Thanks go to Mr2001 for jumping on this issue. The "Fair Tax" and other consumption taxes are really regressive. I liken these to putting up toll roads on Interstates vs. having a fuel tax. Both systems pay for roads -- the fuel tax, goes after all driving, allowing for a greater tax for people who use roads more. It also taxes more, the inefficient vehicle over time. No road gets a preference under this system, other than its convenience to the driver, and usually, fewer miles to the destination.
What do toll roads do? Well, they do target money to a particular road. Have you ever seen them go away once a road is "finished?" Neither have I. They don't respond to the changing traffic patterns, or local revenues. But what happens with a toll road? Usually you have a well constructed road for high speed and dense traffic. At a low price, the nuisance of the toll should not affect too heavily on driving patterns. But if you have a Toll that is high, like a High Sales tax, people at lower incomes and companies where these fees add up fast (like truckers) will drive around the toll. You then put more traffic on a road not designed for it -- causing MORE repair costs for roads as a total cost for that state.
If we look at a sales tax -- it seems like you get a certain revenue at 5 or 8%. Most assumptions for a consumption tax, look at a linear progression of funds. So a 25 cent tax on a dollar, brings in "in theory" about 4 times more revenue. But that dollar item will be discounted to market to the same consumer. So if the expected revenue is 25 cents to the dollar, the tax will have to raise to 30 cents on the dollar because retailers will be cutting prices -- apparently with all those huge savings on Federal Tax.
Now, unless a state is forced to FIX prices, and has hired thousands of extra police to enforce prices -- what is going to happen? Certain people will change their habits to avoid the toll roads. Other than increased crime -- the biggest concern here is bargain shopping. If Alabama and Atlanta have a 30 cents per dollar consumption tax. Some businesses in Atlanta will be able to further reduce prices and try to make up costs on margin. They will say, perhaps, subsidize the costs of goods, or refund some tax. So the apparent tax might be 25 cents on the dollar again, while, faced with less sales due to bargain shoppers, the companies in Alabama, will charge the equivalent of 35 cents to the dollar. The lower income shoppers in Alabama who aren't able to bargain hunt, like big spenders or middle income people, will pay the local inflated price, and be compensated based upon those "promised" kick backs that all the Fair Tax proponents say are going to be there (let history judge this promise).
So, local buyers in Atlanta get a windfall, and pay less while getting the same kick-back as people paying more in Alabama.
What happens next? More price differences. Alabama will be forced to squeeze more out of poorer buyers. While Atlanta will see an increase in shopping and in low income people moving in to the area. Alabama becomes a poor ghetto, and Atlanta becomes a prosperous area but with a lot of poor people squeezed in to a larger ghetto.
We didn't even get to the crime level, and that wealthy people will be able to avoid this tax altogether. You will have to have a tax assessor on ever international air flight. Watching the borders for goods moving in from Canada and Mexico. THINK, cocaine smuggling, but now it's every damn barbie doll. I can't think of a better way, outside of lots of terror attacks, to create a police state in the US -- but this one would be to enforce sales tax for every purchase. Did you think about swap meets, local church bake sales, and a tupper-ware party in someone's living room? You aren't thinking hard enough.
I believe that a good tax system reduces the "nexus of taxation." Meaning, that a Gas Tax is pretty good, because there are fewer gas pumps than there are places where people can buy a soda. They are fixed and you know where they are a
If you mean by "nuclear secrets" stuff everyone knows already due to A Q Khan and efforts of our own administration -- then, OK, but I don't think "secret" means what you think it means. To be secret, it might have to be the neutron bomb or a bunker buster.
Did you know that Dubai is going to start producing nukes? Isn't a group that bankrolled terrorist groups getting actual weapons more of an issue than Iran -- which hasn't started an attack against another country in 2,000 years?
I don't know if there is anything that Wikileaks wouldn't publish. But I'm pretty much convinced now, that the only people in the dark is the public, and that if we had any enemies, the only thing keeping them at bay is an interest in not distracting us from our self-destruction. It would only mean bigger budgets, less investigations of corruption, and more power to overcome incompetence. Or, the whole idea of enemies could be a sham, and it's just one corrupt government scaring the populace of another country to help out their corrupt counterparts in that country.
Don't worry -- there probably isn't a terrorist country in the world that doesn't have these Nuclear Secrets. The only thing holding them back is the knowledge of production.
There was a more current, and weapons-oriented posting of nuclear secrets on the Homeland Security web site. So, with the expected screaming of "terrorist secrets" and security risks I expect from the usual, mouth-foaming suspects,... they'd better worry more about the group that pretends to fight the bogey-man if they want to worry about security leaks.
You wouldn't need all this Philanthropy in the first place, if huge multi-national mega conglomerates weren't stealing ideas, resources and forcing people to pay higher fees by removing competition. Add onto that, all the influence they have with governments, to guarantee their own profits. Does the RIAA pay the FBI to track down kids stealing their MP3s? Dupont and GM externalize costs with massive pollution (just look up what PCBs are DDT are still doing and how that has not been resolved), and for their $1 in profit, everyone probably spends $100 in health care which ends up being 3 times what Canada pays for the same care.
Charities are great for making people feel involved. Do they do anything? Other than perhaps Habitat for Humanity and a handful of successful charities and lobbying congress to NOT do what corporations want for a second -- I'd say not much. Much of the problems in the world were created in the first place, because someone was externalizing costs or robbing people of resources.
I'd heard that $50 Billion could send every kid to school and feed everyone who is hungry in the Middle East. Would we need to be dropping bombs if our government had a program to spread peace over war? Maybe we can hope that paupers to princes like Blackwater and Haliburton will one day become huge philanthropists -- but could it ever make up for the corruption that they engaged in to make the money? 2 Million refugees from Iraq, perhaps 1 million dead -- do you think perhaps a "Eric Prince Memorial Highway" through Baghdad will make up for that? NO. The damage done by Corporations like Microsoft, putting people out of jobs, and lobbying our government, is a 1,000 times more impact than what they take in profit - so they can't afford to correct their mistakes.
This crap is taking its toll on our culture and our economy. Businesses cannot increase production or profits 15% a year indefinitely, and government cannot sit back and hope that a free market can solve any really big problems -- it cannot by its nature. Stockholders and profit margins prevent businesses from doing anything long term that does not make money. They cannot invest in trains, drug cures, and education because the benefits cannot go exclusively to the company.
And the problem is, too few in this country understand the idea of the commons, and that Government should be our "charity." Not Business. We should look at new ideas for limiting the size and scope of corporations, then we won't need GM's charity while they have millions of tons of cancer causing pollution to clean up.
AT&T is getting a defacto monopoly here in the Southeast. I'm sure that it was a favor for helping to spy on everyone.
That's why they can get away with "content filtering" as they mildly put it. Because the customer has less options to say; "I'm not going to put up with that."
However, if they are successful, why would the customer need DSL? They could bring down just plain text on web pages if they didn't need all that "content" and play all those video games that bother the providers so much. They will be reducing over time, the need for their services.
However, I had a thought that, they might just make Modem access cost go up to $35 a month, due to decreased demand. "New, flat rate pricing." Maybe if all these jerks using government to protect profits are really successful, we will all give up and just go back to reading books.
Slashdot isn't paying me for my tremendous insight and wit anyway. You guys shouldn't be reading MY content for free... maybe AT&T should be paying me to blog, because I'm a content provider. You may think this absurd, but without the p0rn and copies of the Family Guy, and playing Halo -- it's just a bunch of text that someone put up for free.
I expect they will sell the fly, and sell and expensive RFID tracker to defend the "important people" from the public actually finding out what you are up to.
Sure, my grocery store gets to probe me up the wazoo and put it all in a database -- but I don't get to hear what's going on in ENRON's board meeting.
The laws are creating more privacy rights for business, in the guise of "trade secrets" -- so, if YOU do it to the people with power, watch out. However, this should still provide an advantage, because someone spying on the corporations and governments, would be interested in releasing the information to inform the public. So it makes it easier to stay anonymous.
I'd expect that after a few really embarrassing releases to the public, however, there will be a drastic need to "protect the children" from anonymous video. Any service provider that distributes a video not watermarked with a person's ID to show authorship will be fined or lose their license. The Transparent Society will be a fight every step of the way. The folks in power, do not want anyone in the public to be anonymous, so that they can retaliate and protect their own interests.
No, this is NOT egalitarian. The problem with a traffic surcharge is that it will provide a dis-incentive for Government to fix the problem. THEY get rewarded for not solving the traffic problem. Hurray!
Imagine my taxpayer joy as I decide between lunch, pissing off my employer and losing my job because I got a 2% raise and the increased tolls and gas prices already sucked up that windfall, and driving through east po-dunk as I circumnavigate the congestion. Wow! Most people do not have an alternative route when it comes to expressways. And forcing people onto back roads is going to cause a lot of problems, which the damn freeways were built to deal with. Can a business function if some people come in at 6, and others at 9am? Sure. The same businesses that should probably have people telecommuting anyway.
Egalitarian would be to put in a sensible rapid-rail system. Or fix the problem. Egalitarian is ALREADY having gasoline taxes -- those that USE the most gas, pay the most. Want to save money? Drive less. It's already built into the system. Whether I am lucky and don't have to drive into downtown at rush hour, but my neighbor does -- that's a problem for city planners -- it isn't my job to route traffic, and other than find another job, my neighbor is stuck with more bad luck.
If everyone gets their way and makes the user of "public services" pay to play. You will either end up with an "elites only" road, or diminishing returns. Say the real cost is $10 per car. Well, in most places, that would turn the inner city into a ghost town. Traffic would reduce because shopping would go down, meaning fewer people running shops, and less business. Less services for business in an area causes the businesses to relocate. Really, it's the city that benefits by the traffic and they rightly collect the taxes on the businesses and the locals who benefit, as well as on the gasoline purchased.
But heck, I'd love the idea as a person who wants to get rid of cars in most of the cities. Success in this venture would be like AT&T getting successful at filtering copyrighted material; their customers won't need DSL anymore, because a modem will be fine when you don't play games and download videos. These jerks who MAKE the money from the infrastructure keep wanting to shove it onto the worker drone. Well fine. If a city wants to charge too much to enter, then the town or city next door that doesn't will have businesses relocate their because they got rid of their market.
People can get used to a toll. But if you charge variable rates -- you are going to start annoying people.
DTrace probably got crippled after the third time that iTunes was hacked. If the work-around does well, I predict they will give up that route and iTunes will once again respond to dTrace.
Would it be too much to ask to have the "help" have some information more useful than the same 2 networking diagnostics; "Have you checked that your computer is on?" "Is there an ethernet connection?" "How has this wizard helped you?"
So, if you repeat the useless exercise of Microsoft Help, and then taken the even more useless connection wizard for a spin, it will now pop up with an even more useless frustration detector?
How about just making the damn thing logical again?
Wow. I could only dream about all the _INSERT FASCIST HERE_ I would like to urge others to destroy and remove them like the cancer they are. Of course, after about a month of everyone, probably saying the same thing about the same people _INSERT YOU KNOW WHO HERE_ we'd all kind of sit around wondering why the world was exactly the same as before the ranting, and also bemoan the lack of creativity we have about insinuating that someone kill that _INSERT EXPLETIVE HERE_ flea bag _INSERT GENDER HERE_ of a mother _INSERT EXPLETIVE HERE_ _INSERT EXPLETIVE HERE_ _INSERT EXPLETIVE HERE_ and such.
Because we all know how creative people were about insinuating sex in the old days of film. One foot on the floor please. Wake up with a sweat.
Personally, I believe Bush deserves a fair trial. And all the shrubs and weeds in my garden, are going to meet the judge -- that's what I call my Ho. No, not Jeff Gannon, that's the name of my Shovel. A trial is basically the process of digging things out of the ground. So complete coverage of all the weeds is fairness. Um, and of course, the Weed Killer is a WMD.
Who cares how BIG they get -- ownership and control can be through holding companies. The real issue is that there are cable monopolies at all. Without another source for your cable, you pay the price you are told. The only real competition is Satellite.
And I'd love to have no Local phone company while I get on the Internet and just have a cell phone with unlimited calling -- that would save me about $80 bucks a month over my local monopoly baby bell phone company.
I think there is more hope in cross-referencing the DNA of distant ancestors of Dinosaurs. There is a lot of "stored" DNA in all animal genes. So you might cross-reference certain "structures" amongst preserved but damaged Dinosaur DNA and a modern Turkey or Eagle. We may also find a sort of "compression" algorithm in genes -- how certain structures get stored and compressed in Unused sections.
When Humans and birds for that matter, develop, they go through a process of "evolution" from a tadpole-like fish, to reptilian and then more modern features take over. Even our own brains develop most of the primitive parts first, while the advanced parts "overlay" the older going to the outside and frontal lobes. There may be a dinosaur development preserved somewhere in a modern creature, that could get a few "hints" from Prior DNA to know where to "jump off." It's as if all the history of DNA is read out, and then amendments made. Stop the amendments at the right point, and plug in as "new" amendments, the old gene "parts" that we find.
The trick is to find out the "plugin" structure of DNA -- which I predict would be a major breakthrough (the least of which is that there is such a patch-work structure). Homeobox genes, for instance, code for whole arms and legs or fingers -- they are relatively easy to change. So that a leg can be an arm with a simple genetic switch. Creating an arm or a leg itself that functions is very complex, yet there is a structure there to switch them on or off. So, evolved changes may be added as "patches" and not total re-writes of the underlying and working genetic code. This may be why DNA is so incredibly long -- it's a recording as much as a blueprint. And "devolving" back to a form that worked in a previous environment is a much quicker process than "evolving" a brand new organism. It only takes two generations of humans at high altitude to start getting blue eyes for instance. That is a "switch" turning on a previous genetic feature.
So, I think the preserved DNA, can provide good clues to devolve modern DNA -- and not necessarily be used to provide the DNA, just know when you have the right structure.
The Constitution doesn't actual declare YOUR freedoms. It assumes that all individuals are FREE, and then involves itself with what limits there are on government to infringe on these freedoms. Businesses and Governments aren't supposed to have any RIGHTS for instance, not spelled out. Humans have ALL rights.
So, if there is no law that assumes the right to infringe someone's privacy, then is shouldn't exist.
I was wondering how Adobe could kill Acrobat -- this new Advertisement scheme just might do it. And I mean the application -- not the PDF file format. Other than editing text -- which occasionally works, I haven't found much useful in that expensive "Pro" app. I've used the "Optimize PDF" which seems to bloat most files after a reasonable amount of time.
I've changed to Preview from Acrobat for viewing PDFs. If Apple is smart, they would announce "Preview for Windows." Put another notch in that halo.
My theory on this? While this might be an accidental "sharing" of the database... we have many huge and frequent "mistakes" in the US. It might be a way to get all this data into a private industry database that isn't restricted by government rules to track citizens. Kind of like our private industry unaccountable mercenaries like Blackwater. These database incidents will cease, once everyone has lost their data. Then there will be on more incentive to have these "accidents." Not that this particular accident is anything more than a stolen laptop. It's just that there seems to be a pattern of incompetence and then no downside to those who lose the data. We've had about 25% of the nations data released to private hands accidentally. Wayne Madsen used to have this data for free, but if you want to subscribe, he has been tracking these for years now; http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/categories/20070503
If this works out like the War on Terror, War on Drugs, War on Poverty, and War on War,... well, I for one welcome the New Idiots to the internet this initiative will create.
The ONLY solution, I could think of, is a "WhiteList" lookup. It would work with a "sand box" a "baby pool", the "shallow end" and "we are so hip deep we R Ultra Kewl Geeks" -- of course, that is the "Deep End" of the Gene pool. You just create a slashdot/wikipedia training wheels program (OK, I do marketing on the side -- sue me for too many metaphors), maybe some sort of proof of community service as well, then when you show someone in the higher level (the "baby pool"), that you have interesting comments, they will invite you in. So, each level will be decided by the one higher, and a social network will decide to move you on up. I don't think you could get more elitist or cliquish if you made a Barbydoll Fans page on MySpace.
At the very top, of course, would be the one guy who created the system, and his sole pleasure in life will be in finding more and more painful and humiliating ways for people in "the Super Kewl Deep End" to try and earn his favor and move up -- but they never will. The "unknown level" will be a myth of the dungeon lord. Who of course, will give it to his son when he retires.
I really don't think Games designers are designing for the NEXT piece of hardware -- they are designing for what that hardware allows them to do. Gameplay is very important, but when you have all these Me-too FPS games, then graphics make a huge difference. Eyecandy sells games too. And a lot of games have to go through a lot of tricks and then compromise to function. Newer hardware makes it easier on developers -- either by allowing for less tight code, or fewer compromises. The competition of various games companies means that everyone is just close to choking the technology.
We probably have a unique situation now with a plateau, where hardware technology is a bit ahead of 3D engine technology. I'm guessing that is going to change soon, as more "real world physics" engines come into play (so to speak). There are some companies that specialize in Water, Fire, and other FX that will be helping to throttle down performance in games. But, to see puddles distorting light as rain hits it -- awesome.
Could it be possible just to take a "snap shot image" of a certain functionality?
Meaning, you would load up windows -- take a snapshot, and then load up just the apps you want and then take another snapshot. The first part could be an exact "picture" in static memory -- the second would be read/write memory. Once it is loaded, it can act like a regular windows application, except nothing outside of the volatile snapshot can really change.
In this way, you are creating sort of a fast-boot, but I don't think it would be susceptible to viruses other than a file stored from the app you are using.
Perhaps some vague warning that people using OpenSocial may get sued for copyright infringement -- or that it allows for some "communicable social disease" that can either destroy your hard drive or give you a rash.
Without even reading this, I can already tell the following; "Wonder Twin powers, activate!"
[Microsoft] form of; Fear and Doubt
[coalition of the willing partner to make it look like we've got a coalition here, for reasonable rates] You know, what he said. But I'm also the shape of Uncertainty -- but that is really vague.
OK, I'm jumping the gun here... this is just two guys on a blog. But this is pure Microsoft mentality; "If we don't have it, but it is something we want, there is something wrong with it and we just have to figure out what that is." There will probably be a more formal "beware of OpenSocial" coalition of the Microsoft in the future.
Prediction: Google's new API will take off. While the power of FaceBook is the people. The power of Google's new API is that it is for developers. So businesses and developers who want to do "facebook" like things will want to check this out. They will be bringing their own audience in a sense -- so it doesn't TAKE from Facebook's market, but it will take from their growth.
Microsoft will be beaten by a sponge -- and it won't have to be an evil sponge either.
>> Because, as concerned citizens of the world, these companies just have to make sure everyone knows that a free API can actually cause cancer.
So, the REVENGE is complete. She managed to live as a productive citizen, have kids, and pay taxes -- but now at 65, the genius database that is going to let no small-time criminal get away has caught her. This is just sad. I don't think any of us really want a perfect tracking system -- we want good enough justice and better courts.
I remember that my brother used to mess around with drugs in high school. He never got caught, but had some "therapy" when my parents found out. They don't have this for poor people -- they just go to jail. Now my brother makes over $250,000 and runs the SouthEaster division of some big company -- a productive citizen. If the system had caught him, he'd be an unemployable deadbeat, and probably dealing with depression and recidivism like all the other folks. We like to think that we are different -- but opportunity makes a HUGE difference to your outcomes in life.
I'm glad when some mass murderer gets caught -- but I'm not so sure about this lady. Her life is over -- innocent or not. And it won't help anyone but to keep the employment of prison guards up. Do you know these mega-prisons have lobbyists now and that's where we got most of the push for mandatory sentences and 3 strikes and you are out?
I was going to buy "MadScientistsMedia.com" Ended up going to a Radio Station a few weeks later, now it's some guy doing music.
As research for a company a few years back, I searched through about 500 names. Because I was using two-word combinations, I found a lot that were not taken -- about half. The company was not interested in the names -- but a couple weeks later I checked and about half of the ones I found free were taken. URLs like www.startpoint.com -- which I thought was very good, because I was making a play on the Windows START button. Most of them ended up going to companies that sell you web names for their weight in gold.
I'm pretty darn sure that the Squaters were hooked in with the companies that search for available web names. I'm sure that MOST URLs are owned by squaters -- having a sole business model of scalping names is an afront to our web creativity.
But, overall, the MOST important thing for a website is good content. You can have any crap name, and as long as someone can remember it and have a reason to go there -- they will go there.
Um, I kind of agree. I didn't say I liked scalpers -- just that it shouldn't be illegal.
You'd have to outlaw "TicketMaster" as well -- that's an institutional corporate entity that acts like a middle man and "leeches" off money (e.g., inflates the price) because ALL ticket sales are expensive -- you can't find an alternative venue that is cheaper to create a competitive marketplace (at least not here in the SouthEast).
Thanks Paul Allen -- I suppose you need another yacht.
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Thanks go to Mr2001 for jumping on this issue. The "Fair Tax" and other consumption taxes are really regressive. I liken these to putting up toll roads on Interstates vs. having a fuel tax. Both systems pay for roads -- the fuel tax, goes after all driving, allowing for a greater tax for people who use roads more. It also taxes more, the inefficient vehicle over time. No road gets a preference under this system, other than its convenience to the driver, and usually, fewer miles to the destination.
What do toll roads do? Well, they do target money to a particular road. Have you ever seen them go away once a road is "finished?" Neither have I. They don't respond to the changing traffic patterns, or local revenues. But what happens with a toll road? Usually you have a well constructed road for high speed and dense traffic. At a low price, the nuisance of the toll should not affect too heavily on driving patterns. But if you have a Toll that is high, like a High Sales tax, people at lower incomes and companies where these fees add up fast (like truckers) will drive around the toll. You then put more traffic on a road not designed for it -- causing MORE repair costs for roads as a total cost for that state.
If we look at a sales tax -- it seems like you get a certain revenue at 5 or 8%. Most assumptions for a consumption tax, look at a linear progression of funds. So a 25 cent tax on a dollar, brings in "in theory" about 4 times more revenue. But that dollar item will be discounted to market to the same consumer. So if the expected revenue is 25 cents to the dollar, the tax will have to raise to 30 cents on the dollar because retailers will be cutting prices -- apparently with all those huge savings on Federal Tax.
Now, unless a state is forced to FIX prices, and has hired thousands of extra police to enforce prices -- what is going to happen? Certain people will change their habits to avoid the toll roads. Other than increased crime -- the biggest concern here is bargain shopping. If Alabama and Atlanta have a 30 cents per dollar consumption tax. Some businesses in Atlanta will be able to further reduce prices and try to make up costs on margin. They will say, perhaps, subsidize the costs of goods, or refund some tax. So the apparent tax might be 25 cents on the dollar again, while, faced with less sales due to bargain shoppers, the companies in Alabama, will charge the equivalent of 35 cents to the dollar. The lower income shoppers in Alabama who aren't able to bargain hunt, like big spenders or middle income people, will pay the local inflated price, and be compensated based upon those "promised" kick backs that all the Fair Tax proponents say are going to be there (let history judge this promise).
So, local buyers in Atlanta get a windfall, and pay less while getting the same kick-back as people paying more in Alabama.
What happens next? More price differences. Alabama will be forced to squeeze more out of poorer buyers. While Atlanta will see an increase in shopping and in low income people moving in to the area. Alabama becomes a poor ghetto, and Atlanta becomes a prosperous area but with a lot of poor people squeezed in to a larger ghetto.
We didn't even get to the crime level, and that wealthy people will be able to avoid this tax altogether. You will have to have a tax assessor on ever international air flight. Watching the borders for goods moving in from Canada and Mexico. THINK, cocaine smuggling, but now it's every damn barbie doll. I can't think of a better way, outside of lots of terror attacks, to create a police state in the US -- but this one would be to enforce sales tax for every purchase. Did you think about swap meets, local church bake sales, and a tupper-ware party in someone's living room? You aren't thinking hard enough.
I believe that a good tax system reduces the "nexus of taxation." Meaning, that a Gas Tax is pretty good, because there are fewer gas pumps than there are places where people can buy a soda. They are fixed and you know where they are a
If you mean by "nuclear secrets" stuff everyone knows already due to A Q Khan and efforts of our own administration -- then, OK, but I don't think "secret" means what you think it means. To be secret, it might have to be the neutron bomb or a bunker buster.
Did you know that Dubai is going to start producing nukes? Isn't a group that bankrolled terrorist groups getting actual weapons more of an issue than Iran -- which hasn't started an attack against another country in 2,000 years?
I don't know if there is anything that Wikileaks wouldn't publish. But I'm pretty much convinced now, that the only people in the dark is the public, and that if we had any enemies, the only thing keeping them at bay is an interest in not distracting us from our self-destruction. It would only mean bigger budgets, less investigations of corruption, and more power to overcome incompetence. Or, the whole idea of enemies could be a sham, and it's just one corrupt government scaring the populace of another country to help out their corrupt counterparts in that country.
Don't worry -- there probably isn't a terrorist country in the world that doesn't have these Nuclear Secrets. The only thing holding them back is the knowledge of production.
There was a more current, and weapons-oriented posting of nuclear secrets on the Homeland Security web site. So, with the expected screaming of "terrorist secrets" and security risks I expect from the usual, mouth-foaming suspects,... they'd better worry more about the group that pretends to fight the bogey-man if they want to worry about security leaks.
You wouldn't need all this Philanthropy in the first place, if huge multi-national mega conglomerates weren't stealing ideas, resources and forcing people to pay higher fees by removing competition. Add onto that, all the influence they have with governments, to guarantee their own profits. Does the RIAA pay the FBI to track down kids stealing their MP3s? Dupont and GM externalize costs with massive pollution (just look up what PCBs are DDT are still doing and how that has not been resolved), and for their $1 in profit, everyone probably spends $100 in health care which ends up being 3 times what Canada pays for the same care.
Charities are great for making people feel involved. Do they do anything? Other than perhaps Habitat for Humanity and a handful of successful charities and lobbying congress to NOT do what corporations want for a second -- I'd say not much. Much of the problems in the world were created in the first place, because someone was externalizing costs or robbing people of resources.
I'd heard that $50 Billion could send every kid to school and feed everyone who is hungry in the Middle East. Would we need to be dropping bombs if our government had a program to spread peace over war? Maybe we can hope that paupers to princes like Blackwater and Haliburton will one day become huge philanthropists -- but could it ever make up for the corruption that they engaged in to make the money? 2 Million refugees from Iraq, perhaps 1 million dead -- do you think perhaps a "Eric Prince Memorial Highway" through Baghdad will make up for that? NO. The damage done by Corporations like Microsoft, putting people out of jobs, and lobbying our government, is a 1,000 times more impact than what they take in profit - so they can't afford to correct their mistakes.
This crap is taking its toll on our culture and our economy. Businesses cannot increase production or profits 15% a year indefinitely, and government cannot sit back and hope that a free market can solve any really big problems -- it cannot by its nature. Stockholders and profit margins prevent businesses from doing anything long term that does not make money. They cannot invest in trains, drug cures, and education because the benefits cannot go exclusively to the company.
And the problem is, too few in this country understand the idea of the commons, and that Government should be our "charity." Not Business. We should look at new ideas for limiting the size and scope of corporations, then we won't need GM's charity while they have millions of tons of cancer causing pollution to clean up.
AT&T is getting a defacto monopoly here in the Southeast. I'm sure that it was a favor for helping to spy on everyone.
That's why they can get away with "content filtering" as they mildly put it. Because the customer has less options to say; "I'm not going to put up with that."
However, if they are successful, why would the customer need DSL? They could bring down just plain text on web pages if they didn't need all that "content" and play all those video games that bother the providers so much. They will be reducing over time, the need for their services.
However, I had a thought that, they might just make Modem access cost go up to $35 a month, due to decreased demand. "New, flat rate pricing." Maybe if all these jerks using government to protect profits are really successful, we will all give up and just go back to reading books.
Slashdot isn't paying me for my tremendous insight and wit anyway. You guys shouldn't be reading MY content for free... maybe AT&T should be paying me to blog, because I'm a content provider. You may think this absurd, but without the p0rn and copies of the Family Guy, and playing Halo -- it's just a bunch of text that someone put up for free.
I expect they will sell the fly,
and sell and expensive RFID tracker to defend the "important people" from the public actually finding out what you are up to.
Sure, my grocery store gets to probe me up the wazoo and put it all in a database -- but I don't get to hear what's going on in ENRON's board meeting.
The laws are creating more privacy rights for business, in the guise of "trade secrets" -- so, if YOU do it to the people with power, watch out. However, this should still provide an advantage, because someone spying on the corporations and governments, would be interested in releasing the information to inform the public. So it makes it easier to stay anonymous.
I'd expect that after a few really embarrassing releases to the public, however, there will be a drastic need to "protect the children" from anonymous video. Any service provider that distributes a video not watermarked with a person's ID to show authorship will be fined or lose their license. The Transparent Society will be a fight every step of the way. The folks in power, do not want anyone in the public to be anonymous, so that they can retaliate and protect their own interests.
No, this is NOT egalitarian.
The problem with a traffic surcharge is that it will provide a dis-incentive for Government to fix the problem. THEY get rewarded for not solving the traffic problem. Hurray!
Imagine my taxpayer joy as I decide between lunch, pissing off my employer and losing my job because I got a 2% raise and the increased tolls and gas prices already sucked up that windfall, and driving through east po-dunk as I circumnavigate the congestion. Wow! Most people do not have an alternative route when it comes to expressways. And forcing people onto back roads is going to cause a lot of problems, which the damn freeways were built to deal with. Can a business function if some people come in at 6, and others at 9am? Sure. The same businesses that should probably have people telecommuting anyway.
Egalitarian would be to put in a sensible rapid-rail system. Or fix the problem.
Egalitarian is ALREADY having gasoline taxes -- those that USE the most gas, pay the most. Want to save money? Drive less. It's already built into the system. Whether I am lucky and don't have to drive into downtown at rush hour, but my neighbor does -- that's a problem for city planners -- it isn't my job to route traffic, and other than find another job, my neighbor is stuck with more bad luck.
If everyone gets their way and makes the user of "public services" pay to play. You will either end up with an "elites only" road, or diminishing returns. Say the real cost is $10 per car. Well, in most places, that would turn the inner city into a ghost town. Traffic would reduce because shopping would go down, meaning fewer people running shops, and less business. Less services for business in an area causes the businesses to relocate. Really, it's the city that benefits by the traffic and they rightly collect the taxes on the businesses and the locals who benefit, as well as on the gasoline purchased.
But heck, I'd love the idea as a person who wants to get rid of cars in most of the cities. Success in this venture would be like AT&T getting successful at filtering copyrighted material; their customers won't need DSL anymore, because a modem will be fine when you don't play games and download videos. These jerks who MAKE the money from the infrastructure keep wanting to shove it onto the worker drone. Well fine. If a city wants to charge too much to enter, then the town or city next door that doesn't will have businesses relocate their because they got rid of their market.
People can get used to a toll. But if you charge variable rates -- you are going to start annoying people.
DTrace probably got crippled after the third time that iTunes was hacked.
If the work-around does well, I predict they will give up that route and iTunes will once again respond to dTrace.
Just a guess.
Would it be too much to ask to have the "help" have some information more useful than the same 2 networking diagnostics;
"Have you checked that your computer is on?"
"Is there an ethernet connection?"
"How has this wizard helped you?"
So, if you repeat the useless exercise of Microsoft Help, and then taken the even more useless connection wizard for a spin, it will now pop up with an even more useless frustration detector?
How about just making the damn thing logical again?
Wow. I could only dream about all the _INSERT FASCIST HERE_ I would like to urge others to destroy and remove them like the cancer they are.
Of course, after about a month of everyone, probably saying the same thing about the same people _INSERT YOU KNOW WHO HERE_ we'd all kind of sit around wondering why the world was exactly the same as before the ranting, and also bemoan the lack of creativity we have about insinuating that someone kill that _INSERT EXPLETIVE HERE_ flea bag _INSERT GENDER HERE_ of a mother _INSERT EXPLETIVE HERE_ _INSERT EXPLETIVE HERE_ _INSERT EXPLETIVE HERE_ and such.
Because we all know how creative people were about insinuating sex in the old days of film. One foot on the floor please. Wake up with a sweat.
Personally, I believe Bush deserves a fair trial. And all the shrubs and weeds in my garden, are going to meet the judge -- that's what I call my Ho. No, not Jeff Gannon, that's the name of my Shovel. A trial is basically the process of digging things out of the ground. So complete coverage of all the weeds is fairness. Um, and of course, the Weed Killer is a WMD.
Can we mod this one up above a 5 please?
Who cares how BIG they get -- ownership and control can be through holding companies. The real issue is that there are cable monopolies at all. Without another source for your cable, you pay the price you are told. The only real competition is Satellite.
And I'd love to have no Local phone company while I get on the Internet and just have a cell phone with unlimited calling -- that would save me about $80 bucks a month over my local monopoly baby bell phone company.
I think there is more hope in cross-referencing the DNA of distant ancestors of Dinosaurs. There is a lot of "stored" DNA in all animal genes. So you might cross-reference certain "structures" amongst preserved but damaged Dinosaur DNA and a modern Turkey or Eagle. We may also find a sort of "compression" algorithm in genes -- how certain structures get stored and compressed in Unused sections.
When Humans and birds for that matter, develop, they go through a process of "evolution" from a tadpole-like fish, to reptilian and then more modern features take over. Even our own brains develop most of the primitive parts first, while the advanced parts "overlay" the older going to the outside and frontal lobes. There may be a dinosaur development preserved somewhere in a modern creature, that could get a few "hints" from Prior DNA to know where to "jump off." It's as if all the history of DNA is read out, and then amendments made. Stop the amendments at the right point, and plug in as "new" amendments, the old gene "parts" that we find.
The trick is to find out the "plugin" structure of DNA -- which I predict would be a major breakthrough (the least of which is that there is such a patch-work structure). Homeobox genes, for instance, code for whole arms and legs or fingers -- they are relatively easy to change. So that a leg can be an arm with a simple genetic switch. Creating an arm or a leg itself that functions is very complex, yet there is a structure there to switch them on or off. So, evolved changes may be added as "patches" and not total re-writes of the underlying and working genetic code. This may be why DNA is so incredibly long -- it's a recording as much as a blueprint. And "devolving" back to a form that worked in a previous environment is a much quicker process than "evolving" a brand new organism. It only takes two generations of humans at high altitude to start getting blue eyes for instance. That is a "switch" turning on a previous genetic feature.
So, I think the preserved DNA, can provide good clues to devolve modern DNA -- and not necessarily be used to provide the DNA, just know when you have the right structure.
The Constitution doesn't actual declare YOUR freedoms. It assumes that all individuals are FREE, and then involves itself with what limits there are on government to infringe on these freedoms. Businesses and Governments aren't supposed to have any RIGHTS for instance, not spelled out. Humans have ALL rights.
So, if there is no law that assumes the right to infringe someone's privacy, then is shouldn't exist.
I was wondering how Adobe could kill Acrobat -- this new Advertisement scheme just might do it. And I mean the application -- not the PDF file format. Other than editing text -- which occasionally works, I haven't found much useful in that expensive "Pro" app. I've used the "Optimize PDF" which seems to bloat most files after a reasonable amount of time.
I've changed to Preview from Acrobat for viewing PDFs. If Apple is smart, they would announce "Preview for Windows." Put another notch in that halo.
My theory on this?
While this might be an accidental "sharing" of the database... we have many huge and frequent "mistakes" in the US. It might be a way to get all this data into a private industry database that isn't restricted by government rules to track citizens. Kind of like our private industry unaccountable mercenaries like Blackwater.
These database incidents will cease, once everyone has lost their data. Then there will be on more incentive to have these "accidents." Not that this particular accident is anything more than a stolen laptop. It's just that there seems to be a pattern of incompetence and then no downside to those who lose the data. We've had about 25% of the nations data released to private hands accidentally. Wayne Madsen used to have this data for free, but if you want to subscribe, he has been tracking these for years now; http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/categories/20070503
If this works out like the War on Terror, War on Drugs, War on Poverty, and War on War,... well, I for one welcome the New Idiots to the internet this initiative will create.
The ONLY solution, I could think of, is a "WhiteList" lookup. It would work with a "sand box" a "baby pool", the "shallow end" and "we are so hip deep we R Ultra Kewl Geeks" -- of course, that is the "Deep End" of the Gene pool. You just create a slashdot/wikipedia training wheels program (OK, I do marketing on the side -- sue me for too many metaphors), maybe some sort of proof of community service as well, then when you show someone in the higher level (the "baby pool"), that you have interesting comments, they will invite you in. So, each level will be decided by the one higher, and a social network will decide to move you on up. I don't think you could get more elitist or cliquish if you made a Barbydoll Fans page on MySpace.
At the very top, of course, would be the one guy who created the system, and his sole pleasure in life will be in finding more and more painful and humiliating ways for people in "the Super Kewl Deep End" to try and earn his favor and move up -- but they never will. The "unknown level" will be a myth of the dungeon lord. Who of course, will give it to his son when he retires.
I really don't think Games designers are designing for the NEXT piece of hardware -- they are designing for what that hardware allows them to do. Gameplay is very important, but when you have all these Me-too FPS games, then graphics make a huge difference. Eyecandy sells games too. And a lot of games have to go through a lot of tricks and then compromise to function. Newer hardware makes it easier on developers -- either by allowing for less tight code, or fewer compromises. The competition of various games companies means that everyone is just close to choking the technology.
We probably have a unique situation now with a plateau, where hardware technology is a bit ahead of 3D engine technology. I'm guessing that is going to change soon, as more "real world physics" engines come into play (so to speak). There are some companies that specialize in Water, Fire, and other FX that will be helping to throttle down performance in games. But, to see puddles distorting light as rain hits it -- awesome.
Could it be possible just to take a "snap shot image" of a certain functionality?
Meaning, you would load up windows -- take a snapshot, and then load up just the apps you want and then take another snapshot. The first part could be an exact "picture" in static memory -- the second would be read/write memory. Once it is loaded, it can act like a regular windows application, except nothing outside of the volatile snapshot can really change.
In this way, you are creating sort of a fast-boot, but I don't think it would be susceptible to viruses other than a file stored from the app you are using.
Yeah, talking about the maturity of a person, vs. personal rights and then using "N" cigarettes makes very little sense.
Why does anyone need to pay for an argument? Just post something stupid on SlashDot and get hammered until they grow bored and tire of your punk ass.
Perhaps some vague warning that people using OpenSocial may get sued for copyright infringement -- or that it allows for some "communicable social disease" that can either destroy your hard drive or give you a rash.
Without even reading this, I can already tell the following;
... this is just two guys on a blog. But this is pure Microsoft mentality; "If we don't have it, but it is something we want, there is something wrong with it and we just have to figure out what that is." There will probably be a more formal "beware of OpenSocial" coalition of the Microsoft in the future.
"Wonder Twin powers, activate!"
[Microsoft] form of; Fear and Doubt
[coalition of the willing partner to make it look like we've got a coalition here, for reasonable rates] You know, what he said. But I'm also the shape of Uncertainty -- but that is really vague.
OK, I'm jumping the gun here
Prediction: Google's new API will take off. While the power of FaceBook is the people. The power of Google's new API is that it is for developers. So businesses and developers who want to do "facebook" like things will want to check this out. They will be bringing their own audience in a sense -- so it doesn't TAKE from Facebook's market, but it will take from their growth.
Microsoft will be beaten by a sponge -- and it won't have to be an evil sponge either.
>> Because, as concerned citizens of the world, these companies just have to make sure everyone knows that a free API can actually cause cancer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Twins
So, the REVENGE is complete.
She managed to live as a productive citizen, have kids, and pay taxes -- but now at 65, the genius database that is going to let no small-time criminal get away has caught her. This is just sad. I don't think any of us really want a perfect tracking system -- we want good enough justice and better courts.
I remember that my brother used to mess around with drugs in high school. He never got caught, but had some "therapy" when my parents found out. They don't have this for poor people -- they just go to jail. Now my brother makes over $250,000 and runs the SouthEaster division of some big company -- a productive citizen. If the system had caught him, he'd be an unemployable deadbeat, and probably dealing with depression and recidivism like all the other folks. We like to think that we are different -- but opportunity makes a HUGE difference to your outcomes in life.
I'm glad when some mass murderer gets caught -- but I'm not so sure about this lady. Her life is over -- innocent or not. And it won't help anyone but to keep the employment of prison guards up. Do you know these mega-prisons have lobbyists now and that's where we got most of the push for mandatory sentences and 3 strikes and you are out?
Happened to me.
I was going to buy "MadScientistsMedia.com"
Ended up going to a Radio Station a few weeks later, now it's some guy doing music.
As research for a company a few years back, I searched through about 500 names. Because I was using two-word combinations, I found a lot that were not taken -- about half.
The company was not interested in the names -- but a couple weeks later I checked and about half of the ones I found free were taken. URLs like www.startpoint.com -- which I thought was very good, because I was making a play on the Windows START button. Most of them ended up going to companies that sell you web names for their weight in gold.
I'm pretty darn sure that the Squaters were hooked in with the companies that search for available web names. I'm sure that MOST URLs are owned by squaters -- having a sole business model of scalping names is an afront to our web creativity.
But, overall, the MOST important thing for a website is good content. You can have any crap name, and as long as someone can remember it and have a reason to go there -- they will go there.
Um, I kind of agree. I didn't say I liked scalpers -- just that it shouldn't be illegal.
You'd have to outlaw "TicketMaster" as well -- that's an institutional corporate entity that acts like a middle man and "leeches" off money (e.g., inflates the price) because ALL ticket sales are expensive -- you can't find an alternative venue that is cheaper to create a competitive marketplace (at least not here in the SouthEast).
Thanks Paul Allen -- I suppose you need another yacht.
Thanks for that post... that was exactly what I was expecting.
If enough companies sign up for this, it would make patent lawsuits well-neigh impossible (at least for big companies).
I think I'm ready for world domination -- only as long as I'm the one doing the dominating. OK, and if I were more evil [cue maniacal laugh].