This is the propoganda evoked by the right wing... except that neutral has been defined for over 100 years, it's called common carrier access. The phone companies have used that for a long time without any problems, and the Internet, until last year (when the FCC changed the status of data networks), was **also** governed by the rules of common carrier. Yet, the right wing never complained about Internet overregulation during the common-carrier years. In fact, they wanted ot regulate it more. But now... well, that's a different story...
Anyone who tells you that net neutrality will somehow burden the Internet with overwhelming government regulation is inherently lying or is completely unaware that until 2005, the Internet was "regulated" by net neutrality rules with no complaints.
Intellectual property rights are arbitraty and contrary to human nature. The fact that hollywood is having such a hard time preventing people from copying movies shows just how natural sharing is. The whole internet (and even this forum) are based on the idea of sharing knowledge, ideas, and information... for free. Knowledge yearns to be free. Everyone loves giving their opinion and loves sharing their knowledge--that is just human nature. in fact, that is the sessence of being human. Overreaching and frankly absurd Intellecutal property laws try to stifle humanity and cripple its growth.
The only argument that I ever hear form the other side is "Well, I'm pooor and I want to get paid... even if the "work" i did on the project was 50 years ago"... it' the same argument and justification that Lenny the Loan Shark uses when he beats up one of his clients. Just because many artists and musicians are poor do not give them the right to trample on humanity and suck its blood. The fact that they seek the government's aid in these acts only makes it even more vile. If you want to "protect" our property, go ahead and do so... but don't have the government come in and do your dirty work at our expense...
Steve Jobs is a great businessman... he finds ways to make money on dud products through clevelr marketing (mac's are easier--even twhen they aren't), sleek designs... (look, an iMac!), and product lock-in. He's a master at getting the highest price for his products that he can, which is the best way to make money, according to traditional microeconomics.
But, as a geek, he sucks... instead of wanting to change the world and let the world share and expand in his success, he only seems to care about the bottom line. His products are so expensive, that he has trouble getting market share (iPod excepted). He closes up the systems so tightly (afraid of losing his precious monopolies), that no one can work with his stuff unless you beg the grand master for his favor. These closed philosophies further erode Apple's market share, preventing it from once again being the dominant giant in the computer industry.
When Jobs hired Scully from Pepsi, Jobs asked Scully whether he would rather sell sugar water or change the world. Twenty years later, it seems that Jobs is only interested in selling the electronic equivilant of sugar water--sweet, but lacking any substance.
Not that I'm a big fan of Steve Jobs in anyway shape or form (hate the guy for lots of reasons), but it was Scully that insisted on such a high price point. Jobs wanted the machine to be under $1000--the first appliance computer.
Maybe Pear or something...It was a long time ago when they actually published the full schematics and source code of their Apple II ROMs. Of Course, if Jobs had any real say, that would have never have happened. He constantly was trying to close the systems more and more (the Apple III was closed). Woz told him to stick it in the early days, but then he left and we got the Mac. In every case, the closed systems flopped while the old, but open, Apple II kept the company afloat for years until they convinced everyone that open was bad. Well, they did a good job. No one seems to really care that their iPods are completely unprogrammable, and that their phone can only run software from JAMDAT. Meanwhile, the whole idea of making computers work for you instead of the other way around has gone the way of BASIC interpreters. People are being USED instead of being USERS. It is a real shame, and I think it bodes very poorly for the future of computing. I dread the day that ALL systems are closed and only a privileged few will be able to program them in any meaningful way.
It is such an incredible shame that such an enticing machine is all look, but no touch. It's like being given a piano and told that you can't try and play it, only look at it. It's just wrong in so many ways.
Well, I guess Jobs thinks that I should be happy that he is saving me from myself. Unfortuntely, it seems the rest of world IS happy about it and that just makes me even more depressed.
I never liked that guy... he still owes woz some money for breakout...
There I said it. I can't believe that I'd say this aobut a Nintendo product with their bizarre, trippy games that only a 4 year old can comprehend, but the Wii is cool.
Why? It is revolutionary! It completely changes the paradign of gaming. That simple controller is as revolutionary to the video gaming industry today as the Atari 2600 VCS was to pong.
Back in 1977, no one thought you could play a fun tank battle against each other in your living room, just as today, no one could imagine having a throw-and-bat baseball game in their family room.
In short, unlike most gaming systems that require investing a portion of your soul to play games, the Wii is fun, simple, and doesn't suck up a substantial portion of your life--just like the Atari was 30 years ago.
I guess I'm so intrigued by the wii, because it reminds me so much of my beloved atari, when games were still games and not alternative lifestyles.
Except that now we have 1/3 of the airlines that we did prior to deregulation. Most airlines have, at some point in their existence, filed bankruptcy. The government has had to bail these companies out. Northwest's planes are so old, they still have ashtryas in them. In the long run, consumers are losing as a result. They get a cheap flight now, but will certainly pay for it later!
The fed was created as a result of the disasterous bank panics that plagued the latter 19th century, some of them as often as every 4 years. The country was increasingly concerned that J.P. Morgan was literally using his own personal funds to bail the country out. The Federal Reserve system was created in order to protect against these panics as well as stabilize monetary policy. It worked quite well--there has been only one bank panic since.
Deflation was the hallmark of the Great Depression. Inflation is part of economic growth. If you don't have any inflation, that means no one needs money, which means that no one is investing in business growth. That means, you have no job to go to. So, your goods cost less, but you have no money to buy them. Not exactly a utopia.
The gold standard is equally constricting. There is only a finite amount of gold int eh world. You cannot increase the amount of money (a prerequisite for economic growth) without mining for more gold. It artificially constricts the economy. There is a reason why the American economy grew substantially after we came off the gold standard.
And this anti-fed sentiment is equally distrubing. I suppose you would like to have an economic depression every 8 years like we had in the late 19th and early 20th century. There is a reason the Fed was created. Would it be better to have a true national bank? Sure, it would, but there are too many reactionaries in America to allow it to happen.
1. Te republican party is the party of Big Business, and Big Business makes the machines. Corporate America could care less about ethics when big money is on the line. Since they make the machines, it is logical that they woudl have the easiest access to them. It doesn't help when the CEO of Diebold states that, "We will win Ohio for the Republicans at any cost." In addition, there are more republican secretaries of state than democrats. They have complete and unfettered access to the machines. Thirdly, with the way republicans are nowadays, any democrat who would attempt this would most surely be caught, while Republicans, protected by the shields I mentioned previously, would slip through undetected. Finally, more election fraud occurs before the votes are even cast, by purging voter rolls and creating undue burdens to voting.
2. Some Democrats did, but the party as a whole has been so beaten down by Republicans calling them traitors for even existing, that they suffer from battered democrat syndrome. Basically, they didn't want to look like sore losers, esepcailly when the proof is circumstantial in most cases.
3. See number 2, although many precincts have decertified Diebold machines.
There have been many stories about diebold fraud, especially in Georgia:
I have used the diebold machines with the printer, and yes, you get to see exactly who and what you voted for on the paper. It would be a major pain to count, but it is there.
Yeah, when I worked there when I was in college, they were thrilled to have me since I at least had a rudimentary understanding of electronics. Every time some nerdy looking guy came into the store, they'd always send him to me. If somebody was hanging out in the back by the small electronic parts, they'd send me back there. I was no engineer, but I at least knew what a resistor was, and could point them to the transistors and diodes. The customers were as shoked as the rest of the employees. I even read their "Getting Started in Electronics" book and helped one customer build his own car alarm dummy box. I was one of the 15%. Certainly, I was the ONLY salesman in the store that knew anything aobut the parts in the back.
The company has a hate/hate relationship with electronic parts. Radio Shack soooo desperately wants to be Best Buy or Circuit City, but with their lousy prices on high-end stuff, they just can't pull it off. The electronic parts section that the company despises is the only thing that keeps them afloat. If they could find a way to BE circuit city, the parts section in the back of the store would be eliminated overnight. I'm sure that the future of selling electronic parts keeps the Tandy executives from sleeping soundly at night, but with a 300% gross profit on that stuff, they just can't let go of their only really profitable business.
Just before coming down to speak with you, I called Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus and congratulated them on their success today. As I see it, in this campaign, we've just finished the first half and the Classical Planet team is ahead, but in the second half, our team -- Team Pluto -- is going to surge forward to victory.
I am, of course, disappointed by the results, but I am not discouraged. I am not disappointed because I lost my planetary status, but because the old politics of scholarship and intellectual integrity won today.
I expect my opponents will continue to do in the future what they have done today: Belittle me instead of coming up with ideas to avoid having to rewrite science textbooks.
I will continue to offer the astronomers a different path forward to make my Solar system and orbit a better place to live and work, and that's what I want to do for another six million more years.
I know a lot of people in this system, and not just "classical planets", are angry about the direction in which the Solar system is moving, and so am I.
Tomorrow morning, our campaign will file the necessary petition with the International Astronomical Union so that we can continue this campaign for a new astronomy of unity and purpose. I will always do what is right for my orbit and Solar system regardless of what the political consequences may be.
Tomorrow is a brand new day. Tomorrow we launch a new campaign -- Team Pluto -- Asteroids, non-conforming celestial objects and planets.
Don't forget that if you acdtually search to find out if your idea was patented by someone else, your damages are **tripled** if you try to implement something similar, are sued, and lose in court.
You can call toll free through the Capitol switchboard at 888-355-3588.
Ted Stevens is trying to force a vote on Thursday, so there is little time! Each phone call is considered to be worth about a 1,000 votes the general election, so your phone call will make a difference!
The follwing three senators are crucial:
- Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas
- Ben Nelson of Nebraska
- Joe Lieberman of Connecticut
General "Buck" Turgidson: Doctor, you mentioned the ratio of ten women to each man. Now, wouldn't that necessitate the abandonment of the so-called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean, as far as men were concerned?
Dr. Strangelove: Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious... service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.
Ambassador de Sadesky: I must confess, you have an astonishingly good idea there, Doctor.
Slashdot Mirror
...but didn't the BBC have it's own Operating System at one time?
Something like this? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro
Too bad they never continued that project...
Thanks,
Mike
This is the propoganda evoked by the right wing... except that neutral has been defined for over 100 years, it's called common carrier access. The phone companies have used that for a long time without any problems, and the Internet, until last year (when the FCC changed the status of data networks), was **also** governed by the rules of common carrier. Yet, the right wing never complained about Internet overregulation during the common-carrier years. In fact, they wanted ot regulate it more. But now... well, that's a different story...
Anyone who tells you that net neutrality will somehow burden the Internet with overwhelming government regulation is inherently lying or is completely unaware that until 2005, the Internet was "regulated" by net neutrality rules with no complaints.
Thanks,
Mike
Mod this parent up...
Intellectual property rights are arbitraty and contrary to human nature. The fact that hollywood is having such a hard time preventing people from copying movies shows just how natural sharing is. The whole internet (and even this forum) are based on the idea of sharing knowledge, ideas, and information... for free. Knowledge yearns to be free. Everyone loves giving their opinion and loves sharing their knowledge--that is just human nature. in fact, that is the sessence of being human. Overreaching and frankly absurd Intellecutal property laws try to stifle humanity and cripple its growth.
The only argument that I ever hear form the other side is "Well, I'm pooor and I want to get paid... even if the "work" i did on the project was 50 years ago"... it' the same argument and justification that Lenny the Loan Shark uses when he beats up one of his clients. Just because many artists and musicians are poor do not give them the right to trample on humanity and suck its blood. The fact that they seek the government's aid in these acts only makes it even more vile. If you want to "protect" our property, go ahead and do so... but don't have the government come in and do your dirty work at our expense...
Thanks,
Mike
Steve Jobs is a great businessman... he finds ways to make money on dud products through clevelr marketing (mac's are easier--even twhen they aren't), sleek designs... (look, an iMac!), and product lock-in. He's a master at getting the highest price for his products that he can, which is the best way to make money, according to traditional microeconomics.
But, as a geek, he sucks... instead of wanting to change the world and let the world share and expand in his success, he only seems to care about the bottom line. His products are so expensive, that he has trouble getting market share (iPod excepted). He closes up the systems so tightly (afraid of losing his precious monopolies), that no one can work with his stuff unless you beg the grand master for his favor. These closed philosophies further erode Apple's market share, preventing it from once again being the dominant giant in the computer industry.
When Jobs hired Scully from Pepsi, Jobs asked Scully whether he would rather sell sugar water or change the world. Twenty years later, it seems that Jobs is only interested in selling the electronic equivilant of sugar water--sweet, but lacking any substance.
Not that I'm a big fan of Steve Jobs in anyway shape or form (hate the guy for lots of reasons), but it was Scully that insisted on such a high price point. Jobs wanted the machine to be under $1000--the first appliance computer.
Maybe Pear or something...It was a long time ago when they actually published the full schematics and source code of their Apple II ROMs. Of Course, if Jobs had any real say, that would have never have happened. He constantly was trying to close the systems more and more (the Apple III was closed). Woz told him to stick it in the early days, but then he left and we got the Mac. In every case, the closed systems flopped while the old, but open, Apple II kept the company afloat for years until they convinced everyone that open was bad. Well, they did a good job. No one seems to really care that their iPods are completely unprogrammable, and that their phone can only run software from JAMDAT. Meanwhile, the whole idea of making computers work for you instead of the other way around has gone the way of BASIC interpreters. People are being USED instead of being USERS. It is a real shame, and I think it bodes very poorly for the future of computing. I dread the day that ALL systems are closed and only a privileged few will be able to program them in any meaningful way.
It is such an incredible shame that such an enticing machine is all look, but no touch. It's like being given a piano and told that you can't try and play it, only look at it. It's just wrong in so many ways.
Well, I guess Jobs thinks that I should be happy that he is saving me from myself. Unfortuntely, it seems the rest of world IS happy about it and that just makes me even more depressed.
I never liked that guy... he still owes woz some money for breakout...
Thanks,
Mike
The Wii is cool!
There I said it. I can't believe that I'd say this aobut a Nintendo product with their bizarre, trippy games that only a 4 year old can comprehend, but the Wii is cool.
Why? It is revolutionary! It completely changes the paradign of gaming. That simple controller is as revolutionary to the video gaming industry today as the Atari 2600 VCS was to pong.
Back in 1977, no one thought you could play a fun tank battle against each other in your living room, just as today, no one could imagine having a throw-and-bat baseball game in their family room.
In short, unlike most gaming systems that require investing a portion of your soul to play games, the Wii is fun, simple, and doesn't suck up a substantial portion of your life--just like the Atari was 30 years ago.
I guess I'm so intrigued by the wii, because it reminds me so much of my beloved atari, when games were still games and not alternative lifestyles.
Thanks,
Mike
Except that now we have 1/3 of the airlines that we did prior to deregulation. Most airlines have, at some point in their existence, filed bankruptcy. The government has had to bail these companies out. Northwest's planes are so old, they still have ashtryas in them. In the long run, consumers are losing as a result. They get a cheap flight now, but will certainly pay for it later!
Thanks,
Mike
Tin foil hats for both of you!!!
The fed was created as a result of the disasterous bank panics that plagued the latter 19th century, some of them as often as every 4 years. The country was increasingly concerned that J.P. Morgan was literally using his own personal funds to bail the country out. The Federal Reserve system was created in order to protect against these panics as well as stabilize monetary policy. It worked quite well--there has been only one bank panic since.
Thanks,
Mike
So, basically, you want the economy to tank...
Deflation was the hallmark of the Great Depression. Inflation is part of economic growth. If you don't have any inflation, that means no one needs money, which means that no one is investing in business growth. That means, you have no job to go to. So, your goods cost less, but you have no money to buy them. Not exactly a utopia.
The gold standard is equally constricting. There is only a finite amount of gold int eh world. You cannot increase the amount of money (a prerequisite for economic growth) without mining for more gold. It artificially constricts the economy. There is a reason why the American economy grew substantially after we came off the gold standard.
And this anti-fed sentiment is equally distrubing. I suppose you would like to have an economic depression every 8 years like we had in the late 19th and early 20th century. There is a reason the Fed was created. Would it be better to have a true national bank? Sure, it would, but there are too many reactionaries in America to allow it to happen.
Thanks,
Mike
Tritonman,
No offense... but, you probably shouldn't be getting your theology lessons from the Da Vinci Code.
Thanks,
Mike
Answers:
_ 23063.shtml
1. Te republican party is the party of Big Business, and Big Business makes the machines. Corporate America could care less about ethics when big money is on the line. Since they make the machines, it is logical that they woudl have the easiest access to them. It doesn't help when the CEO of Diebold states that, "We will win Ohio for the Republicans at any cost." In addition, there are more republican secretaries of state than democrats. They have complete and unfettered access to the machines. Thirdly, with the way republicans are nowadays, any democrat who would attempt this would most surely be caught, while Republicans, protected by the shields I mentioned previously, would slip through undetected. Finally, more election fraud occurs before the votes are even cast, by purging voter rolls and creating undue burdens to voting.
2. Some Democrats did, but the party as a whole has been so beaten down by Republicans calling them traitors for even existing, that they suffer from battered democrat syndrome. Basically, they didn't want to look like sore losers, esepcailly when the proof is circumstantial in most cases.
3. See number 2, although many precincts have decertified Diebold machines.
There have been many stories about diebold fraud, especially in Georgia:
http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article
Thanks,
Mike
I have used the diebold machines with the printer, and yes, you get to see exactly who and what you voted for on the paper. It would be a major pain to count, but it is there.
Thanks,
Mike
...if it's any consolation, Microsoft gives out basic versions (pardon the pun) of Visual Basic (and other languages) free for download.
l oad/
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/vb/down
Thanks,
Mike
YES!!! Was your Manager's name Charlie? (We called him Chuck)
Thanks,
Mike
Yes, haven't you ever seen Space 1999? ;-)
Thanks,
Mike
Yeah, when I worked there when I was in college, they were thrilled to have me since I at least had a rudimentary understanding of electronics. Every time some nerdy looking guy came into the store, they'd always send him to me. If somebody was hanging out in the back by the small electronic parts, they'd send me back there. I was no engineer, but I at least knew what a resistor was, and could point them to the transistors and diodes. The customers were as shoked as the rest of the employees. I even read their "Getting Started in Electronics" book and helped one customer build his own car alarm dummy box. I was one of the 15%. Certainly, I was the ONLY salesman in the store that knew anything aobut the parts in the back.
The company has a hate/hate relationship with electronic parts. Radio Shack soooo desperately wants to be Best Buy or Circuit City, but with their lousy prices on high-end stuff, they just can't pull it off. The electronic parts section that the company despises is the only thing that keeps them afloat. If they could find a way to BE circuit city, the parts section in the back of the store would be eliminated overnight. I'm sure that the future of selling electronic parts keeps the Tandy executives from sleeping soundly at night, but with a 300% gross profit on that stuff, they just can't let go of their only really profitable business.
Thanks,
Mike
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/8/24/102112/777
Just before coming down to speak with you, I called Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus and congratulated them on their success today. As I see it, in this campaign, we've just finished the first half and the Classical Planet team is ahead, but in the second half, our team -- Team Pluto -- is going to surge forward to victory.
I am, of course, disappointed by the results, but I am not discouraged. I am not disappointed because I lost my planetary status, but because the old politics of scholarship and intellectual integrity won today.
I expect my opponents will continue to do in the future what they have done today: Belittle me instead of coming up with ideas to avoid having to rewrite science textbooks.
I will continue to offer the astronomers a different path forward to make my Solar system and orbit a better place to live and work, and that's what I want to do for another six million more years.
I know a lot of people in this system, and not just "classical planets", are angry about the direction in which the Solar system is moving, and so am I.
Tomorrow morning, our campaign will file the necessary petition with the International Astronomical Union so that we can continue this campaign for a new astronomy of unity and purpose. I will always do what is right for my orbit and Solar system regardless of what the political consequences may be.
Tomorrow is a brand new day. Tomorrow we launch a new campaign -- Team Pluto -- Asteroids, non-conforming celestial objects and planets.
Thanks,
Mike
Don't forget that if you acdtually search to find out if your idea was patented by someone else, your damages are **tripled** if you try to implement something similar, are sued, and lose in court.
Thanks,
Mike
We should collaborate - I have an idea for a baking game featuring a Master Chef...
:-D
Burgertime 3-D??? That woudl be cool!!! 3-D mutant pickles!!!
Thanks,
Mike
Don't forget what happened to our last moonbase:
...2516 days since leaving Earth orbit...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJEdgtvxkxE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PHPpzrKF8w
Hopefully, the Japanese will be smart enough not to store their nuclear waste there....
Thanks,
Mike
Here is a list of senators and their positions on Net Neutrality...
http://www.savetheinternet.com/=senatetallybyvote
You can call toll free through the Capitol switchboard at 888-355-3588.
Ted Stevens is trying to force a vote on Thursday, so there is little time! Each phone call is considered to be worth about a 1,000 votes the general election, so your phone call will make a difference!
The follwing three senators are crucial:
- Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas
- Ben Nelson of Nebraska
- Joe Lieberman of Connecticut
You can make a difference!!! Call now!
Thanks,
Mike
General "Buck" Turgidson: Doctor, you mentioned the ratio of ten women to each man. Now, wouldn't that necessitate the abandonment of the so-called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean, as far as men were concerned?
Dr. Strangelove: Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious... service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.
Ambassador de Sadesky: I must confess, you have an astonishingly good idea there, Doctor.