Concerning your comment the form of Christianist that the matrix reflects is an old faction called Gnosticism that felt that the God that we know as God is a entity called the Demiurge and we are imprisoned in a fake work he created. Jesus was a creation of the REAL Godm the father of the Demiurge and sent him into the world to awaken us to the REAL world. Jesus taught secrets to his students and they went out and taught the secrets to others. Several organizations have been compared to (directly and indirectly) to the Gnostics including the Mormons and Freemasons. The Mormon church is about as close as you can get to the old gnotic ideaology. Just an FYI
Great now I can see it now, countless hours of schoolgirls in skirts so socially inept fan boys (is that the term now?) can whack off 24 hours a day to soft-core porn, poorly disguised as anime. I'm sorry but the crap that has been coming out lately is just that, crap. Poorly masked soft-core animated porn. Every time I turn on to watch "Anime" all I end up getting is good stories gone bad by the useless inclusion of a 16 to 18ish female character wearing a short skirt and some kid with a bad case of Sayjin hair. Spare me, anime is suffering from the same disease that hit mainstream American television programming. Christ I heard that some high school student at my old school Tartan was caught, umm, buttering the corn, to a picture of Sailor Moon.
The only series of Anime that seemed to resist this crap was; Dragon Ball (There was Bulma and Launch but that was pretty much it, oh wait Chi Chi, EEEK!!), Dragon Ball Z (Not too many kids in a thong in that series and Bulma wasn't blowing for dollars), Guyver (Only one scene near the end with the shape shifter guy, atmos?), and Record of Lodoss War (I could be wrong, but it sure as hell wasn't Kikocommon). Don't even mention that animated crap-time drama Tenchi "I have the Jason Preisly 90210 Syndrome". I think Japan and Honk Kong (intentional) are coming unraveled at the seams and this weird froth of sexual deviancy is coming across in the anime. Every day I read headlines from the Japanese papers and there is a rash of pedophile activity, wives hooking on the side, and overall moral decay. Now they have hookers in Japan that specialize in acting out rape fantasies. Yep, no bad indicators of social decay there. I don't think the US can keep up, we're being outdone in the sexual deviancy and exploitation of children department by Japan, we have got to get legalized prostitution quickly or we'll lose our #1 spot in fucked up behavior. I love the fact that showing the rape of a poison tasters was needed in the Ninja Scroll movie and don't even make me think about some of the stuff in the "sequel" movies (I threw up during the second one...) Nope anime is long dead. It died of a fatal Pr0n infection. Lost are all the old classics of anime, now it's soft core Hentai (I think I got that right.)
The second thing that just fucking blows my mind are DATING video games. Holy shit, now that is a seriously bad sign. I find it disturbing that people feel the need to play the Sims (My mundane life of demolished towers, nuclear war, and random street violence is too boring so I think I'll play a video game so I can live out someone else's boring simulated mundane life) but this is just too creepy. Have they total lost the art of REAL social interaction? They need virtual dates? What is the problem, not enough girls to go around? I have only this to say, you reap what you sow, what is the current anime sowing in your kids? Flame Away.
P.S. Remake a high-rez computer graphic version of Dragon Ball Z with DMX doing the voice of Vegita. Call it DBZ-Hardcore.
MS will immediatly integrate their OS security code into MS Messenger, and thus will not have to distribute any of the code due to the fact that core security requirments are integrated into the code. Over the next few months they will MOVE security functions from the kernel code and place functions scattered accross most of their middleware, thereby protecting the uninstallation and proprietary code contained. Think of it as taking a child hostage and hiding behind them. MS will hide behind security code.
I love this idea. For AI issues that only need a burst of CPU time in a lot this would be a god send to say, counter-strike developers. They could write a really complex AI to auto-generate waypoints for bot behaviors but would only have to pop say, $50 for a thousand cpu hours worth of computing time. For game developers that want AI waypoint generation this could be a great tool to offload cpu calculation that only need to be done once in a while (i.e. Everquest adds a new, complex zone. They have a waypoint script that runs but normally takes 4 days to run. They pop a quick $200 bucks and kick out the results in an hour. Saving time and allowing better generation by being able to do massive complex tasks quickly.) Or what about a VERY complex random map generator that simulates thousands of variables down to what was for dinner? You can spend more time developing rich complex algorithms and you can choose to take 3 weeks to generate the map at home, but if your a comerical application (or a well funded server) you can have the the super computer spit a unique map out (i.e. for every X dollars dontated through paypal we'll generate a new custom map.) I can see it now.... drool...
If the Vatican puts the contents of the Vatican library I guarantee they will censor the living hell out of what goes online. They wouldn't dare put the old Pre-Nicean Counsel (sp) texts up on the library. I am certain all the old Gnostic works will still be locked up in a vault. The pre-latin translation, arimeic, (sp) texts and countless other "forbidden" texts won't make it in. This is a joke right? It's hard enough when I was studying theology to get Pre-Vatican II texts from them. The bulk of what is in the library I doubt will ever see the light of day. I wonder if they still have the notes and comments from the Nicean Councel on what was removed and what was kept and what was changed. (Case in point the whole Virgin thing is in question as prior to most Latin text Mary wasn't mentioned as being a Virgin. So maybe his brother really was a half brother) I will be interested in seeing the results of this no doubt but I have a feeling we'll only get the tip of the iceberg.
P.S. Yes I know I butchered this but I have no spell checker at the moment.
Fuck dude you got a fucking God damn fucking problem with your fucking mouth fucker. Fuck the fucking fucker for fuck's sake. What is with the fucking Fuck-ass fuck mouth you fucking fucker. Fuck you.
Wow! I never thought that Microsoft would so carelessly sign it's own death warrant! When it comes to business, don't rock the boat. Microsoft is meddling in the business affairs of corporations. It's one thing to piss of the mob. Worse case scenario is they kill you. Piss of a corporation... damn I don't even want to think about it... endless litigations and court appearances so you can keep a job, blacklisting, starving, no home... jeez what a living hell....
!!!!!!!WARNING!!!!!!! Sorry this post has ended due to the fact it's author is now rocking himself back and forth sucking on the collar of his shirt mumbling
"Ticky Tack, Ticky Tack, Lawyers Coming, Give Me That! Got No Job, Got No Life, Got no Money, got No Wife!"
That is the point, IT'S NOT CONTACT. It is SIMULATED contact. I don't dispute there there is SOME value to the interaction. But to equate a simulated handshake to a REAL handshake is disturbing to me (just me, maybe I am overreacting). Concerning all the above people (Especially those who are mental disturbed) is an email or phone call EQUAL to a real visit? If you were in a retirement home is getting an email the same as someone visiting? Of course not. There is a reason family get together when they can, email, video postcards, or simulated meeting online is not the same. To reduce emotion to a bunch of biological functions, ignoring spiritual aspects of the human existence (I can hear the athiests sharpening their swords now) devalues the unique human experience and puts us on the same level as bacteria. I agree with you 100% but you missed the core of the argument I think, I am talking about the trend of equating these simulations with reality.
I simply ask this, if the trend continues where will the line be drawn between fantasy and reality, human versus machine? Where will the value of an individual originate then? Will going to a virtual funeral be equal to a real one? What becomes of the personal sacrifics we make in order to interact with each other? This is scary shit when you carry out the equation to the end when you dig into the concept of human worth. A good book to read is Lathe of Heaven and Brave New World. Both show the loss of the human value to an extent.
You Said: Even holding someone's hand has a positive effect on people's mental-well being.
I Say: Your not holding someone's hand with this system. It would be no different than holding a water ballon or any other object/force that has some resistence. There isn't a person there holding your hand. All that your holding is an imitation. I don't see how the two can compare even if there is a "real" person on the other end of the system. I think that as technology continues on, the question isn't that of isolation, but more of a fundamental decline in the Humanity of our lives. The human element is under a seige. This is just another step in the genocide of what it is to be a real living human being. Why leave the house or interact in reality when you have all this technology to do it for you? I see many/. posters that see no difference in meeting someone in a bar in Everquest than in the "REAL" (a term that is becoming more and more subjective) world. I find this pattern of behavior sickening. It makes the human existence trivial and "Obsolete". The terrifying aspect of this, as the value of REAL humanity diminishes so does the value of humans in general. People complain about being a number or a statistic. I find it funny (and sad) that they don't seem to mind being reduced to zeros and ones.
-Begin Extended SiG for the Sake of Technology Please Ignore when moderating and reading- P.S. Damn what is with the Lameness and text per line filter now. I tried 30 times to post. I had to strip out all the blank lines just to get the post done. Is this a recent feature change? I cannot space a post with any logical grouping with this feature. This is a bizzare form of censorship if you ask me. Only Big Chunks of hard to read text please. Oh no don't format anything so it's easy to read just clump it all together. Utterly useless.
They Said: Monday, October 28, 2002 - Tax-free Internet purchases could be dot-gone within a year or two as states search for ways to lower budget deficits I Say: Has it ever occurred to them to curb spending? They Said: Colorado is projected to lose $686.4 million in revenue in 2006 if it does not tax interstate e-commerce, according to a study released last year by the University of Tennessee for the Institute for State Studies. I say: Most families don't spend more than they earn, why don't "They" quit spending money they don't have? They Say: The report estimates that all 50 states could collectively lose more than $45 billion in Internet sales tax revenue in 2006. I say: You can't lose what you didn't have in the first place. It isn't their money it's OUR MONEY! They Say: The Streamlined Sales Tax proposal, on which delegates from the 29 states will vote on Nov. 13 in Chicago, would simplify tax collection procedures. I say: The US Constitution is around 10 pages long. The US tax laws total over 2 million pages. You cannot simplify the beast by adding MORE laws. They Say: "It's my hope that we reach that level next year," said project committee member Bruce Johnson, who is a Utah tax commissioner. I say: There is a man with few friends. They say: Gov. Bill Owens, who has put high-tech development at the top of his agenda since taking office in 1999, firmly opposes any sales tax on the Internet
"He feels it's really taxation without representation," said Dan Hopkins, a spokesman for the Republican governor. I say: There's someone to vote for! They say: Democratic businessman Rollie Heath, Owens' challenger in November's gubernatorial election, is pushing for Colorado to join the tax project. I say: This is why I will NEVER VOTE DEMOCRATE. All they want to do is STEAL my money and spend it on things I don't want. They're Socialists now, quit calling them Democrats. They say: If Colorado joins the project, the state would have to make significant changes to its tax procedures. I say: See the earlier comment on the 2 million pages of tax law! They say: But states have the authority to tax sales from online vendors who have a physical presence in their jurisdictions. I say: Pass the laws and watch them move their servers to Non-US locations. That will mean more money flowing out of the US economy. They say: In Colorado, if a company maintains an office or warehouse in the state or regularly sends a sales staff here, it has a physical presence. States don't have the authority to tax sales from online companies who don't have a physical presence in the state. I say: Ok, I have a warehouse in CA, Offices in NY, and my servers in MN. Who gets to tax me? They say: But even when an online sale isn't subject to a levy, Colorado law requires residents to pay a use tax on the purchase. Few are aware of this requirement. I say: Democracy is rule by the people. If the people don't know about the law, how legitimate can the law be without the support of the people? They say: But the consumer still must pay use taxes, he said. I say: Remember your citizens are armed Big Brother, and there will be a point we won't take it anymore. We rebelled once against taxes, and overthrew an invincible power, and we can do it again. Don't push you luck. Be thankful we vote you out of office for pulling shit like this.
Literacy is important, no it seems we cannot afford to skip reading the EULAs. I have seen some funny stuff thrown in EULAS including:
- the right to borrow your car at any time - - the right to sleep with your spouse at our discretion - - the right to submit and enforce decorating standards in your home - - the right to reduce you and your pets to a dissarrayed, sub-atomic goo-
Very true, English common law is a core of the US. Of course mention that to a US citizen and watch them blink and scratch their heads as they tenativly say, "uumm.. hit me baby one more time?"
Isn't talking about stuff like that, well you know, illegal now? I'm certain that talking about theoretical virus attacks could be considered terrorism. I mean here you are talk about this horrible WHAT-IF scenario and giving bad people all sorts of good ideas (providing AID are we?) Hmmm I have a feeling that this post may cause trouble. I bet our FRIENDS at the Homeland Security office would like to speak to you =)
AWW BUT WHAT THE HELL DO I KNOW!:) I bet someone will have a DMCA issue with this too. Hey Taco looks like we may have incoming! EEEKKK!
Oh god I can see it now a rabid Pengiun mascott jumps up the stairs from a subway entrance and jumps 4 of em doing all sorts of Judo and smashing their faces. Then as they lay there bleeding grabbing their faces in horror the pengin throws a few red hats down then escapes down the stairs to flee via the subway.
But down in the murky depths a cute 4 foot tall devil mascot with sneakers waits in the shadows. As the Penguin passes the demon jumps the penguin stabbing the penguin to death with a pitch fork. All is good.
But as the devil tries to get on the subway the police catch up and shoot him dead because they confused him for the pengiun.
Then, as they all lay dead the mascots merge and become one, it shall be called LinBsoft.
Then the super powerful LinBsoft lumbers onto the street where it is promptly hit by a fruit colored Beetle with some goatee sporting graphics designer killing both the driver and LinBsoft. All that was found at the carnage was a single apple that was eaten by a passing dog.
Concerning your post tell me this: What good is emailing an expert on farming going to do you, if you have no seed, fertilizer, or water? You need the raw materials to implement what ever your technological research comes up with. The first and most imporant goal in building a strong nation is have the ability to feed yourself and while computers can help a great deal in agriculture I don't see the need to spead the limited charity dollars on computers yet. I can see you point but I think a volunteer would be better used digging a well and building irigation ditches versus loading a Debian based Pentium computer. Hell many of these countries don't have a decent electric system. What would the cpu run on? (If you say a Fuel Cell I will scream;) )
In an ideal world yes it should be an issue of trust. But as I can see that trust is under constant attack with a nightmare of parental problems. I had a neigbor have his kids taken away because he didn't allow them to watch TV. This was considered "Cruel" and unhealthy. Parents have few right these days especially in the US. Back to the issue of content control with single parents and homes where both parents work there may be times when the kids are at home unsupervised, there must be some way to control access to some broadcasts versus others. With cable it is easy to lock out channels but with regular broadcasts there aren't a whole lot of options out there.
Concerning your closing statement that was a shallow blow to many working parents world wide. It shows you low character to make such assumptions. This discussion is over.
Depends on your religious perspective I guess. I think Menenites and Amish are REALLY strict about nudity as well as Islam. The line between nudity (for instance nude paintings) and porn (as most would see it sexual acts being filmed) is rather subjective in nature. One mans art IS going to be another's Pr0n. The eternal question is where to draw the line and who draws it.
The simple truth is that technology hasn't caught up to the basic problems of allowing parents to control the content for their kids on public airwaves (Remember we are talking broadcast TV not cable.) There isn't a widely accepted standard developed yet to allow content control on normal TV. The V chip and all of the similar ideas have flopped dead on the floor.
I think that in general it would be better to localize charity activities. Not to say that someone in France shouldn't donate time and energy to someone in Finnland but I have serious questions on the validity of the UN's organizational units. We can argue the whole "Globalization" issues with this. I hear man organizations already doing charity work on donating CPUs with Linux and stuff to emerging worlds but honestly, who needs a PC if your starving to death. My personal feelings are in a world with limited resources we need to have priorities in charitable work:
1: Basic Needs (Food, Clothing, Shelter) 2: Self Sufficency (Ability to make\get you own Food, Clothing, and shelter. Watch the Movie Soilent Green, or read the book why this is imporant) 3: Advancement of Society Standard (Literacy, Freedom, Education) 4: Wants, Computers, Cars, Leather Jackets and Blue Jeans.
Emergine nations need to have a solid foundation and bridging the Digital Divide seems pretty damn low on the ilst of priorities if I am starving and have polluted water to drink. I think we can hold of on donating the limited dollars there are to charity and set more, I wouldn't say appropriate goal (I like the idea of briding the digital divide), but more pressing needs. It would be far better for the natives of these emergine nations to be able to afford buying a computer versus getting one for free. Even better yet to have an industry where they can make and compete in computer production.
I think that UNITES needs to focus more on developing industies, markets, and agricultural areas before worrying about poor people having email. The idea that they want to Bridge the Digital Divide seems oddly out of place when you apply it to nations that have people starving and dying of terrible diseases. There are limited charity dollars in the world and we need to take a hard look at where they go and how they are spent and I just don't see this as a project that needs the money. The Peace Corp. seems to be the best bang for the charitable dollar. I hope this post sparks some discussion on which charities do the most good with the dollars they get. Good luck to UNITES and friends.
Re:Vigilante Corporations
on
Ebay vs. Musician
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· Score: 3, Insightful
"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country.... corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed."
Slashdot Mirror
Concerning your comment the form of Christianist that the matrix reflects is an old faction called Gnosticism that felt that the God that we know as God is a entity called the Demiurge and we are imprisoned in a fake work he created. Jesus was a creation of the REAL Godm the father of the Demiurge and sent him into the world to awaken us to the REAL world. Jesus taught secrets to his students and they went out and taught the secrets to others. Several organizations have been compared to (directly and indirectly) to the Gnostics including the Mormons and Freemasons. The Mormon church is about as close as you can get to the old gnotic ideaology. Just an FYI
Great now I can see it now, countless hours of schoolgirls in skirts so socially inept fan boys (is that the term now?) can whack off 24 hours a day to soft-core porn, poorly disguised as anime. I'm sorry but the crap that has been coming out lately is just that, crap. Poorly masked soft-core animated porn. Every time I turn on to watch "Anime" all I end up getting is good stories gone bad by the useless inclusion of a 16 to 18ish female character wearing a short skirt and some kid with a bad case of Sayjin hair. Spare me, anime is suffering from the same disease that hit mainstream American television programming. Christ I heard that some high school student at my old school Tartan was caught, umm, buttering the corn, to a picture of Sailor Moon.
The only series of Anime that seemed to resist this crap was; Dragon Ball (There was Bulma and Launch but that was pretty much it, oh wait Chi Chi, EEEK!!), Dragon Ball Z (Not too many kids in a thong in that series and Bulma wasn't blowing for dollars), Guyver (Only one scene near the end with the shape shifter guy, atmos?), and Record of Lodoss War (I could be wrong, but it sure as hell wasn't Kikocommon). Don't even mention that animated crap-time drama Tenchi "I have the Jason Preisly 90210 Syndrome". I think Japan and Honk Kong (intentional) are coming unraveled at the seams and this weird froth of sexual deviancy is coming across in the anime. Every day I read headlines from the Japanese papers and there is a rash of pedophile activity, wives hooking on the side, and overall moral decay. Now they have hookers in Japan that specialize in acting out rape fantasies. Yep, no bad indicators of social decay there. I don't think the US can keep up, we're being outdone in the sexual deviancy and exploitation of children department by Japan, we have got to get legalized prostitution quickly or we'll lose our #1 spot in fucked up behavior. I love the fact that showing the rape of a poison tasters was needed in the Ninja Scroll movie and don't even make me think about some of the stuff in the "sequel" movies (I threw up during the second one...) Nope anime is long dead. It died of a fatal Pr0n infection. Lost are all the old classics of anime, now it's soft core Hentai (I think I got that right.)
The second thing that just fucking blows my mind are DATING video games. Holy shit, now that is a seriously bad sign. I find it disturbing that people feel the need to play the Sims (My mundane life of demolished towers, nuclear war, and random street violence is too boring so I think I'll play a video game so I can live out someone else's boring simulated mundane life) but this is just too creepy. Have they total lost the art of REAL social interaction? They need virtual dates? What is the problem, not enough girls to go around? I have only this to say, you reap what you sow, what is the current anime sowing in your kids? Flame Away.
P.S. Remake a high-rez computer graphic version of Dragon Ball Z with DMX doing the voice of Vegita. Call it DBZ-Hardcore.
MS will immediatly integrate their OS security code into MS Messenger, and thus will not have to distribute any of the code due to the fact that core security requirments are integrated into the code. Over the next few months they will MOVE security functions from the kernel code and place functions scattered accross most of their middleware, thereby protecting the uninstallation and proprietary code contained. Think of it as taking a child hostage and hiding behind them. MS will hide behind security code.
I love this idea. For AI issues that only need a burst of CPU time in a lot this would be a god send to say, counter-strike developers. They could write a really complex AI to auto-generate waypoints for bot behaviors but would only have to pop say, $50 for a thousand cpu hours worth of computing time. For game developers that want AI waypoint generation this could be a great tool to offload cpu calculation that only need to be done once in a while (i.e. Everquest adds a new, complex zone. They have a waypoint script that runs but normally takes 4 days to run. They pop a quick $200 bucks and kick out the results in an hour. Saving time and allowing better generation by being able to do massive complex tasks quickly.) Or what about a VERY complex random map generator that simulates thousands of variables down to what was for dinner? You can spend more time developing rich complex algorithms and you can choose to take 3 weeks to generate the map at home, but if your a comerical application (or a well funded server) you can have the the super computer spit a unique map out (i.e. for every X dollars dontated through paypal we'll generate a new custom map.) I can see it now.... drool...
If the Vatican puts the contents of the Vatican library I guarantee they will censor the living hell out of what goes online. They wouldn't dare put the old Pre-Nicean Counsel (sp) texts up on the library. I am certain all the old Gnostic works will still be locked up in a vault. The pre-latin translation, arimeic, (sp) texts and countless other "forbidden" texts won't make it in. This is a joke right? It's hard enough when I was studying theology to get Pre-Vatican II texts from them. The bulk of what is in the library I doubt will ever see the light of day. I wonder if they still have the notes and comments from the Nicean Councel on what was removed and what was kept and what was changed. (Case in point the whole Virgin thing is in question as prior to most Latin text Mary wasn't mentioned as being a Virgin. So maybe his brother really was a half brother) I will be interested in seeing the results of this no doubt but I have a feeling we'll only get the tip of the iceberg.
P.S. Yes I know I butchered this but I have no spell checker at the moment.
Fuck dude you got a fucking God damn fucking problem with your fucking mouth fucker. Fuck the fucking fucker for fuck's sake. What is with the fucking Fuck-ass fuck mouth you fucking fucker. Fuck you.
Wow! I never thought that Microsoft would so carelessly sign it's own death warrant! When it comes to business, don't rock the boat. Microsoft is meddling in the business affairs of corporations. It's one thing to piss of the mob. Worse case scenario is they kill you. Piss of a corporation... damn I don't even want to think about it... endless litigations and court appearances so you can keep a job, blacklisting, starving, no home... jeez what a living hell....
!!!!!!!WARNING!!!!!!!
Sorry this post has ended due to the fact it's author is now rocking himself back and forth sucking on the collar of his shirt mumbling
"Ticky Tack, Ticky Tack, Lawyers Coming, Give Me That! Got No Job, Got No Life, Got no Money, got No Wife!"
That is the point, IT'S NOT CONTACT. It is SIMULATED contact. I don't dispute there there is SOME value to the interaction. But to equate a simulated handshake to a REAL handshake is disturbing to me (just me, maybe I am overreacting). Concerning all the above people (Especially those who are mental disturbed) is an email or phone call EQUAL to a real visit? If you were in a retirement home is getting an email the same as someone visiting? Of course not. There is a reason family get together when they can, email, video postcards, or simulated meeting online is not the same. To reduce emotion to a bunch of biological functions, ignoring spiritual aspects of the human existence (I can hear the athiests sharpening their swords now) devalues the unique human experience and puts us on the same level as bacteria. I agree with you 100% but you missed the core of the argument I think, I am talking about the trend of equating these simulations with reality.
I simply ask this, if the trend continues where will the line be drawn between fantasy and reality, human versus machine? Where will the value of an individual originate then? Will going to a virtual funeral be equal to a real one? What becomes of the personal sacrifics we make in order to interact with each other? This is scary shit when you carry out the equation to the end when you dig into the concept of human worth. A good book to read is Lathe of Heaven and Brave New World. Both show the loss of the human value to an extent.
You Said:
/. posters that see no difference in meeting someone in a bar in Everquest than in the "REAL" (a term that is becoming more and more subjective) world. I find this pattern of behavior sickening. It makes the human existence trivial and "Obsolete". The terrifying aspect of this, as the value of REAL humanity diminishes so does the value of humans in general. People complain about being a number or a statistic. I find it funny (and sad) that they don't seem to mind being reduced to zeros and ones.
Even holding someone's hand has a positive effect on people's mental-well being.
I Say: Your not holding someone's hand with this system. It would be no different than holding a water ballon or any other object/force that has some resistence. There isn't a person there holding your hand. All that your holding is an imitation. I don't see how the two can compare even if there is a "real" person on the other end of the system. I think that as technology continues on, the question isn't that of isolation, but more of a fundamental decline in the Humanity of our lives. The human element is under a seige. This is just another step in the genocide of what it is to be a real living human being. Why leave the house or interact in reality when you have all this technology to do it for you? I see many
My 2 cents. No time for spell check, sorry.
-Begin Extended SiG for the Sake of Technology Please Ignore when moderating and reading-
P.S. Damn what is with the Lameness and text per line filter now. I tried 30 times to post. I had to strip out all the blank lines just to get the post done. Is this a recent feature change? I cannot space a post with any logical grouping with this feature. This is a bizzare form of censorship if you ask me. Only Big Chunks of hard to read text please. Oh no don't format anything so it's easy to read just clump it all together. Utterly useless.
They Said:
Monday, October 28, 2002 - Tax-free Internet purchases could be dot-gone within a year or two as states search for ways to lower budget deficits
I Say:
Has it ever occurred to them to curb spending?
They Said:
Colorado is projected to lose $686.4 million in revenue in 2006 if it does not tax interstate e-commerce, according to a study released last year by the University of Tennessee for the Institute for State Studies.
I say:
Most families don't spend more than they earn, why don't "They" quit spending money they don't have?
They Say:
The report estimates that all 50 states could collectively lose more than $45 billion in Internet sales tax revenue in 2006.
I say:
You can't lose what you didn't have in the first place. It isn't their money it's OUR MONEY!
They Say:
The Streamlined Sales Tax proposal, on which delegates from the 29 states will vote on Nov. 13 in Chicago, would simplify tax collection procedures.
I say:
The US Constitution is around 10 pages long. The US tax laws total over 2 million pages. You cannot simplify the beast by adding MORE laws.
They Say:
"It's my hope that we reach that level next year," said project committee member Bruce Johnson, who is a Utah tax commissioner.
I say:
There is a man with few friends.
They say:
Gov. Bill Owens, who has put high-tech development at the top of his agenda since taking office in 1999, firmly opposes any sales tax on the Internet
"He feels it's really taxation without representation," said Dan Hopkins, a spokesman for the Republican governor.
I say:
There's someone to vote for!
They say:
Democratic businessman Rollie Heath, Owens' challenger in November's gubernatorial election, is pushing for Colorado to join the tax project.
I say:
This is why I will NEVER VOTE DEMOCRATE. All they want to do is STEAL my money and spend it on things I don't want. They're Socialists now, quit calling them Democrats.
They say:
If Colorado joins the project, the state would have to make significant changes to its tax procedures.
I say:
See the earlier comment on the 2 million pages of tax law!
They say:
But states have the authority to tax sales from online vendors who have a physical presence in their jurisdictions.
I say:
Pass the laws and watch them move their servers to Non-US locations. That will mean more money flowing out of the US economy.
They say:
In Colorado, if a company maintains an office or warehouse in the state or regularly sends a sales staff here, it has a physical presence.
States don't have the authority to tax sales from online companies who don't have a physical presence in the state.
I say:
Ok, I have a warehouse in CA, Offices in NY, and my servers in MN. Who gets to tax me?
They say:
But even when an online sale isn't subject to a levy, Colorado law requires residents to pay a use tax on the purchase.
Few are aware of this requirement.
I say:
Democracy is rule by the people. If the people don't know about the law, how legitimate can the law be without the support of the people?
They say:
But the consumer still must pay use taxes, he said.
I say:
Remember your citizens are armed Big Brother, and there will be a point we won't take it anymore. We rebelled once against taxes, and overthrew an invincible power, and we can do it again. Don't push you luck. Be thankful we vote you out of office for pulling shit like this.
Literacy is important, no it seems we cannot afford to skip reading the EULAs. I have seen some funny stuff thrown in EULAS including:
- the right to borrow your car at any time -
- the right to sleep with your spouse at our discretion -
- the right to submit and enforce decorating standards in your home -
- the right to reduce you and your pets to a dissarrayed, sub-atomic goo-
Very true, English common law is a core of the US. Of course mention that to a US citizen and watch them blink and scratch their heads as they tenativly say, "uumm.. hit me baby one more time?"
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Tounge tastes like the last thing you ate. Mine tastes like Tobacco (I smoke.)
(Tounge in cheek btw)
:) I bet someone will have a DMCA issue with this too. Hey Taco looks like we may have incoming! EEEKKK!
Isn't talking about stuff like that, well you know, illegal now? I'm certain that talking about theoretical virus attacks could be considered terrorism. I mean here you are talk about this horrible WHAT-IF scenario and giving bad people all sorts of good ideas (providing AID are we?) Hmmm I have a feeling that this post may cause trouble. I bet our FRIENDS at the Homeland Security office would like to speak to you =)
AWW BUT WHAT THE HELL DO I KNOW!
Oh god I can see it now a rabid Pengiun mascott jumps up the stairs from a subway entrance and jumps 4 of em doing all sorts of Judo and smashing their faces. Then as they lay there bleeding grabbing their faces in horror the pengin throws a few red hats down then escapes down the stairs to flee via the subway.
But down in the murky depths a cute 4 foot tall devil mascot with sneakers waits in the shadows. As the Penguin passes the demon jumps the penguin stabbing the penguin to death with a pitch fork. All is good.
But as the devil tries to get on the subway the police catch up and shoot him dead because they confused him for the pengiun.
Then, as they all lay dead the mascots merge and become one, it shall be called LinBsoft.
Then the super powerful LinBsoft lumbers onto the street where it is promptly hit by a fruit colored Beetle with some goatee sporting graphics designer killing both the driver and LinBsoft. All that was found at the carnage was a single apple that was eaten by a passing dog.
Thee End
Doh! That is what I get for not pre-composing in a word processor.
Concerning your post tell me this: What good is emailing an expert on farming going to do you, if you have no seed, fertilizer, or water? You need the raw materials to implement what ever your technological research comes up with. The first and most imporant goal in building a strong nation is have the ability to feed yourself and while computers can help a great deal in agriculture I don't see the need to spead the limited charity dollars on computers yet. I can see you point but I think a volunteer would be better used digging a well and building irigation ditches versus loading a Debian based Pentium computer. Hell many of these countries don't have a decent electric system. What would the cpu run on? (If you say a Fuel Cell I will scream ;) )
In an ideal world yes it should be an issue of trust. But as I can see that trust is under constant attack with a nightmare of parental problems. I had a neigbor have his kids taken away because he didn't allow them to watch TV. This was considered "Cruel" and unhealthy. Parents have few right these days especially in the US. Back to the issue of content control with single parents and homes where both parents work there may be times when the kids are at home unsupervised, there must be some way to control access to some broadcasts versus others. With cable it is easy to lock out channels but with regular broadcasts there aren't a whole lot of options out there.
Concerning your closing statement that was a shallow blow to many working parents world wide. It shows you low character to make such assumptions. This discussion is over.
Depends on your religious perspective I guess. I think Menenites and Amish are REALLY strict about nudity as well as Islam. The line between nudity (for instance nude paintings) and porn (as most would see it sexual acts being filmed) is rather subjective in nature. One mans art IS going to be another's Pr0n. The eternal question is where to draw the line and who draws it.
First of all you must be funny. Slashdot moderators don't seem to get out much and find many things funny. (-1, Flamebait)
Second say only short but profound sounding things. Keep to one paragraph and use only 3-5 big multi-syllable words. (-1 Redundant)
Three Always say Open Source is a good idea. (-1 Troll)
Four when all else fails poke fun at Taco! (-1 Offtopic)
Five Always have a few cheezy one liners handle..
(-1 Overated)
Six try writing posts like this and hope for the best and if that fails a garunteed way to get karma is to say...
MICROSOFT SUCKS! DOWN WITH THE MAN!!!
(+1 Insightful, +1 Funny, +1 Intersting, +1 Informative, +1 Underrated)
I never said it was going to be POSITIVE KARMA DID I? =)
More focused on the fact that if you control a food supply you have immense power.
The simple truth is that technology hasn't caught up to the basic problems of allowing parents to control the content for their kids on public airwaves (Remember we are talking broadcast TV not cable.) There isn't a widely accepted standard developed yet to allow content control on normal TV. The V chip and all of the similar ideas have flopped dead on the floor.
P.S I hardly call Porn normal human sexuality.
I think that in general it would be better to localize charity activities. Not to say that someone in France shouldn't donate time and energy to someone in Finnland but I have serious questions on the validity of the UN's organizational units. We can argue the whole "Globalization" issues with this. I hear man organizations already doing charity work on donating CPUs with Linux and stuff to emerging worlds but honestly, who needs a PC if your starving to death. My personal feelings are in a world with limited resources we need to have priorities in charitable work:
1: Basic Needs (Food, Clothing, Shelter)
2: Self Sufficency (Ability to make\get you own Food, Clothing, and shelter. Watch the Movie Soilent Green, or read the book why this is imporant)
3: Advancement of Society Standard (Literacy, Freedom, Education)
4: Wants, Computers, Cars, Leather Jackets and Blue Jeans.
Emergine nations need to have a solid foundation and bridging the Digital Divide seems pretty damn low on the ilst of priorities if I am starving and have polluted water to drink. I think we can hold of on donating the limited dollars there are to charity and set more, I wouldn't say appropriate goal (I like the idea of briding the digital divide), but more pressing needs. It would be far better for the natives of these emergine nations to be able to afford buying a computer versus getting one for free. Even better yet to have an industry where they can make and compete in computer production.
I think that UNITES needs to focus more on developing industies, markets, and agricultural areas before worrying about poor people having email. The idea that they want to Bridge the Digital Divide seems oddly out of place when you apply it to nations that have people starving and dying of terrible diseases. There are limited charity dollars in the world and we need to take a hard look at where they go and how they are spent and I just don't see this as a project that needs the money. The Peace Corp. seems to be the best bang for the charitable dollar. I hope this post sparks some discussion on which charities do the most good with the dollars they get. Good luck to UNITES and friends.
"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me
and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country....
corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high
places will follow, and the money power of the country will
endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of
the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the
Republic is destroyed."
--U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864