You're missing the point. I've seen this "Free Speech" argument on BBSes, in Usenet, and I've lost track of god knows where.
Free speech means you have the right to say whatever you want. Period. You have the right to utter any words you like, using your vocal chords.
Free speech does NOT, repeat NOT, mean you have the right to demand of someone else to relay or amplify your own speech. To illustrate this point, imagine somebody going in to the local TV station and demanding that they broadcast his opinion, and accusing them adamantly of denying him the right to free speech when they politely escort him out of the building.
Relaying messages cost money, whether if it's on television or on electronic mail systems.
Spammers know this and knowingly try to get the cost of their huge volume messaging on somebody else's tab.
If I read you correctly, then stating your argument in my own words, you're saying that in order to protect freedom, we must wield it responsibly and not do anything that shows we aren't worthy of that freedom.
Such a freedom is not worth squat. It can also be paraphrased "freedom of agreeing with the government", and is present in pretty much every state on this planet.
It is the freedom and right to do WRONG things that signify freedom. Not the right to follow the masses and do what you are expected.
A good phrase is, "Poor planning on your part does not constitue an emergency on mine." If you can figure out a nice way to say that, let me know.
I usually phrase this, "Well, I can see that you have a problem. I genuinely understand that. However, I am not prepared to make this problem my problem." If suitable, follow up about how you work from a business priority standpoint in strict order of priority, and would be prepared to deal with the problem, say, three weeks later, unless nothing more important shows up during that time. It won't get you any thanks, but the poor planner won't bother you again either, which is precisely what you want.
If there are enough of you in the company who react like this and work in a structured fashion, then the poor planner will learn that he or she will have to start doing something differently, which is even more what you precisely want.
In this industry, everybody knows one another, one way or another. There simply is no room for doing a bad job - it will stick to you and your reputation.
With that in mind, I stick to doing things really well, or not doing them at all. I never take on so much that I don't have time to do a good or great job at my tasks. The fascinating thing is that people respect that reason for me to say no - at first they question why I can't do something, but when I say that I wouldn't be able to do other things well and that I take pride in delivering excellence and won't deliver at all short of that, then they understand.
And you know what? I'm not known for saying no, I'm known for delivering with consistently high quality. That's how I hope to keep it, and that's why I take the pain of saying no sometimes.
Windows XP shipped over a year ago, and still so many people don't get the basics of some things...
Don't blame people not using firewall, they are mostly newbies , e.g. XP home users
I don't mean to nitpick, but XP Home installs all network connections with the firewall ON by default. That sort of negates your entire point.
Super offtopic: reason was not oil
on
RIAA Quashed
·
· Score: 1, Interesting
I never believed the war on Iraq was for oil. After a bit of research, I have come to believe it was for the survival of the US as an economic superpower. Read on just a little bit more; there's a point to this.
The US is dependent on currency reserves. Other countries' currency reserves, to be precise. Most of the national deficit is financed by the US selling dollars. Dollars that go into other currency reserves, as the dollar is considered the most credible (and economically stable) currency in the world, and therefore the best currency to keep in a country's currency reserve.
Hence, the US as it stands today is economically dependent on the USD having the largest credibility of all world currencies.
The war on Iraq wasn't about oil; the world opinion would never allow the US to keep a conquered nation's resources.
It wasn't about the UN either. The US ended up not caring shit about what the UN thinks or doesn't think about attacking, which was a clear demonstration.
We know that the WMD evidence was faked already.
Nor was it about Saddam. Sure, he's a real bad guy whose ass deserves a hot date with my boot, and all the boots ever manufactured for that matter, but he's not alone about that. There are lots of warthugs leading countries really badly down there: Syria, Iraq, Tazhikstan, Kazhakstan, etc. Including Saudi Arabia's house Saudi, who are best buddies with the US. So why was Iraq singled out and an eye-popping amount of dollars spent on correcting that country's ways?
Because they threatened the dollar's credibility.
Iraq had switched to tying its oil prices to the euro. They were charging in euros per barrel, not dollars per barrel. Two days after this switch, the euro had grown 25% in value against the dollar.
Let me rephrase that: because of a decision taken in Iraq, American companies lost 25% of their market value against their European competitors in less than a week.
In addition, there is a potential for a snowball effect: more credibility to the euro means more countries switching to use the euro in its currency reserves, which means more credibility still, etc. Estimates have said that the dollar would lose about 40% of its value if this happens, in addition to the US being unable to fund its deficit by selling money. In short, it would be nothing less than a disaster for the American economy.
This is why spending lots and lots of millions of dollars on the war on Iraq made economic sense. The US is not prone to doing things that don't benefit the US in one way or another, and in this light, it makes perfect sense to intervene and make sure that the euro doesn't gain more momentum, even if it costs a little.
(For the conspiracy-inclined, do a search on "dollar euro iraq", or similar keywords.)
As a side note, up until recently, there were four countries using the euro in their currency reserves. Venezuela joined the club just recently. The other three are Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Rings a bell?
Oh, and Iraq is back on track now. One of the first actions of the interim government was to go back to selling oil for dollars per barrel.
The word piracy is inofficially and officially synonymous with copyright infringement in one of its meanings. Unofficially, because everybody uses it. Officially, because it is documented as in common use.
Look up piracy in Merriam-Webster and you will find the following definition (among others):
3: the unauthorized use of another's production, invention, or conception especially in infringement of a copyright
You can't turn the clock backwards. People have always resisted the evolution of language and it's about as useless as trying to stop the grass from growing.
If you want to truly change the language, then take the word back instead -- claim you're a pirate, bear the title with pride, and portray it as positive. Several minority groups have done this successfully with terms that have been seen as derogatory in the past.
You can evolve, but never make unevolved.
(As an ending note, the partial copying from Merriam-Webster above was not authorized by the publisher.)
Corps are required to provide you with any and all records they may have on you. That recordkeeping is subject to your consent (which you usually agree to when entering a business relationship, but can revoke at any time).
In addition, this bill is a non-starter in Sweden. What, US government agencies now would have to declare how they're merging databases? Won't happen here because they're not allowed to in the first place. Yes, you heard me correct: government agencies are not allowed to cross-reference databases.
Even if we learned to replicate food and water, essentially ending its scarcity, there would be no end of starvation.
Owners of intellectual property of specific meals and water compositions would step forward and demand that the technology be abolished, or at a minimum, demand heavy royalties every time someone hungry was fed with THEIR meal. No Big Mac and Coke for you, sir, unless you pay the McDonalds tax! Because it's their PROPERTY, goddammit. Who cares if the people are hungry and thirsty, theft should not be tolerated. The fact that the starving people are so poor they've never had small change in their pocket (and therefore never would be ABLE to buy the company's meals) is irrelevant, the corporation has to protect its trademarks.
Hmm, why do the words "HIV treatment" spring to mind?
But theoretically, you don't have to mount it so that all vibrations are propagated... you could mount it in a big-ass vibration damper cage, which would (supposedly) eliminate all vibes from small movements on the station, and then only lock it down for the big bangs (like docking)?
Hmm, that rules out one-half of the American population (all the females). Good progress, but we need more to pinpoint. Did you notice anything else of significance?
I own a motorcycle. A fast motorcycle (a Suzuki Hayabusa).
Anybody telling me that piloting a fast sports bike in whatever simulation comes anywhere near the real thing with wind, rush and G-forces tickling your fear and adrenaline buttons as you push the bike to the tarmac in sharp curves at 300 km/h (175 mph) have probably never been on two wheels, just in their little safe steel cage on four.
Saying that it's even close to the same thing to be on one of those arcade-style simulators, even one where you lean the bike (which is about as close as you can get in bike sim), is a ridiculous statement.
That's my first point: a sim is nowhere close to the real thing. You can get useful lessons for the real thing from a sim if you are actively doing both, but otherwise, forget it.
Now for my second point: An aggressive low-flying sportsbike has 2 (two) important gauges. Speed and RPM. You can ignore the speedometer. Most of the time, you can ignore the RPM gauge too (you get that info from the engine noise anyway).
How many gauges are there on a 747, and how many of these can you routinely ignore?
Since when does QA set the release date in open OR closed software? Certainly not with any company I've worked for.
I've worked for Microsoft, where QA literally decided the ship date. If it wasn't ready to ship, then it wasn't ready to ship.
(which, of course, provokes flames from the Slashdot crowds as Microsoft never can stick to a release date. Consistency is not a feature of Slashdot...)
For several years, I have measured the distance to my friends in milliseconds. Usually, the distance is no longer than 50ms, but it can climb to 80-90ms on a bad day. Been much better since I switched ISPs, though.
Seriously though, I have thought about how time (as in latency) is becoming the only relevant distance. It's not the point you make, but a slightly related one.
All the Chinese workers I've heard of get free bed and board (well, at least if they produce on quota) and job security is phenomenal - they don't have to worry about being fired and having to find a new job until they get out, which is often several decades away.
Try beating that for job security, ANYWHERE in the US.
Maybe, but my guess is that you come from a country where the English word preservatives is matched by one starting with con- or kon-, such as Konservierungsmittel (German) or konserveringsmedel (Scandinavian)?:-)
At least here in Sweden, if you say something is "free", then you are expressly prohibited from requiring anything in return - be it any action, information, or goods.
Sounds like obvious common sense, but the lack of this legislation (and mindset) in the US has started to slowly creep over here. Fortunately, companies get a quick and cold wake-up when they translate their American ads saying "Free router! (with purchase of X and Y)" and run them here, and instantly become required to hand over routers unconditionally to anybody who asks for them - the condition isn't valid since you are using the magic word "free".
Requiring registration is, by definiton, not free. You are required to do something in return.
Slashdot Mirror
That was a new one. The only wording I've heard before was that Michael Jackson is living proof that American truly is the land of opportunity.
...for where else in the world, you tell me, could a poor black boy grow up to be a rich white woman?
You're missing the point. I've seen this "Free Speech" argument on BBSes, in Usenet, and I've lost track of god knows where.
Free speech means you have the right to say whatever you want. Period. You have the right to utter any words you like, using your vocal chords.
Free speech does NOT, repeat NOT, mean you have the right to demand of someone else to relay or amplify your own speech. To illustrate this point, imagine somebody going in to the local TV station and demanding that they broadcast his opinion, and accusing them adamantly of denying him the right to free speech when they politely escort him out of the building.
Relaying messages cost money, whether if it's on television or on electronic mail systems.
Spammers know this and knowingly try to get the cost of their huge volume messaging on somebody else's tab.
That is not free speech, that is fraud.
If I read you correctly, then stating your argument in my own words, you're saying that in order to protect freedom, we must wield it responsibly and not do anything that shows we aren't worthy of that freedom.
Such a freedom is not worth squat. It can also be paraphrased "freedom of agreeing with the government", and is present in pretty much every state on this planet.
It is the freedom and right to do WRONG things that signify freedom. Not the right to follow the masses and do what you are expected.
On the other hand, this wouldn't be Slashdot if they did. :-)
A good phrase is, "Poor planning on your part does not constitue an emergency on mine." If you can figure out a nice way to say that, let me know.
I usually phrase this, "Well, I can see that you have a problem. I genuinely understand that. However, I am not prepared to make this problem my problem." If suitable, follow up about how you work from a business priority standpoint in strict order of priority, and would be prepared to deal with the problem, say, three weeks later, unless nothing more important shows up during that time. It won't get you any thanks, but the poor planner won't bother you again either, which is precisely what you want.
If there are enough of you in the company who react like this and work in a structured fashion, then the poor planner will learn that he or she will have to start doing something differently, which is even more what you precisely want.
In this industry, everybody knows one another, one way or another. There simply is no room for doing a bad job - it will stick to you and your reputation.
With that in mind, I stick to doing things really well, or not doing them at all. I never take on so much that I don't have time to do a good or great job at my tasks. The fascinating thing is that people respect that reason for me to say no - at first they question why I can't do something, but when I say that I wouldn't be able to do other things well and that I take pride in delivering excellence and won't deliver at all short of that, then they understand.
And you know what? I'm not known for saying no, I'm known for delivering with consistently high quality. That's how I hope to keep it, and that's why I take the pain of saying no sometimes.
Windows XP shipped over a year ago, and still so many people don't get the basics of some things...
Don't blame people not using firewall, they are mostly newbies , e.g. XP home users
I don't mean to nitpick, but XP Home installs all network connections with the firewall ON by default. That sort of negates your entire point.
I never believed the war on Iraq was for oil. After a bit of research, I have come to believe it was for the survival of the US as an economic superpower. Read on just a little bit more; there's a point to this.
The US is dependent on currency reserves. Other countries' currency reserves, to be precise. Most of the national deficit is financed by the US selling dollars. Dollars that go into other currency reserves, as the dollar is considered the most credible (and economically stable) currency in the world, and therefore the best currency to keep in a country's currency reserve.
Hence, the US as it stands today is economically dependent on the USD having the largest credibility of all world currencies.
The war on Iraq wasn't about oil; the world opinion would never allow the US to keep a conquered nation's resources.
It wasn't about the UN either. The US ended up not caring shit about what the UN thinks or doesn't think about attacking, which was a clear demonstration.
We know that the WMD evidence was faked already.
Nor was it about Saddam. Sure, he's a real bad guy whose ass deserves a hot date with my boot, and all the boots ever manufactured for that matter, but he's not alone about that. There are lots of warthugs leading countries really badly down there: Syria, Iraq, Tazhikstan, Kazhakstan, etc. Including Saudi Arabia's house Saudi, who are best buddies with the US. So why was Iraq singled out and an eye-popping amount of dollars spent on correcting that country's ways?
Because they threatened the dollar's credibility.
Iraq had switched to tying its oil prices to the euro. They were charging in euros per barrel, not dollars per barrel. Two days after this switch, the euro had grown 25% in value against the dollar.
Let me rephrase that: because of a decision taken in Iraq, American companies lost 25% of their market value against their European competitors in less than a week.
In addition, there is a potential for a snowball effect: more credibility to the euro means more countries switching to use the euro in its currency reserves, which means more credibility still, etc. Estimates have said that the dollar would lose about 40% of its value if this happens, in addition to the US being unable to fund its deficit by selling money. In short, it would be nothing less than a disaster for the American economy.
This is why spending lots and lots of millions of dollars on the war on Iraq made economic sense. The US is not prone to doing things that don't benefit the US in one way or another, and in this light, it makes perfect sense to intervene and make sure that the euro doesn't gain more momentum, even if it costs a little.
(For the conspiracy-inclined, do a search on "dollar euro iraq", or similar keywords.)
As a side note, up until recently, there were four countries using the euro in their currency reserves. Venezuela joined the club just recently. The other three are Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Rings a bell?
Oh, and Iraq is back on track now. One of the first actions of the interim government was to go back to selling oil for dollars per barrel.
The word piracy is inofficially and officially synonymous with copyright infringement in one of its meanings. Unofficially, because everybody uses it. Officially, because it is documented as in common use.
Look up piracy in Merriam-Webster and you will find the following definition (among others):
3: the unauthorized use of another's production, invention, or conception especially in infringement of a copyright
You can't turn the clock backwards. People have always resisted the evolution of language and it's about as useless as trying to stop the grass from growing.
If you want to truly change the language, then take the word back instead -- claim you're a pirate, bear the title with pride, and portray it as positive. Several minority groups have done this successfully with terms that have been seen as derogatory in the past.
You can evolve, but never make unevolved.
(As an ending note, the partial copying from Merriam-Webster above was not authorized by the publisher.)
In general, the world need more people with your attitude and patience. Not to mention complete absence of elitism.
:-)
In lack of mod points, please accept this post and a new user to your fan base.
More info about this, please?
Exactly this is law, at least in Sweden.
Corps are required to provide you with any and all records they may have on you. That recordkeeping is subject to your consent (which you usually agree to when entering a business relationship, but can revoke at any time).
In addition, this bill is a non-starter in Sweden. What, US government agencies now would have to declare how they're merging databases? Won't happen here because they're not allowed to in the first place. Yes, you heard me correct: government agencies are not allowed to cross-reference databases.
Sounds to me like the US is playing catchup?
Even if we learned to replicate food and water, essentially ending its scarcity, there would be no end of starvation.
Owners of intellectual property of specific meals and water compositions would step forward and demand that the technology be abolished, or at a minimum, demand heavy royalties every time someone hungry was fed with THEIR meal. No Big Mac and Coke for you, sir, unless you pay the McDonalds tax! Because it's their PROPERTY, goddammit. Who cares if the people are hungry and thirsty, theft should not be tolerated. The fact that the starving people are so poor they've never had small change in their pocket (and therefore never would be ABLE to buy the company's meals) is irrelevant, the corporation has to protect its trademarks.
Hmm, why do the words "HIV treatment" spring to mind?
But theoretically, you don't have to mount it so that all vibrations are propagated... you could mount it in a big-ass vibration damper cage, which would (supposedly) eliminate all vibes from small movements on the station, and then only lock it down for the big bangs (like docking)?
Wouldn't that be a possible option?
The American man was overweight and a bit stupid.
Hmm, that rules out one-half of the American population (all the females). Good progress, but we need more to pinpoint. Did you notice anything else of significance?
I own a motorcycle. A fast motorcycle (a Suzuki Hayabusa).
Anybody telling me that piloting a fast sports bike in whatever simulation comes anywhere near the real thing with wind, rush and G-forces tickling your fear and adrenaline buttons as you push the bike to the tarmac in sharp curves at 300 km/h (175 mph) have probably never been on two wheels, just in their little safe steel cage on four.
Saying that it's even close to the same thing to be on one of those arcade-style simulators, even one where you lean the bike (which is about as close as you can get in bike sim), is a ridiculous statement.
That's my first point: a sim is nowhere close to the real thing. You can get useful lessons for the real thing from a sim if you are actively doing both, but otherwise, forget it.
Now for my second point: An aggressive low-flying sportsbike has 2 (two) important gauges. Speed and RPM. You can ignore the speedometer. Most of the time, you can ignore the RPM gauge too (you get that info from the engine noise anyway).
How many gauges are there on a 747, and how many of these can you routinely ignore?
"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway."
-- Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Since when does QA set the release date in open OR closed software? Certainly not with any company I've worked for.
I've worked for Microsoft, where QA literally decided the ship date. If it wasn't ready to ship, then it wasn't ready to ship.
(which, of course, provokes flames from the Slashdot crowds as Microsoft never can stick to a release date. Consistency is not a feature of Slashdot...)
For several years, I have measured the distance to my friends in milliseconds. Usually, the distance is no longer than 50ms, but it can climb to 80-90ms on a bad day. Been much better since I switched ISPs, though.
Seriously though, I have thought about how time (as in latency) is becoming the only relevant distance. It's not the point you make, but a slightly related one.
Thoughts?
Ok, that went by miles above my head :-) OTOH, I know nothing about the KDE naming scheme...
All the Chinese workers I've heard of get free bed and board (well, at least if they produce on quota) and job security is phenomenal - they don't have to worry about being fired and having to find a new job until they get out, which is often several decades away.
Try beating that for job security, ANYWHERE in the US.
Me fail English? Unpossible!
:-)
Maybe, but my guess is that you come from a country where the English word preservatives is matched by one starting with con- or kon-, such as Konservierungsmittel (German) or konserveringsmedel (Scandinavian)?
Whomever moderated this post "informative" clearly didn't read the post. I particularly liked this section:
The Dutch language may only be used as an encryption device for confidential communications.
At least here in Sweden, if you say something is "free", then you are expressly prohibited from requiring anything in return - be it any action, information, or goods.
Sounds like obvious common sense, but the lack of this legislation (and mindset) in the US has started to slowly creep over here. Fortunately, companies get a quick and cold wake-up when they translate their American ads saying "Free router! (with purchase of X and Y)" and run them here, and instantly become required to hand over routers unconditionally to anybody who asks for them - the condition isn't valid since you are using the magic word "free".
Requiring registration is, by definiton, not free. You are required to do something in return.
The vast majority of spam (90+%) comes from less than a dozen individuals. So it's not THAT uphill.