If you'd like to discard some of the paranoia now, Librarians are probably geeks best friends when it comes to championing personal liberty, privacy and free speech.
The ALA didn't simply back down at the records seizure provisions in the PATRIOT act, they have fought it every way they can: from petitioning local congressional reps, to finding technological solutions to the privacy issues raised.
Hell, one library here in Iowa has a sign by the circulation desk that says "The FBI has not been here today." (The PATRIOT act says they cannot tell you that the FBI has visited a library asking for circulation records. It does not, however, say that the library is prohibited from saying the FBI hasn't been there.) If government agents ever do visit, the sign will disappear.
I'm a big fan of Ms Hodgell's Jamethiel Taliessen books. The first two, Godstalk and The Dark of the Moon, have been collected in one volume now called The Dark of the Gods. It should be available through most outlets.
The third book in the series is Seeker's Mask, and a fourth is due sometime. The only real complaint I have about the series is that it's not Ms Hodgell's day job, so it's often a wait of several years between novels.
Nonono, it's an Intelligence committee. They're studying intelligence and trying to figure out what it's all about.
Seriously, though, I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, I agree that the system we have in place now isn't very effective against terrorist activities. On the other hand...well, I don't much trust the government
If you haven't already, to to Creative's web site and give them some positive feedback on this. If you have the time (and stamps) send mail. Letters to management receive a lot more attention than online forms.
Your examples are, a bit misleading, StoryMan. If Amazon is truly changing prices based on what browser you're using to shop the site, that'd be more like Barnes & Noble charging you 10% less on your purchase of Pagan Babies because you drove there in a Ford while the person in front of you, who drove a Chevy, paid the full price. Oldthink thinkcrime doubleplus ungood
With it now possible to protect discrete data within a database under copyright laws, how will this affect your ability to do what sdonelan discusses above? Wouldn't you be prohibited from compiling and distributing your own database of the LC's cards?
Actually, I've wondered about how static computer interfaces are myself. One thing that sparked my interest was the Diamond mouse that you could pick up off a surface and use, but I found it was a lot more limited than I'd hoped.
What I'd like to find is a gyroscopic mouse that can interpret not only linear movement (as a cursor across a window screen), but also twists, pitches, and so on. Of course I could just be playing too many flight sims and FPS;)
Now Jon, I object to that statement, and would like to remind you that some of us unChristian filth don't engage in those activities at all. I, myself, lie, cheat, work, and have sodomy on Sundays.
And yes, there is a rosy glow afterwards.
Although I'm not a coder, I've run into similar blocks in almost every career I've had...teacher, writer, research, and for me the best thing to do was something completely different. Usually, like mkafka, it's something physical. I'm more into martial arts than weights, but just something physical. I think that it's so completely different from what I normally do that it helps un-stick my brain. If you've got quite a bit of time on your hands, the best "therapy" for being stuck that I've ever had was a week-long camping trip --No TV, no Internet, no phones (no caffine!). When I got back to civilization I felt a lot better about the jobs waiting for me (and that first caffine re-buzz was a lot of fun for me, if not my wife.)
I remember the earlier ones well. Not sure which one it was, but on one of the earliest the lottery system was so simple that it took about a week for my brother and I to catalog it (yeah, yeah, so we had too much free time.) so we'd always hit the jackpot...then it was just a matter of being the first one on the game that day...
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If you'd like to discard some of the paranoia now, Librarians are probably geeks best friends when it comes to championing personal liberty, privacy and free speech.
The ALA didn't simply back down at the records seizure provisions in the PATRIOT act, they have fought it every way they can: from petitioning local congressional reps, to finding technological solutions to the privacy issues raised.
Hell, one library here in Iowa has a sign by the circulation desk that says "The FBI has not been here today." (The PATRIOT act says they cannot tell you that the FBI has visited a library asking for circulation records. It does not, however, say that the library is prohibited from saying the FBI hasn't been there.) If government agents ever do visit, the sign will disappear.
I'm a big fan of Ms Hodgell's Jamethiel Taliessen books. The first two, Godstalk and The Dark of the Moon, have been collected in one volume now called The Dark of the Gods. It should be available through most outlets.
The third book in the series is Seeker's Mask, and a fourth is due sometime. The only real complaint I have about the series is that it's not Ms Hodgell's day job, so it's often a wait of several years between novels.
Nonono, it's an Intelligence committee. They're studying intelligence and trying to figure out what it's all about. Seriously, though, I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, I agree that the system we have in place now isn't very effective against terrorist activities. On the other hand...well, I don't much trust the government
I don't know, the Illuminati-esque @-sign in a pyramid still seems appropriate ;)
If you haven't already, to to Creative's web site and give them some positive feedback on this. If you have the time (and stamps) send mail. Letters to management receive a lot more attention than online forms.
Oldthink thinkcrime doubleplus ungood
Your examples are, a bit misleading, StoryMan. If Amazon is truly changing prices based on what browser you're using to shop the site, that'd be more like Barnes & Noble charging you 10% less on your purchase of Pagan Babies because you drove there in a Ford while the person in front of you, who drove a Chevy, paid the full price.
Oldthink thinkcrime doubleplus ungood
With it now possible to protect discrete data within a database under copyright laws, how will this affect your ability to do what sdonelan discusses above? Wouldn't you be prohibited from compiling and distributing your own database of the LC's cards?
Actually, I've wondered about how static computer interfaces are myself. One thing that sparked my interest was the Diamond mouse that you could pick up off a surface and use, but I found it was a lot more limited than I'd hoped. What I'd like to find is a gyroscopic mouse that can interpret not only linear movement (as a cursor across a window screen), but also twists, pitches, and so on. Of course I could just be playing too many flight sims and FPS ;)
I agree completely. If criminals were so "innocent" in the first place, God would never have put suspicion in the Inquisitor's mind.
Now Jon, I object to that statement, and would like to remind you that some of us unChristian filth don't engage in those activities at all. I, myself, lie, cheat, work, and have sodomy on Sundays. And yes, there is a rosy glow afterwards.
Although I'm not a coder, I've run into similar blocks in almost every career I've had...teacher, writer, research, and for me the best thing to do was something completely different. Usually, like mkafka, it's something physical. I'm more into martial arts than weights, but just something physical. I think that it's so completely different from what I normally do that it helps un-stick my brain. If you've got quite a bit of time on your hands, the best "therapy" for being stuck that I've ever had was a week-long camping trip --No TV, no Internet, no phones (no caffine!). When I got back to civilization I felt a lot better about the jobs waiting for me (and that first caffine re-buzz was a lot of fun for me, if not my wife.)
I remember the earlier ones well. Not sure which one it was, but on one of the earliest the lottery system was so simple that it took about a week for my brother and I to catalog it (yeah, yeah, so we had too much free time.) so we'd always hit the jackpot...then it was just a matter of being the first one on the game that day...