"State secrets" are much more likely to be facts that are embarrassing to the current administration than facts that, if generally known, would put us or our legitimate agents at risk.
Care to cough up twenty or so examples? Because I can name four (F-117, Valerie Plame's identity, Invasion of Normandy, Manhattan Project) right off the top of my head that "put our legitimate agents at risk."
Yes, some state secrets are just embarrasing. But most are actual secrets that have a just reason to be secret.
When in fact, there is no universal synchronicity.
Just because we're not able to perceive or measure it, or that it's not useful on a relativistic scale, doesn't mean it's doesn't exist.
"From the local frame of the universe as a whole" is a fine theoretical basis to correct the "reality isn't really real" line that relativity and quantum mechanics lead freshmen down.
That's not how patents work. If you change one thing and patent the new "invention", it's a new patent, completely separate from the original one. You have to reference the original, but there are no fees to be paid.
Those are the "worthless" design patents. What most of us think of as a "patent" is an "idea patent" -- like "waterbeds" or "tapping a card", "one-click" or "how to make a cheap OLED."
If a patent is really justifiable, we want it on government record. And so, a patent gives you mind-boggingly impressive legal leeway--you can charge anything or nothing, discriminate up the wazoo, and even if someone comes up with the same idea, your patent rules.
(Which is why you can patent slight variations, and no one cares. If they're not obvious, good, and if the original patent is still valid--well, you're boned.)
They're "complex" mostly because they're new and most mechanics don't know how to work on them. No, they're complex because there's two entire extra systems in there -- the alternator/motor and the coupling between the electric and gasoline power.
GM had an exhibit for awhile that placed all of the parts in a mainstream car, all of the parts in a hybrid car, and all of the parts in a hypothetical fuel-cell car. the first was a good twice the length of the second, which was a comparable length to the third.
He's better then the alternative... Lord Hillary. No, he's not. Hillary would be a fine president, as good as any other candidate who's thrown their hat in the ring. She's principled, seasoned, intelligent, and capable of working across party lines.
well, some guy in china is actually feeding himself on the effort.
No, some guy in china is scrambling up their class-ladder on this. China is a communist country: what happens to a chinaman who loses his "job" is a heck of a lot different than what happens to an American in the same situation.
Basically, everything released after Steamboat Willie is under copyright and will be forever.
The upper end of what can be construed as "limited term" is ~300 years -- twice the oldest human lifespan, allowing for a unique creation to be preserved for the entire life of the author, plus the entire life of a single heir.
Politically speaking, though, it's likely not to happen again. Disney is reaching (or has reached) a point where the cost in legal expenses and goodwill is greater than the "harm" of the public domain.
Edward Norton as Bruce Banner sounds kinda cool actually...but RDJ as Iron Man, I don't think Iron Man will be portrayed well hung over. You don't know Iron Man very well, then.
Well, at least people can still duck and cover if there's a nuclear attack. Hooray for worthless advice... No, not really "worthless." If you're far enough away to not be unavoidably killed (unless you're in a 30' lead bunker), but close enough that you are in danger, duck-and-cover does increase your chance of surviving the initial attack.
And if you are too close--well, it makes finding your remains a bit easier.
That means that Safari will likely become a standard for mobile browsing, as long as the iPhone emulates the iPod and becomes a massive hit.
Wow, you mean that if Apple dominates a market, they'll have an amazing way to shape said market? I'm in awe of your insight.
Except that a phone is not an iPod, and the iPod has a price point higher than my wife's laptop, before you pay for cell phone service. And nearly everybody who cares to have a cell phone already has one.
If a man is walking in a forest, and he's talking to himself, and there are no women around, is he still wrong? If he has to ask the question, then yes. If he knows that the rightness or wrongness of his answer is the same regardless of his gender, then no.
Women will date, dream of, and marry men. They do none of those to boys.
The current hurricane cycle is the same cycle we've been observing since we've started recording these things. The effect of ocean warming, if there is an effect, on hurricane intensity/frequency is currently not great enough to be measured. Why did you end your comment early?
"is currently not great enough to be measured with the data set we have to measure it against"
And numerous other instances that give lie to your statement that "... Windows goes to great pains to preserve backwards compatibility at all costs..."
The phrase was "DOS isn't done..."
Windows is not DOS. In fact, virtually every single design bug in windows can be attributed to either a desire to maintain backwards compataibility, or a final decision to draw a line and say "NO! Bad developer!"
Yet they're able to fly vehicles much more challenging to operate than cars, trucks and other road vehicles, remaining more safe statistically speaking, all while constantly making radio calls that are just as distracting as mobile calls are to drivers.
If you have a two-second emergency in an airplane, someone dropped the ball. If you have a two-second emergency in an automobile, well, you're just in rush hour traffic.
(Not to mention that re-testing everyone on the road is as impractical as deporting every illegal immigrant in the country.)
Speeding tickets are more about shaving the sheep (taxing the public) than encouraging public safety, imho.
No, they're not.
Speed limits are a lowest-common-denominator. Sure, YOU are a good enough driver to handle your low-center-of-gravity perfectly-maintained sports car on a clear day at video-game level speeds. But do you want a half-blind arthritic senior-citizen driving his top-heavy worn-down SUV at those speeds?
When you have so much Intelligent Design/Creationist proponents in positions of power it is natural that science education will suffer.
No.
What hurts is the advent of groupthink among scientists. Who gives a fuck if the universe was created in a big bang, or if it was created ~5400 years ago to LOOK like it was created in the big bang. Adopting either as dogma is ludicrous, and hurts science education -- they are both firmly beyond the realm of expermintally provable.
"Physics research" is getting more and more expensive because the simple ramifications of quantum mechanics and relativity have been worked out. What's left are complex permutations and refinements, with fewer and fewer returns from pure research.
Just think about it, over the air broadcasters are unable to show or talk about certain things...
During the day, using explicit language.
Nothing stops anyone from saying "You get AIDS from having sex!" or "Suzi Muslim was raped, beated, and burned alive today" at 3:00 PM in the afternoon, right when the kids get home.
It's not just a habit. Scratching both sides of your nose and straightening your forelock before you go to sleep is a habit. Cigarette smoking, for most people, is an addiction.
not after a year it's not.
You quit for a year? Guess what? You quit, and then a year later you started smoking again. You didn't fail at quitting--you succeeded!
I'm sick and tired of nic-addicts quitting, then having one cigarette, and throwing all caution to the wind and going back to a pack a day.
If it takes a $20 a pack tax and firing anyone who so much as brings a cigarette to any place of employement, let's do it.
As far as a software user is concerned, GPL and public domain are basically equivalent, except that GPL software is guaranteed to stay public domain forever.
Be careful with that word.
In 200 years every single line of copylefted code written today will be public domain. All it takes is someone making a meaningful contribution to them -- which I hope will be easy enough in two centuries -- to lock it down as they see fit.
And that's not even entertaining the notion of an abolition of the public domain, the militarization of computer copyrights, or the simple exclusion of software from copyright.
I want every single piece of music or software I buy to be that way -- I want to be able to have my entire house set on fire, build a new PC from parts, and replace everything, for a zero or near-zero fee, that I've ever bought through any all-electronic store.
A computer file is not a CD. It shouldn't be treated like a CD. I'll gladly give up the chance to re-sell it if I can only get a real license to it--something where I can call up RIAA and get my music collection back even if the transient medium is destroyed.
Heck, I want CDs like that to. I pay $20 for the next Metallica CD, I want to be able to snap it in half and get a new one for $5. Or $0, if I'm willing to burn my own via download.
(Your argument holds for bread, CD-blanks, and leather jackets, but not music.)
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"State secrets" are much more likely to be facts that are embarrassing to the current administration than facts that, if generally known, would put us or our legitimate agents at risk.
Care to cough up twenty or so examples? Because I can name four (F-117, Valerie Plame's identity, Invasion of Normandy, Manhattan Project) right off the top of my head that "put our legitimate agents at risk."
Yes, some state secrets are just embarrasing. But most are actual secrets that have a just reason to be secret.
Come now, there's no reason to make fun of him for writing "tern."
Preservation of the clarity of the written word justifies harassment of all mis-uses of any word. If he'd SAID "teern", you can be he'd be laughed at.
When in fact, there is no universal synchronicity.
Just because we're not able to perceive or measure it, or that it's not useful on a relativistic scale, doesn't mean it's doesn't exist.
"From the local frame of the universe as a whole" is a fine theoretical basis to correct the "reality isn't really real" line that relativity and quantum mechanics lead freshmen down.
Shouldn't it be just as unreasonable for them to expect me to pay for $240 worth of food for a whole busload of people in $20 bills or smaller?
They can always waive a posted rule -- they cannot always impose it if it isn't posted.
That's not how patents work. If you change one thing and patent the new "invention", it's a new patent, completely separate from the original one. You have to reference the original, but there are no fees to be paid.
Those are the "worthless" design patents. What most of us think of as a "patent" is an "idea patent" -- like "waterbeds" or "tapping a card", "one-click" or "how to make a cheap OLED."
If a patent is really justifiable, we want it on government record. And so, a patent gives you mind-boggingly impressive legal leeway--you can charge anything or nothing, discriminate up the wazoo, and even if someone comes up with the same idea, your patent rules.
(Which is why you can patent slight variations, and no one cares. If they're not obvious, good, and if the original patent is still valid--well, you're boned.)
GM had an exhibit for awhile that placed all of the parts in a mainstream car, all of the parts in a hybrid car, and all of the parts in a hypothetical fuel-cell car. the first was a good twice the length of the second, which was a comparable length to the third.
Just how obvious does the corruption in the White House have to be before you demand a change of government?
Via our regular way, Democracy? Hardly at all. Bush is gone come '09, and any Republican who follows him will have a tight line to walk.
Via the never successfully used impeachment method?
An American citizen needs to die on American soil due to their criminal (not simply amoral) behavior.
well, some guy in china is actually feeding himself on the effort.
No, some guy in china is scrambling up their class-ladder on this. China is a communist country: what happens to a chinaman who loses his "job" is a heck of a lot different than what happens to an American in the same situation.
Basically, everything released after Steamboat Willie is under copyright and will be forever.
The upper end of what can be construed as "limited term" is ~300 years -- twice the oldest human lifespan, allowing for a unique creation to be preserved for the entire life of the author, plus the entire life of a single heir.
Politically speaking, though, it's likely not to happen again. Disney is reaching (or has reached) a point where the cost in legal expenses and goodwill is greater than the "harm" of the public domain.
Why bother with that? Just wait, and eventually everyone too stupid to drive well will be dead. Problem solved!
(Sheesh.)
And if you are too close--well, it makes finding your remains a bit easier.
That means that Safari will likely become a standard for mobile browsing, as long as the iPhone emulates the iPod and becomes a massive hit.
Wow, you mean that if Apple dominates a market, they'll have an amazing way to shape said market? I'm in awe of your insight.
Except that a phone is not an iPod, and the iPod has a price point higher than my wife's laptop, before you pay for cell phone service. And nearly everybody who cares to have a cell phone already has one.
Women will date, dream of, and marry men. They do none of those to boys.
"is currently not great enough to be measured with the data set we have to measure it against"
And numerous other instances that give lie to your statement that "... Windows goes to great pains to preserve backwards compatibility at all costs ..."
The phrase was "DOS isn't done..."
Windows is not DOS. In fact, virtually every single design bug in windows can be attributed to either a desire to maintain backwards compataibility, or a final decision to draw a line and say "NO! Bad developer!"
Yet they're able to fly vehicles much more challenging to operate than cars, trucks and other road vehicles, remaining more safe statistically speaking, all while constantly making radio calls that are just as distracting as mobile calls are to drivers.
If you have a two-second emergency in an airplane, someone dropped the ball. If you have a two-second emergency in an automobile, well, you're just in rush hour traffic.
(Not to mention that re-testing everyone on the road is as impractical as deporting every illegal immigrant in the country.)
Speeding tickets are more about shaving the sheep (taxing the public) than encouraging public safety, imho.
No, they're not.
Speed limits are a lowest-common-denominator. Sure, YOU are a good enough driver to handle your low-center-of-gravity perfectly-maintained sports car on a clear day at video-game level speeds. But do you want a half-blind arthritic senior-citizen driving his top-heavy worn-down SUV at those speeds?
When you have so much Intelligent Design/Creationist proponents in positions of power it is natural that science education will suffer.
No.
What hurts is the advent of groupthink among scientists. Who gives a fuck if the universe was created in a big bang, or if it was created ~5400 years ago to LOOK like it was created in the big bang. Adopting either as dogma is ludicrous, and hurts science education -- they are both firmly beyond the realm of expermintally provable.
"Physics research" is getting more and more expensive because the simple ramifications of quantum mechanics and relativity have been worked out. What's left are complex permutations and refinements, with fewer and fewer returns from pure research.
Just think about it, over the air broadcasters are unable to show or talk about certain things...
During the day, using explicit language.
Nothing stops anyone from saying "You get AIDS from having sex!" or "Suzi Muslim was raped, beated, and burned alive today" at 3:00 PM in the afternoon, right when the kids get home.
It's not just a habit. Scratching both sides of your nose and straightening your forelock before you go to sleep is a habit. Cigarette smoking, for most people, is an addiction.
not after a year it's not.
You quit for a year? Guess what? You quit, and then a year later you started smoking again. You didn't fail at quitting--you succeeded!
I'm sick and tired of nic-addicts quitting, then having one cigarette, and throwing all caution to the wind and going back to a pack a day.
If it takes a $20 a pack tax and firing anyone who so much as brings a cigarette to any place of employement, let's do it.
As far as a software user is concerned, GPL and public domain are basically equivalent, except that GPL software is guaranteed to stay public domain forever.
Be careful with that word.
In 200 years every single line of copylefted code written today will be public domain. All it takes is someone making a meaningful contribution to them -- which I hope will be easy enough in two centuries -- to lock it down as they see fit.
And that's not even entertaining the notion of an abolition of the public domain, the militarization of computer copyrights, or the simple exclusion of software from copyright.
There are some 6 million New Yorkers. Once you get beyond things like "are human" and "speak English", most don't mean crap.
I don't want things I buy to be mine in that way.
I want every single piece of music or software I buy to be that way -- I want to be able to have my entire house set on fire, build a new PC from parts, and replace everything, for a zero or near-zero fee, that I've ever bought through any all-electronic store.
A computer file is not a CD. It shouldn't be treated like a CD. I'll gladly give up the chance to re-sell it if I can only get a real license to it--something where I can call up RIAA and get my music collection back even if the transient medium is destroyed.
Heck, I want CDs like that to. I pay $20 for the next Metallica CD, I want to be able to snap it in half and get a new one for $5. Or $0, if I'm willing to burn my own via download.
(Your argument holds for bread, CD-blanks, and leather jackets, but not music.)