There IS a certain day where EVERYONE is equal, and that day can easily change the power in this country. The same neo-socialists that complain about captialism are usually the same group that fails to turn out to the polls.
...giving a play by play account of a sporting event.
Which, guess what, that's copyright infringement.
Nonsense. Describing something - a plya-by-play of a sporting event, a review of a play, a transcription of a song - in my own words does not violate anyones copyright. My description is my creation. In fact, I automatically hold copyright on my description.
Anyway, I thought these assholes at Harry Fox would have learned their lesson when they went after the orginal OLGA, only to have mirrors spring up all over the place - the same way pressure on Napster has led to things like OpenNap.
I said it then and I'll say it now: Music is not a crime.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
There's no job security in a "perm" position either - I lost two perm jobs in the course of a year due to corporate restructuring. I've been contracting ever since.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
I think there should be a standard that defines a syntax to include some input fields in the body of emails.
This can be done with HTML-formatted e-mail; I once got spam that was a fill-in form submitted via a mailto URL. I don't know what mail clients would or would not support this, though. (I use mh and exmh; exmh has some HTML support, but I view this (and alerted the relevant postmasters) from the command line version so never saw it rendered.)
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Progress does not depend on unreasonable people, it is based solely on reasonable people. How far did nazi germany get, what about soviet russia, maybe the great leap forward, the early french revolution?
If Socrates had been "reasonable", he would have shut up, saved his life, and been forgotten.
If Tom Paine and Thomas Jefferson had been "reasonable", we'd still be a British colony.
If Gandhi had been "reasonable", so would India.
If Rosa Parks had been "reasonable", persons with dark skin would still be sitting in the back of the bus.
Remember that Chinese protester who wouldn't move from in front of the tank? "Unreasonable" in the extreme.
The terrors of Nazi Germany were fought by "unreasonable" resistance fighters, and "unreasonable" people who hid refugees.
All these people refused to accept the social concensus - they refused to be "reasonable". "Reasonable", in this sense, is simply another way of saying "either cowardly, apathetic, or ignorant".
And while in your closed minded world there is only proof against the effectiveness of 'censorware', in the real world it is effective.
This is obviously some strange new usage of the word "effective" that I have never encountered before.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
If you ever want to be taken seriously, you must take a more reasonable stance.
As Shaw put it, The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
But that's irrelevant to the issue at hand; opposing a federal mandate for the use of censorship software - software which has repeatedly been shown not to work - is eminently reasonable.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Re:Minors don't have full rights? Gov't bastards!!
on
Sean In The Middle
·
· Score: 1
And just what does a parent setting a bedtime have to do with the rights of a minor with respect to the government?
There's a difference between a 16-year-old's mom saying "Be home by 10pm or you can't use the car this weekend" and the government saying "Be home by 10pm or we're going to throw you into a cage at gunpoint."
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Final and decisive proof of my suspicion that some dark cabal - or group of people in desparate need of a life - has been screwing with the moderation system of late.
I suspect that this will either be modded down to -1 to bury all evidence, or modded up so that they may gloat in their accomplishment.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Well, I was talking about both buildings and computers, due to the fact that they are both forms of private property and are/should be governed by the same rules.
To say that they're "both forms of private property" gloms over a world of difference. Accessing a computer over a network is as different from physically entering a building as either are from copying a poem into my notebook, using a computer program, singing a song, or staging a play. These things are not, nor should they be, governed by that same set of rules, yet the word "property" is used to describe them all.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
This is so wrong that it frightens me. Just because I own a building of some form doesn't mean that people should assume that I am a buisiness and just wander in.
I belive I was talking about computer networks, not buildings?
I have no intention of making "services of making "services of data available to users of other computers".
Fine! Then you won't be running any servers, you're quite safe from the big bad hackers, and we're in perfect agreement, so there's no need to be frightened. Take a deep breath and have a beer.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
I bought a Danby portable A/C from CompactApplicance.com and have been reasonablly satisfied with it (especially after I poked a hole in its condensate tank and ran 30 feet of 1/4 inch plastic tubing out to the downstairs shower so I wouldn't have to drain the tank...)
They have a couple other brands as well. More expensive than window units, but generally much easier to deal with.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
When I drive down the street with the window rolled down, it is not because I want people to spit in the window at me and my
passengers.
True, but irrelevant. When you connect a computer to a network, we can only assume it is because you wish that computer to communicate with other computers.
When you run a server on a computer connected to a network, we can only assume that it is because you wish to make some services or data available to users of other computers.
What services or data did you wish to make available? As we are not telepathic, the only way for us to figure that out is to poke around a little. For example:
"Gee, I see this guy has an interesting website about Quake. Is there a Quake server there? (tries to connect) Nope."
"Hey, http://foo.com/~you/cutepuppies.html is a nice web page. I wonder if there is more stuff in that same vein there? Maybe I can get a directory of http://foo.com/~you/ and see what else is there."
"Wowsers, that site seems to have awesome perfomance! I think I'll go use Netcraft's "What's that site running?" service to find out how it manages to do that!"
There is, of course, a difference between poking around a little and breaking in, which most people are well able to recognize.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
It is unfortunate that while our scientific researches hae done much to disprove our anthrocentric view of the universe, anthrocentrism prevails in every discussion of ethics, including the ethics of science. Members of other species are given near zero ethical consideration, no matter how much like us we learn they are.
Our studies of nature are giving us great knowledge and power; but little wisdom or compassion.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Exceptions are a definite win. The syntax makes good sense and the semantics do pretty much what you would want. (Well, what I would want, anyway.) try, catch, and throw just about eliminate the need for goto or longjmp, and are much prettier besides.
They're easy to use right, and it would take a deliberate act to use them wrong.
Inheritance and polymorphism are good when used judiciously, but can definitely hurt you; spaghetti inheritance is one of the ugliest things around. Each class should abstract some thing or concept in the system; if that's not the case, it's time to start
chopping things out of your inheritance hierarchy.
The STL (and C++ template in general) syntax gives me a headache, personally; good idea, but seems glommed onto the language. Other than the occasional container class, which is simple enough, I avoid it.
Good question for discussion, by the way!
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Leaving aside the issue of hacker/cracker distinction for the moment:
I did not invite you into my house and I'm not inviting you into my computer either.
Sorry, but when you connect your computer to a network and run a server of any kind, you are inviting people in. It's your responsibility to either not connect, not run a server, or run with at least some minimal security that makes it clear what the limit of the invitation is.
If you invite people into your house and don't lock the closet where you keep your porn collection, you don't have much right to complain when someone who's poking around looking for a place to hang their coat - or who's curious about the construction of your house - finds it. OTOH, if you lock that door and someone picks the lock and starts digging around, then you have cause to smack them upside the head.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Actually it works pretty well most of the time, which is why people keep using it.
Well, I must disagree. It works very poorly, and that's a large part of the reason why political discourse in this country is so pathetic, mostly consisting of name-calling, finger-pointing, and scare-mongering.
When there's only two sides, everyone who's not for you is against you. With a multidimensional view, you can see that those who oppose you on some issues are allies on others.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
The extreme left of the political scale is communism, and the extreme right is facism.
Two dimensional thinking is a poor way to conceive of political views.
Leftists beleive in an economic system based on labor. Rightists beleive in an economic system based on capital. Both leftists and rightists come in libertarian and authoritarian, free-market and command-economy, isolationist and interventionist, and green and industrial flavors. You really need several axes.
Some of these combinations are more common then others, to be sure. But political philosophy is an essay question, not multiple choice.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
The Freedom of Information Act was designed by liberals to harass honest government officials in their attempts to combat subversion -- but in the end, the sword has two edges, and the FOIA has struck a few blows for the Truth as well.
What is it with the trend for/. trolls these days to include some babble about "liberals"? I thought that the "liberal as boogeyman" bit went out with Reagan. But then, it looks like the '00s are going to be the '80s all over again - I see kids with Mohawk haircuts, both Prince and the Go-Gos are touring this summer, there's a Crocodile Dundee
movie coming out, and an incompetent Republican pretending to be president.
Anyway, for those of you scoring the trolls at home: try a Google search on "Imipolex-G". You might also note that MK-ULTRA involved "mind control" via LSD. (No, I'm not making that up, and it is an extremely fucked up story.)
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
On the other hand I think that in many places what they need are "Civil Engineers without borders".
My girlfriend, who's an environmental engineer, is trying to start an "Engineers Without Borders" organization along those lines. (She's done a lot of work in using natural system to treat wastewater.)
She's just getting started with it, but has gotten good response from the people she's talked to. If anyone would like more information, e-mail me (remove "spambefuddler-") and I'll put you in touch with her.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Libertarianism - as the term is used today to mean "libertarian capitalist" - is rightist. Left/right is labor (socialist) vs. capital (capitalist), and these guys are definitely capitalist; ask them if they think the government should get out of creating and defining proprty rights to land, natural resources, and information.
Do you have any idea how many people smoke or have smoked marijuana?
About ten years ago, when I did some research on the subject, the figures were that sixty-some million Americans had used an illegal drug in their lives, thirty million had used an illegal drug in the past year, and fifteen million had used one in the past month. Numbers are probably significantly higher for lifetime use now.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, I go to the polls, but mostly to vote on local bond issues and ballot questions.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Nonsense. Describing something - a plya-by-play of a sporting event, a review of a play, a transcription of a song - in my own words does not violate anyones copyright. My description is my creation. In fact, I automatically hold copyright on my description.
Anyway, I thought these assholes at Harry Fox would have learned their lesson when they went after the orginal OLGA, only to have mirrors spring up all over the place - the same way pressure on Napster has led to things like OpenNap. I said it then and I'll say it now: Music is not a crime.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
There's no job security in a "perm" position either - I lost two perm jobs in the course of a year due to corporate restructuring. I've been contracting ever since.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Is anyone happy with Bloated Notes? Having to use it is definitely the worst part of contracting at IBM.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
If Socrates had been "reasonable", he would have shut up, saved his life, and been forgotten.
If Tom Paine and Thomas Jefferson had been "reasonable", we'd still be a British colony.
If Gandhi had been "reasonable", so would India.
If Rosa Parks had been "reasonable", persons with dark skin would still be sitting in the back of the bus.
Remember that Chinese protester who wouldn't move from in front of the tank? "Unreasonable" in the extreme.
The terrors of Nazi Germany were fought by "unreasonable" resistance fighters, and "unreasonable" people who hid refugees.
All these people refused to accept the social concensus - they refused to be "reasonable". "Reasonable", in this sense, is simply another way of saying "either cowardly, apathetic, or ignorant".
This is obviously some strange new usage of the word "effective" that I have never encountered before.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
As Shaw put it, The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
But that's irrelevant to the issue at hand; opposing a federal mandate for the use of censorship software - software which has repeatedly been shown not to work - is eminently reasonable.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
And just what does a parent setting a bedtime have to do with the rights of a minor with respect to the government?
There's a difference between a 16-year-old's mom saying "Be home by 10pm or you can't use the car this weekend" and the government saying "Be home by 10pm or we're going to throw you into a cage at gunpoint."
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Final and decisive proof of my suspicion that some dark cabal - or group of people in desparate need of a life - has been screwing with the moderation system of late.
I suspect that this will either be modded down to -1 to bury all evidence, or modded up so that they may gloat in their accomplishment.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
To say that they're "both forms of private property" gloms over a world of difference. Accessing a computer over a network is as different from physically entering a building as either are from copying a poem into my notebook, using a computer program, singing a song, or staging a play. These things are not, nor should they be, governed by that same set of rules, yet the word "property" is used to describe them all.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
I belive I was talking about computer networks, not buildings?
Fine! Then you won't be running any servers, you're quite safe from the big bad hackers, and we're in perfect agreement, so there's no need to be frightened. Take a deep breath and have a beer.Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
I bought a Danby portable A/C from CompactApplicance.com and have been reasonablly satisfied with it (especially after I poked a hole in its condensate tank and ran 30 feet of 1/4 inch plastic tubing out to the downstairs shower so I wouldn't have to drain the tank...)
They have a couple other brands as well. More expensive than window units, but generally much easier to deal with.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
True, but irrelevant. When you connect a computer to a network, we can only assume it is because you wish that computer to communicate with other computers.
When you run a server on a computer connected to a network, we can only assume that it is because you wish to make some services or data available to users of other computers.
What services or data did you wish to make available? As we are not telepathic, the only way for us to figure that out is to poke around a little. For example:
- "Gee, I see this guy has an interesting website about Quake. Is there a Quake server there? (tries to connect) Nope."
- "Hey, http://foo.com/~you/cutepuppies.html is a nice web page. I wonder if there is more stuff in that same vein there? Maybe I can get a directory of http://foo.com/~you/ and see what else is there."
- "Wowsers, that site seems to have awesome perfomance! I think I'll go use Netcraft's "What's that site running?" service to find out how it manages to do that!"
There is, of course, a difference between poking around a little and breaking in, which most people are well able to recognize.Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
It is unfortunate that while our scientific researches hae done much to disprove our anthrocentric view of the universe, anthrocentrism prevails in every discussion of ethics, including the ethics of science. Members of other species are given near zero ethical consideration, no matter how much like us we learn they are.
Our studies of nature are giving us great knowledge and power; but little wisdom or compassion.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Exceptions are a definite win. The syntax makes good sense and the semantics do pretty much what you would want. (Well, what I would want, anyway.) try, catch, and throw just about eliminate the need for goto or longjmp, and are much prettier besides. They're easy to use right, and it would take a deliberate act to use them wrong.
Inheritance and polymorphism are good when used judiciously, but can definitely hurt you; spaghetti inheritance is one of the ugliest things around. Each class should abstract some thing or concept in the system; if that's not the case, it's time to start chopping things out of your inheritance hierarchy.
The STL (and C++ template in general) syntax gives me a headache, personally; good idea, but seems glommed onto the language. Other than the occasional container class, which is simple enough, I avoid it.
Good question for discussion, by the way!
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Interesting! Thanks for the pointer, I will pass it along.
Though it does seem that all their chapters are in Canada...
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Sorry, but when you connect your computer to a network and run a server of any kind, you are inviting people in. It's your responsibility to either not connect, not run a server, or run with at least some minimal security that makes it clear what the limit of the invitation is.
If you invite people into your house and don't lock the closet where you keep your porn collection, you don't have much right to complain when someone who's poking around looking for a place to hang their coat - or who's curious about the construction of your house - finds it. OTOH, if you lock that door and someone picks the lock and starts digging around, then you have cause to smack them upside the head.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Well, I must disagree. It works very poorly, and that's a large part of the reason why political discourse in this country is so pathetic, mostly consisting of name-calling, finger-pointing, and scare-mongering.
When there's only two sides, everyone who's not for you is against you. With a multidimensional view, you can see that those who oppose you on some issues are allies on others.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Two dimensional thinking is a poor way to conceive of political views.
Leftists beleive in an economic system based on labor. Rightists beleive in an economic system based on capital. Both leftists and rightists come in libertarian and authoritarian, free-market and command-economy, isolationist and interventionist, and green and industrial flavors. You really need several axes.
Some of these combinations are more common then others, to be sure. But political philosophy is an essay question, not multiple choice.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
What is it with the trend for /. trolls these days to include some babble about "liberals"? I thought that the "liberal as boogeyman" bit went out with Reagan. But then, it looks like the '00s are going to be the '80s all over again - I see kids with Mohawk haircuts, both Prince and the Go-Gos are touring this summer, there's a Crocodile Dundee
movie coming out, and an incompetent Republican pretending to be president.
Anyway, for those of you scoring the trolls at home: try a Google search on "Imipolex-G". You might also note that MK-ULTRA involved "mind control" via LSD. (No, I'm not making that up, and it is an extremely fucked up story.)
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
She's just getting started with it, but has gotten good response from the people she's talked to. If anyone would like more information, e-mail me (remove "spambefuddler-") and I'll put you in touch with her.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
"I was only following orders" didn't cut it at Nuremburg, and it doesn't cut it today.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Libertarianism - as the term is used today to mean "libertarian capitalist" - is rightist. Left/right is labor (socialist) vs. capital (capitalist), and these guys are definitely capitalist; ask them if they think the government should get out of creating and defining proprty rights to land, natural resources, and information.
However, it should be noted that they've essentially hijacked the term from the left.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/