This man is actually helping the citizens of our country win the war against government spying. See, it goes one of two ways when it comes to the big freedom grab.
[The Bad Way] 1. A very suave and sophisticated individual quietly introduces a small bill that only takes a little chunk out of our privacy. His/her/it's arguements are pretty good, and the concessions asked for are minor. 2. This bill passes. 3. Nobody notices. 4. Repeat this process until, finally, the bad guys have reached their goal of making "1984" look like a fairy tale about the good old days.
[The Good Way] 1. Some flambouyant a-hole like this gets up on his soap box and says: "Camera's everywhere! I want a camera in everyone's workplace, home, school, car, rectum..." 2. We say "What about freedom/privacy and all of that?" 3. He says "I didn't get that whole memo about freedom/privacy. In fact, I think you're just making this up give me a hard time. I'm referring you to my supervisors! And auditing you! And arresting you for "obstructing justice"! And shooting you for attempting escape!" GATCK! GATCK! 4. Generally, people get pissed about this type of behaviour, and defacate into the appropriate mailboxes to make this proposal go away. 5. When anybody mentions anything that even looks like this crap again, people are less willing to compromise because of the stigma associated with what just happened. 6. We win, and have a Tequila brunch.
The moral of this story? If you want to win, take sides with the government! Do so in a way that is stupid! Look like an a-hole, and paint all of your new "friends" with the same brush! Be outrageous! Make every stupid little program to take a little more freedom look like the avalanche of doom that it really is!
Why is it every time I read about some new techno gidgit that going to revolutionize our lives, I think about the Japanese? Once you run out of coolness in your toys, you get things like Karaoke.
This is even better.
"The Uranus Experiment Part Two was placed on the Nebula ballot by a bloc of writers who were (1) protesting the fact that the SFWA members voted to re-institute the Dramatic Nebula award, and (2) thought it would be 'fun' to put a hardcore porn film on the ballot," said Ann C. Crispin, SFWA vice president.
Terrorists win by undermining the people's confidence in their governments, in an effort to get them to change their policies.
Well, guess what! My confidence in my government has gone down MARKEDLY since they have decided to implement "protective" policies that fuck me out of my Constitutional freedoms. Like that whole right to a trial thing! And no unreasonable search and siezure! So who is winning here!
That's right...the terrorists ARE winning here. Why? Because our government is too stupid to realize that the ONLY proper response to terrorism is dignity, and unity! Instead, they have chosen to follow their inborn political instinct to steal more freedom from their sheeple.
Drive a 1994 Nissan Pickup truck some day, and say that again in relation to that particular model. We managed to get a 60 degree drop out of it. We let it run for 3 minutes when the outside temp was 96 degrees. The interior temp, with the A/C on high, was 36. And yes, it used R-134.:-)
If you view this from the tech view, you can go, "Eh....That's nice."
Instead, view it in a geopolitical view. Mixed with Gaming, if you want a more geeky view of this.
Can you say "We Soak that Damage, You Cretin!"? An "eco-city" with heavily integrated, independent, redundant, and self-sufficient societal support systems can take a HUGE amount of damage physically before it stops functioning.
WORLD WAR III COORDINATOR: "Well, lets just bomb their power plants."
INTEL GUY: "What power plants?"
WORLD WAR III COORDINATOR: "Shit. Well, bomb their water treatment plants."
INTEL GUY: "Yes, sir. I'll get a bunker busting smart bomb queued up for every building in their cities."
WORLD WAR III COORDINATOR: "Shit. Well, how are things going on the west coast?"
INTEL GUY: "Well, the blew out our infrastructure stuff in Cali as soon as their troops landed on the San Fransciso bay. We were sitting ducks. Man, we sure didn't see those troop carrier subs coming. Talk about balls. And we can't really nuke LA at this point, can we?"
Think "long term" here, guys. This is like a game of chess. Or Poker. You don't always have to win every battle, but if you make more correct decisions than your enemy you will eventually win.
For example:
Bring more of your friends to the fight. Duh. China has us nailed there.
Bring better weapons. We still got china nailed there, but for how long guys? How much of our high tech electronics crap is made there? And how many US students do you see studying heavy engineering topics?
And finally, be able to take more hits. Hehehehehe. China would WELCOME us nuking 300 million of their people! Add to that a policy for building hardened, semi-underground cities that can take a serious ass kicking and still deliver a smile...
Who seems to be making more of the right decisions here, folks?
I've had both. And you know what? Both of them were pretty nice. The iBook had all sorts of ergonomics design built into it. But, the IBM laptop ran my beloved Linux OS with no qualms about wireless.
Know what else? I sold em both. Why? I cant stand using a desktop anymore that doesn't have two or even three 1600x1200 displays. Crazy what multi-head does to a man after a while.
Insted of a laptop, now when I absolutely need one to do my work while in the field, I just look at the trees and read a book. Then, my business partner shows up and takes care of those things that I did not. Then I blow an all nighter coding or doing advertising instead. Eh.
Nah. Don't forget the corporate mindset of avoiding liability at all costs. A rectal internal vein scan for positive identification would add all sorts of nasty possibilities for liability.
A) You rectal scan someone, and find they have rectal cancer. What do you do here? Send them a letter? "Thank you for visiting the DisneyWorldTimeWarnerAolParamountDreamworksCNNVeri zonChinaTelecom theme park. Unfortunately, or RectalScan2000 machine has determined that you have rectal cancer. To help you in dealing with your grief, we are offering you tickets to our park at 50% off. Because the spread of rectal cancer is still a medium that we largely don't understand, please do not use our restrooms should you decide to visit again."
Or even better, do you have a giant Rectal Cancer light right there in the probing stall? You know, the little unhappy smiley face that looks constipated? It's not even an option!
b)The spread of AIDS would become a real problem. The regular anal probe is only the size and shape of a baseball bat. One with a camera in it would have to be made out of a telephone pole, which is much harder to sanitize correctly.
c)Don't forget all of the "You found the Virgin Mary in one of your rectal scans, and kept it secret from the public!" lawsuits.
This list goes on and on. Instead, the corporate lawyers have just recommended that they stick to a simple "Wham Bam, thank you Mickey!" rectal probe to give people a listing impression of their stay at the Big D.
I know I should have posted this anonymously, but...heh. What's another lawsuit? Get in line!
Hold a top of the line Apple Laptop in your hands, and a top of the line PC laptop in your hands. Feel how each are built, and how they work. Pretty similar, huh?
Hold a $999 Apple Ibook up to a $999 Hateway El Cheapo Breakum 1000 model from Circuit Sh!tty. Pretty dissimilar, huh?
There IS something to be said for good design and quality control.
Actually, my earlier comment was that I will pay attention to the debate between Linux and Windows security issues when I get a virus on my Linux box.
By "countering his point", I would have to enter said debate. This would be similar to the phrase, "I won't dignify that with a response."
So I don't.:-) I have no need to debate Linux security vs. Windows security, as I am comfortable where I am with what I use.
I hear taps playing now. Whup....Here comes the 21 Gun Salute. Where is everyone else, though? This funeral is mighty sparse. The only other person here is Bill Gates....pointing...and laughing evilly. Hrm.
Problem 1: Power
Problem 2: Ruggedness
Solution 1: Get a car inverter. Many of the overseas autos you'll be using will have a power accessory pack that you can plug in to. Problem reduced. Also, bring enough batteries for your gear to kill one of your Camels.
Solution 2: Get a Panasonic Toughbook off of Ebay. Like a CF-72 or CF-28. And then get a stack of batteries.
As for the GPS unit, just get something with a good computer interface, and there you go. Magellan, Garmin...who cares? As long as you have that car charger and that stack of batteries.
Thar ya go.
Ebay is the ultimate yard sale. I can't believe how much stuff I buy and sell there. It's not as good as the old days, but it's still quality.
Thankful am I, for I listen mostly to classical music (and I don't live in the UK). It's commonly available in a cheap manner.
Ooh...if you like good instrumentals, you should look up Yasunori Mitsuda. He makes a lot the tracks for SquareSoft's stuff. Esp. his stuff for Chrono Cross was good.
Ahh....but....if the outhouse costs a quarter, and the extra-splintery log over the snake pit is free...and, well, you only get bitten by the snakes on the arse every once in a while..
But these two aren't totally analogous. Downloading music illegally is pretty easy. But, after you have iTunes all setup, using the Music store is more seamless.
a) Zip the music down, grab your iPod, and go.
Instead of,
b)search for it on the illegal file shares, get 250 results, find the result that was RIAA hacked, download it, move it to the mounted storage device that your MP3 player shows up as, get in your car and start driving on a long trip to Zimbabwe before realizing that the awful noise you are hearing isn't your cell phone having a siezure...
This is more to my point I suppose.
Slashdot Mirror
This man is actually helping the citizens of our country win the war against government spying. See, it goes one of two ways when it comes to the big freedom grab.
[The Bad Way]
1. A very suave and sophisticated individual quietly introduces a small bill that only takes a little chunk out of our privacy. His/her/it's arguements are pretty good, and the concessions asked for are minor.
2. This bill passes.
3. Nobody notices.
4. Repeat this process until, finally, the bad guys have reached their goal of making "1984" look like a fairy tale about the good old days.
[The Good Way]
1. Some flambouyant a-hole like this gets up on his soap box and says: "Camera's everywhere! I want a camera in everyone's workplace, home, school, car, rectum..."
2. We say "What about freedom/privacy and all of that?"
3. He says "I didn't get that whole memo about freedom/privacy. In fact, I think you're just making this up give me a hard time. I'm referring you to my supervisors! And auditing you! And arresting you for "obstructing justice"! And shooting you for attempting escape!" GATCK! GATCK!
4. Generally, people get pissed about this type of behaviour, and defacate into the appropriate mailboxes to make this proposal go away.
5. When anybody mentions anything that even looks like this crap again, people are less willing to compromise because of the stigma associated with what just happened.
6. We win, and have a Tequila brunch.
The moral of this story? If you want to win, take sides with the government! Do so in a way that is stupid! Look like an a-hole, and paint all of your new "friends" with the same brush! Be outrageous! Make every stupid little program to take a little more freedom look like the avalanche of doom that it really is!
Why is it every time I read about some new techno gidgit that going to revolutionize our lives, I think about the Japanese? Once you run out of coolness in your toys, you get things like Karaoke.
Well, if you watch Hellsing (the anime), it compels you to drink blood and kill innocents. Way to go Intel!
This is even better. "The Uranus Experiment Part Two was placed on the Nebula ballot by a bloc of writers who were (1) protesting the fact that the SFWA members voted to re-institute the Dramatic Nebula award, and (2) thought it would be 'fun' to put a hardcore porn film on the ballot," said Ann C. Crispin, SFWA vice president.
Welcome our new elderly overlords.
Terrorists win by undermining the people's confidence in their governments, in an effort to get them to change their policies.
Well, guess what! My confidence in my government has gone down MARKEDLY since they have decided to implement "protective" policies that fuck me out of my Constitutional freedoms. Like that whole right to a trial thing! And no unreasonable search and siezure! So who is winning here!
That's right...the terrorists ARE winning here. Why? Because our government is too stupid to realize that the ONLY proper response to terrorism is dignity, and unity! Instead, they have chosen to follow their inborn political instinct to steal more freedom from their sheeple.
Thanks. Don't forget to tip your waitress.
I was going to say something mean about technical report writing, but I can't really describe correctly exactly how I feel about this subject.
I see this, and all I can think is: "Blue Screen of Death."
Hehe..Your website points to www.bigbrother.net. :-)
"Better to have one...federal....law to simplify things."
Isn't that a quote from 1984 Redux?
Drive a 1994 Nissan Pickup truck some day, and say that again in relation to that particular model. We managed to get a 60 degree drop out of it. We let it run for 3 minutes when the outside temp was 96 degrees. The interior temp, with the A/C on high, was 36. And yes, it used R-134. :-)
If you view this from the tech view, you can go, "Eh....That's nice."
Instead, view it in a geopolitical view. Mixed with Gaming, if you want a more geeky view of this.
Can you say "We Soak that Damage, You Cretin!"? An "eco-city" with heavily integrated, independent, redundant, and self-sufficient societal support systems can take a HUGE amount of damage physically before it stops functioning.
WORLD WAR III COORDINATOR: "Well, lets just bomb their power plants."
INTEL GUY: "What power plants?"
WORLD WAR III COORDINATOR: "Shit. Well, bomb their water treatment plants."
INTEL GUY: "Yes, sir. I'll get a bunker busting smart bomb queued up for every building in their cities."
WORLD WAR III COORDINATOR: "Shit. Well, how are things going on the west coast?"
INTEL GUY: "Well, the blew out our infrastructure stuff in Cali as soon as their troops landed on the San Fransciso bay. We were sitting ducks. Man, we sure didn't see those troop carrier subs coming. Talk about balls. And we can't really nuke LA at this point, can we?"
Think "long term" here, guys. This is like a game of chess. Or Poker. You don't always have to win every battle, but if you make more correct decisions than your enemy you will eventually win.
For example:
Bring more of your friends to the fight. Duh. China has us nailed there.
Bring better weapons. We still got china nailed there, but for how long guys? How much of our high tech electronics crap is made there? And how many US students do you see studying heavy engineering topics?
And finally, be able to take more hits. Hehehehehe. China would WELCOME us nuking 300 million of their people! Add to that a policy for building hardened, semi-underground cities that can take a serious ass kicking and still deliver a smile...
Who seems to be making more of the right decisions here, folks?
I've had both. And you know what? Both of them were pretty nice. The iBook had all sorts of ergonomics design built into it. But, the IBM laptop ran my beloved Linux OS with no qualms about wireless.
Know what else? I sold em both. Why? I cant stand using a desktop anymore that doesn't have two or even three 1600x1200 displays. Crazy what multi-head does to a man after a while.
Insted of a laptop, now when I absolutely need one to do my work while in the field, I just look at the trees and read a book. Then, my business partner shows up and takes care of those things that I did not. Then I blow an all nighter coding or doing advertising instead. Eh.
Nah. Don't forget the corporate mindset of avoiding liability at all costs. A rectal internal vein scan for positive identification would add all sorts of nasty possibilities for liability.
i zonChinaTelecom theme park. Unfortunately, or RectalScan2000 machine has determined that you have rectal cancer. To help you in dealing with your grief, we are offering you tickets to our park at 50% off. Because the spread of rectal cancer is still a medium that we largely don't understand, please do not use our restrooms should you decide to visit again."
A) You rectal scan someone, and find they have rectal cancer. What do you do here? Send them a letter? "Thank you for visiting the DisneyWorldTimeWarnerAolParamountDreamworksCNNVer
Or even better, do you have a giant Rectal Cancer light right there in the probing stall? You know, the little unhappy smiley face that looks constipated? It's not even an option!
b)The spread of AIDS would become a real problem. The regular anal probe is only the size and shape of a baseball bat. One with a camera in it would have to be made out of a telephone pole, which is much harder to sanitize correctly.
c)Don't forget all of the "You found the Virgin Mary in one of your rectal scans, and kept it secret from the public!" lawsuits.
This list goes on and on. Instead, the corporate lawyers have just recommended that they stick to a simple "Wham Bam, thank you Mickey!" rectal probe to give people a listing impression of their stay at the Big D.
I know I should have posted this anonymously, but...heh. What's another lawsuit? Get in line!
Or, imagine Missle Command meets Google Maps. Wuhahahahahahaa!
Hold a top of the line Apple Laptop in your hands, and a top of the line PC laptop in your hands. Feel how each are built, and how they work. Pretty similar, huh?
Hold a $999 Apple Ibook up to a $999 Hateway El Cheapo Breakum 1000 model from Circuit Sh!tty. Pretty dissimilar, huh?
There IS something to be said for good design and quality control.
Actually, my earlier comment was that I will pay attention to the debate between Linux and Windows security issues when I get a virus on my Linux box. By "countering his point", I would have to enter said debate. This would be similar to the phrase, "I won't dignify that with a response." So I don't. :-) I have no need to debate Linux security vs. Windows security, as I am comfortable where I am with what I use.
I hear taps playing now. Whup....Here comes the 21 Gun Salute. Where is everyone else, though? This funeral is mighty sparse. The only other person here is Bill Gates....pointing...and laughing evilly. Hrm.
Problem 1: Power Problem 2: Ruggedness Solution 1: Get a car inverter. Many of the overseas autos you'll be using will have a power accessory pack that you can plug in to. Problem reduced. Also, bring enough batteries for your gear to kill one of your Camels. Solution 2: Get a Panasonic Toughbook off of Ebay. Like a CF-72 or CF-28. And then get a stack of batteries. As for the GPS unit, just get something with a good computer interface, and there you go. Magellan, Garmin...who cares? As long as you have that car charger and that stack of batteries. Thar ya go.
Hate to be mean, but a program that spreads via illicit means and damages your files or transmits personal data without your permission is a virus.
So, when you say "I have Windows on my machine.", I actually hear "nasty computer virus".
A budding draconian organization tries to take powers away from an established draconian organization.
And who wins here? No.
I'll start paying attention to the Linux vs. Windows security debate the next time I get a virus on my Linux box. Nuff said.
Ebay is the ultimate yard sale. I can't believe how much stuff I buy and sell there. It's not as good as the old days, but it's still quality. Thankful am I, for I listen mostly to classical music (and I don't live in the UK). It's commonly available in a cheap manner. Ooh...if you like good instrumentals, you should look up Yasunori Mitsuda. He makes a lot the tracks for SquareSoft's stuff. Esp. his stuff for Chrono Cross was good.
Ahh....but....if the outhouse costs a quarter, and the extra-splintery log over the snake pit is free...and, well, you only get bitten by the snakes on the arse every once in a while.. But these two aren't totally analogous. Downloading music illegally is pretty easy. But, after you have iTunes all setup, using the Music store is more seamless. a) Zip the music down, grab your iPod, and go. Instead of, b)search for it on the illegal file shares, get 250 results, find the result that was RIAA hacked, download it, move it to the mounted storage device that your MP3 player shows up as, get in your car and start driving on a long trip to Zimbabwe before realizing that the awful noise you are hearing isn't your cell phone having a siezure... This is more to my point I suppose.
Uhm...Isn't your .sig a Yoda comment?