anti-terrorist measures that have been placed there to protect the US Embassy from potential attacks. This protection, which has been there for well over a decade, maybe two, is greater than that afforded to Parliament or even Buckingham Palace. And the number of cameras attached to the building itself. Well, it's like they're going for a record or something.
I visited Cuba a few years ago on a package holiday. Cubans are heavily into photography and everywhere we went we were encouraged to take photos (they'd charge us for bringing in cameras a lot of the time, so it was a nice money spinner;) Even driving past military facilities we'd have missiles (1960s firecrackers) pointed out to us, and we'd dutifully photgraph them.
The only time we were told photography was forbidden was opposite the US Special Interests Office. We could photograph it from a distance, but not up close where people inside might see us. The Cubans made no effort to "hide" the office, we all knew exactly what it was, it was just that tourists with cameras might be misconstrued as Cuban spies, and the Cubans really did not want the USA thinking British tourists were really Cuban spies.
Ask anyone in the UK whether they would rather have a local bobby or a CCTV camera and the bobby would win every time.
True, but the GP's point still stands - if people are told "we can't afford a beat cop, only CCTV" (read: "your taxes would have to rise to afford a beat cop") they'll gladly "choose" CCTV. My father-in-law cheerfully welcomed razor-wire and CCTV to his council-run tower-block, though there had previously been very few problems. Now the local "neds" (unemployed young people) view the security as "a challenge" and problems like vandalism and theft have risen.
TOTALLY agree. Attempting a citizen's arrest on a greater number of anti-social youths is asking for either (a) an assault on your person, or (b) an unfounded accusation against you.
Of course, this may be different in other countries, but in the UK I'd definitely leave it to the people paid to take risks.
Welcome to Britain from a fellow Kiwi! Ironically, I'm seriously considering moving home (after 25 years+ in the UK) because I'm sick of this nonsense.
it is nice to know that perhaps even if just a placebo, they cameras tend to make things a bit safer
Sadly, that's just it: they're placebos. Rising crime statistics? Slap in a CCTV programme! But try actually getting the police to view CCTV footage after a crime's been committed and, in Glasgow at least, it's well-nigh impossible.
I'm sure that CCTV benefits someone... unfortunately, I don't believe it's the general public - unless you happen to work for a security company.
I know a lot of people (lighting and sound engineers, IT folk) who have always carried a Swiss Army knife with them (and those that don't carry a Gerber or similar) as well as numerous floppies, USB sticks, or whatever the storage solution of the day is. This is cool, but that doesn't negate the fact that some people will find them virtually essential.
GPS data? Backup camping photos? MP3s for round the campfire (and if you've ever heard me singing campfire songs you'll know why taking an MP3 player camping is a good idea...)
I'm not convinced I'd agree with "bigger is better" for government projects (well, at least not for government projects that I helped fund;) but "standardized is better", certainly.
In Scotland, the Common Services Agency (the IT agency that supports the NHS) used Solaris fairly extensively for back-end stuff (or did, 2 years ago). They seemed fairly open (sorry...!) to open-source, especially on the desktop, mainly due to concerns over per-seat-licensing costs. I'd guess they'd be pretty open to JDS/JES at this point?
(As an aside, wouldn't it be great if the NHS developed, I dunno, national strategies, rrather than adopting different platforms for different regions?)
We have been fantisizing about flying cars for generations, but in reality, are they ever going to be practical?
It's not just the practicalities - I've been fantasising about video-phones since I was a child, and yet as soon as the opportunity arose to have one (web-cam, etc) I suddenly thought better of it. I have a sneaking suspicion that my first flying-car is going to be the vehicle that gets me back on public transport - "fly to work with this hangover? No chance!"
I hear you, brother. I suspect the boxes you mention were considered "workstations" as opposed to "desktops" (I seem to remember Apple them as desktops?) but that strikes me as... well, as being economical with the actualities.
Sorry, my mistake (corrected by another poster): the ASA is an industry body, not part of gov.uk.
Incidentally, the "first 64bit computer" part of the Apple debacle was one part I never understood - surely we've had 64bit (UltraSparc) workstations since the mid-90s? Slightly less seriously, I've got a 128bit "computer" right now (Play Station 2) - surely that would count against Apple's claim?
Self-regulating groups are usually setup with the intent of keeping the government out by implying that the industry needs no external control.
I'm normally fairly cynical, but in this case self-regulation seems to work. However - it probably doesn't hurt that it's Corporation A and not Advertising Agency B that's getting the flak, though - free publicity for Microsoft, and very little attention paid to the marketdroids responsible.
Are you surprised that statistics can be bought and bartered?
No, we're surprised that a government agency saw through the bullshit and has done something about it.
Incidentally, the ASA is one of Britain's better agencies. It seems to have - some - real power, and doesn't seem to abuse it. Another poster has already mentioned Apple's tussles with the ASA (re: 64bit CPUs, IIRC) and other corporations have also been shouted down by the ASA. I'm sure they've made some bad calls in the past, but I'd be hard-pressed to recall any.
What's stopping NASA from selling prints of images like this?
IS it maybe a public-domain issue? (NASA's images belong to US taxpayers) I don't know; I'd have thought that NASA could sell _framed_prints_ whilst making the original images freely available.
there seems to be a freeway that seems to run all the way from Europe through Moscow to China
Possibly the route of the Orient Express? I'd guess that populated areas grew up alongside the railway.
And it looks possible you could drive down the East coast of China to Singapore.
You probably can. I've taken the train from Singapore to Thailand, and I know it's possible to travel - by road, I think, not rail - to China from Thailand.
It's also strange to see how the areas of several countries (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, especially North Korea) don't have any lighting even though their neighbours are extremely well lit.
I was curious about Scotland (posting this from Edinburgh...) which is largely dark as well. The central belt (Glasgow - Edinburgh, via Stirling) is well-lit, but the Highlands, particularly on the West Coast are dark. Geography, I'd guess, in Scotland's case - the region is very mountainous.
That said, other countries being offended by offerings in the USA (like the Koran chant in the video game) need to be scoffed at. Their culture is not the US culture and should not be considered.
Absolutely - provided you don't plan on doing business with them. Saudi Arabia (the country this example refers to) spends a lot of money on software, and I'd guess a fair percentage of that might go to Microsoft. Microsoft would be sensible to remember the maxim "the customer is always right" - even when the customer appears to be wrong according to Microsoft's cultural perspective. Note also that this only became an issue when (a) Microsoft ignored the advice of their own (Muslim) staffmember, and (b) shipped the offending product to the Middle East.
I remember, years ago, a documentary about the making of Star Wars. Apparently the crew on ESB sung a wee ditty about the previous film:
Star Wars,
Paid off the taxes,
Made me a fortune,
Bought me a car!
(I'm sure you can guess the tune...)
As an aside, wasn't Star Wars the first film to highlight the possiblities of merchandising? I find that difficult to believe, but I can't really remember back beyond Star Wars...
Maybe because it's self-governing? Sport seems odd like that: for most events (not the Olympics, but most -all? - others) the UK does not compete: England, Scotland and Wales do instead (and Northern Irish athletes compete with Ireland).
Sport's wierd like that. My advice is to pick just one sport (I picked Women's Beach Volleyball) and stick with it, ignoring all the other nonsense sports fans are supposed to participate in (except maybe drinking beer. Beer's OK.)
Slightly off-topic, but related to boycotts and airport security...
The last time I flew through the USA (stopover at LAX) security asked that I unlock my suitcases, then wave them goodbye (as opposed to searching my bags in front of me, then requiring me to lock them).
When I arrived at Heathrow I was asked if it was possible someone had placed something in my bags - to which I replied "of course - my bags have been unlocked since LAX".
I exercise my option not to fly through LAX anymore.
Note to trolls and fools: I have no problem having my bags searched. My problem arises when I'm required to leave my bags unlocked for the duration of my journey. It's not asking too much to require that my bags be searched in front of me - other airports manage it. Heathrow even managed it when they were searching all bags during the P-IRA and Libyan scares in the 80s.
Hmmm, interesting - thanks for that. I'd still quibble that it's a license to operate equipment, rather than a license to receive content, but 20 years on it's somewhat moot!
Slashdot Mirror
It's set in London, in the country of Oceania.
Pedant: London, the novel's setting, is the capital of the Oceanian province of Airstrip One, the renamed Britain and Ireland. Sorry, pedantic I know, but I always thought Airstrip One was a really cool name for a totalitarian state!
anti-terrorist measures that have been placed there to protect the US Embassy from potential attacks. This protection, which has been there for well over a decade, maybe two, is greater than that afforded to Parliament or even Buckingham Palace. And the number of cameras attached to the building itself. Well, it's like they're going for a record or something.
I visited Cuba a few years ago on a package holiday. Cubans are heavily into photography and everywhere we went we were encouraged to take photos (they'd charge us for bringing in cameras a lot of the time, so it was a nice money spinner ;) Even driving past military facilities we'd have missiles (1960s firecrackers) pointed out to us, and we'd dutifully photgraph them.
The only time we were told photography was forbidden was opposite the US Special Interests Office. We could photograph it from a distance, but not up close where people inside might see us. The Cubans made no effort to "hide" the office, we all knew exactly what it was, it was just that tourists with cameras might be misconstrued as Cuban spies, and the Cubans really did not want the USA thinking British tourists were really Cuban spies.
Ask anyone in the UK whether they would rather have a local bobby or a CCTV camera and the bobby would win every time.
True, but the GP's point still stands - if people are told "we can't afford a beat cop, only CCTV" (read: "your taxes would have to rise to afford a beat cop") they'll gladly "choose" CCTV. My father-in-law cheerfully welcomed razor-wire and CCTV to his council-run tower-block, though there had previously been very few problems. Now the local "neds" (unemployed young people) view the security as "a challenge" and problems like vandalism and theft have risen.
TOTALLY agree. Attempting a citizen's arrest on a greater number of anti-social youths is asking for either (a) an assault on your person, or (b) an unfounded accusation against you.
Of course, this may be different in other countries, but in the UK I'd definitely leave it to the people paid to take risks.
Having just moved to London From New Zealand
Welcome to Britain from a fellow Kiwi! Ironically, I'm seriously considering moving home (after 25 years+ in the UK) because I'm sick of this nonsense.
it is nice to know that perhaps even if just a placebo, they cameras tend to make things a bit safer
Sadly, that's just it: they're placebos. Rising crime statistics? Slap in a CCTV programme! But try actually getting the police to view CCTV footage after a crime's been committed and, in Glasgow at least, it's well-nigh impossible.
I'm sure that CCTV benefits someone... unfortunately, I don't believe it's the general public - unless you happen to work for a security company.
Whoa, dude! I am so glad my girlfriend and other fellow campers don't read /.!
I know a lot of people (lighting and sound engineers, IT folk) who have always carried a Swiss Army knife with them (and those that don't carry a Gerber or similar) as well as numerous floppies, USB sticks, or whatever the storage solution of the day is. This is cool, but that doesn't negate the fact that some people will find them virtually essential.
GPS data? Backup camping photos? MP3s for round the campfire (and if you've ever heard me singing campfire songs you'll know why taking an MP3 player camping is a good idea...)
I thought the same, but the USB drive is removeable, and the rest of the knife will fit in your suitcase.
I'm not convinced I'd agree with "bigger is better" for government projects (well, at least not for government projects that I helped fund ;) but "standardized is better", certainly.
In Scotland, the Common Services Agency (the IT agency that supports the NHS) used Solaris fairly extensively for back-end stuff (or did, 2 years ago). They seemed fairly open (sorry...!) to open-source, especially on the desktop, mainly due to concerns over per-seat-licensing costs. I'd guess they'd be pretty open to JDS/JES at this point?
(As an aside, wouldn't it be great if the NHS developed, I dunno, national strategies, rrather than adopting different platforms for different regions?)
We have been fantisizing about flying cars for generations, but in reality, are they ever going to be practical?
It's not just the practicalities - I've been fantasising about video-phones since I was a child, and yet as soon as the opportunity arose to have one (web-cam, etc) I suddenly thought better of it. I have a sneaking suspicion that my first flying-car is going to be the vehicle that gets me back on public transport - "fly to work with this hangover? No chance!"
I hear you, brother. I suspect the boxes you mention were considered "workstations" as opposed to "desktops" (I seem to remember Apple them as desktops?) but that strikes me as... well, as being economical with the actualities.
It's nice to finally see a government agency...
Sorry, my mistake (corrected by another poster): the ASA is an industry body, not part of gov.uk.
Incidentally, the "first 64bit computer" part of the Apple debacle was one part I never understood - surely we've had 64bit (UltraSparc) workstations since the mid-90s? Slightly less seriously, I've got a 128bit "computer" right now (Play Station 2) - surely that would count against Apple's claim?
Self-regulating groups are usually setup with the intent of keeping the government out by implying that the industry needs no external control.
I'm normally fairly cynical, but in this case self-regulation seems to work. However - it probably doesn't hurt that it's Corporation A and not Advertising Agency B that's getting the flak, though - free publicity for Microsoft, and very little attention paid to the marketdroids responsible.
Are you surprised that statistics can be bought and bartered?
No, we're surprised that a government agency saw through the bullshit and has done something about it.
Incidentally, the ASA is one of Britain's better agencies. It seems to have - some - real power, and doesn't seem to abuse it. Another poster has already mentioned Apple's tussles with the ASA (re: 64bit CPUs, IIRC) and other corporations have also been shouted down by the ASA. I'm sure they've made some bad calls in the past, but I'd be hard-pressed to recall any.
What's stopping NASA from selling prints of images like this?
IS it maybe a public-domain issue? (NASA's images belong to US taxpayers) I don't know; I'd have thought that NASA could sell _framed_prints_ whilst making the original images freely available.
there seems to be a freeway that seems to run all the way from Europe through Moscow to China
Possibly the route of the Orient Express? I'd guess that populated areas grew up alongside the railway.
And it looks possible you could drive down the East coast of China to Singapore.
You probably can. I've taken the train from Singapore to Thailand, and I know it's possible to travel - by road, I think, not rail - to China from Thailand.
It's also strange to see how the areas of several countries (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, especially North Korea) don't have any lighting even though their neighbours are extremely well lit.
I was curious about Scotland (posting this from Edinburgh...) which is largely dark as well. The central belt (Glasgow - Edinburgh, via Stirling) is well-lit, but the Highlands, particularly on the West Coast are dark. Geography, I'd guess, in Scotland's case - the region is very mountainous.
they don't have a word "bad" - only "not good"
Newspeak usage double-plus-un-good: "not" -> "un".
GM had this w/the Chevy Nova, which means 'No Go', and the Mexican market suffered.
Urban Legend, sport.
That said, other countries being offended by offerings in the USA (like the Koran chant in the video game) need to be scoffed at. Their culture is not the US culture and should not be considered.
Absolutely - provided you don't plan on doing business with them. Saudi Arabia (the country this example refers to) spends a lot of money on software, and I'd guess a fair percentage of that might go to Microsoft. Microsoft would be sensible to remember the maxim "the customer is always right" - even when the customer appears to be wrong according to Microsoft's cultural perspective. Note also that this only became an issue when (a) Microsoft ignored the advice of their own (Muslim) staffmember, and (b) shipped the offending product to the Middle East.
I remember, years ago, a documentary about the making of Star Wars. Apparently the crew on ESB sung a wee ditty about the previous film:
Star Wars,
Paid off the taxes,
Made me a fortune,
Bought me a car!
(I'm sure you can guess the tune...)
As an aside, wasn't Star Wars the first film to highlight the possiblities of merchandising? I find that difficult to believe, but I can't really remember back beyond Star Wars...
Why does Puerto Rico have its own Olympic team?
Maybe because it's self-governing? Sport seems odd like that: for most events (not the Olympics, but most -all? - others) the UK does not compete: England, Scotland and Wales do instead (and Northern Irish athletes compete with Ireland).
Sport's wierd like that. My advice is to pick just one sport (I picked Women's Beach Volleyball) and stick with it, ignoring all the other nonsense sports fans are supposed to participate in (except maybe drinking beer. Beer's OK.)
Your baggage were made less safe by LAX security?
...groan! ;)
Slightly off-topic, but related to boycotts and airport security...
The last time I flew through the USA (stopover at LAX) security asked that I unlock my suitcases, then wave them goodbye (as opposed to searching my bags in front of me, then requiring me to lock them).
When I arrived at Heathrow I was asked if it was possible someone had placed something in my bags - to which I replied "of course - my bags have been unlocked since LAX".
I exercise my option not to fly through LAX anymore.
Note to trolls and fools: I have no problem having my bags searched. My problem arises when I'm required to leave my bags unlocked for the duration of my journey. It's not asking too much to require that my bags be searched in front of me - other airports manage it. Heathrow even managed it when they were searching all bags during the P-IRA and Libyan scares in the 80s.
Hmmm, interesting - thanks for that. I'd still quibble that it's a license to operate equipment, rather than a license to receive content, but 20 years on it's somewhat moot!
Thanks again.