This is a great example of the cancer that is slowly rotting away the foundations of our judicial system.
The law of the land should be simple enough for every layman (and woman) to understand it. Each and everyone of us should be able to defend him/herself without having to resort to paid help, who interpret the letter of law for you or, like in this case, tell you what the judge is saying.
I mean, if somebody has the time and know how to do something like create an awesome ubervirus, are they really going to it?
Yes. And why?
"Why did you do it?" "Because I could."
I still think that is the best and the most honest answer such a person with above average intelligence could give. Boredom and frustration combined with a chance for a worthy intellectual challenge. Add a political or a personal motivation (vengeance against a person/society/human race, for instance) to that and it suddenly becomes very tempting.
Do businesses do any kind of "vulnerability analysis" of their IT systems?
I mean, if you're doing business you should have at least some kind of a contigency plan for a partial or even total failure (whatever the reason) of your network connection. Fax, phones and the good old fashioned mail haven't gone anywhere. Use FedEx/UPS/DHL to ship critical documents and data on CD-ROM, DLT-tape or DVD-RAM if necessary. Isolate critical systems from the net physically, maintain a room of backup workstations to keep the priority work going on even in the case of a complete infection of the bulk of the workstations, etc.
It would be plain silly should a company come to a grinding halt due to a virus, denial of service attack or any net related event.
But so what? If a supervirus strikes, it will only affect single workstations ("Oh my. Something must be wrong with my Win98...") and shouldn't cripple any of the critical components of the net.
Yeah. Safety's always the buzzword. Have you been mugged or otherwise been a victim of a crime? I have and yet in my opinion we're far too paranoid about the crime already.
Sure. Tighten up the control over the society so that we're afraid to breathe. See if you're any happier then.
There's an obvious problem with this: there is no central authority who has the power to hand these guys a cease-and-desist order or risk prosecution.
One of the greatest things about Linux in general is that there is no central authority (well, ok Linus perhaps, but he doesn't really count because his authority is earned) who would dictate what is ok and and what isn't. A committee would be even worse. A "republic" of individuals who plays by a loose set of more or less commonly agreed rules is the only way to go. A lot like the scientific community.
If a company puts a sticker on a product saying that "Designed for Linux" and it doesn't work, then return the bloody thing and demand your money back. You're entitled to this even without "a central authority".
PS. And yes, I do have a problem with authority figures.
If they had started working on the idea of sending people to Moon with anything else than "big chemically fueled-rockets", we'd be really stuck: the moon would not have been visited and all the money would have been diverted to something "more worthwhile" like extending the federal bureaucracy.
I think the key is in the way how our brain is able to adapt to new situations. The image these cells deliver is certainly different from that of the real retina, but brain should be able to adapt.
This miserable, most likely fatal, failure will again serve as a good example of what happens when people without proper, formal training start messing with serious stuff. Which is good.
Only a crackpot would try to accomplish alone something that will always take the skill of thousands of people from the top 1% of university graduates. This moron is again one of those who think that formal education is waste of time and that inventing the wheel (and failing in it) is the right way. What a dork.
Accidental stepping on ants can hardly be compared to the intentional "farming" of animal drones in 2" x 2" cages and their subsequent mechanised slaughter.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not one of those types who think killing is always wrong. I'm also quite aware of the nature's seemingly cruel ways. The Nature, however, is fundamentally non-moral whereas we are either moral or immoral. Thusly, we cannot refer to Nature's example when it comes to deciding what is moral and what is not.
To my mind killing animals for food just isn't necessary and as such is evil.
I'd be interested in hearing why you think human life is somehow more valuable than that of another sentient being? The argument "we're different species" is just as valid as claiming that killing black people is ok if you're white (and live in Alabama).
Well, I am a vegan and see nothing funny about eating animals. This fake PETA site is as tasteful as a site making fun of other people's religion, culture or ethnic background?
This means that if the Supreme Court accepts the case, Microsoft cannot appeal the case to the slow and corporate friendly courts. And when the corporate equivalent of the StarWars' Death Star, namely Microsoft Inc., is eventually chopped up by the Supreme Court and all the dirty little secrets are revealed to the public in their full horror, it will be much easier to convince people of the danger that corporations represent.
This is yet another tool for the moral "majority" to control what kind of material is downloaded from the net.
How soon can we expect ISPs, most likely after being strong-armed by the government (just look what's happening in the UK), to start scanning data streams for porn images, unpopular political symbols or even faces? --Peter Dyck
I won't get offended by your sarcasm. I know that the realization that you were sold to the corporate slavemasters when you were born and have been controlled by their thugs from the federal "departments of official violence" (it's for your own sake, of course) ever since is always painful.
Don't let this get you down, however. Fight back. Figure out what's really going on, but don't rely on the mainstream media -- you know who owns them. Get other people informed, too. If nothing else, print a paper and sell it on the mall like you mentioned above.
It's like name resolving using only a single DNS server.
It shouldn't be too difficult to write a short script that would check all the links on one's web site periodically. Using a 40 terabyte database to effect this is insanely ineffective.
The reason why we are working even more today has nothing to do with the available technology. It has, however, everything to do with the prevalent political dogma that permeates the modern, post cold war societies in North America and Europe.
Corporatism.
As a demonstration of how little society's technological level correlates with its sense of morality, today's technology has been harnessed to the service of the meta-national corporate elite and their dogs-of-war, namely the law enforcement and military institutions.
While the technology already exists to allow people to work 4 days a week or even less and still maintain a sufficient, ecologically sustainable zero growth production level, this would not benefit the corporate elite. They benefit solely from maintaining the hybris of continuous growth; keeping people consuming more and more regardless of whether they need all the material goodness or not. In this great scheme of things the role for us, the little people, is that of the unquestioning and obedient consumer living in fear and under the gun of the law enforcement establishment. A consumer ready to sell out his fellow man in vain hope of getting something in return from his corporate masters. The ultimate nightmare of a good consumer would be the fall of his benefactors and collapse of the entire corporate world. No-one to tell him what to think; what is right, what is wrong, what is good, what is bad. It is the human condition.
This is the trap into which we have been lured in by false promises of comfort and safety. This is the prison from which we must escape.
I don't know where you get your "information". No democratic country in the world has 90% average income tax.
Norwegian countries? I suppose you mean the Scandinavian countries?
Well, I am from Denmark (although I live abroad at the moment) which is one of the Scandinavian countries. My tax level has always been less than 30%. The taxation in other Scandinavian countries is pretty similar usually capping out at 60% even if you're filthy rich.
Basic health care should not be a business because whenever there's business, the poor people will suffer. You say that cutting the prices will allow the health care industry to cover more people. In my opinion, health care should always be available to all people. I don't mind the private health care or private schooling as long as a free and adequate alternative exists.
Slashdot Mirror
The fact that death penalty still exists is just another demonstration of how the ignorant masses are allowed to rule.
Or then you just go and buy one from Russia.
The law of the land should be simple enough for every layman (and woman) to understand it. Each and everyone of us should be able to defend him/herself without having to resort to paid help, who interpret the letter of law for you or, like in this case, tell you what the judge is saying.
Yes. And why?
"Why did you do it?"
"Because I could."
I still think that is the best and the most honest answer such a person with above average intelligence could give. Boredom and frustration combined with a chance for a worthy intellectual challenge. Add a political or a personal motivation (vengeance against a person/society/human race, for instance) to that and it suddenly becomes very tempting.
I mean, if you're doing business you should have at least some kind of a contigency plan for a partial or even total failure (whatever the reason) of your network connection. Fax, phones and the good old fashioned mail haven't gone anywhere. Use FedEx/UPS/DHL to ship critical documents and data on CD-ROM, DLT-tape or DVD-RAM if necessary. Isolate critical systems from the net physically, maintain a room of backup workstations to keep the priority work going on even in the case of a complete infection of the bulk of the workstations, etc.
It would be plain silly should a company come to a grinding halt due to a virus, denial of service attack or any net related event.
But so what? If a supervirus strikes, it will only affect single workstations ("Oh my. Something must be wrong with my Win98...") and shouldn't cripple any of the critical components of the net.
Sure. Tighten up the control over the society so that we're afraid to breathe. See if you're any happier then.
And guess where their brightest scientists went after the WWII...
One of the greatest things about Linux in general is that there is no central authority (well, ok Linus perhaps, but he doesn't really count because his authority is earned) who would dictate what is ok and and what isn't. A committee would be even worse. A "republic" of individuals who plays by a loose set of more or less commonly agreed rules is the only way to go. A lot like the scientific community.
If a company puts a sticker on a product saying that "Designed for Linux" and it doesn't work, then return the bloody thing and demand your money back. You're entitled to this even without "a central authority".
PS. And yes, I do have a problem with authority figures.
If they had started working on the idea of sending people to Moon with anything else than "big chemically fueled-rockets", we'd be really stuck: the moon would not have been visited and all the money would have been diverted to something "more worthwhile" like extending the federal bureaucracy.
Sometimes you just have to go with what you got.
I think the key is in the way how our brain is able to adapt to new situations. The image these cells deliver is certainly different from that of the real retina, but brain should be able to adapt.
Only a crackpot would try to accomplish alone something that will always take the skill of thousands of people from the top 1% of university graduates. This moron is again one of those who think that formal education is waste of time and that inventing the wheel (and failing in it) is the right way. What a dork.
Well, it doesn't take much to get labeled a nut by suits:
"I'm not interested in making a lot of money. I'd rather share ideas/stuff."
"I would not lie/exaggerate/cheat to make profit."
"Public services are a good thing."
"Consumption is not everything."
etc.
High level CEO suits tend to exhibit clear signs of psychopatic behaviour in their utter disregard of human rights, environment and ethics.
You don't have to assign copyright to FSF.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not one of those types who think killing is always wrong. I'm also quite aware of the nature's seemingly cruel ways. The Nature, however, is fundamentally non-moral whereas we are either moral or immoral. Thusly, we cannot refer to Nature's example when it comes to deciding what is moral and what is not.
To my mind killing animals for food just isn't necessary and as such is evil.
I'd be interested in hearing why you think human life is somehow more valuable than that of another sentient being? The argument "we're different species" is just as valid as claiming that killing black people is ok if you're white (and live in Alabama).
Well, I am a vegan and see nothing funny about eating animals. This fake PETA site is as tasteful as a site making fun of other people's religion, culture or ethnic background?
This means that if the Supreme Court accepts the case, Microsoft cannot appeal the case to the slow and corporate friendly courts. And when the corporate equivalent of the StarWars' Death Star, namely Microsoft Inc., is eventually chopped up by the Supreme Court and all the dirty little secrets are revealed to the public in their full horror, it will be much easier to convince people of the danger that corporations represent.
--Peter Dyck
Thank you. Your reply just proved my point.
How soon can we expect ISPs, most likely after being strong-armed by the government (just look what's happening in the UK), to start scanning data streams for porn images, unpopular political symbols or even faces? --Peter Dyck
Don't let this get you down, however. Fight back. Figure out what's really going on, but don't rely on the mainstream media -- you know who owns them. Get other people informed, too. If nothing else, print a paper and sell it on the mall like you mentioned above.
It's like name resolving using only a single DNS server.
It shouldn't be too difficult to write a short script that would check all the links on one's web site periodically. Using a 40 terabyte database to effect this is insanely ineffective.
Microsoft is an epitomy of the modern, thoroughly immoral corporate mentality: profit at all costs.
Corporatism.
As a demonstration of how little society's technological level correlates with its sense of morality, today's technology has been harnessed to the service of the meta-national corporate elite and their dogs-of-war, namely the law enforcement and military institutions.
While the technology already exists to allow people to work 4 days a week or even less and still maintain a sufficient, ecologically sustainable zero growth production level, this would not benefit the corporate elite. They benefit solely from maintaining the hybris of continuous growth; keeping people consuming more and more regardless of whether they need all the material goodness or not. In this great scheme of things the role for us, the little people, is that of the unquestioning and obedient consumer living in fear and under the gun of the law enforcement establishment. A consumer ready to sell out his fellow man in vain hope of getting something in return from his corporate masters. The ultimate nightmare of a good consumer would be the fall of his benefactors and collapse of the entire corporate world. No-one to tell him what to think; what is right, what is wrong, what is good, what is bad. It is the human condition.
This is the trap into which we have been lured in by false promises of comfort and safety. This is the prison from which we must escape.
-Peter Dyck
Norwegian countries? I suppose you mean the Scandinavian countries?
Well, I am from Denmark (although I live abroad at the moment) which is one of the Scandinavian countries. My tax level has always been less than 30%. The taxation in other Scandinavian countries is pretty similar usually capping out at 60% even if you're filthy rich.
Basic health care should not be a business because whenever there's business, the poor people will suffer. You say that cutting the prices will allow the health care industry to cover more people. In my opinion, health care should always be available to all people. I don't mind the private health care or private schooling as long as a free and adequate alternative exists.