No, UV still gets through I think. So when eyes adjust to less visible light, they allow more than usual UV light into the eyes. "Snow blindness" is typically caused by the same thing, eye getting too much UV light.
Re:So instead
on
Global Dimming
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· Score: 2, Interesting
So it also means you'd better not forget your 100% UV blocking sunglasses unless you want to get too much UV radiation into your eyes (as eyes adjust to the visible light, while it is UV light that can cause eye damage).
I was not talking about IE, I was talking about that popup/ad stopper. A lot of people use Firebird, quite a few all around the world even compile it themselves and actually debug and develop it. If it does something funny, it gets reported into a public bug database. If somebody intentionally tries to get some malicous code into it's codebase, there's a very good chance it'll be spotted very soon and reported. That's good enough for me, especially when compared to something like security of using MS IE...
It's a *lot* better than an obscure closed source application that tries to mitigate Microsoft IE flaws, coming from a small software company that could be in financial trouble and quite willing to put some semi-legal spyware code into their software's next version if somebody just pays them a bit. I'm not saying this particular company would be like this, I'm just saying there's very little guarantee that it isn't... So OSS is far safer alternative in every respect.
Download Mozilla Firebird and you don't need that kind of potentially suspicious (Is it spyware? Does it like to get uninstalled nicely or will it leave something behind? Is the company making it really trustworthy?) closed-source software...
Anything that increases the average lifespan -- medicine, sanitation, stability, whatnot -- results in a related increase in cancer rates.
But it's also pretty plausible that some of that stuff, such as better medicines, especially if liberally used against any small illness, make immune system of humans (on average) weaker, That makes sense, same way using a car instead of a bicycle makes life easier, but also makes people less fit.
Human immune system also fights against cancer. We have cancer cells appearing all the time, but mostly they are noticed and taken care of by the immune system before it's too late.
So I think it's not only "people don't die of other causes, so they can get cancer". It is *also* that people really are more likely to get "random" cancer than they were before.
I wouldn't even be surpised if moderate amounts of carcinogens at early age (when immune system is still developing) would provide protection against getting cancer at older age. Though I still would not volunteer my own kids for "carcinogen vaccine" experiment or feed them throughly charred bratwursts;)
I've not read/heard of any other signs, except UFO sightings, and I personally I don't believe we have "visitors". Though I think it's quite possible, I just don't believe any unexplained UFO was a flying saucer, same way I don't think any natural phenomenon science can't yet explain is an act of God.
So what other signs of intelligence or even just life are there, except claims about UFOs of extraterrestrial alien origin?
My favourite is intelligence inevitably wiping itself out before they can expand to other star systems. Something like, there's some really nifty way of launching interstellar ships using the stars energy output or tapping energy from parallel universe or something, but actually using it will unexpectedly cause the star go nova, wiping everyone out. Or maybe in 10 years someone discovers a way to make artifical neutron stars, then two of them escape, collide at the center of earth and collapse into a black hole blowing earth apart.
Anyway, I have no trouble believing that we could be alone in our galaxy (for whatever reason, I can imagine many reasons why intelligent life would be very very rare), so I don't see a paradox here really. Perhpas after (if ever) we have lot of real data, like having visited a 100 other star systems, and everything then suggests that intelligence should be abundant but we've found no sign of it other than ourselves, then I'd say it's a paradox. But with our current data, talking about a paradox is a bit of sensationalism.
Actually I believe it really simulates actual star system formation (44 different simulations, according to the article). It should be relatively easy to create snappy 3D animations of each of those 44 simulations you could zoom around to your heart's content.
Of course that still doesn't make a sim-style game since after initial parameters are set there's nothing to *do*, just let the simulation run and see how the system develops.
Hmm, sounds a lot like Stair and Truck Dismount games, so perhaps it'd still make a fun game after all;)
I'd be more worried about how all the necessary assumptions were made and unknown values decided. I think we have so little actual data on this issue, that you could make a simulation to support just about any hypothesis if you want to. I'm not implying there's any foul play involved here (such as getting funding for big interferometer to image extrasolar planets), because even if a human tries to be objective, he subconciously tends to make choices that lead to results he wants.
Thanks for the info. If I'll ever need to do that, I'll make extra sure the shotgun but is supported against a corner, and points through the top of my head, and both barrels of a two-barrel shotgun will be fired.
If the rope is short enough, you're sure to hang before your feet hit the floor (of course if it's too short, you may suffocate instead of breaking your neck, but it doesn't make much difference in the end). Too long rope however can lead to hurting your ankles, even breaking your legs, while still staying alive. Not good at all.
I'd personally favor a shot gun in the mouth, quick and sure, and also minimizes the problem with rifles and pistols that you may not die, just get brain damage. A bit nasty for whoever finds you or needs to clean up, but indefinitely better than speeding into a truck with a car for example.
(Apologies to anybody who has lost a loved one by any of above methods...)
That Bush would lie, I would say, is the least likely. I mean, if Bush knew there were no WMD, then he would know that when the invasion was over, no WMD would be found, and he'd look like an ass.
So does he look like an ass now? I mean you claim to dislike him, yet even you try defend what was said by his administration about WMDs. So his supporters in US must be cheering for him and not give a shit about no WMD discoveries. And international community seems to be mildly annoyed about it at most too.
So that's why he could have knowingly lied, or been led to lie unknowingly by others. Calculated risk by him (or more likely by his advisors and supporters)... Oh, I think it's quite possible they believed there *may* be something there, but they also knew that even if they'd find nothing, there would be little risk in saying stuff like "We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat" just before the war. If they say stuff like that, and then nothing is found after the war, I find it very hard to believe they weren't just intentionally saying what they wanted to say, never mind about the truth.
So Saddam shipped all his WMD to Syria, eh? Probably also killed all those involved in any way so they couldn't talk (not that I'd find that hard to believe about Saddam)? So when do you recon US will attack Syria, then?
I think they don't exist, not in the way you want anyway, you can't get 'em off the shelf. You sure can get a devkit and then you can design your own board etc, but I gather that's not really what you mean.
If it has to be that small, it has to fit into specific case (such as a cell phone or a pda or...) and then it has to be custom designed anyway, so you get exactly the processor you want, with the amount of memory and other features you want. That's why there's no real market for very small boards, and even smallest "Off the shelf" stuff (currently micro-ITX I believe?) will always be a lot bigger than custom designed stuff at any given time.
The first hit in google with "iraq wmd lies" is this page. Note: I didn't even check other hits, nor did I read that entire page, just checked the quotes at the top of that page.
Are those quotes forged or real? If they're real (which seems very likely, but I did not try to verify them), they were very hard trying to give the impression that there's no doubt about existence of Iraqi WMD. None have been found. Either US and British intelligence agencies were awfully naive and incompetent, or intelligence agencies and other elements inside government were deceiving the politicians, or politicians were lying through their teeth to the people... Considering the power US currently has, I don't really know which of these three is the most worrysome, but I'm not inclined to believe the "incompetent" explanation.
That leaves systematical deception at one level or another. But you're free to believe what you will of course.
Yeah, but Japan was never invaded, they surrendered. And though I'm not sure, I think it was not really occupied and controlled in the sense Iraq is now, and the basic social structures were was not really torn apart, emperor remained emperor even after the surrender and all that. Also the imminent threat of Soviets, already controlling a few islands (did they already give 'em back to Japan, or is it still under negotiation?), mada US presence a lot more tolerable.
And situation in West Germany was a bit different, as I believe they were quite aware what was going in East Germany, and allied occupation probably started to seem like a blessing compared to what was going on in the East... Also I could be wrong here, but I do think that even despite WW2 that has just ended, a lot of Allied troops viewed Germans as fellow Europeans and/or fellow christians, at least much more so than current Coalition occupation forces in Iraq view Iraqis as equals...
Also, people of both Germany and Japan were quite unified, one people. This is not the situation in Iraq, there are the Kurds and the Shia and Sunni muslims that are really not very friendly towards each others.
So the situation in post-WW2 Germany or Japan IMHO was easier in a few ways than situation in Iraq now. Also the Cold War that was starting made things a lot easier domestically in the USA, even though current "war on terror" tries to achieve the same effect.
So it is tricky, triciker than back then after WW2 certainly. Also there might be a lot less time (politically), especially if guerilla resistance can't be supressed, and especially if motives behind occupation aren't quite honest and sincere...
I mean, about oil, reconstruction deals and other "conspiracy stuff"... Considering everything (like lies about WMDs and other manipulation like that) I find it hard to believe there isn't a lot of "conspiracy stuff" behind it all. I'm just optimistically hoping it was for money, not for something more sinister...
I was opposed to the war until the first bombs fell. However, once the the war began...there's no going back. You can't put the genie back in the bottle. So, what do you propose we do now? Quit? Leave? Pull every solider out of Iraq?
Those (opposing war but going through to the end once it has started, while still opposing it) are not mutually exclusive.
The problem US has now is, how can it ever pull out, how can it ever give true democracy to Iraq, and still keep what they came to get (power in middle east, access to Iraq oil, money for US companies doing reconstruction etc).
As long as US imposes it's will on Iraq, the people of Iraq will like US less and less. So allowing full democracy for Iraq would mean immediate trouble for "US national interests" in Iraq. Giving just a bit of freedom while controlling other things really hasn't worked very long anywhere, now has it? Either it must become full democracy (meaning in Iraq there would parties demanding full US withdrawal and getting a lot of votes because of it) and freedom of speech (meaning no running over demonstrators with tanks like has happened in China or USSR) and all that, or it collaplses into totalitarian regime that supresses anybody trying to oppose them.
1. Support Saddam so he can demolish some Kurdish schools, and supply him with IT guns (see 3 below)
2. Get Iraq embargoed, so schools can't be maintained and get ruined
3. Bomb remaining schools since (IT guns on their roofs make them valid targets, blame goes to the regime that put the guns there).
4. Get an American construction company to rebuild them for a $1 000 000 per school: - $100 000 goes to local workforce salaries - $100 000 goes to local construction materials - $500 000 goes to American management and imported construction materials - $300 000 left, hmm... Oh yeah!
5. Profit!
Above is not based in any facts (that I know of anyway), but a lot of things about the Iraq mess look *just* like that... That's why Americans complaining "look, we're doing a good thing in Iraq, why don't you love us?" is not generally recived well elsewhere in the World...
Uh hu. And could you go out and get copy of original blues artists' works to listen to at home? I bet you couldn't...
So you want to go back to a time where there are no music recordings? Mind you, getting a bootleg of a music concert has even more serious quality problems than getting a bootleg of a film...
Also, music is a bit of a bad example since you can perform music and get money that way. You could argue that this is the right model to support music arts, make the musicians perform live to get money.
However, books are a bit different. You have to give the reader a copy for the duration of reading at least. No copyright -> no quality books. Trash literature, the romance/violence trash paperbacks you can buy from train stations etc might still exist. But no expensive-to-create professional non-fiction book could be published, since there would be no way to make profit with it if it was completely legal to copy and distribute it's contents freely. Doesn't sound very good to me.
Thank you. That's all that was needed to be said. Copyright is about money and only money. That's why this tax is being made an thats why a lot of people do a lot of things.
That view holds only if consider that money is an end in itself. Copyright is about giving the artists money to be able to afford food, shelter, healthcare, all those things you think you can take for granted these days... If they can also afford a few million dollar mansion and a dozen cars, that certainly doesn't invalidate the principle of copyright.
Actually, I believe crucification eventually kills due to the victim not being able to breathe any more, due to the strain on chest. Or if you're really fit and last long enough, you just might die from dehydration first...
I don't think current technology is quite there yet. It needs to be powered by human body, be able to do GPS-based location recording, and durable enough so it theoretically lasts a lifetime. Oh, and of course it needs to be able to make a person unconcious with a remote command.
And anything less is not going to cut it. People are not going to put up with yearly battely change operations, and government is not going to pay for a device they can't use to control people.
I predict such a thing will not be available before 2010, and it will only become necessity for comfortable living earliest 2020. These things take time to catch on. Patience.
I do not aggree. A correctly configured UNIX like computer (BSD (and thus Mac), Linux, SUN) is perfectly secure. If you choose to run a badly writen app, that's your problem.
There have been lot of local vulnerabilities in all Unixes (just remember the decent hack of Debian's servers using a local kernel vulnerability). And the if there's a user program that has serious remote vulnerability, then that local vulnerability becomes remote too. And then just think of the case that you have several untrusted/stupid local users on the Unix box.
And also "well written" apps can have bugs too. So even limiting yourself only to well known and widely used open source applications and inspecting their source code quality yourself is no guarantee. Sure it makes the odds of a critical bug much smaller, but never zero. And as soon as you access the internet, your potentially vulnerable software could interact with malicious attacker's software, and you are at risk, only protected by the hope that there are no unknown and unpatched remote vulnerabilities in your software.
Ok, so this can get pretty theoretical, the risk can be really really small if you avoid running anything but the most well tested programs. But still, I agree with previous poster, no OS is perfectly secure, simply because that's impossible.
Well well well, free markets force you to attach creations to services and things that have ancilltory value. No more alleymcbiel. It seems to make my original point that copyrights are anti free market. Funny how information little natural limits in supply, but services do? supply/demand?
If you use fancy words, learn to spell... This is not about information, this is about creative works. Try writing a book or making a film before you spout crap about there being unlimited supply...
It would be somthing wrong, but the wrong part wouldn't be copying the book, it would be decieving that I wrote somthing I didn't. Mayby there's a way to use coppied info to murder sombody too, but the murder is wrong not the copying. Speaking of logic fallacy.
Where did I imply deceiving or copying the *book*? I said, getting the information from other book, and writing a new book. Our basic society depends on ability to get information and use it or pass it on. Information contained in a book != the exact contents of the book. If you can't grasp this basic difference, no wonder you seem to be so confused about copyright.
Even patents don't restrict copying of information (actually opposite), they restrict using the patented but freely copyable information. And wether they are right or wrong is completely different matter than copyright... DMCA restricts copying of information, which is why a lot of people, me included, think it's an evil abomination.
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No, UV still gets through I think. So when eyes adjust to less visible light, they allow more than usual UV light into the eyes. "Snow blindness" is typically caused by the same thing, eye getting too much UV light.
So it also means you'd better not forget your 100% UV blocking sunglasses unless you want to get too much UV radiation into your eyes (as eyes adjust to the visible light, while it is UV light that can cause eye damage).
I was not talking about IE, I was talking about that popup/ad stopper. A lot of people use Firebird, quite a few all around the world even compile it themselves and actually debug and develop it. If it does something funny, it gets reported into a public bug database. If somebody intentionally tries to get some malicous code into it's codebase, there's a very good chance it'll be spotted very soon and reported. That's good enough for me, especially when compared to something like security of using MS IE...
It's a *lot* better than an obscure closed source application that tries to mitigate Microsoft IE flaws, coming from a small software company that could be in financial trouble and quite willing to put some semi-legal spyware code into their software's next version if somebody just pays them a bit. I'm not saying this particular company would be like this, I'm just saying there's very little guarantee that it isn't... So OSS is far safer alternative in every respect.
Install OpenOffice. It opens that document quite ok (table of contents probably does not look like it was intended, but otherwise the document is ok).
Download Mozilla Firebird and you don't need that kind of potentially suspicious (Is it spyware? Does it like to get uninstalled nicely or will it leave something behind? Is the company making it really trustworthy?) closed-source software...
But it's also pretty plausible that some of that stuff, such as better medicines, especially if liberally used against any small illness, make immune system of humans (on average) weaker, That makes sense, same way using a car instead of a bicycle makes life easier, but also makes people less fit.
Human immune system also fights against cancer. We have cancer cells appearing all the time, but mostly they are noticed and taken care of by the immune system before it's too late.
So I think it's not only "people don't die of other causes, so they can get cancer". It is *also* that people really are more likely to get "random" cancer than they were before.
I wouldn't even be surpised if moderate amounts of carcinogens at early age (when immune system is still developing) would provide protection against getting cancer at older age. Though I still would not volunteer my own kids for "carcinogen vaccine" experiment or feed them throughly charred bratwursts
I've not read/heard of any other signs, except UFO sightings, and I personally I don't believe we have "visitors". Though I think it's quite possible, I just don't believe any unexplained UFO was a flying saucer, same way I don't think any natural phenomenon science can't yet explain is an act of God.
So what other signs of intelligence or even just life are there, except claims about UFOs of extraterrestrial alien origin?
My favourite is intelligence inevitably wiping itself out before they can expand to other star systems. Something like, there's some really nifty way of launching interstellar ships using the stars energy output or tapping energy from parallel universe or something, but actually using it will unexpectedly cause the star go nova, wiping everyone out. Or maybe in 10 years someone discovers a way to make artifical neutron stars, then two of them escape, collide at the center of earth and collapse into a black hole blowing earth apart.
Anyway, I have no trouble believing that we could be alone in our galaxy (for whatever reason, I can imagine many reasons why intelligent life would be very very rare), so I don't see a paradox here really. Perhpas after (if ever) we have lot of real data, like having visited a 100 other star systems, and everything then suggests that intelligence should be abundant but we've found no sign of it other than ourselves, then I'd say it's a paradox. But with our current data, talking about a paradox is a bit of sensationalism.
Actually I believe it really simulates actual star system formation (44 different simulations, according to the article). It should be relatively easy to create snappy 3D animations of each of those 44 simulations you could zoom around to your heart's content.
;)
Of course that still doesn't make a sim-style game since after initial parameters are set there's nothing to *do*, just let the simulation run and see how the system develops.
Hmm, sounds a lot like Stair and Truck Dismount games, so perhaps it'd still make a fun game after all
I'd be more worried about how all the necessary assumptions were made and unknown values decided. I think we have so little actual data on this issue, that you could make a simulation to support just about any hypothesis if you want to. I'm not implying there's any foul play involved here (such as getting funding for big interferometer to image extrasolar planets), because even if a human tries to be objective, he subconciously tends to make choices that lead to results he wants.
Thanks for the info. If I'll ever need to do that, I'll make extra sure the shotgun but is supported against a corner, and points through the top of my head, and both barrels of a two-barrel shotgun will be fired.
If the rope is short enough, you're sure to hang before your feet hit the floor (of course if it's too short, you may suffocate instead of breaking your neck, but it doesn't make much difference in the end). Too long rope however can lead to hurting your ankles, even breaking your legs, while still staying alive. Not good at all.
I'd personally favor a shot gun in the mouth, quick and sure, and also minimizes the problem with rifles and pistols that you may not die, just get brain damage. A bit nasty for whoever finds you or needs to clean up, but indefinitely better than speeding into a truck with a car for example.
(Apologies to anybody who has lost a loved one by any of above methods...)
So does he look like an ass now? I mean you claim to dislike him, yet even you try defend what was said by his administration about WMDs. So his supporters in US must be cheering for him and not give a shit about no WMD discoveries. And international community seems to be mildly annoyed about it at most too.
So that's why he could have knowingly lied, or been led to lie unknowingly by others. Calculated risk by him (or more likely by his advisors and supporters)... Oh, I think it's quite possible they believed there *may* be something there, but they also knew that even if they'd find nothing, there would be little risk in saying stuff like "We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat" just before the war. If they say stuff like that, and then nothing is found after the war, I find it very hard to believe they weren't just intentionally saying what they wanted to say, never mind about the truth.
So Saddam shipped all his WMD to Syria, eh? Probably also killed all those involved in any way so they couldn't talk (not that I'd find that hard to believe about Saddam)? So when do you recon US will attack Syria, then?
I think they don't exist, not in the way you want anyway, you can't get 'em off the shelf. You sure can get a devkit and then you can design your own board etc, but I gather that's not really what you mean.
If it has to be that small, it has to fit into specific case (such as a cell phone or a pda or...) and then it has to be custom designed anyway, so you get exactly the processor you want, with the amount of memory and other features you want. That's why there's no real market for very small boards, and even smallest "Off the shelf" stuff (currently micro-ITX I believe?) will always be a lot bigger than custom designed stuff at any given time.
The first hit in google with "iraq wmd lies" is this page. Note: I didn't even check other hits, nor did I read that entire page, just checked the quotes at the top of that page.
Are those quotes forged or real? If they're real (which seems very likely, but I did not try to verify them), they were very hard trying to give the impression that there's no doubt about existence of Iraqi WMD. None have been found. Either US and British intelligence agencies were awfully naive and incompetent, or intelligence agencies and other elements inside government were deceiving the politicians, or politicians were lying through their teeth to the people... Considering the power US currently has, I don't really know which of these three is the most worrysome, but I'm not inclined to believe the "incompetent" explanation.
That leaves systematical deception at one level or another. But you're free to believe what you will of course.
Yeah, but Japan was never invaded, they surrendered. And though I'm not sure, I think it was not really occupied and controlled in the sense Iraq is now, and the basic social structures were was not really torn apart, emperor remained emperor even after the surrender and all that. Also the imminent threat of Soviets, already controlling a few islands (did they already give 'em back to Japan, or is it still under negotiation?), mada US presence a lot more tolerable.
And situation in West Germany was a bit different, as I believe they were quite aware what was going in East Germany, and allied occupation probably started to seem like a blessing compared to what was going on in the East... Also I could be wrong here, but I do think that even despite WW2 that has just ended, a lot of Allied troops viewed Germans as fellow Europeans and/or fellow christians, at least much more so than current Coalition occupation forces in Iraq view Iraqis as equals...
Also, people of both Germany and Japan were quite unified, one people. This is not the situation in Iraq, there are the Kurds and the Shia and Sunni muslims that are really not very friendly towards each others.
So the situation in post-WW2 Germany or Japan IMHO was easier in a few ways than situation in Iraq now. Also the Cold War that was starting made things a lot easier domestically in the USA, even though current "war on terror" tries to achieve the same effect.
So it is tricky, triciker than back then after WW2 certainly. Also there might be a lot less time (politically), especially if guerilla resistance can't be supressed, and especially if motives behind occupation aren't quite honest and sincere...
I mean, about oil, reconstruction deals and other "conspiracy stuff"... Considering everything (like lies about WMDs and other manipulation like that) I find it hard to believe there isn't a lot of "conspiracy stuff" behind it all. I'm just optimistically hoping it was for money, not for something more sinister...
Those (opposing war but going through to the end once it has started, while still opposing it) are not mutually exclusive.
The problem US has now is, how can it ever pull out, how can it ever give true democracy to Iraq, and still keep what they came to get (power in middle east, access to Iraq oil, money for US companies doing reconstruction etc).
As long as US imposes it's will on Iraq, the people of Iraq will like US less and less. So allowing full democracy for Iraq would mean immediate trouble for "US national interests" in Iraq. Giving just a bit of freedom while controlling other things really hasn't worked very long anywhere, now has it? Either it must become full democracy (meaning in Iraq there would parties demanding full US withdrawal and getting a lot of votes because of it) and freedom of speech (meaning no running over demonstrators with tanks like has happened in China or USSR) and all that, or it collaplses into totalitarian regime that supresses anybody trying to oppose them.
Tricky situtation, eh?
More like,
1. Support Saddam so he can demolish some Kurdish schools, and supply him with IT guns (see 3 below)
2. Get Iraq embargoed, so schools can't be maintained and get ruined
3. Bomb remaining schools since (IT guns on their roofs make them valid targets, blame goes to the regime that put the guns there).
4. Get an American construction company to rebuild them for a $1 000 000 per school:
- $100 000 goes to local workforce salaries
- $100 000 goes to local construction materials
- $500 000 goes to American management and imported construction materials
- $300 000 left, hmm... Oh yeah!
5. Profit!
Above is not based in any facts (that I know of anyway), but a lot of things about the Iraq mess look *just* like that... That's why Americans complaining "look, we're doing a good thing in Iraq, why don't you love us?" is not generally recived well elsewhere in the World...
Well, actually you are pumping BILLIONS of dollars to American companies. Essentially you are largely using that money back in the USA...
So I wouldn't really complain.
And just think of all the oil money that this will bring to American companies! If money is what you're worried about, you should be happy!
Uh hu. And could you go out and get copy of original blues artists' works to listen to at home? I bet you couldn't...
So you want to go back to a time where there are no music recordings? Mind you, getting a bootleg of a music concert has even more serious quality problems than getting a bootleg of a film...
Also, music is a bit of a bad example since you can perform music and get money that way. You could argue that this is the right model to support music arts, make the musicians perform live to get money.
However, books are a bit different. You have to give the reader a copy for the duration of reading at least. No copyright -> no quality books. Trash literature, the romance/violence trash paperbacks you can buy from train stations etc might still exist. But no expensive-to-create professional non-fiction book could be published, since there would be no way to make profit with it if it was completely legal to copy and distribute it's contents freely. Doesn't sound very good to me.
That view holds only if consider that money is an end in itself. Copyright is about giving the artists money to be able to afford food, shelter, healthcare, all those things you think you can take for granted these days... If they can also afford a few million dollar mansion and a dozen cars, that certainly doesn't invalidate the principle of copyright.
Actually, I believe crucification eventually kills due to the victim not being able to breathe any more, due to the strain on chest. Or if you're really fit and last long enough, you just might die from dehydration first...
I don't think current technology is quite there yet. It needs to be powered by human body, be able to do GPS-based location recording, and durable enough so it theoretically lasts a lifetime. Oh, and of course it needs to be able to make a person unconcious with a remote command.
And anything less is not going to cut it. People are not going to put up with yearly battely change operations, and government is not going to pay for a device they can't use to control people.
I predict such a thing will not be available before 2010, and it will only become necessity for comfortable living earliest 2020. These things take time to catch on. Patience.
There have been lot of local vulnerabilities in all Unixes (just remember the decent hack of Debian's servers using a local kernel vulnerability). And the if there's a user program that has serious remote vulnerability, then that local vulnerability becomes remote too. And then just think of the case that you have several untrusted/stupid local users on the Unix box.
And also "well written" apps can have bugs too. So even limiting yourself only to well known and widely used open source applications and inspecting their source code quality yourself is no guarantee. Sure it makes the odds of a critical bug much smaller, but never zero. And as soon as you access the internet, your potentially vulnerable software could interact with malicious attacker's software, and you are at risk, only protected by the hope that there are no unknown and unpatched remote vulnerabilities in your software.
Ok, so this can get pretty theoretical, the risk can be really really small if you avoid running anything but the most well tested programs. But still, I agree with previous poster, no OS is perfectly secure, simply because that's impossible.
If you use fancy words, learn to spell... This is not about information, this is about creative works. Try writing a book or making a film before you spout crap about there being unlimited supply...
Where did I imply deceiving or copying the *book*? I said, getting the information from other book, and writing a new book. Our basic society depends on ability to get information and use it or pass it on. Information contained in a book != the exact contents of the book. If you can't grasp this basic difference, no wonder you seem to be so confused about copyright.
Even patents don't restrict copying of information (actually opposite), they restrict using the patented but freely copyable information. And wether they are right or wrong is completely different matter than copyright... DMCA restricts copying of information, which is why a lot of people, me included, think it's an evil abomination.