I was reading an article some time ago that remarked that an increasing number of ex-military are ending up in police forces. Is that really true? If so, it could account for a lot of apparent changes in police attitude.
Not to generalize too much, but the town I used to live in had two ex-Marines on the force: they were the very last cops you wanted to see because they were complete hardasses. Really didn't get the whole "serve and protect" bit at all, it was more "fuckin' do what we tell you." I had a couple of run-ins with one of them... I had a lady that came in to help me take care of my father a couple hours a week. The bastard came up onto my driveway and gave her a ticket for not having a village sticker (she was from another town.) Seventy-five bucks, plus another twenty for the sticker and she didn't even live there.
So I go over to the police station to see what I can do, and there's this same shaven-headed dick behind the counter. I asked him if there was any way we could work this out, since the old lady really didn't have a lot of money. Dude tells there's nothing to be done, and then orders me out of the building. That was a bit much, and now I'm pissed, so I asked him very firmly to talk to his supervisor. He opened his mouth right as the shift super came out of the back room to see what the commotion was about, and then shut it.
The supervisor (a regular cop, nice enough guy actually) tore up the ticket and apologized for inconveniencing me, and I went on my way.
I don't want miracles. Miracles won't keep my lights on at night, or run my microwave. What I want is practical, manufacturable technology. Don't misunderstand me... I think the mass-production of highly-efficient, cheap PV cells would revolutionize a lot of things. For that matter, the topic of solar power has interested me for the better part of forty years: I built a solar furnace as a kid out of several Fresnel lenses and some firebrick. Vaporized coins with the thing. On the other hand, I am getting tired of this flood of articles loudly proclaiming that this prototype cell technology, for sure, is the next big "scientific miracle" of the century. Let me know when I can pick up a 4x8 of the stuff at Home Depot for the price of sheet of plywood. Now that would be a miracle.
And maybe this one will be the one... but I doubt it. I also didn't ridicule anyone. You'll pardon me while I go read comments by people a little more tolerant of other's views than you are. Huh. I guess I did ridicule someone after all.
Well, in truth it probably would, nor is that necessarily bad. Radical environmentalists won't want to hear this, but industrialization has done more good for more people than anything else in all of human history. Remember, the normal state of humanity through most of that time is one of abject misery. Industrialization improved our lot and gave us hope of an even better life for our descendants.
I see a big problem here, when it comes to activism in the United States. For any number of causes, from environmentalism to abortion to gun control, misrepresentation and outright lying have become standard operating procedure. I mean, if enough people simply aren't buying what you're selling, and yet you sincerely believe that your pattern for living is what is best for them (or your donations are down for the year) why, what's the harm in a couple of minor fibs or some manufactured statistics? After all, it's for their own good, and if your lies happen to negatively impact a major industrialist, so much the better. Right?
Rhetorical question. Besides, telling lies in order to promote your agenda (no matter how justified you may feel in doing so) immediately alienates everyone that catches you in the lie, and is unethical at best. I have no beef with true environmentalism: combined with enlightened industrialism it is a powerful force for the betterment of Mankind. Unfortunately, the hyperbolic and technically illiterate verbiage spewn forth by many so-called environmental organizations has cost me any interest in anything they have to say, Greenpeace included.
The problem is largely one of education, or lack of it, on the subject of nuclear power. Untold millions of people hear the words "nuclear" or "radioactive", immediately lump fission and fusion together and cower at the mention of either. Not that they would grasp the difference between chemical and thermonuclear reactions anyway. More fools they.
It's a sorry state of affairs, it really is, and one that people on both sides of the fence are ready to exploit.
One possibility would be a standardized battery pack that could be physically swapped out at the (ahem) gas station. Unfortunately, that would require some serious automation and robotics, and a major investment in infrastructure. Not to mention a massive upgrade to the power grid.
Pretty much a pipe-dream, unless your home includes enough a couple acres of extra land that you can cover in solar panels.
The unfortunate problem with solar power, indeed all forms of "alternate" energy, is that they are comparatively low-density phenomena. When you figure the physical plant required to generate enough solar power (including nighttime and off-season storage!) to be competitive with a nuclear or coal-fired power plant the difference isn't as extreme as you might think. Yes, a solar plant's "fuel" is free but the up-front costs are still significant: a typical 2400 mW nuke is the equivalent of one hell of a lot of solar cells, and it runs 24/7.
Personally, I think that solar energy is a non-starter, in terms of supplanting mainstream power sources, so long as we are trying to acquire it on the Earth's surface. The time is past that we should be working on orbital solar collectors beaming microwaves down to Earthbound antenna farms. Need more power? Launch another collector satellite and point it at your ground-based array.
Once we have efficient panels that can be manufactured cheaply, we can unfurl thousands of square miles of the things in geosynchronous orbit. In space, immensity can be bought very cheaply: you don't need much of a supporting structure. Yes, I know we don't currently have the spacegoing technology, but we could. And like the Apollo program before it, such a development and production program would have enormously valuable spinoffs.
It's no different than how automobile drive trains magically get more efficient when gasoline prices are high, and giant SUVs get popular when it isn't.
but you do get nausea. I saw the last Superman flick, and the few minutes of 3-D in the thing made me want to blow my lunch. Admittedly, I was in the front row at an iMax when I saw it.
In other words, forcing people to spend tens of thousands of dollars.
Precisely. I don't know why everyone thinks of government subsidies as being "free" money. It's no more free than your credit card. Sooner or later, someone's gonna pay the piper.
On the other hand, I suppose that such a subsidy could be used to jump start an industry, by helping it reach a critical mass of customers. Problem with that is that it's really hard to wean people off the teat. They get used to it, and then that particular funding stream becomes a permanent tax drain.
A lot of us did, but then they starting randomizing the start time so you'd either see some ads or miss the start of the movie. But yeah, lately it does seem like they're starting to realize that they pissing off their customers a little too much.
In addition, consumers were showing a preference for touching and feeling a notebook PC before buying it.
No kidding... if you buy a desktop system and decide you don't like the keyboard or mouse you just replace them with something better. Don't like the keyboard or pointing device on your laptop? Just replace the whole laptop with something better.
Of course, "ribbon" is only a G away from "gibbon", which makes sense because you'd have to be a monkey to figure the thing out.
They just upgraded me to the latest Office at work, and the ribbon is definitely causing me a productivity loss at the moment. Oh, I'm sure I'll eventually get used to it but right now it's irritating the bejesus out of me.
If you Google for both phrases, "guy" comes up the most often, assuming you're talking about the Evil Dead films. I guess I'll have to watch them again, you know, just to be sure.
I doubt very much that Verio, itself, cares one whit about what Cryptome publishes. The fact they're pulling his site in this manner indicates that they are very much under someone's thumb, however. More importantly, if a provider as large as Verio can be influenced in such a transparent manner, I doubt any of the others will be any safer so far as hosting a verboten site is concerned. Really, I'd think he'll have to go out of the country if he wants to keep his site up.
I'm sure that there more than a few inimical foreign powers that would be more than happy to host his site for him.
Slashdot Mirror
Ackadacker.
Smart of them, actually, because when they do end up in court over some claimed infraction of an NDA they can point to their corporate policy.
I was reading an article some time ago that remarked that an increasing number of ex-military are ending up in police forces. Is that really true? If so, it could account for a lot of apparent changes in police attitude.
... I had a lady that came in to help me take care of my father a couple hours a week. The bastard came up onto my driveway and gave her a ticket for not having a village sticker (she was from another town.) Seventy-five bucks, plus another twenty for the sticker and she didn't even live there.
Not to generalize too much, but the town I used to live in had two ex-Marines on the force: they were the very last cops you wanted to see because they were complete hardasses. Really didn't get the whole "serve and protect" bit at all, it was more "fuckin' do what we tell you." I had a couple of run-ins with one of them
So I go over to the police station to see what I can do, and there's this same shaven-headed dick behind the counter. I asked him if there was any way we could work this out, since the old lady really didn't have a lot of money. Dude tells there's nothing to be done, and then orders me out of the building. That was a bit much, and now I'm pissed, so I asked him very firmly to talk to his supervisor. He opened his mouth right as the shift super came out of the back room to see what the commotion was about, and then shut it.
The supervisor (a regular cop, nice enough guy actually) tore up the ticket and apologized for inconveniencing me, and I went on my way.
And phosphates from suburban fertilizer runoff have done more good for more waterborne algae than anything else in all of waterborn algae's history.
Apparently, Slashdot has done more for peanut galleries than anything else in all of peanut galleries' history.
I don't want miracles. Miracles won't keep my lights on at night, or run my microwave. What I want is practical, manufacturable technology. Don't misunderstand me ... I think the mass-production of highly-efficient, cheap PV cells would revolutionize a lot of things. For that matter, the topic of solar power has interested me for the better part of forty years: I built a solar furnace as a kid out of several Fresnel lenses and some firebrick. Vaporized coins with the thing. On the other hand, I am getting tired of this flood of articles loudly proclaiming that this prototype cell technology, for sure, is the next big "scientific miracle" of the century. Let me know when I can pick up a 4x8 of the stuff at Home Depot for the price of sheet of plywood. Now that would be a miracle.
... but I doubt it. I also didn't ridicule anyone. You'll pardon me while I go read comments by people a little more tolerant of other's views than you are. Huh. I guess I did ridicule someone after all.
And maybe this one will be the one
Well, in truth it probably would, nor is that necessarily bad. Radical environmentalists won't want to hear this, but industrialization has done more good for more people than anything else in all of human history. Remember, the normal state of humanity through most of that time is one of abject misery. Industrialization improved our lot and gave us hope of an even better life for our descendants.
I see a big problem here, when it comes to activism in the United States. For any number of causes, from environmentalism to abortion to gun control, misrepresentation and outright lying have become standard operating procedure. I mean, if enough people simply aren't buying what you're selling, and yet you sincerely believe that your pattern for living is what is best for them (or your donations are down for the year) why, what's the harm in a couple of minor fibs or some manufactured statistics? After all, it's for their own good, and if your lies happen to negatively impact a major industrialist, so much the better. Right?
Rhetorical question. Besides, telling lies in order to promote your agenda (no matter how justified you may feel in doing so) immediately alienates everyone that catches you in the lie, and is unethical at best. I have no beef with true environmentalism: combined with enlightened industrialism it is a powerful force for the betterment of Mankind. Unfortunately, the hyperbolic and technically illiterate verbiage spewn forth by many so-called environmental organizations has cost me any interest in anything they have to say, Greenpeace included.
The problem is largely one of education, or lack of it, on the subject of nuclear power. Untold millions of people hear the words "nuclear" or "radioactive", immediately lump fission and fusion together and cower at the mention of either. Not that they would grasp the difference between chemical and thermonuclear reactions anyway. More fools they.
It's a sorry state of affairs, it really is, and one that people on both sides of the fence are ready to exploit.
One possibility would be a standardized battery pack that could be physically swapped out at the (ahem) gas station. Unfortunately, that would require some serious automation and robotics, and a major investment in infrastructure. Not to mention a massive upgrade to the power grid.
Pretty much a pipe-dream, unless your home includes enough a couple acres of extra land that you can cover in solar panels.
The unfortunate problem with solar power, indeed all forms of "alternate" energy, is that they are comparatively low-density phenomena. When you figure the physical plant required to generate enough solar power (including nighttime and off-season storage!) to be competitive with a nuclear or coal-fired power plant the difference isn't as extreme as you might think. Yes, a solar plant's "fuel" is free but the up-front costs are still significant: a typical 2400 mW nuke is the equivalent of one hell of a lot of solar cells, and it runs 24/7.
Personally, I think that solar energy is a non-starter, in terms of supplanting mainstream power sources, so long as we are trying to acquire it on the Earth's surface. The time is past that we should be working on orbital solar collectors beaming microwaves down to Earthbound antenna farms. Need more power? Launch another collector satellite and point it at your ground-based array.
Once we have efficient panels that can be manufactured cheaply, we can unfurl thousands of square miles of the things in geosynchronous orbit. In space, immensity can be bought very cheaply: you don't need much of a supporting structure. Yes, I know we don't currently have the spacegoing technology, but we could. And like the Apollo program before it, such a development and production program would have enormously valuable spinoffs.
It's no different than how automobile drive trains magically get more efficient when gasoline prices are high, and giant SUVs get popular when it isn't.
Aw, man ... I hate when that happens.
You're going to need a bigger UPS.
Yet Another Solar Panel "Breakthrough". Wake me when it's over.
Ahh, there it goes.
Lucky you.
but you do get nausea. I saw the last Superman flick, and the few minutes of 3-D in the thing made me want to blow my lunch. Admittedly, I was in the front row at an iMax when I saw it.
Leave a computer and a webcam alone for a while and you get another driver...
Yeah, but it'll be a bastardized version, I'm sure.
In other words, forcing people to spend tens of thousands of dollars.
Precisely. I don't know why everyone thinks of government subsidies as being "free" money. It's no more free than your credit card. Sooner or later, someone's gonna pay the piper.
On the other hand, I suppose that such a subsidy could be used to jump start an industry, by helping it reach a critical mass of customers. Problem with that is that it's really hard to wean people off the teat. They get used to it, and then that particular funding stream becomes a permanent tax drain.
A lot of us did, but then they starting randomizing the start time so you'd either see some ads or miss the start of the movie. But yeah, lately it does seem like they're starting to realize that they pissing off their customers a little too much.
In addition, consumers were showing a preference for touching and feeling a notebook PC before buying it.
... if you buy a desktop system and decide you don't like the keyboard or mouse you just replace them with something better. Don't like the keyboard or pointing device on your laptop? Just replace the whole laptop with something better.
No kidding
{sigh} I'm not sure which I'll get used to first, the Ribbon or the Gibbon.
Yes, well, last time I watched it I'd had a few too. I guess we'll both have to watch it again. You know, just to be sure.
Say "hi" to Mr. G for me, will you?
Of course, "ribbon" is only a G away from "gibbon", which makes sense because you'd have to be a monkey to figure the thing out.
They just upgraded me to the latest Office at work, and the ribbon is definitely causing me a productivity loss at the moment. Oh, I'm sure I'll eventually get used to it but right now it's irritating the bejesus out of me.
If you Google for both phrases, "guy" comes up the most often, assuming you're talking about the Evil Dead films. I guess I'll have to watch them again, you know, just to be sure.
/pedantic
/nokidding
Ever wanted to rip all your DVDs to a big network server so that you could select and play them back to your TV?
Uh, yes, actually. Not that it's particularly difficult to do anymore.
The only hurdle left now is the legacy of Jack Valenti.
I doubt very much that Verio, itself, cares one whit about what Cryptome publishes. The fact they're pulling his site in this manner indicates that they are very much under someone's thumb, however. More importantly, if a provider as large as Verio can be influenced in such a transparent manner, I doubt any of the others will be any safer so far as hosting a verboten site is concerned. Really, I'd think he'll have to go out of the country if he wants to keep his site up.
I'm sure that there more than a few inimical foreign powers that would be more than happy to host his site for him.
That's the funniest thing I've read all weekend.