This isn't about getting at the truth! This is about being righteously indignant that you aren't HAPPY to give the government over 30% of your income for an obscenely bloated and ineffective bureaucracy!
Don't bother trying to undo nearly 100 years of dis/mis-information here on/. Despite keeping my sig, I'm increasingly coming to think it's a waste of energy trying to convince anyone that anything fundamental is wrong with our economic system. And I don't even advocate a return to the gold standard or anything. People have eyes and ears, and especially here can certainly read. The thinking logically, objectively and critically though, either they have it or not, and largely not it seems. Also, many are quite literally scared of true freedom and what gold really represents in terms of not relying on the government to tell you what is and isn't real. If they are caught out in the end, so be it. One thing to point out though, industrial consumption of gold is less than 15% of production. I mentioned this in a recent post with an attribution for the statement (it's not hard to find data though). Like I said though, it seems most people don't really care about any of it, what a true store of value really is, etc. Yet.
"So if your currency devalues. Have the costs really risen?"
Without an accompanying rise in income, yes. The cost (labor/capital input) to you has risen, which is separate from the cost of manufacture under a different currency.
"Surely the costs are constant and the amount of value you have has fallen."
Yes, the cost (value to the manufacturer) to make the product under a more stable currency has remained (basically) constant and the value of the currency used to buy it (the value you have) has fallen.
When I visited Rome about 20 years ago, the cabs charged by time instead of distance. Not only could they choose a longer than necessary route, they could pick one with the most lights too. I remember that we were the only vehicle that stopped for this one red light in particular that we needed to make a left at. It was crazy, people were honking and going around us. Fun ride though!
I like gold, and I like Ron Paul. FWIW, having tried and mostly failed to sway anyone I know into physically owning any bullion for any reason, I think it's counter-productive to mention gold or the relative merits of backed vs fiat currency to people when trying to interest them in RP as a candidate. People have been so conditioned that gold is useless and worthless to them that some are even convinced that we are somehow stunting industrial usage of it by private ownership These otherwise sane people would likely vote to have our government re-implement a confiscation policy. The gold ETF activity the last week or so though shows the smart money knows where safety is. Well, some consider them smart. Panicky whiners are likely terms that would be used by others. We shall see, but I know which side world history is on in the long run.
"This is FUD of the highest quality. I'm sitting now with my Vista edition listening to some Iron Maiden's mpr (DRM free of course) and using Windows Media Player 11. I'm measuring the network speed by sending a 34 GB files to the server with the player working and without it. The dspeed is being measured using BMST (Bandwidth Meter Speed Test). No difference at all."
Right. YOU don't seem to be having the problem, so there is no problem.
"Of course you can write anything you want negatve about MS in/. and any sheep will just believe it without further inverstigation..."
Now THAT is scary. I kept hearing how great Snow Crash was and was finally given a copy by someone. Been two or three years so my complaints aren't fresh in my head, but overall I remember thinking it was juvenile and read like a bad comic book without the illustrations. Really not trying to be snarky. I gave up at the last quarter of it though, perhaps it had some magical redemptive ending or something else I missed. Haven't read Neuromancer in much longer than that either, so maybe I'd think it sucked too now. Or maybe it would be like the Thomas Covenant books I found in a box recently and tried re-reading after twenty years. Made it through the first one and while I didn't think it sucked it certainly didn't grab me at all like the first time around.
He goes for a little more of a metaphysical jump with it, but it's the same basic concept. For those not willing to follow the link, the story was originally published in November, 1956.
Your shit is modded so high now I have to post a second, expanded, reply.
>>it's a substitute for actual goods of value in the same way that paper money is, or any other currency standard.
Wrong, there is an absolute limit to the supply of gold.
>more dollars means that the dollars out there are worth less, especially versus foreign currencies. >>Except for the obvious logical fallacy that foreign currencies have also abandoned the gold standard?"
Even in a world of fiat currencies, when one currency is produced at a faster rate than the others, the relative value declines. Take a look at the last ten years of exchange rates for US/Canadian, US/Pound and US/Euro sometime.
There is a reason that gold is, and has been, a standard of exchange for millennia. Those reasons are readily available for anyone to learn of on the net. The proof is in the pudding though. They are the same reasons the BIS uses it still. Good enough for countries and banks, but not for the people it would seem. Not as easy to manipulate and play games with, games that benefit only the players and not the played. Namely, us.
Specifically? Seems to me the only people who think he's crazy are the ones whose profits are threatened by his idea(l)s or who simply don't (want to) get what he's really saying.
I love how people grab on to that one phrase of his and make out like he was Mr Pious or something:
"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."
Albert Einstein, in a letter March 24, 1954; from Albert Einstein the Human Side, Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, eds., Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1981, p. 43.
"Religion is for people who want to believe in fairy tales, live in trees, eat berries and die of the first trivial infection, anything else is hypocritical."
Buddhism is not a religion. It's a philosophy based on reason and experience. Which is why most Buddhists, most notably the Dalai Lama, embrace the findings of science. EVEN if they have to revise long-held thinking on something. I don't have the exact quote but I remember reading about the DL visiting some research laboratory and making a comment to that effect.
"Meanwhile, those of us in the real world will use science to improve our lives."
Which is what most, if not all given the chance, philosophical Buddhists do every day. Those practicing folk-Buddhism intertwined with local religions, superstitious traditions, ancestor worship, etc, such as in Laos and Cambodia, maybe not so much. They've got bigger problems though. Like getting clean water and food.
Bloody hell it's hard to know where to start you are so ill-informed.
Yep. Someone who was able to understand and work within a system to become successful should always be ignored when they comment on that system. Particularly if they have anything bad to say. Brilliant.
For many here, overall experience has shown that closed/proprietary is bad and open is good, particularly in the long term. In the absence of overwhelmingly compelling reasons to sway one to either side, to err on the side of using OSS is not following blindly. It is following wisely.
There is a difference between being pc and having standards/morals/convictions and trying to stick to them. The fact that you seem not to recognize this is troubling. Or perhaps, and more likely, it is a selective recognition on your part. As for the rest of your comment, consider that many 20-40 year old geeks parents are incapable of installing ANY operating system. In short, your conclusions are specious, not insightful.
It's called 'being oppressed' at a root level. "To oppress is usually to subject (a people) to burdens, to undue exercise of authority, and the like; its chief application, therefore, is to a social or political situation"
Slashdot Mirror
This isn't about getting at the truth! This is about being righteously indignant that you aren't HAPPY to give the government over 30% of your income for an obscenely bloated and ineffective bureaucracy!
Name one of these 'essential' day to day services, provided at the federal level, that he wishes to completely ban and not merely leave to the states.
http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/
Don't bother trying to undo nearly 100 years of dis/mis-information here on /. Despite keeping my sig, I'm increasingly coming to think it's a waste of energy trying to convince anyone that anything fundamental is wrong with our economic system. And I don't even advocate a return to the gold standard or anything. People have eyes and ears, and especially here can certainly read. The thinking logically, objectively and critically though, either they have it or not, and largely not it seems. Also, many are quite literally scared of true freedom and what gold really represents in terms of not relying on the government to tell you what is and isn't real. If they are caught out in the end, so be it. One thing to point out though, industrial consumption of gold is less than 15% of production. I mentioned this in a recent post with an attribution for the statement (it's not hard to find data though). Like I said though, it seems most people don't really care about any of it, what a true store of value really is, etc. Yet.
"So if your currency devalues. Have the costs really risen?"
Without an accompanying rise in income, yes. The cost (labor/capital input) to you has risen, which is separate from the cost of manufacture under a different currency.
"Surely the costs are constant and the amount of value you have has fallen."
Yes, the cost (value to the manufacturer) to make the product under a more stable currency has remained (basically) constant and the value of the currency used to buy it (the value you have) has fallen.
Don't want your share of the gold? I'll take it.
When I visited Rome about 20 years ago, the cabs charged by time instead of distance. Not only could they choose a longer than necessary route, they could pick one with the most lights too. I remember that we were the only vehicle that stopped for this one red light in particular that we needed to make a left at. It was crazy, people were honking and going around us. Fun ride though!
I like gold, and I like Ron Paul. FWIW, having tried and mostly failed to sway anyone I know into physically owning any bullion for any reason, I think it's counter-productive to mention gold or the relative merits of backed vs fiat currency to people when trying to interest them in RP as a candidate. People have been so conditioned that gold is useless and worthless to them that some are even convinced that we are somehow stunting industrial usage of it by private ownership These otherwise sane people would likely vote to have our government re-implement a confiscation policy. The gold ETF activity the last week or so though shows the smart money knows where safety is. Well, some consider them smart. Panicky whiners are likely terms that would be used by others. We shall see, but I know which side world history is on in the long run.
"This is FUD of the highest quality. I'm sitting now with my Vista edition listening to some Iron Maiden's mpr (DRM free of course) and using Windows Media Player 11. I'm measuring the network speed by sending a 34 GB files to the server with the player working and without it. The dspeed is being measured using BMST (Bandwidth Meter Speed Test). No difference at all."
/. and any sheep will just believe it without further inverstigation..."
Right. YOU don't seem to be having the problem, so there is no problem.
"Of course you can write anything you want negatve about MS in
Troll.
Now THAT is scary. I kept hearing how great Snow Crash was and was finally given a copy by someone. Been two or three years so my complaints aren't fresh in my head, but overall I remember thinking it was juvenile and read like a bad comic book without the illustrations. Really not trying to be snarky. I gave up at the last quarter of it though, perhaps it had some magical redemptive ending or something else I missed. Haven't read Neuromancer in much longer than that either, so maybe I'd think it sucked too now. Or maybe it would be like the Thomas Covenant books I found in a box recently and tried re-reading after twenty years. Made it through the first one and while I didn't think it sucked it certainly didn't grab me at all like the first time around.
The 'ultimate computer/machine' idea reminded me of an Asimov story I read once. Wikipedia to the memory rescue: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Question
He goes for a little more of a metaphysical jump with it, but it's the same basic concept. For those not willing to follow the link, the story was originally published in November, 1956.
"Industrial and dental uses account for around 11% of gold demand, or an annual average of just under 400 tonnes from 2001 to 2005 inclusive."
Source: World Gold Council
Your shit is modded so high now I have to post a second, expanded, reply.
>>it's a substitute for actual goods of value in the same way that paper money is, or any other currency standard.
Wrong, there is an absolute limit to the supply of gold.
>more dollars means that the dollars out there are worth less, especially versus foreign currencies.
>>Except for the obvious logical fallacy that foreign currencies have also abandoned the gold standard?"
Even in a world of fiat currencies, when one currency is produced at a faster rate than the others, the relative value declines. Take a look at the last ten years of exchange rates for US/Canadian, US/Pound and US/Euro sometime.
There is a reason that gold is, and has been, a standard of exchange for millennia. Those reasons are readily available for anyone to learn of on the net. The proof is in the pudding though. They are the same reasons the BIS uses it still. Good enough for countries and banks, but not for the people it would seem. Not as easy to manipulate and play games with, games that benefit only the players and not the played. Namely, us.
See my sig. Not much has changed in eight years.
"All that crazy is just hurting our cause."
Specifically? Seems to me the only people who think he's crazy are the ones whose profits are threatened by his idea(l)s or who simply don't (want to) get what he's really saying.
"He thought closed source software was a greater imposition on freedom than holding wedding memories hostage."
He's right.
"The man is too close to his particular pet cause."
To me it sounds like you are the one who can't see the larger issue.
I love how people grab on to that one phrase of his and make out like he was Mr Pious or something:
"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."
Albert Einstein, in a letter March 24, 1954; from Albert Einstein the Human Side, Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, eds., Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1981, p. 43.
Apparently, neither you or the person who modded you up could even be bothered to read the entire summary:
"Sony Online Entertainment will only be publishing the game; they will have nothing to do with development."
Nothing to do with development. As in, no hand in what or when things get patched or upgraded.
"...has their 'science' cured cancer yet?"
No, and neither has library science.
"Religion is for people who want to believe in fairy tales, live in trees, eat berries and die of the first trivial infection, anything else is hypocritical."
Buddhism is not a religion. It's a philosophy based on reason and experience. Which is why most Buddhists, most notably the Dalai Lama, embrace the findings of science. EVEN if they have to revise long-held thinking on something. I don't have the exact quote but I remember reading about the DL visiting some research laboratory and making a comment to that effect.
"Meanwhile, those of us in the real world will use science to improve our lives."
Which is what most, if not all given the chance, philosophical Buddhists do every day. Those practicing folk-Buddhism intertwined with local religions, superstitious traditions, ancestor worship, etc, such as in Laos and Cambodia, maybe not so much. They've got bigger problems though. Like getting clean water and food.
Bloody hell it's hard to know where to start you are so ill-informed.
"I don't know whether war is an interlude during peace, or peace an interlude during war."
- Georges Clemenceau
Sathya Sai Baba? LOL!
Yep. Someone who was able to understand and work within a system to become successful should always be ignored when they comment on that system. Particularly if they have anything bad to say. Brilliant.
How trite.
For many here, overall experience has shown that closed/proprietary is bad and open is good, particularly in the long term. In the absence of overwhelmingly compelling reasons to sway one to either side, to err on the side of using OSS is not following blindly. It is following wisely.
OK, I'm done pissing in the wind now.
There is a difference between being pc and having standards/morals/convictions and trying to stick to them. The fact that you seem not to recognize this is troubling. Or perhaps, and more likely, it is a selective recognition on your part. As for the rest of your comment, consider that many 20-40 year old geeks parents are incapable of installing ANY operating system. In short, your conclusions are specious, not insightful.
Speculation, no matter how informed and certain, is never as good as proof.
It's called 'being oppressed' at a root level. "To oppress is usually to subject (a people) to burdens, to undue exercise of authority, and the like; its chief application, therefore, is to a social or political situation"