Even generally good and moral people can get it wrong sometimes.
Maybe he is trying say that Mr. Swartz might not have taken his own life, even given the fact of the over zealous prosecution, if MIT had a program in place to teach "strength of character"? Personally, I think the idea is ludicrous.
What about the prosecutor that threatened Mr. Swartz with 30 years in jail for actions that most civilized people think should have been dealt with by the University administration, or maybe by the civil courts. Was it responsible to threaten a person with 30 years in jail for disregarding an EULA?
Mr. Swartz's case highlighted the odious and unjust practice of threatening people with completely out of proportion punishments to induce them to plea bargain. And as far as I can tell this is done to gain political points in the next stage of the prosecutors's career, not to improve justice.
It isn't a taxi service because taxi service is an over regulated cartel in most cities, and it is almost impossible to enter the market.
This is an example of good free market forces at work. We have an over paid, over regulated monopoly supported by by government regulation finally get some competition. Hopefully these new guys will be able to stay lean and mean.
The usa patent system doesn't really use the "non-obvious" test. Non-obvious is supposed to be non-obvious to a qualified practitioner of the field in question. I'm pretty sure I could have implemented one-click if asked.
The USA patent system seems to operate on the the basis of "if we can't find a patent for it then we'll patent it". The bar is set much too low.
And it is time the law banning direct sales of cars was repealed as it is obviously unjust. There shouldn't be any laws protecting business, even small business, from fair competition.
For nicotine addicts the e-cig seems like a much safer alternative to cigarettes.Almost no tar and other harmful chemicals, just your nicotine fix. Looks like more research is required, but I think this could be a useful tool to help quitting, or at east reduce the harm of a nicotine addiction.
Social housing in Vancouver is not free. Generally the rent is set at 1/3 of your net income. And that is a great deal in Vancouver for the working poor.
A better idea is a small rfid sort of thing that only transmit a number. The police can look up the cars info from this number. Cheaper, more effective, more private and the only thing it gives a way is a number - just like on your metal plate.
Stop leaving valuables in your car and it cuts down on break ins a lot. In bad areas I leave my car unlocked, open the glove box and spill the contents onto the car floor. It looks like it has already been robbed.
We had a terrible problem with car theft. What the police did is set up bait cars. These cars have video to gather evidence, gps, and remote controls to lock and stop the car. The bait car program in Vancouver BC reduced car theft 70% over 5 years..
I live in Vancouver BC, one of the most expensive places to own or rent a home in North America, and we have social housing. Social housing is affordable because it is on government land and the government can ignore market forces and just charge a rate that reflects the actual cost of building the homes, not the grossly inflated free market costs.
Empirical evidence? The TSA, the Patriot act, the war in Iraq, three strike laws, excessive minimum length prison sentences, and the myriad other over reactions to RARE risks.
There is lots of literature on the subject of how people perceive risk, google is your friend. Schneider's summary is correct.
If you read the news the problem with violent Islam is mainly for other Muslims. I'm not being stoned to death, but Muslims living in Islamic countries are. I am not facing lashes for having a picture of a pork dish on my web site to celebrate the end of Ramadan, but people in Islamic countries are. I'm not being assassinated for blasphemy or apostasy, but people living in Islamic countries are.
The Islam practised in most Muslim countries is barbarous.
Printing presses put the scribes out of work.
Sewing machine put the seamstresses out of work.
Steam engines put the miners out of work
Tractors put the farmers out of work.
Computers put the typing pool out of work.
Putting EVERYONE out work is the goal of all good people. Okay, we have to give up free market capitalism and move towards some other economic model when machines and computers do ALL the work, but we should trying to find that economic system that works when there are no entry level jobs, not clinging desperately to an economic system that is doomed.The lack of vision among people is shocking. The transition to a society without work may be difficult, but it is coming. Capitalism will die when it comes as the conditions it works best for will be gone just like feudalism.
Embrace technology that ends mindless, unrewarding labour, and work to change government and economic policy to reflect the new reality that there are NOT jobs for everyone.
When did slashot become the home for whining Luddites? I've read so many posts about how the autonomous cars will suck, how they'll run over people, how they can't relieve congestion, etc...
The fact is that people are on average terrible drivers, yes you too who thinks good driving involves fast reflexes. Peoples reflexes are slow compared to a car moving at highway speed. A computers reflexes are very fast compared to a car driving at highway speed. If the cars are also networked then things like merging will happen at full speed safely. Networked, computer driven cars will be able get much more traffic through a stretch of road: no slowing down to look at a pulled over car, no one driving at less than the maximum safe speed, no random lane changes, everyone cooperating to get everyone where they are going as efficient as possible.
30,000 or so people die in car accidents every year in the USA, many, many more are injured, and the number of cars damaged is higher yet. Computer driven cars will cut all of that way down.
Much like pedestrians in Quebec, pedestrians everywhere will learn to not step in front of moving cars. There is NO downside, except that the people who enjoy driving will have to do it on a track.
This is another case of the armchair slashdotter thinking they will see the fatal flaw, without reading the article, in any idea that experts work on for years.
Get off my lawn, you boring, anti-progress, cave dwelling, nay sayers.
If your government is corrupt it is because the generally apathetic USA voters are quite happy with it that way. If they weren't happy they would stop voting in the same people.
In Canada the voters completely wipe out political parties that existed for generations if the politicians piss us off. There is no Social Credit in BC now, there is no Conservative party federally (well the PC is sort of their bastard offspring with the Reform party).
Stop voting for just the Republicans and Democrats. Put a stop to Gerrymandering. Put a stop to ear marks. Get better informed. Actually get off your butt and vote.
And how could Obama abolish the "nonsense"? Wave his magic wand? Do you even know how your government works? Obama can't pass any legislation, he can cajole congress into passing legislation like he did with Obamacare, but failed with closing gitmo. He can veto legislation. Congress (then the Senate) have to pass laws changing the powers given to the NSA to spy.
It is a "deflection" because the fact my car/government is almost as bad as yours does NOT change the fact yours is horrible.
"It's okay because I can find a worse example somewhere on the earth" is not a valid defence of anything. It is especially not a valid defence when your politicians claim loudly and frequently that the USA is THE best, in fact it is exceptional in all ways.The first step to improving something is admitting there is a problem. Admitting there is a problem is political suicide in the USA so nothing gets fixed.
Why is this modded down? Chauvinistic Americans don't like hearing the truth that their country is heading down by many important markers?
Is the USA a beacon of freedom, a model for other Nations? Not so much. It spies on its own citizens, does border searches 100 miles from the nearest border, and has incarcerated a larger percentage of its population than any other country on the earth.
Is the USA the economic engine of the world. Yes, it still is, but if it keeps feeding wall street at the expense of main street it'll just be investing in investing. Short term investment is not improving the long term prospects of the USA economy.
Is the "American Dream" alive? Economic mobility in the USA is one half of that in Canada, and one third of Denmark's. Pro-business laws, virtually no real labour protection laws, and a flimsy social safety net all contribute to the USA now not being the best country to get ahead in.
You get the idea. Other countries are catching up. If the USA wants to be a model for other countries it is going to have to reform itself - something that is hard to when it's political suicide to even suggest that the USA is any other than "exceptional".
I have also chosen to avoid management which does lead to strange looks, and in one company I worked for most likely being fired after 5 years (I'm not there of course). The up or out company was American. I've been able to move up the pay scale and stay in a technical job, but I am expected to do more than just code: meet customers, get requirements, system architecture, etc...
Okay, I think I understand now. I've been posting that people wanting to turn off the alerts are selfish, but if these alerts are over-riding your phones settings then I agree that the system needs to be changed to honour your phones settings so that it isn't so disruptive. Alerts that people read, even after a delay, are more effective than alerts so annoying people turn them off completely.
So you are still saying you are selfish, and saving children's lives isn't worth a few minutes inconvenience to you.
As others have pointed out the amber alerts have to go out to a wide area because cars can drive long distance in only hours. If everyone who gets an alert takes 2 minutes out of their busy life to memorize even part of the alert and keep half an eye out as they go about their normal day the chances of spotting the kids goes way up.
It simply isn't that much effort for the chance to save a life.
Slashdot Mirror
Even generally good and moral people can get it wrong sometimes.
Maybe he is trying say that Mr. Swartz might not have taken his own life, even given the fact of the over zealous prosecution, if MIT had a program in place to teach "strength of character"? Personally, I think the idea is ludicrous.
What about the prosecutor that threatened Mr. Swartz with 30 years in jail for actions that most civilized people think should have been dealt with by the University administration, or maybe by the civil courts. Was it responsible to threaten a person with 30 years in jail for disregarding an EULA?
Mr. Swartz's case highlighted the odious and unjust practice of threatening people with completely out of proportion punishments to induce them to plea bargain. And as far as I can tell this is done to gain political points in the next stage of the prosecutors's career, not to improve justice.
It isn't a taxi service because taxi service is an over regulated cartel in most cities, and it is almost impossible to enter the market.
This is an example of good free market forces at work. We have an over paid, over regulated monopoly supported by by government regulation finally get some competition. Hopefully these new guys will be able to stay lean and mean.
And I'm a commie socialist from Canada.
The usa patent system doesn't really use the "non-obvious" test. Non-obvious is supposed to be non-obvious to a qualified practitioner of the field in question. I'm pretty sure I could have implemented one-click if asked.
The USA patent system seems to operate on the the basis of "if we can't find a patent for it then we'll patent it". The bar is set much too low.
And it is time the law banning direct sales of cars was repealed as it is obviously unjust. There shouldn't be any laws protecting business, even small business, from fair competition.
Free market my ass.
For nicotine addicts the e-cig seems like a much safer alternative to cigarettes.Almost no tar and other harmful chemicals, just your nicotine fix. Looks like more research is required, but I think this could be a useful tool to help quitting, or at east reduce the harm of a nicotine addiction.
Social housing in Vancouver is not free. Generally the rent is set at 1/3 of your net income. And that is a great deal in Vancouver for the working poor.
Wow! That! Is! Stupid!
A better idea is a small rfid sort of thing that only transmit a number. The police can look up the cars info from this number. Cheaper, more effective, more private and the only thing it gives a way is a number - just like on your metal plate.
If I want more, I pay more.
Isn't this obvious?
Stop leaving valuables in your car and it cuts down on break ins a lot. In bad areas I leave my car unlocked, open the glove box and spill the contents onto the car floor. It looks like it has already been robbed.
We had a terrible problem with car theft. What the police did is set up bait cars. These cars have video to gather evidence, gps, and remote controls to lock and stop the car. The bait car program in Vancouver BC reduced car theft 70% over 5 years..
Real policing can be effective.
I live in Vancouver BC, one of the most expensive places to own or rent a home in North America, and we have social housing. Social housing is affordable because it is on government land and the government can ignore market forces and just charge a rate that reflects the actual cost of building the homes, not the grossly inflated free market costs.
The free market isn't always reasonable.
Empirical evidence? The TSA, the Patriot act, the war in Iraq, three strike laws, excessive minimum length prison sentences, and the myriad other over reactions to RARE risks.
There is lots of literature on the subject of how people perceive risk, google is your friend. Schneider's summary is correct.
If you read the news the problem with violent Islam is mainly for other Muslims. I'm not being stoned to death, but Muslims living in Islamic countries are. I am not facing lashes for having a picture of a pork dish on my web site to celebrate the end of Ramadan, but people in Islamic countries are. I'm not being assassinated for blasphemy or apostasy, but people living in Islamic countries are.
The Islam practised in most Muslim countries is barbarous.
Looks like simple fascism from up North, combined with apathy and cowardice.
Just what law did he break, I could find it in the article.
Printing presses put the scribes out of work.
Sewing machine put the seamstresses out of work.
Steam engines put the miners out of work
Tractors put the farmers out of work.
Computers put the typing pool out of work.
Putting EVERYONE out work is the goal of all good people. Okay, we have to give up free market capitalism and move towards some other economic model when machines and computers do ALL the work, but we should trying to find that economic system that works when there are no entry level jobs, not clinging desperately to an economic system that is doomed.The lack of vision among people is shocking. The transition to a society without work may be difficult, but it is coming. Capitalism will die when it comes as the conditions it works best for will be gone just like feudalism.
Embrace technology that ends mindless, unrewarding labour, and work to change government and economic policy to reflect the new reality that there are NOT jobs for everyone.
Well, if the cultural norm is to run over jay walkers without slowing down, wouldn't that be how the cars are programmed? Like in Quebec?
That would end that avenue of civil disobedience.
When did slashot become the home for whining Luddites? I've read so many posts about how the autonomous cars will suck, how they'll run over people, how they can't relieve congestion, etc...
The fact is that people are on average terrible drivers, yes you too who thinks good driving involves fast reflexes. Peoples reflexes are slow compared to a car moving at highway speed. A computers reflexes are very fast compared to a car driving at highway speed. If the cars are also networked then things like merging will happen at full speed safely. Networked, computer driven cars will be able get much more traffic through a stretch of road: no slowing down to look at a pulled over car, no one driving at less than the maximum safe speed, no random lane changes, everyone cooperating to get everyone where they are going as efficient as possible.
30,000 or so people die in car accidents every year in the USA, many, many more are injured, and the number of cars damaged is higher yet. Computer driven cars will cut all of that way down.
Much like pedestrians in Quebec, pedestrians everywhere will learn to not step in front of moving cars. There is NO downside, except that the people who enjoy driving will have to do it on a track.
This is another case of the armchair slashdotter thinking they will see the fatal flaw, without reading the article, in any idea that experts work on for years.
Get off my lawn, you boring, anti-progress, cave dwelling, nay sayers.
If your government is corrupt it is because the generally apathetic USA voters are quite happy with it that way. If they weren't happy they would stop voting in the same people.
In Canada the voters completely wipe out political parties that existed for generations if the politicians piss us off. There is no Social Credit in BC now, there is no Conservative party federally (well the PC is sort of their bastard offspring with the Reform party).
Stop voting for just the Republicans and Democrats. Put a stop to Gerrymandering. Put a stop to ear marks. Get better informed. Actually get off your butt and vote.
And how could Obama abolish the "nonsense"? Wave his magic wand? Do you even know how your government works? Obama can't pass any legislation, he can cajole congress into passing legislation like he did with Obamacare, but failed with closing gitmo. He can veto legislation. Congress (then the Senate) have to pass laws changing the powers given to the NSA to spy.
It is a "deflection" because the fact my car/government is almost as bad as yours does NOT change the fact yours is horrible.
"It's okay because I can find a worse example somewhere on the earth" is not a valid defence of anything. It is especially not a valid defence when your politicians claim loudly and frequently that the USA is THE best, in fact it is exceptional in all ways.The first step to improving something is admitting there is a problem. Admitting there is a problem is political suicide in the USA so nothing gets fixed.
Why is this modded down? Chauvinistic Americans don't like hearing the truth that their country is heading down by many important markers?
Is the USA a beacon of freedom, a model for other Nations? Not so much. It spies on its own citizens, does border searches 100 miles from the nearest border, and has incarcerated a larger percentage of its population than any other country on the earth.
Is the USA the economic engine of the world. Yes, it still is, but if it keeps feeding wall street at the expense of main street it'll just be investing in investing. Short term investment is not improving the long term prospects of the USA economy.
Is the "American Dream" alive? Economic mobility in the USA is one half of that in Canada, and one third of Denmark's. Pro-business laws, virtually no real labour protection laws, and a flimsy social safety net all contribute to the USA now not being the best country to get ahead in.
You get the idea. Other countries are catching up. If the USA wants to be a model for other countries it is going to have to reform itself - something that is hard to when it's political suicide to even suggest that the USA is any other than "exceptional".
Why is the parent zero?
I have also chosen to avoid management which does lead to strange looks, and in one company I worked for most likely being fired after 5 years (I'm not there of course). The up or out company was American. I've been able to move up the pay scale and stay in a technical job, but I am expected to do more than just code: meet customers, get requirements, system architecture, etc...
Okay, I think I understand now. I've been posting that people wanting to turn off the alerts are selfish, but if these alerts are over-riding your phones settings then I agree that the system needs to be changed to honour your phones settings so that it isn't so disruptive. Alerts that people read, even after a delay, are more effective than alerts so annoying people turn them off completely.
Never heard of a car?
So you are still saying you are selfish, and saving children's lives isn't worth a few minutes inconvenience to you.
As others have pointed out the amber alerts have to go out to a wide area because cars can drive long distance in only hours. If everyone who gets an alert takes 2 minutes out of their busy life to memorize even part of the alert and keep half an eye out as they go about their normal day the chances of spotting the kids goes way up.
It simply isn't that much effort for the chance to save a life.