Those petitions are *worse* than worthless: they give people the illusion of participatory democracy when in reality nothing tangible will ever come from them, and in doing so distract people from other forms of participation (writing representatives, say) that actually have tangible effects, however marginal.
As for the scanners, it always amazes me how the political party that is supposed to be all about individual freedom and liberty, personal privacy, and limited government consistently spearheads the erosion of those very same ideals. That the Republicans are not out in force against the use of these things is one of many signs that they are ideologically bankrupt.
Unbearably repetitive dragons that are too easy to beat interspersed with mundane quest after mundane quest to get some stupid artifact. The graphics are amazing but the gameplay is just so damn conventional and predictable it ruins the experience.
Maybe not. Citibank screwed something up in Japan -- not sure what, some violation of information disclosure laws -- and it was on the main page for three months -- you had to click a little box acknowledging you'd read it before you could access your account. Hopefully this will be something similar.
I don't know. Just about every other line in the Koran talks about death and destruction being rained down upon nonbelievers, and since this is Slashdot I probably don't have to go into all the nastiness in the Old Testament. Extremists are evil, without a doubt, but so are many of the original ideas they base their extremism on.
I don't know about the car analogy, but generally you're right. A calculator is a math plug-in to augment our brain's inferior ability to do complex calculations quickly. A scheduling app on your computer that reminds you of appointments is like a memory extension. I'm a translator and I use terminology/translation memory software, which function in much the same way....Of course, at the rate Google Translate is going, it will soon be an extension of my unemployment.
But how does allowing people to profit indefinitely (which, for all intents and purposes, is how US copyright is currently set up) from the same exact piece of work encourage innovation, as the copyright proponents assert -- doesn't it accomplish the exact opposite?
And let's not forget that the "rich guys" made THEIR money by leeching off the artists in the first place.
If you're going to complain about artists being screwed, you'd better be prepared to propose an entirely new system, because the music industry's traditional business model has been blatantly and obscenely ripping off artists for *decades* now, long before Megaupload, The Pirate Bay, Kazaa, Napster, CD-Rs, and even cassette tapes came onto the scene.
Slashdot Mirror
Those petitions are *worse* than worthless: they give people the illusion of participatory democracy when in reality nothing tangible will ever come from them, and in doing so distract people from other forms of participation (writing representatives, say) that actually have tangible effects, however marginal.
As for the scanners, it always amazes me how the political party that is supposed to be all about individual freedom and liberty, personal privacy, and limited government consistently spearheads the erosion of those very same ideals. That the Republicans are not out in force against the use of these things is one of many signs that they are ideologically bankrupt.
Unbearably repetitive dragons that are too easy to beat interspersed with mundane quest after mundane quest to get some stupid artifact. The graphics are amazing but the gameplay is just so damn conventional and predictable it ruins the experience.
Maybe not. Citibank screwed something up in Japan -- not sure what, some violation of information disclosure laws -- and it was on the main page for three months -- you had to click a little box acknowledging you'd read it before you could access your account. Hopefully this will be something similar.
That's a deal so bad it needs to come with a complimentary tube of KY jelly
That's a turn of phrase so funny it should come with a complimentary tissue to wipe off the coffee I spit onto my screen.
I don't know. Just about every other line in the Koran talks about death and destruction being rained down upon nonbelievers, and since this is Slashdot I probably don't have to go into all the nastiness in the Old Testament. Extremists are evil, without a doubt, but so are many of the original ideas they base their extremism on.
Haha, yeah, I was going to ask, did the pirated song appear before or after the three unskippable anti-piracy ads?
...for Slashdot accepting my recent submissions of such articles as "The Sky is Blue" and "Hitting Yourself with a Hammer Hurts."
Already have it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Dust
I don't know about the car analogy, but generally you're right. A calculator is a math plug-in to augment our brain's inferior ability to do complex calculations quickly. A scheduling app on your computer that reminds you of appointments is like a memory extension. I'm a translator and I use terminology/translation memory software, which function in much the same way. ...Of course, at the rate Google Translate is going, it will soon be an extension of my unemployment.
But how does allowing people to profit indefinitely (which, for all intents and purposes, is how US copyright is currently set up) from the same exact piece of work encourage innovation, as the copyright proponents assert -- doesn't it accomplish the exact opposite?
And let's not forget that the "rich guys" made THEIR money by leeching off the artists in the first place. If you're going to complain about artists being screwed, you'd better be prepared to propose an entirely new system, because the music industry's traditional business model has been blatantly and obscenely ripping off artists for *decades* now, long before Megaupload, The Pirate Bay, Kazaa, Napster, CD-Rs, and even cassette tapes came onto the scene.
...it has anything to do with the bombardment of advertising there is for booze *everywhere*?
...is good for the gander. Law enforcement is always telling the citizenry that they have nothing to fear if they have nothing to hide.
About as likely as George Bush arresting Dick Cheney for war crimes.