These corporations are so worried about holding on to their wealth that they will do about anything that they think will help them hold it.......except develop products and services that are worthwhile and something people want.
It's clear that P2P is something people want. The Apple Tunes store is making money because people wanted that kind of service. If the copyright holders can't find a way to get into the stream, then they should suffer the fate of every other business model out there that sucks.
And the reason for that criminalization was a combination of Christian extremism, racism, and a lot of money from the cotton lobby lining political pockets. Hemp was cheaper to grow, easier to process, and more versatile--cotton couldn't complete without the government's intervention.
This all neatly avoids the fact that people are skipping network TV for cable, skipping broadcast radio for satellite, and those industries are too torpid to compete.
BUT: bypassing the networks sponsors is not QUITE a victimless crime, as the networks are losing money by it.
What happened to 'market forces'? It's the grand mantra of captialists everywhere--until consumers do something dreadfully inconvenient, then it is criminal behavior. In the Max Headroom world, people weren't allowed to shut off their TVs and those who did were jailed. Is that a world *I* want to live in? Not really. The networks get the money for the advertising up front and so what if people skip it on their VCRs? Maybe if they innovated so that commercials were not overloud and not taking up more and more broadcast time, people would be less inclined to skip them.
So this is extended to justify the criminalization of things like oral sex, because some psycho fundie believes you'll burn in Hell and that he has to protect you?
Self as a victim is a lame ideology, only surpassed by doing things for the children.
It's time for the US to get out of the business of regulating private behavior.
The MMR vaccine is the only vaccine to have a serious connection to autism, but it's like 0.04% of cases and not 99% as Wakefield believed at some point... and it's a delayed effect. Other vaccines don't CAUSE autism, but could certainly account for chance of early diagnosis because of plainly obvious mercury damage and ADD/dyslexia type problems.
Other childhood vaccines, until very recently, contained thimerisol and other mercury salts. even in the minute amounts present in vaccines, they pose a problem, especially in the developing neural pathways of kids. As I remember, the MMR is not preserved with those agents, but the problem was thought to possibly be in the culturing process of the MMR itself.
What's pathetically amusing about this is that the vast majority of people who do this are themselves public school graduates; they're effectively calling themselves uneducated morons.
What is sad about this comment is that it ignores the fact that the quality of education has fallen off so badly in the US in the last 25 years that we have to now require post-secondary education in order to be assured to get the basic language and math skills needed to do jobs that pay even a living wage. Of course, I'd actually be in agreement with you if the supposed college prep program I was forced into in high school had actually prepared me for college...it didn't and was a waste of two years that I could have spent learning something useful in the real world.
The fact is that hard-working teachers in this country do their best to educate tens of millions of kids, day in and day out, and by and large they succeed. Is the system perfect? Hell no; it's a long way from perfect, and we should do everything we can to improve it.
This is simply a strawman. An attack on the failings of the school system is not the same thing as blaming the teachers who are just as much screwed over by it as the kids are. When teachers are free to teach and students are free to learn, we get the best results and bang for the buck. When we have to spend tons of money on unfunded federal mandates and bean counting BS to maintain them--and force qualified and hardworking teachers to go to great expense to become certified in all the subjects they teach--it's easy to see why I think schools should stop taking federal largesse and get back to the business of teaching kids. No Child Left Behind means that all children get left behind--while all those concerned adults can pat themselves on the back because they slapped the fsck out of the 'bad guys'.
But I know of no other educational system in history that has -- with a mandate to take every kid, regardless of intelligence or willingness to work -- successfully educated the number of people that the American public school system has.
One of the accomplishments of the Soviets was mostly eradicating illiteracy in less than 30 years. Not that I think that the Soviet system is all that fabulous, but I note that their basic literacy rates were historically higher than ours. Breadth of literacy, though, we always had them hands down.
You can't legitimately blame someone who manages to snooker some adrenaline-hyed crook in an alley for the subsequent actions of that crook. That argument does nothing but say that the people who are smart enough to get themselves out of a tight spot with a person willing to do violence to their person is somehow an accessory to the next crime that person commits.
Usually, I'd say this was a good thing. But, as with all things M$, I must adopt the cynical view that this is just another way for them to force people to upgrade to the newer, still buggy, resources hogging software they put out today. Since a large number of places are refusing to upgrade because their systems are stable, and because the reputation of M$ patches and updates is shoddy at best, the promise of something secure, that actually works right seems rather an elusive fantasy.
I mean, who cares about empty promises from a morally bankrupt company that is known for predatory business practices and open hostility toward their customer base?
Apple broke a lot of backward compatibility and it did hurt, but at least the new software at the end of the tunnel didn't blow goats.
"What if disputes over spectrum arose? The answer is simple. Whoever owned the rights to that slice of virtual real estate would locate the illicit broadcaster, march into the local courthouse and get a restraining order to pull the plug on the transmitter. Trespass is hardly a new idea, and courts are well-equipped to deal with it."
In general, I agree that the FCC does too much and is far too swayed by politics., especially in the picking of technology. HDTV and BPL are both losers, for the way that the FCC is trying to force them where they don't serve the interests of the public.
However, there are a number of radio services that are not 'owned' by anyone, like the amateur spectrum, who need to have the power of business limited. Believe me, the spectrum would vanish overnight if left to the free for all of deregulation. Government oversight, in the public interest is always better than the current scheme of government picking winners and losers so that the commissioners have nice places to land in private industry when they leave.
I actually liked the fact they hit so hard on the question of Choice. Especially the way that The Oracle enumerated it. Making a choice changed the nature and appearance of the program.
It, of course, was much better with the Merovingian.
You know, when the narrow interests of a handful of non-citizens trump the interests of the people that say they don't want to be bothered by said non-citizens, we're really just a few steps from Fascism.
I think that the backlash from this stunt is going to be -impressive-. I'm already working on ways to make sure that telemarketers lose money in this deal, including taking the time out to do as much as I can to keep them on the phone, so it drives down their numbers.
I've never done an extended or widespread Skywarn activation before. All of the auxillary nets are coming up along with the main net out of LWX. It's kind of exciting to see everyone lining up to go down to NWS and getting their systems on backup power--it's really the kind of thing that we do all this tinkering for.
unless your friend is one of the many lame hippies that infest the strawbale community, who seem to confuse "hay" with "straw".
insect OR rodent infestation is extremely difficult in most well designed strawbale structures, as well as providing superinsulated soundproof walls that withstand heat way beyond anything your stick house would sustain.
I believe that the operative is 'well designed'. This guy isn't some lame hippie; he's a contractor who has worked on a number of alternative housing designs, including cob and strawbale. He can tell you about mildew, water, and erosion problems(almost always caused by not extending the overhangs enough) experienced in poorly executed cob structures, rodents getting into strawbale buildings through flaws in the foundation or exterior treatments, and the problems you get into when you cut corners on your geodesic dome.
A friend of mine has done that straw bale construction, and he says that the biggest problem with it is rodent infestations. It is very hard to get rid of them, once they get into the walls.:(
Slashdot Mirror
This would be an interesting way to shore up the National Debt--Missile Rentals to petty despots.
Isn't this like saying that there would be no internet without Al Gore?
One good 100w 20m signal and you'll BSOD!
*cackle*
These corporations are so worried about holding on to their wealth that they will do about anything that they think will help them hold it.... ...except develop products and services that are worthwhile and something people want.
It's clear that P2P is something people want. The Apple Tunes store is making money because people wanted that kind of service. If the copyright holders can't find a way to get into the stream, then they should suffer the fate of every other business model out there that sucks.
And the reason for that criminalization was a combination of Christian extremism, racism, and a lot of money from the cotton lobby lining political pockets. Hemp was cheaper to grow, easier to process, and more versatile--cotton couldn't complete without the government's intervention.
This all neatly avoids the fact that people are skipping network TV for cable, skipping broadcast radio for satellite, and those industries are too torpid to compete.
BUT: bypassing the networks sponsors is not QUITE a victimless crime, as the networks are losing money by it.
What happened to 'market forces'? It's the grand mantra of captialists everywhere--until consumers do something dreadfully inconvenient, then it is criminal behavior. In the Max Headroom world, people weren't allowed to shut off their TVs and those who did were jailed. Is that a world *I* want to live in? Not really. The networks get the money for the advertising up front and so what if people skip it on their VCRs? Maybe if they innovated so that commercials were not overloud and not taking up more and more broadcast time, people would be less inclined to skip them.
So this is extended to justify the criminalization of things like oral sex, because some psycho fundie believes you'll burn in Hell and that he has to protect you?
Self as a victim is a lame ideology, only surpassed by doing things for the children.
It's time for the US to get out of the business of regulating private behavior.
The MMR vaccine is the only vaccine to have a serious connection to autism, but it's like 0.04% of cases and not 99% as Wakefield believed at some point... and it's a delayed effect. Other vaccines don't CAUSE autism, but could certainly account for chance of early diagnosis because of plainly obvious mercury damage and ADD/dyslexia type problems.
Other childhood vaccines, until very recently, contained thimerisol and other mercury salts. even in the minute amounts present in vaccines, they pose a problem, especially in the developing neural pathways of kids. As I remember, the MMR is not preserved with those agents, but the problem was thought to possibly be in the culturing process of the MMR itself.
What's pathetically amusing about this is that the vast majority of people who do this are themselves public school graduates; they're effectively calling themselves uneducated morons.
What is sad about this comment is that it ignores the fact that the quality of education has fallen off so badly in the US in the last 25 years that we have to now require post-secondary education in order to be assured to get the basic language and math skills needed to do jobs that pay even a living wage. Of course, I'd actually be in agreement with you if the supposed college prep program I was forced into in high school had actually prepared me for college...it didn't and was a waste of two years that I could have spent learning something useful in the real world.
The fact is that hard-working teachers in this country do their best to educate tens of millions of kids, day in and day out, and by and large they succeed. Is the system perfect? Hell no; it's a long way from perfect, and we should do everything we can to improve it.
This is simply a strawman. An attack on the failings of the school system is not the same thing as blaming the teachers who are just as much screwed over by it as the kids are. When teachers are free to teach and students are free to learn, we get the best results and bang for the buck. When we have to spend tons of money on unfunded federal mandates and bean counting BS to maintain them--and force qualified and hardworking teachers to go to great expense to become certified in all the subjects they teach--it's easy to see why I think schools should stop taking federal largesse and get back to the business of teaching kids. No Child Left Behind means that all children get left behind--while all those concerned adults can pat themselves on the back because they slapped the fsck out of the 'bad guys'.
But I know of no other educational system in history that has -- with a mandate to take every kid, regardless of intelligence or willingness to work -- successfully educated the number of people that the American public school system has.
One of the accomplishments of the Soviets was mostly eradicating illiteracy in less than 30 years. Not that I think that the Soviet system is all that fabulous, but I note that their basic literacy rates were historically higher than ours. Breadth of literacy, though, we always had them hands down.
And the single best way I the FCC is to investigate the hell out of Michael Powell and his cronies to find out who is in their pockets.
I think that the shady dealings of the FCC merit a special prosecutor, and have for some years.
Whoa whoa whoa.
You can't legitimately blame someone who manages to snooker some adrenaline-hyed crook in an alley for the subsequent actions of that crook. That argument does nothing but say that the people who are smart enough to get themselves out of a tight spot with a person willing to do violence to their person is somehow an accessory to the next crime that person commits.
Similar to what motivated Voyager scientists to attach a plaque for the outbound trip.
We need only look at what that V'Ger does in the 23rd Century to realize the folly of such things.
Usually, I'd say this was a good thing. But, as with all things M$, I must adopt the cynical view that this is just another way for them to force people to upgrade to the newer, still buggy, resources hogging software they put out today. Since a large number of places are refusing to upgrade because their systems are stable, and because the reputation of M$ patches and updates is shoddy at best, the promise of something secure, that actually works right seems rather an elusive fantasy.
I mean, who cares about empty promises from a morally bankrupt company that is known for predatory business practices and open hostility toward their customer base?
Apple broke a lot of backward compatibility and it did hurt, but at least the new software at the end of the tunnel didn't blow goats.
"What if disputes over spectrum arose? The answer is simple. Whoever owned the rights to that slice of virtual real estate would locate the illicit broadcaster, march into the local courthouse and get a restraining order to pull the plug on the transmitter. Trespass is hardly a new idea, and courts are well-equipped to deal with it."
In general, I agree that the FCC does too much and is far too swayed by politics., especially in the picking of technology. HDTV and BPL are both losers, for the way that the FCC is trying to force them where they don't serve the interests of the public.
However, there are a number of radio services that are not 'owned' by anyone, like the amateur spectrum, who need to have the power of business limited. Believe me, the spectrum would vanish overnight if left to the free for all of deregulation. Government oversight, in the public interest is always better than the current scheme of government picking winners and losers so that the commissioners have nice places to land in private industry when they leave.
More inportant, deception on this level constitutes breach of contract.
Breach of contract USED to be actionable.
You also shouldn't need a lawyer to buy a friggin cell phone.
Would you trust Diebold with anything after their CEO promised to deliver his state(Ohio) to Bush in 2004?
Diebold election machines are a menace. Demand paper ballots. Even punch cards are more accurate __ AND SECURE __ than electronic voting.
I actually liked the fact they hit so hard on the question of Choice. Especially the way that The Oracle enumerated it. Making a choice changed the nature and appearance of the program.
It, of course, was much better with the Merovingian.
But they can file a frivolous lawsuit and drive lunaregistry out of business and THEN profit with a Microsoft Solution!
Yeah, what they did to the Spam King.
I feel -certain- that His Honor would like information on all the valuable offers out there--delivered right to his office at the courthouse.
You know, when the narrow interests of a handful of non-citizens trump the interests of the people that say they don't want to be bothered by said non-citizens, we're really just a few steps from Fascism.
I think that the backlash from this stunt is going to be -impressive-. I'm already working on ways to make sure that telemarketers lose money in this deal, including taking the time out to do as much as I can to keep them on the phone, so it drives down their numbers.
The DeCSS judge thought that too....
He also had huge conflict of interest.
I've never done an extended or widespread Skywarn activation before. All of the auxillary nets are coming up along with the main net out of LWX. It's kind of exciting to see everyone lining up to go down to NWS and getting their systems on backup power--it's really the kind of thing that we do all this tinkering for.
Well this woman also has a clue about ham radio and my grid square is FM19.
unless your friend is one of the many lame hippies that infest the strawbale community, who seem to confuse "hay" with "straw".
insect OR rodent infestation is extremely difficult in most well designed strawbale structures, as well as providing superinsulated soundproof walls that withstand heat way beyond anything your stick house would sustain.
I believe that the operative is 'well designed'. This guy isn't some lame hippie; he's a contractor who has worked on a number of alternative housing designs, including cob and strawbale. He can tell you about mildew, water, and erosion problems(almost always caused by not extending the overhangs enough) experienced in poorly executed cob structures, rodents getting into strawbale buildings through flaws in the foundation or exterior treatments, and the problems you get into when you cut corners on your geodesic dome.
A friend of mine has done that straw bale construction, and he says that the biggest problem with it is rodent infestations. It is very hard to get rid of them, once they get into the walls. :(