Hey, can someone please tell me what is wrong with this idea - I honestly don't know and I've never studies economics in my life - but it seems so simple and painless that someone else must have already thought of it and rejected it for one reason or another.
1) User finds goods or a service that they wish to purchase online (say for $19.95)
2) User logs into secure bank site and transfers $19.95 from their cheque account to their "No Credit" account.
3) User then completes the transaction at the vendor site, vendor is paid by bank from the user's "No Credit" account.
4) If the $19.95 is not spent within 15 minutes, it is voided and sucked back into the User's cheque account.
In the modern world, we have 3 critical tools with which one can impress the notion that one is not a raving lunatic.
1. a tie
2. a haircut
3. a razor
How much do I want to live in a world where in order to not be considered a "raving lunatic", I have to wear a noose around my neck, apply a razor each morning to my face and throat, and participate in a futile and costly ritual of cutting off a part of myself that keeps on growing back, for no reason except the way it looks?
Stallman, for all his faults, is advocating a better world, and he lives that through the way he dresses, looks and speaks as much as through what he does. If he didn't, I personally would not take his freedom message seriously - it would look like he was pushing the same old shit as Mr Gates or Mr [insert name of maker of your local flavourless, mass produced food or beer here].
If anything, I think CDs are much more durable than books.
Eh? I can use most of my books as leg-extensions for my tables and chairs, or as coffee coasters, and they will still be as readable as they were before. I don't think that durability has been yet built into CDs!
I am sure that, as new media become accepted, the old stuff will be converted to the new technology. After all, are we not converting books to CDs now?
Only the stuff that someone will pay their time and / or money to keep.
Don't get me wrong - I am sure there must be a better way to store info than on dead trees (dead trees are expensive and made of dead trees) - but sadly I don't think CDs are it.
The fact that you "Spent your childhood downloading porn" illuatrates the danger of it - it is ADDICTIVE and has been shown to cause relationship problems later in life. If you want your kid to grow up with a healthy attitude to sex and their fellow human beings, you need to keep up with what they are reading and looking at.
Web browsers all have a cache somewhere, for storing recently downloaded info in order to not have to download it again. All you need to do is figure out where the browser cache is on your computer and you will be able to see everything that has been downloaded - and when - and where from. Of course, a browser cache can be deleted (and your average 11-year-old is likely to be able to do this), so if you see an empty cache, then this might also be cause for concern.
Actually, I have it on good authority that the budget per episode at the beginning of Hartnell's time as Dr Who was £2300 per episode. But that included EVERYTHING - script writer, actors' fees, music, sets, costumes, studio staff, the lot. Probably at the end of the day there would have been about fifty quid left over for special effects..
- which would explain why the Daleks' first great defeat was represented (I'm lead to believe) by someone lighting a sparkler and putting it in front of the camera!
Fish called Wanda - Granted. But spare a thought for the sequel...:-6
Genesis of Daleks - An excellent Dr Who from the prime of the show's life, hehehe but I couldn't help giggling at seeing the guy who played Gruber in 'Allo 'Allo actually acting as a _real_ nazi (albeit an alien one)!
The only problem with American Money is that the people with the money will want a say in the final product and we'll just get the same old shit.
BTW You're right about Brain of Morbius - that's the best Dr Who ever. All those Gothic ones are pretty good, but Brain of Morbius is by far and away the best. And it knows it is too - I can't think of any other good reason for the TARDIS disappearing in a big fireworks explosion at the end of it, instead of its usual make-lots-of-noise-and-fade-out bit.
Yeah, here it is again - it's the old "Don't ask Slashdot, do your own work" bit which comes up every time someone "Ask[s] Slashdot". And every time, it gets modded up - don't ask me why!
Isn't the point of Open Source to freely exchange information? If someone has something which I want (info), and it doesn't cost that person anything (or at least not very many pennies) to give it to me, then why not ask for it?
Also, when we exchange info in this manner, it means the general level of smartness in the world is raised - people are less dumb. Surely this is what we want, especially if we support free speech and democracy??
Hey I hope you Auckland fans of D.A. are watching Dr Who weeknights at 6pm on Prime. They have (completely by coincidence) been playing the episodes Adams did the Script Editing for over the past few weeks.
If not - you've got a couple more days to catch Horns of the Nimon, then DA's season is over (and Prime are stopping playing Dr Who for a while)
There must have been 5 New Zealanders with mod points today. Go for glory, countrymen! We may not have the Rugby world cup, but dammit let's take Slashdot!
So what is the Ask Slashdot forum there for if not for the free exchange of information to those who need it or can use it for the betterment of society?
If you don't want to participate, that's fine. You can jealously guard your little stash of facts and keep out of the knowledge pool. Let the rest of us provide someone in a position to be listened to (by university professors who might have the power to make things better) with the information they need in order to present an informed opinion.
There are a few good sites where people publish their own bookmarks - like mybookmarks.com.
If these bookmarks could be categorised properly we would end up with a directory of quality-tested sites that is self-maintaining and current. That's what we want isn't it?
Playing silly-buggers with the government's stats doesn't sound like a good idea to me. Remember the firemen referendum? The government overturned the result of that as only a few people voted and so obviously (to them) it was not an issue that New Zealanders took seriously (hence they can fund the fire service less hence they can put the tax rate down hence they can be re-elected). If we start making obvious distortions to the census stats, that would give present and future governments licence (in their own minds) to ignore real needs that are illustrated in the census - like traffic issues in the cities and schooling/health needs in rural areas.
Don't do it! The government has listened to us little enough already right through our history.
You are dead right. Don't forget Napster trumpeted itself as a way of promoting new independent artists by marketing their music through the New Artist Program, then making the new artists' material available for download by file sharing. Remember that? Now independent music on Napster will continue to be exchanged, and the RIAA companies will be paid for it!
So the RIAA needn't ever sign up another new artist again - we're working for them already!
I don't know about other countries, but in New Zealand, if you post smoething in an envelope with no stamp or return address, the recipient gets a phone call from the post office telling them to come in and pick it up, on payment of the postage fee.
My mailbox is clearly marked "no circulars", so ANY junk mail I receive gets sent back to the sender in this way, causing lots of inconvenience cause someone has to drive out to the post office with 40 cents.
ASK SLASHDOT - Is it better to include a return address on the letter accompanying the returned glossy, so as not to give the impression of an "anonymous coward", or not to include it so that the sender has to be wary of ALL "no circulars" mailboxes?
Slashdot Mirror
When was Scientific research ever unbiased? Be careful how much you believe in what you read. [1] [2]
Hey, can someone please tell me what is wrong with this idea - I honestly don't know and I've never studies economics in my life - but it seems so simple and painless that someone else must have already thought of it and rejected it for one reason or another.
1) User finds goods or a service that they wish to purchase online (say for $19.95)
2) User logs into secure bank site and transfers $19.95 from their cheque account to their "No Credit" account.
3) User then completes the transaction at the vendor site, vendor is paid by bank from the user's "No Credit" account.
4) If the $19.95 is not spent within 15 minutes, it is voided and sucked back into the User's cheque account.
??
In the modern world, we have 3 critical tools with which one can impress the notion that one is not a raving lunatic. 1. a tie 2. a haircut 3. a razor
How much do I want to live in a world where in order to not be considered a "raving lunatic", I have to wear a noose around my neck, apply a razor each morning to my face and throat, and participate in a futile and costly ritual of cutting off a part of myself that keeps on growing back, for no reason except the way it looks?
Stallman, for all his faults, is advocating a better world, and he lives that through the way he dresses, looks and speaks as much as through what he does. If he didn't, I personally would not take his freedom message seriously - it would look like he was pushing the same old shit as Mr Gates or Mr [insert name of maker of your local flavourless, mass produced food or beer here].
If anything, I think CDs are much more durable than books.
Eh? I can use most of my books as leg-extensions for my tables and chairs, or as coffee coasters, and they will still be as readable as they were before. I don't think that durability has been yet built into CDs!
I am sure that, as new media become accepted, the old stuff will be converted to the new technology. After all, are we not converting books to CDs now?
Only the stuff that someone will pay their time and / or money to keep.
Don't get me wrong - I am sure there must be a better way to store info than on dead trees (dead trees are expensive and made of dead trees) - but sadly I don't think CDs are it.
Hehehe hold that thought - I'll do a web search on "porn" sometime when I am not at work! :)
The fact that you "Spent your childhood downloading porn" illuatrates the danger of it - it is ADDICTIVE and has been shown to cause relationship problems later in life. If you want your kid to grow up with a healthy attitude to sex and their fellow human beings, you need to keep up with what they are reading and looking at.
Web browsers all have a cache somewhere, for storing recently downloaded info in order to not have to download it again. All you need to do is figure out where the browser cache is on your computer and you will be able to see everything that has been downloaded - and when - and where from. Of course, a browser cache can be deleted (and your average 11-year-old is likely to be able to do this), so if you see an empty cache, then this might also be cause for concern.
Jamie's comments are all good too.
Nah, I promise 2300 1960s pounds, according to "Doctor Who - The Handbook: The First Doctor" by Howe, Stammers and Walker.
Actually, I have it on good authority that the budget per episode at the beginning of Hartnell's time as Dr Who was £2300 per episode. But that included EVERYTHING - script writer, actors' fees, music, sets, costumes, studio staff, the lot. Probably at the end of the day there would have been about fifty quid left over for special effects..
- which would explain why the Daleks' first great defeat was represented (I'm lead to believe) by someone lighting a sparkler and putting it in front of the camera!
I suspect Adams may have written the first scene of "Destiny of the Daleks" too - Very silly stuff.
Fish called Wanda - Granted. But spare a thought for the sequel... :-6
Genesis of Daleks - An excellent Dr Who from the prime of the show's life, hehehe but I couldn't help giggling at seeing the guy who played Gruber in 'Allo 'Allo actually acting as a _real_ nazi (albeit an alien one)!
The only problem with American Money is that the people with the money will want a say in the final product and we'll just get the same old shit.
BTW You're right about Brain of Morbius - that's the best Dr Who ever. All those Gothic ones are pretty good, but Brain of Morbius is by far and away the best. And it knows it is too - I can't think of any other good reason for the TARDIS disappearing in a big fireworks explosion at the end of it, instead of its usual make-lots-of-noise-and-fade-out bit.
The script for Douglas Adams' "missing" Dr Who adventure "Shada" can be found at:
h tm l
http://www.bw.edu/~jcurtis/Scripts/Shada/intro.
Go have a look if you want to see some early Adams stuff - much funnier than your average episode of "Dr Who".
Hehehehee Noodle-head... . Maybe I should be modded for flame-bait too... :-)
If you LIKE properly funded education, that's cool cause I LIKE properly finded education too. Let's do lunch.
(And the liberals and the conservatives lived happily ever after)
Yeah, here it is again - it's the old "Don't ask Slashdot, do your own work" bit which comes up every time someone "Ask[s] Slashdot". And every time, it gets modded up - don't ask me why!
Isn't the point of Open Source to freely exchange information? If someone has something which I want (info), and it doesn't cost that person anything (or at least not very many pennies) to give it to me, then why not ask for it?
Also, when we exchange info in this manner, it means the general level of smartness in the world is raised - people are less dumb. Surely this is what we want, especially if we support free speech and democracy??
Go ahead and ask Slashdot. I love you all.
Hey I hope you Auckland fans of D.A. are watching Dr Who weeknights at 6pm on Prime. They have (completely by coincidence) been playing the episodes Adams did the Script Editing for over the past few weeks. If not - you've got a couple more days to catch Horns of the Nimon, then DA's season is over (and Prime are stopping playing Dr Who for a while)
Make sure none of these posts are by David Manning!
There must have been 5 New Zealanders with mod points today. Go for glory, countrymen! We may not have the Rugby world cup, but dammit let's take Slashdot!
So what is the Ask Slashdot forum there for if not for the free exchange of information to those who need it or can use it for the betterment of society?
If you don't want to participate, that's fine. You can jealously guard your little stash of facts and keep out of the knowledge pool. Let the rest of us provide someone in a position to be listened to (by university professors who might have the power to make things better) with the information they need in order to present an informed opinion.
There are a few good sites where people publish their own bookmarks - like mybookmarks.com.
If these bookmarks could be categorised properly we would end up with a directory of quality-tested sites that is self-maintaining and current. That's what we want isn't it?
Playing silly-buggers with the government's stats doesn't sound like a good idea to me. Remember the firemen referendum? The government overturned the result of that as only a few people voted and so obviously (to them) it was not an issue that New Zealanders took seriously (hence they can fund the fire service less hence they can put the tax rate down hence they can be re-elected). If we start making obvious distortions to the census stats, that would give present and future governments licence (in their own minds) to ignore real needs that are illustrated in the census - like traffic issues in the cities and schooling/health needs in rural areas.
Don't do it! The government has listened to us little enough already right through our history.
You are dead right. Don't forget Napster trumpeted itself as a way of promoting new independent artists by marketing their music through the New Artist Program, then making the new artists' material available for download by file sharing. Remember that? Now independent music on Napster will continue to be exchanged, and the RIAA companies will be paid for it!
So the RIAA needn't ever sign up another new artist again - we're working for them already!
What is a Hegemon?
Is it like a Pokemon?
Or is it more like a Digimon?
It must be closer to one or other of these two extremes...?
Oh come on now - you don't need me to explain this to you.
This is SAD
:-(
This is SADDER
(:-(
This is SADDEST
(:```-(
I don't know about other countries, but in New Zealand, if you post smoething in an envelope with no stamp or return address, the recipient gets a phone call from the post office telling them to come in and pick it up, on payment of the postage fee.
My mailbox is clearly marked "no circulars", so ANY junk mail I receive gets sent back to the sender in this way, causing lots of inconvenience cause someone has to drive out to the post office with 40 cents.
ASK SLASHDOT - Is it better to include a return address on the letter accompanying the returned glossy, so as not to give the impression of an "anonymous coward", or not to include it so that the sender has to be wary of ALL "no circulars" mailboxes?