Whether or not the average/. libertarian sensibility likes it or not, governments have done many important things that private enterprise would never have done, from major medical research, to the internet, to all spaceflight to date.
True. The Chinese government, however, has done a few other things - like the imprisonment of thousands of political prisoners, the slaughter of millions during its formative years, the continued suppression and denial of basic human rights, continued support for an insane nuclear dictatorship that stands ready to wipe out Seoul at a moment's notice, etc. And few other governments in the world have clean hands, either. So maybe you'll forgive us libertarians for not jumping up and singing along with the rest of you about how great and wonderful government is, mmm-kay?
How is poverty defined in China, vs. the US? As Bill Maher said, "America is the only country with poor fat people". What we call "poverty" would be considered pretty good living in much of the world.
I don't know if hundreds of thousands of Tibetans actually died or not (seems like there's not many of them to begin with), but don't forget that something like forty million ethnic Chinese died as a result of the collectivism stuff too.
Hayek: I doubt whether there exists a single great work of literature which we would not possess had the author been unable to obtain an exclusive copyright for it; it seems to me that the case for copyright must rest almost entirely on the circumstance that such exceedingly useful works as encyclopaedias, dictionaries, textbooks and other works of reference could not be produced if, once they existed, they could freely be reproduced.
And yet even this is no longer the case, as is shown by the existence of such sites as Wikipedia, Wiktionary, etc. So what justification remains for copyrights and patents? INFORMATION WANTS TO BE FREE! POWER TO THE MEMES!;-)
For the most part true enough, but those protocols were written in the English language, so I'm afraid we Brits still win out. Invent your own language and then perhaps you'll have a valid point.
Your analogy is flawed. The US isn't telling anyone they can't set up root servers of their own, they're just saying that they're going to keep control of the existing root servers. Just like you Brits still have British English, and now we have American English - we didn't take anything away from you.
1. I doubt that Ajax has the power to support a full office suit that could compete with MS Office.
Why? All you're using AJAX for is the UI, any real processing is being done server-side. And if you want an example of what AJAX can do UI-wise, check out the demos at Bindows - it's pretty cool.
What do you mean, "seriously"? Why is the idea of using positive and negative magnetic potentials to represent information any stranger than the idea of using positive and negative electrical potentials?
(and I hope a lot of other people's dream application) take this screen and a QWERTY keyboard of the same size, and put them together in a folding clamshell case (very thin, very light) that you can plug into a Treo or Tungsten. Notetaking, email, websurfing on the go, with a decent sized screen and keyboard, low power, persistent display, ooh ooh baby.
I saw one guy in WIRED magazine say the amount of electrical power required to convert water to hydrogen to move a car 300 miles is measured in MEGAWATTS. Is there any more info on this?
It shouldn't be measured in terms of power at all, but rather in terms of energy, e.g. megawatt-hours. To move a given mass a given distance requires a certain amount of energy. To move a given mass a given distance in a given amount of time requires a certain amount of power.
while the term open source isn't explicitly used, I think the intent from article 4 is that open source software is what is desired.
But doesn't the following:
* Modification of the software and freedom to distribute said modifications of the new resulting sofftware, under the same license of the original software.
I like to think of the United States being the world's R&D department. We come up with the ideas, bungle them, and then someone else picks it up and does it properly.
I think it's more like: some other country comes with a fledgling new technology, we discover it, and figure out how to make a product out of it that we can make money on. Then, we reap the profits while the margins are high. Later, when the product becomes a commodity, we leave it to other countries to start banging 'em out.
The Brits invented the computer, but we're the ones making all the money. The Germans invented the automobile, but until 20-30 years ago, we were the ones making all the money, and now it's the Japanese and the Koreans. Ditto for the jet engine, the television, etc.
The key to the US economy is the ability to find The Next Big Thing, and turn it into a moneymaker. One can only hope that our current Bible-thumper-influenced government will not stifle biotech and genetics research to the point that we lose our opportunity there...
You can send in an application for "...a method of wiping your arse comprising the step of utilizing paper in a back and forth rubbing motion" and that application would also be published.
And today's USPTO would probably grant that patent, as long as the applicant was from a large enough corporation...
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You mean it costs five times as much, but sounds exactly the same to everybody who isn't trying to justify their ridiculously expensive hobby?
You don't actually hear the improvement until you scribble all over the outside of the case in green Magic Marker.
Whether or not the average
True. The Chinese government, however, has done a few other things - like the imprisonment of thousands of political prisoners, the slaughter of millions during its formative years, the continued suppression and denial of basic human rights, continued support for an insane nuclear dictatorship that stands ready to wipe out Seoul at a moment's notice, etc. And few other governments in the world have clean hands, either. So maybe you'll forgive us libertarians for not jumping up and singing along with the rest of you about how great and wonderful government is, mmm-kay?
Yeah you're right, we need big burly space marines to beat all that vacuum into submission.
"C'mon, you apes! Do you wanna live forever?!?"
How is poverty defined in China, vs. the US? As Bill Maher said, "America is the only country with poor fat people". What we call "poverty" would be considered pretty good living in much of the world.
I don't know if hundreds of thousands of Tibetans actually died or not (seems like there's not many of them to begin with), but don't forget that something like forty million ethnic Chinese died as a result of the collectivism stuff too.
Oh, well, I guess that makes it all right then.
Yes, yes, I know, a whole continent of people can't spell that metal's name.
Aluminum to me, aluminium to some
You can shine like silver all you want
But you're just aluminum. -- Barenaked Ladies, 2003
Hayek: I doubt whether there exists a single great work of literature which we would not possess had the author been unable to obtain an exclusive copyright for it; it seems to me that the case for copyright must rest almost entirely on the circumstance that such exceedingly useful works as encyclopaedias, dictionaries, textbooks and other works of reference could not be produced if, once they existed, they could freely be reproduced.
And yet even this is no longer the case, as is shown by the existence of such sites as Wikipedia, Wiktionary, etc. So what justification remains for copyrights and patents? INFORMATION WANTS TO BE FREE! POWER TO THE MEMES! ;-)
Oh, and FIRST POST!
For the most part true enough, but those protocols were written in the English language, so I'm afraid we Brits still win out. Invent your own language and then perhaps you'll have a valid point.
Your analogy is flawed. The US isn't telling anyone they can't set up root servers of their own, they're just saying that they're going to keep control of the existing root servers. Just like you Brits still have British English, and now we have American English - we didn't take anything away from you.
1. I doubt that Ajax has the power to support a full office suit that could compete with MS Office.
Why? All you're using AJAX for is the UI, any real processing is being done server-side. And if you want an example of what AJAX can do UI-wise, check out the demos at Bindows - it's pretty cool.
"Conan! What is best in life?"
"To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!"
Seriously? Magnets?
What do you mean, "seriously"? Why is the idea of using positive and negative magnetic potentials to represent information any stranger than the idea of using positive and negative electrical potentials?
AJAX is a floor cleaning product.
It's a dessert topping!
My first chemical engineering professor (Dr. Edmond Ko) set me on fire.
Well, I hope you sued him and the school for all they were worth!
(and I hope a lot of other people's dream application) take this screen and a QWERTY keyboard of the same size, and put them together in a folding clamshell case (very thin, very light) that you can plug into a Treo or Tungsten. Notetaking, email, websurfing on the go, with a decent sized screen and keyboard, low power, persistent display, ooh ooh baby.
I saw one guy in WIRED magazine say the amount of electrical power required to convert water to hydrogen to move a car 300 miles is measured in MEGAWATTS. Is there any more info on this?
It shouldn't be measured in terms of power at all, but rather in terms of energy, e.g. megawatt-hours. To move a given mass a given distance requires a certain amount of energy. To move a given mass a given distance in a given amount of time requires a certain amount of power.
while the term open source isn't explicitly used, I think the intent from article 4 is that open source software is what is desired.
But doesn't the following:
* Modification of the software and freedom to distribute said modifications of the new resulting sofftware, under the same license of the original software.
Pretty well nail it down as referring to the GPL?
We just send out the robot sharks to kill the armed dolphins. Then we send out the exploding whales to take out the robot sharks.
Rumsfield, is that you?
Look, when you're ordered to send your trained-aquatic-creature navy to war, you go to war with the trained-aquatic-creature navy that you have.
I like to think of the United States being the world's R&D department. We come up with the ideas, bungle them, and then someone else picks it up and does it properly.
I think it's more like: some other country comes with a fledgling new technology, we discover it, and figure out how to make a product out of it that we can make money on. Then, we reap the profits while the margins are high. Later, when the product becomes a commodity, we leave it to other countries to start banging 'em out.
The Brits invented the computer, but we're the ones making all the money. The Germans invented the automobile, but until 20-30 years ago, we were the ones making all the money, and now it's the Japanese and the Koreans. Ditto for the jet engine, the television, etc.
The key to the US economy is the ability to find The Next Big Thing, and turn it into a moneymaker. One can only hope that our current Bible-thumper-influenced government will not stifle biotech and genetics research to the point that we lose our opportunity there...
This reminds me of a story about a chalk mark...
The first rule of optimizing your living space is that you do not talk about optimizing your living space. The second rule of...
Did anyone read the parent post before modding it "Informative"?
I felt the slime drip out of my anus. I put my pinky finger up there and gave it a lick. So good, like warm honey and milk.
I wanna know who found this informative! (Actually, no, I don't think I do.)
When will people learn? It's not gigabit, but gigabyte. GB, not Gb.
Did you RTFA? It clearly states "gigabit", which makes sense if a 16x16 array of them yields 16 GB, as also stated in TFA.
You can send in an application for "...a method of wiping your arse comprising the step of utilizing paper in a back and forth rubbing motion" and that application would also be published.
And today's USPTO would probably grant that patent, as long as the applicant was from a large enough corporation...
You give something potential energy by lifting it up. With hydrogen we are talking about chemical energy. It's kind of like potential energy except...
No, it is potential energy. Gravitational potential energy is only one kind of potential energy; chemical potential energy is another.