Um, where did I indicate making suspicious activity illegal? I *did* say check suspicious individuals, but not arresting them. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on why suspicious people should not be investigated.
Oh by the way, interesting thought you have on Roman law - whatever is NOT illegal is expressly allowed. Amazing that you support that idea as it applies to individuals against the government, but not for the government to protect the citizens against large scale threats.
Cell Phones. Almost everyone leaves them on. While cell phone are on they ping the cell network to make sure you can receive a call. Look at your cell phone and see the nice little reception bars on it - yes, the phone network knows where you are. Investigators nowdays subpona phone companies internal tracking info on phones to determine whether suspects were in certain cities on certain days. Yes you are being tracked.
Ah yes, I sense someone about to say that it is only the phone company tracking you. First the phone companies want to play nice with the government and will quickly and quietly hand over records (phone companies need the government permission to operate, and I can think of several agencies that can make it a nightmare for phone companies to operate, starting with the FCC). Secondly if the government was *really* curious then they can put up their own cell towers tuned to the same frequencies as the cell networks. These hypothetical towers wouldn't be for sending or recieving, just monitoring the various cell frequencies (which is of course registered with the government). Then the government can listen to the pings. They wouldn't know who but they'd know the phoneid and location. They don't even need to put these hypotetical towers everywhere - just in interesting places, say like various bridges. We aren't even talking about tall towers. A good eight foot antenna near a government building will probably pick up the pings from every cell phone within 500 feet or so, more than plenty for tracking nearby people. This stuff is very very easy.
And before your paranoia alarms goes off, so what?!? I'd hope the government is doing imaginative things to protect us. If a person visits three nuclear power plant, several major bridges, and hangs around a Times Square armed forces recruiting office I'd hope that this person would be flagged for further checking (gun permits, nationality, criminal history). I think it highly unlikely they'd care about the boring lives of everyday people (went to grocery store, filled up car, went home, went to work, went to fast food joint, went home...)
I personally am a application programmer. I work with live databases all the time, and pick off personal records that are interesting for testing and monitoring. Interesting for me are records that test certain system aspects or that can help answer a question (why is this persons transactions not showing up on January's non-redeemed reports?). It has to be the same for the government - it's not personal, it is in the patterns.
1 - Get the transfer authorization code (EPP code). At most registrars it is available at the same place you unlock the domain, but it is critical to the transfer.
2 - Some registrars don't let you transfer for 60 days if you update your ownership info on that domain (account holder, email address, whois admin details, legal name change). This is SOP for Godaddy (and probably most others), and to be fair I do see how this can prevent serious abuse. Check before you update, and if you must, call the registrar.
Step 1 - Give avatars robotic bodies to interact in real world
Step 2 - Give avatar-robots real weapons to act human in real world
Step 3 - Deploy avatar-warriors in some country to forcably impose peace whether they like it or not
Step 4 - Destroy documentation on creation of avatar-robot-weapons
Step 5 - Blame the opposite political party for the problem of rampaging avatars fragging the landscape.
The sad thing is I'm probably going to be modded funny for this.
For one it gives people a major way to steal domain names. People look up the domain name that they want in the public record, find the email address, and try to crack the email. If they can get the access to the email then more than likely the domain can be stolen. Then us poor techs get a call several months later from the true customer wondering what happened to their domain. Whois reveals too much information.
Secondly it isn't accurate. People see their name in whois and think that means they get to make decisions on the account/domain. Just because your name appears in whois does not mean you are listed on the account itself. But try explaining that to their ex-(terminated)-webmaster.
And lastly WhoIs is a major pain to explain. Try telling a paranoid customer that all domains appear in whois, and that you can't remove a domain itself from whois. My sup can't remove it from whois. The president of MegaDomainRegistrar can't remove it. Sorry, no, I don't have a phone number for ICANN. We can hide the info, but we can't make it disappear.
But then to be fair, I can't think of an alternative system to keep the domains and websites fair and accountable. Compaining to a registrar/webhoster about a domain/site is next to useless unless it is unquestionably illegal or definately a trademark issue. Most cases get shunted to the legal department which give the unhappy complaintant a copy of the AcceptableUsePolicy and asked to submit proof of infraction (yeah, good luck). Usually it takes a dedicated lawyer to get things done in these cases. So for now, whois stays.
This may put a crimp on domain speculators, but not on domain investors. Investors that are holding large collections of domain names will either register ahead of the price increase for multiple years, or will simply factor it into their bottom line. If someone watches the backorder lists, and does the necessary research, checks the domain's history carefully, verifies the links to the domain, double checks the rank of the domain on the search engine, and buys the non-trademarked, ex-domain of someone who really shouldn't have let it go, do you really think 50 cents is going to make a difference? Wise investors put pressure on ex-holder to recoup the investment, or use the domain/website to make money for themselves.
Domain speculators buy domains without doing research. Speculators buying domains like Y2Q-X.COM, S239.BIZ, ANNA-NICOLE-(insert something here).COM, (someUS2008politicalcandidate).US will be hurt by this. People are buying domain names will be hurt on this price increase. Speculators buy domains by the hundreds hoping for one or two big sales, and I wish them well.
This won't affect people who have a small number of domains. The assertation that it'll allow people to get the parked domain names that they want is not true. The "good" domain names have been held for many years, and a small increase in price is not going to cause them to be released. Business that hold variations of thier domain names as part of their business aren't going to release them, it's a minor line item on a business expense sheet (websites are expensive, design is expensive, SEO is expensive, pay-per-click is very expensive, domain names are CHEAP), so those domains still won't be available. People that are holding ego-domains so that they can use the emails with it (johnsmith@super-mega-ultra-proven-problem-solver. com) on their resume will never release it, as it gives them too much pleasure to use it, and won't release it with the price increase.
So little changes with the price increase.
The funny thing about this is there is an ad above the article advertising GoDaddy domain names for $6.95. Hurry! Y2Q-X.COM is still available!!
There has to be more to it than "a new two button mouse". I just don't believe that a room full of project managers and coporate directors have never heard of a two button mouse. Let's face it, one of them has had to have wandered through Staples, Worst Buy, CostCo, or Office Depot and seen the computer products available, including two and three button mice.
What I think is happening is that they are trying to implement the behavior of the second button seamlessly into their operating system. Now that I can belive could cause them some headaches, since Microsoft still hasn't gotten their OS to run perfectly. But I don't know because I don't work for Apple, and the article was a piece of trash information-wise.
I am certain of one thing though. Apple needs to have a long talk with there press liasion and hand that person a manual on technical writing. The article is short, very vague, and very easy to misinterpret. It is the job of a company's technical writer to ensure that whatever gets released isn't a problem in and of itself. This is where Apple dropped the ball, not in a *gasp* two button mouse being developed, but in a poor writer.
Supposing that Earth was operating in a Gaia-ish fashion and needed to "lighten the load", 30000 human death just wouldn't cut it. The human population of Earth is 4.5 billion. Assuming an earth-average pop growth rate of 0.25% (I *know* that pop growth is *negative* in US, China, Japan, Britian, and parts of Africa, but Earth average is positive still) that means 11,250,000 new people on the planet every year (at a minimum). For just summer that would be 2,812,500, and *that* is just to break even. For a healthy die back for the planet, it has to exceed that value. 30,000 doesn't even begin to cut it. Earth needs a major (NON nuclear) war to break out between two large populations, inflicting heavy civilian casulaties. Hmmm... better not give it any ideas...
Is it just me or is this a long paper about something everyone already knew?
George Orwell's book 1984 extensively covered an extremely plausible
use of language control to shape what it is possible for an individual to think.
Heck, entire U.S. industries are devoted to nothing more than massaging numbers
to help people know what they should think (it's called statistics). Kerry leads
Bush (in U.S. presidential elections) by 48% to 42%. Ralph Nader only has about
7%, so only idiots who want to throw away their vote will vote for him. 9 out
of 10 dentists prefer Crest toothpaste. More than 85% of desktop computer run
Microsoft Windows as their OS, so it must be better. It takes a true genius
to suddenly discover (and write an impressive paper) that numbers may shape
human thought!
I'll even go one step further than the startling theory of the original authors.
Cultural needs shapes the evolution of language, and of thought. Amazon
Indians who are in survival mode of hunt-and-gather do not need high mathematical skills. Seriously, what would they need a number greater than 2 for? Ook,
how many days since we last ate?, It has been 3.7 days, mostly due
to a 56% drop in acceptable game in the area. If we extrapolate from our current
situation, in about another 1.5 days we will suffer a 80% decrease in operational
efficiency due to insufficient food. I wish to propose that we may have hunted
this area out and need to move to the next valley 8 miles over, where the game
density is much higher. If they did need a number greater than
2, they would have invented it. People make fun of Eskimos and their many words
for snow. Think of our society and how many words for computer we have, and
the different connotations they have. Is it a Linux box, or a Windows box? A
game machine, a home unit, a business computer, or a uber-133t-box? We have
invented the words because there was a need. Words that aren't needed by a society
disappear (when did you last hear someone say phithee, as in Phithee my
good sir, may thou tellest me the road to Whenst?).
A much better paper covering language is here
(A View of Man's Linguistic Development).
Hmmm... perhaps I should write a nice looking scholarly paper on this. Even
better, I'll web-publish it and shock everyone with this new theory. Call the
television networks!!
Why in the blazes would I want to learn the proper etiquette to use on the
blasted phone?!? I have idiots (yes, I call them idiots intentionally) who seem
to regard my phone as a tool for *their* convience, not mine. They
will call up and fall into one of five catagories - advice (I
don't give free advice, I do give free bad advice though.
Will that do?), me to buy something (If I find you you'll regret it), my opinion
on your ##@%!^# survey (and why should I give a #!#% about your survey), or
relatives (most of whom have learned not to call me at work,
ever), customers (I don't want your life story, nor how it
happened, nor your pathetic excuse of why it isn't your fault, nor your amusing
fallible logic of what you want me to do about it, nor endless whining. I want
the problem in 10 words or less. Most problems can be stated in this many words.
If I need clarification I will ask further questions. Don't think, just follow
my directions. I can probably fix your problem. Fear me, because I do hate and
despise you Mr Customer, and I have enough authority to assure that if you tick
me off then your little problem with get worse, and will never
get fixed.), and superior-powers-that-be (my boss, government
officials, landlord, police (gosh officer, I really can't remember anything
about that customer, and I have no idea how he got a Gizmo3000 shoved up one
nostril.) - with superiors my goal is to figure out how to satisfy their question
as quickly as possible, and to endure whatever they need to talk about.).
Why do I feel this way? Because everyone treats the phone as their little toy.
They feel nothing about picking up the phone and calling. Let's face it. These
are the 2000s people. We are busy. Everyone who cared
enough about every customer and every problem, and the 100% satisfaction do-bee
employee found their productivity numbers falling in the 90s and got laid off.
The only people who are left are the result-oriented grumps. Don't be mistaken
if you see us smiling, or smiles in our voices. Grumps are very good at smiling
(mussssst not sssscare the preciousssss potential cusssstomerssssss, my precioussssss).
Most people think nothing about picking up the phone and calling me for a tiny
problem. The customer doesn't realize that I'm usually already working on some
problem on a computer, typing up your problem, speaking to you, and working
on odd bits of paperwork that's in my in-bin. There are four customers on hold
in the phone queue trying to get hold of me. Do you really expect me
to hand hold you through why your wireless lan laptop doesn't work when you
drive away from your home wireless router??
Proper communication nowdays is email. Email is lovely. I can ignore the unworthy
email. I can usually handle an question related email a lot faster than any
phone conversation. Another plus is that it is hard to whine, wheedle, and squeeze
goodies via email (Can't you just sort of, um, extend, that warrenty a
little). Best of all, email is semi-permanent. It can be forwarded, bcc'ed,
and used for evidence that you are a lying, cheating little turnip.
The MC joke was tasteless, and i can see MC execs wanting to kill the joke, as it simply isn't funny. The Amex joke below seems almost complimentary, as it implies that having the AmEx card gives you special privilages. I suppose that if a popular celebrity gave them a free endorsement, they would issue a cease-and-desist letter. No wonder AmEx is the card chosen by the select few who don't want their card to be accepted in many stores.
You are invited to become a member of the American Expressway, one of the
newest and most innovative road systems in America. There are many advantages
to the American Expressway over the standard tollways, parkways, highways
and freeways but by far the biggest advantage is:
No Preset Speed Limit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Instead your personal speed limit is determined by your vehicle, your personal
resourcefulness and your past speeding patterns. When you enter the expressway
your personal id number is transmitted to Central Control to tabulate your
tolls and record your initial speed (all AE members may travel at 55 with no
restrictions). If you decide to pursue a greater speed then an authorization
will be sent to Central Control and our highly specialized, non deterministic
and little understood AI algorithm will decide if you are approved for your
new speed. If you are not then a Service Technician (formally known as a
State Trooper) may stop you to ask a few questions to verify that you were
capable of handling your new limit (Do you increase throttle to induce
oversteer in a decreasing radius turn?), that you have adequate resources
(Is that a Crosley Wombat V16?) and that you are not too far out of your
previous speeding pattern (Have you ever driven at 180 mph before?).
Politicians only listen to money, and anything that will help them get elected/reelected. A $200 payment won't impress a politician much. It's the equivalent amount that you might pay for a fund-raising dinner in which one of the politician's spokesmen might appear.
If the payments were lumped together, $5 here, $200 there, and so on, until you have a million dollar payment, then a presidental candidate might actually (briefly) listen to you, as long as there isn't a balancing amount of money on the opposing viewpoint. If you were able to raise ten million dollars, and guarentee a hundred thousand votes in an important state, like Iowa, then the president will closely listen to your issues, and declare an immediate national mandate to lessen that crisis to everyday American life.
This is the fact of life. It's cynical, but I've never seen presidental, senatorial, or legislators care about people, but only money, photo-ops, and influence.
I also am a big fan of dream control via lucid dreaming, and if I'm maintaining the dream/reality checks and am in practice, I can usually achieve about 3 remembered and controlled long dreams a week, all for free. It took me about four months to get to that level, and I couldn't afford a NovaDreamer (a similiar (and expensive device) for aiding dreamers). I found this link (http://brindefalk.solarbotics.net) which detailed the Kvaser dreammask. If you know your electronics its easy enough to do. You'd have to modify the circuit (to add the extended audio cues) and modify the coding for the additional logic.
When people advertise nice electronic doodads that are simple enough, I usually see whether or not I can do it simpler and cheaper, with all the custom additions that I want. If the device is a Mhz or Ghz microprocessor, I'm not likely to get far, but a nice project in the back of a electronics magazine, certainly. And this device certainly falls into that category.
Management likes very cool looking desks to impress the employees and clients. I've seen many that are made of rich woods, have every kind of electronic doodad embedded in it, automated, and customized to the max. The purpose of such a desk is not to work, but to impress clients, and to intimidate employees. As such its a management toy, just as the managers rolex, the managers jag, and the managers important photos on the ego wall.
A worker has a functional desk, and wouldn't be caught dead behind the space-ghost desk. My desk at work has two monitors, the space ghost desk can only hold one recesed. The underlit desktop looks cool, but it'll make papers hard to read on the desktop, I'd prefer my hologen superbright lamp ($29). Where on that desk does the keyboard go?? I don't know who would want a fridge in the desk, I'd want the printer in there though so free up the desktop.
This doesn't mean a workers desk can't look cool. There was a photo contest on/. that showed snapshots of cool tech desks, but was taken offline. Its just that the cool looking workers desk is completely different than the cool looking management desk. One is intended to facilite work, the other isn't.
Your example of the cultivated clerk is that it involves a lot of suppositions and 'ifs'. IF you have a cheated buyer, and IF he knows a clerk he can exploit, and IF that seller feels offended enough to use a gun...
I will use the same number of if's in a different example. IF someone offends me at some place, and IF I know a police officer who owes me some favors (in my dreams), and IF I am willing to use that information to pursue a minor issue that can be easily handled in the courts (easily done if I have real name/address) into a MAJOR issue... The situations are the same and more or less equally unlikely.
I have no real problem with officials poking thru my ebay records since while there is a fair amount of transactions, nothing is remotely interesting. I believe this is true for an overwhelming majority of ebay transactions.
However, if someone on ebay bought, say, a couple of tons of a certain (LEGAL) chemical used by farmers, and some books on bomb making (yes they are sold on ebay), and some army-surplus goods, then I would hope that authorities wouldn't have to wait for a federal warrent to be issued, served, processed, analyzed by ebay lawyers, and have the process drag out.
I know Visa is a secretive company but I find the lack of information to be seriously annoying.
Which company was hacked? How do I determine if my CC# is part of the 2.2 million obtained? Can the same routine the hacker used be used against other companies that process CCs? Did the hacker access the CCs from the internet site directly or use the internet to access the companies internal Intranet to get the CCs?
Of course, this is Visa/MC. They don't have to be nice to customers and give out good info. What are their customers going to do, cancel their cards? (snicker)
The strategies of Microsoft and Intel into controling how I use my computer doesn't worry me overly much yet. I have yet to hear anything on MS and Intel *requiring* me to buy such technology and install it into my computer. Im sure that there are some users out there who could care less about their hardware/software specifics, but people who depend on their computers tend to be very picky. Picky users generally don't buy shoddy hardware, limited hardware, or software that will make their life miserable. Therefore, unless MS is VERY clever there isn't much chance of Palladium getting installed in the computers that matter most, the experts, power-users, developers, and hackers computers.
In addition I don't see how MS can force the issue. I suppose they will bundle it with Internet Explorer. I can switch to Netscape or stay at IE6. It will be in the next Windows OS, but I use Win2k, and have no plans to upgrade. If MS does figure out a way to get it installed on my computer, I maintain good backups and am willing to spend an afternoon reformating and reinstalling.
Sorry MS, resistance is *not* futile.
Or the pessimistic view could be correct...
on
Christmas in 2050
·
· Score: 1, Insightful
Sorry, I don't believe the future is going to be bright and rosy, and that all positive indicators will get better.
Realistic predictions...
The ozone hole gets significantly worse causing massive ecological changes. This causes social unrest in some countries and cities sparking several desperately fought wars.
Critical resources diminish. Technology has been developed to squeeze the dregs from old wells, but there are severe shortfalls. Nuclear energy is predominant energy source.
US continues to lose technological capability to east-asia.
Collapse of US educational establishment.
Violence in US streets becomes much worse. Police forces nationalized.
Slashdot Mirror
Um, where did I indicate making suspicious activity illegal? I *did* say check suspicious individuals, but not arresting them. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on why suspicious people should not be investigated.
Oh by the way, interesting thought you have on Roman law - whatever is NOT illegal is expressly allowed. Amazing that you support that idea as it applies to individuals against the government, but not for the government to protect the citizens against large scale threats.
Cell Phones. Almost everyone leaves them on. While cell phone are on they ping the cell network to make sure you can receive a call. Look at your cell phone and see the nice little reception bars on it - yes, the phone network knows where you are. Investigators nowdays subpona phone companies internal tracking info on phones to determine whether suspects were in certain cities on certain days. Yes you are being tracked.
Ah yes, I sense someone about to say that it is only the phone company tracking you. First the phone companies want to play nice with the government and will quickly and quietly hand over records (phone companies need the government permission to operate, and I can think of several agencies that can make it a nightmare for phone companies to operate, starting with the FCC). Secondly if the government was *really* curious then they can put up their own cell towers tuned to the same frequencies as the cell networks. These hypothetical towers wouldn't be for sending or recieving, just monitoring the various cell frequencies (which is of course registered with the government). Then the government can listen to the pings. They wouldn't know who but they'd know the phoneid and location. They don't even need to put these hypotetical towers everywhere - just in interesting places, say like various bridges. We aren't even talking about tall towers. A good eight foot antenna near a government building will probably pick up the pings from every cell phone within 500 feet or so, more than plenty for tracking nearby people. This stuff is very very easy.
And before your paranoia alarms goes off, so what?!? I'd hope the government is doing imaginative things to protect us. If a person visits three nuclear power plant, several major bridges, and hangs around a Times Square armed forces recruiting office I'd hope that this person would be flagged for further checking (gun permits, nationality, criminal history). I think it highly unlikely they'd care about the boring lives of everyday people (went to grocery store, filled up car, went home, went to work, went to fast food joint, went home...)
I personally am a application programmer. I work with live databases all the time, and pick off personal records that are interesting for testing and monitoring. Interesting for me are records that test certain system aspects or that can help answer a question (why is this persons transactions not showing up on January's non-redeemed reports?). It has to be the same for the government - it's not personal, it is in the patterns.
1 - Get the transfer authorization code (EPP code). At most registrars it is available at the same place you unlock the domain, but it is critical to the transfer.
2 - Some registrars don't let you transfer for 60 days if you update your ownership info on that domain (account holder, email address, whois admin details, legal name change). This is SOP for Godaddy (and probably most others), and to be fair I do see how this can prevent serious abuse. Check before you update, and if you must, call the registrar.
I have 2.5TB of storage. Let's see...
1. Sign up for Yahoo hosting
2. Truecrypt the drives into 10GB pieces
3. Create a very basic index.html that links to those file - now those files are not data storage, they are web content.
4. Upload.
5. Upload more.
6. Upload backups.
7. Upload the archives from CD/DVD
8. When Yahoo shuts me down, sue as I only uploaded web content.
Step 1 - Give avatars robotic bodies to interact in real world
Step 2 - Give avatar-robots real weapons to act human in real world
Step 3 - Deploy avatar-warriors in some country to forcably impose peace whether they like it or not
Step 4 - Destroy documentation on creation of avatar-robot-weapons
Step 5 - Blame the opposite political party for the problem of rampaging avatars fragging the landscape.
The sad thing is I'm probably going to be modded funny for this.
I have had a long dislike of whois.
For one it gives people a major way to steal domain names. People look up the domain name that they want in the public record, find the email address, and try to crack the email. If they can get the access to the email then more than likely the domain can be stolen. Then us poor techs get a call several months later from the true customer wondering what happened to their domain. Whois reveals too much information.
Secondly it isn't accurate. People see their name in whois and think that means they get to make decisions on the account/domain. Just because your name appears in whois does not mean you are listed on the account itself. But try explaining that to their ex-(terminated)-webmaster.
And lastly WhoIs is a major pain to explain. Try telling a paranoid customer that all domains appear in whois, and that you can't remove a domain itself from whois. My sup can't remove it from whois. The president of MegaDomainRegistrar can't remove it. Sorry, no, I don't have a phone number for ICANN. We can hide the info, but we can't make it disappear.
But then to be fair, I can't think of an alternative system to keep the domains and websites fair and accountable. Compaining to a registrar/webhoster about a domain/site is next to useless unless it is unquestionably illegal or definately a trademark issue. Most cases get shunted to the legal department which give the unhappy complaintant a copy of the AcceptableUsePolicy and asked to submit proof of infraction (yeah, good luck). Usually it takes a dedicated lawyer to get things done in these cases. So for now, whois stays.
This may put a crimp on domain speculators, but not on domain investors. Investors that are holding large collections of domain names will either register ahead of the price increase for multiple years, or will simply factor it into their bottom line. If someone watches the backorder lists, and does the necessary research, checks the domain's history carefully, verifies the links to the domain, double checks the rank of the domain on the search engine, and buys the non-trademarked, ex-domain of someone who really shouldn't have let it go, do you really think 50 cents is going to make a difference? Wise investors put pressure on ex-holder to recoup the investment, or use the domain/website to make money for themselves.
Domain speculators buy domains without doing research. Speculators buying domains like Y2Q-X.COM, S239.BIZ, ANNA-NICOLE-(insert something here).COM, (someUS2008politicalcandidate).US will be hurt by this. People are buying domain names will be hurt on this price increase. Speculators buy domains by the hundreds hoping for one or two big sales, and I wish them well.
This won't affect people who have a small number of domains. The assertation that it'll allow people to get the parked domain names that they want is not true. The "good" domain names have been held for many years, and a small increase in price is not going to cause them to be released. Business that hold variations of thier domain names as part of their business aren't going to release them, it's a minor line item on a business expense sheet (websites are expensive, design is expensive, SEO is expensive, pay-per-click is very expensive, domain names are CHEAP), so those domains still won't be available. People that are holding ego-domains so that they can use the emails with it (johnsmith@super-mega-ultra-proven-problem-solver. com) on their resume will never release it, as it gives them too much pleasure to use it, and won't release it with the price increase.
So little changes with the price increase.
The funny thing about this is there is an ad above the article advertising GoDaddy domain names for $6.95. Hurry! Y2Q-X.COM is still available!!
There has to be more to it than "a new two button mouse". I just don't believe that a room full of project managers and coporate directors have never heard of a two button mouse. Let's face it, one of them has had to have wandered through Staples, Worst Buy, CostCo, or Office Depot and seen the computer products available, including two and three button mice. What I think is happening is that they are trying to implement the behavior of the second button seamlessly into their operating system. Now that I can belive could cause them some headaches, since Microsoft still hasn't gotten their OS to run perfectly. But I don't know because I don't work for Apple, and the article was a piece of trash information-wise. I am certain of one thing though. Apple needs to have a long talk with there press liasion and hand that person a manual on technical writing. The article is short, very vague, and very easy to misinterpret. It is the job of a company's technical writer to ensure that whatever gets released isn't a problem in and of itself. This is where Apple dropped the ball, not in a *gasp* two button mouse being developed, but in a poor writer.
Supposing that Earth was operating in a Gaia-ish fashion and needed to "lighten the load", 30000 human death just wouldn't cut it. The human population of Earth is 4.5 billion. Assuming an earth-average pop growth rate of 0.25% (I *know* that pop growth is *negative* in US, China, Japan, Britian, and parts of Africa, but Earth average is positive still) that means 11,250,000 new people on the planet every year (at a minimum). For just summer that would be 2,812,500, and *that* is just to break even. For a healthy die back for the planet, it has to exceed that value. 30,000 doesn't even begin to cut it. Earth needs a major (NON nuclear) war to break out between two large populations, inflicting heavy civilian casulaties. Hmmm... better not give it any ideas...
Is it just me or is this a long paper about something everyone already knew? George Orwell's book 1984 extensively covered an extremely plausible use of language control to shape what it is possible for an individual to think. Heck, entire U.S. industries are devoted to nothing more than massaging numbers to help people know what they should think (it's called statistics). Kerry leads Bush (in U.S. presidential elections) by 48% to 42%. Ralph Nader only has about 7%, so only idiots who want to throw away their vote will vote for him. 9 out of 10 dentists prefer Crest toothpaste. More than 85% of desktop computer run Microsoft Windows as their OS, so it must be better. It takes a true genius to suddenly discover (and write an impressive paper) that numbers may shape human thought!
I'll even go one step further than the startling theory of the original authors. Cultural needs shapes the evolution of language, and of thought. Amazon Indians who are in survival mode of hunt-and-gather do not need high mathematical skills. Seriously, what would they need a number greater than 2 for? Ook, how many days since we last ate?, It has been 3.7 days, mostly due to a 56% drop in acceptable game in the area. If we extrapolate from our current situation, in about another 1.5 days we will suffer a 80% decrease in operational efficiency due to insufficient food. I wish to propose that we may have hunted this area out and need to move to the next valley 8 miles over, where the game density is much higher. If they did need a number greater than 2, they would have invented it. People make fun of Eskimos and their many words for snow. Think of our society and how many words for computer we have, and the different connotations they have. Is it a Linux box, or a Windows box? A game machine, a home unit, a business computer, or a uber-133t-box? We have invented the words because there was a need. Words that aren't needed by a society disappear (when did you last hear someone say phithee, as in Phithee my good sir, may thou tellest me the road to Whenst?).
A much better paper covering language is here (A View of Man's Linguistic Development).
Hmmm... perhaps I should write a nice looking scholarly paper on this. Even better, I'll web-publish it and shock everyone with this new theory. Call the television networks!!
Why in the blazes would I want to learn the proper etiquette to use on the blasted phone?!? I have idiots (yes, I call them idiots intentionally) who seem to regard my phone as a tool for *their* convience, not mine. They will call up and fall into one of five catagories - advice (I don't give free advice, I do give free bad advice though. Will that do?), me to buy something (If I find you you'll regret it), my opinion on your ##@%!^# survey (and why should I give a #!#% about your survey), or relatives (most of whom have learned not to call me at work, ever), customers (I don't want your life story, nor how it happened, nor your pathetic excuse of why it isn't your fault, nor your amusing fallible logic of what you want me to do about it, nor endless whining. I want the problem in 10 words or less. Most problems can be stated in this many words. If I need clarification I will ask further questions. Don't think, just follow my directions. I can probably fix your problem. Fear me, because I do hate and despise you Mr Customer, and I have enough authority to assure that if you tick me off then your little problem with get worse, and will never get fixed.), and superior-powers-that-be (my boss, government officials, landlord, police (gosh officer, I really can't remember anything about that customer, and I have no idea how he got a Gizmo3000 shoved up one nostril.) - with superiors my goal is to figure out how to satisfy their question as quickly as possible, and to endure whatever they need to talk about.).
Why do I feel this way? Because everyone treats the phone as their little toy. They feel nothing about picking up the phone and calling. Let's face it. These are the 2000s people. We are busy . Everyone who cared enough about every customer and every problem, and the 100% satisfaction do-bee employee found their productivity numbers falling in the 90s and got laid off. The only people who are left are the result-oriented grumps. Don't be mistaken if you see us smiling, or smiles in our voices. Grumps are very good at smiling (mussssst not sssscare the preciousssss potential cusssstomerssssss, my precioussssss). Most people think nothing about picking up the phone and calling me for a tiny problem. The customer doesn't realize that I'm usually already working on some problem on a computer, typing up your problem, speaking to you, and working on odd bits of paperwork that's in my in-bin. There are four customers on hold in the phone queue trying to get hold of me. Do you really expect me to hand hold you through why your wireless lan laptop doesn't work when you drive away from your home wireless router??
Proper communication nowdays is email. Email is lovely. I can ignore the unworthy email. I can usually handle an question related email a lot faster than any phone conversation. Another plus is that it is hard to whine, wheedle, and squeeze goodies via email (Can't you just sort of, um, extend, that warrenty a little). Best of all, email is semi-permanent. It can be forwarded, bcc'ed, and used for evidence that you are a lying, cheating little turnip.
Go ahead, mod me insensitive.
The MC joke was tasteless, and i can see MC execs wanting to kill the joke, as it simply isn't funny. The Amex joke below seems almost complimentary, as it implies that having the AmEx card gives you special privilages. I suppose that if a popular celebrity gave them a free endorsement, they would issue a cease-and-desist letter. No wonder AmEx is the card chosen by the select few who don't want their card to be accepted in many stores.
You are invited to become a member of the American Expressway, one of the newest and most innovative road systems in America. There are many advantages to the American Expressway over the standard tollways, parkways, highways and freeways but by far the biggest advantage is:
No Preset Speed Limit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Instead your personal speed limit is determined by your vehicle, your personal resourcefulness and your past speeding patterns. When you enter the expressway your personal id number is transmitted to Central Control to tabulate your tolls and record your initial speed (all AE members may travel at 55 with no restrictions). If you decide to pursue a greater speed then an authorization will be sent to Central Control and our highly specialized, non deterministic and little understood AI algorithm will decide if you are approved for your new speed. If you are not then a Service Technician (formally known as a State Trooper) may stop you to ask a few questions to verify that you were capable of handling your new limit (Do you increase throttle to induce oversteer in a decreasing radius turn?), that you have adequate resources (Is that a Crosley Wombat V16?) and that you are not too far out of your previous speeding pattern (Have you ever driven at 180 mph before?).
Membership has it's Privileges
To apply for membership call 1 800 HAUL ASS
Politicians only listen to money, and anything that will help them get elected/reelected. A $200 payment won't impress a politician much. It's the equivalent amount that you might pay for a fund-raising dinner in which one of the politician's spokesmen might appear. If the payments were lumped together, $5 here, $200 there, and so on, until you have a million dollar payment, then a presidental candidate might actually (briefly) listen to you, as long as there isn't a balancing amount of money on the opposing viewpoint. If you were able to raise ten million dollars, and guarentee a hundred thousand votes in an important state, like Iowa, then the president will closely listen to your issues, and declare an immediate national mandate to lessen that crisis to everyday American life. This is the fact of life. It's cynical, but I've never seen presidental, senatorial, or legislators care about people, but only money, photo-ops, and influence.
I also am a big fan of dream control via lucid dreaming, and if I'm maintaining the dream/reality checks and am in practice, I can usually achieve about 3 remembered and controlled long dreams a week, all for free. It took me about four months to get to that level, and I couldn't afford a NovaDreamer (a similiar (and expensive device) for aiding dreamers). I found this link (http://brindefalk.solarbotics.net) which detailed the Kvaser dreammask. If you know your electronics its easy enough to do. You'd have to modify the circuit (to add the extended audio cues) and modify the coding for the additional logic. When people advertise nice electronic doodads that are simple enough, I usually see whether or not I can do it simpler and cheaper, with all the custom additions that I want. If the device is a Mhz or Ghz microprocessor, I'm not likely to get far, but a nice project in the back of a electronics magazine, certainly. And this device certainly falls into that category.
Management likes very cool looking desks to impress the employees and clients. I've seen many that are made of rich woods, have every kind of electronic doodad embedded in it, automated, and customized to the max. The purpose of such a desk is not to work, but to impress clients, and to intimidate employees. As such its a management toy, just as the managers rolex, the managers jag, and the managers important photos on the ego wall. A worker has a functional desk, and wouldn't be caught dead behind the space-ghost desk. My desk at work has two monitors, the space ghost desk can only hold one recesed. The underlit desktop looks cool, but it'll make papers hard to read on the desktop, I'd prefer my hologen superbright lamp ($29). Where on that desk does the keyboard go?? I don't know who would want a fridge in the desk, I'd want the printer in there though so free up the desktop. This doesn't mean a workers desk can't look cool. There was a photo contest on /. that showed snapshots of cool tech desks, but was taken offline. Its just that the cool looking workers desk is completely different than the cool looking management desk. One is intended to facilite work, the other isn't.
Your example of the cultivated clerk is that it involves a lot of suppositions and 'ifs'. IF you have a cheated buyer, and IF he knows a clerk he can exploit, and IF that seller feels offended enough to use a gun...
I will use the same number of if's in a different example. IF someone offends me at some place, and IF I know a police officer who owes me some favors (in my dreams), and IF I am willing to use that information to pursue a minor issue that can be easily handled in the courts (easily done if I have real name/address) into a MAJOR issue... The situations are the same and more or less equally unlikely.
I have no real problem with officials poking thru my ebay records since while there is a fair amount of transactions, nothing is remotely interesting. I believe this is true for an overwhelming majority of ebay transactions.
However, if someone on ebay bought, say, a couple of tons of a certain (LEGAL) chemical used by farmers, and some books on bomb making (yes they are sold on ebay), and some army-surplus goods, then I would hope that authorities wouldn't have to wait for a federal warrent to be issued, served, processed, analyzed by ebay lawyers, and have the process drag out.
I know Visa is a secretive company but I find the lack of information to be seriously annoying.
Which company was hacked?
How do I determine if my CC# is part of the 2.2 million obtained?
Can the same routine the hacker used be used against other companies that process CCs?
Did the hacker access the CCs from the internet site directly or use the internet to access the companies internal Intranet to get the CCs?
Of course, this is Visa/MC. They don't have to be nice to customers and give out good info. What are their customers going to do, cancel their cards? (snicker)
The strategies of Microsoft and Intel into controling how I use my computer doesn't worry me overly much yet. I have yet to hear anything on MS and Intel *requiring* me to buy such technology and install it into my computer. Im sure that there are some users out there who could care less about their hardware/software specifics, but people who depend on their computers tend to be very picky. Picky users generally don't buy shoddy hardware, limited hardware, or software that will make their life miserable. Therefore, unless MS is VERY clever there isn't much chance of Palladium getting installed in the computers that matter most, the experts, power-users, developers, and hackers computers.
In addition I don't see how MS can force the issue. I suppose they will bundle it with Internet Explorer. I can switch to Netscape or stay at IE6. It will be in the next Windows OS, but I use Win2k, and have no plans to upgrade. If MS does figure out a way to get it installed on my computer, I maintain good backups and am willing to spend an afternoon reformating and reinstalling.
Sorry MS, resistance is *not* futile.
Sorry, I don't believe the future is going to be bright and rosy, and that all positive indicators will get better.
Realistic predictions...
The ozone hole gets significantly worse causing massive ecological changes. This causes social unrest in some countries and cities sparking several desperately fought wars.
Critical resources diminish. Technology has been developed to squeeze the dregs from old wells, but there are severe shortfalls. Nuclear energy is predominant energy source.
US continues to lose technological capability to east-asia.
Collapse of US educational establishment.
Violence in US streets becomes much worse. Police forces nationalized.