Damn!! Why must you tease us by posting a story and then updating the database, disabling comments ?!?! I wrote an articulate response and even RTFA. Now all I've got is this . . . FP?
As far as I am concerned that is all the more reason to hunt every last one of the bastards down
So . . . what? So their sons can grow up and venge their fathers' death. To defeat terrorism, attack root causes. That's the only way we'll ever make any real progress.
and all the while, the large defense companies and security companies laugh their ways to the bank. For that matter, the banks, the financiers that supply both sides of most armed conflicts, must sit smugly indeed. Another appropriate 1984 quote:
"The primary aim of modern warfare (in accordance with the principles of doublethink, this aim is simultaneously recognized and not recognized by the directing brains of the Inner Party) is to use up the products of the machine without raising the general standard of living."
That last bit should have read "NOT act as a tool . .." Damn hasty preview. Our nation has never been perfect (Native American genocide, slavery, etc.) but at least there has always been a strong element of idealism and respect for fellow man. These days, even that gets drowned out by greed, lust and a deep mistrust of anyone that's not yourself. It can't go on like this for long.
you're rabidly anti-Bush, you'll find a way to object to whatever he does.
I am opposed to a society governed by surveillance because I believe it will lead to tyranny. Unwelcome thoughts and philosophies can quickly fall prey to overzealous policing. For instance, minor violations may be excused if you are a member of the "correct" party but cracked down upon if you are an "insurgent." Ever heard of COINTELPRO?
As a thinking human (who happens to be American), when I say the government fails to do more to prevent terrorism, I don't think it's a failure of total knowledge of individual actions (the terrorists). Rather, it is a failure to understand cultures and indeed, to grossly misrepresent them.
If there is another large terrorist attack, I wouldn't say "why don't we have chips in all subversives yet?" Instead, I would ask "Why is it that the U.S. government failed to recognize Al-Queda's position on US military intervention in the Middle East?" One of the principal reasons for 9/11 was American hegemony in the Middle East. So what do we do? Invade Iraq! Brilliant! Some have swallowed the conventional wisdom bs that terrorists attack "because they hate freedom." Bzzzzt! Wrong! Study up a little and play again.
What the US "fails to do" is respect the rights of other global citizens and act as a tool of the bigass corporations. Maybe you think otherwise.
The thing is, you don't own the Internet. Nor do you own the site that provides the popups. If you don't like them, don't visit those sites or use a popup blocker. That's my point.
I would argue that your computer screen is more like a window to the world. If you don't like what you see outside, pull the drapes. I don't mean to defend ads because I hate them. I will grant you that Messenger popup ads are a personal invasion. But then, there are enough tools, Firefox, AdBlock, Macintosh that keep me from dealing with them.
they teach how to program in general and how to reason about programs. Once you master this, you can apply it to any language.
I think you're right, but by this very logic it's not necessary to have a comp. sci degree. If you are a logical thinker, who deals well with both abstraction and minutiae, you can be trained to program well. A degree is allright as a "seal of approval" but the fact is that many with degrees cannot reason about programs. Many without degrees can. Teaching reasoning is incredibly difficult in an institution but relatively attainable if an individual has a desire to understand how things work. Just a thought . . .
Another story: I always used PCs (well, we did use Hypercard at school) and actually thought Macs were kinda stupid. I mean, here was all these games and such an enormous variety of parts--why would I want a LCIII or a Quadra.
I remained a firm PC enthusiast until a couple of years ago. I accidentally fried my motherboard for an old P3 500mhz computer. My power supply couldn't cover the load (oops!). I decided to piece together a new PC since my old one was kinda slow anyway. I wanted to use it for audio and video production.
I could have built one with a DVD burner, a nice multiple input soundcard etc. for about $1500-1600 IIRC. Eventually, however, I decided to spend nearly twice as much and buy a powerbook. I haven't been disappointed yet. I have never had a problem with this machine and I can reliably edit video and record sound. There is simply no match for portable macs. I plan on building another PC to use as a media/backup server but after dealing with the elegance and power of OSX, I don't ever plan to use one as my primary machine. I'll probably get a dual G5 sometime next year. It would make complcated renders a little less taxing.
Apple is really a prime choice if you're interested in working with video or just want a smooth computing experience. Everything else, for the most part, you can save a few hundred dollars buying some generic PC. And if you haven't poked around with OS X you're doing yourself a disfavor--a few of my friends have made the switch after realizing how Macs let you work on your work, not your computer.
I've seen a lot of people panning this idea as completely unfeasible, but I think they're overlooking some potential here. For instance, in Atlanta they are looking to create an beltline of railway circling the city. They would use existing tracks that originally served as a trolley system. The problem is there are portions of the proposed route that seem problematic. In some places, there are slight gaps between the existing railines. Other rails are used by commercial rail periodically. This transport vehicle would help solve those problems. I would imagine there are other locales that would benefit from a machine like this. In fact, it kind of reminds me of the bus system they have in Curitiba--but with rail capability!
Most of the "computer savy" kids aren't able to install an OS either
Are you kidding? Installing Windows is a walk in the park (relative to most Linux distros.) And don't forget, these Windows folks are experts at installing OSes--they've pratically got to do it every other week to get their computer to work! : )
I think it's guaranteed that open source will ultimately overtake closed, proprietary systems. This trend will begin with countries like Malaysia and individual, local governments in the US. Sooner or later, a critical mass of people will wonder why it is that we pay billions to foster monopoly when we could spend a fraction of the price and pay programmers to develop open source solutions solve issues like tax collection and payroll, among many other common problems. My original comment was not meant to disparage the fact that open source has gained a foothold, but rather to illustrate how much further we have to go to achieve "victory."
The notion of open source software make the entire notion of the nation-state a little ridiculous. Governing solutions are mostly local. It makes sense that our tax dollars should go to open source--why duplicate a solution? Just change the parameters to reflect local rates.
As media solutions fall into the hands of the general populace, we can expect the "fundamental" notion of individual countries to continue to erode. There will be a strong fight against this trend, but the fact of the matter remains: the governed will always outnumber the governors. The trick is that the governed must be educated. This is the difficulty.
Slashdot Mirror
Damn!! Why must you tease us by posting a story and then updating the database, disabling comments ?!?! I wrote an articulate response and even RTFA. Now all I've got is this . . . FP?
Ummm . . . have you ever wedged your foot between floor tiles? Lineoleum? I imagine this is a similar setup
So . . . what? So their sons can grow up and venge their fathers' death. To defeat terrorism, attack root causes. That's the only way we'll ever make any real progress.
I might add "better relations with other nations."
That last bit should have read "NOT act as a tool . . ." Damn hasty preview. Our nation has never been perfect (Native American genocide, slavery, etc.) but at least there has always been a strong element of idealism and respect for fellow man. These days, even that gets drowned out by greed, lust and a deep mistrust of anyone that's not yourself. It can't go on like this for long.
I am opposed to a society governed by surveillance because I believe it will lead to tyranny. Unwelcome thoughts and philosophies can quickly fall prey to overzealous policing. For instance, minor violations may be excused if you are a member of the "correct" party but cracked down upon if you are an "insurgent." Ever heard of COINTELPRO?
As a thinking human (who happens to be American), when I say the government fails to do more to prevent terrorism, I don't think it's a failure of total knowledge of individual actions (the terrorists). Rather, it is a failure to understand cultures and indeed, to grossly misrepresent them.
If there is another large terrorist attack, I wouldn't say "why don't we have chips in all subversives yet?" Instead, I would ask "Why is it that the U.S. government failed to recognize Al-Queda's position on US military intervention in the Middle East?" One of the principal reasons for 9/11 was American hegemony in the Middle East. So what do we do? Invade Iraq! Brilliant! Some have swallowed the conventional wisdom bs that terrorists attack "because they hate freedom." Bzzzzt! Wrong! Study up a little and play again.
What the US "fails to do" is respect the rights of other global citizens and act as a tool of the bigass corporations. Maybe you think otherwise.
The thing is, you don't own the Internet. Nor do you own the site that provides the popups. If you don't like them, don't visit those sites or use a popup blocker. That's my point.
I would argue that your computer screen is more like a window to the world. If you don't like what you see outside, pull the drapes. I don't mean to defend ads because I hate them. I will grant you that Messenger popup ads are a personal invasion. But then, there are enough tools, Firefox, AdBlock, Macintosh that keep me from dealing with them.
I think you're right, but by this very logic it's not necessary to have a comp. sci degree. If you are a logical thinker, who deals well with both abstraction and minutiae, you can be trained to program well. A degree is allright as a "seal of approval" but the fact is that many with degrees cannot reason about programs. Many without degrees can. Teaching reasoning is incredibly difficult in an institution but relatively attainable if an individual has a desire to understand how things work. Just a thought . . .
Why must the US stick to imperial units? The proper terminology is a metric fuckton. Standards, people, standards.
I remained a firm PC enthusiast until a couple of years ago. I accidentally fried my motherboard for an old P3 500mhz computer. My power supply couldn't cover the load (oops!). I decided to piece together a new PC since my old one was kinda slow anyway. I wanted to use it for audio and video production.
I could have built one with a DVD burner, a nice multiple input soundcard etc. for about $1500-1600 IIRC. Eventually, however, I decided to spend nearly twice as much and buy a powerbook. I haven't been disappointed yet. I have never had a problem with this machine and I can reliably edit video and record sound. There is simply no match for portable macs. I plan on building another PC to use as a media/backup server but after dealing with the elegance and power of OSX, I don't ever plan to use one as my primary machine. I'll probably get a dual G5 sometime next year. It would make complcated renders a little less taxing.
Apple is really a prime choice if you're interested in working with video or just want a smooth computing experience. Everything else, for the most part, you can save a few hundred dollars buying some generic PC. And if you haven't poked around with OS X you're doing yourself a disfavor--a few of my friends have made the switch after realizing how Macs let you work on your work, not your computer.
Forget the lock, get this. You might not prevent theft, but you can nearly guarantee it will be plugged onto a network and be recovered.
Unless they come here first. How can you be sure we haven't been visited?
So true, but not when your employer owns your thoughts.
and spelling correctly . . . : )
I've seen a lot of people panning this idea as completely unfeasible, but I think they're overlooking some potential here. For instance, in Atlanta they are looking to create an beltline of railway circling the city. They would use existing tracks that originally served as a trolley system. The problem is there are portions of the proposed route that seem problematic. In some places, there are slight gaps between the existing railines. Other rails are used by commercial rail periodically. This transport vehicle would help solve those problems. I would imagine there are other locales that would benefit from a machine like this. In fact, it kind of reminds me of the bus system they have in Curitiba--but with rail capability!
Are you kidding? Installing Windows is a walk in the park (relative to most Linux distros.) And don't forget, these Windows folks are experts at installing OSes--they've pratically got to do it every other week to get their computer to work!
: )
I believe you're missing
6. ???
7. Profit!!!
I think it's guaranteed that open source will ultimately overtake closed, proprietary systems. This trend will begin with countries like Malaysia and individual, local governments in the US. Sooner or later, a critical mass of people will wonder why it is that we pay billions to foster monopoly when we could spend a fraction of the price and pay programmers to develop open source solutions solve issues like tax collection and payroll, among many other common problems. My original comment was not meant to disparage the fact that open source has gained a foothold, but rather to illustrate how much further we have to go to achieve "victory."
As media solutions fall into the hands of the general populace, we can expect the "fundamental" notion of individual countries to continue to erode. There will be a strong fight against this trend, but the fact of the matter remains: the governed will always outnumber the governors. The trick is that the governed must be educated. This is the difficulty.
Pardon, I forgot to say:
FP w00t!!
before I hit the submit button.
Victory? While it's a step in the right direction, I think the matter is far from "victory" as the OP surmises.
Do it
This is funny, but I think it really should have been modded Insightful.
Just a thought . . .