Please note, this is not intended to flame anyone. I am trying to look at our situation objectively and am exploring thoughts from various sides.
I agree with what you are saying, but if you take the logic to its obvious conclusion, any time you have two parties with mutually exclusive goals, the only way to eliminate the conflict is to either to totally remove one of the parties, or to change the goals.
Unless you are willing to sit down and see if the goals can be changed so that they are not mutually exclusive, then the only alternative is the logical one already mentioned. Sometimes, the goals cannot be changed.
Regarding the forcing of religion, in my opinion, religion is historically just another means of control and was often at odds with the state, both parties vying for control. In many ways religion is a more effective mechanism of control than government as you create the controls in the individual from within. While I am not aware of the US forcing its religion on other nations, it doesn't take long to find instances of the US forcing governments on other nations. In many ways this serves to eliminate the strength of one of the parties with mutually exclusive goals, without eliminating the party itself.
For the average citizen, as long as what goes on in the great big world doesn't impact our lives we can be happy. All of the children dying this instant in other parts of the world do not impact us as we do not perceive it. Even though at some level we know it is happening. Terrorist attacks are terrible, and tragic. Children starving is terrible and tragic. A lot of what goes on in this world is terrible and tragic and it really hurts when it hits home personally.
So, I guess the question is, are we willing to give up some of our standard of living in order to fix the world's issues? If you believe "I have what I have and deserve it!" then chances are you will not be willing to give it up. The alternative to that is to eliminate the party with a mutually exclusive goal. But most people would scream, "Genocide! Another Hitler!!! We can't do that!" So we are stuck in this half-assed situation, sitting and hoping the problem will go away. Hoping the government will fix it, and no matter how they fix it, the people who elect the government will cry "Foul" as it has to have an impact on our lives. I guess the last alternative is to live with the fact that we will occasionally get smacked down and do nothing, but then the situation will only become worse.
I would love to believe that this logic is flawed, and that I am missing something simple (or even complicated but possible), that would help fix this situation. I welcome thoughts and differing opinons.
Ahh perception vs reality! From my perspective I agree that perception is effectively reality. If the reality is I have a virus that will kill me, it doesn't effect my reality until it is perceived. Perhaps the virus will take 500 years to kill me, and I will be long dead anyways....For the rest of my life, if I am unaware of the virus, it has no affect on my reality. As soon as I am aware I have this virus, suddenly my reality changes. Even if I shrug it off and say, "Oh well, it doesn't do anything soon enough to bother me," It will still affect my reality and my perceptions. Regardless, the reality is there is a virus. The effect is that there isn't until it is perceived.
The perception vs reality debate aside, I agree totally with what you are saying. The problem exists when the government spends too much time controlling perception and not enough time protecting reality. By clamping down on what can be said, and what can be printed, a governemnt works to control perception. By perpetuating a system where no one is responsbile for their own actions, (i.e. you fall down my stairs and it is my fault and you sue me,) the government creates the perception in society that everything is someone elses fault, and we have no responsibility for our own actions. If we are not willing to be responsible for our own actions, how can we be responsibile for having freedom? The same people who cry for freedom will often be the same people who sue their neighbour because it is allowed; unable to draw the connection between this action, and limiting freedom.
The perception is we deserve freedom just because. The reality is we don't have freedom in any society. We are bound by the limits of the society. Even animals in nature do not have true freedom. If we don't perceive that, then we can at least feel free...And if we feel (perceive) we are free then it is effectively our reality.
"If ingorance is bliss, then wipe the smile from my face."
I am stunned. I guess no one has ever challenged that in the courts. I would like to believe that if you were to challenge that you would win else it is no longer a matter of innocent until proven guilty. It has come to the point where everyone is guilty. Where the police have the power to say you are guilty and disrupt your life for nothing more than carrying cash.
That is not the function of the police. That is the function of the courts after a case has been built against a person, and sufficient evdence of a crime has been shown. The police exist to keep the peace, not to disrupt it because they have become paranoid. Certainly crimes exist, but to say, "You have a lot of cash and therefore are a suspect of committing a crime. Prove to us you weren't and we will give you your money back." is, to me, absolute insanity.
The government is supposed to exist to serve the people. Any government that has set itself and its laws up in such a way that there are so many criminals that they have to assume everyone is guilty has done themselves and their citizens a huge disservice in my opinion.
Japan is such a cash based system, that this actually suprises me if it is true. The bank machines used to shut down here at 7:00 PM because the banking computer systems could not keep up with processing over-night transactions. Some are open now, but you cannot make deposits via a bank machine after 3:00 PM. At a bank machine in Tokyo, you can take out up to 1,000,000 yen (around $9000USD) per transaction, and it is common here for people to have $500 to $1000 in their pockets. To actually track all of this cash take a huge amount of processing power.
If this actually does happen within two years, then it will certainly make life easier for muggers. Carry a small silent scanner with you and you will know who has the cash.
With all the power that home computers have these days, I have often thought that if AI was put into interactive fiction, it could take advantage of unused computer power, and make IF viable again.
The question is how to do it? I am not a programmer or an expert on AI, so I do not know what is possible or not, but I have often wondered what might happen if you created an agent for the game, and let it learn there. For example just have it go around and interact with its environment. Give it every command possible, and have commands return codes to it. The codes could be used to weight a Neural Network that is controlling what actions it will take. Gibberish commands return a code the weighs the network against repeating that combination. Good commands return codes that let it know these are proper commands. After a while it should learn all the proper commands, and perhaps we can use that as a model and train it differently. Now we return codes based on the outcome of the proper commands. Commands that have a positive outcome (ie kill ant > you attack the ant and destroy it) can return a positive weight and commands that have a negative outcome (ie kill dragon > The dragon destroys you utterly. You find yourself floating in a dark place) can be weighed accordingly.
Basically I am just talking out my ass, but I have not the expertise to try these things. If any of these ideas seem worth doing and you try them, I would be very interested in learning the results.
No ants were actually harmed during the creation of this posting.
That was my very first IF game that I played (Finished it too.) I could never remember the name of it! It came on a cartridge for the Vic 20!
Cheers man! I can hardly remember it, but I remember something about a cigaratte and a coffin! Ahhh I just had a huge blast of nostalgia sweep over me!
As a consumer, what entitles TrendMicro to my $$$ when I would rather give it to MS (or not give it - service packs are free.
That is exactly the point! You should be able to choose. But when Microsoft incorporates the product into the operating system, you have no choice. You are forced to pay for their product. If they package and sell it separately, then you have a real choice as to where to spend that money. Microsoft sure as hell isn't giving you a free Virus scanner (or service packs for that matter,) you and I and everyone who uses Windows are paying for it without choice.
CRN: On the face of it, one could conclude that interest in Linux is the market's way of telling Microsoft that Windows pricing needs to change. What message do you think the market is trying to send?
TAYLOR: I would actually look at a similar construct but a different answer. You have to ask one of two questions. Is it either a) Windows is priced too high, or b) are we offering the right product at the right price point? We position Windows server as a multifunction server that does a variety of things. So in some ways, we've got a McDonald's No. 5 super-size offering that costs $2.99 and someone just wants a Diet Coke that costs 99 cents. So do we cut the entire super-size No. 5 down to 98 cents, or do we try to find a way to just give somebody the Diet Coke if that's what they want?
Actually it is more like you (Micrsoft) have a McDonald's No. 5 supersize, and your buddy (Linux) is offering for you to come over to cook barbecued steaks!
I have had something similar, and I am sure anyone who has ever done physical work will have had an experience like it. One where you see blood, look all over to find it, and when you finally do, the cut starts hurting. Up until the point you find it, it doesn't hurt at all. Human beings are strange!
1. Gratuitously slobber on your index finger.
2. Insert said digit into closest, unspecting victim's ear.
3. Rotate wrist.
4. Cackle madly when they convulse at the sheer digust and horror of having to endure contact with your bodily fluids....
While it is certainly possible to develop addictions to VR, it is a bit of a mistake to compare them to addictions to painkillers. Most of the painkillers that you hear about in terms of addiction are the in the family of natural or syntetic opioids. These drugs cause physical changes inside the body that lead to a dependency on the substance itself. This physical dependency is what is usually being talked about when you hear the term "addiction" concerning these products. This dependency can be so strong, that if you cut off the chemical altogether, the patient can die.
Having said that the problem of addiction to the VR, as you mentioned, is a real one. People become addicted to all sorts of activities, gambling, extreme sports, and sex to name a few.
VR is realtively new, and being used for a treatment for pain should undergo studies to check to see if addiction may be a problem, or if there are any other adverse effects...like the flaming slashdotter!
"I don't know. What happens if aliens visit earth and confiscate our computers?
I don't deal in empty hypotheticals, particularly when they're predicated on stale rhetoric."
So no answers for hypothetical or rhetorical, two types of questions that led the greatest thinkers of mankind to conclusions that have changed the world. Actually, you probably do answer those kinds of questions, but right now it is easier to hide behind that excuse than to answer the ones put to you.
Of course your first answer to this is to say, "I said, `empty hypothetical questions.`" But the fact is you are hiding from it. That is fine, I respect your right to do that.
"Right. I'm hiding it from other people. I have no fear of the government adding it to THE DATABASE."
Here is a factual question for you.
Who do you think makes up that Government? The aliens you mentioned? Well just incase you don't answer I will tell you.
***spoiler warning***
People run the government!
***end spoiler warning***
These people are no better than you or me, and abuses do happen. Since any further questions I would have for you would involve the possible future, and therefore be hypothetical, I guess our options for discussion are limited. That is okay though, discussion does not seem to be your objective anyway.
"I have something to hide because I don't want SPAM ?"
Exactly right, you do have something to hide, and most people here would fully understand your reasons for hiding it.
Now what happens if a few years down the road a new Law passes saying that it is illegal to post anonymously to the internet, and that all users must be registered and traceable.
Are you the type who would just say, "Ah well, posting to the internet is a privilege not a right," and accept it? Will you go underground and post in places where you can be anonymous and thus be (technically) a criminal?
Seriously, just because you are known here as tealover, you are still essentially anonymous and you probably prefer it that way, and yet, you do not feel that you are entitled to that privacy? Enlighten me as I cannot understand that.
You raise a couple of different points.
First, post War Japan's success is certainly not due to the work ethic in Japan. Rather than write an essay on the matter i will just say that probably one of the largest factors here is the restrictive trade policies that Japan has. Look around your home? How much of what you have there is from Japan? How much from your home country?
Pretty much nothing in my place comes from the US. It is all from Japan (NB:I live in Japan.)
Secondly, the original poster was speaking about becoming a power in a mere couple of centuries. Well a good part of that was fueled by slavery. Now it is being fueled by what has replaced slavery, the idea that you have to sacrifice your quality of life to satisfy the "Work Ethic." It makes me wonder...who are you actually working for if you sacrifice your life to the point you cannot enjoy the fruits of your labour?
"While this makes having "a life" difficult, it is what led to America becoming a global economic, military, and political uberpower in, what, a couple mere centuries. "
Oh, and here I thought that it was slavery and having other people do the work for free that led America there. Silly me!
http://www.mainsoft.com/news/press_releases/2000_3 _22_01.html works... and there is always the Google Cache
Re:Sue Thomas, FB Eye. These cats should be FBI!
on
Three Blind Phreaks
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· Score: 1
"Why aren't these guys looking at fuzzy surveillance cam recordings of suspected terrorists and decoding their conversations through lip reading? If they aren't doing so, they are probably AL Quide and should be sent to Guantanamo Bay immediately!".....or perhaps they are blind.
"assembly instructions are in a PDF called "elephant-asse.pdf".
Now I know it is Japanese. Still I prefer the Angel Sweet Asse
Origami is one good thing from Japan...but Engrish is better!
Re:We should not paid doctors for their treatment
on
Kazaa-lite Shut Down
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· Score: 1
I agree. What we should do is have everyone pay Doctors a small amount of money as a retainer every month, and when we get sick we stop paying them until we are better.
I don't think this model will work for the music industry however!
Slashdot Mirror
I agree with what you are saying, but if you take the logic to its obvious conclusion, any time you have two parties with mutually exclusive goals, the only way to eliminate the conflict is to either to totally remove one of the parties, or to change the goals.
Unless you are willing to sit down and see if the goals can be changed so that they are not mutually exclusive, then the only alternative is the logical one already mentioned. Sometimes, the goals cannot be changed.
Regarding the forcing of religion, in my opinion, religion is historically just another means of control and was often at odds with the state, both parties vying for control. In many ways religion is a more effective mechanism of control than government as you create the controls in the individual from within. While I am not aware of the US forcing its religion on other nations, it doesn't take long to find instances of the US forcing governments on other nations. In many ways this serves to eliminate the strength of one of the parties with mutually exclusive goals, without eliminating the party itself.
For the average citizen, as long as what goes on in the great big world doesn't impact our lives we can be happy. All of the children dying this instant in other parts of the world do not impact us as we do not perceive it. Even though at some level we know it is happening. Terrorist attacks are terrible, and tragic. Children starving is terrible and tragic. A lot of what goes on in this world is terrible and tragic and it really hurts when it hits home personally.
So, I guess the question is, are we willing to give up some of our standard of living in order to fix the world's issues? If you believe "I have what I have and deserve it!" then chances are you will not be willing to give it up. The alternative to that is to eliminate the party with a mutually exclusive goal. But most people would scream, "Genocide! Another Hitler!!! We can't do that!" So we are stuck in this half-assed situation, sitting and hoping the problem will go away. Hoping the government will fix it, and no matter how they fix it, the people who elect the government will cry "Foul" as it has to have an impact on our lives. I guess the last alternative is to live with the fact that we will occasionally get smacked down and do nothing, but then the situation will only become worse.
I would love to believe that this logic is flawed, and that I am missing something simple (or even complicated but possible), that would help fix this situation. I welcome thoughts and differing opinons.
CB
The perception vs reality debate aside, I agree totally with what you are saying. The problem exists when the government spends too much time controlling perception and not enough time protecting reality. By clamping down on what can be said, and what can be printed, a governemnt works to control perception. By perpetuating a system where no one is responsbile for their own actions, (i.e. you fall down my stairs and it is my fault and you sue me,) the government creates the perception in society that everything is someone elses fault, and we have no responsibility for our own actions. If we are not willing to be responsible for our own actions, how can we be responsibile for having freedom? The same people who cry for freedom will often be the same people who sue their neighbour because it is allowed; unable to draw the connection between this action, and limiting freedom.
The perception is we deserve freedom just because. The reality is we don't have freedom in any society. We are bound by the limits of the society. Even animals in nature do not have true freedom. If we don't perceive that, then we can at least feel free...And if we feel (perceive) we are free then it is effectively our reality.
"If ingorance is bliss, then wipe the smile from my face."
I am stunned. I guess no one has ever challenged that in the courts. I would like to believe that if you were to challenge that you would win else it is no longer a matter of innocent until proven guilty. It has come to the point where everyone is guilty. Where the police have the power to say you are guilty and disrupt your life for nothing more than carrying cash.
That is not the function of the police. That is the function of the courts after a case has been built against a person, and sufficient evdence of a crime has been shown. The police exist to keep the peace, not to disrupt it because they have become paranoid. Certainly crimes exist, but to say, "You have a lot of cash and therefore are a suspect of committing a crime. Prove to us you weren't and we will give you your money back." is, to me, absolute insanity.
The government is supposed to exist to serve the people. Any government that has set itself and its laws up in such a way that there are so many criminals that they have to assume everyone is guilty has done themselves and their citizens a huge disservice in my opinion.
That is the best thing i have read in a while!!! Cheers
Not flaming, but if that is true, America has gone to hell. It is illegal to have money? I guess I had better quit my job!
Perhaps it is more like, the police can seize, and use it to buy beer!
If this actually does happen within two years, then it will certainly make life easier for muggers. Carry a small silent scanner with you and you will know who has the cash.
"Hey you, Show me the money!"
The question is how to do it? I am not a programmer or an expert on AI, so I do not know what is possible or not, but I have often wondered what might happen if you created an agent for the game, and let it learn there. For example just have it go around and interact with its environment. Give it every command possible, and have commands return codes to it. The codes could be used to weight a Neural Network that is controlling what actions it will take. Gibberish commands return a code the weighs the network against repeating that combination. Good commands return codes that let it know these are proper commands. After a while it should learn all the proper commands, and perhaps we can use that as a model and train it differently. Now we return codes based on the outcome of the proper commands. Commands that have a positive outcome (ie kill ant > you attack the ant and destroy it) can return a positive weight and commands that have a negative outcome (ie kill dragon > The dragon destroys you utterly. You find yourself floating in a dark place) can be weighed accordingly.
Basically I am just talking out my ass, but I have not the expertise to try these things. If any of these ideas seem worth doing and you try them, I would be very interested in learning the results.
No ants were actually harmed during the creation of this posting.
Cheers man! I can hardly remember it, but I remember something about a cigaratte and a coffin! Ahhh I just had a huge blast of nostalgia sweep over me!
That is exactly the point! You should be able to choose. But when Microsoft incorporates the product into the operating system, you have no choice. You are forced to pay for their product. If they package and sell it separately, then you have a real choice as to where to spend that money. Microsoft sure as hell isn't giving you a free Virus scanner (or service packs for that matter,) you and I and everyone who uses Windows are paying for it without choice.
CRN: On the face of it, one could conclude that interest in Linux is the market's way of telling Microsoft that Windows pricing needs to change. What message do you think the market is trying to send?
TAYLOR: I would actually look at a similar construct but a different answer. You have to ask one of two questions. Is it either a) Windows is priced too high, or b) are we offering the right product at the right price point? We position Windows server as a multifunction server that does a variety of things. So in some ways, we've got a McDonald's No. 5 super-size offering that costs $2.99 and someone just wants a Diet Coke that costs 99 cents. So do we cut the entire super-size No. 5 down to 98 cents, or do we try to find a way to just give somebody the Diet Coke if that's what they want?
Actually it is more like you (Micrsoft) have a McDonald's No. 5 supersize, and your buddy (Linux) is offering for you to come over to cook barbecued steaks!
2. Insert said digit into closest, unspecting victim's ear.
3. Rotate wrist.
4. Cackle madly when they convulse at the sheer digust and horror of having to endure contact with your bodily fluids....
5. ...Profit???????
Having said that the problem of addiction to the VR, as you mentioned, is a real one. People become addicted to all sorts of activities, gambling, extreme sports, and sex to name a few.
VR is realtively new, and being used for a treatment for pain should undergo studies to check to see if addiction may be a problem, or if there are any other adverse effects...like the flaming slashdotter!
"I don't know. What happens if aliens visit earth and confiscate our computers? I don't deal in empty hypotheticals, particularly when they're predicated on stale rhetoric."
So no answers for hypothetical or rhetorical, two types of questions that led the greatest thinkers of mankind to conclusions that have changed the world. Actually, you probably do answer those kinds of questions, but right now it is easier to hide behind that excuse than to answer the ones put to you.
Of course your first answer to this is to say, "I said, `empty hypothetical questions.`" But the fact is you are hiding from it. That is fine, I respect your right to do that.
"Right. I'm hiding it from other people. I have no fear of the government adding it to THE DATABASE."
Here is a factual question for you.
Who do you think makes up that Government? The aliens you mentioned? Well just incase you don't answer I will tell you.
***spoiler warning***
People run the government!
***end spoiler warning***
These people are no better than you or me, and abuses do happen. Since any further questions I would have for you would involve the possible future, and therefore be hypothetical, I guess our options for discussion are limited. That is okay though, discussion does not seem to be your objective anyway.
Exactly right, you do have something to hide, and most people here would fully understand your reasons for hiding it.
Now what happens if a few years down the road a new Law passes saying that it is illegal to post anonymously to the internet, and that all users must be registered and traceable.
Are you the type who would just say, "Ah well, posting to the internet is a privilege not a right," and accept it? Will you go underground and post in places where you can be anonymous and thus be (technically) a criminal?
Seriously, just because you are known here as tealover, you are still essentially anonymous and you probably prefer it that way, and yet, you do not feel that you are entitled to that privacy? Enlighten me as I cannot understand that.
I am sure they were shot in the back for their own protection and well being!
And, interestingly enough, David Prowse was Hotblack's Body Guard in the Hitchhiker TV Series.
Pretty much nothing in my place comes from the US. It is all from Japan (NB:I live in Japan.)
Secondly, the original poster was speaking about becoming a power in a mere couple of centuries. Well a good part of that was fueled by slavery. Now it is being fueled by what has replaced slavery, the idea that you have to sacrifice your quality of life to satisfy the "Work Ethic." It makes me wonder...who are you actually working for if you sacrifice your life to the point you cannot enjoy the fruits of your labour?
Oh, and here I thought that it was slavery and having other people do the work for free that led America there. Silly me!
This would be easier to explain to you using a tablet.....
"Why aren't these guys looking at fuzzy surveillance cam recordings of suspected terrorists and decoding their conversations through lip reading? If they aren't doing so, they are probably AL Quide and should be sent to Guantanamo Bay immediately!" .....or perhaps they are blind.
The concnesus was a majority, 4 votes against; nil for.
Now I know it is Japanese. Still I prefer the Angel Sweet Asse
Origami is one good thing from Japan...but Engrish is better!
I don't think this model will work for the music industry however!