PP&L (pennsylvania power and light) has been testing this here for a few months. I tried hard to get in on the pilot, but I dont live in the right geographical location.
Turns out it is my ISP handling the broadband end anyway, and as I already have DSL through them, it probably wouldnt make much difference. The speeds that PP&L quoted me are just about the same as the DSL speeds I am already getting.
So its not "debunked" its just not controlled by the FCC at the moment.
careful - 'digital' and 'slr' are NOT mutually exclusive. my nikon d1 is a pure digital and also an SLR in that it uses standard F-mount nikkor lenses. and yes, even can use PC (perspective control) for controlling angles in ways you can't even think of with a fixed [angle] lens.
You are, of course, totally correct. I should have been more clear, the distinction was meant to be between non-slr digitals and SLR cameras, whether they be 35mm or digital imaging.
I remember at the beginning of this war, we were seeing a lot of photos shot from suspicious angles. One of them some of you have probably seen.. it features a soldier, in the foreground, and two little kids in the background. From where it is shot, it looks exactly like he has the rifle trained on these poor kids heads, but if you stop and look at it for a while, you realize its just the way the sling has it hanging against his body.
Being an amateur photographer, I can tell you that a good SLR lets you do things with perspective and for/background (using fstops and really good lighting and film conditions) that a digital really doesnt do. One is really really blur the distinction between "near" and "far" in a photo. (Stopping the lens down really really far allows the background stuff to be just as "in focus" as the near-ground.. so you lose that whole "main object crisp everything else fuzzy" image type.)
Since I started taking pictures, I pay a lot more attention to how the shot was taken!
If CNN and CNN Headline News are Joe Sixpack's sole source of information, then getting people not to buy Warner products will be an impossible task. CNN is owned by the same parent company [aoltimewarner.com] as Warner Bros.
Well, you are taking me a bit too literally, but you are kind of underlining my point as well.
The "real world" (read: not geeks like us, but the kind of people who are holding "die ins" in the hopes that it will change anything) needs to understand this stuff. But they wont. And nothing will change.
Maeryk
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon
on
Meteor Over Midwest
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I remember back in the '80's when Ronnie first proposed SDI, I seem to recall that the price tag was a couple trillion dollars. I'm guessing that the prevailing thought at the time was that all the GDP savings in the world don't amount to a hill of beans if we all get vaporised to our component atoms by those damn commies.
Speaking of SDI. niven was on Screen Savers the other night, and mentioned that he was one of the people involved in proposing SDI (if I heard right) to Reagans government. That initiative was enough (according to him, and I kind of agree after thinkign about it) to end the cold war, because Russia just couldnt keep up. They bankrupted themselves trying, especially for something we werent really "doing" we were just planning on doing and debating over.
Probably one of the best and most memorable modern military feints I can think of.
Excellent point. If a word is so hard to spell that even after 6 years of higher education I can't spell it properly, I might as well avoid using it, as I shall do in the future.
That just earned you a fan.
M
Re:Certainly does seem that way, doesn't it...
on
Meteor Over Midwest
·
· Score: 1
I remember reading an explanation of the big naval guns on Battleships once and it was explained that they throw shells about the weight of VW Bugs also. Wonder if the "meterorite" is really the USS New Jersey being used for nefarious purposes whilst the citizens sleep unaware?
Because it is the one true unit of measurement. You could list it in bushels, stones, hogsheads, pounds, kilos, "my mom's dog's" and someone somewhere would be confused. but EVERYONE knows what a VW bug looks like. And about how big they are.
You are a consumer, not a citizen, and you seem to enjoy it.
You are absolutely right about that. And you know what? Consumer action will make more of a difference than "civil disobediance" will in this case. If you hit them where it hurts.. (Which, contrary to popular belief, is not by pirating, but by getting the people who WOULDNT pirate to stop funding) then you will change things.
All pirating is going to do is provide fuel for stronger and stronger laws.. which you will bitch more and more loudly about, rather than do anything to make them change their MO.
If you _really_ want to change things, get the word out to Joe Sixpack who only reads CNN about what is going on, rather than whining about it here amongst the already (mostly) techno-elite and informed.
Pirating doesnt really hit them in their pocketbooks. At least, not in this country (US). It might overseas, but that is an entirely different kettle of carp.
Consumerism is the way of the US at this point. The only way to change the minds of stuff-co and other huge conglomerates is to hit em where they hurt.
I know. Thats why its not in quotes. Its also so damned difficult to spell "chartreuse" (as noted above) that I figured I'd stick with pink. Kind of an homage to "Night of the Mary Kay Commandos".
While on the subject, I hate playing against people who don't cheat but who use "highly optimized" strategies. For instance, they load up on one kind of unit. This isn't good strategy, though it might win in the game, and it's no fun to place against or to play as, IMHO. The only effective way to counter players who do so is to load up on the unit that is best at destroying the unit that your opponent has chosen to load up on. This robs the fun from the game as fast any cheat.
Having never played Warcraft, Im not sure what you mean. However, sounds rather parallel to playing Magic:The Obsessi^h^h^h^hgathering. When you face someone with a really ANNOYING deck, you have to figure out A) how to get around it or B) realize your own "really annoying deck" isnt necessarily the best thing to have when dealing with it. It's all part of the strategy, IMHO. Not cheating. (the only MTG cheating I hate is when people are lucky enough to own four of every rare or banned card, and play them, and to me, that makes the game unfair.. if someone has four black lotuses and a mox of each color, cards that "sell" for the 300$ price range each, it tends to unbalance the game a bit).
Is anyone aware of any regulations allowing you to transfer your home phone number to your cell phone if you were to disconnect your home phone number? I think I remember reading about rules stating you could keep your home phone number if you switched land carriers, and now you'll be able to keep your cell phone number when you switch cell carriers, but what about if you are ditching your land line altogether?
On a somewhat related note, you _can_ transfer the home number to someone else. When we moved (20 years ago) to a "new" house the phone number moved with us. When my Mom sold us the house, 3 years ago, we "bought" the number from them, and it did not change. Since they moved to a new exchange, they could not have taken it, anyway.
Kind of neat, but I have had rather abusive telemarketers scream at me that I was lying because you could not change a number like that.
Maeryk (on a side note.. how is it that Slashdot is more than 8 hours behind "sister" publication The Screen Savers on stories these days?)
It's not cheating if the computer will let you do it.
Like L.O.R.D with the "underground" mod on it. If you went into the gambling establishment, bet huge amounts of negative money, and lost, you won that amount in positive.
Local BBS installed it, took em weeks to figure out how I was going from a new character to the crystal shard etc and beating the hell out of people in the Inn in two days.
Yeah.. it was a cheat, but it was a bug, not so much a cheat, and anyone who wanted to do it (and went to that portal first, rather than one of the lame portals like Baba yagas hut or the black castle) could use it.
I love playing Quake 3 online, but I suspect there are a number of players cheating. I haven't been able to find many resources to Q3 bots, and other cheat methods other than this site: http://ogc.ath.cx/ [ogc.ath.cx] Anyone know of other ways people in Q3 cheat?
Dont know if its specifically falls under "cheating" but learning to play with a wide FOV helps. Also, I just upgraded to a new system, and noticed that my scores rather dramtically improved immediately. Simply because it "looks okay" on your end, doesnt mean you see everythign someone with a hot-shit system sees. (I was rather amazed, actually, at the difference in the game.)
Now.. Im still a bit torqued about the guys who can rail you, while facing away from you, and do it from so far away you cannot see them, or who rail you while you are falling off the edge of the space platform, etc. But Im not sure if thats a ratbot, an aimbot, an exceptionally good player with really good combo macros, or just a really really good player.
Not sure what you mean. I dont play MMORPGS or RTS.. Im a first person shooter kinda guy.. but when I get on Quake3 server, adn I see one score of 300 and the rest are around 30, its a clue.. and when you see the skin standing in the wide open firing faster than any human could shoot and spin, with rails apparently coming out its ass, you get a clue that this is what is going on.
usually, I suspect those bots are actually _on_ the server. But Punkbuster helps..
Playing UT23K I havent seen much trouble.. the game seems much more even and better than Quake(s) ever were.
But Im sure there are people scripting things for Evercrack, and letting them run overnight. And buying and selling items on Ebay.. or running six player accounts, and then transferring things to each other.. but I guess thats part of the game. There is always some moron who just isnt happy that he isnt as good as the next guy, and feels the need to "even" the playing field for himself.
Here's a Paul Verhoven film only a small few are probably familiar with. It starred Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh. It was called "Flesh and Blood". I saw it back in high school (1987) when a friend of mine brough it over. It couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a comedy, a drama, and action film or a period piece. It excelled at none of those roles, but was still somewhat charming. Poor acting (with the exception of Rutger Hauer), terrible direction, but... there are some great lines from it:
Excellent piece! The portrayal of the Landsknechts under Cl. Hawkwood was actually fairly well done, at least from a "broad historical brush" sort of perspective.
IT was released, also as "Blood and the Rose" and is actually easier to find under that title.
One of my other favorite "underappreciated" movies is Blind Fury (also Hauer) in which a really bad retelling of the Zatoichi legend happens here. Rutger, as a blind guy, driving a truck, is absolutely hilarious. (The scene wehre the kid hands him a rock, telling him its candy is pretty freakin good too).
Also on my list:
The Crow Dark Crystal Labyrinth Legend.
(I dont know if they were "unappreciated" per se.. but they are not common fare, as far as I can tell).
Poison ivy reactions belong to an interesting class of immunological responses. It usually takes at least one exposure (which is asymptomatic) before your immune system decides to collect up a lot of hypersensitive response cells and then the next exposure makes you a not so happy person.
My dad is hypersensitive. (we are talkign hospital visits from contact). My mom is (well, was) immune. Used to rip it out by the roots, bare handed in a tank top and shorts, for days on end, nary a bump. I always just get one case that consists of three blisters, first time I get near it a year, then nothing after that. i can roll in it. (I have rolled in it) and no symptoms.
Mom tried to go weed it last year.. ended up scratching and dousing herself in silver-leaf juice for two days to get rid of it.
Immuno-toxins (specifically oils) are really interesting critters..
Montana's law, that allowed any "reasonable and proper" speed was recently struck down as too vague:-\ I'd love a system, where someone could run through (and pay for) a higher classification for her/his car and him/herself to get authorization to drive, say 40% above speed limit, or something... But this is far too offtopic. \
My uncle lives in Montana. this is how it was explained to me. Montana didnt have a speed limit, at all, but paid the "fines" (lack of federal money) to the gubmint for that privelege. As soon as it "got round" to the rest of the country, lots of people started showing up in Montana cause there was no speed limit. Lots of people started doing 90 through towns, hitting moose, and generally causing huge amounts of trouble (and accidents) they never had before with "the locals". So the speed limit was changed.
Maeryk (which goes to show you, people will be idiots, at least some of the people, all of the time)
A BILL FOR AN ACT Relating to terrorism; creating new provisions; and amending section 19, chapter 666, Oregon Laws 2001. Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon: SECTION 1. { + (1) A person commits the crime of terrorism if the person knowingly plans, participates in or carries out any act that is intended, by at least one of its participants, to disrupt: (a) The free and orderly assembly of the inhabitants of the State of Oregon; (b) Commerce or the transportation systems of the State of Oregon; or (c) The educational or governmental institutions of the State of Oregon or its inhabitants. (2) A person commits the crime of terrorism if the person conspires to do any of the activities described in subsection (1) of this section. (3) A person may not be convicted of terrorism except upon the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or upon confession in open court. (4)(a) A person convicted of terrorism shall be punished by imprisonment for life. (b) When a person is convicted of terrorism under this section, the court shall order that the person be confined for a minimum of 25 years without possibility of parole, release to post-prison supervision, release on work release or any form of temporary leave or employment at a forest or work camp.
Provision one PROTECTS your right to peacefully and freely assemble, not the other way around it.
I think there is a difference between conspiracy and planning. Besides it requires "overt action" and two witnesses thereof. I doubt "planning" in your head counts as overt action, by ANYONES judgement.
BTW: it doesnt mention "traffic" per se.. it mentions "commerce and transportation systems of the state" which means busses, trains, airplanes, etc.
And yes, I utterly agree with this. If you want to protest the war, do it in the park. If you do it across the highway while I am tryign to get home to pick my kid up from school, well, thats not peaceful assembly anymore, thats deathrace 2000, as far as I'm concerned.
What were you expecting? Lost your right to take walks after 10:00 PM, or use Linux as an operating system?
Yeah.. thats what I'm expecting. I keep hearing people crying a river about losing rights, and I have yet to see one that has been lost. If we are becoming increasingly right wing and fascist in this country, why arent the people parading around with pictures of Bush ne' hitler in protests being arrested, harassed?
What rights are going away? My right to threaten and harass someone in email? My right to send "anonymous" information? (Bear in mind.. I dont think you ever _did_ have the right to anonymity). People keep screaming about the Ashcroft assault on rights, but I see no-one bitching loudly about the rights assault on medical information. That was quietly slipped through.. and the "information" packets they send you are about as comprehensible as those stupid homeland security pages.
Traditionally, wisely, and conservatively, power has been balanced with accountability and/or transparency. Every official must be either accountable for thier actions. To ensure that an officials actions can be held accountable, they must be transparent to a third-party/public to prevent an official from concealing corruption.
And how has this changed? Can they suddenly bring me to trial, and provide a bunch of evidence against me without saying how or where they got it? Bear in mind.. right to search and seizure still doesnt mean that a judge is going to agree with them. The balance is still there, and that balance is the judge/jury. I dont fear being tried by a judge wearing black jackboots and a mask.
Slashdot Mirror
Ok, I'll just come out and say it: ball sack mashed against the screen = a shockingly revolting image to be sent around the world.
Actually, I believe you will find there are at least three high-traffic porn sites that provide just this sort of image.
For every kink, theres a lotta kooks, paying a bunch of monthly fees!
maeryk
PP&L (pennsylvania power and light) has been testing this here for a few months. I tried hard to get in on the pilot, but I dont live in the right geographical location.
Turns out it is my ISP handling the broadband end anyway, and as I already have DSL through them, it probably wouldnt make much difference. The speeds that PP&L quoted me are just about the same as the DSL speeds I am already getting.
So its not "debunked" its just not controlled by the FCC at the moment.
Maeryk
This is quite possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
Is it possible for you to correct someone without coming off as a complete pompous ass, or is that built right into your genetic makeup?
here you go: http://www.uscoles.com/pclens.htm
Wow! Neat! thanks tons!
Maeryk
careful - 'digital' and 'slr' are NOT mutually exclusive. my nikon d1 is a pure digital and also an SLR in that it uses standard F-mount nikkor lenses. and yes, even can use PC (perspective control) for controlling angles in ways you can't even think of with a fixed [angle] lens.
You are, of course, totally correct. I should have been more clear, the distinction was meant to be between non-slr digitals and SLR cameras, whether they be 35mm or digital imaging.
My bad!
Whats "PC"? how does it work? i'm curious now..
Maeryk
I remember at the beginning of this war, we were seeing a lot of photos shot from suspicious angles. One of them some of you have probably seen.. it features a soldier, in the foreground, and two little kids in the background. From where it is shot, it looks exactly like he has the rifle trained on these poor kids heads, but if you stop and look at it for a while, you realize its just the way the sling has it hanging against his body.
Being an amateur photographer, I can tell you that a good SLR lets you do things with perspective and for/background (using fstops and really good lighting and film conditions) that a digital really doesnt do. One is really really blur the distinction between "near" and "far" in a photo. (Stopping the lens down really really far allows the background stuff to be just as "in focus" as the near-ground.. so you lose that whole "main object crisp everything else fuzzy" image type.)
Since I started taking pictures, I pay a lot more attention to how the shot was taken!
Maeryk
If CNN and CNN Headline News are Joe Sixpack's sole source of information, then getting people not to buy Warner products will be an impossible task. CNN is owned by the same parent company [aoltimewarner.com] as Warner Bros.
Well, you are taking me a bit too literally, but you are kind of underlining my point as well.
The "real world" (read: not geeks like us, but the kind of people who are holding "die ins" in the hopes that it will change anything) needs to understand this stuff. But they wont. And nothing will change.
Maeryk
I remember back in the '80's when Ronnie first proposed SDI, I seem to recall that the price tag was a couple trillion dollars. I'm guessing that the prevailing thought at the time was that all the GDP savings in the world don't amount to a hill of beans if we all get vaporised to our component atoms by those damn commies.
Speaking of SDI. niven was on Screen Savers the other night, and mentioned that he was one of the people involved in proposing SDI (if I heard right) to Reagans government. That initiative was enough (according to him, and I kind of agree after thinkign about it) to end the cold war, because Russia just couldnt keep up. They bankrupted themselves trying, especially for something we werent really "doing" we were just planning on doing and debating over.
Probably one of the best and most memorable modern military feints I can think of.
Maeryk
Excellent point. If a word is so hard to spell that even after 6 years of higher education I can't spell it properly, I might as well avoid using it, as I shall do in the future.
That just earned you a fan.
M
I remember reading an explanation of the big naval guns on Battleships once and it was explained that they throw shells about the weight of VW Bugs also. Wonder if the "meterorite" is really the USS New Jersey being used for nefarious purposes whilst the citizens sleep unaware?
Maeryk
Because it is the one true unit of measurement. You could list it in bushels, stones, hogsheads, pounds, kilos, "my mom's dog's" and someone somewhere would be confused. but EVERYONE knows what a VW bug looks like. And about how big they are.
(They didnt specify old, new, or super, however)
Maeryk
You are a consumer, not a citizen, and you seem to enjoy it.
You are absolutely right about that. And you know what? Consumer action will make more of a difference than "civil disobediance" will in this case. If you hit them where it hurts.. (Which, contrary to popular belief, is not by pirating, but by getting the people who WOULDNT pirate to stop funding) then you will change things.
All pirating is going to do is provide fuel for stronger and stronger laws.. which you will bitch more and more loudly about, rather than do anything to make them change their MO.
If you _really_ want to change things, get the word out to Joe Sixpack who only reads CNN about what is going on, rather than whining about it here amongst the already (mostly) techno-elite and informed.
Pirating doesnt really hit them in their pocketbooks. At least, not in this country (US). It might overseas, but that is an entirely different kettle of carp.
Consumerism is the way of the US at this point. The only way to change the minds of stuff-co and other huge conglomerates is to hit em where they hurt.
Maeryk
Berke Breathed actually used the color Chartruse.
I know. Thats why its not in quotes. Its also so damned difficult to spell "chartreuse" (as noted above) that I figured I'd stick with pink. Kind of an homage to "Night of the Mary Kay Commandos".
maeryk
While on the subject, I hate playing against people who don't cheat but who use "highly optimized" strategies. For instance, they load up on one kind of unit. This isn't good strategy, though it might win in the game, and it's no fun to place against or to play as, IMHO. The only effective way to counter players who do so is to load up on the unit that is best at destroying the unit that your opponent has chosen to load up on. This robs the fun from the game as fast any cheat.
Having never played Warcraft, Im not sure what you mean. However, sounds rather parallel to playing Magic:The Obsessi^h^h^h^hgathering. When you face someone with a really ANNOYING deck, you have to figure out A) how to get around it or B) realize your own "really annoying deck" isnt necessarily the best thing to have when dealing with it. It's all part of the strategy, IMHO. Not cheating. (the only MTG cheating I hate is when people are lucky enough to own four of every rare or banned card, and play them, and to me, that makes the game unfair.. if someone has four black lotuses and a mox of each color, cards that "sell" for the 300$ price range each, it tends to unbalance the game a bit).
maeryk
Is anyone aware of any regulations allowing you to transfer your home phone number to your cell phone if you were to disconnect your home phone number? I think I remember reading about rules stating you could keep your home phone number if you switched land carriers, and now you'll be able to keep your cell phone number when you switch cell carriers, but what about if you are ditching your land line altogether?
On a somewhat related note, you _can_ transfer the home number to someone else. When we moved (20 years ago) to a "new" house the phone number moved with us. When my Mom sold us the house, 3 years ago, we "bought" the number from them, and it did not change. Since they moved to a new exchange, they could not have taken it, anyway.
Kind of neat, but I have had rather abusive telemarketers scream at me that I was lying because you could not change a number like that.
Maeryk
(on a side note.. how is it that Slashdot is more than 8 hours behind "sister" publication The Screen Savers on stories these days?)
It's not cheating if the computer will let you do it.
Like L.O.R.D with the "underground" mod on it. If you went into the gambling establishment, bet huge amounts of negative money, and lost, you won that amount in positive.
Local BBS installed it, took em weeks to figure out how I was going from a new character to the crystal shard etc and beating the hell out of people in the Inn in two days.
Yeah.. it was a cheat, but it was a bug, not so much a cheat, and anyone who wanted to do it (and went to that portal first, rather than one of the lame portals like Baba yagas hut or the black castle) could use it.
Maeryk
I love playing Quake 3 online, but I suspect there are a number of players cheating. I haven't been able to find many resources to Q3 bots, and other cheat methods other than this site: http://ogc.ath.cx/ [ogc.ath.cx] Anyone know of other ways people in Q3 cheat?
Dont know if its specifically falls under "cheating" but learning to play with a wide FOV helps. Also, I just upgraded to a new system, and noticed that my scores rather dramtically improved immediately. Simply because it "looks okay" on your end, doesnt mean you see everythign someone with a hot-shit system sees. (I was rather amazed, actually, at the difference in the game.)
Now.. Im still a bit torqued about the guys who can rail you, while facing away from you, and do it from so far away you cannot see them, or who rail you while you are falling off the edge of the space platform, etc. But Im not sure if thats a ratbot, an aimbot, an exceptionally good player with really good combo macros, or just a really really good player.
Maeryk
How would you catch a cheater?
Not sure what you mean. I dont play MMORPGS or RTS.. Im a first person shooter kinda guy.. but when I get on Quake3 server, adn I see one score of 300 and the rest are around 30, its a clue.. and when you see the skin standing in the wide open firing faster than any human could shoot and spin, with rails apparently coming out its ass, you get a clue that this is what is going on.
usually, I suspect those bots are actually _on_ the server. But Punkbuster helps..
Playing UT23K I havent seen much trouble.. the game seems much more even and better than Quake(s) ever were.
But Im sure there are people scripting things for Evercrack, and letting them run overnight. And buying and selling items on Ebay.. or running six player accounts, and then transferring things to each other.. but I guess thats part of the game. There is always some moron who just isnt happy that he isnt as good as the next guy, and feels the need to "even" the playing field for himself.
Maeryk
Here's a Paul Verhoven film only a small few are probably familiar with. It starred Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh. It was called "Flesh and Blood". I saw it back in high school (1987) when a friend of mine brough it over. It couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a comedy, a drama, and action film or a period piece. It excelled at none of those roles, but was still somewhat charming. Poor acting (with the exception of Rutger Hauer), terrible direction, but... there are some great lines from it:
Excellent piece! The portrayal of the Landsknechts under Cl. Hawkwood was actually fairly well done, at least from a "broad historical brush" sort of perspective.
IT was released, also as "Blood and the Rose" and is actually easier to find under that title.
One of my other favorite "underappreciated" movies is Blind Fury (also Hauer) in which a really bad retelling of the Zatoichi legend happens here. Rutger, as a blind guy, driving a truck, is absolutely hilarious. (The scene wehre the kid hands him a rock, telling him its candy is pretty freakin good too).
Also on my list:
The Crow
Dark Crystal
Labyrinth
Legend.
(I dont know if they were "unappreciated" per se.. but they are not common fare, as far as I can tell).
Maeryk
Poison ivy reactions belong to an interesting class of immunological responses. It usually takes at least one exposure (which is asymptomatic) before your immune system decides to collect up a lot of hypersensitive response cells and then the next exposure makes you a not so happy person.
My dad is hypersensitive. (we are talkign hospital visits from contact). My mom is (well, was) immune. Used to rip it out by the roots, bare handed in a tank top and shorts, for days on end, nary a bump. I always just get one case that consists of three blisters, first time I get near it a year, then nothing after that. i can roll in it. (I have rolled in it) and no symptoms.
Mom tried to go weed it last year.. ended up scratching and dousing herself in silver-leaf juice for two days to get rid of it.
Immuno-toxins (specifically oils) are really interesting critters..
maeryk
Montana's law, that allowed any "reasonable and proper" speed was recently struck down as too vague :-\ I'd love a system, where someone could run through (and pay for) a higher classification for her/his car and him/herself to get authorization to drive, say 40% above speed limit, or something... But this is far too offtopic. \
My uncle lives in Montana. this is how it was explained to me. Montana didnt have a speed limit, at all, but paid the "fines" (lack of federal money) to the gubmint for that privelege. As soon as it "got round" to the rest of the country, lots of people started showing up in Montana cause there was no speed limit. Lots of people started doing 90 through towns, hitting moose, and generally causing huge amounts of trouble (and accidents) they never had before with "the locals". So the speed limit was changed.
Maeryk
(which goes to show you, people will be idiots, at least some of the people, all of the time)
A better summation is would be: when we feel the law is unjust, we commit acts of civil disobedience.
So you are comparing ripping a movie or d/ling a film on Kazaa to Rosa Parks or the peace marches?
I disagree.. i think "civil disobedience" is an open, loud and in order to change something.
I think breaking the DMCA, in a number of forms (other than fair use) is theivery.
Civil Disobediance, (and this is IMHO only) is when you are doing it to make a point.. not doing it cause you can.
maeryk
Some of us would like to be able to play DVDs on Linux legally. Thats fair use last time I checked.
I thought there was a free, available, DVD player for linux now?
Maeryk
text follows:
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to terrorism; creating new provisions; and amending
section 19, chapter 666, Oregon Laws 2001.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. { + (1) A person commits the crime of terrorism if
the person knowingly plans, participates in or carries out any
act that is intended, by at least one of its participants, to
disrupt:
(a) The free and orderly assembly of the inhabitants of the
State of Oregon;
(b) Commerce or the transportation systems of the State of
Oregon; or
(c) The educational or governmental institutions of the State
of Oregon or its inhabitants.
(2) A person commits the crime of terrorism if the person
conspires to do any of the activities described in subsection (1)
of this section.
(3) A person may not be convicted of terrorism except upon the
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or upon
confession in open court.
(4)(a) A person convicted of terrorism shall be punished by
imprisonment for life.
(b) When a person is convicted of terrorism under this section,
the court shall order that the person be confined for a minimum
of 25 years without possibility of parole, release to post-prison
supervision, release on work release or any form of temporary
leave or employment at a forest or work camp.
Provision one PROTECTS your right to peacefully and freely assemble, not the other way around it.
I think there is a difference between conspiracy and planning. Besides it requires "overt action" and two witnesses thereof. I doubt "planning" in your head counts as overt action, by ANYONES judgement.
BTW: it doesnt mention "traffic" per se.. it mentions "commerce and transportation systems of the state" which means busses, trains, airplanes, etc.
And yes, I utterly agree with this. If you want to protest the war, do it in the park. If you do it across the highway while I am tryign to get home to pick my kid up from school, well, thats not peaceful assembly anymore, thats deathrace 2000, as far as I'm concerned.
Maeryk
What were you expecting? Lost your right to take walks after 10:00 PM, or use Linux as an operating system?
Yeah.. thats what I'm expecting. I keep hearing people crying a river about losing rights, and I have yet to see one that has been lost. If we are becoming increasingly right wing and fascist in this country, why arent the people parading around with pictures of Bush ne' hitler in protests being arrested, harassed?
What rights are going away? My right to threaten and harass someone in email? My right to send "anonymous" information? (Bear in mind.. I dont think you ever _did_ have the right to anonymity). People keep screaming about the Ashcroft assault on rights, but I see no-one bitching loudly about the rights assault on medical information. That was quietly slipped through.. and the "information" packets they send you are about as comprehensible as those stupid homeland security pages.
Traditionally, wisely, and conservatively, power has been balanced with accountability and/or transparency. Every official must be either accountable for thier actions. To ensure that an officials actions can be held accountable, they must be transparent to a third-party/public to prevent an official from concealing corruption.
And how has this changed? Can they suddenly bring me to trial, and provide a bunch of evidence against me without saying how or where they got it? Bear in mind.. right to search and seizure still doesnt mean that a judge is going to agree with them. The balance is still there, and that balance is the judge/jury. I dont fear being tried by a judge wearing black jackboots and a mask.
Maeryk