I can't believe that after a week of having Ronald Reagan shoved down our throats by every newspaper, radio, and TV outlet in the country I can still hear conservatives whining about the "liberal media". How much farther to the right can the goal posts move?
That more reporters describe themselves as liberal is about as shocking as saying most businessmen describe themselves as conservative. Big deal.
The above statement is not 100% accurate, but here's an excerpt from an article published November 12, 2001:
Consider the differences found in two counties-Leon and Gadsden-separated by the Ochlockonee River and the two broadest extremes of how votes are counted. In both counties voters use a pencil to fill in ovals on the ballot.
But if a voter in Leon County, which includes the state capital, Tallahassee, made a mistake on a ballot, the counting machine in the polling place automatically spit out the ballot back into the voter's hand. A second or and even a third chance was allowed. to vote properly.
This voting system had an error rate of less than 1 percent.
In Gadsden County, the only predominantly black Florida county, no second chance was given because officials said they couldn't afford counting machines in every polling place. The highest percentage of discarded ballots in any Florida county occurred here, with 12.4 percent of the ballots invalidated.
The passage of the "Patriot Act" grants law enforcement greater access to records related to you and your activities that are held by third parties (section 215). The act also significantly expands law enforcement's latitude in searching your private property because it can now be done without a warrant, prior knowlegde or consent, or even notification after the fact (section 213). These examples degrade the right to privacy and the restrictions on search and seizure that were laid out in the fourth amendment to the US constitution.
They will get it wrong, it's a certainty. I work for the State of Florida and deal with FDLE every day, and like any other cops they're not above harassment, vendettas, and abuse of power. More dangerously, some of the techs and investigators are just not all that bright. The law enforcement databases that are being pulled together are chock full of erroneous information. The clerks who enter the data don't make a living wage and there's a high turnover, so the quality of data entry is very low. Those who work in law enforcement are aware of this, but it's very hard to challenge something once it's in there, and they like it that way. If you know someone it helps.
What's most fascinating to me is the bit about "commercially available databases" being included as well. Does this include your credit card receipts? How about the data collected by your supermarket discount card?
PS for the Non-Americans out there . . . I know the development of the culture of surveillance might be disturbing to you, but all we want is to be on reality TV. The Bush administration understands this deep-seated human need and is doing all they can to get us all on camera.
I agree that googling has to be the first step, one that some "how do I . .." posters clearly haven't taken. The answer is always the same as well - you will have to read a lot, start at the beginning, and work hard, that's how it's done. That said, only a person can show you how knowledge is applied, and I appreciate the responses and advice people give. Some of y'all are true badasses in your particular branch of IT and your time is worth serious money, so I'm thankful that you take a minute to give your opinion and maybe a little direction. It's what makes open source work and it's why you keep reading Slashdot.
Do you believe for a second that people who love your work will settle in the end for a degraded digital copy on a CD-R? I understand that you want to maintain ownership of your art, but don't you find the idea that it can be discovered and experienced all over the world compelling? In my experience, being able to hear new music via P2P had led to buying more new music in its officially sanctioned retail format, not less. The internet is the best means of distributing audio and video available to the independent artist and it's maddening to see it neutered by an organization like the RIAA because they want to maintain control of distribution. I would be all for limiting the quality of traded files - say a bitrate of 72 for audio - but remember that people are trading this stuff because they love music. Do you really want to take your art out of the global marketplace and allow SONY to decide whether it's worthy of distribution?
perhaps this is off-topic, but as a kid I used to visit my grandfather when he worked at RCA in Princeton, this was circa 1980. He'd take me around to all of his scientist buddies and show me the cool stuff they were working on. I remember big lasers (whoa), lots of weird laser-disc storage media, primitive green pixel-ly flat televisions, and they also had a short holgraphic film loop. It was tiny, maybe six inches tall, and it was a silvery image of guys playing football that could be viewed from several angles. I hadn't heard of anybody whipping them out again until now. Having been 9 at the time I had no idea how it worked. This was the last thing I'd witnessed as a child that I hadn't yet seen as an adult.
Slashdot Mirror
I can't believe that after a week of having Ronald Reagan shoved down our throats by every newspaper, radio, and TV outlet in the country I can still hear conservatives whining about the "liberal media". How much farther to the right can the goal posts move?
That more reporters describe themselves as liberal is about as shocking as saying most businessmen describe themselves as conservative. Big deal.
The above statement is not 100% accurate, but here's an excerpt from an article published November 12, 2001:
Consider the differences found in two counties-Leon and Gadsden-separated by the Ochlockonee River and the two broadest extremes of how votes are counted. In both counties voters use a pencil to fill in ovals on the ballot.
But if a voter in Leon County, which includes the state capital, Tallahassee, made a mistake on a ballot, the counting machine in the polling place automatically spit out the ballot back into the voter's hand. A second or and even a third chance was allowed. to vote properly.
This voting system had an error rate of less than 1 percent.
In Gadsden County, the only predominantly black Florida county, no second chance was given because officials said they couldn't afford counting machines in every polling place. The highest percentage of discarded ballots in any Florida county occurred here, with 12.4 percent of the ballots invalidated.
The passage of the "Patriot Act" grants law enforcement greater access to records related to you and your activities that are held by third parties (section 215). The act also significantly expands law enforcement's latitude in searching your private property because it can now be done without a warrant, prior knowlegde or consent, or even notification after the fact (section 213). These examples degrade the right to privacy and the restrictions on search and seizure that were laid out in the fourth amendment to the US constitution.
They will get it wrong, it's a certainty. I work for the State of Florida and deal with FDLE every day, and like any other cops they're not above harassment, vendettas, and abuse of power. More dangerously, some of the techs and investigators are just not all that bright. The law enforcement databases that are being pulled together are chock full of erroneous information. The clerks who enter the data don't make a living wage and there's a high turnover, so the quality of data entry is very low. Those who work in law enforcement are aware of this, but it's very hard to challenge something once it's in there, and they like it that way. If you know someone it helps.
What's most fascinating to me is the bit about "commercially available databases" being included as well. Does this include your credit card receipts? How about the data collected by your supermarket discount card?
PS for the Non-Americans out there . . . I know the development of the culture of surveillance might be disturbing to you, but all we want is to be on reality TV. The Bush administration understands this deep-seated human need and is doing all they can to get us all on camera.
I agree that googling has to be the first step, one that some "how do I . . ." posters clearly haven't taken. The answer is always the same as well - you will have to read a lot, start at the beginning, and work hard, that's how it's done. That said, only a person can show you how knowledge is applied, and I appreciate the responses and advice people give. Some of y'all are true badasses in your particular branch of IT and your time is worth serious money, so I'm thankful that you take a minute to give your opinion and maybe a little direction. It's what makes open source work and it's why you keep reading Slashdot.
Aww shucks, I feel all warm n' fuzzy inside
Do you believe for a second that people who love your work will settle in the end for a degraded digital copy on a CD-R? I understand that you want to maintain ownership of your art, but don't you find the idea that it can be discovered and experienced all over the world compelling? In my experience, being able to hear new music via P2P had led to buying more new music in its officially sanctioned retail format, not less. The internet is the best means of distributing audio and video available to the independent artist and it's maddening to see it neutered by an organization like the RIAA because they want to maintain control of distribution. I would be all for limiting the quality of traded files - say a bitrate of 72 for audio - but remember that people are trading this stuff because they love music. Do you really want to take your art out of the global marketplace and allow SONY to decide whether it's worthy of distribution?
Why extradite when you can bomb into rubble?
Gee, in Nutsack, Alabama, an 8-bedroom is only $450 (next to the feed store!). Imagine the savings . . .
perhaps this is off-topic, but as a kid I used to visit my grandfather when he worked at RCA in Princeton, this was circa 1980. He'd take me around to all of his scientist buddies and show me the cool stuff they were working on. I remember big lasers (whoa), lots of weird laser-disc storage media, primitive green pixel-ly flat televisions, and they also had a short holgraphic film loop. It was tiny, maybe six inches tall, and it was a silvery image of guys playing football that could be viewed from several angles. I hadn't heard of anybody whipping them out again until now. Having been 9 at the time I had no idea how it worked. This was the last thing I'd witnessed as a child that I hadn't yet seen as an adult.