Only in action dramas do people revolt over having their rights trampled. The reality is that as long as our Glorious Leaders can keep us in beer, TV, and junk food then they can do pretty much as they please. It's called bread and circuses and it kept the Roman Empire around hundreds of years past the point of their highest glory.
Yes, but you can't separate the two. When rights get trampled in a previously-affluent society, economic failure usually follows. It's rare to see prosperity result from a loss of civil liberties. Worse yet, from our perspective, the speed at which modern economies move (and which armed conflicts can begin) means that we will not suffer a Roman-style long slide into oblivion, with the barbarians only storming the gates at the very end. It will happen fast, so fast that most people will be left wondering "what the hell happened?"
The problem we're having in the United States is that the plebs have discovered that not only will the government provide bread and circuses, but with this being a Republic they can "vote" themselves more bread and circuses! The effect of this no longer uplifts the unfortunate (if it ever did) but serves as a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the poor, with gross inefficiencies and corporate handouts along the way. It's also resulting in the destruction of our manufacturing engine. Consequently, having given up the means of creating wealth, it will not be long before we can no longer afford to keep ourselves in beer, TV and junk food, no matter what country actually makes them.
A major economic collapse will happen unless we start taking steps now: these processes are non-linear. The truth is that it's probably already too late for us, but I see no reason to do nothing, which all I see us doing now. Well, now that's not entirely true... Congress is doing its level best to accelerate our downward spiral.
so you can just claim Plausible deniability because someone was using your service without your permission.
What everybody fails to grasp is this: if you're ever been merely accused of something the powers-that-be don't like (child pornography, "terrorist" materials, whatever) they're not going to listen to your plaintive cries of "but it's an open access point." They don't care as long as they can be publicly seen to be doing their jobs. Odds are the grunts arresting you won't know an access point from Adam, and they'll haul your ass off to jail as a matter of principle. Then, if you have a very good lawyer and are lucky enough to come before a tech-savvy judge (and don't count on that) you might have some form of viable defense. Then again, you might not, and could end up serving ten years to life. Either way, you've been seriously boned up the ass and for what? Giving your cheap-ass neighbor his jollies?
So, don't assume the cops or the Justice System will be reasonable about any of this, or even grasp the fundamental technical aspects of modern communications. They will take the simplest approach, which is it was your I.P. that was active when the offensive/illegal materials were downloaded, and even if it was someone else who did it it was still your equipment that was used. That wouldn't remotely constitute proof to an engineer, but so far lawyers have had a field day with it.
Bottom line, secure your access point as tightly as you can, and if you're going to download anything "questionable" do it through an encrypted anonymous service like Tor, and hope that that is sufficient to protect you. God help you if it's not, because nobody else will.
I rank Taser International right up there with Diebold, DirecTV and the RIAA as organizations that regularly misuse American law to suppress competition and legitimate discussion of their products and services. This is not a matter of using the legal system to provide redress of grievance... it's a form of quasi-legal censorship. It needs to be stopped, particularly when it comes to TI's intimidation of medical examiners and other State employees who are performing vital public services. This is wrong any way you look at it.
The copyright cops have to follow due process and you have the right to a jury tail.
My goodness, what a protected life you must lead.
The reality is that cops follow procedure when and if they feel like it. Furthermore, merely being accused of a crime is a punitive action in this country (taken before you even get your due process and your jury trial.) Getting arrested is no fun, especially if you haven't done anything. Then you have the joyful experience of defending yourself before said jury, and when you lose because the copyright owners have unlimited funds and you do not, you're life is thoroughly trashed. That's even more true when you're fighting for your rights in a criminal court, versus a civil one.
So be very, very careful of accepting any newfound powers our government arrogates to itself, especially those granted at the behest of the private sector.
Good Sci-Fi uses unheard of technology or really advance technology to forward the plot. Bad Sci-Fi uses unheard of technology or really advance technology to resolve the plot (I talking to you Star Trek Fans (Espectially Voyager))
No, good science-fiction uses technologies which are a reasonable extrapolation from existing applied science. Otherwise, it's not science fiction, it's fantasy or some other genre entirely, because if you're just going to invent your science you can say anything. That's why I always enjoyed the likes of Arthur C. Clarke and other hard science fiction authors: the math always worked.
then the next of kin should not be billed for the expense.
They were already billed... that is, if they paid their taxes. This just sounds like the Governor wants to set a precedent that rich people can be billed extra for such services. Now, that's wrong if the woman wasn't told in advance that she'd be fronting the expense of the search. Maybe in that case she'd have forgone having the State search for her husband, and mounted a private effort of her own. It's ridiculous that she can be upcharged after the fact for that much money.
Is there a strong enough term for those that go so completely out of their way to ignore facts and reality that it defies belief and leaves the sensible stunned?
The "architectural redesign" of Vista's security framework isn't so much a rebuilt system as much as it is a makeover, intended to give the false impression of a more secure OS.
Most of the programs are utterly asinine, and the good nuggets are all available through other media (DVD) now.
Don't forget Bit Torrent. Every TV show on the air is available that way now. The problem is, even when the stuff is available for free I don't have much interest.
I've found pretty much the same thing happening to me. We have a big screen TV, but we really only use it for watching movies (Netflix, as it happens.) Broadcast TV programming is, by and large, worthless and what good stuff there is on cable/satellite doesn't really do it for me. Certainly I can't justify $60-$80 a month on it. Sure, there are the movie channels, I've found that a few DVDs each month from Netflix satisfies that need, and for a hell of a lot less money. Hi-Def is nice, to be sure, but until they drop the price of cable programming substantially I'm going to find much more productive things to do with my time.
I think that We the People are long overdue to consider reform on Congress itself. After all... they're the reason we're in need of copyright and patent reform in the first place!
Interestingly, that's pretty much how the Space Shuttle's on-board systems work. Three separate processors from two different vendors (IBM and Rockwell, if I recall correctly.) Nothing new under the Sun, I suppose.
Go back even further to Flash, the first pinball game with an electronic sound board. 6800-based with an LM1408 DAC. 1979 or thereabouts, I think, it's been a long time. I remember the excitement induced by the rising background sound. That was followed by the likes of Firepower, which had an even cooler background sound and CVSD-generated voice, and Black Knight. Those were great times for pinball players.
Let me give you a different take, then. Your comment would make perfect sense if Microsoft had not claimed to have sold the music in question (this applies just as much to Apple, for that matter.) By simply removing access to their authorization servers, they've effectively taken ownership of said music from the rightful owners. As all the RIAA supporters out there would no doubht say, they've stolen it. That's exactly what DRM is about... blurring the lines of ownership. If Microsoft were to be honest about what they're doing, they would admit that and refund the money that all those people paid for now-useless data.
If they were simply renting the music on a pay-for-play basis it would be different, of course, like renting a DVD from Blockbuster. But that's not the way that music was offered. Those customers bought those tracks, or thought they did.
I don't think there has ever been such an arrogant caste profession since the days of the Egyptian priesthood.
Sure we have. They're called "doctors", "politicians" and "Chief Executive Officers", respectively. Granted, many politicians are also lawyers, so there's some crossover but they all they tend to think just as highly of themselves. I will agree that, unlike the other three groups, doctors do provide useful if overpriced services. If all physicians suddenly disappeared tomorrow many of us would be in trouble, but if attorneys, politicians and "Chief Executive Officers" vanished from the face of the Earth most of us wouldn't even notice.
For sure there'd be a lot of nice homes and used luxury cars on the market.
Justice, fairness, reciprocity, selflessness: these things naturally feel good to most people, while their opposites usually feel bad, even when they have absolutely nothing to do with us.
Honestly, it is hard to say how much of that is heritable, and how much is learned, cultural in nature (this particular argument goes back centuries.) Look at much of the Oriental world, for instance. Doing what Westerners would call "bad" things is tolerated, so long as one is not caught. Only at that point is it considered wrong. That's in diametric opposition to the Judeo-Christian ethos, which is more along the lines of "don't do bad things in the first place, because, well, they're bad." Who decides what is actually considered "bad" is often up to some debate, of course.
It's impossible to make wide generalizations of this nature across all cultures. There are relatively few absolute standards of good and evil, right and wrong, that are accepted by all.
It's not 'dirty'. Morally reprehensible maybe, but not dirty. The federal government can use any patent any time without royalty.
No. It's dirty (and I would like to know the difference between "morally reprehensible" and "dirty".) I think you missed the point: it's not a matter of using a patented invention without paying royalties. As I explained in my original post, this was a matter of classifying complete product designs with the express purpose of freezing out the original designer. This was not a matter of national security (well, it was in some of his projects) but for many it was just because they liked the stuff, but wanted to have somebody else build it cheaper. Basically a quasi-legal way of ripping off the best-and-brightest engineering companies. Nasty business all the way around, and he learned some harsh lessons along the way about how to deal with America's military-industrial complex.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah really ... we're coming to a point where citizens can be charged with destruction of government property by stepping on a cockroach.
No one deserves to sell an inferior product just because of their ad budget.
As apt a description of what's wrong with Microsoft, General Motors and a hundred other major corporations as anything else I've heard lately.
I'd say he's more like syphilis: if you don't get your JT infection treated it will eventually turn your brain into Jell-O.
Only in action dramas do people revolt over having their rights trampled. The reality is that as long as our Glorious Leaders can keep us in beer, TV, and junk food then they can do pretty much as they please. It's called bread and circuses and it kept the Roman Empire around hundreds of years past the point of their highest glory.
... Congress is doing its level best to accelerate our downward spiral.
Yes, but you can't separate the two. When rights get trampled in a previously-affluent society, economic failure usually follows. It's rare to see prosperity result from a loss of civil liberties. Worse yet, from our perspective, the speed at which modern economies move (and which armed conflicts can begin) means that we will not suffer a Roman-style long slide into oblivion, with the barbarians only storming the gates at the very end. It will happen fast, so fast that most people will be left wondering "what the hell happened?"
The problem we're having in the United States is that the plebs have discovered that not only will the government provide bread and circuses, but with this being a Republic they can "vote" themselves more bread and circuses! The effect of this no longer uplifts the unfortunate (if it ever did) but serves as a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the poor, with gross inefficiencies and corporate handouts along the way. It's also resulting in the destruction of our manufacturing engine. Consequently, having given up the means of creating wealth, it will not be long before we can no longer afford to keep ourselves in beer, TV and junk food, no matter what country actually makes them.
A major economic collapse will happen unless we start taking steps now: these processes are non-linear. The truth is that it's probably already too late for us, but I see no reason to do nothing, which all I see us doing now. Well, now that's not entirely true
WARNING: Do not look into Taser with remaining heart.
so you can just claim Plausible deniability because someone was using your service without your permission.
What everybody fails to grasp is this: if you're ever been merely accused of something the powers-that-be don't like (child pornography, "terrorist" materials, whatever) they're not going to listen to your plaintive cries of "but it's an open access point." They don't care as long as they can be publicly seen to be doing their jobs. Odds are the grunts arresting you won't know an access point from Adam, and they'll haul your ass off to jail as a matter of principle. Then, if you have a very good lawyer and are lucky enough to come before a tech-savvy judge (and don't count on that) you might have some form of viable defense. Then again, you might not, and could end up serving ten years to life. Either way, you've been seriously boned up the ass and for what? Giving your cheap-ass neighbor his jollies?
So, don't assume the cops or the Justice System will be reasonable about any of this, or even grasp the fundamental technical aspects of modern communications. They will take the simplest approach, which is it was your I.P. that was active when the offensive/illegal materials were downloaded, and even if it was someone else who did it it was still your equipment that was used. That wouldn't remotely constitute proof to an engineer, but so far lawyers have had a field day with it.
Bottom line, secure your access point as tightly as you can, and if you're going to download anything "questionable" do it through an encrypted anonymous service like Tor, and hope that that is sufficient to protect you. God help you if it's not, because nobody else will.
I rank Taser International right up there with Diebold, DirecTV and the RIAA as organizations that regularly misuse American law to suppress competition and legitimate discussion of their products and services. This is not a matter of using the legal system to provide redress of grievance ... it's a form of quasi-legal censorship. It needs to be stopped, particularly when it comes to TI's intimidation of medical examiners and other State employees who are performing vital public services. This is wrong any way you look at it.
Ajax Performance Analysis
All I know is, my floors have a nice shine.
The copyright cops have to follow due process and you have the right to a jury tail.
My goodness, what a protected life you must lead.
The reality is that cops follow procedure when and if they feel like it. Furthermore, merely being accused of a crime is a punitive action in this country (taken before you even get your due process and your jury trial.) Getting arrested is no fun, especially if you haven't done anything. Then you have the joyful experience of defending yourself before said jury, and when you lose because the copyright owners have unlimited funds and you do not, you're life is thoroughly trashed. That's even more true when you're fighting for your rights in a criminal court, versus a civil one.
So be very, very careful of accepting any newfound powers our government arrogates to itself, especially those granted at the behest of the private sector.
Good Sci-Fi uses unheard of technology or really advance technology to forward the plot. Bad Sci-Fi uses unheard of technology or really advance technology to resolve the plot (I talking to you Star Trek Fans (Espectially Voyager))
No, good science-fiction uses technologies which are a reasonable extrapolation from existing applied science. Otherwise, it's not science fiction, it's fantasy or some other genre entirely, because if you're just going to invent your science you can say anything. That's why I always enjoyed the likes of Arthur C. Clarke and other hard science fiction authors: the math always worked.
Our only hope is to begin researching advance kicking and boot technology now!
Duke Nukem could probably lend us a hand, er, "foot", there.
then the next of kin should not be billed for the expense.
... that is, if they paid their taxes. This just sounds like the Governor wants to set a precedent that rich people can be billed extra for such services. Now, that's wrong if the woman wasn't told in advance that she'd be fronting the expense of the search. Maybe in that case she'd have forgone having the State search for her husband, and mounted a private effort of her own. It's ridiculous that she can be upcharged after the fact for that much money.
They were already billed
they probably have an extra-judicial means of contract enforcement named Ivan.
His name is Bubba, actually.
Is there a strong enough term for those that go so completely out of their way to ignore facts and reality that it defies belief and leaves the sensible stunned?
Yes. Paranoid schizophrenia.
So...are there any particular issues with S/MIME that make PGP a significantly more desirable solution?
Everybody hates a mime.
They were given the option to return something less than First Degree (with it's likely irreversible death penalty).
So it's likely that both Hans and and his filesystem will die.
Too bad he can't fork himself. Well, he kind of did that in court, I guess.
The "architectural redesign" of Vista's security framework isn't so much a rebuilt system as much as it is a makeover, intended to give the false impression of a more secure OS.
Ouch.
Most of the programs are utterly asinine, and the good nuggets are all available through other media (DVD) now.
Don't forget Bit Torrent. Every TV show on the air is available that way now. The problem is, even when the stuff is available for free I don't have much interest.
I've found pretty much the same thing happening to me. We have a big screen TV, but we really only use it for watching movies (Netflix, as it happens.) Broadcast TV programming is, by and large, worthless and what good stuff there is on cable/satellite doesn't really do it for me. Certainly I can't justify $60-$80 a month on it. Sure, there are the movie channels, I've found that a few DVDs each month from Netflix satisfies that need, and for a hell of a lot less money. Hi-Def is nice, to be sure, but until they drop the price of cable programming substantially I'm going to find much more productive things to do with my time.
You know, like posting on Slashdot.
Congress Considers Reform On Orphaned Works
... they're the reason we're in need of copyright and patent reform in the first place!
I think that We the People are long overdue to consider reform on Congress itself. After all
Interestingly, that's pretty much how the Space Shuttle's on-board systems work. Three separate processors from two different vendors (IBM and Rockwell, if I recall correctly.) Nothing new under the Sun, I suppose.
Go back even further to Flash, the first pinball game with an electronic sound board. 6800-based with an LM1408 DAC. 1979 or thereabouts, I think, it's been a long time. I remember the excitement induced by the rising background sound. That was followed by the likes of Firepower, which had an even cooler background sound and CVSD-generated voice, and Black Knight. Those were great times for pinball players.
Let me give you a different take, then. Your comment would make perfect sense if Microsoft had not claimed to have sold the music in question (this applies just as much to Apple, for that matter.) By simply removing access to their authorization servers, they've effectively taken ownership of said music from the rightful owners. As all the RIAA supporters out there would no doubht say, they've stolen it. That's exactly what DRM is about ... blurring the lines of ownership. If Microsoft were to be honest about what they're doing, they would admit that and refund the money that all those people paid for now-useless data.
If they were simply renting the music on a pay-for-play basis it would be different, of course, like renting a DVD from Blockbuster. But that's not the way that music was offered. Those customers bought those tracks, or thought they did.
I don't think there has ever been such an arrogant caste profession since the days of the Egyptian priesthood.
Sure we have. They're called "doctors", "politicians" and "Chief Executive Officers", respectively. Granted, many politicians are also lawyers, so there's some crossover but they all they tend to think just as highly of themselves. I will agree that, unlike the other three groups, doctors do provide useful if overpriced services. If all physicians suddenly disappeared tomorrow many of us would be in trouble, but if attorneys, politicians and "Chief Executive Officers" vanished from the face of the Earth most of us wouldn't even notice.
For sure there'd be a lot of nice homes and used luxury cars on the market.
Justice, fairness, reciprocity, selflessness: these things naturally feel good to most people, while their opposites usually feel bad, even when they have absolutely nothing to do with us.
Honestly, it is hard to say how much of that is heritable, and how much is learned, cultural in nature (this particular argument goes back centuries.) Look at much of the Oriental world, for instance. Doing what Westerners would call "bad" things is tolerated, so long as one is not caught. Only at that point is it considered wrong. That's in diametric opposition to the Judeo-Christian ethos, which is more along the lines of "don't do bad things in the first place, because, well, they're bad." Who decides what is actually considered "bad" is often up to some debate, of course.
It's impossible to make wide generalizations of this nature across all cultures. There are relatively few absolute standards of good and evil, right and wrong, that are accepted by all.
It's not 'dirty'. Morally reprehensible maybe, but not dirty. The federal government can use any patent any time without royalty.
No. It's dirty (and I would like to know the difference between "morally reprehensible" and "dirty".) I think you missed the point: it's not a matter of using a patented invention without paying royalties. As I explained in my original post, this was a matter of classifying complete product designs with the express purpose of freezing out the original designer. This was not a matter of national security (well, it was in some of his projects) but for many it was just because they liked the stuff, but wanted to have somebody else build it cheaper. Basically a quasi-legal way of ripping off the best-and-brightest engineering companies. Nasty business all the way around, and he learned some harsh lessons along the way about how to deal with America's military-industrial complex.