Is it worth trying to fix a system that isn't broken?"
What's your definition of 'broken?' Elections are very expensive - Around $300M. Thousands of employees and procedures. If that cost was reduced that money could go to many other things.
If you live in a rural location you might need to drive an hour or more to the polling station - And if it's the winter that means snow, ice, you name it. I'm sure many people would prefer to vote online.
In the UK for example, the death rate from car accidents was 5.4 per 100,000 population, while in the US it was 14.3 per 100,000 population
It's also much more difficult to actually get a driving license in the UK. The written and road tests are more difficult than in North America. If you drive in the UK it's quite evident that most of the drivers on the road seem more skilled and more 'situationally aware' than their North American counterparts.
few people will set their alarm to 2am every night to save a nickel
Sure, but that won't be required. Most electric cars like the Leaf have an option whereby you set when the charging starts - So you don't have to set your alarm. You just plug it in when you get home and the car just automatically turns on its charging circuit at 2am.
The East German Stasi had a network where neighbours ratted each other out, had huge databases listing all kinds of data of their citizens... On and on. As a consequence, much of Germany now has a huge pro-privacy culture, and a sense that citizens must 'never again' be tracked.
Or you stop considering 2.6 litre engines to be the smallest anyone should put up with
Exactly right. I've got a VW Passat wagon, with a 1.8 Turbo, 4 cylinders. In the summer we haul around both parents, two kids, a 80 lb dog and when we're going to the cottage we pull a utility trailer behind it full of gear. Sometimes there's a pod on the roof as well. Handles perfectly fine and gets up to 120 kph on the freeway with no problems - It just takes a bit longer than that 4L jeep next to me...
The only people who never get upset by anything are the ones who have no values or strong opinions
I have tons of values and strong opnions - They're just about things that matter. Issues affecting the planet, my children - whatever. Some banner telling me about a Dell & Trend Micro security bundle is innocuous and not something I bother thinking about.
Exactly. Some junkie smashes my window to get the nickels in the ashtray and the insurance company is out $4K. Or, worse yet, your windshield gets a crack and your insurance provider writes off the car.
First one to space with an fully armed and operational battle station will rule the entirety of the human race.
Until that so-called battle station is fully operational they'll be vulnerable. The Rebel Alliance is too well equipped. They're more dangerous than you realize.
Whenever I see an ad, I'm so affronted, I resolve not to buy whatever's being advertised
Wow. Life's too short for me to get 'affronted' over something like this. I save my energy for stuff that matters. What do I care if there's some Intel or Dell ad above an interesting article on Slashdot.
If you use Adblock and Noscript, it is nearly impossible to get infected. Why that functionality is not in every browser and enabled by default I simply don't understand.
I have good enough karma with Slashdot that I'm given the option to disable ads. I don't. Why? Because ads fund Slashdot and keep it free. If ad blockers were on by default most of the sites people like and use would go out of business.
In the end: Patents are killing everything, and we all lose.
Not if you're an inventor, or entrepreneur. The company I work for has 'invented' some pretty neat stuff - Patents ensure that we get revenue from our inventions - Others license rights to use our IP.
Er. I'm confused. We've had photos taken of domestic passengers at security and checked at the gate for about 5 years now? OK, it's not "facial recognition" so much as "take a photo for the gate agent to check against", but I fail to see the news here...
This is Slashdot. 95% of the readership's experience with air travel involves interacting with the American TSA once a year while they're flying from their mom's basement in Boston to Comic-Con. The fact that this has existed at Heathrow, Gatwick and their ilk for years won't have occurred to them as a possibility.
In case you didn't realise DCMA takedown notices are irrelevant outside USA
What takedown notices are legally required to be followed in the UK?
That wasn't the question. The question was (to paraphrase) "Why did he get dinged and the likes of Google didn't (don't)."
The answer is that Google and their ilk respond to takedown notices. You can argue the legality of it in various jurisdictions until the cows come home, but that's the simple answer. If he'd done what Google does he wouldn't have an issue today.
What is the difference between what he did and what google does?
Google, their subsidiaries like YouTube and others of their ilk engage in the generally agreed upon practice of responding to "takedown notices." I'll bet you a ball of cash that this guy received numerous takedown notices, which he no doubt ignored. Now he's in hot water. If he'd responded to the first takedown notice life would have just gone on for everybody.
Am I the only person who is amazed by this stuff? Dawn is shot into space at 25,000 miles per hour, cruises by Mars for a gravity-assist flyby eventually (and nearly 4 years later) winding up in orbit of an asteroid that's only 330 miles in diameter whereupon it takes some pictures and sends them back....
I can't even huck a frisbee and have it wind up where I want it to be...
This is a myth. In most western nations, the _middle classes_ fund the majority of government services. The poor don't pay much if any tax, and the rich can generally shelter themselves from much of the taxation. It's Ma and Pa Kettle who shoulder the burden.
This is one of the contributing reasons third world countries have trouble funding their programs - No middle classes. They just have very rich and very poor. It's also one of the real dangers posed by the erosion of the middle class in the USA. As the US moved to a rich/poor model, with fewer and fewer in the middle, the treasury will start to suffer.
I miss the good ol' days where you could fire up your device in a park or apartment complex or wherever and find an AP to connect to. Not any more.... You see a dozen APs, all locked down. End of an era...
I'm guessing it was less than that flight from Miami to Boston. A lot less.
"How much you paid" is irrelevant in this context - You need to ask what the profit margin was. If you pay $1200 to fly from Seattle to London then that may seem like a lot of money entitling you to free scotch. If, however, the cost to the airline to have your bum in their seat is $1180, then there's no room for free scotch. That's the number to look at - How much was the profit on that MIA -> BOS flight? I'm guessing not much...
One time I got a 3/4 ounce bag of peanuts. The next time I flew that route it was only 1/2 ounce of peanuts.
I once drove my car six hours from Vancouver, BC to Portland OR. NO ONE gave me free food! Can you believe it? I actually had to bring my own in the car.
Slashdot Mirror
Being #1 is great, but unless it's profitable and has market recognition for ROI, it's an empty and valueless statistic.
1. Collect Underpants
2. ???
3. Profit!
Is it worth trying to fix a system that isn't broken?"
What's your definition of 'broken?' Elections are very expensive - Around $300M. Thousands of employees and procedures. If that cost was reduced that money could go to many other things.
If you live in a rural location you might need to drive an hour or more to the polling station - And if it's the winter that means snow, ice, you name it. I'm sure many people would prefer to vote online.
I wondered what all those ponytail guys in socks and sandals were doing walking around nearby.... That explains it.
use a cable!
"The devices we use at the trade shows are... ...iPods/iPads, Android tablets, and a variety of Wi-Fi enabled cell phones."
Still looking for that RJ45 jack on my BlackBerry...
RUN A CABLE
Great idea! Now where's the RJ45 jack on this here iPad again?
In the UK for example, the death rate from car accidents was 5.4 per 100,000 population, while in the US it was 14.3 per 100,000 population
It's also much more difficult to actually get a driving license in the UK. The written and road tests are more difficult than in North America. If you drive in the UK it's quite evident that most of the drivers on the road seem more skilled and more 'situationally aware' than their North American counterparts.
few people will set their alarm to 2am every night to save a nickel
Sure, but that won't be required. Most electric cars like the Leaf have an option whereby you set when the charging starts - So you don't have to set your alarm. You just plug it in when you get home and the car just automatically turns on its charging circuit at 2am.
Could someone please explain what is meant/implied by "postwar abuse" here? Post WW1? Sorry, I don't get it :(
Post WW2:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasi
Personally I'd like to know what the "post war privacy abuses" that TFA is speaking of that turned Germany so pro privacy.
How quickly we forget that before 1990 what we now know as "Germany" included *EAST* Germany.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasi
The East German Stasi had a network where neighbours ratted each other out, had huge databases listing all kinds of data of their citizens... On and on. As a consequence, much of Germany now has a huge pro-privacy culture, and a sense that citizens must 'never again' be tracked.
Or you stop considering 2.6 litre engines to be the smallest anyone should put up with
Exactly right. I've got a VW Passat wagon, with a 1.8 Turbo, 4 cylinders. In the summer we haul around both parents, two kids, a 80 lb dog and when we're going to the cottage we pull a utility trailer behind it full of gear. Sometimes there's a pod on the roof as well. Handles perfectly fine and gets up to 120 kph on the freeway with no problems - It just takes a bit longer than that 4L jeep next to me...
The only people who never get upset by anything are the ones who have no values or strong opinions
I have tons of values and strong opnions - They're just about things that matter. Issues affecting the planet, my children - whatever. Some banner telling me about a Dell & Trend Micro security bundle is innocuous and not something I bother thinking about.
Exactly. Some junkie smashes my window to get the nickels in the ashtray and the insurance company is out $4K. Or, worse yet, your windshield gets a crack and your insurance provider writes off the car.
First one to space with an fully armed and operational battle station will rule the entirety of the human race.
Until that so-called battle station is fully operational they'll be vulnerable. The Rebel Alliance is too well equipped. They're more dangerous than you realize.
Whenever I see an ad, I'm so affronted, I resolve not to buy whatever's being advertised
Wow. Life's too short for me to get 'affronted' over something like this. I save my energy for stuff that matters. What do I care if there's some Intel or Dell ad above an interesting article on Slashdot.
If you use Adblock and Noscript, it is nearly impossible to get infected. Why that functionality is not in every browser and enabled by default I simply don't understand.
I have good enough karma with Slashdot that I'm given the option to disable ads. I don't. Why? Because ads fund Slashdot and keep it free. If ad blockers were on by default most of the sites people like and use would go out of business.
In the end: Patents are killing everything, and we all lose.
Not if you're an inventor, or entrepreneur. The company I work for has 'invented' some pretty neat stuff - Patents ensure that we get revenue from our inventions - Others license rights to use our IP.
(One particular brand of modem with no UART chip was the biggest pest...)
God, I remember those bastards. What a PITA they were... After that I only supported / sold US Robotics external modems:
http://www.data-connect.com/images/USR_Modem.jpg
Er. I'm confused. We've had photos taken of domestic passengers at security and checked at the gate for about 5 years now? OK, it's not "facial recognition" so much as "take a photo for the gate agent to check against", but I fail to see the news here...
This is Slashdot. 95% of the readership's experience with air travel involves interacting with the American TSA once a year while they're flying from their mom's basement in Boston to Comic-Con. The fact that this has existed at Heathrow, Gatwick and their ilk for years won't have occurred to them as a possibility.
In case you didn't realise DCMA takedown notices are irrelevant outside USA
What takedown notices are legally required to be followed in the UK?
That wasn't the question. The question was (to paraphrase) "Why did he get dinged and the likes of Google didn't (don't)."
The answer is that Google and their ilk respond to takedown notices. You can argue the legality of it in various jurisdictions until the cows come home, but that's the simple answer. If he'd done what Google does he wouldn't have an issue today.
What is the difference between what he did and what google does?
Google, their subsidiaries like YouTube and others of their ilk engage in the generally agreed upon practice of responding to "takedown notices." I'll bet you a ball of cash that this guy received numerous takedown notices, which he no doubt ignored. Now he's in hot water. If he'd responded to the first takedown notice life would have just gone on for everybody.
Am I the only person who is amazed by this stuff? Dawn is shot into space at 25,000 miles per hour, cruises by Mars for a gravity-assist flyby eventually (and nearly 4 years later) winding up in orbit of an asteroid that's only 330 miles in diameter whereupon it takes some pictures and sends them back....
I can't even huck a frisbee and have it wind up where I want it to be...
The rich pay most of the taxes anyway
This is a myth. In most western nations, the _middle classes_ fund the majority of government services. The poor don't pay much if any tax, and the rich can generally shelter themselves from much of the taxation. It's Ma and Pa Kettle who shoulder the burden.
This is one of the contributing reasons third world countries have trouble funding their programs - No middle classes. They just have very rich and very poor. It's also one of the real dangers posed by the erosion of the middle class in the USA. As the US moved to a rich/poor model, with fewer and fewer in the middle, the treasury will start to suffer.
I miss the good ol' days where you could fire up your device in a park or apartment complex or wherever and find an AP to connect to. Not any more.... You see a dozen APs, all locked down. End of an era...
I'm guessing it was less than that flight from Miami to Boston. A lot less.
"How much you paid" is irrelevant in this context - You need to ask what the profit margin was. If you pay $1200 to fly from Seattle to London then that may seem like a lot of money entitling you to free scotch. If, however, the cost to the airline to have your bum in their seat is $1180, then there's no room for free scotch. That's the number to look at - How much was the profit on that MIA -> BOS flight? I'm guessing not much...
One time I got a 3/4 ounce bag of peanuts. The next time I flew that route it was only 1/2 ounce of peanuts.
I once drove my car six hours from Vancouver, BC to Portland OR. NO ONE gave me free food! Can you believe it? I actually had to bring my own in the car.