Is it a basic right to be allowed to receive e-mail from whomever I desire
Um, No, I dont think its a basic right. I personally support ISP's right to deny mailing service from other companies who cant stay off the black lists. You have the right to find another method to receive email, but you dont get to dictate how an ISP handles Spam issues.
And for a distro that bills itself as 'a Linux distribution for everyone -- designed to be easy to install and learn for users without prior Linux' the installation should hide command-line scrolling.
I think we should put more research money into looking into other stuff that there isn't any evidence for either.
Stuff like Pink Unicorns, Fairies, Flying spaghetti monsters and Norse Gods.
I totally agree with you, who knows what we might find when everyone started looking for things that are unexplainable.. We create our own realities anyway.:)
Reader kfg writes "I am, at least nominally, a physicist. You wouldn't catch me saying any such thing as 'telepathy can't exist.' However, you first need to demonstrate that it does exist if you expect me to do work on that basis. If and when that happens I will not posit any 'paranormal' event, but rather that there is a quite normal mechanism at work. Then it will be my job to find it, because, at the moment, there is no valid theory of such a mechanism. ('Well, maybe it could be...' is not a theory.) A theory is model that is concordance with data.... Which brings us back to the need to show me it exists, particularly since everything I have ever seen so far indicates that the world works just spiffily in accordance with the rules of chance."
One thing I think people are failing to take into account (I am probably going to get flack from people who believe everything that exists in this universe can be explained and documented)is certain things that happen in this universe cannot be understood on the level of mind. The mind is just a tool to get us though life while we are here on earth. (if you believe in an afterlife) So there is a possibility that there could be something within us that is beyond this world and we are not going to always be able to test for that in a way we have been accustom to. But to outright deny that things like this do not exist and to create resistance to it really shows that you are unable to exist outside the constrains of the mind, which could change in some point in the future. Consciousness (shear presence and all that goes with it, which is beyond name and form can exist with out the mind) so if you accept the analogy that you have a mind, and another presence deep within your body, existing within and without this reality. When you get intouch with that source it will always give you a reflection of the truth (every feel like you knew something by just how you feel inside, but didn't know why?). You dont always need the mind to give you a clear understanding of what is going on around you, and frankly it just can get in the way of living a life with out fear and compassion because you are consistently comparing what is happening now, with what has happened in the past. Thats what the mind does, its a computer that compares based on experiences. For things otherworldly, its just not the proper tool to use.
That being said, I do think we need to reach a certain level of consciousness before we are able to fully realize our full potential. The evolutionary stage we are in is a temporary thing, and we need to move on to the next level before we are able to become aware of things paranormal.
This is why there's an inherent issue with flying the "the record companies are greedy" flag when making the choice to pirate or use the Russian sites. At the least, there's the karma issue: it's easy for us to declare that somebody is greedy or makes too much money by some arbitrarily standard when considering whether we're going to violate their rights. But no matter how much money we make, somebody with less money than us just might make that same arbitrary decision about us.
Here is the problem I have with this analogy. This all comes down to energy. (you might think im insane, thats to bad for you) But the world is really goverened by one thing if you want to have peace with people around you and reap profits. Have a mindset of giving without expecting anything in return. Spend more time figuring out ways to make peoples lives better and in turn you're life will be come more wealthy than you can possibly imagine. This mind set creates a vacum (space) in your life for things to flow in, and it can be applied to any situation. Its completeley counter-inutitive, which is why many people belive that if they can just hold on to what the got they wont loose it, but you dont have any control over that, things come ago, one day you could be rich and powerful and the next day you could have nothing but the shirt on your back. When you remove your attachment to that outcome all that shit that you think really matters goes away, Life is more than just the sum of what you accomplish.
This is why what the music industry, or any corporation that is driven soley by profits, and not by first having a desire to give to others is ultimatley flawed. Customers of any product will allways be loyal to who the business who has their best intersts at heart. When you give to someone with out asking for something in return, you create a space for them to give back. Having said that if the music industry was more giving, meaning that were not so concered with what they think they are loosing, they wouldnt be in this situation. They're so concered with this supposed loss that doesnt exist that they are creating their own deimse. When you have a fear of loss you create that loss ten fold, they fight against people who distrubte music, and those people or others who feel they are wronged fight back harder, in becomes and endless cycle of resistance that has no puropose but to harm. when you have compassion for people with a sense that no matter what you do, everything is going to be ok you are not focused anymore on a specific outcome, and your problems go away without any real doing on your part, and then things that you need can come to you with out any struggeling . Anyway just my thoughts on the subject, sorry for the spelling my spelling sucks and my checker is not working.
"Fair use would be you making a backup copy, putting the one you bought into storage, and using the backup. This is fair use. Heck, even taking a film that you own, making a copy and cutting out scenes you don't like... that is also fair use. What's not fair use is making a copy, cutting scenes, and selling it as a new version without any consent. This is not a one to one copy as there are scenes cut. Money is beside the point... a copyright holder has every right to choose how a work is distributed. This would include not wanting some bozo cutting scenes on a work that took time to create. Any flaws, mistakes, anything which affects the overall presentation can damage the reputation of the respective studio and artists that created the work. It's like taking spray paint to a piece of fine art and going over the bits one finds offensive, this affects the quality of the piece and the viewer might assume the artist is sloppy dolt or doesn't have the technical skill or is too reserved to make a winkle."
Thats bullshit, what about people that mix music, The Grey Album for Instance?.. It doesn't detract from the work so long as the party knows its a edited version. The copyright holder doesn't/shouldn't have control over what someone does with a said work after its released. When you put at work into the public it no longer belongs to you as a whole. It takes on a life of its own, other people take it and make something that they can relate to on a personal level (If they so wish). This isn't about what the public is doing to a said work, This all has to do with the creator's/financial backer's fear of loss, The loss of something you no longer have control over. We need to get over it, this idea that copyright holders should have this kind of power is ridiculous. It goes against the core understanding being human, giving without expecting anything in return. When you give to someone freely without restrictions, you get back more than what you put into it. If you hold it to your chest in attempt to keep people from it, you will lose it.
In this case people are making it possible to watch movies they wouldnt normally choose to watch because of content they dont identify with, don't make them wrong for that, give people enough credit to make there own decisions about what is right and wrong.
Yea you are right, the only laws the government should be enforcing is our rights and freedoms, thats what the government was put in place in the beginning.
Once you invoke the idea of a war, you create conflict and people that identify with either side of the debate will step up to the plate and make that war a reality.
You can only win by understanding and having compassion for both sides of the issue, and working together, not against each other.
In this particular case, the us government and media companies reality is out of step with the ideals of society. People sharing content, regardless of who it belongs to doesn't != stealing. If you put something into the world, dont expect people to follow your rules about how that content is going to be distributed, you need to trust people and give up a certain level of control over your work if you want to be a peace with all parties involved.
Now people that copy works just to make a profit from someone else's creation without their permission it is another matter.
The net isnt some satellite tv or cable service where there is just one interest involved. This is a public fucking network and you need to share you bandwidth with other people or find some other technical means to get your traffic delivered with out interruption. Dont ask the rest of us to to suffer because you want to have priority over others...
The interests of the public should always trump business interests, Because they have the resources to work around these types of problems.
I wholeheartedly agree, I feels great to say to a client, (when they dont treat me with respect) that I dont have to tolerate any kind of abuse and am hence forth, ending this relationship.:)
I will never again, subject myself to the corporate mentality that puts profit margins before the goodwill of the common people.
Actually, thats a pretty cool idea, it makes a statement much more than just protesting in street cloths. If I saw someone in a Hazmat suit, I would be alert and wondering what the hell is going on.
The only way to change this situation is to get a Democratic majority in Congress. Sorry, Republicans and Independents, the Republican majority has already substantially demonstrated they have no interest in protecting and upholding the Constitution. They must out. A Democratic majority will investigate and impeach, and the Republic will be safe once again. Conservatives have an edge in SCOTUS; fine, they can stay for a while so we have balance again. But the administration and corrupt members of Congress must be impeached and imprisoned.
Please, The Democratic Party is just as corrupt as Republicans. The two party system is a smoke screen that allows the government to continue its corrupt practices under the control of large corporations at our expense. We need a third party in congress. Voting for a third party means things are going to get worse before they get better. But it needs to happen if we are going to make any progress in changing the way our government works.
this guy's post brought up some intersting points. I belive that their should be a free alternative to everything. But we are not in a perfect world, so I think we could work towards that though education. I agree with what he says, the FOSS zelots are making things worse trying to turn this into an all or nothing game. Some people just dont have the choice right now...
Terry Semel of Yahoo! corporation was found dead this morning. At this point the cause of death is being attributed to a chair leg that is still lodged deeply inside the victim's skull. Police have ruled out accidental death and are compiling a list of suspects.
A note was left on the body that stated "Google. This is what were going to do to you when we get though with you. We are going to fucking bury you! FUCKING BURY YOU!"
Personally, Im not really interested if this is leagal or not. This admistration is doing everything in their power to put power and money before the people of this country and it needs to stop, RIGHT HERE, and RIGHT NOW.
We dont belong in iraq, we should be passing the patriot act, this shit needs to end, its not helping our country one fucking bit, its making it worse, and causing great suffering around the world because we think we are the police of the world.
This country has turned into a nightmare to live in, im ashamed to even be called american now.
Sorry guys, but how im feeling right now, fuck this country, we dont deserve what we have.
I think it's like an artificial gang war. I think they do this to keep us divided, so we don't notice the fact that we get exactly the same fucking government no matter who's in charge.
Yep thats why I always think everyone that doesnt like the two party system should start voting for a 3rd party, I know it would suck for awhile, but I think it would start making a difference if word got out that a 3rd of the population voted for something other than democrat or republican
This whole issue comes down to fear. The difference between people that support the degrading of our rights at the expense of security, and the people who will not tolerate it.
Terrorists are terroising our country because we cant butt out of other countries political and social structures. Everyone has a reason for there actions, our government and special interest groups are in the business of creating this fear, so they can have more control over our lives. The only reason this is happening on such a large scale is most of our population is to stupid to do the math.
Personally if these people cant get their act together they we should split off from the United States and become our own country, and leave them to rot under their own fear centered lives. Im tired of living in a country that doesnt have the intelligence to see this for what it is.
Oil companies are afraid of dying because our oil supply is running low, what would you do if you were afraid of loosing your lively hood, and you had the means to stop it, legal or non legal?
Corporations have too much control in this country, the need to be put on a short leash. They dont have the right to exploit people from other countries and our own in the name of profit.
People, all Humans on this planet, come before money. If they cant learn this, they should be made to learn it, or stop doing business.
Im going to one up you on this and suggest something totally insane.
DONT INCUR DEPT THOUGH THE USE OF ANY CREDIT/FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.
If you dont have the money to pay for something, RIGHT NOW, then you shouldn't be purchasing it. Why? because you are giving control over your financial livelihood to another party. It may appear helpful at first, but once you start down the path of owning money to someone, you are, in essence, subjecting yourself to a system that does not have any interest in protecting you or your lively hood.
Secondly, you are giving away your power you create on your own, though your actions to a flawed system that will never be able to create an accurate picture that works for you. The system is designed to prevent middle and lower class people from maintaining wealth. Since the wealthy do not need to borrow, it only works to keep the rich wealthy. The power of credibility belongs to you and you alone, if you give it away, you will be subjected to all of its insane uses.
I know that under certain situations it makes helps, likely buying a house or a car.. But I think I am better off renting, or waiting until I could pay for a car, before I will ever subject myself to a system like that again.
When someone asks me for my credit report, like if I rent an apartment or am applying for a job, I explain to them that I will not subject myself to it and I explain why, when they hear me out, most of them they understand and let it slide. The problem is everyone is so bent on doing what everyone else does that they dont stop and think what they want for them selfs. Dont let the fear of loss prevent you from taking a stand, you will find allot of times, deep down, people want to fight this system, if you take a stand, so will others. One person can make a difference, but only if you come from the heart, and letting go of past fear.
No matter how sinister you might think Blizzard is, they're still a for-profit company (actually, the more sinister you think Blizzard is, the more this applies). For-profit companies don't do things (like be lax about fixing their network problems) if they can help it, since they do lose customers for that sort of thing, and that obviously directly correlates to lost income.
I understand where you are coming from, but it seems to me that they should be keeping everyone in the loop as to what going on. I know I have allot of respect for a company when they keep me informed of exactley what is going wrong and what they are doing to address it.
To leave your customers in the dark all of the time just breeds frustration and anger. I dont really think they are handling damage control very well, IMHO.
What I find funny about these stories and the obligatory "parents need to not suck!" argument is that it assumes that all parents have the same technical ability that we do. Or even the same language ability that we do. Or the TIME that we do. This seems to be the mother of all projections, as far as this site goes- "I could do it this way, it should be done this way, therefore EVERYONE should be fine doing it this way, and if they don't, it's their fault."
Lots of parents work two jobs. Lots of parents don't understand computers. Lots of parents simply don't know enough about their teenager's life to check for some things (to those that do, or think your parents did, I'm sorry. You're lying. Everyone keeps things from everyone else, regardless of their relationship).
And even so, how is this a raising thing? Kids are having sex, and parents can't stop them from that. How does it make any difference when it's some guy they met at school, planning over AIM and some guy on myspace who happens to be a sexual predator? Again, you don't know everything your child is up to (nor should you), and you never will.
Even putting that aside, these arguments are ridiculous. We have a problem of kids being subjected to predators on a website. The state has a duty (not even just a right, a duty) to ensure that if there are unacceptable risks, safeguards are put in place to assure that we've done all we reasonably can to protect the children. This is bad how? Because it'll curb kids' ability to use a website to share things? While I think the child's ability to express himself online is important, I think making our best effort to ensure that kid isn't going to be assaulted by a predator is pretty darn important too.
The "parent more" argument is a useful tool for people with agendas, but it has no logical stopping point. Why should the state have battery laws? Shouldn't parents teach their kids how to avoid fights? How about laws against gang activity? Shouldn't parents tell their kids to avoid gangs and vandalism? By this logic, simply "raising" your kid would solve the problem, but obviously it doesn't.
I appreciate the fact that you want to protect children though means outside of your influence. But prevention all starts at the source. Kids learn how to behave from how there parents treat them and other people. They also learn to be weary of certain types of people that may cause them harm by learning what kind of people you do and do not associate with. You can pass laws and restrict access to websites until you are blue in the face, its not going to solve the problem because the problem lies within our selfs.
We have to stop being reactionary with the mind set of "Ill deal with it when it comes up" when children start getting curious about things, and start being proactive with how our children learn. Saying that you dont have time or the means is a cop-out. Make the time, create the means, or dont have children. Dont make the world responsible for your inability to protect your children from predators.
News organizations don't stay in business when they blatently lie and misrepresent the core facts of an issue.
Thats the current assumption of the national media, But the facts show that they dont have to tell the truth. Go see the movie The Corporation Here is a brief about what happened when fox news wouldnt tell the truth.
THE PRICE OF WHISTLEBLOWING It turns out that standing for the public good is an expensive proposition. Ask Jane Akre and Steve Wilson, two investigative reporters fired by Fox News after they refused to water down a story on rBGH, a controversial synthetic hormone widely used in the United States (but banned in Europe and Canada) to rev up cows' metabolism and boost their milk production. Because of the increased production, the cows suffer from mastitis, a painful infection of the udders. Antibiotics must then be injected, which find their way into the milk, and ultimately reduce people's resistance to disease.
They eventually went to court and lost the case on the grounds that media companies are not required to tell the truth. So Im sorry to say my friend, they are in the business of not telling the truth, when it could cause them economic damage. They weigh the costs and if its to expensive to tell the truth, they lie, its just not brought out into the public.
I agree, the only reason government should exist is to protect our freedom. So as for having access to the Internet from the company of my choice, that is a freedom they should be protecting. Its either that or its a monopoly closely regulated by the government that holds the interests of the public first and foremost, everything else is secondary.
Your right, in its current form, thats how our economy works. I hate to tell you this but its killing us. The human spirit itself.. to be so caught up in the pursuit of it.
Personally I do think our natural state of being is to help others. People start with an idea in their head that they want to make things better. The problem occurs when groups of people create something only for the pursuit of money. If you look closely at it you will find that the foundation is flawed, because it breeds only greed. When your purpose is only to the exploitation of something there is no personal attachment to what you do. Life is more than that, its more than just a clock ticking.
Thanks for this, I feel the same why about this country now, we are so focused on things that dont really matter. Whats most important about life is finding happiness and helping other people. When we are so focused on material things I think it turns us into machines sorta speak.. Humanity is not meant to live for money alone.
Money is a byproduct of what we do for others, not the other way round.
Slashdot Mirror
Is it a basic right to be allowed to receive e-mail from whomever I desire
Um, No, I dont think its a basic right. I personally support ISP's right to deny mailing service from other companies who cant stay off the black lists. You have the right to find another method to receive email, but you dont get to dictate how an ISP handles Spam issues.
OMG, get a life...
I think you got that backwards my friend. Somtimes it pays to be pessimist.
I totally agree with you, who knows what we might find when everyone started looking for things that are unexplainable.. We create our own realities anyway.
One thing I think people are failing to take into account (I am probably going to get flack from people who believe everything that exists in this universe can be explained and documented)is certain things that happen in this universe cannot be understood on the level of mind. The mind is just a tool to get us though life while we are here on earth. (if you believe in an afterlife) So there is a possibility that there could be something within us that is beyond this world and we are not going to always be able to test for that in a way we have been accustom to. But to outright deny that things like this do not exist and to create resistance to it really shows that you are unable to exist outside the constrains of the mind, which could change in some point in the future. Consciousness (shear presence and all that goes with it, which is beyond name and form can exist with out the mind) so if you accept the analogy that you have a mind, and another presence deep within your body, existing within and without this reality. When you get intouch with that source it will always give you a reflection of the truth (every feel like you knew something by just how you feel inside, but didn't know why?). You dont always need the mind to give you a clear understanding of what is going on around you, and frankly it just can get in the way of living a life with out fear and compassion because you are consistently comparing what is happening now, with what has happened in the past. Thats what the mind does, its a computer that compares based on experiences. For things otherworldly, its just not the proper tool to use.
That being said, I do think we need to reach a certain level of consciousness before we are able to fully realize our full potential. The evolutionary stage we are in is a temporary thing, and we need to move on to the next level before we are able to become aware of things paranormal.
Here is the problem I have with this analogy. This all comes down to energy. (you might think im insane, thats to bad for you) But the world is really goverened by one thing if you want to have peace with people around you and reap profits. Have a mindset of giving without expecting anything in return. Spend more time figuring out ways to make peoples lives better and in turn you're life will be come more wealthy than you can possibly imagine. This mind set creates a vacum (space) in your life for things to flow in, and it can be applied to any situation. Its completeley counter-inutitive, which is why many people belive that if they can just hold on to what the got they wont loose it, but you dont have any control over that, things come ago, one day you could be rich and powerful and the next day you could have nothing but the shirt on your back. When you remove your attachment to that outcome all that shit that you think really matters goes away, Life is more than just the sum of what you accomplish.
This is why what the music industry, or any corporation that is driven soley by profits, and not by first having a desire to give to others is ultimatley flawed. Customers of any product will allways be loyal to who the business who has their best intersts at heart. When you give to someone with out asking for something in return, you create a space for them to give back. Having said that if the music industry was more giving, meaning that were not so concered with what they think they are loosing, they wouldnt be in this situation. They're so concered with this supposed loss that doesnt exist that they are creating their own deimse. When you have a fear of loss you create that loss ten fold, they fight against people who distrubte music, and those people or others who feel they are wronged fight back harder, in becomes and endless cycle of resistance that has no puropose but to harm. when you have compassion for people with a sense that no matter what you do, everything is going to be ok you are not focused anymore on a specific outcome, and your problems go away without any real doing on your part, and then things that you need can come to you with out any struggeling .
Anyway just my thoughts on the subject, sorry for the spelling my spelling sucks and my checker is not working.
Thats bullshit, what about people that mix music, The Grey Album for Instance?.. It doesn't detract from the work so long as the party knows its a edited version. The copyright holder doesn't/shouldn't have control over what someone does with a said work after its released. When you put at work into the public it no longer belongs to you as a whole. It takes on a life of its own, other people take it and make something that they can relate to on a personal level (If they so wish). This isn't about what the public is doing to a said work, This all has to do with the creator's/financial backer's fear of loss, The loss of something you no longer have control over. We need to get over it, this idea that copyright holders should have this kind of power is ridiculous. It goes against the core understanding being human, giving without expecting anything in return. When you give to someone freely without restrictions, you get back more than what you put into it. If you hold it to your chest in attempt to keep people from it, you will lose it.
In this case people are making it possible to watch movies they wouldnt normally choose to watch because of content they dont identify with, don't make them wrong for that, give people enough credit to make there own decisions about what is right and wrong.
Yea you are right, the only laws the government should be enforcing is our rights and freedoms, thats what the government was put in place in the beginning.
Once you invoke the idea of a war, you create conflict and people that identify with either side of the debate will step up to the plate and make that war a reality.
You can only win by understanding and having compassion for both sides of the issue, and working together, not against each other.
In this particular case, the us government and media companies reality is out of step with the ideals of society. People sharing content, regardless of who it belongs to doesn't != stealing. If you put something into the world, dont expect people to follow your rules about how that content is going to be distributed, you need to trust people and give up a certain level of control over your work if you want to be a peace with all parties involved.
Now people that copy works just to make a profit from someone else's creation without their permission it is another matter.
The net isnt some satellite tv or cable service where there is just one interest involved. This is a public fucking network and you need to share you bandwidth with other people or find some other technical means to get your traffic delivered with out interruption. Dont ask the rest of us to to suffer because you want to have priority over others...
The interests of the public should always trump business interests, Because they have the resources to work around these types of problems.
I wholeheartedly agree, I feels great to say to a client, (when they dont treat me with respect) that I dont have to tolerate any kind of abuse and am hence forth, ending this relationship. :)
I will never again, subject myself to the corporate mentality that puts profit margins before the goodwill of the common people.
Actually, thats a pretty cool idea, it makes a statement much more than just protesting in street cloths. If I saw someone in a Hazmat suit, I would be alert and wondering what the hell is going on.
The only way to change this situation is to get a Democratic majority in Congress. Sorry, Republicans and Independents, the Republican majority has already substantially demonstrated they have no interest in protecting and upholding the Constitution. They must out. A Democratic majority will investigate and impeach, and the Republic will be safe once again. Conservatives have an edge in SCOTUS; fine, they can stay for a while so we have balance again. But the administration and corrupt members of Congress must be impeached and imprisoned.
Please, The Democratic Party is just as corrupt as Republicans. The two party system is a smoke screen that allows the government to continue its corrupt practices under the control of large corporations at our expense. We need a third party in congress. Voting for a third party means things are going to get worse before they get better. But it needs to happen if we are going to make any progress in changing the way our government works.
this guy's post brought up some intersting points. I belive that their should be a free alternative to everything. But we are not in a perfect world, so I think we could work towards that though education. I agree with what he says, the FOSS zelots are making things worse trying to turn this into an all or nothing game. Some people just dont have the choice right now...
Terry Semel of Yahoo! corporation was found dead this morning. At this point the cause of death is being attributed to a chair leg that is still lodged deeply inside the victim's skull. Police have ruled out accidental death and are compiling a list of suspects.
A note was left on the body that stated "Google. This is what were going to do to you when we get though with you. We are going to fucking bury you! FUCKING BURY YOU!"
Personally, Im not really interested if this is leagal or not. This admistration is doing everything in their power to put power and money before the people of this country and it needs to stop, RIGHT HERE, and RIGHT NOW.
We dont belong in iraq, we should be passing the patriot act, this shit needs to end, its not helping our country one fucking bit, its making it worse, and causing great suffering around the world because we think we are the police of the world.
This country has turned into a nightmare to live in, im ashamed to even be called american now.
Sorry guys, but how im feeling right now, fuck this country, we dont deserve what we have.
I think it's like an artificial gang war. I think they do this to keep us divided, so we don't notice the fact that we get exactly the same fucking government no matter who's in charge.
Yep thats why I always think everyone that doesnt like the two party system should start voting for a 3rd party, I know it would suck for awhile, but I think it would start making a difference if word got out that a 3rd of the population voted for something other than democrat or republican
This whole issue comes down to fear. The difference between people that support the degrading of our rights at the expense of security, and the people who will not tolerate it.
Terrorists are terroising our country because we cant butt out of other countries political and social structures. Everyone has a reason for there actions, our government and special interest groups are in the business of creating this fear, so they can have more control over our lives. The only reason this is happening on such a large scale is most of our population is to stupid to do the math.
Personally if these people cant get their act together they we should split off from the United States and become our own country, and leave them to rot under their own fear centered lives. Im tired of living in a country that doesnt have the intelligence to see this for what it is.
Oil companies are afraid of dying because our oil supply is running low, what would you do if you were afraid of loosing your lively hood, and you had the means to stop it, legal or non legal?
Corporations have too much control in this country, the need to be put on a short leash. They dont have the right to exploit people from other countries and our own in the name of profit.
People, all Humans on this planet, come before money. If they cant learn this, they should be made to learn it, or stop doing business.
Im going to one up you on this and suggest something totally insane.
DONT INCUR DEPT THOUGH THE USE OF ANY CREDIT/FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.
If you dont have the money to pay for something, RIGHT NOW, then you shouldn't be purchasing it. Why? because you are giving control over your financial livelihood to another party. It may appear helpful at first, but once you start down the path of owning money to someone, you are, in essence, subjecting yourself to a system that does not have any interest in protecting you or your lively hood.
Secondly, you are giving away your power you create on your own, though your actions to a flawed system that will never be able to create an accurate picture that works for you. The system is designed to prevent middle and lower class people from maintaining wealth. Since the wealthy do not need to borrow, it only works to keep the rich wealthy. The power of credibility belongs to you and you alone, if you give it away, you will be subjected to all of its insane uses.
I know that under certain situations it makes helps, likely buying a house or a car.. But I think I am better off renting, or waiting until I could pay for a car, before I will ever subject myself to a system like that again.
When someone asks me for my credit report, like if I rent an apartment or am applying for a job, I explain to them that I will not subject myself to it and I explain why, when they hear me out, most of them they understand and let it slide. The problem is everyone is so bent on doing what everyone else does that they dont stop and think what they want for them selfs. Dont let the fear of loss prevent you from taking a stand, you will find allot of times, deep down, people want to fight this system, if you take a stand, so will others. One person can make a difference, but only if you come from the heart, and letting go of past fear.
No matter how sinister you might think Blizzard is, they're still a for-profit company (actually, the more sinister you think Blizzard is, the more this applies). For-profit companies don't do things (like be lax about fixing their network problems) if they can help it, since they do lose customers for that sort of thing, and that obviously directly correlates to lost income.
I understand where you are coming from, but it seems to me that they should be keeping everyone in the loop as to what going on. I know I have allot of respect for a company when they keep me informed of exactley what is going wrong and what they are doing to address it.
To leave your customers in the dark all of the time just breeds frustration and anger. I dont really think they are handling damage control very well, IMHO.
What I find funny about these stories and the obligatory "parents need to not suck!" argument is that it assumes that all parents have the same technical ability that we do. Or even the same language ability that we do. Or the TIME that we do. This seems to be the mother of all projections, as far as this site goes- "I could do it this way, it should be done this way, therefore EVERYONE should be fine doing it this way, and if they don't, it's their fault."
Lots of parents work two jobs. Lots of parents don't understand computers. Lots of parents simply don't know enough about their teenager's life to check for some things (to those that do, or think your parents did, I'm sorry. You're lying. Everyone keeps things from everyone else, regardless of their relationship).
And even so, how is this a raising thing? Kids are having sex, and parents can't stop them from that. How does it make any difference when it's some guy they met at school, planning over AIM and some guy on myspace who happens to be a sexual predator? Again, you don't know everything your child is up to (nor should you), and you never will.
Even putting that aside, these arguments are ridiculous. We have a problem of kids being subjected to predators on a website. The state has a duty (not even just a right, a duty) to ensure that if there are unacceptable risks, safeguards are put in place to assure that we've done all we reasonably can to protect the children. This is bad how? Because it'll curb kids' ability to use a website to share things? While I think the child's ability to express himself online is important, I think making our best effort to ensure that kid isn't going to be assaulted by a predator is pretty darn important too.
The "parent more" argument is a useful tool for people with agendas, but it has no logical stopping point. Why should the state have battery laws? Shouldn't parents teach their kids how to avoid fights? How about laws against gang activity? Shouldn't parents tell their kids to avoid gangs and vandalism? By this logic, simply "raising" your kid would solve the problem, but obviously it doesn't.
I appreciate the fact that you want to protect children though means outside of your influence. But prevention all starts at the source. Kids learn how to behave from how there parents treat them and other people. They also learn to be weary of certain types of people that may cause them harm by learning what kind of people you do and do not associate with. You can pass laws and restrict access to websites until you are blue in the face, its not going to solve the problem because the problem lies within our selfs.
We have to stop being reactionary with the mind set of "Ill deal with it when it comes up" when children start getting curious about things, and start being proactive with how our children learn. Saying that you dont have time or the means is a cop-out. Make the time, create the means, or dont have children. Dont make the world responsible for your inability to protect your children from predators.
News organizations don't stay in business when they blatently lie and misrepresent the core facts of an issue.
Thats the current assumption of the national media, But the facts show that they dont have to tell the truth. Go see the movie The Corporation Here is a brief about what happened when fox news wouldnt tell the truth.
THE PRICE OF WHISTLEBLOWING
It turns out that standing for the public good is an expensive proposition. Ask Jane Akre and Steve Wilson, two investigative reporters fired by Fox News after they refused to water down a story on rBGH, a controversial synthetic hormone widely used in the United States (but banned in Europe and Canada) to rev up cows' metabolism and boost their milk production. Because of the increased production, the cows suffer from mastitis, a painful infection of the udders. Antibiotics must then be injected, which find their way into the milk, and ultimately reduce people's resistance to disease.
They eventually went to court and lost the case on the grounds that media companies are not required to tell the truth. So Im sorry to say my friend, they are in the business of not telling the truth, when it could cause them economic damage. They weigh the costs and if its to expensive to tell the truth, they lie, its just not brought out into the public.
I agree, the only reason government should exist is to protect our freedom. So as for having access to the Internet from the company of my choice, that is a freedom they should be protecting. Its either that or its a monopoly closely regulated by the government that holds the interests of the public first and foremost, everything else is secondary.
Your right, in its current form, thats how our economy works. I hate to tell you this but its killing us. The human spirit itself.. to be so caught up in the pursuit of it.
Personally I do think our natural state of being is to help others. People start with an idea in their head that they want to make things better. The problem occurs when groups of people create something only for the pursuit of money. If you look closely at it you will find that the foundation is flawed, because it breeds only greed. When your purpose is only to the exploitation of something there is no personal attachment to what you do. Life is more than that, its more than just a clock ticking.
Thanks for this, I feel the same why about this country now, we are so focused on things that dont really matter. Whats most important about life is finding happiness and helping other people. When we are so focused on material things I think it turns us into machines sorta speak.. Humanity is not meant to live for money alone.
Money is a byproduct of what we do for others, not the other way round.