Walmart's been doing it for years too. If you look at most electronics at Wally World, you'll see that their model numbers are unique. That's not only a way for them to set themselves apart from competitors (and never have to price match), but it's also a way for the manufacturers to make a special Walmart model that uses cheaper parts and shitty construction to lower costs. Never buy electronics (or anything else you want to actually last) at Walmart. Slashdot had a great story on how this works (and how one company said "No thanks") here.
The government has a copy. They just need to go through it first to make sure no one was doing anything illegal--such as downloading pirated files, bad-mouthing the President, supporting the Occupy movement, etc.
Sounds to me like a great case for the military NOT subcontracting out every single task to some private company which they have little, if any, control over.
It's not so much a technological problem as it is a social one. It's not a question of whether you can bypass the blocks or not, it's more a question of whether you're willing to suffer the consequences if you get CAUGHT with illegal bypass/proxy/VPN software. Many people are willing to TALK freedom, a much smaller number are willing to get the shit kicked out of them by a cop or get thrown into jail or prison for a few years for actually EXERCISING it.
There will always be ways to bypass oppression, but will the masses be willing to risk the consequences of using them?
None of the other bodies in our solar system is habitable by humans. Terraforming is a silly fiction. Think about it. If we had the level of technology to radically transform an entire planet's atmosphere, generate soil and water, etc. it would be a LOT easier to use it on earth in the wake of anything short of an earth-SHATTERING asteroid than to use it on Mars.
Humans should make the most of our time here, and stop worrying so much about all the silly ways we can imagine our doom.
In the U.S., he's completely unknown. This is in part due to the Soviet's keeping his identity secret for so many years, and in part due to the fact that U.S. documentaries, press, and popular culture treat the Soviet space program as almost a completely non-existent entity (except occasionally very briefly mentioning Sputnik and maybe Gagarin).
Our civilization,right now, we're the only chance. Sure, leaving Eden is a horrible burden. Suckit up. We have to go. Now.
People who say stuff like this usually have no idea the distances involved. It would probably take us MILLIONS of years to reach the nearest planet that's even remotely habitable. We don't have any kind of technology that could possibly survive that long, much less that could keep fragile human bodies alive that long.
We're just stuck here. Don't feel bad, though. We're going to go extinct eventually, even if we made it out into space. If an asteroid doesn't get you, the heat death of the universe certainly will.
If China did it, it would just be to prove that they have arrived. As soon as they did it, they would end up dropping the program the same way the U.S. and Soviets did. There is little to gain from it. It's really more symbolic. And once you've done it, you've made your point.
The Cold War and the sudden and unexpected advances the Soviets made in their remarkable early space program (thanks to the sadly underrated and largely forgotten genius of Sergei Korolev) where the primary motivators that led to Apollo. Without the strong desire of the U.S. to have a major "first" in space over such a military rival, it's very unlikely the U.S. would have ever gone beyond LEO. Unlike LEO, there was relatively little to gain strategically or technologically from a manned moon mission. It was mostly a nationalistic pride thing. Apollo was designed to show that the U.S. was capable of space firsts too, and everything about the mission--from its highly public nature to the planting of the U.S. flag--was meant to highlight that.
It's alarmist rhetoric like this that makes me (and many others) very skeptical of the global warming movement. It sounds a lot less like science and a lot more like a religion to me every day.
I am not even sure what the point of your comment was outside of a thinly veiled stab at a political movement that you obviously disagree with.
Quite the contrary. I strongly support the idea of fighting corporatocracy. But if the movement is ever going to achieve anything it's going to have to be much more CONSISTENT and MAINSTREAM. Consistent means that selected corps like Apple and Democratic politicians don't get free passes. Mainstream means that the movement has to be more than just the standard hippie and drum-circle crowd (and no hippies guarding the gates with a "We don't want to let in any poseurs who don't even own a hemp shirt" attitude).
If the sheer number of Apple devices at any given Occupy protest are any indication, it would seem the professional protestors who usually lead this kind of thing are going to bend over backwards to give Apple a free pass on just about anything. Christ, there were Occupy protestors CRYING the day Steve Jobs died--even as they rallied against our corporate overlords (with no sense of the irony at all). So unless you can sell them on the idea that Tim Cook has somehow corrupted their beloved Apple in the last few months, I would say your chances are pretty much nil.
And this isn't meant as flamebait. Seriously, go to an Occupy protest sometime and just look at the sheer number of Mac's, iPhones, and iPads you'll see. It's fucking creepy. They've been for shit at organizing on any other point, but they've apparently almost all agreed on at least *one* thing.
Well, in all fairness, how else are they supposed to grade you in gym? Is everyone who isn't naturally gifted in sports supposed to get a D or F? I always thought that work and effort were what gym was supposed to be all about. Obviously, someone who is naturally athletic isn't going to be judged on the same scale as someone who can barely handle a basketball. Otherwise you would likely be giving the same grade to someone who sat around and did nothing and someone who really busted his ass trying to get better.
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Walmart's been doing it for years too. If you look at most electronics at Wally World, you'll see that their model numbers are unique. That's not only a way for them to set themselves apart from competitors (and never have to price match), but it's also a way for the manufacturers to make a special Walmart model that uses cheaper parts and shitty construction to lower costs. Never buy electronics (or anything else you want to actually last) at Walmart. Slashdot had a great story on how this works (and how one company said "No thanks") here.
What you suggest is, sadly, the kind of thing they would do. It's also the dumbest thing they could do.
The PC game/software companies got away with it, didn't they? You see any used PC games for sale these days?
The government has a copy. They just need to go through it first to make sure no one was doing anything illegal--such as downloading pirated files, bad-mouthing the President, supporting the Occupy movement, etc.
Sounds to me like a great case for the military NOT subcontracting out every single task to some private company which they have little, if any, control over.
Even a visionary has to be a realist. Reaching the moon is orders of magnitude easier than reaching other solar systems.
Except no one has ever been able to produce anything even close to a self-sustaining colony on just sunlight alone.
It's not so much a technological problem as it is a social one. It's not a question of whether you can bypass the blocks or not, it's more a question of whether you're willing to suffer the consequences if you get CAUGHT with illegal bypass/proxy/VPN software. Many people are willing to TALK freedom, a much smaller number are willing to get the shit kicked out of them by a cop or get thrown into jail or prison for a few years for actually EXERCISING it.
There will always be ways to bypass oppression, but will the masses be willing to risk the consequences of using them?
None of the other bodies in our solar system is habitable by humans. Terraforming is a silly fiction. Think about it. If we had the level of technology to radically transform an entire planet's atmosphere, generate soil and water, etc. it would be a LOT easier to use it on earth in the wake of anything short of an earth-SHATTERING asteroid than to use it on Mars.
Humans should make the most of our time here, and stop worrying so much about all the silly ways we can imagine our doom.
Ever heard of a generation ship?
Yes. I read science fiction.
In the U.S., he's completely unknown. This is in part due to the Soviet's keeping his identity secret for so many years, and in part due to the fact that U.S. documentaries, press, and popular culture treat the Soviet space program as almost a completely non-existent entity (except occasionally very briefly mentioning Sputnik and maybe Gagarin).
Our civilization,right now, we're the only chance. Sure, leaving Eden is a horrible burden. Suckit up. We have to go. Now.
People who say stuff like this usually have no idea the distances involved. It would probably take us MILLIONS of years to reach the nearest planet that's even remotely habitable. We don't have any kind of technology that could possibly survive that long, much less that could keep fragile human bodies alive that long.
We're just stuck here. Don't feel bad, though. We're going to go extinct eventually, even if we made it out into space. If an asteroid doesn't get you, the heat death of the universe certainly will.
If China did it, it would just be to prove that they have arrived. As soon as they did it, they would end up dropping the program the same way the U.S. and Soviets did. There is little to gain from it. It's really more symbolic. And once you've done it, you've made your point.
Well, that and the fact that he happens to be campaigning in Florida this week.
You can't fight extinction with wishful thinking. We're stuck on this blue ball.
If Kubrick had done it, it would have looked a lot better--and been a lot funnier.
The Cold War and the sudden and unexpected advances the Soviets made in their remarkable early space program (thanks to the sadly underrated and largely forgotten genius of Sergei Korolev) where the primary motivators that led to Apollo. Without the strong desire of the U.S. to have a major "first" in space over such a military rival, it's very unlikely the U.S. would have ever gone beyond LEO. Unlike LEO, there was relatively little to gain strategically or technologically from a manned moon mission. It was mostly a nationalistic pride thing. Apollo was designed to show that the U.S. was capable of space firsts too, and everything about the mission--from its highly public nature to the planting of the U.S. flag--was meant to highlight that.
I think you're thinking of China. What REALLY sucks about China is the lack of toilet paper, though.
I heard everyone gets three wishes too.
It's alarmist rhetoric like this that makes me (and many others) very skeptical of the global warming movement. It sounds a lot less like science and a lot more like a religion to me every day.
The Hamlet approach. I like it. "Tim Cook murdered your FATHER, dear fans! We must avenge him!"
I am not even sure what the point of your comment was outside of a thinly veiled stab at a political movement that you obviously disagree with.
Quite the contrary. I strongly support the idea of fighting corporatocracy. But if the movement is ever going to achieve anything it's going to have to be much more CONSISTENT and MAINSTREAM. Consistent means that selected corps like Apple and Democratic politicians don't get free passes. Mainstream means that the movement has to be more than just the standard hippie and drum-circle crowd (and no hippies guarding the gates with a "We don't want to let in any poseurs who don't even own a hemp shirt" attitude).
If the sheer number of Apple devices at any given Occupy protest are any indication, it would seem the professional protestors who usually lead this kind of thing are going to bend over backwards to give Apple a free pass on just about anything. Christ, there were Occupy protestors CRYING the day Steve Jobs died--even as they rallied against our corporate overlords (with no sense of the irony at all). So unless you can sell them on the idea that Tim Cook has somehow corrupted their beloved Apple in the last few months, I would say your chances are pretty much nil.
And this isn't meant as flamebait. Seriously, go to an Occupy protest sometime and just look at the sheer number of Mac's, iPhones, and iPads you'll see. It's fucking creepy. They've been for shit at organizing on any other point, but they've apparently almost all agreed on at least *one* thing.
therefore you get an A for effort.
Well, in all fairness, how else are they supposed to grade you in gym? Is everyone who isn't naturally gifted in sports supposed to get a D or F? I always thought that work and effort were what gym was supposed to be all about. Obviously, someone who is naturally athletic isn't going to be judged on the same scale as someone who can barely handle a basketball. Otherwise you would likely be giving the same grade to someone who sat around and did nothing and someone who really busted his ass trying to get better.
reverse Tourette's
My cousin had that. He just walked around all day being quiet.
When a car company sells you a car, they don't demand that every time you sell that car, they get a portion of the sale.
If the consumer allows this model to spread, it will only be a matter of time before it WILL spread to the auto industry and beyond. Imagine this:
Car comes with OnStar/Navigation/etc., but only if you buy it new (or used at an authorized dealership).
If you're not the registered original purchaser, no dealership will service it, recognize any warranty, or allow you to participate in any recalls.
No authorized dealership will be allowed to purchase any car used made by a brand that it's not authorized to sell new.
etc.