The Chinese market is bloody enormous, and it's all going high-tech. If the world doesn't erupt in flames, then a LOT of laptops and personal computers are going to be sold in China.
IBM, probably recognizing the difficulties in cross-culture sales, is handing the reins over to a native company -while retaining 18.9 of the stakes-.
Some humble mathematics. ..
350 million people in the U.S. versus 1.5 billion people in China. Having 18.9% of the Chinese market is about the same as having access to 80% of the U.S. market. --With two major differences. ..
1. No overhead or management headaches, which means on-going income without having to actually work for it.
2. The Chinese market is rising while the U.S. economy is going into decline. This is a clever way to maintain an income in an unsteady economic climate on 'homeland' soil. (As Walmart funnels boatloads of U.S. green backs East, some of it will come back by default by way of computer sales.)
Plus, somebody else mentioned some heavy tax write-off benefits in the short term.
Sounds like a really smart move for IBM; a way to get a free ride on the success of a rising industrial nation which would be hard to access otherwise. --After all, employing cheap Chinese suicide labor in railway manufacture stopped being an easy money venture long ago.
Now that such a powerful social pillar as Star Wars is being sent as quickly down the toilet as Lucas can pump the flusher, that the swing towards Windows and IE becomes apparent? Water seeks its own level, as they say. ..
Are those rips of the original 3 Star Wars films from Laser Disk available yet?
Come on, people! The clock is ticking! I want copies before the Bush Empire starts sending Star Destroyers after file sharers!
[. ..] of the 928 papers they found, 75% accepted that global warming was caused by human activities, either explicitly or implicitly. 25% made no mention either way. And not a single paper asserted otherwise."
They clearly didn't bother to poll Slashdot. Had they consulted the thinkers here, they would have found their results to be roughly reversed.
This was always the prediction, too. (Just to really rub it in. ..)
-That once the stubborn denial finally broke down under the weight of objective reality, that the wishful-thinkers, unwilling to give up their positions of studied arrogance, would turn around and provide us with such wonderfully mature (and wildly inaccurate) epithets as, "It's still the Environmentalists fault because they oppose nuclear power!" and "Well, that's good, because now the world will have better growing seasons!"
--All of which boils down to, "Yeah? Well, so what? I'm STILL better than you! (Even though you were right.)"
I find it interesting that looney toon psychopaths like Nixon's G. Gordon Liddy hold similar views on global warming. What does that say?
I can't stand 99% of Japanese consumerist bullshit.
Thank goodness those #%&x@! "Hello Kitties" have faded from pop culture. That was what? About ten years of eye-gouging?
Pardon me. I recognize that this is just a case of cultural incompatibility and that given enough distance, Western culture is just as stupid, but I'll tell you. . , nothing makes the hackles rise on my hairy white barbarian body more than distilled Japanese Cute. --It draws bubbling up from the depths of my gene pool the urge to swing a battle axe like nothing else.
I swear those damned kitties are some sort of Zen test.
Open your eyes and read some history, you jackass.
No. You open your eyes and re-read my post. You're reacting -in anger- to things which I did not say.
I do not believe in forcing the redistribution of property and wealth. I do not believe that collectivist government is in anybody's best interest. I do not believe that government is in anybody's best interest except those in government. I believe it is wrong to force my beliefs on somebody else; To remove choice. To do so is selfish. It is the essence of, 'Me First'. Given those beliefs, how on earth do you presume to call me a jackass for the reasons you give?
And this is why I say it comes down to definitions. We obviously believe several of the same things, but use different words. Your anger is misplaced, undue and reactionary.
I know my history, and I know how totalitarian movements arise. 'Me-Firsters' render such systems impossible, and so there is no point in trying to build them. I am responsible for myself only, and I will treat people with respect and I will share my resources with them if they are also respectful people who are willing to share their resources. This is not a model for government, this is a model for a successful life. I have many friends, and I have become a respected member of my community. I will not con or mistreat anybody, I take pride in the fact that I am trust worthy and giving. People treat me with the same considerations in return.
Adopting liberal behavior, -not being a greedy me first child- has benefited me and my community tremendously, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to everybody.
As for the U.S. being "far and away better than most of the rest of the world". . . Anybody who believes that has, A) Never traveled anywhere. B) Is over-simplifying at best and downright ignorant at worst, and either way should not be lecturing anybody on history. C) Is not on the business end of the U.S. plunger.
During Hitler's most prolific years, the overwhelming majority of Germans also believed their nation was the best thing in the world. Hitler was democratically voted into office.
I sympathize with your situation, but the hard truth is that Software is not going to be so easily controlled. --So long as the medium of its conveyance is such that it can be infinitely replicated for zero cost and work effort, software will spread like fire.
I believe that it is possible to be indirectly sustained by giving freely of oneself. Giving in one area will create returns in unexpected areas. This system is based on invisible but universal principals and it works. --However, it requires Faith, purity of Intent and enough Flexability of mind so that one can see and capitalize on opportunities when they arise. These are not necessarily easy things to achieve, however, and while they work very well, (I find), it certainly doesn't hurt to attempt to understand the material aspects of the systems you want to survive within. Direct solutions must be understood as well as indirect ones. ..
This being the case. . . The ways I've seen to make money from software in its current paradigm are. ..
A: Create software which is large and complicated and not easily distributed. When it is easier to pay money for a hard copy than it is to hunt down free versions, people will be much more willing to pay. There's absolutely nothing wrong with aiming your efforts toward providing valuable services which do not easily lend themselves to free distribution.
B: Copy protection. (Which nobody has ever perfected to my knowledge.)
C: Control public perception and laws so that people with money feel the need to pay for software rather than take it for free. This seems to work well in corporate environments.
D: Combinations of the above.
Another alternative is to create societies in which people are paid for their value, as one of your models partly suggests. Programmers, like the bakers and builders, etc., would be given the means to live because they are valued by their society.
On the large scale, such a systems boil down to Socialism, which terrifies people because it inherently disallows greed and the possibility of massive personal wealth. --And there are too many corrupt people for such systems to work on massive scales. --It can be done in small groups, however, in bubble realities where people are paid what they are worth for providing their services to the rest of the group, (this is the model corporations and businesses follow). It should be possible to work this solution in different kinds of group which are less oppressive, I would think.
Of course, this is not made easy because the nature of today's world is one of increasing control and slavery. It is very difficult to be self-employed because the current paradigm is opposed to people having freedom.
So what options does this leave you with? Here are a few to consider. ..
1. -Learn some new skills. Computers are largely a tool of population and mind control anyway. Learn something which does not depend on them. The more skills you acquire and enjoy, the more power you have to make your way in the world. Problems within groups tend to be chaotic in nature; the more adaptable one is, the more valuable.
2. -If you want to focus your skill set within the digital world, then don't bother developing programs which already exist. This is very difficult, since virtually every conceivable application has already been made countless times, and those which have not been made well, are being steadily improved upon by hobbiests who are happy to work for free. Unless you can convince somebody to pay you to custom-build software for them, it seems like a very difficult task to make money within the realm of popular application software.
3. So what else can you make? I'd suggest making, Content. --Something which is new and which people constantly want replenished. New games. New stories. New music, etc. Various types of copy-hampering can be used to increase the
A mindset like that scares the hell out of me and makes me glad I'm not an ultra-liberal who actually supports this type of behavior.
The war of definitions is such a game which cannot be won. There are, as I see it, at least four different and completely unrelated definitions for the words, "Liberal" and "Conservative".
On the one hand, "Liberal" implies to some the idea that governments should not allow personal gain or individuality of any kind so that all people are treated equally, --an ideology which would certainly lead to fascist nightmares like China.
On the other hand, "Liberal" implies to others that people should be treated with healthy respect and given the room to grow and live in freedom. Liberal = Liberate = Free. This is how I define the word, and I define, "Conservative" as the opposite view point. By this definition, China is the product of Conservative ideology. --Where only a small group of people have huge freedom while the masses suffer under Draconian controls.
When it comes down to it, these words are pretty useless for describing different view points, exactly because there are multiple definitions for each and high emotions attached to the different concepts.
Beneath this shouting match, I see only two different approaches:
1. People who believe in, "Me First, Screw Everybody Else." (An ideology, which if left to its own devices, ultimately results in the pooling of power within very small groups. It is upon this model that Fascism is based. --And societies which live in the illusion of freedom, but which are anything but free. --Like the U.S.)
2. People who believe in, "I'll share with those who are also working to build a better world and who are also willing to share". (A model which the 'Me First' people despise because it would stop them from enslaving and raping and building Walmarts.)
These two models cannot co-exist, and neither model can ultimately prevail in this world. This is why there will always be strife and war in this reality. This level of existence is a giant stew pot designed to teach the basics of civility and appropriate behavior. --Those who learn all their lessons and get fed up with trying to make sensible systems work here, will finally move on to higher levels where entire non-selfish paradigms can exist. Those who decide to embrace selfishness can also rise to levels where pure selfishness can also exist. Service-to-self people are prevented, however, from moving beyond that point.
If you're here in this life to do something, then the chances are you already either know what that thing is, or you have a strong inkling. Get the heck on with it. Courage is needed, we're on a serious clock and every contribution is vital. Climbing mountains while reciting scigeek-lore is no better than spinning in circles.
Ahh! It's, "near Tanhauser Gate"! --I must have listened to that clip of audio twenty times trying to figure out what was being obscured. The best I could settle on was, "at ten thousand feet".
Last time I tried IM, it was because a bored 20 year-old girl wanted to chatter about nothing and waste time. Yes, she was cute. Although I quickly got fed up with typing mindless messages back and forth with no real capacity for interesting discussion. 20 year-old girls are nice when you're also 20. Add ten years and chances are you're going to have communication issues.
IM is neat because you can use it to move files directly. There is an immediacy to the medium which fits when it fits. I know another girl who uses IM with a webcam to stay in touch with her family who lives far away across the nation. Meaningless chatter is comforting. Seeing a busy kitchen in the background while she types to her sister makes her feel connected to the family. Email can't do this.
But for word-dense messages which require forethought and precision? Email is the better way.
For actual conversations? Telephone.
And if I really want to socialize, I leave the house. Web-socializing is a thin and irritating replacement. But if you're a kid, I'm sure it's exciting. Every new medium is there to be explored, and the people it best suits will do the exploring. Interestingly, the medium will also mold and change people in both subtle and gross ways for life. For the better or the worse? That's up to time, and that's half the fun. We live many lives exactly so that we may explore many different avenues of existence. Being carved into strange and wonderful/horrifying shapes isn't the end of the world. It's the price of admission.
I'm getting sick and tired of conspiracy theorists on Slashdot.
Rationalism.
The trouble lies only half with the psychopath. The other half lies with those who do backflips in order to rationalize the psyschopath's insane & destructive behavior.
The United States is going down the flusher; economically, militarily, socially, politically. You name it, Bush is deliberately trashing his country, and he's only getting started. It takes work to do so much damage so quickly.
--You voted for somebody you didn't like simply in order to vote against Bush, so you obviously recognize on some level what kind of specimen Bush is. If that is so, then what on earth makes you think he is honest and well-meaning enough to not to attempt to corrupt an election?
As 'sick and tired' as you may feel, to pretend that the current course of the U.S. is, -or ever was- in the hands of voters is a product of naivete. --But if that is too alarming thought for a fragile sense of reality, then sure, go back to the rationalist's pretend world where Television News always tells the truth, Terrorists are not encouraged by those with stock in the arms industry, (like the Bushes), those Anthrax spores didn't originate from a U.S. military lab, Flu shots are good for you, and Wellstone's plane went down accidentally. And where Bush would never, never cheat to win an election.
Stupid people are the reason the world is going to hell. Thank you for your contribution.
-FL
Well. . , when it comes to that. . .
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Your message implies not just that all these various things are true, but also that they are related, and there's a person or group behind them, orchestrating them. That's what I mean by conspiracy theory.
I have numerous reasons I consider virtually water-tight to believe that they are indeed related, but I'm afraid I cannot share the best of those reasons. All I can do is to point at the crimes and suggest that people ask how it could be that such a stacked deck could come into play. --And then to follow the strings back to the hands.
I recognize that correlation does not proove causation. --But to ignore correlation when the balance of convenient events tips beyond a reasonable measure is foolhardy. Simply put, correlation IS often linked to a related cause.
But no, I cannot proove to you that which must be discovered personally. Knowledge isn't free. One has to expend effort to seek it. I have already found my way. Your way is your problem.
Okay, maybe it sounds plausible, but as my subject says, do you have any evidence for this conspiracy theory?
First off, none of this is conspiracy theory. I'm simply referencing stuff anybody can look up. These aren't contested items. They're just ugly and as a result tend to be ignored by people who don't like ugly things.
Food. .. Back in 1991, the first Food Pyramid Guide was slated for release in the U.S. This was delayed because of the outcry from various sectors in agriculture. The guide was re-designed by politicians and released the following year.
"When our version of the Food Guide came back to us revised, we were shocked to find that it was vastly different from the one we had developed. As I later discovered, the wholesale changes made to the guide by the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture were calculated to win the acceptance of the food industry. [. ..]
"Where we, the USDA nutritionists, called for a base of 5-9 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a day, it was replaced with a paltry 2-3 servings (changed to 5-7 servings a couple of years later because an anti-cancer campaign by another government agency, the National Cancer Institute, forced the USDA to adopt the higher standard). Our recommendation of 3-4 daily servings of whole-grain breads and cereals was changed to a whopping 6-11 servings forming the base of the Food Pyramid as a concession to the processed wheat and corn industries. Moreover, my nutritionist group had placed baked goods made with white flour -- including crackers, sweets and other low-nutrient foods laden with sugars and fats -- at the peak of the pyramid, recommending that they be eaten sparingly. To our alarm, in the "revised" Food Guide, they were now made part of the Pyramid's base."
-Luise Light, Ed.D former USDA architect of the original version of the Food Pyramid.
This one is a huge subject, with many studies I might reference. Anybody who wants to learn about it can do so quite easily these days. This article is a reasonably well-written piece I chose for it's capacity to communicate the basic elements of how microwave EM can affect human physiology and psychology. It is not the final word on this subject by any means. Further investigation is up to you.
Television. ..
Television has a powerful impact on the way the brain functions. Nobody argues the fact. Here is one quote which sums it up neatly. ..
"High levels of chaotic brain activity are present during challenging tasks like reading, writing, and working mathematical equations in your head. They are not present while watching TV. Levels of brain activity are measured by an electroencenograph (EEG) machine. While watching television, the brain appears to slow to a halt, registering low alpha wave readings on the EEG. This is caused by the radiant light produced by cathode ray technology within the television set. Even if you're reading text on a television screen the brain registers low levels of activity. Once again, regardless of the content being presented, television essentially turns off your nervous system."
This post references the election of 5 years ago as "stolen" and claims that mercury is included in Flu shots to "stupify" the general populace.
Well, actually I was referencing this most recent election, but you know, the first one might indeed more accurately be described as the one which was stolen. This most recent was not even fought over by the opposing candidate, so what do you even call that? --But it is interesting that you should immediately jump to the conclusion on your own as to which election I was talking about, --seeing as you supposedly don't think it is true. ..
As for mercury in flu shots. . . What can I say? There IS mercury in flu shots. --And in many other vaccines as well. There is no debate as to whether or not this is true. It is an accepted fact. It's on the ingredient list. Look up 'thimerosal', the trade name for a mercury-based preservative. The fact that mercury causes brain and nerve damage is also wide accepted as factual. I'm not sure what you're finding exception with here. ..
How in the HELL has it been modded 'interesting'?
My post was probably modded interesting because it raised relevant facts which some people were not aware of and presented them in a way which attempted to demonstrate their importance to current thinking. Whether my post was interesting or not, clearly, depends on one's point of view. You, for instance, found the claims to be outrageous enough to respond. --And they are outrageous, but also true. Which certainly makes them interesting, don't you think?
You are cordially invited to move to the glorious Ukraine and enjoy your new found paradise for the remainder of your days.
I don't need to. I'm not an American. --I'm not saying that civil war is a pleasant sounding thing, but I do say that I respect those who would rather fight for their freedom than pretend that they are free while living lives saturated with lies.
Good luck to you.
-FL
Yeah, yeah. I know advertising pays for. . .
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stuff on the main stage, but the Powers That Be couldn't be happier.
Advertising is only the surface of the mind-control. The main body of the messages which drill into your brain while you are being hypnotically opened by the fine-tuned strobing of the CRT are built into the fine shows themselves.
How can you tell it's working. . ?
Look at the Ukraine: As of two days ago, they ALSO had a fraudulent election split almost exactly down the middle. And when the criminal element there tried to say, "We won. Now go back to your homes," the citizens there had the balls to gather 300,000 people strong in front of the parliament buildings in freezing rain and demand that the criminal leadership step down immediately and that the guy they actually voted for be put in. The country is on the edge of un-civil war, (or they were yesterday; I've not reviewed the situation yet this morning.)
In any case, Ukrainians have many, many more balls than the fine people in the U.S.
Now how could this be so?
I'll tell you. It's a hundred things really, but a brief sampling of the list include. ..
Flu shots filled with brain-damaging extra goodies like Mercury making people slow, tired and STUPID.
An education system pushing the deliberately broken 'food pyramid' at kids, which makes people fat, over-starched, slow, tired and STUPID.
Cell phones which addle the brain, making people slow, tired and STUPID.
Hyper-promotion of electronic entertainment, not the least of which is television with it's moronic messages and distractions making people slow, tired and STUPID.
How do you steal an election? Diebold will get you the fake numbers, but if you want to stop the people from storming the halls of government to tar and feather a criminal psychopathic 'leader', you need to make sure that they HAVE NO BALLS.
Free television is great. Only the chumps in marketing give a hoot. As long as people are watching the flicker-box, the Powers That Be are laughing. At you.
It means that the idiot cell-phone market, (and yes, I'm talking about YOU), is going to drive down prices on actual cameras.
I'll be happy when I can pick up a solid multi-megapixel camera for a instamatic prices.
The health of the economy is entirely a product of public perception. A mass hallucination controlled by the media. --So quit loafing about and start picturing something other than what the fucking pundits tell us! This whole dropping dollar thing sucks, and it sure isn't my fault. If Bush's handlers, (and their handlers) succeed in destroying the dollar to create cannon fodder for their asinine military, how the heck am I going to be able to get a hundred dollar camera with lots and lots of megas?
Come ON people! I want to shoot pictures of red-eyed puppies and nerdy friends making dumb faces in front of national monuments!
I was going to say something else here, but when looking up the correct spelling for, "Luddite" in my dictionary, (the paper one beside my desk, 'natch), I read the entry. ..
Lud~dite (lud'ït) In English industrial history, any or a band of workmen who joined in riots (1811-16) to wreck new textile machinery in the belief that its introduction reduced wages and increased unemployment. [. ..]
Hm. Turns out they were only partly right. As a result of new technology, people started demanding more in their products, which just means that the manual labor was needed in different areas of production. (Like the Third World) --Where it's cheaper to have Nike-slaves than it is to automate. And anyway, it keeps the people from doing dangerous things like growing food, educating themselves or forming functional governments.
Smashing industrial infrastructure sounds rather liberating some days. --Not because I fear for my job, but rather because I don't want a world which needs jobs in the first place. Some days, those hunter-gatherer societies with their 14 hour work-weeks sound pretty good. I could get used to living in a hut. Comfort is relative.
Oh. And about the phones. ..
Make mine a plug-in-the-wall, dumb as dirt kind. All my phone needs to know beyond its primary function is how to be dialed and to ring when somebody dials me.
It's not like the damned things don't already monitor our every word.
Well, they were also here illegally so fuck them and fuck you.
Yes. That was my point.
If you turn yourself in when there is an expectation of amnesty, which was the case during that incident, there is a very good chance you will still be punished if the agency delivering the promise has a history of deceitful behavior. Very basic.
But then I suppose, somebody functioning at your level of refinement can't really be expected to grasp such 'difficult' concepts. Don't worry. The game is rapidly deteriorating and will soon be moving at a speed you will probably find more accommodating. --Already you are increasingly encouraged to turn in your brown neighbors.
13,000 Arabs deported after voluntarily complying with a request from the U.S. immigration board to register. To trust a psychotic organization, either the United States government or Microsoft, is INSANE.
If Microsoft, (like the U.S.), happened to be in the business of killing people, who honestly thinks they wouldn't be killing people? Microsoft can go to hell, and probably will.
People need energy to live and produce. To create, one must consume. The trick is living in balance. --In making as clear and uncluttered a conduit of power out of yourself as possible. The level of clarity is determined by your Intent.
The Bad Guys are the ones who have knots tied in their systems; they are more interested in one-way transactions of energy, or coming as close to achieving one-way transactions as they can manage. Accumulating power for themselves is more important than in feeding the overall system of which they are a part.
When people join with the ethic of feeding easily to those who need, (but only to those who share the same ethic, otherwise the system is bled), as well as taking from the system when they themselves are in need, then the whole grows out of proportion to the sum of its parts. I don't think it is possible to create energy from nothing, but I think that these types of systems appear to do so because they have a way of grooving themselves to more easily accept and polarize the ambient energy of the world around.
--For example. . . When several people are working on an exciting and worthy project, others who are not even associated with that group feel compelled to help out or offer resources. I see this happen all the time.
The fact that people care about things like the GPL makes the effort of living on this planet worthwhile. It's nice to know so firmly what side of the fence one is on. The IP wars are one of today's most amazingly metaphoric and clearly delineated battle grounds of the Human spirit.
Those who create and wish to share are the Good Guys, while the Bad Guys are vile lawyers and manipulative billionaires. This corner of reality is like living in the pages of a four-color comic book.
When Hitler took power, a huge number of Germans hated the guy. That changed. At the height of his power, virtually everybody had joined the personality cult of Adolf. --He turned the economy around, won wars, and made Germans proud, blind and dead.
After Oliver Stone's work, it seems impossible that any rational person could still give credence to the, "Magic Bullet" theory. But that's the whole point to this particular kind of brain damage.
People will struggle to believe the bad guys because the alternative seems just too terrible.
Still. . . There are a helluva lot of Americans who know that so-called terrorism is deliberately manufactured for psy-ops purposes, that Bush is a lunatic, and that Kennedy was killed by the elite for numerous reasons, (among them being that he had the audacity to try to mint actual American dollars in an attempt to wrest the fiat money system back from the hands of a few private and very, very wealthy families).
You may be die a humiliating death on your knees within the next ten years, but if so, that's what you're here to experience. If you give them your soul, you lose; the Karma hit for going along with the lie will be very heavy. --It is understood by those who know, that the Jews destroyed in Nazi Germany were paying off massive Karmic debt for being bastards in previous lives, --paying for the huge crimes of Atlantis. (Not an island; a world hegemony. The U.S. is today's continuation of that pattern.)
Keep your eyes open, oppose where you are able, and do not fear. You are loved and never alone.
1. Cookie management capabilities have been limited. I used to be able to verify every cookie a site wanted to set. I enjoyed that. Why remove this feature? It's just a single radio button, after all!
2. The new 'Find' feature is more powerful but not well designed. The only way, once activated, to close its window is to get a cursor blinking in the entry bar and then hit, 'Escape'. That's really annoying. I preferred the pop-up requester, although even that could have used a bit more polish.
3. I'd like MUCH more control over images, both those stored in the image cache, (life-spans and visual sorting, etc.,), and over the permissions of those which want to load from a website. --One of the several reasons this matters to me is that I'm on a dial-up connection. (High-speed in my region is provided by crooks, and my internet requirements do call for it anyway.) I have not seen a browser yet which provided full image and cache control, and I'd like to see it added to Firefox.
Also. . . Slashdot STILL sometimes loads funny with Firefox 1.0 --What's up with that?
Keep in mind, I am not whining here. I love the open source movement, and Mozilla is one of the entities I respect the most. --But these things only improve when areas are pointed out which can use more work.
The scientific community has generally concluded, after years of study, that cell-phone networks, wireless networks, radiation from power lines, radio waves, etc. do not cause any health problems. There simply isn't enough energy in those waves to cause any damage.
This is perhaps the most prolific piece of mis-leading info promoted by the Telcos. The interesting part about it is that it is true.
It is true that there is not enough power in an EM signal to damage a cell through energetic heating. This is a fact. It takes a lot of power before cells will 'cook'.
However, this is not the issue. It has been discovered that low power signals can interact with the actual electrochemical processes of the brain itself on a functional level, not just a destructive level. This is where concerns rise.
One of the various mechanisms through which low power energy fields can affect the brain is called, Cyclotronic Resonance. --In short, in conjunction with the Earth's magnetic field, 60Htz electricity from the power grid causes naturally present Lithium ions in the blood stream to excite and move on a vector, increasing the absorption rate through the Blood-Brain Barrier. Lithium is known for its sedative effects and is used in numerous anti-depressant and mood altering medicines.
This is just one element of a very large issue, and it is one that is on certain levels of the population control system, quite deliberate.
Slashdot Mirror
IBM, probably recognizing the difficulties in cross-culture sales, is handing the reins over to a native company -while retaining 18.9 of the stakes-.
Some humble mathematics. .
350 million people in the U.S. versus 1.5 billion people in China. Having 18.9% of the Chinese market is about the same as having access to 80% of the U.S. market. --With two major differences. .
1. No overhead or management headaches, which means on-going income without having to actually work for it.
2. The Chinese market is rising while the U.S. economy is going into decline. This is a clever way to maintain an income in an unsteady economic climate on 'homeland' soil. (As Walmart funnels boatloads of U.S. green backs East, some of it will come back by default by way of computer sales.)
Plus, somebody else mentioned some heavy tax write-off benefits in the short term.
Sounds like a really smart move for IBM; a way to get a free ride on the success of a rising industrial nation which would be hard to access otherwise. --After all, employing cheap Chinese suicide labor in railway manufacture stopped being an easy money venture long ago.
-FL
Are those rips of the original 3 Star Wars films from Laser Disk available yet?
Come on, people! The clock is ticking! I want copies before the Bush Empire starts sending Star Destroyers after file sharers!
-FL
They clearly didn't bother to poll Slashdot. Had they consulted the thinkers here, they would have found their results to be roughly reversed.
This was always the prediction, too. (Just to really rub it in. .
-That once the stubborn denial finally broke down under the weight of objective reality, that the wishful-thinkers, unwilling to give up their positions of studied arrogance, would turn around and provide us with such wonderfully mature (and wildly inaccurate) epithets as, "It's still the Environmentalists fault because they oppose nuclear power!" and "Well, that's good, because now the world will have better growing seasons!"
--All of which boils down to, "Yeah? Well, so what? I'm STILL better than you! (Even though you were right.)"
I find it interesting that looney toon psychopaths like Nixon's G. Gordon Liddy hold similar views on global warming. What does that say?
-FL
Thank goodness those #%&x@! "Hello Kitties" have faded from pop culture. That was what? About ten years of eye-gouging?
Pardon me. I recognize that this is just a case of cultural incompatibility and that given enough distance, Western culture is just as stupid, but I'll tell you. . , nothing makes the hackles rise on my hairy white barbarian body more than distilled Japanese Cute. --It draws bubbling up from the depths of my gene pool the urge to swing a battle axe like nothing else.
I swear those damned kitties are some sort of Zen test.
Breathe in. Hold and count. . . Exhale.
Phoo.
-FL
No. You open your eyes and re-read my post. You're reacting -in anger- to things which I did not say.
I do not believe in forcing the redistribution of property and wealth. I do not believe that collectivist government is in anybody's best interest. I do not believe that government is in anybody's best interest except those in government. I believe it is wrong to force my beliefs on somebody else; To remove choice. To do so is selfish. It is the essence of, 'Me First'. Given those beliefs, how on earth do you presume to call me a jackass for the reasons you give?
And this is why I say it comes down to definitions. We obviously believe several of the same things, but use different words. Your anger is misplaced, undue and reactionary.
I know my history, and I know how totalitarian movements arise. 'Me-Firsters' render such systems impossible, and so there is no point in trying to build them. I am responsible for myself only, and I will treat people with respect and I will share my resources with them if they are also respectful people who are willing to share their resources. This is not a model for government, this is a model for a successful life. I have many friends, and I have become a respected member of my community. I will not con or mistreat anybody, I take pride in the fact that I am trust worthy and giving. People treat me with the same considerations in return.
Adopting liberal behavior, -not being a greedy me first child- has benefited me and my community tremendously, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to everybody.
As for the U.S. being "far and away better than most of the rest of the world". . . Anybody who believes that has, A) Never traveled anywhere. B) Is over-simplifying at best and downright ignorant at worst, and either way should not be lecturing anybody on history. C) Is not on the business end of the U.S. plunger.
During Hitler's most prolific years, the overwhelming majority of Germans also believed their nation was the best thing in the world. Hitler was democratically voted into office.
-FL
I believe that it is possible to be indirectly sustained by giving freely of oneself. Giving in one area will create returns in unexpected areas. This system is based on invisible but universal principals and it works. --However, it requires Faith, purity of Intent and enough Flexability of mind so that one can see and capitalize on opportunities when they arise. These are not necessarily easy things to achieve, however, and while they work very well, (I find), it certainly doesn't hurt to attempt to understand the material aspects of the systems you want to survive within. Direct solutions must be understood as well as indirect ones. .
This being the case. . . The ways I've seen to make money from software in its current paradigm are. .
Another alternative is to create societies in which people are paid for their value, as one of your models partly suggests. Programmers, like the bakers and builders, etc., would be given the means to live because they are valued by their society.
.
On the large scale, such a systems boil down to Socialism, which terrifies people because it inherently disallows greed and the possibility of massive personal wealth. --And there are too many corrupt people for such systems to work on massive scales. --It can be done in small groups, however, in bubble realities where people are paid what they are worth for providing their services to the rest of the group, (this is the model corporations and businesses follow). It should be possible to work this solution in different kinds of group which are less oppressive, I would think.
Of course, this is not made easy because the nature of today's world is one of increasing control and slavery. It is very difficult to be self-employed because the current paradigm is opposed to people having freedom.
So what options does this leave you with? Here are a few to consider. .
1. -Learn some new skills. Computers are largely a tool of population and mind control anyway. Learn something which does not depend on them. The more skills you acquire and enjoy, the more power you have to make your way in the world. Problems within groups tend to be chaotic in nature; the more adaptable one is, the more valuable.
2. -If you want to focus your skill set within the digital world, then don't bother developing programs which already exist. This is very difficult, since virtually every conceivable application has already been made countless times, and those which have not been made well, are being steadily improved upon by hobbiests who are happy to work for free. Unless you can convince somebody to pay you to custom-build software for them, it seems like a very difficult task to make money within the realm of popular application software.
3. So what else can you make? I'd suggest making, Content. --Something which is new and which people constantly want replenished. New games. New stories. New music, etc. Various types of copy-hampering can be used to increase the
The war of definitions is such a game which cannot be won. There are, as I see it, at least four different and completely unrelated definitions for the words, "Liberal" and "Conservative".
On the one hand, "Liberal" implies to some the idea that governments should not allow personal gain or individuality of any kind so that all people are treated equally, --an ideology which would certainly lead to fascist nightmares like China.
On the other hand, "Liberal" implies to others that people should be treated with healthy respect and given the room to grow and live in freedom. Liberal = Liberate = Free. This is how I define the word, and I define, "Conservative" as the opposite view point. By this definition, China is the product of Conservative ideology. --Where only a small group of people have huge freedom while the masses suffer under Draconian controls.
When it comes down to it, these words are pretty useless for describing different view points, exactly because there are multiple definitions for each and high emotions attached to the different concepts.
Beneath this shouting match, I see only two different approaches:
1. People who believe in, "Me First, Screw Everybody Else." (An ideology, which if left to its own devices, ultimately results in the pooling of power within very small groups. It is upon this model that Fascism is based. --And societies which live in the illusion of freedom, but which are anything but free. --Like the U.S.)
2. People who believe in, "I'll share with those who are also working to build a better world and who are also willing to share". (A model which the 'Me First' people despise because it would stop them from enslaving and raping and building Walmarts.)
These two models cannot co-exist, and neither model can ultimately prevail in this world. This is why there will always be strife and war in this reality. This level of existence is a giant stew pot designed to teach the basics of civility and appropriate behavior. --Those who learn all their lessons and get fed up with trying to make sensible systems work here, will finally move on to higher levels where entire non-selfish paradigms can exist. Those who decide to embrace selfishness can also rise to levels where pure selfishness can also exist. Service-to-self people are prevented, however, from moving beyond that point.
-FL
If you're here in this life to do something, then the chances are you already either know what that thing is, or you have a strong inkling. Get the heck on with it. Courage is needed, we're on a serious clock and every contribution is vital. Climbing mountains while reciting scigeek-lore is no better than spinning in circles.
-FL
Now it makes sense.
-FL
Last time I tried IM, it was because a bored 20 year-old girl wanted to chatter about nothing and waste time. Yes, she was cute. Although I quickly got fed up with typing mindless messages back and forth with no real capacity for interesting discussion. 20 year-old girls are nice when you're also 20. Add ten years and chances are you're going to have communication issues.
IM is neat because you can use it to move files directly. There is an immediacy to the medium which fits when it fits. I know another girl who uses IM with a webcam to stay in touch with her family who lives far away across the nation. Meaningless chatter is comforting. Seeing a busy kitchen in the background while she types to her sister makes her feel connected to the family. Email can't do this.
But for word-dense messages which require forethought and precision? Email is the better way.
For actual conversations? Telephone.
And if I really want to socialize, I leave the house. Web-socializing is a thin and irritating replacement. But if you're a kid, I'm sure it's exciting. Every new medium is there to be explored, and the people it best suits will do the exploring. Interestingly, the medium will also mold and change people in both subtle and gross ways for life. For the better or the worse? That's up to time, and that's half the fun. We live many lives exactly so that we may explore many different avenues of existence. Being carved into strange and wonderful/horrifying shapes isn't the end of the world. It's the price of admission.
-FL
Rationalism.
The trouble lies only half with the psychopath. The other half lies with those who do backflips in order to rationalize the psyschopath's insane & destructive behavior.
The United States is going down the flusher; economically, militarily, socially, politically. You name it, Bush is deliberately trashing his country, and he's only getting started. It takes work to do so much damage so quickly.
--You voted for somebody you didn't like simply in order to vote against Bush, so you obviously recognize on some level what kind of specimen Bush is. If that is so, then what on earth makes you think he is honest and well-meaning enough to not to attempt to corrupt an election?
As 'sick and tired' as you may feel, to pretend that the current course of the U.S. is, -or ever was- in the hands of voters is a product of naivete. --But if that is too alarming thought for a fragile sense of reality, then sure, go back to the rationalist's pretend world where Television News always tells the truth, Terrorists are not encouraged by those with stock in the arms industry, (like the Bushes), those Anthrax spores didn't originate from a U.S. military lab, Flu shots are good for you, and Wellstone's plane went down accidentally. And where Bush would never, never cheat to win an election.
Stupid people are the reason the world is going to hell. Thank you for your contribution.
-FL
I have numerous reasons I consider virtually water-tight to believe that they are indeed related, but I'm afraid I cannot share the best of those reasons. All I can do is to point at the crimes and suggest that people ask how it could be that such a stacked deck could come into play. --And then to follow the strings back to the hands.
I recognize that correlation does not proove causation. --But to ignore correlation when the balance of convenient events tips beyond a reasonable measure is foolhardy. Simply put, correlation IS often linked to a related cause.
But no, I cannot proove to you that which must be discovered personally. Knowledge isn't free. One has to expend effort to seek it. I have already found my way. Your way is your problem.
-FL
First off, none of this is conspiracy theory. I'm simply referencing stuff anybody can look up. These aren't contested items. They're just ugly and as a result tend to be ignored by people who don't like ugly things.
Mercury in your flu shot. . .
--Mercury in vaccines
Food. . .
Back in 1991, the first Food Pyramid Guide was slated for release in the U.S. This was delayed because of the outcry from various sectors in agriculture. The guide was re-designed by politicians and released the following year.
--1992 Food Pyramid corrupted by USDA and Agricultural interestes
Cell Phone EM. . .
This one is a huge subject, with many studies I might reference. Anybody who wants to learn about it can do so quite easily these days. This article is a reasonably well-written piece I chose for it's capacity to communicate the basic elements of how microwave EM can affect human physiology and psychology. It is not the final word on this subject by any means. Further investigation is up to you.
Television. . .
.
Television has a powerful impact on the way the brain functions. Nobody argues the fact. Here is one quote which sums it up neatly. .
--Article found here
Here is a larger data base of information on this subject.
So. . .
I know my first pos
Well, actually I was referencing this most recent election, but you know, the first one might indeed more accurately be described as the one which was stolen. This most recent was not even fought over by the opposing candidate, so what do you even call that? --But it is interesting that you should immediately jump to the conclusion on your own as to which election I was talking about, --seeing as you supposedly don't think it is true. .
As for mercury in flu shots. . . What can I say? There IS mercury in flu shots. --And in many other vaccines as well. There is no debate as to whether or not this is true. It is an accepted fact. It's on the ingredient list. Look up 'thimerosal', the trade name for a mercury-based preservative. The fact that mercury causes brain and nerve damage is also wide accepted as factual. I'm not sure what you're finding exception with here. .
How in the HELL has it been modded 'interesting'?
My post was probably modded interesting because it raised relevant facts which some people were not aware of and presented them in a way which attempted to demonstrate their importance to current thinking. Whether my post was interesting or not, clearly, depends on one's point of view. You, for instance, found the claims to be outrageous enough to respond. --And they are outrageous, but also true. Which certainly makes them interesting, don't you think?
You are cordially invited to move to the glorious Ukraine and enjoy your new found paradise for the remainder of your days.
I don't need to. I'm not an American. --I'm not saying that civil war is a pleasant sounding thing, but I do say that I respect those who would rather fight for their freedom than pretend that they are free while living lives saturated with lies.
Good luck to you.
-FL
Advertising is only the surface of the mind-control. The main body of the messages which drill into your brain while you are being hypnotically opened by the fine-tuned strobing of the CRT are built into the fine shows themselves.
How can you tell it's working. . ?
Look at the Ukraine: As of two days ago, they ALSO had a fraudulent election split almost exactly down the middle. And when the criminal element there tried to say, "We won. Now go back to your homes," the citizens there had the balls to gather 300,000 people strong in front of the parliament buildings in freezing rain and demand that the criminal leadership step down immediately and that the guy they actually voted for be put in. The country is on the edge of un-civil war, (or they were yesterday; I've not reviewed the situation yet this morning.)
In any case, Ukrainians have many, many more balls than the fine people in the U.S.
Now how could this be so?
I'll tell you. It's a hundred things really, but a brief sampling of the list include. .
Flu shots filled with brain-damaging extra goodies like Mercury making people slow, tired and STUPID.
An education system pushing the deliberately broken 'food pyramid' at kids, which makes people fat, over-starched, slow, tired and STUPID.
Cell phones which addle the brain, making people slow, tired and STUPID.
Hyper-promotion of electronic entertainment, not the least of which is television with it's moronic messages and distractions making people slow, tired and STUPID.
How do you steal an election? Diebold will get you the fake numbers, but if you want to stop the people from storming the halls of government to tar and feather a criminal psychopathic 'leader', you need to make sure that they HAVE NO BALLS.
Free television is great. Only the chumps in marketing give a hoot. As long as people are watching the flicker-box, the Powers That Be are laughing. At you.
Because you are slow, tired and STUPID.
-FL
But honestly. .
I think this is great!
It means that the idiot cell-phone market, (and yes, I'm talking about YOU), is going to drive down prices on actual cameras.
I'll be happy when I can pick up a solid multi-megapixel camera for a instamatic prices.
The health of the economy is entirely a product of public perception. A mass hallucination controlled by the media. --So quit loafing about and start picturing something other than what the fucking pundits tell us! This whole dropping dollar thing sucks, and it sure isn't my fault. If Bush's handlers, (and their handlers) succeed in destroying the dollar to create cannon fodder for their asinine military, how the heck am I going to be able to get a hundred dollar camera with lots and lots of megas?
Come ON people! I want to shoot pictures of red-eyed puppies and nerdy friends making dumb faces in front of national monuments!
-FL
Hm. Turns out they were only partly right. As a result of new technology, people started demanding more in their products, which just means that the manual labor was needed in different areas of production. (Like the Third World) --Where it's cheaper to have Nike-slaves than it is to automate. And anyway, it keeps the people from doing dangerous things like growing food, educating themselves or forming functional governments.
Smashing industrial infrastructure sounds rather liberating some days. --Not because I fear for my job, but rather because I don't want a world which needs jobs in the first place. Some days, those hunter-gatherer societies with their 14 hour work-weeks sound pretty good. I could get used to living in a hut. Comfort is relative.
Oh. And about the phones. .
Make mine a plug-in-the-wall, dumb as dirt kind. All my phone needs to know beyond its primary function is how to be dialed and to ring when somebody dials me.
It's not like the damned things don't already monitor our every word.
-FL
Yes. That was my point.
If you turn yourself in when there is an expectation of amnesty, which was the case during that incident, there is a very good chance you will still be punished if the agency delivering the promise has a history of deceitful behavior. Very basic.
But then I suppose, somebody functioning at your level of refinement can't really be expected to grasp such 'difficult' concepts. Don't worry. The game is rapidly deteriorating and will soon be moving at a speed you will probably find more accommodating. --Already you are increasingly encouraged to turn in your brown neighbors.
You'll probably fit right in.
-FL
He who leads into captivity. .
If Microsoft, (like the U.S.), happened to be in the business of killing people, who honestly thinks they wouldn't be killing people? Microsoft can go to hell, and probably will.
-FL
People need energy to live and produce. To create, one must consume. The trick is living in balance. --In making as clear and uncluttered a conduit of power out of yourself as possible. The level of clarity is determined by your Intent.
The Bad Guys are the ones who have knots tied in their systems; they are more interested in one-way transactions of energy, or coming as close to achieving one-way transactions as they can manage. Accumulating power for themselves is more important than in feeding the overall system of which they are a part.
When people join with the ethic of feeding easily to those who need, (but only to those who share the same ethic, otherwise the system is bled), as well as taking from the system when they themselves are in need, then the whole grows out of proportion to the sum of its parts. I don't think it is possible to create energy from nothing, but I think that these types of systems appear to do so because they have a way of grooving themselves to more easily accept and polarize the ambient energy of the world around.
--For example. . . When several people are working on an exciting and worthy project, others who are not even associated with that group feel compelled to help out or offer resources. I see this happen all the time.
-FL
Those who create and wish to share are the Good Guys, while the Bad Guys are vile lawyers and manipulative billionaires. This corner of reality is like living in the pages of a four-color comic book.
-FL
Just your thumb will do.
-FL
After Oliver Stone's work, it seems impossible that any rational person could still give credence to the, "Magic Bullet" theory. But that's the whole point to this particular kind of brain damage.
People will struggle to believe the bad guys because the alternative seems just too terrible.
Still. . . There are a helluva lot of Americans who know that so-called terrorism is deliberately manufactured for psy-ops purposes, that Bush is a lunatic, and that Kennedy was killed by the elite for numerous reasons, (among them being that he had the audacity to try to mint actual American dollars in an attempt to wrest the fiat money system back from the hands of a few private and very, very wealthy families).
You may be die a humiliating death on your knees within the next ten years, but if so, that's what you're here to experience. If you give them your soul, you lose; the Karma hit for going along with the lie will be very heavy. --It is understood by those who know, that the Jews destroyed in Nazi Germany were paying off massive Karmic debt for being bastards in previous lives, --paying for the huge crimes of Atlantis. (Not an island; a world hegemony. The U.S. is today's continuation of that pattern.)
Keep your eyes open, oppose where you are able, and do not fear. You are loved and never alone.
-FL
2. The new 'Find' feature is more powerful but not well designed. The only way, once activated, to close its window is to get a cursor blinking in the entry bar and then hit, 'Escape'. That's really annoying. I preferred the pop-up requester, although even that could have used a bit more polish.
3. I'd like MUCH more control over images, both those stored in the image cache, (life-spans and visual sorting, etc.,), and over the permissions of those which want to load from a website. --One of the several reasons this matters to me is that I'm on a dial-up connection. (High-speed in my region is provided by crooks, and my internet requirements do call for it anyway.) I have not seen a browser yet which provided full image and cache control, and I'd like to see it added to Firefox.
Also. . . Slashdot STILL sometimes loads funny with Firefox 1.0 --What's up with that?
Keep in mind, I am not whining here. I love the open source movement, and Mozilla is one of the entities I respect the most. --But these things only improve when areas are pointed out which can use more work.
-FL
This is perhaps the most prolific piece of mis-leading info promoted by the Telcos. The interesting part about it is that it is true.
It is true that there is not enough power in an EM signal to damage a cell through energetic heating. This is a fact. It takes a lot of power before cells will 'cook'.
However, this is not the issue. It has been discovered that low power signals can interact with the actual electrochemical processes of the brain itself on a functional level, not just a destructive level. This is where concerns rise.
One of the various mechanisms through which low power energy fields can affect the brain is called, Cyclotronic Resonance. --In short, in conjunction with the Earth's magnetic field, 60Htz electricity from the power grid causes naturally present Lithium ions in the blood stream to excite and move on a vector, increasing the absorption rate through the Blood-Brain Barrier. Lithium is known for its sedative effects and is used in numerous anti-depressant and mood altering medicines.
This is just one element of a very large issue, and it is one that is on certain levels of the population control system, quite deliberate.
-FL