Here in the Corporate Republic, there are no public institutions operating outside the marketplace
any longer, free of its influence, maintaining the credibility and independence to comment
honestly on critical social and cultural issues and to monitor technological growth.
Sorry, Jon, but no institution has ever been free of the influence of the marketplace. Every institution collects money, buys things, and pays people. This has an effect on the marketplace, and inevitably the marketplace affects it.
Your nirvana never existed. You're wasting your time mourning its passing.
-russ
journalism,
politics, academe, art and culture have stood somewhat outside of the
marketplace, keeping a check on the freedom and prosperity brought us by
forces like technology and capitalism.
Yes, Jon, these institutions have all too often served to check freedom and prosperity. Fortunately, freedom and prosperity have succeeded in overcoming these checks, at least in the US, and we are now mostly free and mostly prosperous. However they still exist, and they would still like to check freedom and prosperity. I'll do my best to stop them. Won't you? Vote Harry Browne in 2000!
-russ
E already runs on the Netwinder, so I expect you could just copy it over as a binary. Except, of course, it's incredibly bloated software, so you probably couldn't even fit it into 16M of flash.
-russ
X works fine on a handheld. X applications might not work so very well. That's why some people are working on Gnome on a PDA. It was on slashdot a few weeks ago. If I were a moderator, I'd mark your post down as *redundant*.
-russ
The only tweaks for i386 it needs are to run xmkmf on the IMakefiles. And you do need to edit a header file to change the config file location. Other than that, it works fine on my x86 box.
-russ
Well, it runs X, however the screen is only 1/4 VGA. Some applications happily create dialog boxes larger than the screen (duh). Apparently there are several parties working to create PDA-screen-sized X applications.
-russ
But basically what you have to do is use a Windoze machine to install CELoader and bootldr. Using CELoader, you start bootldr. Then you have to communicate over the serial port (you can convert the USB cradle into a serial interface if you know how to count pins and solder), and download new flash images using xmodem.
Yeah, it's only for hackers right now, but jump in! The water's fine!
-russ
p.s. I'll have mine at LWE. Find me and ask me to show it to you.
Maybe she was being bland and vague because the subject matter was bland and vague. I spoke to her about a specific piece of hardware, and how I might best sell it. Her suggestions were quite specific and based on years of advising other people about the same sort of thing. Yes, I'm being bland and vague about what the product was because the deal fell through.
-russ
But Mark, all of your examples are either false, or instances where the government has granted a monopoly. Windows has its copyright, CSS has its copyright. I can go buy indie or import CD's at my local record store.
You're right about the masses, though. Now, do you really want these people using the violence inherent in a system of government?? I sure don't! -russ
Yes, I read Animal Farm. Orwell was deeply suspicious of anyone who claimed privilege. You know, politicians AND corporate executives. The greatest tool for freedom is freedom itself, not the dictatorship of the masses. I've seen the masses, at Wal-Mart, and frankly I don't want them voting on what I should do. Is that elitist? No. Elitism is *me* trying to tell *them* what to do. I want a world where nobody tells anybody what to do. I want a world where people *ask* first. What's wrong with that? -russ nelson, registered Libertarian
The Federal Reserve caused the Great Depression, by deflating the currency. Depressions usually only last seven years, except that FDR's policies caused a depression *within* the depression ('33). It was only as bad as it was because of governmental intervention.
As for your second paragraph, well, I just got an apology letter along with a credit on my bill along with a $5 calling card from Hell Atlantic. Hell Atlantic is a big company by anyone's standards.
Natural monopolies are extremely rare. Pick any monopoly that affects your life. Its existance is predicated in government intervention in the market (yes, even Microsoft -- where do you think they got their copyright from?). Yes, companies try to merge to form a monopoly, but without government intervention, the monopoly cannot be sustained.
I don't think consumers (such as you) understand enough about economics to be allowed to regulate it through government action. -russ
I disagree. Microsoft doesn't do the best job, but they definitely solve a problem for people. People are pleased to get gasoline -- you can tell, because they trade money for it. The RIAA pleases its customers. Are artists their customers?
Sure, there are bad ideas. But you can't wave a magic wand and make them go away. You have to produce something which is enough better to justify the cost of switching.
There are no problems; only business opportunities. -russ
True, as far as it goes. However, corporations are regulated by the market. If it doesn't please a sufficient number of people, a corporation goes out of business. -russ
I tried to do a network install of Caldera on a POS terminal. No CD-ROM reader. I couldn't get it to work. Sucked down a redhat CD-ROM, did a network install, and it's running fine. Now if I could only get the LCD to run at 800x600, and figure out why/dev/ttyS4 is returning EOF, AND decode the touch panel's serial output, I'd be all set to run X. -russ p.s. It's Javelin's Wedge P.
Slashdot Mirror
You imply that they ever were outside the marketplace. Jon's invented a false dichotomy.
-russ
Sorry, Jon, but no institution has ever been free of the influence of the marketplace. Every institution collects money, buys things, and pays people. This has an effect on the marketplace, and inevitably the marketplace affects it.
Your nirvana never existed. You're wasting your time mourning its passing.
-russ
Yes, Jon, these institutions have all too often served to check freedom and prosperity. Fortunately, freedom and prosperity have succeeded in overcoming these checks, at least in the US, and we are now mostly free and mostly prosperous. However they still exist, and they would still like to check freedom and prosperity. I'll do my best to stop them. Won't you? Vote Harry Browne in 2000!
-russ
The X server will be modified so it can run in any orientation
-russ
E already runs on the Netwinder, so I expect you could just copy it over as a binary. Except, of course, it's incredibly bloated software, so you probably couldn't even fit it into 16M of flash.
-russ
X works fine on a handheld. X applications might not work so very well. That's why some people are working on Gnome on a PDA. It was on slashdot a few weeks ago. If I were a moderator, I'd mark your post down as *redundant*.
-russ
The only tweaks for i386 it needs are to run xmkmf on the IMakefiles. And you do need to edit a header file to change the config file location. Other than that, it works fine on my x86 box.
-russ
It's a stroke recognizer. Strokes are similar to Graffiti(tm) but not identical. It's linked off www.handhelds.org. Keith Packard wrote it.
-russ
Well, it runs X, however the screen is only 1/4 VGA. Some applications happily create dialog boxes larger than the screen (duh). Apparently there are several parties working to create PDA-screen-sized X applications.
-russ
You can't just go buy one. They're backlogged.
But basically what you have to do is use a Windoze machine to install CELoader and bootldr. Using CELoader, you start bootldr. Then you have to communicate over the serial port (you can convert the USB cradle into a serial interface if you know how to count pins and solder), and download new flash images using xmodem.
Yeah, it's only for hackers right now, but jump in! The water's fine!
-russ
p.s. I'll have mine at LWE. Find me and ask me to show it to you.
Maybe she was being bland and vague because the subject matter was bland and vague. I spoke to her about a specific piece of hardware, and how I might best sell it. Her suggestions were quite specific and based on years of advising other people about the same sort of thing. Yes, I'm being bland and vague about what the product was because the deal fell through.
-russ
I recommend that people use "libre" and "gratis" when instead of the word "free".
-russ
But Mark, all of your examples are either false, or instances where the government has granted a monopoly. Windows has its copyright, CSS has its copyright. I can go buy indie or import CD's at my local record store.
You're right about the masses, though. Now, do you really want these people using the violence inherent in a system of government?? I sure don't!
-russ
Yes, I read Animal Farm. Orwell was deeply suspicious of anyone who claimed privilege. You know, politicians AND corporate executives. The greatest tool for freedom is freedom itself, not the dictatorship of the masses. I've seen the masses, at Wal-Mart, and frankly I don't want them voting on what I should do. Is that elitist? No. Elitism is *me* trying to tell *them* what to do. I want a world where nobody tells anybody what to do. I want a world where people *ask* first. What's wrong with that?
-russ nelson, registered Libertarian
Yup, Sierra did the same thing with KQ8. Turned King's Quest into a FPS, and it SUCKS.
-russ
You're looking for emerge.
The Federal Reserve caused the Great Depression, by deflating the currency. Depressions usually only last seven years, except that FDR's policies caused a depression *within* the depression ('33). It was only as bad as it was because of governmental intervention.
As for your second paragraph, well, I just got an apology letter along with a credit on my bill along with a $5 calling card from Hell Atlantic. Hell Atlantic is a big company by anyone's standards.
Natural monopolies are extremely rare. Pick any monopoly that affects your life. Its existance is predicated in government intervention in the market (yes, even Microsoft -- where do you think they got their copyright from?). Yes, companies try to merge to form a monopoly, but without government intervention, the monopoly cannot be sustained.
I don't think consumers (such as you) understand enough about economics to be allowed to regulate it through government action.
-russ
Yes, but what effect would that have on the rest of us? Unless there are externalities, but there are aways externalities.
-russ
I disagree. Microsoft doesn't do the best job, but they definitely solve a problem for people. People are pleased to get gasoline -- you can tell, because they trade money for it. The RIAA pleases its customers. Are artists their customers?
Sure, there are bad ideas. But you can't wave a magic wand and make them go away. You have to produce something which is enough better to justify the cost of switching.
There are no problems; only business opportunities.
-russ
True, as far as it goes. However, corporations are regulated by the market. If it doesn't please a sufficient number of people, a corporation goes out of business.
-russ
It's not PayPaI, that's for sure!
-russ
IlIlIlIlIlIlIIllIlIIllIIlIllIllIllIlllIIIllII
http://www.paypal.com
http://www.paypaI.com
See? The point is not that people will *make* a typo, but that they won't recognize a wrong URL.
-russ
You just reinvented banking. Quick, patent it!
I tried to do a network install of Caldera on a POS terminal. No CD-ROM reader. I couldn't get it to work. Sucked down a redhat CD-ROM, did a network install, and it's running fine. Now if I could only get the LCD to run at 800x600, and figure out why /dev/ttyS4 is returning EOF, AND decode the touch panel's serial output, I'd be all set to run X.
-russ
p.s. It's Javelin's Wedge P.
How is it that they form pressures on an eardrum but not a microphone?