Since this story involves a political ad which responded to another political ad, it's probably safe to guess the matter revolved around political speech, and that's precisely what the First Amendment protects. However, the Constitution deals with what the Government may and may not do, not what a private company can choose or refuse to display, and in this case the Government was (properly) not involved.
The concern here is not whether Google infringed someone's Free Speech rights, but whether by their action they might attract the attention of an overzealous Congress to extend McCain-Feingold or the possible reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine to the internet. That would not be a good thing.
It would be convenient if companies would openly identify their political loyalties, but it's certainly not required and is unlikely to happen unless it is. Frankly, I'd rather keep free speech free, which Google clearly did not do in this case, but I'd rather have a few prejudicial and sleazy corporations abusing their rights than to have the rest of us lose ours.
Order a new Thinkpad for yourself; they're built where and as they've always been built, at least for now. There's nothing better in its class.
Then go to http://www.xogiving.org/ and order up a couple of XO laptops so the poor kids in Burma have a shot (pardon the expression) at a real future. If you like, you can sign up to buy a pair of XO laptops, one for a poor kid in some third-world country and one for your own kid or a neighbor or even for yourself. You'll pay less for those two XOs than Microsoft gets for a retail copy of Windows, and they'll do a lot more good (and, um, work a lot better...)
a pretty pedestrian sublaptop, that has its analog for the same price with the good ol' commercial vendors.
The Asus looks like a pretty decent cheap laptop, but that doesn't make it an analog of the XO by a LONG shot. Where's the touch screen on the Asus? The power-saving dual-mode display? The long-range mesh networking? The impact/dust/moisture-resistance? The UI and built-in apps designed from the ground up for kids who never saw a light bulb, much less an XBox (or a traffic light or an actual desktop) and in dozens of languages?
That's not to denegrate the Asus, which looks like a great choice where price is the only factor, but the OLPC/XO is more focused on value.
Besides, do we really want to make all those third-world kids use Windows? Have we no mercy?
Is an elephant a steam locomotive because Davey Crockett died at the Alamo?
I think we've drifted into a Netflix ad.
I read your dictionary quotes, and yes, they're interesting, but they don't apply to the current discussion. Since you didn't include quotes from every dictionary, it seems you're guilty of violating your own definition of "censorship," my friend.
Whew! Must've touched a nerve!
What Walmart is selling are the "radio versions" of some recordings, exactly what you'd hear (in most cases) if you listened to a licensed radio station in the US and many other places. Walmart isn't keeping anything off the market; they're just keeping some things off their shelves.
The record companies offer these, and in many cases the bands themselves actually record "radio versions." Is Sam Goody guilty of "censorship" because they DON'T sell the radio versions? Is Amazon guilty of "censorship" because they don't offer wax cylinders? Is iTunes guilty of "censorship" because they don't include that beguiling jewel case? Of course not!
In a free market:
1. A seller may choose what to sell, and what not to sell.
2. A buyer may choose what to buy, and where (or where not) to do so.
To censor is to prohibit access; a retailer which declines to sell a certain product cannot keep a customer from purchasing that product elsewhere. If Walmart chose to sell only widescreen DVD movies, customers could go elsewhere for other versions. If Walmart chose to sell only Spanish books, they would in no way be prohibiting customers from buying books from another seller. If Walmart carries only the "sanitized" versions of some CDs (sanitized not by them but by the record companies or even the bands themselves) customers are free to make any or all of their music purchases at one of Walmart's thousands of competitors.
This is not "censorship."
Don't laugh. The Jonathan Zittrain quoted in the article is almost certainly the former "Sysop of Sysops" at CompuServe, circa the mid '80s or thereabouts. Said Mr. Zittrain is (or at least was when I worked with him) a brilliant fellow with very good instincts for the future of online communications (well, except for taking that CompuServe gig, I suppose, but back then who knew?)
http://www.recallgranholm.com/ is one reaction for about 75% of Michigan. The state's schools have fallen behind almost as badly as its economy under "Generous Genny" Granholm's governance, but now that her Party has control of the State House her solution to every problem has been to tax what's left of Michigan's worst-in-the-nation economy to pay for a spending spree Louis XIV never dreamed of.
It might be possible to defend supplying MP3 players, even iPods, to some students if those players were used to store lectures, language practice, famous speeches, even music lessons for those in related classes, but now that it's come to light that these are/were to be iPod Shuffle players, which present content in random order, even the most liberal interpretation of this proposal falls apart.
However, even if this was a really good idea, it's just not defensible to throw an untried ed-tech experiment into a public school system that trails the nation despite above average per-pupil spending in a state that's expelling businesses and seeing taxpayers drop out as badly -- and as quickly -- as is happening in Michigan.
First, even in the US today corporations do not have the same rights as human citizens -- in fact, they don't even have the rights granted illegal aliens -- but corporations have always held many of the rights of citizens, such as the right to make contracts, to own property, and even the right, in most cases, to due process of law. Corporations likewise share many obligations with citizens, from taxation to legal and a degree of military responsibility. Corporations do not have many of the other rights citizens take for granted, however, such as the most basic and essential rights of citizenship, those of voting and of serving on a jury.
I'd also disagree (strongly) with your assertion that corporations are sociopathic. The very act of incorporation voluntarily makes the corporation subservient to society; that's why the really abusive fatcats Teddy Roosevelt fought avoided incorporation like the plague. The fact is, any corporation which hopes to survive, much less to prosper, cannot be (or act) sociopathically or it will alienate both its expected support base (customers, clients, etc.) and the very necessary support of society in general, which can prosecute the corporation at any time.
Granted, there may be sociopaths embedded in a given corporation who abuse it in pursuit of personal gain; we've seen that in BCCI, Enron, the Whitewater Development Corporation and others. For every corporate scandal that made the headlines, though, there are thousands of corporations which, like the average private citizen, quietly went about their business, contributed to society, and improved the lives of those around them.
By the way, the oldest continuous corporation in the western hemisphere is Harvard College, which was incorporated in the mid-1600's.
"(Walmart has to be there to serve the cheapass market)"
Please feel free to buy the better compact flourescents, but we all benefit if millions who can't afford the fancy models replace their incandescent bulbs with the "cheapass" CFLs.
"The hardware for this (Jurassic Park) server was probably minimal . .."
In the movie it's identified as a Connection Machine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connection_Machine/) and looks like a CM-5, "useless" blinkylights and all. No Mac, but a step above a Vic-20, to be sure.
Well said. It's the same reason many people prefer computer keyboards with an otherwise unnecessary mechanism to make the keys "click" (and why so many people hate "soft" and virtual keyboards).
OLPC is opposed by the same mindset, and probably by many of the same people, who oppose the exploration of space and other long-term investments in the future of mankind. Their short-sighted view has been with us throughout time and represents a sociological counterpoint to the potential dangers of leaving the shelter of the cave, of hunting instead of gathering, of building a boat or a bridge or of seeing what's beyond that distant mountain.
The One Laptop Per Child initiative isn't "about" laptops any more than Columbus' venture was "about" boats, but you may be sure Ferdinand and Isabella were told they could buy a lot of gruel for the cost of those ships and the men who sailed them.
As with hybrid cars and low-e windows, this is one area where tax credits could make the difference. Presumably the manufacturers and distributors of this stuff were generous in the last round of political campaign fundraising.
The Sandisk players are collectively called "Sansa," a little easier to build brand recognition around than the e280 model number. However, don't discount the power of good marketing. Ever hear of something called a '386? A Z-28? A-1 Sauce? The list goes on; meanwhile, everyone had to be told what an "Eye Pod" was the first time they heard of it.
You might be thinking of megnetohydrodynamics (MHD), which makes a pretty good oceanic propulsion system but won't work in fresh water.
By the way, distilled water is the "gold standard" for measuring water's boiling point; at sea level it boils at 100 degrees centigrade, just as expected. It's actually quite good for cooking, even in a microwave. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distilled_water#Myths _about_distilled_water/ gives a little more detail on that "exploding water" story.
Slashdot Mirror
The concern here is not whether Google infringed someone's Free Speech rights, but whether by their action they might attract the attention of an overzealous Congress to extend McCain-Feingold or the possible reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine to the internet. That would not be a good thing.
Then go to http://www.xogiving.org/ and order up a couple of XO laptops so the poor kids in Burma have a shot (pardon the expression) at a real future. If you like, you can sign up to buy a pair of XO laptops, one for a poor kid in some third-world country and one for your own kid or a neighbor or even for yourself. You'll pay less for those two XOs than Microsoft gets for a retail copy of Windows, and they'll do a lot more good (and, um, work a lot better ...)
I read your dictionary quotes, and yes, they're interesting, but they don't apply to the current discussion. Since you didn't include quotes from every dictionary, it seems you're guilty of violating your own definition of "censorship," my friend.
Whew! Must've touched a nerve!
What Walmart is selling are the "radio versions" of some recordings, exactly what you'd hear (in most cases) if you listened to a licensed radio station in the US and many other places. Walmart isn't keeping anything off the market; they're just keeping some things off their shelves.
The record companies offer these, and in many cases the bands themselves actually record "radio versions." Is Sam Goody guilty of "censorship" because they DON'T sell the radio versions? Is Amazon guilty of "censorship" because they don't offer wax cylinders? Is iTunes guilty of "censorship" because they don't include that beguiling jewel case? Of course not!
In a free market: 1. A seller may choose what to sell, and what not to sell. 2. A buyer may choose what to buy, and where (or where not) to do so.
To censor is to prohibit access; a retailer which declines to sell a certain product cannot keep a customer from purchasing that product elsewhere. If Walmart chose to sell only widescreen DVD movies, customers could go elsewhere for other versions. If Walmart chose to sell only Spanish books, they would in no way be prohibiting customers from buying books from another seller. If Walmart carries only the "sanitized" versions of some CDs (sanitized not by them but by the record companies or even the bands themselves) customers are free to make any or all of their music purchases at one of Walmart's thousands of competitors.
This is not "censorship."
Don't laugh. The Jonathan Zittrain quoted in the article is almost certainly the former "Sysop of Sysops" at CompuServe, circa the mid '80s or thereabouts. Said Mr. Zittrain is (or at least was when I worked with him) a brilliant fellow with very good instincts for the future of online communications (well, except for taking that CompuServe gig, I suppose, but back then who knew?)
http://www.recallgranholm.com/ is one reaction for about 75% of Michigan. The state's schools have fallen behind almost as badly as its economy under "Generous Genny" Granholm's governance, but now that her Party has control of the State House her solution to every problem has been to tax what's left of Michigan's worst-in-the-nation economy to pay for a spending spree Louis XIV never dreamed of.
It might be possible to defend supplying MP3 players, even iPods, to some students if those players were used to store lectures, language practice, famous speeches, even music lessons for those in related classes, but now that it's come to light that these are/were to be iPod Shuffle players, which present content in random order, even the most liberal interpretation of this proposal falls apart.
However, even if this was a really good idea, it's just not defensible to throw an untried ed-tech experiment into a public school system that trails the nation despite above average per-pupil spending in a state that's expelling businesses and seeing taxpayers drop out as badly -- and as quickly -- as is happening in Michigan.
First, even in the US today corporations do not have the same rights as human citizens -- in fact, they don't even have the rights granted illegal aliens -- but corporations have always held many of the rights of citizens, such as the right to make contracts, to own property, and even the right, in most cases, to due process of law. Corporations likewise share many obligations with citizens, from taxation to legal and a degree of military responsibility. Corporations do not have many of the other rights citizens take for granted, however, such as the most basic and essential rights of citizenship, those of voting and of serving on a jury.
I'd also disagree (strongly) with your assertion that corporations are sociopathic. The very act of incorporation voluntarily makes the corporation subservient to society; that's why the really abusive fatcats Teddy Roosevelt fought avoided incorporation like the plague. The fact is, any corporation which hopes to survive, much less to prosper, cannot be (or act) sociopathically or it will alienate both its expected support base (customers, clients, etc.) and the very necessary support of society in general, which can prosecute the corporation at any time.
Granted, there may be sociopaths embedded in a given corporation who abuse it in pursuit of personal gain; we've seen that in BCCI, Enron, the Whitewater Development Corporation and others. For every corporate scandal that made the headlines, though, there are thousands of corporations which, like the average private citizen, quietly went about their business, contributed to society, and improved the lives of those around them.
By the way, the oldest continuous corporation in the western hemisphere is Harvard College, which was incorporated in the mid-1600's.
I turned mine into a picture frame. Laughing Squid, you rock.
The most surprising thing was how smoothly the photo shoot went.
"The hardware for this (Jurassic Park) server was probably minimal . . ."
In the movie it's identified as a Connection Machine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connection_Machine/) and looks like a CM-5, "useless" blinkylights and all. No Mac, but a step above a Vic-20, to be sure.
Well said. It's the same reason many people prefer computer keyboards with an otherwise unnecessary mechanism to make the keys "click" (and why so many people hate "soft" and virtual keyboards).
Not entirely. The graphic for the very first item indicates it was a "powerBob." http://www.applegazette.com/wp-content/uploads/200 6/11/apple_powerbob.thumbnail.jpg
OLPC is opposed by the same mindset, and probably by many of the same people, who oppose the exploration of space and other long-term investments in the future of mankind. Their short-sighted view has been with us throughout time and represents a sociological counterpoint to the potential dangers of leaving the shelter of the cave, of hunting instead of gathering, of building a boat or a bridge or of seeing what's beyond that distant mountain. The One Laptop Per Child initiative isn't "about" laptops any more than Columbus' venture was "about" boats, but you may be sure Ferdinand and Isabella were told they could buy a lot of gruel for the cost of those ships and the men who sailed them.
As with hybrid cars and low-e windows, this is one area where tax credits could make the difference. Presumably the manufacturers and distributors of this stuff were generous in the last round of political campaign fundraising.
"Don't believe what you read is the truth." Prove it.
The Sandisk players are collectively called "Sansa," a little easier to build brand recognition around than the e280 model number. However, don't discount the power of good marketing. Ever hear of something called a '386? A Z-28? A-1 Sauce? The list goes on; meanwhile, everyone had to be told what an "Eye Pod" was the first time they heard of it.
Li'l Eva and Adolph's photo album http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/10/philips_si mplicity/image/share.jpg is nice, and who could possibly resist the Ambient Experience Catheterization Lab http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/10/philips_si mplicity/image/ambi.jpg? Nothing here that actually improves life, but it sure could make it look brighter.
You might be thinking of megnetohydrodynamics (MHD), which makes a pretty good oceanic propulsion system but won't work in fresh water. By the way, distilled water is the "gold standard" for measuring water's boiling point; at sea level it boils at 100 degrees centigrade, just as expected. It's actually quite good for cooking, even in a microwave. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distilled_water#Myths _about_distilled_water/ gives a little more detail on that "exploding water" story.