But you suffer from drawbacks, such as manufacturers not wanting to release anything in open-source drivers that cost them millions to develop. If you just stick to GPL'd drivers, you can only get drivers for a small amount of hardware. Sad, but true.
And if people like you keep shunning companies when they try and help you out, you're going to be stuck with NOTHING.
Seriously, get off your high-horse and appreciate what they're doing. Just because open-source means so much to you, don't assume it means the same to anyone else.
I've studied the industrial revolution, and I know exactly what it did for the world. It turned us from small-scale manual production to automated, large-scale powered production. Starting with John Kay and his flying shuttle (which sped up weaving by thousands of percent), and on to the steam-powered machines of the 18th and 19th century. And things like trains.
True, it was a period of history like every other, but it was a real revolution. It gave Britain the wealth it needed to sustain the empire for a couple of hundred years. Ever wonder how a small, little island tucked away at the outskirts of Europe ruled a third of the world? The industrial revolution, that's how. Manufacture of everything hundreds of times faster than anyone else could do it, coupled with major advances in technology meant Britain screamed ahead of the rest of the world in terms of productivity and efficiency (even the Germans!:-P)
So, to recap, yes. It was a period of time in the world. Just like how jaws was "just a shark" and Bush is "just an idiot". Slight misunderstatements ahoy!
However, because there's no way to know if someone's there illegally unless they give you their ID, you can't find it out by asking everyone who looks "foreign" to prove whether they're illegal or not (innocent until proven guilty, remember?). Also, seeing as the LAPD would threaten people with deportation unless they worked "with" the LAPD, they've lost their right to even ask people about it.
If you want people to play by the rules, the police have to as well.
The cop was demonstrating poor police skills. He was looking for the easy way out. If Mr Hiibel had produced his ID, the cop would have been saved a lot of investigative work. Unfortunately for Officer Lazyass, it backfired when his zealotry got the better of him, and he arrested someone for not wanting to obey a ridiculously uncalled-for request.
If the cop had asked the right questions about what he could see in front of him (which, as it is in public, is public knowledge), he wouldn't have had to ask for anyone's ID at all, and saved the tax payer the hundreds of thousands of dollars this is going to cost to get through the courts.
Dude - you're talking like every other coutry in the world is plagued by checkpoints and the military. Do you even own a passport? The rest of the world have less hassle from cops than the US. The US looks draconian compared to Europe, for example.
The US is not as free of a country as you think it is. After all, they're going to constitutionally ban marriages. That's hardly freedom. And that's just off the top of my head from the last 2 days.
If you want to see free countries, go to Europe. If you want to see a police state masquerading as a free country, turn on Fox.
I agree with you 100%. To extend the generalisation further, it seems and American in a uniform with a gun assumes they're John Wayne. It goes for the jackass customs officers at the airport, to the rent-a-cop security guards at wells fargo (which to me seems freakin' insane - civilians wearing near-cop uniforms, carrying GUNS. Who on earth vouches for their competence? How do I know they're not a nutter?). I don't know what it is. I guess it's some sort of overcompensation for a lack of intelligence or something - it's the only way they can feel superior over you, as they sure can't match most people they meet on a purely intellectual manner.
Of course not everyone in uniform in the US is like that, but nearly every single one I've met has been. I really, truly wish it wasn't the case.
Maybe if the cops in the US stopped beating up black men (LAPD), raping women (LAPD), or using broom handles as sex toys (NYPD), they'd command more respect. Also, if they hired more intelligent people, there would be less tension between average joe and the boys in blue.
Oh yeah, and the cops know they'll be in danger long before they even sign up as cops, so that's a moot point.
The US does have a national ID card. It doesn't identify you as a citizen or not, but it does show who you are, and is nationally recognised. It's your drivers license.
You need it to go for a drive round the block. It's the standard ID shown at bars and clubs.
I've spent a lot of time in the states, and every time I leave the house, I had to make sure I kept my passport on me, as I seemed to be asked for it a hell of a lot. Picking up a 40 at 10am on a tuesday? "Got any ID?". Going for a drink at the bar down the road? "Got any ID?" Buy something at Vons with my credit card? "Got any ID?" Get stopped driving to Carl's Jr for a double bacon western cheeseburger meal? "License and registration, please". You're expected to prove your identity in the US more than anywhere else I've ever been.
I live in London (England), and I don't have to carry anything on me. Driving, drinking, buying stuff, whatever. I don't have to show anything. Ever. You don't need to have anything on you when you drive, as they (quite rightly) presume you innocent.
Americans seem to think the amount of ID-carrying they go through is the "bare minimum", as that's what they've been told. It is, however, half-way up the fascist ladder. You don't realise unless you leave the US and go somewhere else.
There's a huge difference between what's on paper and what's enforced. On paper, every time Bush mentions God he's violating the constitution, yet it happens unchallenged. On paper, the PATRIOT act is unconstitutional, yet it's still enacted. On paper, Guantanamo bay should be a holiday camp for 18-30s, but it's the site of a huge mass-violation of human rights by the same government you're saying loves people.
Come on, see the real picture. They say "look at the constitution! isn't it pretty!" just to distract you while they beat the crap out of a country for looking shifty, or for having too many muslims with oil.
And, by the way, the US constitution isn't all that great anyway. Most countries have something very similar. The difference being that most countries know this, and don't parade it around like it's some magic guarantee that their country can't possibly be screwing them in the ass every day of their lives.
You say guns make a difference... Poland/France/Most of europe had armies, navies and air forces, and the Nazis still rolled on in there. Guns are one thing, but an army is another. If you think some accountants with handguns are going to be the last bastion of freedom and democracy in the US, you're going to be in for a nasty shock once Herr Bush rolls down Main Street on the back of an Abrams. They'll be the ones doing more harm than good. If a government wants to turn on a people, they will. Only another government can stop it.
You're wrong on one key point there - a police officer isn't allowed to ask everything a normal citizen can. Special Orders, as they're called, can be enforced which prohibit members of the law enforcement community from asking certain things. For example, the LAPD have "Special Order 50", which stops them from asking about someone's immigration status. Sounds funny, but there was a huge amount of LAPD officers threatening latinos with deportation unless they "helped" them in their investigations, which is hardly fair on anyone.
I've always found that if you act calm and composed with an officer of the law, they will usually treat you as a human being.
Hahahah! Seriously - that's hilarious. Ever been to LA? I was there at an anti-bush rally, and there was a freeper with a megaphone screaming into my ear, and the LAPD wouldn't do a thing about it, even when I pointed out the fact that this guy was committing assault right in front of their noses. They also had no idea about policing a crowd, and let different people walk in different areas, threatening people with arrest if they stood on the wrong street corner. I mean, seriously. The only way to get a cop to treat you like a person is to either be a cop, or a rich white guy. Everyone else is fucked.
That's the beauty of the brain, though. It can make sense of the strangest of inputs. The very nature of neurons and connections in the brain means that if you were to introduce an "input" into the brain using a technique like this, given time, there's a very good chance that the brain will eventually make sense of it. After all, it's a very good learning computer, and this is really no different to the information sent via the optic nerve.
Imagine trying to describe vision to someone who's been blind from birth. It's nigh-on impossible to explain, as it's unlike anything else they can experience. This is what we're seeing here - a new sense we just can't comprehend, yet could offer us such incredible benefits we can't hope to fully understand at such an early stage as this.
Stem cells are the way forward for spinal cord damage, as they can be used to replace the damaged cells. This technique is more useful for adapting already existing cells, and integrating them with computer circuitry.
Do a search on google for "luddite" - there have been people like you before.
btw, Lacie's drive is the size of a cigar box, which is considerably smaller than 10 100gb drives.
It's not all about raw numbers, but form and function, too. Look at the iPod - there are plenty of other hard-disk based mp3 players out there, which on paper offer exactly what the iPod does. However, you'll notice that the iPod is by far the most loved and bought one out there.
Companies have to push for new technologies. They have to research technology before they push it on the masses. Imagine how pissed off you'd be if Dell released a dope computer that did everything you've ever dreamed off, only to find out that half of the stuff in there is newfangled and not fully tested.
Oh yeah - older civilisations that imploded on technological advancements, like, say, Rome, who managed to conquer most of Europe while Jesus was still running around throwing loaves and fishes at people. Without people pushing technological advances, we'd not have had the industrial revolution, which led directly to industry as we know it. Without that, we'd not have anything. We'd be living in small villages eating corn and hiding from the moon. "The devil's work, it is..."
You seem to be glossing over the relationship between the Bush family and the Bin Ladens... if that's not in bed with the enemy, what is?
The rest of your points pale into insignificance compared to that point.
And as for your view that Osama and Saddam rule with opression, take a look at the PATRIOT act, etc. Bush is doing EXACTLY the same.
America needs to work with the international community to solve international problems. No matter what the US thinks, it's still piss-poor when it comes to international co-operation and support. They think the rest of the world is blinded to their incompetence, as is the case in America.
Seriously, your arguments are old, tired and pointless. Bush is the guy in power, and he's doing the worst job possible. USA! USA! USA!
If national defense is such a big deal, why does the government do everything it can to seperate itself from the rest of the world, and destroy US/Muslim relations every chance it gets?
It's fair enough to say they want to defend the country, but giving the bird to the rest of the world isn't the way to do it.
I'm sure the families of those killed on 9/11 wouldn't want anyone else to go through what they did. I'm sure they don't want this false war. Anyway, what links are there between Saddam and Osama? I guarantee there are more links between Bush and Osama.
As I pointed out in my post, yours is the exact attitude that's so screwed up in the states. You've been blinded to the real issues here. Bush is the global terrorist - you're his supporter.
Amen, brother. I hear you 100%, and wish there were more like you out there. Attacking something American isn't attacking America. Saying you don't like the current President, or that you don't support his actions isn't treacherous. That's one point that's rather cloudy with a lot of people, and needs to be addressed. It's the single-most dangerous facet to American patriotism, that can effectively blind otherwise decent, logical people.
If people really "support the troops", they'd want them at home with their families, drinking hot chocolate. Not at war in the dessert, drinking hot lead.
Soldiers should be trained to keep the peace once they've won it. War isn't an American Football game, where they swap out the offensive side for a defensive one - the soldiers that go in have to deal with the consequences of their actions. Having a seperate force is a flawed idea, as if a peace-keeping role changed to one of combat (which it can, even to the best troops) a peacekeeping-only force would be as much use as a pointed stick.
I can't emphasize enough that this isn't an attack on America, or American people. I'm simply trying to point out the rather unique view the American armed forces have of foreign nationals abroad (as in they're not trained to save their lives and look after them, just shoot them if they look a bit shifty)
No, because no-one steals burgers from McDonalds, breaks into your house and crams them down your throat when you're asleep, to the point where you and your family die.
Also, burgers are made to be eaten, which is a natural and encouraged activity. Guns are made primarily to kill people, which if you check, isn't.
The difference between the.com companies and SCO, is that SCO used to make a profit. Most of the.com companies that went bust didn't make a dime. SCO, however, have had their cake in the past. Unfortunately, their business model wasn't kept up-to-date with the current climate, and now has leapt straight onto the "litigation factory" model, just to keep up.
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But you suffer from drawbacks, such as manufacturers not wanting to release anything in open-source drivers that cost them millions to develop. If you just stick to GPL'd drivers, you can only get drivers for a small amount of hardware. Sad, but true.
Seriously, get off your high-horse and appreciate what they're doing. Just because open-source means so much to you, don't assume it means the same to anyone else.
Damn I'm in a cranky mood :-P sorry!
True, it was a period of history like every other, but it was a real revolution. It gave Britain the wealth it needed to sustain the empire for a couple of hundred years. Ever wonder how a small, little island tucked away at the outskirts of Europe ruled a third of the world? The industrial revolution, that's how. Manufacture of everything hundreds of times faster than anyone else could do it, coupled with major advances in technology meant Britain screamed ahead of the rest of the world in terms of productivity and efficiency (even the Germans! :-P)
So, to recap, yes. It was a period of time in the world. Just like how jaws was "just a shark" and Bush is "just an idiot". Slight misunderstatements ahoy!
If you want people to play by the rules, the police have to as well.
WE pay THEM. We don't owe them anything. They work for us.
It seems too many of them are too busy pretending they're Robocop or something to realise they're not. That's the sad state of it.
If the cop had asked the right questions about what he could see in front of him (which, as it is in public, is public knowledge), he wouldn't have had to ask for anyone's ID at all, and saved the tax payer the hundreds of thousands of dollars this is going to cost to get through the courts.
The US is not as free of a country as you think it is. After all, they're going to constitutionally ban marriages. That's hardly freedom. And that's just off the top of my head from the last 2 days.
If you want to see free countries, go to Europe. If you want to see a police state masquerading as a free country, turn on Fox.
Of course not everyone in uniform in the US is like that, but nearly every single one I've met has been. I really, truly wish it wasn't the case.
Oh yeah, and the cops know they'll be in danger long before they even sign up as cops, so that's a moot point.
You need it to go for a drive round the block. It's the standard ID shown at bars and clubs.
I've spent a lot of time in the states, and every time I leave the house, I had to make sure I kept my passport on me, as I seemed to be asked for it a hell of a lot. Picking up a 40 at 10am on a tuesday? "Got any ID?". Going for a drink at the bar down the road? "Got any ID?" Buy something at Vons with my credit card? "Got any ID?" Get stopped driving to Carl's Jr for a double bacon western cheeseburger meal? "License and registration, please". You're expected to prove your identity in the US more than anywhere else I've ever been.
I live in London (England), and I don't have to carry anything on me. Driving, drinking, buying stuff, whatever. I don't have to show anything. Ever. You don't need to have anything on you when you drive, as they (quite rightly) presume you innocent.
Americans seem to think the amount of ID-carrying they go through is the "bare minimum", as that's what they've been told. It is, however, half-way up the fascist ladder. You don't realise unless you leave the US and go somewhere else.
Come on, see the real picture. They say "look at the constitution! isn't it pretty!" just to distract you while they beat the crap out of a country for looking shifty, or for having too many muslims with oil.
And, by the way, the US constitution isn't all that great anyway. Most countries have something very similar. The difference being that most countries know this, and don't parade it around like it's some magic guarantee that their country can't possibly be screwing them in the ass every day of their lives.
You say guns make a difference... Poland/France/Most of europe had armies, navies and air forces, and the Nazis still rolled on in there. Guns are one thing, but an army is another. If you think some accountants with handguns are going to be the last bastion of freedom and democracy in the US, you're going to be in for a nasty shock once Herr Bush rolls down Main Street on the back of an Abrams. They'll be the ones doing more harm than good. If a government wants to turn on a people, they will. Only another government can stop it.
You're wrong on one key point there - a police officer isn't allowed to ask everything a normal citizen can. Special Orders, as they're called, can be enforced which prohibit members of the law enforcement community from asking certain things. For example, the LAPD have "Special Order 50", which stops them from asking about someone's immigration status. Sounds funny, but there was a huge amount of LAPD officers threatening latinos with deportation unless they "helped" them in their investigations, which is hardly fair on anyone.
Hahahah! Seriously - that's hilarious. Ever been to LA? I was there at an anti-bush rally, and there was a freeper with a megaphone screaming into my ear, and the LAPD wouldn't do a thing about it, even when I pointed out the fact that this guy was committing assault right in front of their noses. They also had no idea about policing a crowd, and let different people walk in different areas, threatening people with arrest if they stood on the wrong street corner. I mean, seriously. The only way to get a cop to treat you like a person is to either be a cop, or a rich white guy. Everyone else is fucked.
Imagine trying to describe vision to someone who's been blind from birth. It's nigh-on impossible to explain, as it's unlike anything else they can experience. This is what we're seeing here - a new sense we just can't comprehend, yet could offer us such incredible benefits we can't hope to fully understand at such an early stage as this.
Stem cells are the way forward for spinal cord damage, as they can be used to replace the damaged cells. This technique is more useful for adapting already existing cells, and integrating them with computer circuitry.
Imagine? Watched the news recently? :-P
btw, Lacie's drive is the size of a cigar box, which is considerably smaller than 10 100gb drives.
It's not all about raw numbers, but form and function, too. Look at the iPod - there are plenty of other hard-disk based mp3 players out there, which on paper offer exactly what the iPod does. However, you'll notice that the iPod is by far the most loved and bought one out there.
Companies have to push for new technologies. They have to research technology before they push it on the masses. Imagine how pissed off you'd be if Dell released a dope computer that did everything you've ever dreamed off, only to find out that half of the stuff in there is newfangled and not fully tested.
Oh yeah - older civilisations that imploded on technological advancements, like, say, Rome, who managed to conquer most of Europe while Jesus was still running around throwing loaves and fishes at people. Without people pushing technological advances, we'd not have had the industrial revolution, which led directly to industry as we know it. Without that, we'd not have anything. We'd be living in small villages eating corn and hiding from the moon. "The devil's work, it is..."
The rest of your points pale into insignificance compared to that point.
And as for your view that Osama and Saddam rule with opression, take a look at the PATRIOT act, etc. Bush is doing EXACTLY the same.
America needs to work with the international community to solve international problems. No matter what the US thinks, it's still piss-poor when it comes to international co-operation and support. They think the rest of the world is blinded to their incompetence, as is the case in America.
Seriously, your arguments are old, tired and pointless. Bush is the guy in power, and he's doing the worst job possible. USA! USA! USA!
It's fair enough to say they want to defend the country, but giving the bird to the rest of the world isn't the way to do it.
I'm sure the families of those killed on 9/11 wouldn't want anyone else to go through what they did. I'm sure they don't want this false war. Anyway, what links are there between Saddam and Osama? I guarantee there are more links between Bush and Osama.
As I pointed out in my post, yours is the exact attitude that's so screwed up in the states. You've been blinded to the real issues here. Bush is the global terrorist - you're his supporter.
If people really "support the troops", they'd want them at home with their families, drinking hot chocolate. Not at war in the dessert, drinking hot lead.
I can't emphasize enough that this isn't an attack on America, or American people. I'm simply trying to point out the rather unique view the American armed forces have of foreign nationals abroad (as in they're not trained to save their lives and look after them, just shoot them if they look a bit shifty)
Also, burgers are made to be eaten, which is a natural and encouraged activity. Guns are made primarily to kill people, which if you check, isn't.
suckers.
Thanks, but we could really have used that nugget of wisdom in '97 :-P