I completely agree with you that digital IP enforcement is a nightmare. However, we're talking patents here as well -- they are indeed costly to enforce, but it's not the same as "making water unwet" like with pure data.
I read his/her post as making the case that material scarcity is what should drive the law. That's totally besides the point: the issue is incentives for innovation production. Copyright and patents do create artificial scarcity (intended to be temporary) to achieve this end; what is a viable alternative?
You didn't read my post. I understand that freely available information is a public good -- it is precisely because data is cheap to replicate. The issue is incentivizing the research behind innovation.
That's crap. Lossy compression algorithms, for example, are clearly valuable, or people wouldn't use them. Intrinsic versus extrinsic is not at issue, but enforceability and the external consideration of profitability of research v. the public good of free information.
Just as the tractor replaced the plow, automation replaced the assembly line worker, so purely intellectual goods will replace tangible goods.
I predict just the opposite of parent. As China and India develop research regimes, they'll want the same IP protections that the US and Europe demand; they are violating IP now because it is expedient. As long as there is scarcity at all in our economy, IP will be with us.
It's important to have weapons for the people to retain their power from government tyranny and to defend their homes.
It's important that people who wield weapons are qualified, trained, lawful and mentally stable.
AFAICT, the only country that's figured it out is Switzerland, and their militia system appears to be compatible with the US 2nd amendment.
Others have pointed out that Canada is armed to the teeth, and they have a fraction of the violent crime of the US. This can be explained by a few sociological factors, like lower population density, better education, and so on. I think the essential issue is that narcissism is rewarded in the US than in other societies -- the bar for "snapping" is much lower.
Dell, having had a long relationship with Microsoft, knew that Microsoft would try to shove Vista down their throats -- ready or not. Combined with Apple's recent success, I wonder if this prompted their foray into consumer Linux.
Systems that show such behavior are always "rigid," and so are forced to be ordered. In the case of a drum head it's the tension and the immobility of the boundary; the sun, the strong fusion-driven magnetic dynamics in play with the strong gravity. In quantum systems like superfluids and Fermi liquids, you get this for "free" due to quantization.
Is Saturn, a neutral, non-nuclear gas giant, similarly constrained? If so, fascinating.
The submission and blog entry pose the question, but don't really answer it:
* How is "oneness" measured and quantified?
* How is suasion measured and quantified?
* Scatter plot of the two for the different modes (email, face-to-face) for different gender combinations? Perhaps, with statistical measures (e.g., regression figures)?
* Subject selection protocol and any caveats?
Maybe write back when the paper is actually published.
Unfortunately, we can give no direct reward or compensation for your contribution. If, however, Project Red Stripe chooses to develop an idea you have submitted, you will receive recognition on the Project Red Stripe web site and a free six-month subscription to Economist.com.
I'm sure as hell not giving a money-making idea to the Economist Group if I'm not getting a piece of the pie. If it might save the world, maybe; if it's not money-making and helps folks, I probably would.
... this could make Linux desktops (KDE, GNOME, etc.) suitable for SOHO use. I work independently, but I need 100% compatibility with Word and PowerPoint to collaborate with colleagues and funding agencies who are still dedicated to MS Office. I can save money and headaches over CrossOver.
In particular, I'm hoping that there will emerge a GNOME alternative to Impress, and that AbiWord.doc filtering will be perfect. (.xls filtering in Gnumeric has been pretty good.)
If you like having corporate headquarters which have a tendency to use resources and produce nothing, then yes, replacing your income tax with a sales tax is a very good idea.
It's an annoying but cost-effective way to reduce the corporate tax bill, with the real executive work being done at production sites.
They can just avoid it by importing goods from Oregon.
Most states charge a use tax on good imported for use. Individuals don't get audited for them, but businesses certainly do, since they keep books on all business transactions.
Not since the new Capital Gains tax cut went into effect.
The tax cut is small for higher income brackets, big for lower income brackets, and will sunset in 2010 anyway. Read about it here. It's true, some trust fund babies living off of dividends have benefited for a short period, but it's also been a help to many middle-class retirees.
Yep, that's a big one- percentage of total income paid in taxes. Of course, if we had a truly progressive income tax with a maximum wage rate, that would not be a problem.
With a maximum wage, how would you incentivize performance in the most lucrative industries? Hell, even in academia, people are making ~$500k based on performance.
Yeah, sure, because paying for a 8000 man private army is so much cheaper than buying off 550 legislators. They're going to manipulate the regulation and taxation laws one way or the other- if not by subverting democracy, then with force.
Corporations are a legal construct, and so force would engender anarchy. A recent World Bank study shows convincingly that rule of law and an educated populace are the principal factors in prosperity, for all strata. Over decades it's in the interest of the upper/chattering class to promote these values.
First, corporations do have to pay local and state income taxes, but the amount varies by location and business; this is why corporations shift their headquarters to places like Delaware and South Dakota, which have very low corporate income tax rates. Corporations certainly have to pay state sales taxes on goods purchased for use.
Even if this weren't the case, how would wealthy people hide their income behind a corporation? Any "realized" gains in stocks (i.e., proceeds from sale or dividends) are subject to personal income tax as with salary, as are "fringe benefits" above a certain value that are not used solely for job functions (e.g., company car).
You're correct that the big argument in favor of progressive income taxes w/ standard deductions is that the rich have more "discretionary income" than the poor, since food, rent, health care and education have minimum costs.
Finally, regarding influence peddling through campaign fundraising, I submit that the problem isn't that it takes money to buy speech, but that lawmakers have so much discretion over business regulation and taxation.
What the article doesn't discuss is the quarantining of machines from the actual election and reproducing their inputs in the "independent test." Anything less is uncertified evidence.
OTOH, should voting results have a presumption of validity? The problem is that voting bureaucracies are not designed for validation by authenticating ballots or statistical checks, but only on prompt decisiveness and the appearance of not having irregularities in the balloting or counting.
Wouldn't all this be solved by encrypted online voting, where you could check your own votes by a profile tied to an anonymous registration key issued by the DMV? Then make the data public for verification by the media?
Apparently, the fallacy that GPL protects your business investment seems to hinder BSD devlopment (20th-century limited material resources type of thinking...)
Developer time, marketing opportunity costs, etc. all do seem like limited resources.
On the other hand, a piece of knowledge is like a candle lighting a million others.
What distribution model mixes these two optimally? To me, (L)GPL protects your material investment while also allowing everyone to look at, distribute and extend/modify the source...
Lenovo does sell Linux pre-loaded (have to call for a T60p with Suse). However, I haven't seen much about installing other flavors of Linux on such machines.
So why does intentionality matter so much to humans in perceiving threats? I think it's the same as the religious impulse: to feel a fiber of justice, empathy and consciousness in the environment -- a social evolutionary adaptation. The Bush braintrust, recognizing this, plays up this fear through rhetoric of "terror," "evil" and "homeland."
Separated twins studies seek to have a large enough, diverse sample so that they can regress out sociological effects and come up with a heritability figure. Unfortunately, twins are rarely separated out of countries, or even out of geographic regions. Certainly, even for the most impoverished American, the intellectual environment (demands of literacy, information load, etc.) is far more stimulating than the average resident of an underdeveloped nation.
One (half-)jokingly looks forward to cloning to perform unethical studies along these lines...
Slashdot Mirror
I completely agree with you that digital IP enforcement is a nightmare. However, we're talking patents here as well -- they are indeed costly to enforce, but it's not the same as "making water unwet" like with pure data.
I read his/her post as making the case that material scarcity is what should drive the law. That's totally besides the point: the issue is incentives for innovation production. Copyright and patents do create artificial scarcity (intended to be temporary) to achieve this end; what is a viable alternative?
You didn't read my post. I understand that freely available information is a public good -- it is precisely because data is cheap to replicate. The issue is incentivizing the research behind innovation.
That's crap. Lossy compression algorithms, for example, are clearly valuable, or people wouldn't use them. Intrinsic versus extrinsic is not at issue, but enforceability and the external consideration of profitability of research v. the public good of free information.
Just as the tractor replaced the plow, automation replaced the assembly line worker, so purely intellectual goods will replace tangible goods.
I predict just the opposite of parent. As China and India develop research regimes, they'll want the same IP protections that the US and Europe demand; they are violating IP now because it is expedient. As long as there is scarcity at all in our economy, IP will be with us.
It's important to have weapons for the people to retain their power from government tyranny and to defend their homes.
It's important that people who wield weapons are qualified, trained, lawful and mentally stable.
AFAICT, the only country that's figured it out is Switzerland, and their militia system appears to be compatible with the US 2nd amendment.
Others have pointed out that Canada is armed to the teeth, and they have a fraction of the violent crime of the US. This can be explained by a few sociological factors, like lower population density, better education, and so on. I think the essential issue is that narcissism is rewarded in the US than in other societies -- the bar for "snapping" is much lower.
If the Aussie industry's sales are that poor, shutting down must be a viable option. Do it -- then Australia will really understand your worth.
Dell, having had a long relationship with Microsoft, knew that Microsoft would try to shove Vista down their throats -- ready or not. Combined with Apple's recent success, I wonder if this prompted their foray into consumer Linux.
Two axes of stability is boring. .... adventurous.
One axis of stability is fun.
Zero is
Systems that show such behavior are always "rigid," and so are forced to be ordered. In the case of a drum head it's the tension and the immobility of the boundary; the sun, the strong fusion-driven magnetic dynamics in play with the strong gravity. In quantum systems like superfluids and Fermi liquids, you get this for "free" due to quantization.
Is Saturn, a neutral, non-nuclear gas giant, similarly constrained? If so, fascinating.
The submission and blog entry pose the question, but don't really answer it:
* How is "oneness" measured and quantified?
* How is suasion measured and quantified?
* Scatter plot of the two for the different modes (email, face-to-face) for different gender combinations? Perhaps, with statistical measures (e.g., regression figures)?
* Subject selection protocol and any caveats?
Maybe write back when the paper is actually published.
... they used Flash instead of ActiveX :P
I'm sure as hell not giving a money-making idea to the Economist Group if I'm not getting a piece of the pie. If it might save the world, maybe; if it's not money-making and helps folks, I probably would.
... this could make Linux desktops (KDE, GNOME, etc.) suitable for SOHO use. I work independently, but I need 100% compatibility with Word and PowerPoint to collaborate with colleagues and funding agencies who are still dedicated to MS Office. I can save money and headaches over CrossOver.
.doc filtering will be perfect. (.xls filtering in Gnumeric has been pretty good.)
In particular, I'm hoping that there will emerge a GNOME alternative to Impress, and that AbiWord
Allow me to cite an earlier source.
Well, at least you aren't cynical :)
It's an annoying but cost-effective way to reduce the corporate tax bill, with the real executive work being done at production sites.
Most states charge a use tax on good imported for use. Individuals don't get audited for them, but businesses certainly do, since they keep books on all business transactions.
The tax cut is small for higher income brackets, big for lower income brackets, and will sunset in 2010 anyway. Read about it here. It's true, some trust fund babies living off of dividends have benefited for a short period, but it's also been a help to many middle-class retirees.
With a maximum wage, how would you incentivize performance in the most lucrative industries? Hell, even in academia, people are making ~$500k based on performance.
Corporations are a legal construct, and so force would engender anarchy. A recent World Bank study shows convincingly that rule of law and an educated populace are the principal factors in prosperity, for all strata. Over decades it's in the interest of the upper/chattering class to promote these values.
First, corporations do have to pay local and state income taxes, but the amount varies by location and business; this is why corporations shift their headquarters to places like Delaware and South Dakota, which have very low corporate income tax rates. Corporations certainly have to pay state sales taxes on goods purchased for use.
Even if this weren't the case, how would wealthy people hide their income behind a corporation? Any "realized" gains in stocks (i.e., proceeds from sale or dividends) are subject to personal income tax as with salary, as are "fringe benefits" above a certain value that are not used solely for job functions (e.g., company car).
You're correct that the big argument in favor of progressive income taxes w/ standard deductions is that the rich have more "discretionary income" than the poor, since food, rent, health care and education have minimum costs.
Finally, regarding influence peddling through campaign fundraising, I submit that the problem isn't that it takes money to buy speech, but that lawmakers have so much discretion over business regulation and taxation.
If the rich consume more resources, presumably they're paying for such consumption, and so they pay a consumption tax proportionally.
There are at least a few good reasons to have a progressive income tax instead of a consumption tax, but you have not offered a single one.
What the article doesn't discuss is the quarantining of machines from the actual election and reproducing their inputs in the "independent test." Anything less is uncertified evidence.
OTOH, should voting results have a presumption of validity? The problem is that voting bureaucracies are not designed for validation by authenticating ballots or statistical checks, but only on prompt decisiveness and the appearance of not having irregularities in the balloting or counting.
Wouldn't all this be solved by encrypted online voting, where you could check your own votes by a profile tied to an anonymous registration key issued by the DMV? Then make the data public for verification by the media?
Developer time, marketing opportunity costs, etc. all do seem like limited resources.
On the other hand, a piece of knowledge is like a candle lighting a million others.
What distribution model mixes these two optimally? To me, (L)GPL protects your material investment while also allowing everyone to look at, distribute and extend/modify the source
On the toolkit/tools side of things, the major hurdles are:
- app icon (perhaps could be integrated with/translated to the f.d.o. systray standard)
- the work it takes to set up GNUstep just to launch an app (e.g., setting up paths -- thankfully handled transparently in my Gentoo setup)
- incompatibility between GNUstep services and dbus, etc. etc.
- non-standard build system (still easy enough to making into ebuilds/RPMs/etc.) and monolithic libraries
Sidestep is an experiment in addressing these issues.Lenovo does sell Linux pre-loaded (have to call for a T60p with Suse). However, I haven't seen much about installing other flavors of Linux on such machines.
When other countries' rednecks humiliate our rednecks, it's funny.
So why does intentionality matter so much to humans in perceiving threats? I think it's the same as the religious impulse: to feel a fiber of justice, empathy and consciousness in the environment -- a social evolutionary adaptation. The Bush braintrust, recognizing this, plays up this fear through rhetoric of "terror," "evil" and "homeland."
(A fine article on this theme.)
Separated twins studies seek to have a large enough, diverse sample so that they can regress out sociological effects and come up with a heritability figure. Unfortunately, twins are rarely separated out of countries, or even out of geographic regions. Certainly, even for the most impoverished American, the intellectual environment (demands of literacy, information load, etc.) is far more stimulating than the average resident of an underdeveloped nation.
...
One (half-)jokingly looks forward to cloning to perform unethical studies along these lines
The puzzle is that IQ shows both high heritability (by studies of separated twins) and bias towards industrialized nations (Flynn Effect).
The obvious theory is that both genetics and child care (nutrition, education) are vitally important.