Doing something with the carbon emissions seems to be also unpopular and unlikely to get much support. It allows the generators to keep turning and keep putting out electricity. The answer right now is to turn them off. Darken the cities at night. People can go back to reading by candlelight. Or go to bed like they did on farms in the 1800s.
This suggestion is totally irresponsible. With the lights, and alarms!! off all night, the crime rate in major cities would skyrocket. It would be chaos.
There is only one company out there that champions Linux that could withstand this onslaught.
IBM
They also happen to be one of the few companies in the world that could effectively retaliate.
Look for it to go down something like this....
1) Microsoft threatens a Linux company, lets say.... Red Hat. 2) IBM buys controlling interest in Red Hat.
now it then becomes either.
Microsoft backs off this patent bullshit.
or
Global Thermonuclear Patent War.
Also, the amount of ill will generated by Microsoft should they choose to go after users directly instead of Linux companies. If they ever came after me looking for money because I downloaded Ubuntu. I would go from reluctant use of MS products to incredibly vocal sworn enemy of absolutely everything Microsoft really quickly.
You need to really want to devour knowledge. No teacher, no matter how good, can be a substitute for a passion to learn and thats something that isn't imparted much these days.
I agree with you, but I'm seeing a much different problem with our schools. That problem is that the work they make students do is crap!!
My son has a passion for learning and will absorb facts and details, but what he's getting from school for homework make it appear that teachers have a passion for drilling and for useless time wasting assignments. This last week my son had an assignment in social studies that required him to do drawing pictures and coloring them. What the hell does that have to do with geography (what they're studying right now)? I just can't stand the type of busywork thats being assigned these days to keep kids working. This assignment had almost no value to my son, but took him over 6 hours this week to complete. Thats 6 hours wasted where he could have learned any number of things about many different topics (or had time to play creatively as a kid).
We're not just being touchy feely in our presenting of the material, the assignments have become meaningless busywork and not really learning.
Don't the people who live in communist countries say they like the security, knowing that they don't have to stress out competing for the basics of life? I think that was pretty significant.
You have got to be kidding me. I bet you would get very few people in China to even consider giving you that answer.
Millions and millions of them are living a subsistence lifestyle, eaking out everything on their own. The great communist state is giving them nothing but grief.
Also, for everyone who thinks what a great power China is, consider this. To actually have the ability to have all of their citizens attain a standard of living on par with the US their economy would have to be three times the size of the United States' economy since they have over three times as many people.
All those people who hope that China will kick the US's ass (as least economically) in the near future, are misguided. China is completely locked into a symbiotic relationship with the US now. Anything bad happens to the US and bad things happen to China. Major economic downturn in US = less trade with China = less money for China. Collapse of US government debt = massive loss of money for China.
Face it, the economies are interlocked, and they will stay that way. Eventually capitalism in China will lead to the slow erosion of the Communist government over there, and then we'll really need to watch out because China will really be moving forward then. But they can't do it without the US just as much as the US can't move forward without China.
The societal mix shown on Firefly will turn out to be the correct interpretation of what will happen.
This is true, but the fact that businesses basically get held up at gunpoint for T1 lines with a fraction of the bandwidth at 10x the price that residential users can get is unconscionable.
I personally believe that the greed of the phone companies with respect to T1 pricing is at the very core of why the US is losing (and losing badly) on the bandwidth front with respect to the rest of the world. We are getting worse broadband, at higher prices than EVERYONE else in the WORLD. Sometime in the next decade this is going to technologically cripple the US and we will lose the rest (we've lost a lot already) of the leadership we have in the internet. The next google, youtube, myspace, etc. may well have incredible multimedia potential and come from another country, and be unusable by most of the people in the US. Eventually, the world will make use of their expanded bandwidth, and will leave us behind.
And its all because the telcos were addicted to their premium prices they've always charged for T1 lines....
(NB: I still think that Universal should have gambled and released "Serenity" head-to-head against "Revenge of the Sith" - then they'd have been a story, and people love to root for the little guy).
Sorry, but I think Serenity's a fantastic movie, but as a life long Star Wars fan, I wouldn't have liked it if they made this move. I know, I know, this is/. and I'm obliged to say that the prequels were crap, but in actuality, I only really count the first as crap. Two got better and managed to get things back in gear (Anakin should have been a teenager all along). And 3 actually proved the be the movie I'd waited 22 years to see.
I guess I'm just saying I'd really rather see these movies come out separately like they did instead of fighting for audience.
I stand by my point. This comment is not the best way to get your point across.
Lets see, what if I ignore your first two sentences there? Hey look it a pretty good statement, a little hyperbole, but I must say not really too far off point, so hey, I'll just respond to that....
Actually I agree, both parties suck, but the Libertarians can't ever seem to get anyone elected, and I have voted for Libertarians before, to no avail of course.
Wow, you did not dissapoint. I expected EXACTLY the response you gave me.
Having any kind of conversation with you, isn't even worth it. You just call everyone who doesn't share your view a F$%$%$% idiot.
You'll never convince anyone of anything with that attitude. It amuses me how many liberal say in one breath "Everyone need to join us and we can......", and in the next say "if you don't agree with me you're a f$$%#$@$@# idoit." Those are not the best debating skills that could be used.
Oh well. I'd better get done and post this so you can fire off your next ad homeniem attack. Have fun.
You do realize that you're calling this guy ^#%^$#^$# stupid and he lead off his initial comment saying Bush is the worst President in his memory?
The point he was making was that if you say your "Open Minded" then you really have an obligation to listen to other points of view. You, with your absolute demand that everyone must believe that Bush is the most evil man walking the Earth at this point in time or they are an idiot, have proved his point utterly and completely.
Go ahead and flame anyone who disagrees with you even ONE LITTLE BIT.
If you want to be the poster boy for Closed Mindedness and Intolerance of those with (even minutely) different views from you, you've succeeded.
Great post. It is very interesting to watch the debate over the "Border Reform" bill with respect to talk radio, the media, and the government. It has become increasingly clear that those that govern have formed a powerful alliance between themselves and the factions in this country that want cheap labor and a larger poor working class.
There is an absolute groundswell of opposition to this "compromise" bill. The 24 hour media kind of gets it, but talk radio is all over this. What is most amazing to watch is that the otherwise appreciative right wingers in the government are lashing out at "their" media in talk radio and the people are noticing how when push comes to shove, for a lot of issues in this country there is only one party line and not two. It will be interesting to watch the battle play out as the edges of BOTH parties try and fight it out with everyone in the middle.
BTW, with respect to the corrupt white house. Everyone should take of their party hat and honestly ask themselves has there really been a white house that WASN'T corrupt (in some way shape or form) in the past 60 years. Power corrupts, and the President always is very powerful.
The innovative wireless sharing has been hobbled by unnecessarily draconian DRM,
Thats the problem with Microsoft, they will #@#$%@!! the consumer over DRM _every_ time. With their move with Windows Media Center Edition to allow content providers to tell you what you can and can't record, they've proven that they'll sell out their customers at every turn.
What shackles on your media, choose Microsoft. Want to back a company trying to do something about DRM, get an iPod. Don't care and would rather steal your music, buy some other player;-).
What??? So lets see. The new EMI songs will be DRM-free AAC. I'll be able to copy them to all of my PCs and play them, with no problem. I'll be able to burn them to CD, in CD format and as a backup and as long as I have a player for the AAC file, I can play _my_ song.
Unlike protected tunes, there is no way Apple can take away any of my "rights" for this music after I've bought it from them.
From my perspective, that sure as hell makes it look like I will own the DRM-free music I will purchase from iTunes.
You know, I'm not seeing many comments about free software here.....
And I know the story's not about that, but Stallman is undeniably a leader in the Free Software movement. This action DOESN'T HELP FREE SOFTWARE AT ALL!! Critics of Stallman call him a Communist and tar and feather him whit that label, and hell maybe he is. But the problem is that there are people like me out there that wholeheartedly support the Free Software movement, but loathe Communism. People like me know that Stallman can be a quite out there on stuff, but agree with him on many of his principles, but this kind of stuff just gives a boatload of ammo to his critics in the "Licensed Software" movement.
RMS should choose where he wants to be on this and pick his steps more carefully. Some of his supporters in software don't see eye to eye with him on this one.... And I know HE doesn't care, but the next time someone talks about Free Software with their PHB they might have to refute the line, isn't that stuff advocated by commies like RMS. He sure made the job of advocating Free Software a bit harder, but I guess he does that quite a bit. It just gets a little frustrating.
3) Widescreen video iPod - duh. But don't look for it until 6-12 months after the iPhone debuts--not "right around the corner." Anyone who thinks Apple would release a cheap widescreen iPod before the iPhone and let it cannibalize iPhone sales hasn't been watching Apple very long or very closely. Release the expensive, limited product first, let everyone fret and moan and bitch online, watch them sell like mad anyway, add one requested feature, lower the price a bit, lather, rinse, repeat.
I'd have to say that they can't wait 6-12 months on this one. Apples sales of iPods will be _dismal_ next holiday season if there isn't a new iPod out there buy October. The nano is too new to get a real substantive update before the holidays, so the top line model is where the buzz will have to be at. I think the widescreen (iPhone like) iPod will show up sometime between July and October, or Apples going to face new like "iPod sales down 30%" next Christmas, and they really won't want that.
Oh and yes, I am definitely waiting until the new video iPod is out before I buy a new one (can't get an iPhone, no Cingular... err AT&T service where I live).
Slashdot Mirror
Doing something with the carbon emissions seems to be also unpopular and unlikely to get much support. It allows the generators to keep turning and keep putting out electricity. The answer right now is to turn them off. Darken the cities at night. People can go back to reading by candlelight. Or go to bed like they did on farms in the 1800s.
This suggestion is totally irresponsible. With the lights, and alarms!! off all night, the crime rate in major cities would skyrocket. It would be chaos.
You got that right. This whole story is about game companies rationalizing how they miscalculated the popularity of the Wii.
There is only one company out there that champions Linux that could withstand this onslaught.
IBM
They also happen to be one of the few companies in the world that could effectively retaliate.
Look for it to go down something like this....
1) Microsoft threatens a Linux company, lets say.... Red Hat.
2) IBM buys controlling interest in Red Hat.
now it then becomes either.
Microsoft backs off this patent bullshit.
or
Global Thermonuclear Patent War.
Also, the amount of ill will generated by Microsoft should they choose to go after users directly instead of Linux companies. If they ever came after me looking for money because I downloaded Ubuntu. I would go from reluctant use of MS products to incredibly vocal sworn enemy of absolutely everything Microsoft really quickly.
You need to really want to devour knowledge. No teacher, no matter how good, can be a substitute for a passion to learn and thats something that isn't imparted much these days.
I agree with you, but I'm seeing a much different problem with our schools. That problem is that the work they make students do is crap!!
My son has a passion for learning and will absorb facts and details, but what he's getting from school for homework make it appear that teachers have a passion for drilling and for useless time wasting assignments. This last week my son had an assignment in social studies that required him to do drawing pictures and coloring them. What the hell does that have to do with geography (what they're studying right now)? I just can't stand the type of busywork thats being assigned these days to keep kids working. This assignment had almost no value to my son, but took him over 6 hours this week to complete. Thats 6 hours wasted where he could have learned any number of things about many different topics (or had time to play creatively as a kid).
We're not just being touchy feely in our presenting of the material, the assignments have become meaningless busywork and not really learning.
Government
you forgot FTW!!!
you got it in one man.
Don't the people who live in communist countries say they like the security, knowing that they don't have to stress out competing for the basics of life? I think that was pretty significant.
You have got to be kidding me. I bet you would get very few people in China to even consider giving you that answer.
Millions and millions of them are living a subsistence lifestyle, eaking out everything on their own. The great communist state is giving them nothing but grief.
Also, for everyone who thinks what a great power China is, consider this. To actually have the ability to have all of their citizens attain a standard of living on par with the US their economy would have to be three times the size of the United States' economy since they have over three times as many people.
All those people who hope that China will kick the US's ass (as least economically) in the near future, are misguided. China is completely locked into a symbiotic relationship with the US now. Anything bad happens to the US and bad things happen to China. Major economic downturn in US = less trade with China = less money for China. Collapse of US government debt = massive loss of money for China.
Face it, the economies are interlocked, and they will stay that way. Eventually capitalism in China will lead to the slow erosion of the Communist government over there, and then we'll really need to watch out because China will really be moving forward then. But they can't do it without the US just as much as the US can't move forward without China.
The societal mix shown on Firefly will turn out to be the correct interpretation of what will happen.
"a small planetoid outfitted with propulsion systems"
;-)
Am I the only one who thinks we should paint this thing with flowers and peace symbols like a 1960's volkswagen camper van?
Yeah, because the first thing that popped into my mind was a moon looking thing with a planet destroying laser
Dr X of the X Institute is not generally a confidence inspiring construction.
What do you mean? Professor X of the Xavier institute is a really inspiring guy!!
Um, I would throw Reagan up there, but too many would complain.
So how about Eisenhower? Through the lens of history there we many great things Eisenhower did that still have impact today.
You can choose to label it what you want, but the version of "socialism" in question would be called "conservative" in most first world nations.
Yeah, thats the scary part.
Here.... http://www.schedulesdirect.org/
This is true, but the fact that businesses basically get held up at gunpoint for T1 lines with a fraction of the bandwidth at 10x the price that residential users can get is unconscionable.
I personally believe that the greed of the phone companies with respect to T1 pricing is at the very core of why the US is losing (and losing badly) on the bandwidth front with respect to the rest of the world. We are getting worse broadband, at higher prices than EVERYONE else in the WORLD. Sometime in the next decade this is going to technologically cripple the US and we will lose the rest (we've lost a lot already) of the leadership we have in the internet. The next google, youtube, myspace, etc. may well have incredible multimedia potential and come from another country, and be unusable by most of the people in the US. Eventually, the world will make use of their expanded bandwidth, and will leave us behind.
And its all because the telcos were addicted to their premium prices they've always charged for T1 lines....
(NB: I still think that Universal should have gambled and released "Serenity" head-to-head against "Revenge of the Sith" - then they'd have been a story, and people love to root for the little guy).
/. and I'm obliged to say that the prequels were crap, but in actuality, I only really count the first as crap. Two got better and managed to get things back in gear (Anakin should have been a teenager all along). And 3 actually proved the be the movie I'd waited 22 years to see.
Sorry, but I think Serenity's a fantastic movie, but as a life long Star Wars fan, I wouldn't have liked it if they made this move. I know, I know, this is
I guess I'm just saying I'd really rather see these movies come out separately like they did instead of fighting for audience.
Exactly why is Stallman a "loon"?
... mostly.
GPL 3?
I kid, I kid
And no, I am not going to believe this "terrorists could use Saturn V to deliver nuclear warheads" crap.
Yeah, but how about this: "terrorists could use Saturn V to deliver nuclear warheads to the mooon!". Ok, well, maybe its not that either.
Well, no f-word in that comment, congrats.
I stand by my point. This comment is not the best way to get your point across.
Lets see, what if I ignore your first two sentences there? Hey look it a pretty good statement, a little hyperbole, but I must say not really too far off point, so hey, I'll just respond to that....
Actually I agree, both parties suck, but the Libertarians can't ever seem to get anyone elected, and I have voted for Libertarians before, to no avail of course.
Wow, you did not dissapoint. I expected EXACTLY the response you gave me.
......", and in the next say "if you don't agree with me you're a f$$%#$@$@# idoit." Those are not the best debating skills that could be used.
Having any kind of conversation with you, isn't even worth it. You just call everyone who doesn't share your view a F$%$%$% idiot.
You'll never convince anyone of anything with that attitude. It amuses me how many liberal say in one breath "Everyone need to join us and we can
Oh well. I'd better get done and post this so you can fire off your next ad homeniem attack. Have fun.
You do realize that you're calling this guy ^#%^$#^$# stupid and he lead off his initial comment saying Bush is the worst President in his memory?
The point he was making was that if you say your "Open Minded" then you really have an obligation to listen to other points of view. You, with your absolute demand that everyone must believe that Bush is the most evil man walking the Earth at this point in time or they are an idiot, have proved his point utterly and completely.
Go ahead and flame anyone who disagrees with you even ONE LITTLE BIT.
If you want to be the poster boy for Closed Mindedness and Intolerance of those with (even minutely) different views from you, you've succeeded.
He does.
;-)
.
.
.
Just kidding.... or am I?
Great post. It is very interesting to watch the debate over the "Border Reform" bill with respect to talk radio, the media, and the government. It has become increasingly clear that those that govern have formed a powerful alliance between themselves and the factions in this country that want cheap labor and a larger poor working class.
There is an absolute groundswell of opposition to this "compromise" bill. The 24 hour media kind of gets it, but talk radio is all over this. What is most amazing to watch is that the otherwise appreciative right wingers in the government are lashing out at "their" media in talk radio and the people are noticing how when push comes to shove, for a lot of issues in this country there is only one party line and not two. It will be interesting to watch the battle play out as the edges of BOTH parties try and fight it out with everyone in the middle.
BTW, with respect to the corrupt white house. Everyone should take of their party hat and honestly ask themselves has there really been a white house that WASN'T corrupt (in some way shape or form) in the past 60 years. Power corrupts, and the President always is very powerful.
The innovative wireless sharing has been hobbled by unnecessarily draconian DRM,
;-).
Thats the problem with Microsoft, they will #@#$%@!! the consumer over DRM _every_ time. With their move with Windows Media Center Edition to allow content providers to tell you what you can and can't record, they've proven that they'll sell out their customers at every turn.
What shackles on your media, choose Microsoft. Want to back a company trying to do something about DRM, get an iPod. Don't care and would rather steal your music, buy some other player
Exactly!!!! Moderators mod parent wayyy up.
The first thing I thought when I heard about how onerous UAC was was, "What a great way for Microsoft to blame any and all problems on the user!!!"
What??? So lets see. The new EMI songs will be DRM-free AAC. I'll be able to copy them to all of my PCs and play them, with no problem. I'll be able to burn them to CD, in CD format and as a backup and as long as I have a player for the AAC file, I can play _my_ song.
Unlike protected tunes, there is no way Apple can take away any of my "rights" for this music after I've bought it from them.
From my perspective, that sure as hell makes it look like I will own the DRM-free music I will purchase from iTunes.
You know, I'm not seeing many comments about free software here.....
And I know the story's not about that, but Stallman is undeniably a leader in the Free Software movement. This action DOESN'T HELP FREE SOFTWARE AT ALL!! Critics of Stallman call him a Communist and tar and feather him whit that label, and hell maybe he is. But the problem is that there are people like me out there that wholeheartedly support the Free Software movement, but loathe Communism. People like me know that Stallman can be a quite out there on stuff, but agree with him on many of his principles, but this kind of stuff just gives a boatload of ammo to his critics in the "Licensed Software" movement.
RMS should choose where he wants to be on this and pick his steps more carefully. Some of his supporters in software don't see eye to eye with him on this one.... And I know HE doesn't care, but the next time someone talks about Free Software with their PHB they might have to refute the line, isn't that stuff advocated by commies like RMS. He sure made the job of advocating Free Software a bit harder, but I guess he does that quite a bit. It just gets a little frustrating.
3) Widescreen video iPod - duh. But don't look for it until 6-12 months after the iPhone debuts--not "right around the corner." Anyone who thinks Apple would release a cheap widescreen iPod before the iPhone and let it cannibalize iPhone sales hasn't been watching Apple very long or very closely. Release the expensive, limited product first, let everyone fret and moan and bitch online, watch them sell like mad anyway, add one requested feature, lower the price a bit, lather, rinse, repeat.
... err AT&T service where I live).
I'd have to say that they can't wait 6-12 months on this one. Apples sales of iPods will be _dismal_ next holiday season if there isn't a new iPod out there buy October. The nano is too new to get a real substantive update before the holidays, so the top line model is where the buzz will have to be at. I think the widescreen (iPhone like) iPod will show up sometime between July and October, or Apples going to face new like "iPod sales down 30%" next Christmas, and they really won't want that.
Oh and yes, I am definitely waiting until the new video iPod is out before I buy a new one (can't get an iPhone, no Cingular