Health insurance shouldn't be viewed as a means of paying for routine medical treatment, but for catastrophic events. Four years ago I was diagnosed with colon cancer. Fortunately I had excellent health insurance that paid for everything with the exception of my annual $400 deductible. For fun I kept track of my bills that the insurance company paid, especially the rate that I would have paid if I had been uninsured. I stopped when it hit $800K. So the idea of not having insurance and investing the money is silly. There's no way I would have been able to accrue $800K by the time I was diagnosed.
Obviously you've never worked in the restaurant biz. Labor is usually the highest element in the cost of goods, typically around 20%. The food items are usually around 20%, paper items another 6-8%. Throw in rent, utilities, etc. Royalty fees for McDonalds are around 10%, and the franchisee is usually gunning for a 10% margin. So for a $1.99 Big Mac, $.40 stays in the local economy as wages, $.40 stays in the state/US economy for the food components, so on and so forth. So try another stupid example...
And it's Reagan, not Regan. But then again, facts don't seem to bother you too much.
It's a matter of property rights. I've created something out of my experience and imagination. I choose to sell you the rights to it (via book, ebook, magazine, etc), and you agree to pay for it. Yet some people think they should have free access to my ideas, my thoughts, my creations. They go to a library and Xerox the book. "Who does that hurt" they say. Well, it hurts me by depriving me of my rewards for my work. Or they strip the DRM out of an ebook version. Now they're depriving both me and my publisher of our just rewards.
The fact that copyright has a history doesn't mean that it's an inviolable principle. If I could protect my work effectively through DRM without relying on copyright, I would. The fact that violating my property rights, my ownership of my creations is easy doesn't make it right. Just because I choose to sell the access to my works shouldn't require me to give up control of my works at some arbitrary point in the future.
Unrestricted sharing of words is the natural state of affairs...
This hasn't always been the case, and besides, we're not talking about the "natural state of affairs." That is just sophistry. If you want to see creative endeavors dwindle, just keep pursuing this path. No matter how you phrase it, it's my work. And you want to be able to access it for free. Perhaps not now, but eventually. Yes words can be reproduced with minimal effort. And whether my work can be reproduced with minimal effort doesn't reduce its value. The original creation is where the toil is heaviest, and for that, the creator should be able to decide about how and when the work is used.
Imagine if we apply this to all property that is created. Should a farm be given to the community after the death of its owner? The owner who tilled the ground, removed fieldstones, nurtured an orchard or vineyard? After all, it's just "an investment" of the farmer's time.
And your last comment is apt. As writers and others involved in creative endeavors find that their works are being exploited by people, they'll stop creating them.
Why should you have any say? It's my creation. The fact that I chose to write it is my decision as an author. I don't give a rats ass about the public domain. The profit incentive has done more for advancing humanity than this silly notion that everything should be "free." My intention is to create something, and sell it. Why government has a role in this in any fashion other than applying some tax on the sale/license of what I create, is just simply socialism.
It's pretty simple. It's my property, my creation, mine to do with as I see fit, including sell it. It's mine to bequeath to my heirs if I choose. The fact that I would want to retain as much control over this is perfectly natural. The idea that to "protect" my property I have to eventually give it to the public domain is kleptocratic.
This is a fundamental problem many people have with Stallman et.al. If you want to read my book, pay me. Otherwise GTFO.
I love how it's so fashionable to tell people what they should and shouldn't be allowed to do with things they've created. As a writer, I take a huge risk whenever I write. First I have to have an idea that's both interesting and marketable. Yet in your world, my property, my sweat and blood, my time, my thoughts, wrapped in words, become something to be milked by the government through what's essentially an estate tax on my heirs.
In addition to removing the economic value from my work, you'd give control of it to the public domain. Screw you. I thought up the ideas, I spent my time putting them down, I spent effort and money marketing myself, I spent time and money educating myself so that my writing has some economic and aesthetic value.
You and your allies are nothing but leeches wishing to take advantage of other people's works.
Fraud. The fact that you think this is fraud just goes to show the futility of infantilization. FYI fraud is a specific legal term that implies far more intent even your limited, Perry Mason knowledgebase shows. And to think when I grew up the "me generation" was the bane of the world. Little did we know that the future generations would expect even more potty-training.
You're a perfect example of why our current trend in infantilizing our youth is going to be the death of Western Civilization. You need a carebear world where no one ever offends you, where everything works the way "you think it should," where everything needs a warning label on the box otherwise the manufacturer is "negligent." GET A GRIP. Every "unreasonable assumption" you've made in this entire thread is just a sign of this.
And to all the folks who will cry out "ad hominem" about my post, think about it for a second.
No Landscape mode outside of Safari? How about Landscape with youtube, with movies, with TV shows, with music, with photos? Guess there's no landscape mode outside of Safari.
Say Hi to Hugo, and enjoy your freely elected dictator.
And it's doubly ironic that a site that is geared towards overclocking and hardware would have a writer who was so fundamentally scared to follow the steps to open a Macmini and add additional RAM. But that's what fills in for journalism these days...
In your own words, you "don't know much about the subject" but yet you repeat the same cruft twice. Here's a LART for you. STFU if you don't know much about a subject.
Nice factoids, except they're lacking in both fact and corroboration. First of all, the atomic bombs were not shipped by plane. Yes they were dropped by plane, but they were shipped by truck/rail and by ship. The Indianapolis was responsible for delivering the first two to Tinian.
Do you have any links to support Truman stopping the fire raids on Tokyo?
Bin Laden didn't receive aid from the Carter Administration. He wasn't even involved in the jihad in Afghanistan until much later. And besides, I don't believe a word Brzezinski says. He'll do anything to burnish the poor foreign policy record of the Carter Administration.
That's a non sequitur. Microsoft hires the best talent that applies to MS, not necessarily the best talent in the industry. Lots of smart people are uninterested in working for MS, and money doesn't necessarily change that, especially for the best in the industry. They can get jobs anywhere they want.
THis fantastical outcome has zero chance of success, and betrays your lack of knowledge. UBL is a salafist, Sunni wahhabist. The predominate majority of Moslems in Iraq are Shiite. You might end up with an Iranian style theocracy (rare chance considering Sistani's influence), but not the type of state that bin Laden wants.
Like a 900MHZ box on a Powerbook G4? Brother, you've got to share what you're smoking.
I'm running VPC7 on a dual 2.5GHZ G5 with 2GB of RAM and the user experience is closer to a 500MHZ Pentium II. VPC 6 on my 1GHZ G4 Powerbook was unusable. VPC5 on my dual 867 G4 was a bit better, but no way close to a 900MHZ.
Wow, what a funny guy. Nice of you to insult an entire group of people. Not only are you a rude idiot, but a) you can't spell, and b) you're factually incorrect. Today's military (US that is) has a higher education level than the general populace. But then again, you're proof of that...
Slashdot Mirror
Health insurance shouldn't be viewed as a means of paying for routine medical treatment, but for catastrophic events. Four years ago I was diagnosed with colon cancer. Fortunately I had excellent health insurance that paid for everything with the exception of my annual $400 deductible. For fun I kept track of my bills that the insurance company paid, especially the rate that I would have paid if I had been uninsured. I stopped when it hit $800K. So the idea of not having insurance and investing the money is silly. There's no way I would have been able to accrue $800K by the time I was diagnosed.
Obviously you've never worked in the restaurant biz. Labor is usually the highest element in the cost of goods, typically around 20%. The food items are usually around 20%, paper items another 6-8%. Throw in rent, utilities, etc. Royalty fees for McDonalds are around 10%, and the franchisee is usually gunning for a 10% margin. So for a $1.99 Big Mac, $.40 stays in the local economy as wages, $.40 stays in the state/US economy for the food components, so on and so forth. So try another stupid example...
And it's Reagan, not Regan. But then again, facts don't seem to bother you too much.
It's a matter of property rights. I've created something out of my experience and imagination. I choose to sell you the rights to it (via book, ebook, magazine, etc), and you agree to pay for it. Yet some people think they should have free access to my ideas, my thoughts, my creations. They go to a library and Xerox the book. "Who does that hurt" they say. Well, it hurts me by depriving me of my rewards for my work. Or they strip the DRM out of an ebook version. Now they're depriving both me and my publisher of our just rewards.
The fact that copyright has a history doesn't mean that it's an inviolable principle. If I could protect my work effectively through DRM without relying on copyright, I would. The fact that violating my property rights, my ownership of my creations is easy doesn't make it right. Just because I choose to sell the access to my works shouldn't require me to give up control of my works at some arbitrary point in the future.
Unrestricted sharing of words is the natural state of affairs...
This hasn't always been the case, and besides, we're not talking about the "natural state of affairs." That is just sophistry. If you want to see creative endeavors dwindle, just keep pursuing this path. No matter how you phrase it, it's my work. And you want to be able to access it for free. Perhaps not now, but eventually. Yes words can be reproduced with minimal effort. And whether my work can be reproduced with minimal effort doesn't reduce its value. The original creation is where the toil is heaviest, and for that, the creator should be able to decide about how and when the work is used.
Imagine if we apply this to all property that is created. Should a farm be given to the community after the death of its owner? The owner who tilled the ground, removed fieldstones, nurtured an orchard or vineyard? After all, it's just "an investment" of the farmer's time.
And your last comment is apt. As writers and others involved in creative endeavors find that their works are being exploited by people, they'll stop creating them.
Why should you have any say? It's my creation. The fact that I chose to write it is my decision as an author. I don't give a rats ass about the public domain. The profit incentive has done more for advancing humanity than this silly notion that everything should be "free." My intention is to create something, and sell it. Why government has a role in this in any fashion other than applying some tax on the sale/license of what I create, is just simply socialism.
It's pretty simple. It's my property, my creation, mine to do with as I see fit, including sell it. It's mine to bequeath to my heirs if I choose. The fact that I would want to retain as much control over this is perfectly natural. The idea that to "protect" my property I have to eventually give it to the public domain is kleptocratic.
This is a fundamental problem many people have with Stallman et.al. If you want to read my book, pay me. Otherwise GTFO.
I love how it's so fashionable to tell people what they should and shouldn't be allowed to do with things they've created. As a writer, I take a huge risk whenever I write. First I have to have an idea that's both interesting and marketable. Yet in your world, my property, my sweat and blood, my time, my thoughts, wrapped in words, become something to be milked by the government through what's essentially an estate tax on my heirs.
In addition to removing the economic value from my work, you'd give control of it to the public domain. Screw you. I thought up the ideas, I spent my time putting them down, I spent effort and money marketing myself, I spent time and money educating myself so that my writing has some economic and aesthetic value.
You and your allies are nothing but leeches wishing to take advantage of other people's works.
Fraud. The fact that you think this is fraud just goes to show the futility of infantilization. FYI fraud is a specific legal term that implies far more intent even your limited, Perry Mason knowledgebase shows. And to think when I grew up the "me generation" was the bane of the world. Little did we know that the future generations would expect even more potty-training.
You're a perfect example of why our current trend in infantilizing our youth is going to be the death of Western Civilization. You need a carebear world where no one ever offends you, where everything works the way "you think it should," where everything needs a warning label on the box otherwise the manufacturer is "negligent." GET A GRIP. Every "unreasonable assumption" you've made in this entire thread is just a sign of this.
And to all the folks who will cry out "ad hominem" about my post, think about it for a second.
Obviously you have no clue...
No Landscape mode outside of Safari? How about Landscape with youtube, with movies, with TV shows, with music, with photos? Guess there's no landscape mode outside of Safari.
Say Hi to Hugo, and enjoy your freely elected dictator.
And it's doubly ironic that a site that is geared towards overclocking and hardware would have a writer who was so fundamentally scared to follow the steps to open a Macmini and add additional RAM. But that's what fills in for journalism these days...
There's no clause in the constitution about the "separation of church and state." None. Try again.
For god's sake learn to spell. It's whining, not whinging wtf that is.
In your own words, you "don't know much about the subject" but yet you repeat the same cruft twice. Here's a LART for you. STFU if you don't know much about a subject.
e.e. cummings wants his style back...
Sorry, Lucas didn't write The Empire Strikes Back. Donald Glut did.
Sure it's a portable computer, but it's not a moron-proof computer. Any idiot who puts a computer around any type of liquid deserves what they get. I always recommend the http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000 809P2Q/qid=1136335960/sr=1-9/ref=sr_1_9/103-078829 5-7168611?v=glance&s=toys for folks who are too clueless to treat their computers with adequate respect.
Nice factoids, except they're lacking in both fact and corroboration. First of all, the atomic bombs were not shipped by plane. Yes they were dropped by plane, but they were shipped by truck/rail and by ship. The Indianapolis was responsible for delivering the first two to Tinian.
Do you have any links to support Truman stopping the fire raids on Tokyo?
Your third point matches my anecdotal encounters.
Spoken like someone who's never had to restore in an emergency. If you trust Veritas blindly, you'll be out of work if DR is your domain. Good luck.
Bin Laden didn't receive aid from the Carter Administration. He wasn't even involved in the jihad in Afghanistan until much later. And besides, I don't believe a word Brzezinski says. He'll do anything to burnish the poor foreign policy record of the Carter Administration.
That's a non sequitur. Microsoft hires the best talent that applies to MS, not necessarily the best talent in the industry. Lots of smart people are uninterested in working for MS, and money doesn't necessarily change that, especially for the best in the industry. They can get jobs anywhere they want.
THis fantastical outcome has zero chance of success, and betrays your lack of knowledge. UBL is a salafist, Sunni wahhabist. The predominate majority of Moslems in Iraq are Shiite. You might end up with an Iranian style theocracy (rare chance considering Sistani's influence), but not the type of state that bin Laden wants.
Can you say "forged documents?"
Like a 900MHZ box on a Powerbook G4? Brother, you've got to share what you're smoking.
I'm running VPC7 on a dual 2.5GHZ G5 with 2GB of RAM and the user experience is closer to a 500MHZ Pentium II. VPC 6 on my 1GHZ G4 Powerbook was unusable. VPC5 on my dual 867 G4 was a bit better, but no way close to a 900MHZ.
" It's not like most of them can read anyway."
Wow, what a funny guy. Nice of you to insult an entire group of people. Not only are you a rude idiot, but a) you can't spell, and b) you're factually incorrect. Today's military (US that is) has a higher education level than the general populace. But then again, you're proof of that...
Canon and Nikon have complete domination of the digital SLRs. Where will Kodak find a niche?
c ts/cameras/dcsPro14n/dcsPro14nIndex.jhtml?id=0.1.1 8.22.3.18&lc=en
I'd say that Kodak isn't quite out of the running when it comes to the high end digital SLR. http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/produ