You're welcome! It's been many years since I first read The Great Time Machine Hoax but I always thought it was one of Laumer's best stories. In the first chapter, when the computer announces "The mobile speaker you requested is ready" I was hooked.
No argument from me, and Microsoft has certainly caused me enough grief over the years. Like I said, their competition does it better, but I was just pointing out the typical cycle that Microsoft puts its customer base through, and if you want to avoid most of it you just wait until they've finished fixing things. Usually that takes about two years.
A true scientist remains open to any theory (until it is tested) to explain the unknown, because blinders are meant for horses, not people.
Wrong again. Science is open to any theory that is testable. That's a prerequisite for any hypothesis that would like to be elevated to the status of a theory. You're more than a little confused on the subject of what science is, and is not, and apparently you have a bone to pick with it. Now, that's fine... you're entitled to your opinion no matter how uninformed. But I stand by my position: science is the only known process that reliably separates what is, from what is not. Not perfectly to be sure, but reliably, and generally to a quantifiable level of precision. All religions make a similar claim, only they claim to do it perfectly. None of them actually can. None of them has ever come close. They've all held us back.
However, the existence of God cannot be tested, consequently any "theory" which involves His existence cannot be tested, cannot be experimentally verified, has no predictive power whatsoever, and is useless from a scientific perspective.
I never said anything about God being a closed question. In fact, I quite pointedly said that "Science is not in the God business." That didn't mean that I think God cannot exist (well, personally I think he doesn't but that's just an unscientific opinion, and I don't lose any sleep over it either way), just that the question is unscientific, not subject to rational analysis, and not one that science has any business trying to answer anyway.
Now, depending upon the type of God you believe in (or Gods, let's not leave the pantheons out of this) Evolution can be compatible with His existence... or not. If you believe in a God that created the Earth a few thousand years ago... yes, you are fundamentally incompatible with the Theory of Evolution. If you believe that the Earth has been around for some billions of years, that maybe God created the Universe way back when and is just letting it do its thing, there's no incompatibility at all. Heck, I'll even grant that if you believe that God created the first unicellular living organisms on this planet that eventually evolved into all the life on this planet, you're still compatible. Evolution speaks to how life has changed, and continues to change, with the passage of time. How life originated is a question outside the scope of Evolutionary Theory, but you have to accept that the Earth has been around for more than a few millennia in order to handle that.
No argument from me there... and if they would treat all countries the same I'd be less irritated.
Nobody really wants terrorists here and, actually, some of us really don't want Jose to come over here and work for his family either. Border security means keeping out people that should not be on our side of it, whether they're Al Quaeda members or anyone else. Neither terrorism nor illegal immigration are exactly good for the people of this country, so if we can control our borders more effectively we can kill two birds with one stone.
Not that it matters, so far as terrorism is concerned. These people are well-funded and intelligent, and they'll find a way in no matter what we do with our borders. But if a fringe benefit of our fear of terrorists is fewer illegals, I don't really have a problem with that.
Don't get me started on Lazarus Long quotes. There are hundreds more, but these are good ones:
Small change can often be found under seat cushions.
Money is a powerful aphrodisiac, but flowers work almost as well.
Always tell her she's beautiful, especially if she's not.
Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a god superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child.
History does not record anywhere a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help.
Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense.
Taxes are not levied for the benefit of the taxed.
It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics.
If you happen to be one of the fretful minority who can do creative work, never force an idea; you'll abort it if you do. Be patient and you'll give birth to it when the time is ripe. Learn to wait.
Being intelligent is not a felony. But most societies evaluate it as at least a misdemeanor.
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
Courage is the complement of fear. A man who is fearless cannot be courageous. (He is also a fool.)Love
The most preposterous notion that H. Sapiens has ever dreamed up is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of all the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of His creatures, can be swayed by their prayers, and becomes petulant if He does not receive this flattery. Yet this absurd fantasy, without a shred of evidence to bolster it, pays all the expenses of the oldest, largest, and least productive industry in all history.
Does history record any case in which the majority was right?
That's only because you aren't reading his works in the context of the times he was in, and I guarantee you aren't reading them with the same perspective on history the Founders had. They also had a sense of harsh realism that we are completely lacking today. They further understood the value of freedom, having lived under a politico-economic system that did not offer it, and having just watched many of their fellow Americans die to obtain it.
The Founding Fathers weren't psychopaths: all that we have today is a direct result of their genius. Our current leaders, on the other hand, if they don't precisely fit the definition of psychopath they're frighteningly close. As a matter of simple fact, if those leaders had paid more attention to the Founders ideals, I can assure you we wouldn't be concerning ourselves about national ID cards. It's a sign of how far we've drifted away from their enduring legacy that such things are even possible.
Somebody already tried that. Made a real mess, too. Unfortunately, that kind of behavior only provides an excuse for further crackdowns. Unless, of course, you're not doing it to make a mere political statement but as part of a full-fledged revolution (with a capital "R".)
Let's just hope we can find a peaceful way out of this or, in the immortal words of Robocop: "There will be... trouble."
I don't think I've ever seen a target more tempting for hackers...
You mean "crackers" or "thieves", not hackers. The media conscripted that word to mean criminal activity, but that's just wrong. As any scholar of totalitarianism will tell you, one of the best ways to control a population is to control the popular lexicon. Hacker is synonymous with many words, but criminal isn't one of them.
In any event, you're absolutely correct: not only is this a target but it's multiple huge targets: each individual State has to maintain a separate database on all of it's own citizens. Given the Government's (any government's) track record on information security you can bet this will not only be a target but will get successfully cracked. People are going to get hurt, bank accounts are going to be drained, identities stolen. The Feds have to know this: the fact these assholes are going ahead anyway is sociopathic and treasonous. Heads deserve to roll for even proposing this nonsense.
So it's going to happen by 2013. Well, that's several years away. It means I still have time to get filthy rich and politically-connected so I won't have to worry about any of this.
I'd rather live on my feet. So what do we do about it? Write our Congressman? I've tried that, on repeated occasions. I get the impression that they can't read. I've also tried the whole voting thing, but they seem to ignore those when they want. Now what?
All new operating systems (or major overhauls of said operating systems) have problems, sometimes severe ones. Most people implicitly understand that. What they often fail to remember is that Microsoft operating systems remain in "new" status until, usually, the second service pack, which may take two or three years. Eight months old? That's still brand spanking new, in the Microsoft world. Software development at that company moves at a glacial pace.
I'm no fan of Microsoft (and I'm not at all excited by what Vista has to offer, particularly compared to what the competition has made available for some time now) but if we're still having these problems in two years I'll be surprised. Who knows... it might even be usable by then.
Why wouldn't they still? There are still substantial and non-infringing uses for P2P technology. The media folks don't like to admit that, but it is true.
No, most Americans take the "I'm too lazy to figure out the politics of change" attitude towards the TSA.
And it's funny: I spent about six hours waiting in line to get on a plane to come back from Canada. Not from somewhere in the Middle East. Canada! I mean, I understand that that bastion of Western socialism to the north is a haven for terrorists and ne'er-do-wells of all stripes, but that was just ridiculous. And it wasn't the Canadian security types either: I had no problem with them.
on the other hand, I don't like the fact that the people setting policies that can completely screw up the lives of ordinary citizens are so isolated from those lives that they really just don't need to care. They don't suffer any consequences from the rules they impose upon the rest of us. Politicians are the other major example of such a disconnect, and look where that's taken us.
I'll bet the freeze on that record went through without any quibbles or extra charge.
No kidding. Like when Senator Ted Kennedy ended up on a no-fly list... a phone call later and he was off of it. The rest of us don't have such options.
I haven't noticed any substantial reduction in Comcast's download rates (I have the 8 mbit/sec tier, speed which I rarely achieve anyway) but then again I'm fortunate enough to live in a broadband-competitive area. I can call up SBC, Covad, or a number of other providers and get service, so maybe Comcast figures it's a bad idea to squeeze people around here too much. If Comcast were my only available provider, I understand it could be very different.
Of course, when all the ISPs are pulling this stunt, it wont matter. But I suspect they'll have a lot fewer customers. There's a reason downloading is such a big part of network traffic: it's what people want. Times have changed, technology has changed, we can do more with it now, and email and Web browsing are only a part of modern online activities. Smart businesses that are in a truly competitive situation find ways to give customers what they want and need, and still manage to make a profit. Take away that incentive, that pressure to garner and keep customers, and crap like this is what happens.
I can get my email and browse the Web on a $5/month dial-up connection. I pay Comcast a pretty penny because I want to send lots of packets from here to there quickly. Take that away from me and they are no longer worth $75 each month (it's arguable whether they are now.) I've been considering dropping Comcast's asymmetric crap and going with a straight 1.5 mbit/sec DSL connection.
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You're welcome! It's been many years since I first read The Great Time Machine Hoax but I always thought it was one of Laumer's best stories. In the first chapter, when the computer announces "The mobile speaker you requested is ready" I was hooked.
That's funny. I know way too many highly-educated Russians to believe that. Nice try though.
You're welcome. It does raise some interesting points, does it not?
No argument from me, and Microsoft has certainly caused me enough grief over the years. Like I said, their competition does it better, but I was just pointing out the typical cycle that Microsoft puts its customer base through, and if you want to avoid most of it you just wait until they've finished fixing things. Usually that takes about two years.
A true scientist remains open to any theory (until it is tested) to explain the unknown, because blinders are meant for horses, not people.
... you're entitled to your opinion no matter how uninformed. But I stand by my position: science is the only known process that reliably separates what is, from what is not. Not perfectly to be sure, but reliably, and generally to a quantifiable level of precision. All religions make a similar claim, only they claim to do it perfectly. None of them actually can. None of them has ever come close. They've all held us back.
Wrong again. Science is open to any theory that is testable. That's a prerequisite for any hypothesis that would like to be elevated to the status of a theory. You're more than a little confused on the subject of what science is, and is not, and apparently you have a bone to pick with it. Now, that's fine
However, the existence of God cannot be tested, consequently any "theory" which involves His existence cannot be tested, cannot be experimentally verified, has no predictive power whatsoever, and is useless from a scientific perspective.
I never said anything about God being a closed question. In fact, I quite pointedly said that "Science is not in the God business." That didn't mean that I think God cannot exist (well, personally I think he doesn't but that's just an unscientific opinion, and I don't lose any sleep over it either way), just that the question is unscientific, not subject to rational analysis, and not one that science has any business trying to answer anyway.
... or not. If you believe in a God that created the Earth a few thousand years ago ... yes, you are fundamentally incompatible with the Theory of Evolution. If you believe that the Earth has been around for some billions of years, that maybe God created the Universe way back when and is just letting it do its thing, there's no incompatibility at all. Heck, I'll even grant that if you believe that God created the first unicellular living organisms on this planet that eventually evolved into all the life on this planet, you're still compatible. Evolution speaks to how life has changed, and continues to change, with the passage of time. How life originated is a question outside the scope of Evolutionary Theory, but you have to accept that the Earth has been around for more than a few millennia in order to handle that.
Now, depending upon the type of God you believe in (or Gods, let's not leave the pantheons out of this) Evolution can be compatible with His existence
No argument from me there ... and if they would treat all countries the same I'd be less irritated.
Nobody really wants terrorists here and, actually, some of us really don't want Jose to come over here and work for his family either. Border security means keeping out people that should not be on our side of it, whether they're Al Quaeda members or anyone else. Neither terrorism nor illegal immigration are exactly good for the people of this country, so if we can control our borders more effectively we can kill two birds with one stone.
Not that it matters, so far as terrorism is concerned. These people are well-funded and intelligent, and they'll find a way in no matter what we do with our borders. But if a fringe benefit of our fear of terrorists is fewer illegals, I don't really have a problem with that.
And that underwear gnomes might raid our underwear drawer every other night?
Son of a bitch. So that's what's been going on. I couldn't figure out why my underwear budget was so high.
You just need to go get RealIDAlternative.
I think you mean "MediaSentry".
Don't get me started on Lazarus Long quotes. There are hundreds more, but these are good ones:
Small change can often be found under seat cushions.
Money is a powerful aphrodisiac, but flowers work almost as well.
Always tell her she's beautiful, especially if she's not.
Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a god superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child.
History does not record anywhere a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help.
Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense.
Taxes are not levied for the benefit of the taxed.
It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics.
If you happen to be one of the fretful minority who can do creative work, never force an idea; you'll abort it if you do. Be patient and you'll give birth to it when the time is ripe. Learn to wait.
Being intelligent is not a felony. But most societies evaluate it as at least a misdemeanor.
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
Courage is the complement of fear. A man who is fearless cannot be courageous. (He is also a fool.)Love
The most preposterous notion that H. Sapiens has ever dreamed up is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of all the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of His creatures, can be swayed by their prayers, and becomes petulant if He does not receive this flattery. Yet this absurd fantasy, without a shred of evidence to bolster it, pays all the expenses of the oldest, largest, and least productive industry in all history.
Does history record any case in which the majority was right?
That's only because you aren't reading his works in the context of the times he was in, and I guarantee you aren't reading them with the same perspective on history the Founders had. They also had a sense of harsh realism that we are completely lacking today. They further understood the value of freedom, having lived under a politico-economic system that did not offer it, and having just watched many of their fellow Americans die to obtain it.
The Founding Fathers weren't psychopaths: all that we have today is a direct result of their genius. Our current leaders, on the other hand, if they don't precisely fit the definition of psychopath they're frighteningly close. As a matter of simple fact, if those leaders had paid more attention to the Founders ideals, I can assure you we wouldn't be concerning ourselves about national ID cards. It's a sign of how far we've drifted away from their enduring legacy that such things are even possible.
Somebody already tried that. Made a real mess, too. Unfortunately, that kind of behavior only provides an excuse for further crackdowns. Unless, of course, you're not doing it to make a mere political statement but as part of a full-fledged revolution (with a capital "R".)
... trouble."
Let's just hope we can find a peaceful way out of this or, in the immortal words of Robocop: "There will be
If I'm forced to choose between RealPlayer and RealID, I think I'd opt for RealID.
I don't think I've ever seen a target more tempting for hackers...
You mean "crackers" or "thieves", not hackers. The media conscripted that word to mean criminal activity, but that's just wrong. As any scholar of totalitarianism will tell you, one of the best ways to control a population is to control the popular lexicon. Hacker is synonymous with many words, but criminal isn't one of them.
In any event, you're absolutely correct: not only is this a target but it's multiple huge targets: each individual State has to maintain a separate database on all of it's own citizens. Given the Government's (any government's) track record on information security you can bet this will not only be a target but will get successfully cracked. People are going to get hurt, bank accounts are going to be drained, identities stolen. The Feds have to know this: the fact these assholes are going ahead anyway is sociopathic and treasonous. Heads deserve to roll for even proposing this nonsense.
So it's going to happen by 2013. Well, that's several years away. It means I still have time to get filthy rich and politically-connected so I won't have to worry about any of this.
I'd rather live on my feet. So what do we do about it? Write our Congressman? I've tried that, on repeated occasions. I get the impression that they can't read. I've also tried the whole voting thing, but they seem to ignore those when they want. Now what?
All new operating systems (or major overhauls of said operating systems) have problems, sometimes severe ones. Most people implicitly understand that. What they often fail to remember is that Microsoft operating systems remain in "new" status until, usually, the second service pack, which may take two or three years. Eight months old? That's still brand spanking new, in the Microsoft world. Software development at that company moves at a glacial pace.
... it might even be usable by then.
I'm no fan of Microsoft (and I'm not at all excited by what Vista has to offer, particularly compared to what the competition has made available for some time now) but if we're still having these problems in two years I'll be surprised. Who knows
is a classic example of the FISS principle: Foot In Self Shoot.
Not the first time our communications carriers have done that, and I'm sure it won't be the last.
they would have had the Betmax safe harbor.
Why wouldn't they still? There are still substantial and non-infringing uses for P2P technology. The media folks don't like to admit that, but it is true.
Just because Your mom makes herself available doesn't mean that everyone is having sex with her
RIAA lawyer: Yes, Your Honor, but it doesn't mean she isn't.
(Is being terminally stupid a crime?)
... but the reward for being that stupid is usually terminal.
Maybe not
Does your position mean that syntax checkers in compilers are also grammar Nazis?
Not at all, because those of us who do not require them (or simply do not want them) can turn them off.
No, most Americans take the "I'm too lazy to figure out the politics of change" attitude towards the TSA.
And it's funny: I spent about six hours waiting in line to get on a plane to come back from Canada. Not from somewhere in the Middle East. Canada! I mean, I understand that that bastion of Western socialism to the north is a haven for terrorists and ne'er-do-wells of all stripes, but that was just ridiculous. And it wasn't the Canadian security types either: I had no problem with them.
on the other hand, I don't like the fact that the people setting policies that can completely screw up the lives of ordinary citizens are so isolated from those lives that they really just don't need to care. They don't suffer any consequences from the rules they impose upon the rest of us. Politicians are the other major example of such a disconnect, and look where that's taken us.
I'll bet the freeze on that record went through without any quibbles or extra charge.
... a phone call later and he was off of it. The rest of us don't have such options.
No kidding. Like when Senator Ted Kennedy ended up on a no-fly list
I haven't noticed any substantial reduction in Comcast's download rates (I have the 8 mbit/sec tier, speed which I rarely achieve anyway) but then again I'm fortunate enough to live in a broadband-competitive area. I can call up SBC, Covad, or a number of other providers and get service, so maybe Comcast figures it's a bad idea to squeeze people around here too much. If Comcast were my only available provider, I understand it could be very different.
Of course, when all the ISPs are pulling this stunt, it wont matter. But I suspect they'll have a lot fewer customers. There's a reason downloading is such a big part of network traffic: it's what people want. Times have changed, technology has changed, we can do more with it now, and email and Web browsing are only a part of modern online activities. Smart businesses that are in a truly competitive situation find ways to give customers what they want and need, and still manage to make a profit. Take away that incentive, that pressure to garner and keep customers, and crap like this is what happens.
I can get my email and browse the Web on a $5/month dial-up connection. I pay Comcast a pretty penny because I want to send lots of packets from here to there quickly. Take that away from me and they are no longer worth $75 each month (it's arguable whether they are now.) I've been considering dropping Comcast's asymmetric crap and going with a straight 1.5 mbit/sec DSL connection.