What should scare you is that they did get a warrent.
This implies that at least one other supposedly intelligent adult (the judge) looked at this case and decided it had enough merit to send in the storm troopers. Of course, this really shouldn't surprise you too badly -- America has become so terrified of crime that civil rights fell along the wayside a decade ago; getting a warrent to deprive an individual of their civil rights is little more than a formality these days.
And hey, why not? If you don't have anything to hide, you shouldn't mind the police searching your house, right? God Bless America.
Yep. Got to give them something for trying, though: Kent State has gone from outright shooting students exercising their civil liberties to simply harrassing them.
To quote an exchange between the Confederate general Stonewall Jackson and an aide on seeing the really unwarrented vandelism inflicted on Fredricksburg during the Civil War:
"How we gonna put an end to all this, General?"
"Kill 'em. Kill 'em all."
(Note: Skyshadow is joking. Suggestions are not to be taken literally. If you find yourself not finding this amusing given the context, you may be humor impared. If so, please shoot yourself between the eyes. No, wait! That was sarcasm! Aw, forget it.)
I'll bet you could use a medium-powered laser to either vaporize or deorbit the junk (depending on size). You could clear out large areas and use them as launch windows.
My bet, however, is that most of the debris would take care of itself in the span of a few years. The explosions from the weapons would likely push most of the mass out of it's designed orbit. Combine that with solar winds, atmospheric drag and other factors, and you'll be okay to go again pretty quick.
Yeah, but the fun was in *breaking* the damn things.
Consider: How much fun can you have with toys when you're being really, really careful with them? Peeling stickers, chipped plastic, loose joints and collateral damage are par for the course in protecting the world from the Evil Decepticons.
You know, this guy could be that bully who used to beat me up and steal my transformers at school. Maybe he had an agenda larger than small-minded terrorism.
Sounds like the Ender's Game movie won't be happening anytime soon.
At the time of the last/. post, I assumed they had made some serious progress. Given that they have no star, no director and no money, I suspect there's no movie (at least no time soon).
Anyhow, I gotta wonder if a good scifi movie of this type is even possible these days -- I watched an interesting feature on Arthur Clarke the other day in which everyone laughed over how 2001 could never get made again. In that vein, I suspect that even if Ender's Game could get made, the guys with the power (and the money) at the studio would insist on a big-name star and/or director -- and since very few child stars can rake 'em in, I further suspect that the story would be unforgivably changed a la Starship Troopers.
Oh well. Some things are better off left alone, anyhow.
Okay, everyone who is so excited by the Playstation 2 that they write/read "My First 24 Hour" columns: Outside. Now.
No offense, man. I like video games as much as the next geek, but this is stupid. Ya'll sound like a bunch of 13 year old girls trying to get tickets to an N'Sync concert.
I think Jobs' real strategy is to turn the Mac into the equivalent of a designer label in clothing. The iMacs were a start, but the cubes are the *perfect* example of this. They look funky-cool. They have a well-recognized label. They cost a lot. Sound framiliar?
Jobs has had the insight to see the potential of the computer as a sort of renewed status symbol, and the new Mac cubes are chasing that with a vengence. Everyone has a computer, but not everyone has a really swanky one. Ask yourself: Does the average mid-20's to mid-30's hipster who just surfs and emails and buys designer clothes and furniture want a beige lump or a sleek, cool-looking Mac? I'd be willing to bet that you'll start seeing cK and Ralph Lauren computers with sleek looks within the next couple of years -- Apple is just at the start of this trend.
In this age where more and more of what you use a computer for is on the net anyhow, lack of software apps matter less and less. Style, on the other hand (and forgive me), never goes out of style.
They are in SUPPORT positions, not there to rule all things computer related!
They are in support positions. It's their job to make sure everyone can work and it's their ass when anyone can't. On the other hand, it's the programmer's job to punch out code all day, not to be spending time messing with your system. You tell me who ought to be dictating network policy.
It's not fair to the IT people to make them fully responsible for all of the computers on the network and then not give them carte blanche in systems management. They have every right to do what they need to to keep the systems running.
Of course, it's also IT's job to be responsive and give the developers what they need -- not doing so is like having the janitor refuse to wash out the restrooms twice a day. Still, recognize that IT still has to strike a balance between their budget, systems stability, the demands of other people and your needs.
I can't stand people like yourself who sit around all day congratulating themselves over how above everyone else they are. You sit in your little cube gritting your teeth because IT won't instantly give you everything you want. You don't give a rat's ass if your freeware Backstreet Boys screensaver f*cks with the network, because you're the only one in your entire office who matters anyhow. They just must not understand it.
It's not your job to dick with your computer. Get back to fucking work.
Anyone care to make a guess as to the stock market implications of this? I see that CORL is up about 100% in after-market trading, and I suspect this will continue tomorrow.
As someone who picks up stock in "dead stock" companies who still have okay products -- CORL, SGI, etc -- this is a big day for me. Time to start picking out a new ride...
Yeah, I had an idea similar to this when I was reading Neil Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. In the book, a server was kept in a closet which also contained a very large electromagnet -- when the cops opened the door, it set off the magnet and zapped the hard drive.
You could build a more basic system based on the concept -- just build a really basic, thin electromagnet and tape it to the drive itself. When the Gestapo comes to your door, just press a button to zap the drive. Or, you could include a battery and have it rigged to zap the drive if the case is improperly removed, or whatever.
Probably are legal ramifications to this, what with destroying evidence and all. Still, remember that Mitnik is only loose now because the cops couldn't read his hard drive ("No, your honor, it's not erased -- it's just very heavily encrypted").
This is still only a band-aide. The megacorps have become the modern tyrants, and we're moving towards a world where we won't have any wiggle room to protest -- government and corporations working in together to keep you as a slave. They'll control what you see, hear, learn in school and (thanks to the first three) what you think.
Solutions? There's only one -- if government can't protect us (which is what governments are supposed to be doing in the first place), perhaps it's time to strike back in the same way that people have always struck against those who would control them, the tyrants. Protest as all of those who would be oppressed have finally been forced to, and force the hand of your master -- by any means necessary.
Not that I'd advocate violence -- government and the TV say it's bad, so it must be. So, don't think in that direction. Go about your day, smile about your $20k in stock options and your car and your existance. Don't care if your kids are being raised with corporations controlling their schools, or if all your news comes from the same parent company. Ignore the fact that money is speech, and politicians are bought and sold. At least you can barbeque on the weekends and buy expensive little scooters for your 1.5 children.
The real issue is how much you've donated to the EFF.
Otherwise, you're just passing the buck. Passing the buck is, of course, the root of the problem to begin with -- if we who aren't worth millions stopped complaining about how the few wealthy geeks aren't holding up their end of the deal and woul just give money to the EFF, it wouldn't be underfunded.
I agree with the original poster, though. I meant to join the EFF when I got out of college and I forgot to do so. Well, at least I can rectify that right now.
Hey, who knows? Maybe we can start a new chic on the 'net -- the next time some c*cksucker starts jawin' about his income, say "I gave $1k to the EFF last year."
I think you'd need a really, really big block of ice to fend off any decent-size laser attack. Really big. I don't think it would take (relatively) all that much juice to turn that block of ice into superheated steam in a few seconds.
Maybe a more effective temporary heat sink -- like a small black hole.
Slashdot Mirror
This implies that at least one other supposedly intelligent adult (the judge) looked at this case and decided it had enough merit to send in the storm troopers. Of course, this really shouldn't surprise you too badly -- America has become so terrified of crime that civil rights fell along the wayside a decade ago; getting a warrent to deprive an individual of their civil rights is little more than a formality these days. And hey, why not? If you don't have anything to hide, you shouldn't mind the police searching your house, right? God Bless America.
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"How we gonna put an end to all this, General?"
"Kill 'em. Kill 'em all."
(Note: Skyshadow is joking. Suggestions are not to be taken literally. If you find yourself not finding this amusing given the context, you may be humor impared. If so, please shoot yourself between the eyes. No, wait! That was sarcasm! Aw, forget it.)
----
My bet, however, is that most of the debris would take care of itself in the span of a few years. The explosions from the weapons would likely push most of the mass out of it's designed orbit. Combine that with solar winds, atmospheric drag and other factors, and you'll be okay to go again pretty quick.
----
Consider: How much fun can you have with toys when you're being really, really careful with them? Peeling stickers, chipped plastic, loose joints and collateral damage are par for the course in protecting the world from the Evil Decepticons.
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If so, I want Jazz back, damnit.
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Obviously, this guy isn't playing on the same Quake 3 servers as I am.
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Remember, if it doesn't say Claymore(tm), you're not fraggin' with the best.
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No offense, man. I like video games as much as the next geek, but this is stupid. Ya'll sound like a bunch of 13 year old girls trying to get tickets to an N'Sync concert.
----
Jobs has had the insight to see the potential of the computer as a sort of renewed status symbol, and the new Mac cubes are chasing that with a vengence. Everyone has a computer, but not everyone has a really swanky one. Ask yourself: Does the average mid-20's to mid-30's hipster who just surfs and emails and buys designer clothes and furniture want a beige lump or a sleek, cool-looking Mac? I'd be willing to bet that you'll start seeing cK and Ralph Lauren computers with sleek looks within the next couple of years -- Apple is just at the start of this trend.
In this age where more and more of what you use a computer for is on the net anyhow, lack of software apps matter less and less. Style, on the other hand (and forgive me), never goes out of style.
----
They are in support positions. It's their job to make sure everyone can work and it's their ass when anyone can't. On the other hand, it's the programmer's job to punch out code all day, not to be spending time messing with your system. You tell me who ought to be dictating network policy.
It's not fair to the IT people to make them fully responsible for all of the computers on the network and then not give them carte blanche in systems management. They have every right to do what they need to to keep the systems running.
Of course, it's also IT's job to be responsive and give the developers what they need -- not doing so is like having the janitor refuse to wash out the restrooms twice a day. Still, recognize that IT still has to strike a balance between their budget, systems stability, the demands of other people and your needs.
----
I can't stand people like yourself who sit around all day congratulating themselves over how above everyone else they are. You sit in your little cube gritting your teeth because IT won't instantly give you everything you want. You don't give a rat's ass if your freeware Backstreet Boys screensaver f*cks with the network, because you're the only one in your entire office who matters anyhow. They just must not understand it.
It's not your job to dick with your computer. Get back to fucking work.
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As someone who picks up stock in "dead stock" companies who still have okay products -- CORL, SGI, etc -- this is a big day for me. Time to start picking out a new ride...
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So, let's hear some details. Howdya do it? Remember, we're techies and not magicians; we can reveal our secrets.
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You could build a more basic system based on the concept -- just build a really basic, thin electromagnet and tape it to the drive itself. When the Gestapo comes to your door, just press a button to zap the drive. Or, you could include a battery and have it rigged to zap the drive if the case is improperly removed, or whatever.
Probably are legal ramifications to this, what with destroying evidence and all. Still, remember that Mitnik is only loose now because the cops couldn't read his hard drive ("No, your honor, it's not erased -- it's just very heavily encrypted").
This is still only a band-aide. The megacorps have become the modern tyrants, and we're moving towards a world where we won't have any wiggle room to protest -- government and corporations working in together to keep you as a slave. They'll control what you see, hear, learn in school and (thanks to the first three) what you think.
Solutions? There's only one -- if government can't protect us (which is what governments are supposed to be doing in the first place), perhaps it's time to strike back in the same way that people have always struck against those who would control them, the tyrants. Protest as all of those who would be oppressed have finally been forced to, and force the hand of your master -- by any means necessary.
Not that I'd advocate violence -- government and the TV say it's bad, so it must be. So, don't think in that direction. Go about your day, smile about your $20k in stock options and your car and your existance. Don't care if your kids are being raised with corporations controlling their schools, or if all your news comes from the same parent company. Ignore the fact that money is speech, and politicians are bought and sold. At least you can barbeque on the weekends and buy expensive little scooters for your 1.5 children.
Apathy is just so conveniant.
----
The real issue is how much you've donated to the EFF.
Otherwise, you're just passing the buck. Passing the buck is, of course, the root of the problem to begin with -- if we who aren't worth millions stopped complaining about how the few wealthy geeks aren't holding up their end of the deal and woul just give money to the EFF, it wouldn't be underfunded.
----
I agree with the original poster, though. I meant to join the EFF when I got out of college and I forgot to do so. Well, at least I can rectify that right now.
Hey, who knows? Maybe we can start a new chic on the 'net -- the next time some c*cksucker starts jawin' about his income, say "I gave $1k to the EFF last year."
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Maybe a more effective temporary heat sink -- like a small black hole.
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Room-temperature superconductors and a nice big lake. I'll bet I could overclock that Athelon somethin' awful...
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