My point is, working for a faceless conglomerate is one thing. Working for one with significant philosophical differences from your own is another thing entirely.
What if the "faceless conglomerate" is "working for you"? And you don't like what they're doing? And you really can't do squat about it? And if you don't pay them, they'll confiscate your property and/or jail you?
If you don't like what the US gov't does (CIA/NSA/IRS/etc.), what do you do? Please don't answer with the thought-stopping "Love it or leave it!" I've written my reps about the 10th amendment, and they seem genuinely clueless about it.
But to RMS, it's about forcing people into this freedom, whether they want it or not. RMS wants you to have freedom, as long as it's not the freedom to use proprietary products.
Is a person permitted to sell himself into slavery? Or is liberty one of the inalienable rights? Meaning, you can't even _legitimately_ sell your own liberty? And a system of law that is just would recognize that. Of course, not all systems of law are just.
In the USA, liberty is one of the inalienable rights. Of course, we've corrected some of the Founders' errors on the practicals (their purity of vision is unquestioned).
Spelling/grammar checking. Many email clients do spell-checking, though I don't know about grammar checking.
I thought that's what an education was for. I hate Word's grammar checking--it always complains when I put down a complex thought. So I turn it off. And I always proofread what I post/email at least two times anyway, checking for spelling and grammar and coherence. (Ok, the previous statements looked coherent to me!)
So go down to your local public library and hop on one of the Web terminals. Think of it this way: If you're getting phone service hooked up, how do you call the phone company?
Dang, now that I think about it, how did the first compiler get compiled?
Exactly. Online bill payment is a great convenience. I would assume that reverting to checks by mail to avoid.NET is a price many would be willing to pay?
I am carefully getting used to living in a cave, warming myself by fire, hunting wabbits, just in case they take away any of my conveniences. Mailing bills I gave up a long time ago--I don't have any more bills.
We're talking about a 3 gigabyte per 3 day cap. That is a gigabyte per day.
For whom is 1GB/day not well beyond "acceptable?"
Me, for one. I am archiving all of USENET in hopes of future Salon/Google Glory. I just hope the U-Store-It where I'm stuffing all my Hard Drives never burns down.
released today in the San Francisco Chronicle. Read it over at sfgate.com [sfgate.com]. I/m surprised two independent media organizations would review the same company about the same thing and release it in the same general time frame! Amazing~
Gee, the print media has a hierarchy: All editors read the NY Times, the LA Times, and the Wash Post to see what the consensus important stuff is. The editors of the LA Times and the Wash Post read the NY Times to see what the important stuff is. The editors of the NY Times decide what's important stuff to print. This is why all the newspapers look the same.
These companies are free to put any proprietary crap they want into their products, and to sell that crap to crap-brained consumers. Eventually, all the companies will do it. The few consumers who don't lap it all up (RMS is probably one of the few pure hard-liners on this issue) will have to build workarounds.
You know what? I bet most stiffs out there don't give a flyin' flip about all this. All they want is a large volume of entertainment for a WAL-MART price. They don't care if Bill Gates or Larry Ellison or George Lucas or some functionary in the IRS makes the dough, and they don't care if Satan himself owns the copyrights and patents and trademarks and the souls of the creating artists. Every now and then the populace can get stirred up for a five-minute Hate against some politician. In general, it's like being in a nightmare, where you try to scream, but nothing comes out--you are a paralyzed, helpless observer.
Now, for more optimistic things, I got my OpenBSD firewall box upgraded nicely.
Going back up above the "POLICE STATE" line, you'll notice that every single one of those things he talks about is ALREADY HERE IN THE U.S. AND MUCH OF EUROPE. Sure, it's not a police state just because the folks in charge know - or can find out - anything that's going on; if it were, every single small town on the planet would be a police state.
Huxley was more prescient than Orwell. Orwell envisioned a police state where the State control was kept through fear. Huxley envisioned a police state where the State control was maintained simply because the people didn't care anymore; all they wanted was soma and the feelies. It's still a police state; not a brutal one, but a kind, gentle one. And we in the US, we just want our Cable TV and our fast food.
The US never has and never will bully China as long as it can have the opportunity to exploit the market potential that exists there. The People's Republic of China has huge market potential, but has committed crimes against humanity on par with anything the Nazi's did in Germany.
We'll bully _other_ countries to get to the China market. Say, Spain, in 1898. We took over the Philippines, making it a colony, and slaughtered 200,000+ Philippinos in the process; they revolted at the chance to overthrow their Spanish masters, but they didn't know we fully intended to replace Spain as their masters, not liberate them. Imagine that. And that was to enable us to go to China (needed a nice coaling station for our ships).
Next thing we'll have telephone answering machines recording what
phone numbers people are calling from....video libraries recording who
borrowed each book and when.....Internet ads that track and record who
saw them...hotel room doors that record every time each person goes
in or out...cellphones that report every move we make to the
authorities...tollbooths that record every car that goes through them...
guards in every airport demanding to see 'our papers' before we are
permitted to travel in our own country...
Since it seems that most of the time, we do something technological because we can, not because we should, because these things can be done, they will eventually be done. In other words, technology is the biggest weapon in the Police State's hand. How can we wield it against the Police State? If we aren't allowed the firepower that the Police State has? Simple example: I am not allowed to own and fly a fully-armed F-16 (I am assuming this).
I remember that supposedly Lucas himself made an extra appearance in Star Wars Episode 1 in a battle scene. I don't know if it was confirmed or not, but I think there's alot more secrets yet to be revealed in the already-released star wars movies.
Such as: Jar-jar _is_ George Lucas, which explains why he was in EP1, and accounts for his "secret" appearance therein.
Slashdot complaint: I pay $50/mo for access, it should be unlimited (no caps, no port filtering). All we're seeing is Reality winning out over the La-La Land dream of unlimited bandwidth for a low fixed price. I hate Reality! OTOH, the agreements are pretty shady: "we can change whatever we want, whenever we want to."
I'm posting for my friend who works in Antarctica. He wishes he had _any_ internet access! His current bandwidth is a flat 0bps, which is ridiculous; anywhere in the Western world, that would be considered a crime against humanity. So all of you should be peeing in your pants with excitement at having a connection, no matter what you pay, and no matter how slow it is! Be glad! Pee away!
It seems increasingly appearent to me that Intellectual Property law generally and Copyright law specifically, has become a corrupt instrument whereby campaign finance coffers are filled by metering out favors to large monied special interests.
The sad truth is that much of law is like that. It's one corporation/corp-cluster using the coercive power of the government to squash competitors and threats. How to leverage the coercive power of the state? Influence the lawmakers, ie, bribe 'em!
So _the_ primary goal isn't for Congressmen to fill their coffers. There are _two_ primary goals: for the corporations to stifle competition and openness and all those good things; and for the Congressman to have their coffers filled. It's a devilish synergy; hand washes hand. And as usual, the people get screwed.
Which Forever War?
on
The Forever War
·
· Score: -1, Offtopic
The War on Poverty? The War on Drugs? Or the War on Terrorism (which will certainly drag on forever, too)?
"Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace" is what we have going on here. OK, I'm offtopic...
How many inexperienced people will read that snippet (and other snippets) and forever think of Microsoft as an EVIL EVIL SCUM with no mind for security at all?
Well, the undergrads in this article think MS is great compared to Linux. We even hashed it out on/. right here. Inexperienced folk aren't immediately thinking bad things about MS. That MS is EVIL EVIL SCUM would be a surprise to them.
Just be thankful they won the bid. The other major bidder was AOL-Time-Warner. Eeww.
But the Comcast deal includes...Microsoft! They provided financial assistance. What does that mean in the end? They'll use Microsoft products, whatever that might mean (imagine your worst network/server nightmare now). That's just flat-out _nasty_. "Hello, Qwest? I'd like DSL, but not with that crappy MSN, please." The tentacles are _everywhere_.
"Normally newbies interpret RTFM to mean: this guy is a total asshole, and doesn't want to help me."
That seems to me the practical interpretation of RTFM. After all, what does the "F" stand for? It's not exactly a polite response. I suspect that a lot of the time the guy doesn't know the answer either and is just hiding his ignorance by saying "RTFM".
Am I missing something? RTFM means "Read Those Fine Manuals", right?
My first daytime class was an eye opener! I spent WAY too much time explaining that ls is the same as dir (except better), that less is type (but with functionality), etc.
OK, make it an assignment:
Write a paper documenting the differences between Windows 2000 commands and UNIX commands: ls/dir, cd, etc.
Install an alternative UNIX: FreeBSD or Linux . Write an essay on the differences between installing i386 UNIX and Windows.
Then give them CDs. Make it 25% of the quarter grade, and give 'em a week.
Slashdot Mirror
Or of building up the Taliban to resist the Soviet-backed Northern Alliance, way back when. Ah, the ironies of history are enough amusement.
What if the "faceless conglomerate" is "working for you"? And you don't like what they're doing? And you really can't do squat about it? And if you don't pay them, they'll confiscate your property and/or jail you?
If you don't like what the US gov't does (CIA/NSA/IRS/etc.), what do you do? Please don't answer with the thought-stopping "Love it or leave it!" I've written my reps about the 10th amendment, and they seem genuinely clueless about it.
Is a person permitted to sell himself into slavery? Or is liberty one of the inalienable rights? Meaning, you can't even _legitimately_ sell your own liberty? And a system of law that is just would recognize that. Of course, not all systems of law are just.
In the USA, liberty is one of the inalienable rights. Of course, we've corrected some of the Founders' errors on the practicals (their purity of vision is unquestioned).
I thought that's what an education was for. I hate Word's grammar checking--it always complains when I put down a complex thought. So I turn it off. And I always proofread what I post/email at least two times anyway, checking for spelling and grammar and coherence. (Ok, the previous statements looked coherent to me!)
Dang, now that I think about it, how did the first compiler get compiled?
I am carefully getting used to living in a cave, warming myself by fire, hunting wabbits, just in case they take away any of my conveniences. Mailing bills I gave up a long time ago--I don't have any more bills.
And no, I am NOT OBL.
For whom is 1GB/day not well beyond "acceptable?"
Me, for one. I am archiving all of USENET in hopes of future Salon/Google Glory. I just hope the U-Store-It where I'm stuffing all my Hard Drives never burns down.
Gee, the print media has a hierarchy: All editors read the NY Times, the LA Times, and the Wash Post to see what the consensus important stuff is. The editors of the LA Times and the Wash Post read the NY Times to see what the important stuff is. The editors of the NY Times decide what's important stuff to print. This is why all the newspapers look the same.
These companies are free to put any proprietary crap they want into their products, and to sell that crap to crap-brained consumers. Eventually, all the companies will do it. The few consumers who don't lap it all up (RMS is probably one of the few pure hard-liners on this issue) will have to build workarounds.
You know what? I bet most stiffs out there don't give a flyin' flip about all this. All they want is a large volume of entertainment for a WAL-MART price. They don't care if Bill Gates or Larry Ellison or George Lucas or some functionary in the IRS makes the dough, and they don't care if Satan himself owns the copyrights and patents and trademarks and the souls of the creating artists. Every now and then the populace can get stirred up for a five-minute Hate against some politician. In general, it's like being in a nightmare, where you try to scream, but nothing comes out--you are a paralyzed, helpless observer.
Now, for more optimistic things, I got my OpenBSD firewall box upgraded nicely.
I'm using Win98 SE (forgot to mention that as well) and IE5 at this very moment. I can't remember the last time it crashed.
Hey, you are running a virus, Windows is just a graphical shell on a boot virus.
I'd rather pay a little more for these things and have cheap medical care and a decent social security.
I'd give up all those things for real liberty. I don't want the State to be my Bossy Nanny.
Huxley was more prescient than Orwell. Orwell envisioned a police state where the State control was kept through fear. Huxley envisioned a police state where the State control was maintained simply because the people didn't care anymore; all they wanted was soma and the feelies. It's still a police state; not a brutal one, but a kind, gentle one. And we in the US, we just want our Cable TV and our fast food.
There's something that had a real chance of success...wait, I think it's working! Someone tell Mexico that Germany lost the war.
We'll bully _other_ countries to get to the China market. Say, Spain, in 1898. We took over the Philippines, making it a colony, and slaughtered 200,000+ Philippinos in the process; they revolted at the chance to overthrow their Spanish masters, but they didn't know we fully intended to replace Spain as their masters, not liberate them. Imagine that. And that was to enable us to go to China (needed a nice coaling station for our ships).
Next thing we'll have telephone answering machines recording what
phone numbers people are calling from....video libraries recording who
borrowed each book and when.....Internet ads that track and record who
saw them...hotel room doors that record every time each person goes
in or out...cellphones that report every move we make to the
authorities...tollbooths that record every car that goes through them...
guards in every airport demanding to see 'our papers' before we are
permitted to travel in our own country...
Since it seems that most of the time, we do something technological because we can, not because we should, because these things can be done, they will eventually be done. In other words, technology is the biggest weapon in the Police State's hand. How can we wield it against the Police State? If we aren't allowed the firepower that the Police State has? Simple example: I am not allowed to own and fly a fully-armed F-16 (I am assuming this).
Such as: Jar-jar _is_ George Lucas, which explains why he was in EP1, and accounts for his "secret" appearance therein.
Slashdot complaint: I pay $50/mo for access, it should be unlimited (no caps, no port filtering). All we're seeing is Reality winning out over the La-La Land dream of unlimited bandwidth for a low fixed price. I hate Reality! OTOH, the agreements are pretty shady: "we can change whatever we want, whenever we want to."
I'm posting for my friend who works in Antarctica. He wishes he had _any_ internet access! His current bandwidth is a flat 0bps, which is ridiculous; anywhere in the Western world, that would be considered a crime against humanity. So all of you should be peeing in your pants with excitement at having a connection, no matter what you pay, and no matter how slow it is! Be glad! Pee away!
It seems increasingly appearent to me that Intellectual Property law generally and Copyright law specifically, has become a corrupt instrument whereby campaign finance coffers are filled by metering out favors to large monied special interests.
The sad truth is that much of law is like that. It's one corporation/corp-cluster using the coercive power of the government to squash competitors and threats. How to leverage the coercive power of the state? Influence the lawmakers, ie, bribe 'em!
So _the_ primary goal isn't for Congressmen to fill their coffers. There are _two_ primary goals: for the corporations to stifle competition and openness and all those good things; and for the Congressman to have their coffers filled. It's a devilish synergy; hand washes hand. And as usual, the people get screwed.
The War on Poverty? The War on Drugs? Or the War on Terrorism (which will certainly drag on forever, too)?
"Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace" is what we have going on here. OK, I'm offtopic...
Well, the undergrads in this article think MS is great compared to Linux. We even hashed it out on
But the Comcast deal includes...Microsoft! They provided financial assistance. What does that mean in the end? They'll use Microsoft products, whatever that might mean (imagine your worst network/server nightmare now). That's just flat-out _nasty_. "Hello, Qwest? I'd like DSL, but not with that crappy MSN, please." The tentacles are _everywhere_.
That seems to me the practical interpretation of RTFM. After all, what does the "F" stand for? It's not exactly a polite response. I suspect that a lot of the time the guy doesn't know the answer either and is just hiding his ignorance by saying "RTFM".
Am I missing something? RTFM means "Read Those Fine Manuals", right?
Microsoft product support certainly is easier: 1) reinstall 2)reboot. Linux, you might have to fix something.
OK, make it an assignment:
Write a paper documenting the differences between Windows 2000 commands and UNIX commands: ls/dir, cd, etc.
Install an alternative UNIX: FreeBSD or Linux . Write an essay on the differences between installing i386 UNIX and Windows.
Then give them CDs. Make it 25% of the quarter grade, and give 'em a week.