Yeah, there are usually tables at ours as well, but AFAIK it's up to the stall holder to bring their own, so somtimes stuff is layed out on the ground instead, and if you look closely you can somtimes spot bargins that are still in the car because the stall holder hasn't put them on display yet, or has run out of display space etc.
We picked up a huge bin at a garage sale last summer.
So, it was you!
Don't they call them car-port sales there?
Car boot sales (a boot being english for the "trunk" of a car) are different to American Garage sales because, as the name suggests to put all your junk in the car, drive it to a field along with a couple of hundred other people and try to sell your stuff out of the back. The concept of a garage sale (i.e. putting all your stuff in the front garden and trying to sell it from there) doesn't really exist over here.
They don't have to work well, just well enough. If you get 5 false positives, that is ultimately better then the 10,000 samples that would need to be combed through before.
Except that any competent terrorist would avoid any of these pattern recognition measures by, growing a beard\speaking in a funny voice\putting stones in their shoes etc. They're not going to catch anyone above petty criminals with these technologies.
I thought that the site you linked to was satire, being called "not the news"; then I saw the same story on the BBC! It stopped being funny and started being scary.
I thought we were already doing this and the listening post is
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCHQ_CSO_Morwenstow
Nu Labour just want legalize the process so that local government can have access to the data - so they can bust people downloading porn or visiting political web sites they don't like.
That's not the only listening station, there are plenty more SIGINT ground stations around the place (and not just in the UK). I always thought the radomes at Menwith Hill were the most famous.
In other news, what happened to Slashdot's RSS feed? I used to be able to get the feed based on my subscription, but that stopped worning yesterday.
It stopped working for me the other day as well; my feed reader started claiming that it was invalid. I fixed it by removing it from my reader, then adding it again (make sure you're logged in or you'll get the default/. feed; not the subscription based one).
Curious... should they be able to vote in their home country as well as their resident country?
IMO it depends on if their "home" country taxes them. For example their are British citizens who have retired to the South of Spain. They pay no UK taxes, so I don't believe that they should get to vote in UK elections, however I know that there are some US citizens living and working here in the UK and pay tax both here and to the US government. They should be able to vote for both governments. The same applies if they could be called up for national service to a country. If a government has the ability to send you to war, you should be able to vote for it (this is also why I support lowering of the voting age to 16 here in the UK).
I didn't say you aren't allowed to have or express your opinion. I am objecting to the attitude that people outside the US have that their opinion should mean anything to Americans when they vote.
I agree, my opinion shouldn't mean any more than the next random person you meet on the web; however, if I can make a good, rational argument about why you should vote one way or another e.g. I could try and make the case about why Barrak Obama would be better for net neutrality it shouldn't be worth any less than any other random slashdotter.
It's arrogant. We are not voting for your interests, we are voting for US interests. I don't care if you're informed, because you are forming your opinion based on non-US interests.
The two are not mutually exclusive, hell I hope the US economy recovers as fast as possible because, it's collapse brought down that of my country; it's in my interest (and indeed that of most western countries) for the US to do well. You've probably heard the saying, "when America sneezes, the world catches a cold" by the same token, the rest of the world does well when you guys do. It is for this reason that the rest of the world has a stake in American elections far more than say, British ones (though I wish I could find well informed non-Brits as I would like to hear opinions that have no emotional stake in our elections)
Like I said, I am picking on your comment not because it was outrageous, but because it has an undercurrent that reminded me of issue in general.
I quite understand, and it is for that reason I stayed as clear as possible from "interfering" before the election; only now the result has been decided have I commented on my preferred choice.
As to your friend, is she a citizen of this country? If not, she does not have the right to influence the country's government. To your argument about taxation, I can't really comment because I consider income tax immoral. But if you consume in this country, you will be taxed on that consumption, just like most other countries
Fair enough, it was income taxes that I had in mind when I made that comment, as it happens she (and her husband) have "permanent residence" meaning that they will be eligible to apply for citizenship in a few years time. However, I am of the opinion that anyone who pays income tax should have the right to vote (this is obviously an issue not limited to the USA), that would include people with all sorts of work visas, green cards and other immigration statuses that allow them to live an work in a country.
I really get tired of this implication that world opinion should affect the US election. I'm picking on you, I know; but the endorsements of foreign papers and the comments here about how one candidate or the other would be best for the world... that is not what this election is about. The election is about what is best for the US. There is overlap, but it is NOT the same. There's a reason you have to be a citizen to vote.
I know we can't vote, but we are allowed an opinion, and if you believe your own constitution we also have freedom of speech. If I am of the opinion that Barrak Obama was the better of the two candidates I may wish to express that opinion. If some US citizens are swayed by my arguments, then what's wrong with that? I'm probably better informed of the policies of Both major candidates than many of those who did vote (I'm quite a political junkie).
As it happens I largely kept out of the election discussion before the result, as I know that many Americans respond negatively to what can be perceived as "interference" and well, us Brits messed it up in 2004 (note: I predicted that that would happen).
On the broader issue of who should have the right to vote, I have a friend in the US who permanent residence; she not allowed to vote despite paying taxes over there. What happened to the cry of "no taxation without representation"?
I voted for Obama, but he's not even close to MLK.
I think that the GP meant that MLK's famous dream has been fulfilled, not that Obama is somehow as great as Dr King.
My own opinion chimes with that of one of our most famous leaders: "You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else." - Winston Chirchill. After the world suffering eight years of GWB, the quote somehow seemed appropriate.
As a Europian, I find this hilarious because Socialist is the second biggest grouping in the Europian parliament. Admittedly it includes groups such as the Labour party from here in the UK, who haven't been socialist for over a decade, but we would also label Obama as right-wing...
However, if you propose to any USian that they should have no more right to sue their doctor than a Canadian has to sue their government, or a Brit has to sue the NHS, etc., you are just not going to get very far, dude.
You can sue the NHS as the link show, it happens regularly. However, the culture in the UK, is less litigation happy than that in the US (although unfortunately we're moving in your direction).
Here in my home state(Oklahoma, USA), third party/independents have to get a minimum number of signatures on a petition (IIRC 50,000) to be included on the ballot-write-ins not allowed, as they are marked invalid*, or not counted*.
It works like this here in the UK, basically anyone* (the form only needs the signature of 10 (ten) eligible voters from your constituency) who can afford the £500 deposit can stand for election to the commons. It's even easier to stand at local elections (IIRC no deposit is needed)
*British Citizens over 18, and not in one of these categories.
- I'm quite certain America's enemies in the middle east will be routing for an Obama victory -- say what you like about Dubya, but those bad guys are scared pissly of him because he's a cowboy that'll bomb the crap out them without blinking
Nope, "America's enemies" would love us(I'm from the UK, we like to tag along) go and bomb the middle east; it'd give them a huge propaganda victory, and make recruiting suicide bombers from western countries much easier; at least here in the UK we have young male, disenfranchised Muslim population virtually waiting for events in the middle east to radicalise them. The Iraq war didn't stop radical Muslim terrorism, it created more terrorists, and galvanized anti-western sentiment. Bombing Iran or Syria would just make the problem worse.
Science and god are opposites. The whole god concept has only been around a few thousand years
Not really; Science is the "How", and god is the "Why".
Also, although the oldest living religion (Hinduism) is estimated to have only been around 5000 years, I'm quite sure that religion as a concept has been longer, indeed Hinduism is believed to have evolved by absorbing pre-existing tribal religions. I'd bet my bottom dollar that religion and certainly spiritualism has been around since close to the dawn of Human civilization (admittedly still only a short period on geological timescales).
A sad truth but India is now reaching for the moon while millions in the nation (just recently been there) are still dying from hunger and live in seriously abject poverty. And I mean real poverty.
Long term this is a money maker for India; there's a huge market for commercial satellite launches and other payloads; by going to the Moon India is showing that they're serious contenders in that market "We've been to the Moon, getting your satellite into orbit is easy compared to that. It'll cost you $xx million that's $x million cheaper than NASA or ESA".
And given the long history of Hindu mob violence in India, it would very much surprise me if it was safe to use Hindu texts in profane Western contexts.
No, that's fine; I've seen Hindu imagery mocked on the Simpsons, on Womens shoes and in various other places. The only time I've seen a protest is when it was used on a,stamp which was a bizarre protest by a previously unknown group who've never been heard from again. The stamp didn't bother me (I actually liked the picture,) my friends or relatives anywhere near as much as some of the other stuff I've seen. Actually none of the stuff I've seen winds me up, except knowing that fashion designers seem to think "oh, they won't protest, so let's use imagery from that culture". Try putting a picture of Allah or Yahweh on women's underwear (yes, I've seen this done with a picture of Lakshmi) and see the reaction from those fundies. I just thought the thing was tasteless and moved on.
However, I believe that you are correct, if any of these things were shown in many parts of India, there would be full scale riots. In the west (at least here in the UK), Hindu Indians tend to be reasonably educated, middle class high achievers so are "enlightened" (i.e. they've taken on the benefits of the enlightenment not anything spiritual). Back in India they are mostly still poor and uneducated, religion is just the spark for the mob violence; not the cause.
Full disclosure: as you probably guessed, I'm Hindu; I actually lean towards atheism within hinduism
So...
Muslims are going with a closed source model and Christians with a shared-source one?
I guess the theistic example of open source in is New Age religions.
That's a flawed definition. Let's take the UK as an example - they support the Christian church by granting it tax exmpt status, and allowing some public funding to go to Christian schools.
Slashdot Mirror
If you want to talk about a slow national sport, look at baseball. The sport has immense history in the US, but it is painfully slow.
Here we invented a sport that lasts five days, and usually lose to the Australians at it.
NEVER has a [...] socialist leader done so, unless forced by arms)
I think you'll find that that's Untrue
Yeah, there are usually tables at ours as well, but AFAIK it's up to the stall holder to bring their own, so somtimes stuff is layed out on the ground instead, and if you look closely you can somtimes spot bargins that are still in the car because the stall holder hasn't put them on display yet, or has run out of display space etc.
. . . is now made out of green curry?
Nope, Green curry's Thai, not Indian.
We picked up a huge bin at a garage sale last summer.
So, it was you!
Don't they call them car-port sales there?
Car boot sales (a boot being english for the "trunk" of a car) are different to American Garage sales because, as the name suggests to put all your junk in the car, drive it to a field along with a couple of hundred other people and try to sell your stuff out of the back. The concept of a garage sale (i.e. putting all your stuff in the front garden and trying to sell it from there) doesn't really exist over here.
They don't have to work well, just well enough. If you get 5 false positives, that is ultimately better then the 10,000 samples that would need to be combed through before.
Except that any competent terrorist would avoid any of these pattern recognition measures by, growing a beard\speaking in a funny voice\putting stones in their shoes etc. They're not going to catch anyone above petty criminals with these technologies.
I thought that the site you linked to was satire, being called "not the news"; then I saw the same story on the BBC! It stopped being funny and started being scary.
I thought we were already doing this and the listening post is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCHQ_CSO_Morwenstow Nu Labour just want legalize the process so that local government can have access to the data - so they can bust people downloading porn or visiting political web sites they don't like.
That's not the only listening station, there are plenty more SIGINT ground stations around the place (and not just in the UK). I always thought the radomes at Menwith Hill were the most famous.
vi wins! Fatality!
In other news, what happened to Slashdot's RSS feed? I used to be able to get the feed based on my subscription, but that stopped worning yesterday.
It stopped working for me the other day as well; my feed reader started claiming that it was invalid. I fixed it by removing it from my reader, then adding it again (make sure you're logged in or you'll get the default /. feed; not the subscription based one).
Curious... should they be able to vote in their home country as well as their resident country?
IMO it depends on if their "home" country taxes them. For example their are British citizens who have retired to the South of Spain. They pay no UK taxes, so I don't believe that they should get to vote in UK elections, however I know that there are some US citizens living and working here in the UK and pay tax both here and to the US government. They should be able to vote for both governments. The same applies if they could be called up for national service to a country. If a government has the ability to send you to war, you should be able to vote for it (this is also why I support lowering of the voting age to 16 here in the UK).
I didn't say you aren't allowed to have or express your opinion. I am objecting to the attitude that people outside the US have that their opinion should mean anything to Americans when they vote.
I agree, my opinion shouldn't mean any more than the next random person you meet on the web; however, if I can make a good, rational argument about why you should vote one way or another e.g. I could try and make the case about why Barrak Obama would be better for net neutrality it shouldn't be worth any less than any other random slashdotter.
It's arrogant. We are not voting for your interests, we are voting for US interests. I don't care if you're informed, because you are forming your opinion based on non-US interests.
The two are not mutually exclusive, hell I hope the US economy recovers as fast as possible because, it's collapse brought down that of my country; it's in my interest (and indeed that of most western countries) for the US to do well. You've probably heard the saying, "when America sneezes, the world catches a cold" by the same token, the rest of the world does well when you guys do. It is for this reason that the rest of the world has a stake in American elections far more than say, British ones (though I wish I could find well informed non-Brits as I would like to hear opinions that have no emotional stake in our elections)
Like I said, I am picking on your comment not because it was outrageous, but because it has an undercurrent that reminded me of issue in general.
I quite understand, and it is for that reason I stayed as clear as possible from "interfering" before the election; only now the result has been decided have I commented on my preferred choice.
As to your friend, is she a citizen of this country? If not, she does not have the right to influence the country's government. To your argument about taxation, I can't really comment because I consider income tax immoral. But if you consume in this country, you will be taxed on that consumption, just like most other countries
Fair enough, it was income taxes that I had in mind when I made that comment, as it happens she (and her husband) have "permanent residence" meaning that they will be eligible to apply for citizenship in a few years time. However, I am of the opinion that anyone who pays income tax should have the right to vote (this is obviously an issue not limited to the USA), that would include people with all sorts of work visas, green cards and other immigration statuses that allow them to live an work in a country.
I really get tired of this implication that world opinion should affect the US election. I'm picking on you, I know; but the endorsements of foreign papers and the comments here about how one candidate or the other would be best for the world... that is not what this election is about. The election is about what is best for the US. There is overlap, but it is NOT the same. There's a reason you have to be a citizen to vote.
I know we can't vote, but we are allowed an opinion, and if you believe your own constitution we also have freedom of speech. If I am of the opinion that Barrak Obama was the better of the two candidates I may wish to express that opinion. If some US citizens are swayed by my arguments, then what's wrong with that? I'm probably better informed of the policies of Both major candidates than many of those who did vote (I'm quite a political junkie).
As it happens I largely kept out of the election discussion before the result, as I know that many Americans respond negatively to what can be perceived as "interference" and well, us Brits messed it up in 2004 (note: I predicted that that would happen).
On the broader issue of who should have the right to vote, I have a friend in the US who permanent residence; she not allowed to vote despite paying taxes over there. What happened to the cry of "no taxation without representation"?
Yes he was, I'm British.
I voted for Obama, but he's not even close to MLK.
I think that the GP meant that MLK's famous dream has been fulfilled, not that Obama is somehow as great as Dr King.
My own opinion chimes with that of one of our most famous leaders: "You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else." - Winston Chirchill. After the world suffering eight years of GWB, the quote somehow seemed appropriate.
Name-calling ("Socialist!")
As a Europian, I find this hilarious because Socialist is the second biggest grouping in the Europian parliament. Admittedly it includes groups such as the Labour party from here in the UK, who haven't been socialist for over a decade, but we would also label Obama as right-wing...
However, if you propose to any USian that they should have no more right to sue their doctor than a Canadian has to sue their government, or a Brit has to sue the NHS, etc., you are just not going to get very far, dude.
You can sue the NHS as the link show, it happens regularly. However, the culture in the UK, is less litigation happy than that in the US (although unfortunately we're moving in your direction).
More likely there will be a major fire in the Whitehouse records department on the 5th.
Don't worry, they're just celebrating; "Remember, Remember the 5th of November" didn't start with "V for Vendetta. :D
Here in my home state(Oklahoma, USA), third party/independents have to get a minimum number of signatures on a petition (IIRC 50,000) to be included on the ballot-write-ins not allowed, as they are marked invalid*, or not counted*.
It works like this here in the UK, basically anyone* (the form only needs the signature of 10 (ten) eligible voters from your constituency) who can afford the £500 deposit can stand for election to the commons. It's even easier to stand at local elections (IIRC no deposit is needed)
*British Citizens over 18, and not in one of these categories.
- I'm quite certain America's enemies in the middle east will be routing for an Obama victory -- say what you like about Dubya, but those bad guys are scared pissly of him because he's a cowboy that'll bomb the crap out them without blinking
Nope, "America's enemies" would love us(I'm from the UK, we like to tag along) go and bomb the middle east; it'd give them a huge propaganda victory, and make recruiting suicide bombers from western countries much easier; at least here in the UK we have young male, disenfranchised Muslim population virtually waiting for events in the middle east to radicalise them. The Iraq war didn't stop radical Muslim terrorism, it created more terrorists, and galvanized anti-western sentiment. Bombing Iran or Syria would just make the problem worse.
Science and god are opposites. The whole god concept has only been around a few thousand years
Not really; Science is the "How", and god is the "Why".
Also, although the oldest living religion (Hinduism) is estimated to have only been around 5000 years, I'm quite sure that religion as a concept has been longer, indeed Hinduism is believed to have evolved by absorbing pre-existing tribal religions. I'd bet my bottom dollar that religion and certainly spiritualism has been around since close to the dawn of Human civilization (admittedly still only a short period on geological timescales).
A sad truth but India is now reaching for the moon while millions in the nation (just recently been there) are still dying from hunger and live in seriously abject poverty. And I mean real poverty.
Long term this is a money maker for India; there's a huge market for commercial satellite launches and other payloads; by going to the Moon India is showing that they're serious contenders in that market "We've been to the Moon, getting your satellite into orbit is easy compared to that. It'll cost you $xx million that's $x million cheaper than NASA or ESA".
And given the long history of Hindu mob violence in India, it would very much surprise me if it was safe to use Hindu texts in profane Western contexts.
No, that's fine; I've seen Hindu imagery mocked on the Simpsons, on Womens shoes and in various other places. The only time I've seen a protest is when it was used on a ,stamp which was a bizarre protest by a previously unknown group who've never been heard from again. The stamp didn't bother me (I actually liked the picture,) my friends or relatives anywhere near as much as some of the other stuff I've seen. Actually none of the stuff I've seen winds me up, except knowing that fashion designers seem to think "oh, they won't protest, so let's use imagery from that culture". Try putting a picture of Allah or Yahweh on women's underwear (yes, I've seen this done with a picture of Lakshmi) and see the reaction from those fundies. I just thought the thing was tasteless and moved on.
However, I believe that you are correct, if any of these things were shown in many parts of India, there would be full scale riots. In the west (at least here in the UK), Hindu Indians tend to be reasonably educated, middle class high achievers so are "enlightened" (i.e. they've taken on the benefits of the enlightenment not anything spiritual). Back in India they are mostly still poor and uneducated, religion is just the spark for the mob violence; not the cause.
Full disclosure: as you probably guessed, I'm Hindu; I actually lean towards atheism within hinduism
So... Muslims are going with a closed source model and Christians with a shared-source one? I guess the theistic example of open source in is New Age religions.
Not just the new age ones, the religion I nominally adhere to is pretty open source; there are hundreds of distros but it must be BSD licensed because there's even a closed source forkfor businesses who feel they need paid support...
That's a flawed definition. Let's take the UK as an example - they support the Christian church by granting it tax exmpt status, and allowing some public funding to go to Christian schools.
The Church of England is an established church here in the UK; they are even represented in the house of Lords.
Ethics aside, it didn't seem likely to me that if the government ordered you to do something you would be breaking a law to do so.
"I was only following orders" has not been a valid defence since the end of World War 2.