High cost of malpractice insurance
on
Shrinkwrapped Books
·
· Score: 3, Funny
This would be a great way for physicians to avoid the high cost of malpractice insurance. They could simply force us to agree to a shrinkwrap license before filling out forms at the office. Furthermore, they could increase sales by forbidding any discussion of the remedy. What a wonderful thing for society!
Disclaimer: The preceeding argument should have been reducto ad absurdum. By reading the above comment, you agree to not post any flames. Furthermore, you may not read the comment out loud, nor can you discuss it in any forum (eg. Slashdot) without prior written permission by the author. You may also not correct the spelling or improper use of Latin phrases present in this disclaimer. If you do not agree to these terms, you must destroy all copies that may have been made, including the imprint on your retina. Terms enforced where prohibited by law.
No, I do not believe Microsoft has any good intentions toward Linux. They have not been a trustworthy company for years (antitrust for nearly a decade).
I see their "Services for Unix" software to be part of a familliar Microsoft trick: interoperability for a few years, then a quick format switch. They are trying to entice users away from Unix. Don't believe anything else. It is an attempt to subvert the growing Linux phenomenon.
They are trying to win Linux developers over to Windows. Maybe we should try to win them over to Linux. Instead of vandalism or name calling, give them some Linux CDs when you pass their booth. Don't take their free stuff. They'll get the idea.
This is a pet peeve of mine, but megabit and megabyte are not synonims. They differ by a factor of eight. Does the journalist really mean mbps means megabits per second? Am I being too picky? A byte as wordsize is obsolete these days anyway.
My favorite quote of the article is "SuSE is thinking of providing software that lets customers upgrade to the 2.4.19 kernel..." Last time I installed SuSE, gcc and ftp were part of the standard installation.
The point the society is trying to make is that 50%-70% of the light from outdoor lighting is wasted (points to the sky, not the ground). This causes light pollution and doubles electricity bills. Their solution has been to design alternate lighting fixtures that fit ordinary light poles.
This rag-tag "grassroots army" has power: we vote. Dollars can buy senators, but voters can depose them. If we make enough noise, they will listen.
The author of the article was trying to spur us into action. It's not enough to vote, we have to shout our opinions. If enough senators get letters from concerned geeks, we will be noticed. Remember the volume of letters sent in during the Tunney Act comment period following the Microsoft-DOJ deal? We can organize, we can make our voice heard.
The United States was founded by a rag-tag group of intellectuals leading a "grassroots army", an army that defeated a well organized and provisioned imperial army. The grassroots effort is central to American politics. If you do not believe this, then you don't understand what it is to be an American. If you live in the United States, you should be ashamed for having written such drivel.
It's a good thing you posted that anonymously, Mr. Valenti.
Probes are the key to studying space. Are there people on Chandra? On Hubble? People only go to them to make repairs and upgrades. I use these two observatories as an example because they have been of great benefit to science and should be exemplary (with the exception of the Hubble lens snafu) of the rest of our efforts in space. Manned presence in space is only necessary for maintenance, repairs, and upgrades.
By the way, do you ever read Robert Park's weekly "What's New?". If you don't, I think you would really enjoy it (go to aps.org). He frequently comments on NASA.
I'm an American, but I agree with you. This insane obsession with winning international atheletic events is beyond me. I once saw a poster that had on it a list of countries, with America at number 14. The heading on the list was "math scores" and the message on the poster read, "If these were Olympic hockey rankings, you would be upset right now."
Oh, and don't criticize American football too much. Some of the atheletes that play that game are quite impressive. If you get a chance to see some highlights of Sooner football from the '50s, you will be impressed. I never will understand why it is called FOOTball...
Yes, the math is not too advanced (for a grad student), but the notation is scary for somebody who hasn't seen it before. There is a lot of knowledge presupposed in that paper. For example, I am sure it is confusing as to why they would want to diagonalize the Hamiltonian when it wasn't mentioned that it was a matrix.
So, for those who are bewildered by the math, there is salvation: don't read the paper. I'm serious, just read the introduction and conclusion, and then try to glean some understanding of the figures and their captions. I often do that before I launch into the math to get a general idea.
I think the author has a very good point to make. Unfortunately, the author misses it. Let us suppose that he is correct, that there should be no special new laws regarding the internet. It is just a bunch of computers linked by cable and fiber, that it is not "cyberspace" any more than telephone users create "telephonespace". There should be no special laws, because it is just people communicating. Then why does the DMCA exist? What about the CDBPTA? These are special laws.
His point is valid, but he misses the mark. All we want is a guarantee of freedom of expression. He selects a difficult case, one that many of us (myself included) do not understand. The author concludes that our misunderstanding of international and French law means that we want special rights. The people who are really pushing for special new cyberlaws are the RIAA and the MPAA. We don't want special laws, we just want our constitutional rights.
Yes, the author is right, there are people who want special rights online. However, he presents the wrong group.
Sure, it sounds like a great idea, but it would attract more cops than a donut shop. No more underage sales, and your regular customers will find themselves busy with mandatory community service.
Speaking of donut shops, here is another guaranteed failure: opening a donut shop next to a Krispy-Kreme.
Starting a software company to produce a superior desktop product to compete with Microsoft Windows.
Pay attention to the hardware world. There is a move away from the centralized chipmaker (design, test, fabricate in one facility). It is more common to outsource pieces of the design/fabrication process. It's not cheap to have a custom chip fabricated, but it's a lot cheaper than building your own fab. (Yes, there are benefits to having your own fab, but it's a huge risk in your first few years.)
Second of all, Intel and AMD are the only games in the x86 desktop/server town. There is an Apple town, there are towns where Motorola is mayor, and Transmeta has moved in on a few. Don't forget to count the mobile processors. Your list is short by at least half, and I am sure Slashdotters could come up with more.
When I first read your post, I was confused as to why somebody would shoot a rocket 46 nano-meters. Then I noticed that 280,000 ft. is not 46 nm, so I thought maybe you meant km, but that would be 85 km. Then I figured it out: nautical miles. I did a google search, and found that n.m. is the correct abbreviation for nautical miles. I hate the english system.
Only the english system of units would have so many different measurements of length. Stupid footlongs, chains, fathoms, feet, inches, miles, and nautical miles. I hate it that we still use those units in this country.
To repeat, I hate the english system of measurement.
The parent post was a troll, and I'll tell you why. (I was not a moderator today, but I may have modded this one down.) First, he refered to the subject as "some partisan hippy cause", which is misleading (is it Republican, Democratic, Green, Libertarian, or Whig?), and the language he uses is unkind. Second, he writes, ""Free software" types are...not on the side of Freedom (except when it comes to smoking pot)." Wow! Even if I agreed with the premise that this is an inappropriate day to hold such festivities, I am insulted. This is unnecessary, and turns me (and any other Linux user) away from his message immediately. Finally, he calls Bill Gates a pansy, which should turn off any Microsoft fans. Who is left? Apple? Be? Vax?
The poster is making an important point, but the point is lost amid the insults. People will respond not to the ideas but the language. For that reason, it is a troll.
I have re-written the parent, removing all insults, thus making a more effective post:
Independence day allows us to look back on the sacrifices our forefathers made to keep America free. I don't appreciate seeing it trivialized.
Take the opportunity to start working for real change: less government intrusion, less taxes, fewer regulations, more freedom. Those are your birthrights, secured with the blood of our ancestors. Don't let them down!
It's not that they are being pressured into Linux. They could go to Mac, BSD, or Linux (this list would be longer, but OS/2 and Be OS are not options...I wonder why). There is a barrier to leaving Microsoft, and this is a clever way of overcomming that. It's my favorite emotional argument these days, "Do you really want to give your money to a convicted felon?" It's very effective.
The point is that in many places, it is already illegal to do business with Microsoft, but that law is being ignored. The governments agreed to the statute when they passed it, now it's time they obey it. Insisting that a local statue be obeyed is not a Microsoft-esque scare tactic, it's civic duty. You can't sit idly by, hoping that local governments realize the techical merits of Linux and spontaneously switch (espeially when Microsoft and de Tocqueville (spell?) conspire). It's action by the people that changes the government.
It's a bonus that it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
I received this message from our university IT (Idiot Troupe) department within an hour of the Slashdot posting. If ever there was a reason to encrypt your e-mails, this is it.
Please be advised that monitoring of your system, email accounts, domains and servers may be necessary to detect, prevent and eradicate illegal or otherwise damaging use by internal and external users of the University computer network in order to protect the security and integrity of the University computer system. Such monitoring efforts could lead to the imposition of criminal and civil penalties to those users whose actions are illegal, unlawful, damaging, or threatening to the University computer systems.
I would kick Bill in the head and call him an asshole.
This would not advance the case of free software, but it would make me feel good. Of course, if I kick hard enough, and with steel toed shoes...
Enough with the jokes, I think that there is nothing we can say to convince Kaiser Bill to cooperate with free software. It's too much of a threat to the Microsoft business model. It can only mean a decreased market share for Microsoft, there is no reason to cooperate. So far, all he can do is try to exterminate us, but he never will. As long as there are idealistic young people, free software cannot be stopped. They call us a cancer, but I like to think of us as cockroaches. We live in every city in the world, live off the scum behind the fridge (M$ official opinion of free software, until they can figure out how to "embrace" it), and for every one you squish there are 200 in the walls. We were poised to survive Y2K before it was even in the press.
Eventually, our community will reach a critical mass and cockroaches will taker over the world! No, I mean the Microsoft market share will inevitably shrink. Five years ago, people made fun of me for using Linux. It was barely a blip on the RADAR, nobody thought it would ever be on more than 0.5% of all systems, and now we are about 3%. As the rest of the world starts using computers, free software will be the choice (remember, only Americans enjoy US dominance). With their slow development cycles, funny licensing, and strict control, Microsoft will become a dinosaur. Maybe they will remain dominant in the US, but their grip is slipping in Asia (where more than half of the people live), and they are fighting for South America.
Finally, to answer the big question: How will we convince Microsoft that open source makes sense? We will wait. If you can code, code. I try to convince two people to switch to a non-Microsoft platform every year (argue gently, the proof is your low-maintenance system with all the necessary applications, and use a fellow geek as a shill). It is slow but steady progress.
That was my rant. You may now return to your regularly scheduled comments.
"WTF are they up to?" It's propaganda; they are making a complex and boring issue palatable to the average person. This kind of campaign is common (I hate to bring it up, but we've all received a Chick tract). It's not an in-depth coverage of the topic, it's an attention grabber.
I sent this link to my sisters, who have taken no interest in this issue at all. I am know that the stupid cartoon and song will make them laugh, but the confrontational lyrics should make them think. (I'm just glad I sent it to them yesterday.)
To further distance ourselves from any discussion of public policy in Peru, here is one more piece of information regarding sovereign immunity. The concept is not explicitly written into the constitution, it is an interpretation of the statement that the constitution is the supreme law of the land. I hope this clarifies the issue for you. I was a little disturbed when I first heard of this, too.
It's called sovereign immunity. There are a few
cases in which the Federal government did give up its right to sovereign immunity.
Consider a few questions. Why must we wait for a lawsuit against a private individual to be brought before the Supreme Court before its constitutionality is questioned? Shouldn't we be able to sue for the abolition of an unjust law? Why hasn't the EFF sued for the repeal of the the DMCA? The answer is sovereign immunity.
Think of the chaos that would ensue if people could sue the government. Our society is a little lawyer crazy. Lawsuits suck resources (which is why so many corporations prefer out of court settlements or binding arbitration). I am sure you know at least one crackpot with the money to hire a lawyer who thinks he has reason to sue the government. How many people wanted to sue Bill Clinton?
Sovereign immunity is necessary for the government to govern. It is necessary in order for Congress to make laws that not everybody loves. It allows the courts to hand down judgements that make half of the participants in each case unhappy.
What is your recourse? To name just a few, you have the right to free speech, the right to vote, and the right to run for public office. If you don't like sovereign immunity, you can always start a grassroots movement to amend the constitution. Of course, if your amendment ever becomes law, somebody else can sue to have it removed. What a mess.
You can have my computer when you pry it out of my cold dead hands. The quote that entertainment industry efforts are, "little less than an attempt to outlaw general-purpose computers." by Selene Makarios sound right on target.
We hear of the GeekPAC and the EFF, and they are doing important work, but average people don't understand it. How can we digest the issue so that average people understand it, and see that when the entertainment industry wins, the people lose?
Court cases and congressional lobbying are very important, but they cannot be the end of our efforts. We here at slashdot are a widely dispersed, well educated, and well informed group. If we all make a local effort, we could make a huge impact. Imagine slashdotting the local dead tree bulletin boards.
We need to start a unified effort to educate the people around us. I'm not the person to do it, I don't know how. I can't even convince my wife that she should care. (She thinks it is an issue for programmers only, but she listened a little when I explained the library angle.)
What have you tried? How have you convinced people? Which arguments were most successful? Can we come up with a flyer design for other geeks to print and use? Is there a graphic designer out there with some spare time?
I read this article over at SFgate (was it from a Slashdot link?), and the more I think about it, the more I like it. The key point here is that we need to make one bold, unified statement. The author suggests that the newly formed geekPAC (I assume some members are reading this) needs to focus its efforts on a single politician with whom we disagree. (A list can be found here.)
I have to agree with the author. I have written to my Senators and my representive in the House regarding this legislation, and have heard back from only one of them. They are not noticing us, but they should. We are educated people, we have common goals and concerns, we are a large network of people, and we communicate frequently. We are a part of a grassroots movement. It is time for the politicians to take notice.
While GeekPAC may only be able to act one election at a time, the threat that will speak to them. It may seem like a dirty tactic, but they are trying to steal our fair use rights. We have to fight back.
Slashdot Mirror
Disclaimer: The preceeding argument should have been reducto ad absurdum. By reading the above comment, you agree to not post any flames. Furthermore, you may not read the comment out loud, nor can you discuss it in any forum (eg. Slashdot) without prior written permission by the author. You may also not correct the spelling or improper use of Latin phrases present in this disclaimer. If you do not agree to these terms, you must destroy all copies that may have been made, including the imprint on your retina. Terms enforced where prohibited by law.
Don't take the swag! Let them return to Redmond with full boxes. That will send a clear message: we don't want ANY of their stuff.
No, I do not believe Microsoft has any good intentions toward Linux. They have not been a trustworthy company for years (antitrust for nearly a decade).
I see their "Services for Unix" software to be part of a familliar Microsoft trick: interoperability for a few years, then a quick format switch. They are trying to entice users away from Unix. Don't believe anything else. It is an attempt to subvert the growing Linux phenomenon.
They are trying to win Linux developers over to Windows. Maybe we should try to win them over to Linux. Instead of vandalism or name calling, give them some Linux CDs when you pass their booth. Don't take their free stuff. They'll get the idea.
This is a pet peeve of mine, but megabit and megabyte are not synonims. They differ by a factor of eight. Does the journalist really mean mbps means megabits per second? Am I being too picky? A byte as wordsize is obsolete these days anyway.
My favorite quote of the article is "SuSE is thinking of providing software that lets customers upgrade to the 2.4.19 kernel..." Last time I installed SuSE, gcc and ftp were part of the standard installation.
The point the society is trying to make is that 50%-70% of the light from outdoor lighting is wasted (points to the sky, not the ground). This causes light pollution and doubles electricity bills. Their solution has been to design alternate lighting fixtures that fit ordinary light poles.
I know, but I refuse to give up on it.
This rag-tag "grassroots army" has power: we vote. Dollars can buy senators, but voters can depose them. If we make enough noise, they will listen.
The author of the article was trying to spur us into action. It's not enough to vote, we have to shout our opinions. If enough senators get letters from concerned geeks, we will be noticed. Remember the volume of letters sent in during the Tunney Act comment period following the Microsoft-DOJ deal? We can organize, we can make our voice heard.
The United States was founded by a rag-tag group of intellectuals leading a "grassroots army", an army that defeated a well organized and provisioned imperial army. The grassroots effort is central to American politics. If you do not believe this, then you don't understand what it is to be an American. If you live in the United States, you should be ashamed for having written such drivel.
It's a good thing you posted that anonymously, Mr. Valenti.
Yes, molecular computing is finally here.
I am still trying to figure out what the "F" in "FotR" means.
Note to CmdrTaco: use the preview button.
You hit the nail on the head.
Probes are the key to studying space. Are there people on Chandra? On Hubble? People only go to them to make repairs and upgrades. I use these two observatories as an example because they have been of great benefit to science and should be exemplary (with the exception of the Hubble lens snafu) of the rest of our efforts in space. Manned presence in space is only necessary for maintenance, repairs, and upgrades.
By the way, do you ever read Robert Park's weekly "What's New?". If you don't, I think you would really enjoy it (go to aps.org). He frequently comments on NASA.
I'm an American, but I agree with you. This insane obsession with winning international atheletic events is beyond me. I once saw a poster that had on it a list of countries, with America at number 14. The heading on the list was "math scores" and the message on the poster read, "If these were Olympic hockey rankings, you would be upset right now."
Oh, and don't criticize American football too much. Some of the atheletes that play that game are quite impressive. If you get a chance to see some highlights of Sooner football from the '50s, you will be impressed. I never will understand why it is called FOOTball...
Yes, the math is not too advanced (for a grad student), but the notation is scary for somebody who hasn't seen it before. There is a lot of knowledge presupposed in that paper. For example, I am sure it is confusing as to why they would want to diagonalize the Hamiltonian when it wasn't mentioned that it was a matrix.
So, for those who are bewildered by the math, there is salvation: don't read the paper. I'm serious, just read the introduction and conclusion, and then try to glean some understanding of the figures and their captions. I often do that before I launch into the math to get a general idea.
I think the author has a very good point to make. Unfortunately, the author misses it. Let us suppose that he is correct, that there should be no special new laws regarding the internet. It is just a bunch of computers linked by cable and fiber, that it is not "cyberspace" any more than telephone users create "telephonespace". There should be no special laws, because it is just people communicating. Then why does the DMCA exist? What about the CDBPTA? These are special laws.
His point is valid, but he misses the mark. All we want is a guarantee of freedom of expression. He selects a difficult case, one that many of us (myself included) do not understand. The author concludes that our misunderstanding of international and French law means that we want special rights. The people who are really pushing for special new cyberlaws are the RIAA and the MPAA. We don't want special laws, we just want our constitutional rights.
Yes, the author is right, there are people who want special rights online. However, he presents the wrong group.
Liquour Store and Cough Drop Emporium.
Sure, it sounds like a great idea, but it would attract more cops than a donut shop. No more underage sales, and your regular customers will find themselves busy with mandatory community service.
Speaking of donut shops, here is another guaranteed failure: opening a donut shop next to a Krispy-Kreme.
Starting a software company to produce a superior desktop product to compete with Microsoft Windows.
The All Parker Posey Video Store
The Salmon Rushdie Memorabilia Shop (in Tehran)
The Martha Stewart Stock Market Advice Hotline
Pay attention to the hardware world. There is a move away from the centralized chipmaker (design, test, fabricate in one facility). It is more common to outsource pieces of the design/fabrication process. It's not cheap to have a custom chip fabricated, but it's a lot cheaper than building your own fab. (Yes, there are benefits to having your own fab, but it's a huge risk in your first few years.)
Second of all, Intel and AMD are the only games in the x86 desktop/server town. There is an Apple town, there are towns where Motorola is mayor, and Transmeta has moved in on a few. Don't forget to count the mobile processors. Your list is short by at least half, and I am sure Slashdotters could come up with more.
When I first read your post, I was confused as to why somebody would shoot a rocket 46 nano-meters. Then I noticed that 280,000 ft. is not 46 nm, so I thought maybe you meant km, but that would be 85 km. Then I figured it out: nautical miles. I did a google search, and found that n.m. is the correct abbreviation for nautical miles. I hate the english system.
Only the english system of units would have so many different measurements of length. Stupid footlongs, chains, fathoms, feet, inches, miles, and nautical miles. I hate it that we still use those units in this country.
To repeat, I hate the english system of measurement.
I'm off my soapbox for now.
The poster is making an important point, but the point is lost amid the insults. People will respond not to the ideas but the language. For that reason, it is a troll.
I have re-written the parent, removing all insults, thus making a more effective post:
Independence day allows us to look back on the sacrifices our forefathers made to keep America free. I don't appreciate seeing it trivialized.
Take the opportunity to start working for real change: less government intrusion, less taxes, fewer regulations, more freedom. Those are your birthrights, secured with the blood of our ancestors. Don't let them down!
It's not that they are being pressured into Linux. They could go to Mac, BSD, or Linux (this list would be longer, but OS/2 and Be OS are not options...I wonder why). There is a barrier to leaving Microsoft, and this is a clever way of overcomming that. It's my favorite emotional argument these days, "Do you really want to give your money to a convicted felon?" It's very effective.
The point is that in many places, it is already illegal to do business with Microsoft, but that law is being ignored. The governments agreed to the statute when they passed it, now it's time they obey it. Insisting that a local statue be obeyed is not a Microsoft-esque scare tactic, it's civic duty. You can't sit idly by, hoping that local governments realize the techical merits of Linux and spontaneously switch (espeially when Microsoft and de Tocqueville (spell?) conspire). It's action by the people that changes the government.
It's a bonus that it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
I received this message from our university IT (Idiot Troupe) department within an hour of the Slashdot posting. If ever there was a reason to encrypt your e-mails, this is it.
Please be advised that monitoring of your system, email accounts,
domains and servers may be necessary to detect, prevent and eradicate
illegal or otherwise damaging use by internal and external users of the
University computer network in order to protect the security and
integrity of the University computer system. Such monitoring efforts
could lead to the imposition of criminal and civil penalties to those
users whose actions are illegal, unlawful, damaging, or threatening to
the University computer systems.
I would kick Bill in the head and call him an asshole.
This would not advance the case of free software, but it would make me feel good. Of course, if I kick hard enough, and with steel toed shoes...
Enough with the jokes, I think that there is nothing we can say to convince Kaiser Bill to cooperate with free software. It's too much of a threat to the Microsoft business model. It can only mean a decreased market share for Microsoft, there is no reason to cooperate. So far, all he can do is try to exterminate us, but he never will. As long as there are idealistic young people, free software cannot be stopped. They call us a cancer, but I like to think of us as cockroaches. We live in every city in the world, live off the scum behind the fridge (M$ official opinion of free software, until they can figure out how to "embrace" it), and for every one you squish there are 200 in the walls. We were poised to survive Y2K before it was even in the press.
Eventually, our community will reach a critical mass and cockroaches will taker over the world! No, I mean the Microsoft market share will inevitably shrink. Five years ago, people made fun of me for using Linux. It was barely a blip on the RADAR, nobody thought it would ever be on more than 0.5% of all systems, and now we are about 3%. As the rest of the world starts using computers, free software will be the choice (remember, only Americans enjoy US dominance). With their slow development cycles, funny licensing, and strict control, Microsoft will become a dinosaur. Maybe they will remain dominant in the US, but their grip is slipping in Asia (where more than half of the people live), and they are fighting for South America.
Finally, to answer the big question: How will we convince Microsoft that open source makes sense? We will wait. If you can code, code. I try to convince two people to switch to a non-Microsoft platform every year (argue gently, the proof is your low-maintenance system with all the necessary applications, and use a fellow geek as a shill). It is slow but steady progress.
That was my rant. You may now return to your regularly scheduled comments.
I sent this link to my sisters, who have taken no interest in this issue at all. I am know that the stupid cartoon and song will make them laugh, but the confrontational lyrics should make them think. (I'm just glad I sent it to them yesterday.)
To further distance ourselves from any discussion of public policy in Peru, here is one more piece of information regarding sovereign immunity. The concept is not explicitly written into the constitution, it is an interpretation of the statement that the constitution is the supreme law of the land. I hope this clarifies the issue for you. I was a little disturbed when I first heard of this, too.
Consider a few questions. Why must we wait for a lawsuit against a private individual to be brought before the Supreme Court before its constitutionality is questioned? Shouldn't we be able to sue for the abolition of an unjust law? Why hasn't the EFF sued for the repeal of the the DMCA? The answer is sovereign immunity.
Think of the chaos that would ensue if people could sue the government. Our society is a little lawyer crazy. Lawsuits suck resources (which is why so many corporations prefer out of court settlements or binding arbitration). I am sure you know at least one crackpot with the money to hire a lawyer who thinks he has reason to sue the government. How many people wanted to sue Bill Clinton?
Sovereign immunity is necessary for the government to govern. It is necessary in order for Congress to make laws that not everybody loves. It allows the courts to hand down judgements that make half of the participants in each case unhappy.
What is your recourse? To name just a few, you have the right to free speech, the right to vote, and the right to run for public office. If you don't like sovereign immunity, you can always start a grassroots movement to amend the constitution. Of course, if your amendment ever becomes law, somebody else can sue to have it removed. What a mess.
You may not sue the Federal government. It's in the consitution.
You can have my computer when you pry it out of my cold dead hands. The quote that entertainment industry efforts are, "little less than an attempt to outlaw general-purpose computers." by Selene Makarios sound right on target.
We hear of the GeekPAC and the EFF, and they are doing important work, but average people don't understand it. How can we digest the issue so that average people understand it, and see that when the entertainment industry wins, the people lose?
Court cases and congressional lobbying are very important, but they cannot be the end of our efforts. We here at slashdot are a widely dispersed, well educated, and well informed group. If we all make a local effort, we could make a huge impact. Imagine slashdotting the local dead tree bulletin boards.
We need to start a unified effort to educate the people around us. I'm not the person to do it, I don't know how. I can't even convince my wife that she should care. (She thinks it is an issue for programmers only, but she listened a little when I explained the library angle.)
What have you tried? How have you convinced people? Which arguments were most successful? Can we come up with a flyer design for other geeks to print and use? Is there a graphic designer out there with some spare time?
I have to agree with the author. I have written to my Senators and my representive in the House regarding this legislation, and have heard back from only one of them. They are not noticing us, but they should. We are educated people, we have common goals and concerns, we are a large network of people, and we communicate frequently. We are a part of a grassroots movement. It is time for the politicians to take notice.
While GeekPAC may only be able to act one election at a time, the threat that will speak to them. It may seem like a dirty tactic, but they are trying to steal our fair use rights. We have to fight back.