The real question isn't whether terrorists could build a nuclear bomb, but whether they would want to. As long as the US can threaten smaller countries with the "invade first and ask questions later" approach to foreign policy, the fear will breed opponents to the US. The stronger the fear is, the likelier it is to fool individuals into thinking they can solve things by killing US citizens. The most effective way to combat terrorism is to stop people from being afraid, not by rounding up terrorists that are already known. America is channeling all its energy into short-term solutions and forgetting the long-term ones.
Wrong. Terrorists don't have a return address nor do they particulary care about their lives (think suicide bombers). That plan only works with countries with nuclear missles like N. Korea. It does nothing to stop a dirty bomb.
Interesting enough I'm doing a paper on this. What it basically comes down to is can they gain nuclear materials? They can thanks to the disarment of nuclear weapons. 80ish cases of soviet nukes gone missing. Quite a few scientists were stealing small amounts of nuclear materials and selling them. A few were caught but not all. Saddam Hussein has bought dud nukes from South Africa and another country (I think Russia or N. Korea). It's only a matter of time until he gets the real thing. A of couple of Russian hunters have ran into discarded nuclear batteries.
Unfortunately this is a preventable catastrophe but one we're not doing enough about (N. Korea). If you want to learn more I reccomend watching the PBS documentry "Avoiding Armageddon".
"So, if M$ patents everything it can get its hands on, what innovations would it stop?"
1. Patents expire
2. M$ cross licenses it's patents with other big corporations. So those corporations can come up with innovative ideas that incorporate older patented ideas, it's only the small companies that can't come up with new innovations that use patented ideas.
That also has a company that cares? Then you should try City of Heroes. It has the most character customization of any MMORPG I've played (WoW, EQ, DAOC, GW).
Pros: -160 colors to choose from, with most clothing supporting a secondary color.
-Low downtime, with travel powers for getting around fast.
-No worthless classes
-High amount of character power customizability. Ex: I want to play an offensive mage. I then decide do I want to play one that's single target, AE, hybrid or is CC heavy? I can do all of that within the same class.
-Specilize in spells not spell lines. In most traditional MMORPGS you want to be good with fire you put points into fire. Want to be a healer put points into rejuvination/mending etc. In CoH you spec spells instead. This allows for more player differentation. Also since all spells remain useful throughout the characters life you'll still be using your level 1 spells at level 50. -Great customer service. If I have a probelm I/petition it and I am normally contacted within 15 minutes. On a slow night it could be around 30 mins. Furthermore I have never had them unable to solve my probelm.
-Devs care. They constantly post on the official forums anwsering questions about the game and ask players their opinions about a certain class or powerset or power and then take it into consideration when making changes. Furthermore they don't hesitate to admit they were wrong and undo a change if it was over the top.
-Variaton among the same classes with same power sets. Ex: Dark Melee/Dark Armor light tank that is based upon pure damage. My friend's Dark Melee/Dark Armor light tank could be more crowd control focused. And the best part? Both are equally viable.
-Game events. There are numerous events that the Devs create. There was a Rularuu invasion, trick or treat on for halloween and a Winter Lord invasion around winter.
-Constant updates. You may be thinking so what? It's an MMORPG they are all updated. Not on the scale CoH is. About every 2months they come out with new issues that are a huge patch. They introduce new zones, mobs, zone events, pvp (To come), powersets (to come), crafting (to come), and classes.
-All characters can solo resonably well. The only class that currently has trouble soloing in the low levels are controllers (CC class) but they are being looked at. Note this does change in the mid-game.
-Limited grind, with fast leveling, involved missions, and treats along the way (capes, auras, titles etc.)
-Entertaining combat system. It's fast, rewards creative thinking (what if I take 3 mins to lay a mine field then draw that pesky mob on top of it that I otherwise couldn't kill?). Enemies are varied and have powers of their own that the use against you. It's not the standard hit auto-attack and wait. Plus you fight groups of villians making it more exciting/challenging.
Cons: - No items. For some this is a + as it makes the came very casual friendly and gurantees there will never be a Loot expansion that could ruin the game (think ToA for Daoc)
- ATM nothing to do other than fight. Crafting should be added in 3-6 months.
-No end game. They are working on this with the soon to come addition of PvP and more raid content.
That's just skimming the surface though, if you're really interested go to www.cityofheroes.com the official CoH website for more info.
"Why not? There's hardly an expectation of privacy, and hard-enforced speed limits would force the populace and the government to come to a real agreement on speeding.",
So what happens if your driving normally when you suddenly need to get out of some pyschotic drunk's way or be in a wreck?
Furthermore there was an article about viruses getting into car's software. What do you do when your car now thinks 20 mph is the speed limit and your on a 65 mph highway?
Lastly this is realistically impossible to do since speed limits vary from street to street. You would need to put some type of transmitter in the roads telling the cars what is an "appopriate" speed.
The author assumes that you're the only one making the decision, marriage is a two person deal what's optimal for one person might not be optimal for the other.
Slashdot Mirror
Wrong. Terrorists don't have a return address nor do they particulary care about their lives (think suicide bombers). That plan only works with countries with nuclear missles like N. Korea. It does nothing to stop a dirty bomb.
Interesting enough I'm doing a paper on this. What it basically comes down to is can they gain nuclear materials? They can thanks to the disarment of nuclear weapons. 80ish cases of soviet nukes gone missing. Quite a few scientists were stealing small amounts of nuclear materials and selling them. A few were caught but not all. Saddam Hussein has bought dud nukes from South Africa and another country (I think Russia or N. Korea). It's only a matter of time until he gets the real thing. A of couple of Russian hunters have ran into discarded nuclear batteries.
Unfortunately this is a preventable catastrophe but one we're not doing enough about (N. Korea). If you want to learn more I reccomend watching the PBS documentry "Avoiding Armageddon".
"So, if M$ patents everything it can get its hands on, what innovations would it stop?"
1. Patents expire
2. M$ cross licenses it's patents with other big corporations. So those corporations can come up with innovative ideas that incorporate older patented ideas, it's only the small companies that can't come up with new innovations that use patented ideas.
That also has a company that cares? Then you should try City of Heroes. It has the most character customization of any MMORPG I've played (WoW, EQ, DAOC, GW).
/petition it and I am normally contacted within 15 minutes. On a slow night it could be around 30 mins. Furthermore I have never had them unable to solve my probelm.
Pros:
-160 colors to choose from, with most clothing supporting a secondary color.
-Low downtime, with travel powers for getting around fast.
-No worthless classes
-High amount of character power customizability. Ex: I want to play an offensive mage. I then decide do I want to play one that's single target, AE, hybrid or is CC heavy? I can do all of that within the same class.
-Specilize in spells not spell lines. In most traditional MMORPGS you want to be good with fire you put points into fire. Want to be a healer put points into rejuvination/mending etc. In CoH you spec spells instead. This allows for more player differentation. Also since
all spells remain useful throughout the characters life you'll still be using your level 1 spells at level 50.
-Great customer service. If I have a probelm I
-Devs care. They constantly post on the official forums anwsering questions about the game and ask players their opinions about a certain class or powerset or power and then take it into consideration when making changes. Furthermore they don't hesitate to admit they were wrong and undo a change if it was over the top.
-Variaton among the same classes with same power sets. Ex: Dark Melee/Dark Armor light tank that is based upon pure damage. My friend's Dark Melee/Dark Armor light tank could be more crowd control focused. And the best part? Both are equally viable.
-Game events. There are numerous events that the Devs create. There was a Rularuu invasion, trick or treat on for halloween and a Winter Lord invasion around winter.
-Constant updates. You may be thinking so what? It's an MMORPG they are all updated. Not on the scale CoH is. About every 2months they come out with new issues that are a huge patch. They introduce new zones, mobs, zone events, pvp (To come), powersets (to come), crafting (to come), and classes.
-All characters can solo resonably well. The only class that currently has trouble soloing in the low levels are controllers (CC class) but they are being looked at. Note this does change in the mid-game.
-Limited grind, with fast leveling, involved missions, and treats along the way (capes, auras, titles etc.)
-Entertaining combat system. It's fast, rewards creative thinking (what if I take 3 mins to lay a mine field then draw that pesky mob on top of it that I otherwise couldn't kill?). Enemies are varied and have powers of their own that the use against you. It's not the standard hit auto-attack and wait. Plus you fight groups of villians making it more exciting/challenging.
Cons:
- No items. For some this is a + as it makes the came very casual friendly and gurantees there will never be a Loot expansion that could ruin the game (think ToA for Daoc)
- ATM nothing to do other than fight. Crafting should be added in 3-6 months.
-No end game. They are working on this with the soon to come addition of PvP and more raid content.
That's just skimming the surface though, if you're really interested go to www.cityofheroes.com the official CoH website for more info.
"Why not? There's hardly an expectation of privacy, and hard-enforced speed limits would force the populace and the government to come to a real agreement on speeding.", So what happens if your driving normally when you suddenly need to get out of some pyschotic drunk's way or be in a wreck? Furthermore there was an article about viruses getting into car's software. What do you do when your car now thinks 20 mph is the speed limit and your on a 65 mph highway? Lastly this is realistically impossible to do since speed limits vary from street to street. You would need to put some type of transmitter in the roads telling the cars what is an "appopriate" speed.
The author assumes that you're the only one making the decision, marriage is a two person deal what's optimal for one person might not be optimal for the other.
Anyone else see the probelm with having the buttons way up in the corner away from the joy sticks?