its not about wanting kids to have these things. its about who decides what is right and wrong in the world. and the ratings on video games are already in place and usually enforced by the respective rental agencies and stores. the ratings are voluntary and are used mostly effectivly without governmental intrusion. this is just another attempt by an attention whore to put the spotlight on himself AGAIN. the main problem with this is there is no bottom, nearly any game could be struck down because some nutjob housewife with nothing better to do wants to feel like she means something in the world and she has been "choosen by God" to defend the little whelps.
One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in this world are to be cured by legislation. - Thomas B. Reed (1886)
It is not the business of government to make men virtuous or religious, or to preserve the fool from the consequences of his own folly. Government should be repressive no further than is necessary to secure liberty by protecting the equal rights of each from aggression on the part of others, and the moment governmental prohibitions extend beyond this line they are in danger of defeating the very ends they are intended to serve. - Henry George
Each and every time someone says "there ought to be a law" they are saying that men with guns should enforce their will on innocent others. - Michael Barnett
they threw out the child porn stuff a few years ago because it was vague. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashcroft_v._Free_Sp eech_Coalition
the need to address an issue does not outweigh the responsiblity of those addressing it to do so in a lawful, proper, and meaningful way. fighting the supposed dangers is no excuse for laziness in crafting legislation. no one is forced to purchase violent video games, and those kids dont get money out of thin air. Down with the Nanny State! we need more laws making parents responsible for what they children consume and do. perhaps we would see a decline in the number of frivolous and costly lawsuits.
and your straw man argument to the knee-jerkers is amaturish and demonstrates your lack of comprehension of the larger issues. no one is advocating selling hardcore porn to minors (hot coffee mod notwithstanding). and obscentity laws are mostly crap anyway, the outdated legacy of by-gone eras and regressive thinking for the most part.
The nanny state only serves to further weaken the family unit by taking responsiblity from the parents. It doesnt matter how terrible the games are, it is the parent's sole responsiblity to raise the children, instilling in them the values that the parents see fit, and pay attention to what their children are doing. Each additional law and agency formed to raise people's children for them moves us closer to a McParent World, where corporations and government are the ones dictating the values and morals of the new generation. Grow a pair, step up to the plate and be a parent. If you're going to reproduce, be prepared for the consequences and STFU.
there is no standard, no definition, of what is offensive or objectionable. it leaves open wide interpretation and would open businesses to frivolous lawsuits based on someone's ill-informed position on a game. "oh well, I find that Mario portrays violent acts of an offensive nature"
besides, I'm sure the NSA and the CIA are on top of any potential abuses of the system, because god knows we don't want prices remarked and security compromised. perhaps everyone should have a RFID-monitoring RFID chip installed to ensure 'Merica's success over the turrists!
here's a copy of the email I have sent to the district, unfortunately I didnt have Dr. Harper's direct email:
To Dr. Harper and whom it may concern:
Given the current state of affairs in our country today, it is sad to see another example of government snooping and meddling in the personal lives of citizens. Now I will admit, I do not have all the facts when it comes to the matter of the student in question, but given the fact that there is no criminal investigation, it is somewhat concerning. Your post on the subject is equally concerning. " The district respects the First Amendment rights of our students, but not all words can be categorized as protected speech." Who makes this call? Who are you, Dr. Harper and Co., to determine what is and what is not free speech? And the otherwise vague excuse "Students can be disciplined for online postings if the message creates a disruption to the school environment" does nothing to clarify what constitutes an offense. And how is it a disruption? If this was a flyer passed out during school, perhaps it would be disrupting. If it was a threat, that would be disrupting. But this was a post on a public forum, created during non-school hours on non-school property (since apparently most of the social websites are blocked on school system computers). I, like many modern Americans, would care to know where your jurisdiction is in this case? And if the post resides on a computer halfway around the world, it becomes more difficult to support your posistion. If someone had not brought your attention to this specific case it would have gone unnoticed and unheeded, just like the other millions of blogs and email exchanged by young people across the world daily. What message are we sending to them? That the government is watching them? But I guess we can't avoid that reality these days. But I ask if we really want to continue down this road, because where it might lead could be far worse than any "disruption" or harm that the original offense could ever muster.
It's a damn service! Not a commodity! If they want more money maybe they should have something worth paying for. We already pay more to "drive faster" in each faster lane of the internet (dialup vs. broadband), now we have to pay more based on the type of car, type/number of passengers, and the destination too? What's next? Higher prices for Jews? Separate lanes for black people? All they remember is the days of charging you based on each phone call you made. How much longer till we see a pay-per-packet scheme? "Ya know, that's a nice packet right there. It'd be a shame if it were to not make it to its destination. Capice? But for you maybe we can work something out, some insurance to make sure it gets there A-OK."</italian accent>
the very nature of the sheeple, which would normally just accept such "improvements" as "easy" or "secure", will allow anti-RFIDers to campaign against them using "the Mark of the Beast". There are plenty of fundies and moderately religious people who would voice an opinion against RFID simply to avoid any possible MOTB scenarios. I personally find such sheepishness to be both grotesquely facinating and discusting, but I'll take whatever weapons I can get. Remember, just ask these people if they would mind wearing a combo mic/video/gps ankle bracelet whereever they go and see what they say. And if any moron gives you the "well I have nothing to hide, good people shouldn't be afraid if they have nothing to hide", they probably deserve a beating. They are a threat to you, your descendants, and the true freedom of mankind.
A few weeks ago I had symptoms that are an exact match to Mumps (swollen throat, muscle pain, sensitivity to citrus) and I live in Alabama. The virus has spread this far, one can only assume it will continue to spread throughout the world as people continue to travel. So don't act surprized, they told us it would happen and so it has. We will never be able to be rid of some diseases until we have a working knowledge of exactly how they work. That's why things like genetic sequencing, stem cell research, advanced mathematics, and massive cluster computing will be important for our future. It's sad that America is continually reported to have a "brain drain" going on. For people who went to the moon, developed computers and the internet, and have built up one of the most powerful nations to have ever existed we sure seem to have a real problem maintaining our edge. Methinks perhaps all the extra fat America has accumulated might have gone to our heads.
dont forget the Google PC rumors with Walmart, I'm willing to bet that this will happen or something close to it and what we will see is a computer that boots in less than 30sec (a very stripped down and fast linux distro, perhaps on CF or equivalent) and then jumps onto a highspeed net connection to get on the Google network for software and files. Expect to pay less than $200 for this if they do it, because that will be the way to bring down The Beast.
I've said it before and I'll continue to say it, Google has BIG plans that everyone is not piecing together. Long story short, I expect to see Google linux sometime within two years (I'd wager this year). This distro will be intimately linked with the online side of Google for storage and software. This will mean that you can go from your PC at home to any webbrowser on the face of the planet and have all of your information as it would be on your own desktop. ALSO, there's a possiblity of seeing something like Sun has where you can have a desktop open with programs, web pages, and files and then go to another PC and have the same desktop open from either a webbrowser or a future version of Google desktop. What do you think all those mobile computing boxes and dark fiber are for? It's all to make Google local to everyone and very very fast. Wait and see.
And the hydrogen economy is a joke, it sounds great on paper until you realize that fuel cells (the most talked about component of the hydrogen economy) use raw materials that are more rare than oil (platinum). I might see hydrogen burning, a la RX-8, as a possiblity but that just seems wasteful when you consider that you have to produce hydrogen AND store it, neither of which is easy or efficient. Continuing to use "oil based" technology but using bio-fuel instead makes much more sense in both the short and long terms assuming increased production and efficiency in that technology (which is happening more and more).
Based on the information I've researched on the subject of alternative energy it becomes readily apparent that there is no silver bullet solution to oil. The available alternatives are all useful and should be developed but no single one of them can replace oil. It becomes more reasonable to start talking about solar and wind generation as a source of primary electricity which can be used for many things including production of synthetic fuel in the forms of biodiesel, ethanol, and as primary energy for thermal depolymerization, each of which would allow us to keep our current infrastructure while changing the source. A particular advantage of TDP is production of crude oil which can be used for all those nifty oil based products like plastic (and yes I know that they discuss plastic as the most effecient feed source for TDP, I refer to using organic feedsource). Also, solar and wind technologies (which is "free", discounting initial contruction costs and maintenece) can be used to generate the energy necessary to extract the less viable oils such as oil shale, tar sands, and some of the more energy intense forms of oil field extraction. And as we go alone we can start shifting to a more electricity based society for our transportation and production needs, i.e. electric cars and plants powered by electricity. A particularly important part of this will be transportation of this energy generated. As it stands at the moment long distance transmission of electricity results in huge losses to heat from the resistance in the lines. A solution to this would be a national network of superconducting transmission lines (similar in topography to the internet backbone) which would allow production of electricity anywhere without huge losses getting that energy back to civilization. These transmission lines are already in production and have been used on a limited scale in industrial applications, further development would allow us to lower cost and improve performance of them. Such a plan would eliminate problems of NIMBYism as you could place offensive and unsightly power plants in the middle of nowhere where nobody cares about what it looks/smells like. I would suggest vast solar generation in the Southwest, vast wind generation in the Rockies and Appalachians, and wave/tidal generation along the uninhabited areas of the coast. All of these technologies have had huge gains in efficiency and pricing as the demand for them has increased. Europe is leading the way in alternative energy with Germany recently installing wind turbines that are far more efficient than previous designs (and boy are they HUGE). And all the people that have talked about a changeover in terms of the Manhattan Project or the Apollo Missions is absolutely correct. If you consider that a few billion dollars carefully utilized to setup such a system is trivial to the HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS we've spent other countries (which happen to be major oil production nations) you begin to understand that the mouths will always be where the money is. But I contend that building such a system would benefit our enconomy far more than any other solution. It would be similar to the New Deal during the Depression, thousands of jobs would be created both during construction and the maintence afterwards. The Bush administration loves to talk about "national security" but true national security would be being free from extranational influence on the American way of life. Imagine an America where we are completely self-sufficient, all energy, raw materials, and consumable goods produced within our own borders. That sounds like national security to me.
"Mike Barnard conceded that preventing distribution was not conclusive and the only foolproof method of stopping people downloading banned content was if they *CHOSE* not to." (emphasis mine) And that is exactly as it should be. People should be responsible for the content they consume and for their children's consumption. If you can't control what your children play then perhaps you should have kept your legs closed. Down with the Nanny State!
"In the case of the US I'm sure they have the space but it's a long way from where the power is needed and therefore transmission losses are going to be huge." One word: superconductors. It has huge capacity, can be laid underground, and would allow power generation in the most remote areas that won't be an eyesore or danger to the major population centers. I will be the first to admit it would be neither cheap nor easy to build the infrastructure, but once in place the energy savings would be huge with the added benefit of being able to reroute large amounts of power on demand anywhere in the nation. Also, with some of the most recent advances in superconductors it's getting cheaper by the day. Also we have another advantage in already having the Interstate highway system here in the US, it's alot of empty space (grassy areas) that can be utilized for biofuel. (additional info) The US has the technology, we can make it better, stronger, and faster. Why we're spending billions, perhaps trillions!, in an area of the world that has nothing but disaffected and occationally fanatical peoples, few natural resources other than oil, and large areas of near-uselessness is both telling and disturbing. I think that the time has come for nations to move back to a policy of non-interventionism. This was favored by most of the early presidents of the US, advising that we be friendly and helpful but keep our noses where they belong, on our faces. Nowhere does this feel more appropriate than in the area of energy production. Having the energy to run the nation is of critical importance to both national security and civil wellbeing. If we continue to rely on a source of energy that is increasingly controlled by fewer and fewer hands in areas of the world that are antagonistic to the rest, and frequently hostile, we will only set ourselves up for conflict and eventual failure. To not recognize that a large majority of human woes and shortcomings stem directly from a need to have energy to do productive work is foolish at worst, naive at best. Why are people poor? Because they don't have access to cheap energy. Cheap energy to build inexpensive infrastructure. Cheap energy to transport durable, inexpensive goods. Cheap energy to extract and process raw materials efficiently. Cheap energy to do work easier, faster, and better. The technological world society we've built was made possible due to ever cheaper forms of energy. First wood, then coal, now oil. Each of these in turn had both benefits and shortcomings for the time period(the social), the need(the logistical), and the location of these resources(the geopolitical). Each in turn has been, or will be, passed over for the next good source. Oil's run is nearing its last leg, who takes the baton next?
"That's the top end of the range IBM forecast and more than twice the previous Blue Gene/L record of 136.8 teraflops, set when only half the machine was installed." Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this statement a little obvious?
First of all, whoever has power will NOT relinquish it.(read some Machiavelli people, really) It's a fact of the matter that the system works now but only because caring and dedicated geeks around the world have colaborated in a true global and human fashion to make it worth having. Whenever we see corporations and governments encroaching upon the liberty and de facto standards of behavior in regards to the internet there is an outcry from the internet community and people mobilize to fix, change, or augment that intrusion on them. And yes I say them, because at its heart the internet is way for every human being to connect and communicate individually with each other, but also to group similarly minded individuals into a larger force of epic proportions. This is why the governments argue over the internet. To control the flow of information is to control the modern world. It is foolish to say that whatever control governments have now or wish to have in the near future would allow anything close to 1984 (i.e. direct manipulation of history, philosophy, and thought) but the more "oversight" is allowed the more they can use this power to "nudge" information and trends in the direction they see fit. The reason the internet stands as our greatest accomplishment is the fact that it is free, uncensored(mostly), and allows people to share themselves in ways our grandparents and maybe even our parents could never have imagined in their youthful heydays.
Imagine for a moment, oh Slashdot reader, if there was no Slashdot. No Ebay, no forums, no email, no net porn;) There is no way for you to communicate with people on a global or even a regional scale. Your circle of knowledge and influence would almost extend as far as you could yell. But fortunately for us, smart and gregarious(find the joke...;) ) people had the idea to connect the world and SHARE ideas and information. FREEDOM - the underlying motivation and intent of the internet. The best way to explain why allowing more "oversight" and "management" will ruin what we have built is the old adage about too many hands in the pot. Fragmenting the control and governance of the internet will only lead to subjugation. Now someone will want to pop me accusing me that I'm saying that handing the net over the Euros will destroy it all. That is NOT what I am saying. We would be handing control to a group that is not *US* (the universal we, the thinkers, the geeks, independant of country of origin and united by true principles of good human interaction) The politicians have an agenda, make no mistake about it. And to answer the charge that I make the case for the American government to continue where it is because "I'm American and we're God's people"; I say that is also NOT my intent. The reason our system works now is *because* it is globally controlled. If you consider how the management of the internet is done now you begin to understand that the American government cannot impose its will and directive on the internet because excepting things like criminal activity, they CAN NOT shut down, alter, change, interfere, and fuck with the internet WITHOUT DESTROYING WHAT IT IS. The internet has become a form of life unto itself. An idea as literally spawned into a reality in such a way to be almost limitless in its potential to raise the human understanding to a level that we could never truely come to by ourselves. The idea that we are truely *WE*, humans, homo sapiens...not americans, or europeans, or arabs, or africans, or asians. People united by ideaology instead of blood, country, or ethicity. We have finally leveled the playing field to the place where it always should have been, the mind. Humans are humans because we think. Good humans are good because they regard the thoughts and concerns of other humans as sacred and valuable, an insight into others is an insight into yourself. And look what we have done, my geek brothers and sisters(few as you are, to my sadness;) represent ladies!). BBS, forums, blogs, livejou
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its not about wanting kids to have these things. its about who decides what is right and wrong in the world. and the ratings on video games are already in place and usually enforced by the respective rental agencies and stores. the ratings are voluntary and are used mostly effectivly without governmental intrusion. this is just another attempt by an attention whore to put the spotlight on himself AGAIN. the main problem with this is there is no bottom, nearly any game could be struck down because some nutjob housewife with nothing better to do wants to feel like she means something in the world and she has been "choosen by God" to defend the little whelps.
One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in this world are to be cured by legislation. - Thomas B. Reed (1886)
It is not the business of government to make men virtuous or religious, or to preserve the fool from the consequences of his own folly. Government should be repressive no further than is necessary to secure liberty by protecting the equal rights of each from aggression on the part of others, and the moment governmental prohibitions extend beyond this line they are in danger of defeating the very ends they are intended to serve. - Henry George
Each and every time someone says "there ought to be a law" they are saying that men with guns should enforce their will on innocent others. - Michael Barnett
they threw out the child porn stuff a few years ago because it was vague.p eech_Coalition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashcroft_v._Free_S
the need to address an issue does not outweigh the responsiblity of those addressing it to do so in a lawful, proper, and meaningful way. fighting the supposed dangers is no excuse for laziness in crafting legislation. no one is forced to purchase violent video games, and those kids dont get money out of thin air. Down with the Nanny State! we need more laws making parents responsible for what they children consume and do. perhaps we would see a decline in the number of frivolous and costly lawsuits.
and your straw man argument to the knee-jerkers is amaturish and demonstrates your lack of comprehension of the larger issues. no one is advocating selling hardcore porn to minors (hot coffee mod notwithstanding). and obscentity laws are mostly crap anyway, the outdated legacy of by-gone eras and regressive thinking for the most part.
The nanny state only serves to further weaken the family unit by taking responsiblity from the parents. It doesnt matter how terrible the games are, it is the parent's sole responsiblity to raise the children, instilling in them the values that the parents see fit, and pay attention to what their children are doing. Each additional law and agency formed to raise people's children for them moves us closer to a McParent World, where corporations and government are the ones dictating the values and morals of the new generation. Grow a pair, step up to the plate and be a parent. If you're going to reproduce, be prepared for the consequences and STFU.
there is no standard, no definition, of what is offensive or objectionable. it leaves open wide interpretation and would open businesses to frivolous lawsuits based on someone's ill-informed position on a game. "oh well, I find that Mario portrays violent acts of an offensive nature"
besides, I'm sure the NSA and the CIA are on top of any potential abuses of the system, because god knows we don't want prices remarked and security compromised. perhaps everyone should have a RFID-monitoring RFID chip installed to ensure 'Merica's success over the turrists!
here's a copy of the email I have sent to the district, unfortunately I didnt have Dr. Harper's direct email:
To Dr. Harper and whom it may concern:
Given the current state of affairs in our country today, it is sad to see another example of government snooping and meddling in the personal lives of citizens. Now I will admit, I do not have all the facts when it comes to the matter of the student in question, but given the fact that there is no criminal investigation, it is somewhat concerning. Your post on the subject is equally concerning. " The district respects the First Amendment rights of our students, but not all words can be categorized as protected speech." Who makes this call? Who are you, Dr. Harper and Co., to determine what is and what is not free speech? And the otherwise vague excuse "Students can be disciplined for online postings if the message creates a disruption to the school environment" does nothing to clarify what constitutes an offense. And how is it a disruption? If this was a flyer passed out during school, perhaps it would be disrupting. If it was a threat, that would be disrupting. But this was a post on a public forum, created during non-school hours on non-school property (since apparently most of the social websites are blocked on school system computers). I, like many modern Americans, would care to know where your jurisdiction is in this case? And if the post resides on a computer halfway around the world, it becomes more difficult to support your posistion. If someone had not brought your attention to this specific case it would have gone unnoticed and unheeded, just like the other millions of blogs and email exchanged by young people across the world daily. What message are we sending to them? That the government is watching them? But I guess we can't avoid that reality these days. But I ask if we really want to continue down this road, because where it might lead could be far worse than any "disruption" or harm that the original offense could ever muster.
Sincerely, A Concerned American
It's a damn service! Not a commodity! If they want more money maybe they should have something worth paying for. We already pay more to "drive faster" in each faster lane of the internet (dialup vs. broadband), now we have to pay more based on the type of car, type/number of passengers, and the destination too? What's next? Higher prices for Jews? Separate lanes for black people? All they remember is the days of charging you based on each phone call you made. How much longer till we see a pay-per-packet scheme?
"Ya know, that's a nice packet right there. It'd be a shame if it were to not make it to its destination. Capice? But for you maybe we can work something out, some insurance to make sure it gets there A-OK."</italian accent>
that's just like the government to pass on an opportunity to *make* money doing what it does best. $9Trillion and counting....
David Yarnton was seen crying "Wii, wii, wii, wii" all the way back to the UK. Film at 11.
the very nature of the sheeple, which would normally just accept such "improvements" as "easy" or "secure", will allow anti-RFIDers to campaign against them using "the Mark of the Beast". There are plenty of fundies and moderately religious people who would voice an opinion against RFID simply to avoid any possible MOTB scenarios. I personally find such sheepishness to be both grotesquely facinating and discusting, but I'll take whatever weapons I can get. Remember, just ask these people if they would mind wearing a combo mic/video/gps ankle bracelet whereever they go and see what they say. And if any moron gives you the "well I have nothing to hide, good people shouldn't be afraid if they have nothing to hide", they probably deserve a beating. They are a threat to you, your descendants, and the true freedom of mankind.
Requirements for defeating retinal scans: one fountain pen. This proves it conclusivly. Hollywood NEVER lies.
A few weeks ago I had symptoms that are an exact match to Mumps (swollen throat, muscle pain, sensitivity to citrus) and I live in Alabama. The virus has spread this far, one can only assume it will continue to spread throughout the world as people continue to travel. So don't act surprized, they told us it would happen and so it has. We will never be able to be rid of some diseases until we have a working knowledge of exactly how they work. That's why things like genetic sequencing, stem cell research, advanced mathematics, and massive cluster computing will be important for our future. It's sad that America is continually reported to have a "brain drain" going on. For people who went to the moon, developed computers and the internet, and have built up one of the most powerful nations to have ever existed we sure seem to have a real problem maintaining our edge. Methinks perhaps all the extra fat America has accumulated might have gone to our heads.
now if they'll just actually release the game we might have something to really talk about...
dont forget the Google PC rumors with Walmart, I'm willing to bet that this will happen or something close to it and what we will see is a computer that boots in less than 30sec (a very stripped down and fast linux distro, perhaps on CF or equivalent) and then jumps onto a highspeed net connection to get on the Google network for software and files. Expect to pay less than $200 for this if they do it, because that will be the way to bring down The Beast.
I've said it before and I'll continue to say it, Google has BIG plans that everyone is not piecing together. Long story short, I expect to see Google linux sometime within two years (I'd wager this year). This distro will be intimately linked with the online side of Google for storage and software. This will mean that you can go from your PC at home to any webbrowser on the face of the planet and have all of your information as it would be on your own desktop. ALSO, there's a possiblity of seeing something like Sun has where you can have a desktop open with programs, web pages, and files and then go to another PC and have the same desktop open from either a webbrowser or a future version of Google desktop. What do you think all those mobile computing boxes and dark fiber are for? It's all to make Google local to everyone and very very fast. Wait and see.
And the hydrogen economy is a joke, it sounds great on paper until you realize that fuel cells (the most talked about component of the hydrogen economy) use raw materials that are more rare than oil (platinum). I might see hydrogen burning, a la RX-8, as a possiblity but that just seems wasteful when you consider that you have to produce hydrogen AND store it, neither of which is easy or efficient. Continuing to use "oil based" technology but using bio-fuel instead makes much more sense in both the short and long terms assuming increased production and efficiency in that technology (which is happening more and more).
Based on the information I've researched on the subject of alternative energy it becomes readily apparent that there is no silver bullet solution to oil. The available alternatives are all useful and should be developed but no single one of them can replace oil. It becomes more reasonable to start talking about solar and wind generation as a source of primary electricity which can be used for many things including production of synthetic fuel in the forms of biodiesel, ethanol, and as primary energy for thermal depolymerization, each of which would allow us to keep our current infrastructure while changing the source. A particular advantage of TDP is production of crude oil which can be used for all those nifty oil based products like plastic (and yes I know that they discuss plastic as the most effecient feed source for TDP, I refer to using organic feedsource). Also, solar and wind technologies (which is "free", discounting initial contruction costs and maintenece) can be used to generate the energy necessary to extract the less viable oils such as oil shale, tar sands, and some of the more energy intense forms of oil field extraction. And as we go alone we can start shifting to a more electricity based society for our transportation and production needs, i.e. electric cars and plants powered by electricity. A particularly important part of this will be transportation of this energy generated. As it stands at the moment long distance transmission of electricity results in huge losses to heat from the resistance in the lines. A solution to this would be a national network of superconducting transmission lines (similar in topography to the internet backbone) which would allow production of electricity anywhere without huge losses getting that energy back to civilization. These transmission lines are already in production and have been used on a limited scale in industrial applications, further development would allow us to lower cost and improve performance of them. Such a plan would eliminate problems of NIMBYism as you could place offensive and unsightly power plants in the middle of nowhere where nobody cares about what it looks/smells like. I would suggest vast solar generation in the Southwest, vast wind generation in the Rockies and Appalachians, and wave/tidal generation along the uninhabited areas of the coast. All of these technologies have had huge gains in efficiency and pricing as the demand for them has increased. Europe is leading the way in alternative energy with Germany recently installing wind turbines that are far more efficient than previous designs (and boy are they HUGE). And all the people that have talked about a changeover in terms of the Manhattan Project or the Apollo Missions is absolutely correct. If you consider that a few billion dollars carefully utilized to setup such a system is trivial to the HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS we've spent other countries (which happen to be major oil production nations) you begin to understand that the mouths will always be where the money is. But I contend that building such a system would benefit our enconomy far more than any other solution. It would be similar to the New Deal during the Depression, thousands of jobs would be created both during construction and the maintence afterwards. The Bush administration loves to talk about "national security" but true national security would be being free from extranational influence on the American way of life. Imagine an America where we are completely self-sufficient, all energy, raw materials, and consumable goods produced within our own borders. That sounds like national security to me.
"Mike Barnard conceded that preventing distribution was not conclusive and the only foolproof method of stopping people downloading banned content was if they *CHOSE* not to." (emphasis mine) And that is exactly as it should be. People should be responsible for the content they consume and for their children's consumption. If you can't control what your children play then perhaps you should have kept your legs closed. Down with the Nanny State!
"In the case of the US I'm sure they have the space but it's a long way from where the power is needed and therefore transmission losses are going to be huge." One word: superconductors. It has huge capacity, can be laid underground, and would allow power generation in the most remote areas that won't be an eyesore or danger to the major population centers. I will be the first to admit it would be neither cheap nor easy to build the infrastructure, but once in place the energy savings would be huge with the added benefit of being able to reroute large amounts of power on demand anywhere in the nation. Also, with some of the most recent advances in superconductors it's getting cheaper by the day. Also we have another advantage in already having the Interstate highway system here in the US, it's alot of empty space (grassy areas) that can be utilized for biofuel. (additional info) The US has the technology, we can make it better, stronger, and faster. Why we're spending billions, perhaps trillions!, in an area of the world that has nothing but disaffected and occationally fanatical peoples, few natural resources other than oil, and large areas of near-uselessness is both telling and disturbing. I think that the time has come for nations to move back to a policy of non-interventionism. This was favored by most of the early presidents of the US, advising that we be friendly and helpful but keep our noses where they belong, on our faces. Nowhere does this feel more appropriate than in the area of energy production. Having the energy to run the nation is of critical importance to both national security and civil wellbeing. If we continue to rely on a source of energy that is increasingly controlled by fewer and fewer hands in areas of the world that are antagonistic to the rest, and frequently hostile, we will only set ourselves up for conflict and eventual failure. To not recognize that a large majority of human woes and shortcomings stem directly from a need to have energy to do productive work is foolish at worst, naive at best. Why are people poor? Because they don't have access to cheap energy. Cheap energy to build inexpensive infrastructure. Cheap energy to transport durable, inexpensive goods. Cheap energy to extract and process raw materials efficiently. Cheap energy to do work easier, faster, and better. The technological world society we've built was made possible due to ever cheaper forms of energy. First wood, then coal, now oil. Each of these in turn had both benefits and shortcomings for the time period(the social), the need(the logistical), and the location of these resources(the geopolitical). Each in turn has been, or will be, passed over for the next good source. Oil's run is nearing its last leg, who takes the baton next?
"That's the top end of the range IBM forecast and more than twice the previous Blue Gene/L record of 136.8 teraflops, set when only half the machine was installed." Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this statement a little obvious?
First of all, whoever has power will NOT relinquish it.(read some Machiavelli people, really) It's a fact of the matter that the system works now but only because caring and dedicated geeks around the world have colaborated in a true global and human fashion to make it worth having. Whenever we see corporations and governments encroaching upon the liberty and de facto standards of behavior in regards to the internet there is an outcry from the internet community and people mobilize to fix, change, or augment that intrusion on them. And yes I say them, because at its heart the internet is way for every human being to connect and communicate individually with each other, but also to group similarly minded individuals into a larger force of epic proportions. This is why the governments argue over the internet. To control the flow of information is to control the modern world. It is foolish to say that whatever control governments have now or wish to have in the near future would allow anything close to 1984 (i.e. direct manipulation of history, philosophy, and thought) but the more "oversight" is allowed the more they can use this power to "nudge" information and trends in the direction they see fit. The reason the internet stands as our greatest accomplishment is the fact that it is free, uncensored(mostly), and allows people to share themselves in ways our grandparents and maybe even our parents could never have imagined in their youthful heydays.
;) There is no way for you to communicate with people on a global or even a regional scale. Your circle of knowledge and influence would almost extend as far as you could yell. But fortunately for us, smart and gregarious(find the joke... ;) ) people had the idea to connect the world and SHARE ideas and information. FREEDOM - the underlying motivation and intent of the internet. The best way to explain why allowing more "oversight" and "management" will ruin what we have built is the old adage about too many hands in the pot. Fragmenting the control and governance of the internet will only lead to subjugation. Now someone will want to pop me accusing me that I'm saying that handing the net over the Euros will destroy it all. That is NOT what I am saying. We would be handing control to a group that is not *US* (the universal we, the thinkers, the geeks, independant of country of origin and united by true principles of good human interaction) The politicians have an agenda, make no mistake about it. And to answer the charge that I make the case for the American government to continue where it is because "I'm American and we're God's people"; I say that is also NOT my intent. The reason our system works now is *because* it is globally controlled. If you consider how the management of the internet is done now you begin to understand that the American government cannot impose its will and directive on the internet because excepting things like criminal activity, they CAN NOT shut down, alter, change, interfere, and fuck with the internet WITHOUT DESTROYING WHAT IT IS. The internet has become a form of life unto itself. An idea as literally spawned into a reality in such a way to be almost limitless in its potential to raise the human understanding to a level that we could never truely come to by ourselves. The idea that we are truely *WE*, humans, homo sapiens...not americans, or europeans, or arabs, or africans, or asians. People united by ideaology instead of blood, country, or ethicity. We have finally leveled the playing field to the place where it always should have been, the mind. Humans are humans because we think. Good humans are good because they regard the thoughts and concerns of other humans as sacred and valuable, an insight into others is an insight into yourself. And look what we have done, my geek brothers and sisters(few as you are, to my sadness ;) represent ladies!). BBS, forums, blogs, livejou
Imagine for a moment, oh Slashdot reader, if there was no Slashdot. No Ebay, no forums, no email, no net porn