Look, you can even buy a distro (Mandrake) where they bundle in The Sims. And the bonus is you can then play Warcraft III when it's released, becuase it includes a sub to transgaming.
So reboot already. The time for Linux to be the gaming platform of the future is now. Windows is dead, and Bill G is starting to realize this. Good thing he cashed out a lot of money for his (actually good) Foundation.
Got me The Sims. Gonna get Warcraft III. Need Black and White for WINE next. -
If you want to affect al-Qaeda, realize that more than 90 percent of their money supply comes from people with oil dollars. And less than 2 percent from drugs.
Attack the supply line and let the military apply the appropriate tech. One of the reasons we're doing so well is we use cheaper faster better tech like JDAM/JATO bombs that cost a couple of thousand instead of millions for drones and missiles, but throw in a couple of drones and forward observers to increase the accuracy.
No. I'm trying to get us out of our "someone else must fix this" mindset. Where we fail to realize that we can actually do something.
I know most are, but speaking about the light bulbs, does it take 8 times the energy to produce a compact flourescent bulb than a normal carbon filament or whatever they are? If so, your energy savings could be negated...
This is a prime argument against solar. The fab costs create a lot of bad chemicals and use a lot of energy. If you have a choice between a gasoline or diesel generator and a solar cell array with batteries - it depends on the use. However, given the 5 to 10 year lifespan (more years costs more money), compact flourescents are a net energy saver. My best advice is buy a few at Home Depot (cheap $4 to $6) and only use them for the lights you leave on a lot (in my house that's the kitchen and living room (giant room actually) where my computers are.
If you sell your car and buy a new one, isn't the balance of energy consumption MORE than it was before you bought the car, no matter how efficient the new car is, because someone else is driving the old one around?
I didn't say to go out and sell your car. I said the next time you are buying a car. You should really be using a car for 10 years, but I'm not trying to change your buying behaviour, just what you buy when you do buy. If you buy used cars, buy a better mpg more fuel efficient used car next time - one that is 5 mpg better than the last one. Don't accelerate your purchase schedule - don't start buying used if you buy new or vice versa. Just - when you buy - get a slightly better car, SUV, or truck in terms of mpg. Or kpl (km/l) if you don't live in the US.
I agree with your ideas and actually like them, but after reading the "Recycling is Garbage" [williams.edu] article, I like to double-check these ideas.
Good point. In Germany they make computers and cars so they can recycle the whole thing, since the manufacturer pays for disposal. This would be better than our current system. But I don't advocate forcing change on people - I am advocating taking positive proactive action today and not waiting for the "future" when they finally release fuel cell cars in the US, even though they have released them already in Japan.
Practical experience is use the tech you have now to get real change now. Not be idealistic to the point of blindness. If I had put off buying two dual-processor Linux high-grade servers for 12 months, I could have used the money to buy two blade computers with 10 times the power and easier to use. But if I need the servers today, that was a good choice.
Actually, you're right. Buying a Toyota Prius is a proactive pro-tech use of technology to fight the enemy.
It's produced by an ally - Japan, who don't send terrorists to bomb us. It uses tech to get great mpg. And it's not too expensive.
Of course, the Honda Insight gets about 65 mpg, if I recall the stats correctly.
I'm still waiting for the US version of the fuel cell powered SUV they're selling in Japan, or the 50+ mpg hybrid gas/electric SUV they're selling in Japan.
Would love to buy a convertible PT Cruiser that gets 50 mpg - and then install external flame units at the back just to freak them out...
We can make tech our ally in the War against the terrorists. Or we can sit here and whine about it.
But waiting for the future won't make it happen. Creating what we can today - will.
First, there's licensing restrictions - which obviously should be changed since they are anti-competitive.
Secondly, some of us (ok, maybe just me) are members of things like Neilsen Home Shoppers (you know, the guys who measure what you buy) or other programs - we need to ensure that every time we buy something it has Linux. Or, if not, that we BUY (not d/l for free) Linux as an add-on.
If it's not measured, it doesn't exist - that's how they think.
Third, if you own shares in one of the OEMs - send an investor relations email to the board, politely asking why they are not maximizing your shareholder return by offering a Linux version. Tell them to setup a shell corp if they have to, which buys the box and then sells it to the mother corp (Win OS) and another corp (Linux/BSD/etc).
If you are a shareholder, file a shareholder resolution. No, I am not kidding. Do this now. And then expense showing up at the annual meeting to push this. Keep it short and sweet.
This is war. Take no prisoners. Refuse to accept the ground rules imposed by the enemy - impose your own rules, choose your own ground. Fight them where your weapons are strongest, not the lawyer/contract arena they excel at.
Some of the actual things that we can individually do - not the government, trapped in the Big Oil is Good world - are: (choose one - but do at least one) 1. buy a compact flourescent lightbulb at the local hardware store or Home Depot - $4 to $6, use 1/8 the energy (this is Good Tech). 2. get a furnace controller (turns heat down when you're at work, or asleep, but heats it up in time for waking or coming home) (Good Tech) 3. get a tuneup for your car (better mpg) 4. next car you buy, new or used, get one that gets 5 mpg better than your last one (off the shelf we can get 40+ mpg for cars, SUVs and trucks - but consumers need to buy it). 5. change your furnace filter (improves energy efficiency and cleaner air). 6. next time you buy an appliance - washer, dryer, dishwasher, toaster, microwave, oven, etc - get either the best or second best energy efficient one. 7. buy 50 cent rubber seals to go behind your wall outlets (you're a techie, can't you do minor electrical stuff?) - up to 10 percent of heat loss is external-facing wall sockets in most houses. At Home Depot or hardware store. 8. buy a $2 foam insulator for your hot water heater hot water pipe (going out) - keeps it warmer and less cold showers when you turn on the hot water. 9. if your old hot water heater or furnace needs to be replaced, get the most energy efficient one you can. 10. if wiring for motion detectors, consider wiring your furnace/air conditioner controller to adjust temp based on occupants - and lights too. this is good tech.
All of these save you money - and cut the supply line of the enemy who wishes us dead.
If the hundreds of millions of Americans all did this - just one thing for each person - we would change the entire energy dynamic and painlessly switch energy supplies without any government intervention, while delivering a body blow to the enemy and their supporters. Then we could stop propping up anti-democratic regimes for energy supply reasons.
But inaction is what the al-Qaeda depend upon.
Techology isn't the answer - but the problem
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The Post 9/11 Tech Boom
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· Score: 2, Insightful
do you/really/ think more computers and software will help protect you from more low-tech terrorism? [That]'s what I (any most European anti-terrorist experts, which is to say, those who have some experience and understanding of what they're dealing with) think. The only way you'll stop it happening again -- IMHO -- is to stop funding Israel and get the fsck out of the economies and political systems of supposedly "independent" states that don't want you there (the people, that is, not the rulers), and to stop backing dictatorships like Saudi Arabia just because they're "on your side". In Ireland they used to say: "You cannot have a military solution to a political problem." Guess what? They were right.
Sadly, you are correct. The amusing thing about all of this is that we actually know what we have to do to crush the enemy who will attack us again.
We have to diversify our energy supply for the US into American-produced energy systems, diverse ones more resistant to attack. None of these are oil (or its derivative gasoline).
If we really want to stop the attacks, we should be pushing for more American-made, American-operated, and American-maintained energy supplies like clean coal, wind energy, fuel cells (for storage and distribution, plus vehicle power), and solar energy (in remote non-wired areas). Not tomorrow - today. Right now wind energy is half as expensive as oil and takes a max of 18 months to build a new plant - and the system (the grid) can take up to about 20 percent variable power supplies. If you throw fuel cells in you can store the energy where produced and use it for vehicles (like farm vehicles, trucks, SUVs).
But at the moment every dollar we spend on oil results in 50 cents going to the terrorists and those who aid, educate, supply, and train them. And the countries behind this are known: some are our supposed "allies" like Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Pakistan, Malaysia, the Phillipines, and Signapore. That's where the enemy lies.
Propping up dictatorships with tech won't forestall the attacks. It will just encourage more. And propping up oil-dependent energy will do the same thing. It's their supply line - more than 90 percent of their funding (indirect and direct) - comes from oil money, while less than 2 percent comes from drug money (used mostly for field operations income).
In fact, when in the field in Europe and the US, the terrorists fund themselves from the low-tech hacker techniques, like stealing credit cards, bank fraud, offshore tax havens, free email.
Tech is not our friend in this war. Sound national policy is. Most of the useful tech is the cheaper faster better stuff like cheap bombs that have GPS, not fancy doodads that cost millions per missile.
Sigh, Jon, Jon, Jon. I'm sure you think it's witty writing, but you're getting suckered.
Look, if you'd been through a few business cycles and been paying attention - or even looked back in any decent magazines and books that covered previous tech cycles (say to the 1800's), you would know that the following "true" things you said are hype and misleading:
"A need for more secure technologies and new weaponry."
But no money for them. Look at the budgets of the firms and the government - then forecast.
"A huge increase in "homeland security" spending by governments and biotech."
Again, no. They're shuffling money amongst accounts. I've got some money in a few biotechs and have owned weapons and biodefense stocks before - this is mostly hype - wait for the inevitable crash when investors realize the money ain't there. They won't even go after the real anthrax "bomber" - who is an extremist insider we trained. Even though they know who it must be.
"A boon for telecom and video conferencing companies and systems."
This sector will crash - the expectations are way too high for the stock prices. Then you'll tell us that ubergeeks caused the crash. No - investors believed unbelievable projections. The market will grow - but not that much.
"Continuing increases in sales across the tech spectrum for post 9/11 world."
Sales will drop. Period. Look for the telecom and tech sectors to fall even further. People like me make money on suckers who invest now - we sell to you. Others short the stocks. Can't say that I blame them.
Again, another hyped article about something you know little about. If you had a few quotes that weren't pulled from the usual suspect sources pushing the stocks on MSNBC or CNBC or CNN - then one might want to read an article about how telecom stocks are so hyped they have no choice but to fall. 1650 percent returns per annum. While tech stocks are almost as bad. 150 percent returns per annum. And these are the quality stocks I'm talking about - the firms likely to survive the continuing fallout.
[yes, I have a day job, but I've been investing since I was a kid] -
Having seen all the movies up for that category, this was one of the few choices where the internal politics of the Academy coincided with the best choice for best actress.
Most African-American women that I know don't like her as an actress, but even though she's uneven in her acting and roles chosen, she deserved the win for this film.
The bizarre thing is that this should be news. We should have gotten over this 40 years ago. This is still a strange country on this issue.
The reason Denzel won was not for this film, it was for his consistent good acting in other films. Most of the Oscars go to people who are good actors, or directors who are good directors - the actual movie is not so important as whether or not you "deserve" it.
The fact that LotR got four Oscars is amazing, considering how high the deck was stacked against them. And one of the reasons for animated movies having their own category is to shun them, as they don't spend as much money on hiring actors and directors and so on - just animators and programmers with some minor voice work.
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A lot of politics this year in the choices
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LoTR Takes 4 Oscars
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· Score: 1
When all is said and done, as a filmie of long standing (lifetime member of Cinema Seattle, my brother-in-law and some cousins voted for these awards, etc.), I found this year the final selections were more connected with politics than actual "best of" choices.
I've seen many of the movies and discussed them with many people - and we knew who should have received awards, and why the winners were chosen, and it's pretty disgusting this year. The awards that Moulin Rouge won were not the ones they should have won - but the voters for this chose them for obvious reasons.
One - it would be nice if a game supposedly high on RPG actually allowed units to act "native". In other words, when you leave your orcs alone, they start killing people and monkeying around, and when you leave your peons near a forest they start logging it.
Maybe this could be done with Intelligence Management Points (IMPs). You only get so many per unit type - then you can create true leaders - and they could be followed by the rest of the crowd.
Two - it really s.cks that the Neutrals attack everyone. What ever happened to the days when you could have neutral druids who'd mind their own business living in harmony with the forest creatures - and if you messed with them they'd zap you six ways to Sunday - or Berserk clans that are friendly and don't get in your way - but attack one and they raze your village to the ground and hunt you down until you're totally destroyed.
Ah, for the golden days of yore when we game designers actually created, not borrowed...
I already send them an error message when they try to post to my email lists, indicating that the lists are run in Washington State by a Washington State resident and may not be used for commercial reasons.
So can I serve them with subpeonas automatically when they try to spam me?
On another point - if I download the header but not the email and hit the delete button - since the email is still sitting back on the email server (not in my house) when it's deleted - have I been served?
You too can make easy money with just hours a day.
First, this offer is only available to citizens of forward-thinking states like Washington, Oregon, and California that permit you to sue spammers an amount per email in small claims court.
In Washington, it's $250 per spam. In Oregon, it's $25 per spam. I'm not sure of the amount in California.
Now, set up a whole bunch of email accounts on some service - yahoo.com or some other free service. Make sure you enter your address and state in the registration - and for good luck, put it in the email address (e.g. WeLiveInOregon@yahoo.com would be an excellent email address).
Now go and surf the net and post as you will. Make sure you let them read the email address you've created.
Soon you'll be getting tons and tons of checks as the spams roll in!
Find your lawmakers home emails - city council, county council, city prosecuting attorney,state reps, governor, state attorney general, federal delegations...
And change your settings to "reply to" the spamsters that send you spam with their info.
They'll fix it fast if it affects them. That's why we have some of our state's laws about credit reports - it directly affected my senator's daughter (he's retired from the senate now).
Nothing like making it personal.
[note - I am not advising you do this - just pointing out what will happen if some people did this - caveat emptor] -
In fact, at one point I worked in Trail BC, operating power supplies for the privately owned Columbia River dam that Cominco operates.
And many of the BC and Washington dams are shipping power down to California, via Washington and Oregon. Ever heard of the Columbia River Treaty - soon to expire - wonder where that energy will go...
In my view, the main problem with solar/wind/tide/wave power generation is that we can't guarantee a steady flow of energy. Excess energy can't be stored for use when we need it.
Nah, if you have enough sources, you can feed 20 percent from alternative sources. And there are these things called fuel cells (as used now in Japan to power SUVs and light trucks) to store the stored energy.
Stop waiting. Start doing. Every dollar of oil means 50 cents for the terrorists. Action matters more than words.
Love the idea. On a practical level, we could power the entire world just from tidal energy - or even from the wind energy in the Western US or from the wind energy in the MidWest.
While the tidal generator might not be proven, we know we can implement wind energy today. In fact, the whole Western US/Canada energy crisis caused us to build more alternative energy in the US/Canada in the last year than we had built in the entire previous century.
A diversified energy supply would do us good - and locally-produced energy supplies are always better than energy from other sources. The more different sources we have, the less vulnerable to price fluctuations, the less vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
Maybe I should pick up a board for use here in Seattle, huh? Got one in Santa Barbara CA and one in Mount Pleasant SC - might be fun to ride the pipe on the West Coast up in BC - heard the waves there are among the best in the world.
First, remember, your tax dollars are at work at the FTC. Every spam - and I do mean every spam - should be bounced or forwarded to uce@ftc.gov - how else can they file federal lawsuits if we don't help them?
Secondly, there are a number of different types of spammers:
A - Big Companies that use Special Partners - basically, they tend not to ask you - and once they've sold your address, it gets resold - always check the NO YOU MAY NOT INFORM YOUR PARTNERS box. There is ALWAYS a loophole to permit the needed info for credit bureaus and info needed to validate your account, so feel free saying No. And JUST SAY NO to the "other partners" - these are just spam houses.
B - Regulated companies that sell your email - These are the worst, cause you HAVE to do business with them and they resell like crazy. Always insist on Opting Out.
C - People who buy lists. They think they have ethics, but the story shows how most of those emails were harvested by those in D and E or maybe A or B. Regardless - you never gave your permission to THEM to spam you. ALWAYS send a copy to abuse@company.who.sells.product.they.advertise.com to make it obvious you don't agree.
D - Spamsters who harvest email but will remove you from their lists. Still scum. Always use spambot.net on these dirty dogs - never respond cause they might be category E.
E - Spamsters who break the law flagrantly and see nothing wrong with this. Probably libertarians. Should all be shot up close with polycore rounds from an auto shotgun. Repeatedly. Turn these in too, on general principle.
Best solution for avoiding spam? Move to a country with actual privacy rights where it's not even slightly "legal" - which is not the USA.
If you can get the home email of all your politicians, make sure you cc: them on all such abuse emails. Always. Until they pay for it, it's not a problem.
Maybe he'll get over being a dual citizen like me after a few years. Since the North Pole will be in Alaska soon.
A warning though - the US is still the only country in the world not to use metric, all the dollars are the same color, and they don't use the u in words like colour or spell centre correctly.
On the plus side, he can cut back on all those bilingual training courses - but he might want to pick up some Spanish just in case.
And it might take longer to make Rudolph's nose red - the beer, cider, and wine down here is awful weak to Canadian tastes.
Wonder if he'll have any problems with the NAFTA and Free Trade forms - occupation: Santa - is that a professional skill?
then it will lose the protections of the Digital Privacy Act at that time.
Maybe it might want to accelerate the jump to Russia - I hear they have stronger privacy laws than we in the US have.
Also, any plans afoot by Microsoft to claim rights to it under DCMA once it enters US soil?
Better movie is Ice Age
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Resident Evil
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· Score: 1
Better animation, much funnier, and better story.
More relevant to geeks than Resident Evil is. And gotta love that squirrel!
Resident Evil is pretty darned lame - the ONLY reason to watch it is you play the game. Why doesn't anyone jump sideways when the zombies shuffle in straight lines towards them?
Which is why we should jail the spammers and seize their assets. And put them in with Enron and Andersen execs who stole, in a large cage with the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
Then do streaming video and sell the rights to finance the convictions of more spamsters....
Slashdot Mirror
The Sims has capitalised on a very smart way of getting grown men (amongst others) to play with dolls.
They're not dolls, they're action figures. That's what my son tells me about all his transforming figures, LotR figurines, and all that stuff.
Now if you could just do magic in The Sims - sweet!
Look, you can even buy a distro (Mandrake) where they bundle in The Sims. And the bonus is you can then play Warcraft III when it's released, becuase it includes a sub to transgaming.
So reboot already. The time for Linux to be the gaming platform of the future is now. Windows is dead, and Bill G is starting to realize this. Good thing he cashed out a lot of money for his (actually good) Foundation.
Got me The Sims. Gonna get Warcraft III. Need Black and White for WINE next.
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If you want to affect al-Qaeda, realize that more than 90 percent of their money supply comes from people with oil dollars. And less than 2 percent from drugs.
Attack the supply line and let the military apply the appropriate tech. One of the reasons we're doing so well is we use cheaper faster better tech like JDAM/JATO bombs that cost a couple of thousand instead of millions for drones and missiles, but throw in a couple of drones and forward observers to increase the accuracy.
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...But are all of these better on net balance?
No. I'm trying to get us out of our "someone else must fix this" mindset. Where we fail to realize that we can actually do something.
I know most are, but speaking about the light bulbs, does it take 8 times the energy to produce a compact flourescent bulb than a normal carbon filament or whatever they are? If so, your energy savings could be negated...
This is a prime argument against solar. The fab costs create a lot of bad chemicals and use a lot of energy. If you have a choice between a gasoline or diesel generator and a solar cell array with batteries - it depends on the use. However, given the 5 to 10 year lifespan (more years costs more money), compact flourescents are a net energy saver. My best advice is buy a few at Home Depot (cheap $4 to $6) and only use them for the lights you leave on a lot (in my house that's the kitchen and living room (giant room actually) where my computers are.
If you sell your car and buy a new one, isn't the balance of energy consumption MORE than it was before you bought the car, no matter how efficient the new car is, because someone else is driving the old one around?
I didn't say to go out and sell your car. I said the next time you are buying a car. You should really be using a car for 10 years, but I'm not trying to change your buying behaviour, just what you buy when you do buy. If you buy used cars, buy a better mpg more fuel efficient used car next time - one that is 5 mpg better than the last one. Don't accelerate your purchase schedule - don't start buying used if you buy new or vice versa. Just - when you buy - get a slightly better car, SUV, or truck in terms of mpg. Or kpl (km/l) if you don't live in the US.
I agree with your ideas and actually like them, but after reading the "Recycling is Garbage" [williams.edu] article, I like to double-check these ideas.
Good point. In Germany they make computers and cars so they can recycle the whole thing, since the manufacturer pays for disposal. This would be better than our current system. But I don't advocate forcing change on people - I am advocating taking positive proactive action today and not waiting for the "future" when they finally release fuel cell cars in the US, even though they have released them already in Japan.
Practical experience is use the tech you have now to get real change now. Not be idealistic to the point of blindness. If I had put off buying two dual-processor Linux high-grade servers for 12 months, I could have used the money to buy two blade computers with 10 times the power and easier to use. But if I need the servers today, that was a good choice.
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Actually, you're right. Buying a Toyota Prius is a proactive pro-tech use of technology to fight the enemy.
...
It's produced by an ally - Japan, who don't send terrorists to bomb us. It uses tech to get great mpg. And it's not too expensive.
Of course, the Honda Insight gets about 65 mpg, if I recall the stats correctly.
I'm still waiting for the US version of the fuel cell powered SUV they're selling in Japan, or the 50+ mpg hybrid gas/electric SUV they're selling in Japan.
Would love to buy a convertible PT Cruiser that gets 50 mpg - and then install external flame units at the back just to freak them out
We can make tech our ally in the War against the terrorists. Or we can sit here and whine about it.
But waiting for the future won't make it happen. Creating what we can today - will.
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First, there's licensing restrictions - which obviously should be changed since they are anti-competitive.
Secondly, some of us (ok, maybe just me) are members of things like Neilsen Home Shoppers (you know, the guys who measure what you buy) or other programs - we need to ensure that every time we buy something it has Linux. Or, if not, that we BUY (not d/l for free) Linux as an add-on.
If it's not measured, it doesn't exist - that's how they think.
Third, if you own shares in one of the OEMs - send an investor relations email to the board, politely asking why they are not maximizing your shareholder return by offering a Linux version. Tell them to setup a shell corp if they have to, which buys the box and then sells it to the mother corp (Win OS) and another corp (Linux/BSD/etc).
If you are a shareholder, file a shareholder resolution. No, I am not kidding. Do this now. And then expense showing up at the annual meeting to push this. Keep it short and sweet.
This is war. Take no prisoners. Refuse to accept the ground rules imposed by the enemy - impose your own rules, choose your own ground. Fight them where your weapons are strongest, not the lawyer/contract arena they excel at.
But don't play their game - play yours.
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sorry.
Some of the actual things that we can individually do - not the government, trapped in the Big Oil is Good world - are:
(choose one - but do at least one)
1. buy a compact flourescent lightbulb at the local hardware store or Home Depot - $4 to $6, use 1/8 the energy (this is Good Tech).
2. get a furnace controller (turns heat down when you're at work, or asleep, but heats it up in time for waking or coming home) (Good Tech)
3. get a tuneup for your car (better mpg)
4. next car you buy, new or used, get one that gets 5 mpg better than your last one (off the shelf we can get 40+ mpg for cars, SUVs and trucks - but consumers need to buy it).
5. change your furnace filter (improves energy efficiency and cleaner air).
6. next time you buy an appliance - washer, dryer, dishwasher, toaster, microwave, oven, etc - get either the best or second best energy efficient one.
7. buy 50 cent rubber seals to go behind your wall outlets (you're a techie, can't you do minor electrical stuff?) - up to 10 percent of heat loss is external-facing wall sockets in most houses. At Home Depot or hardware store.
8. buy a $2 foam insulator for your hot water heater hot water pipe (going out) - keeps it warmer and less cold showers when you turn on the hot water.
9. if your old hot water heater or furnace needs to be replaced, get the most energy efficient one you can.
10. if wiring for motion detectors, consider wiring your furnace/air conditioner controller to adjust temp based on occupants - and lights too. this is good tech.
All of these save you money - and cut the supply line of the enemy who wishes us dead.
If the hundreds of millions of Americans all did this - just one thing for each person - we would change the entire energy dynamic and painlessly switch energy supplies without any government intervention, while delivering a body blow to the enemy and their supporters. Then we could stop propping up anti-democratic regimes for energy supply reasons.
But inaction is what the al-Qaeda depend upon.
do you /really/ think more computers and software will help protect you from more low-tech terrorism? [That]'s what I (any most European anti-terrorist experts, which is to say, those who have some experience and understanding of what they're dealing with) think. The only way you'll stop it happening again -- IMHO -- is to stop funding Israel and get the fsck out of the economies and political systems of supposedly "independent" states that don't want you there (the people, that is, not the rulers), and to stop backing dictatorships like Saudi Arabia just because they're "on your side". In Ireland they used to say: "You cannot have a military solution to a political problem." Guess what? They were right.
Sadly, you are correct. The amusing thing about all of this is that we actually know what we have to do to crush the enemy who will attack us again.
We have to diversify our energy supply for the US into American-produced energy systems, diverse ones more resistant to attack. None of these are oil (or its derivative gasoline).
If we really want to stop the attacks, we should be pushing for more American-made, American-operated, and American-maintained energy supplies like clean coal, wind energy, fuel cells (for storage and distribution, plus vehicle power), and solar energy (in remote non-wired areas). Not tomorrow - today. Right now wind energy is half as expensive as oil and takes a max of 18 months to build a new plant - and the system (the grid) can take up to about 20 percent variable power supplies. If you throw fuel cells in you can store the energy where produced and use it for vehicles (like farm vehicles, trucks, SUVs).
But at the moment every dollar we spend on oil results in 50 cents going to the terrorists and those who aid, educate, supply, and train them. And the countries behind this are known: some are our supposed "allies" like Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Pakistan, Malaysia, the Phillipines, and Signapore. That's where the enemy lies.
Propping up dictatorships with tech won't forestall the attacks. It will just encourage more. And propping up oil-dependent energy will do the same thing. It's their supply line - more than 90 percent of their funding (indirect and direct) - comes from oil money, while less than 2 percent comes from drug money (used mostly for field operations income).
In fact, when in the field in Europe and the US, the terrorists fund themselves from the low-tech hacker techniques, like stealing credit cards, bank fraud, offshore tax havens, free email.
Tech is not our friend in this war. Sound national policy is. Most of the useful tech is the cheaper faster better stuff like cheap bombs that have GPS, not fancy doodads that cost millions per missile.
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Sigh, Jon, Jon, Jon. I'm sure you think it's witty writing, but you're getting suckered.
Look, if you'd been through a few business cycles and been paying attention - or even looked back in any decent magazines and books that covered previous tech cycles (say to the 1800's), you would know that the following "true" things you said are hype and misleading:
"A need for more secure technologies and new weaponry."
But no money for them. Look at the budgets of the firms and the government - then forecast.
"A huge increase in "homeland security" spending by governments and biotech."
Again, no. They're shuffling money amongst accounts. I've got some money in a few biotechs and have owned weapons and biodefense stocks before - this is mostly hype - wait for the inevitable crash when investors realize the money ain't there. They won't even go after the real anthrax "bomber" - who is an extremist insider we trained. Even though they know who it must be.
"A boon for telecom and video conferencing companies and systems."
This sector will crash - the expectations are way too high for the stock prices. Then you'll tell us that ubergeeks caused the crash. No - investors believed unbelievable projections. The market will grow - but not that much.
"Continuing increases in sales across the tech spectrum for post 9/11 world."
Sales will drop. Period. Look for the telecom and tech sectors to fall even further. People like me make money on suckers who invest now - we sell to you. Others short the stocks. Can't say that I blame them.
Again, another hyped article about something you know little about. If you had a few quotes that weren't pulled from the usual suspect sources pushing the stocks on MSNBC or CNBC or CNN - then one might want to read an article about how telecom stocks are so hyped they have no choice but to fall. 1650 percent returns per annum. While tech stocks are almost as bad. 150 percent returns per annum. And these are the quality stocks I'm talking about - the firms likely to survive the continuing fallout.
[yes, I have a day job, but I've been investing since I was a kid]
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Having seen all the movies up for that category, this was one of the few choices where the internal politics of the Academy coincided with the best choice for best actress.
Most African-American women that I know don't like her as an actress, but even though she's uneven in her acting and roles chosen, she deserved the win for this film.
The bizarre thing is that this should be news. We should have gotten over this 40 years ago. This is still a strange country on this issue.
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The reason Denzel won was not for this film, it was for his consistent good acting in other films. Most of the Oscars go to people who are good actors, or directors who are good directors - the actual movie is not so important as whether or not you "deserve" it.
The fact that LotR got four Oscars is amazing, considering how high the deck was stacked against them. And one of the reasons for animated movies having their own category is to shun them, as they don't spend as much money on hiring actors and directors and so on - just animators and programmers with some minor voice work.
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When all is said and done, as a filmie of long standing (lifetime member of Cinema Seattle, my brother-in-law and some cousins voted for these awards, etc.), I found this year the final selections were more connected with politics than actual "best of" choices.
I've seen many of the movies and discussed them with many people - and we knew who should have received awards, and why the winners were chosen, and it's pretty disgusting this year. The awards that Moulin Rouge won were not the ones they should have won - but the voters for this chose them for obvious reasons.
Sigh.
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One - it would be nice if a game supposedly high on RPG actually allowed units to act "native". In other words, when you leave your orcs alone, they start killing people and monkeying around, and when you leave your peons near a forest they start logging it.
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Maybe this could be done with Intelligence Management Points (IMPs). You only get so many per unit type - then you can create true leaders - and they could be followed by the rest of the crowd.
Two - it really s.cks that the Neutrals attack everyone. What ever happened to the days when you could have neutral druids who'd mind their own business living in harmony with the forest creatures - and if you messed with them they'd zap you six ways to Sunday - or Berserk clans that are friendly and don't get in your way - but attack one and they raze your village to the ground and hunt you down until you're totally destroyed.
Ah, for the golden days of yore when we game designers actually created, not borrowed
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Is this the same package that you can run The Sims under?
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If so, I must say it's cool to use. I bought the Mandrake Linux package that bundles in The Sims and it rocks!
Now if I could just get the Hot Date expansion set for Linux, I'd be really happy.
Unfortunately, since I have a steady girlfriend now, I haven't been able to devote much time to testing it out - but that's not bad either
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I already send them an error message when they try to post to my email lists, indicating that the lists are run in Washington State by a Washington State resident and may not be used for commercial reasons.
So can I serve them with subpeonas automatically when they try to spam me?
On another point - if I download the header but not the email and hit the delete button - since the email is still sitting back on the email server (not in my house) when it's deleted - have I been served?
I never received the email.
You too can make easy money with just hours a day.
First, this offer is only available to citizens of forward-thinking states like Washington, Oregon, and California that permit you to sue spammers an amount per email in small claims court.
In Washington, it's $250 per spam. In Oregon, it's $25 per spam. I'm not sure of the amount in California.
Now, set up a whole bunch of email accounts on some service - yahoo.com or some other free service. Make sure you enter your address and state in the registration - and for good luck, put it in the email address (e.g. WeLiveInOregon@yahoo.com would be an excellent email address).
Now go and surf the net and post as you will. Make sure you let them read the email address you've created.
Soon you'll be getting tons and tons of checks as the spams roll in!
[patent pending]
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Find your lawmakers home emails - city council, county council, city prosecuting attorney,state reps, governor, state attorney general, federal delegations ...
And change your settings to "reply to" the spamsters that send you spam with their info.
They'll fix it fast if it affects them. That's why we have some of our state's laws about credit reports - it directly affected my senator's daughter (he's retired from the senate now).
Nothing like making it personal.
[note - I am not advising you do this - just pointing out what will happen if some people did this - caveat emptor]
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Canada currently sells energy to the US.
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In fact, at one point I worked in Trail BC, operating power supplies for the privately owned Columbia River dam that Cominco operates.
And many of the BC and Washington dams are shipping power down to California, via Washington and Oregon. Ever heard of the Columbia River Treaty - soon to expire - wonder where that energy will go
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In my view, the main problem with solar/wind/tide/wave power generation is that we can't guarantee a steady flow of energy. Excess energy can't be stored for use when we need it.
Nah, if you have enough sources, you can feed 20 percent from alternative sources. And there are these things called fuel cells (as used now in Japan to power SUVs and light trucks) to store the stored energy.
Stop waiting. Start doing. Every dollar of oil means 50 cents for the terrorists. Action matters more than words.
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Love the idea. On a practical level, we could power the entire world just from tidal energy - or even from the wind energy in the Western US or from the wind energy in the MidWest.
While the tidal generator might not be proven, we know we can implement wind energy today. In fact, the whole Western US/Canada energy crisis caused us to build more alternative energy in the US/Canada in the last year than we had built in the entire previous century.
A diversified energy supply would do us good - and locally-produced energy supplies are always better than energy from other sources. The more different sources we have, the less vulnerable to price fluctuations, the less vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
Maybe I should pick up a board for use here in Seattle, huh? Got one in Santa Barbara CA and one in Mount Pleasant SC - might be fun to ride the pipe on the West Coast up in BC - heard the waves there are among the best in the world.
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First, remember, your tax dollars are at work at the FTC. Every spam - and I do mean every spam - should be bounced or forwarded to uce@ftc.gov - how else can they file federal lawsuits if we don't help them?
m to make it obvious you don't agree.
Secondly, there are a number of different types of spammers:
A - Big Companies that use Special Partners - basically, they tend not to ask you - and once they've sold your address, it gets resold - always check the NO YOU MAY NOT INFORM YOUR PARTNERS box. There is ALWAYS a loophole to permit the needed info for credit bureaus and info needed to validate your account, so feel free saying No. And JUST SAY NO to the "other partners" - these are just spam houses.
B - Regulated companies that sell your email - These are the worst, cause you HAVE to do business with them and they resell like crazy. Always insist on Opting Out.
C - People who buy lists. They think they have ethics, but the story shows how most of those emails were harvested by those in D and E or maybe A or B. Regardless - you never gave your permission to THEM to spam you. ALWAYS send a copy to abuse@company.who.sells.product.they.advertise.co
D - Spamsters who harvest email but will remove you from their lists. Still scum. Always use spambot.net on these dirty dogs - never respond cause they might be category E.
E - Spamsters who break the law flagrantly and see nothing wrong with this. Probably libertarians. Should all be shot up close with polycore rounds from an auto shotgun. Repeatedly. Turn these in too, on general principle.
Best solution for avoiding spam? Move to a country with actual privacy rights where it's not even slightly "legal" - which is not the USA.
If you can get the home email of all your politicians, make sure you cc: them on all such abuse emails. Always. Until they pay for it, it's not a problem.
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Maybe he'll get over being a dual citizen like me after a few years. Since the North Pole will be in Alaska soon.
A warning though - the US is still the only country in the world not to use metric, all the dollars are the same color, and they don't use the u in words like colour or spell centre correctly.
On the plus side, he can cut back on all those bilingual training courses - but he might want to pick up some Spanish just in case.
And it might take longer to make Rudolph's nose red - the beer, cider, and wine down here is awful weak to Canadian tastes.
Wonder if he'll have any problems with the NAFTA and Free Trade forms - occupation: Santa - is that a professional skill?
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then it will lose the protections of the Digital Privacy Act at that time.
Maybe it might want to accelerate the jump to Russia - I hear they have stronger privacy laws than we in the US have.
Also, any plans afoot by Microsoft to claim rights to it under DCMA once it enters US soil?
Better animation, much funnier, and better story.
More relevant to geeks than Resident Evil is. And gotta love that squirrel!
Resident Evil is pretty darned lame - the ONLY reason to watch it is you play the game. Why doesn't anyone jump sideways when the zombies shuffle in straight lines towards them?
Flawed movie. Total waste of bucks.
Which is why we should jail the spammers and seize their assets. And put them in with Enron and Andersen execs who stole, in a large cage with the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
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Then do streaming video and sell the rights to finance the convictions of more spamsters
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