Had it been socialism that was voted in, there would have been no government loan at all. Instead, the now nationalized GM would spend that money churning out bicycles. And you would be explained in detail why is that better and healthier than a car. Flag waiving, national anthem singing and generally reaching out to your patriotic spirit would probably be included - but that is the tool any government uses. You know... Like those little lapel flag-pins, or pledging "allegiance to the flag...", or playing the national anthem at local sports events (which don't include foreign teams)...
Had the people voted in totalitarianism - you would be punished for using anything BUT the government provided bicycle.
This situation is actually just plain old capitalism. Only with some actual sense included. See... They get a $529 mill. LOAN to produce expensive cars at $89,000 a pop - and they have already pre-sold 1500 of those. Seems to me like they already have the quarter of that loan paid off.
Also... note how I said "expensive cars" at $89,000, while the Tesla Roadster costs about $109,000 according to TFA. That is because of this part:
Matt Rogers, who oversees the department's loan programs as a senior adviser to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, said Fisker was awarded the loan after a "detailed technical review" that concluded the company could eventually deliver a highly fuel-efficient hybrid car to a mass audience. Fisker said most of its DOE loan will be used to finance U.S. production of a $40,000 family sedan that has yet to be designed.
The money is there to actually build a family car. Sure. Part of it will go towards production of the more expensive variant - because that sells better. So the loan could be repaid sooner without interfering with the creation of the family version of the car. So everyone would make more money. You know... like in capitalism.
Oh... And as the article obviously wants to point out how THIS is money thrown away at expensive cars:
The award this week to California startup Fisker Automotive Inc. [$529 million U.S. government loan ] follows a $465 million government loan to Tesla Motors Inc., purveyors of a $109,000 British-built electric Roadster.
Fisker's government loans will come from a $25 billion program established by Congress in 2007 to help auto makers invest in the technology to meet a new congressional mandate to improve fuel efficiency. In June, the DOE awarded the first $8 billion from the program to Ford Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co., and Tesla, which are all developing electric cars.
Soo... there is this 8 billion dollars pile of money... From which Tesla got $0.465 bill. Fisker got $0.529 bill.
You buy an iPhone, pay through the nose for it - and it still lacks basic functions available to "dumbphones" for years already. Then... they discontinue THAT iPhone, and bring out a newer, improved and cheaper version - and you get a coupon for half of the discount. Then... You buy ANOTHER iPhone and it still lacks basic functions, it still costs an arm and a leg - and its camera sucks and it can't record video. Then... You buy YET ANOTHER iPhone, and this time camera finally can record video. At 30fps. And upload it directly to youtube. Which would be nice, had it came out in 2007.
And still... More months pass before you can finally use MMS on it.
Wow! Surely that is the cutting edge of both service and technology.
...it only works if you use the "Firehose". Click on Firehose link, and from there click on "Stories". Now you have all the +/- thingamajigs, tagging works. And it will keep working as long as you use "the hose". Bastards! Now I have to do some extra clicking every time I want to tag everything "dick", "fuck", "cunt", "sucks", "ass" and other useful tags.
Oh... Firefox 3.5.3 here. But it was the same for the earlier versions as well.
Why don't you just outlaw people planning to kill other people?
I believe that is called something like "Conspiracy to commit murder", and I do believe that generally that is considered illegal.
The Swastika didn't kill anyone.
Actually, German law doesn't accuse swastika of any crimes, nor does it ban the symbol outright. But it does ban the use of swastika as a symbol of the Nazi Party.
Considering their 20th century history, the law is quite sensible. It is people who lack the actual knowledge of the law that are creating issues, like the cases where they've equated it's use as a anti-Nazi symbol to that of a Nazi symbol. (see link above)
But hey... At least they didn't ban snow globes or made the entire world take of their shoes before they are allowed to enter the plane. Right?
All bugs emit a certain smell when they die. Some bugs find that smell repulsive, some don't. One of those two will remove themselves from the "death area" and later have offspring.
It is not the trait that they smell bad when they die that is transmitted, but the trait that said smell is repulsive.
It would be only logical to invest a significant portion of their liquid assets into services of adult entertainers and various recreational-drug paraphernalia. Also, blackjack.
Anyone? How about a non sequitur then? No? Fruitcake?
Clearly, 'open source' is being thought of outside the IT world as a good thing, and that surely is itself a good thing.
You know what else is open source? Knives. Used to stab people to death. And many people find that a good thing. Surely it must be.
Also... Nowhere in the text does it say that "the software is built from open source". No. They say:
"...The F22 radar technology which they took and built upon was all open source.... "We then added our own Ford algorithms to determine whether or not objects are a 'vehicle target'."
From what I gather - someone in the "chain of reporting", whether it is the BBC reporter or people at Ford has no clue what the term "open source" actually means (which no part of a clearly still partially classified F-22 Raptor isn't), and is probably confusing it with the term "public domain" - which radar technology is.
Come on. What is next? A submission of a cake recipe cause it is open source? Look... you can add your own ingredients and develop it further. How about an open source walk? You know... as opposed to those covered by government grants and thereby being partially owned by the government.
Way too slow. And it does not account for those most prominent jaywalkers - children.
Instead - put sensors in the middle of the road - except in the areas designated for crossing. Walk over a sensor - get a fine charged instantly to your mobile phone.
- It would also charge drivers? Not if they turn their phones off - they shouldn't be talking/texting and driving anyway. - It wouldn't charge people with their phones off or with a protective layer around the phone? Well... If they are really willing to take that much preparation just to cross the street in a non-designated spot... they will probably pay enough attention so as not to be run over by an incoming truck. Which is what jaywalking fine is there to prevent anyway, right? - It would only charge people with mobile phones? Sure... it might not work great in Myanmar but considering that there are about 3.5 billion users now, with predictions of about 4.5 billion by 2012... - It would take years to implement? Exactly! By then EVERYONE will have a mobile phone. Or two. Or three.
What other minor infringements did you have in mind? Spit it out. Lets get a brainstorming session going. This IS Slashdot after all. If anyone can cook-up a way to use technology in new and oppressive ways - it's us.
Then again... This IS Slashdot, so it is quite understandable that many might first think of a Hummer instead of a hummer, despite all those references OP made to "wives" and "girlfriends".
As for the Pacific Science Center shindig, he said, "It's actually a fairly low-budget effort because of our relationships with the studios and that kind of thing." He said the police escort "is a nice story for the students. The truth of the matter is we just try to cooperate with the police when we're trying to move a dozen buses across town at rush hour."
(A State Patrol spokesman said police escorts are contracted privately and paid for by the person or company that hires them.)
So we could have dodo-egg-flavored dog and cat food? Their meat tasted like ass and was somewhat less edible.
I'd rather have brought back a species whose extinction humans attributed to through over-hunting. Like mammoth. I imagine they should be rather tasty.
Before you go into "senior" years, and you start forgetting things left and right and your eyesight goes. Otherwise, you will be very busy explaining all those attacks on innocent people to the cops. That is, until you come across another 19-year-old buck who, just like you, won't take no shit from anyone - and he beats you to death. And then ends up in prison for murder.
You mean like... Taking care of YOUR OWN property and not leaving it in plain sight, and thus not promoting criminal activity? Sure... yeah... some diligence was due here.
Sure... OK. It didn't make the quadriplegic walk autonomously again - but it did allow his friend to hike up the mountain for three hours with him on his back. Have you recently tried piggybacking a grown human for three hours? Up a mountain. In the snow.
Nearly doubling one's lifting strength, is kind of a wow-deal.
First off... They may be all be suspects until the case is investigated but they are ALL witnesses, so the police can detain them for questioning if the need arises. Second... There is a little legal term called "aiding and abetting". Look it up and correlate it with what I said about suspects and witnesses.
Also... Their "Reasonable Suspicion" (as for the "Articulable" - they have a witness who saw a person carry what looked like a very large automatic rifle into a building) extends all the way up to the point when they confirm the following:
Who was it that was carrying that large gun? Why? Were they doing that alone or with help from someone or under someone's instructions? AND if there was something illegal about it.
And they do that by questioning people. After which they decide if those people are witnesses or suspects in the potential crime.
But if he's just carrying it, then the cop shows up, investigates, and tells the guy it would be a good idea to keep the gun in a case so he didn't frighten his neighbors.
Ummm... That is exactly what happened.
The person who had thought they'd seen a gunman in the neighborhood had actually seen a Bungie employee carrying a replica Halo rifle back to the studio's offices, Bungie community director Brian Jarrard told me. Recognizing there was no longer an emergency, officers advised Bungie officials to transport the gun more discretely in the future.
Kirkland police, contacted today for more details, said a passerby on their way to the local farmer's market called 911 saying that they thought they saw someone walking down the street with an AK-47 about 4:20 p.m.
Five officers were dispatched to the area to investigate, but were able to figure out what had happened within about ten minutes.
And the rest of TFA alternates between "I caught no more than that glimpse of the one police officer" and "The cops had descended upon the studio".
In other words... Bungie is jumping onto this free publicity as much as they can. If that means blowing things out of proportion a little - so be it. They will learn to live with that burden. Eventually.
Good guys used it too. To defeat Sauron AND to "keep the world safe".
In fact... Good guys made all 7 Palantir mentioned in LotR. Sauron got his hands on one of those and used it to corrupt Saruman and Denethor.
So... No. It is not "the tool the evil guy used to control the world." The message would be that "power corrupts". In this case - power in the form of knowledge or information.
What Palantir really lacked was a decent firewall. No protection whatsoever. Very intuitive user interface though. And they were practically indestructible.
Have you ever held a fully grown watermelon? How about picked and loaded a truckfull of it, taken it to the market and then be told that you should either return a part of it cause they are bellow the buy-off quality or that you will be paid less for those watermelons, again on account of lower quality?
It is WAY cheaper to do quality control before PICKING, and just grow more to cover for the statistics.
Slashdot Mirror
Had it been socialism that was voted in, there would have been no government loan at all.
Instead, the now nationalized GM would spend that money churning out bicycles. And you would be explained in detail why is that better and healthier than a car.
Flag waiving, national anthem singing and generally reaching out to your patriotic spirit would probably be included - but that is the tool any government uses.
You know... Like those little lapel flag-pins, or pledging "allegiance to the flag...", or playing the national anthem at local sports events (which don't include foreign teams)...
Had the people voted in totalitarianism - you would be punished for using anything BUT the government provided bicycle.
This situation is actually just plain old capitalism. Only with some actual sense included.
See... They get a $529 mill. LOAN to produce expensive cars at $89,000 a pop - and they have already pre-sold 1500 of those.
Seems to me like they already have the quarter of that loan paid off.
Also... note how I said "expensive cars" at $89,000, while the Tesla Roadster costs about $109,000 according to TFA.
That is because of this part:
Matt Rogers, who oversees the department's loan programs as a senior adviser to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, said Fisker was awarded the loan after a "detailed technical review" that concluded the company could eventually deliver a highly fuel-efficient hybrid car to a mass audience. Fisker said most of its DOE loan will be used to finance U.S. production of a $40,000 family sedan that has yet to be designed.
The money is there to actually build a family car.
Sure. Part of it will go towards production of the more expensive variant - because that sells better. So the loan could be repaid sooner without interfering with the creation of the family version of the car.
So everyone would make more money. You know... like in capitalism.
Oh... And as the article obviously wants to point out how THIS is money thrown away at expensive cars:
The award this week to California startup Fisker Automotive Inc. [$529 million U.S. government loan ] follows a $465 million government loan to Tesla Motors Inc., purveyors of a $109,000 British-built electric Roadster.
Fisker's government loans will come from a $25 billion program established by Congress in 2007 to help auto makers invest in the technology to meet a new congressional mandate to improve fuel efficiency. In June, the DOE awarded the first $8 billion from the program to Ford Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co., and Tesla, which are all developing electric cars.
Soo... there is this 8 billion dollars pile of money...
From which Tesla got $0.465 bill.
Fisker got $0.529 bill.
How much did that leave for Ford and Nissan?
You buy an iPhone, pay through the nose for it - and it still lacks basic functions available to "dumbphones" for years already.
Then... they discontinue THAT iPhone, and bring out a newer, improved and cheaper version - and you get a coupon for half of the discount.
Then... You buy ANOTHER iPhone and it still lacks basic functions, it still costs an arm and a leg - and its camera sucks and it can't record video.
Then... You buy YET ANOTHER iPhone, and this time camera finally can record video. At 30fps. And upload it directly to youtube.
Which would be nice, had it came out in 2007.
And still... More months pass before you can finally use MMS on it.
Wow! Surely that is the cutting edge of both service and technology.
Just put "tar" instead.
It worked on Superman... sorta...
...it only works if you use the "Firehose". Click on Firehose link, and from there click on "Stories".
Now you have all the +/- thingamajigs, tagging works. And it will keep working as long as you use "the hose".
Bastards! Now I have to do some extra clicking every time I want to tag everything "dick", "fuck", "cunt", "sucks", "ass" and other useful tags.
Oh... Firefox 3.5.3 here. But it was the same for the earlier versions as well.
Why don't you just outlaw people planning to kill other people?
I believe that is called something like "Conspiracy to commit murder", and I do believe that generally that is considered illegal.
The Swastika didn't kill anyone.
Actually, German law doesn't accuse swastika of any crimes, nor does it ban the symbol outright.
But it does ban the use of swastika as a symbol of the Nazi Party.
Considering their 20th century history, the law is quite sensible.
It is people who lack the actual knowledge of the law that are creating issues, like the cases where they've equated it's use as a anti-Nazi symbol to that of a Nazi symbol. (see link above)
But hey...
At least they didn't ban snow globes or made the entire world take of their shoes before they are allowed to enter the plane. Right?
All bugs emit a certain smell when they die. Some bugs find that smell repulsive, some don't.
One of those two will remove themselves from the "death area" and later have offspring.
It is not the trait that they smell bad when they die that is transmitted, but the trait that said smell is repulsive.
It would be only logical to invest a significant portion of their liquid assets into services of adult entertainers and various recreational-drug paraphernalia.
Also, blackjack.
(which no part of government owned technology used in a clearly still partially classified F-22 Raptor is)
OK, OK... So I've edited it a little more than just "is".
Anyone? How about a non sequitur then? No? Fruitcake?
Clearly, 'open source' is being thought of outside the IT world as a good thing, and that surely is itself a good thing.
You know what else is open source? Knives. Used to stab people to death. And many people find that a good thing. Surely it must be.
Also... Nowhere in the text does it say that "the software is built from open source". No. They say:
"...The F22 radar technology which they took and built upon was all open source.... "We then added our own Ford algorithms to determine whether or not objects are a 'vehicle target'."
From what I gather - someone in the "chain of reporting", whether it is the BBC reporter or people at Ford has no clue what the term "open source" actually means (which no part of a clearly still partially classified F-22 Raptor isn't), and is probably confusing it with the term "public domain" - which radar technology is.
Come on. What is next?
A submission of a cake recipe cause it is open source? Look... you can add your own ingredients and develop it further.
How about an open source walk?
You know... as opposed to those covered by government grants and thereby being partially owned by the government.
Way too slow. And it does not account for those most prominent jaywalkers - children.
Instead - put sensors in the middle of the road - except in the areas designated for crossing.
Walk over a sensor - get a fine charged instantly to your mobile phone.
- It would also charge drivers? Not if they turn their phones off - they shouldn't be talking/texting and driving anyway.
- It wouldn't charge people with their phones off or with a protective layer around the phone? Well... If they are really willing to take that much preparation just to cross the street in a non-designated spot... they will probably pay enough attention so as not to be run over by an incoming truck. Which is what jaywalking fine is there to prevent anyway, right?
- It would only charge people with mobile phones? Sure... it might not work great in Myanmar but considering that there are about 3.5 billion users now, with predictions of about 4.5 billion by 2012...
- It would take years to implement? Exactly! By then EVERYONE will have a mobile phone. Or two. Or three.
What other minor infringements did you have in mind? Spit it out. Lets get a brainstorming session going.
This IS Slashdot after all. If anyone can cook-up a way to use technology in new and oppressive ways - it's us.
Then again...
This IS Slashdot, so it is quite understandable that many might first think of a Hummer instead of a hummer, despite all those references OP made to "wives" and "girlfriends".
http://www.physorg.com/news170614813.html
As for the Pacific Science Center shindig, he said, "It's actually a fairly low-budget effort because of our relationships with the studios and that kind of thing." He said the police escort "is a nice story for the students. The truth of the matter is we just try to cooperate with the police when we're trying to move a dozen buses across town at rush hour."
(A State Patrol spokesman said police escorts are contracted privately and paid for by the person or company that hires them.)
Apparently, it is perfectly legal.
So we could have dodo-egg-flavored dog and cat food? Their meat tasted like ass and was somewhat less edible.
I'd rather have brought back a species whose extinction humans attributed to through over-hunting.
Like mammoth. I imagine they should be rather tasty.
Mmmmm... Mammoth ribs...
DtU featured "legendary Flame Sword of Lolth".
Also, "With the power of this sword, an infinite army will be at your command".
It foreshadowed the coming of the Anonymous!
How is that not worth all those bugs, and more?
And it is crunch time!
Before you go into "senior" years, and you start forgetting things left and right and your eyesight goes.
Otherwise, you will be very busy explaining all those attacks on innocent people to the cops.
That is, until you come across another 19-year-old buck who, just like you, won't take no shit from anyone - and he beats you to death.
And then ends up in prison for murder.
Wasn't Darwin a great guy?
could at least do a little diligence.
You mean like...
Taking care of YOUR OWN property and not leaving it in plain sight, and thus not promoting criminal activity?
Sure... yeah... some diligence was due here.
Sure... OK.
It didn't make the quadriplegic walk autonomously again - but it did allow his friend to hike up the mountain for three hours with him on his back.
Have you recently tried piggybacking a grown human for three hours? Up a mountain. In the snow.
Nearly doubling one's lifting strength, is kind of a wow-deal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EBfxjSFAxQ
Can I play?
First off... They may be all be suspects until the case is investigated but they are ALL witnesses, so the police can detain them for questioning if the need arises.
Second... There is a little legal term called "aiding and abetting". Look it up and correlate it with what I said about suspects and witnesses.
Also...
Their "Reasonable Suspicion" (as for the "Articulable" - they have a witness who saw a person carry what looked like a very large automatic rifle into a building) extends all the way up to the point when they confirm the following:
Who was it that was carrying that large gun?
Why?
Were they doing that alone or with help from someone or under someone's instructions?
AND if there was something illegal about it.
And they do that by questioning people.
After which they decide if those people are witnesses or suspects in the potential crime.
But if he's just carrying it, then the cop shows up, investigates, and tells the guy it would be a good idea to keep the gun in a case so he didn't frighten his neighbors.
Ummm... That is exactly what happened.
The person who had thought they'd seen a gunman in the neighborhood had actually seen a Bungie employee carrying a replica Halo rifle back to the studio's offices, Bungie community director Brian Jarrard told me. Recognizing there was no longer an emergency, officers advised Bungie officials to transport the gun more discretely in the future.
Kirkland police, contacted today for more details, said a passerby on their way to the local farmer's market called 911 saying that they thought they saw someone walking down the street with an AK-47 about 4:20 p.m.
Five officers were dispatched to the area to investigate, but were able to figure out what had happened within about ten minutes.
And the rest of TFA alternates between "I caught no more than that glimpse of the one police officer" and "The cops had descended upon the studio".
In other words... Bungie is jumping onto this free publicity as much as they can.
If that means blowing things out of proportion a little - so be it. They will learn to live with that burden.
Eventually.
Good guys used it too. To defeat Sauron AND to "keep the world safe".
In fact... Good guys made all 7 Palantir mentioned in LotR.
Sauron got his hands on one of those and used it to corrupt Saruman and Denethor.
So... No. It is not "the tool the evil guy used to control the world."
The message would be that "power corrupts". In this case - power in the form of knowledge or information.
What Palantir really lacked was a decent firewall. No protection whatsoever.
Very intuitive user interface though. And they were practically indestructible.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/11/20/
Have you ever held a fully grown watermelon?
How about picked and loaded a truckfull of it, taken it to the market and then be told that you should either return a part of it cause they are bellow the buy-off quality or that you will be paid less for those watermelons, again on account of lower quality?
It is WAY cheaper to do quality control before PICKING, and just grow more to cover for the statistics.
You will need a little more than 1.21 jigowatts to complete all the trips, though.