Pop control does not necessarily involve mass die-offs. American Idol is as good as condoms or war. Just think about it! All those minutes spent gazing at the boob tube could have been used for fucking. Then we'd be in a sweet pickle, what with every new American consuming more of everything (energy, living space, food, water) than a dozen Africans.
If we bring it up at the same rate, there'll be time for about the same kind of environmental controls as in coal plants - i.e. fuck-all. That's not the kind of world I wanna be living in.
Nuclear is not an option. Coal is not an option. Fusion isn't here and when it does come online it will almost certainly turn out to be more expensive (in terms of $/kW of installed capacity, not $/kWh) than coal anyway.
Where does that leave us, as a species? In the same sort of position as a bunch of yeast that's just about exhausted the sugars in the barrel. Dead in the acidic, CO2 saturated water. I can't tell you how happy I am I probably won't be around to see that.
I'm just playing with some stereotypes (as you have noted). This was all supposed to be in good fun, yet you seem to have a bee in your bonnet about snotty Android users. Talk about stereotyping.
If there were achievements for Blackberry users, they would probably get a serious, corporate-sounding statement along the lines of "You are now amongst those at the forefront of the digital payment revolution" as opposed to the auto-ironic stuff fit for iPhone-wielding hipsters.
The achievement for Blackberry users would be phrased differently, with more of an EVE Online flavor, as opposed to the tongue-in-cheek WoW way of doing it.
It would be more along the lines of: Achievement Unlocked! - 'Pretentiouser and pretentiouser.' (4 of 10) with a bit of flavor text beneath: Not only have you publicly paid 7 bucks for an over-sugared cup of burnt coffee, but you managed to do so in a way that let you flaunt your pimped iPhone!
Don't buy Samsung yet. They're pretty bad with the lock-down and they almost never release OS updates. I got burned, so I know of what I speak. It was "Yay, 2.1 in spring, no summer, no, wait, you'll get 2.2 directly at some point... oh hell we're having some unspecified trouble."
I think you're wrong. Google sells eyeballs. From their point of view, the cheaper the bandwidth, the software and the hardware required to get at those eyeballs get, the better.The software is free so it's one out of three already. Two out of three if you count the el-cheapo Chinese Nexus clones (as well as the slightly better offerings from HTC, LG, Samsung).
The carriers are all that's standing between Google and its goal. Sooner or later, one of 'em is gonna blink.
Yeah. This attitude works wonders for a few years, until you're on the other end of the "hire'em fresh" policy and notice that there is no re-training available even if you're willing and able to learn more, nor is there any opportunity to apply for a new job internally to get at the top-dollar jobs. That's what we call "screwed over" in the industry.
Dunno who modded you insightful but... math is not quite a science, in that it makes no testable predictions about the real world. Moreover, there is not only one "mathematics", but rather an indefinite number of possible formal systems, some of which have been constructed and applied to the real world, some (maybe?) so far removed from our sensory experience and intuition that they could not possibly be of any use to us.
It could be something as simple as to be locally-manufactured by the Moon-Chinese. Remember, if you're using a railgun you're sending out stuff that can withstand fair amounts of acceleration anyway.
Occupying a country by military force means you exert absolute control with that military force.
No, it does not and I did not claim it does. Germans had occupation forces in France in WWII yet there was a local gov't and yes, it did have the authority to sign off on everything, from the economy up to and including who got sent to the camps and who didn't.
If you had even the slightest notion of what it costs [...] you would very quickly see exactly how much America is 'profiting' because of the war in Iraq.
You advance an estimate of $3 trillion. What can we compare it with? What would happen to the US economy if oil spiked to 200$ a barrel or more? What price-tag would you attach to total economic collapse? Alternatively, why, if you believe the occupation is bad for your country, aren't you protesting?
I don't even know what 'pay your allies for their friendship' means, as if Britain were some thug we hired to do our job for us. They're a sovereign country and they had no obligation to send anyone to Iraq.
It means "reconstruction" contracts to BP and others. Of course the UK had no obligation to help. That's why the US needs to make sure it's worth their while.
'Satrapy' isn't a system and it certainly isn't an Empire - it's a derogatory term used to reduce an enormously complicated situation to something simple enough to fit your one-dimensional worldview.
It's a form of political organization of conquered territories peculiarly suited to loosely-held empires such as the one you live in.
We're not 'post-oil' and won't be for a long time.
Do forgive me for taking the long(ish) view, please. We are at peak oil now.
And finally:
I'm not suggesting that we aren't there because of self-interest. But that self-interest is a large, democratic, stable Middle-eastern country (instead of a large, tyrannical, unstable Middle-eastern dictatorship).
What are the political benefits the US derives from democracy in Iraq, given that the latest elections and subsequent re-shuffling have put Islamists in (nominal) control?
In what way was Saddam's regime unstable? It survived religious strife, Kurdish uprisings, two wars and a 10-year trade embargo that was actually enforced. There was zero indication that Saddam won't die in power.
Yes, basically. People who are depressed may act out their depression, generally in (self-)destructive ways. Doing something that can get you fired certainly qualifies.
It's quite difficult for most people to be so covertly subversive that such invasive techniques are needed to uncover them.
Oppressive governments need rely on nothing higher-tech than spies and delators. It is emphatically necessary to spy on everyone, but it's not at all necessary for the actual coverage to be perfect.
As long as the borders are secure, there is nowhere to hide for dissidents, it's just a matter of time. Their friends may betray them under torture. Their landlady might turn them in, hoping to "inherit" a desk-lamp or a fur coat.
It doesn't have to be rogue and yes, of course you have to trust the trusters in a CA scenario - but it's a choice you can make for yourself. There is no reason why you should set your software to auto-accept certs from CAs you don't explicitly trust. It's just trading security for convenience if you do.
Slashdot Mirror
Mass die-offs are very rarely massive enough to counterbalance a high birth rate.
Africa is a gruesome case in point, with disease, famine and war taking place at the same time, yet unable to make a dent in pop. growth.
Not since the Black Death has there existed a factor significant enough to actually decrease world population.
Pop control does not necessarily involve mass die-offs. American Idol is as good as condoms or war. Just think about it! All those minutes spent gazing at the boob tube could have been used for fucking. Then we'd be in a sweet pickle, what with every new American consuming more of everything (energy, living space, food, water) than a dozen Africans.
If we bring it up at the same rate, there'll be time for about the same kind of environmental controls as in coal plants - i.e. fuck-all. That's not the kind of world I wanna be living in.
Nuclear is not an option. Coal is not an option. Fusion isn't here and when it does come online it will almost certainly turn out to be more expensive (in terms of $/kW of installed capacity, not $/kWh) than coal anyway.
Where does that leave us, as a species? In the same sort of position as a bunch of yeast that's just about exhausted the sugars in the barrel. Dead in the acidic, CO2 saturated water. I can't tell you how happy I am I probably won't be around to see that.
Because /. editors don't.
I'm just playing with some stereotypes (as you have noted). This was all supposed to be in good fun, yet you seem to have a bee in your bonnet about snotty Android users. Talk about stereotyping.
Flavor text. I'm talking about flavor text.
If there were achievements for Blackberry users, they would probably get a serious, corporate-sounding statement along the lines of "You are now amongst those at the forefront of the digital payment revolution" as opposed to the auto-ironic stuff fit for iPhone-wielding hipsters.
The achievement for Blackberry users would be phrased differently, with more of an EVE Online flavor, as opposed to the tongue-in-cheek WoW way of doing it.
He's working for them now, so... I don't know. Maybe. Possibly. That's why I said don't buy _yet_.
It would be more along the lines of:
Achievement Unlocked! - 'Pretentiouser and pretentiouser.' (4 of 10)
with a bit of flavor text beneath:
Not only have you publicly paid 7 bucks for an over-sugared cup of burnt coffee, but you managed to do so in a way that let you flaunt your pimped iPhone!
Don't buy Samsung yet. They're pretty bad with the lock-down and they almost never release OS updates. I got burned, so I know of what I speak. It was "Yay, 2.1 in spring, no summer, no, wait, you'll get 2.2 directly at some point... oh hell we're having some unspecified trouble."
I think you're wrong. Google sells eyeballs. From their point of view, the cheaper the bandwidth, the software and the hardware required to get at those eyeballs get, the better.The software is free so it's one out of three already. Two out of three if you count the el-cheapo Chinese Nexus clones (as well as the slightly better offerings from HTC, LG, Samsung).
The carriers are all that's standing between Google and its goal. Sooner or later, one of 'em is gonna blink.
You can generate heat and electricity from hay. A cogen plant can burn almost anything, in fact.
Yeah. This attitude works wonders for a few years, until you're on the other end of the "hire'em fresh" policy and notice that there is no re-training available even if you're willing and able to learn more, nor is there any opportunity to apply for a new job internally to get at the top-dollar jobs. That's what we call "screwed over" in the industry.
Dunno who modded you insightful but... math is not quite a science, in that it makes no testable predictions about the real world. Moreover, there is not only one "mathematics", but rather an indefinite number of possible formal systems, some of which have been constructed and applied to the real world, some (maybe?) so far removed from our sensory experience and intuition that they could not possibly be of any use to us.
It could be something as simple as to be locally-manufactured by the Moon-Chinese. Remember, if you're using a railgun you're sending out stuff that can withstand fair amounts of acceleration anyway.
Hmm. Trying to talk to you is a bit trying.
Occupying a country by military force means you exert absolute control with that military force.
No, it does not and I did not claim it does. Germans had occupation forces in France in WWII yet there was a local gov't and yes, it did have the authority to sign off on everything, from the economy up to and including who got sent to the camps and who didn't.
If you had even the slightest notion of what it costs [...] you would very quickly see exactly how much America is 'profiting' because of the war in Iraq.
You advance an estimate of $3 trillion. What can we compare it with? What would happen to the US economy if oil spiked to 200$ a barrel or more? What price-tag would you attach to total economic collapse? Alternatively, why, if you believe the occupation is bad for your country, aren't you protesting?
I don't even know what 'pay your allies for their friendship' means, as if Britain were some thug we hired to do our job for us. They're a sovereign country and they had no obligation to send anyone to Iraq.
It means "reconstruction" contracts to BP and others. Of course the UK had no obligation to help. That's why the US needs to make sure it's worth their while.
'Satrapy' isn't a system and it certainly isn't an Empire - it's a derogatory term used to reduce an enormously complicated situation to something simple enough to fit your one-dimensional worldview.
It's a form of political organization of conquered territories peculiarly suited to loosely-held empires such as the one you live in.
We're not 'post-oil' and won't be for a long time.
Do forgive me for taking the long(ish) view, please. We are at peak oil now.
And finally:
I'm not suggesting that we aren't there because of self-interest. But that self-interest is a large, democratic, stable Middle-eastern country (instead of a large, tyrannical, unstable Middle-eastern dictatorship).
What are the political benefits the US derives from democracy in Iraq, given that the latest elections and subsequent re-shuffling have put Islamists in (nominal) control?
In what way was Saddam's regime unstable? It survived religious strife, Kurdish uprisings, two wars and a 10-year trade embargo that was actually enforced. There was zero indication that Saddam won't die in power.
Ôishi, is that you?
Hopefully, yes. Then they will have even more reason to be malcontent, but no more illusions about fixing the system from within. It's a win-win, see?
Yes, basically. People who are depressed may act out their depression, generally in (self-)destructive ways. Doing something that can get you fired certainly qualifies.
It's quite difficult for most people to be so covertly subversive that such invasive techniques are needed to uncover them.
Oppressive governments need rely on nothing higher-tech than spies and delators. It is emphatically necessary to spy on everyone, but it's not at all necessary for the actual coverage to be perfect.
As long as the borders are secure, there is nowhere to hide for dissidents, it's just a matter of time. Their friends may betray them under torture. Their landlady might turn them in, hoping to "inherit" a desk-lamp or a fur coat.
It was a bit unclear, yes. In fact, it remained unstated.
I would like to point out at this point in our conversation that forever does not exist. Even the Roman empire eventually split, then fell altogether.
If you're looking for low-tech fascist regimes that lasted a very long time, look no further: Franco.
The technology for implementing fascism was available to Mussolini, many decades ago. What is your point?
It doesn't have to be rogue and yes, of course you have to trust the trusters in a CA scenario - but it's a choice you can make for yourself. There is no reason why you should set your software to auto-accept certs from CAs you don't explicitly trust. It's just trading security for convenience if you do.
Well played, sir or madam. I very nearly snorted coffee through my nose. Thanks.
What, me? I'm already walking the walk. I'm experiencing no shortage of like-minded people, either.