"the fact that gravity does not act instantaneously has been observed"
wasn't it originally *deduced* before observation, by Einstein I believe? seems to me I recently saw this on PBS (in a show about string theory) -- something about a gedanken experiment about the change in the Earth's path if the sun vanished instantaneously, and how instantaneous gravity would be contradictory with non-instantaneous light.
Thanks, but I failed, as I expected: I do have boocoo years of IT experience, but no 4-yr degree, and no pre-arranged job. I also lost points for age. The sad thing is, I don't even NEED a job, I can live on what I have now.
This sucks. Looks like I'm trapped in Amerika with the Gang Of Bush.
maybe. Lots of Brits fight it. Might also happen in the US. Regardless, I'm not sure that citing "might" cases is fair in this context.
I agree with your take on EDRI. But the thing is, it's not important to me whose country it is, I hate this shit wherever it happens. And I don't pull any punches re my own country, or take it personally when a non-USer voices criticisms that I know are justified; I think that "pot calling kettle black" accusations don't contribute much to the discussion. (It would be different if the criticizer were saying, "...and *my* country's perfect and better in every respect" -- which almost never happens.)
"I see America being criticized more than EU? Why is that?"
Elsewhere in this thread, I said that I hold the US to a higher standard. I wouldn't be surprised if some Europeans felt the same away about the US. It's like telling someone you love or admire, who has misbehaved, "How *could* you?!" And most of the time, when non-USers are dinging the US, it's about the *govt*, not the *people*.
"do the Nederlands and UK not count as part of the EU?"
The reason I said to exclude them, is because I already know why I wouldn't want to move there. I'm looking for new info to help me decide where.
actually, i don't remember which post(s) it was, but you can always count on them showing up for these topics.
"The mistake is made by mayn Europeans (as well as American academe which at its core wants to follow European intellectual trends) that ther only government worth fearing is the US government."
Well, ours ain't the worst. But it used to be the best (now, *that's* jingoistic!). Besides, I *live* here -- although I've started looking for alternatives.
I feel that the USA should be held to a higher standard: fierce defense of individual rights has historically been the hallmark of our national persona, of The American Experiment. I've grown up with the Bill Of Rights as my religion. And now it's being trashed by cynical amoral people running our country.
I don't agree that Nazi paraphernalia should banned, only *specifically* violence-inciting expression. (Check google for Nazi + Skokie). But I want to apologize for jingoistic ranting posts by some fellow US-ers. Please believe me, we're not all like that, and many of us are just as afraid of the US government as Europeans are.
"Europeans on slashdot can insult the US for things like the Patriot act (giving up a little freedom for security? DASTARDLY!) when the exact same thing is happening in Europe."
specifics, please -- other than the UK and Netherlands.
I have similar concerns about the UK. Nonetheless, as a US-er, I'm unhappy about the degree to which US economic and military power is used to coerce other nations (and the EU) into propagating *our* excesses (e.g., PNRs). And how much longer do you think that Europe will be "allowed" to have more permissive file-sharing laws?
That almost should be modded "redundant": EVERYTHING SBC does is nasty. I've worked there.
-- It's really a hellish atmosphere to work in, EVEN for higher-level tech pros.
-- My location had (still has) lots of south-Asian contractors who are only allowed to bill for 40hrs/week, even though EVERYONE knows they're all working 60+ to undercut everyone else: no one dares to work less than 60 or bill for more than 40.
-- SBC puts incredible pressure on employees to work -- outside the office and unpaid -- to advance SBC's political agendas.
-- Employees are pressured to recruit friends and family to switch their business to SBC. I *think* that employees are now required to use SBC themselves, if they live in an SBC-serviced area.
-- Their "acceptable use" policy for PCs is extremely restrictive and intrusive. God forbid that a well-meaning friend should innocently email you a picture of her dog. And it requires an act of Congress to obtain official permission to go outside of The Corporate Standard if you want to use your preferred source-editor, browser, etc.
-- During union strikes, all non-union employees are required to work 7x12, for jobs for which they are grossly under/over-qualified, at locations which may be 2-3 hours from home.
-- Typical true SBC story...An employee *partly* used paid time off (maybe sick time, I don't remember) for her honeymoon. A jealous co-worker snitched. When the offending employee's return-flight landed, someone from SBC's Asset Recovery dept was waiting for her AT THE AIRPORT. SBC proudly publicized this story in an email they send periodically to notify everyone of Asset Recovery caught-red-handed "success stories". Yes, the employee was wrong, but the point is that SBC is a Kafka-esque place to work.
Canada sounds great. And I'm strongly interested in deserting the USA. The only problem is: I don't think you people will let me in, eh? Seriously: if you're a (ahem) "seasoned" IT pro, in a weak market, without a couple of million $$ to bring along, then what are your chances of being able to emigrate?
I wish your offer were sincere. Seriously, how difficult would it be to be allowed to emigrate? I don't think the USA legal system (or foreign policy) will ever recover from 9/11, even if Bush loses the election. So I'm looking for a new country.
Cringely is just looking for an excuse to be clever, a fluff-piece space-filler.
1. He starts by saying he can't use gmail because of privacy. Duh, can you say "encryption"?
2. He also gives a privacy complaint because gmail knows who you associate with, through the chain of invitations. Bullshit. There are lots of people on the web offering anonymous invitation URLs.
3. Savor this contradiction: "First, it is for BACKUP, so recovery has to be slow enough so people won't think of it as another hard drive..... It's a RAID system using donated disk space on a wide area network." Let's see: a rai*D* system that MUST be slow and NOT treated as a Disk.
This idea is simple redundancy, nothing more than a variation on Publius or Freenet. Please, can we all agree to quash this nascent trend of calling everything RAID?
I'd like to know about experiences of **USA**citizens** in *leaving* the USA.
The whole point of this, is to learn if it is the USA's future plan, or current policy or practice (even if ineffective), to comprehensively track/record, and/or control in real-time, *departures* by all persons, *including* USA citizens.
It must be recent and must involve travel directly to another sovereign nation.
I'm not concerned if the destination countries' officials demanded your ID. But I'd like to know if the logistics/mechanics of the exit procedure, make it possible for a USA citizen to pass -- from USA jurisdiction, -- completely through debarkation and then on to mingling anonymously in the destination country, -- without any USA authority first having the opportunity to decide to bar your exit -- or decide to have you detained upon debarkation, -- and without violating USA law.
I realize this sounds conspiratorial. I'm asking in order to resolve a civil-liberties question arising from discussions in slashdot politics/rights stories.
It would be helpful to hear from at least one person in each of the five categories of: (1) by commercial flight (2) by commercial ocean cruise (e.g., US to Jamaica or Latin America) (3) by rail (4) by private auto (5) on foot (and not in a tour group). Those last two are especially important, since commercial cross-border travel is (I believe) virtually impossible without presenting ID to *someone* before departure.
It would be ideal if you were crossing without any concrete evidence of an intention to return to the USA (i.e. no return ticket or reservation).
I'd also like to hear about at least one auto/pedestrian crossing to Canada, because of the Canada-USA "Smart Borders" pact.
Please tell me where you exited, your mode of transport, your destination, and how recently. IS IT possible for a USA citizen legally to exit the USA absent from real-time control by USA authorities? And finally: is the answer any different compared to before 9/11?
I'd like to know about experiences of **USA**citizens** in *leaving* the USA. It must be recent and must involve travel directly to another sovereign nation.
The whole point of this, is to learn if it is the USA's future plan, or current policy or practice (even if ineffective), to comprehensively track/record, and/or control in real-time, *departures* by *all* persons, including USA citizens.
I'm not concerned if the destination countries' officials demanded your ID. But I'd like to know if the logistics/mechanics of the exit procedure, make it possible for a USA citizen to pass -- from USA jurisdiction, -- completely through debarkation and then on to mingling anonymously in the destination country, -- without any USA authority first having the opportunity to decide to bar your exit -- or decide to have you detained upon debarkation, -- and without violating USA law.
I realize this sounds conspiratorial. I'm asking in order to resolve a civil-liberties question arising from discussions in slashdot politics/rights stories.
It would be helpful to hear from at least one person in each of the five categories of: (1) by commercial flight (2) by commercial ocean cruise (e.g., US to Jamaica or Latin America) (3) by rail (4) by private auto (5) on foot (and not in a tour group). Those last two are especially important, since commercial cross-border travel is (I believe) virtually impossible without presenting ID to *someone* before departure.
It would be ideal if you were crossing without any concrete evidence of an intention to return to the USA (i.e. no return ticket or reservation).
I'd also like to hear about at least one auto/pedestrian crossing to Canada, because of the Canada-USA "Smart Borders" pact.
Please tell me where you exited, your vehicle, your destination, and how recently. IS IT possible for a USA citizen legally to exit the USA absent from real-time control by USA authorities? And finally: is the answer any different compared to before 9/11?
Your DHS link certainly seems to disprove my belief about exit requirements, as part of US-VISIT. My belief was based on things I've read in legitimate (i.e. non-fringe) media. And I'm still not sure how DHS can reliably accomplish their intention to track the exit of all non-citizens, without demanding ID from *everyone* who exits.
Regardless, either I'm entirely mistaken about exit-checks, or I've misunderstood the specific US-VISIT connection. I'll check it further.
But what about the other points I mentioned? (e.g., search google for "draft" + the phrase "smart borders")
btw, why do you keep posting as AC? and why are you so angry?
"There are NO such plans or procedures to detain/interrogate and/or "invalidate" you when you want to EXIT THE COUNTRY anymore so than there already has been."
Then you're not familiar with the US-VISIT program, which requires EVERYONE to present ID upon leaving the country. Or the US/Canada "Smart Borders" pact -- which *could* be used to keep people from leaving to escape the military draft. (and btw, I said "validate", not "invalidate")
"And might I point out that it was a Democrat government that interned the Japanese in WW2?"
And McCarthy was a Dem (i think). So? What's the relevance to TODAY's parties?
"the evils perpertrated by my political group"
You're assuming. I don't have a group. I previously supported Bush. I merely happen to regard TODAY's Dems as a lesser evil.
"Have the Republicans crossed the line and caused millions of voters to switch to the other side?"
No, but numerical superiority doesn't confer or demonstrate wisdom.
"I don't see the Republicans massing for a Nazi-esque (or maybe Dark Lord of the Sith-esque is more appropriate) takeover of the US Government."
I never said they were. Nor did I accuse you of saying that the Clintons were. That's not the point. You don't have to have demonic intentions in order to make bad decisions or cause bad consequences.
"And no, I do NOT see a "difference". Violations of my rights are violations of my rights. Whatever they may be."
Then I guess we have nothing more to discuss, because we have radically different priorities and values.
In my value system, some rights are more important than others, and the most important are freedom of anonymity, speech, association, travel, and freedom from being detained or searched without substantial and specific probable cause.
In your value system, there's apparently no difference -- ("I do NOT see a "difference". Violations of my rights are violations of my rights. Whatever they may be.") -- between losing the right to drink beer (1920's Prohibition) and losing the right to read books without the govt knowing what you're reading.
Slashdot Mirror
"the fact that gravity does not act instantaneously has been observed"
wasn't it originally *deduced* before observation, by Einstein I believe?
seems to me I recently saw this on PBS (in a show about string theory) -- something about a gedanken experiment about the change in the Earth's path if the sun vanished instantaneously, and how instantaneous gravity would be contradictory with non-instantaneous light.
btw, it's "propAgation"
"I recommend reading some Wittgenstein for more insights and CLARITY[?!]"
yes, and when you're done with that, round it all off with Kant, Hegel, and Sartre to make everything just peachy, crystal, transparent.
or should I be merciful and shoot you first?
"didn't seem very long to me. Sure its longer than a jacket summery..."
well, i would have seemed longer if you'd been wearing a parka wintry.
Thanks, but I failed, as I expected:
I do have boocoo years of IT experience, but no 4-yr degree, and no pre-arranged job.
I also lost points for age.
The sad thing is, I don't even NEED a job, I can live on what I have now.
This sucks. Looks like I'm trapped in Amerika with the Gang Of Bush.
Triskele, what country are you from?
l3v1,what country are you in?
"fingerprinting? Looks like it's going to happen"
maybe. Lots of Brits fight it. Might also happen in the US.
Regardless, I'm not sure that citing "might" cases is fair in this context.
I agree with your take on EDRI. But the thing is, it's not important to me whose country it is,
I hate this shit wherever it happens.
And I don't pull any punches re my own country, or take it personally when a non-USer voices criticisms that I know are justified;
I think that "pot calling kettle black" accusations don't contribute much to the discussion.
(It would be different if the criticizer were saying, "...and *my* country's perfect and better in every respect" -- which almost never happens.)
"I see America being criticized more than EU? Why is that?"
Elsewhere in this thread, I said that I hold the US to a higher standard.
I wouldn't be surprised if some Europeans felt the same away about the US.
It's like telling someone you love or admire, who has misbehaved, "How *could* you?!"
And most of the time, when non-USers are dinging the US, it's about the *govt*, not the *people*.
"do the Nederlands and UK not count as part of the EU?"
The reason I said to exclude them, is because I already know why I wouldn't want to move there.
I'm looking for new info to help me decide where.
actually, i don't remember which post(s) it was,
but you can always count on them showing up for these topics.
"The mistake is made by mayn Europeans (as well as American academe which at its core wants to follow European intellectual trends) that ther only government worth fearing is the US government."
Well, ours ain't the worst. But it used to be the best (now, *that's* jingoistic!).
Besides, I *live* here -- although I've started looking for alternatives.
I feel that the USA should be held to a higher standard:
fierce defense of individual rights has historically been the hallmark of our national persona, of The American Experiment.
I've grown up with the Bill Of Rights as my religion.
And now it's being trashed by cynical amoral people running our country.
I don't agree that Nazi paraphernalia should banned, only *specifically* violence-inciting expression. (Check google for Nazi + Skokie).
But I want to apologize for jingoistic ranting posts by some fellow US-ers.
Please believe me, we're not all like that, and many of us are just as afraid of the US government as Europeans are.
btw, where are you?
"Europeans on slashdot can insult the US for things like the Patriot act (giving up a little freedom for security? DASTARDLY!) when the exact same thing is happening in Europe."
specifics, please -- other than the UK and Netherlands.
I have similar concerns about the UK.
Nonetheless, as a US-er, I'm unhappy about the degree to which US economic and military power is used to coerce other nations (and the EU) into propagating *our* excesses (e.g., PNRs).
And how much longer do you think that Europe will be "allowed" to have more permissive file-sharing laws?
agreed (from a US-er).
btw, where are you?
...all of the IBM voice-recognition software I keep getting spammed about, so the spammers lose their incentive.
something is Affecting the probes, not "Effecting"
while we're at it:
"sepArate", NOT "sepErate"
loose = "luce" = "turn it loose", "loosely coupled"
lose = "looz" = "lost the game", "lose my my mind"
"SBC got really nasty"
That almost should be modded "redundant":
EVERYTHING SBC does is nasty.
I've worked there.
-- It's really a hellish atmosphere to work in, EVEN for higher-level tech pros.
-- My location had (still has) lots of south-Asian contractors who are only allowed to bill for 40hrs/week, even though EVERYONE knows they're all working 60+ to undercut everyone else:
no one dares to work less than 60 or bill for more than 40.
-- SBC puts incredible pressure on employees to work -- outside the office and unpaid -- to advance SBC's political agendas.
-- Employees are pressured to recruit friends and family to switch their business to SBC.
I *think* that employees are now required to use SBC themselves, if they live in an SBC-serviced area.
-- Their "acceptable use" policy for PCs is extremely restrictive and intrusive.
God forbid that a well-meaning friend should innocently email you a picture of her dog.
And it requires an act of Congress to obtain official permission to go outside of The Corporate Standard if you want to use your preferred source-editor, browser, etc.
-- During union strikes, all non-union employees are required to work 7x12, for jobs for which they are grossly under/over-qualified, at locations which may be 2-3 hours from home.
-- Typical true SBC story...An employee *partly* used paid time off (maybe sick time, I don't remember) for her honeymoon. A jealous co-worker snitched.
When the offending employee's return-flight landed, someone from SBC's Asset Recovery dept was waiting for her AT THE AIRPORT.
SBC proudly publicized this story in an email they send periodically to notify everyone of Asset Recovery caught-red-handed "success stories".
Yes, the employee was wrong, but the point is that SBC is a Kafka-esque place to work.
Canada sounds great.
And I'm strongly interested in deserting the USA.
The only problem is: I don't think you people will let me in, eh?
Seriously: if you're a (ahem) "seasoned" IT pro, in a weak market, without a couple of million $$ to bring along, then what are your chances of being able to emigrate?
Please contact me at nusrat.posts at "gee-mayle".
I'd like to discuss your European experience.
tia
ozone
It's what various commercial services use (e.g., automobile detailers).
Also, contact a commercial post-disaster clean-up service.
They specialize in removing odors from smoke (fires) amd mildew (floods).
"I for one welcome any scared slashdotters."
I wish your offer were sincere.
Seriously, how difficult would it be to be allowed to emigrate?
I don't think the USA legal system (or foreign policy) will ever recover from 9/11, even if Bush loses the election.
So I'm looking for a new country.
Cringely is just looking for an excuse to be clever, a fluff-piece space-filler.
..... It's a RAID system using donated disk space on a wide area network."
1. He starts by saying he can't use gmail because of privacy. Duh, can you say "encryption"?
2. He also gives a privacy complaint because gmail knows who you associate with, through the chain of invitations.
Bullshit. There are lots of people on the web offering anonymous invitation URLs.
3. Savor this contradiction:
"First, it is for BACKUP, so recovery has to be slow enough so people won't think of it as another hard drive
Let's see: a rai*D* system that MUST be slow and NOT treated as a Disk.
This idea is simple redundancy, nothing more than a variation on Publius or Freenet.
Please, can we all agree to quash this nascent trend of calling everything RAID?
"if you can't figure it out, stop trying so damn hard and just do something else"
Ditto.
This is news?
EVERY half-decent dev or tech has these kinds of down-time epiphanies.
(For me, it's the shower and commuting.)
I'd like to know about experiences of **USA**citizens** in *leaving* the USA.
The whole point of this, is to learn if it is the USA's future plan,
or current policy or practice (even if ineffective),
to comprehensively track/record, and/or control in real-time,
*departures* by all persons, *including* USA citizens.
It must be recent and must involve travel directly to another sovereign nation.
I'm not concerned if the destination countries' officials demanded your ID.
But I'd like to know if the logistics/mechanics of the exit procedure,
make it possible for a USA citizen to pass
-- from USA jurisdiction,
-- completely through debarkation and then on to mingling anonymously in the destination country,
-- without any USA authority first having the opportunity to decide to bar your exit
-- or decide to have you detained upon debarkation,
-- and without violating USA law.
I realize this sounds conspiratorial. I'm asking in order to resolve a civil-liberties question arising from discussions in slashdot politics/rights stories.
It would be helpful to hear from at least one person in each of the five categories of:
(1) by commercial flight
(2) by commercial ocean cruise (e.g., US to Jamaica or Latin America)
(3) by rail
(4) by private auto
(5) on foot (and not in a tour group).
Those last two are especially important, since commercial cross-border travel is (I believe) virtually impossible without presenting ID to *someone* before departure.
It would be ideal if you were crossing without any concrete evidence of an intention to return to the USA (i.e. no return ticket or reservation).
I'd also like to hear about at least one auto/pedestrian crossing to Canada, because of the Canada-USA "Smart Borders" pact.
Please tell me where you exited, your mode of transport, your destination, and how recently.
IS IT possible for a USA citizen legally to exit the USA absent from real-time control by USA authorities?
And finally: is the answer any different compared to before 9/11?
I'd like to know about experiences of **USA**citizens** in *leaving* the USA.
It must be recent and must involve travel directly to another sovereign nation.
The whole point of this, is to learn if it is the USA's future plan,
or current policy or practice (even if ineffective),
to comprehensively track/record, and/or control in real-time,
*departures* by *all* persons, including USA citizens.
I'm not concerned if the destination countries' officials demanded your ID.
But I'd like to know if the logistics/mechanics of the exit procedure,
make it possible for a USA citizen to pass
-- from USA jurisdiction,
-- completely through debarkation and then on to mingling anonymously in the destination country,
-- without any USA authority first having the opportunity to decide to bar your exit
-- or decide to have you detained upon debarkation,
-- and without violating USA law.
I realize this sounds conspiratorial. I'm asking in order to resolve a civil-liberties question arising from discussions in slashdot politics/rights stories.
It would be helpful to hear from at least one person in each of the five categories of:
(1) by commercial flight
(2) by commercial ocean cruise (e.g., US to Jamaica or Latin America)
(3) by rail
(4) by private auto
(5) on foot (and not in a tour group).
Those last two are especially important, since commercial cross-border travel is (I believe) virtually impossible without presenting ID to *someone* before departure.
It would be ideal if you were crossing without any concrete evidence of an intention to return to the USA (i.e. no return ticket or reservation).
I'd also like to hear about at least one auto/pedestrian crossing to Canada, because of the Canada-USA "Smart Borders" pact.
Please tell me where you exited, your vehicle, your destination, and how recently.
IS IT possible for a USA citizen legally to exit the USA absent from real-time control by USA authorities?
And finally: is the answer any different compared to before 9/11?
Your DHS link certainly seems to disprove my belief about exit requirements, as part of US-VISIT.
My belief was based on things I've read in legitimate (i.e. non-fringe) media.
And I'm still not sure how DHS can reliably accomplish their intention to track the exit of all non-citizens, without demanding ID from *everyone* who exits.
Regardless, either I'm entirely mistaken about exit-checks, or I've misunderstood the specific US-VISIT connection.
I'll check it further.
But what about the other points I mentioned?
(e.g., search google for "draft" + the phrase "smart borders")
btw, why do you keep posting as AC?
and why are you so angry?
"There are NO such plans or procedures to detain/interrogate and/or "invalidate" you when you want to EXIT THE COUNTRY anymore so than there already has been."
Then you're not familiar with the US-VISIT program, which requires EVERYONE to present ID upon leaving the country.
Or the US/Canada "Smart Borders" pact -- which *could* be used to keep people from leaving to escape the military draft.
(and btw, I said "validate", not "invalidate")
"And might I point out that it was a Democrat government that interned the Japanese in WW2?"
And McCarthy was a Dem (i think).
So?
What's the relevance to TODAY's parties?
"the evils perpertrated by my political group"
You're assuming. I don't have a group. I previously supported Bush. I merely happen to regard TODAY's Dems as a lesser evil.
"Have the Republicans crossed the line and caused millions of voters to switch to the other side?"
No, but numerical superiority doesn't confer or demonstrate wisdom.
"I don't see the Republicans massing for a Nazi-esque (or maybe Dark Lord of the Sith-esque is more appropriate) takeover of the US Government."
I never said they were. Nor did I accuse you of saying that the Clintons were.
That's not the point.
You don't have to have demonic intentions in order to make bad decisions or cause bad consequences.
"And no, I do NOT see a "difference". Violations of my rights are violations of my rights. Whatever they may be."
Then I guess we have nothing more to discuss, because we have radically different priorities and values.
In my value system, some rights are more important than others, and the most important are freedom of anonymity, speech, association, travel, and freedom from being detained or searched without substantial and specific probable cause.
In your value system, there's apparently no difference -- ("I do NOT see a "difference". Violations of my rights are violations of my rights. Whatever they may be.") --
between losing the right to drink beer (1920's Prohibition) and losing the right to read books without the govt knowing what you're reading.