardizing user interfaces is illegal, isn't that the same as making the company with the most popular interface a monopoly? I wouldn't mind so much if it weren't that Apple also demands that right to determine what content and software you can put on your device. And they want a cut of every sale of software or content.
This is reminiscent of George Selden and his patent on the automobile. If he'd been allowed to enforce his patents against Henry Ford, there'd be no cheap cars that ordinary people could afford. But that would have been OK, Ford was just a "copyist" right?