You also need to take into consideration the energy source. We have these amazing things all over the place whose primary purpose is to take CO2 and H2O and convert them into hydrocarbons. The primary energy input is sunlight. They're often called "plants".
If we find a way to efficiently convert plant matter, especially plant matter that is easy to produce, into biofuel we could have something reasonable to replace regular oil with.
Missed the part about researching it, didn't you? The answers you're looking for are out there. Now use whatever intelligence you have at your disposal and discover it. I'm sure wikipedia will have an entry on the history of voting, and googling "vote history", "vote fraud", and "secret ballot" should get you started. Now go write your grade 10 social studies report and stop bothering those of us who remember the last time this argument was brought up. And yes, it was within the last two weeks.
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them." - Mark Twain
"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." - Mark Twain
So, the next question is, are the willfully ignorant worse than those who have tired of dealing with them?
Or, to put it another way. Voting, and the pitfalls inherent in it is a very old topic with lots of information available, and examples to show the pitfalls in practice. Perhaps you should read up on the topic, rather than regurgitating one bad idea or another and causing all the living defenders of freedom to pull out their hair in frustration while the dead defenders of freedom roll over in their graves.
The ACLU has been very consistent on this matter. They didn't like CIPA because it required blocking software in public areas. This impinges on the freedom of speech of many people. They don't like COPA because it censors information that may be inappropriate for children. This too impinges on the freedom of speech of many people. What they're saying is, "We don't need a law that inhibits free speech to protect the children. There are tools out there to protect children should their guardians deem it appropriate, without inhibiting everyone else."
Well, the problem with that whole theory is that the guy with the bigger stick wins. Canada will never be able to enforce these kinds of actions. The political penalties will be too high for them to be able to afford. Also, there's a vast difference between blocking a site because it doesn't fall within the laws of your country (whether that be speech, financial, etc.) and suing others for doing things that are legal in their countries.
think about that for a moment, particularly about how the U.S. could use it to grab 'jurisdiction,' and tell me that it's not a really dangerous idea
Um, hello? Does the DMCA and Sklyarov ring a bell? I think one could say that the chilling effect of arresting someone for upholding the laws of his country while in his country is slightly higher than anything we can see coming out of this in the reasonable future.
For the record, I think this is a hopeless idea - there are too many ways to avoid it. But let's not paint the US as the paragon of freedom, they lost that title a number of years back.
You may not have heard, but Novell has developed other products than a Linux distro (which they bought). I've heard stories that they've even developed proprietary network management software that runs on Linux. Perhaps that's the code they're protecting. More interestingly, perhaps that's the code that MS infringes on. After all, didn't they pay Novell for this deal?
Just because the minority group happens to be gays doesn't make this ok, there would be an uproar if you had a black man advocating segregation or making interracial marriages illegal, for example.
Exactly how would it be hypocritical for a black man to be against interracial marriages? Racist, certainly. Hypocritical, not necessarily - unless he was also setting up his daughter with a "good white boy".
Today is the first day in 15 years that I've gone out of my way to check out a Mac with any interest in purchasing. The price is still high, but you get a lot to go with that price tag. Being able to run Windows for work makes it actually worthwhile. Now if I can only figure out where to get the money to plunk down on that puppy...
Here's my take on this situation. PDF is an open format, used by many people. Being able to read, and less importantly to write to it is a value to their users. It's kind of difficult to get angry at MS for supporting an open standard, especially if they support it correctly. If they don't, I hope Adobe comes down on them at least as hard as Sun did over Visual J++.
Anti-virus software is necessitated in large part by bugs in Windows or security vulnerabilities in Windows. I'd rather MS fix the bugs than build a tool to catch the exploits of those bugs. I'd also rather they build better security than still more tools to patch over flaws. For vulnerabilities that are less about flaws, I'm okay with them building tools to help here (software firewall, for instance).
In short, suck it up Adobe (so long as they don't corrupt the standard); and, MS, stop making band-aids when you can fix the holes. That said, for both of these issues, I think the world would be a better place if MS designed for the replacement of their tools with third-party tools.
Nature (or more accurately, evolution) doesn't intend for you to die off - in general it doesn't care what happens to you after you finish reproducing either way. There is some speculation that old age has been selected for in humanity due to the benefits that age and wisdom provide to the continued health (and therefore reproduction) of the post-reproductive people's descendants. So maybe we're already selected to live longer than the average mammal due to the benefits of having older people around provides us.
Old age and death may be good for the species, but it's not good for me. So while I don't expect evolution to provide immortality, that doesn't mean it can't be done, or even that it's terribly bad. It just doesn't provide for a means of improving the gene pool.
Give me a break - you been listening to that neocon clown, George Will, who can't go two shows without completely contradicting himself - what a moron??????
And...
War is about profit, the accumulation of territory, etc.
Well, you've done one better on George Will. You've contradicted yourself in two adjoining sentences. Politics and war both involve resource management, in this case land. For instance, free trade allows access to resources and markets in land you don't directly control. Military expansion gives the same results with less negotiation (but maybe more money) required.
The issue you haven't identified is this. In a democracy, the retention of power by the individuals and groups who currently wield it requires that you maintain popular opinion. Hence, the PR of war. Thus politics and war are intrinsically linked. They are started and ended by politicians (in a democratic country), and their outcome has an impact on the success of said politicians.
Uh, make sure to identify your official and unofficial trademarks. It's well-known for years that Microsoft has the de facto trademark on Gaping Security Holes(tm) and Big Gaping Security Holes(tm) (note they're not registered). There are really very few things where MS innovates - let's give them credit where it's due.
Slashdot Mirror
You also need to take into consideration the energy source. We have these amazing things all over the place whose primary purpose is to take CO2 and H2O and convert them into hydrocarbons. The primary energy input is sunlight. They're often called "plants".
If we find a way to efficiently convert plant matter, especially plant matter that is easy to produce, into biofuel we could have something reasonable to replace regular oil with.
Sadly, far too many of them are of an age to vote. No wonder we end up with chimps like Blair and Bush in office.
Missed the part about researching it, didn't you? The answers you're looking for are out there. Now use whatever intelligence you have at your disposal and discover it. I'm sure wikipedia will have an entry on the history of voting, and googling "vote history", "vote fraud", and "secret ballot" should get you started. Now go write your grade 10 social studies report and stop bothering those of us who remember the last time this argument was brought up. And yes, it was within the last two weeks.
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them." - Mark Twain
"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." - Mark Twain
So, the next question is, are the willfully ignorant worse than those who have tired of dealing with them?
Or, to put it another way. Voting, and the pitfalls inherent in it is a very old topic with lots of information available, and examples to show the pitfalls in practice. Perhaps you should read up on the topic, rather than regurgitating one bad idea or another and causing all the living defenders of freedom to pull out their hair in frustration while the dead defenders of freedom roll over in their graves.
this whole thing is utterly stuipfluous
Um, I think you misspelled 'stupifluous'...
The ACLU has been very consistent on this matter. They didn't like CIPA because it required blocking software in public areas. This impinges on the freedom of speech of many people. They don't like COPA because it censors information that may be inappropriate for children. This too impinges on the freedom of speech of many people. What they're saying is, "We don't need a law that inhibits free speech to protect the children. There are tools out there to protect children should their guardians deem it appropriate, without inhibiting everyone else."
Well, the problem with that whole theory is that the guy with the bigger stick wins. Canada will never be able to enforce these kinds of actions. The political penalties will be too high for them to be able to afford. Also, there's a vast difference between blocking a site because it doesn't fall within the laws of your country (whether that be speech, financial, etc.) and suing others for doing things that are legal in their countries.
think about that for a moment, particularly about how the U.S. could use it to grab 'jurisdiction,' and tell me that it's not a really dangerous idea
Um, hello? Does the DMCA and Sklyarov ring a bell? I think one could say that the chilling effect of arresting someone for upholding the laws of his country while in his country is slightly higher than anything we can see coming out of this in the reasonable future.
For the record, I think this is a hopeless idea - there are too many ways to avoid it. But let's not paint the US as the paragon of freedom, they lost that title a number of years back.
You may not have heard, but Novell has developed other products than a Linux distro (which they bought). I've heard stories that they've even developed proprietary network management software that runs on Linux. Perhaps that's the code they're protecting. More interestingly, perhaps that's the code that MS infringes on. After all, didn't they pay Novell for this deal?
Just because the minority group happens to be gays doesn't make this ok, there would be an uproar if you had a black man advocating segregation or making interracial marriages illegal, for example.
Exactly how would it be hypocritical for a black man to be against interracial marriages? Racist, certainly. Hypocritical, not necessarily - unless he was also setting up his daughter with a "good white boy".
Today is the first day in 15 years that I've gone out of my way to check out a Mac with any interest in purchasing. The price is still high, but you get a lot to go with that price tag. Being able to run Windows for work makes it actually worthwhile. Now if I can only figure out where to get the money to plunk down on that puppy...
...that child is going to grow up to be a worker bee, not challenging authority, just following orders...
Are you sure that isn't the goal of most schools, and most adults, wrt children?
It's a relief to me that I saw it as a damned good reason to run in the opposite direction.
...with the occasional suicide attempt thrown in (not fun when they succeed)...
Um, so it's fun when they fail?
Here's my take on this situation.
PDF is an open format, used by many people. Being able to read, and less importantly to write to it is a value to their users. It's kind of difficult to get angry at MS for supporting an open standard, especially if they support it correctly. If they don't, I hope Adobe comes down on them at least as hard as Sun did over Visual J++.
Anti-virus software is necessitated in large part by bugs in Windows or security vulnerabilities in Windows. I'd rather MS fix the bugs than build a tool to catch the exploits of those bugs. I'd also rather they build better security than still more tools to patch over flaws. For vulnerabilities that are less about flaws, I'm okay with them building tools to help here (software firewall, for instance).
In short, suck it up Adobe (so long as they don't corrupt the standard); and, MS, stop making band-aids when you can fix the holes. That said, for both of these issues, I think the world would be a better place if MS designed for the replacement of their tools with third-party tools.
They mainly use buffer overflows in the incoming money interface.
And how do you become the buffer for that particular interface and have a chance to be overflowed? That's right, run for election.
Nature (or more accurately, evolution) doesn't intend for you to die off - in general it doesn't care what happens to you after you finish reproducing either way. There is some speculation that old age has been selected for in humanity due to the benefits that age and wisdom provide to the continued health (and therefore reproduction) of the post-reproductive people's descendants. So maybe we're already selected to live longer than the average mammal due to the benefits of having older people around provides us.
Old age and death may be good for the species, but it's not good for me. So while I don't expect evolution to provide immortality, that doesn't mean it can't be done, or even that it's terribly bad. It just doesn't provide for a means of improving the gene pool.
Have you ever watched a beautiful woman pass a group of smart guys on the street. I think there is still some instinct in us
Being bound by our instincts and realizing that some of our evolutionary behaviour is fun are two entirely different things.
Just what we need, more acid rain. That will fix the environment!
Ah, it's not that big a deal - most US Army backpacks weigh more than they do.
Give me a break - you been listening to that neocon clown, George Will, who can't go two shows without completely contradicting himself - what a moron??????
And...
War is about profit, the accumulation of territory, etc.
Well, you've done one better on George Will. You've contradicted yourself in two adjoining sentences. Politics and war both involve resource management, in this case land. For instance, free trade allows access to resources and markets in land you don't directly control. Military expansion gives the same results with less negotiation (but maybe more money) required.
The issue you haven't identified is this. In a democracy, the retention of power by the individuals and groups who currently wield it requires that you maintain popular opinion. Hence, the PR of war. Thus politics and war are intrinsically linked. They are started and ended by politicians (in a democratic country), and their outcome has an impact on the success of said politicians.
Actually, I'm pretty happy with this decision. Of course, I'm not an American...
im going to lay claim to the spindle
Hey, I have a spindle here, let me return it to you. Now just bend over....
gaping security holes
Uh, make sure to identify your official and unofficial trademarks. It's well-known for years that Microsoft has the de facto trademark on Gaping Security Holes(tm) and Big Gaping Security Holes(tm) (note they're not registered). There are really very few things where MS innovates - let's give them credit where it's due.