Apparently some (all?) postmasters will refuse to deliver these
In Canada I understand this to be untrue - ANYTHING with an address and put in a PostOffice Box MUST be delivered - no matter what it is. Im almost certain its federal law. This is why you can send mail without a stamp - it still gets delivered.
Oh - and I do the same thing with them, ive mailed shoeboxes filled with dirt:)
Is anyone aware of what the CRTC (or correct Canadian Government Body) requires from TeleMarketers in Canada? In the vein above - what are they required to tell you, do for you etc etc.
I now send the postage-page envelopes back from junk mailers. Empty. Eat that! 30 cents out of your pocket
Wait wait - Ive dont the same thing.. many times (after I had my name 'listed' to be removed from the Canadian Direct Marketers Association list.. lost the info on how to do this, but im sure it is around.)
What you HAVE to do is just tape your envelope to a brick, or a 12" log, or a shoebox filled with sand, or some other very HEAVY things - why waste only 0.30 of their dollars when you can waste MUCH more...
Or as an enslaved, mindless, soma phreak like in Huxley's Brave New World? (the McCarthy inspired Anti-Communist undertones will DEFINATLEY not be part of that future)
More like a quote in a book I read recently (Fawcett's Cambodia: A Book for People Who Find Television Too Slow... to quote (loosely) He went on for a few pages about how "all through time 'would-be' oppressors/tyrants/dictators/kings/priests/etc have tried to enslave the 'average' person. And every time he learns that a slave's output (production) is lower - that the level of oppression is inversely proportional to his output. 'Slaves' will always find a way to do little work - while just doing enough to keep themselves from being killed (you cant kill all your slaves for poor performance)" He then later went on to say "God help us if someone finds a way to prove history untrue - meaning a way to make enslaved people want to work harder". When he said that I literally shuddered - I thought "Oh Crap - I think they have.".
When I look around at what all our discoveries, technology and culture has 'culminated' to - and what our 'direction' and goals (which we really have none) it was like being kicked in the chest - I spent 3 days relating this too friends and family (who mostly think Im a lunatic ("Your too serious, relax, take it easy" is commonly their reply))
Think about the way we relate to one another (through popular media), the consumerism, the blindly shallow culture (there is virtually nothing outside of 'pop' culture), and the way that we encourage and reward this behavior. That anything outside of entertaining ourselves and indulging ourselves has been forgotten. Im not suggesting we all have to live like martyrs and such, but it looks like we've become too complacent to adjust our culture to respond to anything of any real value...
Am I really supposed to give a fucking shit about Tommy Hilfiger, Monica Lewinsky, Jim Carrey's love life, or what Leonardo Decaprio eats for breakfast?
Reposted from my post above - Ive got Karma to burn, so I am going to repost this comment. People dont like the idea so its marked as a Troll - Its not - Im not kidding. Not one bit.
Here is my winner solution to the problem:
Population Control: One Couple - One Child. Reduce population to a reasonable level (reasonable as determined by environmentalists/economists/politicians/$other- just something much lower than now). Do this World Wide.
Factor the Environment and 'the commons' into the economic equation. Force business to pay for the resources they use. Force customers to pay for their own garbage when they take it from a store. Tax the fuck out of useless shit like Plastic McHappyDolls and other non-essential trash. Etc. Etc.
Rinse. Lather. Repeat.
Result:
A world where we can sustain ourselves 'forever' with a very comfortable life (ever increasing via technology).
No TreeHugger (like myself) will ever ask you to 'give something up' because your consumption of said thing will be calculated into the 'sustainable population' equation.
Alternative?
Population Increase continues. Pollution becomes threatening for all life. We all return to the caves... basically we remain on our present course.
$your_suggestion$
Unless of course we are willing to bet the future of humanity on our ability to exercise self control (not pollute/have dozens of children) and/or discoveries of technology to save our a$$e$.
Im am a betting man - but given: Available Options vs. Risk vs. The 'Hard Choice' - it becomes pretty clear. We need to find a mechanism for control - to achieve a balance. Nature has that mechanism; its starvation/disease/war etc - if we use our heads we may be able to avoid this. Otherwise its back to the caves for us all...
If we can manage to find another planet and actually get there.. I guess the choice becomes a more philisophical one. Would we choose to not become the planet/universe equivelant of a virus? or could we control ourselves... another interesting idea.
Population Control: One Couple - One Child. Reduce population to a reasonable level (reasonable as determined by environmentalists/economists/politicians/$other- just something much lower than now). Do this World Wide.
Factor the Environment and 'the commons' into the economic equation. Force business to pay for the resources they use. Force customers to pay for their own garbage when they take it from a store. Tax the fuck out of useless shit like Plastic McHappyDolls and other non-essential trash. Etc. Etc.
Rinse. Lather. Repeat.
Result:
A world where we can sustain ourselves 'forever' with a very comfortable life (ever increasing via technology).
No TreeHugger (like myself) will ever ask you to 'give something up' because your consumption of said thing will be calculated into the 'sustainable population' equation.
Alternative?
Population Increase continues. Pollution becomes threatening for all life. We all return to the caves... basically we remain on our present course.
$your_suggestion$
Unless of course we are willing to bet the future of humanity on our ability to exercise self control (not pollute/have dozens of children) and/or discoveries of technology to save our a$$e$.
Im am a betting man - but given: Available Options vs. Risk vs. The 'Hard Choice' - it becomes pretty clear. We need to find a mechanism for control - to achieve a balance. Nature has that mechanism; its starvation/disease/war etc - if we use our heads we may be able to avoid this. Otherwise its back to the caves for us all...
If we can manage to find another planet and actually get there.. I guess the choice becomes a more philisophical one. Would we choose to not become the planet/universe equivelant of a virus? or could we control ourselves... another interesting idea.
One thing to note is that "We cant keep selling our Capital and calling it income" in that we must have a economic change (as you describe) which properly values these 'commons'.
Pollution is not free - its just a matter of not having to pay it yourself.
I dont directly like the idea of a 'tax' (though I see few other ways to implement this) except to possibly create a 'Citizens Environment Corporation' (or some such) which the planets citizens own (one share=one person). All natural resources and the environment are 'owned' by this Group. There mission is to collect license fees for pollution & revenue for natural resource collection.
The economist is going to say 'this will drive up the price' or 'every shareholder is going to be every customer' which brings about some interesting economic-infinite-feedback-loops - but the point is that we can force polluters/needless consumers to finally pay for their choices. I make every effort to Tread Lightly - why shouldn't I be rewarded for this? (I recognize 'good deeds' dont need to be rewarded - but this uses the Capitalist 'anything for a profit' logic for clarity...)
Ive often wondered if the http/browser/httpd paradigm isnt the right thing for Internet based interactive programs. What the *&!@*& is wrong with X? Why go through this cluge with html: Its stateless & inherently problematic ((browsers rendering/implementing differently) as we seem to be learning).
In order to maintain editorial review & allow the authors some peer-review, why not setup a site running Slashcode or PHPNuke and post the incoming articles there? Separate them into 'volumes' (ala Gardening, AutoMechanics, SubParticlePhysics) separated into Topics or Sections. People who are interested in editing and 'fact checking' can surf by - at their leisure - and read the articles. If a person is knowledgeable in the subject they can comment on factual, technical or language problems in the 'proposed' article - the comments and the article are then sent back to the author for review/editing. Maybe a karma system could be developed where good reviewers/commenter/editors/fact checker types are rewarded so that they have some kind of increased 'voting' rights in 'approving' the article for inclusion. Meaning, the better you are received or recognized by your peers (through this karma hack) would empower these people to finally approve the articles.
I really think this type of 'web-log' has allot of very valuable application -- without sounding like a twit, the idea that you can mechanize a 'karma' system and allow for open conversation where 'experts' are given proper weight is interesting....
Ive said allot here on/. that the best thing to end the present IP grab is to simply make the Patent, Copyright and Trademark systems run the gauntlet on a Slashcode/PHPNuke site... the idea that a Patent, Copyright or Trademark application should be secret is absurd - their worth should be self-evident and with merit... otherwise they should not be granted.
That will not happen. Apple knows better than tread onto M$ turf. They would NOT do this for the following:
M$ Owns a share of Apple ('non-voting' means nothing; if M$ wants they can crush the stock price by dumping it)
Whats to stop M$ from releasing W2K for the G4 the following quarter?
And the number one reason: InternetExploder & MSOffice.
Trust me - OSX will not be going anywhere near x86. M$ and Apple surely have a agreement of 'non-competition'. If they hadnt we would have seen OS# on x86 long ago - maybe even for free (gratis)...
Re:Other low-level data storage systems out there?
on
MySQL FS
·
· Score: 1
See Praedictus' ERDB product - it is not free (libre or gratis)... it is a 'relational database' that resides in memory (the entire DB is in RAM at all times) it is very fast. I presently have a DB used for Statistical Process Control in a production facility. So far im very pleased with its stability and the support from the developers...
They publish a C API for interaction w/ the 'DB'...
I know you said 'Open Source' - but I thought Id bring this to your attention...
Listen up Australians: Your economic policies are not pro-business enough. You have been warned. If you dont change your policies you 'will not be competitive in the new global economy'. This alone should be the basis of your governments actions - you MUST address the concerns of Microsoft Corporation or face economic sanctions from them.
The arrogance that some company would trot around spouting this kind of drivel astounds me. What makes these corporate $WHORES$ think that the people of Australia should be concerned that M$ isnt given enough tax breaks????
The whole world needs very aggressive/progressive reforms to the 'corporate entity' -- the whole idea that a private organization, whos sole purpose is to make the lives of a few better than the lives of the rest (profit) will be 'listened to' by our governments regarding policy. I thought the government was supposed to represent citizens equally? Does anyone think that they might have a little bit of bias -- that they should therefore not be 'listened to'
Its amazing how governments now have to serve these lobbies instead of their people...
How did we get so far 'off track' and allow these bastards to gain this kind of power?
When did our governments get in the business of collecting taxes for products specifically because their use may or may not cause some industry money?
Whats next? You pay a tax on bicylces because it may cost the Auto Industry revenue? You pay a tax on Beer because it may cost the Win Industry revenue?
Of all the corrupt $WHOREING$ things western governments are doing right now, this has got to take the cake -- so, is there anyone who dosnt think that Capatalist Corporatism has gone too far?
I guess Communism is beginning to look alot more appealing, eh? Imagine: State owned business (no monopolies screwing us) and a planned economy (what advantage do proprietary standards and IP have?)? Looks like the 2 Major Ills of the/. community are fundementally resolved when employing other economic systems - too bad we've already lost our governments to these $WHORES$. I guess we will have to take it up the duff and wait for the revolution. They always come. This last 200 years _could_ have lead to a different outcome, but alas we havnet learnt anything. Replacing our Monarchs and Priests with CEO's and Monied Elite leads to the same problems... McCarthy sure did us a favour -- polluted the American psyche so badly it is going to take 100 years to recover from the "Red" scare.
I wonder if America(Americans) realize that they have been BrainWashed - I mean that very literally. For 50 years the Monied Elite in America have destroyed Socialist Ideals with a transparent campaign of propaganda. This conditioning has led America(Americans) to trust, believe and have faith in whatever dogma is spewed in the interest of Business(TM).
How sad - any hope to build a civilization where humanity can grow and achieve has been replaced with greed, selfishness and consumerism. It truely sickens me.
I wonder why people cling to the present Corporatist economic system - is a Government bought and sold to/by TransNational Corporate interest not enough?
yeah - funny... whats worst is that these idiots even have "Hollywood Heroes" at all -- fucking mental midgets - probably walk around receiting Television Gingles, Commercial 'OneLiners' (whazzup anyone) and other trappings of popular-monkey-media.
ICANN reviewed 45 applications -- submitted with $50,000 each
I guess this would be the #1 reason why there is no 'fair' process taking place... what a goddamn wonder - make the stipulation that "only profit motivated organizations with $50k to 'bet on the future' are allowed in this discussion. If you are not a business you dont fucking matter"
Jesus fucking Christ - did they expect these proposals to be anything other than land grabs by $whores$? and the 'losers' to be gracious? Again - am I the only one not surprised?
Sony would make it's DVD player deliberately incompatible with CD-R's
Maybe its, Ummmh, uh I dunno... maybe it is because sony is the most evil,controlling,$WHORES$ in media & electronics today?
Have we not determined -- through the lessons of BetaMax, MemoryStick & the "we will block it at the ISP, we will block it at the computer, we will block it at your HD" quote from the VP of ?????? we still wonder whySONY would purposely stop CDR playback?
I was in Chicago for NewYears, I went downtown to see the AIBO at the sony store. I purposely (to help interfere with meme propagation) asked the 'Help Desk' if sony made any DVDs without region encoding ((or switchable regions) knowing full well they had none). His reply "Well - sony has a large interest in the media industry and they are worried about protecting their property - they wont even sell CDRs in their PCs because of this".
It is beyond astonishing that/. would post a story with the stupid "deliberately incompatible" question in the body.
Surely I cant be the only one NOT surprised at this - didnt we already learn that sony is one of the worst IP fucks on the planet? Is anyone surprised that they would do this? Is everyone reading/. sleeping or just 'Cliff' & 'Slashdotter'?
Its almost depressing to come to this site and read story after story of how sony (and others) repeatedly act this way -- then we get stories like this one -- Is anyone awake or are they caught in a haze of hyper-info that has obliterated their memory and cognative recolection? Why seek information if you are incapable of learning any lessons from it and adjusting your behaviour? I thought that the/. crowd would be more 'in-tune' with the 'big picture' - but it seems that we are as addle-minded at the population at large: Dazed and confused by the world around us, so much so that the obvious becomes surreal and existance is a picture-show. Was there anyone not thouroughly disgusted with sony before this?
Inaccurate information must be corrected or deleted, assuming you can prove it's inaccurate and the CRA agrees it's inaccurate, but the CRA is not required to remove accurate data from your file unless it is outdated.
Nice Law, Guilty until proven innocent. Every person is a criminal if accused by some Corporate accuser - niiiiceeee.
Source alternatives (png, ogg vorbis, etc) they are always in reaction to an existing technology brought forth by a company who could afford the R&D costs on something more original.
I think you are making a wild assumption. What I think you dont realize is you are using your 'capitalist-centric' rationale to relate these things unnecessarily. Its a chicken-egg problem. I believe that because the modern social organization is essentially the corporation it plays a dominant role in everything. While I'll agree that new tech usually appears under a Corporate moniker - it does not happen as a natural result of something this corporation provides.
Research is done by people -- these people have motivations (fame, food, sex, whatever) -- if they were _allowed_ to produce work for the public domain: they would. The technology would still be there -- there would still be innovation. We have allowed corporations (or those who can use them as tools to satisfy their own needs) to gain _alot_ of 'power'. That power is all around you - your City Hall is a corporate entity and acts like one, your employer is a corporate entity and acts like one, your civil groups, your soccer league, your grocer -- EVERYTHING is a corporate entity and acts like one.
What I would advocate is a legislative restructuring and balancing of (Capitalist) Corporate vs Civic vs Private 'power'. We have (unfortunately) allowed (Capitalist) Corporate entities to 're-organize' culture to their advantage -- I use the analogy of a virus being capable of altering conditions within its host -- this effectively precludes any action outside of this dominant social structure.
So, back to your original point: Don't believe that innovation, freedom, basic needs and all else that you require for sustenance would vanish if Corporations did - that somehow they have 'given' us these things: It is very untrue. Technology would be born and evolve quite well outside of the present (Capitalist) Corporate world - maybe more so, because alot of the unfortunate after effects would be lost -- we could spend a greater amount of our efforts on worthwhile things (technology, art, and other self-satisfying pursuits) if we could abandon the 'necessary evils' of the corporate world: Advertising, Marketing, BizHeadTalk, Consumerism, Needless Pollution, Self Rewarding Greed, Corporate Enslavement, Exploitation of the Underprivileged and other various crap - people should be able to live their lives without being _forced_ to participate in (in what I believe) to be a selfish, ill-conceived system to fuck other people. I believe it is better to share with your neighbour than to steal from him - but what option do I have outside of being a modern-life-martyr and starving?
I think it would be a great cosmic disaster to send plans for an atomic bomb to a race which has just mastered radio communications; what's more is, it would be very very funny.
That is the funniest damned thing Ive read here in weeks. Images of 1900's earth people constructing what they believe to be a wondrous machine of ultimate salvation - only to have it go -BOOM- during its grand 'coming out party' infront of many many millions of people... its almost sad that I thought _that_ image was funny... time to see my councilor again..;)
Lets not assume if they receive this message it will be clear. Earth bound people have created a single paradigm for 'written' communication: 2 dimensional images on a flat surface. It is highly unlikely that another civilization uses this same paradigm. Consider: Who's to say that these Aliens wont use a system of arranging 3D rings of differnent colours to convey information. Whats to say they dont simply vomit on the floor and play with it with their appendages? Who says they have appendages? Maybe they blow smoke rings - or exhale globs of frozen methane which they then decorate their 'bodies' with to convey messages??? Who's to say they will have the faintest clue?
By the same logic; are they already sending messages to us? Maybe we are receiving/seeing them and are just so oblivious to their 'communication paradigm' that we dont even recognize it? Maybe the craters on the moon have been 'purposely built' to convey information to us? What about weather patterns? or the frequency of comets?
If these Aliens receive our message I find it very unlikely they will decifer it - they will try to apply the patterned info send in the radio waves to their paradim: and trust me; it wont look like that page of 'digits' we sent...
Do I think this is worthwhile? Absolutely! Its the only method we have - the reward is so great it is beyond imagination - the exploration/colonization of space should be the #1 priority of the planet, instead it seems we have chosen 'other' priorites (consumerism). Really a sad fate for us all - I just hope 250000 years from now 'we' have our priorities on this straight on this planet.
For those too lazy to see the above link: Page two says:
He might run into problems with the Stirling engine, too. The development of a marketable Stirling device has eluded the brightest engineering minds since Robert Stirling, a Scottish minister, patented the first version in 1816. The basic principle of Stirling's external combustion engine is simple: A chamber is filled with a gas that expands as it is heated by a small heat source, such as a propane flame, and contracts when cooled. The process operates a piston and drives the engine. The advantage? Cheap, local fuels can be used to run the engines, and Kamen has adapted his model to produce electricity instead of mechanical power.
But producing the thing is a more complex matter. While many have tried to use Stirlings to power drive shafts for vehicles, they have proved too expensive to manufacture on a mass scale, and they're not always efficient enough. One low tech problem is designing seals that guard against waste as the heat is transferred into a form that does useful work.
Deka's version heats a chamber containing helium, under pressure, and Kamen says it can run on gasoline, propane, fuel oil, diesel, alcohol, or even solar power - with one-fifth the emissions of a gas stove. Deka's engineers think they'll succeed where others have failed because they've ironed out all the kinks. "We looked at the history of the Stirling - all the money and time and expertise poured into it - and identified a half-dozen key goofs that previous teams had made," says project leader Chris Langenfeld. "Seventy percent of it was a materials challenge. We had to track down the right composites to use as seals."
Kamen hopes that his family of Stirlings, five years in development, will soon bring portable electricity to nations without a reliable power grid - or any grid at all. He envisions briefcase-sized Stirlings powering cell phones and cell towers, as well as purifying water. He aims to have them on the market in the next two years, and is currently working on the marketing issues - like how developing nations will be able to afford bulk purchases of the engines, which are projected to cost $1,500 apiece.
I think our friend Ross C. Bracket may have what IT is... a stirling engine powered scooter(?)?
Slashdot Mirror
Apparently some (all?) postmasters will refuse to deliver these
:)
In Canada I understand this to be untrue - ANYTHING with an address and put in a PostOffice Box MUST be delivered - no matter what it is. Im almost certain its federal law. This is why you can send mail without a stamp - it still gets delivered.
Oh - and I do the same thing with them, ive mailed shoeboxes filled with dirt
Is anyone aware of what the CRTC (or correct Canadian Government Body) requires from TeleMarketers in Canada? In the vein above - what are they required to tell you, do for you etc etc.
I now send the postage-page envelopes back from junk mailers. Empty. Eat that! 30 cents out of your pocket
Wait wait - Ive dont the same thing.. many times (after I had my name 'listed' to be removed from the Canadian Direct Marketers Association list.. lost the info on how to do this, but im sure it is around.)
What you HAVE to do is just tape your envelope to a brick, or a 12" log, or a shoebox filled with sand, or some other very HEAVY things - why waste only 0.30 of their dollars when you can waste MUCH more...
Look up "Amusing ourselves to Death" a book by Neil Postman
Ever thought we may end up like Wells' Eloi?
Or as an enslaved, mindless, soma phreak like in Huxley's Brave New World? (the McCarthy inspired Anti-Communist undertones will DEFINATLEY not be part of that future)
More like a quote in a book I read recently (Fawcett's Cambodia: A Book for People Who Find Television Too Slow... to quote (loosely) He went on for a few pages about how "all through time 'would-be' oppressors/tyrants/dictators/kings/priests/etc have tried to enslave the 'average' person. And every time he learns that a slave's output (production) is lower - that the level of oppression is inversely proportional to his output. 'Slaves' will always find a way to do little work - while just doing enough to keep themselves from being killed (you cant kill all your slaves for poor performance)" He then later went on to say "God help us if someone finds a way to prove history untrue - meaning a way to make enslaved people want to work harder". When he said that I literally shuddered - I thought " Oh Crap - I think they have.".
When I look around at what all our discoveries, technology and culture has 'culminated' to - and what our 'direction' and goals (which we really have none) it was like being kicked in the chest - I spent 3 days relating this too friends and family (who mostly think Im a lunatic ("Your too serious, relax, take it easy" is commonly their reply))
Think about the way we relate to one another (through popular media), the consumerism, the blindly shallow culture (there is virtually nothing outside of 'pop' culture), and the way that we encourage and reward this behavior. That anything outside of entertaining ourselves and indulging ourselves has been forgotten. Im not suggesting we all have to live like martyrs and such, but it looks like we've become too complacent to adjust our culture to respond to anything of any real value...
Am I really supposed to give a fucking shit about Tommy Hilfiger, Monica Lewinsky, Jim Carrey's love life, or what Leonardo Decaprio eats for breakfast?
Reposted from my post above - Ive got Karma to burn, so I am going to repost this comment. People dont like the idea so its marked as a Troll - Its not - Im not kidding. Not one bit.
Here is my winner solution to the problem:
Population Control:
One Couple - One Child. Reduce population to a reasonable level (reasonable as determined by environmentalists/economists/politicians/$other- just something much lower than now). Do this World Wide.
Factor the Environment and 'the commons' into the economic equation. Force business to pay for the resources they use. Force customers to pay for their own garbage when they take it from a store. Tax the fuck out of useless shit like Plastic McHappyDolls and other non-essential trash. Etc. Etc.
Rinse. Lather. Repeat.
Result:
A world where we can sustain ourselves 'forever' with a very comfortable life (ever increasing via technology).
No TreeHugger (like myself) will ever ask you to 'give something up' because your consumption of said thing will be calculated into the 'sustainable population' equation.
Alternative?
Population Increase continues. Pollution becomes threatening for all life. We all return to the caves... basically we remain on our present course.
$your_suggestion$
Unless of course we are willing to bet the future of humanity on our ability to exercise self control (not pollute/have dozens of children) and/or discoveries of technology to save our a$$e$.
Im am a betting man - but given: Available Options vs. Risk vs. The 'Hard Choice' - it becomes pretty clear. We need to find a mechanism for control - to achieve a balance. Nature has that mechanism; its starvation/disease/war etc - if we use our heads we may be able to avoid this. Otherwise its back to the caves for us all...
If we can manage to find another planet and actually get there.. I guess the choice becomes a more philisophical one. Would we choose to not become the planet/universe equivelant of a virus? or could we control ourselves... another interesting idea.
- Population Control: One Couple - One Child. Reduce population to a reasonable level (reasonable as determined by environmentalists/economists/politicians/$other- just something much lower than now). Do this World Wide.
- Factor the Environment and 'the commons' into the economic equation. Force business to pay for the resources they use. Force customers to pay for their own garbage when they take it from a store. Tax the fuck out of useless shit like Plastic McHappyDolls and other non-essential trash. Etc. Etc.
- Rinse. Lather. Repeat.
Result:- A world where we can sustain ourselves 'forever' with a very comfortable life (ever increasing via technology).
- No TreeHugger (like myself) will ever ask you to 'give something up' because your consumption of said thing will be calculated into the 'sustainable population' equation.
Alternative?- Population Increase continues. Pollution becomes threatening for all life. We all return to the caves... basically we remain on our present course.
- $your_suggestion$
Unless of course we are willing to bet the future of humanity on our ability to exercise self control (not pollute/have dozens of children) and/or discoveries of technology to save our a$$e$.Im am a betting man - but given: Available Options vs. Risk vs. The 'Hard Choice' - it becomes pretty clear. We need to find a mechanism for control - to achieve a balance. Nature has that mechanism; its starvation/disease/war etc - if we use our heads we may be able to avoid this. Otherwise its back to the caves for us all...
If we can manage to find another planet and actually get there.. I guess the choice becomes a more philisophical one. Would we choose to not become the planet/universe equivelant of a virus? or could we control ourselves... another interesting idea.
I was just about to make this point - thank you.
One thing to note is that "We cant keep selling our Capital and calling it income" in that we must have a economic change (as you describe) which properly values these 'commons'.
Pollution is not free - its just a matter of not having to pay it yourself.
I dont directly like the idea of a 'tax' (though I see few other ways to implement this) except to possibly create a 'Citizens Environment Corporation' (or some such) which the planets citizens own (one share=one person). All natural resources and the environment are 'owned' by this Group. There mission is to collect license fees for pollution & revenue for natural resource collection.
The economist is going to say 'this will drive up the price' or 'every shareholder is going to be every customer' which brings about some interesting economic-infinite-feedback-loops - but the point is that we can force polluters/needless consumers to finally pay for their choices. I make every effort to Tread Lightly - why shouldn't I be rewarded for this? (I recognize 'good deeds' dont need to be rewarded - but this uses the Capitalist 'anything for a profit' logic for clarity...)
Fsck the emconomy stupid. Who gives a shit about the "emoconomy" or the economy for that matter?
Ive often wondered if the http/browser/httpd paradigm isnt the right thing for Internet based interactive programs. What the *&!@*& is wrong with X? Why go through this cluge with html: Its stateless & inherently problematic ((browsers rendering/implementing differently) as we seem to be learning).
Wouldnt a 'X Like' system be more appropriate?
In order to maintain editorial review & allow the authors some peer-review, why not setup a site running Slashcode or PHPNuke and post the incoming articles there? Separate them into 'volumes' (ala Gardening, AutoMechanics, SubParticlePhysics) separated into Topics or Sections. People who are interested in editing and 'fact checking' can surf by - at their leisure - and read the articles. If a person is knowledgeable in the subject they can comment on factual, technical or language problems in the 'proposed' article - the comments and the article are then sent back to the author for review/editing. Maybe a karma system could be developed where good reviewers/commenter/editors/fact checker types are rewarded so that they have some kind of increased 'voting' rights in 'approving' the article for inclusion. Meaning, the better you are received or recognized by your peers (through this karma hack) would empower these people to finally approve the articles.
/. that the best thing to end the present IP grab is to simply make the Patent, Copyright and Trademark systems run the gauntlet on a Slashcode/PHPNuke site... the idea that a Patent, Copyright or Trademark application should be secret is absurd - their worth should be self-evident and with merit... otherwise they should not be granted.
I really think this type of 'web-log' has allot of very valuable application -- without sounding like a twit, the idea that you can mechanize a 'karma' system and allow for open conversation where 'experts' are given proper weight is interesting....
Ive said allot here on
That will not happen. Apple knows better than tread onto M$ turf. They would NOT do this for the following:
Trust me - OSX will not be going anywhere near x86. M$ and Apple surely have a agreement of 'non-competition'. If they hadnt we would have seen OS# on x86 long ago - maybe even for free (gratis)...
See Praedictus' ERDB product - it is not free (libre or gratis)... it is a 'relational database' that resides in memory (the entire DB is in RAM at all times) it is very fast. I presently have a DB used for Statistical Process Control in a production facility. So far im very pleased with its stability and the support from the developers...
They publish a C API for interaction w/ the 'DB'...
I know you said 'Open Source' - but I thought Id bring this to your attention...
considerably faster than a P4
So does a AMD Thunderbird.. how does the G4 compare there?
Listen up Australians: Your economic policies are not pro-business enough. You have been warned. If you dont change your policies you 'will not be competitive in the new global economy'. This alone should be the basis of your governments actions - you MUST address the concerns of Microsoft Corporation or face economic sanctions from them.
The arrogance that some company would trot around spouting this kind of drivel astounds me. What makes these corporate $WHORES$ think that the people of Australia should be concerned that M$ isnt given enough tax breaks????
The whole world needs very aggressive/progressive reforms to the 'corporate entity' -- the whole idea that a private organization, whos sole purpose is to make the lives of a few better than the lives of the rest (profit) will be 'listened to' by our governments regarding policy. I thought the government was supposed to represent citizens equally? Does anyone think that they might have a little bit of bias -- that they should therefore not be 'listened to'
Its amazing how governments now have to serve these lobbies instead of their people...
How did we get so far 'off track' and allow these bastards to gain this kind of power?
When did our governments get in the business of collecting taxes for products specifically because their use may or may not cause some industry money?
/. community are fundementally resolved when employing other economic systems - too bad we've already lost our governments to these $WHORES$. I guess we will have to take it up the duff and wait for the revolution. They always come. This last 200 years _could_ have lead to a different outcome, but alas we havnet learnt anything. Replacing our Monarchs and Priests with CEO's and Monied Elite leads to the same problems... McCarthy sure did us a favour -- polluted the American psyche so badly it is going to take 100 years to recover from the "Red" scare.
Whats next? You pay a tax on bicylces because it may cost the Auto Industry revenue?
You pay a tax on Beer because it may cost the Win Industry revenue?
Of all the corrupt $WHOREING$ things western governments are doing right now, this has got to take the cake -- so, is there anyone who dosnt think that Capatalist Corporatism has gone too far?
I guess Communism is beginning to look alot more appealing, eh? Imagine: State owned business (no monopolies screwing us) and a planned economy (what advantage do proprietary standards and IP have?)? Looks like the 2 Major Ills of the
I wonder if America(Americans) realize that they have been BrainWashed - I mean that very literally. For 50 years the Monied Elite in America have destroyed Socialist Ideals with a transparent campaign of propaganda. This conditioning has led America(Americans) to trust, believe and have faith in whatever dogma is spewed in the interest of Business(TM).
How sad - any hope to build a civilization where humanity can grow and achieve has been replaced with greed, selfishness and consumerism. It truely sickens me.
I wonder why people cling to the present Corporatist economic system - is a Government bought and sold to/by TransNational Corporate interest not enough?
Does anyone need any more evidence?
spent 17 years under socialism
And somehow these Capatalist Bastards are not fucking you?
Do you have any further information on this?
yeah - funny... whats worst is that these idiots even have "Hollywood Heroes" at all -- fucking mental midgets - probably walk around receiting Television Gingles, Commercial 'OneLiners' (whazzup anyone) and other trappings of popular-monkey-media.
How fucking sad.
ICANN reviewed 45 applications -- submitted with $50,000 each
I guess this would be the #1 reason why there is no 'fair' process taking place... what a goddamn wonder - make the stipulation that "only profit motivated organizations with $50k to 'bet on the future' are allowed in this discussion. If you are not a business you dont fucking matter"
Jesus fucking Christ - did they expect these proposals to be anything other than land grabs by $whores$? and the 'losers' to be gracious? Again - am I the only one not surprised?
Sony would make it's DVD player deliberately incompatible with CD-R's
/. would post a story with the stupid "deliberately incompatible" question in the body.
/. sleeping or just 'Cliff' & 'Slashdotter'?
/. crowd would be more 'in-tune' with the 'big picture' - but it seems that we are as addle-minded at the population at large: Dazed and confused by the world around us, so much so that the obvious becomes surreal and existance is a picture-show. Was there anyone not thouroughly disgusted with sony before this?
Maybe its, Ummmh, uh I dunno... maybe it is because sony is the most evil,controlling,$WHORES$ in media & electronics today?
Have we not determined -- through the lessons of BetaMax, MemoryStick & the "we will block it at the ISP, we will block it at the computer, we will block it at your HD" quote from the VP of ?????? we still wonder why SONY would purposely stop CDR playback?
I was in Chicago for NewYears, I went downtown to see the AIBO at the sony store. I purposely (to help interfere with meme propagation) asked the 'Help Desk' if sony made any DVDs without region encoding ((or switchable regions) knowing full well they had none). His reply "Well - sony has a large interest in the media industry and they are worried about protecting their property - they wont even sell CDRs in their PCs because of this".
It is beyond astonishing that
Surely I cant be the only one NOT surprised at this - didnt we already learn that sony is one of the worst IP fucks on the planet? Is anyone surprised that they would do this? Is everyone reading
Its almost depressing to come to this site and read story after story of how sony (and others) repeatedly act this way -- then we get stories like this one -- Is anyone awake or are they caught in a haze of hyper-info that has obliterated their memory and cognative recolection? Why seek information if you are incapable of learning any lessons from it and adjusting your behaviour? I thought that the
WTF - Am I the only one who remembers anymore????
Inaccurate information must be corrected or deleted, assuming you can prove it's inaccurate and the CRA agrees it's inaccurate, but the CRA is not required to remove accurate data from your file unless it is outdated.
Nice Law, Guilty until proven innocent. Every person is a criminal if accused by some Corporate accuser - niiiiceeee.
Source alternatives (png, ogg vorbis, etc) they are always in reaction to an existing technology brought forth by a company who could afford the R&D costs on something more original.
;)
I think you are making a wild assumption. What I think you dont realize is you are using your 'capitalist-centric' rationale to relate these things unnecessarily. Its a chicken-egg problem. I believe that because the modern social organization is essentially the corporation it plays a dominant role in everything. While I'll agree that new tech usually appears under a Corporate moniker - it does not happen as a natural result of something this corporation provides.
Research is done by people -- these people have motivations (fame, food, sex, whatever) -- if they were _allowed_ to produce work for the public domain: they would. The technology would still be there -- there would still be innovation. We have allowed corporations (or those who can use them as tools to satisfy their own needs) to gain _alot_ of 'power'. That power is all around you - your City Hall is a corporate entity and acts like one, your employer is a corporate entity and acts like one, your civil groups, your soccer league, your grocer -- EVERYTHING is a corporate entity and acts like one.
What I would advocate is a legislative restructuring and balancing of (Capitalist) Corporate vs Civic vs Private 'power'. We have (unfortunately) allowed (Capitalist) Corporate entities to 're-organize' culture to their advantage -- I use the analogy of a virus being capable of altering conditions within its host -- this effectively precludes any action outside of this dominant social structure.
So, back to your original point: Don't believe that innovation, freedom, basic needs and all else that you require for sustenance would vanish if Corporations did - that somehow they have 'given' us these things: It is very untrue. Technology would be born and evolve quite well outside of the present (Capitalist) Corporate world - maybe more so, because alot of the unfortunate after effects would be lost -- we could spend a greater amount of our efforts on worthwhile things (technology, art, and other self-satisfying pursuits) if we could abandon the 'necessary evils' of the corporate world: Advertising, Marketing, BizHeadTalk, Consumerism, Needless Pollution, Self Rewarding Greed, Corporate Enslavement, Exploitation of the Underprivileged and other various crap - people should be able to live their lives without being _forced_ to participate in (in what I believe) to be a selfish, ill-conceived system to fuck other people. I believe it is better to share with your neighbour than to steal from him - but what option do I have outside of being a modern-life-martyr and starving?
Ok - im done preaching.
I think it would be a great cosmic disaster to send plans for an atomic bomb to a race which has just mastered radio communications; what's more is, it would be very very funny.
;)
That is the funniest damned thing Ive read here in weeks. Images of 1900's earth people constructing what they believe to be a wondrous machine of ultimate salvation - only to have it go -BOOM- during its grand 'coming out party' infront of many many millions of people... its almost sad that I thought _that_ image was funny... time to see my councilor again..
Lets not assume if they receive this message it will be clear. Earth bound people have created a single paradigm for 'written' communication: 2 dimensional images on a flat surface. It is highly unlikely that another civilization uses this same paradigm. Consider: Who's to say that these Aliens wont use a system of arranging 3D rings of differnent colours to convey information. Whats to say they dont simply vomit on the floor and play with it with their appendages? Who says they have appendages? Maybe they blow smoke rings - or exhale globs of frozen methane which they then decorate their 'bodies' with to convey messages??? Who's to say they will have the faintest clue?
By the same logic; are they already sending messages to us? Maybe we are receiving/seeing them and are just so oblivious to their 'communication paradigm' that we dont even recognize it? Maybe the craters on the moon have been 'purposely built' to convey information to us? What about weather patterns? or the frequency of comets?
If these Aliens receive our message I find it very unlikely they will decifer it - they will try to apply the patterned info send in the radio waves to their paradim: and trust me; it wont look like that page of 'digits' we sent...
Do I think this is worthwhile? Absolutely! Its the only method we have - the reward is so great it is beyond imagination - the exploration/colonization of space should be the #1 priority of the planet, instead it seems we have chosen 'other' priorites (consumerism). Really a sad fate for us all - I just hope 250000 years from now 'we' have our priorities on this straight on this planet.
For those too lazy to see the above link: Page two says:
He might run into problems with the Stirling engine, too. The development of a marketable Stirling device has eluded the brightest engineering minds since Robert Stirling, a Scottish minister, patented the first version in 1816. The basic principle of Stirling's external combustion engine is simple: A chamber is filled with a gas that expands as it is heated by a small heat source, such as a propane flame, and contracts when cooled. The process operates a piston and drives the engine. The advantage? Cheap, local fuels can be used to run the engines, and Kamen has adapted his model to produce electricity instead of mechanical power.
But producing the thing is a more complex matter. While many have tried to use Stirlings to power drive shafts for vehicles, they have proved too expensive to manufacture on a mass scale, and they're not always efficient enough. One low tech problem is designing seals that guard against waste as the heat is transferred into a form that does useful work.
Deka's version heats a chamber containing helium, under pressure, and Kamen says it can run on gasoline, propane, fuel oil, diesel, alcohol, or even solar power - with one-fifth the emissions of a gas stove. Deka's engineers think they'll succeed where others have failed because they've ironed out all the kinks. "We looked at the history of the Stirling - all the money and time and expertise poured into it - and identified a half-dozen key goofs that previous teams had made," says project leader Chris Langenfeld. "Seventy percent of it was a materials challenge. We had to track down the right composites to use as seals."
Kamen hopes that his family of Stirlings, five years in development, will soon bring portable electricity to nations without a reliable power grid - or any grid at all. He envisions briefcase-sized Stirlings powering cell phones and cell towers, as well as purifying water. He aims to have them on the market in the next two years, and is currently working on the marketing issues - like how developing nations will be able to afford bulk purchases of the engines, which are projected to cost $1,500 apiece.
I think our friend Ross C. Bracket may have what IT is... a stirling engine powered scooter(?)?