I think citing a 35% tax bracket should be enough evidence to go postal.
I mean, really, we dumped tea over a measly 3% tax. And now we're being taxed without representation again: your vote matters absolutely nothing if your state has greater than 50% on the other side. (And if you're L/libertarian, your vote is worthless no matter what state you live in, with the possible slight exception of Vermont or New Hampshire--as long as you're not voting for the president.) (And if you've been convicted of a felony, which is really easy with the new drug laws and "3 strikes" laws, you'll never vote again!)
35%? 35? We should be revolting now, only there's too much shiny stuff on TV.
Hmm... So, why don't we put a few more birds in the sky so we have 24x7 coverage of all areas? Or would that be too cost-prohibitive? (I don't know what our current coverage is...)
At the risk of infecting others with my pipe dreams, I would venture to say that the cost will drop to basically $0 within 20 years.
Yes, nanotechnology is one of the buzzwords in my head, but it's not the end-all-be-all (hi Cameron!) of human existence--that's reserved for once we've achieved nanotech, then we can start playing around in the quantum arena. That oughta be exciting!
But whether it's from increased advertising or just the pitifully low cost of sunlight, most goods and services will approach $0 in the next generation. And most of us will live to see it (and then, to see the sun explode).
I tend to use Slashdot as my at-home reading time filler.
And it doesn't cost anything (above and beyond the computer and net connection, that is, which I'd be paying for anyway because it's useful for work), and I get to learn about advanced technologies and software, and also get a chuckle every once in a while.
And yes I am talking about shellshocked nam 67 or whatever the hell it was.
God DAMN what a horrible game that was! The three worst points: the view is "randomly third person" from behind, which made precise targeting impossible; it's not obvious where you can and cannot walk (some "slopes" are too steep but look the same as the rest of the terrain); and the NPCs gang up behind you especially in a corner so you get stuck--and you can't even shoot them to kill them so you can get by!
I told my younger sister (who hated the idea of nanotech, and is slowly coming to appreciate it) something very similar about a year ago: we will be infected by nanomachines and we will be powerless to do anything about it.
The government currently mandates vaccination for your child if your child is to attend public school.
Next generation's vaccinations will include nanobots to keep the human healthy. And dependent on the government.
Yeah, I was done buying CDs a couple years ago, and DVDs as of a few days ago when they turned off my cable modem without a warrant or court order.
I'm doing exactly as you suggested: I'm honing my skills to help support an encrypted, anonymous P2P project. Already I've gotten a couple offers of interest, so I'll be deciding how to spend about 20% of my free time and disposable income over the holidays.
Note that it was later allowed to be released, but to answer your question: the government prevents someone from putting "old stories" that should have entered the public domain years ago but have not due to copyright extension, from being included in a new movie. (I was not completely specific in my original post, which might have led you to believe that other Grimm's Fairy Tales were off-limits, but they aren't; I was referring to the public's inability to create derivative works using, for example, Mickey Mouse, or anything created in the last 80ish years.)
Thanks for the defense. I know that my GP believes that only "sensational" civil disobdience is "worth it" but I'd be far less effective rotting in jail or paying heavy fines through the nose.
And I'm actually going to perform a form of "civil obedience" -- No More Downloads. I have a ReplayTV and a TiVo, so I can get all the video I care to watch from them. Yeah, the new movies will take longer, but there are so many, many old movies to watch that it's not really an issue.
So I can't be thrown into jail, or be fined. (Of course, since they weren't required to show me the evidence against me (I'm still appalled at that!), then I suppose they could convict me with the same "level" of evidence, in which case I could easily end up in jail or with heavy fines...)
But regardless of what the authorities have in mind for me, I will be spending perhaps 20% of both my free time and my disposable income in supporting this position, which is that there is no stop to the spiraling Copyright Cartel. Works produced now, even 50 years ago, will never see the Public Domain. The software I add value to will be able to be used to violate current copyrights, but that's not my goal: I should be able to freely download TV shows, movies and music from the 70s and early 80s. That was how copyright was originally intended, as a way to increase the wealth in the public domain, not as a way to make some people rich for doing a small amount of work.
I will promote only valid uses of the projects I support, where "valid" means "the original definition." Yes, I agree that for some small subset of issues, technology can drastically change the meaning and it should be reinterpreted. But with technology turning a traditionally scarce economy into an economy in which there is no scarcity, and then having the law turn it back into a scarcity economy for no other reason that to enrichen some corporations (not even individuals!), that's just wrong and I will fight against it until they come to take me away (haha).
And soon, we'll have nanotechnology and we will be free from a world in which there is scarcity in physical items as well as audio and video. At that point (if they let me live...), I'll start helping open source nanotech projects working towards building factories to duplicate any physical good based on a blueprint. Some of the first blueprints we share (over the internet, of course, and likely using ANts/Freenet/Frost/other project I will be working on shortly) will be those items that can help out the lower levels of Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs -- like food and shelter. Perhaps McDonald's will be upset that someone "uploads" a Big Mac, so that everyone can download and eat as many as they want. And moving forward the higher-value items like Playstations, computers, and Corvettes will ruffle a few feathers. But those feathers should be calmed knowing that these wonders are available to everyone on the planet.
Yeah, I'm waxing a little philosophical/utopian, and I know the future won't be exactly the way I see it, but then one of the steps is to distribute blueprints for advanced spaceflight, and then all bets are off because no government will be able to keep all of its citizens within its sphere of influence (without crippling or killing said citizens, and then those governments which don't do that will expand far faster).
It hurts having my internet access removed, and I'm still reacting. But I like to think that I'm reacting in a productive manner; rather than burning down Hollywood, I'll just help create technologies that make them less profitable.
well, there are also cats who are pretty good at utilizing passive solar power.
I'm going to have to agree with drphil on this one. I myself have three cats, and they're extremely well versed at passively utilizing the solar power entering through the window.
I wonder if FreeNet might be a good source for torrents. It's hella slow, but you only need 35K or so downloaded before you can go off and connect to the torrent.
The problem is that everyone's exposed at that point: all the MPAA has to do is connect to the torrent with Azureus and they'll see all the IPs that are currently attached.
It is my life's mission to produce an unbreakable, fast form of BitTorrent: the Copyright Cartel shut off my Internet for a day earlier this week. There's nothing I can do to fix the law (which stated that copyrights were to promote the arts and sciences and should only run for 20 years); it's horribly broken and things that are currently under copyright protection will never leave copyright protection, due to continual extensions. This is abysmal; Disney made much of their money from re-doing old stories that fell into the Public Domain, like Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, etc.; today that would be impossible.
Anybody developing newer versions with encryption and anonymity, feel free to contact me. I have both developer time (C, C++, HTML, Perl, Javascript, etc.) and disposable income, to support creating a new version.
I really like this idea. I would change only one thing:
[...] which is priced as low as a blank cdr.
Price it as low as a CD-RW, and then if you didn't like the movie at least you can reuse the disc!
But as other responses have said, the MPAA won't go for this. It doesn't maximize their profitability, simple as that. Whether it will be better for them in the longer run is up for debate, but it would definitely have short-term negative effects for which executive might lose their jobs (for not putting the shareholders first).
My cable modem was turned off a few days ago due to "Copyright Infringement."
They turned it back on after I called in.
I was unable to see the evidence against me, and I was punished without being able to defend myself (no trial, just punished (Internet access disabled) on accusation alone).
This reminds me of the Salem witch trials.
I hereby announce that I will do everything in my power to destroy the copyright cartels. I will not download anything more; I do not need their shows and movies. However, I will devote my spare time towards improving the open source projects like BitTorrent, FreeNet, etc., which will allow users to share any bits they care to with no possibility of censorship or control.
I can code, and I have a decent job so I have some disposable income. As much of it as I can spare will go towards these projects (like, donations, or purchasing equipment for them, bandwidth, etc.).
This is OT but I recently figured your sig out. I've seen it here for years (or at least it seems like years), and finally I dug out an old Dead Milkmen album and there it was, towards the end of the song "Stuart".;-)
Reminds me a great google game. Turn strict search filtering on on google images and try and find porn using single word. My record is 2nd image with "cameltoe".
Under either Moderate or No filtering, "brick" has breasts on the second (and third) images. "Cameltoe"'s results I wouldn't really call porn; the shape is suggested but there are clothes in the way.
Seriously though, an implant that could do this would make telepathy somewhat of a reality. How cool is that?
Very. Let me entertain you for a moment (and this is somewhat OT but not too far juice).
Telepathy is possible. I read two (unrelated) articles about 4 years ago that proved it to me. The first said the human brain works not only on mechanical, chemical, biological, and electrical principles, but also on quantum principles, so if we're going to fully understand the human brain, we need to understand quantum mechanics.
The second article (about 3 weeks later) talked about researchers isolating one quantum effect in the lab: entanglement. The article talked about them "entangling" two electrons through some process, and then when separated up to 10 km (they hadn't tested greater distances so it doesn't necessarily stop at 10 km), they could change the spin on one electron and the other would immediately change its spin as well.
It was determined that this happened instantly, i.e., faster than the speed of light. This is communication at a distance. (The FTL part is really just icing...)
These two articles proved to me that telepathy is not only possible, but with us. It's likely very recent on the evolutionary timescale, since we don't have complete control over it.
Then I started thinking anecdotally: I have heard many times of a mother knowing when a child is in danger. However, I have never heard about a father who knew. This makes sense given the above: the mother and child had 9 months of intimate contact during which they could have exchanged entangled atoms.
Then I thought further: twins tend to be even more uncannily linked than any mother and child. This makes sense too, since they spend 9 months right next to each other, whereas the child's and mother's brains are separated by 2-3 feet.
The part I love about this is that there are many, many more quantum effects that we haven't experimented with yet. Our bodies likely already have: life tends to take advantage of any phenomena available that can help it survive and prosper.
I think this is partly responsible for what seems like the rapidly evaporating ability for people to respect each other's political views.
While I agree with you to an extent, I think the overabundance of political views which can be summed up with, "I just put my hand into your pocket like so, and then..." (The ellipsis being whatever variety of social program, new laws/regulations, etc.)
If more political views were about empowering, about adding rights rather than removing them, then I think more political views would be respected.
Slashdot Mirror
I mean, really, we dumped tea over a measly 3% tax. And now we're being taxed without representation again: your vote matters absolutely nothing if your state has greater than 50% on the other side. (And if you're L/libertarian, your vote is worthless no matter what state you live in, with the possible slight exception of Vermont or New Hampshire--as long as you're not voting for the president.) (And if you've been convicted of a felony, which is really easy with the new drug laws and "3 strikes" laws, you'll never vote again!)
35%? 35? We should be revolting now, only there's too much shiny stuff on TV.
Hmm... So, why don't we put a few more birds in the sky so we have 24x7 coverage of all areas? Or would that be too cost-prohibitive? (I don't know what our current coverage is...)
Yes, nanotechnology is one of the buzzwords in my head, but it's not the end-all-be-all (hi Cameron!) of human existence--that's reserved for once we've achieved nanotech, then we can start playing around in the quantum arena. That oughta be exciting!
But whether it's from increased advertising or just the pitifully low cost of sunlight, most goods and services will approach $0 in the next generation. And most of us will live to see it (and then, to see the sun explode).
Again, I'm incautiously optimistic. ;-)
And it doesn't cost anything (above and beyond the computer and net connection, that is, which I'd be paying for anyway because it's useful for work), and I get to learn about advanced technologies and software, and also get a chuckle every once in a while.
God DAMN what a horrible game that was! The three worst points: the view is "randomly third person" from behind, which made precise targeting impossible; it's not obvious where you can and cannot walk (some "slopes" are too steep but look the same as the rest of the terrain); and the NPCs gang up behind you especially in a corner so you get stuck--and you can't even shoot them to kill them so you can get by!
Microwaving the install CD was a welcome relief.
The government currently mandates vaccination for your child if your child is to attend public school.
Next generation's vaccinations will include nanobots to keep the human healthy. And dependent on the government.
Well, the joke's on you--my pants are already off!
Actually, I believe he said he'd be Bach. (And you can be Beethoven!)
Actually, you share exactly the same genetic information with siblings as with children, and as with parents: half.
I'm doing exactly as you suggested: I'm honing my skills to help support an encrypted, anonymous P2P project. Already I've gotten a couple offers of interest, so I'll be deciding how to spend about 20% of my free time and disposable income over the holidays.
Sounds like a Training Guide would be useful; that way your marginal cost per interested human would go way down.
However, see the following story: Judge Blocks Publication of Gone With The Wind Parody.
Note that it was later allowed to be released, but to answer your question: the government prevents someone from putting "old stories" that should have entered the public domain years ago but have not due to copyright extension, from being included in a new movie. (I was not completely specific in my original post, which might have led you to believe that other Grimm's Fairy Tales were off-limits, but they aren't; I was referring to the public's inability to create derivative works using, for example, Mickey Mouse, or anything created in the last 80ish years.)
And I'm actually going to perform a form of "civil obedience" -- No More Downloads. I have a ReplayTV and a TiVo, so I can get all the video I care to watch from them. Yeah, the new movies will take longer, but there are so many, many old movies to watch that it's not really an issue.
So I can't be thrown into jail, or be fined. (Of course, since they weren't required to show me the evidence against me (I'm still appalled at that!), then I suppose they could convict me with the same "level" of evidence, in which case I could easily end up in jail or with heavy fines...)
But regardless of what the authorities have in mind for me, I will be spending perhaps 20% of both my free time and my disposable income in supporting this position, which is that there is no stop to the spiraling Copyright Cartel. Works produced now, even 50 years ago, will never see the Public Domain. The software I add value to will be able to be used to violate current copyrights, but that's not my goal: I should be able to freely download TV shows, movies and music from the 70s and early 80s. That was how copyright was originally intended, as a way to increase the wealth in the public domain, not as a way to make some people rich for doing a small amount of work.
I will promote only valid uses of the projects I support, where "valid" means "the original definition." Yes, I agree that for some small subset of issues, technology can drastically change the meaning and it should be reinterpreted. But with technology turning a traditionally scarce economy into an economy in which there is no scarcity, and then having the law turn it back into a scarcity economy for no other reason that to enrichen some corporations (not even individuals!), that's just wrong and I will fight against it until they come to take me away (haha).
And soon, we'll have nanotechnology and we will be free from a world in which there is scarcity in physical items as well as audio and video. At that point (if they let me live...), I'll start helping open source nanotech projects working towards building factories to duplicate any physical good based on a blueprint. Some of the first blueprints we share (over the internet, of course, and likely using ANts/Freenet/Frost/other project I will be working on shortly) will be those items that can help out the lower levels of Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs -- like food and shelter. Perhaps McDonald's will be upset that someone "uploads" a Big Mac, so that everyone can download and eat as many as they want. And moving forward the higher-value items like Playstations, computers, and Corvettes will ruffle a few feathers. But those feathers should be calmed knowing that these wonders are available to everyone on the planet.
Yeah, I'm waxing a little philosophical/utopian, and I know the future won't be exactly the way I see it, but then one of the steps is to distribute blueprints for advanced spaceflight, and then all bets are off because no government will be able to keep all of its citizens within its sphere of influence (without crippling or killing said citizens, and then those governments which don't do that will expand far faster).
It hurts having my internet access removed, and I'm still reacting. But I like to think that I'm reacting in a productive manner; rather than burning down Hollywood, I'll just help create technologies that make them less profitable.
Thanks, I've already started looking into it. And Freenet/Frost (hadn't seen Frost before).
However, realistic and theoretical aren't the same in our world as they are in theirs...
I'm going to have to agree with drphil on this one. I myself have three cats, and they're extremely well versed at passively utilizing the solar power entering through the window.
The problem is that everyone's exposed at that point: all the MPAA has to do is connect to the torrent with Azureus and they'll see all the IPs that are currently attached.
It is my life's mission to produce an unbreakable, fast form of BitTorrent: the Copyright Cartel shut off my Internet for a day earlier this week. There's nothing I can do to fix the law (which stated that copyrights were to promote the arts and sciences and should only run for 20 years); it's horribly broken and things that are currently under copyright protection will never leave copyright protection, due to continual extensions. This is abysmal; Disney made much of their money from re-doing old stories that fell into the Public Domain, like Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, etc.; today that would be impossible.
Anybody developing newer versions with encryption and anonymity, feel free to contact me. I have both developer time (C, C++, HTML, Perl, Javascript, etc.) and disposable income, to support creating a new version.
Price it as low as a CD-RW, and then if you didn't like the movie at least you can reuse the disc!
But as other responses have said, the MPAA won't go for this. It doesn't maximize their profitability, simple as that. Whether it will be better for them in the longer run is up for debate, but it would definitely have short-term negative effects for which executive might lose their jobs (for not putting the shareholders first).
They turned it back on after I called in.
I was unable to see the evidence against me, and I was punished without being able to defend myself (no trial, just punished (Internet access disabled) on accusation alone).
This reminds me of the Salem witch trials.
I hereby announce that I will do everything in my power to destroy the copyright cartels. I will not download anything more; I do not need their shows and movies. However, I will devote my spare time towards improving the open source projects like BitTorrent, FreeNet, etc., which will allow users to share any bits they care to with no possibility of censorship or control.
I can code, and I have a decent job so I have some disposable income. As much of it as I can spare will go towards these projects (like, donations, or purchasing equipment for them, bandwidth, etc.).
I realized yesterday that "666" is a palindrome. Cheers!
This is OT but I recently figured your sig out. I've seen it here for years (or at least it seems like years), and finally I dug out an old Dead Milkmen album and there it was, towards the end of the song "Stuart". ;-)
Under either Moderate or No filtering, "brick" has breasts on the second (and third) images. "Cameltoe"'s results I wouldn't really call porn; the shape is suggested but there are clothes in the way.
Very. Let me entertain you for a moment (and this is somewhat OT but not too far juice).
Telepathy is possible. I read two (unrelated) articles about 4 years ago that proved it to me. The first said the human brain works not only on mechanical, chemical, biological, and electrical principles, but also on quantum principles, so if we're going to fully understand the human brain, we need to understand quantum mechanics.
The second article (about 3 weeks later) talked about researchers isolating one quantum effect in the lab: entanglement. The article talked about them "entangling" two electrons through some process, and then when separated up to 10 km (they hadn't tested greater distances so it doesn't necessarily stop at 10 km), they could change the spin on one electron and the other would immediately change its spin as well.
It was determined that this happened instantly, i.e., faster than the speed of light. This is communication at a distance. (The FTL part is really just icing...)
These two articles proved to me that telepathy is not only possible, but with us. It's likely very recent on the evolutionary timescale, since we don't have complete control over it.
Then I started thinking anecdotally: I have heard many times of a mother knowing when a child is in danger. However, I have never heard about a father who knew. This makes sense given the above: the mother and child had 9 months of intimate contact during which they could have exchanged entangled atoms.
Then I thought further: twins tend to be even more uncannily linked than any mother and child. This makes sense too, since they spend 9 months right next to each other, whereas the child's and mother's brains are separated by 2-3 feet.
The part I love about this is that there are many, many more quantum effects that we haven't experimented with yet. Our bodies likely already have: life tends to take advantage of any phenomena available that can help it survive and prosper.
While I agree with you to an extent, I think the overabundance of political views which can be summed up with, "I just put my hand into your pocket like so, and then ..." (The ellipsis being whatever variety of social program, new laws/regulations, etc.)
If more political views were about empowering, about adding rights rather than removing them, then I think more political views would be respected.