"In normal times, evil would be fought by good. But in times like these, well, it should be fought by another kind of evil." The Chronicles of Riddick
Anymore, pirates are a hell of a lot more trustworthy than ANY given government or corporation. If I had something serious to leak, or had some crazy theories on even a half way controversial topic - I would trust those flagrant, authority mooning thugs to resist big brother more so than anyone else. The reason? Everyone has there breaking point, regardless of how bad ass you are - you still have one. It's just a matter of who has the higher breaking point as to who I would trust - not to necessarily do something for me, but more to NOT DO SOMETHING.
"If you don't understand a system to the point that you are not able to use it responsibly, you shouldn't be using it."
Do you understand the inner workings of a fuel injected turbo with dual over head cams - or do you have a general idea and just use it assuming safety from the manufacturer?
Do you understand the inner workings/procedures and protocols that it takes to fly a commercial airliner from LA to NY - or do you have a general idea and just use the transports assuming those that be aren't putting your life at risk for a mere buck?
Do you understand biology and the inner workings of your OWN BODY - or do you assume and rely on doctors and those in the medical profession to NOT kill you mistakenly for the treatment of a zit?
"You either have to submit to someone else making sure you are competent, or you have to be willing to accept responsibility for the outcome of your incompetence." - Typical arrogant and assinine comment from the godly geeks among us, when your inflated ego can go an entire day with out relying on ANYTHING that ANY manufacturer claims is perfectly safe and secure to use (regardless if it is or isn't - read M$ and ANY software corp) then, AND ONLY THEN would you have a valid argument to make and have something to back it up. Until then, you need to wake the fuck up and stop expecting everyone else in the world know as much about computers and the internet as you do - because you rely on company-X telling you using such-n-such is perfectly safe, just as much as grandma and little Jane down the street relies on M$ and the billions of other software manufacturers telling them everything is safe to use their products - not to mention teller X and sales boy Y doubling as a pretend security expert that just "knows" it is safe (hint, they are told to say that).
Arrogance like this is a big part of the problem - Marketing takes crap like this and runs with it, not to mention the legal department - who cares if it is complicated and way to much to comprehend for 90% of the population, the "experts" that do know what they are talking about blame everyone for not knowing what they know, so we'll do the same, they just don't mention the education and knowledge base behind it - but who cares about that?
EVERYONE SHOULD ALREADY KNOW IT! - and that is the biggest load of arrogant bull shit I've heard in a long time.
I completely agree with you, EXCEPT for when the banks force you to use something that is and or was historically insecure - IE: Internet Explorer and Windows. I have never trusted the two together, let alone IE by it self for financial transactions, ESPECIALLY banking.
I've always used Linux and Firefox/Mozilla (back in th day) and always will - until the day comes that OSS manages their software like corporations do. I've opened an account one week, and turned around and closed it a few days later to open another because of the forced utilization of software I didn't approve of, and was very vocal about it to anyone who cared to listen - ironically, no one did but they did care to flag me in some global database somewhere as I had to answer for my "peculiar actions" by a bank other than the one who forced the use of IE/M$.
If the banks are really going to go through with this, and put the blame and responsibility ALL on to the customer - then they should re-think the policy of forcing their customers to use something that they may or may not be able to secure; I can lock down Linux like it is no ones business - but I would have no idea where to start in Windoze, and I'm not referring to just installing/configuring some firewall/virus app...
You joke, but I think that is the point. Relatively speaking, claiming we know what will happen is the same as shrugging it off as a an over sized generator. Don't forget that this is backed by the almighty $$$ from somewhere, and even though he's only wanting a four month delay to double and triple check everything - that will end up being a hefty price tag for who ever is behind all this.
FTA ~ "It's expected to tackle some of the deepest questions in science: Is the foundation of modern physics right or wrong? What existed during the very first moment of the universe's existence? Why do some particles have mass while others don't? What is the nature of dark matter? Are there extra dimensions of space out there that we haven't yet detected?"
With that much power to be able to answer any one of those questions, it's only the responsible thing to do to make sure there won't be a short somewhere - GOD knows how much you would zap. Besides, all the stringy black hole things I'd guess are more FUD than anything with the "Environmental and Natural Resources Division" based in Washington getting involved - that sounds like an environmental issue is more likely at hand and the others are simply extreme possibilities, but still theoretically plausible.
I RTFA too, but admittedly I had to a few times. Heins *IS* saying/hoping it is a perpetual motion device - it's just he is merely a Chef with an idea, not an engineer with the education which is where Zahn is coming in.
"It sounds too good to be true," concedes Heins, who formed a company in 2005 called Potential Difference Inc. to develop and market his invention. "We get dismissed pretty quickly sometimes." ... ...
Deep down, Heins has high hopes. But he also realizes that merely using those controversial words - "perpetual motion" - usually brands a person as batty. In 2006, an Irish company called Steorn placed an advertisement in The Economist calling on all the world's scientists to validate its magnet-based "free energy" technology.
Steorn was met with intense skepticism and accused of being a scam or hoax. Seventeen months later the company has failed, despite worldwide attention, to prove anything under scrutiny. Well-educated people, from Leonardo da Vinci to Harvard-trained engineer Bruce De Palma (older brother of film director Brian De Palma), have made similar claims of perpetual motion only to be slammed down by the mainstream scientific community.
Heins has an even greater uphill battle. He isn't an engineer. He doesn't have a graduate degrees in physics. He never even finished his electronics program at Heritage College in Gatineau, Quebec. "I have mild dyslexia and don't do well in math, so I didn't do very well in school," he says.
Zahn is the one not going all the way to perpetual motion but admitting he is stumped and it could revolutionize things if proven.
It's now Jan. 28 - D Day. Heins has modified his test so the effects observed are difficult to deny. He holds a permanent magnet a few centimetres away from the driveshaft of an electric motor, and the magnetic field it creates causes the motor to accelerate. It went well.
Contacted by phone a few hours after the test, Zahn is genuinely stumped - and surprised. He said the magnet shouldn't cause acceleration. "It's an unusual phenomena I wouldn't have predicted in advance. But I saw it. It's real. Now I'm just trying to figure it out."
There's no talk of perpetual motion. No whisper of broken scientific laws or free energy. Zahn would never go there - at least not yet. But he does see the potential for making electric motors more efficient, and this itself is no small feat.
"To my mind this is unexpected and new, and it's worth exploring all the possible advantages once you're convinced it's a real effect," he added. "There are an infinite number of induction machines in people's homes and everywhere around the world. If you could make them more efficient, cumulatively, it could make a big difference."
Doesn't all this eliminate this "Common Carrier Clause" or something that these guys enjoy - I mean if they are really doing all this, wouldn't they be the responsible party for all the pirating going on then? Couldn't the RIAA victims now turn around and sue their ISP for essentially "letting" them pirate? I know it would be twisting things around a bit, but isn't that what the legal system is for these days?
Rogers Cable has been doing this here for sometime.
This may be a stupid question or at a least a little late - but didn't a read here on/. many times that ISP's are immune to the likes of the **AA suties because of the common carrier status they enjoy, but they could *ONLY* enjoy that as long as they didn't interfere with the traffic. As soon as the ISP(s) started monkeying with the traffic, they could be held responsible for the "pirating" since they are now controlling the connections?
Perjury requires that one *knowingly* lies. Without hard evidence or witness testimony to suggest that the person knowingly lied (and there is none in this instance), there is no case for perjury.
Hmm, I wonder is someone could get away with starting a campaign claiming the head attorney here is a complete idiot with an IQ in the double digits and has no business in the position/career she has - IE: future clients beware...
I would think that it would be common since that the head attorney for the plantif in a high profile copyright case, would actually know the copyright law - to me that is just common since, plus it's not like Sony couldn't afford the best - insinuating you would actually get someone of that caliber in the very^3 least. Following this logic, at least for me, either she should have to admit her double digit IQ, and that she is in over her head (making the above campaign legit as it wouldn't be slander or liable, which ever it is) -or- admit she committed perjury for the sole purpose of swaying the jury.
I hate to disagree with you here, but I think your reasoning is backwards - IF, and it is a very BIG if, they could get a computer to accurately be able to measure emotions from body language it would be a hell of a lot more secure than any human being doing it, and I would be all for the system running everything for the simple fact it would not make any mistakes since you would be taking the idiots out of the equation - you stay in line you have nothing to worry about.
Empathy is a unique gift, and is not trainable regardless of any method used. I get my managers telling me that I always "look" like I'm pissed off, and it's not until you actually talk to me that you realize I'm the farthest from it.
BigBrother is suppose to be a frightening thing - although if you think about it, IIRC the real "BigBrother" is nothing but a computer that runs off of logic and that will not make a mistake, you don't get the all around BIGGEST reason for buggy software and that is..... Human error - the ONLY way around that is FOSS for the simple reason that thousands of us idiots can look over everything. Computers don't make the mistakes, the all powerful human being does and is quite damn good at it.
If it were possible for a computer to accurately read emotions, and combine it with body language concluding ones thoughts and intentions - I would be all for it simply because it could be trusted to NOT be biased for any reason what so ever, you screw up you get nailed - no ifs and or buts that the human being would take into account and can be fooled. Just like I would be all for replacing every cop in the US with the same system, I can not count how many times I've gotten in trouble or harassed one way or the other for something, and then turn right around and see some other yahoo get away with something worse than what I did, and Why you may ask? Humans... The other guy knew how to smooze the individual in authority, and I just don't kiss up to jack asses regardless of what it would get me.
Just because I have the facial components organized in such a way that I look like I'm pissed, doesn't mean I am - and because of this, those in authority are immediately on the defensive which comes down to trouble for me. While on the other hand I've known more than a few guys who beat their wives on a nightly basis, deal in the heavy drugs and an all around shady people - BUT, they are awesome at manipulation and getting what they want.
Someone who is really dead set on doing some damage and sacrificing them selves in the process is going to be calm and cool - IIRC the main high jacker on 911 was like this, although someone who has a true empathetic nature about them will be able to tell something is still up - you can not train that.
Humans are very prone to error, all of us in administration/programing know that fact way to much - now we are to be subjected to some error prone moron making the decision on whether or not my next few hours to decades are going to be spent in hell? Just that alone pisses me off, and will consequently make me stand out much more to these fake empaths. How in the hell are these "trainees" suppose to tell the difference between someone who is nervous because they know they are being scrutinized at a distance by extremely unqualified personnel (I would AT LEAST think a degree in psychology would be necessarily to even consider the possibility of this half assed training) or someone who is nervous because they are going to end there life in a short time, taking as much damage with them as possible.
Two people are sitting side by side, both looking down at the floor with there hands folded quietly. Both wearing suits, both sitting very still. One is sad, but holding it in, because they are leaving their loved one for one reason or another, the other is contemplating the after life because of what they are about to do - do we really want a GED drop out with a few days of training to make that decision of who is the danger? Or would they just round both of them up? Or woul
That "review" was written at least two whole weeks before the game was available for purchase, and I'm a damned sight sure that Best Buy hadn't been sitting on it since the end of September.
A whopping two whole weeks? I hate to burst your bubble son, but there is something called "logistics" that takes a just a tad longer than a few days, Santa doesn't deliver this stuff on his magical sleigh. As surprising and unbelievable as it may sound, BestBuy/Walmart/CirtcuitCity/etc.. don't download and burn all these retails copies for us, while PCG would have had the means and access to do so - and it would have been irresponsible to not have a professional reviewer have access to the title WHILE the developer is busy twiddling their thumbs waiting on logistics to get over with. The logistics alone, going from one location out to thousands of retail chains nation wide - will take ***at least*** 2 weeks just by itself, and yes - some stores are going to sit on the product for a few days while everyone else in the nation gets their copies to sell (again logistics).
Review sites are nothing but one spot for paid advertisements, and you get some solitary yahoo praising the reviewed product - to solely base your purchasing decisions on someone who is getting paid to write the review is completely pointless, it's as useful as solely using any of the other advertising for the product. The only real reviews that are worth anything is from the consumers themselves - and even then you get competitors chiming in to sway the "advertising" their direction (IE: away from the competition) and then you have the morons who simply don't know what they are talking about or have some grudge - the best you can do is go off the average of what the consumers are saying, those that forked out the money for the game themselves - not those that are given a lot more money to say something nice, just by default they are a little biased.
A few days ago Apple issues between $100~$200 in store credit for anyone purchasing the IPhone since they lowered the price - nothing anywhere says they had to do this
Today, Apple partnered with AT&T, quotes the terms and conditions. "Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris points out in its terms and conditions that it will cost an arm an a leg to use an Iphone out of the US even if no services are intentionally used."
This is why I paid $200 to leave AT&T. I'd be willing to bet AT&T won't budge on this, and Apple needs something to save face on - any face...
wars against oil-producing countries: In theory at least it is to keep the cost of oil down - that is the excuse at least that we would benefit from
bridges to nowhere: They are still physically in existence so we can use them if we wanted to turn around or something, or take pictures or something just as pointless - or even bitch about wasting money
Again - what could they provide in a virtual word created by someone else, even if it was just something to bitch about? Are they going to start creating laws that provide probation/jail time for camping noobies? In a very real way - the government creates the world we live in - they are not creating or controlling the virtual words, another government is (IE: Blizzard) that we already pay taxes to - the taxation on play time...
Seriously, it real life - the taxes go for things that effect us physically or that the entities we pay provide a service we use even if indirectly.
In real life taxes pay for...
1) roads
2) traffic control (stop signs, lights, etc...)
3) financial assistance (welfare, medicare, etc..)
4) law enforcement
5) military (protection of way of life)
6) etc...
I used to play WoW, so I'll use that as my example...
1) environment - developed and controlled by game maker
2) traffic control - disigned/mantained by your ISP
3) law enforcement - in game police, gamers paid by developer to help keep things under control - GM's
4) military protection - the particular guild your in, you pay them taxes via items found, helping noobs, etc...
Everything is covered and we pay either the ISP or the game maker (Blizzard in this case) and the government does not provide anything as far as I can tell. If they were to start collecting taxes what could they possibly offer that's not already covered?
Taxes:Funds provided by taxation have been used by states and their functional equivalents throughout history to carry out many functions. Some of these include expenditures on war, the enforcement of law and public order, protection of property, economic infrastructure (roads, legal tender, enforcement of contracts, etc.), public works, social engineering, and the operation of government itself. Most modern governments also use taxes to fund welfare and public services. These services can include education systems, health care systems, pensions for the elderly, unemployment benefits, and public transportation. Energy, water and waste management systems are also common public utilities. Colonial and moderning states have also used cash taxes to draw or force reluctant subsistence producers into cash economies.
The above is all covered by the developer, if it even exists - again what could they possibly offer? It's not like they can re-write the game engine to add an educational system if doesn't already exist...
1) Comcast is required by law to block any channel you want, including their own programming guide. All cable stations are. -> The programing guide isn't a channel - you can't block it, it does the blocking. You must be thinking of the TV guide channel on analog.
2) Alternately, considering you both sound like adults, you could just take the programming guide off the list of channels and not manually type it in. -> see above
3) Alternately, you could not be such idiots and realize that a commercial for porn is not, in fact, porn. -> says who? the US supreme court couldn't even come up with a clear definition of what porn is - just that people know it when THEY see it...
The bar was lowered simply based on the fact that those very same images at one point in time were kept behind sales counters (magazines) so kids would not be able to even see them, they are now available with out effort (browsing the programing guide) in the name of advertising. Thats lowering the bar when you make it, to some degree difficult, to obtain something and then later turn around and give it away - on a consistent basis mind you. Regardless of the gazillion reasons why - it is still "lowering the bar". I'm sure there is some law somewhere relating the advertisement of adult material with the advertising of cigarettes - IE: neither can be on bill boards in most places. But, in a matter of a couple of decades it's gone from needing to explicitly want to obtain the material to it being given to you in the form of advertising.
Don't get me wrong, I thought the whole thing was blowing things a tad out of proportion also and had leave the room while she was on the phone with them - but the bar was still lowered, it's just how much of the population even notices.
The one conclusion is that they wish to keep such content from adults.
Or... They keep lowering the bar for the content, I remember a few years ago my girlfriend flipped out when the local Comcast was advertising the Playboy channel through their programming guide and there was no way to "block" it. Comcast just said ohwell, so sorry there is nothing we can do about it and we wouldn't anyhow.
From TFA... 1) Using the stolen keys, Lodrick believes, Nelson made off with an unsolicited mailing from the bank. Lodrick said it contained two debit/credit cards she had not requested and, worse, a statement for a certificate of deposit that included her Social Security number. Personal identification numbers for the cards were in a separate envelope. 2)"I'm scared, too," Lodrick answered. "Let's just wait for the police, and we can straighten this out."... "I can't," Nelson said. "I'm on probation." 3)Nor did Nelson, 31, appear to be remorseful. When she entered the courtroom in her orange jail jumpsuit and saw Lodrick, she smirked and waved at her. 4)Judge Kahn chastised her for her attitude. 5) She was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn to the 44 days she had already served in county jail and three years' probation. 6) Lodrick, who made a statement at sentencing, was dissatisfied. "I can't believe it," she said. "I went through six months of hell, and she's going to get probation? She was on probation when she victimized me. Obviously, probation's not helping."
Hmmm... 6 wrongs apparently don't make it right either, personally I would rather stop at 2.
I agree with you in that is the only way that it could be justified, otherwise they just as well tax you for an on going game at Monopoly. These rumors have been flying around for years, and I see ***no*** plausible reasoning for it being legit. In a since, you/we already pay a monthly tax for the in game government - hence Blizzard them selves. The selling of characters and gold I believe has been out right banned by the said in game government - which would be the same thing as printing monopoly money and selling it in real life, and of course under the table.
It seems to me that it ALL comes down to one thing - if we did pay federal taxes (presumably) on gold earnings in WoW - what roads/security/benefits would the payee be providing in return, it's not the connectivity(roads) because we already pay for that, and it's not for a police force of sorts - that's suppose to be what the GM's are there for... And if this is also all based around the before mentioned selling of characters/gold - has the 'innocent before proven guilty' really been killed in this country?
If this does come down, I will be one of the millions telling the feds to kiss off - and yes I ***will*** go to jail for it. If they aren't going to provide anything in return for the taxes then I ain't paying them - plain and simple.
This just in off the Slashdot wire - Hackers and pirates from all over the world seem fixated on DVD's, in particular those from the entertainment giant Sony Entertainment. Sources close to the mafia are adamant that the huge drop in DVD sales over night is a direct result of the attack, there was no comment on the unrelated story regarding billions of DVD players mysteriously ceasing to play their new releases.
It may just be me not keeping up with every bit of IT news over the years, but I don't recall ever hearing about "an indefinite moratorium" against any of those platforms. Although, I do recall various tidbits here and there about such-n-such 'considering' such-n-such only to be "re-sold" in the end on M$, of course by M$ - not because the platforms didn't have something superior to offer. Besides, with Vienna already in the works supposedly, apparently even the US government can't see a reason to decrease productivity, spend thousands if not millions on upgrades and waste time and money on a defective design especially if the current OS won't EOL before the next one is out...
I can see the legit/legal argument about settling out of court for X amount, and just by coincidence it happens to be a flat rate regardless if you downloaded 3,000 or 3 songs - or even if you flat out didn't for that matter. Although, I can not see how in the hell this could be legal - isn't this blackmail? You pay me, or I'll bring legal action for something I'm assuming you've done? If this is legit - what is stopping any of us/.'ers or anyone for that matter - going around with flyer's saying give me a grand and I won't pursue legal action for something I just know you did.
IANAL, but I would think that since they are calling this a "discount" that comes before any kind of legal action, that there would be some kind of loop hole that you twist around, especially if they didn't file "on" the date 20 days following this discounted "rate". What is this discount for? If it's for getting out of a law suit - isn't that what the "settlement" is for? Which goes back to what is this stupid discount really for?
And out of curiosity - what would happen if you ignored everything and absolutely refused to pay them anything or cooperate, including the law suit that you more than likely can't afford to fight in the first place? Jail time from contempt of court or something?
Signed - puzzled and tired of this bull shit arrogance >.
Slashdot Mirror
"In normal times, evil would be fought by good. But in times like these, well, it should be fought by another kind of evil." The Chronicles of Riddick
Anymore, pirates are a hell of a lot more trustworthy than ANY given government or corporation. If I had something serious to leak, or had some crazy theories on even a half way controversial topic - I would trust those flagrant, authority mooning thugs to resist big brother more so than anyone else. The reason? Everyone has there breaking point, regardless of how bad ass you are - you still have one. It's just a matter of who has the higher breaking point as to who I would trust - not to necessarily do something for me, but more to NOT DO SOMETHING.
I think in this case he may be covering both bases...
What is it he is actually asking here? Whether it is doable or not, or whether they will actually abide or not?
"You train the officers in what is legal and established and approved and how to get warrants when they need a warrant?"
"If you don't understand a system to the point that you are not able to use it responsibly, you shouldn't be using it."
Do you understand the inner workings of a fuel injected turbo with dual over head cams - or do you have a general idea and just use it assuming safety from the manufacturer?
Do you understand the inner workings/procedures and protocols that it takes to fly a commercial airliner from LA to NY - or do you have a general idea and just use the transports assuming those that be aren't putting your life at risk for a mere buck?
Do you understand biology and the inner workings of your OWN BODY - or do you assume and rely on doctors and those in the medical profession to NOT kill you mistakenly for the treatment of a zit?
"You either have to submit to someone else making sure you are competent, or you have to be willing to accept responsibility for the outcome of your incompetence." - Typical arrogant and assinine comment from the godly geeks among us, when your inflated ego can go an entire day with out relying on ANYTHING that ANY manufacturer claims is perfectly safe and secure to use (regardless if it is or isn't - read M$ and ANY software corp) then, AND ONLY THEN would you have a valid argument to make and have something to back it up. Until then, you need to wake the fuck up and stop expecting everyone else in the world know as much about computers and the internet as you do - because you rely on company-X telling you using such-n-such is perfectly safe, just as much as grandma and little Jane down the street relies on M$ and the billions of other software manufacturers telling them everything is safe to use their products - not to mention teller X and sales boy Y doubling as a pretend security expert that just "knows" it is safe (hint, they are told to say that).
Arrogance like this is a big part of the problem - Marketing takes crap like this and runs with it, not to mention the legal department - who cares if it is complicated and way to much to comprehend for 90% of the population, the "experts" that do know what they are talking about blame everyone for not knowing what they know, so we'll do the same, they just don't mention the education and knowledge base behind it - but who cares about that?
EVERYONE SHOULD ALREADY KNOW IT! - and that is the biggest load of arrogant bull shit I've heard in a long time.
I completely agree with you, EXCEPT for when the banks force you to use something that is and or was historically insecure - IE: Internet Explorer and Windows. I have never trusted the two together, let alone IE by it self for financial transactions, ESPECIALLY banking.
I've always used Linux and Firefox/Mozilla (back in th day) and always will - until the day comes that OSS manages their software like corporations do. I've opened an account one week, and turned around and closed it a few days later to open another because of the forced utilization of software I didn't approve of, and was very vocal about it to anyone who cared to listen - ironically, no one did but they did care to flag me in some global database somewhere as I had to answer for my "peculiar actions" by a bank other than the one who forced the use of IE/M$.
If the banks are really going to go through with this, and put the blame and responsibility ALL on to the customer - then they should re-think the policy of forcing their customers to use something that they may or may not be able to secure; I can lock down Linux like it is no ones business - but I would have no idea where to start in Windoze, and I'm not referring to just installing/configuring some firewall/virus app...
You joke, but I think that is the point. Relatively speaking, claiming we know what will happen is the same as shrugging it off as a an over sized generator. Don't forget that this is backed by the almighty $$$ from somewhere, and even though he's only wanting a four month delay to double and triple check everything - that will end up being a hefty price tag for who ever is behind all this.
FTA ~ "It's expected to tackle some of the deepest questions in science: Is the foundation of modern physics right or wrong? What existed during the very first moment of the universe's existence? Why do some particles have mass while others don't? What is the nature of dark matter? Are there extra dimensions of space out there that we haven't yet detected?"
With that much power to be able to answer any one of those questions, it's only the responsible thing to do to make sure there won't be a short somewhere - GOD knows how much you would zap. Besides, all the stringy black hole things I'd guess are more FUD than anything with the "Environmental and Natural Resources Division" based in Washington getting involved - that sounds like an environmental issue is more likely at hand and the others are simply extreme possibilities, but still theoretically plausible.
"It sounds too good to be true," concedes Heins, who formed a company in 2005 called Potential Difference Inc. to develop and market his invention. "We get dismissed pretty quickly sometimes."
Deep down, Heins has high hopes. But he also realizes that merely using those controversial words - "perpetual motion" - usually brands a person as batty. In 2006, an Irish company called Steorn placed an advertisement in The Economist calling on all the world's scientists to validate its magnet-based "free energy" technology.
Steorn was met with intense skepticism and accused of being a scam or hoax. Seventeen months later the company has failed, despite worldwide attention, to prove anything under scrutiny. Well-educated people, from Leonardo da Vinci to Harvard-trained engineer Bruce De Palma (older brother of film director Brian De Palma), have made similar claims of perpetual motion only to be slammed down by the mainstream scientific community.
Heins has an even greater uphill battle. He isn't an engineer. He doesn't have a graduate degrees in physics. He never even finished his electronics program at Heritage College in Gatineau, Quebec. "I have mild dyslexia and don't do well in math, so I didn't do very well in school," he says.
Zahn is the one not going all the way to perpetual motion but admitting he is stumped and it could revolutionize things if proven.
It's now Jan. 28 - D Day. Heins has modified his test so the effects observed are difficult to deny. He holds a permanent magnet a few centimetres away from the driveshaft of an electric motor, and the magnetic field it creates causes the motor to accelerate. It went well.
Contacted by phone a few hours after the test, Zahn is genuinely stumped - and surprised. He said the magnet shouldn't cause acceleration. "It's an unusual phenomena I wouldn't have predicted in advance. But I saw it. It's real. Now I'm just trying to figure it out."
There's no talk of perpetual motion. No whisper of broken scientific laws or free energy. Zahn would never go there - at least not yet. But he does see the potential for making electric motors more efficient, and this itself is no small feat.
"To my mind this is unexpected and new, and it's worth exploring all the possible advantages once you're convinced it's a real effect," he added. "There are an infinite number of induction machines in people's homes and everywhere around the world. If you could make them more efficient, cumulatively, it could make a big difference."
Doesn't all this eliminate this "Common Carrier Clause" or something that these guys enjoy - I mean if they are really doing all this, wouldn't they be the responsible party for all the pirating going on then? Couldn't the RIAA victims now turn around and sue their ISP for essentially "letting" them pirate? I know it would be twisting things around a bit, but isn't that what the legal system is for these days?
Rogers Cable has been doing this here for sometime.
/. many times that ISP's are immune to the likes of the **AA suties because of the common carrier status they enjoy, but they could *ONLY* enjoy that as long as they didn't interfere with the traffic. As soon as the ISP(s) started monkeying with the traffic, they could be held responsible for the "pirating" since they are now controlling the connections?
This may be a stupid question or at a least a little late - but didn't a read here on
Perjury requires that one *knowingly* lies. Without hard evidence or witness testimony to suggest that the person knowingly lied (and there is none in this instance), there is no case for perjury.
Hmm, I wonder is someone could get away with starting a campaign claiming the head attorney here is a complete idiot with an IQ in the double digits and has no business in the position/career she has - IE: future clients beware...
I would think that it would be common since that the head attorney for the plantif in a high profile copyright case, would actually know the copyright law - to me that is just common since, plus it's not like Sony couldn't afford the best - insinuating you would actually get someone of that caliber in the very^3 least. Following this logic, at least for me, either she should have to admit her double digit IQ, and that she is in over her head (making the above campaign legit as it wouldn't be slander or liable, which ever it is) -or- admit she committed perjury for the sole purpose of swaying the jury.
I hate to disagree with you here, but I think your reasoning is backwards - IF, and it is a very BIG if, they could get a computer to accurately be able to measure emotions from body language it would be a hell of a lot more secure than any human being doing it, and I would be all for the system running everything for the simple fact it would not make any mistakes since you would be taking the idiots out of the equation - you stay in line you have nothing to worry about.
Empathy is a unique gift, and is not trainable regardless of any method used. I get my managers telling me that I always "look" like I'm pissed off, and it's not until you actually talk to me that you realize I'm the farthest from it.
BigBrother is suppose to be a frightening thing - although if you think about it, IIRC the real "BigBrother" is nothing but a computer that runs off of logic and that will not make a mistake, you don't get the all around BIGGEST reason for buggy software and that is..... Human error - the ONLY way around that is FOSS for the simple reason that thousands of us idiots can look over everything. Computers don't make the mistakes, the all powerful human being does and is quite damn good at it.
If it were possible for a computer to accurately read emotions, and combine it with body language concluding ones thoughts and intentions - I would be all for it simply because it could be trusted to NOT be biased for any reason what so ever, you screw up you get nailed - no ifs and or buts that the human being would take into account and can be fooled. Just like I would be all for replacing every cop in the US with the same system, I can not count how many times I've gotten in trouble or harassed one way or the other for something, and then turn right around and see some other yahoo get away with something worse than what I did, and Why you may ask? Humans... The other guy knew how to smooze the individual in authority, and I just don't kiss up to jack asses regardless of what it would get me.
Just because I have the facial components organized in such a way that I look like I'm pissed, doesn't mean I am - and because of this, those in authority are immediately on the defensive which comes down to trouble for me. While on the other hand I've known more than a few guys who beat their wives on a nightly basis, deal in the heavy drugs and an all around shady people - BUT, they are awesome at manipulation and getting what they want.
Someone who is really dead set on doing some damage and sacrificing them selves in the process is going to be calm and cool - IIRC the main high jacker on 911 was like this, although someone who has a true empathetic nature about them will be able to tell something is still up - you can not train that.
Humans are very prone to error, all of us in administration/programing know that fact way to much - now we are to be subjected to some error prone moron making the decision on whether or not my next few hours to decades are going to be spent in hell? Just that alone pisses me off, and will consequently make me stand out much more to these fake empaths. How in the hell are these "trainees" suppose to tell the difference between someone who is nervous because they know they are being scrutinized at a distance by extremely unqualified personnel (I would AT LEAST think a degree in psychology would be necessarily to even consider the possibility of this half assed training) or someone who is nervous because they are going to end there life in a short time, taking as much damage with them as possible.
Two people are sitting side by side, both looking down at the floor with there hands folded quietly. Both wearing suits, both sitting very still. One is sad, but holding it in, because they are leaving their loved one for one reason or another, the other is contemplating the after life because of what they are about to do - do we really want a GED drop out with a few days of training to make that decision of who is the danger? Or would they just round both of them up? Or woul
That "review" was written at least two whole weeks before the game was available for purchase, and I'm a damned sight sure that Best Buy hadn't been sitting on it since the end of September.
A whopping two whole weeks? I hate to burst your bubble son, but there is something called "logistics" that takes a just a tad longer than a few days, Santa doesn't deliver this stuff on his magical sleigh. As surprising and unbelievable as it may sound, BestBuy/Walmart/CirtcuitCity/etc.. don't download and burn all these retails copies for us, while PCG would have had the means and access to do so - and it would have been irresponsible to not have a professional reviewer have access to the title WHILE the developer is busy twiddling their thumbs waiting on logistics to get over with. The logistics alone, going from one location out to thousands of retail chains nation wide - will take ***at least*** 2 weeks just by itself, and yes - some stores are going to sit on the product for a few days while everyone else in the nation gets their copies to sell (again logistics).
Review sites are nothing but one spot for paid advertisements, and you get some solitary yahoo praising the reviewed product - to solely base your purchasing decisions on someone who is getting paid to write the review is completely pointless, it's as useful as solely using any of the other advertising for the product. The only real reviews that are worth anything is from the consumers themselves - and even then you get competitors chiming in to sway the "advertising" their direction (IE: away from the competition) and then you have the morons who simply don't know what they are talking about or have some grudge - the best you can do is go off the average of what the consumers are saying, those that forked out the money for the game themselves - not those that are given a lot more money to say something nice, just by default they are a little biased.
A few days ago Apple issues between $100~$200 in store credit for anyone purchasing the IPhone since they lowered the price - nothing anywhere says they had to do this
Today, Apple partnered with AT&T, quotes the terms and conditions. "Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris points out in its terms and conditions that it will cost an arm an a leg to use an Iphone out of the US even if no services are intentionally used."
This is why I paid $200 to leave AT&T. I'd be willing to bet AT&T won't budge on this, and Apple needs something to save face on - any face...
Get her to set it up, and I'll chip in $50...
wars against oil-producing countries: In theory at least it is to keep the cost of oil down - that is the excuse at least that we would benefit from
bridges to nowhere: They are still physically in existence so we can use them if we wanted to turn around or something, or take pictures or something just as pointless - or even bitch about wasting money
Again - what could they provide in a virtual word created by someone else, even if it was just something to bitch about? Are they going to start creating laws that provide probation/jail time for camping noobies? In a very real way - the government creates the world we live in - they are not creating or controlling the virtual words, another government is (IE: Blizzard) that we already pay taxes to - the taxation on play time...
Seriously, it real life - the taxes go for things that effect us physically or that the entities we pay provide a service we use even if indirectly.
In real life taxes pay for...
1) roads
2) traffic control (stop signs, lights, etc...)
3) financial assistance (welfare, medicare, etc..)
4) law enforcement
5) military (protection of way of life)
6) etc...
I used to play WoW, so I'll use that as my example...
1) environment - developed and controlled by game maker
2) traffic control - disigned/mantained by your ISP
3) law enforcement - in game police, gamers paid by developer to help keep things under control - GM's
4) military protection - the particular guild your in, you pay them taxes via items found, helping noobs, etc...
Everything is covered and we pay either the ISP or the game maker (Blizzard in this case) and the government does not provide anything as far as I can tell. If they were to start collecting taxes what could they possibly offer that's not already covered?
Taxes: Funds provided by taxation have been used by states and their functional equivalents throughout history to carry out many functions. Some of these include expenditures on war, the enforcement of law and public order, protection of property, economic infrastructure (roads, legal tender, enforcement of contracts, etc.), public works, social engineering, and the operation of government itself. Most modern governments also use taxes to fund welfare and public services. These services can include education systems, health care systems, pensions for the elderly, unemployment benefits, and public transportation. Energy, water and waste management systems are also common public utilities. Colonial and moderning states have also used cash taxes to draw or force reluctant subsistence producers into cash economies.
The above is all covered by the developer, if it even exists - again what could they possibly offer? It's not like they can re-write the game engine to add an educational system if doesn't already exist...
1) Comcast is required by law to block any channel you want, including their own programming guide. All cable stations are.
-> The programing guide isn't a channel - you can't block it, it does the blocking. You must be thinking of the TV guide channel on analog.
2) Alternately, considering you both sound like adults, you could just take the programming guide off the list of channels and not manually type it in.
-> see above
3) Alternately, you could not be such idiots and realize that a commercial for porn is not, in fact, porn.
-> says who? the US supreme court couldn't even come up with a clear definition of what porn is - just that people know it when THEY see it...
The bar was lowered simply based on the fact that those very same images at one point in time were kept behind sales counters (magazines) so kids would not be able to even see them, they are now available with out effort (browsing the programing guide) in the name of advertising. Thats lowering the bar when you make it, to some degree difficult, to obtain something and then later turn around and give it away - on a consistent basis mind you. Regardless of the gazillion reasons why - it is still "lowering the bar". I'm sure there is some law somewhere relating the advertisement of adult material with the advertising of cigarettes - IE: neither can be on bill boards in most places. But, in a matter of a couple of decades it's gone from needing to explicitly want to obtain the material to it being given to you in the form of advertising.
Don't get me wrong, I thought the whole thing was blowing things a tad out of proportion also and had leave the room while she was on the phone with them - but the bar was still lowered, it's just how much of the population even notices.
The one conclusion is that they wish to keep such content from adults.
Or... They keep lowering the bar for the content, I remember a few years ago my girlfriend flipped out when the local Comcast was advertising the Playboy channel through their programming guide and there was no way to "block" it. Comcast just said ohwell, so sorry there is nothing we can do about it and we wouldn't anyhow.
Two wrongs don't make a right...
... "I can't," Nelson said. "I'm on probation."
From TFA...
1) Using the stolen keys, Lodrick believes, Nelson made off with an unsolicited mailing from the bank. Lodrick said it contained two debit/credit cards she had not requested and, worse, a statement for a certificate of deposit that included her Social Security number. Personal identification numbers for the cards were in a separate envelope.
2)"I'm scared, too," Lodrick answered. "Let's just wait for the police, and we can straighten this out."
3)Nor did Nelson, 31, appear to be remorseful. When she entered the courtroom in her orange jail jumpsuit and saw Lodrick, she smirked and waved at her. 4)Judge Kahn chastised her for her attitude.
5) She was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn to the 44 days she had already served in county jail and three years' probation.
6) Lodrick, who made a statement at sentencing, was dissatisfied. "I can't believe it," she said. "I went through six months of hell, and she's going to get probation? She was on probation when she victimized me. Obviously, probation's not helping."
Hmmm... 6 wrongs apparently don't make it right either, personally I would rather stop at 2.
I agree with you in that is the only way that it could be justified, otherwise they just as well tax you for an on going game at Monopoly. These rumors have been flying around for years, and I see ***no*** plausible reasoning for it being legit. In a since, you/we already pay a monthly tax for the in game government - hence Blizzard them selves. The selling of characters and gold I believe has been out right banned by the said in game government - which would be the same thing as printing monopoly money and selling it in real life, and of course under the table.
It seems to me that it ALL comes down to one thing - if we did pay federal taxes (presumably) on gold earnings in WoW - what roads/security/benefits would the payee be providing in return, it's not the connectivity(roads) because we already pay for that, and it's not for a police force of sorts - that's suppose to be what the GM's are there for... And if this is also all based around the before mentioned selling of characters/gold - has the 'innocent before proven guilty' really been killed in this country?
If this does come down, I will be one of the millions telling the feds to kiss off - and yes I ***will*** go to jail for it. If they aren't going to provide anything in return for the taxes then I ain't paying them - plain and simple.
Late breaking news....
This just in off the Slashdot wire - Hackers and pirates from all over the world seem fixated on DVD's, in particular those from the entertainment giant Sony Entertainment. Sources close to the mafia are adamant that the huge drop in DVD sales over night is a direct result of the attack, there was no comment on the unrelated story regarding billions of DVD players mysteriously ceasing to play their new releases.
Quota from Armageddon - "No offense General, but it's a big ass sky..."
It may just be me not keeping up with every bit of IT news over the years, but I don't recall ever hearing about "an indefinite moratorium" against any of those platforms. Although, I do recall various tidbits here and there about such-n-such 'considering' such-n-such only to be "re-sold" in the end on M$, of course by M$ - not because the platforms didn't have something superior to offer. Besides, with Vienna already in the works supposedly, apparently even the US government can't see a reason to decrease productivity, spend thousands if not millions on upgrades and waste time and money on a defective design especially if the current OS won't EOL before the next one is out...
...can end up costing more than $70 quite easily.
:-) And if you don't have that in the first place, what the hell - why not?
That's still $19,930 cheaper
I can see the legit/legal argument about settling out of court for X amount, and just by coincidence it happens to be a flat rate regardless if you downloaded 3,000 or 3 songs - or even if you flat out didn't for that matter. Although, I can not see how in the hell this could be legal - isn't this blackmail? You pay me, or I'll bring legal action for something I'm assuming you've done? If this is legit - what is stopping any of us /.'ers or anyone for that matter - going around with flyer's saying give me a grand and I won't pursue legal action for something I just know you did.
IANAL, but I would think that since they are calling this a "discount" that comes before any kind of legal action, that there would be some kind of loop hole that you twist around, especially if they didn't file "on" the date 20 days following this discounted "rate". What is this discount for? If it's for getting out of a law suit - isn't that what the "settlement" is for? Which goes back to what is this stupid discount really for?
And out of curiosity - what would happen if you ignored everything and absolutely refused to pay them anything or cooperate, including the law suit that you more than likely can't afford to fight in the first place? Jail time from contempt of court or something?
Signed - puzzled and tired of this bull shit arrogance >.
Who cares if they are 'seared' just as long as they are protected right? At least this is the way that this BS seems to be going.