Sigh, tell me when you have found the last member of congress who took bribes and got caught. I too can pull a news story out of my ass about some lunch lady who took a bribe. Planning Board, pfft.
For a start, you can stop spreading the fiction that it's a two horse race. You can vote in your local elections. You can run for office yourself. You can gather evidence that your politicians are corrupt and demand that it be heard. You're not at the end of the rope yet, but you're quickly getting to it.. when your courts start rejecting evidence of corruption, then you're screwed cause you can forget about your final course of action, armed rebellion, cause you're stupid enough to allow your government to form armies that are legally permitted in your cities.
It does happen, and we arrest and jail politicians for doing it. When was the last time a politician was arrested for taking a bribe in the US? When our politicians get done for taking bribes it's a few thousand dollars that they were too weak to resist. Your politicians rake in millions of dollars in compaign contributions and no-one even blinks.
I'll tell you the same thing I told the last moron who said the US isn't a democracy because it's a republic, the two are not mutually exclusive. You can have a republic that is democratic in nature, or you can have a republic that is not. You can have a democracy that is constrained by a constitution and is seperated into different levels or you can have a democracy that isn't. Of course, when you actually look at what your country is instead of what it claims to be it is neither a democracy nor a republic, it's a totalatarian plutocracy with a buttload of sugar on top so the fat lazy occupants think they're getting a good deal.
Yeah, compaign donations are illegal in Australia too. The conversation went something like this:
Police: "Ok, bribes are illegal, don't take bribes." Politicians: "This isn't a bribe, it's a campaign contribution." Police: "No, it's a bribe, and if you take it I'll arrest you." Politicians: "Oh, ok, sorry."
Whereas in the US the conversation goes something like this:
Police: "Hey guys, 'bribes' are apparently illegal now, looks like we're gunna have to be honest and do our jobs for a change." Politicians: "Don't be silly, we'll just call them campaign contributions." Police: "Uhhh, look, I'm not sure you can get away with that." Politicians: "Really? Here's a contribution to the campaign to help you see things my way." Police: "Heh, ok, I get ya, it's not like anyone is minding the store anyway."
I'm an Australian so when I first heard about rider bills I honestly didn't beleive it. Then I discovered that Australia also had the problem of rider bills at some stage. We recognised them as a problem and we fixed them. We no longer have rider bills. Does any other democracy on earth still have them? Is it impossible for americans to recognise a problem and fix it without ballsing it up? It just seems you have all these parasites gaming your political process and you do nothing about it. You know how everyone knows that US congressmen take bribes? Well, here in Australia, it's illegal for politicians to take bribes. It's like that in the rest of the world too right? So why can't americans recognise something that's so straight forward and simple (politicans should not be permitted to take bribes) and do something about it?
Call me cynical, but when I played the game I thought I'd been stuck in a huge shopping mall where no-one was having any fun. Oh well, I guess that's why they call it Second Life.
Re:Do they or do they not have the source legally?
on
Zeta Goes Gold
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· Score: 1
There isn't an alternative proprietary product available all the time. Unless, of course, you're the kind of person who judges what they need and want based on what everyone else is doing. In that case there will certainly be a proprietary product available for you to waste your money on. People who pay rent are not free to do renovations on their home, whereas people who own their own home are. Sure, there's probably a better house you could go rent that has all the features you want and you could keep hoping from home to home to get what you want, or you could go and freakin' buy your own home and make it what you want.
As a grad student you wouldn't see a problem.. unless that is you believe that more people would actually produce new algorithms if they could work on them full time. Instead we have people like you who use up public resources to produce something that the private sector could produce more readily. Not to mention the fact that the vast majority of research that is performed by grad students has no economic value. As for the free software movement, we don't make many new algorithms, we just use existing ones.
May I retort? The majority of new algorithms created in computer science today are either created by graduate students who get paid nothing for their work or by researchers in commercial labs who hide their results. The former group of people have the incentive of getting their degree and forwarding their academic career, etc. The second group of people have the incentive of producing superior products to their competitors and capturing greater market share, etc. Only the former group actually publishes their work and forwards the state of the art of computer science, and they can only afford to work on producing new algorithms part time as they have to earn a seperate living as well (or hope to earn one in the future to pay off their debt, or get a piddling living allowance from their government and as such want to stop this line of work as quickly as they can).
From this I hope it is clear that the progress of computer science is pretty damn slow. Now imagine if we had a fair patent system where there were direct incentives for the creation of new algorithms (much like there are for other industries, like pharmaceuticals). People could afford to work on creating new algorithms full time. Industries could be built around these new algorithms. Research that is currently kept secret could be revealed to the public. Computer science would start moving forward at a faster pace.
Note that I said a fair patent system. I agree that without patent reform computer science will go backwards instead of forwards.. but I seem to be alone in this suggestion. The debate appears to have polarised into for and against camps with no-one willing to discuss the possibility of a fair compromise.
Oh, don't recommend that! I mean, you can't go up in front of politicians and tell them that the sky will fall if software patents are enacted in Europe if you have to admit that the sky hasn't fallen in the US - cause ya know, it hasn't, and for some reason I don't think Europe is holding up the sky, do you? Everyone wants to cry about software patents and, yes, as the system currently stands it all looks bad, but the US has had them for years and a whole lot of software is still made in the US isn't it?
Something I learn every day: people have no dignity. If someone assigned me a task for which I was unqualified I would refuse to do that task as I could not do it well. Most other people will fumble through it and hope that they don't get caught out as they feel they should be qualified to do it. Fixing computers is the perfect example for me. People think that because I'm a programmer I should be able to change the ram or harddrive or whatever in my computer. Ya know, it's all computer stuff.
So which one is which? By the order you just used copyright is for ideas and patents is for physical items where I was under the impression it was the opposite. Ya know, copyright is for controlling work which is a particular embodyment of an idea, which is why you can come up with an idea for some software and code it and I can say hey, that's a good idea, I think I'll code my own version of that. Whereas patents are awarded for a particular concept and even if I independantly discover that concept after you have patented it I still have to license it from you. This is really basic stuff and maybe people who don't get it should not be commenting on it (or god forbid, voting on it).
heh, you're presuming they still have all the source code for their product. Don't be surprised when you learn that half your favourite applications still havn't been ported cause they're waiting for their outsourced programmers in India to finish rewriting a bunch of libraries they've been linking to for years and years with no source code.
it's all about media control. With Rupert retired there's little the government can do which doesn't result in public outrage.. unfortunately that doesn't seem to turn into votes and they remain in power.
Sigh. Replace "download" with "buy from the Apple shop" and it will still be cheaper. I agree with your point about things being "cheap" but there is such a thing as good value for money and Apple products have never been good value for money (Apple IIe excluded).
Sigh. Clone makers then undercut Apple and people who previously would buy a Mac to feel special will no longer do so because they're cheap as chips and Apple's hardware business is in the toilet. When it becomes common to buy a clone instead of a Mac, people start looking at clones of Apple's other hardware (iPods) and thinking that, gee, maybe it is dumb of me to pay twice as much just so I feel special. Maybe Apple doesn't care and they think they can migrate from a hardware company to a software company this way, but I think more likely they think they can just attack clone makers and crush them legally.
Just because they provide a linux client we're supposed to care? There's a lot more interesting MMORPG projects out there (some that are even open source) and they don't get any coverage on Slashdot.
See, this is just typical of the rich Mac user. Spose you've just bought a Dell laptop. You would like to switch to a Mac but you just can't afford it. Oh wait, I think I'll try installing this ISO I got off a P2P client. Yah! Mac rocks! Sure, I can't call Apple for support but I never called Dell for support (or Microsoft) and I've gotten by so far. 2 years pass and you decide that it's time you updated your hardware. Do you a) buy a Mac or b) buy another Dell? The answer, for everyone but you smug rich Mac lovers, is whichever is cheaper.
Slashdot Mirror
Sigh, tell me when you have found the last member of congress who took bribes and got caught. I too can pull a news story out of my ass about some lunch lady who took a bribe. Planning Board, pfft.
For a start, you can stop spreading the fiction that it's a two horse race. You can vote in your local elections. You can run for office yourself. You can gather evidence that your politicians are corrupt and demand that it be heard. You're not at the end of the rope yet, but you're quickly getting to it.. when your courts start rejecting evidence of corruption, then you're screwed cause you can forget about your final course of action, armed rebellion, cause you're stupid enough to allow your government to form armies that are legally permitted in your cities.
see, USA
Introducing and passing laws should be handled in the same way as juries are formed. Ever tried to bribe a jury member? Harder than bribing a judge.
It does happen, and we arrest and jail politicians for doing it. When was the last time a politician was arrested for taking a bribe in the US? When our politicians get done for taking bribes it's a few thousand dollars that they were too weak to resist. Your politicians rake in millions of dollars in compaign contributions and no-one even blinks.
I'll tell you the same thing I told the last moron who said the US isn't a democracy because it's a republic, the two are not mutually exclusive. You can have a republic that is democratic in nature, or you can have a republic that is not. You can have a democracy that is constrained by a constitution and is seperated into different levels or you can have a democracy that isn't. Of course, when you actually look at what your country is instead of what it claims to be it is neither a democracy nor a republic, it's a totalatarian plutocracy with a buttload of sugar on top so the fat lazy occupants think they're getting a good deal.
Yeah, compaign donations are illegal in Australia too. The conversation went something like this:
Police: "Ok, bribes are illegal, don't take bribes."
Politicians: "This isn't a bribe, it's a campaign contribution."
Police: "No, it's a bribe, and if you take it I'll arrest you."
Politicians: "Oh, ok, sorry."
Whereas in the US the conversation goes something like this:
Police: "Hey guys, 'bribes' are apparently illegal now, looks like we're gunna have to be honest and do our jobs for a change."
Politicians: "Don't be silly, we'll just call them campaign contributions."
Police: "Uhhh, look, I'm not sure you can get away with that."
Politicians: "Really? Here's a contribution to the campaign to help you see things my way."
Police: "Heh, ok, I get ya, it's not like anyone is minding the store anyway."
And no-one was.
I'm an Australian so when I first heard about rider bills I honestly didn't beleive it. Then I discovered that Australia also had the problem of rider bills at some stage. We recognised them as a problem and we fixed them. We no longer have rider bills. Does any other democracy on earth still have them? Is it impossible for americans to recognise a problem and fix it without ballsing it up? It just seems you have all these parasites gaming your political process and you do nothing about it. You know how everyone knows that US congressmen take bribes? Well, here in Australia, it's illegal for politicians to take bribes. It's like that in the rest of the world too right? So why can't americans recognise something that's so straight forward and simple (politicans should not be permitted to take bribes) and do something about it?
Call me cynical, but when I played the game I thought I'd been stuck in a huge shopping mall where no-one was having any fun. Oh well, I guess that's why they call it Second Life.
There isn't an alternative proprietary product available all the time. Unless, of course, you're the kind of person who judges what they need and want based on what everyone else is doing. In that case there will certainly be a proprietary product available for you to waste your money on. People who pay rent are not free to do renovations on their home, whereas people who own their own home are. Sure, there's probably a better house you could go rent that has all the features you want and you could keep hoping from home to home to get what you want, or you could go and freakin' buy your own home and make it what you want.
As a grad student you wouldn't see a problem.. unless that is you believe that more people would actually produce new algorithms if they could work on them full time. Instead we have people like you who use up public resources to produce something that the private sector could produce more readily. Not to mention the fact that the vast majority of research that is performed by grad students has no economic value. As for the free software movement, we don't make many new algorithms, we just use existing ones.
May I retort? The majority of new algorithms created in computer science today are either created by graduate students who get paid nothing for their work or by researchers in commercial labs who hide their results. The former group of people have the incentive of getting their degree and forwarding their academic career, etc. The second group of people have the incentive of producing superior products to their competitors and capturing greater market share, etc. Only the former group actually publishes their work and forwards the state of the art of computer science, and they can only afford to work on producing new algorithms part time as they have to earn a seperate living as well (or hope to earn one in the future to pay off their debt, or get a piddling living allowance from their government and as such want to stop this line of work as quickly as they can).
From this I hope it is clear that the progress of computer science is pretty damn slow. Now imagine if we had a fair patent system where there were direct incentives for the creation of new algorithms (much like there are for other industries, like pharmaceuticals). People could afford to work on creating new algorithms full time. Industries could be built around these new algorithms. Research that is currently kept secret could be revealed to the public. Computer science would start moving forward at a faster pace.
Note that I said a fair patent system. I agree that without patent reform computer science will go backwards instead of forwards.. but I seem to be alone in this suggestion. The debate appears to have polarised into for and against camps with no-one willing to discuss the possibility of a fair compromise.
Oh, don't recommend that! I mean, you can't go up in front of politicians and tell them that the sky will fall if software patents are enacted in Europe if you have to admit that the sky hasn't fallen in the US - cause ya know, it hasn't, and for some reason I don't think Europe is holding up the sky, do you? Everyone wants to cry about software patents and, yes, as the system currently stands it all looks bad, but the US has had them for years and a whole lot of software is still made in the US isn't it?
Something I learn every day: people have no dignity. If someone assigned me a task for which I was unqualified I would refuse to do that task as I could not do it well. Most other people will fumble through it and hope that they don't get caught out as they feel they should be qualified to do it. Fixing computers is the perfect example for me. People think that because I'm a programmer I should be able to change the ram or harddrive or whatever in my computer. Ya know, it's all computer stuff.
So which one is which? By the order you just used copyright is for ideas and patents is for physical items where I was under the impression it was the opposite. Ya know, copyright is for controlling work which is a particular embodyment of an idea, which is why you can come up with an idea for some software and code it and I can say hey, that's a good idea, I think I'll code my own version of that. Whereas patents are awarded for a particular concept and even if I independantly discover that concept after you have patented it I still have to license it from you. This is really basic stuff and maybe people who don't get it should not be commenting on it (or god forbid, voting on it).
heh, you're presuming they still have all the source code for their product. Don't be surprised when you learn that half your favourite applications still havn't been ported cause they're waiting for their outsourced programmers in India to finish rewriting a bunch of libraries they've been linking to for years and years with no source code.
Unfortunately 'informed consumer' is an oxymoron.
This is the best Slashdot gag ever! Oh wait, no it isn't. QUIT YOU MORON!!
it's all about media control. With Rupert retired there's little the government can do which doesn't result in public outrage.. unfortunately that doesn't seem to turn into votes and they remain in power.
Well, it's not a project for public consumption so press is kinda the opposite of what I want. But thanks for mention it.
Sigh. Replace "download" with "buy from the Apple shop" and it will still be cheaper. I agree with your point about things being "cheap" but there is such a thing as good value for money and Apple products have never been good value for money (Apple IIe excluded).
Sigh. Clone makers then undercut Apple and people who previously would buy a Mac to feel special will no longer do so because they're cheap as chips and Apple's hardware business is in the toilet. When it becomes common to buy a clone instead of a Mac, people start looking at clones of Apple's other hardware (iPods) and thinking that, gee, maybe it is dumb of me to pay twice as much just so I feel special. Maybe Apple doesn't care and they think they can migrate from a hardware company to a software company this way, but I think more likely they think they can just attack clone makers and crush them legally.
Just because they provide a linux client we're supposed to care? There's a lot more interesting MMORPG projects out there (some that are even open source) and they don't get any coverage on Slashdot.
Dude, Apple sells Mac OS X in boxes in stores.
See, this is just typical of the rich Mac user. Spose you've just bought a Dell laptop. You would like to switch to a Mac but you just can't afford it. Oh wait, I think I'll try installing this ISO I got off a P2P client. Yah! Mac rocks! Sure, I can't call Apple for support but I never called Dell for support (or Microsoft) and I've gotten by so far. 2 years pass and you decide that it's time you updated your hardware. Do you a) buy a Mac or b) buy another Dell? The answer, for everyone but you smug rich Mac lovers, is whichever is cheaper.