I don't disagree that having a standardized security format for identification is a bad idea - Its a great idea. Having measures in place to prevent people from copying and counterfeiting ID cards is an obvious thing to do. However, my huge problem with REAL ID is that it would set in place a single database that would hold god knows what information about every single citizen of this country. It would be searched in secret without citizens knowledge and I am sure it would open up entirely new agencies and bureaucracies whose sole purpose is to create ways sift "bad" people out of that info. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a dangerous thing. Make no mistake, the government is already trying to do similar projects with existing info and people need to be aware of it, but this is simply another avenue for a group of people to realize their goal. But here is the thing, some will say that the govt can do this already with existing info/SS#'s/etc. And you're right, but in order to build it out extensively and most importantly, get funding for a nationwide system and bureaucracy, they need a reason. REAL ID could be that justification.
Here is a scenario for you. Such a database and any programs or efforts to extensively datamine the info is VERY likely to be secret. (Don't want the terrorist to know our methods!) So lets say that some new algorithms developed by DARPA single out Johnny as a potential threat due to his age, place of birth, credit and travel history, political affiliations, tax records/organizations he has donated to, military service and health records, or those of his friends. He can't very well be arrested on secret information... so what happens?? He gets detained indefinitely! But don't worry, we have a firewall protecting us against such actions by the state - Habeus Corpus - oh, wait a sec.
Take that away and get real close to Mother Earth. I've been there: Mother Earth may still love you, but the bitch will try her best to kill you at every opportunity.
I just have to say this, we should all lovingly thank that bitch for trying to kill us at every opportunity. It is the murdering ecosystem we all inhabit that provided the mechanism for our evolution.
It might work, yes. Unfortunately China currently has a population of 1.3 Billion against Americas population of 0.3 billion.
So if you gain every single american who ditches google, but lose every single resident of China you are still at least 1 billion down. The reason that all companies are so keen to jump into bed with China is that they have such a huge population and yet the standard of living is rising at a scary rate.
You're right, China is a huge market and their standard of living is increasing. However, currently the market in the US larger in terms of per capita value. But you're right, things are changing and the domestic market may become much, much less lucrative.
At the end of the day I seriously wonder if the executives at Yahoo, Google, et al really think that they can be competitive in China given the real bias their govt has in favor of national companies over foreign. And if it really is worth it in the long run to sell their soul in order to feed their belly. They are kidding themselves if they think that this won't at some point come back to bite them in the ass. Yahoo or Google may not have the cajones to make a bold move like that, but someone will and it does not have to be a multi million dollar company that calls them out on it.
I'm probably going to get modded into oblivion for this, but here goes. I just found what you had to say very interesting and wanted to post what I thought.
After thinking about it, I really believe that a company like Yahoo or even MS could, as another poster put it, say "Enough is Enough" and draw a line in the sand regarding their involvement in with China's censorship. Make a huge deal of their announcement to stand up for human rights. Issue press releases and hold news conferences. Get Errol Morris to direct a whole series of commercials that air during primetime which specifically calls out google and any other search company as helping to further the oppression of people under the communist system in China. Yahoo could use U.S. national patriotism, pride and the overall desire of the average American to believe they are good and righteous, to completely obliterate Google in the domestic search market. Yahoo could come straight out with a campaign that bluntly says people using google for search or any of their other services, supports the oppression of people living in communist China.
I guarantee that such a move by Yahoo would decimate googles usage by Americans. Google would no longer be cool and people would rally behind Yahoo because to do so would make the average Yahoo user feel better about themselves.
Seriously, its a bold move but I think it would work.
Even if google came out and proclaimed they would no longer do business in China, the damage would be done to their image within days. You can not underestimate the power that such a move would have to resonate with middle america. It would be the PR move to own all other PR moves.
I think that instead of being so concerned with the China market, Yahoo should look at their failing position in the U.S. market and think of some interesting ways to knock google off its pedestal. And what a fall it would be.
I don't normally post to/. these days, but sometimes after reading a particularly disturbing news piece I feel as if I just want to yell out into the ether and see if anyone hears me.
After thinking about it, I really believe that a company like Yahoo or even MS could, as another poster put it, say "Enough is Enough" and draw a line in the sand regarding their involvement in with China's censorship. Make a huge deal of their announcement to stand up for human rights. Issue press releases and hold news conferences. Get Errol Morris to direct a whole series of commercials that air during primetime which specifically calls out google and any other search company as helping to further the oppression of people under the communist system in China. Yahoo could use U.S. national patriotism, pride and the overall desire of the average American to believe they are good and righteous, to completely obliterate Google in the domestic search market. Yahoo could come straight out with a campaign that bluntly says people using google for search or any of their other services, supports the oppression of people living in communist China.
I guarantee that such a move by Yahoo would decimate googles usage by Americans. Google would no longer be cool and people would rally behind Yahoo because to do so would make the average Yahoo user feel better about themselves.
Seriously, its a bold move but I think it would work.
Even if google came out and proclaimed they would no longer do business in China, the damage would be done to their image within days. You can not underestimate the power that such a move would have to resonate with middle america. It would be the PR move to own all other PR moves.
It's just a thought. I think that instead of being so concerned with the China market, Yahoo should look at their failing position in the U.S. market and think of some interesting ways to knock google off its pedestal. And what a fall it would be.
Just wanted to note that there was a typo in the first line... instead of "citizens of this country do see a problem ", it should be "citizens of this country don't see a problem". Sorry if there was any confusion.
You know, I can't help but wonder if/when this country will ever fall from its current global position. I am reminded of a previous/. posting on a nuclear waste repository in New Mexico, and the plans on how to warn future generations of its dangers. In the article they mention that the NRC expects to have administrative control of the land for only the next 200 years. The presumption being that at some point in the relatively near future the country may not exist.
Sometimes I wonder how that fall will occur. If it will start with the slow erosion of our rights and freedoms, and transition into a some sort of repressive iron fisted govt. that falls from grace. But above all I am amazed that people don't seem to care all that much about the current situation. Where is the outrage? Where is the Press? If we did nuke Iran, would a majority in this country care? Would a majority in this country care if the govt. keeps track of and a central database listing who EVERYONE talks to and is associated with? Would a majority care if the govt. kept recordings of all our phone conversations? What about emails? Would a majority care if the government made a profile of every citizen in this country and assessed them a threat rating based off of who they talk to, their financial info, travel info, and their personal associations? What happens when a red flag goes up? Do they get renditioned by intelligence officers? Where is the line in the sand? Where is this all heading?
You don't have anything to fear if you don't have anything to hide. I guess thats how it starts.
The part I find incredibly frightening is that it seems so many citizens of this country do see a problem with this. Sure, they are coming for the communists first, but then what? I am afraid of the hysterical masses that are willing to hand over MY rights to the government. I grew up thinking that the whole purpose of the Bill of Rights was to protect me and others like me from the wacko majority?
You know, we spend a lot of time teaching our children about the men that founded this country, however flawed personally they were, and the ideals they believed in. Maybe it's time we actually stood by those words.
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Benjamin Franklin
Quotes from ABC News Blog by members of the public:
"Good! I hope they do find out who is leaking national security info to the press. I'm tired of the press helping our enemies. Maybe you guys should start trying to "FOR the USA" instead of "AGAINST the USA" ALL THE TIME. I hope the FBI nails lots of idiots who are out to destroy the intelligence agencies and cost us more soldiers and spys!"
"'Bout time you guys are roped in."
"Excellent the Media needs looking after, Traitors most of them......."
"good, you seditionist creeps deserve what you get. who knows how many serviceman have died because of your "right to know""
"I hope the information they gain allows them to catch the scum that leak information, and helps them arrest the communist scum who publish it."
"Well maybe ABC news better stop leaking classified information. This only helps our enemies and right now I believe ABC news is an enemy of the US."
"You didn't inconvenience someone, you broke the law. It's called a criminal investigation!!!!"
"I believe that it is a great idea to maintain telephone surveilance over news organizations who disclose classified and sensitive secret information. Lets nail the government employees who knowingly break their oath to not divulge classified information."
"GOOD! I hope they find out who is reporting all of these leaks. And I hope you are tried and perhaps spend some time in jail for it.
KEEP CALLING and I hope they track your every word!"
I seriously am wondering about the corporate customers that Microsoft hopes are supposedly going to be deploying Vista in November. Pretty soon they will get pushed back to 2007 as well.
I can completely understand your frustration. However, being the good geek that I know you are, you must have heard that there was a transition going on to Intel hardware. Jobs himself said the transition was beginning and would be well underway within the next 9 months; would you have felt better if instead of one month, the intel imacs came out 5 months after your purchase? Also, knowing that this transition was underway why did you choose to make that investment?
Apple will not be tailing off support for PowerPC based systems for AT LEAST 3-4 years. And once that happens, you will still be able to use the software you currently own, and by then if support is discontinued your computer may be sufficiently old that any new non-universal software coming out would not run well if at all on your computer anyway. Unlike some of the old Powermac g4's which could be kept alive via upgrades (cpu, pic adaptor cards, etc) your G5 imac and the new Intel imacs can not be upgraded to keep ahead of the constant never-ending march to technological obscurity.
Back on the subject of PowerPC support. I think that many would agree that Apple users are notorious for keeping, running, and buying software for amazingly old systems. My main system up until last November was a dual 500 mhz G4 Powermac - a system that came out in late 99. Ran the thing for 6 years, and even still it is my second most used computer. Apple knows this full well, and when you consider that their top of the line machines are still PowerPC, and that they will be selling PowerPC systems for likely the rest of 06, I suspect that they will be forced to release PowerPC compatible versions of their software/os for the next 4 years at least. And when you look at companies like Adobe that make the majority of their Mac software income from businesses, they can't afford to stop releasing PowerPC compatible software. Their are still a bunch of design houses using G4's, and the ones that recently made the transition to all new G5 hardware are not going to be making another major hardware purchase to replace all of their current perfectly working systems.
Is it just me, or do others also prefer to not answer the phone and opt instead to have the answering machine pick up in order to screen calls? I became so sick of getting multiple telemarketing calls between the hours of 5-10pm that I decided to just turn the ringer on its lowest volume setting, and let the machine answer.
I know it may seem a bit obnoxious, but I am the one paying the bill and it would seem to me that the phone is for my convience, not someone elses.
I thought you could already block your number from being readable by caller ID? *67 then dial the number of the person you wish to reach. Spoofing is something quite diferent, but if you don't want to give out your number, the option is already there.
cheers.
Suppose you are an electric utility, and you have many millions of paying customers. Life is good; you're a super rich mega corporation, but you would like to make more profits (after all you owe it the shareholders) and have your sites on once again taking the throne back and becoming an honest to goodness monopoly. One day you notice that Sony is selling products that require your electricity to work, and that Sony is making a bundle. Their products absolutely rely on your electricity, and you realize that your electricity is worth more than you thought! After all Sony is getting a free lunch; forget the fact that Sonys customers are already paying for the electricity. You decide that in order for Sonys products (and by extension their customers) will have to pay another fee for the access to electricity that up until now they thought was already paid for. After all, the infrastructure needed to grow the electricity business is not cheap, and you are not interested in giving out a free lunch to anyone.
What do you guys think of this idea? I had the idea yesterday, but I wanted to know what some of you think about it.
I really wanted to suggest something in hopes that some decision maker at Google, MSN, or Yahoo may consider it if they have not already. Google and the other search engines have the infrastructure and capability to create, setup, and maintain massive amounts of proxy servers. If they really wanted to make a significant contribution to the goal of providing free and uncensored information to Chinese citizens, they could do it. Simply create proxy servers accessible by those in China that could then relay http traffic anonymously. Shit, throw a couple million at it and make it a freakin huge proxy network that rotates through different IP ranges every couple weeks so that Chinese government agencies can't keep up with them.
That is, if they really wanted to not be evil.
If they wanted to be creative with it, they could take one of their services, Google Talk for example, and provide a feature in the client that would allow one to browse to a site via their proxy servers. One idea would be to place an input field in a panel used to enter in a friends user name that you would like to connect to, but if you inputted a url, it would still relay the request to their proxy servers. Of course that would be in violation of the clients EULA, but then they could just leave the capability their and never get around to "patching" it.
Its just an idea, but I wish that they used their incredibly gifted employees to do something really great.
Why is this given a moderation of 5? Are you suggesting that "most apple users" are gay? It's a pretty freakin' crude statement. I thought we were all out of the middle school and high school name calling, but I guess we are not.
In a not so subtle way you basically said
"Hey, anyone who uses a Mac must be a fag - cause you know what the term backdoor means to those people."
I really wanted to suggest something in hopes that some decision maker at Google, MSN, or Yahoo may consider it if they have not already. Google and the other search engines have the infrastructure and capability to create, setup, and maintain massive amounts of proxy servers. If they really wanted to make a significant contribution to the goal of providing free and uncensored information to Chinese citizens, they could do it. Simply create proxy servers accessible by those in China that could then relay http traffic anonymously. Shit, throw a couple million at it and make it a freakin huge proxy network that rotates through different IP ranges every couple weeks so that Chinese government agencies can't keep up with them.
That is, if they really wanted to not be evil.
If they wanted to be creative with it, they could take one of their services, Google Talk for example, and provide a feature in the client that would allow one to browse to a site via their proxy servers. One idea would be to place an input field in a panel used to enter in a friends user name that you would like to connect to, but if you inputted a url, it would still relay the request to their proxy servers. Of course that would be in violation of the clients EULA, but then they could just leave the capability their and never get around to "patching" it.
Its just an idea, but I wish that they used their incredibly gifted employees to do something really great.
I call Karma Whore on you. We don't need you to point out not so subtle movie references to a not so obscure 10 year old sc-fi flick that grossed more than 800 mil worldwide. This is slashdot for pete's sake - We get it. Maybe you should go around pointing out the references to the Matrix along with your handy dandy IMDb link. You know, just in case no one here knows who "Neo" is referring to.
Thanks for being so informative.
Sorry, maybe I'm just having a bad day, but come on.
Plutonium is a heavy metal and is chemically as toxic as other more common heavy metals. Pu is not a strong emitter of beta or gamma radiation, but does emit high quantities of alpha radiation. Although alpha radiation does not have the penetrating ability of beta and gamma radiation, it is still radiologicaly toxic if placed within extremely close proximity to tissue i.e.: within the body/ingested or inhaled.
Ingestion of plutonium particles is less of a hazard than inhalation due to the fact that ingested insoluble (non salts) particles will eventually pass, whereas inhaled insoluble particles at the appropriate size will remain in the lungs for a much much longer period of time. Radiation toxicity is related to cumulative exposure. IIRC, even less than 40mg inhaled Pu can cause enough damage to the lungs to cause death within a matter of just several weeks..5g to.25g ingested can cause death due to acute radiation exposure of the intestinal tract.
"The biggest company in the computer industry by far is IBM. They have the four times the employees that I have, way more revenues than I have. IBM has always been our biggest competitor. The press just doesn't like to write about IBM."
I find it fascinating how he uses the term "I" when referring to the company he founded. I wonder how much of his motivation to succeed is pure ego driven. I always found it interesting how all these iconic leaders in silicon valley all know each other, and have all had personal interactions going back 20 years. The old question of whether or not bill and steve really dislike each other, and if that dislike stems from some initial interaction at a computer show in SF back in the 70's.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't disagree that having a standardized security format for identification is a bad idea - Its a great idea. Having measures in place to prevent people from copying and counterfeiting ID cards is an obvious thing to do. However, my huge problem with REAL ID is that it would set in place a single database that would hold god knows what information about every single citizen of this country. It would be searched in secret without citizens knowledge and I am sure it would open up entirely new agencies and bureaucracies whose sole purpose is to create ways sift "bad" people out of that info. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a dangerous thing. Make no mistake, the government is already trying to do similar projects with existing info and people need to be aware of it, but this is simply another avenue for a group of people to realize their goal. But here is the thing, some will say that the govt can do this already with existing info/SS#'s/etc. And you're right, but in order to build it out extensively and most importantly, get funding for a nationwide system and bureaucracy, they need a reason. REAL ID could be that justification.
Here is a scenario for you. Such a database and any programs or efforts to extensively datamine the info is VERY likely to be secret. (Don't want the terrorist to know our methods!) So lets say that some new algorithms developed by DARPA single out Johnny as a potential threat due to his age, place of birth, credit and travel history, political affiliations, tax records/organizations he has donated to, military service and health records, or those of his friends. He can't very well be arrested on secret information... so what happens?? He gets detained indefinitely! But don't worry, we have a firewall protecting us against such actions by the state - Habeus Corpus - oh, wait a sec.
Brave new world indeed.
God: Hi Kent. Have you been touching yourself?
Kent: Yes. I mean, NO!
I just have to say this, we should all lovingly thank that bitch for trying to kill us at every opportunity. It is the murdering ecosystem we all inhabit that provided the mechanism for our evolution.
It might work, yes. Unfortunately China currently has a population of 1.3 Billion against Americas population of 0.3 billion.
So if you gain every single american who ditches google, but lose every single resident of China you are still at least 1 billion down. The reason that all companies are so keen to jump into bed with China is that they have such a huge population and yet the standard of living is rising at a scary rate.
You're right, China is a huge market and their standard of living is increasing. However, currently the market in the US larger in terms of per capita value. But you're right, things are changing and the domestic market may become much, much less lucrative.
At the end of the day I seriously wonder if the executives at Yahoo, Google, et al really think that they can be competitive in China given the real bias their govt has in favor of national companies over foreign. And if it really is worth it in the long run to sell their soul in order to feed their belly. They are kidding themselves if they think that this won't at some point come back to bite them in the ass. Yahoo or Google may not have the cajones to make a bold move like that, but someone will and it does not have to be a multi million dollar company that calls them out on it.
Cheers
I'm probably going to get modded into oblivion for this, but here goes. I just found what you had to say very interesting and wanted to post what I thought.
After thinking about it, I really believe that a company like Yahoo or even MS could, as another poster put it, say "Enough is Enough" and draw a line in the sand regarding their involvement in with China's censorship. Make a huge deal of their announcement to stand up for human rights. Issue press releases and hold news conferences. Get Errol Morris to direct a whole series of commercials that air during primetime which specifically calls out google and any other search company as helping to further the oppression of people under the communist system in China. Yahoo could use U.S. national patriotism, pride and the overall desire of the average American to believe they are good and righteous, to completely obliterate Google in the domestic search market. Yahoo could come straight out with a campaign that bluntly says people using google for search or any of their other services, supports the oppression of people living in communist China.
I guarantee that such a move by Yahoo would decimate googles usage by Americans. Google would no longer be cool and people would rally behind Yahoo because to do so would make the average Yahoo user feel better about themselves.
Seriously, its a bold move but I think it would work.
Even if google came out and proclaimed they would no longer do business in China, the damage would be done to their image within days. You can not underestimate the power that such a move would have to resonate with middle america. It would be the PR move to own all other PR moves.
I think that instead of being so concerned with the China market, Yahoo should look at their failing position in the U.S. market and think of some interesting ways to knock google off its pedestal. And what a fall it would be.
I don't normally post to /. these days, but sometimes after reading a particularly disturbing news piece I feel as if I just want to yell out into the ether and see if anyone hears me.
After thinking about it, I really believe that a company like Yahoo or even MS could, as another poster put it, say "Enough is Enough" and draw a line in the sand regarding their involvement in with China's censorship. Make a huge deal of their announcement to stand up for human rights. Issue press releases and hold news conferences. Get Errol Morris to direct a whole series of commercials that air during primetime which specifically calls out google and any other search company as helping to further the oppression of people under the communist system in China. Yahoo could use U.S. national patriotism, pride and the overall desire of the average American to believe they are good and righteous, to completely obliterate Google in the domestic search market. Yahoo could come straight out with a campaign that bluntly says people using google for search or any of their other services, supports the oppression of people living in communist China.
I guarantee that such a move by Yahoo would decimate googles usage by Americans. Google would no longer be cool and people would rally behind Yahoo because to do so would make the average Yahoo user feel better about themselves.
Seriously, its a bold move but I think it would work.
Even if google came out and proclaimed they would no longer do business in China, the damage would be done to their image within days. You can not underestimate the power that such a move would have to resonate with middle america. It would be the PR move to own all other PR moves.
It's just a thought. I think that instead of being so concerned with the China market, Yahoo should look at their failing position in the U.S. market and think of some interesting ways to knock google off its pedestal. And what a fall it would be.
What do you guys think?
Cheers.
Just wanted to note that there was a typo in the first line... instead of "citizens of this country do see a problem ", it should be "citizens of this country don't see a problem". Sorry if there was any confusion.
a l_source_.html
/. posting on a nuclear waste repository in New Mexico, and the plans on how to warn future generations of its dangers. In the article they mention that the NRC expects to have administrative control of the land for only the next 200 years. The presumption being that at some point in the relatively near future the country may not exist.
For those interested, the link to the ABC blog is: http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/05/feder
The BF quote is from Wikiquote: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin
You know, I can't help but wonder if/when this country will ever fall from its current global position. I am reminded of a previous
Sometimes I wonder how that fall will occur. If it will start with the slow erosion of our rights and freedoms, and transition into a some sort of repressive iron fisted govt. that falls from grace. But above all I am amazed that people don't seem to care all that much about the current situation. Where is the outrage? Where is the Press? If we did nuke Iran, would a majority in this country care? Would a majority in this country care if the govt. keeps track of and a central database listing who EVERYONE talks to and is associated with? Would a majority care if the govt. kept recordings of all our phone conversations? What about emails? Would a majority care if the government made a profile of every citizen in this country and assessed them a threat rating based off of who they talk to, their financial info, travel info, and their personal associations? What happens when a red flag goes up? Do they get renditioned by intelligence officers? Where is the line in the sand? Where is this all heading?
You don't have anything to fear if you don't have anything to hide. I guess thats how it starts.
The part I find incredibly frightening is that it seems so many citizens of this country do see a problem with this. Sure, they are coming for the communists first, but then what? I am afraid of the hysterical masses that are willing to hand over MY rights to the government. I grew up thinking that the whole purpose of the Bill of Rights was to protect me and others like me from the wacko majority?
You know, we spend a lot of time teaching our children about the men that founded this country, however flawed personally they were, and the ideals they believed in. Maybe it's time we actually stood by those words.
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Benjamin Franklin
Quotes from ABC News Blog by members of the public:
"Good! I hope they do find out who is leaking national security info to the press. I'm tired of the press helping our enemies. Maybe you guys should start trying to "FOR the USA" instead of "AGAINST the USA" ALL THE TIME. I hope the FBI nails lots of idiots who are out to destroy the intelligence agencies and cost us more soldiers and spys!"
"'Bout time you guys are roped in."
"Excellent the Media needs looking after, Traitors most of them......."
"good, you seditionist creeps deserve what you get. who knows how many serviceman have died because of your "right to know""
"I hope the information they gain allows them to catch the scum that leak information, and helps them arrest the communist scum who publish it."
"Well maybe ABC news better stop leaking classified information. This only helps our enemies and right now I believe ABC news is an enemy of the US."
"You didn't inconvenience someone, you broke the law. It's called a criminal investigation!!!!"
"I believe that it is a great idea to maintain telephone surveilance over news organizations who disclose classified and sensitive secret information. Lets nail the government employees who knowingly break their oath to not divulge classified information."
"GOOD! I hope they find out who is reporting all of these leaks. And I hope you are tried and perhaps spend some time in jail for it. KEEP CALLING and I hope they track your every word!"
I seriously am wondering about the corporate customers that Microsoft hopes are supposedly going to be deploying Vista in November. Pretty soon they will get pushed back to 2007 as well.
I have the feeling that at this point the managers in Redmond care less about security and more about actually _shipping_ the product.
Maybe even sometime this year.
Wish I had some mod points left... I found your response very interesting.
Next time don't post as AC!
I can not wait to run Bonzai Buddy, not to mention all the _GREAT_ screen savers that are available for download (for free!) off the web!
yea!
I can completely understand your frustration. However, being the good geek that I know you are, you must have heard that there was a transition going on to Intel hardware. Jobs himself said the transition was beginning and would be well underway within the next 9 months; would you have felt better if instead of one month, the intel imacs came out 5 months after your purchase? Also, knowing that this transition was underway why did you choose to make that investment?
Apple will not be tailing off support for PowerPC based systems for AT LEAST 3-4 years. And once that happens, you will still be able to use the software you currently own, and by then if support is discontinued your computer may be sufficiently old that any new non-universal software coming out would not run well if at all on your computer anyway. Unlike some of the old Powermac g4's which could be kept alive via upgrades (cpu, pic adaptor cards, etc) your G5 imac and the new Intel imacs can not be upgraded to keep ahead of the constant never-ending march to technological obscurity.
Back on the subject of PowerPC support. I think that many would agree that Apple users are notorious for keeping, running, and buying software for amazingly old systems. My main system up until last November was a dual 500 mhz G4 Powermac - a system that came out in late 99. Ran the thing for 6 years, and even still it is my second most used computer. Apple knows this full well, and when you consider that their top of the line machines are still PowerPC, and that they will be selling PowerPC systems for likely the rest of 06, I suspect that they will be forced to release PowerPC compatible versions of their software/os for the next 4 years at least. And when you look at companies like Adobe that make the majority of their Mac software income from businesses, they can't afford to stop releasing PowerPC compatible software. Their are still a bunch of design houses using G4's, and the ones that recently made the transition to all new G5 hardware are not going to be making another major hardware purchase to replace all of their current perfectly working systems.
In summary: Relax.
Is it just me, or do others also prefer to not answer the phone and opt instead to have the answering machine pick up in order to screen calls? I became so sick of getting multiple telemarketing calls between the hours of 5-10pm that I decided to just turn the ringer on its lowest volume setting, and let the machine answer.
I know it may seem a bit obnoxious, but I am the one paying the bill and it would seem to me that the phone is for my convience, not someone elses.
I thought you could already block your number from being readable by caller ID? *67 then dial the number of the person you wish to reach. Spoofing is something quite diferent, but if you don't want to give out your number, the option is already there. cheers.
I'll play..
Suppose you are an electric utility, and you have many millions of paying customers. Life is good; you're a super rich mega corporation, but you would like to make more profits (after all you owe it the shareholders) and have your sites on once again taking the throne back and becoming an honest to goodness monopoly. One day you notice that Sony is selling products that require your electricity to work, and that Sony is making a bundle. Their products absolutely rely on your electricity, and you realize that your electricity is worth more than you thought! After all Sony is getting a free lunch; forget the fact that Sonys customers are already paying for the electricity. You decide that in order for Sonys products (and by extension their customers) will have to pay another fee for the access to electricity that up until now they thought was already paid for. After all, the infrastructure needed to grow the electricity business is not cheap, and you are not interested in giving out a free lunch to anyone.
Irregardless of how often I hear it said, I still can't stand it.
With regard to the topic of RMS and the points he makes concerning copyright law and fair use, I have this to say:
"Only a Sith deals in absolutes."
I fear that the Great Sith War may be upon us... j/k
What do you guys think of this idea? I had the idea yesterday, but I wanted to know what some of you think about it.
I really wanted to suggest something in hopes that some decision maker at Google, MSN, or Yahoo may consider it if they have not already. Google and the other search engines have the infrastructure and capability to create, setup, and maintain massive amounts of proxy servers. If they really wanted to make a significant contribution to the goal of providing free and uncensored information to Chinese citizens, they could do it. Simply create proxy servers accessible by those in China that could then relay http traffic anonymously. Shit, throw a couple million at it and make it a freakin huge proxy network that rotates through different IP ranges every couple weeks so that Chinese government agencies can't keep up with them.
That is, if they really wanted to not be evil.
If they wanted to be creative with it, they could take one of their services, Google Talk for example, and provide a feature in the client that would allow one to browse to a site via their proxy servers. One idea would be to place an input field in a panel used to enter in a friends user name that you would like to connect to, but if you inputted a url, it would still relay the request to their proxy servers. Of course that would be in violation of the clients EULA, but then they could just leave the capability their and never get around to "patching" it.
Its just an idea, but I wish that they used their incredibly gifted employees to do something really great.
Why is this given a moderation of 5? Are you suggesting that "most apple users" are gay? It's a pretty freakin' crude statement. I thought we were all out of the middle school and high school name calling, but I guess we are not.
In a not so subtle way you basically said
"Hey, anyone who uses a Mac must be a fag - cause you know what the term backdoor means to those people."
Someone mod this guy down, please.
I really wanted to suggest something in hopes that some decision maker at Google, MSN, or Yahoo may consider it if they have not already. Google and the other search engines have the infrastructure and capability to create, setup, and maintain massive amounts of proxy servers. If they really wanted to make a significant contribution to the goal of providing free and uncensored information to Chinese citizens, they could do it. Simply create proxy servers accessible by those in China that could then relay http traffic anonymously. Shit, throw a couple million at it and make it a freakin huge proxy network that rotates through different IP ranges every couple weeks so that Chinese government agencies can't keep up with them.
That is, if they really wanted to not be evil.
If they wanted to be creative with it, they could take one of their services, Google Talk for example, and provide a feature in the client that would allow one to browse to a site via their proxy servers. One idea would be to place an input field in a panel used to enter in a friends user name that you would like to connect to, but if you inputted a url, it would still relay the request to their proxy servers. Of course that would be in violation of the clients EULA, but then they could just leave the capability their and never get around to "patching" it.
Its just an idea, but I wish that they used their incredibly gifted employees to do something really great.
I call Karma Whore on you. We don't need you to point out not so subtle movie references to a not so obscure 10 year old sc-fi flick that grossed more than 800 mil worldwide. This is slashdot for pete's sake - We get it. Maybe you should go around pointing out the references to the Matrix along with your handy dandy IMDb link. You know, just in case no one here knows who "Neo" is referring to.
Thanks for being so informative.
Sorry, maybe I'm just having a bad day, but come on.
Sheesh.
Plutonium is a heavy metal and is chemically as toxic as other more common heavy metals. Pu is not a strong emitter of beta or gamma radiation, but does emit high quantities of alpha radiation. Although alpha radiation does not have the penetrating ability of beta and gamma radiation, it is still radiologicaly toxic if placed within extremely close proximity to tissue i.e.: within the body/ingested or inhaled.
.5g to .25g ingested can cause death due to acute radiation exposure of the intestinal tract.
Ingestion of plutonium particles is less of a hazard than inhalation due to the fact that ingested insoluble (non salts) particles will eventually pass, whereas inhaled insoluble particles at the appropriate size will remain in the lungs for a much much longer period of time. Radiation toxicity is related to cumulative exposure. IIRC, even less than 40mg inhaled Pu can cause enough damage to the lungs to cause death within a matter of just several weeks.
"The biggest company in the computer industry by far is IBM. They have the four times the employees that I have, way more revenues than I have. IBM has always been our biggest competitor. The press just doesn't like to write about IBM."
I find it fascinating how he uses the term "I" when referring to the company he founded. I wonder how much of his motivation to succeed is pure ego driven. I always found it interesting how all these iconic leaders in silicon valley all know each other, and have all had personal interactions going back 20 years. The old question of whether or not bill and steve really dislike each other, and if that dislike stems from some initial interaction at a computer show in SF back in the 70's.
Strange indeed.
"... milk their stock which is now worth almost nothing."
Wow. No kidding, their stock is trading at 1.6 CENTS a share.