Writing code in a SCIF sucks. You won't have Internet access and any code you write can't be taken out of the room unless there is a trusted download process in place (and even then, it isn't easy.)
Usually you are just patching code and debugging in a SKIF as opposed to writing tons of brand new software, but it still sucks.
The strip club across the street that is modeled after a UFO is a lot more geek friendly though. What geek doesn't dream of getting a lap dance in a UFO?
Regarding the other point you made: there are a lot of economists that say a lot of things.
Exactly. "Economist" is about as broad a term as "Politician". Personally, I identify with the Austrian school of economics. But, there are many other camps and you can find someone to try and back up just about any scenario out there. The fact that someone with a title is willing to say something doesn't make it automatically "right."
I think the parent poster is just alone on Christmas Eve and in a particularly foul mood.
Hello, and welcome to Slashdot. It seems you are having trouble understanding how this site works. You posted a comment that people with mod points felt was pure and complete flamebait. You are not entitled to an appeal. Posting a reply to your own post which was already modded as flamebait is both bad form and also demonstrates that you are having self awareness issues.
Please enjoy this site responsibly in the future.
P.S. you seem very angry. Why are you in such a grumpy mood on Christmas Eve?
There is a thing in this country that you many not be familiar with, I call it "choice." If you choose to live Nowhereville USA, you may not have broadband or cable TV. Therefore, if you live here and want to start the next IBM, Apple or Microsoft, you can and should pack up and move somewhere like California.
For the uneducated, if you choose to live in FL, you may in fact get hit by a hurricane. If you choose to live on the Big Island of Hawaii, you may find a lava flow in your front yard. If you choose to live in South Dakota, you might find it difficult to find Filipino food. If you live where I live, you won't be able to shop at a Best Buy store.
None of these things are inherently the problem of your fellow Americans.
The problem is, even if Obama's people are great- integrity that rivals the Founding Fathers and what not... they're only in for 4 years... 8, tops. Then, someone else gets control of everything they masterminded. Up goes the great firewall and what not.
This is why government always needs to be limited. We've seen this problem over the last few presidencies with abuse/stretching of executive power. Look at executive orders, pardons, etc. What happens if a present-day Hiter gets democratically elected? Do we trust this kind of guy with the monarchy-style executive powers Jr. and Sr. Bush and Clinton enjoyed?
Yeah, but there is one government, and lots of private companies, so at least you have a choice. Also, I wouldn't say our government is good at adhering to the Constitution.
Only one island has Volcanic activity. And unfortunately, many locals are against geothermal because of their spiritual beliefs regarding Pele, the volcano, etc.
I'm all for having your own beliefs, but come on, the world is turning. Get over it. Beliefs like this keep this state in the dark ages.
A private entity is trying to start up a wind farm on Lanai and sell the electricity back to Oahu.
Holy flying crap, this is EXACTLY the way it should be done. A private party doing this, with their own money, their own risk, and they get rewarded with profit if successful. The taxpayer takes no risk.
Like all things in Hawaii, the project may never happen due to the years of red tape, permitting, bureaucracy, etc. involved. Of course, when government effectively shuts this project down due to red tape, we will hear how the "free market failed us once again." And then, government will come in with a billion dollar half-assed solution that never works and continues to cost money year after year. I love our government.
Contemporary libertarians remind me of children who never learned to share. Or more on point, people who never learned the difference between possession and ownership.
That sounds like a post from someone who has nothing, and only has himself to blame for it. It sounds like a post from the type of person who would rather vote himself a pay raise, rather than studying, learning, and working harder and smarter.
I suppose that on the receiving end if the gravy train, it probably makes you feel much better if you call it "sharing".
The problem with all this is that people now expect everything on the Internet to be free. They have no concept of paying for anything- using google, flickr, myspace, facebook, dictionary.com, you name it. In reality, think of the incredible expenses in software development, server time, bandwidth, etc. tied to each of these services!
When you are getting everything for free, it doesn't put you in a good bargaining position. I don't have to worry about my online banking site selling all my data to someone. Why? Because I fund the site by being a customer of the bank.
Once you become a paying customer, you've actually got some say in things. And paying a small usage fee basically weeds out things like kiddies, and spam. The thing is, these fees need to be REASONABLE. It amazes me that classmates.com charges like $10 a month I think? If people started charging $10 a year, they'd make money. I can't imagine most consumers click enough ads on one site in a year to even make $5 for the site owner.
IMHO the "premium" packages that some of the free sites try to sell you aren't really the ticket. Even if the terms of service and privacy do change when you upgrade, I'm not sure the line is clear enough. To me, there is always a feeling that you're still partly under the "free" umbrella, even when you're paying. This is why I think a $5-$10 annual charge for all users is a good model.
Funny, I think everyone here has had to reboot their router to solve problems in the past. But, in typical slashdot fashion, 99.9 percent of the posts are people telling the author of the question that he is stupid, lacks intellectual ability, must be a high school drop out, or has some bastardized sexual persuasion that prevents his router from working.
As you say, it could be an unrelated issue that resetting the state machine fixes. In this case though I guess I superior device could do this on its own.
You are describing a Communist system, not a Socialist one. A Socialist country believes that society has an obligation to care for those who cannot care for themselves, and that the Government is the instrument and will of Society. I am aware that many Americans are not aware of the difference, primarily because Communist states describe themselves as Socialist, but then again so did the German state in the 30s and 40s.
Why stop there then? It would make just as much sense to seize a home from someone who owns 2 homes, and give that home to a person who doesn't have a house. Or better yet, the government can claim everything- every piece of property and every job, and then redistribute jobs and property as they see fit. After all, when you're talking about real taxation rates that end up being 50 or 60 percent, you're already close to this.
It would make far more sense to just dispense with this ridiculous notion of "private property." In reality, nobody wants this. We just want the safety of knowing that we'll have food to eat and a place to live, even if we choose to never work another day in our lives. And hey, if the government assigned housing I get is some mansion on the beach seized from a wealthy entrepreneur, well- so be it:) We won't worry about the wealthy entrepreneur, that bastard left the country and is now inventing stuff and getting rich in some other country where they won't take his mansion. Seriously, we won't miss him.
Is it really even a mixed economy? The U.S. is mixed. I generally think of most of Europe and Australia as completely socialist. As far as true capitalism, I'm not sure it exists in any large mass anywhere in the world today.
What other type of company than a monopoly would have the ability to "end-of-life" a product that people wanted and force all downstream vendors to drop that product, that people wanted, for one their customers did not?
That is called running a business. Thousands of decisions are made like this every day. I used to drive a Volkswagen Scirocco, but the end-of-life'ed it. They came out with a Corrado which I didn't want and neither did a lot of other Scirocco fans. There is no way to twist this in such a way that VW had a monopoly.
If you walk into a best buy, and don't want vista, or even Windows for that matter, what are your choices? Dell, Acer, HP, and all the other commodity P.C. type computers all run Windows. That's a monopoly by any definition.
Really? I wasn't aware that Best Buy was the only place to buy computers. I went to a Volkswagen dealership and all they had was VW's... again, not a monopoly.
Oddly, the island I live on doesn't have a Best Buy yet I have computers. And, even more oddly, the computers aren't made by Dell. Even more strange, they don't run Windows. Did I have these machines custom made in some underground basement, risking getting put in Jail by just owning one? Negative- they're Macs.
However, by your definition Apple is a monopoly too, right? When I buy a Mac today they won't sell it to me with any other OS other than Leopard. In fact they won't even sell me an older version of the OS even though I passionately long for it.
P.S. at work I am responsible for 100 or so machines, all Dells- none of which run Windows. I'm sure you're confused now. Yes, there are even more choices- and this choice was free! They run Linux. We pre-order them that way.
It is dangerous to throw around the term "monopoly." But anyway, if you're concerned about it, buy a Mac for everyone in your family, or erase their hard drives and install Linux.
well damnit, you got me to bite. I always fall for the trolls.
uh, +4 insightful? How about -100, troll? Nobody, even yourself, is as stupid as you are making yourself out to be. Therefore, intentionally stupid statement = troll.
Income probably gets used for various reasons but one reason is that it is readily collectible by scraping the IRS databases. So what is poverty? Homeless, probably. I've never really seen neighborhoods first hand where I would consider poverty to be a problem. Even in crappy neighborhoods, you see cars everywhere and kids in the streets with iPods.
On the other hand, I saw some part of Kentucky on TV the other day where people were living like I didn't even realize people lived in this country. People living in homes that were little more than 3 sides of a trailer. That would probably be poverty.
Anyway, sounds like you found the right answer for curing poverty- whatever it is you did that let you dig yourself out from under a bride to living a "normal" life... that might be the answer for others.
But this is extremely well documented. If you don't like heritage.org, just google "poverty level car home tv"
And no- there is not a priority problem! Government has an interest in making as many people sound "poor" as they can. Democrats are the worst but the Republicans have been known to do it also. We're led to believe that we have all these people living in poverty and we need to support the complete redistribution of income to help these poor, poor souls. What these people do with their own money is their own business but it is clear that the majority are able to afford many of life's offerings, just like the rest of us. Is my car a little newer and a little nicer than some of the "poor" peoples' cars? Maybe, but it doesn't make them poor in my book.
Did you know that by the standards, a person who lives in a 20 million dollar estate, has a garage full of luxury cars, and travels the world on a whim can be considered "living below the poverty level"? Why? Because this particular person is living on an inherited fortune and has no income. Now in reality most people in this position would have investment income, but it isn't necessarily a given.
Poverty? Not sure that is the issue. The info below is widely known... just google and read a bit. Now keep in mind a computer can be had for $200 these days and surely some form of dial up is available for a nominal charge. Also, most public libraries (if not all) have Internet access as do many community centers and places like that. I've seen bums (hippies and the like that live in tents on the beach and have no reported income) using the Internet in the visitor's center next to my office.
----
Forty-six percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
Seventy-six percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person. The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars.
Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions. Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
Seventy-three percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher.
So, the Soviet Union was a model of efficiency, you say? Actually, I don't really even care about the answer. Neither answer would make me want to live in the Soviet Union.
Slashdot Mirror
Was never a Compuserve guy.... but was a member of Q-Link for a while... I know Q-Link pre-dated AOL, but it probably pre-dated Compuserve also?
Writing code in a SCIF sucks. You won't have Internet access and any code you write can't be taken out of the room unless there is a trusted download process in place (and even then, it isn't easy.)
Usually you are just patching code and debugging in a SKIF as opposed to writing tons of brand new software, but it still sucks.
The strip club across the street that is modeled after a UFO is a lot more geek friendly though. What geek doesn't dream of getting a lap dance in a UFO?
Ah, who couldn't love dear Tampa?
Regarding the other point you made: there are a lot of economists that say a lot of things.
Exactly. "Economist" is about as broad a term as "Politician". Personally, I identify with the Austrian school of economics. But, there are many other camps and you can find someone to try and back up just about any scenario out there. The fact that someone with a title is willing to say something doesn't make it automatically "right."
I think the parent poster is just alone on Christmas Eve and in a particularly foul mood.
Hello, and welcome to Slashdot. It seems you are having trouble understanding how this site works. You posted a comment that people with mod points felt was pure and complete flamebait. You are not entitled to an appeal. Posting a reply to your own post which was already modded as flamebait is both bad form and also demonstrates that you are having self awareness issues.
Please enjoy this site responsibly in the future.
P.S. you seem very angry. Why are you in such a grumpy mood on Christmas Eve?
There is a thing in this country that you many not be familiar with, I call it "choice." If you choose to live Nowhereville USA, you may not have broadband or cable TV. Therefore, if you live here and want to start the next IBM, Apple or Microsoft, you can and should pack up and move somewhere like California.
For the uneducated, if you choose to live in FL, you may in fact get hit by a hurricane. If you choose to live on the Big Island of Hawaii, you may find a lava flow in your front yard. If you choose to live in South Dakota, you might find it difficult to find Filipino food. If you live where I live, you won't be able to shop at a Best Buy store.
None of these things are inherently the problem of your fellow Americans.
The problem is, even if Obama's people are great- integrity that rivals the Founding Fathers and what not... they're only in for 4 years... 8, tops. Then, someone else gets control of everything they masterminded. Up goes the great firewall and what not.
This is why government always needs to be limited. We've seen this problem over the last few presidencies with abuse/stretching of executive power. Look at executive orders, pardons, etc. What happens if a present-day Hiter gets democratically elected? Do we trust this kind of guy with the monarchy-style executive powers Jr. and Sr. Bush and Clinton enjoyed?
Yeah, but there is one government, and lots of private companies, so at least you have a choice. Also, I wouldn't say our government is good at adhering to the Constitution.
Quite well said. The proof is in the pudding... the initial space pursuit was between a capitalist country and a communist country.
Only one island has Volcanic activity. And unfortunately, many locals are against geothermal because of their spiritual beliefs regarding Pele, the volcano, etc.
I'm all for having your own beliefs, but come on, the world is turning. Get over it. Beliefs like this keep this state in the dark ages.
A private entity is trying to start up a wind farm on Lanai and sell the electricity back to Oahu.
Holy flying crap, this is EXACTLY the way it should be done. A private party doing this, with their own money, their own risk, and they get rewarded with profit if successful. The taxpayer takes no risk.
Like all things in Hawaii, the project may never happen due to the years of red tape, permitting, bureaucracy, etc. involved. Of course, when government effectively shuts this project down due to red tape, we will hear how the "free market failed us once again." And then, government will come in with a billion dollar half-assed solution that never works and continues to cost money year after year. I love our government.
Contemporary libertarians remind me of children who never learned to share. Or more on point, people who never learned the difference between possession and ownership.
That sounds like a post from someone who has nothing, and only has himself to blame for it. It sounds like a post from the type of person who would rather vote himself a pay raise, rather than studying, learning, and working harder and smarter.
I suppose that on the receiving end if the gravy train, it probably makes you feel much better if you call it "sharing".
Using tax money for this is immoral, not to mention unconstitutional.
Sadly, most of the country seems to feel that it is perfectly fine and not immoral, meaning the only thing left to do is fight over the handouts.
Couple this with the fact that stupid people are beeding the most, and it becomes obvious that we are doomed.
The problem with all this is that people now expect everything on the Internet to be free. They have no concept of paying for anything- using google, flickr, myspace, facebook, dictionary.com, you name it. In reality, think of the incredible expenses in software development, server time, bandwidth, etc. tied to each of these services!
When you are getting everything for free, it doesn't put you in a good bargaining position. I don't have to worry about my online banking site selling all my data to someone. Why? Because I fund the site by being a customer of the bank.
Once you become a paying customer, you've actually got some say in things. And paying a small usage fee basically weeds out things like kiddies, and spam. The thing is, these fees need to be REASONABLE. It amazes me that classmates.com charges like $10 a month I think? If people started charging $10 a year, they'd make money. I can't imagine most consumers click enough ads on one site in a year to even make $5 for the site owner.
IMHO the "premium" packages that some of the free sites try to sell you aren't really the ticket. Even if the terms of service and privacy do change when you upgrade, I'm not sure the line is clear enough. To me, there is always a feeling that you're still partly under the "free" umbrella, even when you're paying. This is why I think a $5-$10 annual charge for all users is a good model.
Funny, I think everyone here has had to reboot their router to solve problems in the past. But, in typical slashdot fashion, 99.9 percent of the posts are people telling the author of the question that he is stupid, lacks intellectual ability, must be a high school drop out, or has some bastardized sexual persuasion that prevents his router from working.
As you say, it could be an unrelated issue that resetting the state machine fixes. In this case though I guess I superior device could do this on its own.
You are describing a Communist system, not a Socialist one. A Socialist country believes that society has an obligation to care for those who cannot care for themselves, and that the Government is the instrument and will of Society. I am aware that many Americans are not aware of the difference, primarily because Communist states describe themselves as Socialist, but then again so did the German state in the 30s and 40s.
Why stop there then? It would make just as much sense to seize a home from someone who owns 2 homes, and give that home to a person who doesn't have a house. Or better yet, the government can claim everything- every piece of property and every job, and then redistribute jobs and property as they see fit. After all, when you're talking about real taxation rates that end up being 50 or 60 percent, you're already close to this.
It would make far more sense to just dispense with this ridiculous notion of "private property." In reality, nobody wants this. We just want the safety of knowing that we'll have food to eat and a place to live, even if we choose to never work another day in our lives. And hey, if the government assigned housing I get is some mansion on the beach seized from a wealthy entrepreneur, well- so be it :) We won't worry about the wealthy entrepreneur, that bastard left the country and is now inventing stuff and getting rich in some other country where they won't take his mansion. Seriously, we won't miss him.
Is it really even a mixed economy? The U.S. is mixed. I generally think of most of Europe and Australia as completely socialist. As far as true capitalism, I'm not sure it exists in any large mass anywhere in the world today.
What other type of company than a monopoly would have the ability to "end-of-life" a product that people wanted and force all downstream vendors to drop that product, that people wanted, for one their customers did not?
That is called running a business. Thousands of decisions are made like this every day. I used to drive a Volkswagen Scirocco, but the end-of-life'ed it. They came out with a Corrado which I didn't want and neither did a lot of other Scirocco fans. There is no way to twist this in such a way that VW had a monopoly.
If you walk into a best buy, and don't want vista, or even Windows for that matter, what are your choices? Dell, Acer, HP, and all the other commodity P.C. type computers all run Windows. That's a monopoly by any definition.
Really? I wasn't aware that Best Buy was the only place to buy computers. I went to a Volkswagen dealership and all they had was VW's... again, not a monopoly.
Oddly, the island I live on doesn't have a Best Buy yet I have computers. And, even more oddly, the computers aren't made by Dell. Even more strange, they don't run Windows. Did I have these machines custom made in some underground basement, risking getting put in Jail by just owning one? Negative- they're Macs.
However, by your definition Apple is a monopoly too, right? When I buy a Mac today they won't sell it to me with any other OS other than Leopard. In fact they won't even sell me an older version of the OS even though I passionately long for it.
P.S. at work I am responsible for 100 or so machines, all Dells- none of which run Windows. I'm sure you're confused now. Yes, there are even more choices- and this choice was free! They run Linux. We pre-order them that way.
It is dangerous to throw around the term "monopoly." But anyway, if you're concerned about it, buy a Mac for everyone in your family, or erase their hard drives and install Linux.
well damnit, you got me to bite. I always fall for the trolls.
uh, +4 insightful? How about -100, troll? Nobody, even yourself, is as stupid as you are making yourself out to be. Therefore, intentionally stupid statement = troll.
Income probably gets used for various reasons but one reason is that it is readily collectible by scraping the IRS databases. So what is poverty? Homeless, probably. I've never really seen neighborhoods first hand where I would consider poverty to be a problem. Even in crappy neighborhoods, you see cars everywhere and kids in the streets with iPods.
On the other hand, I saw some part of Kentucky on TV the other day where people were living like I didn't even realize people lived in this country. People living in homes that were little more than 3 sides of a trailer. That would probably be poverty.
Anyway, sounds like you found the right answer for curing poverty- whatever it is you did that let you dig yourself out from under a bride to living a "normal" life... that might be the answer for others.
Agree, the EPIA 5000 has been around for years and needs no fan. In this form factor I think a completely solid state solution is ideal.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/bg1713.cfm
But this is extremely well documented. If you don't like heritage.org, just google "poverty level car home tv"
And no- there is not a priority problem! Government has an interest in making as many people sound "poor" as they can. Democrats are the worst but the Republicans have been known to do it also. We're led to believe that we have all these people living in poverty and we need to support the complete redistribution of income to help these poor, poor souls. What these people do with their own money is their own business but it is clear that the majority are able to afford many of life's offerings, just like the rest of us. Is my car a little newer and a little nicer than some of the "poor" peoples' cars? Maybe, but it doesn't make them poor in my book.
Did you know that by the standards, a person who lives in a 20 million dollar estate, has a garage full of luxury cars, and travels the world on a whim can be considered "living below the poverty level"? Why? Because this particular person is living on an inherited fortune and has no income. Now in reality most people in this position would have investment income, but it isn't necessarily a given.
Poverty? Not sure that is the issue. The info below is widely known... just google and read a bit. Now keep in mind a computer can be had for $200 these days and surely some form of dial up is available for a nominal charge. Also, most public libraries (if not all) have Internet access as do many community centers and places like that. I've seen bums (hippies and the like that live in tents on the beach and have no reported income) using the Internet in the visitor's center next to my office.
----
Forty-six percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
Seventy-six percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars.
Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
Seventy-three percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher.
So, the Soviet Union was a model of efficiency, you say? Actually, I don't really even care about the answer. Neither answer would make me want to live in the Soviet Union.