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User: potpie

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  1. Re:oligarchy on Bob Barr Weighs In On Trusted Computing Group · · Score: 1

    wow- that's depressing and makes me feel cynical, mainly because it makes sense. It has helped me to better appreciate open source, however (if that were possible), as freedom's refuge. That "NOTHING TO HIDE/NOTHING TO FEAR" phrase caught my attention, because that is how Hathorne and Danforth in The Crucible delude themselves into thinking the people they're hanging are guilty. I have no idea what the perfect government would be, and I don't think anyone does today or ever has.

    Monarchies are bad because no one person should have so much power. Republics are bad because the richest tend to end up running things. Parliamentary Democracy also has this drawback.

    Perhaps the best form of government would be a direct democracy for groups of fewer than 1,000 people. The groups would be separated by distance, but still able to interact. The groups would each have a specific area of expertise (science, math, literature, etc.), and anyone who wanted could switch groups. Hmmm... this is starting to sound a lot like tribes, which are bad because there is too much room for conflict (though perhaps not any more than in a republic, where arguments are institutionalized into an ongoing political process, and law enforcement is required to subdue the masses). Maybe tribes wouldn't be so bad after all. There would have to be intertribal agreements and laws, but no central governmental authority figure, just committees where representatives (best case scenario: people who don't want to be representatives, but will anyway, since people who desire power usually should not have it) from each tribe decide on matters peacefully........

    why did I just type all that? was that useful for anyone at all? If you have suffered from my rambling, please accept my apologies.

  2. oligarchy on Bob Barr Weighs In On Trusted Computing Group · · Score: 1

    A law like this would only transform this republic into a dictatorship run by the wealthiest people (oligarchy). Why should we trust these huge corporations with our rights? Do we really need to be ruled or "trusted" by companies that wantonly violate anti-trust laws?

  3. vigilantes on Bob Barr Weighs In On Trusted Computing Group · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If government-sanctioned vigilantism ever comes about by way of corporations being allowed to mess with others' computers or in any other form, I swear I will move to Switzerland.

  4. DOC on Groklaw Sends A Dear Darl Letter · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This letter has a certain, "Declaration of Independence" feel to it. I like how it lists the crimes of King Darl.

  5. odd on Plasma Comes Alive · · Score: 1

    This is probably going to spell doom for humankind. The plasma-monsters will look like those things in the Final Fantasy movie, and we'll have to build special living habitats like in Logan's Run.

  6. hmmm on P2P Filesharing vs. The Web · · Score: 2, Interesting

    P2P is more popular than web-based sharing, so the RIAA can find more targets.

  7. Re:what's to gain? on Yahoo Shutting Out Third-Party IM Clients? · · Score: 1

    ah yes- free as in beer, but not as in freedom!

  8. what's to gain? on Yahoo Shutting Out Third-Party IM Clients? · · Score: 1

    What do they have to gain from this? You can already download their clients for free- its not as if they're losing anything.

  9. special on Intel Demos New P4 'Extreme Edition' · · Score: 1

    why is this special? oooh- they made a better processor! It's not as if it wasn't going to happen sometime this week- what with the fast pace of technological advancement these days. Nice reference to Maddox's "x-treme" ad campaign satire.

  10. hell... on British Court Issues Bizarre Copyright Ruling · · Score: 1

    hell, as long as they're at it, why not sue each other because their airplanes have the same "functional structure."

  11. wow on SCO Claims $15,300,000 From SCOsource · · Score: 1

    Wow- I might actually be scared if SCO had a leg to stand on. But even if they do win, fixing the code or switching to HURD would not be a horrible thing.

  12. music vs movie on Music Industry Compared to Movie Industry · · Score: 1

    I can kind on understand the cost of a DVD, what with how much it costs to make movies, actor's fees, and all that other Hollywood crap. But The White Stripes recorded at least one full album for under $8,000. Given the cost of the plastic, paper, and ink, plus that 8,000 bucks (divided of course by the estimated number of consumers), plus a bunch of money for everyone who made the thing, I'd say I can understand a price of $3 to $5 for that CD, retail.

  13. copyrights on Homemade Silly Putty · · Score: 1

    the name "silly putty" is probably copyrighted, but they can't shut down the site just for showing how to make it. That would be like a clothing company suing a site that gave instructions on how to sew certain things, or a software company suing because someone posted how to program their programs. Hmmm.... I'm glad silly putty has been made open source.

  14. conspiracy on Linus to SCO: 'Please Grow Up' · · Score: 1

    u kno- $CO has dealings with M$, and it is my belief that good ol' Billy Boy is either behind the whole thing or at least laughing hysterically from the sidelines.

  15. Re:Not good on License to Surf, Take Two · · Score: 1

    About those dummy user popup notices: I don't use M$ anymore, but when I did, I GOT THOSE ALL THE TIME!!! Every 3 minutes, it was, "are you sure you want to download that? It could be dangerous!" or "This page contains data that will not be displayed because it may be harmful!" or just "I'm not going to do that dave!"

  16. houses on License to Surf, Take Two · · Score: 1

    I've always thought of my computer as a tiny house. It has a happy little penguin in it that opens and closes application windows for me, and all my junk is moved around just the way I want it. The internet is like my door to the outside world (of my hypothetical computer-house). I should not need a lisence to go there, because I've been through all the crappy stages of childhood when my parents had AOL sucks-point-"o" or whatever and gave me the kiddy access. Reports on breast cancer cannot be done with AOL on kiddy mode. Anyway- kids are controlled by their parents, so they shouldn't need lisences (but they should have responsible parents). Adults who get attacked by viruses are usually idiots. That's all I can really say. I never open strange emails from people I don't know saying that I won a contest on the internet. I don't click on flashing "you win!" GIF animations, and I don't run "execute" files thinking they're video files! I can see how you might be struck by a virus that came from your friend or such, downloading their attatchments, trusting them, but having a lisence will cannot prevent that. TIP: Don't use Outlook! It's riddled with security holes and bugs. Better TIP: Don't use Window$! It's riddled with security holes and bugs, AND you don't even have root access to your own computer (try uninstalling I.E. some time). PS: if you don't know what root access is, you are using Window$: stop it.