The ACTA has been in the works since 2006, and I'm pretty sure Obama hasn't had anything to do with it before he took office.
"According to Congressional records, since 2002 (when he took over the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee) Senator Biden had sponsored five pro-copyright bills and co-sponsored three. Among these bills includes the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2004, of which the similar yet brutal 2005 edition became law. Another was the Perform Act of 2006, which intended to restrict the recording and playing back songs off satellite and internet radio (this died in committee).
While the content industry as a whole was neutral during the 2008 election (with the RIAA supporting John McCain and the MPAA supporting Barack Obama in terms of donations), the industry nonetheless rallied their support to Biden (and, to a less extent, Obama) upon his election. In fact, it was through sources at the RIAA that Tiny Mix Tapes was first made aware of Joe Biden's position on copyright."
You realize that the Constitution points out that our Government, in part, exists to "promote the general welfare" of the people, right?
Further:
"The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States...
Means that taxation for the good of the People is NOT a bad thing, or a sin, or whatnot. I would consider trying to make the people "happy" is a good thing, and very well within the line of "general welfare". Its either that or a government that tries to make people unhappy.
Fortunately you are not SCOTUS.
"Thomas Jefferson explained the latter general welfare clause for the United States: “[T]he laying of taxes is the power, and the general welfare the purpose for which the power is to be exercised. They [Congress] are not to lay taxes ad libitum for any purpose they please; but only to pay the debts or provide for the welfare of the Union. In like manner, they are not to do anything they please to provide for the general welfare, but only to lay taxes for that purpose.”[5]"
"[..] view of James Madison that spending must be at least tangentially tied to one of the other specifically enumerated powers, such as regulating interstate or foreign commerce, or providing for the military, as the General Welfare Clause is not a specific grant of power, but a statement of purpose qualifying the power to tax;"
I think the guys who were there when it was penned probably are more suited to explain the spirit of the law than either of us?
Both of these initiatives have a lot more at stake than healthcare does. And they have some very wealthy backers that threaten to wreak havoc on any or all politicians' careers who don't give them what they want. That's pressure that no politician can resist.
"That's pressure that no career politician who cares more about his position than his country can resist."
Amen. If only there were a way to sit every voter down in a room and just bullshit about politics for a few hours. Guaran-ass-tee you we would see some changes.
And your second example, regarding juries, is nearly as troubling to me; the only difference being that the SCOTUS decisions usually have broader impact.
If a Justice is really that on the fence about a decision, he can always abstain.
Broader? I guess; but a jury trial could be, and often is, deciding someone's fate- literally.
"You'd think that they wouldn't default to giving away their (supposedly) valuable seal of approval, though."
Actually, I can't think of a single seal of approval, or certification, that means anything. The longer the "standard" has been around, the worse it is. It's all nonsense, IMHO. Reading reviews that real customers have written has proved more effective than looking for some certification which no one understands, and was likely paid for with cash money anyway.
Iowa and Nebraska farmers could learn to grow something else.
Like what? I am genuinely curious.
You need at least three types of crops in rotation. It is the only way to ensure that the crop returns reasonable yields and remains disease free.
Crops have to be plantable, harvestable, and storable using the same equipment and facilities as all of the other crops in the rotation. This is a simple matter of economics.
There has to actually be a market for the crop. Just because you can grow it, doesn't mean anyone actually wants to buy it.
So in summary, are there any other obsolete businesses you'd like us to prop up? Or just excess corn farmers..
If they have to jump through enough hoops to do so, and may not even be able to legally distribute what they've made, many will just switch to a more open platform.
Do such platforms exist? Is there a smartphone that allows you to download and install random staff from the Internet as a PC does? Or are all of them basically just mobile storefronts to the manufacturer's shop?
I've long felt that silly things like this is what holds open source software back from mainstream assistance. It's just a personal view and you can disagree all you like and try to educate me to your view, but in the end, it's not worth the effort put into it because there are better things to worry about.
You're right about the approach to signature checking. It makes me as paranoid as it does now that they keep raising the limit of purchase required on a credit card before they check your ID at a store.
I guess I should break out of my "everyone is mostly evil" mentality and stop worrying.
Credit cards are infinitely safer.. you're not liable for the fraud in almost every conceivable case. Also, it's "debt" you owe the credit card company until it's sorted. With checking info, it's gone from your account until they find it or you're made whole through other means..
I certainly don't like the idea that manufacturers should be required to implement every possible safety feature on their products with no regard to cost, availability, etc.
I can at least see the argument (not saying I agree with it) if the failure to safely use a device could harm people that are uninvolved- but the first example that came to mind, there hasn't been a suit for as far as I'm aware:
Some private planes now come with options for a very large parachute(s) in the tail so that in the event of a catastrophic engine failure the plane can fall relatively safely to the ground. These have been available in mainstream aircraft for many years now, but every few months we see a story make the news about a private plane destroying someone's house (or someone inside it) when it fell from the sky.
Should plane builders be required to include this costly feature on all aircraft? Should pilots? Which of them are liable if they crash and didn't have the parachute?
TL;DR = if this sets a precedent, hilarity ensues.
I went to renew my subscription to a magazine on the Internet. Guess what? Cost me $2 to do it that way. No dice. Wrote out a check and mailed it in.
You can thank exorbitant credit card interchange fees on the part of the Visa/MasterCard member banks for that. It costs pennies to process a check of virtually any size, but 1.2 - 3.6+% to accept various credit cards.
Here in Australia the ATO (Australian Tax Office) publishes it's own tax return submission software, E-Tax free of course for anyone holding an Australian tax number. This program is the only means to submit personal tax returns electronically, this is mostly for security reasons.
Do you know if they do any matching of the signature to the bank account the personal check comes out of?
That would be up to the bank who the check is drawn against.. (i.e. the check writer's bank)
It's not as if USAA (or any other bank) has some global superdatabase of everyone's signatures.
In terms of automated services, I think you vastly overestimate what goes on when you deposit a check presently via an ATM or something. It's 99% automated..
Does anyone know the statistics on how much mail goes missing compared to going through? I'd hate to send in a cheque for $1000 just to find out the cheque never made it. Especially since that cheque is the ONLY COPY!
If it really concerned you, you could just make a copy (like a regular photocopy) of it before you mailed it off.. your bank would be required to honor this copy of it provided it meets some simple guidelines you can google.
We do use direct deposit a lot here in the US, but some people just prefer checks.
Just because checks are available it does not mean that the other options are not available.
A staggering number of people don't have a place to get direct deposits sent..
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) released a survey on American households that are “unbanked” - have neither a checking account nor a savings account, and “underbanked” - have a checking account or savings account but rely on alternative financial services. Alternative financial services can include using a non-bank check cashing service, non-bank money order service or a payday loan service.
There is an estimated 9 million households that do not have a checking account or savings account which is 7.7 percent of U.S. households.
In addition to the unbanked households, there are an estimated 21 million households that are underbanked which is 17.9 percent of U.S. households
In other words, the check was a pointless part of the process. He could as easily entered the numbers from the front of your debit card. Or you could have used a different debit card for the same account (exactly the effect of scanning the numbers on your check).
Completely inaccurate, not even sure where to start. In the US, most debit cards are Visa or MasterCard (and that's what numbers would be on the front), but even 15 years ago when they would have been 'ATM'-type cards not on the Visa/MC networks those numbers are not the ABA (routing) and account numbers from a check.
When someone takes a check from you and scans it like that, it's handled it one of two ways in a "back-office conversion"-
1) Conversion to an EFT and processed on the ACH network under NACHA rules. 2) Info is saved and an Image Replacement Document is generated and submitted into the Federal Reserve system(s) the same way a paper check is (those are 99% scanned now when deposited, not mailed anymore), for settlements between the two banks involved in the transaction.
And has it occurred to you yet that a neat way to embezzle from companies that send you checks is with photoshop?
Larger companies use something called Positive Pay that prevents this:
ABC Company issues approximately 600 checks each Friday. After the checks are cut, ABC Company transmits to their bank, First Bank, a list of the checks that they issued (check number and dollar amount). This list is imported into First Bank's computer.
Later, when the checks are presented to First Bank for payment, First Bank matches each check presented against ABC's previously transmitted lists. If the presented checks' numbers and amounts appear on a previously submitted list, the check is sent through for payment. If both items do not match, the check is not cleared.
So you'd just be defrauding your own bank that you deposit at, and I think you can guess how that will end.
If you want a machine to play video files in any format, then may I suggest an old PC?
The problem with an old PC is that it's big and noisy, and most PC games really designed to run in situations commonly associated with a TV. Then I'm back to "one box for Theora video and one box for games". And if one doesn't have a spare old PC handy, would you recommend an ION nettop like the Aspire Revo?
i've been doing a lot of research on this to build a tiny, silent set top for media purposes. it seems like our bet bet is the ZOTAC IONITX-A-U Atom 330. It's fanless, so I've been looking at using either an off-the-shelf SSD or a cheap CF-to-SATA with cheap CompactFlash cards (which I have piles of from my cameras)
you completely misunderstood my post. the point is that most platforms (gmail, for example) have moved to putting everything that would have typically lived in the query string behind a hash (#) because it's accessible in javascript. this stuff doesn't get sent to the server, of course, so doesn't show in logs.
Slashdot Mirror
Nobody ever made me use a Scientology product for work though.
Heh, you just need a job in Hollywood.
The ACTA has been in the works since 2006, and I'm pretty sure Obama hasn't had anything to do with it before he took office.
"According to Congressional records, since 2002 (when he took over the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee) Senator Biden had sponsored five pro-copyright bills and co-sponsored three. Among these bills includes the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2004, of which the similar yet brutal 2005 edition became law. Another was the Perform Act of 2006, which intended to restrict the recording and playing back songs off satellite and internet radio (this died in committee).
While the content industry as a whole was neutral during the 2008 election (with the RIAA supporting John McCain and the MPAA supporting Barack Obama in terms of donations), the industry nonetheless rallied their support to Biden (and, to a less extent, Obama) upon his election. In fact, it was through sources at the RIAA that Tiny Mix Tapes was first made aware of Joe Biden's position on copyright."
Also: http://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/2008-war-copyright8482
You realize that the Constitution points out that our Government, in part, exists to "promote the general welfare" of the people, right?
Further:
"The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States...
Means that taxation for the good of the People is NOT a bad thing, or a sin, or whatnot. I would consider trying to make the people "happy" is a good thing, and very well within the line of "general welfare". Its either that or a government that tries to make people unhappy.
Fortunately you are not SCOTUS.
"Thomas Jefferson explained the latter general welfare clause for the United States: “[T]he laying of taxes is the power, and the general welfare the purpose for which the power is to be exercised. They [Congress] are not to lay taxes ad libitum for any purpose they please; but only to pay the debts or provide for the welfare of the Union. In like manner, they are not to do anything they please to provide for the general welfare, but only to lay taxes for that purpose.”[5]"
"[..] view of James Madison that spending must be at least tangentially tied to one of the other specifically enumerated powers, such as regulating interstate or foreign commerce, or providing for the military, as the General Welfare Clause is not a specific grant of power, but a statement of purpose qualifying the power to tax;"
I think the guys who were there when it was penned probably are more suited to explain the spirit of the law than either of us?
Both of these initiatives have a lot more at stake than healthcare does. And they have some very wealthy backers that threaten to wreak havoc on any or all politicians' careers who don't give them what they want. That's pressure that no politician can resist.
"That's pressure that no career politician who cares more about his position than his country can resist."
FTFY
Amen. If only there were a way to sit every voter down in a room and just bullshit about politics for a few hours. Guaran-ass-tee you we would see some changes.
Ass-tea?
And your second example, regarding juries, is nearly as troubling to me; the only difference being that the SCOTUS decisions usually have broader impact.
If a Justice is really that on the fence about a decision, he can always abstain.
Broader? I guess; but a jury trial could be, and often is, deciding someone's fate- literally.
Doom 3 was released 6 years ago, are you telling me that the PS3 and Xbox360 came out 6 years ago?
5 years ago, in a couple months.. (time flies)
"You'd think that they wouldn't default to giving away their (supposedly) valuable seal of approval, though."
Actually, I can't think of a single seal of approval, or certification, that means anything. The longer the "standard" has been around, the worse it is. It's all nonsense, IMHO. Reading reviews that real customers have written has proved more effective than looking for some certification which no one understands, and was likely paid for with cash money anyway.
Except that there is a difference between private certifications and Energy Star because our tax dollars subsidize the purchases of Energy Star qualified products.
Like what? I am genuinely curious.
So in summary, are there any other obsolete businesses you'd like us to prop up? Or just excess corn farmers..
Do such platforms exist? Is there a smartphone that allows you to download and install random staff from the Internet as a PC does? Or are all of them basically just mobile storefronts to the manufacturer's shop?
Yes.. Windows Mobile, ironically. (not Windows Phone 7). Here's a subforum at XDA-Developers for the phone I have: http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=491
I've long felt that silly things like this is what holds open source software back from mainstream assistance. It's just a personal view and you can disagree all you like and try to educate me to your view, but in the end, it's not worth the effort put into it because there are better things to worry about.
A thousand times this.
I don't like putting checks in ATMs.
You're right about the approach to signature checking. It makes me as paranoid as it does now that they keep raising the limit of purchase required on a credit card before they check your ID at a store.
I guess I should break out of my "everyone is mostly evil" mentality and stop worrying.
Credit cards are infinitely safer.. you're not liable for the fraud in almost every conceivable case. Also, it's "debt" you owe the credit card company until it's sorted. With checking info, it's gone from your account until they find it or you're made whole through other means..
I certainly don't like the idea that manufacturers should be required to implement every possible safety feature on their products with no regard to cost, availability, etc.
I can at least see the argument (not saying I agree with it) if the failure to safely use a device could harm people that are uninvolved- but the first example that came to mind, there hasn't been a suit for as far as I'm aware:
Some private planes now come with options for a very large parachute(s) in the tail so that in the event of a catastrophic engine failure the plane can fall relatively safely to the ground. These have been available in mainstream aircraft for many years now, but every few months we see a story make the news about a private plane destroying someone's house (or someone inside it) when it fell from the sky.
Should plane builders be required to include this costly feature on all aircraft? Should pilots? Which of them are liable if they crash and didn't have the parachute?
TL;DR = if this sets a precedent, hilarity ensues.
I see your point. However, I think a bank teller and a gas station attendant are equally important as aerospace and software engineers.
And that's where the larger part of your disconnect from reality begins.
http://site.despair.com/images/dpage/potential03.jpg
I went to renew my subscription to a magazine on the Internet. Guess what? Cost me $2 to do it that way. No dice. Wrote out a check and mailed it in.
You can thank exorbitant credit card interchange fees on the part of the Visa/MasterCard member banks for that. It costs pennies to process a check of virtually any size, but 1.2 - 3.6+% to accept various credit cards.
Here in Australia the ATO (Australian Tax Office) publishes it's own tax return submission software, E-Tax free of course for anyone holding an Australian tax number. This program is the only means to submit personal tax returns electronically, this is mostly for security reasons.
You mean like freefile here in the states?
Do you know if they do any matching of the signature to the bank account the personal check comes out of?
That would be up to the bank who the check is drawn against.. (i.e. the check writer's bank)
It's not as if USAA (or any other bank) has some global superdatabase of everyone's signatures.
In terms of automated services, I think you vastly overestimate what goes on when you deposit a check presently via an ATM or something. It's 99% automated..
Does anyone know the statistics on how much mail goes missing compared to going through? I'd hate to send in a cheque for $1000 just to find out the cheque never made it. Especially since that cheque is the ONLY COPY!
If it really concerned you, you could just make a copy (like a regular photocopy) of it before you mailed it off.. your bank would be required to honor this copy of it provided it meets some simple guidelines you can google.
Do you get a paper check from your employer?
We do use direct deposit a lot here in the US, but some people just prefer checks.
Just because checks are available it does not mean that the other options are not available.
A staggering number of people don't have a place to get direct deposits sent..
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) released a survey on American households that are “unbanked” - have neither a checking account nor a savings account, and “underbanked” - have a checking account or savings account but rely on alternative financial services. Alternative financial services can include using a non-bank check cashing service, non-bank money order service or a payday loan service.
There is an estimated 9 million households that do not have a checking account or savings account which is 7.7 percent of U.S. households.
In addition to the unbanked households, there are an estimated 21 million households that are underbanked which is 17.9 percent of U.S. households
"he scans it and gives it back to me"
In other words, the check was a pointless part of the process. He could as easily entered the numbers from the front of your debit card. Or you could have used a different debit card for the same account (exactly the effect of scanning the numbers on your check).
Completely inaccurate, not even sure where to start. In the US, most debit cards are Visa or MasterCard (and that's what numbers would be on the front), but even 15 years ago when they would have been 'ATM'-type cards not on the Visa/MC networks those numbers are not the ABA (routing) and account numbers from a check.
When someone takes a check from you and scans it like that, it's handled it one of two ways in a "back-office conversion"-
1) Conversion to an EFT and processed on the ACH network under NACHA rules.
2) Info is saved and an Image Replacement Document is generated and submitted into the Federal Reserve system(s) the same way a paper check is (those are 99% scanned now when deposited, not mailed anymore), for settlements between the two banks involved in the transaction.
AI would assume it uploads a list of checks you've written out, so your financial institution can only allow certain combinations?
Yep - I just posted about this upthread
And has it occurred to you yet that a neat way to embezzle from companies that send you checks is with photoshop?
Larger companies use something called Positive Pay that prevents this:
ABC Company issues approximately 600 checks each Friday. After the checks are cut, ABC Company transmits to their bank, First Bank, a list of the checks that they issued (check number and dollar amount). This list is imported into First Bank's computer.
Later, when the checks are presented to First Bank for payment, First Bank matches each check presented against ABC's previously transmitted lists. If the presented checks' numbers and amounts appear on a previously submitted list, the check is sent through for payment. If both items do not match, the check is not cleared.
So you'd just be defrauding your own bank that you deposit at, and I think you can guess how that will end.
If you want a machine to play video files in any format, then may I suggest an old PC?
The problem with an old PC is that it's big and noisy, and most PC games really designed to run in situations commonly associated with a TV. Then I'm back to "one box for Theora video and one box for games". And if one doesn't have a spare old PC handy, would you recommend an ION nettop like the Aspire Revo?
i've been doing a lot of research on this to build a tiny, silent set top for media purposes. it seems like our bet bet is the ZOTAC IONITX-A-U Atom 330. It's fanless, so I've been looking at using either an off-the-shelf SSD or a cheap CF-to-SATA with cheap CompactFlash cards (which I have piles of from my cameras)
Hell, tell me where to send my 0.01$ to end all this non-sense and force HTML5 video to standardize on H.264
They'll even make five times the profit by doing so.
Indeed, I'd be happy to donate EVERY Slashdot user's share if it stops all this bickering.
Server logs are logs of server activity.
you completely misunderstood my post. the point is that most platforms (gmail, for example) have moved to putting everything that would have typically lived in the query string behind a hash (#) because it's accessible in javascript. this stuff doesn't get sent to the server, of course, so doesn't show in logs.