I laughed out loud when I read michael's comment to the post. Ha, this poor geek has been reading too much science fiction... But then for kicks I googled for "self-replicating," and look what I found:
The most reasonable explanation of how they created the blocks that constitute the pyramids is that they poured them into place, just as we do today with cement. The actual cement may be better described as a
geopolymer .
The motives for surveillance are different in the States than in Europe. It is true that we Americans don't trust our government, especially with the current administration. But our government doesn't trust its citizens, either. The degree of the US government's mistrust of the people they govern is probably much greater in the US compared to European counterparts. Of course, US citizen's accessibility to guns and a strong civil rights code are probably to blame for this. The net result is that a lot of us feel that our government (US) has sinister intensions. It's tough to shake that feeling; it's tough to shake the feeling that surveillance techniques are advanced for the purposes of prosecution rather than protection. The current administration is like a step-parent that hates the children that it unwillingly inherited through a marriage to power. And I don't trust the current administration to use surveillance for my own good. Funny thing is that I didn't realize how strongly I felt about this... Oh, well, what's a few karma points?
I used to feel the same way. But I don't anymore; for example, type the following into a Google search:
microsoft sabotage
Unbelievable the things that this company has done. And it IS important to know what this company has done, and what the initials FUD mean. Most people don't...
The Help section at http://mail.yahoo.com provides the following information about what NOT to do with SPAM. I really would think twice about "opting out" after reading this:
What should I not do with spam?
Never respond to unsolicited email/spam. To the individuals who send spam, one "hit" among thousands of mailings is enough to justify the practice.
Never respond to the spam email's instructions to reply with the word "remove." This is a ploy to get you to react to the email and alerts the sender that your email address is open and available to receive mail, which greatly increases its value. If you reply, your address may be placed on more lists, resulting in more spam.
Never click on a URL or web site address listed within a spam. This could alert the site to the validity of your email address, potentially resulting in more spam.
Never sign up with sites that promise to remove your name from spam lists. Although some of these sites may be legitimate, more often than not, they are address collectors. The legitimate sites are ignored (or exploited) by the spammers; the address collection sites are owned by them. In both cases, your address is recorded and valued more highly because you have just identified that your address is active.
"What is the main advantage of the web over other networked forms of information? That's right, it's the fact that it is hyperlinked..."
Really? I thought the main advantage was that intelligent people could make their thoughts accessible to a wide range of people while simultaneously controlling their own content.
"No longer will you have to waste valuable time searching for the meaning of an unexplained term on a page - there'll be a Smart Tag leading directly to useful information!"
Who determines if the information is useful? There's a reason the information available at Slashdot, for example, is moderated.
"At the end of the day it's less offensive to copyright holders, because it adds value to their pages at no cost or effort to them..."
Again, are you sure about what you are saying? "Less offensive" may be right, but probably offensive nevertheless.
"Since almost everyone who goes online intersects with a Microsoft product, there are substantial privacy concerns. It follows that MS knows more about the Web habits of Americans than any other company. And should the company ever decide to impose political or cultural values on its users and properties, it could have an enormous impact on speech and the transmission of political ideas."
I agree that Microsoft is pretty much an abomination, and I agree with most of the things that this author says; but I think that the arguments need to be strengthened. The above paragraph doesn't move me to revolt, for example.
What are the privacy concerns, explicitly, and why do they follow from interacting with Microsoft products?
MS probably does know more about my Web habits than any other company, but show me why that is a problem.
All of the arguments in the paragraph above appear to be based on the somewhat scary hypothesis that someday MS will impose its values on users and properties, but those values are already imposed by the very software that they create and the business practices that they employ, which are really just reflections of a capitalist economy. Are you implying that MS will impose its religious values on me? It's family values? If you are implying that it will impose its business values/ethics on me, don't worry: competitive, capitalist, Darwinist aggression has been imposed on me since the first day I went to school.
I'm a new initiate to the open source movement; I happen to love it (and increasingly to depend upon it). But I'm concerned that this movement may become reactionary, and when you react, you like the asshole and it is easy for your competitors to point their fingers. Why not try some passive resistance? Take your GPLs and BSDs and continue to make excellent software. Maybe the best way to fight this is not to fight.
Slashdot Mirror
Good work.
Holy crap. http://www.msnbc.com/news/606910.asp
I laughed out loud when I read michael's comment to the post. Ha, this poor geek has been reading too much science fiction... But then for kicks I googled for "self-replicating," and look what I found:
http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/selfRepNASA.html
Seems like a lot of people are taking this stuff pretty seriously. I especially like the part about machines that feed on moon dirt.
The most reasonable explanation of how they created the blocks that constitute the pyramids is that they poured them into place, just as we do today with cement. The actual cement may be better described as a geopolymer .
The motives for surveillance are different in the States than in Europe. It is true that we Americans don't trust our government, especially with the current administration. But our government doesn't trust its citizens, either. The degree of the US government's mistrust of the people they govern is probably much greater in the US compared to European counterparts. Of course, US citizen's accessibility to guns and a strong civil rights code are probably to blame for this. The net result is that a lot of us feel that our government (US) has sinister intensions. It's tough to shake that feeling; it's tough to shake the feeling that surveillance techniques are advanced for the purposes of prosecution rather than protection. The current administration is like a step-parent that hates the children that it unwillingly inherited through a marriage to power. And I don't trust the current administration to use surveillance for my own good. Funny thing is that I didn't realize how strongly I felt about this... Oh, well, what's a few karma points?
microsoft sabotage
Unbelievable the things that this company has done. And it IS important to know what this company has done, and what the initials FUD mean. Most people don't...
What should I not do with spam? Never respond to unsolicited email/spam. To the individuals who send spam, one "hit" among thousands of mailings is enough to justify the practice. Never respond to the spam email's instructions to reply with the word "remove." This is a ploy to get you to react to the email and alerts the sender that your email address is open and available to receive mail, which greatly increases its value. If you reply, your address may be placed on more lists, resulting in more spam. Never click on a URL or web site address listed within a spam. This could alert the site to the validity of your email address, potentially resulting in more spam. Never sign up with sites that promise to remove your name from spam lists. Although some of these sites may be legitimate, more often than not, they are address collectors. The legitimate sites are ignored (or exploited) by the spammers; the address collection sites are owned by them. In both cases, your address is recorded and valued more highly because you have just identified that your address is active.
Really? I thought the main advantage was that intelligent people could make their thoughts accessible to a wide range of people while simultaneously controlling their own content.
"No longer will you have to waste valuable time searching for the meaning of an unexplained term on a page - there'll be a Smart Tag leading directly to useful information!"
Who determines if the information is useful? There's a reason the information available at Slashdot, for example, is moderated.
"At the end of the day it's less offensive to copyright holders, because it adds value to their pages at no cost or effort to them..."
Again, are you sure about what you are saying? "Less offensive" may be right, but probably offensive nevertheless.
I agree that Microsoft is pretty much an abomination, and I agree with most of the things that this author says; but I think that the arguments need to be strengthened. The above paragraph doesn't move me to revolt, for example.
What are the privacy concerns, explicitly, and why do they follow from interacting with Microsoft products?
MS probably does know more about my Web habits than any other company, but show me why that is a problem.
All of the arguments in the paragraph above appear to be based on the somewhat scary hypothesis that someday MS will impose its values on users and properties, but those values are already imposed by the very software that they create and the business practices that they employ, which are really just reflections of a capitalist economy. Are you implying that MS will impose its religious values on me? It's family values? If you are implying that it will impose its business values/ethics on me, don't worry: competitive, capitalist, Darwinist aggression has been imposed on me since the first day I went to school.
I'm a new initiate to the open source movement; I happen to love it (and increasingly to depend upon it). But I'm concerned that this movement may become reactionary, and when you react, you like the asshole and it is easy for your competitors to point their fingers. Why not try some passive resistance? Take your GPLs and BSDs and continue to make excellent software. Maybe the best way to fight this is not to fight.