From an idealogical perspective, the government regulationg internet packets (because that's all VoIP is) is chilling. What's next? Skype? AIM and MSN voice chat? Do those have to call 911 next? You can use Skype to connect to POTS landlines as well. Should Skype be outlawed in the US because it's not subject to the 911 requirement the other companies are using. What about when people choose Skype because it's not regulated, effectively being the FCC causing business to move overseas (Skype is a Luxembourgian company, IIRC).
From a logistical POV, VoIP is portable, so to some people it makes no sense to require E911 registration when the registration information is going to be wrong some of the time.
Of course, I'm still out to lunch on how I feel -- on one hand, I think the FCC regulating IP is chilling, because what program is next? On the other hand, I understand the side that things it's something that should be required of all communications media that can be confused with POTS phones which have 911 by default in most (all?) of the country.
An interesting thing is, nearly every store I go to in Japan has tax included in all its pricings, and even books list price both with and without tax.
It's nice to not have to multiply by 1.0825 in my head, unlike what I have to do in Texas.
I never heard about Weltpolitik, but I am vaguely aware of the fear of encirclement because I have an idea of what it means from seeing the phrase -- Germany was afraid of being surrounded by powerful countries.
Unfortunately, reading "Weltpolitik" as "world politics" yields fewer hints about what it means, but a nice wikisearch brings up this, and it turns out that it was a policy of Germany's that sought it's "place in the sun" since it was a rising industrial power. Makes sense.
Thanks for the tips, and I still wonder when I'll have time to brush up on my WWI history, something I have recognized as severely lacking for a couple of years now (whenever I read a Red Baron comic in Peanuts;)
Unfortunately, every US History class I've ever taken focused on the concepts of "powder keg" and "Balkanization" and not at all on battles during the war. World History classes...I can't remember taking one of those since junior high school, and it's not required in college (especially not for a math major). Perhaps I should do some outside reading, but I have had little chance to do it yet.
This is a failing of the US system of education, that we view that nothing after 1900 is "history" yet, so it doesn't warrant studying.
WWII is covered only because of the Holocaust and the Bomb. WWI is covered as a speed bump that Germany got the raw deal and got pissed enough to fight WWII.
those that are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it
I'll make sure to remember that next time I become president of the US or a 4-star general;)
Don't you mean the Mitsubishi Shipyards at Hiroshima? I'll give you Nagasaki, as the original target was Kokura, but there was cloud cover, so the target was changed. Still, Nagasaki had huge shipyards, and, thus, a great port that could be used for military purposes.
The US didn't do that to anyone other than West Coast people, as far as I know. I definitely know that it didn't happen to Hawaiian-born Japanese (and they were citizens, just like Puerto Ricans are citizens now). That's what my History of US-Japan Relations class just finished studying (finals on Tuesday). It is also pertinent to note that Canada did this, too. It was a very, very sad thing, I believe. I'm just pointing out some extra information.
And why did the USA need to drop 2 bombs on Japan? Didn't the first one do enough to scare the crap out of them?
I dunno. Why don't you ask the Japanese government at the time? After all, they didn't surrender after the first bomb.
I don't know what you're talking about, but the OEM computer I got came with a word processor, email client, web browser, networking programs (ftp, netstat, etc), media player, working drivers, and many, many, many utilities. This is XP I'm talking about. Whatever comes on a standard linux distro, there is a high probability that, if needed for an average user, it comes on Windows from an OEM, too.
Oh yeah, just so my karma doesn't bite it: fuck Microsoft.
He's not anti-DRM for marketing purposes. Have you read BoingBoing at all the past few years? Have you paid attention to the EFF? It's his fucking job to go around Europe and push the Creative Commons and anti-DRM. And it doesn't pay well at all. So don't tell me he's in it for the money.
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The reason is twofold: idealogical and logical.
From an idealogical perspective, the government regulationg internet packets (because that's all VoIP is) is chilling. What's next? Skype? AIM and MSN voice chat? Do those have to call 911 next? You can use Skype to connect to POTS landlines as well. Should Skype be outlawed in the US because it's not subject to the 911 requirement the other companies are using. What about when people choose Skype because it's not regulated, effectively being the FCC causing business to move overseas (Skype is a Luxembourgian company, IIRC).
From a logistical POV, VoIP is portable, so to some people it makes no sense to require E911 registration when the registration information is going to be wrong some of the time.
Of course, I'm still out to lunch on how I feel -- on one hand, I think the FCC regulating IP is chilling, because what program is next? On the other hand, I understand the side that things it's something that should be required of all communications media that can be confused with POTS phones which have 911 by default in most (all?) of the country.
Oh, I forgot -- sales tax is a flat 5% in Japan. It's quite nice for the brain.
An interesting thing is, nearly every store I go to in Japan has tax included in all its pricings, and even books list price both with and without tax.
It's nice to not have to multiply by 1.0825 in my head, unlike what I have to do in Texas.
He has been a writer for many technology magazines since the 1980s, which alone gives him a little credit, since one is PC Magazine (since 1986).
/. RSS feed.
I think there was a Dvorak on TechTV, also, but I can't remember if that was him.
That being said, I'm putting him in my RSS killfile after this debacle, so none of his writings ever show up in my
That just begs the question -- who is number one?
We used to have broadband over ethernet, power over power lines.
Now we have power over ethernet and broadband over power lines.
How would it be wireless? Batteries would last about 2 seconds on that thing.
Linux, the open-source operating system for Pentium-style processors
Did anyone else notice that line and do a doubletake? I parse that sentence as implying that Linux is only for Pentium-style processors.
I never heard about Weltpolitik, but I am vaguely aware of the fear of encirclement because I have an idea of what it means from seeing the phrase -- Germany was afraid of being surrounded by powerful countries.
;)
Unfortunately, reading "Weltpolitik" as "world politics" yields fewer hints about what it means, but a nice wikisearch brings up this, and it turns out that it was a policy of Germany's that sought it's "place in the sun" since it was a rising industrial power. Makes sense.
Thanks for the tips, and I still wonder when I'll have time to brush up on my WWI history, something I have recognized as severely lacking for a couple of years now (whenever I read a Red Baron comic in Peanuts
Unfortunately, every US History class I've ever taken focused on the concepts of "powder keg" and "Balkanization" and not at all on battles during the war. World History classes...I can't remember taking one of those since junior high school, and it's not required in college (especially not for a math major). Perhaps I should do some outside reading, but I have had little chance to do it yet.
;)
This is a failing of the US system of education, that we view that nothing after 1900 is "history" yet, so it doesn't warrant studying.
WWII is covered only because of the Holocaust and the Bomb. WWI is covered as a speed bump that Germany got the raw deal and got pissed enough to fight WWII.
those that are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it
I'll make sure to remember that next time I become president of the US or a 4-star general
Don't you mean the Mitsubishi Shipyards at Hiroshima? I'll give you Nagasaki, as the original target was Kokura, but there was cloud cover, so the target was changed. Still, Nagasaki had huge shipyards, and, thus, a great port that could be used for military purposes.
40 years after the sedan the french were screaming revanche and we got ypres and verdun.
I literally have no idea what you are talking about there. Can you please explain this "revanche", "ypres" and "verdun"?
The US didn't do that to anyone other than West Coast people, as far as I know. I definitely know that it didn't happen to Hawaiian-born Japanese (and they were citizens, just like Puerto Ricans are citizens now). That's what my History of US-Japan Relations class just finished studying (finals on Tuesday). It is also pertinent to note that Canada did this, too. It was a very, very sad thing, I believe. I'm just pointing out some extra information.
And why did the USA need to drop 2 bombs on Japan? Didn't the first one do enough to scare the crap out of them?
I dunno. Why don't you ask the Japanese government at the time? After all, they didn't surrender after the first bomb.
If there is a team of 3 or 4 that is 90% responsible for building the worlds worst weapon, should they have a say if it is used?
If that doesn't have DMCA written all over it. Here, let me change a few things:
If there is a team of 300 or 400 that is 90% responsible for building a popular video game system, should they have a say how it is used?
So, by your logic, I shouldn't be able to mod my X-Box!
What planet do you live on? They did see the effects once and still didn't surrender. That's the US had to use a second bomb!
I agree with you. Lately, it seems they have had to compromise their morals:
Do I stay honorable and defend the public, or do I get insanely wealthy by selling out to the corporations? Well, I think I'll sell out!
See? There's compromise right there!
It took me a whole minute to figure out that you were referencing Star Wars with that.
/.
In fact, I would wonder why a Harrison Ford book was showing up on
That being said, I acknowledge that it doesnt' have to be all computers all the time (hence Harry Potter news making it to the front page).
Are you another one of those guys who bought a lower UID off eBay?
And it's a lot better than the League of Nations
But is it better than...the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen?
Never mind. After I reread your post, I realized we were on the same side of the argument. Cheers, m8 ;)
I don't know what you're talking about, but the OEM computer I got came with a word processor, email client, web browser, networking programs (ftp, netstat, etc), media player, working drivers, and many, many, many utilities. This is XP I'm talking about. Whatever comes on a standard linux distro, there is a high probability that, if needed for an average user, it comes on Windows from an OEM, too.
Oh yeah, just so my karma doesn't bite it: fuck Microsoft.
You know, a hogwart. Like, a nasty bump on a pig's ass.
He's not anti-DRM for marketing purposes. Have you read BoingBoing at all the past few years? Have you paid attention to the EFF? It's his fucking job to go around Europe and push the Creative Commons and anti-DRM. And it doesn't pay well at all. So don't tell me he's in it for the money.
Whops, I meant to say the group's lawyer.
I think you missed it when he said the group's manager sued, not the RIAA. Other people than the RIAA can sue, you know ;)