> Under Fascism there would have been no Ted "series of tubes" Stevens. The election for telecommunications representatives to the chamber of deputies would have been democratic through all levels of membership, from cable monkey to executive. The best people would be chosen to represent the interests of the guild and people with no clue get no say.
While I like the rest of your post, this is utter bullshit. Nothing prevents nepotism from rearing it's ugly head here, too; and after a while the people who get elected to the lawmaking side of things will still be those who can get the most done to benefit the people electing them, which is not necessarily that which benefits society as a whole.
Imagine if the RIAA got to select their own lawmakers, instead of having to bribe existing ones.
You are right on the message that is being sent, but you are horribly wrong about the message that is being received.
What is being received is "You really need to impose harsher punishments and get more power to find and prosecute these evil thieves and pirates without being slowed down by pointless, outdated and inapplicable laws and things like the constitution, the bill of rights and the geneva convention of human rights."
How about "it is only indistinguishable because they haven't got powerful enough lenses in the sattelite" ?
It's only a matter of time before the capability is there to follow your every move, identify everyone you interact with and see whatever you do, even in your own garden, in real time.
If you really see nothing wrong with that, why not emigrate to China ? Life is much cheaper there, and the cops don't habitually carry tasers.
Well, I guess it all depends on what you define as "de-civilizing". If that entails you not being allowed to rape the planet simply because you feel you're entitled to a fuel-guzzling monster SUV to go fetch a loaf of bread at the bakery around the corner, then yeah, the world can damn well use a good de-civilizing.
I do agree with the general trend of your sentiments, but when you're linking the meaning of christmas and easter to christian events, then you're buying in to religion, if you'll excuse the harsh paraphrasing.
It's your full right to believe in that, but I personally don't; for me it's about celebrating the seasonal changes and the cycle of life - as it was way before various religions mapped their own meanings on those inconceivably ancient times of celebration. What is now christmas celebrates the return of light (Jesus is born, bringing salvation from the dark times); and what is now easter celebrates the return of life to the world - and yes, Jesus is reborn. Like all times of celebration, it is good to spend them with loved ones.
It doesn't bother me that you prefer your own fairytale to mine, though - your message is just as benevolent. Just don't try to ram it down my throat as being the one true meaning.
Quite correct. While there is such a thing as a Mac server, when you as a company approach Apple to see what they'll offer for your server room, they'll kindly point you towards various and random third-parties, with the kind equivalent of "we don't cater to your kind".
Pretty much all enterprise-level tools for centralized management and deployment are provided by third parties who specialise in that kind of stuff - and, in some cases, do a pretty good job, too. Apple itself won't touch enterprise with a very long iStick.
The theory unfortunately removes the only inkling we have about how the whole damned thing got started, though. Not an actual downside, just a bit of a bummer:-)
Also, if not all energy gets contained within the big bang, and a bit more remains every bang, won't the cycle eventually end ? Looks like it *is* compatible with entropy, then, and we will die a nice little equal-distribution death after all.
And another thought: this suggests to my uneducated goo that there is apparently an upper size to black holes, above which they bigbang. Even if the upper limit is over 0,5 universes, it's still an interesting point that might have some implications, like that sufficient mass will eventually overpower gravity.
> Cats seem to have their bodies hard-wired into the part of their optic system that deals with motion. [...] more like dogs, where they seem to ponder the event
Cats are individualists, and depend on their speed and reflexes for hunting. Dogs (well, wolves) hunt in groups, requiring entirely different tactics. And then there's cheetahs, who combine their speed with group tactics for hunting larger prey. Sometimes I wish I could "zoom out" of time to see where evolution is headed.
Interesting. Most dogs I've seen, seem to have exactly the opposite tendency, however: they love to get stuff caught in the leash, or get the leash wrapped around your legs. Could be stupid, or could be they find it amusing:-)
Of course they can, but it's still a fairer system than, say, 75.000 USD per downloaded song.
I can't say for America, but in some countries it's standard practice if you lose the lawsuit that you're also liable for the victor's legal costs, so it won't make a lot of difference there.
> the one area in which it does skirt close to crossing a line, I felt, was in portraying the Taliban as braindead grunts who charge in their hundreds into a hail of machinegun fire. That's seriously underestimating and trivialising the task that our actual armed forces have to do in Afghanistan.
I find it interesting how you take that as a possible insult on the US forces, instead of a severe underestimation and misrepresentation of an opponent that has kept the US forces busy for a decade now.
I would think it rather obvious, but it is "wrong" for the simple reason that the movie theatre you sneak into only exists because paying for your ticket is what allows the movie theatre to actually exist and show movies.
The same goes for games, of course - people paying for the games they play is what allows developers to actually spend time and effort making games, instead of having to spend their time doing other things in order to feed themselves and their families.
I don't think illegal copying is the right thing to do in any way, but I find it especially loathsome if done against a developer/publisher that is being fair and provides the content you buy without any DRM or other hassle. These guys should be encouraged, not "robbed", for want of a better word.
So, yes, I fully support their cracking down on piracy, although I do hope they won't be going for MAFIAA-style settlements. I'd say full price of the game plus full compensation for actual costs incurred (search, legal action, etc.) would be both fair and deserved.
I think you need both, actually. The business acumen lets you see how to beat competitors, but the greed makes you actually perform the necessary evils.
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> Under Fascism there would have been no Ted "series of tubes" Stevens. The election for telecommunications representatives to the chamber of deputies would have been democratic through all levels of membership, from cable monkey to executive. The best people would be chosen to represent the interests of the guild and people with no clue get no say.
While I like the rest of your post, this is utter bullshit. Nothing prevents nepotism from rearing it's ugly head here, too; and after a while the people who get elected to the lawmaking side of things will still be those who can get the most done to benefit the people electing them, which is not necessarily that which benefits society as a whole.
Imagine if the RIAA got to select their own lawmakers, instead of having to bribe existing ones.
You are mistaken: quite a few people want one-click shopping patented - Amazon was just the first to think of it.
You are right on the message that is being sent, but you are horribly wrong about the message that is being received.
What is being received is "You really need to impose harsher punishments and get more power to find and prosecute these evil thieves and pirates without being slowed down by pointless, outdated and inapplicable laws and things like the constitution, the bill of rights and the geneva convention of human rights."
How about "it is only indistinguishable because they haven't got powerful enough lenses in the sattelite" ?
It's only a matter of time before the capability is there to follow your every move, identify everyone you interact with and see whatever you do, even in your own garden, in real time.
If you really see nothing wrong with that, why not emigrate to China ? Life is much cheaper there, and the cops don't habitually carry tasers.
To me, consumerism *is* mindless. If you put thought into buying relevant, useful and personal presents, it is no more consumerism than buying bread.
I like the idea of limiting the number of presents to buy, too - everyone gets something worthwile and meaningful, but nobody has to bleed for it.
Well, I guess it all depends on what you define as "de-civilizing". If that entails you not being allowed to rape the planet simply because you feel you're entitled to a fuel-guzzling monster SUV to go fetch a loaf of bread at the bakery around the corner, then yeah, the world can damn well use a good de-civilizing.
> a healthy and prosperous society with plenty of goods that most people want and can afford
I can't help but wonder how you've missed the debt crisis most of this healthy and prosperous society has been in for the last years.
I do agree with the general trend of your sentiments, but when you're linking the meaning of christmas and easter to christian events, then you're buying in to religion, if you'll excuse the harsh paraphrasing.
It's your full right to believe in that, but I personally don't; for me it's about celebrating the seasonal changes and the cycle of life - as it was way before various religions mapped their own meanings on those inconceivably ancient times of celebration. What is now christmas celebrates the return of light (Jesus is born, bringing salvation from the dark times); and what is now easter celebrates the return of life to the world - and yes, Jesus is reborn. Like all times of celebration, it is good to spend them with loved ones.
It doesn't bother me that you prefer your own fairytale to mine, though - your message is just as benevolent. Just don't try to ram it down my throat as being the one true meaning.
Meh. When the alzheimer's kicks in, you won't remember you have star wars figurines, let alone what star wars is.
Quite correct. While there is such a thing as a Mac server, when you as a company approach Apple to see what they'll offer for your server room, they'll kindly point you towards various and random third-parties, with the kind equivalent of "we don't cater to your kind".
Pretty much all enterprise-level tools for centralized management and deployment are provided by third parties who specialise in that kind of stuff - and, in some cases, do a pretty good job, too. Apple itself won't touch enterprise with a very long iStick.
Does that mean they're gonna be grayscale alerts now ?
The theory unfortunately removes the only inkling we have about how the whole damned thing got started, though. Not an actual downside, just a bit of a bummer :-)
Also, if not all energy gets contained within the big bang, and a bit more remains every bang, won't the cycle eventually end ? Looks like it *is* compatible with entropy, then, and we will die a nice little equal-distribution death after all.
And another thought: this suggests to my uneducated goo that there is apparently an upper size to black holes, above which they bigbang. Even if the upper limit is over 0,5 universes, it's still an interesting point that might have some implications, like that sufficient mass will eventually overpower gravity.
I agree wholeheartedly. It's so much better if you put in the effort and make them yourself. A bit like pies, really.
> Cats seem to have their bodies hard-wired into the part of their optic system that deals with motion. [...] more like dogs, where they seem to ponder the event
Cats are individualists, and depend on their speed and reflexes for hunting. Dogs (well, wolves) hunt in groups, requiring entirely different tactics. And then there's cheetahs, who combine their speed with group tactics for hunting larger prey. Sometimes I wish I could "zoom out" of time to see where evolution is headed.
Interesting. Most dogs I've seen, seem to have exactly the opposite tendency, however: they love to get stuff caught in the leash, or get the leash wrapped around your legs. Could be stupid, or could be they find it amusing :-)
MS Word has nothing whatsoever to do with Vi vs. Emacs. It's a word processor, not a text editor.
Of course they can, but it's still a fairer system than, say, 75.000 USD per downloaded song.
I can't say for America, but in some countries it's standard practice if you lose the lawsuit that you're also liable for the victor's legal costs, so it won't make a lot of difference there.
> the one area in which it does skirt close to crossing a line, I felt, was in portraying the Taliban as braindead grunts who charge in their hundreds into a hail of machinegun fire. That's seriously underestimating and trivialising the task that our actual armed forces have to do in Afghanistan.
I find it interesting how you take that as a possible insult on the US forces, instead of a severe underestimation and misrepresentation of an opponent that has kept the US forces busy for a decade now.
Yes, but increasing safety decreases the chance of both having to train new astronauts, and of losing more valueable equipment than necessary.
I would think it rather obvious, but it is "wrong" for the simple reason that the movie theatre you sneak into only exists because paying for your ticket is what allows the movie theatre to actually exist and show movies.
The same goes for games, of course - people paying for the games they play is what allows developers to actually spend time and effort making games, instead of having to spend their time doing other things in order to feed themselves and their families.
I don't think illegal copying is the right thing to do in any way, but I find it especially loathsome if done against a developer/publisher that is being fair and provides the content you buy without any DRM or other hassle. These guys should be encouraged, not "robbed", for want of a better word.
So, yes, I fully support their cracking down on piracy, although I do hope they won't be going for MAFIAA-style settlements. I'd say full price of the game plus full compensation for actual costs incurred (search, legal action, etc.) would be both fair and deserved.
Maybe a 5$ wretch will do - I hear Darl is looking for a job.
Umm... I seem to recall Java predating .net and C# by quite a bit, actually.
I think you need both, actually. The business acumen lets you see how to beat competitors, but the greed makes you actually perform the necessary evils.
It is ? Never heard of it. Then again, I'm not a frequent flyer.
> Turrets Syndrome
What, he speed-fires crazy at anyone within range but can easily be taken out if you approach from behind ?