My choosing not to discuss why we shut the project down with you, or anyone else for that matter, is out of simple courtesy, not because I (or the 11 other people working on the project) had anything to be ashamed of. Trust me. That decision was also reached as a group, not (to paraphrase) "by me and me alone." Im not in the business of slinging mud.
If you look carefully at the interview I gave to Linux.com, it spells out quite specifically what we were doing, how we were going to do it, and what we were going to offer.
As for "trying to get me a job at VA in November", I'm afraid you're mistaken. I went home to recouperate in October, and stayed until early January. I rarely touched a computer in the time inbetween, and only then it was to discuss matters with my staff.
Back in June of last year, I had a conversation or two with Trae McCombs at VA about what to name my project. Laboriously, we sat and thought about names for the new project--one that would shelter developers under a common umbrella while providing them the tools and materials they needed to build.
One of the names I proposed was "Source Forge". I really liked the word "forge", and felt it could be combined easilly with other words down the road as the project expanded.
Trae didn't like the name, told me to keep thinking. 6 months later I find out VA is funding a project called "SourceForge" with full time employees, and was doing essentially the same thing as us. I scratched my chin and thought about that. "Hmm. Thats flattering." I thought.
Well, back to our story--After a week or two of primate head-scratching, and an infamous trip to a shopping mall in Tucson, I finally thought of a good name. The name was chosen, and "System 12" was cast in stone, and work began on the project.
System 12...Hmm. Now, we see Server 51. Same concept.
Sure, its all good..No problem there. Its just that I would rather not be routinely "flattered".
bitch_mode(off);
Good luck, Patrick. (Yes, I know the URL doesn't work.:) )
Well, if I turn out to be the lucky horse, I'll be donating a good chunk of it to The XFree86 Project....An worthy investment, considering what theyre doing for all of us.
Apparently, this university has no problem funneling gigabytes of Usenet porn through its network every night, yet, with something as simple as kids trading music, they throw a fit. I'm surprised they dont ban the sale of casette tapes on campus -- My lord, they could begin commiting similar crimes, like recording songs off the radio, or recording NFL games for later viewing! Before you know it, they'll begin ignoring the FBI warning at the start of their Blockbuster rentals, and tear the tags off their mattresses! Oh, the humanity! Please God, deliver us from such acts of anarchy!
Welcome to the 21'st century..More idiots per square mile than ever before.
Superbad! I guess i'm lucky.. Just picked up a new Epox board with a VIA chipset last week..:) I just wish Intel would spend a little less time whining and a little more time kicking ass.
Intel has an unfair advantage in the marketplace. We all know that -- Now theyre whining about how their unfair advantage is being threatened! Doesn't this strike anyone as being a little weird?
Hmm..I see your point. See, we had to go through this sort of stuff when doing contracts with people who wanted to use Propaganda in some sort of commercial sense -- The other parties were generally concerned about GPL violations in that they would be held accountable or falsely accused of infringement if they were to use our stuff. Turns out that isn't the case at all. As we read it (the GPL) , any item with a GPL on it, even if its totally your own work, cannot be sublicensed and still remain GPL. Looks like we were wrong (happily..Heh)
I dont see what the big fuss is about.. Ultimately, its up to the individual who's work is being used to enforce the conditions laid out in the GPL. Its not the FSF's responsibility, or GNU's responsibility. Its yours. You hire the lawyer if you find someone trying to rip you off..Have a look at GNU's GPL faq if you dont believe me.
That, if anything, is the biggest loophole of all in the GPL. It means that you can selectively turn a blind eye to anyone using your work within a commercial project. You simply choose not to enforce the provisions of the GPL. And, as we all know, passing a little money over the table will gladly make even the most pious coder consider that route, as sneaky and underhanded as it is.
The only thing wrong with the GPL is the very thing which makes it work; the clause which specifies that you may not GPL your work and subsequently go out and sublicense it.
Translation: Sorry, kids--You cant make money off it, even if you built it all from scratch, top to bottom. Its a terrible paradox..It makes for great software, but it also prevents programmers from being compensated. The GPL, as nice as it is, wont pay your rent.
Then again, there's always the Perl Artistic License, which tends to make alot more sense than the GPL on these matters. AFAIK, it does allow for sublicensing.
First of all,..Just so we're clear here.. No, my parents didn't name me after David Bowie. They actually picked my name out of a baby book. Lucky me, a transvestite pop star makes it big a few months after I was born in '74.
Secondly, i'm not a fan of David Bowie's music. I just felt the need to point out that he's basically full of shit. Bands that got their start in the early 70's like Neu, Kraftwerk, Cluster, Devo (and individuals *prior* to 1970 such as Oskar Sala, Raymond Scott, Bob Moog) were already heavilly involved in using elements of electronic music in their work upwards of 10-20 years before David Bowie and Brian Eno even began toying with the idea. The assertion that David Bowie is some sort of legendary pioneer of electronic music is absolutely laughable.
The whole concept of producing electronic music with machines stems back as far as the late 1890's, believe it or not. Go to Yahoo and look up "Telharmonium" if you dont believe me.
To make a very long and complicated story short, the first real application of electronic music popped up around the mid 1920's, with the introduction of instruments such as the Theremin, and the Clavavox (among others)..the oldest recording of electronic music in my own collection is from 1927. By the mid 1950's it was well on its way to establishing its musical niche..The first ambient electronic music appeared in the early 60's thanks to Raymond Scott (not Brian Eno), and programmable, sequencer-driven electronic music appeared shortly thereafter..mid-late 60's, I believe. Raymond Scott's name is on the patent, even.
David Bowie's "contribution" to the popularization of electronic music stems from seeing bands like Kraftwerk and Devo in 1977-79 and doing his best to reinvent himself and base his gimmick around the same idea. Neither band owes their existance to him in any way.. In Kraftwerk's case, they'de been doing it since 1969. in Devo's case, 1972.
A) The interview I gave with linux.com took place yesterday afternoon. Apparently, this Aiken guy probably read it when it was posted earlier today and decided to apply the same idea to sourcecode in his post to Slashdot. Ideas dont hurt anybody, so quit railing on him.
B) The sort of thing we're doing at System 12 doesn't encompass code-based components. Sound, graphics, and font component kits, yes..but not code.
C) This idea isn't new (or unique) and I certainly cant claim to be the originator of the idea... In my case, i'd been kicking the idea around for a good 2-3 years before finally having the opportunity to have a go at it this summer. However, as many people have pointed out, other people have been similarly kicking around the idea for quite some time, it appears.
Agreed. VA has a long track record of being very, very generous when it comes to helping out the community. I can attest to that, personally..both of the projects i've managed have been sponsored by VA in one form or another.
All helpfulness aside, it actually makes sense for them to be so generous. By doing so, they strengthen their foothold in the market, increase their name recognition in the industry, and get to enjoy a return on their investment once these various projects bear fruit. By sponsoring all these community projects, theyre ensuring their own survival in what may turn out to be a horribly competitive server market in a few years. Its damn good business sense, if you ask me.
Keep in mind, tho, VA isn't a charity organization. Theyre a business, like any other..and pretty soon a board of directors will be calling the shots. Lets hope they see the same benefits.:)
As you may have heard, i'm passing the reins of the project to Asmodean (Naru Sundar), who has been a friendly competitor to ours for quite some time.. With him at the wheel, Propaganda will continue to have someone who can devote the time and energy such a project needs to continue to be successful. Trust me -- Asmodean is good.:) I wouldn't hand over the project to someone I didnt have total faith in. The volumes will keep coming, the goofyness will keep going, and there will always be something new to see.:) As for me, i'll be devoting my time to working on System 12, a soon-to-be-opened community project that I hope will someday enjoy as much success as Propaganda has enjoyed.
Speaking of which, I figured i'd drop a line here for those of you who couldn't make it, and thank you and everyone who helped make the project a success for nearly a year..You guys are the ones who continue to ensure its success in years to come.. Everyone from the folks who used to visit the site back when it was running on a 56K modem in November '98 to the new guys who just today came to visit us to enjoy the work for the first time.:) To all of you, thank you..
Special thanks go out to the long list of folks who supported me and helped me make the project as popular as it is..Rob and Hemos here at Slashdot for giving me my first big break during Christmas of 98, to Trae and company at themes.org/VA Linux Systems for providing a real home for the project thru thick and thin, to the many folks at Red Hat, SuSE, Mandrake Linux, Debian, KDE, and GNOME for helping distribute the stuff, and to Kristen and Brian for being the best cheerleaders anybody could hope for. You rule!:)
10 months of work, 14 volumes, 730+ images, a quarter of a million people, and over half a billion tiles in circulation later, my job (personally) is done.. A year ago, I decided to use my talent to draw attention to Linux as a platform, and show the masses that we can be as good or better than anything else out there..Best of all, now we all have something that we can enjoy and use freely for years to come.:)
A big part of what makes the Linux community work so well is that we're all marching toward the same goal..We all care about long-forgotten concepts like pride of workmanship, community responsibility, and devoting our time and energy to help make things better for everyone, not just ourselves...Just because thats how it should be done. The only reason I was able to do what i've done for the past 10 months is because the rest of you pitched in, did your part and helped me get there..And as long as that tradition continues, we're all going to benefit.:)
Thanks again to everyone..its been a wild, wild ride.:)
Bowie J. Poag
KDE TWO Conference Sponsorship
on
KDE Looks Ahead
·
· Score: 1
I'm wondering if anyone else noticed this but me -- Red Hat was a partial sponsor for the KDE TWO Conference in Erlangen, as listed on the conference page itself.. I seem to recall everyone screaming and wailing about how Red Hat was in bed with GNOME (and GNOME only) not too long ago..and all this beefage that they basically didnt care about KDE development.
"Reagan, a professional actor, didn't really need to understand the details of politics or government, and never did. What he did understand was TV, which enabled him to reach a vast audience with a powerful philosophy."
Reagan was no genius, but comments like these rheak with cluelessness.
Its hard for me to believe that the economic boom of the 1980's, the end of the Cold War, and the designs for numerous arms reduction treaties (among other things) came from a guy who "didnt understand the details of politics or government". Its equally moronic for you to assert that Reagan (or any president, for that matter) can supplant media-savvy song and dance routines for honest leadership. See, Clinton tried that....it nearly got him thrown out of office, in case you weren't paying attention.
Why Rob gave you the ability to stand on a soapbox and flap your gums above everyone else is still a mystery to many of us. So long as you're going to do it, tho, it might be a good idea for you to back up your point with hard facts.. Otherwise, it's a complete waste of everyone's time if you ultimately have nothing to offer which supports your claims.
From the beginning, i've always contended that the biggest problem with Y2K is *not* the machines. Its the people who will go and do something retarded or nutty out of the fear that something might happen.. Stockpiling weapons, hoarding food, withdrawing huge sums of money from banks..that sort of thing is the greatest threat here. The redneck factor plays into it way more than anything else.
There will be riots -- but not because of anything computer related. There will be riots because people *expect* rioting to occur. Its completely psychological. It goes hand in hand with "My city's basketball team won a game -- Now I think i'll go turn over a squad car and set my own neighborhood on fire." People will use a simple 4-digit roll of our Gregorian calendar as a reason to steal a television. Why? Because people *expect* it to happen.
If you ask me, Times Square in NY is the absolute worst place you could be on New Years Eve. Given the number of people who will try and pack themselves into such a small space, something bad is bound to happen. Mix in some alcohol into that equation, and the outlook is even worse. Add into it the fact that 20% of the population have serious mental health issues, and greater than 1% of the population is schizophrenic, and you've got yourself a big human fruit-salad of errors ready to propogate. Think about that next time the camera pans the crowd..One out of every 100 faces in that crowd thinks that dogs can send telepathic messages from Satan directly into their minds.:)
Lets suppose some nutcase has it in his head that the world will be coming to an end at the stroke of midnight. He figures, "Well, since I have to go to hell, i'm going to bring the greatest party in the world with me!"..So he brings an AK-47 into the middle of the crowd in Times Square, and begins shooting at soon as the ball begins dropping. Its too noisy to hear whats going on, and no one's looking down. Theyre all looking up. 10 seconds later, 300 people are dead, 1000 are injured, most of them killed by the ensuing stampede.
I'm not worried about the machines. I'm worried about the morons being worried about the machines.
I smell marketing opportunities.. Kinda the same way that your local phone company has to be paid not to list your name in the phone book.. I'm sure someone will have the bright idea to offer people the ability to block the satellite from taking pictures of their homes for $30/sq ft or something. Perhaps law-enforcement agencies will be purchasing the right to view certain areas on a continual basis.. Hmm.:)
flame_invitation(on);
This kind of thing isn't going to make me go out and install a giant mirror over my home pointing back up into orbit. The CIA (you know..the real one..not the one on TV) has had this sort of technology at its disposal for decades. However... It never ceases to amaze me how many people scream bloody murder about privacy. I wouldn't care if the police set up 10 satellites all looking down on my poor little apartment. I don't do anything illegal to begin with -- why the hell should I care?
You came along pretty late... Alot of us were on an online service called QuantumLink before Prodigy even existed..1984-1988 or so. QuantumLink was a nationwide online service for Commodore 64 users run by none other than Steve Case of AOL fame.. America Online is what QuantumLink evolved into after the demise of the C64 in 1989 or so... They even kept the same name for the chat room area as they had way back then. "People Connection".:) They were doing some pretty sophisticated stuff even back then -- Chat rooms with mouse-controlled avatars on a C64, from what I've heard.:) My experience with QuantumLink was fairly short-lived, however. QuantumLink quickly gained the lamer-farm connotation that AOL has today. QuantumLame, we used to call it. Heh
There _are_ older services out there.. Anybody else here remember when Compuserve was a completely text-based UPPERCASE ONLY online service?:)
Slashdot Mirror
My choosing not to discuss why we shut the project down with you, or anyone else for that matter, is out of simple courtesy, not because I (or the 11 other people working on the project) had anything to be ashamed of. Trust me. That decision was also reached as a group, not (to paraphrase) "by me and me alone." Im not in the business of slinging mud.
If you look carefully at the interview I gave to Linux.com, it spells out quite specifically what we were doing, how we were going to do it, and what we were going to offer.
As for "trying to get me a job at VA in November", I'm afraid you're mistaken. I went home to recouperate in October, and stayed until early January. I rarely touched a computer in the time inbetween, and only then it was to discuss matters with my staff.
Bowie J. Poag
Project Manager, PROPAGANDA For Linux (http://propaganda.themes.org)
bitch_mode(on);
:) )
Back in June of last year, I had a conversation or two with Trae McCombs at VA about what to name my project. Laboriously, we sat and thought about names for the new project--one that would shelter developers under a common umbrella while providing them the tools and materials they needed to build.
One of the names I proposed was "Source Forge". I really liked the word "forge", and felt it could be combined easilly with other words down the road as the project expanded.
Trae didn't like the name, told me to keep thinking. 6 months later I find out VA is funding a project called "SourceForge" with full time employees, and was doing essentially the same thing as us. I scratched my chin and thought about that. "Hmm. Thats flattering." I thought.
Well, back to our story--After a week or two of primate head-scratching, and an infamous trip to a shopping mall in Tucson, I finally thought of a good name. The name was chosen, and "System 12" was cast in stone, and work began on the project.
System 12...Hmm. Now, we see Server 51. Same concept.
Sure, its all good..No problem there. Its just that I would rather not be routinely "flattered".
bitch_mode(off);
Good luck, Patrick.
(Yes, I know the URL doesn't work.
Bowie J. Poag
Project Manager, PROPAGANDA For Linux (http://propaganda.themes.org)
Hiya Bruce.. :)
...An worthy investment, considering what theyre doing for all of us.
Well, if I turn out to be the lucky horse, I'll be donating a good chunk of it to The XFree86 Project.
Bowie J. Poag
Project Manager, PROPAGANDA For Linux (http://propaganda.themes.org)
Heh, well it would sure as hell help *me*..
Bowie J. Poag
Project Manager, PROPAGANDA For Linux (http://propaganda.themes.org)
Would be a good haxx0r prank -- Get root on somebody's box, and change all their bookmarks to smell like shit.
Opens up a world of possibility for porn webpages, i'd imagine...*cringe*
:)
Bowie J. Poag
Project Manager, PROPAGANDA For Linux (http://propaganda.themes.org)
Kinda sad, isn't it.
Apparently, this university has no problem funneling gigabytes of Usenet porn through its network every night, yet, with something as simple as kids trading music, they throw a fit. I'm surprised they dont ban the sale of casette tapes on campus -- My lord, they could begin commiting similar crimes, like recording songs off the radio, or recording NFL games for later viewing! Before you know it, they'll begin ignoring the FBI warning at the start of their Blockbuster rentals, and tear the tags off their mattresses! Oh, the humanity! Please God, deliver us from such acts of anarchy!
Welcome to the 21'st century..More idiots per square mile than ever before.
Bowie J. Poag
Project Manager, PROPAGANDA For Linux (http://propaganda.themes.org)
Superbad! I guess i'm lucky.. Just picked up a new Epox board with a VIA chipset last week..
Intel has an unfair advantage in the marketplace. We all know that -- Now theyre whining about how their unfair advantage is being threatened! Doesn't this strike anyone as being a little weird?
Bowie J. Poag
Project Manager, PROPAGANDA For Linux (http://propaganda.themes.org)
Hmm..I see your point. See, we had to go through this sort of stuff when doing contracts with people who wanted to use Propaganda in some sort of commercial sense -- The other parties were generally concerned about GPL violations in that they would be held accountable or falsely accused of infringement if they were to use our stuff. Turns out that isn't the case at all. As we read it (the GPL) , any item with a GPL on it, even if its totally your own work, cannot be sublicensed and still remain GPL. Looks like we were wrong (happily..Heh)
Thanks for the heads up.
Bowie J. Poag
I dont see what the big fuss is about.. Ultimately, its up to the individual who's work is being used to enforce the conditions laid out in the GPL. Its not the FSF's responsibility, or GNU's responsibility. Its yours. You hire the lawyer if you find someone trying to rip you off..Have a look at GNU's GPL faq if you dont believe me.
That, if anything, is the biggest loophole of all in the GPL. It means that you can selectively turn a blind eye to anyone using your work within a commercial project. You simply choose not to enforce the provisions of the GPL. And, as we all know, passing a little money over the table will gladly make even the most pious coder consider that route, as sneaky and underhanded as it is.
The only thing wrong with the GPL is the very thing which makes it work; the clause which specifies that you may not GPL your work and subsequently go out and sublicense it.
Translation: Sorry, kids--You cant make money off it, even if you built it all from scratch, top to bottom. Its a terrible paradox..It makes for great software, but it also prevents programmers from being compensated. The GPL, as nice as it is, wont pay your rent.
Then again, there's always the Perl Artistic License, which tends to make alot more sense than the GPL on these matters. AFAIK, it does allow for sublicensing.
Bowie J. Poag
psst...thanks!
Bowie
Bowie J. Poag
First of all,..Just so we're clear here.. No, my parents didn't name me after David Bowie. They actually picked my name out of a baby book. Lucky me, a transvestite pop star makes it big a few months after I was born in '74.
Secondly, i'm not a fan of David Bowie's music. I just felt the need to point out that he's basically full of shit. Bands that got their start in the early 70's like Neu, Kraftwerk, Cluster, Devo (and individuals *prior* to 1970 such as Oskar Sala, Raymond Scott, Bob Moog) were already heavilly involved in using elements of electronic music in their work upwards of 10-20 years before David Bowie and Brian Eno even began toying with the idea. The assertion that David Bowie is some sort of legendary pioneer of electronic music is absolutely laughable.
The whole concept of producing electronic music with machines stems back as far as the late 1890's, believe it or not. Go to Yahoo and look up "Telharmonium" if you dont believe me.
To make a very long and complicated story short, the first real application of electronic music popped up around the mid 1920's, with the introduction of instruments such as the Theremin, and the Clavavox (among others)
David Bowie's "contribution" to the popularization of electronic music stems from seeing bands like Kraftwerk and Devo in 1977-79 and doing his best to reinvent himself and base his gimmick around the same idea. Neither band owes their existance to him in any way.. In Kraftwerk's case, they'de been doing it since 1969. in Devo's case, 1972.
Read books. Everything else is a sales pitch.
Bowie J. Poag
Just to clarify a few things....
A) The interview I gave with linux.com took place yesterday afternoon. Apparently, this Aiken guy probably read it when it was posted earlier today and decided to apply the same idea to sourcecode in his post to Slashdot. Ideas dont hurt anybody, so quit railing on him.
B) The sort of thing we're doing at System 12 doesn't encompass code-based components. Sound, graphics, and font component kits, yes..but not code.
C) This idea isn't new (or unique) and I certainly cant claim to be the originator of the idea... In my case, i'd been kicking the idea around for a good 2-3 years before finally having the opportunity to have a go at it this summer. However, as many people have pointed out, other people have been similarly kicking around the idea for quite some time, it appears.
Bowie J. Poag
Agreed. VA has a long track record of being very, very generous when it comes to helping out the community. I can attest to that, personally..both of the projects i've managed have been sponsored by VA in one form or another.
:)
All helpfulness aside, it actually makes sense for them to be so generous. By doing so, they strengthen their foothold in the market, increase their name recognition in the industry, and get to enjoy a return on their investment once these various projects bear fruit. By sponsoring all these community projects, theyre ensuring their own survival in what may turn out to be a horribly competitive server market in a few years. Its damn good business sense, if you ask me.
Keep in mind, tho, VA isn't a charity organization. Theyre a business, like any other..and pretty soon a board of directors will be calling the shots. Lets hope they see the same benefits.
Bowie J. Poag
/* Obtain gift_horse, open mouth, insert head.
*/
:)
Bowie J. Poag
Hi everyone,
:) I wouldn't hand over the project to someone I didnt have total faith in. The volumes will keep coming, the goofyness will keep going, and there will always be something new to see. :) As for me, i'll be devoting my time to working on System 12, a soon-to-be-opened community project that I hope will someday enjoy as much success as Propaganda has enjoyed.
:) To all of you, thank you..
:)
:)
:)
:)
As you may have heard, i'm passing the reins of the project to Asmodean (Naru Sundar), who has been a friendly competitor to ours for quite some time.. With him at the wheel, Propaganda will continue to have someone who can devote the time and energy such a project needs to continue to be successful. Trust me -- Asmodean is good.
Speaking of which, I figured i'd drop a line here for those of you who couldn't make it, and thank you and everyone who helped make the project a success for nearly a year..You guys are the ones who continue to ensure its success in years to come.. Everyone from the folks who used to visit the site back when it was running on a 56K modem in November '98 to the new guys who just today came to visit us to enjoy the work for the first time.
Special thanks go out to the long list of folks who supported me and helped me make the project as popular as it is..Rob and Hemos here at Slashdot for giving me my first big break during Christmas of 98, to Trae and company at themes.org/VA Linux Systems for providing a real home for the project thru thick and thin, to the many folks at Red Hat, SuSE, Mandrake Linux, Debian, KDE, and GNOME for helping distribute the stuff, and to Kristen and Brian for being the best cheerleaders anybody could hope for. You rule!
10 months of work, 14 volumes, 730+ images, a quarter of a million people, and over half a billion tiles in circulation later, my job (personally) is done.. A year ago, I decided to use my talent to draw attention to Linux as a platform, and show the masses that we can be as good or better than anything else out there..Best of all, now we all have something that we can enjoy and use freely for years to come.
A big part of what makes the Linux community work so well is that we're all marching toward the same goal..We all care about long-forgotten concepts like pride of workmanship, community responsibility, and devoting our time and energy to help make things better for everyone, not just ourselves...Just because thats how it should be done. The only reason I was able to do what i've done for the past 10 months is because the rest of you pitched in, did your part and helped me get there..And as long as that tradition continues, we're all going to benefit.
Thanks again to everyone..its been a wild, wild ride.
Bowie J. Poag
I'm wondering if anyone else noticed this but me -- Red Hat was a partial sponsor for the KDE TWO Conference in Erlangen, as listed on the conference page itself.. I seem to recall everyone screaming and wailing about how Red Hat was in bed with GNOME (and GNOME only) not too long ago..and all this beefage that they basically didnt care about KDE development.
insert(mouth(money));
Bowie J. Poag
"Reagan, a professional actor, didn't really need to understand the details of politics or government, and never did. What he did understand was TV, which enabled him to reach a vast audience with a powerful philosophy."
Reagan was no genius, but comments like these rheak with cluelessness.
Its hard for me to believe that the economic boom of the 1980's, the end of the Cold War, and the designs for numerous arms reduction treaties (among other things) came from a guy who "didnt understand the details of politics or government". Its equally moronic for you to assert that Reagan (or any president, for that matter) can supplant media-savvy song and dance routines for honest leadership. See, Clinton tried that....it nearly got him thrown out of office, in case you weren't paying attention.
Why Rob gave you the ability to stand on a soapbox and flap your gums above everyone else is still a mystery to many of us. So long as you're going to do it, tho, it might be a good idea for you to back up your point with hard facts.. Otherwise, it's a complete waste of everyone's time if you ultimately have nothing to offer which supports your claims.
Bowie J. Poag
Hehehe.. dont worry, we still love you, Rob.
Bowie
PROPAGANDA
Bowie J. Poag
From the beginning, i've always contended that the biggest problem with Y2K is *not* the machines. Its the people who will go and do something retarded or nutty out of the fear that something might happen.. Stockpiling weapons, hoarding food, withdrawing huge sums of money from banks..that sort of thing is the greatest threat here. The redneck factor plays into it way more than anything else.
There will be riots -- but not because of anything computer related. There will be riots because people *expect* rioting to occur. Its completely psychological. It goes hand in hand with "My city's basketball team won a game -- Now I think i'll go turn over a squad car and set my own neighborhood on fire." People will use a simple 4-digit roll of our Gregorian calendar as a reason to steal a television. Why? Because people *expect* it to happen.
If you ask me, Times Square in NY is the absolute worst place you could be on New Years Eve. Given the number of people who will try and pack themselves into such a small space, something bad is bound to happen. Mix in some alcohol into that equation, and the outlook is even worse. Add into it the fact that 20% of the population have serious mental health issues, and greater than 1% of the population is schizophrenic, and you've got yourself a big human fruit-salad of errors ready to propogate. Think about that next time the camera pans the crowd..One out of every 100 faces in that crowd thinks that dogs can send telepathic messages from Satan directly into their minds.
Lets suppose some nutcase has it in his head that the world will be coming to an end at the stroke of midnight. He figures, "Well, since I have to go to hell, i'm going to bring the greatest party in the world with me!"
10 seconds later, 300 people are dead, 1000 are injured, most of them killed by the ensuing stampede.
I'm not worried about the machines. I'm worried about the morons being worried about the machines.
Bowie J. Poag
Reminds me alot of George Bush when he discovered supermarket scanners during the '88 election campaign.
Well, at least he didnt mention Columbine again.
Bowie J. Poag
Welcome to the world of planned obsolescence, kids!
Bowie J. Poag
Far be it from Microsoft to LIE or anything.
"Its not a car. It is merely a steerable metal box with four wheels and an engine, nothing more."
Bowie J. Poag
I smell marketing opportunities.. Kinda the same way that your local phone company has to be paid not to list your name in the phone book.. I'm sure someone will have the bright idea to offer people the ability to block the satellite from taking pictures of their homes for $30/sq ft or something. Perhaps law-enforcement agencies will be purchasing the right to view certain areas on a continual basis.. Hmm.
flame_invitation(on);
This kind of thing isn't going to make me go out and install a giant mirror over my home pointing back up into orbit. The CIA (you know..the real one..not the one on TV) has had this sort of technology at its disposal for decades. However... It never ceases to amaze me how many people scream bloody murder about privacy. I wouldn't care if the police set up 10 satellites all looking down on my poor little apartment. I don't do anything illegal to begin with -- why the hell should I care?
flame invitation(off);
Bowie J. Poag
...and how the Columbine massacre, the media, and privacy rights had alot to do with it too. Dont forget those.
Bowie J. Poag
You came along pretty late... Alot of us were on an online service called QuantumLink before Prodigy even existed..1984-1988 or so. QuantumLink was a nationwide online service for Commodore 64 users run by none other than Steve Case of AOL fame.. America Online is what QuantumLink evolved into after the demise of the C64 in 1989 or so... They even kept the same name for the chat room area as they had way back then. "People Connection".
There _are_ older services out there.. Anybody else here remember when Compuserve was a completely text-based UPPERCASE ONLY online service?
Bowie J. Poag