"I am a profound believer in free speech and against any form of censorship. "
Why do people say things like this? Are you really saying that you think child-pornography should be openly sold on the streets? Because if you don't, you believe in some form of censorship.
And patent laws are agreed upon by most countries, and they will protect patents of people/companies from other countries. Free speech is not agreed upon by most countries, in this case France.
"Extending copyright until it lasts longer than an average human lifetime...."
I don't know about you, but if I write a poem today, and print up 1000 cards with it, I can sell those cards to people for money. I wouldn't want some theiving bastard to find one of those cards in 10 years, and print up 1,000,000 of them to sell without giving me any of the profits.
I like Open Source and all, but if I _want_ something that I write to be _mine_, then I want it to be mine for my lifetime. Even if I live for 200 years, it's mine, leave it the hell alone. I don't care if it is code, poems, novels, songs, music, or bumper stickers. Hands off unless I give you permission to use it.
Been there, done that.
Only it was on the ComTran-10 computational device. It was either a large very weak computer, or a gigantic calculator, we never could decide. It was about 4 feet wide and 3 feet high. There was no monitor. The display consisted of a panel 2 feet high, with 10 rows of lights to represent the 10 data registers, and a group of lights for the data flags. If a light is on, there is a '1' bit set, it the light is off, it's a '0' bit.
No keyboard either, but there was a data entry panel in front, with both a Hex pad and 10 rows of buttons, one for each register. Press a button to set a '1' bit at that place in that register.
To program it, we had to set the '1' bits in the 8-bit input register, set the '1' bits in the address register (starting at 00000010, each address held 4 bits) and press the button to send the data from the input register to the memory space indicated in the address register.
Thankfully, this was only a training computer. It was designed to teach us how programs actually performed, at the binary and register level. And actually, I wish I could get one, just to play with, and show my daughter what I had to go thru.
"Register a globally-visible domain for something so inherently local"
This reason is why I never bothered to register a domain when I was running my own home-based computer repair business. I have the state tax license and the business checking account, but no web-page. People would ask me about it, and I would generally tell them I don't see the need to let the whole world read about my business on the web, when only people in my immediate area are going to be calling me.
This new scheme with.us seems to be much better. I would gladly pay $5 for my_company.my_city.st.us.
It makes a lot more sense than $75 for my_company.com. And another $75 for my_company.net. And another $75 for my_compnay.com. And another $75 for my_compnay.net. And another $75 for mycompany.com. And another $75 for mycompany.net....
"And what is with all the troll accusations? Is everybody here really so small-minded and petty that they dismiss anything that they don't want to believe?"
Seems that way sometimes. I think it's because they have never done anything but their current line of work, so think they know everything.
I have worked in the IS side of the house for a while, and recognized some of the same types of activities you mentioned in your original post. Plus seeing a lot doing onsite computer work, install/upgrade/repair/etc. Users think they can add everything to a machine and it won't hurt it. Developers think that sometimes too, as in the reply that challanged your calling IM and Realplayer "crap".
They should know better, since we all bitch about the spyware taking over everything. I don't have Realplayer on my box at home, never even thought about putting it on at work. Ever notice how many things it wants to take over? I put only the basic version on my son's PC at home, just to play music. None of that annoying Download manager garbage.
And as for the 'really smart' developers out there, I worked with one once. He was an idiot, and his system crashed a lot. I wouldn't trust him to reinstall Windows, because only half the things would be configured right. And those would be the programs using default settings only. I know this isn't the 'normal' developer, but he isn't a lone specimen either. Last I heard of him, he was using Linux to code Perl, or somesuch project. Notice I am not calling him stupid by the way, just an idiot. Not bothering to check things before fucking them up, so he couldn't unfuck them afterward. That's an idiot.
And to stave off the torches being hurled at me, I have been using Linux since 1994, when I bought the big-ass book with a Slackware CD in it. Installed it at work, with the help of a co-worker. Had it installed at home, but not currently, and just installed it at work a couple weeks ago, to play with. But I don't make money using linux. My current job is a Unix admin and tech support, supporting about two dozen Unix hosts/servers and two hundred Windows workstations.
"-I don't have a god complex, god has a ME complex"
If the Omniscient One is so deluded that He wants to use MS Windows Millenium Edition, than we're all lost. Imagine your world suddenly stopping, the sky goes blue, and then God hits the Reset button. Wait, the sky is blue right now, AHHH!!!!
But if they told everyone, no one would pay taxes. Then all the neat government activities that they take for granted would stop for lack of funds. Things like police, road repair, customs inspections, and national parks. Then things like airplanes, interstate shipping, import/exports, would stop because there were no beaurocrats to inspect items, process papers, and accepts bribes. Then their whole nice balanced life would become unbalanced.
They want to talk about taxes being illegal or unconstitutional, but don't want to do anything to prove it to everyone, only to each other. Just wait for some kid to tell everyone that their emperor has no clothes.
And just for the record, I don't care for the Federal government much either. But unless you live in a cabin in the woods, and buy all your bomb-making supplies from the Injuns, the Feds are in every aspect of your life. The actions that would be needed to change that would also shatter the US itself. I don't feel like having another Civil War this year. How about you?
I'm dyslexic that way on a Qwerty keyboard, only with the 'e' and 'i' keys. For some reason I am always hitting the wrong one. But "Povernment" sure looked weird.
But why would Bill Clinton care about this. As long as he has several 'cracks' around to make his 'microsoft' into 'megahard', and Hillary is gone, he should be happy. Maybe he is less worried about people cracking the bugs, than about the bugs in the cracks. Don't want to catch anything, seeing as how Hillary knows he couldn't get it from her. She hasn't slept with him since...How old is Chelsea?
Others here have said this same thing, which is actually what the article mentions. Microsoft isn't complaining that security firms/sites are finding and publishing flaws and holes, just that the 'exploit code' is often included in the reporting. So if they just stop giving out the expoit code, that script kiddies couldn't use it to attack the hole.
But I think that would stop them for about 2 days. Somewhere a hacker would see the article, test his own target box, figure out the exploit code needed, and publish it on a website or newsgroup. If he is good, he will probably get the exploit code posted within 48 hours, and the script kiddies would still get it. Maybe not the exact same code as the original security site used, but something that does the same thing.
So, I agree that Microsoft has a point, and exploit code shouldn't be posted until after the patch is available. But if there is a detailed description of the problem, someone else will be able to write the code to attack it. And we will have the same results as we have now, thousands of script kiddies trying to attack the flaw/hole.
The general scientist-approved age of the universe is between 10 and 20 billion years (in US counting), starting with the Big Bang. The edge of the universe is expanding at the speed of light. So from the center to the edge (the radius)is 10 to 20 billion lightyears. Since they estimate the cluster to be over 13 billion years old, it is probably located on the other side of the center of the universe. The reason the light hadn't passed Earth yet is that we are that far towards the edge of the Universe. If we were located in a galaxy closer to the center of the universe, the light from the clusters would have passed us a few hundred million years earlier.
As for the the actual "edge" of the universe, there are many theories of how it actually exists. Some say it _is_ like the Asteroids game, looping upon itself. Others say there is just a void after it which we can never get to because the edge retreats from us at the speed of light. And others say there is no edge, space is infinite.
I just went to the Internet Movie DataBase, imdb.com, to see what movies Yahoo Serious has been in. As it turns out, he has a long history of film-making, spanning decades. Here is a synopsis:
His starring roles:
Mr. Accident (2000).... Roger Crumpkin
Reckless Kelly (1993).... Ned Kelly
Young Einstein (1988).... Albert Einstein
His producing roles:
Mr. Accident (2000) (producer)
Reckless Kelly (1993) (producer)
Young Einstein (1988) (producer)
His directing roles:
Mr. Accident (2000)
Reckless Kelly (1993)
Young Einstein (1988)
His writing roles:
Mr. Accident (2000)
Reckless Kelly (1993)
Young Einstein (1988)
His misc. roles:
Reckless Kelly (1993) (music designer) (supervising film editor)
Young Einstein (1988) (supervising film editor)
Young Einstein (1988) (stunts)
Yes, an actor of this great volume of diverse works is surely worthy of having his self-selected name reserved for all history for his enjoyment alone.
Actually, phone books are copyrighted. You can't legally copy lists of names and phone numbers from the phone book to make your own phone book for sale. Same for maps, which I always thought was the stupidest thing. A basic outline of the US is copyrighted. It is just a shape. A really bumpy shape. But if it is in a child's coloring book, it is copyrighted.
This response may seem to ramble a bit, but it does clarify my position and first response.
First, I agree that government abuses its power all the time. But almost everyone wants it to, in favor of their own agenda. The mainstream liberals want big government and social welfare, the mainstream conservatives want big government and corporate welfare. The ultra-left want socialism, homosexuality, and atheism shoved down every everyone's throat. The ultra-right want laisse-faire (sp?), family-values, and God shoved down everyone's throat. Both want tax-breaks for their political base, either the poor minorities or overburdened upperclass.
The Libertarians have the best idea, that there should be radically reduced Federal government, no personal tax at all, and everyone leave everyone else alone to do their own thing. But they don't realize that less Federal government intrusion will simply lead to more State government intrusion. Or they do realize it but chose to gloss-over it, for political gain. If the national environment laws were thrown out the window, every state would simply make their own, prodded on by the ultra-left tree-huggers and vegetarians. I mention these two groups specifically, because moderates aren't going to prod anything, they will just accept the result, and the conservatives don't feel the government should trample people's rights to develop property or run a business. But the result of less Federal interference would be 50 different levels of interference, run by 50 different groups of people looking out for themselves. Which is worse, one large group of selfish idiots or 50 smaller groups?
My main point though, it that government will do what it wants, whether it's legal or not, and Constitutional or not. Politicians will pass laws that are unconstitutional, just so they can say their actions weren't illegal. Most people don't care, because they are idiots. A few actually know what is going on, and don't care because they have something to gain by it. A few more know what is going on and want it to stop.
But it has been going on for ever, even within the US. McCarthyism and Japanese internment weren't the first cases. Have you heard of The Sedition Act of 1798? Some of the "Founding Fathers" voted for it or supported it. Even earlier, when they were actually writing the Constitution there were political battles about how strong the Federal government should be. Not everyone thought it should be weak, with the checks and balances. A large number of delegates wanted that power then, a powerful Congress of men who would rule the land, justly of course.
So this just leaves me with the attitude that I don't care what the laws are, I don't trust the government or corporate environment any more than I have to. I can always ignore unjust laws. My position isn't so public that it matters. No one knows me enough to know that they should be watching me.
But the thing about your post that really got my attention was comparing AOL giving access to customer data to McCarthy going after communists. The entire reason behind the two actions are so dissimilar and imbalanced as to make it a mockery of the attacks. I see you mention that you know people directly impacted by the attacks. I don't know if that means you know someone who died, or just one of the thousands of wounded, but it doesn't make the comparison acceptable in my view. As I said in the first post, ask the police and firemen if it is a fair comparison.
And one last item, just to pat myself on the back: I posted a couple days after the attacks that this exact thing would happen. Companies ignoring privacy policies and laws to give the government any info it wants to track these people down. I was mainly thinking about AOL and other ISPs, but it's not surprising that car rentals and airlines are doing it too.
Do you really think that Osama bin Laden cares what Joe Blow does in Butt-Fuck, Iowa. He couldn't care less about our 'civil liberties' in America, except that they allowed the attacks to happen. He wants to scare us, make us bleed, and possibly wake us up to the really important things going on in the world. Unfortunately for him, he only succeeded in one objective. Since everyone here is more scared of the government and businesses doing what they have always done, than they are scared of what a terrorist could do to them and their family.
And most posters here still still have their heads buried in the sand, or somewhere else. Get a life already, and look at what else is happening in the world. Writing this crap here, whether it's modded or not, won't make any difference. (Of course, then why am I doing it, and reading it?)
Remember the shooting at Columbine High School outside Denver Colorado, with 15 dead? The next school year, only clear plastic backpacks were allowed. Wonder what would happen if someone brought their normal backpack or bookbag to school. I forget if they also banned trenchcoats or not. It's not far off of what you say.
"Perhaps you've heard of McCarthyism? If not check it out. Simply because one was suspected of associating with someone who exercised their free speech rights to support communism led to real consequences in one's life. Like loss of their job and inability to find work. Civil rights trampled to fight the red menance. "
Comparing the Sept. 11 attacks to American communism is about as realistic as comparing a building falling on your head to someone calling you an evil westerner. Ask the NYPD and NYFD which they think is a real threat. And AFAIK, communism was never illegal. People were blacklisted for it, not executed. And it wasn't the government alone that participated and condoned it, it was 95% of the American populace.
As for the rest of the civil liberties trampled on, most cases were in violation of existing laws and the Constitution. They didn't have to make laws allowing the actions because they did it behind the scenes. Whether they pass a law or not, they are still going to do the same thing.
That's why I simply choose to give out as little info as I can, I don't sign up for every website available, I pay for most things with cash, and I heat my little cabin here in the mountains with wood I chop myself. No, wait, forget that last part.
Reminds me of our old mainframes (actually minis) in the service. Real nice black racks, with the side panel caved in about six inches off the floor. Fixed the problem half the time. Helped release tension and lower my blood pressure too, so kept me healthier.
And then tap our ruby slippers together and wish that the criminals only buy the fingerprint reading guns.
You've been watching too much Judge Dredd. Good comic, stupid movie.
I haven't even moderated anything yet. Guess I have to wait a little while yet, since I am new and all. And actually, this is one of the few posts where I have been modded at all, so my karma is still low. But soon I hope I can help with the process.
I think some of the moderators are just modding things down for the hell of it. Hopefully someone will metamod them out of the ballpark. Like I said, it is so bad lately, I don't even want to read Slashdot sometimes because of the stupidity.
And 99% of the users out there never installed Windows or Internet Explorer. It was "just there" when they bought a computer. So they are not included in you little thought experiment. For the rest of us, we get what we deserve for not restricting access to our computer. But the FTC took the action inresponse to either parents whose children hit these sites, or the owners of the correctly typed sites that this guys sites were mistyped variations of. Those people didn't install the software, so they never "explicitly" gave the web sites the "freedom" to do the popup assaults.
Slashdot Mirror
"I am a profound believer in free speech and against any form of censorship. "
Why do people say things like this? Are you really saying that you think child-pornography should be openly sold on the streets? Because if you don't, you believe in some form of censorship.
And patent laws are agreed upon by most countries, and they will protect patents of people/companies from other countries. Free speech is not agreed upon by most countries, in this case France.
"Extending copyright until it lasts longer than an average human lifetime ...."
I don't know about you, but if I write a poem today, and print up 1000 cards with it, I can sell those cards to people for money. I wouldn't want some theiving bastard to find one of those cards in 10 years, and print up 1,000,000 of them to sell without giving me any of the profits.
I like Open Source and all, but if I _want_ something that I write to be _mine_, then I want it to be mine for my lifetime. Even if I live for 200 years, it's mine, leave it the hell alone. I don't care if it is code, poems, novels, songs, music, or bumper stickers. Hands off unless I give you permission to use it.
Good way to disguise a division by zero.
Now stop making me think so much.
The bottom link on the left side of the webpage is great. Here it is:
t ml
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/crc_legal_notice.h
Check out the sarcasm on the the page. 12-point type, OK.
Been there, done that.
Only it was on the ComTran-10 computational device. It was either a large very weak computer, or a gigantic calculator, we never could decide. It was about 4 feet wide and 3 feet high. There was no monitor. The display consisted of a panel 2 feet high, with 10 rows of lights to represent the 10 data registers, and a group of lights for the data flags. If a light is on, there is a '1' bit set, it the light is off, it's a '0' bit.
No keyboard either, but there was a data entry panel in front, with both a Hex pad and 10 rows of buttons, one for each register. Press a button to set a '1' bit at that place in that register.
To program it, we had to set the '1' bits in the 8-bit input register, set the '1' bits in the address register (starting at 00000010, each address held 4 bits) and press the button to send the data from the input register to the memory space indicated in the address register.
Thankfully, this was only a training computer. It was designed to teach us how programs actually performed, at the binary and register level. And actually, I wish I could get one, just to play with, and show my daughter what I had to go thru.
"Register a globally-visible domain for something so inherently local"
.us seems to be much better. I would gladly pay $5 for my_company.my_city.st.us.
This reason is why I never bothered to register a domain when I was running my own home-based computer repair business. I have the state tax license and the business checking account, but no web-page. People would ask me about it, and I would generally tell them I don't see the need to let the whole world read about my business on the web, when only people in my immediate area are going to be calling me.
This new scheme with
It makes a lot more sense than $75 for my_company.com. And another $75 for my_company.net. And another $75 for my_compnay.com. And another $75 for my_compnay.net. And another $75 for mycompany.com. And another $75 for mycompany.net....
"And what is with all the troll accusations? Is everybody here really so small-minded and petty that they dismiss anything that they don't want to believe?"
Seems that way sometimes. I think it's because they have never done anything but their current line of work, so think they know everything.
I have worked in the IS side of the house for a while, and recognized some of the same types of activities you mentioned in your original post. Plus seeing a lot doing onsite computer work, install/upgrade/repair/etc. Users think they can add everything to a machine and it won't hurt it. Developers think that sometimes too, as in the reply that challanged your calling IM and Realplayer "crap".
They should know better, since we all bitch about the spyware taking over everything. I don't have Realplayer on my box at home, never even thought about putting it on at work. Ever notice how many things it wants to take over? I put only the basic version on my son's PC at home, just to play music. None of that annoying Download manager garbage.
And as for the 'really smart' developers out there, I worked with one once. He was an idiot, and his system crashed a lot. I wouldn't trust him to reinstall Windows, because only half the things would be configured right. And those would be the programs using default settings only. I know this isn't the 'normal' developer, but he isn't a lone specimen either. Last I heard of him, he was using Linux to code Perl, or somesuch project. Notice I am not calling him stupid by the way, just an idiot. Not bothering to check things before fucking them up, so he couldn't unfuck them afterward. That's an idiot.
And to stave off the torches being hurled at me, I have been using Linux since 1994, when I bought the big-ass book with a Slackware CD in it. Installed it at work, with the help of a co-worker. Had it installed at home, but not currently, and just installed it at work a couple weeks ago, to play with. But I don't make money using linux. My current job is a Unix admin and tech support, supporting about two dozen Unix hosts/servers and two hundred Windows workstations.
"-I don't have a god complex, god has a ME complex"
If the Omniscient One is so deluded that He wants to use MS Windows Millenium Edition, than we're all lost. Imagine your world suddenly stopping, the sky goes blue, and then God hits the Reset button. Wait, the sky is blue right now, AHHH!!!!
Is 'kerjillion' what you British call 1,000,000,000? ;^} (That's one billion for you US blockheads.) Or perhaps 1,000,000,000,000,000?
But if they told everyone, no one would pay taxes. Then all the neat government activities that they take for granted would stop for lack of funds. Things like police, road repair, customs inspections, and national parks. Then things like airplanes, interstate shipping, import/exports, would stop because there were no beaurocrats to inspect items, process papers, and accepts bribes. Then their whole nice balanced life would become unbalanced.
They want to talk about taxes being illegal or unconstitutional, but don't want to do anything to prove it to everyone, only to each other. Just wait for some kid to tell everyone that their emperor has no clothes.
And just for the record, I don't care for the Federal government much either. But unless you live in a cabin in the woods, and buy all your bomb-making supplies from the Injuns, the Feds are in every aspect of your life. The actions that would be needed to change that would also shatter the US itself. I don't feel like having another Civil War this year. How about you?
I'm dyslexic that way on a Qwerty keyboard, only with the 'e' and 'i' keys. For some reason I am always hitting the wrong one. But "Povernment" sure looked weird.
But why would Bill Clinton care about this. As long as he has several 'cracks' around to make his 'microsoft' into 'megahard', and Hillary is gone, he should be happy. Maybe he is less worried about people cracking the bugs, than about the bugs in the cracks. Don't want to catch anything, seeing as how Hillary knows he couldn't get it from her. She hasn't slept with him since...How old is Chelsea?
Others here have said this same thing, which is actually what the article mentions. Microsoft isn't complaining that security firms/sites are finding and publishing flaws and holes, just that the 'exploit code' is often included in the reporting. So if they just stop giving out the expoit code, that script kiddies couldn't use it to attack the hole.
But I think that would stop them for about 2 days. Somewhere a hacker would see the article, test his own target box, figure out the exploit code needed, and publish it on a website or newsgroup. If he is good, he will probably get the exploit code posted within 48 hours, and the script kiddies would still get it. Maybe not the exact same code as the original security site used, but something that does the same thing.
So, I agree that Microsoft has a point, and exploit code shouldn't be posted until after the patch is available. But if there is a detailed description of the problem, someone else will be able to write the code to attack it. And we will have the same results as we have now, thousands of script kiddies trying to attack the flaw/hole.
The general scientist-approved age of the universe is between 10 and 20 billion years (in US counting), starting with the Big Bang. The edge of the universe is expanding at the speed of light. So from the center to the edge (the radius)is 10 to 20 billion lightyears. Since they estimate the cluster to be over 13 billion years old, it is probably located on the other side of the center of the universe. The reason the light hadn't passed Earth yet is that we are that far towards the edge of the Universe. If we were located in a galaxy closer to the center of the universe, the light from the clusters would have passed us a few hundred million years earlier.
As for the the actual "edge" of the universe, there are many theories of how it actually exists. Some say it _is_ like the Asteroids game, looping upon itself. Others say there is just a void after it which we can never get to because the edge retreats from us at the speed of light. And others say there is no edge, space is infinite.
I just went to the Internet Movie DataBase, imdb.com, to see what movies Yahoo Serious has been in. As it turns out, he has a long history of film-making, spanning decades. Here is a synopsis:
.... Roger Crumpkin
.... Ned Kelly
.... Albert Einstein
His starring roles:
Mr. Accident (2000)
Reckless Kelly (1993)
Young Einstein (1988)
His producing roles:
Mr. Accident (2000) (producer)
Reckless Kelly (1993) (producer)
Young Einstein (1988) (producer)
His directing roles:
Mr. Accident (2000)
Reckless Kelly (1993)
Young Einstein (1988)
His writing roles:
Mr. Accident (2000)
Reckless Kelly (1993)
Young Einstein (1988)
His misc. roles:
Reckless Kelly (1993) (music designer) (supervising film editor)
Young Einstein (1988) (supervising film editor)
Young Einstein (1988) (stunts)
Yes, an actor of this great volume of diverse works is surely worthy of having his self-selected name reserved for all history for his enjoyment alone.
(Opitonal) Make a "whoosh" sound while moving hand in Step 2.
Actually, phone books are copyrighted. You can't legally copy lists of names and phone numbers from the phone book to make your own phone book for sale. Same for maps, which I always thought was the stupidest thing. A basic outline of the US is copyrighted. It is just a shape. A really bumpy shape. But if it is in a child's coloring book, it is copyrighted.
This response may seem to ramble a bit, but it does clarify my position and first response.
First, I agree that government abuses its power all the time. But almost everyone wants it to, in favor of their own agenda. The mainstream liberals want big government and social welfare, the mainstream conservatives want big government and corporate welfare. The ultra-left want socialism, homosexuality, and atheism shoved down every everyone's throat. The ultra-right want laisse-faire (sp?), family-values, and God shoved down everyone's throat. Both want tax-breaks for their political base, either the poor minorities or overburdened upperclass.
The Libertarians have the best idea, that there should be radically reduced Federal government, no personal tax at all, and everyone leave everyone else alone to do their own thing. But they don't realize that less Federal government intrusion will simply lead to more State government intrusion. Or they do realize it but chose to gloss-over it, for political gain. If the national environment laws were thrown out the window, every state would simply make their own, prodded on by the ultra-left tree-huggers and vegetarians. I mention these two groups specifically, because moderates aren't going to prod anything, they will just accept the result, and the conservatives don't feel the government should trample people's rights to develop property or run a business. But the result of less Federal interference would be 50 different levels of interference, run by 50 different groups of people looking out for themselves. Which is worse, one large group of selfish idiots or 50 smaller groups?
My main point though, it that government will do what it wants, whether it's legal or not, and Constitutional or not. Politicians will pass laws that are unconstitutional, just so they can say their actions weren't illegal. Most people don't care, because they are idiots. A few actually know what is going on, and don't care because they have something to gain by it. A few more know what is going on and want it to stop.
But it has been going on for ever, even within the US. McCarthyism and Japanese internment weren't the first cases. Have you heard of The Sedition Act of 1798? Some of the "Founding Fathers" voted for it or supported it. Even earlier, when they were actually writing the Constitution there were political battles about how strong the Federal government should be. Not everyone thought it should be weak, with the checks and balances. A large number of delegates wanted that power then, a powerful Congress of men who would rule the land, justly of course.
So this just leaves me with the attitude that I don't care what the laws are, I don't trust the government or corporate environment any more than I have to. I can always ignore unjust laws. My position isn't so public that it matters. No one knows me enough to know that they should be watching me.
But the thing about your post that really got my attention was comparing AOL giving access to customer data to McCarthy going after communists. The entire reason behind the two actions are so dissimilar and imbalanced as to make it a mockery of the attacks. I see you mention that you know people directly impacted by the attacks. I don't know if that means you know someone who died, or just one of the thousands of wounded, but it doesn't make the comparison acceptable in my view. As I said in the first post, ask the police and firemen if it is a fair comparison.
And one last item, just to pat myself on the back: I posted a couple days after the attacks that this exact thing would happen. Companies ignoring privacy policies and laws to give the government any info it wants to track these people down. I was mainly thinking about AOL and other ISPs, but it's not surprising that car rentals and airlines are doing it too.
Do you really think that Osama bin Laden cares what Joe Blow does in Butt-Fuck, Iowa. He couldn't care less about our 'civil liberties' in America, except that they allowed the attacks to happen. He wants to scare us, make us bleed, and possibly wake us up to the really important things going on in the world. Unfortunately for him, he only succeeded in one objective. Since everyone here is more scared of the government and businesses doing what they have always done, than they are scared of what a terrorist could do to them and their family.
And most posters here still still have their heads buried in the sand, or somewhere else. Get a life already, and look at what else is happening in the world. Writing this crap here, whether it's modded or not, won't make any difference. (Of course, then why am I doing it, and reading it?)
Remember the shooting at Columbine High School outside Denver Colorado, with 15 dead? The next school year, only clear plastic backpacks were allowed. Wonder what would happen if someone brought their normal backpack or bookbag to school. I forget if they also banned trenchcoats or not. It's not far off of what you say.
"Perhaps you've heard of McCarthyism? If not check it out. Simply because one was suspected of associating with someone who exercised their free speech rights to support communism led to real consequences in one's life. Like loss of their job and inability to find work. Civil rights trampled to fight the red menance. "
Comparing the Sept. 11 attacks to American communism is about as realistic as comparing a building falling on your head to someone calling you an evil westerner. Ask the NYPD and NYFD which they think is a real threat. And AFAIK, communism was never illegal. People were blacklisted for it, not executed. And it wasn't the government alone that participated and condoned it, it was 95% of the American populace.
As for the rest of the civil liberties trampled on, most cases were in violation of existing laws and the Constitution. They didn't have to make laws allowing the actions because they did it behind the scenes. Whether they pass a law or not, they are still going to do the same thing.
That's why I simply choose to give out as little info as I can, I don't sign up for every website available, I pay for most things with cash, and I heat my little cabin here in the mountains with wood I chop myself. No, wait, forget that last part.
Reminds me of our old mainframes (actually minis) in the service. Real nice black racks, with the side panel caved in about six inches off the floor. Fixed the problem half the time. Helped release tension and lower my blood pressure too, so kept me healthier.
And then tap our ruby slippers together and wish that the criminals only buy the fingerprint reading guns.
You've been watching too much Judge Dredd. Good comic, stupid movie.
I haven't even moderated anything yet. Guess I have to wait a little while yet, since I am new and all. And actually, this is one of the few posts where I have been modded at all, so my karma is still low. But soon I hope I can help with the process.
I think some of the moderators are just modding things down for the hell of it. Hopefully someone will metamod them out of the ballpark. Like I said, it is so bad lately, I don't even want to read Slashdot sometimes because of the stupidity.
But of course, I am still reading it. Can't stop.
And 99% of the users out there never installed Windows or Internet Explorer. It was "just there" when they bought a computer. So they are not included in you little thought experiment. For the rest of us, we get what we deserve for not restricting access to our computer. But the FTC took the action inresponse to either parents whose children hit these sites, or the owners of the correctly typed sites that this guys sites were mistyped variations of. Those people didn't install the software, so they never "explicitly" gave the web sites the "freedom" to do the popup assaults.