Ugh, let's try this again with formatting. Note to self: preview exists for a reason. Here's how I see it. Feel free to add your own. It would be an interesting experiment, but I think the cons may outweigh the pros.
Pros:
-True democracy
-Actual representation of the constituents
-Ability to gauge public opinion on X almost instantly
-People may get more interested in politics and more willing to participate
Cons:
-True democracy (all people are ignorant on a large amount of subjects which could lead to poor decisions en masse)
-Uninformed voters, instead of voting for a person to make decisions, will now be voting on specific items.
-Representative not free to act without first consulting the people. This would be cumbersome.
-How do you deal with decisions based on classified information?
-How do you propose a law? Do you have to go through a draft process with your state citizens first?
-What happens when your constituents make a choice that you can not in good conscience follow through on? Say they are against equal marriage rights and you are for it.
Here's how I see it. Feel free to add your own. It would be an interesting experiment, but I think the cons may outweigh the pros.
Pros:
-True democracy
-Actual representation of the constituents
-Ability to gauge public opinion on X almost instantly
-People may get more interested in politics and more willing to participate
Cons:
-True democracy (all people are ignorant on a large amount of subjects which could lead to poor decisions en masse)
-Uninformed voters, instead of voting for a person to make decisions, will now be voting on specific items.
-Representative not free to act without first consulting the people. This would be cumbersome.
-How do you deal with decisions based on classified information?
-How do you propose a law? Do you have to go through a draft process with your state citizens first?
-What happens when your constituents make a choice that you can not in good conscience follow through on? Say they are against equal marriage rights and you are for it.
The fee is just if you want to play online multiplayer (since the server will be spending cycles emulating your ship's computer whether you are online or not). Single player will still be a one-time charge.
Here's the major difference I see. When Google had its IPO, they were coming out with new services all the time. It wasn't just a search engine. Since then, they've developed Android and have a good share of the cell phone market. Facebook has made... well, Facebook. That's it. Not only that, but every time they have "improved" it, it's almost always made it worse. I don't even use it anymore. Unless Facebook is going to unveil some innovative plan about where they are going, there is zero reason to buy this stock.
Here's the scariest thing I've read: Lamar Smith is also the sponsor of H.R. 1981 Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011 (info: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:HR01981:@@@L&summ2=m&). What someone on Reddit suggested might happen (and I see as all too plausible) is that they will modify the text of SOPA/PIPA a bit and tack it on to this bill. If that happens, it is going to pass in a landslide because no one wants to be seen as supporting child pornography. They will pass this bill without even reading it. We HAVE to keep on top of this and make sure that they don't try to sneak one by us. This is just the beginning, and it is going to get very ugly.
When are these idiots going to realize that bullshit charges like this aren't going to fly anymore? First Bank of America with their ridiculous ATM card fee and now Verizon with this. Consumers are finally waking up, and they're tired of what basically amounts to theft.
The problem with this is that a huge segment of the population doesn't know what they are talking about in regards to many things, especially on a national level. Talking about our national budget as if it were a household is just one example. Our piss-poor education system and ultra-religious society would combine to make this an absolute disaster.
This is good, and I applaud the effort to save paper. As the summary mentioned, in-game tutorials and searchable digital manuals have made the printed manual fairly obsolete. However, I will always fondly remember those hefty manuals that you used to get with a huge role-playing game like Baldur's Gate. I loved flipping through those and reading up on the lore or finding out about an aspect of the game I didn't know about from reading just the basic instructions. Of course, I don't know of any games in recent years that have come with a manual like that. I would have loved to have seen one for the Mass Effect games.
...is that the state of Maryland does not have a proper driver's test. There isn't even a ROAD TEST. You go to the DMV and drive around the goddamned parking lot for few minutes. As a transplant living in the state, it scares the living hell out of me driving on the road with these people. Driving here, you either learn to anticipate all manner of stupidity, or you die.
Putting words in other people's mouth is about the best thing you can do in a debate/discussion. And adding "fixed that for you" adds a moderate level of humor on top of the dishonesty.
In twenty years, the RIAA is going to be a spook story that criminals tell their kids at night. "Rat on your pop, and the RIAA is going to come and serve you with a lawsuit!"
This seems like a great machine to use for backups and file storage on a home network. Just replace the 80GB hard drive with a bigger one (if necessary), and you have an extremely cheap file server.
Slashdot Mirror
When I wrote it, those other comments didn't exist on my screen. Sorry for ruining your day!
"Be sure to drink your Ovaltine."
Ugh, let's try this again with formatting. Note to self: preview exists for a reason. Here's how I see it. Feel free to add your own. It would be an interesting experiment, but I think the cons may outweigh the pros.
Pros:
-True democracy
-Actual representation of the constituents
-Ability to gauge public opinion on X almost instantly
-People may get more interested in politics and more willing to participate
Cons:
-True democracy (all people are ignorant on a large amount of subjects which could lead to poor decisions en masse)
-Uninformed voters, instead of voting for a person to make decisions, will now be voting on specific items.
-Representative not free to act without first consulting the people. This would be cumbersome.
-How do you deal with decisions based on classified information?
-How do you propose a law? Do you have to go through a draft process with your state citizens first?
-What happens when your constituents make a choice that you can not in good conscience follow through on? Say they are against equal marriage rights and you are for it.
Here's how I see it. Feel free to add your own. It would be an interesting experiment, but I think the cons may outweigh the pros. Pros: -True democracy -Actual representation of the constituents -Ability to gauge public opinion on X almost instantly -People may get more interested in politics and more willing to participate Cons: -True democracy (all people are ignorant on a large amount of subjects which could lead to poor decisions en masse) -Uninformed voters, instead of voting for a person to make decisions, will now be voting on specific items. -Representative not free to act without first consulting the people. This would be cumbersome. -How do you deal with decisions based on classified information? -How do you propose a law? Do you have to go through a draft process with your state citizens first? -What happens when your constituents make a choice that you can not in good conscience follow through on? Say they are against equal marriage rights and you are for it.
Your inner monologue is bad and you should feel bad!
The difference is that you can program this CPU to control your ship and its various systems.
The fee is just if you want to play online multiplayer (since the server will be spending cycles emulating your ship's computer whether you are online or not). Single player will still be a one-time charge.
Here's the major difference I see. When Google had its IPO, they were coming out with new services all the time. It wasn't just a search engine. Since then, they've developed Android and have a good share of the cell phone market. Facebook has made... well, Facebook. That's it. Not only that, but every time they have "improved" it, it's almost always made it worse. I don't even use it anymore. Unless Facebook is going to unveil some innovative plan about where they are going, there is zero reason to buy this stock.
Here's the scariest thing I've read: Lamar Smith is also the sponsor of H.R. 1981 Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011 (info: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:HR01981:@@@L&summ2=m&). What someone on Reddit suggested might happen (and I see as all too plausible) is that they will modify the text of SOPA/PIPA a bit and tack it on to this bill. If that happens, it is going to pass in a landslide because no one wants to be seen as supporting child pornography. They will pass this bill without even reading it. We HAVE to keep on top of this and make sure that they don't try to sneak one by us. This is just the beginning, and it is going to get very ugly.
This. I'd mod informative if I could.
When are these idiots going to realize that bullshit charges like this aren't going to fly anymore? First Bank of America with their ridiculous ATM card fee and now Verizon with this. Consumers are finally waking up, and they're tired of what basically amounts to theft.
The problem with this is that a huge segment of the population doesn't know what they are talking about in regards to many things, especially on a national level. Talking about our national budget as if it were a household is just one example. Our piss-poor education system and ultra-religious society would combine to make this an absolute disaster.
Because Congress didn't enact this law?
I would mod you up informative, but I have no mod points. Thanks for the info!
No way. Just you wait. When Apple drops Jesus' album on iTunes, everyone's going to go apeshit.
A mod point! A mod point! My kingdom for a mod point!
This is good, and I applaud the effort to save paper. As the summary mentioned, in-game tutorials and searchable digital manuals have made the printed manual fairly obsolete. However, I will always fondly remember those hefty manuals that you used to get with a huge role-playing game like Baldur's Gate. I loved flipping through those and reading up on the lore or finding out about an aspect of the game I didn't know about from reading just the basic instructions. Of course, I don't know of any games in recent years that have come with a manual like that. I would have loved to have seen one for the Mass Effect games.
I wish the parent comment could be placed at the top of the page.
...is that the state of Maryland does not have a proper driver's test. There isn't even a ROAD TEST. You go to the DMV and drive around the goddamned parking lot for few minutes. As a transplant living in the state, it scares the living hell out of me driving on the road with these people. Driving here, you either learn to anticipate all manner of stupidity, or you die.
I was going to write something about how the phrase is "my 2 cents," but then I remembered that there are 10 kinds of people in this world...
Jeff Atwood wrote a post about this yesterday. Apparently, Mytopia is a lot like Sierra's ImagiNation Network from the late 80s/early 90s.
MacGuyver would have a field day with this thing!
Putting words in other people's mouth is about the best thing you can do in a debate/discussion. And adding "fixed that for you" adds a moderate level of humor on top of the dishonesty.
;-)
Fixed that for you.
*POOF*
They're gone...
In twenty years, the RIAA is going to be a spook story that criminals tell their kids at night. "Rat on your pop, and the RIAA is going to come and serve you with a lawsuit!"
This seems like a great machine to use for backups and file storage on a home network. Just replace the 80GB hard drive with a bigger one (if necessary), and you have an extremely cheap file server.