that's my whole point, the more prosperous a country becomes the population growth slows down, it's like economic birthcontrol
This isn't all down to economics. A great deal of it has to do with granting women rights to live and choose with whom and when to mate freely. In the past most women in the USA began raising families as soon as they were married and typically at 18 - 20 years of age. Now most put that off until they are 30.
You couldn't kill off the human race in the next 100 years if you tried. So how will we survive? It's not a valid question.
Not true. A nuclear war would poison the earth and complex life forms, such as humans wouldn't be able to survive. All you need as that crackpot dictator-for-life in North Korea or some bunch of extreme nutcases like Al Qaeda detonating a few modern nuclear weapons and the ecosystem of Earth would be knocked into a cocked hat.
Remove human decision from selection process and start killing. Eliminate about 2/3 of existing human population, and the planet might actually be viable again.
Sounds much like World War II. Particularly the phrase "Final Solution".
As you can see, that only worked for about 20 years. Post-war saw staggering growth in the US as well as Europe, USSR. Even Chairman Mao killed off tens of millions of his own people with his bombastic experiments. China's bigger than ever.
I do not see colonization of anything without high energy consumption. Most things you do in space would require gobs of power - whether it comes from your own nuclear source or Sun is immaterial.
To sustain growth in space, energy must be produced in space. Why do you assume it must all come from Earth?
Ignoring migration completely most industrialized countries (USA notably excepted) don't have enough births to offset deaths. As China becomes more prosperous the same thing is starting to happen there.
Japan is already confronting this issue. They have been for at least a decade. As more women have choice in their lives fewer are the dutiful little wife pumping out babies. The government offers incentives to those who have extra children.
I don't thin there is any way we will be living in space in the next 100 years. Also, I don't think moving is the solution to our problems.
I don't see us all moving to other planets, moons and space communinities, I just see an extension and survival of Man through that avenue. This planet will be exhausted at the rate of consumption.
It's like the drug addict who thinks that moving away from the city will solve their drug addiction. The problems we have aren't a result of where we live, but how we live.
And it's energy, per capita, which is mostly How We Live. It isn't just the SUV guzzling gas, but the appliances at home and all the goods we purchase which require energy to manufacture, package and distribute. The USA is consuming commodities at a blazing rate, but China with it's vast population will match that in short order. Economics will play a part, as China and India consume more goods and energy the costs (as they are already doing in most goods) will rise and reduce consumption simply because people won't be able to have it all anymore, but choose from fewer things which are important to them. The big adjustment is going to be when petroleum runs scarce. Everything will change as the cost of petrol increases. Sadly, there will also be increased competition for land as is expected much low lying lands will flood thanks to the warmer climate.
Be wary. Wars are waged more over competition for resources than any other reason.
Since birthrates are already too low to sustain growth in the countries with the most wealth it seems that if we spread the wealth we kill two birds with one stone.
Actually the growth of economic centers of growth is largely through immigration. However, there are contries which are declinging, like Russia and Poland, because of the exodus of laborers and professionals.
The fact is there are countries like Mexico which have very high rates of population growth because so many subscribe to either a) Family needs more sons OR b) The pop says no to family planning. Without the coutries south of the USA providing cheap labor, agricultural goods would be a bit more expensive because the growers would have to raise wages to the point which would attract US citizens.
'How can the human race survive the next hundred years?'
Birthcontrol, ween of dependence on high energy consumption and colonise the solar system, because we sure aren't going to
get along forever on this rock alone.
I think that last sentence means they're going to liquidate all their assets and assemble the largest all star team of lawyers since Microsoft evaded penalties even after being convicted.
A bit OT, but I don't think Microsoft evaded the penalties thanks to an army of competent lawyers, it was more like Bill discovered the benefits of political contributions (which they had prior shunned) and arose to sit at the left hand of God and steal Jesus' bucket of popcorn.
Then they'll figure out that Moneybags Rupert Murdoch owns MySpace and go after News Corp. You know, News Corp, that generically named conglomerate of multiple money sucking companies?
Which appears the primary reason for infusion of new capital into the utter failure Friendster was... "nope, nope, no decent assets, poor business plan, the whole thing isn't worth a bucket of spit, whoop, what's this, a patent application for Social Networking and Newscorp just bought MySpace? We'll shite my britches and call me Al Capone, get some money in here to prop it up just like another SCO!"
System, method and apparatus for connecting users in an online computer system based on their relationships within social networks
A method and apparatus for calculating, displaying and acting upon relationships in a social network is described. A computer system collects descriptive data about various individuals and allows those individuals to indicate other individuals with whom they have a personal relationship. The descriptive data and the relationship data are integrated and processed to reveal the series of social relationships connecting any two individuals within a social network. The pathways connecting any two individuals can be displayed. Further, the social network itself can be displayed to any number of degrees of separation. A user of the system can determine the optimal relationship path (i.e., contact pathway) to reach desired individuals. A communications tool allows individuals in the system to be introduced (or introduce themselves) and initiate direct communication.
Sounds like the very old concept of Computer Dating just with a network added.
When, when you get right down to it, is about all most recent patents seem to be.
I think it's time I ran for president and did some serious housecleaning in the USPTO.
a car in every pot and and chicken in every garage
The networks should be the last people with any input into the technology that will define the future of the TV industry. All the decent television is elsewhere
You see, ABC, CBS and NBC are the suvivours of the age of Radio and early Television networks. They were the Passive Pay-to-view means of televised entertainment in the USA. Now they are old and out of touch, their programmes are rubbish, their news is rubbish, but they are still huge and powerful, probably because they are merged or bought out by other companies which made their profits doing something other than grasping straws in a dwindling market to feed a one trick pony (nice combination of cliche's, eh?)
They demand special treatment. In light of dozens of competing channels which now produce excellent and diverse entertainment, they need this old business model to succeed. Otherwise, heavens(!), they'd have to role up their sleeves and get down to the business of creating content worth paying for.
Can't have that, can we? So corporate welfare, let's demand special treatment from hardware vendors, cable/satellite distributors and special laws which protect our vested interests from big government.
ABC was only interested in finding a way to receive compensation for un-skipped ads
Whoops, time to change their business model!
Let me introduce myself. I'm an olde farte. I was a teenager back in the 1970's when they were laying the first
cable around our neighbourhood. Back then people (the They as in "they say...") said "nobody will pay for what they already
get for free" and "nobody will pay to see advertising." Well... "they" were wrong as it turns out, people now pay upwards of
50$US for the honour of watching bad programmes and watching Enzyte Bob lose his shorts (tell me those floats in the pool
aren't phallic, go on).
Now it's the content providers who are insisting the viewer (those with satellite and cable) watch the advertisements
they are already paying to see.
<Stimpy>Ironic, huh, Ren?</Stimpy>
Time for network execs and particularly the viewers to wake up and smell the coffee.
eBay has added Google Checkout to the list of payment options banned on eBay.
I want to be the first to predict Google sues eBay for monopolistic practices or some other
restriction on open and fair trade! <8^) This is just begging those two extremely rich guys up Highway 101 to see who has the
best lawyers and legs to stand on. Honestly, IANAL, but I don't see it as within the rights of eBay to dictate how
people accomplish the financial transactions for Rearranging the World's Junk, as they are merely the
facilitators.
I also predict Google will win, but eBay will try to make it as clunky as possible.
There's just something about the culture within eBay which is visible to outside world, that these people are
real dorks when it comes to business, but like Microsoft, were in the right place at the right time, which
seems to go a very long way in business and the public forgiving leaders for bad practices.
As described in our safe buying guide, eBay strongly encourages sellers to offer payments through PayPal - PayPal is not only convenient to use, but it also offers buyers and sellers industry leading protection against fraud, chargebacks and theft of financial data.
Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions including:
Listing cancellation
Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings
Listing cancellation
Limits on account privileges
Loss of PowerSeller status
Account suspension
Or any other anti-competitive behaviour to insure our monopoly!
What next, coining their own money and then claiming payments can only be made with their own eBucks? I think the US Federal Reserve would have
a thing or two to say about that.
Then again, this could be a push to more people offering their stuff on Craig's List. I wonder if eBay's 25% interest in that
would be leveraged to interfer.
Really, Lay wasn't the architect, he just covered it up until he could figure out how to get away from the mess without it sinking him. If you want to know more about who really created the fiasco, watch Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and see. Also see how the present administration was complicit in the California Energy Crisis.
I remember this one time I got an IP ban here at Slashdot, so I called up my ISP's helpdesk to get a new IP address issued. The guy on the other end kept asking me all sorts of questions. "Have you checked the cables?" "When you click on My Network, does it show you all your NICs?" ad nauseum.
I helped by friend get a new Mac, his old iMac was a bit long of tooth for him and the idea of a laptop appealed to him and his fiancee. They were considering a PC laptop because prices were low, but I warned them switching from Mac to PC would be like opening Pandora's Box and upending it to make sure all the evils possible could get out. No stick with what you know. So I get them a nice powerbook with Tiger and some productivity software, entertainment, iLife, etc. Next we're going to get it on the internet. He's had a static IP address from Pacific Bell since the early days (he used to work for them) and was adamant (i would be too) about keeping it, no DHCP for him.
We can't seem to figure it out, based upon his crabbed scribblings over several sheets of paper, so I call AT&T (Pacbell's new name after SBC) We get some guy with a fixed set of help tips on the line and he's trying to get us to do the steps for non-static IP address. I point out we have a static address we're trying get going on this new Mac. He's befuddled and flustered and trying his best, but always from the direction we don't want to go. In a nutshell support is not geared to anyone with a Static IP address, take care if you have one not to lose it this way. After fiddling with a few things while the support guy is trying to find anything at all helpful I finally get the network connection going and tell him so. He returns to his script and thanks us for choosing AT&T and if there's anything else he can do, etc.
Moral of the story: Figue out how to do it before switching, because support for DSL on a Static IP address is scarce as hen's teeth.
Probably the one I was relating to coworkers this morning:
A voice on the phone informs me they are in the middle of a word document and every key they strike gives them a beep but nothing else happens. I tell them not to touch anything and I'll be right down. A minute later I'm in their office looking at a computer in the process of rebooting. I ask did it just do that by itself? They say, no, right after they hung up they decided to turn the power of and back on and see if that would do anything. I told them never to call me again and waste my time if that's they way they "don't touch anything."
Now executive decisions which have gone awry, those are legion. Others may find them funny, but they still give me heartburn.
You can say that about most voice actors, including Hank Azaria, who BW mentioned specifically in the above article. While Billy West is a great voice actor, to try and compare him (or anyone else for that matter) to the legend that is Mel Blanc is a little unfair.
The great training ground for great voice actors was radio, which really doesn't exist anymore. There may be a few DJ's who do some voice work, but nothing like the schedule which tuned up and turned out talent like Mel. Mel Blanc can be heard in classic radio as the Happy Postman on Burns and Allen, Professor Le Blanc and many other voices on Jack Benny, including the sound effects of Jack's 1908 Maxwell. He eventually would find work in Merry Melodies cartoons, but the great volume of his work and exploring voices was in Radio.
When reading I heard Frye's voice in my head but the words weren't stupid.
Funny that, it's exactly the mentally assigned reading voice I come up with. I don't think I've ever heard Billy talk in his normal speaking voice, but rather imagine it isn't far from it, just a bit deeper as cartoon voices tend to be higher pitched, that and Fry is supposed to be younger.
Most of his voices sound like Billy West doing them. Mind, Mel Blanc had a lot of voices which were recognisably his, too, but Mel could do some voices I never knew were his.
Nice to see he has moved on and had success since the acrimonious Ren and Stimpy days.
...live in the city. The air quality is so bad here I'd be amazed if any mosquitoe could survive long term.
Right... perhaps the concrete jungle of lower Manhattan. I've been to Athens a couple times and have to tell you, the park around the Acropolis was an absolute dump when I visited. Trash everywhere, long grass, etc. Perfect for breeding mosquitoes. All a mosquitoe needs is a small amount of standing water, capable of growing a bit of algae and they're set. A styrene cup would do nicely.
It's not the size, is the quantity. We had big, even HUGE mosquitoes in Michigan, but it was the tenacious little bitsy ones that appeared in great quantities and stung the most. Smaller mosquitoes also are able to get through smaller holes and gaps and were typically the ones found indoors.
It's been said "Intimidation is being in a dark room with a mosquito." As tired as you may be, lying in bed, there's something about that faint whine that can make the most tired very alert.
"Air pollution and cramped housing conditions in Athens, Greece, are creating a new breed of mosquitoes which are bigger, faster, and can smell humans from farther away. The super insects have color vision and detect humans from 25-30 meters, which is about 50% farther than the ordinary mosquitoe. Beating their wing 500 times a second provides them with extra speed, and the larger bodies (by 0.3ug) presumably allow larger bloodsucking capacity.
I like Dave Barry's line about armor piercing stealth mosquitoes and think this is what the Greeks are up to. Screw the North Koreans, it's the greeks we need to keep an eye on.
One last thing: Ponds are filled with mosquitoes. Larvae perhaps, but not the adults. Mosquitoes prefer long grass or shade, which is why it's often a good idea to just write off the golfball hit into the brush or edge or woods. Worst around ponds are deer flies, which I used to refer to as Flying Bastards
Why bother? they have found a great model for keeping themselves relevant: Have the laws rewritten globally so that everyone becomes a criminal or is assisting in criminal activity. Sue anything that moves. Demonize anyone that opposes you and start massive PR campaigns to convince society that you are right, eventhough it makes everyone else a criminal.
The problem with that is it only enriches lawyers. Suing people who don't have anywhere near the financial resources to match the recording industry legal costs is insane.
Slashdot Mirror
that's my whole point, the more prosperous a country becomes the population growth slows down, it's like economic birthcontrol
This isn't all down to economics. A great deal of it has to do with granting women rights to live and choose with whom and when to mate freely. In the past most women in the USA began raising families as soon as they were married and typically at 18 - 20 years of age. Now most put that off until they are 30.
You couldn't kill off the human race in the next 100 years if you tried. So how will we survive? It's not a valid question.
Not true. A nuclear war would poison the earth and complex life forms, such as humans wouldn't be able to survive. All you need as that crackpot dictator-for-life in North Korea or some bunch of extreme nutcases like Al Qaeda detonating a few modern nuclear weapons and the ecosystem of Earth would be knocked into a cocked hat.
Remove human decision from selection process and start killing. Eliminate about 2/3 of existing human population, and the planet might actually be viable again.
Sounds much like World War II. Particularly the phrase "Final Solution".
As you can see, that only worked for about 20 years. Post-war saw staggering growth in the US as well as Europe, USSR. Even Chairman Mao killed off tens of millions of his own people with his bombastic experiments. China's bigger than ever.
I do not see colonization of anything without high energy consumption. Most things you do in space would require gobs of power - whether it comes from your own nuclear source or Sun is immaterial.
To sustain growth in space, energy must be produced in space. Why do you assume it must all come from Earth?
Ignoring migration completely most industrialized countries (USA notably excepted) don't have enough births to offset deaths. As China becomes more prosperous the same thing is starting to happen there.
Japan is already confronting this issue. They have been for at least a decade. As more women have choice in their lives fewer are the dutiful little wife pumping out babies. The government offers incentives to those who have extra children.
I don't thin there is any way we will be living in space in the next 100 years. Also, I don't think moving is the solution to our problems.
I don't see us all moving to other planets, moons and space communinities, I just see an extension and survival of Man through that avenue. This planet will be exhausted at the rate of consumption.
It's like the drug addict who thinks that moving away from the city will solve their drug addiction. The problems we have aren't a result of where we live, but how we live.
And it's energy, per capita, which is mostly How We Live. It isn't just the SUV guzzling gas, but the appliances at home and all the goods we purchase which require energy to manufacture, package and distribute. The USA is consuming commodities at a blazing rate, but China with it's vast population will match that in short order. Economics will play a part, as China and India consume more goods and energy the costs (as they are already doing in most goods) will rise and reduce consumption simply because people won't be able to have it all anymore, but choose from fewer things which are important to them. The big adjustment is going to be when petroleum runs scarce. Everything will change as the cost of petrol increases. Sadly, there will also be increased competition for land as is expected much low lying lands will flood thanks to the warmer climate.
Be wary. Wars are waged more over competition for resources than any other reason.
Since birthrates are already too low to sustain growth in the countries with the most wealth it seems that if we spread the wealth we kill two birds with one stone.
Actually the growth of economic centers of growth is largely through immigration. However, there are contries which are declinging, like Russia and Poland, because of the exodus of laborers and professionals.
The fact is there are countries like Mexico which have very high rates of population growth because so many subscribe to either a) Family needs more sons OR b) The pop says no to family planning. Without the coutries south of the USA providing cheap labor, agricultural goods would be a bit more expensive because the growers would have to raise wages to the point which would attract US citizens.
'How can the human race survive the next hundred years?'
Birthcontrol, ween of dependence on high energy consumption and colonise the solar system, because we sure aren't going to get along forever on this rock alone.
I think that last sentence means they're going to liquidate all their assets and assemble the largest all star team of lawyers since Microsoft evaded penalties even after being convicted.
A bit OT, but I don't think Microsoft evaded the penalties thanks to an army of competent lawyers, it was more like Bill discovered the benefits of political contributions (which they had prior shunned) and arose to sit at the left hand of God and steal Jesus' bucket of popcorn.
Then they'll figure out that Moneybags Rupert Murdoch owns MySpace and go after News Corp. You know, News Corp, that generically named conglomerate of multiple money sucking companies?
Which appears the primary reason for infusion of new capital into the utter failure Friendster was... "nope, nope, no decent assets, poor business plan, the whole thing isn't worth a bucket of spit, whoop, what's this, a patent application for Social Networking and Newscorp just bought MySpace? We'll shite my britches and call me Al Capone, get some money in here to prop it up just like another SCO!"
Sounds like the very old concept of Computer Dating just with a network added.
When, when you get right down to it, is about all most recent patents seem to be.
I think it's time I ran for president and did some serious housecleaning in the USPTO.
a car in every pot and and chicken in every garage
The networks should be the last people with any input into the technology that will define the future of the TV industry. All the decent television is elsewhere
You see, ABC, CBS and NBC are the suvivours of the age of Radio and early Television networks. They were the Passive Pay-to-view means of televised entertainment in the USA. Now they are old and out of touch, their programmes are rubbish, their news is rubbish, but they are still huge and powerful, probably because they are merged or bought out by other companies which made their profits doing something other than grasping straws in a dwindling market to feed a one trick pony (nice combination of cliche's, eh?)
They demand special treatment. In light of dozens of competing channels which now produce excellent and diverse entertainment, they need this old business model to succeed. Otherwise, heavens(!), they'd have to role up their sleeves and get down to the business of creating content worth paying for.
Can't have that, can we? So corporate welfare, let's demand special treatment from hardware vendors, cable/satellite distributors and special laws which protect our vested interests from big government.
ABC was only interested in finding a way to receive compensation for un-skipped ads
Whoops, time to change their business model!
Let me introduce myself. I'm an olde farte. I was a teenager back in the 1970's when they were laying the first cable around our neighbourhood. Back then people (the They as in "they say ...") said "nobody will pay for what they already
get for free" and "nobody will pay to see advertising." Well... "they" were wrong as it turns out, people now pay upwards of
50$US for the honour of watching bad programmes and watching Enzyte Bob lose his shorts (tell me those floats in the pool
aren't phallic, go on).
Now it's the content providers who are insisting the viewer (those with satellite and cable) watch the advertisements they are already paying to see.
<Stimpy>Ironic, huh, Ren?</Stimpy>
Time for network execs and particularly the viewers to wake up and smell the coffee.
They get props from me too.
Just wait until you find they only accept PayPal and major Credit Cards, no Google Checkout! ;-)
no props for you!
I want to be the first to predict Google sues eBay for monopolistic practices or some other restriction on open and fair trade! <8^) This is just begging those two extremely rich guys up Highway 101 to see who has the best lawyers and legs to stand on. Honestly, IANAL, but I don't see it as within the rights of eBay to dictate how people accomplish the financial transactions for Rearranging the World's Junk, as they are merely the facilitators.
I also predict Google will win, but eBay will try to make it as clunky as possible.
There's just something about the culture within eBay which is visible to outside world, that these people are real dorks when it comes to business, but like Microsoft, were in the right place at the right time, which seems to go a very long way in business and the public forgiving leaders for bad practices.
And that wouldn't have anything at all to do with PayPal being a property of eBay and further lining their pockets. ;-)
What next, coining their own money and then claiming payments can only be made with their own eBucks? I think the US Federal Reserve would have a thing or two to say about that.
Then again, this could be a push to more people offering their stuff on Craig's List. I wonder if eBay's 25% interest in that would be leveraged to interfer.
Really, Lay wasn't the architect, he just covered it up until he could figure out how to get away from the mess without it sinking him. If you want to know more about who really created the fiasco, watch Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and see. Also see how the present administration was complicit in the California Energy Crisis.
I remember this one time I got an IP ban here at Slashdot, so I called up my ISP's helpdesk to get a new IP address issued. The guy on the other end kept asking me all sorts of questions. "Have you checked the cables?" "When you click on My Network, does it show you all your NICs?" ad nauseum.
I helped by friend get a new Mac, his old iMac was a bit long of tooth for him and the idea of a laptop appealed to him and his fiancee. They were considering a PC laptop because prices were low, but I warned them switching from Mac to PC would be like opening Pandora's Box and upending it to make sure all the evils possible could get out. No stick with what you know. So I get them a nice powerbook with Tiger and some productivity software, entertainment, iLife, etc. Next we're going to get it on the internet. He's had a static IP address from Pacific Bell since the early days (he used to work for them) and was adamant (i would be too) about keeping it, no DHCP for him.
We can't seem to figure it out, based upon his crabbed scribblings over several sheets of paper, so I call AT&T (Pacbell's new name after SBC) We get some guy with a fixed set of help tips on the line and he's trying to get us to do the steps for non-static IP address. I point out we have a static address we're trying get going on this new Mac. He's befuddled and flustered and trying his best, but always from the direction we don't want to go. In a nutshell support is not geared to anyone with a Static IP address, take care if you have one not to lose it this way. After fiddling with a few things while the support guy is trying to find anything at all helpful I finally get the network connection going and tell him so. He returns to his script and thanks us for choosing AT&T and if there's anything else he can do, etc.
Moral of the story: Figue out how to do it before switching, because support for DSL on a Static IP address is scarce as hen's teeth.
Probably the one I was relating to coworkers this morning:
Now executive decisions which have gone awry, those are legion. Others may find them funny, but they still give me heartburn.
Billy's voice of Fry is the everyman, though; he's your bud, your best friend. I would almost go to say he's the reason we want the show back.
Silly me. Here I was thinking we wanted the show back because it was humourous and had a rich cast.
You can say that about most voice actors, including Hank Azaria, who BW mentioned specifically in the above article. While Billy West is a great voice actor, to try and compare him (or anyone else for that matter) to the legend that is Mel Blanc is a little unfair.
The great training ground for great voice actors was radio, which really doesn't exist anymore. There may be a few DJ's who do some voice work, but nothing like the schedule which tuned up and turned out talent like Mel. Mel Blanc can be heard in classic radio as the Happy Postman on Burns and Allen, Professor Le Blanc and many other voices on Jack Benny, including the sound effects of Jack's 1908 Maxwell. He eventually would find work in Merry Melodies cartoons, but the great volume of his work and exploring voices was in Radio.
When reading I heard Frye's voice in my head but the words weren't stupid.
Funny that, it's exactly the mentally assigned reading voice I come up with. I don't think I've ever heard Billy talk in his normal speaking voice, but rather imagine it isn't far from it, just a bit deeper as cartoon voices tend to be higher pitched, that and Fry is supposed to be younger.
Most of his voices sound like Billy West doing them. Mind, Mel Blanc had a lot of voices which were recognisably his, too, but Mel could do some voices I never knew were his.
Nice to see he has moved on and had success since the acrimonious Ren and Stimpy days.
Right... perhaps the concrete jungle of lower Manhattan. I've been to Athens a couple times and have to tell you, the park around the Acropolis was an absolute dump when I visited. Trash everywhere, long grass, etc. Perfect for breeding mosquitoes. All a mosquitoe needs is a small amount of standing water, capable of growing a bit of algae and they're set. A styrene cup would do nicely.
It's not the size, is the quantity. We had big, even HUGE mosquitoes in Michigan, but it was the tenacious little bitsy ones that appeared in great quantities and stung the most. Smaller mosquitoes also are able to get through smaller holes and gaps and were typically the ones found indoors.
It's been said "Intimidation is being in a dark room with a mosquito." As tired as you may be, lying in bed, there's something about that faint whine that can make the most tired very alert.
I like Dave Barry's line about armor piercing stealth mosquitoes and think this is what the Greeks are up to. Screw the North Koreans, it's the greeks we need to keep an eye on.
One last thing: Ponds are filled with mosquitoes. Larvae perhaps, but not the adults. Mosquitoes prefer long grass or shade, which is why it's often a good idea to just write off the golfball hit into the brush or edge or woods. Worst around ponds are deer flies, which I used to refer to as Flying Bastards
Why bother? they have found a great model for keeping themselves relevant: Have the laws rewritten globally so that everyone becomes a criminal or is assisting in criminal activity. Sue anything that moves. Demonize anyone that opposes you and start massive PR campaigns to convince society that you are right, eventhough it makes everyone else a criminal.
The problem with that is it only enriches lawyers. Suing people who don't have anywhere near the financial resources to match the recording industry legal costs is insane.
The time to change your fecking business model was 10 years ago.