Given the nature of the pragmatist we all [know|don't know] and [love|feel neutrally about|hate], I wouldn't be surprised to see a comment along these lines [e.g. perhaps with the insult to the intelligence of the poster removed, and with a slight rearrangement of words =) ] come from his general direction.
Well, the Sun GNOME usability study that this post is satirizing sure demonstrates one thing: Sun usability engineers need to get out more. =)
[...] Perhaps people are more accustomed to a literal hardware icon used to represent their home directory. For example, the Macintosh has an image of a hard drive and Windows has an image of a computer.
I mean, come on! How is a UNIX home directory akin to "My Computer"? If so, what is the user's personal "My Documents" folder for if not for holding documents? =) [Unless... But, you expect me to believe that there are people at Sun who don't know what a UNIX home directory is for, do you?!]
It moves the old/boot/vmlinuz before putting the new one in... Thus you can configure an "Old" boot selection which points to the old kernel to be used in case something goes wrong. (However, be careful not to accidentally cycle your only working kernel out of "Old" and into oblivion...)
You shouldn't need to manually run lilo, assuming that you're makeing the fairly-well-crafted install target, and have your lilo.conf set to use/boot/vmlinuz as your kernel...
(e.g. I usually just do a quick "make oldconfig all modules install modules_install && reboot" and walk away from the system for a while.)
Windows has had this option (to intercept CD Audio control commands, and play digital audio aquired using raw reads through a sound card) since Win 2K, perhaps earlier. OS/2 has had a similar option as far back as 10 years ago. However, since a thin minority of drive manufacturers refuse to enable raw reads on their drives (because of pressure by copyright holders), this defaults to off -- rationale: it will work on the widest range of machines. In any case, you've always been able to do this under Windows using CD player software that extracts the audio directly instead of using CD Audio control commands (e.g. the winamp cdda plugin).
Of course, if the copy protection involves inserting data corruption beyond what ECC can repair, it will cause similar amounts of problems for anything doing raw reads, whether it's running on a Mac or a PC. (So, I don't see why a regular CD player would read it correctly... but that's another matter).
However, you might have more luck if your CD-ROM drive was actually playing the audio -- and thus decoding the ECC, perhaps correctly -- and had an S/PDIF digital out connected to an S/PDIF digital in on your logic board (term preferred by mac users, interpreted roughly to mean "motherboard" in standard jargon) or third-party sound hardware, thus doing a digital-to-digital copy. The majority of newer desktop PCs (~ last two or three years) have CD-ROM drives and sound hardware with the appropriate connections.
Apple is now an old hand in the world of IDE and PCI devices and uses commodity CD-ROM and sound chipset hardware (rebranded, of course) just like everyone else; I wouldn't be suprised to find that they've gone this route as well.
I'll agree that Intel's strategy of going after clock cycles above all else is tragic. Similarly, A/I/M is chasing after that integer peformance with great ferocity; their claims that their systems are fastest (which they properly scratch down to only an integer benchmark in the fine-print disclaimer, of course) depend on it.
Now, if only I could buy a G4-based system from someone other than Apple, who presumes -- apparently with moderate accuracy -- that nifty translucent plastic will make the phrases "price/performance ratio" and "real-world application" disappear from consumers' heads... =)
Is there someone out there selling G4 motherboards with standard form factors and accessory support at a competitive price point? Otherwise, there's no basis for comparison.
"Since the GPL claims that work that is commonly distributed as an organic whole constitutes a derivative of any packages that make up the whole, that appears to be a GPL violation;"
I'm not quite sure what you're talking about.
The GPL alludes to the title 17 "derivative work", which isn't defined very well. (It makes sense that the GPL avoids fiddling with broader sets of works, given how the GPL is supposed to function... Remember, a user can always not agree to the GPL.)
As many other people here mention, in dynamic linking, the libraries are never really combined with the calling procedure. Some argue that this doesn't matter; that the library's interfaces are subject to copyright law, and can be the parents of derivative works, dragging the GPL into the fray -- and thus negating all existance. But, current US copyright law has a bunch of exceptions for such things as automated recompiling and modification of interfaces when these are done to allow interoperability.
Given the state of the US judiciary, it will be a barrel of laughs if this case ever lands.
Indeed. ISPs using MAPS/RBL and claiming otherwise are a different matter. But, there are a significant number of organisations who are a) using MAPS/RBL, b) do not claim otherwise, but c) are confused about what a node/subnet needs to have done to get on the RBL.
[Of course, the appropriate punishment for your participation in a conspiracy in restraint of trade (against, for example, mailing-list software -- which MAPS has been known to block entire ISP subnets for hosting) is a matter for the appropriate judicial entity to decide.]
Try asking MAPS PR point blank whether they block sites for a) hosting mass-mailing capable mail software or running b) opt-in (canonical definition -- that is, subscription without confirmation e-mail -- and/or double confirmation) mailing lists... Their answers sometimes differ from recorded history, any often vary on different days of the week.
And, pray tell, where in the atheist book of un-holy scripture does it say "Thou shalt not broadcast non-religion-neutral prose on the electro-magnetic spectrum"? Oh, wait... There isn't one. Sorry. =)
If I had a nickel for every anarchist who
I've heard make similar predictions more than five years ago, I wouldn't be sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin. But, I don't, and I am. =)
>"Macintosh" files saved on an NTFS volume will retain their resourse forks, whereas if they're saved on a FAT16/32 volume the resource forks will be lost.
Sorry, no; better luck next time. The resource fork integrity depends wholly on how you're getting the split-format files to and from the volume -- most available mac-compatible file sharing software will put dual-fork files on single-fork filesystems without complaint.
Generally you should stick to file-sharing software that stores files using macbinary or binhex formats, or that uses secondary (usually hidden) resource fork files (this is how Apple's PC Exchange stores them on FAT ["DOS-format"] disks).
>FYI, resource forks on Mac are "kind of" the Mac equivalent of the three character extension on DOS files. They're used to tell the OS what kind of file it is, what application can be used to run it, etc.
Heh. Sadly, this explanation has all the in-depth technical knowledge that is typical of Mac users everywhere. =)
For you innocent Mac users who don't know what I'm getting at:
I'm far likely to get this definition --
"The gasoline combustion engine is a noise-making device, installed in cars primarily to signal to any blind pedestrians who may be trying to cross the road up ahead that it might be a bad idea to do so right now."
-- from a blind non-mechanic pedestrian than from anyone else. If you think about it, from the point of view of our theoretical blind non-mechanic pedestrian (whom we will call Theo for short), this definition might be essentially complete.
Now, imagine that Theo decides to acquire an Apple iCar(tm), a miraculous conveyance that can drive from point A to any other point with only a single voice command from the owner, and is available in any colour of the (fluorescent plastic) rainbow...
You're missing the point. Whether or not MS makes all the games for the X-box or drags licensing fees out of third parties is irrelevant; if not enough games are sold, MS won't make its negative console margin back.
Yes, Microsoft is implementing some kind of scheme for programs to isolate their output to properly signed drivers only, to avoid letting those precious Britney Spears recordings be fed to those omnivorous disk writer drivers. But I really doubt that they'd try anything more than that, as even this limited measure qualifies as a conspiracy in restraint of trade against driver manufacturers, and they're currently in danger of being stomped by the DOJ. (Although, apparently not if Q -- fnord -- W has anything to say about it.)
Now, how do they plan to prevent the cracking community from swapping their own signing certificates for the ones being used in the signature checks, and then continuing as usual? Another layer of signing certificates? =)
Some ineffectual encryption scheme? (More Xing software, anyone?) Some new undocumented processor feature that Intel and AMD have been conspiring about? (That will be the day I buy my first Mac)
The number of females in a species has a more direct relationship to its growth rate than the number of males does. I shouldn't need to explain why. =)
Retuning your argument to take genetic diversity into account might fix it, though...
their software distrubution model is getting less and less in line with traditional copyright law (+ insane magically-binding you-never-agreed-to-them licenses), and more and more compatible with the street performer protocol.
A link to an ignored author (John Markoff) provided by an ignored editor (timothy). Yet the content is marginally interesting. Yet another block up for reconsideration...
I took a look at a few of these pictures, (just the first two pages), and to be honest, I see a bunch of people smiling not doing anything.
Not one to let the quality of this post not slip early, the poster has to cram a contradiction into the first sentence for us.
In fact I feel that for the bulk of the people in these pictures, Purdue is commiting (sic) defimation (sic) of chericter (sic) -- is this person's "a" key malfunctioning or something? -- by labeling them rioters. The only thing there (sic) "guilty" of is not leaving the area when the police told them too. (sic) That is not rioting. Correct. Not moving when asked to by a police officer is not rioting. However, participating in the festivities is rioting. I'm even pretty sure it's not illigal (sic) to stand in a public roadway or park. Not on its own...
The thing that really upsets me is that little quote, "We anticipate the images also will be of interest to parents and employers." That is awful. And I feel that it probably accounts -- I'll assume you mean "amounts", as "accounts" doesn't make any sense in this context -- to blackmail.
Huh? How is it blackmail? Are you suggesting that the police asked them for money in exchange for not posting the pictures before posting them? Do you have any evidence to support this claim? (Or do you just not know what "blackmail" means? After all, evidence suggests that you don't own a dictionary. =)
It might as well say, "Students, if you
join in a celebration, -- in other words, if you riot, -- or wander outside to see whats (sic) going on, we'll blacklist you."
What is important to do now is for every single person who went to, or worked for Purdue, to send a polite e-mail to
them, and tell them its (sic) despicable. I don't see how sending a bunch of self-referencing hate mail about Purdue would be useful. But you might want to complain about this incident in particular.
Personally, I'm ashamed to have ever gone to Purdue. Is it safe to assume that you are currently frosh or have never graduated? Or are the English requirements really that low at Purdue? =)
Robert Watson mentioned, in a slashdot interview posted almost three months ago, that much of the SELinux development was being done by NAI labs, under contract. Is it safe to assume that your tagline was meant in sarcasm, Jamie? =) How is this news, BTW?
If it looks like profits may (*shudder*) decrease - then the pricks go into 'crisis mode' and start layoffs.
[tongue in cheek]: If it looks like unemployment may (*shudder*) increase - then the pricks go into 'crisis mode' and start FUD. And damn those little old ladies on fixed incomes to hell!
Oooh. Negative feedback. What a concept. When the demand drops into the floor, lower production. Grow something else for a while. Live to raise production another day.
Because the Deep Pockets on wallstreet need Big
Profit Now(TM) - and they dont care otherwise... if they loose confidence in XYZ stock because this quarter is bad -
they sell - if they sell, then the CEO and the top 400 people in a Fortune 500 company loose big dollars on their
stock options... so they are VERY motivated to make every quarter better than the next... "the future" be damned,
[tic]: Oh, yeah. We, the public, don't want growth. We want low salaries as a sign of faith. =)
Hmm... If the development isn't sustainable, then obviously there's a problem. Duh.
these top '400' people will be rich beyond imagination before that ever matters...
[tic]: What the future where their stock options potentials have stopped rising, crashed into the floor, and are now negative? Oh yeah, there really rich now, as long as they like minuses.
Perhaps not beyond imagination... Yours (admittedly fairly active) seems up to the task. =)
the whole scheme is ready to eat
itself...
Yeah, if it's unsustainable.
current Capitalist Economics are about to reveal the failure in their basic logic...
[tic]: Wow! You heard it here first, folks. Unsustainable growth leads to nastiness... It's a revolutionary new economic theory!
Am I the only one on the planet who has taken a freakin' macro course? Jesus! Buy a good book on the subject or something.
That's what I was getting at. In Canada there has been less time for viable competition to emerge; telcos have better market positions. So, in their infinite(ly small) capitalist wisdom, they feel more confident about long-term equipment amortization. Thus, higher data rates, low prices.
>The reason you have good comm systems in Canada
>(regarded as the *best* phone system on the
>planet) is because we owned and regulated the
>infrastructure. Decisions were based on the needs
>of that infrastructure for the purpose of
>providing communications services - nothing else.
>Not marketing. Not 'Market Conditions'. Not
>'accounting'. Sure the system was tempered by a
>financial-check, but basically the system was
>built with one thing in mind, and that was
>designed by engineers; not F'ing MBAs.
Heh... Bell's bungling of 1mbit downstream DSL tarifs (and the related rollout of pppoe clients and access concentrators, apparently to vertically maximize their chunk of all such DSL service, which there are CRTC hearings scheduled about) suggest that the engineering-led development is long gone. =)
>When you open up and sell the networks to
>capitalists you will see that quarterly profits
>will make decisions on 'equipment purchasing
>decisions'. Listen to American's horror stories
>about *their* telephone systems and learn what
>the capitalists provide with regards to this
>essential public infrastructure.
I'm not going to get into an argument about what should be considered "essential". (But, hint: DSL isn't it. =)
>De-regulating Public Services and Infrastructure
>is the *worst* thing Canada has done to itself in
>the last 10 years. Its fucking sad that ottawa >has sold us out.
Okay... I have many examples on both sides of the coin.
>De-regulating Public Services and Infrastructure
>is the *worst* thing Canada has done to itself in
>the last 10 years.
I have many examples on both sides of the coin...
>Its fucking sad that ottawa has sold us out.
As I said.
>Capitalists should not be involved in providing
>Cable Television, [...]
What do you mean by "capitalists"? Does really matter, in the area of cable/satellite TV, for example, where services and prices are so highly regulated anyway? (And, for obvious reasons, they at least need to be involved. I want more than one channel, thank you. =)
>The whole idea is disgusting.
Ah, so you're dismissing it out of hand. You wouldn't happen to be a card carrying member of, say, the Marxist-Leninist Party? =)
>moral reality [?]
That's a new one... Perhaps you can try explaining what you are asking using expressions I can find in a dictionary.
>essential infrastrucutre
Again: Oh, no! I can't watch my Wheel of Fortune! I'm going to shrivel up and die! =) [Power, gas, and water seem a bit more essential].
>What is the benefit to citizens?
The usual. Incentive to improve service and lower costs leads to improved service and lower costs.
Slashdot Mirror
"popular"? The MP3 trading scene has been around for longer than four years....
Oh, yeah. You'll need to slip a "dep" in between that "oldconfig" and the "all".
Given the nature of the pragmatist we all [know|don't know] and [love|feel neutrally about|hate], I wouldn't be surprised to see a comment along these lines [e.g. perhaps with the insult to the intelligence of the poster removed, and with a slight rearrangement of words =) ] come from his general direction.
ROFL!!
Well, the Sun GNOME usability study that this post is satirizing sure demonstrates one thing: Sun usability engineers need to get out more. =)
[...] Perhaps people are more accustomed to a literal hardware icon used to represent their home directory. For example, the Macintosh has an image of a hard drive and Windows has an image of a computer.
I mean, come on! How is a UNIX home directory akin to "My Computer"? If so, what is the user's personal "My Documents" folder for if not for holding documents? =) [Unless... But, you expect me to believe that there are people at Sun who don't know what a UNIX home directory is for, do you?!]
It moves the old /boot/vmlinuz before putting the new one in... Thus you can configure an "Old" boot selection which points to the old kernel to be used in case something goes wrong. (However, be careful not to accidentally cycle your only working kernel out of "Old" and into oblivion...)
How so? Does the bzimage kernel output selection have some size limit I don't know about?
You shouldn't need to manually run lilo, assuming that you're makeing the fairly-well-crafted install target, and have your lilo.conf set to use /boot/vmlinuz as your kernel...
(e.g. I usually just do a quick "make oldconfig all modules install modules_install && reboot" and walk away from the system for a while.)
Windows has had this option (to intercept CD Audio control commands, and play digital audio aquired using raw reads through a sound card) since Win 2K, perhaps earlier. OS/2 has had a similar option as far back as 10 years ago. However, since a thin minority of drive manufacturers refuse to enable raw reads on their drives (because of pressure by copyright holders), this defaults to off -- rationale: it will work on the widest range of machines. In any case, you've always been able to do this under Windows using CD player software that extracts the audio directly instead of using CD Audio control commands (e.g. the winamp cdda plugin).
Of course, if the copy protection involves inserting data corruption beyond what ECC can repair, it will cause similar amounts of problems for anything doing raw reads, whether it's running on a Mac or a PC. (So, I don't see why a regular CD player would read it correctly... but that's another matter).
However, you might have more luck if your CD-ROM drive was actually playing the audio -- and thus decoding the ECC, perhaps correctly -- and had an S/PDIF digital out connected to an S/PDIF digital in on your logic board (term preferred by mac users, interpreted roughly to mean "motherboard" in standard jargon) or third-party sound hardware, thus doing a digital-to-digital copy. The majority of newer desktop PCs (~ last two or three years) have CD-ROM drives and sound hardware with the appropriate connections.
Apple is now an old hand in the world of IDE and PCI devices and uses commodity CD-ROM and sound chipset hardware (rebranded, of course) just like everyone else; I wouldn't be suprised to find that they've gone this route as well.
I'll agree that Intel's strategy of going after clock cycles above all else is tragic. Similarly, A/I/M is chasing after that integer peformance with great ferocity; their claims that their systems are fastest (which they properly scratch down to only an integer benchmark in the fine-print disclaimer, of course) depend on it.
Now, if only I could buy a G4-based system from someone other than Apple, who presumes -- apparently with moderate accuracy -- that nifty translucent plastic will make the phrases "price/performance ratio" and "real-world application" disappear from consumers' heads... =)
Is there someone out there selling G4 motherboards with standard form factors and accessory support at a competitive price point? Otherwise, there's no basis for comparison.
"Since the GPL claims that work that is commonly distributed as an organic whole constitutes a derivative of any packages that make up the whole, that appears to be a GPL violation;"
I'm not quite sure what you're talking about.
The GPL alludes to the title 17 "derivative work", which isn't defined very well. (It makes sense that the GPL avoids fiddling with broader sets of works, given how the GPL is supposed to function... Remember, a user can always not agree to the GPL.)
As many other people here mention, in dynamic linking, the libraries are never really combined with the calling procedure. Some argue that this doesn't matter; that the library's interfaces are subject to copyright law, and can be the parents of derivative works, dragging the GPL into the fray -- and thus negating all existance. But, current US copyright law has a bunch of exceptions for such things as automated recompiling and modification of interfaces when these are done to allow interoperability.
Given the state of the US judiciary, it will be a barrel of laughs if this case ever lands.
Indeed. ISPs using MAPS/RBL and claiming otherwise are a different matter. But, there are a significant number of organisations who are a) using MAPS/RBL, b) do not claim otherwise, but c) are confused about what a node/subnet needs to have done to get on the RBL.
[Of course, the appropriate punishment for your participation in a conspiracy in restraint of trade (against, for example, mailing-list software -- which MAPS has been known to block entire ISP subnets for hosting) is a matter for the appropriate judicial entity to decide.]
Try asking MAPS PR point blank whether they block sites for a) hosting mass-mailing capable mail software or running b) opt-in (canonical definition -- that is, subscription without confirmation e-mail -- and/or double confirmation) mailing lists... Their answers sometimes differ from recorded history, any often vary on different days of the week.
And, pray tell, where in the atheist book of un-holy scripture does it say "Thou shalt not broadcast non-religion-neutral prose on the electro-magnetic spectrum"? Oh, wait... There isn't one. Sorry. =)
This post scores a rating of 5/5 troll points.
If I had a nickel for every anarchist who
I've heard make similar predictions more than five years ago, I wouldn't be sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin. But, I don't, and I am. =)
>"Macintosh" files saved on an NTFS volume will retain their resourse forks, whereas if they're saved on a FAT16/32 volume the resource forks will be lost.
Sorry, no; better luck next time. The resource fork integrity depends wholly on how you're getting the split-format files to and from the volume -- most available mac-compatible file sharing software will put dual-fork files on single-fork filesystems without complaint.
Generally you should stick to file-sharing software that stores files using macbinary or binhex formats, or that uses secondary (usually hidden) resource fork files (this is how Apple's PC Exchange stores them on FAT ["DOS-format"] disks).
>FYI, resource forks on Mac are "kind of" the Mac equivalent of the three character extension on DOS files. They're used to tell the OS what kind of file it is, what application can be used to run it, etc.
Heh. Sadly, this explanation has all the in-depth technical knowledge that is typical of Mac users everywhere. =)
For you innocent Mac users who don't know what I'm getting at:
I'm far likely to get this definition --
"The gasoline combustion engine is a noise-making device, installed in cars primarily to signal to any blind pedestrians who may be trying to cross the road up ahead that it might be a bad idea to do so right now."
-- from a blind non-mechanic pedestrian than from anyone else. If you think about it, from the point of view of our theoretical blind non-mechanic pedestrian (whom we will call Theo for short), this definition might be essentially complete.
Now, imagine that Theo decides to acquire an Apple iCar(tm), a miraculous conveyance that can drive from point A to any other point with only a single voice command from the owner, and is available in any colour of the (fluorescent plastic) rainbow...
[Have a Great Day!] -aT
-aT
You're missing the point. Whether or not MS makes all the games for the X-box or drags licensing fees out of third parties is irrelevant; if not enough games are sold, MS won't make its negative console margin back.
Both have been ported.
You said it, man.
Yes, Microsoft is implementing some kind of scheme for programs to isolate their output to properly signed drivers only, to avoid letting those precious Britney Spears recordings be fed to those omnivorous disk writer drivers. But I really doubt that they'd try anything more than that, as even this limited measure qualifies as a conspiracy in restraint of trade against driver manufacturers, and they're currently in danger of being stomped by the DOJ. (Although, apparently not if Q -- fnord -- W has anything to say about it.)
Now, how do they plan to prevent the cracking community from swapping their own signing certificates for the ones being used in the signature checks, and then continuing as usual? Another layer of signing certificates? =)
Some ineffectual encryption scheme? (More Xing software, anyone?) Some new undocumented processor feature that Intel and AMD have been conspiring about? (That will be the day I buy my first Mac)
The number of females in a species has a more direct relationship to its growth rate than the number of males does. I shouldn't need to explain why. =)
Retuning your argument to take genetic diversity into account might fix it, though...
their software distrubution model is getting less and less in line with traditional copyright law (+ insane magically-binding you-never-agreed-to-them licenses), and more and more compatible with the street performer protocol.
A link to an ignored author (John Markoff) provided by an ignored editor (timothy). Yet the content is marginally interesting. Yet another block up for reconsideration...
Not one to let the quality of this post not slip early, the poster has to cram a contradiction into the first sentence for us.
In fact I feel that for the bulk of the people in these pictures, Purdue is commiting (sic) defimation (sic) of chericter (sic) -- is this person's "a" key malfunctioning or something? -- by labeling them rioters. The only thing there (sic) "guilty" of is not leaving the area when the police told them too. (sic) That is not rioting. Correct. Not moving when asked to by a police officer is not rioting. However, participating in the festivities is rioting. I'm even pretty sure it's not illigal (sic) to stand in a public roadway or park. Not on its own...
The thing that really upsets me is that little quote, "We anticipate the images also will be of interest to parents and employers." That is awful. And I feel that it probably accounts -- I'll assume you mean "amounts", as "accounts" doesn't make any sense in this context -- to blackmail.
Huh? How is it blackmail? Are you suggesting that the police asked them for money in exchange for not posting the pictures before posting them? Do you have any evidence to support this claim? (Or do you just not know what "blackmail" means? After all, evidence suggests that you don't own a dictionary. =)
It might as well say, "Students, if you join in a celebration, -- in other words, if you riot, -- or wander outside to see whats (sic) going on, we'll blacklist you."
What is important to do now is for every single person who went to, or worked for Purdue, to send a polite e-mail to them, and tell them its (sic) despicable. I don't see how sending a bunch of self-referencing hate mail about Purdue would be useful. But you might want to complain about this incident in particular.
Personally, I'm ashamed to have ever gone to Purdue. Is it safe to assume that you are currently frosh or have never graduated? Or are the English requirements really that low at Purdue? =)
Robert Watson mentioned, in a slashdot interview posted almost three months ago, that much of the SELinux development was being done by NAI labs, under contract. Is it safe to assume that your tagline was meant in sarcasm, Jamie? =) How is this news, BTW?
[tongue in cheek]: If it looks like unemployment may (*shudder*) increase - then the pricks go into 'crisis mode' and start FUD. And damn those little old ladies on fixed incomes to hell!
Oooh. Negative feedback. What a concept. When the demand drops into the floor, lower production. Grow something else for a while. Live to raise production another day.
Because the Deep Pockets on wallstreet need Big Profit Now(TM) - and they dont care otherwise... if they loose confidence in XYZ stock because this quarter is bad - they sell - if they sell, then the CEO and the top 400 people in a Fortune 500 company loose big dollars on their stock options... so they are VERY motivated to make every quarter better than the next ... "the future" be damned,
[tic]: Oh, yeah. We, the public, don't want growth. We want low salaries as a sign of faith. =)
Hmm... If the development isn't sustainable, then obviously there's a problem. Duh.
these top '400' people will be rich beyond imagination before that ever matters...
[tic]: What the future where their stock options potentials have stopped rising, crashed into the floor, and are now negative? Oh yeah, there really rich now, as long as they like minuses.
Perhaps not beyond imagination... Yours (admittedly fairly active) seems up to the task. =)
the whole scheme is ready to eat itself...
Yeah, if it's unsustainable.
current Capitalist Economics are about to reveal the failure in their basic logic...
[tic]: Wow! You heard it here first, folks. Unsustainable growth leads to nastiness ... It's a revolutionary new economic theory!
Am I the only one on the planet who has taken a freakin' macro course? Jesus! Buy a good book on the subject or something.
That's what I was getting at. In Canada there has been less time for viable competition to emerge; telcos have better market positions. So, in their infinite(ly small) capitalist wisdom, they feel more confident about long-term equipment amortization. Thus, higher data rates, low prices.
>The reason you have good comm systems in Canada
>(regarded as the *best* phone system on the
>planet) is because we owned and regulated the
>infrastructure. Decisions were based on the needs
>of that infrastructure for the purpose of
>providing communications services - nothing else.
>Not marketing. Not 'Market Conditions'. Not
>'accounting'. Sure the system was tempered by a
>financial-check, but basically the system was
>built with one thing in mind, and that was
>designed by engineers; not F'ing MBAs.
Heh... Bell's bungling of 1mbit downstream DSL tarifs (and the related rollout of pppoe clients and access concentrators, apparently to vertically maximize their chunk of all such DSL service, which there are CRTC hearings scheduled about) suggest that the engineering-led development is long gone. =)
>When you open up and sell the networks to
>capitalists you will see that quarterly profits
>will make decisions on 'equipment purchasing
>decisions'. Listen to American's horror stories
>about *their* telephone systems and learn what
>the capitalists provide with regards to this
>essential public infrastructure.
I'm not going to get into an argument about what should be considered "essential". (But, hint: DSL isn't it. =)
>De-regulating Public Services and Infrastructure
>is the *worst* thing Canada has done to itself in
>the last 10 years. Its fucking sad that ottawa >has sold us out.
Okay... I have many examples on both sides of the coin.
>De-regulating Public Services and Infrastructure
>is the *worst* thing Canada has done to itself in
>the last 10 years.
I have many examples on both sides of the coin...
>Its fucking sad that ottawa has sold us out.
As I said.
>Capitalists should not be involved in providing
>Cable Television, [...]
What do you mean by "capitalists"? Does really matter, in the area of cable/satellite TV, for example, where services and prices are so highly regulated anyway? (And, for obvious reasons, they at least need to be involved. I want more than one channel, thank you. =)
>The whole idea is disgusting.
Ah, so you're dismissing it out of hand. You wouldn't happen to be a card carrying member of, say, the Marxist-Leninist Party? =)
>moral reality [?]
That's a new one... Perhaps you can try explaining what you are asking using expressions I can find in a dictionary.
>essential infrastrucutre
Again: Oh, no! I can't watch my Wheel of Fortune! I'm going to shrivel up and die! =) [Power, gas, and water seem a bit more essential].
>What is the benefit to citizens?
The usual. Incentive to improve service and lower costs leads to improved service and lower costs.