Ok, first, don't bother with the email, unless you're an old friend of the elected official and they know your email address by heart.
Second, get off your duff and write a handwritten letter or, if typed, write a hand P.S. Use legible printing or cursive.
Hand write the envelope. Sure you have that fancy form feed for your printer, but a hand written envelope means it will get opened and read.
Always give your address. If you don't live in their district, find a big town in it, pop up the street map, and make one up. Bingo, you're a constituent. If you appear to live elsewhere, noone will read your letter. Now, this works only if you mail it in their state - but if you are sending email, this will at least mean someone will read it.
Don't go on and on and on. Yes, you're bright, you're intelligent, you're well informed. Noone cares. Instead, keep it short and focussed. If there is a bill number and title, include it.
Personalize the letter. If you met them at the state fair, say so: "Dear Congressman Schitz-Alikhabar, It's been a couple of months since I met you at the state fair, but I wanted to..."
If you can meet them physically, you will make more of an impression. Coffee things in their district, drop by their house if a neighbor when they're out back gardening and chat over the fence.
There are about 18,000 programs that you can use to kill the banner ads. I use AdSubtract [adsubtract.com], but it's Windows-based. WebWasher is a free Windows-based utility as well... there are tons of others for your OS of choice. Why don't you try being proactive instead of just bitching?
Because I'm at work, where I have to use Windows, use IE, and can't mod my setup.
Hmm. Seems to me, this solves the problem of how to get those heavy speakers set up for bands.
But another intriguing use would be for California and Florida - pool stereo systems. Just get a good protected cable and a splash guard with drain, and float the system in the pool.
I can just picture the next time you go to a bar. You'll be able to tell all the Linux Geeks - they'll be the ones shaking their wrists all the time...
You should have used the DOD Linux version. Of course, the watchband is green then. Bastille Linux - maybe the Swiss Army Linux Watch will have that.
- Does it have a picture of Tux on the watchface?
Yes, which you would have seen if you had followed the main story link.
- Imagine a beowulf cluster of these.
Probably find one at Times Square - look for the guy with the raincoat.
- [Insert "If MS made watches joke here]
Then they would run backwards at times, you would have to pay more money each year for the same watch with the bug fixes, and sometimes it would just stop and you'd have to replace the battery to start it again.
Re:Why not use Internet2 for the new network?
on
GOVNET In the Works
·
· Score: 2
Not a bad idea, on the face of it. But what if the test case fails?
If the test case proves woefully inadequate, then the secrets of our Government will be in the hands of a bunch of l33t 12 y34r-0|d H4X0Rz!
I was describing a parallel or private Internet2. There wouldn't be any hackers - this would be more like the Mil version, but it's own space.
[disregarding the flashing banner from Planet Hard Drive - who will never get my business now...]
The reality is that we still depend on the radio for news in cars and when we wake up. We still look to TV for full coverage. We use the Net because we're not allowed to have the other two at work.
But we do use the Net to spread misinformation, rumors, and to get all paranoid. When we're not using call-in talk shows on the radio and TV. It looks more beleivable on the PC monitor than when we phone up and people can tell by our rushed voices that we're loonies.
There are always nutsos out there. Most of the time they're not dangerous, so long as you keep them away from sharp things.
Re:Implication: the PC will fade away
on
Torvalds Tells All
·
· Score: 1
That would be Talkie Toaster from Red Dwarf, who gave us the truly insightful question [mimashigh.co.uk], "Given that God is infinite, and that the universe is also infinite, would you like a toasted teacake?"
Well, yes, but I already patented it. After all, it was a Brit's idea. Just had to get a Linux Toaster that had a talking interface and now all such toasters are derivitive of my main patent.
Ain't intellectual theft... oops... property rights grand?
Why not use Internet2 for the new network?
on
GOVNET In the Works
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
I think this would be a good test case for the government. They could use IPv6 and Internet2 standards, with full encryption of messages and full security.
Would be a good test case - if it works, then we can expect to see a clone system roll out in major cities within two years.
One of the implications of what Linus said at the end of the interview is that it's more of a shift in perception.
I take that to mean that we'll keep seeing more machines running Linux, but they won't necessarily be what we think of as PCs. Things like WebPads, toasters that know Sartre (and can help you with your worldview), bathtubs that know they're full and houses that remember to light up the Holiday Tree/Icon only when it makes sense. These aren't PCs in the classic sense, but many will be running Linux.
Unlike many other posters, I believe that, should MSFT pull out of the EU, that the EU (EEC actually) would force the local companies to public domain the software that existed up to that date.
Realize that the EU trade rules apply to many other countries than Europe, including Mexico.
This would be a serious mistake by MSFT, although I'm sure the Open Source folks would love it.
Penalties by third party greater than by friends
on
EU May Fine Microsoft
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
One of the key mistakes MSFT has made is in trying to avoid having a US court rule on punishment. By doing so, they forced the EU (EEC) to act, and unlike America where MSFT has some support and lobbying dollars, the EU does not like MSFT.
It's better to be punished by people who think you're a good guy than by people who are convinced you are bad. But they still persist in thinking that they can escape punishment through trickery.
Another great way to get "face time" with politicians is to volunteer to work on their campaigns. Politicians will listen to anyone who is helping them to get/stay elected. Usually this takes the form of monetary donations, but other types of campaign contributions are just as important...especially if you have something extra, like tech saaviness.
Actually, that's how I got a lot of my early connections, back before I had money. A lot of campaigns could use some savvy tech people.
The bonus is you get to see how the process works, and you make some great connections.
Plus, for the guy geeks, most campaign staffers are intelligent young women. Even if one doesn't date at the office, they're fun to hang out with. And they have friends.
I noticed that the lobbyist suggested actions like chaining oneself to desks and disrupting events.
One of the more effective methods myself and friends had at the WTO was not to protest, but to go to the restaurants and hotels the delegates were staying at and talking reasonably (while dressed nicely) about all the issues, and engage the delegates in discusssion of these issues.
For a Senator or Congressmember, the action I would suggest would be to get four or five people to go to the normal boring "coffee talks" in the home district and have each person have a short question about an issue one wanted to discuss. Then have other members react typically to the response.
E.g. "Do you think that the DCMA should be changed so that we can make backup copies of our software as is our constitutional right?" Response: "No, Microsoft told me it was cool" Audience: "I thought you worked for us, not for them."
But this is a good root post by Jon. And it's about a military subject, so I'm even more surprised.
The main problem I was seeing was that we were focussing on the cruise missiles (which can cost millions per missile) instead of JATO or JDAMs. Luckily, we have moved to JDAMs, which run around $20K per bomb and are more accurate than cruise missiles.
War is about a number of things:
1. Confusion
2. Command and Control
3. Bringing resources to attack the enemy or defend against them
4. Economics
So far, it looks like we're doing a good job. We have moved from the ultra-expensive phase to the inexpensive phase, where we can use our larger resource base, our control of airspace, our identification methods, and our ability to overwhelm defenses so that they are at a disadvantage.
But when it comes down to it, we still have to get the terrorists. It's easy to spot them when they have weapons, but what if they slip over the border unarmed? Money is not that traceable if it's cash or bearer bonds or illegal pharmaceuticals.
Technology will only help us - it can't win the war - for that we have to be willing to persist, to accept larger numbers of casualties than we've been willing to accept, and to make sure we target the true terrorists and not just people who don't like us or who look like terrorists. And technology isn't good at that.
Now let's see, at the speed of light, this is how many seconds? 0.6? Now add in all the processing time of video compression latency. This is probably even more time than just the distance to the friggin satellite(s).
No wonder they ask a question and it takes 3 seconds before the remote reporter's lips start moving. And they get into "interruption wars" and "courtesy wars" due to the extreme latency.
I'd started to notice that too. You'll notice when they're using a phone feed the latency effect halfway across the world is not quite as bad as the recent transmissions, so they must really be bouncing a lot to get that time lag.
This also ties in nicely with SciFi stories where they always broadcast with a banner image behind them - since the banner image is constant, the image transmits more quickly with the bandwidth limitations.
Seems to me the real major point of improvement would be in the battery technology and power system, not the casing or shell or antenna portions.
1. We should use the Brazil standard. This means that there is no such thing as intellectual property beyond a period of 2-3 years, after which it becomes public domain. This also implies that patenting the Genome is illegal, as it is already public domain and a prior work (copyright God (TM)). Thus, the only RAND possible is one of zero cents, levied equally on all participants.
2. Bill Gates already bought out the W3C vote, so it's a done deal. They all got options already.
Given the predeliction of the US Attorney General Ashcroft to previous actions, and the actions taken by the US Congress and Senate, isn't this pretty much a waste of time?
I mean, look, MSFT gave more money to Bush than Gore, and bought the election. Combine that with Disney's work on extending copyright terms, and biotech/pharmaceutical work on extending patent terms, and it seems as if the W3C can say anything it wants and the US will just torpedo it, so that the patent and license holders can squeeze more revenue.
A case in point, WinXP and MSFT Select licensing terms which double (or triple) costs for consumers.
It's good to hear that email counts a little higher because mail-bombing my congressmen with 50,000 emails would probably get me arrested as a terrorist under the upcoming PATRIOT law.
I could probably talk my way out of 1000 emails by pretending that the emails were simply due to a bug in the pre-beta version of Evolution that I used to send the message. But 50,000 is a little over the top.
Just tell them you were using MSFT Outlook Express XP. And a virus made you do it.
Maybe sales are so low because it's not even available yet.
Try again after its release date, October 25th
Sorry, it's been shipping for two weeks with new systems. Try reading the business pages once in a while, instead of paying attention to the MSFT hype.
All of this is because of one man. P.J. Hogan, who you see as director on many Australian films, and is the direct reason for the existence of such fine film production and stage buildings in Australia.
P.J. Hogan is actually Paul Hogan. Yup, Crocodile Dundee. The guy who had that killer Aussie show that was such a yuckfest to those of you in the UK and Canada, but who the Yanks don't understand has done anything else.
And that's why they're filming in Australia.
Us lifetime members of Cinema Seattle know these things...
Second is this cool one called WinXP. Read in today's business news that sales are so low that it's already a niche product, cause noone's buying it, and less than any prior release.
Slashdot Mirror
Ok, first, don't bother with the email, unless you're an old friend of the elected official and they know your email address by heart.
..."
Second, get off your duff and write a handwritten letter or, if typed, write a hand P.S. Use legible printing or cursive.
Hand write the envelope. Sure you have that fancy form feed for your printer, but a hand written envelope means it will get opened and read.
Always give your address. If you don't live in their district, find a big town in it, pop up the street map, and make one up. Bingo, you're a constituent. If you appear to live elsewhere, noone will read your letter. Now, this works only if you mail it in their state - but if you are sending email, this will at least mean someone will read it.
Don't go on and on and on. Yes, you're bright, you're intelligent, you're well informed. Noone cares. Instead, keep it short and focussed. If there is a bill number and title, include it.
Personalize the letter. If you met them at the state fair, say so: "Dear Congressman Schitz-Alikhabar, It's been a couple of months since I met you at the state fair, but I wanted to
If you can meet them physically, you will make more of an impression. Coffee things in their district, drop by their house if a neighbor when they're out back gardening and chat over the fence.
Be polite. Yelling never works.
Think about it. Easy to hack, no security, have to reboot all the time, and you always have a lawyer on call.
There are about 18,000 programs that you can use to kill the banner ads. I use AdSubtract [adsubtract.com], but it's Windows-based. WebWasher is a free Windows-based utility as well... there are tons of others for your OS of choice. Why don't you try being proactive instead of just bitching?
Because I'm at work, where I have to use Windows, use IE, and can't mod my setup.
Duh!
Hmm. Seems to me, this solves the problem of how to get those heavy speakers set up for bands.
But another intriguing use would be for California and Florida - pool stereo systems. Just get a good protected cable and a splash guard with drain, and float the system in the pool.
Man, that would make one cool video!
Can you make one that's self-rewinding?
...
I can just picture the next time you go to a bar. You'll be able to tell all the Linux Geeks - they'll be the ones shaking their wrists all the time
- How long until someone roots your wrist?
You should have used the DOD Linux version. Of course, the watchband is green then. Bastille Linux - maybe the Swiss Army Linux Watch will have that.
- Does it have a picture of Tux on the watchface?
Yes, which you would have seen if you had followed the main story link.
- Imagine a beowulf cluster of these.
Probably find one at Times Square - look for the guy with the raincoat.
- [Insert "If MS made watches joke here]
Then they would run backwards at times, you would have to pay more money each year for the same watch with the bug fixes, and sometimes it would just stop and you'd have to replace the battery to start it again.
Not a bad idea, on the face of it. But what if the test case fails?
If the test case proves woefully inadequate, then the secrets of our Government will be in the hands of a bunch of l33t 12 y34r-0|d H4X0Rz!
I was describing a parallel or private Internet2. There wouldn't be any hackers - this would be more like the Mil version, but it's own space.
The reality is not as you describe it, Jon.
...]
[disregarding the flashing banner from Planet Hard Drive - who will never get my business now
The reality is that we still depend on the radio for news in cars and when we wake up. We still look to TV for full coverage. We use the Net because we're not allowed to have the other two at work.
But we do use the Net to spread misinformation, rumors, and to get all paranoid. When we're not using call-in talk shows on the radio and TV. It looks more beleivable on the PC monitor than when we phone up and people can tell by our rushed voices that we're loonies.
There are always nutsos out there. Most of the time they're not dangerous, so long as you keep them away from sharp things.
That would be Talkie Toaster from Red Dwarf, who gave us the truly insightful question [mimashigh.co.uk], "Given that God is infinite, and that the universe is also infinite, would you like a toasted teacake?"
... oops ... property rights grand?
Well, yes, but I already patented it. After all, it was a Brit's idea. Just had to get a Linux Toaster that had a talking interface and now all such toasters are derivitive of my main patent.
Ain't intellectual theft
I think this would be a good test case for the government. They could use IPv6 and Internet2 standards, with full encryption of messages and full security.
Would be a good test case - if it works, then we can expect to see a clone system roll out in major cities within two years.
One of the implications of what Linus said at the end of the interview is that it's more of a shift in perception.
I take that to mean that we'll keep seeing more machines running Linux, but they won't necessarily be what we think of as PCs. Things like WebPads, toasters that know Sartre (and can help you with your worldview), bathtubs that know they're full and houses that remember to light up the Holiday Tree/Icon only when it makes sense. These aren't PCs in the classic sense, but many will be running Linux.
And that will be good.
Unlike many other posters, I believe that, should MSFT pull out of the EU, that the EU (EEC actually) would force the local companies to public domain the software that existed up to that date.
Realize that the EU trade rules apply to many other countries than Europe, including Mexico.
This would be a serious mistake by MSFT, although I'm sure the Open Source folks would love it.
One of the key mistakes MSFT has made is in trying to avoid having a US court rule on punishment. By doing so, they forced the EU (EEC) to act, and unlike America where MSFT has some support and lobbying dollars, the EU does not like MSFT.
It's better to be punished by people who think you're a good guy than by people who are convinced you are bad. But they still persist in thinking that they can escape punishment through trickery.
If you read the website for the giveaway, they mention it's been expanded to 20 cities from the original 6.
While this is cool, especially since I've got shares in AMD, one wonders how many of us are really just overexcited due to the name.
I mean, XP, that is just the hottest thing since buttered toast!
Another great way to get "face time" with politicians is to volunteer to work on their campaigns. Politicians will listen to anyone who is helping them to get/stay elected. Usually this takes the form of monetary donations, but other types of campaign contributions are just as important...especially if you have something extra, like tech saaviness.
Actually, that's how I got a lot of my early connections, back before I had money. A lot of campaigns could use some savvy tech people.
The bonus is you get to see how the process works, and you make some great connections.
Plus, for the guy geeks, most campaign staffers are intelligent young women. Even if one doesn't date at the office, they're fun to hang out with. And they have friends.
I noticed that the lobbyist suggested actions like chaining oneself to desks and disrupting events.
One of the more effective methods myself and friends had at the WTO was not to protest, but to go to the restaurants and hotels the delegates were staying at and talking reasonably (while dressed nicely) about all the issues, and engage the delegates in discusssion of these issues.
For a Senator or Congressmember, the action I would suggest would be to get four or five people to go to the normal boring "coffee talks" in the home district and have each person have a short question about an issue one wanted to discuss. Then have other members react typically to the response.
E.g. "Do you think that the DCMA should be changed so that we can make backup copies of our software as is our constitutional right?" Response: "No, Microsoft told me it was cool" Audience: "I thought you worked for us, not for them."
This really zings them.
But this is a good root post by Jon. And it's about a military subject, so I'm even more surprised.
The main problem I was seeing was that we were focussing on the cruise missiles (which can cost millions per missile) instead of JATO or JDAMs. Luckily, we have moved to JDAMs, which run around $20K per bomb and are more accurate than cruise missiles.
War is about a number of things:
1. Confusion
2. Command and Control
3. Bringing resources to attack the enemy or defend against them
4. Economics
So far, it looks like we're doing a good job. We have moved from the ultra-expensive phase to the inexpensive phase, where we can use our larger resource base, our control of airspace, our identification methods, and our ability to overwhelm defenses so that they are at a disadvantage.
But when it comes down to it, we still have to get the terrorists. It's easy to spot them when they have weapons, but what if they slip over the border unarmed? Money is not that traceable if it's cash or bearer bonds or illegal pharmaceuticals.
Technology will only help us - it can't win the war - for that we have to be willing to persist, to accept larger numbers of casualties than we've been willing to accept, and to make sure we target the true terrorists and not just people who don't like us or who look like terrorists. And technology isn't good at that.
Now let's see, at the speed of light, this is how many seconds? 0.6? Now add in all the processing time of video compression latency. This is probably even more time than just the distance to the friggin satellite(s).
No wonder they ask a question and it takes 3 seconds before the remote reporter's lips start moving. And they get into "interruption wars" and "courtesy wars" due to the extreme latency.
I'd started to notice that too. You'll notice when they're using a phone feed the latency effect halfway across the world is not quite as bad as the recent transmissions, so they must really be bouncing a lot to get that time lag.
This also ties in nicely with SciFi stories where they always broadcast with a banner image behind them - since the banner image is constant, the image transmits more quickly with the bandwidth limitations.
Seems to me the real major point of improvement would be in the battery technology and power system, not the casing or shell or antenna portions.
1. We should use the Brazil standard. This means that there is no such thing as intellectual property beyond a period of 2-3 years, after which it becomes public domain. This also implies that patenting the Genome is illegal, as it is already public domain and a prior work (copyright God (TM)). Thus, the only RAND possible is one of zero cents, levied equally on all participants.
2. Bill Gates already bought out the W3C vote, so it's a done deal. They all got options already.
Given the predeliction of the US Attorney General Ashcroft to previous actions, and the actions taken by the US Congress and Senate, isn't this pretty much a waste of time?
I mean, look, MSFT gave more money to Bush than Gore, and bought the election. Combine that with Disney's work on extending copyright terms, and biotech/pharmaceutical work on extending patent terms, and it seems as if the W3C can say anything it wants and the US will just torpedo it, so that the patent and license holders can squeeze more revenue.
A case in point, WinXP and MSFT Select licensing terms which double (or triple) costs for consumers.
So why bother?
Oh, I don't know.
Maybe to make money and not scare off the chicks when they notice that you've got a webcam on your shoes?
It's good to hear that email counts a little higher because mail-bombing my congressmen with 50,000 emails would probably get me arrested as a terrorist under the upcoming PATRIOT law.
I could probably talk my way out of 1000 emails by pretending that the emails were simply due to a bug in the pre-beta version of Evolution that I used to send the message. But 50,000 is a little over the top.
Just tell them you were using MSFT Outlook Express XP. And a virus made you do it.
Maybe sales are so low because it's not even available yet.
Try again after its release date, October 25th
Sorry, it's been shipping for two weeks with new systems. Try reading the business pages once in a while, instead of paying attention to the MSFT hype.
So it is a niche OS. WinXP for the masses!
All of this is because of one man. P.J. Hogan, who you see as director on many Australian films, and is the direct reason for the existence of such fine film production and stage buildings in Australia.
...
P.J. Hogan is actually Paul Hogan. Yup, Crocodile Dundee. The guy who had that killer Aussie show that was such a yuckfest to those of you in the UK and Canada, but who the Yanks don't understand has done anything else.
And that's why they're filming in Australia.
Us lifetime members of Cinema Seattle know these things
First one is OS/2 - still around.
Second is this cool one called WinXP. Read in today's business news that sales are so low that it's already a niche product, cause noone's buying it, and less than any prior release.
That makes it a niche system, in my book.