And that means that if you want to buy an underground shelter you have every right to do so, and fuck the people who insist that you should do other things with your money.
It's *your* money, not the money of these socialist-wannabes. Screw them and the horse they rode in on.
Besides, the idea of a fortified home seems pretty neat, even if relatively useless. If I had the money I'd certain do something along these lines. Talk about the ultimate in toys....
Actually I'm pretty sure it would result in the election of Natalie Portman...
I can't think of a better way to revive an interest in politics. I'd certainly vote for for; it couldn't possibly be any worse than the options we've had in the last 30 years, and we'd finally have a president worth watching during a "State of the Union" address.
Hey fuckwit, in case you haven't noticed or somehow missed the news, neither Iraq, Iran, or North Korea had ANYTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the twin towers. In fact, the attack was launched primarily by radical SAUDIS backed by a very rich SAUDI ARABIAN acting through what otherwise would've been a third-rate terrorist organization.
Funny, I don't see anyone advocating the invasion of Saudi Arabia.
Why this is a troll is beyond me. I didn't recommend this course of action, I brought it up to refute the assertion that diplomacy was the only way to eliminate the threat that North Korea posed to South Korea (and possibly Japan). In no way did I indicate it was the preferable course of action.
"International law and opinion" and two bucks will get you a cup of coffee. And that makes me a happy camper, because it means that the horror of a one-world government isn't going to happen any time in the near future.
The dystopia of an effective U.N. has yet to become a credible threat, thank the gods.
Try this on for size: you will never send my children off to war to pursue your personal holy mission to deliver the world from dictatorship. Not in this lifetime, boy.
The ONLY way to deal with North Korea is diplomacy.
That isn't the only way. About 500 mid-sized nuclear warheads would be enough firepower to completely obliterate the military functionality of North Korea, including the ungodly number of missiles and artillery pieces they have at hand. You'd also destroy what little economy is left and kill somewhere around 80-90% of the population.
That would put a definite end to North Korea as a threat to anyone, other than as a source of radiation poisoning.
Not me, that's for sure. Unlike some fanatical assholes, I don't see it as my 'holy mission' to impose Pax Americana on the rest of the world - nor Pax United Nations, either. If some shithole like Sudan, Rwanda, or Liberia wants to have a go at genocide, then fuck it - it's not our problem. Let the barbarians slaughter each other.
The alternative being what? Invasion? I don't think the Chinese would've sat on their thumbs if we'd done that.
But really, I don't see why we should care, for two reasons: a) the NK don't have the technology to build ICBMS, and therefore can't bomb the U.S.; and b) while the dictator of NK is a certifiable loon, I sincerely doubt the NK High Command is equally insane. They know what would happen if their Fuhrer gave the order to drop a bomb on SK or Japan - the U.S. would blow them to hell. If the nutbag did indeed give the order, my guess is that there'd be an 'unfortunate accident' erasing said looneytoon from the rolls of the living.
The logic behind the US's preemptive strike strategy boggles the mind
The logic is fairly obvious, actually. Governments create crises to remain in power, increase their power, and to quell protest against the amassing of that power. Crises are an excellent way to oppress your own citizenry while justifying your actions to the more gullible members of your nation.
There is no profit in a solved problem. Unsolved problems are the method by which politicians remain in power, along with those who support them. The worse the problem, the more one can profit on the fear and uncertainty of the citizenry.
If you want to create a problem, openly targeting three hostile nations as "the axis of evil" is a great way to do so. If they don't act quickly enough to fulfill their role as 'the enemy', invade and conquer one of them. That'll get the other two moving at double-time to present a credible threat, if only to prevent the invasion and conquest of their own countries. And by doing so, they become exactly what they've been labeled: dangerous enemies!
You should be thankful the UN is a joke. If it weren't it'd be the first credible step to a one-world government. I can't think of anything more horrifying than a world government able to impose its will on everyone, everywhere.
The examiners, as much as anyone, are in the best position to do something about it.
Indeed. The most effective thing they could do is allow anyone to patent just about any absurdity, then sit back and watch as the intentionally produced chaos starts rippling back and forth throughout the system. Done right and with enough examiners the entire system is sure to implode, probably spectacularly, in a relatively short amount of time.
If what you're looking for is a way to hopelessly bollix the system and force a complete redesign then this sort of sabotage is the only weapon effective enough to do the job. Anything else will be just a 'fix' to the current system, a fix which undoubtedly be in favor of those already at the top of the economic pyramid.
We point to patents and say "what the hell are those examiners thinking???" when, in fact, a more appropriate response might be "looks like those examiners just pulled another brick from the wall (snicker)".
What's even more interesting is that under the battle cry of "Safety!" nearly every slashdotter in this conversation takes the COMPULSORY ability to physically locate your phone as a necessity.
Thanks, but I'll pass. I don't want anyone tracking my physical location by ANY means unless I specifically grant them permission to do so. Period. As far as I'm concerned a compulsory system is a violation of the spirit of the 4th Amendment, if not the actual letter (and don't give me any bullshit about how I can just never use a cell phone if I'm so concerned; freezing people concerned with privacy out of the 21st century is the argument of an idiot).
but what if you only have time to call 911 before the burglar comes into the room and attacks you?
In this case 911 isn't going to help you. By the time the cops arrive you'll be nothing more than a bloody, mangled corpse, practice for junior crime scene technicians.
Now that PayPal's intent to control not only your money but your morality is clear, their 'strategy' practically begs for a competitor to rise up against them - one who markets based on the fact that they WON'T tell you how you can and cannot spend your money.
Ah, great. Yet more laws and yet more government interference in the internet. Just what we need.
Lucky for us the internet is world-wide and the track record for legal control is absolutely abysmal. I'll take spam over EFFECTIVE government control or regulation of the internet any day of the week.
I sincerely doubt that's the reason why fantasy is so popular. Fantasy, which thirty years ago had some pretty slim pickings in terms of full-length novels, has exploded over the last fifteen years or so, filling whole sections in book stores.
But take a look at most of these so-called fantasy novels. Easily recognized Black Hat bent on conquering/destroying the kingdom/world? Check. White Hat who is often misunderstood by his/her own people/oppressed/victimized? Check. Standard prophesy which calls the White Hat something along the lines of "Chosen One" and spells out in rather clumsy poetry everything that's going to happen (completely destroying any idea of free will)? Check. Obvious love interest for hero, who's physically somewhere close to supermodel status and mentally would give Einstein a run for his money? Check. Incredibly predictable plot involving 'trials and tribulations' for our hero, but ultimately resulting in his/her destruction of the Black Hat, followed by a 'happily ever after' with the love interest? Check.
These fantasy novels which seem to make up about 90% of the offerings you find in the bookstore are FORMULA novels. Like romance novels their appeal is that they're simple-minded and the ending is never in doubt. Unlike the real world it's easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys and the good guys always win. And the reader readily identifies with the hero because the reader has never gotten over the juvenile "nobody understands me" phase, or the geek belief that if they could travel to such a world THEY would be the hero that everyone worships, rather than the common nobody they are on our own Earth.
The reader doesn't want a world anywhere close to reality, because if they actually could travel to such a world and it in any way reflected reality they know they wouldn't be the hero - they'd be the bit character crying for their mama until, five minutes into the novel, some nameless bad guy impaled them on a spear.
Interesting take, although I'd argue that a system requiring state service in order to secure the vote (say, 2 years military or 4 years civilian) is an awfully good idea. I don't see how it could be any worse than what universal suffrage has brought us.
Look, boys and girls! It's geek cool to 'dis' popular music and listen to shitty garage bands, all the while claiming that in some mysterious fashion this raises your intellect to godlike proportions over the masses of sheep you egotistically look down on.
And now we have something new! It's now cool to do the same thing to Angelina Jolie! Those same geeks who watched "Hackers" 67 times and jacked off wildly to every scene with Angelina in it now turn around and try to score points with their uber-arrogant crowd by claiming that Angelina Jolie, like "suxx0rs, d00d".
You know, if it were legal to sterilize you little twits I'd be out there with a pair of nail clippers in a heartbeat, doing my part to clean up the gene pool.
Computer science is about programming and software design.
Back in the day when web sites as commercial products were a new thing and Perl was rapidly becoming the language of choice for dynamic interactions (and the number of Perl programmers was tiny), I was hired as an independent contractor for a company that was looking to ride the way of commercial web site offerings to wealth. They wanted a Perl programmer but had been unable to find one who was interested (not surprising, in a town of 120,000).
I was told of this opportunity, thought "what the hell", and went in for an interview. When they asked if I could program in Perl I said "yes", even though my answer was purest bullshit. I could program in C, mind you, and a number of other languages, but not Perl.
I was hired and a week, four books, and a couple hundred online examples later, I was merrily programming in Perl, creating websites for customers ranging from tiny mom-'n-pop shops up to corporations with more than 40,000 employees.
Despite the way in which administration of the company was constantly bungled, our client list grew and with it the work. We needed a second programmer; this was especially true since I was an independent and had the habit of turning down jobs that would push my work week beyond 40-50 hours. I had little desire to turn my life into work and despite the pleading (and sometimes threats) I said "no" when that magical number was reached.
The guy who ran the company insisted that every applicant had a B.S. in computer science, at a minimum, despite my warnings of previous past experiences with C.S. majors in other jobs that had turned out badly. He didn't care, though; he wanted a C.S. major so he could point to that person when talking to clients to show that he had 'professionals' on staff. Since I didn't have a CS degree I didn't count, even though I was single-handedly keeping his company afloat by completing job after job.
So we interviewed, and I was asked to sit in to give my opinion on the actual skill of the applicants. Every time - every single time - I said that NONE of the applicants were qualified, and yet I was ignored and some idiot with the prestigious degree was hired.
We went through 12 such 'programmers' in 18 months. Not a single one ever completed a job for a customer. I was asked, time and time again, to bail someone out because the job was long past due and the clients were getting angry. And so the C.S. major was fired and despite these experiences the boss insisted on hiring YET ANOTHER CS MAJOR. He just HAD to have that degree to point to for clients.
During the time I contracted with this company we never once had a competent programmer with a C.S. degree. While you may say that my experience was unusual, it wasn't; it was typical in past jobs, and typical in this one as well. I knew just how worthless a C.S. degree was from long, repeated personal experience and tried to warn this guy of the pitfalls. But he was blinded by the sheepskin and apparently thought, I guess, that he'd eventually get a decent programmer.
He never did. After 18 months of frustration I refused to contract with the company again and terminated my professional relationship with them. I just didn't need the bullshit. The company, by the way, has folded - due, I'm told, to an inability to complete contracts for web sites which required programming.
Computer science might be about programming and software design, but it's been my experience that many C.S. majors are capable of neither. They must be taught these things on the job because college doesn't give them the skills needed to actually do the work in the real world. And since this is the case, ANY savvy geek will do, regardless of whether or not he or she has a degree in computer science.
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And that means that if you want to buy an underground shelter you have every right to do so, and fuck the people who insist that you should do other things with your money.
It's *your* money, not the money of these socialist-wannabes. Screw them and the horse they rode in on.
Besides, the idea of a fortified home seems pretty neat, even if relatively useless. If I had the money I'd certain do something along these lines. Talk about the ultimate in toys....
Max
Actually I'm pretty sure it would result in the election of Natalie Portman...
I can't think of a better way to revive an interest in politics. I'd certainly vote for for; it couldn't possibly be any worse than the options we've had in the last 30 years, and we'd finally have a president worth watching during a "State of the Union" address.
Max
How long before we demand direct democracy.
And replace the king we got rid of more than two hundred years ago with a dictatorship by the masses. How very...doubleplusgood.
Max
Hey fuckwit, in case you haven't noticed or somehow missed the news, neither Iraq, Iran, or North Korea had ANYTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the twin towers. In fact, the attack was launched primarily by radical SAUDIS backed by a very rich SAUDI ARABIAN acting through what otherwise would've been a third-rate terrorist organization.
Funny, I don't see anyone advocating the invasion of Saudi Arabia.
Max
Why this is a troll is beyond me. I didn't recommend this course of action, I brought it up to refute the assertion that diplomacy was the only way to eliminate the threat that North Korea posed to South Korea (and possibly Japan). In no way did I indicate it was the preferable course of action.
Max
regardless of international law and opinion
"International law and opinion" and two bucks will get you a cup of coffee. And that makes me a happy camper, because it means that the horror of a one-world government isn't going to happen any time in the near future.
The dystopia of an effective U.N. has yet to become a credible threat, thank the gods.
Max
Try this on for size: you will never send my children off to war to pursue your personal holy mission to deliver the world from dictatorship. Not in this lifetime, boy.
Max
The ONLY way to deal with North Korea is diplomacy.
That isn't the only way. About 500 mid-sized nuclear warheads would be enough firepower to completely obliterate the military functionality of North Korea, including the ungodly number of missiles and artillery pieces they have at hand. You'd also destroy what little economy is left and kill somewhere around 80-90% of the population.
That would put a definite end to North Korea as a threat to anyone, other than as a source of radiation poisoning.
Max
Genocide in Sudan, massacres in liberia who cares
Not me, that's for sure. Unlike some fanatical assholes, I don't see it as my 'holy mission' to impose Pax Americana on the rest of the world - nor Pax United Nations, either. If some shithole like Sudan, Rwanda, or Liberia wants to have a go at genocide, then fuck it - it's not our problem. Let the barbarians slaughter each other.
Max
The alternative being what? Invasion? I don't think the Chinese would've sat on their thumbs if we'd done that.
But really, I don't see why we should care, for two reasons: a) the NK don't have the technology to build ICBMS, and therefore can't bomb the U.S.; and b) while the dictator of NK is a certifiable loon, I sincerely doubt the NK High Command is equally insane. They know what would happen if their Fuhrer gave the order to drop a bomb on SK or Japan - the U.S. would blow them to hell. If the nutbag did indeed give the order, my guess is that there'd be an 'unfortunate accident' erasing said looneytoon from the rolls of the living.
With or without the bomb, NK isn't a threat.
Max
The logic behind the US's preemptive strike strategy boggles the mind
The logic is fairly obvious, actually. Governments create crises to remain in power, increase their power, and to quell protest against the amassing of that power. Crises are an excellent way to oppress your own citizenry while justifying your actions to the more gullible members of your nation.
There is no profit in a solved problem. Unsolved problems are the method by which politicians remain in power, along with those who support them. The worse the problem, the more one can profit on the fear and uncertainty of the citizenry.
If you want to create a problem, openly targeting three hostile nations as "the axis of evil" is a great way to do so. If they don't act quickly enough to fulfill their role as 'the enemy', invade and conquer one of them. That'll get the other two moving at double-time to present a credible threat, if only to prevent the invasion and conquest of their own countries. And by doing so, they become exactly what they've been labeled: dangerous enemies!
The logic is beautifully Machiavellian.
Max
You should be thankful the UN is a joke. If it weren't it'd be the first credible step to a one-world government. I can't think of anything more horrifying than a world government able to impose its will on everyone, everywhere.
Max
Knowing US and its lust for power and world supremacy
In ten years this'll read "knowing the EU and its lust for power and world supremacy...."
Max
The examiners, as much as anyone, are in the best position to do something about it.
Indeed. The most effective thing they could do is allow anyone to patent just about any absurdity, then sit back and watch as the intentionally produced chaos starts rippling back and forth throughout the system. Done right and with enough examiners the entire system is sure to implode, probably spectacularly, in a relatively short amount of time.
If what you're looking for is a way to hopelessly bollix the system and force a complete redesign then this sort of sabotage is the only weapon effective enough to do the job. Anything else will be just a 'fix' to the current system, a fix which undoubtedly be in favor of those already at the top of the economic pyramid.
We point to patents and say "what the hell are those examiners thinking???" when, in fact, a more appropriate response might be "looks like those examiners just pulled another brick from the wall (snicker)".
Max
What's even more interesting is that under the battle cry of "Safety!" nearly every slashdotter in this conversation takes the COMPULSORY ability to physically locate your phone as a necessity.
Thanks, but I'll pass. I don't want anyone tracking my physical location by ANY means unless I specifically grant them permission to do so. Period. As far as I'm concerned a compulsory system is a violation of the spirit of the 4th Amendment, if not the actual letter (and don't give me any bullshit about how I can just never use a cell phone if I'm so concerned; freezing people concerned with privacy out of the 21st century is the argument of an idiot).
Max
but what if you only have time to call 911 before the burglar comes into the room and attacks you?
In this case 911 isn't going to help you. By the time the cops arrive you'll be nothing more than a bloody, mangled corpse, practice for junior crime scene technicians.
What you need isn't a phone, but a gun.
Max
Now that PayPal's intent to control not only your money but your morality is clear, their 'strategy' practically begs for a competitor to rise up against them - one who markets based on the fact that they WON'T tell you how you can and cannot spend your money.
Max
So Intel wants to become the Microsoft of the internet?
Max
Ah, great. Yet more laws and yet more government interference in the internet. Just what we need.
Lucky for us the internet is world-wide and the track record for legal control is absolutely abysmal. I'll take spam over EFFECTIVE government control or regulation of the internet any day of the week.
Spam is the LESSER of two evils here.
Max
they still need to be crushed because they are polluting the web environment with unwanted commercial messages.
As if there were such a thing as a WANTED commercial message.
Max
I sincerely doubt that's the reason why fantasy is so popular. Fantasy, which thirty years ago had some pretty slim pickings in terms of full-length novels, has exploded over the last fifteen years or so, filling whole sections in book stores.
But take a look at most of these so-called fantasy novels. Easily recognized Black Hat bent on conquering/destroying the kingdom/world? Check. White Hat who is often misunderstood by his/her own people/oppressed/victimized? Check. Standard prophesy which calls the White Hat something along the lines of "Chosen One" and spells out in rather clumsy poetry everything that's going to happen (completely destroying any idea of free will)? Check. Obvious love interest for hero, who's physically somewhere close to supermodel status and mentally would give Einstein a run for his money? Check. Incredibly predictable plot involving 'trials and tribulations' for our hero, but ultimately resulting in his/her destruction of the Black Hat, followed by a 'happily ever after' with the love interest? Check.
These fantasy novels which seem to make up about 90% of the offerings you find in the bookstore are FORMULA novels. Like romance novels their appeal is that they're simple-minded and the ending is never in doubt. Unlike the real world it's easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys and the good guys always win. And the reader readily identifies with the hero because the reader has never gotten over the juvenile "nobody understands me" phase, or the geek belief that if they could travel to such a world THEY would be the hero that everyone worships, rather than the common nobody they are on our own Earth.
The reader doesn't want a world anywhere close to reality, because if they actually could travel to such a world and it in any way reflected reality they know they wouldn't be the hero - they'd be the bit character crying for their mama until, five minutes into the novel, some nameless bad guy impaled them on a spear.
Max
Interesting take, although I'd argue that a system requiring state service in order to secure the vote (say, 2 years military or 4 years civilian) is an awfully good idea. I don't see how it could be any worse than what universal suffrage has brought us.
Max
...I pick up my gun and start shooting things. Does this count as 'thriving' or 'cracking'?
Max
Look, boys and girls! It's geek cool to 'dis' popular music and listen to shitty garage bands, all the while claiming that in some mysterious fashion this raises your intellect to godlike proportions over the masses of sheep you egotistically look down on.
And now we have something new! It's now cool to do the same thing to Angelina Jolie! Those same geeks who watched "Hackers" 67 times and jacked off wildly to every scene with Angelina in it now turn around and try to score points with their uber-arrogant crowd by claiming that Angelina Jolie, like "suxx0rs, d00d".
You know, if it were legal to sterilize you little twits I'd be out there with a pair of nail clippers in a heartbeat, doing my part to clean up the gene pool.
Max
Computer science is about programming and software design.
Back in the day when web sites as commercial products were a new thing and Perl was rapidly becoming the language of choice for dynamic interactions (and the number of Perl programmers was tiny), I was hired as an independent contractor for a company that was looking to ride the way of commercial web site offerings to wealth. They wanted a Perl programmer but had been unable to find one who was interested (not surprising, in a town of 120,000).
I was told of this opportunity, thought "what the hell", and went in for an interview. When they asked if I could program in Perl I said "yes", even though my answer was purest bullshit. I could program in C, mind you, and a number of other languages, but not Perl.
I was hired and a week, four books, and a couple hundred online examples later, I was merrily programming in Perl, creating websites for customers ranging from tiny mom-'n-pop shops up to corporations with more than 40,000 employees.
Despite the way in which administration of the company was constantly bungled, our client list grew and with it the work. We needed a second programmer; this was especially true since I was an independent and had the habit of turning down jobs that would push my work week beyond 40-50 hours. I had little desire to turn my life into work and despite the pleading (and sometimes threats) I said "no" when that magical number was reached.
The guy who ran the company insisted that every applicant had a B.S. in computer science, at a minimum, despite my warnings of previous past experiences with C.S. majors in other jobs that had turned out badly. He didn't care, though; he wanted a C.S. major so he could point to that person when talking to clients to show that he had 'professionals' on staff. Since I didn't have a CS degree I didn't count, even though I was single-handedly keeping his company afloat by completing job after job.
So we interviewed, and I was asked to sit in to give my opinion on the actual skill of the applicants. Every time - every single time - I said that NONE of the applicants were qualified, and yet I was ignored and some idiot with the prestigious degree was hired.
We went through 12 such 'programmers' in 18 months. Not a single one ever completed a job for a customer. I was asked, time and time again, to bail someone out because the job was long past due and the clients were getting angry. And so the C.S. major was fired and despite these experiences the boss insisted on hiring YET ANOTHER CS MAJOR. He just HAD to have that degree to point to for clients.
During the time I contracted with this company we never once had a competent programmer with a C.S. degree. While you may say that my experience was unusual, it wasn't; it was typical in past jobs, and typical in this one as well. I knew just how worthless a C.S. degree was from long, repeated personal experience and tried to warn this guy of the pitfalls. But he was blinded by the sheepskin and apparently thought, I guess, that he'd eventually get a decent programmer.
He never did. After 18 months of frustration I refused to contract with the company again and terminated my professional relationship with them. I just didn't need the bullshit. The company, by the way, has folded - due, I'm told, to an inability to complete contracts for web sites which required programming.
Computer science might be about programming and software design, but it's been my experience that many C.S. majors are capable of neither. They must be taught these things on the job because college doesn't give them the skills needed to actually do the work in the real world. And since this is the case, ANY savvy geek will do, regardless of whether or not he or she has a degree in computer science.
Max