...the illusion that the U.S. would do something for the good of the world...
I respectfully submit that if you enjoy using Slashdot, you know of at least one thing the US already has done something for the good of the world.
Just curious, what country do you live in? I am an American who lives in Japan (disclosure). If you are an American who does not want to answer, I understand. Likewise, if you are not an American, and do not want to answer, I understand that too. Perhaps you live in China^H^H^H no your access would be censored. Perhaps you live in a middle-easte^H^H^H, or a central Am^H^H^H.
No, you are probably an American. Put your 455 where your mouth is--join the Peace Corps. Or the Marine Corps. But by all means, please "do something for the good of the world".
I don't really care who controls the root servers, as long as they are all reliable and situated sufficiently far apart that they are not affected by geographical problems.
Or by the effects of NUCLEAR WEAPONS, which in fact, the US Department of Defense designed the system for. When R1ch4rd St4l1man quips "The Internet perceives censorship as damage and routes around it", he is riffing on the system's remarkable ability to fix itself after whole cities get blasted to, well, bits.
Who on earth called this "insightful"? I know, Slashdot doesn't have "kneejerk windbag" modifier, but "insightful" is hardly an appropriate substitute.
Hey, you forgot to say "Halliburton". And "black helicopter". And "Gore really won, and so did Kerry". American or European Left (or "Social Libertarian" as you please), you're not hard to pick out with your poor argument and large following.
And before I get modded "Troll" or something like that, please consider this: the parent was modded "insightful" while using the phrase "dick waving". How much insight was required? Did anybody look at that post and say to themselves "well *that* was something I never knew"? So if I sound a bit agitated, well, I am. Gosh, have a nice day.
Looks like they (you know,/they/) lopped off the top of the pic for some reason (aspect ratio on field awfully wide). Well, I guess I should call you a pedant, but perhaps "attention to detail" is a better descriptor. Watch us get pegged.
Look at this in terms of China's bid to pwned Unocal. (CNOOC is *not* a company, it is a corporate-smelling arm of the Chinese government). Energy is a strategic asset. Now look at all of the credit card information stolen/lost/inappropriately xferred lately. Information is a strategic asset.
Xferring control of Root DNS servers does not necessarily lead to compromise/abuse any more than leaving your credit card lying in a bus station will necessarily lead to your account being, er, misused. Similarly, retaining control does not guarantee security, but why screw with it? Who should take up this burden--the Oil-for-food-United-Nations?
The fact is, the US created the internetworking protocols, and laid the early hardware. Much of the structure is US assets, which the whole rest of the world is free to use.
I, for one, welcome the same old overlords whom at least we [sorry y'all] can vote on. What will you do when CHINA wants to throw a "broadcast flag"-level wrench into things?
Think of it this way: The business world is tired of paying for IT types in one ivory tower and management types in another. Imagine if nearly everybody you work with could do their own analysis. Jeez, we won't require them to be able to ping a server and report the results (I mean, let's not get carried away!), we just want them to be able to use a spreadsheet for more than making right angles for word documents. And when somebody says "Sure, I have that all in a database!", let's actually see a database, or at least a quasi-normalized spreadsheet.
I could go on, but I have already trimmed this for length a few times. Imagine if peoples' "computer literacy" included comprehension of file formats (just the highlights), a slew of handy excel formulas (yes, it's no OpenOffice, but what is?), and the ability to troubleshoot connectivity problems and application errors at least enough to eliminate the first five minutes of your typical support call.
Imagine if the people who make decisions (and I'm talking things like "how many of those items should I order for next week based on experience plus my hunch factor," not "Should we acquire that other corporation?"), just imagine if the people who make all the little decision everyday had the knowledge and the skills to do their own analysis. Imagine!
Before you accuse me of sounding like John Lennon painting my utopian vision, keep this in mind; it WILL happen after you and I lose our jobs, and companies finally decide it's cheaper to cross-train a manager they already have than it is to keep you or me around.
NOTE TO SELF: Look into a job in IT TRAINING FOR MANAGERS.
p.s. If you think I'm exaggerating, you must work in a real geek-filled office. I envy you.
Slashdot Mirror
Just curious, what country do you live in? I am an American who lives in Japan (disclosure). If you are an American who does not want to answer, I understand. Likewise, if you are not an American, and do not want to answer, I understand that too. Perhaps you live in China^H^H^H no your access would be censored. Perhaps you live in a middle-easte^H^H^H, or a central Am^H^H^H.
No, you are probably an American. Put your 455 where your mouth is--join the Peace Corps. Or the Marine Corps. But by all means, please "do something for the good of the world".
Ahem.
Who on earth called this "insightful"? I know, Slashdot doesn't have "kneejerk windbag" modifier, but "insightful" is hardly an appropriate substitute.
Hey, you forgot to say "Halliburton". And "black helicopter". And "Gore really won, and so did Kerry". American or European Left (or "Social Libertarian" as you please), you're not hard to pick out with your poor argument and large following.
And before I get modded "Troll" or something like that, please consider this: the parent was modded "insightful" while using the phrase "dick waving". How much insight was required? Did anybody look at that post and say to themselves "well *that* was something I never knew"? So if I sound a bit agitated, well, I am. Gosh, have a nice day.
Looks like they (you know, /they/) lopped off the top of the pic for some reason (aspect ratio on field awfully wide). Well, I guess I should call you a pedant, but perhaps "attention to detail" is a better descriptor. Watch us get pegged.
Look at this in terms of China's bid to pwned Unocal. (CNOOC is *not* a company, it is a corporate-smelling arm of the Chinese government). Energy is a strategic asset. Now look at all of the credit card information stolen/lost/inappropriately xferred lately. Information is a strategic asset.
Xferring control of Root DNS servers does not necessarily lead to compromise/abuse any more than leaving your credit card lying in a bus station will necessarily lead to your account being, er, misused. Similarly, retaining control does not guarantee security, but why screw with it? Who should take up this burden--the Oil-for-food-United-Nations?
The fact is, the US created the internetworking protocols, and laid the early hardware. Much of the structure is US assets, which the whole rest of the world is free to use.
I, for one, welcome the same old overlords whom at least we [sorry y'all] can vote on. What will you do when CHINA wants to throw a "broadcast flag"-level wrench into things?
Think of it this way: The business world is tired of paying for IT types in one ivory tower and management types in another. Imagine if nearly everybody you work with could do their own analysis. Jeez, we won't require them to be able to ping a server and report the results (I mean, let's not get carried away!), we just want them to be able to use a spreadsheet for more than making right angles for word documents. And when somebody says "Sure, I have that all in a database!", let's actually see a database, or at least a quasi-normalized spreadsheet.
I could go on, but I have already trimmed this for length a few times. Imagine if peoples' "computer literacy" included comprehension of file formats (just the highlights), a slew of handy excel formulas (yes, it's no OpenOffice, but what is?), and the ability to troubleshoot connectivity problems and application errors at least enough to eliminate the first five minutes of your typical support call.
Imagine if the people who make decisions (and I'm talking things like "how many of those items should I order for next week based on experience plus my hunch factor," not "Should we acquire that other corporation?"), just imagine if the people who make all the little decision everyday had the knowledge and the skills to do their own analysis. Imagine!
Before you accuse me of sounding like John Lennon painting my utopian vision, keep this in mind; it WILL happen after you and I lose our jobs, and companies finally decide it's cheaper to cross-train a manager they already have than it is to keep you or me around.
NOTE TO SELF: Look into a job in IT TRAINING FOR MANAGERS.
p.s. If you think I'm exaggerating, you must work in a real geek-filled office. I envy you.