Public campaign financing also has problems, but candidates can say almost anything if they pay for it, and not be called on it by the "journalists" at Faux News, unless they are Democrats.
The problem is, with a system like you described, people still have incentive to vote strategically. If you don't give 5 points to the frontrunner against one of the two big parties, then that party gains an advantage if there are multiple "good" candidates. As a result people are less likely to give their highest point vote to the candidate they really want to win, because it makes it more likely the person they least want to win will do so.
I call BS. In 2000 instead of voting for who I wanted to vote for, the Libertarian candidate Harry Brown, I specifically voted against Bush by checking the box next to Gross, er Gore's name. I figured the lesser of two bads was better. But I still LOST! As did 1/2 the population. And because of it thousands have died.
ISP's excuse: We don't support Linux, so there's no reason for enabling you to download it.
Something like this happened to me about a month ago, but not with Linux, it was with Mac OS X. Occasionally when I click on a link or type an addie in the address bar I'll wait and wait then get a message from my ISP, Earthlink, that it can't find the address. It last happened maybe 1/2 hour ago, I first clicked a link to Google and Earthlink said it couldn't find Google. I next type the url in the address bar and got the same message. When I called Earthlink tech support when it first happened I was told they didn't support Macs but that if I was willing to pay they could send a technician to fix it. The person wouldn't even try to diagnose the problem. If I hadn't been using Earthlink for almost 10 years and saved all my email on the server I'd be tempted to switch to an ISP that does support Macs.
As far as storage goes, I was refering to the actual storing of the ghost image, which means you have to image the ENTIRE disk, because only 1% of it is changed because IE or FF was installed. Unless you know of some ghosting program that can 'fill in the blanks' so that you don't need to store the entire disk image.
Doesn't OEMs like Dell and HP already ghost hdds? If not they aren't being efficient. It's much the same as in the music, or movie, industry. Copies are made from the master. A few weeks ago I bought an external hdd and it takes up less space than many of the books I have. And it holds 500GB. Five different PC lines, each with say five different possible configurations, would require 25 of them. WOW, that's a lot of space. NOT!!! Just counting the books around my desk, I have more than a dozen books and magazine holders each, big enough for my external hdd.
Perhaps you need to work on your reading comprehension.
Seems you need not just to work on your reading comprehension but your geometry as well.
maybe I really want Stephen Colbert to win, but I know he won't so my second choice is democrat Joe Biden followed by republican Ron Paul. Above all I don't want Rudy Giuliani to win. With the system you describe, as wit the current system my best strategy is to give all my voting points to whomever is the leading democrat running against Giuliani and thus not vote for any of the people I really want.
With my system I can vote #1 for Ron Paul, who I voted for in 1988, then if there's anyone else I find acceptable I can vote #2 and not vote for Clinton or any right winger or neocon, Christian or otherwise, at all. Voting like this also helps third parties, that number #2 I vote for could be a Libertarian.
All of the points for each candidate is then added up and the one with the highest total wins the presidency with the next highest being elected vice president.
No, that not how the presidential elections were done in the USA. Originally people voted for someone for the Electoral College, which still happens, who says they will vote for candidate X. When the electoral college wnet to the Senate they then voted for president. If there were more than two candidates after the each vote the candidate that received the least number of votes was dropped then another vote was taken, Once there were only two candidate left the last vote elected the president with the looser becoming the vice president. The 12th Amendment changed that so that instead of all candidate running for president, one candidate ran as president and the other as VP. The way it was originally the president could be from one party and the VP from another. However because this reduced political parties's powers they had the 12th added.
Oh, on that electoral college, the college member does not have to vote for who they indicated to begin with. These people are called Faithless Electors. In US history two candidates became president because the electoral college member changed his vote.
I wish we in the US could return to when authority was more decentralized, when the "states" were worthy of the title and counties (not countries but counties) actually had some authority. Now it's pretty much one President governing 300,000,000 people, with Congress occasionally doing something which may or may not be vetoed.
Do you ever suggest people read Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America"? I suggest it some, it's a good read on how people in the USA used to govern and take care of themselves instead depending on big government.
I've always felt that a better way would be to add a "none of the above" option to the ballot. Right now, either you like Candidate A or Candidate B, and if you don't like either one, you might as well stay home, or vote the lesser of evils. If you could actually record your sentiments, we might get better candidates.
Instead, perhaps what could be done is to allow voters to grade each candidate. Say there are 5 candidates, and the voters wants Candidate A to win, they could then give A 5 points. Then they could give the next one a 4, or nothing. All of the points for each candidate is then added up and the one with the highest total wins the presidency with the next highest being elected vice president. Of course if people have problems with hanging chads then they will have more problems with this.
Leaving the choice to the end user, that just wants to use the computer, not figure out which browser they should pick... especially since they all do the same thing. That's my point; if you want the OEM to set one up, now you need three images, increasing by quite a bit the amount of storage the OEM needs to keep the images.
Unlike you, who apparently wants, to limit choice, I prefer to expand choice. The amount of storage needed? I didn't know browsers grew into such bloatware they now require many gigabytes of storage space. WOW, They grew so fast seeing as how the folder I have Firefox installed in on my new MBP is less than 50MB. My smallest USB stick can hold 5 of them, and it is only a third as big as a cdrom disk.
And the fact that Apple just cut support for Cocoa bindings for Java just cinched that I won't be using Xcode for anything.
XCode at least creates universal code, that can be used on both PPC and Intel based Macs. As for Java, other than applets for the web I don't plan on using it. Now I don't know Objective C But I guess programming in it is rather easy if you know C/C++. I'm also thinking of trying out the new Free Pascal and would like to try programming in Smalltalk. Eclipse may be easy to use with these other languages, but as I state in my first sentence above XCode can create universal code and I bet PPC Macs will be around for a few more years.
Nonsense! What about all those Windows recovery CDs? You just insert it into the drive, boot with it and soon the system is returned to exactly the same state as when you got it from the store.
People still want the computer to just run when they get it home. Those recovery disk are just for that, "recovery". They are used only after the system has crashed, not to install the OS to begin with. And I bet most of the tyme an individual uses one is when tech support tells them to.
As a matter of fact, the "recovery CD approach" would allow retailers to deliver all their PCs with CDs for multiple operating systems, which would then the customers could go home and choose which ever one they wanted to install. This could be any number of Windows or Linux flavors, or even BSD. All would install to an initial state, except that the Windows versions would also require registration and a credit card payment before they would work.
Did you compleatly read my post? Though I didn't use as many words that's what I said in my last two sentences.
Better yet, prevent retailers from bundling operating systems with new computers
A BIG problem with this is that most people when they buy a new computer they just want to plug it in when they get home and have it work out of the box. Maybe it would help if a new computer came with different OSes came on disk. A Windows disk, maybe two or three different versions, and disks for different versions of Linux and BSD. However I seriously doubt most people ever want to install an OS unless they call tech support and the tech walks them through reinstalling Windows.
Hey, perhaps that's an idea that might work, OEMs shipping computers with these disks then allow the user to decide which one to use. When booted up the first tyme a screen asks which OS the user wants. The user selects one then it asks for the correct disk and installs the OS.
The answer to your question is yes, especially with regard to excell and powerpoint. I have no doubt that there are some specific files it may not work with but that is also true of MSO itself.
Yeap, even a document created with a new, newer, version of MSO an older version may not be able to open it. Years ago when I did use Office 97 someone sent me an MSO document I couldn't open with '97 and have it display properly. because it was created with a newer version. Someone directed me to download and install an MS plugin to read it.
Sure you can- get rid of the corporate veil. For every $100,000 a company is fined, the CEO and board of directors must stay 1 month in jail, with no possibility of parole. Watch corporations follow the law instantly.
Even better, void the Corporate Charter. Corporate charters were originally granted only if the corporation served the public good. However as corporations gained power they were able to have the public good requirements removed.
OEMs don't want to waste time installing three different programs that do the same thing. So if IE is forced to be removed, browsers now will have to pay OEMs to be placed on as the browser.
I don't see having three different programs as being a problem. All an OEM would need to do is create one disk image with all three then use it to clone it on each hdd installed on a PC, "do once, use anywhere". If OEMs aren't already doing this, minus the three different programs, then they need to work on improving their workflows.
>In turn, the notion that other people can't markup or change my text has a psychological impact on me.
Sometimes you have to be careful with this. A one-shot-or-you-blow-it medical school application is one thing, and a memo to your subordinates in the office you manage is another.
If they are your subordinates you can ask, or tell, them to use OO. The problem is if it it your boss, then you can't just tell them that. To tell the truth it shouldn't matter what app is used, all that matters is what file format is used, if you use a closed and proprietary format then you're locked into that however if you use an open format then any app should be usable.
I use OpenOffice. I inquired about it at the Mac store but they made it seem like a big deal to install X11
I've installed X11 but still installed NeoOffice instead of OpenOffice. Then again I also installed the XCode development tools so I can start developing for the Mac.
True, OO can open some Office formats, but does it open and can save MSO formats other than.doc? Such as the spreadsheet or Powerpoint, both older versions as well as newer ones? I don't know if it can.
Personally I don't use MSO, I've got Office 97 for Windows, I used some years ago but now I've got NeoOffice on my Mac. I don't have much use for it right now, so what editing I do I use TextEdit for.
That's frickin' rude, man. Seriously, if I was doing business with you, especially where I was paying you, and you sent me some link to a new office suite because you sent me documents I couldn't read, I would cease to do business with your company.
Its one thing to stick to your principles, but to force someone to adopt a different office suite when there are other alternatives to.doc (like RTF, PDF, and HTML) or even official converters [sun.com] for MS Office provided by Sun is just uncalled for.
What I find rude is requiring someone, especially one running a small business, to buy an expensive product to read, and maybe edit, your document.
The resolution of a normal 35mm SLR is comparable to that of a 6MP DSLR - which have been out for quite a while now.
Try making an 8 1/2" X 11" print out from a 6MP camera, then try to make a 14" printout without using any up rez software. You may be able to do the first with a 6MP camera but the second one will have a lot of artifacts in the print. On the other hand I've made prints from film at 14" without artifacts. I've even made prints on an 8 1/2 by 11 exposing only half of the film frame to the sheet. Fact is is 35 mm film exposures can be used to make bigger prints without artifacts than any 6MP camera.
Third-party RAM obviously isn't covered, but putting in third-party RAM will not make the rest of your computer uncovered. Anyway, if it is an issue (and it's not), just put in the original RAM before giving the thing to Apple if it breaks.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking, just remove the added ram before taking it in.
I believe you're quoting from the Maskin paper, not the Yao paper I'm referring to.
I didn't finish the study you linked to, of the 29 pages I've only read the first 5, but it seems he thinks patents are good. Weak patents better than nothing, but strong patents are better from what I've read so far.
I just saved the study to my hdd and will finish it later. I'll then search for more studies on patents. I don't particularly agree with patents but depending on what I find I may support them later, reformed though. For instance if more than one person at the same tyme come up with an invention, it's not right for those who invented something independently to be shutout because they didn't file for or get a patent before someone else did.
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Public campaign financing also has problems, but candidates can say almost anything if they pay for it, and not be called on it by the "journalists" at Faux News, unless they are Democrats.
Or republican.
FalconThe problem is, with a system like you described, people still have incentive to vote strategically. If you don't give 5 points to the frontrunner against one of the two big parties, then that party gains an advantage if there are multiple "good" candidates. As a result people are less likely to give their highest point vote to the candidate they really want to win, because it makes it more likely the person they least want to win will do so.
I call BS. In 2000 instead of voting for who I wanted to vote for, the Libertarian candidate Harry Brown, I specifically voted against Bush by checking the box next to Gross, er Gore's name. I figured the lesser of two bads was better. But I still LOST! As did 1/2 the population. And because of it thousands have died.
FalconISP's excuse: We don't support Linux, so there's no reason for enabling you to download it.
Something like this happened to me about a month ago, but not with Linux, it was with Mac OS X. Occasionally when I click on a link or type an addie in the address bar I'll wait and wait then get a message from my ISP, Earthlink, that it can't find the address. It last happened maybe 1/2 hour ago, I first clicked a link to Google and Earthlink said it couldn't find Google. I next type the url in the address bar and got the same message. When I called Earthlink tech support when it first happened I was told they didn't support Macs but that if I was willing to pay they could send a technician to fix it. The person wouldn't even try to diagnose the problem. If I hadn't been using Earthlink for almost 10 years and saved all my email on the server I'd be tempted to switch to an ISP that does support Macs.
FalconAs far as storage goes, I was refering to the actual storing of the ghost image, which means you have to image the ENTIRE disk, because only 1% of it is changed because IE or FF was installed. Unless you know of some ghosting program that can 'fill in the blanks' so that you don't need to store the entire disk image.
Doesn't OEMs like Dell and HP already ghost hdds? If not they aren't being efficient. It's much the same as in the music, or movie, industry. Copies are made from the master. A few weeks ago I bought an external hdd and it takes up less space than many of the books I have. And it holds 500GB. Five different PC lines, each with say five different possible configurations, would require 25 of them. WOW, that's a lot of space. NOT!!! Just counting the books around my desk, I have more than a dozen books and magazine holders each, big enough for my external hdd.
Perhaps you need to work on your reading comprehension.
Seems you need not just to work on your reading comprehension but your geometry as well.
Falconmaybe I really want Stephen Colbert to win, but I know he won't so my second choice is democrat Joe Biden followed by republican Ron Paul. Above all I don't want Rudy Giuliani to win. With the system you describe, as wit the current system my best strategy is to give all my voting points to whomever is the leading democrat running against Giuliani and thus not vote for any of the people I really want.
With my system I can vote #1 for Ron Paul, who I voted for in 1988, then if there's anyone else I find acceptable I can vote #2 and not vote for Clinton or any right winger or neocon, Christian or otherwise, at all. Voting like this also helps third parties, that number #2 I vote for could be a Libertarian.
FalconAll of the points for each candidate is then added up and the one with the highest total wins the presidency with the next highest being elected vice president.
Actually, that is how 'we' orignally picked our President and Vice-President, this was changed by the 12th Amendment
No, that not how the presidential elections were done in the USA. Originally people voted for someone for the Electoral College, which still happens, who says they will vote for candidate X. When the electoral college wnet to the Senate they then voted for president. If there were more than two candidates after the each vote the candidate that received the least number of votes was dropped then another vote was taken, Once there were only two candidate left the last vote elected the president with the looser becoming the vice president. The 12th Amendment changed that so that instead of all candidate running for president, one candidate ran as president and the other as VP. The way it was originally the president could be from one party and the VP from another. However because this reduced political parties's powers they had the 12th added.
Oh, on that electoral college, the college member does not have to vote for who they indicated to begin with. These people are called Faithless Electors. In US history two candidates became president because the electoral college member changed his vote.
FalconAs long as we're not allowing citizens to vote by mail, we're safe.
Ah but the US does allow voting by mail, it's called Absentee ballots. It is the only way those in the military as well as others can vote.
FalconI wish we in the US could return to when authority was more decentralized, when the "states" were worthy of the title and counties (not countries but counties) actually had some authority. Now it's pretty much one President governing 300,000,000 people, with Congress occasionally doing something which may or may not be vetoed.
Do you ever suggest people read Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America"? I suggest it some, it's a good read on how people in the USA used to govern and take care of themselves instead depending on big government.
FalconI've always felt that a better way would be to add a "none of the above" option to the ballot. Right now, either you like Candidate A or Candidate B, and if you don't like either one, you might as well stay home, or vote the lesser of evils. If you could actually record your sentiments, we might get better candidates.
Instead, perhaps what could be done is to allow voters to grade each candidate. Say there are 5 candidates, and the voters wants Candidate A to win, they could then give A 5 points. Then they could give the next one a 4, or nothing. All of the points for each candidate is then added up and the one with the highest total wins the presidency with the next highest being elected vice president. Of course if people have problems with hanging chads then they will have more problems with this.
FalconLeaving the choice to the end user, that just wants to use the computer, not figure out which browser they should pick... especially since they all do the same thing. That's my point; if you want the OEM to set one up, now you need three images, increasing by quite a bit the amount of storage the OEM needs to keep the images.
Unlike you, who apparently wants, to limit choice, I prefer to expand choice. The amount of storage needed? I didn't know browsers grew into such bloatware they now require many gigabytes of storage space. WOW, They grew so fast seeing as how the folder I have Firefox installed in on my new MBP is less than 50MB. My smallest USB stick can hold 5 of them, and it is only a third as big as a cdrom disk.
FalconAnd the fact that Apple just cut support for Cocoa bindings for Java just cinched that I won't be using Xcode for anything.
XCode at least creates universal code, that can be used on both PPC and Intel based Macs. As for Java, other than applets for the web I don't plan on using it. Now I don't know Objective C But I guess programming in it is rather easy if you know C/C++. I'm also thinking of trying out the new Free Pascal and would like to try programming in Smalltalk. Eclipse may be easy to use with these other languages, but as I state in my first sentence above XCode can create universal code and I bet PPC Macs will be around for a few more years.
FalconNonsense! What about all those Windows recovery CDs? You just insert it into the drive, boot with it and soon the system is returned to exactly the same state as when you got it from the store.
People still want the computer to just run when they get it home. Those recovery disk are just for that, "recovery". They are used only after the system has crashed, not to install the OS to begin with. And I bet most of the tyme an individual uses one is when tech support tells them to.
As a matter of fact, the "recovery CD approach" would allow retailers to deliver all their PCs with CDs for multiple operating systems, which would then the customers could go home and choose which ever one they wanted to install. This could be any number of Windows or Linux flavors, or even BSD. All would install to an initial state, except that the Windows versions would also require registration and a credit card payment before they would work.
Did you compleatly read my post? Though I didn't use as many words that's what I said in my last two sentences.
FalconBetter yet, prevent retailers from bundling operating systems with new computers
A BIG problem with this is that most people when they buy a new computer they just want to plug it in when they get home and have it work out of the box. Maybe it would help if a new computer came with different OSes came on disk. A Windows disk, maybe two or three different versions, and disks for different versions of Linux and BSD. However I seriously doubt most people ever want to install an OS unless they call tech support and the tech walks them through reinstalling Windows.
Hey, perhaps that's an idea that might work, OEMs shipping computers with these disks then allow the user to decide which one to use. When booted up the first tyme a screen asks which OS the user wants. The user selects one then it asks for the correct disk and installs the OS.
FalconThe answer to your question is yes, especially with regard to excell and powerpoint. I have no doubt that there are some specific files it may not work with but that is also true of MSO itself.
Yeap, even a document created with a new, newer, version of MSO an older version may not be able to open it. Years ago when I did use Office 97 someone sent me an MSO document I couldn't open with '97 and have it display properly. because it was created with a newer version. Someone directed me to download and install an MS plugin to read it.
FalconThe logical solution then is to order Firefox be preinstalled on all copies of Windows
Why not also require Opera, along with every other browser, to be installed?
FalconSure you can- get rid of the corporate veil. For every $100,000 a company is fined, the CEO and board of directors must stay 1 month in jail, with no possibility of parole. Watch corporations follow the law instantly.
Even better, void the Corporate Charter. Corporate charters were originally granted only if the corporation served the public good. However as corporations gained power they were able to have the public good requirements removed.
FalconOEMs don't want to waste time installing three different programs that do the same thing. So if IE is forced to be removed, browsers now will have to pay OEMs to be placed on as the browser.
I don't see having three different programs as being a problem. All an OEM would need to do is create one disk image with all three then use it to clone it on each hdd installed on a PC, "do once, use anywhere". If OEMs aren't already doing this, minus the three different programs, then they need to work on improving their workflows.
Falcon>In turn, the notion that other people can't markup or change my text has a psychological impact on me.
Sometimes you have to be careful with this. A one-shot-or-you-blow-it medical school application is one thing, and a memo to your subordinates in the office you manage is another.
If they are your subordinates you can ask, or tell, them to use OO. The problem is if it it your boss, then you can't just tell them that. To tell the truth it shouldn't matter what app is used, all that matters is what file format is used, if you use a closed and proprietary format then you're locked into that however if you use an open format then any app should be usable.
FalconI use OpenOffice. I inquired about it at the Mac store but they made it seem like a big deal to install X11
I've installed X11 but still installed NeoOffice instead of OpenOffice. Then again I also installed the XCode development tools so I can start developing for the Mac.
FalconTrue, OO can open some Office formats, but does it open and can save MSO formats other than .doc? Such as the spreadsheet or Powerpoint, both older versions as well as newer ones? I don't know if it can.
Personally I don't use MSO, I've got Office 97 for Windows, I used some years ago but now I've got NeoOffice on my Mac. I don't have much use for it right now, so what editing I do I use TextEdit for.
FalconDo you use Open Office or NeoOffice? Though I haven't used it much I have NeoOffice installed.
FalconThat's frickin' rude, man. Seriously, if I was doing business with you, especially where I was paying you, and you sent me some link to a new office suite because you sent me documents I couldn't read, I would cease to do business with your company.
Its one thing to stick to your principles, but to force someone to adopt a different office suite when there are other alternatives to .doc (like RTF, PDF, and HTML) or even official converters [sun.com] for MS Office provided by Sun is just uncalled for.
What I find rude is requiring someone, especially one running a small business, to buy an expensive product to read, and maybe edit, your document.
FalconThe resolution of a normal 35mm SLR is comparable to that of a 6MP DSLR - which have been out for quite a while now.
Try making an 8 1/2" X 11" print out from a 6MP camera, then try to make a 14" printout without using any up rez software. You may be able to do the first with a 6MP camera but the second one will have a lot of artifacts in the print. On the other hand I've made prints from film at 14" without artifacts. I've even made prints on an 8 1/2 by 11 exposing only half of the film frame to the sheet. Fact is is 35 mm film exposures can be used to make bigger prints without artifacts than any 6MP camera.
FalconThird-party RAM obviously isn't covered, but putting in third-party RAM will not make the rest of your computer uncovered. Anyway, if it is an issue (and it's not), just put in the original RAM before giving the thing to Apple if it breaks.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking, just remove the added ram before taking it in.
FalconI believe you're quoting from the Maskin paper, not the Yao paper I'm referring to.
I didn't finish the study you linked to, of the 29 pages I've only read the first 5, but it seems he thinks patents are good. Weak patents better than nothing, but strong patents are better from what I've read so far.
I just saved the study to my hdd and will finish it later. I'll then search for more studies on patents. I don't particularly agree with patents but depending on what I find I may support them later, reformed though. For instance if more than one person at the same tyme come up with an invention, it's not right for those who invented something independently to be shutout because they didn't file for or get a patent before someone else did.
Falcon