Seriously, even if peak oil is a factor, and we can find no alternative, we'll survive. The early 20th century, very few people had cars. They lived. And we'll adapt in a market way.
If food starts costing too much to transport, farms will appear closer to consumers. People will work closer to their homes. The idea that we are going to run out of oil in 20 years is a joke. As the price rises, people will adapt their lives and demand will fall. A lot of travel is quite superflous already. Driving a 3L car doesn't really enhance your life. A 2L one is less powerful, but for most people, it will take them to the speed limit anyway. If it costs so much more to drive a 3L, we'll all start buying 2L ones and that will reduce demand.
This could all mean that in some ways (assuming no breakthrough), that we end up going backwards. Stores will come back into towns and local communities. People will choose to live in cities again. Long distance transport will be done more by train. People will stop doing things like shopping weekends in New York (from London). Less food will be shipped thousands of miles.
Sure, I'd rather have the choice to do all those things. But the choice of not being able to go out and buy a BMW X5 and having to settle for a Toyota Corolla is not the end of the world.
There is one area that a Prius excels - driving short journeys around town. But then, if you are serious about your environmentalism, you wouldn't drive short journeys around town. You'd get on a bus, walk or cycle.
SUV hating is just moral superiority (although I really don't understand why some people have 4.5L cars which they basically use for shopping). If someone's running an average diesel SUV in the UK, chances are that they're probably getting as good fuel economy as someone driving a 2L car.
I've written a few small changes to small OSS projects, because I've had to modify the code for myself, and I'm glad to give back my changes to the author. I've also made a few cash donations to projects. I don't mind that the OSS things I've built are free and used, and that I get no gratitude. Generally, they are a small subroutine I've written that I use myself, which I know can't be marketed on its own, so hey - have it. I'm not, as a rule giving away software that has value.
What I object to is people whining about what's not in an OSS project, and doing nothing to address it themselves. I like to feel part of something I'm using, whether code, cash, or answering simple support requests.
The mistake often made is that people think that popcorn movie=disengage brain. How often do I hear people say "oh, it's just popcorn entertainment", as though that excuses making a crappy film. Anyone can do special effects and car chases on top of an ancient plot.
The Matrix Reloaded sucked because it had no heart to it. It had plenty of gloss, but underneath it was shallow.
The movies that people love for a long time have a heart. Characters you care about, interesting stories that make you laugh, cry or think. The Terminator isn't a great film because of Arnie (although he helps). It's because it's got a cracking story, is superbly executed, and the ending just totally screws with your head.
I don't even think that DiCaprio was that bad in Titanic. Just because it's not to people's taste (and it is overwrought melodrama) doesn't mean that he did a bad job in it.
Personally, I thought that AOTC was a worst film. Annoying kid actors I can deal with. Kids are rarely great actors and I'm tolerant of it. The bit with Brian Blessed's Gungan near the end annoyed the crap out of me, though.
Hayden's whiney teenager, the overbaked and lifeless CG, R2 flying and the dreadful scenes between Anakin and Amidala. That sucked.
IBM are doing a lot with Linux, from conversations I'm having. The thing is that it's not as much noise because it's internal and B2B. They are far more focussed on that market than Google are.
If you look at the history of Britain in the 1930s, we were, in the majority, the same short-sighted people then that we are now. Churchill was considered as a dangerous nutjob when he was warning people about Hitler and the Nazis in the 1930s, even though the evidence was all there if people wanted to take their hands away from their eyes and ears.
People didn't want another war (WW1 was still fresh in their memories), and what's rarely reported is how Chamberlain was welcomed to Buckingham Palace by the King and Queen to celebrate his "piece of paper", with crowds cheering. Certain newspapers like to talk about their britishness, and rope in Churchill, even though at the time, they were sympathetic to appeasement and gave consistent support to the Nazis.
I'm not going to go that far, but I'll support the cause against them with funding. The first court case, I'll be offering some money to the defence fund.
I am intending to renew early to get my 10 years off the grid. I also want to work out what I can do legally to ensure that my ID doesn't match, except to the human eye. I'll do what I can to have long lashes, watery eyes, facial hair, and bad prints.
The more people that can create failed IDs, the sooner we will see the end of this.
In the end, you need democracy, and you need rights. You also need a people who value their rights. Sadly, here in the UK, most people don't look at things with a "rights based" view. Something like 80% of people wanted the government to introduce 90 days imprisonment without charge.
Why? Because what they perceive is that they will be safer. What people don't do is project how they would feel if their son, innocent of a crime was locked up for 90 days without charge. Because I know that they'd switch sides in an instant.
It largely depends how much you trust government and the civil service. Me, I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them. You want government to know what party you vote for and have it on record? Now what happens if a majority of the people decide that they want a draconian government who don't like the religious/social/political group that you support.
Still, I guess you think that it couldn't happen to you, so it's OK. Personally, I give the bastards as little as they need to do my bidding. Anything more can be used against you.
Can we renew passports early? I've got about 5 years to run on mine, but I figure that if I can renew it this year, I can get 10 years without biometrics.
I'm far more worried about the government than the extremely small chance of ID theft (plus, I do just about everything reasonable to reduce ID theft).
That's why I'm planning to renew my passport this year, about 5 years early. I want to be off this scheme. Hopefully, the more people that do likewise, the more likely this will be doomed.
That's an important distinction. I won't go blaming someone who's been attacked. After all, they've been punished for their actions, and they're only responsible for themselves. But if other people's lives are in your hand, you should be careful of what you are doing.
I've worked in companies with varying levels of security, but typically they set it about right. Work in the IT department? Do what you like. Work in a large user department? Your machines is pretty much nailed down.
The idea that an intensive care network seems to lack some simple protection, or even things like PCs running with minimal rights is amazing. Frankly, I'd expect such a place to take a very strong view of internet access.
I'm noticing that a lot of companies are moving away from desktop apps to browser-based apps. It's just so much easier to manage. Users can work at home, making changes is simple to manage.
There's a book written by Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty called "The Manual" which describes how to have a #1 single. Incidentally, they managed it with a band called The Timelords doing Doctoring The Tardis
One piece of advice is about how they used a sample in a big way, because they knew it would be familiar to DJs.
If you want to try and have a number 1, there's a lot of good tips in there.
Have you ever tried to talk people into going to see a movie with no known stars?
It's almost impossible. I remember seeing Reservoir Dogs and being completely blown away and telling people, and the first question was "who's in it?".
It's why movie stars earn so much more than writers.
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Seriously, even if peak oil is a factor, and we can find no alternative, we'll survive. The early 20th century, very few people had cars. They lived. And we'll adapt in a market way.
If food starts costing too much to transport, farms will appear closer to consumers. People will work closer to their homes. The idea that we are going to run out of oil in 20 years is a joke. As the price rises, people will adapt their lives and demand will fall. A lot of travel is quite superflous already. Driving a 3L car doesn't really enhance your life. A 2L one is less powerful, but for most people, it will take them to the speed limit anyway. If it costs so much more to drive a 3L, we'll all start buying 2L ones and that will reduce demand.
This could all mean that in some ways (assuming no breakthrough), that we end up going backwards. Stores will come back into towns and local communities. People will choose to live in cities again. Long distance transport will be done more by train. People will stop doing things like shopping weekends in New York (from London). Less food will be shipped thousands of miles.
Sure, I'd rather have the choice to do all those things. But the choice of not being able to go out and buy a BMW X5 and having to settle for a Toyota Corolla is not the end of the world.
And maybe you should look at the history of human rights under socialism - Germany 1933-1944, China, Romania under Ceaucescu, Communist Russia, Cuba.
SUV hating is just moral superiority (although I really don't understand why some people have 4.5L cars which they basically use for shopping). If someone's running an average diesel SUV in the UK, chances are that they're probably getting as good fuel economy as someone driving a 2L car.
What I object to is people whining about what's not in an OSS project, and doing nothing to address it themselves. I like to feel part of something I'm using, whether code, cash, or answering simple support requests.
The Matrix Reloaded sucked because it had no heart to it. It had plenty of gloss, but underneath it was shallow.
The movies that people love for a long time have a heart. Characters you care about, interesting stories that make you laugh, cry or think. The Terminator isn't a great film because of Arnie (although he helps). It's because it's got a cracking story, is superbly executed, and the ending just totally screws with your head.
I don't even think that DiCaprio was that bad in Titanic. Just because it's not to people's taste (and it is overwrought melodrama) doesn't mean that he did a bad job in it.
Hayden's whiney teenager, the overbaked and lifeless CG, R2 flying and the dreadful scenes between Anakin and Amidala. That sucked.
Nothing can prepare you for On Deadly Ground with Steven Seagal, though. However bad you think a film can be, this goes lower.
IBM are doing a lot with Linux, from conversations I'm having. The thing is that it's not as much noise because it's internal and B2B. They are far more focussed on that market than Google are.
People didn't want another war (WW1 was still fresh in their memories), and what's rarely reported is how Chamberlain was welcomed to Buckingham Palace by the King and Queen to celebrate his "piece of paper", with crowds cheering. Certain newspapers like to talk about their britishness, and rope in Churchill, even though at the time, they were sympathetic to appeasement and gave consistent support to the Nazis.
I have an Irish grandparent. If it's good enough for most of the Republic of Ireland footy team, it's got to be good enough for a passport, yes? ;)
I am intending to renew early to get my 10 years off the grid. I also want to work out what I can do legally to ensure that my ID doesn't match, except to the human eye. I'll do what I can to have long lashes, watery eyes, facial hair, and bad prints.
The more people that can create failed IDs, the sooner we will see the end of this.
They don't have to project fascism because they lived through it. One of the most pro-market governments in europe is in Poland.
Why? Because what they perceive is that they will be safer. What people don't do is project how they would feel if their son, innocent of a crime was locked up for 90 days without charge. Because I know that they'd switch sides in an instant.
Still, I guess you think that it couldn't happen to you, so it's OK. Personally, I give the bastards as little as they need to do my bidding. Anything more can be used against you.
I'm far more worried about the government than the extremely small chance of ID theft (plus, I do just about everything reasonable to reduce ID theft).
The new republics in eastern europe are going to be the countries with the strongest civil rights because they had them taken away most recently.
Many of my countrymen in the UK have no idea where this could lead. Semi-voluntary ID today, mandatory ID tomorrow.
Most people are glad to support a smoking ban in pubs which is an infringement on someone's property rights. Because they don't think in those terms.
Personally, I'm going to try and renew my passport later this year, or before the rollout occurs. At least I'll get 10 years without being a number.
Unlike the USA, we don't have a Florida or a California.
I've worked in companies with varying levels of security, but typically they set it about right. Work in the IT department? Do what you like. Work in a large user department? Your machines is pretty much nailed down.
The idea that an intensive care network seems to lack some simple protection, or even things like PCs running with minimal rights is amazing. Frankly, I'd expect such a place to take a very strong view of internet access.
I really can't think of many benefits of doing something with ActiveX when browsers are so rich now. It suggests to me that someone is just lazy now.
One piece of advice is about how they used a sample in a big way, because they knew it would be familiar to DJs.
If you want to try and have a number 1, there's a lot of good tips in there.
It's almost impossible. I remember seeing Reservoir Dogs and being completely blown away and telling people, and the first question was "who's in it?".
It's why movie stars earn so much more than writers.