evolution....as they said in "Jurassic Park"... nature will always find a way...
there's a thousand years, which is more than enough time for the human body to evolve such that it can withstand those conditions...
and if not, well, when dinosaurs went extinct, then there cam man, a more intelligent being...
according to Nostradamus, the "end of the world" should be fairly soon...and according to Bob Frissel's theory of "Christ Consciousness" (Tool made a song about this) mankind is near the stage of its next major evolution...
maybe it's time for us to give up our place on this world and make way for an even more intelligent being...we've come close to reaching our technological peak and for the most part, are not able to control it (hmmm...shouldn't need to explain anything there)...
When the Greek empire got to big to be able to control, it fell and there rose the Roman empire, a FAR greater civilization...in time, it, too, became too big to handle and then it fell (my historical knowledge fails me at that point)...but in the greater scheme of things....we just peaked, and now it's time for the comedown... --------------
someone could come along and say "you allow refrigerators on campus, somebody somewhere is bound to be keeping alcohol in them when they're underage, so ban them all".
hmmm...FSU actually did...students are not allowed to bring their own refrigerators in the dorms anymore, because the school was not allowed to search the refrigerator without a warrant...now the school provides the refrigerators and since they own it, are allowed to search it whenever they want to...
the major problem with ebooks is the convenience of printed books....
most books are read in places where a computer is either not accessible or not convenient (in addition to the fact that not many people have laptops) sure they'll come out with handheld devices that can read books...but
1) they'll be expensive
2) they'll need batteries
3) they'll be -outdated- soon (people collect original printings of Shakespeare, how are they going to do that with electronic versions?)
the other problem is piracy...sure, they'll try to create some sort of access control, which IMO will be about as effective as the DVD access control...
the only way that they'll make a worthwile profit from ebooks is if either:
1) people were honest and bought every book they read (not going to happen)
or
2) they create a pay-per-view type of system (similar to the device that's going to be used in the Ney York School of Dentistry- I forgot what it's called, but there was an article on/. about a week ago)...but anyways, this device will fail just like Circuit City's DivX (or something of the sort) failed: the consumers won't buy it
also look at it this way: the people who MIGHT use such a device would be techies...the people who -read the most- generally aren't techies, and those that are read to -get away from the computer-...
i don't think it's so much of a belief in "magic" or "uncommon religions"...but rather a different, often "off-the-wall" way of thinking
of the people i've met that (and me included) that are truly technically inclined, the majority are atheist, agnostic, or one of various "other" religions (can't think of the correct word)...the one person i know who follows a mainstream religion is Jewish....but was raised Christian...
my theory is that since programming is a major time-consuming activity that also requires nearly full concentration, people who enjoy programming are often recluses (which makes sense why many coders prefer working late nights: no disturbances)
anyways, due to the lack of social interaction (i myself never had a real friend until i was 16 or 17) the person develops an independent set of beliefs, and often studies various nontraditional religions/theories/etc...not due to "evilness" but rather curiousity...at 14 or 15 i was studying witchcraft and satanism-i grew out of it in time and it never had a negative impact on me, but i was in search of a higher power or another way of life , and i was studying ideas that had never been presented to me in hope of acheiving happiness (loneliness didn't help)...i've talked to others who are "technically inclined" and, as i said, for the most part their youths were fairly similar...
anyway, if that made any sense, that's my theory...
if AOL is subject to minimum wage laws, what about other, more traditional volunteers?
almost every organization that is a volunteer organization offers some sort of perks, and much of it should be expected...
a hardware company can't expect people to write drivers -and- buy their hardware...just as a volunteer fireman can't be expected to bring his own fire truck...
second question is, how can the perk be compared to wages? when the "payment" is access to a service, especially one that can't be bought, and so doesn't have a retial value) how does that compare to monetary wages?...
IMO this shouldn't be considered hired work...it's more similar to a temporary "you scratch my back, i'll scratch your" agreement, and as long as both parties involved are satisfied, no intervention should be necessary....
hell, if you're gonna ban the FTP protocol...you might as well ban computers, since if it wasn't for 'puters, we couldn't be making illegal recordings anyways...
and then sue Microsoft for creating Windows which made computers popular...
don't forget AOL since they essentially brought the internet to everyone's computers...
AOL also owns Winamp, which is the primary mp3 player used on Windows
also sue all the CDR hardware/software manufacturers for making it possible to create audio CDs from mp3s...
hell, while at it, ehy not make it even more pathetic: sue radio stations for overplaying music and hence making it popular, and in effect increasing the chances it would be illegally pirated...the phone companies for creating faster internet access, which has resulted in much higher-quality mp3s being transferred, for full cd-quality sound (and no, 128k is not cd-quality sound)
each and every website that has the word "mp3" on it (if the MPAA can sue against the First Amendment, why the hell can't the RIAA?)
hey, and why not sue me, for defamatory comments?
Fuck you MPAA/RIAA/Big Business....
When you begin protecting copyrights for the benefit of the artist, go sue, and i'll be on your side...but until that happens, not only are mp3 users against you, but many bands too (ie: Courtney Love, Radiohead, to name a few)...
Let artists keep their copyrights (it's not work-for-hire) and then defend the rights, or at least give them some (a fair amount) of the winnings from the lawsuits you win..
my $.03
is that regardless of the purpose that DeCSS was created for, it *did* bypass the DVD access controls. Due to that fact alone, it was in violation of the DMCA. The next trial will not question the legality of DeCSS, but rather the constitutionality of the DMCA...and its THAT case we should be atching intently, as it will change the way things work with copyrights in the future
there'll be enough consumer backlash that intel (and hopefully other companies as well) will learn from this that its better to spend more time tweaking and perfecting a product rather than just having the "fastest" or "strongest" system...for example, who in their right mind would buy a car that went 0-60 in 1/2 a second and maxed at 400 mph if it didn't have good brakes?...
having a stable product on the first release would also create a loyal customer base, which, IMO, is very important with the speed technology's advancing...
Slashdot Mirror
evolution....as they said in "Jurassic Park" ... nature will always find a way ...
...
according to Nostradamus, the "end of the world" should be fairly soon...and according to Bob Frissel's theory of "Christ Consciousness" (Tool made a song about this) mankind is near the stage of its next major evolution...
there's a thousand years, which is more than enough time for the human body to evolve such that it can withstand those conditions...
and if not, well, when dinosaurs went extinct, then there cam man, a more intelligent being
maybe it's time for us to give up our place on this world and make way for an even more intelligent being...we've come close to reaching our technological peak and for the most part, are not able to control it (hmmm...shouldn't need to explain anything there)...
When the Greek empire got to big to be able to control, it fell and there rose the Roman empire, a FAR greater civilization...in time, it, too, became too big to handle and then it fell (my historical knowledge fails me at that point)...but in the greater scheme of things....we just peaked, and now it's time for the comedown...
--------------
for creating the internet which makes it easy to find information that Big Business doesn't want you to know
:)
(not a troll, meant to be funny
someone could come along and say "you allow refrigerators on campus, somebody somewhere is bound to be keeping alcohol in them when they're underage, so ban them all".
hmmm...FSU actually did...students are not allowed to bring their own refrigerators in the dorms anymore, because the school was not allowed to search the refrigerator without a warrant...now the school provides the refrigerators and since they own it, are allowed to search it whenever they want to...
FYI, the babelfish link should be: http://babelfish.altavista.com
the translated site is here.
the major problem with ebooks is the convenience of printed books....
/. about a week ago)...but anyways, this device will fail just like Circuit City's DivX (or something of the sort) failed: the consumers won't buy it
most books are read in places where a computer is either not accessible or not convenient (in addition to the fact that not many people have laptops) sure they'll come out with handheld devices that can read books...but
1) they'll be expensive
2) they'll need batteries
3) they'll be -outdated- soon (people collect original printings of Shakespeare, how are they going to do that with electronic versions?)
the other problem is piracy...sure, they'll try to create some sort of access control, which IMO will be about as effective as the DVD access control...
the only way that they'll make a worthwile profit from ebooks is if either:
1) people were honest and bought every book they read (not going to happen)
or
2) they create a pay-per-view type of system (similar to the device that's going to be used in the Ney York School of Dentistry- I forgot what it's called, but there was an article on
also look at it this way: the people who MIGHT use such a device would be techies...the people who -read the most- generally aren't techies, and those that are read to -get away from the computer-...
anyway, there's my two cents
i don't think it's so much of a belief in "magic" or "uncommon religions"...but rather a different, often "off-the-wall" way of thinking
of the people i've met that (and me included) that are truly technically inclined, the majority are atheist, agnostic, or one of various "other" religions (can't think of the correct word)...the one person i know who follows a mainstream religion is Jewish....but was raised Christian...
my theory is that since programming is a major time-consuming activity that also requires nearly full concentration, people who enjoy programming are often recluses (which makes sense why many coders prefer working late nights: no disturbances)
anyways, due to the lack of social interaction (i myself never had a real friend until i was 16 or 17) the person develops an independent set of beliefs, and often studies various nontraditional religions/theories/etc...not due to "evilness" but rather curiousity...at 14 or 15 i was studying witchcraft and satanism-i grew out of it in time and it never had a negative impact on me, but i was in search of a higher power or another way of life , and i was studying ideas that had never been presented to me in hope of acheiving happiness (loneliness didn't help)...i've talked to others who are "technically inclined" and, as i said, for the most part their youths were fairly similar...
anyway, if that made any sense, that's my theory...
if AOL is subject to minimum wage laws, what about other, more traditional volunteers?
almost every organization that is a volunteer organization offers some sort of perks, and much of it should be expected...
a hardware company can't expect people to write drivers -and- buy their hardware...just as a volunteer fireman can't be expected to bring his own fire truck...
second question is, how can the perk be compared to wages? when the "payment" is access to a service, especially one that can't be bought, and so doesn't have a retial value) how does that compare to monetary wages?...
IMO this shouldn't be considered hired work...it's more similar to a temporary "you scratch my back, i'll scratch your" agreement, and as long as both parties involved are satisfied, no intervention should be necessary....
hell, if you're gonna ban the FTP protocol...you might as well ban computers, since if it wasn't for 'puters, we couldn't be making illegal recordings anyways... and then sue Microsoft for creating Windows which made computers popular... don't forget AOL since they essentially brought the internet to everyone's computers... AOL also owns Winamp, which is the primary mp3 player used on Windows also sue all the CDR hardware/software manufacturers for making it possible to create audio CDs from mp3s... hell, while at it, ehy not make it even more pathetic: sue radio stations for overplaying music and hence making it popular, and in effect increasing the chances it would be illegally pirated ...the phone companies for creating faster internet access, which has resulted in much higher-quality mp3s being transferred, for full cd-quality sound (and no, 128k is not cd-quality sound)
each and every website that has the word "mp3" on it (if the MPAA can sue against the First Amendment, why the hell can't the RIAA?)
hey, and why not sue me, for defamatory comments?
Fuck you MPAA/RIAA/Big Business....
When you begin protecting copyrights for the benefit of the artist, go sue, and i'll be on your side...but until that happens, not only are mp3 users against you, but many bands too (ie: Courtney Love, Radiohead, to name a few)...
Let artists keep their copyrights (it's not work-for-hire) and then defend the rights, or at least give them some (a fair amount) of the winnings from the lawsuits you win..
my $.03
now that the sports and movie indstries have begun using robots, the porn industry should be getting in too: "hey man, check the cards on that bot!"
just my $.015
is that regardless of the purpose that DeCSS was created for, it *did* bypass the DVD access controls. Due to that fact alone, it was in violation of the DMCA. The next trial will not question the legality of DeCSS, but rather the constitutionality of the DMCA...and its THAT case we should be atching intently, as it will change the way things work with copyrights in the future
there'll be enough consumer backlash that intel (and hopefully other companies as well) will learn from this that its better to spend more time tweaking and perfecting a product rather than just having the "fastest" or "strongest" system...for example, who in their right mind would buy a car that went 0-60 in 1/2 a second and maxed at 400 mph if it didn't have good brakes?...
.02
having a stable product on the first release would also create a loyal customer base, which, IMO, is very important with the speed technology's advancing...
just my