Back when no one really understood the dangers of radiation and atomic blasts, instead seeing it as a miracle energy form, the US was a lot freer in using it. As a matter of fact, I remember seeing a video back in high school of a small atomic bomb being used to dig something out- I think it was (or is now, anyway) for a parking lot... don't ask me why they were nuking a parking lot in the us somewhere, but... even if we were to think it would be safe, I think that most people these days wouldn't want it to be a method used- just like a rehabilitated criminal wouldn't be accepted as a teacher, "clean" a-bombs might not be viewed as a good substitute for TNT. It's the public mentality.
Tuvalu got a TLD, despite the fact that almost no one in the country had internet access. So, they sold the rights to.TV (a company) and used the money to get into the UN... what I'd be interested in knowing is whether other countries might do this? Could this become another way around the domain name crunch- registering in another country's tld (a la what Tucows is advertising with.uk)?
At the time the internet was conceived- or computers, for that matter- the setup was insanely expensive. I highly doubt that "ernie's grocery" would have spent that much to calculate receipts... back then the driving need was to calculate missile trajectories. GOVERNMENT created that need whether you like it or not. At the time, computers were so expensive that you had to have a VERY good reason to want one... much less to pay enough to build many and network them. Look at history and think: how much longer would we have had to wait for computers- or Slashdot, for that matter- if we'd left "good old private industry" to do all the thinking? So give it a rest. As for Nader? Name even three issues you disagree with him on, then you can complain all you want.
I'm always amazed to see people on Slashdot say they're planning to vote libertarian. Why? Let's think about it: How can you support growth of the internet even while voting for a party that wants to dismantle the very government that created the internet in the first place? Yes, the government has grown a lot since it began- but let's face it. People WANT the services, and the government does a lot of things the private sector might not think to or even be able to do (such as creating demand for the first computers). Before you bash the bad things the government did, consider the good. And if you still don't like the bad... try Voting. It is very important- why else would candidates spend millions to get you out to the voting booth?
Actually, Discover also ran an article about something kind of similar a few months ago... it was a 3-D printer that used melted plastic beads, instead of water, so that the objects might be useful and not melt. Sure, you couldn't eat it, but... seems to be a similar concept, just a different approach. Still... it would be pretty expensive.
What is your vision for the role of government in the internet? For example, what types of legislation would you pass into law/veto dealing with technology? President Clinton recently signed a law giving digital signatures the force of law- do you believe this lays more of the internet open to fraud, and if so, what are your suggestions for resolving this?
I know this may sound like Flamebait, but I'm interested: For all that Katz is continually running features on the idiocy of government, has he ever voted? For every "libertarian" that posts on these boards, how many can define the word without a dictionary? The point is that voting rates among this demographic are probably lower than voting rates for "student council"- if you got 4 votes you'd won by a landslide. So, I'm trying to avoid being flamebait, but it's important to try and get the facts straight. Yes, Gore is known to exaggerate and who's to say whether he claimed to invent the internet? Sure, Bush would love to attack Gore- because that's what changes the minds of people who do vote. In the time it took Katz to write that anti-governmental piece- "no, not another Katz article!"- he could have actually closed his mouth and done something that makes a real difference- it's called "voting".
Just keep in mind that for all that Katz claims that politicians ignore technology... ever hear of the dmca? AHRA? Etc, etc, more 4 letter words? And ever notice how old rich guys- the ceo's of the companies that benefit from this- vote more? Can't imagine why Congress would pass laws that the people who voted for them would want.
-------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ---- This message will become flamebait in 5 seconds. And you thought Katz had issues!
As I read through, I was interested to see an article on politics on Slashdot, which is not known for its political coverage. Now I know why. Although many people continually mock our current system as rife with corruption and stupidity, or say that their representatives don't matter, it's time to face the real world. Politicians compete to get into office and make laws. And whether you like it or not, those laws (technically speaking) bind your actions. Tell me- if politicians are the ineffective dolts you proclaim them to be, how did they pass the DMCA? Oops! Also keep in mind that the next president will be the one to appoint enough supreme court justices to radically change the court just as we're headed towards rulings on M$ and various anti-hacking laws that DO affect you. The internet may be separate from politics but its fate is not. Just because you can hack into congress doesn't mean they can't make it illegal and the no one cares whether you voted for the guy who passed the law. It binds you all the same. My point? I could have voted 20x in the time it took me to write this post and I would have had a voice. What's to lose?
Think about it... Yahoo gets, by far, more visitors than Google. Thus, it's no surprise that Yahoo results utilizing the Google database will rise. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Goggle base results on popularity? Therefore, if many more Yahoo users view sites in a certain category than Google, and Yahoo rankings are different, than Google will in its own way reflect Yahoo usage. So, Yahoo is affecting Google- not being propped up. Give it a rest.
And if I'm wrong that's ok too.
First of all, Tenchi has been on for a while, and was heavily advertised even before that. Second, it has been extensively airbrushed, censored, and some of the dialogue was re-written. Personally, given the skittish nature of most TV censors, I'm surprised that they left Ryoko as a character... Does anyone know just how many episodes Toonami will carry? Some clips seemed to carry footage from more than one Tenchi series. This might still be an interesting story, albeit a week or two late.
I happen to have an account on Yahoo, and am very interested to note by way of comparison that a) The ads in AOL's mail area are bigger, and b) There's less junkmail on a service that is supposed to be supported by advertising than on AOL. And AOL wonders why old customers like me (I convinced my family to switch when I was using their account) are leaving in droves? Duh.
Actually, this was in the news before... back when that Meteorite from Mars was in the news- the one with the 'bacteria' in it- some scientists began to say that it was possible that life on Earth actually came from another planet's bacteria- again, that idea that Earth was seeded. I'd be interested to know if anything else ever came of that. So, what does the hypothesis really mean...?
It means: In Other words, I'm not the only Martian here.
How is Microsoft "destroying competition"? They may have a marketing department, but who's going to say that competition is dead? Macs haven't died out despite going head-to-head with Windows for years, and smart people are switching to Linux in droves. Not all of Microsoft's programs are the best- can you say "Pocket PC"?- and you can easily find free programs elsewhere that do the same thing as what Microsoft sells. I don't agree with Microsoft much, but I also don't see how breaking it up into two companies that won't compete with each other helps. And what happened to the plan to rip off an internet division as a third company? Sounds like the DOJ had some kind of a case, though- did they present it in Powerpoint?
Is there any proof that these knives are made from "meteorites"? There have been cases of people just sayinf it was... the selling point is "I own something from outer space". (Yeah, half those "stars" you can get named after you don't even exist when you check, yet more proof for PT Barnum...) Seriously- how do you prove it? I'm not trying to be flamebait, but this does seem pretty suspicious.
Slashdot Mirror
There's an ad for a ThinkGeek "map of the internet" on the top of this page. Coincidence? I think not.
Back when no one really understood the dangers of radiation and atomic blasts, instead seeing it as a miracle energy form, the US was a lot freer in using it. As a matter of fact, I remember seeing a video back in high school of a small atomic bomb being used to dig something out- I think it was (or is now, anyway) for a parking lot... don't ask me why they were nuking a parking lot in the us somewhere, but... even if we were to think it would be safe, I think that most people these days wouldn't want it to be a method used- just like a rehabilitated criminal wouldn't be accepted as a teacher, "clean" a-bombs might not be viewed as a good substitute for TNT. It's the public mentality.
Tuvalu got a TLD, despite the fact that almost no one in the country had internet access. So, they sold the rights to .TV (a company) and used the money to get into the UN... what I'd be interested in knowing is whether other countries might do this? Could this become another way around the domain name crunch- registering in another country's tld (a la what Tucows is advertising with .uk)?
At the time the internet was conceived- or computers, for that matter- the setup was insanely expensive. I highly doubt that "ernie's grocery" would have spent that much to calculate receipts... back then the driving need was to calculate missile trajectories. GOVERNMENT created that need whether you like it or not. At the time, computers were so expensive that you had to have a VERY good reason to want one... much less to pay enough to build many and network them. Look at history and think: how much longer would we have had to wait for computers- or Slashdot, for that matter- if we'd left "good old private industry" to do all the thinking? So give it a rest. As for Nader? Name even three issues you disagree with him on, then you can complain all you want.
I'm always amazed to see people on Slashdot say they're planning to vote libertarian. Why? Let's think about it: How can you support growth of the internet even while voting for a party that wants to dismantle the very government that created the internet in the first place? Yes, the government has grown a lot since it began- but let's face it. People WANT the services, and the government does a lot of things the private sector might not think to or even be able to do (such as creating demand for the first computers). Before you bash the bad things the government did, consider the good. And if you still don't like the bad... try Voting. It is very important- why else would candidates spend millions to get you out to the voting booth?
Actually, Discover also ran an article about something kind of similar a few months ago... it was a 3-D printer that used melted plastic beads, instead of water, so that the objects might be useful and not melt. Sure, you couldn't eat it, but... seems to be a similar concept, just a different approach. Still... it would be pretty expensive.
What is your vision for the role of government in the internet? For example, what types of legislation would you pass into law/veto dealing with technology? President Clinton recently signed a law giving digital signatures the force of law- do you believe this lays more of the internet open to fraud, and if so, what are your suggestions for resolving this?
Just keep in mind that for all that Katz claims that politicians ignore technology... ever hear of the dmca? AHRA? Etc, etc, more 4 letter words? And ever notice how old rich guys- the ceo's of the companies that benefit from this- vote more? Can't imagine why Congress would pass laws that the people who voted for them would want.
-------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ----
This message will become flamebait in 5 seconds.
And you thought Katz had issues!
Can you name two issues? One? I can. http://www.geocities.com/WPL510 Go learn.
Think about it... Yahoo gets, by far, more visitors than Google. Thus, it's no surprise that Yahoo results utilizing the Google database will rise. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Goggle base results on popularity? Therefore, if many more Yahoo users view sites in a certain category than Google, and Yahoo rankings are different, than Google will in its own way reflect Yahoo usage. So, Yahoo is affecting Google- not being propped up. Give it a rest. And if I'm wrong that's ok too.
First of all, Tenchi has been on for a while, and was heavily advertised even before that. Second, it has been extensively airbrushed, censored, and some of the dialogue was re-written. Personally, given the skittish nature of most TV censors, I'm surprised that they left Ryoko as a character... Does anyone know just how many episodes Toonami will carry? Some clips seemed to carry footage from more than one Tenchi series. This might still be an interesting story, albeit a week or two late.
I happen to have an account on Yahoo, and am very interested to note by way of comparison that a) The ads in AOL's mail area are bigger, and b) There's less junkmail on a service that is supposed to be supported by advertising than on AOL. And AOL wonders why old customers like me (I convinced my family to switch when I was using their account) are leaving in droves? Duh.
It means: In Other words, I'm not the only Martian here.
How is Microsoft "destroying competition"? They may have a marketing department, but who's going to say that competition is dead? Macs haven't died out despite going head-to-head with Windows for years, and smart people are switching to Linux in droves. Not all of Microsoft's programs are the best- can you say "Pocket PC"?- and you can easily find free programs elsewhere that do the same thing as what Microsoft sells. I don't agree with Microsoft much, but I also don't see how breaking it up into two companies that won't compete with each other helps. And what happened to the plan to rip off an internet division as a third company? Sounds like the DOJ had some kind of a case, though- did they present it in Powerpoint?
Is there any proof that these knives are made from "meteorites"? There have been cases of people just sayinf it was... the selling point is "I own something from outer space". (Yeah, half those "stars" you can get named after you don't even exist when you check, yet more proof for PT Barnum...) Seriously- how do you prove it? I'm not trying to be flamebait, but this does seem pretty suspicious.