You joke, and in a funny way even, but I often wonder how much all this legal and illegal spying is slowing down the net.
If every single packet is sent not only to it's intended destination, but to one or even several different spying agencies (who, being ultra secret, naturally do not communicate), that's gotta be noticable. I doubt there is any way to know.
Clearly, WoW is a worldwide communication channel that has to be monitored, if anything is.
You could see that a hypocritical, but I prefer to see it as someone having their eyes opened once they became the victim of the system. People can learn from their mistakes and become more enlightened.
If they were just self serving and opportunistic I don't see why they would keep campaining on the issue now that their own problems have been solved.
I think that entirely misses the point. The problem isn't these companies trying to make a profit with any legal means possible, but the system itself which rewards this behaviour.
The problem here is patent legislation. Attacking companies that have filed patents according to the law will not in any way change that, even if it somehow succeds in driving them out of business.
2. Gerrymandering is not illegal under proportional representation, it is just not very interesting since district size has no effect on the balance of power. It can affect individual politicians slightly.
In the US system, the politicians choose their voters, by drawing the district boundaries. That conflicts with my feel for democracy. I'd prefer if the voters chose their politicians.
I wasn't suggesting that the US should implement a different system. As you point out, both systems has their problem.
You dont represent your political party in the US - you represent the people who live in your district. And we need to get back to enforcing that, in my opinion.
Since the district was most likely hand picked by the politician representing it in the first place, this concept is kinda odd to begin with. Either way, you want to"go back" to enforcing something that was never enforced, and that you have no way to make happen under the current system.
One difference between Americans and the rest of the world is that to Americans, war is something you always win, at least if you try, and which is fought somewhere else.
That comes from experience, of course, but most of the world has very different war experiences, and therefore different war attitides.
In todays US congress, the district lines are drawn so 90% of districts are guaranteed for one party. Within these heavily polarized districts, you often win by being more extremely right/left than your competion. And the result is a congress with two huge extremist blocks, and very few moderates.
The senate is different, since it's ungerrymandeable, but today's US congress is the exact opposite of the moderate playing ground you claim it to be.
Gerrymandering is a problem that simply doesn't exist in a proportional system.
When I was a kid, you could get porn, but it was hard, expensive, and pretty embarrassing. I got hold of some, but it was rare.
These days you have to make an active effort to avoid porn, as it is beamed into your email box, shows up on your google serches and can pop up on any random web links you may encounter.
I think it's mainly a good thing, but don't imagine that things have not changed very much, kids!!
There is only one problem with that, but it is fundamental and fatal.
To be useful for communication, the data source needs to be observable by both the sender and the reciever. And if the spy on continent A is to be able to use it to send data to their employer on continent B, the wire would have to be span both continents, and have to be pretty conspicous to work...
Astronomical observations is a clever way to find a shared data source visible from anywhere on the planet.
You can do all those things, but it has to be done to physical things, by hand. Changing 10.000 votes is a pretty big industrial undertaking.
With data, you can alter results to anything in milliseconds. One vote or a million doesn't make much difference, once you're in the system.
If there can be an "advanced tamper protection schemes" that makes digital systems even safer, that's wonderful, but I haven't heard of anything real that's worthy of the name, and i have serious doubts it's even possible, given the nature of computers.
Actually, Libertarians are less trusting of people than others, but in ways you may be unaccustomed to.
For example, we assume people are no more trustworthy because they've been elected or appointed to a government position. So having government officials overseeing some area to guard against crooked companies is not seen as a solution, since the officials are just as likely to be crooked - and if they are they can cause a lot more damage.
This perspective of deep distrust and cynicism is confusing to many, and can lead to the misunderstanding of the parent article, but once you get used to it, it can be quite productive and enlightening.
Also, real football is played with the feet kicking a ball shaped ball, while American football is played with the hands throwing an inflated egg shaped... thing.
One rumor I heard is that it's called football, since the "ball" is one foot long.
Of course, real balls don't have length, they have diameter.
Dude, your examples are completely made up. When Chamberlain said the infamous "peace in our time" in 1938, he had just given Hitler Czechoslovakia in a desperate attempt to stop war. That it would not be enough was obvious to Churchill and many others.
Stalin demanded large areas from Finland in early 1938, to provide a buffer for Leningrad. That made it clear to anyone still in doubt that the USSR was a serious military threat. Still, there is only so much a small country can do to prepare for an attack from a 50 times bigger one.
The point you're repeating is a valid one, but the real arguments for it are quite a bit more complicated than this. Read some history! It's both fun and educational.
Slashdot Mirror
You joke, and in a funny way even, but I often wonder how much all this legal and illegal spying is slowing down the net.
If every single packet is sent not only to it's intended destination, but to one or even several different spying agencies (who, being ultra secret, naturally do not communicate), that's gotta be noticable. I doubt there is any way to know.
Clearly, WoW is a worldwide communication channel that has to be monitored, if anything is.
Funny, I worked with a marketing guy from Sun who claimed he coined that phrase.
There are probably 10 more people taking the credit for that one.
So you're saying that you're certain that there can't be certainty?
You know, saying that it's impossible to make something unbreakable, is just going to challenge someone to do it.
We have always been at war with hyperthreading!
Here's a fact: Lions hunt in packs. Tigers hunt alone.
I'd love to be proven wrong, but I doubt there is any way you can tell that from looking at their skeletons, or even a dead body.
Animal fossils can tell us a lot about past species. But there is also a lot they can't possibly tell us.
The problem is not that NTP applied for these patents. The problem is that they were granted.
Punishing NTP for this will have absolutely no effect on the actual problem, which is the US patent system.
Pick your battles.
You could see that a hypocritical, but I prefer to see it as someone having their eyes opened once they became the victim of the system. People can learn from their mistakes and become more enlightened.
If they were just self serving and opportunistic I don't see why they would keep campaining on the issue now that their own problems have been solved.
I think that entirely misses the point. The problem isn't these companies trying to make a profit with any legal means possible, but the system itself which rewards this behaviour.
The problem here is patent legislation. Attacking companies that have filed patents according to the law will not in any way change that, even if it somehow succeds in driving them out of business.
Proportional representation is gerrymandering, so how could it be illegal in a prop rep system?
1. Proportinal representation is not in any way gerrymandering. Look up the terms:
Gerrymandering
Proportional representation
2. Gerrymandering is not illegal under proportional representation, it is just not very interesting since district size has no effect on the balance of power. It can affect individual politicians slightly.
In the US system, the politicians choose their voters, by drawing the district boundaries. That conflicts with my feel for democracy. I'd prefer if the voters chose their politicians.
I wasn't suggesting that the US should implement a different system. As you point out, both systems has their problem.
You dont represent your political party in the US - you represent the people who live in your district. And we need to get back to enforcing that, in my opinion.
Since the district was most likely hand picked by the politician representing it in the first place, this concept is kinda odd to begin with. Either way, you want to"go back" to enforcing something that was never enforced, and that you have no way to make happen under the current system.
The original point is that this causes genuine harm to every computer owner, including large wealthy corporations, as well as the government itself.
Most computers are actually used in a workplace, rather than at home.
One difference between Americans and the rest of the world is that to Americans, war is something you always win, at least if you try, and which is fought somewhere else.
That comes from experience, of course, but most of the world has very different war experiences, and therefore different war attitides.
In todays US congress, the district lines are drawn so 90% of districts are guaranteed for one party. Within these heavily polarized districts, you often win by being more extremely right/left than your competion. And the result is a congress with two huge extremist blocks, and very few moderates.
The senate is different, since it's ungerrymandeable, but today's US congress is the exact opposite of the moderate playing ground you claim it to be.
Gerrymandering is a problem that simply doesn't exist in a proportional system.
How does that compare to previous years?
When I was a kid, you could get porn, but it was hard, expensive, and pretty embarrassing. I got hold of some, but it was rare.
These days you have to make an active effort to avoid porn, as it is beamed into your email box, shows up on your google serches and can pop up on any random web links you may encounter.
I think it's mainly a good thing, but don't imagine that things have not changed very much, kids!!
How do I get PGP working on my Mac Mail program again?
The problem with that is that the US leans pretty heavily on other countries to accept American concepts of intellectual property.
Countries get in troubles and treaties don't get signed if they try to do things like that.
The global availibility of pop music CDs seems to provide an inexhaustable source of one time pads, without reaching into outer space.
What if you just used whatever CD was at number X on some internet published sales list the previous week as your keypad?
There is only one problem with that, but it is fundamental and fatal.
To be useful for communication, the data source needs to be observable by both the sender and the reciever. And if the spy on continent A is to be able to use it to send data to their employer on continent B, the wire would have to be span both continents, and have to be pretty conspicous to work...
Astronomical observations is a clever way to find a shared data source visible from anywhere on the planet.
You can do all those things, but it has to be done to physical things, by hand. Changing 10.000 votes is a pretty big industrial undertaking.
With data, you can alter results to anything in milliseconds. One vote or a million doesn't make much difference, once you're in the system.
If there can be an "advanced tamper protection schemes" that makes digital systems even safer, that's wonderful, but I haven't heard of anything real that's worthy of the name, and i have serious doubts it's even possible, given the nature of computers.
Do nothing to help a man, and whine about those who do - you get to demand your fair share of fish caught by others!
If by 'major accident' you mean something seen by a lot of people, this is most likely because half of them called at the same time as you.
That's a fundamental vulnerability of the 911 system, but I don't know that there's mmuch you can do about that.
Actually, Libertarians are less trusting of people than others, but in ways you may be unaccustomed to.
For example, we assume people are no more trustworthy because they've been elected or appointed to a government position. So having government officials overseeing some area to guard against crooked companies is not seen as a solution, since the officials are just as likely to be crooked - and if they are they can cause a lot more damage.
This perspective of deep distrust and cynicism is confusing to many, and can lead to the misunderstanding of the parent article, but once you get used to it, it can be quite productive and enlightening.
I assume you meant 'exploding', but I find 'assploding' a more fun word.
Thank you.
"American Football".
Also, real football is played with the feet kicking a ball shaped ball, while American football is played with the hands throwing an inflated egg shaped... thing.
One rumor I heard is that it's called football, since the "ball" is one foot long.
Of course, real balls don't have length, they have diameter.
Dude, your examples are completely made up. When Chamberlain said the infamous "peace in our time" in 1938, he had just given Hitler Czechoslovakia in a desperate attempt to stop war. That it would not be enough was obvious to Churchill and many others.
Stalin demanded large areas from Finland in early 1938, to provide a buffer for Leningrad. That made it clear to anyone still in doubt that the USSR was a serious military threat. Still, there is only so much a small country can do to prepare for an attack from a 50 times bigger one.
The point you're repeating is a valid one, but the real arguments for it are quite a bit more complicated than this. Read some history! It's both fun and educational.