City information changed and posted anonymously for obvious reasons.
Homeland Security: Homeland Security is a nice euphemism. It sounds like our homeland, our country, our homes will be safe and secure. This sounds great. But in practice what Homeland Security does is spy on law-abiding American citizens. Phones can and have been tapped; email can and has been intercepted, postal mail can and has been intercepted, people can and have been denied transportation. While the last example is not an example of spying, it is an infringement on freedoms. Personally, I adore America as being the âoeLand of the Free.â But in the name of security, freedoms are being negated. The government is now keeping tabs on citizens âoeto keep us safe.â Here is an example of the government watching us. "Bob" is a policeman in "Regulartown, USA". In his police car, he has a machine/computer/camera that scans the area for other cars, and this machine reads the license plates. The machine/computer/camera then checks its database to see if there are warrants, arrest notices, etc. for the owner of the vehicle. The machine/computer/camera also adds information to the database that the vehicle and its owner were at X location at Y time. In addition to the equipment on the police cars, every road coming into and leaving "Regulartown" contains a camera/computer that does the same thing. This camera/computer is tied into Homeland Security and keeps track of peoplesâ(TM) movements. We are really close to âoe1984â. We already have a Big Brother watching us. Soon, I fear, we may have Big Brother openly directing us.
I understand the governmentâ(TM)s reasoning for granting Homeland Security its spying privileges. The government wants to keep us safe. However, this is America: The Land of the Free. This country is not âoeThe Land of the Safeâ. People naturally want freedom to do what they feel is right. These freedoms can be choices of which church to attend, what flight to take, who to vote for, when to travel, how late to stay out, when to speak out against government policies, etc. In Arthur Millerâ(TM)s play, The Crucible, a play I teach to my English III students, Miller addresses the issue of governments wanting to regulate people for âoesafetyâ and how this conflicts with people wanting to be âoefree.â In the authorâ(TM)s commentary, Miller outlines the government crackdown of communists in the 1950s. His play, The Crucible, is a great allegory of McCarthyism. Some believe that we are headed for a new form of McCarthyism today. It seems that today our government has a new enemy to use for taking away freedoms. In 1692 the enemy was witchcraft; in 1950 the enemy was communism; on September 11, 2001, the enemy became terrorism.
Most would love to see Ian Holm as Bilbo for continuity. I'd love to see Ian McKellen play Gandalf for that reason. I was pleased to see Ian Holm in Jackson's LotR movies because I was a huge fan of Holm in the BBC radio version: 13 hours of goodness.
Off to RTFA now...
I must have a false sense of security. If I see things realistically, I am going to have to don a tin foil hat and end up like the protagonist in John Varley's excellent story, "Press Enter."
"You young whippersnapper. Back in my day we were after them witches! By heaven, we almost had them in Salem in the late 1690's, but the damn witch loving people overthrew the government and ran the courts out of town. If'n we don't squelch them commies/terrorists now, they'll be doing the same thing to our government."
he added that the movie studios were open to "a technology summit" featuring academics, IT companies, and content producers to work on the issues involved.'"
This is a nice sounding think tank to solve issues. But what he is really saying is, "We (The companies, programmers, ane movie Execs that have helped us to get to this point) are going to get together and do what we want even more and NOT get any input from the consumers and users of the content that we want to control."
A (what seems) long time ago, I was at the "Million-Man Lan" in KY. (Maybe it was a Lanfest -- I get them confused). AMD had some people there as guest speakers. After a time they answered questions from the audience and gave away a new processor to people with insightful/intellegent questions. I was called on and asked something to the effect of, "In upcoming processors and trhough yuor current R&D what is AMD doing to include or exclude DRM?" I was basically laughed at and told the they would leave all the DRM to Intel and Microsoft. I didn't get a processor.
Bastages! I want a processor!:-)
I scanned the article summary above and thought that Boeing was going to a Weird network. I skipped right to the article to see the details and was disappointed.
National Security letters (NSLs) have been around a while and the Bush administration has used them extensively. a little over a year ago the Washington Post had a huge story about the extensive use of these with little valid result. The kicker about the NSLs is that there is always a provision to remain secritive that you are handing over the information. If the FBI give my boss an NSL wanting records of all of of my outgoing phone calls, he must give the records and INFORM NO ONE that this happened. If me boss refuses to had over the records or "squeals", he goes to jail.
XM had pissed off the RIAA with the XMPCR (Computer Satellite Receiver). XMradio had a good relation with 3rd party applications for the XMPCR receiver. Someone made a great ap called timetrax and allowed the audio streams to be recorded and saved via mp3 format and with the Artist/Title Information. It is a great tool. I use it often for recording shows while I am away. Well the creator starting asking for money for the program. This generated a little conroversy in the area. Not a lot, but enough for the RIAA to hear about it. After a session behind closed doors between RIAA and XM, the satelite company announced that they would no longer sell the computer based listening unit.
This type of activity is not new. Anything can get passed off and passed by other people. Some anecdotal evidence:
I accidentally deposited a co-workers check into my bank account. I picked hers up by mistake as her mailbox in the office is right above me. I signed the back and took it to the bank and deposited it. Later that day, I looked in my mailbox and there was my check. I asked the secretary if anyone was missing his check. Sure enough, I had deposited the wrong one. I didn't catch it, and the Bank people didn't catch it either.
When I sign for credit card receipts. I am known to sign with a name that is not my own. (Now watch me go to jail or get placed on some terrorist list, again.)In the past 5 years, Not ONE single person has asked me to verify my signature. I am talking everything from "Anonymous", "Jimmy Hendrix,", "Hillary Clinton" to "God". It doesn't matter. No one looks at the signature. Many times I am asked for an ID. When this happens, my hopes elevate, but alas, the signature goes undetected.
Finally at a firm I worked at before, during a security audit, I went to another department and informed the manager that the system administrator was going to backup everything on Friday night and restore it on Saturday afternoon. I told him that it is against company policy to store passwords, so I needed a list of everyone's Network Login and password and Email Account and password. This way the network staff would be able to restore passwords for everyone by Monday. I had the department passwords by the end of the day.
Is there a point to all my rambling? Not really. But it seems that the more we rely on computers, the less people can be trusted.
I wonder how easy would it be to set up an environment variable for "GetCPUID" and have it return a different CPU-ID to the program? If that is possible, I'd like to know how and set my computer to return and INTEL CPU. Once done, I'd like try Skype out with my AMD machine.
Do you want all television to be subscription only, then?
Isn't this what cable television is or supposed to be? It works for satalite radio mostly. Why not TV? (I use XM radio and the only station with advertising is the kids station. [*flip Disney*]) Get rid of advertising on cable and satelite TV as that is subscription TV. Let PBS and PAX have the advertising.
Personally, getting these things wet isn't that big of an issue. Or maybe I am luckier than the rabbit that didn't loose its foot. I have washed my USB key drive in the washing machine 3 times. Never have I lost any data to the spin cycle. For the record it is a 128 meg Kingston USB drive that our local community college gave out to all students and instructors.
Well, if you happen to get one wet, I wouldn't plug it in until it dries, and I would do it before it rusts.
John Steakly's book, Armor is the first book I read with this "technology". I love it when Life imitates Art.
What has Civ IV to offer?
on
Ask Sid Meier
·
· Score: 1
Sir,
Let me allow you the chance to "talk up" your upcoming game with this question.
I love most of the civilization games! I remember well buying Civ I and opening it at a friends house to check it out, then reshrinkwrapping it to give to my wife for a birthday present. I remember the improved units of Civ II. I loved the many hours spent playing on Civ Net. However, I looked forward to Civ III. The whole concept of cultural influence baffled me and made the game less fun for my wife and I. And as there was no multiplayer support out of the box, I was turned off from the series. I refused to purchase an expansion that would add the multiplayer that was promised originally. Hopefully Civ IV, if I purchase it, will have multiplayer. Anyway, on to my question:
What does Civ IV have to offer that will draw me back into your franchise? What elements for Civ I and II are included/excluded and what elements from Civ III are included/excluded?
Slashdot Mirror
City information changed and posted anonymously for obvious reasons.
Homeland Security: Homeland Security is a nice euphemism. It sounds like our homeland, our country, our homes will be safe and secure. This sounds great. But in practice what Homeland Security does is spy on law-abiding American citizens. Phones can and have been tapped; email can and has been intercepted, postal mail can and has been intercepted, people can and have been denied transportation. While the last example is not an example of spying, it is an infringement on freedoms. Personally, I adore America as being the âoeLand of the Free.â But in the name of security, freedoms are being negated. The government is now keeping tabs on citizens âoeto keep us safe.â Here is an example of the government watching us. "Bob" is a policeman in "Regulartown, USA". In his police car, he has a machine/computer/camera that scans the area for other cars, and this machine reads the license plates. The machine/computer/camera then checks its database to see if there are warrants, arrest notices, etc. for the owner of the vehicle. The machine/computer/camera also adds information to the database that the vehicle and its owner were at X location at Y time. In addition to the equipment on the police cars, every road coming into and leaving "Regulartown" contains a camera/computer that does the same thing. This camera/computer is tied into Homeland Security and keeps track of peoplesâ(TM) movements. We are really close to âoe1984â. We already have a Big Brother watching us. Soon, I fear, we may have Big Brother openly directing us.
I understand the governmentâ(TM)s reasoning for granting Homeland Security its spying privileges. The government wants to keep us safe. However, this is America: The Land of the Free. This country is not âoeThe Land of the Safeâ. People naturally want freedom to do what they feel is right. These freedoms can be choices of which church to attend, what flight to take, who to vote for, when to travel, how late to stay out, when to speak out against government policies, etc. In Arthur Millerâ(TM)s play, The Crucible, a play I teach to my English III students, Miller addresses the issue of governments wanting to regulate people for âoesafetyâ and how this conflicts with people wanting to be âoefree.â In the authorâ(TM)s commentary, Miller outlines the government crackdown of communists in the 1950s. His play, The Crucible, is a great allegory of McCarthyism. Some believe that we are headed for a new form of McCarthyism today. It seems that today our government has a new enemy to use for taking away freedoms. In 1692 the enemy was witchcraft; in 1950 the enemy was communism; on September 11, 2001, the enemy became terrorism.
Stick a flash drive in and watch a movie? You mean like "Ghostbusters?"
Sometime these things may end up here:
https://ibid.illinois.gov/secure/default.aspx
Most would love to see Ian Holm as Bilbo for continuity. I'd love to see Ian McKellen play Gandalf for that reason. I was pleased to see Ian Holm in Jackson's LotR movies because I was a huge fan of Holm in the BBC radio version: 13 hours of goodness. Off to RTFA now...
I must have a false sense of security. If I see things realistically, I am going to have to don a tin foil hat and end up like the protagonist in John Varley's excellent story, "Press Enter."
"You young whippersnapper. Back in my day we were after them witches! By heaven, we almost had them in Salem in the late 1690's, but the damn witch loving people overthrew the government and ran the courts out of town. If'n we don't squelch them commies/terrorists now, they'll be doing the same thing to our government."
If usenet is at fault, then phone companies are at fault for every "bad thing" discussed over the airware or landlines.
A (what seems) long time ago, I was at the "Million-Man Lan" in KY. (Maybe it was a Lanfest -- I get them confused). AMD had some people there as guest speakers. After a time they answered questions from the audience and gave away a new processor to people with insightful/intellegent questions. I was called on and asked something to the effect of, "In upcoming processors and trhough yuor current R&D what is AMD doing to include or exclude DRM?" I was basically laughed at and told the they would leave all the DRM to Intel and Microsoft. I didn't get a processor. Bastages! I want a processor! :-)
CNN is running this article, but the picture has been edited out the offensive finger.
I find that interesting they will edit a "drawn" finger but will show blody dismembered bodies.
I scanned the article summary above and thought that Boeing was going to a Weird network. I skipped right to the article to see the details and was disappointed.
National Security letters (NSLs) have been around a while and the Bush administration has used them extensively. a little over a year ago the Washington Post had a huge story about the extensive use of these with little valid result. The kicker about the NSLs is that there is always a provision to remain secritive that you are handing over the information. If the FBI give my boss an NSL wanting records of all of of my outgoing phone calls, he must give the records and INFORM NO ONE that this happened. If me boss refuses to had over the records or "squeals", he goes to jail.
XM had pissed off the RIAA with the XMPCR (Computer Satellite Receiver). XMradio had a good relation with 3rd party applications for the XMPCR receiver. Someone made a great ap called timetrax and allowed the audio streams to be recorded and saved via mp3 format and with the Artist/Title Information. It is a great tool. I use it often for recording shows while I am away.
Well the creator starting asking for money for the program. This generated a little conroversy in the area. Not a lot, but enough for the RIAA to hear about it. After a session behind closed doors between RIAA and XM, the satelite company announced that they would no longer sell the computer based listening unit.
I think RIAA is still PO'ed about that.
This type of activity is not new. Anything can get passed off and passed by other people. Some anecdotal evidence:
I accidentally deposited a co-workers check into my bank account. I picked hers up by mistake as her mailbox in the office is right above me. I signed the back and took it to the bank and deposited it. Later that day, I looked in my mailbox and there was my check. I asked the secretary if anyone was missing his check. Sure enough, I had deposited the wrong one. I didn't catch it, and the Bank people didn't catch it either.
When I sign for credit card receipts. I am known to sign with a name that is not my own. (Now watch me go to jail or get placed on some terrorist list, again.)In the past 5 years, Not ONE single person has asked me to verify my signature. I am talking everything from "Anonymous", "Jimmy Hendrix,", "Hillary Clinton" to "God". It doesn't matter. No one looks at the signature. Many times I am asked for an ID. When this happens, my hopes elevate, but alas, the signature goes undetected.
Finally at a firm I worked at before, during a security audit, I went to another department and informed the manager that the system administrator was going to backup everything on Friday night and restore it on Saturday afternoon. I told him that it is against company policy to store passwords, so I needed a list of everyone's Network Login and password and Email Account and password. This way the network staff would be able to restore passwords for everyone by Monday. I had the department passwords by the end of the day.
Is there a point to all my rambling? Not really. But it seems that the more we rely on computers, the less people can be trusted.
For some reason, this is what popped into my mind when I say the title of this article. :-)
I wonder how easy would it be to set up an environment variable for "GetCPUID" and have it return a different CPU-ID to the program? If that is possible, I'd like to know how and set my computer to return and INTEL CPU. Once done, I'd like try Skype out with my AMD machine.
Or use a VHS recorder. Or buy a DVD. Or use a DVD recorder. These all work for me.
These may work for now.
However, "People/Companies/**AA" are trying to break those very devices at this moment.
What will you do tomorrow?
of Jesus using thumbscrews or having sex or something too.
:-)
It has Been done before and there are some that think this will be no better than a cartoon.
Do you want all television to be subscription only, then?
Isn't this what cable television is or supposed to be? It works for satalite radio mostly. Why not TV? (I use XM radio and the only station with advertising is the kids station. [*flip Disney*]) Get rid of advertising on cable and satelite TV as that is subscription TV. Let PBS and PAX have the advertising.
If I play this CD and it "phones home", then "they" know
- I have played the CD
- if I need a new banner
- they know where to Send it to
- they know how often I listen to it (via how many times I've checked for a new banner
I say Bull. There is a lot that can be said about me based on the idea that this rootkit phones home.Nothing taught me more about the Zombie Survival Guide. It is a great book, humorous in its subdued delivery and content. Great stuff!
Personally, getting these things wet isn't that big of an issue. Or maybe I am luckier than the rabbit that didn't loose its foot. I have washed my USB key drive in the washing machine 3 times. Never have I lost any data to the spin cycle. For the record it is a 128 meg Kingston USB drive that our local community college gave out to all students and instructors.
Well, if you happen to get one wet, I wouldn't plug it in until it dries, and I would do it before it rusts.
John Steakly's book, Armor is the first book I read with this "technology". I love it when Life imitates Art.
Sir,
Let me allow you the chance to "talk up" your upcoming game with this question.
I love most of the civilization games! I remember well buying Civ I and opening it at a friends house to check it out, then reshrinkwrapping it to give to my wife for a birthday present. I remember the improved units of Civ II. I loved the many hours spent playing on Civ Net. However, I looked forward to Civ III. The whole concept of cultural influence baffled me and made the game less fun for my wife and I. And as there was no multiplayer support out of the box, I was turned off from the series. I refused to purchase an expansion that would add the multiplayer that was promised originally. Hopefully Civ IV, if I purchase it, will have multiplayer. Anyway, on to my question:
What does Civ IV have to offer that will draw me back into your franchise? What elements for Civ I and II are included/excluded and what elements from Civ III are included/excluded?
Thanks.