I hate to break it to you but I would have ruled against the most recent file sharer if I had been on his jury and I'm certainly more well informed about the actions of RIAA than most people.
His defense boiled down to "it was fair use for me to share 800 songs with thousands of people I don't know". Then he went on the stand and not only admitted to everything he was accused of, including lying during the discovery process. He has no one to blame but himself for his current predicament. The rest of us should hate his guts for pushing the issue and making bad case law that will harm those who actually have a competent legal strategy and case.
The jury deliberated for less than three hours as I recall. That should tell you something.
On that note, my vision prevents me from reading most street signs far enough in advance to make traffic changes (change langes, slow down and turn, etc.) safely.
Don't take this the wrong way but it sounds to me like you have no business having a drivers license if your vision is that poor.
We would not tolerate part of our own nation becoming like North Korea, now would we?
We would if the only way to prevent it would have been to fight World War III in the nuclear age. You think Lincoln would have fought the American Civil War if the South had allies like the PRC and Soviet Union?
When we create an artificial construct such as national boundaries, however, it becomes very easy to ignore such horrors and pit them on somebody else.
And when we don't have those artificial constructs our rights and liberties will be eroded to the lowest common denominator. Which model do you purpose to use for your great society without national borders? The American one? The European one? The Chinese one? The African one?
This sort of territoriality is deeply ingrained in the human psyche but is every bit as primitive as when your dog pisses on your sofa to claim it as his.
It has nothing to do with territoriality. It has everything to do with the fact that our country is free enough that you can spout this nonsense while many others are not. Take away that "arbitrary" border and watch your freedoms go with it.
Well, since we are drawing conclusions from the individual experiences I'd like to say that my experience in Italy was nothing like what you or the parent describe. The only "crime" we were warned about was pickpocketing, which we never encountered (though we did take precautions against), the shopkeepers were honest and helpful and the people were extremely friendly. In fact the only rude people that I encountered in my two weeks there were all French and German tourists.
I loved my time in Italy. I would go back in a heartbeat. Maybe your problem was that you didn't get away from the tourist traps? I spent a week in Florence and another week in the Tuscan countryside. Other than a few of the museums in Florence none of our destinations were the usual tourist spots.
Random highlights of my trip to Italy:
1) Getting to drive for our group because our Italian driver/tour guide was afraid of the "big" vehicle (minivan) that we rented.
2) Getting to one-up the snobby French tourists that arrogantly assumed none of us spoke their language.
3) Learning to make tiramisu from scratch.
4) Drinking wine at lunch.
5) Drinking more wine at dinner.
6) Learning that many Italians also hate the French;)
7) Getting to see recently unearthed Etruscan ruins.
8) Getting to see Lake Trasimene
You say "sensible precaution", I say "blatant xenophobia/racism". The only reason people are worried about any of this to begin with is that America has that same childish and ignorant "for mother country" thing going on as well
I think China's neo-colonialist actions in Tibet, Xinjiang and Mongolia are another reason that people are worried about her ambitions on the World stage.
We need to realize that all of these boundaries we have set up are simply arbitrary, artificial constructs that have NOTHING to do with reality
You need to realize that such a statement is woefully naive. Reality says there's a huge difference between those boundaries. Standard of living, human rights, privileges and immunities all vary when you cross one of those "artificial constructs". If you think they are just artificial constructs then why don't you try living in North Korea for awhile?
Data may be weightless, but how about hardware key logging devices?
That reminds me of a Cold War story I heard once upon a time. The CIA worked with a Xerox technician to secretly install a camera inside the machine(s) at the Soviet embassy. They got away with it for a long time because those old machines were so complicated that only a handful of people knew how they really worked.
This is just the modern day equivalent. If your hardware is out of your sight even for a few moments it should be treated as though it was compromised. If it's worked on by someone that you don't trust implicitly then it should be treated as though it was compromised.
Yes, there's a visible difference with incandescents and compact fluorescents. Does it really matter to Zalminem some way? Nope. If I'm ok with it then everybody else must be too.
You forgot to finish your thought with "if you compeletely and unjustifiably overreact.
That's pretty much what businesses and schools do in our litigious age. A local school in my area was recently closed for two days over an old barometer that got dropped in one of the science classrooms. They brought in a professional cleanup crew and spent $80,000 to have the mercury spill cleaned up.
Now I can understand closing off the classroom where the spill happened but closing the whole school seems rather excessive to me. $80,000 for cleanup seems really excessive. But that's what they have to do in this day and age. Otherwise some parent would freak out ("OMG, you mean my kid was within a quarter mile of spilled mercury?! I read someone that stuff is as dangerous as Dihydrogen Monoxide!") and they'd be writing that $80,000 check to a law firm instead of a cleanup crew.
you don't stop flying just because airplanes can crash.
No, you stop flying because you don't like having to bend over to get through the TSA security theater. Sorry, random offtopic rant because I just got back from a flight....
I'm not surprised NYS Troopers don't use LIDAR as often -- it's much more of a hassle for them to use.
In my area (Binghamton) that seems to be what they use the majority of time. They will either get out of the car and aim it at individual cars or you'll see them position the car in such a way that they can roll down the window and use it that way. I've never known them to use radar in this area, every speeding ticket I've ever seen was obtained either with LIDAR or by pacing.
Guess it depends on which part of the state you are in.
...as well as annoying the crap out of any driver with a radar detector you happen to be driving behind;-)
Is there any point in the modern world to having a radar detector? I've always been under the impression that a lot of law enforcement agencies are now using LIDAR, which is virtually impossible to detect until your car is being painted with it (i.e: it's too late to slow down). Even the ones that use radar generally turn it on and off with a trigger instead of leaving it running all the time -- which further reduces your odds of detecting it before it hits your vehicle.
I've always wondered if the things are actually worth the cost but most of the online literature about them seems to be put out by the manufacturers -- hardly a neutral unbiased source.
I too weep that my children won't know the joy of cheap high-octane gas made with lead.
WTF does that have to do with seatbelts? Why exactly should the state have the power to force me to wear one? It's not the job of Albany or Washington to protect me from my own stupidity. It's just an excuse to raise revenue and justify pulling people over to look for other crimes. Nothing more, nothing less.
Chevy Volt does 40 miles per charge, so figure 2 charges a day (to work/from work) and 20 working days per month == 1600 miles which is 600 kilowatthours for a typical EV. Multiply by 15 cents per KWh == about $87 per month for electricity.
Most people don't drive 80 miles roundtrip to work and where are you getting 15 cents per kilowatt-hour from? According to the map on this site there's only one US State that comes close to that price.
The neighborhood watch meetings don't operate that way. What will happen is someone trusted, an authority figure like a policeman or a fireman, maybe several such people, will show up and say something like: "This person is dangerous, we haven't caught him yet, we don't have the manpower to track him, so we want you to follow him everywhere. Let him know he's being followed." That last sentence falls under the category of conspicuous surveillance which is a deliberately engineered intimidation tactic.
Yes, that can happen I suppose. It can also happen that the people in the neighborhood watch meeting see through this sham and refuse to be co-opted in such a manner. For every person that joined the stasi or gestapo there was at least one or more people who refused to go along with it. I wouldn't go along with it. You think I'm the only one?
I'm not concerned about posting anonymously. I've already been targeted. What are they going to do... double-target me?
I guess you aren't paranoid if everybody is really out to get you. Is that a knock at your door?;)
The corporations have won. The politicians are all in their pockets, and neighborhood watches and police informants are tricked into Gang Stalking any potential opposition at the street level, with the help of this 'program' Russ Tice refers to. It's an invisible holocaust which you won't believe in until you get sucked into it.
Jesus dude, put the tinfoil hat away. At no point during my training for neighborhood watch were we instructed to take the political leanings of anybody into account.
I have personal experience with what's really going on, but I can't talk about it, especially on this site full of technically sophisticated users
I call bullshit. If you really wanted to talk about it and weren't just engaged in tinfoil hat ranting you could easily post anything you wanted as AC via an anonymous (tor/cybercafe/etc) means.
Yet another reason to rethink our war on drugs policy.
The other problem with the war on drugs is that it creates actual victims who still aren't willing to give evidence to the police. In my hometown we've had no less than six shootings in the last two months wherein the victims refused to cooperate with the police. That tells you it's almost certainly drug related as I can't really think of any other reason why I wouldn't help the police if someone shot me.
Six months ago a buddy of mine was outside walking his dog when he saw someone take a baseball bat and kick down a door. He then heard fighting and smashing coming from within the residence. He called 911 on his cell phone, the cops showed up and arrested the man -- and eventually had to let him go because the "victims" refused to cooperate. Now the scumbag has made some not-so-subtle threats against my friend for calling the police on him, which amazes me because you'd think they'd be smart enough to know that a non-druggie citizen with nothing to hide isn't going to take their crap lying down.
The bulk of the crime in my city is driven by the drug trade in one way or another. It's been out of control for a long time. You can't tell me that the effects of legalized drugs would be worse than this. At least under a legalized system the addicts would be destroying their lives without putting the rest of us in the crossfire of criminal activity.
Indeed. That's why a firearm is regarded as deadly force regardless of where you use it. The use of one is more likely than not to result in death or serious injury. You'd better be able to justify why you needed to use that level of force.
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I hate to break it to you but I would have ruled against the most recent file sharer if I had been on his jury and I'm certainly more well informed about the actions of RIAA than most people.
His defense boiled down to "it was fair use for me to share 800 songs with thousands of people I don't know". Then he went on the stand and not only admitted to everything he was accused of, including lying during the discovery process. He has no one to blame but himself for his current predicament. The rest of us should hate his guts for pushing the issue and making bad case law that will harm those who actually have a competent legal strategy and case.
The jury deliberated for less than three hours as I recall. That should tell you something.
On that note, my vision prevents me from reading most street signs far enough in advance to make traffic changes (change langes, slow down and turn, etc.) safely.
Don't take this the wrong way but it sounds to me like you have no business having a drivers license if your vision is that poor.
We would not tolerate part of our own nation becoming like North Korea, now would we?
We would if the only way to prevent it would have been to fight World War III in the nuclear age. You think Lincoln would have fought the American Civil War if the South had allies like the PRC and Soviet Union?
When we create an artificial construct such as national boundaries, however, it becomes very easy to ignore such horrors and pit them on somebody else.
And when we don't have those artificial constructs our rights and liberties will be eroded to the lowest common denominator. Which model do you purpose to use for your great society without national borders? The American one? The European one? The Chinese one? The African one?
This sort of territoriality is deeply ingrained in the human psyche but is every bit as primitive as when your dog pisses on your sofa to claim it as his.
It has nothing to do with territoriality. It has everything to do with the fact that our country is free enough that you can spout this nonsense while many others are not. Take away that "arbitrary" border and watch your freedoms go with it.
If we found a planet with roads and a city - civilisation, that has truly astonishing implications for our entire culture.
Do they have oil? Gold? Rare materials? Do they believe in Christ? We must build an FTL drive ASAP so we can find these things out!
Just be careful if they approach us with open gun ports. It might just be a greeting......
Well, since we are drawing conclusions from the individual experiences I'd like to say that my experience in Italy was nothing like what you or the parent describe. The only "crime" we were warned about was pickpocketing, which we never encountered (though we did take precautions against), the shopkeepers were honest and helpful and the people were extremely friendly. In fact the only rude people that I encountered in my two weeks there were all French and German tourists.
I loved my time in Italy. I would go back in a heartbeat. Maybe your problem was that you didn't get away from the tourist traps? I spent a week in Florence and another week in the Tuscan countryside. Other than a few of the museums in Florence none of our destinations were the usual tourist spots.
Random highlights of my trip to Italy:
1) Getting to drive for our group because our Italian driver/tour guide was afraid of the "big" vehicle (minivan) that we rented. ;)
2) Getting to one-up the snobby French tourists that arrogantly assumed none of us spoke their language.
3) Learning to make tiramisu from scratch.
4) Drinking wine at lunch.
5) Drinking more wine at dinner.
6) Learning that many Italians also hate the French
7) Getting to see recently unearthed Etruscan ruins.
8) Getting to see Lake Trasimene
You say "sensible precaution", I say "blatant xenophobia/racism". The only reason people are worried about any of this to begin with is that America has that same childish and ignorant "for mother country" thing going on as well
I think China's neo-colonialist actions in Tibet, Xinjiang and Mongolia are another reason that people are worried about her ambitions on the World stage.
We need to realize that all of these boundaries we have set up are simply arbitrary, artificial constructs that have NOTHING to do with reality
You need to realize that such a statement is woefully naive. Reality says there's a huge difference between those boundaries. Standard of living, human rights, privileges and immunities all vary when you cross one of those "artificial constructs". If you think they are just artificial constructs then why don't you try living in North Korea for awhile?
Data may be weightless, but how about hardware key logging devices?
That reminds me of a Cold War story I heard once upon a time. The CIA worked with a Xerox technician to secretly install a camera inside the machine(s) at the Soviet embassy. They got away with it for a long time because those old machines were so complicated that only a handful of people knew how they really worked.
This is just the modern day equivalent. If your hardware is out of your sight even for a few moments it should be treated as though it was compromised. If it's worked on by someone that you don't trust implicitly then it should be treated as though it was compromised.
My completely humble suggestion that has absolutely nothing to do with my age would be 27 ;)
Im fed up with every government trying to legislate safety and functionality
Fixed that for you. You had three extra words on the end of that sentence..
Don't browse porn sites without noscript
Fixed that for you ;)
Our only protections are the state's lack of interest in us as individuals, or aggressive protesting by the mob if we are visible enough.
Soapbox, ballot box, jury box, ammo box. Use in that order.
Yes, there's a visible difference with incandescents and compact fluorescents. Does it really matter to Zalminem some way? Nope. If I'm ok with it then everybody else must be too.
Fixed that for you.
You forgot to finish your thought with "if you compeletely and unjustifiably overreact.
That's pretty much what businesses and schools do in our litigious age. A local school in my area was recently closed for two days over an old barometer that got dropped in one of the science classrooms. They brought in a professional cleanup crew and spent $80,000 to have the mercury spill cleaned up.
Now I can understand closing off the classroom where the spill happened but closing the whole school seems rather excessive to me. $80,000 for cleanup seems really excessive. But that's what they have to do in this day and age. Otherwise some parent would freak out ("OMG, you mean my kid was within a quarter mile of spilled mercury?! I read someone that stuff is as dangerous as Dihydrogen Monoxide!") and they'd be writing that $80,000 check to a law firm instead of a cleanup crew.
The above will become irrelevant once all power generation is changed to renewables.
You are either really optimistic or you believe that nuclear qualifies as a renewable.
you don't stop flying just because airplanes can crash.
No, you stop flying because you don't like having to bend over to get through the TSA security theater. Sorry, random offtopic rant because I just got back from a flight....
You must be single. Back in the day I had to choose between my friends in the shower or my ability to keep getting laid. It wasn't a hard decision ;)
I'm not surprised NYS Troopers don't use LIDAR as often -- it's much more of a hassle for them to use.
In my area (Binghamton) that seems to be what they use the majority of time. They will either get out of the car and aim it at individual cars or you'll see them position the car in such a way that they can roll down the window and use it that way. I've never known them to use radar in this area, every speeding ticket I've ever seen was obtained either with LIDAR or by pacing.
Guess it depends on which part of the state you are in.
...as well as annoying the crap out of any driver with a radar detector you happen to be driving behind ;-)
Is there any point in the modern world to having a radar detector? I've always been under the impression that a lot of law enforcement agencies are now using LIDAR, which is virtually impossible to detect until your car is being painted with it (i.e: it's too late to slow down). Even the ones that use radar generally turn it on and off with a trigger instead of leaving it running all the time -- which further reduces your odds of detecting it before it hits your vehicle.
I've always wondered if the things are actually worth the cost but most of the online literature about them seems to be put out by the manufacturers -- hardly a neutral unbiased source.
I too weep that my children won't know the joy of cheap high-octane gas made with lead.
WTF does that have to do with seatbelts? Why exactly should the state have the power to force me to wear one? It's not the job of Albany or Washington to protect me from my own stupidity. It's just an excuse to raise revenue and justify pulling people over to look for other crimes. Nothing more, nothing less.
Chevy Volt does 40 miles per charge, so figure 2 charges a day (to work/from work) and 20 working days per month == 1600 miles which is 600 kilowatthours for a typical EV. Multiply by 15 cents per KWh == about $87 per month for electricity.
Most people don't drive 80 miles roundtrip to work and where are you getting 15 cents per kilowatt-hour from? According to the map on this site there's only one US State that comes close to that price.
The neighborhood watch meetings don't operate that way. What will happen is someone trusted, an authority figure like a policeman or a fireman, maybe several such people, will show up and say something like: "This person is dangerous, we haven't caught him yet, we don't have the manpower to track him, so we want you to follow him everywhere. Let him know he's being followed." That last sentence falls under the category of conspicuous surveillance which is a deliberately engineered intimidation tactic.
Yes, that can happen I suppose. It can also happen that the people in the neighborhood watch meeting see through this sham and refuse to be co-opted in such a manner. For every person that joined the stasi or gestapo there was at least one or more people who refused to go along with it. I wouldn't go along with it. You think I'm the only one?
I'm not concerned about posting anonymously. I've already been targeted. What are they going to do... double-target me?
I guess you aren't paranoid if everybody is really out to get you. Is that a knock at your door? ;)
The corporations have won. The politicians are all in their pockets, and neighborhood watches and police informants are tricked into Gang Stalking any potential opposition at the street level, with the help of this 'program' Russ Tice refers to. It's an invisible holocaust which you won't believe in until you get sucked into it.
Jesus dude, put the tinfoil hat away. At no point during my training for neighborhood watch were we instructed to take the political leanings of anybody into account.
I have personal experience with what's really going on, but I can't talk about it, especially on this site full of technically sophisticated users
I call bullshit. If you really wanted to talk about it and weren't just engaged in tinfoil hat ranting you could easily post anything you wanted as AC via an anonymous (tor/cybercafe/etc) means.
Yet another reason to rethink our war on drugs policy.
The other problem with the war on drugs is that it creates actual victims who still aren't willing to give evidence to the police. In my hometown we've had no less than six shootings in the last two months wherein the victims refused to cooperate with the police. That tells you it's almost certainly drug related as I can't really think of any other reason why I wouldn't help the police if someone shot me.
Six months ago a buddy of mine was outside walking his dog when he saw someone take a baseball bat and kick down a door. He then heard fighting and smashing coming from within the residence. He called 911 on his cell phone, the cops showed up and arrested the man -- and eventually had to let him go because the "victims" refused to cooperate. Now the scumbag has made some not-so-subtle threats against my friend for calling the police on him, which amazes me because you'd think they'd be smart enough to know that a non-druggie citizen with nothing to hide isn't going to take their crap lying down.
The bulk of the crime in my city is driven by the drug trade in one way or another. It's been out of control for a long time. You can't tell me that the effects of legalized drugs would be worse than this. At least under a legalized system the addicts would be destroying their lives without putting the rest of us in the crossfire of criminal activity.
Indeed. That's why a firearm is regarded as deadly force regardless of where you use it. The use of one is more likely than not to result in death or serious injury. You'd better be able to justify why you needed to use that level of force.
Well I just got bitchslapped! Well done sir :) Guess I should have said "The White Star line didn't stop buying ships....."