NASA needs a Karl Rove. NASA has some wonderful ideas and good planning. Unfortunately they miss the funding. I bet EU does it or even China will do it for prestige. Our politicians hate spending money on NASA primarily because none of their pet industries where they have interests benefit from it. Take for instance the rovers's lenses. None of our politicians has any remote interest in any company that makes mirrors and lenses. So why would they fund? The trick for NASA is to market itself as benefitting the politicians, sorry, constituents by clearly specifying the names of companies shortlisted, amounts to be donated, er, given to them, and then sit back and watch as Senate and House vie with each other to pass funding. NASA is full of geeks.
Would somebody *please* think of the children??? I mean if NASA goes on spending recklessly on such projects, who is going to feed the poor kids in Iraq, and not to mention upcoming Iran, Syria and N.Korea (although in this case it would be radioactive S.Korean kids). NASA is just literally throwing money away to send 2 girls and 1 man away for tax-payer-funded jaunts to the ultimate holiday-spot: Asteriod! I say we snatch NASA's budgets and feed it to Cheney; er sorry, Halliburton so that they could prosecute this devastating War to its conclusion. Of all the daring, reckless things NASA can do, this rates the 3rd worst: The first was the Hubble-Schubble telescope thingy that NASA claims can take photos 130 million light-years away, but can't take photos of my Pet Cat! I mean who wants to look into the past 130 million years ago? Didn't God say he created Earth 6,000 years ago? Secondly they sent TWO stupid rovers to Mars and cheer loudly when their rovers cross 6 mph speed. I mean, come on. My Hummer easily tops at 112 mph on a Texas village road! Who the hell needs photos from Mars, when the money can be spent to 'assist' JP Morgan and Citibank so that the poor executives can support their children at harvard? Plus Mars has no oil or CNG. Atleast Venus and Europa have oil. Thirdly now this stupid honeymoon jaunt for 3 months!!!
Me too. Mobipocket reader is pretty fast compared to Adobe, and secondly the PRC files can easily be updated with latest PiD. Only thing is if the company that sells mobipocket ebooks goes out of business (www.paperbackdigital.com) then you are struck with the same PID. Secondly the ability to change font, colors, etc is pretty good. I fear Amazon.com is sabotaging books in Mobipocket format to sell its Kindle. Why can't amazon.com allow mobi format books bought from elsewhere to be read on Kindle? I have a bunch of books (Harry Turtledove, Churchill, etc) which i can't read on Kindle!
Actually if you had signed up for "Unlimited Usage" plan under their advertisement, you are pretty much sue them to fulfill their contractual obligations. Contract Law states one party cannot unilaterally change the terms of the contract, and if done, the contract is void. Either you can sue them to fulfill their terms, OR you can get out of a contract plan easily.
China now exceeds the USA in CO2 emissions. Oh, so this is a race?? Now you claim USA is behind china in CO2, so US has to increase its CO2 emissions to beat china and then consider stopping emissions??? Why are you pointing fingers at someone's else which is burning, when your own house is on fire? Its like claiming to a traffic cop: All the other cars drive over 80mph, so i was driving 70mph in a 55mph zone. Why pick me?
How come your vaunted knowledge and altruism was unavailable when US led the world in carbon emissions in 1970s and 1990s.? Did you say anything at all while you enjoyed your SUV, CFC Fridge, etc.? So, now you want Africa, and the rest of the 3rd world to stop emissions, while US does nothing about it claiming they are behind others???
Hey! for a government that pays $410 for a toilet seat and $600 for a hammer, this is waaay too inexpensive. Expect the cost to balloon upto $2.36 million per ten of CO2 they sequester. After all, the money does not come out of congressmen's own pockets.
Enlighten me, please. How, exactly, does "can't solve crimes, can keep tabs on people" actually work? Hmmm... obviously you didn't read the article. It says there are too many CCTVs for the cops to keep tabs on. So they can't monitor every screen and hence muggers go scot-free. And now, since CCTVs don't record audio, what prevents a cop from thinking a group of 3 people talking and gesturing to each other and running away [from CCTV] are subversives plotting to overthrow the government (well, the people have actually voted out Brown-the-rat, but that's a different matter)? After all the same cops shoot-to-kill brazilians jumping over a rail barrier, or are caught on police videos savagely beating suspects (not criminals), so with their suspicious nature they tend to think the act of 2 people getting together and discussing quietly is subversive.
Of course not one single cent would go to the arists and actors. All the money would goto lawyers who would buy two more resorts in Panama. And the actors and directors would be none-the-less-wiser. I say the actors guild should sue the MPAA now and ask the Judge to hold the money in an Escrow account until accounting is resolved.
Hmmm...so you say every police officer is present 24 hours a day and record digitally in his brain every movement you make, along with an ability to replay it on demand to anyone, BUT unfortunately can't even stop a crime in process???
That's what you mean when you say a CCTV monitors what a cop without a warrant does.
Let's be reasonable here: CCTV was NEVER EVER meant to solve crime. It was meant to keep tabs on people and was sold by companies to government on the premise they could solve crimes. If you RTFA it says the cops never expected so much information flowing in via cams that they don't have enough officers to keep watching cams and send other cops to all places. Much like a 911 guy watching monitors all the time.
So, now the next pitch will be to recruit 100,000 cops to monitor the cams, another 200,000 cops to let them loose against the football hooligans, etc.
...the French are powering the entire fucking country through Nuclear. Why? Because, the french knew how they were abandoned by the Allies in WW2 and they never wanted to be caught alone next time. That said, the pebble-bed reactor which is self-contained, small and efficient is enough.
You spoke too soon. If this windmill town becomes popular and more small towns start taking lead, one of the following will happen: 1. Tax credits on windmills will be stopped. http://www.iht.com/articles/1999/06/24/rwind.t.php/ the article states is to expire June 30, '08 while tax credits for Oil and Coal continue forever. 2. The PETA will come down on the town and shut it down because it killed a few dumb birds and stuck down a donkey. 3. The project would be SWIFT Boat'ed; meaning the mayor would be Spitzer'ed and the new mayor would scrap it. 4. The company that makes the windmills would be taken over by Blackrock or other Private Equity Groups, the prices of windmills increased by 300%. 5. A "concerned" citizen moves the Supreme Court for scrapping the project on economics ground stating that it is cheaper on the Grid. 6. The Oil & Coal companies drastically reduce prices of electricity to make the project unviable. 7. The Federal Government, re'zones the area as a Federal Protected Territory to Save the Spotted Owl, thus killing the project. 8. The Federal Government finds the project was financed by laundered money because one drug-dealer donated $10. The whole project is sold for scrap. 9. Mobile companies, Verizon and AT&T gang up and file a suit with "expert" testimonies that the windmill destroy reception of mobiles and hence the kids can't dial 911. 10. The whole town is Gitmo'ed as a lesson.-:)) OK, this one is far-fetched, but somebody please help me add the 10th point.
Why the heck is law enforcement concerned about my safety? Why should they be? If i die in a crime because i dialled 911 and the cops didn't arrive within 5 mins, can my wife sue them? Numerous court rulings have set that cops need not stop a crime. They are here to catch the culprits.
The nazi's loved paperwork and rubber stamps, they were regularly fooled by official looking documents simply because they had no way of easily detecting forgeries. Unfortunately not true. The nazis were able to capture every single agent dropped into occupied Denmark and with their help capture agents in paris. The underground was not so much serious trouble to them as the west press made it out to be (unlike Iraq today). The SS and Abwehr were much more organized although both were at each other's throats all the time. The SS primarily ruled by fear rather than tanks. (Paris had hardly tanks out in public except for show). And they knew the value of good intelligence acquired through contacts rather than beatings. They would rather resort to beating after the target was captured. But they never shot an informant.
The threat and invisible show of force with the sinister smile and unknown secrets were more than enough to keep france occupied and not be liberated by partisans as Iraq today is. (Disclaimer: I do NOT condone SS nor do i support them. They were the most heinous criminals on Earth and each deserved to be hung on hooks many times over.)
The police can dispense with warrants and procedure in cases where they believe immenent harm is possible. And who defines the word imminent harm? How come they can't be sued for NOT stopping a crime, but they can use imminent harm to dispense with warrants to search my home? Sorry, but if they claim they are immune from being sued for crimes being committed under their eyes, then am immune to searching my home without a warrant. Either you get a warrant UNDER ALL Conditions, or you don't get warrants under ANY condition.
spill their guts at flash of a badge. What the hell are you trying to do to them? Make them piss in their thongs? Dude, AT&T does not need a badge to rat your info. They just rat you out if a NSA employee inquires friendly about you. Heck, you need to flash a badge to make them charge you for ratting you out so that they don't charge the government by mistake. The old Ma Bell loved its customers. The new AT&T also loves its customers. Only that its definition of customer is now the US government.
WHAAAT? Its like the Sydney 2000 olympics when a kenyan swimmer was the ONLY competitor in the competition and took 45 mins to swim across a 100m lane because all other swimmers (including Thorpe i guess), were disqualified by jumping in early into the pool. Yeah, that guy came FIRST, and legally too! There's a difference between Used and Liked. I can say Vista is the 1st most Hated OS in the World and the 2nd most used. Or like Bush claiming that is working for the 30% of people who still support him (Yeah and that's you stupid texans).
In all these instances, there is an external factor involved. Am not talking about these instances, where you are running away from fraud and legal duties. Iam talking about a person who has no dues legally, is above 18 yrs, and furthermore, just wishes to relocate anonymously. Yes he does file tax returns. Am talking about getting a new identity because i facing a hard time.
If you don't want to be found, just switch it off. If you want to ensure your privacy, don't carry a cell phone at all. Yup. And if i don't want a headache, i just cut off my head! No sinus worries, no blocked nose, no headache. Nope. Sorry, it does not work. Unless there is a specific complaint regarding a missing person, the cops should have zero right to proactively locate a missing person. After all courts have repeatedly ruled that cops are not liable legally for not stopping a crime. So on same rule, they can't take action without a complaint to search for person they think is missing.
Actually that's not what i meant. Going to court is tax-deductible for corporates. Remove that exemption. Secondly, remove tax credits if any to all corporates. They ask for level-playing field, they get one. Remove all monopoly granted rights. Make it not profitable to litigate. Make it illegal to donate. If you can't vote, you can't donate. The main incentive for corporates like Exxon who pay zero tax is the amount of tax deductibles that they get. Remove all tax exemptions that a natural person can't have. If am salaried, i can't claim gas expenses. So can't corporate-owned jets, etc. Flat tax code. Period.
How do you decide i have been missing against my will? By your logic i must inform the local police office about my whereabouts all the time. Didn't the Gestapo have the same requirement in occupied France?
Google needs to learn a few things about corporations psychology (applicable for any corporation). Larry Page needs to read a few pages from the book Corporation. 1. Corporations are pathological liars. If they think they can get away with lying, they will continue to do so (like kids), until they are punished for it. 2. Ethics and promises are applicable to grown-ups. Corporations are psychologically children (under 5 years). Hence ethics have no meaning to them. And so are promises. Suppose you promise a kid a huge bag of M&M to rat out what his mom & dad did last night, he would definitely do, since he can't understand the nuances. So are corporates. 3. If they think they can lie to get something, they will do so, and once they get it, they will avoid doing what they promised. (Remember asking your kid to wash your car? [This does not apply to Australia where washing your car is a crime]). 4. Corporations follow the basic of a child gameplay: What's mine is mine, and what's yours is also mine. 5. Arguing with a child does not work. So does arguing with a corporation. Take for instance the recent open discussion about Net Neutrality and Throttling in which no corporations participated. After all which kid would like to attend a PTA in which he's being criticized?
Rules of the game: 1. Establish clear rules and punishments for good and bad behavior. By laws. Punish severely and reward generously. Quickly. A quick punishment establishes to a child that he cannot repeat the same behavior. if you are going to punish your kid tomorrow for what he did last week, there is no correlation. It confuses the hell out of a kid and the corporation. 2. Never allow the kid (or corporation) to establish rules. That will lead to more wrongs. 3. There are no grace periods or times. One strike and you are out.
FCC here must clearly warn verizon that it is a contract. If they go back on it, their license is revoked with retrospective effect from 1990. Nothing scares a kid more than a dark room. For a corporation losing a license is like a dark room. Just delicense them and watch them shiver.
Actually the government has moved away from Windows to Linux. Only thing is while the lower government depts have moved to linux, the higher functionaries are too stupid to understand anything but windows. So the chain is weakest where it should be strongest.
Slashdot Mirror
NASA needs a Karl Rove.
NASA has some wonderful ideas and good planning. Unfortunately they miss the funding.
I bet EU does it or even China will do it for prestige.
Our politicians hate spending money on NASA primarily because none of their pet industries where they have interests benefit from it.
Take for instance the rovers's lenses. None of our politicians has any remote interest in any company that makes mirrors and lenses.
So why would they fund?
The trick for NASA is to market itself as benefitting the politicians, sorry, constituents by clearly specifying the names of companies shortlisted, amounts to be donated, er, given to them, and then sit back and watch as Senate and House vie with each other to pass funding.
NASA is full of geeks.
Would somebody *please* think of the children???
I mean if NASA goes on spending recklessly on such projects, who is going to feed the poor kids in Iraq, and not to mention upcoming Iran, Syria and N.Korea (although in this case it would be radioactive S.Korean kids).
NASA is just literally throwing money away to send 2 girls and 1 man away for tax-payer-funded jaunts to the ultimate holiday-spot: Asteriod!
I say we snatch NASA's budgets and feed it to Cheney; er sorry, Halliburton so that they could prosecute this devastating War to its conclusion.
Of all the daring, reckless things NASA can do, this rates the 3rd worst: The first was the Hubble-Schubble telescope thingy that NASA claims can take photos 130 million light-years away, but can't take photos of my Pet Cat! I mean who wants to look into the past 130 million years ago? Didn't God say he created Earth 6,000 years ago?
Secondly they sent TWO stupid rovers to Mars and cheer loudly when their rovers cross 6 mph speed. I mean, come on. My Hummer easily tops at 112 mph on a Texas village road! Who the hell needs photos from Mars, when the money can be spent to 'assist' JP Morgan and Citibank so that the poor executives can support their children at harvard? Plus Mars has no oil or CNG. Atleast Venus and Europa have oil.
Thirdly now this stupid honeymoon jaunt for 3 months!!!
Me too.
Mobipocket reader is pretty fast compared to Adobe, and secondly the PRC files can easily be updated with latest PiD. Only thing is if the company that sells mobipocket ebooks goes out of business (www.paperbackdigital.com) then you are struck with the same PID.
Secondly the ability to change font, colors, etc is pretty good.
I fear Amazon.com is sabotaging books in Mobipocket format to sell its Kindle.
Why can't amazon.com allow mobi format books bought from elsewhere to be read on Kindle?
I have a bunch of books (Harry Turtledove, Churchill, etc) which i can't read on Kindle!
Actually if you had signed up for "Unlimited Usage" plan under their advertisement, you are pretty much sue them to fulfill their contractual obligations.
Contract Law states one party cannot unilaterally change the terms of the contract, and if done, the contract is void.
Either you can sue them to fulfill their terms, OR you can get out of a contract plan easily.
Sorry. It should be none-the-less-richer.
Thanks for pointing out.
Now you claim USA is behind china in CO2, so US has to increase its CO2 emissions to beat china and then consider stopping emissions???
Why are you pointing fingers at someone's else which is burning, when your own house is on fire?
Its like claiming to a traffic cop: All the other cars drive over 80mph, so i was driving 70mph in a 55mph zone. Why pick me?
How come your vaunted knowledge and altruism was unavailable when US led the world in carbon emissions in 1970s and 1990s.? Did you say anything at all while you enjoyed your SUV, CFC Fridge, etc.?
So, now you want Africa, and the rest of the 3rd world to stop emissions, while US does nothing about it claiming they are behind others???
Hey! for a government that pays $410 for a toilet seat and $600 for a hammer, this is waaay too inexpensive.
Expect the cost to balloon upto $2.36 million per ten of CO2 they sequester.
After all, the money does not come out of congressmen's own pockets.
And now, since CCTVs don't record audio, what prevents a cop from thinking a group of 3 people talking and gesturing to each other and running away [from CCTV] are subversives plotting to overthrow the government (well, the people have actually voted out Brown-the-rat, but that's a different matter)?
After all the same cops shoot-to-kill brazilians jumping over a rail barrier, or are caught on police videos savagely beating suspects (not criminals), so with their suspicious nature they tend to think the act of 2 people getting together and discussing quietly is subversive.
Of course not one single cent would go to the arists and actors.
All the money would goto lawyers who would buy two more resorts in Panama.
And the actors and directors would be none-the-less-wiser.
I say the actors guild should sue the MPAA now and ask the Judge to hold the money in an Escrow account until accounting is resolved.
Hmmm...so you say every police officer is present 24 hours a day and record digitally in his brain every movement you make, along with an ability to replay it on demand to anyone, BUT unfortunately can't even stop a crime in process???
That's what you mean when you say a CCTV monitors what a cop without a warrant does.
Let's be reasonable here: CCTV was NEVER EVER meant to solve crime. It was meant to keep tabs on people and was sold by companies to government on the premise they could solve crimes.
If you RTFA it says the cops never expected so much information flowing in via cams that they don't have enough officers to keep watching cams and send other cops to all places.
Much like a 911 guy watching monitors all the time.
So, now the next pitch will be to recruit 100,000 cops to monitor the cams, another 200,000 cops to let them loose against the football hooligans, etc.
...the French are powering the entire fucking country through Nuclear. Why? Because, the french knew how they were abandoned by the Allies in WW2 and they never wanted to be caught alone next time.That said, the pebble-bed reactor which is self-contained, small and efficient is enough.
You spoke too soon.
If this windmill town becomes popular and more small towns start taking lead, one of the following will happen:
1. Tax credits on windmills will be stopped. http://www.iht.com/articles/1999/06/24/rwind.t.php/ the article states is to expire June 30, '08 while tax credits for Oil and Coal continue forever.
2. The PETA will come down on the town and shut it down because it killed a few dumb birds and stuck down a donkey.
3. The project would be SWIFT Boat'ed; meaning the mayor would be Spitzer'ed and the new mayor would scrap it.
4. The company that makes the windmills would be taken over by Blackrock or other Private Equity Groups, the prices of windmills increased by 300%.
5. A "concerned" citizen moves the Supreme Court for scrapping the project on economics ground stating that it is cheaper on the Grid.
6. The Oil & Coal companies drastically reduce prices of electricity to make the project unviable.
7. The Federal Government, re'zones the area as a Federal Protected Territory to Save the Spotted Owl, thus killing the project.
8. The Federal Government finds the project was financed by laundered money because one drug-dealer donated $10. The whole project is sold for scrap.
9. Mobile companies, Verizon and AT&T gang up and file a suit with "expert" testimonies that the windmill destroy reception of mobiles and hence the kids can't dial 911.
10. The whole town is Gitmo'ed as a lesson.-:)) OK, this one is far-fetched, but somebody please help me add the 10th point.
Why the heck is law enforcement concerned about my safety?
Why should they be?
If i die in a crime because i dialled 911 and the cops didn't arrive within 5 mins, can my wife sue them?
Numerous court rulings have set that cops need not stop a crime. They are here to catch the culprits.
The nazis were able to capture every single agent dropped into occupied Denmark and with their help capture agents in paris.
The underground was not so much serious trouble to them as the west press made it out to be (unlike Iraq today).
The SS and Abwehr were much more organized although both were at each other's throats all the time.
The SS primarily ruled by fear rather than tanks. (Paris had hardly tanks out in public except for show). And they knew the value of good intelligence acquired through contacts rather than beatings. They would rather resort to beating after the target was captured. But they never shot an informant.
The threat and invisible show of force with the sinister smile and unknown secrets were more than enough to keep france occupied and not be liberated by partisans as Iraq today is.
(Disclaimer: I do NOT condone SS nor do i support them. They were the most heinous criminals on Earth and each deserved to be hung on hooks many times over.)
Sorry. I was too worked up about Vista to verify the details...
My bad.
He's correct.
After all there are corrupt cops almost everywhere you turn around.
How come they can't be sued for NOT stopping a crime, but they can use imminent harm to dispense with warrants to search my home?
Sorry, but if they claim they are immune from being sued for crimes being committed under their eyes, then am immune to searching my home without a warrant.
Either you get a warrant UNDER ALL Conditions, or you don't get warrants under ANY condition.
Dude, AT&T does not need a badge to rat your info.
They just rat you out if a NSA employee inquires friendly about you.
Heck, you need to flash a badge to make them charge you for ratting you out so that they don't charge the government by mistake.
The old Ma Bell loved its customers.
The new AT&T also loves its customers.
Only that its definition of customer is now the US government.
WHAAAT?
Its like the Sydney 2000 olympics when a kenyan swimmer was the ONLY competitor in the competition and took 45 mins to swim across a 100m lane because all other swimmers (including Thorpe i guess), were disqualified by jumping in early into the pool.
Yeah, that guy came FIRST, and legally too!
There's a difference between Used and Liked.
I can say Vista is the 1st most Hated OS in the World and the 2nd most used.
Or like Bush claiming that is working for the 30% of people who still support him (Yeah and that's you stupid texans).
In all these instances, there is an external factor involved.
Am not talking about these instances, where you are running away from fraud and legal duties.
Iam talking about a person who has no dues legally, is above 18 yrs, and furthermore, just wishes to relocate anonymously. Yes he does file tax returns.
Am talking about getting a new identity because i facing a hard time.
Sorry, it does not work. Unless there is a specific complaint regarding a missing person, the cops should have zero right to proactively locate a missing person.
After all courts have repeatedly ruled that cops are not liable legally for not stopping a crime. So on same rule, they can't take action without a complaint to search for person they think is missing.
Actually that's not what i meant.
Going to court is tax-deductible for corporates. Remove that exemption.
Secondly, remove tax credits if any to all corporates. They ask for level-playing field, they get one.
Remove all monopoly granted rights.
Make it not profitable to litigate.
Make it illegal to donate. If you can't vote, you can't donate.
The main incentive for corporates like Exxon who pay zero tax is the amount of tax deductibles that they get.
Remove all tax exemptions that a natural person can't have. If am salaried, i can't claim gas expenses. So can't corporate-owned jets, etc.
Flat tax code. Period.
How do you decide i have been missing against my will?
By your logic i must inform the local police office about my whereabouts all the time.
Didn't the Gestapo have the same requirement in occupied France?
Google needs to learn a few things about corporations psychology (applicable for any corporation).
Larry Page needs to read a few pages from the book Corporation.
1. Corporations are pathological liars. If they think they can get away with lying, they will continue to do so (like kids), until they are punished for it.
2. Ethics and promises are applicable to grown-ups. Corporations are psychologically children (under 5 years). Hence ethics have no meaning to them. And so are promises. Suppose you promise a kid a huge bag of M&M to rat out what his mom & dad did last night, he would definitely do, since he can't understand the nuances. So are corporates.
3. If they think they can lie to get something, they will do so, and once they get it, they will avoid doing what they promised. (Remember asking your kid to wash your car? [This does not apply to Australia where washing your car is a crime]).
4. Corporations follow the basic of a child gameplay: What's mine is mine, and what's yours is also mine.
5. Arguing with a child does not work. So does arguing with a corporation. Take for instance the recent open discussion about Net Neutrality and Throttling in which no corporations participated. After all which kid would like to attend a PTA in which he's being criticized?
Rules of the game:
1. Establish clear rules and punishments for good and bad behavior. By laws. Punish severely and reward generously. Quickly. A quick punishment establishes to a child that he cannot repeat the same behavior. if you are going to punish your kid tomorrow for what he did last week, there is no correlation. It confuses the hell out of a kid and the corporation.
2. Never allow the kid (or corporation) to establish rules. That will lead to more wrongs.
3. There are no grace periods or times. One strike and you are out.
FCC here must clearly warn verizon that it is a contract. If they go back on it, their license is revoked with retrospective effect from 1990.
Nothing scares a kid more than a dark room. For a corporation losing a license is like a dark room.
Just delicense them and watch them shiver.
Actually the government has moved away from Windows to Linux.
Only thing is while the lower government depts have moved to linux, the higher functionaries are too stupid to understand anything but windows.
So the chain is weakest where it should be strongest.