the most significant activity of regular citizens against fascistic German army in Europe
Not trying to downplay the Slovak uprising, but both of my late grandfathers would probably have something to say about the statement above. As in, that being the most significant uprising in Europe only for VERY SPECIFIC definitions of terms "most significant" and "Europe".
Seen many "Be a surgeon in 21 days!" or "Criminal Law for Dummies" books lately? How about a plumber doing all his work with a single screwdriver and no other tools, equipment or material?
A nine-year-old with a "PC" can be a programmer since.. well... decades now. And while surgeon's/plumber's/lawyer's etc. hands on experience accumulates only in him/her and can't be transplanted into another human with a click of a mouse - that nine-year-old copy/pasting someone else's code is actively using all the accumulated experience in the world that he can google-out.
And that is not even going into how you can hire someone from India to do the coding you need for a fraction of what you would have to pay that nine-year-old.
Batman has plans for every situation EVER. In fact, someone "spilling" his plans online was probably his plan all along.
Heck... he has plans about things we can't even imagine happening. Like DayGlo elephants with machine-guns for limbs raining from the sky. Why would he plan for such an occasion? Because he is The Batman.
Look, sometimes you need an emergency escape plan, like if the Slayer comes after you just because you try to take over Sunnydale.
That 19-minute jet-turbine version discussed in TFA seems like just the thing one might need after robbing a bank (or a similar institution) in an urban setting. Just remember not to rob the Gotham National Bank. Not only is it a mob bank, but Batman has stashed some irradiated bills there too, PLUS Joker already has plans regarding that particular bank.
"Change" just means something different from the current situation. Not inherently better, and quite possibly worse. Cause it would involve tearing down a working system, followed by anarchy, followed by the "New Hotness" with all of its positive and negative sides.
If history teaches anything is that all governments eventually become unbearable and then they are replaced by a violent event of some sort. This has happened enough time for us to draw the correct conclusion, which is that people cannot set up a good government that will remain good forever.
I bet on eons of history being more right than you are.
If history teaches anything is that all food once eaten eventually becomes unbearable and then it is thrown out by a violent event of some sort. This has happened enough time for us to draw the correct conclusion, which is that people can never be fed. Ergo, food and eating is utterly meaningless and without merit. UTTERLY!!! I too bet on eons of history being more right than you are.
It also works with breathing, wearing clothes, sleeping, fucking... Shit, you can replace ANY action in your statement and it would still be true and its conclusion would be equally inane. Nihilism baby... Nothing never is not wrong.
In 2002 Dutch government resigned as they have accepted partial responsibility for Srebrenica Massacre. Mind you, this was a government resigning over something that happened long before they were in office and over an act that they did not instigate. So not only did the government step down, it took on their shoulders what they felt was NATIONAL shame.
Sort of like what should the current US government resign over the My Lai Massacre. Except US soldiers actually massacred the civilians there, while Dutch soldiers only failed to protect the civilians.
That means not only do you permanently have inexperienced people running everything, you also never get to do anything. Most country- or state-wide projects take decades to develop and bring to fruition. And the bigger the project, the longer it takes. And lets not even start with international agreements and treaties once you decide to DROP TABLE on the government every 20 years.
The constant system change (I assume you mean something like replacing republic with democracy, democracy with feudalism, feudalism with communism...) would only bring confusion and disorder. Not to mention erode ANY country as no two generations would be born in the same country and under same laws.
Or did you actually just mean "a different political party" in power every 20 years? Cause... isn't that just extending the current mandate of most governing parties in the world?
No, but you could get a single mom of 2-3 kids to run books. Do phone support. You still need people doing office work.
Or serving milkshakes to rich people. While their kids shoot other kids.
All those job-categories require training - which costs additional money. Plus, those jobs are already taken by people who already have those skills. And where would the government dig up all those jobs? By increasing its bureaucracy by additional million or two workers?
And John Henry was replaced by a machine just because we say he was replaced by a machine.
No, he was replaced because he died. And because machine does a better job for less money and faster.
Even if we did nothing I'd rather pay someone to dig a hole one day and fill it in the next than let them sit around doing nothing on unemployment & welfare.
Oh, so what you are saying is that your problem with welfare and unemployment is actually that you hate poor people? Cause, YOU wanting to see them waste everyone's money, time and energy is the reason enough for them being paid to do meaningless jobs. Siphoning even more money from the system (which gets its money from the tax payers) then just giving them welfare - WHILE PRODUCING ZERO VALUE. Regardless of the fact that many of those on welfare are in that situation because they are unemployable - due to injury, illness or birth defect. You just want them "off their asses". Cause they didn't deserve to sit. Cause they are lazy. And lazy is evil and they should be punished. Because you say so.
If drugs were legalized, it'd take away a huge cash incentive to go make or sell drugs.
And if pigs could fly, maybe your "arguments" would hold water.
I don't remember hearing stories from my grandpa how his family was 'entertained' while he was away. It wasn't an easy situation for anyone, but it got America through.
Your grandfather father lived before invention of radio and written word? Are you sure you are thinking of America and not African savanna while our ancestors still lived there?
Radio, TV, Internet and even libraries are all both forms of entertainment AND sources of information and education. In many cases inseparable AND a prerequisite for education and job seeking.
If everything was 'machines machines machines' then why do we hear about people being laid off when production goes down? Shouldn't there just be stories about how Cat had to flip some breakers?
Like I said... 1 man with a machine replaces 50 with a shovel. But when there are no ditches to dig... even that one man has no job. And just as there is profit to be made from hiring 50 men with machines when ditches are a wanted commodity, so are there cuts to be made in workforce when no one needs a new ditch.
No, but you train them and they're a trucker or a pilot or a machine operator. I bet a majority of CCC workers weren't brick layers, or cement pourers, but somehow they managed to build the stuff that we've used for the last 70 years.
And that again costs ADDITIONAL money. For nonexistent jobs. But it would sure as hell create a shitload of that particular workforce - which would devalue their skills across the board. Why pay someone $10 per hour when there are 100 of his colleagues waiting outside for that same job? $5 should be fine. Or $3. Or $1. Or a bowl of soup.
And again... Where 50 unskilled workers were needed back then, now you need 1.
In 90% of the country there is a reason they're called 'divided highways'.
Actually, that is not the reason why they are called that. And have you ever wondered why didn't they just put more lanes there when they
Seriously, they are about as unbiased on some topics (environment being one of the big ones) as Skeletor is regarding He-Man, and their idea of being fair is that they are completely open about being biased. As if saying you are biased somehow "fixes" your cognitive bias and makes right of your faulty logic.
Also, books could be written and movies could be made about them cherry picking the worst samples and presenting them as norm so as to achieve a greater "look at the crazy person" effect. And that is about as "fair" as presenting Charles Manson as a prime example of an American.
Bridges, Dams, Power lines, roads. Quite a bit of stuff was built during the great depression putting people to work.
You are forgetting that there was almost a century of progress and innovation since then. Where it once took 50 men to dig a ditch, now you would employ only one guy who knows how to operate an excavator. And believe it or not, even those "menial labor" jobs require skill and experience. Also, if you didn't catch on from the video above - half of those are women. Back in "golden age" when all those dams and bridges you mention were built almost the entire workforce were men. And it is not like you could employ a single mom of 2-3 underage kids to "mix concrete and lay bricks".
Turn off unemployment. There'll be no shortage of jobs.
O RLY? Jobs will just fall from the sky because you say so? Again, most of those "menial work" jobs from 1920s DON'T EXIST ANYMORE. John Henry was replaced by a machine.
Pay them what they're actually worth as manual labor."
In other words, let them eat cake.
Here is a nice list of requirements you might use to calculate how much their "manual labor" is worth. Enough to feed, clothe, room, bed, educate and entertain a family of four. Plus medical expenses. Alternatively, you can just buy all your luxury items and replace locks on your doors and windows every few weeks - as life of crime is about the only option those people have once you "cancel handouts". If they want to survive. I'm not saying that everyone will simply turn to stealing right away. No.. far from it. After all, producing and dealing drugs is far more profitable. It's their customers that will come to your door. Or simply stab you in the street before they run away with your wallet.
Caterpillar & Deere, the big 2 domestic construction manufacturers would need to increase their workforce (Which is partially union). Truckers would get more work shipping construction supplies and equipment. Mobile home makers would need to up production for temporary housing. Concrete, asphalt, and steel industries would need to up employment to help keep up with demand.
1. Unemployment is a "global" issue. Companies offer jobs on highly local basis. 2. Machines, machines, machines, machines... No humans needed. 3. You don't just put a person in a truck and call him a trucker. Same as you wouldn't put a person in a cockpit and call him a pilot. Driving a truck is VERY different from driving a family car around town. Driving a truck for living is an occupation that requires significant endurance. 30, 40, 50 hours behind a wheel is still a very common thing for a trucker. Also, there is the issue of getting the training and a trucker's driving license.
As for the rest of your comments, I find your suggestions doable but the expected results you envision are simply delusional. "If you build it they will come" formula only works in Kevin Costner movies. How many "Steves" or "Linuses" are turning up at the places that already have "a fat pipe"?
And "a rail line down the center of the interstates" is... ugh... Have you ever seen a railroad? There is a reason for all that gravel around the tracks. And putting something that weighs couple of hundred tons and moves at 70 mph in the middle of the road (or even on the same parallel plane) is a recipe for disaster.
And wouldn't it be smarter to put it on its own plane and a bit away from the roads so it does not intersect that often AND so you could actually get on and off the train without dodging cars?
What's the matter? Can't face the truth? Cat got your keyboard along with your balls so you just mod down when you have no real arguments? Or is it just misguided jealousy cause you had to pay exorbitantly inflated prices for mediocre textbooks? Or is it that you are one of those people that actually listen to Lady Gaga and you think that I've insulted your idol/sweetheart?
You DO get 6.7 MBit/s - connecting to your ISPs servers and network.
But from your ISP to wherever... well... they can't really vouch for that. So they don't. And they put a clause saying exactly that in your contract. Then again, most people don't read contracts. Just think of all those EULAs you've OKayed over the years.
Actually it is EXACTLY like file-sharing copies of Lady Gaga CDs (or whoever is the flavor of the month). Except... People actually need math books and courses (as opposed to pop-music) and the information encoded in those books is basically free already.
Again, compared to music, author of the book didn't have to create music and lyrics and then arrange all that into a (according to amazon reviews) moderately useful book. Author basically just re-sampled the existing music and lyrics taken from public domain. He didn't have to reinvent math to create the book - just sit down and write what other people have already proven to be absolute truth in thousands of other books.
Perhaps the book really is $225 + shipping insightful, perhaps not (amazon and its buyers clearly don't think so). BUT, as he feels that "the market can handle it" author has decided to have that price attached to the book. And unlike with music, you can't really download a paper book for free, so whoever wants the book will have to pay that price, right? Unless someone decides to copy the book in entirety and sell it "at cost" (or even "at loss" - guys who printed the copy also invested time in the whole process).
Cause that is EXACTLY what is going on here. $11 + shipping for a 650-page book? According to lulu.com's pricing calculator, they would have to print (and sell) AT LEAST 300 copies in order to start earning $0.41 per book sold. Which would make them whole $123 richer - after they get back those $3,192.00 they invested in printing the books.
Compare those numbers to the number of amazon reviews and the number of used copies available, and it is rather obvious that they would have to outsell the entire available "used" stock to even start considering that they could be actually making money doing that. Only people making money here are printers and the post office.
As for the author of the original book... That same old argument used for file sharing works here as well. He is not losing customers - those people were not going to buy his book at the price he is asking for it anyway. Again, just look at amazon. They are knocking down 24%, and it is going for 50% used. Clearly the customers find that the original price tag is too high. And just like with "shared" music or used books/CDs - 5%, 10%, 50% of "lost sales" out of zero sales is still zero.
Maybe he should get with the times and take a page from the "copiers'" book - and publish a black and white dirt-cheap version himself? There would probably be almost no money in it - but he would be protecting his investment from "pirates" at no cost, while ensuring that the public still uses HIS books instead of someone else's.
Those look like plastic vomit oozing over the remains of an umbrella accident.
"Shape of each one varying according to its longitude and latitude" is pretentiouspeak for "bigger ones would look different than the small ones or otherwise it would fall down and break into million pieces". Meaning that they've even managed to fail their own "adaptability of nature" blurb - each tower would HAVE TO BE uniquely designed and prefabricated. So much for adaptability. Or nature.
And good luck replacing or fixing one in a jiffy next time a volcano decides to erupt and causes earthquakes, floods and your run-of-the-mill volcanic eruptions.
Slashdot Mirror
the most significant activity of regular citizens against fascistic German army in Europe
Not trying to downplay the Slovak uprising, but both of my late grandfathers would probably have something to say about the statement above.
As in, that being the most significant uprising in Europe only for VERY SPECIFIC definitions of terms "most significant" and "Europe".
Most of the costs are "per year" mind you.
Price of childhood trauma from witnessing your parents gunned down in front of you and "other eventualities" was not included for obvious reasons.
You might find the following link insightful...
Seen many "Be a surgeon in 21 days!" or "Criminal Law for Dummies" books lately?
How about a plumber doing all his work with a single screwdriver and no other tools, equipment or material?
A nine-year-old with a "PC" can be a programmer since.. well... decades now.
And while surgeon's/plumber's/lawyer's etc. hands on experience accumulates only in him/her and can't be transplanted into another human with a click of a mouse - that nine-year-old copy/pasting someone else's code is actively using all the accumulated experience in the world that he can google-out.
And that is not even going into how you can hire someone from India to do the coding you need for a fraction of what you would have to pay that nine-year-old.
Batman has plans for every situation EVER.
In fact, someone "spilling" his plans online was probably his plan all along.
Heck... he has plans about things we can't even imagine happening.
Like DayGlo elephants with machine-guns for limbs raining from the sky. Why would he plan for such an occasion?
Because he is The Batman.
... and I'll be sure to supply my own shot-gun.
Well... led sure IS great for blocking X-rays.
Look, sometimes you need an emergency escape plan, like if the Slayer comes after you just because you try to take over Sunnydale.
That 19-minute jet-turbine version discussed in TFA seems like just the thing one might need after robbing a bank (or a similar institution) in an urban setting.
Just remember not to rob the Gotham National Bank.
Not only is it a mob bank, but Batman has stashed some irradiated bills there too, PLUS Joker already has plans regarding that particular bank.
They were called resistance fighters, partisans and commandos back then.
There was recently even an American Oscar winning movie glorifying such terrorists.
I mean... If it's worth watching it will turn up on torrents anyway, right?
Even sooner if it isn't.
"A witty saying proves nothing." - Voltaire
"Change" just means something different from the current situation.
Not inherently better, and quite possibly worse.
Cause it would involve tearing down a working system, followed by anarchy, followed by the "New Hotness" with all of its positive and negative sides.
If history teaches anything is that all governments eventually become unbearable and then they are replaced by a violent event of some sort. This has happened enough time for us to draw the correct conclusion, which is that people cannot set up a good government that will remain good forever.
I bet on eons of history being more right than you are.
If history teaches anything is that all food once eaten eventually becomes unbearable and then it is thrown out by a violent event of some sort.
This has happened enough time for us to draw the correct conclusion, which is that people can never be fed. Ergo, food and eating is utterly meaningless and without merit. UTTERLY!!!
I too bet on eons of history being more right than you are.
It also works with breathing, wearing clothes, sleeping, fucking...
Shit, you can replace ANY action in your statement and it would still be true and its conclusion would be equally inane.
Nihilism baby... Nothing never is not wrong.
He probably read V for Vendetta once.
So naturally, now he thinks he understands and knows EVERYTHING.
In 2002 Dutch government resigned as they have accepted partial responsibility for Srebrenica Massacre.
Mind you, this was a government resigning over something that happened long before they were in office and over an act that they did not instigate.
So not only did the government step down, it took on their shoulders what they felt was NATIONAL shame.
Sort of like what should the current US government resign over the My Lai Massacre.
Except US soldiers actually massacred the civilians there, while Dutch soldiers only failed to protect the civilians.
That means not only do you permanently have inexperienced people running everything, you also never get to do anything.
Most country- or state-wide projects take decades to develop and bring to fruition. And the bigger the project, the longer it takes.
And lets not even start with international agreements and treaties once you decide to DROP TABLE on the government every 20 years.
The constant system change (I assume you mean something like replacing republic with democracy, democracy with feudalism, feudalism with communism...) would only bring confusion and disorder.
Not to mention erode ANY country as no two generations would be born in the same country and under same laws.
Or did you actually just mean "a different political party" in power every 20 years?
Cause... isn't that just extending the current mandate of most governing parties in the world?
No, but you could get a single mom of 2-3 kids to run books. Do phone support. You still need people doing office work.
Or serving milkshakes to rich people. While their kids shoot other kids.
All those job-categories require training - which costs additional money. Plus, those jobs are already taken by people who already have those skills.
And where would the government dig up all those jobs? By increasing its bureaucracy by additional million or two workers?
And John Henry was replaced by a machine just because we say he was replaced by a machine.
No, he was replaced because he died. And because machine does a better job for less money and faster.
Even if we did nothing I'd rather pay someone to dig a hole one day and fill it in the next than let them sit around doing nothing on unemployment & welfare.
Oh, so what you are saying is that your problem with welfare and unemployment is actually that you hate poor people?
Cause, YOU wanting to see them waste everyone's money, time and energy is the reason enough for them being paid to do meaningless jobs.
Siphoning even more money from the system (which gets its money from the tax payers) then just giving them welfare - WHILE PRODUCING ZERO VALUE.
Regardless of the fact that many of those on welfare are in that situation because they are unemployable - due to injury, illness or birth defect.
You just want them "off their asses". Cause they didn't deserve to sit. Cause they are lazy. And lazy is evil and they should be punished.
Because you say so.
If drugs were legalized, it'd take away a huge cash incentive to go make or sell drugs.
And if pigs could fly, maybe your "arguments" would hold water.
I don't remember hearing stories from my grandpa how his family was 'entertained' while he was away. It wasn't an easy situation for anyone, but it got America through.
Your grandfather father lived before invention of radio and written word? Are you sure you are thinking of America and not African savanna while our ancestors still lived there?
Radio, TV, Internet and even libraries are all both forms of entertainment AND sources of information and education.
In many cases inseparable AND a prerequisite for education and job seeking.
If everything was 'machines machines machines' then why do we hear about people being laid off when production goes down? Shouldn't there just be stories about how Cat had to flip some breakers?
Like I said... 1 man with a machine replaces 50 with a shovel. But when there are no ditches to dig... even that one man has no job.
And just as there is profit to be made from hiring 50 men with machines when ditches are a wanted commodity, so are there cuts to be made in workforce when no one needs a new ditch.
No, but you train them and they're a trucker or a pilot or a machine operator. I bet a majority of CCC workers weren't brick layers, or cement pourers, but somehow they managed to build the stuff that we've used for the last 70 years.
And that again costs ADDITIONAL money. For nonexistent jobs.
But it would sure as hell create a shitload of that particular workforce - which would devalue their skills across the board.
Why pay someone $10 per hour when there are 100 of his colleagues waiting outside for that same job?
$5 should be fine. Or $3. Or $1. Or a bowl of soup.
And again... Where 50 unskilled workers were needed back then, now you need 1.
In 90% of the country there is a reason they're called 'divided highways'.
Actually, that is not the reason why they are called that.
And have you ever wondered why didn't they just put more lanes there when they
Mostly because it is.
Seriously, they are about as unbiased on some topics (environment being one of the big ones) as Skeletor is regarding He-Man, and their idea of being fair is that they are completely open about being biased.
As if saying you are biased somehow "fixes" your cognitive bias and makes right of your faulty logic.
Also, books could be written and movies could be made about them cherry picking the worst samples and presenting them as norm so as to achieve a greater "look at the crazy person" effect.
And that is about as "fair" as presenting Charles Manson as a prime example of an American.
Cancel 'handouts'. If you want welfare, you can work for it. Everyone gets a job and stuff gets built.
Oh yeah, that works wonderfully.
Bridges, Dams, Power lines, roads. Quite a bit of stuff was built during the great depression putting people to work.
You are forgetting that there was almost a century of progress and innovation since then. Where it once took 50 men to dig a ditch, now you would employ only one guy who knows how to operate an excavator.
And believe it or not, even those "menial labor" jobs require skill and experience.
Also, if you didn't catch on from the video above - half of those are women.
Back in "golden age" when all those dams and bridges you mention were built almost the entire workforce were men.
And it is not like you could employ a single mom of 2-3 underage kids to "mix concrete and lay bricks".
Turn off unemployment. There'll be no shortage of jobs.
O RLY? Jobs will just fall from the sky because you say so?
Again, most of those "menial work" jobs from 1920s DON'T EXIST ANYMORE. John Henry was replaced by a machine.
Pay them what they're actually worth as manual labor."
In other words, let them eat cake.
Here is a nice list of requirements you might use to calculate how much their "manual labor" is worth.
Enough to feed, clothe, room, bed, educate and entertain a family of four. Plus medical expenses.
Alternatively, you can just buy all your luxury items and replace locks on your doors and windows every few weeks - as life of crime is about the only option those people have once you "cancel handouts". If they want to survive.
I'm not saying that everyone will simply turn to stealing right away. No.. far from it. After all, producing and dealing drugs is far more profitable.
It's their customers that will come to your door. Or simply stab you in the street before they run away with your wallet.
Caterpillar & Deere, the big 2 domestic construction manufacturers would need to increase their workforce (Which is partially union). Truckers would get more work shipping construction supplies and equipment. Mobile home makers would need to up production for temporary housing. Concrete, asphalt, and steel industries would need to up employment to help keep up with demand.
1. Unemployment is a "global" issue. Companies offer jobs on highly local basis.
2. Machines, machines, machines, machines... No humans needed.
3. You don't just put a person in a truck and call him a trucker. Same as you wouldn't put a person in a cockpit and call him a pilot.
Driving a truck is VERY different from driving a family car around town.
Driving a truck for living is an occupation that requires significant endurance. 30, 40, 50 hours behind a wheel is still a very common thing for a trucker.
Also, there is the issue of getting the training and a trucker's driving license.
As for the rest of your comments, I find your suggestions doable but the expected results you envision are simply delusional.
"If you build it they will come" formula only works in Kevin Costner movies.
How many "Steves" or "Linuses" are turning up at the places that already have "a fat pipe"?
And "a rail line down the center of the interstates" is... ugh...
Have you ever seen a railroad? There is a reason for all that gravel around the tracks.
And putting something that weighs couple of hundred tons and moves at 70 mph in the middle of the road (or even on the same parallel plane) is a recipe for disaster.
And wouldn't it be smarter to put it on its own plane and a bit away from the roads so it does not intersect that often AND so you could actually get on and off the train without dodging cars?
But the first thing I do when I get up out of bed, is hit that streets a-runnin' and try to beat the masses...
Everyone there wears sunglasses.
I guess I should get me some anti-corrosive, self-lubricating underwear for may steely balls then.
Or should that be underware?
What's the matter? Can't face the truth?
Cat got your keyboard along with your balls so you just mod down when you have no real arguments?
Or is it just misguided jealousy cause you had to pay exorbitantly inflated prices for mediocre textbooks?
Or is it that you are one of those people that actually listen to Lady Gaga and you think that I've insulted your idol/sweetheart?
You DO get 6.7 MBit/s - connecting to your ISPs servers and network.
But from your ISP to wherever... well... they can't really vouch for that. So they don't.
And they put a clause saying exactly that in your contract.
Then again, most people don't read contracts.
Just think of all those EULAs you've OKayed over the years.
Actually it is EXACTLY like file-sharing copies of Lady Gaga CDs (or whoever is the flavor of the month).
Except... People actually need math books and courses (as opposed to pop-music) and the information encoded in those books is basically free already.
Again, compared to music, author of the book didn't have to create music and lyrics and then arrange all that into a (according to amazon reviews) moderately useful book.
Author basically just re-sampled the existing music and lyrics taken from public domain.
He didn't have to reinvent math to create the book - just sit down and write what other people have already proven to be absolute truth in thousands of other books.
Perhaps the book really is $225 + shipping insightful, perhaps not (amazon and its buyers clearly don't think so).
BUT, as he feels that "the market can handle it" author has decided to have that price attached to the book.
And unlike with music, you can't really download a paper book for free, so whoever wants the book will have to pay that price, right?
Unless someone decides to copy the book in entirety and sell it "at cost" (or even "at loss" - guys who printed the copy also invested time in the whole process).
Cause that is EXACTLY what is going on here.
$11 + shipping for a 650-page book?
According to lulu.com's pricing calculator, they would have to print (and sell) AT LEAST 300 copies in order to start earning $0.41 per book sold.
Which would make them whole $123 richer - after they get back those $3,192.00 they invested in printing the books.
Compare those numbers to the number of amazon reviews and the number of used copies available, and it is rather obvious that they would have to outsell the entire available "used" stock to even start considering that they could be actually making money doing that.
Only people making money here are printers and the post office.
As for the author of the original book... That same old argument used for file sharing works here as well.
He is not losing customers - those people were not going to buy his book at the price he is asking for it anyway.
Again, just look at amazon. They are knocking down 24%, and it is going for 50% used.
Clearly the customers find that the original price tag is too high.
And just like with "shared" music or used books/CDs - 5%, 10%, 50% of "lost sales" out of zero sales is still zero.
Maybe he should get with the times and take a page from the "copiers'" book - and publish a black and white dirt-cheap version himself?
There would probably be almost no money in it - but he would be protecting his investment from "pirates" at no cost, while ensuring that the public still uses HIS books instead of someone else's.
And just think of all the Japanese tourists coming to see them.
Those look like plastic vomit oozing over the remains of an umbrella accident.
"Shape of each one varying according to its longitude and latitude" is pretentiouspeak for "bigger ones would look different than the small ones or otherwise it would fall down and break into million pieces".
Meaning that they've even managed to fail their own "adaptability of nature" blurb - each tower would HAVE TO BE uniquely designed and prefabricated.
So much for adaptability. Or nature.
And good luck replacing or fixing one in a jiffy next time a volcano decides to erupt and causes earthquakes, floods and your run-of-the-mill volcanic eruptions.