As long as we're karma whoring, here are some choice passages from 1984:
In past ages, a war, almost by definition, was something that sooner or later came to an end, usually in unmistakable victory or defeat. In the past, also, war was one of the main instruments by which human societies were kept in touch with physical reality. All rulers in all ages have tried to impose a false view of the world upon their followers, but they could not afford to encourage any illusion that tended to impair military efficiency. So long as defeat meant the loss of independence, or some other result generally held to be undesirable, the precautions against defeat had to be serious. Physical facts could not be ignored. In philosophy, or religion, or ethics, or politics, two and two might make five, but when one was designing a gun or an aeroplane they had to make four. Inefficient nations were always conquered sooner or later, and the struggle for efficiency was inimical to illusions. Moreover, to be efficient it was necessary to be able to learn from the past, which meant having a fairly accurate idea of what had happened in the past. Newspapers and history books were, of course, always coloured and biased, but falsification of the kind that is practised today would have been impossible. War was a sure safeguard of sanity, and so far as the ruling classes were concerned it was probably the most important of all safeguards. While wars could be won or lost, no ruling class could be completely irresponsible.
But when war becomes literally continuous, it also ceases to be dangerous. When war is continuous there is no such thing as military necessity. Technical progress can cease and the most palpable facts can be denied or disregarded. As we have seen, researches that could be called scientific are still carried out for the purposes of war, but they are essentially a kind of daydreaming, and their failure to show results is not important. Efficiency, even military efficiency, is no longer needed. Nothing is efficient in Oceania except the Thought Police. Since each of the three super-states is unconquerable, each is in effect a separate universe within which almost any perversion of thought can be safely practised. Reality only exerts its pressure through the needs of everyday life -- the need to eat and drink, to get shelter and clothing, to avoid swallowing poison or stepping out of top-storey windows, and the like. Between life and death, and between physical pleasure and physical pain, there is still a distinction, but that is all. Cut off from contact with the outer world, and with the past, the citizen of Oceania is like a man in interstellar space, who has no way of knowing which direction is up and which is down. The rulers of such a state are absolute, as the Pharaohs or the Caesars could not be. They are obliged to prevent their followers from starving to death in numbers large enough to be inconvenient, and they are obliged to remain at the same low level of military technique as their rivals; but once that minimum is achieved, they can twist reality into whatever shape they choose.
Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. The Party intellectual knows in which direction his memories must be altered; he therefore knows that he is playing tricks with reality; but by the exercise of doublethink he also satisfies himself that reality is not violated. The process has to be conscious, or it would not be carried out with sufficient precision, but it also has to be unconscious, or it would bring with it a feeling of falsity and hence of guilt. Doublethink lies at the very heart of Ingsoc, since the essential act of the Party is to use conscious deception while retaining the firmness of purpose that goes with complete honesty. To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies -- all this is indispensably necessary. Even in using the word doublethink it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth. Ultimately it is by means of doublethink that the Party has been able -- and may, for all we know, continue to be able for thousands of years -- to arrest the course of history.
For those of you who haven't yet read 1984 and are too cheap to buy the book, It is here in HTML, PDF, and LaTeX formats.
The depressing part is that this is the best we can do, folks. It's what our species has to offer. History shows a long record of governments that were either corrupt, oppressive, stupid, or any combination of the above.
I have another c001 technology that buries nanoprobes deep into your bones and renders you sterile, prone to hallucinations, and weak as a baby. Send your $800 registration fee to me via Paypal.
No, our Christians find it much more effective to use the planes to drop bombs from high above. You get to destroy as many buildings as you like, and you get to keep the plane & its crew, too!
Fuck that--why do people feel like they're obligated to get all of their fucking entertainment from TV? If people would just turn the goddamned thing off and, I don't know, read a book, teach themselves C++, build model airplanes, play a musical instrument, spend time with their families, go fishing, whatever, don't you think this nation would be a lot better off?
Fearing the demise of television reminds me a lot of the Futurama scene where Bender throws Fry's beer into the TV, smashing it. Fry exlaims indignantly, "Hey! Now what am I supposed to drink and watch all day?" TV is a lifestyle for a lot of people, not just a gadget that can be used to watch certain, specific things. I think it's disgusting, and it's contributing to the ignorance that causes most of the problems we see today in the US.
Gotta admire their pro-active efforts to nip the perceived 'problem' closer and closer to its source. How long do we have to wait before the inevitable. That is, the RIAA sues themselves? If music were not copyrighted in the first place, it follows that said copyright cannot be violated.
Hilary Rosen: As an act of penance for facilitating countless heinous acts of piracy, I will now impale myself on this giant acrylic spike. ..
Currently, this is the case. I use the W3C CSS and XHTML validators as good indicators of whether my documents will render consistently in Mozilla and IE. Notice I did not say identically. In this case "close-enough" is good enough for me.
That's a nice start, Billy, but you forgot the most important part of being a successful slashdot troll--don't go over the top. You're trying so hard to push the collective buttons around here that you hurt your fingers.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, where most users equate "the Internet" with that "e" icon on their desktop, web developers are forced to make _damn_ sure their sites display properly in IE as a first order of business, then spend a few hours tweaking everything to render properly in the lesser-used browsers, Mozilla being one of them.
I sure wish things were the way you describe them, but I can pretty much guarantee that no one is going to install Mozilla because you or I or anyone optimized a site for it. If something appears broken in IE, then for all practical intents and purposes, it is broken, and you haven't done your job properly. If we could count on users to do what is best for them, IE never would've become dominant in the first place. Our strategy should be to make sites that don't require IE. Take down barriers to conversion, don't introduce them.
You don't think the sale of controlled substances makes the government money? Do you ever wonder who makes the prices are so high in the first place? (Here's a hint--the government)
You should read the Rama series by Arthur C. Clarke. They tackle these issues, and come to the unfortunate conclusion that humans will always be selfish xenophobes. We've plenty of evidence, and sadly, the idea that first contact will alter everyone (especially the powerful) is naive.
That's funny, I haven't seen a Jon Katz story since Februrary! This was about the time I got around to getting a/. account and discovered the wondrous user preferences page.
What ever happened to that CmdrTaco guy? Didn't he used to post stories too?
Email and HTTP *are* both insecure, even when implemented to-spec. They transmit in plaintext, making them subject to eavesdropping attacks. That's part of the reason SSL is so important, as it is commonly used to secure inherently insecure HTTP connections.
Slashdot Mirror
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The depressing part is that this is the best we can do, folks. It's what our species has to offer. History shows a long record of governments that were either corrupt, oppressive, stupid, or any combination of the above.
Isn't learning fun? Seriously. Regimented curriculums suck.
Yes, in fact, the NetInfo CLI tools are the only way to manage users/groups if you're running just Darwin.
...
What did I just say?
I have another c001 technology that buries nanoprobes deep into your bones and renders you sterile, prone to hallucinations, and weak as a baby. Send your $800 registration fee to me via Paypal.
I'd mod you up if I had points.
Don't quit the ol' day job, Webmaster Joe.
That's the spirit! Nothing's sexier than someone who finds themself unattractive.
No, our Christians find it much more effective to use the planes to drop bombs from high above. You get to destroy as many buildings as you like, and you get to keep the plane & its crew, too!
My guess is it'll be a lean x-mas this year in Ruby Ranch...
Fearing the demise of television reminds me a lot of the Futurama scene where Bender throws Fry's beer into the TV, smashing it. Fry exlaims indignantly, "Hey! Now what am I supposed to drink and watch all day?" TV is a lifestyle for a lot of people, not just a gadget that can be used to watch certain, specific things. I think it's disgusting, and it's contributing to the ignorance that causes most of the problems we see today in the US.
Hilary Rosen: As an act of penance for facilitating countless heinous acts of piracy, I will now impale myself on this giant acrylic spike. . .
Are you a U.S. citizen? Good, you're already signed up.
Mmm, curry.
I like this idea, a lot. Trouble is, land is far more expensive than the yurt. Any ideas?
Currently, this is the case. I use the W3C CSS and XHTML validators as good indicators of whether my documents will render consistently in Mozilla and IE. Notice I did not say identically. In this case "close-enough" is good enough for me.
That's a nice start, Billy, but you forgot the most important part of being a successful slashdot troll--don't go over the top. You're trying so hard to push the collective buttons around here that you hurt your fingers.
I sure wish things were the way you describe them, but I can pretty much guarantee that no one is going to install Mozilla because you or I or anyone optimized a site for it. If something appears broken in IE, then for all practical intents and purposes, it is broken, and you haven't done your job properly. If we could count on users to do what is best for them, IE never would've become dominant in the first place. Our strategy should be to make sites that don't require IE. Take down barriers to conversion, don't introduce them.
You don't think the sale of controlled substances makes the government money? Do you ever wonder who makes the prices are so high in the first place? (Here's a hint--the government)
You should read the Rama series by Arthur C. Clarke. They tackle these issues, and come to the unfortunate conclusion that humans will always be selfish xenophobes. We've plenty of evidence, and sadly, the idea that first contact will alter everyone (especially the powerful) is naive.
What ever happened to that CmdrTaco guy? Didn't he used to post stories too?
Email and HTTP *are* both insecure, even when implemented to-spec. They transmit in plaintext, making them subject to eavesdropping attacks. That's part of the reason SSL is so important, as it is commonly used to secure inherently insecure HTTP connections.
Of course "she" did, it's hard to write in a notebook with only one hand to hold the pen and the notebook. . .